#i went into the show for them and i cannot do it

[jazeswhbhaven]

THE PURPOSE OF THAT TALISMAN | Zagan L-card React | Summary

Alright ya'll it's the first react of the year! I'm finally getting around to going over this sweet devil's L-card!

I'm happy he was the first one to get this opportunity because he's actually the first noble I fell for during the launch! I was intrigued by his bunny ear horns and he's selectively mute.

With that being said, because this is a Nightmare Pass exclusive, I of course cannot give you EVERYTHING that's inside the card in order to keep within the wishes of PB's content rules, but as I did with previous NP cards, summaries with heavy paraphrasing with a few screenshots are the best I can do~

I'd like to thank my friends/mooties for sharing their cards with me so I can continue doing these reacts <3 Ya'll are amazing

💙Summary💙

At the local pub in Gehenna, all the devils are gathered together in order to view a popular convention in Japan (they call it Cumiket in the game but iirc it's Comiket, right?)

There's rumors that it's Paimon who went down to Earth to whisper about the devil's lives in Hell to influence a few humans to make a game about it and well...MC asks Paimon to confirm or deny that and he gives a "Maybe I diddd <3" answer (love this)

So while MC is chillin' at the VIP table consisting of Sitri, Leraye, Paimon and Zagan (Ppyong too) they wait for the results to come in

Funny mention is that the citizens of Gehenna totally do not know where Abyssos is, and I find it funny that it seems to carry throughout the story that the other local citizens have nothing but general ideas and rumors to go off of on how each country acts, but the Kings and some nobles are knowledgeable and for good reason.

It's also cute to me though that the nobles that were in the lead for the popularity contest were Foras, Bael, Sitri, and Zagan. All the devils from all over Hell were tuned in to see who would win.

It's then...that the winner is revealed! Zagan!?!?!

The winner gets to be a model for Phenomenon, similar to when we saw him for all of the selfie cards. This time though we meet two new characters Usako, and Nesagi. (I really love their designs) it appears that they are Pheno's assistants!

Also, we see that Phenomenon threatens and literally beats up(and stabs) his assistants for the smallest of things, it's funny because we were just seeing him getting bent over and turned into a pretzel in Asmo's selfie card, but in this story he's pretty much a strict, abusive boss. 💀 Usako and Nesagi seem to not mind.

It was also important to note, that MC was also chosen by Pheno to join Zagan in the photoshoot. And it's not just any normal photoshoot. We are aware of Pheno's preferences when it comes to photography and he wants to capture a whole new side to this devil thinking MC can help with that

It turns out, that yes...MC can help and Zagan is more than willing to show a new side of himself in front of them. With the help of talismans.

The smut is actually pretty well written for Zagan's personality. He's calm, confident, and at the same time so needy for MC's touch. You also notice that during this entire time he's been speaking to MC in longer sentences and opening up.

There's also a pretty strong power bottom vibe that comes from him. Because even though MC is on top of him, he's calling the shots from below. He even writes the amount of times MC came on his thigh. (w h y is he so hot? fcuk)

So after he pretty much fucks MC into a messy fluid puddle, Phenomenon starts takin' photos like crazy as he's finally satisfied with his subject now. He completes the magazine cover and MC gets their own private VIP photos of them having sex. There's a cameo of their clothes on the cover too.

and that's pretty much the entire card

💙Screenshot Highlights~💙

He's so goofy, I love him.

Pheno and his assistants. They are so damn adorable! I love the mask designs too, I might mess around and find myself wanting to cosplay one of them.

The longest he's been talking, and these are his thoughts in battle. Goodness this is why he's one of my favorites 😩

h a w t

g i m m i e z a g a n pp

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MEEEEEE

?????!?!!!!!!!!! And this was after he said no???????

Me everytime I read this as I imagine him saying it to me while creaming on his c a w k

Pheno was takin' pictures while MC and him were fuckin' but Zagan is so goddamn romantic....the way his mannerisms are during sex are that of a true lover that wants to be lost in you forever and he admits that. His actions are loud too wen the fun is over (he really didn't want to stop)

I wonder...if this means they will do another "model" L-card for someone else? Only time will tell.

Psssttt: Click here to see what he's packin' btw I would not hesitate to sit on it and him coming because he's being stimulated by the brush is so simple yet so hot for him?

💙Date Story/Chat Summary!💙

This is shortly after the contest is over and the magazine cover was debuted!

Zagan hadn't had any privacy since then, and with that it was hard for him to see MC. SO Ppyong makes it happen by distracting the fans, and then they meet!

Zagan is honest during the date, though still having "some" trouble expressing himself through words. There are moments where he tells MC that he couldn't wait any longer and he had to see them.

This is what I meant by that desperation and neediness mixing in with the right amount of dominance during intimacy is a perfect balance for someone like him!

Also, this date story is quite perfect for Zagan fans, as he's so fucking romantic he even takes MC to the first place they met in the main story. His expresses his feelings have never changed and it was love at first sight.

Also the term...."I'm watching you..." seems to be referring to the VIP picture they both received and yeah....spank bank material!~

Zagan is truly a cautious and cute noble. From posting boring videos of him grinding food (which honestly could count as asmr material) and not being sure how to get Satan to stop sending out the magazines to other countries in mass amounts without overstepping ranks in power, just so cute.

It also appears that his neck seems to be a private area to him which is why he prefers it covered by his hair. (I will kiss him there >:3)

We also get to see that Zagan easily gets jealous. It's not a aggressive jealously like Satan, but it's more of a "you know other men? ��" kind of jealously where you want to pinch his cheeks and tell him he's being cute.

Also...

yeah high-ponytail Zagan is doin' something for me (honestly I think I like Zagan so much because the white long hair reminds me of Sesshomaru and he doesn't speak much either and both of them are hot and idk i'm losing my brainnnnn to the rootttttt)

💙Overall Score: 10/10 💙

For Zagan fans this was a really fluffy and romantic card. The smut was written appropriately, and we got to see more of Zagan's personality come to light.

A major con of this though, is that in order to even get this much of lore for any characters that aren't either PB's favorites or L-grade...is behind a damn paywall. Like I get it? But at the same time I just want more info on my faves to further fuel my headcanons. That's all.

The adore mode movements are good, however his expressions don't seem to match the energy of the VA. This may have been a slight miscommunication somewhere, perhaps the VA was going off of how Zagan's personality should be, therefore personality= check, matching the sexual energy= not so check...

That's more of an observation for me but that may be a major bother for someone who was looking forward to the card's content.

Well today was pretty much the last day to try and get him so my react is late for a recommendation on if one should get it or not, BUT I will say that if you are a Zagan fan and didn't get him this time around, I suspect they'll bring him back for a future banner and you should try and snag him if you can.

But that's it from here! four days into the new year ya'll, hope it's goin' well for everyone! ^^ next up should be Luci's Blow card...so stay tuned <3

-💙Jaze

(Ppyong's fanclub holds a special place in my heart)

[polutrope]

For the birthday event... Maedhros, Maglor, the river Gelion? 👀❤️

also for @theghostinthemargins who requested Maedhros & Maglor, Himring

Maedhros & Maglor, a getaway on the Gelion. Rated G, 900 words. Written by @polutrope and @melestasflight. On AO3.

“Káno,” Maedhros said, voice dipping with displeasure on the second syllable, “do you mean to tell me you took me from overseeing the construction of the great gate of my new fortress… for a pond?”

“A pond?” Maglor laughed. “This is a glorious, crystalline swimming hole!”

“It is a hole, I’ll grant you that. You told me it was urgent.” Maedhros rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed noisily. “Stop laughing. I am not amused. We will have to make the journey back in the dark now, and the horses will be tired.”

