#no way in hell am I going back to read that

[frownyalfred]

Why is it so hard to find ppl that actually understand bruce? I am tired of either finding ppl that see him as an abuser or others that only love wfa version of him I am really tired of this like really I can't even join a Fandom without getting my favorite character not getting mischaracterized left and right 😔

I'm going to rant a little bit here, and I apologize in advance. This isn't really directed at you. But I'm kind of tired of this flavor of ask. I get it a lot -- half of these asks are praising me for having a "good" interpretation of canon, and the other half are blasting me for being too "fanon" and bending too much to fandom tropes in my posts and writing. And of course the nonstop WFA hatred in my inbox is tiring.

Be the change you want to see in the world. If you don't like what the fandom is doing to your blorbo, write him your way. But sitting at the edge of the playpen complaining about how someone else is playing with their toys isn't useful. And it's really getting annoying to me, as a content creator.

I'm also tired of the superiority some canon-adherents have over those who write/draw more fanon tropes. So many of you are SO bitter over the idea that fandom is "ruining" Bruce or your other Batfamily blorbo because how DARE they write your blorbo in that way that is so OOC. How DARE they! And yet, you sit on the sidelines and create bitchy tumblr posts about how those fandom participants are stupid, or ill-informed, or simply don't have the higher thinking ability to understand your blorbo like you do.

And yet. You don't write Bruce the way you "enjoy." You don't create content or share posts or promote those canon characteristics you so highly value. Instead, you write posts complaining about the others in this fandom and deride them for being stupid like adhering to canon strictly somehow makes you better than anyone else. You mock their acceptance of fanon tropes as canon as if there is required reading in this fandom, entirely dismissing the idea that the line between DC fanon/canon is confusing as hell on a good day, and ignoring that the natural progression of engaging in fandom is finding out -- sometimes on your own timeline -- what actually happened in canon. Especially when canon is so vast.

And guess what? At the end of the day, we are all on the fandom website(s). You're still reading fanfiction at the end of the day. Canon or fanon or some blend of the in-between, you are still a fan participating in fandom content in some way or another. And we are all equal in that respect.

We are all here to enjoy these characters. Fanfiction is a medium that allows us to further explore canon, yes, But it is also a way to explore the OOC, the what-if's, the out of character but fandom-fave ideas and tropes people want. The fact that OTHER people enjoy those things should never impact your enjoyment of fandom.

If you cannot handle someone else playing with the same toys as you, but playing with them in a way you don't like, you need to go back to preschool. And if someone won't give you your toy back, find another one. Write the story. Create the post. Build your own engagement from the ground up, finding likeminded people if you can. They are definitely on here.

But I get the impression that when people complain about fanon "ruining" fandom, what they're actually saying is "I'm upset that canon content isn't as popular as fanon content." And that, I can't help you with. We can't always change what other people love or want to engage with.

I'm sorry that this rant is blunt, but it's been simmering inside me for a while. I'm really tired of getting and deleting this ask 15 times a day. You will not find much sympathy on this blog for canon purism and the derision of fanon/fandom, and for that I apologize. But it's the truth.

I enjoy consuming content about both "fanon" and canon Bruce. I like the contrast and complexities. But I have seriously had to stop following a ton of blogs in the last year who don't create "canon" content anymore and instead spend their time complaining about other people in the fandom who are just enjoying themselves and creating their own content. It's incredibly disheartening and frustrating.

[dreamerdrop]

Oh God, yeah. During the war, Julian is basically going full into survival mode. He's pulling away from people, he's keeping his mouth shut, he's basically letting himself turn into a hollow shell that just looks like him because everything is so exhausting and he doesn't really... have it in him to be himself anymore.

I feel like I personally give kind of a pass to most of the characters on DS9 being jerks about Julian being obviously autistic for the sole reason that... one of the things I like about DS9 is that they're all pretty messed up in one way or another. Miles is allergic to voicing emotions and sentiments out loud (despite Keiko's best efforts, but she's also not great at it herself), Jadzia is shown constantly to have a REALLY inappropriate and poorly timed sense of humour, Kira is... Kira, and her issues mean that Julian's issues basically rub against each other like sandpaper.

Garak is interesting in how his dynamic intersects with Julian being autistic though. Garak seems to delight in Julian doing things like being blunt, infodumping, etc. Garak is someone who would drive ME a little nuts IRL because his specific brand of enigmatic behaviour would wreak hell on my lack of self esteem and inability to trust my judgement...

But for Julian, it seems to be a huge part of the draw. I think, in part, it's because Garak does seem to recognise when he's pushed too far and then, in his own weird way, often... relents a little.

Like in Cardassians, on the shuttlecraft. Julian basically says, very bluntly, "Garak stop talking in riddles this is serious and I don't want to play games anymore" and Garak immediately goes "alright fine here I'll talk as plainly as I am comfortable with".

Or, in an odd way, the scene on the Defiant during... season 6? Where Garak is basically insulting Julian over his augmented status. That scene is a little rough, even with the knowledge that this is effectively flirting for Garak, but. There's something in it that actually stands out to me as Garak trying to relent a little.

Specifically, his comment about Julian being a Vulcan. Julian is sensitive about his augmented status. Garak knows this. Garak insults him over it, and then towards the end of that little spat, saying "you're not genetically engineered, you're a vulcan", it kind of... reads as like, Garak trying to steer the conversation back to something playful, something that isn't actually attacking Julian.

(And there's obviously a lot to be said for how Julian is somewhat smiling to himself at the end of that scene.)

I think there's something similar to that in his dynamic with the others. I don't think any of them really have particularly good social skills, honestly. Jadzia comes closest but her levels of extroversion and enthusiasm mean she's often putting her foot in her mouth too. (... oh that's why she and Julian make good friends, they both have the party autism.)

