#the fact this is canon still surprises me but it's interesting to learn

[gothamite-rambler]

Spoiler: Hey man, are you a crocodile or dino hybrid or a dude with a really bad skin condition?

Batman (scolding tone): Spoiler, that’s an incredibly inappropriate question to ask Killer Croc.

Killer Croc: It’s not the worst question I’ve been asked about my condition. I’m not a hybrid; this is just my skin. I get patches that look like crocodile skin.

Spoiler (doubtful): How does that even happen?

Batman: Oh my gosh, my apologies, Killer Croc. Spoiler, shame on you for asking that.

Spoiler rolled her eyes, continuing to play along.

Spoiler: I’m just a curious girl.

Killer Croc (pissed off): Look, I don’t know how it happens. Blame my parents. This isn’t a gimmick; I was born like this. I’ve been mocked all my life and struggled to live a normal life.

Spoiler: I mean, the circus is always hiring. Have you ever been in the circus?

Nightwing: Spoiler!

Spoiler: Oh, come on, like you're going to tell me he wouldn't be the headliner for a circus!

Nightwing (whispering): He would, but I’m not saying it out loud.

Killer Croc: I appreciate you not asking me that, and no, I wasn’t in the circus. This skin is itchy and dry. Jergens has never helped!

Spoiler nodded silently, her eyes shifting from Batman to Nightwing, then she cleared her throat.

Spoiler: CeraVe can’t cure the skin condition, but it has done wonders for my skin. Really soothin— You guys can glare at me, but I’m just giving the man some advice.

Killer Croc: I haven’t actually tried that. I’ll give it a shot. Can I go now? I’m headed to Florida. I know it's so funny for someone that looks for me to go there, but I’m on parole and just want to have a nice vacation.

Batman (flatly): Before returning and committing crimes again?

Killer Croc: Exactly. You guys take care, tell Roy I said hey, and Spoiler, I didn’t appreciate those comments about the circus, but I will try out that lotion.

Spoiler: You’ll love it. See ya later, Killer Croc.

Killer Croc walked off the pier where they were standing and began the long swim to Florida. Spoiler held out both her hands, waiting for her money. Batman and Nightwing both handed her a hundred dollars.

Spoiler (tucking the money into her pocket): Had me ask that man if he was a crocodile hybrid because you two tough guys didn't want to look dumb. The things I do for you.

Batman: Am I the only one disappointed he’s just a guy with dry and patchy skin?

Spoiler and Nightwing (agreeing): We’re not saying it out loud.

[dem0batz]

Curiosity Killed the Kitten

Sylus x MC // Love and Deepspace

Author's Note: First I was horny about Caleb's return, but catching up on the lore has me in my feelings. No smut, just emotional hurt/comfort with Sylus. All of my LADS fics take place in the same universe and is a connected story which means MC is romantically involved with ALL 5 love interests. This is just me trying to put the pieces together that we get in the game and applying it how I think makes sense in MC's situation.

Summary: After going to Skyhaven for an undercover mission and learning that Caleb is alive and well, as well as discovering some unsettling information about the Farspace Fleet and his role in it, MC returns home to Linkon City. All of the men in her life are concerned about her sudden unexpected vacation, but Sylus most of all does not accept the flimsy excuses of her brief disappearance. Content Warnings: Reverse Harem/Why Choose (MC is with all five love interests in my au), afab!MC, she/her!MC, tracking device without MC's consent, canon-typical Sylus stalking, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff Word Count: ~2600 words | Read on AO3 | Chapter List

Since returning to Linkon City after your extended “vacation” in Skyhaven, you have felt an uneasiness settling in your gut. You should be over the moon that your long-dead brother wasn’t dead after all but everything about Caleb seemed… off.

There were still traces of the boy you remember. He still doted on your every need. Was still over protective in the most annoying ways and still used humor and guilt to soften your irritation. He had never been straight forward with you, always willing to do whatever he needed to protect you even if it meant keeping you in the dark. So the fact that he deflected most of your suspicious questions concerning the practices of the Farspace Fleet was not a surprise, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that he had lied right to your face about many of the things he did answer, which was new.

He had always seemed a little haunted to you; like there were things he wasn’t saying or couldn’t say and that hadn’t changed, but the depth of it now seems insurmountable. What was it they said about gazing into the abyss? Well now, often times when Caleb looked at you, you felt the abyss gazing back. Like your caring brother was gone and the cold officer he had become was steering the wheel. You couldn’t decipher where Caleb began and the Colonel ended.

While in Skyhaven, you hadn’t received any of messages and had connectivity issues with the wifi. Initially, you had reasonably blamed the shoddy signal on the fact that you were in a city in the sky and that the near-constant storms were to blame, but after uncovering some suspicious information about Caleb’s new life, you were no longer convinced it was a mere accident. Which left you to believe either the Fleet had more of an influence on Skyhaven than anyone suspected, despite what their public policies claimed, or Caleb himself had intentionally isolated you. Both were concerning and likely had some truth to them, but the former was more painful to think about.

Your phone had been buzzing nearly non-stop since coming back to the city, updating with message after message. Messages from Xavier about hot pot and confusion about your sudden approved vacation days that you never mentioned taking; Rafayel feigning danger, saying he needed his bodyguard to come and check on him asap; Zayne concerned that he hadn’t heard a word from you after Mia’s unfortunate death and insisting you check in with him as soon as you are able.

They had been relatively easy to appease for now. You informed them all you had just returned home and would make sure to see them in the coming days— you just needed one day to sort through your thoughts and feelings about the Caleb situation. Besides, what were you supposed to say? I didn’t actually go on vacation because I went on a solo undercover mission for the Association connected to the explosion of my grandmother’s house just to find my long-dead brother/sort of ex-boyfriend is actually alive and well, and is now one of the top ranking leaders of the Farspace Fleet who may be involved in some unethical practices because I had one conversation with a little boy whom they had been searching for and he seemed to have a complete personality change in the two days after his sister’s death?

It wasn’t exactly something that could be explained in a text message.

Needless to say, your men were worried about you, but Sylus most of all. Though his messages where a lot more direct in their efforts to get to the bottom of your disappearance. They started off playful enough in their probing, but the longer you were gone, the more insistent they became.  

Mr. Crow: Mephisto reported that you packed a bag. A big one. Where are we going? 

Mr. Crow: Now he says you boarded a shuttle. Why would you do that when you have a helicopter in the N109 at your disposal?

Mr. Crow: Your return date is a week from now. Did you go on vacation without me, kitten? You never mentioned a work trip.

Mr. Crow: I know you’re a busy big time hunter but it’s unlike you to ignore my messages like this, sweetie.

Mr. Crow: Mephisto lost you. The twins can’t find you either.

Mr. Crow: Where are you?

Mr. Crow: You disappeared on me and I’m worried. This isn’t like you.

Mr. Crow: I’m very unhappy with you right now.

Mr. Crow: You can’t hide forever, kitten…

You knew without a shadow of a doubt that Sylus saw the moment you returned to the city because your mechanical bird companion was tailing you again. You hadn’t intentionally slipped his detail or left Sylus hanging during your leave. It was no secret that the Onichynus leader kept watch of you and it had actually become a welcome security over the months since you began seeing one another.

It should have struck you as odd that Sylus didn’t hunt you down during your two week stay in Skyhaven but the truth was you had been hit with near constant surprises in the floating city that you had no time to think about anything but what was happening in that moment. But now that you were away and had space to think, you were left to wonder why Sylus never came for you. Why you were able to be imprisoned on a military fleet ship against your will and your mighty crime boss didn’t track you down and bust you out.

Your phone buzzes again, shaking you from your thoughts.

Mr. Crow: Look who’s back in town.

Kitten: Will you meet me somewhere?

Mr. Crow: Turn around.

You lower your phone, eyebrows drawn together as you turn against the flow of pedestrian traffic. Your eyes flit through the decorated streets, colorful ribbons and lanterns decorating the way in preparation for the New Year. The crowd parts, making way for a hulking man in a leather jacket walking steadily toward you with danger flashing in his crimson eyes, his mouth set into a hard line. It never ceased to amaze you how Sylus was able to blend in with a crowd when he stood out to you so much. He towered over everyone and had a dangerous aura to him, yet no one batted an eye in his direction.

You gulp nervously, knowing he wouldn’t let you get away without an explanation. One you still weren’t even sure how to say. Anxiousness has your feet moving quickly as you duck into an alleyway to wait for him. You couldn’t do this with an audience. Though it’s still light out, the strings of decorations above has the alley appearing more dark than usual, allowing you to slink into the shadows and away from prying eyes. It doesn’t take Sylus long to catch up, his own shadow eating up whatever light remains as he draws closer until he’s towering above and caging you against the stone wall.

“Sylus—”

“Would you look at that? I caught myself a stray.”

His fingers curl under your chin, not-too-gently angling your face toward his. That simmering anger in his eyes softens at the sight of you, disappearing completely to be replaced with concern. He reads you entirely too well, even if he doesn’t know the cause.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?”

