#oooooooooh the thoughts are so many

[raiiny-bay]

i haven't actually played sims in almost 2 years

[sunstaained]

see! i thought maybe lonely indri was too on the nose but that claim absolutely still holds up.

wren and ame being the web makes SO much sense i can’t believe i didn’t think of that!! i’m still holding staunch to that ame as touched by the lonely as, yes, she has true friends, but she only had them for a summer. singular. she’s only ever had wren the rest of the time and for as much spinning and tending to this inherited web of hers, she’s felt alone. she’s verbalized wanting to find out about her parents, her siblings. no one knows where she came from. “what if i wanted to be a normal person sometimes? … to everyone else, i’m just a witch.”

i think to be the witch of the world’s heart is to inherit equal parts web to lonely. wren said it best herself.

“Before you, I was very alone. Oh, Ame, I'm afraid I don't have the answers, my darling. The world will always be ready to see you as a witch. Sometimes it will be in celebration, sometimes in fear, sometimes in wonder, sometimes in dismay.”

actually! to that point? i’m gonna argue that the lonely’s touched all of the witches on the conclave for how witches are seen as ‘other’

grimore as the hunt and suvi as the eye obviously but what do we reckon the rest are? the stranger indri? oooh! or maybe even the web indri! are we feeling the dark or the end for mirara?

[proship-mafuyu]

thoughts on mafucest (mafuyu selfcest?)

oooooooooh… yes honestly. i think there are so many good ways you could do it tbh. my personal fave like just off the top of my head is prolly masking mfy x unmasked mfy… kinda in a system selfcest sorta way but doesn’t hafta be

[episodicnostalgia]

Spider-man: The Animated Series, 111 (May 20, 1995) - “The Hobgoblin, Part One”

Teleplay by: Larry Brody Story by: John Semper Directed by: Bob Richardson

The Breakdown

Norman Osborn (of Osborn Industries) is sick of living under Wilson Fisk’s heel, so he does what any rational billionaire would do, and hires an assassin. But since this is a Spider-man cartoon, Norman also provides his hitman with a goblin-themed supervillain suit, plus an accompanying array of weaponry, all in keeping with the motif (ie, bombs shaped like pumpkins, a glider loosely fashioned after a bat, and also a laser gun for good measure).  Anyways his name is the Hobgoblin and he’s what this episode is all about.

The hit is meant to go down at a public event where Fisk will be doing some legitimate-businessman-things. Fortunately, Peter Parker is also in attendance as a press photographer, allowing him to save Fisk’s life with his spider-reflexes (Pete still doesn’t know he’s the Kingpin) before jumping into action as Spider-man.  The web-head’s interference doesn’t go over well with the Goblin, who demands more money to finish the job, but Norman ostensibly refuses out of short-sighted greed.  Predictably, that doesn’t also go over very well, so the Hobgoblin decides to get even by stealing/keeping Norman’s goblin-gadgets, and betraying him to…

…THE KINGPIN OF CRIME! So, Hobby heads over to Fisk’s place, and offers to double-cross Norman in exchange for… I can’t remember the specifics. Crime things?  *Checks notes* Yeah, Crime things. As his first assignment, Fisk sends Hobgoblin to kidnap Harry, Norman’s Son, [and Peter’s new roommate - more on that below] for ransom; and the price for Harry’s safe return? The Legal rights to ALL of Norman’s inventions, signed over to Wilson Fisk! Looks like the Kingpin has this one in the bag, except for one little hiccup…

For some reason Fisk refuses to pay for Harry’s abduction, and since Hobgoblin is apparently a man with only one tactic, he heads back over to Norman’s place and offers to double-(or is it triple?)-cross Fisk this time around. Naturally, Norman isn’t buying it, but then the Hobgoblin offers two compelling arguments.  1) “Why not?” and, 2) “give me some even more powerful weapons, please”, which is evidently all the convincing Norman needs to justify handing over the keys to an even larger/more powerful glider; Replete with heat-seeking missiles, projectile razor discs (anything to appease the almighty toy sales reps), and even a cutting-edge remote control! (oooOOOoooh)

Meanwhile, our friendly neighbourhood wall crawler has been busy trying to find Harry, and figures he might as well start by warning Norman, but he coincidentally arrives at Oscorp Industries mere seconds after the Goblin has acquired his new glider.  Since our hero doesn’t realize his adversary is actually in cahoots with Norman (again), another fight ensues, but this time Spidey is overwhelmed by the new enhanced glider jet, and just as he jumps for cover into an abandoned building, two heat-seeking missiles follow him inside and… BOOOM!

Welp! I guess that’s the end of Spider-man.

To Be Continued…

The Verdict

I have a bit of a soft spot for this episode, because it was also the first one that I ever saw.  You see, during the early years of my childhood, I lived in darkness and anguish because cable was too expensive (unlike streaming which has only grown cheaper, more accessible,  and increasingly easier to navigate), and thus many Saturday morning cartoons remained painfully outside my grasp.  The only ways to see new episodes of my favourite shows, were through the efforts of my very thoughtful Granny (who would tape what she could on video cassette), blockbuster rentals, and occasionally friends.  Tragically, Spider-man wasn’t accessible through any of these venues, but I was well aware of the show’s existence thanks to the Toys ‘R Us catalogue, and the weekly TV Guide, both of which kept me up to date on what was hot.  And so it would continue to be, until the glorious day when my parents finally did the right thing, and got a cable subscription (there was a promotion). Of course, you’d best believe that I’d done my research about exactly which programming would now be available to me, and Spider-man was one of the top shows on my hit list. On the first Saturday of my “cable-renaissance” I popped on the TV, and was greeted by ‘The Hobgoblin: Part 1.’  It was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Anyways, it’s a pretty dumb episode. Like, the Hobgoblin is extremely reckless, and his motivations are poorly defined. To be fair, his storyline was always messy and anticlimactic, even in the original comics, but that was mainly because the writers kept getting fired before anyone could resolve the story satisfyingly. Even then, the mystery built around character was rife with intrigue in the books, and there was always the sense that Hobgoblin’s story was building to something big.

