#he's also extremely easy and fun to BULLY and that's very important to me when it comes to blorbos

[overchromatic]

every time i think the Kieran fixation is finally letting up something new comes and smashes me right back into it.

[hazbinned]

Important notes for my personal portrayal of Valentino - Background and Headcanons. Because this has been his story forever, and yet I just realized I had never compiled these in a post and that nobody knows any of this unless you read through all his threads in search of crumbs or have discussed it with me in IMs.

TW: Era-typical homophobia + abuse + Valentino topics. If you continue reading, you should know what to expect.

Valentino is of mostly Puerto Rican heritage and was born to immigrant parents in 1940, in the East Coast of the United States (Florida) as the second eldest of four boys (brothers being Pablo, Francisco, and Denzel). He grew up in a rough neighborhood, as his father was involved in some crime and petty gang activity that, for the most part, Valentino and his siblings were excluded from. Valentino spent most of his childhood and teen years left to his own devices, causing trouble with his brothers and friends for the fun of it. He was haughty, leaned toward being a bully, and never faced the consequences of his actions right from the start.

(His parents hardly paid attention to him, so he could do whatever he wanted— he did, however, learn some cooking from his mother, and some very basic firearm skills from his father.)

Valentino was always feminine in many ways, which his family mostly just commented on or tried to ignore, until he started getting older and it went from a 'quirk' to something they saw as a problem. In his early adulthood, he was caught with a man, and fallout ensued. Val ditched his family and then the state, and eventually, in the 1960s, wound up in LA, where he was almost immediately reeled in by a pimp (who was also his dealer/sugar daddy/eventual film director).

They had a genuine friendship for a handful of years, both of them being in it for the money and other benefits— Val wound up living in the guy's mansion and starred in adult films for him, and felt like a real celebrity. During this time, Val adopted his signature heart glasses into his look (though he mostly wore them as an accessory on top of his head), and was gifted two exotic birds by his pimp: a green rose-ringed parakeet and a red parrot, which he named Ferrari and Versace respectively. (He was extremely attached to both of the birds, and both of them outlived him.)

Good things never last forever, though, and Val's pimp started wanting him to film things that he was just not comfortable with— when Val voiced this (and the fact that he'd rather star in dominant roles), the friendly and mutually beneficial side of their relationship withered up and died, giving way to disrespect and physical abuse (often with the strike of a gun). Val was told he could leave anytime he wanted, but that his pimp wasn't going to help him— he'd essentially be broke and homeless. Feeling trapped, he opted to stay, and put up with a couple more years of that... until, finally, he knocked off his pimp and took control of the mansion and the entire operation.

It was during this that he started wearing his sunglasses over his eyes, and truly grew into the version of 'Valentino' that everyone knows. He became a pimp himself, and continued starring in films (of his own volition and creative direction) until he died at age 38 to a shot to the head.

Val, for the most part, landed on his feet in Hell and immediately just started doing what he was best at in life. He performed a lot more in the beginning, and his natural charisma (plus his new addictive pheromone) made it easy for him to start accumulating souls. Minus a few setbacks (such as his pheromone lending to some uncomfortable encounters here and there) he was on the easy road to success.

He and Vox met and the two of them immediately hit it off, and started supporting each other (financially and otherwise-- friends, to business partners, to unstable life partners, to lovers). The rest is history.

ADDITIONAL HEADCANONS.

Val does not perform much anymore. He still can, but he prefers just sitting around and making other people do things now. He hasn't appeared on stage in person for years, and hasn't starred in any published films for even longer. It has been since the early/mid 2000s, at least.

Val's eyes had started failing in the last few years of his life, and this carried over into his Hell-form. He finds it humiliating and refuses to get help.

Val has never faced lasting consequences for any of his actions, which is in part responsible for him being the way he is. He thinks he can get away with everything because he can get away with everything.

Val's communication style is extremely physical. Even when he's not trying to be controlling, he kind of still is if he's manhandling someone.

He's very paranoid about a second, more permanent death (or even a fall from grace), as he loves his life in Hell and does not want to lose it. He's scared that Angel will continue the cycle he started and kill him, or that he will somehow wind up with the tables turned and find himself in Angel's shoes. He will do anything to keep this from happening.

Sometimes, when he gets really worked up or emotional or high, he unintentionally lets out a more vulnerable side of himself-- closer to how he was during life. He hates that, it gives him the ick... especially when Angel is privy. (This is NOT the same playful attitude he sports around Vox and Velvette and other people he likes. It's very similar, but it's different. He doesn't mind as much when Vox or Velvette are witness to it.)

Val was never innocent, kind, or a 'good person,' although he can seem this way to those he is manipulating, as well as to his loved ones (as he is generally fun to be around if he likes you. Bad people typically aren't bad to everyone, and Valentino has his own circle of people he likes and respects-- namely Vox and Velvette.) His arc was not one of a good person becoming a villain. He was always villain-adjacent, he simply went from 'toxic' to 'awful.'

Valentino stood at an extremely tall 6'7" during life.

The last one is suggestive ala the read-more:

Val is a dom. He just really doesn't enjoy not being so, although there are some exceptions where he is genuinely chill with switching it up, like if he's in a certain mood or if it's a special occasion and Vox really wants that, or if his partner is someone he views as more powerful and cooler than him (ala 'celebrity crush' like Asmodeus-- not just anyone with power). He can kinda get into it then, but he has to LOVE you, respect you, trust you, AND find you attractive. Generally, though, he doesn't like relinquishing control ever and his partner would have to be someone who is okay with that. A teeny tiny bit of this is a trauma response but it's primarily just who he is.

[letterstokittyann]

Second Letter from Corgi to Kitty

My Dear Square Head Messy Kitty Ann,

I am writing to you again. I should try to write more often, because I always have many thoughts.

Thank you for taking care of me when I am ill. I am not a patient person and do not always have the best attitude. Sometimes, my tone is impatient and can be better. Sorry for not being as calm and patient as I should be. Although we did not get to visit places on Monday due to my sickness, I am still happy that we went through a difficult time together. Relationship is always easy when both people are having fun and feeling good. But challenging situations strengthen it. I love our many happy memories, but I also treasure the more difficult moments. I have no regrets, and I do not feel sad about missing an opportunity to travel and have fun. I also feel no regrets finding car key together and missing plan in the morning, or finding parking together while feeling moody. I want to go through moments that are not easy with you only. Also, God allows tough situations in our lives, and life is never meant to be 100% smooth sailing. I trust that He is in control and He still loves me. Even if I die, I am much less afraid because I know I can go to heaven. This is confidence that is only possible if you know that God exists and know Him through the Bible, and I want you to have it.

I am not sure when I am able to move to Thailand. Right now, it seems difficult. I am working towards it. My target is to be able to come over by next year, but I am not sure if this is possible. Learning Thai is important, I am trying to be diligent and consistent in learning so that I can learn faster. (Sometimes it feels very difficult when I am also doing other things. My free time is not 100% in learning Thai.) The best short term solution is to find a job that can let me work remotely, so I can stay in Thailand for a longer time. 😊

For me, the most important thing is Jesus Christ. For our relationship, this is most important. Relationship is strongest when both people have similar beliefs and live out their beliefs. Sometimes, I worry that Kitty might choose not to follow Jesus Christ and decide to have different thinking. There is always a chance that this can happen, because following Jesus is a personal decision. I can’t force you, only can encourage and try to give you some motivation. I want us to go to heaven after we die, and I wish for us to enjoy the best relationship. I hope that you will continue to learn from the Bible and open your heart to Jesus Christ. Following Jesus Christ is the best thing in life, and I want Kitty to have the best. The Christian faith makes the most sense, no other belief even comes close to it. The more you learn, the more you will realize this truth. There is so much evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, even more so than famous historic figures. There is so much evidence in science that points to the existence of a creator. The Bible is so consistent and coherent in every event mentioned, with many predictions coming true. The proof is so overwhelming that I have more reason to believe in Christianity than any other belief, and I pray that you will come to this realization too. What also convinced me is that the Bible speaks of human sin so accurately that I cannot deny it. I follow the news in the world very close, like the conflict in the Middle East and Israel and Palestine, what is happening in the USA and the world, what the United Nations and World Health Organization is doing and many more news. The world is extremely evil and the Bible describes it so accurately. The rich and powerful often bullies common people and feed them lies, the people in charge often make unjust decisions and punish good while rewarding evil, babies are allowed to be aborted after birth and killed, children are allowed to go for permanent gender-change surgeries without parental consent, racist sexist bigoted and oppressive laws still exist in many countries, wars kill millions of people, diseases run rampant while pharma companies are more interested in profits, many people in power do not have the courage to stop injustices because of personal interests or fear of losing status. Personally, I see the sinfulness in myself and I know that I need God. God created the world and all of us, yet we chose to sin and live our own way instead of following his way. Despite our wickedness, He still sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins and give us eternal life. And after that , He still helps us in life and gives us assurance. I am grateful that despite my wickedness, He loved me so much to save me and give me eternal life. I know that the least I can do is to try to follow His ways and grow in my love for Him.

Sometimes I still feel lazy. I don’t feel like going to church, or join church people to study Bible together. I have given myself excuses to miss out many many times. I am still a sinful person and still a work in progress, just like everyone else. This is normal. All Christians face this challenge. I think you should not feel bad, if you find it challenging. This does not make you a weak Christian. Every Christian is weak, according to the Bible. People who think of themselves as strong, God will humble them and show them that they are not. Even the most committed Christian has challenges, we just don’t see it from our perspective. But the most important thing is to trust God and let him change your heart. I understand that it can feel difficult to go to church alone, or give up precious time and energy to join Bible study small group. I also understand that it is even more difficult when there are no close friends there, and it can feel very lonely. I also understand that it doesn’t feel nice if people ask personal questions or cause you to feel like an outsider or second-class for not being regular in attendance. Do not feel discouraged or feel like you are not meeting up to standards. It is never about hitting a target or a standard. It is about learning to trust God through trying to follow Him. Imagine you are a parent to a child, and you see your child trying to walk and learn. You do not expect him to walk immediately, it will not be realistic. But what makes you happy is to see him try. Sometimes he fails, sometimes he might even give up and rest for a while. All this time, you are not disappointed, because you know that he will succeed eventually. You are always happy to see him try. It is the same with how God looks at us. Corgi wants to encourage you to keep trying 😊 You can trust God (not trust an imperfect person like me, because God promise in the Bible). God will bless us for obedience and following His way. Going to church and Bible study and spending time with other Christians has helped me a lot in life. The Bible teachings has helped me to change how I see the world and how I see myself. I have improved in how I interact with my family, made me more positive as a person, made me unafraid of things that I was previously afraid of. I also have made many close friends who are Christians who can encourage me in my faith. And I know that I do not need any success or achievement in the world to be a complete person, because I am assured that I already have the best thing in Jesus Christ. Sometimes the thing that we need the most is the thing we do not wish to do, sometimes we need to go against our feelings and feel discomfort to gain something good. Corgi want to encourage you to keep going, because I know that it will be worth it. 😊

It is very easy to drift away from our relationship with God. If go to church less, pray less, learn from Bible less, it is like communicating with God less. Because learning from Bible is the primary way God communicates to us, and prayer is the primary way we communicate to God. Every good relationship requires quality communication. Every relationship also needs love, and love is a choice. Many times in a relationship, we do things that we don’t feel like doing out of love. (Corgi wants to thank you for your many acts of love for me.) It is similar with our relationship with God. There are times where we need to make a choice to love God. And what is so assuring and empowering is that God has chosen to love us every time, and the best example of this is sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. It is also like exercise. When you first start, it feels difficult. Once you continue and do it more, it becomes easier. But when you stop, it is difficult to start again. But as it becomes a habit or routine, you start to enjoy it and see much more clearly what benefits it brings to you. Corgi wants you to experience that, and I know you will experience the goodness if you persevere. Importantly, like I said in my previous letter… even if you feel weak and not able, it is ok. God is able. It is not about us. If you have believed the gospel, God has chosen you. If God has chosen you, He will help you to overcome and complete His work in you. He is God, He is absolutely powerful and will have His way. Our weakness does not deter him. In fact, the Bible says that our weakness brings out the power of God even more.

