#just cuz I relate to how she deals with what happened

[ferocioustrout]

need to stop projecting so bad these fictional women don’t deserve it

[taniahylian]

Paulina and Regulus

Okay, I'mma post this cuz I think I'm going insane (I probably am), but here me out. There's too many coincidences that point out to there being a connection between the two, even if don't know exactly what kind of connection.

First let's start for the most obvious thing... Paulina's blue polka dot scarf.

It's not the same as Regulus', obviously, but it is very similar. Yet, if this was the only coincidence I wouldn't be making this theory... yet here I am.

Next it's this peace sign sticker that's next to Paulina's picture at the restaurant, but also on Regulus' backpack. Again, on it's own could be just a coincidence, but maybe it's not.

In that picture it says Apple on the background, and there's an apple in that same poster, and I don't think I need to saw how this connects to Regulus. To the side there's also a vinyl disc, like those Regulus always carries with her, which wouldn't be a big deal... except we're in the 1990's, when using CD's was already a lot more popular than vinyls.

And there's also the fact that Paulina's mom married J's father, who was from a world-famous family of alchemists. How is this relevant to Regulus? Well, she's an alchemical genius. Maybe Paulina's mom had an interest in alchemy too and that's how she ended up meeting J's dad.

Now... I want to point out that, at least to me Regulus and Paulina look quite similar.

It's not a one-to-one resemblance, of course, but they look similar enough for me to think they might be related, maybe, especially since Paulina's blue scarf was a gift from her parents. That said... as funny as it'd be to say to Regulus "So you are a mother!", I don't think that's the case at all. Firstly because Paulina is French, while Regulus is British, but most importantly because Paulina is human; she doesn't have any powers at all.

Of course we don't know Regulus' lineage, so she could be only half-arcanist, and therefore she'd be able to have a mostly-human child if she married a pure blood human, but... I don't think that's the case. Sonetto says in ch1 that Regulus' talent is rated "S", which most likely mean she's either pure blood, or very close to it, so any child she had would be at least a half-blood arcanist.

That said... the dates would match. Regulus was 15 in 1966, and lets assume Paulina was the same age when she left J, let's say 1989, one year before the event takes place. That'd mean Paulina was born in 1974, and Regulus would've been 23 years old at that point. However, if she is Paulina's mom, she died very young (around 30 years old?), as we know Paulina and J became orphans soon after becoming sibilings... and, believe it or not, the fact that Regulus would die young is actually hinted at by Mr. Apple in the mini chapter after ch7.

So... it is possible that Regulus had a child with a French person, said child, Paulina, happened to be born without powers despite her arcanist lineage (like Kumar, for example), then they moved to San Francisco, where Regulus met J's father, bonded with him thanks to their shared love of alchemy, got married and then died soon after. However... idk, it doesn't seem right to me? I think there might be different kind of connection between them, although I'm not sure what.

Maybe I'm just losing my head, idk. Most likely, honestly, but it's fun to speculate XD

Anyways, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.

[incorrect-trolls-imagines]

Hi! How was your day? Good,i hope?

Anyways,I found your account recently and I really liked your partner squad AU! It's so wholesome and funny 😭 And I love Polyamorous relationships (i guess that's what it is?)

Here's a little headcanon (?) request for them,because I read the 'loosing colors' HC and I think that was just my favorite thing out of the partner squad thingies-

Honestly,I just want some hurt/comfort. I like crying (/j)

I give total freedom to you about what angst it is,but if you want,or are out of ideas,here are some:

-Reader comes back home after being harassed (not s3xually,maybe just about the way they act? Maybe they just stick out a lot and some people don't like it??? Some people are bullies man..)

-Overworked reader (Maybe breaking down??)

-Socially anxious reader?

-the reader fainting suddenly??

Something like that! Anyways,I hope this isn't too vague of a description,and that you have a fantastic day!!

-Nina/Weewoo

HII HELLO!!! THANKS FOR THE REQUEST AND I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A NICE DAY TOO!!! AND I'M GONNA DO ALL OF THEM IDEAS YOU SENT CUZ I'M A SUCKERRRR FOR ✨A N G S T✨

okey dokey folks! we've gots some ✨A N G S T✨ to go through so it's-a time to get-a cooking!

Here's the Loosing Colors post btw and I'm gonna use that one just for this first scenario (omg. a sequel, yes!)

💙♥️🖤Partner Squad Reacting to Gray!Reader getting harassed💙♥️🖤

💞 As a whole 💞

💞 Oh, they pissed. As soon as they find out that you've been having trouble with some inconsiderate trolls being nasty to you for having lost your colors, you can bet they're practically up in arms and very eager to have a talk with those bullies.

💞 (You're mortified and somehow manage to convince them to Not Do Anything To Harsh for your sake, though.)

💞 Lots of reassurance!

💞 Your partners won't allow you to sulk or dwell too much in the whole ordeal and they'll make a combined effort to always lift your spirits up whenever you start to believe the rude and flat out unnecessary things the bullies said to you.

♥️ Barb ♥️

♥️ She's easily the most outraged out of the lot. She hates bullies (kinda ironic, yeah, but you get the idea.).

♥️ Particularly, she hates bullies that joke and tease about such sensitive topics as losing your colors. Because, c'mon, that's just straight up professional huge a-hole behavior.

♥️ Whenever she wants to help you feel more comfortable with your situation, she'll take your hands in hers and raise them to your eye level, as if wanting you to take a good look of your laced fingers.

♥️ “Y’see? I'm sorta gray too, if you think about it. But I think you rock those grays way better than me, babe.” (She's intentionally corny to get a smile out of you and it works every time.)

♥️ She tries to get back at the bullies, but she's always too obvious and you never let her have the payback she's so adamant you deserve.

🩵 Branch 🩵

🩵 He can relate.

🩵 Oh, he can relate a lot. He grew up gray and, man, can trolls be cruel even if they seem to be all sunshine and rainbows. Not to say ‘he’s had it worse’ when he was younger, no, he's not the type to downplay a situation like this, ever, but he's definitely the best candidate to help you go through this ordeal because of his past.

🩵 Lot's of open-heart talks, venting, hugs and, yes, lots of tears from both sides as well (just don't go around telling everyone, please).

🩵 He's still devastated that something as awful as losing one's colors could ever happen to you but he can't mope about it forever (never in front of you, at least); he remains strong for your sake.

🩵 He also tries to ‘avenge’ you in whatever way he can, almost begging you to let him at least do something to deal with the ones that bothered you, anything, but you never give in and eventually he gives up (very reluctantly).

🧡 Hickory 🧡

🧡 Now, Hickory over here, he's actually the only one that manages to evade your suspicions and he flat out threatens the trolls that harassed you to buck off (in an eerily peaceful and very cowboy-ish manner, might I add).

🧡 After that, you don't ever get bothered again and Hickory lets you believe that those trolls simply had a change of heart.

🧡 His way of helping you go through this hardship is not by ignoring the issue, but he just rather not mention the obvious unless it's absolutely necessary.

🧡 It's not like he's in love with you for your colors or whatever, but he does care deeply for your mood and feelings. He just wants you to be happy, y'know?

🧡 When the time comes that your colors gradually start to show up again, he just smiles and he'll go out of his way to always remind you of how beautiful those shades and tones look on you even if they're still a bit dim.

🩷 Poppy 🩷

🩷 She's frustrated, very, very much so. Why and how can other trolls be so mean and nasty???? Like Why?

🩷 After finding out about the way you were harassed, she gets clingy. She gets clingy because now she doesn't want to leave you all on your own, exposed to more mistreatment.

🩷 Just like Branch, she's familiar with the subject of color loss and she doesn't take it lightly for a second.

🩷 You could even say it's a bit of some sort of guilt she feels about the way Branch used to be treated in the past that she's now worried 24/7 about you.

🩷 She refuses to allow anyone even think about ostracizing you; she'll go feral if she ever catches someone even batting an eye at your lack of vibrant colors, let alone comment anything on the matter in a negative way.

💚 Tresillo 💚

💚 He's still not entirely used to seeing you without those lovely colors of yours and he's not shy to admit out loud that he misses them.

💚 But he doesn't do that to make you feel bad, or inadequate or guilty on any level; he's just honest like that, and he hopes for the day that your beautiful colors return.

💚 Then, and only then, he'll know you're really and truly okay. And if you're happy, he's happy.

💚 Like Poppy, he gets overprotective and almost overbearing just so he can keep an eye over you so no one else dares bother you in the slightest about your color loss.

💚 He won't threaten anyone like Hickory did, but he will glare and give the worst of stink eyes at whoever steps out of line in his presence, and man, he can look kinda scary when he's serious like that.

