#so this was actually written with the intent of—

[siddyyyyyyyy]

Obsessed with your blog! Can you write a Jason Todd x reader where it’s reader’s birthday and Jason doesn’t know until someone calls her saying happy birthday

Late Birthday

Jason Todd x Reader

wc: 0.7 K summary: Jason tries his best to be romantic warnings: fluff a/n: this is such a nice request but i couldn't really come up with anything bombastically nice😭😭 i hope this is still cute and nice and thank you for the request!!!!!!!

The day hadn‘t been too exciting or eventful, it was actually like every other day. Once Jason got home, he did his usual routine of slipping into comfortable clothes and join you in your warm bed. It had been as usual, being snuggled up on top of you, head resting on your chest while listening to your steady heartbeat.

He almost fell asleep on you before your phone suddenly buzzed alive, feeling the subtle movements of you reaching and answer the call. You put it on speaker without any other thoughts, getting spooked again as a loud voice chimes through.

»Good evening! It‘s one in the morning and your birthday, so I— «

You quickly put the call back on quiet, putting your phone against your ear as you listen to your best friend ramble off her birthday wishes to you. Jason only processes the words seconds later, lifting his head off your chest to watch you intently.

He doesn‘t take his eyes off of you, even after you hang up the call after saying some thanks to your best friend. You carefully put your phone back away, meeting his eyes again. Finally, he speaks up.

»It‘s your birthday?«

He sounds betrayed. Actually, even hurt at this point. It makes you feel guilty, rubbing his back lightly in attempt to keep him calm… or rather yourself.

You nod lightly in response, still afraid of his reaction. In all honesty, you even forgot it‘s your birthday in the first place and didn‘t plan on telling him either way. It didn‘t make sense to you, celebrating some day felt wasteful.

He sighs out softly and shifts off of you, pressing a small kiss against your forehead before getting off the bed completely.

»Wait, where are you going?«

You sit up, confused and getting a little nervous about his sudden action. Is he really this disappointed?

»Just remembered I have some business left to do. I‘ll be back in a sec.«

Jason answers back casually, flashing you a soft smile as he puts his jeans back on and leaves your room. You are left alone for now, laying back and decide to wait patiently and not worry about it.

As you‘re distracting yourself with your phone for a few minutes, you finally hear the keys jingle at the front door, slipping out of your bed to see Jason again. He appears inside, his back still to you while he takes his shoes off. Without wasting another second, he turns around and reveals the colourful boquet of flowers in his hand. A smaller plushie in his other hand, a charming grin written all over his face.

»Happy birthday.«

He huffs out with a small shrug, making you melt on spot. That sweet gesture is enough to make you fall for him even harder and make you overwhelmed with feelings. The next thing Jason sees is your flustered smile, then you rosy cheeks, and how you hug him tightly. He hugs you back as best as possible, hands still full with the boquet and plushie.

Of course, the flowers aren‘t world class or expensive, but flowers are still flowers. He probably sprinted to the closest gas station and searched for the sweetest thing he could think of, without being overbearing.

He didn‘t ask any questions on why you didn‘t tell him beforehand, considering he also has his reasons on keeping his birthday as secret as possible. The night ends up with you two drinking some wine together with a shitty movie on the TV, snuggled up under a blanket on the couch. The flowers rest in a vase on the coffee table, actually paying more attention to them than the movie.

It feels like the best birthday you‘ve ever had. Being together with Jason with some wine and cosy movie night is probably the best way to spend the night. The way his hand traces slow circles around your back, how soothing his breath feels against the top of your head. How domestic this feels like. Jason can‘t stop thinking about you during this moment. He isn‘t used to things feeling so domestic and loving, but he finds himself wishing this night won‘t end.

a/n: sorry for making this short, but i do have some things going on rn..... i'm starting to believe the fanfiction writers curse is real. hope you enjoyed it, the next few fics are going to be longer and more intersting! promise!!

←MASTERLIST

[olderthannetfic]

This NaNoWriMo stuff with AI is largely unsurprising to me. I don't know how many people have gone beyond reading the viral clipped out bit about classism and ableism, but there was a follow up statement on that, in which they claim to take a very neutral stance. That their initial intent was apparently trying to curtail harassment of those who are using AI and they at least apologized for their confusing and unthoughtful wording of their original statement. Which seems legitimate enough to me. I'm sure they are sorry, considering the swift and unforgiving backlash they received. What I find kind of bizarre about this whole thing is, like, if you are running an event surrounding writing and making guidelines for what is and isn't okay in general-- then wouldn't it be a perfectly reasonable addition, to set out some level of encouraged practices for how one should or shouldn't use AI for during said event. Guidelines that are encouraged, that follow what everyone believes to be the spirit of the event (sitting down and actually writing a little every day for a month) would seem like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, to me. Like, am I off base here? With the rise in AI this seems like the natural progression. Even if only in spirit, not allowing generated works specifically seems like it would be a completely understandable guideline that keeps the event fair to those trying to do it the way it's meant to be done. And if you wanted to be neutral about it, it could be presented alongside a more lax policy around using AI to say, generate a plot bunny when experiencing writers block or create names for places/characters. People have been using tools like that for ages so there's precedent to allow "thoughtful" use of AI for these purposes. Anything at all, even if it can't be completely enforced, seems like it would have been better. The random endorsement of AI for people in certain circumstances from their follow up statement, and how it can be life changing, if one were to take their meaning in the most charitable way possible, does not feel like it's on topic here. Like, all this effort to be "neutral" on their part is not really coming across that way it's all just so damn clumsy. I try to always assume positive intent, not attributing to maliciousness (such as capital gain at the expense of creatives, which is one of the major problems with AI generated work) what can be better explained by ignorance, but even taking all that they've said in such a fashion, it largely feels like they didn't want people arguing about AI but also didn't want to have to make rules around AI that they would then have to, even if only in spirit, enforce. I can sort of understand that, considering it would be (most likely) impossible for them to differentiate between generated work and stuff that was written by a person. But again. They could have just said that it wouldn't be possible for them to police AI usage, blah blah blah, honor system (which again is already part of how NaNo works-- an honor system) but that targeted harassment campaigns of individuals for any reason would not be allowed within these spaces, up to and including suspected use of AI. Like there were so many different ways this could have been approached to accomplish what their stated goal was. Without??? Accidentally taking a very strange and not well thought out direct stance on AI that they later had to halfway walk back and apologize for. I don't think NaNoWriMo ever intended the message to be "We allow AI generated works now" (unless there's something I missed) -- That's not explicitly something they said, but rather the at large and reactionary interpretation of it. Now, I just have to wonder, what the hell happened to their September update post from last week, that was apparently addressing other issues. One thing I'll say for this whole mess, is it's at least amusing to watch the absurdity of their slow motion collapse hitting the speedrun stage toward total implosion. The org has had major internal problems for years now.

