#i actually like some characters being JUST friends. nothing more

[life-is-more-than-just-a-game]

Can you make a jealous chishiya? Where chishiya tells the reader to thet information about arisu but the reader and arisu gets along prety well and chishiya gets jealous? Thank you.

♠️ Chishiya being jealous about you and Arisu getting along pretty well ♠️

A/N: Hey, sorry for letting you wait so long. Maybe you have already forget that you wrote me this request but I like the idea behind it, so I decided to make this my "comeback". 👀

I'm actually not sure if I understood it the correct way, but I definitely understood you want a Chishiya who is jealous about the fact Arisu and you are get along splendidly. 😋

Hopefully it reaches you and I also hope you will enjoy reading this. ♥️

Characters: Chishiya

POV: gn!reader

Warnings: Not given.

C h i s h i y a

I don't see him being a jealous person actually.

Unless you give him a reason to ...

Chishiya isn't even a person who falls in love easily.

But when he is falling for someone, he falls pretty hard.

So, you have to deal with his feelings and his behavior when he sees you together with Arisu, chatting and laughing together as if there would be no tomorrow.

Okay, to be fair, nobody knows if there would be a "Tomorrow" ... but that's something different!

Arisu may be a great help to him when it comes to collecting all the cards, but sometimes Chishiya thinks Arisu is his downfall.

Especially when it comes to you.

Yeah, but don't think he will talk about it- he is more concerned with hiding his feelings from you than actually speaking about them.

Even if you already have realized something isn't okay with him, he wouldn't admit it.

"I'm used to it that you are not talking much when there is nothing important to discuss about." "I can hear your "but" even though you didn't said it yet." "Then guess what I wanted to say next." "I don't have any problems, I feel fine, no worries."

Nobody said it would be easy with him. He can be as cold as he looks and it's hard seeing through him, even for you.

Still, he can be a calm and cool person as much as he wants- but he's just a human being. You can endure a lot, but at some point everyone reaches their limits.

You and Arisu are talking a lot? Fine.

Arisu makes a joke you find funny, so he watches both of you laughing and having fun with each other? Alright, you aren't his trophy, everyone can have other friends next to his own partner.

But seeing both of you hugging after a game ...

Because you saw someone die in front of your eyes and you are now overwhelmed by many different emotions ...

Well, enough is enough.

"Step aside, Arisu, that's not your part, alright?"

He was waiting for you the entire time you were in the building, so it's not hard for him to find you both outside being ... needy.

"In the future, you'd better keep your hands to yourself." "Excuse me what was that?" "You already understand."

While Chishiya switches positions with Arisu and holds you captive in his arms, he just gives the dark-haired man a warning look.

… Even if unintentionally.

… And unconsciously.

"Well ... I better go then and ... leave both of you alone ... for now." Arisu lets off of you, leaving you to the person who means the most to you. "You better do."

Trying to catch your breath and calm down, you look up to Chishiya and Arisu alternately, feeling the tension between them.

Still, you can't help but start giggling a little.

Arisu und Chishiya both start looking at you now, irritated and confused.

"W-Well, wait ... just to make it clear- is there someone ... really ... jealousy?" "Yes, he is." "No, I'm not", he says calmly. "Okay, then ... let me hug Arisu again ... s-shouldn't be a problem when everything is okay. Right?"

Silence.

You smiling up to Chishiya, who is now biting his tongue and pressing his lips together, not even thinking about letting off of you.

Arisu watching in amusement.

"I'm ... just not fine seeing another one be there for you while I can be there for you. It's my job to cheer you up- even though I'm not the best in it, but I'm trying very hard." "You ARE jealousy, Chi!" "Oi, stop saying this, will you ... ?"

[doledition]

whitney and affection

so. not a whitney fucker. a semi whitney enjoyer. yet there's something so...fascinating about whitney, so demented and truly strange about their behaviors, that makes me want to psychoanalyze them.

dolville, as we all know, is Rape Capital. Rape-Opolis. The super capital of getting abducted and violated. violation is the name of the game in dolville, whether it's mental physical or emotional. even characters who are considered fairly 'tame' or vanilla, also have their moments of violation- whether it be sydney during the rite of defilement (though it's arguable as to what extent sydney was fully lucid during it) to losing affection with robin if you refuse to sleep w them.

affection is tainted in dolville. it is a display of control, given by force. whitney is perhaps our most egregious example besides well. eden.(and i can do a lot on eden). whitney, from the onset, is violent. our first interaction w them is getting their knee shoved into our crotch. that is how we are introduced to them- as a menace, a violator. they're the most 'antagonistic' out of all the main li's right off the bat. i remember reading somewhere that vrel views whitney as a 'main antagonist' in dol, along with kylar and eden, though i could be off base with this.

anyways, even as we continue throughout the game, whitney is still the same level of cruel to us as in early game, except with more tender moments to balance it out. still, these methods of expressing affection remain a constant throughhout the game, even with high love. (granted, the dom and lust level also affects how whitney treats us but we'll get to that) whitney oftentimes takes on the role of a pimp for the player. there are many, many instances of whitney randomly grabbing the player up, as though in a scene of goodwill, and then marching them over to some rando in the park to pimp. and rest assured, you still won't be making any money, even at high love.

regardless of any amount of affection, really, whitney's behaviour continues to be cruel and violating, with no regards for pc's comfort. yet, there are tender, almost kind moments interspersed throughout our interactions with whitney. whether it's borne out of actual love for the pc or a need to display 'dominance' over them is well, debatable.

this does not negate, however, whitney's deep affection over the pc. whitney treats us how they were taught to treat others, not with respect but through a display of dominance, a need to prove how 'tough' and in control they are. whitney does not truly see pc as a person, but a toy-one they like, of course, but still a toy. pc's autonomy is nothing in their eyes, but a pesky thing to constantly contest with.

some people may say this is because whitney is just attempting to gain status, and inclusion, into their group of friends. however, while that may partly factor into why whitney treats pc as a prop, i'd argue that this isn't entirely the reasoning. i'd say whitney, at the end of the day, views pc more as a thing- a fun little thing, desperate and barking to play with-instead of a person.

this is magnified by pc's every move-if pc gives into them, this image is further solidified. if pc fights back, it beguiles them, entrances them to know more. we are treated very differently than whitney's other victims, entirely there's to torment. circling back to my earlier point of affection, whitney's treatment of the pc, their way of showing affection, is dependent on pc being a site of stress relief, a toy to play with, one without any capability of feeling any real animosity towards whitneys actions.

tl;dr: affection is violence, a display of strength, and cruelty to whtney. to get someone to love you, as the town has shown, you cannot respect them as a person. you must display your strength, and your great ability for violence and control. affection without violence and cruelty is not affection at all, now is it? (i wrote this pseudo-analysis on a whim very tired and without cross referencing the game so if there's something i'm missing or misinterpreted please let me know. also i probably just rehashed a bunch of Very Obvious Things so uh. twirls my hair.)

