#it's SO fun to write from that perspective especially jack not being the one with the supernatural experience here lmaooo

[trickstercaptain]

@harringtontm sent a meme: ❛ in another life, i would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you. ❜

       A high school nurse's office wasn't exactly ideal, particularly for the injuries to the neck and abdomen that Steve had sustained in the Upside Down, but it had a decent first aid kit at least, and it was for that reason that Jack had stubbornly dragged him here to patch him up as best he could before they went back through the gate to face hell again. It didn't matter that they still had to hammer out their plan. It didn't matter that Steve had said the adrenaline had taken away the pain for the moment. Ten minutes was all Jack had demanded and so here he was, rummaging through cupboards in search of antiseptic and clean bandaging.

       He finally found some and took a seat beside him, starting with the wound to his neck. Steve's choice of words gave Jack pause before he began, meeting his eyes with a small smile. “ And not also fight monsters on the side? I was too preoccupied to say so at the time, but the way you went at that bat almost made me think you were a professional. ” As light and teasing as his tone might have been, there was a sad implication behind such an observation. Understandably given the urgency of everything here in Hawkins, Jack hadn't gained the full story of how this had all started ( instead it was being fed to him in snippets here and there, each seemingly more insane out of context than the last ), but the thought that this had been Steve's life before he and Robin had moved to New York...

       Minus the supernatural elements, their lives really weren't as different as Jack had originally thought when they'd first met.

       “ Those seven, eight months we had in New York together with Robin... are probably the most ordinary and happy my life has ever been. ” Now seemed a good time for meaningful truths, faced with the quiet in the aftermath of the chaos, the anticipation of a more dangerous fight to come. “ I think that's why, when you changed the song, you managed to pull me out. ” Headphones still hanging around his neck, it was not something Jack wished to dwell on yet. But it was something Steve needed to hear. He forced another smile. “ So I'll be the first trying to make laundry and taxes our life again once we're through with this. If that's alright with you. ”

[night-raven-tattler]

Hello there, I recently became a follower and I love your writing so far, keep up the great work and I hope you’re having a wonderful day

I saw that requests are open so if it’s alright, can I get headcannons of the first years (separate) and shows/movies they’d enjoy watching with the reader?

Thought it’ll be pretty fun and an excuse for me to get recommendations lol, thank you!

Hello, Aesthetic! Thank you for your kind words! This was a bit of a challenge for Mx Tattly, since they are not a huge movie person. However she hopes you still enjoy his takes. They also wrote from the perspective of the Prefect/Yuu having access to some movies from their world of origin. Enjoy!

Movie night, otherworldly edition

Characters: Grim, Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel, Ortho, Sebek and GN!Reader (separate)

Warnings: food mention (Epel's part)

By opening the document, you agree to Mx Tattly's terms of source confidentiality.

-ˋˏ’✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Grim's preffered genres are: comedy, action, animation, fantasy

Grim trully is a child at heart, and all the colorful characters and scenes from animation have him hooked

He also enjoys a good laugh, especially visual gags

He barely has any attention to spare for a series, so movies are his preffered format

He would never admit it but he's a sucker for found family

Silent movie crier

Loud denier

Some favorites from your world: Home; Bolt; That one Wizard Boy Movie we Don't mention in This Household; he has a weird relationship with Ace Ventura

『••✎••』

Ace's preffered genres are: horror, thriller, action, adventure

He enjoys gorey stuff and being the guy you hide behind of when the scenes get too much, but he needs time to prepare for psychological horror

Ace is the type to look up spoilers before watching something and he tries to trick you into believing his made up version of the plot

He talks a lot during movies but hates when others do it

While he enjoys a good adventure movie, he hates superhero movies and he thinks they're silly

He prefers movies over series because he likes the format more, but he's down for a short series

Some favorites from your world: The Mummy; Jumanji (he loves making fun of it); American Psycho; Scary Movie

『••✎••』

Deuce's preffered genres are: action, adventure, animation, family movies

He is pretty easy to please, he'd watch anything that is entertaining

Definitely a Marvel fan

He also loves animation movies, the animation always leaves him awestruck

He likes movies about families and their bonds

Deuce is also surprisingly into medical dramas... but also cop dramas

He is a crier as well but only when he's just with you

Some favorites from your world: Black Panther; The Rookie; A Goofy movie; Police Academy 2

『••✎••』

Jack's preferred genres are: documentary, adventure, romance, dramas and telenovelas with a bit of nudging

Jack is the type of guy to retain various informations after watching something

He can sometimes memorise entire scenes, and he finds that habit less annoying when he watches documentaries; he likes something informative and motivational

Jack also enjoys some romance movies sometimes, but he is very picky so it's hard for him to find one he actually likes

He does, however, like to point out and comment on the weird courting habits humans have

Jack finds telenovelas and soap operas kind of nonsensical and overly dramatic, but he also gets hooked on the plot pretty quick and soon enough it would become a bit of a guilty pleasure

Some favorites from your world: David Holmes, the boy who lived; the social dilemma; Love, Simon; Yo soy Betty la fea

『••✎••』

Epel's preferred genres are: comedy, action, western, anything he can mock and make fun of

If you think Ace is bad with his mid watch commentary, Epel is 10 times worse

He mocks things in movies so often he's giving Cinema Sins a run for their money

He won't shut up even if you give him all the snacks, he'll talk while eating

He also has the most colourful, boisterous, ridiculous laughter imaginable (and I say that lovingly), so if the comedy movie is not making you laugh then Epel's laughter is

Epel is not a picky watcher so he can get behind anything that isn't too sappy

If you pull out anything with Vil on the poster though he will dematerialise from your couch

Some favorites from your world: Rush Hour; Desperado; Puss in Boots 2; any Fast and Furious movie (unfortunately)

『••✎••』

Ortho's preferred genres are: anything he finds intriguing, family movies

If anything, Ortho has a wide palate and can enjoy almost anything

He also knows how a movie ends before he watches it, but it never ruins his enjoyment

He never spoils anyone unless they try to argue with him about the direction of the plot

Most of his interest in movies came from wanting to understand human behavior better, but now he can just use them as a time killer or sleepover material

He also likes watching your reactions to the movies: how often you laugh, how often you cry, how often you reach for snacks

A favorite from your world: Big Hero 6

『••✎••』

Sebek's preferred genres are: historical films, (period) dramas, musicals with the right nudge

Listen here, musical enjoyers. Here is the most susceptible one to being convinced to join the dark side

One word: Hamilton.

Yes, he'll think the music is nonsensical, BUT he'll also tap his foot to it

AND if you say anything about teaching him something from the soundtrack to surprise Malleus with, he's all ears

He is also very quick to get songs stuck in his head: he's easy prey

All jokes aside, Sebek can be a good watch buddy when his interest is piqued

Not even he can deny when a movie has good plot and characters

He does prefer period dramas, since he has a soft spot for the setting

And historical films: a nerd do be nerding even during movie nights

Some favorites from your world: The Crown, Hamilton, Les Miserables, maybe Oppenheimer but it would be used in his anti-human agenda

『••✎••』

Speaking of Oppenheimer...

Well, let's discuss Barbenheimer.

Everyone went to watch both movies:

Ace went dressed in pink for the both of them

Deuce got confused by the "dresscode" and apologised to you for not knowing about it

Jack and Ortho enjoyed both

Epel insisted he liked Oppenheimer more but he's lying

Sebek cried at the end of Barbie

Grim is the only one who in fully in Oppenheimer's corner

[homestuckreplay]

✨ EOA4 – Character Opinions ✨

There’s SO many characters in this story now!! And to be honest, they’re all fun to read about. Even the ones I don’t like at all are adding something to the story, so I wouldn’t write them out or anything. This is just for fun, to see if and how my opinions are changing over time. <3

Love

Vodka Mutini – 🥺🥺

Peregrine Mendicant – LIBERTY. REASON. JUSTICE. CIVILITY. EDIFICATION. MAIL!!!! if PM has no fans then I am dead, and every panel she's in makes me love her more. yessss girl keep your oath even when you're bloody and jaded and your passion is gone. toss away your promise of nonviolence and lose defining parts of yourself in the completion of your quest and then feel nothing when it's finally done. I LIVE for this shit

Rose Lalonde – The second she picked up those dark wands and started blasting, Rose overtook John as my favorite beta kid. She's the only one who's skeptical of Skaia's intentions, the only one who'll take the consequences of breaking the rules over those of following them. I also love her writing style even/especially when it's way too pretentious, and her GameFAQs are a highlight of the whole comic.

John Egbert – A favorite since page 1 (not that he had loads of competition back then) and still a top tier incredible character. So much is happening to him that he simply doesn't have the ability to process, and when he gets to take a break for more than a few minutes, he's gonna need serious therapy. But for now, he keeps hilariously pranking CG, holding onto his favorite movies and identifying with their equally out of their depth protagonists to keep himself sane, and adopting children of various species. Plus he has the prettiest Sburb land.

Wayward Vagabond – I loved WV before we got his backstory and I love him more after. There's nothing like a little guy who rises up against overwhelming odds, one who isn't innately 'chosen' or special, but makes himself so through sheer belief in the cause. he's extremely Problem Sleuth coded (the guy, not the comic) in his almost defeating the king through nothing but his glowing personal charm. I for one would follow his cause.

All Salamanders – Shoutout to Casey, Crumplehat and the Secret Wizard especially. I’ll never forget you.