“Not to worry!” Maglor patted his mare’s saddlebags. “I brought us all the necessaries for at least three days camping.”

“No!” cried Maedhros. “We are not camping! There is work to be done! Tomorrow the workmen are due to set the foundations of the north tower; I must be present to approve the plans of the tile-settings for the west kitchens — and before you say I can entrust that to Lostir, let me remind you of the pattern he approved for the crenellations — what is the matter with you?”

“The kitchens!” Maglor wheezed, doubled-over and clutching his stomach. “Crenellations! Oh! ho! Yes, yes, you had better be sure the kitchens are tiled to your liking, as I am certain you will be spending so much time in the kitchens!”

“I might. Once we are settled. Didn’t you say yourself that I should find new ways of 'expressing myself'?” Maedhros scowled. “And what if I am needed to assist with transporting stones from the quarry? It is good for the workmen’s morale if I participate in the labour.”

“Nelyo,” Maglor said, collecting himself. “Do you remember the year when Amil persuaded Atar to hire Rauron to oversee the restoration of the Mindon’s mosaics, so that he need not go into Tirion himself?”

“Yes,” said Maedhros, glaring. “And I know exactly where you are going with this. This is not like that. This is warfare, this is lordship, it is not mere… decorative restoration.”

“Decorative? It is good Atar cannot hear you now. But no, that is not what I was getting at. Do you remember, that time he took us with him to show us the project, how obvious it was to us — not to him, of course — how little the craftsmen appreciated his interference? Hóndil all but rolled his eyes right out of his head every time Atar turned his back.”

Maedhros went silent and looked away. Maglor waited. At last, he cleared his throat. “Do you think… ? I am not as bad as Father… ? Really?”

Maglor took several steps over the mossy riverbank to stand behind him. He gave his brother’s back three reassuring pats. “Yes, Nelyo. I’m afraid that is really how they feel about your participation. They respect you of course, immensely. But I fear if you do not leave them a little more space, where their expertise is concerned, it may wear away at their fondness for you. Besides,” he said, nudging Maedhros round to face him, “you have been working too hard. What good is a castle with strong foundations if its lord is brittle with cares?”

“I am not brittle,” Maedhros sneered, and shoved Maglor off him. But then his face broadened into a smile and he shook his head. “Fine, you make a strong case. I only wish you had not used deceit to bring me here.”

“There was no deceit!” cried Maglor. “The sky portends rain tomorrow – it was urgent that you visit this pool of the Gelion while the weather is pleasant.”

Maedhros dragged a long breath through his nose, then released it. “It is so quiet,” he said. 

Not so to Maglor: the Gelion bubbled and rushed and the wind rustled the grasses and the birds chittered in the trees, but he did not trouble to correct his brother. There is noise, and there is sound, and to many the latter is quiet. 

“I can hear myself think,” said Maedhros, “and I do not like it.”

There it was. “Yes, the mind will clamour rather loudly for attention when you have given it no opportunity to be heard for so long. But it will go away.”

Maedhros hummed his agreement.

“You know what helps?” asked Maglor, and winked.

“Cold water,” Maedhros answered, deadpan — and was well-prepared for Maglor’s assault, leveraging his much longer limbs to seize Maglor by the waist as he ran at him, then diverting the momentum to hurl Maglor directly into the pool, fully-clothed.

“You brute!” Maglor cried through his laughter, and swung his arms over a log that drifted near the water’s edge. 

“Repayment for your guile.”

“Fair,” said Maglor, and flopped lazily onto his back. He dipped down — the kicked as hard as he could, sending a spray of water into Maedhros’ face. “Now get in, you insufferable rat!”

“Watch how you speak to your lord!” Maedhros jested. 

Then he sat to pull off his boots and roll his trousers to his knees. Wading in, he hissed when his feet touched the water. Maglor drifted, without interfering, watching the lines of care slowly fade from his brother’s face as he surrendered to the waters of their new home.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello! I'm a different anon. I just saw your Daniel Hart post. When you were talking about the red flags, I was aware of all those except the agency and Levan's comments? If you're okay with explaining those, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

Hey!

Sam spoke about agency in Autumn's video (the outtake video), at around 9 minutes:

It's heavy on hints and spoilers though, fair warning.

He speaks about how, if the show actually made one of them the "villain" (wrt the trial and surrounding events), it would take away the agency... which is, if you know the books... not how it went. To put it that way. Lestat didn't have "agency" in the books, he was tortured and used for the trial.

(Same goes for the "metaphorical tower push"... I sure hope they just... cannot talk about that, because that would take away so much?! And for what?!)

The other thing I talked and referenced the sources of here, hope it's okay if I link it because there's more to it:

That, too, plays into it all.

So yeah, there were a few red flags, and they are... piling up.

But, as said before - it is what it is now. they made choices, and those do and will continue to carry repercussions.

[lemotmo]

I agree with all of this, "hope this helps" 🤣🤣. It would not be cheating at all and even if it was cheating I still wouldn't care 😅. Where do you sit on this topic?

Q. Let me start by saying I desperately want Buddie together but I have a growing suspicion that they're going to insinuate or outright show that they kissed at the bachelor party and that would taint them from go for me because putting them together through cheating, especially on a character the show established had turned into a really good guy, is so unnecessary and disgusting and ruins them right off the bat.

A. I wasn't going to reply to this ask but I have several similar asks currently sitting in my inbox so I'm going to respond even though this person is clearly a tommy trying to pretend to be a Buddie. How are you all still so bad at all of this nearly a year on? Your ask is a completely disingenuous take. If having them kiss at the bachelor party ruins them from the start for you then you don't 'desperately' want them together. You don't want them together at all and I don't know why you feel the need to pretend that you do. When the bachelor party takes place Buck and Tommy had been on ONE very bad date. Yes, they had a conversation where Buck said he wanted to try again but they were not a couple. You can't cheat on someone you've had one date with. Furthermore the show definitely didn't establish that Tommy had become some stand up remarkable human being, that is laughable. He was a sexist racist when they needed him the first time around for Chim and Hen, and he was a gay man the second time around when they needed someone for the coming out storyline. That's it. The show didn't care to establish anything else about him. The fact he left Buck standing on a curb after he understandably panicked a bit during their first date and then told Buck Abby went crazy when he dumped her pretty much illustrates though that he wasn't a great guy.

Forcing real life moral codes onto fictional characters is always a recipe for pain though. You can't do that. The very nature of the media they exist in doesn't allow for real life moral rules to always be followed. Real life people don't always do the right thing. Expecting fictional character to do so is ridiculous. Drama comes from their mistakes so television shows will always have them screw up and make bad decisions every now and again. I don't want them to have kissed at the bachelor party because I don't want their first kiss to be a flashback, but I won't be terribly bothered if that is the route they take because it's not that big of a leap to make. They made a point of making both of them drunk, Oliver mentioned in an interview while talking about filming the karaoke scene that everyone needs a little liquid courage now and then. They made a point of releasing the deleted scene with Eddie telling Chris about how he met Shannon and what he liked so much about her when they first met. The show then intentionally had the bachelor party mirror that story with Buck talking all night long and showing how close and intertwined they both were all night long. The karaoke song even fit the callback of that story from Eddie. We also cannot ignore the fact that Eddie basically blew up his life following the bachelor party so going back and showing that something did indeed happen between the two of them that night would not be some astronomical story leap. I have said from the beginning they filmed way too much content and spent way too much money for those scenes to just never come up again or be shown. I don't think we're getting the actual karaoke scene but I do think we might get some of the other scenes in a flashback of some kind but we don't know that for sure. That New Year's Day post was definitely an intentional choice and it was certainly an interesting choice, but it doesn't necessarily indicate anything bachelor party related is coming. It could just be one more thing to add to the growing belief that Buddie is very much coming though.

