#so this was actually written with the intent of—

[cat-mermaid]

thats the thing, the knight isn't the the big bad, at least not the version that Asriel is playing the role of

right now my ever evolving theory is that Kris, Asriel, Asgore and Ralsei the darkner homunculus creation, are all staging a version of the prophecy (aka the plot of the game we call Deltarune) for the sake of the soul aka us the player

I'm more and more certain that somthing did go down around 4-ish years ago, when the actual events of the prophecy were supposed to take place, but they were halted by outside forces (Carol/Asgore/whoever) and the prophecy was stalled for the sake of protecting the original intended "heros" from their grim fates. But it has to happen, why i don't know, but this stage play we've been playing out with Kris and the fun gang wouldn't be happening if it wasn't necessary

I've been slowly knocking out a document with my big theory as to where things are going and why, and one of the things i'm really sure of is that right now everything thats been happening has all been to direct our (the soul) attention away from the original heros (who yes i am 100% certain i know who thanks to Undertale's genocide route spelling it out/the music and the secret bosses of Deltarune and their music).

At this moment I theorize (and this can change at any point because i'm constantly updating with new information i come upon) that the goal of the Dreemurr family (minus Toriel) is to act out the prophecy beat by beat, except its their rewritten version that they have complete control over (or so they thought because SUSIE). I think that they knew that the angel/soul/us was coming no matter what and they had to do something to appease it(have a game for us to play) all while keeping the people who were supposed to be our playthings/sacrifices away from our attention

The angel gets it's game/heaven/watever and leaves once its game over, which if we can take the church prophecy windows at their word (which i only 50% do) means that Susie and Ralsei are meant to be disposable. Kris will be fine because more and more it's becoming obvious they don't need us to live, we aren't "their" soul, its just that the strain of caging us is probably really really rough on them physically and thats why they were lurching around so much in the beginning when they'd take us out of them

The thing is tho this is all going to fail, and fail badly

because Susie

no one had any idea that Susie would have so much power, so much freedom from the yoke of the prophecy, and yes i am saying that Kris's friendship with Susie began with the intent to be a siren singing her to shipwreck, but now Kris is having second thoughts because of how amazing and genuine their friendship has become, you can see it written all over them that they really don't want to do this anymore

My hypothesis is that the current plan was to have Kris seize the soul (however that worked) and become the cage. Ralsei is an object belonging to the Dreemurr family that was "programmed" with a tame watered down version of the prophecy, Ralsei is 100% loyal to Kris no matter what, even willing to take abuse or pain if asked to. Then a planned timeline of events, starting with Kris being late to class and Susie showing up on that day, kicks off. Susie is lead down the path of the hero who "has hope crossed on her heart" will take

why? because the reasoning is that the soul aka us will eventually merge with her to create the ultimate hero that will "save the world" (however thats supposed to go down). But this process seems to be implied result in death somehow. But if the soul isn't Kris's to begin with, for them its as easy as just pulling it out and letting it take over Susie

Theres only one problem, well two actually

The soul doesn't want Susie, like at all. It wants Noelle

Imagine being Kris and thinking, back at this point in the story-

-that its in the bag, its happend, Susie is now following "your" (the soul's) orders. This is how its supposed to start, now all they have to do is just act out the prophecy chapter by chapter, dark world after dark world, and soon Susie's mind and free will will be subsumed by the soul

but then oh no oh god, some how Noelle ended up in a dark word and now the soul only has "eyes" for her and oh god how do you stop it now? You're in too deep, you can't stop it now theres no choice but to keep going, and meanwhile Susie only seems to be getting better at shucking off the prophecy. I even bet you that Titan fight at the church was supposed to be the Dreemurr's planned "final boss fight", didn't it feel like one? But instead by then the Soul hadn't so much as tried to control Susie and then mother fucking OLD MAN happened and Susie "Idea'd" her way into fucking nuking the thing!

anyways shit thats alot i just typed for a "brief" response so i'll stop now!!!

just remember this is a working theory and almost certainly be amended and reworked all the way up to chapter 5

............YOUNG MAN

you are supposed to be at colleg

not doing some weird pantomime of your religion's prophecy with your sibling, a girl who was slamming said sibling into a locker like 2 days ago, a weird doppelganger of yourself and your fucking father

....also everyone do themselves a favor and listen to "hopes and dreams" sped up a bit faster then what youtube allows, its litterally "black knife"

[pastelpinkkadan]

How people can say that Elriel is “just lust” or that Azriel and Elain being sexually attracted to each other is a bad thing…

And then read all the Nessian smut in ACOSF and praise it as their favorite book, is beyond me.

SJM clearly does not write Nessian’s lust as a bad thing. She also clearly doesn’t write Elriel’s attraction as a bad thing. It’s a complicated and forbidden thing due to circumstances OUTSIDE of their attraction, but the attraction itself isn’t written as a bad or horrible thing. SJM doesn’t write consensual attraction and lust as bad.

She writes one sided lust, indifference, sexual violence, control or domination, or lack of empathy as bad.

Elriel isn’t any of those things. Neither was Feysand or Nessian.

I just wish people would actually read the books with the AUTHOR’S obvious intent in mind, and not their own bias interpretation that doesn’t coincide with the structure of the books.

(Bonus: if you think the lust between Nessian was bad, or think Nessian shouldn’t have been together then at that point you just don’t like the books. The series obviously isn’t for you if you hate all the canon couples. So idk read something else? Something you actually like? Crazy idea, I know.)

[bellart]

What is Dick Grayson’s problem? Part 1 (attachment style in part 2, dysfunctional family role in part 3)

Disclaimer: I don’t think any of these were written with intention, I’m just diagnosing for fun based on what symptoms are canon. I know a lot of people just ignore characterizations and plotlines that they think are out of character, which is fair because there are hundreds of writers writing for a single character, but I like to consider as much as I can canon, and coincidentally, Dick’s “OOC” moments come in episodes!

Bipolar 1 disorder

This usually requires a genetic predisposition, and we don’t know much about his parents, but we do know that his mom ran away to join the circus as a young adult according to post crisis canon. I think that was a mania spurred decision, but that’s just a headcanon. Traumatic childhoods are also usually a factor in Bipolar, and Dick obviously has his share of trauma. Bipolar doesn’t present itself until early adulthood, but there can be some signs in adolescence, like excessive energy and emotional intensity, which can be seen all the way back to the golden age.

I don’t think he has a real manic episode until he’s 21 during Total Chaos, but before that he displayed possible signs of a depressive episode. Honestly, it would be a fair argument to say that all of these are just caused by grief because they follow Jason and Joey’s death, but grief could also trigger an actual depressive episode, so I don’t have a solid opinion on whether it was an actual episode or not. I think most of Dick’s episodes are manic (not depressive) anyway.