--

Honestly, I think the reaction is at least as much about longstanding issues with the organization as about people's fears of AI. Poorly thought out corporate idiocy feels in-character.

[master-of-47-dudes]

Oh! For those of you who like Lancer, I've made major progress in the campaign I'm writing: Kindness of strangers!

LRBT-III, otherwise known as Blanche to the locals. This sun-baked dustbowl of a planet has the high honor of being one of the few habitable terrestrial bodies that anyone has discovered in the Long Rim, and probably the only one that's actually any use to anyone. Luckily- or not so luckily, if you ask some people- it was Union that found it first. Well, about 70 years ago when they stumbled across this star system they got it in their heads that the Long Rim's days were numbered. There’s untold millions living out there scattered along the emptiest shipping lane in the known galaxy who'd need a way out once no one needed to pass them by, and by Christ the Buddha Union was gonna be there for them waiting with open arms.

All of that is background, though. You? You’re a bunch of mercenaries who got their hands on a couple of GMSes, decided to make your manna selling violence for pay. Worlds like Blanche don't take to colonies very well, so even two generations in there's still plenty of frontier out there being settled and railroad tracks being laid. The people out there struggle day by day to survive, and people like you are there to protect them from those who got sick of the hard life. Not everyone out there has the guts to stand up for the little guy- that's why you're called Lancers.

A setting and a campaign all in one, Kindness Of Strangers and its (eventual) follow-up Dancing With the Devil are a series of Wild West-themed 2-mission adventures intended to take players from 0-12 as they find themselves embroiled in the midst of a corporate conspiracy to overthrow the Union-backed government of the isolated colony of Blanche and a ploy to seize control over a nearly completed Blinkstation. All the while, a strange religious movement worshipping an eons-dead alien civilization grows ever more influential in the background...

This campaign tackles themes of colonialism, nationalism, corruption, and conflict between indigenous peoples, settlers, and immigrants, all in a world where well-meaning intentions have gone sour and the ghosts of the past have come back to haunt it.

Kindness of Strangers, Missions 1-3

Field Guide to LRBT-PN

Exotic Gear Documentation

Variant Frame Documentation

Kindness of Strangers Worldbuilding Short Stories

Kindness of Strangers LCP, Maps, and Assets

This latest update includes the first(ish) draft of Mission 3: The Field of Blue Children, allowing play of the first half of Act 2 and extending the LL range from 0-3. Mission 3 is heavily intrigue and RP focused, featuring a wide suite of characters, relationships, and locations in the Tourist town of Baugh- a thriving immigrant community situated on a soda lake.

The PCs have been hired to investigate a bomb threat at the newly completed Baugh Pumpworks, and water filtration and chemical processing facility that stands to end the water shortage and threatens corporate control over the colony's water supply- but is everything really as it seems? In the process, the PCs will go toe to toe with teenage gearheads, Pinkerton-expies, and a group of Sparri Espadas who got roped into this whole mess, and uncover the mystery behind the threat!

Also, there's a subaltern that talks like a pirate and catholicism.

Anyway this mission also includes a custom NPC Template (kind of, I don't know how to design the LCP for that but i did include instructions on how it works), several new reserves, and several custom sitreps!

So, check it out- I'm always looking for feedback.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Jude Jazza Route Theories Pt. 2: Hidden Rooms, Burning Smells & Human-Trafficking ☾.

MDNI - Solely for brief mentions of sex CW: Brief mentions of SA, Child abuse, Death.

This is another post I also delayed for months, and it's a bit more of an odds and ends post. I had these notes written, but got busy translating and they just stayed stuck on paper. Then I had a nice chat with @shatcey the other day which reminded me about Jude's Crown’s S-Rank 95k Bonus Story story.

Under the cut due to event and route spoilers. As usual, this is just for fun, it's nothing groundbreaking, and we can't be dogmatic.

Burning Smells: “Shit, that burnin' smell...” - Jude Jazza, Crown’s S-Rank 95k Bonus Story

To my knowledge, this is where we are first introduced to something very odd - a Jude who doesn’t like burning smells. In this scene, a merchant whom Jude has collected evidence against for human-trafficking, started a fire within his own mansion to get rid of evidence. He intended for Jude and Kate to burn with him, so the two run for their lives as usual. Interestingly, we get a bit more insight about this vague statement at a later event……

“The smell when I smoke reminds me of that stuffy ass room. All the smoke n’ the fumes, n’ the gloom in the air would make me cough up a lung.” - Jude Jazza, Roger Barel’s Past Records-Record No. Four

This didn't hit me until I was writing this post, but I love how I Cybird expounded on that tiny morsel so many months later, and yet there's still not a lot of info. While it's implied the room Jude was in was filled with cigarette smoke (and for all intents and purposes, it probably is just cigarette smoke), Cybird doesn't explicitly state what type of smoke was actually in that room. It only says that cigarette smoke reminded him of it.

