#literally that's like a whole topic that I'm super attached to

[starrbar]

"Personal Red Flags": A weird conflict that arises when I as an anti-anti still judge people when they engage with fiction in specific ways.

(I have to name my essays okay? xD)

I had recently started thinking about this topic again, and I was curious about what other people in my "neighborhood" thought. So I wrote this as a discussion for other anti-antis basically, and posted it in a majority anti-anti/proship space.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Brief descriptions of noncon/rape rps and irl creepy/predatory behavior, discussion of kinks

We're all some flavor of "pro-fiction" or such here, as in we don't think liking something in fiction means you support/condone it irl, which extends to wanting a space like ours that is built around allowing us to host the kind of artwork that gets us weird looks (or worse) in more general places like Twitter.

With that said, I've never been of the opinion that red flags just don't exist? because that's just silly. Of course there are things that kind of tip my eyebrow up in suspicion sometimes, but when I've asked people in proship spaces what their general idea of those red flags are, they almost seemed afraid to provide anything. As if having some level of personal standards would make them as bad as antis or something.

I feel like a lot of anti-anti/proship people cling to the idea that there's NEVER a reason to be concerned about the way someone engages with fiction, because we've gotten so used to feeling attacked when people question our moral character over fiction. And I understand that! But I think the more measured stance, rather than "no, never" is the simple fact that it's important to look at ALL relevant factors when trying to judge whether somebody has malicious intent or is a danger to others... unless the factor in question is "they've literally already hurt someone", ofc.

That's such a basic thing that probably applies to almost everything, and I don't imagine that even the average person would disagree with the idea that you can't know everything about a situation from just one detail on its own.

I guess the issue here is that antis treat taboo kinks the way they treat homophobia, transphobia, racism, etc. The kinks themselves are seen as inherently evil, just like bigotry certainly is, and thus they see no use in looking any deeper into it. When you find out someone is a TERF, for example, you don't go "yeah, but they're nice to their dog and they gave to charity!" You... condemn them for being a TERF, which is an inherently harmful thing, period. Doesn't matter at that point.

But it's wrong to treat kinks the same way. I've never seen solid evidence that any kink does INHERENT harm the way bigotry does. Another factor has to combine with the kink to make it harmful or malicious.

Like, for example... having a foot fetish is fine, yeah? Giving a foot rub to a friend is also fine. Hell, giving a foot rub to a friend who consented, knowing that you have a foot fetish, is fine too! You were both honest and communicated your boundaries. Now, offering a "foot rub" while you're secretly getting off to what your friend thinks is an innocent gesture is... creepy... at best. The kink provides context that changes things, but only because the behavior mixes with the kink in an unsavory way. If the person instead had a spanking fetish or something, that wouldn't really be relevant to a foot rub, so both the spanking kink and the foot rub would be neutral things in that scenario.

With that said, my go-to thing that I find to be kinda suspicious has to do with the way some of my past roleplay partners have reacted to me commenting on their character's behavior. And ofc I don't mean that I scolded them for writing the character that way. It's not like I didn't ASK for the character to be like that haha.

But okay, so I once did a roleplay where my OC was kidnapped and raped by the other person's OC, and whenever I would go into the ooc chat and say, "Damn, that sure is fucked up!" or "Ahahaa it felt good to have my OC punch him after what he did!", the other writer would... get defensive?? Like, they would start arguing stuff like, "Well, he's really lonely, and your OC was just so beautiful and nice to him, and he didn't think she would say yes if he asked her out!" or they would be extremely averse to the rapist OC not getting a happy ending?? Not that you can't have the villain win in a story ofc, but this person talked about it as if her rapist OC deserved to get away with what he did, not just that it's what would happen in the story realistically. And... idk! Just... the way they talked about our roleplays was really uncomfortable and came off like they were mixing up reality and fiction.

In another roleplay I did with someone else, we wrote a scenario in which my OC was "punished" with gang rape for fighting back against their coworker. Which, yeah, I like "noncon as punishment" roleplays! But then the other writer would be in ooc chat trying to say that my character was being unruly or "well, she shouldn't have broken the rules", and like, never at any point was this presented as a "haha ikr she got what she asked for -wink wink nudge nudge" like kinky egging me on or anything. It was like he actually got offended when I said his OC was being harsh and twisted.

I come to these dark-as-fuck roleplays to revel in how twisted they are! So when my writing partner starts acting as if they don't realize that's what we're writing about, it's so fucky to me. The CHARACTER is supposed to make all these excuses and twist the narrative and gaslight my character, but the writer should have their damn head on straight!

And I probably wouldn't even go so far as to say that's a red flag that the person is literally dangerous, but at the very least, they sure are failing to read the room and it JUST FREAKING BOTHERS ME. It freaks me out when someone is unwilling or unable to step back out of the fantasy and talk to me in plain terms about what we're writing about.

When you can't even admit that you're writing abuse even when you blatantly are, I hate that. And come to think of it, I also hate seeing that attitude in media that I still love, because it makes the stories so much worse. (Heavily side-eyeing two of my favorite anime rn)

Anyway—

That's my personal "oh god, what the hell is wrong with you?" factor that I certainly don't consider worthy of like, a witch-hunt or anything of the sort, but it simply... drives me away from people who exhibit those traits.

It is NOT an "oh yeah, for SURE, this person is dangerous and needs to be silenced/deplatformed/jailed", it's literally just "bro, I'm kind of proshippy over here and even I think you sound nuts. Bye I guess". That's all! And it's okay to have those.

But I think we've gotten stuck in an environment where we feel like we have to morally justify why we dislike literally anything, which leads to people constantly doing that, which leads to me getting anxious just because someone said they don't like noncon—but they never said that they think people with that kink are horrible. I always ask for that clarification these days, before I go any further with someone. And it really, REALLY sucks that everyone feels so pressured to be in an all-or-nothing position on this whole proship vs. antiship thing.

Nuance is so important, but it's also scary because a lot of people will ignore it so that they can demonize you. And I hope I worded this post in a way that doesn't make anybody feel demonized if they truly are just enjoying a story or something. Honestly, if you and whoever you indulge in your kinks with are consenting adults and you're vibing about it and you're not hurting anyone, who am I to judge? Ya know?

BTW, with my above example, I'm not talking about people who just "stan" villain characters and say they did nothing wrong as a meme and say stuff like "I would protect them, idc!" I also don't see a problem with someone feeling bad for an awful character; feeling a pang of sorrow for them because they're suffering; feeling happy for them when they reach a goal that, in itself, isn't heinous; understanding them; getting into their head; etc. etc. there are so many ways to deeply connect with a nasty character that doesn't come off as genuinely DEFENDING them for real and making the same excuses their ilk would make for themselves irl.

I do all those other things I mentioned. Haha I think my recent post about Ellen would show as much. My friends do that stuff too, it's all good. Because it's very clearly just people enjoying fiction AS fiction and just, ya know, being overjoyed about their special little meow meows, or being fascinated with what makes them tick, or just enjoying a funny crack AU. I feel like the icky encounters I tried to describe above were just... a step past that, but they happened a long time ago, so I wouldn't be able to get like, screenshots or anything.

I just hope this made sense! I thought it was interesting, but I know it could have easily come off like I was being an asshole towards things I don't vibe with if I didn't make some clarifications.

I'm really interested in what other people may think of this or if other profic/antihara people also have these experiences.

[foxglovepng]

Hello! Can I request for Soulmate AU of your choice for Leona, Idia, Floyd and Malleus? Thank you in advance!

Characters: Leona, Idia, Floyd, Malleus

CW: Leona & Idia being haters, Floyd is Floyd. Maybe OOC, Not proofread

A/N: Hello Anon! I am not too familiar with writing for soulmate AU so this will definitely be interesting. I decided to go with the red string one because It's the only one I sort of know.

A/N: I am so sorry if these are short I really do not write for soulmates at all.

If you liked Reblogs and Likes are appreciated <3

🌼🥀

Leona

Soulmate?? PSHHHHH Leona doesn't believe in soulmates. Or so he thought.

His brother met his soulmate and well we all know how that went. Leona had given up on soulmates in general since he could never find the said person.

Going to NRC he didn't think he'd meet them.

When he came across Yuu he saw their strings joined during the spelldrive incident. But that wasn't the topic of conversation that was for another day.

When they came across him again Yuu realized they were soulmates and their eyes gleamed. Leona was like Ugh an was constantly trying to fight it, he didn't really care, but Yuu of course kept pushing. He snapped at them one day and was like

"You're annoying I don't care that you're my soulmate." and then walked away.

Eventually Leona secretly began to miss Yuu's prescense but would never admit it out loud. One day he got fed up and went to go look for them. Some students were ganging up on them and he well scared them off.

"Be careful herbivore I'm not cleaning up your messes again." Liar he would.

At first he hated the soulmate thing, but he's not saying he likes it just doesn't mind it.

Floyd

He is a special case. He doesn't care enough, but he also does care. He's neutral to the soulmate thing, but if he ever did find his soulmate he'd be super stoked to meet them.

When Yuu came to Mostro Lounge to make the deal he found out Yuu was his soulmate then. However he was currently busy so he couldn't do anything about it although he's now super interested in Yuu.

After the whole ordeal he attaches himself to Yuu to learn everything about them, and just to get to hang out with them.

(Yuu literally has to force him to practice because he won't leave their side)

Eventually when they do start having a relationship he's even more loving and affectionate knowing he can kiss and cuddle his little shrimp as much as he wants.

Idia

He can barely handle a social interaction what make you think he will find his soulmate.

He's literally a shut in who is mainly on his computer either programming, doing school work, or gaming he'd not one for social situations.

The only way he found out Yuu was his soulmate was because he coincidentally went outside for club and he ran into Yuu and learned Yuu was his soulmate. Yuu figured it out too and he pulled out every excuse in the book to go back to the dorm.

Bro is not ready for the level 100 boss

Ever since then, he has tried to avoid Yuu. Emphasis on try as Yuu would probably be pushing as he is their soulmate.

Ortho at some point tells him he can't keep pushing away. He won't give up, but Ortho literally invites Yuu over forcing them to hang out.

It will take a while and some work before Idia can work up to the idea of a partner and a relationship, but he eventually does get there.

The second Yuu starts talking about marriage or a baby Idia would ramble about how he's not ready and tell Yuu to slow down.

Malleus

Poor boy has been lonely forever a soulmate would make him feel less lonely and he'd be happy that he has someone to be around. He's been excited to meet said soul mate. He'd been dreaming what they'd look like what kind of person they are what gender they are (Not that gender matters to him)

When he was outside ramshackle and Yuu came out he realized their strings connected. He was happy he found his soulmate and would be even happier if they felt the same way about him.

When he came back from Diasmonia that night he told Lilia he found his soulmate. Lilia was happy so was Silver. Sebek was like WHAT? but he will get over it. (Spoiler he ends up liking and tolerating Malleus's s/o)

Peep Malleus planning the wedding with Lilia as the officiant.

