#it's soooo good and juicy actually i'm obsessed

[ropebunnykant]

i've already talked about it a little here but i've got to talk about it more because there is actually SO MANY layers to the brothers getting physical injuries in ep7 and how it's being used to represent the betrayal.

agatha @bisonsclothespin pointed out their tags on that post here that the use of physical injuries to represent emotional hurt/betrayal has already been used in the show by way of fadel having a physical scar, presumably from some kind of stab wound, over his heart in reference to the way his ex likely hurt him. and i don't think it's a coincidence that bison ends up with a stab wound as well!

i actually find the choice in injuries to be extremely interesting when you consider the betrayals and how they impact the brothers individually. bison is stabbed, and fadel breaks his arm. for bison, this is the first time he has been through this kind of heartbreak and betrayal, and his injury is far less common than someone breaking their arm is. which is why fadel gets a broken arm, because this has all happened for him before.

additionally, a broken arm is going to take a lot longer to heal than a stab wound. a stab wound will likely scar, yes, and take time to heal, but depending on the break, a broken arm can take up to twelve weeks to heal, and even then you may need physical therapy after - your arm may never have the same function and strength it once did. it's an interesting parallel seeing as fadel is the one that is taking so much longer to heal!

i also think the fact that bison got stabbed in the stomach specifically is VERY interesting. because when it comes to betrayal, the more common phrase is to get stabbed in the back. but to be stabbed in the back, you have to not only not know it's coming, but it also often implies that you could assume at one point that person was on your side. that's not the case for bison and kant in any sense. kant was keeping this from bison for nearly the entire time they've known each other, he was never on bison's side. and not only that, but bison knew something was off. we see him questioning kant all the way up until ep5, we see him realize and recognize in ep4 that kant drugged him and then willingly close his eyes to that and give kant his heart anyways. bison wasn't stabbed in the back by kant - he was stabbed in the stomach, closing his eyes to it despite knowing it was coming.

the way the injuries are addressed in ep8 is also very interesting to me from this angle! with bison specifically, every single time that his stab wound started hurting was in direct correlation to when he's forced to acknowledge his feelings for kant - ie when kant is pouring salt on the wound by making bison acknowledge he loves kant while bison still doesn't believe kant loves him back! it happens first when kant tries to make bison say what he feels for kant and once bison shoots him down and insists he's not in a place to negotiate and that he'll die here, he clears his throat and that's when kant is able to recognize he's in pain. then it happens again after kant takes a protective stance for babe and explains why he actually took the job in the first place - there's more distance between that and when bison holds onto his stab wound, but given that we know one of the reasons bison fell for kant in the first place is because of the fact that he's a caring older brother, i don't think it's a coincidence that those are in the same scene. the next time it happens is IMMEDIATELY after bison gives kant the band aid and kant tries to get bison to admit he's worried about him - as soon as kant finishes, bison is holding his side again. bison's wound isn't brought up again after that, and i don't think it's a coincidence because after that, we get the penguin scene and then the reconciliation. the wound has healed.

while fadel's isn't brought up in the same ways throughout the ep, i do find it very interesting that only after style has managed to regain some of fadel's trust is when he helps fadel take the sling off. and then by the time they're in the bath, the cast is gone as well - and if we go off the trailer, it doesn't come back again, either. i said it in my tags, but i'm willing to forgive incorrect healing time when it's meant to symbolize forgiveness!

[koukouture]

Guess who finished Stromblood ✨

Anyways, I love me some characters with beautiful dead blue eyes~

Also some feelings abt Zenos under the cut bc I do be having ideas

He's honestly very interesting to me, and I find him very unique among villains. Like he doesn't hate WoL, in fact he calls us his "first friend." He fights for his own pleasure, which is really cool to see amongst the sea of villains fighting for vengeance or for what they perceive as right- but not Zenos. He fights to feel something. Zenos fights to feel the high of battle. He really is a monster. I do kinda think it's his dad's fault because he shows no remorse for his son's death and states that a monster is not fit for the throne and honestly that solidified him for me. A villain living and fighting for nothing but the thrill of battle is just super poetic for me. We are his friend, his equal, and his greatest rival because we are the only one who can compare. Eikon slayer, hero of Eorzea; the Warrior of Light is the only one who can give him that thrill.

Makes me wonder how he developed this thrill for battle. Throwing himself into increasingly dangerous situations to feel the rush of adrenaline from a good hunt. He's what, 26? Has he been this way since he was a kid? Or was it something he fostered as he got older and served in the Garlean army?

Anyways now onto the shippy stuff-

I'm gonna say it right now, but Elysia is one order away from being a bloodthirsty murderer. Killing gods has given her something of an ego- and honestly if it weren't for the Scions and the Alliance puppeting her around she'd be little more than a monster herself. She's vain, prideful, and a little selfish at times. She has little left to live for, and not much to return to.

