#that could also explain some of the weirder things about their dynamic

[mccromy]

The Shen Jiu & Shen Yuan dynamic I need to see more of is Shen Jiu coming to see Shen Yuan as a father figure, perhaps even a mother figure. And not in the way you think.

We are always talking about Shen Yuan's wife beam, but we don't talk about his mommy beam. I think Shen Jiu could resist the wife beam if subjected to it, but I don't believe he has any defense against the mommy beam. Now, I'm not talking about Shen Yuan transmigrating earlier than canon, meeting a child Shen Jiu and adopting him.

I'm talking about Shen Yuan transmigrating after Shen Jiu has already taken over Qing Jin peak. I'm talking about 21 year old Shen Yuan transmigrating into the body of a nameless rogue cultivator, meeting fully grown man already in his thirties Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu, and hitting him with his mommy/daddy-issuesinator and causing him a life threatening Qi deviation.

Shen Qingqiu can't help but trust him, and eventually looks up to him, sees him as a wise elder he seeks out for advice. He fucking hates it but he can't help himself. This homeless man he met in the forest is the closest thing he's ever had to a father. Also. He sort of wants Shen Yuan to breastfeed him in a, and he means this, non sexual way and he can't cope with that. He would just feel so safe!!

Shen Yuan, 21 years old, rogue cultivator, first time transmigrator and the father who stepped up, thinks he befriended the scum villain, and maybe? He can be a good influence on him? Be a good friend and guide him towards a fully limbed future. He's practically raising him but nobody tell him that.

Shen Jiu lost his childhood to slavery and his teenage years to violent madmen. and now he's behaving in ways he doesn't understand. He once lost sight of Shen Yuan in the town's market, ran towards a man who looked exactly like Shen Yuan from behind, and almost had a panic attack when the man turned out to be a stranger. It's all good because Shen Yuan found him before he started swinging Xiu Ya ("Have you seen my friend? He's this tall, clearly traumatized, but we haven't had the talk")

People think they're lovers at some point because Shen Jiu is quite possessive of Shen Yuan's attention, but everybody realizes that there's something way more innocent, and also weirder, and worse, going on between them when Shen Yuan drags Shen Qingqiu by the hand to apologize to the sect leader for being so rude when poor A-Yue is trying his best, and stands there with arms crossed, eyebrows raised, until Shen Qingqiu mumbles an apology, glances at Shen Yuan, and runs away.

"I'm sorry about that, Sect Leader Yue, he's had a bad day. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Yue Qingyuan, someone who did actually sort of raise Shen Qingqiu, who's stood in Shen Yuan's shoes before, extracting reluctant apologies from a sullen Shen Jiu, to authority figures so he wouldn't get in trouble, is overcome by an intense, never before experienced wave of jealousy, so sudden it makes him spit vinegar flavored blood.

Then, a panicked Shen Yuan accidentally hits him with the mommy beam by accidentally adopting him (trying to befriend this guy who clearly needs a friend he can confide in!). And now he's placed himself in the young step-mom role who's desperately trying to bond with her new husband's teenage children but they're wired to not like her! (He used those exact words when explaining to Shang Qinghua where that new tension he has with the Sect Leader came from)

Liu Qingge is afraid of him. Maybe. He runs away when their eyes meet but he keeps leaving dead things at his feet so like, he's probably threatening him? He feels intimidated by him? Or something?

(Liu Qingge thinks Shen Qingqiu's older brother is so cool and really wants to hang out with him, but if Shen Yuan calls him Didi one more time Liu Qingge's barely held back "Yes, Gege?" Is going to jump out of his mouth and he WILL Qi deviate and EXPLODE)

When Binghe enters the equation shit gets a lot weirder.

First, he believes Shen Yuan to be Shen Qingqiu's neglected spouse (Shizun keeps leaving his poor wife alone when he goes out on night hunts and to visit brothels! Shen Yuan has needs!! He should be with someone who cherished him!! Someone who would treat him as he deserves to be treated, someone who'd wait hand and foot on him!!!) needless to say, Luo Binghe's teenage fantasies take on an even more illicit turn than in canon (it goes from "STERN TEACHER POUNDED BY STUDENT AT BAIZHAN TRAINING GROUNDS" to "NEGLECTED WIFE CHEATS WITH STUDENT ON HUSBAND'S BED!! IMPREGNATED WHILE HUSBAND IS AWAY")

Luo Binghe, of course, does his best to seduce him, but ends up being coddled and cuddled.

"it's like I'm his handmaiden, his shadow, the only witness to my lady's heartbreak at her husband's cold regard and indiscretions. Shizun won't spare him a moment if not to discuss cultivation or business! He won't allow Shen Yuan more than a head pat! and move away from any other touch! How ungrateful! They don't even share a bed! I brush his hair, I dress him every morning, I pour him tea and he lets me rest my weary head on his lap. The intimacy we share is not sexual, but Ning-Shijie, I wish it was! I saw the outline of his dick yesterday and I need it!"

"A-Luo please stop talking."

Then, he realizes he misunderstood. Shen Yuan is a cultivator so of course he looks so young! Shen Yuan is clearly Shen Qingqiu's father. He's constantly worried for his un-filial son and remains by his side!! That explains everything!!!(LONELY DILF RIDES YOUNG MAN ON QING JING'S LIBRARY!! HE WISHES YOUNG MAN WAS HIS SON!!!!)

He goes from trying to steal Shen Qingqiu's wife to steal his father. He could be Shen Yuan's friend, lover, and son. His student. His confidant. His silly rabbit.

Shen Qingqiu KNOWS this. But nobody will fucking believe him!! The jiejies at the pavilion giggle and tell him he must be exaggerating, and when he went to Yue Qingyuan so he could intervene and fix it, Yue Qi just looked at him dead eyed and said to "Let him." !!! Let him what?? Deflower our father Qi-Ge??? Shame on you!! That beast is trying to break this family apart!!

But wait!!! look!!! a crack opened in the fabric of space and reality, leading directly to hell. Wouldn't it be a shame if someone were to, accidentally, drop kick this homewrecker inside it?

Luo Binghe is gone when Shen Qingqiu realizes oh wait, that was a demon mark on his forehead wasn't it. Oh good, now he has an excuse. Baba will understand.

(Baba doesn't understand. Baba acts as if he's lost his soul and won't look him in the eye. He's also growing mushrooms bodies in the garden, and added a drop of Shen Qingqiu's blood in the seeds before planting? Which is odd. but at least if he's gardening then he's not staring at that swordmound for hours on end)

I don't even know where I'm going with this

[descendant-of-truth]

Honestly? So much of Sonic Prime happens the way it does because Sonic is unabashedly, wholeheartedly neurodivergent, and I wanna talk about that in detail for several reasons

I think most people assume he has ADHD, and while I agree, I think they tend to leave it at "he's hyperactive and impulsive" when there's actually a lot more going on there.

For example, he lacks a filter. He says exactly what he's thinking, all the time, regardless of who's listening. I wouldn't be surprised if he does it as a type of vocal stim, considering that he talks to himself as much as he does to other people. Maybe he dislikes the way silence feels on his ears, too?

Something I noticed was that when Thorn gets on his case for this, asking if he ever stops talking, the way he says "eh, not really" sounds... almost resigned?

He could have easily said it in a more jokey way, but his tone (and the wide camera shot) gives me the impression that this isn't a trait of his that he feels especially positive about.

It's not cool or funny to him, at least not in this instance; it's just something he does, which further proves to me that it's more of an unconscious stim than anything else.

On the topic of the jungle world though, it also shows us a couple instances of him not being able to read others' intentions very well. Prim lies to him about knowing what the Prism shard is, and Thorn uses him to get to said shard - and despite how hostile they are, he takes both of them at their word.

He only realizes Thorn's intentions after she hits him across the clearing - not for the first time that day, mind you - and Sonic berates himself a little for not seeing this coming.

But it's not like this is the only time he has difficulty understanding intent; just look at his interactions with Shadow.

This is not the behavior of someone who understands why Shadow's picking a fight with him. He doesn't understand the implications of "you literally shook the world" because he doesn't know about the Weirder aspects of the explosion. In his mind, he just messed up a mountain.

Though I think his attitude implies another thing about his dynamic with Shadow that might explain why he was so quick to dismiss what he was talking about, which is. I don't think Sonic usually understands why they fight??

Shadow is a person of few words and Sonic has a hard time picking up on subtleties, that's a recipe for miscommunication already. And if Sonic's already predisposed to thinking that Shadow fights him Just Because, then of course he didn't take this particular instance seriously.

Though going back to "he only registered the physical effect of the explosion," Sonic is actually pretty consistent with understanding things that are tangible a lot better than anything else. Case in point: that One Palm Tree

His first reaction to seeing it presented as a gift is that it must be a trick. because he doesn't see the tangible point of the tree, and isn't enough of a symbolism guy to see the sentimental point of it, either.

Don't get me wrong, he is being insensitive here, but I don't think it's on purpose in any way. Look at his body language and expressions:

Even as he's getting on their case for being too sentimental, he's not unhappy or uncomfortable with them. He's just completely failing to recognize that this was supposed to be a big deal for them, so he's treating it way more casually than is appropriate.

Which is like. a classic social flub for neurodivergent folks

(Quick side note - this specific "huh" that he makes as Tails is flying away before Sonic realizes he's upset is a whole mood. I don't know how to explain it but this is Exactly what it feels like when you can sorta tell something's not clicking but you don't know what yet)

(Look at him. brain static)

I could go on with the detailed explanations but some of that would just be me repeating past posts I've made, so I'll leave it at "he is clearly not handling change well either" and link back to an example.

So anyway, this is what I meant when I said that so much of the show is impacted by Sonic being neurodivergent. It affects how we hear his thoughts as viewers, it affects his ability to understand and connect with his friends, it's why he dismisses Shadow, it's why he impulsively smashes the Paradox Prism, the list goes on.

And he's not stupid because of any of these traits, either. None of what I've described has to do with intelligence, but I've seen "Sonic is too dumb" as a reason to criticize the show, and that's just not what's happening here.

If anything, I'm actually really impressed with how well the writers have managed to portray a more nuanced take on what a character with ADHD would look like. Because he's not just being hyperactive and chatty, you can tell it affects how he perceives things too.

Which is a much bigger part of the overall experience, and it's really cool to see in a cartoon like this - and in the lovable main character, to boot! Who cherishes his friends despite his struggles to understand them! Why is it so good!

In conclusion Sonic is the ADHD king we both needed and deserved, thanks for coming to my TED talk

[skatingbi]

When Zoro is shoved out of the gallery by Sanji, his first thought is "What the fuck" and his second is "I really said that out loud".

To be fair, Zoro isn't great with words. For one, he never thinks before he speaks 90 percent of the time. He also simply never saw a chance to compliment anyone, really. Zoro is the epitome of act first, talk later. Always has been, and probably always will be until the day he dies. Until a few seconds ago.

