#i also think she misunderstands what hes asking for when explaining his problem and just starts bringing him all kinds of gifts

[artlyloser]

tiny bit obsessed with the dynamic I have crafted in my head between my githyanki paladin and her wife Gale Dekarios

[byunpum]

Mama's Boy | Part 5

Pair: Jake x neytiri x human reader (trio couple) x sully children's

Warning: cozy moments, conflict, family problems

Note: I hope you like this part, the next one is gonna be the final part...Thank you sooo much!! btw I recently opened a KO-Fi…. if you want to leave any tips or support I would appreciate it (it would help me to buy real coffee xD).

AVATAR MASTERLIST | Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6(final)

The previous day's argument was very intense. Leaving the family in a very delicate state. Even you decided to sleep alone in a kind of bed you made. You were so upset with jake, you couldn't understand why he was like that with lo'ak. Sometimes you thought Jake was ashamed of lo'ak…ashamed that you were his mother. You had been sitting quietly in the marui all day, still feeling a little bad. You were taking care of tuk, the girl was by your side. Making a necklace for you, while she was telling you everything she did in the morning. "Love be careful…you can hurt yourself" you help tuk with the needle she was using. At that, you can see how jake enters the marui, he had a basket full of fish. Looking quickly at you, walking towards where he used to leave the food that had to be prepared. You decide to ignore him, and be playful with tuk.

"baby…can we talk?" asks jake, the man had approached you, sitting down next to you. You on the other hand were acting like he wasn't there. You look up, and sigh loudly. "Tuk honey, why don't you let mommy and daddy talk alone" you help the girl pick up her materials, and wait for her to come out of the marui doing some jumping jacks. You smile a little to see how happy tuk was, oblivious to what was going on. "Tell me?" you speak, looking at jake waiting for him to start talking. "Is it true that you are thinking of leaving? "jake looks at you, you could tell he was worried. It was too dangerous for you to go back to the jungle. The RDA was looking for Jake, and when Jake's name was on the line his whole family was involved. The months you had to be alone, you never left the lab.

"I see neytiri told you everything" you say, trying not to make eye contact with him. "Love…we can fix this" Jake touches your hand, but you push him away. "Jake it's not with me that you have to fix things, it's with your son. Your behavior towards him…it's terrible." You speak, trying to hold back your tears. "Y/n you're misunderstanding things I" jake speaks, but is interrupted when you turn around and are now looking directly at him. "Jake… I have a question for you, what does neteyam like the most?" you ask. "A-ahh he likes hunting, he likes to ride his ikran. He's also a great talker," says jake.

"Okay, now tell me what lo'ak likes?" you speak up, knowing jake wouldn't answer quickly like the other question. Jake gets nervous, looking around for a moment. "He likes…he likes being with his brother. " jake speaks timidly, watching as your eyebrows draw together in anger. "Lo'ak likes to ride around and investigate things. He loves to practice with his bow, he likes to spend time with his sister kiri and all he looks forward to is his father telling him he did a great job" you were already very annoyed.

"I know…" jake speaks softly. Shaking his head, look embarrassed. "Jake your sons are not soldiers…they are children. Children who need love and attention from their father. Neteyam is not the only one here who needs to be trained. Lo'ak too, he needs you to treat him with respect and love. What does it cost you to do that?" you speak, watching as jake pulled his knees up to his chest. Becoming more like a little ball. "I just…want them to be strong and …. I'm afraid they'll be weak and won't be able to survive this chaos we live in" jake tries to explain. And yes, he was a little bit right. But that didn't justify the preference he had over neteyam. "Jake, I know all that" you wave your hands all around you. "This is all chaos, I know this isn't our home. I know what we're going through, but what does lo'ak have to do with it? Why can't you treat him like you treat kiri or neteyam or tuk? What did he do to you?" you speak, getting up from the floor. You had to walk, because the rage was consuming you. You hated it when jake tried to avoid trouble. Telling you smith answers to distract you. "He didn't do anything" jake follows you with his eyes.

"I feel like sometimes you just treat him like that, because he came from me. Because he's not completely na'vi." You had tears in your eyes, you didn't know why you were so sentimental. Even though this situation always broke your heart, you wanted lo'ak to feel loved. "Y/n never say that… this has nothing to do with you being his mother" jake in one swift movement. He takes your arm, to pull you closer to him. "I wouldn't ask for another mother for my son, you are an excellent mother" jake lets his head lay on your chest. He is silent for a moment, you didn't want to keep arguing with him. You loved your family, you loved jake, you hated being upset with him. "Lo'ak is how I was…he is so much like the stupid jake who betrayed and endangered people he cared about. That stupid jake got innocent people killed" jake speaks, you knew he was talking about grace. She had been so important to you.

You take jake's face in your hands, pulling his face up so he could look you in the eye. "But that stupid jake was the one who saved a whole clan, that stupid jake is strong and brave. That stupid jake was the one I fell in love with" you speak softly. Tears streamed down Jake's cheeks. "I want you to be the person that stupid Jake needed, for lo'ak. He needs you…" you speak, feeling jake hug you. You both stand there for a moment. "I don't want him to make mistakes that he'll regret later," jake says. "He'll get in trouble if you don't help…try to be a better parent to him. That's all I ask of you" you start walking away from jake. Picking up some things tuk had left on the ground, you go to look for the girl.

"Do you think you would have been happy if instead of me, tom was the one in this body?" jake asks you. You knew this was tormenting Jake. You had been tom's girlfriend just before he went to earth. And there he was murdered. When jake came to the RDA and took tom's place. For you it was a big shock, Jake was just like your ex-boyfriend, but so different at the same time. You had to admit that Jake was the only thing that kept you sane those months. Not to mention the relationship that formed between the two of you. Jake allowed you to see neytiri again and get closer to the clan. Jake could be a fool, but the fool you liked the most. The rest is history.

You turn around before leaving the marui, tears in your eyes. "Believe it or not, I am very happy…but I wish your insecurities didn't affect this family" you speak, walking out of the marui leaving jake alone with his thoughts. You liked that Jake opened up to you, but you would like to see him try to improve his relationship with his children. Because it wasn't just lo'ak, neteyam was also affected by jake's treatment. You pause for a moment, taking a deep breath and wiping away your tears. You calm down a bit, and start looking for tuk. Luckily for you, the girl wasn't far away. She was sitting with neteyam playing.

You approach the children, see how they look at you and their eyes light up. "Hello" you greet them, sitting down next to tuk. "Look my love, you forgot these things" you hand the things to tuk. The little girl thanks you, she didn't dare to come back for them. "Thank you mommy" tuk says, now sitting on your lap. You can feel neteyam's eyes glued to you, he knew things were not good between his parents. The news that you were likely to leave had destroyed him. Neteyam could be strong, and always be by Jake and Neytiri's side. But you were his refuge, where he could go and be a child again. If he was to be judged for a second. "Mom?" neteyam speaks to you, you look at him quickly. "Mmm?" you are helping tuk, when you feel neteyam sit down next to you. "Is it true that you are going to go and leave us?" neteyam speaks waiting for you to answer. "Mom? You are going to leave us?" yells tuk. You sigh, you had gone through a pretty strong disappointment a few minutes ago and you wanted to control yourself.

"Where did you hear that neteyam?" you look at the boy, you thought you had argued in private, but you guess your screams were too loud. "We heard it by accident, I promise" neteyam gets nervous, but you hold his hand to calm him down. "mom if you go…can I come with you?" neteyam was getting sentimental, you caress his face a little. Laughing a little and tapping your arms to give him support. "I'm not going anywhere…but if I did. Of course you can go with me." You speak, watching as neteyam pouts. You joke a little, in order to change the topic. You didn't like them getting involved in adult issues, you knew they had been through a lot. At such a young age.

It wasn't long before you started to feel a little dizzy. You tried to hold your child tighter in your lap, but you felt like you were about to throw up. Never having felt like this before. You push tuk a little so that the girl slips out of your lap, placing your hands on your stomach, you were in a lot of pain. Neteyam noticed this, and quickly began to help you. "What's wrong mom?" neteyam holds your shoulders. The vomiting was something you couldn't help, and you swore you were emptying yourself alive. neteyam held you so you wouldn't mess yourself up. "Mom!" the boy whines, he has never seen you like this before. It was so strong that as soon as you recover, your sight goes blank.

You start to get up, you could hear some voices around you. You didn't open your eyes yet, but you could distinguish them. One was from neytiri, and the other was from ronal. You could feel some warm things on your body, and some parts were wet. You start to become conscious, opening your eyes a little at a time. "Ma Y/n!!!" neytiri sounded so happy, she had a nice smile on her face. On the other hand, ronal was moving away from your body. You could tell she looked exhausted. "What happened?" you try to get up, but you barely had any strength. "You fainted again and neteyam warned us" neytiri explains, stroking your hair. Something seemed curious about neytiri, she was supposed to be worried and she looked so happy. "You are sick…you need to rest and take medicine" said Ronal, the woman was already looking in some containers for the herbs to prepare the medicine you had to take. The more you woke up you realized that you were in the marui that Ronal used to take care of the sick na'vi. "And the children?" you look weakly at neytiri. "They are with Jake, don't worry," Neytiri speaks, settling in closer to your side.

You rest a little, but you feel how Ronal starts to remove the towels that were warm before. Drying your exposed skin a bit. He had been using compresses and hot towels to try to get you up. "The medicine is a little strong, but it won't hurt the baby," says Ronal, holding out a jar of carracol. Your eyes widen in surprise, what the hell was this woman talking about, pregnant? This woman is crazy. "Baby? No, I'm not pregnant" you speak, now you had recovered all your strength. You were surprised. You look at neytiri, but she had a look that was worrying you. "ney" you push her a little, you needed her to speak. "Y/N I thought you are…since the symptoms" neytiri can't contain her joy. "Plus we did an abdominal test and we could feel something" ronal looks at you, handing you the drink. You are confused, and now you were about to vomit at the news. How could that be possible, you were sure you weren't pregnant.

Hey, you and Jake had been together. Well…ever since you had joined the clan. You two hadn't kept your hands off each other. Well… the three of you. You were sure neytiri knew you weren't pregnant. The idea of having a baby doesn't enter your head, not now that the atmosphere is so tense. You take the drink, you notice how Ronal is watching you. Making sure you take all the medicine. "Ahh it's disgusting" you complain. Listening to neytiri laugh, you liked seeing her like that. It's been a long time since you've seen her this happy, it was genuine happiness. "Well…I'll let you rest here. I'll come by later and check on you" ronal gets up from the floor, and walks out of the marui. Leaving you and neytiri alone. You were exhausted, but you can feel neytiri touch your stomach. Causing you to look at her with surprise. "We will have another baby ma y/n" neytiri smiles. "But when?" you had many questions, when you found out you were pregnant with lo'ak it was because norm did a test on you. But now it had been a natural test that na'vi women did to find out if they were pregnant. "I think it was the day at the beach" neytir laughs a little, blushing. You start to remember and you want to curl into a ball. You were scared, really scared.

