#i have plural-coded several of my characters.

[djarins-cyare]

Heyyy do you have a mando fic recommendation list? Or a collection of your favorite fics that you’ve read? I love all your work and always enjoy what you reblog… (you have great taste hehe). I’m wondering if you have a collection of your fav fics somewhere, and if not please make one!!!!

Hey love, thanks for getting in touch 😘

I’ve been trying to put together an epic rec list of tumblr-based Din fics for almost a year now, although it keeps proving to be a much bigger project than I initially thought. The autism is ’tisming hard here because I’m trying to consider everything, and I’ve had to create a multi-tab spreadsheet with a load of colour-coding and filterable columns to keep track… there are currently over 2,300 rows, so it’s taking a while to organise!

I’m having trouble not only documenting the sheer volume of what’s available but also narrowing down what to recommend because there are so many wonderful fics and talented writers that I want to celebrate. But I recently realised that I’m not too far off a significant follower milestone, so I’m hoping to have the rec project ready to go when I reach that milestone. I thought it’d be nice to launch it as a big thank you to everyone who’s supported me and my writing.

So all I can say right now is watch this space – I will get it sorted, I just can’t say precisely when.

In the meantime, if you read on AO3, I have several of my favourite stories saved on my public bookmark list, which you can find >>here<<. Those tend to be longer fics, but there is a variety. If you’re specifically looking for tumblr recs, I use the tag #fic rec to distinguish individual fics I’ve enjoyed and reblogged (the plural #fic recs is for other people’s rec lists), so feel free to search my blog, or just click >>here<< for my sporadic recs. Absolutely everything’s Din-based on this blog, and they tend to be shorter fics or oneshots over here. Once I get my rec list together, there will be many more!

While I’m talking recs, I may as well add: if anyone’s looking for other Pedro character recs, you’ll find those on my side blog >>here<<. I try to queue them up one per night – they’re all oneshots, I cycle through my favourite characters to ensure a roughly even number of fics for each one, I post things by different authors to share out the love as widely as possible, and I include a mixture of old and new fics, plus a variety of highly rated stuff and hidden gems that for whatever reason got fewer notes than they should. (Yes, I have a spreadsheet for this rec system too!) So if anyone’s seeking a hassle-free stream of excellent short fics for other P boys, please follow that blog 🙏🏻.

I kinda wanna do another side blog for other Star Wars characters too, but one thing at a time, I think!

Rest assured, when I get my Din fic rec project into a decent state and hit my follower milestone, there’ll be a massive celebration of tin can man stories on this blog, and the aim is then to queue up what’s on my list for regular posts like I do on my side blog.

So stay tuned – regularly scheduled Din recommending will begin ASAP! 💜

[reveriestarsystem]

What’s the worst piece of media you’ve seen when it comes to “representing” DiD/plurality?

For me the title goes to Split (2016)

Omg the worst one? it's gotta be split. Before I knew I was a system I had been watching it with my parents when it came out and I remember getting so sick to my stomach at the way they portrayed someone plural. And like ugh. Really began my system discovery because that movie put me in such distress for weeks. I remember just thinking "wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong" over and over again just in different voices. (I was like 16 at the time I saw it for the first time???)

Well now at 24, I learn I got DID and now I understand why I can't stand Split.

GOOD MEDIA WITH PLURALITY THO:

-Inside Out. 1 and 2. Despite the characters having the names of emotions, they are all very clearly distinct personalities that cause riley to behave one way or another. This movie really helped me explain my head to mental health professionals even if it's not the most accurate representation. Considering riley is a child tho, it wouldn't be hard to believe that riley is pre-system discovery. That's just my PERSONAL take of on the movie. Ik a lot of others like to say it's good representation of IFS but idk enough about that to comment

Severance: I just recently started watching this but it's very plural coded

Moon knight: I see a lot of people say this one is amazing at representation. I have yet to see it though so I can only speak on what I've heard

Encanto: bear with me on this one. I know it's a stretch. If you view the house as the body, and each person as someone inside, and the town as society, it makes sense. You got the strong one, the one who is good at listening, the one who is apparently normal which is the madrigal without magic so very Host coded. Bruno represents a dormant alter. So on and so forth. Each one of their magic abilities can be directly compared with alters and their jobs.

Jojo bizarre adventures: each character has a stand(Alter) that others can't see but they can. These alters are like protectors and stuff if you think about it. Each one having unique skills and abilities

Skskskksksksks sorry I went overboard this is my first ask :D

[circlejourney]

Finished TOH season 1, here comes my bullet point cascade about episodes 14 - 19.

(As a side note, I don't usually get a chance to externalise my thoughts about a work of fiction to this level of detail because I usually binge straight through it. But yeah I tend to think about writing on a craft level a lot and this is part of why I like to go into something with absolutely no spoilers, I get a lot out of seeing how stories craft twists and reveals)

Seeing the final 2 episodes really shows me what this show can do when it's not trying to cram a full plot structure into every episode. I am so here for a society of control plotline. An autocracy that limits what magic people can do in order to control them, uses schools as instruments in furthering it, and produces this sense of dire competitiveness that sometimes turns spiteful...is a theme that really gets to the heart of my own life growing up. I like how the show has kind of gradually built up the nature of this world without playing all of its cards right away.

I think that, although Luz had never quite been shown doing all the things she did with magic in the finale double ep, it all followed on both her personality (rash, resourceful, going where no one else would) and the skills we had seen her learn. I gained a lot of respect for her in the finale of the last episode because she really got her act together.

Speaking of Luz, she has kinda put a target on her back? Surely if she starts spreading her way of doing magic, she's going to become seen as a threat in some way, especially if wild magic and mixing types of magic is so frowned upon? But of course, she is doing magic straight from the island, rebuilding it from first principles and all, so she is living embodiment of the kinds of magic Belos tried to eradicate/sever the people from

Also interesting she can't do her spells in the human world so she must be channelling the ambient power from the environment; no one can take it from her as long as she remembers how to draw the symbols and is able to draw them in some way

The reveal about the curse and its circumstances was really good...it explains so much about Lilith's personality and motivations and makes her split intentions between the emperor and Eda make so much sense. “Why were you so easy to curse” and generally Lilith mocking her about the effects of the curse is so awful though, given she did it to cheat at the entrance test. Wow in hindsight this makes it super in-character that she empowered Amity during that fight. She is not at all averse to playing dirty and this hasn't changed. (I like that a lot of characters' hair colours have changed…some sort of symbolism about different selves there)

Fight between her and Eda was really fucking cool...the animation...I wonder about the implications of them both now being significantly weakened. Definitely feels like a passing of the torch...to Luz and Amity? Luz is definitely growing into the role, does she now get to use Owlbert? Does Eda get to keep her ability to turn into creature?

Also, considering the petrification was televised, I wonder how Amity is going to feel about the whole happening, considering how people she cared about were involved...and whether Lilith betraying the emperor will move her away from joining his coven.

Speaking of Luz and Amity, taking 2 steps back...they're so. Cute. I am all about this. I love how flustered Amity gets around Luz to the point of going completely OOC. I love the dance fight sequence, the way they seamlessly performed magic together, unpremeditated, and defeated the Grom while dancing. The way they portrayed Amity's anxiety about asking Luz to the dance and how Luz did so anyway. The whole episode is really efficient. Also, as of the end of S1, I find it more believable that she is attracted to Luz now.

Also really liked Understanding Willow. Is it just me or does Willow feel like she could be read as plural coded? I don't know if the show peers into anyone else's mind as a landscape but...she always struck me as having some mental health stuff going on, what with the way she would flip out, so I was really nervous when the episode premise was looking at her memories and. God. I care her. I only wish that they had given her a bit more time to process this new information about that formative memory of being cast aside by Amity

Ok, Emperor Belos is definitely not supposed to be alive right now, but he has been consuming stuff that prolongs his life unnaturally (like the green fire stuff)? Given the bloom of eternal youth thing this has clearly become a part of his life routine. that seems like a pretty big vulnerability if true! So he reached some sort of god-king status ages ago, maybe way back when giant things died, and speaking of which...

What happened with the Titan. Did he take control of/kill the Titan and claim their power or simply use their name to prop himself up. Why is their heart (I think) just hanging behind Belos, seemingly disembodied. Whether that's the Titan's heart or something else, it is some extremely cool set design. Eda referred to the Titan in the same way as a deity, "Titan help me" but IDK if giant beings are universally thought of as deities?