[mari-lair]

hello ! i love your fics and analysis! I was wondering which tbhk ships you think will become endgame?

Anon I have the most white bread of answers but since you asked-

1 - Hananene.

Nene starts the manga by wanting a date. It doesn't matter with who, any hot guy will do. She has many infatuations but isn't in love with anyone, she just want to be loved.

Nene has a lot of small character developments in different areas throughout the manga, but her strongest and most consistent change is her increasing love for Hanako and her acceptance of it.

She is still a girl with a ton of emotions, and she finds hot people attractive BUT now she want Hanako and only Hanako. She rejects everyone she used to have a crush on, there is no doki doki's when she gets the attention of pretty people cause they aren't the boys she wants attention from anymore.

Even Teru doesn't compare to Hanako. She went on a 'date' with him and felt more excited about bragging than the actual 'date'

AND SHE DID NOT BRAG when hanako got back, she just wanted to enjoy that he's back.

I don't even know why I am going so in dept on the couple stablished since chapter 1 but since i'm already rambling: Despite everything crazy going on in the festival NENE'S BIGGEST FOCUS WAS TO CONFESS TO HANAKO. That's something she thinks more about than her own death, like girl- Hanako is her whole world. She will not get a romance with another person.

There is the question of "Will Nene survive?"

If she doesn't, she'll disappear and have no boyfriend but I bet she'll be thinking about Hanako in her death. If she finds a way to become a supernatural in a very wild narrative choice she will be able to stay with hanako in their cursed eternity forever.

In the case she lives and Hanako gets exorcised she won't move on. Aidairo loves tragedies and obsessive love, so I can't see her approaching crushes with the same whimsy after her love dies. And Aidairo would likely preffer to make her suffer in her grief and longing than give her a rebound with some random guy, cause it sure won't be Kou.

2 - Mitsukou

My personal preferences aside, it is clear they are written to have romantic implications. Kou will either die with Mitsuba (As shown in the new timeline), and stay with him in death.

Or live to have an intense homoerotic 'friendship' with him.

He legit can't get mitsuba off his head, he thinks about him more than anything during the manga and he has A LOT of problems to think about.

I can't personally picture an explicit confession but we had a lot of equivalents already. It would be weird for Aidairo to send them to the aquarium, make Kou obsessed with mitsuba (and vise verse), show that they are 'very very close' in this new timeline, keep drawing them star-struck by each other and so on without romance in the head.

Kou is also never able to put his feelings into words, like, bro that's suspicious as hell.

They always get matching art with all the couples in Aidairo's twitter arts too.

That's not queerbaiting, they may not be explicit but by the lord they are not subtle at all, there is never a single "oh Mitsuba is like a brother to me" moment, they don't undo any of the gay implications we see, they double down on it.

Kou may be bi but it sure isn't the Nene route that Aidairo is playing.

3 - Aoikane

Akane has loved Aoi since he was a little kid. Waaaaaaay before he got a clock keeper contract.

He saw that Aoi cared so much about his opinion that she'd break out of her cold persona and burst into tears at the idea of being hated, and he locked in for life.

They are the codependent childhood friends troupe, the "I know you better than anyone" troupe, the "you are a part of my life I can't live without" troupe and they both love each other from the very start of the manga, not showing romantic interest in anyone else.

Nothing has made Akane change his mind about being with Aoi. Not being stabbed, not being rejected many times, not facing how bad aoi is at deling with her issues head on. He'll do anything for her time and time again.

in Akane's own words:

They had many build ups and a whole arc dedicated to their developments with each other (which is a lot considering they aren't main characters and Aoi usually get no focus in this manga.)

Narratively, it wouldn't make any sense to dedicate so many chapters pointing out how much they mean to each other and slowly working through their issues only to slap another ship at the end.

And is not like Aidairo said "They had their arc let's never talk about them again!", the author went out of her way to say "Even in a world where Aoi is in an arranged marriage, she still loves Akane"

They aren't subtle.

From the matching names, to the way they both crumble when they are separated from one another and keep thinking about marriage, they are very devoted. They have already explicitly confessed to the audience that they are in love with each other.

They'll either stay together forever or they'll die together.

[cecizilla1]

Before someone sends a pipe bomb to my house, is it really that horrible and controversial to say that Jimmy was just as much of a victim failed by the same disgusting system as everyone else? While support from loved ones is important, he needed actual resources. We don’t know anything about him beyond that he was struggling, so all we can assume is that he couldn’t hold down a job that was definitely due to his severe mental health issues. There’s nothing wrong with being an advocate for a friend, but it’s incredibly irresponsible to put someone you know is unstable into a literal inescapable environment for MONTHS with people who don’t know what they’re getting into and ripping him away from actual helpful resources like intense therapy, psychiatric counseling, and rehabilitation. This man needed to be surrounded by professional and community support systems, not a friend who dismisses everything he does because how is that productive at all? I don’t know, I just feel like so many people are avoiding this conversation because they believe they’re dismissing what he did by being empathetic in that way and it drives me up the fucking wall.

Although I’m not an obsessive, violent, sociopathic narcissist, it’s painful just dealing with being bipolar, past suicidal deviation, and comparing myself to my best friends who have accomplished way more than me while I’ve been struggling to even fill out one job application. The capitalist system we live in grinds us down to our bones that if we can’t climb up the social latter, that if we can’t pick ourselves up from our lowest alone, we aren’t worth shit and are weak—which leads to people like Jimmy lashing out on everything and everyone to gain some sense of superiority.