Thing is, I think if Julian ever actually said to any of them "hey that actually kind of upsets me could we not" and they realized he meant it, they would apologize and mean it, but because everyone on that station is messed up and lacking in social skills, they all kind of constantly end up battering against each other with poorly timed jokes and insensitive remarks and dismissal of trauma and none of them ever figure out how to address any of it.

Narratively, though, Julian's trauma gets brushed over more than almost anyone else's, and that DOES piss me off about the writing. Even before we get to the augmentation aspect (which is taken seriously as traumatic for exactly ONE episode), a lot of the time Julian's issues just... get kind of tossed to one side.

Character wise, I think Julian is the type to focus on other people's issues so he doesn't have to acknowledge his own, but the way the show itself often ignores those issues does REALLY grate on me.

Julian Bashir walks a very fine, maddening line between “self-loathing imposter syndrome who knows almost everyone who speaks to him for more than a minute finds him insufferable” and “incredibly self assured and annoyingly arrogant to the point of a minor god complex”.

He knows he’s attractive, he thinks he’s charming as all hell, he knows he’s the smartest person in the room (while also being acutely aware he’s going to put his foot in his mouth any second now), and he just swings wildly between “I don’t deserve anything I have, none of this is mine, my life is not my own, I am a monster” and “HELL YEAH LOOK HOW COOL AND SMART I AM GUYS ARE YOU LOOKING ARE YOU LOOKING”.

And then there’s episodes that reveal that underneath that annoying arrogance, at the very core of who he is, he really, really just wants to help people, and if he fucks that up he WILL take it personally and hold himself responsible even if there’s no way he could have known and like. Can you imagine what his first patient death was like for him. Can you imagine what a fucking nightmare his brain must be 24/7.

He is somehow as inherently self assured as he is in need of constant validation for his ego because you can SEE him break a little when that ego fails him, even a little, and it’s just.

He’s very fun to write. I hate him. (I love him so much, but oh my god.)

[lacrimosathedark]

The Radioapple Haters™️ are at it again.

This time they're attacking shippers with the newly released Playbill.

There's so many issues with that. Beyond harassing people for ships is dumb.

This is what people are pointing at.

This is on the cast info page. It says Lucifer misses his wife.

So, three things about that.

Firstly, We Been Knew, babe.

His very first appearance, after his daughter says her parents split up, he's in a room covered in pictures of not just said daughter, but her mother too, and he's still wearing a presumed wedding band. If that's not "showing not telling" with a goddamn airhorn, idk how more clear it could get without Lucifer flat out saying he misses Lilith. So like...this is not new info. So there's nothing to really rub in. We knew this.

Secondly, this is in-character Lucifer saying this.

I'm not a professional, but when I was in high school performances, we wrote our own little Playbill bio info things. That seems to carry into professional ones too. If you can read the actual cast, some of the the actors less entrenched in the fandom culture have basically an IMDB of their relevant previous roles, while the ones you see at cons are more personable. Those were written by the actors. So, logically, the character bios are written as if by the characters. This could not be made more obvious.

So, logically, you can read that little above as Lucifer himself actually saying he misses his wife. Which leads me to--

Third, break-ups are messy and painful and Lucifer not moving on, unwilling to remove his ring or call Lilith his ex, doesn't mean they are still together. Hell, they could still even be technically married, doesn't mean they're still romantically entangled.

Look, I know the only seeming one-sided relationships in the show is Vox/Alastor and Adam/Lilith and every other "pair" are together or at least friendly (Chaggie, Huskerdust, Cherrisnake, Staticmoth, Guitarspear) but not every separation has to be a violent resentful split. Lucifer is explicitly Depressed™️ which can be hard for any partner to deal with, especially someone as ambitious as Lilith. It wouldn't be surprising if she, not even cruelly, thought she'd be more successful away from him even if he still loves her.

And all this is on top of the fact that most Radioapple shippers don't expect their ship to happen (some hope it does, some hope it doesn't, I'm personally neutral on the concept), and that a lot of writers and artists explicitly acknowledge and use Lucifer's love for Lilith in Radioapple because people love the drama.

I have several posts listing why one might ship Radioapple so I won't go off about it here, but suffice to say the entanglement between Lilith and Alastor and how the two are similar and different makes interacting with Lucifer interesting from any angle.

This also hurts me personally a bit because a lot of these people are Lucilith shippers and, yall, I'm one of you. I don't want them to get back together for many reasons, but I would love to see endless flashbacks of them obnoxiously in love. Most of my favorite works of fanart aren't even Radioapple, my primary ship, but Lucilith, in large part because of how adorable they are. How indulgent or smitten Lilith can look. How adorably excited or flustered or just happy Lucifer can be.

I love Lucilith. I adore Lucifer. I just also think his interactions with Alastor are funny and intriguing.

We don't need to hate each other. We can try to keep our little sandboxes separate, but we can play nice when we spill into each other, can't we?

I am really just so sick of the silly in-fighting. It costs zero dollars and zero energy to not be a dick. Need to type out a rant to get it out and off your chest? cool. But you can post it privately or delete it instead of going into peoples' ask boxes and and posts to be nasty. Not having the self control and wherewithal to not go out of your way to be a dick to people is honestly pretty pathetic. If you think you're so much better, prove it by being better, or being smug in your space. Making people feel like shit for a nonexistent fictional relationship does literally nothing for anyone and makes YOU look worse.

Dislike the ship all you want. No one cares either way. Just don't waste your limited time in this life making your distaste everyone else's problem.

