#not even sure what to call it

[noemitenshi]

Moral Compass

The Madison & Troy story I won't write (probably not. you never know. my word means nothing)

---

So, for some reason, I envisioned a Madison&Troy story (dark-ish) where their relationship is much deeper than in canon and they are influencing each other (not exactly for their betterment. but Troy does survive the dam so that’s good, at least).

I was trying to come up with an idea for the start of this deeper relationship. What would do it? What had to change from canon? And then I thought about the time after Jeremiah’s death and before Walker and his people come to the ranch. Someone must have told Troy about this. And he must have had opinions. But they never showed us this. So below is one idea of how this scene could go (keeping in mind that this is also where they leave canon).

I don’t think I’ll ever really write this (hence why it is a tumblr post) but I may add to it if ideas keep coming.

Enjoy

"so. whats the play?" Troy asked deliberately casual. The same way he was leaning against the wall. "??" "with the indians. you don’t really plan on sharing. are you?" "no play" troy presses his lips together, unhappily while madison looks at him impatiently. he wants to say "youre joking", wants to rage against her. but he can see that wont work. she's unbudging in this. and there's something else, too. something more pressing. something he almost doesn't want to ask. but he's not one to back down. not even from questions he suspects he wont like the answer. *especially* not from those. so he goes: "do you still need me, now that youve settled for compromise? now that theres no war coming? or are you looking for the first opportunity to discard me. hmm, madison?"

