#might end up dividing all of them for people's convenience

[h-a-unted]

MEET Kurokimis Ed.ward Rich.tofen (might be edited once I have a better grasp of my portrayal).

A no-good, very, very bad German man who did very, very bad things as a doctor and scientist. He was recruited by a fellow doctor to work alongside a special group that would form an army of undead soldiers for Germany. They also worked on other supernatural things like teleporting.

After using himself as a test subject for the teleportation device they had worked on, Edward got exposed to an ancient artifact that ended up corrupting his brain further, crazed with the desire to reach Agartha.

A lot of crazy stuff happens with Edward and three of the test subjects he exposed to Element 115 and many different versions of him have been sprouted out, some of them trying to correct his and the universe's wrongs. The latest iteration of him was supposedly a normal man but, after losing his wife and kid to a fire, he's been working on a secret project involving the Dark Aether, for unknown purposes. (Or something like all of that, I don't know if I'm recalling correctly but that's kind of the gist of it)

This iteration of him is said to show symptoms of all of the Cluster B type of personality disorders, often swaying from one to the next without any clear tell, fluctuates a whole lot. He's also been found talking to himself. Don't worry about it, he seems stable enough to do his current job properly.

Depending on the moment, or simply how he wakes up that day, you may find yourself with a completely different Edward. My rendition of him will have him fluctuating between Eddie, Ulti.mis, and maybe even Prim.is, or an amalgamation of all of those and whatever other version I may know about.

The truth is, they're all connected into this Edward, who sometimes may remember but sometimes may not. His headspace is really fucked, he can't really tell which of all of these he really is, because he is practically all of them, kind of. Multiverse shenanigans, excuses for me to be able to use any that fits best in threads or something. I'll usually use the crazed one, though, cause I love writing unhinged characters.

Very important, he is 100% gay. Yes, he married a woman and had a son to conform to a "normal" lifestyle and leave his deviance behind, but he is completely attracted to men, as he has always been in every other timeline.

[g1rlken]

Hi hi! For the prompts can you do 10 and 14 with Christian bales Bruce Wayne?

Prompt: chaotic married life w kids + domestic fluff

Words: 2k

Thank you sm for this req it’s so cute

-

Marriage tends to change people is a superficial analysis of growing together but children sure do change routines. Especially morning routines where chaos is an understatement. Raising a child requires a village but for twins a whole army might just suffice. Vincent and William. A very pleasant blessing of two little boys in the Wayne household. However Bruce and y/n were subjected to consider just how much of peace was the cost of that blessing.

Their twins were such serene babies, toddler phase was a transition to literal devils during grade school. Getting them to do home work, go to school, eat the greens, not unleash hell…such difficult tasks.

Today like every other school morning, the parents had divided to bathe the twins in different bathrooms. When they were much younger and playful as babies bathing them in the giant bathtub where they’d just play with soap bubbles and those Amazon find bath toys was a cute activity. Nowadays, on Sundays sometimes they’d just hose them down in the garden and call it a day. It was so much more convenient for the parents and even the twins who absolutely despised bathing. Y/n bathed the older twin Vincent in the bathroom which was upstairs, Bruce downstairs with William who was a bad influence of his brother to not bathe and Alfred preparing breakfast and lunch boxes.

“Bruce!” Y/n voice shrieked from upstairs followed by a whiny cry from Vincent and he rushed to inquire, finding his wife looking for the sink holding her eyes shut.

“What happened here…?” Bruce asked as stepped inside and was immediately attacked by a plastic bottle Vincent could get his hands on as he moved frantically in the bathtub. Bruce dodged it with dad reflex thankfully.

“There’s shampoo in our eyes” Y/n briefed him and pointed at their son to go help him given she could assist herself with the sink water.

Vincent was just moving frantically in the shallow bath water shaking his head and hands splashing the water “Do something!” The boy demanded with a shrill cry.

“ Vin, calm down” Bruce urged as he bent on his knees to the bath level and held some of the running water in his hands to pour into his shampoo hurting eyes but he’d just squeezed them shut. “Open your eyes”

“I can’t! They hurt!” The boy whined and splashed the water very disruptively it went all over Bruce’s face.

“Breathe, you’re alright just breathe…open your eyes.” Bruce soothed anyways as he helped Vincent soothe the hurt by sprinkling cleaner water again, “why were you shampooing him anyways? We literally have school in an hour”

“I wasn’t but someone keeps on changing the bottles with soap and shampoo again and again” Y/n replied scoffing in obviousness as she air dried her eyes, it was Bruce who colour coded them like that in a different set of bottle at each refill. Washing hair of a seven year old who will fight a literal battle to resist it, will most definitely end up in a painful situation as such.

“It is literally so simple, white for soap and off white for shampoo” Bruce accounted for his way of arrangement as he dabbed his son’s eyes with towel, soothing his cries.

“We don’t have time to go into that discourse I’ll go pack lunch” Y/n said as she hurriedly wiped her own eyes.

“Oh Alfred’s on it…” Bruce informed her casually as Vincent’s eyes were normal again he opened them with a heavy sigh.

“Oh man I’m never using shampoo again.” The boy said dramatically and received a disapproving shake of head from his dad.

“Wait then who’s with Will?” Y/n asked about their younger twin William, whose morning crankiness were much worse.

“Uh” Bruce paused realising he’d not considered that as he’d rushed to his wife’s call for help “He was brushing his teeth”

“Alright he’s most definitely asleep again.” She sighed composing herself, leaving Vincent to get out of bath and dressed for his dad she rushed downstairs. As expected, William was fast asleep on the marble sink leaning against the wall with his legs dangling down the sink, ever since the kids learned to climb places no surface was unreachable. “Willy!” Y/n exclaimed as she carried him down the sink “William wake up come on we’ve to go to school!” She exclaimed and brushed his teeth for him hurriedly as he mumbled something about not wanting to go.

“I don’t want to…” will whined still half asleep not wanting to go because he still wanted to sleep. During vacations it was difficult to put him down to bed just absolute monkey activities all day long jumping here to there and during school days he couldn’t be bothered to brush his teeth even.

William tried to have a one sided debate about why he shouldn’t have to go to school and was eventually fully awake, much to y/n’s demise now she couldn’t manhandle and carry her son to brush his teeth and bath because now he was ready to have full sassy conversations. “You know I’m not getting in that right?” He said to his mum and gave the filling bathtub a disgusting look.

“We literally don’t have time for this please don’t bring-“ his mum started sighing as she foresaw the upcoming torment.

“What?” William said exaggerating his obviousness “I won’t be clean with gutter water”

“It’s not guttter water!” She tried to , despite being on the clock “Don’t believe everything you hear in school” she bent to her knees to match his eye level and try to convince him better “you know no ones want to sit with the kid who hasn’t bathed in 24 hours?”

“But didn’t you say people should like each other for who they are and their kindness and not what they dress and look like” Will responded smugly crossing his arms at his mum, well aware he was winning this debate so far.

Taking a deep breath to subside her annoyance of her own words biting her back, “No, that was for when you wanted to wear your ducky hat and those big kids made fun of you. Not for hygiene.”

“I don’t even know what that word means so…” he trailed off with a pout of correctness.

“Look, we’re going to be really late can you please cooperate.”

“I am awake, I brushed my teeth and I am talking to you that is enough operation on my part” William reasoned with his mom with a shrug.

“It’s cooperation.” She corrected him.

“It’s the same thing” William answered offering her mom a smile of encouragement, as if she did not know the word.

“No it’s not.” Y/n replied before she could continue Bruce’s knock on the open door averted their attention.

“He’s still not ready?” Bruce exclaimed in urgency.

“Vin?” Y/n asked about the status of the other twin as Bruce nodded and briefed her that he was with Alfred. Joint breakfast plus lunch box duties. Bruce stepped inside because clearly with his wife on his son’s eye level trying to convince him to shower seemed like she needed help.

“I literally don’t even have to go to school!” William exclaimed “I know each and every animal and I know that that water comes from sewage!” He said pointing to the bath water.

“For the hundredth time will, it doesn’t come from the sewage!” Bruce interjected with a sigh. “It’s very clean”

“So I can drink it?” William proposed raising brows at his parents.

“No” Y/n replied almost instantly, William was very fast to react she was worried he might actually try something “No you can’t drink it.”

“Why?” William demanded an answer with the hopes of his parents getting trapped in their own initial proponent that the water was not from sewage.

“Look I’m going to count to three if you don’t get in-“ Y/n began, as they were really on the clock she couldn’t reason ever so rationally.

“Hey hey no” Bruce interrupted his wife shaking his head, “We don’t do that, don’t threaten him. We have a civil conversation.”

“I’m not threatening him woah” she replied with a huff at his accusation.

“Count to three and what? Splash him?” Bruce asked somewhat wanting to have stern yet hostile approach to the kid.

“—Of course!”

“But I only have to bath if I have to go to school wight?” William enquired mispronouncing right for wight “what if I don’t? Can’t I just be homeschooled?! Dada was homeschooled.”

“Exactly, dada was homeschooled and he’s now a grown up who has no friends.” Y/n explained it to him rather unapologetically but not in a poking way to Bruce . “Do you want to be like that?”

“No that’s not true I have friends” Bruce jumped to his defence somewhat taken aback how casually his wife threw that one in, despite an apologetic smile she offered him.

“Name your two best friends then.” William investigated as he looked up at his dad with an anticipated look.

Bruce paused for a moment as he thought about it, he looked serious which made y/n wonder if he had any friends she hadn’t known of this entire time. His face seemed like he was trying to pick between his ever so large group of friends but he began, “Y/n and..” he trailed off thinking again but William had gotten his answer.

“Okay I understand now.” William said looking his mom, both of them shared a small laugh which Bruce didn’t exactly get on but at least William agreed to get in the bath.

-

Leaving Bruce to dress the boy y/n rushed outside to help Alfred with breakfast and lunch boxes, “hey hey hey” she rushed over to Alfred, where Vincent was clinging to the old man as piggy back. A very concerning sight given, not that he would fall but Alfred was rather old. “Get down from there!”

“It’s alright Miss Wayne.” Alfred said with a smile as Vincent just laughed getting favoured against his mum’s demand.

“No it’s not.” She shook her head carrying Vincent off of him and placed him on the dinning table chair, “They’re both getting way too heavy to carry.”

“I just can’t refuse them.” Alfred laughed a small laugh as he set the plates for breakfast.

“Well you should” Y/n said hurriedly as she rummaged through the cabinets to get the lunch boxes out, by then Bruce returned with a towel over will’s head. Once he sat him on the chair he rubbed his drenched hair hastily.

“No not my hair!” Vincent flinched with a scowl on his face when Bruce attempted to dry his hair as well.

“We’re late Vin, come on” Bruce refused to give into the whining at this point and dried Vincent’s hair anyways. He walked across the kitchen to help y/n reaching for the lunch box on the top shelf as she prepared one of those.

“Late?” Alfred asked as he registered the sentence “Late for what? It’s Sunday.”

“It’s Sunday today?!” Y/n asked as she turned around and her eyes winded.

“Yes.” Alfred nodded positively as he pointed to the calendar.

The parents just sighed relaxing their shoulders in regret, “wow” y/n chuckled softly as Bruce joined along comprehending his regret with the humour of it as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I did not just bathe both of them on a Sunday.” She laughed as Bruce brought her into a side hug.

