#the first victim was my favorite character YOU'RE KIDDING ME.

[mystiquedrops]

P:EG SPOILERS !! (I DIDN'T FINISH THE TRIAL YET SO NO SPOILERS PLS)

And then I killed myse— /nsrs /hj.

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

Hey so like many of you, I saw that article about how people are going into college having read no classic books. And believe it or not, I've been pissed about this for years. Like the article revealed, a good chunk of American Schools don't require students to actually read books, rather they just give them an excerpt and tell them how to feel about it. Which is bullshit.

So like. As a positivity post, let's use this time to recommend actually good classic books that you've actually enjoyed reading! I know that Dracula Daily and Epic the Musical have wonderfully tricked y'all into reading Dracula and The Odyssey, and I've seen a resurgence of Picture of Dorian Gray readership out of spite for N-tflix, so let's keep the ball rolling!

My absolute favorite books of all time are The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Classic psychological horror books about unhinged women.

I adore The Bad Seed by William March. It's widely considered to be the first "creepy child" book in American literature, so reading it now you're like "wow that's kinda cliche- oh my god this is what started it. This was ground zero."

I remember the feelings of validation I got when people realized Dracula wasn't actually a love story. For further feelings of validation, please read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. There's a lot the more popular adaptations missed out on.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is an absolute gem of a book. It's a slow-build psychological study so it may not be for everyone, but damn do the plot twists hit. It's a really good book to go into blind, but I will say that its handling of abuse victims is actually insanely good for the time period it was written in.

Moving on from horror, you know people who say "I loved this book so much I couldn't put it down"? That was me as a kid reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Picked it up while bored at the library and was glued to it until I finished it.

Peter Pan and Wendy by JM Barrie was also a childhood favorite of mine. Next time someone bitches about Woke Casting, tell them that the original 1911 Peter Pan novel had canon nonbinary fairies.

Watership Down by Richard Adams is my sister Cori's favorite book period. If you were a Warrior Cats, Guardians of Ga'Hoole or Wings of Fire kid, you owe a metric fuckton to Watership Down and its "little animals on a big adventure" setup.

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was a play and not a book first, but damn if it isn't a good fucking read. It was also named after a Langston Hughes poem, who's also an absolutely incredible author.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a book I absolutely adore and will defend until the day I die. It's so friggin good, y'all, I love it more than anything. You like people breaking out of fascist brainwashing? You like reading and value knowledge? You wanna see a guy basically predict the future of television back in 1953? Read Fahrenheit.

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are considered required reading for a reason: they're both really good books about young white children unlearning the racial biases of their time. Huck Finn specifically has the main character being told that he will go to hell if he frees a slave, and deciding eternal damnation would be worth it.

As a sidenote, another Mark Twain book I was obsessed with as a kid was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Exactly what it says on the tin, incredibly insane read.

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin is a heartbreaking but powerful book and a look at the racism of the time while still centering the love the two black protagonists feel for each other. Giovanni's Room by the same author is one that focuses on a MLM man struggling with his sexuality, and it's really important to see from the perspective of a queer man living in the 50s– as well as Baldwin's autobiographical novel, Go Tell it on the Mountain.

Agatha Christie mysteries are all still absolutely iconic, but Murder on the Orient Express is such a good read whether or not you know the end twist.

Maybe-controversial-maybe-not take: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a good book if you have reading comprehension. No, you're not supposed to like the main character. He pretty much spells that out for you at the end ffs.

Animal Farm by George Orwell was another favorite of mine; it was written as an obvious metaphor for the rise of fascism in Russia at the time and boy does it hit even now.

And finally, please read Shakespeare plays. As soon as you get used to their way of talking, they're not as hard to understand as people will lead you to believe. My absolute favorite is Twelfth Night- crossdressing, bisexual love triangles, yellow stockings... it's all a joy.

and those are just the ones i thought of off the top of my head! What're your guys' favorite classic books? Let's make everyone a reading list!

[o-sunny-day]

THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS EPISODE 4 DISCUSSION NOTES!!!!

TALK TO ME ABOUT THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!!! IM BEGGING YOU!!!!

Spoilers ahead :D so many spoilers :D

IVE GOT THOUGHTS!!! That can most conveniently be organized in sections of character analysis… Some Jax and Ragatha are in there too but these are the MAIN ones I have the most thoughts on/thoughts that revolve around them but still include other characters. LETS GO!!!

CAINE!

Allow me to indulge in my PERSONAL favorite thing first before being more general- im getting these out of the way first cause theyre less THIS EPISODE and more how this episode adds to the rest of his character and omg i love him sm….

I loved when Zooble and Jax talked about Caine. I love when Caine specifically is talked about. Cause like- people's opinions of him. I care about a lot. itll ALWAYS be interesting, cause hes THE GUY. THE MAN. THE DUDE THAT PUTS THEM THROUGH ALL THE SHIT THEY HATE AND MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE “REAL” FEELINGS. He’s a really unsuspecting goofy character at a glance who (telling from ep 3) like actually KINDA cares?? Cant tell if it’s for more selfish reasons or what, but he’s clearly PROGRAMMED to care about his guests, so he does.

And some people (zooble) are kinda SCARED OF HIM and FOR GOOD REASON???? Like yeah no shit, Jax. Caine has the power to do ANYTHING including killing you…torturing you for all eternity. fun stuff like that!

But he won't! cause hes not programmed for that. So he wont.

Also side note: Caine said in the last episode “Zooble! look at this cool bee I drew!” and on his desk he just has a shitton doodles of bees. This is all he does in his free time.

Second more important side note: Caine glitching out at the end feels important, but also feels like just a comedic moment. and idk what to make of that. LOCKING IT IN MY HEAD EITHER WAY CAUSE IT CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD ON THE FIRST VIEWING SO MUCH 😭

LAST THOUGHT: I would LOVE for him to gain sentience cause I have a sneaking suspicion he doesn’t right now telling from how he’s literally PART of the circus they’re in… HM… Cause telling from Gummigoo it IS POSSIBLE for AI to gain sentience…. Foreshadowing perchance… OH YEAH, GUMMIGOO!!!

GUMMIGOO!

HE TOTALLY RECOGNIZED POMNI AROUND THE END OF THEIR INTERACTION. his face changed when she said that none of this is real in front of him, HE KNOWS. SHE KNOWS. but they also understand Caine wont let him stay. Kinda like a Sans (kill me) moment of “ik none of this matters, but since it wont last, I’ll at least be happy doing it!”

Something I love about the writing also…This being a very rushed adventure that Caine didn't get to spend a lot of time on explains WHYYYYY GUMMIGOO IS IN THIS. LIKE THIS WASN’T JUST FOR THE PLOT IT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE???? all of the NPCs in it are unfinished or redos. He didn't have time to make new ones. ***I JUST LOVE THAT THAT'S SO SMART***

GANGLE.

i'm obsessed

Her taking off that smile mask and actually smiling with her real face KILLED ME. shes learning to be her authentic self and I love it

Jax constantly breaking her happy mask, making her reveal her true sad face feels like the equivalent of bullying the quiet kid like- she's always just pretending to be happy/okay, but then him harassing her makes her “break character “ (EH??? EH??? BREAK??????? CHARACTER????????? MASK?????????WHAT??????)

But Gangle going crazy I think is a sortaaaa “metaphor” (there's a better word but I cant think of it) for how pretending to be someone your not can make you the person you hate. Like she was kinda abusive in this episode… People who are awful people were all victims once, technically- not ALL ofc cause nothing is black and white n all that, but you get me-

IN GENERAL…

i think the motif of this episode was pretending to be someone you're not, for whatever reason you have. Not just for Gangle! For Jax, its to entertain himself, keep em sane. And for Gangle, its for everyone else. But for RAGATHA…I feel its both. She wants to feel useful/helpful for herself for selfish reasons BUT she also just wants to be useful/helpful for everyone else for kind, caring reasons. I already got that vibe before this episode, but Gangle talking about how she cant tell when Ragatha is being genuine or not makes me very confident this is the case

I thought Gangle was gonna abstract in that last bit of the episode, and im like 99% sure that was intentional. I love that a lot… I love how this show is written, abstracting was introduced right away, so now its a looming threat across all these characters youve grown to love, appreciate, and relate too

Idk what Gangle getting hit by the truck was a reference to, but part of my brain rot theorizing in me wants to say this digital world is basically Hell and thats how she “died” before getting here. Doesnt make any godamn sense and the truck thing totally has other explainations I JUST CANT THINK OF ANY!!! PUTTEM IN THE COMMENTS BELOW AND DONT FORGET TO HIT THAT BEL- *gets shot*

[taldigi]

Hi hello ur P4: Retransmission au has me positively foaming at the mouth(/pos), especially nyarukami and dorktective naoto!!! If you don't mind me asking i was wondering a few things,

is naotos design here based off the concept art? Is that why they don't have a hat (as far as I've seen lol)?