His depression presents itself as melancholy, self hatred, agitation, insomnia, and impaired decision making. He isolated himself from his loved ones, had aggressive mood swings with Bruce, and lashed out at Tim.

Not long after this, a couple months pass and Joey Wilson dies, and Dick’s mood drops again, showing rumination and self hatred. He also has a common habit of self harm via picking fights with the intention of getting hurt.

Then Total Chaos begins and triggers his first manic episode, which are defined by excessive energy, grandiosity, impulsivity, hypersexuality, emotional intensity, and poor decision making.

He drastically changes his appearance and expresses sexuality more openly and crudely than every other characterization of him previously. He also has an extreme lapse in judgement/observation by falling for Mirage’s deception, which is another mania symptom.

At first he is upset with her for deceiving him and Kory, but randomly changes his tune and starts going out with her on dates and dancing at clubs, even commenting on her appearance in front of Kory. He’s doing this as a part of a greater scheme, but it’s still random, impulsive, out of character, and debatably hypersexual. Plus, the scheme was dodgy and not even necessary, while hurting Kory’s feelings at the same time. I think this is where the grandiosity and impaired judgement comes in, as he ignores her feelings and assumes that his decisions are best. He also has excessive energy and rarely sleeps, making Kory come out and dance at 2 am.

Also, let it be noted that I know any of these actions on their own might not be too crazy, but Wolfman spent a long time characterizing Dick as quiet, smart, kind, attentive to Kory’s feelings, and extremely monogamous and uncomfortable with sexual attention, so compared to that, this comes off very manic. And for the love of god I am not victim blaming it is possible for him to be behaving strangely and still be a victim at the same time.

Not long after this, he impulsively proposes to Kory and they try to marry almost immediately after. Then he suddenly quits the team he’s been leading for three years (nine years if you forget the small break in between Teen Titans and New Teen Titans), breaks up with Kory, and becomes Batman, and then has another big fight with Bruce. These are just more impulsive decisions and inappropriate emotional intensity that comes with mania.

Two years after this (in universe), I think he has another manic episode triggered by the stress of the earthquake. This starts with him working three jobs, as he’s on the tail end of the Titans 1999 run, while working as Nightwing in Bludhaven, and working as a cop at the same time. He rarely sleeps or stops moving for months. He makes poor and impulsive decisions like fighting Deathstroke one on one as a civilian and immediately leaves the hospital to continue after getting shot. Everyone in his life is asking him to slow down and rest, and he disregards their opinions, assuming he can do the impossible. He also pulls a lot of stupid/poorly thought out stunts as a cop that compromise his identity, which Babs later calls him out on.

Killing the Joker is an obvious and extreme example of emotional intensity and poor impulse control. He had some possibly psychotic symptoms during this time like frequently hallucinating Jason, which can also happen during an extreme episode.

Additionally, I would argue that him having sex with Helena and kissing Selina during the beginning of this episode was a sign of hypersexuality.

He also has a big fight with Bruce during “Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive,” but that’s context relative. But I do also think it’s odd how quickly Dick escalated it and turned it physical.

He then has a depressive episode triggered by Donna’s death, as he displays isolation, self loathing, irritability, and frequently lashes out at loved ones during his time in the outsiders.

Eventually, the depression lifts and his next episode is a wave of hypomania, which is similar to mania but it only lasts a few days. I think this happens in the middle of the Blockbuster arc, right before Barbara breaks up with him. He has high energy levels, can’t keep still, rapid speech, lack of self awareness, risky behavior, and grandiosity all packed into a couple issues between him crashing his bike and getting dumped.

(I love this issue sm I have never seen a more hypomanic person)

Very shortly after this, he has a quick drop triggered by Blockbuster bombing his apartment. He has feelings of emptiness or hopelessness, irritability, loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities, insomnia, anxiety, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, poor decision making, suicidal thoughts and actions, and recurring thoughts of death. I can’t put that many pictures in one post but if I could I would basically just screenshot every single page from issues #89-116 of Nightwing 1996. Between his apartment exploding, letting Catalina kill Blockbuster, sexual assault, following her around as a traumatized wet cat for a week, working as a mob enforcer, working with Deathstroke, and watching his city get nuked, he was not himself and severely depressed.

Then he goes away for a year so I’ll just assume he was normal, but when he comes back he’s written by someone who does Not get him, but it comes across as hypomania to me. I’m talking about his whole relationship with Cheyenne and his fight with Jason Todd basically. Hypersexuality, grandiosity, and irritability.

And then another depressive episode triggered by Bruce fake dying before New 52, and I barely know anything after that so goodbye 🫶

Making inconsistent characterization work feels like a puzzle sometimes and it’s fun but the one thing I won’t accept is a fuck ass retcon so I will NOT be saying he cheated bc he was manic bc his ass did NAWTTT cheat.

[takaraphoenix]

Tagging Etiquette: Don't Tag Things That Aren't IN THE STORY

I honestly feel like this shouldn't need to be said? And yet, inexplicably, it does.

If you choose to write your story as a series of individual oneshots, instead of one multi-chaptered fic, that is your prerogative.

However. The first fic in that series is a stand-alone story. It is not the first chapter in the story. It does not get to carry all of the tags of future fics that haven't even been written yet!!

You have the option to post this story as one multi-chaptered fic and post this first fic as the first chapter in that story and then, due to the nature of all other following elements also being posted in this very story, that story can have all the future tags you want!

But if you decide that your story is better told as a series of individual oneshots, you also need to tag the individual oneshots appropriately.

Just because you have intentions of a ship somewhere down the road, you absolutely do not get to tag that first fic for the ship if multiple members of that ship aren't even in the story and the character who is barely has "acquaintance" things to say, at best, about the rest of the ship who, again, aren't in the fic.

So you want to really slow-burn that? Good for you! That first fic is a Gen Fic and it deserves neither the ship tag, nor the character tags for the rest of the ship if said characters aren't even in the story and only get mentioned once, in passing.

I know the tagging etiquette about romantic/sexual relationships as A/B and platonic/general relationships as A&B is already very lost on people and it's a bit exhausting to see fics that are just the most generic dynamics between two characters tagged as / with an additional "Pre Slash" and often with a note that "the reader can read this as romantic if they squint", because that's deadass just canon, I read the canon as romantic while squinting and I came to AO3 to actually read about them together, in a relationship, but you didn't even give me pining, there is not an ounce of desire or romantic interest put onto paper. Pre-Slash, in my opinion, is a valid tag to use, if you write a fic about onesided or mutual pining, where the slash is pre, they don't get together, but the feelings are there, unvoiced.