And if you think about it, cigarettes would just be an easy way for Jude to have access to the smell of smoke (which he uses to feed his hatred and vengeance).So, it could also be something like fumes and smoke from a furnace? Something that would constantly be spreading and harming them versus the potential intermittent smell of cigarette smoke. Maybe not though.

Regardless of the type of smoke it was, it’s both a source of trauma and a motivator for him, and he abhors it. Now about this room he was in.....

Hidden Rooms: So far we know that he was in a dusty attic (from his first BD event), and then this stuffy room that was filled with smoke.

Going to back to the mansion that is on fire in the 95k story, Jude wants them to escape by means of climbing down a drainage pipe from the fourth floor, but Kate tells him to do it alone, fearful the pipe won’t support them both. She explains that there maybe a hidden passage way to a detached outbuilding, where it’s rumored a sickly child the couple had at one point lived inside. When they reach the the wall that divides the mansion with the outbuilding, Jude says:

“……It's somethin' you often find in aristocratic mansions. They’ll dig underground and make somethin' like this.”

Now, how would he know this? He’s not an aristocrat. True, it may be that it’s something he’s noticed on Crown missions such as, Ghost House Report. In that mission, they find Anne’s skeleton in an under ground basement that’s hidden beneath the first floor staircase. It could also be that he worked as a servant in an aristocratic mansion and saw things no one should ever have to see. However, I feel like in Jude’s case, it might be……

Human-Trafficking: “Now, if ya were just buyin’ ‘n sellin’ guns ‘n other dirty shit that’d be fine. But don’t ya remember the contract ya signed with me? When I toldja, NO human traffickin’.”- Jude Jazza, Wrapped In Wicked Romance, Premium End

From the very beginning, we know at least one thing about Jude, and it’s that he HATES human-trafficking. In fact, majority of his personal missions involve this disgusting practice, and that point is further driven home in Ellis’ route. In chapter 13 of the route, they find 12 children who’ve been abducted by a lunatic, and Jude is absolutely furious about it.

A quick side note, before they discover the children, Jude tells Kate that it’s never acceptable to lock up a child without food. To me, it solidifies other evidence that Jude may have been a victim himself along with his sibling(s)/mother. Oh, and it also contributes to his medical records stating that he suffered from malnourishment!

There are ton of theories that I have about how he and his sibling(s)/mother were sold if that was the case.

Simple street abduction. There could’ve just been a bunch of bad guys looking for a quick buck and sold children to earn it. Ellis’ route has something similar happening.

Jude and his family may be from another country who were sold to someone in England. (I’m using First Class Ticket, Dark IF, and Guard IF as a basis for this.)

Jude and his family may have been offered up as collateral by their parent/guardian at an illegal gambling den. (Jude’s & Nica’s versus SE is what makes me think this).

Jude and his family may have been born into captivity by a mother who was sold to someone, and assaulted.

Jude’s mother may have been a prostitute who snagged herself a nobleman customer, and thus he was born and was simply mistreated within the home, and/or was found by the father later on and shoved into a cage.

Or, his mother may have been the one who disappeared after being sold, and he was simply left to live on the streets and earn a wage any way he could.

Final Theory? It's kind of hard reigning it all in, but I think Jude and his family may have been victims of human-trafficking in a nobleman’s home. There must've been constant burning smells of smoke that irritated baby Jude's lungs (who already suffers from seasonal asthma). This no doubt contributed to the illness of the other two who were with him as it seems they had trouble breathing too.

They may have been starved (as supported by Jude's medical record of suffering from child malnourishment), assaulted (physically and sexually), and/or at least exposed to the indulgence in vices such as drugs, sex, murder games (as Jude's mentioned once before in an event or Ellis' route...I can't remember where exactly), and other things…..we will stop at that because I can’t bear to think of what they may have had to endure or witness.

Assuming, Jude was locked away in a mansion like that as a child himself, I think it’s plausible that he escaped the mansion using his wit, not necessarily the way he did using cigarette smoke in the story, but somewhere along those lines:

Without putting the cigarette in his mouth, he held it out toward the underground passage. Then, the cigarette smoke trailed into the passage from the back of the hallway. “…..Thankfully, there's some air flow. Looks like there's an exit on the other side.”- Jude.

Of course, little Jude could’ve also climbed out a window and down the drain pipe if he was making his way down from a dusty attic instead, and I wonder…..was his family (?) able to make it out too, or was it too late by that point?

What we do know is that Jude escaped that life, and he even went to a public school (which is a paid school for the wealthy and the aristocratic). According to Past Records, it was either a scholar or a doctor who supported Jude in this endeavor.

Why? Why did they fund Jude's schooling? A selfish one? A genuine one? Did they notice how intelligent and clever Jude was, and decided it would be a tragedy if his brains were left to waste in the slums? Did they meet Jude while he was locked away? Did they meet Jude on the street? These are questions I want to know.

Again, this is just what I think could’ve happened. Let’s see how wrong I am! Please feel free to add-on to the theories.

[tobi-smp]

this was Originally a response in a reply thread [Link] but I've decided that I'd like people to actually SEE IT fadsjklfasd

so ! here's an expansion on my ideas about dream manipulating Everything into place up until the disc war finale, Including technoblade.

How To Blow Up A Country From The Inside: A Step By Step Guide

(by Dream "Was" Taken)

1: dream Intentionally set up the final control room to sow doubt and mistrust. he didn't Need to have eret be in out, he didn't Need eret to make a big show of betraying l'manberg. but it was done Intentionally.

both to hurt the l'manbergians, And to push some of the heat off of him.

because it WAS eret who took most of the heat after the war was over. that's exactly the Point of having a shadow king. to act as a figure head and scapegoat while still listening to everything that dream said (and to be swapped out at will whenever it's convenient).

oh Dream isn't the king, Dream didn't blow up l'manberg. dream's just Some Guy, who Happens to not want people to gate off his house. don't think about it too much. it's a Very intentional strategy on his part.

