#that's the working title of the story

[my-gf-is-kazuichi-soda]

I think you are very cute. Can you please tell me Zoey’s relationship with the other students other than Kazuichi? Thanky

(original post 7/8/2023)

Thank YOU anon I appreciate this!

This ended up being long I hope you enjoy the read!

Fair warning not everything is a one-to-one with how I see the characters, because Zoey sees them as real people and I see them from a fiction perspective. For example, real life me thinks Nagito is a great character and the game wouldn't be the same without him, but Zoey obviously sees him as a(n attempted) murderer who shouldn't be allowed to walk around free. So dont take everything I say to mean I hate the character. Except for Mahiru, I actually cant stand Mahiru irl.

Btw, important to note that I mention my fanfic (that I'm currently still writing) a lot in this, and that it's pretty canon-divergent.

-Monokuma isn't there at first and the killing game doesn't start until at least one week into being on the island, maybe two weeks. So for a while they're just supposed to follow Usami's goal: make friends with everybody.

-Zoey is the special ed student who gets "accommodations" from Usami. Usami is supposed to make sure Zoey understands what's going on and help her if she needs it. Usami is a sweetheart, but she clearly doesn't know what she's doing and usually babies Zoey when she doesn't need it and then leaves Zoey alone or fails to help when she actually does need something. Hey, at least it's not too different from Zoey's pas special educators! :D Funny enough, the accommodations thing is made into one of the rules, and when Monokuma takes over he actually has to fulfill these accommodations as well. Of course he takes advantage of this opportunity in order to mock Zoey and manipulate her. Oh hey, this is also not too different from Zoey's past special educators! Haha...oof.....

-Monokuma has Zoey in a weird sort of mental trap, and I'd rather show it in the actual fic than talk about it here; I only mention it for Byakuya's piece.

-The only canon death I've kept is Twogami, who dies the exact way he does in the game, but everyone else stays alive for most or all of the fanfic, and it's still a simulation anyway. I'm a softy and I hate killing off characters in my writing. I only killed off Twogami because they were too competent and would have solved Zoey's Monokuma Trap too fast, and I didn't know how to nerf that. Sorry Twogami. You were too competent for Danganronpa.

-characters dont die as punishment for killing. Alter Ego is in this story and she got to the rules before Monokuma did, so she blocked violence and death as punishments (oh and believe me she tried to block Monokuma himself, but it didn't work and he showed up anyway). Monokuma still insists that the killing game goes on, and his strategy to get around being nerfed is to continue to get the students to kill and distrust each other, stirring up drama and chaos. Trials are still a thing too (and he'll find any excuse to hold them since they can be a source of petty drama).

(This had to be broken up into reblogs bc tumblr has a character limit! Please see reblogs for complete list!)

Nagito: They start off as acquaintences. Zoey thought he was alright, and actually one of the most easygoing people to get along with, though her gut feeling told her not to trust him too much. After he reveals his more murderous side, she avoids him like the plague. She admires that Kazuichi and Nekomaru tied him up and said that if she were there she would have kicked him while he was down (which got Kazuichi scared for Zoey's safety, so she promised she wouldn't go into the room where he was tied up). When someone lets him go later, Zoey avoids him like the plague and is disgusted with him, though he's neutral to Zoey.

Hiyoko: Hiyoko picks on Zoey, not nearly as much as Mikan but she gets under Zoey's skin by calling her "stupid" (I'm wondering if it would be out of character for her to say the r-slur. I feel like she would.) Zoey starts off thinking Hiyoko is a little kid and is way more lenient and gentle to calling her out ("stop saying that….that's mean… you could…. hurt someone's feelings….. thank goodness…. you didn't hurt….. mine" Zoey says, crying in between the words. "This is just …allergies.") Zoey is a lot nastier in responding to the insults when Hiyoko admits to being seventeen years old, though Zoey doesn't hate her as much as Mahiru.