When Zoro noticed the cook's dual toned eyes, too many thoughts surfaced at once for him to decipher all of them. He definitely thought they were beautiful, but he didn't mean to say that sappy shit out loud. Sanji's blue eye was also nearly identical to a shade that some glaciers take on in the North Blue. He vaguely remembers other pirates talking about them here and there. He's never seen them, but if he had to guess what type of blue the ice was, he would think of the color of Sanji's eye.

Now, on the other side of the gallery, Zoro leans against the door. After the reaction he got from Sanji, he's not sure where to go from here. He didn't even mean to say that out loud either. It just... came out. Most of what Zoro says does that, but looking at Sanji in that moment made his brain short circuit, his heart stutter, and his lungs hitch. He felt something he's never put a name on before, and because of that, he didn't question it until after Sanji kicked him out.

Zoro's feelings about Sanji are complicated at best. He used to not think about it, but after this, maybe he should. He runs a hand down his face and sighs. He can feel how warm his cheeks are and knows for a fact that if anyone came in, they'd notice the embarrassingly bright blush he's sporting. So he pushes himself off the door and goes to the crow's nest to meditate, train, sleep, or something that will take his mind off of this.

Meditating doesn't work. Neither does training, or sleeping, or keeping a safe distance away from Sanji. In fact, Sanji is actively avoiding him. Has been for the past few days. That wouldn't be out of character for the blond on a normal day, but it's more frequent. Sanji actively kicks the swordsman out to do the dishes himself instead of letting him dry them like he usually does. It's fucking confusing. Zoro can understand insecurity if the main problem about this whole situation is that. He's no stranger to it. The issue, though, is that Sanji's eyes are gorgeous to him, and Sanji doesn't see it. He's just trying to understand why.

A few more days pass by like that. The crew, especially Nami and Usopp, notice. Only Nami makes it known that the crew is very much aware of the awkward shift in Zoro and Sanji's dynamic. It's made especially clear when Nami corners Zoro while he's about to fall asleep on the deck.

"Alright, spill the beans." Nami demands with her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised. Zoro only opens one eye to acknowledge the redhead in front of him, who's blocking the sun, and it makes Zoro mildly agitated.

"What do you want now, witch, I'm trying to sleep."

Nami rolls her eyes, "I know you're dense, but you're not stupid." She huffs a sigh and bends at the waist over Zoro to glare at him. "You and Sanji have been weirder than usual. Fighting is one thing, but ignoring each other for days is unusual, even for you two." Nami explains.

Zoro rolls his eyes. Sure, him and the shit cook haven't talked, but that's none of anyones business. Let alone Nami's. For all he knows, she could just blackmail him with the embarrassing ordeal of being known. He'd honestly rather not, thank you very much.

"Fuck off, Sanji's the one ignoring me. Let me sleep in peace." Zoro argues back and closes his eyes, resting his arms behind his head to hopefully fall asleep while he still can.

Nami groans in frustration. Okay, fine. If those two idiots want to ignore each other, then she'll let them. It's not like it's any of her business anyway. She just has a bet to win against Usopp, and she's not above changing the stakes to be in her favor. She just has to wait a little longer.

Some part of Nami suspects that Sanji is avoiding Zoro because of something deeper, more personal than just their usual fights. She's willing to bet money that their weird little spat is based on this. She doesn't have evidence. She just has a feeling, and usually, it's right. What's that saying again? Always trust a woman's intuition? With this knowledge in mind and with an ulterior motive, she leaves Zoro alone to have a gay crisis in peace.

What Sanji and Zoro don't know, though, is that she already knows Sanji has heterochromia, and she also doesn't give a shit. She noticed when sanji was too drunk in skypiea while dancing with the wolves, and to be honest, she's surprised no one else even noticed. This knowledge has led her to believing that Zoro said some stupid shit about it. Go figure.

Zoro goes back to trying to sleep. Behind closed eyelids, he can still see a pretty icy blue eye hidden by long blond hair. He wants to see that again. Directly after that thought, though, Zoro suddenly has an epiphany. An almost life changing realization that will most likely fuck him over in the near future. It's laughable how he's never realized it given the past few days.

Zoro likes him.

Sanji and Zoro, for lack of a better word, dance around each other for the next few days. If someone asked Sanji why didnt they just go back to how they normally did things, he couldn't answer them. He can't answer them because he knows that the real issue isn't his eyes. It's what they mean to him.

Sanji is a sentimental man. All of the things people have given him are kept one way or another. He has a drawer in his kitchen for the small trinkets or rocks Luffy finds. He still has that dial Usopp let him keep. He keeps recipe books given to him by Robin on the counter away from the sink. He even kept Nami's hairtie despite nearly snapping it the other day.

There are other things he's kept, too. Franky's things aren't really trinkets, but that doesn't mean they aren't important to him. Franky once gave him a gag gift of matching sunglasses, and he refuses to wear them. They're still tucked into one of the drawers in the dresser next to his bunk. Chopper and him share spices since they're multi use, and it means a lot to him to have his safe space also be useful for others in the crew. He loves being given things, no matter how small they may be.

When his mother died, the first thing he wanted to do was gouge out his eye. When he thinks back on it, the only reason why he couldn't is because he was scared. What small 10 year old wouldn't be? Now, although he loves his eyes deep down, he still runs away by hiding them. It's a gift that he hates, but deep down cherishes like it'll get stolen from his grasp one day.

He's aware that he processes grief by running away until it catches him on a warm, sunny day. Lately, that's exactly what it's done. Grief is hunting him, and he's the deer being shot in the leg so he's unable to run. Refusing to look into a mirror does nothing to stop it.

So, yeah, Sanji is ignoring Zoro. He knows why he's ignoring the moss ball. That doesn't mean Zoro will let him, and he's pretty sure the swordsman is going to corner him eventually. Sanji just needs to stall for time.

But that's not the only reason why he's avoiding him.

"Marimo, I swear to god, if you don't get out of my kitchen, I'm gonna shove my foot up your ass!" Sanji is not in the mood for this. Zoro knows Sanji is not in the mood for this. Will this stop Zoro from getting in the cook's business? Absolutely not.

"I'd like to see you try, curly brow, now shut the hell up and let me dry the goddamn dishes." Zoro huffs as he pushes Sanji out of the way with his hip. Sanji delivers a swift kick to his leg as retaliation.

"Fuck you I can do it myself!"

"Well fuck you because I'm gonna do it anyways!"

"Gods, why are you so insufferable!?"

Now, here they are, with Sanji being forced to let Zoro dry the dishes while he washes them. Sanji keeps a reasonable distance away with a cigarette in his mouth, exhaling smoke through his nose occasionally. Zoro tries (and fails) to not let his eyes wander to Sanji. The cook's eyebrows are scrunched, and his mouth is downturned. The cigarette hangs loosely from his lips as he silently works.

Once Zoro actually realized a few weeks ago he liked Sanji in a (probably) romantic way in some form, it was hard for him to not stare. Zoro never felt attraction to someone like that. He's definitely thought some people were handsome, but that's about as far as it went. Looking back, Zoro thinks that maybe he always thought Sanji was good looking. The swordsman couldn't help but look at all the things that made Sanji his own unique person, handsome, and especially pretty. It's not like he would say that out loud, though. He'd rather attempt to fight Mihawk again than say all that shit out loud to anyone.

Zoro's prolonged silence makes Sanji fidget in place, leaning side to side on each foot, while he washes the last dish. After that his cigarette is nothing but the filter and he snubs it out on the ashtray nearby. To combat the nervous energy, Sanji washes his hands and uses his hip to shove Zoro so he can grab the towel he uses to dry his hands. He's earned a glare by the swordsman, "Oi, the fuck is that for, cook? You wanna fight?" Zoro challenges, and Sanji would be a fool to say no.

"Bring it on, shitty swordsman!"

On the deck of the sunny and in the middle of their routine fights, another tragic incident has occurred: Sanji's hair is in his way. Not only that, but Zoro decides to take advantage of it. The blond isn't sure what Zoro gets out of wanting to see something that Sanji would rather keep hidden, but he'll be damned if he lets Zoro win.

Zoro, the conniving bastard, keeps getting into his blind spot. Or at least trying to because Sanji knows better, and he's sailed with Zoro long enough to recognize the little hints when he fights. Zoro's right foot shifts to his left, but his arm holding wado twists minutely, and it's barely noticeable, except Sanji knows he can block this with a kick.

Zoro uses the blunt edge of his sword to strike, and it lands on Sanji's left shin, raised high enough for him to take advantage of his flexibility. Sanji looks into Zoro's eyes with a challenge, and Zoro grins. Not the scary one he reserves for their enemies, though. There's a subtle crinkle on the corners of his eyes and this smile feels genuine. Were those dimples? He never noticed those before.

Huh. Thats new.

Wait. Why is Zoro looking at him like that? Like he's exciting and interesting? That's the only time Zoro smiles like that: when something is worthy to devote his full attention to. It does something to Sanji. It's the same feeling he had when Zoro told him his eyes were beautiful. Sanji's footing falters, and he nearly stumbles gracelessly to land on two feet. Zoro huffs out a sound suspiciously like a laugh and takes a step closer, sheathing his sword in the process.

Sanji takes a step back, but Zoro is zeroed in on a mission he's determined to complete. He slowly walks forward until their faces are inches away, and he raises his hand slowly.

The blond holds his breath, not moving and looking right at Zoro. Like tunnel vision only on the hawklike golden eyes before him. That feeling is back, too, and it's stronger with how close they are suddenly. Sanji wonders if the rest of the crew are out on the deck as well, but the only thing he can hear is Zoro's labored breathing from their fight and the way the wind makes his earrings hit together. A soft melody of chimes and ocean waves.

He needs to get his shit together.

"Get the fuck out of my face, Moss." Sanji orders through gritted teeth. He could back away, kick the swordsman like he usually does, but his feet feel like theyre nailed to the floor. Zoro doesnt move. Neither does he.

Well, his legs dont move. His hand does. Zoro's scarred knuckles show a gentleness that almost makes Sanji shiver. A tall, muscular, scarred swordsman capable of displaying softness similar to somebody holding priceless art made of glass. That's how Zoro brushes his hair away from the cook's face oh so slowly, dragging it out and tempting Sanji to either kick the shit out of the man or do something he might regret. He almost wants to lean into the touch and relish in it. He's never felt gentleness like this before, and it terrifies him deep down where the subject of his trauma lies.

Zoro takes in Sanji. His skin is somehow still pale despite the days in the harsh sun, the only evidence being the freckles decorating his hooked nose, cheeks, and part of his forehead. What Zoro cares about the most, though, is his eyes. Finally, at the risk of displaying a side of him he never thought he had, he can take in the pretty brown and blue eyes that he's thought of for the past few weeks. He doesn't miss the uncertainty the cook displays through the confused arch in his dark curly brows and parted lips.

There's a lot of silence, which is uncharacteristic of them. They've never gone so long without talking before unless one of them was in a coma. Sanji's just about to escape via insults and physical violence until-

"Huh, your eye is kinda like those glaciers in the North Blue." Zoro mumbles, a quiet baritone that vibrates in Sanji's chest despite the only point of contact being the back of a calloused hand on his cheek. Suddenly he feels lightheaded and warmth on his face, spreading to his ears to make them uncomfortably hot.