This show had a real chance to do something a bit more intentional, but the one brief reference to Hobgoblin’s secret identity is almost thrown in as an afterthought.  Additionally, he doesn’t really seem to have any master plan other than committing acts of violence and betraying people for… profit, I guess? There’s just not a lot here to draw me in.

Obviously, if you’re a kid this is a rollicking good time with lots of flashy gadgets, and exciting action sequences. So, I guess at the end of the day the episode succeeds at what it set out to accomplish, and that’s fine.

2.5 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Thanks to this episode, I was briefly under the assumption that Hobgoblin had always been the OG Spidey-Goblin-Foe in the comics, with Green Goblin being introduced later on.  It’s an interesting choice to have Norman start out as the mastermind behind the Goblin before eventually adopting it for himself. Sadly, I don’t think this show ever did a whole lot with HG’s and Norman’s relationship, which seems like another missed opportunity, but I could be forgetting something.

Mark Hamill provides the voice work for Hobgoblin, but he mostly just copy/pastes his Joker voice from ‘Batman: the animated series. It’s serviceable, but I would have preferred something a little more original. But then a gig is a gig, and since he was probably hired FOR that voice, I can’t really blame him for leaning into it.

I find it kind of hilarious how much of a big deal Norman makes over the Goblin-Glider’s remote control.  Talk about the height of technology, amiright?  Man, Hobgoblin is gonna lose his mind when he finds out about blue-tooth-operated drones, roughly 30 years down-the-line.

I skipped past it in the breakdown, but midway through the episode Aunt May decides to visit Peter at his new place (Norman offers to pay for Harry’s condo if he can find a respectable roommate, and Pete fit the bill) when Hobgoblin interrupts to kidnap Harry with a gas bomb.  As a result, May is rendered unconscious for the rest of the episode, and taken to the hospital.  The Doctor explains that she’s experiencing an ‘extended form of seizure’, which is notably not how seizures work, meaning May Parker’s diagnosis is either medically significant (warranting further examination), or the result of malpractice. The American health-care system strikes again!  But seriously Pete, you need to get a second opinion.

[biographydivider]

Disaster Twins gonna Disaster, no matter what future they’re in...

(inspired in part by @sheep-turtles-and-pizza‘s Future Twins comic)

They were infamous.

Leonardo and Donatello; the leader and the scientist, the stalwart hero and the stoic genius. There wasn’t a recuit in the resistance against the Krang that didn’t have a story about them; Leonardo bolstering the last dregs of their courage in dire moments of battle, leading them to victory with nothing more than a grin and a wink, Donatello terrifying them into silence in the mess hall with a cocked eyebrow as he worked on his latest project, subsisting on nothing but a salvaged pack of cigarettes and two hours’ sleep and still, somehow, coming up with wonders of technology that no-one else could have ever dreamed of.

Both Yokai cut an imposing figure on their own, but together? They were a force to be reckoned with; striding through the corridors of the resistance base, their eyes steely and determined as they talked strategy, Leonardo firing off rapid solutions to problems as Donatello proposed them. The very fate of the base - the resistance against the Krang - the world! - rested on their broad, shelled shoulders. Nothing could stand in their way, no-one could stop them on their mission to -- “DONNIE!”

Both turtles froze mid-step as the echoes of the scream bounced off the resistance base walls. It must have been a trick of the light, but it almost - almost! - looked like Donatello winced.

“Yeeees, dear sister?”

“I told you not to leave your shit lying around in the common room!”

“It isn’t ‘shit’, April,” Donatello called to the diembodied voice, “it’s a highly delicate peice of equiptment that --”

“Then why is it in the common room?!”

Donatello’s gaze didn’t so much hit the floor as plummet. “...because I was playing Purple Game 3 last night while I finished it.”

“Oooooooooh,” Leonardo sang, nudging his brother in the ribs. “You’re in troooouble --”

“Nardo. Do not.”

“You’re gonna get groooouuundeeeeed --”

“Push.”

There were about twelve members of the resistance who saw what happened next. And no-one ever believed them when the told the tale.

“Ow! What the hell, D?!” Leonardo bounced off the wall his brother shoved him into, tackled him to the ground and...and licked the most amazing scientific mind of their generation from chin to temple. “Blllaaaaaaaaaaaaaurgh.”

“Ewwwww, Leo! Sweet Galileo, you absolute reprobate --”

“Dunno what that means, so I’ll take it as a compliment - no, Donnie, not the pits, don’tpokemeinthearmpits --!”

“GUYS.”

Both turtles froze in place as a pair of bright yellow combat boots stomped down the corridor towards them. Slowly - guiltily - they got to their feet.

Not many members of the resistance had known Master Splinter. But what they did know - because they’d heard it so many times, being yelled across the base and screamed on the battlefield - who had been left in charge of his four legendary sons when he died.

The tall, dark-haired woman stopped in front of Leonardo and Donatello; foot tapping, arms crossed, expression grim.

“Fighting? Really?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Yeah, we were. But he started it.”

“Whaaaaaaaat?! How....dare you...”

Unfortunately, Donatello’s dramatics could not halt the commander in her stride. She’d seen it all before. “You think we have the resources to fix these walls if you dum-dums break ‘em? Nuh-uh! I thought you were grown men now, but clearly I was wrong. Guess I’ll have to separate you.” Leonardo was spun around on his heel and swatted on the back. “You? Go that way. Make yourself useful in the training room with Cass.”

“But I’ve got a War Room meeting in five!”

“Tough. March.”

“I’m going, I’m going!” Lenoardo grumbled as he huffed back the way he’d came. “Jeeeeez, thirty years old an’ I just got my War Room privileges taken away.”

“That’s right, you did. And you --” Donatello was dragged by the wrist into the common room. “Get whatever that bucket of bolts is cleaned up, before someone trips and breaks their neck. And give me that!”