[kinki-cami]

Nah because i would FLORISH being an independent in affini society

Like first off, im not isolated immediately that brings me up by like 45% like i can go see that forest, hang out with the (hopefully not going to bite me or give me rabies) animals pet some squirrels say hi to the hummingbirds, i can go into public and walk around, id honestly probably start skipping bc thats what ive imagined so far considering i wouldnt be as depressed as i am now

Secondly, FULL customization of what i wear just be able to look how i want without fear, probably wear my denim look but with some extra like, an ACTUAL denim skirt that looks nice, maybe makeup if i was feeling up to it

Thirdly, just exploration. This is pretty much the miscellaneous second of this post. Because theres probably no money (i assume i need to do more research) before i get to that i fuckin love research i would know every fuckin affini custom by year 5, anyway because of presumeably no money, fake shop at the mall bc hell yeah fuckin love the mall its like a mini city, youd go in like you were going to the mall and like fake "check out" with like a fake credit card or something and yahh fun but also id just like go get coffee, possibly some matcha, skip around town wearing heels WITH my denim outfit, looking all fuckin cute, go see the plants (not affini like houseplants like mint) fuck id grow some bleeding hearts, some mint, make sure to pick up plant food, bc even tho i CAN do it in the hab unit, its more fun leaving to pick stuff up, it gives you a sense of accomplishment like "yahhhh i did something today 🥰 (its a crime theres no 'fist pump' emoji, i swear there are more useless emojis than practical ones)" and because i wouldnt be in one location for 6+ hours a day (excluding sleep) i would have time to do things that i WANNA do, like finish that pokemon book that im only on kakuna out of pecharunt. And i could drink my coffee/tea and go to the game store and play magic with peoples or pokemon, i could go play some dnd, write my damn books, skip around in heels bc skipping is happy but i wanna wear heels soo yahhhh

Yeah i may occassionally get harrassed but like if im polite and express boundries im sure theyll leave me alone or at least relatively along

By the way im going based off of the two stories ive read so far aight, so if this is very biased aight. Too bad i need to read more. But also like, i can express myself two 2 stories ok? Like a girl can fantasize anyway back my fantasy

Eventually id want an affini to adopt me but like, god id be pretty happy without drugs theyd need to actively make my life miserable to make me want the drugs, like, damn. Also with the number of times im cursing in this post any and all affini rp blogs are gonna be like "stop fucking cursing little indie" and to be fair i dont like cursing at people the only time i do is when im expressing myself or am pissed off i never call anyone curse words because its mean and i dont like being mean 🥺

Uhh and i think thats all my thoughts god i had Sadistic glee read the bonus chapters of hdg a bit ago anyway gotta gp finish those, then go finish the other one that im halfway through then go read more, if anyone has any not emotionally wrecking stories feel free to send them via asks or something like i dont wanna see characters despairing but i dont mind seeing their personality erased, as long as the struggle isnt super visible or is minimal

[makeucrawl]

can u do a short where Dr. Easterman punishes coyle for messing and breaking his office? Pls nsfw pls plsnksjakahks also bdsm and spankings plsss 🙏🙏 (what am I doing with my life. 😭)

((Teehee 🤭))

“BAD DOG”

Nothing could have prepared Easterman for his return to his office. It was usually in perfect shape, but now it looked as if a storm had swept through it. Books and files were strewn around the floor, and when he attempted to pick up some of them, he noticed dirty boot prints on the ground. Prints that he followed all the way behind his desk where the suspect was still lying on the ground, smoking his cigarettes and reading his journal.

"Boy, ya sure do complain a lot!" Coyle laughs, turning his gaze away from the journal to Easterman. Those dark, melancholy eyes were staring right at him. "OOOOooo how scary.." Coyle taunts while throwing the journal aside.

"Why did you ruin my office?" The doctor glares at him while his fists curl and uncurl at the thought of strangling the police officer.

“Why’re you upset? I know ya can just git someone to clean it up."

“God da-..Leland, that isn't the point. I've told you to before to quit tampering with my belongings…Sometimes you behave like a child.” Coyle sticks his tongue out and uses his foot to poke the doctor’s leg. “There ya go. Complainin’ like some woman!” He laughs then shouts in surprise as Easterman grabs his ankle and pulls him forward.

After turning the man over onto his stomach, Easterman ties Coyle's hands behind his back with his tie. "Just what in the hell do ya think yer doin?!” As the police officer shouts, the doctor grabs his dark graying hair and pulls him up. Then, using a firm hold, he drags him over his spread knees and placing him over his lap.

“Since you want to act like a brat..I’m going to beat you like one." Pulling Coyle's jeans down to his thighs, he says. “You’ll refer to me as sir and you’re going to count each blow.”

“Ya gotta be fuckin’ jokin’! Let me up-AH!” When Easterman's palm lands hard and heavy against Coyle's right cheek with a loud clap, causing the man to cry out in surprise.

“Can you count, Sergeant? I can’t hear you.”

“I-I’m not going to-“

SLAP

Coyle grunts his body jolting forward slightly from the blow. He was surprised at how hard the other man could hit.

“T-Two…sir..” Leland said breathlessly. The pain was hot and burning, but there was a pleasure in it too, and when the third blow came down, Coyle groaned,

“Three…three,sir..”

By the tenth, he felt as though his ass was burning red and bright, and there was a burning heat in more than his ass. His stomach felt tight, tight with tension, and his whole body was hot, his cock rubbing up against Hendrick’s thigh whenever his hand landed down

By the twentieth, the pain had on one hand subsided some, and on another was furthering with every strike, the skin burning so much it felt like it would peel, and yet there was such a pleasure in it that Coyle almost felt he could cry. He was digging his nails into his palms now as he whimpered, “T-Twenty-two, sir.”

“I hope you recall that this is a punishment, Leland,” said Easterman, landing a firm blow on the back of his thigh, just under the curve of his left cheek, and Coyle yelped like a kicked dog, gritting his teeth and trying to swallow the sound back.

“Yes! T-twenty-three, sir!”

“Someone might come in if they hear you being so loud.” Purred Easterman pleasantly, and his hand clapped down again, pushing the air out of Leland’s lungs and making his cock jump like a soldier told to stand to attention.

Coyle shuddered. “Twenty-four..s-sir,” he said breathing heavily.

“Good boy, Leland.”