madison does not answer, just looks disapprovingly at troy. so he adds. "jakes the lawyer after all. if you want pretty words - then it's him you need" and he's looking at her all challengingly, kinda daring her to say it. So she tries to deflect all "its what your father wanted" "well, newsflash, my father is dead." "He died for this place. His people" troy huffs "dad didn't have one selfless bone in his body. He'd rather have let us all die in an attack than sacrifice *anything*. So if he died for anyone - must've been himself" And Madison kinda doesn't know what to say to that, probably looks uncomfortable and broody. And then troy goes "you haven't answered my question. Wanna do away with me now, huh?" and guess she will go on the offense now "yeah. you're right" she will say and look him in the eye, kinda squinty "what i need now *isn't* brutality. i need cooperation and goodwill and-" troy scoffs loud enough that she stops talking. "this isnt a joke" madison hissed. "no" troy said slowly, measuredly "this, them and us, together, is a powder keg" "you planning on being the match?" Troy smirked in this condescending way of his "I dont have to" he said and shrugged a little "enough folks being on edge here. enough folks that lost someone to those... people." "do you *want me* to do away with you?" "you promised me a war, madison. had me go against my brother, my father. i did that *for you*" he'd gone close, close to her, towering over her. She was not cowed. "let's not get into who owns whom, hu?" she said. a warning. he snarled, not that it did anything. "so, where does that leave us?" he asked then. it was both the easiest thing he'd ever done and the hardest. madison had such a way about her. "you tell me, troy. where *does* it leave us? you gonna become a problem?" "we both know why you chose me, madison. before. why you... played nice. if that's- if that's not needed anymore..." he trailed off and shrugged, a self-mocking smirk on his lips. "it could be" she offers then. oh, she knew exactly when to offer him a lifeline. "there's still the dead out there. we still need-" "you don't think that's enough. do you?" she gave him a quick side-eye. that was enough to tell him that no, she didn't think that. he bit his lower lip. "there could be others. others that wanna take whats ours. i'd feel safer knowing you were there in case..." "in case what? those unknown strangers *may* attack? come on, you don't believe that" "you didn't expect *us* either, did you?" There was such an undertone in her voice it raised the little hairs on troy's neck. "What are you saying?" he asked slowly. pointedly. "you just - you never know what'll happen" such feigned casualness. but then her voice became soft. alluring "don't you want to see? what else there is?" - Oh, he knew exactly what she was doing - "...by my side?" Yep, there it was. By her side. He wanted nothing more. And she knew, she knew it, damn it. He inhaled shakily. But she wasn't done. "I  don't want to... have to..." again she side-eyed him "*manage* you" He tilted his head in a 'come on' gesture and demanded, "Say what you mean." "I mean it, troy," she said instead, touching his upper arm, squeezing, "i do want you by my side." "do you now? or.. is this you managing me already?" "it can be both - can't it?" madison asked. and she sounded almost uncertain. there was a glint in her eyes, betraying her "i don't know why but- there's something between us - from the very first moment. something about you... feels like kinship." troy blinked slowly for lack of an answer. he hadn't expected any of that. her acknowledging this connection between them. wanting it, even. or so it seemed. "kinship? that why you look like youre in physical pain any time im around your kids?" "kinship to me. not to them." there was no apology in her words nor her tone. in fact it was unyielding. familiar. it made troy smile. "so, you're telling me" he said slowly, voice softening, a meaningful look back and forth between them, "you *don't* want to rain hellfire down on them? the people who killed travis..." "i want to survive. my *kids* to survive..." she trailed off and he suspected she finally understood where they differed. he didn't have anyone like that in his life. where he'd do anything and everything for their continued survival. "but you don't get that, do you?" It hurt more than he'd like to admit. Hearing it out loud. He'd always craved connection like that. From the very first time she'd said she loved travis more than her life it stupidly had made him jealous. jealous bc he didn't feel like that about anyone. but he wanted to. didn't even understand why he did want it. it sounded suicidal. and so, so alluring. "i..." he didn't have a clever answer. nor could he bring himself to admit it, admit that yes, he didnt have that. never had. madison looked at him like he was a caged tiger. "it's not like i don't want to" he finally settled on "..get it, i mean." he swallowed uncomfortably. "no?" Oh, he had surprised her. That was... well that was something. "no" he affirmed, running his tongue along his bottom lip. "nick said..." her voice wasn't assured anymore. she spoke slowly. careful "nick said you'd die for the ranch - as a suicide note..?" troy's lips twitched, amused. "he said, did he? did he also tell you what he told me?" "what? no. Don't deflect" Troy shrugged. He truthfully had thought she should know. But then again if she herself told him to leave it, he would. "So." Madison prompted, somewhat impatient. "So?" "So, would you die gladly for the ranch? Or was that just talk?" "I would." "Then-" "It's not, it's not the same," he interrupted her, "I'm not doing that for anyone else. I'm doing it for me." She furrowed her brows. "You'd still be saving people" she offered. "Yeah" he said and did his half-snarl half-smirk "saved alicia too. didn't i?" And he lifted his brows. Madison's face did something complicated. "didn't do that for her either." "You did it for me" "or i did it because i was bored. because i didn't agree with jake's plan. because i owed you. because i got excited about the opportunity to kill people." The smirk was still playing on his lips and madison's furrow deepened. there was a long stretch of silenece between them. then she whispered, "doesnt mean you won't ever have it" "does that matter? if i don't have it *now*" uncomfortable silence. she broke it again. "aren't i reason enough?" and she almost sounded like she meant it. that she didn't want to manage him - do away with him. like she wanted him to *give her a reason*. "not yet." "what does that mean?" "means we're not there yet." "troy..." she whispered in this placating,  no soothing. No, pleading tone. she *did* mean it. however this had started out, however she would feel after. in this moment troy was sure that she really didn't want to act against him. want to *have to* act against him, as she would no doubt put it. it *was* something. "let's not kid yourselves madison. i am what i am." he regretted it the moment he saw her face. so he amended "but i can.. try. for your sake. i can." she did not look convinced and he cursed himself. why couldn't he have bit his tongue? But that just wasn't him. "no you can't" she said and she sounded so sad. he had to swallow uncomfortably. "you could..." he hesitated for a beat. did he really want to reveal that much to her? but then again, she probably already knew. Had had him pegged from the very first moment after all. "teach me?" He had surprised her again. Now he just had to wait and see whether it was in a good or a bad way. though he added, slyly almost "i *can* follow orders." "can you now?" she finally said. asked. but there was no bite in her voice. if it were anyone else he'd say it was teasing. "try me" he challenged and spread his arms from his body. She closed her eyes. sighed. "youre following my lead." It was a statement, not a question. he still nodded, a small grin on his lips. "I'm following your lead" he confirmed. Oh, this had him excited. It was something new, unknown. It was... something he wanted. She sighed again. But he didn't pay that much mind, giddyness taking over. Who'd have thought this would be the outcome of their conversation? Certainly not him. He didn't exactly know what he had expected - maybe both of them firmly on opposite sides. But not *this*. An offer of... mentorship? The thing he had envisioned the moment he'd realized that she *understood* him. "im glad you came to talk to me." Her words pulled him out of his memories and he smiled. The same soft smile he'd smiled back then. This time, she reciprocated. 

