#so if anyone has anything to add to this please do!

[its-a-me-mango]

Oh hey... it's been a while Telly...

Everypony, this is URGEN, and I need your help, I have a sad TV that needs cheering up, can you help me? You guys think you can help me? Pretty please?

THIS IS A FUN LIL OC/SONA DRAWING/WRITING/WHATEVER EVENT THINGY AND YOU'RE INVITED TO TAKE PART!!!

INFO BELOW THE READ MORE!

Hi welcome to below the read more, nice down here innit.

THIS IS NOT AN EVENT WHERE YOU SUGGEST THINGS TO ME, THIS IS FOR YOU TO DO, I WILL BE IGNORING ANY ASKS RELATED TO REQUESTS FOR ME TO DRAW!

Anyway so as I said, you're invited to have your sona, your OC, your AU or heck even one of the SMG4 crew help cheer up Telly! You can do this in anyway you like, wethers it's taking them out somewhere nice like a park or city, to playing games with them, or just hanging out with them! You're in charge of picking out something fun for your character of choise and Telly to do together! They love doing anything as long as its with friends so you're welcome to do pretty much anything!

You can also make this in an medium you'd like, be it art, comics, writing, or anything else you can think of, there is no strict medium this has to be done in so go wild and most importantly have fun!

For the sake of keeping things clear in the SMG4 tag, you can use #SMG4CheerUp as the tag for this event, you are obviously free to @ me but if not, I will check the above tag instead.

Before I go any further, just want to make this clear:

THERE IS NO PRIZE! THERE IS NO DEADLINE! THIS IS JUST FOR FUN!

THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION

Just saying this as I don't want people expecting anything from me in return for this, nor do I want people putting themselves down or comparing themselves to others, I want people to have fun for the sake of having fun.

I'm obviously not super stricks on rules as this is for fun but I do have a few requests:

No just straight up brining Mr Puzzles back, that kinda defeats the point. You're more than welcome to use your AU or OC version of Mr Puzzles for this, but no actual Mr Puzzles, let him rot in prison for a bit please.

I know I said you're welcome to do pretty much anything but please keep your work age appropriate! Telly is meant to be no older than 10 at max so nothing too outrageous please! I don't mind a bit of angst or anything like that but you know, be nice to the kid alright, I will kill you otherwise /j

Also for this please don't use their teen/adult design, this is focused on them as a kid so please keep them as one, no aging up to do anything not age appropriate please.

Please keep in mind that Telly is mute and cannot talk! They can write/type to talk (as they don't know sign language yet) and they can make static noises, but no actual speaking for them!

TELLY USES THEY/THEM PRONOUNS AND NOTHING ELSE, PLEASE JUST REFER TO THEM AS A CHILD/KID

That's all I could think of lol, will add more if I think of anything else.

TELLYS REF IS HERE FOR ANYONE WHO NEEDS IT (it is also linked on my pinned post at all times) I'm not overly strict on design so feel free to add your own lil details to them, I think it's fun! :3

My media asks are off for now, as I'd rather people make their own posts, it's what Tumblr's for and I wouldn't want anyone's amazing work to sit and rot in my inbox! I will be reblogging everything I promise.

You're welcome to ask me any questions but my response will likely be either "yes" or "if it's fun for you go for it!"

There is no deadline as stated, but I'll say this is open for at least a month-ish, or at least until Mr Puzzles comes back or something lol (watch that be, this week! wow how short lived /j)

ANYWAY WITH ALL THAT OUT THE WAY, GO FORTH AND ONCE AGAIN, HAVE FUN ABOVE ALL ELSE!!! :3

[gala-xyzz]

FOR THE YAPPING 🫵 myth and mayhem stuff, worldbuilding, and valley elder headcanons please 🥺

ohohohohohohohoho you picked some good ones. this is gonna take a few reblogs so get ready

first up myth and mayhem because i fucking love them (you can tell because i affectionately torture mayhem and made myth the villain <3 )

at first the relationship is more hateful than anything. myth does something, and no matter how small that something is, it just makes mayhem explode. mayhem is very easily set off when someone is messing with him. or his friends. (though mayhem's relationship with his friends, or just anyone in general, is fascinating and would warrant its own yap session) mayhem's mad that this guy almost got them killed for his own amusement and wants to basically take ringer from him (who he is REALLY protective of) for god knows what reason

so he tries to deal with myth in the way he knows best: trying to kick his ass! only because myth isn't physically there, it's impossible. which makes mayhem even angrier, and myth more amused (and more in love with mayhem but he's totally in denial about this. he's absolutely convinced he abandoned all of his sentimentality years ago. he's wrong) and myth, because 1) he thinks it's funny and 2) realizes that angry mayhem will slow the group down, keeps provoking him on purpose

mayhem is also getting angry at myth because he knows he's feeling something about this son of a bitch, but he's not sure what it is and it annoys him. add that to whatever hell myth's putting them through and you have a recipe for absolute rage and disaster