Tangent aside (though tangent also deserved because this very much applies to these mistagged series oneshots), it's not even just about relationship tags. I've now repeatedly seen people put plot-points into the tags of a first fic in a series and none of these plotpoints are touched upon because they will only happen in a later fic. You click the series and you see more fics in it that build upon it but also still haven't even reached the ship.

This isn't how tagging works. You decide to post a fic as a oneshot and it needs to stand on its own, even if there are sequels to follow. The story itself is self-contained and this has to be reflected in the tags, the tags can and should only show what is in this particular, individual fic.

If you're worried nobody is going to read it because it doesn't feature the ship yet and because the plot you plan for 10 fics down isn't happening yet? There is the fantastical option of making it a multiple-chapter fic and then you can put all of the tags in it that you plan on working! These are your choices and you have to pick one.

[hollowwhisperings]

drafting a post on how to tell if a chinese name is a title or an actual name but the only examples i can think of are all from SVSSS?

we've got

king of the northern demons "mobei-jun" (demon north king)

heavenly emperor "tianlang-jun" (heaven imperial king)

scheming uncle "linguang-jun" (cold advantage king)

and, since they're all royal demons, the lack of actual names COULD be political/cultural?

(that &/or it's more meta-commentary on how shitty demon parents/parents in general/airplane shooting to the sky are, as parents)

zuzhi-lang is another "is this a name or a title" but, due to his own shitty parents and goofy uncle, this could just be his actual name.

how so?

well the imperial PA "zúzhī-lang/竹枝郎" (bamboo twig official)'s name sounds an awful lot like "zǔzhī-lang" or "zǔzhí-lang"... both of which can be WRITTEN as the dude's job description. in, like, 10 different ways?? hello???? crying in awe rn bc variants include:

upholder of the imperial ancestors' will

organization minister

restraining official

stop?! stop!!! minister

officer resourceful leg (remember that this dude is a snake demon)

mxtx is a diabolical genius.

there are a few more characters i can think of who also fall into this grey-area (several of Genshin Impact's Inazuman characters & Liyue's adeptal lord NPCs) but THOSE name/titles are JP, not CN, and i'm pretty sure one of them is just a really elaborate pun?

(kuuki shinobu sounds like "cool ninja" in JP but is written, with very seldomly used kanji, in a way that reads [deviant crossroads])

yae miko, on the other hand? 100% a title posturing as an actual name... but, like those chinese demon lords, she's non-human so human naming schemes aren't especially relevant. she's of the "hakushin clan" of kitsune but it's not specified that yōkai clans are familial. i would assume that yōkai clans work like cultivation sects, not human families, because most yōkai (like most illuminated beasts/adeptal lords) are normal creatures who achieved Enlightenment and so gained human intelligence + form.

...i sidetracked myself? my original intent was to highlight how many of these names aren't actually names & that treating them like proper names can have awkward implications (narratively & then the standard IRL cultural ones).

like, was mobei-jun ALWAYS named "northern demons king"? even whilst his dad was reigning AS king of the northern demons? was the name aspirational? this argument falls apart as soon as you recall that [our] mobei-jun had multiple siblings as rivals. i mean, it's ONE way of motivating your kids to eliminate each other AND, eventually, yourself?

[eyeballenjoyer]

Haven't seen a single person talk about how Wanda was treated and I'm still so mad about it.

As in - as someone who's read the comics - and as well as someone who is trans, I found it infuriating how she got introduced so early on only to be tossed aside in favour of plots they decided are more important to go through and explore.

Comic spoilers below the cut, because I need to elaborate more

I may be speaking as someone whose favourite part of is A Game of You. My opinions might be a bit baiased. But felt like they only tossed her in in the series as a 'oh shit she actually exists around these other plots as well, maybe we should include heer for diversity points'. That might sound harsh and may not be the actual intention, but the fact they did so to speak not introduce any other charcaters in AGoY, really rubbed me the wrong way.

So Wanda gets introduced as this bubbly, almost older-sister like character in the comic. Was hoping they changed some things about her story as it was written in the early 90s, being a product of it's time. And they did. They cast an actual trans person, and the overall portray of her identity was handled really well.

Now, for some reason, they decided to keep her godawful funeral. The said funeral in which her family deadnames her and has absolutely no respect for her as a person. Which was so to speak exactly the same as in the comics that they kept that they felt was paramount to her as a charcater, and not a single other thing about her personality. She died in an explosion, and that was it. Got her actual name restored on the grave stone, had a talk with Death. That's it.

At least they didn't go the comic route of her only being able to 'fully transition' in death. Which I'm sure wasn't meant in a bad way to begin with, but is a very early 90s way of saying 'there's hope and we'll give this trans person a happy ending'.

Comic Wanda is very there, she's very passionate, kind, and takes no shit. She's lived a rather rough life and it's clear, but he's very secure in who she is and what she wants in life, and cares about her friends a lot. She lives in an apartment complex with some gnc lesbians, her best friend Barbie (who we briefly encountered in s1), and this weird witch. In short they get up in shenanigans, get entangled in a plot that is much larger than anyone anticipated, dream shit is happening. Girl's night.

Don't feel we got enough time to really explore her as a person nor a charcater; she was just this mysterious woman who drove them around, shared her backstory, then died.

What also bugged me was how much focus there seemed to be on the whole 'oh here's Dream's son yada ya'. It is a rather huge chunk of the story in the later volumes, sure, but felt like they could've waited with that, since AGoY could've been done in 2-4 episodes. I'm no showrunner and there was a strike and all, maybe it's too much to ask for. Maybe trans rep is too much to ask for.

TL;Dr: it's infuriating seeing a canon trans character getting killed off for no good reason/to make space for other plots. Trans actors rarley get casted, especially trans women/feminine actors of colour. Trans misogyny is real and prevalent. Also Neil Gaiman suck, but that part was already obvious.

[alisinyobooty]

*. * ·OPPOSITE TEMPS *. * ·

Summary: Everything was contrasting from when it was cold to when it was hot. At least when his [matt] intention is different. Opposite.

AN: i actually don’t know what I’ve just written. Or what compelled me to type it out but Enjoy ! LMAO.

───※ ·❆· ※───

⁑ Cold. Freezing. Empty.

⁑ The 3 words that would pop up in your mind if asked, “how has Matt been lately?”

⁑ The distance he’s grown was gut wrenching. The lack of compliments. The lack of attention. He had distance on the literal couch. The one where Nick and Chris once groaned about you two being all over each other.

⁑ Almost like a set border between you two without words. A dividing line. A line in the couch. A line in the relationship.

⁑ You even looked for something to argue about. Is that the wrong way to go? Yeah. But was it something you so badly wished for? Some passion, some back and forth? But just nothing.

⁑ It felt numb. Quiet.

⁑ Frozen.