On the thirtieth the cop was breathless and dizzy: by the thirty-fifth he was sobbing between blows, and Dr.Easterman was delivering each of them faster, louder.

When his punishment was at an end and Coyle had called out the final fortieth blow, he lay for a few minutes over Hendrick’s lap, trying not to sob too openly. He could barely move, trembling all over, cock hard and pressed against the doctor’s thigh, although he was far too tired to grind his hips.

Standing was difficult, trying to push himself up without use of his hands was a little awkward. When the cop stumbled, the doctor caught him by the plush, round curve of his hip, and instead of shoving him away, he pulled Coyle back into his lap.

Leland let out a reedy noise, but Easterman gripped him tighter, spreading his legs with his right hand so that Coyle was arranged and accessible. His ass burned in this position, sat in the doctor’s lap, and he stared down at his cock poking out from the thick hair between his legs, shirt stuck to his sweaty body.

Dr.Easterman’s other hand came up, sliding against the side of Coyle’s neck, cupping his jaw. The movement was tender, gentle, and the officer leaned his cheek into it, head spinning.

“..I won’t..I wont do it a-again..” Coyle hiccuped out. “M’ sorry…”

“I know you are, Leland.” said the doctor softly, and pressed his nose against the back of the cop’s neck, inhaling, and his lips brushed against it through the fabric of his shirt as his other hand undoes the binding on Coyle’s wrists.

It then moved to delicately grasp the officer’s throbbing erection, his thumb strummed over his the head as though he were plucking at a cello string. Coyle’s head jerks back as he moaned loudly, his hips pumping upward wanting more friction.

“Good boy,Just like that,” Easterman’s voice was soft and soothing now. He was squeezing harder, pumping faster, and when Coyle came it was a painfully pleasurable thing, made him bite down hard on his lip to keep from crying aloud, and Hendrick rocked him gently through it, hushing him softly.

Leland was breathing heavily, tears still stained on his cheeks, aware of his weight in Easterman’s lap, aware of the doctor’s arms holding him in place, aware of the sweat on his skin and the burn of his ass.

“Clean up my office, Leland.” The doctor mummers in his ear.

“Y-yes sir..”

[ohmotherwhereartthou-if]

(A stolen ask)How would the ROs react if the MC started screaming for their life, and when they came to see what’s happening, its just a bug?

Hehe, me fr.

Cassandra: Charges in with some sort of makeshift or improvised weapon only to be so unimpressed that she would debate doing nothing about the bug just to get back at MC for scaring her.

Valeria: Comes running in asking, "Hey! What's the matter- HOLY CRAP THAT THING'S HUGE! ...Uh why are you looking at me? What the hell you want me to do? Bake it cookies and pray it goes away?"

Tomás: Bull rushes in and is hella defensive at first, "What is it? Are you okay?" and then when MC points to the problem he would let out all the tension he had with a laugh. "Oh is that it? No worries vida, I got." Kills the bug with ease and waits for his rapturous applause and your loving praise for being your hero.

-

Ludovica: Comes rushing all worried, then promptly joins you in all the screaming. Until one of the servants has to come in and take care of it for you both.

Aurelio: Shouts "why are you screaming?" from where ever he is in the manor at the moment, when MC screams at him to come help; he makes his way over and is very unimpressed at the reason for all the commotion. "Seriously, that's it?" he aks lazily as he grabs the bug with his bare hand with zero fucks given, holds the bug with two fingers and gives you an evil smirk; "You scared of bugs, caro mio/mia?". You best hope you can out run his long leg having ass, don't worry to much though he's only teasing and won't actually put the bug on you.

Elio: Stops what he is doing when he hears you scream, although he doesn't move right away. He stays still and completely silent as he tries to figure out without getting up what type of screaming your doing. Because yes, he has memorized them all, this time he heard you scream with the type pitch that tells him 'your scared but not in immediate danger' aka your 'I am being a sissy' scream. Thus, is why he isn't moving and is hoping you just got scared by your own shadow or something equally stupid because he really doesn't want to get up right now. His book just hit a really good spot and it would be bothersome to have to get up and- ugh. Annnnd now you're yelling for him to go and kill it. Fine. He walks up calmly and just enters the room blank face and asking, "...Where is it?". Promptly wacks it with a shoe with all the precision and mercy of a heartless killer; then promptly demands cuddles as compensation and goes back to reading his book. Wdym no cuddles? He had to actually get up from his comfortable spot in his chair and walk all this way to help you with something stupid, now you owe him comfort cuddles in return, don't be selfish.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Omg I just finished reading svsss!!! And now you have a naruto au about it!!!

I think either way Houhua Uchiha is hilarious, but especially in that way of *what do you mean he's actually competent/dangerous?* from elite ninja. He's absolutely a sneaky coward.

If he gets noticed by Orochimaru I think Houhua entire.... *everything* will entice Orochimaru in a way that's like. Put it in a jar. I want to put my blorbo in situations! Especially with his .... lack? Weird relation with moral (I mean both of them).

I want to know more about his genin team. Especially his sensei. Like. I know he unplayed his skills, but also he alway somehow has exactly what the situation calls for on a mission. His mission reports would be weird as hell. "Successfully solved village dispute by realizing nearby village was messing for farmer Xs crops because of family dispute about prized cow, solved with better fence and different trade route."

Just. I love this au. <3

Another one falls to the scum villain agenda, let's go !!!

YEAHHH YOU GET IT! No matter how strong he gets or may be, Houhua continues to project the aura of a very scared genin. He has whatever the opposite of killing intent is, and it throws all of his opponents off

I think that Orochimaru and Houhua would be fucking amazing to watch interact w eachother actually— Houhua is so fucking scared of him, which is typical of people to act around Oro, but like. Orochimaru seeing past the layers (both real and carefully cultivated) of a coward to see the alarmingly smart little rat underneath.