Like

Jack Noir – COOL AS FUCK VILLAIN!! I like when a villain feels genuinely dangerous and unpredictable, but without being a completely chaotic monster. There are strong suggestions that Jack is in control of his actions and has a motivation that’s being hidden from the audience, and I can’t wait to find out what it is. His totally disproportionate responses to fairly minor requests make him fun to watch, and there’s something compelling about him being in theory capable of this in all sessions, but only ascending in the kids’.

grimAuxiliatrix – The most likeable troll for me by a long way. The way she's similar to Rose yet different and the way they're both trying to be the smartest in the room is compelling every time. Her strategy of sending Rose the transcript of their first conversation (from her perspective) so that Rose would agonize over how to copy it was a genius strategy and totally won me over, I can't wait for more of her.

carcinoGeneticist – The most helpful and informative of the trolls (perhaps against his will), CG and John have an incredible dynamic going where CG tries to be mean to John and fails, and John successfully pulls off pranks on CG that are harmless and not at all meanspirited. CG could stand to get some better taste in movies and appreciate whimsy, but, his reluctant and angry sharing of information is always fun to read.

Jade Harley – She has always been a lot of fun, and as tragic as the end of act 4 was for her, I actually think it's gonna make her more interesting as a character. My biggest complaint has been her lack of problems to overcome or purpose in her story relative to the other kids, and now that she has the significant handicap of no longer relying on visions from her dreams, I'm so excited to see where her story will go next.

Dave Strider – ok, I like Dave now. Tentatively, and no guarantee it’ll stay that way, but I do. He’s going through new and different hard times, meeting his more mature future self, experiencing life without his shitty bro, seeing his own dead body, getting out-trolled for the first time, and I actually feel bad for him. He’s still kind of an asshole, but he’s stepped into his role as the Knight of Time very quickly and is actually trying to do good with his powers, like trying to stop DD from stealing the MEOW journals. I have nothing but respect for someone who tries to grow and be better.

Davesprite, Jaspersprite, Nannasprite – Spritelogs are few and far between unfortunately, but I’m always excited to hear from any of these guys. I think the tension between ‘character who is close to and genuinely wants to help the kids’ + ‘will of Skaia trying to stop that character from helping the kids’ + ‘secret third element like a bird or clown that noticeably alters behavior’ is absolutely fascinating, and there’s room for the sprites to be explored WAY more.

Ms. Paint – Every day I am grateful for her taking me on these wonderful adventures.

Mixed/Uncertain

Courtyard Droll, Draconian Dignitary, Hegemonic Brute – I like the Midnight Crew’s dynamic a lot, but the stakes feel much higher when they’re working against characters I care about instead of a bunch of green goons who only appear in an intermission. Because they’re minor characters who are more defined by working for Jack than having their own stories, I don’t find them as compelling ad Jack himself, but I enjoyed the Intermission enough that I don’t have it in me to dislike them.

Aimless Renegade – Look, I don’t support cops. I do think it’s good that AR is willing to criticize high level agents in his own society. I also think it’s good that he’s now trying to cooperate with the other exiles. I think it’s bad that he wields weapons of mass destruction without knowing how to use them. I think it’s bad that he tried to kill WV and PM on first meeting. I don’t really know how to feel about him. But he looks sick as fuck in that caution tape.

twinArmageddons – In his one Act 4 chatlog he seems like a misanthropic, impatient jackass who makes tasteless analogies. So I shouldn’t like him at all. And yet he compels me a little bit. Maybe it’s the 3d glasses with stars sparkling inside, maybe it’s his weird prophecies of death, or maybe I just agree with John that hackers are cool, but I want to see more from TA.

Becquerel – He’s extremely powerful, was created by the generally antagonistic Midnight Crew, is feared even by the gods of the Furthest Ring, and has spent years stopping Jade from entering Skaia’s mystic ruins. He could accomplish something pretty gamebreaking, but I have no idea what, or to what end. A major unknown element who’s set up to be important moving forwards, with no real hint as to what side he’s on if any.

AH – In universe he’s literally writing the story, and I’d like him to keep doing that cause it’s really good. But he is kind of a misanthropic dick who’s not especially kind to his readers. I can’t blame him for wanting to stay out of the comic, but he is here, and arguably has even more power than Becquerel should he ever choose to wield it. Another very unknown element, with greater potential than Bec of being influenced by real world readers.

Gods of the Furthest Ring – hey, what’s their deal? I gotta be honest, even though we know next to nothing about what these gods want or what their end goal is, if you asked me right now to pick a side, I would trust these gods more than I trust Skaia. At least the gods don’t try to pretend they’re a force of pure good, you know?

Dislike

White Queen – “JUST WALK OUT, you can leave!!! work, social thing, movies, war, palace, dentist, position as monarch, too fancy weed store, jack noir if your quick, skaian battle ships, IF IT SUCKS… HIT DA BRICKS!!! real winners quit” – the white queen probably

Skaia – An entity that destroys countless planets and civilizations across paradox space just to save itself, allows countless soldiers to be engineered for both sides of a war despite the outcome being known in advance, takes groups of children and controls every waking moment of their entire lives and puts them through severe trauma, and is allowed to see and know all while refusing to reveal its own purpose? And we’re supposed to fight on the side that protects this thing and allows it to propagate? Not on my watch. I’m not sure there is any revelation that could compel me to be pro-Skaia but given that we don’t know what the Ultimate Riddle is yet, I’m keeping this in ‘dislike’ instead of ‘hate’, because I know there’s big things still to learn.

Mom, Dad, Grandpa – Maybe controversial but I just don’t like the guardians, in general. I think their role in the story is interesting, and in some ways, they’re more mysterious even than Jack and Bec. But I don’t think any one of them has done a good job emotionally connecting with their child or preparing them for life’s challenges. Grandpa’s currently more focused on the dead version of Jade than the living, and Mom and Dad are, what, going on a date while their kids are in peril??

adiosToreador – upon rereading his conversations I really struggle to like this guy. He definitely has a hard time socially and I can relate to that so I want to like him, but, he makes it so hard. I can excuse how he talks to Dave, but Rose and Jade try to actually engage with him and he still comes across badly with them. If I ever have to read the phrase ‘DOPE SMACKED, TRINKED OUT, SMOTHER FUDGING, tROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL’ again I’m gonna do some sort of acrobatic fucking pirouette off the handle.

gallowsCalibrator – Of all the trolls I’m the most suspicious of her, and I don’t think she’s sorry for any of the harm she’s caused to the kids. She’s absolutely willing to entertain herself at the expense of other people, whether that’s literally getting John killed, or making fun of Dave when he’s in a vulnerable moment. If the timeline can be changed, she’d do it in a way that benefits her and the trolls and completely screws over the kids, no questions asked.

Hate

Bro Strider – What, this fucker thinks he can show up, slice a meteor in two and fight phase 1 of a boss battle and I’m gonna forgive him for child abuse? Not fucking likely. Those 24 hours baby Dave spent in a crater before Bro bothered to go get him was probably the best day of Dave’s life actually.

Lil Cal – He remains bad to look at.

[persbaderse]

ooooooh my god okay so now that doctor who has well and truly taken a bite out of fantasy for its science-fantasy era (/pos), i was thinking about the people in the bar.

i think from a writing perspective they were meant to be a (hilarious, frustrating) red herring. like everything they said was made up to fuck with ruby and they don't know or care what she's going through.

BUT, superstition can be driven by emotions, especially fear, and they scared the ever loving shit out of me ruby. what if all that talk of wales being powerful and soaked in blood accidentally made the situation a million times worse??

i think there was already timey-wimey stuff with the fairy circle. i don't think the mad jack reference was just a coincidence (in a "bad wolf" sort of way... coincidence but also not) and i think it's still written on one of the notes even if ruby never reads it. and i think the doctor got trapped in the fairy ring because he broke it and a note was read aloud--either he was suspended that whole time or roaming some kind of other realm either alone or with other trapped entities. but if the people in the bar DID make things worse, what if they trapped him forever?? like ruby COULD have gotten him out but everything got too powerful and that's why ruby got stuck in a timeline with no doctor and just this one awful thing defining her and the world around her?

i don't know if there is a "right" answer to certain things in this episode, but that's what makes it fun: it really gets you pacing the floor letting your imagination run wild

[dorkus-mcdingus]

Am I still on the Playful Land High even though it's April?

Yes

Yes I am

I sometimes write dialogue of some scenes between my MC and some of the other characters but holy crap, Post Playful Land Fellow and Gidel are so much fun to write in my case.

In a little AU, I thought of their names being changed to the ones they have in the EN server as a way to get a new start. However, knowing that their old boss has connections, Fellow and Gidel know WAAAAY too much, let's just say they're constantly on the run. Nowhere is safe but NRC (as much as the old fox would rather swallow whole apple cores than go back) served as a bit of a temporary sanctuary especially with the connections the prefect and Grim have.

Of course, much like with Rollo, they were NOT happy to see them again especially since Ramshackle is the only dorm with vacant rooms for guests... (No lie I seriously wonder how a year long student exchange program would work there considering how much of a dump Ramshackle was!)

I'm gonna go full on OC storyline under the cut so be wary of that

One day, Rosalie led the two up on the rooftops of the school. It was a bit of a frightening climb but she's done it many times to where she could navigate which spots have a solid foundation to stand on and which ones don't. Mainly it was to give them a new perspective.

Compared to the grand scheme of the universe, everyone is as small as a speck of dust on this planet floating in the middle of space. The world (Twisted Wonderland included) is rather small compared to how vast the galaxies are. The higher you go, the tinier the ground becomes.

Still, she gave the two a new perspective on the marks they wanted.

Ace: A brilliant boy who may seem carefree and reckless but deeply cares for those he treasures. He's brutally honest when needed but he does bear quite a bit of self-doubt especially since he didn't have his Unique Magic yet.

Cater: He may seem peppy and upbeat like an influencer but underneath that carefully crafted persona, he struggles to form deep and intimate relationships with people in real life because of how much he had to move around. He also doesn't have a very good relationship with his sisters either.

Trey: A very kind vice Housewarden who kinda acts like Yang to Riddle's Yin. Both work in tandem to keep Heartslabyul from falling apart. However, as we all know, Riddle's mother made him and his parents endure a 5 hour lecture from her that deeply traumatized him to this day and he bears so much guilt for what happened to Riddle.

