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mageknife · 2 days ago

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the point of me doing all of that timeline nonsense is to talk about the letter from alexius to halward shortly after alexius takes dorian in. there are two primary takeaways i have from this and they both make me crazy. first:

He's rather despondent over the life's path you've charted for him—if I may speak frankly—and thus, I think a part of him sabotages all efforts to keep him on the straight and narrow, either to spite you or to punish himself.

this sentence is. it’s a lot. in knowing dorian for such a short time, alexius understands him far better than his parents ever have. (“I know my son.” What my father knows of me would barely fill a thimble.) dorian acts out because he’s miserable, he’s angry that he’ll never be what his parents want, angry at both them (for setting such unachievable expectations) and himself (for never being enough, for his inherent inability to be enough). alexius can see this so clearly. alexius genuinely cares for him. whether his parents at all care for the man he’s become or just for the man they wanted him to be is debatable.

and secondly, we have this sentence:

The boy had enough cheek, even in his inebriated state, to invite me to join him.

alexius tells halward that dorian propositioned him for sex. dorian is at this point, what, 17 or 18? this is likely the first evidence halward has that dorian likes men. alexius basically outs him. subtly, but it’s there. halward knew for a long time, or at least had a suspicion. but it was in private. only admitted in alexius’s correspondence.

in 9:37, when dorian is 26, he’s caught in bed with a lord’s son and essentially taken captive by his parents. he runs away a few months later, never to return.

below are two quotes from dorian during last resort of good men:

But what was the first thing you did when your precious heir refused to play pretend for the rest of his life? You tried to change me!

He was going to do a blood ritual. Alter my mind. Make me... acceptable. I found out. I left.

“the first thing you did.” this implies that halward only truly confronts dorian about his homosexuality and moves to act after the incident with lord abrexis’s son.

as dorian says in his sex scene:

Where I come from, anything between two men… it’s about pleasure. It’s accepted, but taken no further. You learn not to hope for more. You’d be foolish to.

maybe it would have been fine behind closed doors, but it’s been made extremely public. word has spread quickly among halward’s enemies. just look at this letter:

Halward: I only wanted what was best for you!

Dorian: You wanted the best for you! For your fucking legacy! Anything for that!

when dorian says this, he’s exactly right. halward might not understand dorian, but dorian understands him. halward knew dorian slept with men for 8, 9 years before this, thanks to alexius’s letter detailing how they met. it hasn’t been an issue before. but it’s only now that it could pose a threat to halward’s reputation that halward decides it has to change. he goes back on his word, his teachings against blood magic, to protect himself, his legacy, his image. it’s disgusting. appalling.

finally, i want to address this banter between cole and dorian:

Dorian: You think that if they love you, they should understand. They shouldn't want to hurt you.

Dorian: So you feel betrayed. You say things you can't ever take back.

Cole: “Get out. You are no son of mine.”

Dorian: Yes, like that.

Cole: He wishes he hadn't meant it.

world of thedas says dorian “escaped,” “fled.” even dorian says he “found out [and] left.” but this banter, given the above context, is elucidating. dorian didn’t sneak out in the middle of the night. he confronted halward. he stood his ground. he refused to let halward change him. he had hope, even if just a sliver of it, that halward would understand, would still love him, even if he wasn’t everything his father wanted.

and for staying true to who he was, he was given rejection. wholehearted rejection. halward said that dorian was not his son, and he meant it. if dorian couldn’t behave in a way that would uphold house pavus’s perfect legacy, if he couldn’t “put on a show, marry the girl, keep everything unsavory private and locked away,” then he couldn’t be a pavus.

dorian left having tried everything. having desperately pleaded with his father to still love him for who he was. but halward never truly loved dorian. he only loved the man he hoped dorian would become, the man he tried to force him to become by throwing money and disciplinary action and strict schools at the problem because he never truly cared about what dorian wanted, the man he was entirely willing to abandon his abandon his principles to use blood magic to change dorian into.

dorian was not halward’s son, because he fought against the life he was forced into since birth. dorian was not halward’s son, because he dared to put dorian before pavus.

#if halward’s magisterium enemies didn’t already kill him i’d do it myself #AND DORIAN STILL LOVES HIM. STILL HUNTS DOWN HIS FATHER’S KILLERS #IT HURTS. IT’S TANGLED WITH THE LOVE. I CAN’T TUG IT LOOSE WITHOUT TEARING IT.#their relationship is so so awful and it makes me so insane.#dorian pavus #halward pavus #dragon age #eliasposts

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nickrocketrodriguez · 1 day ago

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Since in Chaos Theory the campers are older and few of them are in relationships, was there a discussion that took place on what you were "allowed" to show on screen compared to the previous show? Because yk it's not like in Camp Cretaceous when they were children and the most they did was kiss, hold hands and act cringy, here they are adults so immediately the dynamics are bound to change. I think my question is did the writing when it comes to the romantic relationships changed for you because it suddenly went from a kid friendly show about children to a "kid-friendly" show about adults?