Orochimaru is poking him with a stick

You know that one scene where Asuma like, tricks Shikamaru into playing some sort of strategy game? And realizes he's really smart? Or smthn like that? Ok so something similar to that for Orochimaru and Houhua could be fun.

Orochimaru somehow sniffed out that there's a LOT more to Houhua than there seems and he's got a bit of an eye on him now, just for funzies. Just as a little side project

(And then Houhua maybe says something incriminating about immortality bc he was an immortal cultivator, and Orochimaru is instantly right behind him breathing heavily over his shoulder)

I think that if Houhua ever tells anyone ab his past life, not that the system would let him, (tho considering the reincarnation in naruto, there might be a loop hole to exploit there?) I'd want it to be Orochimaru who he tells, just bc I think he'd be the most interesting character to get involved in that.

Like, other characters you might get the usual "omg no way" song and dance, maybe some hurt/comfort or whatever, and like that's fun! But Orochimaru you'd get him trying to fucking dissect the system. He's putting his plots on hold to try and figure out how to get this "system" to manifest. And if he can kill it. Or better yet: harness it's power

Oh shit Houhua's genin team, I didn't even think of that

I am suddenly struggling to think of any naruto characters who are Itachi and Houhua's age that I can throw into a team for him actually. Am I going to have to make some ocs for this? I hope not tbh, I like stuffing as many canon characters as I can everywhere

Oh god and who would their sensei be too

I can't use Itachi for the team bc he graduated early, do we even know if he was on a genin team or did he just go straight to ANBU? No but he'd have to take the chunin trials no matter what, so hmm

Yk what? I think it'd be funny if Houhua was on one of Kakashi's past teams Sarutobi tried to saddle him with, the ones he'd like fail on day 1 then dumped back into the system

I dont think the timeline on that would actually add up correctly, but it'd be really funny so I don't care actually

hear me out: Houhua was actually on the very first team Sarutobi tried to saddle Kakashi with. And at first, he's like "omg,,, isn't this Kakashi? did I stumble on a secret plot route???? Is this finally my chance to gain more character relevance points????"

But no. It's not. And Kakashi fails him and his team just like he would have anyways.

Possibly with even more ruthlessness, depending on if Houhua has interacted w him before that.

Hmmm ok so timeline.

Houhua and Itachi are both 13 during the massacre, Houhua was about to graduate, but the massacre and then taking care of Sasuke in the year that followed delayed his graduation, which also meant he got dropped from the team he was supposed to be on (whichever team it was)

So then he graduates fr a year or maybe more later, right around the time Sarutobi is starting to try and peer pressure Kakashi into taking a team.

Kakashi is given Houhua's team, makes eye contact w Houhua like once, then immediatley turns around and leaves without comment.

(This also adds tension between them later on when Kakashi eventually does take Sasuke on as a student. Plus tension between Kakashi and Sasuke, who would remember him as the sensei who failed Houhua + whatever else Houhua let slip, possibly about knowing Kakashi trained itachi)

No fucking clue who he gets saddled with in the end, but it'd be funny if his team gained some sort of reputation of being cursed bc they keep being passed around by sensei's who inevitably drop them for various reasons.

Who do u guys think would be fun to see on his team tho, I really can't think of anyone who's the right age so I'm struggling over here

LOVEEE THE IDEA OF HIM SOLVING CONFLICTS IN REALLY OUT OF NOWHERE WAYS THAT RESULT IN NO BLOODSHED AND 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 BETTER TRADE DEALS AND ROADS THATS SO FUNNY

Its not even that he he doesn't want to kill, he just thinks it's messy and will only lead to MORE problems they'd be called in to fix later down the line. This is actually the easy way, you know!!

(Somewhere far away but still watching through his crows, Itachi goes through several emotions as he watches Houhua peacefully solve more than one dispute when he was brought there specifically for murder. He's kind of going through a lot. Actually.)

(I like to think that if Houhua had been made aware of the root of the Uchiha Massacre, he could have fr helped think up a plot to get them all out of it. Unfortunatley everyone was under the impression he was a silly little untalented 13 year old. So that never happened.)

Houhua gets the nickname of "the beaurocrat nin" or smthn silly like that bc hes always resolving conflicts via the power of paperwork. The silly title only helps to make him seem more harmless, which gives him even more of an advantage in a fight when it comes to taking the enemy by surprise

[squalodinoappreciationsquad]

Ok, I felt a little bit called into the cause earlier on when I as lurking and reading @khr-guilded-cage posts.

And now I am wearing my clown wig and honk my kazoo and I am outlining the Canon Divergent AU where Dino, in spite of all, decides that he wants to support Xanxus during the Cradle Affair, screw everything.

Buckle up!

So.

Squalo has already killed Tyr, gained the title of Swords Emperor and as a bonus he is enrolled into the Varia.

This means that Dino and Squalo already argued bitterly, they are both mourning the loss of their situationship and they are just doing their thing.

Then ofc Xanxus explodes - we know why, I am not repeating this part.

Dino is on the fence.

His family is technically allied to the Vongola and by reason he should be supporting the Vongola against the Varia.

And yet.

Dino has never really gotten over his dad's death and he is kindof resenting Reborn for forcing him into a world he was desperately trying to run away from.

Dino knows perfectly that now if he doesn't support the Vongola, the Cavallone family is doomed.

And yet.

He knows Xanxus' situation well enough to think that it has never been a fair thing, he thinks that the only friend he has ever had is right there in the middle of everything.

Dino looks at Romario and Romario only says "we will follow our boss to hell and back".

And Dino decides that he is tired of the abuse, he is tired of being manhandled by Reborn, he is tired of being forced into situations and he is tired of not having any choice ever.

He shows up in the midst of the battle, the Vongola are already singing their victory, whilst the Varia look at him as if they want to kill him.

And Dino marches with his 5000 men into battle, right next to Xanxus and against the Vongola.