[phantomannkaun]

𝙲𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙾 𝙺𝙰𝙼𝙾 𝚇 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙴𝚁 ~ ѕмυт σηєѕнσт

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦

contains: smut, 18+ (minors dni), fem reader, relationship, kissing, praising, foreplay, sex, forecful, romance, teasing, slight edging and self pleasure, pet names.

𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘅𝗼𝘅𝗼 （。ˇ ⊖ˇ）

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦

Choso and you have been dating for about a month and a half. He is absolutely obsessed with everything about you. He's extremely attached to you in everyway and loves to praise you. The topic of sex has been brought up many times but you guys have never gotten the opportunity. You guys have done a lot of things besides that but never gotten to that point.

Choso had gotten back to his place early that day. He was really really in the mood and he wanted to make tonight super special for the both of you. He literally cannot stop thinking about you. He picks up his phone from the nightstand and decided to call you. The phone rings for a couple seconds before you pick up.

You: "hey babe! what's up?" you say cheerfully.

Choso: "hey. uhm... could you... come over tonight?" Choso says in his monotone voice.

You: You giggle a little bit "of course Cho! is something wrong or...?"

Choso: "nono nothings wrong I just... really uhm... I'm- just come over sweetheart." Choso says stuttering a little bit but sounding a little seductive.

You: "yeah! i'll be there in an hour if that's okay love?" You reply in a cheerful hopeful tone.

Choso: "perfect. I'll see you then y/n." Choso ends the conversation.

He places his phone next to him falls back down onto his bed and covers his eyes with his hands. "fuck..." Choso is remembering everything about you from the way you talk to your face and body and he can't help but get turned on. Choso has an hour until you arrive, he takes this time to light a romantic candle in his room and go take a shower.

As he walks into the bathroom and proceeds to take off his clothes and undo his hair. He likes his showers burning hot and steamy. As he's in the shower it's hard to ignore what's below. He can't help but feel himself a bit thinking about you. He cannot wait for you to get there. As he goes slow up and down with the water running down his whole body he feels himself slowly getting there and he stops. He wants to save the climax for you as painful as it is for him.

He finishes his shower and proceeds to get ready. He decided to leave his hair down that night and puts on a white oversized shirt with baggy black sweatpants. He makes sure he smells good and his room is neat. Choso is a romantic guy so he definitely made the mood in the room warm and romantic with the lighting.

Soon enough, he receives an "i'm here!" text from you. He gets a wave of nervousness and excitement to see you again. He goes to the door fast and quickly opens it. When opening the door you're seen with a black tank top with a oversized hoodie over and tight black ripped jeans. Your aroma from your perfume is really getting to him now. It's pure ecstasy every time he smells it. Before even saying anything he gives you a warm hug and welcomes you inside, closing the door after.

You can smell the candle and see the room from where you're standing. "Mmm it smells really good in here Cho! What's the occasion?" You look up deeply into his eyes.

Choso looks back into your eyes and looks away when he realizes he's blushing. "Occasion? oh- well..." Choso wants to ask but doesn't wanna force you.

You realize what he's suggesting. The topic has been in your mind for a couple weeks now but you two had never had the opportunity. You grew super excited and turned on. You looked up at him seductively and got closer to him. You wanted to make the first move so he would feel more comfortable knowing you're comfortable.

You move your body more and more onto his and lean in to kiss him. Choso grabs your waist and pulls you in more as you kiss softly. One thing leads to another and you two have tongues locked into each others mouths feeling each other. Choso decides to push you up against the nearest wall to have more control. He presses his warm tongue more and more into your mouth while slightly grinding on to your body. He finally pulls away not before lightly biting your lower lip carefully.

Breathing heavily face to face, he looks you in the eyes deeply with his cat-like tired eyes. "Are you okay with all of this darling...?" He says still panting.

You nod while still looking up at him with lustful eyes. You love being in his disposal. One thing leads to another and you two are sitting on his bed slowly making out. As it gets more aggressive his tongue is basically down your throat. He starts holding your face tightly and he's pushing your head more into the kiss.

With more romance and aggression he starts to get on top of you while pushing you down on the bed. He pulls away for a quick second to take his shirt off and throw it to the side. He pins you back down instantly after to continue. He is now above you pushing himself against you continuing to make out with you romantically. After a bit you pull away for a second. A line of salvia is coming from his mouth to yours followed by panting.

"You wanna do this y/n?" Choso says while sweating and panting.

You look up at him cleared turned on with flushed red cheeks."Mhmm~"

Choso begins to slightly whisper seductively while leaning closer to your ear. "I promise I'll make this unforgettable as ever my love."

He proceeded to pull you up so you two are now upright. One of his hands are supporting your back and the other reaching down to your pants. You pants slide off to reveal your lace black thong. You take your own hoodie off and toss it to the side. Choso cannot pull away from your lips he's infatuated with you at this point.

Choso slams you back down as you're sprawled out on the bed only in a thong and tank top and bra. He looks down at you with deep love and lust. He wipes his forehead of sweat and took his sweatpants off, threw them to the side where all the other clothes were. Now he was only wear his boxers. He slowly leaned down into your neck leaving soft kisses which were followed by slow sensual marks. Your moans and movements only made him do it slower so you could feel everything.

"Ch-cho~ mm.." You cried out in pleasure.

He slowly made his way down your chest and lifted your tank top up and started kissing you. You took the rest of your tank top off. His kisses although slow got more aggressive which caused you to arch your back a bit. Choso took this opportunity to reach behind you to unclip your bra.

"You're doing so well... arch it just like that for me babe..." Choso said softly acting like he was rock hard and holding back going crazy on you.

Your bra was now completely off and Choso made his way to your breasts. You were super sensitive at the moment. He began lightly biting and sucking causing you to squirm and squeal. You grabbed his warm exposed back and scratched a little while also softly pulling his hair. Choso was talking you through everything now.

"You're doing so well princess... be patient.." After saying that he contiuned to work on your body softly and sensual.

It was so romantic and slow. You could tell he wanted to make your guys' first time slow and enjoyable which you appreciated very much. The sucking and biting continued to each of your breasts. He was pressed onto you and could feel how moist you were becoming. He suddenly got up and grabbed your wrists pinning you below him.

"You want it doll?" Choso said staring into your eyes.

You nodded and quietly moaned "y-yes..."

"Are you going to take it?" Choso asked while still staring down at you.

"Mhm..." You said while nodding.

"Good girl..." He said before completely taking his boxers off and your thong off.

He positioned his cock by your seeping wet cvnt. Before his put it in he wanted to tease you a bit so he rubbed his tip against you which caused you to moan.

"Are you gonna beg?" Choso asked while smirking.

"p-please Cho~ I-" You proceeded to beg more and more.

"shh... be quiet until I tell you to love. can you do that for me?" Choso asked.

You replied with a nod before he covered your mouth and put in it slow but hard. You squealed softly but managed to stay quiet for the most part. His cock was long with many veins. The curve hit you in your spot which caused you to squirm under him. He grabbed your waist with one arm and the other still pinning you.

"...fuck babe... you're so tight ergh! you're doing so good- just like that-" Choso said.

You now realized Choso isn't the type to stay quiet. But that didn't bother you, you wanted him to be vocal with you.

"you're such a good girl babe~ cmon keep staying quiet for me." Choso also loved to praise you because he could see the affect it had on you and it turned him on.

"Ch-Cho~ I- don't know if I can-" You moaned finally letting go.

"shh... i've got you darling. you're doing so good just like that~" Choso continued.

With each thrust he made it more romantic than the last. He readjusted his hands so now both of his arms were in between your head as he was still on top of you. Your arms wrapped around his back, the pleasure was so overstimulating that you dug your nails into your back.

Choso groaned as you hurt him. "f-fuck... keep going-"

This made his thrusts even better from the last. You could feel him inside of you pushing you to your limits. It was only a couple minutes and you felt so close to climax. You were getting more into it by moving your hips into his which made him basically go insane.

"fuck. you're so good at this... fuck please keep going babe- you're doing so- good." He was struggling to form a sentence at this point.

Choso got more needy and decided to just begin going at it at that point. He made sure to try and still be cautious and considerate while also just letting loose. He grabbed you to sit upright but still sort of on his lap. This new position made it harder but feel better for the both of you.

"y/n... babe.. i wanna fill you up baby. i wanna fill you up so fucking bad- ergh i can't r-resist" He started to get impatient.

Before you knew you were reaching your climax. "Ch-choso I- I'm g-gonna finish" You moaned while struggling.

Choso knew what to do and that was to not change what he was doing at all. He kept the same position, pace and the way he was doing it. Soon enough, your body shook lightly as you finished. You had tiny tears from pleasure in your eyes.

Choso wanted to make sure you're still okay with him finishing so he went slower for a second to ask "do you wanna keep going babe?" You shook your head in approval.

He then flipped you over to where you were on your stomach. He held your lower back down and put it in once more. He started off slow, this position was so comfortable for the both of you. Learning each other was going so well.

"baby... i don't wanna hold back-" Choso said as he dug his nails in your waist and grinded on you faster and more sensual. His tip was hitting you more and more. You buried your face in the pillow to moan out loudly. Choso got faster and faster. He was pretty vocal while doing it. Finally he loosened his grip and slowly pulled out. He was dripping all over your back.

"shit... you felt- so good babe- you did so good." he said in such a calm tired voice.

For aftercare, Choso went to go grab a towel and help you clean up before he got himself. Choso gives you as much reassurance as you needed. Cuddles are a given as well. He would also say thank you and tell you just how good you were and how that was the best ever.

"I love you so much y/n"

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

[k4pp4-8]

Thoughts on Shannon x Rad? And or Raymond x Rad?

Oooo Im glad you asked!! I'm actually quite fond of both of them!! It may be bc Rad's pretty easy to ship with other characters since he's so charming and he can have chemistry with pretty much anyone.

If I recall correctly Raymond x Rad was actually one of my first okko ships and it's one of my favorite too! I think it's clear that the creators wanted them to be a pair in one way or another, as a rivalry and/or as a romance. (It's pretty obvious that Darrell/Shannon/Raymond mirror KO/Enid/Rad I actually would love to talk more about their parallels)

They're so similar but they also manage to complete each other so well. Rad feigns confidence while being very insecure whereas Ray is completely confident to the point of narcissism. Rad suffers from toxic masculinity while Raymond couldn't care less and actually embraces things that are considered feminine.

I actually love the idea of them being so good together that they could be considered soulmates but not being willing to admit it bc of the whole hero/villain conflict (forbidden romance yaaay!) and also bc they both have too much pride to admit they may have feelings for each other

Now Shannon x Rad isn't anywhere near as popular as Radmond (I assume bc the fandom ain't that big) but hear me out, I think it's pretty cute !!

