#so therefore. they better experience the horrors!

[karamell-sweetz]

*minecraft door opening noise* i have a worse version of that post i had about the next wxs event because apparently the phoenix anniversary production already happened in canary.

the only way i see this arc ending is if something goes absolutely horrendously WRONG. that’s probably because of the dramatics of the last few events (cough cough light up the fire cough cough literally this whole niigo arc cough cough COUGH) but like. i legitimately can’t think of any other way they could end the wxs arc EXCEPT catastrophe!

so therefore… i have a sinking feeling that something’s going to happen to the wonder stage. or the whole park in general. or something else that genuinely threatens wxs functioning as they are now.

oh and running with that wonder stage breaking idea, how bad would it hurt if it was a stage contraption malfunctioning? discussed this with a friend and they suggested maybe nenerobo malfunctions catastrophically and idk the wonder stage fricking explodes or sth. rui angst. i need it. please.

point is. no more wonder stage, maybe. so therefore wxs has no more home base for a while (besides sekai) and emu doesn’t have anywhere to stay while tsukasa and nene go pursue their dreams, thus resulting in all of them having a serious conversation about their feelings FOR ONCE IN THIS GODDAMN GAME AGH. boom. arc ended.

idk where i was really going with this but like. wonder stage malfunction. just… think about it. you can kill me for this one actually /lh /j. *minecraft door closing noise*

[the-ellia-west]

How to make your readers Feel emotions for Dummies

(Horror edition!) aka Make your readers Tense.

Anyway, you want to know how to make your readers angry or tense? Well... have I got some useless tips for you!

First, think about what would make you tense?

Usually, you will write about things that you enjoy, therefore your readers will most likely be similar to you, so you should take your own experiences within media and just... steal them

2. Second, Use short sentences, and add onomatopoeia

Nobody likes having to make their brain work faster. And shorter sentences will actually do that. So using it is very helpful.

For example: Nothing in the house made a noise except for something dripping from the ceiling.

Vs

Nothing in the house moved. Not a noise could be heard. Not even the rustle of wind against the walls, or even her own breath. Save for one thing. Drip, drip, drip. Something falling slowly from the rafters overhead. Then, she knew.

See? Better!

3. Next, you should make sure to dance around the word was

Trust me, it just adds that much more oomph

4. Underdescribe the important shit, Overdescribe the unimportant stuff

I don't have an example for this... uh... have a nice day

5. Make your protagonist likable

Please

6. Show your readers early on you won't hesitate to do something shitty

Like kill off a protagonist who didn't actually matter, do something drastic in the story that shows your readers you aren't fucking around

Good Luck and good day!

[vrystalius]

Upper moons vs

Human nature of petting everything and or copying noises

Imagine them watching their human stop to pet an animal based demon (like a demon cat) and copying their meows and noises

(The demon can’t do shit bc they’re there. Muzan silently glaring, Douma claiming the demon is a personal pet now, kokushibo doesn’t need to even be there, his scent is STRONK, Akaza silently chuckling.)

The Upper moons + Muzan’s reaction to you snuggling with a cat-demon

The Upper Moons + Muzan reacting to you being all cutesy with a cat-demon.

Pairing: Muzan, Kokushibo, Douma, Akaza x reader

Note: I imagined this cat-demon to be extremly disgusting and deformed. Some kind of weird horror creature XD I’m thinking about writing a fic about the hashira/upper moons get cursed and get cat ears of some kind. Also, this was fairly rushed. So sorry! <3

Muzan Kibutsuji

Muzan was experimenting with his blood and demon transformations, and what kind of different types of demons he can create. Just recently he made a cat-like demon. The behaviour of the creature was similar to that of a street cat. It had claws, patches of fur, cat-like ears and a short tail. It was even able to meow and purr, he noted. That thing is useless and hideous. Better to dispose of it before it causes any disturbances and annoyances.

He caught you snuggling up with this hideous demon while he was away to pick up his brand new suit. Muzan was not fond of the creature purring and laying its head on your lap while you were trying to teach it how to meow properly. Even glancing at the disgusting creature was enough to make Muzan feel a strange mix of disgust, disappointment and jealousy. Is he neglecting you to the point of you being willing to let this… thing… cuddle onto you? Also, why is this demon even daring to come this close to you?

Needless to say, disposing this waste of his blood was much sooner done than originally planned.

“Do not ever come too close to my experiments again unless either I am present or I allow you to.”

Kokushibo

Kokushibo always made sure to leave his scent on you at all times. Sometimes he’d give you one of his yukatas to wear or he might leave his scent by kissing your neck, marking your skin with hickeys.

This was a way to protect you from other demons approaching you and warning them of who is your protector whenever Kokushibo himself is not present.

Therefore, this cat-demon did not approach you. It smelled Upper Moon 1’s scent around you from across the halls of the infinity castle arc.

You never got to meet him.

Douma

He’s not fond of you interacting with other demons, especially the ones below Douma. What if they get too comfortable around you, hm? What then? He’d have to kill and eat them! He would never allow that!

This cat-demon was send to Douma by Lord Muzan to send out and search for the blue spider lily. He noticed pretty quickly how fond you became of this creature. You’re petting its fur, scratching behind the ears and even tried to imitate the meows its throwing at you.

Douma has a weird feeling in his stomach when watching you two. On one hand, you seem pretty happy with this weird pet cat demon. On the other hand, Douma could get you a regular kitty! That way, he doesn’t have to share you! Or if you want, Douma can meow for you. He just doesn’t really want you to be around this cat demon anymore! (Is he feeling jealous? He couldn’t possibly!)

“Dear lotus, how about you pet me instead, hmm? I can even meow for you if you like!”

Akaza

Who the hell is this damn demon? Why did this cat creature think it can just snuggle up onto you and act like you’re not already taken, huh? Can’t that thing notice Akaza’s smell on you? Oh it’s fucking infuriating him. He’s trying very hard to not slam the head of this freak against the floor until it dies and returns to the hellhole it came out of. The audacity to snuggle up on your lap and to act all innocent and stupid. Perhaps that demon creature is too stupid to realise that it’s utterly disgusting.

Yet, you welcomed it and scratched the fuzzy head of this demon, copying its odd meowing.

“Baby. Let it go.”

💠

My brain is getting fried right now by school work, so I might neglect asks for a little while to concentrate on my own works. I sometimes can’t fully concentrate or come up with good things for asks, so so sorry! I’ll work on them on the weekend and days where I feel more energised! <3

Anyways, make sure to EAT, SLEEP and DRINK enough!

Take care of yourselves <3

[media-thots]

Coming to a piece of media years late is really interesting in how it affects your approach to it once you finally get around to enjoying it.

I'm finally playing the Portal game duology. I've been hearing about both games ever since they were released. I've been exposed to many spoilers just through internet osmosis. Because of that, my experience is likely nothing like it was for the people who played the games on release. But I don't think it ruins the horror entirely.

I've already completed Portal (1) and prior to playing that, I was aware that a robot named Glados was not to be trusted. I didn't know exactly why she shouldn't be but cake was involved somehow. Once I started playing, I was already on guard/edge, looking for something threatening related to this robot. It wasn't hard to deduce that she must be watching me though the surveillance cameras but otherwise she didn't seem so threatening, at least the first few levels.

The testing environment turned dangerous due to the toxic water, plasma pellets, and the gun turret robots, but these were all created by Aperture. This unethical company created these unsafe environments and tools, it's their fault I'm nearly dying. While I was still unsure about this robot I kept hearing through the levels, I began to chalk up her lack of concern for these hazards to the scientists who programed her. They were unconcerned/uncaring therefore so is she. This still makes her dangerous, but not malicious.

Well. I learned to my frustrated horror that she actually is maliciously out to kill me and now I'm in a 'kill or be killed' scenario. I was frustrated because I should have known better, everything I've picked up on about this game for years says Glados cannot be trusted, Glados will hurt you. And even with the warnings within the game itself by the past test subject who left messages, I still was ready to believe that this advanced robot did not have the agency to actively choose to hurt me. And yet she did, and I had to reflect on the fact that she watched me complete test after test in eager anticipation for when she would kill me. And now I had to kill her to have a chance at escape.

Once I destroyed Glados and she claimed that this collapse would kill me too, I was okay with that, knowing that if there are any other people to be "tested" that Glados couldn't torture them. I land outside, clearly hurt but Glados lies in ruins, it's okay. And then I'm dragged back inside. And I'm newly horrified by the realization that, of course, Glados isn't the only robot in this insane facility and everything I did to get out of there didn't matter. Also, Glados must have a backup somewhere because what testing facility wouldn't have a fail-safe?

I had so many spoilers and I still was taken in by the story and got to experience the horror of it. I think that just goes to show how well it was made. Very glad I finally got around to it.

I've started Portal 2, I'm already aware Wheatley is not to be trusted but I've so far avoided the exact reason why. (Please don't spoil). I'm not happy that I'm Glados' test subject again but the puzzles have been fun. I'll update with a Portal 2 reflection once I'm done.

