#so i'm not saying they're just apathetic y'know but

[bonefall]

What are your thoughts on Crowfeather's Trial? I already know how you feel about my other least favorite super editions so I'm curious about your opinions on this one lol

I think at best it's just okay. Like...it feels like they're going "see!! We're holding him accountable!!" But then they just kinda...dont?? Like I didn't feel any differently about Crowfeather by the end than I did when I started. There's parts I like about it but overall it just fell flat for me

Like how am I supposed to like this guy when he's just constantly a dick?? he can't stand Harespring for some reason, there's a moment where he's like "I wish my son was dead" and when Nightcloud goes missing he barely gives a damn and doesn't bother to even try and look for her

Anyways I'll forever be mad that they gave this guy a whole super edition and he'll probably have the most dramatic death ever while Leafpool suffered her entire life (and afterlife) and got killed off screen. Hoping he gets jumped by rats and dies from infection

I'm not a big fan of it. It's one of the better written SEs and has a clear goal in mind, but every time I have to encounter it, it feels like it's sidelining the characters who actually deserve to be explored in favor of Crowfeather Sadboy Whinging.

Breezepelt has 12 books detailing how being mistreated by Crowfeather is making him worse, and showing that social alienation is pushing him towards the Dark Forest. Nightcloud was demonized by the old team even though they wrote Crowfeather deflecting all the blame of Breeze's behavior onto her, giving the new team a great opportunity to correct the mistakes of the old writers... and they decided to focus on Crowfeather instead.

And, mind you, they conveniently leave out massive details about how BADLY Crowfeather was abusing his child.

There's this one part of the book where he learns that Breezepelt broke his leg as a kid and he feels like shit for not remembering it, and it's supposed to be a big moment where Crowfeather realizes he was apathetic and careless. But he WASN'T just apathetic and careless. We see him TEACHING his child xenophobia in order to mock and offend Leafpool, smacking Breezepaw around for being 'rude' (the way Crowf always is), and screeching at him for having basic needs like hunger or rest.

Crowfeather WASN'T just a sad, sad boy who didn't pay attention to his kid because he was too busy pining over Dead Wife. What he did to Breezepelt wasn't just neglect; it was physical and emotional abuse.

The book DOES ultimately hold him responsible for how Breezepelt turned out, yes. But it doesn't properly focus on WHAT made Breeze come out the way he did. It wasn't genes, it wasn't Daddy Not Smile At Me. I can only assume the reason why they didn't address how ghoulish Crowfeather actually was is because they knew that being honest and direct about him abusing his child would make him unsympathetic.

Which is a problem, because, y'know, you can just make it Breezepelt's Trial and NOT have to thread that needle??

And furthermore... the book is trying to show Crowfeather addressing that he's kind of an asshole and moving on from it, earning deputyship as a reward for his growth, but what the book really demonstrates to me is that Crowfeather is a dickhead who actually shouldn't have ANY power at all. I don't understand why people would trust him or want him as their leader. I don't see any reason to think that he would be responsible with the lives of an entire Clan of people.

Before I hear clown shoes; if you think that means I "just don't like" that he would be an ""interesting leader,"" pile yourself back into the car with your 30 other jesters and drive away. I mean that it feels completely wrong that any character in-universe would look at the person who exists in Crowfeather's Trial, and say, "this is a person who would help me effectively rule."

What he does, all-book-long, is show that he's an emotionally unstable loose canon borderline incapable of self-reflection. Other characters have to directly tell him "you should try being less of an asshole" and "maybe be nice to your family sometimes?" while he comes up with bullshit reasons to seethe at every character who wanders into his line of sight.

I massively resent the fact that even Leafpool has to mommy his baby ass towards the end of the book. After he spends a good part of Po3 and OotS finding roundabout ways to snipe at her for not giving him exactly what he wanted. It falls on HER to be the one he can ask for advice on how to fix the family he treated like shit his whole life.

no that's not hyperbole she literally. textually. is compared to his mother.

and he can't even be gracious about it, he's instantly all huffy and offended, completely proving her point. Why the hell would anyone make this guy a deputy? The man needs TWO motherly figures giving him the exact same basic advice and a dedicated super edition before he adjusts his behavior even slightly.

(watch him get Boring Leader Syndrome the minute he inevitably becomes Crowstar, too)

Sooo, in a nutshell;

It's one of the better SEs. unfortunately.

Crowfeather is held accountable for being the problem in his own relationships, thank god

but it doesn't fully hold the actions we SAW in the main series books accountable, seemingly purposefully leaving out the worst things he did.

Another WC book where a male character gets an insane amount of sympathy and rewarding that female characters are NEVER deigned deserving of.

Should have been Breezepelt's story. I strongly dislike how Breeze's "redemption" was based on his shitty dad saying sorry. He deserved an actual character arc struggling with ever trusting WindClan again after they took his dad's judgement about him at face value.

Absolutely awful that Leafpool is killed between books and given a trial where they consider sending her to hell when they finally DO get around to showing how she died, while Crowfeather gets an SE about the whole world holding his hand so he can fix the family he broke in 5 easy steps.

Its biggest problem is that it is about a character whose actions you can go and read about. It doesn't deliver on the setup of 12 books of Crowfeather being an absolute git; it's a good story for the version of Crowfeather the new team seems to have created in their heads.

Doesn't stop me from manifesting him getting an infection and having a Sandstorm-tier disrespectful death in the upcoming series, lmao.

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

I was thinking about Shadow Milk and thought it be cool if like he meets a cookie with similar powers as his... But like.. Dolls. Like they're powerful and can bring sentient life to inanimate dolls and toys they create that do their bidding to protect their creator. But in stark contrast to Shadow Milk, the other just wants to live a peaceful life...

Sorry, I needed to get this out of my head.

added a bit more to this since I got inspired, but here you go anon!

Requested Prompts #17 - 💓

It was a peaceful day within your realm, the toy-box. You, Golden Butter Cookie, had the ability to create dolls with sentient life out of almost nothing, you just needed some basic materials and boom! instant doll servants... You guess. You created this entire realm just to escape the pressure of your duties as one of the saviors of cookie kind, it was a stressful job, y'know? But... these days, you just remained in your realm. Many would call you a coward, or apathetic towards the fate of your people. But it would be a one against five battle! You can't win against your own strength times'd by five! But, even though you're hidden away. That doesn't stop certain annoyances from pestering you. You finished your walk over to the pile of dolls, crouching down to look at the cookie buried underneath them. " ...Shadow Milk Cookie," You began in a tired tone, your eyelids narrowed at him. " How many times have I told you to stop coming here? I already told you my answer." The blue-toned cookie underneath the pile of plushies grinned. " And I keep telling you that you'll change your mind once you see all the fun we're having!" He exclaimed, a light, sadistic glint shimmered in his eyes. You groaned, he was always like this, always so insistent. " I'm not interested, I've already seen what you and the others are now calling 'fun' and I have to say that it's rather boring." You rest your head in your hand, tilted at angle. Witches above you just wanted to get this over with so he'd leave you alone for the next week or so. " Oh come on! You can't seriously be saying that!" He whined, squirming underneath the pile. With a sigh, you released him from your security measures slowly. " Just come watch one of my shows! Then you'll see!" He looked almost desperate for a second before it was covered up with hopeful glee. And yet, as you always had. " I'd rather not, knowing what you're into these days." You'd say, rejecting his offer on the spot. You could see the flash of disappointment go through his eyes, but it soon disappeared. " Suit yourself!" He beamed, but what happened next was rather... different than how these things usually go. He grabbed your cheeks, then leaned in and planted an over-dramatic kiss on your forehead with an exaggerated 'mwah!'. He then let go, taking a step back with a wide grin on his face. " I'll be heading out now, but I'll be back like always! Love you!" Was all he left you with before he left the toy-box. To say you were surprised would be the least of it. You held your hand up to your forehead just to check if he'd done anything, but no, it was just a simple kiss. Yet it wasn't so simple, was it? he'd never done that before, it was new. You both hoped that he'd do it again the next time he visited, and that he wouldn't for fear of your feelings towards him becoming too complicated. Except what both you and he didn't know, was that this would be his last visit.