“Hey! That’s my last cigarette!”

“It’s a filthy habit, D. You’ve been told. If you can’t stop cold turkey, I’ll have to tell Libby from Supplies to cut you off.”

“Okay okay! Alright, I’ll stop. Just...don’t embarass me in front of Libby from Supplies, m’kay?”

Watching her brother stoop down to sort his tech into manageable piles, the commander folded her arms with a smirk. “Oh? And why’s that? You got a lil’ cruuuuuush? Got a lil’ crush, huh Donnie?”

A wrench was thrown. It missed by a mile.

“Cease, you mortfying harpy!”

“Clear up your shit, then.”

“Ffffffffffffine.”

Leonardo and Donatello were infamous. But Commander April O’Neil was legendary.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Oh no! Of course I wouldn't make Earth a cheater, she's too sweet for that. I guess, in the au I have in my head, I just have to work something out. To be honest, I have never vibe with Earth x Monty, unpopular opinion I know. It's because of the things he hid from her and the uncomfortable "mommy" bit but that's personal for me. Earth was the first female character introduced and then went straight to being called "mommy" but yeah-

That aside, I'm sorry people have been harassing you. For what it's worth, you being open about your Solar x Moon gave me this courage to talk about my Earth x Solar, and that you reassured me that so as long as I am not shipping them as related or see them as related while shipping, that it's okay, and it's okay to explore ship dynamics. I wish you well. Also I'm sorry that my first message came out like a trap ask. I didn't mean to and reading it again, I should have made it come off friendlier because I too realized it sounded harshly questioning. I'm sorry about that ^^' /gen

OOOOOOOOOH! So you are genuine! I'm so sorry about that.

And YEAH! I mean it! Go for it!

It's just that I've been getting a lot of weird anons lately about this and I've just been on the defensive.

I do feel you on the "Mommy" bit. I can't remember if that it was a scrapped bit of dialogue from the Earth Model they didn't have permission to use, or if that carried over to her literal canon introduction to Monty.

While I do like calling Fictional characters "Mommy" or "daddy" all the time, but it gets weird when it's their literal first meeting. And it's kinda a petname you need to discuss with you significant other in the bedroom and if it's okay. You just don't say it upon meeting someone, what the hell Monty?

I mean, Monty and Earth are cute together... But Monty has so many red flags.

I know the VAs are dating in real life, but it just kinda reads as a little bland to me.

Like.....

Okay, Remember when Monty went on a rampage and Punched Ruin in the Face and Attacked Solar just because he "was an Eclipse" ???? And Earth got super angry at him for hurting her new family that she has grown attached to?

.........YEAH.

There's really no repercussions for that. It's never mentioned again... And I thought there would be a follow up episode, where Earth brought it up to him in a more safe environment, or a "Monty gets therapy in VRchat" but that never came to pass. Maybe it will in the future, but it feels like so much time passed, that Earth bringing it up out of the blue would feel like a slight against Monty for no reason at this point, when it should have been brought up at least one or two episodes after the fact.

Like there was a great opportunity to give Earth agency here and have her break up with Monty over this since her family is so important to her.... but I guess she forgot???? Or looked past his red flags? Does Forgor make her forget bad things Monty does too? Cause that was a pretty recent development and it frustrates me that we got no follow up. And there was the whole "Earth you need to talk to Monty" in MAFS when Monty was losing his mind going on a wild goosehunt for the stitchwraith. And Earth said she planned on it, but never really got around to it cus she was 'busy'

hmmm yeah. Sun going on a rampage to find Eclipse, bad. Monty going on a rampage, and physically attacking Earth's family for no reason..... ehhhh let him burn himself out. ..... I know anger is kinda Monty's thing... but Earth literally didn't have a serious discussion on this with him.... If they did off-screen, that is a horrible wasted oppertunity.

I like Earth, and I like that she has faults but gosh damn that was something that frustrated me for a long time.

It's like Earth is literally incapable of seeing Red Flags because of Forgor, and I don't doubt that might be the big twist when they get rid of her "Creator Loyalty" software, she'll break up with Monty cus she can see the red flags now.

They are cute together, but I do think Monty needs some more character development with how he's written in TSAMS and now MAFS

Oh and as far as the Cousin thing as far as Solar is concerned.

The "cousin" thing is a pretty recent development.

As Solar and NewMoon had a pretty close working relationship for MONTHS before this, as I was shipping them all summer of 2023.

And even then, Solar saying he's a "cousin" is just his word of mouth. Even saying the family tree is complicated, and he felt unconfortable being included on it. So I tend to play a little more loose with his relationship compared to the others.

But....on the other hand, yes, I do take his word of mouth seriously. Words do have meaning. That's the family dynamic he wants in the show.

..........But what if he changed his mind?

Since Solar is from a different dimension, and has a complicated relation to Sun and Moon in general, being an Eclipse... split from them both, but not his son, and not quite a brother either, but something else.

Solar could one day go: "Ya know, I changed my mind, I think I don't wanta be a cousin anymore."

And you know what Earth, Lunar, Moon, and Sun would all do?

They'd go "Okay! Cool! Good for you!"

....... Like it's THAT easy and simple.

So for any SolarMoon Au... Two things either happened

Solar changed his mind.

He never made a claim in the first place.

Easy!

