#so she might actually be out of character--

[girlrotterr]

✧ ⁺˳ She might not look like she gets bitches.

꒰ streamer!ellie headcannons ꒱ a/n: I know this is a little short but wanted to write something silly!

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whose bad posture is only made worse by the massive gaming headset permanently denting her hair. By the end of each stream, there’s a wild, flattened patch on her head. Chat’s constantly telling her to take a break, but she just grins, shaking her head with a stubborn “This is the look, trust.” ignoring the fact that her neck is basically molded to fit the headset

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whose mic is almost as old as her setup, hanging off a stand with a few screws loose. It crackles with static if she yells too loudly, but she refuses to upgrade.

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whose webcam glitches, freezing her mid-sentence in the least flattering positions, like mid-eye roll or tongue out. She’ll smack the side of her screen, muttering. “Oh, fucking come on!” 

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whose desk is a mess of clutter: tangled cords, stray stickers, and half-finished doodles scattered across the surface. Chat is obsessed with trying to guess what all the random junk is, especially when something odd slips into frame—like an old action figure with a missing arm or an unopened can of Spam.

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie who leans back in her chair, stretching out her arms with a carefree sigh, her hair falling messily over her face. When suddenly, the camera catches a glimpse of her strap-on, casually hanging out in the corner of the screen. 

"IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?!!"

"DAWG NO WAY!?"

"NO WAY BRO GETS ANY TYPE OF PLAY"

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whose chat’s favorite pastime is mocking her everytime she gets cocky. She’ll brag like, “Watch this fucking clutch.” only to immediately fumble, staring straight into her webcam, deadpaned. The chat spamming with messages like: 

"Just uninstall bro.."

"How tf is she this bad?!"

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whose quick to pick up on any kid’s attitude in the game. The second she hears a high-pitched “You’re trash!” she instantly counters, “YOUR DADS STROKE GAME IS TRASH!” She’ll sit there grinning, hyping herself up as the kids try to come back with more insults. Chat’s losing it, spamming, "BRO HE'S 12?!"

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whenever in the heat of a game, her brows furrow, her jaw sets, and the chat braces for impact. When she misses a shot, her frustrated yell reverberates, echoing through thin walls that neighbors are definitely complaining about. “I’m never playing this shit again!” Spolier: She always plays it again.

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie whenever she’s roped into playing with Abby, her chat lights up with anticipation. Abby always manages to take her down, which only amps up her muttered curses and exaggerated sighs. “I WAS FUCKING LAGGING” she yells, while her chat’s ablaze with "IM CRYINGGGFF!" and "ELLIES ACTUAL FUCKING CHEEKS BRO!" Abby barely has to try; one word and Ellie’s thrown off, dropping all her ammo in the wrong place.

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie when you show up in her game lobby, she clears her throat, trying to play it smooth. She lowers her voice a full octave, attempting some kind of “cool” introduction. But the chat? They’re absolutely losing it.

"DID ELLIE JUST TURN INTO A FUCKING MAN?!"

"I CANNOTOTTTT"

"PLEASE ELLIE UR EMBARRASING."

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie always tries to play it smooth by making some bold promise, like, “Stick with me, and we’ll clutch this.” But then she immediately gets taken out. Chat explodes, throwing in every possible roast, like, "BRO ELLIE PACK IT THE FUCK UP!" and "THE HOES ARE RUNNING"

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie who, by the end of the stream, knows you’re still there in chat. So a quick, stumbling sentence slips out, “Uh, if you...you know, ever wanna game or whatever, just hit me up.”

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie when you send over your Instagram, she freezes, her in-game character getting KO’d. But she’s too hyped to care. She jumps out of her chair, nearly flipping it backward, screaming into her mic, “BRO, BRO, BRO, NO WAY—LETS GOOOO!!” She starts pacing, muttering, “CHAT, ARE WE SEEING THIS!?.”

The Chat’s blowing up like: 

"WWWWWW!!!!!"

"OKAY ELLIEEEE WE SEE YOUUU!!!!"

"THERE'S ABSOLUETLY NO WAY"

"BRO?!?!?!!"

and she’s just laughing, all out of breath. 

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie who’s bouncing in her seat, half-yelling at her monitor, “FUCKK ” She’s pointing at your handle in her chat, looking dazed, like she’s still trying to process it. Her hands are shaking, and she’s practically yelling over her poor-quality mic, “I FUCKING DID THAT CHAT!”  Chat’s spamming, "PLEASEE SHE WAS DOING CHAIRTY WORK ELLIE!" and "NAHHH THATS DEFINITELY AI"

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie who’s too hyped to even hear the first few bangs on her door. But then, it’s like her soul leaves her body. “dude, what was that?” She leans closer to the mic, whispering like her neighbors can’t still hear her, “um… chat…?” Chat’s flooding with "NUH UHHH" and "AWWW SHITTT"and she’s just grinning, trying to stifle a laugh. “Alright, hold on, lemme go check”

✧⁺ — Streamer!Ellie where a moment later, she comes back into frame holding a piece of paper up to the webcam: an eviction notice. She stares at the camera, lips pressed into a thin line as chat explodes, crying.

"NO WAYYYYY!!!!?!??!?!"

"SENDING YOU JOB APPLICATIONS"

"IM FUCKING CRYINGFFFF!!"

"UR GONNA HAVE TO SELL THAT STRAP"

[i-prefer-fiction-over-friends]

Canon Dick is the cool, aloof older brother who skips family dinner but shows up at 1 a.m. to rescue you from trouble—no questions asked. He’ll snap a picture of you head-in-a-bucket for your contact photo and assess your situation before deciding if you need coffee or mariachi music for your hangover. He might call you an idiot, take you to the gym for an hour of punching bags, or comfort you while you cry. Regardless, expect some teasing and to be called "bucket-head" when he's tired and annoyed.

Fanon Dick has no edges, he's missing the ugly parts of Dick's character.

The short temper he's had to work on, the biting words as a reflex, the moments of exhaustion wondering why any of this is his responsibility, the way his anger is often justified but not rational, his self sabotaging in relationships because he just can't trust someone actually means what they're saying....

Fanon Dick just loves all of the bats because they are family by way of being Bruce's children. So of course he has to love them.

Canon Dick chose his family, Jason is his once Dick gives him the Robin suit. Dick refused to let another kid die under his name so he claims Tim, and so on and so on. But none of them are just immediately loved by the merit of being kids of Bruce in his orbit.

I want more prickly Dick Grayson in fanfic.

Give me Nightwing climbing into his apartment after a boring cold patrol to find Tim on his couch -clearly wanting to talk- and wondering for a second if he could just.... leave and sleep in a different safehouse.

Dick sneaking into the cave -because he knows Batman is hiding something on the new cartel- and he sees Bruce almost relaxed with Cass leaned against him by the computer and Dick just feels envy. Why does she seem to get along with Bruce so well when she's only known him a year and Dick's been right there for a DECADE?

Jason makes a mean joke while they fight Ivy about them not being able to tell if Nightwing got hit with sex pollen because he's just like that . Dick sends the highest charge on his escrima through the vines currently holding the Red Hood. (The vines release but they're filled with water and it was raining and now Hood's helmet is fried and his teeth burn). Later Nightwing is apologetic, but he never actually apologizes.

Batman tries to ban Nightwing from patrolling with Robin after the two adults fight, says Robin needs someone reliable to watch his back. Dick reminds him "it wasn't Nightwing that was supposed to be watching Jay Robin" (New Robin Tim after Jason's death/ or after the reveal in UTRH for max hurt)

Dick knows Damian said he stopped killing but every corpse is suspicious for months. He inspects Damian's gear before and after patrol 'for safety' but he's actually looking for any signs the truce has ended. He stays on his toes waiting for another assassination attempt, for a trick or a trap even though he's determined to give the kid a chance. -Dick of all people knows how dangerous a child can be even at ten years old- maybe Damian finds out and never says anything, he thinks it's a reasonable precaution after all. But it does stick in the corner of his heart even years later than his word as Robin to his Batman wasn't enough to be trusted.

Barbara gets pissed and goes off on him about something he messed up for the Birds of Prey, he apologizes then he pulls his name off their backup roster barring a world ending disaster (or something involving Robin). He dips, and spends a couple weeks in New York catching up and training the younger Titans. Oracle and personal messages are ignored unless marked urgent and she knows from experience, abusing that allowance will leave her completely unable to contact him.

I genuinely love how in batfam fanfics….

Dick is like: little D (Damian), Timmy Tim, little wing (Jason) I’m on my way my baby bros!!!

And then in canon….

Dick: *perpetually perturbed by his codependent siblings but knows he’ll never not answer cause who else is gonna pull their dumbassses out the gutter*

[vampiresbloodx]

Arcane imagine.

Arcane characters with a socially anxious/shy! s/o.

characters included: Mel medarda, Caitlyn, vi, jinx, sevika.

Trigger warnings: no spoilers for season 2, fluff, just gays being in love with each other, fluff, shy!reader, anxiety issues, just fluff.