⁑ What happened?

⁑ A look. A breath. A finger touch. A hug. Hell even a high five would add some sort of warmth to this chilly feeling. Even under all these covers you felt your body shiver. Under his covers.

───※ ·❆· ※───

*ೃ Hot. Boiling. Tense.

*ೃ The 3 words that could describe the moment. It was more than the touch you thought of. More than the simple hug you craved for. Bodies melting into one another. The breath you wanted so close basically was being inhaled by you. The look he wouldn’t even spare was now a look of desire and longing. More than a finger touch. More than a high five as your nails dug into his back.

*ೃ Under his covers? Yes. Cold? No. The heat so big you wanted to rip all your clothes off, well you would if they weren’t already thrown on the floor picking up the smell that’ll last.

*ೃ And how could you even remember the way you were seeking for warmth when your brain is a fog. Or the way he blurred your vision with every push. Maybe even the way he cooed apologies right into your skin. Just right. perfectly.

“Sorry baby.” “Never again.”

*ೃ Shivering? Not necessarily. Shaking? Right with the bed. A shiver from your core up to your mind. A shiver that only would let out when you were finished. As of now the only shakiness was your voice. The loud voice that spoke right into his ear.

Opposite.

⁑ Emotionally, quietly cold.

*ೃ Physically, loudly hot.

[thatgayunoriginalbastard]

Peisistratus was still mentally reeling from his orgasm --of all the things he expected to happen that night, seeing Telemachus choke on his cum while still having all the power was notably NOT one of them-- but he knew how much power he had with Telemachus. Even if Telemachus was the one in control, he could still make his husband fall apart with a glance. He saw how Telemachus started to falter slightly with just a smirk so maybe he still had a shot of saving at least a little bit of his ego.

Just because he was beneath his husband didn't mean he was powerless, after all.

"Telemachus," Peisistratus said breathily, only half having to fake his desperation, "please tell me that you have oil."

Telemachus just chuckled and got out of bed, going over to one of his chests and opening it up, sorting through a few small pots before pulling out one that had plants painted around the outside of it.

"This one is supposedly good for...these kinds of uses." Telemachus explained as he got back into bed, a hint of sheepishness in his voice, "It's a mixture that has some plants that aid in muscle relaxation."

"Perfect. Hand it over, will you?"

Telemachus looked mildly confused at Peisistratus' request but did as he was told. Peisistratus opened up the jar, being hit with the great scent of whatever herb mixture was inside, then dipped his pointer and middle fingers into it, letting them get coated in oil before removing them, carefully putting the lid back on the jar and setting it aside. Telemachus had confusion and curiosity written all over his face, both of which went away when Peisistratus laid back, took a breath, then started to circle the fingers over his hole, an act that he saw instantly got his husband's mind --and dick-- so much more interested.

"I figured that I know my body better than you do and we wouldn't want to waste our time fumbling around like maidens, right? So I can get myself nice and stretched out for you before you fuck me. Plus after how good you did sucking my dick, I figured you deserve a break from the work."

Peisistratus saw the way that Telemachus was looking at him and was thrilled to have clearly caught his dear husband off guard, but after just a few glorious seconds of staring, Telemachus just chuckled softly and sat back, gesturing him to go on. Peisistratus didn't know what Telemachus was planning, but it wasn't like he could lose any ground by asking questions. So, Peisistratus let out a slow controlled exhale as he let his middle finger slip inside of him.

The intrusion was weird, but not unfamiliar. Even if he had mostly imagined himself being the giver in any scenarios, that didn't mean there weren't a few occasions where he wondered what it would be like to take instead. He wouldn't have been able to pull the whole argument of knowing his body if he hadn't. And sure he supposed he could have lied in that case, but Telemachus was always able to tell when he was lying.

So he supposed he should thank Aphrodite for the fact that all it took was getting pinned down while sparring once to have the idea of Telemachus fucking him put inside his head.

Peisistratus pumped his finger inside of him, trying to keep his breaths as steady as possible. Even though he wanted to look at Telemachus, he couldn't help but press his head back and stare at the ceiling instead. He couldn't restrain his soft moans as he found that the muscle relaxing herbs in the water did actually work. His finger just got deeper inside of him but he needed more. Even if he had practically just cum, his hand started to move down towards his dick, just so he could get a boost in pleasure.

"Don't."

Peisistratus froze and finally looked at Telemachus, finding his husband staring at him intently, lazily pumping his dick. The bastard was jerking off to the sight of him fingering himself and hadn't even made a sound. It was the perfect balance of annoying and so, so hot. The idea of Telemachus being able to jerk off to the sight of him without him noticing sparked several images in his head momentarily but he brushed them away to focus on the reality. The reality that was his husband having so much power over him.

"Seriously?" Peisistratus scoffed, though it come out far whinier than intended, "I still can't jerk off?"

"You cum because of me or not at all. I can't risk you spending yourself before I get inside you."

"And yet you can do whatever you want to yourself?"

"Of course I can. I'm the crown prince, after all. I'll be king someday."

"Yeah and I'm your husband. So what does that make me?"

"Come on Jellyfish," Telemachus purred, moving closer to Peisistratus without stopping touching himself, "Laying here with your legs spread, fingering yourself open for me, and moaning so prettily?"

Telemachus rubbed one of Peisistratus' legs with his free hand, looking down at him like a wolf who just found an injured rabbit.

"You're going to make such a good queen one day."

Between Telemachus' words, the way he suddenly squeezed his thigh, and that damn look in his eyes, Peisistratus sharply gasped and his middle finger slipped the rest of the way inside of him. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, his finger ended up brushing over that sensitive spot inside of him, making his hips buck into the open air, much to the amusement of Telemachus. And making things even worse, Telemachus moved so that he was over Peisistratus, one hand planted firmly by his head as the other kept stroking himself. And he made sure their eyes were locked together.

"You can't watch me like this, you know." Peisistratus said, breaths slightly shaky.

"I can watch you just fine. You have such a handsome face, after all. What else would I want to look at?"

Peisistratus whimpered at the praise --it seemed like a lot of discoveries were being made that night-- then slipped his middle finger most of the way out before slipping it back in alongside his pointer finger. As he pumped his fingers inside of him, he glanced down and saw that Telemachus seemed to be able to tell what his pace was as he was jerking off to the same rhythm that Peisistratus fingered himself. He found himself quickly hypnotized by the sight, especially when he brushed up against the sensitive spot again, shuddered out a moan, and saw how that made Telemachus' hips buck into his hand. He managed to chuckle slightly at seeing the effect he had on his dear husband yet again, but as he looked back at Telemachus he found him still wearing that completely confident gaze. Though unlike before, it was full of pure lust.