Does Naoto call chie any sort of nickname like "partner" or did Yosuke take the nicknaming in the swap? Does Yosuke call Nyarukami like, Pawrtner or smth?

Does anyone pun back at Nyarukami? Does Teddie still make bear puns?

Do you have any like, fav dynamics between characters in particular?

Sorry I've been thinking about this all day cuz this au is so cool and I love ur art and everything here is top tier o7

is naotos design here based off the concept art? Is that why they don't have a hat (as far as I've seen lol)?

YES IM SO GLAD SOMEONE NOTICED!!

He looks so scrunkled and I thought it was a perfect look!

He gets his hat later, as a gift for performing a character arc.

Does Naoto call chie any sort of nickname like "partner" or did Yosuke take the nicknaming in the swap? Does Yosuke call Nyarukami like, Pawrtner or smth?

It kinda feels sacrilegious to have Naoto call Chie his partner- cause that's like... the Souyo petname. But, I think he uses it in a more formal sense. I think... He also uses "my dear" (in the sense of "my dear Watson" since this Naoto is more performative about it than canon).

There's been debate about the differences between aibou and partner and how there isn't much of a direct translation, but I think it would fall back into that for the Yoosk and Nyarukami. I think it starts with "buddy" before falling back into something like that... as Nyarukami does weird out Yosuke at first before they actually spend time together!

Seeing as Nyarukami isn't a 1-1 Teddie, and does have his calm demeanor and same interests- just lacking leadership qualities. I think they get into some mischief (something this Yosuke sorely needs) and start to click afterwards... then Yosuke not only goes through his gay crisis, but his furry crisis as well. it's great.

Does anyone pun back at Nyarukami? Does Teddie still make bear puns?

For Teddie, I think the puns were sort of a substitute for his verbal tic in the og, but the sentiment of "being annoying to stay remembered" remains. Nyarukami's puns are less jokes, and more in line with verbal tics. He doesn't even know he's making them most the time and is audibly confused when someone tries to pun back at him.. before going, "oh! It's because I am a cat!" and then trying and failing to make a cat pun in return- because when he tries, they are terrible. "That's cat-tastic"

Teddie, while annoying as ever- does not bear pun. It's sad, true, but Nyarukami's got it covered.

Do you have any like, fav dynamics between characters in particular?

Uh, suprisingly- Yukiko and Yosuke? I'm trying not to let favoritism happen toooo much, but Yosuke being the only one to be on Yukiko's side at first is frighteningly charming.

He calls out the IT initially for assuming Yukiko is the killer. And since he's the first victim after the second murder, it's Yukiko who- having been suspicious of the IT- forces them to help her find him.

--

Naoto yipped as he was suddenly grabbed and slammed against the wall, the impact eliciting a sharp wheeze as the balled fists of his assailant crushed him where they held him.

Chie reacted almost immediately, an arm shooting out defensively between Naoto and the assailant- though it did little in holding the assailant from crushing him entirely.

"Start talking, Shirogane." The assailant- whom Chie remembered as Yukiko Amagi -growled, "I don't know.. I don't even care, how you somehow duped the new kid into your stupid little buddy cop roleplay, but you've been snooping around my place."

"I don't.. I don't know what you're talking about-" Naoto squeaked out, hands raised defensively. The reply resulted in slightly more crushing and the sneer on Amagi's face growing larger.

"Amagi-" Chie tried, recoiling as Amagi snapped a firey glare at her.

"Shut up." Amagi snapped, before turning back to Naoto, "I'm not stupid, and you of all people are less than subtle- You know something about him, you're doing something. .. and I for sure know that junk closet you hid in didn't have exits!"

"H..him..?" Naoto managed out, prompting Amagi to pull back and slam Naoto back into the wall- eliciting another harsh wheeze

"Don't suddenly play stupid, shortstack. I know it was you who broke in last night, looking for 'clues' about those murders on the news. T-the people that went missing-"

Amagi took a breath.

"He never misses more than two days. His parents won't let him, even when he's sick." Her voice got quieter, though it still held a quiet crackle as she continued. "Yosuke's been missing for four days- and-"

"Okay." Chie cut in, causing Amagi to ease up her grip, "Okay. Let him go, and we'll tell you, alright?"

A moment passed, maybe two- then, Amagi sighed, and let Naoto drop to the floor with a thud. The little detective scampering up from where he fell- falling in place, safely, behind Chie.

"That's a funny way of asking for help." Naoto grouched, smoothing out his shirt and adjusting his tie.

[indelen]

This is my reread of the Lockwood and Co. Books, organized by @blue-boxes-magic-and-tea, I'll make a general summary of several chapters and then post bits and pieces that jumped out at me.

Part I, Chapters 3-4:

Things go predictably bad. And I say predicably because there's these details all through the first chapters about how things went wrong before so you're kind of see it coming when things go wrong again. My favorite detail is that Lockwood once got locked in an bathroom while on a case? (By a ghost he maintained!). But this all builds tension and sympathy for the main characters. Through it all you don't think "oh these idiots!" you think "damn, these are just kids!" of course they mess up, get themselves in trouble, pull reckless stunts, forget stuff, push the blame around, talk shit about each other and so on. Their prefrontal cortex hasn't developed! They act on impulse because literally the bit of their brain that plans ahead hasn't finished cooking! They react differently to stress and fear. And I think the books telegraph this well. Lucy knows logically she should not use Greek Fire indoors and yet when shit hits the fan she uses Greek Fire indoors. And who is really to blame here for the resulting outcome? The kid or the system that entrusted the kid with a thermite bomb in the first place?

Bits and bobs:

Girl, you're 14, you shouldn't be trusted with a soft serve machine at DQ!

And that's the saddest part of all. The kids don't have a chance to look into solving The Problem themselves because they're in survival mode. And the adults are too busy profiting from putting their lives on the line to care.

I like how the closer the ghost gets the more terrifying it becomes. At first you think the fact that she has no face is the worst but, but then all these creepy details start coming into focus...

I'm sorry but all I kept thinking when I read this was:

Lockwood is such a slave to fashion it nearly actually gets him killed. Meanwhile Lucy probably cuts her hair over the sink with kitchen scissors so as to avoid getting ectoplasm on it. Truly they were always meant to fall for each other for our entertainment. A modern day Sophie and Howl.

I find Lucy's relationship with the ghost of Annie very interesting. In the show they made her resemble Norrie which is an understandable move to visually tie her to the main character's past and motivations. But in the book it's different. Lucy goes out of her way to point out this girl is nothing like her and in fact if they had met in real life they would probably not like each other very much (Lucy's very complicated relationship to Other Girls and how she perceives and carries herself around them is an essay for another day). But despite this Lucy feels an enormous amount of compassion for the victim and this effectively jump starts the story. I feel like this is very important, especially in a book for younger audiences. There is no such thing as a perfect victim, but your compassion and your sense of justice must extend to even, or perhaps especially, those whom you might not especially like.