You let out a vulnerable sigh, lip wedging between your teeth to combat the sting in your eyes as the relief of this secret you’ve been holding onto is lifted off of your shoulders the slightest bit. You didn’t realize just how much you had been carrying since Caleb’s return, but if a single soft look and concerned question from one of your boyfriends was enough to make you feel like crumbling, it must be a lot.

You still hardly believed it yourself that Caleb was alive and well after all this time. Had seen him with your own eyes and yet you still felt the loss of grief from his death and the sting of betrayal at his return. A confusing whorl of emotion builds up inside your chest because along with the relief that he was alive, you felt an overwhelming sense of resentment toward him.

For so long, Caleb was the only one you saw, blinded by the tunnel vision of his affection. Then he went and died before you could navigate the complex secret relationship the two of you shared only to return from the death of a literal explosion to metaphorically blow up your life just when you had started learning how to live without him. Just when you had begun to find comfort and care with Sylus and the other men in your life. They had become your new foundation in the rubble of Caleb’s place and now he was returning from the dead to level it once again. The rebuilding process had been overbearing and painful and lonely and you didn’t know how much more you had in you to start over again.

As much as you loved Caleb, he never played well with others when it came to you. Sylus thought Zayne’s jealousy and reluctance to share your time had been a hurdle but your childhood friend was nothing compared to your brother’s jealous streak. In the handful of times you were shared between Caleb and Zayne in your youth, it was always at Caleb’s command. Nothing happened without his approval. What he said went and neither you nor Zayne ever dared cross that line to try to further explore your attraction to one another. Not until after the explosion, anyway.

A gentle thumb on your jaw brings your attention back to the present, sympathetic ruby eyes grounding you.

“Does it have to do with how much time you spent in Skyhaven recently?”

Surprise and panic flicker across your face at Sylus’s question.

So he did know where you had gone, after all.

“Please, sweetie. After all this time and you’re still surprised that I keep tabs on you?  Mephisto may well be glued to your side. And that’s not even taking the twins into consideration or counting the various tracking devices planted on you and in you.”

“Sylus!”

“What?” he feigns innocence.

“Mephisto following me is one thing but you can’t bug me! I’m an agent of the law. Not to mention, where the hell did you get plant devices that can evade government detection? And more importantly, how did you get one inside of me without me knowing?”

Sylus’s proud grin widens as a thick leather-covered arm wraps around you like a vine. He pulls you into a slow dance in the alley, no musical accompaniment or reason for it other than he wanted to and he missed you.

It soothed some of the warring emotions within you, making your irritation with his stalking tendencies dissipate. Truth be told, you were grateful that he cared so much about your safety. You know Sylus now and know that his only intentions are your safety and success. Though you wouldn’t ask it of him, he would burn the whole world down if you requested him to, for the mere purpose of pleasing you. You couldn’t same the same about Caleb, who only ever kept you in the dark about his intentions.

“You should know by now that nothing is out of my budget or reach, kitten,” he purrs.

His playful demeanor slips a fraction. To anyone else it would have been undetectable but having spent so much intimate time with the Onychinus leader, you have learned to read him nearly as well as he reads you.

“What is it?” you ask, cupping his jaw.

Sylus nuzzles into your palm, a heavy sigh puffing through his nostrils, reminding you of a mighty beast that had been tamed.

“Nothing is out of my reach,” he repeats, “except whenever you disappeared into Skyhaven. Mephisto managed to follow your shuttle all the way to the city gates but the moment he tried to cross the threshold he began to short out. He had no choice but to turn back. Once you crossed over, I also lost signal of every tracking device on your person, including this one,” his finger lightly trace a spot between your shoulder blades. So that’s where it is. “I lost the ability to track you. To keep you safe. That’s never happened before and naturally was a cause for concern.” He hesitates for a moment as if afraid to ask but does anyway. “Where did you go during your ‘vacation’?”

“I don’t know where to start,” you admit as the tightness in your chest starts to constrict to a painful degree. The cardiac event monitor on your watch begins to beep erratically, indicating a dangerous rise in your pulse oxygen levels.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Sylus pulls you close to his chest, resting your head and hand against the steady rhythm of his own heartbeat.

He talks you through the attack, his calming voice like a balm to your ringing ears. After several long moments, you feel like you can breathe again and your watch finally goes quiet.

“Yes, I’m with her right now and she seems to be coming out of it,” Sylus’s voice drifts clearly to your ears once more. His voice tightens irritably at whatever the person on the other end says. “I wouldn’t put her in that kind of danger. I called you as soon as her symptoms began, didn’t I?”

He pauses again to listen to whatever was being said, giving you a reassuring smile though he still looks annoyed.

“I can drop her off at your office tomorrow morning. Or if you’re truly concerned and thinks she needs immediate medical attention, you’re welcome to meet me in the N109 Zone in an hour.”

Pause.

“That’s what I thought. I’ll continue to monitor her and if anything changes, you’ll be the first to know. Have a nice day, doctor.”

Sylus hangs up the phone and tucks the device back into his pocket. Hearing his side of the conversation, you have an idea of who he had been talking to.

“Dr. Zayne wants you to report to his office first thing in the morning. He said he won’t clear you to return to work until you do.”

This news comes as no surprise. Since an event was triggered, you would have to answer to Zayne about the cause, yet another conversation you weren’t ready to have. But he deserves to know Caleb is back. You just didn’t know how to tell him most of all. At least Sylus, Xavier, and Raf were a degree removed from the situation. Zayne would be almost as affected by the news as you, considering that Caleb was his best friend and the odd nature of the relationship the three of you previously shared.

“You could start from the beginning, sweetie,” Sylus murmurs against your hair, lips brushing your head in a loving kiss as he reminds you of what caused your heart rate to spike in the first place.

“I can’t,” your voice croaks. “Not now. Not here. It’s… too much.”

“Okay,” he relents. “But I’m taking you home with me regardless. After spending two weeks worrying about your safety and unable to reach you, I need you with me tonight. Then after a good meal and a lavender bath soak, if you feel like telling me what’s going on, I’ll be all ears.”

The sting returns to your eyes and you grip the back of his leather coat like an anchor. You were so grateful for your dragon and the way he kept you safe, even from yourself. That when you were spiraling down a vortex he would always catch you.

“I love you, Sylus,” you whisper, throat tight with emotion.

“I love you too, kitten.”

OpaLADS Taglist: @i-messed-up-big-time

[clownery-and-fuckery]

The fact that Harry is canonically FEARED by people in Jamrock really surprises me. Like, I know he's the "human can-opener" and that has boosted his reputation and name among the people, but learning what he was like pre-amnesia is a whirlwind of an experience. Why don't more people talk about it?

This is coming from the wiki page so some things might be a lil inaccurate (I honestly don't know how well I can trust that source just yet) but it says he was on drugs/drunk for the majority of his service (even pre Dora), I imagine this got worse especially during those six years after Dora left him. By that time, he had already partnered with Jean, and had probably rejected his promotion number one.

After Dora left, the substance abuse got worse, but his work got better. It was hard to discourage their best detective, I guess. Even though he was actively funding the thing he was trying to shut down. It's a conflict of interest, he shouldnt have kept his job.

Also, during "THE UNSOLVABLE CASE" its said he left a man unable to walk, held a woman hostage, and shot wildly at a man.

That's just one case. You don't get a reputation like Harry's from one case. You don't make someone run at the mention of your name in the area. Ruby didn't run because of that one case.

Harry was a scary man. An ex gym teacher, off his rocker on an amount of drugs he couldn't count on two hands. He was talking to the tie before he lost his memory. The skills probably weren't a new thing. I like Harry, too, but his routinely "the women are the bourgeoisie" bit isn't just a post-amnesia thing, that's a cemented belief that's hung around his head long enough to become a foundation of every belief, even if you're an ultra-liberal. I don't think he was that popular with anyone he met.

The public were honestly right to be afraid of him.

But the RCM promoted him again. Or they tried. Because, what, Jean somehow managed to cover up everything Harry had done? What else has he done? How bad did things get, if beating a man with a ledger isn't anything more than a footnote in a case file?

Speaking of Jean, he confuses me a little. I mean, he respects Harry enough to cover up everything he did/does, but when it comes to talking about/to him, he puts him down, chews him out, makes it sound like he thinks Harry's actions are unacceptable (which I'm inclined to agree, at least pre-amnesia) but he also actively tries to make this narrative of Harry being crazy and wild and dangerous a thing, to everyone. Even Kim. Especially Kim, at the end. Look at this dialogue:

Those are the words of someone hurt over and over, watching a cycle repeat in another. But Jean still, when he doesn't really need to, decides to cover up Harry's missing gun and badge, and hears him and Kim out at the end of the game. He tears Harry down out of habit, but he also helps him out of that same habit.

He uses the word bewitched. That interested me, because it's infinitely more affectionate than manipulated, or tricked or just lied to. Jean uses it in a sympathetic manner, because he, like the RCM, like Dora, had been drawn in by Harry, and forced to stay until they left, like Dora, or became too bitter to go, like Jean.

It set up an interesting narrative for an aftermath. Would Kim, too, be driven away? Or would he get so sucked into the endless torment of being Harry's favourite, that like Jean, even if he wanted to, Kim wouldn't know anything else? Or had Harry actually changed? Does he get better, or does he get worse?