Lastly, even if Buck and tommy had been in a full blown years long relationship and the show had Buck and Eddie get together by cheating on him I still wouldn't care or be angry. They could murder him, chop him up and dispose of the body and I would call it the most romantic thing ever. I genuinely don't care about him at all. Hope this helps ☺️

Thank you Nonny! 🤗

As for where I stand on this topic?

Listen, I grew up on soap operas where everyone cheated on everyone.😋 It never bothered me. In fact, it brought some extra tension and I love that in a show. So I don't really care one way or the other.

But also, Tommy wasn't his boyfriend at that time. They were trying things out and so far Tommy had proven himself to be a bit of an ass. So no, if we find out that Buck and Eddie kissed or made out during that bachelor's party? I will cheer.🙌🙌🙌

I've been here since te beginning. They need to get this show on the road and if this is the way they have chosen to go? I'm fine with it.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[oceanwithouthermoon]

Saiki and Aiura are bound to end up togethre because Aiura predicted it and her predictions are never wrong by the way! Hope this helped! Soulmates cant be platonic beacuse thats not what she predicted!

? im not sure where this is coming from but my point isnt and has never been "aiura and saiki are platonic soulmates", its "regardless of their status as soulmates, it cant force them to fall in love and so that relationship will just develop as it may, platonic OR romantic." the way you say this honestly just makes it seem like you dont understand what "soulmate" means and WHY people call them "platonic soulmates", its not that people think "platonic soulmates" is a specific label that defines them and that thats what the universe wanted them to be, its that "soulmates" cannot be defined as strictly platonic OR romantic without being an extremely creepy forced romance or friendship and it doesnt make sense that way anyway, so people are allowed to think their label as soulmates ends up being platonic FOR THEM.

and also that its really creepy that people think she has some sort of ownership over him or something... that just because she tells him theyre romantic soulmates means his feelings dont matter, youre not allowed to ship him with anyone else and hes not allowed to love anyone else, even if theyre not dating because she already staked her claim on him or something 😭

and nowhere in canon does it say she predicted that they end up together btw, its already very clear to me that youre very biased but this is just something you made up. if you headcanon that, thats perfectly okay!! but as far as we know, it didnt happen. nowhere does it say or even slightly imply that her soulmate power has anything to do with her predictions of the future, most of her powers that we see actually dont lol she predicts some futures but her other most prevalent powers we're shown are her ability to see auras and "compatibility" (which you can headcanon or theorize as having to do with future predictions, but again in canon this is never even so much as alluded to)

so yeah its not a future prediction and also even if it was, they literally prove in the show that the future can be changed, especially if you KNOW the future. but regardless, i doubt its a prediction in the first place and all evidence points to it not being so, especially since aiura went out of her way to come to pk to find her soulmate which, if she had already predicted theyd be together eventually, would change their future, their meeting, and their love story drastically and, although i have criticisms for how she wholeheartedly trusted her power and didnt actually make any romantic connection with saiki before trying to date him, aiura is not nearly stupid enough to mess it up that badly

anyway, like ive said a million freaking times, i do think "soulmate" the way she says it has a romantic connotation, but my point is that that doesnt actually mean much in terms of anything romantic happening between them. it didnt happen in canon and theres nothing to imply that it ever will. shipping and headcanoning is awesome and fun and i love love loveeee aiura and saikis friendship and how fun it is to build off of, but a romantic relationship between them is not canon, not now and never in the future. in myyyyy opinion, they found each other and theyre good for each other and thats what matters to me about their relationship and thats what makes them "soulmates".

also guys me saying your ship isnt canon shouldnt be considered an insult to your ship, i dont know why people take it that way 😭 im a fucking diehard kubosai shipper which is the least canon you can possibly get and you dont see me desperately grasping at straws to force it to be canon, join the club ??? its not that hard ??? also some of my other favorite ships are teruaisai and poly psychikers so its not even like im saying mikosai is impossible 😭 also last note, i find it very very hard to believe that people genuinely think asou would and did make a saiki ship canon LMAOOOO he gets close with ships sometimes like with satou and suzumiya, he somewhat implied they both like each other but not that they would ever get together... i wholeheartedly believe terusai is implied to be reciprocated and i have a lot of evidence for it, but its not CANON for a reason, asou would not do that and its more interesting this way anyway. we can agree to disagree on implications, but hating on me because you think your ship is CANON is next level delusional

[writingdevil]

Tongues and Teeth Epilogue (STP)

(THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that read and liked and reblogged this story.Knowing that people liked it and seeing all your reactions to it gave me just pure joy every time I saw it.I love this fandom and this game and all the voices,and I'm glad that I could write something and put something out there to show my love.Paranoid and Opportunist are some of my favourite voices,and I wanted to try and experiment with what their relationship would be like,and I'm glad that people enjoyed my interpretation.I'll keep writing stories,you can send in any STP prompts you want,and I hope that you all will keep enjoying it as much as I do.Once again, thank you and enjoy the finale!)

*

"Has anyone seen Jitters?"

Opportunist flew up into the air to try and get a better view of their home,but couldn't see Jitters anywhere.Then,he saw Contrarian giddily waving at him from down below,hopping up and down and all.He knew Contrarian didn't know,but he still flew down to meet him.

He landed in front of Contrarian's house,to which the clown was lying on the roof with a playful smile. "Hey,Oppy."

"Hi,do you know where Jitters is?"Contrarian shook his head."Nope."Cool,great.Just as he'd thought.

Contrarian had always marched to the beat of his own drum,and that hadn't changed one bit since they settled down and built a home for themselves. Contrarian liked to go around and annoy people-Opportunist being the main target-and subject them with either terrible jokes or drag them into whatever chaos he and Cold had cooked up.

Almost once a day,Opportunist would find Contrarian in unusual locations,and he found find himself talking and teasing Contrarian for hours, with the clown giving it right back to him.

Although it didn't look like Contrarian did anything for the flock at a first glance,Opportunist knew that Contrarian liked to visit everyone throughout the day,checking in on them,and cheering them up when they were down.He just loved to make everyone smile.

"What is it you want then?"

"Wanted to run something by you."

Opportunist rolled his eyes."No,you cannot be in charge of cooking."

"Why not?!"

Opportunist glared at him and flapped his wings in annoyance,flying him off the ground."Because you keep suggesting to put poison in the food for 'a little kick.'Not even Cold would do that!"

Contrarian giggled nervously and looked away, trying to hide behind his wings as he said,"Well, speaking of Cold-"Opportunist groaned loudly. "What's he done now?"Contrarian burst out laughing,his feathers shaking at the movement.

He continued to laugh and not answer him,so Opportunist reached forward and plucked a single feather out of his wing.Instantly,he went,"Ow!"and Opportunist smiled in victory,even as the other said,"Hunted will have your head for that."

He shrugged."I don't mind.Anyways,what were you saying about Cold?"

"I was just gonna say that he was talking to Jitters today,so he might know where he is."He straightened up instantly.That was actually useful information.He flew higher into the sky and called down,"Thanks!Don't be late for dinner or I'm throwing it out!"

He chuckled."We both know you won't!"

He was right,but Opportunist didn't want to admit that,so he just stuck his tongue out at him and then flew off.

Who knew where Cold could be?He tried flying high and scanning the area,but that didn't help,so he flew back down and decided to walk around.

He sighed,twisting his head to take in their home. The very centre of the area held a huge bonfire,with a spit and a stand over it to help cook the food. Around the unlit fire were small,cut up sections of logs acting as seats for everyone.