"Hey, don't be scared. I'll be right here with you. And we've been looking for this for so many years," says Neytiri. And she was right, it got to the stage where the pregnancies were more about the two of you. They were very intimate between you and Neytiri. You wanted to be in on the whole process, including the excitement of being pregnant. It would build on the bonds that would be formed with the children. "I know…but this news is very unexpected…and even more so now that I want to kill Jake," you say. ""You haven't talked?"" asks neytiri, she wanted this to be resolved. "Ney…I need him to be a better father to lo'ak and you know I'm right" you speak. Neytiri is thoughtful for a moment, she knew you were right, and she would support you in whatever decision you make. And even more so at this moment. "Well, I'm going to let you rest. Ronal said he would come later. I'll come later." neytiri wanted to break the news to everyone in the family. A baby was big news for her, and she knew everyone would be happy. Giving you a soft kiss, and another on the palms of her hands. You swear you saw Neytiri jump a little in happiness, her tail wagging from side to side and the smile on her face was beautiful. You lay back on the comfortable bed and closed your eyes. You had to rest, otherwise you were going to die of madness.

"Ok, but you have to cut it like this" jake was with lo'ak. The man had decided to go looking for his son after the argument he had with you. Inviting him to go fishing, obviously this was a strange thing for lo'ak to do. But spending the afternoon with his father was making him very happy. Lo'ak was cleaning the fish as jake told him to, looking carefully at the instructions. "And what do I do with this?" lo'ak points with disgust, at the fish's stomach. "Remove it…that's disgusting" jake mimics lo'ak's wince as they both laughed. It was a very nice moment for both of them, jake had to admit that he had missed a lot of moments with lo'ak. While lo'ak and jake were busy, kiri, neteyam and tuk were sitting somewhere in the corner of the marui talking and playing with each other. When they noticed how their mother came in with a happiness. "I have good news," said neytiri.

"How is mom!!!" lo'ak gets up quickly, running to neytiri. "she's fine…but" neytiri pauses, walking over to jake to sit next to him. "What's wrong, she's supposed to just be sick at her stomach" jake says. The last he heard from you, neteyam had taken you to see ronal. And that you had a lot of stomach pain. "It's not a bad thing…come here everybody, come on!" neytiri makes the signal for everyone in the family to come over. Everyone sits around, neytiri looked so excited. "This is so big for this family… Y/N is expecting a baby" neytiri sounds the news, jake gets so excited he hugs neytiri right away. "No way!!!" shouts kiri hugging tuk and the little girl was already very excited. "Another sully to the family" says neteyam, excited. But apparently the news had not gone down well with everyone, "WHAT?" Lo'ak literally screams, capturing her parents' attention. "Lo'ak what's wrong?" neytiri is now confused, this is supposed to be a big surprise.

"Why is mom going to have a baby? She can't have one!!!" Lo'ak was getting a little upset. This was a jealous reaction, and neytiri and jake could tell. "hey lo'ak I need you to calm down" jake tries to calm him down. But the boy stands up in annoyance, getting out of the marui. "Lo'ak needs to stop having tantrums, he's too old to be having these dramas" kiri says. Neytiri taps her knee, kiri complains. Everyone in the family knows how lo'ak was with you, everything that had to do with you affected lo'ak twice as much. Jake was about to get up and go talk to the boy. But he feels neteyam's hand stop him. "Dad…I'll talk to him" says neteyam. Jake looks quickly at neytiri, who signals him to let his brother go get him. Neteyam gets up from the ground and leaves the marui to look for his brother. It doesn't take him long to find him, he was relatively close. Lo'ak was sitting in the sand, he could tell he was crying.

"Little brother…you're jealous" says neteyam. Listening as lo'ak whined. "What do you want you idiot!!!" lo'ak grudgingly replies to neteyam. But neteyam ignores him, laughing and sitting down next to him. "I know you must be feeling jealous," says neteyam. Lo'ak rolls his eyes in white. He didn't want to be messing around with neteyam, sometimes he could be very annoying. "You know…when you were born I felt a little jealous, but when tuk was born I must admit I couldn't help but feel very jealous. Our moms were with her all the time and didn't pay attention to us. " said neteyam. "Yes, but my mom has always paid attention to me" lo'ak says sounding a bit smug. Neteyam laughs, he had to admit that his little brother looked adorable. "And she's always going to love you, I'm the big brother. And having to share everything…but the love mama has for you is special and no one will ever change it," Neteyam speaks. Lo'ak is silent, neteyam stands up and taps his brother on the shoulder. Stepping away to let him think for a moment.

That same afternoon…

You were already up, and it was getting dark. You had to admit that you were pretty bored. Ronal was taking longer than usual. You wanted to be home, you felt a little better. And now that you knew you were sick and the pregnancy symptoms were making it worse, you felt somewhat reassured. Although the news of your pregnancy was not something you were very happy about. Sure, you were happy to have a baby. You had waited for this opportunity for so long, but it had to happen right now. Just now when the situation with lo'ak was very active.

You were so wrapped up in your own thoughts, that you didn't notice when Ronal entered the marui. The woman can see that you were a bit lost. "The news of the baby surprises you, doesn't it? Because it does to me," says Ronal, putting some things she brought to refill. You look at her a little startled, and became a little alert at the tone of Ronal's voice. You weren't friends, and ronal tolerated you and treated you well because tonowari told her to. "Yes…it's a surprise," you say. Trying not to sound awkward. "It seems kind of unreal to me…that one" Ronal scans you up and down. "Human is pregnant, I have doubts even with your supposed child" ronal speaks, she could be quite direct. She didn't mind hurting other people's feelings. "Excuse me?" you get more comfortable in your bed. "Don't take this the wrong way…but it's weird" ronal chuckles a little. You decide to ignore her, you didn't want to argue because you still felt a little bad.

Ronal prepared more medicine for you to take in the next few days. Supposedly some food had made you sick. After several days you are supposed to be left with only the symptoms of pregnancy. She might be a little mean, but she wouldn't hurt you. You get up carefully, leaving Marui. Ronal all this time had been making uncalled for comments about you and your child. But at no time did you want to answer him, you didn't want to cause trouble. "Hey by the way" Ronal starts talking. You stop, and look back.

"I heard you wanted to go back to the jungle…and you know what" Ronal laughs again to herself. You didn't understand what you had done to this woman, but she seemed to hate you. "I think it would be best for your family. Even for that child…lo'ak. When you weren't here, we barely heard the sully. And as far as I can see all you've done is mess everything up around here," Ronal says, turning to continue working. You sigh, you weren't going to give her the pleasure of her seeing you cry, getting out of that marui as fast as you could. Back to the familiar marui, you couldn't help but get Ronal's words out of your head, maybe she was right. Maybe they were better off without you. And now you had one more problem.

P.s The reason I wrote that the reader was pregnant is that the original request asked for two children. Lo'ak and the baby on the way. Second, the reader is still upset with jake, but I wanted to fix things up a bit. Because I want it to focus more on the relationship between lo'ak and his mom.

Tag: @baybaybear1@hoodiepandaninja16@teyyyteyyy@anika-rose-walker@victoria2054@raviolisblog@jessi-dan@neteyams-wh0re@jimfiqs@bitchykittenconnoisseur@chershire23@holynightnacho@danilezilla@thepotatoislost @esposadomd @ratchetprime211 @juneonhoth

[readwritejayy]

Dinner Date

(Read on AO3 here)

“Darling, is something wrong?” Emmrich was gazing at her with that sweet, worried look. “You don’t have to drink the wine if you don’t wish.”

“No, no it isn’t that,” Rook said, waving her hand. “I just…I didn’t know this was a date.”

Words: 1,103

Notes: throwing my hat in the ring of “writing fanfic for something that isn’t even out yet”. yes i’m also smitten by the gentleman necromancer and his skeleton companion.

Yes, obviously she felt bad for misunderstanding his request. In Rook’s defense, Emmrich had asked if he could “steal her away” for a night when the team wasn’t running left and right dealing with world-ending problems. And given Emmrich’s propensity for speaking so “proper” (which was evidently rubbing off on her a bit), that could have meant any number of things!

No it couldn’t.

Unfortunately she realized that too late, which was why Rook was currently seated in the kitchen of the Lighthouse in a full suit of armor, while Emmrich was dressed in a handsome white button-up, vest, and trousers. His usual coat was missing, but Rook wasn’t about to complain about seeing more of his slender yet poised form.

When she walked into the kitchen, expecting a quick conversation or something to do with Manfred, she was startled to find the kitchen had been transformed. The lamps were dimmed, the counters were lined with candles meticulously lit and arranged, and the little table now had a vase with a single embrium flower.

Emmrich stood beside one of the chairs, wringing his gloved hands together. When she had started to explain her attire, Emmrich just wore that lovesick smile on his face.

“Yes, you do look every bit as magnificent as you do when you’re wielding that axe and cleaving through darkspawn,” he’d sighed.

So Rook took her seat (after Emmrich had pulled out her chair for her, of course). Manfred walked over from his place in the corner. He wore a bow tie around his bony neck. As he walked, the two wine bottles nestled in his pelvic bone clinked together.

He pulled the two bottles out and waved them enticingly, tilting his head.

“Yes Manfred, thank you,” Emmrich replied. “White wine for myself, and a red for the lady?”

Rook shrugged and gave an apologetic look. “I’m not much of a wine drinker myself.”

“Then you could give it a try tonight,” he suggested. While he spoke, Manfred filled the glass Emmrich held, then the glass in front of Rook. “A nice red is a great place to start, but you’re welcome to a sip from my glass as well.”

The conversation flowed as easily as it always did in Emmrich’s presence. She hardly noticed when Manfred brought out their dinners—a pasta dish Rook was certain she wouldn’t be able to pronounce but would probably sound delightful coming from Emmrich’s lips.

It was lovely. And Rook couldn’t help but feel like she’d somehow tricked Emmrich into thinking she was the kind of person that was “wined and dined”. Yes she’d made a mistake in showing up in full armor, but even if she hadn’t misunderstood, it wasn’t like she had anything fancier to wear. The alternative was the casual clothes she wore under her armor with blood and sweat stains that still didn’t come out.

“Darling, is something wrong?” Emmrich was gazing at her with that sweet, worried look. “You don’t have to drink the wine if you don’t wish.”

“No, no it isn’t that,” Rook said, waving her hand. “I just…I didn’t know this was a date.”

His brow raised. Emmrich set down his fork and wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin.