There's more than one giant though, unless the Bat Queen was the Titan's palisman...giants have to be a whole species considering she said "a giant". I want to know more about giants.

Ok this Day of Unity thing spooks me; it's going to involve bridging with the human world which has completely lost contact with the magic/demon world for an extremely long time except via the door…if Belos says he doesn't intend to invade them, then is he trying to assimilate them? (day of unity and all) His play so far has been to harness societies towards propping up himself. Why does he care so much about the human world/humans? Is there some sort of resource inherent in that that he can use/turn to his advantage? The show is clearly not averse to themes like exploitation of bodies and lives, and idk how hard it leans in the imperial direction, but I really hope that it's something in that tone.

[jess--posting]

(rules and other info under the cut, last updated 10/27/24) (interacts from @kirbytripledeluxe)

unless this blog is LABELED as inactive, its still active and accepting asks. hi!

IMPORTANT NOTES 🌿

^^ heres their ref. anyway

there are now technically four characters on this blog (even if i dont exist in pikposting) so the tagging system may be a bit confusing! stuff may get mixed up! heres a quick guide including how i color code their posts:

🍄: jess, they/them, 25

🐟: me! toast or kirby, per/it, 18

🌼: oatchi, he/him, idk!! (was for an april fools prank LMAO i dont think hes staying here)

💮: hope or beep, she/her, not even one years old

ive beaten pikmin 4 as of 4/26/24!!! spoilers are fine!

inactivity spikes may happen due to plurality, disability, and ,, my generally exhausting existence. sorry about that!! as a side note if i overstep or act weird or flood the tags TELL ME.

jess is NOT a sona or a self-insert, just my avatar in pik4, though i do project onto them quite a bit 👍

RULES 🌿

1. obviously no nsfw. while jess is an adult and technically allowed to do that, not only are they asexual but im not at all comfortable with nsfw of my ocs unless were close and very explicit permission is given. and... yeah no i dont give permission for them. suggestive jokes are fine as long as theyre not directed AT them.

2. please dont get me involved in em/eto topics . i have a severe phobia of that

3. other rookies are completely fine to interact!

4. if i slip and misgender jess (i sometimes accidentally use she/her) let me know please!!! ill do the same! though do still note that jess is a trans girl, not nonbinary. pronouns≠gender but i understand the confusion

5. please no alcohol/drug abuse stuff outside of jokes (i.e. the scary weed), other characters using it is fine

6. ask before doing wizard/magic anon stuff ok ? (assuming were already in contact, if were not then dont worry about it)

TAGS 🌿

ic 🍄/🌼/💮: posts by a character

ic answer 🍄/🌼/💮: answered asks by a character

putting them in situations 🍄: rp (←feel free to mute, i use the long post tag once they start getting long but i have a list of the finished ones at the end of this anyway)

jess images 🍄: self explanatory, often reblogs from my art account! i love drawing them!

about jess 🍄: info i share sometimes

ooc 🐟: posts by me

ooc answer 🐟: answers by me

and if you need anything trigger tagged tell me! ill tag it as "tw ___" (flashing lights will just be tagged as "flashing lights")

RP LIST 🌿

3/21/24-3/23/24 🍄 — puddle going through it

3/23/24 🍄 — taking amalgam home

3/24/24-3/26/24 🍄 — lumiknoll moment

3/31/24 🍄 — super mario shaky tower hell

4/22/24 💮 — cherry brings hope and oatchi back to the base!

5/14/24-5/16/24 🍄 — (MAJOR WARNING FOR BODY HORROR + GORE) great job everyone we killed jess

6/6/24-6/14/24 💮 — hope and yonny and kingsly and oatchis great adventure

6/14/24 🍄 — hi jess :) ←pretending it hasnt been over 2 months

6/17/24-6/18/24 🍄 — THE GUILT IS NEVERENDING🔥🔥🔥

OTHER BLOGS 🌿

@heroleaf-posting

@pond-blogging

@groovylonglegs-blogging

@eyewraith-posting

@fritz-posting

[my-website-collection]

my massive organizational taglist below! everything is tagged in the plural. i try to avoid one-off tags, so the majority of tags will have several posts in them

General Organization

#coding and #not graphics tend to be used on the same posts. i also have the tag #other people's sites! for just that

these six exist (mostly) in the not-graphics category

#cursors

#fonts

#layouts

#resources

#templates

#themes

i also have the tag #accessibility, usually applying to "not graphics"/coding side of things. this blog is not screen reader accessible, very few images have image descriptions atm

Fandoms and Original Characters

i tag for whatever fandoms i reblog things for. this isn't a very fandom focused blog though, so at the moment the only tags i have are #deltarune and #genshin

i also tag for characters (some are my ocs, some aren't)

#Himari vibes — my oc

#Jean vibes

#Kieran vibes — my oc

#Lianhuo vibes — my oc

#Malakai vibes — a friend's oc <3

#Navia vibes

All Things Graphics

under the graphics tag, we have all sorts of specific types of graphics:

#gifs, #pngs, and #transparent for image types (#pngs is very broad, not entirely for transparent pngs but photography/images in general)

as for more specific types of graphics, we have:

#backgrounds

#blinkies

#dividers

#favicons

#navigation

#stamps

#textures

now we have specific categories/things featured in the graphics

Animals

#animals

#bats

#bears

#birds

#bunnies

#cats

#dogs

#fish

#jellyfish

#penguins

#pigeons

#polar bears

#seals

#snails

#whales

Insects

#butterflies

#caterpillars

#insects

#isopods

#ladybugs

#moth

General / Misc

#arrows

#bows

#bubbles

#buttons

#food

#fruit

#halloween

#hearts

#jewelry

#keys

#lamps

#lockets

#mail

#music

#pride

#rainbows

#skulls

#stationery

#stickers

#strawberries

#sweets

#teapots

Nature / Plants

#clouds

#dandelions

#ferns

#flowers

#forests

#moon

#plants

#snow

#space

#stars

#trees

[glitterbuns]

WIP Ask Game

Thanks @haste-waste for the tag :)

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Tag as many people as you have WIPs. People send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

[Note: Many have stupid code names. I also didn't bother with proper punctuation in many instances, so I'll transcribe the titles as they are, lol.]

1- the first = first chapter in my Hyrule ""History book"" (100% based on BOTW's map, with nods to the rest of the games. Zelink is central and romantic in this first part, however, it's not always romantic)). Fun fact: there are many Zelda OCs, since all the first born girls are called Zelda, so each of them has a nickname (or several) through which they are known to History (or should I say: Herstory?)

2- au = Orpheus and Eurydice Zelink AU (set in the BOTW/TOTK universe. Yeah, there's a pattern here... Oops)

3- Little Birds = post-TOTK (like 15 years after). It's an epilogue inspired by the last chapter+epilogue in Mockingjay. Guess the ship...

4- Post-Pre 1 & 1 (I just realised I wrote the same story twice in different files (they're not a 100% the same scenes, but they're different scenes from the same story) = post BOTW, pre TOTK. It's not very developed, but my idea was exploring Zelda's mental state after the Calamity, and filling gaps between the games. Yes, it's Zelink (in many different ways)

5- Summer Solstice /Yearning = post BOTW, pre TOTK. A lot of Zelink yearning, yes, but I started writing it because I wanted to write about the Soltice's mysticism and the traditions Hateno's people follow, so I focus a lot on descriptions of clothing, dancing, rituals...

6- Forbidden = pre-Calamity Zelink smut. Only there's no in-text smut and it's all about the emotional aftermath. It was inspired by a gif

7- Random Scenes = supposed to be part of WIP 2 mentioned above. The title is plural but there's only one scene of less than 200 words, lol

I am obviously ✨obsessed✨. Honestly, when it comes to FanFiction, I've always been a reader; my writing has always been about original characters and original stories, despite the amount of fandoms I've belonged to over the years. That is, until I played BOTW. It inspired me so, so much, more than anything I've ever played/read/watched before...