If you have believed the gospel, you are a Christian. You are chosen by God. Not every one comes to hear and believe the gospel, this is a sad fact of life. I understand that you might be hesitant to say that you are a Christian, because you might think that you need to fulfil certain criteria like regular attendance or have certain knowledge of Bible or need to feel some confidence. But the fact is this: being saved does not require us to do anything. We cannot earn our salvation, no matter how much good we do. This is the grace of God. If you have believed, you are Christian. No need to do anything to be Christian. Of course, the journey of growing in knowledge and love of God needs some effort. Of course, true faith needs to be proven by how you live. But that is for later. The fact is: If you have heard the gospel and chose to believe, you are a believer. And you can confidently say that you are Christian.

The gospel is a beautiful thing. It shows the great love and power of God. A perfect God reaching out to sinful man. Sinful people like all of us could not have chosen God if we were given the choice and would have perished because of our great sin. But God sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins, to take away our punishment. And Jesus Christ was willing to suffer the greatest injustice because of his love for us. And he proves that he is God by rising from the dead, showing his power over life and death. The reason why I talk so much about this is because this is the most important thing. And we must always remember this. If the gospel is not true, the entire Christian faith is not true and a waste of time. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, this letter I wrote to you does not matter. But I know that it is true, and people who believe this are the most blessed.

For me, most important thing is to follow Jesus Christ together. Every thing else is secondary. In fact, everything else tends to take care of itself if we follow God. Matthew 6:33 says that if we seek God and His kingdom first, he will provide us what we need in life. Following Bible principles and teachings will also help in relationship. Everything good in me that helped the relationship, you can be sure that it is because I learnt from God and Bible. Every thing that is bad, that is because I am still sinful. 555. I want the best for our relationship. I do not just think long term, I can think about eternity because I believe in a God who is eternal.

I am sorry that I am not able to be there all the time. I always think that I cannot give you the relationship that you should have. So many long periods of absence, it must feel difficult at times. I also understand that it is not easy to live alone. My sister also lived alone from a young age and it was not easy. But I feel proud of you that you have grown to be independent and self-sufficient. I hope to be able to be more present in our relationship. I want to be a good man to you, but I also know that I am imperfect. I am sorry about the times where I failed and I did not do so well. I want you to feel blessed and lucky to be in this relationship. And I know that the more I follow Jesus, the more I will be a good person to benefit this relationship. God is the creator of marriage and relationships, He knows best.

I am still here. I do not intend to go anywhere else, and I have no one else. I want to fight together. I want to build more memories with Kitty. I always feel happy to see you, to spend time with you, to go through quiet, noisy, happy, sad, moody moments with you.

Love, Corgi

[angelhummel]

Top 5 scenes that show that Klaine are best friends.

Oooh that one's super hard bc like. Literally every scene of them is them being best friends lmao. Also everything I'm thinking of now, isn't even when they're together. So it really is just bestie moments lol. Again, not in a strict order bc they're all great moments but...

I always go back to their first meeting but... It's so choc full of goodness that you really can't help it. They're still relative strangers when Kurt trusts Blaine enough to open up to him, and then Blaine is immediately willing to go to Kurt's school and help him confront his bully. It shows us right away that Kurt can open up to Blaine, Blaine will try his best to help Kurt, that they've been there for each other from the start, and will continue to do so. It's one extremely solid foundation to their relationship so it's very important to me

Blaine surprising Kurt in NY so they can keep up their Christmas duet tradition. And so Kurt doesn't feel like he's dealing with his dad's cancer scare alone. Blaine promises to keep an eye on Burt in Lima which is just so sweet and also funny cause you know Burt is really the one keeping an eye on Blaine. And Blaine and Kurt promise that they're always going to be there for one another, even if they aren't together romantically

Blaine coming over to Kurt's place to help him practice his sexy faces. Which is just. Hilarious as hell. That's totally what friends do, right?? And obviously Kurt is uncomfortable talking about sex, not even Blaine can help that. But he does the best he can, and when Kurt tells him to leave, he seeks out Burt. He just wants his friend to be educated and safe and not end up getting himself into trouble

It's a little one, but when Kurt is hyping Blaine up to go serenade Jeremiah to ask him out. Obviously Kurt is crushing hard, obviously he's heartbroken when he realizes Blaine doesn't feel the same (not yet at least). And he STILL puts all that aside to help Blaine with his serenade, and to give him a few extra words of encouragement when he starts to get cold feet

All of Somebody Loves You and their talk outside Rachel's house. There are other fun duets, there's plenty of other instances of snappy banter between them. But it shows that even after all the drama and the pain and the heartbreak, on some level things are still this easy for them. That they can just let loose and be silly with one another, or tease each other like they do. It shows that underneath it all, they really are one another's best friends and always will be

[motsimages]

There is a trend now in some movies, specially movies whose target is mainly teenagers, to have "good family dynamics" that are actually terrible dynamics. I've seen it in a couple of movies already but it pisses me off. In particular, I'm thinking of the new version of The Craft and Doctor Sleep, and I'm mentally comparing them to The Goonies or the last one of Ghostbusters.

Usually it's a family where everyone gets along. Maybe the daughter has some power that her family doesn't know about or doesn't approve of but they never fight (it's not about the power itself even though the power drives the plot). They get along great, the mother looks young, happy and relaxed, the daughter is calm, reasonable and very emotionally stable even though she is a teenager. The father may be absent or, if he is there, it's symbolic.

This looks superficially great. Coincidentally, these movies are also too beautiful, clean and organised. But a family with a teenager that gets along has fights and problems. A family with a teenager where they don't understand or fully accept the teenager's power is only good in front of an audience, as long as we all look normal.

Teenagers are an emotional mess. They have hormones playing around, new situations, new independence, new problems. Even a good natured kid will get irrationably angry at some point.

But also, good natured mothers are tired and busy. And good mothers do not go to their teenage kid for emotional support in a moment of doubt or stress. A good family dynamic is a kid who's worried about something and finds support in their parents. These movies always have at least a scene where the mother confides in the extremely stable kid as if it was proof that they get along great.

What you have in real life when that happens is a child who will grow up with emotional problems because they're taking too much responsibility for their age, because the adult in their life is unreliable.

I understand that, for plot reasons, you cannot portray a complicated and nuanced family relationship, but if they have time to show the mother asking for help to their child, they should have time to actually show the child asking for help to the mother. They also have time to show a fight or disagreement in the family.

Yes, I get that if you want movies for teenagers, you have to give teenagers something to project to. It is a trope that they overcome obstacles for that very reason, same as it is a trope that adults are unreliable and you have to figure out shit on your own (which leads to adventures). But even in those narrations, there is a trustworthy adult that gives a hand or, at least, listens. They exist as a contrast with the bad parents, the aggressive teachers and the bullies. The message being you're not alone and there is always someone you can count on.

Now, if you are going to make a family the trustworthy adult, why aren't you showing the kid trusting their parents with their secret power? Why do their parents get superficially along with the kid, confiding in them but not accepting whatever the kid is saying? Why are they helped by an external figure or why do they figure shit on their own?

Because the family is not as happy and easy going as it looked like on the surface. Because the kid is actually suffering and screaming inside. But the movie is not about that, it's about something fantastic and supernatural and whatever bigger event is happening is more important that the fact that the kid actually alone and lonely. And if you don't look too deep, it's a just a movie, it's entertaining and fun, the family gets along and discrepancies are quickly brushed off.

[fromrere]

Shuntaro Chishiya character analysis

“Whether it’s on the other side of the planet, or right in front of one’s eyes, as long as one is safe, it doesn’t matter how many others die. Isn’t that humanity?”

“I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be your enemy.-Yes I get that a lot.”

i. personality:

Chishiya is calm, enigmatic and very manipulative. He has high intellect, which makes him a very good diamond game player. He is mysterious, brooding, always scheming behind the scenes.

He is very confident and aware of his own  strengths and weaknesses. He may be quiet but he is not shy in any way. He didn’t falter even with a machete (katana? whatever Last Boss was pointing at him with) in his face.

He is also highly apathetic. It's like nothing affects him. Bodies could literally drop around him like flies and he still wouldn't bat an eye. He doesn't murder for fun like Niragi, but if a murder or sacrificing an ally gets him closer to his goal, he is indifferent to it.

He is an extremely good judge of character. He sees through others and their motivations. He is also able to see others' potential, for example he rightly predicted that Arisu will find the base of the game masters.

He prefers to act alone, and often places himself away from the others. He also has his reasons for this, for example in the Ten of Hearts and Five of Spades games he sought out places where he could observe everything that was going on, appearing only towards the end.

ii.  his role in the story, antagonist or protagonist?

With most other characters it is easy to identify if they are on our side or not, these lines become much more blurred with Chishiya. In one moment he makes you believe that he will help Arisu escape the Borderland but in the other you find out that he is just using him like he does with everyone else.

He is an executive member of the beach and is let into a lot of information about the game. He doesn't harbour a good relationship with the executive members, and isn't afraid to get into altercations with them. He is not loyal to any of the heads of the beach either, he is just there to get as much information as possible.

He is the representative of Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Cheshire Cat's true nature is also questionable in AIW, but he mostly plays a neutral role. He often conducts pranks on others, is very mischievous, appearing and disappearing whenever he wishes. Cheshire Cat is also helpful to Alice on a few occasions, directing her toward the right path.

iii. his motivations:

Chishiya's motivations are straight forward: getting out of the Borderland, no matter what it takes. In this game the only thing granted is death. The smallest hesitation can easily be a fatal mistake. Getting close to someone in this situation is dangerous. There's a good chance that that person will die in front of you sooner or later. The shock would cause you to drop your guard, your thinking would become distorted, which could lead you to make a mistake that is fatal. It's just too much of a risk for him.

Every other somewhat important character's background was shown in the series other than Chishiya. This also adds one more element to his mysterious persona. The viewer isn't allowed to see what has made him the way he is today, just like how the characters are unable to read Chishiya.This may very well change in the future, as the manga has shown Chishiya's backstory.

vi. his relationships with others:

Like I mentioned above, he is highly manipulative and very deceitful towards others. He made Arisu believe that he is on his side, but then threw him under the bus to get the cards himself.

This is what is important. To get the cards for himself. He doesn't have anything against Arisu, he is just using him for his benefit. He saw the potential in him and kept an eye on him. It's about his motivations. He is willing to do whatever it takes to get out of Borderland.

Now his relationship with Kuina is tougher to tackle. He doesn't outright dislike her or is deceitful towards her like his is with others, but he isn't particularly caring either. I it's just that he saw that she is useful to keep around so he did. ( It's similar with Arisu as well, but Kuina seems to be more like a follower than a pioneer)

v. his background:

The live action has changed some elements from the manga, with the most notable being Niragi’s fate ( as of now, at least ) and the changing of couple of the games. For this reason, I’m including the information below as a sub-section, as it may be rebutted when the second season comes out.

v.i. chishiya’s background in the manga:

Alice in Borderland manga spoilers! If you don't want to be spoiled skip the rest of the background section.

In the manga he was the son of an unavailable dad working in the medical industry, choosing to spend time on his computer and among his medical books instead of his son. It was implied that his parents' marriage was for business reasons rather than love. All of this has caused to grow up in a loveless household, lacking any parental affection.

He later choose to pursue medicine and became a surgical intern. He wanted to find out if he cares about human life, but his decision just made it clear that he doesn't.

His family background sheds a light on his behaviour later in his life. Growing up in a household like that definitely could’ve affected his perception of affection and just human relationships in general.

His lack of care for human life, even in the real word also speaks volumes.

Niragi, for example was very different in the real world. He is canonically a nerd ( a game developer-that was very shocking to me ) and he was also severely bullied in his high school days. He went through a huge transformation while in the borderland.

Other characters, like Arisu or Usagi are not so different from their real world selves either but their intentions and morals stayed mostly the same. They want to do good and save as many people as possible. They value human life and react intensely when one of their allies is in danger or dies.

vi. postlude/ my thoughts on Chishiya as a character:

He is actually my favorite character in the whole show, he is a very interesting character for sure. I'm interested to see if they keep his backstory as it was in the manga or if they change things up.

Slight manga spoilers!

I also love the fact that in the manga, he went from a very apathetic character to one that is a little more considerate of others. Like, I was so shocked when he took that shot for Usagi, like I never expected him to do something like that. ( he already was shot at that time but still)

[seacottons]

— uni with atz pt. two

notes: swearing, fluff, mildly suggestive dialogue. tags: @latte-fairytaekwoon

seonghwa — [ early edu. + developmental psych. ]

extremely organized in all aspects of his life

your bookshelf at home consists of books on developmental studies in children.

if he isn't in class or volunteering, he's either cuddling with you or reading.

stressed 24/7.

takes very pretty and neat notes.

randomly spits out facts throughout the day.

sometimes, you join him during his volunteer hours at various daycares and schools.

is all the children's favorite teacher.

extremely patient and soft-spoken when it comes to working with even the most difficult child.

also loves being called 'teacher hwa'.