To the right of the firepit,was a wide and lovely garden,currently being tended to by Smitten and Broken.

He walked over,his eyes transfixed on the blossoming bursts of colors that Broken was watering,his expression nervous and unsure,wings tucked in tight as he concentrated.Opportunist was planning on making a comment,but decided that he shouldn't throw the other bird off.

Usually,Broken liked to be left alone,holing up in his room and only coming down for dinner.He knew that he was trying to move on,but some days were just harder to have the energy for it than others. Cheated knew that this obviously wasn't a good way to live,so he took it upon himself to drag Broken on walks every few days,sometimes accompanied by either Hunted or Jitters.

The walks certainly helped to bring him out of his gloom more,but Broken still felt a little aimless-as they all did-until Smitten recently offered to teach him how to garden,and it seemed to be going really well,and he would catch a small smile on Broken's face when he thought nobody was looking.

He shifted his gaze over to Smitten,who was beaming at him while juggling a variety of vegetables in his big arms.Opportunist chuckled and walked over,leaning against the fencepost as he asked in amusement,"You need some help there, farm boy?"

Smitten managed to wave him away without dropping a single vegetable-which was impressive-and said,"Nonsense,my friend!I am quite alright! Just gathering the ingredients for dinner."

Smitten was one of the ones who took life without the two Gods the hardest,followed by Hero,then Skeptic.In the beginning of their transition,it was evident that he had no idea how to behave,so he just clung to anyone he could and tried to assist them in anything they were doing,just wanting to help and uplift the others.

It was alright at the start,until it started to feel like he was in the way,so he ended up clinging to Skeptic a lot.It was honestly hard to watch the extravagant and passionate Smitten become lost,to have all this love but with no way to express it.

But after a few deep talks with Skeptic and Hero,he eventually found something that he could happily devote his time to-gardening.It allowed him to care and devote his time to something without becoming too attached to it.He would grow flowers at first,but then found out that he could grow vegetables,and he discovered his talent for cooking.

Smitten had now become their resident chef,and the act of cooking and making warm meals to give to his flockmates as an act of love satisfied all his desires of love.

Opportunist decided to leave him to it,giving him a wave which Smitten reciprocated,before a handful of potatoes inevitably fell out of his arms. Opportunist chuckled and left him to it,his attention being immediately caught by the sound of yelling and grunting.

To the far left of their home,were huge stacks of rocks,branches and leaves that acted as their resources.The two people responsible for gathering these supplies were currently in the middle of sparring-Stubborn and Hunted.

Opportunist walked over to watch the fight,but didn't get too close,until he squinted in the distance,peering into the shade of the edge of the forest that surrounded their home,finding Cold leaning against a tree and observing the fight.

Opportunist gasped in surprise,then began to fly over to him,careful not to get in the way of the fight.He watched the crazed grin on Stubborn's face,fingers twitching at his side and panting heavily,before he rushed forward,bringing his fist down towards Hunted.

Stubborn was the flock's muscle and protection-no surprise there.He was the one that was in charge of carrying all the heavy materials back home,and he wouldn't let anybody else help him,determined to do it on his own.He once was gone for hours,and when he came back,he had full,ripped up trees across his back,and a victorious smile on his muddy face.

He was also surprisingly okay with just helping anyone that needed his strength.Stubborn would often help Smitten carry vegetables such as watermelons or pumpkins,or go off with Skeptic when he was on one of his investigations,or even indulge Cold in his weird requests.

As the self-proclaimed protector,he was the first person to throw himself at a monster whenever it showed up,to the point that he would try and go out and pick a fight with a monster.Hero and Jitters were quick to scold him and stop that behaviour.As an alternative,some people agreed to spar with him.His usual opponents were Hunted and Cheated,but sometimes Cold and Skeptic joined in when they were in the mood for it.

When he was sure he was safe,Opportunist landed on the ground and walked up to stand next to Cold, just as Hunted swiftly sidestepped away from the blow.Stubborn's fist slammed against the ground, sending dust flying everywhere.

Hunted may be smaller but he was definitely faster, as he swiftly climbed up the arm that had tried to attack him,running all the way up to Stubborn's shoulders and the back of his neck.Stubborn squawked in fury and tried to reach back and grab Hunted,but the smaller bird easily dodged the grabs with a duck of his head.

Hunted then grabbed a fistful of Stubborn's head feathers,yanking him back and making him stumble,and with his other hand he leaned down and grabbed Stubborn's wrist,twisting it behind his back.It was only a matter of time before Stubborn lost his balance and fell forward on the ground,with Hunted above him-the winner of the match.

Opportunist cheered and clapped for him,only making Stubborn growl in irritation,making Opportunist snicker,because he knew that Stubborn hasn't won a fight against Hunted yet.

Hunted was another self-proclaimed protector,but whereas Stubborn was focused on solely protecting them,Hunted was more concerned with protecting the area they lived in.

Almost all day,everyday,Hunted would be seen doing a walk around the area,crouched low and on the look out for any danger.Sometimes he managed to catch wind of an approaching monster early,and had the pleasure to inform Stubborn so that he could take care of it.

Hunted would also go out and gather any food supplies that they needed,but it was mostly meat that he caught and brought back for Smitten to cook,who was appreciative but still had trouble looking at the dead and skinned animal.

He used to also bring back certain herbs for Jitters for his work,but then Smitten just started growing them in his garden,so now Hunted usually spends his free time making sure the flock was okay,or sparring with Stubborn.It surprised Opportunist that Hunted even wanted to fight,given how Stubborn initially treated him,but then he found out that it was actually Hunted that had asked to spar, once they had settled down,and seemed happy enough to indulge Stubborn.

Opportunist watched as Hunted helped Stubborn to his feet,whose annoyance was quickly replaced with a fiery determination to win next time. Opportunist finally turned to look at Cold,who was already staring at him.

"Hello,friend."

"What do you want?"

"Enjoying the show?"Cold shrugged."I knew Hunted was going to win.I just wanted to know how this time."Opportunist glanced back at the other two, and Stubborn shot Cold a quick glare before being dragged away by Hunted.

"I thought you and the clown would be up to something by now."Cold was silent,then leaned in closer to quietly murmur,"Hero's been on our case, so we have to wait for him to be distracted before we start again."Opportunist chuckled in amusement,as that would explain why Contrarian was just lying on a rooftop.

Cold tended to do a bit of everything around the place to stave off boredom,such as one day be out foraging with Hunted,or helping fight a monster with Stubborn,or will stick to Jitters and bother him a lot-unlike Contrarian,whose next actions depended entirely on how funny it would be.

Speaking of Contrarian,the two of them had become quite the partners in crime.Cold would always be roping Contrarian into doing dumb and reckless things,all in the name of amusement and not feeling numb,and it didn't take much to convince Contrarian.They never did anything to intentionally harm the others,but they always wound up getting a lecture from Hero,so they had to be sneakier when causing trouble now, apparently.

"Well,you didn't hear it from me,but I believe that Hero plans to join Hunted in his foraging trip tomorrow."He glanced back at Cold,who was staring at him with a raised brow,and Opportunist smiled sharply at him and said,"But I didn't tell you that."

"Is there something you want me to tell you?"Cold asked,and Opportunist looked away in embarrassment,still not liking how predictable he was becoming,and sheepishly asked,"Do you know where Jitters is?"

Cold nodded towards Jitters' house and said,"He should be back home by now.Skeptic wanted to talk to him earlier,but he should be all alone now."

Opportunist gave him a grateful smile that he tried to not stretch too far,to just let his smile be natural, but it still felt like an effort he had to make.