Jack: Overall a rather kind soul but a bit prickly like the cactuses he grows. It was a bit shocking seeing that he agreed to ditch school to go to an amusement park, but Jack always makes good on his word. Some would tease him for being loyal like a dog but Jack will always be ready to call you out if you screw up.

Leona: Make no mistake, while this lion's laziness is infamous, the man is a hard worker and an excellent strategist when he sets his mind to something. Alas on part of the fact that he's the spare to the throne, coupled with other factors that happened during his upbringing, he'll always be seen as second banana to his brother and developed a deep inferiority complex because of it. In terms of school, he already knew everything in the curriculum plus school was a way for him to get away from his nephew, but in terms of how Leona feels about his underclassmen, he does care for them in his own way. He won't be nice about it, but he does have some kindness in him.

Floyd: Much smarter than one would let on but is the type to march to the beat of his own drum.

Jade: Seems calm and collected on the outside but more of the troublemaker between the two.

Kalim: That kid has seen more danger than he lets on. He's been poisoned so many times to where he could only eat whatever Jamil cooks and to where he's able to identify them. He may be naive, frighteningly so, but he likes seeing the good in people but he never allows himself to vent to others about his troubles.

Vil: He looks like he has it all, right? Well, even with his connections to Eric Venue, Vil had to put in some hard effort to become the performer he is now. However, the constant pittings against Neige Leblanche sent him down an incredible spiral of jealousy and envy. The harshest lesson he ever had to learn was that even if you give 110% it's not always enough to win.

Ortho: As impressive as he is, his creation was the product of a heartbreaking story. The truth is, the real Ortho was turned into an overblotted phantom after a terrible accident occurred one day when they were children. Originally, Ortho was created in memory of Idia's long lost brother but after an incident that occurred in their home, much like the Wooden Puppet, he gained a heart and a sense of sentience. He truly is a creation of wonder.

Lilia: His cute face may not say much but this man has seen the horrors of war. He spent a few good centuries acting as the General of the Right in his younger years but ended up becoming a caretaker of two boys. One, a boy named Silver, the other, Malleus Draconia. A truly handsome mark but would it be worth it to drown in riches knowing that you deeply angered the 5th most powerful mage in Twisted Wonderland?

"You could say the same with STYX and Ortho. You'd be letting his older brother lose another. Jamil's job would've been put in jeopardy if you took away Kalim, and seven could only tell you how much trouble you'd be in if you sold Lilia. Especially considering he's been Malleus Draconia's caretaker since he was a baby. Both of you have no idea of the kind of price you'd be paying if you sold them off. That's why I made sure to have those connections to keep me safe while I'm here."

{"But why tell us these things?"} Signed Gidel.

"A warning. I'm merely giving you two a warning. Everyone at this school knows what you have done and because you're living with me, they don't want to touch you. If you both ever have the idea of doing something so unforgiving and heinous, remember all of the lives you ruined in your pursuit of vengeance. Think about what you would do and how you would feel if either one of you were put in the same situation we were in. From here on out, I can aid you if you have questions but it's up to you to save yourselves."

"Your heart is far too tender for this school." Fellow scoffed.

"I'm not saying this out of kindness, I'm saying this because I want to cause you pain. I want the guilt to eat you alive because a lie will keep growing and growing until it's as plain as the nose on your face and you two could be facing a life behind bars. If you do get arrested, I won't help you. You made your bed, you must sleep in it."

[hazelnut-u-out]

Hi! I'm making a playlist of Rick and Morty's dynamic, do you have any songs that remind you of them? Alsooo this is not needed, butttt could you tell me why it reminds me of them? I don't need it for the playlist, but I like hearing about it!

I really loved this question and I wanted to answer with a playlist breakdown. In order to actually get around to answering the question soon(ish), I opted to make myself pick one song from what I have of my breakdown so far and then post my full playlist later on at some point, lol.

This song reminds me a lot of their relationship from Morty’s perspective, especially at around the Season 5/Season 6 point of the series.

Generally, I think that Ricks and Mortys have a dynamic that cultivates this idea of subservience in a way that makes Morty feel like he needs to break himself over and over again in order to please Rick or keep Rick from leaving him. This is something I headcanon and use for a lot of Morty’s inner dialogue when I’m writing from his perspective because you can observe the evolution of Morty’s codependency with Rick as the series goes on.

For example, in ‘The Wedding Squanchers’ he says ‘Rick, I can handle it if you go, but you’ll break Mom’s heart, and I won’t forgive you for that,’ and by the time we get to ‘Forgetting Sarick Mortshall’/‘Rickmurai Jack’ he has a very obvious and very personal inability to let go of Rick. (Not to mention, infinite Mortys are made for Ricks to do with as they please and fully depend on their Ricks for survival.) Some specific lines:

-‘I think I’m feeling it now/Just like you did’

Reminds me of Morty learning to understand why Rick is the way he is because he is more similar to Rick than he wants to admit, but Rick is the one causing that.

-‘Taking hits for you/‘Cause I wanna feel like I’m supposed to/I could disappear’

Morty has to take hits for Rick (and the whole family) in order to be accepted. He says it best himself in ‘A Rickconvenient Mort.’

‘Shut up! Shut up! Okay. My whole life, I’ve never fit in anywhere. Everything I have to say is always met with an eye roll as if the act of hearing what I have to say is some exhausting chore. Nobody in this family thinks I can say or do anything right! I’ve been all over the universe, met hundreds of people, and Planetina’s the only one I’ve ever met that makes me feel like I belong, and you just kicked her out of our house!’

-‘Hold me down/And maybe I’ll quit if you stick around/Keep quiet/It’s the only place I know, but it’s my favorite’

Again, this makes me think of Morty constantly being overlooked, ignored, and labeled as ‘the annoying one’ or ‘the one who ruins everything’ by his family when, in reality, he’s just the youngest one. He’s just a kid with no one in his corner. Maybe one day he’ll stop trying to get them to hear him…

Thank you for the ask!! I’ve been having a lot of fun putting my breakdown together, so thanks for the idea, too. :)

[gaast]

Sorry you're sick! Maybe an ask will make you feel better?

I know you have an English degree, do you have a favorite author and/or work and why?

That's an interesting question. I'm gonna talk a little bit about the question before I try to answer it.

I ended up getting two English degrees, which I'm kind of proud of. My Master's was very fun to obtain. But once you get to the graduate courses, you are absolutely forced to recognize what your undergrad professors were implying very, very hard: Everything you read is a tool. Everything you see is a tool. Everything is a message that you can--and perhaps MUST--identify. Read enough books this way and they stop being entertainment. It l's not that the fun is gone--I still love reading--but you just engage with it so differently. It makes sense to ask a Lit major for its favorite author or book but it also feels reductive, in a way? And to be clear, I am NOT criticizing you or your question. I just feel like What It Means To Be A Lit Major is different from the outsider's perspective on it. Because, it's like, we're not just reading books well. We're formulating arguments based on what we read and apply it to the world as it exists. And we don't just read fiction.

For example, there's a classic essay that makes the compelling argument that the Watergate scandal was analogous to Disney World. I read an article that did a close reading of Starbucks decor. Freud was a jackass but his essay on the uncanny remains almost preternaturally compelling--and that essay? Required a close reading of literature.

I say all of this only to say that the question, "Who's your favorite author?" tends to elicit answers that don't open up a conversation. Which is a damn shame, because my business is conversations.

So I'm gonna try to answer as well as I can to avoid that pitfall.

For fiction, I really adore Jesse Ball. His words have a kind of fairytale-like quality to them that casts the world in the kind of mist you'd find deep in the woods somewhere, where everything in the margins comes out to play. Only those marginal beings can hurt you if you aren't careful. His recent memoir, Autoportrait, is fascinating, because it's very much a portrait of a man who feels quite strongly about his ideals and who believes, perhaps rightly, that his success is a fluke and will end one day. His writing really reflects his anarchism--it crafts harsh worlds, but worlds that invite unity, togetherness, and wonder.

I also really like Mark Z Danielewski's fiction. It honestly feels very worthwhile to put his work in conversation with Ball's, but I haven't done that yet! Anyway, MZD is masterful at making sense, just sense that you don't get. He operates on a level where his fiction is focused almost entirely on emotions, so he writes as logically and drily as possible. He creates conflicts out of normalcy. His work is best described as paradoxes with no origins.

I also have to mention some specific works, especially Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Phantom Brave, and Cultist Simulator. These are games, and they all create very evocative worlds that, while brutal, ultimately find distinct (if sometimes terrible) worth and value and light in the world.

As for nonfiction... Jack Halberstam's body of work is some of the most important you can read. I also adore The Body in Pain by Elaine Scarry, I believe? And Understanding Media by Marshal McLuhan is so fucking incredible. Yeah yeah his points have all essentially been moved beyond but come on.

As for philosophical work: read Tim Morton. I cannot stress enough how formative Realist Magic has been for me.

[ace-of-squirrels-card]

Turpentine is my all time favorite song. It was my top song from Spotify wrapped in 2023 despite being released on October 20 (wrapped was released Nov 29 lol). It's about searching for meaning in a meaningless life. Let me tell you what's so fucking amazing about this song: an essay, by me, ace of squirrel

Soak your clothes in kerosene

Cleanse the mind of ketamine

Slide your mom on top of me

Wash yourself with turpentine

Okay this song opens with very classic Tom lyrics. Wacky, silly, seems meaningless, casually vulgar. In many ways this entire album feels like a return to form, and that opening verse is a great example.

My arms, I've raised again

Today I don't feel bitter

I have no path within

Don't know if I'll get better

My own mind's unclean

Can't taste anything

What if I'm not like the others?

A broken man, a Frankenstein

What if my heart won't recover?