"i don't know, if i were you, i would make the students call me king san."

"they'll probably end up bullying you," seonghwa replies back.

you don't know how he has the patience for the amount of children he has to take care of.

takes you picture-book shopping with him for his students.

finds himself singing nursery rhymes while cooking or cleaning.

has polaroids of you two stuck on the fridge.

brings lint rollers to work.

gets worked up in public if a parent seems too neglectful in any way.

"y/n!" he tugs at your elbow and points with his jaw to the right, "look! his kid is just spilled all that paint on the floor, and he didn't even bat an eyelash!?"

"don't intervene again, please."

"okay, but-"

the whining of metal and steel cut him off, and the two of you jump in fright at the sound of a shelf falling apart.

"some people really shouldn't have kids."

whines when he comes back home that the paint stain and glitter just won't come off his clothes no matter how many times he rubs the spots with warm water.

or how he has mulch stuck in his socks and shoes from taking the kids outdoors to play.

you somehow always end up finding a googly eye or specks of glitter under the couch.

sometimes brings home finger-paintings with numerous colorful hearts and two stick figures in the middle.

"today's assignment was to paint what makes you happy."

you also help him stitch up little felt and cotton dolls for the kids to keep.

often gets sick from working with children.

and passes it onto you by accident.

you know he's had a bad day when you ask him how it went, and his face scrunches up in pain.

stormed into your shared apartment one day and made a beeline to the bathroom.

forty minutes later, he comes out, towel wrapped around his hips, face and chest flushed, and explains that a child accidentally peed on him.

gets flustered when you laugh at his demise.

sometimes uses his teacher voice when scolding you or your mutual friends.

and you all end up teasing him more anyway.

"do you use that tone in bed too, hwa?" yeosang asks one day. mingi and yunho splutter out in disbelief, followed by loud laughter.

you choked on your bite of cake at the sudden remark.

"what did i ever do to deserve this slander," seonghwa grumbles whilst patting your back.

he often stays up late making lesson plans for both his classes and ones to implement at work as well.

takes full advantage of his teacher's discount at shops and restaurants.

sometimes brags about it to his friends to get under their skin.

"you have it easy. just watching kids and getting free food," san says one day in the middle of their game of jenga.

"it's not easy at all," you hear seonghwa reprimand the younger, and laughter rings out from the other four guests.

"you're learning about children! what's so hard-"

you had a hunch that seonghwa purposely tilted the wooden tower to tumble over an unsuspecting san.

"y/n! your boyfriend is trying to murder me!"

seonghwa paces in circles around your apartment whilst studying for an upcoming exam.

asks you to quiz him on certain materials.

"correct! okay, can you define the preoperational stag-"

"how many kids do you want to have in the future?"

"..what?"

"kids. how many do you want to have with me?" he presses further, eyes trained on your face rather intently.

"can't this conversation wait until you finish studying?"

"no. i'm too curious," he licks at his chapped lips and leans in to poke your forehead, "i need to know. this is important information. please."

yeosang — [ biology pre-med ]

met you through your mutual friend, wooyoung, who invited him to live in your shared dorm.

"you didn't tell me you have a dog?" yeosang turns to wooyoung, brow quirked up whilst pointing to the 'beware of dog' sign on one of the bedroom doors.

"oh, i don't. i just put that up to mess with y/n," wooyoung dismissively explained while making a sandwich.

is the reason why you and wooyoung haven't killed each other yet.

asked you out after five months of moving with you and wooyoung.

designated one of the kitchen's shelves as a medical supply closet.

"because wooyoung always ends up hurting himself without doing anything."

"i do not."

stress is his middle name.

constantly contemplates his life decisions.

"wooyoung! shut up! i can't finish my essay with you blabbering every damn second!"

you had to get used to the sight of a full sized anatomical skeleton in his room.

"okay, but i'm not letting you fuck me with that thing in here."

later that night, wooyoung's heart nearly burst in his chest from fright.

"yeosang! why the fuck is your skeleton in my room!?"

some nights, during dinner, yeosang slams his obnoxiously large textbooks onto the table, and insists for the two of you to quiet down while he skims over the pages a few times.

"can't you just enjoy your meal for five-"

"no. now hush."

not only does he have labs, presentations, and essays to worry about, but he also got accepted for a pre-med internship at a local hospital.

hardly goes out anymore during his free time.

most dates include cuddling on the couch or baking something in the kitchen.

stays up late at night to complete assignments.

towers of thick books decorate his nightstand.

"no, yeosang. i really don't want to see you dissecting a cat," you grimace, turning quickly and shielding your eyes from his phone.

"why not?" yeosang whines softly, hand tugging the hem of your shirt with a frown, "it's not that bad, i promise-"

he's cut off when wooyoung snatches the phone from him with a loud cry, "gross! y/n, you're letting him touch you after he touched that?! and fuck- what is that smell?"

"that's formaldehyde. now give me back my phone before i dissect you next."

you join him at the lab when he has extra work piled up.

"you look so cute with a white coat and goggles."

you prod and poke him repeatedly, asking him numerous questions about the specimens in the lab.

"y/n! don't touch that!"

one day, wooyoung comes home sick.

you insist on taking him to see a doctor, only for him to emit a haughty laugh at you.

"why would i waste my time and money when i have yeosang here?"

"but woo, he didn't even get into med-school yet-"

wooyoung insists he doesn't need to see a professional, "yeosang is practically our live-in doctor! why do you think i begged him to move in?"

you roll your eyes, calling for yeosang to persuade the younger male.

"alright, tell me your symptoms," your boyfriend sighs, plopping down onto the couch beside you and wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

after wooyoung explains everything and takes his own temperature, he peers at yeosang for an answer, "well?"

"you're dying," yeosang nods simply.

wooyoung's visage pales, and he scrambles to sit up on the couch with a disturbed expression.

"what?"

yeosang is always studying.

always.

studying.

you insist for him to take a break sometimes.

"i can't. i have lab tomorrow. oh, and a paper."

"but you always say that!"

you attempt to tug him out of his seat.

"come on! just for an hour, and we'll be back. promise."

he's always reluctant at first, but finds himself agreeing later anyway.

enjoys the small dates at the nearby lake probably more than you do.

mingi — [ accounting ]

a gifted genius when it comes to numbers.

is your very own math tutor.

jokingly asks you to pay him back.

he accepts kisses and hugs. baked pastries are also a bonus.

"y/n? are you okay?" a hand waves in front of your face.

you blink at him wordlessly, mind fogged from the bombardment of information you just received, "sorry- you lost me. can you repeat the process again?"

he playfully smacks your shoulder with the ruler and stomps his bare feet onto the tiled floor, "this is the third time!"

"i'm sorry! you know how i am with math!"

he begs you to take classes with him as electives.

"sorry, baby. i love you, but there's no way i'll ever take statistics."

"okay, what about economics?"

"no."

"management? business administration!?"

"no and no."

"but y/n! it'll be fun! you'll be with me!"

always whines about how much he hates having to take 'stupid management classes' and the group projects that come along with them.

"they never take the assignments seriously!"

said group visits your apartment to work on projects with mingi.

"aren't you supposed to be working on that project?"

you watch as mingi and his friends suddenly erupt in an explosive argument about the game they were currently playing.

"yeosang! what the fuck!?"

"it's y/n's fault mingi was distracted!"

you let out an indignant squawk and glare at yeosang.

"that round didn't count."

"stop being a sore loser, san!"

"so.. i take it you didn't even start?" you grimace, peering over to the untouched books and papers on the coffee table.

"it's just management class. no big deal," san explains quickly with a dismissive wave of his hand before nudging your boyfriend with a glare, "you better not make us lose this time, or i'll kidnap y/n."

stays up late to finish other work that's due.

loves to wear big spectacles when studying.

it 'helps him focus'.

writes notes on his calculator and slides it towards you while you're both home studying.

'n-3^07-!'

"mingi, what is that?"

"read it upside down, you bum."

has a coffee mug with 'i love π' in big, bold, red letters.

refuses to throw it away even though the rim is chipped.

always bugs you about how you should have a budget plan.

insists on teaching you how to make spreadsheets on excel.

"i can't do this, mingi. too much numbers give me a headache."

"do you want my lucky glasses?"

rambles on about things related to his field, and you can only nod in confusion every time.

"how does your brain keep up with all of this?"

"easy. just be one with the numbers."

"that was a bad pun.."

"you're supposed to laugh!"

mingi was that typical student who complained about studying, but is always the one acing everything with the highest score.

"i should just quit university and become a stripper."

"you say that every exam week, and yet, you always pass with the highest grades," you mumble from the other side of the couch, absentmindedly highlighting a few sentences in your book.

"yeah, but studying is a pain in the ass," he exhaled with a loud groan, head thrown back against the back of the couch, "why me, y/n?"

you roll your eyes while reaching over to pat the side of his face in comfort.

"everything will work out just fine."

later that week, he joyfully bounces into your apartment with a large grin plastered on his face, "guess what?"

you snort in amusement.

"let me take a wild guess. you aced your exam."

"and guess who has the highest score?" he tugged you forward by your cheeks with a bright grin.

"yeosang?" the cheery expression on his features suddenly vanished, causing you to laugh, "i'm kidding."

likes to study while attached to your side, wearing comfortable pajamas and warm socks.

sulks whenever his stock investments drop further than he expects.

and is always in a good mood whenever the prices spike back up.

always has a horrible math pun up his sleeve.

sends you accounting memes and becomes a gloomy mess when you don't laugh or understand the joke.

"what if i propose to you with a math problem? and we have pie instead of cake?"

"please don't bring math into our love life."

yunho — [ broadcasting journalism ]

roommates with you, hongjoong, and jongho.

is called 'newspaper boy' by hongjoong.

is well-known around campus for being one of the student journalists for the university's newspaper.

you have the very first published paper, with his full name printed on the front, framed in the hallway of your dorm.

has the prettiest hands.

and longest fingers you've ever seen.

can put them to good use.

especially when typing out essays. they're practically blurred from how swift he is.

likes to ramble about current international events to jongho early in the morning. the latter pretends to understand, giving the other false hope.

jongho always sends you a pleading look to save you from your lover.

always carries a notebook.

article deadlines = stressed yunho.

complains that his friends are 'uncultured'.

helps you with your essays.

if he has enough time, he'll actually re-write it for you.

"was it really that bad?"

"it's okay, baby. you're good at other things."

"how come you don't re-write my papers?" jongho huffs from across the living room.

"you're not y/n."

interviews you and your other roommates for his projects.

you smile from behind him as he zooms in obnoxiously close to hongjoong's disgruntled expression.

"he zoomed in on my nose again, didn't he?" the blue haired male asks you.

"sorry, but that tomato sauce stain is really distracting me."

hongjoong nearly drops his fork.

"what stain!?" he furiously rubs his face with the back of his hand, "see! i told you that you always interview us at the most inconvenient time!"

is constantly writing.

can be very unorganized.

"who took my ap stylebook!?"

"can you stop shouting? it's 6 a.m., yunho!" hongjoong growls from his bedroom.

mingi and seonghwa often visit your dorm because they're usually partnered with yunho for an assignment.

it somehow always winds up with mingi and yunho fooling around, whilst seonghwa struggles to persuade them to help him with the work.

sometimes, you tag along to help film his public social experiment projects.

is a social-bug, so people are instantly drawn to him.

likes to cuddle with you while watching the films for his assignments.

you think most of them are pretty boring, but being in his lap and tucked against his chest makes up for it.

you like to add glittery stickers onto his video camera and tripod.

is very much infatuated with you, so he doesn't mind one bit.

applied for a paid broadcasting radio station/tv internship over the summer and was quickly accepted.

asks you to help him style his hair for his first day at work.

"but it's just a radio station. no one's going to see you?" jongho questions with a perplexed expression.

"i still need to look presentable!"

and later that day you quickly hush the two males beside you once the clock strikes 2 p.m.

"quiet! yunho should be on any second now!"

"i was just breathing?" hongjoong whispers weakly.

over dinner, jongho often mimics yunho's reporting voice.

"y/n, do i really sound like that?" yunho pouts as you and hongjoong burst into fits of laughter.

