#might write some more later

[delusionalbitchinthehouse]

Thought about Ghost pirate AU instead of sleeping last night, so here are some of said thoughts (I really wanna make that a fic but i'd need to research some specific vocabulary since english isn't my first language and even in french i don't know much about how to describe ships and things like that) :

Copia is the captain of the Impera ship (how original, I know).

Cirrus and Aether are his seconds in command.

Phantom has tons of eyepatches that he decorates with shells Swiss picks for him, pearls Rain brings back from the deepest parts of the sea, shiny things Aurora gifts him, etc...

Sunshine is constantly up in the sails, swinging from ropes and masts, keeping an eye on the sea and the sky, always on the lookout for danger or opportunities.

Dew is an incredible shot, and he's very proud of it - likes to show off, though he knows when to prioritize efficiency over elegancy.

Rain is some kind of siren, and lures whichever ship the crew has eyes on toward them by singing. He usually swims after the ghouls' ship, when the sea is calm and he isn't needed on the deck.

Swiss has a variant of Rain's capacity, but without singing. He just...sort of hypnotize people just by talking. Like...enhanced charm. It wears off the longer the person is exposed to it, though, so he has to use it wisely.

Their ship is the fastest on the sea, since Cumulus and Cirrus can manipulate wind and basically give it a speed boost whenever.

Mountain's sense of orientation is impecable. As long as you have him, you're never lost. He's like a living compass. (maybe he can "sense" the lands around them to a certain extend ?)

Aether ties and unties knots in loose ropes when he's anxious (kinda like Finnick in Hunger Games) and is the medic on board.

Cirrus is a sword master. Do not challenge her in a duel, she will win.

Aurora is an explosion enthousiast. Do not let her unsupervised around canons or powder. It does come in a handy when the goal is to blow up the enemy, though.

Cumulus is a frightenigly clever strategist. Whenever a plan needs to be made, she always come up with the best, most twisted ideas. She's also in charge of drawing the maps (she's the only one with a neat handwritting).

[dk-wren]

Buddy Daddies Finale Theory

I can't say what I'm really basing these thoughts on. I also am not sure if this is an actual theory or just my hopes/musings. But here we go:

Kazuki, Rei, and Miri will all make it. Kazuki or Rei might get injured, but nobody in this sweet, little family is dying on me!

However, I do think there is going to be a loss and after the end of Ep. 8, my bet is on Kyutaro (though I hope I am wrong!)

For a variety of reasons, all of which are valid, Rei, and perhaps Kazuki too, are gonna go after Shigeki and Ogino. If not outright killing them (perhaps symbolizing that Rei and Kazuki have changed and are different from them), they will somehow be out of the picture, leaving Rei as the head of the Suwa family/organization

Rei and Kazuki will continue to stay in that world or business, possibly to try and change the practices of the Suwa organization or still feeling too tied to it. So, Rei will step up to become the head of the Suwa organization, except he's doing things a little differently from his father. Rei will be handling that during the day while Miri is at school. During the same time, Kazuki will somewhat retire from missions and instead take over Yadorigi from Kyutaro, maintaining the place as both a cafe and location to exchange/gather intel. (Just let this man cook and be appreciated for his food/drinks)

Like Rei said in Ep. 8, his home is the apartment where he, Kazuki, and Miri live. And that's gonna stay the same. Their apartment will continue to be their home. Nobody is going to move to the Suwa manor and that place will instead become like an office or workspace for Rei. While they may all somewhat spend their day apart from each other, this little family always comes together at night in the apartment for dinner and family time.

.

.

.

Not fully related to the above, but also just wanted to throw my two cents into the conversation about this: I don't think we've crossed over into the present yet (or, we're still in the flashback). I feel it would explicitly be said when the show jumps back to the present or there would be overlapping events that clearly allude to the merging of the two timelines. I haven't watched a whole lot of anime, so I do not know if this is a common story technique or not and if there is like a trope or narrative device used in these situations.

I do agree, given Rei's growth and development in the relationship he has with Miri, going back and rewatching that first scene, Rei's reaction seems a little out of character now (like he still does not really care about Miri). But, and I saw a post about this earlier (sorry I forgot your @), if it's not actually Miss Anna calling, and instead Kyutaro or someone else with the voice changer, this could explain Rei's response. If this call is being made to lure Kazuki and Rei into a trap, and Miri does not actually have a runny nose or fever (I kinda forgot the specifics), then Rei's seemingly unfazed or uncaring reaction could be him simply trying to appease Kazuki's overprotective papa dramatics. Rei's "I guess" could be he truly didn't notice anything wrong with Miri because nothing is, she's just being used as bait. Regardless of the how the organization gets its info on Kazuki and Miri, they will know how much she means to both of them and what they are willing to do for her. That is why calling them and saying Miri is not in outright trouble or danger, but simply needs the love and help of her papas will quickly draw them to wherever the organization wants them.

I could be completely wrong, but just some of my thoughts about how the rest of the season may play out. I think the wait for next week's episode is gonna be a lot harder for me than previous waits.

[voiice-of-the-soul]

It irritates me alot when people say that making medic more compassionate is ''missing the point of his character'' when he is literally shown to be in the comics.... did you miss the part where he showed concern for both sniper and miss pauling's well being in comic 5 and 6.

His actions are a combination of genuine attachment + clinical interest and these things do not cancel out one another. He is always pushing boundaries and going against the grain and i think this is what led to him losing his license in the first place. He felt stifled by the rules imposed on him.