“You?” He raised a brow looking down at her.

“We” she corrected herself with a smile as she gave him with a soft peck on the lips.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

theorizing

It's still early in the event, but I'm already trying to think about what Hot Topic Issue this year's Halloween event might tackle (assuming it follows the precedent set by GloMasq and Playful Land). Here's the theory I present to you: the conflict will be about escapism and where to draw that divide between fantasy and reality. Why do I think that? Because there are lots of parallels between our shiny new guy on the block, Skully, and us, Twst fans.

Book 7 presents a similar idea when Lilia and Malleus discuss the life cycle of Gao-Gao Drago-kun, how short it is, and how convenient it would be if the virtual pet could live forever in a fantasy world. In the same book, Yuu has finally found a potential route home... meaning an end to their story and their time in their current world. Read another way, it can be said that we, the Twst fans/players, are like Malleus, not wanting anything about our lives in Twisted Wonderland to change. We want to stay here among these characters we have come to love and grow close to, not return to our boring mundane lives in our original worlds... in reality. Likewise, similar points of comparison can be drawn between these themes and Lost in the Book with Nightmare Before Christmas, even as early as part 1.

Now in this allegory, Skully represents us, the average Twst fans. Here's the parallels I noted:

Skully is notably a first year, which matches up with the grade level that Yuu (the player self-insert/POV character) is assigned to

Skully attends a school where his peers don’t understand him or his interests. This mimics the experience of some Twst fans, who may be misunderstood even within the anime fandom. How many times have people joked “Oh, you like the Disney dating sim?”/assumed that Twst is cringe? Can you talk to fans of traditional Disney about Twst? Twst may be somewhat niche in your immediate area. Chances are, you have to retreat to online avenues to find like-minded fans. In this way, Twst fans may feel isolated or not understood.

He does not like to talk about school because he doesn't have many people who understand him, perhaps due to his eccentricities. Again, this may not directly translate to all Twst fans, but rather it can be very relatable to those who lack social connections and seek to fulfill that through fandom or escaping into a fantasy world.

Skully is an otaku for Halloween. And what are we, as Twst fans, if not also otaku?

He looks mysterious but has excitable reactions. The behavior reminds me of someone who can be very sociable online or in special circumstances but might come off completely differently in real life or initially due to how their face looks and how they dress.

The strongest parallel, however, is the fact that he, like Yuu (again, the player self-insert character) ALSO gets isekai'd... into the world of The Nightmare Before Christmas. And what happens in this world that Skully gets isekai'd to? He... 1) meets lots of new people--people that don't know him in the "real" world, so he is free to act however he wants around them, maybe even befriend them, 2) gets to meet his Halloween idol, Jack-sama, 3) gets to be praised by his idol, and 4) (presumably) helps out his idol with putting together this year's Halloween. THESE LINE UP ALMOST EXACTLY WITH WHAT YUU DOES WHEN THEY'RE ISEKAI'D INTO TWISTED WONDERLAND... Yuu, who represents you, THE TWST FAN. You, as a Twst fan, 1) meet and potentially befriend these new characters (and maybe even explicitly made an OC to act however you like in your place as the one meeting these characters), 2) hone in on your favorite(s), 3/4) hyperfixate on the intimate voice lines and the moments you have with your favorite(s). It's total wish fulfillment for both Skully and the average Twst fan. In other words, Skully will get lost in living the fantasy that is literally being transported into the world of his Favorite Thing Ever, just like we, the Twst fans, escape to Twisted Wonderland. In the book/Twst, you can be yourself or whoever you want to be. But what happens when that peace and comfort is about to be taken away? Perhaps that's when Skully will snap 🤔 refusing to return to his old life, where he was awkward and misunderstood... wanting to stay in this endless Halloween night forever and ever. Maybe he even tries to prevent the NRC students from leaving too, since he has now formed a friendship (?) with them? Like, he's trying to keep them trapped in this fantasy of his (very Malleus-core of him, honestly). Then it would be up to us to try and knock some sense into Skully, reminding him that there are things in the "real" world to look forward to as well.

Looking back at previous Halloweens, the conflicts presented usually tie back to something relating to the Disney counterpart's own identities. For example, Frollo (in the stage version) lost his younger brother to sin and pinned the blame on an entire group of people. Rollo lost his younger brother to sin and now seeks to eliminate that sin (magic) from the world. Honest John and Gideon worked for a shady guy and lured away children, even though they themselves were terrified of what would become of those kids. Fellow and Gidel are similarly forced to do this dirty work because they are so impoverished they need the job, even if their boss disrespects them. I think my theory about what Skully's whole conflict will be could work from this angle too. The character he is twisted from, Jack Skellington, is known to be somewhat naive and an idealist. Jack pursues Christmas with all of his undead heart, sure that it will return the "spark" that Halloween has since lost. This could be reflected in Skully, our twisted!Jack, in his desire to pursue Halloween--or, more specifically, this novel world where his passion is reinforced and he has a place in it. He would be naive to the world he snubbed in favor of this new one, deeming this new world superior (like how Jack thought the "new" Christmas would enhance the "old" Halloween).

as3gro8yvq ;ngqemf; KJLBFIsIFSLFS ANYWAY, that's my game theory 🙂 Not sure if it'll actually be this, but figured I'd throw my guess out there since my previous "lmao Skully will kidnap Crowley" crack theory ended up being shot down...

[littlemissstel]

Fright Night - Sukuna Ryomen

SFW, mentions of a clown, profanity, weapons (knives, blades), no use of (Y/n), names include 'baby' and 'lover', Not proof read, established relationship.

divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

Sukuna wasn't one for dressing up and knocking on peoples' doors- his patience had only lasted 20 minutes with Yuuji and Jin as he, so graciously, accompanied them for trick-or-treating because ,"it would be a great memory".

So when you brought up the groups plan to attend this years Fright Night he was apprehensive to say the least...

Your boyfriend was proficient at many things - most of which were not legal nor morally correct- but for the better part of the two weeks leading up to the event he seemed to gain a particular talent in complaining; which you had gained a particular talent in ignoring.

And thus, with a great show of resilience on your part, the awaited day arrived.

"Staring won't make me finish any faster" you say catching his eye in the rear view mirror as you fumble to put in the faux fangs. In a last ditch attempt to brighten Sukuna's morale you let him have reign over your costumes, sending him an onslaught of Pinterest boards and couples TikToks for ideas (he ended up blocking you on both). He put a great deal of thought into what the two of you should be. Vampires. How original.

"If it did we'd be at home already- you don't need that--"

"I am almost done anyway-- and- yes- i- DO--" you emphasize with every slap to his arm as he reaches out for the remaining fang.

This scuffle lasts until an all too familiar laugh is heard with a knock to the window. There standing are Gojo, Geto, Shoko, Toji and his friend Shiu ,who you know from the number of house parties you attend, all wearing film inspired costumes.

"I hope we're not interrupting something, if you're busy we can head in without you" the white hair man teases with a shit eating grin which you know can't be helping Sukuna's tolerance so with a quick, mutual, glare to your lover you open the door, stepping out to greet your friends and evaluate their outfits with Sukuna following behind in a sluggish manor.

The group had split later on in the night leaving you with Shoko while Sukuna and Shiu lingered a few paces back, engrossed in their own conversation. The once illuminated sky had turned pitch black and though scintillating lights from stalls and rides uncovered you, you couldn't help but happily embrace the darkness which offered you a moments rest from the eyes of preying actors with machetes and masks. A moment to let your guard down.

Sukuna had since warmed up to the outing, enjoying the screams you all (Gojo) let out from jump-scares, even going as far as scaring you himself which had landed him a firm fist against his face, though it was all in good pleasure. He found himself fitting into the place quite neatly.

"i think the adrenaline is wearing off because i'm this close to crashing" Shoko sighs halfheartedly

"we are headed to the exit soon but i might not make it to then..."

"pretty convenient for Utahime to catch a cold the night before coming here, but i can't say i blame her the-"

A loud shriek erupted from your throat as a bloodied figure sporting a clown mask approached you, swinging a blade too long to pass any health inspection; in a split second making it an inch away from your face- taunting, laughing. In hysterics you ran for refuge, catching the attention of your boyfriend you grabbed onto his arm and shielded yourself behind him, yelling a stream of horror filled profanities at no one in particular. Sukuna didn't move an inch. Staring at the clown, his lips molded into a slight smirk as he wrapped his arm behind himself, finding grip on the front of your tattered dress and bringing you forward with a force that propelled you right back in front- where you started.

Your head rushed with terror, ears invaded by the sounds of your cry's and laughter both shared by the clown and Sukuna alike. You gave in, crouching down into a fetal-like position with your hands covering your head. A few more taunts and the clown left leaving Shoko hovering over you protectively with Sukuna and Shiu approaching - highly amused.

"a little mean don't you think?"

Sukuna ignored him and crouched down to your level, matching your height.

"Come onnn. I thought you weren't scared baby? What happened to all the times we watched 'IT'? I thought he was your favourite"

"You're an asshole!" Your muffled voice ripples but soon your engulfed by another warmth as your love embraces you in his arms.

"Aw shush" he coos with false consolation, "You were right, this is fun..."

Divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

This was my first fanfiction so please feel free to leave any constructive critism or just a quick "hi!"!

I did this on a whim and did not go back to edit it so apologies for any mistakes.

want to know a secret?...I've never watch Jujitsu Kaisen either...

[inhuman-obey-me]

Among Us: Obey Me Edition

Lesson 43 gave us some new worldbuilding mixed into the usual shenanigans. We learned some interesting stuff, so let's get into it!

(spoilers for NB Lesson 43 below the cut)

At the end of Lesson 42, we're taken by surprise when Asmodeus makes his wish for winning the Information Sciences part of the RAD Science Fair. He wants to have the brothers visit the Celestial Realm -- a wish that does get acknowledged as crazy, which even Asmo himself didn't necessarily expect to be possible.

And, well...it's not. Actually visiting the Celestial Realm is speculated as still being beyond Diavolo's ability to arrange, or else he would have just done that. The compromise they get instead, we learn, is that they will be allowed to go visit Babel, a place that isn't quite the Celestial Realm - it's actually located in the human realm. But it is, as Belphegor describes, "as close as you can get to the Celestial Realm" without actually going there.

Babel itself is obviously inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel. For those not familiar, this is an origin myth/parable from the Book of Genesis. TL;DR: The people of Babylon/Babel were constructing a tower that would reach the heavens. This makes God angry at their hubris, and thus he divides them by splintering their language, making it so they cannot understand each other and therefore cannot cooperate anymore -- and this is the explanation for why we have different languages/cultures today.

Babel is a very secret place, which only seraphs and the Devildom royal family are supposed to know about. Plus, to enter Babel, you have to use magic to find the entrance in the human world, and that entrance is always moving locations, so not even they quite know where it'll be at any given time -- though Solomon apparently somehow knows both about its existence and also where to find it, because of course he does. As they mention later, it really is not a place that often gets visitors! But luckily for our cast, it just so happens that the entrance will be showing up near Serenity Manor the very night they go to the human world!! Isn't that convenient?

Now, the mythological origins of Babel itself, as a name, can be traced to both the Hebrew and Akkadian names of Bablyon -- in Hebrew, it means "to confuse/to confound", and the Akkadian name Bāb-ilim translates to "gate of God".