"aw, don't be sad. i love your reporter voice, baby."

will wake everyone up early the next morning by yelling at the top of his lungs with his reporter voice just to get back at you three for laughing at him.

[oceanid-writes]

Hiii could I please get a mha matchup? Preferably with a male pls. My pronouns are she/her. I am 5’4, an ambivert and a Latina. My enneagram is type 4. I have pale skin, mid-length brown wavy hair with bangs, and hazel eyes. I am described as someone who comes off as cold or aloof when I’m around people I don’t know. After getting to know me, I am the complete opposite. I’m just a bit shy at first lol. My friends have told me that I give good advice but like to joke about my stubbornness. I like to make people laugh and try to make the best of any situation. However I have a hard time expressing my emotions. I’m also described as easy going and fun to be around. I also really love animals.

I am a hip hop dancer and love to perform. Dance to me is very freeing and I'm usually dancing anywhere anytime haha. I choreograph a lot as well. I also enjoy reading could vary from manga to non-fiction. I love music especially hip hop, rap, & reggaeton. I also love to write music/poetry. I never show anybody though since I’m really shy about it. I'd love to one day tho! I can be playful and love to tease my friends. I also really like to eat and travel. I am a bit of a homebody but I enjoy hiking because of the exercise. I really enjoy having deep conversations. I can’t stand people who bully others and people who are fake. I like to be honest and helpful in any way I can. My style is usually anything comfy/casual and I don’t really like wearing skirts or dresses. I speak English obviously lol and Spanish (learning Japanese & Portuguese). I would love to learn ASL and Hawaiian one day as well. I enjoy watching crime investigations, probably one of my favorite things to watch.

I don’t really any fears, just not being able to accomplish my goals/dreams. I tend to daydream a lot and I’m also a big procrastinator 😭. I'm usually overthinking a lot which tires me a bit. Alone time for me is definitely important. I would say my love languages are words of affirmation and physical touch. I usually prefer introverts and someone I can eventually open up to and is patient since I’ve never had that growing up. I’m usually really cold towards the person I like lol. Only because I test the waters to see if I should spend time and energy on them. I tend to be a bit jealous/possessive, not in an unhealthy way though. Just wouldn’t match with someone who is very flirty with other people lol. I'm also a bit touch starved lol. I don’t mind if it’s a bit nsfw, I’m over 18 so no worries! Thank you so much 💖💗💕

Hi! Ok it seems like everyone I’ve been doing matchups for are short but that’s ok because I’m like 5′3 myself. Anyways I know exactly who to pair you with....

Author’s note: First off, this sort of got weird as I was writing it. In my opinion, this is one of the creepier and more uncomfortable matchups I have done, because it happens a lot irl. I have heard TOO MANY stories of a cool/older/more mature figure of authority with kind of the vibe I give Hawks in this matchup becoming VERY predatory, so I just want to provide a warning for that, and some aid for anyone who might be reading in said dynamic.

If you recognize someone in this role who could be preying on you, and says or does things that are creepy/uncomfortable to you, please reach out and contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online with someone at online.rainn.org. 

I don’t mean to scare anyone, but I want to provide aid and support to anyone who reads this and finds it feeling familiar.

Boku No Hero Academia Yandere Matchup

warnings: STRONG GROOMING THEMES, (I say this in my bio but on this matchup especially please 18 plus), creeping, extreme dub-con, stalking??, predatory behaviours

You like animals? And you like affirmations and physical touch? AND you get jealous/possessive a little? Even though you wanted an introvert and he's certainly the opposite, I still think Hawks is the crazy yandere for you.

There’s no doubt you’re a civilian, and you’re most likely a regular college student. I think a lot of MHA characters would want to have civilian darlings over a hero, for morality reasons, but for Keigo it’s more of a dominance thing. A common trait for most yanderes is to want a very large and regulatory presence in their darling’s life, and this is really much worse with Hawks. He’ll want to be the only person you spend your time with, and the only person who can tell you what to do.

When he first saves you from a building maybe, or a villain attack, he won’t really see you as a person. Instead, he believes you to be some sort of reward and special responsibility sent down from above for all of his hard work as a hero. He’s done so much, saving the lives of others, defeating heroes, so it’s only fair he gets something in return. This isn’t to say he’ll treat you like a prize or something just to own though. He recognizes you have emotions, feelings, and a life. You have personality, you’re a sweet person, and you’re a little clingy and possessive (he really likes that). Hawks is a cool guy, (well, somewhat of one) and he’ll as you out (not on a date, just for coffee) in exchange for saving your life. It’s confusing, but it’s also flattering that someone famous has taken an interest in you. Hawks is also one of the top heroes, and basically Japan’s sweetheart, so of course you can’t say no and you’ll take him up on his offer.

I was a bit torn on this, but I don’t see him taking you to luxurious dinners or fancy parties at all. He will certainly take on different roles with different people, but I can’t see him being the “perfect boyfriend next-door” type with you. He certainly has a lot of sides, but upon meeting you at the coffee shop, he’d be able to recognize that with someone like you he will not take the boyfriend step right away, maybe not even until a year down the road. 

Hawks, Keigo, whatever you want to call him is much smarter than people give him credit for. He will try to take on a paternalistic and mentor-like role in your life before he tries to date you. This is where the college student part comes in, because Hawks will try every single combination to find something you need help with, and that will let him wiggle his way into a place where he can help you with whatever. When you accept and he helps you out, he’ll give you a pat on the back, a “See you later kid!”, and will fly out the door and leave you half awed. He will completely worm his way into becoming the cool older figure in your life.

At first, you are still confused why someone so famous would take a sudden liking to you. Eventually, the initial shock and intimidation wears away, as you two begin to get closer. You want someone to open up to? You want a shoulder to cry on? Hawks has already given you his number, and help on various school projects, so you know he’s someone you can talk to about anything. If you ever text him that you’re feeling down or want to talk, he flies you over to his bachelor pad penthouse, (Hawks totally has this) orders Thai food, comforts you, and gives you good advice. Maybe after he helps you, and you’re still feeling sad, he turns on a rom-com, gets blankets for the couch, and wraps his arm around you. Maybe he’s pulled you a little too close for your liking, and the placement of his hand is a bit odd. But then again, he’s Hawks, the hero who has your back and helps you with calculus homework. He’s just a touchy person.

By the time Hawks kisses you, or tries to initiate something, you’re too caught up in this role he plays in your life to ever try to decline or tell him no. Even if you did, he would either gaslight you, or lock you up in his house, just until you calm down. Don’t worry, he won’t outright want to kidnap you because he wants you to adore him. If you’re good and do what he wants, he will give you the time of your life.

Hawks is your friend, right? You can trust him with everything.

[theflannelwizard]

Miss Simian teaches the Special Accommodations class

First off, I would like to say that I am neurodivergent, and most of these headcanons are based off my own experiences. If I do accidentally phrase something in a way that offends you, please let me know so I can fix it! Thanks to @onceuponymous to chatting with me about this before I posted it! I will also say that TAWOG is my current hyper fixation, so this might end up being a rather long post! I’ll try to use bold and italics so my fellow neurodivergent fans have an easier time reading it if they want to :)

I think Miss Simian’s class is full of the neurodivergent kids in Elmore Jr. High. This would explain why Darwin and Gumball are in the same class, despite being two years apart in age, and why they are so blind to the rest of the school. They have their routine and their class, and they are purposefully on a separate schedule than the other students. This would also explain why Gumball and Darwin are so frequently sent to the guidance counselor for their outbursts instead of to the principal.

Almost all if not all of the students in her class exhibit common symptoms of neurodivergence, including (but not limited to) having trouble communicating, hyper fixating or having special interests, masking or feeling like the world won't like, understand, or accept them if they don’t put on a persona, fidgeting or stimming, having trouble with focus, expressing emotion intensely or in unique ways, and either adhering to a strict schedule or behaving impulsively.

Let’s start with trouble communicating. This is an obvious and easy one- almost none of Gumball’s classmates communicate in a neurotypical fashion. Juke and William have extreme trouble communicating verbally, and although Juke realizes this, he keeps trying but is unable to “switch” himself to an easily understood language. William doesn’t even realize he is unheard until Gumball declares he is silent.  Banana Joe, Bobert, Sussie, and Jamie all speak in special dialects or patterns that are understandable but set them apart from what would be considered “normal.” Jamie’s is the least obvious, but I would argue that her reliance on threats, often delivered using the same formula, is a unique speech pattern that could have developed in part due to her parentage/home life and in part due to trouble communicating. Gumball has no problem with speaking in an understandable way, but he does have trouble expressing his emotions- he either locks them down or goes over the top with grand declarations and gestures. Likewise, Darwin is able to express himself rather clearly, but he canonically has trouble “learning facial expressions” and is often blind to sarcasm and manipulation, as are many of his classmates. Some students are on the end of the spectrum where they may not have trouble speaking, but they do have trouble reading social cues. For example, Molly is eager to talk to her friends, but can’t always tell whether they are engaged with her stories and doesn’t know when to stop talking. Sarah doesn’t have a clear understanding of boundaries, and neither do Tobias, Sussie, Banana Joe, Teri, Tina, Clayton, Ocho, Gumball, or Alan (despite having good intentions, he often fails to set boundaries for himself, and that’s just as important to notice as those who intrude or don’t understand boundaries for others). In fact, I would argue the entire class has, at some point, shown that they have trouble setting or anticipating healthy boundaries. Once boundaries have been clearly set, they usually are able and willing to respect them, but they can’t always tell on their own what another person is okay with.

Now for hyper fixations and special interests. I would say Teri is one of the most obvious here, with her extensive knowledge of germs and cleanliness. She’s more than just a germaphobe, she has studied hygiene and is obsessive to a point of rarely talking about anything else. Alan could likely be fixated on activism or the general concept of goodness, working overtime to make himself into the most helpful and positive person he can be. Sarah’s fangirl persona goes hand in hand with a fixation on comics, anime, and/or manga. I would even say Carrie’s intense dedication to goth/emo culture could be considered a special interest, and Leslie has a similar relationship to fashion, beauty, and the (heavily coded) LGBT community. Tobias’ obsession with video games has canonically gotten so intense that he neglected basic needs such as sleep- a classic example of hyper fixation. 

As far as masking and persona goes, many of the points I’m about to make could be seen as simple stereotyping to make the characters distinct. I choose to interpret it differently. Gumball, Penny, Tobias, Carrie, Masami, Tina, Clayton, and Ocho have all had arcs or significant moments where they were either revealed to have interests or personality traits that were in direct contrast with their outward persona or revealed to think people wouldn’t like “the real them” as much as the act they put on. For example, Penny was terrified to come out of her shell, Tina doesn’t intend to be a bully but comes off as one due to her menacing mask (for self protection, perhaps, so she doesn’t get bullied herself?), and Ocho admits he has trust issues due to being used for his uncles and not respected unless he puts on an intense and aggressive front. Other students build their identities around a single aspect of themself, either something that they find important or something that they expect will be liked or respected. Tobias, Leslie, Carrie, Alan, Jamie, Tina, Idaho, Sarah, Bobert, Banana Joe, and Masami fall easily into stereotypes and seem to be glad to do so. Clayton goes so far as to commit identity theft simply so no one will see his true self and dislike him. Clayton’s compulsive lying is also a symptom of ADHD.

I’m not going to write a whole paragraph on fidgeting/stimming and focus, because I don’t think there’s too much to analyze or dissect there, but if you go back and watch any episode, you’ll likely notice that many of the characters are easily distracted and/or have unique body movements, postures, or phrases that they tend to repeat. I also think impulsivity and routine is so important to the plot that it doesn’t need to be discussed, but was worth a brief mention.