2: it can be inferred that techno and dream's duel Was canon to the dream smp, or at the Very Least that techno and dream were familiar with each other before he joined the server. dream is Very aware that techno is one of the very few people on the server who could put up a real fight against him, which makes him a Person Of Interest.

3: dream Intentionally allowed schlatt to do his hostile takeover. he would Claim that he was Only following the agreement with l'manberg, that it was So Sad that his hands were tied, but schlatt's actions directly went Against said agreement. he was presenting himself as an ally to the pogtopians while Actively refusing to materially step in.

meanwhile, we know he was making a deal with schlatt behind the scenes, both to get into his good graces, And to get his hands on the revival book.

4: he was Very Intentionally playing four sides here.

singling tommy out to present himself as His Friend, denying it in public but playing nice with him when it's just the two of them. addressing "Tyrant" SPECIFICALLY to tommy [Link 1, Link 2], where he presents himself as an ally while providing excuses for why he couldn't Materially do anything, and at the same time providing tommy a chest full of supplies directly. helping tommy in the pet war, even when that meant hurting sapnap, Etc.

.

meeting techno in secret to Also give him items, scope out him and his intentions, and Hopefully get on his good side. he is Also, presumably, aware of techno's role in the antarctic empire (or whatever the dream smp equivalent of that was, it's unclear if it was Literally smp earth or not).

.

very Very actively enabled wilbur's downward spiral and distrust. providing him with the tnt to blow up l'manberg, starting the rumor about the traitor in pogtopia, actively egging him on.

.

and of course, playing as schlatt's muscle. watching as schlatt drove everyone else away but giving him the false confidence to continue on to the war, to the Breaking Point.

5: the end goal of all of this being the ultimate destruction of every party involved. he lead the pogtopians to schlatt to let them kill him. he shouted in absolute wicked Glee when wilbur blew l'manberg up and killed himself, telling tommy that Wilbur had been the traitor and joined in the destruction.

I've written before about how I think dream Intentionally pushed wilbur into killing himself, to take him out as a threat yes, but More than that because he was Jealous of him and what he had [Link]

but I think it ALSO needs to be pointed out that dream INTENTIONALLY provoked techno into not only splitting from pogtopia, but Very specifically to pit him against tommy.

to be clear, it was ultimately techno's choice to do what he did. he Chose to do that big speech, to attack his former friends, to set himself as a threat, to join wilbur in bombing l'manberg. he Has agency.

but dream 100% wanted this to happen. he Knew that pogtopia and techno's goals weren't aligned, he Knew that techno has a tendency to react violently, and this was advantageous from Multiple angles.

it's a repeat of the eret situation. just like with wilbur, it's demoralizing and frightening. it breaks their spirits AND pulls attention away from him. he'd greased the wheels that lead to l'manberg's destruction, that lead to wilbur's death, but he was Never the loudest one in the room. schlatt was dead, but Techno wasn't. Techno set himself up as the most immediate threat, having vowed to come back to destroy them again if they made another government. even Phil was out there saying that Techno was the traitor in pogtopia while fighting off his withers.

.

it set TECHNO up at a disadvantage if dream ever needed to "deal" with him. in a one of one fight either one of them COULD make it out on top, but if techno had everyone else in l'manberg as an ally that might actually tip the scales, and he can't have that. in a single night techno lost every one of the allies he'd spent weeks making on the server, lost his base, and had to start off again from scratch, all while branding him with the reputation of a traitor. it was the consequences of his own actions, but it was Exactly What Dream Wanted To Happen

.

it Very Specifically split techno and TOMMY'S relationship. dream wanted wilbur dead because of what he had, because He was tommy's brother, his leader, the person he'd follow to the ends of the earth. but Techno was one of tommy's idols when he joined the server too, they'd been allies and they could've been Friends (tommy had certainly thought they'd been friends). dream Needed to separate them, so that techno would never come between him and what he wanted.

techno Chose to defect from l'manberg, but it was Dream that came out the other side with everything he'd wanted.

and he was Right. Yes dream was on the chopping block for new l'manberg (ala quackity's hit list). but it was Techno that they'd wanted to kill first. it was Techno that was the immediate threat, Techno that they plastered wanted posters for. dream let techno take the fall Exactly the same way eret did.

6: of course, we have exile. we have dream framing tommy for griefs across the server the Day after l'manberg was destroyed [Link]. you have dream taking advantage of tommy griefing george's house (something completely normal on the smp) to set tommy up, to pit him Against new l'manberg and Tubbo in particular. you have him threatening l'manberg and framing it as a punishment for tommy's actions. his open manipulation of tubbo.

he got rid of wilbur, he got rid of techno, and then he pit tommy against tubbo and took him away. and he was designing pandora's vault and testing out the revival book all the while. continuing to manipulate and watch new l'manberg and techno once tommy was gone.

7: dream Knew about the list, or at least knew that l'manberg was after technoblade. and I think it's really interesting to look at what he actually chose to Do.

because he Could Have helped in a Much more direct way, openly allied with techno and prevented him from experiencing the trauma of death at all. but he chose to help Just Enough to put techno in his debt while Keeping techno as the number one threat.

he Could have openly fought off new l'manberg, he could have let techno die and use the revival book on him after the fact (letting new l'manberg think he was dead and get them off of techno's back). instead he lead techno to the totem beforehand, and lead him back to carl after.

enough for techno to escape, enough for techno to Know what dream did for him, but Not enough for new l'manberg to move the heat back to Dream.

and importantly, it's setting techno up to get revenge. because dream Could Have stepped in to stop them Immediately if he Really wanted to protect techno from the goodness of his heart.

once again, everyone made the choices that they did on purpose. new l'manberg Chose to execute techno, techno Chose to provoke them in the first place, and techno would Choose to get his revenge.

but dream very intentionally tipped the scales to move everything in HIS favor. to advantage HIM, and disadvantage everyone else.