As someone who is extremely passionate about how capitalism has completely obliterated what it means to be in a caring community because of its intrinsic suffocating individualism, its exploitation of the lower class, and how we are chained down to an unforgiving inherent debt for our whole lives, I just find it childish that so many people avoid thinking about this aspect of his character or completely override him from the story all together.

As much as I LOATH him, I can’t help but wonder what could’ve happened if he did get the help he needed. While it unfortunately blew up in Anya and Curly’s face because they were taken advantage of, why is it that fucking horrible to believe that someone can grow and change if given the chance (as long as they obviously don’t hurt you in the process)? It’s the same reason why the prison system—especially the American prison industrial complex—should be abolished because how the fuck is locking someone up for the rest of their lives going to do anything for anybody in the long run? Obviously he needed to be brought to legal justice, but I believe that we should start at the core of why he is the way he is, what will be effective for everybody in the long run, and the possibility of him being reintroduced into society once he gets his mf shit together before people start pulling him this way and that (with boundaries ofc.) I’m a victim of sexual assault and emotional abuse myself, but I don’t want that person to rot behind bars. I just want to heal and move on. I don’t want revenge, I want closure. I want to be able to face that person and know that they won’t hurt anybody else if I am to believe that I myself can grow beyond what happened.

I know that many other creators have expressed the same sentiments already, but I needed to get that off my chest too.

Anyways, this game means so much to me because it touches on societal issues that I care about. Fuck capitalism and may everyone be free from this hell.

[butcherlarry]

Weekly Fic Recs 88

This week's fic recs!

love comes quickly by TheResurrectionist @frownyalfred - Superbat, Unrated, 10648 words, wip.

Summary: Clark struggles with something his Ma might call jealousy after walking in on Bruce and Hal together after a mission. Instead of letting Clark's feelings ruin the Justice League's hard-won team cohesion, Bruce suggests an alternative arrangement: sleep together once, work the tension between them out of their systems, and then go back to normal afterward. The problem with that plan? It's not just casual, and neither of them can ever go back to normal once it's all said and done.

I love me a good jealous Clark fic, so I was very excited to read this. And Bruce??? Denying his feelings towards Clark?? And thinking a one night stand will get Clark's feelings toward Bruce out of his system?? So much emotional shenanigans are going to happen, I'm so excited :D

Caring for Cattle by Rgfellows - Superbat, General, 8783 words, complete.

Summary: “Do you have much experience caring for cows?” Batman asked. Clark stared. He tried to process the question. He kept staring. Batman offered nothing further to elaborate. “Cows?” He finally asked. Batman gave a small sigh from his nose. He was as close to fidgeting as Clark had ever seen him. “Yes. Cows." Clark learns more about his very secretive friend thanks to a very unexpected set of circumstances

I read the title and knew I had to read this fic. Super cute!!! So happy to read about Clark going back to his farm roots to bond with Bruce.

skythrush by pomeloquat @pomeloquat - Clark Kent & Bruce Wayne, Teen, 5292 words, complete.

Summary: While protecting his city from the animals that seek to destroy it, Bruce makes the acquaintance of a little bird.

Ok, if you know me, you KNOW that I love birds, I love birding, and I love taking pictures of birds. When I read this I was SO HAPPY to read about Clark being associated with Eastern bluebirds. I have always thought this and as SO HAPPY to read about it this fic too! Do yourself a favor and go Google them RIGHT NOW and you'll see why Bruce thought of Clark as a bluebird. Actually, don't bother, here is a link. DO YOU SEE NOW???

I have also been reading Absolute Batman and Superman as those comics have been released on the DC app and have been enjoying the heck out of them. So happy to be reading fics about those characters too!

precious things by TheResurrectionist - Pennywaynes, Unrated, 1556 words, complete.

Summary: Alfred was aware that Thomas would, inevitably, enjoy such a thing. Forcing him to dig half-moons into the Carpathian Elm, as if the hardwood tables and desks in the other rooms weren’t suitable. No, Thomas had insisted upon the antique, old-world desk with a softer, delicate finish. The one Alfred barely dared to look at in between cleanings.

PENNYWAYNES!!!!!! Love me some Pennywaynes. Also love me some Thomas (or Martha) trying to make Alfred lose his composure while being fucked within an inch of his life.

Jason and His Boys series by elluv_asun - Batfam, Teen, 17155 words, series not complete but the fics are :D

Series Summary: All stories about Jason interacting with his crew. They're not all boys, but they are all His Boys, thank you for understanding How to be a Leader: For Dummies Summary: Jason's been trying to recruit a good crew for awhile. Visiting the library finally helps him figure it out - he needs to inspire loyalty through loyalty. Gain trust through vulnerability. If he follows the rules of strong leadership he's been researching, he'll get a solid crew for sure. The only thing is… it works too well? Now it seems like they … like him?

Breaking News! Brucie Wayne Getting Cozy With Crime? Summary: Prompt: Bruce Wayne publicly adopts the crime lord Red Hood. The city is confused, but now that they're looking closer, the guy actually doesn't seem that bad...Or maybe he is. Bonus: A shot of him without his helmet or a personal conversation between the two leaks Story told through a multitude of perspectives. Bruce Wayne accidentally publicly adopts the Red Hood while the other kids are out of town.

Both these fics were so much fun to read! I loved Jason building positive relationships with his goons and caring for their well being. And the second fic where Brucie interacts with Red Hood was excellent! It was fun to read about Bruce rebuilding his relationship with Jason through his Brucie persona and Jason being thrown for a loop about it!

oh, lover (i'll cover you) series by handfulofteeth (s0norus) @etiolatedmutant - Poolverine, Explicit, 48947 words, series not complete but the fics are :D

guess Summary: Three months have crept by right under his nose. The air outside crisped and then froze over, the leaves bled orange and yellow before finally snapping off their branches and allowing thick snow to pile up in their stead, and Logan is so fucking fond of Wade it makes him wanna throw up. Logan stops talking. He’s mid-scold, tossing his soiled paper towel onto the counter and about to reach for another one when his eyes land on Wade. He’s got his pajamas halfway down his thighs, clearly trying to avoid sticking his fingers all over the gooey fabric, and whatever, that on its own isn’t a big deal. What is a big deal, a huge, massive fucking deal, is what Wade’s wearing underneath his pajamas. Panties.