and then the wasteland happens

they don't know who myth is still, but they know he's powerful. he has a sword made from shardstone (my name for the red rocks), he's friendly with the krill, and, as he can grow the darkness plants, has been going out of his way to make everyone's lives that much worse

now if there's something mayhem likes it's powerful people. which isn't surprising given that he is the world's biggest attention-seeker and powerful people can get you more attention. and so when myth almost kills him with that sword he thinks "wait a minute this guy is some serious shit" but is still trying to deny to himself that he has any emotional attachements to this guy. oh mayhem you fool

myth by this point realizes that he does have a crush on mayhem and now thinks it's absolutely hilarious and a good idea to try and push him into a situation where mayhem will be forced to admit any feelings he has for him. thus why he gets the gang to go to eden. there, he can have total control of the situation and they can't complain about it

of course mayhem is freaked out when he learns what myth is but he also hates him more. and is still in raging denial. but on the way back home, after ringer's been handed over to myth, he realizes "well if the world is basically about to end i might as well find some way to tell this guy i like him. without telling him outright because that would be a bruise on my pride and i am a proud little asshole"

so he basically forces ringer to go back home instead by "sacrificing" himself. he lies and claims it's because he cares about ringer (which he sort of does, he's honestly closer to ringer than his own sister), but he's really doing it for selfish reasons. which is very mayhem. he is a selfish little asshole how is he the protagonist here

anyways he finally gets to fight myth. and they're both excited about this fight and while they're pretending to still hate one another they both know they won't be able to keep it up for much longer. so when myth absolutely destroys mayhem and leaves him there, dying on the ground, mayhem just. summons the last of his energy and rage and love. and just. tackles myth. and they have the world's most hate-filled kiss. but they're secretly enjoying it

also when mayhem is basically a zombie he is absolutely enjoying his time with myth but he would never tell anyone that lmao. myth knows though. and he WILL bring it up if i make a sequel for this

[god-i-hope-so]

Tips for younger Bucktommy fic writers who're looking to write an accurate characterization, especially when it comes to Tommy (and this post is also for the people who think everything goes too fast with no build-up between Buck and Tommy):

Dating when you're in your 30s and 40s is very different. When you meet a decent person you're attracted to and with whom things go (very) well the first few times you meet, things can go very fast in a very simple way. You know yourself better and you know others better too. So the dating phase can be very short and things can move on to being a real couple and moving together quite fast (if that's what both want). Also, things go even faster when it comes to queer people. In short: less bullshit, more straight to the point.

Love != passion. Of course, it's a generalization but the "passionate" phase of the relationship doesn't last as long as when you're younger. The passion is still there but it's not burning hot, explosive, in the face of the world, "look at us how we loooooove each other", it's more tender. You can have a passionate relationship but it doesn't show the same way as when you're 20. Passion becomes like a slow cooked dish with rich and deep flavors, instead of the rush of an energy drink and 5 coffees in your 20s. Also, it doesn't mean Buck and Tommy can't fuck nasty.

We care less, about a lot of things. Again, it's a generalization and I'm also writing this with what we know about Tommy and Buck. Unless Tommy is hiding his game very well, his personality is pretty clear to me. Look at the date. It was a failure for Tommy, as a gay man who fought his own demons, and others, for years. Yet, he decided to be kind about it. Because in the end, it's not the end of the world. It hurts, sure, but that wouldn't be the first time and he didn't make it only about him. It was also about Buck not being ready. The coffee date was also a good scene. Tommy is almost nonchalant, open. I'm borrowing Ryan's words when he said "whatever happens happens". Tommy went through enough shit to not give this situation the drama that can be easily avoided. And it paid off.

Pouting, sulking, active display of real jealousy, acting like a child (and I insist on the "like a child" because adult can sulk, obviously) = NOT CUTE. AT ALL. I get that the infantilization of adults is very common in fandoms so younger people can relate, and because fic writers often write older characters with younger people in mind as references. But it's not a thing in real life, and when it happens, it's not "normal behavior". Of course they can sulk and pout, but not the same way as a young person would. It's a lot more subtle. Also, in the case of Tommy, he's been shown being very good at communicating what he wants and doesn't want. Buck will dance around the matter more, his frustration would probably show with him being agitated or anxious, being reckless too, because he's just like that, but not Tommy. Make them talk about their issues, even if they go through a period of frustration and miscommunication. Tommy should be the kind of man who will encourage Buck to grow and be better at sorting and understanding his feelings in a mature way but without treating him as a child.

Again, all this could help for an accurate characterization. Anyone is free to write the characters the way they want, go full OOC if you want, it's your fic. This post is just giving some tips!

[fakeoldmanfucker]

attention if you're in Chicago or know people who are

Trump's incoming administration is planning a mass deportation on this coming Tuesday, January the 21st. This has been reported in the Wall Street Journal, with reports of up to 200 officers preparing to be sent there. The administration plans to "make an example" of sanctuary cities such as Chicago.