💙 Trollex 💙

💙 Like mentioned before, Trollex once lost his colors too after the passing of his parents, but that particular experience he has on the subject is what gives him the reassurance he needs that you can get better, just like he did and just like Branch did as well.

💙 The thought of someone bullying you for your situation makes his blood boil but he's more concerned on how you feel and what you think.

💙 Forget those bullies, they don't matter now. Now it's all about you and how you feel and what you need.

💙 He becomes a bit of a mother hen, always asking about your mood and hoping that one of these days, your bright colors will shine bright once again.

💙 He's a great listener, so if you need a shoulder to cry on or just vent, he'll always be there, ready to give you advice and make sure you always leave with a huge smile on your face.

[rius-cave]

Idea for an interaction between Luci and Adam

Lucifer: You used to be so kind and happy. So full of life and wonder. What ever happened to you?

Adam, seething: YOU happened to me, damnit! How do you not see that? You STOLE my first wife! You CORRUPTED my second wife with your shitty fuckin APPLE! You condemned all of humanity, all of my descendants, to a life of toil and suffering, all cuz the Big Plan wasn't fucking good enough for you!

And then, you left me! You left US! Left us to deal with the mess that you created! You are the reason for everything that has ever gone wrong in my life! You're the reason I doubted if Cain was my child! You are the reason Cain killed Able! And YOU are the REASON I was alone in Heaven!

Lucifer, looking mortified: W... What was that last part?

Adam, hysterical: You really didn't know?! Oh, what a fucking joke this is! Yeah, they didn't let Eve in because she committed the first sin. But she wasn't bad enough for Hell, so they basically just... Erased her.

*Adam feels his chest*

Adam: But, hey, at least I got my rib back.

Lucifer: Adam, I-

Adam: Able never got into Heaven cuz they hadn't created the Winner system yet. Cain's still wandering the Earth. I'm not allowed to talk to him. Not allowed to tell him that I forgive him, despite how much I hate what he did to his brother, because the angels fear that my forgiveness would undo his curse.

All of my other children, and all of their children, and so on, are just... MIA. The angels don't know what happened to them. Up until the big J-man came about, there were, like, clerical errors or something. They could be in heaven, and just not realize we're related. Or they could have been in hell, and killed in an extermination. I have nothing, Lucifer. My existence is hollow.

Huh! These are some interesting headcanons about the whereabouts of Adam's family! I have to say I haven't thought much about them, cause idk, I have no purpose for them yet personally. But wow, these hit hard. Eve was just erased????? fuckin yikes :(

Cain still wandering the Earth is also really interesting, is he there as like, an immortal human? Is he a ghost lol? Is he just dead but he can't enter Heaven or Hell like... uh... well a ghost i suppose lmao.

To me it would feel like most of Adam's family just doesn't wanna see him anymore, regardless if they're in Heaven or Hell, but them being just... lost is also an interesting possibility.

Also. ouchie. About that whole exchange. No matter how silly of a guy Lucifer is, he is definitely still the Devil and very much responsible for most of humanity's suffering lol

[cmyk-anaglyph-honeycomb]

Helluva Boss S2E9 blind blogging

[did the minimum about of editing and half of it was done while I was at work, so please excuse any grammar mistakes.]

(Mostly relating to the last episode)

Again, Stolas refuses to just talk. He was walking away and teleported Blitzo out of the building but now, after ignoring texts, he gets pissy cuz Blitzo wants to talk. 100% of this is because Stolas doesn't want a conversation. Blitzo misunderstands his intentions and jumps to conclusions, but when at least 3 opportunities to talk are given, Stolas shuts down.

Also where was this desire for a real relationship months ago after Blitzo admitted that he didn’t see their relationship as anything other than Stolas wanting to sleep with him. THAT is when they should've had an honest talk not mouths of avoiding each other.

(Okay now this ep)

God they made Blitzo so obnoxious to prove a point.

Veronika is a famous popstar, wtf does she care enough to throw an anti-Blitzo party? They have barely interacted in the show, never once in this season, why is she suddenly so pissed at him? How does she know Stolas is an ex, that happened recently.

If Stolas is that ‘done’ with Blitzo why doesn’t he just teleport him off the property again?

"Im UnCoMfOrTaBlE wITh HoW yOuRe SpEaCkInG tO mE nOw" fuck off. You had no problem going on a rant about all the dirty shit you wanted to do to him while he was being fucking gun down but now that shits uncomfortable. 

Stolas said whatever he wanted to Blitzo whenever he wanted and the second he doesn't feel like it, talking like that is breaking a huge boundary. Jump off a bridge.

Where did he get the impression that Blitzo and Striker were friends? Besides the games he never saw them around each other. Gives of the ‘these kids are near each other so they must be best friends’ energy. Like, no, they just met.

"You knew someone was trying to assassinate me?" 🥺 Yeah your wife was screaming about it two feet from your face. If it wasn’t important then, it isn’t important now.

I'll give Stolas the Striker thing and immediately take it away cuz it wasn’t like Stolas sounded afraid or even concerned during the phone call. How tf was Blitzo supposed to know royals could get hurt? Striker only had one angel weapon as far as IMP knew.

"Why would I allow everyone to see how much I like you? How I’ve tried to try so fucking hard to show I like you, to support you."

Fucking when? Where? Name literally one time. That shit at the harvest moon festival doesn't count because if Stolas actually cared he would've paid attention to how uncomfortable Blitzo was with him shouting pet names directly into the microphone. He’d know that him and Striker aren’t friends. Blitzo using the book was an arrangement for sex that Stolas offered. That is not support.

The one and only time their relationship was called out by others Stolas hid his face. Anything after has been in private and not where anyone, not even Blitzo was a witness. Ozzie is the only other person Stolas has openly confessed his feelings for. And he's with his own imp, so of course he isn't going to make a big deal about it.

“That was still the gayest thing I’ve heard all day!” Ignoring the actual line, why is he going feral? Wtf is this scene for? It's so out of place for what’s going on. This is something Loona would do.

“I don’t own you dick.” He’s right tho. Stolas tried to change the relationship without giving Blitzo a heads up or even communicating properly and then got butthurt when he didn’t get the answer he wanted and that was before Blitzo went off on him. And that’s after months of avoiding each other. This talk about changing their arrangement should’ve happen after Ozzie’s. Or at least hinted in Seeing Stars.

Why is the murder family wife getting an apology like she didn't try to kill IMP too ?Why does Blitzo know where she lives. DHORKS shouldn’t get apologies either, kinda ruins the point of Blitzo doing this ‘my name is Earl joke’ if he's apologizing to these people he had the right to hurt. I wonder if Moxxie got an apology.

The party has no music, making it the funniest scene in the series.

I knew they were going to make Veronika the bad one but good lord what is this. Are she and Stella drinking the same crazy juice? That made her Lute levels of crazy. 

You're telling me that ALL these people are Blitzo's exes? That insufferable ass? Is he supposed to drop dead gorgeous and the crew didn't tell us?? cuz no way this annoying man can pull that many people.

How did Blitzo get that far into the party and no one, all of which are there because of how much they hate him, didn't notice? Did he sleep with that many people or just date them? Why are any of these people wasting their time like this? Blitzo isn't important, he doesn't do anything. He is another asshole in hell, a place filled with assholes. Wtf is Blitzo's shitty behavior so out of place?

Oh look another situation where Stolas being in a relationship with an imp is not given any levels of importance or notice. 

So Tex is just mouthing the words right, cuz no way his voice is just blending in like that. Why is he here? 

Did they recast Stolas's singing actor? This song is bland. The singing is okay, but the music might as well not be there.

He's whining about still wanting Blitzo but refuses to speak with him or attempting to get him to have a serious conversation. He has no idea what Blitzo wants and has never asked once.

Stolas is drunk now? He only had a few drinks. In the circus he downed an entire bottle and was fine. Now a few drinks of spiked punch and he's wasted?

They throw this party every year!? You are shitting me. Why? He has signs posted everywhere. His crew is three other people, just kill him if he's that big of a problem. 

The creators cannot convince me that all these people care more about Blitzo than the oppressive society they live in, a member of which Stolas is.

Stolas's drunk rant kinda reveals that he wants to be loved and less that he wants to be in a loving relationship with Blitzo specifically. Interesting.

Seconds later Stolas is flustered by some random guy just asking to dance. Interesting.

How does Verosika know about the apology tour? He walked out on her when she said I love you, okay that's bad, but after spending so much of the episode making her look like a crazy ex, it gives off the impression that he dodged a bullet. At the very least Blitzo is actually in the wrong and it isn't some misunderstanding like with Fizz.