happiness (like a bullet in the back) summary: What do you get when you cross a supercentenarian mutant alcoholic with anger issues and a chronic case of emotional constipation, with the world's single most irritating Canadian mercenary with a face like a rotten potato? Answer: domestic fucking bliss. OR Five times Logan Howlett is stupidly soft for Wade Wilson, and one time he isn't.

black irises in the the sunshine Summary: Really, when did Logan get so whipped for this loudmouthed little shit? Sometime between being yoinked out of his original universe by the scruff of his neck and realizing he was ill-advisedly in love again, he reckons, but even he’s willing to admit those events are separated by an infinitesimal gap. He falls hard, and he falls fast, and Wade Wilson was (is) no exception. OR Wade catches Logan engaging in some good ol' fashioned depravity and Logan has a lot of Big Feelings about bottoming.

This was a fabulous series to read! I enjoyed the first and third fics, mainly because I enjoy reading about Logan discovering new kinks about himself, trying to hide them from Wade, Wade discovering them, and then fun times (and feelings) are had by all. The second fic was a lovely fic looking at the domestic side of their relationship. I love reading about them caring for each other when they are both dealing with Bad Days.

Humble My Heart by CaptainDoofus - Poolverine, Mature, 3570 words, wip.

Summary: Wade Wilson, an overnight janitor at a military research facility, develops a mutual fascination with the captured wolf-man being held there. Or: Poolverine "The Shape of Water" AU.

I read "The Shape of Water" AU and came running. I fucking loved that movie and I can't wait to read where this fic goes!

Stay, Stay, Stay by Curupia @curupia - Poolverine, Teen, 3985 words, complete.

Summary: Wade took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, reaching for the doorknob. Fuck. Okay. Time to face the music. He opened the door to their bedroom, expecting to find a passed-out Logan sprawled on the couch, maybe a bottle (or seven) of booze scattered around the floor. He figured he’d sneak past quietly and get breakfast started, wake Logan up with the promise of bacon and a truce. They’d mumble some apologies, have earth-shattering make up sex, and everything would be back to normal. What he did not expect was an empty apartment. Well shit. ________ Logan and Wade have a fight and Logan storms out. Wade starts to panic that maybe this time, he isn't coming back. (Happy ending, I promise)

While I do love sappy and fluffy Poolverine fics, not everything about their relationship is sunshine and roses. This fic takes a look at the bumps that happen along the way.

sex pollen and scrambled eggs by LukeQatwalker @hondafuckingodyssey - Poolverine, Explicit, 4992 words, complete.

Summary: Logan gets back into the car and tosses the bag with the lube in it into Wade's lap, thanking god for self checkout machines, because he's pretty sure that's going to go down as the worst retail experience of his god damned life. He adjusts his dick, which is still rock hard and bordering painful, from where he had it tucked up in his waist band. Jesus, he hopes nobody recognized him, buying lube with a hard on, with just a ball cap and a jacket thrown over the wolverine costume. "Ok, so the plan is, we get back to the hotel, whatever happens happens, this stuff works its way out of our system in a few hours, and we can just pretend it never happened, right?" Logan asks. *** The boys get hit with the sex pollen on a mission!

I am a sucker for a good sex pollen fic, no I will not apologize (Very excited about the potential of a follow up chapter).

Happy reading!

[oli-ribbun-ver]

EP 4 RAMBLE PART 3 FINAL!!

(ft the other episodes! but mainly ep 4!)

okay actually i think this is more of a gangle ramble now but thats fine

part 1

part 2

CONTINUATION OF THE GANGLE PEOPLE-PLEASER PART OF THE RAMBLE FROM PART 2!

lets see... where did i leave off... RIGHT!!

There are a lot of parts in ALL episodes where she doesn't want to cause problems for people. Which is typically normal for everyone, HOWEVER. Her idea of 'causing problems' is her opening up to people about how she truly feels, or even voicing her feelings in general if they're about someone.

I've already gone over the Pomni conversation and the bit where she has a mini breakdown, and I said I'd include even more of the other episodes in this, so! Let's begin at Ep 1!

Let's talk about what I've observed in episode one.

YES THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Notice how it's emphasized she says it quietly? (I know it's for comedic effect, but EVERYTHING seems to be important for every character, like how the darkness from the bucket on Kinger's head in Ep 2 helped him remember something about Ragatha before immediately forgetting it and then the reason he only remembers things in the darkness is explained! Seems like a minor detail that means nothing, turns out to be HUGE.

She doesn't want to cause a problem. In this case, the 'problem' would be her fully interrupting the conversation because she's worried about her friend. In the mind of a people pleaser, even if it helps someone out, you feel a sense of pressure on you when mentioning someone needs help to others, because "What if I cause a problem or make them mad? I don't wanna do that!", those thoughts are pretty normal, ESPECIALLY for people-pleasers.

"Wait, what about Zooble?" Is said so quietly, you can barely hear it. She either doesn't want her voice to be heard, or she DOES but is too scared to say it more loudly because of some version of the thoughts I described.

not as important but I'd like to note how she literally says NOTHING. like. nothing. i just think its kinda funny but also she just. doesnt give her opinion at all? she wasnt even asked if she wanted to go with them to check on kaufmo they just dgaf about her 😭

ANYWAY

This is the only time she gives her opinion and its not even an opinion HELP

Also I'm trying to save space so I don't have to make a part 4 so shortly into this, since I know I'll have to make one anyway, but I wanna mention how she hides behind her broken mask to protect herself after he screams which kinda hits different now that we know more about her mask.

But anyway, I'll make a seperate little portion of this ramble for that!

I'd like to mention too, anytime she is shoved, has something mean said to her, or has her comedy mask broken, she doesn't complain or say anything about it except for maybe an "ow". I find that interesting, because I think the reason for this is that she doesn't want anyone worrying about her. AKA, she doesn't want to cause a 'problem'.

She wants to please. One does not please by being a 'problem', right? That's probably how she thinks, anyway.

When Jax tells her to do something she doesn't want to do, whether he pressured her like that or not, it wouldn't have made a difference, because she can't bring herself to say 'no.'