He is shown to be extremely passionate so it makes sense that he would use his endless fascination with medicine as a way to show his affection. He loves his friends so he will find a way to make them borderline indestructible. Malpractice is his love language.

[bleekay]

expanding a little on dragon zukka for anyone interested:

the designs are intentionally similar between the two of them, with the difference being this is as close as sokka can will himself to look human, and for zuko it is as close as he can will himself to look like a dragon, so they have this bizarre meet-in-the-middle sort of appearance that almost mirrors one another. sokka can take full dragon form, and zuko can take full human form, but this is the form they each choose to take because it's most similar to the thing they wish to be. which would make both a great point of both conflict and connection between them.

meeting is a blessing and curse. they dislike each other at first, they butt heads, they have so many years of history to unpack all while forming an unhappy alliance, because despite their own self-hatred and hatred for each other and what they represent, they also see in each other their only chance to try and learn how to be normal, be accepted in their respective groups, as zuko is the only dragon-blood sokka has met offering to try and teach him how to take human form, and for zuko, maybe this wild, strange dragon-blood can teach him some way to take dragon form

a year spent together might be enough time

(to unlearn prejudice and shame, to accept themselves, to fall for each other, to realize that no form taken changes who they are or what they always deserved)

[yuri-is-online]

Traditional fantasy isekai au where:

Yuu is isekaid to Twisted Wonderland as a child, in a setting that's hundreds of years before the main game, and is adopted by a family there. Maybe Grim is a normal cat that came with them and gained the ability to talk and do magic out of a desire to protect his best friend. They grow up and train as a soldier of some sort out of gratitude to their adoptive parents to protect them, eventually leaving their place with Grim in search of adventure depending on where they landed:

City of Flowers! Yuu who was raised by the people who lived in the Court of Miracles and wants to get a job with the city guard to help fight for the rights of their adoptive home. They're helped by a friend they made as a child, the son of well respected parents who came to heavily rely on Yuu after the loss of his younger brother. Now a well respected legal student with his eye on a judge's seat, Rollo is hiding a deadly secret: he is a powerful mage and you are one of the only people who knows. He's also desperately in love with you and at real risk of going insane if something bad happens to the one good thing he has left in his life.

Land of Dawning! Yuu who hunts monsters along the coast line and finds a badly beaten merfolk on the beach and patches him up without a single thought. The man scolds them when he wakes, wondering why Yuu is so unafraid of what he could do to them now that he's awake only to be met with a shrug and a warning that poachers much less kind than Yuu are in the area who see non typical mer such as himself as monsters. Yuu happens to have a bounty for them. Oya? Jade says he's quite aware of that and what's more, they have his brother and a dear friend. Won't you continue to assist this poor, unfortunate soul in rescuing the only family he has left in this world? He doesn't have anything to pay you with. Something about his attitude makes you roll your eyes but so long as you don't have to split the bounty four ways you say you'll help. Pleasure doing business with you he says, and you both go to sleep that night confident you won't get attached to the other at all by the time the job's done.

Clock Town! Yuu who used to be picked on for not having any magic by the delinquent gangs only to find themselves in a party with one of the worst of the worst torn between being hurt Deuce doesn't remember making fun of them or impressed with how determined he is to turn his life around vs Deuce who absolutely remembers but has no idea how to appropriately apologize so he just makes it his mission to bring you home from every mission unscathed, even if it's at the cost of his own health. He swears he'll say it eventually, he just needs to find a way to not make an ass of himself by saying something stupid like he loves you.

Farm Kid! Yuu who gets recruited by Ace for his party because he literally can't get anyone other than you and Deuce and ends up being the glue that holds it together. Ace is dumbfounded as he watches you successfully recruit Jack, Epel, Ortho, and even Sebek without much trouble and hates himself for ever thinking about abandoning you as soon as he got better party members. Yuu who knows that's what he wanted to do from the start and resigns themselves to him leaving when Riddle makes his offer only for Ace to stay with Ramshackle Party because he's "too busy looking after them" to be a card soldier, hiding the burns on his hands from when he punched the Arch Mage for insulting you. He can surpass Riddle's party on his own any day.

[senblades]

OKAY OKAY OKAY SO HEAR ME OUT

Akechi as a Velvet Room attendant au- but he effectively replaces Caroline and Justine in Ren's Velvet Room.

So basically: During one of Wakaba's questionable experiments, Akechi dies, and Yaldabaoth is like "Fuck, I can work with this" and scoops up Akechi's soul into the Velvet Room to act as Ren's attendants when the time comes. The whole 'splitting in half' thing was barely even Yaldy's doing in this au- Akechi's personas were already Robin Hood and Loki, so when he was dragged into the Velvet Room post-death, he manifested as two seperate entities.

Back in the real world, Wakaba's reaction essentially boils down to "shit", since she just murdered a child by mistake. Shido would normally be very upset by this, but he instead decides to make it work, and instead of having Wakaba killed, he blackmails her into complete compliance by holding her ethical malpractice over her head. Somewhat unsure as to the state of the mental shutdowns- definitely no psychotic breakdowns, though.

Meanwhile, in regard to other canon divergences- Futaba doesn't have a palace, but is quite upset with her mother due to how obsessed she is with her research, especially since all the stuff with Akechi. (Futaba is unaware of all this, for the most part)

Wakaba, on the other hand, does have a palace. Perhaps focused on guilt +deflecting blame?