Sanji's face is somehow ever prettier when he's blushing, and that shocks Zoro out of his thoughts enough to pull away and attempt to make a beeline for the crow's nest. Sanji stares for one, two, three seconds, and then delivers a swift kick to the back of Zoro's knees as soon as he turns around.

"You...you fucking dumbass swordsman! You fucking pervert! Shut the fuck up or I'm gonna kick your fucking ass into the ocean!"

"Hah?! What the hell, shit cook!?"

Now what the actual fuck. Thats twice, fucking twice now that something Zoro said or did made Sanji a fucking inconsolable mess in the weirdest most cliche teenage romcom novel kind of way. What the fuck. How was this happening? Why is he so flustered, and why is it because of that brute?

Sanji always thought he was straight. Women are pretty. They're gorgeous, empathetic (most of the time), graceful, with pretty skin and soft curves. He always appreciated that in women, and he most likely will until the day he dies. Zoro isn't any of those things. He's emotionally intelligent, sure, but you couldn't get the dumbass to take his own advice even if you held him at knife point. He's not soft, he's rough around the edges, with a stern expression even in his sleep. His smile is almost always weird as fuck (except for the one he gave him recently) too. The swordsman only cares about swords and alcohol, but you could probably add rice balls to that list too. Zoro is the epitome of sharp and rugged.

In conclusion, the only similarity between Zoro and women is that Zoro has big tits somehow. No, he is definitely not focusing on that now while making dinner.

The more Sanji thinks about Zoro, though, the more he thinks back to that fucking look. When Zoro brushed his hair away from his face and admired him. He fucking admired him for gods sake. Either Sanji is high as fuck or he's having a nightmare because nobody has ever looked at him with that kind of raw emotion before, not even women he flirted with.

Okay, so maybe there's more to him than meets the eye. That doesn't mean he likes the idiot. Maybe he just needs to learn to take a compliment.

As he thinks about this, he sets the kitchen table and portions out the penne alla vodka for all of the crew members. There's a bottle of sake for Zoro, and because he's feeling... a lot, Sanji allows himself a glass of wine today. As he's deciding between a red or white wine, Luffy barges into the kitchen.

"Sanji! Is food done?!" Luffy asks, practically bouncing towards Sanji excitedly. The captain's loud voice startles Sanji out of his thoughts and he jumps slightly. He quickly saves face to look at Luffy with exasperation.

"Yes, food's done. Go get the rest of the crew- hey, don't touch that!" Sanji says while swatting away Luffy's stretched arm from Nami's bread, "That's for Nami! I gave you enough already. Go get everyone else before you decide to terrorize the place." He demands to a laughing captain whos already out the door halfway through Sanji's reprimand.

Seconds later, the crew files in. Everyone sits and begins to eat. Chatter between them fills the room, and Sanji preens at the compliments for tonight's dinner.

Everything is normal for a while, and soon everyone finishes their food. Luffy only tried to steal Zoro's food a couple of times and only succeeded once, only because the moss ball let him.

Coming much too soon is dish washing. With Zoro. Sanji's conflicted feelings regarding the man have been making him avoid the target of his confusion the days following "The Incident", as Sanji refers to it, and he's not keen on experiencing whatever the fuck is going on between them again. Only because he doesn't know if he can hold himself together if Zoro looks at him like that once more.

It's silent for a few minutes. The repetitive motions soothe him, and Sanji lets his mind wander to mundane thoughts. As he chews on the filter of an unlit cigarette, he thinks of some tasks he needs to do this week. Inventory should be done tomorrow. Ask Nami how long until the next island, and maybe he should-

Zoro clears his throat, and for a moment, he thinks it was just Zoro being Zoro. He's probably trying to annoy him. Yeah, fat chance this time. Anyways, maybe-

"Cook," and Zoro looks at him, putting the plate he just dried down and placing his hands on the counter, "Why're you hiding?" He asks, and Sanji doesn't look at him. Zoro's eyebrows angle slightly in confusion.

Zoro left that question open ended on purpose. He knows Sanji well, or at least he likes to think he does, so asking directly would just make the cook confrontational. Hell, even a vague question would, too.

"What the hell are you talking about, marimo?" Sanji scoffs. Yeah, just as Zoro figured.

"You know what, and I ain't gonna spell it out for you," Zoro leans forward, looking at Sanji even though he tries tilting his head down and away from zoro's perceptive gaze, "Cmon, curls, I need to know if I overstepped. You may be a pain in my ass but I'd never hurt you." Zoro explains, and what the fuck.

Sanji has been asking himself that a lot lately. Yet he doesn't know how to reply to Zoro. All he knows is "You...Dumbass, you make me feel. You make me feel," He whispers like they're the only ones on the ship, "And I dont like it." He finishes.

He has no clue if it's the truth. Hell, earlier today, he was having a sexuality crisis over the man before him. Neither does Zoro. They both look at each other until Zoro looks away with resignation. "Okay." He whispers back.

Sanji learns quickly that he doesn't like that look on Zoro's face.

[lilacxquartz]

Those Late Summer Nights | Chapter 4

Satoru Gojo × Fem Reader × Suguru Geto

This is a dark yandere fic that features upsetting themes and it is canon divergent. Updated every Wednesday.

ABOUT: You moved to Tokyo over the summer to take a teaching job. As you get settled in, you find yourself entangled in a toxic dynamic.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Suguru has an unavoidable family event to go to, Shoko is needed for inner city training and Satoru was busy with clan related activities. As a result, you’re the next in line.

TRIGGER WARNING: Your boundaries get pushed. Suguru gets too touchy and feely.

SIDE NOTE: Reminder, this is canon divergent, so his family is still around.

< Previous Chapter • Next Chapter >

4. Plus One.

You blinked as you stared at Suguru.

He wanted to meet up with you today while everyone else was busy, not explaining much over the phone call prior. This was the first time you had been to anyone else’s apartment that wasn’t Shoko’s and his place seemed oddly fitting for someone like him. Minimally yet tastefully decorated and tidy with warm accents.

“A platonic date…?” you repeated it, hoping that it would sound less absurd the second time around but it only became weirder the more you processed it—especially when you were the one who said it.

He explained that he wanted you to be his plus one for a family event because nobody else was available for night. He could have taken someone random he said, but he wanted to be around someone he could both tolerate and trust not to embarrass him in front of his family.

So that’s why he couldn’t just find someone random, he claimed.

You weren’t sure if this type of request was common among friends but you tried your best to be understanding about it. Friends did favours for friends, right? So maybe this was normal.

“For a family gathering type of event, yeah,” he nodded along, throwing you a piece of black clothing, “you can wear this, Shoko wore it the last time she stood in for this sort of thing.”

You scrambled as you looked at the dress in its entirety; a midi length black dress in a soft and breathable fabric with a slit down the skirting, sporting a square neckline.

You could see this looking great on her but you couldn’t imagine it on you. Maybe it would? Who really knows.

“It’s nothing serious, I promise,” he said once again, talking you into it, his voice melodic and yet so casual, “it’s just some family thing I can’t avoid so I would rather not go alone, you know? It’s regular people so you won’t have to talk about sorcerer stuff, if that makes it less scary for you.”

It did make the prospect less scary, he was correct about that much. His eyes focused on the dress as you seemed to consider it and then a little on you, something in his face lighting up just a little bit as the seconds passed but whatever it was, he didn’t comment on it out loud.

“I suppose I could…” you considered, feeling just a bit pressured. You knew already that you wouldn’t do too well in new social situations, but you also wanted to be someone that your new friend group could rely on.

Or would that only make you into a pushover?

Was that why he asked you to begin with, so early on into knowing you? To see if that’s what you potentially were?

Your mind stirred at the thought.

It certainly felt that way at least, the longer he continued to stare at you with those almost knowing eyes. There was something about him that you couldn’t quite read too well.

“Perfect. I’ll pick you up from the halls at let’s say… 6 in the evening tomorrow?” Suguru replied as he walked you out of the front door. “Wear something comfortable on your feet though, there’s a lot of standing involved.”

You stared at the now closed door with some further disbelief, sighing at the idea. You spent an extra half hour getting lost on your way here and you were already being turned away so soon.

You didn’t really want to do this but you didn’t want to be a disappointment either.

You texted Shoko on your way back to the campus as had to take the bus to get back there as it was quite out of the way of the city. You wondered if it would just be easier to live in the city, the commute be damned but you’d be closer to everyone else.

You asked her how to possibly get through this thing, how to interact with his family and why it had to involve wearing something so formal.

Her texts came back as a chaotic stream of broken down replies but you were able to piece them together bit by bit. As far as you understood it, all you needed to do was smile and nod, laugh at the jokes told by his family no matter how bad they are and to help yourself to the complimentary booze provided in the kitchen.

Maybe you could get through this after all.

You surrendered to this sort of idea as you texted back and forth what you actually needed to be doing and by the time you were back on the campus, the idea didn’t seem too bad after all.

This was just something he did with friends, just as you suspected.

He just didn’t want to be alone for something potentially boring, maybe even daunting and that was something you could understand.

***

You were ready by 6 the next day just as you had promised you would be. You slipped into the dress relatively quickly and styled your hair to rest a little better on your shoulders. You decided to accessorise the dress with a simple silver necklace to make it look less plain and wore some flat black sandals to finish off the look, figuring they would be comfortable enough.

There was then a knock on the front door not too long after and you opened it up, revealing a slightly more dressed up Suguru who looked good in what he wore.

You could admit that much, but you didn’t dare tell him. Would it be weird if you did?

You both eyed each other up before anything was said. He wore black slacks and a form fitting black jumper with his hair pulled back. It all looked a little too much for the weather, but his sleeves were rolled up and he didn’t seem to be dying from the heat.

He took a good look at you but didn’t say anything, leaving you both thankful that he didn’t comment on your appearance but also a little nervous all at the same time.

“Don’t you get scared living in a place like this all alone?” he asked after a moment as he took a look around, his eyes scanning the halls with some familiarity in this gaze.

“It’s not that bad,” you shrugged, unsure how to reply. Your expression slowly grew nervous, overthinking his comment.

“You know, Shoko might be quiet about it, but she is looking for a roommate,” he said after a strained moment of silence.

You liked that idea though. You wanted to live with someone in a way, both for reassurance but also because you genuinely wanted to be her good friend.

“I can think about it…” you added after another moment of pause, realising that you didn’t quite reply immediately. You were too lost in thought.

In fact, the silence between the two of you only continued to brew. You were both too reserved without the two other people who would otherwise fill in the gaps that were vacant from your presence.

“Anyway,” he spoke up at last, clearing his throat as he did so, avoiding staring at your body as his eyes couldn’t help but trail over to the way you wore the dress again and again, “I’ll be driving us there, so just follow me.”

He let you into his car which was conveniently to his style as well, a sleek black car that seemed to be a semi recent model. The drive happened in relative silence aside from what played in the background as the road gradually grew slowly darker, but not quite night as the sun began to set. He listened to chill house music that idly played, not seeming too bothered by the mutual quietness.