Now, I have two possible outcomes, you choose whichever you like best.

THE VARIA WIN

Well, the battle ends hen Xanxus kills Timoteo and incapacitates forever Iemitsu, whilst Reborn is nowhere to be found, being chased by some hellions. Dino literally left behind the chocolate and the sweetness he had to be able to just be the Bucking Bronco.

For him it is only half a victory, Reborn did manage to make him a ruthless mafia leader. He does have the Varia's gratitude and that means that now the Vongola are now under Xanxus.

Dino's debts are immediately erased, he gains enough influence and power, power that he immediately uses to elect a new Cavallone Decimo. Dino retires and only the Varia and Romario know where he lives and what he does

He has finally some choice, he decides to live as normally and as anonymously as possible, even though the blood on his hands definitely leaves his ugly mark.

At least he has rekindled his situationship with Squalo and Xanxus is civil with him.

This may mean no Tsuna in the picture.

THE VARIA LOSE

Well, the battle was fought valiantly on both sides, but the Vongola outnumbered the Varia and Cavallone.

Xanxus is put in the freezer, things go as per canon, but with a difference.

18 yrs old Squalo takes the command of the Varia ad interim and with the help of Marmon disguises all of the Cavallone survivors as Varia soldiers - he will have a lot of work between reforging documents, trying to make everything look good enough so that both Timoteo and Iemitsu think that everything is back under their control

Dino is also in the freezer - there is no fucking way they are letting go another Sky. Cue Squalo swearing another oath to free Dino as well, other than Xanxus.

Romario is in the Varia too, albeit disguised.

For the time being the Varia are behaving like role model citizens, but the plans are in the works.

And ofc Tsuna is in the picture.

Plans are being actioned - Tsuna has to see the Vongola's ruthlessness with his own eyes and once again Romario ill be a key.

Thoughts? Comments? Prayers?

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

@anonymous-archive Oh yeah? And who in the absolute fuck are you? Some kind of crop cop? I have a name, jsyk... Adults would be able to figure out my intentions through a thing called "reading comprehension" which is a thing they'd quickly figure out how to have if they looked at what I was really saying for more than a few seconds but what exactly the fuck are you trying do here, nonny? Like what exactly are you're intentions? Like, the fuck are you archiving? Oh wait! I already fucking know!

Because judging from these two different antis/fantis in your related blog, section, it might've lead me to this entirely correct notion that you might an anti/fanti yourself and that your suspicious fuck ass anon blog might have leaks on it and you might be trying to get me to inadvertently spread them... And low and I won't behold ... Your "archive" has leaks... And now I have to see if I can reblogs the fuck off for this post in an effort to further contain what I will not see because now one of my posts has a leaker on it and you've tainted this post for everyone going forward!

But I want to make this statement first because you know ... I thought about doing a funny and blocking you, but screen capping your above reply in one of my "confusing" crop shots just like the one you're concern trolling me about and naming you and shaming you and outting you as a leaker... But then I'd thought I'd be naming a leaker and a way to access leaks on my blog either way? Which is technically what I just did with venting about bnf bullshitter petitprincess1 willing leaking shit to people too, just like you are, which I guess is what lead to the rest of you leak geeks coming out of the woodwork to get me now huh? So I can't win!

Technically though, what I can do now is give people the actual link to your blog they'll need to click in order to both block and report you while I give myself ample opportunity to block and report you after I make this public statement about how much I hate you and that that what you are doing is objectively wrong, before I disable reblogs so your bullshit can't spread further, just so everyone will know I condemn you...And much like good reading comprehension skills imply, I think that my friends and followers in the fandom are smart enough to understand how I'm unironically condemning your shitty behavior here and will thus be smart enough to know not to look at any actual leaks as I am naming you and shaming you and link them back to your blog so we can all block and report you and hopefully get you deleted for doing that ...

All of this is to say ...

@anonymous-archive is apparently a Hazbin Leak Archive, everybody! Don't even look at their shitty stolen "content" just please use the drop down menu from the @ to block and report them like I'm about to! And anony, again, for the record you've just completely ruined my post with all your unnecessary commentary by being an unnecessary stinky leak spread sandwich and a completely unnecessary waste of space and time so fuck the right the hell off and choke for that too! :D ♥ X.O

Fyi I don't care how old you are, if you post any obnoxious banners in the main tags, you're no better than antis and should get the fuck out of the fandom.

There's a nuanced argument to be made about how Striker and Blitz would 100% be in the right about Stolas if this was real life, but you're watching a raunchy adult cartoon musical fantasy where all the characters are flamboyant hot macho dicks who sometimes break out into whimsical musical parodies of Disney.

If you wanna watch a mediocre lizard who's not as much eye candy be right about a cartoon monarchy, you can go watch Star vs. The Forces of Evil because it's already all been done before and the children have already been taught that lesson.

But adults don't need to be taught that lesson, and Helluva Boss is for adults, so why don't you shut up and let the adults watch the much more aesthetically pleasing and attractive evil demon lizard/owl/whatever the the fuck monster bimbo men kiss and be horrible hot mess trash to each other and then maybe make the fuck up so that the other one can have their Sinderella Story?

It's all a fantasy wrapped in aesthetically pleasing adult animation.

For Fun.

This isn't me implying children's cartoons are actually deeper than any adult content, this me telling you that you're annoying if you clog the tags with petty childish shit like this and need to leave the rest of the adults who actually know what we're watching in peace.

[sidesteppostinghours]

ok. question.

ortega ended up hallucinating sidestep after they "died", but sidestep doesnt know about that. they know it got bad, but never the full extent of how their death affected them. so if your sidestep Did learn, if they found out ortega looked for them in every little piece they could, would that change anything for your sidesteps? would their relationship with ortega be any different?