Alright, here we go! Day 01 of "Rocket Answers" in honor of the Jurassic World: Chaos Theory S3 premiere on Netflix 04/03!

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This is such an interesting question. I love that you call it a "kid-friendly" show about adults -- those quotes are doing some heavy-lifting in my eyes. XD

So, yes, there was a lot of discussion about what these relationships would look like now that the characters are adults. Now, I did not work on Camp Cretaceous, so for me personally, I didn't have anything to compare it to in terms of how *I* approached it. Obviously I was a fan of the original show and had watched all of it before joining the writing staff of Chaos Theory, so I was familiar with the tone and voice. We all wanted to make something that felt more mature given the new age of the characters, but it had to be in-line with the tone of the series that came first so that it didn't feel like too much of a departure.

When writing a kids' series, you already come in knowing that you have to meet that audience where they're at, then challenge them an appropriate amount. So, we knew that the first show approached the relationships from a more... let's say... "first crush/love" sort of place. It was more "butterflies in your stomach" than "OMG I need you NOW." And, of course, "OMG I need you now" would still not be an appropriate place for our show to go with that audience still in mind. But we wanted to honor that these relationships had grown and evolved and settled into new places. I think we all knew from the get what would be appropriate, so in terms of what were "allowed" to show, that was never really a discussion. In the end, I think we've ended up with something more YA than strictly kids' -- which was really fun for all of us!

All that said, it's a Jurassic show, so romance is obviously not the forefront of what kinds of stories we'd be telling, so we didn't focus too much on having to challenge those relationships too externally like one would on a show like Riverdale or Gossip Girl. There were times in the room where I, in particular, wanted to delve into the relationships a bit harder (I usually write more YA stuff personally), but I think we found a happy medium in the final show. There's enough internal relationship drama to keep people who like that stuff happy, but not too much as to feel like a different show. So I think we did a good job.

And hey, we just won a GLAAD Award for it, so I guess other people think we did a good job, too. =]

Keep the questions coming!

#jurassic world chaos theory #jwct #jurassic world camp cretaceous #jwcc #jurassic world #jurassic park #ama #ask me anything #chaos crew #rocket answers

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odileeclipse · 3 days ago

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WHAT. SO MC AND EARL GREY MAY HAVE HAD FEELINGS FOR THE OTHER????? will this ever be brought up in the story....... how will the sage react to it.............

So when I said this I imagined at some point in time, most likely, and just because crushes and feelings tend to flourish in closeness, for example, they grew up together, it's only natural that at some point one of them or both or at different times, it happened. It's not uncommon. But constant interaction is something that makes feelings flourish under regular circumstances. It's more of a read between the lines sort of thing; it's never explicitly said, but it is shown through actions, just like it normally is. I personally am under the belief, and if you disagree, that is completely okay too. I'm not saying this is an end-all be-all. But I am under the belief that feelings, if from a pure place, never go away, kind of like how energy is never erased and only becomes something else. Feelings come and go, but I think when people say they go, it means it becomes something else, be it a more platonic love or complete resentment. But yeah, by the way, don't quote me y'all, I'm no expert and do not claim to be on whatever this topic is.

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thalthanmadanus · 2 days ago

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i like your viewpoint on draco, i really do think his age matters a lot when it comes to the gravity of his actions. specifically in 6th year, people forget draco is literally only a month older than harry and theres was a scene specifically showing how they were the youngest in their year. meaning, before his 6th year he probably was only 15 when a lot of the shit went down and then freshly 16 when handling the task. like, that is YOUNG and i know his actions do have consequences but i really dont know how people can compare him to the lengths of other grown adult characters?

Thank you! I think Draco is easily one of the most relatable characters in the series and the reason probably why some people resent him is that they keep focusing on specific actions he did rather than looking at the whole picture, his whole ass arc from the first book to the last one.

(like wow 6th year and 7th year Draco's characterisations are so delicious and yet... less brought up)

...

I think it's not just about age, my friend. If it were, I’d probably be more forgiving toward James. But that’s not the case for me.

There’s a whole ensemble of reasons why sympathizing with Draco is easier—if you just try, or even want to try. At least for me.

First, His Background:

From the very beginning, we’re introduced to an arrogant child with bigoted views. Views that are, without a doubt, shaped by his parents. You could even argue that lil bro doesn’t fully understand what he’s spouting؟ that he’s just parroting what he’s been taught.