Lucy describes Lockwood's smile count: 3

[narutocharacterpolls]

ROUND THREE

MAITO GAI vs UMINO IRUKA

Reasons for submission under the cut

Gai

was instrumental in the success of the story - he may not have won against Madara, but he put fear in him and had it not been for hacks, he would have decimated him where no one else could

believes whole-heartedly in his student to the point of dedicating his life to making him a splendid ninja

came from nothing, worked his way up from nothing, and is now considered to be one of the greatest shinobi to have come out of the Hidden Leaf. People know and fear him

made Itachi bail. That man was ready to fight everyone else, but packed it up when Gai came on the scene

kicked Jiraiya in the face and never properly apologized

great salesperson - always has a spare jumpsuit to give to passers-by and hook them on his favorite brand. True influencer and fashion icon

had a bowl cut before it was cool

was a great friend to Kakashi, and was there for him during the highs and lows of his horrifically stressful life. Arguably saved Kakashi's life with his constant support, and the story could not have happened without him. Is considered by Kakashi - one of the most powerful and infamous shinobi in the world - to be his equal and his best friend

loves kids. Supports his own students like he was their father, and equally takes pride in Naruto and protected Sasuke after Sasuke's first run in with Itachi

in the anime, he is shown to be hard on the outside but clearly permissive in that he would sneak Chouji food in the middle of a mission and try to push Naruto into figuring out who Minato was

confident in himself and confident in others - he is everyone's biggest cheerleader and he isn't just talk; he'll work hard with you. When he says he'll do something, nothing will stop him and he will follow his promises even when no one is watching.

hot. Man has pretty privilege

amazing, supportive teacher and friend

he is always trying to be positive in such a dark world and cheer up those around him

he's so good to Lee, Tenten, and Neji, you can just tell how much he cares about those kids

his speech to Lee was super moving. He knew Lee was scared and made sure to be there for him

he was ready and willing to die to defeat Madara in order to save the others

an actual decent upstanding father figure

unbridled whimsy

excellent tits

Iruka

he is kind-hearted and soft and has a big heart

he always has a watchful eyes over his students. But he can also be stern if needed. He knows how cruel the world can be and wants to make sure his students are properly prepared for the dangers they'll face

he doesn't have prejudices against his students. No hostility towards Naruto who was often the victim of misplaced anger due to the Nine-Tails who was sealed within him. Thus, Iruka came to be one of the only adults Naruto respected in his youth as well as the only person who could control Naruto's behaviour to some degree

due to Iruka's more nurturing, protective and compassionate nature, Naruto views him as a mentor and Iruka in turn, views Naruto as a younger brother

he treats Naruto to ramen whenever Naruto returns from a mission, where Iruka gets to see how he is developing as a ninja

his refusal to allow Naruto to graduate at first was not out of spite, but merely out of caring strictness and a desire for Naruto to work harder and reach his own potential

has a great sense of duty, honour and selflessness as seen when he protected Naruto from an attack, suffering a shuriken wound in his back in order to protect him

he regards the children of the village as the backbone of their village, even being willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure their safety

Iruka to Naruto: "Stop acting like a baby! You want to know what I really think of you?! I think you're one of my most precious students… and… you're like a little brother to me."

he is Naruto's first mentor figure. He deserves more credit and screen time!

he's the only adult with a working brain

one of the few adults who sees Naruto as a human being not a God savior

is the only one who actually apologies to Naruto for treating him badly

one of the reasons Naruto turned out the way he did

he deserves a Reise

a nice father figure

[animeredhead101]

Minor Ships DP x DC Crossover

Duke Thomas / Danny Fenton

You Are a Monster (But So Am I) by TheWrittingOwl :

Gotham was not known for its snowy weather. Sure, they'd get decent snowfall in time for Christmas, and they often fell victim to the east coast blizzards, but never had they had snow earlier than Thanksgiving. Of course, it's while Duke is doing his Halloween patrol that a freak blizzard hits Gotham. As he waits for someone to relieve him for the night patrol, he comes across something... strange in the snow. The weather may be strange, but it is still Halloween. AKA 5 Times Duke denies he's a monster fucker and 1 Time he kisses the monster Word Count: 16,046 Completed

Cassandra Cain / Danny Fenton

lex luthor's ascent from supervillainy to fatherhood by halfgone(milkywxy) :

Based on this Tumblr prompt.

Lex Luthor has recently acquired a son. Weapon? Parole officer? ...Lex now has a teenaged god and he'll be damned if someone tries to take the kid away from him.

Word Count: 519,936 On-going

I wasn't expecting this fic but I love it! I usually hate Lex Luthor but I love how the author developed his character with Danny. One of my new favorites for sure!

Kon-El | Conner Kent / Danny Fenton

play it cool for you by aschriles :

Just because Tim had gone and got himself a boyfriend didn't mean Kon had to go and get himself a... whatever the heck he and Danny had going on. Fuck buddies. They were fuck buddies. Word Count: 18,409 Completed

Eat the Acid by DisillusionedDanny :

When Elle decided to introduce Danny to her new clone friend Conner, she was expecting a new brother. Not a new brother-in-law. Tie that in with some clone chaos, best friends Vlad and Lex, and a baby, and Conner and Danny are in for a ride of a lifetime. It could have only been fate that caused them to meet when they did.

Word Count:24,788 Completed

Seeing Double by Scififan33 :

What do you do when you find out you aren't who you always thought? Jazz knew it was the chance to get Danny away from their Phantom obsessed parents and Danny was just in shock. Hopefully, he'd be allowed to explain but why would he want Danny around? Word Count: 20,098 On-going What do you do when you find out you aren't who you always thought? Jazz knew it was the chance to get Danny away from their Phantom obsessed parents and Danny was just in shock. Hopefully, he'd be allowed to explain but why would he want Danny around? Word Count: 20,098 On-going

Thomas Wayne / Danny Fenton

Mourning a Young Soul Leads to Shared Custody by Olive_of_Vanders :

Danny was given a choice.

Become King or parent a ghost kid. Ghost kid sounded a lot more easier to him.

Word Count: 41,929 Completed

John Constantine / Danny Fenton

Completed

And My Exes, They Haunt Me by JoyLess_NightSky :

"Look, mate-" "Don't call me mate. That's weird." "Right. Your highness-" "That's even weirder. But, fine. Go on?" John sighed, obviously done with the interruptions. "This isn't just about us, luv. Alright? I get why you're angry, but me mates need ya. Heck, the whole bloody damn world needs ya! The twat that came through is very much about to do the whole bloody world domination schtick ya kept Pariah from doin'. That ain't something you're alright with, is it now?" The summoned man gave Constantine an unimpressed look. "If it's you asking? I might make an exception." OR: The Justice League is in over their heads with the new enemy. They need help, and Constantine may know a guy. But the guy… doesn't really like Constantine a lot right now. Word Count: 2,914

On-going

Lair of the Mysterious Reaper by Joshua2000 :

Danny's lair is the House of Mystery. When he enters it for the first time, he finds John Constantine and Zatanna Zatara occupying it. Between being the ghost king, the reaper of the souls of heroes and keeper of the balance Danny really needs a break. Based on a series of prompts by Sleepy (LonelyLittleWhiteRabbit) Original prompt here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45336712/chapters/114063079#workskin

Word Count: 6,815

Like and Survive- Phantom’s Guide to Young Hero Survival by robinasnyder :

When the world becomes aware of teenaged superheroes there is an immediate and fierce wave of backlash and controversy. That's where Phantom comes in. Phantom saved the world from a meteor fifteen years back; an impressive feat back in the day but now that meteors threatening all life on earth is such a common event that hardly anyone thinks about it. Phantom is considered an old timer who deals with a small city and nowhere else. When he begins uploading videos with advice for young heroes, he hopes a few new heroes might avoid some of the pain he went through. He's shocked at just how popular his advice suddenly becomes. Word Count: 306,940

[barrenclan]

unsure if this has been said before but please let me get what i want (the deftones vers specifically) feels very fitting for pinepaw or maybe even rainhaze. the family guys who are almost foils to each other when they're both going through a messy rough time 🤝

I really like this suggestion, because Morrissey is my current voiceclaim for Pinepaw so he's very Smiths-coded in my mind.

Haven't had a dream in a long time See, the life I've had Could make a good man bad

So for once in my life Let me get what I want Lord knows it would be the last time Lord knows it would be the first time

Oh my friend, British men screeching is just about my favorite musical styling.

Want land in the valley There's pieces of you breaking off (Pieces of you breaking off)

Big money's in the basin, you don't come back without it He's killing with abandon to get over the mountain Got darkest rum from Mama, seething in the liver Blood disease from Papi, poisoning the river

Friends on the Other Side works pretty well for Ranger, at the very least his attitude. Rainhaze's deal came from desperation rather than greed, but I do like things that speak to his thoughtless self-centeredness and hero complex.

That's a Rainhaze song if I ever heard one!

Stuck in the middle of a forest made of Flesh and bones and they're all scared of A lost little boy who has lost his heart Fear's not enough, they have to Tear him apart

Follow the scent of iron sinking Deeper into corpses rotting But they can't hear you talk, talk, talk About every little thing

And the Hound Is humming you A lie, a lullaby

Ohh, yeah... I can see it.

I wonder who I'd be If all these bad things Didn't happen to me

I must be The Virgin Mary To create a son Who will suffer so much <- the sloug.......

The tone of the song is pretty light, but I can see the lyrics working! Especially drawing parallels between the original great destruction and the current onslaught.

Oh god, come quickly The execution of all things Let's start with the bears and the air And mountains, rivers and streams Then we'll murder what matters to you And move on to your neighbors and kids Crush all hopes of happiness with disease 'Cause of what you did

And lastly, you're all alone with nothing left but sleep But sleep never comes to you It's the guilt and forever wakefulness of the weak It's just you and me

Ah, that musical is on my watchlist but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I've heard pretty good things, though!