Anyway:

If we're mutuals, you're tagged (I don't dare to tag anyone, I'm too shy :( sorry)

[seth-burroughs]

When I say that I'm not normal about Rain Code I don't mean in it in a jokey haha quirky way I mean it 100% sincerely in weirdest cringest way possible. It legitimately permanently changed my mind and life. I think about it nearly all of the day, nearly non-stop, and it's always there as background noise. Anything that I ever experienced before I watched Rain Code was a blur. I simply was not there yet until Rain Code was. All my memories before that time feel like they were from some different person altogether that is no longer me or relevant to anything. The day I picked it up is forever labeled as our death date when we officially stopped being a real person. All my life has been leading up to the moment I watched Yomi kick Yakou's body and felt like I was looking at a mirror. Eventually I realized I'm literally a fucking Kodaka character which led me down into a whole metaphysical fictionkin multiverse theory rabbithole which led me down into some other, even more fucked up rabbit hole of realizing we were plural for quite some time already. And also the autosexuality rabbit hole but I think we should stay silent for that one. None of us have any attachments to the time before Rain Code was out. The people I met in the fandom have probably fixed the damage I got from all my previous fandom interactions (warrior cats. our mortal enemy.) up to that point and I consider them the closest to my equals or just love to watch them do about their thing. My heart drops whenever I hear anything about Rain Code (and especially Yomi) from anybody else and often if I don't know them, will stress me out severely and make me twitch like a motherfucker. I once or twice had a breakdown over this. I am obsessed. I am not normal about this and probably never will be. There is no me without Rain Code. What's up, how's it going, my name is Yomi and I shouldn't be alive.

Just thought I'd fire some shots to keep the rent low in case any of you got the wrong impression I'm just a really passionate fan. You are currently in the territory of a major freak with something deeply wrong with him.

:3

[is-that-plural]

For the Kano post, I think there's another plural-coded part but idk if it's in the wiki but thinking back on it it reads as plural imo (or at least similar to some experiences)

He can alter how people perceive him, but this also includes how he views himself, so while looking in the mirror he won't recognize himself. Before he learned to control his powers, he would unintentionally activate them, appearing as someone else (I.E. his recently deceased mother), causing him a lot of emotional strife. On top of that, when he's in severe emotional distress, he'll find that he can't even turn back to himself, and is stuck as someone else until he's able to calm down.

Also in his song / MV (yobanashi deceive) he views himself as nothing but a dirty liar, to the point he doesn't even know who the real him is:

「Oh my dirty, listen closely

To this coward’s beating heart

A selfish face, that’s seeped in pain

The only “me” that remains

Though I say I’m really lonely

Nothing’s ever gonna change

It’s so disgusting but my face is softly laughing all the same

Oh my dirty, I despise it

Let these feelings all be heard

This coward’s face, that played the game

Might not be one we can save

Simply shrugging off your problems

Only proves you’ll never change

“Oh my, how careless”

Time I wasted cause this liar is still off out and laughing with my face」 (excerpt of Will Stetson's English translyrics of the song)

Ok last bit, this part is actually true for all characters with the eye abilities in kagepro: they gained their abilities by going through a trauma that should have killed them (Kano and his mum being attacked in a burglary for example), accompanied with another person who got trapped in an in-between, p much. They survived by being gifted a snake from Medusa, containing an ability that manifests in their eyes, and this snake actually has a separate conscious (although this isn't touched upon hardly at all, it seems for the vast majority of the characters the snake doesn't talk at all or influence them)

Four or so of the characters were kids when this happened, like 4-7 iirc, so especially for them but for everyone too the story can really read as facing trauma, but being able to learn to live with it, rather than magically being fixed. They can never get rid of their powers, and their powers cause them to feel alone, but they find each other, learn to control their powers, and learn how to feel safe again.

(sorry for the infodumping in your ask box I just was planning on touching on his identity issues and then I kept remembering more and more that could be read as plural-coded lmao)

!!

additional info !! this is very important actually thank you so much

[the said kano post: x ]

having all of this more context in mind; we'd like to offer a re-rating!

Rating: there's some Solid plural coding there!

[altosys]

rebuilding the tfbogd fandom because holy hell this fandom's been dead for 7 years

ok ok so like, go watch gd fanmades. now, to understand the chronological order and the fanon lore spanning across several creators' channels, you'd had to have been there but it's not too late. disclaimer: you do NOT have to learn spanish to understand most of the lore. i promise you it'll make sense so there are three main timelines: -the la bestia timeline -the final battle of geometry dash timeline (and then there's sub-timelines but i'll get to those later) -like, anything else. [i'll edit this later to provide playlists]

lore highlights of the la bestia timeline: -the keymaster gets possessed -i think spooky dies at one point but gets revived? -plural gatekeeper real -scratch gets kidnapped -geometry dash actually gets destroyed -it turns out octocube has a sibling (we have trans rep now. AJDBWSJBCSJBCJISBSCJKSBAIC /pos) -octo's sibling is actually vv chill -oh also the gatekeeper falls in love with the player for a sec. i think it's implied that he thought the player was either octocube or rubrub? either way WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FU- -iirc scratch and/or potbor commit war crimes, so they got that goin' for 'em

lore highlights of the tfbogd (final battle of geometry dash) timeline: -the obscurity just... existing. like, more bpd-coded than spinel herself. i love this lil guy fr fr. vv kinnable for my cluster b ass. -the entire arc of octocube actually being the darkness actually fusing with obscurity but also being obscurity- it's your choice if you want to take that as canon or them being separate characters, personally i like to think they're separate. -the darkness being a girlboss fr fr. bro woke up and chose violence and im all for it -they got the whole light and dark concept better than legend of korra did which is saying something lol -the light isn't actually a "good" person, they're amoral. -hello keymaster x player fans, we have a lil' something for you! other timelines' lore highlights: -slum is kinda just gender ngl -discount bill cipher being everywhere. -yes, oculus (the ruler of levels) counts as a character. no, they're not in any fanmade *videos*, but we all accept them as a character in the series -i forget which video it is but to all the "spooky is apothiaro" mfs out there, i'm sorry

implied thingies that i turned into headcanons and now just go with it: -bpd obscurity real -aspd darkness real -octocube is the epitome of the psychosis/schizophrenia spectrum -i ship keycube and no one can stop me (i think there's some, uh........... stuff implied in one of the fanmades, all i remember is that it wasn't made by phoenix or rmr24hd) -scratch has committed war crimes (i think everyone can agree on this ngl) -biscuit is bigender or at the very least not cis (tbf she does use he/she pronouns canonically) -triple a battery obscurity real (agender aroace)

[puppyhigh]

🏆🍿?

🏆. Who are your main kins? Is there a reason they're your main kins?

ohhhhhhh god um. harrowhark nonagesimus (+ harrow nova) + NONA from. the same fucking source. several versions of arcane/league jinx. mafuyu asahina. rapunzel. sayori. a guy who was intended to be a regular fandomsona and not some past life bullshit.

gonna give brief-ish descriptions for main kin reasonings

harrowhark nonagesimus: scathing + deeply traumatized; androgynous goth femme4butch devotee dyke; haunted and schizophrenic, mind you. has tried to kill herself a debatable number of times/has strong constant suicidal ideation+themes to her.

harrow nova: same as the above but with the underhand; a kicked runt of a guard dog; desperate to prove himself-itself-herself to a family it’s been cast out of, to the usurping girl who pities her enough to heal her wounds .

nona: … sparing similarities to the above. unintentionally unsettling little puppy girlthing. fascination with dogs and the ocean and forgiveness. mouths and hands and bodies. meat (loving meat). heavily coded as a high support needs autistic imo.

jinx: hmm. traumatized explosive girlthing who is (TO ME!!!) the most bpd ptsd schizospec character ever animated (HYPERBOLICALLY!!!) .. really cute and quirky and tries to kill herself seven times. i enjoy her artsiness it’s fun for me. also the sibling dynamic. god the sibling dynamics. Also the way her psychosis is portrayed thru the animation im a fuckin sucker for it

mafuyu asahina: well this one is difficult to get into without getting into a lot but uh. … let’s say questionable mother. complete emptiness, unaware of own wants/needs/feelings, even personality, likes/dislikes. morphs to fit others’ wants/needs/feelings, expectations, desires. girlboy from a silly rhythm game *gritting my teeth . Transmasc swag. openly wants to kill herself in the text. Plural to me.

rapunzel: COUGHS IN A LOUD AND AUDIBLY PAINFUL MANNER. let’s say questionable mother!!! artsy, bubbly, big dreamer, princess, just another cute incredibly traumatized girl with a very certain brand of issues ..;; from one of my most favorites movies ever

sayori: stares at you normally. cute pink girl discarded love interest with a couple of upsetting streaks. kills herself.

not elaborating on the oc ones.