When I first watched the show I used to dislike this ship because the "Rad likes robots" episode made me a lil' uncomfortable (I could make a whole post on why I kinda hate and love this episode at the same time cause I do think it gives us some insight on shannon as a person) and also because I wasn't used to multishipping yet. I know that may sound stupid to some, but when I was younger I used to get super attached to ships to the point that I couldn't fathom the idea of a character being shipped with someone else (for example I hated Amedot only because I shipped Lapidot)

But recently I've been thinking about this again and I realized that Rad and Shannon actually have the potential to make a really cute pairing! Honestly my arguments for this ship aren't as elaborate as my Radmond analysis, it's mostly based on vibes. But I know they could have a really interesting dynamic and I wish they interracted more outside of that one singular episode.

Also I know you didn't ask BUT, since we're on the topic of Rad and robots, another ship that's underrated imo is Darrell and Rad!! I literally only know one other person who likes that ship😭 But listen they're both so goofy and cute you can't tell me they make wouldn't a cute pair?? And I'm always a sucker for a red/blue ship. Plus I love the ship name Darrad cause it's so symmetrical :) And I think the reason Darrell doesn't get shipped as much as Raymond or Shannon do is bc he gets infantilized a LOT by the fans (and even by the show)

In the end if I had to rank them by preference I'd say Radmon<Darrad<Sharad

[moonyasnow]

Additional thoughts about that Oiran!Irina AU

bc I know way too much about the lives of women in the red light districts of the Edo period of Japanese history (and I'm also close to falling asleep and that seems to be when all the motivation and good ideas come)

[ original post here. Would have just reblogged it with this new stuff but I'm about to go to bed and only have my phone and wrote this in drafts before I had that idea ]

First thing's first, I wanna educate some people bc this is a genuinely super fascinating topic to me:

Patrons were basically always LONG-TERM— at least if you were a courtesan and not the kind of sex-worker who was hired for one-time things

Because it wasn't only the obvious aspect that the men who were with courtesans were paying for; it was also basically a 'relationship' experience. They payed not only to sleep with the courtesan— and that usually didn't happen until at LEAST the 3d date— but also to come and basically have dates with them, spend time with them, flirt and stuff, and for them to listen to your troubles. It was also assumed to be monogamous— at least for the Patron. The courtesan was, of course, a courtesan, so it was literally her job to be with multiple people. But the Patron was only allowed to be seeing one courtesan at a time

And back to what I wanted to say

There was a thing where, a courtesan cutting off a lock of her hair to give to one of her patrons was seen as 'proof' of her love, since the hair was considered very valuable to a courtesan and to her beauty. (Some courtesans even payed someone to get a lock of hair from just— wherever, and pretended it was their own)

And I started thinking about Malleus, slightly misunderstanding the intricate, unwritten social rules of this whole thing— it was typically only the courtesan who did it— only seeing the 'a lock of your hair is a proof of love' part, and one day he cuts off a lock of his own hair and gives it to her, saying something about her now always having something to remind her of him, even when they can't always be near each other.

And, there was also a more extreme version of the hair thing, which involved the courtesan cutting off her pinky finger to give to her patron. This was most likely faked most of the time though, and it was more about the intent of it if I remember correctly— so it was normal, and actually expected, for a courtesan to make a big deal about how she was going to do it, maybe even taking out a knife, and the patron stopping her right before she actually did it.

And Irina, having grown up in this world* (I'll explain this more at the end of the post bc I caught myself infodumping again) has kinda come to romanticize this.

So I imagine that she actually tells him that she'll give him her pinky finger— just because she'd have grown up with that being what was expected to do to show your devotion to someone— but instead of the response she expected he looks really sad. And he kisses her fingers and tells her that he would never want her to hurt herself for his sake, and that it broke his heart to hear she would even think of doing something like that to herself. And also that it will always be infinitely more beautiful still attached to her.

Irina, having grown up with all these weird social rules (that were ONLY 'the norm' in the red light districts— and most of the really out-there stuff more in Yoshiwara) and— she, at least, given her mental state— seeing them as the norm, as 'just what one does' felt a bit confused by his actions.

She's the kind of person who would genuinely buy into the 'proof of love' stuff, especially if it was just a thing in the culture she grew up in, so she sees it for exactly the gesture he meant it as. And she's never been the one who had someone wanting to show proof of their love to her.

So it kinda made her go

Irina ended up cutting a big lock of her own hair to give to him, as well— not bc it was expected of her, but because of his own sentiment, of having something of the others for when they missed each other

Oh oh also—

A thing that could add angst in this AU is that, in general, a courtesan wasn't actually allowed to fall in love, even with one of her own patrons, bc it might risk her wanting to run away with that person or refusing to see her other patrons entirely. A courtesan's job was to pretend to be in love, but never actually be in love

But maybe one day she'd lament how she wished she could be with only him

And then Malleus says he'll just double whatever the combined sum all her other patrons are paying is so it wouldn't be something her Madame could complain about

Irina, probably not realizing he's actually being 100% serious, would say it would be nice if he could

Then the literal next day she finds out he actually fckn did it

*Women who went on to become high-rank courtesans were almost always purchased by brothels from starving or sick or indebted or otherwise not well off families when they were still very young, between the ages of 5-9. At first they were made basically the 'little sister' of a woman who was already a courtesan. So the girl's big sister would care for her, feed her, clothe her, etc. And the girl would basically be her way of communicating with people. Because a courtesan couldn't just DIRECTLY go up to a patron she liked and ask him to spend more time with her bc of a bunch of those aforementioned unwritten social rules. So instead, the little sister would find him and ask him to come see her big sister.

They also did things like run errands, accept gifts on their big sister's behalf, and tell their sister about any news or gossip they heard

Courtesans usually had one or two little sisters. And I don't remember exactly when, but at some point, if one of them showed promise in music or some other art, was particularly pretty, and socially skilled, she began to be considered a courtesan-in-training herself, until she was considered old enough to become a fully-fledged courtesan (which was usually still very young by today's standards— I've heard around 14-15 was a common age— though I could be wrong, it's been a lil while)

[frost-felon]

@ my anonymous asker: Your initial ask got eaten by Tumblr, so I'll be posting this as a separate post. You had two asks, so I'll address them both here, which works well, as I started ranting about the femme rep, lmao.

absolutely, like, 100% agree with you on everything you've said about the horrific lack of development with the interpersonal relationships between all the characters in jjk. the unexplained timeskip before the gojo vs sukuna fight made me SO MAD !!!!!!!! seeing it mentioned offhandedly. did such a massive disservice to gojo's character having his reactions to multiple deaths simply written out and missed so many opportunities for a more fulfilling narrative.

in general i feel that the relationships between characters in jjk are so... flimsily written. i have whole essays about how completely unexplored yuji and kenjaku are and how all the characters post-culling-game have suffered in favor of dishing out cool fights with fake-feeling emotional stakes. gege please start writing fights in a meaningful way... more than that please explore character dynamics outside of a purely tactical/background info way... is this the same man who wrote hidden inventory

Second ask:

my god don't even get me started on yorozu. atp the 'gege hates women' jokes can't even be dismissed that lightly I saw tsumiki's reawakening in the last jjk episode and literally said out loud don't piss me off again

Ah, thank you. I've been a bit worried about the in-universe time in JJK. If I'm not mistaken, the story starts at some point in June, and for the Juvenile Detention Center Arc/Super Happy Fun Killing Yuji Time, some point in July. Of course, Shibuya happens on the day/night of October 31st, and likely the wee hours of November 1st. The entirety of the Culling Games Arc takes place in about two weeks of November, as I recall; actually, maybe less, since the very start indicates that Yuji was on the run for a week. So many short timeskips happened early on, and had negative effects on developing characterization and worldbuilding, both of which I've thought were weak since the beginning. Worldbuilding moreso, but characterization issues were especially apparent with the second-years of Tokyo JJH and all of the Kyoto cast. This caused quite a crunch on Culling Games, since so much needed to happen over a short period of time, leading to a jumbled, molasses pace.

It's actually really interesting to me that Sukuna would agree to postpone the fight to nearly the end of December, and this would have given us more time to explore the newer characters and solidify the older ones; we really needed more interactions between Yuji and others that weren't full of misery. Or seeing Gojo adapting to life back outside the Prison Realm, especially given that so much has changed; for a character that values reforming society and raising a self-assured, powerful new generation, losing that society should lead to a re-evaluation of his priorities. Or like...develop Ieri! Hana! Miwa! And kill off Mei Mei or actually address her position within the cast.

Yeah, one of my biggest problems from the get-go was feeling that Megumi & Nobara was a dynamic that had been left to the wayside, even during early Kyoto Goodwill Arc. And those had been characters that were meant to interact regularly...literally what attachment did Higuruma have to anyone that wasn't Yuji?¹ I adore Yuji's relationships, but he's barely been allowed to have any after Shibuya. How is Choso doing, now that the only people (Yuki & Tengen) not related to him are dead or robbed of agency?

Speaking of...hoo boy, Tengen is a hell of a topic to untangle. And most femme characters really don't get to do anything. Nobara is fun, but suffered since day one with a lack of plot presence, and literally being removed from battlefields/character conflicts, lmao. Ieri straight-up doesn't matter, especially as the manga goes on--but even in Hidden Inventory, which I do think is likely the peak of JJK, she has no real impact. You could basically replace her with a medpack, and little would change. Mai gets a very good conflict with Maki, but just about nothing between then and her death. Maki has given up her niche and much of what made her engaging to become...a serial killer on the good side, suspiciously Toji-shaped. I really didn't like Perfect Preparation, and I dread re-reading it.

But "Gege hates women" was less of a joke to me, and more a hyperbolic version of a statement that I do believe in: "Gege shows a clear apathy and disregard for his femme characters." I noticed very early on in my initial read-through (to the end of 145) that many of the femme characters were simply treated differently than much of the male cast, and often given less to do. One time that I was truly disgusted, though, was how Remi (the lady with hair like a scorpion's tail, and a dependent personality) was handled, even before her ultimate fate in Culling Games. So much of that simply rubbed me the wrong way, and felt genuinely offensive, both in regards to women and to dependent personality-type individuals. And what happened to her later...man, those panels gross me the fuck out with how much they sexualize a woman who's about to get trafficked. I definitely have a lot to say on that, but I want to make sure I can actually post this before Tumblr fucks me over again.

As a note, I don't use materials outside of the story to gauge the effectiveness of the writing (and it's also because I'm a Naruto fan, so I know the Hell of databooks, nevermind some of the other art I enjoy), but I may be missing some things. Feel free to continue to make asks or to reach out to me via DMs. I do enjoy discussing JJK, whether it be for things it does well, things it does poorly, or for other reasons.

¹We did get some Higuruma & Kusakabe, but this came in late, and then Higuruma died, lmao.

[twin-books]

Speaking of other topics.

I found one of my absolute favorite shows of all time on complete accident. It's all thanks to Drew Gooden and IDOLiSH7 (also a very good show).

IDOLiSH7 is a very nice feel-good idol anime. I adore it. It makes me unreasonably happy. It's based on a game of the same name that happens to be a rhythm game. They even have official music videos of their songs which I immediately found every single one of and watched them.