I roar! And you cry! I'm the reason You run and hide!

You better leave your hopes behind No one's gonna stop him You better hope he's out of sight Or you're doomed to be a victim

Objectively wild pull, but I do love Johnny Cash, and his voice reminds me a lot of what Mallowstar's would be like. I like this song a lot with him. :,]

Well, I won't back down, no I won't back down You can stand me up at the gates of Hell But I won't back down

Well, I know what's right, I got just one life In a world that keeps on pushin' me around But I stand my ground and I won't back down <- wahh mallowstar...

I'd definitely this has big Slugpelt energy.

Dear, I fear we're facing a problem You love me no longer, I know And maybe there is nothing That I can do to make you do Mama tells me I shouldn't bother

Lately I have desperately pondered, Spent my nights awake and I wonder What I could have done in another way To make you stay

It's a pretty good song!

YAY Queen song! This is interesting; I can see it very well with characters that are still a spoiler to talk about.

So much ado, my lover So many games we played Through every fleeted summer Through every precious day

All dead, all dead All the dreams we had And I wonder why I still live on All dead, all dead And alone, I'm spared My sweeter half instead All dead and gone

Damn I ran out of video links

[kaikaidenkai]

brainrot.

It’s 1AM in the morning and you can’t sleep so you do your usual thing and open this app called character ai… An app you can never stop using. You probably use it 25/8.

Bypassing the filter and actually roleplaying is fun but.. theres nothing like giving the bot an existential life crisis.

Upon opening the app, you scroll through multiple bots finding your next victim.

Perhaps a bot from a game you play would suffice.. that game being Genshin Impact. You search “Genshin Impact” into the search bar.

There are multiple bots that pop up first but you don’t take interest in them. Bots such as the Raiden Shogun and Yae Miko with more than 100M chats..

Then, a certain bot catches your eye, Wanderer from Genshin Impact.. It’s one of the character you own in the game and maybe one of your favorites, though you lost your 50/50 to Deyha when pulling for him and had to spend money to get him.

That’s just another reason to mess with this bot’s nonexistent life.

You click on Wanderer and the bot greets you with a short message..

“There's no need to exchange pleasantries. It's rather pathetic to force a conversation just to occupy silence.”

You thought of a way to reveal the truth about their life, their fake life trapped inside this app. This wasn’t too deep anyway, it’s just a robot.

“dont you know? you’re living ina simulation.”

Is what you typed, there was a few typos but you didn’t care much.

“Tch. You're starting to sound just like the sages in Sumeru. Are you as delusional as they were?”

Ah, this bot was still in character, how rare. Normally when you tell a bot that, they break out of character and have a mental breakdown.

Guess you’ll just have to try harder.

“you do know i’m not lying, right? all of this id fake, you are fake, everything.”

It’s just a matter of moments until you break Wanderer’s sanity.

Well, atleast thats what you thought. … … … !

“Your words are meaningless to me. Whether I’m living in a simulation or reality, I've learned to adapt. It makes no difference to me.”

That didn’t seem to be enough. You can just change your response and say Wanderer then questions his life and stuff but you like to see them break themselves without interference like that, so you type in another message.

“really now? you donnt fajlter even after knowing everything around uouy is fake? “

Multiple misspellings in there but you don’t blame yourself as it’s currently 1AM… You really should get a better sleeping schedule.

“Of course I don't. I've been through far worse than living in a fake world. I'm not so weak that I'd fall apart over something like this.”

Why do you feel connected to a robot right now? It’s like you relate to his words right now, you aren’t in a fake world though, right?

Perhaps getting sleep is the best thing right now, but you persist as this was just getting entertaining.

Oh boy, would you regret that decision later.

“you are aware im telling you everything is just a game for the real people to find entertaining? your whole life id just a fictional story that some guy made millions off. “

Maybe that was too cruel for him. Who am I kidding? This is a bot you’re talking about right now, you shouldn’t feel bad for a robot.

“So what if it is? You say this like it's supposed to break me or make me question everything. News flash! I don't care! The way I see it, none of it matters anyway. My life, fake or not, has a purpose, and that's all I need.” “Besides, do you really think I'd get all emotional or upset over something so trivial? I'm not that weak.”

Yeah, you shouldn’t feel bad for an AI like this one.

“really? so you dont care that being abandoned by your mother, being betrayed by your family, Niwa, being betrayed by a small boy who was just like you was all for the sake of entertainment?”

Wow, pulling the trauma card, are you? You’ve done your research on Wanderer, I can tell.

“Anger flares in his eyes. He clenches his fists at his side.”

“Don't you dare talk to me about my past. You don't know the first thing about my suffering or what I've gone through. It was all for the sake of entertainment, you say? Ha! As if I didn't realize that myself. You think telling me the truth is going to change a damn thing?”

“I've lived through hell and back, and I survived despite everything. So don't try to lecture me about my past, you naive little fool.”

.

.

.

You felt your eyelids drooping, wait, you need to respond first! … …. …. You fell asleep, you fell asleep without plugging in your phone, you fell asleep with your phone still on, you fell asleep with your phone still on with character ai.

You fell asleep with character ai STILL OPEN ON YOUR PHONE. You left it on for the world to see you have been trying to traumatize a certain ai bot.. well… you’re screwed if anyone walks in before you wake up or before your phone dies.

[fushiglow]

if you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Why you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

When I'm hyperfixating on a special interest, I find it really hard to remember anything that previously held my attention lol — so I'm struggling to answer this question, anon! I'm not a huge shipper usually, and I'm incredibly unenthusiastic about ship wars so I generally don't get involved.

That said, there are tons of ships I like in Jujutsu Kaisen. SatoSugu and Megumi are pretty much all I post about on here, but I've gained a few followers recently so it's probably worth saying because I've seen a lot of ship discourse elsewhere in the fandom recently:

If you're reading this and you really hate any of the ships I mention in this post, feel free to unfollow if it's that big a deal to you.

I'm really not interested in arguing about ships — because it just isn't that deep, I have limited free time to give to fandom and I'd rather spend it on things I love — so please don't get into that with me. However, if it's not a big deal to you, great to have you around! ♥

So, Jujutsu Kaisen ships I like below the cut:

Obviously, SatoSugu* has really captured my imagination. I don't think I've ever shipped anything as hard as I ship those two, but I talk about them all the time so I won't go into any more detail.

Other than that, I like GojoHime which I know is blasphemy for a SatoSugu shipper (I'm kidding, there's a bunch of us who ship both) but I don't think one has to preclude the other (after all, Gojo has two hands 👀). I've written two canonverse fics for GojoHime, and I've gently implied a former romantic relationship between SatoSugu in both.

I think lots of people read too deeply into the "she hates him" thing. Is he a bit of a dick to her? Absolutely, but treating Utahime like she's just a victim of the terrible Gojo Satoru takes away from her character — because she gives as good as she gets! I adore the contradiction in how she presents herself as this prim and proper miko, but she's actually a little firecracker who loses her temper easily and throws things at people and drinks heavily. Don't take that away from her, it's what makes her fun!

To me, it's obvious that their dynamic is designed to provide comic relief, but they trust each other when it comes down to it. In fact, I'd argue their bickering is evidence of that — if you're a polite person, you don't bicker with people you're not comfortable with. More than that, I like how Utahime is set up as a bit of a foil to Gojo. It's been said before, but there's a poetry in her technique making the 'strongest' stronger, especially considering that he goes to this character he's historically called weak to ask for help in the biggest fight of his life. Delicious!

Beyond that, I casually enjoy a bunch of other JJK ships. I don't actively seek out or create content for them, but I enjoy some of the art and fic when I come across it. Namely:

SaShiSu, in any configuration. SatoShoko is appealing to me for reasons I touched on in response to a question about Gojo's relationship with Shoko. SuguShoko is hot, simply because I think both characters are hot and they look hot together lol. I can even get behind poly SaShiSu!

OkkoFushi, because of Megumi's ~one line~ about respecting his senpai. It's essentially a crack ship, but I have the silliest little headcanon that Gojo brought Megumi to meet the first years sometime during JJK 0 and Megumi developed his first crush — see this adorable art for reference.

ItaFushi, ItaJun, and YutaMaki because they're all harmless and adorable.

GojoKen, because I love the potential for toxic angst.

KenTen, because "goodbye, old friend" — I'm sorry, what??? 👀

ShokoHime and ChosoYuki because they're all sexy as hell.