[sabertoothwalrus]

I was thinking about how Chilchuck was the same age as young Senshi when he became a parent, and thought about if they had been the same age at a different point in their lives.....

this isn't necessarily ship because they SUPER wouldn't get together in this scenario but that makes it hurt more..... the 'almost's that are inherent to childhood puppy love.... and fleeting moments.... and growing up too fast..... augh!

[lucabyte]

"So what's the weirdest possible first (second) impression Loop could make on the party in postcanon?" "Yeah, that, probably."

+ Bonus

theyre just standing there in direct party order while this happens. normal tuesday.

[goldensunset]

when people refer to canon story-relevant kingdom hearts games as ‘spinoffs’ it makes me sad not only for the obvious reasons i always say but also bc like man i WISH this series had spinoffs. imagine what they could do if they had permission from nomura to truly go off the rails and ignore the greater canon for a second and just do some fun whimsical plotless thing in an alternate universe. imagine a fishing/boating game on destiny islands. kh fighting game. it is an injustice that we have been deprived of kingdom karts. can anyone hear me

[castielsprostate]

breaking the sign in two by how hard im tapping it

[moongothic]

Crocodad AU where immidiately after having left Dragon and his baby boy Crocodile finds an 11 year old Robin. And while he's 100% only recruiting her so they can make a beeline for the Poneglyph and Pluton in Alabasta by the two of them... Crocodile accidentally sorta kinda adopts Robin.

At this point Robin's been running for her life from the Government for three years so her deep trust issues and fear of betrayal are starting to take root in her little heart. Like perhaps they haven't taken fully over yet, and being still a child I'm sure Robin might've still had that genuine hope that she could find a safe place to stay in. But I'm sure the though of "what'll he'll do with me once he gets what he wants?" would be nagging at her at the back of her mind. Meanwhile Crocodile's struggling between the pain and hurt he's already gone through and given him his trademark trust issues, as well as the aftermath of The Dragodile Divorce. But he also has his Fresh Paternal Instincts and probably misses his baby. So when given a small, scared child who is running for her life, being chased by the very same Government that'll want his son dead if they ever find out about him... Yeah that might fuck with your brain a little

You know this post was supposed to be just that first paragraph and just a few footnotes from the following two paragraphs. And then I kept on Having Thoughts. And I kept on writing them down. And oh no what happened when did this post get so long (Look I was going to either kept on writing my Additional Thoughts in the tags or I just put them in the actual fucking post)

Like considder this: based on this one SBS, we can kinda tell that if Crocodile was given a chance to raise a child, that child would be a spoiled little shit, right

So in this scenario, where Crocodile's looking after lil Robin, would he be kind of torn? Unsure how to feel about her?