8: likewise, dream had initially been nervous about tommy staying with techno. it was what he'd been trying to avoid after all.

and we can see that in his behavior, we can Watch him stalking them in the background of multiple streams, and of course he visited techno's house Directly. by this point dream already KNEW that tommy was there, he'd seen them together.

dream is a manipulator, and he wants to use techno, but he's willing to do a LOT to keep tommy under his thumb.

the tipping point was, of course, the confrontation at the portal.

dream confronting tommy and techno directly, dream trying to assert his control over tommy. and at first techno steps in, tells him that tommy's with him.

but then he offers the favor. tommy's with him, Unless He Wants To Cash In That Favor. and that told dream everything he needs to know.

dream KNEW that techno and tommy's falling out was coming, and he Also knew Exactly how techno reacts to "betrayal." and what's more, tommy's relationship with new l'manberg, with Tubbo, was being set up to degrade even More thanks to his association with techno.

techno would stop at nothing to destroy l'manberg, and tommy would do anything to save it. they would never last, and tommy would be destroyed when it happened.

he let them go Intentionally, with the hope that this would all crash and burn. to destroy tommy's connections and reputation to ash. to chip away that much further at tommy's moral, at his soul.

9: and in many ways, he was right. exactly what he wanted to happen DID happen, and it was the direct result of him provoking the situation further.

tommy and techno had their falling out, he got his hands on the disc, tommy and tubbo's relationship boiled over.

dream got everything he wanted, except for tommy's spirit. loyal to the absolute end.

techno and tommy Could have been friends, tommy Wanted them to be friends.

10: doomsday. l'manberg destroyed to bedrock, techno isolated from the rest of the server, everyone's spirit's ground to dust. dream told tommy that this was Fun, that their story would never be over, while standing above the ash.

pandora's vault would be complete soon, and in it he had a place for the axe of peace, for carl. in it, he had a place for tommy, his most prized possession.

techno CHOSE to do what he did, but dream lead everyone to the paths they took On Purpose. he Wanted their relationships to fall apart. he WANTED everyone to be isolated and broken so he could take what was "rightfully" his. he WANTED to keep everyone on a leash until he could own the entire server in a more Complete way than simply being the server owner.

and this is important to me specifically BECAUSE of what could have been and what would have never been allowed to happen. Because of the ways that techno and tommy cared about each other, and yet were fated to be torn apart.

tommy Chose to defy dream when it mattered, to defeat him through his Connections. through his love for the people around him. while techno did exactly what dream wanted him to.

but it's just like.

when I see people talk about what could have been they'll pick scapegoats like quackity or wilbur, or even tubbo or phil. but never Dream. the person who wanted nothing more than to set them up to fail. who DELIGHTED in it.

and it's so INTERESTING to me. it's so Interesting that the person who used and manipulated techno was Undeniably dream. who saw him as a meat shield, who set him up to hunted down, who isolated him, who fully intended to use him to his fullest.

dream WAS the tyrannical force that techno was so opposed to, dream WAS the person who'd disadvantaged techno the most, and yet they Never get set up as being enemies. either in the story proper or in the fandom.

and that's CRAZY to me !!!! the biggest antagonist to techno IS DREAM! but you'd never know it looking at the fandom.

and that saddens me as someone who likes all of these characters Very Much. I'd KILL for fic that explores this exactly. for techno to realize the sheer Extent that he'd been lead on and used. that his relationships where burned away On Purpose. that someone who truly did not think of him as a human being drove him away from the person who'd wanted nothing more than to be his friend.

it's craaaaaaaaazy, and I feel like I'm the only one who knows it.

[saurongorthaur9]

ROP S2E7 Spoilers

So...the stupid kiss did indeed happen, and as promised yesterday, I need to vent and get it out of my system. It was every bit as stupid and unnecessary as I feared it would be; somehow, I was hoping if that was what happened, that somehow it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded? But yeah...it was. This is probably going to be a pretty long post, as I've been thinking a lot about what bothers me so much about it as a concept and I have a lot of Thoughts.

A disclaimer to begin with: yeah, part of me is disappointed that it wasn't the kiss I hoped it would be, but I knew from the start that a Sauron kiss would be very, very unlikely. If it had happened, it would have been less about a ship for me, and more about the validation for me of getting an onscreen Sauron kiss in a huge, professional production as I've written about in other posts. I would have loved a Sauron kiss, but that's not what is really bothering me on more than a surface level. So with that disclaimer aside...

I think I can break what bothers me down into two basic categories.

The first is more straightforward: it was SO unnecessary. Yes, there needed to be some way for Galadriel to get free, but there are so many ways it could have been set up without a weird, incredibly uncomfortable kiss that came out of absolute nowhere being necessary. He could have gently stroked her hair and slipped it behind her ear or into her hair itself (I used to have very long hair, and a pin like that would definitely get stuck if you tucked it in.) If they wanted to go the humorous, cliché route, they could have had him sneak it to her in a pie (that's a joke, I'm also glad they didn't do that, but my point is, they had options).

They could have set up the scene with a different tone and gone the Frodo-and-Sam-as-orcs route and had them fake a fight. I actually would have loved this. It could have been a culmination of the resentment and tension that's been building between the two of them all season to let off some steam at each other. It could have been one of those "we're fake fighting, but we're also real fighting at the same time" sort of scenes (which are delicious when pulled off right) where we could have gotten some real interesting character development and relationship development between the two of them before the orcs pulled them apart (but not before Elrond slipped the pin into her hand or tunic while pretending to push her or something).

The kiss however did nothing. Per my last two paragraphs, it being a kiss wasn't necessary for the plot. It didn't do anything to reveal anything about Elrond and Galadriel's relationship or develop it in any way. It didn't develop either Elrond or Galadriel's character in any way. It was purely and utterly for shock value.