🍿. Do you have a 'kin type' (Ie do you always kin characters with black hair, do you kin characters with a temper, ect)? Can you relate this 'type' to yourself currently?

uh. i think i’ll leave that to be answered primarily by the above descriptions of my highest kintypes but here’s the not-so-official trope list ive actually bothered to write out:

abnormally long hair, esp. braided or in twintails

abusive parent(s)/guardian(s)

animal-coded or associated with animals (bunnies, cats, deer, dogs...)

commonly headcanoned as autistic, lesbian, &/or trans (if not canon)

"digital" girls/programs (think ddlc or virtual singers)

isolated only child or separated from sibling(s)

popular brats who are secretly going through it

severe mental illness (incl. bpd, psychosis, & suicidality)

traumatized since childhood

unethically experimented on

heart emoji.

[ninja-muse]

So, June was a month! Felt like several, but apparently still just the one. Usually I measure the length of a month in books read—more books equals a “faster” month, fewer books equals a “slower” one—but that doesn’t work this time. I read nine books, so about my average. I think the number of “this was fine” books skewed things, as did The Hands of the Emperor which was excellent, but also very long.

And yes, I’ve finally read The Hands of the Emperor! It was everything I expected it to be and more, and just lovely and charming and cozy and all of things. I am bummed that my library doesn’t have the sequel, not that I’d be launching into it right off anyway. It’s the principle of the thing. The only reason it didn’t get my Review of the Month is because it’s hard to take photos of ebook covers….

On the opposite end of the spectrum, my TBR shelf book this month was a last-minute scramble and I opted for something short as a result. (And a classic, because I hadn’t read one of those in a while.) Tortilla Flat really hasn’t aged well, folks. Let’s all hope my next classic is better.

The other last-minute addition to this post is DIGGER IS HERE! I got the notice that it shipped late last week but didn’t think it would be coming to my door quite so soon. It has bookmarks, plural, you guys! I would be jumping into it next except that I’ve barely finished Shubeik Lubeik and I need to put space between excellent graphic novels.

Next up, though? One of the ARCs I hauled this month is The Frugal Wizard’s Guide to Surviving Medieval England. I’m going to be starting it today.

(Episode Thirteen is my other hauled book this month. I’d forgotten I’d requested a copy from a book rep.)

Other life events? I finally saw The Importance of Being Earnest performed! Another last-minute thing, that. I heard about it near the end of May and dithered about getting a ticket because the theatre was a bit of a trek, and then went, well, when else am I going to see it… Worth it, and that’s one thing off my bucket list.

Hopefully July has a lot of good books to make up for the kind of average reading month I’ve just had. Wish me luck!

And now without further ado, in order of enjoyment…

The Hands of the Emperor - Victoria Goddard Cliopher, Secretary to His Radiancy, the Last Emperor of Astandalas, invites his lord on a beach vacation. He has no idea how this will change the world—or his life.

8.5/10

Pacific Islander-coded protagonist, cast contains a range of ethnicities and skin tones, 🇨🇦

Shubeik Lubeik - Deena Mohamed A Cairo kiosk owner tries to sell off three wishes. It doesn’t quite go as planned.

9/10

Egyptian cast, largely Muslim cast, Egyptian author, #ownvoices for Egyptian

warning: depression, suicidal ideation, death of a child

Shadowlands - Matthew Green Short histories of lost settlements from across the UK.

7/10

The Golem of Brooklyn - Adam Mansbach Len creates a golem while stoned. This is only his first poor decision of the week. Road trip, anyone? Out in September

7/10

largely Jewish cast, 🏳️‍🌈 (lesbian) secondary character, Jewish author, #ownvoices for Jewishness

warning: anti-Semites, white supremacists, homophobes

The Helios Syndrome - Vivian Shaw A freelance necromancer must help determine why an airplane crashed, while being haunted by a pilot.

7.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 (gay) protagonist, 🏳️‍🌈 (gay/bi) secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

The Dress Diary of Mrs. Anne Sykes - Kate Strasdin A history of Victorian fashion through the lens of a fabric scrapbook.

7/10

The Gifts - Liz Hyder In 1840s England, a woman grows wings, a storyteller comes to London, a wife grows unsatisfied, and a doctor gets ambitious.

7/10

Black British POV character, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (gay)

warning: racism, misogyny, animal death, medical content

The Road to Roswell - Connie Willis Francie travels to Roswell to save her college roommate from a misguided marriage, and promptly finds herself on an involuntary road trip with an alien.

6.5/10

Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck A group of friends ramble around old-time Monterey.

3.5/10

multiracial protagonists, largely BIPOC cast

warning: racism, misogyny, alcohol, racial slurs

The Gay Best Friend - Nicolas DiDomizio Dom’s best friends are getting married! Which is great, except he’s having to keep secrets for both of them and maybe he needs to think a bit about expectations and authenticity.

5/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 author, #ownvoices

Currently reading:

Nothing! I start July with a clean slate.

Stats

Monthly total: 10 Yearly total: 62/140 Queer books: 2 Authors of colour: 1 Books by women: 6 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 1 Off the TBR shelves: 1 Books hauled: 2 ARCs acquired: 5 ARCs unhauled: 4 DNFs: 0

January February March April May

[aenor-llelo]

Orphan’s Path is being rewritten.

As our readers may be aware, Symphony no. 9 is the Orphan’s Path season 5 finale. After every season ends, we take a week long break to reflect on the work and plan for the future.

We have decided that for this break, we need to do a rewrite.

Specifically of our plural adjacent characters.

Earlier today I was approached by two fomer/current orp readers who are systems, who pointed out several parts of our narrative that leaned into bad implications or stereotypes of plural coded characters. After opening this discussion with my system reader base on my server, the consensus was reached that though they took our writing in the good faith that we were not being intentionally harmful, there were parts they were uncomfortable with.

In light of this, we have assembled a team of system readers who will help us improve our narrative to get across what we truly intend without being harmful to our audience.

We want to do better. We want to be better.

Orphan’s Path season 5 will finish writing on schedule and enter its break right after. But until this series is corrected to satisfaction, we will not return.

Orphan’s Path does not want to just be the “less worse” option for ND/arospec/disability narratives. 

It wants to be a good one.

Please be patient and stay tuned.

[writing-plurals]

Heya! Singlet here with plenty of plural friends (so feel free to use any terms, I will be familiar with them), and I’ve got a DnD campaign I need a character for. Been thinking about it and I’d really like to try playing a plural character, or a plural-coded character, but I’m not sure how the mechanics of switching would work!

Maybe I roll a dice upon my character waking up and the number corresponds to which headmate is at the front? That’s the only thing I can think of, and beyond that, what are some things that I should do or think about to make this more accurate?

I’m hoping to introduce my party to the concept of plurality through this—since it is an interest of mine that I like to talk about! Obviously no “evil alter” trope or anything like that, but what are some other things I should avoid for sure? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Hi! DnD nerd, and plural who has attempted this here!!

A) This is one hundred percent something you'll wanna finetune with your DM. Ultimately, some tables are more suited for certain kinds of narratives, and levels of complexity like this. Make sure if you're bringing something of this caliber to the table, that's something everyone is okay with, basically. And that no one is gonna feel overshadowed by it. It's one hell of a background to play with, not to mention how much work you're gonna have to be putting in to pull it off, (but done right, it can be totally worth it!!!!)

B) Once you know everyone's okay with this kinda dealio, though, I'd really start with a small system, think, like, 2-4 people. If it's two 0r three people, you can just roll a d6 (odds and evens or 1/2 3/4,5/6), and see if it lands on even or odd in the morning, if dice are how you choose the fronter that day. A d4 if you have four in the system, but I really wouldn't push it beyond that.

C) The meat of all this is how you and your DM decide to balance what it means to have several people in one adventurer. Do you have everyone under the same subclass, different stats, aka, different character sheet, functionally? Or is your DM open to some flexibility with what each person does with a class? How does any spell casting work? If one can spell cast, does that mean all of them have access to a kind of magic too, or do they all have the same spell list to use, kinda like muscle memory?