I would love to see more exploration on Harry after the events of Disco Elysium. I want to know how his reputation shapes how he acts after, I want to know how people interact with him. Its so interesting to me. It's all a bit of a jumbled ramble but yeah!!! :D

[vandalcat]

a lesbian's not so quick rant

I know lesbian representation in media has always suffered and we all have scars from shows that hurt us in the past and we want to see our ships interact be canon and develop well but, all that doesn't change the fact that some of you are being weird about the last episode of AAA and no amount of trying to flip people pointing that out into "people just saying lesbians are crazy and weird and just wanna see two women kiss" will change that.

you have all the right to prefer when episodes focus on your favorite characters, to want to see more sapphic interactions and all that but the show has a story to tell and that story isn't limited to a ship. and it definitely isn't limited to what YOU want to happen with said ship.

I personally am not that interested in Billy's storyline and nothing about billy in that flashback was really news to me (except the other witches showing up that was surprising and I loved it) so that made the episode not really the best for ME. and that's it, it wasn't MY thing. but I know it was necessary for the story and to people that don't know as much about his character, so I'm not gonna get online and act as if I'm entitled to whatever idea I have in my own head about what I rather see happen like some of you are.

and it's not just the entitlement it's the homophobic way you talk about billy and his boyf too. it's some people bringing up the actor's appearance when talking shit about the character. it's all weird, sometimes mean and honestly embarrassing.

also, Agatha all along is NOT a "lesbian show" it's a Marvel show with queer people in it. Agatha and Rio are ex lovers that still feel attracted to each other but have a complicated history. there's still 3 episodes left for us to learn more about their history and what happens to them. they might end up happy together, they might not. they might end up together in another series or movie, they might not. we don't know because unlike Billy who is queer and has an important relationship in the comics, Agatha doesn't really have much and what we have now is what Jac and the writers decided to give her.

let's all breathe and be kinder please

[mashkdemss]

Parallels between Byler and the canon couple from "Anne with an E"

Warning, there are a lot of spoilers here! And I apologize in advance if you find mistakes in the text, I'm still learning English O_o

Hi everyone!! Last month, I watched the series "Anne with an E" for the second time, and during my second viewing I decided to approach the romantic line of the main characters from a different angle. After many analyses of Byler, I learned to analyze relationships in cinema, and this case really surprised me on the good side! Let's talk with you about the parallels between Mike and Will with Ann and Gilbert, which help to make sure that Byler will soon become a canon :)

"Anne with an E" is a Canadian TV series, the first season of which was released in 2017 (8 months before the release of season 2 of Stranger Things). The main role in it was played by actress Amibeth McNulty, who also played the role of Vickie in season 4 of Stranger Things. And this is not the only important connection of this series with ST! At the end of the first season, Hopper was reading a book to Sara in the hospital, and that book was "Anne of Green Gables" (the Netflix series was based on this book)

Then in episode 3 of season 2, he reads the same book for Eleven.

The main romantic line in "Anne ..." develops between Anne and Gilbert over the course of 3 years (13-16) and it is narrated through such tropes as: from friends to lovers, slowburn, a love triangle, and a trope in which both characters think that their feelings for each other are unrequited, although in fact this is not the case. All of these relationship constructions are also applicable in the case of the Byler.

Direct parallels can be drawn between the characters:

Will = Anne

— Creative and sensitive teenagers from medium-income families who were bullied by their peers. They both talk a lot next to people they feel comfortable with, both have a self-built little castle in the forest where they retire during a difficult period and can feel safe without fear that someone will judge them (and later these castles were destroyed at both). There is a scene where Anne runs into her wooden house and cries there, very similar to Will's scene after a fight in the rain.

Ann and Will both told their mothers (in Anne's case, the foster mother) that they are "not going to fall in love" although the line of their romantic attachment to Gilbert and Mike is already developing according to the idea of the plot. Another interesting correspondence between these two characters is that they both helped people dear to them with their romantic relationships, while they themselves did not want it. Anne read the letters that her foster father's old friend had sent him, and without telling him about it, she decided to send her answers on his behalf because she thought they were deeply in love, and her father "just didn't know what to say". As a result, her father found out about it and talked to her about how he hadn't read his friend's letters because he didn't want a relationship with her, he just wasn't in love with her anymore and wasn't ready to change his life. Does it remind you of anything? Will also used Anne's "tactics", revealing his feelings to Mike on behalf of El, only he used a painting and not letters.

And one more take.... Anne's so-called mentor was aunt Josephine. They were in a good relationship and she gave her advice about her life and love. Josephine was also a lesbian. I want to say that this is also a possible parallel, because in the fifth season we are definitely waiting for the interaction of Will and Robin.

Mike = Gilbert

— curly black-haired guy from a more affluent family, who often acts as a leader and has some authority as a smart student. He liked Anne as soon as she joined their school and he tried to win her attention, but Anne knew that her friend liked him, so she carefully avoided Gilbert (although she also liked him). This gives us another coincidence: Anne, like Will, believes that she does not deserve love and avoids her feelings in order for other people to be happy. The main similarity between Mike and Gilbert is that they both stand at the center of a "love triangle."

Due to misunderstandings that have occurred between him and Ann, Gilbert begins to think that his love for her is not mutual and decides to marry Winifred (represents El in our case). Winifred is a girl from a rich family whom he met quite recently, and if Gilbert marries her, then her father will give him the opportunity to study at a prestigious medical college, which he has long dreamed of. Everyone around him approved of the idea of him and Winnie getting married, everyone expected it from Gilbert. Their wedding, unlike a relationship with a village red-haired orphan girl, could have brought him social approval, just as Mike and Eleven's relationship could have brought Mike social approval and entrenched his image of a "normal heterosexual".

But Gilbert doesn't love Winifred the way she loves him. Therefore, shortly before their wedding, he confesses to her that in fact his heart will always belong to Anne and that for this he is ready to give up his dream. And although their breakup was sad for Winnie, Gilbert explained the reasons to her as tactfully as possible, saying that she deserved someone much better than him. All of this also goes well with Willelmike.

To declare his love to Anne again, Gilbert writes her a letter and leaves it in her room while no one is at home. He writes that he and Winnie are not getting married, that he has always loved only Anne, and at the end he signs "Love, Gilbert." LOVE, GILBERT. Where have we heard this before? That's right, Mike's letters... If anything, I absolutely believe in the Lettergate theory, and that's also one of the reasons I'm confident in it.

Then there is confusion, Ann thinks Gilbert is mocking her feelings, and tears up the letter, and Gilbert goes to a less prestigious medical college. Now they are both sure that their feelings are not mutual, and even resigned to their failure, BUT! Anne meets Winnie, who tells her that she and Gilbert broke up and that he confessed his love for Anne to her.

Meanwhile, Gilbert meets Anne's best friend on the train, who loudly told Gilbert everything she thinks about him and "opened his eyes." She also mentions a love letter that Anne left some time ago, in the same way Gilbert left in her room later. Anne's letter was also unread, and the phrase "What letter, Diana, what letter?" appears. Don't you think it's very similar to a possible scene from s5 of ST with "What painting?"

In general, they ended up running to each other and touchingly reunited, after which there was a sensual kiss that the audience had been waiting for for so long. Unfortunately, the series ended there, but according to the canons of the book, they lived happily ever after, married and had many children, as befits such old love stories.

The main plot is not about Anne's love story, but about her growing up, other problems and events in their village (as in the case of Stranger things), so this line between the characters unfolds slowly and throughout the series, and Anne with Gilbert open up about their feelings and kiss only in the last minutes of the last episode.

It seems to me that there are too many coincidences to be coincidences. All of this inevitably leads to Byler endgame, if you look at everything from a cinematic point of view. Absolutely the same techniques were used: framing, phrases, lighting, musical accompaniment. When watching "Anne..." viewers have never denied the fact that there are feelings between Anne and Gilbert, although they were not revealed directly until last season. And all because Anne and Gilbert are a heterosexual couple, and such couples unfortunately turn out to be more pleasant and understandable to the average viewer. But they turned out to be a really good ship, and I'm even glad that the Duffer brothers were inspired by this setting.

So if the Shirbert is canon, then Byler will soon become canon!

[gold-rhine]

btw since i was reminded of fanon neuvi\rizzley, another thing that surprised me is that like in all AU fics where they just met, rizzley just immediately can tell neuvi is trustworthy and kind, and just trusts and loves him from the start. like i thought we all understood that the puppy eyes he has in canon are result of like 10 years of a slow burn. the fact that they've been working together for years is critical here, you cant speedrun that

bc otherwise its like. rizzley's traumatized and paranoid, but somehow with power of true love he can immediately trust neuvi and hes not cynical about him at all. which like. not only invalidates rizzler's trauma, but also completely changes dynamic. like the whole point was that rizzler WAS paranoid about neuvi like about everyone else, but neuvi was proving he's fair and trustworthy year after year so that even rizzler's paranoia eventually decided hes an exception.

and from the other side we know that neuvi has an intimidating resting bitch face and its impossible to say that he cares just from his expression\voice. like navia thought he didnt care about her father's death when he was absolutely distressed. rizzler being immediately able to tell neuvi is kind and sweet not only invalidates neuvi's neurodivergent (tm) characterization of struggling to express emotions, but also the fact the rizzley spent years to learn and communicate with neuvi, and tho he still doesnt get everything right, he makes effort.

if they are just easily and immediately able to get each other, what is even the point. literally everything interesting about their dynamic is lost

[signanothername]

i'm so glad you made killer smart, as not a lot of people do that. also, i totally agree with you on the fact that nightmare is smart, but not smarter than killer.