You felt his eyes wander back and forth to your body as you tried to pay attention to the outside, catching a glimpse of him staring in the reflection every now and then. Such a feeling left you feeling just a little uncomfortable whenever he would do so and the fact that he never once said anything only added to the tension that you didn’t even know was there.

At some point, he pulled over to a less travelled spot where the cars didn’t pass by as much, right beside some trees. He fanned his fingers and his palms over the steering wheel before taking a deep, sharp breath before exhaling through his mouth in a controlled manner.

His closest hand drifted away from the wheel as if by pure impulse and off towards you, balling into a fist as he seemed internally conflicted with something before returning his hands back to where they were supposed to be.

You kept incredibly quiet throughout this encounter, unsure where it was going and not feeling too safe as it happened.

“Sorry about that,” he said after a while of sitting in silence with you. His eyes didn’t dare move to look at you as he took a few more deep breaths to calm himself down from whatever it was that was bothering him before driving off again.

“I just had a thought that I shouldn’t have had,” he muttered to himself, just loud enough so that you could hear him too.

You didn’t reply anything to him, but you did gulp somehow absurdly loud as the discomfort on your end finally made a more noticeable appearance.

What was that?

For your own sanity, you chose to ignore it for the rest of the ride, (but you knew that you shouldn’t have).

***

He finally pulled up to a house in the countryside off of a more beaten road. Many other cars were parked in a array of chaotic ways around each other, some cars locking others in. The house reminded you a little bit of home, but that sort of design wasn’t really that uncommon in areas like these and especially with older builds.

“You’ll be fine,” he spoke up, his voice finally normal again, “most people are from a bit further out into the country.”

He was glad in a way that he didn’t have to educate you on the correct mannerisms the same way he had to do with Shoko, but he didn’t say it to you directly.

He led you out of the car instead and introduced you to the people inside. You tried your best to follow Shoko’s guidance rather seriously, smiling and laughing and nodding, subconsciously drifting to the table that had refreshments as you sought out liquid courage to ease the social pressure.

You weren’t doing too badly you thought, but your heart raced the entire time, gradually being replaced with a heavier sort of feeling as the wine settled in your system and relaxed you.

Slowly but surely, you could get through this.

Suguru stuck closely by you to your surprise, you were expecting him to do his own thing for some reason.

The reality was that he was still feeling what he did back in the car when things got a little too heated for him and he didn’t like that sensation nor what it did to him. There was something about you in that dress and the way that it sat just a little tighter on you than it did on Shoko; your body filling it out in all of the right ways that made him see you in a way he shouldn’t be looking at you.

At least not if he wanted to keep your friendship.

You didn’t notice the male attention on you like he did, so he was just being protective of his friend in a new setting, that was it. Nothing more. But with the way his own relatives looked at you, he couldn’t help but just feel a little jealous—not that he had any right to feel that way, of course, but it did trouble him all the same.

You, on the other hand, didn’t notice a thing aside from the fact that you were just being closely watched though, thinking that this was all just a part of his intense personality. You didn’t know that he was actually quite a relaxed person, not too far off from Satoru when he was around his friends, that he was equally casual and non-caring, but that wasn’t the side of him that you were getting to know.

And as the gathering seemed to eventually thin out, he didn’t quite know why he took off with you in such a hurry either, without as much as saying a single goodbye to the rest of his family. It was just you and him, straight into the car with even more silence that followed you both on the way back.

This time though, he drove faster down the road once he got onto the freeway, not quite caring about the speed. The veins on his forearms were beginning to tighten as his knuckles that firmly gripped onto the wheel grew pale, driving off somewhere that didn’t quite seem like you were going home before he pulled over once again to the side.

The same sort of thing repeated as before; the breathing exercises and the internal struggle and the tension to top it all off. He really tried his best to talk himself out of it but surrendered this time to crossing the barrier of where you two sat, his hand spilling into your half of the car and his hand meeting your knee, wrapping around your leg where the dress didn’t reach.

His grip around you continued to tighten as he enjoyed the sensation of your soft, smooth skin as he slowly brushed it up, reaching just the edge of the skirting to your dress, so close to your thighs, so close to your—your—wait.

“Please stop,” you interrupted him, causing him to freeze in place.

His eyes widened as he realised what he was doing and he kept frozen in place for about ten painful seconds or so before lifting his hand away in a sudden hurry—quickly gulping down what he actually wanted to say.

From your peripheral vision, it seemed that he was acting based on a different type of thinking entirely as he stayed silent, his hand drifting over to his trousers as his legs pushed him up a little, quickly adjusting what was going on in his pants to ease the problem he had.

Luckily for him though, you didn’t notice that part too well, your eyes instead pointed directly at your legs instead as you tried to process your own discomfort.

The rest of the drive continued on in pained silence until you both got out at the campus and much to your building up concern, he followed you right to the door, but he didn’t seem to be pressuring you anymore. In fact, he seemed normal again.

“Hey, so, I’m really tired, I don’t think I can drive again,” he spoke, stretching his arms out as he yawned, “think I can take the hall sofa? I’ll be out of your way right where you can see me, I promise I won’t do anything again. I don’t know what I was even thinking.”

Your judgement was a little off but you could still feel the buzz from the drinks before at the event cloud your judgement. You sighed and allowed it before heading off to your room to process everything that had happened today.

If you could both simply forget what happened, then that would be great.

Something told you that it wasn’t quite the end of that, though.

And with the way his eyes couldn’t keep off of you as he followed you inside, your hunch was about to be proven correct—not that he’d let you catch on, though.

He was going to be subtle about it, if he could help it.

Just for you.

[ms-scarletwings]

We gotta start accurately calling Sly Cooper a low fantasy universe at some point. It’s retrospectively wild how much supernatural shit is going on in front of your face that you don’t think about because it’s like… nothing to the characters that it’s happening to. People who have never played Sly Cooper have no clue how nonchalantly it grinds this rail between just “real world noire but furries” and straight up DC superpowers stuff.

• The surprising amount of undead, in hindsight

Black magic is just, you know, a thing…. and outside of when it’s the weapon of choice of the villain of the week, it’s not even really brought up. Tsao was building an army of honest to god vampires and Mz.Ruby has been fraternizing with homemade ghouls since she was a child. A second-game side quest involves descetrating a tomb, kidnapping a bunch of restless ghosts, and then unleashing them on the cops for a good prank. For Pete’s sake, Clockwerk, biggest bad of the franchise, is basically an eldritch machine possessed by the vengeful spirit of someone who became too petty and angry to die.

• There are people born with innate superpowers

So, there is no debate going on with the deal about Cooper abilities and this point, right? Sure, the Theivious Raccoonus has a lot of good pointers any thief worth their salt could gain from, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say somethings along the lines of gliding down lasers or turning invisible on command are a bit out of most readers’ capabilities. The 1st game’s humor in explaining off gameplay mechanics as in-universe phenomena had the unintended consequence of establishing that the Cooper clan members literally have a criminally inclined sort of spidey sense- literally hallucinating glowing auras and blue sparkles around anything both valuable and not nailed down. I think I also awkward appreciated the parallel to be spotted between the Cooper honer code and the self imposed limitations other media supers live by. That idea of “you have the gift of amazing power and you will choose to use it responsibly”, all the better here for the ways in which the clan’s premise subverts classic hero/villain dynamics.

• Ancient techniques of sorcery

run right alongside conventional weaponry

Some supers are born in this world, a lot of them are made. As if anyone with the time to practice and learn can just pick it up like karate. Religion has to be crazy in Sly Cooper considering there’s entire spiritualisms given demonstrable and epic power in what their followers are capable of. Murray literally can do some degree of magic from the third game and onward and there’s no telling what else he learned over the course of his Dreamtime training. Anyone with the wits and resources of the Contessa can figure out how to toy around with freaking mind controlling dark arts. Don’t get me started again on the whole “army of undead” thing which gets even weirder by the implication that the world does nothing to regulate these kind of abilities UP AND UNTIL the user starts to roleplay a cocky little warlord with their zombie friends. And Flame Fu is right there. A lot of what the panda king can do is closer to Bentley’s realm- very complicated and meticulous works of pyrotechnics, but Flame Fu is a whole something else that belongs in this discussion.

• Magical items and mythical beasts

The Mask of Dark Earth, the guru’s special stone, an entire kraken, a whole laundry list of things in The Contessa’s possession, an enormous swamp serpent, haunted trees, whatever the hell kind of ring Dimitri was wearing in the second game, a giant stone dragon statue that turns out to be AN ACTUAL FREAKING DRAGON in dormancy, a supercharged ancient bamboo forest, potentially the Cooper cane itself, and the not-to-be-overlooked every single piece of Clockwerk’s cursed body. I know I’m probably forgetting something because that was just off the cuff. It’s kind of wild that most of what we watch the Coopers focus on stealing can be stuff like museum paintings in a world where magic flying carpets are confirmed to exist. The hell. Why was I ever mocking the pirates in Bloodbath Bay for their paranoia and superstition?? Best part was always that basically none of it phased the resident smarty pants nerd character like it usually would anyone who fills that trope. Because of magic is just an accepted and normalized thing in the world, why WOULD Bentley talk about it any different than he would the history of lumberjacks or combustion physics? Instead of conflicting against his understanding of science, it just tacks onto it as more additional info, you know… the way it would if magic was just another set of rules to study and understand.

[jmeestella]

Okay, I have never done anything like this before, But I need to get this random thought out of my system. Small analysis and thoughts of color theory in tales of arcadia: Why I thin Gaylen Krel could be a real thing

I really like Gaylen Krel concept and here is a little speech about why I think it would be interesting with a very vague concept of color theory (it's actually just my my totally altered perception of reality and boredom).

(An apology if anything here sounds weird, English is not my first language).

I do not think it is necessary to say that this has spoilers for the entire saga of tales of arcadia if you haven't watched it

Some extra alert, I may be editing this constantly, since I may notice some new stuff and since my english may improve jsjs

So, there you have, the 3Below squad, as akiridions, all of them are basically blue, all equal, nothing to say here, this is clear, BUT- I think something interesting happens when they are in their human desguise: the predominant color is red.

In Aja it is easy to see this in her shirt and shoes, the only blue element is her jeans, For Varvatos it's a little less obvious, but both his shoes and his jacket are also red (His pants are a kind cream color (?), which like red are warm colors, the only cool color element is his shirt), and then we have Krel, basically all his color palette is blue, cold colors, The only red element is his shoelaces, which is hard to notice.

Someone once told me: ok, but Krel skintone is really warm, and this supports my theory, all the characters have most of their warm colors ON THE OUTSIDE, but Krel, aside from his cold clothes HAS THE WARM COLOR INSIDE HIM, HE'S THE WARM COLOR.

And just like fun fact, like, BRO- even the dog is designed in warm colors 🙃

It seems to me that this could represent a bit how difficult it is for them to fit in being themselves (?) after some point I''l explain this

Another extra parenthesis, I find it curious that in the TOA saga the blue color palette predominates in characters that are "not-human", Like Jim who becomes a troll, or Douxie who's a 900 years old wizard.