[hootsewers]

amazing gender euphoria moment just now

so, I technically have one more week wearing the compression garment before I'm Free. My nipples are almost entirely healed. My incisions look great. But even though the nurse at my post op said I was able to take the garment off "for a few hours if you're just chillin on the couch," I have only ever taken it off to change my dressings, take a shower, or wash the garment itself, and I had a spare hook-and-loop binder to wear while the main one was drying. So even though I've SEEN my new chest every day, it hasn't felt suuuuper different, mostly because I'm basically still wearing a binder.

Helps that the binder offers some physical compression, which helped with soreness the first few weeks, but I'm no longer feeling any soreness unless I'm moving around a lot. And today's my day off, so I figured...if I'm gonna be sitting at my desk doing computer science lessons, that seems like a chill enough environment to not wear the compression garment for a lil bit. So I got out of the shower this morning and, after drying off but before putting on fresh dressings and silicone tape, I just threw my bathrobe on. I wasn't expecting to feel much different than what I felt before surgery, coming home and taking off my binder.

But feeling, for the first time, the sensation of cloth on my real chest did somthin to me, man. I been grinnin like a goober for like forty minutes, despite the terrible heartburn I woke up with.

And, y'know, Autism (tm), I did my happy wigglebounce, and the sensation of my chest not bouncing with me--that sent me to the moon.

So I slap some fresh dressings on (basically gotta treat my nips like they're five-minute-fresh ink for at least another week), put the silicone tape back on my incisions, and went upstairs and put on a pajama shirt in preparation for a day in of coding and crochet. Even with the dressings on, it just. it feels so GOOD. It feels so RIGHT. For a while before surgery I'd been hemming and hawing on some Gender Apathetic thoughts and, due to the insane number of t*rfs whose shit I was exposed to (before finally leaving twitter lol) I was second-guessing how excited I'd be to not have boobs. After all, I find trans guys with non-op, hairy chests plenty attractive; who's to say I couldn't be attractive like that as well? Just some last minute Big Decision hesitation, like, is this right for me?

I'm so glad I did it. I'm so glad I finally have this. I can't describe how good it is to feel my shirt on my skin, without the skin-on-skin sensation of my chest sagging, or tucking the fabric of my shirt under my boobs to avoid boobsweat. My God, I haven't had to put deoderant on my chest for work! And even after I'm 100% free of the compression garment, I won't!

This is the first step of a few, at least as far as surgical transition is concerned. It sucks that it can't be an all-at-once thing, or just a snap of the fingers. But I'll never again underestimate how good each of these changes can make me feel all by themselves.

[silencingspellsongs]

y'know what i think we all stopped talking about unnamed caller too soon. i'm not done with him just yet.

first of all, sorry to ya'll trying to call him john or whatever but wow i just hate that. live your life i guess but i'd cut out my tongue before ever calling him john lmao (personally i imagine him as a liam 🤭)

but anyways i love the theory that he's a stealth. he could also be a daemon, some of his vibes feel very similar to regulus but with maybe like a serenity daemon twist (all that talk about "i'll make you happy" and "i'll fix things") but also it would be so close to regulus that i feel like erik wouldn't want to go that route. a stealth adds a new little bit of intrigue... plus stealths are cool and sexy

and maybe it's because of the plot pushes recently and unnamed caller all swirling around in my head together but after the last update to the balance arc when elliott and aaron finally talked with the department and now we know that they're sending in a team of stealths to try and extract sunshine, i cannot stop thinking about unnamed caller as a department stealth going on that mission.

i don't want this in the way of like "oh, connection to sunshine oh man maybe he's stalking them in his audio after all the balance stuff is resolved!!" or for it to tie him in any way to the plot or anything like that. no i just want the smallest like blink and you miss it type easter egg hint of we just hear the voice of one of the department stealths during or post rescue mission in passing and it's that sort of gruff voice and i want to sit there while listening and think to myself "... is that the caller's voice?" and have no proof that it is or not. i want the mystery of it.

caller really gives off the energy of someone desperate for control that they don't have in their normal day to day life. the way he speaks to sweetie, he is demanding and insisting that they listen to him and do as he says. and nothing says no control like a cog in the magical government machine. apathetic worker, not getting the respect and recognition he feels he deserves.

it's like what we got from the recent milo audio about how the department treats its workers like sweetheart. who's to say caller hasn't reached the point where he's been beaten down, chewed up, and spit out by his thankless job and he's fighting back for control over his life by projecting it onto someone that caught his eye until it has now spiraled into an unhealthy obsession. sweetie probably just like smiled at him on the street one day and that's all it took, just a kind gesture from a stranger to a man who wanted to be noticed.

this is all just inane ramblings but idk man i just can't stop thinking about him. i want to believe that we will get more unnamed caller someday. i gotta know more about him. you can't just end an audio with a foreboding "soon" and then leave the guy as a one off. it would ruin me.

i need him. i need him so bad. like you don't even get it, i need him right now. give him to me. please.

[silverantagain]

Reminder that: other people's interpretations of your favorite character to be different are a good thing actually and highlight different aspects of said character that you might've not initially saw. Idk I just keep seeing people vague posting occasionally about how "people interpret their favorite character wrong" and it's like ??? Like maybe they didn't. Someone interpreting P03 primarily as an Epic Gamer ™️ isn't interpretating him wrong just because I think he's a traumatized apathetic mess. I like the lighter interpretations, they help remind me that he isn't edgy, that he's snarky. Plus I'm NGL, I vastly prefer reading fics where people headcanon him to be softer than I do, because it's more satisfying to read a character that could stomach saying I love you than one who lets his ego get in the way, y'know?

Idk. It's so weird that fandoms just can't seem to have fun anymore. Like. Is it weird if someone's interpretation is black and white (aka: [character] is EVIL)? I mean a little. But do you know what that tells me? Some aspect of that character caused that response, and me making a vague post going "well, um, actually, no. They're not evil 🤓" isn't going to change their feelings on them.

Oh and don't get me started on the people that go "ITS OUT OF CHARACTER-" to harmless hcs because bro. 1: Are you the creator? 2: Is this a scenario that was shown in the source material? If the answer to these questions is no, then we don't actually know if it's "out of character" or not. Also I'm sorry, did we all forget that aus are a thing? What if this is an au that explores a version of that character that would react that way?

Idk it's a lot of words to say that if I were a more argumentative person, I'd be in the comments of headcanons I don't agree with arguing with anyone shitting on them lol.

Don't beat people with headcanon or canon babes. We're trying to make communities here, right? So stop trying to kick the shit out of your metaphorical neighbors.