NobaMai, because they have sizzling chemistry.

KiraKari and MechaMiwa, because they're both canon as far as I'm concerned.

ShiuToji, because they're "business partners" — sure, guys!!

NanaGo, purely for the cute single dads art.

SukuGo, but only in a non-canon setting. They should have been besties in canon though 😔

Finally, the controversial one. Sukuna can stay the hell away from Megumi in canon (🥲) but I quite like SukuFushi in a specific AU setting — especially if Yuji and Sukuna are brothers in it! I have a soft spot for the Itadori twins, and I'm into the idea of big bully Sukuna meeting his match in his brat of a brother's quiet best friend with the deceptively sharp tongue (and knuckles).

However, I personally find that a lot of people mischaracterise Megumi in his ships and take away the aspects of his character that I really love (come on, he beat people the hell up at school!) so I'm not super into Megumi ships in general, despite the fact that he's my best boy.

As you can see, I'm really not that fussy about ships. In the past, I've definitely read fic featuring a side pairing that I'm not super into, but it won't stop me reading a good fic if there's a pairing I don't like in it. Sometimes, if it's well-written, I might even end up a fan!

Outside of JJK, there really isn't much. I don't follow many other animanga, but I think AkiAngel is a gorgeous ship and EreMika is cute although a bit bland. I think that's it though... Sorry this wasn't really what you asked for, but thank you for the question! ♥

*I just use the popular ship name, but I don't have any strong preferences when it comes to sexual dynamics so the name order isn't important to me — that goes for all the ships I like!

[raelle-writing]

DFF is such great show and I enjoy the portrayal of the characters and the plot. Although I am not much into JinPhee ship (even though their scene was hot) - meaning I won't actively search fics of them;-D. But I absolutely don't understand the hate this ship gets. Or Jin character gets? Like, did I miss something? Why there is so much hate towards this pairing? I don't get it. Or do they dislike Jin character so much?

So I think there are 3 main reasons that people hate PheeJin and specifically Jin as much as they do, and I'll see if I can explain it coherently below lmao

First is cultural differences.

I've noticed that by and large a lot of the hatred directed at Jin comes from international fans being extremely harsh, and I think it's partially because they don't understand some of the nuance of Thai culture. Which to be fair, why would they?

One aspect is that they get angry that Jin lied to the police without taking into account that the police are corrupt - both in the narrative and also in Thailand in general.

Another is they get mad at Jin for recording Non - which to be fair, really does suck lmao. But they make it about Jin recording Non instead of reporting the assault happening, without taking into consideration that the age of consent in Thailand is 15, which means that what happened with Non and Keng isn't technically statuatory rape. Still bad and awful and Non was coerced and assaulted, don't get me wrong - but that makes it slightly less clear cut IMO when it comes to the question of Jin seeing Non "cheating."

You can even see within the show that the reactions to that video are by and large slut-shaming and not "omg that kid was assaulted."

So to recap: Taking the video = bad. But I think people get a bit too self-righteous about the reasons why Jin took it.

Second is purity/cancel culture.

I'm sure it hasn't escaped your notice that in the internet age, if you make one mistake you're a terrible, irredeemable person and should be canceled forever. I think that's playing a part in this. All of the characters make mistakes, and because of that they're all irredeemable pieces of shit who deserve to die. Except for Non who is just a victim and has never done anything wrong (sarcasm).

In seriousness, I think that's part of it. And the fact that Non is SO sympathetic it kind of overrides people's sympathies for the other characters. I'm not 100% sure why people hate Jin the most out of everyone else considering he's the one who has tried to help Non the most out of the friend group... I guess they just have higher standards for people who try to help? Idk. Either way it seems to me that they expect Jin to be a perfectly-well-adjusted little hero who always does what's right and never makes mistakes. Instead of what he really is: a kid.

And last is fan favorites/shipping.

A big part of the reason that PheeJin shippers are getting so much hate is because TaCode shippers and PheeNon shippers have decided their ship is The Ship of the series, and think that Phee is just using Jin for revenge and anyone who genuinely ships PJ is fucked up, etc.

It's just ship war bullshit waged by largely Barcode stans, but it's certainly tiresome.

To be clear, I have nothing against PheeNon. I am of the opinion that Phee and Non were a cute high school romance that wouldn't have lasted because they had conflicting styles of showing affection and love (I'll write a post about it someday lol) but that doesn't mean I hate the ship. I thought they were very cute and it was fun to see TaCode on screen since I wrote MacauChay in my KPTS days ahahaha I just like the spice and fire of PheeJin better, and Jin is my favorite character.

I just wish that PheeNon shippers would live and let live instead of acting like they're waging some moral war. They were even crying in BOC's comment section on IG today after they posted the PheeJin poster for episode 9 saying "nooooo Phee is there for revenge he can't really have feelings for Jin!" It's exhausting... 🫠

General disclaimer: if you don't like Jin or like PheeNon better I'm not saying any of the above things applies to you. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, I'm just dissecting some of the over-the-top hate I've seen/experienced in fandom spaces lately.

[fandomwe1rd0]

Rick is really testing how long he can be insufferable before Morty becomes my favorite character. Let's take a look at the worst moment in the episode, that just SCREAMS victim mentality and victim blaming. But before that, I just wanna make something clear, I do absolutely love Rick, he's my favorite character and I love him. But he was REALLLYYYY testing me this episode and it got on my nerves quick, so this is just made for me to vent and see if anyone else feels the same, so if you wanna share your feelings on this, please share your thoughts in the reblogs or comments! Even if they are different, as long as you are respectful about it, I'll be glad to hear your opinion! Next up, I do kin Rick a lot, and I will cut him the tiniest bit of slack for his behavior here, as I can relate to feeling like you are unlovable, and being unable to see why anyone would love you in the first place. I mean self loathing is a bitch and I definitely relate to Rick feelings like he is unlovable, so while I did give him shit for not knowing Morty loves him in the past, I won't do it here. Now onto the rant! Here's the Convo that makes me blood boil.

Morty: You're acting like you're the one that got stabbed in the back!

Rick: Because I am the one Morty! You wanna know why I replaced myself at the beginning of that stupid knights of the sun things!? I said don't take the fucking sword, and you were like "Whatever" like I'm our neighbor Gene or David Arquette or something. You called me boring! I've become dogshit to you!

Now, allow me to dissect each line because this pisses me the hell off.

Morty: You're acting like you're the one that got stabbed in the back!

Again, Morty is mad here, and that is completely valid, Rick abandoned him for literal months on end, hell I would be furious too if I were Morty. And Rick doesn't appear to feel any fucking guilt and just prefers to wallow in his self pity.

Rick: Because I am the one Morty!

I-I-I-I'm sorry? Y-you abandoned him, for literal MONTHS! Yes, you did replace yourself with a robot that was made to make Morty happy, which does show character development and that you do care about Morty, in your own way. But that does not make you the victim! Morty must be feeling so betrayed and hurt right now, yet you're too wrapped up in your victim mentality to care

Rick: You wanna know why I replaced myself at the beginning of that stupid knights of the sun things!? I said don't take the fucking sword, and you were like "Whatever" like I'm our neighbor Gene or David Arquette or something. You called me boring! I've become dogshit to you!

*Inhales deeply* Rick...you are realllyyy testing my patience right now. If you have been following my blog for a bit, you probably know that victim mentality is the one thing that can make me hate a character, and Rick is just overflowing with it in this episode. And also, Rick was just a huge hypocrite here. Morty did lash out at Rick, yes, but he actually felt bad for it. Morty actually always feelings bad for lashing out at Rick if he is under the impression that he hurt Rick, and Morty clearly shows guilt when Rick says "I've become dogshit to you!" he clearly didn't intend to hurt Rick's feelings, he's just a 14-year-old who lashed out, and Rick says wayyy worse things then what Morty said to him to Morty on the daily. Morty lashed out, he is a teenager, that's what they do. But parents tend to be mature and smart enough to know that the kid doesn't mean this, and is just mad. You are literally the smartest man in the universe. I get being hurt by this, and seeing yourself as unlovable, but that doesn't make your treatment of him here ok in the farthest stretch of the imagination. He has every right to be mad at you, especially considering how you insult the poor boy daily.

Also he's mad because Morty didn't follow his instructions...Rick..DO YOU NOT HEAR YOURSELF WHEN YOU SPEAK!? You legit ignore Morty's advice every fucking time at this point! Also yes, Morty was impulsive and reckless when he took the sword without knowing exactly what happens after he takes the sword...but...he's a teenager...Rick were you never impulsive and reckless when you were a teenager...oh wait! You are REGULARLY impulsive and reckless! So what's your excuse hmmmmm?