“My dear, I deeply apologize for the misunderstanding,” he explained. “I should have been more clear. You must think me a horrible cad. I can walk you back if you’d like to go…or perhaps you wouldn’t like that—“

“No I didn’t mean…that isn’t what I…” Rook sighed. She rubbed her face with her hands; everything she said always came out sounding boorish next to Emmrich. With a clumsy hand, she gestured to her attire. “I was trying to explain, that’s why I showed up in full armor. I mean, not that I have anything better.”

“Ah.” Emmrich visibly relaxed and resumed eating. “You hardly need to explain yourself to me. I certainly wasn’t going to complain.”

“But you went to all this work! You lit all these candles, you decorated, you made dinner—“

Bones rattled angrily in a dark corner of the kitchen.

“Ah, sorry,” Emmrich said, holding up a hand. “Manfred made the dinner. I ran out of time while I was lighting all the candles. And…I’m not the best cook, though it shames me to admit.”

A breath of laughter escaped her lips.

“You put in a lot of effort,” she continued. “And I haven’t had that before. And I showed up in the same rusty armor I wear for days at a time. And I don’t know how to show you that I’m entirely out of my element but I really appreciate all of this.”

Rook drew in a long breath after her ramble.

“And I like you. A lot.”

Emmrich’s face lit up, his expression rivaling his excitement when they stumbled onto the ruins of a catacomb weeks prior.

“I admit I’m happy to simply be graced with your company. Perhaps I also…quite enjoy the sight of you in that armor,” he said. “But if I could dare ask for more, I’d rather like to walk you to home.”

After dinner, he did just that; he took her hand on his arm and walked her the whole fifteen feet to the door of her room. They stood in front of the closed door silently for a few moments. Rook shuffled from foot to foot.

“You know, you could come in if you like,” she offered. Then she made a face. “I guess coffee is back in the kitchen…I don’t know, it seemed like the thing people say after a date.”

Emmrich chuckled. “I’m afraid I have to decline; it would be improper after a first date.”

“Even if a lady offers? You’re nothing if not a gentleman,” Rook replied, grinning. “Very well. Could I at least give you a kiss?”

Before he could reply, Rook leaned over and pressed a kiss to Emmrich’s cheek. His face visibly flushed.

From the doorway of the kitchen came the sound of bones knocking together as Manfred clapped happily.

“Manfred, please,” Emmrich groaned. He turned his focus back to Rook, taking her hand and kissing her bruised knuckles. “Good night, my dear.”

She watched Emmrich walk away, Manfred ambling on behind him. She still wasn’t sure how she’d caught the attention of the handsome necromancer, nor how she’d managed to hold his attention long enough to convince him she had something worthwhile to give in return. But if he still liked her after tonight, she certainly wouldn’t argue.

She’d just…double check next time he invited her to dinner.

[miyamiwu]

omg my youngest sister is arguing with my mother in the group chat about the Carlos Yulo issue. As expected, my mom is on the abusive mother’s side. Fucking boomers

I honestly don’t have the energy to argue with my mom, so I’ll just leave it to my activist sister 🤣

Context for my non-Filo followers: Carlos Yulo is a Filipino gymnast who won two gold medals in the Olympics (men’s floor exercise and men’s vault), but before he won, his mother was rooting for the enemy team (Japan) and hoping for her own son to lose. Now, with Carlos winning two gold medals, her previous hateful statements were dug up and slapped in her face.

In defense, her mother started talking about how Carlos has been an unfilial child and how she thinks his girlfriend, Chloe, is causing him to drift apart from the family. This in turn caused a lot of people to turn against Chloe and throw misogynistic statements at her.

Carlos and Chloe had to post a video to clear up the misunderstanding and show their side of the story.

In the video, they said that they and Chloe’s family made a group chat and pulled Carlos’ mom into it so they can resolve the issue in private. I didn’t read all the screenshots, but one part had Carlos call out his mom for withholding the allowance he got as a national athlete/prize money from previous international competitions (can’t remember if it was just one of these or both) and using it to pay for the family house (which is under his mother’s name) in bulk without asking for his permission beforehand (his mother held his bank account card back then). The mother was unrepentant though, thinking that there’s nothing wrong with what she did and that she doesn’t have to explain herself to her own son.

Carlos also defended his girlfriend, saying how his mom has been very critical of how she dresses and speaks, as a result of how Chloe grew up in Australia, where the culture is very different. (The traditional ideal of a Filipino woman is someone who is “demure and self-effacing” like Maria Clara, but Chloe is the complete opposite of that. She’s an outspoken, strong, independent woman, and the conservatives and misogynists don’t like that.)

There’s a lot of articles explaining the whole thing better online, so just google them for more info

Anyways, this whole issue really blew up in the Philippines, with the conservatives/older generation admonishing Carlos with justifications like “That’s still your mom” and the younger generation rallying with Carlos and praising him for his courage in breaking free from an abusive household. It really brought to light the toxic Filipino family culture, rendering the issue as not only personal to the Yulo family but also a societal one that is prevalent in a lot of Filipino households. The Philippines is so poor that some parents have treated their children as “investments” to bring them out of poverty.

I’ve witnessed this problem in my own family. I remember when my older brother was in college, he had a scholarship that entitled him to P15,000 per semester (adjusting for inflation, this is now about $350). However, my mom held his ATM card and would only send him a little of the allowance. In the end, my own brother would starve and sometimes even steal other people’s food from the dorm 😔 (As someone who now also lives in the college dorm and has had her own food stolen, this is why I can never really hate or be mad at people who steal. I understand the desperation when you’re really hungry).

In the beginning, my brother thought there was nothing wrong with this and it was only right for him to give back to my mother, and it took my aunt (who housed my brother in his first year of college and also gave him some allowance) a lot of talking into him to convince him how this was wrong. As a parent, my mother had every obligation to provide and raise her children and my brother shouldn’t have to feel like he owes her a favor.

In the Philippines, tradition is to support your child throughout college. In some households, the support is until the child turns 18 or 21. But on the first year my brother left for college (he was only 16 then, as he was part of the old curriculum), my mom just threw him to our aunt’s place, which was near the university, and let him depend on our aunt—who had no obligation to even raise him—while also expecting him to hand over his scholarship allowance to her. It was awful.

I have a lot more examples in the family, but this post is getting too long… but yeah, I am both pissed and disappointed with my mother siding with Angelica Yulo, but at the same time, I kind of expected it. She and Angelica are the same kind of person 😩

However, I can only hold myself back from arguing since I’m not in any position to argue with my mom about this. Mom is still supporting me in college even though I am now an adult (got delayed because of mental health issues and stuff). And by support, it’s her giving me a weekly allowance of P500 (~$9)—which is far from enough for me to cover my meals and other necessities, so I often have to borrow money or do some gigs. I’ve been trying to find a part-time job, but there hasn’t been any luck. I also can’t apply for just any job coz I need to look for one that fits with my schedule and has a salary high enough for me to able to send money to my mom while also leaving some for myself (she’s been pressuring me on this, but as I said, I’m really in no position to talk back 😔).

My brother’s been telling me to just focus on my studies and not worry about it, but I know he would also like my help on the bills in the future. He’s currently paying for the family house that is under my mother’s name and which he doesn’t even live in anymore. He really wants to stop so he can focus on his career and build a future with his girlfriend, but it’s just so hard to break free from this kind of culture, especially when society here is so ready to judge you for being unfilial and lacking utang na loob if you do. And well, we also can’t just throw our mother to the wolves (debt collectors)

So yeah, I’ve been having a hard time, and my mom weighing in on the Carlos Yulo issue unprompted made it even worse 😔

And I swear I don’t mean the end the post like this, but since I’m talking about my troubles anyway, I might as well mention how I’m currently running a Ko-fi goal to help cover some expenses. If you have any spare cash, please consider donating to my Ko-fi 🙏

[artful-aries]

Genshin Headcanons: How They Apologize (Itto, Albedo, Jean)

​​

​​Itto:

​​Depending on what you fought about, at first, he would be too proud to apologize

​​The One and Oni Arataki Itto, being wrong? Fat chance

​​Yet as you give him the cold shoulder, he grows increasingly pouty. Why aren’t you talking to him and giving him kisses? Don’t you love him anymore? He begins to grow almost insecure the longer you draw out the punishment

​​It doesn’t take long of being ignored till his resolve is crumbling to dust. Depending on how mad you are, Itto might be extra and even get down on his knees as he apologizes to you

​​“(Y/N), my babe, my doll, my honey, my numero two, please don’t be mad at me anymore! I won’t do it again, Oni’s honor! Just please, please stop ignoring me babe. I miss being in your arms, and kissing you.”

​​If you don’t have the patience to ignore him for a while, or his groveling for your affection isn’t enough, you can always talk to Shinobu

​​Within the hour, she will have him whipped into shape with a written apology that he will read out in front of you

​​It would be a nice apology that addresses the issue nicely thanks to Shinobu’s advice. It’s just hard to ignore the giant whelp that Itto seems to have on the back of his head after spending an hour under Shinobu’s strict gaze

​​He will be super grateful that you’ve forgiven him, vowing to never make the same mistake again

​​Itto does surprisingly well about not repeating past offenses, the problem is that he seems to always come up with new ones

​​

​​Albedo:

​​Arguments with him are rare and mostly one sided. It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s just that he’s usually confused about why you are mad

​​It takes him a while to get around to apologizing to you

​​Albedo not only wants to make sure you have had plenty of time to cool off, but he also wants to make sure that he prepares an articulate apology for you

​​Given that he tries to plan out his apology, it comes out as a bit stiff and script like, but the small furrow of his brows and the concern in his eyes shows that he really does care about your feelings

​​He’s more than happy to talk about your feelings; why you got mad, where things went wrong, and how to not make the same mistakes in the future

Albedo will handle the situation in a very mature way, and make sure that you don’t confuse his stoicism for lack of feeling. He cares very much about what you think, he just has a hard time showing it

​​He’s very keen on making sure there is healthy communication between you two. Albedo isn’t dumb, he knows he can be a bit cold and aloof externally, and communication is the tool he uses to try and combat potential misunderstandings

​​When you have forgiven him, he will give you a tender kiss to your forehead, a wordless promise that he will try to do better for you in the future.

​​

​​Jean:

​​She usually feels a lot of guilt before the argument is even over

​​When it’s possible, she will find a way to interrupt your ranting to apologize, and ask you to calmly talk about the issue with her

​​If you storm out before she gets to apologize, she’s actually very internally distraught, barely able to concentrate on her work with the Knights

​​As soon as the opportunity arises, she’s giving you a bouquet of dandelions to apologize

​​Jean will explain that she knows what upset you and why, and that she feels terrible about it

​​She doesn’t want you to think that just because she’s busy that she doesn’t think about the best way to resolve problems with you

​​Her job is super stressful and she isn’t perfect, but she appreciates your understanding

​​With her apology, you almost completely forget what you were even mad about to begin with; her apology is just that sincere and heartfelt. How could you stay mad at her?