I personally think nightmare only cared to study very specific subjects like history, theater, and especially botany and dendrology (the study of trees and plants)

also he isolated himself from all social interaction for 500 years, so he wouldn't even know how to carry on a proper conversation, and might defer to things he read in his books.

Thank youuuu <333

No like i shall forever die on the hill that Killer is the smartest in the entire gang even dhdhdhhd

Like all of them are smart to me in different ways but how the fandom makes Killer out to be a stupid bitch (and even sometimes make him act like a child) makes me wanna punch the wall

That’s why I take it upon myself to portray him as the clever bitch he truly is just like in canon <333333

And omg I absolutely love your Nightmare hc!! I absolutely especially adore the fact he’d be interested in studying botany and dendrology!! Like I always loved to think Nightmare has an emotional attachment to trees but I never really thought about him studying it as a field!! That’s honestly so fucking cool hell yaaaa!!!

To me I like to think he studies almost everything, he just loves to learn new things, as long as he gets to read a new book he’s up for it, that’s where I think Nightmare’s smarts lie, in his ability to store so much information in his head, and a vast knowledge of a variety of things and how to apply them in his daily routine that’s applicable to himself

But yeah socially?? No luck at all wheeze, like to be able to be strategically and socially intelligent you need to actually interact with the outside world, which Nightmare never does in his entire damn existence

Like to me Nightmare can be good at planning missions and whatnot IN THEORY, but I wholeheartedly believe he never does it alone without Killer in the picture, cause listen he might not be socially intelligent but he’d definitely realize how smart Killer is in such things, and Killer would be able to tell whether such plans can even be applied in the actual field and be put into practice/action, plus Killer would definitely know how to give ideas that can give them the element of surprise, Killer’s always been pretty unpredictable and I think that unpredictably has definitely taught him a few tricks, and like can we talk about his meta knowledge?????? *flashbacks to that one Core Frisk comic where Killer basically says some insane shit that’s literally impossible to know that even Nightmare questions it*

And no like “defer to things he read in his books” is so real shhzhxhhz, that’s how I think Nightmare lives on a daily basis, he just tries to apply his theoretical knowledge to the real world, but the thing is, no matter how much knowledge you hold, you won’t be truly good at something until you put it into actual practice, and that practice needs to be constant, Nightmare never carries any convos or even gets social with anyone, there’s no way he actually genuinely understands how to communicate with people xhxhhdh

Like any social intelligence Nightmare has to me is more associated with his fear of the world around him, his fear of becoming helpless/ defenseless again, so he might look out for anything that might pose a threat to him, but even then he’s still bad at understanding how to apply such knowledge in the real world

Anyway, Killer is just way smarter than Nightmare and the fandom needs to start acknowledging it 😔✌️✌️

[madame-mortician]

So I finished Silent Hill 2’s remake and saw a theory going around which I agree with and want to talk about.

Spoilers obviously.

So before I say the actual theory itself I have to talk about another “theory.” I put it in quotes because it’s so heavily implied that it’s basically canon. The theory is that Silent Hill 2’s story is a loop, and this is not the first time James has gone through Silent Hill. The idea is that any time James dies or gets one of the bad endings (In Water, Maria and technically Dog) he always ends up back at the start, because he didn’t learn from his mistake and move on. Silent Hill is refusing to give up and forcing him to face the truth, and anytime James chooses the easy way out or refuses to move on entirely the town forces him back. The main evidence of this theory is:

The corpses around the town are all James. Likely from previous loops where he died to random enemies.

Maria getting the same illness as Mary and James saying she better do something about it. This implies she’ll get sick like Mary, and James will kill her again, learning nothing from what just happened.

Most of the writing found on the wall seems to be written by James. Either subconsciously put there by the town or literally left there by a previous James who caught on to the fact he was stuck in a loop.

After completing Silent Hill 2 at least once, and replaying to get the Rebirth ending, the second James sees Maria dressed like Mary he instantly calls her out, even to her surprise. He already knows it’s Maria because that’s what happened last time.

So that was a popular theory of the original game. Now here in the remake it still works. It works even better in fact, for you see that’s where the new theory comes in. The new theory is that the remake is one of the many loops from the original game. It’s very likely this loop is one of the later ones and let me explain some of my evidence:

Maria is dressed completely differently. Her new outfit is sort of the perfect mix of Maria’s old clothes and Mary’s dress. It seems to imply that after being rejected by James before in some of the loops, she’s slowly becoming more and more like Mary to better appeal to him. She even shows off her old outfit, and though James wouldn’t remember it, Maria would and is sort of mocking him by asking if he would’ve preferred she wore it.

Maria’s personality is also different. She’s less rude and sexual here. Yes she is still sexual and pretty manipulative but not to the extent of the original. Why that’s interesting is because she’s actually portrayed much more sympathetically, with even James taking pity on her, even knowing she’s not real. Like what I said about her outfit, it’s almost like she’s softened her personality to be more appealing than she was previously.

I think Pyramid Head is also a big one. In the original game he was way more monstrous and would instantly go for you. Here he seems bored more often than not. The best example is the closet scene. In the original he was assaulting a mannequin before going to James in the closet who shoots him. It clearly doesn’t do much, but Pyramid Head still flails around like he’s hurt. In the remake he isn’t assaulting a mannequin, the monster is already dead and Pyramid Head chucks it, seeming bored waiting for James. When James gets in the closet, he still approaches him and just stares straight at James. When James shoots him, he doesn’t react instantly, he continues staring at him. Only after a few awkward moments does he actually begin to flail around and then leave. How I interpret this is that since Pyramid Head remembers the loops but James doesn’t, Pyramid Head already knows he’s in the closet and goes up to him, and when James shoots him (despite knowing it wouldn’t do anything) Pyramid Head stares at him like “we’re really doing this?” before awkwardly flailing around. He’s not hurt, he’s basically acting. Whenever he appears he will still hunt James, but he really seems bored, which he likely would be since this would be one of the later loops.

There’s also references to the older game, specifically meaning this would be a loop canon to the original. The first one is that one of the corpses has a copy of the original SH2 map on him. This not only confirms that the corpse is James, but also that it’s one of the original James’. Another Easter egg I can think of, is the rooftop scene. In the original game, Pyramid Head pushed James through a fence and he fell off the roof, despite landing indoors? Here in the remake, Pyramid Head shoves him through the floor instead (which also adds to my point earlier about the newer Pyramid Head seeming more impatient than originally.) Why this is interesting is because you can still find the area of the fence James was originally pushed through, and it’s broken. This implies James was still pushed through it, yet we clearly see he wasn’t, he was shoved through the floor. This means that James was still pushed through the fence in previous loops, just like in the original game.

Eddie mentions killing James before, and him returning. To be fair here, he probably means the James corpses everywhere and isn’t referring to the original boss fight but it still implies a loop.

During the endings, whenever James speaks with Maria he is more sympathetic and understanding of her. He’s quicker to realise it’s not Mary, and he tries his nicest to reason with Maria unlike in the original where he kinda just said she wasn’t Mary and was mad she tricked him. The way I view this is that after being through so many loops, he’s gotten close to Maria even though she isn’t Mary. He still wouldn’t give up Mary for her, but he understands Maria more and doesn’t want to hurt her. He tries to talk it through, and Maria even considers it briefly but she literally can’t let him go. It goes against her entire purpose and thus she always transforms into a monster.

Another one is a line change I noticed. In the original game after Angela asks if James is keeping the knife for himself James says “I’d never kill myself.” In the remake he doesn’t say anything. This implies that he would and this is likely because James subconsciously knows he would, because he did in the previous loops (In Water.)

Another small detail I noticed is the broken puzzles you can find. Now there’s a lot of broken shit in Silent Hill, but nothing important is ever broken. The entire point of the puzzles is for James to solve them to progress. The town, nor any of its monsters would ever purposefully break a puzzle, and even if they did it would be in a way where James could easily fix it. If the town ever broke a puzzle, and made it impossible for James to progress then there’s no point, so they wouldn’t do that, it defeats the purpose. So who is breaking all these puzzles? I doubt Eddie or Angela would be destroying random puzzles, and Laura likely doesn’t even see any puzzles. So who is it then? Well, I believe these are puzzles broken by previous James’. The puzzles that are destroyed don’t have a purpose anymore, and since they’re broken we can’t really have James solve them to progress, so they’ve been replaced by new ones in the current loop. Perhaps a previous James got mad at one of the puzzles being too hard and broke it. This likely would’ve meant he was softlocked and wasn’t able to progress and either was killed or just eventually died because he couldn’t continue. Whilst now the puzzles are replaced, you can still find the old ones. They aren’t puzzles from the original game, but this still implies a loop.