Glad they addressed that Blitzo being bad at relationships is a weird thing to focus on but it isn't explained. Unless he is extremely abusive, many people should not care about him / still be angry. These people live in an environment where they can be murdered at any time and almost no one would care / do anything to help. Compared to all that, a shitty boyfriend is kinda nothing.

I’m glad Verosika wasn’t completely shat on during this episode, especially in the last bit. We probably won’t be seeing her again but at least she got to leave with grace. 

I like the ending song.

Final thoughts. This episode worked overtime to make Blitzo the bad guy. It pulled maybe 100 people out of nowhere to justify Stolas’s anger and for what? The way he was so quick to hook up with another guy, shows he doesn’t care about Blitzo, he cares about the idea of a good relationship. That’s fine on its own, but the first part of this episode and the end of the last was about Stolas making his shattered pipe dream Blitzo’s problem.

Out of all the episodes that do not have a B plot why is it this one?

[fandomstars]

hey so how do you think Pokemon James would deal with having a crush where the trio ambushes crush to steal their pokemon and crush is like “Stop this for a second… I got something to tell you”. And their like “HA CANT TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS”. And crush is like “Fine then. I guess I won’t tell you that I ran into some crazy red head who’s asking around for a certain blue haired guy who’s apparently her fiancée. Don’t know what her deal is tbh” *Jessabell is in the area and is looking for James. And his crush had run into her earlier and got a bad feeling. Then crush happened to run into the trio and decided to warn them cuz felt kind of bad for James possibly running into this red head*. At some point, Jessabell shows up?

What in the…. (James x GN Reader)

He hadn’t realized who he, Meowth, and Jessie had tried to steal one’s Pokemon until he caught their eyes.

“Oh hey James, what’s new?”

It didn’t take long for their Pokemon to take down Meowth, and Jessie wouldn’t admit she was curious how the trainer and James were relationship wise, so she backed off.

“Uh…..”

Jessie couldn’t back away after that pathetic excuse, “We’re here to steal your Pokemon!”

“Yeah!….I mean no?” Looking nervously at the reader’s Pokemon as they looked back at him with a glare.

“Well look, before we do the whole “You won’t get my Pokemon Team Rocket!” bit, there is something I need to tell you James.”

Jessie couldn’t help but laugh, “You can’t talk yourself out of a battle for your Pokémon!”

Meowth rolled his eyes as he knew that wasn’t what Jessie was on about.

James meanwhile was a blushing mess, could they possibly feel the sa-

“So I ran into this red-haired chick that could be Jessie’s long lost twin or something. Kept ranting about her blue-haired fiancée and so on….”

James paled as his eyes grew wide, “Oh no….not HER.”

“Uh you the blue hair fiancee?” James shook his head back and forth, trying to not feel hurt by their low tone.

“NO! Well technically my parents arranged the whole thing, but I DON’T WANT TO MARRY HER! It’s why I joined Team Rocket, to get away from her. Besides, I have feelings for someone else.”

Now Reader’s Pokemon and Meowth are sitting in the background with matching grins as Jessie had to hold herself from laughing as James’s face turned red.

“Well EXCUSE ME!”

And James went back to pale mode as he slowly arched his neck as he sees the most terrifying beast on the planet, the one of his nightmares, the one he swore Giovanni would even wince at….

“Here’s Jessabell.” Jessie muttered.

Reader looks between the two girls, “Uh, so long lost twin?”

Jessie shakes her head, “As if I’d want to be related to that.”

Jessabell gasps and glares at Jessie, but looks back to James who wished he had taught his Inkay teleport (whether it was possible he didn’t care at the moment) just so he could get away.

“Uh look lady, James isn’t interested in this whole arranged marriage.”

Jessabell now sets her eyes on the reader with a Sharpedo growl, “And who might you be?”

“My date.”

All heads swiveled to James (with Meowth and Pokemon now laughing out loud), who was red as a Voltrob.

Reader might have been blushing too, especially when the two made eye contact.

“Well you heard him.” Jessie says before she snaps her fingers, which surprise to Reader, has their Pokemon suddenly unleash a hyper beam at Jessabell, who then blasts off in a familiar view.

“Well that was quick.” Meowth said.

“You like me?” Reader asks James who could only nod viciously, making the reader smile bright before going over to kiss him.

“A happy ending for once, so, Meowth find any food in (Y/N)’s bag?” Jessie asks.

Said trainer didn’t even care as they were just in bliss.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Otherside Picnic Volume 8 Review that Devolves into a Bunch of Quotes and Gushing

I’ve been wanting to do a review of Otherside Picnic Vol 8 because I loved it so much, but haven’t been in the right mindspace to properly convey my enthusiasm. But I’m about to get busy so it’s now or never. Here are my thoughts that are inevitably going to devolve into a bunch of quotes and gushing. Let's just go through it all!

-I loved this so much, first off. It literally inspired me to have an honest discussion with my partner about my own intimacy and relationship quirks and what we want from each other. It made me feel a little better about myself and my own weirdness, that’s how much it affected me. It really got across the relief of just communicating in a relationship, of having frank conversations with your partner, and accepting your differences from the mainstream as okay.

-The conversation about romance, love, and sex being different actually made me tear up, which is how I knew this book would murder me from the beginning. It’s just so nice to see one of my favorite yuri and favorite romantic stories ever acknowledge asexuality and the full spectrum of experiences in such an understanding and thoughtful way.

-I love that this book really recontextualizes the oblivious-to-love protagonist, slow-burn and often stalled development that aren’t uncommon in animanga adjacent media romances and made it into something incredibly interesting. This was already hinted at in previous volumes, but Sorawo’s disconnect with her own feelings and slowness in responding to Toriko wasn’t just to tease the audience, but because her view of romance and her understanding of her own feelings conflicted with societal ideas of romance and it left her lost and confused. It makes everything that came before it so much more meaningful. This is also extremely relatable, and I love that Sorawo was frustrated with the idea of her relationship fitting into a socially acceptable box, when she felt what she had with Toriko was a lot more complicated and far reaching and didn’t want to define it so neatly.

-Honestly reading about Sorawo not being all that into kissing and basically being like "I don't hate it but it doesn't do anything for me" made me feel a little bit less alone and little more confident in talking about this aspect of my experience. ME TOO. GIRL.

-Every single yuri should have a line like “sounds to me like you’re a raging lesbian” from now on. How can anything ever live up to this.

-Toriko looking into sexual abuse gave me a heart attack because at first I thought she was trying to understand what happened with her and Satsuki. But she was researching Sorawo, because the stuff with the Red Person made her realize Sorawo has trauma and I felt so vindicated about my article. Then we have the hilarity of Sorawo, who literally has a “cult mode” when she’s made to relive where she had to deal with abuses from cults, where she becomes like a different person and talks to herself like she’s a separate person and is disconnected from her normal self…claiming she doesn’t have lingering cult trauma and doesn’t dissociate.

And then Toriko going “uhhhh what about the Red Person?”

“Huh oh that didn’t count. Cuz your love saved me.”

THE most un-self aware person, I love her.

(And EVERYONE knows it, especially Toriko, loved this exchange:

“Don’t try to force something I’m not aware of onto me.”

“Sorawo, there aren’t many things about you that you actually display self-awareness of.”

“Wow, insulting much?!” )

-The fact Toriko noticed how thirsty Sorawo was for her the second they met is so funny and makes that scene 100 times better in hindsight.

“It took me by surprise. Here I am, holding you in my arms, and you go and stare at my face, then your eyes start working their way down. I was like, ‘Girl sure has a lot of energy for someone who almost drowned.’”

“So, what? When you were talking about me ogling you before, you meant—”

“Yeah, right from the get-go. From the moment you saw me for the first time.”

Sorawo didn’t realize she was doing it…the entire exchange is hilarious. SO much of this book was hilarious honestly, here are some other choice quotes:

Who would’ve known there could be such a touching scene right next to a shelf stuffed full of erotic manga with titles so incredible that I couldn’t possibly name them...?

And this, the best love confession ever:

“I love you! I love you!”

“For real?”

“Apparently!”

-I really liked that Toriko was genuinely worried Sorawo might not have consented to the previous kisses and might be bothered by them. It built on the ongoing theme of Toriko struggling with emotional and physical boundaries, giving her such good character growth, and It shows a concern and care most stories gloss over.