Mel medarda;

You two were definitely the duo that people would never expect to work so well, nor did they ever imagine Mel would date someone like you

If anyone had made any comments, especially negative ones or insults on your status, appearance, personality, she would end them and make sure they regret speaking another word to her again

You were always shy around people, you've always kept to yourself and hoped people did the same to you, you don't know how you managed to get in contact with Mel, especially with how powerful and rich her family was in piltover, everyone knew her and loved her, some might hate her, you have always liked her, as she's always been rather kind to you, you didn't realize at first that that kindness was her actually trying to make a move on you

Of course you found that insane when she told you about it

Why the hell would anyone especially someone as important like her would ever be interested in dating you? Even being friends with you?

You were smart, you had your wits and knowledge, she admired that, she admired how you despite your shyness "Innocence" people seem to think you have from how nice you are to them even strangers that you are weak for letting your guard down easily, she knows just how strong you really are, how it's not easy to break you

Mel will always be there for you, speaking for your name in respect even when you're not around, she always feels your presence is always there anyways, your scent lingering on her a little longer, she likes that, she likes you a lot, she doesn't care what anyone thinks about how she feels for you

Caitlyn;

Caitlyn knows what it's like to be socially awkward herself, but she feels she's always had the opportunity to make her voice be loud and heard when she wanted it to be, due to her family's name and legacy, she's a kiramman after all. No one really sees the power she actually can have in her possession so easy

When she met you, she found you adorable, you were a good friend of jayce and Viktor, spending countless nights up and studying with them, you two would end up having late night conversations that she would cherish, she enjoyed those times with you a lot

Even though you didn't speak a lot, most people would find that "unusual" she wouldn't take shit from anyone, she knows what that's like, to have people underestimate her, she's not stupid, she can hear what they say about you and her around her, she knows what they're thinking, and still she'll always take your hand and proudly stand by you

Vi:

Now with Vi, she's never been a quiet one

Sure she has her moments, but she's always been loud, the loud friend, the loud sister

And she's not afraid of that, to speak her mind, Vander always had to remind her of her tone and when it's the right time to use it and when it's needed, Vi still always had a hard time listening to be told to be sit still especially for too long

When she meets you, you happen to be one of the quietest people she's met, she's always been surrounded by various types of big personalities, so it was nice having you in her corner, she liked the time she spent with you even if the two of you didn't speak at all most of the time, and it was just her rambling, you'd happily sit there and listen to her, she liked that, a lot

Vi needed someone in her life that helped balance her out, but still matched her energy, you were fun to be around and amazing at many things, she loved watching you work and get dirty, you weren't scared of getting messy, she admired that

People around her have commented on your shyness, how weird it was that you never went out with friends or parties etc, she didn't like how any of them talked about you when she was literally right there, vi won't take any shit especially about the person she dates and cares about, she'll speak for you, always, never giving a single fuck if she offends them

Jinx:

Jinx has always been described as chaotic, explosive even, loud, reckless, so when people see you with her, they can't help but wonder how that even happened and how strange it is

You were just so unexpected when you popped into jinx's life, it was all so sudden, just like how she likes it, a surprise, that's what you are, she did not complain about it

Most people don't see the sides of her when she has her "down times", those are special, with you she can actually think, focus on her projects, not be triggered by flashes of memories of the past, even if she is you're always there for her no matter what, your voice is calming, she loves it, yearns for it, she's personally recorded your voice on purpose just so she can listen to it on repeat whenever she needed it and just missed you too much

You were what calmed her storm down, the fire that ignited her flame brighter, the pairing that didn't seem like it would work but the two of you are inseparable

You two are attached to the hip, it's hard to keep jinx away from you, in the end, you don't mind that, because you like her voice

Sevika;

Sevika herself is a pretty reserved woman, she understands the need for alone time and to be quiet

You're a surprise to her

It's not often she gets surprised easily

Having seen too much in her life time already, she was used to everyone and everything, she's worked with all kinds of people, none quiet like you

She likes it, spending time with you is nice, not everything is always loud all the time, even her thoughts die down when she's with you, she yearns for the moments where she cuddles you in her arms, pulling you closer as despite not being talkative outside, you happily run your mouth to her about everything you've been up to and working on, sevika loves it, she likes how comfortable you are around her, she likes that she can offer that kind of security, it was rare to have that these days

Sevika will not take any shit from anyone that talks bad about you, especially if they felt brave enough to say it to her face, she'll have their asses on the ground before they can say another word about you

Sevika doesn't tolerate disrespect to those she cares about, even those who annoy her, she'll always be there for them, you're her person, who she goes home to, who she's able to let her guard down and relax, smile and laugh with, without feeling judged, she's able to share her thoughts with you, her feelings, you're important to her, she'll always protect you, you don't need to be loud nor quiet, sevika will always listen to you

[verdantwyrm]

Would it be wrong of me to say that Jimmy was always capable of good, being a better person and improving himself? And that that he intentionally and purposefully chooses not to shows his character far more than what he actually did?

Just like Anya says, that our worst moments don't make us monsters. It's one thing to fuck up, and immediately suffer the consequences and acknowledge your mistakes— But it's another thing entirely to purposefully make it so you never have to deal with the repercussions and then make yourself out to be the victim. Jimmy takes every opportunity to blame everyone around him. All the time.

I do think, like most people are capable of being better, improving and taking the consequences as they come with a responsibility. And Anya believes this so wholeheartedly because thays who she is. Jimmy doesn't even think there is consequence for him, in such denial about it all that he outright refuses to acknowledge it even subconsciously.

Curly genuinely saw the good in Jimmy, in the same way Anya sees the good in others. They both believe that our worst moments don't define us, and Curly had his own interpretation to it all of how we're defined by our past, but not slaves to it. Curly was probably the only and the last person to ever believe that there was good in Jimmy, to look past that dead pixel, his own equivalent of what that means to Curly, and see the bigger picture. Not because he refuses to accept that Jimmy is capable of bad things, but refusing to admit that he is incapable of change.

Thats why he pushes so hard, pushes to constantly remind Jimmy that despite everything, Curly will always have his back. Partly because he genuinely wants to see his best friend thrive and finally get a real chance at life, but also partly because he's absolutely terrified of what Jimmy might or will do if he slips even slightly. Its why he fawns so hard, appeals and pleases.

Curly has always seen the good in Jimmy, always seen the stars, the moon, the sun and the sky in him, even if he knows it's just an illusion. Even if he knows its fake, he has to try. And Jimmy choosing to not be better despite all of this, shows his character as someone who will always be a monster. Always be a slave to his own past, always tied to his own anger and grief because thats also all he's ever known, but because he genuinely doesn't even want to entertain the idea of being better.

To be a better man, you must face the man you once were, and he never ever wants to do that, because it would mean having to face himself for exactly what he is, something he's been avoiding for years.

[clownakai]

Hi! Let's talk about: Conan's terribly kept secret, and how come he doesn't seem to mind that Akai has pretty much figured it out (and teases him about it)

I'm not going to lie, I think about this a lot and I've wanted to make a post dissecting the whole thing for a while. It's one of those details within two characters' relationship that says a lot about their overall dynamic, in my opinion.

So, to start off, let's address the secret in question and what it means to Conan. Basic stuff, but it's a useful starting point.

The first and greatest motivation behind Shinichi's efforts to keep his situation a secret from Ran is that he doesn't want to endanger her (good idea in theory, not so easy in practice, but this post isn't about that).

In time, this also becomes valid for everyone who associates with Kudou Shinichi and/or Edogawa Conan, given all the stunts he pulls as the latter. Just to be on the safer side, those two identities should remain separate.

Now, here's the first real "outsider" who figures out Conan is Shinichi.

I'm kind of reading this as Conan attempting to call Hattori's bluff, but as soon as he realizes that the guy is serious about telling Ran everything, he drops all pretenses and comes clean about the APTX.

Now, since this is still pretty early on in the manga, we can argue that Conan's identity hasn't been solidified just yet and Shinichi doesn't know how dangerous the Organization actually is, and combining that with the fact that Hattori is pretty much a stranger, the pros of conceding defeat on the matter and explaining himself to a fellow detective definitely outweigh the cons.

(This also gifts us with the funniest swaggest most whimsical duo ever, but I digress /silly)

And after Heiji, we have the man, the myth, the legend. Hondou Eisuke. His case is kind of particular, in that he doesn't really try to get the secret out of Conan. The truth is presented to him due to something unrelated (asking Ran out), which is apparently reason enough for Shinichi to out himself.

I do believe that Shinichi felt secure enough in doing this for a couple reasons: first and foremost, Eisuke is at least marginally aware of the Organization and the danger it represents, and he knows the importance of keeping secrets given both his sister's situation and his career choice. Secondly, Eisuke is leaving Japan: sure, there's a chance he might stay in contact with his friends via text, but he has no reason to tell Ran about Conan's real identity in the first place.