[seth-burroughs]

mdarc chapter 1 rewatch part 3, and yes, i am aware of the massive pile of asks i have on all my blogs however as always i shall keep running. no don't stop sending them i absolutely appreciate the attention its just i need to mentally prepare two weeks in advance and cry in order to give a sufficient response. you should give it a try and converse with yours truly again some more if the thought of torturing and killing me slowly sounds fun and exciting to you👍

oh look its the child extortion scene

you would think halara, who's got all that trauma from having their family get scammed and destroyed by a friend* they trusted as a child, would be just a tiny bit less comfortable with swindling kids out of their money rn but like you know that's just my thoughts......

they're Reclaiming it <3

*listen. like i know i can't be the only one that thinks that way, but so far so many people ive seen that played this game just went through this gab and thought "oh wow a middle schooler just scammed them that is so crazy lmao", and like. i was under the impression that halara was the one in middle school the entire time, and their "best friend" was just some adult con artist that gained Halara's trust (or just flat out groomed them, honestly) so they could scam their parents. like, you do know this interpretation makes infinitely more sense than... very nefarious 12 year old manipulator investment scamming adults or whatever

has nobody already made a halara "fuck them kids" joke or do i gotta pull out that art program again

this child is like fucking what, five?? literally crying what is your PROBLEM halara...... halara i don't even think he understands half of whatever you're saying to him right now.....................

they didn't even give it back to kei they just tossed it over to yuma???????? lmao?????????

still. they're so fucking cool. i'm giving them the highest honor i can bestow (narcissistic personality disorder and massive autism)

AH WAIT I FORGOT WE ACTUALLY INVESTIGATE SHIT IN THIS GAME OOOOoooooh. ooooooooooh.

i forgot to read the report by the way

*points at jiei colan* SYMMETRY TOOL LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

oh holy shit wait canon age??? jiei is 48??? ok now that is information i am going to blast into my mind permanently and not like. anything slightly more important

casual fatphobia jumpscare

pink blood scene *nods solemnly*

holy shit i know exactly who the culprit is you wont believe it. im so fucking smart. im a genius im a fucking god fondle my nuts while you blow me

i can already feel seth approaching rapidly because my eyes are getting teary and my chest is doing really funny stuff right now. the sense went off

once he arrives i will keep a list of "memorable and beautiful things seth has done in all his 4 scenes" as well as "memorable and beautiful things desuhiko has done in the entire game or perhaps his life" and then compare once we finish. wish me luck

chapter 1 >>>>>>>>>> every other fucking chapter. i am going to kill a man on this hill

THERE HE COMES .

I'm twitching like hell right now. my muscles yearn for the burroughs

UUAAAAAIIIIIGIHUGFFYDFUUUUUGHGHHHHGAAAAAAAAAAGHUSYDGHSDUUUUUHHHHHHHHGGHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! H H

HE HIS STUPID FUCKIDGFG WALK

take that rain cape off you fucking coward this is kanai ward. noticed his lil fox symbol on his back and got reminded of wackpedion's religious seth post but im not gonna look for it now. but yeah he's 100% metal fox church guy i told you this chapter got layerssss to it. this is cinema. video games lore have peaked at rain code chapter 1. scott cawthon has been really silent ever since rain code chapter 1 dropped

his face. its heeehhhhere. i am going tocommit vehicular manslaughter. and ask him why is his skin fucking gray

holy motherfucker I TOTALLY forgot how his japanese voice sounds. he sounds. slightly more normal actually. less pathetic if that was possible. its like he still has hope. help me he sounds so young

i like how. he just calmly extremely quietly tells them to stand up while standing like 20 feet away from them and knowing his voice usually doesn't reach above 30db. like he just stands there mumbling to them to plss get up now knowing they probably can't hear him. he jsut. gives it a try. maybe this time

maybe he's trying to awaken his telepathic abilities.

omg god a charlie radiohead wackpedion oc cameo???? i can't believe that wiki let spike chunsoft put charlie in their game in order to help increase sales it is so cool how they support smaller creators like that once again

that cunty stance. who stands like that.

its not fucking on. how did you notice its not fucking on. or did he just did but tried regardless. dead silence.

truly, a flattering introduction

and he. wasn't even that fucking mad he just gave him a very dissapointed look to go and fix that. which makes me think it has happened before. and numerous times

finally, seth has succeeded. you know whats crazy about that scene?? the peacekeepers were knocked out a solid while ago thats gonna be at least 15, if not just 20 entire minutes. realistically if youre uncounscious for that much time (and im pretty sure halara whacked them on the head) then you're gonna be concussed as fuck perhaps even have serious brain injuries (and im pretty sure halara whacked them on the head HARD) like youre not gonna be ok after this. his voice literally healed them. he commanded them to rise and so they did. combined with the blatant christian themes of rain code (makoto is satan. martina's motorcycle is the ark) the answer is obvious seth is jesus where was i going with this again

seth is so fucking chill its unbelievable. its the fourth time something has happened to him this moment, megaphone guy fucked up the fucking volume and he just. takes a few steps back motions with his arms and doesn't even say anything. if that were yomi he'd just bring out the whip. if that were martina she'd verbally abuse them so fucking hard they would not be able to look her in the eye ever again in their lives. if that were guillaume she'd start screeching at dominic to decapitate that man

i am going to look away whenever they mention Bodies Rotting Quickly In Kanai Ward from now on. i shall not. it is not worth it.

megaphone guy cringe moment

i would say something about the entire "public execution" moment but i think i already said enough before. so.

goodbye seth you absolutely fucking SLAYED it

[thessalian]

Thess vs Understanding Asexuality

Sometimes I go on Reddit. Sometimes it goes ... interestingly.

There was an AITA post - a guy started going out with a girl and he found out about a month in that she was ace. No mention was made about whether she knew when she first started seeing him or she figured it out at the point that she told him. Either way, he thought, "Well, it'll be fine, she'll get more comfortable with me and get over it!"

Spoiler: she did not get over it. He was upset because she would masturbate on occasion but was not interested in sex with him.

So basically he was asking if he would be the asshole if he broke up with her because she wouldn't have sex with him. Okay, some of the ways both parties handled things wasn't ideal, but no - that doesn't make anybody the asshole. That makes them sexually incompatible, and breaking up is for the best. So I said that, and added my own experience on the matter. Because, seriously, I didn't even know that asexuality existed for a long, long time. And every single one of my romantic relationships imploded as a result. Because I assumed that the sexual feeling was somewhere in the romantic feeling, but I was very, very wrong. And if I'd known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have got into those relationships in the first place, and if I'd found out during those relationships, I would have broken up with them, so they could find someone who could meet their needs. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I just didn't get it, because the assumption is always that romantic feelings and sexual feelings go hand in hand.