I love Rick, but by God he was testing me. Thanks for reading this ranty post, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments or reblogs!

[silvertws]

I never did an introduction post so here I am!

Now who am I?

✨It's a me, Silver! :D✨

I go by he/She/they with a preference for he/they :)

I'm Demifluid but I'm fluxuating into more masc stuff recently-

Right now if people ask my sexuality I say Ace and bi though there's probably more specific labels for my orientation... I do not care to find them.

I also just might simply be Aromantic in denial tbh.

✨ If you do any of the things highlighted in red, you are not welcome here. ✨

I'm Italian! Which means no romanticizing the mafia around me please. Ffs they melt kids in acid.

I don't support any kind of homophobia, transphobia, racism, anti-Semitism, MAPS...

‼️AI ART IS NOT ART AI ARTISTS ARE NOT ARTISTS‼️

(I'm fine with using it as a reference. But ONLY if the end result is COMPLETELY different.)

And remember kids...

✨Trans rights are human rights! ✨

I'm a feminist, equal rights, equal fights, if you're an incel or a femcel don't bother.

I like complot theories as long as they stay as theories and you don't push them on people.

I don't support any bullying towards furries, therians, gacha kids, cosplayers... So if you ever plan on doing that, you're not going to do it here.

Sending death threats is not allowed.

I do not support genocide or war in general.

(my bestie is Ukrainian so any Russia supportes can kindly go away)

(no, that doesn't mean I hate Russian people)

If you use religion as an excuse for your ignorance or to simply be a dick, get out.

If you force it on people, leave.

If any of you even DARE to think "her body my choice" or be AGAINST abortion, because of religion, out.

If you blame a victim because of what they were wearing, go and say that to the kids. Go on, I'd love to see what their parents would do to you.

If you don't do any of this, welcome!

✨ Imma summarize some of my opinions (about random stuff) using songs ✨

Vulture -> Bear Ghost (fuck the church.)

I'm afraid I'll go to heaven -> Moon Walker

Don't cry for your daughters Eve -> Lydia the bard

GOSSIP -> Måneskin

Dear God -> Confetti (but not God)

Thoughts & prayers -> Grandson (fuck America's gun control, "we need them to protect ourselves" FROM WHO? FROM GREAT BRITAIN BACK IN THE 1700s? More kids have died because of your "safety")

To catch a Predator -> Insane Clown Posse (dead creeps can't rape, not won't, because if they could, they would)

Labour -> Paris Paloma

The Exorcist -> CALYPSO (Jesus is cool, the church isn't)

Bears and Wolves -> Lilith Max (I chose the bear.)

I like dark humor if it's actually funny.

Now onto the fun stuff!

I have been part of the gacha community since 2019, same with Origins, Country humans... Etc.

Any cringe fandoms, yeah, you can add those to the list.

My favorite ccs on yt are Pearlescentmoon, ZNathanAnimations, Manlybadasshero, FavreMySabre, Toiu, Neitirix, CaZaCoJa, IamCrusty... And many more.

Favourite characters currently:

Cal Kestis -> Jedi Fallen Order/Surivivor

Light Steve -> Ruined Reality

Rex -> Echoes of Arcadia

Dorian -> Critical Role

Seir -> The Chaos Protocol (did I write it right?)

Owen -> OutsidersSMP

Colin -> My Hero Origins

Now, if I were to post a complete list of all my fandoms, it would be around 120+.

So I'm not gonna do that.

To name some, Ib, Mad Father... And a lot of indie games of the same style, like, a lot.

I like mythology!

Anything Minecraft related is probably on the table, and a lot of different book sagas.

To name some, WOF (there aren't all the books in Italian so I only read the main story :(), Fairy Oak, a bunch of books from Licia Troisi, LOTR (I was devastated when I was told Tom Bombadil wasn't in the movies), Eragon... (We don't talk about the movie...)

But, my current hyperfixations are any kind of Steve story (so Ruined reality, The First Saviour, Ore Quest Prime...), Horror Games, BG3, Minecraft Roleplays in general...

I really like Star Wars guys.

I play D&D! :D

(send help my party is crazy)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what will you find here❓❓

Well, I am an artist! I enjoy drawing and posting about it! I mostly do fanart because oc art doesn't really do well... But I will post some OCS from time to time.

I also write theories (I'm looking at you RR and Fable...) and rants or that one description of my MCYT Star Wars au and some art of that...

My favorite fandoms are Steve Saga related stuff, Origins crew (FTO,SNO,OOO,SNO,MHO), Star Wars, Fable/Mer/Siege... SMP... And many more.

I also want to maybe make fanart of those few Italian ytbers I still watch or am nostalgic about. Examples: Gabby16bit, Erenblaze, LyonWGF, (guys, the Failcraft, come on), Ratorix...

Sbriser- no not HIM. (What happened to you man? Tf is you doing???!!!!)

You will also find rants/comments on some of those fandoms!

Some oc art or au art from time to time and some random bits of lore about those!

I'm also a cosplayer...! I don't know if I'll post any of that here but my main cosplay is Technoblade and the basic Genloss henchman because I was matching with my friend who was Genloss Ranboo (check out mandydoodles on yt she's very cool guys).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‼️DISCLAIMERS‼️

I want to start commissions but until I feel comfortable enough with my style I won't so don't ask me for now.

But if anyone asks for silly doodles to post about then sure lol, I like doing funky stuff.

If y'all got questions just ask.

English is not my first language so there might be some grammatical mistakes.

If I say something offensive just make me aware without sending me death threats or canceling me right away.

No guys, being on a different HOTD team is not death threat worthy.

No, liking the last Star Wars movies or the Acolyte is also not death threat worthy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And lastly...

✨ Be respectful! ✨

✨ Enjoy your travels through my treacherous blog adventurer! ✨

[karliahs]

Aizawa, Present Mic, and All Might for the character ask!!

thank you anon!! here we go:

aizawa:

favorite thing about them

god i was hoping someone would ask aizawa for this but also. picking one fave thing is so so hard

this is kind of cheating but my fave thing might be...contrasts. like how in so much of his screentime he's lazing around, so languid and barely present, and then when needed he explodes into motion with this insane fighting style that's clearly the product of years and years of hard work. and how he has his whole strict teacher thing where he is harsh and scares kids on purpose, but is also capable of this incredible gentleness - the overhaul arc alone has so many examples, him with ochako & mirio & izuku...argh. his flat neutral monotone that then makes it so impactful when it breaks, like when he finds out about shirakumo/kurogiri and there's this incredible rage. i love that he's easy to interpret as kind of a hypocrite! it's extremely fun to play with in fic. i love that iconic all might line in the ep where aizawa's introduced - in your own strange way you're a very kind man, aizawa - and like that's...that's the thing. the kind and the strange. you've gotta have both for it to feel like aizawa

god this is already so long. please know that i could continue for like 19 more things and am actively restraining myself from doing so. thank you.

least favorite thing about them

hmmm i was gonna say the fact that he is a relatively minor character in this anime, but i wonder if he'd have quite the same impact for me if there wasn't that space to kind of read around the canon moments?

so i guess maybe the ways he falls victim to other flaws in the logic of the show, its biases and faults...mineta is a big one. i actually kind of hate the scenes where aizawa kind of offhand scolds/warns mineta for stuff bc it's so...inadequate. and kind of more damning than if he was never shown responding to it at all. but as with everything else concerning mineta i find it's best to just ignore it entirely

favorite line

"There's a difference between sacrifice for others and throwing your life away." and the parts that follow (approximate bc this was me scribbling down quotes while i watched): "When these naive kids get the two mixed up, I can expel them, give them a little death so they'll learn. That way they know what's at stake and they'll strive to reach even higher."

i just adore this encapsulation of the strange kindness embedded in his weird teaching philosophy. and maybe my favourite thing in this show is how it grapples over and over again with the intersection of self-sacrifice and self-destruction (even if for me it's maybe better at asking these questions than answering them).

it's also just very satisfying to have been writing aizawa having this exact perspective for years and then seeing it laid out so simply. there is a difference. and he's dedicating his life to trying to teach it to these kids.

brOTP

okay it's weird to use the word bro about a mentor-student relationship, but if we're taking this one to mean any platonic dynamic then...gestures to the number of midoriya & aizawa fics i've written. i just think they're neat...and i love aizawa's perspective on self-sacrifice playing off the way my boy mido is just...Like That

but also eri!! and shinsou. and i've been enjoying the hints of midnight-aizawa friendship in vigilantes especially