Which brings us to the Gate of Babylon and the Test.

After Solomon dips, the brothers and MC fall through an abyss and are brought before the Gate of Babylon. Lucifer mentioned that Babel is a place that "all are free to enter, but none may enter freely". One has to pass some sort of judgment to be granted access to Babel, otherwise they could face various punishments, ranging from being drowned in Cocytus (again) to being erased from Earth. (We're not sure if that means just from the human world or...well, existence? Canonically, the astronomy of the human realm has different constellations than the Devildom...but we're not sure the writers were thinking that far about it.)

And how are the brothers and MC to be tested? Why, by none other than Raphael, who was dispatched specially to judge their entry on this day. He gives them a question/riddle they have to answer within 30 minutes -- there is an imposter in their midst, who is it?

After some back and forth, the brothers soon start panicking and lashing out at each other, accusing Belphegor of being an imposter. MC can help be a voice of reason (along with Lucifer and Beelzebub), and they come to the conclusion that the answer might be that there is no imposter.

And that's true between MC and the brothers -- but Lucifer (and potentially MC, depending on your choice) realizes that actually, there is an imposter. It's just not one of their group.

It's Raphael -- or, should we say, Michael.

This isn't the first time we've seen Michael pretending to be Raphael -- it was a twist that was shown at the very end of Nightbringer Season 1.

Michael, still impersonating Raphael, quickly runs off, letting them know that judgment has passed and they are free to enter Babel. Lucifer adds that the test was not only about getting the right answer, but also that it proves their faith in each other, which is about the kind of Celestial Realm trickery we expect at this point, and then the family proceeds to enter.

Interesting to note is that both Lucifer and Michael mentioned that even seraphs know very little of Babel, which means none of the cast, as far as we are aware, have ever been inside. This begs the question of what exactly is in Babel, along with its purpose.

Hopefully we'll find out in the next lesson!

[yuri-is-online]

This might just me being tired and dumb, but I kind of get how Ace having a more supportive family would lead to isolation? Like. People who have no family to rely on form their own, and that kind of bond can be beat by very little else. There's not only possibly shared trauma, but there's probably also a shared understanding that "we all we got". It gives a weird sense of hope to see someone else in your situation, someone who relates to you even a little bit, and you want more anything in the world for them to make it out and thrive, and you can trust that they want the same for you.

So with Ace, who's trauma (that we know about) mainly comes from association and the iverblot fights, it's a bit harder to make that bond. He (assumably) got all the love and support that he was supposed to get from his family. And yeah! Sure! He can still seek it out elsewhere! But it's a thing he already has, he already has somewhere to go at the end if the day for comfort.

This is actually a theme that I'm gonna play with in my 80s fic, Deuce is lower middle class, while Yuu is just a slightly glorified version if homeless. Ace is squarely middle class, if not upper middle, he never has to really want for anything. Not like Deuce and certainly not like Yuu.

Learning how to pinch for pennies and find deals are things that makes Aces life more convenient, but it's something that Deuce and Yuu need. And that's where the divide is.

He wants to take care of his friends (he's still in denial) more than anything, but he also feels like there's this weird line he can't cross, with him on one side and Yuu and Deuce on the other. It honestly doesn't help that Yuu has a separate, small friend group outside of him and Deuce that are all in the same "Shit is completely fucked right now but by God are we gonna make it out" boat. A boat that Ace will probably never be in. Ace loves his family and is grateful, and knows exactly how much he lucked out. But he still wants to have that bond. That "the world feels like it's ending but atleast we'll be going down together" type of bond. Comforting Yuu while they cry about not having heating in the winter will never be the same as having to suffer alongside them and know they were in this together. Trying to find the cheapest possible version of a food products with Deuce and discovering knock off brands that Ace would never imagine existing (who the hell made knock off cheerios?) Will never be the same as actually having to rely on those knock off and part time sales, and feeling a sense pride that they were able to save enough money this month that they could actually buy something nice. Ace probably won't ever be on that side of the invisible line.

He'll bring them to his side though. Ace wants to take care of them more than anything. He wants them in his life more than anything. And he'll have them. No matter what he has to do to make that happen.

Sorry if I missread your post and just dropped a huge angst bomb in your inbox! I just have thoughts and there are a lot of AceYuu and ADeuce moments in chapter three and one or two of them digs into this a little.

You didn't misread my post at all I swear we are sharing custody of a braincell because this is just *chef's kiss* exactly what I was thinking.

Having that solid middle class stability and parent's who genuinely love you and each other is nothing to be ashamed of, not that I think Ace has enough humility for that, but it does mean that he has a gap in his understanding for Deuce and especially Yuu's situation. I keep thinking about how he ended up eating those tarts because he skipped a meal over worrying about Yuu and their circumstances, he cares. He is crass and rude with it but he cares! I love how you say he'll bring them to his side of the line, that's exactly how I see him thinking about it.

Ace's isolation (in my view) seems to come from how much more he values his friendship with Yuu and Deuce over literally anyone else in the school. He'd benefit from talking to Jack and Epel more, they also have solid home lives and Jack at least I think has financially stable parents, but those guys aren't his people. For better or worse, for sickness or health, Yuu and Deuce are who he is sticking it out with. He'll never say it in game, but he really does love you both, in what way is of course up to the interpretation of the player.

but you know which one we both prefer frfr

[legallyacceptibleurl]

of the blogs that i keep track of, there’s definitely obvious cliques. all of them have posts circulate to all parts eventually, but one thing i’ve noticed is a clear divide between the american liberal zionist bloggers and the israeli zionist bloggers in that space. the american liberal bloggers are more concerned about respectability and here and there might even push back when someone says something more egregiously islamophobic or racist (rarely tho). this is not the case at all for the israeli bloggers, they will just say shit like “all palestinians are nazis and should be wiped out” with their whole chest and then move on with no repercussions

there’s a handful of bridging blogs which keep the flow of posts between the two cliques circulating, but they rarely ever touch the more genocidal posts or reblogs

that’s where i come in I guess, i am working on posting some of the more shocking screenshots and connecting them to the people who reblog from them

i love posting examples, let’s use this one

ID: screenshot of a post that @shofarsogood reblogged from @stupid-jewishwhiteboy

@some-israeli-guy: “I want to take a few minutes to talk about my connection to Israel, as a Jew. I want to do that because some people desperately need to understand this, and also I'm procrastinating on uni homework.”

the rest of the post is cut off by me. End ID.

i often use these two because it’s by far the most infuriating example. shofarsogood is a very popular blog on here and is mutuals both with people who would be incredibly offended at being called zionists, and also just fully unapologetic zionists. meanwhile, some-israeli-guy is someone who will just straight up say “kill all palestinians”, and it’s fucking horrible but from a purely practical perspective i can appreciate the honesty because it makes my job easier. it’s like a touchstone for the level of hate speech these people will tolerate as long as it’s on their side

ID: screenshot of a reblog by @some-israeli-guy:

“Beautiful! Kill them all and erase Palestine from history!” End ID.

so, how does a post travel from the “kill them all” side of tumblr to the “we just want peace in gaza but conveniently all pro-palestine advocacy is antisemitic” side of tumblr? very easily it turns out

it starts with this

ID: a screenshot showing @homochadensistm reblogging from @some-israeli-guy. End ID.

here’s what kind of blog we’re dealing with at this point

ID: screenshot of a reblog by @homochadensistm:

“1. This poll is from the west bank, or do you think thats a place in gaza?

2. BBC reports Gazans are fed up with hamas: uuuuch WhErE dA BidEO eViDEncE

Some rando with a tumblr posts about 5 gorillion children dying in a nuclear explosion in Khan younis:”

under the text is an image of the wojak meme called “Two Soyjaks Pointing”

@homochadensistm’s tags: “#gazans will be freed of the bronze age islamists who took over them via a coup #whether u like it or not <3”

End ID.

next is this

ID: a screenshot showing @stupidjewishwhiteboy reblogged from @homochadensistm. End ID.

ID: screenshot of a post reblogged by @stupidjewishwhiteboy.

@not-antisemitic-receipts: “"Genocide Denier"

Yes, I "deny" accusations of genocide levied against Jews by antisemites, be they from Jihadist Islamofascists claiming "Palestine Genocide" or Nazi Fascists claiming "White Genocide."

"Denial" of conspiracy theories is simply common sense, Period.”

End ID.

and then it’s… wait that’s it?

ID: a screenshot showing @shofarsogood reblogging from @stupidjewishwhiteboy. End ID.

huh. i’m sure that doesn’t mean anything

oh but i’m going to be fair to everyone involved. at the time he posted that post that went around, he hadn’t yet said “kill all palestinians”. how cruel of me to expect these people to see into the future

except you don’t have to be raven fucking symoné to see that it was only a matter of time

here is @some-israeli-guy three days before his post about his connection to israel

ID: a reblog by @some-israeli-guy:

“As someone with a relative who fought in the Warsaw ghetto uprising, my first reaction was being infuriated.

My second emotion though? Hope. Same as how everything hamas and the pro hamas crowd blame Israel of, they've done themselves, everything they wish for us, they will receive. The Israeli people love life. We celebrate life in spite of everyone trying to kill us. Palestine, on the other hand, is a death cult. They worship death and find no meaning in life other than sacrificing it. Palestinian society is based on hate and death, and a society like that will never win.

The nazis lost. The nazis always lose, and my relative survived and came to Israel.

#israel #jumbIr #palestine is a death cult #i/p #palestine”

there were also a couple tags in hebrew that i cannot copy paste. End ID.

hell, let’s take a look at the tail end of the post that got reblogged by everyone and their fucking mom

ID: “To anyone who call us "colonizers": These "ancient" Israelites don't just share a religion with us, they ARE us. We were expelled from our homeland, but we kept our identity, we refused to let go, we kept wishing to come back home. We were always indigenous to Israel. We don't belong anywhere but here.

And now they're are trying to tell us that some people with a name invented by Rome to erase Judea and Israel, with a religion and language from Arabia, who didn't have a distinct cultural identity other than "Arab" until a few decades ago, belong here more than we do? I don't think so.”

End ID.

[thekingofwinterblog]

Any next gen Soul Eater ideas, like CroMa kids or something? Maybe they could finally start really healing the human-witch divide, unlike the copout super convenient manga truce🤷🏿‍♀️

Well to cover it in full, i'll start with how i would have handled their role in the plot, then gone over the individual characters and how one might handle them.

Now i would very much have the younger generation be directly involved/responsible for the two sides making peace, but one thing i would put a lot of emphasis on, is that this is NOT the case that the young was able to make peace with the witches because they had lost nothing.

This is one of the cheapest aspects of the way Kid made peace with the witches. Rather than forcing him to have to accept that people he cared about would go unavenged, kid never had to deal with having witches as a faction kill people he cared about, and so he never developed real hatred for them the way his father did.

This is very cheap, and it's the opposite of how i would have handled it with the next gen.

I would have had most if not all of them suffer real, genuine, personal losses in the war against witches which has ramped up during their early years.

Thus them eventually growing to tire of the war, and realizing that the conflict has to end at some point, even if it means giving up on revenge and payback would have had real, genuine bite.

And with that said, lets get into the real fun part. Dissecting the various aspects you could use to craft the next generation.

In regards to our favorite triangle, there is a lot of potential here.