Then this indoctrinated child gets placed in Slytherin, a house that reinforces the same prejudices he was raised with. His “friends” (Greg and Goyle) are the children of his father’s friends. His whole entourage is one echo chamber that the school system does nothing to break. This is a 101 textbook example of how a child becomes easily radicalized.

People overlook this, but growing up in an ideologically homogeneous environment is incredibly radicalizing. When everyone around you, especially the people who matter most, shares the same beliefs, it reinforces the idea that they must be right. I mean, why would they be wrong?

Which brings me to my next point.

Draco Was Never Ideologically Challenged.

Throughout the books, we never see anyone truly confront Draco’s views. Sure, he gets insulted, hexed, or beaten up every time he opens his mouth, but we don't ever see anyone (old or young) who actually sits him down and tells him why he’s wrong. No debates, no real pushback—just dismissal or violence.

And that doesn’t change people. If anything, it deepens their resentment. It makes them double down.

(This is not me saying the trio or whoever should have been uwu with Draco.. No. This is me trying to see how Draco came to be the person he is)

(ofc Doylistly speaking I'm asking too much from this series, but this whole rant is from a Watsonian perspective. Bear that in mind please).

I think this is why fifth year Draco is also interesting because, by the end of OoTP, you’d expect Draco to go full-blown Death Eater, to be about that life. The pieces are all in place. He’s angry, humiliated, and has every reason to lean into that path. The dominoes are stacked neatly to be pushed.

Then Half Blood Prince happens.

The entire book revolves around Draco’s struggle with the idea of killing. He hesitates. He breaks down. He panics. And that’s what makes him so compelling.

There’s a quote from a video I love that sums it up perfectly: "Draco is the least equipped character, yet he’s put through the most difficult ethical situations"

Second, Draco as a Person :

His reluctance to kill in HBP isn’t just about him being young, it’s about who he is. Narcissa says, “He’s just a boy,” but it’s more than that. Draco, for all his big talk, is repulsed by real violence. He’s a shit-talker, not a fighter. (at least not in the traditional way?)

Compare him to James. When the Marauders cornered Snape in Snape's worst memory, Snape’s first instinct was to attack—because he knew an attack was coming. But when Draco, Greg, and Goyle cornered Ron in Hogsmeade? Ron just stood there, enduring the insults. The difference in their reactions says a lot about the difference between their bullies.

Draco, compared to James, is non-threatening.

So non-threatening that when Harry saw Snape’s worst memory, he didn’t compare James to Draco—he compared Draco to a possible victim of the twins paralleling the marauders, (although in a negative way)

So non-threatening that Ron and Hermione, who supposedly suffered under Draco’s bullying, laughed at the idea of him being a Death Eater.

So non-threatening that Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who literally cries all the time, pitied him.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Draco can be cruel. But his cruelty is immature, performative, childish. The moment he’s faced with a situation that requires actual, meaningful true to the word cruelty, he hesitates. He fumbles.

He’s naïve, and not just because he’s young but also because he was sheltered. He was loved, protected, raised in comfort.

While most characters were fighting in OoTP, Draco was sulking over missing out on a fake secret weapon/jk

Maybe that’s why he’s non-violent? Maybe it’s because, unlike so many others, he was cared for as a child??

And in the end, that’s what stops the dominoes from falling as expected.

His so-called cowardice? In his case, you could even call it a virtue.

I could go on longer and longer about 7th year Draco but what sums it for me is again a quote from the same video: "Draco is the only character who we're shown self-reflected."

The summary of his arc is basically: immature kid is racist, when confronted by what could be heavily serious consequences of his racism he gets so shooketh he stops being racist. and imo this is so realistic and that why it's easy to sympthize with and relate to.

I mean who from us didn't have problematic views and grows out of it? Are the people harping over 12-year-old Draco being “evil” really trying to say they’ve never been wrong about anything in their lives? or they've neved did anything wrong to anyone and then changed? Especially as children who are known to react more on emotion rather than logic.

Finally, I want to just conclude that for me Draco is sympthetic because he embodied all these points at the same time.

(Age + personality + background)

Take one out and yeah no, I'm not interested anymore.

There are other points but I feel I'm making this longer than necessary.