Below are resources, one national and one specific to Illinois, for immigrants:

[hatchers-hoard]

scum villain au where airplane based all the peak lords on greek gods

i dont know where i was going with this i just had the thought of wei qingwei = hephaestus

[smolandweirdwriter]

as someone with it - tourettic adaine!

bracing herself when she feels prelimanary urge to tic, trying so hard to suppress but also defiant about the fact that theyre involuntary. hates when anyone outside the bad kids notices or comments (the group makes up nicknames for her most common tics) her parents thinking shes being weird or 'freakish' until jawbone helps her get diagnoses.

snapping at people who assume that the tics are on purpose but also snapping at people (post freshman year) who think everything is a tic - "no that wasnt a tic i want you to fuck off"

adaine tics a lot more noticeably when she's anxious - she grimaces and jerks her head, sometimes makes noises, but they're mostly more prominent when she's anxious or having panic attacks because shes better at hiding them usually, as her parents used to snap at her to "stop twitching". she thinks of it as sneezing*, where she can hold it in for a while, until shes out of sight and she can tic. due to this, she never got diagnosed.

when she moved in with jawbone, it took a while before he gathered the courage to ask about her tics. she brushed it off as a nervous habit, something silly, made a few jokes about her parents' awfulness, and pretty much let it fall into silence. jawbone respected her privacy. that night, adaine fantasy googled twitching disorders, blinking problems, facial disorders, etc**. about an hour later, she walked downstairs to where jawbone and sandra-lynn were making dinner and asked if she could pull jawbone aside. they stepped into the living room and she quietly told him her speculation. she couldn't stop tic-ing as she told him and she could barely get her words out. jawbone told her she was very brave for coming to him and immediately made an appointment.

slowly but surely, adaine gets more vocal about her mental/health needs. her parents taught her there was something wrong with her, something she could fight and beat out. that, as it turns out, is a lie. still, after all shes been through mental health wise, she has a particular sore point for "haha im overstimulated/ticcing/having a panic attack" jokes, as well as people at school gawking at her like they're waiting for her to tic. still, it's better than hiding it. also, she has a bunch of friends now (and a formerly-evil sister) who will no-questions-asked curse and/or punch anyone who bothers her.

*one of my friend with tourettes explained it like this to me

**also something one of my friends did before they got their tourettes diagnosis

[bow-wow-wark-wark]

Toshiro defense post

Hi everyone! So, I know this topic has been discussed a bunch of times before xd, but I keep seeing people say nonsense about Toshiro so… strap in cause this is another Toshiro explanation post!!

IMPORTANT: I do want to clarify that it’s fine if you dislike Toshiro. After all, everyone has the right to dislike characters so I’m not going to stop you, I know it’s not that serious. But then I’d like to ask you to stop spreading misinformation about him, use him for angst stuff that mischaracterizes him or any of that xd. Like, dislike him in peace xd but stop using him as a villain. Also, before any of you say “I understand his complexities but…”  let me stop you bc most of the time you don’t xd. Like you acknowledge the microaggressions and other things but use other poor excuses for hating him or invalidate that, so please read this post and keep an open mind!! Finaly, this post is going to touch on and disprove the following topics: 1. Toshiro hates Laois (together with stuff like how he is ableist and an asshole) 2. Toshiro is a huge hypocrite for liking Fallin (together with how he doesn’t really love her) and 3. Toshiro was racist towards itsutzumi (without getting too into complex race politics). I will also back up my arguments by content in the anime and some of the extras from the manga, despite that I will not delve on spoiler related content so, let’s get to it!

1. Toshiro hates Laios.

Something that people use to hate on Toshiro is his famous fighting scene with Laois, saying things like “Toshiro was ableist towards Laois” “Toshiro is a hypocrite because he complains about poor communication, but why didn’t he say anything himself?” “Toshiro hates Laois” but before we tackle this let’s recap:

In this scene they fight over the fact that Laois has poor social skills and doesn’t understand the ways Toshiro expresses his annoyance at him and his desire to have some space, he also accuses Laois of being unserious about saving Fallin and even says that he has always hated Laois. This scene resonated with MANY people that have experienced this exact same conversation with “friends” who would get mad at them for showing neurodivergent traits, I am one of those people as well so I can totally understand.  So, them seeing themselves in Laois and their acquaintance in Toshiro people accuse him of being ableist, but this:

Is not that. First of all, it’s important to note that Toshiro’s complaints come from his cultural background as an easterner, where he is used to subtle communication, and by his upbringing as an heir of his island (something that is explained by this thread in great detail!! But to summarize it basically says that he has become more reserved due to his retainer’s overbearing nature and do to being compared to his father constantly and by being surrounded by rumors of his family, so he chooses to not speak out as to cause more trouble for himself). Second of all he doesn’t really do anything ableist… many people say that they hate him “because he was a huge dick to Laois” but apart from expressing his frustration by yelling and fighting, something rude of course, what ableist or horrid thing did he do?  He didn’t call him names or anything, and even acknowledges the fact that Laois is someone who acts in good fate and doesn’t mean any harm to him, but he still dislikes his actions (not a bad thing at all). It’s also important to note that Toshiro is TIRED in this scene, he hasn’t eaten or slept in 3 whole days and suddenly he bumps into a bunch of problems and the girl he loves turned into a monster by this guy who seems WAY to relaxed about it and who he already has gripes against, my question is: Who wouldn’t lash out? Additionally, this scene is important for him too!! As he finally stands up for himself and expresses his feelings, something that drives his character development into being a better guy.

On top of all that, it’s also important to note that Toshiro himself shows signs of being neurodivergent just that in a different way than Laois. For example, his hyperfocus on saving Fallin making him ignore his needs, his overreliance on social cues to understand others, his stand offish an awkward nature that doesn’t let him connect with the people around him and his difficulty to express his needs. These are things many neurodivergent people can relate to, and dare I say, things Laois shares with him!! They both suck socially which is literally what causes this, so what makes him so different? So hard to forgive? What makes it hard to understand him but not Laois? And let’s all not forget the fact that Laois has been pulling a microaggression on him by calling him a butchered version of his name this entire time! It doesn’t make him evil! But it shows how they have a complex relationship where both sides where right. (Also, I know this is a complicated topic and I know there are poc people who hate him BUT, to me the issue is that he 1. Has a meltdown and 2. He’s not white. Like it is very known and said that poc cannot express themselves in such freeing ways as our white counterparts, so it’s harder to be nd and poc than white and nd, which is somehow the case for Toshiro as well xd. Many people say that he shows how people only like nd traits when they’re palatable, but this argument goes back to you, you might find nd traits better when it’s on a white guy you can baby and not on the Asian guy who should know better. None of them should have to, characters are allowed to do bad things and fix those errors).

 Lastly, Toshiro mends his mistake immediately!!  He doesn’t hate Laois, if anything he holds complicated feelings towards him for a while, which most of the cast do (more on this later). Some people seriously act like this didn’t happen, but at the end of the fight he admits that he doesn’t hate Laois (media literacy check but not everything a character says while angry is true!!) but envies his free spirited and straight forward nature. And if this doesn’t seem enough to mend his mistake, he gives Laois the calling bell, which will immediately send someone to help him and fetch him to the east. Would you have a guy that you HATE as a refugee in your country? Plus, he’s serious about the bell too! This scene wasn’t added in the anime, but there’s a point where Toshiro and Kabru are leaving and they keep hearing the bell, which they point out as annoying, despite that Toshiro always keeps it with him and says that if the noise stops, he will know to fetch Laios. If he really hated him, why would he keep a loud object around him just to make sure he is safe? (There’s literally a scene where it goes off after Laois throws it and he just acts embarrassed that it’s interrupting a conversation, but he doesn’t leave it or anything).

2. Toshiro is a huge hypocrite for liking Fallin.

With that point out of the way, lets get to the 2nd problem: Toshiro’s crush on Fallin. Let me preface once more by saying I LOVE Farcille and think they’re a very cute ship, but using Toshiro as your angst bait is not cool and super ooc (clarification: I don’t mean like a respectful joke about him getting rejected or exploring marcille’s thoughts on his proposal, I mean bashing on him hard or saying that he would intervene or disapprove of a farcille relationship).

Ok so in this case, many people say that Toshiro is a HUGE hypocrite because of 2 things: 1. He likes Fallin but dislikes Laois even though they’re almost identical, and 2. Because he claims to love Fallin while abandoning her and condemning black magic.

So, let’s get into why this is not true:

We have already discussed how Toshiro does not dislike Laois, but pushing that out of the way, the one thing he “dislikes” about Laois is the one thing he does not share with Fallin, which is their social awareness. Fallin is significantly more socially aware and tends to do things as to avoid burdening others, putting her needs aside, she’s someone who is very thoughtful and mindful of the people around her, unlike Laois who, while also thoughtful and kind, is not as receptive (Also crazy to note that her and Toshiro share this “not fully sharing my feelings as to not burden others” thing). Besides that, he likes that Fallin likes bugs/nature (the same thread from before has a nice possible explanation if you want to check it out) something that could be related to Laois’s love for monsters which, fun fact, he doesn’t hate at all!! Something that, funnily enough, others seem to give Laois flack over but not Fallin (crazy how there aren’t as many people shitting on Marcille or chilchuck for this?? specially since Fallin also likes monsters but Marcille never says anything about it and centers her annoyance on Laois? Wow… (I don’t hate Marcille for this either btw, I’m being sarcastic). And on the topic of this double standard, I’ve seen many people ask how he thinks he can marry into the Toudens while hating Laois (bad), while at the same time seeing so many “omg marcille thinks the only downside to marrying Fallin is Laois” (funny), crazy how its bad when Toshiro does it, huh? (Even crazier is the fact it’s only half true for both of them xd, they like Laois he is their friend)

So, once more he dislikes that Laois doesn’t give him space but likes Fallin because she does, especially because they aren’t very close at all. Toshiro has a hard time getting close to others and it’s stated that he tends to put barriers around himself with people who are “close” to him like maizaru and Hien. But since Fallin is an acquaintance at best it’s easy to like her from afar and the traits she seems to show outwardly.