I'll clean myself with turpentine

Then there's an immediate tone shift to these really raw lyrics. These lyrics are heavy. It gives the impression of someone who woke up one day, no longer recognizing themself. As if to say "Is this what I've become?" Feeling like somehow, the whole is *less* than the sum of its parts. We're all just these broken pieces, haphazardly sewn together and hoping it holds. 

Meanwhile the guitar has this desperate, almost panicky feeling behind it. Somehow this is also very classic blink.

I feel like I'll cave in

I'm anxious, I am weathered

I've lost my way again

I know there ain't no treasure

These lyrics *kill* me, my god. These lyrics are saying we're crumbling apart, breaking at the seams. We're on this journey, we're lost, and we know that nothing good awaits us at the end? There's such a hopelessness to this verse.

My mind breaks with ease

Sticks and stones and dreams

We already have the ingrained association of sticks and stones being things that hurt us. Now you want to lump dreams into that category? Oh honey, who hurt you

Sharks smell the blood in the water

We're all just lambs to the slaughter

It's only all the time, this time

A generation lost and forgotten

Clawing at the lid of the coffin

Your God ain't coming back this time

We have this fun little moment that is very Mark here. We see these "spoken word"-like verses from Mark in a lot of his other songs (and especially collabs like Find My Own Way or Let Me Down). While a lot of the lyrics sung by Tom feel like an internal monologue, Mark's verses look outwards. The world around is more than uncaring. It's actively harmful, maliciously negligent. There's a sense of desperation and utter loneliness and constantly fighting to survive. 

Quit your job and have a drink

Take a pound of ecstasy

Blah, bla-blah, bla-blah, fuck

Wash yourself with turpentine

This ^ *this* ^ 

Self destructive, desperate. It's like they want to convey how meaningless everything feels and the best way to do that is not even bother writing a lyric here. Love it. 

Light me like a trampoline

Stick your dick in Ovaltine

Snort a bag of Dramamine

Douse yourself in gasoline

Throw up in the limousine

Jack off to a magazine

Wash yourself with ... turpentine

Goddamnit

Ughhhh this last verse. Amazing. It's back to classic goofy Tom, but it feels *very* different given the context of the rest of the song. Theater of the absurd. It really pulls together the meaning of the entire song. Its not so much some silly lyrics, and more like a desperate attempt to feel something. Anything. Self-deprecating at best and horribly self destructive at worst. 

Just from the perspective of a rhyming scheme, the structure is *chef's kiss*. They're showing off a certain mastery of language in this song that I would've expected from more ....respectable artists.

The song as a whole is about searching for meaning but struggling to find it. Filling the void in your heart with whatever you can, but never being fulfilled. Doing all this dumb shit, acting a fool even if you're not, because you feel so broken on the inside. It's this delicious dichotomy between deeply meaningful and hopelessly meaningless. Now THAT is classic blink (just look at Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, which somehow has a really heavy song about about a broken family dynamic but also a song about grandpa just ate seven fucking hotdogs). 

You can hear it throughout the entire album, theres this  apology to each other. It's all of them saying "I lost track of what was important. I forgot who I was because of dumb shit that didn't matter." And turpentine is that introspective lynchpin. 

Anyway y'all thanks for reading, that was a lot to come out of an account that mostly reblogs weird Danny phantom content. 

[bmpmp3]

another round of quick movie reviews from the past couple weeks:

The Search for General Tso (2014): nice little documentary filled with love for diasporic cuisine, taking a sort of fun question (where did this one dish come from) as an opportunity to teach about anti-Chinese racism in the US (I was vaguely aware of the Chinese Exclusion Act but I was more familiar with the details of the Canadian version in 1923, so it was good to have a prompt to learn more about all across North America!) as well as show all kinds of different perspectives. NOW. as a documentary from 2014 I will be. charitable. BUT they kept using rising sun flag motifs in the visuals in the editing and I was like. well that's offensive for several reasons. kinda physically painful every time it happened. but it is what it is 😔

Ernest & Celestine (2012): so cutes.... i remember when it came out and it was really hyped up for its 2D animation and its deserved. very sweet and silly story about two rough and tumble sort of outcasts finding family with eachother. also the watercolour artist likes the animation for a movie based off watercolour illustrations: more at 11

Fame (1980): oh god this really is where every teen dance movie came from. oh god this is patient 0. its all from here. oh god. (but for real its a solid movie, very much a vignette structure which i dont see as often, and the music is Really Good)

The Day the Earth Blew Up (2024 Looney Tune thang): watched this in theatres with some buddies, fun movie! ten years ago i would have been killed for saying this but i have never really been a fan of the over-animated-ren-and-stimpy style comedy animation BUT here i think they worked with it well, maybe even better than its inspiration because it leans so Looney Toon about it LOL a lot of the dialogue jokes fell flat but there were so rapid fire that for every one that didn't work, the next would - and also the visual gags KILLED me (farmer Jim especially destroyed the whole theatre, I also got knocked out by some of the ways Daffy just Was in this whole movie <3 )

Searching (2018): this movie RULED i loved it so much, probably the first "screenlife" movie I've seen that's in a non-horror genre? but it was pretty fun, the character arcs were solid, seeing the online searching aspect of it was neat, and the twists were CRAZY. one thing that did throw me off is that i forgot weed like wasn't legal in most of the US (?) when this movie was made. but i guess it wasnt technically legal in Canada QUITE yet either (released a few months before LOL)

The Importance of Being Ernest (2002): i think this was on my watchlist because of that goofy horny knight gif that floats around tumblr sometimes?? anyway it turns out Oscar Wilde is a good ass writer. has anyone heard of this. did anyone know this Wilde fellow is a pretty good writer.

The House that Jack Built (2018): movie that mostly was NAWT working for me although i did see some interesting stuff in it. i didnt realize it was a lars von trier movie until the credits tho when suddenly everything about it made sense

The Houses October Built (2014): can you tell my movies are in a folder sorted by title in alphabetical order..... this was okay, it started somewhat strong but the more it leaned into it just being the "killer hillbillies" type thing it lost me. the doll girl is fantastic tho, which is probably why she's in all the marketing

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984): Breakin' 1 was a bit of a music video ass movie but Breakin' 2 was FULL THROTTLE music video movie. Also is this the first big we-need-to-put-on-a-show-to-save-our-community movie? I should research more........ Breakin' 1+2 are fascinating to me because they never really mention race explicitly, but it really feels like these movies really WANT to. opposite of Step Up 1+2 which DOES mention race but has nothing comprehensible to say.... I need to write an paper on race in teen dance movies or something LOL

also i watched those last three in the same day. if you wanted to know what kinda triple features I'm giving myself.

Run (2020): same director and thematic series as Searching, this one wasn't quite as good - particularly its use of disability is kinda messy. but im still curious about these movies, excited to check out Missing next!

Princess Mononoke (1997) rewatch: i hadn't watched this in FOREVER and this time i had the opportunity to watch it in theatres and MAN. before this my fav ghibli movies were cat returns and castle in the sky but mononoke kinda burst its way up there.... also i want to learn about all the animation techniques they used - im so curious about the digital techniques especially

Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024): I forgot this movie came out! its cute, it (and honestly the third movie too) did interestingly feel structurally more like straight-to-video sequels than theatrical storytelling? but its perfectly fine

A Patch of Blue (1965): a movie that hasn't aged perfectly and to be honest had plenty of criticisms when it came out, but somehow it worked? tone could be crazy, between poitier's really charming and complex character, the classic melodrama acting, some thoughtful discussions on disability and abuse and some NOT thoughtful, almost cartoony at times antagonists, a rape flashback that came out of nowhere and did not seem... tactfully written (and i didn't even know you could show that in 60s movies... like damn), and all kinds of other stuff good and bad it somehow still pulled through to mostly work all together. also this was unfortunately put on my watchlist because of references to it from fuckingg. a certain webshow rhyming with boug balker's bemo beel. head in hands. but im very glad i watched it - made me do tooooo much wikipedia diving about various US laws LOL

[aristocrating]

✅ & 🤔 for the ask game!

✅ list one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite

yessss thank you love this one

from magia, ars mystica:

[Kent's] eyes are glistening wet, a cool silver-blue now that they’ve taken on almost the same color as Jack’s.

i just looove playing with kent's eye colors and especially in the context of a magic AU, his eyes reflecting his emotions and being most like jack's eye color when he's deeply in love with and emotional about jack is just soooo, yknow?

from piano lesson:

Swoops moves his hands like he’s tickling the ivories, leaving fingerprints all over Jack's body: proof that this happened, that it's not just a lonely imagination at play.

His hands move along the piano, playing chords that make Jack’s synapses tingle, indecipherable code, zeroes and ones, fingers curling the way they do when Swoops has them inside Jack.

i loved using @impalerswift's idea for a failed musician swoops for smut where he's good with his fingers, especially from jack's perspective with a perpetually dirty mind, and the allegories just turned out so filthy i made myself blush. hands! fingers! so fun to write!

🤔 why do you write fic?

but also: writing is fun! i have so many silly ideas about the media i consume and its so fun to write down these ideas and share them with friends! it lets me live in the worlds a little longer and sometimes the Itch just gets you and then you can't rest until you write it down

[homestuckreplay]

I Hope We Find Each Other In All Lifetimes (For Crime)

(page 1774-1788)

exiles update! exiles update! I am so incredibly excited to be continuing PM’s story and getting to know the Courtyard Droll, especially after catching a glimpse of the lab where the agents are engineered, which totally changes my understanding of them.