Mahiru: ). Ohhh boy. Here we go. Anon I apologize in advance if you like Mahiru, because I portray her character way less kindly than most of the fandom content I've seen of her. Zoey probably thinks of her as worse than she is, but Mahiru in my story is baaad, and she really brings out the worst in Zoey. For every bit that Kazuichi is a sweet girl in bitch's clothing, Mahiru is the bitch in sweet girl's clothing. She's able to get away with saying and doing so much nasty shit because she can lean on a reputation of "nice, good girl who's 'empowered' and just 'tells it like it is' to the boys." But really, she's mean, pushy, physically aggressive, rude, insulting, mean to "weirdos" and meaner to "boys." And she gets away with it because she's a "just a nice girl." Zoey doesn't fall for her shit, which confuses and pisses her off because she's used to girls being easygoing with her. Though Zoey assumes that she's a "queen bee" she's more of a slightly less extroverted queen bee's best friend type. Zoey is mad enough to want to attack her character; both in the "I'm going to call you out" way and the "I'm going to punch you if you open your mouth one more time" way. Zoey can be cruel and loud when she thinks someone deserves a kick to the face.* *(I must emphasize, me as a teenager is NOT the same person as me as an adult. I stopped acting aggressive at 17 years old, initially from a fear that I might do something that gets me sent to jail and ruins my life, and I eventually learned how to cope with my sense of justice in ways that dont involve threats or violence or (unless I have to) direct confrontation. It strongly helps that I'm not going to high school anymore. Irl high school was a nightmare for me.)

Fuyuhiko: Eventual Friendship, possibly a rocky friendship though I'm still working on this one. Zoey is pretty sensitive to yelling and insults, so when Fuyuhiko's initial attitude is "everybody leave me the hell alone!" Zoey listens. Though normally Zoey would stand up to someone who was insulting and threatening people, the first time Zoey and Fuyuhiko met Zoey tried to protect the "little guy" (from Mahiru) and then Peko intercepted and made it clear to Zoey that Fuyuhiko doesn't need (Zoey's) protection and that for Zoey's own safety she should stay away from him and not talk to him. So at first they avoid each other. I'm still working out a later scene though, where Zoey's gut feeling leads to her following him around to protect him and unknowingly stopping Fuyuhiko from playing Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. I have planned some progression into a friendship with Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi as well!

Peko: Friendship. Peko understands Zoey's desire to protect people, and lowkey appreciated the attempt to protect Fuyuhiko, but she also thinks Zoey is too careless and should learn to discern situations better before jumping in to defend somebody (yeah, a little hypocritical coming from her, but in Peko's defense at least Peko is a trained swordwoman, while Zoey is very physically sensitive and has no weapon or combat training). She intimidated Zoey into staying away from Fuyuhiko, and even though she scared Zoey a bit herself, Zoey did continue to talk to her and they are Okay Friends. Zoey once asked Peko to train her in using weapons and Peko said no. Teruteru: Mixed Feelings, Pseudo-Friendship but Zoey is easily creeped out by him. Teruteru thinks Zoey is funny and adorably charming and roots for her and Kazuichi to get together. It's so funny, he might have one of the highest opinions of Zoey (obviously less than Kazuichi's and a little less than Ibuki's) and Zoey is creeped out by him. She wants to like Teruteru but he creeps her out. She tries to assume that he doesn't know he's creeping anybody out (like with Kazuichi) but Kazuichi assures Zoey that no, Teruteru is a creep. I write Teruteru as a "creepy little bastard" /affectionate, and he does say icky things like in the game because I think it's funny (sorry xD). Despite his ickyness and occasional smug attitude, he can be a good friend and actually helps Zoey and Kazuichi in a couple of situations, and he is the only one to realize without being told that Kazuichi is a girl (and he decided on his own to keep it a secret to protect the babyqueer). He does switch from flirty comments about Zoey to teasing her about her crush on Kazuichi, but she made him promise to keep that a secret and he holds up to it. Zoey and Kazuichi are Barbie dolls he keeps trying to smush together to make them kiss.