#I also relate to these points in a very vague sense #mind you I was bullied #Yes No one owes Draco forgiveness #but Draco also doesn't owe them his right to change and move on #which he *did*#change that is. with or without Harry #I also wanted to talk about his very good qualities #he's loyal #and he loves strongly #but he also is shown to not fall under pressure #“follow your heart” type shit

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ducktracy · 15 hours ago

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ALSO, last ask reminded me. i've often gotten praised for how i write Daffy's lisp and i'm super grateful! i've never thought much of it, so it's always funny and sweet to hear it be a recurring topic in the tags of my art. the way i actually write his lisp was dictated by Mel Blanc himself

kinda. sorta. i haven't read his memoir since the only time i read it in 2019, so i could be misremembering, but i recall Mel discussing how he approached Daffy and Sylvester's lisp and he mentioned it being a "sth" sound rather than "th". and if you do pay attention and listen, the s is always in there--it's just got a super sloppy finish (particularly in the case of Sylvester, who i think is a bit more jowl-y. yet again i'm quoting Mel talking about how the difference between their voices being that Sylvester's is gentile, which is super funny to me. and Daffy does have a much more rhythmic, musical lilt to his voice! i like that Joe Alaskey occasionally gives him some Yiddishisms). i'm always amazed at how wrong people write his lisp, not necessarily fans but i've seen officially licensed comics where he's said "sure" as "sthure"??? "SURE" IS NOT AFFECTED BY INTERDENTAL LISP SOUND!! AAAUGH

i'm stupidly bent on having the dialogue be readable crystal clear in Mel Blanc's voice. to the point where i agonize over it for hours, it's one of my biggest artistic obsessive trappings. and, to do that, i'm very bent on capturing the sounds and words as they're heard. this can lend itself to some very incomprehensible onomatopoiea. for example, Daffy sometimes pronounces "always" as "allus", and i've drawn him saying "allus" before. reading that with no concept you're probably like what the actual hell. but you take the moment to read it in his voice and you can hear it and get the gist! it's more authentic that way and i think more stimulating, it forces you to slow down and parse these voices and characters instead of being some vague line of filler that you scroll past

this, in combo with writing the lisp, can mean a jumble of text on-screen which is not good for accessibility. i sometimes skimp on Porky's stutter a bit for this reason too, i need to study it more and maybe be more accurate to how complex it can be.. i want my writing to be stimulating and accurate to read, but not an accessibility nightmare, so that's why i try to make the "th" after the s" on anything Daffy says smaller. that way the lisp is still there and it still sounds like him, but your eyes still go for the word itself rather than being distracted and snarled by a bunch of extra letters. as an ADHD haver i know this personal hell well. i've done something similar with Porky's stutter at times, making the stutter smaller than the actual word, and that's maybe something i need to remember to do more... but his stutter is much more a noticeable part of his speech than Daffy's, who i often forget even has a lisp because i'm just so used to the way he talks. it's not as obtrusive, and he still has those regular S sounds in there to sort of compensate

BUT THAT'S ALL! it makes me happy when people comment on this, because it's something i have put a lot of thought into establishing, but has become an afterthought to how familiar of an impulse it is to me. so i thought it'd be neat to explain my thinking

#ahhh shaddap

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muffinrecord · 3 days ago

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I need to go to bed, but initial thoughts:

I like Magia Record a lot more. I'm having fun but I admit that I feel a little disappointed. I'm going to stick with it but I don't think I'll need to worry about whaling too much on this game.

The combat is growing on me. I prefer Magia Record's combat but I can see how Magidora is going to have more intricate stuff going on that won't just devolve into magia spam/blast spam. Maybe. I dunno? But it's fun and that's good enough. I do like the speed element of it over random disc selection, I think.

I don't really like the 3d bits but I can live with it. Folks keep saying how good the graphics look and to me it looks kinda ugly, but no one ever said I have good taste.

I don't particularly like how exploring labyrinths work. You're not even really exploring, just moving in a straight line looking for the occasional shiny. The labyrinth parts feel like an awkward in-between the content that matters, aka story and combat. I think I'd rather move between menu screens.

Uhhhh story wise.... Hmm. I think one problem I have is that the main story is literally just pmmm but an inferior visual novel version. If I want to read the pmmm story then I can go watch the anime or the movies or even the horrible comics. This doesn't really do it for me.

I'm also a little worried about upcoming event stories for spinoff girls. I straight up hated the Tart events in MR because a lot of them were an extended boring rehash of the manga and if I want to experience the story, I'd rather read the fucking manga, you know? For all the upcoming spinoffs: are they going to do their own thing with new stories like magia record did? Or are they going to be another visual novel version of the comics? Because god I don't really want to go through that???

It was also kind of depressing to get old characters I love, excitedly go to their magical girl stories, and then realize they're probably going to be rehashing what we already know. I mean, they're not copies of the originals and I can see how they might provide new context that we didn't have before, but something about it just makes me really sad.

I also REALLY miss having a homescreen character. There is so much charm in having a character on the homescreen, selecting their outfit, getting excited over new poke quotes. And being able to change your homescreen in general. Getting a new character in magia record wasn't just exciting cause new character but also because you got to put them on the homescreen and see what they were about, you know? Like these are their poke quotes, here are their outfits, look at all their lil animations! I miss it so much. Getting a new character does not feel that exciting to me at all ;_;

Something I never thought about before, but I hate how dark all the menu screens are. MagiReco menus had a lot of color and variations and they weren't just the same dark gray background repeated over and over.