First, John puts on the Junior Ectobiologist’s Lab Suit, which not only perfectly fits him but even has his Green Slime Ghost shirt symbol on its belt. Months ago from John’s perspective, gallowsCalibrator called him ‘4 TOT4L D1SGR4C3 TO TH3 F13LD OF 3CTOB1OLOGY’ (p.1528), so clearly she saw him in this lab, wearing this suit, practicing this science. This caused John to change his username to ectoBiologist, and to start thinking of himself in these terms, like his ‘fondness for PARANORMAL LORE’ (p.4), which then makes him ready to put on the suit. That’s a neat closed loop, but there is a bigger destiny at play here which has yet to be revealed – John has been into Ghostbusters and the green slime ghost since before this conversation, and Skaia has set up this suit for John as part of his Sburb playthrough.

John also sees his first Sburb house terminal, which is just like those in WV and PM’s bunker. The narrative text here gives a quick switch from John’s perspective to an omniscient perspective:

NOW WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE??? Of course it's obvious what's going on in here. It's another one of those four monitored house-shaped terminal thingies. (p.1776)

This is interesting to me because of what I’ve read about Hussie’s writing process. They’ve talked on Formspring about sticking to specific rules when it comes to character voice in pesterlogs, and I think the same is true of information – John in chatlogs often reminds us that he’s clueless about things that are already well known to the reader. The narrative text is more complicated. I cannot find this again which means it probably came from a forum, but somewhere Hussie said that Jade’s ‘oh fuck!!!!!!’ after uprooting Dave’s toilet (p.1406) was because of an earlier ‘fuck’ in the narrative text of a Jade page – likely ‘FROZEN FUCKING TUNDRA’ (p.810) – which some readers saw as ‘out of character’ for Jade.

I think that equating ‘fun, happy character’ to ‘doesn’t say fuck’ is a weird assumption for those readers to make, but that aside, I guess it’s unclear how intentional the character voice and perspective in narrative text is. Hussie has also said on Formspring that they have no formal writing training, so a lot of what they do is instinctive and just comes from reading other stories. I don’t know how much they’re aware of the formal techniques they use throughout the Homestuck narration – focalization and free indirect style – but these sudden shifts into and out of a character’s mind are jarring, but in a way that still works for me. (I am inventing a strawman in my mind of an old literary professor who hates it though).

Skaia’s agents being genetically engineered through ectobiology honestly explains a lot for me. Despite the uniform, factory-produced design of (for example) the imps, everything in the Incipisphere is a sentient being who breathes, eats, has some equivalent of flesh, is prone to random emotional changes via the imperfections of the brain, etc, more than a computer-generated construct as I’ve previously looked at them. I think it is MUCH harder to control a truly sentient creature, especially their minds – and while we’ve seen Skaia implant thoughts into people’s minds often, there’s no evidence that it can read minds. Real people are affected dramatically by the people surrounding us, and have complex relationships to power, authority and hierarchy.

So viewing the agents as people it makes perfect sense that a Parcel Mistress or a Jack Noir would behave somewhat differently after spending time with a different player group, and will in all sessions be navigating their own relationship to Skaia and to each other. I also think that each agent contains a tiny part of Skaia’s own power, as they were created by it, which makes it possible for these agents to both imagine and create a life outside of what’s been programmed for them. I am still uncertain how Skaia feels about its agents breaking out of their predefined roles and exerting this agency: does it actively want this as it contributes to the customized experience of each session, does it passively tolerate this to the extent that it doesn’t threaten Skaia’s power, or is it trying and failing to stop this happening?

All of that to say, it’s cool that AR takes a moment away from The Law to do some sick rocketboard tricks. It’s not a dramatic change in mindset for him, just a moment where he breaks his own rules because nobody is looking and it’s fun.

Then, PM gets on a shuttle – some old fashioned transport in a universe of spirograph gates, rockets and transportalizers. Maybe it’s not possible to transportalize directly to Skaia, and it has to be reached via ‘old fashioned’ means. If I was a Sburb exile my fixation would be public transport; I would be constructing buses, trains and trams all over the desert wasteland. Anyway you can tell this is PM’s first rodeo going on a super secret triple agent mission because the dark regisword is just hanging out the top of her mailbag, super obvious, and the queen’s ring is just in her pocket ripe for the picking. PM is my favorite forever but she did fuck up with this one, especially since the queen was so clear that ‘the RING must be designated for protection’ (p.1619).

The Courtyard Droll is probably taking this ring back to Jack – the Sovereign Slayer – so that nobody can rise against him as an equal power. But, will he wear this ring too? What happens if somebody wears both the white and black queens’ rings? Do they have a combined effect? Do they actually cancel each other out? Can the white ring even be worn by a black chess piece, or would it not affect them at all?

CD appears via a slow zoom – first the tip of his hat, then the rest of his hat, then his head, and finally his outfit with the club symbol (p.1781-4). It surprises me that this is a sequence of still images when similar moments have been gifs, from Dad’s car falling into the abyss (p.291) to John’s near-loss and then rescue of the Con Air bunny (p.1599). As I see it, there’s two big differences in these techniques. First, a gif only adds one to the page count, so is good for a fast-paced story or one the author is trying to keep short, while a series of still images adds multiple pages, good when an author is trying to add length or make a moment take up ‘more’ of the story. Second, a gif happens to the reader in a defined length of time, limiting the amount of suspense possible. I was genuinely scared John was going to lose that bunny, but only for a few seconds until the gif showed me the bunny’s rescue. A series of still images is reader-controlled. We choose when to go from one to the next, so if we’re intended to speculate on whose hat this might be, we have infinite time to actively speculate before tabbing to the next page, even though the pages were posted together.

But unquestionably the most exciting development here (to me) is the reformation of the Midnight Crew. We’ve now seen all four of these agents separately, with the corresponding suit on their uniforms – Jack Noir (p.952), who later became the Sovereign Slayer (p.1668), the Hegemonic Brute (p.957), the Draconian Dignitary (p.1532), and the Courtyard Droll (p.1784). I think we can assume that except for SS, the Intermission MC had these same jobs before being exiled, as it gives them the same initials duality as this session’s exiles. So, a quick rundown of the names:

Sovereign Slayer – The violent killer of a monarch. Spades Slick wanted to do this just as badly, but wasn’t able to (p.1266)

Hegemonic Brute – A violent, unintelligent person who upholds the dominant class or ideology. Perfect for the muscle of the group who follows orders from above.

Draconian Dignitary – A cruel, unnecessarily severe person of high societal station. Works well since he’s always seemed like the most calculating member of the group, and like SS’ number two.

Courtyard Droll – A fool or jester who performs in the outdoor space of a castle. A ‘court jester’ is an entertainer at a royal court, and is definitely being evokes here. Basically, a silly guy who people like. (possibly notable that we meet him on Prospit, a brighter, happier place, after meeting the other three on Derse).

I do find it beautiful that the Midnight Crew came together in this universe too, and fell into the same gang structure with the same heist goals. So often in fiction, soulmates who come together over and over despite not knowing or remembering their past relationship is reserved for romantic partners, and seeing it happen for a gang of criminals is a cool subversion. This walkie-talkie conversation is exactly like the ones in the Intermission, and the agents appear to have the same personalities as their Midnight Crew counterparts. Especially the Courtyard Droll, whose admission that he’d ‘still rather wear the outfit’ (p.1788) is just like Clubs Deuce’s believe that ‘all of these clocks are lovely’ (p.1180). Absolute king of being whimsical and not bowing to the aesthetic preferences of his friends.

[whistlingstarlight]

It is so definitely the mike faist bias, cause in the show morris is the more violent one without a doubt. He’s the one that pushed crutchie during the gate scene - starting some random fight for no reason -

and right at the start of seize the day (in obc bootlegs) oscar (brendon) is constantly pushing morris (mike) away from fighting, in bootlegs you can literally see oscar say to him calm down lol

it’s also just so obvious morris is the meaner one, at the end of the show, (corey’s) jack is joking around with oscar, hitting his hat down and oscar just does one tired laugh at him (one of the bootlegs, idk which one but brendon pats luca’s les’ head at the end of the show as les pretends to fight oscar)

but when jack throws his bag up and hits morris with it, you can see that morris was still mad and he throws it down intensely.

(Also in the paper mill bootleg, when jack is writing strike on the board, you can see morris push oscar, like hard, to lock the gate)

I think delancey redemption is fine, especially if you acknowledge their behaviour or if it’s blatantly ooc (you’ve got to say it tho).

But this trend of EVERYONE treating morris like the mild one in the relationship is canonically just not true so the only explanation is Mike Faist. (It’s fine it’s just a little… idk it feels like favouritism but everyone has favourites on any fandom because of the actors so idk why is makes me uncomfortable)

Sorry if this was long lol.

I like to study stuff no one else cares about so when someone cares, even a little, I ramble.

Please don't apologise for it being long, this is what I was hoping to hear!

I've skimmed through the boots I've got and you're right, Morris is consistently more antagonistic towards the newsies. The only times I can find where Oscar gets genuinely angry are when Race mentions his father and when Jack makes fun of his counting abilities (and his reaction to both varies actor-to-actor)

Aside from that, they're either equally antagonistic, or Morris tends to take the lead. Hell, if I remember right Anthony Norman even said his Oscar was actively trying to control his emotions.

I will add to this once I've seen the show again, but if I remember right Morris is the aggressor in most situations in the London show too. He still harasses Crutchie at the gate and if memory serves me correctly, when the newsies ambush the Delanceys during Seize The Day Morris throws his cigarette at Jack to goad him into attacking.

And let's not even get into how he talks about his "skull-busting arm" in Livesies kskdks-

Some of the Oscars taunt the newsies and goad them into attacking too. (I can't remember his name, but Oscar's actor in the tour is definitely the most aggro). But that's the thing, they're both capable of violent actions and goading the newsies into violence. Not one more than the other though.

Neither of the brothers are nice people. I think some of their behaviour is exaggerated by the fandom, but even when you stick to the cold hard facts, they aren't nice. If you're going to redeem them that's fine (I'm fully onboard with it myself), but you need to treat them equally.

However, if you're coming from the perspective of watching the movie I completely understand where this perspective comes from. Oscar is definitely the aggressor in the film, but in the stage show it's Morris (they kinda switched roles in a way?)