[deadbeandrop]

how is ur lumpus different from canon? sincere curiosity, he’s easy to boil down to insanity in the show LOL

thank you for the ask so early!!! weeeee! haven't even gotten started over here yet but off the top of my head...

a bit tighter characterization through organizing, balancing, and prioritizing

i understand that it's easy to say that, but you'd be surprised at how much is actually going on with him and what characterization is there to string together already — i like to look at him as sort of a bundle of contradictions that is both hypocritical of him but also just a matter of state of mind and something that makes unquestionable and inherent sense to me already.

he's authoritarian but cowardly and overly dependent on slinkman, he's apathetic and very grumpy yet emotional and whimsically playful and romantic, he's cynical and paranoid yet gullible and impulsive, he's selfish and egomaniacal yet very insecure, he's playing the adult, the boss man, and yet is awfully immature. he'll demand order, of peace and quiet, but not think twice about producing his own variety of chaos for everyone else when he's bored of it, too. he is never really satisfied for long, as something is always an issue. and a lot of that isn't actually so contradicting, either, nor does it somehow feel inconsistent or hard to figure out when to play with what! i already like pretty much all of traits the show gives me to work with...

and, in fact, if anything, the "insanity" is sort of at the bottom of my list — at most, there's room to work the paranoia, but at the end of the day, the approach to me is far from orientating on that, i don't find it particularly interesting, and i think he's a lot more than that in the majority of the show... well, i guess it's a Little funny to say that, because he's still very evidently unstable and i am interested in exploring the lows there, but... i think there's a difference between actually delving into playing with the issues there and Generic Cartoon Insanity. i'd rather skip coming off as ableist and just be sincere about it, like how by the end of things we're like, "oh, edward is like... in an abusive family situation."

that being said, "the battle of pimpleback mountain" is in my top 5 episodes anyway LOL (the "full-moon frying pan" joke is admittedly SO CLEVER. y'know... Lunacy)

and i've been wanting to work along a spectrum of health over the summer, right, but to also keep it... not... annoying to watch. at the start of the show, when they're still trying to get things going, both lumpus and slinkman are characterized a bit differently... which is clearly on purpose, since they are already trying to have slinkman get some character development and for lumpus to regress further and further. i want to do that too, just... a little better. a little different? (when it comes to lumpus, i feel like any redeeming qualities he has — the few and far between... — kind of gets left in the wayside a lot more, and when i have a lot of interest in thinking about the past, well. that's something i'd had to think about, because i'm not just starting from the beginning of the summer, i'm going alllll the way back...)

so, i actually do quite enjoy and can work with whatever's thrown at me here, and my deal is just about organizing, balancing and prioritizing it all, especially with the slightly different tone i think of stuff with... take "lights out" for example — lumpus is still the demanding and grumpy character that we see for the rest of the show, but his voice acting isn't as exaggerated, he tries to appeal to the scouts and get them to behave by getting them what they need, and at the end of the episode, even with as fed up as he is, he ends up genuinely trying to explain to them why all of this was so important to him in hope that they'll understand. even the crutch of the episode — the comet being so important to him because it's a memento — is very sweet! i think he's really cute in this episode! in "dosey doe" he's feeling so nervous over seeing jane that he's hiding under the desk and talking about how he's gonna be sick, and there's even this scene that is so funny to me in the same episode, like... i don't know, it's just sort of... wholesome? and funny at the same time! I WISH WE GOT MORE OF THAT! i like the tone of these scenes and these episodes and i think it's really fitting and that the show deserves to be on that level more often. i don't think stuff like that really happens as much later on, and i don't think the writing necessarily has to be pushed as far as it does, to also become more ungrounded, in order to be entertaining, since those early episodes are all very good on their own — the first two seasons are the best ones!

so, there's certain aspects i lean into a bit more than in canon (i like highlighting the anxiety he has and insecurity he shares with jane, they are both disasters) and certain aspects i lean out of (i think the extent of immaturity gets a little frustrating/hard to watch by the end of the show, which, at that point in general, there's some... weird... decisions going on...?), but overall i'm still working from the same basic concept of "slinkman gets some character development while lumpus regresses further and further".

and if i'm limiting my scope and really planning it all out, playing in my little sandbox, then that's a lot easier and more controlled of an environment than working for cartoon network on a deadline in the mid-2000s. it's just math! camp lazlo is actually lucky in this regard because we've got a designated set of time to work with here — the course of a summer, which, for my purposes, is a better approach than several. gravity falls is seeing some revived popularity rn, and that's a great show that i admire for its silly and serious tonal mix that also takes place over the summer... i like these characters and i wanna explore how they grow and... do the opposite of grow... and a summer is a good time for both lighthearted/humorous shenanigans And doing (gestures) This

adjusting the timeline

since it's an episodic show, there's like... i don't know, like 3 different retcons regarding lumpus's history? 4? there's the beginnings of lumpus and slinkman meeting in "slugfest", a new past of shared history in "dead bean drop", whatever the hell is going on with "the bean tree" (still a funny episode though), and the finale... maybe more. once again, not all contradictory, just sort of weird taken together all at once, and the show in general is non-linear. because of this, though, slinkman and lumpus' ages are just like... whateverrr at any given moment, they don't really give a fuck

i choose to prioritize the history in "dead bean drop" (over them meeting in the "slugfest" flashback) partially because i'm a sucker for thinking about all the stuff you could DO with lumpus and slinkman attending camp, and also because that's just what made the most sense to me, because... that's... pretty much slinkman's backstory episode... and if there's one thing i would prefer they didn't retcon, it would be something as important as that LMFAOOOO

so i hinge the timeline somewhere pretty much because i have to in order for anything to make sense, so any other history element is completely optional... the slugfest scene i'd probably fully adjust somehow, but i do reuse parts of the designs they have elsewhere...

orienting on the core of the character

so a Focus and Expansion are sort of my main assets here — if you're like me and you don't like the finale, and even if you DO, then what stands out to ask about him is "why is he here at camp kidney in the first place? why did he start working there, and is still working there, and/or [did all the shit that happens in the finale in the first place] if he hates it so much?" and "what the FUCK is his problem?"

and that's actually Where i string everything along, taking cues that are actually in the show — he was a scout himself ("beans and pranks" & "dead bean drop"), he had a bad relationship with his parents and feels unloved in general ("parents day"), he's very dependent on slinkman, he's emotionally unstable, he's a control freak and "where's lazlo" explores how things were a lot more structured before lazlo arrived, and most importantly, to me, the idea that he's "not ready for the real world" and doesn't consider camp kidney to be such ("handy helper").

i think it's a lot more interesting to see lumpus' lazy-ness as not Just that, as Unwillingness to Work (although that's the other half of it!) but also as this... absolutely pathetic sort of helplessness he has? and there's several episodes focusing around this sort of anxiety about facing those responsibilities and stuff, and in like the sense of actual anxiety, full-on-freak-outs about being left to "fend for himself" about it, too... i was laughing the other day watching "nursemaster" because all of the little lumpus cells or whatever could only say "SLINKMAN!!! :(" which is both so funny and so accurate, because he literally does get slinkman to do everything for him, not even just the hard stuff. if anything at all happens his instinct is usually to look to slinkman to handle it, whether that be as something as mundane as "who do i assign as edward's big boy mentor :(" (and that's not even something Difficult but it's enough for him to compulsively be unsure about it... so i'm like alright, i'll bite)

so, what i get out of all of it is this:

as a kid, camp kidney was the "place to get away from it all". he enjoys the outdoors, the structure (see: predictability) the summer camp gives him, the escape it provides from everything else in his life as a fun little summer getaway where he doesn't have to worry about all that, and his best friend slinkman. lumpus has always had trouble "handling" it all — people, emotions, responsibilities. life. a lot of this is part of why he picked up slinkman along the way, who is not only loyal (if someone never seems to leave no matter what you do, you can treat them however you want), but provides that assistance he needs in terms of responsibilities and emotional support, is mild-mannered, and doesn't get in the way of what he wants. both of these things — the camp and slinkman, which i sort of ground it all around — have something in common: a point of security. and that's because, fundamentally, lumpus is afraid of the "real world". he doesn't want to be alone or to have to go out there and be an adult — at heart, he's a kid that just wants to bunker down away from the world, to do and demand and to have anything what he wants, because he never really got that.