The real "danger" here was the possibility (very, very small. Basically non-existent, to be honest) that Ran would say yes to Eisuke's proposal to go to the States together (where, in Shinichi's mind, he wouldn't be able to follow, where he wouldn't be able to watch over her, where he felt he would lose her in every way that matters), and that chance, no matter how small, warranted an intervention. Not exactly pure logic, but that's teenagers for you (affectionate).

Alright, so what about people like Masumi? She even has an advantage in that she already knows about the existence of a drug that makes people shrink: her own mom looks like a middle schooler because of that. She's in danger no matter how you look at it, and she's clearly been keeping that secret the same way Agasa, Hattori, and the Kudous have for a good while. So how come she doesn't get to join the club?

The answer is, of course, the risk factor.

Masumi, as we all know, wouldn't know the meaning of subtlety if it hit her in the face with a baseball bat. We love and cherish her regardless, but admittedly, that's not a trait that would inspire trust in a pair of teenagers hiding their continued existence from an evil syndicate.

That's right! We have her timing to keep in mind as well. Masumi is added to the scene well into the main timeline's events, which means multiple things:

Conan's identity is finally well-established and separate from Shinichi's. Ran has had her suspicions in multiple instances, but they've been assuaged every time. Still, that balance is hard to maintain.

Shinichi is now fully aware of just how dangerous the Organization is: he's now much more reluctant to just share his secret willy-nilly with random strangers, even though they might prove to be useful allies in the long run.

Conan isn't the only shrunk teenager running around anymore: Haibara has just as much reason as him, if not more, to want to keep the number of people in the know as low as possible. By revealing his own secret, there would be virtually no way for Shinichi to keep Haibara out of the metaphorical line of fire.

Therefore, a variable that behaves like this...

Or this...

Isn't very likely to garner much favor from either of these two.

Something to take note of, though, is the fact that Conan pretty much only ever panics when Masumi brings up his identity if she's making an active effort to also bring the matter up with people who are firmly on the "Absolutely Cannot Find Out" list (Ran especially).

In multiple other instances, when Masumi alludes to being aware of Conan's ruse but talks to him one-on-one and makes it clear that the comment is a one-off occasion (and that she's not going to push it this time), Shinichi doesn't really lose his cool.

He may stumble over his words a bit, but the moment isn't played as dramatic or high-risk, per se. It's more as if he were being privately teased about his situation— sort of like as inside joke. It's not exactly welcome, but it also doesn't raise any alarm bells since it stays between him and Masumi.

Now, would Conan's problems with Masumi's nosiness be solved if he gave up and admitted the truth she already knows? Of course, but that's not really the point.

The issue is that this wouldn't be happening on his terms. He would be giving in to someone's else's demands, and in addition to that, Masumi has been asking non-stop about the antidote that Shinichi intermittently uses to get back to normal.

That, above all else, is what makes the endless dance of denial necessary, I think: admitting the truth also means outright admitting that prototypes of an antidote exist, and that means exposing Haibara (both her past work and therefore criminal background, and what she's been working on these past few months: letting Masumi have even a single pill would mean the MI6 getting their hands on it in turn, and that's pretty much not something anyone wants), which in turn would probably set off a very unpleasant chain reaction for everyone involved.

When Shinichi conceded defeat with Hattori, it wasn't on his terms either, but at least he knew the guy didn't really have any ulterior motive apart from his one-sided beef with the Detective of the East.

With Masumi there is no such certainty— quite the opposite, in fact, which is why I think this is the reason he's been so insistent on denying the truth even when he now knows full well that Masumi's can be no mere suspicions.

With all that said, let's get to the point of this bad boy! (I did not think this analysis would get so long. Holy shit)

Let's start with the fact that Akai operates on a pretty simple need-to-know basis. If something isn't relevant to what he's trying to do, he tends not to mention it. Still, he's not exactly strict about this: when Conan mentions Akai and Masumi's familial relation, he takes it in stride and gives his own confirmation because he sees no reason not to.

Now, this of course doesn't mean that he can't get curious about things himself, or that he won't conduct his own investigations on said things. His M.O., however, is very different from that of, say, Hattori or Masumi. It can probably be chalked up to maturity and years of experience, along with the simple matter of his personality, but Akai doesn't exactly make a spectacle of things.

He knows when to push and when to let go in a manner that still gives him the answers he seeks. He easily manipulates Conan into giving himself away as Shinichi while still making sure to be the only one witnessing that moment.

And then he decides to be a bastard and give Conan a heart attack... for about a tenth of a second, since as he does that he also carefully words things in order to give the kid an easy out.

All Akai wanted was to figure out the mystery in front of him (he's by admission a curious guy. He likes solving puzzles): now that he has his answers, he's not really going to do anything with them because he has no reason to— Conan is already willing to cooperate with him and the FBI (and has already done so before), after all. They already share intel more or less freely. He's literally living in the kid's house. For free. Why would he jeopardize any of that by falling out of favor with him?

This, I think, is a pretty solid basis upon which I can build my beautiful sandcastle.

Of the couple times in which Akai respectively asks Conan about his identity outright and mildly teases him about his circumstances, the context always plays a huge role.

In the first scenario, the two are speaking in public, yes, but at the same time the conversation is:

Pretty much kept private

Initiated by Conan (he asked for information first!)

Framed as a proposal of a mutual exchange by Akai, who also backs off immediately as soon as Conan turns him down

Of course, Shinichi is already reasonably sure Akai has him figured out anyway, so the point is moot, but it's still nice to get plausible deniability and still be somewhat in control of when he's going to come clean to the guy of his own volition.

In the second scenario, the situation is even more "secure" so to speak, as:

They're sitting in Okiya Subaru's car

They're completely alone

They're in a hurry to do something else (God fucking dammit, Shuukichi)

In this case, Conan doesn't outright react to the jab. Maybe it's because he doesn't really know what to say, or maybe it's just that he doesn't have enough time to come up with a reply before Shuukichi picks up the call. Either way, he does perhaps look a little put on the spot, but there's no real panicked reaction, no telltale change in what Conan's pupils look like in true DetCo fashion, which I'd say confirms he doesn't feel threatened at the moment.

(If we really must give it a critical interpretation, maybe the bit feels a little like a joke falling flat because it was made during an otherwise tense moment and it has nothing to do with the bigger issue.)

It's also worth noting how Akai's dig directly ties into his own circumstances, which possibly helps with lowering the "offensive" charge of the words. It's not a direct accusation, but rather a mildly humorous, harmless observation about their shared status (presumed dead by the enemy).

The biggest thing about both scenes is still, however, the fact that Akai unfailingly frames the subject in a way that leaves the choice of whether to actually talk about it completely up to Conan. He definitely recognizes his position as privileged/advantaged, but actively chooses not to make use of that, and he hasn't treated Conan any differently ever since verifying his suspicions either.

(Sidenote: I do believe that keeping the kid's identity from his own colleagues is also a strategic choice. Like I mentioned before, outing Conan would mean outing Haibara, and I do believe Akai's promise to protect Shiho also includes keeping her far away from any government agency who may be interested in what she knows— and what she's done.)

In conclusion: I am extremely normal about random interactions between these two and also I think that Conan's unshakeable trust in Akai stems from how the guy has been treating him ever since they started collaborating— with genuine respect (and even admiration) and never actually making him feel cornered the way so many others do, whether intentionally or not. This results in occasional sillygoofy privileges because Akai can recognize the time and the place in which it's acceptable to tease the Cone.

[burningcheese-merchant]

Wake up, BurningCheese/GoldenSpice babes, new poorly drawn blorbos just dropped

They look cooler in my head, I swear.

the images didn't show up the first time wtf lol

The kids are finally here, yay. I promised I'd show you them, and I finally stopped being an asshole and followed through. Almost got 200 followers and I'm very grateful for it - really, I'm nobody. I'm just some clown who says dumb stuff and makes dumb memes and writes cringey stories, and yet I convinced almost 200 people to tune in. Thank you all so much, users on here and anons in my inbox alike. As a token of appreciation, you can all endure my rambling about my OCs and witness a person in their early 20s draw like a 12 year old.

The boy is Pepper Jack (or Pepper Jack Cookie). He's the firstborn and older than his sister by a few years. He takes after his mother in a lot of ways, primarily in her appearance (save for nabbing his father's red eyes). He's incredibly bright (and a smartass lol), preferring to think his way out of conflict rather than fight his way out... not that he's above violence at all, if that glaive doesn't give it away lol. He harbors a deep sense of love and loyalty towards his family and his peoples, and carries the weight of his responsibilities and heritage with as much confidence and poise as he can muster. (There are/will be times where he stumbles, of course. He's not perfect. He struggles a lot more than he lets on, really. But he tries his best, for everyone's sake.)