…Which is kind of a stark contrast to the lack of concern she shows about that time she hit Sorawo in volume 6, despite Sorawo bringing it up as a problem. This has been an ongoing issue that’s bothered me, and it’s been mentioned often enough I hope Miyazawa is going to actually do something to address it. He DID address the questionable consent of the earlier kisses, going beyond my expectations, so I actually have my fingers crossed this is something we’re going to explore and confront. It’s really jarring compared to the rest of how well everything else has been handled, and is the only mark against the story, so I’m hoping this is intentional. The Toriko who worries Sorawo might have been sexually abused and goes above and beyond to try to be sensitive and understand her and the Toriko who is dismissive of the time she hit her (now) partner seem so in opposition to each other, and I there could be some interesting exploration and resolution of that.

(Miyazawa does mention something about having to treat serious issues casually because of Sorawo's detached, cynical POV and hoping readers will understand; and I think it's likely he was referring to that, which gives me more confidence).

-Sorawo understands Toriko’s moms are lesbians now I’m so proud of her.

-the fact that Toriko wanted to fuck in her dead parents bedroom …she has so many problems, I cherish her.

-I loved getting more Toriko backstory and her moms. Love Sorawo being like “wow I probably should have asked about this but…” YES YOU SHOULD HAVE, FOR MY SAKE. But Sorawo’s focus on living in the here and now, and being content with the Toriko in the here and now, is such an interesting aspect of her.

-EVERYthing about the final scene was so good. Like how can I even talk about it? Toriko fucking Sorawo with her weirdass interdimensionally-corrupted hand while getting jazzed by Sorawo's magic eye is just PEAK lesbian fantasy, no other series had delivered this exact weirdness that I want, thank you for being there for all of us bizarre sapphics.

“I...might make you go crazy.”

“That’s okay.”

Toriko’s hand drew closer. It meant something different now than it had before. If Toriko touched me now, I’d be the one to go insane. She snuggled up to me, so close our noses could touch, and with a voice full of heated passion, she whispered, “Let’s go crazy. Together.”

“Girl hit me with your evil eye, let’s get real fucked up” I love them, they’re such freaks and I am here for it. THE PASSION. THE METAPHOR. THE PURE CHUUNI WISH FUFILLMENT.

-Honestly I just highlighted the entire final scene because it hit me right in my weird gay little soul the way few other things have and I want to be able to whip these out the next time some loser says wlw media doesn’t have poetic declarations of love and passion so I’m just going to go through them.

Here’s one:

But that’s not what happened. Toriko looked beautiful, opening before me like a flower in bloom, and I was aware of every minute branch of the tree, down to their very tips…[]

Toriko became rude, polite, lewd, or embarrassed. I didn’t have the composure to focus or think as I watched, so Toriko changed from one thing to another as my gaze wandered. Laughing, getting angry, crying, fearing, moaning—feeling as if she were flowing from one state to the next, in constant flux, and yet in all of them simultaneously.

Sorawo accepting all sides of Toriko, all her complexity, how she’s everything all at once! And the fact they have such amazing sex they basically GO TO THE OTHERSIDE? Dimension transcending lesbian sex? Showstopping, incredible.

The way her hand moved, tracing the outline of my body—its true outline—was as gentle as could be, sensitive yet bold, overflowing with care, incredibly unreserved, and audacious. It felt like it was packed full of all the experiences of being touched by another person. In another way, different from mine, Toriko was unraveling the person that I was too. I was being decomposed, broken apart. The things that had been pressed into a human form were decompressed, and expanded outwards without limit.

This is how you do a sex scene. If your partner doesn’t unravel you and make you see all the shattered pieces of yourself, is it even worth it? I love the motif of falling apart but becoming more whole at the same time- isn’t that just every human experience all wrapped up into one?

I had been afraid to look at Toriko. Toriko had been afraid to touch me. Now, as we were looking at, or touching, our partner directly, tossed about on the waves of madness, we began to gradually find a way to take control of the situation.

The idea of how maybe you can’t help losing your minds when you look and feel all the other person is…but maybe if you lose your minds together it will be okay. Romance.

These two beasts with all these bodies converged through their desire for one another and were bound together. We were blending together at the interfaces where we connected. The different ‘us’s melted together, without ever becoming a perfect whole, but without fully separating either. Like a chimera made from two types of living being. Or two galaxies colliding.

“We became a chimera” is the absolute nerdiest way to describe making love and thus perfect for them (also lol the beast with two backs).

That’s too long, so how about shortening it to Soratori?” I burst out laughing as I remembered the time she’d tried to use the name Soratori Road for what we now called Route 1 in the other world. “

That’s like one of those ship names,” I told her.

“What’re those?”

“You’re a mangaka’s daughter and you don’t know that?!”

“Nope, not a clue. Is it something dirty?”

“Well, maybe?”

“Hmm.”

Okay, so Sorawo is clearly in some fandom and ships something. Place your bet on what it is. Probably she ships creepypasta monsters.

Do you know what the ‘nue’ is?”

“It’s a Japanese monster, right? Made up of a bunch of different animals mixed together.” “Yeah, that’s the one. As an extension of that, the word can also refer to something that doesn’t have a discernible form.”

[...]

While we were there, the two of us got all mixed up together, right? Intertwined, melting into one, like animals... Depending on how you look at it, you might say we were like a nue.”

“So, basically, if you wanted a word to represent our relationship, we wouldn’t be ‘lovers,’ or ‘accomplices’...but a ‘nue’?”

Okay forget what I said this is ACTUALLY the nerdiest way to describe your relationship. And speaking of nerds, I love this stupid conversation:

“It’s cute. Nue. I like the sound of it. Maybe I’ll get a tattoo of the kanji.”

“You’d take it that far?”

“You’re not gonna get a matching one?”

“They might not let us in the hot springs in Japan anymore. You sure?

” “Huh?! I wouldn’t like that... You think it’d be okay if we put them somewhere no one will see?”

“Where would no one see? This is sounding painful, and I’m not really on board with it.”

“Wha?”

-

Anyway, yeah, this section was everything I wanted, no notes. Toriko and Sorawo have the most demented, fantastical sex possible, having a threesome with the otherside because they all are strange and wonderful, being the nerdiest dorks it’s possible to be, their relationship is now a chimera because that’s even better and more all encompassing that something boring like lovers, Miyazawa really gave us it all, love wins, gays win. What more can I say? I adore this series.

[stitchwraith-stingers]

if i had a nickle for every fop / pokemon related post i made id have 3, which isnt alot but its werid it happened thrice

anyways nerd instincts on, come with me i will show you what full pokemon teams i feel like the characters would have, making like 3 of them in the process lmaooo

ill try not to give many characters repeating mon's cuz it probably makes me look repetitive but whatever its ok only human kids sorryyyy, feel free to ask abt other characters ill try to think of something

timmy turner's family would be one of those people that own 6 magikarp that only know splash down random routes, well hes not good at all with battling and arceus knows with how many battles he keeps loosing at school theyll never evolve, yes hes tired of all the comparisons with his bidoof

he grows up to be a fairy elite four member in johto!!! he has 2 sylveons on his team

chloe carmicheal's ace would be her yamper! the team above is her casual / contests, the one below is for serious battles, her family does so much at the same time - breed pokemon, check their friendship, hunt shinies, are professors, are gym leaders, they want her to become a champion while never missing for contests and having to battle highly expirienced trainers isnt easy for her oof, she probably has aton of mons in her PC and does eventually become the champion of johto

chester mcbadbat, i dont think i need to elaborate

AJ's ace would be reuinclus, though he just owns a mew, and probably multible, because of him being involved in some way in project mewtwo, chespin is here just for casual companionship, probably owns more ghost types as time goes on and chestnaught is the official mascot of the galax insitute, which many people there are confused about

trixie tang would only ever show her ninetales at school to appease her "feminine and elegant" persona people see her as, she sides all her "badass" mon's but cares for them deeply inspite of it all, also with the added bonus of ninetales cursing you if you get too close or smth along the lines

tootie would only own these two, no one knows how she got them

remy buxaplenty is not interested in battling, but he does keep his persian with him wherever he goes, furfrou incase he needs to look richer, his furret looks oddly purple....

kevin crocker's ace would be murkrow! he kept his uncles espeon, cutiefly is from his grandma

for the ANW characters, im gonna go by a fun rule someone had left in the comments that i reallyyyy liked :3 - every student has atleast one fairy type

hazel wells' ace would be elmoga, as its been her best friend since she was young, her zorua is a close second though! she owns alot of ghost types since her father is a ghost type specialist in the elite four in unova (moms a bug type specialist), constantly worrying that she wont be as good as the others in battling even though her school isnt big on battling and more bonding with ur mon

jasmine tran's ace would be jigglypuff! however its not uncommon to see her walking around with her popplio outside its pokeball, the jigglypuff was a gift actually, alot of people say its like theyre made for eachother, for reasons probably not actually positive, joltik is there after fearless and uses it to prank others, tinyyyy...... her leafeon had only recently evolved

winn harper's ace would be alolan raichu! surfing is just water skateboarding, so raichu helps with some cool tricks on the playground, theyre also rlly close with their furfrou, who they constantly also dye their fur to match their hair, and also cuz i think theyre a dog person in general, one of the few kids in their school to have fully evolved pokemon since their parents are gym leaders, loves competitive battling!