so what do you do, then? you go to what's familiar, what you know, and maybe even try to recapture and hold onto those little glimpses of joy you once had. you get your best friend to abandon the things that he wants to do with his life and you run camp together.

but when you've got so many issues, the stress keeps piling up, and it's not as easy as you thought, you also start to Hate the place. your "sanctuary" begins to crumble, your best friend — your only friend — starts to resent you. what happens now? the things he fantasizes about is more of the same to me: a comfy little role as grand legume where all you do is have gay little brunches in a position of even more power, fame and fortune where he'd be pampered and have all his needs attended to first and foremost, a retirement home where work is out of the question as part of the equation, or even a wife in jane, that with her own personality (the episode where she takes care of the dungs...) inevitably would slip into a similar role that slinkman would if he managed to actually hold on to her. (it was so sick and twisted that they had them get married even with the finale, like, can someone please END HIS LIFE?) and i think its very easy to tie all of that back to a similar point there, rather than, say, for attention and validation, like edward might want those things for. (well, he wants those things too, but it's not the priority)

but when you can't have all that, what else do you do? where else do you go? what's actually out there that you can handle, let alone without slinkman? so you stay, where it's "safe", and it just gets worse and worse.

ruling over his kingdom of preteens with his best friend Assistant with an iron fist so he can sit back and relax for a living isn't the "real world" to him — it was supposed to be the easy way out, and now it's not, and he's pissed off about it, and yet doesn't have anywhere else to go because slinkman is quite literally the only person left in his life. and not only that, but he also thinks its everyone else's fault, too. yahoo!

(i've been really into enneagram for character writing purposes lately, and lumpus is a very a fun intersection between type 6 and 7 — to put it all simply, he does whatever he needs to do to try to maintain a sense of security in order to do whatever the hell he wants.)

changing the ending of the show and therefore his character's path

and all of that leaves me with a path forward, where i don't think the canon ending is satiafying with everything i just wrote. i've only just recently figured out what i want to do "in the future" of it all, because originally, i was just sort of like... i don't know. dump his ass, slinkman? but i wanna play around with something more sympathetic in the end even if he is awful. unfortunately, i care about the fictional asshole moose too much and have outgrown what they were going for.

at the moment, i've been envisioning the ending of the Summer of Lazlo as like defeating the Final Boss over there, or something — i haven't put a lot of thought into it yet, i just want a better conclusion in General for this whole show, it deserves more than what we got.

and i also i want slinkman to pretty much get fed up and be on the brink of leaving him to fend for himself until he starts trying to get better — and that's no fun to actually happen, so i arrange a situation where slinkman is still around, but not all of the time. lumpus has got to learn how to manage things by himself — so i still throw him to the wolves and have him run a shitty little business. he's got to want to be good for and to someone else, too — so i strengthen his connection to slinkman and have him start to try and impose on someone else in like a father-ish way. it's still in the earliest stage of everything else i have going on, but definitely i wanna talk about it more soon cus it's fun to balance "lumpus tries to get better" through "it's still a rocky road that should be just as entertaining and what matters is that he's Trying."

(in comparison, slinkman is easy on this front because he's already perfect and literally already has a bit of an arc and evident character development over the show. go slinky!)

so yeah! those are the basics! help me!

[tex-now]

Hiii @wederyed asked for my hcs so I'm going to annoy y'all with them<3

Tsukasa: the bigender in the world. She/he pronouns user

Emu: she/her enby emu anyone? She's very Androgynous to me. Her gender is "wonderhoy"

Nene: she/they girlie. Transfem, but she doesn't really like the idea of having Boobs.

Rui: Genderfluid Rui my beloved. I think she's genderfluid in the way that she has a different set of pronouns depending on the day instead of all/any all the time (but that's just me)

Mafuyu: GENDER APATHETIC AS FUCK. she's handsome, he's gorgeous, they're pretty. Really just does not care. Neo pronoun user.

Mizuki: hmm. Transfem? They/them. I would say that they like fem terms, but y'know...canon...

Ena: probably she/he/they but she's too busy doing art so she doesn't notice

Kanade: sopping wet cat ever. She/they. Probably non-binary but like I said she's too busy trying to save mafuyu

Saki: Shes so Girl. Girlflux to me. She/star

Shiho: He/she user, she's transfem. A butch, I think is the term??

Ichika: Look at me and tell me this is not a demigirl. She/they/he methinks

Honami: Trans girl. She/her I'm sorry she's just. So. Trans girl to me

Akito: gender apathetic he/him user. He gets a bit fucky wucky with gender sometimes

Toya: gender apathetic but he is open to anything and everything. Experiments with pronouns sometimes

An: Butch. He/they/she.

Kohane: umm... Hamster... gender....? She/hamu I guess?

Airi: Trans girl ever. Do you remember her fes card. She/her

Shizuku: ALSO trans girl but Different. She/they. Also gnc. She'll rock a suit sometimes

Minori: very hot take but he/she/they user?? Gender.

Haruka: so she's not a woman but also he's not a man. They're not enby either. She's just a butch. As a gender. that's haruka to me. Also she/he/they

Okay yeah thats it :3

[reinemichele]

Okay 😭 I already said that I'm in a lot of pain and don't want to type shit at my desk but that post reminded me of something that's been on my mind lately

In 2017 or 2018, I was reminiscing with a friend about how we'd been friends for 3 or 4 years, looking over old posts and messages, y'know. And then the conversation got a little more serious and she admitted to me that she was being bullied pretty harshly at the time that we met. She said: "Something I've always really appreciated about you is that you've never treated me like a stranger, even when we first met and didn't know each other. Your kindness really meant a lot to me."

And... I really had no clue what she meant when she said I hadn't ever treated her like a stranger. But she was opening up to me about the bullying situation that she had kept hidden for years, so I didn't want to derail the conversation to ask what that detail meant. I wanted her to have the (figurative) room to say as much as she was comfortable with re: a tough situation that my friendship had inadvertently helped her through.

So I spent the next year or so thinking about what it could've meant and about which things I do/did. (Like, the speed of replying? Compliments? Texting during class? Help/favors? Being honest about my opinions instead of lying for the purpose of getting along? Sharing personal stories, expressing sympathy for her personal stories?) I didn't really know how to parse it because I try to do these things with everyone, even if we don't become anything more than acquaintances. I don't like half-assing anything or being dishonest just to avoid awkward silences. I think it's worth the effort to try to understand someone as they are, so that they feel comfortable and like their preferences, big or small, do matter.

So, like, that's kind of my analysis of my own behavior and patterns, but they're all... disparate parts of conclusions I reached over multiple years. I didn't find a specific answer or pinpoint what motivated my actions, all at once. I definitely think the 2020 lockdowns and the indignant rage at being asked to care about others made me realize that "not treating people like they're strangers" is definitely uncommon 🥴

I'm not really sure how to end this post, but I wanted to bring up the example with my friend to say that people really do notice and appreciate it when you're sincere and supportive. There's a lot of factors that pressure people into being apathetic and "dog-eat-dog" about our peers, but we're all social creatures that thrive on community and positive reinforcement. We want our friends to like us, respect us, value what we have to say, confide in us, seek us out for advice, etc. Putting your heart on the line and being sincere can help you feel fulfilled, and conversely, creating artificial distance in every social interaction just holds yourself back.