[merrysithmas]

ok but there's so much meaning when charles says that they have it in them to be better men, because although erik AND charles (as a literal geneticist - coolest field woot woot) are BOTH obsessed with evolution, they have VERY different ideas of what evolution means

to erik, essentially kidnapped by an evil supremacist & grown up in a situation of horror and trauma, evolution for him meant the blanket "we are stronger then the humans, therefore better than them - we will overcome them" . to erik evolution is very physical. it is what has happened thousands of times before, but this time Erik wants to be the victor, Erik wants the safety, the power, the self-determination.

charles, a scientist, literally wrote his dissertation on this phenomenon exactly. he said when homo sapiens and neanderthals clashed, neanderthalis died out almost immediately. charles KNOWS what erik is saying is inevitable (one species replacing another) but CHARLES DOESNT BELIEVE THAT PHENOMENON IS EVOLUTION IN THIS CASE, because through time this situation has been the continual and never-ending cycle: one species dies and replaced another. it's the status quo. it's NOT evolution.

to charles, evolution is an EMOTIONAL, psychological event. one that he pushes for with every mission, struggle, and wish. his idea of evolution supercedes the physical struggle for space and resources and breaks into the realm of yes, peace and coexistence. the truly evolved being, regardless of species, would simply share. the truly evolved being is compassionate, emotional, breaks free of patterns of replacement and domination.

he is WELL AWARE of the reality of the theory of evolution (he wrote his dissertation on it) yet he continues to challenge and push the idea that this is hardly evolution at all, but its rather repetition and falling victim to pattern.

that's why Charles' POV is special - even if people aren't ready for it (because of the cycles of pain and anger) it is truly the only way forward- the only way to truly become a better world, by not trying to dominate one another.

he knows it may not be the time or the place but he tries continually at every opportunity - testing and challenging and becoming the first step.

and in the future, eventually through Erik's companionship, he learns how complicated life is. it isn't a theory, but a hard and hurting lived experience. Erik, a survivor of genocide and a man changed by genocide (humanity's worst offenses), is the PERFECT slap of reality for Charles. the understanding he develops for Erik both crushes/disproves his own life's work and redefines it. charles learns you can't skip over the pain to find peace. that would also be callous and cruel. just as cruel as one species replacing another.

emotional evolution isn't about replacing pain with "being better", it's about integration, processing, and forgiveness. sometimes its accepting there will be no healing, sometimes its accepting you can only heal if you realize that.

evolution is a slow and painful process - even loving is hard, though they both make their way to it in the end

For old time's sake🤍

[emyluwinter]

Hey honey.

It's been a long time since I've thrown out some theories.

Before the new part is released at the end of January. I want to share a few ideas about what can happen in general in the arc of Dissomnia.

In Riddle's dream, we see that his subconscious (no, guys, Malleus doesn't create all these dreams, he just gives them sand and various shapes and throws them into the sandbox) made his childhood very…Happy? His loving mother, who doesn't treat him like she's cultivating some kind of experiment. On the contrary, she has a big heart with a tender love for his son. Maybe his parents will be one of those sweet romantic couples with a long and strong marriage. A quiet, serene life. The friends who had been with him for all those years that he was actually locked in the house. Lots of hobbies. Lots of fun, lots of childish curiosity, games and adventures. Yes, he is still respected. But he is loved. Love as a friend and an undergraduate who has earned a good reputation.

Well, it can also be as tall as a two-meter-high Epel. Ahahaha.

Or 1.1, as we saw in Leona's dream. For Riddle, the dream is a nightmare where he continued all his mother's instructions and ended up….broke down. When he realized that the world was completely different from the narrow, tiny world in which he was trapped.

Ace's dream is something wild. It haunts me that we didn't see Ace at the very beginning. You see, we met the characters exactly in the order in which we met them. For example. Epel-Rook-Vil, Floyd-Jade-Azul. Jack-Raggie-Leona and so on. The meaning is clear. But in the arch with the dreams of Hearts, everything went topsy-turvy. It's pretty funny if they just switched places for the sake of Alice's chaos theme.

Ace is definitely going to be a wild card in every sense. Maybe his dream is a simple school life? Or is it an endless amusement park?

But you know, I want to see one detail….

What if Ace's subconscious gave Yu and Grimm better conditions? A Loving Family? A house?

I had an idea what he could give to Yu's - parents. Yuu mother, for example, is a famous photographer and artist (Yu's love of photography and art), and Father is an inventor or craftsman (I will fight with anyone who says the opposite, that Yu does not understand repairs and all sorts of things, after so much has been done in their dormitory) Definitely a man who has golden hands, in short. And Yuu will be their favorite child, having inherited their passion for certain crafts. A modest but very very cozy house where you can exhale and leave all your sorrows at the door. Where there is always a smell of something delicious or pleasant.

Grimm is a part of this family unconditionally. Is he also loved, also slightly spoiled?

The reason, which has strong and deep roots in the form of family and home, is that neither Yu nor Grimm will leave college. Yuu doesn't have to go back to his world, Grimm doesn't have to get used to living alone without Yuu.

Maybe Yuu will even have magic in Ace's dream, who knows?

2.2 We turn the chessboard around again and his dream is all his hidden fears. The horrors and nightmares that haunt him.

Riddle remains the same Tyrant, the rules are becoming suffocating in every sense. There is no help from senpai, teachers, or the principal. Yuu either returned to their world, or were injured or died in one of the overblots. Or they were expelled when Grimm's behavior was no longer tolerated.

Consciousness and subconsciousness are very complex things. Therefore, it is difficult to say what can break out and turn into a dream.

The arc of the other characters' dreams will end. Finally, these filler series will end.

The plan of Idia and Styx. Discussing exactly HOW to wake everyone up and reason with Malleus. Most likely, this will again be a division into groups. 22 characters in one scene, it's a nightmare for a screenwriter!

After we wake up the "last one," Malleus decides to make a move. You know, I couldn't help but think that this Dragon, beautiful as a god, was just waiting for a very convenient moment to attack. And this guy, let's not forget, is also smart. VERY Let's say we woke up the whole "gang for a fight". What's not a great opportunity to sneak up and not destroy the entire pillar? My bet is that there will be a repeat of the sleeping beauty scene. Silver started it, so there will be an attack on him. He's the only one who can walk through other people's dreams without Draconia's knowledge. Permissions NOT too.

What is easier to deprive the only chance to wake up the others again than to fix the main problem? We put Silver to sleep, we throw everyone back into their dreams. Voila!

This will most likely happen after Riddle wakes up. It would make sense because we started the game with Riddle (figuratively speaking), and Malleus closes the door back at the very end. They have some similar themes, which would be well reflected by some of their parallels. Both have a theme of roses and thorns. Both follow their own "rules", both have their own "reputational image", both don't know much about the "outside world".

Finally, let's bring Lilia back into the story. Yes, I miss the reunion of the Diasomnia family.

Yuu will see more dreams about "Sleeping Beauty" as a warning that Malleus has been watching them all this time and waiting for the moment to cut down this weed.

7.1. Yuu also sees all the horror, all the nightmare from the prologue.But not fleetingly in a moment like before…..and live every second of this desperate and hopeless situation. It's like they're being burned alive, torn to pieces, and they see each death in slow motion, like an endless torture.

Silver, because of his unique Magic, can see this nightmare too… and they both realize that this is not a dream at all, and not because of Malleus.

Lilia drinks blood. (maybe Yuu, maybe not) LISTEN, he ate frogs and mice, and another Bag knows what else. Technically, he's a flying mouse fairy. Sooo some species feed on blood. What's not a great solution to give Lilia the "opportunity" to regain her powers and magic before completing the entire arc of studies? It might work as some kind of move that just nobody knew about. Let's think that the Senate hated Lilia because his kind could feed on someone else's blood and become stronger? It's not the most pleasant thing, but we have something. It's a good and logical argument why they didn't want him in the capital so much.

So far, these are all the points that I can come up with in my tired head.

and also

Chapter 8!!

Each chapter has its own "theme" that is discussed one way or another throughout each arc. I may be wrong, but I only use the ones that I noticed myself during the passage. Chapter 1. tyranny and despotism, parental overprotection. Chapter 2 other people's hopes, a brick ceiling (I don't know how to say for sure that even if you give it your all, there is something that you can't go through in any way to achieve more) Chapter 3 - bullying, self-doubt. Chapter 7 the inevitability of loss, grief and loss, and so on.

For chapter 8, it could be Loneliness, isolation, and the outsider. Loneliness? It seems that this topic has not been raised in other chapters.

Yuu's loneliness, because they're not from here. Grimm's loneliness, because he doesn't belong to any part of society either. It's possible that the "puppeteer" is so distraught from loneliness and grief from the loss of something.

Hmm. Most likely, I'm wrong, and the topic of chapter 8 will be different.

They are both isolated from the world in one way or another. Remember how in the same novel, everyone kept them at arm's length and a mop, just to avoid dealing with them.

I understand that we still have a lot to see in Chapter 7, but frankly I have no idea what they have in store for Chapter 8!!