Sae's role in the story is fairly similar, but rather than being on the mental shutdowns case (She might still be on the case, but it isn't her focus/leads into what she's actually interested in) She's obsessed with Akechi's missing person's case, since she noticed it two years ago and how suspicious it is, and is furious that no one seems to care, a concequence of Shido's influence and the general poor treatment of orphans.

So, yeah. Brainworms. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[cowboycatss]

the true lives of the fabulous umm.. um. catjoys.. kittyjoys… no the furbulous ??killjoys?? the mew lives of th

[becauseplot]

i think it could be really fun to write a crowmonster!philza and warrior!etoiles au for the soul purpose of writing their little "sparring" matches where instead of beating each other with sticks it's just etoiles wrestling his big ol dragon-esque monster friend. etoiles clinging onto phil's back/tail feathers as phil tries to buck him off. phil holding etoiles in his beak and shaking him around like a chew toy. etoiles hooking an arm/rope around phil's throat and phil doing this great big dramatic roaring cry as he stumbles and flops onto his back and "dies", talons in the air, twitching, also crushing etoiles in the process. everyone else looking on with bewildered concern as phil seems to be gnawing etoiles' arm off and etoiles is just lying there declaring deadpan, "ohhh no he is too strong, the monster has defeated me, he is killing me, it is so slow and painful, i am dying, ggs bro, ggs." (<-he is perfectly fine, phil is only play-mauling)

other fun points:

phil tossing etoiles around in the air like he weighs literally nothing

etoiles pinning one of phil's wing-arms behind his back like its no big deal

etoiles ripping out some of phil's feathers during one of their play fights and phil freezing mid-thrash just to shoot him the flattest, most offended look to ever come from a non-human creature

phil accidentally going too far and ripping up etoiles' shoulder and phil just becoming the biggest, most whimpery apologetic mass of feathers and spikes as etoiles pats his beak and tells him it's no problem, it doesn't even hurt that bad (and phil just wails louder)

both of them nudging/bugging/poking each other when they're bored to goad the other into a play fight, with varying degrees of success

[mayashesfly]

A follow up/expansion on the Robot replaces Dead Vox scenario au

For simplicity's sake I'll refer to Vox's robot replacement as the Proxy. And any possible future posts about this au will be tagged under "The Proxy AU"

(Do take note that some of these things may be subject to change as I expand on this au in time)

Thank you @theautotrophic for your questions! ^w^

Vox made the Proxy at first after his fallout with Alastor as a way to let out his self loathing. So Alastor didn't know about it.

The Proxy is almost direct reconstruction of his body but improved to better at handling overheating amongst other things while also having the chest area be more… masculine. (If you headcanon Vox as Trans ontop of my headcanon that he can't exactly have permanent top surgery because sinner regeneration is a bitch)

The biggest difference between Vox and the Proxy is that the Proxy doesn't have alot of shark-like qualities unlike Vox since Vox was still terrified of sharks when he made the Proxy.

So the Proxy doesn't have any dorsal like fins and his tail is a retractable cord tail instead of a retractable shark tail. But it still does have the gills as its vents.

There's also details on his backside specifically that he couldn't replicate because well… It's not like he can see his back.

The Proxy was meant to be Vox's attempt to upgrade his body as a way to cope with his fallout with Alastor. After all, if he can upgrade his head, why can't he upgrade his body?

Unfortunately, he couldn't actually replace his body with the Proxy. And the idea of completely getting rid of it didn't sit right with him since he wasted alot of materials and time into making it.

It'll be a waste to scrap it but it's not like he could admit that he made the Proxy in a state of weakness to his only business partner friend left.

After some time of calming down, he realized that he could use the Proxy as a back up plan if things go south with him.

At this point, he still didn't know he could transfer parts of his memories into flashdrives to download them somewhere else. But he reasoned that he could theoretically make a head for the Proxy and program it to act like him.

So knowing that there's a chance Valentino would see the Proxy because you can't exactly hide a life-sized "improved" replica of your body, he told Valentino that the Proxy could be a backup plan for him if things go south before Valentino could find out about it through other means.

At the time, Valentino was utterly confused and pretty disturbed at the information.

But it was something they never really brought up again since they both wanted to forget it.

Velvette didn't actually know about the Proxy until it happened.

After his close fight with Alastor wherein Valentino intervened before Alastor disappeared, his thoughts went back to the Proxy as he realized that he could actually die.

His media empire with Valentino and Velvette was already growing and if anything happened to him, the technological and broadcasting aspect of their business would fall over without him acting as the head.

And their reputation would take a hit if Valentino and Velvette was forced to rebrand Voxtek in the case of his death. Especially if their competitors sees his death as something that'll weaken the Vees.

He couldn't bare letting the Vees go without an actual backup plan in case something happened to him.

So while he and Valentino healed from the battle with Alastor, he took some time upgrading the Proxy to be up to date and actually modifying and programming it so that it could actually act like him in case something happened.

He didn't bother making the Proxy a head of its own since he knew he always upgraded his head and it would just be a waste of time.

But he did set up a machine that can automatically give the Proxy a head after the head that'll be installed has the proper programming and necessary memories installed inside.

The Proxy doesn't actually have any personality of its own unlike Kitty wherein Vox put in the extra effort to give it some personality thay he knows Valentino would like since it was a gift for him (just like how Vark was a gift for Vox from Val which helped him embraced his shark-like qualities)

The Proxy is programmed to handle broadcasting, interviews, and public meetings. Pretty much every public appearance Vox had to make.