*UPDATE: A mystery was solved in SH2’s remake that confirms James has been in a loop for 20 years. This confirms the loop theory, and since 20+ years ago was when the original game came out, it also seems to imply that the second theory about the loop being canon to the original game is true too.

[nightcolorz]

Concept: The Tallamasca tries to recruit Daniel back in the 80's, Armand lets it happen because he wants to see what his boy would do

Daniel then proceeds to yell at several Tallamasca agents that they clearly don't know shit about vampires and they just nod and take out notebooks because yes, that's why we want you Mr Molloy, you have more practical experience than any of us

Daniel laughs when they start to ask questions about Armand specifically and he decides to have fun by telling them completely true but completely irrelevant shit about Armand (and maybe some about Louis too, they look surprised that he has met Louis and survived)

The Vampire Armand has great calligraphy, beautiful but still legible

The Vampire Armand drolls on his sleep

The Vampire Armand is a big fan of nail polish

The Vampire Armand's favourite art movement is Dadaism

The Vampire Armand prefers motorbikes to cars

The Vampire Louis loves photography

The Vampire Louis hates it when people dog ear a page on a book to mark where they were at

Daniel intended all this little nonsense fun facts would annoy the agents but to his dismay they keep taking notes and acting as if they are getting some big revelations to update their files with, he gets frustrated and leaves

Armand finds this all very amusing, once again his beloved boy has surpassed his expectations and surprised him, he should reward him with some blood and a nice outing, perhaps a new golden watch for his collection too

Meanwhile the Tallamasca agents are marking Daniel down as a person of interest and plan to follow his whereabouts for the rest of his life, they thought Daniel was some pet/slave for the Vampire Armand who they thought to be around 200 years old and were offering their protecting in exchange of information, their chat with Daniel has revealed that Armand is actually

closer to 500

A lot more powerful than they thought

Capable of blending in with humans to a concerning point

More interested and aware of human affairs than other immortals (again very concerning)

Marius de Romanus creation (they are very excited about this new piece of information)

Allows Daniel an insane amount of freedom but also feels comfortable enough around him to allow himself vulnerabilities such as falling asleep around the human (they update Daniel's file and mark him as a human paramour and possible future vampire, they make a point not to tell this to Daniel)

They also learn that yes, vampires have human-like relationships with each other, this seems obvious to Daniel but it's a very contested fact in the organisation, with defenders and detractors all giving big speeches and presentations defending their opinion on the matter pretty regularly

It was NOT Daniel's intention to reveal any of this, the majority he thought they knew

Daniel: Louis Du Lac is a snob, put a trashy magazine in front of him and he'll literally turn up his nose

The agent, writing it all down: You know more than one vampire? And have talked to them as if they were people and not creatures of the night? And you know them intimately enough to know their opinions on things such as this?

Daniel: wait no, that was supposed to be a useless piece of information

The agent, vibrating with excitement: what else do you know

Daniel, feeling lost and needing a cigarette: Armand likes Blade Runner

The agent: fascinating

Daniel: no, you are supposed to think this is irrelevant

Agent: tell me more about The Vampire Armand's opinions on pop culture

OMGG LOL this is so funny im dying. the concept of Daniel trying to be intentionally unhelpful out of spite and actually being incredibly helpful in the process is soooo peak comedy and in character i love it.

I think any talamasca member would fight tooth and nail to get their hands on extremely mundane vampire fun facts. Their jobs r canonically the useless collecting and maintaining of information on supernatural creatures that they will use for nothing and just like to have for the wow factor and so I feel like they wouldn’t care about the difference between valuable facts and invaluable facts. Armand is capable of exploding ppls internal organs from the inside and Armand has a hyper fixation on mobile apps r both equally valuable bits of lore considering what they plan to do with it (create a profile of his character and store it in a vampire library). So Daniel saying smth like “Louis is insecure about being a bad artist” or “Armand cries during sex” would be like a goldmine for them 💀

[spaceagebachelormann]

hii can i request headcanons of how finnick odair would be as a bf? maybe if ur also a victor

finnick odair and victor frankenstein as bfs !

✧ warnings: spoilers for thg and frankenstein maybe?

✧ additional info: erm i didn’t know if u meant i could do victor if i wanted 😔 so i js did anyway cause i will use any excuse to write for someone from that masterlist!! if u did mean i could put victor if i wanted ily and pls send more victor reqs i barely get any for classic monsters in general <3 erm aleo i haven’t watched thg in ages so finnick might be ooc

✧ m.list — nav.

ೃ༄ finnick odair

he’s very sweet and calm and overall js like amazing to be around and have as a bf <3

despite the fact bro is majestic and could have 6 girlfriends or boyfriends or whateverfriends if he wanted he’s very loyal and respectful of u

doesn’t even dare to look at anyone else while with u

also very willing to take things slowly if that’s what u prefer

it’s honestly what he prefers too

yk because of everything the capital put him through

he js prefers taking his time to get to know u before anything

but he will take u on the cutest dates ever even before reaching first base

will wrestle ur date preferences out of u. not literally. by that i mean he tricks u into telling him what u would wanna do then surprising u

he’s also like so soft and nice with everyone but with u it’s like 10x more

bro can be literally screaming at someone if needed at one moment and then braiding ur hair for u the next

also he’d LOVE braiding ur hair

u don’t even have to ask he js puts ur head on his chest and plays with it

also he’s still v flirty with u for funsies

esp if u get embarrassed easily

he thinks it’s funny (cute) that’s why <3

and i feel like he’s oddly good at singing

like he js taught himself how to sing once because he was bored and needed smth to do

so he was like “yk what imma learn to sing”

and holy fucking shit is he good at it!!

his voice in general is rlly calming

and he knows it is so he likes reading to u and singing to u or js talking to u and literally anything where he can use his voice

i don’t think he’d be very huge on pet names but he’d def call u honey more than anything (cause this is gn)

ik because im his gf actually!! /j

and shit like beautiful and gorgeous if ur fem don’t tell me he wouldn’t yk he would

and he loves kissing ur face

also if ur fem or js have lipstick he’d let u leave lipstick marks on his face <3

i rlly feel like he’d wanna be with someone who he knows well and feels like he can trust

especially if he’s known them for a few years

and he genuinely doesn’t care abt looks!!

go get urself a finnick odair

ALSO THIS MAN CAN COOK!!

AND BAKE!!

and his food is genuinely the most scrumptious shit u will ever taste

ೃ༄ victor frankenstein

ugh this bitch

he’s definitely very loyal to u and wouldn’t even think about other people but he’s kinda. neglectful.

he doesn’t do it on purpose and always makes up for it but there’s long periods of time where he’s sorta cold and rude to u and distant

but he feels bad after and always makes it up to u

he also would wanna be with someone who he’s known for awhile, but that’s because his dumbass would realize his feelings rlly late

but based on his canon AND fanon love interests he seems like he’d want someone who’s rlly compassionate and nice

unfortunately he might care abt looks

erm anyway!!

probably just calls u by ur name but will throw in a my love here and there if he’s in a rlly good mood

because he’s sorta neglectful he doesn’t rlly kiss u a lot because he’s never actually near u alot

but when he is he likes kissing ur shoulders and forehead and hands and wrists n shit

he’s like cold to everyone else but soft with u <3 (when he’s actually with u)

and he’d love it if u got along well with his family and henry and elizabeth

especially his brothers

and would love it if ur nice to justine because typically people wouldn’t be nice to her cause she’s a maid (/lh ily justine u deserved better)

pls let him yap to u

sometimes he js wants to rant abt his day or ideas to someone and would love it if u sat there and listened

and if u let him yap after he makes his creation and it starts slaughtering everybody he’d love it if u were understanding

after elizabeth dies he becomes 12x more protective of u to the point where he won’t even let u be alone by urself cause he left elizabeth alone for 5 mins and she died (they’re js friends here obv)

his love language is gift giving <3 he likes making u little handmade gifts everytime he sees u

also quality time. whenever he can he likes going on picnics and walks

he’s also not the best at comforting but he’s a very good listener and will let u rant to him

his presence in general is comforting

i’m laughing my ass off at this but he wakes u up to show u bugs in the middle of the night

“victor wtf is that” “goliath beetle :)” “put it back before i make u move in with it.”

he also has the most entertaining days for no fucking reason and has a crazy story to tell u all the time

and his hands are fucking freezing. that’s all bye ily

[soopersara]

Recently, I've pondering Book 2 and 3 of ATLA, and I reached a conclusion that surprised me a little.

Specifically, this: Zuko would have been very unlikely to join Team Avatar if not for Katara.

Now I'm not saying that Zuko had a secret crush on her or anything. As much fun as that concept can be to explore in fics, I don't love the idea of Zuko's redemption being motivated by romantic interest, and his canonical arc is clearly driven by his own evolving understanding of the world and the morals that come along with that understanding. Still, if you cut out his interactions with Katara, especially in the crystal catacombs, I just don't see him ever taking that last step to turn against his father and join Team Avatar. He would have been discontented in the Fire Nation, sure. Spending a few years away from home with a guardian who genuinely cared about and protected him could easily push him that far all on its own. He might have become disillusioned enough with the Fire Nation and its role in the war to run away too. Zuko spent enough time in the Earth Kingdom, learning about the people and their suffering, to have doubts and regrets when he finally learned about Ozai's true plans.