jenkins' ace would be his deerling, autumn form specifically, he also owns a douduo! from his home region of ye olden kanto, just a normal type specialist, no big deal

the doe twins would own two umbreons, ones regular the other ones shiny, theyve also been gifted tatsugiri and dondozo from their father from his fisherman days back in paldea, though they never use those two outside of battles, double battlers and weridos

whispers fred's main would be an absol! quiet but gets the job done, he also probably thinks that in addition to predicting natural disasters that his absol can sense mythical mons (which doesnt work that way, dont tell him), whismur helps him on the job, along with being a shiny he came across one day!, his slowpoke, ralts and eevee are there for emotional support, doesnt like to battle, probably thinks shiny pokemon are supernatural and brags about his whismur

dev dimmadome i like to imagine doesnt really own a pokemon of his own, they usually just breed and sell them off so he doesnt get to bond with them enough nor has he though about it, but during the battle of the big wand he gets them from foop, he and hazel have this grand battle (emolga probably does some thunder armor bullshit), the buneary refuses to evolve and admitibly doesnt like him, may or may not join hazels team instead and may or may not symbolise their relationship idk idk

[bleachbleachbleach]

Been thinking about Shinji and Momo and specifically abt them in relations to the system or the ideal of the system that kind of screwed them over. With Shinji being unjustly thrown out and no one rlly fully unpacking how much of an HR concern was Aizen’s weird boundaries with Momo. You once mentioned in one of ur posts abt Shinji that the Vizards for sure do not come back with full trust in the soul society again and have their own agendas. This makes me wonder how Shinji and Momo navigate that system together now that both of them have made the decision to continue to serve under it? Momo, herself does come across as duty bound but has shown instances of acting against it when she feels the need to for the sake of the greater good (like disobeying orders to save hisagi, or admitting that not all laws are good laws even if she’s technically quoting Aizen) Sorry for the rambling! These two just fascinate me cuz I feel like aside from the whole Aizen thing, they’re like two diff flavors of being back on the job after being screwed over. The somewhat jaded mentor and the eager beaver who got the rug thrown under her.

We joke about Gotei HR all the time, but honestly in the context of their own world and worldviews would Aizen and Hinamori come across to anyone as having weird boundaries? I’m not saying it didn’t get weird but I kind of feel like part of the nature of the thing is that it’d be hard for anyone in Soul Society to point to anything Aizen did that was notably weirder than anything else everyone else does. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be an HR violation somewhere (I just completed my state-mandated sexual harassment training three days ago, so it’s all nice and fresh, LOL) but even if the Gotei had HR I doubt it would have helped in Aizen and Hinamori’s case.

I know there are people who get very deep into canonicity debates about whether Aizen and Hinamori ever slept with each other, but I’m not personally all that interested in the genre as a whole—like, the nailing down of what is or isn’t canon. In fanfic, I figure anything goes if you can make it work for you in your story. For my part, I think Aizen would take pride in not having to have sex with Hinamori in order to make his plans work. Like an *everyone* does sexual manipulation but he doesn’t even *have* to and that’s the *beauty* of the game kind of deal.

But to the question itself!

My take on Shinji is that he is, of course, very well aware of the ways the Gotei fucked him and the rest of the Vizard, and has no illusions about that. But he’s not someone who simmers in that in the same way that Hiyori does.

Honestly, maybe a good comparison might be that Shinji treats the Gotei the way he treated Aizen as a vice-captain. According to Aizen, that was a mistake, but Shinji knows the Gotei better than he ever knew Aizen. Arguably, the Gotei is more knowable than Aizen. Shinji has a certain savvy about him with respect to the Gotei as an institution, and if you now how it works, then there are degrees to which it can be managed, and perhaps even made to work for you. And if you want that to happen, the only place you can do that work is inside it, as one of its Captains. Shinji’s known that since even before TBTP, probably since before he was even himself a Captain the first time around.

But I think another key element here is that Shinji is very, very good at separating the work from the institution from the people. He can engage his octopus brain and hold the meaning of what shinigami effect in the world separate from the ethical and bureaucratic conundrums posed by the Gotei, separate from the personalities that make it up (which are the problem and the best part about the Gotei in turns). He reminds me of this guy who’s been in my toxic-ass profession for AGES but still has a ton of energy and capacity for wonder and enthusiasm and being smart in ways that make everyone smarter, and he manages this by being absolutely ruthless about not getting all sopped up by departmental drama or overly precious about ~the profession~ and making very intentional decisions about what matters and what absolutely doesn’t. I think having that as a model was incredibly useful for Hinamori, as someone with a propensity to care deeply for and about everything.

I mentioned in the tags of another post that I envisioned Hinamori as having a healing justice orientation to the world, part of which is about locating “evil” outside of individuals. It is not inherent, but made. While this does not absolve Aizen of his actions or their supporting worldviews, a path to forgiveness is at least partly about recognizing the bigger picture that produced the conditions for the fomenting of these views/plans. (And that’s before the many ways the system failed them in ways that didn’t come directly through Aizen.) Which means that moving past Aizen is also about moving past the Gotei/Soul Society, while also continuing to work for it—in a major, responsible way.

Like, Hinamori is not clocking in to sweep the floors and then leave to her wife and kids. She’s leading the thing. So what’s the journey there? We see her reclaim her role as 5th Division Vice-Captain in the Winter War (as distinct from being Aizen’s Vice-Captain—ymmv on this, like Matsumoto’s does). In that role, Hinamori has not seemed to have much of a problem with challenging authority when she felt it just to do so, even in moments of more even temper (shouting at Byakuya over Renji’s unconscious body lol). Which I feel like lends credence to the idea that Aizen’s betrayal was probably not her introduction to the world being often an unjust and deeply painful place, or even to the Gotei being these things. Like, I think she understood that. Maybe Aizen even talked to her about that, and part of why she liked him so much was the opportunity to have these long, intellectual conversations about philosophy and governance. And what do you do at the end of these conversations? You can be bitter and angry about it; you can be angry and want to burn it down; you can drink the Kool-Aid and become complicit in it; you can naively deny it and either become complicit in it or get destroyed by it; or you can—

Do what Shinji and Hinamori do about it together, which is to resolve to be the energy they wish to see in the world, which in their interpretation also requires some complicity—being officers in Gotei—and, having made that choice, periodically needing to process that. I mean, I think that’s part and parcel of being involved in any kind of institution (I know I think about it allllll the fucking time), but I imagine the experience is further magnified by the particular histories Shinji and Hinamori have with the Gotei.

I imagine sometimes—a rough week at the office, or in the aftermath of a Blood War they wonder if they aren’t being too complicit. Or, conversely, if they aren’t echoing Aizen too much, in their resolution to craft a world of their own devising. But they were different people, both from each other and very much from Aizen; their devices and visions are different, too. And so the fear falls away.

It will come back. It will probably never leave. But sometimes it’s better to be haunted than not, and ghosts can be welcome reminders.

[destinyc1020]

As harsh as it sounds, tom just wasnt into Nadia enough to feel lik he wanted to continue the relationship. She def was jealous of Z, she constantly unfollowed everything related to her, bt her bf (at the time), was soon going to b filming a hit movie with his ex gf who is beautiful, successful famous and whose billboards she prob saw all over London lmao the jealousy was warranted. Prob didnt help that her bf was mayb in contact with said gf or Nadia knew in someway that he still had feelings for her. Either way she was right cuz a friend (or a friend of a friend?) said that Tom left Nadia for Z n im pretty sure she was telling ppl that 😭 she seems to b happy with her bf so good for her!

Same with Olivia, girl really got a lot of heat bt hope shes good. Tom still wasnt over Z n she knew bt theu were having a good time. How awkward to "date" (or b fwb with) one of yr moms friends daughter n yall nt even last for a yr lmao hope nikki n olivia mom still friends lol

Yea.... I mean, sometimes you just have to let things go and recognize when a man just isn't that into you.

I don't think we can pay that much attention to what friends of friends say. I think it's best to just allow things to be kept btwn the two people who were in the relationship tbh. Only Nadia and Tom REALLY know what happened. We can only speculate.