The memories downloaded into the Proxy mostly isn't personal at all, and they mostly only pertain to the business and important aspects of their business. (So it doesn't have any personal memories of Alastor)

Though there are also programmed codes and memories on how to handle Valentino and Velvette to make sure they don't fly off the handle based on Vox's previous interactions. With more emphasis on how to specifically handle a Valentino who's having a fit just in case.

Though when the two of them goes against the programmed interaction the Proxy has on them, then it has some difficulty.

After all, it wasn't like it has anything to work off on on how to handle a grieving Valentino and Velvette.

It takes alot of energy from the Proxy to handle its daily public appearances. And it's unable to do surveillance unlike Vox as any attempts to do so would overload its systems and it'll just crash.

When its not on "public appearance" mode, the Proxy is on a "low power savings" mode around the Vees as it tries to keep up the appearance of a businessman for the other employees. Though it visibly buffers and pauses at times, causing its face to disappear.

Sometimes Valentino and Velvette would manually power it off to be hidden somewhere out of plain sight.

It's a miracle if they could remember to plug it in through its tail cord or its actual charger or another charger so it could recharge.

Something that Vox's assistant has to keep up on consistently unless he wants to reschedule the entire day so that the people who are none the wiser won't be confused or upset that Vox had to reschedule their meetings and other public appearances. (Poor Eelliot)

As for Vox's death well… I'll keep that to your imaginations for now :D

But I will say that one of the reasons Alastor knows Vox is dead is because of how their shared frequency went completely silent.

Meanwhile, the Vees have a contract to ensure that everything the deceased Vee has under their possession would be transferred to the other Vees in the event of their death so that they won't lose any power, souls, properties, and ect that the other Overlords and Kingpins could steal.

Even when Valentino and Velvette didn't know where Vox was or how he died, the both of them physically felt Vox's powers and possessions going to them after he died, confirming his death.

Valentino quickly went to Vox's surveillance and control room to desperately search for him while there was an Extermination going on outside.

It took everything from Velvette to convince him not to go outside when he could also be killed and then Vox would be fucking upset with them.

(Neither of them said a word that there was no more Vox to be upset with them ever again)

When they finally located his body, they quickly collected him discreetly so that noone else would know that the Vees lost its eldest member.

Neither of them said a word as they hugged the cold, lifeless corpse.

A stark contrast to the warmth Vox constantly radiated despite his calm and collected persona.

It took some time for Valentino to finally put Proxy to use.

Some of Vox's shows having a few reruns while he gathers the courage to face the machine.

He had half the mind to completely destroy it beyond repair.

To tear everything down to pieces after he had lost his longest business partner.

But Kitty and Proxy was the only things left that Vox made with his two very own hands.

To have them repaired by someone else other than Vox…..

Well, while Vox may still be the same despite how much he changed…

The same could not be said about the robots he made.

It wouldn't be the same.

When metal and wires could easily be replaced but the soul cannot.

It wouldn't be the same.

Still, he couldn't stop himself as he shattered the screen that showcased it buffering instead of the exasperated but still fond sneer he had gotten used to.

Velvette was absolutely devastated and livid when she found out about Vox's replacement.

She screamed at Valentino, asking him what the fuck he was even thinking and HOW THE FUCK DID HE EVEN ACQUIRE SUCH A THING

Vox never told her about the Proxy and while Velvette could care less about the roofies she makes and the Fizzibot Val has and every worse thing she's done under existence, she couldn't fathom replacing Vox with a mere husk of a pathetic disgusting thing.

She only stopped her shouting when Valentino quietly said it was Vox's idea.

And they both promised that they'll kill whoever decided to hurt the Vees and avenge Vox.

For now it was something both of them could focus on, even if it was a lie.

Valentino will hunt them down no matter what other people may say.

When Alastor saw Vox alive and well after the dead silence in their shared frequency, he first thought it must be a bad dream.

But he knows it was real.

That it happened.

After the confusing feelings he felt upon seeing that familiar face alive and well passed by, anger gripped his soul.

He had half the mind to ruin and destroy that pretender.

Vox was well and truly gone and it'll stay that way if Alastor could help it.

But when he realized what truly happened, he could only laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh at the situation.

And when he calmed down, he deigned to not interact even further at what happened.

Except for mocking the remaining Vees at what had happened to make himself feel better.

[serpentface]

Do you conlang? I was wondering if you had naming languages (or possibly even more developed ones) for pulling the words you use. I tried to search your blog but didn't find anything, wouldn't be surprised if the feature is just busted tho. Your worldbuilding is wonderful and I particularly enjoy the anthropological and linguistic elements.