Now, of the few responses I got, most of them were pretty affirming. But one? Oooooooooh that one. That one was, "There's a word for romantic feelings without sexual feelings - it's called friendship".

...Which ... noooooooooo? At least, not ever in my experience. The way I feel about my friends and the way I've felt about my romantic partners has been very, very different. I don't want to kiss my friends. I don't want to ... well, be romantic with my friends. Yes, the best romantic relationships have friendship at their core (I still believe that if you did not marry your best friend, you did you and your spouse a disservice), but ... there's such a difference between how I felt about my last partner and how I feel about the folks in my D&D group, who are almost certainly my best friends in the whole wide world. I can't entirely explain how it's different, but it's different.

I mean, that whole theory doesn't make sense anyway. If you can be sexually attracted to someone without being romantically attracted to someone, why couldn't it go the other way around? Seems perfectly logical to me. To this individual, not so much.

I guess that's the whole problem in the end, and why being ace is so hard. Like, you assume that the romantic feelings and the sexual feelings go hand in hand because that is what basically the entire fucking world is telling you, and then you find out that no, you're having the romantic feelings but you don't want sex, or maybe only occasionally want sex, or aren't really all that keen on sex in general but will have it sometimes because hey, why not? And then somebody tells you that no, apparently you've never had romantic feelings because ... well, because romantic feelings and sexual feelings go hand in hand and are you seeing the vicious cycle here?

I would love to have a romance. I want someone to kiss and cook for and snuggle up to and shower with confetti on the public streets while shouting "It's BEST PARTNER IN THE WORLD DAY!" But because of shit like this, I figure it's never going to actually happen. It's too hard to navigate that minefield, and I burned myself and others too many times when I didn't understand that romantic love could live apart from sexual attraction, and it doesn't feel worth it, however sad that makes me. For all that my relationships imploded, I did love all my partners, and I wish I'd known that I was ace before I got involved with them, as much to spare them the ugliness of how those relationships ended as to spare me all that. And it wasn't the same love I have for my besties. They're like my siblings. It's love, but it's not romantic. I know what romantic love feels like, even if little shits like that one say I don't, or can't, or whatever.

I try to be kind to people like that. I mean, I won't put up with their bullshit, but I get that it's hard for them too. You can't describe a negative. When you describe an empty box, you're describing the box, not the nothing that's inside it. So all they have to go on when I try to describe the nothing is what their box looks like.

Still pisses me off, though. So I said the thing about how romantic love and platonic friend-love have always felt like two entirely different things to me. I didn't want to speak for anyone else; it didn't seem fair. No responses to that one, but eh. It's not like those kinds of people believe asexuals about what they feel or don't feel anyway...

[cq-studios]

🥀 Lauriam/Marluxia: 

2. Favorite canon thing about this character? 

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character. (Or an outfit, or any aesthetic picture!) 

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

(For this)

2. Hmmmmmmm….. I’d say that my favourite thing about Lauriam/Marluxia in canon is just the fact that Lauriam is in KHUX at all. Just OOOOOOOOOOOOOOG, so much tragedy about him because of that. It makes me go feral. Like it adds so many new layers to Marluxia.

Like in COM alone we have the spectre looking like Strelitzia, Ven being so close to him and he doesn’t know it, his death motif most likely being because his sister was murdered, Larxene, his friend, being the only Dandelion the NULs were able to save, the fact that he probably wants Sora’s Keyblade is because of something subconscious because of his past, the fact that he has no memories of his past at all and yet is in charge of CASTLE OBLIVION, where to find is to loose and to loose is to find.

And that’s not even getting into the headcanon possibility that reason he’s being to cruel to Naminé is because her memory powers were unable to help him, which also drives me insane, or anything I haven’t thought of off the top of my head, or in the other games.

14. I tried but I’m not sure how to really answer this question… you gave the extra options and everything but it just wouldn’t mesh with my brain… sorry

25. Ooh boy, my first impression of Marluxia was way back in 2017-2018 so I may be remembering wrong but I’m pretty sure I thought his design was cool. Like I remember him always kinda being around the top in my favourite Organization member ranking, on the same level as say (pre Luxu reveal) Xigbar, Zexion, and Demyx… who were just below the Sea Salt Trio and Larxene (Who makes me laugh whenever she’s on screen, she’s horrible, I love her and I always have lol).

For Lauriam it’s a bit trickier for me to figure out because the YouTubers I watched play through the games didn’t actually play KHUX or have a watch party of the cutscenes, so they instead did a recap of UX (which they also did with Days and Coded, I think it had more to do with what they could play using the collections more than anything against the mobile games, which they seemed to enjoy). Because of this I didn’t really go through the typical, “oooh, did he kill Strelitzia? He is Marluxia’s somebody, who is evil, so…”, it was more so a “oh he’s here, cool! And he has a sister, oooooooooh backstory” I think.

[podcastingpineapple]

Palisade 29 spoilers, mostly SCREAMING through the episode

IS THIS MOTHERFUCKING GUR AND VALENCE PODCAST IN THE DESCRIPTION

We are in the fucking WAR AGAINST BRANCHED?? Just JUMP and we are IN THR FRONT LINES

I saw ONE WORD SPOILER for this episode and it was DAHLIA so i have high hopes.

I thought they would show up on Palisade but NOPE, you come to the Glorious Princept, not the other way around. Mirror this to that fucking Kesh man.

This flagship/garden city is wild!!

Liguid black, kinda like stone tight plugsuit. Had to google Jesse James Keitel, was not disapointed, they look like a princept to me.

I am excited to see what they are like. What are you like, Dahlia, how can you claim so many thrones?

"Captain Kalvin Brnine." Not me immediately liking them for using the right name, the bar could not be any lower.

"What drives you, Kalvin Brnine?"

*face down, head in hands* yeah uh-huh, hmmhmhm. Kalvin Brnine opposing Apostalos has pushed them more than a millenia of fighting the branched right yup cool cool

"That's a fucked up thing to say." YEAH!!!