Like look at this. Where's the color? I feel sad looking at this OTL

I think all of this kind of culminates in: it feels like some of my favorite aspects of magireco were taken away, mainly the character-focused nature of it. I'm not going to say Magireco was the pinnacle of writing but it was what drew me to the story in the first place and it's not here.

Last negative thought-- I have absolutely no idea how a person who doesn't know anything about Madoka Magica would feel about the game. The presentation feels kind of weird-- I feel like we're already meant to know who everyone is based on all the videos you see before loading in but then the story kind of treats us like we're brand new and that Mami is supposed to be some sort of surprise.

All of that said, it's early access and we're not even a whole day into it-- I'm not done with the main story so it's possible I'm missing stuff too. Maybe I'll be more into it once I start watching more Magical Girl Stories. The event story is kind of boring so far but it's also pmmm girlies and I love them but-- you know.

I think my greatest fear for the game is that it doesn't bring anything new and it just summarizes stories we already know. I know you have to strike a balance between presenting content that old fans and new fans alike are going to find interesting-- and new fans need to know what's the deal with characters they are unfamiliar with too. But I really hope it gives us new stories, new characters, new things in general.

There are elements I like, I swear that it's not just all negative. It looks like we'll spend a lot of time developing our characters and I like long projects which reward you for patient investment. Again, the combat is growing on me and I'm starting to enjoy it more.

Actually trying to write out the positives makes me think of more things i dislike aklfjsaklfasjfkkasfja

Which is weird, because I'm not not having fun. I am! I dunno.

I don't want to be a huge bummer so I won't put this in the tag. We'll see how I feel about the game in like a week.

At the very least this game looks like it'll be a fun way to waste some time and good god I've been needing something like that lately so if anything, thank the stars for that

#Magidora First Day

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schemmentisimpasours · 1 day ago

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Chapter 3- Getting Control Back

Summary: Melissa coming back to school the day after her argument with Barbara may not have been the best idea

TW: Alludes to toxic relationships, threats, use of the word slut

Previous Chapter- Next Chapter

Masterlist

The sound of the alarm blaring the next morning made you let out a large groan, burying further into Melissa’s side. That was when you realized that you still had your hand wrapped around Melissa’s hips and your head buried into her neck. You had been sure during the night that you would have moved, but it seems like you only curled further into her. You went to pull your arm away but Melissa’s hand grabbed yours not allowing you to move.

“Where do you think you are going honey?” Melissa said, letting out a small yawn, “I have ten more minutes before the alarm that says I have to get ready. I am not about to move out this bed a minute before then. And you stuck here now too.”

Too stunned to speak you remained close to Melissa’s side attempting to make your heart stop beating out of control. You were too scared to move or even breathe.

“Why you overthinking?” The older woman asked.

“I am not,” You mumbled.

Melissa turned towards you so that your faces were inches apart, “You think you know the only one keeping tabs on the other person? I know you Y/N and I know when you start overthinking. Your energy gets different.”

You quirked your eyebrow, “Reading my energy?”

“You have a notebook,” Melissa retorted making you laugh, “Now come on tell me what is going on in that beautiful head of yours. I don’t bite… well I mean I won’t bite ya today.”

You blushed burying your face into the pillow. This was not the conversation you thought would be happening after waking up to Melissa in your bed. Melissa waited patiently gently playing with your hair. To break the silence she began quoting her own random facts about you.

“Your hair looks gorgeous down, with curls that I would die to have naturally. You wear it down until the first bell rings then it goes into your high ponytail even on the days that you get a headache from it,” She stated simply.

“For the first hour of school you are the quietest like your body is still processing it has to be up for the day,” She continued, “It is also when you are the most honest too tired for biting your tongue.”

“When one of the kids is stressing you out you have this moment where your whole face scrunchies up before you take a deep breath and you can almost see the stress falling off of you. I still after all these years of teaching have yet to master that type of control.”

“I tried to give you coffee once and you were too scared to tell me that it makes you anxious that you drank it anyways. You were practically vibrating at lunch and you were so embarrassed to tell me what was wrong. I could tell something was wrong from the way you were all over the place and not in your normal functional chaos. That was the first time I ever hugged you and I could physically feel you relax,” Melissa recounted, “It was so cute and I never gave you coffee again. Instead I was bringing you lemonade and tea every day till I figured out what you would like. Which turned out to be strawberry lemonade and lavender tea depending on what you did the night before. After practice it was lemonade to give you a sugar kick. Anything involving grading, writing, or lesson plans it was a tea.”