He swiftly walked off before Cold commented on it, blurting out a quick,"Thank you!"as he went.

He sighed,letting his shoulders slump in defeat as he walked off.It still annoyed him at how hard being genuine was,to not put a mask up in front of his flock.Old habits die hard and all that bullshit.

He was so deep in thought,that he didn't notice the two other flockmates,who were engaged in an intense conversation,until the three of them crashed into one another.

He grunted in pain,wings flapping frantically,and he managed to keep upright.Unfortunately,the same could not be said for Cheated.

Cheated had landed right on his feathery ass, glaring up at Opportunist,while Skeptic giggled down at him,a hand covering his mouth.Cheated's glare predictably went to Opportunist."Can you not look where you're going?"he snapped,but Opportunist just smirked and retaliated with,"Can you not keep yourself from falling for more than five minutes?"

Skeptic laughed with a snort,only earning himself Cheated's anger as he got to his feet.He poked a finger into Skeptic's chest and said,"I don't know what you're laughing about!Half the time,you go days without sleep for your research and can barely hold your own weight!"Skeptic's amusement was quickly erased,and he frowned at the other silently, before whacking him with a wing.

The two of them had become quite the pair.

Skeptic found it hard to adjust to this new life,but he was nothing if not determined and headstrong, so he quickly made himself busy with work-too much work.

He was trying so hard to ignore all the questions about the princess and wondering about this world, that he ended up almost completely ruining himself with stress and exhaustion.

The longing for something to work out,like a puzzle or a problem-really dragged him down.The Shifting Mound had been an ever-changing mystery where Skeptic's logic was useless,thus making Skeptic more hungry for the truth,but after having sorting through his problems with Smitten and Hero-he managed to turn himself around.

He set his mind to figuring out the things that he could-like the monsters and what their whole deal was.He had many theories,but none that he could determine to be the truth,but that only made him more passionate in his investigations.

He had his own little workplace a little bit out from their home,because there was only so much Skeptic madness that Opportunist could take.He didn't know what Skeptic did,but he did know that he would sometimes get Stubborn and Cold to help capture and dissect a monster for him.Opportunist never asked for the results.

Cheated could never stomach those days,but he was involved with every other aspect of the research.

After they reunited,it took a day or two for Cheated to forgive Skeptic and Smitten for how they didn't prioritized the flock at first.Once they got settled, Cheated was just as interested and passionate about figuring everything out as Skeptic was,so they became research buddies.

But Cheated didn't quite let the investigation consume him as Skeptic was prone to allowing.He could often be seen sparring with Stubborn,and he expectedly never won,but that never stopped him from trying every time,and Stubborn seemed to love his enthusiasm.

Cheated also liked hanging out with Broken a lot.He wouldn't even necessarily talk to him the whole time-just sit in silence with each other,which Broken greatly appreciated some days.More often than not,if Cheated wasn't with Skeptic,he was with Broken,watching him tend to the garden.

Once the two of them had calmed down,Cheated turned back to look at Opportunist,merely raising a brow as he asked,"You going over to see Jitters?"

Opportunist's feathers puffed up as a hot flush took over his face.God,was he that easy to read now?The evidence was all over his face,so he just nodded and Cheated said,"Okay.Tell him I said hi." then walked off.Skeptic followed him,but not before sending Opportunist a small,playful smile and patting him on the shoulder.

He took a deep breath,spent a few minutes preening and fixing his feathers,then made his way to the stairs.

The stairs to all their houses winded around multiple treetrunks,mostly for the birds that couldn't fly up to the houses in the trees.

It took a few weeks of discussion,but they eventually came to the decision that building houses in the trees felt the most safe,and least triggering.It allowed them to have a high vantage point of the forest,so that they could see if a monster was approaching,and it just felt nice to create something for themselves that they knew for a fact was real,that they could call theirs.

As Opportunist walked up,the sun that had previously been in his face was suddenly blocked off,and he looked up,only to find the one and only Hero flying above him,his wings blocking the sun.

Hero smiled,and it somehow looked as if the sun was creating a dazzling halo around him. Opportunist swore that it felt like the universe just favored Hero more.The wind would sway his feathers in just the right way,the sun would illuminate his smile,the fire would make his eyes shine in an almost hypnotic way.For some reason, this world just bent to please Hero.

Jitters thought he was crazy,and he knew it was bad when the paranoid one was calling him that.

"Hey Oppy,"Hero said,waving down at him,using the nickname that,for some reason,everyone started to use.He didn't actually mind it.

He smiled up at him."Hello,Hero!What are you up to today?"Hero shrugged and gazed out at their home."I'm just checking in on everyone.It's actually been pretty calm lately."

'Tomorrow won't be,'he thought in excitement, wondering in glee what Cold and Contrarian would do in Hero's absence tomorrow.Opportunist loved to be their spectator.

Hero floated down,leaning in closer to say,"By the way,Para is looking for you."

"Really?"he replied sarcastically,although Hero didn't seem to pick up on it,"I had no idea."

Hero just smiled brightly,and Opportunist couldn't help but smile softly back."Yeah,well,he's just up in his house.See you at dinner,Oppy!"and with that, Hero took off into the skies.

Out of everyone,Opportunist was most happy for Hero.Once everyone was together,he tried to pretend that everything was okay,and that he hadn't tried to open a cabin door and drag the Long Quiet back into a terrifying loop of death-but that obviously wasn't possible.

He tended to be more reserved and in his own head the first couple of weeks,but when someone spoke to him,he would be all smiles and happy to help anyone,but there was nothing to hide the pain in his eyes.

Missing the Long Quiet took its toll on everyone, but it hit Hero the hardest,and he would fly off into the skies for hours at night to clear his head.

It was only when he was out for an entire day that they all aired their concerns,worried sick about him. Hero had just looked at them all as if not believing that they actually cared about him,which was ridiculous.

But it was still the wake up call he needed-and maybe Hero will always miss and wonder about the Long Quiet,but right now,he seemed to be thriving by being the leader of their flock,taking care of everyone and making sure they're all safe.

Opportunist personally couldn't of asked for a better hero for them.

He sighed,then continued up the steps,until he was in front of a wooden bird house with a bouquet of lavender in the windowsill.All of them had some sort of flowers courtesy of Smitten-Opportunist currently had peach roses in his house.

He didn't bother knocking-he just came in through all of their doors,but with Jitters he at least opened the door softly and called out,"Jitters?Heard you were looking for me?"

He peered into the room,finding it a perfect halfway point of messy and clean.Some spaces, such as the bedroom,were spotless,but there were also papers strewn about,and blankets thrown haphazardly about the place.

The culprit in question suddenly rushed out from the balcony,and Opportunist felt his wings and shoulders relax as Jitters stopped and smiled tiredly at him.

He saw the way Jitters' body relaxed as well as he said,"Hey Oppy."He motioned towards the balcony he had just been at."Come over here."

Opportunist followed him out,and realised why as they had a perfect view to the sun starting to set, pink and orange mixing in between the clouds.

Opportunist looked over at Jitters,at the way he gazed out at the sky with a fond look.There wasn't a lot that could make Jitters fully relax,but staring at the sky seemed to be one of them.Maybe it was because the sky couldn't hurt them.Maybe it was because they had never seen the sky like this before.Either way,seeing Jitters be at peace like this was sweet.

Jitters looked back at him,his wings twitching at the feeling of being watched,but he merely scrunched up his face in confusion and said, "What?"

"What did Skeptic need you for?"Jitters groaned, leaning forward against the wooden rail and said, "He kept asking me all these questions about reality and what's real or not,and if the monsters were actually real or just a figment of our fears or whatever."

"Well the concussion that one gave me certainly felt real."