Ok the thing is I had kind of decided I was not going to do any conlanging because I don't feel like I'm equipped to do a good job of it, like was fully like "I'm just going to do JUST enough that it doesn't fail an immediate sniff test and is more thoughtful than just keysmashing and putting in vowels". And then have kinda been conlanging anyway (though not to a very deep and serious extent. I maybe have like....an above average comprehension of how language construction works via willingness to research, but that's not saying much, also I can never remember the meanings of most linguistic terms like 'frictives' or etc off the top of my head. I'm just kinda raw dogging it with a vague conceptualization of what these things mean)

I do at least have a naming language for Wardi (and more basic rules for other established languages) but the rudimentary forms of it were devised with methods much shakier and less linguistically viable than even the most basic naming language schemes, and I only went back over it LONG after I had already made a bunch of words so there's some inconsistencies with consonant presence and usage. (This can at least be justified because it IS a language that would have a lot of loanwords and would be heavily influenced by other language groups- Burri being by far the most significant, Highland-Finnic and Yuroma-Lowlands also being large contributors)

The 'method' I used was:

-Skip basic construction elements and fully move into devising necessary name words, with at least a Vibe of what consonants are going to be common and how pronunciation works -Identify some roots out of the established words and their meanings. Establish an ongoing glossary of known roots/words. -Construct new words based in root words, or as obvious extensions/variants of established words. -Get really involved in how the literal meanings of some words might not translate properly to english, mostly use this to produce a glossary of in-universe slang. -Realize that I probably should have at least some very basic internal consistency at this point. -Google search tutorials on writing a naming language. -Reverse engineer a naming language out of established words, and ascribe all remaining inconsistencies to being loanwords or just the mysteries of life or whatever.

I do at least have some strongly established pronunciation rules and a sense of broad regional dialect/accents.

-'ai' words are almost always pronounced with a long 'aye' sound.

-There is no 'Z' or 'X' sound, a Wardi speaker pronouncing 'zebra' would go for 'tsee-brah', and would attempt 'xylophone' as 'ssye-lohp-hon'

-'V' sounds are nearly absent and occur only in loanwords, and tend to be pronounced with a 'W' sound. 'Virsum' is a Highland word (pronounced 'veer-soom') denoting ancestry, a Wardi speaker would go 'weer-sum'.

-'Ch' spellings almost always imply a soft 'chuh' sound when appearing after an E, I, or O (pelatoche= pel-ah-toh-chey), but a hard 'kh' sound after an A or U (odomache= oh-doh-mah-khe). When at the start of a word, it's usually a soft 'ch' unless followed by an 'i' sound (chin (dog) is pronounced with a hard K 'khiin', cholem (salt) is pronounced with a soft Ch 'cho-lehm')

-Western Wardin has strong Burri cultural and linguistic influence, and a distinct accent- one of the most pronounced differences is use of the ñ sound in 'nn' words. The western city of Ephennos is pronounced 'ey-fey-nyos' by most residents, the southeastern city of Erubinnos is pronounced 'eh-roo-been-nos' by most residents. Palo's surname 'Apolynnon' is pronounced 'A-puh-lee-nyon' in the Burri and western Wardi dialects (which is the 'proper' pronunciation, given that it's a Kos name), but will generally be spoken as 'Ah-poh-leen-non' in the south and east.

-R's are rolled in Highland-Finnic words. Rolling R's is common in far northern rural Wardi dialects but no others. Most urban Wardi speakers consider rolling R's sort of a hick thing, and often think it sounds stupid or at least uneducated. (Brakul's name should be pronounced with a brief rolled 'r', short 'ah' and long 'uul', but is generally being pronounced by his south-southeastern compatriots with a long unrolled 'Brah' sound).

Anyway not really a sturdy construction that will hold up to the scrutiny of someone well equipped for linguistics but not pure bullshit either.

[noctlas332]

gyahhh heres my galasynth piece for this year,, i think i could have posted it earlier but i dont like making non art posts so i sat on this one to say it was my birthday yesterday and i am 18yo now,,,,, turns into ash and blows away in the wind

[lord-squiggletits]

The reason this fandom hates IDW Optimus isn't because he's a cop (plenty of people are fine with Prowl) or because he's a bastard (most characters in IDW are) but because he commits the crime of being an actual person who's messy, flawed, and makes a shitload of high stakes mistakes fitting for the intense situations and pressure he's put under constantly.

But we can't have Optimus actually react to his situations by lashing out or being unpleasant, no, he has to have the personality of a cardboard cutout of G1 whose only defining personality traits are "dad, funny, nice," and if he ever vents negative emotions it can only ever be #relatable depression or him being sad on his own without ever letting it show during the important parts of the story. If Optimus dares do things like be angry or frustrated or bitter it's just a sign that he's a bastard and LITERALLY the worst Optimus ever. If Optimus ever makes mistakes or does wrong things in the heat of anger/frustration/stress it's because he's just an evil bastard with no redeeming traits.

God forbid Optimus go through an unending gauntlet of war, politics, atrocities, near-complete loneliness, and a seemingly endless cycle of violence for his entire life and come out of it kind of bitter, angry, and tired of dealing with people's shit. He's not allowed to be a realistic person, context doesn't matter, sympathy doesnt matter. IDW Optimus doesn't fulfill the fandom's fantasies of Father Figure or Perfect Cultural Icon or Twinky Fucktoy and since that's the only reason most people care about Optimus in general, the fandom collectively trashes on IDW OP.

All because he can't fit into the overly simplified and childlike double standard the fandom has where if any other character is messy and flawed, that's good writing and interesting and compelling, but if OPTIMUS is messy and flawed, he's Literally The Worst and he's an asshole for no other reason than He Sucks, context be damned

[mechazushi]

Kafka Hibino

Kafka Hibino.... with visible salt and pepper side burns.

Kafka Hibino.... wearing glasses and has salt and pepper side burns.

Kafka HIbino.... in that black turtleneck and a dark brown leather jacket and also wearing glasses and has salt and pepper side burns.

Kafka Hibino.... wearing that outfit and is an Animal Biology Professor in an College Au.

Kafka Hibino..... asking out Hoshina who is an Advanced Mathematics Professor working at the same college, to have an after-work drink with him.