D) What is probably gonna be the most fun, though, (depending on how much you love dealing with mechanics and such), and you've ironed out what is and isn't OP for your table and your DM, have fun with it. I know that's the obvious part, but seriously, have so much fun with it. Lean as much into it as your party narrative allows, and lean into there being more than one people in this adventurer that's dealing with whatever your party is thrown into, and how those personalities interact with it.

If you can get this sort of thing going in your game, PLEASE send an update, because I've never been able to finalize a character like that, and it sounds like so much fun!!!

-Mod Tick Tock (and dnd enthusiast)

[dioko]

NOT JUST ANYONE.

izuku midoriya x gn! reader

Word Count -> ~ 1810

Genre -> oneshot, fluff 

Content -> mildly suggestive (spice rating is 1.5/5), drunk reader, swearing, college au! characters, older reader and younger deku | please lemme know if i missed anything!

Summary -> You really did believe a certain Izuku Midoriya had his nose buried in his textbooks 24/7. Your first impression of him had led you to pin him as a downright nerd - boring and young and nowhere near your type. 

a/n -> 1. idk about the cover page i jus thought deku looked cool there and the oneshot title is eh 2. this was in my drafts for a long, LONG time and today i finally got it to the point where i didn't hate it. enjoyy <333

Once, you really did believe a certain Izuku Midoriya had his nose buried in his textbooks 24/7. Your first impression of him had led you to pin him down as a nerd - boring, and young and nowhere near your type. 

Boy, were you wrong.

The first time you’d met him, he’d smiled at you with such bright, green eyes, it was almost impossible not to smile back.

“Hello, l/n y/n, s’nice to finally meet you! I’m Midoriya Izuku!” He'd very obviously sunken his voice an octave lower, and whether that was on purpose or not, it was still cute. Still innocent, still pure. 

Not attractive, whatsoever.

“Yeah,” you'd turned your attention back to your work,“it’s nice to meet you too.”

After that, your ever-so-impatient brother had rushed him into his room, and Midoriya had obliged - not before shooting you one last glance. In hindsight, there might’ve been something just a teeny bit darker that had resided in Midoriya's lively eyes. 

Then, weeks passed. 

Was it just you, or did college students grow really, really fast?

As he left your brother's work room for the millionth time that month, you found yourself noticing how different he looked compared to when you’d first met him. Now, when Izuku waved a (large, my god) hand at you, he looked taller, broader… older. 

“See you," he chirped to his friend, bringing you back to the reality where he was most definitely not older than you. 

Wake up, you're practically a senior citizen, you’d chided yourself, there’s no way he’s mature enough for you. Then, another side of you, presumably the devil that sat on your shoulder, tried to argue. You’re not much older, it said, he’s practically the same age as you.

“Oh wait- there was something I had to ask you, l/n-”

“S’fine, you can call me y/n, ‘Zuku.” you didn’t intend to call him something so intimate, the words just.... absent-mindedly slipped out your mouth. 

Oopsies daisies!

“Oh! I - I can? Um… ah,” you watched, mildly entertained by the way he tripped up his words, all from a nickname, “we’re all going out tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted to come-”

“Who’s we?” 

“Er- me, and… and your brother! And a few others!”

“Oh?” You couldn’t let yourself smile, not yet. 

“It’ll be fun!” He sputtered, “a lot of um, a lot of… um, drinking?” It sounded more like a question than a persuasive statement. 

You blinked. “Yeah sure, that sound’s good. I didn’t take you for someone who drank.”

“I don’t?”

“Then why are you going?”

“I thought it would be a good way to spend time with y- my friends.”

“Ah, your friends.”

“Yup,” he squeaked.

“Okay then!” You smacked him playfully on his arm - his large, extremely toned, t-shirt-stretching arm - and jolted him out of his fear, “I’ll see you then, ‘Zuku!”

>>

Izuku Midoriya had a surprising number of friends. 

He had, in a gentlemanly fashion, offered to walk with you to the bar (though your brother was there too) and when you stepped in, you were taken aback by the several people at your table. 

Your guts told you to sit beside the angry one - he looked… fun. 

“Who the fuck is this?” The blond talked like you weren’t there.

“Kacchan,” another blond - with a black streak in his hair - chided, “be nice to the pretty birdie!” Was he drunk already?

“Yeah, Kacchan,” you smirked, “respect your elders.”

The first blond just about exploded on the spot. 

“Watch your mouth,” he seethed at you.

“Hot,” you muttered, unaware of evergreen eyes that couldn’t seem to peel themselves off your lips; your soft, pink, kissable lips. 

“What the fuck?” Kacchan flinched back.

“Sorry,” you grinned, “I meant ‘little snot’.”

“Yeah? I’ll show you little sn-”

>>

Four flirtatious advances from three of Izuku’s friends, two hours and 1 mental breakdown later, you were finally ready to go home - everyone was, really - but where was your brother?”

“Deku,” he’d hissed at the greenette, “I’m not going back to the apartment today, can you take-” he gestured towards you, slumped over a pile of food, “- that thing back to the apartment?”

Izuku opened his mouth, about to ask why he couldn’t but immediately shut up again when he realized it was more time he had to spend with you. “Yeah, no problem.”

“Don’t try anything.”

“Wasn’t gonna!” Awkwardly, Izuku scooched his way past Sero and Uraraka, trying to find a place to put his hands so he could lift you off the table. Luckily, he didn’t have to. 

“Ah, ‘Zuku!” You gave him a cheeky grin, “you’re friends are so…” you watched Bakugou, “... cute. Have a drink!” It was almost laughable how quickly you changed from topic to topic. Almost. The only non-laughable part was that Bakugou seemed to be a recurring theme. 

Izuku pursed his lips, “no, you’re drunk. One of us has to be clear-minded enough to take you home.”

“You’re so smart! Good boy,” you ruffled his hair with a sticky hand, and your rapid strokes fell to a halt when you realized how soft his green hair was. “Wow,” you whispered, “I love your hair. Lemme smell it-”

“NO, no. We’re going home.”

“We?” A smirk played on your lips. 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” you frowned when he didn’t stutter - he didn’t even go red. Izuku’s entire demeanor had changed; there was no nervous little college guy right now trying to talk to you, there was a friend (haha) genuinely trying to get you home safely. “Now c’mon, can you walk?”

You stood up and skipped a few steps. “Yup.”

>>

“So, Izuku,” you didn’t bother to hide the fact that you were (very greedily) squeezing his biceps, “gotta girlfriend?”

“N-no.”

“... a boyfriend?”

“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’, and pulled you onto the wall-side of the sidewalk when a car drove by. 

“Any significant other...ss?” You added the plural, just in case. 

“No,” he smiled slyly at you, “why? Are you interested?”

You’d known him for months, but this was the first time he’d said something so forward, enough to make your cheeks flare so hot they felt cold. 

“No way,” you spoke like it was obvious, and then quickly checked to make sure he didn’t look hurt. “Hey! Why do you look so amused?”

“M’not,” he turned his head, so you couldn’t see the smile. 

“You are. Why?”

“Ah, I can’t say. We’re here,” he punched in the apartment code. “You should get ready for bed.”

There was a small, comfortable pause before drunk-you decided to ignore his advice and speak again. “So, do ya like anyone?”

“I like a lot of people,” Izuku smirked. 

Smirked.

“N-no,” you played with the hem of your sweater, “I meant, do you like-like anyone?”

“Hm,” he thought for a second, “that’s a secret.”

“C’mon ‘Zuku! You can trust me!”

“I know that - gimme your coat,” he set it onto a nearby couch and began to flick on random lights, “I still can’t say it, though.”

“Why not?”

“Y/n,” you froze. He’d called you by your first name before, why did it feel so weird now? 

“Yes?”

“I’m taking you to your bedroom.”

“You… you are?”

“You’ve got to sleep.” 

Oh. Boringggg. 

“I don’t wanna,” you hissed, flopping onto your bed anyways. He took a seat at the foot of it. 

“Do you… do you ever remember anything once you're sober again?”

“Nope!” You knew you should’ve lied, but you didn’t, “m’friends say I don’t remember a single thing the next morning.”

He chuckled a little bit, almost in disbelief at you. “That’s not something you can just tell anyone.”

“I know, but you’re not just ‘anyone’.”