RE: Olivia...... Tom was definitely rebounding when he was with Olivia (and I would say even with Nadia tbh). I keep telling you all that men (even women) deal with breakups very differently. They usually have flings or get with other women real QUICKLY in order to get over their pain/feelings of heartache. I know it doesn't make sense to US as women, but a lot of times, that's how men process their pain. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Who's to say also that Olivia didn't know it was just a fling or some good sex and a fun time??🤷🏾‍♀️ Not ALL women are looking for something serious all the time.

I just know for ME personally, if I knew a guy had JUST broken up with his gf of X amount of YEARS, there's no way I would be thinking he would be ready for a serious relationship a few months after a breakup. 👀 No way! And the longer he was in the relationship with the prior gf, the LONGER I would assume it would take him to get over it. I would just see it as a fling or a FWB situation and keep it moving. I wouldn't get my heart involved. Easier said than done of course. But that's how I personally would operate. 😄

Also....I think Olivia's mom and Nikki are just fine?? LOL 😄 Isn't this Olivia's mom right here?

By a certain age, most parents know that their kids are adults and can make their own decisions. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[seriousfic]

How many "cosmic junk drawers" does the MCU have?

First off, we have Sakaar, which seems to be where you automatically end up if an attempt at FTL travel goes wrong. Thor and Loki end up there when a Heimdall portal gets fucked up, so does the Hulk, Jude Law was meant to end up there at the end of Captain Marvel. And keep in mind, lest you think this is just a Space Bermuda Triangle, it's overseen by the Grandmaster, one of the Elders of the Universe, which gives it a good claim to being a big deal and not just a space dumping ground like Jakku or that planet in Soldier.

The Quantum Realm... oh God, I just looked at that picture, lol!... is where people end up when time travel or shrinking goes wrong? (I don't know why those two are the same thing either.) Kang ended up there after being exiled by other Kangs, Janet van Dyne ended up there, and apparently every being there has come from somewhere else by accident.

Then there's the Void... please don't confuse this with the alter ego of the Sentry in the upcoming Thunderbolts... which is where the TVA exiles people to. Even though it's clearly not a void.

Why don't they just use the Quantum Realm? How are they associated with the Quantum Realm? Unclear! Everyone exiled to the Void is eaten by Alioth, unless they strike the fancy of Cassandra Nova, who is powerful enough to rule the Void and she's struck a deal with the TVA to keep her placated.

(Wait, that's a little weird, isn't it? Even for someone who's an evil Professor X and sometimes is said to have every mutant power ever (but that would make her unbeatable, so ignore that)... still, she's not like a Galactus level figure, is she? Cuz what would a Galactus level figure need with Pyro or the Russian or any other henchmen? I guess she just likes bossing people around? Whatever.)

There's also incursion'd universes, as seen in Multiverse of Madness, which is somewhere Strange gets banished to in a fight with Wanda and man, lot of banishment in the MCU, isn't there? And also does the TVA bother with people who are jumping from universe to universe and causing trouble? You'd think they would--in fact, you'd think that'd be their one job--anyway, this is another place you can end up if you are changing universes and something goes wrong and you don't end up in the Quantum Realm or the Void.

I don't know, does this seem inconsistent to anyone else? Why do we need all these different "cosmic junk drawers"? Can't they just reuse one instead of introducing a new cosmic junk drawer every time the banishment plot point is used? I understand there's probably a difference between 'just' going faster than light and pulling a Sliders, but if time travel and dimension-hopping are the same thing, shouldn't there be one big fail-state instead of lots of different ones that are functionally the same?

Like if Kang throws you through a portal, you can end up in the Void and meet a crazy alternate self, or end up in the Quantum Realm and meet a crazy alternate self, or end up in an incursion'd universe and meet a crazy alternate self? It's both lazy and really lazy. If they reused the Quantum Realm for all of these, that'd be a little lazy, but at least it'd be a rule they were following and maybe they could build on each appearance the same way Tony Stark used to upgrade his suit in every movie.

Instead they just start over with a new green-screen thingamabob each time and do the same thing with it. Thor goes to Sakaar and he happens to meet a character from his past, Valkyrie. Scott Lang goes to the Quantum Realm and he happens to meet a character from his past, MODOK. Wolverine goes to the Void and he happens to meet a character from his past, X-23.

If this is so random, shouldn't it get mixed up a bit? Thor could meet MODOK. Wolverine could meet Valkyrie. It'd be a little less convenient-feeling, wouldn't it? Like when Deadpool met Blade, Elektra, and Johnny Storm. That's at least only thematically related instead of them literally knowing each other.

Although I do think that as long as we're doing this thing where some Marvel characters exist in the sixties and others are in present day, they could've done something like that. Like have the cowboy Ghost Rider show up.

You know, we still have Sam Elliot, but he's not gonna be here forever. And you really just have to get him into a voiceover booth. Come to think of it, is Nicolas Cage that busy? I suppose I couldn't resist getting Channing Tatum in there either, if he's that desperate to do Gambit, but Jennifer Garner over Nic Cage? C'mon. No one liked Elektra that much and the new costume wasn't even comic-accurate.

They actually did it better in 2005. At least they went red. I guess they were doing specifically superhero movies released by Fox, but then they have Blade in there. He's from New Line. And what about the Punisher? I think most of us liked Tom Jane enough to want to see him again.

I suppose I should be grateful it wasn't all industry plants and also Professor X, like in Multiverse of Madness, but I just feel it's a bit sloppy to do a movie that's both a Wolverine-Deadpool buddy movie AND THEN an ensemble cast reunion. You can't really have an ensemble and go "oh, but the REALLY BIG GUNS are Deadpool and Wolverine." Doesn't work. Can you imagine a Lord of the Rings movie where all the focus is on Aragorn and Legolas, and then there's a little bit of stuff with the rest of the Fellowship, but only in the second act? And it's mostly an extended cameo?

Anyway, earlier I reblogged a post about the interconnectivity the 616 Universe used to have, with different writers coming together to integrate all their work, and that seems like it's lacking in both 616 and the MCU. No one wants to build on what someone else is doing, they all want their little fiefdoms, so we get all these plot points that are going in the same direction but not collaborated on and it just feels poorly edited. Sorta like this post. Sorry.

[autumnslance]

Hey Aeryn, I was wondering what you recommend to get past FOMO and overthinking. I know I shouldn't feel this way but I can't shake it. I want to play all of the story but I start to feel anxious. I start overthinking and second-guessing and the cycle starts again. I have a WOL I'm enjoying writing but I can't get her to translate in-game. Any advice?

I admit, I don't often get FOMO, but when I do, I stop and ask myself: is this something I actually want to do? A place I actually want to go? An experience I need? An item I want? Or am I just reacting to others, especially friends, having fun and talking about a thing together, so it's pinging a social desire/need?

Cuz I can interact and talk with my friends in other ways and places. I don't have to do all the things they do, play the games they play, etc. I use in built filters and blacklists on my social media to not see things about games/shows/etc that I don't want hear about, and I stop following a lot of (usually sideblogs) accounts that deal with those topics. When I left WoW behind, I dropped a lot of those blogs, for instance.

(I think some people would be happier if they put down media they don't actually enjoy but only watch/play because the people in their lives do.)

What about playing the game is making you anxious? Is it doing the content? Most can be done solo now, but friends can help with the stuff that can't be, or there's always duty finder. Is it story and character direction? Afraid things will happen to your faves, or they'll grown and change in ways you don't care for? That's a risk in any ongoing media, and up to an individual where their "I'm done" point is where they don't enjoy that lore and canon anymore, and then make the decision to change it in fanfiction or drop the story altogether.

With everyone talking about new content right now, even trying to keep spoilers under wraps, it can be rough for sure. Everyone has opinions! And screenshots! And there's new fanfic!

Is the anxiety because of the WoL you started writing, and how she doesn't "translate" in game, and afraid the lore will continue to make that harder?

In that case, look at what the character is, what you've written...and what the character (your subconscious, really) is telling you they actually are, or need. If they don't fit the canon lore...It's OK. Change the story to fit as needed. Or....play through it and see what ends up working after all, with the benefit of knowledge.

You can't lock a character in stone; a story happens because characters want something (large or small), and in the course of the story they are changed in some way (large or small). WoL is an anime protagonist with plotstrong abilities and gifts that give players a lot of leeway in any direction. Some people don't play WoLs at all. Their OC is a person they roleplay and write about in the setting, the plot happens to someone else, and they just play the video game with that avatar.

So what isn't "translating"? Is it appearance related that can't be done without mods and artwork? Disabilities that likewise are tricky to show in game (which assumes a mostly able-bodied WoL)? A backstory that seems to not fit (the world's bigger than what we see)? A lot of detailed backstory and supporting cast that now make you feel boxed into a corner?