Anyways, I think you're right about the Mike Faist bias, even if it's on a subconscious level. Mike did say Morris has the potential to be good (and he's right! Everyone has the potential to change if they choose to), but so does Oscar. I don't like the implication that because Oscar is seen as more violent and angry there's no way he can ever be better.

This response was long too😅 But I think it's an interesting topic!

(Also, I've not seen the Paper Mill boot. Don't suppose you could direct me to it?👀)

[sleepysaltuna]

I used to hate Vince, very much, but your fic and how you write him gave me another perspective of the character (and now I do like him). Also, that same fic made ship him with Jack, like ship hard. If this doesn't count as possible spoiler for the fic, can you give us some hc for them?

Aw, thank you very much! I’ve always really liked Vince though I wished he had been more three dimensional, but I guess that’s a little too much to ask for from a show that mainly focuses on the aliens and their problems instead of the humans and theirs, which makes sense though it’s disappointing at times. 💔 I’m glad my fic helped you warm up to Vince more! It means I’m doing something right as a writer. 😊

As for headcanons, I’ve got more than a few! I’m not really sure if these will be spoilers for the fic, as I actually have no clue how far it will actually go, but I’ll share some general headcanons that I don’t think will be touched upon in the story!

- Vince is the worst at cooking. He’s banned from the kitchen and Jack will not hesitate to tell him that he can’t cook a gourmet meal to save his life. Vince accepts this. However, that does not stop him from trying whenever Jack’s back is turned. He just wants to make his boo a nice breakfast in bed, is that too much to ask for? Yes, yes it is.

- their ideal date is going for a leisurely drive around Jasper and the surrounding area on a nice sunny day, with the likes of bands like Linkin Park and Daughtry playing on the radio. Vince has made it a personal mission to get Jack into rock music. It is working, though Jack will deny it profusely whenever Miko is within earshot. They also like getting ice cream together, and indulging on said frozen treats during the drive.

- after, y’know, being knocked out by an ex-friend, Vince loses some of that confrontational attitude that he had, as he’s afraid that if the same mistakes are repeated, he will not get so lucky a second time. However, if anyone messes with Jack or his loved ones, then he will unleash the beast, but he will not if anyone bothers him. So Jack is the one who usually comes to Vince’s rescue when needed, which everyone else has mixed feelings about because he will not hesitate to take a nearby fire extinguisher and hold it threateningly.

- they find comfort in just each other’s company. They don’t need to talk in order to comfort the other. All they need to do is hold each other and cuddle for a while and that’s all it takes to realize that everything’s okay, that they’ll be okay, that they’re safe and well. Vince especially needs this; Jack’s affection keeps him grounded and anchored to the earth, it keeps him from doing something impulsive and possibly dangerous.

- much to everyone’s surprise, Vince is the most affectionate, especially verbally. He’s got a new pet name for Jack every other week. The one he uses the most, though, is “Bunny” - basically, he took Miko’s “Jackrabbit” and modified it to his liking. Jack will never admit out loud that he’s fond of the nicknames but the way it makes him blush is a sign that he does like them.

- also surprising to everyone is the fact that Jack is a literal thief. Vince’s clothes, especially his jackets and his sweatshirts, go missing almost all of the time and when he finally one day decided to actually look around instead of brushing it off, he found every. Single. Lost. Garment. neatly organized in Jack’s closet. After Jack is busted, he shamelessly wears the clothes when he goes out for school and to base instead of just wearing them at home.

(It has been a while since I’ve last drawn the humans of TFP, so I’m out of practice. This was also a quick doodle just for fun, so Vince and Jack don’t look perfect here!)

Bonus headcanon for the future:

- eventually, they will get married, some day in the distant future after they’ve completed college and have gotten stable jobs. They are deeply devoted to each other and very much in love, and neither one of them can imagine life without the other in it. They complete each other. They are two halves of one whole. They are perfectly capable of surviving apart, but they are much stronger together. They bring out the best in each other. There is no one in the whole universe who could ever compliment these two lovebirds more than they do for each other. After the rough patch in high school, and after they’ve worked out their issues and grown as people, these two get along so much better than anyone could have imagined. Sure, they have the occasional argument still, but they now know how to work it out so things get resolved quickly.

[theenderwalker]

re: DSMP "unsolved mysteries"

I've seen lots and lots of posts about the "unsolved mysteries" on the Dream SMP that focus on the TNT on top of the prison and the missing nukes. One of those I am very confident was implied canonically to be Ranboo, and the other I'm confident in my theory that it was him. Putting it under a read more bc its fuckin Long, but its worth the read! Word count: 2482

First: TNT at the prison.

This was implied to be Ranboo across a couple different streams, albiet subtly. I'm not surprised it went a little bit under the radar, but it's simply untrue to say we have no indication of who it could be.

This point doesn't hold true across everything of this nature, and if it did, it would be a dead giveaway, but I think it's relevant here for a couple reasons: Ranboo was online at the time of the explosions. Tommy tends to reflexively open the tab menu during his lore streams, almost as a nervous habit, so we saw multiple times that Ranboo was online, and would seen it have even if Tommy had chat turned off. Online at the time were Sam, Dream, Tommy, Foolish, and Ranboo. Foolish could not have been the culprit, as he was live at the time. In the case of this incident, it would have to be manually triggered by someone. Afterwards, when Tubbo was doing his "interrogations", his first bit of evidence was checking who was online when it happened. For these reasons, I feel this is a valid point for this incident.

That night, Ranboo was live on the SMP. This stream is notable for most people because it was when Ranboo did the odd code in his inventory, that read "He is in control" (or he is in control of me, if you count the to do list). Many people focused on this as a indication that Dream controlled Ranboo to set off the TNT, but this line of thinking was abandoned over time, especially as we saw the implication that the message was actually referring to the Enderwalk, talking about Ranboo stopping himself from doing anything to save Tommy from the prison during that week. However, other details in that stream also hinted it was Ranboo. Most notable to me was Ranboo reading chat or a dono asking him what he had done that day, and him answering that he had "probably gone mining," with some uncertainty. Later that same stream, he went down into his mines , found no ingots in the furnaces, and commented "maybe [he] didn't go mining", and that he wasn't sure what he had done that morning. This comes across to me as an indication that he had a blank spot in his memory that day--that he had been Enderwalking. He drew attention to this here, where he otherwise wouldn't, because it implies he was Enderwalking while he was visibly online, on Tommy's stream, where he would have been able to set off that TNT.

Ranboo was one of the only people on the server with a positive relationship with Dream, of any sort. It is true, especially at this time, that many people had negative opinons of Tommy, but Ranboo was the only one who didn't outright hate Dream... in his Enderwalk state. (with the sole exception of Punz, if you think the vault confrontation was staged, but that's definitely theory territory.) Dream has repeatedly stated that he finds Tommy "fun" and enjoys fucking with him. Tommy was locked in the prison after Ranboo could no longer visit, so assuming he has no supernatural means of communication with Dream (which is likely, as we have no real indication otherwise), he would have been acting without instruction. What better way to help Dream out than getting him his 'plaything' for at least a week?

Alternatively, you could frame it as a distraction or a break in/out attempt... which also doesn't make sense for anyone but Ranboo. Either way you frame it, Ranboo is the only person who makes sense without having to stretch their relationship with Dream into something it isn't.

Tubbo's investigation was the only real in character investigation into this incident we saw. He started out investigating people who were online, which is why I believe it's uniquely relevant to this incident. As I mentioned earlier, Foolish's alibi was that he was live. Ranboo's alibi was that he was mining. If you recall, the day Tommy was locked into the prison, Ranboo acknowledged that he did not know what he had done that afternoon, and that he distinctly had not been mining. This investigation didn't get much further than this because Tubbo refused to acknowledge that Ranboo could have done something like this. Because Ranboo has hidden his enderwalking so well, no one has any reason to believe he would do something to intentionally hurt one of his friends, or to help Dream.

Canonically, there isn't much evidence outside of Ranboo's comments to the audience because the characters absolutely cannot find out that it was Ranboo. He cannot be revealed as a traitor, narratively. Not yet, at least. So all of the evidence has to be directed towards the audience, which leads to it falling into subtext more often than not. The Enderwalk arc has the potential for an absolutely disastrous reveal at some point, where others discover exactly what he has done. It's unlikely that something like this will be confirmed explicitly until that point, but I believe the details I have explored above are foreshadowing, and will be explored again at this reveal. This point applies to the nuke, as well--perhaps even more so for reasons I will explore below.

Second: The missing nuke.

This one treads a little more into theory territory, but I think some of the subtextual implication is in this one too, it's just a bit further apart. Instead of being implied in streams the day of the incident and one week later, these implications are a little bit further out. I don't think I'm necessarily stretching by making these connections, though I can see why someone may think it's a stretch.

Ranboo was not online during this stream. This is why I think that's only conditionally applicable to the last point--Tubbo does not check tab habitually, and he had chat turned off intentionally. The tab list isn't necessarily canon to this stream. If we go by that, Jack Manifold is physically the only person who could have taken the nuke. The only other people online were Philza and Foolish, who were both live. Since this wasn't taken into consideration for the investigations, it's not relevant here.

Out of character, Jack took the nuke. Jack did not stream his perspective of this incident, he hung behind when Tubbo went ahead to start building the silo, and when the two came back together later, it was gone. This was intentionally done, as Jack usually streams his perspective for lore like this. If he had been the one to take the nuke, we likely would already know. His secret plans are not a secret from the audience, they are a secret from other characters--this leads me to think that in character, he did not take the nuke.

Very few people knew about the nukes, so we already start with a pretty small pool of suspects. One of these people was Ranboo. Even if Ranboo did seem to forget what Tubbo told him, the nuke would have been taken while he was Enderwalking--y'know, when he remembers everything, or at least remembers more.