“I feel like I’m talking to a child.”

“I’m older than you.”

“Yeah,” he laughed, “it’s kinda hot.”

“What?” Did you mishear? “How do you know what hot means?”

“Y/n! I’m not that young!” He laughed, “sheesh, that hurts.”

“Hurts?”

“Yeah,” he smiled coolly. After all, you weren’t going to remember this conversation. 

“”Why does it hurt?”

“... No reason, don’t worry,” he laughs again, for the third time in a row, but it feels dry to you, and empty, too.

“So who do you like?” You chirped again, completely disregarding his ‘I’m pretty sure I just got brother-zoned’ ideology. 

“I told you, that’s a secret…” then, he bit his lip, “... but you won’t remember anyways, right?”

“Yep!”

“Then... I like you.”

“Who?” You smiled. 

“You.”

“Oh, I like you, too.”

“I like-like you.”

“I like-like you, too.”

“You’re drunk,” he smiled sadly, “sleep.”

“I want fruit.”

“Now? You want me to go get you fruit?”

“Please?”

You inhaled the bucket of raspberries, “anyways, I really do like you. You’re so small and cute.”

“I’m small?”

“No, you’re built like a tank,” you giggled. Sober-you would have called drunk-you an airhead, “I think you’re sexy as hell.”

“Yeah?” 

You leaned closer to him. You were sure he could smell alcohol and sugar on your breath, but you didn’t care. “Yeah.”

“Then can I tell you something else?”

“Sure!”

“Kacchan annoys me so much,” he wiped off the juice that dribbled down your chin with his thumb, and you made the mistake of leaning into his touch, “especially when he flirts with you.”

“When’s he ever flirted with me?”

“Tonight,” Izuku pulled back, and you (embarrassingly) fell forward. “I didn’t like it.”

“Were you jealous?”

“Yes,” he admitted, and quite shamelessly - but only because you weren’t sober. 

“Aw, don’t be jealous,” you cooed at him, and then randomly, “you remind me of bunnies!” 

“That’s cute,” his voice was hoarse, “then, can you promise me something, bunny?”

You flushed hot. “That - that’s not what I meant, I meant you’re my bunny.”

“Sure,” he nodded along.

You shuffled yourself a little closer to him. This wasn’t the Midoriya Izuku you’d come to know, who was he? Why was he so different from the twitchy student who cared so much about his grades?

“What did you want me to promise?” It was a good idea to change the topic, you thought, for his sake, not your own. Definitely. 

“Promise me you won’t let Kacchan get so close to you anymore,” he played with your fingers, “you can do that, right? You... can be a good bunny for me?”

“Mhm,” you couldn't refuse when he put it like that.

“Go to bed now, it’s late.”

“On one condition.”

“And what’s that?”

“Kiss me.”

Izuku paused. His eyes were on your lips, that was for sure, but he showed no sign of moving closer. “M’not gonna do that when you're drunk.”

You frowned. 

“I’ll sit with you ‘till you're asleep. I’m not… touching you, though.”

“Manly,” you murmured.

“Human decency,” he corrected. 

The greenette pulled your covers above your waist and moved to the desk chair in your room, “good night, y/n.”

It was a shame this would all be forgotten, and the two of you would be back to square one by morning.

a/n -> yes the nickname has everything to do with my URL and so what 

[variousqueerthings]

some thoughts on queerness in narrative (using cobra kai as a main point)

1. intro

It’s interesting getting to engage with pop culture right now versus even five years ago, where there was something kinda sordid and undercover about queer reads of text and even just talking about being into stuff very passionately while being queer in spaces that included creators was considered somehow icky (supernatural is always a good example, but definitely was just the most visible of these types of interactions between fans and cast/creators). Obviously that’s where a lot of modern definitions about queerbaiting and bury your gays comes from.

A lot of this kind of drama centred on queer ships rather than queer characters in their own right (dean/castiel, merlin/arthur, derek/styles and maaaan just a lot of white brunette/blond pairings, which is another post and I acknowledge that Lawrusso is also literally that... the irony)

But also this isn’t so much about “shipping.”

2.

There’s a danger of flattening out the ways in which we create a dialogue with text when it becomes just about whether or not our ships become canon (in general the way fandom discourse revolves around ships can be incredibly unhelpful for engaging critically with text) – for context I am queer and I’m queer through my transness and aromanticness and asexuality, and I also write a fair bit of shippy fanfiction and analysis, but personally am not (always) thaaat bothered about how the connections with queer-coded people are realised in text, as long as those connections are acknowledged in a queer way. How that works varies from text to text.  There is no one-size fits all proper queer representation.

An example: SE Hinton (because I just read The Outsiders/watched the movie) being really dismissive of people reading her characters as gay on twitter (why do we ever try to do this sort of deep textual analysis on twitter, why do creators – like Hinton – think that they ought to espouse opinions on twitter, why twitter folx?)

I wrote – kinda for the void, because I write a lot and I like posting some of that on tumblr, but I don’t expect people to engage necessarily – about how The Outsiders is absolutely a queer text, whether or not the creator intended for it to be. Long story short, queerness has been – and often still is – illegal and/or frowned upon in canon text, so a semiotics was created to make something queer if you knew how to read it. The fact that cis-straight creators play with and use those semiotics without knowing doesn’t negate the fact that that language is there and was deliberately created for that purpose.

That also doesn’t make it queerbaiting. Maybe cis-straight dumbassery, idk (wouldn’t be if you just went “huh, didn’t think about that, cool read”)

Intentionally playing with and acknowledging those semiotics also isn’t necessarily queerbaiting.

Definitely queercoding though.

3.

Anyway this is all a bit murky territory, so let’s talk about Cobra Kai, my current little obsession, and about Star Trek, my always-obsession. Time-was you could get sued for your Star Trek fanfiction. Nowadays that fanfiction can get turned into a for-fun zoom play and read out loud by the two actors who played the original characters (Alexander Siddig and Andy Robinson). This is very fun, new territory for a lot of us.

Meanwhile Hayden Schlossberg and the other writers of Cobra Kai are openly aware of the fact that lots of people read their lead characters – Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence - as probably bisexual (and probably as in love) and are on good terms with several active members of fandom and fic-writing. This is… so fucking fun. And it doesn’t have that weird overtone of shit like Teen Wolf (“We’re on a ship” winky-face, followed by that about heel-turn “just think it’s weird and strange” or however tf it was described later on - that shit: definitely queerbaiting).

In Star Trek there’s a slim-to-none chance that these characters will ever become canonically queer in the main text, but the acknowledgement and the light-hearted open engagement with it makes such a massive difference (not that Siddig and Robinson weren’t talking openly about it as far back as the 90s).

In Cobra Kai there is no obligation to make Johnny or Daniel canonically bi because there’s been no promise to do so – there is, in my opinion, an obligation to create a world in which queerness exists and not just on the sidelines. In the same way as there’s an obligation to generally create a world that accurately depicts what LA looks like in multiple other ways (cough, not mainly white, cough). If a part of that were through exploring how 80s era toxic heteronormative masculinity could throw people deep into the closet for most of their lives, hey, that’d be a neat storyline (such a neat fucking storyline), but it’s not the only way to do it.

While I do like canonically queer couples in stories, I also think it’d really limit what queerness can do for a text if that were the only way it was represented - sure I ship Lawrusso, but I find the above-mentioned analysis of toxic masculinity’s effects on the characters-as-queer-coded to go much deeper than whether or not they get together. 

I also would love trans and/or other-gender characters - we all know Johnny needs his “gender-what?” ignorance challenged and the potential for characters like that to fit into a narrative around trauma, loneliness, and misfit-families is kinda perfect (and when I say characters, I mean that plural, we’re not a one-size fits all).

Lastly I think there is also an obligation to do exactly what the showrunners are doing - what didn’t happen with Hinton or SPN or Teen Wolf or Star Trek of yore or so much other popular fiction: say, oh yeah, that language is absolutely there, we recognise it, we can read it and it’s not weird or sordid or something to be judged. So that’s already a massive thumbs up/promising start.

4. some final thoughts:

Idk where all this’ll go. I’m still missing a lot of canonically queer representation - and when I say representation I mean more than just shoving in a queer character into a scene and not thinking about how that affects the world that’s been established. But I’m feeling a lot better about queerness and story than I used to.