Because on one hand, this strange child would have the potential to not only ruin his plans, strip him of his Shichibukai Privileges by outing him and his plans to the World Government, but also put his son in grave danger by extension (if she found out about him having been involved with the Revolutionaries and/or having a child). But on the other hand, his paternal instincts could make him want to spoil this poor little girl rotten. But only because he needs to (perhaps literally) buy her trust so she'll behave. No other reason, he doesn't feel sorry for her one bit, no sirree. (But maybe he did feel sorry for her, since his son could very well end up exactly like her. Poor little thing) (Which is why he needs to nuke Marijoa out of orbit as soon as possible, no matter the cost, and this child can't get in the way of Crocodile protecting his son) (But also this is a child. Like how bad could she be. Besides all he really needs to do to win her trust is be nice and make her feel safe, right?)

Of course, while I'm suggesting Crocodile could have some parental instincts, realistically, he hasn't actually spent any time being, you know, a father to a child (looking after his newborn for an unknown though short amount of time aside), so it's possible he wouldn't even know how to parent Robin even if he wanted to, would he? (Like taking care of a newborn and an 11 year old kid aren't the same either) So if he was kind of just emotionally flipflopping between No Trusting Ever and It's Just A Kid for God's Sake, Crocodile trying to be nice to Robin to make her feel safe and then telling himself to stop being so soft and vunerable... Yeah that would make for an absolute mess of a relationship. (Not to mention, let's be real, dude's a scary motherfucker too, and a bloody giant compared to itty bitty baby Robin. He could keep on accidentally scaring the shit out of Robin (who would be On Fucking Edge To Begin With) by just Being Himself. Like for example, can you fucking imagine if he caught Robin trying to cheer herself up with a little "dereshishishi" only to tell her to stop because "it was stupid"? 'Cause I can imagine him doing that, and boy howdy would that make Robin feel bad)

Or who knows, maybe Crocodile was just Born To Be A Dad, maybe he just Fucking Gets It. Like Crocodile is canonically pretty good at manipulating people to do what he wants them to do (see: how he played Vivi like a fiddle), so knowing Robin's position and understanding how she feels, maybe he COULD completely nail how she needed to be treated. Not being too familiar but still making her feel safe and happy, knowing exactly when to be stern and when to spoil her, etc. Dude just goes off and wins the Dad of the Year Award while being a deadbeat dad himself. The only thing Crocodile would have to worry about then would be making sure HE doesn't get too fond of her. And certainly that could never happen, he's so in-touch with his own feelings and so grounded, he's not a softie, get outta here. Or maybe he does but never realizes until it's too late and good luck backpedalling on those emotions now dumbass

Alright so, the reason I went on that whole rmble is just that like. I'm so interested in the relationship Robin and Crocodile already have in canon. I'm so facinated and curious about how the two feel about each other, considdering they did spend 4 whole years of their lives together as criminal business partners, though neither ever trusted the other. A partnership that was only ended because Robin betrayed Crocodile, out of her own trauma. (God, I want to see these two "reunite" so bad, I want to know how they feel about each other now after the timeskip and Robin joining the idiot in flipflops who foiled Croc's plans)

My question here is just that... if they had met 13 years earlier, would things have been different? Especially if Crocodad Real? Because as I mentioned in the begining, Robin would've been on the run for only 3 years by this point, as opposed to 16 years before running into Crocodile. Simultaneously, this would be before Crocodile went onto spend an entire decade all alone, slowly losing his marbles in his emotional solitude. They'd both be emotionally traumatized, yes, but would it have been as bad in this scenario? Like I did start this post kind of joking about Crocodile adopting Robin, and for clarity's sake I don't think they'd have like a father-daughter relationship nececarily. But it would be a strange relationship still, because we'd have two broken people, both struggling to trust anyone. One who had lost her mother and her only friends, leaving her all alone and afraid while running for her life. The other a father who had just given up his son whom he probably missed dearly. Both having these holes in their hearts from loss of family, holes that could not be filled with replacements. But could they find comfort in each other anyway, because they still as people occupy similar roles to their respective loved ones? If they both could just get over those trust issues?