"You have no idea what you do to me." Telemachus husked, "You weaken my mind, make me an idiot. I'm supposed to be a warrior of the mind and yet every time I look at you, you are all that I can think about. The times when I've seen you leaning against a pillar and wondering how you'd look if I was pinning you to it, when you've bent over a table to point at something on a map and all I can look at is your ass that would be so easy for me to see clearly if not for a single layer of fabric, when I'd be jerking off in our bed and wishing that you would walk in on me and take over before fucking me so good I'd never dream of getting pleasure from anyone but you, not even myself."

A shudder went through Peisistratus' body which only seemed to fuel the fire behind his husband's eyes. It was almost terrifying. He knew that the man above him could and would absolutely ruin him.

But frankly, he already had.

"I've been longing for you even before we got married." Peisistratus said, not caring at all how womanly his voice sounded, "The day you showed up at my father's palace requesting aide and information about your father, I was put under your spell. Those nights we spent travelling together made me wish you were a woman so I could properly court you. And when you and your parents came to my father and I with the proposal of a strategic marriage, my only hesitation in saying yes was because I knew that you're an incredible actor. But I was never acting, Telemachus. None of my words, none of my glances, none of my touches have ever been faked. It was always real. I could just never admit it. Because I thought you were acting. And I didn't want to throw you off script."

"Fuck, Istra." Telemachus exhaled with a moan, picking up the pace of his hand.

"I love you, Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope, crown prince of Ithaca, student of the goddess of wisdom. I love you more than I could ever capture through words and even actions would come up short. But I hope that you can see the love and desire and longing in my eyes and know that I would never want for anyone but you. I am lucky to be your husband and I cannot wait for the day when we get to rule together as kings. I want to have a family with you, my darling dove, one that no god or man or war could ever break apart. I want to grow old with you and when we're dead I want our ashes to be mixed together like Achilles and Patroclus so that in death we will still be together eternally. I want you, Telemachus. Only you."

Telemachus whined sharply and Peisistratus could see tears starting to well up in his eyes. He stilled his fingers as he was suddenly filled with concern, fearing that maybe he went too far or that he was being far too deep and genuine for what they were doing. But right when he opened his mouth to apologize, Telemachus suddenly grabbed his face with both hands and smashed their lips together. Warmth filled Peisistratus' body and he practically went limp, though his fingers were still deep inside of him. He moaned into the kiss and Telemachus started to grind their dicks against each other, allowing his husbands tongue to enter his mouth. Telemachus was moving his hips slowly but Peisistratus could feel just how hard he was and figured they both knew if he went any faster he'd be the one spending himself too soon. And when Telemachus nipped at Peisistratus' lower lip as he pulled back, Peisistratus could see all the pure desperation in the teary eyes of his husband.

"I love you so fucking much, Peisistratus. I- I need to feel you." Telemachus stammered, still holding Peisistratus' face.

Oh.

Oh.

Now that was something that Peisistratus could use.

"You want to fuck me, dove?" Peisistratus cooed, leaning into his husband's touch.

"Yes."

"Alright." Peisistratus said with a devious smirk, "Prove it."

"W-what?"

"Go on puppy. You claim you want to fuck me? I want proof"

Peisistratus finally slipped his fingers out of himself, giving him more mobility so he could push himself up enough to kiss the tip of Telemachus' nose.

"Beg."

Okay okay okay. Wait. Wait wait wait. The Telestratus marriage of convenience thing. Omg that… that tickled something in my brain. Marriage of convenience to restrengthen trade for Ithaca after distrust spreads from the suitor slaughtering fiasco or something along those lines maybe, they were friends before from Tele’s travels back before Odysseus returned so the two of them figure “why the hell not he’s a cool guy and it’s not like I have anyone else” cue years of playing it up like they’re OdyPen levels of in love to make it look good and then suddenly realizing “oh… OH… oh NO…” now NEITHER of them are acting but BOTH of them think the other still is and they both joke about it behind closed doors but they’re really NOT joking because they’re down so bad ahhhhhhhh I LOVE this!!

@theshroud-thechallenge-thearrow (dang side blog curse)

Odysseus: Hey so I know you're friends with Nestor's kid Peisistratus. Do you think you could like, I don't know, try dating one of his sisters? Getting a connection between Ithaca and Pylos would be helpful for both of us. Only if you want to, of course. And if you end up falling in love with someone else we can work something out.

Telemachus: ...or I could just get with Peisistratus himself? You know, since he and I are friends then that'll make things easier. We'll get married platonically, help both of our kingdoms, and then when we find people we actually love we'll just have them as "lovers" on the side. That'll take care of the whole heirs thing too.

Odysseus: Yeah, sure, that works.

~A while later~

*"chilling" in their shared bedroom post-marriage*

Telemachus, internally: oh shit oh fuck of shit I actually fell in love with him oh gods this can't be happening I'm the one who told him this idea he thinks that he has such an easy out with this with the whole lovers thing so it's not like I can tell him that I'm actually in love with him...

Peisistratus, internally: oh no I actually fell in love with him oh dear gods he created this plan as just a practical thing he's literally a student of Athena I can't fuck this up by actually falling in love with him I was his first real friend I can't ruin our friendship and what was supposed to be an amicable way to help our kingdoms without any attachment

~Meanwhile~

Odysseus: Man, our son sure is able to sell being in love really well

Penelope: He sure is.

Odysseus: ...

Penelope: ...

Odysseus: So they absolutely caught feelings, right?

Penelope: Obviously.

[awkward-but-nice]

rewatchng tfatws, and i don't trust ANY of you people in the "john walker did nothing wrong" camp, he killed a surrendering man in a fit of rage, lied to lemar's family about it, then tried to kill sam too, when he felt that his status as captain america was being threatened.

[gayofthefae]

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

[psychotic-nonsense]

It's happening again.

With Max, it's attempting new tricks on her skateboard. With Dustin, he takes apart and reassembles basic little trinkets. With Nancy, she rewrites old news articles. With Mike, he reorganizes the D&D dice box he's been carrying everywhere since Will left (and even after he came back). With the Sinclairs, it's spinning something - a basketball or pen or keychain or hair tie.

The loud music isn't uncommon, nor where it's coming from. But where the source is, and what kind of music it is, feels like something reserved for times like this.

Steve wasn't supposed to be out here, technically. He's on his lunch break, and he wanted a change of pace from the Family Video parking lot. He drove out to the edge of town - Keith doesn't give much of a damn how long their breaks are anymore - to find that cliff only he really knows how to get to. Helps that his Beemer is like a second heartbeat.

But on his way out, he hears the music.

How the hell Eddie got his van out this far into the woods, Steve's never gonna figure out. But there's loud ass music coming from it that's different to Eddie's usual type. More replicable, mainly, something that sounds like an actual song yet still has Eddie's whole screamy vibe. As Steve gets closer - having parked by the road just outside the woods - he can hear another voice singing along with their full chest.