Slightly DRUNK Kafka Hibino... becoming very forward with an also slightly drunk Hoshina

Slightly Drunk Hoshina... immediately matching Kafka's freak tenfold and Kafka is very much fine with this.

[coyoteclan]

Big TW for pet loss

Hey, clangen tumblr and those who just enjoy the silly cats on this blog. I know it's been a little bit of time since my last update, but unfortunately during the past few months, I have been caring for my closest friend, Comet.

She's been my best friend for 15 whole years, and on February 9th of 2024, I'm sad to say that she has passed. I won't lie when I say that this is one of the hardest posts I've ever made, but I want to continue this blog in her honor. Normally, I have a terrible habit of just letting projects like this slip by me and gather dust; however Comet was meant to play an integral part within the blog to immortalize her, and I refuse to let something meant just for her to go to waste.

I want to thank you all first of all for being such an amazing community. I've genuinely had so much joy come of this blog, and it pains me that I let it go stagnant for as long as I have. There are 568 of you now, which is so extremely wild to me; but I hope that from now on, you can all love Comet as much as I did, even if as a memory.

I hope to return to posting content both here and on my main, @mxssacre , but for now I still need time to grieve and come to terms with the loss of someone that was so incredibly intertwined with everything I've done since I was 9 years old.

Thank you for everything Comet, my heart, my soul, my love.

More of my favorite photos of her beneath the cut.

It's hard to choose favorites out of the thousands of photos I've taken of her over the years, but I hope these do her justice to show what an amazing being she was. I hope you're hunting your toy mice in the stars, Comet.

[domoz]

AU that’s been bouncing around in my head for a bit.

One day, at the end of fall, the Senju clan disappears.

Truth be told, they don't know long it's been before they realize. The Senju tend to go on the defensive when it's harvest season, and that usually extends into a quiet winter, at least for as long as Hashirama has been clan head. The lack of aggressive border patrols doesn't raise anyone's alarm.

No, the first word they get at something being wrong comes from a civilian woman, of all places. The kind that show up occasionally to beg the nearest shinobi clan for some charity.

Her village has been all but held hostage by bandits, she tells them, and she'd gone to the Senju who were closer, only --

Only no one had been there.

It seems like an obvious trap at first, and if not that, then perhaps the woman had just come across some abandoned place and mistaken it for the Senju village; Shinobi aren't so easy to find without a guide, after all, and the Senju especially keep themselves secreted away in the woods like animals.

Eventually they'd told her they'd look into it, just as soon as they'd figured out what had happened with the Senju.

Madara insisted on leading the scouting group himself, and he stopped in his tracks as soon as he stepped onto the other side of the river. Looked up and down the tree line with wild eyes, sharingan briefly spinning into a Mangekyo that set the rest of the squad on edge.

"There's…It's nothing. And that means something's wrong." Was all he explained before demanding they move onward.

Izuna didn't understand what he meant until they were much deeper into the forest. There is nothing wrong, no hairs on the back of his neck rising, no feeling of being watched -- and there always is, this deep in Senju territory. Related to the Mokuton, he thinks, so it was no wonder that Madara had noticed first.

So -- something happened to their clan head, Izuna reasons. Perhaps the Senju closed their compound in mourning and redirected the woman elsewhere. It's a reasonable enough explanation, but Madara won't settle until he knows for certain, so he stands by his brother's side and follows him deeper into the woods.

It wasn't as though he was wrong. Something had happened to Hashirama, and the rest of his clan with him.

The gates to the compound are closed, but there are no patrols on the walls, and no traps set on the perimeter to slow their approach. Izuna can't help the sick anxiety twisting up his throat. This has to be bait, something to lure them into a false sense of security and their eventual deaths. Nothing else makes sense.

But a glimpse over the wall show no signs of life inside. No people moving around, no laundry drying on the line, not even any noren fluttering in the wind -- for some reason they've all been taken down, leaving the compound dead and motionless.

The dread only mounts as they make their way over the wall and deeper inside. The houses are empty, stripped down to the floor mats. A few traps have been left behind, but not the dangerous ones Izuna had imagined. Just small scale things, meant to keep intruders out of the abandoned buildings. Easily disarmed, but that only adds to the unease.

They will go back and do a thorough search later, but the only clue, from out of every empty room, every cleared out cellar, every spot of turned dirt where it looked as though even some trees were taken, is in the main square. A circle of soot, smudged and stained deep into the stone. The remains of a seal that was used over and over again, already dissolved and unreadable.

The Senju must have used it. Or it must have done something to them. But what, no one has any idea. ---

The Uchiha never do quite manage to celebrate the disappearance of their enemy. Some do, and some are so clearly relived that the threat is gone, but as winter goes on the feeling that settles across the clan is one of dread. It is one part fear, not knowing what's happened to them, and one part worry about the future. Their entire lives and the lives of their ancestors are filled with memories of their war with the Senju. If they're gone, if it's over, what comes next?

Madara doesn't believe it is. Cannot accept that they are just -- gone. He gets more involved with their spy network than he ever has before hunting for a hint, and writes the daimyo informing him of the Senju's disappearance, hoping that he will get some answer when the thinly veiled request for dominion over those lands is inevitably rejected.

If your words and the rumors I have heard are true, the reply says, Then I see no reason not to accept the claim your clan has held on those lands.

Convenient, that he only acknowledges it now.

Izuna, for his part, settles on an anger that ebbs and flows between scalding rage and petty annoyance. How dare the Senju avoid the revenge that the Uchiha, that Izuna is owed.