Then less than a month ago I finally watched that Drew Gooden video about Guitar Hero. I have never once played Guitar Hero and I barely watch Drew Gooden because I have like an endless list of YouTuber's I'm subscribed to that I just cycle through so this was at random.

But I guess watching that one video about Guitar Hero onto of all those IDOLiSH7 music videos had the YouTube algorithm go "Hmmm... she must really like rhythm games" and it recommended me one rhythm game based YouTube video. It immediately gave up on showing me anymore afterwards because I guess it realized I don't actually care too much about them. I just really like music.

But luckily this one video had this absolute banger of a song that someone had put into the rhythm game and tried to match the game to the beat. I freaking adored this song but it didn't give the name of the artist, just the title of the song so I told myself I'd like the video and then look into it later.

I completely forgot about it until a week later where I was looking through my liked songs on YouTube Music and saw one with a thumbnail of two animesque boys. I literally could not remember what this video was so I clicked it and then I saw it was that rhythm game. But I wondered why on earth these two dudes were the thumbnail when they were absolutely no where in the video.

So that song was Dive Back in Time from the first opening of the donghua, Link Click. I looked it up, saw that the same two anime-like dudes were on the album cover and thought to myself, "Huh, is this like a game or something?" The song was completely in English which threw me through a loop.

So I looked up Link Click, realized it was a donghua, then immediately looked up the opening this song was attached to because I figured based on the song title it had to be something about time travel.

Here's a fun fact about me... I absolutely adore time travel for a story narrative. It's so fun. But good time travel content is extremely hard to find because apparently it's super easy for people to absolutely screw up this amazingly creative and fun premise.

With that being said, I was willing to do just about anything to figure out if this was not only a time travel show but a good time travel show. So I watched the season 1 opening and it gave me absolutely no clues whatsoever. Absurdly unhelpful without context.

Yeah, I turned to wikipedia for the answers. And yes, it was about time travel and the premise sounded so gosh darn amazing. Here's the wikipedia synopsis;

After finding this I realized there was apparently a season 2 so out of pure curiosity I looked up the season 2 opening. It's called VORTEX. Amazing. If nothing else this show would be full of gorgeous animation and breath-taking music.

I immediately hit up @koo1creations. She is also an avid enjoyer of some good time travel stories and she also adores sci-fi which time travel stories tend to fall under so we were hyped. We also both took the same short animation course when we were young so we absolutely adore animation and we both adore music. This show looked like an absolute winner.

So like fools, Monday night we started Link Click fully intending to stop at like 4 episodes. Ha. Nope, absolutely not. We loved it too much, we binged the whole first season. Tuesday night we binged what was out of season 2. Thankfully for us there was only 2 episodes left of season 2 to be released as soon as we finished it.

I cannot begin to give this show the praise it deserves. Season 1 is still the best so far, I'd say. But season 2 is still very good. It's such a fun show full of twists and turns. It really makes you think and it's full of nuances. The animation and style is gorgeous, the music is amazing, the characters are intriguing, and the story is addicting.

So thank you Drew Gooden and IDOLiSH7 for like my new number 1 favorite show. Gotta be the best way I have ever actually found anything I liked. I have had many times where I had quite a few hoops I had to jump through to find another thing I liked but this one takes the cake.

[psychewritesbs]

I sent in a precious ask whining about megumi, and asking about how the characters would be spread to fight against sukuna and kenjaku, so I wanted to clarify I wasn't two anons T_T I'm just continuing from before ~

I believe yuji will play a big role in defeating kenjaku. What about you? Gojo's presence (I love you I do okay) makes thinking the how difficult given his title as strongest, but I'm wondering when yuji and kenjaku will interact with each other again and in a meaningful way. I'm not expecting immediate love family stuff and all that, but it's wild how small their interactions and dynamic is made of so little despite kenjaku being yuji's parent. As a result, I'm more excited to know how he'll handle sukuna than kenjaku 😭

Like, kenjaku's nefarious ways to birthing yuji is admirable in a loose way and I love what it means about yuji, but can we actually have them interact again please. As of right now, I don't mind who defeats kenjaku lol which is a shame for me. I know others would be upset (I understand) if his defeat was by someone other than yuji.

I wouldn't be surprised if gojo does too because though kenjaku isn't just about geto, but for gojo's motivation/pov, that's still something that has inhabited his best friends body, and then there's yuta, and I'm sure he'll fight kenjaku, but I'm unsure if that'll be his own defeat, and with that in mind, I'm curious to see how this can get done with the literal strongest who they had to seal being back in the game.

As for megumi, like I mentioned last ask about his sense of self overpowering sukuna's, but I can see yuji playing that big role with megumi playing a more active role to defeat sukuna.

Maki is a beast too, so I wonder what's going to happen with her. Also, miwa looked so ominous during her walk after the sendai colony, but I saw her standing with the group too?? I thought she would do something, but these next few chapters will tell something hopefully. Kashimo is in an interesting position as well since he wants to fight sukuna, so that's another thing. I could really see him leaving early and fighting sukuna already 🤣

Another question, but now that sukuna has megumi's ct, do you think him using it against gojo later would put him in a different light than if he didn't have it? Sukuna is pretty arrogant and confident in his strength and we still don't have 20 finger sukuna, but I always felt like him obtaining the ten shadows to add to his arsenal would make him seem like he knows he needs it to defeat gojo if he uses both his cts and that would mean he thinks hes not strong enough on his own and that doesn't seem to fit. If he fights gojo, I'm not sure gege would go the same route again with sukuna using only the 10S against gojo to make it seem like defeat by one of his students is his ending, so perhaps he may just use Shrine and if he believes he can win, then later he would use the 10S to create his world. I ask this because gojo vs sukuna is also the fated gojo vs zenin fight and what would it be without the six eyes plus 10S, so it's a mystery of how it'll all be handled.

I do think giving the antagonists, especially kenjaku prepping time will bite them in the ass.

Looool, this is how far behind I am on returning mail. HOLA! Welcome back anon 🥲.

Thanks for the Megumi love. The Megumi love is always indeed precious. There's seriously something about Megumi fans.

I believe yuji will play a big role in defeating kenjaku.

Ok but everything you wrote on this topic... yes.

let's keep nerding out under the cut.

Ehem... I actually totally forgot Kenny is Yuji's momdad.

This is a super weird tangent, but lately I saw a sign advertising 60k in exchange for becoming a surrogate mother and I considered it for a whole minute. My biggest concern with this would be getting attached to the child and then feeling a gaping hole about the kid for the rest of my life.

So I 300% agree about how significant it is that Kenny went through pregnancy for the sake of hishertheir plans. That's commitment.

I've seen what babies do to the body, now imagine Kenny having to fight sorcerers with morning sickness.

That's commitment.

As of right now, I don't mind who defeats kenjaku lol which is a shame for me. I know others would be upset (I understand) if his defeat was by someone other than yuji.

Anyways, I don't personally have any thoughts on who'd kill Kenny but there's defo a theme of patricide/matricide with Choso and Yuji. So, I wonder whether someone here is going to kill their mother/father, whether metaphorically or figuratively.

On the topic of Kenny, I love how much thought you've put into it lol. You're so right, there's several characters out for Kenny's neck rn and anyone could literally be the one to kill Kenny. My best guess is that Gege will milk this for angst purposes lol.

Ok, what about Tengen?! Tengen is sus, but not like when I used to think Hana was sus lol. Like... there's something going on there between Kenny and Tengen that we are being kept in the dark about.

miwa looked so ominous during her walk after the sendai colony

MAN. I really wanted to see Miwa not be useless. But I guess she's another victim of side character syndrome. Such a shame, really, but I guess I can't expect for every character to get the same amount of air time.

Kashimo is in an interesting position as well since he wants to fight sukuna, so that's another thing

You know what this feels like? It feels like Gege is playing chess with us. あの猫！

I had also forgotten about Kashi omg. I just wonder whether Kashi stands a chance against Sukuna. Anyways, as you say, here's another contender for killing Sukuna too.

but now that sukuna has megumi's ct, do you think him using it against gojo later would put him in a different light than if he didn't have it? Sukuna is pretty arrogant and confident in his strength and we still don't have 20 finger sukuna, but I always felt like him obtaining the ten shadows to add to his arsenal would make him seem like he knows he needs it to defeat gojo if he uses both his cts and that would mean he thinks hes not strong enough on his own and that doesn't seem to fit.

You know, this whole time I've been thinking Gojo might be the one to loose (his clothing choices aside) because he's arrogant about his abilities. But you're so right about Sukuna being arrogant af too.

That's why I loved seeing him struggle in ch 223.

Like he's realizing he has to take Gojo seriously.

Anyways, these two crazies are about to go at it and I'm looking forward to it.

But also... I don't know if I'm understanding you right, but it seems as though you're wondering whether Sukuna's interest in Megumi was because he needed 10 shadows to defeat Gojo/become the strongest?

I see what you mean.

I was also wondering whether Sukuna is a ct hoarder since he opens and closes something when he deploys ct that is different to his usual domain expansion.

I ask this because gojo vs sukuna is also the fated gojo vs zenin fight and what would it be without the six eyes plus 10S, so it's a mystery of how it'll all be handled.

This. I mean... so far Sukuna has shown us he has an uncanny ability to manipulate 10 shadows in a way that Megumi had not begun to comprehend yet. Argh... I just hope that if it comes down to it, if Gojo has to die, let it be at Megumi's hands, not Sukuna's.

I need to see Megumi save himself.

I do think giving the antagonists, especially kenjaku prepping time will bite them in the ass.

This was honestly a bit of a cop out for me with how Gege handled Gojo. Like Gojo literally just said "oh ok, sure, let's not fight rn". I hope he has a plan lol.

Thanks for the Megumi love 🥺.

[tortugatime]

Hi!! I was just checking out ur au so i was wondering if you could talk a bit about raph some more! Hes my fav and i absolutely love your design for him. Your whole au looks super awesome and i cant wait to see more about it! <33

aww i'm happy you like my au!!

raph is the first to have gotten "lost", due to splinter having believed him to have died from his injuries. due to how traumatic of an event it was for him (combined with him. literally being five years old + his head injury), he doesn't remember most of the night in question, nor does he remember his childhood before meeting draxum. everything he does know was filled in by what draxum assumed happened, hence why raph believes his brothers to all be dead (quite ironic, given what mikey believed…)

him and draxum have a very complicated relationship, always toeing the line between soldier and commander, mentor and mentee, and father and son. draxum tried to raise raph (who he dubbed as "red") to be the mutant soldier he created him to be, but he also grew quite attached. raph/red on the other hand refers to draxum as his master of sorts, but sees him as more of a mentor/caregiver. this complicated nature both incorporates to how long it takes for raph to return to the lair with mikey and draxum's redemption later on.

now for some fun trivia about raph :D

- draxum was originally going to call him green (due to remembering how lou jitsu had called him such), but changed his mind for unknown reasons. totally not because of raph.

- raph owns three teddy bears, two being gifts from huginn and muninn and the last being from draxum. draxum has stitched up their tears for him multiple times.