That's when he realized what it is.

It's that violent restlessness. The buzzing feeling in, under, becoming every inch of your skin. Paralyzes you from doing anything substantial, yet everything else you try to do doesn't make the feeling fade. So you're stuck in a repetitive motion while stuck in place and it feels like exploding from the inside with nothing bursting out.

Most of The Party gets it bad nowadays, since the Upside Down was sealed away. Years of living on the brink of death to suddenly being plopped back into the mundane. Steve especially got it from the lack of sports, which worsened the Upside Down buzz.

Steve knocks on the van's back door, hoping it drowns out the music to not startle his friend too badly. He tries the door, which opens easily, and floods the woods with guitars and drums and voices.

Eddie doesn't startle, but neither does he move. He's laying down on the floor of the back, the precautionary blankets there all twisted up and scattered about in evidence of motion. One hand is tugging hard at the roots of his hair, the other snapping hard along with the music. One leg is bent up and bouncing, and his chest heaves in an attempt to keep up with Eddie's shout-along singing.

"Yeah, you said a single word,

But no one really heard,

Sometimes we scream alone!

It's always worse at night,

When darkness kills the light,

You're in the danger zone!"

It irks Steve in just the wrong way, seeing Eddie frozen like this. Gets him to leave the door open, walk around to the stereo sitting in the passenger seat, and hit the thing silent.

"What?" Eddie snaps immediately. The van rocks as he sits up.

Steve ignores him, just walking back around to the back to smack the side of the van. Noise will keep Eddie stable in this state. Eddie, who's staring at Steve with that adrenaline-fueled glare, jaw tense, sharp where he doesn't mean to be. Steve makes his words stern, to cut through the buzz no doubt rushing through Eddie's ears. "Up. I'm getting you out of here."

"'M fine," Eddie bites back, flopping straight back down with a bang he doesn't feel. One of his hands goes back to his hair.

Steve just reaches down to grab the end of one of those blankets, tugging hard. Eddie just moves an inch, but he flails like the bat tails are back around his ankle. He sits back up, eyeing Steve with a malice he can't mean. It's Eddie and he never does, not even when he's high on fight or flight.

Steve just nods to the outside world, repeating, "I mean it. Come on."

Eddie's jaw tenses just a bit more, before he rolls his eyes and scoots to hop out. Steve backs up, lets Eddie jump out of the van with too much motion, slam the doors shut and pat them in a goodbye both too hard, lets Eddie grip his leather jacket too tightly as he leads the two of them back to the Beemer. The snapping comes back a few minutes in, but Steve leaves it be.

Doesn't pick on Eddie not wiping his shoes, nor for slamming these doors shut or not buckling. The police has had more to worry about them than some unsafe driving. Steve just turns the radio up a bit too loud, leaves the snapping alone, and drives them along the edge of town.

He stops when they get to the junkyard. Doesn't say anything, just gets out and goes straight to the trunk. He hears Eddie follow him outside as Steve gets the not-nailed bat from the back, then slamming the trunk shut to keep Eddie's attention (no matter how much it and the slam prior hurt his soul).

Steve walks past Eddie into the heart of the junkyard. He spins the bat, scanning the ground, and finding an old can-looking thing. He picks it up, tossing it into the air a few times.

Then he tosses it once more, rears back, and hits the shit out of it.

The loud crinkling of metal and crack of wood creates an echo that slices through the residual buzz forming in Steve. He watches it fly haphazardly in the air, spinning randomly before landing on an old car, another echo to cut the buzz.

Eddie doesn't react verbally, but that's fine. Steve just finds something else - a piece of tire - and hits it too. Does the same to a crumpled sheet of metal, then another can-shaped thing. Feels the buzz get torn to pieces with every satisfying echo and vibration of conflicting action coursing through his veins on each hit.

When Steve finally turns to see Eddie's reaction, it's just the snapping fingers to really get his attention. Everything else about Eddie's body language says confused, curious, hungry.

His body still screams, and here it sees something that will listen.

So Steve holds the bat out by the barrel, handle to Eddie, and waves it at the junkyard around them. "Go ahead," he urges.

Eddie eyes it confused for a moment, but he eventually pushes off the side of the Beemer he was leaning against. Makes it to Steve with steps that still feel too hard, but takes the bat. Stares at it, spins it once to get the feel, but still hesitant.

Steve walks past him to retake that place on the Beemer. Eddie watches him go, still confused.

As Steve settles in, he motions again to the open empty junkyard. "Who's going to hear you?" he says.

'Only who you want to hear you,' goes unsaid.

Eddie blinks at Steve a few times more, then down at the bat. Spins it again, looks around. He spots something, stomps over to it, picks it up. A can. Tosses it up once, nearly doesn't catch it.

He looks around again, goes to a car beside him. Sits the can on the hood, steps back. Gets into a stance that feels at once natural and amateur, but Steve doesn't dare.

Because Eddie hits the can and it goes flying, with a crunch that gets Eddie to laugh a little.

Now he's really moving, looking around for something more. More metal, plastic, rubber, anything he can feasibly hit and some things he can't. It gets heavier, harder, doesn't go as far but that means the impact is in rather than out. Cuts through the buzz like nothing.

Soon Eddie takes off his leather jacket and really gets going. He's looking for glass and throwing it far and hard, feeling every shatter in his own insides. Grabs the bat again, starts hitting the vehicles, smashing the windows in further. Drops the bat again, finding unbreakable things and throwing them on the ground, on cars, against other smaller things. Looks like he's going ballistic but it's just the energy finally finding freedom and release in something.

Steve watches it all with prideful satisfaction.

Eddie digs through a pile of rubble, grabbing something evidently interesting. It's stuck, it's difficult, but that manic energy is nothing but insistent. Eddie eventually pulls it out, a rusted old metal chair far heavier than it seems. But Eddie just laughs at the challenge.

He picks up one end, and starts fucking spinning. One heel barely keeping him balanced, he spins and spins and spins. The chair gets lighter, his arms rise with the momentum. And finally, with a growl as cathartic as the destruction, Eddie throws the chair into a car, watching it shatter the glass and dent the metal in a loud bash of sound and noise and release.

This, it seems, is what finally curbs the buzzing. Eddie slumps over with the action, panting and laughing a little. He stumbles to the side, barely losing his footing in time to catch the side of that infamous bus and flop to the dirt beside it. He's panting and breathless and red in the face, but ultimately... satisfied.

Steve resigns himself to the bucket beside Eddie. Leans back against the rusted metal that saved his kids' lives, handing Eddie a water bottle from the storage in his trunk. Eddie takes it with an especially rough huff. Steve takes it as the thank you he knows it is.