Oh, yeah. Most likely, on this anniversary, the 8th dormitory will be made official and they will be given a "badge", the one with the ribbon that students wear on their uniform jackets. In any case, it's very likely. If they also give you a uniform for Grimm, it will be very cool.

That's the end of my brain gum and I'm taking a break from work.

What do you think, dear?

[colleybri]

Cassian Andor taking on an Imperial garrison…

The subtle use of echoing lines in Andor (frequently right through to Rogue One) is so well done, and one example shows Cassian’s character development very clearly…

When Cassian is first being briefed by Vel about the heist on Aldhani, he reacts with horror at the news about there being an Imperial garrison nearby. Luthen didn’t mention it, and you get the sense that he might not have agreed to take on the job had he known about this extra danger . But of course, he commits and the heist is a success – of a kind.

But afterwards… he doesn’t want to do anything like that again. He wants to “win and walk away” to “somewhere warm and easy” . The irony is – his actions have helped to inspire Maarva, who refuses to leave Ferrix - while praising the actions of the “brave” “heroes” of Aldhani. She’s just indirectly praised him, and you can see that he’s delighted by a split second little spontaneous smile of pleasure that he quickly suppresses. Ouch. He’s finally done something she could be proud of, but he doesn’t want to give her a reason to stay so he has to stay quiet.

^ Awww ����

But what’s really interesting is the editing in this masterful and moving scene. On Maarva’s words ‘If there are heroes brave enough to take on a whole Imperial garrison I’m brave enough to stick it out here” we see the flashback of 13 year old Cassian approaching the Troopers with a cudgel, revealing at long last the details of the assault that landed him in youth prison for three years and Mimban after that. The horrifying execution of Clem combined with the injustice and pain of his own punishment has not just traumatised the adult Cassian, it’s also made him somebody who will now avoid a conflict – and therefore the Rebellion– wherever possible. 

‘It’s all useless… it’s better to live!’ is what he told Luthen before Aldhani, but the precise placing of the shot here is very telling.

Cassian is starting to subconsciously associate that act with bravery rather than recklessness. He hates the Empire for what they did to Clem but it has so far translated to trying to ‘live’ and ignore them as much as possible; but his teenage self wanted to fight, to get revenge. Nonetheless it was an emotional response, an impulsive act that was not thought through. This is in total contrast to the calm methodical shots of Wilmon Paak preparing the bomb at the start of Episode 12. Wilmon is balancing emotion with rationality in planning his own revenge, in an arc which otherwise is like a replay of Cassian’s own.

Later in Episode 12 Cassian hears from Brasso his mother’s last words for him - all proof not just of how much she loved him but of how much she knew him too. He does indeed now ‘know everything he needs to know and feel everything he needs to feel’. His reasoning and his emotions are now able to work together to be that ‘unstoppable force for good’. He won’t be making emotional but futile attacks like rushing armed Troopers with a stick anymore. He will think, plan, observe and react. But he will act. He is not going to walk away any more. And he’s not going to leave loved ones behind if he can help it…

…Because in a final bit of lines-linking brilliance - immediately after hearing these words of his mother, Cassian prepares to go into the hotel, via the tunnels she checked were open, to rescue Bix.

Incredulous, Brasso says: “Are you going to take on a whole garrison?”

And Cassian doesn’t verbally reply. The look says it all. ‘I’ve done it before, twice, l’ll do it again, and I’m doing it now.’

It sums up Cassian’s arc so well. From oppression, to fighting back, to running from the fight, to taking up the fight again (now an even more exact mirror of Jyn Erso’s arc too). But this time… having learnt from experience. One lesson being: teamwork matters…

…Because thanks to Brasso and the riot the Troopers are ordered out of the Rix hotel, which is the Empire’s base. Making it possible for Cassian to extract Bix, with the “Imperial garrison” deployed elsewhere. A technique so effective, it will also be used on Scarif to give Jyn, K2SO and himself a chance to reach the data files.

“Light it up …

..Make ten men feel like a hundred “

And that’s how you make a realistic hero. Cassian is somebody who learns and grows despite some bitter experiences.

Better deploy that garrison, because Cassian Andor is taking it on.

[shini--chan]

May I request 2p allies making their s/o mute as a punishment for trying to run for help.

⚫〰️⚫ Thank you

Alright, as the ask indicates, it is not a never family friendly post that awaits you up ahead. Excluding 2p Canada this time, since I had difficulty coming up with another form of mutness other than those described via the other characters.

This came out later than planned due to time management issues on behalf of the author. Nevertheless, enjoy!

Trigger warnings: body horror, physical abuse, emotional abuse, mutilation, misuse of medical procedures, drugging, malnutrition, dark magic

Yandere 2p! Allies - Silence is Gold

America

Allen would loathe to admit it, but he had come to like you when you were quiet. Aside from that, you looked so cute with your neck bandaged up. And those glares and petulant expressions you made! Oh, if he had known how agreeable you’d become after losing your voice, he would have done this far sooner. 

That being said, it had been an accident - he hadn’t wanted to punch you in the throat, but you just had to jump in the way, when he was busy teaching that bastard a lesson. Therefore, he had had no choice but to cut open your throat to ensure you could continue breathing. 

When you leaned down to take his plate, you purposely bumped his shoulder. Yes, you were still very upset with him about what had happened. However, the feeling was mutual. He slapped your arse when you straightened up again. 

It caused you to perform a little jump and then glare at him. 

“If I had known that you’d look so sexy with something around your neck, I would have bought you a set of chokers long ago, dollface. Don’t worry though - you look good with the bloodstained gauze as well”, he slyly complimented you. Oh, how it infuriated you. 

You had tried to talk a few times these past days, causing the wound on your neck to reopen and weep plasma and blood everytime you did. As it was, you were lucky that you had gotten antibiotics, or else Allen would have been far stricter with you. 

Petty as you could be, turned your back on him and flipped the bird as you marched back to the kitchen. At this, Allen could prevent himself from laughing. 

Allen actually wouldn’t want to rob you of your voice, since half the fun in having you is that you talk back. However, he would discover the benefits of muting you after he would have to do it in some shape of form. Once doing so, he would find this experience refreshing and seek to replicate it multiple times in the future. Here, you would really be in danger of losing your voice permanently if you aren’t able to curb his … preferences. 

The problem here is that he would find your muteness and the injuries connected to it to be unbelievably arousing. In ways, your life would biome harder than it already is thanks to that.

China

Could you really be blamed for panicking in a situation such as this? The rush of hysteria made the binds tying you down to the table seem even tighter than they were, and you felt like you were suffocating, no matter how fast you breathed. The air was too hot and your clothes too scratchy, with the latter made all the worse by the fact that you were coated in grim and your own dried sweat.

To your left, you heard Zao approach you. Since your head was fastened to the table, you only could see him once he appeared in your periphery. There was a horrid grin on his face, that stood in complete juxtaposition to what he said.

"My heart, this is really something I don't want to do, but you leave me with no choice."

You wanted to retort, but thought better of it just in the nick of time. He had a brown glass bottle at hand, and you didn't like all the warning labels on it, nor how close it was to your mouth. 

"But give in and swallow, I promise to help you with your recovery if you comply", he told you in a sickly sweet tone as if he was talking to a child. As much as you wanted to shake your head, you couldn't. By now, you were trembling. 

Two fingers pinched your nose firmly. After a few seconds, you started to become lightheaded and you heard and felt your blood pounding. Opening your mouth wouldn't be an option, since the bottle would immediately be emptied into your mouth if you did that. So instead, you opened the corner of your mouth and tried to breathe as discreetly as possible. 

To no avail. The fingers that were on your nose went for your mouth and pried your lips apart. As valiantly as you struggled, the bottle still went in. The fluid caused your throat to burn, and when you accidentally breathed some of it, you let out a hapless scream of pain. 

His method of muting you would be more permanent - rendering your vocal cords and throat useless by forcing you to drink acid or poison. This would either be the response to a multitude of transgressions, or him being particularly ticked off by an escape.

A side effect of this would be that you would be unable to swallow food or drink. But he would be there to help you, either by feeding you through a tube, an IV or by supplying you through your back door (i.e your rectum). This would serve as an extension of the original punishment. Additionally, you would be helpless and reliant on him. 

England

When you finally woke up, you felt groggy and heavy, each of your limbs made of lead and your mouth full of cotton. Sleep drunk, you opened your eyes and eased yourself to a more upright position. 

Not that it was more comfortable - there were kinks and knots in your back that only a professional massage could relieve you from. Why the hell had you fallen asleep here of all places? You were seated in an old dentist car, the once royal red faded. The contraption creaked ominously whenever you moved.

This was getting weirder and weirder by the moment. The twilight of the room you were in didn't help.

Your mouth felt dry and slightly numb, and your lips subsequently cracked. You parted your lips and wanted to run your tongue over the dried skin only to discover that you didn't have a tongue anymore. 

Cold shock made you bolt upright and all at once, the world shifted into sharp clarity. Once again, you tried to stretch your tongue out only for nothing to move, not a stump. That was when you started to panic.