And that's the first big thing: I really hate things used for shock value. It's a personal pet peeve of mine. And to make it clear, there's a different between using something for shock value and doing something shocking. Mirdania's death was pretty shocking, but it served the purposes of both showing how utterly ruthless Sauron is and solidified the elven soldiers' doubt in Celebrimbor's sanity. But using something for mere cheap shock value is so disappointing of the show. The writing had been SO good, everything had been so deliberate and intentional, that it made the sudden breach of that even more jarring and unpleasant.

And it makes me super worried for the future of the show. This show isn't Game of Thrones; it doesn't need shock value. But now they've set the precedent that adding pure shock value is okay for this show. It makes me afraid what else down the road will be thrown in the audience faces just to illicit an unpleasant reaction.

The second major thing that is bugging me about that scene is a little more insidious and subtle. I've seen people saying "it wasn't romantic", but the thing is, whether or not it was intended, romantic tension has now been introduced to Elrond and Galadriel's dynamic. Let me explain.

That scene was a pretty clear example of the Forced Proximity Trope. For anyone who doesn't know what that means, it's the trope of forcing two characters into a circumstance where they share space or physical intimacy that they wouldn't otherwise share. The most infamous version of it is the There Was Only One Bed trope. And the thing is, it's an incredibly romantic-coded trope. It's almost always used between two characters who have suppressed feelings for one another as a way to force them to confront said suppressed feelings. Even if it's used in a not explicitly romantic way, it still sends a subconscious message of romantic tension because that is what that trope is almost exclusively used for.

So yes, there is now romantic tension between Elrond and Galadriel, and I have a feeling they don't plan on doing anything about it.

At this point, I'd almost feel better if they went all the way and went ahead with the subconscious romantic tension. Like, putting Elrond and Galadriel in a romantic relationship wouldn't be my thing personally, but at least it would provide a sense that the writers had a purpose for the scene and for creating that tension. Dropping that and then not going anywhere else with it, and letting that tension fester for the rest of the series without acknowledging it or doing anything about it would be so disappointing and insulting to the audience.

But again, I'll be very surprised if they ever bring it up again.

And I'm sure the writers knew what they were doing. The only two options are that they were oblivious to the connotations of using that trope or that they knew full well, and used it anyway. And I suspect it's the latter. As good as the overall writing for this season has been, I just can't imagine the writers aren't aware of what they were doing in using that trope. I mean, they've deliberately used a number of romantic-coded tropes to build up the Galadriel/Sauron tension. They aren't oblivious, which means they used the Forced Proximity Trope deliberately and fully aware of it's implications.

It just really seriously damaged my faith in the writing of the show, just when I'd been building it up after some big disappointments from Season 1. Again, they've set a precedent, and I'm really worried this isn't the last time they'll pull something ridiculous like this.

Maybe somehow they'll turn it around. Maybe they'll have Galadriel and Elrond bring it up again and deal with the tension, maybe they do plan to have a romantic subplot between the two of them, or maybe they have something planned down the road that will put that moment in a light that shows it as something other than shock value. But I'm currently pretty pessimistic about that happening.

And it's extra disappointing, because the rest of that episode was absolutely amazing. That one bad moment stands out like a wine stain on a white dress because the rest of the episode was so good.

Anyway, that's my rant. I just had to vent and get my thoughts out of my head where they've been swirling. If anyone is feeling the same way and wants to vent with me, my inbox and messages are open.

[lawva-girl]

It’s not even 9 and I’ve seen like 5 TikTok’s about how jjk actually sucks and well everyone is silly for liking it cause it’s not revolutionary. (Yap session down below)

BRO

are you joshing?

Do things have to be revolutionary to be liked? Can we not just sit and enjoy these specific characters? Sure the writing Might be iffy here and there… but overall, it was a fun and captivating story to read. It might not be the first of its kind, or the last, but it was interesting enough to become mainstream. This is my opinion (that it became mainstream) and I can understand arguments against that, but this is arguably the first anime to really blow up in America.

Besides that why are we all saying these *controversial* takes right before the leaks for the final chapter come out? I hate leaks so much, I cannot go on TikTok for the rest of the day because I feel like I’ll be spoiled, and not even from panels but rather a bullet point list of what is roughly happening in the chapter. No other fandom has this obsession with finding out what happens as soon as possible, not one piece, not spyxfamily, at least that I’ve seen. Reading these leaks does nothing for the fandom but spoil people, I truly don’t understand why it’s so popular on TikTok. This is me being upset but it feels related to capitalism in a way I can’t articulate, like some how getting the information sooner is so much more superior, even if the information is as informative (of the story) than waiting. Like part of me almost wants to say that all these people who say jjk is the worst written shonen just read leaks… I have a friend who only reads leaks, never actual chapters “because the leaks tell me what matters”.

What matters?? If I play only the audio of a movie do you get the full intent behind the costuming? If you have a reading assignment and you only read a synopsis and base it off that, where is your personal (your actually brain’s) interpretation? And genuinely he doesn’t care about jjk or how it ends anymore. Totally fine! Doesn’t matter! But when him and I started reading it together, he was desperate to talk about it, and interested in what would happen. Now he only reads leaks? It feels (heavy on feels) like a bastardized version of jjk that exists to be something people get their dopamine from.

Then when they don’t get that dopamine (drawn out battle with Sukuna, gojo dying and not coming back) suddenly jjk is not good.