- bringing up his childhood before being taken in by draxum is an incredibly triggering topic for raph, due to him having suppressed it for so long. with time he starts working through it, but it's still very sensitive for him

- ffau!raph can control his anger similar to how his canon counterpart can, but his control over it is moreso like a switch; he keeps it under control most of the time, but then let's it all out during battles and training (sometimes entering a state similar to his savage mode)

thank you for enjoying my au!!!!

[icewindandboringhorror]

Other Misc. Rambling Thoughts on the topic:

(~ !!!!!!!!! if you're just reblogging this post for the Poll section, please reblog the original post without this addition* lol. ~)

(*not that there's anything super personal or weird about the addition, just that it's meant to be kind of casual Side Commentary, not really part of the Main Point Of The Poll, so it would feel kind of weird for it to be emphasized by being included in reblogs unless the reblogs were explicitly about the side commentary, etc..... if that makes sense.. ANYWAY!)

It's neat to read the written descriptions that people are mentioning in the tags, since it's almost like I can see or conceptualize the idea as well, but it's just.. I'm not SEEING it.

Like for example: I can imagine a vase, it's a muted mint green and slightly translucent, elaborate golden birds sprawled down the side in streaks of thin rough watery paint, the base material shimmers gently in the light, there's a small chip where it's cracked on the handle, etc, etc. .. But as I'm thinking about this I see literally nothing.

It seems like perhaps some people can visualize an object first, and THEN describe what they see. But I sort of work backwards. I am building the object in my mind, I can never see it, but it's a collection of concepts. Rather than visualizing all details as a whole at once, I am adding each detail one by one, building onto the IDEA of the thing.

The vase doesn't have a crack on the handle because I just automatically visualized a vase with a crack. It was more that I cognitively understand the concept of a vase, what they tend to be made out of, how they tend to look and feel, the properties they have. So based purely on that knowledge, I can imagine "a chip is something that a vase could have, it would look this way and behave this way" - more like... I'm constructing a bullet point Fact List about the object rather than seeing it.

So if you tell me to imagine an object, I can, in a way, imagine that object in great detail, but it's just.. I'm not SEEING those details, more just knowing it's qualities in a purely conceptual way. Sometimes in the tags when people are like "yeah I can see the skin of the apple, texture, little dots on the surface" it's like… I can imagine that too, I can know it's there, but just with no visual attached.

I guess rather than SEEING something and going ''ah. I know what this looks like because I have seen it''. I more just skip that visual step entirely and go ''I know what this looks like, I just randomly have a list of information about the concept in my mind.'' etc. Maybe similar to how sometimes in dreams, even though a house may look completely different and be in an entirely fake 'dreamlike' environment, you just somehow KNOW intuitively that it's meant to be your childhood home or something. Even when it looks nothing like it in reality. There's a built-in base knowledge of the properties or information of some things within a dreaming mind, etc.

--

This also makes me wonder about like.. how storytelling and myth is so important to cultures all across time. Or how this could tie also into concepts of religion.. etc. etc. If so many people really can kind of conjure these vivid images in their mind, then maybe that's part of why certain things are so meaningful to them? Like a "religious experience" being something you can actually really SEE/feel/lingering with you in your head, rather than just abstract words on a page, detached purely theoretical ideas, etc... hmmm

.

Plus also just for average emotional stuff too, even outside of broader cultural conceptual attachments..

Like, I don't think there's a direct 1 to 1 link (obviously not all people with mental illnesses that significantly reduce their emotional or expressive capacity also MUST have aphantasia or vice versa), but it's interesting as someone who DOES also have a much more lessened emotional range/pretty flat affect/etc. etc. to think like.. Maybe I WOULD be more emotional, in a way, if I could have these vivid experiences..?

Perhaps memories would hold deeper significance if they could really stay with me vividly. Or storytelling would evoke more of a deep emotional reaction to me if I could really picture and feel the things that are going on. If things were more TANGIBLE in my brain, rather than always merely conceptual highly abstracted ideas.

Kind of like, it's probably easier to get over the death of a pet or something, if after not seeing them for an hour you already don't remember what they looked like (beyond just a vague fact list of traits), and you have no vivid memories or mental reminders of them (beyond just factual information stores). COGNTIVIELY you can appreciate the idea of their absence, of course, you still miss them, but there's just no remaining visceral sensory ties. A very "out of sight, out of mind" sort of thing in terms of attachments, memories, emotions, etc. Maybe certain things are easier to "get over", when you're not having constant mental sensory reminders that occasionally rekindle your feelings about the event or etc.??

(like for example, maybe someone could remain angry about an argument longer if they could vividly replay it in their head over and over again. VS just like.. 'Yes I can factually recall the fact I had an argument, and I do have knowledge stored about what precisely was said, but any sort of sensory data such as sights/smells/feelings, etc. from the actual moment of the event are long gone and can never be conjured again in my mind." etc.)

Which again, I think lessened emotional permanence and image permanence in the mind are NOT inherently linked, can all be caused by different things for different people. And, since I can't visualize anything in my head, maybe I'm misunderstanding how it happens and the effect it may have on stuff like remembering things you miss or replaying arguments, etc. etc. But it's still a little interesting to think about, if they could influence each other to some degree.... :0c --

Lastly, It's also weird because I'm actually pretty good at estimating distance and spaces? I can quickly assemble furniture without an instruction manual, pretty easily have a concept of how much space a chair may take up in a room, how two mechanical parts might fit together - BUT, I am literally not actually visualizing anything. I cannot see 3D objects in my mind at ALL. It's like.. just based on the pure List Of Facts About Things Which I Have Observed.. I can intuitively go "oh this works like this/this is this size" just because.. I know it's that size. I don't have to see anything to know..?

But then on the other hand, I'm terrible at directions without a map (I guess because a 3d outdoor environment has WAY more complexity than like.. "Will this square fit into another square?"etc. lol ).

BUT, I also draw/sculpt/etc. entirely without references, and seem to do mostly okay at that..? Like.. I can't even remember the last time I actually used a reference or looked at anything whilst drawing. It's all muscle memory, and me just adjusting as I go until something "looks right" on paper, I never have a set image in my head (or external reference) before hand.. Hrmm....

AND.. I used to say that I had a photographic memory when I was younger, which I know NOW is not true (I always thought it was just an expression, not that people could literally see things in a photographic way). But what I was describing is, I do often associate information with imagery, just... without imagery....

Like "Oh, I know that I took my medicine earlier today because I have a distinct memory, a snapshot of a moment in time, of me rattling the pill bottle in my hands as I looked up at a stop sign while in the back seat of a car". When I say this, I can't ACTUALLY see/feel/hear a pill bottle, or vividly picture a stop sign, but it's more just a factual recall, of. Even though I don't see these things, I know they happened, the information of them happening (me hearing a sound and also looking at a stop sign at the same time) has been stored in my brain as a memory, a collection of linked facts. --

As for other senses, I cannot taste or feel anything in my head AT ALL.. wild that some people mention that. I mean, again, I can have a purely factual recall as if reading a textbook, knowing the information of 'X item typically has X texture, therefore I can imagine what it may be like to feel it' or 'X usually has this taste' etc. - but I can never actually experience those senses in any capacity in my mind alone. I would say audio is my strongest mental sense (maybe a 2.5 or 3 (if it were translated onto the above scale where 1 is most vivid and 5 is nothing)), then visual (4.5 at most, usually 5), and then taste and smell and such are just complete 5, absolutely nothing, I didn't even know people could experience taste or feeling just in their mind alone.. lol...

I know this is just a silly bad quality random screencap of a screencap that I found on facebook lol, BUT it's a succinct enough image to easily describe the concept in a quick/accessible way hopefully :

-

(and of course, feel free to elaborate in tags, etc.! (especially elaborating about other senses as well.. can you "hear" in your mind just as well as you can "see"? taste? etc.) It's an interesting topic to me, as someone who's like a 4.5 at MOST lol. I'm curious what option will be the most common :0c )

[kopicetic]

Mini update time: I agreed to date him.

I don't know, we have had some massive blow up fights recently that leave us both crying and they're always over his inability to communicate and my shitty hair trigger temper.

This is something that I'm aware of and am actively trying to work on. Usually what happens is that it's just him not telling me something, like that he's been struggling with some issues lately that have affected our sex life. Which I fucking adore this man idk. He's one of my best friends. The problem is I need physical intimacy along with emotional shit, without the physical stuff the emotional side begins to fade for me. If I feel unwanted physically, I cannot be emotionally attached and I am likely to leave.

This normally hasn't been an issue since I have huge issues with intimacy and trust and actively run from actual relationships lol. Like ya girl is fucking turning 35 this year (🤦🏻‍♀️😭🤮) and he is the first actual boyfriend I've ever had because yikes.

He's also the only dude I've ever liked enough to even try with.

I mean I feel like we've had some break-throughs each fight? Lol. One is that we have dramatically different views to fighting. For me, my temper flares up hella fast and like the hounds of Hell are about to swallow you whole, but just as quick it's over and I'm horny af and angry makeup sex is the best etc.

He just feels miserable, wants to cry alone, is so far removed from the idea of even attempting sex, feels drained, etc. Which just means I need to adjust my thinking a bit here. It's been a cycle for me because fighting is almost like foreplay for me. We fight, I'm in the mood, I make a move, he rejects me, I get madbro all over again. But knowing how he feels just means I can switch up my reactions. Ideally we wouldn't fight at all, I fucking hate fighting with him.

One of the reasons he gets super drained is because I selfishly refuse to let him leave before we reach a resolution. He starts being like "It doesn't matter, you've made up your mind, blah blah" and I'm like "No. I want you to explain yourself." The idea of leaving stuff unresolved so we can pick up fighting in the morning sounds horrible to me. I don't know, the idea of leaving him when we're both mad and upset just seems so fucking terrible to me.

Then he explains himself and how shit I've done makes him feel. Some of it is valid. Sometimes, it's anxiety related, he convinces himself that something is true when it's not even remotely the case. The valid stuff I've made note of, realize how I've fucked up, and actively try to stop that kind of toxic bullshit. When it's anxiety driven, I explain what it really is or try and figure out why it comes across that way, etc.

So I don't know, I don't want to keep fighting him over stupid shit but I feel like these previous verbal blow-ups have helped us reach a deeper and better understanding?

Like he's hella introverted. Has no friends really, hates talking to people. We met through Pokémon Go, and they do a weekly hour where it spawns in only legendary raids and since I'm like literally the polar opposite (I'll talk to anyone, I'm happiest when I'm the center of attention and surrounded by people lol) raid hour for me is to catch up with my other Pogo friends, talk to people, hang out, see them face to face, etc. One of my pogo friends always has ridden with me for that.

He goes but he's always super salty because he hates that it can't just be me and him. He hates that I talk to my friends about emotional issues or even anything at all. I mention having a conversation with someone about *topic* and he makes all these loaded comments about how he guesses he's just too stupid for me to talk about whatever with him. Some other friends of mine and I started doing that Hunt A Killer thing to try and have more regular friend time and he suggested we just buy it ourselves and solve them all together because my friends are too dumb to pick up on shit.