“That was the day that I learned how to read your emotions. Watch for the times that maybe you had a little more anxiety than a normal day. When I needed to step in and hold you for a second longer during a hug. When you needed someone to pull you out of your own head,” Melissa whispered putting a strain of hair behind your ear, “I may not have written it down like you but I remember a lot about you baby, it is my mission.”

Your cheeks burned a bight red as you peered up at her, “That’s a lot to remember princess.”

“Yeah not a fan of that one,” Melissa chuckled happy to see you looking at her again, “We experiencing that after coffee type of anxiety right now? ”

“No,” You mumbled, “Just didn’t want you to think it was weird that I cuddle in my sleep.”

“You talk in your sleep too,” Melissa grinned, “But I find both of those things cute. If I didn’t want you cuddling I wouldn’t have crawled into your bed. And you put up with me snoring all night so we are even.”

“Is that the only reason you came in?”

Melissa fiddled with the loose strand of a blanket that was pulled across you both, “Couldn't sleep. Kept thinking of all the red flags I was ignoring and then the self deprecating thoughts started. I felt so stupid. I don’t want to feel stupid anymore.”

“Angel,” you said covering Melissa’s hand with your own, “You aren't stupid. She did a lot of horrible things to you and that is absolutely a reflection of her character not yours. You are amazing and didn't deserve that treatment.”

Melissa’s cheeks flushed red, “I'm far from an angel hun’.”

“You already took away my sunshine from me,” you groaned jokingly, “Now you are taking my angel from me?”

“No no no,” Melissa said quickly, “Angel you can keep. I’ll be your angel. ”

You smiled giving Melissa another squeeze as her alarm went off again, “I better get my extra clothes from my car.”

“You can borrow some of mine,” Melissa offered.

“And try to pull off those leather pants like you? I could never,” You laughed, “But I think I will take you up on a blazer. It’s a little cold out for the clothes I have.”

“Next time we have a sleepover I'll give you a lil more warning,” Melissa promised finally allowing you to be released from her side.

She watched you leave the room the shirt she gave you hanging off one shoulder exposing your bare skin. She couldn’t believe the words that had just tumbled out of her mouth. She had practically begged you to call her angel and told you more sleepovers would be happening. Not that Melissa minded that more sleepovers with you. She had been awake way before the alarm looking at how peaceful you were. Curls framing your face, the usual crinkle in your brow gone. Randomly you would mumble “Melissa don’t leave me. Don’t leave.” Hoping to not wake you she had just clutched you closer to her until you had settled.

“Hey cutie,” Your voice rang out breaking Melissa from her memories, “Got a blazer that would match this?”

Melissa didn’t realize you had even come back in as she stared at your thin strapped burgundy dress that cut off to show off your black pair of Timberlands. She gulped before heading to her bedroom. Quickly sliding through her closet, she pulled out her leather jacket. Her signature leather jacket that she never let anyone borrow. But the thought of you wearing that at school all day made her forget all about the fact that she was going to have to see Barbara today.

She handed you the leather jacket but you immediately tried to hand it back, “Woah wait a second. This is not the Schemmenti leather jacket is it?”

“It is now take it I gotta get ready especially if I am getting us breakfast this morning.”

“But Melissa,” You said and she swiveled on you.

“I don’t know who this Melissa person is,” She smiled innocently.

“Melissa Ann Schemmenti what are you doing?”

“Now you government naming me, and here I thought I was your angel?” She said walking towards her bedroom.

Right before she shut the door you looked at you a devilish gleam in her eye, “You created this monster. I only respond to pet names now.”

You rolled your eyes slipping on the leather jacket surrounded by her overwhelming smell. How could she smell like garlic bread, a splash of whiskey, and a scent so distinctly Melissa that it had your heart beating rapidly. There was no way that you were going to be able to get through the rest of the school day like this.

As you waited for Melissa you walked around her kitchen gathering supplies to make her coffee. You knew Melissa’s house from hours of watching her prepare dinners and you hadn't realized how much you missed being here until you looked around the kitchen. You could remember the conversation you had at the corner of the island about your recent break up with an ex you would love to forget. The time that you danced around the island with Melissa cause she needed “one damn minute away from this grading”. The time Melissa had you sit on the counter so you could watch her cook dinner that tonight too lazy to move the boxes of stuff she had covering the chairs. Every place in her house seemed to contain a random moment of you and Melissa.

“And here I thought you were making breakfast,” Melissa smirked as she grabbed her coffee cup off the counter.

“I don't eat breakfast,” you mumbled and took a step back as the redhead turned to glare at you.

“The hell you don’t. You eating something today. Come on I have a bakery we can go to.”

She grabbed her bag and stormed out the back door with you trailing behind. As she opened the garage Melissa remembered that it would be your car that greeted them. You merely handed the keys over to her and went to the passenger side.