To confront the most obvious thing out of the way, there is of course the question of wheter any biological child of Kid would also be a shinigami, and if so would the child be like Asura, who's senzu lines was already finished, but not full, or would they be like Kid's own.

If the latter, that completely changes the dynamic, because it means that the child in question has the potential to succeed him as the next great old one of order.

Kid was created with the goal of his father making a true successor that would ideally surpass him.

If kid has a child that has that same potential, it means that the kid in question is both someone Kid loves, but also the reality that to achieve that same potential that Kid unlocked, Kid in turn would have to die.

Even if any kid of Liz and Patty are not shinigami, their nature would still be very big parts of their dynamics with the world and their dad.

Because if fully Human, there is the very real fact that Kid will outlive them. Even in the best case scenario, where they die of old age, peacefully in their bed, their dad would still be eternally young and at their side to see it happen.

Needless to say, this is a great springboard to build character drama off, as the kids in question could easily have a very complicated question with their dad, who might be overprotective of them, and struggle to balance being a father, being the effective monarch of Death city, and their boss if they are Meisters or weapons.

And thats not even taking into account that as any story with half siblings born from a triangle, there is no guarantee that the kids would get well along. Liz and patty worked great because they had a very clear, uncomplicated and mutual love for one another.

As any look into histotical harem politics can tell you, this sort of dynamic very, very rarely appears amongst half siblings.

I imagine both liz and patty would both try to make their kids essentially the next generation's version of them, and that kind of thoughtless but well meaning parenting could easily lead to a very volitile couple of half siblings

And thats great, because theres a lot of ways you could write them with that background and dynamics in mind. And subsequentally, lots of character development you can get by putting this kind of complicated relationship of love mixed with rivalry through the wringer.

As for the kids personalities, the fact is that Kid, liz and Patty all have so many different traits and quirks that they could easily pass on to their kids that it's sorta all up to the author how each would turn out.

Moving on from the triangle, to the ninja duo, we have a parent and child dynamic that would either be great, or absolutely terrible.

Given how black star is, i have no doubt any child of him and tsubaki would probably embrace the fact they are the child of the strongest meister alive, essentially being very similar to him, or they would grow up to absolutely resent it.

Its not hard to see a kid who grows up trying to be black star, growing to absolutely reject the very concept of attaining power just because they want it.

And there are actually several ways to write that.

Obviously the kid could absolutely fail, and the story is about the fact they never had any shot at becoming as strong as he did, and so had to fidn their own way. But you could also write the opposite. Someone who DID attain the absolute peak... Then came to feel that it was all a waste of time, that by trying to be as great as dad, they wasted their entire life so far. That power was not all that important in the end.

Or they could be a happy go lucky kid who takes everything in stride for the most part like Black Star himself.

There are a lot of ways to write this relationship and the kind of person the kid would be.

Im not sure whas aort of relationship the kid would have with their mom though. I imagine Tsubaki would be a good caretaker, but other than being a good mom, i don't really see her as nearly as large a defining presscence in her childs teenage development as Black star is.

As for personality, wheter cynical or joyful, i would probably have them share a lot of traits with black star, like a love for the dramatics, a natural inclination to act over the top(if not mayhaps in the same attentionwhore manner as their dad), and maybe not being the brightest tool in the shed.

As for a child of Maka and Chrona, i would have said kid be the main protagonist of this story, just like her mother was the protagonist of the original.

And the reason for that, and for giving her a very distinct gender, is that i would explore this big conflict between Death's side, and the witches as a whole, by someone who is both.

Namely i would make full use of the fact that said child would be the granchild of Medusa, and in turn, be a witch just like her. Heck you could even have her take more from Medusa than either of her parents when it comes to look, which people have no problem pointing out.

One of the big problems with the witches as a faction is that we never really had a character to explore their inborn desire from destruction, and what that actually means... Well here's a great character to do that with. Someone who has chosen the side of order and law and is generally a good person... While also having all the same inborn urges that the opposition, the ones her own side deems as pure evil, has.

Its a great idea for a character journey, and thats withouth taking into acxount that if she has black blood, she would probably be prone to madness, just like Crona was.

That could manifest itself in bouts of utter bloodlust against evil enemies, just like how stein was when defeating medusa.

As for relationship with her parents, i like the idea of her growing up in a loving home, in stark contrast to her parent Chrona, she was the pride and joy of both her parents lives, and unlike her mother, she didnt groe up in the shadow of a broken relationship where everything just disitegrated.

Heck, even her relationship with spirit(as it would not be tainted by the man's infidelity), would probably be great.

No, her journey and character voes comes from the fact that while she has a great relationship with her family, unlike the rest of the cast, she has a far, far more tumoltous relationship with her homeland, the city state of death city.

There is an old african saying that "The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth". That would be her personal conflict in a nutshell.

She has loved ones in Death city... But she does not love her home the way the rest of the cast does.

As a witch who kills her own, she suffers not only from racism from both sides of this conflict, but would probably also feel like nobody loves her, with all the self loathing that entails. Every single relationship she has is either family, or someone her parents introduced her to.

In other words, she is a very lonely individual, with a lot of issues regarding wanting to make friends, but having huge problems doing that.

In fact, i would use Maka and Crona's best moment, their connecting in the basement so long ago, as something she holds up as an ideal. She WANTS something like that... And the reality is she probably is not going to get it. If she wants to find her own soul mate, she'll have to do it her own way, just like her parents did.

And if she cant... She will one day find herself completely alone in the world, as the only one who'll live as long as she will, is her boss Kid, who she isnt all that close with.

So a bit of a mix between her parents. She has maka's bravery, but just like crona, she has terrible absolutely capacity for friendmaking, and because that attempts at making new relationships leads to constant failure, at some point she became afraid to even try, to risk rejection.

Needless tos say her coming to terms with her issues would very much tie in to the two sides who she like it or not, are connected to both of, begin making peace.

As for personality, probably a mix of her parents with Maka's overall attitude and fluctuating confidence levels, but with Crona's inclination of selfimposed withdrawal and isolation.

As for Soul, if this story has maka and Crona hook up, that probably means he hooks up with... Blair.

Now there is a lot of irony here, that the relationship that was set up as the obvious "false lead" ended up becoming the actual one that happened, and by the time it did, Maka was actually okay eith it, but there is one idea i kinda did want to explore with this relationship.

Namely their kid.

Blair is unfortunately one of soul eaters most wasted characters. Other than fanservice, and one later arc where they got to be cool, she was never really used to good effect.

Essentially what i would do with her and Soul's kid is a do-over. Explore the ideas of having a very distinctly non human main cast member, who has a very nonchelant attitude to everything, life, love, death and so on.

They are the observer that doesnt really fit in, who has very different priorities than the rest of the crew, who yes, is fighting against witches, but isn't actually ideologically invested in the conflict the way the rest are.

Wheras all the rest have very distinct ideological and personal reasons for wanting to comtinue this fight until they "win", they dont care.

This is just a job, not in the sense they get paid to do so, but rather it's a lifestyle choice, that just happens to also include a lot of cash that can be traded for fish and other goodies.

As such, this cat boy/girl could also act as a voice of reason as the ultimate point of this story is the painful march to peace.

As for relationship with their parents, I would have this also be distinctly non human like. Soul WANTS a traditional, father child dynamic. But the reality is that while his kid is both fond of, and loves him, at the tender age of early puberty, they feel like they have grown up and it's time to leave the nest forever and be independent.

Something that weirds out the rest of the cast, but which blair finds perfectly normal and is proud of.

As for personality, very similar to Blair, just with way more focus on their friendship with the rest of the cast.

As for the main other pairing who would probably be really important here, stein and Marie, i... Have no idea honestly.

The fact is both of them are wacky, and insane, just in very different ways, and you could combine both... Or you could have their kid end up being completely normal.

It depends on what role you need them to fill honestly. If you need the older, cooler upper classman who is a few years older than the rest that could work, or if you wanna have them be the next stein with all the screws loose, that works too.

Honestly if you just wanna have them be the love interest who is more science oriented than fighting, that could work too as well.

Any of these combinations could emphasise different aspects of both Marie and Stein and still work just fine for their role.

[mephinomaly]

[TL] PYSCHOBREAK/Chapter 4

[ This post uses Ois~su ♪ ]

Time: In the afternoon of the next day

Location: ES TV station, in HELLSING’s, formerly UNDEAD’s, dressing room

Adonis: I wonder what Sakuma-senpai is thinking.

Is this my punishment?

No, it can’t be… Since it’s Sakuma-senpai, there will be some sort of deeper meaning to it.

Koga: Huh?

You think way too highly of that stupid old man. Nothings goin’ on in that head of his.

He does whatever he wants without a thought and then afterwards he makes up some shit ‘n goes “that went all according to plan.” He’s an idiot.

Adonis: You understand Sakuma-senpai very well, Oogami.

Koga: At one point in time, he was all I thought ‘bout, so.

Don’t matter how much I think about a version of him that only exists in my head, it has nothin’ to do with reality.

Adonis: ...

Koga: Anyway. What are we doin’ ‘bout this situation?

Adonis: I’m not sure. Actually, I wanted to discuss that with you.

Yesterday, we came face-to-face with fake versions of ourselves, with HELLSING, at the AIIE testing facilities.

After we explored the facilities, Sakuma-senpai gave us a course of action.

He said “let us turn this misfortune into fortune and take advantage of what is happening.”

Koga: Hmph~, I still think it would be better if we jus’ got ridda HELLSING entirely.

But it’s hard to tell the difference between them and the real ones, so it’ll be pretty hard t’kill them ‘cos it’s like they’ve got a mind of their own.

Adonis: Umu. That is one of the problems with AI.

Should AI, and robots alike, be given human rights?

If we don’t acknowledge this, and only use them as a means to an end, are we not creating a new system of slavery?

Koga: Nn, I don’t like thinkin’ ‘bout complicated shit like that. The HELLSING guys are surprisingly nice, ‘n they follow every command we give ‘em.

Even if they start bad mouthin’ us, we can turn them off with a remote control. They’re just machines.

It’s more of a problem of, is it alright for us t’dispose of them losers for our own convenience. They’re alive— well, they’re not, they’re machines.

Adonis: Do machines have souls?

Koga: I dunno man. But Sakuma-senpai said they might ‘n that's why we can’t get rid of them. We can’t mindlessly throw ‘em out.

Adonis: Sakuma-senpai is a nice person after all.

Koga: Yeah but he’s not a pussy, he’s jus’ sick of messin’ up other people’s lives with his own hand. AI ‘n shit ain’t humans, but, you get my point.

If I was destroyed by the person I loved, I’d want the same.

Adonis: …Anyway, HELLSING began idol activities when we were participating in that experiment and were isolated from the outside world.

And that ‘radical, immoral’ unit received widespread support, especially from long-time fans who expected that side from us.

It seems that Sakuma-senpai is taking full advantage of this situation.

Whilst HELLSING deals with radical, rock band type of activities—

UNDEAD will handle a variety of things that we have been undertaking since ES’ establishment.

It’s important to keep old fans happy whilst simultaneously bringing in new ones. Sakuma-senpai is trying to please both sides without alienating anyone.

With that, he believes that this will lead to our revival.

Koga: He wants t’split us up, divide us into light ‘n dark.

Normally I’d be totally against that…

But now we have handy robots that can act on our behalf.