Okay I've been going off on the Emotional Side Of Things for this AU Concept, THERE'S PLOT TOO

So if Crocodile did pick Robin up like 19 years ago, that should be before he set up base in Alabasta, long before he had built is homebase and financial empire etc.

Now the thing is, while we don't know when, where and how Crocodile learned about the Ancient Weapons, Pluton specifically and how the lead on it would be in Alabasta... Considdering Crocodile did once upon a time aim to become Pirate King, it would make perfect sense if he had learned about Poneglyphs during his past adventures, as he would have needed to get the Road Poneglyphs to find One Piece. And while the World Government did bury the truth about why Ohara had been burned down and why Robin had been given her bounty (remember, the WG claimed it was because she had sunken a fleet of battleships, which she had not, it was because she could read the Poneglyphs), considdering this is a Crocodad AU specifically, you could totally make an argument Crocodile could've learned about what actually happened to Ohara from Dragon and co. So, just to make this AU work, you could just assume Crocodile learned about the concept of the Ancient Weapons from Dragon. And who knows, maybe he overheard the truth about why Robin had been given her bounty from Dragon too (maybe Dragon was able to get intel from Garp in secret) or while going to Marijoa himself to attend a Shichibukai meeting or something IDK.

Maybe he learned about Pluton being in Alabasta before finding Robin by accident, and maybe they made a beeline for Alabasta the second Croc recruited Robin. Travelling takes time and the guy would've most likely had to find an Eternal Pose to Alabasta just to get there (also canonically Robin didn't enter the Grand Line until her 20s so they should've met in West Blue probably, since that's where Ohara was) Or maybe Crocodile had to haul Robin around for a few months while looking for That Missing Piece of Information that would lead him to Alabasta. (Imagine the two travelling from like island to island, library to library, Crocodile trying to find that leads while Robin's just so excited about ALL THESE BOOKS (she's helping too with the research) (but to her, research is playtime, so she's just having the time of her life) (Also, notice how Crocodile's Theoretical Child is a fucking loser ass nerd? Yeah Crocodile would encourage Robin reading and studying, surely. And that would be fucking cute))

But like, once they set sail to Alabasta...

Sure, Crocodile could try to do it The Slow Way that we know he tried in canon, building trust and creating his little empire etc. But also, in canon, Crocodile couldn't have jumped into action head first because without Robin, even if he had found the Poneglyph he couldn't have read it and found the location of Pluton. Crocodile choosing to do it the slow way may have been partially because he didn't have much of a choise and it could've felt like the smarter move long-term.

But in this scenario, he already has Robin. Yes, he could do it the slow, secure way.

But what'd be there stopping him from infiltrating Cobra's palace and kidnapping him (in the night, when nobody suspects a thing), demanding Cobra to spill the beans lest Crocodile kills him and/or his pregnant wife* (*Vivi was born 10 months after Luffy so depending on how long it's been between Crocodad leaving Luffy behind and this scenario... Yeah either the wife is there, still pregnant, or there's a newborn Baby Vivi)

Like it'd be a risky move but depending on how ballsy Croc's feeling and how confident he feels in being able to kidnap the king without being noticed... Yeah he could probably do it. And I'm sure he'd have no problem killing Cobra either, if anything it'd be required if he didn't want the Government to find out he was out to find Pluton, and god knows Cobra would tell on Crocodile if left alive. I could see Crocodad being maybe a little iffy about killing Baby Vivi though (it's not like the newborn baby could report him to the WG anyways), but if nothing else, he just needs to be able to pull off the bluff of his life to convince Cobra to do as he's told. And we all know Crocodile's good at convincing people.

The only question is, how would Robin take that?