“This is your car,” Melissa said her hands shaking slightly. No one had ever let her drive their car. Not even Joe.

“And I'm prepared for my passenger princess privileges,” You laughed getting inside, “Plus Subie is tough. She can handle your road rage.”

“I don't have road rage,” Melissa snipped.

You merely said a short mhm before Melissa started the car. She behaved herself most of the way to the bakery and school only swearing at three people. She paused in the parking lot glancing between Babara’s car and the school.

“It’s not too late to call in. I'll take care of the eagles.”

Melissa shook her head adamantly, “And wait at home all day while you are here. No thank you. I can do this.”

You grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently, “I believe in you angel.”

With your added support Melissa and you walked into school close but not touching. Barbara watched as you passed by her class and she immediately spotted the leather coat hugging onto you. She had expected Melissa to come crawling back to her last night but instead had spent the night alone stewing in anger. Her rage built as she noticed how unfazed Melissa seemed to be so entranced by something you were telling her. This couldn't happen. Not when Barbara was the one who was supposed to catch Melissa’s attention.

Melissa slipped off to go to the bathroom as you went inside the break room to put away your lunch. Soon you fell into a conversation with Janine and Jacob not realizing how long it took the older woman to join again.

After leaving the bathroom Melissa felt her arm being grabbed and she was harshly pushed back into the wall. Boxing her in Barbara Howard looked down at the slightly shorter woman.

“You didn't come last night,” She stated simply.

“After I had already told you no. And you called me a slut and told me to get out,” Melissa snipped, “Thought the signs were pretty clear I wasn't coming. We are done Barbara.”

“You don't mean that,” Barb said leaning closer, “No one can make you feel as I can. Isn't that what you told me last time.”

“You called me a slut,” Melissa said doing her best to control the memories of Barbara between her legs. It had been so long since it happened but Melissa could feel the ghost of her there.

“I don't care I want more,” Barbara said leaning down to kiss Melissa’s neck.

Melissa curled into herself trying to press away from the other woman thoughts now focused on you in the other room as your laughter spilled into the hall. Thoughts of the smile you gave her every time you entered the room. The way your scent had been stuck in her head since she had crawled into bed with you. The way your breath felt on her neck as you slept. The way you every pet name seemed to drip off your lips into her heart. How you held her just remind Melissa she was more than a sex toy. She couldn't let you see her like this.

“Sex is just a weapon for you Barbara. And I'm not your possession,” Melissa retorted finally pushing Barbara away.

She went to stalk away when Barbara called out, “You know you aren't going to find what you want in Y/N right? That love you so desperately seek. You are too broken to ever find it. You are weak and pathetic. She will leave you just like everyone else. Or you will become a monster just like me and take her to the pits of hell with you. I hope it is the second option. I can't wait to see her break. If you don't I will.”

Melissa swiveled reaching for one of the hardcover dictionaries and started to put it above her head, “Keep her name out of your mouth!”

As Melissa’s scream came into the break room you and Janine ran to intervene. You grabbed for the book as Janine blocked her from Barbara.

“Melissa,” you said but she still struggled to get from Janine’s grasp, “Angel look at me.”

Melissa paused for a moment as if her head finally cleared. Tears began to fill her eyes and you rested your hand gently against her cheek.

“I'm here angel,” You whispered, “Go with Janine to our class. I'll get your stuff.”

“Hurry,” Melissa whispered as Janine led her down the hall.

You grabbed Melissa’s stuff that had scattered across the hallway trying your best to avoid Barbara’s glare.

“She’s mine.” Barbara said casually, “Those little pet names, wearing her clothes and small touches… they are useless. She will never love you.”

The words hurt but you tried your best to keep your expression calm as you stood up. Without a word you turned towards Melissa’s classroom and flipped Barbara off.

“You are going to regret this.” Was the words that played in a loop in as you made your way to Melissa.

She was in you shared classroom pacing in front of your desk glaring at Janine who was blocking the door. You slipped inside and Janine let out a sigh of relief, “I thought she was going to take her bat out and chase me.”

“I hid the bat after she tried to chase your art friend with it,” you stated as Melissa growled, “I said you could get it back when it was an actual emergency.”

“She threatened you. That is an emergency,” Melissa said walking over and raking her eyes over you looking for anywhere Barbara may have touched.

“I am fine angel,” You promised the turned towards Janine, “Thank you for the help.”

“Of course,” Janine smiled glancing nervously at Melissa who wouldn't take her eyes of you.

You gave her a reassuring nod and she left out the door. As the door shut Melissa’s tears finally broke free. She fell into you burying herself in your shoulder. You caught yourself from stumbling and held her close to you. Your fingers immediately went up to her hair making small circles on her scalp.