Lungs heaved as you tried to explain the situation to yourself. There was absolutely no pain, you weren't feeling weak. The taste of blood was absent, and the bitter sting of iodine or saline solution wasn't present either. 

In your panic, you opened your mouth and stuck your fingers inside to feel for your tongue. It had been completely removed down to the root. There wasn't even puckered skin where the muscle would have begun. Tears started to leak from your eyes and you tried to force a few miserable sounds out of your mouth. 

"Now, now don't engage in self-pity. You did bring this on yourself, my rose bud."

The blood in your veins turned to ice, and you halted your frantic movement. Despite the dim lighting of the underground room, you could clearly see Oliver Kirkland. He was seated on a red satin loveseat, and in the jar he had balanced on his knee was your tongue. 

Oliver would use magic to completely remove your tongue from your mouth, aiming to insite as much panic in you as possible. As such, you'll only find out what he has done after completion of the procedure. 

Instead of helping you to deal with the situation, he would mock you relentlessly. Furthermore, he would place the blame on you - it was you that ran away, it was you that forced his hand; everything that went wrong is your fault. The jar with your tongue in it would be placed in a spot that you'd have a hard time overlooking. A taunt, and a reminder that the amputation is only temporary. You just have to play being a good spouse for long enough and then he'd give you your tongue back. 

France

Putrid pus stained the sheets as he pulled them away. Yesterday the colour had been yellow, but now it had a slight green tint to it. Francois brushed his fringes out of his face and tied his hair back to a sloppy ponytail. 

With a soft sigh, and placed the bandages and tincture bottles on the bed next to you and tilted your head towards him. Sickness and the corresponding fever made your sleep deep, unlike it usually was. You didn't even stir when he lifted your head onto his lap. 

At this point, it was up for debate what was sealing your lips more - the rough stitches or the infection. The swelling had distorted your mouth, so much so that it was beginning to block your nose and hinder your breathing. 

Cursing softly under his breath, he set out to drain the pus from the needle wounds. He shouldn't have used the expired saline solution, yet you had given him no choice. You had been so busy thrashing and screaming around when he had sown your mouth shut. 

Francois still didn't understand why you had put up such a fuss. The punishment was deserved and it made your resistance all the more pathetic. Seriously, had you really thought he would take you escaping lightly? How could you delude yourself into thinking he wouldn't take all those vile words that you had uttered upon being brought home to heart?

The pus drenched bandages were thrown into the bin, and he proceeded to down the injured tissue with iodine. You groaned in your sleep, and tried to open your mouth. A noticeable tremor ran down your body, and you stopped straining against the stitches. 

Perhaps it was better that you were lost in a haze. It gave your captor more time to think and calm down. 

Francois would elect to make your muteness temporary, but with some caveats. You'd wear scars around your mouth for the rest of your life and the mental and physical trauma would haunt you for years to come. Such a situation would have a high potential of arising if you poured your heart out to somebody else and incited them to help you escape. 

Russia

This was getting more tiring by the hour. Slowly, you were asking yourself if this really was a punishment, or if it was one of Victor's loathsome social experiments.  loathsome social experiments. They both tended to be alike, so it was hard to tell on a normal day. 

“If you keep glaring at me like that, your face will distort to a permanent frown”, the man in question remarked. The knife repeatedly scraped over the wood in his hand, causing shavings to fly with every stroke of the blade. He didn’t even look up from his whittling when he said that. How rude. 

Feeling petulant, you knicked a stone in the river. It was a nice day to be outdoors - the spring air was filled with the sweet smell of flowers, and the sun was shining through the birch tree. Though, you couldn’t bring yourself to be happy, not when he had brought you to the spot where he had captured you a mere week ago, picnic basket at hand. 

You had difficulty swallowing every other bite, and also keeping it down. Now that bastard even insisted on staying a bit longer to enjoy the alleged peace and quiet that the forest offered. 

With how frustrated you were, you opened your mouth in order to say something, only to receive a smack to the face with the flat side of the knife the second you opened your mouth. In shock, you quickly closed your mouth again and looked at him aghast. 

This time, he was even meeting your eyes. 

“You know the agreement, so don’t break it by talking now.”

Mutness wouldn’t even be the intended punishment at first - it would be offered as a second, milder option to a harsher punishment. Victor would have a habit of giving you an option of choosing between two or more punishments. It would be to give you an illusion of power over your own fate and an opportunity to assuage your character. Mind you, he would never give you the full details of the punishments that you can choose from. 

In this case, he would enforce a “voluntary silence” upon you. You would have to refrain from speaking for a certain time interval, or else suffer a harsher punishment. This is one of his games with you, that would be designed to mould your personality to his liking. Also, this would be a form of discipline training for you. 

[heartfullofleeches]

yes please dear god smile reader is baby

[Very baby. Here's how Yan Scientist and their slime formally met]

"Subject 43? Payment for yesterday's efforts."

"An apple....but you said I could go home."

Feeding day - as if their headache couldn't get any worse. Like common livestock, their possessions squealed and whined about the most senseless things. Pleading for testing to cease; begging to be returned to their families when it was their love ones who sold them to begin with. The scientist would sooner snip out their tongues if it meant a moment of peace, but they were not a tyrant - plus verbal records of their subjects experiences was easier to stomach at night than written. The audio logs had lulled them to sleep better than any pill or liquid could.

"I said it was a possibility - if you did what I asked properly. You may have killed your cellmate, but you did not bring me their eyes. A shame really. I took the time out of my day to prepare your meal by hand. Ah - well, there's someone who will appreciate my efforts more. Tell me, tuna or ham?"

A wet gurgle sounds from the scientist's pocket."

"Both? You greedy devil. I suppose you do deserve something special for putting up with the same pains that I do."

The scientist picks up two sandwiches and smushes them together as the mass in their pocket becomes denser; gooey tendrils slithering up the length of their coat and crawling onto their shoulder as they lift their hand. The blob sucks up the sandwiches into its gelatinous body, wiggling with delight as they're broken down and absorbed into its structure. The scientist pats the gel with one finger causing it to vibrate more violently resulting in a breathy laugh from its owner.

"Alright, we have more subjects to feed. Come on, You - you too."

The scientist snaps their fingers at the Henchman wheeling the cart who closes the cell door as they both exit. The slime creeps down their shirt and through their sleeve as they walk, resting in the scientist's palm. A marvel their little companion was. They wished they had the honor of creating it, but it's origins were a mystery even to them. The scientist found the creature munching away on the undissolved bones of a past test subject. From numerous experiments, the scientist discovered their new lab partner could not only breakdown organic compounds, but most non living object too and had a choice on what it consumed. It made for the perfect little helper to get rid of all the dead bodies and those who oppose them. The best part about the slime was that it had no mouth and therefore the most tolerable member of the team.

The scientist's smile melts as they enter the next cell. The stress that had fled them by the usage of their slime as a stress toy skyrocketed seeing the act of utter betrayal pointed at them. A lackey, standing over a motionless subject - gun raised at their employer. The scientist sighs.

"Please remove your mask."

The Henchman does as told. Figures - there was only one other person the scientist trusted with the codes. They supposed trying to make this a family business was a poor decision.

"Emery - this has got to stop."

A chuckle. "Does it really?"

"You won, just let him go. I know you didn't have the best upbringing, but he still your -"

Emery grits their teeth, squirming the slime so hard it slithers out of their grip. "You don't know shit. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't actually done anything to him - yet. Just locked him down here, with all the others nobody would care to miss. There is no persuading me on this. If you have nothing else to say - do it."

Their Henchman reaches for his gun, Emery rests their hand over his. Through clouded view and reasoning, the figure steadies their gun. They look away, unable to look as they pull the trigger on the once innocent child they knew. Emery doesn't flinch as it fires - a teal web covering the entirety of their chest and dissolving the bullet as soon as it hits. Their attacker looks on in horror, but before they can do anything Emery takes their henchman's gun as their own and fires back, bullet piercing their heart. Emery's head falls, expressionless eyes gazing out at the person left alive - mouthing two words.

"Your fault."

Emery exhales, placing a hand over their chest and gathering the slime into one ball. "One thing after another. Now I have to fire a new head. Eat your meal and return to me when you're done."

They lower the slime to the ground who plops out on the smooth surface - spitting an apple out that rolls at the scientist feet. They pick it up as they walk off, wiping away tears.

-

A picture frame shatters.

"Why would you choose him and not me. Why!?"

The picture holds a smiling, bucktooth child in the arms of their butler as they show off their award for the camera and all to see. The person who taught them everything, the only one there when they had no one. Emery throws an empty bottle at the image, sinking down at the foot of their bed - cradling their arms to their chest.

"why....."

The sound of wet suction weaves into their cries as the slime wrigglies itself beneath the crack in their bedroom door. It inches towards them, shaking violently before spitting up as locket on the floor. Emery goes to grab it, but as they do the smile shoots up their arm and spreads out, and puffs up over their shoulder like a makeshift pillow. Emery cards their fingers their hair, climbing to their feet and pocketing the trinket.

"I guess I do need some rest. Thank you, You. You seem to be the only one I can't trust."

More gurgles.