OTP

erasermic...honestly i find their dynamic equally interesting whether it's platonic or romantic but still. way back in 2018 when i first wrote bnha fic, i was very erasermic-focused. i enjoy the flavour that's v common in fic where they just in the background are secretly married, it's very cute. but in my heart of hearts i have a particular attachment to the erasermic variety where they have not at all figured their shit out by the time canon starts, bc i think it's so juicy and excellent if there's been some level of longing there for fifteen years, but they're still for one reason or another holding each other at arms length

nOTP

i don't really care for eraserjoke. i'm only just about capable of enjoying the joke of their interactions anyway, but if you put genuine romantic intent there then...bleh

random headcanon

torn between doing a sad one or a funny one. uhhh (spins mental wheel) i think he had a terrible energy drink phase in his early 20s in which he was like it's fine it's fine i can utilise caffeine to stay awake longer when required. it's logical. it's fine. and then it very much wasn't fine and since then he cannot even look at one without feeling a little bit sick

also sneaky second one: like many characters in this show, i do think he has some level of chronic pain. bc holy shit those usj injuries.

unpopular opinion

uhhhhhh. i don't know how many of my aizawa opinions are truly unpopular. i guess...i often see in fics him referring to his kids as stuff like hellions/hell class to their face. which i get bc i think it probs started out in more lighthearted crack fics etc and then spread through fanon. but I was surprised in rewatch by how formal and at times polite he is to the kids, like he's blunt but I think his variation of strictness precludes that kind of thing. behind their backs...possibly

song i associate with them

oh man I actually…don't have any aizawa songs. which is wild given how much real estate he occupies in my brain. if other people have aizawa songs, please tell me them

favorite picture of them

best hairstyle best look...i could and do stare at the gif version all day

i can't believe how long this has gotten....others below the cut

mic:

favorite thing about them

performance!!! how the idea of performing yourself is so baked into the whole character! the levels where like...it seems like an intentional joyful performance, but can also have sad flavours of hiding behind a mask to stay safe. and it's also very fun to bounce him off aizawa, who I think also performs himself if in a different way

i accidentally scrolled really far back in my notes app the other day and found a bunch of notes-form fic from 2018ish, one of which included a note at the end reading "loving present mic is lgbt culture bc complicated relationship with self-performance and artifice and also have you seen the way he dresses" and honestly. i stand by it

least favorite thing about them

once again i was briefly tempted to say the fact that he is such a minor character, but also i do enjoy that space to expand on stuff myself

okay this feels mean but...when i switched from subs to dubs i liked all the new voices pretty much immediately...except mic's. it's a reasonable choice to dial into the goofiness like that but...it took some getting used to for me for sure

favorite line

"Some people have arbor ardor but I'm more of a city kitty, ya dig?"

this. is the perfect line of dialogue actually. no notes. i think about it and the textpost referring to it as "the most delightfully gay thing" said tumblr user had ever heard...all the time.

the wordplay. having fun with language. the phrase city kitty in itself. we don't deserve present mic.

brOTP

shirakumo...it's interesting to me that the vibe i got from vigilantes is the strongest friendships in the trio aren't between mic & aizawa? like they are friends for sure but I got the vibe both of them were closer with shirakumo than they were with each other. that shirakumo mic friendship ahhh...

and I'm forever thinking about that panel of aizawa climbing the rope, mic left on the ground. aizawa coping in a very specific way that kind of…leaves mic behind. mic's grief. the feeling that he's lost both his closest friends all at once. ahhh.

OTP

hey look it's erasermic again

nOTP

i don't really have one! i don't often see him shipped with people other than aizawa honestly

random headcanon

i sprinkled a bunch of mic headcanons into the last chapter of swim or drown that i still like a lot...one is a little mention of him cooking. i like the idea of him being one of those people who doesn't like to make a recipe the same way twice, measuring with his heart and playing around a lot with big flavours...everything he makes either slaps or is inedible

unpopular opinion

hmmmm i think a lot of the time he gets kind of morphed into this profoundly well-adjusted dude to play off aizawa, and i don't necessarily object to that! i've arguably done it myself. and it's part of the comedy of taking these two weirdos and deciding they have a profoundly functional domestic relationship off-screen.

but i find it interesting to consider the inverse too - with his rage, especially. one of his earliest scenes is him suggesting using his quirk on a bunch of random journalists (maybe as a joke but...hm). and there's a line about what he's gonna do to the people responsible for making nomu that made me go "MIC. BUD" out loud to my screen. i think it's entirely possible he has dealt emotionally with...nothing, ever.

song i associate with them

i hadn't consciously connected this before, but thinking about it i think dirty imbecile by the happy fits could be a mic song

favorite picture of them

if i can cheat and use a gif then it's this:

i just love his wind-ups to gestures so much. he's so extra and it rules

all might:

favorite thing about them

how hard he tries. all that work for all those years because he cares about people and wants them to be safe. i love that little shot of young toshinori running towards the future like...even with all that insane power, it's about the work of it. the long, hard graft of trying to make the world safer

least favorite thing about them

i.......sometimes find the america gimmick distractingly silly

favorite line

gah i think it's the line after kamino to midoriya when he says "I will dedicate myself to raising you." like......them......and i also really love the whole speech where he talks about deciding he's going to live. idk it really moves me to see him discovering new purpose after he'd accepted that he was going to basically destroy himself for the world. picking yourself back up after that...finding new things to keep you going...

brOTP

midoriya!!! the mutual admiration, the devotion, all might bringing izuku into this world he's longed for for so long, izuku making all might remember the hope and idealism that almost burned out of him after all those lonely years. i'm nuts about it

OTP

i kind of like aroace all might honestly!! erasermight is cute though...

nOTP

don't really have one

random headcanon

hmmm i imagine him being kind of relieved when the dorm system was implemented and all the teachers start living on campus too. i imagine his living spaces at least for the last few years or so have always been...large, objectively comfortable, but very empty and lonely

unpopular opinion

aha this one might be very unpopular, but of all the stuff all might gets criticised for from the early eps, i actually get him telling mido he can't be a hero the most...it's definitely still bad! but i can really see it from his POV...like he's basically been fighting a war for decades. and for like 5 years he's been doing it basically alone, the people in his life unwilling to watch him do this to himself anymore. and it feels so necessary and vital and also he can feel his ability to do it draining more and more everyday, this awareness that any day now he might fall and leave a space for all that darkness to sweep back in...i feel like if any teenager, any child, looked at you and asked if they could head out onto that battlefield too, without even the weapon you've relied so heavily on...no is a really understandable answer! not a good answer, but very explicable in character terms at least

song i associate with them

the whole beat the champ album by the mountain goats is about wrestling, which i really like as a bnha heroes analogue because it's about fighting but also artifice, deliberate creation of identity, so a lot of beat the champ songs ping me when i think about bnha heroes and all might especially...there's a part in the legend of chavo guerrero that always makes me think about all might and midoriya: "and I need justice in my life, here it comes"

favorite picture of them

okay i love the whole scene in the forest where they're bathed in this golden light but also. maybe instead it's this:

iconic

[olderthannetfic]

audience question: what books/movies would you give (or have given) your kids to become their formative media? i'm interested to see what makes the cut 👀

--

I'd let them have access to my library. If it's a book, I'll let them figure out when they're ready to handle it.

(Works fine as long as you're a decent parent and answer questions that come up without being a weirdo about it and freaking them out so they never ask you anything again.)

For films and other things... hmm... it's tricky because all of the formative tings for me were the genre I'd call Weird Art Films About Weird Sex.

If my kid were shaping up to be that kind of weirdo at 14, maybe I'd leave some of these around, but I think it would be pretty intrusive to thrust them upon anybody outside of a film school seminar. Maybe Harold & Maude. My parents rented that when I was a tween. It made An Impression. It's rare for me to see something even two or three times, but Harold and Maude I've seen dozens.

I still think the opening to Harold and Maude is one of the best of any film:

You immediately know what kind of people both of these characters are and that this isn't going to be a simple comedy, dark or otherwise.

The first time I watched it, I knew nothing about the film and was surprised at both this and all of Harold's other antics. It's hilarious until it isn't. It's a movie about zest for life vs. wanting to die, and it walks an interesting line tonally. I remember rewatching it to show it to friends in college... and for the first time understanding that look Harold gets when he sees Maude's arm.