And it seems to me another important detail that Claire and Toby represent a little about this dynamic of cold and warm colors.

Toby is orange and red, warm colors = human. He was human and he¿ll be a normal human forever.

Claire is purple, closer to red, but still cold= normal human but a wizard (a kind of transition?)

Together, The path of the chromatic circle represents how they move away from being human. You can check de crromatic circle here:

Douxie does not seem to have any predominant color temperature, he wears neutral colors, this may be because he wants to go equally unnoticed in both worlds, but the detail is in his eyes, normally his eyes are amber (yellow, warm color) but when he uses magic they become blue like his magic itself.

Anyway, I don't want to stray too far from the topic.

It's been a long time since I watched the serie, But I think we even have a whole chapters on that topic. Aja even with problems at the end she fit quite easily as a human, For Varvatos, socializing is a weirder experience, but in the end he has his thing with Nancy and is quite accepted among the other older adults, But we get a whole episode of Krel feeling bad because he doesn't think anyone will remember him, because he never quite fits in.

Long short story if you already see the serie, no much what to say on that, good ending to everyone.

Aja although she tried hid in the human red, in a human disguise, in the end she fully accepts her responsibility and decides to live in the blue that she was born, as the akiridion she is, while Krel, Despite being the most insistent in wanting to have his life back in Akiridon-5, Krel Krel who wanted to hide behind the blue of what he considers his identity, he decides to live like the human he feels like.

But wait. don't missunderstood me, This for both of them is neither good nor bad, neither of them rejects their nature, and I think this is an important part of 3below, embrace who you love and who you are, part akiridion and part human.

I think you may be getting my point: For them being blue is actually good, because at the end they are not human, they just are who they are, And they proudly show their true colors, and they actually do it in a very literally way jjsjsj

BUT-

Here we have. Blue vs red.

I need to be honest here, at this point this becomes more imagination than anything, but I think you all might agree with me.

Gaylen represents many things that an akiridon should not be, And what color is him? Oh of course it's red, a fucking warm color.

Speaking of my theory that warm = more human, I find it curious to point out that Gaylen only has 2 arms, wich is very human for the royal ones.

I saw many people talking in many places here on thne internet that it seemed that Krel and Aja woul be a heirs of Seklos and gaylen, some in the figurative sense of "oh yes, don't let yourself be corrupted by power and be good people" and others in the literal sense. I believe both are true in some way.

There could be many things here but as I said it's a lot of imagination. Was it really a mere coincidence that Gaylen's core was on Earth? Are the colors a coincidence?

Here is a series of points that you yourselves can connect.

The cores of the tarron parents are blue. Probably any akiridion core is also blue. Cold Color

Heartstones are orange, warm colors.

Gaylen Core is purple, but he wasn't an Akiridion? shoul't it be blue? oooh, look a the chromatic circle, purple is just aside froom de red. May be healing?

Let's say Gailen and they would have been more than a vague part of the lore, following what was said before, that Aja's nature is blue and Krel's is red, it is easy to say who is who's heir each one, but Seklos is not seen nowhere, was she really destroyed or is she somewhere else? There are many suspicious places for me, the shadow realm, the darklands, I'm just saying...

I don't know how the whole thing could happen to get in the story to get to the point of Gaylen Krel, but there's my final though: After that, his new red colors could represent a lot of things, maybe the warm colors really only represented a nature that lost of magic and in the end we were all always meant to be magical (?) just saying that, for example, Toby's grandmother has lived suspiciously too long to be a normal human, perhaps he is not as human as they wanted us to believe. That would also be an interesting door to explain why Toby's presence was really necessary from 3Below.

Bu hey, I want some angst, what would meant that Krel is Gaylen's heir? He's a akiridion after he becomes like him? maybe he¿s something more, something weird or strange, not akiridion at all, not human at all

Under this theory, it is similar to what Jim went through as a half-troll, although it is predominantly blue, the eclipse details are red cause after all he's still Jim, that human boy that we all love, and that was sacrifice and change was somtething needed to be made bt doen't change him at all, they both had to become like this, and after all, Krel would still being Krel.

Just I would like to think of a parallel to Jim's breakdown when he becomes a troll but with Krel changing drastically when he becomes Gaylen's heir. Imagine the team trying to catch him to help him and cheer him up because, yeah, by this point in the story, since when did the team care about who they were o are?, and like the cherry on the cake, instead of the legendary Jlaire scene of "no matter who you are, I love you" we might have some cute confort sibilings moment with the same vibe but with "whatever you are, you will alway be my little brother, "

Someone please tell me I'm not crazy with all these thoughts, I am traumatized with TOA

[cer-rata]

Fav batfam ships?

See, making that plural was a mistake, dear Anon, because now I have an excuse to list one for every member I care about and also explain myself--

In no particular order:

Bruce and Talia: Partially because I am god's strongest (and most delusional) soldier and can ignore anything racist and OOC in all of her depictions over the last 20 years. I honestly think it's hilarious how disgustingly horny they are for each other and how absolutely stupid they get when left alone together. 10/10 so funny I could die, let them be dumb together as a treat.

Dick and Koriand'r: Listen. It's basic. They have problems, they've always had problems, but when the story and editorial direction allows for it they make each other so happy. Two traumatized kids from across the stars that find a moment of safety with each other? I am a simple man, it compels me.

Kate and Renee: I'm a sucker for disaster lesbians. I am. They are the avatars of lesbian disaterism and honestly good for them, keep making Aphrodite wildly upset with how hard you both can fumble a baddie, laddies.

Stephanie and Cassandra: It's popular for a reason! They are so wildly different while being weirdly similar! They care about each other in ways that are so genuine and raw, but aren't always helpful to the other party! Visually they look like a classic emo/sunshine ship, but if you investigate even a little bit it's quickly obvious that their dynamic is much weirder and more interesting. See also: the above disaster lesbians (wlw specifically here but the sentiment stands) thing.

Barbara and...Kara(?): ...This is my badly substantiated rarepair that also relies on a reality where Kara wasn't aged down. I just...it is one of the two variations of Superbat that compels me, and it purely comes down to the intensity of their personalities, the emotional weight they both carry, their intense understanding of loss and duty, and the fact that as Oracle and Supergirl they manage to have similarly heavy responsibilities on their shoulders.

Damian and Jon: The other variation of Superbat that compels me. Look. They've never got to have any consistent, wholesome, appropriate or healthy close relationships with any other viable options first off, so this isn't hard. Second, their arcs are literally designed to compliment each other, and the groundwork for that was laid out for sooo many issues. It's the opposite of Babs and Kara where there is actually so much content to be compelled by that it circles back to being painful again. Now, to be clear, I have no interest in anything happening with them unless and until they are allowed to be adults, mostly because I think those character arcs need come to completion before anything more than being best buds happens. Also, as god's strongest (and most delusional) soldier, the volcano didn't happen, Jon is going age normally and get to go to high school, they're going to fix it okay, there's a space whale--

Tim and Jason are in a weird "Y shaped" poly situation with a hairy bear named "Intensive Mental Health Care": No I will not be elaborating further.

Duke and ???: I love Duke. I have not been compelled by a ship for him yet. I know Tom King tried to make him and Gotham Girl a thing but...who wants that? I even like Gotham Girl enough to write for her, but WHO WANTS THAT!?

Anyone else I really haven't thought enough about to include...however....

HONORABLE MENTIONS THAT I DON'T WANT BUT SOMEHOW COMPEL ME:

Bruce and Minhkhoa: So funny, almost a parody of Bruce in a MLM ship, painfully comedic, Khoa is a disaster of a man and the most down bad creature on earth, beating even Talia on the obsession angle. Never let them prosper, never let them get it together, let me feast on this crack made canon.

Bruce and Selina: I DO like me some batcat, but I'm really more interested in Selina getting to be her own thing nowadays. Escape the bat-love interest curse girl, maybe go kiss an amazon or something.

Kon and Cassandra: Don't want this, but I am truly taken by the fact that was even a thing that was considered for 30 seconds. Insane. Insane pairing. Batshit. Kind of endearing? But please never again.

Barbara and Dinah: Listen 90's BoP (and often after too) was full of so much sexual tension between these two that it was almost suffocating. The one-night stand that they both fondly think about later, but told no one about? It needed to happen, but that's the end of it for me.

[vierrel41n]

The way the dynamics between men and women are portrayed in popular media genuinely makes me so uncomfortable. I could talk about a lot of things

1. The “harmless nerd” trope

In which the man who is usually a social reject (like a nerd or just a quiet kid) engages in stalking and/or persistent pestering of the woman. Ex. Watching her with binoculars through windows, taking pictures without her permission, constantly making romantic advances towards her despite her clearly telling him NO, and so much more. And such behaviour are portrayed as sympathetic or not as creepy as they should be, why? Well he’s a nerd, there’s no way he could do any REAL harm! And in the end, the stalker is almost always rewarded for it in the end by “getting the girl”.

One thing I find really gross is how the movie will show the boys watching the girl in her home and for some reason they’ll have the girl performing strip tease for nobody in her own home?? Like she’s performing FOR the guys watching her and for the people watching the movie. You can obviously tell when the director is a man in these things.

An example of such behaviour is Leonard from the Big Band Theory. While he didn’t really stalk her he just wore her down until she finally agreed to date him. And another thing comes to mind was when they spoke about having kids and she told him she doesn’t want kids but he wasn’t happy about that. Eventually they did end up going through with it I just find it so weird and uncomfortable how the narrative constantly rewards him and all the other guys for their horrible behaviour.

2. The childish girl trope

Okay I think this is moreso a thing in anime but I really hate how the mannerisms, facial expressions, and even the voice of women in anime are meant to sound so akin to children? It’s so weird. And it’s even weirder how they sexualize it.

Like you’ll have girls who are explained by the narrative to be high school age to literal adults and you’ll have them acting like children and in the same way have 700 shots of them shaking their boobas everywhere and I personally think this is really weird. First of all, why can you only find them attractive or dateable if they look and act like a child 🤨? That is VERY odd! Looking at Toradora specifically. Secondly, is it IMPOSSIBLE for you to write a female character who actually acts like a human being? And for the male characters in their lives to treat them as such as well?

Even worse when you see how the male characters are portrayed compared to the women. Male characters are usually written to fit their actual age, they’re drawn to look their age, and others treat them like people too. They’re also usually taken more seriously in universe and by the fans. Girl characters on the other hand are portrayed in ways that are purposefully made to be appealing to guys which apparently means making them seem as young as possible??? And they’re often usually taken less seriously by the narrative and by the fanbase. Like I can’t count how many times I’ve seen guy characters peep at a female character or literally GROPE them and then the narrative plays it off as a joke. And more often than not, they face no repercussions and are also usually rewarded. I will expand on this in the next point.

This is why Studio Ghibli is superior.

You actually sometimes see things like this in western media too but I can’t think of any off the top of my head purely because I don’t watch a lot of TV anymore.

3. Women’s discomfort played off as jokes.

One of my favourite shoujo anime is Yumeiro Patissiere. I haven’t finished it yet but I do like it so far. HOWEVER there are a few scenes that genuinely made me so uncomfortable especially since this anime is marketed towards kids.