"I guess I should give you an actual name eventually." They sight - broken body collapsible on their bed and crawling under their blankets with the help of their aid. The slime hops up on their pillow as they raise their head - solidifying as they rest. "Goodnight, You."

That night - Emery had the worse night's rest they ever had in their twenty-seven years of living.

"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray~"

Is someone ... singing?

"You'll never know, dear. How much I love you-"

The voice sounds so familiar....no... There's more than one. It's hard to remember something so sweet - when all those voices ever did was beg you to stop.

"Please don't take - my sunshine away."

Emery shoots up like a lightning bolt. Their hands search the bed for their glasses which had fallen - finding a squishy, but very real feeling hand beneath their grasp. Emery locates their glasses as the body's see through eyelids peel back.

"Goodnight, You!"

Emery screams - rolling out of the bed in a tanglement of their blankets and obscenities. The interior in the bed sits up, puzzled; bubbles floating through their translucent body as their anxiety peaks.

"Emery.....this you?" The figure points, noting the odd number of fingers on its hand as it looks at theirs. "Mmm wrong...."

Emery's eyes widen as the slime's sixth finger merges into the fifth. "Y-you?...."

The slime chirps. "Emery!"

Emery looks strength in their knees. "What? How?..."

"Ahhh.... You - eat meal... gr...ow better at shape. Too much at one time - hard to understand. Able to single out things Emery say - Emery is... the only one I can trust."

Emery clutches their head. "Ngh..."

"Help?" The slime lunges foward, reverting to its natural state as it crashes into the floor and forming back into its humanoid shell as it catches them before they stumble. It was hard to notice with half of them hanging off the bed, but the slime was massive - size their size if they had to estimate. They bury their face into their hands. "This can't be happy.

The smlie's droppy smile falters. "Wrong? Wanted to make you happy. I..will go back if it makes you happy. Sad Emery...makes me sad too."

Emery looks up at the slime. They raise out their hand, stroking the slime's cold cheek. It hums with a full body shutter - leaning into their palm until their fingers poke through the membrane. Emery retracts their hand, sliding it into their now empty pocket.

"It's fine. I guess we really need to pick a name for you now."

"Mm I pick?"

"Do you have something in mind?"

"Y/n!"

"Where'd you pick up that one?"

The slime points to their head. "Memories. I... like it the most out of them."

"I see... Y/n, it's cute. Alright, Y/n - let's go get some breakfast."

The slime spits a small bag from its stomach contents onto its hand, giving the trail mix too them. That's much more alarming when it's coming out a real mouth and tongue.

"Breakfast!"

Emery takes it with two fingers, holding the dripping bag away from their face. "Thank you, Y/n......at least I have you by my side."

[midnight-mourning]

Santa's Helper

❄️❄️Midnight's DCA December Day 25❄️❄️

Another silly one for y'all, I'll be honest this was 2 am Midnight who finished this and it's give or take on whether she cooks or not, but I'm gonna say yes for now :D

Prompt: Santa comes to the Daycare to see the kids, and reader dresses up as an elf to help out. A certain attendant thinks they look pretty cute~

Word Count: 1915

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

When you initially saw the costume that had been picked out for you, you laughed outright. When you found out that you actually had to wear it, your laughter died in your throat.

"You can't be serious." You gestured to the outfit. "You actually want me to wear that."

Your manager had shrugged. "Santa needs a helper. You already work in the Daycare. Saves me some trouble."

You just look at the outfit with horror, no words for your distress. 

It's an elf costume. Green, with red trim and a hat to match. It came with a belt, ears, and the same shade of green shorts. There were also red and white stripes tights, to your dismay.  It was godawful and you hated it.

But, you didn't have a choice unless you wanted to be fired. And considering you had a job where you got to work with your crush(es) all day every day, you'd rather suck it up and put it on. 

You understand why you had to be the one to do it. It had been your idea for Santa to come to the Daycare in the first place. You'd been pushing for it, honestly. Upper management hadn't seen the point until your argued how good an experience it would be for the kids. 

Therefore, this whole thing was your responsibility, meaning that if you wanted things to go smoothly you had to cooperate so that this went off without a hitch. Besides, it wasn't just the kids you were trying to please. 

When you'd told the attendants your idea, they were over the moon excited about it, while they knew better in terms of Santa being real, having someone come and surprise the kids like that was exciting to them. And to have your crush so thrilled about something you came up with? That feeling was too good to ruin it all over a stupid costume. 

This is the mantra you tell yourself as you stand in the bathroom, having just put the majority of the costume on, save for the hat. 

You look ridiculous, you feel ridiculous. But it's for the boys—the kids, it's for the kids. 

You sigh and shove the hat on, staring at yourself even harder in the mirror. 

There had to be some way you could make this work. You dig in your bag for your makeup, deciding add a bit of Christmas flair with some eyeshadow, and taking a pencil, draw little stars of various styles and sizes under your eyes and across your cheeks. You fix your hair so the hat looks cute, ish. 

You look back to your reflection, it's not the best, but it's better than before. You take a deep breath, and finally leave the bathroom, trudging back to the Daycare. When you arrive, it's empty, save for Sun. 

It's early, the kids weren't going to be here for another hour, and 'Santa' would be here around mid-morning, so your main goal for now was to get set up and prepared essentially. 

Sun hears the door open and shut and turns from setting up the crafts station. 

"Good morning, Sunbeam! How are—" He hesitates when he sees you, your ears start to burn. "—you... today?"

You sigh and drop your bag off in its usual spot. "Good morning, Sunny. I'm fine."

He walks over to you, staring down as his rays spin every so often. 

"You look..." He mumbles something you don't catch. 

You're sure it's probably nothing good. He probably thinks you look silly. "Yeah. I know. Let's just, ignore it, yeah?"

"Oh... Oh! Sorry friend I was um, distracted for a moment. What I meant to say is that you look wonderful! Perfectly in character for today."

You scoff half-hearted. "Thanks, Sun, but you don't have to lie for my sake. It's alright. I'm gonna go get started on Santa prepping, okay?"

You walk off then, completely embarrassed. Had you stuck around you might have heard Sun quietly utter. "But I wasn't lying."

Set up involves creating a holiday scene for where your Santa will sit. You're provided a big chair by management, and using some outdoor holiday decorations, and some spare sheets, create a snowy landscape. The long red carpet you'd found in storage ties up the scene nicely. Now all that's left to do is wait for the kids and 'Santa' to get here. 

You sit down in the chair, flipping through your phone since you have nothing better to do. You can't recall who's playing the big man this year. You think it's that one guy your age from Bonnie Bowl, but you're not too sure. He was nice, you don't know why they picked him for Santa given his age and non-Santa look, but whatever works. You just hope he plays the part like he's supposed to. 

As you're sitting there, you get the acute feeling of being watched. Sure enough, glancing up slightly you see Sun is staring at you, rays fluttering every few moments. You make eye contact and both flinch, going back to what you were doing. Several more times before the kids show up the same thing happens, and you wonder how bad this costume must really be for him to be so fixated on you. 

The kids at least are excited you're dressed up. They say as much as they go about the day, all anxious for when Santa finally shows up. 

And show up he does. You'll admit, the guy underneath that costume does a great job. He bursts into the Daycare, laugh loud and hearty and a sack over his shoulders. He carries with him an air of charisma that few can achieve when playing Santa Claus, and he's great with each of the kids. 

Sun helps to get them organized while you get your coworker situated. While doing so you decide to try for some small talk. 

"Thank you so much for doing this. It's really appreciated." You say, as you stack wrapped boxes that had come from the sack. 

He keeps his voice low so to not blow his cover. "Yeah, of course. This is fun for me compared to fixing bowling lanes all day."

"How do you nail the character so well?" You shake your head. "You're like what, 20 something? No offense."

He laughs. "None taken. This is kind of embarrassing, but I'm part of an improv group. We've been doing a lot of holiday themed practice lately and they always make me be Santa because I can do the voice."

You two continue to chat back and forth for a few more minutes before the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts you. Startled, you turn around and see Sun standing there, hands clasped in front of him. He seems, tense? To be fair you are too, wanting this to go well. 

"If you're ready, Mr. Claus. The children are ready to begin."

Your coworker gets into character again, laughing. "Of course! Thank you Sun, let's get started, shall we?"

Sun nods, walking back to manage the kids in line and you frown. But, shake it off as the first kid runs up, starting to rattle of his Christmas list the second he's sat down. 

The event proceeds exactly as planned. No upset kids, no arguing over gifts, no crying either. Everything is perfect. 

Well, near perfect. 

You're slightly distracted by helping out your coworker, but you notice how Sun looks over to the two of you every so often. You're not entirely sure why. Yes, your coworker is being incredibly friendly with you, talking directly to you and throwing compliments your way. But it's all in character of course, it's not like he's not keeping up the act as he does it. 

It does click to you however as he leaves that there was more to it than just that. 

You're by the door, saying goodbye and thanking him again, when he pops a question you weren't expecting. 

"This was a lot of fun today. Besides cheering up the kids, I really liked talking to you." He ducks his head a moment, then looks back to you. "I know this is like, not the optimal time for it but would you um, want to go out sometime? Maybe get a coffee and chat?'