Sonia (who comes out as a trans guy named Coby later): Strangers to Enemies-Ish??? to Friendship-ish??? arc. Coby is Zoey's kryptonite: Zoey thinks "Sonia" is a mean popular girly girl that is probably going to bully her, and doesn't give him a chance at friendship until she feels forced into talking to him. Coby tries a little to be friends with Zoey and Zoey avoids him, which confuses him and hurts his feelings a little bit but he's just not sure what to think of Zoey. There's also Zoey's reason of "I'm jealous of Kazuichi's crush on you and I dont want to act unfairly mean at you so I wont talk to you unless you talk to me." They do become friends later, though he's on thin ice if he insults Kazuichi, so Coby agrees not to do that. He is rooting for her and Zoey, mainly to get Kazuichi off his back (ironically he says this after Kazuichi's already decided she doesn't care about Sonia any more). He's autistic too. I see him and Kazuichi as two autistic kids who were socially trained in opposite directions and fail in communicating to each other; I don't think of either of them as all bad or all good, they were both being self-centered and immature but they also are both good people. This fic doesn't villainize Coby, though later it shows Coby's own creepier side.

Edit 7/7/2024, a year later!: Damn, the entry I wrote for Mahiru is more mean than I remember, yeesh. Irl me got more sympathetic to Mahiru in the process of writing for her and thinking more about her character motivations and processing that mess that was the Twilight case. She's still the antagonist and Zoey the character is still this level of mad at her but I try to balance her and Zoey out. And IRL me does not hate Mahiru now even though I did last year.

[choccy-milky]

from my new oneshot, 'the vexing village of vellmore' ✨ ao3 / wattpad ((it's about seb & clora visiting a cursed village and trying to figure out how to break the curse, and since it ended up being 50k words i decided to split it into 2 chapters and the next part will be out soon!🙏 also, while it does have spoilers for the raven and the snake, it's a standalone story and can be read blind💖))

[courfee]

little poster for the fic Operation Walburga's Arbitrary No Kissing Ever Rule :) 10 things i hate about you, but make it jegulus

[trensu]

Steve had always wanted to be a skilled fighter. The schools that churned out the best fighters all happened to be schools for holy warriors. It was possible that Steve maybe sort of lied a little (with the help of his friends Robin and Dustin) to get into this school by claiming he was full to the brim of religious fervor but hadn’t decided who to pledge his sword to yet. It shouldn’t have worked, if he were honest with himself, but by some stroke of luck it did, and he finished his training as one of the top combatants. 

The issue now was that he had to pick a god whose crest to carry. There were all sorts of gods. Gods of water, gods of air, gods of agriculture, war gods, cat gods, plant gods...the list was endless. And while Steve was one of the best fighters around, he was most definitely not one of the best researchers. Thankfully Dustin and Robin were very clever and knew where to find details about the many gods in existence.

“So what kind of god do you want to follow? Maybe we can start there,” Robin asked.

“Uh…a good one?”

“You’re no help at all, you know that?” Dustin grumbled.

They suggested a local god known as Carver who stood for righteousness, but Steve turned that down. It didn't feel like a good fit. They suggested a love god by the name of Chrissy, who valued love of all kinds, romantic, platonic, familial...Steve had been tempted, very tempted, because Steve had always carried an excess of love in his heart. Robin had vetoed that one stating that Steve was already too reckless with his love and she wouldn't stand by and watch him break his own heart over and over again.

Dustin suggested a god of knowledge, Clarke, who blessed and guided those with curiosity, imagination, and a knack for invention. Steve shot that one down immediately. He was never one to be overly imaginative or curious; he preferred to deal with concrete things. Out of their quickly dwindling list, Robin reluctantly suggested Hargrove, a war god favored by a nearby kingdom, but if Carver was ill-fitting, then Hargrove was outright repellent to Steve.

"C'mon, Steve, you gotta pick someone!" Dustin huffed in frustration. 

Robin thunked her head against the table in the library where they were looking up deities. She was obviously at her wit's end too. Steve, however, just dug his heels in with a particularly stubborn scowl.

"I can't just pick anyone!" Steve said. "If I'm going to pledge my sword to someone, it has to be someone...someone good. Someone that, I don't know, someone I can believe in, even when--no especially when things go wrong. That’s the whole point!"

"Yeah, I get that," Robin sighed, a mix of fond and annoyed, "but this is the eighth book we've gone through and the only one left here is called the King of Darkness which is hardly going to--huh."