The girl is Matar Paneer (or Matar Paneer Cookie). Again, she's the younger one by a few years. She was all but made in her father's image, save for inheriting her mother's eyes. She's a little firecracker: lively and fun-loving and stubborn as a mule. She doesn't ask "can I have/do this thing", she tells you "I'm going to have/do this thing". Golden is proud as anything to see her daughter be so greedy... until that greed comes into conflict with her and Spice's authority lol. But she's a good kid, despite being such a handful. She has an enormous heart and is not afraid to stand up for others/what's right, and she loves her parents and brother more than anything in the world. She might doubt her own capabilities, she might secretly fear that she's not strong enough to do what she needs to... but she keeps pushing anyway, because she'd honestly choose death over quitting.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, Pepper Jack's wings are blue lol. There's an actual reason for that. And that USO (Unidentified Sitting Object) in Matar Paneer's hair is a lotus (the cheese one in the GCK decor set lol). There's a reason for that, too. I thought it would be cool to give Jack a glaive and swap out the normal blade for that of a khopesh sword (glaives are not Egyptian, they only saw use in Asia and Europe, but I just HAD to give him a glaive), to add that Egyptian touch. Paneer's supposed to be wearing a pattu pavadai, it's a traditional Indian dress for young girls. It's a blouse plus a skirt. She's holding katar, Indian knives (Cilantro Cobra has them, too). And her hair's supposed to be in a low ponytail.

Merchant thinks that if they explain what their terrible drawings are supposed to convey, people will understand their intended vision and the pain will stop

I sat down and did research into both Egyptian and Hindu mythology for the sake of drawing inspiration for them both. I'll explain in detail in another post, but basically: both of them take after one Egyptian god and one Hindu god each. Golden takes after Ra and Spice takes after Shiva, so I figured I'd follow along that line.

Please flood my inbox with questions about them now. I've really been dying to talk about them for ages now. I've drafted extensive character sheets for them both, I even made up in-game descriptions for them lol. They're my little fankid blorbos and I love them :') I hope you all come to love them, too

(Also, I'm sorry they're on lined paper. I'm visiting family rn and that's the only paper my grandmother has in her house. I'd have to drive to a stationery to get printer paper and I'd really rather not drive in this particular country lol (shit roads, even shittier drivers). I'll doodle them on printer paper whenever somebody remembers to bring me some)

[frenchbreadandeggs]

HOW DO THEY KISS

♱ includes: takakura "okarun" ken, enjoji "jiji" jin, ayase momo, zuma unji

♱ warnings: character/s from the manga

OKARUN

he was nervous at first. he overthinks every aspect of the kiss. okarun is the type of person to rehearse how to lean in, how to angle his head, and whether he should close his eyes. all of that just to fail his kiss to you. it was messy, he couldn’t stop shaking and sweating as his lips were puckered out while touching yours, his eyes were shut closed too scared to open it ever again. and after the kiss he would blush crazy, red as a tomato. he would shout (unintentionally) “was it okay?!”

JIJI

oh don’t even expect a non-funny way for him to kiss you tbh. jiji’s kisses are unpredictable and loooves to catch you off-guard to see your embarrassed expression. like he would kiss you on the cheek quickly following to your lips. though at times he is actually an endearing guy, brushing your hair away and cup your cheeks before leaning into a sweet kiss. he’s also cheeky afterwards, saying, “see, told ya i’d make your heart race”

MOMO

momo’s kisses are actually straightforward yet sincere. not a person with big gestures or any of those super romantical kisses. she kisses you as if she’s anchoring you to the moment, her lips warm and steady against yours. momo might hold your hand or gently brush her fingers along your jaw. she is also a tease, “i think you’ve got something on your lips”

ZUMA

he has this old school romantic thing where he’ll hold your hand or place his palm on your waist. his kisses are slow and gentle, taking both of your time like no one’s around and he makes sure you feel cherished. after the kiss, he would rest his forehead against yours and says something like, “you deserve everything”

a/n: hey y'all thank you sm cuz i js got back to tumblr from a busy week and my notifs were BOMBARDED. it's super short tho i have some drafts waiting. but anws thanks again! about adding Saint-Germain, it might take a while since we haven't known him a lot in the recent manga just a couple chapters of him so it'll be a little tricky trying to make a fic about him, tho he's in my list already!

[demon-country]

The fact that it's taxidermy is especially noteworthy because of how fucking expensive it is. Blitz may be blowing through his money at an alarming rate, but at minimum a taxidermy owl is gonna be around US$200, with the higher end ones going for upwards of around US$2,000. At just US$200, 300 taxidermy owls would be around US$60,000.

Granted, the going price for it might be different in hell (assuming there even are owls in hell, otherwise he'd have to somehow order them from earth establishments), but it's still going to be pretty damn expensive, just because of how much work goes into it and the fact that you can't just use any dead animal, it has to be one that has a completely intact body without any holes and its feathers haven't been trashed. The limited number of owl carcasses that fit that criteria and the even more limited number of taxidermists who have access to those owls is also why you can't actually buy taxidermy owls in bulk from a single place, especially on such short notice. Which means they weren't actually an impulse buy like the horse plates likely were. He'd have had to go out of his way to find a lot of people who were making and selling them. Which means them being taxidermy is a deliberate choice he made again and again and again.

We know he got the owls because they reminded him of Stolas, who he desperately misses. And he likely burned them because they hurt too much to look at, and/or because he's using it as a way to hurt himself with the "reminder" that he destroys everyone he loves - just like how he bought the horse plates specifically so he could "sell them next year for three times as much, and then [he'll] have something to show for it when the things [he] cares about vanish", i.e. so he could hurt himself every time he looks at them, because he knows that he's going to have to give them up even though he clearly really likes them. But the fact that they're taxidermy ones is so specific it's hard to believe there wasn't a meaningful reason for it. And the only other character we know of who has even mentioned taxidermy is Octavia, who has a passion for it.

So it'd make a lot of sense if they're at the very least tangentially related to Octavia in Blitz's mind, like if he got taxidermy owls because taxidermy + owls reminds him of Octavia, which then reminds him of Stolas, or something. But it's also possible that he bought them specifically because they remind him of both Octavia and Stolas, but once he actually got the owls he started spiraling even harder, which is how he landed on burning them to get rid of them rather than just throwing them away or returning them. Because if he is doing it as a way to hurt himself and remember that he hurt them, then what better way to do that than to use fire? Burning bridges, destroying families, etc. It'd be just like him to purposefully retraumatize himself as punishment. Even if he couldn't bring himself to watch it happen (although he may have watched a few of them being burned at first), just knowing it's happening would still hurt him.

I'm not sure if he mourns the relationship they might have had - although I definitely agree that he'd be a great step-father to her - but based on his memory sideshow he at the very least clearly regrets inadvertently hurting her and "tearing apart" her family. I wonder if burning them hurts him even more then, to know that he's destroying a bunch of things he knows she would love.

Another thing about burning the taxidermy owls…

Obviously, on its face, he’s getting rid of things that remind him of Stolas (though he’s also bringing those things into his home in the first place when he didn’t need to) and subconsciously engaging in terrible coping mechanisms to drive the remaining people in his life away to get the inevitable abandonment over with, already.

But I find it interesting he’s using taxidermied owls and not, like, stuffed animal ones. Or photos. Hell, even dead ones on the side of the road. Taxidermied ones.

One of Octavia’s hobbies is taxidermy.

We never see Stolas interact with Loona and we see Blitz interact with Octavia once to call her ‘sweetie’ in Loo Loo Land. Which makes sense. They’re not in a romantic relationship. They have no reason to go out of their way for each other’s child (though my little Italian heart BALKS at the idea of not even saying ‘hi’ to my situationship’s child. Who raised you?? Wait. Don’t answer that. I know who raised you and he fucking sucks).

Does Blitz know Octavia likes taxidermy? I’m sure Stolas told him. He’s a girl dad. There’s no way he doesn’t talk about her constantly. And Blitz has no reason to dislike Octavia. Even though she broke into his office to steal the grimoire, he spends most of the episode making sure Stolas doesn’t have a panic attack. He’s never angry or upset about it. I think he understands she’s 17 and going through it, even if the ‘it’ is not something he’s knowledgeable about.

Was Blitz maybe, possibly, just a little, thinking that he could have another daughter in Octavia? That Loona could have a little sister? Is he also, even just a little, mourning that loss?

[cripplecharacters]

I have a character who is nonverbal, intellectually disabled, and uses an AAC device. I'm wondering how I would write down her inner thoughts and monologue? Would she think in full English sentences, in AAC symbols, or something else?

Hi asker,

I will start off by letting you know that there is no single definitive answer for this, but I still have thoughts and ideas.

So, as for the question of would she think in AAC symbols or English sentences, that really depends on your character. It could be either.

Some nonverbal people, but not all, don't think in words at all, but more in images or associations, so this could be the case of your character and might even be part of why they are nonverbal and need AAC. (Some people who aren't nonverbal also don't think in words either, but your character is, so that's what I'll focus on here!)

Your character could also think in words. They might think entirely in words, or partly. They might think in what you would think of as more 'standard' English sentences, or maybe more simplified sentences.

For example, it's common for people with ID to use simpler syntax and/or less abstract language. But language abilities are a wide range, and this can extend to AAC usage. Some people might use more complex sentences, while some might might only be able to use two words in a sentence. Some people might get the hang of pronouns, and some might not. Some people might get the hang of conjugating verbs, some might not. Some people speak more slowly or with more pauses. You have a lot of leeway in how to conceptualize your character's thoughts.