[crystalkitty1220]

Man I wonder where the leader of the fear realm could've gone, it's alMOST LIKE NEVIN HAS AN

[celerifleuri]

i often worry about some aspects being too implicit/obscure so seeing things being picked up on makes me incredibly happy!!

i think you can never truly achieve a perfect balance of implicit vs explicit because it depends heavily on the individual and how willing they are to engage with the text

as a reader who loves specificity, word choice and generally reading into things, i try to write so that one line can be read in multiple ways

this kind of writing may not be for everyone but it's a kind that's very fun to me and knowing that im not alone in this is always quite reassuring !

to your comment on the title and tongues, im going to add a silly expression

silence is a key part of maelyn's character (the game as a whole even) and she quite literally holds her own tongue at times!

depending on how you read hold and which tongues you associate it with, the title can also refer to the tongues maelyn physically held in her hands, the tongues held together as feathers for the wing, anything you see fit!

(was going to put a screenshot there but it'd be quite long so just go ahead and google 'hold meaning' and have fun 😭)

eric is one hell of a character and i have plans to really highlight the facade he used to have back when everything seemed fine

that will probably be easier to see in bonus episodes but at its core, his character is all about the duality of abusers. how no matter how good someone may seem, you can't know how they think and what they can do, especially when things don't go how they want them to

you mention the dress (rightfully so) and there's also another thing he gives/leaves her with! the braid and ribbons!

he used to tie her hair (//trap her into a sort of feminine ideal) and you'll notice that no matter how loose, she still keeps her hair tied. until a specific ending!

but even there, she didn't untie them herself, she simply became the doll of another. so no matter how free she can appear then, she is very much dead (you could totally argue that death freed her of everything but if she/her mind was freed, her body was not!)

more things can be said about the hair and the doll but ill stop there, you can think of them yourself !

thank you for the 'grounding yourself again' because yes!! it might be in the details but here and there, feelings will take her out of her thoughts and bring her back to reality

for the 'to be kept' part too, thank you

not commenting on everything but i am very much chewing on your words, i love reading interpretations!!

the 'so she could breathe' is also quite ironic because if you're not deluding yourself like he is, maelyn is dead, so what is the point of giving her room to breathe now? like many out there, she needed that way before. it's pointless now, it only serves the one that does the act, it only makes them feel better, considerate

feel free to share your thoughts anytime, i love reading them and rambling in response!

MERU😭😭😭 i finally had a free moment to relax and the first thing i wanted to do was play hold your tongues and i've spent the last few hours pouring over how absolutely beautiful of a piece it is in storytelling and visuals. i genuinely have so much to gush over and idk where i should be doing it so into your inbox it goes. i apologise in advance, you also don't have to respond to this bc 1) i am aware it's gonna get vv long and 2) spoilers will definitely be mentioned

i hope sel knows what an absolute gem of a writer she is for executing all of this bc i am fucking gobsmacked by how well certain ideas and concepts were interwoven throughout the entire piece. maybe a lot of the things following are just my interpretations, but that's another thing i really really love — there's enough ambiguity in the prose to be able to infer it in so many different ways

first to the namesake of the game, ‘hold your tongues’ and the many connotations of tongues that are explored throughout; as symbols of liberation and entrapment that intermingle so so well. i feel like the game really delves into the struggles that women face in society, in relationships, just in general and i like how since it's done so through maelyn's own perspective, we're privy to a more complex and raw display of how deeply emotionally scarring it can be.

eric is a little bitch imo (i won't retract that statement ever) but the ever judgmental, taunting and superior tone he has as the ‘voice’ in maelyn's head speaks volumes of the character he possessed and the lasting impact it had on her. giving her dress to another man makes her ‘unfaithful’, the fact that it's emphasised that these are only ‘remains’ of a dress too — bc eric left her with shreds, physically, mentally. 

if we take the dress to act as a metaphor for maelyn herself, he left her in shreds.

in response to this, maelyn bites her tongue, so hard that it bleeds. it's restraint, quite literally biting back your anger and the feeling of being wronged. grounding yourself again to the harsh reality of it all, and it brings her back to the present moment when starling points it out.

we see a similar occurrence later on when maelyn relays her tongue ‘longing for a taste, was to be kept down.' so again, she stops herself (and i think the wording here is particularly interesting, that it was to be kept, so intrinsically this too may also link to how women are commonly taught to be submissive and forced to fit to certain standards). 

in both contexts, the act of biting the tongue can be taken as a suppression of some sort of desire — the first is the desire to be mad, and the second is the desire of lust. both which women have been criticised for through the ages.

i also like to think that the tongue is a representation of freedom. starling is very much making wings to fly out of them, and taking them away from ppl has ‘forever deprived of their ability to lie’ (in which case lying = freedom, i won't expand on this too much bc it'll be another whole essay😭) so going back to maelyn, her biting hers can also be seen as her freedom being hurt, prevented.

another thing is, the line just before ‘he never ran out of tongues’, we can take this as starling never having his freedom threatened. and it poses further questions. is this because of his strength? is it because he has the ocean ‘wholly’? is it because he's a ‘man’?

on my first run through, one of the most prominent questions i came away w/ was what was it that attracted maelyn to starling? to the concept of these monsters of the sea that had surpassed human constraints that had her waiting out all those hours to catch a glimpse of one to begin with. what was it that kept her coming back? time and time again, day after day when she could've not gone back to that shore after leaving.

the text narrates a couple of things that i think contributed, there's a sense of warring humanity and animosity in the repetitive motifs of dirt and uncleanliness, in her noting that starling looked ‘half a man’ and that one half could've ‘consumed’ the other. maelyn has an envy that's touched upon frequently. does maelyn want to be closer to a monster so that no one can hurt her? or does she feel like a monster is all she can be now?

then there's a dynamic with power that was honestly done so well. again, my praise to sel for how well thought out it all was. that part where she put her hand into his guts and he made sounds he was ‘unable to control’, another when she tells him ‘cut’ and he does so without question — she recognises she holds the reins in that moment, acknowledges, ‘in control, I breathed.’ 