Robin paused mid-rant to look at the page more closely. Steve and Dustin both huddled around her to peek into the book as well. Dustin also made a sound of curiosity.

"That's weird," Dustin said.

"Right?" Robin asked enthusiastically.

"What? What's weird?" Steve didn't get what caught their attention.

"This god only has a couple of sentences," Dustin explained, "And they don't really make sense. Something about dark creatures and the undeserving? The grammar and structure is all weird though."

"It looks like a half-assed translation," Robin added with a nod. "We should find the original text."

"Yeah! And if we can make a better translation, we could get it added to the next edition and they'd have to put our names on the book," Dustin said excitedly. Robin's eyes lit up at the thought and they both rushed off to the stacks to track down any original sources.

"Guys! Guys, what about my..."

The librarian hushed Steve, irritated. Steve groaned in defeat.

"...godly choices. Yeah, fine," Steve slumped back on his seat. "I need to find non-nerd friends."

Two days later, Robin and Dustin finished translating a slim, dusty book. They were nearly vibrating in their seats as Steve reviewed their notes on what they found. Dustin gripped his arm and gave him a shake.

"So? What do you think?" he asked excitedly.

Robin slung her arm across Steve's shoulders. With more tenderness than Steve expected, she said, "I know it doesn't seem like it, he doesn't really fit with your whole style, but it could work."

"Yeah," Steve said with a hopeful smile. "Yeah, this feels right."

--

It took longer than Steve would've liked, but eventually he managed to track down a small, crumbling shrine. It was an alcove carved near the entrance--no more than a crack in the stone really--of a cave at the edge of a lush forest. He almost missed it, it was so drowned in overgrown crawling vines and weeds. It bore a modest statue, no bigger than Steve, standing atop an equally modest plinth. There was a spot that obviously held a plaque once, but it must’ve been dug out by thieves at some point.

The sight of it made something in Steve's chest twinge; a strange pang of melancholy at seeing a god so forgotten and abandoned. It surprised him as he had never been particularly religious, but there was just something about this one that drew him in.

It was the middle of the day, so Steve quickly made camp and took advantage of the light to begin clearing the shrine. He started where the plaque had been, scrubbing off the dirt and moss that had filled the indentation. He knew a good smith; he could commission a new plaque to be made. After that, he weeded the immediate area around the plinth where worshipers would typically lay their offerings and pray.

By the time he finished that, it was late afternoon and he decided that was good enough for today. He had to eat and get a few hours of sleep so he could be alert once night fell. When he curled up on his bedroll, he couldn't help the grin that spread on his face. He was going to offer himself to his god tonight, and with any luck, his god would accept him.

--

He woke to a multitude of high pitched squeaks and the sound of many, many flapping wings. The sun had just fully set, and the stars that could be seen through the canopy burned brightly. Steve took his time to fasten on his armor and scabbard properly, and fixed his hair so not a strand was out of place. He took a few deep breaths to calm an unexpected bout of nerves before going to the shrine and kneeling.

His god had no official prayers. Or rather, the prayers for his god were forgotten. Robin and Dustin did their best to find anything prayer-like but it had been in vain. They suspected that most of the god's holy items and lore were purposely lost. Lacking that, Steve decided it was best that he introduce himself.

"Um, hi," he started and immediately winced. "Sorry. I'm not used to...this. I couldn't find any of your…holy words? Prayers? The right ways to speak to you, I guess.

"I'm Steve. Steve Harrington. I'm a fighter. I finished my training a few weeks back. I was the top of my cohort when it came to combat. I'm good with my sword and I know how to take a hit. I can turn just about anything into a weapon if it's needed."

Here Steve paused for a moment, straining to hear but there was nothing other than the typical sounds of a night out in the woods. Steve took a breath and plowed forward.

"I want to be more than a fighter, though. I don't want to just wave a sword around for nothing. I want it to...to matter. So I spent a lot of time trying to decide who to wield my sword for. It took me a while, but I found you. I want to be your shield and sword, if you'll have me."