In my opinion, from what it sounds like when she says "I don't think we—" she probably would've ended up saying yes regardless. Hell, if he'd just followed it up with "do it," I don't see a world in which she wouldn't, although she'd probably be more hesitant.

also why does his back bend like that he looks like hes gonna become an old man any second now HELP 😭

Also, when Jax threatens her by saying "Do it, or I'll tell Ragatha about the figurine thing," I think that really does something to her.

Every time she's either built up the confidence to say no, or someone has tried to help her say no, she's kicked down in one way or another INSTANTLY.

Episode 4 did not help with that. I believe in the next few episodes, she will not be better about saying no. She might even be worse off, knowing Ragatha thinks her being happy is annoying.

People-pleasers are in different worlds. Being the type of people-pleaser Gangle is, it's an entirely different world from others. It carries a lot of what I can only describe as delusion to it.

If Pomni had not stepped up when Gangle thought she was alone after work hours, Gangle would have abstracted. I am a firm believer in that. She was breaking. Losing her mind.

Gangle tells herself to stop trying to achieve her dream while breaking down over the fact her efforts to achieve her dream might not be enough.

So let's go there, and get a

Closer look at Gangle's mental state.

(and why she's most likely the least unwell character)

Gangle is mentally ill. Everyone knows that already, but to what extent?

I'm not sure if we'll ever know.

But what we do know is this.

More likely than not, Gangle almost abstracted in Ep 4. And out of everyone who has EVER vented so far, Gangle has shared relatively nothing. Even after the Spudsy's adventure, what we've seen so far is her never mentioning her feelings except that she feels like she messed everything up.

Gangle doesn't know how to help herself. Zooble can make her feel better, but not for long, because Gangle doesn't think she can get better.

When she was about to vent to Pomni, she stopped as soon as she felt like her feelings were REALLY about to come loose, put her new happy mask back on, said she had no time to talk about her feelings, and fled.

What I think is that Gangle thinks everyone is more important than her, so when she FINALLY got to be important she was happy. Really, truly happy.

The worst thing you can do is make someone think they're not wanted or loved.

Something that makes me sad is that Gangle does not feel wanted or loved.

Gangle was almost gone in Episode 4.

We almost lost Gangle. Had Gangle abstracted, she'd die without ever feeling like people cared about her.

For all we know, she could be the first person to abstract after Kaufmo.

I personally believe that.

The end of Episode 4 was a su¡cide attempt. (is that word allowed? im not sure..l ill censor it anyway)

I saw someone say this in the comment section of either the episode itself or a reaction video, and I completely agree.

They say before people commit su¡cide, they have a sudden boost of joy. Everything will be over soon. Why not enjoy that fact?

I think it was a subconscious su¡cide, at the very least.

She was happy. For the first time without a happy mask to hide how she feels deep down, she was happy.

She had a sudden boost of happiness, and then stepped backwards into oncoming traffic. When someone experiences a near-death situation by their own hand, there's a moment of regret before they are gone. I've experienced it myself, and it is horrid. That feeling is one I will never be able to forget. Even if I never so much as blacked out, I felt faint, and I will NEVER forget that fear, that horror, dread, regret.

The shock. Wondering if it was truly me who did it.

And I think. That is what Gangle experienced.

And then, that feeling was brushed off by Caine, whether she knew he doesn't understand the feeling of wanting to disappear or not, she was quick to blame herself for it all. Both about her performance to Caine, and alone, to nobody but herself.

"I guess I just... cracked under the pressure I suppose."

And maybe, just maybe.

That crack will never heal.

Thank you for listening and reading my ramble, everyone!! I appreciate it more than you know!

Bye bye for now, friends! Have a lovely day!

[kopiicryptid]

Can you yap about Squidwashing?

Oh my god OP you're gonna so regret this/lh

SquidWashing AU: LORE EDITION‼️

CW: Spoilers for Mouthwashing and Season 2 of Squidgames, mentions of death, assault, what you can typically expect from these two medias.

Gonna start by discussing the world-building then hop to the characters!!

So in this universe, Pony Express is still a giant company, although far from financial ruin. They're actually more of monopoly if anything, just consuming more and more business enterprises. While the company itself isn't majorly relevant to the plot, I like to think the people up top are somewhat involved as VIPS or sponsors of the game. Part of me is tempted to say that Polle is also an actual person in this AU as the one in charge of the games or even as player 001 in season 1.

In addition, the layoffs are still relevant in this AU. With the rise of AI and technology, they ended up dismissing a huge portion of their workforce to cut costs and because human labor has become unnecessary. However, the real ulterior motive here is that they laid off employees that they knew were financially struggling a.k.a. most of the lower-working class in their company, which in turn creates more fodder for the games. It's a coincidence that Pony Express just can't help but to take advantage of.

The games themselves are held on a massive ship in space, called the Kraken. It travels far from where usual transport lines cross so there's little chance of the contestants being found. It's only close enough to some lines just for the sake of importing materials and things needed on board, otherwise, you can argue that all the contestants are practically stranded in space. Given that rich people are investing in this, there's enough money for them to build giant rooms and decks on this ship, along with utilizing technology like simulators, holograms, etc for the games.

Now onto the players!

Curly - #456

It's obvious that he of all people plays our main lead, player 456 in place of Gi-Hun. He's won the game before so now he's back to save people and put an end to it. His first time in the games was mostly people he didn't know aside from a couple of coworkers he's known for quite some time and people from long ago. Either way, it's enough for him to feel such survivor's guilt that he can't just sit back and do nothing.

As to why he's in the games, it's partially similar to Gi-Hun's. Years ago he participated in a worker's strike against Pony Express, one that got violent and left him with some PTSD. Ever since, he's been struggling to hold a job due to how technology-driven their world is, most piloting jobs are done by automatic systems so he ends up doing odd jobs here and there, small deliveries and such for cheap. However, losing his job from PE left him with crippling debts that have yet to be paid, and it doesn't help either that he had a habit of loaning money to less fortunate friends of his, so there's not much for him in the bank.

After the first games, Curly, like Gi-Hun, spent his money and time investigating the games, but it all boiled down to him knowing that it'd be near impossible to take it down from the outside. He'd have to do so within the games themselves. During his investigations, he also discovered the potential involvement of Pony Express, yet there's still not enough evidence for him to present...