But without Katara reaching out to him in the crystal catacombs (or more accurately, Zuko reaching out to sympathize with Katara, and Katara reciprocating), I'm not convinced that he would have considered his future or his place in the world enough to go farther than that. To leave and to join the enemy. And even if he had considered joining Team Avatar, I'm not convinced that he would have thought he had a chance of being accepted if he hadn't shared that moment in the crystal catacombs with Katara.

I mean... sure, Aang sort of reached out to Zuko way back in Book 1. But even leaving aside the fact that that was one moment several months before Zuko finally left home (and an offer that brief and that old is probably shaky at best), it wasn't an offer of friendship in quite the same way that Katara's kindness was. What Aang said to Zuko was:

You know what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?

"If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?"

It's a hypothetical question. Aang is thinking back to a time before the war, to the people he knew in the Fire Nation an entire lifetime ago, and trying to imagine where Zuko might have fit into that time and those relationships. He doesn't reach out a hand to directly offer Zuko a friendship in the present (and frankly, it wouldn't make sense in the moment if he had), nor does he ever make another offer of friendship until after Zuko actually joins the team. Every encounter between Zuko and Aang from The Blue Spirit on through The Western Air Temple is either a) a fight, b) Aang sparing Zuko's life while Zuko is unconscious (and therefore unable to see the kind gesture and interpret it as an offer of friendship), c) unwilling cooperation against a common enemy, or d) ... That Face that Aang makes at Zuko after interrupting him and Katara in the crystal catacombs.

Maybe it's just me, but... none of those interactions exactly set up a strong foundation for a future friendship, or even a future alliance. If Aang's old "offer of friendship" was all Zuko had to go on, then joining Team Avatar would have been a long shot. An extremely long shot.

By contrast, Katara bares her heart to Zuko and, at least in the moment, makes it clear that her kindness is deliberate. They've fought against one another time after time, they've been unwilling allies in the fight against Azula, and they've had some... generally antagonistic face-to-face interactions as well. But even after all of that, Katara offers to heal Iroh with very little hesitation in The Chase, then offers compassion to Zuko himself in The Crossroads of Destiny. She openly shows Zuko that there's a chance for him, and even when he turns against her in CoD, her angry dialogue still reflects the fact that she thinks he can be better. That she wants and expects him to be better. "I thought you had changed" isn't just anger, it's also a sign that her trust and kindness in the catacombs was genuine.

It's a sign to Zuko that if he can become the person who Katara thought he was for those few minutes in the caverns beneath Ba Sing Se, he might be able to prove himself worthy of that same trust and kindness again. And once Zuko has finally had enough of living under his father's thumb, of sitting silent on the sidelines while the world burns around him, once he leaves his old life behind for good, it's the beacon that draws him onward into a new life and a new purpose.

I can't claim to know exactly what would have happened if Zuko had never shared those pre-redemption moments with Katara. I'm just one random fic writer in a quiet corner of the internet, but I don't think it's unreasonable to say that her kindness to him in Book 2 made his decision easier. Without Katara, Zuko still might have left the Fire Nation behind. He still might have told off his father and tried to rescue Iroh from prison during the eclipse, but that doesn't necessarily mean that his next step would have been to run off to the Western Air Temple and offer himself up as a teacher.

Without Katara, Zuko might have fallen into the cracks in between the Fire Nation and Team Avatar. He might have become a different type of dissenter - maybe a less obtrusive one, like Piandao or Jeong Jeong, or he might have fallen back into his vigilante persona. He might have gone searching for his mother while the war kept raging on the other side of the ocean, or he might have tried to settle down into the type of quiet life that Iroh wanted for them both in Ba Sing Se. But regardless of what choice Zuko would have made, I think it would have been much harder for him to choose Team Avatar if he hadn't had Katara's voice in the back of his mind, telling him that he could be better, and that if he was, he might have a place with her and her friends.

Ship them or not, Zuko and Katara had an incredible bond that shaped a lot of the show. And while I'm not exactly on Team 'Zuko had a secret crush on Katara from the beginning' because of what it can do to his character arc if it's not handled carefully, I think I just found myself squarely on Team 'Zuko changed because it was right, and Katara opened the door for everything that came after.'

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

THE 100 DAYS OF JUNKAN

Hello everybody! I’m Carbonated-Jem! 

I sincerely hope you’re having a good day as this post finds you.

You’re probably wondering what this is. Well this my good compatriot is the result of a very ill advised task I put upon myself at the beginning of this year. There’ll be a TL;DR at the bottom for those who don’t want my full ramblings (sorry about that btw, not very good at this), but I do appreciate anyone who’ll give a silly person like me the time of day.

You see, I am a fan of Danganronpa, and as a result I like to read a lot of gay fanfic (and if I’m feeling daring I’ll even look at fan art, shocking). This series for all its ups and downs is quite important to me and becoming who I am today. Tokomaru especially helped me through a period of a lot of stress and depression, among other things. 

But as you can tell by the name this isn’t a Blog Dedicated to Tokomaru, it’s a blog dedicated to Junkan. Which might be very surprising to anyone who I haven’t divulged this info to personally. 

I try to make it a habit to not delve too deep into fandoms for the sake of my mental health, I look up fanart, read some appreciation posts on tumblr, read fics, and depending on the series make art for others to enjoy. However one thing I tend to become vaguely aware of regardless of whether I want to or not is what ships are and are not controversial. So I am very aware of the fact that saying I ship Junko and Mikan is bare minimum getting some weird looks from a lot of the people reading this.

Before I give a reason why I’m doing this let me just make clear what this is in the first place.

This is the 100 Days of Junkan, a project I undertook (Kind of as a joke) at the beginning of the year. I have made 100 Pieces to post across the next 100 Days. Some are finished art, some are sketches, some are sketches I added color to later, some are multiple images grouped into one day, comics, and far more. I’ve learned a lot through this project artistically, and some of the surprises I have in store will hopefully be worth the effort. I don’t know 100% for sure what day this post will be on, however the event itself will begin October 1st, and if I did the math right will continue all the way till January 9th. 

Why would I put this much time and energy into this ship, knowing that there are a lot of people who downright hate it? Simple, I just like the ship a lot, and wanted to make more art for it.

And I should further note, there are plenty of fans of this ship as well, however they may be disappointed to hear that unless you’re very much like me, you probably won’t enjoy what I’ve made with these two. In canon (much to my chagrin, because I’m not partial to the direction it took in DR3) this is a very abusive relationship. This is not really my thing, anyone who has seen the ship art I’ve done on my main page will know that I much prefer to draw soft, fluffy shipping art. I try to make art which will leave a positive vibe on people for the most part.

That said I understand why there are people who like this ship for how it is represented in canon. Shipping Junkan has taught me to stop being judgy of people for what they ship (I used to really hate Togami x Toko for example, and while it’s still not my thing I can totally understand why people are into it now). Everyone has their own reasons for shipping something, whether it’s an interesting dynamic, they just like seeing the characters kiss, as a coping mechanism, and plenty of other reasons. I have my boundaries of course, but at this point I try to be open minded towards peoples proclivities.

So if I’m not drawing a Canon Compliant Depiction of this ship, what am I actually doing here?

Well I’ve decided that I’m going to draw niche art for an already very niche ship. I like Junkan on the softer side, where regardless of where it's supposed to be in canon or an AU they just actually love eachother, I've seen and have been inspired by a decent amount of Fanfics depicting this exact thing. It's the dynamic that I find the most interesting personally, as I like the directions you can take it with the characters.

So that’s the deal, for 100 Days starting from October 1st you can expect this blog to post a constant flow of soft Junko x Mikan art. If that’s your thing, I sincerely hope you like all this! It’s been my number one goal to give some art to the people who share a similar desire for softer depictions of this Ship, along with all the people who have already made amazing pieces of writing and artwork depicting the same. If this isn’t your thing, I hope you’ll at least stick around to give it a chance, and if I can’t sell you on it like I have with some of my friends, I hope you can at least walk away from this with a shrug.

Apologizing in advance to all those who peruse the Mikan and Junko tag, because this is gonna be flooding those for awhile I imagine. I fully understand if you wanna block me for this, hope you have a lovely day after that! 

Now dear viewer, please watch this long road unwind and behold such sights as: Me slowly memorizing these two to the point that I can draw them almost entirely without reference at this point, inconsistent colors schemes,  inconsistent heights, so much goddamn blushing, AU’s galore, and the unspeakable things I learned how to do for this project! (And by unspeakable I mean I don’t wanna spoil the surprise!) 

Oh! And as an extra bonus to all this, go check out my AO3 account. I have a singular Junkan Fic on there right now, however as a little bonus for this event (and sure, thematic for Halloween) I’m going to be posting a Vampire AU Junkan Fic periodically throughout October. Partially inspired by the fact that Day 30 depicts a scene I came up with way before the actual fic, and I really want to have it written out and available to read before that post comes out.

The other reason is that if I say i’m going to post it here, that means I am required to actually do it by the law of my brain. Which will likely outweigh my complete lack of self confidence in my ability to write anything making me too paranoid to actually let it go public~

Here’s the link!