There was a scene in which the main character, Ichigo, goes with her classmates to deliver birthday cakes to some kindergarteners since it’s part of the school program. And while Ichigo is standing to the side watching as the kids get their cakes, a couple of the little boys (kindergarteners btw) flip up her skirt to peek. Obviously Ichigo is distraught by this and rightfully gets upset at them. Though the kids face no real repercussions, not even from their teacher who should tell them not to do stuff like that. And throughout the episode, the boys always refer to Ichigo as “strawberry panties” and make rude remarks to her regarding that.

Normally, I shouldn’t have to tell people that things like this are obviously morally wrong but I told someone online this since he kept on saying “it’s not a big deal” and after I said it, he replied “I’m not reading allat just don’t watch it then” 😐

Now such things are extremely common in anime and even in figurines of franchises where the woman is obviously distressed by someone trying to peek at her and it’s just seen as comedic or God forbid “hot”. And as usual, the perpetrator faces no repercussions.

An example I can think of in western media is in the Big Bang Theory where the guys made a robot thingy with a camera and Howard used it to peek up Penny’s skirt. All the guys were aware of it and all that was said about it was “you might wanna wear pants” or something idk. And then a laugh track. And when Penny finally goes off at Howard, as she should, somehow she’s in the wrong and Leonard comvinces her to apologize to him. Why should his fragile ego be prioritized over her literally being treated as a human being?

4. Sexualization of people who don’t want to be sexualized

I think this goes for most women generally though when I say this I mean women who are:

Police officers, nurses or doctors, veiling women like women who where hijabs or niqabs, nuns, flight attendants, firefighters for sole reason, even park rangers?

These are jobs in which women are constantly sexualized and harassed in workplace and society. Just search up “women’s police Halloween costume” or anything of the sort and see what’s there. You see it in films, in shows, everywhere.

But the one that really angers me are when women who dedicate themselves to modesty are sexualized. Like I said earlier, veiling women like hijabis and nuns. It’s the most disgusting and disrespectful thing ever. I see it more often with nuns. If they’re not depicted scary, they’re usually depicted as sexualized with outfits having slits in them or being body contour. Ugh it’s so gross. Literally nothing is off limits.

Don’t get me started on school girls. School uniforms are constantly sexualized in media and it’s genuinely worrying. Connecting this to my earlier point about how childish women are for some reason seen as more desirable, it’s concerning how much more women are portrayed as “sexy” the younger they appear in media. And it’s bleeding into real life too. I’ve seen plenty of stories where adults are disappointed when they find out the girl they’re talking to isn’t in middle school or something :(

Respectful portrayal of both genders really matters in media. Especially when a lot of media is catered towards children who are impressionable. People shouldn’t have to be told that things like this are also morally wrong in media as well but for some reason it needs to be said over and over.

I’ve left out quite a few things because this post would be too long if I kept going. But you can add onto the post if u want.

It’s late I’m gonna sleep gn.

[hanarchy]

Hi, I just wanted to see if you would elaborate on why you think Chans parents are kinda weird? I cant lie, I've thought this too... Sooo many times... so I wanna hear your thoughts if possible! <3

hmm it’s not so much me that said it, the anon was the one to call them weird but i didn’t disagree. personally i dont find his parents that weird per se (or well. not weirder than all our parents like lets be real there is not a normal parent alive in the world) but i do find his relationship to them a little weird for his age.

huge disclaimer here that there may be cultural context and experiences i am just flat out missing because i am not korean and dont know what its like to be a second generation immigrant or east asian or both.

and secondly he talks about his parents VERY LITTLE so what i am basing this on is LESS than crumbs, like this is the equivalent to me making up a song after hearing 1 note of it.

but what strikes me as odd abt chan’s relationship to his parents is what i mentioned in the original post too, he still kind of speaks about them like a shining beacon that he has to live up to.

especially when he talks about his dad and how athletic and strong and amazing he is it seems like he is comparing himself to him. and chan being smaller and less muscular and generally seeing himself as less ‘manly’ seems to be a source of some unhappiness in his self image.

and i think seeing your parents as superheroes and wanting to be like them when you grow up is super normal at a certain age but chan is already grown up.

and i know from many many many different experiences especially with young men, that it may still be common to want to be like your parents in your 20s but it’s bound to lead to a lot of pain and anger. like you have to realise eventually that you are your own person and have to have your own standards and chan seems as of yet unaware of this necessity so he has that development still ahead of him and i think the older you are when this happens, the more it has the potential to really derail your life.

like you gotta realize your parents are human and the earlier you do it, the better for you!

because the problem isnt so much wanting to be like someone you love but rather that putting them on a pedestal like that keeps you from seeing your own relationship with them clearly. like it keeps you from realizing the damage they did to your psyche (and yes, even the best parents damage you in some ways, this is in the nature of being a flawed human raising a child that relies on you to survive) and it also just severely restricts your imagination of who you could be and how you could express yourself.

and i think chan’s parents were quite young when they had him and then waited quite a bit to have more kids, which always leads to a weird dynamic where the eldest child takes on a parental role.

i think thats also kind of the main weirdness i notice… like chans parents seem to like. encourage the competition he has with his dad and sort of act more like his peers than his parents sometimes. at least that would explain to me how they would allow a 13 year old to live in a different continent by himself. they just saw him as grown up very early on.

would also explain a lot about how he tries to recapture his childhood with skz, the way his room at home is only swim trophies and nothing else (or like if it got cleaned out in the meantime its kind of telling that of all his childhood things the only thing he kept are the swim trophies??? idk maybe its just the only thing he chose to share with us)

but yeah like i think he himself does also realise a weirdness to some extent like he goes home so incredibly rarely, once every 2 or 3 years is so little, even felix (who has the same or a busier fixed appearance schedule) makes it to Australia more often.

so in conclusion he was parentified too early and that left him at that stage of development so he has a hard time letting go if his idealized image of his parents but at the same time thinks he has to be like them. but yeah i do think he realizes theres sth he doesnt like about it and keeps a bit of distance on purpose. we all develop differently, sometimes the best way to deal with your parents is to put some distance between you and them.

[beigetiger]

Ok. So. I was initially going to make this in one post, but then I realized it was going to be too long and so have split it into two parts. This is gonna be me rambling about an AU. This is part one and is going to be about Skulduggery, Valkyrie, and how they’re doing in the war. This is still probably gonna be a long post that makes exactly zero sense, so buckle up.

Firstly, I’m gonna talk about what the two of them turned into after the big magic explosion.

At first Valkyrie seems relatively normal, albeit a bit injured. It takes a few days for her to realize that anything changed, similarly to what happened at the end of DoA. But she eventually begins to suspect that something is off about her and after a week or two manages to trigger a transformation that gives her several sets of wings and a set of retractable tentacles with which she is able to absorb other people’s souls and move power from person to person.

Shortly after this, she also starts acting a lot weirder. Similarly to Darquesse and her obsession with magic energy, actually, except that Valkyrie gains an obsession with absorbing everyone she cares about so that she cannot ever lose them. Luckily for everyone else, she’s only willing to do this if they’re close to death (at least in her current state). But basically, she starts talking a lot more like a god would, which is weirdly, vaguely, and objectifying of everyone around them. Skulduggery and Anton are both in something similar to isolation with her at some point, and so they are the first two to notice. Anton is vaguely creeped out but trusts Valkyrie in spite of it, even if he does continue to be slightly morally off-put by some of her decisions. Skulduggery doesn’t really mind it, and even welcomes the additional power since he’s now having to try and stay normal and not turn back into Lord Vile. In the years since she and Skulduggery split off from the main group, her form with wings has also grown in size, although she’s still normal on the rare occasions she decides to look normal.

Now, Skulduggery didn’t really have any big magic transformation. However, bad circumstances and peer pressure basically forced him to put large chunks of the armour back on so he could fight, and he ended up never really taking them off out of paranoia that he was about to be jumped by Sanctuary officers, even when he was at Valkyrie’s house. So it wasn’t the magic that eventually made him go insane, it was the magic armour, the violent tendencies that come with it, and his best friend randomly turning into a god.

While they’re technically classified as leading different groups, they work together constantly and are still pretty much inseparable. The two groups have also decided to just…merge together. It’s famously codependent duo that’s leading them, they might as well become besties at this point.

Another thing about how they work is that their dynamic drifts around a bit, but through areas that are pretty predictable. The two of them both sort of have the average SP god’s appreciation of life, that being “it’s all irrelevant in the face of the universe”, and as a result they don’t really think about the potential consequences of their violent actions. When they’re like this, they both tend to talk in such a way too (as stated earlier). However, they’ll also default to bantering as normal sometimes. But more importantly, the two of them (although most prominently Valkyrie) sort of…float in and out of lucidity.

To explain, they’re both insane and their brains work like gods, they don’t really think about the consequences of their actions. However, there are times when things such as their humanity, old morality and general personalities float back to them that sometimes cause them to have small breakdowns (although again, this tends to happen more with Valkyrie). And those usually last for a few days, and then their brains begin to slide more back towards the cold inhumanity of godhood. So their followers really just have to wake up and figure out how their bosses are doing mentally on that particular day.

That’s all I can think of for them right now tbh, but maybe I’ll add more in the future. Next post is gonna take a lot more organizing than this one.

[herrlindemann]

Rock Sound, 2005 - Interview with Till and Schneider

Anyone who’s witnessed Rammstein’s pyrotastic live show will know they aren’t a band to do things by halves. So maybe rock sound shouldn’t be surprised by the surreal trail of events that unfolds during the press day for new album ‘Rosenrot’. Arriving in Paris with some vague instructions to head to the Place de la Bastille and find a double-decker bus, it all fells worryingly like the plot from a bad James Bond film. Luckily, any fears about being unable to follow such a cryptic lead are calmed on spotting a bright red London bus which, in case it wasn’t given away by its conspicuous geographical location, is helpfully plastered with Rammstein album artwork. Today the bus will were a dual purpose; both transporting us to a top secret interview site and acting as a pretty ingenious promotional tool, as we drive through the city past several turned heads and dropped jaws. 

Onboard, journalists from various European countries are initiated into an album listening session that’s shrouded in MI5-style secrecy. After signing a contract, each writer receives a sealed and numbered personal CD player containing a preview version of ‘Rosenrot’. Suffice to say, those who dare to break the seal and peek inside do so on pain of death. Well, probably. And it doesn’t end there. 

Arriving at the interview venue — a boat moored on the bank of the River Seine — it seems Rammstein are intent on having us experience as many branches of the Parisian transport system as possible. It all ensures that the press are suitably bewildered, as well as just a little excited, when the time arrives to interview bands members Till Lindemann and Christoph Schneider. Really, you wouldn’t think it could get much weirder. But it does.

Both Lindemann and Schneider appear oddly indifferent to the day’s set-up, as if they’re old hands at sending journalists into a state of confusion before meeting them. Not that frontman Till really needs to try; he’s already knocked us hacks for six by granting several rare interviews this afternoon, and in person he looks every bit as imposing as his on stage characters. Thankfully though, he’s infinitely more good-humoured, and a listen to ‘Rosenrot’ reveals his increasing skill in channelling that quality into the songs.