Let’s talk about emotions! Gumball has the classic neurodivergent experience of either bottling up his emotions with no idea how to express them or going over the top with grand declarations and gestures. He feels things very intensely, as shown by his often dramatic reactions, but isn’t always sure how to process or express them. Darwin is always on one extreme of that scale, with no filter as to how he expresses and feels things. He is unafraid to cry in public, declare that something makes him feel good or bad, or say very bluntly what needs to be done to make him feel better (eg declaring he responds well to positive reinforcement- that sounds like therapist or guidance counselor language to me! Good job, Darwin! I wish I was as clear as you!). Likewise, Penny is prone to meltdowns after she breaks out of her shell, and she is so intensely emotional that she messes up her (likely well-rehearsed) cheer tryout due to being rejected by Gumball, and her physical form changes based on emotion. Banana Joe, Carrie, Masami, Sarah, arguably Anton, Carmen, Teri, Tina, Hector, and Sussie also express their intense emotions in big and obvious ways. Some examples include Masami’s meltdown in The Storm, Teri’s tendency to faint or cry, Carmen’s outburst (possibly a meltdown or breakdown) at her old school, and Tina’s tendency to use violence and anger as a first response when upset, even in “small” ways. (Note- I put small in quotes because something like being told it’s a waste of time to get piano lessons might not feel small to her, and could indeed warrant chasing and attacking Gumball.) On the other side of the scale, we have characters like Alan, Idaho, Bobert, Molly, Leslie, and Hector (again, as he behaves differently with or without his music box), who are capable of being dramatic or expressing emotion, but won’t acknowledge their feelings directly and might even be perceived as not having (many) emotions. For instance, Bobert is often referred to as not having emotions or not being a real person, a harmful stereotype against autistic folks, which is increased by the fact that he is a robot, which autistic folks are sometimes unfairly compared to. Alan is seemingly incapable of feeling negative emotions, to the point where his loss of hope wrecks Elmore, implying that he has a mental or emotional block from feeling and expressing these emotions. Molly references her “special dark place,” implying that she does get emotionally or sensorially overwhelmed, but has no way to express her needs (or lacks the confidence to do so) and would rather remove herself from a situation. Leslie is the most dramatic of the characters with emotional blocks or low emotional expression, but I would argue that since he never openly owns or discusses his emotions, (verbally or otherwise,) and instead turns to petty drama or denial, he also belongs in this category.

TL;DR: Most if not all of Miss Simian’s students exhibit classic symptoms of neurodivergence, be it autism, adhd, or both. Hopefully the many (x character) has (x diagnosis) posts I’ve seen floating around can supplement this theory! And of course, if you don’t buy this interpretation or just don’t like it, you don’t have to agree with me! But I think the idea of TAWOG having a majority neurodivergent cast is comforting, fun, and canon-compliant. :)

[ryuichirou]

Out of all the snk shipping fandoms, which one do you think is the best/most wholesome? And which one is the worst/most toxic? Reminder that we’re talking about fandoms here and not ships (btw even tho I hate ereri I can’t help but love your art about it, it’s just amazing and hilarious, keep it up!)

Interesting question! As you might know, we don’t consider ourselves a part of any shipping fandom (or any fandom in general), so we can only talk about how we (and people we know) were treated by them. There won’t be much of an “inside” experience, because well we’re not “inside” any of these. And a lot of it is “people who ship X tend to shit on Ereri absolutely unprovoked at every chance they get, so we really don’t like them” lol

Obligatory and very obvious: loving a certain ship doesn’t make you a good/bad person, and there are a lot of wholesome people in any shipping fandom: we’ve met a lot of very kind, helpful and open-minded folks during these two years. So if any of you read this and think “oh, I ship X too, and this doesn’t sound like me or my friends at all”, chances are I’m not talking about you. But there’s always a possibility that peeps that you interact with in your shipping circle are pretty nice to you, but super mega shitty to others. Whether you ignore this type of behavior or not is up to you. I just want all the harassment to stop, because frankly we’re very tired.

As someone who ships Ereri, we’ve experienced and witnessed a lot lol especially on twitter. The most vocal ones would be Levihan, Eremin and Eruri fandoms I suppose.

With Eruri fandom, we’ve heard a lot of stories about some people bashing Zevi and attacking Zevi shippers + we’ve witnessed the great Eruri vs Ereri war, so of course we know how pretentious and rude they can get. There are people who felt like they were exiled from the Eruri shipping fandom for either shipping any other character with Levi or just seeing characters and their relationships differently (i.e. not seeing them as wholesome husbands or preferring Levi to bottom which is apparently a sin for Eruris too sometimes nowadays???). Although it’s important to mention that I feel like Eruri shippers know how shitty the anti stuff is better than a lot of other communities, so I don’t feel the same aggression from them at this moment.

If we’re talking twitter, based on what we and our friends have experienced, the most aggressive groups seem to be Levihan and Eremins. When I go through my blocking sprees and block everyone who hates on Ereri or Zevi or Eruri (well, mostly Ereri), ~88% of the accs happen to be either Eremin or Levihans. When someone writes a long-ass thread to attack a content creator, it always happen to be either of these two, and I have no idea why. A lot of them are also minors who act like the way they harass others is perfectly justified. I legit see stuff like “besties let’s spoil snk for ereris” and “let’s bully ereris and tell them to kys” every time I search ereri on twitter. And I’ve seen enough of Levihan folks saying shit like Eruris being criminals because Erwin is basically a nazi + spreading misinformation about popular artists just out of spite… extremely annoying stuff. Actually, I think you’re the first LH person who’s been kind to us lol

Also don’t get the idea that there are no toxic people in the Ereri community, because this simply isn’t true. Like I said, every fandom has its own clique and a certain level of toxicity, and it’s stupidly easy to be the “wrong one” here, at least it used to when we just started posting. People who’ve been following us for a while know that we used to get a lot of crap for making Levi a bottom on all of our drawings and not wanting characters to switch. It’s such a stupid reason to get harassed, who the fuck cares whether a character tops or bottoms in a drawing??? And yet we’ve been told that a lot of harassment has happened because of it + experienced it ourselves. I think the only reason we don’t get harassed for it very often nowadays is because of a luxury of being a kind of a big art account. It’s much easier to attack smaller ones who don’t have any power or connections, especially when they’re insecure and want to fit in with the fandom.

Now for some reason some people now think that we (me and Katsu) block people for loving top!Levi or bottom!Eren… this isn’t true. I admit that I can get petty when I block people, but it’s always about their attitude and never about their preferred ship or character’s position. Whether you like something or not is none of our business, and we never criticized what others like, so it’s kind of offensive that people think we’d act that way towards others when we ourselves experienced the same treatment for making Levi bottom every single time. It’s childish and disgusting, and I really don’t want people to think of us as someone who approves of this behavior.

Top!Levi stans act pretty toxic too sometimes, not only in Ereri (well Riren) community. The majority of comments about our Levi being ooc, looking like a child and being too horny and blushy we got from them, they get straight-up OFFENDED by our Levi. We’ve talked about how people are afraid to make Levi into anything but a serious and stoic manly man a lot in the past… And this is the only reason we get defensive when people ask us about top!Levi. But still, we never block anyone because of their preferences. This assumption is very... idk yikes, and more disgusting is the fact that people very easily jump to this conclusion, like... seriously? That’s what you think about us? So much for “uwu our supportive shipping fandom community”.

Shippers of het ships can get quite toxic too, especially after the finale. Some of Eremika peeps got wild, and you’ve probably seen our replies about it and that one Anon who got very upset with our reply about Eren. For some reason, when you post something het-related, there’s always going to be a person saying shit like “NAAAH HE LOVES X, NOT HER”, as if any of this matters. They are the type to whine about Eruri shippers ruining beautiful friendship between Erwin and Levi with their homo sexy stuff. They’re often disrespectful: shit in your comments, belittle other ships with comments like “well THIS is much better than X”, and overall make the experience very uncomfortable. For some reason they just can’t enjoy their darn ships without shitting on others.

Anyhow. I know this reply sounds like “everyone’s a shithead” lol, but once again: sadly, there are nasty people in almost every shipping circle, this is unavoidable. And it’s easier to mark them as “shippers of X”, because they often act like a clique or high school bullies or something. And even though there are a lot of very nice people, I tend not to associate them with any shipping community: it’s just a pleasant and cool person who we had fun communicating with, and who just happen to ship X, Y and Z.

Maybe… it’s fair to say that we dislike fandoms, but talking to people who are kind, polite and excited about the same things that we are, is always great.

Siiigh, hope I didn’t bore you to death with this reply. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to talk about this! And for enjoying my art and being open-minded :)

[shrimpmandan]

I’ve been reflecting some on my views lately.

I wanted to give my thoughts on the MOGAI community and my perspective on it as a neurodivergent trans person, and just kind of reflect on my stance on and understanding of it. This is really rambly because it's 3 AM and I'm tired, but this is just my own perspective on the MOGAI community and its relation to transmeds. I think the issue I have with MOGAI is mainly its conflation with being transgender, and how these terms are labeled with -gender at all.

To preface for anyone who doesn’t follow me and is just scrolling through tags, I'm autistic + ADHD, and to my knowledge a binary trans man. I consider myself a transmedicalist and anti-MOGAI, just on the basis that I don't think MOGAI genders can be, well, genders. From what I understand, gender is your neurological sex. I know there's been critiques of the brain sex theory, but it's the one that makes the most sense to me. In essence, your brain can't be pupgender because pupgender isn't a sex. I'm very science-oriented and I'm not inclined to support something as a label if it does not describe a real, proven occurrence. 

Though, I understand why people, particularly people with autism, use these labels. Some of them appeal to synesthesia, a complicated experience often comorbid with autism. I understand how an autistic person with synesthesia would 'feel' their gender. Hell, I know I do. I always described my gender as a feeling. Now, gender is more complicated than just 'a feeling', but my point stands. An autistic person may think their gender is foggy due to synesthesia, though I don't think there are any existing studies discussing such a correlation yet. Other labels, such as "autigender", are simply descriptors. It's not "my gender is autism", but rather "my gender is affected by my autism". This is where I have another issue. MOGAI labels are made for neurodivergent people, so why are they named in such a way that makes it really easy to misinterpret them literally? Even neurotypicals I've met see "autigender" and infer that it means "my gender is autism". Additionally, when getting into neopronouns, a lot of neurodivergent people have difficulties using or remembering neopronouns and how to conjugate them. I literally can't use nounself pronouns because it fucks with my language processing issues so much. But again, I can understand why they're used. Some neurodivergent people have difficulties using singular they/them. I read a post about someone having standard pronouns (he/she/they) be misophonia triggers, so they use neopronouns that don't trigger such a response. My only issue there is just how many there are. Thon/thons existed as a singular neutral pronoun at one point, and I think we should bring that pronoun back for folks who can't use standard pronouns comfortably, without having this laundry list of them.

In my opinion, MOGAI would be basically harmless if MOGAI genders weren't conflated with being transgender. Simply put, most transgender people can't relate to the MOGAI crowd. And by extension, what is MOGAI fighting for? How would their activism fit into ours? I know that many people who use MOGAI labels are also transgender, but some of 'em aren't. Some MOGAI users are cis neurodivergent people who have varying difficulties understanding or describing their gender. Now, I never experienced that, so I can't relate, but I can see it. I can see why a cis ND person would think "my gender feels kinda fuzzy" and then be like "fuck it, guess I'm fuzzgender." But, that doesn't make them trans. This weird conflation between MOGAI and being trans is extremely harmful and what a lot of people in transmed/anti-MOGAI circles take issue with. A lot of us don't relate to MOGAI and feel like our issues are being trivialized by this narrative that gender is just a fun way to express yourself, which is sadly not a reality for a lot of trans people, especially the teens who are pre-transition (the ones who are typically transmeds). It feels extremely invalidating for many. 

I think this is just down to the way MOGAI is presented. MOGAI was originally coined to be a more inclusive term for LGBT after all, and MOGAI genders are branded as, well, genders. I think that MOGAI should be rebranded and adjusted to be more cohesive (so that there aren’t a billion labels that are unused or just repeats of each other) as well as better described so that they don’t necessarily conflate with being trans. I've seen some people propose calling xenogenders "xenoidentities" instead, for example. "Xenodescriptors" could also work, possibly. I'm the type of person who tries to look for compromise. While I do put labels on my stances, my opinions on issues tend to be more complex than the label lets on. There's definitely a way to make both communities happy and healthy and fulfill their intended purposes. It's just difficult to get anything done when most of the online discourse is spent shitting on each other and harassing each other. I frequently see both transmeds and tucutes be doxxed, harassed, suicide baited, et cetera et cetera. That doesn't accomplish anything. That's just bullying. Name-calling and harassment is just bullying. If we could just facilitate a respectful, meaningful discussion and work together as communities to understand each other better and come to an agreement, then this discourse wouldn't need to go on any longer. Nothing is black and white. Both sides have their reasons for feeling the way they do. This applies to literally every other major LGBT discourse going on as well, from bi vs pan to acecourse to whatever the hell else. We need to make an effort to understand each other. This post is absolutely open for discussion if it doesn't get buried. I think I covered both sides pretty well but obviously the experiences of people who actually use MOGAI labels are much more important than my views from the outside. I’m cross-tagging this since I don’t want this to just be flooded with one side. I am actively welcoming interaction from either side on this post. Please just ignore this post/block me if you don’t wanna see it. This isn’t cross-tagged with malicious intent. I simply wish to gain more perspective on why people may use MOGAI labels, and also why other transmeds dislike them so. I obviously could be missing a few things.