It’s like they're copy robots. Hm.

Adonis: Copy robots…?

I’m not sure what you mean by that but HELLSING’s utility was proven at today’s live.

Koga: Mhm. When Hasumi-senp—I mean, shitty glasses, tried t’attack us on stage I was thinkin’ what the hell do we do.

There’s not a chance he’d understand our situation right now.

Adonis: It wasn’t exactly an attack per say, Hasumi-senpai was worried.

Koga: Hmph, he’s always been a nosy fucker. He’s like a stray dog or somethin’ that can't bare to be alone.

Adonis: I believe that’s true for a lot of people though.

Koga: Well, whatever. Shitty glasses is a good guy at the end of the day. It’s hard t’believe that there’s robots that look like humans operatin’ behind the scenes.

Until it becomes public knowledge that we’re usin’ AI idols, no one, not even shitty glasses, is gonna notice.

Adonis: Umu. At the moment, it is better for us to keep their existence hidden as if we reveal the truth, we may be subjected to harsh words and lose credibility.

I feel as if we are deceiving fans, which upsets me.

Koga: Yeah, it’s probably better if we tell ‘em.

But not right now. We gotta focus on dealin’ with all the new things HELLSING brings.

That’s why I’m worried ‘bout lettin’ the AIs do whatever they want at the moment. It’s best if us two monitor HELLSING.

Adonis: Yes, then us, along with fake Sakuma-senpai and fake Hakaze-senpai will perform radical, immoral activities at HELLSING.

Whilst real Sakuma-senpai and real Hakaze-senpai take part in variety shows and such with fake me and you as UNDEAD.

Koga: Our AIs are pretty good at what they do, so I ain’t too worried ‘bout them.

They’re doin’ a live broadcast but they’ve gotta act properly when they do a variety show.

Adonis: Yes. I cannot say yet as to whether this decision will turn out to be a good or a bad one—

So far, everything’s been smooth sailing. So much so that it’s scary.

[ ☆ ]

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

[the-trinket-witch]

Yandere!OC Headcanons (TWST Edition)

So I may be not finding it in my orbit, but for a thought exercise I wanted to explore the toxic sides of my OCs. Thought it would be an interesting character exploration. So I figured I’d try to write headcanons for if any of my OCs went off the Yandere Deep End. (NOTE: I shouldn’t have to but apparently need to preface that writing this is not me condoning said behavior or idealizing it. If you recognize patterns like this in people in your real life, I cannot advise one way or another what you do with that information.) (divider by @/saradika)

Eugenio Hernandez (Yuu):

To preface, Yuu is Ace, but not Aro. Most likely they would be the Toxic bud ya keep around cause their life sounds awful. Nobody wants to be somebody’s 13th reason; you don't wanna add to the pile of 'shit going wrong in their life'/'be another one of those people that leaves'. But when they blow their top, it’s explosive. But even then, they’d still have a ways to go before ever attempting to lay a hand on you. No, they’d rather rant and rave and exhaust themselves with how shit of a hand the world has dealt them. Once they’ve let off steam, they’re all mumbled apologies and cooking dinner to make up for it.

Tidus Rhin:

His yandere extreme would turn him into The Love-B52. His size would be enough to intimidate any into not leaving his smothering, even if he never gives any indication he'd act with it. He'd prefer acting like a kicked puppy at the prospect of you needing space. Don’t you see, though? He’s utterly fascinated with you, adores you, it’s almost fetishistic. The more you pull away, the more he’s going to try lavishing you in any ways he can think of. If that doesn’t dissuade you, maybe if you just take this potion to come under the sea with him and meet his family…Just check first if the potion is permanent or temporary.

Lázaro Muertinez:

This man loves to talk. He loves to serenade you and talk you up just as you do for his music career. But you’d need to be able to pick up and leave at a moment’s notice-fame is something to chase and it doesn’t wait. What are your reservations against coming with him? It doesn’t matter, he’ll find a way around it, for you of course. If you stick to your guns, though, Laz is the yandere that knows how to orchestrate an oh so convenient health scare. If that doesn't dissuade from leaving his side, then comes the silent treatment. He'll completely drop off the planet. No posts on social media, not returning calls, nothing. For a second the idea he might have done something drastic is exactly what he'd be counting on.

Aadesh Sona: 

This snake’s AroAce, but he isn’t above doing most anything to advance his goals. Gaslight, gatekeep, ghost-mode. He’s a psych major, so he knows how to twist his words and drop tidbits of info to confuse and trap you. He’s not being manipulative, you are for daring to get away. But he’ll be able to see the writing on the wall. He’ll back off. Prey is more difficult to catch when it struggles, anyway. And like an actual python, he will have everything poised for when you are in the prime position to strike. What will he do when he gets you back? Well, you and he will just have to sleep on it.

Rajesh Khan: 

As far as yanderes go, He’s the only TWST OC of mine who isn’t above using physical means of keeping a potential partner in line. It’s only reserved, though, for when money can’t buy your happiness and obedience. It’s with that same money that makes him nigh untouchable in court, should you try bringing his aggression to light. It’s both money, and the friends in equally high places that make escape from the tiger’s jaws almost impossible.

Albert Eastwind:

Can one blame him for being the controlling type? Similar to how people headcanon Yan!Jade and Azul, He'll provide everything you need or want. Why would you want to leave? Oh don't say he's smothering, he'll pick up more work to 'offer space' but also stifle the idea of you needing or wanting your own financial independence. But while he may work himself tirelessly to keep your cage gilded and shining, he will have your schedule down to the minute. Any deviation will be met with smiles and polite inquiries, but don’t lie to him. And don’t promise you won’t try escaping again if you’re planning on it; he hates pie crust promises.

[hellofanidea]

hi :)) PLEASE can you tell me a little of what the plu mafia au is about because those tags on your last post are insane and i am so intrigued

Ohohohohoho @lewis-winters may have been the better person to ask but by God I'm gonna give you the best run down I can.

PLU is our abbreviation for 'People Like Us', which is our OC verse centered around Natalie Morse and Arthur Foster, and the PLU Mafia AU is exactly what it says on the tin, a Mafia AU centered on them. We've built quite a bit of wider lore around them, especially for Winnix, Speirton, and Webgott, which all feature heavily.

With regards to @lewis-winters tags specifically, it's fair to say given the nature of the AU the relationships definitely take on a more... morally complicated?? Flavour??? Than normal??? The short version is that Speirs is a crime boss operating out of Boston, and Lip is his right hand, but also a corrupt cop, which breeds an interesting power dynamic. They could both sink the other whenever it's most convenient, and that's something that hangs over them. In a slightly more romantic sense Speirs knows he'd never have the heart to do anything to Lip, but he'd let Lip tear him to shreds if he chose to. Normally he's vicious, ruthless, but with Lip he leans his head back to give better access to his throat.

(There's also even more complications with an underlying past Speirs/Liebgott semi-unrequited dynamic, but I feel like that requires its own post.)

Winnix is, if you can believe, even darker. They head a prolific and long standing crime dynasty. They have killed for each other. They've also built a family and a respectable outward image. This includes Tab, Dick's protégé and their pseudo-son (they also have a daughter, Bea, who is another of @lewis-winters really wonderful OCs who I recommend checking out in all 'verses). Things start falling apart when Tab is sent to deal with Natalie's rising star in their world, but ends up getting involved with her. There's a long, uneasy, partnership that forms, but eventually the divided loyalties become too much of a risk, and Dick chooses to preserve his and Nix's life over keeping Tab around.

I feel like I've explained all of this very poorly, and I'm so sorry, but I hope that's explained at least some of it? Its been a minute since we've properly talked about it so some stuff I might have gotten wrong or missed. Please feel free to ask more if you want though!

[novaethecosplayer]

Hawks nodded and listened intently throughout the beginning part of the meeting with the leaders of the newly merged groups creating the Paranormal Liberation Front. He was only here because Dabi and other members wanted information from him about the Heros and the Hero Commision. They also wanted to review some of the clips they received from the cameras on his wings--ask him questions and dig further for more information. He didn't notice you walk in through the doors behind him, but the moment you began walking the length of the table to your spot--his eyes were glued to you. He really couldn't help it. He liked watching your hips move as you walk and seeing the air of authority that you carry with you as you take your place as a leader. Hawks has to mentally force himself to look away and tune back into whatever Skeptic was saying.

He continued to glance your way as his thoughts trailed back to you. He always made an effort to steer his attention back to whoever was speaking. He would be completely off guard if he were to be asked anything as his attention is divided in two--80% of it on you. He liked how you make jokes to a teammate next to you under your breath, the way you snicker and laugh at your own jokes, or when bored how you mess with your hair, clothes, jewelry, or fingers--whichever is more convenient. Speaking of your fingers, what he would give to have them tangled with his own, caressing his body, or entwined with his hair.

"Hawks!" He finally heard his name being called. He's not sure how many times Dabi had said it already. His head and attention snapped to the irritated patchwork villain. "Firstly, pay attention!" He chidded and Hawks swore he heard you laugh--causing him to glance your way to confirm his suspicions when he saw your hand over your mouth to hide your amusement. "Secondly," his eyes snapped back to the enraged flame-user. "We asked if you have more Intel on the Hero Commision. Your last meeting with them was short and seemed to have nothing being said at all."

Hawks was usually good with facades and smooth lies that helped in these situations. But today was not Hawks’s day because he was distracted by how you laughed at him. He would become your personal court jester, if it meant he could hear your laugh more.

"Some meetings are just like that. I have another one scheduled soon. It should have more information." Hawks told the truth, hoping to appease his "boss" within the criminal organization. His brain raced with thoughts of you hence he couldn't come up with anything better to lie about or give Dabi.

"How soon?"

"Monday at noon."

"Fine. Keep us updated. You're dismissed." Dabi waved his hand to indicate Hawks should leave now. The rest of the members had other things he wasn't trusted to know yet. Which is fine, Twice will tell him later.

As he stood to leave, he watched as you began to talk. He focused on the way your lips moved to form each word precisely and accurately. He noticed in-between sentences or even in the middle when there is a pause you would lick your lips. He felt his heart flutter at seeing your lips wet. If only they were on his own lips, kissing him feverishly. He would love to have them pressed against his neck, his chest, his temple, his stomach and down his happy trail. He wished he could see what they would look like wrapped around his--

"Hawks! Leave!" A member of the Liberation Front demanded and Hawks nodded and promptly left the room without a second glance otherwise he might be captivated again. He really needs to get his head back onto the mission. Find out what their next steps were and report back to the Hero Commision.

He shook his head In a miserable attempt to clear you from his mind. He shouldn't be thinking such things about a villian anyways. He's a hero, he puts people like you behind bars--yet he is the one wishing to be caught by you.

After a couple hours of gathering intel by mingling with others, your meeting finally ended. He was reprimand by Dabi for not paying attention and for not following orders the first time.

After getting his ass chewed out, he heard your laugh again as Dabi walked away. He pushed down a blush as he turned to the beautiful sound you made.

"You're really stupid, you know." You insulted him, but he would take it. He would take a billion insults as long as you are the one who says them. "You're already on thin fucking ice, hero" you mocked his title. Once again, he would take it and keep the words you say to him close to his heart even if they are meant the pierce it instead. "But not pay attention during a high priority meeting is just idiotic and just asking your ass to get kicked out."