And if you stumbled upon this post through the Junkan Tag and not my main account, here’s a link to it!

You’ll find plenty of other Danganronpa Art, including Junko and Mikan on their own. I do other stuff but I imagine that’d be the most immediately interesting, but hey you never know. So hopefully if this blog doesn’t provide anything you’d be into, my normal works will catch your attention! 

I’ve also opened an Ask Box for this blog, why? I dunno. I’ll be real it just seemed like the thing to do. But feel free to ask questions and I'll try to respond best I can!

And finally here is the TL,DR for those who didn't wanna read through my mind numbing rambling.

I like Danganronpa, I like drawing Soft Junkan art for a lot of reasons. I’m posting 100 Pieces for 100 Days of this ship, and hopefully ya’ll will enjoy it. If not, that’s okay! I hope you have a great day! 

Reblogs Appreciated!~ Stay hydrated Everyone!~

[azurlily]

Hey there hope you’re doing well I don’t know if you’re still taking your requests at the moment. But if you are here’s one I would like Some head canon for Azula shocking, I know and Mai Tylee and Suki With an OC who likes to sleep topless If you’re comfortable with that or interested

I'm so sorry! I thought I posted this 3 days ago and I check my account and notice it isn't there. I checked my drafts and saw it🤦🏽‍♀️. The gif of Suki I'm using is the only one with just her(no other characters in the picture), if anyone could find more with just her I'd be so thankful!!

Also does anyone know why when I press my stuff(my posts) tumblr says it doesn't exist. Yet I'll scroll down in my acc and find it. It's confusing and I'm going to have to fix a bunch of stuff because of it.

Ozai's Angel's + Suki

When fem!reader sleeps topless.

Azula

Y'all ever sent hat shocked pikachu meme? Yeah that's Azula the first time she sees you sleep topless.

I imagine it was your first night sleeping in the same bed, and you just threw your shirt off. No hesitation. Azula turned and just stared are your bare back. You still had pants/shorts on so she assumed you were going to change. Although in front of her? Really? So bold...

Instead when you turn towards the bed to lay down, you hear the loudest little squeak! It's probably one of the only times Azula will ever act like that. It's just so surprising that you'd frivolously in front of her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

You would look over ins surprise and Azula would immediately turn around.

"Something wrong, zula?"

Azula will stomp her foot and turn back towards you, her eyes cast downwards. You didn't see anything wrong with your clothing choice seeing as you distinctly remember mentioning this to Azula multiple times before.

"You have no shirt and nothing to conceal your chest! Just what are you trying to do on our first night...disgusting!"

Of course Azula didn't mean that last part, but she said it anyway.

You just stared at her for a few moments and then laughed, if you're this far in the relationship(and it wasn't forced) you've learned Azula a lot better than most.

"I'm going to lay down, when you're comfortable: come join me?"

Just wait it out and within a few minutes you'll feel shuffling in the bed. Azula wont touch you in anyway, even to wake you up. The next few days will be her getting comfortable with sleeping next to you like this. Within a month(maybe longer if this is something that truly surprised her about you) she'll be spooning you and refusing to explain why. Don't ask either or she will stop.

Mai

The most calm about the entire situation. That doesn't mean Mai isn't surprised, she's the complete opposite in fact. Mai just doesn't show her emotions like others.

As you two were getting in bed after a long day of doing everything Azula wanted...and complaining about it when she wasn't listening. You and Mai just wanted to relax together.

It doesn't matter if it was the first time you slept together or if you simply always wore a shirt to make her comfortable. Either way Mai has to ensure she's in the right reality when you- in front of her and with no shame -begin to undress.

Mai is(despite popular belief) very awkward. Especially around the girl she's oh so in love with. Mai has, on multiple occasions, not said a single word to you for an entire day. Simply because you made her too 'flustered' to function and she was afraid that she might say something less than appropriate for the situation.

So Mai doesn't say anything. She stares, though. Her eyes don't leave you body the moment she notices what you're doing. It's already hard for her to look away when you have clothes on, but this?! You must be trying to kill her.

"Mai? Are you okay? I'm sorry should I put my shirt back on?"

That's about the only thing that will get her attention. Mai looks up at your face instead of your chest. It takes her a second to recognize your words. They turn her a slight pink, which she looks away as to not show you.

"No. It's fine. Warn me next time. . .please."

Mai has a tendency to make herself seem cold and distant for fear of hurting you. Unknowingly though, that's what ends up hurting you in the end.

You lay in the bed, turned away from Mai. You hear a slight rustle in the bed before a small voice speaks up. Not something you'd expect from her normally.

"I think you look pretty; I-I love you."

Your heart melts.

Ty Lee

A lil' NSFW

Ty Lee is the one who reacts the sweetest. I fully believe that Ty lee has seen some things from being in the circus and all. She doesn't react coldly like Mai nor is she embarrassed like Azula. Ty lee is simply happy her partner trusts her so much as to be naked around her.

You two had been sore from a long day and after bathing(separately) you headed to your room together. Ty lee sleeps in a loose shirt and shorts, she's very open with her body as long as it's her partner.

Truly, she flirts with others but you're her sun. The only person she would truly share her body with.

You take off your shirt with your back turned to Ty lee. Sometimes she wishes you would look at her when she undresses. It makes her feel better about her body, knowing her partner likes it.

Ty lee turns and sees you with no shirt. She just stares for a moment before turning back around, she assumed you were still changing and just waited a little longer.

"Uhm, are you done changing yet?"

You told her yes and she turned around. Nearly tripping over herself.

"Are you going to sleep without a shirt?!"

Ty lee barks out a bit of laughter with her words. She realized you were as soon as she said it. You smiled and simply nodded while Ty lee got a little closer to you. She enjoys your body, it's the most beautiful thing in the world to her. So it is incredibly hard for her to look away.

"You know I think you should sleep like this every night. You look. . .cute."

Ty lee pulls herself closer to you, your bodies press together. Your chests more specifically. Ty lee presses her lips to yours and you slowly lead eachother to the bed. Before you two find yourselves under the covers you hear her whisper.

"Your body's so beautiful; I'd like to see all of it."

Suki

I'm sorry if this isn't as accurate to Suki's character as you'd like!(I'm also sorry Suki's is shorter than the others)

Suki is definitely the most bashful, but in a way the least surprised. I'm more than sure she's seen her fair share of female bodies from the Kyoshi Warriors. The only difference is you're her partner, her one and only.

Suki is a very devoted lover, but(and were going off assumption) you're the first woman she's been with. So she feels safer than she would even wirh her closest friends.

As you two were heading in and getting the first bit of proper rest in a while. You didn't think about your sleeping conditions, you were just tired and uncomfortable in your own skin. As you take your shirt off you hear a loud, strangled cough behind you.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were going to change in front of me."

You laid down in the bed and turn towards Suki who looked away. She wasn't wearing her makeup, but she was still in her uniform.

"You should probably take that off. It'll be uncomfortable to sleep in."

Suki just stares at you dumbfounded, some days she wonders where her love for this idiot came from. Suki undresses, not fully knowing if you're watching or not. Her face reddening.

"Do you feel safe like that with me?"

Suki has been emotionally stunted due to her past. Many days, after meeting you, she felt like you'd find someone more devoted and leave.

That because she was a Kyoshi Warrior she wouldn't be able to fully love you.

You hum quietly, you're too tired to answer. Instead you slowly open your arms up from the bed. Suki gets in bed and snuggles into you. Her head pressing against your neck as she peppers kisses.

"I love you, you surprise me everyday."

No one in their right mind can tell me all of those girls don't have trauma. So I tried to sprinkle a little bit of that in there.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

What does Zuko do for Mai? She clearly puts a lot of effort into the relationship but he doesn't.

He had a lot of growing up to do before he could be in a relationship with ANY girl. Mai came through for him but he never did for her. It makes sense that he originally didn't have a love interest.

...You come into MY HOUSE to talk shit about MY BOY? And about MY SHIP? Anon, grab a sword, we're gonna fight!

Okay now, jokes aside, while Zuko has some maturing to do, so does Mai. And they'd still make mistakes even if their family lives hadn't deeply traumatized them because they're teenagers. Lots of the mistakes they've made (jealousy, poor communication, one accidentally being too aloof, etc) are stuff perfectly healthy and mature adults still make because surprise surprise, figuring out how to make things work with someone is hard, and considering their traumas and the situation they were in, they could have done A LOT worse.

Nothing either of them has done crosses the line into "Behavior that indicates this person should not be in a romantic relationship with ANYONE, at least for now." It's typical relationship stuff that either results on a permanent break-up or a temporary falling out that pushes both to get their shit together and be better for each other.

Not to mention, the root of all of Zuko's issues was the fact that he was abuse victim who was struggling to cope with his abuser being not only his own father but the absolute monarch of their nation. He got used to not being able to trust that someone's affection for him was genuine, to fear that it could suddenly be stolen away.

That he couldn't rely on anyone else because THE person that was supposed to take care of him betrayed him in such a cruel way and got away with it. That feeling entitled to things and then using whatever means to obtain it was the ONLY way to not be neglected, ignored and taken advantage of.