[txxxciii]

Welcome to pride month Mortal Kombat headcanons part 2!! I'll leave the link to the first part in the end of this post.

If you thought I'd go in a chronological order, like how I started with MK9 and should do MKX, but no. I'm just doing it in a completely random order. When will I stop? Who knows. :)

Amyways

MORTAL KOMBAT (2021) LGBT HEADCANONS

(Note: any characters I don't include I most likely consider cis straight. Another heads-up, I didn't feel like screenshoting the characters, so I'll instead use fanmade icons, but since I don't want to accidentally be disrespectful, I won't add in any flags. Also, for certain reasons, Cole and his family are entirely absent)

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

BI-HAN (HE/HIM) — HOMOSEXUAL

Man is legit so thirsty he fucking killed his crush's family /j

In all honesty, as much as I love bireena and think they're destined to be together (but every time something's wrong), I cannot comprehend the thought of 2021!Bi-han unironically liking women. Something about that fight with Hanzo just felt intimate, y'know... (if you ignore the awful camera work). Alas, he's the type of a gay person you wouldn't respect, and shouldn't, in fact.

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

SONYA BLADE (SHE/HER) — AROMANTIC ASEXUAL

2021!Sonya is sooo me fr fr. Like, the attitude? The humor? The fact that she lives somewhere in a dirt hole? The nerdy fixation?? Slay though, queen.

With everything said and checked, it's only natural that I will project my own identity into her. I feel like during her more youthful days she'd try to find some kind of a crush or a partner so she can relate to her peers, but each time it felt like a waste of space and energy. It's only when got into Special Forces that she completely gave up.

She respects people who share her mindset, or those who simply don't have the charm. She cannot stand, however, if someone insists on "fixing her" with a saying "I'm not like the other guys you've been with!". Those types of guys wake up in a dumpsite with their faces covered in bruises.

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

KUNG LAO (HE/HIM) — HOMOSEXUAL

Every iteration of Kung Lao is gay in my headcanons. The way it's presented is different.

Kung Lao, as a monk, cannot commit himself to marrying someone, therefore, falling in love is also off the list. The difficulties in maintaining a cold-hearted demeanor began when he was assigned as a temporary supervisor to Liu Kang and his heart began to melt (side note: THEY'RE NOT COUSINS! IT'S A MISTRANSLATION! THE WORD LIU USES ROUGHLY MEANS "A STUDENT SENIOR"! READ JOHN TOBIAS' TWEETS WHERE HE DISPROVES THIS MISCONCEPTION! ALSO LIU LITERALLY SAID HE'S AN ORPHAN HOW THE FUCK WOULD HE HAVE A COUSIN? THINK, MK FANDOM, THINK! sorry I'm just so sick of seeing this same statement over and over again. back to hc ^^☆). Lao knew he felt something for Liu, but was it simple friendly love, or more? He couldn't tell, as he didn't have anyone close prior to Liu Kang. Sometimes, his anxiousness becomes so intense he isolates himself, but not for long until Liu brings him down to ground.

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

LIU KANG (HE/THEY) — DEMISEXUAL, DEMIBOY

I'd imagine it's hard to get to know Liu Kang on a meaningful level, not because he's avoidant, but because 99% of the time you wouldn't know what the fuck is bro thinking about (only Kung Lao could decipher the code, and he doesn't share). Liu, in general, is pretty apathetic towards people, but once he likes you, he'll let you know. Whether it's regular private talks, sharing what's his or, hell, even saying "I like you" straightforwardly.

Don't ask why he's a demiboy though. It fits the vibes ok!!

(Insert meme: "Demiboy is a spectrum", on one end - 2021!Liu Kang, on the other - 2011!Baraka)

[ICON BY evaporated-milf]

KANO (HE/HIM) — PANSEXUAL

"For you, I don't have any standards" should speak for itself.

He's that one guy who'd fantasize about being in a str/p club with all those present in the room with him right now. But then he doesn't actually do anything romantic or sexual, he just bashes someone's head against the wall.

(Bro really meant it when he suggested Liu and Lao s/ck him off in that dinner scene /j/j/j)

[ICON BY evaporated-milf]

MILEENA (SHE/HER) — BISEXUAL

Mileena is bi and it's canon, though I feel like 2021!Mileena would be masc-leaning. Doesn't mean she can't feel attracted to ladies (like girl you know you didn't need to lay on top of Sonya like that right?), but with how she's basically surrounded by men, it's obvious she'll notice her attraction with them easier.

[ICON BY evaporated-milf]

KABAL (HE/HIM) — HOMOROMANTIC ASEXUAL

Listen, at first I headcanoned 2021!Kabal as aroace since it just made sense in my eyes. But then I watched the Behind the scenes video where they said that Kabal carries Stryker's badge, "his fallen partner", and I'm like "Okay man, weird way of coming out but congrats". That's when I thought I should just make him homoace as a way of satisfying both the demon and the angel on my shoulders.

———

I didn't bother to include Raiden (genderfluid aroace) and Shang Tsung (genderfluid) since the reasoning would be the same.

This was way more fun to write as MK2021 is my niche interest that I unironically love despite knowing it's absolute trash ^^)

Anyways byeee and happy pride month!

Part 1 (Mortal Kombat 9)

[puppetmaster13u]

I love when his chiroptophobia is included in things.

Honestly I could see him or the kids having plush bats to 'help Bruce start getting over his fear via baby steps.' In reality they have extra trackers and are also soaked in pack-scent that's probably very comforting, especially if they're away from home.

Oh my gosh do you think that like, those aspects are in each shrine? Like there's bits that are shared between each shrine, but there's also differences for if it's a shrine towards say Nightingale or Cardinal, the robins in general, a specific robin, etc? If that makes sense lol. Idk why but I feel like Cardinal shrines have incense, like not strong scents but things in general usually used to help contact or soothe spirits in multiple cultures.

I absolutely adore the idea of the shrines being treated as holy places by everyone. I bet tourists and most outsiders are not allowed inside. Like they're only allowed inside if they're in legitimate danger. I feel like disrespecting a shrine is a good way to get mobbed by angry gothamites lol.

But oh my gosh you know people have their own favorite large shrines that are safe for them. That they leave little tokens before heading to work or getting home for protection or luck. Children leave toys or drawings or just little notes that the bats love to read even if breaks their hearts sometimes. Gives them easy ways to find out who needs food, shelter, etc.

Pfft, love the idea of Damian getting named Duckling by the rest of Gotham and just peeking out from under his mother's cloak. Do you think the blood-son bit is taken literally in some circles? Like there's definitely some people in Gotham who think they're even more inhuman than the general local people. Like they're the more culty sort of types who are more than a little obsessed probably.

PFFT, oh my gosh Bruce never mentions any of this to the League. It's going to be hilarious when they first hear about it. Probably one of the kids mention it to their team at first, y'know, just idly complaining about patrol and how with their injured leg/arm/etc they had to retreat to one of the shrines. And their teammates are just ????? about this information because, the what now.

Also I absolutely adore your ideas for each of them and I am so tempted to draw. If only my hands weren't shaky T-T

Love how while there's rumours of the others having been human children at one point, that there's only two confirmed to have actually been so. Also adore how everyone is wary because while Crow approached- practically sacrificed himself to- the Bat, the littlest child didn't. I mean, if she's hurt she's probably crying, and if there's the whole religion about the bats going on, she could be crying for something specific too. Honestly who knows, no one can agree on exactly what happened, there's too many rumors going around about it.