I want to add one thing: a lot of ways that people with ID people can speak are used to make fun of people. Slower speech, simple sentences, not conjugating some words, stuff like that. If you include this, you have to take care to make sure that the message you’re sending by including them is “some people just talk like this” and not “isn’t it so funny/weird/gross/weird that some people talk this way? Let’s make fun of it/focus on how weird and different (derogatory) it is”.

However, the limitations of a written medium is that at the end of the day you will in fact have to use words to write what is going on in her brain, even if she doesn't think in words.

So I would say: focus on figuring out how your character manages language, since there’s many different ways they can, and then once you decide that it might be easier to figure out exactly how to write them. Mod sasza has even more points below!

Hope this helps,

mod sparrow

Hi, I'd consider how your character learned language. If her first exposure was a symbol-based AAC device, there's a higher chance she'd think in AAC symbols than if she first communicated via sign language or anything else that's not a symbol-based AAC device.

I'm fully verbal and actually mostly think in associations and other non-language ways like pictures (though when I'm imagining things like an actual conversation, I do use language). That's why for me and a lot of other people with ID (verbal or not) it can take longer to think of what to say; you need to translate your thoughts to language first.

With your character having much more severe language disability than me, I'd guess that she either used very simple sentence construction or that you'd have to describe her thoughts in a less direct manner (associations or visuals), which will be more time-consuming to write and more cryptic to readers (which makes it realistic, communication with people with significant language problems takes longer, if mind reading was real it would apply to it too).

You should definitely consider the things mentioned by Sparrow; whether she understands pronouns, conjugation, can she differentiate similar words correctly (e.g., love/like, handsome/pretty), etc.

Depending on her level of ID, she might think "I'm hungry" as anything between "Damn, I wish I was eating a burger right now" (complete English sentence) through "Yes food" (in which "yes" means positive rather than agreeing with someone) or "Images of her home kitchen flashed through her head" (simply associating kitchen with the feeling of hunger), to "Two symbols from her board; one meaning 'me' with the second showing an empty plate, went through her mind over and over". There is a big difference between a person with mild ID who might be unable to speak because they can't coordinate their mouth to make actual words but don't struggle with grammar at all, and a person with a profound ID whose entire AAC board is "yes" and "no" (or not even that, but I wanted an example to show what could be someone's existing-but-very-limited language ability).

Obviously some of these are more clunky, some are less so. But the way a lot of nonverbal ID people communicate isn't perfectly clear and direct, and there is a lot of variety in the manner that it shows.

I also wrote this post about speech in intellectual disability that you might find useful. I hope this helps !

mod Sasza

[sunsinourhands]

That Time I Reincarnated as a Lewd Monster Man Exorcist

The Cave Slime was a lot bigger than the guild scouting party reported. Bigger. Tougher. Stronger. More Aggressive. Was it possible for slimes to be mean? Were Dire Slimes even a thing? Charlotte, as a Guild Receptionist, was tasked with filling out report on the expedition. Was she a member of the Adventurer’s Guild? Yes. But, she wasn’t an adventurer! She wasn’t prepared for this! 

So why the hell did the Slime grab both the cute young redhead rogue from the guild and also Charlotte?! If this happened to be some sort of perverted, naughty-tentacle situation, Lin Lin was an obvious choice! After all, the young rogue was barely into her twentieth year: svelt and slim where she was supposed to be and perky where it counted. Lin Lin looked like she belonged in this world. And she had the speed and dexterity that suited her class. Ah, youth was wonder—that was not the point! 

The point was that Charlotte, pushing 33, and now an unwilling victim of gravity and a slowing metabolism, was also getting dragged off by the giant blue slime towards what was probably the back of the cave. Hopefully not to die via digestion. Charlotte never would have said she was particularly ugly. But, she was decidedly softer than she was in her first world, over a decade ago in her college days. Especially around the thighs and her stomach. And, well, she just wasn’t quite as ‘proud and perky’ as she was back in the day, even if she had gained a little fullness. 

When she first came to the second world, Charlotte did receive a class. Was it a fighter? Or a wizard? Would she get to shoot fireballs and Drago-Slaves like she had always wanted? Hell no. Her class was stated as ‘Lewd Exorcist’ but there was a little asterisk by it. A popup stated, as if making fun of her, ‘You can pacify angry monsters by getting fucked by them.’ 

All of this had to be a punishment of some kind. Was it because she masturbated too much to fictional characters? Or because she spent her money on custom dildos ostensibly shaped like the genitals of various fantasy monsters? Or was it her secret tentacle kink? 

Regardless, Charlotte had decided that maybe she needed a change. Her and eyes had changed to a dark, almost pine dark green. So maybe she should give up the Pervert Life and try to be normal. She decided to forget her class—which was probably just divine punishment of some kind—and get a secure, stable, and less dangerous job. 

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Charlotte noted that she would have to get a new Guild Uniform. Because the one she wore got all kinds of torn up, and was only shredding more. Some of is was probably just gone. 

It was fucking dark, ok? Charlotte couldn’t see anything, and there were no torches or magic stones along the wall to provide any light. For an undetermined amount of time, Charlotte could only feel the tight grip of the slime’s (tentacle? Pseudopod?) around her midsection as it carried her deeper and deeper into the cave. 

The worst thing was that Charlotte knew she had bought innumerable erotica stories and hentai doujins of nearly this exact situation in her past world. And it was decidedly less sexy when she thought this really might end in a very painful, very slow death. But, some horrible, horny part of her brain commented that this could very well be a dream come true. 

That part of her brain needed to learn to shut up. 

I shouldn’t have been such a horn dog, Charlotte thought. 

Or maybe I should have not been such a coward and actually learned to fight or something. Anything, she mentally lamented. 

Eventually, the darkness gave way to the tiniest light. More, then a little more. And it occurred to Charlotte that the slime was actually taking Lin Lin and herself towards a light source. After a little more time, Charlotte could make out the shape of her hand, then a handful of other, close things in an eerie green light. There, who-knew-how-deep into the cave system, there was a space the size of a small stable covered in strange plants with flowers that cast light. 

The Slime dropped Lin Lin into a make-shift cage built from thin, acid-burned lengths of stone. Then, using more strength than it should have possessed, the slime pulled a flat sheet of iron on top. 

It tossed Charlotte onto the cave floor. 

Or…set her? 

That didn’t feel right to say. But, it wasn’t nearly as rough as it could have been, even though Charlotte still ended up on her butt. 

Before Charlotte could begin pondering the unique horrors of a Slime that could use tools and pre-meditate its actions, it began to change. She was reminded of play-dough. Or, perhaps, that toy slime that kids were obsessed with before she got pulled into the other world. The slime stretched, twisted, and folded in on itself like a giant, invisible pair of hands was sculpting it. The cool, aqua blue of the creature then shifted into a bright, fluorescent green. 

Then the Slime seemed to somehow condense itself into a tighter, more defined form. Eventually, it formed the shape like a person with no fine detail. The figure seemed to have long hair pulled up into a tail, which then split off into a thick pile of slimy green tendrils. 

Ah, this must be my lucky day. I’m really going to eat great tonight. With no vocal cords, the slime seemed to telepathically express itself. The words and strange voice just wriggled into Charlotte’s head. 

It paused, then turned its featureless, flat face towards Charlotte. 

What an expression. Not like she can actually hear me. It laughed. 

Unless…she actually can? It seemed amused. 

Charlotte must not have been to keep up a pokerface. 

Perfect! The Slime’s telepathic voice bubbled. 

Half a dozen glistening, featureless tentacles shot forward from the creature. 

[ae-neon]

Okay, ramble about Feyris (part 1?)

Please keep in mind that this idea isn't tailored to your or sjms versions of the characters but more the concepts and themes of the books as well as what would have made for a more sensible and cohesive work (imo)

The concept of acomaf as a whole was the transformation of Feyre as well as the "reveal" of Rhysand's character. I say reveal tho I think it was also more of a transformation, because we're gonna respect what the work was TRYING to do

Eris actually has the better set-up for an enemies to lovers, villain is misunderstood, villain wins etc arc

Whatever fans might say, TAR is still the first installment of the series. It matters.

And while Rhysand himself is pretty well established as one of the main characters, he plays an awkward role - a complex, morally ambiguous character caught up in a very black and white plot. In terms of worldbuilding the night court is not given much and almost everything Rhysand does is retconned later anyway. He's interesting, yes, but it's almost painfully obvious that sjm had a change of heart halfway and a lot of the plot is retroactively built around him being endgame

Eris is not in TAR or at least appears very minimally (it's been years, forgive me) but the strings that might later connect him to Feyre are very solidly established in book 1 : her friendship with Lucien, her being helped utm by LoA and Beron being the first to offer his power to revive her. Even her being with Tamlin but I'll come back to that.