[tsu9live]

Before I start, this is in no offence to anyone else’s opinion. You are all valid and probably make more sense than me. This is a bit of a rant and then a short character study.

Warning: This got too long.

I tend to come online for manga updates and ended up reading through opinion posts because I am a curious cat. Most of the time I come across really well-thought out posts, really valid points. But then MHA is also a soap opera/family drama where the main character is not supposed to have any progress in his story unless its to bolster or move along the other favs . But then they shouldn’t be bolstering his story either because why is a story about Deku’s journey all about Deku?

But then there are people who are happy Deku is finally edgy and they want him to wipe the floor with his classmates who love him and are willing to fight him if only to get through to him. So there are both extremes and honestly there is validity in all these thoughts because despite the writer’s intentions, a reader brings the story to life.

I personally hate making my own predictions because most of the time I feel it ruins the experience of reading a work for me. I go in with different expectations and when the story goes a different way I don’t enjoy it as much but I feel its more my fault.

So I do understand and respect the difference of opinion because there is no fandom without discourse.

In my opinion though, this Deku solo arc was a long time coming and I think Horikoshi has handled it really weird. I’m still trying to understand what he wants us to think about.

A story about heroes and putting your life on the line for someone else is controversial, but, I thought it was a given. Recklessness had been part of Deku’s character but an overly-cautious character would do nothing. Deku’s lack of self-preservation wasn’t unnatural for a hero, he rushed in to save Bakugo from the slime-villain when Pros stood by putting himself at risk but it spurred AM to act. Katsuki experienced it as well during the war arc, when his body moved to save Deku.

Going to Kamino to save Bakugo was suicidal, reckless and potentially flawed but story-wise it made sense. How is hero-work anything than risky? Kirishima and Todoroki initiated it.

Disclaimer: Deku, Bakugo, Uraraka, Momo, Toga and Shigaraki are characters that are very dear to me because they have had me extremely invested since the beginning of the story. This is my personal opinion, flaws, rant... basically me working through my feelings about this manga I had been obsessed with recently.

1) There is an opinion where Bakugo had a right to be upset/angry/bully Deku because he wanted to be a hero but did nothing for it. Firstly, I don’t understand the need to justify his behaviour when he himself has expressed regret on it. People want others to move on from the “go jump off the roof comment” but won’t stop talking about how everything about Bully Bakugo was justified. Deku was weaker, but he had the same dreams, dreams that were the basis of their friendship earlier on. Regardless of how Deku wanted to achieve them, Bakugo had no right to keep trying to stop him from doing so. No, 5, 10, 14 year old Bakugo did not do so because he had the brilliant foresight that Deku would be self-sacrificial and it was for his sake, he was an angry kid and Deku was a timid, wannabe that confused him, intimidated him even. Taking out his anger was a way of working through those feelings. He was in Deku’s words “a punching bag”. In a world where the powerful reign, Bakugo couldn’t understand how a quirk less, weak little boy could think he could stand shoulder to shoulder with someone as gifted as Bakugo. Yeah, society is very much to blame. The change and maturity Bakugo goes through where he is humbled by a cast of amazing hero students who are just as gifted yet with inspiring personalities and then traumatic consequences of being kidnapped, watching his hero use the last of his powers to hold back a great evil, having that fight with Deku where he bared himself open, failing the licensing exam, training with todoroki, the internship... the war has changed him in a way that has brought out his full potential as a hero and a person. There is a lot to admire about him yet I see so many people fixate on headcanons that glorify his every action/word instead of praising the amazing person he has become/how well written his growth has been.

2) “Deku wanted to be a hero and he did nothing for it”. “He could have been a quirkless hero like Batman.” Listen, the story is about AFO vs OFA first and foremost. Hori has done a good job of worldbuilding and adding a cast of interesting characters that its easy to forget what the main plot point of the story is. But it really is about a weak/timid boy who was born with a sort of handicap who dared to dream to be someone strong enough to have others rely on him instead. A lot of the times people want to become something they feel they needed, someone who gave people hope just by existing. Its natural for someone who is ‘considered useless’ to want to be the most useful person ever. His mother didn’t believe he could do it, Bakugo told him repeatedly he shouldn’t even try, everyone else made fun of him, and his hero gave him a wake-up call, no... you can’t be a hero without a quirk. Deku studied heroes and quirks all his life, hoping he’d find something that could work for his advantage. Not every hero relies on physical strength, their bodies are adapted to the nature of their quirks. Deku’s analysis, quick-thinking and impulsive nature is what helped him progress even after getting the quirk because he didn’t gain control until really late. People act like he was handed power, seem to forget he has just learned to use it without consequences. His studies of quirks also made him the best candidate to get new quirks, quirks that he has learned to utilise as tools quickly and efficiently. He was doing what he thought was going to help him become a hero without guidance, without backing and constant discouragements. Its admirable and relatable. If you don’t relate to him that’s fine, your life was different.

Batman was loaded. Deku is not an inventor. The Editors shot that idea down because it would not have survived in a genre where power fantasies are the main hooks. Aizawa, sure he’s training Shinso because he sees his potential now but he would have either expelled Deku/moved him to General studies on that first day for scoring the least in that test. He changed his mind not because of Deku’s quirk but because of Deku’s ingenuity.

When Deku did find his guidance, he tried to do years of work/training in a short period of time. He acknowledges how far behind he is, that the rest are leagues above him and all he wants is to be able to stand side by side with those incredible people and he would go to all lengths to do so. DEKU has never said he wants to be the number one hero. He always says he wants to be one so reliable he saves people with a smile and later on, he wants to be a hero that can save without having other people worry about him. Bakugo works hard, he’s not just exceptional he works hard for it, all of 1A do but saying Deku does nothing when he is constantly shown, studying, training his body, understanding his shortcomings and working on it is just petty. You don’t like him because of his saviour complex, newsflash, that is a hero thing. Hero course is about that, Deku’s is just highlighted because of how often he gets hurt. How can you be a Todoroki stan and hate Deku (although to be fair its your right, I’m just making a point), the kid saw Shouto and decided that it was more important for Shouto to stop hurting and gave him a hell of a fight. I still remember Shouto’s smile, it gave me goose bumps.

Deku’s lack of self-preservation is a part of his programming so much that he hasn’t noticed it yet. Deku broke his bones, but he didn’t realise the permanent damage. When Deku got injured with Muscular, he was never intending to fight him alone. He wanted backup, his phone was broken and he wanted to get Kouta out and tried but Muscular gave him no opening. He was driven into a corner and fought his way out. Like Aizawa said, “He got that injured because he has no intention of dying.” Before rushing to find Bakugo, he informed his superior first, knowing she can spread the message.

The fight with Stain, he messaged his location to all his classmates, didn’t intend to fight Stain alone, just defend Iida long enough for help to come along. Fight with overhaul, he just wanted to get Eri away and when he understood Eri’s power, he gave her the opportunity to fight back against her oppressor by teaming up with him, keeping her secure with the cape made out of Lemillion’s hair. During the whole fight he was present-minded enough to take the fight away from civilians and managed to prevent damage and casualties. During Natsuo’s rescue he played support.

During the war arc, he realised with despair that Shigaraki was coming in all his destructive glory for him and tried to stop him before but he didn’t object to Bakugo joining him. In the movie Heroes Rising (the initially planned ending) he willingly gave OFA to Bakugo, because he trusts him with his life, and was willing to be quirkless again if that’s what it took to keep the kids safe, and himself and Bakugo alive. Its mostly been good decisions on his part.

Its the war arc that’s been his downfall. Watching his childhood friend/rival almost die, his best friend, his mentors almost die while he could barely hold Shigaraki back set off a fight or flight response in him. The seriousness of how Shigaraki came for him and left such death and destruction in his wake because he was not strong enough and AFO is a monster and the sight of Shigaraki and the reality of his situation pushed him down the current path. His solo arc started well because constantly training in the field has helped him master his quirk, and he had the backup of the vestiges who trained and guided him in learning to use it as a toolset instead of a one-punch solution. Then coming face to face with the flaws of hero society and the power, manipulative nature and destructive intentions of AFO has prepared him emotionally. He is not acting like AM, he hasn’t in a while. He is acting like NANA and i don’t blame him because she’s in his head. No adult stopped him from doing this, instead using him as bait to lure out the league.

When they started realising he’s spiralling out of control, that’s when they realised they messed up.

He’s running on adrenaline/fumes alone and I think he’s actually terrified.

“AFO is OFA’s responsibility” “Tell the world I am here” “You’re not as strong as me yet,” “You are not a worthy successor”

Deku isn’t self-centered and but I agree with the screw loose comment (its years of “you are useless, not good enough, not worthy and I bet a dozen or so concussions, bloodloss, dehydration lol). I know Bakugo means well and that’s how he talks. At the moment, he’s probably the only one whose sole goal is Deku’s survival. Deku’s like a wild animal, terrified, lost and as always backed into a corner. AFO has him where he wants him and I am curious to see how class 1 A are going to get through to him. I don’t want them to fight, all those fanarts of Bakugo reaching his hand out to Deku and then maybe punching him in the face would have been a lot better then the mocking (the slow clap was a little triggering for me) but again maybe it just bothers me and Deku needs it. I’ll just have to wait and see. Deku and his class together would be an unstopabble force and I am waiting for that to finally happen.

P.S. Class 1 A looks so mature, everyone going crazy about Bakugo and his tie and I’m here like, look at baby Kirishima and his roots <3

I’m sorry if I gave anyone a headache lol.

[okayto]

Mini-Review: Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!

I’m so glad @littlestartopaz​ recommended this to me, because it was SO GOOD.

Yuta wants to start high school afresh: new school far from home, new classmates who don’t know he spent middle school acting out the fantasy of being the mysterious and magic “Dark Flame Master,” new him. But one of his classmates has delusions of her own, and after she accidentally discovers his embarrassing past, Yuta is unwillingly drawn into her life and a growing circle of friends with their own quirks.

The “chunibyo” of the title basically means “8th grade syndrome;” a phase in middle school where some kids inhabit and act out their own fantasy stories, positing themselves as dark magicians, magical girls, and other wielders of magical powers.

I had avoided this for a while, until it was specifically recommended to me, because honestly, it sounds embarrassing, right? It sounds like it’s gonna be an embarrassing manic pixie dream girl scenario. But what it actually contains is the story of how a mixed bag of students--some actively chunibyo, others not--become friends and develop very endearing close relationships, while arguing and frustrating each other because that’s what friends do.

Now, the idea of being the star of what’s essentially your own fantasy-action anime is embarrassing, but what’s notable is that the show doesn’t really hold the chunibyo characters up for mockery. Sure we might laugh at them, but hey--it’s funny to watch friends be silly together. And most viewers, just like some of the characters who have moved on from their chunibyo phases, probably easily understand the mix of soul-wrenching embarrassment and (mild?) fond sentiment that comes with remembering our middle school selves.

But let’s be real: the reactions the two former chunibyo students, Yuta and Shinka have to being reminded of middle school, are #RELATABLE

Rikka, our title chunibyo, in particular uses her fantasy in part to cope with grief, coming from an extended family that (without getting spoilery) didn’t help a young girl to deal with a very hard and life-changing time. Now that she’s in high school, her older sister blackmails Yuta (using an a voice recording of one of his chunibyo speeches) into helping deal with Rikka and things (like the cat she wants to adopt) that pop up.

One thing the show is very good at, though, is not making a single thing the reason behind a character’s chunibyo. One may have started their fantasy inspired by another person, or prompted by an event, but it’s also (while active) part of their personal narrative that influences how they spent their free time, how they see the world and keep blogs or diaries, etc.

But at the same time, they’re still teenagers, and their inner view of themselves...doesn’t always translate skills.

I said the show is primarily about friendship. A lot of that friendship is between Yuta and Rikka, but they accumulate a little group, mainly through Rikka’s attempt to start a magic club. Recruit 1: Kumin, a polite, quiet senpai with no chunibyo history or aspirations.

Kumin starts off seeming like a background character, but by the second season it’s clear she’s not just there for jokes about how she’ll take a nap anywhere. She’s perceptive, and genuinely enjoys watching the others act out their scenarios.