ARGH thanks for reading I’m so normal about jjk I promise 🫶

[madwickedawesome]

3/4 of me watching good omens season 2 is just me talking

[gayofthefae]

Shout-out to the writers who know stats and looked at an 8 kid family and went "2 of them are gay"

[electricpurrs]

tex red vs blue is insanely transgender but im the only one who sees it that way because im crazy in the head.

what if there was a past version of yourself. a woman, a wife, a mother, with long hair and a sweet smile. and she died long ago. and you are her. but you are not her. you're nothing like her, but the people who knew her desperately want you to be her, want to preserve the memory they have in their minds of the woman they loved through you. but you never asked to be her, never asked to carry the burden of someone else's expectation of who or what you should be. you have a new name. you prefer to go by this one. people remark on how weird it is that it's a guy's name. sometimes the people who loved [the past version of] you call you by your old name. they are not referring to you when they say it. you live in the shadows of someone who's long gone, and you're something different now, but you don't feel like you're ever allowed to define yourself on your own terms, to be your own person, to control your own life, because you exist solely through the memories people had of you. and the longer she has been gone for, the more desperately people try to get her back, the less you resemble her and the less you know who you are, or if you ever even got to be anything at all. what i mean is that transition could have saved him

[modwyr]

while obviously my stance is: if you think bg3 was in any way complex, pillars of eternity will knock your socks off. but also i think pretending pillars is in any way like bg3 (or da for the sake of big fantasy rpgs) is a lie (its better) because it is very different gameplay wise and lore wise and tbh my advice for the first game really is just stick with it. you'll be surprised at how much sticks in your head, and its actually perfectly fine to not pick up on every bit of nuance and worldbuilding on a single playthrough - you're not less of a fan if you find out a piece of lore from someone else. enjoy the game for yourself and if it gels with you, you'll naturally want to replay it and from personal experience pillars 1 becomes next level on a second playthrough when you're more familiar with it.

[schneiderenjoyer]

This part has provided and honestly confirmed an insight that's been implied occasionally, but never openly stated as much as this moment.

Arcanists are less durable.

It's mentioned a handful of times how it's important for combat between arcanists to be quick and efficient. While they can be physically strong even beyond human standards, their limits are far shorter in comparison. They're far more prone to taking physical and mental damage quicker with their quick healing/recovery to make up for it, but not change just how fragile they are.

This is very insightful too as to why arcanists would be more inclined to fight using arcanum instead of physically as much as possible. Their arcanum gives them an upper hand where their physical stamina is lacking.

[is-the-milk-fresh]

My Fallout show "hot take" is that it is just as fandom brained to force a "father-daughter" relationship onto the Ghoul and Lucy as it is to ship them.

in both cases you are boxing a very interesting pair of characters into predetermined fandom tropes. You are not better because your box doesn't have them fuck nasty!

Dont get me wrong, go off! Enjoy it as a father-daughter duo! But do not be rude towards people who see two adult characters with a messy dynamic and ship them.

At the end of the day, theres very little in the actual text to imply either right now. Hell, I just saw two posts, back to back, describe the same scene in the exact same way up until the final paragraph, where one said "And thats why he's her dad!" and the other said "And thats why they're in love!".

Don't be an asshole and don't couch personal dislike in faux moralising. We are talking about a woman who casually fucked hooked-up with her cousin and a 200 year old zombie vagabond. Its not that deep.

[lecliss]

OH NO HOLD ON!!!!! NO ACTUALLY!!!! Sunday is the first good example of "everyone should lose their freewill so no one will feel pain anymore"!!!! We did it!!!! We fucking reached the impossible!!! Who thought it would ever happen!!! Really tho I would prefer this course of action to STOP happening with these kind of characters, but I'm blown away by the fact that with Sunday it's actually a believable course of action that he has a clearly defined thought process on reaching as what he believes his the "right choice". He doesn't want to remove any free will, he wants people to be in a place where they don't have to work, or think about self-worth, or try to survive as someone weak. He genuinely wants happiness for everyone and not to do something like remove all emotions. He's just, ya know, going about this by putting everyone in a never-ending dream, but it's actually written good!!! Let's fucking gooooo!!!

[reineydraws]

i have wanted to read a grimmichi fic about grimmjow reluctantly babysitting (and eventually bonding with) kazui for so long, i drew about it 🥲💕 posting to celebrate the nanosecond of grimmjow crumbs we got last week 🙏

they really immediately recognized each others' voices in the background of a cross-dimensional zoom call huh. right away they were like "that voice!" like yes we get it u hear that voice in ur dreams lol cant wait for more grimmjow crumbs!!! (img insp)

[yuseirra]

This is just a running thought in my head, but the phone call in the first volume of this series really bugs me...there's something about it, I can't really put my finger on it..

I was just thinking about something. In the first volume, when Ai contacted Kamiki from the phone booth, Kamiki already knew about the existence of his children, right? It wasn't the first time he was hearing about them. The conversation went along the lines of, "Our kids are pretty big now, why don't you come see them?" This means that by the time the kids were around four years old, he was already aware of their existence, but hadn't met them yet.

And it seems he wasn't receiving Ai's address for the first time either. Ai mentioned, "Here's the 'new' address," implying that he knew the previous addresses and had been in contact with her. Judging by their conversation, it wasn't the first time they had communicated since they separated.

At the time of their separation, Ai said something like she wouldn't keep their children. But at some point, Kamiki must have found out about their existence. Either that, or it was Ai who's told him. Since Kamiki was near the hospital on the day of their children's birth, he must have known about the children at least from then. Ai might have told him, "I would like you to come," or he might have found out on his own. At the very least, from then on, he knew that their children were born, and she was raising them. Ai knew that Kamiki was aware of their existence on her end too. (Even in the main story, Ai contacted Kamiki in secret. If you look at that conversation, it's clear they hadn't completely cut ties.)

When did Kamiki and Ryosuke first meet? If their first encounter was near the hospital.. -I'm making a really tilted and quite a favorable assumption here- do you think kamiki would've known Ryosuke's true colors?; What if he really didn't know what kind of guy he was and was capable of doing and just thought of him as a fan of Ai's? I'm sorry, this doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? but just bear with me for awhile here. I don't really believe my line of thought here as well but I've just been trying to make sense of everything..