Oh. Oh no. 

You hadn't been expecting that at all, you can't even begin to think up a response. 

Fortunately, you don't have to. As a certain someone interjects. 

"So sorry to interrupt! But I'm afraid you're out of luck, Santa." Sun steps forward, putting a hand on your shoulder. "They're taken. Better luck next time, but thank you for stopping by! Buh-bye now."

Sun all but shuts the door in his face, leaning over you to do so. Then he looks down to you, as you're still gaping like a fish. 

He stands upright and turns back around, you hear him clap his hands behind you. "Alright everyone! It's time to enjoy your presents! Remember to play good and play fair, alright? We're going to go have playtime of our own, but if you need anything we'll be there to help!"

Sun takes your hand, and starts leading you through the Daycare, you stumbling behind him as you register what he said finally. 

"T-taken?" You squeak as he marches you to an abandoned section of the playset. He ducks inside, pulling you in with him and then sitting down. 

He points to the spot on the ground across from him and you get the hint, taking a seat. 

Once you do, he speaks. "Yes. Taken. If you'll allow, that is."

"N-no, no complaints here. I just, um. Really?"

Sun nods. "Mmmhmm."

Something clicks then. 

"Wait a minute. Sun, are you jealous?" You reach a hand out to set on his leg. "I hardly know that guy, I wasn't expecting him to ask me out! I um, I've had a crush on someone else, well, someones else, for a long time."

"Who?"

You laugh, not being able to take it. "You, silly! You and Moon both. Trust me, some guy from Bonnie bowl wouldn't be able to change that—"

You're interrupted by Sun's smile meeting your lips. Followed by him doing it again several times over, hands coming up to hold your face. Once he's satisfied he pulls away, sighing. 

"Sorry, Starlight. I, um, got a little excited hearing you say that. I didn't mean to interrupt you, what were you saying?" There's a dreamy lithe to how he speaks, it makes you giggle. 

Your hands come up to hold his, leaning into his touch a tad more. "Honestly, don't think it really matters at this point. I'd rather be doing more of that than talking right now, to be honest. Just wish I wasn't in this silly costume for all this."

Sun kisses your forehead, then presses his against yours. 

"I think you look very cute. That's... part of why I acted so rudely. I was upset he got to see you up close like this."

You chuckle. "Well, you get to see me now, don't you?"

Sun hums in agreement. 

"Then, let's make the most of it."

As you share another chaste kiss, you have to come to the undeniable understanding that you may very well have to thank your manager for making you wear this costume. 

Another kiss distracts you from thinking further. 

On second thought, maybe you'll keep this one to yourself.

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Thank you for the fun little request @twomanypockets!! I thought that jealous Sun would go perfectly with it, hope you liked it ^-^

Thanks for reading!

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[deathbxnny]

hello!! platonic scar, jiyan and aalto with a teen!reader who is a fractsidus member and is like sirin?

reader was kidnapped and experimented on from a very young age, which made them hate humanity over time and lead them to joining the fractsidus

As someone who loves Sirin so much as a character, I'm really happy to get this ask from you, Anon!! Thank you so much for it, and I hope you'll like this!!<33

Content: Teen!Reader, vague mentions of child experimentation, angst, hurt/comfort, platonic relationships, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!!

((Not proofread))

》SCAR

Scar treats you like all the other members at first, as he doesn't see the point in treating you any differently after hearing your backstory. All of them had a tragic background, so what's new? But it was your young age and clear anger that reminded him of himself, that caused him to perhaps reconsider his decision.

When you get assigned to be under his care, he makes sure to train you really well to be as good as you possibly can. He's not good at it and never will claim to be, but he tries to be there for you in his own twisted way. Whilst most would attempt to heal you from your past, he acknowledges it as something that's impossible and therefore just pushes you deeper onto it. It benefits their plans anyway.

With that said, he doesn't treat you cruelly and forms an alliance with you. He'll take care of you and keep you out of trouble, and you'll keep his back free. This eventually leads to you two forming a trusting bond that makes you good team partners. Whilst he has a hard time seeing you as anything else but a companion, deep down, he sees you as family in his own odd way.

》AALTO

Yeah, this man essentially just snatched you up and ran off with you, thinking you were kidnapped and forced to be a member by the Fractsidus instead. And by the time he realised that this was not the case, he and Encore were stuck with what essentially was a child criminal. But hey, the more the merrier, right?

With that said, whether you liked it or not, you're dragged onto a trip with them. You were understandably angry and annoyed at first, often complaining and yelling about how much you hated humans, until you eventually calmed down and noticed that it was alot more peaceful with them. They were silly and unserious, trying their best to be kind and there for you, which over time made them gain your trust.

When Aalto found out about your past, it made him ill. He heard about alot in his life, but the horrors you had to endure at such a young age made him upset. From that day on, he decided to prove that humanity can do better by being good to you himself. He wants you to lead a good and calm life one day... but will you accept leaving the Fractsidus for it? That's up to you to decide.

》JIYAN

Jiyan wasn't hostile or cruel to you when you were captured and brought to him by his troops. Kneeling down to your eye level, the general gave you a look that promised safety and security, despite your clear rejection for it. He initially took you in for questioning, but when it was proven that you didn't actually know much, he decided to take you under his wing instead. Some criticized his decision, but it felt right to him.

Having found out about your past through old records dug up from a mad scientist you briefly mentioned, Jiyan quickly found out about your sickening origins, which reaffirmed his decision. He understood and sympathized with your pain and rage, going as far as telling you so. The world hurt you, and so you wanted to hurt it back. A natural reaction, despite him being against it.

He decides from then on to completely take you away from the battlefield and get you into school instead. He gives you a warm and safe home, practically gifts you anything that he thinks will help you get better. There is a trust between you two that eventually establishes itself once you realize that someone was finally helping you.

[saintsenara]

What do you think about Tom being raised by Harry fics? Do you think that Harry would be a good caregiver to Harry? I imagine that Harry is at the very least an upgrade from the orphanage.

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

and thank you for leading me into danger... by forcing me to reveal the supremely unpopular opinion that this trope doesn't compel me in the slightest and i almost never read fics which feature it.

the adult voldemort is - in my view - the most fascinating character in the series because everything about him as a person can be traced back not only to his experience of orphanhood, but to the impact of that experience never being recognised by anyone else.

and he is - therefore - a character i find interesting because so much about his life isn't inevitable. we see throughout the series - even if the doylist text doesn't, perhaps, realise that it's saying this - that he could have been stopped from turning into voldemort at any time - not only in childhood, but in adulthood; not only before he splits his soul, but after - if that recognition had been afforded.

this isn't something which tends to make it into "tom riddle's life changes course before x date" fics - especially those which have this happening in childhood - many of which tend to take the view that, while minor details about the transformation of tom riddle into lord voldemort might be different [especially him becoming more willing to play the game of becoming minister for magic before he becomes a dictator], the darker aspects of his canon personality are unalterable and his descent into criminality and violence is, no matter harry's good intentions, broadly unstoppable.

i understand the value of "bad seed" narratives as literary devices [indeed, i've read the bad seed itself, and it's a hoot], but outside of specific genre contexts - such as horror - i don't love them.

[particularly - and i will accept this is unbearably tedious of me; real fun sponge hours, who's up? - because they tend to rely on ideas about human psychology and/or human development and/or the classification and diagnosis of psychiatric conditions which are unnuanced at best and plain wrong at worst; and because - in the voldemort-specific context - they often approach him as someone who should be read as having a set psychological make-up, something which cannot apply to a fictional character.]

adoption isn't a miracle cure for anything - let alone the immensity of the canonical tom riddle's childhood trauma - and i'm not suggesting it is or that it ever should be thought of as such. but it is empirically better for children than institutionalising them. and it is therefore something which is sufficiently different from tom riddle's canonical circumstances that experiencing it would not only change him meaningfully as a character, but could also - it really is quite likely, especially if he's very young when harry turns up and whisks him away - change him into someone who's broadly... fine.

and i don't want to read about that! i want to read about the misery of orphanhood! if he's going to do self-growth, he can do it as an adult, with all the weight of his child and teenage history pressing down on him. the flavour is much deeper.

[which leads us to the other strand of "harry adopts tom riddle" fics... those in which the boy who lived enters his humbert humbert era. i respect authors' rights to write these stories - because i understand what fiction is - and i also think that not only can the canonical voldemort be plausibly imagined as a victim of child sexual abuse but that he has several parallels with dolores haze which could make for one hell of a fic. but i'm not interested in clicking on them. i like my tomarrymort saccharine sweet and between consenting adults... and i will not accept any suggestion that this is delusional.]

[sonic-spirit-studios]

Sonic HRT #14: what did erian say?

First - Previous - Next

^_^ Family. I love my mates so, so much. The kink etc dynamic isn't super explicit here, but yeah, my mates have a caretaker/little and mistress/slave dynamic and my dynamic with the both of them is its own thing.

Autism, bro.