"You're right." He agreed easily, bowing his head in shame as you shoulder checked hum as you walked by--contact that he would keep close to his heart as well.

"And another thing dumbass.." You call over your shoulder, he glances up at you to see you smirking mischievously and a certain twinkle in your eye, telling him he won't like your next words. "If you continue checking me out, you're not gonna like where you end up. Or rather, where your body ends up."

He swallows. He knows it's a threat. It's obviously a death threat. A warning. But, he couldn't help but be attracted in that moment. He couldn't help how in love he felt. He couldn't stop himself from feel desire for you. "Anything for you, Boss." He decided to cast his eyes down and bow to you to show his devotion to you. The appropriate title for your rank compared to his rolled off his tongue easily.

He saw your retreating feet pause in their movements and begin to turn towards him. No matter how much he wanted to glance up and see your face--was it contorted into anger? Shock?--he kept his stance.

He watched as your feet moved to turn away from him, his heart feeling like it was being ripped apart. Then hurried footsteps, a hand on his collar, and a door being opened and closed within seconds. He was surprised you had pulled him into a nearby empty room. He was not surprised he let you. Even as you press him against the wall and glare down to him, he is not surprised he lets you manipulate his body as you wish. Your own personal ragdoll.

"Anything, Hero?" You ask as you look down at him. He can see the wild look in your eyes that he often finds when battling villian. You seem satisfied with his response.

"Anything" He whispers out, unable to hold his voice steady.

You grin maliciously and he couldn't imagine what a world of pain he just got himself into.

If only he focused on his mission.

[roaldseth]

Is triangle strategy good cause I've heard mixed opinions

My biased opinion: absolutely yes.

My unbiased opinion: absolutely yes.

But, just so you don't just jaunt about your day saying "well that wasn't helpful at all!" This is a more thorough breakdown below to why I like and recommend Triangle Strategy, as well as going into some common reasons as to why people say it's bad or have mixed feelings.

First and foremost as a disclaimer: I am not an SRPG enthusiast. I don't Fire Emblem or Tactics Ogre or what have you. However, I will address things in a broad sense and not things specifically for the genre.

>>STORY: The game opens you into a rather standard medieval-esque fictional setting; its land divided into 3 major powers: the Kingdom of Glenbrook, the Grand Duchy of Aesfrost, and the Holy State of Hyzante, each conveniently color coded for easy recognition and also have their own purposes and ideals. The farther you travers through the paths, for multiple routes await, and its history, the political and martial machinations quickly unfold from easy-going times to one absolutely engulfed in harrowing accounts stemming from no right answers. Despite any preset allegiances, the player, as a young newly appointed lord of the most acclaimed High House of Glenbrook, sits in-between the 3 forces and becomes the epicenter of the continent's, Norzelia's, fate.

Triangle Strategy is a game about harsh wartimes, the impossible decisions needed to make and end them, and the many results that you have directly and indirectly caused. Recently, I had made a post on other social media in which I noted that this game took me a very long time to complete because I had, at point, become physically unable to play from choice aversion and the dangers of outcomes. This is not a flaw of Triangle Strategy. This is its purpose. In those times, the game had done exactly what it was meant to do, so that aspect or level of anxiety while playing a first run-through is not appealing, then it might be something to reconsider with entertaining. However, I will say that eventually you can get accustomed and it can become easier to make those less than desirable choices. The common consensus that I also agree with is to play through your first run as blindly as possible, moving forward with your instincts and gut and even emotions rather than a guide or walkthrough. This is greatly reinforced with the Convictions mechanic, and baby virtually everything counts towards conviction. Pet that cat. You will feel better about it, trust me.

Throughout your path(s) you are presented with a variety of situations. Thought the main story is dire after the first handful of chapters, there is reprieve with character stories that range from silly to heartwarming to melancholic and just an all around fun way of knowing a little bit more on who certain characters are and how they interact with others and the world around them. The script itself isn't difficult, not written in an unintelligible old english, but in just enough way to get the feel of antiquity without being completely lost, making things seem more colorful. There's even a differentiation between characters who'll say "aye" as opposed to a more modern "yes," which is just delightful in my opinion.

The world-building however is understood enough to serve its purpose, but the exact details of many things are left up in the air for question if you look slightly below the surface. Though I personally am left wanting more because I fancy lore, it's very "a piece of a fiction novel" about it. It owns a lot of things it doesn't explain and that's what any writer would do if they were to create a fantasy novel with complex systems and history. It knows what's important to make it move.

As a close off, I would like to note one thing that I think was very bold of Triangle Strategy and that was its endings. Though there is a coveted ending that many strive for, even then the options you are ultimately given are all the results of the ones you hold closest giving in to their lowest selves, and because they are at their worst, the endings reflect that. That one specific, coveted ending is often remarked as "ill planned" and not necessarily thought out well from attempting to neatly tie everything back up into a happy present in contrast to the others, but as someone who's delved through the trenches of the MegaTen (Shin Megami Tensei) franchise and fandom, there is something to be said about "keeping the status quo" and it is that its delaying an ultimate inevitability. "Neutral" isn't always best or superior or a "happy ending."

>>CAST: Triangle Strategy truly is a game that has a character for everyone. It is large, but it is not skimping for quality. You will see literally any flavor of war veteran old man to pretty young adult boys that could've been a boyband in a different time to strong and independent battle women, many good and bad strong battle women, to peepaw who is probably in his 80s but is everyone's grandpa and a sniper. Each character feels like there was a level of care given into them, and even some all the more revealed after they are no longer able to. The world interacts, it breaths, and so does Norzelia's inhabitants.

For playable characters, there are 30 playable units to acquaint one's self with, each with their own unique class, weapons, and aptitudes. No one unit's development tree is interchangeable, which falls more into the category below (Gameplay), but it's also important in a way to see them as individuals. You will remember everyone's names, even with units that aren't your favorites or play style.

Outside of playable units, there still is a hefty list of important NPCs that are not any less composed, orchestrated, or of variation than our playable characters. Sometimes you will be in an instance struggling to remember what the fuck Clarus had done or who Patriette is or that Tenebris is still one of the Saintly Seven, but... the magic is in the fact that Triangle Strategy is designed to be experienced more than once to get the full effect. They too have their needs and reasons.

If you as a player want to do one run-through and call it quits, you will certainly still have an impressionable experience, but it will only grow the more invested. I didn't find it that hard because I had fallen in love with everything Triangle Strategy has to offer, so I had my own compulsion to keep moving with it, but if it doesn't ultimately strike you in that way, it is a part you will miss. But that is still okay though.

>>GAMEPLAY: Triangle Strategy is accessible for any level of strategist to stumble through with its difficulty settings. There is an Easy, Normal, and Hard mode. It's common for players to even try their hands at Hard, Deathless runs (I don't know if this is a trophy on Steam. I played on Switch). Battles have a staggering variation of difficulties and difficulty spikes, but there are ways to mediate trouble battles you can't seem to get right. Besides difficulty settings, the game also offers a Quietus mechanic which act as a one-time, additional maneuver without taking a units turn up. Quietus has limits but there's many different actions that you can always implement to save your ass. Personally, 99% of the time I forgot Quietus existed and really only used them on mock battles and final battles mostly to see what they did or save me from having to do another 1+ hour of battle or whatever. But, most battles, you can absolutely pull off without Quietus. You can pull off a number of things a first run-through that many people struggle with and/or guides will tell you to use [character or ability you don't have] or certain strategy you can't get right or whatever.

I will touch upon this again below because it is a common comment, but Triangle Strategy's main course is narrative. To experience it, you need to be ready and understand that it has a story to tell. It has multiple stories to tell, and for that you will have long sections that are mainly dialogue, meaty dialogue too. The type of player that just wants to experience battle and "raw crunch gameplay" is not going to have a favorable opinion on the game format because not all mechanics are tied profitably into battle (if anything it's the other way around). You will have battles, and you can mock battle all you want at the tavern, but story battles are sparse to keep point and potency. That being said though, voting and persuasion is a major, at the heart concept of Triangle Strategy which ties into the aforementioned Convictions mechanic because we love democracy in this House until we don't and is not convenient! Play Triangle Strategy as a story and experience, the gameplay is mainly there to support and accentuate it.

If I tried to point out every little thing about Triangle Strategy this post would be miles long. The game explains and leans into everything very well so enjoy the stuff that isn't mentioned as much in their natural habitat in a relevant way for your own interests.

There is a great "divide" amongst players on wether or not Triangle Strategy is a "good" or "bad" game, and ultimately it boils down to understand who you are as a player, as a gamer. Note your interests and what you enjoy in a game and then gauge, because despite "oh it was bad," "oh it didn't do this," "oh it didn't do X thing that's better," "oh let me romance the blorbos together" the game pulled off a lot of executional aspects really well in its own ways to be its own identity. But, to comment about the common comments:

>>"The game doesn't have enough battles"

The game has an amount of battles actually. There's one battle a chapter, which is probably the hubbub on why people might think there "aren't enough." But most routes are 20 chapters, so that's 20 battles. It's just that chapters also vary in length and some can be long. Then, there's 35 mental mock battles available in the tavern of the encampment, realistically likely only seeing ~21 of them on a first play through though.

But, battling as a mechanic I consider a secondary mechanic to its main purpose: Conviction. Because there also is a certain thing that happens also in chapters, sometimes before battles, sometimes before votes, and that's exploration. This is a way to 1) gain a sense of a map that will likely be used as a battle map somewhen in your run, but also to 2) gain more conviction. Exploration is just as much of a thing in Triangle Strategy as combat.

So, in the end, I don't think the problem here is the battles, but rather the pacing the game presents. The player will be met with an interesting experience of feeling everything is dire and needs to be handled right away, while simultaneously moving rather slow and leisurely with no way to course correct because it's not side quests holding you down but the actual main event.

>>"The demo was slow and boring"

Unfortunately, I did not play early demos, because if memory serves me correct there were multiple versions. From friends, they have said that the early demos and final products are two separate games. Do not trust.

Then, the final demo which you can probably still download on the store (I haven't checked), is its final form, but much like Octopath Traveler, the demo presented is the beginning, it's the opening. If I remember correctly the demo goes to Chapter 3, which is ironic because after then is when things start spiraling downhill really, really fast. So by then you are introduced to the major components of Triangle Strategy. You experience the dialogue storytelling, you get through exploration, there's battles, there is a voting point in which you are introduced to the infamous Scales of Conviction, so it really touches upon all of the moving bits that make the game move. You get brief understanding of the state of Norzelia, its last major conflict, and the future prospects and direction it is moving in; none of which goes in any manner on how anyone wants it to move.

>>"The story is just Game of Thrones"

There's a special secret: any medieval fantasy setting is just "Game of Thrones" because Game of Thrones is the most recent rendition that is popular among the masses. Besides general, not-at-all-surprising political maneuvering and scheming, there really isn't one point in which it's overtly cumbersome as "ripping off" the award winning novel series, because a lot also stands to fact that history is just like that too. "There's powerful Houses that everyone has to watch out for and [other thing that I won't disclose because I think you'll get a better experience not knowing]" yeah and so did regular Europe back in the day, but now it's fictional and maximized to make an interesting story. Actually, Houses and clans are still a thing, I'd imagine, but have mainly been reduced to icons (but don't quote me on that).