​​Even after she’s forgiven, she will still feel a little awkward and guilty about the argument until you give her a kiss for reassurance; whether it’s on her forehead, cheek, lips, or hands, you’ll have her blushing like a schoolgirl and forgetting what she was torn up about

[nuget138]

So I'm not a writer so I apologize for my poor writing but here's a prompt. This is based off of The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic, it's cannon divergent, and it has some Ken Usato/Ryuusen Kazuki (kazusato as the ship name?) though not as much as i'd like.

Kazuki had been interested in Usato for awhile, but being on the student council he couldn't find the right time to talk to him, so when Suzune found Usato without an umbrella Kazuki was thrilled at the opportunity hoping this could be a great way to get to know him. He wasn't surprised at the misunderstanding about him and suzune, but happy that he asked. Kazuki didn't understand Suzune and Usato's conversation about magic summoning so waking up in this strange new world all he could think of was to check on Usato who wasn't awake yet. Once Usato was awake, Kazuki turned to the other people in the room. Hearing that these people had summoned them, that they were taken to another world against their will, with no known way back. That this king had summoned Children to save him was disgusting, but Usato was right, starting a fight here in this room surrounded by armed soldiers would only put them in more danger. And when the king promised to find a way to send them it only made him think less of the king. 'what kind of ruler could this man be that he would resort to such things? I pity this kingdom.' he thought. Luckily Suzune spoke up before anyone noticed his feelings and they learned the meaning of the bells.

On their way to get their magic examined kazuki worried about Usato. He didn't hear any bells and was only brought here because he was with them at the wrong time? But at the same time if this had happened the day before Kazuki would have been devastated to never have the chance to actually talk or hangout with Usato. It would have crushed him, And he would have done anything to get back and change that. (< would actually be a really cool alternate universe spinoff, will think more on that later) So he was conflicted on that matter. After him and suzune got their magic check it was Usato's turn but Kazuki couldn't shake this feeling of foreboding so he stood right next to Usato protectively. Because of that when welcie started freaking out at Usato's magic he was able to grab his arm before she could drag him off.

" what are you doing? You can't just freak out and take Usato away." Says kazuki

"This is important I must discuss this with the king!" She exclaimed

"we are not going anywhere until you tell me what is going on. Usato firmly states.

"but "

"That's right." Suzune adds in. "If that color means something important running around without explaining anything could only cause more problems."

Welcie opened their mouth to argue, then stopped and actually thought for a moment. "You are right, all of you. It was stupid of me to try and take off with Usato like that."

She then proceeded to explain about healing magic And of the captain the kingdoms rescue team Rose. Letting them know about her crazy training but also her amazing skills not only with healing magic but also as a fighter. Rose is after all a beloved hero of the nation, her skills as a fighter and healer have saved many lives during war, therefore despite everyone's fear of her crazy training she is respected. After discussing it just the four of them, they agreed to discuss with the king and decided what to do.

So they made their way to the king who was finishing up a meeting with Rose herself. So they all talk everything out discussing options but as healing magic is extremely rare Usato ultimately decides he wants to undergo the training. "It sounds hard but worthwhile, I really do want to be of help while we are here." He said with a smile. Kazuki envied the way Usato took everything in stride and managed to stay so positive throughout these events.

Well that's all I could think of but anyone is free to add on or change it to their liking. I'd be happy to take any request about this prompt, but I'm not a writer so I'd love to read anyone else's ideas

I'm tagging @Well-i-guess-i-could-write @kameleon000 @cosplayprincess21 @Silverthreadedhatter975 for showing interest in my previous post I hope you like this, if you don't, I'll be sad

[burningdreambanana]

My problem with Alicent Hightower on HOTD

I'm team green but I have to admit I have a hard time with show Alicent and I honestly think it's because she's just not a well-written character. I mean I was rewatching HOTD and sometimes she doesn't like her own character, but more a foil to Rhaenyra. It also feels like she's the product of different writers who had different ideas about who she should be and never really agreed.

First of all, I think that Alicent's support for Rhaenyra as heir should have been changed the minute Aegon was born, as he immediately became a dangerous challenge that Rhaenyra would be forced to deal with. The show treats this issue as if it's a 20th succession story about who's going to take daddy's place as CEO or whatever but it's not, for Alicent to be so chill about it and act like Otto is making stuff up without basis is just wrong and anachronistic.

Secondly the reason Alicent turns against Rhaenyra feels weird and contrived to me. Like I can understand her being upset that Rhaenyra semi-lied about her sex life (not even a full lie since Alicent doesn't know she lied about not going to a brothel with Daemon but she did imply she was a virgin which wasn't true) and not wanting to talk to her anymore but to declare war???? And suddenly in ep6 she despises Rhaenyra and thinks she's going to kill her sons. Idk that's kind wild to me that she went there from a semi-lie, but was still ride or die for Rhaenyra after her son was born and Rhaenyra gave her the cold shoulder for years. I know there's been a time skip but it's not an excuse not to explain why a character became the way they are.

Thirdly, Alicent from ep8-9 feels like a completely different character than in ep6-7 and it's not explained by any logical turn of events. At the end of ep7, Alicent had the confirmation that Rhaenyra and Viserys couldn't care less about her children, Rhaenya saw her little brother maimed for life and asked that he be "sharply questioned" (which btw is supposed to be a medieval euphemism for torture), she lets people believed she murdered Laenor to create fear and married Daemon, who despises Otto. In ep8 they show up at court after 6 years of absence, accuse her of poisoning Viserys (when she's the one who stayed to take care of him), and make Viserys drag his dying corpse to the throne room so he could solve issues created by Rhaenyra's own stupid mistakes. Daemon proceeds to murder Vaemond without a warning or a trial for saying the exact same thing that Alicent, Aemond and Aegon have said many times. Logically, Alicent should be terrified and more determined than ever to put Aegon on the throne for her family's safety. But no, Rhaenyra makes a half-assed apology that doesn't even acknowledges Aemond's eye, doesn't involve a genuine gesture towards her brothers to show that she will keep them safe and Alicent is like you know? you're forgiven ! What I am angry about anyway? You'll make a great queen ! Like what happened? And then because the war still has to happen with the stupid misunderstanding that makes Alicent look really delusional and stupid. Also in ep6 and even at the beginning of ep8 she was plotting to put Aegon on the throne so why is she out of the loop at the Green council? It's just sad, no one has respect for the poor lady except maybe her sons and Cole. Anyway I think her character deserved way better. Personnally I would have keep the safety of her children as her motivation but also a more personal act where she realizes she spent her life catering to Viserys and Rhaenyra who walked all over her and gave her nothing in return, and decided to put Aegon on the throne to finally be free and have power through him.

[dropoutfailure]

Would absolutely love to hear more about mishka and gus? Like anything really. Maybe you could explain the timeline of how their story happens (i love that kind of thing) or just tell me something you find interesting about them or just ramble whats on your mind?

I'm excited to answer, but are YOU excited for the wall of text you're about to see?? I probably overthought and revised this answer for way too long. these OCs have wayyyy too much lore and backstory which I might draw at some point. eventually.

backstory in short:

Mishka is a 22yo depressed lonely college dropout NEET trans guy. he's in love with his dad, bc he can't connect to new people easily, and his dad's the only one who has just always been there for him, unconditionally.

his 45yo dad Gustav is a woodworking teacher. a single father who's doing his best. caring, and maybe even lenient with his precious son. he does not reciprocate though. at first.

backstory in long:

so basically Mishka was doomed from the start. his mom was not good at being a mother (violent) and gave him childhood trauma. she left eventually, and dad became a single father when Mishka was 7-9. he comes out as a trans boy in his teens, 14-15. his dad is accepting but his school is not. he makes no permanent connections in 12 years of being in school. just internet friends.

Mishka drops out of college at 22 because of many problems piling up there (adhd, loneliness, misunderstandings, transphobia) and overwhelming him for months. he breaks down in the middle of his last year of undergraduate (he probably could've weathered the storm and finished...), gives up, drops out, goes home and holes up in his room, in his dad's apartment...

Mishka developed a crush on his dad while halfway through college, at around 21 yeard old, but thought he'd get over it and not feel that way anymore when he got back home. lol. lmao.

when dad hugs him after he gets off the train, that notion quickly disappears.

at first he tries to hide it. he doesn't want his dad to hate him. Gustav is happy to see him again, and can tell something's bothering his son, but can never get a straightforward answer. he's worried.

confession scene comic drafts:

eventually, after a month of being back home, Mishka says "fuck it, I've already fucked up my life, I'm already a social outcast, I'm already a garbagefire, I have nothing to lose, I'll tell my dad and either he feels the same or he disowns me!!"

(here, I'll add some sketches I've made for the confession scene. amongst other sketches.)

Mishka confesses kinda hopeful (delusional) that maybe his dad might feel the same.

...but dad does NOT feel the same... he takes some time to process what he just heard.

Mishka is red in the face, sweating, panicking, tearing up bc this is humiliating and painfully awkward and he "should not have told him, should have taken it to the grave!! fuuuuuck"

Gustav is confused and concerned. it doesn't register until he asks again and Mishka's like "this is humiliating enough, don't make me say it again...."

(I need to work out the dialogue here I think..... Gus doesn't disown him, he's extremely uncomfortable with the idea, but ALSO doesn't want to reject Mishka!! he's at a loss and doesn't know how to respond so he's like "it's late, I need some time to think, let's talk about this tomorrow")

he loves his son. but not like that.

(extra long post and more sketches under the Keep Reading)

and then there's an awkward moment / fake-out where Mishka may or may not have been aiming for a kiss. dad turns that down real fast though, uncomfortable. Mishka fears this may have just caused a permanent rift between them, that they can never be affectionate again, and begs him to forget the whole thing.

Gustav can tell that Mishka's gonna be agonizing over this (oh, Gus is too. but doesn't want to double the panic here*) and tells his son to not hurt himself. (Mishka tends to pull at his hair and scratch his skin up to release emotion)

*main things on Gustav's mind: since he's a teacher, he would not only get fired, but hunted for sport if he was actually in an illicit relationship with his son, so he really doesn't want to even entertain the idea. especially since he already feels like he's on thin ice at his workplace - he's good at his job, but it's an open secret that he's "gay" (he's not even gay, he's bi!!)

they retreat to their rooms to turn in for the night. Mishka writes to his bestie Kaito who's the only one he talks to about his feelings for his dad (strangers on the internet and people who took his incest vagueposting as a joke don't count haha).