I like having these domestic scenes where I'm talking to my mates about stuff. Reflects our real experiences, especially with transitioning under capitalism.

Hey, concerns about doctors blocking your necessary medical procedures! Whoa!

So when I was setting up to get top surgery, I was still working for and lived near though fortunately not with, my abusive-ass parents. I told them I was getting a "breast reduction" and they insisted I would convalesce with them. Great. While in one of the final appointments leading up to the surgery, my surgeon asked what my post surgery plans were. And was, admittedly rightfully, horror-struck at the idea of me trying to recover from surgery in my abusive-ass family's house.

However...I couldn't do anything about where I would be directly post-surgery. I had no choice. I planned to get home as soon after surgery as I could, maybe ask my friends for help if needed...but staying at my parents' was Not Something I Could Get Out Of. My surgeon was so sure her team would correctly gender me and let the secret out of the bag (this did not happen, they did not gender me correctly even once), and looked like she would cancel the whole thing unless I came out to my parents. Cuz again, I didn't have better options. I fully expected to be blowing up my life, losing my job, the whole thing. But at least I'd be able to get surgery.

I came out to my parents. Drafted a letter, went to a restaurant with two of my best friends, met my parents there, and gave them the letter. It went...it was civilized. There wasn't explosions right then. Everything was very contained. What with the public and all. The shoe didn't drop immediately.

But both of them, separately, got me alone to vent their spleens about the whole deal. My dad told me I was his "Horse riding, jean wearing, girl," and more sensitive than my sister, and therefore more girly. My mom told me that me being trans was literally "Worse than her brothers dying."

So about what I expected. Fucking horrible. Honestly, would've almost been better if they just tossed me. I wouldn't have had years more of abuse at their hands.

So yeah. Came out to my parents because my doctor pressured me in ways that jeopardized my transition (after 10 months waiting for my surgery appointment), it went predictably poorly, I still had to "recover" at their house.

Interesting post-script to that story, I apparently have a pretty good pain tolerance? I was able to drive home after about two days? And drove 40 minutes out to got out with friends at Halloween before my drains had even been removed? ^_^ That was rad.

EDIT 2024/9/12: I FORGOT ROBIN'S EAR TIP FURS IN PANEL 3 OF PAGE 4!!! Fixed, now!

[zeroducks-2]

People hating evil characters is weird to me. I guess the only characters I actually hate are annoying ones cause usually that’s not a point of their character in the story, they just happen to be infuriating. Like Slade being a bad guy is cause he’s a bad guy, that’s like his whole point as a character. Yeah he can be nuanced and worse at times but he exists to be an antagonist. It completely makes sense to me that the Tara thing makes people uncomfortable but he’s still a fictional antagonist, it’s not really a moral failing on the part of the creators.

Tbh if you've experienced these characters in any way (read TJC or watched the more recent animated movie or read Deathstroke 2016 or watched Teen Titans 2003, or whatever else features their interaction) and you don't like Slade, that's fair enough.

Loving and hating characters (and every other emotion) happens all the time and it's part of the experience. HOWEVER, I do take issues when it's people who do not know the character, who have barely ever seen them and just heard "stuff" from other fandom people, who go on crusades against said character because "they did bad stuff".

You see it in people who hate Tarantula "because she raped Dick" and they have not read one single comic in which she appears - they have no idea what she even looks like or what's her real name, but they "hate her" because they read a post in which the sexual assault was mentioned and since she "did a bad thing" they "hate her now". This has to be the most shallow fucking thing, but it's convenient because if you hate on the "bad guy" it must mean you're morally pure and upstanding and you're one of the good ones.

Back to your point, hating on a character without any kind of reasoning or nuance only because they did "bad things" is the death of critical thinking. But people out there act like characters who do shit that's even vaguely considered unethical or morally reprehensible irl need to be hated, and like their existence is some sort of moral failing from the writer's part, and it's so fucking annoying and childish.

Which leads me to my second point which is a tad more controversial, but hey I'm a bitch with insufferable opinions so here we go I guess.

I'm bothered by people who pick a character and use them as their scapegoat, and I mean collectively as a fandom. It kind of is the case with Slade but he isn't the perfect example, however the principle is the same: hating on the villain, especially when the villain is very human and makes very human mistakes, using them as the only person who is capable of doing evil and therefore acquitting every other character of anything they ever did.

With Slade it becomes that Slade is the only bad guy of his story, who hurt Grant and hurt Adeline and hurt Joseph and raped Tara and killed and maimed and tortured, and therefore Grant has no blame in what he did to himself, and Adeline is just a poor innocent woman who was hurt by her unfaithful husband, and Joey did nothing wrong and everything that happened to him is solely Slade's fault, and Tara wasn't already a mercenary hitwoman for hire who lied and cheated and killed - rather she was just a poor innocent girl who was manipulated and corrupted by the Big Bad Guy.

I don't know if you see what I mean with this, but it's very much a thing in a lot of fandoms, especially when it comes to horror media where there is a cast of controversial, "imperfect" characters. One example of this is Mouthwashing, in which (spoilers ahead of course) there is a cast composed of people who range from being downright horrible to having very human but very noticeable flaws - every single one of them is "guilty" of something, and the protagonist in particular is also the one with the most prominent antisocial behaviors. But he's not benefiting from them - Jimmy isn't someone whose life is made better by his piece of shit behavior, rather this is a person with issues and who struggles with mental health (he's suicidal and has very strong delusions), giving him a very hard time keeping his life in order. Which of course doesn't make any of the horrible shit he does less horrible, but I think it's interesting how he's (mostly) not acting out of convenience, rather he's acting out his own demons. And what the fandom did was deciding that this guy is the only one to blame, and that his shitty behavior absolves everyone else of their sins. He's effectively the scapegoat and everyone else - it doesn't matter if they act selfishly, childishly, violently, cowardly or anything really - is guileless and has never done anything wrong in their lives. Jimmy is the only one who's to blame, and the rest of the cast is made of pure perfect angels.

I've seen this happen in many many cases. And it sort of turns into a mob of people whose only fandom personality is to hate on this one guy and gather Upstanding Morality Points, and of course the natural consequence of this is bothering or even outright harassing people who instead are fans of such flawed characters.

I hate it. I'm not saying anyone should have to like a character in particular, but the way people hate on the "easy to hate" guy instead of trying to understand them, especially when it's a complex character whose action make them suffer as much as the people they're hurting, distances me from fandom spaces. People will see a feral beast of a character with their leg caught in a bear trap hissing and growling while in the process of chewing their own limb off, and will toss stones at them and call them disgusting and weird. It's so unkind and I hate it so much.

[chromaticleaf]

Can't get Murder Drones out of my head. Almost like some eldritch code has taken root inside my brain. It's probably fine.

Anyway, headcanons for what the murder trio were before Tessa got them:

J was almost certainly in some corporate position. I like to think she was involved in marketing, since she has all those buzzwords ingrained in her lexicon. Maybe they even had her working with graphic design with her art skills. I also imagine she kinda hates corporate structure. "Bootlicker J" jokes aside, I can't imagine even she would have fun as a (literal) corporate slave, and she definitely enjoys freely speaking her mind: not something that flies very well in corporate and marketing contexts. Maybe she got dumped during some convoluted office politics, maybe she was dumped due to random downsizing, who knows.

N's a bit trickier. We see a lot of dexterity and showmanship from him in the manor. He's quite flashy with the glassware at a few points. He also likes drawing, but is lacking in technical skill, especially compared to J. He's also quite personable and friendly, and also seems to truly admire J in some capacity. As a bonus, Cyn mimics a lot of N's mannerisms, and one of her defining traits is her acting, even specifically playing at "improv" while rebuilding J. Therefore, I think N was in theater/entertainment.

He wasn't necessarily an actor himself: still a robot slave after all. But he likely assisted with a lot of setup. Rehearsals, testing stunts, watching over pets/kids (whether those of actors or actors themselves), etc. He enjoys fancy costumes as well, and he's pretty genre aware. He's probably had his fair share of experience with horror movies/stories. Maybe he got dumped pissing off the wrong famous person, maybe some stunt went wrong and they didn't want to bother repairing him, maybe they just wanted the newest model.

V is tough to decide. She seems to enjoy fighting the most out of all of them, but none of them are really slouches in combat, so I don't think that says much about her past. We don't see much of her in the manor, but the impression she gives is a bit more shy and demure. We see her playing chess in the credits, but one hobby doesn't mean much on its own, especially since chess is a common game to put on computers: probably all of them have chess programs built-in.

With that little to go off of, and her tendency to both act out in outrageous ways and keep herself closed-off, I'm thinking she was probably a menial worker beforehand. Minimal freedom, in a position where she'd best keep her head down. Follow the rules closely in order to keep what little she has. "Do your job and I leave you and N alone" was probably a pretty good deal to V because it was as good or better than her previous work arrangements.

Could be a lot of jobs like that for a robo-slave. But let's have fun with it and extrapolate from her usage of "narc" and her apparent desensitization to violence: she was used by a criminal organization for clean-up duty, and got dumped after being confiscated by authorities.