The very fact that I've made any personal posts about him at all would DEEPLY upset him, but like I can't keep everything bottled up. I'm not sharing details so idk.

But like the whole thing is that we've realized that, because he's not a talker, has no friends (the four people he lists off that he speaks to are me, his dog, his son, and his dad) BY CHOICE, and struggles to open up to anyone means that he finds our conversations romantically and emotionally fulfilling. They make him feel bonded and intimate and like we're being super close. Even our text messages have that effect for him.

I literally talk to people all day lol, I have my group chat bubble open at all times, I'm constantly texting and DMing and snapping people, talking is just a thing I do lol, it's like a basic level bodily function with me lol, without talking to people I'd die. 🤣🤣🤣

It doesn't make me feel close to him. It's not intimate. It doesn't replace being able to physically touch his skin or wind my fingers in his hair or have sex with him or anything like that. Not even close. Kissing and cuddling feel way too intimate for me, I always used to have a no kissing rule because it feels more personal than sex but I make out with this man all the time because at least we're physically close and I can feel his heart beat and hear him breathe. Post-coital cuddling is one of my least favorite things to do and I deal with it for him.

So Idk, I feel like this new understanding is massive. We get each other more.

I don't even know where I was going with this post lol. Anyway he was really drunk and I was just pretty drunk when I told him I'd actually date him if he promised to tell me shit and that I would focus on methods of toning down the spontaneous rage. I'm kinda hoping he forgot because honestly we fight over the same shit constantly. Telling him we could be in a relationship feels like a stopgap, a desperate attempt to make this trainwreck work.

I don't get what massive difference calling him my boyfriend and him getting to tell his family about his girlfriend makes. I didn't understand. But it's super important to him and also his self esteem so like maybe it will work from an anxiety reducing standpoint.

And he opened up a bit all on his own today, told me about feeling depressed. He failed his classes last semester, something I feel hella guilty about, and it's been fucking with him, but then he said "You're worth failing for. " Bruh, no one is worth mortgaging your future over. He chose to spend time with me over focusing on school because he cared more about going places with me and getting to kiss me and hold hands than he did on maintaining his 4.0 I just. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ That doesn't help me feel any less guilty tbh.

Anyway this was so fucking long, if anyone actually read this whole thing then goddamn.

[waywardstation]

i really hope game freak gives pla an actual ending. like it really feels like they forgot to write one and it makes the whole experience feel empty. like don't get me wrong i love the characters and the game is super fun but it feels incomplete. like this is only half of a story. hisuian snow is cool but it feels like we lost our last chance at an actual conclusion to the story. especially with gen 9 approaching the future of this game looks bleak. the time theme does give me a little hope some of the story in pla will be expanded upon in someway but it's still a small chance and i doubt it'll actually happen. of course future legends games are possible but i'm not sure they'd really connect to arceus. especially if they're not in sinnoh or even the same time period. as someone who is really attached to dawn/akari i just really wanted the protagonist to go home. people might argue that if it had a definitive ending you can't shiny hunt anymore but games like the kingdom hearts series already figured this out like 20 years ago. have a save that is right before the ending gets triggered so you can go back and do the stuff you missed it's literally that simple

also sorta off topic but i really hope we AT LEAST get one last update like daybreak and they call it nightfall it's literally so perfect they gotta do it

I do agree with you Anon. It does seem like more could be done, but I understand if they didn’t invest as much on the game’s story due to concerns it wouldn’t be received well (but it was!!)

The dream would be to get more DLC released with/after this last episode, connecting the game with the series (and I have already discussed why I think Alec’s return to Hisui is around the same time the protag comes to Hisui) and have the DLC expand upon whatever connection this last episode would hint at, while having that DLC give some resolution that we feel the game needs.

That’s the dream!

I do think at some point they would have had something connected to the modern world, seeing as a modern room was found in the games files. It either could have been part of the prologue, or a segment where you go home, like what you said. (And right? Even PMD had solved the issue you brought up as well!)

AND OH MAN ANON that would be such a great name!! Daybreak and Nightfall! Love it!

Thank you for your thoughts Anon, I’m cautiously hopeful like you are!

[binch-i-might-be]

Do you mayhaps have any story plans addressing John and Alex's kinda codependency in the Thin Ice Verse? The whole kidnapping hostage situation definitely made them super attached at the hip (more so than before). John's issues with his stinky father Henry Laurens has not helped either. I'd like to see them realize that it is #notgood for John to rely on Alex and George as the sole providers of his emotional needs, AND that they CAN'T provide all of those needs for John. 1/2

well well well

okay so this is actually a pretty interesting topic, but not one I have any plans as of now to address within the story!

there's definitely a codependency there, and while I'm not saying that's a good thing, I think it's understandable, considering their circumstances. because not only are they at war, they're also hiding from their own people!

the very close, very dependent relationship is I think kind of unavoidable here, just because there's quite literally no one else they can trust like they trust each other. (and yeah, the kidnapping and stinky Henry Laurens did not help the matter lmao)

they do actually spend time apart tho! I only mention it in passing a few times (usually when the plot demands them to be apart lmao), but John tends to go out with the rest of the aides while Alex, who's not the biggest fan of neither alcohol nor inebriated men, usually doesn't join.

I'm not really building to a Realisation™ that they've been too dependent on each other, but I agree it can definitely read that way. it's mostly because the thing I enjoy writing most is them being together, which is why I gloss over all the times they're apart.

this codependency is also something that will lessen over time, I feel like. more specifically after the war, when everything settles and they have more of an own space where they don't have to worry 24/7, and they do have occupations that keep them apart after the war, they won't be working in the same office all day forever!

as usual I can't make any concrete predictions of what exactly will happen in the series because I basically just follow my heart on that one haha (apart from the most important plot points ofc), but I really don't know if I'll go much deeper into their friendships. which sounds kind of Bad hrhdjdjj but like, it's fanfiction that I write for fun and the things that are the most fun to me are John and Alex being in love and Gwash being a dad :)

I do appreciate you reading into it like that tho, this was a very interesting thought to roll around my smooth little brain for a while!

[skydigiblogs]

Alright, I made a blog so I could post this whole write up somewhere lmao.

My Friend Wants to Get Into Digimon: What Should They Watch?

(an extremely edited and expanded version of a guide I wrote for a friend of ours)

Bias notes: We have not watched all series subbed yet. We're about halfway through watching 01 subbed. I'm pretty sure we did watch Savers subbed at some point, but I'm rewatching it subbed right now and it sure doesn't feel fresh! My sub v dub commentary thus is a little thin in most cases.

Also, we have not watched certain items on the list such as Applimon, Last Evolution Kizuna, the most recent 02 movie, and a lot of other OVA releases (because God they were hard to find and our current rewatch has not gotten to them yet!).

Additionally, if you disagree with my opinions, tell me what series I'm underselling so I can find a new way to love it! :)

With that out of the way, what series of Digimon should you get your friends to watch? Vaguely in order of my most to least recommended (barring the Honorable Mention section):

[WARNING: THIS IS SUPER LONG]

->Digimon Tamers: a well-fleshed out series set in the real world as the digital world begins to influence and intersect with it. My personal favorite, it explores a lot of surprisingly complex themes (including the trauma of grief, consequences of escapism and nostalgia, and the place of violence in change).

While complex thematic elements are extremely common in this series, even from the anime's earliest days, I find Tamers to be an approachable series to get into for someone new to Digimon. It also has an interesting angle approaching its place in the legacy of the series, which can be appreciated by new and old viewers alike. In this series, after all, Adventure and 02 are just fictional series. Digimon aren't real... right?

Also this is the best dubbed series imo, even if Adventure has a soft spot in my heart. Many people will mention that there is nuance lost in the dub in certain characters, but as I have yet to watch through the sub, I can't personally speak to it and may have to write a follow up on this later.

Tamers also has lore alluding to the never-localized Wonderswan games, however, which may confuse some newcomers to the franchise. Bear this in mind.

Also, if your New Digimon Friend is super into Evangelion, this isn't even a question, just show them Tamers (/hj).

(->Bonus section for specifically the OVA, "Digimon Adventure," which was aired preceding Digimon: Adventure in Japan, but got mashed into the iconic and chaotic Digimon: The Movie, which i've put down below separately because it is a whole other beast.)

->Digimon Adventure: the original! The dub is a wildly nostalgic topic, and while some lore and character nuance is lost, it's still a good place to start. I have the freshest comparison to the sub right now since I'm on a watch of it currently, and the choices in the original give it a much more mature, emotional weight that, well...

Uhh. Look, I love and can sing "Hey Digimon" at the drop of a hat, but there's a time and a place for it lol. Hell, I literally quoted it in the unedited version of my write up, because it has such an iconic summary of the story.

I'll quote it here to even illustrate how well that song captures the premise as a bizarre digital isekau: "Seven young kids go to camp for the summer and wind up livin' in a digital land! Where everybody gets to meet his own digimonster: a digital companion, a digital friend."

As a song that plays for almost every action sequence after episode 32 or so, though? It feels like a cruel undercutting of the series' emotional maturity (though not bad enough that it didn't leave kids everywhere, myself included, with extreme nostalgia for the series and an emotional attachment to it). Music choices in the dub are very of-the-time loud and attention grabbing, so keep that in mind when selecting your choice of dub or sub.

At the end of the day, though, sub vs. dub for a newcomer I think will boil down to individual preference, and if the new comer can handle some occasionally hokey dialogue.

(->Bonus section for specifically the OVA "Digimon: Our War Game." it takes place between 01 and 02, and is overall just dope as hell. Finally watched this subbed the other day and the contrast between it and the dub are fascinating. I'm not elaborating right now though, but most of what I said above in the Adventure section applies here.)

->Adventure 02: I'm not sure I would jump straight into it without watching Adventure, but if your friend likes Adventure, then why not try the direct sequel? It's a little bit hit or miss for me at some times, but my most recent rewatch of the dub in 2020 was still a primarily enjoyable experience. It does some interesting things with the world Adventure introduced us to!

However, some of the same dub warnings still apply, as well as the fact that one of the main characters features heavily in the never-localized Wonderswan games.

Says in my notes here that I also wrote down that this series was "also pretty gay imo" and "if you do end up watching it, you'll understand why."

I have yet to watch this series subbed, and may report back once I remedy that.

(->The third OVA, "Hurricane Touchdown" takes place halfway through Adventure 02 iirc. It exists, and I've never watched the subbed version.)

(->The movie "Digimon X-Evolution:" a standalone movie released with Digimon World 4. It's about genocide and supercomputers. It was never dubbed into English, so thank God for fansubbers, the real MVPs. I would only recommend this movie if your New Digimon Fan friend can handle retro 3D animation. If they can get past it, this standalone story is pretty good.)