Gus looks to the internet for any advice on this situation he never expected to be in as a father. "wtf do I do when my own flesh and blood, my own son, half my age, is in love with me, romantically? and maybe sexually?? how do I turn him down without hurting his feelings" he somehow phrases it in such a way that he mostly gets porn results, which is the opposite of what he's looking for! XD it's a very popular porn category and that makes him feel even worse.

here's another WIP I'm trying to work on about this scene. the confession, plus a moment when Gus remembers fearing homophobia in his teen years, but confessing to a classmate regardless (he's bi but most people assume he's either gay or straight)... and immediately shuts it down, thinking to himself "wait that's not even remotely the same thing!! s-some things are societally unacceptable with good reason!"

I'm just trying to work out the dialogue more, to better show Gustav's confusion, apprehension, empathy and an attempt at a gentle rejection.

afterward, they try to go on as normal but now that it's out there, Mishka gets bolder with his affection. and gets reprimanded. occasionally. Gustav's body welcomes the touch, but Gus himself is not happy with this for a multitude of reasons!!!! it's ok, he gets over his incest aversion. he may have felt some sort of way about Mishka's scruffy facial hair and deeper voice when he saw him again for the first time in half a year, but chalked it up to aesthetic appreciation? "what the hell, my son's grown so much... he's so cute... uh, objectively."

they got some mutual desperation and loneliness going on, they're perfect for each other.

I like this fragile and uncertain time in their life and relationship the most so I draw it the most. guilty and hesitant indulgence in forbidden fruit... typical will-they-wont-they situation. but it's like they-probably-shouldnt. but they will.

thanks for asking!! 💘 hope this has been an interesting read. glad you like my characters. :) if this caused more questions than answers, feel free to ask more about them!

[hacked-by-jake]

Hi! I wanted to leave this with a comment but I had to send it in multiple parts so I decided to make an ask :)

So SPOILERS!

I wanted to comment about the ask where anon talks about how no one questions us and I totally agree but doesn't Eric call them all before? Like in Duskwood, Thomas just brought everyone in without anyone's consent in a group chat? Eric alerts them and they probably just wait and see what will happen with us? I know if I were one of them I'll be cautious about the new person but I wouldn't ultimately get mad at them without knowing more? And Eric is on his own in the forest, while Adam has disappeared. The settings are different and they are more worried about their friends than about that stranger, especially if Adam had sent my contact to his friend and there was a letter with my name on it. Ash asks about us and the others will probably too at some point but I think they are shocked that their friend is missing. XD

Sorry if I didn't explain myself well and it wasn't a criticism about the previous ask! Because I totally agree with the fact that no one really questions us not even Eric but they just discovered the disappearance of their friend so it's not the most important thing at the moment? Especially at 00h27...

Now that I am reading this, it's not that important I just wanted to say something about the game. :)

Thank you for reading and thank you for giving your opinions

Have a wonderful day/evening

Hey Ho! :D

First of all, thank you a lot for sending the ask, I really appreciate it.

Well, you're absolutely right about the call and I forgot about it.

But I think in Duskwood is was like, they knew the number already and even wanted to go to the police with it. So they all were aware that the number existed and they still were super suspicious. But also not completely in the first chat. Also more like in private chats. Richy and Jessy, for example. Also Richy and Cleo and Thomas and Cleo as well. They all wrote about us. But in the group no one really did. And also not in private chats with the characters. So it's not that different.

I think they just were surprised when Thomas really wrote to us and then started the group. Since Dan says something like "so you really did it, huh?"

And as I said, I forgot about the call in Moonvale. But it's true. And Eric explained everything to them before. I do believe they should be more careful and not trust our opinion right away. But I think another reason is that the other didn't know it Adam was the victim of a crime. He disappeared on his own. That is what we know so far. So there wasn't much time to ask questions. And I can imagine this will become more of a topic in the next episode.

And Charlie doesn't even realise the seriousness in the beginning and Violet didn't say much at all.

I don’t know. With the call it definitely makes more sense gut they should have been a bit more careful, at least. Maybe another thing is because Eric already called the police and if we had something to hide we wouldn't be happy about it.

I don't know, I don’t think it's a huge problem, a bit odd, but nothing too much. And at least Ash questioned us.

And after she told Charlie about it, it's also not a wonder why he's not questioning us. I mean, for these two it's more clear why we're there. Violet is very passive and probably doesn’t say anything about it either.

It feels a little weird, yes, but is not a doomsday that somehow disturbs the course.

Thank you for sharing your opinion and also thank you for the reminder about the call. I think you explained it very well and there's nothing to misunderstand, don't worry. 💚

And I wish you a good day/evening/night, as well! Take care! 💚

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 15/5

@manorinthewoods submitted: I believe I got confused about the omnipotence thing because I'd talked about it in some Discord server or other. My interpretation of the confusing usage of 'omnipotent' is that it specifically refers to any individual with the ability to exert unlimited power upon at least one individual. This allows for a system where one omnipotent can be more powerful than another, such as a Horrorterror being stronger than a First Guardian. [...] That's all I wanted to say.

The problem is that I don't really understand what it means to exert 'unlimited power' over someone.

Does it mean that you have full control over that person's actions? Or perhaps, the ability to change their nature in any way imaginable? Neither of these traits apply to First Guardians - their powers are centered around controlling space, not people.

Doc Scratch exerts power over Vriska, but his influence isn't absolute. If it was, she wouldn't have been able to use the cueball behind his back. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you mean by unlimited power.

Probably! There are already a lot of human/troll interactions going on, so their relationships will inevitably evolve.

I recommended a few webcomics last year. They're all decent theory-fodder, particularly Paranatural.

That said, none of them are as good as Homestuck at doing what Homestuck does. This is a very unique story, and I'm also not sure what, if anything, I'll liveblog after this is done. I'm certainly enjoying liveblogging, so there probably will be a next project - and I remain open to suggestions.

Dang it. Well, I'm still showing up in search, so at least I'm not shadowbanned this time. Maybe a glitch on your end?

I don't think you're wrong, exactly - but to be honest, there seems to be a bigger issue here than unreliable narration. I still have trouble understanding how any kismesissitude can be healthy.

The prophecy is true!

It's kind of cool that the kids' entire fortune is likely seeded from John's original stockpile. All that Grist we picked up in Act 2 actually went somewhere!

Oh, nice! I feel like there'd be too many combinations to effectively crowdsource, though, unless the pool of alchemy ingredients was extremely small. If you really wanted to implement alchemy in a game, it'd probably have to be at least partially procedural.

To be fair, I have to give credit to John on this one. Some of his funniest moments are when he's not trying to be a jokester.

I know! I probably wasn't clear enough about my question.

My question is whether the phrase 'the numerals of the blind prophets' is a reference all on its own. The phrase is a little out of left field, and the comic itself hasn't explained it.

Pretty sure John's has already been explained - he needs to wake his Denizen and save his fireflies!

As for Jade's, it's indeed hard to say. I thought they'd all be about terraforming, but Dave's seems to break this pattern. Maybe his Quest isn't what it seems - or maybe I was just wrong, and a Quest can be just about anything.

I don't think I'll be able to guess Jade's, since it'll involve the features of a Land we haven't yet seen. All I can say for sure is that it'll have something to do with Space.

Hell yes! This blog's hidden objective - to plug The Locked Tomb - is finally bearing fruit.

It's easy for Aradia to do what she does, because she ''knows'' that she could never have done anything else. 'Understanding' this lets her be reckless.

Once you can convince someone their choices don't matter, you can convince them to do whatever you want.

I prefer Prospit's aesthetics, but Derse's vibes. The Horrorterrors are a better suspicious patron than Skaia - at least they'll help me break the game.

That said, the official quiz assigned me Prospit. Maybe I misunderstand the moons - but from where I'm currently sitting, Derse is the better choice.

The question isn't whether Sburb would screw them over - it's how it would.

I like the idea that Sburb started with only Sprites, and slowly assimilated its victors into its later iterations.

Each Sburb species represents a video game trope, so I could see an aggressive species like the trolls as a border patrol. They're angry, aggressive NPCs who fly their warships around the Veil, making sure Players don't leave the session's boundaries. You're meant to avoid them, not fight them, and they're the bane of any Player who tries to get creative with the Furthest Ring.

Now, what kind of NPC would the humans be?

I'm not a fan of jumpscare horror, but psychological horror can be very interesting indeed.

I didn't expect the comedy meme man to be that good at instilling a sense of dread - but I shouldn't have been surprised. Horror and comedy tread a very fine line.

Thank you!!

This frame in particular is pretty unsettling. Jack never usually shows this much emotion, and you have to wonder if the Ring has gone to his head a little.

Anyway, if we're talking about aesthetics, my favorite area so far is the Battlefield. It's like a chessboard mixed with a Windows XP background, and it's gorgeous in Rise Up.

Neither have been used in the comic, so I'm just going with lusi for convenience's sake!

[shihalyfie]

This is potentially a very loaded question so feel free to not answer if you don't feel like it, but how do you as a woman feel about the handling of female characters in Digimon (anime of course, but also games, manga and even the Digimon themselves)? I've seen takes of all kinds from women over the years so I'm curious how you feel. But again, no pressure to answer if you feel uncomfortable with the subject or too daunted by all the material on the table.

Oh man, I don't mind talking about the subject in itself, but what makes it hard for me is just that the Digimon franchise just has so many things at once with so many different writers and different writing philosophies that I can't really treat the entire thing like a monolith. Especially when you have things running the spectrum from Cyber Sleuth (where female characters arguably drive the narrative far more than the male characters) to Next (which has gotten me angrily ranting about the absolutely awful way it treats its girls, a rant which I would prefer to not subject my followers to).

So before I go ahead, I do want to make sure anyone reading this understands that I'm just talking about my own personal experience and feelings regarding the situation, and I'm very sure that other people will feel differently. I definitely don't feel qualified to comment on what's the ideal way to write female charaters in media or whatever (as if there's even one right answer to that!); I can only truly comment on myself and my own stances on it. (And of course, the OP graciously asked specifically about that, but I just want to make sure nobody reading this post misunderstands!)

Well, I will say that if there's one thing that does seem to be consistent (and I say consistent, because Next absolutely violates this one and Frontier does kind of dangerously toe the line), it's that I haven't really seen Digimon fall victim to the problem of what I call making its female characters the Designated Girl Characters™. Explaining what that is is kind of tricky, but a lot of shounen series will have this very strong "consciousness" of its female characters like they're there to fill a quota, and thus treat them in a way that's kind of alienating. Or in other words, "they section off this character very weirdly in a way they would never do for the male characters." (Note that while Ruki's character arc is made with strong consciousness of her being a girl, the whole point is about condemning the idea she should be treated like some novelty just because she's a girl, so I don't count it as this.)