He never lets himself slack off in training during the winter, and despite the circumstances this year is no exception. The Senju are tricky. If that mark was a seal, then Tobirama is no doubt responsible. They'll be back, probably at the most inopportune moment, but he'll be ready. ---

It hadn't been so bad, over the winter. There were normally less fights then, anyways, and they'd gotten by whole seasons without skirmishes before. But in the thaw of spring, somehow the anxiety only coils tighter.

Normally this was when they started finding Senju summons tracking their movements. When they'd inevitably get called into opposing sides under for some noble's border dispute and reignite conflict all over again.

Not this year. Somehow, the trees are quieter even on their side of the river. He shivers, when he realizes, but Izuna refuses to think about just how much of what he'd been used to had been the result of Hashirama's bloodline.

There are more missions than normal, true, but it hardly helps things. Their goal was the defeat the Senju, and denied that --

Some want to start picking new fights already, with old Senju allies. Izuna can't say he disagrees, though he knows it's unwise to do without good reason. Anyone who might have been easy to pick off has already scattered banded together with someone else.

Madara has started drinking more often. Izuna doesn't comment. He knows his brother is far from the only one.

(He's reviewed his memories, over and over, he tells Izuna, but the last time he'd seen them nothing had seemed different. It had been on a battlefield, and Hashirama had shouted for peace, had asked what he needed to do to convince him, and Madara had refused to answer, like always. If that had been an ultimatum, shouldn't there have been more?)

(Izuna has looked over his memories, too, but the only difference in Tobirama that day had been darker bags than usual under his eyes.)

Izuna can't stand the mood around the compound; half of his clan mates are acting more like their lover has died than their enemy. He takes those extra missions, and he goes. And keeps going, for days, for weeks,sometimes only staying home for hours at a time because as long as he's on a mission, he doesn't have to think about it. ---

It's a coastal town in Hot Water country, and Izuna spots a face that he attacks on instinct -- no care for the fact that they're in a public market -- his heart is busy singing not dead, not gone even as he lunges for the throat of the one who made him think it with a kunai.

It's a sloppy move, admittedly. One that Tobirama catches with an unimpressed glare.

"Must you?" He asks.

"Yes!" Izuna cries, dancing back from a returning blow that -- does not come. His breath is coming in heaves, though the fight is hardly started. He's too exited, and that means he'll get sloppy, but Tobirama isn't even in his armor right now, he's dressed down looking all the world like he's grocery shopping, so it might be even.

"You were fucking gone." Izuna accuses, "Don't think I'm about to let you get away without payback for all the lives you've taken."

Tobirama glances at the crowd that's started to form around them -- stupid move, but they haven't started pulling out flashy shinobi moves yet so they probably just think they're about to see a street fight.

"Figures." Tobirama mumbles. "It's been months already. Haven't you started to see the benefits of peace?"

Izuna sneers, draws his sword and lunges, but for some infuriating reason Tobirama is focused only on dodging, not fighting back. He seems -- disappointed, almost, which only makes it worse. How is he supposed to explain that he hasn't, that without the enemies they've all been born and raised to kill, his clan has started to stagnate into something hopeless and pathetic.

Tobirama catches sword against a sleeved kunai with a clang and holds it there.

"Consider that we've had to give up our vendettas against you, too, in doing this." He says, "Just… Move on. It'll be better for everyone."

An odd look passes over his face, one Izuna will replay in his memory over and over and still not understand.

"Goodbye, Izuna."

A crack of thunder breaks through the sunny afternoon air, and Tobirama Senju is gone, like the rest of his clan, without a trace.

As if Izuna intends on letting it stay that way.

[stardust-falling]

No Time for Farewells

requested by @meowmeowed on ko-fi

Fandom: SVSSS Pairing: Yue Qingyuan & Shen Jiu Summary: After already giving up hope, and resigning himself to live out the rest of his days in torment, Shen Qingqiu receives a surprising visit in the water prison. Words: 1.4k

What use was hope for the damned?

No use at all— and so, as one condemned to die, Shen Qingqiu had abandoned it long ago. That monster he had personally raised had grown and grown until its power surpassed any other power in this world, and had decided that Shen Qingqiu would remain in its clutches until he met his end— so of course it would be so.

It was only a matter of time.

Shen Qingqiu waited for that final day to come from his dark, damp cell deep within Huan Hua Palace’s water prison, because there was nothing else left for him to do.

He’d adapted to the low light, his dismal surroundings clearly visible to his one remaining eye. He’d adapted to the pain— after having both legs torn off one after the other, anything else was hardly a tickle in comparison. He’d adapted to the intense hunger and thirst, even though his cultivation had long since been destroyed, and he realized that the beast’s blood parasites alone were keeping him alive.

At a certain point, he became quite bored of the pain and the torment, and his consciousness retreated to the recesses of his own mind, his only awareness of his surroundings being a constant half-watch on the door, just to make sure that the beast wouldn’t come in and catch him off guard.

Even though Shen Qingqiu knew he was going to die, he wasn’t about to give Luo Binghe the satisfaction of seeing him break. Even if all he could do was glare with one eye, he would do so for as long as he remained conscious.

Shen Qingqiu was nothing if not stubborn.

Besides, Luo Binghe meant to torture him anyway, so it was better to make him so angry that he beat Shen Qingqiu into unconsciousness sooner rather than later. He had nothing to lose, after all, and he’d rather get it over with.