(->Extra long bonus segment on Digimon: The Movie (aka the dub quilt project FOX Kids mashed together out of three different OVAs): but like mostly for the meme. Like the dub is iconically funny?? It is whiplash incarnate, it's trying to use dubbing tricks to tie three unrelated stories together, it's...

It's a goddamn mess. I play this for friends I'm close with who I can't otherwise get into Digimon because at least they get to experience one of the most bizarre things I've had the pure joy of watching as a fan of this series. Our brother and I would rewatch this movie every year or so, sometimes just to see the dubbed section from Our War Game, sometimes to just revel in the sheer chaos.

However, if your New Digimon Fan friends have any interest in Adventure and 02, this movie spoils quite a bit of both series.

If that all sounds good, strap on in for some late 90s cheese. Whether that's gourmet or gone bad is dependent on how much nostalgia you have for dial-up shrieking.)

->Digimon Savers (or Data Squad, I guess?): depending on if you're watching the sub or dub, this is series 5, Digimon Savers or Data Squad. Personally, I would seriously recommend watching this subbed. The dub is watchable... kinda (unlike another series we'll be talking about), but be prepared for a lot of bizarre artifacts thanks to some Google Translate-tier work.

Digimon names suffer pretty bad in this regard, as well as one of the main antagonists. Also, like Adventure, a little bit of that lore perfume is lost in shipping. I have more on this topic I want to say in an essay I'll probably end up writing, but at the end of the day, both are still watchable.

This series is basically "Men in Black, but what if Digimon instead of aliens?" It explores themes of xenophobia and even a little sprinkling into corruption of the state (if you squint, that might just be me reading into it though). It's actually tied with Tamers as my favorite series, but because of some, uh... reasons... I'm hesitant to recommend this above what all I've said so far.

Our main character is a street fighter that regularly punches Digimon in the face so hard he can digivolve his partner.

No I am not joking. If that sounds like something your New Digimon Fan friends like, however, please watch it. The juxtaposition of Marcus digging his fist into a Mega Level digimon and the serious tone of some of the show is just. God. I love Savers.

->Xros Wars: I did not finish Boy Who Leapt Through Time so I'm not going to be getting into it. Sorry.

That said, at times, Xros Wars can kind of feel like a lot. It took me a lot of tries to get into it, personally, but once I did, I ate through it. The series differs from prior series in the way its Digimon mechanics work, but that might not be an issue for newcomers to the franchise.

In this series, factions vie for control of the Digital World through literal representations of different zones called Code Crowns. The main character's faction is helmed by the underdog self-proclaimed King of Digimon, Shoutmon, fighting against the Bagra Empire.

I'm fairly certain there's an entire genre of anime this series is styled after. I would tell you the genre if I knew it, though, so you'll just have to take that light summary above lol.

Do not watch the dub. You will regret it. The dub of this series was aired on Nick and heavily censored as a result.

HONORARY MENTIONS:

->Ghost Game: for if you want Digimon but what if it was Scooby Doo shenanigans for 67 episodes (but extra scary! this is a horror anime!). Idk, I don't have much to say. I liked this series, but from what I gather most people have a mixed reception for it, which is totally understandable. It's a better series for people who like the relatively plot-lite variety of episodic narratives, as opposed to Digimon's usual plot-thickening variety of episodic narratives.

->Frontiers: Digimon, but what if instead of partner Digimon, the humans turned into Digimon "Power Rangers" style? It's alright. That's the most my opinion on it really goes. It's only placed here because I have nothing super interesting to say about it unfortunately, so my persuasive efforts are a little moot. It has its fans, though!

->Applimon. I've heard nothing but good things about this series. I have not watched it.

OTHER DIGIMON MEDIA:

->Tri as an anniversary sequel to the Adventure series is... a little bit complicated. It references a lot of lore that didn't make it to the dub, so if you're watching it and confused... yeah, I was there too when I watched it.

->Last Evolution Kizuna is the sequel to Tri... I think? I haven't watched it. I'd like to, just because I'm curious. Other people can speak better to it though.

->02: The Beginning is the newest OVA. It also exists! I haven't seen it. Takes place after Kizuna.

->Also, there are a whole bunch of other OVAs that I really didn't put down here outside of the Adventure canon because all the series up to Xros Wars had an OVA or two. The only reason I know about where to put the Adventure OVAs is thanks to an old review blog I read a few years back. If I can find it, I'll edit the blog's name in here.

A friend said he's interested in watching digimon!! I just gotta figure out which one to start him with.

I'm leaning towards Tamers personally... just because it's a little more darker and might hook him in more. I've actually only seen Tamers one time all the way through too, back when it was on TV

[purplerose244]

My thoughts on Seabound!!! 🌊🌊🌊 (1/4)

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Finally Nya's season! Our queen, our water goddess, our amazing girl gets what she deserves! 😍😍😍

What I know about the season beforehand is that Nya's powers apparently are getting problematic for some reasons? Which is a pretty common topic in other shows but it's a first in Ninjago, usually the elemental powers don't have focus and I LOVE that we now get to see stuff like that 💕💕💕

I know there should be Wojira involved, trusting The Island to deliver that little foreshadowing at the end of the episode 🤷‍♀️ Also Maya is back... MAYA IS FINALLY BACK AFTER SEVEN SEASONS YES!!! 😭😭😭

I have nothing else to say, I have no idea what this will bring, hopefully something as good as Master of the Mountain! 🖤

Alright, here we go!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

Warning reader, I might be fangirling to an extreme because I love mah girl Nya and I've been wanting Kai and Nya's parents to be back ever since Hands of Time ended. So yeah... screaming alert 😅

At this point I don't doubt that the intro is great, we reached such a level of animation and we got The Fold 😍😍 Love the marine vibe and how it's similar to The Island, because it's a great intro 👌

NOW I like the writing! Maybe they rushed the dialogue's quality for The Island to get here? It's just fun and in character, maybe it's just me but I'm enjoying it a lot for now

How many episodes are in this? Wiki says ten, then I checked again and it's sixteen like with Master of Mountain... eh, it looks good so far so it's fine whatever happens 🤷‍♀️

A BIG SPLASH

Oohhh, new villain! One that uses... flames... huh, does she know there's literally a master of fire in the ninja team? Eh whatever she looks cute, give it up for Miss Demeanor!! 👏👏

Wait... OMG IS THAT ERIN MATTHEWS??? WE GOT MACY!! ❤❤❤

Whoa, we're finding out where did the order of the vengestone from season 13 come from?? YAS! CONTINUITY!

Yep, there it is, Nya lost control... her attacks look so cool 😍

Lol that kid trying to be a nindroid and Zane being offended 😂😂 Sorry hun, you're that popular

Aaahhh, thank you Ninjago! You gave me back Nya the perfectionist 😂 I was worried her reaction to her powers wasn't going to be in character but it looks fair so far. Brings me back to Possession, my favorite season 💙💙💙

WE GOT BACK THE FACT THAT SHE CAN MAKE IT RAIN!!! YAS!!! I might be easy to please but I love these details 🤩

🤯🤯🤯 Okay they are definitely going somewhere this time and I LOVE IT, because wow. WOW. Are we actually addressing the forever questioned fact that wind and water weren't elements that Chen needed at the Tournament? Are we giving a reason for them to exist outside the main set of elements and the elemental masters?? Duuuude, season 15 don't let me stop you, keep going 😍

Mm, so water and wind are connected to Wojira (now I see the connection with the special). Are we setting the ground for a new master of wind? 😏😏 It's risky going for a Morro replacement but it's a super intriguing idea! Oooor Edgy Boy TM might come back? WHO KNOWS I'M CURIOUS ANYWAY 🤩

Love how it is universal knowledge that Nya is super indipendent 👌

YES YES FINALLY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MAYA!!! 😍😍😍 Is it too much hoping into a Ray cameo as well?? Pleaaaase? Also addressing Krux after so many seasons, this feels exciting!! 😊

This is what I'm talking about, training, fighting scenes, show me everything that water goddess can do! 🌊🌊🌊

Aaahhh, Nya flexing her mightiness through anger, just to remind us that she is the descendant of a water master as much as of a fire master 😅

YES YES YES YES IT'S HAPPENING FINALLY AFTER SEVEN SEASON THE FIRE WATER PARENTS ARE FINALLY BACK!!! 🔥🌊🔥🌊🔥🌊 I'M SO HAPPY I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG!!! 😭

RAY IS THERE TOO HECK YES!!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 I shouldn't get this excited at only the first episode... WHO CARES RAY IS BAAAAACK!!! ❤❤❤

Omg Maya is definitely different from what I expected, turns out Kai's enthusiasm came from her 😂

Oh look at my flame babe 😍

He's so happy his parents are here, he's a total family man ❤❤❤

Nya is maaaaad... 😅

THERE SHE IS

WELCOME BACK JILLIAN I MISSED YOU 💚💚💚 Would it be too much having a "Your voice sounds familiar" moment with Maya and Lloyd? 😂

I'm so stoked for this! I want all the interactions I've missed for all of this time, asap!! HECK yes!! 😍😍😍😍

Oh, are we looking over the Miss Demeanor, vengestone situation? Mm... for now at least... WHO CARES FIRE WATER PARENTS!! 🔥🌊🔥🌊🔥🌊

THE CALL OF THE DEEP

Imma just slow clap for The Fold because this is another amazing intro, one of those things in this show that stays awesome no matter what happens 👍👍

So Maya gave Nya her discipline and perfectionism, but not the passion behind it 😂 I like this, it's not your conventional master of water, although I'd say it's different from the impression she gave me back in HoT. Maybe this is how she is when she's not trapped for fifty years? 😅😅

Is it too much asking for Kai and Ray bonding while the water women get the work done? 😅😅

Is this the sequel of Green Eggs and Ham?

Green Pancakes and Ham? 😂

Oh it's seaweed nevermind... at breakfast? I'm all for sushi rolls but this is a little 😅 Although since Maya missed their childhood she probably never cooked meals for them... how did I get myself sad 😢

Whoa, Maya is a strict teacher! I got flashbacks from my first and only dance lesson, teachers nitpicking every single pose, uuurrrggg I feel ya waterlily 😡

Again, not a fan of Misako, but coming from her the whole speech about wanting to be there for her child makes a lot of sense

Yes. YES.

YEEEEESSSS KAI AND RAY FAMILY BONDING THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED I'M GETTING ALL OF MY WISHES GRANTED FOR THIS ONE ❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥❤

AND MY FLAME BABE IS SO GLAD HE GOT HIS PARENTS!!! 😭😭😭

Lol with Kai's new hair they look even more related 🤣

Ray also sounds so happy he gets to have his moment with his son 😢 I feel so blessed in this moment 👍

Also this scene makes a lot of sense. Nya grew up to be indipendent, one that succeed in most of stuff without problems, she built her life without any help and doesn't look for it. Kai grew up more insecure, he got some walls up but loves to take care of others and be taken care of. With a childhood lost he looks forward to a bit of softness ❤❤

Did Maya make real bacon for that sandwich? Do I smell some favoritism? 😅 Or maybe she really wants Nya to get onto the water mind setting idk 🤷‍♀️

Little tiny complain, why isn't Jay doing the fixing? Did he give up mechanics completely? It feels like we haven't seen him do tech stuff in so long, I miss techy boy in action 😞

And no, having to check on the bathroom doesn't count 😅

Aww robot date 💜🤍💜🤍

AAAHH ROBOT DISASTER 😱😱😱 ZANE DANG IT YOU WERE DOING SO GOOD NOT TRYING TO DIE IN THE LAST TWO SEASONS!!