Which leads me to the next point: Toshiro mani pixie dream girlifies Fallin. It is true that Toshiro has idealized her and doesn’t know her too well because they don’t talk but... is that a crime? There are many characters who hold biased opinions on others (like kabru with Laois or senshi with marcille or marcille with the orcs, etc.) and that doesn’t really get critiqued either. I don’t think it’s the sign of a horrid man for him to like Fallin without knowing her to well xd, it’s pretty normal for a crush and also if you consider his nature. Besides, this is once more influenced by his background: in one scene chilchuck mentions how the proposal thing is common in the east + he is an heir xd, so it’s only logical to be thinking about marriage, specially since his dad has high expectations for him (something that I know has not yet been shown in the anime, but it is present on extra manga content). It’s important to note also, that he doesn’t claim that he knows her best, puts words on her mouth or push his feelings towards her either. He proposes, she says that she will think about it and as far as the anime is concerned, he waits patiently for her answer. He doesn’t say “curse you woman you are coming with me!” or anything like that, and even if he expresses that he wants to leave with her to the east, that is ONLY if she says yes and agrees to that, so its illogical to say any of these things without proof.

Now onto the 2nd main point of this section: He abandoned Fallin and hates black magic. 1st of all, he didn’t abandon Fallin, he left to gather his retainers to search for her in a way he thought more efficient and once we see him again, he HASN’T EATEN OR SLEPT IN 3 DAYS OUT OF DEDICATION ALONE!! (If you use the argument that he abandoned Laois, that can also be explained by this). Now, him hating dark magic and claiming to turn in Marcille to the elves. This is not the best, since it poses conflict for our protagonists but 1. He doesn’t even end up doing that and helps them out after all is explained and 2. Put yourself in his shoes, what would you do if your crush turned into a monster that killed all your party? “Toshiro didn’t love Fallin enough to accept her as a monster unlike Marcille” Are you guys listening to yourselves? What he sees is a Fallin that has been desecrated and turned into a monster, something that will harm her and others + he’s not a magic specialist so how would he know or believe that they could turn her back to normal? He condemns Marcille but not out of lack of love, but I would say because of it, as far as he knows this could only turn worse for her anyways. Also, Kabru points out his illogical line of thought, claiming that it would be better for Fallin to die then, and Toshiro realizes how stupid he sounded a moment ago xd; Kabru points out how he also would have done anything to save her, and he backs down in agreement.

Once more, maybe annoying but not bad guy material. What’s more, this one is a really pressing matter as I have seen SO many Farcille fan artists and editors using him as an easy villain that hates Marcille (he is canonically scared of her) or as a cuck that doesn’t get Fallin. Somone pointed out once how he gets treated like a female character that gets in the way of an mlm ship and I agree. But while sometimes funny, it gets absurd at times and tends to border on making him someone he is not. I’ve even seen people say he’s homophobic (XD) or make him the token straight guy (something that in most fandoms means being an annoying incel character). In addition, many people say that Fallin would hate him for being “mean” to Laois but 1. She is very kind and would probably understand him. 2. If she realizes Laois has forgiven him, I don’t think she would meddle in to fix her brother’s problems because he wouldn’t want that and that’s just not her personality.

2.5 Small section.

Before we move into the last section, I’d like to add a small section called: you guys don’t understand Toshiro’s personality. Let’s be clear Toshiro is a shy, quiet, reserved, sentimental, rigid and half-hearted guy. It’s not common for him to start things, he tends to leave problem solving to authorities, he isn’t too confident in himself, and he is also an outcast in his homeland. Yet so many people describe him as being arrogant of self-absorbed and I really don’t know where that is coming from. Like, I’ve seen a bunch of people say, “oh how can he think he’s good enough for Fallin?” or variations of the sort but... I don’t think he thinks that he just decides to shoot his shot anyways. I’ve also seen some people describe him as some “pretentious rich asshole”, but this is also never showed or implied in text. Toshiro does not flaunt his wealth; he doesn’t act like he is better than ANYONE in the party, he just has money by being an heir (something not fun for him) and that’s it, but he doesn’t even use his status to get anything from anyone either., so… where is this coming from? (Racism? a need for a bad guy? who knows?) Plus, many people seem to dislike him because he is an aristocrat but… the system is not the same as being like a prince, his family just has influence in the east. Besides, characters like Laois or Mithun were also well off and from influential families and don’t get that type of flack. There’re also characters like Laois and Kabru, who express the desire to join this “aristocratic/monarchy” system by becoming king and lord of the dungeon. Who, then again, don’t get that flack.  