Anya - #222

Although this was another obvious choice, I'd like to say there's a lot of change in terms of Anya's story and that of #222's/Jun-Hee's. Anya is still pregnant in this AU and yes it's Jimmy's (I'll get to that in a bit), but instead of wanting the money so that she can raise the baby, it's so she can afford the abortion and have money left over for medical school because of how the procedure would take all the money she has left.

Now for the pregnancy, I still wanted to make it Jimmy's because I didn't want to erase that from the source media after all. The two know each other only because were coworkers at some minimum wage job, but they weren't that close. You might ask why doesn't Anya tell the others about Jimmy, she can't. In this AU, all of them are strangers to each other except for Curly, Jimmy, and Swansea, and Swansea only knows Curly. She wouldn't feel comfortable just dropping that bomb onto a bunch of strangers, it’s not an easy thing to confess something so personal to someone you just met. Especially when she realizes that Curly and Jimmy are close friends. Not to mention, I don't think she'd want this to define her, Anya would try to focus on the games themselves without causing further unnecessary drama. She knows this team is the only group she can rely on to survive, so she's taking advantage of it all she wants, even if it means dealing with Jimmy. There's no point in bringing up something that could tear them all apart or worse, put her on Jimmy's hit list.

In a way, these two have a mutual understanding that the r*pe is something they're keeping under wraps because Jimmy knows Anya has the power to tear him down with it, and doing so is Anya's way of keeping Jimmy in check. A way for her to regain some kind of control over him, if you will.

Jimmy - #001

Jimmy's story is the most different from his character here, and I envision his storyline and personality being a mix of #218/Sang-Woo from S1 and #001/Frontman from S2. He went to piloting school with Curly and was fairly good at it. He and Curly were close friends, although they slowly drifted after graduation due to their jobs. Jimmy fell from grace when he kept screwing up jobs and got reported at work one too many times, that and a few problems in his personal life like getting into fights, picking up bad habits, etc, going from a dependable pilot to a washed-up nobody leeching off of all his connections.

It should be obvious why Jimmy's in the games but what's less obvious is why he's a traitor. Rather than being the Frontman, Jimmy's working with the Frontman. After hearing that Curly was coming back to the games to stop them and then finding out that Jimmy used to be a close friend of his, the Frontman struck a deal that they'd guarantee Jimmy moderate assistance in the games, in exchange for keeping Curly in line. And of course, Jimmy took the deal with no hesitation, but in reality, he's just another pawn on the board.

And like #222's ex in the show, Jimmy at one point goes to Anya and tries to convince her to keep the baby, that their money combined will be enough for them to start a family. Obviously, this is just a tactic for Jimmy to control most of the finances and it's him fooling himself, thinking that he could 'turn a new page' by pursuing a 'normal' life. Anya declines, and rightfully so.

Swansea - #390

Ironically, Swansea is the most disconnected from #390/Jung-Bae in terms of personality, yet his story is quite fitting. Alongside Curly, Swansea was a participant in the PE worker strikes, which also meant that he lost his job and ended up with barely enough to support his family, especially with his looming alcoholism. On the brink of a divorce, Swansea joined the games in hopes that the money would convince his wife to stay with the kids and that he could afford rehab in the process. He's simply a man who wants to keep his family together, but deep down, there's a cynical part of him that just wonders what would happen if he let it all fall apart then and there.

Out of everyone aside from Anya, Swansea was the first to catch onto how suspicious Jimmy was, confirmed only when he witnessed Jimmy kill another player without hesitance, just like Jung-Bae did with the Frontman. On a different note, Swansea has the same slight parental instinct that Jung-Bae did to #388, who in this case, is obviously Daisuke.

In relation to Curly, Swansea is closer to Curly here than in the games, mainly for the fact that they were coworkers for years in Pony Express and kept some contact after the strikes. I like to think Swansea invited Curly to his home on occasion, and that his wife welcomed him too, pitying that such a nice man was struggling so much.

Daisuke - #388

After seeing so much fanart of Daisuke and #388/Dae-Ho, I had to watch S2 and jump on this AU, so thank that for the reason I'm even yapping. Daisuke's backstory is also different here, maybe a little drastically. Daisuke and his mom were refugees escaping a warring region when he was fairly young. Years later, they became citizens of the region they're in and are considerably well off in terms of career, yet his mom still has numerous debts to be paid from the process of citizenship and the years she spent on her education so that she could provide for Daisuke.

Daisuke decided to participate in the games to relieve her debt, and hopefully make her proud.

And yes, the warring region mention is relevant since Daisuke ends up having a PTSD episode similar to Dae-Ho during the player uprising. Also, it's partially me projecting my SE Asian background and history onto one of my favorites, sue me I guess. Daisuke likes to boast that he's a brave kid with a mean swing and how he managed to escape a war so the games are light work.

So if you've made it this far, congrats! I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas if you have any! I definitely have some more, but for now, I just wanted to make a basic post to establish the roles and world around it. If you guys make any content based specifically on my version of the AU, PLEASE TAG ME, PLEASEEEEE!! Also...

Bonus // Atlas - #120

Because why not? There's no harm in me inserting my Mouthwashing OC and plus, they actually really fit #120's/Hyun-Ju's character.

Just like Hyun-Ju, Atlas is a trans person, although their assigned birth gender is private and they're specifically a trans-nonbinary individual. Besides needing the money for the rest of their operations, Atlas is also impoverished and hopes to use the funds to finish piloting school. In this AU and their official canon, Atlas is ex-military; they worked in special forces as a unit captain and used the money to afford their surgeries. However, after an incident that caused them to voluntarily step down from service, they became severely indebted and eventually homeless.

Atlas is aware of Anya's pregnancy and knows Jimmy and Curly well through word of mouth in the few years of piloting school they attended, but they were hardly friends or acquainted with the two before the games. They're suspicious of Jimmy, however they're more suspicious of the Frontman and those in charge of the games. The games were a rumor in the special forces, and something about the Frontman seems familiar...

[mileymint]

Normalize enjoying platonic ships without getting attacked for not shipping them romantically.