Eddie gulps down a quarter of the bottle, spills another quarter on himself on accident. He leans his head back to stare at the sky, panting in relief.

"How... the hell did you know...?" he eventually gets out, still not looking at Steve.

Steve just stares at the patch of grass in the center of their little courtyard, forever greener from the cutlets that rotted there. Shrugs. "Just a hunch."

----------

2/4/25 Edit: Adding in some lyrics from "Breathless" by Dio (1984) thanks to the lovely suggestion by @finalmoondragon !!!!! Everything is the exact same as the original post the only difference is the lyrics :]

[oceanwithouthermoon]

okok let me finally do my analysis on kusuke and makoto parallels like ive talked about a thousand times (obvious warning that im gonna talk about incest, and also that im gonna be talking about a gag manga in a serious light so if that upsets you just go away ✌️)... yippee, perverted older brothers with unhealthy dynamics with their powerful younger siblings analysis!!

the most obvious parallel is in their interactions with the others sibling. they literally have the same exact meeting, they both go from being fake nice to "my sibling is special and youre not worthy of them"

not included in pictures but also note that kusuo got rid of makoto by calling on kokomi and kokomi got rid of kusuke by calling on her fans

"the second hes distracted, LETS GO"

"we're the only ones who can match up to each other"

kusukes idea of kusuo being inhuman also influences the way this is treated i think- he tells kokomi that marrying a beautiful man will suit her best and that kusuo is above that kind of thing (aka actual romantic and aesthetic attraction), and it seems that being the only ones who can measure up to each other is probably the closest, in his eyes, that kusuo can get to love (confirmed in my opinion by the marriage/engagement symbolism a few pictures down⬇️). thats why he thinks theyre the only ones worthy of each other even if he doesnt see kusuo in the exact same way as makoto sees kokomi. if that makes any sense :p these are obviously already parallel on surface level, but id say theyre even more similar if you look deeply into it

"i know everything youre thinking" and "everyone else looks like monkeys to me"

associating their sibling with heaven/god

a certain fixation on their sibling's body... top two are specifically them trying to see their sibling naked without consent

? not sure how to describe this. implications of engagement/marriage? this use of an explicitly romantic symbol actually confuses me in kusukes case but thats not really relevant here...

theyre the reason their sibling cant relax or be themself even at home... also note that kusuo specifically says that kusuos masochism (which i guess in some contexts masochism can be non-sexual but in this situation, since kusuke is canonically a pervert and there are several implications and allusions to sexual pleasure, it obviously means he gets SEXUAL pleasure from pain/humiliation) is the main reason he doesnt like him. likewise, kokomi is bothered by makotos overprotective and overbearing nature, though unfortunately she doesnt seem to be aware of his sister complex and thinks hes just being an annoying big brother.

not necessarily something that can be captured in a picture but theres also the fact that they both have pretty perfect lives but are still obsessed with their sibling and only their sibling, its all they really care about and their entire lives depend on them.

makoto is extremely attractive, charming when hes trying to be, and is a famous actor... he clearly gets girls. but he doesnt want any of them because hes stuck in his obsession with kokomi, shes the only girl he wants and its ruined his perception of other girls. he believes hes the only one that can be right for kokomi and touch her, and that likewise kokomi is the only girl he can be with. her presence dictates his life, he skips work just to follow her around and prevent her from getting involved with other guys. we only see maybe a few sentences from him where he isnt talking about kokomi, even when hes on tv.

kusuke is an attractive and charming genius, easily pulls girls, cambridge graduate, and is the favorite child in his family. but none of that matters, it only sets him apart from other humans and gives him a skewed perspective of anyone who isnt kusuo. he believes kusuo is the only person he can get that sadomasochistic pleasure from, and kusuo is the reason he developed it in the first place and he specifically seeks him out and coerces him into it. he really only cares about his family, theyre the only people in the world that are worth anything in his eyes, and his only interactions with anyone else have been using them as tools to get to kusuo. his life goal is (or was, before the end of cat tank arc) defeating kusuo. he has cameras in his familys house that hes presumably constantly watching, implied by him being ALREADY watching before his parents even called him about kusuos limiter.

[aroaceleovaldez]

Hiii! I hope this ask doesn’t come off as rude or pushy but I just have some questions about your opinion on Rick Riordan since I’m new the space of author critiquing.

I guess I’ll add I’m pretty young and a bit sensitive when it comes to things I like, so I automatically assumed since you post so much PJO content you liked his writing. But based on some of your posts, was I wrong? Again, I don’t want to sound pushy, I’m just new to being critical and honest when it comes to authors I like and would like to know your opinion on Rick Riordan specifically. Is he a bad writer? I just got wrath of the triple goddess and I’m not sure if I want to read it based on some of your posts.

Entirely focusing on writing itself and not the content within: I like Rick's old writing. His style when writing first series is dramatically different from his newer material, which I feel has significantly dropped in quality. A lot of the newer stuff feels very unpolished and gratuitous (towards the audience for marketing purposes, not his own interests) and he has a serious bathos problem that stunts the majority of the humor and sincerity that once existed in the franchise - and often severely gets in the way of a lot of attempts at inclusion and representation, to its detriment. Not to mention how condescending it feels towards the reader/presumed audience. It's also very clear he's trying to riff off of his previous success, including directly lifting previous sections and minorly rewriting them to try and achieve the same effect (not in a call-back manner, but just copying his own work).

I won't say his old writing is like, my 100% favorite or the end-all-be-all of literature. I have plenty of authors whose writing is more something that I think is structurally admirable. But Rick's original series writing is good! It became a pop culture staple for a reason! But the quality has dipped so severely as the series progress that it's hard to ignore and it's becoming increasingly difficult to enjoy the books for me because of this. Particularly very recent books like TSATS to me are so excessively full of simple structural errors and similar that it's baffling to me how it even got published or how we got here.

I think out of his post-first series writing, his works I've enjoyed the most are MCGA and Demigods of Olympus - particularly leaning towards the latter. It's simple but very enjoyable to me. TKC to me is mostly fine and enjoyable, and HoO is Just Okay. TOA is tolerable. TSATS and the marketing trilogy though are kind of unbearable for me.

I do love the franchise as a whole and it means a lot to me, which is exactly why I feel so strongly about the drop-off in quality recently. It feels like an insult to something I love and know can be better and has been better in the past - not from a personal perspective, but from as much of an unbiased perspective I can give as someone who has studied writing. So if he's a "bad writer" in general is kind of up to discretion i suppose.