So in a way, her and Zenos are similar. They both have major daddy issues lmao, but that aside, Elysia also seeks an equal. Eikons are all the same when they die, and no mortal has every really measured up to her.

Also while drawing this, I realized Zenos has little demon wings on his armor that contract Elysia's angel theming perfectly. Hehehehe it's just soooo juicy. Esp because Elysia isn't exactly an angel herself- she's kind of a piece of shit but she often tries to hide it behind her charms. So I think it would lead to this interesting dynamic of Zenos wanting to see her truly unleash that beast and be the rampaging piece of shit she is and Elysia trying to keep that side of her under wraps because he doesn't deserve the satisfaction of seeing her true self.

I can see the twisted potential of them being together- Zenos utterly obsessed with finding his equal and Elysia being more than happy to have yet another man wrapped around her finger. Reasoning be damned, she just likes the attention and appreciates the fight. They would be... an interesting power couple.

But at the same time, I did say that they were similiar and in some fucked up way I think they would find comfort in each other. Now they definitely operate under the "I can make him/her worse" logic but it's comfort nonetheless and anything is better than whatever the hell Zenos was raised in so yeah. If they were to be more genuine though, I don't think I see them being in love with each other. I think Zenos would confuse all the adrenaline for affection in the above toxic scenario, but I cannot see him actually being in love with her lmao. I think Zenos x WoL kinda needs a morally sound WoL to be a somewhat functional relationship and Elysia is... definitely NOT that girl lmao.

I think they would be great friends actually. They kind of balance each other out. Zenos "hehehehehe violence, carnage bloooodddd" and Elysia being all "okay yes but let's be subtle about it." Also I think more than anything, Zenos needs a friend to get his shit together like love will NOT fix that man. Not that they would try to fix each other, and that's the beauty of a friendship. They're both just kind of existing and understanding each other.

My fix for this is the Eorzea Academy AU where Zenos is still yk crazy and whatnot but Elysia is his keeper lmao. Like "Sorry abt my dog" and it's Zenos bullying the freshmen or smth lol.

[knarme-stray]

I have a soft spot for Sephiroth's real mother, Lucrecia, because she's like... A victim of the most toxic workplace bullshit ever, fell for a scary sexy guy (Hojo 🥵 like I understand this COMPLETELY actually,), and actually...

...No, she didn't make the bravest choices. She also didn't make very "good" choices either. Nightmarish environment, bad choice after another, also abuse she had no control over...

And after everything?

She hides herself and can't face the world.

Like yeah, she was just somebody in the system. Not a hero because a lot of people are too scared and traumatized and frozen to be "brave", or maybe in extremely authoritarian environment many people will just live in survival mode. Like everyone else making that system roll, she contributed to its evils, she is guilty.

I know she wouldn't be one of the most hated FF7 characters if she was a guy so pls let me love this flawed tragic woman pls?

Like. Idk what redeeming qualities she even has. She's like, just not some great person but what if her potential just never had a chance? Guess what, deadbeat losers are some of my faves.

Like... Genesis is also a badly written mess and has said things that almost sound like a school shooter manifesto (honestly the most unsympathethic thing about him) and his value system seems pretty reduced to just personal revenge etc., instead of allying with Avalanche against Shinra etc. more interesting paths to take... And look, I'm also a Genesis fan... I used to be completely obsessed with him actually. Frame by frame tried to analyse every bit of his screentime and what hidden symbolisms about his relationship to the other characters I could find in it... Even if just reading into it too much. <\3 But yes we love this BPD-ridden greater than life drama queen.

Something can have crap writing but you can still like it... Honestly many of the spin-off characters are like that. I think many of my favorite characters in any media are either very underrepresented side characters, or ones with a really juicy good idea about them, yet a bad execution. (*coughs* Seph's besties. <3)

(coughs. shakes Kunsel violently because I love him)

Also if we don't count Org XIII from KH, Namine is one of my faves too (despite how I've loathed reducing female characters to this kind of role all my life, - Namine just has themes about her I find somberly relatable and she has a significant place in the KH AU fanon that exists in my head).

She feels like she's defined by someone else whose shadow she exists in (Kairi) and kind of... Leads this somber lonely existence of disconnection. In that game where those lesb- I mean Marluxia and Larxene are the main villains, Namine's only close people who even talk to her at all are these... Abusive mfrs. She idealizes and loves Sora whom she doesn't even really know, also gets mega rejected too.

Like bro. I project a major "traumatized autistic teen who's preyed on by the only people who talk to her and who loves this boy she doesn't even really know" LIKE. RELATABLE. POOR BABY. NAMINE IS SO INTERESTING AND DESERVES EVERYTHING ACTUALLY.