"They would like us not to be human anymore."

"They do not know they are being kinda shitty, is the thing. Which is that the room changes around you. The light becomes softer. It is a living room on a warm, sunny day. This is a thing your old friend, Phrygian, could do." (I just let out the most pained wail of my life, sorry roommates.) "And it strikes you, they are not in the room, they are the room."

"Hate that." YEAH!!! SAME!! NOT GOOD!

They have become something like the branched. They fucking think that only CONFLICT and ANTAGONISM will bring change.

OH DAHLIA, YOU ARE FUCKING FULL OF SHIT! WHAT?? ONLY WAR MAKES CONNECTIONS???? DEFEATS THE NATURE OF SELFISHNESS??? Someone give them a hug or something, they grew up wrong and think this is how they can make true connections. (And also teach them how to be a cool room.)

You know what, the branched should have captured Dahlia as a baby. The farmer should've gone straight to the enemiest of enemies and be like "hello".

CAS!!! MISERI AND COR!!! INTEGRATING THEM TO MILLENIUM BREAK! THIS IS ALL I WANT. BUT THEY WOULD BE LOYAL TO DAHLIA! AAAAH, AUSTIN HAS POISONED THE WINE I HAVE CRAVED, BUT IT WOULD TASTE sOoOo SWEET~

WOOOOAH, WILD SWINGS, WILDEST OF SWINGS. "On of scale from 1 to 10 how much can I assassinate this person and still be able to- (laughter) break out?" "What!? Break out of WHAT, you are IN them??"

Hehe, read the room. Because. The princept is the room.

Ali was not even on Roll20, what a fucking powermove.

OOOOH, DAHLIA HAS BEEN LIKE THIS FOR YEARS. OOooOOooOH.

Integrity, Commitment and Dahlia in a soup... Something something Chimera?

Ah, no, it seems they are still kinda three separate beings but Dahlia can just be. A room.

"If you took action in here-" uh oh.

Reading all of these moves is hilarious!

"Hollow blood, less weight!" Fjfjjfjfgghh

THE TAPES!! WITH VALENCE AND GUUUUUUUUR!!!

Also MAGIC UP ROUTINE, PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE HIM!!?

I like how excited Austin was about the possibility of just KILLING Dahlia just outright, after teasing them for soooo loooong. I might be bit sad because they seem like an excellent antagonist.

"Anyway, the Glorious Princept is Bleeding everybody. In their throneroom."

BRNINE!! STILL IN IT!! BRNINE!!! SLASHING PRINCEPTS FACE!!!!

ARE THEY REALLY KILLING THE PRINCEPT? HOLY SHIT!!!

JaCK dE QUIDT! NEW MUSIC EVENT!

Figure wants Brnine to know. That Millenium Break can really change lives. (crying)

Figure can cry!!!

I love Cori grilling Eclectic about Leap...

Hunting cleaning their rooms, watering plants... midnight running simulations.... partial walking into the ship with baggy pants...

[Asepsis voice:] RED ALERT! RED ALERT! CAPTAIN BRNINE IS DYING!

Saffron Septet running to see what the fuck is happening...

OH COMMITMENT, POOR COMMITMENT :( searching it's elect and integrity... need another elect...

Branched, go get Commitment!!! Go get it!!

Did they forgot the tier difference on the princept fight? Eh, it was fun.

Routine joining Starioma. Best worst case scenario. Please save him. Please.

"When did we break up???" So true ali, so true, together and still toxic.

I hate that brnine/gucci ship has overtaken me.

"Did they just win??? There is only one princept." I mean kinda?

Cori is sweet. Thisbe and Brnine convo... Phrygian made the best cereal box mazes... Branched Man...

They sound SO TIRED! And there is 40 minutes left in the episode!!

Cas will become the next apokine..... oh no.... oh cas......

Gur told me about them. About... Valence?? About the tapes.

They are never going to play the rest of the eclectic-brnine -scene, huh.

Jesset texts! Emoji between a heart and a sparkle... Two hearts is ambiguous.... :) :) :) Jesset Boyfriend City is real....

"I was SURE you would've died on the combustor"... aaaaghhh she LOVES them!!

YAASS, GO SAVE THE PEOPLE FROM THE AFFLICTION SMOOOOKE!! FACE YOUR FEAAAARS, FACE YOUR REGREEEETS! Omnomnom it will be tasty!!

Big! Swings! We love it! The drama! Big! Moves! Moves that MATTER! Fuck the empire UP!! WE WILL LEAP!!

[kittyandco-archive]

Borehole, tax on the beach & rainbows and puppies??

YAY THANK YOU

Borehole: What’s a fact about your F/O that you feel like nobody knows or cares about but you? Talk about it!

this is a very small fact, but apparently hans and sitron had been best buddies for over 10 years by the time they traveled to arendelle together. knowing that really makes their interactions so much cuter to me 🥺

i've never really been a full-on horse girl (my cousin was for sure and it rubbed off on me a little), but being close to hans has made me appreciate horses a lot more!

Tax on the Beach: Describe (or post a picture if you want) your favorite moment from your F/O in their source! Why is that your favorite?

oooooooooh god it's so hard to choose. i don't think i will. it kinda does depend on my mood. i have a different favorite that i really focus on sometimes. he also shows up so little that they're all stand-outs to me 🥴 (except when anna decks him KJDKJFJ)

Rainbows and Puppies: Name off as many of your favorite qualities of your F/O as you can think of in the moment!

ABSOLUTELY --

intelligent

resourceful

curious

thoughtful

articulate

good with animals

studious

ambitious

hopeful (which he may express in awful ways but ;w;)

chivalrous (to me anyway LOL... the honest and loyal part does not always apply to others)

i feel like i could name more but it isn't even 8 AM yet and these are the ones that jumped out at me first for him

💀 Self Ship Ask Meme: The Cerberus’s Den Drink Menu! 💀

[nowis-scales]

Jesus Christ, you know nothing about women, Tobin lol

Lol this is so out of nowhere, and in the middle of a battle, too!