Steve stopped again to listen. Nothing. Robin warned him this might happen. Gods didn't always accept warriors who offered themselves to them, and forgotten gods weren't always reachable. It was fine, though; he’d try again tomorrow night. Steve turned in just before dawn, eager for night again.

--

Steve worked on clearing the vines tangled around the statue's legs and feet. He yanked out the thick, scraggly vines, and carefully picked apart the prickling thorny ones. There was a particular gnarl of vines that didn't seem like they had a stranglehold on his god's statue. They were healthy and strong, and the way they curled and grew looked more like a caress than an invasion. He decided to leave those on, though he gently rearranged them while removing the more invasive vines so they looked more decorative.

When night arrived with the sound of squeaks and wings, Steve went to kneel at the shrine. He introduced himself again, gave the same spiel as the night before. Still he heard nothing. He scratched the back of his neck in mild insecurity.

“I guess I should tell you I didn’t find you on my own. My friends Robin and Dustin helped me. They’re way smarter than me, you know? Total nerds. I can swing a sword like nothing, but books and research? Yeah, that never works out for me, so they helped me look up all sorts of gods.

“There’s a lot of them. Way more than I thought. Dustin and Robin both recommended me ones or vetoed others. They were getting frustrated with me because I kept rejecting the ones they gave me. 

“Then Robin found you. Kind of by accident, to be honest. But she did her research thing and I knew that I wanted to carry your symbol. It took me forever to find this shrine. Robin said this was probably the only shrine you had left, so I had to find it. 

“Dustin kept saying it was on the other side of the forest, but obviously he was wrong. Not that he’ll ever admit it, the little shit, but whatever. I’m sorry your shrine was abandoned like this, but I promise I’ll fix it up. I’m good with my hands, I can do it.”

There was no response to his admittedly disorganized ramble. It was fine, he told himself. He needed to be patient. He’d come back the next night.

–

Around the statue’s waist there was another tangled mess of vines, except these vines had died and rotted to dark sludge. There was fungus growing on it, and it reeked. It was gross. Steve scrubbed at it for hours because the rot had stained the stone. He was able to get rid of the rot and most of the stains before going to catch a few hours of sleep in the afternoon.

Night fell and Steve was kneeling for the third time. He repeated most of what he said the previous two nights. There was still no response. He thought maybe he was pushing too hard. He’d never been the super talkative type anyway. He could share the quiet night with his god, if that was what his god wanted.

A few hours passed when he was startled out of his near meditative state by the sound of snapping twigs. He leapt to his feet, hand on his scabbard. Someone–a man by the look of it–stumbled out of the woods. He was pale and dark haired, dressed in ragged clothes that were probably awful even when they were new. He looked like a vagabond. 

Steve stepped in front of the shrine, protectively. The stranger grinned at him and Steve could already tell he was not going to enjoy the conversation that was about to happen.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Steve asked firmly, cutting the man off before he could speak. The smile only grew wider.

“I could ask you the same thing, sir,” the man said, adopting the annoyed huff of a wealthy lord. Steve scowled.

“I asked first.”

“I asked second!”

“You didn’t ask me anything,” Steve responded, somewhat smug. The man paused and then snorted a laugh.

“Yeah, okay.” He raised his hands in mock surrender. “You got me.”

“So?”

“So what?”

“What are you doing here? Who are you?” Steve repeated shortly. The teasing grin was back, and Steve felt his scowl deepen.

“Nothing and no one, m’lord,” the man bows mockingly.

“I’m not a lord.”

“Huh. Could’ve fooled me. You’re certainly as demanding as any lord I’ve ever met.”

“Oh fuck you,” Steve snapped. “I’m a holy warrior.”

The man laughed at him outright.

“Well that doesn’t sound very holy warrior-ish. Are your type allowed to swear?”

Steve grinded his teeth and decided it was not worth it to continue this conversation for much longer.

“Look, if you’re here to steal, I’ve got nothing on me.”

“That’s exactly what someone with something to steal would say.”

“Well, I don’t! I’m on a pilgrimage and I don’t want to spill blood on holy ground. So.” Steve wrapped a hand around the hilt of his sword. “Leave. Please.”