I’m hoping that whatever comes moving forwards in culture in general it’ll have some thought put into it. I’m hoping that queerness and queer allegory and coding will be recognised more and more as important reads of text and will go into informing how something is made (Hannibal, Black Sails, Sense8, Pose). I’m just hoping this’ll mean some interesting, intelligent, wildly varied narratives.

Just very excited.

[dxxtruction]

eps2.2_init1.asec

Mr.Robot: Season 2 Episode 4

break-down / character analysis / head canons 

(Spoilers obviously, but contains stuff up through end of season 4)

A: first scene

I love this scene a lot so I wrote a lot. 

(The Memorial Day situation)

Elliot had been pen-testing, doing white-hat hacking for some wall-street gig. (Timeline= ?-May 2014)

He was on some type of project where he needed to hack until it was un-hackable. (Seemed dedicated to his job there)

Elliot is court ordered into anger management with a shrink (Krista) after being fired for destroying the servers. Hs he claims he was locked in there and fell asleep then woke up in a destroyed room. (I still suspect this retelling to be halfway unreliable even though it’s how it’s told at least twice in the show.)

This happened Memorial Day weekend. - night or around 5pm presumably - people wanted to go clubbing etc. and Elliot did not. They couldn’t leave because Elliot was working. (He didn’t care about them enough to let them go, or was just dedicated to his job you choose.)

        2. (Job offering) 

Elliot is offered to work at all-safe by Angela around this time (Halloween 2014) but it’s been months since he had been working so what was he doing?

A bunch of Grey-hat hacks to get shady people arrested? Seems he may have just finished one when Darlene arrived. 

He sees some potential in accepting, because it a Trojan horse (both what you think it is and slang for a backdoor into a server network). 

He’s been thinking about it, though we don’t know how long he’s been sitting on this offer. “the right access the right malware.” His plan is to take down Evil Corp (It’s the first time he’s voiced this, and Darlene doesn’t take him entirely serious at first.)

      3. (Darlene and Elliot)

Darlene comes on halloween, she seems bothered by something that may have happened that night (if my timeline is right it could be she had a fight with Cisco because they should’ve still been together then) whatever it is Darlene feels she needs Elliots company that night. 

This is the first mention of init-1 the code between her and Elliot. He tries to excuse himself when Darlene first answers, with an excuse he’s going out. Darlene picks up that this is half-assed, showing us that despite her being gone she knows her brother well. (It’s little things like these that give hints as to the hosts habits and how much they overlap with MM’s)

“Great Darlene, haven’t seen you in a long time either. I’d love to hang out.” Judging by the fact Elliot is just now telling Darlene he’s been fired we can assume the extent of there communication is pretty much zilch. Darlene has been away from the city for some time, but I’m not sure its ever mentioned how long. 

Per tradition, they’re smoking weed while watching the careful massacre of the bourgeoise (1984). (Darlene is a talkative/hungry type of high and Elliot just chills... and maybe has deep philosophical conversations) This movie carries a lot of importance because it becomes symbolic of F-Society. It starts out with the masked man killing the bourgeoisie kids at a new years eve party, but I do wonder if thats the entire plot or not.

Darlene says several things about it: 

(A) The movie was made to disprove meritocracy. (showing the separation of class through the absurd ways in which the characters act.) 

(B) it was the source of their psychological dysfunction. (Probably because it’s x-rated, I think this line should only be taken as a joke)

In the dream sequence later in the episode Tyrell and Joanna are wearing similar outfits to the brother and sister in the movie (hinting how Elliot probably sees them)

We get clarification on Darlene having Panic attacks, this is something that has come up before. Elliot shows genuine concern for her mental well-being.

 “Since when did pretending everything is okay become the all mighty norm?” *proceeds to act like that at the beginning of season 2* 

Unlike Elliot, Darlene has a digital social life. Has instagram, and orders off postmates probably lives a normal life of a 23 year old who happens to be really smart and good at stuff. I definitely think all that go thrown in the trash the second f-society became more than just a what-if. By the beginning of season 1 she’s just as off the grid as Elliot is. (But like I just wanna see Darlene live her life again dammit.) 

Sidenote: I wonder who this one is. Part of me wants to say this is Elliot the  host, but I have my suspicions MM took over after Memorial Day, (or at the least started to front more often…). Though it does leave me asking why there are sudden amnesia barriers in the time leading up to 5/9. Fragment Krista says MM found it important to start messing with Elliots memories and his past and inadvertently this meant forgetting his sister? Was it a subconscious choice? I can’t confirm, but I still do wonder how much of Elliot we really see in flashbacks and how much of it is MM.

         4. (“Do you talk to mom?”)

Dialogue: “No. You?” (“Fuck no, she still shits on dad every time I talk to her… I wish I remembered him better.”)

I don’t have a note really, but this moment is fairly awkward given what we know about Ed—d. Not sure how I read Elliot’s face here, but I think he’s probably on the same page as her because- 

Elliot has kept the Mr.Robot jacket.

I believe this indicates the host and MM I think are (were) both protected from knowing about what their father did otherwise that shit would be trash. I wonder Does host Elliot also have the view of his father as his only friend? Anyway I definitely see this as a trigger for Robot, like, thats his clothes for one and ed—d is sort of the trauma he holds.

A switch definitely occurs once the mask is on. There’s an awkwardness where Darlene loses her laughter: does she know exactly what his disorder is? I think at the very least she suspects and picks up on these things. She knows that Elliot is forgetful and experiences moments of derealization because she’s dealt with those moments with him. They are siblings after all, and I think this scene is pretty much in here to hone that in.  

Mr.Robot starts a whole speech about a plan to take down E-Corp. Elliot (in reference to everyone because I think this is a shared understanding) knows the hard part of this hack will be he fallout (“that’s the key, the follow through.”) 

More indicators he’s been really thinking about this for a while (At the very least since Memorial Day so 6 months; at most since his dad got leukemia). He (Mr.Robot) works out that E-corp will try to come back from the hack and there needs to be a way to stop the from happening. 

Destroy public confidence = destroy E-Corp  (And this is what Darlene’s been shown doing this season so far) 

He then takes off the mask and he’s gone quiet (dissociated?) Probably a switch back. (He looks at it in a way that makes me feel like he doesn’t remember putting it on.)

End scene. 

B: Darlene’s visit

“The only way to patch a vulnerability is by exposing it first. The flip side is exposing the vulnerability leaves you open for an exploit.” (I believe this line tells us this episodes logic)

(Plan discussion.)

The plan involves losing confidence in e-corp and Elliot has lost confidence in the plan. (though we are aware phase 2 isn’t necessarily just about losing public confidence, Elliot is later shown to not want this either). He sees it as too dangerous to continue on with, and he feels guilty about it given how Gideon was killed, he doesn’t want more people to die. 

However, I feel as if he probably already saw into all the vulnerabilities (because he’s like that). Already figuring they could be exposed (hence danger). He sees the best option would be to quit while they can, but Darlene is refusing. 

“What did you guys think was going to happen exactly?” - Darlene referring to Elliot as plural. (We love to see it)

Elliot says it wasn’t him who said everything. (Clarification that a switch did happen in scene 1.)

      2. (“This is what she does”)

What does darlene do? 

Likely: When she wants something but doesn’t give full honesty about it and doesn’t tell Elliot everything. In other words Darlene keeps secrets, and hides the important bothersome details. She sort of beats around the bush. (She does something like this in scene 1 she needs Elliots company but won’t talk about or say why then avoids confrontation of her mental health)

She’s doing it here not so much for her own comfort but the safety of her brother, because she knows he has vulnerabilities, and can be triggered and emotionally unstable. She doesn’t want to upset him because she needs him to help her and he can’t do that in an unstable state.

C: Chess 

1. (Meeting with Ray to play chess)

Chess isn’t really the focus here; Ray picks up on a lot of conflict happening internally, and as an exploit to get Elliot to trust him gives the chess board over. 

We see how guilt is burdening Elliot, and he is considering owning up to everything he did. Even mentions how it could stop Darlene from doing “crazy shit”. He doesn’t want to lose her either; or lose any more people for that matter. Losing people was not a part of saving the world he signed up for. There’s also guilt in general because of 5/9 because things are turning out bad. 