Pot calling kettle black here, Faye

How would you bond over Alm? 

Like to be honest, I’m like Faye. I don’t really enjoy gossip a great deal. A little here and there is okay, it’s human, but it’s not something I’d indulge in with any regularity. Plus my rule is always that you have to be a real asshole for me to say anything. 

But like… how would you talk about Alm as a friendship exercise? I’m genuinely curious.

Aw, he’s concerned and showing genuine care for her. Starting to see more of those paired ending hints and less Mae relentlessly coming for Boey's neck for the simple joy of being able to

I love the way they’ve juxtaposed Mae and Boey’s personalities against each other. Boey is the serious, worried type who thinks about things in a lot of depth and tries to maintain this aura of thoughtfulness. Meanwhile Mae is bouncy and cheerful; she likes to go with her gut and do what she thinks is right off the bat. They each challenge each other to think about the world a bit differently, which can help them grow as people. It’s nice.

Now, now, Boey. No time spent worrying for a loved one is ever wasted — worrying about someone shows that you care!

Oh, so we’re just comin’ out and sayin’ it? Alright! I can work with this! I love a good romance talk. 

See, I’m thinking about my gossip comment from before, and I’m realizing that I’m not so crazy about irl gossip. But hand me a book or a game or something where two characters talk about things like this, and then I’m kicking my feet and twirling my hair.

Oh my god, I was not expecting Celica to know. The fact that this is her reaction is even better. People always talk about the italicized “oh” in stories, and it’s awesome I agree, but I love it when friends have these conversations and you get the “oooooooooh” as well. 

Wingwoman Celica engaged! 

What Celica says when Princess Céline tells her that she has a crush on someone in Alear’s army

Wow, SOV is just like the anti-Three Houses in which there are not too many women who are obviously not straight, but there’s just like a plethora of definitely LGBT+ men

Seriously. Leon, Tobin, Python, Lukas, potentially Gray… That’s five!

[ilyuu-archive]

scaramouche is bad at feelings but make it him being unable to communicate that he’s jealous when you spend too much time with a certain person (because “eMoTioNs aRe FoR tHe WeAK” -scaramouche, probably)

man it just makes me sad because he already has a whole load of abandonment issues, and just imagine him considering the possibility of you leaving him for another person <//3

you can tell i read too many angst fics last night

guys this is long and also angsty proceed with caution!! oOOooOoOoh be scared

do you think he’d remind himself as kabukimono/kuni every time he tries to decipher these feelings in him while seeing you with someone else, or just let alone seeing you, and hating every bit of this so-called naivety and innocence that he thinks he still retains because with these new thoughts, he’s exploring an untouched domain of love?

it’s really interesting with then miscommunication/unable to communicate well thing too because he’s blunt to the point that he might as well be insulting the other party, like that one idle line of his that ends with “maybe that’s their problem”, so he has, or you think, no problem in putting what he thinks into words. until you exist, then BOOM. words are hard, and putting these thoughts into words are harder for him - end of story.

and the entirety of his abandonment issues too - you had a point, he’s the type of person to think that “they can’t leave me if i leave them first” to, of course, prevent any slight of pain and/or betrayal ever again. he had to, and alone, construct this perspective of the world around him with every single thing that happened to him - from one discarding him, another “abandoning” him, and the other to death itself as a cycle of mortality - which, at the time, i don’t think he understood as much due to the despair and almost clinging hope that this one doesn’t leave him alone either - and accept it as his reality and his fate.

and then you. the first person of which he let in for a long, long time, and who’s able to give him the unconditional love and adoration that he, maybe, wanted to feel, and stay with him through all thin and thick - even as the world seems to dark and dim to him, he has you. so it’s unavoidable for him to have this voice in his head that you’ll soon leave him.

maybe this is just me, but i like to think that he’d maybe come to terms to your death WHEN IT’S A NATURAL ONE, let me put that out there. of old age, then yes - time and time again, i like to think that he’s matured to know that this is simply the cycle of mortality unlike the kabukimono of his past who was only then acknowledging the concept of mortality.

but if it’s due to an illness, an accident, or anything that practically takes you away from him, then that’s going to be another scar for him to carry in the cavity of his chest that he knows carries a heart thanks to you.

i think too much (and that’s an issue BUT I’M OK!!)

[asher-writes]

Oooooooooh and also "Giving them a massage"? :0

I feel like those would both be really cute :0

~ M <3

AriTune - Massage - Neon Glow in Gold Dust

It's such a casual movement to her, something she had done with many other people with perhaps less familiarity. It's both the knowledge that he is - eternally - aching, and a longing to rediscover someone she'd thought she'd lost a long time ago.

So she kneels behind him as he sits, shirtless, on the bed, and gently squeezes his shoulders.

But Ari - whose foray into touch is new and developing - almost jumps in surprise, his back straightening so fast that something audibly cracks.

Amused, Neptune snorts. "Never had a massage before?" She teases, assuming this to be false. Ari doesn't respond, cheeks hot as he ducks behind his curls.

Her smile slips, shoulders sagging. Neptune loved massages - giving and receiving, naturally - and she couldn't imagine a life with no physical intimacy at all. A dull ache thudded in her heartbeat as she squeezed gently again.

"You're tense - let me."

He doesn't argue. Ari closes his eyes and let's her fingers and palms dig into him in slow, firm movements that set his nerves ablaze. Her gentle hands pull visible shudders and quiet gasps of relief from him, sinking further and further into the touch.

His skin grew warmer and his body more and more sensitive but Neptune paid it no mind, she had expected as much from his loneliness. Still, neither make a move for any further intimacy, simply enjoying the sheer comfort and pleasure of the moment.

Ari tilts his head to the side a little, she presses a kiss to his forehead from where she kneels. For a second, she almost catches him whimper, but doesn't call attention to it.

"Thank you," he utters.

"No problem," she replies.