It can be hard, seeing people with deeply developed stories and characters and supporting cast, but you also have to remember: a lot of that is built over time. Aeryn didn't have nearly the detailed list of relatives to start, didn't have the "dad was a secret heretic" backstory until 4 years into playing her. I still haven't named all of Dark's siblings. I've seen some folks entirely rewrite their characters cuz something in an expansion spoke to them and it made more sense and made them happier than what they did before.

When I start overthinking a character story, I put the backstory away, and just play them for a bit. I keep a vague idea of what I think their personality might be, what reactions would seem right. And then I let "them" guide me as I play. And sometimes what a character tells me ends up far more interesting. Or I find the stuff I was anxious about adding to them...ends up being canon, or at least working out, anyway.

And if the concern is what other people will think about one's WoL....well, you can't control what others think. And trying to please everyone leaves you with a milquetoast bland sop who isn't interesting at all. Care about the character you want to write, even if that changes, and make them as interesting as you want.

I was saying in a convo yesterday that the shrieking about "Mary Sue and how to not be one" caused lasting societal trauma and people are still afraid of giving characters interesting traits and stories. A person was anxious about giving their WoL traits that might make them 'too much' or 'too special' but they're traits WoL canonically has. We're in an anime story as anime protagonists, be wild and weird. Not everyone will like it, and that's good, actually. Cuz others will love it, and it means you gave your writing and characters personality.

Final Fantasy XIV is a game that 90% of the time, the content isn't going anywhere. You go at your pace, you enjoy the story and side content. There's a lot, after 11 years. Do what you gotta to avoid spoilers, gushing, complaining, or otherwise talk about content you're not in yet to reduce the worry everyone else is having fun while you're spinning wheels a few expacs back. Figure out what you enjoy and love about the game, and focus on that for awhile. Let your WoL breathe, and just play without plotting out how they translate or fit, and remember stories aren't set in stone; they have to be malleable. Especially when trying to write/roleplay in someone else's world!

You should be in this for yourself. Because you find it fun, relaxing, enjoyable to experience. Because you want to tell a character's story even if it takes a hard left turn from canon lore. And if you have to mute and filter out and block some things and people on social media or chat or whatever, do what works for you. But when overthinking, turn that around and interrogate yourself: "OK, why do I feel this way? Why would this be bad? Do I want this or am I trying to follow the crowd?" Make lists, pros and cons. Figure out if it's actually FOMO and anxiety...or if you're trying to tell yourself something and you're just not listening.

Give yourself grace. This game is just one piece of our life's tapestry, and while there's probably friends who want to see you clear content, the world won't end if you don't catch up to the current patch right away, or write a 200k fic about your WoL's life by year's end, either. Go at your pace.

[missmagooglie]

The conversations that happen on the way back to the firehouse are always wildest after sex-related calls.

Hen will admit that their newest probie does occasionally exhibit the obnoxious habit of speaking as though his whole entire twenty five years on this earth have given him ample time to become an expert on absolutely everything, but things don’t get weird until Chim tries to bait him by saying, “Well how would you know, Buck? Not like you’ve ever had a dick in your mouth.”

The probie’s shocked and offended face is entirely predictable and, admittedly, hilarious. Hen cracks open her water bottle and prepares to tune out whatever well meaning but ignorant and at least mildly offensive assertion of his heterosexuality is about to spew from this boy’s mouth.

She is not prepared for him to hotly retort, “Of course I’ve sucked cock. I’m not homophobic!”

Hen promptly chokes, water pouring down her chin as she coughs and sputters all over the cab. 

“Shit, Hen, are you ok?” the probie asks her, thumping her back in a way that he should know as a trained EMT does not actually help in this situation.

“Fine,” Hen wheezes, waving him off as she gets her breath back. “I’m just. Gonna need you to run that back for me a little.”

Probie gives her that confused head tilt that she refuses to find adorable. The kid is a capable enough firefighter when he’s not running off half-cocked to try some big damn hero stunt, but he is a Chad of the highest degree. Hen does not and will not like him as a person.

“What? Oh, the blowjob thing?” He says with eyes that are way too wide and earnest for someone casually talking about oral sex. “It was no big deal, really. It was ages ago.”

Hen holds one finger up at him and takes a few deep breaths just to make sure she’s not going to cough any more, then says, “I am going to need to know who convinced you that there was a dick-sucking requirement for being an LGBT ally.”

Hen is genuinely worried the kid is going to hurt himself if he keeps thinking this hard.

“Oh,” he says, frowning with concentration. “Well, I guess it was more like in that specific situation than, like, in general.”

“Buckaroo, you’ve gotta know we’re gonna ask,” Chim says, leaning forward eagerly to hear whatever absolute mess of a story is about to come out of Buck’s mouth.

Buck manages to look surprised at Chim’s sudden interest. “There’s not, like, some big story. I was in Vegas, some friends invited me to Pride and I’m always up for a good party. We wind up at a club, this guy asks me if I want to blow him, and, you know, what was I supposed to do? Say no?”

Hen glances at Chim, who looks just as dumbfounded as she feels. 

“Uh, yes?” Chim says. “I mean, obviously if you're bisexual or heteroflexible or whatever we aren't gonna judge, man. But most people who aren't attracted to men won't suck a cock just cuz some guy asked.”

Buck shrugs. “I wasn’t gonna leave the poor guy hanging just because I’m not gay. I was in a gay club during Pride. He had every reason to assume I swung that way. When in Italy or whatever, you know?”

“Rome,” Hen croaks. “The expression is ‘When in Rome’.” 

Buck looks at her with his confused puppy face. “Isn’t that in Italy?”

“Sure,” Chim says, cutting in smoothly before Hen blows a gasket at the sheer absurdity of this boy. “But the expression’s about the Roman Empire, not the city.”

“You mean Ancient Rome?” Buck says, “Wasn’t that more than, like, 200 years ago?”

That’s it. That’s the final crack in Hen’s sanity. “Two HUNDRED? Bobby, pull over. I need to kill your probie.”

“For what?” Buck squawks as Bobby sighs heavily.

“General ignorance of the world!” Hen snaps. “I don’t know how you’ve survived this long, but it ends today!”

“Hen, not again,” Bobby says, dry as a bone. The captain mostly keeps to himself, but every now and then he’ll offer a peek into a delightfully twisted sense of humor. “It’s getting hard to cover up this many of them going ‘mysteriously missing’.”

The indignant noise that comes out of the probie's mouth makes all the brain damage she’s sustained from this conversation worth it.

At least until Chimney decides he's still curious and asks, "So were you any good?"

"Well, it was my first time doing it and I was pretty drunk," the probie hedges, before proudly adding, "but, I can shotgun a beer in under four seconds so opening my throat like that was kinda second nature."

"Please stop talking," Hen begs. "Just, close your mouth and never open it again."

He pouts at her. He actually pouts. "What about when I need to eat?" he asks.

"Don't. Speak." Hen repeats. "If I never hear another word about your sexual exploits, it will be too soon."

The probie mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key. "No more sex talk at the fire station," he says. "I promise."

He absolutely does not keep that promise.

Unfortunately, Hen ends up growing fond of him anyway.

[edenfenixblogs]

Personal life stuff

It’s been so funny to track my mom’s ideas around me being an SMBC. It’s all gone about how I expected (generally my mom takes awhile to come around on things), but the specifics are hilarious. It’s also a study in how (many) Jewish mothers demonstrate support. *

Bringing it up about 1.5 years ago | Mom: this is the worst idea you’ll change your mind babies are expensive babies are hard don’t do this here is a list of every medical issue related to pregnancy by the way are you sure your aspec cuz this would be easier with a partner have you thought about…

Digesting info about a year ago | Mom: I will not speak about this I don’t want to talk about this I will not deal with it you cannot make me

After I told her “This is happening with or without your support, so get on board or don’t interact with your future grandkid,” about ten months ago | Mom: If you’re gonna have a kid here is a list of things to take care of both health wise and financially beforehand

After talking to a friend of hers about my goals, about 9 months ago | Mom: My friend S is an SMBC. I want you to talk to her about your goals cuz she has insight I don’t.

After her friend told her what we talked about (which I fully expected), about 9 moths ago | Mom: S seems to think you know what you’re doing. But where are you on that list I gave you.

After talking to my aunt who already has grandkids about my goals, about 8 months ago | Mom: Your aunt is excited for you. Here are several articles I’ve read about baby proofing your home.

A month later | Mom: Here are Instagram videos of cute babies.

A month after that | Mom: …your office would be a good nursery.