Normalize enjoying healthy friendships and non-romantic relationships.

Normalize characters interacting regularly without being buddy-buddy or lovebirds.

Normalize enjoying when characters HATE eachother actually without having them fall in love.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

it just idea .......

[makotonaegiunderstander]

something I’ve been thinking abt is how many people think Makoto is immune to despair. I don’t think he is. I think becoming the ultimate Hope was BECAUSE he felt despair. He wouldn’t have fully reached that point without Junko. Makoto becoming such a beacon was his last attempt to avoid completely falling and it wasn’t because he didn’t feel despair, it was because he was too damn stubborn to allow everything to go to waste and he refused to sacrifice his beliefs for someone else’s. His inner monologue tells me he DID experience the same new low the other suvivors did in the final trial, but at the point where he had the choice to give up and die, he looked at the others and he looked at Junko and he couldn’t allow it to happen, not out of self preservation, but because the idea that Junko would have control over their lives made him FURIOUS. and that utter refusal to die kicked in, wether luck or otherwise, and he made the concious effort for one last push while something in him was breaking. He had to be broken in order for the Ultimate Hope to come through so aggressively, bc it could only exist in the face of the Ultimate Despair. He snapped the same way she did, but in the other direction. In what could have been his final moments he chose to embody everything Junko wasn’t, and every single optimistic and luck fueled ideal in him suddenly charged forward and pushed him. It was a combination of the final straw and a choice. Makoto isn’t immune to feeling despair, he’s just too stubborn to fall into it of his own volition. I think that’s why I like that scene in DR3 so much. People were SO SHOCKED Makoto actually fell for the tape, that he actually became despair for a moment. I saw people getting mad or disappointed, saying it was pathetic and Makoto seemed to fall from some sort of pedestal for them. Honestly part of me wonders if that sort of mentality, which clearly people had in universe, affected Makoto a bit. Like he started to see himself as less of a person, subconsciously. Prompting him to take more risks, less self preservation, act way more bold. It seems he has to be reminded a lot not to put himself in danger by his friends, to not do something too reckless. All over the place I would see in regards to that scene either this frivolous ‘oh this was just angst drama with no meaning behind it’ or ‘he can do better than that. he’s so weak’ or ‘come on, there’s no way he’d fall into despair, he’s the Ultimate Hope!’ This kind of mentality, which was kind of ironic considering Ryota was there the entire time saying the same thing and treating Makoto the same way. Like Makoto was superhuman. Like Makoto didn’t feel despair the same way ‘normal people’ did. In a way that was also how Munakata saw Makoto. Makoto stopped being a PERSON to the world when he became Ultimate Hope, he became a concept, a belief system, much the same way Junko ascended beyond herself. But the difference is that treating Makoto that way is the opposite of the reason Makoto became such a representative for hope. He wasn’t doing something no one else could. He was doing something everyone had the chance to, he just… was a little more optimistic, a little more stubborn, a little more ‘gung-ho’ about things. He just took the lead where no one else did, where no one else knew they even COULD in the face of Junko’s unstoppable force. She had overcome the biggest threats and obstacles in the world, what could one person do? And the answer Makoto found was, anything. Everything. It doesn’t all rest on Makoto, he’s just the one that was inspired to try to do what seemed like the impossible. But as evidenced by the change in his friends after that trial, it’s clearly not something only Makoto is capable of. The others pulled out of despair thanks to Makoto, but it was their choice to do so.

“But… this world is so huge, and we’re so small. What can we do…? No, we can probably do anything. Yeah! We can do anything!”

[potahun]

sob. thank you op for raising that...i have been thinking about this azusa and furuya exchange again since reading on the Q&A about the 'romantic pair he cannot yet talk about', which made me go 'ah, ok. amuazu a real likelihood if it's a thing that is likely to make waves'...

and yeah...if it really happens, then it means we have to live with them being an item while this exchange also happened. we have to live with GA making us believe furuya would end up with someone who knows him only superficially and has done to him what he's been struggling with all his childhood (and faces into adulthood as well) i don't know how much character distortion or super intense development it requires (how many years is he gonna use) for me to believe this is a credible and lovely romance...

i am guessing that, in the cultural context, what azusa does here is simply considered innocent and quite common. but nonetheless, it really is a blatant statement of "I don't know you beyond the superficial". and furuya's response is the equally superficial "^^" and light impersonal rebuking that amuro does, he's not trying to get her to know him either.

of course, it's all extrapolation whether the remaining romantic pairs rly do include amuazu. but there simply arent many mf pairs left, and we know GA loves his comphet even if it adds nothing to the plot or makes little sense (he introduced a character like chihaya who screams lesbian and even has a dear uni friend only to pair her up immediately with juugo). there are even less mf pairs that would make a fuss. like, what, yoko x kazami? jodie x camel? wouldnt even make a ripple. the only other pair i can think of would be akai x rumi...or an unknown pair with haibara... so if amuazu does become canon, i might have to at least start adhering to the belief that ZTT/movies are in a different parallel universe as the main timeline (even if movie-canon facts are also manga-canon). azusa and furuya would still know each only superficially, with azusa only knowing his amuro persona, but eh, at least this specific characterization of azusa would be out of the way.

i did see that the original tweet came from an amuazu shipper account, while it seems most of the other tweets about the Q&A phrase the answer to that question in a more neutral way. so i will wait a bit...but i also feel like it's a possible thing for GA, especially considering the latest chapters where he's been teasing the ship more and more (WHILE NOT MAKING IT ROMANTIC) he's also done some very weird narrative choices lately, introducing aoko's mum in MK and doing acrobatics to explain her absence, thereby completely messing up the perfectly logical narrative of nakamori being an overworked single dad. im worried he might go ahead and do something equally crazy for furuya, like introducing that he actually had a family all along! who's proud of him and raised him normally but he just cut ties because of his job or whatever! so he's never really been isolated! azusa was his childhood friend but she forgot! and oh! somehow, amuro is the real persona, let's forget about grumpy, high-strung furuya of ZTT, so amuazu can work as a wholesome pair because azusa knew the real him all along!

that's the type of thing that would disappoint me the most. like, yes, i would also be a bit heartbroken because i like hc-ing azusa and furuya as lesbian and gay respectively. i like their dynamics as co-workers who dont really want to know each other on a deeper level, but work well together. but beyond that, i mostly worry that GA has to distort their characters as we currently know them to make this pairing work, and that he will do it, because unfortunately, he HAS done narrative choices before that were not bound by logical narrative flow and were only made to serve a purpose that only he enjoys...