Watching Crocodile go into Full Murder Mode, hearing him say he'd kill a pregnant woman/a newborn baby if he didn't get what he wanted? Like yeah, I'm sure 11 year old Robin would be fine with that, that wouldn't make any alarm bells go off in her head at all, it'd be fiiiine. IT WOULD NOT BE FINE, SHE'D BE SCARED SHITLESS. That fear of "what will he do with me when he gets what he wants"? Well, Robin may not have found the answer to that question in particular, but she certainly found the answer to the opposite question, and it's not good

So say Cobra, kidnapped (perhaps with Baby Vivi) by Crocodile in the night, guides the two to the Poneglyph under the tombs. Crocodile puts Cobra out of his misery because he's not needed anymore. And he asks Robin to read the Poneglyph for him.

Robin, who has spent the last little while, be it weeks or months with Crocodile, him having become her "guardian", the thing keeping her safe. Crocodile, who has now shown how cold blooded and cruel he can be. Robin, who might be scared out of her mind. Of him.

And the Poneglyph says Pluton, the thing Crocodile wants, isn't there. It's in Wano.

What's she going to do?

EDIT: I wrote a sequel post, enjoy

[hopefulsapphic]

i'm an early seasons steve harrington apologist. sorry. he was not a bad person he was not a bad boyfriend he was literally just 17

[starry-bi-sky]

Danyal Al Ghul: Incorrect Quotes and Miscellaneous Thoughts

Incorrect quotes-style snippets specifically for my danyal al ghul au here (which i really need to come up with a unique au name for atp). Because I thought it'd be funny. And also some miscellaneous headcanons thrown into the mix. Some context for the au: - Danyal is 5 years older than Damian (so 10 and 15) - Danny faked his death when he was 10. Talia knows and helped him with it. - Jazz, Sam, and Tucker do not know he's an ex-assassin.

-------- Snippet 1

Danny, dryly tapping his temple: I have, as the Americans say, irreparable psychological damage, right here.

Jazz, an older sibling first and foremost: well, it's good that you're self-aware.

-------- Snippet 2

Danny, aged 10, in the American foster planning to just age out of the system: *emanating Bad Vibes. Pure, Little Orphan Tom Riddle Energy*

Jazz, aged 12, coming in to adopt a new sibling with her parents: Him. This is my brother now :)

Danny: ...what

--------

Lilo and Stitch is Danny's favorite Disney movie. He watched it when he was 11 with Jazz when she was attempting to connect with him, and by this point Danny was becoming receptive to her efforts. They had a movie marathon in the living room one night.

Safe to say? It resonated with his little 11 year old heart strongly, and he related very strongly with both Nani and Stitch. He got unexpectedly emotional and hid in his room for the rest of the night. Jazz felt really bad, but it had the intended (but kinda unexpected) effect of him trying to be nicer to her afterwards.

-------- Snippet 3

Dash, aged 12, causing trouble again and getting intercepted by Danny: *scaling up a desk* AHHHHH! GET YOUR LITTLE FREAK, FOLEY!

Tucker: Hey! Danny is not a freak!

Dash: GET HIM TO BACK OFF

Tucker, was the kid Dash was messing with: ....whats in it for me

-------- Snippet 4

Danny, saying some questionably immoral shit: What. Why are you looking at me like that.

Tucker: Bro. I mean this as kindly as possible; what the fuck?

Sam: yeah, I'm with Tuck on this one.

-------- Snippet 5

Danny, ranting about Vlad: if it weren't for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered him

Sam, painting his nails black: I'm pretty sure you'd slaughter him regardless of the laws of the land -- and quit moving, you're gonna mess me up.

Tucker: we've literally seen you debate yourself about this, Dan

Danny: ...you are correct, but it is the principle of things.

-------- Snippet 6

Vlad: I have experience my child, and the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you say. I could train you, teach you everything I know! And all you have to do is renounce that idiot adoptive father of yours.

Danny, was already contemplating committing a Violence: ....