Jitters chuckled,then said,"Yeah,he wanted me to inspect the monsters-"

"Did you?"Opportunist asked in sudden fear, straightening up and studying Jitters for any bruises or marks."Of course not!"Jitters said in outrage at the very thought.His wings spread out, then swiftly hugged him in comfort."I didn't go anywhere near those things,and I told Skeptic that he could figure it out on his own!"

Opportunist released a breath of relief,then found his attention drifting to Jitters' wings.The once thin and weak feathers were now beginning to grow more healthily,no longer an overpreened mess, instead shaping Jitters' wings into limbs that were almost capable of flying.

Jitters had been determined to try and not ruin his wings,to be able to fly for himself one day,and had even convinced Broken to try and fix his wings as well.Everytime Opportunist looked at his wings,he felt immense pride for his flockmate swelling up in him.

"Oppy?"his attention was suddenly brought back to Jitters,who was giving him a curious look,his wings no longer wrapped around him.Jitters tilted his head to the side."What are you thinking about?"

He chuckled nervously,turning to look out at the sunset,but he could still feel the other's gaze against his feathers.He shrugged,ignoring the warm feeling in his chest as he answered,"Just thinking about how long it's been since we've talked."

Lie,and Jitters knew it was,but he just giggled and said nothing of it.

They literally talk all the time,but admitting that for some reason was something that Opportunist couldn't bring himself to do.It was even worse that Jitters could tell that he was lying,and wasn't bothered by it in the slightest.He almost wished that they could go back to when Jitters wouldn't trust a thing he said,instead of actually knowing him well enough to know when he was saying a harmless lie.

When Jitters wasn't talking to him,Hero or Cold a lot,he was busy being the flock's medic.He asked Hunted to teach him how to treat wounds and infections,and Jitters clearly had a knack for it, picking up the skill instantly,and he was constantly picking up herbs from Smitten's garden,and always made sure to bring enough supplies wherever he went.

When Opportunist asked why he wanted to learn to be a medic when he already had his chant,Jitters explained that his chant could only do so much,and he felt better and safer knowing how to help the others in different ways.

In that moment,Opportunist felt Jitters' heavy, worried gaze on him,and he knew what event had led to his decision.

Jitters liked to keep tabs on everyone,and there was often someone that needed patching up, Cheated and Cold being the main culprits.

But everyday,Jitters always made sure to talk to Opportunist,whether that be by sitting and having dinner with him,or chatting while he made salves in his house,Opportunist always found himself next to Jitters.

'"You know what's weird?"Jitters softly asked,and Opportunist smirked as he said,"You think everything is weird,Jitters."That earned him a wing to the face,and he burst out laughing as he swatted the wing away.

"Shut up!"Jitters exclaimed with a grin,waiting for him to calm down before saying,"It's been three months since we've ended up like this."

Opportunist paused."Wait,really?"

"Yeah,it's-"

"You've been counting the days?"

"Why are you on my ass today?"Jitters snapped,and it was the only way to ignore the weight of those words,to poke fun at Jitters.

Eventually though,Jitters was looking at him more seriously,and he rolled his eyes as he said,"Yeah,I guess it is a bit weird to think about."

"Right?"Jitters said,"It feels like forever since I've seen a princess or heard an Echo."He chuckled nervously."Almost makes me feel like what we went through was just a bad dream."

Opportunist took a step closer to him."Is that a good or bad thing?"

Jitters smile dropped,and he shrugged."I don't know,"he admitted,and Opportunist didn't even think about it before he draped his wing over the other's shoulders,noting how he had been subtly trembling beforehand.But the moment his wing touched Jitters,the fear in his eyes vanished,and he sent Opportunist a soft and thankful smile.

After a few minutes of silence,Jitters spoke up,"You know what else is weird?"

"What?"

"It's been three months since we've become friends."

Opportunist froze,and he knew that Jitters could feel how his wing tensed up,and he started to preen his feathers in comfort,while Opportunist processed that.

Friends.Flock.Family.

All things that Opportunist wasn't once sure he deserved.

Opportunist spent the majority of the last few months learning how to be honest,and to not put on a mask when he doesn't need to.

Some days it's easy to be himself.A lot of days-it's not.It's hard to rip off a mask that's been glued to your face for so long,even if you're around your precious flock.There were days that he wasn't feeling the best,but once someone asked,he immediately sent them a reassuring smile and said that he was fine.It was harder to do it around Jitters,but that's just because he calls him out on it in private,and lets him drop any and all performances.

It wasn't that he didn't like being trusted-it was just weird knowing that people could look past his act and see what he actually was like.There was just something nerve-wracking and terrifying about the whole thing.

To distract himself,he focused on helping Hero around.He found that he really liked designing his house to be what he wanted,to feel safe and warm and inviting for all the others to come in.

He realised that he could create and design things for others,to express how he feels,even if he verbally couldn't,and he actually liked that a lot.

He loved it even more when he designed every single bird house for every member of his flock.

It was so gratifying in a way,to finally be able to do something that expressed his true feelings,and it wasn't about safety at all.It was just about love.

Finally,he smiled,and looked back at Jitters,who was giving him such a concerned look that it made something inside him burn.

He made himself look Jitters in the eye as he truthfully said,"I'm glad we're friends."

Jitters' feathers puffed up in embarrassment,and Opportunist just smiled wider at the sight.Jitters giggled nervously and quickly looked back at the fading sun."Yeah,well,I guess you were right about one thing.We do make a good team."

Even if Opportunist mouth may still be sharp and cruel sometimes.

Even if Jitters' mind was still poisoned with heavy, fearful thoughts and nightmares.

They loved each other,and they were fine with everything happened-if it led them to this beautiful life.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Spare Me Your Mercy - final thoughts

I was out of town last week, so didn't have a chance to watch the SMYM finale until today. But wow, what an experience this show was. I have a few minor criticisms, but overall, I found this to be such a nuanced and heartfelt watch.

You can tell how deeply those making this series cared about the topic of euthanasia, and creating a venue for discussion. The emphasis on people's autonomy and right to dignity, the callout of class disparity and how it impacts the end of one's life, the inequity in health care and how people with few resources are disproportionately burdened with caring for dying family while still trying to survive day to day. How the trauma and pain of it all grows exponentially, continually leading to further tragedy.

I know there are criticisms of the Kan and Thiu relationship, but honestly, it worked for me. To me, it felt like what was needed for the story. Thiu is clearly a deeply internal character. He may not necessarily hide but he is not remotely forthcoming about his inner world, whether it be his sexuality or his affections or his worries about Kan. Kan is much more open and extroverted, but at the same time, he was willing to lie to Thiu for their entire lives due to his convictions. These are not men who are going to be doing grand romantic gestures for each other; it's a quiet, and honestly, quite realistic form of love. At the same time, it was supposed to feel slightly off, because there was a giant wall between the two of them. There were too many secrets, and too much pain, and none of it was being dealt with in the open. They couldn't be genuinely honest and intimate with each other. Until the very end, when Kan shows he is willing to give up everything in an act of love for Thiu, and Thiu is finally able to say what he feels. It may feel dark, but the wall is down, and I think they will weather what comes next.

What I particularly appreciate about this series is the emphasis on how harmful it is when you cannot talk about a difficult subject. It is likely that many of us fall into slightly different places on the spectrum of what is moral and ethical when it comes to euthanasia, but the vital thing is being able to communicate about it. Thiu's mother wasn't able to tell her son that she was ready to die, so he became mired in his regrets and his grief, rather than understanding it was her choice. Rin wasn't able to talk to her father, to know that he was self-determining his end (and thinking of her), so she was left to wonder and feel rejected. Somsak wasn't willing to listen to his lover's wishes, due to his entrenched beliefs, so missed being there for his final moments. Boss couldn't come to Kan directly, and ended up on a misguided and fatal path. And none of them had an avenue to process their pain. It all needed to be talked about, to be brought into the light of day without fear or shame. We all need to be able to talk about it.