[liauditore]

what’s your thoughts on ouran? you mentioned you had a love / hate relationship with it and i think that would be interesting to hear

Oh god post that usually would be reserved for my sideblog incoming. Heads up this one might get uncomfortable, heed the tags. LONG POST.

TL;DR: it's a fun show that's neck deep in the misogyny sauce

I had the true ouran experience of watching it when I was 12 and thinking it was really funny but ultimately finished the show feeling mildly disappointed as well as being Very put off by one specific episode.

As a 12 year old I didn't really have the words to explain why but over the years I thought back to ouran again and again and the more I thought about it the more. Angry isn't really the right emotion I guess. Eyebrow raised emoji-y is more accurate.

Now that I am a bit older and wiser and have read more shoujo, I think the majority of the annoyance and confusion I felt towards ouran, especially nearing the end of the show, came from the fact that it pretty much bait-and-switches its own stance on gender roles, classism and judging by appearance. Please note that I have not rewatched ouran in many years so take all this with a grain of salt and forgive me for anything I'm straight up misremembering.

Haruhi, to me, embodies a very quintessential shoujo protagonist archetype. She's not necessarily radicalized against gender roles, but doesn't place the same importance in gendered performance as her peers. She's also viciously ambitious and doesn't downplay her own intelligence, qualities that her female peers around her have been conditioned to avoid in their cartoonishly extreme upper class upbringings.

However, the other girls' education being a direct result of their education is never really examined. All the other girls at ouran are presented as vapid and "boy-crazy" over the host club. Renge, the only major female character aside from Haruhi herself, is delegated to being comedic relief (and of course, the humour surrounding her almost always has to do with her obsession with Kyoya) with some not so subtle implications that Haruhi is above her girlish antics because Haruhi is... Better, to put it bluntly, in every way including her ability to appeal to men, which can be seen through Kyoya's neutral to distasteful opinion of Renge vs his somewhat unsubtle care and attraction towards Haruhi.

This very unflattering depiction of women other than Haruhi extends to the very queer-coded* Lobelia academy girls, who the host club spends an episode "rescuing" Haruhi from and, once again despite their group leader's more masculine look, reacts in shock and horror at their feminine interests. Eugh, makeup! Disgusting!

*pressing the "nuance" button on this one because we can't expect to apply our understanding of queer signalling on a Japanese highschooler, but the Lobelia girls are. Fairly blatant enough I feel that I almost don't even want to call it coding.

The girls in the show who aren't Haruhi are either boy-crazy and therefore stupid, side characters whose episodes are often tied to getting with a male love interest (who is always depicted as "plain" compared to the desirable men of the host club), rivals in love against Haruhi (like Eclair) or silly evil lesbians.

Speaking of the silly evil lesbians, I do think it's interesting how many times the show feels the need to restate Haruhi's heterosexuality through her endless amounts of blatant disinterest in her fangirls. I briefly wrote once on how patriarchal standards have an amount of gender-nonconformity that can be accepted with women, but violently withdraws that acceptance when it can be even slightly confused with signalling queerness. Every second boomer dad wants a tomboy daughter, yet none of them seem to want trans sons. Idk, food for thought.

It's also fascinating to me that Utena is so much older than Ouran, yet almost feels like a direct response to Ouran's pitfalls at times e.g. the "not like other girls" logic of Ouran's world that pits women against eachother. The only women deserving of sympathy are those who don't act as a "threat" to Haruhi's desireability, everyone else is stupid and beneath her or an evil bitch.

The one woman who is always shown as intelligent and worthy of respect outside of Haruhi herself is Haruhi's deceased mother. Interesting that she had to be dead and more of a concept and motivator for Haruhi instead of.. a character.

If the show was just a marina and the diamonds girls simulator that would be one thing but what I find even more insidious is that not only does it not respect its female cast, Haruhi herself is almost. Instructed? In the show to uphold patriarchal rhetoric, when she entered as a neutral force. With the fact that she acts as the audience stand-in, I find this just the smallest bit troubling.

ESPECIALLY. when talking about the specific episode that really gave me the "I don't like this alot but I can't describe why" feelings when I was 12. Everything else in the show I can look past but this episode genuinely pissed me the fuck off when I was 12 and pisses me off even more now.

I'm talking of course about the "better remember your place in society or men will rape you!!"

In episode 8, the host club visits the beach but instead of the fun beach episode I thought was coming up, 12 year old me was hit was Haruhi being scolded by Tamaki for trying to defend a group of girls from ruffians, simply because she is a girl. Haruhi obviously gets mad.

This in of itself is fine, Tamaki's been shown to be an idiot and very deep in the misogyny/classism sauce, and the way this show mocks that is why I really like him.

But Tamaki is supposed to be IN THE RIGHT this episode, as later Kyoya pretends that he's going to rape Haruhi to teach her a lesson about why women shouldn't confront men I guess. Which, of course, implies quite a lot of very strange things in a show made for young girls, including that if you just abide by gender expectations that are Good and Keep You Safe you... won't be raped? Haruhi even thanks Kyoya for PRETENDING HE WAS GOING TO RAPE HER ?

It's this. Very strange and hypocritical moment for this show and really, really soured Kyoya's character for me -- which is a shame cus I do think he's one of the most interesting club members. I'll never not fume about this episode man I literally got into fights with friends over this episode being garbage as a kid and it was one of the smartest opinions I had at that age.

It's also gross to me that this whole thing revolved around, in the first place, Haruhi trying to defend other girls. In a show that keeps isolating Haruhi from them. So to recap 1. DO NOT seek out relationships with other women, they are vapid and won't understand you, certainly not more than the men in your life and 2. If you defend other women (from men), you're being stupid. Get a man to handle it instead, because it's men's duty to defend women, not yours. and if you violate this natural order you deserve to get raped. Hashtag some gender roles are good, actually.

I also have more thoughts on the way it's presented as if being raped as a woman is the worst thing imagineable but Renge's stalker tendencies towards Kyoya are played up for laughs. Shrugs.

The episode even ends with Haruhi saying she wasn't afraid because she knew Kyoya wasn't going to do it, but then ending up in a curled up helpless ball anyway because of. some thunder. really awesome. While I don't have any problem with exploring Haruhi's vulnerability, we never see any of the boys in such a state, reinforcing that this isn't about dropping the facade of unemotional masculinity but Haruhi being... a girl. Barf.

Even completely disregarding that episode, the messaging is. Strange to say the least. I do think this one might be the thing that gets me shot because Tamaki Does come around to appreciating Haruhi as a person and not simply a "woman", but the fact remains that she still acts as a "love interest" from beginning to end. And the whole dynamic of. Haruhi going from completely disinterested to fond of Tamaki over time, and Tamaki learning to abandon his playboy ways and see Haruhi as a person is totally fine and okay. BUT it is a little bit. Oh so NOW you want to talk about seeing women as people.

I feel that I've been. very focused on the hate part of the love hate and I'll be real nowadays that is very much the dominant half. I still like the show just for nostalgia value, the humour, as well as the host club members themselves. Morii and Honey specifically have a really awesome dynamic and I wish we got to see Honey go berserker more but it is what it is. Kyoya, rapey moment aside, is also really fun and maybe one of those characters that made me realise what kind of tropes I like. I will not stand a word of Hikaru and Kaoru slander, those boys are awesome and their incestuous club personas are a great parody of how performative the club really is, and through that how performative society as a whole is when dealing with attraction as a concept. And I actually really like the side characters too, the emo catboy and Renge in particular.

But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't perhaps one of the most anti-feminist bait and switches I'd ever seen in my life.

Haruhi's not even gender-nonconforming!! She's just a normie with a normal amount of care put into gendered presentation but because she's in the psychopath rich people school she SEEMS gender-nonconforming!! Which is fine as I've said before I think a lot of shoujo protagonists are like Haruhi in that their gender is more "I just work here" at best and something used to oppress them at worst, but Haruhi goes out of her way to present more feminine the moment she leaves the school gates.

Big words for this show to come out swinging saying gender roles and expectations attached to them are dumb when its so terrified of actually tackling them. I don't require everything I watch to be queer queer gay gay homosexual transgender beam attack but like?? Why have Haruhi say she dgaf and then have her present feminine anyway? Especially when it's been highlighted to us that her family is dirt poor, yet she still has the money for hair extensions? You're telling me she decided to cut ALL OF HER HAIR OFF FOR A TINY PIECE OF GUM. for no reason at all when she could've easily just cut it into a bob??

FTR I do still like Haruhi which is what makes this all the more frustrating, especially since she's one of the few female anime characters who we're told is supposed to be masc-presenting and actually could pass as that. Mf questioned the system of gender and then proceeded to do fuckall with it. Gets forced into crossdressing but underlines it with "but im not a lesbian" the whole way through. What cowardice. What theory and no practice. What bark but no bite. What a non-theme. Haruhi is the opposite of punk. Centrist ass take of an anime.

Ahem. Biases aside. I just feel like it fails as a romance, fails saying anything substantial about gender or class and ultimately ends up being meaningless fluff at best and pro-rapist and anti-woman at worst.