One of my personal gripes with the standard romantasy couple where the FMC is introduced to a new world is that she is socially cocooned, which diminishes her as a character. And yes, Feyre has her sisters and for 0.5 points out of 10, I'll count Isaac Hale but her parents, her village, her whole fucking country go unnamed. The worldbuilding around her is almost nonexistent. So her having these connections to Eris, through these third parties, creates a social web that while not completely isolated from him, still BELONGS TO HER. the connections she forms with these people might be influenced by him but they are established outside of him

The same cannot be said from the IC and Rhysand which is why it's sad but unsurprising they betray her to her possible death. They BELONG TO HIM and no amount of boozed up Christmas montages is gonna change that.

And mind you I said Eris had the better SET-UP and that Rhysand would have benefitted from being in the book less. The set-up being that Feyre's best Fae Friend Forever, Lucien - someone the audience won't question and feels for - vouches that his brother is a power hungry monster. Eris as the endgame would leave MAF more room to explore because we are still setting him up as a villain AND subverting that with Moments™ or inconsistencies, interactions etc

Whereas in canon, halfway through TAR Rhysand shows up to the party and immediately reveals he isn't "actually" evil - which disqualifies MAF from the Villain Wins AND slow burn categories. Their romance is also immediately hinted at by the flirting and Rhysand's YOURE MY MATE 😱 moment at the end so it's not like we even enter MAF with any real guesses on what's gonna happen. By WAR all the tension in the series sits on Nessian moments, the idea that something might happen to Feyre in Spring and the hope/dread that one of the IC might die. None of those things happened btw. WAR was anti-climactic trash

But Imagine WAR including some autumn scheming, hinged on Eris betraying Beron in the thick of the war and getting away with it, or setting up his brothers to die in a way that didn't implicate him so his mom wouldn't hate him - all this while Feyris is still in their will they won't they stage

And like I said in the other post Eris unlike Rhysand actually has the material conditions necessary to create and maintain this Mask of cruelty. He is under the thumb of his father, he cannot trust his brothers, he does not want to lose his mother, the place where he lives is not some locked away liberal paradise but a cutthroat and ruthless Court - making a pawn out of then falling in love with The Cursebreaker™ on top of all of that would be INTERESTING and stressful

Rhysand post TAR is just fucking around?? Every plan he has is objectively stupid because he creates his own hurdles?? and fails?? which retroactively kills his mysterious scheming mastermind vibe. Most powerful HL and can't even get an artifact from his own subject, MIND YOU HES A DAEMATI!! Oh but let Keir say whore and suddenly it's easy to control him, SHUT THE FU-

ANYWAYS

Imagine part of MAF or WAR being Feyre and Lucien deepening their friendship because she bridged the divide between the first and last born Vanserras? That's meaningful character content for all three. Not like a 4 page coming out to a girl you've known for 6 months because you apparently can't trust your "family" of 500 years...

Rounding this back to Tamlin, sorry but the Spring vs Night family feud is boring and I don't care about it because we don't know anyone involved. Oh his nameless, faceless mom and sister died? Oh...😕 Well...

But with the Lucien, Jesminda, Vanserra bros etc we at least have Lucien who is alive and BOTH THE AUDIENCE AND FEYRE care about independently from Eris

That would make Feyre trusting Eris so much more of a risk and maybe even an initial betrayal to Lucien - putting her friendship at risk. REAL STAKES, REAL WEIGHT BEHIND HER DECISIONS

The Vanserras relationships are also a good parallel for the complicated feelings Feyre has about her own family, which would help her dark maga moment feeling like she belongs in Autumn and not Spring feel more organic and rooted in her character and worldbuilding rather than just switching aesthetics to fit in with her love interest

*

ADD and tiredness kicking in but I think I'll post about them again sometime soon

[lastoneout]

In retrospect I do think that the story was going for a "this is the one person you can't save" thing with her, or trying to speak to how limited your abilities as a cop are and how being a cop means some people are just never going to be comfortable interacting with you ever, or even is just trying to make you side with Cuno to make you think about what sort of misogynistic beliefs Harry or you or both have unconsciously absorbed, but it still feels a little mean-spirited to have the person you can't save be a tiny kid when you CAN save the other tiny kid AND you can get the Hardie Boys to like you even though they also fucking hate you and don't want to cooperate AND you can peacefully talk down a woman having a mental breakdown while holding a gun you aren't 100% isn't loaded AND you can let Ruby go, and, and, ect. You know? Like I can tell the Hardie Boys to go help The Pigs bcs she's just an old lady going through a mental health episode, but I can't suggest like....anyone? Go check on a single kid who is going through it and clearly in need of some serious intervention, especially intervention that doesn't come from the actual police, but rather a community that takes care of it's own?

There are so many characters that hate the cops and don't want to work with you that you can help, having the one person beyond your scope be a tiny child who has clearly been through hell just. It feels bad. But I do think it's entirely possible that it's supposed to feel bad specifically to make you think about why, and I won't fault the game for presenting an imperfect world where shit doesn't always work out just to make you think about your own biases, that does seem to be very much what the devs were going for in a lot of places.

But regardless of if it's the point or not, seeing so many people just accept what the story is saying at face value without any consideration for circumstances or internalized biases or whatever the writers might be trying to say without saying, it just sucks. We can argue all day about what the story is trying to do with any character, but it's clear the reasons you can't get through to Cunoesse all have to do with the character you're playing and the world he exists in, agreeing that Cunoesse is a lost cause who should be treated like a horrid monster shows that someone has either bought in to exactly what the game is(possibly) trying to critique OR just that they believe that it's possible for a child to be so evil they are no longer worth trying to help, which is profoundly cruel.

Idk, it's an interesting game for sure. I just wish people weren't coming away from that part believing that you're right to abandon a traumatized 10 year old because she did something bad and handled/is handling it extremely poorly.

Gotta say. I am NOT a fan of the way people on reddit talk about Cunoesse.

[everlastingday]

rewatching the episode instead of working like a good employee and i think my favourite thing about the loft scene is actually how it is such a clear depiction of how different the strand vs reyes family dynamics are, and how different tk and carlos's individual relationships with their families are. and how even in a relationship, in a marriage, they are two distinct people.

on rewatch, it seems more clear to me that for tk, the question of taking jonah in isn't even a real question. we've seen the strands (i'm also including gwyn in this) drop everything, no questions asked, for their family members. it's the way gwyn packed up her life in new york to go live with her ex-husband and son after her son was shot (but already well on his way to recovery). it's the way owen, probably living in a new york apartment that is not big enough for two, forced tk to live with him after his relapse. it's the way owen dragged tk out to austin, even if it means that tk might resent him for it. it's the way owen, despite his ego, agreed to raise gwyn's unborn child as his own even though she never asked that of him. it's the way owen agreed to help his half-brother end his life after only having met him a handful of times.

for tk and his family, being ride or die for your family literally means that, and it doesn't require being asked to do it. it's just something you do, because that's family. so to me, it does make sense for tk to have assumed that carlos was on board. now i'm not saying it was right, or fair to carlos, but it makes sense for his character i think. and i think that for tk, it might not necessarily link back to their discussion about kids in 4x12, because this isn't about him wanting to be a dad. i'm not even entirely sure tk thinks of jonah as a brother-son yet. to him, that's just his little brother and he will do anything for him, even if that means upheaving his entire life.

so when carlos questions why he would think of taking jonah in when enzo didn't ask him to, i think there's a bit of an unspoken, "well why does he have to ask?", because that's how his family operates.

the reyes family just doesn't seem to operate that way, from what little we know of them. they LOVE each other, that's for sure. they have their weekly lunches, andrea is literally the most wonderful, loving mother, and gabriel might seem strict but he's actually a big ol' teddy bear that would do anything for his kids. but you can get the sense that carlos and his family love each other in a different way. he doesn't want to impose on them, or make their life more difficult than it has to be, because he loves them so much. the fact that he doesn't even think of his family to help with childcare is very telling of this - he doesn't not think of them because he's not close with them, but because he is.

i think carlos is 100% justified in being so critical and he absolutely is right to have expected tk to come to him first, but i also think that tk's desperation and defensiveness is so understandable and very on brand. and to be clear, there's no one right way to love your family. i think maybe that's also why i really loved this scene because i think it just highlighted how tk and carlos love in different ways, and it's directly a result of the way they were raised.

[zephyr-rat]

Arcane Season 2 Act 2 Thoughts: Shockingly Cheap

The more I think about Arcane season 2, act 2, the more cracks I see in the story. To me, it's definitely the weakest of the 5 acts of Arcane we have seen. I do have my complaints with the general canon and direction, but I don't believe such criticisms are that helpful. I'll make another post concerning what canon Green Giant Saga ends up following (My Zac/Twitch fanfic series) that will have those complaints.