“Holy ground? Here?” the man barks out a laugh. “Don’t you know what this place is?”

“Yes,” Steve says shortly, placing himself more firmly between the shrine and the man. “Please leave. There shouldn’t be violence done here.”

“Oh, it’s far too late for that. This place used to belong to the King of Darkness. It’s said he was so evil that nothing grew here until he was run out and defeated by the god of righteousness. You know the one. Really plays up the holier than thou thing by making his hair all gold and glowy? Gotta say, you could give him a run for his money though.”

“You’re wrong.”

“No really! Your hair is great. Way better than Carver, even with the glowy thing.” 

“Not that!” Steve said in frustration. This guy really liked the sound of his own voice and Steve was starting to get a headache. It was near dawn and all he wanted was to spend the last hour or so in the quiet night with his god.

“So you agree your hair is better than a god’s?” The man tsks at him. “That’s pretty blasphemous. Are you sure you’re a holy warrior?”

“No! I mean, yes. Wait,” Steve growls at his own bumbling. “No, I’m not better than any god. But I am a holy warrior. Kind of.”

“Kind of.”

“Look, I’m working on it so I need you to leave. You’ve insulted him enough already.”

“Your god is the King of Dark–”

“Call him that again, and I will draw my sword,” Steve said, voice steely. “He’s the Lord of Night, and I won’t let you insult him at his own shrine.”

The man goes quiet for the first time since he showed up. He looked almost surprised, his mocking grin gone. His eyes flicked over to the dilapidated statue and then back at Steve.

“Lord of Night doesn’t sound much different than what I called him,” the man said lightly.

“Well, it is,” Steve told him. “Now, will you please leave?”

The man stared at him for a moment before shrugging. “Yeah, alright.” And then he left as suddenly as he had arrived.

The tension that had built up in Steve’s shoulders drained away. He went back to kneel in front of the shrine again when he noticed the barest hint of sunrise on the horizon. He cursed under his breath then was hit with a wave of embarrassment at cursing in front of the shrine and the whole situation that had transpired.

“I’m sorry about that,” Steve said, abashed. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”

–

It happened again.

now with an additional snippet here and here

ps: i do not do those reader tag list things. if you'd like to keep up with my stuff, follow my writing tag: trensu tells stories

[thesarahshay]

Sometimes the muse just takes a hold of you and won't let go until you've made ART. Or, y'know, a Tumblr gag that only a handful people will appreciate.

[astranauticus]

Director of the False Last Act

[adragonsfriend]

Use this one trick to instantly fix all childhood trauma (Jedi Masters don’t want you to know this)!!!!!

That is what every “if Obi-Wan had just— *adds one extra scene to canon* —then Anakin would’ve had perfect mental health and never listened to Palpatine at all,” sounds like to me. Look I am not an expert on any kind of psychology at all let alone early childhood development but,

It is possible to do your very best to help or raise someone and still have bad or imperfect outcomes, especially when you have someone actively, secretly working against you (cough cough Sith Lord of the month cough), (for many reasons, but in this case particularly), because unravelling the mindset built in early childhood is hard, actually.

Coming at this from the “raised in a safe and loving environment” side of things, it took me years to figure out and internalize that my friends whose parents weren’t as great as mine were functioning in an entirely different landscape when it came to their interactions with adults.

Many years ago when I was in middle school a friend (acquaintance? idk I think most people thought I was annoying) told me that her ankle kept giving out and causing her pain. I asked if she'd told her parents so she could rest or go to the doctor. She told me she had, but her mother either hadn't listened or refused to help. My (approximate) responses?

"So it's not actually that bad then?"

"You should tell her again."

"Are you sure you explained it right?"

The only explanation I could comprehend at the time was that there must have been some unclear communication about the situation or its severity--if her mother had understood she was in pain, she couldn't possibly have just not done anything about it? Adults are responsible, caring, etcetera! They wouldn't do that?!

With more experience, I've come to understand better, and learned to respond in kinder, more helpful ways, but the shift in mindset was not and is not intuitive.

And I had the luxury of figuring all that out whilst being safe myself. Coming from the other direction, being in danger and trying to figure out why other people act like the world is safe? I can't say for sure, but I imagine it’s a lot more complicated.