Danny, internally: I'm going to stab him *turns into Phantom*

--------

Funny contrast I realized between Danyal and Vlad that iirc I haven't pointed out yet is that imo, Danyal doesn't rely on his powers nearly half as much as canon Danny does. He falls back instinctually on his League training, and thus sometimes forgets to use his powers in battle. This was prevalent especially early on when he was still getting used to the whole 'halfa' thing.

He incorporates them more often after a year, but still for the most part relies on his own physical hand-to-hand combat. He trusts those skills much more than he does his powers. I'm not sure where he is on a technical level compared to canon, but just to stay safe I'll say he's similar in power skill as canon Danny. Perhaps a little more finessed than him because his League training would probably have him trying to figure out his powers as soon as possible.

But in summary? Danny is strong in hand-to-hand combat, weak in powerset.

Meanwhile Vlad is the opposite. I can't recall if he even knows hand-to-hand in canon, but it makes total sense to me that Vlad Masters wouldn't because he's so confident in his monetary influence and ghost abilities that he sees no need for it.

And he's kinda got some merit behind it. He's very powerful and has 20 years of experience to experiment and fine tune his powers. He's got bite to follow up his bark. He's perfected long-range combat and his ability to phase through walls makes it impossible to corner him, but if you can manage it, then one good hit could probably knock him on his ass.

So in summary, Vlad is strong in powerset, weak in hand-to-hand combat.

And it casts a good contrast between the two of them in that regard. Danny, as a fellow halfa, can follow Vlad when he phases through walls and is fast enough to land a hit on him. His league training as an assassin, albeit rusty, is still deep ingrained enough in him that he can hold up as a rather veritable threat against Vlad without needing his powers.

But Vlad can force Danny to use his powers more often through use of his own. The duplication is the first thing to come to mind: Danny's fast enough to dispel them on his own without powers, and smart enough that he could figure out who the real one is if given a few minute. But that's not always efficient enough.

Good foils for each other that way. Also Vlad's Plasmius design mimics Ra's juuust enough that he looks like Ra's knockoff loser second cousin no one talks about, which only fuels Danny's hatred.

-------- Snippet 7

Danny, ranting about Vlad for the first time: --and it's only made worse by the fact that the little ingrate resembles a cheap knock-off of my grandfather!--

Sam, choking on her water: he what--

Tucker, doing a spittake: HE DOES?

[blueskittlesart]

hey has anyone tried to buy a covid test lately. because i just had to buy one for a friend at my local walgreens and the cashier very seriously asked me if i was sure i wanted it because. a 2-pack of tests currently costs $23.99. do we not think that it's a little insane that the only reliable diagnostic tool for a very much ongoing pandemic costs over $20 for a single package. what if I didn't have that kind of money to burn??? Especially if you're already facing potentially losing at least a weeks worth of pay if you DO test positive and can't work. How many people are going to see that price point and decide they can't justify the expense??? literally insane. remember that brief moment of sanity this country had when we all got these for free

[calmlb]

hc that Dazai made a point of calling Chuuya small when they met because Dazai was used to being the small one.

like, finally there was someone shorter than him. because let’s be real, Dazai was barely taller than Chuuya in Fifteen.

i think people forget how small Dazai was too— not just in height, but also in weight. He was underweight in Dark Era, but in Fifteen & even at present he's barely within the healthy weight range for his height. he was constantly described as a twig in Fifteen, and almost every time he's introduced in the light novels he's called lanky, slender, etc.

[taytei]

More sketch pages cause that’s all I seem to do recently (starring an old fandom I haven’t touched in ages)

[raiiny-bay]

summer '93

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Always a bit puzzled by people saying that anyone who wanted long-term consequences for TotK Zelda's sacrifice are "edgy".

I'm not even particularly in the camp that she should have remained a dragon forever (I think this should have been Ganondorf's fate, it would have been sooo much more impactful than to explode him and move on but anyway). To be honest, I wish the rules for turning back would have been 1) clear 2) active gameplay on the player so that it feels like it's something we have earned, and 3) not make her have amnesia about it and/or at least having her gain some crucial insight because of the experience.