It was really refreshing to see a 1999 anime portray the girls as mingling with the boys like it was no big deal, and I do wonder if Adventure setting this precedent is a big reason later series have followed in this regard. Adventure through Frontier were made with heavy female creator influence, something that the fandom really tends to downplay (especially because a lot of people suspiciously avoid acknowledging their importance, like how everyone will talk about Hosoda but nobody will talk about the fact Yoshida Reiko wrote the scripts for everything he did, or how people virtually ignored Seki's existence compared to Kakudou until very recently). I think a lot of that shows in its writing; of course, that's not to say there aren't things that really could have used improvement (I think Izumi's treatment in Frontier is the one pretty much everyone universally agrees really left much to be desired, and Tomita even outright admitted he's not very good at writing girls, although that frankly kind of surprises me given how much of his other work has involved writing girls really well), but at the very least it does show a bit more conscientiousness about its female characters than you would see in other shows where female creators were either nonexistent or clearly had no influence in the staff room.

On the flip side, there's also things that were more tasteful in execution than may have even been intended; Sora's character arc isn't that much about her femininity in practice, and Juri does come off as better than your average damsel in distress character, but that doesn't change the fact that the nuance is still there (and that in the latter case a certain writer has outright indulged in that), so all I can do is just be grateful that it didn't get worse.

I guess in the end, my stance is "give or take". I like a lot of other kids' shows (including shounen) that have been better or worse than Digimon's average level, and Digimon itself is so varied that I think it just kind of mingles in there. There are things I like, things I don't like, but at the very least there haven't been too many things that crossed my personal boundary of "absolutely not" (there are, there just aren't many). I think Adventure and 02 in particular are often accused of being more malicious towards its female characters and "screwing them over" than they were intended to be, since a lot of it seems to be a combination of wanting to portray its characters a little too realistically and simply just accidental bad circumstances of how it presented (the fact Hikari's two most famous episodes are by two non-regulars on the series who seemed to be huge fans of portraying her with a brother complex really did not help here), and things like "the same things that feel personally relatable to me are also things that read badly to others, so I understand why people don't like it but I also feel kind of weird when they imply that this kind of concept is inherently Bad" (a lot of things related to Sora and Miyako fall into this category for me). And I mean, part of the reason Miyako became my central character back when I wrote fanfic more often was that I just found her to be an incredibly complex character for the kind you'd usually see in shounen works; I honestly don't know of many other things that would portray someone like her sympathetically instead of cramming her into a "hysterical woman" trope box.

There's also the fact that there's a lot more adult-oriented Digimon media coming up nowadays, so there's that awkward situation where "female character representation" starts having a blurred boundary with "waifu character". Which is not to say that I mind the idea of male fans also liking the female characters I like, but more so that when you get into this territory, I start getting conscious about whether the female characters are more obviously being written in a way to "please the male fans and make them into fanservice material" than it respects them as characters. And I mean, I say it's a blurred boundary for good reason; the aforementioned Cyber Sleuth characters do kind of have that (especially in their character designs), but they are actually written as good characters with agency, whereas you have things like the Adventure girls in tri. who are ostensibly written to follow up on their Adventure character arcs but came off to me as being uncomfortably shoved into the Waifu Character Fanservice troping boxes, especially Mimi and Hikari. (Hooters outfit Mimi and brother complex Hikari are among the few things that I would say have crossed a serious line with me.) So again...give or take.

I will say that the American English dub had a somewhat more misogynistic nuance in the way it treated Mimi, Miyako, and Hikari (it had a lot more condescending tone in the way it portrayed Mimi's airheadedness/materialism and Yolei's penchant for fangirling while also expecting Kari to just put up with Davis harassing her, and it exacerbated the already-kind-of-uncomfortable feelings I had about the unsympathetic way Sora is portrayed in Our War Game!), but it's not to the extent I felt it derailed the entire narrative.

As for the Digimon themselves, the feminine Digimon design sexualization didn't bother me much when I was younger (I remember I really wasn't bothered by Angewomon's design at all), but it does bother me a little more now, especially since you have more designs like Venusmon these days (really? really?). But then there are also really good designs like LovelyAngemon and Mastemon that are just plain cool! And then even designs aside, there's a difference in the way each work portrays them; for instance, you can tell certain anime had more fun with the chest jiggles on the same Digimon that other series were not weird about at all. Maybe the fact Adventure and 02 weren't really weird about Angewomon's design was exactly why I didn't notice it very much back then?

Well, that got long and very rambling, but I hope that answered your question to some extent!

[griffynbird101]

On the fandoms hatred for Irina Denali:

So I see A lot of hate in the fandom for Irina Denali. I think this is unjustified lemme tell you why;

First; people blame her for abandoning the Cullens in Eclipse. I would like to point out that this was the entire Denali clans decision not just Irina, she couldn’t make a decision for the entire coven especially since she isn’t the leader. Let me show you how it looks from the Denali’s perspective; Laurent is a vampire, even if the Denali are vegetarians they weren’t for a long time and they probably don’t think badly on non-vegetarian vampires just like the Cullens don’t, it is natural for vampires to prey on humans. 2. The Denali respect the law. The Cullens do not, and their refusal to follow the law is ultimately what started this whole mess in the first place. 3. The Denali agree to help the Cullens if the Cullens help them get revenge. The Cullens do not agree, therefore they basically say “If you don’t help us we won’t help you”.

To summarize: Bella is a human, by the law she should be turned or killed and as long as she’s human the Cullens are breaking the law. And many of the Cullens (ex: Rosalie and Edward) plan on continuing to do this. Laurent would be following the law by killing Bella, and he would be following his natural instincts as a vampire. Laurent wouldn’t have attempted if the Cullens had turned Bella like they were supposed to. So from their perspective, Laurent was unjustifiably killed and the Cullens are to blame. They ask the Cullens to rectify this by stepping aside and allowing them to take revenge on what the Denali see as an inhuman species which hate vampires for being vampires and are therefore their natural enemies to begin with. They even throw a cherry on top and say; “Hey if you let us do this, we will turn a blind eye to your law breaking and help you keep your human alive.” The Cullens refuse and still have the audacity to ask whether they will be helped. The Denali make the decision to let the Cullens deal with their own problems. The Cullens refuse to help the Denali in what they see as justifiable revenge so why should the Denali help the Cullens.

THEN, the Cullens have a hybrid child. This is not against the law, and in fact if they had went to the Volturi with this the Volturi wouldn’t have punished them for it. The Cullens have not broken the law in this, and in fact hybrids are better at keeping the secret than regular vampires because they are closer to human. The Volturi may have wanted to observe Renesmee as they did with the immortal children before outlawing them but would have ultimately failed to claim Renesmee as an immortal child because of her incredible self control and growth rate. So far, the only real gripe the Volturi had with the Cullens is their refusal to turn Bella human which they have now done as promised.

They don’t do this. So when Irina goes to FIX things with the Cullens she see what she believes can only be an immortal child, something that is not only illegal but something she has a personal history with. This is it, to Irina the Cullens have crossed a line with or without Laurent. In this, Irina is the responsible one who goes and informs the Volturi that the law has been broken.

(also I want to reiterate that a rational person would not have gone down to “give the Cullens as chance to explain” the world doesn’t know about hybrids. From Irina’s perspective the Cullens have broken the law in the worst possible way and created an immortal child. Going down to say “Hey I know you broke the law” to group of seven vampires would be signing her death warrant. When Irina discovers the truth she apologizes for the misunderstanding and takes full responsibility for her actions.)

And what do the Cullens do when they find out the Volturi think they have an immortal child? Not smooth over the misunderstanding, they choose to amass an army. The whole reason the Volturi show up is because the Cullens have not only broken the law, but are actively challenging their rule. THIS COULD ALL HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF THE CULLENS INFORMED THE VOLTURI.

So then, Irina is executed. But only on false information that was fed to her accidentally by the Cullens. And because the Volturi needed to show that there would be repercussions for amassing an army. Irina couldn’t possibly have known the truth about Renesmee.

Everything that happens to the Denali is the Cullens fault. And if I were the Volturi, I would wipe out the Cullen clan at the first chance because they do not respect the law or understand the full scope of their actions, and in fact they’ve gotten away with a lot simply through Carlisle’s friendship with Aro.

[272011]

The first meeting:Part 2 Su

When everyone has their story, of course Su also has his story of his first meeting with his first love.

Their meeting started at the supermarket in the middle of the night. A girl with white hair and purple eyes had just come out of the supermarket to buy some food for her house.

The girl didn't realize that there was a stranger who had sleeping medicine in his hand behind her, that person wanted to put the medicine in [Name]'s nose so that if [Name] was exposed to the smell of the medicine she could fall asleep for a few hours.

But it was stopped by a man who had been watching this stranger's movements from earlier, [Name] was shocked by what happened he didn't think this would happen to him

"Are you okay Miss?" Ask the young man who just saved [Name]

"y-yes, I'm fine" [Name] was still shocked by what happened to her, honestly she didn't expect this to happen to her

"You're still shocked, it's okay, I'll take care of everything."Those of you who don't know what to do can only nod because this is your first time experiencing this

The guy tied the criminal's hands with his red ribbon, whether it's possible or not, but just leave it all to him

When the man was just a few steps away from leaving with the criminal, [Name] called him

"Hey! what's your name?"

The man turned to look at [Name] as the man smiled gently at [Name]

"My name is Su Miss, what about yours?"

"My name is [Name] Schariac, Su"

"Good, I will remember your name and your beautiful face, [Name]"

Su walked back to the police station to deal with this criminal, while [Name]'s side was blushing because of Su

'Why is my heart beating so fast?'

Next day

[Name] walked calmly as usual...but when she was in front of the gate, how shocked she was to see a young man who looked like the man last night who saved her

The man saw [Name] and he didn't expect that the girl he saved last night turned out to be at the same school as him

"[Name]? Turns out we're at the same school! Then let's be good friends, OK [Name]"

"Su, this is unexpected, okay, let's be good friends, Su"

You decided to walk together, while on the way you became the focus of the eyes of the people there because of your closeness

At the front of your class you saw Dr.Mei reading a book in her seat

'It seems Mei didn't realize I was walking with Su, that's good'

"Our classes are next to each other, that makes it easy for us to meet" Su smiled softly again at [Name], [Name] only blushed slightly and smiled sweetly at Su

"Yeah, maybe you want to eat together later?"

"Of course no problem, you will eat on the school roof ?"

"What? ah right!"

"Then I'll go to class first, Su." Su could only nod, seeing the white-haired hadith enter his class while smiling sweetly without fading

When [Name] wanted to sit next to Dr.Mei, Dr.Mei closed her book hard and looked at [Name] seriously.