Okay I'm going to ramble about Carrie for a moment. So she does have parents but they're severely neglectful, like described as apathetic stoners. She got saved by Batman from some muggers, and ends up buying a knockoff robin costume and tracking down petty con-men. She used a slingshot with firecrackers, and eventually ends up as one of Batman's robins after managing to save him at some point. She was thirteen when this happened, and is/was the same age as Damian.

But well, this Au does seem to have a theme about the kids joining the family's early lol. Which I love. I love it even more when it's feral My Family cryptid sort of Aus. Love every aspect.

Hey mutual, figure the third Omegaverse thing was startin to get long again lol. So I thought I'd respond here instead >:3 (Also have links to the previous ones for easy access lmao) 1_ 2_ 3_

You know what would be kind of adorable? If it was Tim who got all angry at the gossip magazines. Everyone else is used to it and finds it kind of funny after all, since as you said, people outside of Gotham don't know the nuances of Gothamite body language. But Tim has been slowly coaxed into acting like a pup, been reassured that him acting like that is okay and is perfectly natural. So seeing people trying to claim Bruce isn't a good caretaker in a way that straight up targets that behavior? Oh baby boi is going to throw a fit.

Also love the idea of even other Gothamites going, yeah, the bats are more than a little feral, even for us lol. They've seen it all from the gleeful murder-baby first Robin to the trying-to-bite-your-ears-off second Robin to gonna-jump-off-this-bridge-and-take-you-with-me Batgirl. To the big bat himself who will see what could account as a straight up mob worth of people and go yeah I can fight that, and actually does, and wins.

Like that's just utterly hilarious to me lol.

Actually, before I forget, I feel like Damian's and Tim's relationship would be better in this. Seeing as Damian is younger and both Tim and Dick are very familiar with being unfamiliar with pup behavior or being forced to try and stop doing it. Which thankfully it wasn't to the extent of Tim, but still. He's the itty bitty baby of the pack who doesn't want to let anyone go the moment he realizes they won't betray him. Similar to how Tim is once he finally realizes the Waynes won't leave him and actually want him to stay.

Also remind me to sketch out the different fangs when my hands aren't shaking lol

Oh Tim DEFINITELY rips into the gossip mags.

He may be a lil pup and semi-recently got placed with the Wayne Pack, but by GOD is he going to send some angry emails.

Honestly I can see him reaching out to the daily planet as ‘Bruce’ and setting up an interview to clear it all up.

But until that happens, Tim gets scruffed and brought into the nest SO often to calm him down.

Like. Calm down pup! You are TOO angy!

Speaking of Tim and Damian’s relationship- they have the best relationship by far in the Pack. Tim can and will throw down for his new little brother. And the brotherly instincts he never had before (and thusly never had to stifle before) doesn’t help either.

Dami is more or less constantly following either his Mum, Jason, or Tim.

If he has to, he’ll tag along with Dick and Alfred, but in order of his favorite pack members Tim is definitely up there with Jason and Bruce.

He can and will use the fact that he’s just an itty bitty pup and whine and whine to get carried around. He may be an independent pup, and he DOES like to wander around on his own, but he absolutely loves being engulfed by his packmate’s scents.

It’s so very different to when he first left the cloning pod and all he could smell was blood and sterile alcohols.

And finally for how Gotham views the Feral Bats??

It’s DEFINITELY like that. Gotham is in awe over their guardians (and I can’t help but see them putting the Batfamily up as embodiments of the city, Gothamites definitely definitely made shrines for the Batfamily that dot about the city)

The Agent, the one who walked the streets long before the Bat flew for the first time, who holds ears in the highest of places and knows far too much that he rarely shares with others. The one who was only connected to the bats far, far down the line.

The Motherly-Protective Bat who has claws like in the old days, who bares his fangs and rips into flesh with no hesitation to protect his city-pups and actual pups. Who dragged the first of the costumed rogues back to Arkham by sheer force and detective skills.

The First Robin who was gleefully blood thirsty, somehow the most animalistic of the pack as he chirped and trilled and danced in the air. Flying like his namesake as he bares his puppy fangs in a barely constrained aggressive smirk.

The Batgirl (Cuckoo) who nearly flew as well as the First Robin, the one who chirped and warbled and forced herself into the Bat’s nest and first showed the City what happened to those who hurts those the Bat holds dear and who showed what happened to who the Bat deems as unwelcome to his territory.

The Nightingale, the first of the robins to grow up, the one with fangs he never hid and a voice as sweet as his feathers. The one who talks as much as he growls, the one who shreds his enemies with enough cheer and electricity to drown a clown.

The Second Robin, (Cardinal, clad in blood reds and spiked feathers, somehow still in the familiar designs of the First Robin) the one taken far too soon who didn’t quite fly as he did glide. The one who hid in his mother’s cape, only leaving to fight and protect-protect-protect just like his mother. The one who showed what happened to those who ignore that they were chased out of the Bat’s territory.

The Third Robin (Crow, Clad in blacks and shiny feathers but still the familiar Robin design) The one who is too smart for his own good- the one who ended the grip that the Bat’s bloodstained claws held on the city. He clings to his mother, only leaving to find more of his pack.

The Forth Robin, (Starling, purples and blacks and shimmering feathers that seem to mirror your face back at you) The blending of Batgirl and Robin, the one who was dragged into the Bat Pack when Crow wandered too far from his mother and needed her help finding his way back to the nest. All the gracefulness of the Bats and the Aggressiveness of the Robins twirled into one sparkling purple attack.

The Cardinal, the second of the robins to grow up, the one who took the name that was whispered in the alleys as his own. Who came into the scene with a splash of blood as bright and soaking as his initial departure. Who’s eyes glow with Unseen bloodlust and protection that followed his mother’s steps.

[chicago-geniza]

not 2 go all Affect Dictates Politics because it’s not a predictive text algorithm but like material conditions do not & cannot account for the sum of human experience that shapes political convictions or the probability tree of potential moments that might catalyze a person into consciousness of themselves as a political subject &/or political actor. this is one of the reasons, i think, that the Political Family Saga became such a ubiquitous genre in late 19th/early 20th c. eastern europe, unique because it dramatized political conflict not as intergenerational conflict, not the hardheaded parent-tradition vs. the hotheaded child-innovation, but siblings, competing modernities, competing utopian visions. bundists, zionists, narodniki, SRs, etc. breaking bread at the same table, written into metonymic brothers (& the occasional sister), gesticulating wildly & articulating their parties’ talking points. it wasn’t just fictional either--look at gershom scholem & his brother! (assimilation also had a seat at the proverbial table.) anyway i started thinking about this because a friend mentioned that she & her brother are both trans, but she’s a communist & he’s an anarchist; another friend mentioned how desolate & intolerable the suburbs are if you are a person who pretty much plunges into despair if they’re not surrounded by other people. and finally concluded that 1) i, too, have this tendency; in fact it was this need to be around people that first drew me to organizing efforts! & 2) i really truly genuinely think a main reason why my parents--who identify as “libertarian socialists” lmao--keep doubling down on the “i have no obligation to anyone outside my immediate family, i don’t know them, i don’t care about them, i want them to leave me alone” attitude is because, *personality-wise*, they are both loners, quick to judge, quick to quip scornful, dismissive shit like “our countrymen are morons,” they don’t have any friends where they are & don’t want to seek any out. they’ve done community organizing before, where we used to live--they spent several years learning local zoning law & working to stop a megacorp from leveling a trailer park in our neighborhood & turning it into a gravel pit--but they’ve gotten so isolated &, like, embittered & contemptuous that they feel like other people aren’t worth their time. & that IS a political affect whether it’s explicitly recognized as such or not, because it DOES dictate how you think about the world & how you move thru it as a political subject. it’s the same kind of alienation you actually see elsewhere: people willing to throw money at a problem--donate $20-50 to a fundraiser for a Good Cause, or an online campaign, or a bail fund, or a mutual aid society--but not talk to their neighbors, or...participate in mutual aid *networks* that aren’t passing the same crumpled $20 bill back and forth. idk man i had a brief hit where the cold brew & adderall made me able to think & now it’s gone 

[umi-sen-yama-sen]

(SasuSaku childhood friends + Miko!Sakura and the Sound Five ; short drabble)

Inspired from this beautiful artwork by @ni23ku on Twitter

.