(also: doesn't she crave knowledge? isn't that insanely mean to have her watch over every civilization and every bit of history ever and then take it away from her? kind of dislike how totk privileges the comfort of the player's feelings over what the characters would actually want or need tbh)

To be perfectly honest, I fully expected us needing to turn her back before engaging Ganondorf so we would fight him together, especially since Zelda as a compagnon exists in the game code already (though in a very subdued state). It feels very very strange to me that all of this mechanic of Sages following us existing and yet we never have the very climactic cool Zelda-staple moment of facing Ganondorf or Ganon together (OoT, WW, TP, ST and probably more that I'm forgetting all did this in some way --even BotW had Zelda more involved than in TotK). I'm not sure Mineru was a compagnon that was needed over Zelda honestly, especially given the kind of non-insight she gives us on the zonai (even if the idea of the mecha is cool, it really could have been Zelda using her zonai + sheikah knowledge to pilot one for us or something).

But anyway: yeah, even if this isn't what I would have wanted personally, I think wanting Zelda to remain a dragon is kind of arguably more respectful of her relationship to Link, in a way, that what the game ended up doing. When she enacted this sacrifice, Zelda decided to trust him to such a extent that she lost herself, reciprocated his trust in her and his devotion to her, and now the future of Hyrule exists beyond her and beyond what Hyrule once was, but she trusts them to follow through and be happy and she will watch over them from the stars moving on. It's fine if we manage to save her from that fate, but even if we don't, honestly this sounds like a beautiful story/tragic romance to me, if you want to read it that way. Tragedy doesn't necesserily involve edginess. Fictional pain isn't always mean, or out to get you.

[giantenemyrobot]

Wip !?

There's more dialogue before this chunk that I want to add stuff to, but idk when I'll get to that

The audio is from the Bluecoats 2023 show Riffs and Revelations

Fav frames, I think I did really well on their sad sad wet cat faces

[queruloustea]

waitwaitwait what do you mean by that

he's on maternity leave :]

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

ngl the "im white so i dont talk abt any characters' race ever bc im afraid of accidentally saying something racist" approach to fandom is like. very weak. imo.

like first of all: i get that "i dont incorporate race into my media analysis because i'm afraid of messing up" comes from a different place than "i don't incorporate race into my media analysis because I Don't See Race 😊 there is only The Human Race." but it has the same functional effect, right? that effect being that your analysis of [INSERT MEDIA HERE] ignores the very real way that race impacts people.

second of all: it feels kinda lazy! like ur saying "i dont know enough abt race to feel comfortable commenting on how race affects this show and i dont care enough to learn." the only way to become more comfortable discussing race is to actually practice discussing race. but when i see people saying this it feels like they're saying "i'm white, which means i don't know how to talk about race, and i don't have to know how to talk about race, and i don't ever have to know how to talk about race, so i'm choosing to never learn how to talk about race."

third of all: just because you don't openly talk about race doesn't mean you're any less likely to accidentally say or do something racist. implicit biases run deep, y'all. it's probably already there in your interpretation of the show. but the "i don't want to accidentally say something racist" implies that you are positive that your interpretation of the show isn't racist. and i'm not saying you're wrong. but i'm saying that if a person of color tells you that something you said about [INSERT MEDIA HERE] was racist, you better be prepared to actually listen and not just brush them off because "i can't be racist! i purposefully never talk about race just to make sure i'm not racist!"

which brings me to my final point: if you do accidentally say something racist... literally just apologize. if someone says you've been doing something racist, apologize and stop doing that thing. it's literally not that hard. i've done it. i've seen other people do it. "i'm scared of being called racist!" is such a weak excuse im tired of it. getting called racist is not the end of the fucking world. calm the fuck down and grow a spine. jesus.