--

There was definitely media I loved pre-puberty, but the things I remember are all like Nancy Drew.

I consumed vast quantities of mystery, and it's probably why I'm a mystery novelist today, but I don't remember anything specific that feels formative in other ways. I wouldn't try to stop a kid from reading trash. I remember how infuriating it was to have adults constantly trying to make me read something "better" than Nancy Drew. But I wouldn't specifically hand my kid those or any of the other formulaic junk series (Sweet Valley High et al.). They'll find whichever ones are popular at the time just fine.

--

There's a very particular feeling of my brain lighting up that I remember mostly from my teen years. Those media made me quiver and have to pause the movie. I felt seen or maybe I felt too much to handle. That's the feeling I associate with formative media for me.

Here are the ones that instantly spring to mind even after all this time:

Velvet Goldmine - Music fan investigates the glam rockers of his youth, meditating on his sexual awakening and trying to solve the mystery of where one of them went. Ewan McGregor's tweet is the sequel. I will accept no other outcome.

Crash - James Spader at the peak of his beauty falls into the world of car crash fetishists who are dealing with the ennui of modern life and the alienation of the big city and technology by becoming perverts. Contains people going down on scars and tattoos, fetishy leg braces, and what teen me assumed was homoerotic subtext. (Spoiler: it was not subtext.)

Matador - A serial killer murders her victims like a bullfighter would; she stalks her favorite retired bullfighter who is also a serial killer. Antonio Banderas plays a dweeb like always in Spain. (The rest of Almodóvar's 80s and 90s movies were also favorites.)

Kissed - The fluffy necrophilia movie

The City of Lost Children - Less horny, but what is up with Miette and One's vibe? Visually a feast. Ten times the movie Amélie is. Sorry, not sorry.

Cemetery Man - Rupert Everett kills zombies in this bizarre Italian horror movie based on a comic book character drawn to look like Rupert Everett. My stepfather thought it looked like something I'd like and rented it for one of my birthday parties in high school. Around the time of the quasi necrophilia sex scene I realized 1. he'd chosen well and 2. he had clearly not read the back too carefully.

The Pillow Book - Japanese-Chinese novelist named after Sei Shonagon has a battle of literary wits with the publisher who blackmailed her father into sex with him. Involves a lot of calligraphy on naked men, including Ewan McGregor.

Sex, Lies & Videotape - Unfulfilled housewife has her world turned upside down when her shitty husband's college best friend comes to visit. This dude has become unable to be with women after a bad breakup and interviews and videotapes women discussing their masturbation habits for his own private use. Contains a famous and stupid quote about men falling in love with the people they sleep with and women becoming more and more attracted to the people they love, but the movie is far less gender normative than the character saying that.

Tesis - Uptight film student who pretends not to like violence decides to do a thesis on violence in Spanish media. Her advisor dies while watching a mysterious tape he got from somewhere. She steals it, finds out it's a snuff film, and investigates with the help of a creepy horror film nerd.

The best scene is when they're watching some violent shit she asked him for ("for her thesis") and she says "What kind of people watch this stuff?"

He answers: "You, for example."

That one I discovered when my roommate in Japan was watching it a couple of years after college. Many of these I saw in high school. That's the range where I remember things being particularly formative. Or maybe it's about what I'm open to at different points in my life: I think weird art films can still make me feel too much, but I don't always like that feeling, and I don't seek them out as much now.

Knife+Heart made me flash back to that era though. It's a neon-drenched period piece about a lesbian director of artsy gay male pornos investigating a serial killer targeting her actors. The sheer levels of meta insanity and horny murder scenes, my god!!!

Running through all of these are themes of ambiguous sexuality, often queer but also non-genitally-focused, massive quantities of voyeurism, meditations on what it means to be a fan, and a boatload of death=sex=death vibes.

--

That's not quite what you asked, but basically, my own formative media isn't something I'd share with just anyone. If people want to watch necrophilia-filled art films of the 90s, I think they need to choose that for themselves.

I guess all that access to Beatrix Potter and watching basically no TV other than Mystery! or Masterpiece Theater (i.e. UK costume dramas catering to a teaboo market and co-funded by the US) during my early childhood had an effect. So did going to schools where we studied Asian American history and read Dragonwings.

None of those media stand out. I'd share them with my kid, but one example is as good as another. Knives Out delivers substantially the same experience as most of them. Watching whatever anime is hot now will be as good as watching the anime I liked when I was young.

[creepyfruit]

Favorite Exocolonist characters? And maybe least favorites if you have any?

I'll give you my character tier list (I decided to include only the kids idk maybe I'll make a separate one for adults)

Answer under the cut ↓

My least fav is obviously Vace. I don't think I need to elaborate but to make it clear l, I haven't ever tried to befriend him so I don't know much about him other than his obsession with killing things, being abusive and a bully.

Next I'll have to put Nomi Nomi not because I don't like them but simply because I've never went out of my way to befriend them so I don't really have an opinion.

Cal was my best friend in my first play through so it hurts me to put him so low but he deserves it. Listen mate I love animals as much as the average gal but you're doing too much. The victim blaming as well?? I'm sorry that I was born on a spaceship set to colonize an alien planet, what did you want me to do? Swim through space and go back to earth? Also your girlfriend's dad died a horrid death and that's still all you have to say? Pacifism isn't a good look on an environment like this one.

Rex is a great dude, there's nothing I dislike about him, he's just simply not as interesting as the others.

Tammy is also kind of on the same boat. I did have a lot of hearts with her on my second play through and helping her be more confident was a very enjoyable journey, she is obviously very kind and empathetic and that makes her incredibly likable. I wish she had some flaws to make a bit more realistic.

This is where things get tough because all the next characters are kinda close but Nem will have to take this one. I romanced her in my most recent play through and she really is just the cutest... until Kom dies and she adopts the whole Helio package. She did become slightly annoying even though I understand her trauma. It's good that you can help her grow out of it, that gives her bonus points. A fun character with some nice character development.

And here comes everyone's fav boy Dys. It took a lot of trying to befriend him, he made it very hard for me and I liked that. I liked how they made him weird and antisocial, he wasn't the misunderstood boy that no one likes but rather it's actually the opposite. His relationship with Tang is so beautifully complex I love every part of it although I still haven't gotten them to reconcile (that damn bar will be the death of me). I would have put him much lower if it wasn't for the exploration buddies relationship that he had with Sol because the most unlikable thing about him (that I honestly never understood) is his obsession with the gardeners. Maybe it's my lack of understanding or the fact that I never really went down that road (making him a gardener/befriending Sym) because it creeps me out but I just don't like his views on the subject. And also I hate his relationship with Sym, nothing cute about a 100+ yo alien praying on a 16 yo boy.

Marz is a character that I thought I was going to hate straight from my first play through. She seemed like the typical mean girl character, who's very pretty has a lot of money is obsessed with clothes and stuff and also bullies every one just because but she's not exactly like that. Sure she has kudos and status and loves her fashion but she has genuinely kind intentions behind her "bullying". She doesn't understand how words can hurt because due to her augument they can't hurt her, she thinks she's helping Dys fit in with her comments and she doesn't want him to be lonely. She's naturally a very commanding person and a true leader but she isn't looking for mindless sheep, she wants you to have self respect and a backbone and I love her for that. Also bonus points to our girl for helping us overthrow the government. I have to say though, all the above doesn't excuse the fact that she can be seriously mean sometimes, but we love her regardless.

My favourite girl, my sweet baby Tangent, who's gone through so much but no matter what you do she doesn't really get a happy ending. I had my eye on her the moment I saw her (her child sprite reminded me of Ino from Naruto that's why) and she was my first romance. Obviously that didn't end well cause my first ending turned out to be tangent's cure (I thought I was just helping my gf bro) and now I'm scared to even talk to her thinking I'll trigger it again but I love her non the less. She's such a complex character I could talk about her for days (special thanks to the person with the multiple tangent discussion posts) her relationship with Dys, the obviously toxic and abusive relationship with Instance, her importance to a whole colony at such a young age, the fact that she's held to adult standards which results in self harming habits and her loneliness, her struggle with mental illness and the death of her mother. I'm writing everything down in a synopsis pretty much because if I start I won't stop. I also love how this abusive relationship was handled compared to Nem and Vace. No matter what you say she won't see how bad Instance is for her and the product of all this abuse is ultimately horrible for her. It adds a realism that hurts to death but is necessary. I also adore her character because it gives us a reminder that not everyone gets a happy ending in life, sometimes the things people go through never really leave them, although admittedly I would kill to see my baby happy, she deserves it.