Point with regard to Star Wars being, it really is harder for Anakin, coming in later, to acclimate to the Jedi ways and thought processes than it is for his peers who grew up in the safe environment of the Temple. And whatever arguments people want to have about how much psychology and therapy exist in the Star Wars universe, or how much “Jedi just do cognitive behavioral therapy” (not totally inaccurate, but reductive on several levels), no matter what the answers to those questions, it will still be harder for Anakin.

There is a reason the council changes its mind on training him only after he is suddenly famous and the Sith are proven to be back. When Anakin was not in significant danger of being snatched up by someone else, it was genuinely probably the easier and safer option—for him and everyone else—for him to live a different life.

The Jedi are not necessarily fully prepared for a child with Anakin's history, and, there is nothing bad about living an ordinary life. Anakin would not have been somehow unforgivably robbed by living life as a mechanic or an engineer or something, rather than being a Jedi.

Anakin is a victim of many things in his life—Sidious, Watto, Gardulla, Tatooine’s everything, his own conscious choices—but he is not a victim of malice, incompetence, or idiocy by the Jedi just because they couldn't—in only a decade or so—help him fully and perfectly unravel the mindset he developed in his early childhood. If there was any lack of qualification on their part, it was one they were aware of—but which was outweighed by the danger of little Anakin getting kidnapped out of normal-kid elementary school.

Being brought up in and around slavery absolutely made him more vulnerable to Sidous and became the basis of their dynamic as master and apprentice. Acting like the trauma that affects his mindset and actions for his entire life can be obliterated just by making minimal changes to the plot is wild to me.

And don’t get me wrong, fics and headcanons can do whatever they want, not everyone wants or is trying to write a deep psychological character study (also fanfic and even fiction in general cannot and should not be held to any standard of realism if it's not serving the story and the author)—simple fix-it’s (my love) are fun and an excellent short-cut to other things like happiness and fluff (my other loves)—but don’t act serious about the idea that adding one conversation about his feelings or one extra explanation about Jedi philosophy would automatically lead to Anakin having perfect mental health outcomes and always making good decisions.

Disclaimer (if the ones throughout weren't enough) : please go forth and do whatever you want. the moral of this post is actually just that (1) you won’t convince me, (2) I wanted to talk about this, (3) the clickbait title was too funny not to post, (4) i literally can't open my mouth without phrasing things like i'm in the middle of a heated debate, and (5) i continue to not be an expert in early childhood development—my evidence is very literally anecdotal

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Party of one (divided into four)

[lazylittledragon]

something about beginnings

[nyaskitten]

Frankly, I think we should get a trilogy of these Ninjago movies, the first one devoted to a retelling of the pilots, the second a condensation of s1, and the third a condensation of s2.

Idk how they'd go about it but yk... maybe remove like All the filler eps and make s2 Solely Dark Island arc ? Maybe for the s1 movie it would have to be BROAD strokes of the story... no clue. They'll figure it out.

I think it'd be perfect for the most iconic seasons of Ninjago in the public conscience to get a big screen retelling. Also I want the Overlord. Oh also they shouldn't sideline Nya! A trilogy would be the perfect opportunity to make three whole movies where Nya is the main character now

[redge]

Things I read on the internet that's a declaration of hate for Kana and my reaction (hoping I feel better after typing them all out)

"Kana makes everything about herself"

Did she want to be an idol? Did she want to be a center girl? (Girlie don't even know what a center girl is hahahaha). In Tokyo Blade, did she want the spotlight? That one time Kana wanted anything for herself is when she told Aqua her new dream. She did not even have a graduation concert. She did not have that movie that director told her about. In 137, she was praised for being a handy actor that can uplift others and improve herself and was described as "lacks opportunity" and many chapters after that, she still did not have an opportunity for herself. Kaburagi said they'd sell her as genius actor but that was not addressed anymore. So where is that she makes everything about herself when nothing was sbout her anyway? Not the idol career. Not as an actress. Not as a human loved back by the one she loves. She did not become anything she ever wanted so really how was this all about her? No I really want to know, how did Kana make everything about herself? Like I am really curious where this is coming from ah why do you hate Kana so much? 🥺