3. Toshiro was racist towards itsutzumi.

With that out of the way, we have reached the final point: Toshiro owns people (making him racist ig). Ok so let’s preface by saying 2 things: 1. Dungeon meshi is not a racist story, but a story with racism and many complicated race relations that get treated respectfully for the most part. With this is included, the complex treatment of beast skins and other races seen as less human like kobolds or ogres like Tade.  2. The retainers are not slaves; they are servants for Toshiro’s family.

Ok, so it is true that Toshiro’s father bought itsutzumi from people who were abusing her (and Tade as well but people don’t bring her up when talking about this xd) and later put her to work as a retainer, so therefore he owns her right? Yeah, but not as a slave. Slaves do forced labor and are kept in inhumane conditions, which she is not, as she is given a home, education and the most labor she does is chores (which she usually avoids anyways) and probably some fighting of the sort. In fact, you could even say that she was enslaved prior to being bought by Toshiro’s father (not that this is an excuse for buying her necessarily, but once more this relates to complicated race things). It is also important to acknowledge that as a beast skin itsutzumi (a non-human) is seen as less valuable and gets treated unfairly by maizuru. And while it can border on othering behavior, like being tied up for misbehaving, this is once more pushed by maizuru and not any of the other retainers or Toshiro himself.  With this argument usually comes the mention of the cursed collar that was kept on her, which is definitely a bad thing, but once more it is made by maizuru without Toshiro having ANY knowledge about it. I don’t judge any anime only for not knowing this, but in one extra it is revealed that Maizuru actually used the collar on Toshiro himself as a child, so that he would not leave too far from her side, so she explains that she made a similar one for itsutzumi; in this extra he looks surprised and remembers the traumatizing experience so... yeah, he didn’t know.

Additionally, many people compare the argument that he doesn’t own them, but his father does with the sixpence drama from a long time ago. Saying that this doesn’t excuse the behavior and that he should have done something, but that can also be explained. 1. Toshiro actually doesn’t meaningfully associate with any of the retainers prior to leaving to the island, (as explained by the adventurer’s bible and other extras) except for Hien as they are childhood friends and Maizuru. Besides that, he holds no relation to any of them, so he could not have known about itsutzumi’s situation, and it’s even shown that he doesn’t know how he should treat her at all. Despite that Toshiro does show consciousness towards their situation, saying that he would like to talk to Tade about being so adoring of him and his father, but he isn’t sure how to approach the issue. With that, we could assume the same could be said about his feelings towards itsutzumi. 2. “He left her to die”, technically no. They know she’s a capable fighter, so they probably didn’t see any problems with leaving her and also, itsutzumi scapes his party. Meaning that they know she doesn’t like them so why would they go back and search for her? If anything, Toshiro might have thought of it as an easy way to give her freedom, once more, why would you force someone back when you know they don’t want to be there?

“Why didn’t he let her go sooner?” This is explained by the first bit that he didn’t really know her and by asecond thing: contrary to popular belief, Toshiro doesn’t have such a big control of the retainers as it may seem, and it is ultimately maizurus or his father’s choice as to what to do with them. Like he didn’t want them to come with him to the island, but they don’t heed to that and come anyways. So, what makes anyone think that he could just change his fathers wishes? So yeah, he doesn’t own people they work for his family and that’s it.

So, this is the end of the post, if you read all of this, I greatly thank you and I hope I could make at least one of you change your mind. If not, oh well. Once more is valid to dislike characters, you can keep doing that but stop seriously stop with the angst bait or misinformation spread. That is all I want to say, so thank you again and see you later.

[rivalcobalt]

Woe, MS paint diagram of the retroactive Komaedification of N be upon ye

[sleepanonymous]

Heya! I just got into Sleep Token and I'm enamored! Do you know of any links to posts or anything that talk about the characters and their personalities onstage? I'm having trouble differentiating between III and IV (I know II is the drummer) and I want to learn more about them!

Also, is it pronounced Two, Three, and Four, or Second, Third, and Fourth?

Hi and welcome! 😊 Glad to see a new fan of the band. For the sake of clarity, I'll answer your second question first. The Sleep Token lore technically dubs them all Vessel 1, Vessel 2, etc. so it's my understanding that fans started calling the other band members Two, Three, and Four, and used Roman numerals for their monikers.

TLDR: This Weblink has almost all of Sleep Token's lore, and This Video also has almost all of Sleep Token's lore. The easiest way to tell III and IV apart from each other is by their instruments and height. III plays bass and is taller than the rest of the band. IV plays guitar and is shorter than the rest of the band (except for II, he is the shortest of the four).