starling listens to her for the most part, it's a reoccuring theme. even when making his wings, he's following her instructions although it's made clear that he learns quick and is capable. perhaps this gives her comfortability.

but we see this turn on its head when things start to go left, starling begins to do as he pleases and maelyn is taken back into her trauma, back to feeling ‘disgusting’ and ‘unclean’, she even apologises and promises to do better.

leashes are mentioned a few times, maelyn first describes them as a sort of ‘necklace’ — perhaps this is tribute to the way a woman's submission is often beautified and normalised. the ‘leash’ starling puts on her in one of the ends is made of pearls, he keeps it in his mouth before this. could this be a reference to eric's sweet words that bound maelyn before he revealed himself? starling ties it somewhat loosely ‘so she could breathe’ yet that doesn't take away the fact that it's still there. it has a sort of your cage is not small, but that doesn't mean you're not locked in it kinda feel.

there's so much more i could say but i think ive alr said too much😭 i didnt even get to touch on the cuddle ending which was my favourite, or the symbolism of losing fingers, the significance of the numbers two, three and four to the story. I DIDN'T EVEN TALK MUCH ABT THE ART😭😭 MERU SORRY I GOT DISTRACTED BUT THE ART WAS PHENOMENAL❗️❗️❗️❗️

maelyn is super pretty and i love how her and starling contrast each other in design so nicely. starling's expressions were stellar ++ the bgs and cgs were beautiful (you're right, if you didn't clarify it i would think you were behind the chest one haha). also the body horror aspect was really brought to life with the visuals and ik it definitely mustn't have been easy drawing all those organs, thank you for your service meruuuu

i'll shut up here before i write another 3k, but both you and sel did such a great job w/ this. the two of you deserve a nice break to rest so pls make sure to take things easy and take care of yourselves!! drink water and sleep when you can, and know that you've made a masterpiece♥️

OH MY GOD THIS ASK IS MAKING ME GO FERAL

It's so well written??? You did such a good job picking up the details hidden behind their lines??? I fish you continued writing because I for sure did not want to finish it and please do send the other thoughts you had if you can, I love this so much

I'm sure @celerifleuri will too so I'll tag her

You already mentioned the spoilers at the start but I'll also note it down here for people who haven't played the game yet. I'm sure sel will do a much better job answering your story analyses but I'll also say you're completely right with most things you've said.

The story takes place in 1800s with dated gender roles we unfortunately can still relate to. Maelyn is a curious woman who wants to study and experiment, but is being held back by society and even people who she thought she could trust, but again Sel will do a better job explaining those.

I'll talk about the art a bit. One thing I really enjoyed that was kinda unintentional on my part was the use of night and day.

The story starts at night time, the first ever cg we get of Maelyn is her jumping down the cliff, with the moon's reflection on her left and the waves giving an illusion of wings as she looks up, in that very moment she is free.

On the other hand the first ever cg of Starling is day time. The sun is shining brightly from his left, almost blindingly, as he looks down. His hair covering the screen like spider webs.

To contrast these, it's night time in the wood ending. Just like the first cg of Maelyn, we can see the soft moonight shining upon them but not quite reaching Starling's face. Maelyn is alive.

Meanwhile in the bone ending, even though they are underwater we can tell it's day time, just like the first Starling cg. We get to see a glimpse of them through the seaweeds covering our view, the sunlight showering them gently. Starling is alive.

For the character designs too, a bit of a reverse but I'd say Maelyn resembles the sun, meanwhile Starling is like the moon.

They both share green eyes, although quite different shades. Maelyn has bright red hair that contrasts Starling's red tongue tail.

I also like that Maelyn's hair, albeit a bit loosely, is braided and kept tidy. Meanwhile Starling's hair is usually all over the place and quite messy.

[pixlmonkeys]

I say this with the deepest sense of hatred imaginable, fuck this article

[seventh-district]

so uh. that 2.2 Special Program, huh

[queercherrypie]

I feel like I'm going crazy, because if I put the pieces of the puzzle together I can say that Damon and Bonnie are canonically in love. And I could write an entire essay about it pointing out scenes and parallels and lines and what they mean starting with Damon's letter to Bonnie. I kept thinking about this because I was rewatching this scene here.

He says that supposedly he has everything, but he has nothing. Bonnie is dying and he is desperately trying to save her life even if it means she wakes up and kills him. He's going to extremes because Bonnie just wanted to die. He manages to wake her up by talking about his relationship with Elena; teases her to the level that she rips his heart out. He literally gave his heart to Bonnie in the same place he gave his heart to Elena.

DUDE!!! WHAT?! I'm hallucinating all this and my brain has been corroded with fanfiction? Or am I really seeing this? Was Damon willing to die to save her life and basically saying he's in love with her? I'm going crazy, please someone from the TVD fandom tell me I'm not going crazy. 

He's in love with both of them and the last conversation Elena had with him was about how he can have both and I'm going to die on this hill!!!

The season 7 is basically Bonnie being teased by Enzo every 5 minutes about the fact that she's in love with Damon before he left her behind. He seems to be absolutely sure of that, you know why? He was spending time with Lilly who helped Kai with the plan. She had very open ears in that house and what I'm saying makes perfect sense when I think about it. Kai made Damon make a choice. What the hell happened in that Prison World?! Damon has thought a lot about this piece of advice he's been giving Stefan I wonder why...

[crimeronan]

orpheus sucked. i've said it before and i'll say it again: if you loved her you wouldn't look. rip to eurydice girl if you were married to ME i'd walk straight out of hell and keep walking and if i never saw you again it would be okay because i'd know you were alive and carry that with me and none of the rest of it would matter because THAT'S WHAT LOVE IS and anything else makes my skin crawl. your husband fuckin SUCKSSSSS dude i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry an ugly bitch would do you like that i'm SO s