"___ best girl compared to Kana who only cries all the time"

Why can't we just go with the "____ best girl." period. Why do you need to put down a character to praise another character I am genuinely curious. I mean my favourite character has always been Kana but not ever did I hate on Akane or Ruby or anyone because why would I when all these characters have different stories of their own? And why do these girls need to compete with each other anyway?! Who's giving out the crown and sash? What's the point??? Your favourite is the best girl for you. Okay! Other's favourite is best girl for them. Okay, too! That's perfectly normal so why are you fighting each other I do not understand 😭

"despicable for slapping a corpse"

Kana slapping Aqua was something that belonged to them. No one knows that conversation except Aqua and Kana (and us, the readers). Miyako's reaction was very valid because she does not know anything about that conversation. Which is why when Kana told that to the dead Aqua, Miyako's reaction wasn't angry anymore. Miyako was in tears. I honestly would have killed Aqua twice if I were Kana really so a slap is nothing compared to the emotional wreck being in their lives brought her. Kana deserves to be slapped for hurting a corpse yes I agree but Aqua deserves that slap too for thinking that him dying is the great solution to whatever problem they're trying to solve.

"Kana is useless"

And what a heartbreak that is. Kana is perservering, patiently working on all the things she want to happen and absolutely nothing went her way. Kana is a representation of someone that tried and tried patiently but everything she did just made her feel useless. She grabs every opportunity, creates opportunity for herself but she is never enough. If killing one's self was a contest, I'd definitely compete Arima Kana as candidate. I would even forgive her if she just goes feral all of a sudden with all of the things that happened to her. She's useless, you say, but was that her fault?

"Kana does not deserve to be happy"

and why not? I say everyone in Oshi no Ko deserves to be happy. So why deny that to Kana?

But really. Why is she getting so much hate?

[isbergillustration]

Figured out that this story is actually also the origin story of the angel creatures. Haven't gotten to that bit of writing it yet but I am excited.

[t1oui]

so i randomly started fleshing out a pjo au i've had in my head for a while now where oceanus attempts to take back the sea or whatever

it would take place during percy's senior year of hs and features everyone in the seven (except for jason - in this au toa happened entirely during the school year and therefore jason died earlier) + reyna, nico, will, clarisse, malcolm, katie, the stolls, and one of my ocs who is one of percy's mortal friends from high school

also features a few other characters like drew tanaka and jake mason who aren't part of the prophecy, lester/apollo and meg will also likely make an appearance. and percy's siblings ofc since it's yk... about the ocean. tyson of course but triton and kymopoleia. there are a few others who will show up but some of them i want to be surprises (yk, if i ever write this, which is honestly pretty unlikely)

other random details:

piper & drew reconciliation

will, nico, and clarisse friendship

exploration of side characters like the stolls, katie gardner, and malcolm pace (ft malconnor and tratie bc i'm a weak man and cannot exclude them)

jake mason and drew tanaka are 1) best friends and 2) depressed as hell but hey, jake knows a lot!

ghosts. that's all i'll say

percy being the extremely op guy he is

percy, triton, and kymopoleia being siblings (the past two bullet points are definitely inspired by the fic fishing in alaska, which i totally recommend)

instead of caleo we have past (unrequited) valgrace. and probably queerplatonic caleo but i haven't decided

also past jake x michael bc out of everyone in the series jake mason is the one i like to make suffer most <3

might add on to this post as i figure out more

[austin-friars]

'Ophelia' Wip

[emperorofthedark]

Cassandra Goth is our poor, unlucky heroine. She has no idea how or why she's ended up trapped within the halls of Whispering Winds Academy, or why her famously missing mother is acting as headmistress, but she is determined to get out with her sanity intact.

[gamebunny-advance]

"Pixel Yinu (Nightgown)"

Something I quickly made 'cus I was bored. I got slightly interested in exploring the idea of "Yinu as an RPG Maker Horror Game protagonist", but it's not really going anywhere.

(Sketch of the outfit + "The eyeless rabbit")