"Mei, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" [Name] started to panic because of Dr.Mei's behavior that she had never seen before

"That guy, who is he?" Dr. Mei's slightly cold tone made [Name] tear up, could it be that Dr. Mei likes Su too? that's what [Name] is thinking now

"H-he's just my friend! he helped me last night! Mei is it possible that you like him too!?"

"Hah?"

"[Name]...do you like that guy?"

"I'm sorry, I will forget it and will continue to support you, so please don't separate from me!?" Okay [Name] has shed a few tears, she doesn't want to be separated from Dr. Mei because of a boy

"[Name]! why are you crying! I don't like that guy, I'm not interested, I also don't want to be separated from you......because you're just my friend [Name]..." Dr.Mei started to really panic Now, this was the first time he saw his only friend cry because of a misunderstanding

"What? So you don't like Su!?"

"No!"

A few minutes later [Name] had stopped crying because Dr.Mei had explained this misunderstanding, apparently Dr.Mei didn't want her best friend to be taken away.

"By the way, I heard you invited Su to take a break together, is that true?"

"Right, Mei don't mind?"

"It doesn't matter, the important thing is that you are happy"

"Yey!"

The bell rang when class was about to start, and the first lesson in [Name]'s class was Mathematics

During break time [Name] and Dr. Mei walked to the school roof to fulfill her promise with Su

"Sorry I'm late, Su!"

"It's okay [Name] I just arrived too" Su saw another person behind [Name], Su intended to ask but the girl introduced herself first.

"My name is Mei, friend of [Name] nice to meet you"

"My name is Su, I just became [Name]'s friend last night, please don't get me wrong."

"Don't worry, [Name] has explained everything."

"Su, it's okay, I brought Mei too, I feel sorry for her."

"It's okay [Name] I've heard about Mei too"

They became very close friends and were always together, Su also didn't realize from the start that he liked [Name] but when Kevin came as a new student Su already knew that this feeling was his first love, until they entered Month.

"Su, are you here?"

"What's wrong [Name]?"

"Mei said you wanted to talk so I came here"

As far as Su remembers, he didn't ask Dr. Mei to tell [Name] to talk to him, what happened?, but if this was the time Su wanted to be honest with [Name] if he liked the girl in front of him, [Name] became prettier after entering. Month with Dr.Mei so sometimes Su can't stand [Name]'s teasing

"Su?"

"[Name] I want to talk to you seriously"

"Yes"

"You've always been very beautiful, maybe this is a bit silly but when I'm with you I feel comfortable and safe by your side, you always make me not like the original me."

[Name] fell silent when she heard Su's unexpected words

"[Name] Schariac, you've probably heard this many times from other men"

"Do you want to be my girlfriend [Name]" Su is very confident now because [Name]'s movements are often a sign that she likes Su

"Of course! I like you too Su" [Name] didn't expect Su to like him too, he was very moved by this sudden statement

Su, who heard that, was also happy. It was true that he thought [Name] also liked him, but at that moment the sound of applause was heard, of course they knew who it was, none other than Elysia

"Elysia!"

"Hahaha congratulations you two! So when are you getting married?"

"Elysia, we just started dating!" Honestly, it wasn't [Name] but Su who blushed because of Elysia's words

.

.

.

The wind blew calmly, a young man known as Su sat leaning against a large tree holding a green leaf.

"Haa~ when can we meet, my dear [Name], I miss you" If anyone asks what happened the answer is [Name] went to another world to meet some of the Schariac family but unfortunately part of [Name]'s memory disappeared only memories - he still remembers the memories he experienced with the people he loves, of course, but he has forgotten the events that happened, he even forgot what it was like on the first day he was dating Su

End~

[justmultifandom]

Kidge winter event

Day 4: Winter Holidays

(This is a Modern AU)

The Christmas holidays: a real break for students with the end of the first quarter. Katie sighed as she placed the large cup of hot black tea on the white saucer. She looked impatiently at the clock: four sixteen in the afternoon, she had been there for almost an hour now. Next to her, on the comfortable sofa with red cushions, her heavy canvas bag was still placed with notebooks and notes from the quarter inside. The beautiful bar door opened and a small bell rang while the sound of heavy rubber boots got closer and closer until it reached her with a wave of petrol and mint perfume. “Sorry for the delay, there was a lot of traffic due to the snow…”: the man smiled sheepishly, taking off his gray hat and red jacket: “I should have sent you a message, I know, it's my fault…” “Don't worry…”: Katie giggled: “The important thing is that you're here, Keith..” He smiled. After the unfortunate events of last year they had stopped seeing or writing to each other, and now they had finally had the courage to talk about it. What had happened between them was just a misunderstanding, a bad joke and a bad mistake. The summer had been hell for both of them. “I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I didn't call you or… just hear from you…”: she sighed, bringing the cup to her lips and taking a sip of the hot drink. “I didn't call you either…”: he replied: “We are equal in many aspects…” There was a brief pause in which neither of them could speak. Katie was casting her mind and memories back to the events of the past year, their effects and causes. They had been best friends throughout high school and middle school, and even when he dated Acxa in her junior year, breaking her little heart, she never betrayed their friendship. She had simply pretended nothing had happened; she had moved on with her life and her studies, also finding a kind and willing boyfriend to fill that void in her chest. All it took was some alcohol and a big Christmas party at Lance's house to make them sleep together, cheating on their partners at the same time. “How did Acxa cope?”: she asked, finding any excuse to speak and interrupt that deafening silence. “We argued, of course, but then everything went well…”: he replied, tapping his fingers nervously and slowly on the polished wooden table. “I'm happy…”: she nodded: “James and I broke up…” That had no relevance, however it was right that he knew it too. Apparently he had caught them making out at the party and when Katie returned to the apartment they shared the next morning, the suitcases were already packed and ready by the door while the furniture was bare of all her things. “I've always hated that asshole…”: Keith groaned, “You have no idea how much I wanted to punch him when you told me you were dating…” She bit back a small, amused smile, then cleared her throat. “What do you think we should do now?” She asked, playing with her fingers as he looked up at her for a moment. “What would you like to do?”: he asked in turn. “I don't know, become friends again and bury what happened? I don't think Acxa will be happy to know that I'm your best friend again after what happened…": she shook her head. “Acxa is not the problem, she and I decided to end our relationship a few months ago. Now she's with Veronica..”: he informed her. “OH…”: she squeaked in surprise: “I'm sorry…” “Don't be, we just talked calmly and came to the conclusion that everything was simply not as we had imagined…”: he explained. “And how would you have imagined it?”: she asked, daringly. “With a special person who has always been next to me, but who I was so blind as not to see completely…”: Keith looked at her with a slight smile, devouring her through his eyes. “Are you saying that after years I can be with the person I've always loved?”: she asked, as he moved next to her. "It depends on you…" Katie smiled. All of that was enough. She pulled him down for a kiss.

[thesketchyheartist]

03/20

Neon Genesis Evangelion (EP 8, 16, 24, 26)

I want to start off this post by talking about a new main character Asuka. It took me about 2 episodes to figure out she is Rei's opposite. Appearances: Blue hair and red hair. Long hair and short hair. Eye colors are different. One is soft-spoken, the other is vocal. One talks too little (from what I gather from the assigned episodes, I think Rei is supposed to be Eve or Lilith, but Asuka is like Shinji in that they are some descendants of the Evas or Angels or something that is not totally human, so this explains why she acts so cold), the other talks too much. Also the weird but true observation: one is indifferent to perverted accidents, the other is sensitive to perverted accidents; both may or may not [always] involve Shinji.

Asuka represents the tsundere stereotype, I think. I hear the "Baka, hentai!" comment from her a lot, but I can't tell if it's hormones or if she is actually attracted to Shinji. Shinji is a teenage boy, so I know he gets the classic red hand mark on his face, and it's rarely ever his fault. Those characters who are quick to anger and violence without listening to reason are often redheads, and I know it's a popular trope, but I realize as I am writing this the paradox of it all. Asuka is a young girl, and as a bit of a crazy anime watcher, I do believe violence is not always the answer, but it's wrong to assume violence is not an option. However, if every situation that triggers you is answered or resolved in violence, then it's rarely ever resolved. If Asuka even paused for a moment, she could tell Shinji probably did not even have the guts to pull harassment on any girl. To accuse him would make her the true culprit, not the victim. I know the children did not have parental figures to follow, but I guess their immaturity further proves they are really not qualified at all to be humanity's saviors. On the other hand, it is ironic that Asuka's hits can be overlooked so easily. Think about it, if a young boy suddenly had his p**is touched, accidentally or not, by a girl, he probably would just shove her off because if he hit her face, everyone would call him violent. Children who are used as child weapons are essentially taught that violence via their mecha skills is the ONLY solution to solve humanity's biggest problems, so quietly, it's the only solution for small misunderstandings.

Finally, the last episode was more philosophical than I thought. I didn't watch EP25 which I assume is the final battle because I don't think there is a sequel series. The ending didn't even explain what happened to humanity. But I think it's a good moral story to explain ego and self. The swap to 2D pencil drawings is a good way. Without depth, shadow, and background, a sketch exists limitless. I like how Shinji was always told what to do and how he should live. Even at his crisis, he asks people what he should do and how to live, they are the ones telling him the truth of how he should live. While I know the show is the one telling us the truth, to Shinji, it's still outsiders instructing him, even if they have his well-being in the best care possible. It was Shinji, experiencing the No Angels AU (that got to be an AO3 tag, if not, something like No Eva AU) or Middle/High School AU (love the silly shoujo reference with Rei, bread in mouth, "I'm going to be late on my first day of a school in this new city!", and headbumping ML, but not the accidental peeking), that he realizes the truth people have been trying to tell him this whole time. Funny how even his best friends care more about him than he does himself, and only when he really loves himself unconditionally, Eva or no Eva, even in a world where only he exists, that he can learn to actually love others, even his hated father becomes a person he can accept unconditionally. You realize after hearing all the voices, it's because they were people, not static faces with voices, that Shinji can compare his world and his self-image to everyone he meets in the show to find his true self.

It's such a roundabout way to explain everything. All anyone needs is a famous quote by a powerful warrior, one who transcended the mortal realm for his wisdom, bravery, and sheer popularity:

I never heard about ATLA until COVID-19. Funny because if I had heard of this show when it came out, I would have had a very different childhood.

My favorite post-spring break gift from my professors is an exam (it's not.)

-03/19/24

[monkeydluffy19920]

Hi, Do you really believe the direction Oda will follow regarding shipping is sanami over lunami? If so, what is your take on the lunami scenes in movies (strong world/ gold) considering Oda himself orchestrated them?

Hi Nonny and thanks for the ask~!

First of all sorry that it’s taken plenty of time to answer. It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen these movies (so wanted to rewatch both of them before replying and stuff) but anyways here are some thoughts. It’s going to be a long post so you have been warned :)

Before the actual reply I want to say my ponders are leaning mostly on the manga since it's my opinion the "most" canon when it comes down to materials and sources.