Shen Qingqiu had never considered that he might be rescued. He’d done that once before— and look where that had gotten him. Of course, this time, he’d made sure to drive that person away properly. He… had already burdened Yue Qingyuan for too long. Shen Qingqiu’s eye began to ache, so he shut it for awhile, ignoring the flashes of red and white and the burning sensation that filled it before the darkness settled in. He breathed in once, then again, the air rasping through lungs that had been damaged by his repeatedly-broken ribs, then healed messily, only to be damaged once again before the scar tissue had fully formed.

This couldn’t keep going for much longer, right?

He released a short, bitter laugh— really, it was more of a wheeze. Of course it could.

Shen Qingqiu knew he would only have the luxury of dying when Luo Binghe grew tired of him, and that… didn’t seem like it would be happening any time soon.

Time passed by— how long had it been since he’d closed his eye? He wasn’t exactly sure. Maybe he’d dozed off for a bit, at this point he didn’t much care. There was a bit of a commotion beyond the walls of his cell. He grimaced. The beast must have returned, and one or another of his subordinates must have made him angry. No doubt the remaining vestiges of that anger would soon be taken out on Shen Qingqiu’s own battered body.

Best to brace himself now, so that he could seem as unaffected as possible later.

He was too busy preparing for the pain that he didn’t notice that instead of one steady set of footsteps approaching the cell door, there were several. The gait was familiar, yet not the same sound as Luo Binghe’s— Shen Qingqiu’s mind had just begun to process this information when the cell door rattled.

He startled, his eye opening wide as he jolted himself up into a slightly-raised position, reaching to shakily brush his matted, tangled hair away from his face.

A moment passed, just the space of a single breath, but to Shen Qingqiu it felt like hours.

Then, there was a flash of brilliant white light, a sharp, high-pitched sound ringing through the air.

The door was split in two.

All of Shen Qingqiu’s senses were shorted out at once. A great, oppressive power reverberated through the space, and he felt as though he were being pushed into the ground by the weight of a mountain. His shaky arms gave out and he collapsed. That white light flooded into the cell, filling every corner, blinding him, and the shrieking sound like a thousand winter winds drowned out any other sound.

For a moment, Shen Qingqiu blacked out.

When he came to again, someone was gently holding his wrist. The hand touching him didn’t belong to Luo Binghe, but it was familiar nonetheless. Shen Qingqiu was too dazed to pull away, and when a cool feeling like a refreshing mountain stream washed over him, he went limp once again and didn’t bother trying— what was this? Why was he getting some kind of relief now, after so long in constant torment?

Had he finally lost his mind? Was he in his death throes? Or… perhaps he was just hallucinating.

He opened his eye—

Oh… of course. It had to be a hallucination.

Why else would he be seeing Yue Qingyuan’s face before him now, with that stupid concerned-and-guilty expression on his face… why would he be here? He wouldn’t even show up when Shen Qingqiu wanted him to, why would he show up now after he’d already been driven away…

Shen Qingqiu’s cheek felt damp. His remaining eye must be bleeding now.

Had… had something new happened? He didn’t remember. He reached up, brushing away a few drops of liquid onto his hand… they were clear, he realized, as his vision distorted, watery and shimmery, and Yue Qingyuan’s features blurred in and out. His lips moved, but it was a moment before the words left them and reached Shen Qingqiu’s ears, soft yet crackling slightly, as if stepping on fallen leaves after a light rain.

“Xiao-Jiu… Qi-ge is here. Qi-ge came to get you, we’re leaving together now.”

What was this…

What was happening right now?

“Zhangmen-shixiong, we need to go. He’ll be back in no time once he realizes you’re not going to show up, and we’ll need time to prepare for the inevitable attack on Cang Qiong Mountain,” another voice cut through the haze of Shen Qingqiu’s mind… this one was familiar too. Qi Qingqi? What… what was she doing in this strange vision of his?

A soft silken robe, black as night rippling with the last shimmering of sunset, fluttered down to cover Shen Qingqiu’s body, wrapping him up in a soft, comforting scent that seemed to ease the pain of his wounds along with the cool spiritual qi flowing through his battered body. The heavy metal collar around his neck which fastened him to the wall was suddenly snapped off like it was nothing, and before he could even register what was happening he was lifted up off the ground.

Somehow, he decided that he didn’t need to struggle. Instead, he leaned his head up against a strong, well-muscled chest, his fingers involuntarily grasping at the white silk of Yue Qingyuan’s inner robe. This was all just a dream, after all, and he had nothing more to lose— why not make the most of it?

……

“Are you sure you’ll be alright? You don’t wish to go with us?” Qi Qingqi’s voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke to a figure concealed in the shadow of the walls of Luo Binghe’s back palace.

"If I were to go, he would only have more of a reason to attack,” the young woman in the shadows replied. “Besides… there’s no reason he would suspect me.”

Yue Qingyuan was nearby, already atop his sheathed sword, carrying a too-small figure bundled in his arms as he waited to leave. His face was pale, but Mu Qingfang had said that he was safe to fly— and even if he wasn’t they didn’t have much of a choice. He looked anxious, glancing back and forth for any sign of trouble.

Qi Qingqi nodded. They didn’t have any time to argue. “I understand, then. We’ll be going now. Be careful.”

“I will. Goodbye, Qi-shishu.” With that soft whisper, a small, bitter smile stretched across delicately-painted lips. “Take good care of Shizun.”