Oh that was weird, weird magic purple wave thingie?

I DID NOT ASK FOR A SEASON WITH A BEST GIRL AT THE EXPENCE OF ANOTHER BEST GIRL PIX DON'T YOU DARE DO THIS TO ME 😱😱😱😱😱

"Well this is troubling." I love this samurai so freaking much 💜💜💜

GUYS THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND EPISODE, I'M A LITTLE SCARED NOW 😢

Okay Nya admitting that something's wrong looking so apologetic, girl you don't need to do that you already own my heart 😭

Alright, I'm guessing this is Wojira's power or something, and they will have to go down below and find out why... just throwing this in, maybe Maya did something? Because she wanted to finally be with her family and needed an excuse? JUST A THEORY WITH NO BASE I REALLY HOPE I'M WRONG!!!

Okay, two episodes and I'm BEYOND engaged, let's keep it up! 😍

UNSINKABLE

Getting an idea how this episode might end already 😂😂

Look, I love best girl Pixal, but I'm kinda sad that she seems to be the only one tinkering at this point. Like, I saw Nya fix little stuff, while Jay dropped engineering altogether, I miss my engineers team 😭

Aww, the guys didn't want to crush Pixal's dream of an unsinkable boat 💜 But honestly yeah, I agree with Cole, this might end badly 😅😅

Thank goodness

I was worried they forgot about Jaya ❤💙❤💙 Jay is such a cutie omg

Nya: Mm, going on a potentially dangerous mission with unstable powers in the heart of my element or... mom's tofu pancakes... *yeets herself over the ship*

I'm making too many screenshots of the Smith family... WHO CARES THEY ARE BACK AND THEY ALL LOOK SO GOOD!!! 😍😍😍😍

Aww Ray wants to play with his son and his friends so CUTE ❤❤❤ Still can't believe they play Prime Empire after everything that went down 😂😂

Whoa whoa whoa, Kai and Cole are sitting this one out? That's actually interesting, I'm pretty sure I saw Cole's scuba suit in the sets though so I didn't expect it... lol it's actually kinda fair that the two that used to be afraid of water aren't going 😂😂

Bet Kai is happy to stay behind because he gets to spend time with his dad 😭

Also studying the fire elementals?? Uhm, yes please?? TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT MY FLAME BABE!!! 😍😍😍😍

I'm sure this one scene...

... made so many lavashippers happy ❤🖤❤🖤 Cole you got Ray's blessing

Ninja team acting cool while Jay is being Jay, it's how it always goes, it's the entire show's description and I absolutely love it 😂 That wink though 💙

PIRATE ZANE IS BACK 😂😂😂 Haven't seen him since Possession, and this time he's not even malfunctioning 👌 Pixal is so done with his dorky boyfriend 😝

Of course Jay already has a ghost butler theory going on 😂

OF COURSE IT'S MAYA 😂😂

To be honest muffins would sold me too 😅 Not sure if she will make them out of tofu again though...

It's actually really interesting that we still haven't met the actual enemies, it does build up excitment! Very curious about these squid guys 👍

Well what do you know, the Unsinkable sank. Who would have thought?

... yeah same, sorry Pix 😅

FIVE THOUSANDS FATHOMS DOWN

Aaaahhh, Nya fixing stuff! That's more like it!! 😍😍

Oww, that one speech, I've been waiting for so long for that! Maya just wants to catch up with her daughter and it's not her fault she was separated from her children, but Nya did everything on her own with Kai. Only fair she isn't seeking for her help right now... still sad 😢

Pff, with this ninja team there's not a moment of privacy 😂😂

Maya cleaning his future son-in-law's laundry what the HECK 😂😂😂 To be fair Jay has a bit of a history of having to change underwears during sea travels 😝

Zane was attached to a battery? When?... are you talking about that one scene in Prime Empire? Cause that's not really a flashback I wanna ha- whoops never mind got the flashback 😱

Maya looks more calm now, I think she's trying to act more reasonable and she's got good points 👍 I know people were a little weirded out by how more cheerful she looks in comparison to Hands of Time, but I think she gets the most serious and rational when time needs. That's actually fascinating of her 🤔

CALLING OUT AN ATTEMPTED MURDER

THIS GIRL IS TOO GORGEOUS MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT 🤩🤩🤩 Like my gosh that smirk, what the heck Pix 💜💜💜

Okay but Jay looking at Nya until the doors are completely closed?? CAN YOU FEEL MY JAYA HEART BEATING?? ❤💙❤💙

Whoa green gas I thought this was Nya's season 😂

MAYA WHY ARE YOU SAYING THIS STUFF YOU'RE SCARING ME 😱😱😱 I SWEAR LEGO IF YOU BROUGHT BACK WATER MOM JUST TO KILL HER OFF I'M GONNA SUE YOU 😭😭😭

I really REALLY like the atmosphere of the entrante of the temple! Super sealike and ancient! 🌊🌊🌊

Maya: off we go, into the spooky old temple! (Why does it feel like something Kai would say? 😂)

Oh gee, someone sleeping in the deep, who could that be? Coff Wojira coff

Whoa the jellyfishes look pretty lifelike!

HERE HE COMES

WELCOME BACK GILES!!! ONCE AGAIN ON A LEGO SHOW I MISSED YOU SO MUCH YOU AND YOUR GODLIKE VOICE!!! 😍😍😍😍 Gosh he's a villain but he's got Clay's voice, how can I even try to hate him?? 😅

Alright, knocking down my water girls, that is pretty hateful material... BUT CLAAAYYY 💙💙💙

So they need the two amulets to wake up Wojira? Isn't one on the island? Fire dad and son coming to the rescue? WHO KNOWS BUT I'M ENJOYING THIS A LOT SO FAR KEEP GOING SEABOUND 😍😍😍

[hive-worm-on-a-string]

might not be the best screenshot-er, but the lighting looked pretty so meh.

(ps, i have a lot of rambling about her below, i just don't wanna clog up the post...it really turned into a massive ramble rip)

soooo i'm stil devloping pluta as a character because does anyone ever actually settle on a final design/concept lol.

anyways, a big thing about her is that she's this awoken chimera/hybrid thing of sorts. She was created as part of a "supersoldier"-type project made by a group of Awoken scientists. I have yet to flesh out the whole scientist-sect thing....and i've spent way too long typing out and deleting potential ideas so i'll just drop that convo at this point lol.

The "chimera" that Pluta is primarily Awoken DNA spliced with the DNA of this snake-like create that the scientists brought with them from the Distributary (the scientists figured they'd start off with splicing DNA they were already familiar with to get a hand of the chimera-making process before experimenting with new, alien DNAs). At some point I'm gonna make a character-ref sort of sheet for this snake creature, but one of its cool points is how it attacks its prey and feeds. Naturally, these little dudes have no mouths. When hunting/attacking/defending, however, small holes open up on its body (where exactly depends on where their prey is relative to their current position) and this spectral "mind tongue" of sorts shoots out and stabs their prey & inserts venom. If they decide to eat the creature, this massive caverns of jagged teeth opens up on their undersides and they literally have to "stand up" and fall "mouth"-first onto their prey to eat it. It's kinda hard to explain in words but it looks super dope in my head, so trust me lol.

So Pluta has some of the traits of this "snake," right. Namely showing itself in her eyes in terms of physical appearance (they look like golden snake eyes) and ability (she can "see" very well at night/in dark areas (think echolocation or heat tracking....but more paracasual because it's Destiny for crying out loud lol); she's naturally quicker, stealthier, and strikes faster than the average Awoken, and she's able to produce venom from "mind tongues" that she directs out of her hands (this ability may come at a later time, though, after a certain point that I'll discuss in a bit). Some of her major weaknesses are that her eyes are very sensitive to light and her vision isn't the greatest & the "snake" she's mixed with is dangerously allergic to...something, I haven't decided exactly what lol, on Earth. In her first life, she takes a unique medicine made by her adoptive mom that's tailored to prevent this allergic reaction. As a Guardian, the Light naturally prevents this allergic reaction. Kind of off topic.... and spoiler-y, but Pluta finds out about this allergy the hard way during the Red War...I will say no more heheh.

Soooo I typed aaaalll of this out to get to this next point, of which I still need to do a little bit more explaining before I can say it lol. So another trait of this "snake" is that they're very connected creatures, they form deep bonds with each other. They're so attached to each other that if one of them dies, any "snakes" within close proximity will be triggered (via a pheromone released on death?) to go absolutely ape-shit, tongues and teeth and horror everywhere, killing anything in its path out of an act of "revenge" until it kills itself from over-exertion. This trait is also the reason why the species is near extinct and really only alive in captivity....because they strive to connect with one another but are also ticking time bombs. I'm mainly including this trait because I'm planning on having these little dudes be pretty powerful, so I needed some massive negative to counteract it.

OK OK OK SO, slight spoiler, but in my fic, no one gets their Light back during the Red War. Because of this, and various other things, it is brought to Pluta's attention that she may have this "go ape-shit" ability and it may be the Vanguard's best bet at taking down/severely weakening Ghaul. She figures it's worth the try, seeings how they'll all die anyways if Ghaul succeeds. TLDR, mission success, she lives (well, I mean, she technically dies as per the laws of "go ape-shit" lmao, but the Light gets returned to her before she dies, so her ghost revives her).

Finally getting to the fucking main point.....what I'm toying with is having her "unlock" some new abilities/features post beast mode....like she becomes more like the "snake." One idea was that she gains the "mind tongues" at this point rather than earlier. Some other potential add-ons include gaining sharp teeth&"claws", the ability to unhinge her jar, and maybe some other stuff....I have to think, this idea is still pretty fresh.

My main concern is that I'm afraid she's getting too over-the-top/god-modded/whatever you wanna call it at this point. I just really like the idea of her being this Awoken hybrid/chimera experiment thing and am having a blast theorizing the lore behind it all. I'm trying to include a lot of negatives to balance out all of these extra perks she has over regular Guardians, and I haven't even gone over all the negatives yet (some tying to how people react to her appearance/abilities, and lengths she goes to to hide them in most situations). Guess my main thing is I wanna know if y'all think this is Too Much and I need to take it back (if anyone actually read this far, i'm so sorry I ramble lol). I'm hoping that the chimera/hybrid idea in general is OK, and I think it is because I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that at one point in Destiny's development, there was supposed to be human/animal hybrids during the Golden Age, so I feel like my idea isn't too OOC for the Destiny universe.

yeah. i'm fucking impressed if you made it this far. have a virtual high-five