A month after that | Mom: You should pick a sperm donor with a different ethnic background. Let’s avoid passing on the same anxiety to the next generation. (Note from Eden: Don’t worry. I know it is not advised to stray too far into different ethnicities so kiddo doesn’t feel disconnected from the parent they do have access to. I know kiddo is going to want answers about their cultural history and body and genetics and I wanna be able to fill in those gaps. I do my research don’t freak out, friends.)

A month after that | Mom: Don’t name your kid [Insert name], because it reminds me of someone terrible.

A month after that | Mom: You know, if you move home you might be able to move up your timeline on when to start TTC.

Two months ago | Mom: One good thing about moving home is that I’ll be closer to help you with pregnancy.

Last month | Mom: If you get a house near me, then your kid will be in walking distance of grandma’s house.

Today | Mom: Did you know that for the cost of raising a child for one year, you could have SIX DOGS?! (I told her ideally I’d have two kids) YOU COULD HAVE TWELVE DOGS!**

* For the record, the entire time, my dad’s response has been: “I didn’t know you wanted kids. Cool! Good luck!” Lmao

** This is especially funny because I have a dog now and it took her a year to come around to the idea of me having a dog at all.

It just really makes me laugh. The journey from hard opposition to concern trolling to concern supporting to blatant support and joking is such a funny journey to me.

[pitchlag]

Rvb19 thoughts in no particular order

Yeah so. I still think s13 is The capping point for me and all that comes after is hypothetical/simulations or whatever.

First of all. No, you fucking don't get to separate Grif and Simmons.

Having the groups act hostile towards each other (or just the Reds against Caboose again) right after Chorus was a a big enough of a crime already. But those two are a package deal.

So what the fuck even happened in the SoC fight? Why would they let Tucker just walk out in the aftermath? I guess Carolina booked it to go after him bc why else would she leave Wash alone again, after he was supposedly injured?? Also Doc dying, wow rude. Donut and his VA are free to enjoy their break but where' was heeeeeeee where'd he goooooo he was barely mentioned at aaaalllllllll >:(

Sarge's death speech was surprisingly long and clear even though his lungs were probably pierced, cauterized or no.

On one hand I have a hard time seeing Sarge dying peacefully in a bed instead of in battle but he didn't have to stay at that doorway after they got back. He didn't have to die there. I'm glad he went back for Caboose though cuz that is one his boys (even if he's a dirty Blue).

Grif and Simmons talking about him at his grave was pretty good scene and so was the campfire reminiscing one but again, Sarge didn't have to die and I refuse a world where Grif and Simmons would go their separate ways like that. No wonder Gus and Geoff were shocked to find out this was the last season.

I got so excited the second I recognized Tex's knuckle crack ;o;

So close to a proper Tex and Caro combo, though I do get that they wouldn't work well together because of their history and different fighting styles :( Still, even if AI boosted, Tucker shouldn't be anywhere near good enough to go against both.

Also they got Kathleen back for Tex, John Erler for North and Samantha Ireland for CT??? Couldn't have seen that coming. Also Miles was aight doing Elijah Wood's voice but I guess a lot of it was helped by the voice mods.

Beta may have been "a failure" and Sigma is a bitch but his speech at her felt really off. She was still a major part of Alpha and the memories of Allison were the reason the rest of the pieces came to be in the first place. The Meta collective tried to catch her both in cases of the og Tex and Epsi-Tex, so Sigma full on rejecting her and the rest not reacting at all was really weird.

"This time, I'm not based on his memories, I'm based on theirs. And I always kicked their asses." A nice change of pace re: Beta as Alpha's/Allison's "failure". ....

Chex has embedded itself deep into my brain, so of course I Felt Things seeing them interact one last time fr fr. Tex finally got to go out with some agency of her own, yet we've come a full circle, they're back together again as Leonard and Allison. At least one good ending. Easily the best part of the movie.

Security working from home extremely funny, but the bit went on for too long and video calls w/ technical issues bc haha relatable feels like an overdone trope already

Felix being included as a part of the Meta was kinda weird? He never really interacted with the armor or the AI to warrant it I think.

Niner and Sheila :)

No Junior :(

So uh. Tucker got no closure re:Epsilon's death and just kinda. Walks it off after the possession is over? After Wash and Memory!Doc had that talk about the things an AI in your head does to you??

Speaking of Wash:

I know he's always been linked to memory and I actually like how they handled his brain damage in the Shisno Paradox, but I just have a very different image of how he feels about the PFL folks in the aftermath. To me Carolina always seemed more like the type to feel regret over how things went with PFL; she was kind of in a leadership position, had her tragic relationship with York and she felt taking down the Director was her duty.

Wash did arguably have a lot more positive ties to others than she did during the Project, but he was ready to burn it all down while in Recovery duty. I always thought he would have a lot harder time moving past his own trauma of getting left behind to get back to the good memories. Regrets about Doc I can kinda understand since they had time to work together while at Chorus after Wash's villain arc was over, but again, the man carries a grudge like it's a badge of honor. He didn't exactly get closure with his former teammates, aside from collecting the AI from their dead bodies after he'd been left alone following the fall of the MoI and after South shot him in the back. It's interesting how differently Shisno trilogy and S19 handled how Wash and Carolina feel about the whole thing, but I'm glad they stick together regardless. I love their relationship so much.

Wash staying silent when the recovery unit is broken..... Ngl I'm kinda obsessed with how he and Epsilon never got closure

I still don't have interest in checking out Zero....

Woulda been a lot better if they just let Trocadero do the music :( As predicted, the movie OST lacked the personality the series OST was built on and somehow including one track from them felt a bit of an insult. A reminder of what could've been. Also I didn't like the "oohh this part is super loud because movie" bits

Tragically obvious how rushed the production was and how they had a lot less people and resources to work with

If Shisno was a mixed bag of some high highs and a lot of lows, this was relatively steadily ok. Some dips, at least one peak. Not nearly as good as what precedes it but. ok. I can take it as one possibility

Sigh. The funky space marines are finally free. (I'm not, these fuckers seem to continue to fail evacuating my brain)

[alastair-1205]

Episode 13 Reactions

FLASHBACK! AND FUN MUSIC LOL

Oh look another bullying victim for the team. Him and Jay should bond over that 

Oh hes getting fucking jumped poor kid 

You did he just call him a slur-

OK ITS FRACK. MASTER OF QUAKES

Its interesting how a lot of the new elements seem to be offshoots of the ones that we’re familiar with

Aw I can see why him and Arin were buddies

Alright so his master is gonna be someone weird

My money is on like Cinder or Ras or some shit 

I fucking love Robie (Roby?)

Wyldfyre likes him lmaoooo

I wanna hear about the architecture :(

I thought Zane was about to get offended at not being called the smartest one for s second lmaooo

OH THAT THING LOOKS LIKE THE SCEPTER FROM S4

OH GOD IS CHEN OR CLOUSE HERE?? THEY ARENT RIGHT? 

You know maybe it’s a good thing Jay isn’t here so no one could get all the elements of creation lol. If that’s still at all important 

See I don’t think Robie is a bad guy but I do think he’s not gonna be great to deal with. He’s as naive as any of the new ninja were

SNAIL GUY

Ok but what happened to the last plant guy? Cuz the new master of shade looked kinda like she could have been the old ones kid or smth but there’s no way this guys related to the last plant master. So I’m gonna assume he’s dead until told otherwise

MASTER LLOYD ROBES

YO THEY KNOW EACH OTHER YAY

I love that it’s Nya who knows them too after season 8/9

WHEERE TF DID SHE COME FROM HELLO? JORDY??

Oh. Oh no.

Oh she’s not doing okay

CINDER YOU BITCH

Love how all these bitches are just kinda. Here lmao. 

Ras is totally Fracks master fuuuuuck

Sister- DIDNT SHE PUT UR ASS IN JAIL??

Ah. That makes more sense.

Yea I’d have issues too if I were her tbh. They should have given her a different haircut tho lol

Robie did not sign up for this shit lmaoooo he didn’t know what he was getting himself into this time around 

Or maybe Ras isn’t Fracks master then…

I refuse to believe Jay is that dumb- 

AW HES GOT A FAMILY PICTURE. I’m taking all the fucking crumbs I can get lol

Watch wyldfyre be correct lmao

WHO ARE YOU????

Murder attempt??!

Ngl they almost got away with it tho-

Either Cinder or Shade then

Or the old master of smoke maybe? Doubt it but maybe

Lmao priorities

Oooooh Maybe it was a ploy to get them banned

Oh Ras 100% sent it. That extra one was to cover his ass

…Unless it was Skylor cuz that thing had powers 

Not Snail Guy! 

Among Us- *gets shot*

I don’t think that was actually Jay tbh