Compared to the other characters who are boisterous in their chunibyo activities (Rikka, Deko, Satone), or vociferously trying not to get drawn in to chunibyo activities (Yuta, Shinka), Kumin is happy to watch and offer encouragement, but she’s also willing to participate if a chunibyo scenario calls for a group.

Incidentally, the show does a really interesting thing where occasionally, we’ll be drawn “inside” the chunibyo world, seeing what Rikka/Deko/whoever see: a fantasy land, big magical weapons, anime-grade magical attacks. Occasionally we’ll also see what this “really” looks like--a couple people running around waving umbrellas at each other--but often we only get the fantasy version. It’s clear that Rikka and co. are legitimately on some level engaging in a shared imagination, and the times when a reluctant character (particularly Yuta or Shinka) willing steps in to the shared illusion are genuinely sweet.

Speaking of, Shinka (aka Morisummer) became one of my favorite characters. Like Yuta, she was chunibyo (”Morisummer the magician”); like Yuta, she chose a high school where she didn’t know anyone expressly so she could reinvent herself as a normal teen. And like Yuta, she’s getting dragged kicking and screaming into chunibyo again.

It would’ve been so easy to make her a bad character. She’s pretty, puts a lot of effort into being popular and likable at school, trying to keep up a good teen girl image, despite being fairly sarcastic at her core. And as loathe as she is to admit it, she likes her friends (even if she won’t admit they’re friends, even if half of them are actively chunibyo, even if she says she’s only hanging around so she can make sure all traces of chunibyo-Morisummer are erased from the internet).

Shinka gets drawn in to the group through Rikka’s apparently only pre-existing friend: Deko, a fellow chunibyo who follows Rikka (or “Eye of the Wicked Lord Shingan”) as her master, and is extremely devoted to the great magician Morisummer. So devoted, in fact, that she has several physical copies of Morisummer’s book containing all her wisdom...aka Shinka-Morisummer’s blog, which Shinka has tried to erase all trace of.

Needless to say, the two don’t seem to get along great.

Deko’s dedication to chunibyo and Morisummer irks Shinka; Shinka’s claim to be Morisummer irks Deko, who refuses to believe the great magician could ever be this sarcastic, mundane girl. Deko’s refusal irks Shinka, bringing out the sarcasm and bluntness Shinka tries to hide from the school at large.

Obviously, they actually become close friends, but heaven help you if you actually say so.

The entire series is an exploration of relationships, and Yuta’s developing closeness with Rikka (hey, we knew it was going to happen) is also sweet. He’s a genuinely likable boy, embarrassed by the vestiges of his former self he sees in Rikka, but often willing to meet her on her level, and both of them also learn/reaffirm the importance of doing things their way, and keeping both of them comfortable, rather than acting a certain way or performing specific acts just because their classmates think their relationship status mandates it.

Speaking of classmates--and I know this is getting long but I CAN’T HELP IT, I LIKED SO MANY ASPECTS OF THIS SERIES--the characters aren’t ridiculed at school. Sure, some people think they’re weird, but there’s no shunning, no arc involving teasing or bullies. Rikka’s often content as a loner, but when she attempts to join in a social circle, she’s welcomed. Shinka’s obsessed with reinventing herself and appearing normal and seems to think that otherwise she’ll be cast out, but multiple characters mention that others at the school notice how she behaves (oddly, on occasion) and there are no social repercussions. Truly nice for a show that has characters spending quite a lot of time in school.

Verdict

English dub? Yes, and it’s got strong performances. Rikka’s voice actor in particular does a fantastic job capturing the difference between chunibyo!Rikka’s confidence and command, and regular!Rikka’s, well, normal awkward teenageness. (Plus, I also found her lower-than animegirl-average voice enjoyable.) (Double plus, I honestly think her English voice is better than her original Japanese voice at showing the difference between her emotions and chunibyo/reality.) Deko’s VA is fantastic showing the enthusiasm of the 9th grader (and what enthusiasm, Deko is like the Energizer Bunny), and Shinka’s VA manages to show her alternating annoyance, cheerfully sweet ideal self, and organizized leader voices.

Visuals: Fine, and I really liked the chunibyo designs for each character’s chunibyo phase. The contrast between chunibyo-vision (giant magic weapons; mysterious lights, fantasy landscapes) and reality (an umbrella or soup ladle; a strip of lights taped to the floor; a local park) was really well done.

Worth watching? Yessss. It’s very manageable--two 12-episode seasons--and while each season contains its own arc (you could stop after the first one, but why), together they make an excellent story. Heck, I think the second season is equal to, if not better than, the first, because the friend group is well-established and even more fun to watch.

Where to watch (USA, as of October 2020): Netflix (dub, sub); Crunchyroll (sub), HIDIVE (sub & dub, plus OVAs and film)

Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!

[genderbinaryisforlosers]

everyone on the carte blanche for the ask meme

everyone? oh boy this is gonna get long ajfhdsf

JUNO

First impression: i, like a lot of people who get into the podcast without knowing a great deal about it, was expecting at most an ambiguously bisexual angst machine with a closely-guarded heart of gold. juno being an explicitly bisexual genderqueer angst machine is perhaps the most pleasant surprise of my life. the angst machine heart of gold characters were kind of my type at the time, so i loved him right away

Impression now: every time i think about juno’s arc from depressed mess held together by bad coping mechanisms, safety pins, and a few good strong puns into someone who can talk about his feelings, feel comfortable about being happy, and recognise when he needs to change, i want to cry about it a little bit. the depth of my love for juno steel has only grown along with him

Favourite moment: juno has a lot of great one-liners and i’m still a big fan of the “on the other hand i wasn’t wearing a watch” bit and who can forget such classics as juno finally deciding to stop moping over nureyev and move on only for him to open the door to his apartment and find nureyev sitting in the dark dramatically, but honestly nothing will ever hit me harder than his sudden, pissed-off declaration of “i can’t die yet, i still have shit to do!” in promised land. god.

Idea for a story: oh i have so many and i want to write most of them so no spoilers, but juno accidentally kidnaps a baby during a carte blanche heist and shenanigans ensue

Unpopular opinion: obviously we all know he’s dummy thicc but i feel like a lot of people forget he’s an actual genius, like the stuff he notices and how he strings it together is sometimes so obscure and he’s almost always right. oh, also juno is not skinny and i will not be taking criticism on that

Favourite relationship: this is so tough because every dynamic is so good, but i think it has to be juno and rita. those two are so good! the best best friends in the world!! i’m really a sucker for any dynamic that’s ridiculously in-sync so i loved these two as soon as juno saw rita’s notes in prince of mars and went “makes perfect sense to me” (which it probably didn’t, because rita, but he trusted that she knew what she was doing which is the important part)

Favourite headcanon: this isn’t really a headcanon but i still think about how juno is (was?) deathly afraid of heights but when he heard rex glass coming he still attempted to climb out of the window. either his aversion to working with dark matters/other people in general was so strong is overrided his fear, or his office was actually on the ground floor. not sure which of these is funnier.

NUREYEV

First impression: we’ve all seen the memes about nureyev knowing juno steel for one (1) day and deciding to Risk It All by leaving him with his name, look at this Hopeless Romantic, this utter DISASTER of a homosexual. the fact the very next time we hear from nureyev (at least directly) he’s patiently waiting in juno’s dark apartment to surprise him with a heist definitely supports this image.

Impression now: even after literally being inside peter’s head, i feel like we didn’t get a real sense of who he is until man in glass, where we find out he aggressively compartmentalises everything that causes him stress. he’s also distinctly someone who’s had his heart broken before, i think, which makes those first appearances of his very strange. but it does remind me of what juno says about diamond, and how he decided to provide the trust first and wait for the trustworthiness to grow in (only to get severely hurt), and i think that’s exactly what nureyev did. i am also... very uneasy with how suspicious he’s behaving this season because obviously i want to believe he’ll sort it all out and not betray the crew but... oof

Favourite moment: the beginning of what lies beyond pt1 where he’s affectionately bullying juno into taking care of himself? cleared my crops watered my skin etc etc etc

Idea for a story: i’d love to hear more about his past as a young thief idolising buddy and vespa (i can’t actually remember if that’s canon or fanon but anyway i wanna read it!)

Unpopular opinion: i think people often cling to an image of him that more resembles his first impressions in season 1 instead of seeing the depth that we’ve been given about his character in season 3

Favourite relationship: him and juno but honestly it’s a close call between them and his budding friendship with rita. even though she learned it by accident, his name is still a point of intimacy and it’s one less secret to keep around her which has to be a weight off his shoulders, at least a little? they seem like they could be really good friends once ultrabots is out of the way. juno steel love (and also bullying) zone activates whenever they’re together

Favourite headcanon: i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - nureyev has never done a household chore in his goddamn life. he doesn’t know the water needs to be hot when you wash dishes.

RITA

First impression: honestly i’m not sure? i don’t remember having a big awareness of her in murderous mask but i remember loving her “note-taking” in prince of mars, i thought she sounded really fun and cute

Impression now: rita is really fun and cute, she’s also an extremely hardworking and dedicated woman who had the guts to throw in with a detective fired from the force and then invest all of her time and money into helping him help people.

Favourite moment: Rita Gets A Knife. enough said

Idea for a story: i don’t know honestly! i really struggle to write rita because her thought processes are so wild and i don’t think any story i could come up with would match mega ultrabots of cyberjustice.

Unpopular opinion: this shouldn’t be unpopular because juno steel himself shares this opinion but all future-jupeter headcanons are incomplete without rita also being a huge part of their lives

Favourite relationship: rita + franny 4ever obviously.. jk it’s juno & rita have you heard rita minute 3 they’re too adorable for this world. im still Soft over their conversation at the end of soul of the people when he said he couldn’t stay in hyperion anymore but he wouldn’t leave with the carte blanche if rita wasn’t coming because he was done leaving her behind, and she threw out all her hesitations on the spot and said call the big guy. speaking of, rita & jet are a close second. instant best friends i love them.

Favourite headcanon: i think this is basically canon now but rita being literally half the height of jet is so good

JET

First impression: “haha lorge funny man puts juno in the trash”

Impression now: jet sikuliaq is one of the dearest characters to me out of anything ever. he is a huge, menacing, polite, kind, sincere man who i would very much like to give me a hug. he’s the best aro ace in outer space and while being generally very levelheaded and straightforward, also takes every opportunity to fuck with juno because it’s very easy and very hilarious to him personally. he is everything my autistic acearo ass needed and i’m so glad to have him

Favourite moment: all of them every single one. him putting juno in the trash is of course a classic and every moment jet chooses to be funny makes my heart happy, but also every piece of genuine advice he gives. i’m a particular fan though of buddy recounting her years in the lighthouse and him saying he became concerned when she didn’t come downstairs at the usual time. “you took the door off its hinges.” “i was deeply concerned.” king of understatement

Idea for a story: again no spoilers for you but..... tools of rust time loop au

Unpopular opinion: this isn’t “unpopular” as much as it is unknown but jet is buddy’s queerplatonic partner and i will keep saying it until everyone believes it

Favourite relationship: jet and buddy,,, just everything about them. the way he suspects when she’s lying, the way she makes tea for him when she expects him to drop by. the fact he comes to check on her when she is 41 seconds late to the family meeting because it’s unlike her to be late and the last time she was late for something her brain was turning to radiation soup. but most especially the way she snaps at him to stay out of her business and he said he could not because he made her promise eight years ago to never stay out of the business of her health, no matter how many times she asked. they r literally in a qpr

Favourite headcanon: i don’t think this is true but i still think it would be funny if the ruby-7 used to be painted red but when jet got it he had it painted green because he Just Really Likes Green (as evidenced by his hovercycle). it’s very funny to me.

BUDDY

First impression: it’s been a minute since i relistened to time gone by but i’m pretty sure the first thing she ever says in the podcast is sliding up to depressed accidental whiskey thief juno and say “that’ll be ten million creds,” scaring the shit out of him, so needless to say i was in love instantly.

Impression now: my love for buddy aurinko has only grown and if it sounds like i already said that in this post it’s because i did about juno and it’s appropriate because the parallels are astounding. the heart of it all gave us such depth to buddy’s internal monologue and why she always sounds like she knows exactly what to say and what that’s like and honestly will i ever be over the heart of it all as an episode? unlikely. i think i’m gonna have a little piece of it in MY heart forever.