And that she's soooo frail. She doesn't get much chances to really punch back, just like Lucrecia. Ah, the turning knife in wounds that is getting 0 justice. Being too frozen to fight bcs PTSD is a beast like that. Etc. Etc.

Like. Neither of these characters is exactly some power fantasy. Claiming more agency is something that often remains a suffocated hope, as you know, learned helplessness gets.

That's such a human experience whether you like it or not.

Pls don't be butthurt about me calling Genesis badly written, it really is my opinion about many things I love and enjoy. I like things. Oh my god.

[greyborn2]

Asks to spread love!

Recommend a fic with an unusual/original headcanon or characterisation that you loved

A ship or character that you started liking because of someone else (give them/their works a shout out!)

One of your favourite tropes

FRICK YES MORE ASKS!! Thankee!!

1 - Oh man I struggle with this one. So, like, I'm kinda awful in that I don't actually read that much TES fic despite obsessing over it? Just kinda a combo of not having a ton of reading focus most of the time (and when I do I go for books) and GENERALLY not having a lot of tes fic recommendations that instantly GRAB me like some other fandoms I'm in. THAT SAID, because I will die on the hill of recommending it to people because it is fucking amazing and I adore it, @thana-topsy's Halfway to the Sky is all around stunning, cannot recommend it enough, and it has a lot of really neat original falmeri headcanons!!

2 - Oh gosh I WISH I could credit the person who originally infected me with this brainrot. I know it was someone back from my DeviantArt days who drew little Oblivion fic comics and I adored them to pieces. Anyways, they did one with their HoK and Martin as a ship and before then I'd always seen HoK and Martin as, like, the closest of friends but after the idea hit me (because of them) of HoK x Martin I've NEVER been able to drop it. It is canon now, to me, in my heart.

3 - SOOOO many good ones I adore but I think, for this, I'm gonna have to go with something that isn't necessarily a trope in general but is DEFINITELY a trope for me personally with how much I use it... characters of one background/culture primarily raised amongst another background/culture. There's something just so juicy about it that I've used it over and over and over again. My Maormer raised primarily by a sload, my old reachfolk character primarily growing up in bruma, Kesh having a super mixed imperial-orc youth despite being an orc, most recently Teemakr the Riekr growing up under dunmer... its just a thing I use a lot.

[suyunsgf]

hands you onf bc what am i if not predictable. also rocket punch if u wanna teehee

Oh em gee heyyyyy 💕💕💕 we love ourselves a predictable person (I am too 😊)

Onf

Fave member: well... you see.... it IS mk... but also... there's these 5 other guys....

Fave singer: objectively it's hyojin but also I love mk and changyoons voices soooo much

Fave rapper: hyojin 😁

Fave dancer/performer: mk again because I am biased 😊 and he is a Performer he Performs

Fave title track: *says ugly dance just to bother you* I wouldn't its objectively their worst uummm I'm going to say it's a tie between sukhumvit swimming and goosebumps because I'm currently obsessed

Fave mv: yes 💕 ummm what if I said trip advisor solely because hyojin "in" Gastown is my laptop wallpaper zhsjsjsksbs my Serious Answer TM will be sukhumvit swimming because I feel it's a good blend of Fun and Serious and also just looks really cool

Fave bside: ASTEROID obviously 😁 I am also required to mention I.T.I.U. (like if you cry everytime), gepetto, Belle epoque, does the we must love from rtk count? I does for me so :) the realist + the dreamer of course actually like that whole album also their every other song??? I couldn't possibly list all my faves

A song I'd recommend to new fans: I mean even if they're new they've probably heard it but I'll say beautiful beautiful because she really is that song I feel it wraps up their sound really well

ROCKET PUNCH!!

Fave member: Suyun💕💕💕 my girl best friend 😊

Fave singer: suyun again 💕💕 but also I love all their voices

Fave rapper: I guess sohee by technicality but I prefer when they just sing

Fave dancer/performer: dahyun or yeonhee I think

Fave title track: JUICY!!!!!!!!!! they did that for my birthday (almost) how could I not love her (also that album carried my miserable summer that year)

Fave mv: ring ring was really cute and I love the energy of bouncy!!

Fave bside: everything!!! Uhhh summer punch, red punch (Yes the intro song it's so good), SO SOLO, do something, the the, girl friend, I want u bad, ride oh I listened to them and ring ring an UNHEALTHY amount when they came out (I am restraining myself from just listing everything)

A song I'd recommend to new fans: I want to say ring ring just because it's their newest (Korean) song and it's really fun but I also want to say bouncy because it's a Good Sound for them idk I feel both of them show off the girls well :)