His abuser is gone now, but no matter how much therapy (or at least the ATLA equivalent of it) he gets, Zuko will only learn how to have healthy relationship through practical means because it's REALLY easy to be a good partner in THEORY, but things always get messy when you're dealing with the real thing.

Reality is very different from hypothetical scenarios in which you're dealing with the idea of a partner that never misunderstands you, never says things in a way that didn't realize weren't clear enough for you, never loses their temper, never takes things to heart, never fucks up, never needs a bit of space when you fuck up, never is as in the dark as you are about how to handle an unexpected issue, never gets too needy, never gets too distant - never acts like a human being.

Zuko still makes mistakes when it comes to his uncle and his friends, but no one says "That means Zuko should not have a father figure nor friends" because we saw that being alone Gives Him Very Bad Ideas. Why should romance be any different? A relative or a friend can hurt you just as much as a romantic partner can, and be just as hurt by stuff you do. It makes no sense to act like a flawed person is allowed to want a family and friends, but not a committed relationship.

As to what Mai gets out of this:

1 - Zuko loves her for who she is and canonically likes it when she expresses herself, even when what she is expressing is "Zuko, I'm done with your bullshit". For someone who has been neglected and taught over and over that her opinions don't matter, that means a lot.

2 - When Zuko changed sides, he didn't try to guilt her into leaving with him, and didn't hold it against her when it looked like she was gonna remain loyal to Azula. Compare that to her parents not giving a shit that she didn't want to move to Omashu, or to her knowing there was a possibility of her getting killed by Azula if she displeased her, and tell me in which relationship Mai feels she has the most agency.

Zuko is not a perfect boyfriend, but the simple fact that Mai isn't even slightly afraid to talk back to him when he goes too far speaks volumes on who she feels safer with and trusts to never try to coerce her into staying if she ever decides to leave.

3 - Mai and Zuko enjoy each other's company, are attracted to each other and he is as openly affectionate with her as she is with him. Even the sea-shell she didn't like and the ice-cream he accidentally dropped on her lap were just him trying to spoil her a bit - and he managed to do it in a way she'd appreciate in Nightmares and Daydreams.

He can be a jerk sometimes due to his anger issues (something he canonically was working on and wanted to move past), but he could also be a genuinely caring boyfriend.

4 - Zuko was also neglected and made to feel worthless for most of his life. They can relate to each other.

5 - Three years into his banishment, after no seeing her for a long time and unsure if he'd ever even hear from her again, he still thought of how Azula pulled a prank on them because of Mai's crush on him.

He constantly sought her out for comfort when he was back in the Fire Nation, even when she didn't really know how to handle that yet. Out of all the things he had left behind when he joined the Gaang, she was the one he openly said he'd miss. He was overjoyed when they were reunited in the finale.

Even his not at all healthy levels of jealousy are extra proof that he isn't just putting up with her like her family, he cares about her and actively WANTS her in his life, to the point of being scared that someone could "steal" her from him - and again, Mai feels more than comfortable enough to call him out when he goes too far, so it never crosses the line into "He means well, so lets excuse the bad behavior."

Mai feels wanted, safe and understood. Girl could do a lot worse.

[wildwinterlunas]

Just a kind reminder that canonically Ana and Gabriel were the most ruthless members of the original Strike Team, and they were the ones who trained Cassidy.

Jokes (not really) aside, the fact that they both trained is so interesting to me because of how visible it is on what they actually trained him on.

Because you can see it in the way Cassidy fights-

Alright so to me it's obvious that Ana trained Cassidy in marksmanship and movement of the battle field. The marksmanship one is a canon fact meanwhile the movement is just seen in, well, how they move.

Both of them tend to stay lower to the ground when they don't have a vantage point, using running, jumping and rolling as their go too in order to get out of danger, not only that but their stances are very similar;

But there is also the fact that you can see what he learned from Gabe as well, specifically battle strategy, close range combat and hand-to-hand combat. As I've mentioed in previous posts, though Cassidy is one of the best shots in lore (canonically the only person who has been stated to have the ability to out shoot him is Ana, the best sniper in the world), he is more of a close range sniper then a full distance sniper. This is because of Gabriel's teachings.

Both in lore and in game, Reaper is a close range fighter, and we see this translated to Cassidy. Cassidy could fight long range, he'd need to change his gun but he'd still be able to do it, but he chooses to fight at a closer range more often than not, we see this in New Blood #3 and in Train Hopper. As for battle strategy and hand-to-hand, both Cassidy and Reaper take a more subtle surprise attack approach to combat, not only that but Cassidy is always on guard (that could be a thing he got from both Ana and Gabe tho), both of them rely of close ranged stealth attacks.

Cassidy's fighting style is essentially a deadly mix of two of the most ruthless founding members of Overwatch and people don't talk about that enough-

[quitealotofsodapop]

JTTW-era Stone Egg part 2:

referencing this previous post about the Pilgrims reacting to the knowledge that au!Wukong is having a baby and has a missing mate.

Ao Lie is a real bro; he figured out Wukong was a having a kid based on his dragon/horse nose, and decides to support him 100% no matter his choice at the end of the day. The fact that he suspects its an asexually-produced Stone Egg that could kill his new buddy is something Ao Lie is keeping quiet about until Wukong himself is comfortable sharing it.

Ao Lie, after Bajie accuses him of having a crush on Wukong: "Ew no! He most certainly has a mate awaiting his return - I wouldn't dare dishonor a married demon!" Wukong, brightly playing along: "Yeah, piglet! Plus, no one will ever measure up to my Mihou!" Ao Lie, confused whinny: "Excuse me, what?" Wukong, tail curling into a heart: "The strongest, most clever monkey on Flower Fruit Mountain - my equal in all including on the battlefield. <3"

The rest of the gang are pleasantly surprised... and outraged to learn that their pregnant companion has a mate that up and left him while he was pregnant. Whomever this "Macaque" figure is, the Pilgrims gonna have a stern talk with him when they find him.

Except maybe the two former-celestials;

Bajie is just like: "Wait, did you just say this Macaque guy was your equal in battle!?" Wukong, wistful sigh: "Yeah..." Zhu Bajie & Sha Wujing: *share equally terrified looks*

Maybe they'll need to devise an attack strategy before confronting this guy head on. Ao Lie loudly states that he's gonna kick the guy if he sees him first.

Tripitaka meanwhile has to mentally wrap his head around the idea of two men marrying before he can process that *Sun Wukong* is married. The Confuscist / Buddhist attitudes at the time said "Girls have Karma Cooties"; so it was considered normal for men to "prefer other men's company" but it was still super-illegal. Being raised in a sheltered, likely all-male, monastery also adds in extra confusion for the monk. Not to mention his own asexuality.

Tripitaka: "Is it... acceptable for a man to love another man like one would a woman?" Zhu Bajie: "Only if they're into it." Tripitaka: "Wha...?"

Eventually he ends up asking the boddhisattvas and different gods for their opinions;

Tripitaka: "Is it normal amongst those in the Celestial Realm for men to... have thoughts of romance for other men?" Erlang: "Oh diyu, yeah! It's totally normal! We even have Tu'er Shen - he's the rabbit god of homosexual love!" Tripitaka, pleasantly surprised: "Oh! That's interesting - but is it accepted?" Erlang & the Plum Hill Lads: *share a footballer's huddle, whispering intensely* Erlang: "Ehhh... just don't bring it up around my uncle. He's kinda weird about it." Triptiaka, a little heartbroken: "Oh..."

Best advice comes from Guanyin herself ofc;

Guanyin: "I'm am composed of multiple energies, Tang Monk. Although I do not experience romantic feelings like say, Chang'e and Hou Yi, I know for a fact that the buddha does not judge those for whom they love - even if their fellow man do so." Tripitaka: *delighted smile!* Tripitaka, remembering why he asked: *fatherly instincts activate* "I'm going to kill that Liu'er Mihou for breaking my student's heart!"

In the Jttw Stone Egged au where Macaque lives, Tripitaka is the only one to get a solid punch in before Wukong calls the gang off.

Angst and canonical death tw under Read More;

Zhu Bajie ultimately starts out as a huge a-hole, and the Journey makes him a little less of a jerk. One huge change Wukong noticed in his bro's behavior was around the time... he lost Macaque.

Especially in the Slow Boiled au.

Bajie would walk up to Wukong like he did many time when he tried stealing his snacks or to poke fun at him... only to sit down next to the monkey watches the moon together. Both longing.

Zhu Bajie: "You know... I wasn't lying when I said I was cursed to suffer many heartbreaks... I know what it looks like from a mile away." Wukong: *says nothing, hiding face in his arms and knees* Zhu Bajie: "You really loved that guy, huh?" Wukong: *nods, face still hidden* Zhu Bajie, confidently: "...you'll see him again. Maybe not in this lifetime, but you will." Wukong, uncharacteristically quiet: "Thanks..." Zhu Bajie: "No problem."

The pig is noticeably easier on Wukong after that day. And maybe a little more appriciative of the time he had with Culian... he's experienced enough bad love-lifes to figure out how to make things work. Maybe after the Journey is over, he'll give her a call?

He does really hope his Eldest Brother and his mate reunite in the future... even if it means in the Diyu.