It's really interesting to watch this show as someone who grew up in America when the furor around Kevorkian happened (for the non-Americans, a doctor who went to prison for euthanizing a terminally ill man), and experienced what it's like when euthanasia breaks in as a topic of news cycles and everyday conversation. I am also someone who lives in a state where assisted dying is legal. My parents are elderly, and we have talked about their end of life wishes. Living in a state where they could make their own decisions was paramount to them. It's incredibly challenging, and it hurts to even think about, but it is so very necessary to communicate with those we love.

My heart goes out to everyone who has had to personally grapple with this topic, and had to deal with a lack of legal options for a peaceful end of life. May we come ever closer to a world where we all get full autonomy, and can be open with those we love about what we need, both now, and at the end.

[cureazure]

Winx club video game headcanons because I thought about them in the shower and now I must share them with Tumblr

Bloom: absolutely plays games like HSR & Genshin and mains the dragon guys (dan heng, neuvi, etc.)

Stella: OBSESSED with Infinity Nikki, will pull all nighters playing it and then show to class extremely tired. She also 100%-ed Fashion Dreamer within one night and then went on a tyrade for a week due to how underwhelming it was

Flora: has dated every single npc in Stardew Valley, even the non-romancable ones (she probably got Tecna to hack the game for her...or maybe she just has that much rizz idk)

Tecna: downloaded the pokemon trading card game app not knowing anything about pokemon, got a really dogshit bidoof card, then proceeded to fall in love with bidoof and crush any mortals foolish enough to challenge them and their mighty bidoof (they would find a way to destroy everyone using one of the shittiest cards in the game)

Musa & Aisha: play extremely difficult rhythm games and proceed to trip over each other and end up in a big pile on the floor (before making out)

Roxy: has hacked Animal Crossing: New Horizons so that she not only has multiple islands but also raised the villager limit so that she can obtain every single villager in the game (except the ugly ones she absolutely hits the ugly ones with flynets as Flora begs for her to stop [she doesn't]) (she did not need tecnas help to do this, she could probably hack elon musk's bank account and use his money to buy million dollar commissions of her fursona)

Darcy: plays dating sims to fill the void left by riven (will furiously deny this)

Stormy: plays GTA and breaks literally every law just because she can. Also if the other trix ever somehow convince her to play a horror game she would absolutely scream as loud as she can at the first, teeny-tiniest jumpscare.

Icy: also plays GTA, recreates 9/11, and then proceeds to stop at a red light whilst being gunned down by the military. Has also played every single horror game you can think of and hasn't flinched even once.

Darkar: has no idea what video games are, decides to entertain the idea of them and decides on a tamagotchi. He then neglects the shit out of it and laughs gleefully as they die.

Valtor: has zero interest in video games, only plays genshin impact so that he can join Bloom's world, steal all her resources and hit her with the Kaveh glitch / ruin & break her world before peacing out

Sky: plays Fortnite...enough said

Brandon: Has a million tamagotchi's, pou's, and everything in between, and does a very good job at taking care of them. When they inevitably die, he spirals into a one-day depression, skips class for said day, and plans a highly detailed military funeral for them before solemnly burying them in a shoebox he keeps under his bed (He gets Stella to sing at every funeral, and he does this everytime one of them dies)

Timmy: also plays the pokemon trading card game app but has the most horseshit powerful cards in the game. If there was ever a duo's option (idk if there is I don't play the pokemon tcg app), everyone would just immediately forfeit because they know their weak mortal asses cannot defeat the most powerful legendary cards in the game...and Bidoof.

Riven: plays animal crossing and fashion dreamer at 1am, and everytime he hears movement within the dorms he starts sweating bullets. If he's ever caught he will vehemently deny it.

Helia: Plays Yazuka or some other extremelt violent game. idk I just like the complete whiplash/dissonance of the sweet, gentle poet boyfriend playing the most violent games known to magix.

Nabu: iPad baby but in the Gen X Wordscapes-block blast way

[hanszoe]

this is little-known but "up to interpretation" seems to come from cisnormative speculation from the social media manager of kodansha usa in 2013. it should be known that kodansha usa made further implicitly transphobic comments on the issue, were maliciously compliant with isayama's correction to them that their pronouns should be gender neutral, and still have not corrected hansi's pronouns in volume 5, so their stance is clear. though isayama once responded to a fan who was being pushy about viewing nanaba as male saying he doesn't like the categorization of every aspect of appearance or behavior into gender roles/categories, it seems to me to come from a deeper frustration that the act of this categorizing serves to impose a further expectation of gendered behavior/roles onto a character. other than that he has never said anything about "up to interpretation", in fact he went back on his own words here confirming armin is male (if that even needed saying) and nanaba is female, and if we consider hansi a full person with interiority they would of course have their own sense of gender identity and physical sex, which isayama has remained committed to depicting as "with a feeling of freedom that [they] cannot be put into a category". with the nature of fandom and these things not being "confirmed" one way or another it's fine to interpret hansi physically as perisex female, intersex, perisex male etc., but ultimately there is little consideration for who they are in canon which is contributive to the problem because they have already been erased so much.

a lot of men's sexually abusive depictions of hansi are "payback" because of them hating men and testicular torture of sannes for example in canon. "thankfully" this is not very common anymore, the majority of the issue surrounding hansi is that they were already feminized for the anime adaptation by character deisgner asano kyoji (levihan necessitating cisheterosexuality was immensely popular and seemed to be so within the industry as well judging by takahiro kimura's illustration of them) and only weren't completely because of araki tetsuro's interpretation of them as male, masafumi mima's direction for their voice as not female, and isayama's own attempts at opposing this decision through his notes on their design. this of course plays into an already very cisheteronormative society who instead of recognizing hansi being feminized against their author's will as an actual issue, will return to the same "it's up to interpretation", "i can do what i want in fandom" arguments to avoid acknowledging that and reflecting on their own behavior.

thank you for making this post, i already accepted that accurate and considerate depiction of hansi as they are in canon and seen by their author is nonexistent and a losing fight, to be fair it requires an understanding of queer theory, but what a disservice to this character who said over and over "if there's something [we] don't know we should go to find out", who was so committed to understanding those around them including their own attackers and murderers, who always showed mercy where it was undeserved.

the dehumanization, feminization & sexualization of hange

first, i want to start off with saying; i know hange's gender is up to the reader and their interpretation. despite that, this is something i'd like to discuss since it's not very talked about in the fandom.

i don't care if anyone sees hange as a female or feminine in any sense, i just want to shed light on the fandom's obsession with sexualizing and dehumanizing them when they are portrayed as feminine.

tw: r4p3, abuse, misogyny & other triggering things that are talked about below

category 1

- often, when you see hange being protracted as a woman, or feminine they are most often babied, in a way. they aren't taken as seriously or are over-sexualized to the point where it's gross.

- it's most likely often to appeal to the male fans who enjoy seeing hange in this light.

category 2

- people who fit into this category just like to see women suffer, although hange's gender is up for interpretation.

- you'll see hange being abused in a sexualized way (most likely in r34), beaten, tortured, r4p3d or worse.

- this is most often to appeal to the weird fans who just like to dehumanize women and or another unknown reason.

category 3

- this is the last category, the one where hange is just portrayed this way to fit into the dynamics or "social norms" of a hetrosexual ship. example: levihan (levi x hange)

- the same things that i have stated above likely happen in this situation but worse.