.

.

"Hey..."

"Hm?"

"Isn't that the Uchiha boy?"

"You're right— Ow, Tayuya! Where the hell are you grabbing me?!"

"Quiet, Fatso!" Tayuya hissed as she peered at the tall man in the distance, who was standing in front of a Shinto shrine with his back to them. "Just tone down your grumpy voice."

"Tch, what an annoying girl you are. My name is Jirobo, stop calling me that."

"Right right, I know, Jirobo," she only waved her hand, apathetic, her gaze still fixed on the guy in the distance, "Just what is Uchiha Itachi's younger brother doing in front of a shrine?"

"Planning to pray, what else?" Jirobo sarcastically replied.

"Stop being such a moron, you orc. If he's planning a shrine visit, then he should be entering the said premises before we could spot him. It's obvious he's waiting for someone. He's like that— for what? Four to five minutes?"

And with that, Jirobo blinked out of consideration and simply looked at the Uchiha guy himself. "Hm…it does look like it." he noted.

"Right? I'm glad to know that you're not losing your common sense yet." Tayuya patted him on the back and continued, "You can be outright stupid at times."

"Shut up, tomboy."

Instead of responding to his insult, she inquired. "Who do you think he's expecting?"

"A friend, maybe? I mean, it's possible he's waiting for that blonde Uzumaki. They're somehow linked at the hip, aren't they?"

"It could be, but why in front of a shrine of all places?" she hummed, skeptical. "Hmm, it could also be different... Wait, he's carrying a drink too, and he's not even drinking it; maybe it's for someone?"

"Likely."

"What if he's waiting for his date?"

"Possible."

Peeved, Tayuya glared at her large companion as if he were a bug under her shoe. "Asshole, are you even trying to help me think about the possibilities?"

"Huh?" Jirobo turned his head at her, mildly confused and visibly offended. "I'm already answering you, aren't I?"

"But your answers don't help at all! You're pretty useless!"

"Why do we even bother with Itachi-san's brother anyway? Don't tell me, your tomboy phase has finally come to an end? Ah," he snapped his finger as if he realized something right away, "is he your crush or something?"

"You know what? Fuck you!"

"Haha, what's going on here?" Kidomaru appeared, holding a plastic bag containing some generic hot pot ingredients purchased from a convenience store. "Look Sakon, we just left for a few minutes and they started bickering again like a married couple."

"Kido, if you say one more thing, I swear I'll wring your neck like a beach towel."

"Boohoo! Scarrrrryyyy!" Kidomaru replied with a dramatic wipe of his eye and then he cackled like a maniac.

"Looks like the Uchiha is doing it again, huh?" Sakon wondered aloud, looking at the aforementioned Uchiha, to which Tayuya immediately whipped her head in his direction, as if he had the answers to her questions all along.

"You!" she yanked on his arm, "Do you know anything?"

"Well, he's actually always there after school classes," he replied, blinking, "I always see him on the same spot while going home, everyday."

"I see," Tayuya nodded in clarity, somehow enlightened. "I should have asked you all along instead of this stupid Jirobo, Sakon. He was really useless to talk to."

Offended, Jirobo exclaimed, "Oi, you're insulting me far too much this day, you bitch!"

She ignored him yet again and concentrated on Sakon. "Tell me a lot more, I'm curious."

"?" He could only raise his brow at her, puzzled, "If you're asking me about the reason why he's always there, I also have no idea myself."

She grimaced in response to his statement, clearly disappointed. "Tsk, men... always so useless."

"Hey, that's a bit too much, y'know." Sakon sighed.

"He's always waiting for Sakura-san." The last member of their circle said, which was none other than Kaguya Kimimaro.

"‘Sakura-san’?" she parroted, curious.

Kimimaro nodded, "Yes. The pink haired shrine maiden who worked in that shrine."

—

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran all the way to him, carrying a broom in hand, somewhat winded. "Geez, not again!"

Sasuke only turned his head and nodded his greetings, "Good afternoon."

"Why are you here? I told you you didn't have to come today!" she exclaimed, "You have exams this week, right? You should focus on that instead of coming here!"

"Here," Instead of responding, he pushed the sippy cup against her face, leaving Sakura puzzled. "Your iced coffee," he said.

"Huh?" The pinkette flitted her emerald eyes between him and the beverage in his hand, "Don't tell me you came here just because of what I said last night?"

"I am," Sasuke replied, and she only gaped in return. "What? You said you wanted iced coffee, so I bought it for you. You don't like it?"

"O-of course, I like everything you do!" she exclaimed almost instantly and loudly, drawing the attention of several people who were intrigued by her outburst that had her flustered from her neck to her hair roots. "I-I mean, I really like the iced coffee you got me."

"You should," he said with a gentle twitch of his lip, as if smiling. "Will you accept it, or will I drink it?"

"Absolutely not!" Sakura huffed as she snatched the sippy cup from his grasp, prompting a smirk from the man. "You bought it for me, so it's mine, only mine."

"How self-indulgent."

"But at least I'm not obstinate; didn't I warn you not to come?"

"Hn."

"Sasuke-kun, seriously."

"I just want to visit, is it that bad?"

"No, it's just that…"

"Then don't fret, it's my decision," Sasuke said as he walked past her through the shrine's entrance.

She was taken aback and immediately followed him. "But Sasuke-kun, I'm serious, you know! Exams are more important and you should—"

"And I am as well," He paused and returned his gaze to her, his eyes solemn. "I'm serious about deciding to spend time with you."

She blushed instantly, too tongue-tied to even consider a rebuttal to his direct remark.

"I can pass my exams without putting in too much effort, Sakura, so what are you waiting for? Come."

Even though she was vehemently opposed to the idea and blushing profusely, Sakura had no choice but to follow her pompous childhood friend all the way back inside the shrine, completely unaware of the girlish squeals of the other shrine maidens who were watching the entire scene unfold.

.

.

.

.

As they hid like criminals behind a large maple tree— Sakon, Kidomaru, and Jirobo could only groan in frustration next to the nosy but very intrigued Tayuya, doing their best to be inconspicuous in their hiding spot with a curious Kimimaro in tow.

"Aren't Uchihas a real, walking blocks of ice? How could this be possible...?" she muttered to herself.

"Ugh, Tayuya, we don't have all the time in the world, y'know. We're supposed to eat hot pot tonight, just let's go," Kidomaru grumbled next to her.

"I guess that miko is the Uchiha boy's girlfriend, huh?" Tayuya remarked, fascinated.

"Ahh, no shit, Sherlock," he nearly whined, "Just let us go, woman."

—

(End)

[angeloncewas]

no but also how are tommy and wilbur friends with someone who directly denounces and mocks their communities at every chance he gets....these people are ridiculous it's like they're spineless

Well, I mean, they're friends outside of the realm of content creation. We don't know Schlatt in that way and whatever substantial friendship him and Wilbur have isn't negated by all of this fame and pandemonium. I have friends I wouldn't give up for shit, regardless of my audience, and on a base level I think that their friendships aren't really my business, personally. Altogether it makes me rather apathetic to their interactions and stuff; I don't think they're spineless because I don't feel qualified to say something like that to begin with, y'know?