Instead, I'll just focus on my biggest problems with act 2

Characters Exist as Plot Devices for other Characters

There just seems to be a lot of characters that just act as props. Isha, a small non-verbal child with death flags everywhere, just exists to force Jinx to turn a new leaf. Warwick just exists to provide a potential happy ending for the Warwick/Vi/Jinx family so that the writers can take it away in emotional gut punches. Orianna (I think), a dead kid in a capsule, just exists to make Singed more sympathetic. That whole warden squad with Maddie, fish-guy, and big-guy? Maddie just exists to be Caitlyn's conscious for a scene and Big-guy just exists to show how much Vi deteriorates after the events of Act 1.

This in of itself doesn't need to be a bad thing. If you want to look at it in a very utilitarian, doylist perspective, all characters exist to tell a cohesive story with a clear theme. Not all characters will get the spotlight and must simply exist to support other characters, especially in a story with only 9 episodes, but it's getting very annoying how seemingly important these characters are to the plot when they're given little depth.

Isha and Warwick, to me, are the worse offenders. Isha who plays a significant role in redeeming Jinx, is a non-verbal kid with little backstory and interiority other than she wants Jinx to be Zaun's hero. She just exists to be so innocent and cute that even Jinx sympathizes with her, but with so little depth, she might as well just be a teddy bear. (I'd also point out that this does a disservice to Sevika who should've been more in Jinx's corner but just disappears from act 2 after episode 4... ugh..)

Warwick feels more like they revived Vander's corpse for more tragedy points. They really hammer home how much Vander wanted to take care of Jinx and Vi as kids with 2 big music video sequences. Vi even thinks about living in Viktor's cult town as a happy family, a happy scenario that exists so that the writers can gut punch us with the tragedy that's about to come. Season 1 had the sappy dad too, but what made it work for me was that it's combined with his reluctance to advocate for change in the undercity and his struggles of being a parent in grimdark capitalism as he tries to guide Vi to be a better leader. But now, with all of his rank and the context stripped down from him, he's just the sad dad character that gives the character fake hope.

So when Isha goes to blow Warwick and the attacking Noxians up with an overloaded gun, destroying the hopes of the main characters, I didn't feel emotional or sad or anything, because ultimately they just felt more like props to me instead of actual characters, and this is a big issue for act 2. If act 1 belongs to Caitlyn, then act 2 belongs to the Jinx/Vi/Warwick family and those 2 characters are extremely important to that plotline. Them being props, flattens the impact dramatically and makes it cheap.

If you felt very emotional during that scene, good for you! I'm happy you were able to be that invested. I'm just not one of you.

Less Political Intrigue

Part of what made Arcane really cool was that it highlighted the politics of Piltover-Zaun in a way that made the setting one of the main characters. You totally understand why Zaun acts the way they do and why Piltover acts the way they do and seeing the characters get entangled by that setting is deeply fascinating. It's part of the reason why Arcane is a great introduction to the Piltover-Zaun region. I'm also just a big fan of the setting and the political discussions you can have with it. (Green Giant Saga ends up doing this a lot)

And season 2 does continue that with act 1 and even episode 4. Ambessa making Caitlyn a dictator by exploiting her grief? Great! Mel trying desperately to do political damage control to avoid a war? Cool! Making Jinx a political figure to unite Zaun around even if she doesn't feel comfortable with it? Awesome!

But then with episode 5 and episode 6, the role of the setting diminishes. We start focusing more on the Warwick problem separate from the setting. Most of episode 5 takes place in a mine and most of episode 6 takes place in Viktor's cult town in the sumps, an isolated bubble away from Piltover-Zaun. Mel, the main figure leading that political aspect, got teleported away by the Black Rose. There are specs of it there like Singed agreeing to track down Warwick and make weapons for Noxus, but it doesn't play as large of a role like in previous acts, and it just can't. Not when we need to bring Warwick in since the act belongs to him. However, I already mentioned why he felt cheap, and the lack of integration with the setting, especially compared to previous acts, makes it feel all the more cheaper.

Now I will still say, Arcane season 2, act 2 is still good. It never bored me and it did keep me hooked on the screen. I just wouldn't call it great like I did the others acts of Arcane and the more I look at act 2, the more cheap it feels.

[evervigilantnightshade]

The Line - Part 4

Reader and John have always straddled the line between playful flirting and taking things further. However when they are forced into a safe house and a secret comes out will they be able to save what they were heading for or is all lost.

Reader x John Price, Ghost, Soap, Gaz, Laswell, Original characters.

Warnings for series: Angst, violence towards reader, reader attacked by men, a pup gets hurt (but don't worry he's ok) Blood, fluff, flirting, a bit of light smut. Death and killing on missions, Father of reader's death mentioned.

Authors note: Price is mean in this one so apologies in advance. Also soft Konig is my favorite.

MASTERLIST

Y/N woke up the next morning, her head pounding. She barely slept because she kept wanting to go to Price’s room and just explain herself. She wanted to tell him everything. Including how she felt about him. But then she thought about what Simon said and he was right. They couldn’t be sure no one was listening to them. 

After showering and packing up her things Y/N headed downstairs and dropped her bag at the bottom of the stairs. She grabbed Simon’s pack and made her way to the kitchen, slightly limping. When she saw he was the only one up she was relieved. 

“You got any more painkillers in here?” She asked dropping his bag at his side.�� 

“Your leg hurtin ya?” He asked, rummaging in his bag. 

“Leg, head, heart.” She replied while she made herself a coffee. 

“Well this will help your head and your leg, and as much as I’d like to help your heart I can’t. Yet.”

“It’s ok.” Y/N said, swallowing the pills down. 

She stretched her leg out in front of her and hissed. 

“We should rebandage that, while no one else is around.” he said and grabbed his kit out of his bag. 

“Right here?” Y/N asked, glancing around. 

“No one else is up, it’s just you an me. What are ya worried about anyways? Someone seeing your arse.’”  

Y/N glared at him and stood up, undoing her pants. She had them about half way down when Soap walked into the kitchen. 

“Whoa. Sorra.” He said turning around instantly. 

“Oh for fuck sakes get in here you idiot.” Y/N said and then sat down on the chair in front of Simon. 

Soap walked by them and he glanced over as Simon took off the bandage around the wound. 

“Jesus lass, ye git tha’ last night?” 

“Yeah, that patrol. It’s nothing.” 

Simon was inspecting the wound. He frowned and then pressed the edge of it. 

“What the fuck Si.” Y/N said, gripping her leg above the wound. 

“It’s lookin a little red around the edges. I’m going to give you a shot of penicillin.” 

“Ye git a whole drugstore in there ol man?” Soap grinned

“Been caught out one too many times. Now I’m always prepared.” Simon grunted as he filled the syringe. 

He was just plunging the needle into Y/N’s thigh when Price and Gaz walked in. 

“What the hell happened.” Price asked

He was looking at her with concern and for a moment she thought he might actually still care about her. 

“Happened last night, just a scratch. She’ll be fine.” Simon answered 

Y/N was watching him closely and his face went from concern to anger. 

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you didn’t tell me Sergeant.” 

Y/N felt her heart break. She looked at Simon who gave her leg a small squeeze of encouragement. She straightened her back and looked at Price.

“Apologies Captain, I won't let it happen again.”

“Damn right it won’t.” 

“Cap,” Soap started but Price turned and left the room. 

“Y/N, he’ll come around, just give ‘em time.” Gaz said and Soap gave her an encouraging smile.

“Just hurry up will you. We have a plane to catch.” 

The flight to Germany was quiet. Soaps contact had gotten them a private jet which shocked the team. Gaz kept taking selfies of himself drinking champagne and talking about how one day he’d have a plane like this. Everyone could tell she wanted to be left alone so Y/N sat in the back staring out the window.

It was a short flight, and when they landed there was a blacked out SUV waiting for them. A woman got out and told Simon that Konig was waiting for them at the safe house and gave them the keys. The drive took about an hour and the air was tense. Eventually they arrived at a house in seemingly the middle of nowhere, forest surrounding them. 

Konig was waiting at the front door to greet the team. He was so big he took up the whole door frame and was wearing his signature black mask that covered his entire face except his eyes. As they exited the car Konig spread his arms out and motioned around them. 

“Zis is good, nein?” 

Y/N chuckled as her and Simon made their way over to him. 

“You never disappoint.” She said to him and he winked at her. 

“If only you knew liebling (darling).” 

When she reached him he pulled into a massive bone breaking hug, lifting her off her feet and then placing her back down. 

“Ven are you going to leave zis tiny man for me?” 

“Don’t push it Konig.” Simon grunted beside them. 

“Nein, nein I joke.” He said but then looked over at Y/N and shook his head and whispered. “I don’t joke.” 

“Konig as much as I adore you, I have a team that I’m not willing to leave, Ghost included.” 

“Ja but I can offer you freedom to kill vo you vant. Tempting nein?” 

Y/N laughed and shook her head. 

“Alright you maniac, let’s get you introduced to the team.” 

They walked over to where Soap, Gaz and Price were standing. Y/N motioned at Simon to make the introductions. They all shook his hand and though the team seemed a bit taken back by Konig they were all polite and respectful. When they were done with the introductions Konig clapped his hands together. 

“Ok time to drink.” He started heading for the house. 