I'll be honest, I also had trouble differentiating between III and IV when I first got into the band. Up until very recently, they wore similar outfits, too, which made pictures difficult to tell them apart. You can always tell via the instrument they're holding (if it's visible). III is the bassist and IV is the guitarist. Another way to tell depends on which side of the stage they are standing on. 85% of the time III is stage right, in front of the choir (Vesselettes) and IV is stage left, in front of II's drum set. My favorite way to tell them apart (before it just became secondhand nature to know which was which) was if the musician had a bun under his mask or not. IV's hair is relatively concealed beneath his mask, but III has longer hair and puts it up into a bun to keep it all in place under his mask during rituals.

The neck of III's bass is kind of in the way of the back of IV's head in the second photo, but here are two examples of the bun shape that III has. This is also a good way to tell them apart if they're standing next to each other, or, in this case, kissing. III is extremely tall and will always be taller than any other band member unless he's crouching or leaning over. If the two aren't standing near each other, you can always use Vessel as a measuring stick.

The photo on the left probably isn't the best reference, but trust me, III is about 5 centimeters taller than Vessel, he's just leaning back. The photo on the right also probably isn't the best since Vessel and IV are both just dark shapes lol, but at least it's obvious that Vessel is taller than IV.

The band as a whole is anonymous so you might not find much in the way of personalities, even of their stage personas. If you're willing to read up on the Sleep lore itself, you can do that here (this is a link to boolintunes.com). Or, if you'd prefer to watch a friendly, lecture-style video, there is this one here on YouTube. Persona-wise the most concise I can give you is this:

Vessel is very emotional. That is evident by the lyrics he writes, but doubly so when he is in front of an audience. He will cry, he will laugh, he will do silly dances, and he will hype up his bandmates. It's evident that he loves what he does, but he is also extremely humble about it. All of the love his fans give him he makes sure to give back 110% (the fact that he manages to do it without speaking is impressive in itself).

II is a beast, like no joke. This man has got to have started playing drums before he could walk, I swear. He, like Vessel, obviously loves what he does, has a blast, and also gives zero fucks while doing it. He will sit at his drum set and kick out beats while drinking Red Bull and Diet Coke through his mask 🤣🤣 During moments in songs where there is little to no percussion he'll often stand up and react to the lyrics Vessel sings. He also comes to the front of the stage at the very end of rituals to hype up the crowd and hand out his used drumsticks and sometimes even a drum head.

III is the most animated of the guys. I will often refer to him as the "main character" of Sleep Token because he is always front and center. This has also earned him the fandom nickname of Bassy Boi. I've seen him do everything from windmill headbang, to run in place, to high kick, to jumping up and down for 30+ seconds straight. He also has a knack for yelling at fans. There is a compilation video on YouTube here for reference. Also! Something I forgot to mention earlier in telling III and IV apart: III almost always has on his iconic checkered socks in the most recent shows.

IV (at least the current IV) is probably the most reserved and collected on stage (fun fact, there were two other IVs in Sleep Token before our current IV, I wrote about that here), In earlier shows he played with the band, around 2021/2022, he used to be fairly shy. Sometimes IV would stand off to the very side of the stage and let Vessel and III have all the attention. Luckily he's seemed to get past his shyness and has become much more of a crowd pleaser. He'll often do things like serenade the crowd (a bit like II does, only a lot closer since there's no drum set in the way), get roped into Vessel's or III's chaotic stage antics, or, you know, tease pulling his mask off in front of an entire music festival crowd.

[adhd-languages]

Just learned about the “Light L” and the “Dark L” and I’m losing my mind.

Anyway turns out I learned my “L”s manually and I never use the Dark L ever and learned how to approximately 5 minutes ago. I’m never going to be able to hear an “L” sound again without thinking about this.

[nexus-nebulae]

so. for A Long While now we've considered officially pursuing converting to judaism. and we've finally really started the whole research process and getting familiarized with the religion and everything and. does anyone have tips on how to feel comfortable in a new religion when you've been so harmed by specific religious groups in the past (especially when the religion you have bad history with is so close to the one you're converting to, like being another abrahamic religion)

[rainbowangel110]

Putting this behind a read more for the SGB peeps

So there's this post here with tags saying that either we're purists or don't realize it, and that some of the cast has died + they're prepubescent teens what do you except??

I went to their blog hoping for an explanation and turns out they also said that they think the work "sexualization" is now a buzzword here and should be taken away....

*inhales* oh boy. If this is a response to people reacting to the fics out there about the kids well, buddy, congrats! That's the worst way anyone has put it!

They're all 14-15 as of right now, so they're not prepubescent my dude, and can drive (a bit), but even then, even then it's still weird to write a fic about what could potentially happen in a tango between minors. I personally have not come across anything but @girlscoutbrownies @b3achysurfur @planetarymesss @astronautica-ss @@itstivan have talked about how it's just not okay.