The backbone of this theory, and the reason why I even began to consider it, is that Ranboo has a very solid and clear motivation to want the nuke. Ranboo has been helping Dream. The nukes were made specifically to be a deterrent/protection against Dream. If Ranboo takes one of the nukes, Dream now has access to that nuke, and the playing field has been re-balanced. Essentially, it's creating Mutually Assured Destruction between them. To take it one step further, only one of the nukes went missing. Tubbo was left with one nuke, and Ranboo and Dream have one nuke. Why not just take both? Well, leaving both parties with a nuke essentially ensures neither side will use it. It protects Dream, but it also helps to maintain (a semblance of) peace. Neither side can use their nuke without the other retaliating in kind. This leads to tensions, but prevents outright warfare from either side. It's not pretty, but it aligns with Ranboo's broader goals of keeping the peace.

So we've got the motivation, it makes sense. But that's not enough to make the claim on its own. What's the evidence?

This is a touch convoluted, so I get why it doesn't necessarily come up in relation to this as evidence often, but it's pretty solid to me. Especially compared to how vague most of Ranboo's subtext can get.

It's in the lessons! The highest number of lesson we were given was 94, though when Ranboo was repeating it outloud, he said 93. He later clarified saying 93 was intentional. This stream was on April 23rd. 93 days earlier, to the day, was January 20th--the day Dream was locked in the prison. 93 lessons for 93 days. If we take this to imply the lessons were daily, starting when Dream was locked in the prison, each lesson corresponds to a specific day. March 26th was the day the nuke went missing. 67 days from January 20th is March 27th, the day after the nuke disappeared without a trace. Neither Jack nor Tubbo had any real leads on the nuke. Lesson 67, the day after the nuke was stolen... "Leave no evidence of what you have helped with." This EXACT thing is why the nuke is so hard to pin down. There was no real evidence left. This lesson lining up so closely to the nuke's disappearance is not a coincidence. Further, at this point Ranboo no longer had contact with Dream. He had locked himself out of the prison and couldn't visit. If the lessons are daily, the things he writes down are things he's figured out for himself. The lesson being the day after the nuke was stolen makes sense, when framed like that. He stole the nuke, left no evidence, and wrote that down because it worked.

All of the hints/foreshadowing for the eventual reveal of where the nuke disappeared to has to be done in retrospect, and it has to be either from Ranboo, or from some other source that knows more than the characters. Which leads into my second bit of evidence: the Tubbo Texts. Across like, a week of streams (starting on April Fools Day), spooky half transparency cryptic text appeared on screen periodically, that c!Tubbo was unaware of. Those texts have never been explored in canon, it seems that none of the characters are aware of them or of their contents. So they are posed directly to the audience. The second one in particular stands out to me here:

"Quick, I don't have much time. Stay away from the North. A strange metal weapon washed up. It poisons the nature, the water. No it's not. That's it, we are leaving."

The 'strange metal weapon' seems to refer to the nuke, the poison being the radiation. Geographical direction is rarely paid any mind on the server, but north is distinctly the direction of Techno, Phil, and Ranboo's house. I think I remember Ranboo telling Sam he lives "up north" while trying to visit the prison. The arctic commune is the only notable northward location. The nuke disappeared, and reappeared in the north, in the direction of Ranboo's home. The rest of the texts refer to the north as well. We don't know where Ranboo's base of operations is in the Enderwalk, but we can assume he has at least one, and we can assume the nuke is hidden there, if he has taken it. If Ranboo has taken the nuke, it makes sense for it to be in the North.

Ranboo has proven he can take things without any evidence left behind. Remember his first beacon, that disappeared like, a day after he set it up? He never tracked it down, just replaced it. Within a couple days, he made a comment about his pickaxe durability being suspiciously low... maybe because he was using the stolen beacon to mine far from his home base so it wasn't noticeable that he had been mining. That's beside the point. I mean this to say, he knows how to take and hide things, he knows how to keep secrets, and he almost definitely has at least one secret base we've never seen onscreen.

So maybe Ranboo took the nuke, maybe he set off the TNT at the prison, that's cool, but why have they abandoned the plotlines? Why have we never gotten more explicit answers? Why won't they come back to it?

Ultimately, it seems a lot of these plans have been pushed back and delayed for one reason or another. Beyond that, an untimely reveal of either of these things to other characters would be a huge letdown. The arc seems to be building to a catastrophically large reveal, and each thing that gets revealed before then makes it much less impactful. Keeping it subtle towards the audience, while still offering some hints, stops a certain degree of the chat spoiling "metagaming" we see sometimes, that makes some streamers have to fully ignore their chats during lore streams.

This part is very much my own opinion, but I don't believe the missing nuke plotline will be resurfacing until after Dream is out of prison. Ranboo has no reason to reveal he has it until it will be put to use, either as a nuke or as a threat, and that won't happen til Dream is out of the prison and the nuke is in his hands instead.

The TNT on top of the prison will be an insanely gratifying reveal if it comes out with the rest of the enderwalk stuff. Any of this taken out of that context just kinda falls flat. So people know Ranboo set off the TNT, or know he has the nuke. How does that propel the plot? Ranboo won't do much of anything about it. People will distrust Ranboo, sure, but they won't know the depth of the issue, and that just makes the reveal frustrating. It will be revealed in time, I'm sure, but I think the enderwalk arc has to reach a climax first, or it's just disappointing.

I agree with the general frustration that these plotlines appear to be dropped or greatly delayed, but it's a symptom of a bigger pacing issue than solving either 'mystery' on its own will fix. And the answers aren't as obfuscated as they first may seem, it just takes a little digging!

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Top 10 5Ds Characters (old, sub based)

I know I was negative in my 5Ds overview but I honestly did like the first half. I wouldn’t sit down and watch the whole thing again but the things and characters that did stand out were some of the best things to come out of Yugioh. I can 100% see how this is people’s favourite show, it’s just not my cup of tea and the problems I do have with it drag it down as a whole. However, it’s still Yugioh and I still like it, so I’m gonna make a top 10 characters list for it… based only on the first half and Bonds Beyond Time though, I haven’t watched the second half. So I don’t know anyone introduced after the Dark Signers arc. Also, yes, I’m aware I just gave away one of the entries on this list with that explanation but let’s just ignore that.

10 Martha

I’ll admit I struggled a little bit to get ten characters for this list. These bottom two did somewhat boil down to “just pick someone” but thinking about it, I do genuinely like both of my choices. I don’t have a deep reason for this one, I just think Martha was funny and her “death” did draw emotion from me.

9 Kiryu

Again, this was kinda just by process of elimination. Kiryu’s history with Yusei, Crow, and Jack kinda came out of nowhere but it’s still a good story. He’s an interesting take on the concept of extremism and while his actions in the past were horrific, I can still feel some sympathy for the guy.

8 Misty

I really like villains, what can I say? Misty just had this air of mystery to her in her early scenes, that made her really interesting to watch. Like when she told Carly she saw death in her future which I still can’t believe was foreshadowing, that’s so clever. Her backstory and Divine’s intervention did botch her somewhat but I still like her overall.

6 and 7 Lua/Rua (Dub name: Leo) and Luca/Luka/Ruca/Ruka (Dub name: Luna)

These twins’ names are so confusing. I’m putting every variation of their names but just know that I default to Lua and Luca. These two are in separate spots, it’s just kind of hard to talk about them separately because their story is so intertwined. Between them though, Luca’s the better one. I liked both of them instantly for being fun and feeling like real siblings (switching between being at each other’s throats and having each other’s backs) but I really didn’t like how Lua overshadowed Luca, especially in that Dark Signer duel. I don't mind it being their duel and Luca coming in part of the way through to duel alongside her brother but Luca was in the Spirit World for way too long. She barely got to do anything in the duel she was destined to fight. It felt like she was being intentionally cast aside. Also, Luca was just more interesting. Her connection to the spirit world was interesting before it felt like over-padded filler and she was the one with all the pressure on her, which is more relatable. Still, I like the twins' conflicting personalities and siblinghood. They were one of the few light-hearted elements of 5Ds, a reminder of what the protagonists are fighting to protect, something really important plot wise to me that 5Ds was really lacking in.

5 Crow Hogan

This was inevitable. I loved Crow taking in some orphaned kids and becoming very protective of them in Arc V, of course I love him being every orphaned Satellite child’s father in 5Ds. I love how he seems like just a sneaky street thief at first but then you see that he has a heart of gold, being a loyal friend to Yusei and Jack and a father figure to the kids in Satellite who had no one. Crow had no one as a kid before Yusei and Jack and the game of Duel Monsters and he wants to make sure no one ever feels that loneliness and it’s just… god, he’s so sweet and simultaneously badass.