Simon followed and Y/N stood back. Gaz walked up to her with concern on his face. 

“Do we really have to start drinking? It’s like two in the afternoon!” 

Y/N patted him on the back and smiled. 

“Just pace yourself.” He started to walk towards the house but Y/N grabbed his arm “Don’t drink any Jagger until after dinner.” He nodded and turned again but she grabbed his arm “Or Asbach. Or really anything you can’t pronounce.” 

“Y/N…” Gaz said, looking at her and shaking his head. 

“You’ll be fine.” She said her voice was a bit higher than usual.

“Oh god.” He mumbled as he made his way towards the house. 

Soap had been watching the interaction with amusement but then looked over at Y/N and Price realizing it was just the three of them left. He felt the tension and called out to Gaz to wait up. 

They stood there for a minute and then Y/N turned to speak to him but he just walked past her without saying a word. She rubbed her hands over her face and held back her tears, then took a deep breath to gather herself before making her way into the house. 

Several hours later and the team was well past drunk with the exception of Y/N. She had been nursing her one and only beer for hours and everyone else was too drunk to notice. So slowly picked at the label as she was lost in her thoughts, no longer listening to the conversations around her. 

Gaz and Ghost were signing Come on Eileen and butchering the lyrics while Konig and Soap were attempting to speak to each other but their respective accents were so thick they were going nowhere. 

And then there was Price, the one member of the team that always remains mostly sober was now way past tipsy. He had his arms crossed and was leaning back in his chair, eyes on Y/N. She felt it and looked up to see him glaring at her and that pushed her over the edge. 

“I’m going to bed” she mumbled and got up from the table despite the many protests for her to stay. 

She had made it down the hall to her room and was about to close the door when a hand reached over and pushed it open. Y/N, knowing who it was, just turned and walked over to her bag, allowing Price into her room.

“Listen John, you’re drunk and angry. This isn’t the time to do this.” 

“You don’t get to call me that anymore.” He said angrily and Y/N rubbed her temples 

“Fine Captain, Price, Sir.. whatever you want me to call you. It’s not a good time.” 

“I think it’s the perfect time. You said I’m angry, damn right I am. You lied to me, kept things for me and played games with me. Thank god it was only about sex or I would be even madder than I am now.”

“Just about sex?” Y/N asked her back still to Price. 

“Yeah, no feelings right? That’s how you do things? At least that’s what you told Gaz. I assume now it’s because of Ghost.” 

“You don’t know the situation John. I’m not what you think I am.” 

“I told you not to call me that. And you’re exactly what I think you are.”

“And what’s that? A whore? A homewrecker?” She was starting to get mad

“If the shoe fits.” He huffed, glaring at her with hate in his eyes. “Brings up a good question actually, does he know? I mean I know he doesn’t mind you flirting you do it all the time, even with the crazy German down there. But thinking back, the times you got real dirty it was just you and me. So does he know? Or is this like a deal you two have? I mean personally I think it’s fucked up but seeing you now for what you really are I can see you’re morals are non existent and you have absolutely no loyalty to anyone.” 

“Get out.” Y/N said a single tear running down her face. “Just get the fuck out.” 

John turned towards the door and then stopped. 

“I want you off the team. Now that I know the only reason you’re here is because Ghost pulled some strings to get you on the team I have no use for you. I should’ve known. I hand picked every member of this team but then Kate hands me a file that had next to no info and insisted you be on the team. So what was it? Did he refuse to join unless we brought you on? Doesn’t matter anyways. I don’t want you anymore and if I lose him in the process so be it. I only want soldiers that deserve to be here, that get in on merit and not their ability to ride a cock. As soon as Bako is dealt with you’re gone.” 

With that he walked out, slamming the door behind him. 

Y/N’s legs gave out from under her and she collapsed as a scream formed in her chest. She lost it. Letting herself completely meltdown. She sat like that for a few moments before big strong hands picked her up and she buried her face into Konig’s chest.

“I’ve got vu liebling. Let it vout.” He cooed as he cradled her in his arms. 

Her body shook as she sobbed for a long time. Konig said nothing, just holding her and rubbing his hand up and down her back. 

When her sobs subsided, he picked her up and moved her to the bed. She laid down and curled herself into the fetal position. 

“Do you vant me to leave?” Konig asked softly and she shook her head no. He climbed into the bed next to her and spooned her. 

“Do you vant to talk about it?” 

Y/N shook her head no again so they laid there for about an hour as tears streamed down her face silently. A million thoughts ran through her mind and John's words cut through her over and over. Eventually she turned over so she was face to face with him. 

“You serious about wanting me to join Kortac?” 

“You know I voud take you in ein heartbeat. Are you zure that you’d vant to join us though? It’s pretty different from vhat you’re doing now. Sometimes ve’re not zee good guys.” 

“I know.” Y/N acknowledged

“And vat about Ghost? You vould just leave him? You two have been together for years.” 

“Maybe it’s time we work apart.” 

“Listen, I heard vat your Captain zaid to you at zee end. That vasn’t fair. You're ein impressive soldier and if vu go on the market, Kortac von’t be zee only ones vanting you. Your reputation alone is formidable.” 

“Yeah well you’d be high on my list.” 

“Danke. Vu should know though, Keegan joined us not too long ago. Vould zat be an issue?” 

“Nah, we fought each other, he shot me, I shot him, we worked out our issues and we’re good now . Plus that was a long time ago.” 

Konig nodded and then yawned. 

“I can’t believe you’re still awake, you drank more than the rest of the team.” 

“Light Veights.” He said Y/N smiled. 

“Alright you go to bed, I have some things to think about.” 

“Vu sure vu don’t vant me to spend zee night?” He asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist. 

“Yeah that would be perfect! And then in the morning John will see you walk out of the room and he’ll call me a whore again.” Y/N said sarcastically. 

“I vould crush his tiny head. Almost did earlier, came to vu instead.” He said sleepily 

“Thank you.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead through his mask. “Now go, before you fall asleep.” 

“Ok but vu come to me if vu need ja?” 

“Ja” Y/N replied as he got up and left the room. 

 After he left the room Y/N reached for her phone. She put in the number, her finger then hovered over the call button. If she did this, it was real. She was admitting defeat. 

“You’re already defeated.” She thought to herself and hit the button. 

It didn’t ring for long before the call connected. 

[hyperfixationcritter]

For me personally, act 1 this season was paced fine and I enjoyed the first episode of act 2 with the exception of not enough mentions of Ekko. This post articulated really well the problems of Ekko's story being divorced from Jinx and Vi's storylines.

But episodes 5 and 6 is when my concerns around how they were going to conclude this story in just one season started to jump out again.

I really enjoyed the Mel scenes and am curious to where they go with it but like this post discussed, I wish she wasn't so removed from everyone else's storylines especially when this is the last season.

I enjoyed Jinx and Vi getting back together and I even think the reason for it, helping Vander, was a good enough catalyst for that but after their big fight at the end of act 1 it did feel kinda sudden.

And then there's episode 6 where Caitlyn siding with Vi and her family just doesn't really feel earned/built up to in a way that makes sense. Also, as you said, bringing back Vander just to kill him off as well as Isha (when Jinx killing Silco last season already did the work of impacting her character and the view of herself as a jinx in a significant way) was just completely unnecessary. And like they did cut it off at the end so maybe there's a small chance one or both of them is still alive or gets revived but even if that's the case, it still felt unnecessary. Isha could just not be dead period and if they wanted Vander to get captured they could've done that differently.

When it comes to Jayce and Viktor's situation, we're purposefully kept in the dark about certain details and I might hold off on some thoughts until act 3 comes out but even then... it doesn't really change the fact that, unsurprisingly to me, the whole class issues are starting to get swept under the rug under the guise of the big picture; threat of Noxus and the nature of different types of magic/the consequences of dabbling into them. And like, maybe I'm being too optimistic but I think it's actually possible to tackle all three of those things in this story just not within the time frame of one season and certainly not if the people behind the scenes don't take a solid stance on the side of the oppressed in their writing (or aren't allowed to by higher ups).

But those are just my two cents on this. I appreciate your thoughts on this.

who's out here feeling

underwhelmed by the latest three episodes of Arcane,and scarred about the direction the narrative is taking?

they spent an entire season, Promising us that it was worth getting invested in the conflict between characters. That everything was gonna pay off and reward the viewers for their investment, only to have reconcile Vi and Jink right after Vi's ultimate, moral betrayal of everything she's ever believed, have Vi and Caitlyn make up off screen, introduce Vander as Warick only to kill him off immediately, have Jayce kill viktor in a conflict that was divorced from everything their relationship was built on (moral conflict based on the class divide who?), have Mel off doing god knows what away from the main conflict, and, to top it all off had the innocent child character die in a pointless act of self-sacrifice.

can't also forget that it looks like they're setting up Ambessa as the absolute villain.

how have they managed to hand wave away so many interesting plot hooks, and interesting, character-driven conflicts?

there is still a good chance the writers will bring it back, but man that was,,, something