But really, that dialogue in ZTT Ch. 1 that Aoyama either wrote himself or signed off on is insane, especially when you compare how Rei’s mixed heritage is addressed in WPS by his friends:

vs. in ZTT:

The only way this makes sense to me is if it was meant to further emphasize how alone Rei is in the here and now. He has no one who sees him as himself anymore, and neither does he have anyone who’d get angry enough to defend him. He himself is used to this level of othering- it’s not even worth getting mad at anymore, even if he might spitefully overcompensate at home by cooking up a storm of food that actually suits his tastes. So he’ll never bite back against it himself.

I assume Aoyama was planning an am*azu endgame from before ZTT started, considering that early am*azu fantasy chapter. Why in the world wouldn’t he have instead written Azusa as an ally to Rei, in that case? She could’ve defended Rei against a casually discriminating background character, cementing her as a proper friend to Rei that he hasn’t had since he lost his last police academy buddy.

Instead, he chose to do the exact opposite.

[protect-namine]

.

[moeblob]

Erin, to her crush: You're a dick

Mason, the crush: I won't argue! But to clarify -

[cellsknife]

Awesome!

I started as a Sonshadamy shipper due to "I was fking tired of people doing ship wars over Sonamy, sonadow and Shadamy" and I found some of those "X character has two hands" than something on my head just clicked.

My favorite polyship dynamic is Sun x Moon x earth, Sonic is the sun, he shines bright with hope and forgiveness once he's on the place is almost impossible don't look at him, don't think about him, everyone that meet him, for the good or bad, was impacted by him, but he also burns, he can be serious and take out those who hurts his friends, he's a free spirit who passes by and makes the world around him more brilliant.

Shadow is the moon, he might not be as adored or loved as Sonic but he's just as strong and important as him, even with his "unaprocheable" behavior and the facade he pulls to hide himself for people he's just as bright as the sun, with the same capacity of lighting up the room when people give themselves the chance to notice it, just like the moon, Shadow changes with the influence of the sun, Sonic's bright hope, love for life and forgiveness slowly fuel him, untill he finally feels full, whole. Of course it doesn't last forever, Shadow knows he's broken and nothing can heal the cracks that where left behind, but with the help of the bright of the sun and the guarantees of the Earth he choosed to embrace his cracks as a part of him.

Now Amy, Amy is the Earth, Amy is what grounds Sonic and Shadow in reality, she's the small piece of normality that they always where so thirsty to have, the moment of normality when they aren't the "Hero of Mobius" or "The Ultimate lifeform", they are just Sonic and Shadow and can finally take things slowly. Amy is Earth because she always gives, all of her character is about give, giving her love and compassion to the others, giving her heart and soul to help others, distributing seconds and thirds chances to people that her friends wouldn't even think, Amy is all about love and being the emotional core of her group, just like Earth Amy keeps giving whiteout thinking about the damage she's doing to herself. Not only that, even if Sonic and Shadow don't know, Amy is the Earth because she's always changing influenced by them, Sonic gives Amy courage, gives her an example of how she can be loving, compassionate and still fight for what is good, and example of how to grow stronger, Shadow on the other side showed Amy that she can fight, she can stand for Herself and still be kind and compassionate with others, that setting some boundaries, that denying giving all of herself doesn't make her a bad person, doesn't make her selfish of less carrying about the others, he showed her that she CAN take care of Herself as much as she take care of the others.

In my head, the relationship started with Shadamy, Amy and Shadow started to talk more and more and one day whiteout they realized those Hangouts for shows became dates. Shadow fell first, he always liked her a little more, though about her a little more than about the others from Sonic team, he fell slowly and he did nothing to stop the feeling when it appeared, he didn't cut it off, he actually helped it to grown and he never let his "little passion" on the way of their growing friendship.

When Amy fell, she fell harder. It took her months to realize how Shadow started to... Reciprocate her little acts of affection, he stopped freezing when she hugged him and was actually hugging back, damn he even started the hugs sometimes and at some point that she somehow didn't noticed, he even started to say goodbye to her with forehead kisses! And Amy? Amy is used to give love, but one thing she isn't is used to people reciprocate her love in the same intensity, when she noticed that, well, didn't took too much for them to start dating.

And contrary to almost everyone beliefs, Sonic didn't "suddenly noticed that Amy is the love of his life and started to become more and more jealous", he was pretty happy that they got into a relationship and jokely asked if they would forget about him and their friends now that their dating, actually Shadow and Amy's relationship actually brought the group more and more together, Amy started to bring Shadow on friends meet ups, at some moments Rouge started coming too and Omega too than suddenly everyone is interacting and starting a new friendship.

And this leaded to Sonic spending more time with Amy and Shads, discovering things about them that he didn't knew before because now Shadow and Amy are discovering those things together too, they are maturing and Sonic... Sonic discovered that he what's that too

And and and... And uuf I wrote a lot of stuff holy molly

@cellsknife I JUST REALIZED

Shadow cuddling with Sonic and Amy might be different with Silver. Shadow has a habit of curling up around Silver when they sleep, so the two wouldn’t get much attention from Shadow. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pushed them away in his sleep because his unconscious self is believing that he’s protecting his baby. And they most certainly aren’t going to be able to take Silver from him once he’s asleep.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Loudest Silence

YA contemporary

a newly Deaf-Hard of hearing girl moves across the country and starts a new school, struggling with navigating her disability and love for singing and lost friendships - determined to not make any new friends for the year she’s in Florida

and a boy struggling with family expectations and anxiety, after being made the fútbal captain even though he secretly ways to be on broadway, who quickly befriends her

bi & aroace-coded MCs

[paging-possum]

on some level I understand that welcome to hell is probably a little harder to sell than hazbin given the *gestures vaguely* entire main plotline of w2h THAT SAID im going to be mad about it forever. because one of them is actually funny and has good character design and compelling dynamics and a good plot and its not the one about the freaking hotel.