I am personally fine with sex in media but if it's between two minors I am out, that is not something that needs to be in there. Consenting adults are alright, certain themes of abuse can be added (if they are handled properly), and you can read/watch it all you want, I don't care. Just..... yeah no.

[newtness532]

i know that graduating one semester later is not that big of a deal and i haven't made any plans about what comes next so it doesnt even make a difference. so why does it feel just so terrible

[mugzymiik]

I HAVE A THEORY.

SO.

IN EPISODE 4. WHEN LYCANTHROPY'S FIRST(???) DIALOGUE POPS UP.

["Hey Cubic! Long time no see!"]

LYCANTHROPY SAYS THIS. IMPLYING THAT LYCAN AND CUBIC HAVE MET BEFORE. A LONG LOMG TIME AGO.

BUT WE DONT KNOW WHEN.

AND IN EPISODE 1. WHEN THEYRE EXPLAINING THE PINK CORRUPTION TO CYAN. LYTHORUS SAYS:

["Yeah, the last time the Pink Corruption came was when Cube and I were kids."]

THE CORRUPTION LAST HAPPENED WHEN THEY WERE CHILDREN.

AND HOW WOULD LYCANTHROPY AND CUBIC KNOW EACH OTHER. IF THE LAST CORRUPTION WAS WHEN THEY BOTH WERE KIDS.

MAYBE THEY GOT CORRUPTED AS CHILDREN.

(I WAS ALSO GOING TO USE CUBE'S JACKET(?) COLOR AS PROOF,,?? USING THE LAST IMAGE OF A REFERENCE OFC,,BUT THEN I REALIZED THAT THE SCARF IS A DIFFERENT COLOR + HIS JACKET IS A DIFFERENT SHADE OF LIGHT BLUE IN BOTH—

[No text]

—SO IDK IF I COULD USE THAT FOR A THEORY TOOL,, BUT IT COULD STILL BE WORTH MENTIONING???? LIKE. IDK. BUT WHY WOULD HIS OUTFIT BE DIFFERENT THAN HIS USUAL ONE IN HIS DREAM WORLD(???). AND HE DOESN'T WEAR A JACKET + SCARF TO SLEEP, SO THAT COULDN'T BE IT)

ANOTHER THING PROBABLY WORTH MENTIONING IS. RIGHT AFTER WHEN LYCANTHROPY SAYS CUBIC'S NAME. CUBE IS SHOWN ON SCREEN LIKE RIGHT AFTER—

[No text]

—AND HIS CORRUPT SCAR(??? I THINK???) IS LIKE. "ACTIVATED"????? IG????

BUT THE THING IS. IT ALSO HAPPENED WHEN AJACEARE WAS LIKE "Cubic cmere" (AS @/darkhatkid MENTIONED TO ME ON DISCORD) SO IDK ITS JUST PROBABLY WORTH MENTIONING AS WELL

SO JUST. MY THEORY. IS THAT CUBE N LYTHORUS GOT CORRUPTED AS CHILDREN

YEAH THATS IT THATS THE POST

EDIT: IF PART OF THIS IS LIKE UNINTELLIGIBLE (IN THE WRITING PORTION AT LEAST) PLEASE TELL ME AND I WILL TRY MY BEST TO REWORD IT..i have a low fever rn and im going nuts abt this/hj/lh

[timothylawrence]

How do you explain to people that their disdain for Wyll is racist without them breaking down into a TED Talk about how they're not racist?

The demonizing, adultification, lack of empathy, lack of interest, nitpicking (while not batting an eye for the same things when it's a white counterpart), braging about killing or ignoring him...

Yeah, that will ring a bell into POC's ears so loud that they might start bleeding.

man. This is something that transcends fandom, media, etc. their are people who just won’t listen, who refuse to look inward and at least try to hear someone out. It’s nearly impossible to get them to address their internalized racism + anti blackness if they themselves refuse to acknowledge it.

It’s frustrating and exhausting and I’ve yet to find a way that doesn’t end up like your speaking with a wall.

Frankly, I just tell people their perception and treatment of Wyll makes me uncomfortable and echoes a lot of anti-black and racist sentiments. At that point, if they’re receptive, you can dive deeper. If not, well, they can sit with that information and you can only hope they’ll try to learn and change. Blocking is my go-to as well.

as always, listen to black fans and what they have to say and do your own research!

[radioactive-earthshine]

Superman (2023) #7

Brainiac 1 lets loose the Czarnians from the bottle city he had hoarded centuries prior upon the planet of Braal. Why precisely is unknown but he has allegedly ordered a full on genocide.

This poses an extreme question of what Rokk's status may be in the future if they are going to attempt to reboot LOSH, again.

Finally Brainiac is once again dabbling in making people, who or what, is to be revealed but it looks like Vril Jr is going to have yet more siblings/family.