Conquest, wars of successions, religious wars, whatever the Boston Tea Party is, power hungry individuals, people abusing power, puppet states/nations, and a lot of other things are historical events and writing tropes to be used as narrative devices. Whatever media you have consumed beforehand effecting your vision and enjoyment is unique to each individual and only influenced by that individual.

>>"The game has terrible voice acting."

Well, first off, show some pity on the voice actors. I don't know their full conditions but also note that the artbook lists that Triangle Strategy's art production was from 2018-2022, and well, a certain pandemic happened in early 2019. It was likely by at least September 2021 that they had finalized voiced lines because teasers were going out with used tracks and lines. I don't remember when the first teaser went out, I was only alerted by several people when Benedict happened because of my character brand, and that's the moment it was over for me to be honest.

But, disregarding that, I'm no expert, but I love how some voices were done. I can still distinctly hear what Erador sounds like, like Mr. Wingert's voice greatly helped define Erador. Sure, I do recall originally opening Triangle Strategy for the first time and listening to Benedict speak and he was very.... flat, but in a very specific way. However, now in hindsight, I have a great appreciation for that because now knowing Benedict, what else was he supposed to sound like? It has a different interpretation and understanding when seeing what's attached to who and how, and in early game with a lot of characters to keep track of that doesn't always click. But, damn, if I do not mimic Lionel every time I say "yes, ha ha, yes" like that's voice acting, it sticks like a tv commercial.

Even though I have thoroughly went off in a lot of directions, I just cannot cover everything. I am absolutely open for engagement if anyone would like further discussion about anything I didn't cover or did cover. Thank you for the ask, and I hope this helped in some manner.

[fizzingwizard]

Well, I bought ad-free Tumblr.

I did it because I realized what I would prefer, if I could have my way (aside from just no one needing to pay for anything at all ever hahahahaha), then we'd all pay to subscribe to tumblr and it just wouldn't be free. It'd be like $1.99 per month and all of us would pay it and have no ads and be happy and whee.

Now that's not my serious opinion. I know, for one, what happens when you stick things behind a paywall. Tumblr might not be a scientific journal or reputable news source (lol) but a paywall still divides, still excludes, and that's antithetical to the entire experience of the Internet. And then, there would still be all the other social media sites that have ads and don't make you pay out of pocket, which would sail on with everyone who can't afford or doesn't want to afford tumblr.

Everyone paying a nice, neat, cheap monthly fee or discount annual fee and getting along together is what would work best for me, but it's not realistic for everyone. But, since I'm willing to do it, I thought, why haven't I? And I'll tell you why: Because idk about the rest of you, but much of tumblr really doesn't work that well for me. I have issues with posting, especially with paragraph breaks and trying to move bits of text around. I don't like that posts I reblogged in the past are hidden forever behind "Flagged for mature content" warnings and it's like. A picture of a cat. Not to mention broken music links and videos (which I guess aren't tumblr's fault, just makes me sad). I don't like how pictures seem to always end up sized differently and you have to open it just the right way to see it how you want. Not to mention a bunch of features tumblr used to have that I loved have gone away or been massively de-emphasized: support for music players on blogs, for example. (Yes I still have one but it's a pain the neck.) Polls are nice but I miss that. I also miss convenient free themes - they're still there of course! But finding one that has everything I want (no endless scrolling, clear navigation, visible icon and description, music player, etc) is also a pain and I just end up reusing the same old one I've been using since I joined and recoloring it lol.

So I'd be happier about paying for tumblr if the experience were just a touch cleaner, faster. Oh, and not forgetting about PC users xP I know lots of people use their phone, I do too, it's convenient - but PC is just easier. Well, maybe for teens who can type on their phones at 50 mph it's no big deal. But I love love love my keyboard.

But anyway I paid it so I get a year without ads. Honestly I thought about it and $40 a year is what, ten cents a day? I really don't mind that. I wasn't really bothered by ads anymore since they've been scaled back, but now I can be bothered by them even less, so yay. OTOH, it looks like the subscription auto-renews, which I HATE. If so, I hope they send a warning email a few days before.

Oh and you know what else helped. I did a few youtube searches recently, and wanted to tear out my own hair over how frustrating it was. I just want a list of videos that relate to the subject of my search, not interspersed between "things I've seen before," "random shorts," "things that are similar," "things totally different that Youtube wants to show me anyway." And same thing on Google, Amazon, anywhere. I'm just so sick of it. So I'll fucking pay for fucking tumblr x'D Just work and not be annoying alright!!

I find it amusing that the moment I paid, I got a pop-up asking me to pay more to give ad-free to someone else. I might be more amenable when my pocketbook isn't smarting anymore 9_9

But this was funniest of all:

OK, I can't imagine ever doing it, but I suppose there's someone out there who thinks highly enough of the stuff that gets blazed to decide they want to continue seeing it even after spending $40 x'D But who is paying the fee and choosing show all ads? Please, is there anyone? I want to see a cryptid for myself.

[thelostgirl21]

So, guess who ended up watching the whole "Jobriath A.D." documentary, crying her eyes out over a guy singing about Sunday Brunch in his pyramid, and making a whole video dedicated to Jobriath and Hugh's performance as Radovid?

Actually, I also made another version (unlisted) for those of you that are already familiar with the artist, and might want to enjoy some of his music and the visuals without being distracted by the text at the bottom:

But yeah, I'm kind of so sad and upset that I never got to know about him before (given how huge of a fan of David Bowie I've been since my teenage years), and that the gay community totally failed to support him, back then.

I mean, I'm not blaming them. We've had the same issue with feminism where we used to make it all about women assuming more traditional men roles; until we finally realized that it was just as important to give more social value to traditionally perceived feminine qualities, traits, interests, and professions - in men, women, and any other gender, really - as well!

So, I can recognize that the gay community attempting to distance itself from the whole "flamboyant fairy" image likely came from the rest of society attempting to reduce them to it (among others), and creating some kind of convenient "right" vs "wrong" way to be gay narrative (a divided minority is much less powerful and loud than a united one).

Even today, we are facing a similar issue with some members of the LGBTQ+ community claiming to be part of the "LGB" without the "TQ+".

Note: the "B" of that "LGB" is often barely tolerated as a "temporary transitional phase", though; a "stepping stone" towards either the "L" or "G", or a return to being "straight".

Ultimately, it's about our survival instincts making us fear losing the relative safety we've acquired by being positively accepted and valued by those that hold the most power.

i.e. The "TQ+" is too controversial and different from the cisgender monosexual majority to be readily accepted?

Well, let's distance ourselves from it to keep us "LG"s safe, then!

While, of course, reassuring the dominant majority that the "B" will eventually choose a side, so its okay to let them come along while they are still "searching themselves". No worry! We're still as "normal" as you are!

It's all very, very binary.

No, it's not. The world is filled with beauty, diversity and nuance...

And sadly, by rejecting a part of our collective identity to better "fit in", we are sacrificing a part of our very own soul and culture. We are hurting ourselves and giving up power, not acquiring it.

So yeah, I'm not "blaming the victims" by accusing the gay community of any intentional wrongdoing back then, but JFC! It hurts.

It really hurts that he didn't receive comfort, love, and support from his very own people, at the very least, when the mainstream audience lashed out at him.

Yes, the publicity and the hype built around him made everything worse and gave off the wrong image (he probably came off as being a bit of a "self-absorbed prick", rather than someone in a position of great vulnerability), but they freaking ate him alive out there!

And he deserved better not because he was incredibly gifted and talented, but because he was a freaking human being.

What his talent and giftedness had to offer us was a voice, though, that we allowed to be silenced, and the world and our culture became lesser for it.

Jobriath did pave the way for others to then succeed, but I'm against the idea that someone needs to fall and sacrifice themselves so that others may rise. Yes, it happens, but it shouldn't have to.

I don't believe for one second that it is or was ever necessary.

But if it does happen, then yes, I say make it count for something, at the very least!

So, maybe that's why I'm so touched by the fact that Hugh listened to his music and drew inspiration from it while portraying his character.

40 years after his death, you now have a young openly gay actor being offered the role of an openly gay prince (that later becomes king) on a major fantasy show that isn't specifically about LGBTQ+ themes (like, say, "Sense8" could be considered to be), who is listening to Jobriath's music to help him connect with, build, and embody his character.

And, while I am genuinely glad that some artists are doing covers of his songs (ex: Adam Lambert with "Imaman") and bringing people's attention towards his work...

In Hugh's case, I think that what I find really touching is the fact that there's an element of "practicality" to it, if I'm making any sense? A connection that seems to be more internalized / intimate between the two artists...

Art is a means of self-expression, and sometimes you are trying to express a message, an emotion, or an idea that you wish to share with others in the world, and allow it to take a life of its own.

So, it's like the music Jobriath created - that little part of himself and the things he wished to communicate with the world that he left behind - is being listened to and welcomed by Hugh, and then combined with his own creative sensitivities to be integrated within a theatrical performance.

The spirit of what was initially shared lives on, while evolving and taking on a new form that will then go on to connect with people in a different way.

It's not so much about celebrating the songs themselves and paying tribute to the artist's work by covering them, but becomes about honoring the artist's spirit and the emotions, themes, ideas, etc. those songs were covering.

And I am genuinely not saying that one way of connecting with the artist's work or expressing appreciation for it is better than the other, not at all.

Just that as a non-professional artist myself, the idea of leaving anything behind that would have the power to touch a fellow artist's soul, help them grow as a performer, and continue to express and explore certain themes that I personally connected with at that time in my life - even if I would no longer be there to personally guide them - would be incredibly moving and make me feel like art really has the power to transcend boundaries and even death itself.

Because Jobriath's songs tackled issues related to identity, gender, relationships and self-discovery, among others...

And Radovid, as a character, is very gentle...

He's sensitive, empathetic, boyish, openly admits to being scared, freaking huddles himself in a corner to cry when he finds out his guards have been slaughtered...

I mean, when it comes down to it, all Radovid really wanted, this season, was a pretty song and someone to love and belong with...

Someone that could see him as he really is, and see some value in who he is, too...

So Jaskier, sweetheart, listen to Milva...

Because, let's be honest, you're a bit useless in the whole "rescuing Ciri" venture. I mean, you're not useless now, since Geralt is still recovering from his physical and emotional injuries, does greatly benefit from having his emotional support bard around, and you're not quite entirely done holding out interviews to find him new useful companions to watch after him and help him on his quest (don't think I didn't notice what you were doing with Milva!)...

But ultimately, this is going to involve a lot of fighting, and that's not where you're at your strongest.

However, there's a King in need of some serious rescuing, too, that could really use your wits, ability to know, influence and inspire people, and your Sandpiper connections.

You're not a hammer, you're a fellow spoon, luv; and the whole mess that Radovid has been thrown into is a situation that would most definitely requires two spoons, at the very least!

Thankfully, you've already proven that you know how to make two spoons work together very well, and become an effective weapon to annoy the hell out of those trying to keep people trapped!

You and Radovid pooling your own respective resources and joining forces together?

Philippa and Dijkstra would be so fucked... So, so fucked... And not in the "fun way".

So, as soon as Geralt has sufficiently recovered and has enough people with him to watch his back out there, get back to Radovid ASAP and get your whole "spooning thing" on, alright?

Fair warning: He might specifically need a big spoon to help dig him out of the whole mess that's threatening to bury him alive right now... Just saying!