The band’s fifth studio album continues to develop several of the themes from ‘Reise, Reise’ — namely the exchange of strict marching rhythms for dynamic rock riffs (‘Rosenrot’, ‘Zerstören’), and a new-fund affinity for ballads (‘Feuer & Wasser, ‘Ein Lied’). Yet it also comes with a few major surprises, most noticeably ‘a party anthem about driving into a brothel’, titled ‘Te Quiero Puta’. As if diverting from their trademark sound with cartoon noises and mariachi instrumentation in this effort weren’t enough, the biggest shock comes from Till, who switches his usually foreboding vocals into Spanish to hilarious effect.

Schneider picks up the story: « Till could never find good lyrics for that song, » he recalls. « It was a bit sad because we always liked it very much music-wise. Then he came up with this Spanish, which I absolutely didn’t like, especially with all the trumpets. But sometimes you have to get used to ideas that you don’t find so cool, because they might have a little potential. »

Consequently, ‘Te Quiero Puta’ is one of the best songs Rammstein have written, not just because it shatters every preconception they’ve built up with previous albums, but also because it’s executed so well. Maybe that’s down to the fact that when Rammstein go off on a creative tangent, they aren’t driven by a need for attention, but by genuine curiosity. Indeed, while ‘Te Quiero Puta’ was inspired by a love of Spanish culture that Till developed while exploring Costa Rica, ‘Mann gegen Mann’ was born from an equally eye-opening experience.

The singer explains: « That’s a pro-homosexual song. It’s based on an experience I had when we went out in Berlin with another band that had two gay members. We went to a gay bard and I was just impressed by how fast they made contact with other men, how there was little bit of communication and then they went home together. I thought it was quite enviable, especially when you compare it to what happens between a man and a woman and all the ritualistic behavior. They just had a one-night stand and nothing more. I thought there was something poetic about that. »

There’s nothing all that unusual about Rammstein dealing in potentially controversial subject matter, as the gory inspiration for ‘Mein teil’ showed. Even so, it’s hard to escape the impression that ‘Rosenrot’ is their most experimental album to date.

According to the band, that probably has something to do with they way in which it came together. The release of ‘Rosenrot’ comes just a year after ‘Reise, Reise’, meaning a significant change to their normal working cycle.

« We’ve never released another album so quickly," says Till. « Usually there’s the album release in summer or early autumn, then we tour through autumn, winter and spring and then go into working on the next release in the autumn. But after making ‘Reise, Reise’ we had four songs left which hadn’t fitted in with the rest of the album. So we decided then that we would make another CD straight after ‘Reise, Reise’ so that we could use them. »

Although they could have released the songs as an EP, there was another obstacle to overcome. During the making of ‘Reise, Reise’, Rammstein decided they would take a six-month « creative break » when they eventually came off the road in 2005. That meant either leaving fans with a long wait before another album arrived, or working incredibly hard to extend those four songs into a full release before disappearing. With Schneider stressing that the leftover tracks were « good songs, not just B-sides », they took the latter option and began work on ‘Rosenrot’ under what he describes as « a lot of pressure due to the time constraints ». 

But with both ‘Te Quiero Puta’ and ‘Mann gegen Mann’ among the new songs penned in that period, it was evidently also a positive time creatively.

« The songs are from two different periods so I think that makes the album a bit outstanding, » comments Schneider. « It’s not like the last two Rammstein albums, but it’s a good album. »

It turned out so well, in fact, that they changed their original plan to call it ‘Reise, Reise Vol. 2’ and graced it with its own title. That title continues their fascination with dark fairytales, echoing both an old story by the Brothers Grimm and a story that Till recalls about « a girl who sees a red flower on the mountainside and tells her lover. He tries to get it for her but he dies ». Nonetheless, the album as a whole also marks the end of an era for Rammstein.

« For me, this is the closing of a chapter for the band, » says Schneider. « Everybody needs a break, they need a bit of distance from this band and time to look forward and ask, ‘Where am I?’ And, ‘What do I want to do?’ We need to find other ways of being inspired. »

Consequently, there will be no tour to support the release of ‘Rosenrot’, as the sextet head their separate ways to recharge and reflect. After more than 10 years of following the same work schedule, the members of Rammstein are looking forward to spending time with family, travelling, and having the chance to recover from an exhausting promotional itinerary. They initially discovered the benefits of taking time out while making ‘Reise, Reise’ — when tensions carried over from previous album ‘Matter’ came to a head and forced them to put work on hold. As Schneider states, it’s vital to the « balance of democracy » within the band that they get away from each other now and again.

However, with this personal time now coming at the expense of a new live spectacular, are they concerned that ‘Rosenrot’ won’t get the exposure it deserves?

« Maybe that will affect something, » allows the drummer. « But we’ve been on tour for almost a year now and we’re tired. Of course our live show is a big part of our promotion, but what can you do? You can’t keep on at the same pace, running and running like a hamster on a wheel. »

A much-needed holiday? The end of an era? You might wonder if ‘Rosenrot’ is shaping up to be Rammstein’s parting shot…

« I have a good feeling, » begins Schneider. « I think Rammstein has the potential to continue. But after 11 or so years you have to be careful. It’s easy to over-do it, for it to get boring and for you not to reach your potential anymore. We’ll see. If it doesn’t happen anymore I’ll do something else. »

Thankfully, Till is more assured about future plans, insisting Rammstein will start work on another album and tour after their break. What’s more, the excited singer suggests we can expect an even greater visual extravaganza on their return — if he gets his way.

« Personally, I’d just sing two songs and then have two hours of pyro! » he laughs.

There’s no doubt it’ll be worth the wait.

[magioffire]

♦ What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

salty mun questions ; accepting

oh boy LOL i have sadly had quite a few very mild to medium level of annoying stuff happen over my many many years of rping on this site. feel like i gotta cover one of the big annoying experiences!! if we are going with highest amount of annoyance caused....i would have to say it was my experience with an rp partner that was a liiiiittle bit obsessed with me, or perhaps more accurately, obsessed with vali. its a little bit of a wild ride so BUCKLE UP:

at first it started off as a completely normal rp partnership -- in fact, the two of us hit it off quite well and immediately started rping regularly. i enjoyed myself for a while, oblivious to what was gonna unfold. things happened in my life and i slowed down on my activity on this site. i was very open to them about what was going on and explained i just would not be able to be as active or engaged. but they just did. not. let. up. at first it started slow, and i wasnt bothered at all to get regular asks and lots of messages, i love that!i really do! but this...this was another ball game...

but it began to get to a point where the asks got more frequent, and then more insistent, and they and their characters got increasingly more desperate in an attempt to keep my and vali's attention i think??? and they started to get...vaguely passive aggressive about me being slow with responses and i could tell sometmes they were jealous when i replied to/was more invested in other threads.

i liked our characters dynamic and i liked rping with them, but the weirder it got ooc, the less my muse was invested in their characters, the less i was invested in a ship dynamic, because it felt very forced. and i also felt like they were kinda obsessed with the idea of shipping their characters with vali, and yet after a while after agreeing to ship ...only wanting very surface level interactions where vali spent most of his time protecting and defending their character. and like im sorry, but if your character has literally no spine then vali is gonna steam roll right over them and leave them in the dust just because hes such an intense character. he needs someone just as willful as him to play off of effectively. i didnt realize that yet at the time and thought it was the growing pains a new underdeveloped ship, and that it would change. it didnt.

just kept getting A LOT of borderline obsessive behavior towards me and my muse. they also would very transparently take ideas i had and try to apply them to their own characters. and like, i wasnt mad about that, i dont actually own the basic concepts themselves, but the ripping off of headcanon ideas, and posting similar headcanons right after me, got so prevalent that others started to notice and mention it. i really disliked that because i dont like people fighting my battles for me but. sigh another cherry on the annoying pie i guess.....

told them multiple times that they need to slow their roll and be patient. then it got even weirder. i eventually started branching back out and finding new rp partners, as well a rekindling old rp partnerships after being very low activity for so long. and i hit it off quite well with some new rp partners i still interact with to this day, started some ships. and well...that's when it ...well, they acted very strange and jealously, like they were following me around to whoever i was interacting. which usually isnt an issue, i WANT my rp partners to meet eachother and interact. but i very quickly got the feeling based on their behavior, they werent following my rp partners cuz they actually wanted to rp with them, but because they wanted to keep 'tabs' on what i was doing with my rp partner. i know now they were likely very jealous about the sort of romantic chemistry my rp partners and i were creating between our muses.

and then i started getting anons that were very obviously written by them complaining about how they tried to become friends with my rp partners, but got rejected blah blah blah. and that. that kinda was the last straw. i dont play games like that. you can pull ALL that shit on me and i'll give you second, third, fourth chances if i think youre worth it, but the minute you start dragging my friends in and putting strain on my other friendships.....NAH!!!

i told them off again, told them exactly how i felt, how i knew it was them sending the anons to me, and that they needed to stop. and then gave us some space, cuz i knew we needed to cool off and have time away from eachother. one day i woke up to find that they had deleted me off discord, and then tried to re-add me, likely as a ploy to get my attention. took my chance, said im done interacting with you, and ran like the wind!!!!! freedom!!!!!! maybe not the most tactful way i could have dealt with it...but i tolerated their shit for so long and i was just. tired and wanted out of this weird dynamic i had going on with this person before it went from 'annoying' to 'creepy' to straight up toxic.

moral of the story: sometimes people are so annoying they veer way outside the lines of 'annoying' and go straight into 'creepy'. i should have known that this just wasnt a healthy rp relationship when the first red flags showed up but alas….i try to see the good worthwhile side of everyone i interact with.... until they utterly prove me wrong. but their immature way of dealing with things was really driving me up a goddamn wall more than anything. i dont regretting getting the fuck out of dodge lol

[johannwolfgangvongoethe]

Further Umineko Posting

episode 1, part 2

battler is in the unique position of having been a Normal Guy™ ages 12 to 18, which explains a lot of his weirder comments on wealth (i didnt choose to be born rich.... my family owns a yacht.... pensive emoji) after all, he just got there. add to that, jessica (future heir) and george (oldest of his generation) bear the brunt of expectations while he is Just above a 9yo in the hierarchy. it makes sense the story focusses on his view, he is somewhat of an outsider and its easy to explain dynamics through his eyes.

saying the natural beauty of the island and its large wild bird population should give way for a golf course was a terrible take, still.

i said before that he is a very believable 18yo. so far the writing did well to capture that weird sort of liminal period between Playing Adult and internalizing the adult play behaviours so that they manifest in Being An Adult. hope this makes sense.