I’m fairly convinced Mr.Robot is incapable of feeling guilt, or is just hiding it behind the 10 layers of clothes. (Though I guess he’s never met Gideon so why should he care?). Anyway he is consistently focused on seeing everything through no matter the costs. 

I just find Mr.Robot coming in and saying he’d swan dive off a building for saying anything pretty funny (don’t ask)

He exaggerates a lot of the time but honestly sometimes he is dead serious about putting the body in pain or in life and death scenarios and so he can be fairly destructive so it’s hard to tell if he is joking, but hey MM (and to my hc host) does hard drugs, so...

2. (A game to end all games between us)

“Winner takes all.” (“Of what?”) “Us.”

(Mr.Robot really do be like “I’mma kill you or myself” Bitch I do not think..)

Robot says Elliot “will be absent from knowing. Losing time forever. A deep black void.” Basically he’s gonna throw him in a pit. And honestly it sounds confident, like he probably feels he can take full control since he’s been around the longest along with the core. (But we know he wouldn’t do it even if he could, the guy has a soft spot. Anyway this is like the IDK what number of times Robot be doing a loop around to get a point across to Elliot. He do be playing the long game and I think secretly he loves a good scheme.) (This is what Mr.Robot does.) 

Elliot gets visited by Krista in prison and has told her about the game. (Judging by the fact they meet in her ‘office’ and not in the “Kitchen table” setting we can assume they’re allowed to meet in a private location.) (Edit: disregard this bit I forgot about the reveal that he’d just imagining it on like two separate layers to feel safe enough to speak)

“Krista’s wrong annihilation is always the answer” (He’s just as bad honestly, Krista teach this boy constructive ways). He sees annihilation as self improvement, getting rid of parts of yourself that are ugly or unwanted. We create our identity around desire, and that means destroying parts that are undesirable so all thats left is practically a mask of who we are. (I think the tie into Whiterose through this spill about annihilation is a bit cheap but like I understand the choice) Anyhow Elliot’s pretty much agreeing to a western showdown and has no idea it’s all a rouse so Robot can have his point. 

4. The chess match

Ed—d apparently taught Elliot his first ways to code through teaching him computer chess. He talks like he really understands all the logic of chess which makes me think he was letting Ray win before. 

Mr.Robot definitely feels a bit uncomfortable with being associated with him just a hint in his voice. 

Ultimately they find out neither of them can either win or lose but Mr.Robot knew all along that would happen.

“Fighting for the future we want, it isn’t about playing chess is about what we do out there with them.” (peaking out of his ten layers to show he cares about the outside world, while also expressing how they need to get out of prison.)

“I want to be here Elliot, with you.” (God my heart.) 

D: Darlene and Cisco’s hook up

Darlene is very paranoid while walking around, she isn’t sure if F-society really are being offed. However in front of F-society she tries to comfort their suspicions. 

Cisco comes to Darlene to warn her about getting killed by DA… but he’s the one who ultimately gets offed. (Poetic cinema)

We learn Darlene’s the type to get upset and defiantly end up having sex in the bathroom of a shady dive bar with her on and off again boyfriend (also Cisco why didn’t you pull out before talking about Dark Army again, like dude lol.)

This is definitely the point they start getting back together. 

There a message in gold written on the wall that reads “There's an unequal amount of good and bad in most things. The trick is to figure out the ratio and act accordingly. Stay frosty all. Peace.” - its from this tweet: x 

Operation Berenstain is first mentioned. I’m in agreement the name references the popular conspiracy about alternate timelines. 

E: Leon lays it down

Leon asks Elliot if he wants to even be here, tells him he “has to dream in order to find out the future he’s fighting for.” (My initial though is I’m not sure if this means here as in prison or here as in alive, sorta feels like the latter)

“If you like it” (The future you envision) “then it’s beautiful, if it’s not then you might as well fade the fuck out right now.” (Hard) (definitely means the latter)

I appreciate Leon so much. “Existence could be beautiful or it could be ugly. But thats on you.” He’s really good for Elliot, really no bs, no loop arounds, he just tells it straight. And you know what? He listens to him because he actually goes to bed dreaming about it. 

“What is the future? Leon says one needs to understand that before they’re ready to fight for their existence.”

This dream sequence is so impactful, Leon’s influence. I’m not gonna go in on the shots, however we do get to see a really honest view on how Elliot truly sees the people that have been a part of his life in a variety of subtle ways. We see a lot of what he desires or seeks is happiness for everyone around him. 

“Will I reconnect for those I care for. Will I reunite with old friends long gone. See the ones I love find true happiness. Maybe this future includes people I never dreamed of getting close to. Even make amends with those I have unfairly wronged. A future that’s not so lonely. A future filled with friends and family. The world I’ve always wanted. And I’d like very much to fight for it.”

I bold texted that last bit because it really hits, and I think its what becomes the foundations for what Elliot ends up saying to Whiterose at the end. Not to pull a Darlene but this show is clearly trying to say how hard it is to find connection in a world of capitalist alienation. 

When Leon sort of digs into Elliot and asks if he really does want to die. Elliot’s dream confirms, no, we find out Elliot actually wants to live in order to improve the future, and he wants connections to be there. It’s what he’s always wanted. (Yet he still does the end all match right after this sequence because he’s convinced he’ll win and get that future on his own. Both these boys are very stubborn.) 

F: Do you remember the first command you ever taught me?

Init 1. 

What Elliot taught Darlene when her computer kept crashing. She says this in scene one, and its what makes Elliot stop making excuses. The same thing happens here, Elliot has no choice but to help. Thats what the code between them means: Drop everything and help me.

What is it? Init 1 is a run level in linux which indicates a single-user/emergency mode. Streamlining the route to only the root, while disconnecting from the network or multitasker. Used for administrative tasks.

Elliot has to stop the FBI from owning f-society and the only way to do that is by using Ray’s computer. (fuck Ray btw). Just to make sure, he asks Darlene is he is really needed by her or if she wants Robot. I think he needed the reassurance that Darlene still cares (and of course she does). 

The second part of the title is .Asec - android files preventing corruption from other programs. So the whole title translates to roughly; Help prevent corruption. And a nod to the way of doing it through hacking into the FBI android phone network. (These titles are genius and have so many layers)

G. Side stuff

1. The FBI have found Fun Society LLC through Dom. I love Dom but idk how I feel about her in these early episodes. She is a fairly good detective though. I think Romero’s character being linked to stealing power from the grid is a nod to the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Ellison touches on social and intellectual issues faced by the African Americans in the early twentieth century. Also I noticed Dom’s supervisor is there and he’s already seen trying to sway the direction away from uncovering he truth. 

2. On that note so is Angela. I think we’re intentionally supposed to be annoyed with her because she’s staying at E-Corp even though she knows she’s being manipulated. 

“All of my dreams are coming true right now.” - as the bastard guys are being arrested. Not to say this slapped but it did.

We find out Whiterose and Price are in bed together on this thing and this has something to do with Angela and the plant negotiations in the lawsuit. On the phone Whiterose is fussy about moving her operation to the Congo quickly. (lets not try to reason how this plan of hers all works or what the hell it even is). Things are awkward knowing that Price is Angela’s dad, I can’t tell if he’s actually getting close because he wants to know his daughter or if its purely out of getting her around he and Whiterose’s fingers. (both? both.) 

In any case I think Esmail sets up the Angela as a counter vulnerability within the main plot, as she’s being open to exploitation by remaining at E-Corp. (refer to the logic set-up) 

3. I don’t care for Joanna’s appearance in this episode but she’s running out of money to pay of this guy who has information that could frame Tyrell for murder and is still seeing this guy she definitely hates or likes him but doesn’t love him. Complicated. She needs the severance package to pay this guy off. Tyrell is another vulnerability but he’s undercover.

H. Head canons I thought of while watching 

If Elliot hadn’t opened the door when he did Darlene would’ve picked the locks.

Darlene’s go to is always some type of asian food.

The weed is Elliots but the Bowl is Darlenes.

We see coats on the wall hooks in Elliots room, but I think the likes the cold because its grounding so he usually leaves without one on.

When Robot is high (on weed) he just talks like nonstop.

Not a head canon really but I notice Elliot never uses the backrests in chairs. However Robot becomes the chair he is the chair.

Darlene stopped going to dance classes after the hack, I think Angela has also stopped going.

Leons favorite subjects are philosophy and history