[cent-scratchnsniff]

something bad did indeed happen to that man. spent abt 25 minutes trying to find a better picture of that one (1) offical piece with his eyes open that wasnt compressed or tiny

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Hi there, i would like to start off by saying that i really admire your writing and have been following the JG updates for close to a year now. I've been in love with it ever since I read the first chapter and its only gotten more over time, tho I cant complain cuz this sure is my favorite hyperfixation! I've been meaning to leave an ask for a while now but wasn't really sure, but the latest chapters have compelled me to just try so here we are! (really late tho cuz I had my last exam yesterday so i didn't get around to writing this until now lol)

Anyway, I would actually like to express my sincerest gratitude to you and your stories. Not all too long ago I was diagnosed with autism and have had a really hard time handling that information, since i grew up in a "mental illness isn't real" type of household and didn't get a lot of support for starting therapy.

I would classify my flavour of autism as the feeling-out-of-place-within-society variant. I don't really have the "stereotypical" issue where i can't pick up on social cues, but more so that i try to understand people and overanalyze them, only to come to the conclusion that their actions and motivations are unrelateable to me. As a kid, i would often say that i don't feel like a human sometimes.

Because of this, I've always loved non-human MCs in stories since they're far more relateable for me, but a lot of the time authors fail to actually make them feel like a different species. They'll just make them "suddenly understand humans" and drop all special quirks they had as soon as being non-human even just slightly interferes with the plot.

So, I have to commend you for so wonderfully capturing Zhongli's non-human traits and mannerisms. The way he perceives the world and people around him is so fundamentally different from the other characters POVs without feeling forced/unrelateable at all. You can tell he approaches things differently than the human characters do. His character is extremely cohesive and consistent.

(It's at this point that i should probably mention that I in no way mean to label zl as autistic!! i remember you already discussed this topic of non-humans feeling kinda autistic to us and i fully agree with him just being neurodivergent-coded)

When I first discovered JG it had only been a few months since my diagnosis and I would constantly tell myself that im "wrong in the head" and that I'm probably just lazy and weird. Reading JG, following Zhongli's story and his experiences of being "out of place" in this world while trying to be perceived as human, feeling him dread the day everyone will find out he's not like them out of fear they will treat him differently; all of this is extremely relateable for me and has helped me come to terms with myself in the process.

Especially the latest chapter has left me gaping at my wall for hours after i finished it. A lot of the time, Zhongli's pov is kinda difficult for me to fully deciver since he's a very unreliable narrator when it comes to his emotions and feelings. So, whenever he shows even slightest bit of vulnerability, it feels far more monumental for me since it helps me to really understand the extreme disconnect he feels from the essence of his very being. When Ajax told him that he's not a dragon anymore, I was immediately reminded of when a friend first asked me if I might be autistic. Needless to say, this chapter really hit home for me.

And throughout it all, Ajax has slowly turned into my comfort character. I love his attitude towords the whole zhongli-isn't-human situation. The way he treats zl is so heartbreakingly beautiful and really shows his affection. His and Zhongli's interactions actually had me tearing up from time to tim, because it gave me hope that I too can be accepted for who I am, despite the details. Seeing Ajax treat Zhongli "normally" even after everything he found out about him has actually given me the courage to reach out to an old friend and tell her about my diagnosis and everything surrounding that. I don't think I ever would've gotten back in contact with her if it wasn't for JG.

All that being said, I apologize for the info dump no one asked for and sorry for rambling. I just felt like you deserve to know that your writing, your art, is actually reaching and truly moving people out there.

Words couldn't possibly convey all the ways in which reading JG has helped me throughout this journey. JG has, quite literally, changed my life. Genuinely.

Thank you.

HELLO??????????

i don't even know how to respond to this, i'm so honored; like i know fic usually helps people get through stuff or realize some things but it's not often that they come out here and give me the (comparatively) full details of how and why

[blooming-marylii]

I'm very normal about differences in dynamics between Jeremy and the SQUIP in each version of the musical, so I'm going to yell at you about it. And about SQUIPs in general tbf. This'll get kinda long

Ok, so in my understanding, SQUIPs don't all interact with their users the same. Each SQUIP's personality gets generated(?) during first activation based on its user's psychological attributes to achieve the best possible result. I also think SQUIPs are inherently benevolent but simultaneously amoral, which is why they eventually mess their users up in attempts to improve their lives

Another thing that probably isn't super important to all of this, but I still feel should be mentioned, is that while I do think their personalities are individually generated, I still believe they are just that. Personalities. All the reactions aren't simulated for users' benefit. The human brain is like a supercomputer, so why couldn't an advanced supercomputer be like a brain?

With all that out of the way, moving onto Jeremy and his SQUIP

In general, the SQUIP experiences the world and makes conclusions about it largely through Jeremy's knowledge. Which is exactly why it calls him pathetic and similar things. Because it genuinely thinks this way about Jeremy because Jeremy thinks this way about himself. So the SQUIP sees this as a fact. Additionally, deprecation motivates Jeremy to change just so it doesn't continue. This is a good strategy from the SQUIP's point of view because it produces quick results in achieving its goal

Now, let's talk about the differences

Two River: Jeremy wants his life to become better/easier but can't achieve this himself and doesn't believe anyone will help him. Becoming cool is a nice daydreaming scenario he doesn't expect to ever come true. Up until he learns about SQUIPs. And then he sees the SQUIP as his Only Chance To Be Helped. Which is why the SQUIP becomes so self-assured and condescending. It is Jeremy's saviour, his light at the end of the tunnel. It is the only thing that can help this pathetic little creature of a user. And it knows this. So it behaves accordingly

Broadway: Jeremy is an anxious mess to the point where harshness from the personification of his Only Chance To Be Helped would just destroy him. This guy needs some meds and support. So, the SQUIP provides support. The SQUIP sets an example. The SQUIP sympathises (if not empathises) because its user is so anxiety-ridden that he's going to either start crying or have a panic attack. He needs someone to stabilise him, he needs a support system, and he needs encouragement

West End (or, well. I've only seen the off-West End bootleg, but I don't think they made any drastic changes to characterisation between productions): for Jeremy, not being a loser brings a sense of vindication. Near the end of Loser Geek Whatever, when he realises he can be popular amongst his peers, he enters a mental state that I can only describe as manic. My guy sounds like all his rational thoughts left him, and he's riding that high. Which I'm assuming means that when this was only a daydreaming scenario, Jeremy was also a little too invested into/excited about it. And since making Jeremy popular is the SQUIP's primary objective, the strongest emotion associated with this idea had to influence its personality. I'd say this SQUIP is very straightforward and collected by default, but when it needs to hype Jeremy up, or when they are getting closer to achieving their goal, it gets more unhinged to varying degrees, depending on the situation. And because getting closer to achieving the goal is a process split up into chunks, the SQUIP gets more unhinged a little more often than one might expect