Anyway, getting sidetracked again!

I guess my point is that Radovid is displaying the kind of emotional intelligence, insightfulness, and empathetic qualities that are more traditionally associated with feminine characters.

And that, if they are to ever make him rise to a position of great power within the kingdom, the worst possible thing Netflix could do is probably make him lose those qualities.

If princesses, in fantasy, have been allowed to gain power and become beloved queens through their compassionate and nurturing nature, their ability to genuinely care about the fate of every living person (and even creature) on their land, and "triumph over evil" by building mutually beneficial alliances with said people and creatures, so should a freaking gentle and sensitive gay prince, I say!

There really is no need to "harden Radovid", and change the very core of who he is just to "give him power".

To have him become more confident and assertive in who he is and what he can do, absolutely!

But using his trauma as an excuse to make him become some kind of angry, "tough", paranoid, uncaring and controlling leader? No.

Especially in a context where Radovid is a character that people are expecting to become hard and cruel because of his videogame counterpart, please be brave enough to completely defy those expectations by letting him be his own person!

Because Netflix's version of Radovid, thus far, is a superb example of queer representation done right, too.

And I'm going to attempt to phrase that as best as I can, so hopefully what I'm saying won't be misunderstood, but having a queer actor portray a queer character does offer an added layer of authenticity to the role.

Don't get me wrong, I'm far from opposed to the idea of having straight actors portraying certain queer characters in a context where gay, bisexual, pansexual, etc. actors are also being offered straight roles.

I'm a huge fan of Malec (the pairing of Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood), and I think that Harry Shum Jr. and Matthew Daddario did an amazing job portraying a very realistic and domestic relationship between a bisexual man and a gay man.

They both approached the roles with lots of humility, openness, asked for the queer community's guidance and feedback on their portrayal of the relationship (the fact that some of their fellow cast members on the show are queer IRL - including Nicola Correia-Damude, that portrays Maryse Lightwood - likely helped), etc.

And, when it came to filming scenes requiring to show a lot of love and intimacy between their two characters, they didn't hold back, either.

So, I do think that you can definitely be straight IRL, and feel confident enough in your own sexuality and in who you are to explore and embrace other orientations through your acting.

Not to mention that having such actors show that they aren't afraid to portray queer characters on TV, and to openly support and associate with the LGBTQ+ community, is setting a positive example for other cisgender straight people out there.

It kind of goes to show that, just because one is exposed to diversity when it comes to love, romance and sexuality, it won't magically "turn them gay".

Because, trust me, if Matthew Daddario didn't magically "become gay" after all those steamy kisses and emotionally/physically intimate scenes he had to film with Harry Shum Jr., likely nothing will!

And most bisexuals I've personally discussed the character of Magnus Bane with did feel like he was an accurate representation of their own sexuality.

Just like, as a panromantic and pansexual person, I'm 100% "vibing" with Joey Batey's portrayal of Jaskier.

I have no idea what Joey's actual sexual orientation is, or why he decided to explore pansexuality with his character before they made it official, but I feel like "he gets me".

Even his decision to make Jaskier become specifically romantically attracted to the way he perceives Radovid's intellect (sapioromantic) - and swoon over how intelligent and insightful he is on screen - is something that I can viscerally connect with, since I'm personally exclusively romantically and sexually attracted towards geeks.

If you were to pay attention to the way I'm looking at my partner dungeon mastering a D&D game, you'd think I was watching him perform a freaking striptease! It's uncanny!

So, even if Joey was to tell me that he is straight, I'd be more than fine and happy to have my own romantic and sexual identity be represented by him. I feel like he truly "gets me", regardless of whether it's from personal experience, or because of his own ability to put himself in other people's shoes and intimately connect with their reality.

It's just that, in Hugh's case, knowing that he is gay, and that the role has a personal significance for him, offers another layer of appreciation for the character and the actor's performance.

He just seems to be so happy to be living at a time and age where you can get that kind of representation in a major fantasy show - where you can have queer characters that are complex, fleshed out, and not reduced to mere stereotypes - and to be given the chance to be a part of the people that are making it happen, that you can't help but feel it, too.

It almost makes me wonder if they cast Hugh Skinner specifically because they knew how different from the videogames their version of Radovid was going to be, and they needed someone that would look like he has such a wonderful time with this role, and is so grateful to be there and be given the opportunity to play him, that hating on the character would literally feel like kicking a puppy!

Me: I don't think I could ever feel as protective over a fictional character as I feel about Jaskier.

Hugh Skinner: Hold my - I mean Jaskier's lute, I've got this!

Me: Ah, crap. Here we go again...

And the sad part is that, back when the whole controversial romance between Radovid and Jaskier was planned and filmed, no one had any idea that it would be Henry Cavill's last season.

But now, they bascially introduced a version of Prince Radovid that is the polar opposite of what the writers of "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" came up with, and paired him up with a character that has never been established as being queer in the books and the videogames (Jaskier)...

...right at the height of the angry toxic gaming community's "let's all assume that Henry Cavill is leaving because of the showrunner's blatant 'woke agenda', and all of these outrageous changes that were made to the source material the games (ex: OMG! They decided that a splendid full-figured black woman could fit the book description of "Margarita Laux-Antille emerged from the pool with a splash.. Ciri could not stop herself from taking a peek. She saw Yennefer in the nude many times and she didn't think anyone could have a more beautiful figure. She was wrong. At the sight of a naked Margarita Laux-Antille even marble statues of goddesses and nymphs would sob with jealousy"... HOW DARE THEY?!?!?!), and call for the boycott and cancellation of the series" movement!

Do you guys ever wish that the LGBTQ+ community had some kind of huge "bat signal" to let fellow queers - that, in this more specfic case, haven't seen "The Witcher" yet - know that there's this absolutely amazing queer romance happening on a show that totally deserves their love and attention?

And that said queer romance could really use their love and attention right about now - and throughout the next season - if we've any hope that the show will keep on running and remain popular for as long as humanly possible, given that it has just lost its biggest star (that was playing the main character, no less), and there's a bunch of people that have decided that they would no longer be watching it because of that.

Somehow, I'm just heartbroken over the prospect of the show not having the chance to really further develop Jaskier and Radovid's stories (both their romance, and each individual character's journeys), and the actors not having the chance to fully really portray and develop them.

Radskier is basically "Malec material" being introduced in a show that has a disproportionately high number of angry right-wing ideologists and incels gamers "fans" that are dedicating entire YouTube channels to trying to punish the TV show for daring to have a more inclusive cast and broader view of beauty standards than its videogame counterpart, and making a womanizer keep the same impulsive drive to love and sexually connect with a bunch of different people he becomes spontaneously enamored with, but without said sexual drive being motivated by them being women.

And bits and pieces of that narrative is bleeding into the more moderate audience, without realizing how problematic or nonsensical some of them are at their core.

I wish there was some kind of "Malec fans hotline" you could call to say "Guys! I know this may not be your usual TV show genre, but there's something exceptionally good happening right here that you need to come and checkout! You have two lovers from two different worlds experiencing an instant soul-deep connection in one of the most adorable "meet awkward cute" of TV history. And that connection throws one of them a bit out of a loop, because he's never romantically fallen in love before (he's greyromantic)... And one of them is expected to basically sacrifice all of his own wants and needs to honor his duty, because he was born into a highly regarded and powerful royal family... And he initially tries to conform to his family's expectations, but realizes that it is not who he is... And there's this situation where he keeps some information from the man he loves, and the other realizes it, he becomes scared that he made a mistake trusting him and pushes him away... But then..."

How do we get the audience that is usually into these types of stories to migrate towards "The Witcher"?

*Heavy sigh*

But yeah, all I hope is that Liam Hemsworth's performance as Geralt will be well-received, and that the show will be deemed successful enough for Netflix to continue investing in it so that these storylines and characters will be given the chance to continue to grow and develop...

[msareviews]

Review - Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros

Efrén Divided is about a seventh grader who must help keep his house running after his mother is deported on her way to work. It’s recommended for grades three to six (NoveList, n.d.) and offers children a glimpse into the lives of children of illegal immigrants and the disruption deportation causes for families. Cisneros creates realistic characters, especially in our lead Efrén, and masterfully combines hope and heartbreak to create a sense of empathy for the injustice of deportation. I also appreciate the book’s focus on incorporating Spanish and Mexican American culture to give readers an authentic portrait of Mexican American communities.

I read this as an eBook through CloudLibrary, and while I don’t think it took away or added much to the impact of the content, the convenience of the eBook format was wonderful! I mostly read this book between patrons while working the desk at my library, however it also came in handy when I had a spare moment but was away from my iPad. In one instance, my cat had fallen asleep on my chest, and I was able to pull the book up on my phone and read without disturbing her (I highly recommend this reading experience, by the way). For readers who are frequently on the go, including students who may not want to weigh down their backpacks with print books as they go from class to class, the eBook format is wonderful. For readers who have certain disabilities like dyslexia or limited visibility, the ability to change text size and background makes reading far more accessible than what might be available in print.

The characters in Efrén Divided feel very real and are immensely lovable. Efrén is guided primarily by a sense of responsibility for the people he cares about. Having a central motivation for his character that guides all his actions gives his character a realistic and understandable psychology that allows us to better empathize with his journey. However, even though his central motivation is noble, he is not immune to making mistakes and even hurting his friends which allows him to be likable without being unrealistically perfect. The other characters in the book are equally humanized, which makes watching them struggle through Amá’s deportation truly heartbreaking.

This heartbreak is especially felt towards the end of the book, where Cisneros refuses to give readers a traditional happy ending. The whole book, we watch Efrén struggle without his mother, we see his father working himself to the bone and his younger siblings weep for their mother. After all this hardship, when the arrangements are finally made for Amá to come home, the reader experiences the same joy and hope that the family does, only for it to come crashing down when it’s revealed that Amá won’t be coming home after all. Mixing hope and heartbreak like this highlights the painful reality of deportation for readers. While some readers, particularly those in more conservative areas, might have only heard of deportation as justice for illegal immigration, seeing the cruel reality in this book might cause some to reconsider whether there is any justice in deportation.

Aside from the valuable look at deportation and the experiences of undocumented immigrants, the book also naturally incorporates Spanish as an everyday aspect of the majority Hispanic community. One of my close friends teaches English in a school with a large Spanish-speaking population, and one of the difficulties he’s faced is trying to teach writing and literature to students who often struggle to read in English. Reading this book made me think of his students and how they might enjoy reading this book because of the casual inclusion of Spanish and authentic portrayal of Mexican American culture. In fact, I plan on getting him the English and Spanish language copies of this book for his classroom so his students will know that their language is respected in his classroom, even as his job is to teach them English. It’s my hope that this book will act as a mirror for them and make them feel more welcome.

I read this book as my Pura Belpre winner, and it was great! I can see this book being a valuable window for kids who don’t have a great understanding of how harmful deportation can be and a great mirror for children who might relate to Efrén and his family’s situation. Cisneros does a wonderful job making these issues more nuanced and accessible for younger audiences and I could easily see this being incorporated into a social studies class.

References

Cisneros, E. (2020). Efrén Divided. Quill Tree Books. NoveList. (n.d.).

Efrén Divided. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/novp/detail?vid=2&sid=5a5ad040-ca23-4db3-86d8-161890e6013c%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9bm92cC1saXZl#AN=10849555&db=neh.