another conflict has been reoccuring; the servants call themselves furniture. there has been little direct interaction between ushiromiya family members and servants so far so its hard to tell whether this mindset is employed but them or the the older servants themselves. POSSIBLY related to that, shannons winged emblem is on her thigh. no idea whether this is a funny design choice or, more dubiously, marks her in her role for life. interestingly, gohda and kumasawa seem to be the only servant characters without this emblem. their names also dont follow the same convention as kanons and shannons. possibly because they existed elsewhere before they were hired to work here, while shannon and kanon ....??!?!? grew up in this enviroment and had to accept their names from it. maybe this is what "being furniture" means, their status is quite belonging-like. genji seems to have been with kinzo forever, so he fits that category too. would be funny if they ended up being some sort of enchanted candleholders, all beauty and the beast like.

i finally saw every family member, i believe. krauss and jessicas hair colour is suspicious but oh well. kinzos mental state has been tanking dramatically. he seemed stressed out in the intro but sociable at least. now he just appears as a drunken choleric. genjis is in the weird role of enabling his selfdestruction. how much of this is him spiralling over some business he has with beatrice and how much of it is ???? dementia? i up in the air. krauss believes it to be later. it struck me when he said his father is already dead, only a phantom remains.

unhinged out there thing to say but kinzo reminds me so much of my own grandfather, though he had no beatrice..... there was always Someone bestowing evil unto him in his very potent paranoia, though. a few years ago i would not have been able to read umineko, i think. but my grandfather has been dead for a while and my family is poor and we didnt all get murdered on an island. so thats great!!! they are very similar though, lol.

also weird that i read two visual novels in a row and both of them closely describe how absinthe is prepared and looks. unlikely but not impossible. ANOTHER UNEXPECTED PERSONAL THING: funny how i Just learned about the hour of the ox from enstars of all places lmao. are both topics a staple in vn or am i just running into them by chance. whats happening.

according to kinzo, beatrices curse (everything she gave kinzo must be returned upon his death? or something?) manifests in the fact that all of his heird are incapable. i somehow think it will manifest in beatrice swallowing the family whole as if they never existed. women be eating.

i fully expect kinzo to die soon and for hell to break lose afterwards. currently the conference has the uncomfortable yet normal vibes of a family meetup but with his inheritance at stake it could get very ugly very soon. its funny genji hasnt come up in related conversations at all. it is not unlikely for him to inherit a lot as a lifelong butler and the only person kinzo tolerates around him.

oh so thats where all that comes from. huh.

"lol" rudolf said, and "git gud"

and i thought it was the witch who was supposed to murder

all siblings seem to be very business savy, safe for rosa perhaps, who openly admits that she still feels like a child. even before that battlers inner monologue informed us that being in adult in the ushiromiya family has little to do with age and all to do with success. indeed, krauss gets accused of embezzlement because there is no other way to explain the source of his funds. the siblings goals in all this seem quite clear for now. krauss needs his father financially to avoid debt and failure. eva sees herself as the most capable of the four, with an intelligent husband, son, and successful enterprise in the background. rudolf wants a piece of the cake. rosa is not yet as financially stable as she would like to be. and natsuhi is caught in the crossfire, with tons of responsibilities but little power, as she is not related by blood. her chronic headaches are probably psychosomatic and/or stress related. her own family, while not clearly explained (yet?) seems to be very unfortunate and this much nobler cutthroat enviroment is destroying her.

the girls are, once again, fighting

natsuhis struggle has much to do with gender. she is related by marriage, left another family, will never be seen as an equal in her new one, and has the expectation of producing a child. it is also mentioned she organizes the private household and family meetings, so she got stuck playing along with her conservative patriarchal wife role. this contrasts eva, who by all means is shown as empowered and ambitious (her husband took her name, she does multiple martial arts). by design those two are to be pit against each other, when they would have had no further beef otherwise.

the core issue seems to be whose child is to continue the main ushiromiya bloodline. their real problem does not lie with each other but with traditional values and expectations towards women. unfortunately being a narrative foil doesnt always mean you get to have gay sex or else we wouldnt be here.

[little-box-of-autism]

🚑 🎫 🚼 🔞 🐶 😔 😡 😏 😈 💪

Is there a limit to how many? I just copied and pasted the bottom 10

(there is no limit, I have fun with this)

🚑 Have you ever driven in an ambulance before?

Yes, more than once actually. Twice as a little kid for swallowing a quarter (lodged in my foot pipe) and then cutting open the entire back of my calf. Three times as an adult for 2 separate asthma attacks and then once because (we assume) an ovarian cyst blew up inside me.

I am Canadian so it was like $40 dollars.

🎫 Do you have a license?

For driving? Nope, never even took the test. ADHD/Autism in my situation isn't conductive to being a decent driver.

I *think* I have an outdoors card for fishing?

🚼 Do you have or want kids?

No

I don't mind kids, I adore my cousins* but I am very aware that my disabilities would not make me a suitable parent, especially to a young child. At one point I had considered becoming a foster parent since my city has a foster program that is meant to help queer foster kids find safe and accepting homes, but with how things are in Ontario for someone who is on ODSP, I am likely not going to be in a position to ever be able to foster.

🔞Are you under 18?

Nope I am a proud 2000's baby so I'm 22 but I turn 23 at the end of May.

🐶 Do you have a pet?

I have 3 technically. Two German Shepherds named Ziva and Astro, and a cat (who is more my moms than mine) named Max.

There is a stray (or I think he's a stray, he's uncollared and not fixed) that showed up at my house recently who's friendly considering my dad could pet him.

(I have a semi-immunity when it comes to animals according to relatives, what it means idk, but I did pick up Mississauga rattlesnakes once without getting bitten, so they have valid reasons for that belief.)

😔 Something that makes you sad?

That's complicated because it's never super clear. Father/child relationships are a big one for me, I've noticed, but also character deaths can really get me. I cried when I saw Battle of the Five Armies in theatres and saw Kili, Fili, and Thorin die. Generally family angst is what gets me.

Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly will make me cry without fail.

😡 What pisses me off?

Again that's complicated. I don't get angry often. I get frustrated, agitated and annoyed but rarely do I express actual anger.

When I do, it usually ties in with my autism because some things just don't make sense to me and no matter how they are explained, I can't get them.

Wilful ignorance also ticks me off.

😏 What turns me on?

So I'm asexual, or at least on the asexuality spectrum, so this isn't really something I have an answer too lol. I enjoy certain dynamics that usually all have a level of protector/protected at their core.

😈 Are you a freak?

Probably. I am a weird person in general, and a distant relative did once make a joke about me being a changeling child, so take of that what you will.

I have shared with @alexihollis some of the weirder shit I've said or done in my life but if someone wants some examples, I am open to providing some within certain limitations.

But calling me abnormal, or freaky, would be pretty accurate.

💪 Do you work out?

No, not currently. I should considering I have a gym membership.

[foxingpeculiar]

FF7 R&R:

Okay, so I'm at the point in Remake where the plate has just come down. Which is about the end of act 2 (act 1 goes through Mako Reactor 5, I'd say).

How did Aerith get out of her house before I did? She must know a shortcut.

I like that we get little glimpses into the history of Midgar as Aerith and Cloud make their way back toward Sector 7. But I have a lot of questions. Why, for example, would they build the support pillar so that there's an option to destroy it? Was Shinra (since it was Shinra who built the city) planning on maybe having to do this? Was the Sector 6 plate dropped intentionally also?

Okay, so Wall Market is definitely the horniest section of this game, and is somehow even hornier in this version than it was in the original, despite the sequence playing out very differently (no ambiguous encounters in a bathhouse, for example). Instead, we get a dance battle, which is pretty hilarious. As are some of the encounters in this area: the teacher from the Leaf House as a HoneyGirl, Johnny... just kind of in general. The Materia Guy saying "Stop saying 'The Sauce.'" Johnny telling Cloud to "Grab it and whip it out" at the vending machine. Etc.

Chocobo Sam has kind of a Sam Elliott vibe to him, and I like the dynamic between him and Madame M. This game is good at that, those small interactions with characters who don't really play a HUGE role in the plot, but add color to the world.

It's fun that they worked in Hell House, which is definitely one of the weirder enemies in the original game, and remains so here. And yet, there it is. They never really explain... what its deal is, but that's fine. It's a "just go with it" kind of moment.

So the scene where Cloud first sees Aerith after Madame M makes her all up. Literal fireworks (my man is cuntstruck, right there, you can see it on his face). But they're really playing up the weird polycule angle here with Cloud/Aerith/Tifa. Cos it's Aerith who's the one that wants to go after Tifa in the first place, they have a couple of sexy rescues with each other, make that shopping date in the sewers. If it weren't for the... y'know, terrorism and ancient magic and stuff, they could be a fun little throuple.

I love the reactions to Cloud being basically forcefemmed for this sequence, too. Like how at first Tifa doesn't recognize him and when she does, he's just like "I nailed it, I know. Moving on." (Also, in Corneo's mansion: Aerith from the corner with a steel chair!) Am curious how the later scene with Corneo in Wutai will play out (cos he's a really good sleaze in this version).

Once they realize the pillar is coming down, Aerith tells Tifa "the future isn't set in stone," which feels like a really important line for this version especially because of the whole Whispers thing. They're actively working to keep the story on track--they intervene to kill Jessie and Biggs (or have them killed), prevent the team from stopping the pillar collapse, etc. Again, I'm really curious how they're going to follow through with that idea across the trilogy.

So, Rude is an interesting character. He specifically saves Tifa from Reno, but then he's the one who actually presses the button to drop the plate. I remember Aerith saying he's "not a bad guy," so it feels like an intentional choice to have him be the one to do it--complicating him as a person (as opposed to Reno, who's just an asshole: "two birds with a shitload of bullets" and all).

Also forgot Cait Sith shows up in this scene. Like he doesn't say or do anything, but he's there. And we already saw Reeve (and maybe it's the name, or the beard, but he does have some Keanu vibes), so they're seeding that.

I love/hate that Wedge died trying to save some cats.

But okay. On to Shinra HQ. Eventually.

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Following up from my last Rangers post, this is the bit I decided to cut due to it being more AU-ish and with shipping elements that I thought could distract from the main bulk of that post: 

After the first post, I kept thinking about this big idea of the “seven Rangers” in charge of protecting the Master Emerald (and probably even the seven Chaos Emeralds, since some lore findings would conflict with my initial proposal); the seven guardians, the original “servers”. I actually liked the idea that the seven Rangers could be ancient versions of hedgehogs we know today, like Sonic, Amy, Silver and even Shadow (although this could be tricky due to his peculiar origin... but even then his lore situation is a clusterfuck that imho needs some additional clarifying or straight-up cleaning.) 

Them being part of this “elite guard” reminded me a bit of the Dragonguard in The Dragon Prince (been a long while since I last mentioned that show here), and Rayla’s parents being the last line of defense between Viren and the dragon egg sparked a little idea on my mind:

Sonic and Amy (in reality, their ancient Ranger versions that look like them.) The last guardians, the last of the seven Rangers, ready to take the sacrifice that will restore peace and balance to the world. There’s nothing else that can be done, the world is on the brink of destruction, the Chaos Energy and the Master Emerald are in extreme danger. Only the hearts filled with nothing but pure good intentions can undo the corruption, and the Rangers were chosen exactly because of their hearts, that’s why they were trusted with that job. 

Now they are ready to do what it takes... together.