- the man that hange is shipped with will be glorified while they on the other hand are kinda pushed off to the side. only needed to (example) make babies, have s3x or something else entirely.

i don't want to make this too long so i'll end it here, what do you think? these are observations that i've made during my 6 long years in the aot fandom.

[arom-antix]

@fishshit I consider your post canon so I made it

Edit: I FOUND IT

Edit 2: Yakov trauma

Edit 3: I lied, here's the design rant

Edit 4: Updated design!

[skinreflectsthesun]

.

[recurring-polynya]

this is the most disrespectful use of the split-screen reaction shot i have ever seen. i would file a grievance with the vice-captains' union.

[angeldrawsstuffs]

Oh people hate on Wu as well and, personally, it’s just as obnoxious. If you think critically about most of the things Wu’s “caused”, it really boils down to one of three scenarios:

1. It would’ve happened in some form regardless and Wu’s involvement had little to no actual affect on the outcome.

2. Wu was in the general vicinity of whatever occurred and had no involvement in the actual incident.

Or

3. He was a literal child when it happened of course he was being stupid and irrational, that’s what kids do.

To make this point, I’ll go through all the main show villains with ties to Wu (or that I’ve just seen generally pinned on him for one reason or another) and how they fall into one of these categories:

Garmadon - Wu was a child and had no reasonable way to know the Great Devourer was outside the Monastery, nor did he even ask Garmadon to go get the sword, Garmadon chose to do that on his own. Even if Wu somehow “caused” it or knew there was a risk, it wasn’t intentional and he spent the next millennium or so blaming himself and trying to help his brother by whatever means necessary (this really shows in the canon Spinjitzu Brothers books where we actually get to have Wu’s POV shown to us).

The Serpentine - The whole alliance was being manipulated, and so were the serpentine themselves. I won’t absolve Wu of blame entirely but like if he’s at fault so is Garmadon, Ray, Maya, Mystake, etc.. But overall it was Master Chen’s fault any of it happened at all because the Serpentine War wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t trick both sides into fighting.

The Overlord - This guy is older than Wu by a LONGSHOT, I do not think I need to say more on this.

Morro - I love Morro as much as the next guy, but I think this fandom is long overdue for a conversation about how Morro had a big hand in his own fall. Yes, Wu had and has blame for building up the Green Ninja idea in Morro’s head, but Morro himself I firmly believe would’ve become a villain regardless if he met Wu or not. The flashbacks show us Morro had little to no empathy for other people or how his actions affected them. He deliberately went too hard on his fellow students to show how he was “strong”, and, this one I cannot stress enough, actively refused all of Wu’s attempts to help him grow as a person and diverge from his path. Morro’s famous final line in Possession, “you can only save those who want to be saved” is the perfect summarization of his character. Morro did not want to be saved, he refused to be saved when he was alive, and continued to do so in death. Wu did not tell him to go look for the tomb, nor did he know Morro was looking for it. Morro is a cautionary tale of how, if you don’t introspect and try to grow as a person, if you don’t accept they you are flawed and other people aren’t the sole source of your issues, you’ll only doom yourself in the end. Nothing was black and white with Morro and Wu, they were both flawed people. They were both at fault in their own ways, but Morro’s path and eventual fate was ultimately determined by him and his choices to not change alone.

Time Twins - WOO, after that character analysis, time (ha!) for a simple one. They were evil on their own, Wu had no hand in that.

Aspheera - Wu. Was. A. Child. Being. Manipulated. By. A. Grown. Person. Like, this one actually pisses me off because trying to say Aspheera was Wu’s fault is victim blaming at its finest. Wu did something stupid by sneaking into Mambo’s kingdom, yes, but he was a child! Kids do stupid stuff like that because you don’t understand consequences! Aspheera tricked him into thinking she was his friend and, when you think about it, Wu doesn’t seem to have had any other friends outside of his brother. We don’t even know if he had any long term connections or relationships outside of his father and brother. He was a lonely kid who just wanted a friend, can you really blame him for that?

Alrighty, before I end this this post, I’ll lightning round address the “why didn’t Wu tell the ninja?” thing.

Garmadon - He did, that’s the plot of the pilots and the first two seasons.

The Serpentine - He had every reason to assume they were a non-issue and were already dead or sealed away for good. How was he supposed to know Lloyd would go from petty harassment to trying to assemble a snake army??

The Overlord - Some combination of Wu again thinking he was a non-issue (at least for the time being) (also like- Wu didn’t realize The Overlord could have a role in the prophecy until Misako said so), and, based on the way Wu talks about him and what we know of him, it was probably a “names have power” situation. By speaking of him and spreading knowledge of his existence, people can become afraid of him, and we know The Overlord feeds of darkness and fear, so it’s not out of left field to extrapolate that not talking about him and letting the memory die out of the public consciousness is a legit strategy to keep him at bay.

Morro - Hadn’t talked to him or heard anything about his whereabouts in 20-40 years. Wu’s of a similar age to the Serpentine War during the Morro flashbacks, so we can guess the general timeframe of how long ago they were (also we know it’s before Garmadon’s banishment because he has the Golden Weapons). Wu had absolutely no idea Morro went looking for the FSM’s tomb, much less that he died doing so and became a cursed ghost out for revenge- again, I pose the question: how was he supposed to know?? Nobody in their right mind would come to that conclusion on absolutely zero information.

Time Twins - This is the ONE instance I will say Wu should’ve told them because he DID know they were coming back. But also Wu gets crap for “dragging his students into his personal battles” so it’s a little hypocritical when those same people go back and say he should’ve let the ninja help. The one time he did know an old enemy would return, he wanted to settle that score without burdening his students, which I personally find commendable (not like he could’ve predicted the fight going south- or that Krux had returned much earlier and been scheming for DECADES to foil Wu and reunite with Acronix for their plans).

Aspheera - Same deal as the other serpentine, as far was Wu was aware, she was a done deal. Aspheera was sealed away for over a millennium before S11, either she was long since dead or not going to be an issue ever again.

OK NOW I’M DONE FOR REALISES- Wu obviously isn’t a perfect person, but I’ll be damned if I let his name be tainted by misconceptions that keep being perpetrated in this fandom! /lh /nm

(I could go on for so long about Wu and his trauma and the cycle of abuse in his family and-)

/gen /nm

I'm kind of new to the Ninjago fandom, and I've noticed ppl complain that like... Misako is overhated, and people can't understand a morally gray character (Which I can believe, but I have only seen it once), and I'm wondering if the same thing has happened to wu.

He caused, like... Half of the shit in the show, and has done probably worse things than Misako has. So I'm wondering if people treat him the same, or is it just Misako?

[someobscurereference]

Insane over the awakening trio again. We fought a war together, saved each other multiple times, and I know for a fact I can trust you with my life. We have never learned to socialize normally so we can't interact in a normal environment for five seconds without dunking on each other. I would follow you through time and space and abandon everything with you. You are the living reminder of every awful thing that have ever happened to me. Our traumas make us hurt each other at every turn. We're the only ones who know what lead to each other becoming Like That. Our jobs are barely in the same area and we don't even hang out that much outside of necessities. You are all I have left. I cannot fucking understand you. I am the only one in this entire world who has the ability to even try to.

x

[unriding]

EVIE !!!!!

I SAW U USE MY ART AS UR THEME SO I WANNA DO A REMAKE !!! mostly cause the other one was full of mistaks hurrrrr orz

keeping the color palette the same so itd still fit + use softer shading so convey how soft u are + moze is now IN UR HAND !!!! >:3

oh nick :’)

[ilikedetectives]

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