That being said, I do find a little bit of discomfort in the way Wilbur is so open and passionate about people loving what they love and standing firm in their interests only to be so uncaring about the consequence of publicly supporting a guy who mocks people who have an interest in Wilbur and his work - if that makes any sense. I'm not saying he has to stand up for his community - like, Tommy's said that "stan stuff" overwhelms him so he probably couldn't care less in some ways (I don't say that negatively, it's just outside of his sphere) - but it does make me feel a little less invigorated by those initial words.

I don't like bulllies y'know? That's what some of the "stan hate" feels like sometimes. Not when it's justified crit against culture and pattern and us and twitter, but when it's about the person who likes a thing.

[dear-wormwoods]

Sarah Lynn or Beatrice Horseman 👀

I'll do both!

Why I like them

Sarah Lynn: I love tragic characters. This poor girl was abused by her mother, ridiculed by her on-air father figure Bojack, probably a victim of CSA by her stepfather, was introduced to alcohol at a young age by Bojack (even accidentally), spiraled into a whirlwind drug-fueled sex-focused lifestyle as a young adult as a result of all of this trauma, and died young because of it. And she didn't want fame, she didn't ask for the life her mother forced her into. All she ever actually wanted was to be an architect.

Beatrice: Again... I love tragic characters. I like Beatrice for the same reasons I like most of the characters on Bojack - she's a shitty person whose shittiness can be explained by her past, but it isn't used by the writers as an excuse for her behavior. Like everyone else on the show, she's fucking fascinating.

Why I don’t

Sarah Lynn: She can come off as entitled and over-the-top, which is easily explained by her exposure to so much bullshit as a kid and never being given the chance to live a normal life. It makes her 'unlikeable', I guess, but I don't blame her for any of it.

Beatrice: She's incredibly abusive toward Bojack and later Hollyhock. None of that is excused by her backstory.

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

Sarah Lynn: That's Too Much, Man!

Beatrice: Time's Arrow

Favorite season/movie

Sarah Lynn: Season 3

Beatrice: Season 4

Favorite line

Sarah Lynn: "I'm this close to falling off the deep end. [laughs] I know I'm smiling right now, but the light inside of me is dying." OR "I'm at a place right now where I never need to grow as a person or rise to an occasion because I can constantly just surround myself with sycophants and enablers until I die tragically young." because... well, y'know. :(

Beatrice: "I just wanted to tell you: I know. I know you wanna be happy, but you won't be, and... I'm sorry. It's not just you, you know. Your father and I, we- well... you come by it honestly, the ugliness inside you. You were born broken, that's your birthright. And now, you can fill your life with projects, your books, and your movies and your little girlfriends, but it won't make you whole. You're Bojack Horseman. There's no cure for that."

Favorite outfit

Sarah Lynn: The black hands outfit from Herb's funeral.

Beatrice: The blue polka dot dress and cardigan from the Corbin Creamerman flashback.

OTP

Sarah Lynn: None really.

Beatrice: Same as above, but at least Corbin Creamerman would've treated her better than Butterscotch. HOWEVER I don't think Beatrice would have been happy in that life either.

Brotp

Sarah Lynn: It's hard to say... I think her dynamic with Bojack is really interesting, but he's obviously incredibly bad for her to be around.

Beatrice: I'm not sure Beatrice had a single real friend in her entire life tbh.

Head Canon

Sarah Lynn: It's probably not actually a headcanon that she was molested by her stepfather, because it's implied in the show by her knowing what bear fur tastes like, but I'll say that since it wasn't confirmed in-universe.

Beatrice: I think she's way smarter than Butterscotch and that's a big reason why he hated her so much. She posed too much of a threat to his fragile masculinity. Again, not really a headcanon since it can be easily deduced from their interactions in flashbacks.

Unpopular opinion

Sarah Lynn & Beatrice: I don't think I know enough about Bojack fandom to know if any of my opinions on them are unpopular. Obviously neither of them deserved the lives they ended up leading, but I seriously doubt that's unpopular to say.

A wish

Sarah Lynn & Beatrice: Seeing as they're both dead and the show is over, there is no point in making wishes. RIP Sarah Lynn.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

Sarah Lynn & Beatrice: Same as above.

5 words to best describe them

Sarah Lynn: Precocious, intense, witty, erratic, stunted

Beatrice: Selfish, cruel, apathetic, intelligent, rebellious

My nickname for them

None!

[oflgtfol]

9, 27, 50 wahoo

9. What made you realize you were aspec / arospec?

i don't think there was any one single thing that made me realize. i know i felt abnormal and disconnected from everyone else from a very young age, and i kind of always knew that the "fall in love -> get married -> house with a white picket fence -> 2.5 kids -> die happy" path in life wouldn't ever play out for me. i would say probably as young as like, first grade, so 6-7 years old?

but i was too young to like. really understand the reason as to why that life wasn't for me. as i said i just felt abnormal, kind of wrong, kind of a failure. i didn't understand concepts like attraction or even really what "romance" was i just knew i wasn't like everyone else for some reason

by 10 years old i think i did finally figure it out, the reason why i felt so wrong and abnormal. coincidentally that was also at the height of my hopeless romantic phase so i spent like all my free time reading romance stories and books. so after months of surrounding myself with all that i was finally able to consciously say like, "oh shit. this will never happen to me." but again i didn't really have the vocabulary to describe what that was so i still thought i was just like, fundamentally fucked up as a person? like i had a screw loose or something and it prevented me from being ~normal~ like everyone else

and then when i was 13 i was on tumblr and i finally heard the word "aromantic" and it just like. fundamentally resonated with me lol. like, oh. that's the reason why i'm like this. of course i continued to live in denial for a few more months till i finally decided to actively identify as aro but ultimately deep inside i still like, KNEW, as soon as i saw the word lol

27. Do you enjoy seeing romance IRL / online / in media / etc. ?

it really honestly depends on the day?? i guess i would say most of the time i'm pretty apathetic about it but when i have any strong feelings i think they do tend to be negative.

with background romance it's just kind of. whatever. but any romance involving main characters does tend to make me like want to take them by their shoulders and shake them with frustration LMFAO i think my negative feelings tend to come from the fact that like, 90% of romance in mainstream media is the most boring, baseless bullshit EVER. it's like, guy and girl make eye contact, BOOM they're getting married two days later. it makes me want to rip my hair out LMFAO

but, y'know, sometimes i do enjoy it! i think probably the only fictional romance that i have ever like, genuinely lost my marbles over, is eddie/venom, and it's due to sooo many factors that i won't get into here because that's not what this post is about LMFAOO but to keep it short - they are not boring, and they have such an interesting fucking dynamic that is sooo fun to explore that like very few other media has. even other romances that lean more towards "better written" still tend to be just... boringggg and so like. yeah unfortunately i do still get a little negative / frustrated with romance in media even if it isn't as vapid as "he was a boy / she was a girl / can i make it anymore obvious"

50. Any arospec headcanons?

i am the number one Aromantic Din Djarin champion !!!!!! i will die on this fucking hill. i will accept nothing else.

other than din, my other like, main aro headcanons i guess are

tigress from kung fu panda <3

po also from kung fu panda

toph beifong from atla

fennec shand from star wars

ford pines from gravity falls

and i definitely have way more but just with characters i don't really care about long-term (hence why i can't remember them off the top of my head lol)

» arospec ask game here