What if Kamiki called Ryosuke just to lament, drinking, after being heartbroken by Ai's refusal to get back together from her call? (There are bottles in a small cut showing them together.) Kamiki might have been saying something like, "I don't understand why we can't get back together, even though I'm being shown the children. I can really raise them well." If they exchanged contact information around the time the children were born, it means they've known each other for at least four years. If Kamiki was a person who could have harmed Ai out of resentment, there should have been a previous connection between these two guys, right? For they'd have met for that purpose.. However, at that time, Kamiki was just a middle schooler... How could someone in the age difference between a middle schooler and a university student pinpoint and meet like that? Did he find someone online who intended to harm the Ai and approach them?; Even if that's the case, it doesn't seem like the first time Ai's told Kamiki about the kids. If there were four years in between, there should have been a reason for not doing anything significant. Considering how easily Ai's shared the address without even the need to be inquired from him, it doesn't seem like Ai's intentionally hid it from Kamiki. If there was hatred from that time, the public phone conversation wouldn't be so casual. When Ai speaks, Kamiki is asking if they can get back together, and Ai refuses. This implies Kamiki still wanted to be together at that time. If Kamiki had been overly obsessed with her about this, Ai wouldn't have contacted him so comfortably, would she? Knowing the possible outcomes, why would Ai contact someone who's obsessively clingy and show them her beloved children?

The bouquet is the problem here, that bouquet appears everywhere in the scenes where kamiki's involved, he did send one to Akane too. But... Kamiki didn't really do anything to Akane directly, did he? Nothing bad's happened to her much except the time she almost fell off the stairs. Could it really just be that he sent it without any ill intentions? I mean, it was just before the dome concert...maybe he really did want to congratulate Ai about the dome; Maybe he sent the bouquet to Akane after seeing the broadcast that Akane and Aqua were dating, and because Akane's acting career was going well, he sent it with a feeling of "Take good care of my son." At least, there’s no evidence that Kamiki ever tried to harm his own children. On the contrary, he seems to be in a position of accepting it even if his children try to kill him (Mephisto's lyrics ARE SPOILERS, I'm telling you). If he was interested in his children, he would have watched Aqua's TV programs. Considering how well he understands Aqua, he must have been interested in various aspects.

Actually, the idea that he deliberately revealed Ai’s address to have Ryosuke kill her<—there are so many strange things about this if you examine it. It seems more like he carelessly let the address slip while drunk. If it’s true that he revealed the address, that is. When he was feeling down after being rejected, Ryosuke might have said he would go congratulate her on Kamiki's behalf, so Kamiki could have told him the address then (Yes, this speculation sounds stupid... I also think it’s unlikely...he can't be that dumb but). Even if they met for the first time at the hospital, they could have been friends for about four years and he might have been too drunk to judge the situation.

No matter what, he probably didn’t want to kill Ai. Considering the past, even if she broke up with him, Ai did a lot for Kamiki. She was not just an ex-lover, but also literally the light in his life. Even if she didn’t love him (which was his assumption, but that proved to be wrong too), he was aware that she accepted and cherished him, gave birth to and raised his children well. If he harmed her, what would happen to his children? He doesn’t seem that crazy at that point. And if he really wanted to harm her, there would be no reason to wait four years... If the reason he couldn’t find her was because he didn’t know the address, the fact that Ai just naturally reveals her address to him doesn't line up with it. If he felt betrayed and wanted to harm her, there would be no reason to wait so long and he would have continuously harassed and spied on her, but there was too long of a gap.

I think a lot will be revealed in the next chapter. Anyway, this part was confusing. I might be thinking excessively favorably because I don't understand the psychology of a crazy person, but Kamiki seems to really love Ai a lot? Even after so many years, he can't get over her and seems to be suffering from her death. He seems to know very well that Aqua would hate him about causing her death and thinks that he deserves it all. Does it make sense that he would think of scaring Ai by sending Ryosuke? It seems likely he leaked the address since Ryosuke did find her and he's like the only one that could have that information. But if kamiki really intended to scare her, it's unpredictable how sending this random other guy would turn out to end up like. Also, it's inconsistent for someone who claims to have a parent's heart towards his kids (I don't think this is a lie. There isn't a reason to lie about this) and loves Ai so much they'd talk about marriage with her to send someone else to scare her. It doesn’t add up. This seems more likely to have been an accident, but perhaps I'm like this because I want to take him positively. I just don't know.. but things don't really make sense for me regarding this incident.

Even if Ai's said they couldn't date again, she was allowing kamiki to see their children, it's not entirely a negative thing. I think kind of feeling this'd initiate'd be more about feeling heartbroken and sad (which is why he drank), rather than feeling angry and wanting to torment someone...yeah... That part was strange. It could use more elaboration. It should, too.

Anyway, if we assume that kamiki really didn’t intend any harm, he might be someone like Aqua in essence, being unable to forgive himself for providing a cause in the first place. He could be lying about the whole wanting to scare Ai and all thing thinking "It’s all my fault, I'm a bad person," because he doesn't want to live. This character doesn't really want to live in the first place. I think he rather wants himself to be hated.

Additionally, if I were the author, the upcoming chapters would likely be the fun parts that I’ve really wanted to write.

It would be the "Now I can tell!" parts. If what I think is correct, the entire idea we have had about Kamiki in the beginning could be totally flipped. That'd be so fun as the writer, seeing all the readers going "oh my gosh what the heck?? so this was how things were all along?" I'd do that, actually. Since he is the protagonist’s parent, he wouldn’t be a character that's written with hate.. The author has experience in writing romance, so I think he'd be capable of writings stuff like that, that'd be his forte. Depending on how the past is filled in, the explanation of his actions could be extremely varied.

Even as I write this, it seems unlikely. However, the circumstances presented in chapter 154 are not easy to accept based on Ai's previous actions and common sense.