[sweaterkittensahoy]

In terms of my queerness, I call myself a "flashback queer." It works as follows: I get utterly slapped in the face with the truth about myself, and once I am able to accept it, I can look back on how I've acted and go, "Ooooooh."

I didn't KNOW at age nine that I was nonbinary. But I DID know at age nine that I was absolutely lost at the idea that there were GIRL things and BOY things, and I was supposed to do GIRL things and act GIRL ways and be a GIRL.

Enter Jesse Spano, the feminist of Saved by the Bell. Jesse Spano sat in that booth with her friends and said, "Girls are as good as boys. It's stupid that anyone thinks otherwise." And I went, "YEAH. YEAH."

So, at 9-years-old in fourth grade, when a boy said girls weren't as good as boys at athletic stuff, I challenged him to prove it. We had a vertical climbing thing on the playground. We'd climb it when someone said "go" and whoever got the end first won and "proved" their point.

Part of this vertical climb was to swing your leg over the top to climb down. I got to the top first. I swung my leg over first. I climbed down first.

The boy I was challenging said, "Well, your win doesn't count because I had to be careful because I have a penis, so I lost because I have a penis (paraphrasing, but I know he used the word 'penis')."

And at nine years old, I thought, "Why does having a penis matter? You said you were better because you were a boy. You weren't. Why are you making up an excuse to explain losing that isn't, 'I lost,'?"

Many, many years later, when I said to myself, "I'm nonbinary," this exact moment came back to me. And I went, "Oooooooooh. Because for some people genitals mean gender. Ooooooh."

[rokudaimehole]

oooooooooh can we have more of those Iwa headcanons?

Most of these I have absorbed from various other individuals in the community so please be aware that they are not all my original thoughts. And if you like some, take them and use them!

Iwa has the largest (canon) military force. They have practically no civilians. Everyone is a shinobi of some kind, and therefore, can be called upon in times of war. If you’re curious about canon numbers, Kumo comes second, then Konoha.

Because of this, a lot of people are lacking when it comes to education. That’s not to say they’re illiterate or stupid, but a lot of basic education isn’t fully met, and things aren’t super well rounded. Some kids fall through the cracks and struggle more than others, and they’re never helped. Iwa values quantity over quality, as long as everyone is hitting that (already difficult) standard. Priority is placed on shinobi skills over real world applications.

Prodigies don’t exist in Iwa. It’s just simply not a thing. Okay, you’re good. Now do better. You are recognized for being strong, but you receive no fame or respect for it. It’s expected that you are strong, that you uplift your village, that you are the best. Gifted children are put through the worst of the worst and often die before they’re fully adults.

Dating culture in Iwa doesn’t exist like you’d expect. The officials discourage casual relationships between shinobi, as they want their ninja to be totally focused on their missions. In order to “date” (or seek courtship, in this case) shinobi are required to file paperwork so that there isn’t overlap between you and your sweetheart on missions. Dating within different ranks is discouraged and often challenged by officials, as again, that can distract Iwa’s strongest shinobi.

Official Courtship typically leads to marriage, and dating (or really, just fooling around) is done behind the backs of officials. In the older times, it would’ve been a punishable offense. By Naruto (part one), it’s a little more lax and most often a blind eye is turned towards it so long as it isn’t disruptive.

Iwa has very few jōnin. Their standards for achieving that rank are stupidly high, because when they publish reports, they want to be able to say they aren’t losing many jōnin. You can’t lose them if you don’t have many, and those you do have are incredibly powerful to begin with. The bulk of Iwa’s shinobi force are chunin.

Additionally, there exists a separate ranking system for jōnin. Tokubetsu jōnin (glorified chunin), standard jōnin, and elite jōnin. Those of the elite members are considered for the village council. Elite members also don’t have as many risky missions and stay close to home. Sort of like generals in modern armies: they wear a lot of badges and have a lot of reason to be that rank, but they do absolutely nothing other than call the shots or participate in bureaucracy. Most elite members are older shinobi anyway.

Considering the fact that Iwa is made up of almost entirely shinobi, the entire village is rigid about rules and structure. Yes, markets exist and children still are allowed to play, but it’s quieter in Iwa. People typically don’t loiter around. They have a purpose for that day, they focus on that purpose. Again, this is loosened in later eras, but people are still formal and stricter in Iwa than in other villages.

Iwa exists within the mountains. It’s difficult to have a fear of heights because the village builds up into the mountains. The top-secret areas are built down into the ground, utilizing natural karst features along with the use of ninjutsu.

Due to the location, Iwa ranges from extremely cold to mild at best. It is in the northern part of the Naruto world, and it is in the mountains. It doesn’t ever get truly hot in the village, and everyone there is used to snow that falls early and leaves late.

Spicy food is very common to enhance the natural flavor. Iwa doesn’t have a ton of fantastic locations for their own resources, and therefore imports a lot from the surrounding region. Salted fish is common, and so are dried meats and pickled vegetables. In later years, the introduction of an invasive rock crab really changes the cuisine for the better.

Most everyone in Iwa’s primary chakra nature is earth. The second most common is wind.

Steel release (kōton) is uncommon in a handful families, but highly prized. These families are given noble status in the beginning days of Iwa because they have such a prized kekkei genkai. Many shinobi possessing a form of steel release go on to become weapon traders or smiths, per the tradition of their family, even if such things aren’t as needed in times where war isn’t raging — which, if you consider the history of the Naruto universe, literally is just from Part One onwards. Iwa is always at war lmfao.

Iwa has no allies for a long time because it is considered an aggressive, hostile nation. The canon issue is because Iwa is the second largest village, and you know what they say about second place, silver winners. If you’re not first, you’re last.

Most Iwa-nin despise Konoha… For various reasons, but the war(s) and Minato really make it awful.

Wahoo, there’s a bunch for you. I know a lot of people tend to base Iwa on Chinese culture and customs, and sometimes I lean into that as well. Hopefully you liked these and they made some sense as to why Ayame is the way she is.