Favourite moment: everything she’s ever said is iconic as hell i especially like “in an impressive fit of hubris i’ve decided not to prepare my words for this vow” which made me laugh out loud but once again i must give it up for her iconic “I WANT TO LIVE” moment. honourable mentions to her taking rita out for ice cream and giving juno shooting lessons while she’s in her actual wedding gown. i love her

Idea for a story: buddy and vespa as sun/moon dieties.... that’s all

Unpopular opinion: stop drawing her with a fancy high-tech eye like the theia!! it canonically looks like garbage and it’s described in detail, please, i’m dying, also don’t minimise her scars you bastards

Favourite relationship: buddy and vespa invented romantic love and the entire carte blanche crew’s relationship to her is great but you know by now i’m a slut for buddy & jet out-of-this-world queerplatonic partners. the way she checks in on him during tools of rust to make sure he’s not relapsing and he comes to find her when she is 41 seconds late in the heart of it all to make sure she’s not having a heart problem!! it’s the trust,, the devotion,, the mortifying ordeal of being known

Favourite headcanon: she can sing. absolutely tears it up at karaoke. i’m right

VESPA

First impression: knife lesbian goes STAB. she will heal your wounds but she will be threatening to give you more the whole time

Impression now: she is extremely strong, heart-rendingly tender, and despite being in the older half of the carte blanche crew somehow has unmistakable little sister energy which makes her downright hilarious. i’m so glad she got to marry buddy and they’re official space wives now they’re so good for each other

Favourite moment: both from shadows in the ship, either “GUN!!” “KNIFE?!” (iconic) or when she clocks the dark matters drone pretending to be juno because it called her crazy and juno wouldn’t call her crazy. i’m always a sucker for “shapeshifter fails to fool mark because they Know Each Other Too Well” and it was just *chefs kiss* so good

Idea for a story: i really want to write something about when she was first staying at the lighthouse with buddy post-reunion, and getting to know jet and stuff. i think it would be cute

Unpopular opinion: i know vespa doesn’t canonically have lots of scarring but people who don’t draw her with scarring? cowards.

Favourite relationship: once again, although buddy and vespa invented romantic love, i just love the dynamic between vespa and juno so much. they’ve come so far with each other and their weird sibling dynamic gives me life. at the end of what lies beyond when juno says “we’re not gonna kill her, vespa” and instead of sounding full of Rage and Suspicion she’s like “whyyy notttt?” and he’s like “because i said so!” and that’s just good enough for her even if she’s a bit grumpy about it. i love it.

this took.. a hot minute to do! jshkfjsdgsa thank you dyl ily <3

[sugar-petals]

TAROT › Baekhyun’s Personality Reading

↳ // CARO’S NOTE ⇁ Even if he’s so outgoing, I always felt Baekhyun was quite a mystery. So I asked the Tarot about his character: What drives him, what’s on his mind, what possibly shaped him. The cards ended up giving me a much deeper take than expected, but I decided to share it.

DISCLAIMER // tarot is speculative, there is no guarantee for accuracy. believing in the cards is a choice. all portrayals are for entertainment purposes only.

☞ decks used — rider-waite tarot + soul oracle cards

I. TAROT SPREAD

the cards: 3 OF SWORDS + 5 OF CUPS + 8 OF SWORDS

I’ll say this right off the bat, and I think you can tell by how these images look like. There’s something weighing heavy on him. All of these cards point towards an event of distress having taken place with the consequences being more present than ever. One shows the moment of heartbreak (3 OF SWORDS), the other a sentiment of loss (5 OF CUPS), the other a situation where you’re completely helpless and trapped (8 OF SWORDS). You can see a mourning theme going on, this is what impacted his character the most. Whether it’s a death of a beloved, trauma, break-up, abuse, disillusionment, there’s something that stays on his mind and determined much of who he is. Baekhyun is more  sentimental than we see him, nor is he as extroverted.

In fact, he broods very often and feels regret. Baekhyun is very much enclosed in his own shell. We see him as happy and bouncy with a lot of mischief and humor, yet the cards tell us how his personality is not built on positivity the way the world perceives it. He misses someone who is or was important to him and feels a lot of emotional (cups) and mental (swords) constriction. All of these cards are painted in either cloudy or dull grey, this is how his mind appears to him. Baekhyun feels unfree and burdened by a disappointment that was much more personal to him than he could handle, and he still can’t. If the Tarot were to describe his character in one word, it’d be preoccupied. Heavily so, with effects on his mental health and social life. It’s a state of being puppeteered by oneself but especially the outside, much like the way the outcast bound woman appears in the third image. This drives him to so much work ethic and humor, he is desperate to escape the condition.

See the three cards as a progression: He was hurt, felt the sadness of separation, and got stuck in the recovery without having moved on. In fact, he feels like he is going backwards every day, or nowhere essentially. He’s beating himself up for not being happy or okay. Baekhyun is currently stuck in paralysis on the inside and terrorized by a memory or chain of sorrowful events as the FIVE OF CUPS says. Someone behaved heartlessly toward him, whether it’s a bully, a bigot, or someone he had high hopes about, deliberately or not. It left a lot of bitterness and anguish, intrusive thoughts and victim mentality. He feels tossed around by the circumstances and entirely stuck. Loss of power is what I’m getting, and he’s not confident to get back what he lost or at least move on. A lot of the resulting loneliness has shaped him from the ground up.

Grief having five steps, Baekhyun went missing in stage three and never bargained or accepted. The THREE OF SWORDS appears when someone is gravely depressed about a dejection, the other two cards tell the same story. Whatever he feels bitter towards has not resolved and drives his every action. Or rather, re-action, at this point he doesn’t believe he can act on his own. He does things with a stance of hoplessness and doesn’t find fun in activities because he feels like he’s being toyed with. The EIGHT OF SWORDS on top of that points toward an instance of discrimination, censorship of character, and punishment to the point of getting ostracized (the swords on the card form a barrier). He has grown overcareful but feels like no matter what he does, he is controlled. Instead or rebelling or finding alternatives, he gave up and went along.

He also experiences physical pain that he feels defined by. The swords cards speak of both a piercing (the stabbed heart) and suffocating (the person in ropes) ache of some kind. Baekhyun is very tested by illness and/or discomfort. It’s giving him not just frustration, but a recurring test to his energy. Something has shattered his esteem and boundaries, severe enough for him to become paralyzed about it. Caged in the body is what I’m getting from the EIGHT OF SWORDS. His baggage is extreme. There’s nobody he can talk to about his problem and it isolates him. He’s become self-reliant that way, but it appears to him as if he is not going anywhere nor does he see his path (see the blindfold). Like this guy desperately needs a silver lining. In the FIVE OF CUPS, you can see the cloaked man crying over the three spilled chalices, but there are still two filled ones behind him, and there is a stream to get water from nearby. It’ll take an act of choosing for the man to turn around and see what good things he has and can get regardless of the heartbreak that happened. As concerning as the spread is, I think that moment will happen in Baekhyun’s life very soon.

II. ORACLE CARD SPREAD

the cards: FLOW (reverse) + STANDSTILL

Much like the three tarot cards, these oracles express the same sentiment. They’re both similar topics: First blocked flow and stagnation, then being passive rather than active. He’s on halt and lives with the breaks on. Baekhyun may appear as if he can steer anything to his favors and tag along in any situation, but his inner self is the opposite. He is much more observant and reserved, withdrawn. Talking a lot is unlike him. He’s not a born social creature, more like someone domestic who wants to retreat and sit. If he has to exit his bubble, he has to force himself. Reversed FLOW: There is coercion into unnaturalness. If he could, Baekhyun would go against convention 10 times out of 10. 

In absolute liberty, we would not see him live a standard life within the circumstances or ruling standards, whatever that may be. I think he would restructure what is classically considered as idol lifestyle to an extreme if he had the opportunity. I think what these cards want to say is that he is waiting for something in that regard. And that he is needing to heal, he knows he needs a time-out. The STANDSTILL card is all about a pause button and immersing oneself in a meditative state. His real self is hungry for silence and introspection and being left alone. All else does not come easy to him, he has to try hard and feels miserable if he has to exit his comfort zone which these cards say is strongly developed. 

Baekhyun uses his entire energy backups for his job. All of these cards are pointing at that he perpetually runs on low battery and works against himself in a way that makes him walk in circles, or even feel like he’s just standing there and everyone’s life is happening but not his. As in, he can’t put his passion into things he wants to pursue since he spends his vitality elsewhere. Baekhyun also feels as if his time is running out and he misses countless chances, that there is so much to do but he can’t compel himself to do anything. Yes, he has a lot of wishes, but not the means and mindset to deliberately create those instances where he can feel more fulfilled. Those are all heavy emotions, so I can see why the third tarot card and STANDSTILL conclude the spreads on the right, he feels very cornered and has become secretive. He will need more seclusion to sort things out on his own, peacefully, maybe in nature. This is something he can only sort out in his mind and fully resting.

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[stitch1830]

What are the dunebabies flaws?

Hi Anon, thank you for the ask! It’s a silly question, though. My dunebabies are flawless.

LMAO I’m just kidding. I like this, though, because it’s making me sit down and really think about the flaws of these characters that I’ve made up. Flaws are probably the most important characteristics in my opinion… kind of makes the character dynamic and relatable, so this is a good exercise! Thanks :)

I’m going to be going off my 4 dunebabies (Lin, Gyatso, Suyin, and Kenji) and let’s see how this goes!

Lin: Like all Beifongs, Lin is stubborn. But she’s so stubborn, she doesn’t let go of things and she spends a lot of time holding grudges. Lin is this amazing person that cares deeply for her friends and family and has a ton to offer the world, but some of her thoughtfulness is forgotten because she can’t let go of people, things, or instances that hurt her. I don’t have her going on a 20 year silent treatment with any of her family members, but she does hold onto experiences longer than she needs to. Someone may have lied to her about something and she’ll never forget it, which in turn stops her from telling them things because why would she? They lied to her. Because of this, she has trouble opening up and trusting others.

Gyatso: He’s too trusting. He loves people and hearing their stories and believes everyone has a heart of gold. His naivety leads him into giving more than he should or just believing everything a person says. It’s hard for him to really grasp that not everyone has other people’s best interest at heart, and when he finds that people can and will let him down, it’s very disheartening for him. And yet, when the next person comes around in his life that asks for more than they should, he tries to help. He’s been burned a lot by people, but he doesn’t know how to put up some walls to protect him and his family. This was especially a problem when he was younger and people tried to get at Toph and Aang through their kids. There have been some close calls where Gyatso was almost kidnapped or gotten his siblings in bad situations and his parents had many stern conversations with him about this.

Suyin: She’s got a “It’s my way or the highway” mentality. She always thinks she’s right. And Suyin is a relatively smart kid, so it’s easy for people to just go “yeah, okay. Let’s do that.” But there are instances where her instinctual decision is too rash or unrealistic, and she cannot let go of her way or find compromise. She’s so used to people giving her what she wants that she doesn’t react well to being said no to. Her inability to listen to other can lead to some innovative things, but it also squashes other people’s ability to lead or think. The only ones that are ever really able to talk with her or reason with her are her family and loved ones, which is good, but even they have trouble having her see where she’s wrong.

Kenji: He’s rather complacent, or just satisfied with his life. And that’s not a terrible thing, but he never offers his thoughts or opinions unless it benefits him. He was bullied a bit as a young kid, so he quickly stopped speaking his mind about things. This led him to just… not ever providing input to any situation ever. He never chooses to speak up and he never provides an opinion on a highly debatable topic. He’d rather keep all his thoughts to himself. He can help friends and family when they need his advice, but he usually gives short answers. And while he has things that he could share with the world, he just doesn’t because 1) he worries about people making fun of him again and 2) he simply doesn’t want to tell others. He’ll talk to his family, he’s never had a problem with them, but if council members came up to him and asked what he’s going to do with his life, he probably won’t answer them.

Sometimes I have trouble seeing characteristics as flaws, only because you can often spin them into positive traits Lol. So sometimes I see the benefits in flaws. I don’t see these particular traits as being terrible things, the issue just comes when they’re a little too extreme, which I think they are for the dunebabies. I’ve never taken the time to think about any terrible conflict the family has with their kids, but I would venture to guess that arguments stem from their extreme trait butting heads with the other big personalities in the family, if that makes sense.

Thank you for sending in the question, Anon. This was really great!

Send me questions, asks, or headcanons about Taang, Zutara, and Sukka!