4 Jack Atlas

Out of everyone on this list, Jack is probably the objective “best” character from a writing perspective. At the beginning of 5Ds, he was a selfish snob who only cared about his status as the king, which he was willing to do horrible things in order to gain and keep. He felt like a discount Kaiba to me, and his appearance in Arc V really didn’t help his case. Then he (predictably) loses to Yusei, leaving him injured and shamed. He isn’t the king anymore, which was clearly what he based his self-worth on and because of what he did to gain and keep that status, he has no one he can genuinely feel close to. Then he meets Carly. Even if you put aside the (canon) ship, Carly is undeniably essential to Jack's growth as a character. She was there for him during his loneliest time and told him exactly what he needed to hear to pick himself back up again and become a better person. They forged a deep connection in a short amount of time. It's really no wonder Jack is so protective of her. After this, Jack becomes a much more humbled and mature character, which I liked him more as. He's still the 'gruff tough guy' of the group but he genuinely cares for Yusei, Crow, and Carly and shows that care, even if it's sometimes not in the best ways. He's no longer someone who will sell out his friends for power. He proves it in the final duel when he refuses that call to power (from the guy who previously manipulated him) but even more so in his duel with Carly, where he was ready to die alongside her so Carly didn't have to die alone. I've discussed that duel and Jack and Carly's characters and relationship in depth in a previous post if you want more details. I'm also gonna talk more about it in Carly’s section. BUT BEFORE THAT-

3 Paradox

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, he shouldn't be this high up, I know, I KNOW. But you know what? Paradox does qualify for this list. Bonds Beyond Time and thus Paradox are canon to 5Ds. BBT is basically a 5Ds movie that sets up later plots of the show (I haven’t seen those plots but I know Paradox only cameos and the little details 5Ds gives us about him are things I know about) and I have been wanting to put Paradox on a list like this for months now. Let me have this one, I love this freaking guy. He survived through an apocalypse, watched everyone he knew and loved die because of a card game and decided to go back in time and slaughter the bastard who created this card game of death. It’s the perfect story for the villain for the big 10 year anniversary event that Bonds Beyond Time was. Because Paradox is 100% correct. Not in the murdering but in his reasoning. Duel Monsters is dangerous and destructive. We’d seen it for ten years before this movie and for over ten years after. The main characters do save the world from destruction with these cards but from villains who use those very same cards. Still, Paradox is going really far. Because he didn’t just kill Pegasus, he murdered countless innocent bystanders, with the very cards he hated and claimed destroyed his time by the way. Not to mention he’s dooming entire generations of people to never exist, something he probably didn’t think about until he was dying (which I’ll get to), but the fact that he sees this many innocent people as worthy sacrifices to his goal is pretty terrifying and hypocritical. And honestly, that’s really fascinating to me. His motivation is sympathetic but the way he’s going about it makes him a villain, a really vicious one. Still, I feel bad for him. Yugi, Judai, and Yusei don’t even seem to care about what happened to his time, they just insist the future isn’t set in stone, implying they don’t even believe him and that he’s lying or something (as if someone would go to those lengths for the shits and giggles). However, Paradox knows they’re wrong. He comes from a time far beyond their’s so he knows their actions can’t prevent the apocalypse because it already happened. (I don’t know if Yusei later fixes the hecking apocalypse in 5Ds, I would assume so but BBT Paradox wouldn’t know this anyway.) Paradox, from his perspective, is the only person who can fix the broken future he comes from. That’s why he’s willing to go so far and why he’s so blinded in his pursuit of this goal to see the harm he’s doing. In his final moment in the sub, he wonders if his extreme actions were really worth it, and if they would’ve actually changed anything. It was a moment I initially found silly before giving it more thought. Paradox was so fixed on his “noble” goal of destroying Duel Monsters and felt he was the only one with the power and the will to do so that he didn’t think he didn’t think about the other possible consequences his actions would bring.

So yeah, Paradox is a really interesting character to talk about. He’s also just really funny. He has a lot of funny quotes, particularly in the dub. For a quick example: “I would say you three put up a good fight only you didn’t.” He’s so sassy and sarcastic, I swear that’s the fastest way to my heart: being funny and snarky. I know the idea of putting him over characters like Jack and Crow is absurd, but like… the heart wants what it wants, sorry guys.

2 Carly Nagisa

Okay, back to characters people other than myself care about. While watching Yugioh series, I sometimes read the Crunchyroll comment sections of the episodes and when I did so for 5Ds, one thing I saw was a lot of Carly negativity, mainly people calling her annoying or useless. Now obviously, opinions be opinions and you’re all perfectly valid if you dislike Carly… but you’re all wrong, Carly’s fucking adorable. Annoying or adorable aside (since that’s subjective), one thing Carly definitely isn’t is useless. Like I said earlier, Carly was absolutely essential to Jack’s character growth And actually, he was essential to her growth in a similar way. In the beginning, Carly cared for nothing but getting the best scoop as a journalist because if she lost her job, she would end up homeless on the streets. That’s not speculation, that’s something she straight up says. It’s understandable that she’s desperate and willing to do things of questionable morality to keep her job. It’s out of need. Still, it led to her considering making Jack’s private inner turmoil public, which she tried to drag out of him by getting him to spend time with her. She, like Jack, was willing to do messed up things to preserve her status. Both of them realised this about themselves about the same time, which is why Carly was the only one who could help him out of his funk: she understood what he was going through. I know I go on and on about this ship but it really did vastly improve both of their characters. I didn’t like Jack much at all before this development and while I did find Carly cute pretty much instantly, she did bother me a little. Like, disguising herself as a nurse to sneak into a hospital and find one of the patients is… definitely weird. She does get less weird after that scene with Jack in the tower. She still sticks her nose into things that aren’t really her business… like a lot but it’s less out of selfishness, I feel. And even if the snooping around she did in Arcadia’s base was too far, it’s the thing that gets her KILLED. Yeah… Carly being killed and resurrected as a demon was a huge gut punch for me, both because it’s just harsh to have the sweet innocent cinnamon roll DIE (in a realistic way too, jesus christ) and become a demon and because I knew Yugioh was cruel enough to force Jack to duel Carly like this, and very likely kill Carly. I was right, and their duel is one of my favourites in any Yugioh series. However, there is one 5Ds character I prefer to both of them.

1 Aki Izayoi

Yeah, this was obvious. I made so many thirsty posts about her, you guys probably just think I put her at number one because I have a crush on her. First of all, I can’t tell which ones I have a crush on and which ones I don’t anymore, I kinda simp for this entire top five and second, Aki is the most relatable character in 5Ds and one of the most relatable in Yugioh overall. I didn’t go in depth with this in any of my posts as the reasons I relate to her are very personal, so I stuck to what was funny for the sake of the memes. For this though, I’ll try to explain it. I liked Aki the moment she was introduced. She was this mysterious powerful woman, who spoke in a completely emotionless tone during her duels, even as she was hurting people. She was… kind of intimidating, I’m not gonna lie. However, there were hints even early on that Aki was severely damaged inside. That numbness alone was a hint but also the way she spoke of her signer mark, the mask she wore being potentially symbolic, and some of her lines, like the one about physical scars healing but not scars of the heart. It caught my attention. I could tell they were trying to set her up as this traumatised emotionally closed off person… like I am. I saw the most broken parts of myself in Aki. She was always hiding her true feelings behind a metaphorical and literal mask and feeling alienated from the rest of society, which did nothing but shun her for her oddities. Also, I don’t want to go into any personal details, but Aki’s backstory with her parents was relatable too, which is why it frustrated me so personally that she was forced to forgive them. It wasn’t me wanting Aki to be miserable. I’m so incredibly glad she was able to recover and find happiness, I just wish the way the writers had gone about it had been different. Her forgiving her parents should’ve been left completely up to her and the point of her redemption should’ve been for her to forgive herself and not let her father’s abuse define her. You’re not a bad person if you don’t forgive people who hurt you. Forgiveness isn’t an obligation, it’s a gift to give. I just feel like the writers were sending a bad message with the way they treated Aki in that duel, a message that could legitimately hurt people in the real world.

But anyways back to Aki. She was underused by the show, which did actually make it pretty difficult to choose between her and Carly, whose arc ended in a more satisfying way if we ignore everything post Dark Signers. Which by the way, can I sidetrack for a second and say how well 5Ds actually wrote its female characters in this first half? There are a lot of female characters with varying personalities and many of them, Aki, Carly, Luca, and Misty are vital to the plot. Heck, half of this list is women. That’s more than any of the other shows. (I may be a man but female representation is important so shut it.) Anyways, while Aki was a little underused in my opinion, she was absolutely fantastic when she was there and her relatability does put her higher than Carly in my mind.

So overall, 5Ds may not have been my favourite show but when it’s good, it’s really damn good. The top five on this list are practically sacred to me

[nellycanwrite]

When you get this you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself, publicly. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)❤️❤️❤️

omfg KASHDJHSKA WELP I'M NOW BACKED INTO A CORNER IG SAKKAJSHDKAS /lh

Things I like about myself...I'm not too sure T.T But I'll try my best to answer!

I'm an ambivert, but I lean more on the extroverted side. That's why I like how I can easily talk with people regardless of who they are! I also like how I can easily talk in front of a crowd without being worried too much! Part of this that I love is how children naturally open up to me whenever I mingle with them—I just love kids so much and I love showering them with all my love!

I like how I'm a jack of all trades but a master of none. This means I'm versatile with any type of challenges thrown my way. Before, I always fall into a state of gloom when I know a lot of things but I can't master any of them, but now I accept that I can partake in any activity and have fun with it whenever I can! This really helped me in college as well since my skills in writing, public speaking, music, and arts have become one of my biggest strengths in and out of my field <3

I love how I can manage to become close to people in a short amount of time. I'm especially super honored when they share their problems with me. If I can help in any way I can, then I will jump straight into that opportunity!

I love how I can easily transition from carefree and joking to I-need-to-get-shit-done attitudes! This is especially useful in group activities when I don't know my team but make them warm up to each other! It might be something super minor, but I always liked the fact that I'm aware of how I can easily ease the tension in any situation and at the same time get into a business-like mentality at any given time!

I'm not sure if this qualifies under the ask, but I'm going to write it down anyway; I like how I choose my friends. They're the sweetest, most caring, most amazing people I've ever met. I know which people to avoid and which people I should interact with. I like how I can shower my friends with the love that they need. When there's a person who becomes toxic with me or outright messing with my mental health (which, from my knowledge, I am very slow to catch on if a person is being toxic with me), my friends are the first ones to step up and give me a slap to the face (lovingly).

Honorable mention: I like how I can easily change perspectives once someone gives me the facts! I would admit that there are things that I don't know about, so I'm super open to change and can adapt easily!

I HOPE THIS ANSWERS IT SOBS AKSHDKAJSJDHKA ALSO THANKIES @lunamadrigal FOR SENDING ME THE ASK <3 LOVE LOTS!