What makes it tricky to consider whether Strong World is canon or not is that Shiki-guy because he was indeed briefly mentioned in chapter 530 and 957 but that’s all for the manga.  What is problematic is thath Shiki was a strong pirate of Roger's time and the first to escape from Impel Down. So Luffy beating Shiki down in their duel should’ve been affecting his next bounty but it didn’t. 

Same goes with the film Gold actually. Tesoro mentioned in the beginning that Luffy has beaten Doflamingo (so now he doesn’t have to) but so far it’s really hard to place the happenings to the canon’s timeline. Why? Because the crew split into parts in the beginning of the Dressrosa arc and reunited completely in Wano and It’s been published in 2016, around Zou arc.

So according to this the Film Gold should be placed somewhere after Wano (because they split already around Dressrosa) so Film Gold is a filler movie and most likely also Strong World although Oda-sensei participated in the production and made manga version of Strong World as well.

What comes to the shipping point of view, both movies offers scenes that can be interpreted for one’s OTPs and as long as the debates about shipping goes respectful I think there is no problem of talking about it but if it’s just bashing each other and disrespect then it’s insanity and waste of time. After all, we're supposed to enjoy the show, not to rip the fandom apart.

Anyway in this post down below are listed some moments that Nonny might’ve referenced and trying to dig into these lot debated scenes Nonny mentioned as neutral as possible :)

STRONG WORLD

Shiki takes Nami

Tone dial is one of the key elements of the movie and Strawhats get it in the beginning of the movie. Luffy tosses is to Nami for some reason although dials are more Usopp’s and Franky’s speciality.

Let's not forget that Nami was really good with Skypiea technology too though and she is in general intelligent so maybe that was the reason Luffy trusted that thing for her or maybe it was a random toss, who knows?

Luffy’s reaction to Nami’s choice  and the message on the tone dial

From the shipping perspective probably the most debated detail in Strong World movie is what Nami left there for her crew after Shiki practically forced her to join his crew by threatening her hometown although Usopp tried to stop her by reasoning but Nami had no choice especially after Usopp was silenced. 

At least she was able to leave a message to the tone dial which the crew listens after their reunion and Luffy reacts strongest to this message. He is in disbelief that his comrade would say such things and goes further to unbox the anger while the rest of the crew decides to re-listen the message.

Luffy is usually around where the most stuff happens but he usually skips the backstory-kinda moments and he has even told that the backstories don't matter if he has decided to trust someone. For him his comrades are still friends, no matter how much they'd share different personalities or different points of views.

Luffy's strong reaction is easily explained by his nature: he is a guy who jumps quickly to action. He can be impulsive and sometimes he just picks a few words he hears and has already decided the next step. So this is just a cause of a misunderstanding, if Luffy would've listened to the whole message the outcome would've been different for sure.

The whole message revealed in the ending

So, they managed to save Nami and kick Shiki’s ass for good. She is recovering of the poison and everyone are happy to see her getting better. Luffy however is still a bit mad and upset about that tone dial until the rest of the crew revealed that there was still something left when the captain let his emotions go over intuition.

Even Nami admitted that it was mostly adressed to the captain but it was nothing personal. Like she would ever really doubt her friends’ skills.

And although it was meant for everybody, the main reason why she she added that extra sentence and directed it especially for Luffy is that just like written earlier, the captain tends to take sometimes things  literally so direct directions are best for him.

Why Nami didn’t ask for help in the first sentence?  Probably because of the movies drama tension and because she probably had a feeling Shiki would stalk her while sending a sos. So the message caused a big misunderstanding between her and Luffy because the captain was too filled up with emotions to listen the message for the second time.

Anyway, the whole message Nami left was:

Please, just let me leave you in peace and walk away I've decided to join Shiki's crew to be his navigator Shiki is a legendary pirate. If you fight him, you won't stand a chance Even if you come after me you'll only end up losing your lives That's all I have to say.... So please, come and save me

FILM GOLD

The turtle race

In the beginning of the movie Luffy and his pals join for this race car thingy and Nami is seen blushing after seeing that Luffy, Chopper and Usopp are back in the race.

It’s understandable that people see Nami’s blush and sigh of relieve as shippy but then again before the race Luffy just grabbed a handful of those betting chips (or whatever the are called) and rushed into first thing that looked interesting for them without debating first.

The whole crew is used to their captains randomness but sometimes get irritated by it (as a running gag) so the turtle race wasn’t nothin new tbh but the thing is there was huge money on bet so definitely seeing your nakama (almost) falling out of the race is worrisome but when you see them doing a comeback and realizing there is a chance to win big money and that they are ok it’s a huge relief. 

Luffy gambling in the high risk area

Once they win the Turtle race they are invited to the VIP area where they get the high risk, high reward-challenge with the dices. First they are again annoyed by Luffy betting without asking his crew but once they see Luffy is loaded with luck Nami and Usopp go next to their captain to admire his luck.

This is a nice little moment for both LuNami and LUsopp fans and quite usual actually in One Piece that some of the Straw Hat are more physical towards each other than the others, not necessarly in romantic way though, can be platonic too.

When Baccarat uses he Lucky Lucky fruit abilities the whole crew gets immediately worried when seeing Luffy being unlucky and they all realize they were just fooled  by them.

Like always in tense situations, the whole crew goes on defense mode if they see their nakama in trouble.

Introducing Carina

What I like about Film Gold is that it gives another sneak peak to one of my favorite characters, Nami’s past. It was already mentioned in the Heart of Gold but  they were competitors and ended up in the same trouble and in the previous movie Nami was still mad about what happened and when they reunited they still had this frenemies-way to approach each other.

Luffy's attention was paid for a short moment because it was a friend’s friend and Nami’s expression after Luffy’s question could be interpreted as on something like she’d don’t want Carina to but from the neutral point of view it’s probably more that she is still dealing with conflicted feelings about what happened with her and Carina in the past and meeting her after all those years (the whole story of them robbing  Mad Treasure was opened later in Film Gold).

Also like always the captain isn’t much interested on his nakamas’ pasts. So, instead of watching Nami and Carina quarrelling he interrupted the thing so they could focus on the main thing eating before saving Zoro.

Luffy’s and Franky’s suuuuperrr comeback

So Tesoro thought he’d fool the Strawhat Pirates but actually they trolled him with help of Carina (and I must say, it was so cool that the whole crew had matching outfits!).

Nami was first to congratulate Luffy for their plan and Luffy’s response as a semi-confused “ah, a plan?". It is usually Nami who rushes up to him after seeing him appearing. That's completely natural and even explained with Nami's caring nature.

Not only Luffy but also she usually is the first ones to rush when their mates are in trouble. Out of all Strawhats Luffy happens to be the guy who causes his crew mates loads of worries eith his shenanigans and worry-free and impulsive nature so no wonder she needs to check him most if he is ok. Even Robin mentioned just before their arrival that they “hid” art  of plan from Luffy because they knew their captain would go with his instincts instead of a rock solid plan, crew knows their captain so well *laughs* )

Luffy saving Nami and Carina from Tesoro

Tesoro went to that golden mode and tried to kill Carina but Nami saved her and we get the rest of their story revealed. That Carina actually saved Nami back then although watchers were first led to believe that it was a betrayal.

Naturally touching moment is disturbed by the tension so Tesoro manages to catch Nami to his grip which pisses Luffy off. Another potential ship moment but then again Luffy would do the same no matter whose of his nakama were in the same situation.

Then he tosses Nami and Carina to a safer place from the battle arena and screams her name. Clever move from him if so because the whole place was a mess but again this showed how much trust Luffy has for his whole crew. He knew that although he’d toss them someone would be able to catch them.

One thing that is probably a running gag by the way but Luffy has the tendency to carry people like sack of potatoes, no matter what the gender or the situation is (and somehow they still manage to keep up with him, at least I don't remember whether anyone has fallen from his arms while being carried *laughs*)

Now to think about this is a common thing i.e Luffy has not only carried Nami numerous time like this (for example in Water 7) or Law in Dressrosa and Robin in Alabasta like that but also Zoro has done this for fainted Usopp in Alabasta and even Usopp carries Robin (as Sogeking) in Enies Lobby.

In other words no matter how nice shippy moments there are in fillers /movies/ specials etc. between two characters  have it still doesn't guarantee it would lead to canon romance. Like fellow fans, I also enjoy those shippy moments (especially the filler where they are placed in historical Japan) but still think that when it’s about canon, only manga counts because it's 100% written ad planned by Oda-sensei. Yes Oda has taken parts to production of some movies BUT he isn't in charge of everything there so the production can slip a bit from the canon.

What comes to the panel you used to demonstrate their discussion about the marriage I agree with you, Luffy isn't currently interested in getting married and he prioritizes adventures over the thought of marriage (Thriller Bark). On top of that, Luffy also said "no" to Hancock which for me indicates that he really doesn't want any romantic relationship at this point and frankly spoken it all just makes sense.

After all, he "only" 19-years old and craves for adventures. So I think at some perspectives Luffy's view of romantical romance is still "lacking" and he isn't bothered about it because he has his priorities and determination in other stuff such as chasing his lifelong dream to find the legendary One Piece.

I bet after finding that Luffy might start to ponder more about his future but he wants to keep his focus at one thing at the time instead of big picture. Now he wants to feel the freedom and probably even if he didn't find One Piece (he will for sure though), for him the whole adventure matters more than the treasures. That's simply the way he is.

To your original question Nonny, I've been reading One Piece years and focused on chemistry between Sanji and Nami because I see in them foreshadowing and moments and common chemistry that could potentially lead them as a pair.

Then on the other hand, I too love Luffy as a character a lot, and also do enjoy Luffy's and Nami's chemistry a lo. However, the difference is that compared to SaNami, for me Luffy's and Nami's interactions are much more platonic and sibling-like. The same way I feel Usopp's and Nami's interactions are (and they do share close nakamaship and I like that too, they're like besties and stuff!).

Maybe it's the way the cook and the navigator started by flirting and did proceed to WCI where they split apart with an emotional slap and tears or maybe as a SaNami-fan I feel they've had more development compared to Luffy's and Nami's nakamaship.

This series is about to reach it's ending chapters and it's still all open what Oda has prepared for us. It might be that he drops a random plot bomb and ships some Straw Hats together but on the other hand he could also decide not to add any romance and give the story a very open ending when it comes down to shippings.

Frankly spoken the only canon pair that includes a main character Oda would reveal 100% is Usopp x Kaya, the did pair them even in the live-action but apart from that it's a complete mystery whether SaNami or LuNami any of the most shipped pairs will ever become canon, all we can do is wait ¯\_(ツ)_/¯