“She didn't touch me angel. I'm okay.”

“She said I was broken and weak,” Melissa hiccuped, “So many horrible things but when she said she wanted to break you. I snapped. I couldn't let her do that to you.”

“Oh angel,” you said hugging her close, “You aren't any of those things. I promise you that you are not broken or weak. You tried to beat someone with a dictionary.”

“Could have been my bat,” Melissa mumbled still holding on to you.

“Still not giving it back,” you hummed kissing the top of her head.

As you moved to get the room ready Melissa watched you through wary eyes. There was something you weren't telling her. It vibrated around the room and she was determined to figure out what it was. However when she went to ask students started to file in and all she could do was focus on the task at hand.

Lunch was spent in Janine’s room planning for the Peter Rabbit project. It was Janine’s attempt to make sure Melissa and Barbara could stay separated as long as possible. And although Melissa still didn't fully trust the younger teacher she was grateful for the continued distraction and the fact that Janine brought her food to her perfectly heated up. Melissa’s beloved project had half her attention the other half on you. You had kept your curls down to distracted at the beginning of the day. You tucked it behind your ear making it lay on her leather jacket and Melissa she had been the one to do it for you. You smiled at the right spots and laughed but Melissa could tell that you were only half in the conversation. Like the rest of you was lost somewhere else.

At the end of the day as you gathered your things Melissa approached you, “Hun you look distracted. What did Barbara say to you?”

You paused for a moment looking at the gorgeous woman in front of you. Faint echoes of the words bounced in your head- she will never love you- but you couldn't believe it. Not after she held you close this morning basically begging to be called angel. Not when she was looking at you with such concern that it broke your heart. So instead you skipped the words that hurt the most and gave her the abbreviated version.

“Just that I would regret this,” You shrugged, “Little does she know that I'm the one with Edith.”

“I'm really sorry about all of this Y/N. I can understand if you don’t want to get all messed up in this,” Melissa said looking down guiltily.

You grabbed her chin gently guiding her to look up at you, “Angel, I'm here because I care for you and want to defend your honor. I don't care how messy it is. I'm not going anywhere.”

Melissa looked up at you and for a moment could almost make herself believe what you said. Till little demon Barbara reappeared on her shoulder-She will leave you. You are broken and weak- and Melissa was again trapped in her head as you walked her to her car. Giving her a hug before walking away and climbing into your Subaru radio blaring as you drove out the parking lot. She sat in her car watching you and her heart seemed to cry out- Please come back I want to go home with you.

Taglist

@yoyo-w

@cupldscntrl

@milfslvr

@liliapleasesteponme

#getting control back #abbott elementary #melissa schemmenti #melissa schemmenti x reader #melissa schemmenti x you #melisssa schemmenti x original female character #barbara gordon #barlissa

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vague-mintyboy · 3 days ago

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One of my biggest jayvik pet peeves is when Viktor’s adventurous and daring personality and Jayce’s naivety and gentleness get completely lost.

To start, not all Jayvik artists do this. One artist who I think characterizes them SO WELL is @oidingus . Go check them out 🫶🫶🫶

Okay onto whining:

You see this a lot in people remaking classic art with Jayvik. It’s insane to me that Viktor is always the woman. Like every time. Even when it’s a meme, or someone having them quote somethibg Viktor always is saying the line of the woman or is replacing the woman of the dynamic even when it doesn’t fit his character. Not that he can’t ever be that, but I feel like it should be a pretty even split. (Same with pregnancy aus but I won’t get into that—)

Like, with post-canon Jayvik for example, I keep seeing people characterize Jayce as the fun dangerous dad and Viktor the soft mom type. Dude Jayce 100% would be overly cautious and protective and Viktor would encourage the kids to take risks. Viktor was the one fucking around with the hex core for a reason!!! His whole character is he takes big swings and doesn’t care about consequences until it’s too late. Even as the Herald, he’s kind but still very standoffish. He’s off philosophizing and ends up missing the real point of being a leader. I mean the entire speech about evolution is very bitter.

Jayce is the one who is nervous about the undercity, who is anxious. Each of their arcs are to be more like the other. But just because they had those arcs doesn’t mean they lose their core personalities.

It feels like people make jayvik honestly super heteronormative and characterize them based on big buff man and skinny twink and that’s it.

Let Viktor be angry, and unpredictable. Viktor is literally never a soft character in the show. Like, immediately after Jayce brings him back Viktor dips. Jayce is the one constantly unsure of himself. Jayce is a private school momma’s boy who can’t fight for shit. Jayce has the learn to be brave, Viktor is brave from the start.

Like, let Viktor be masculine, let Jayce be feminine. Let Viktor rage quit Mario Kart, have Jayce watch a horror movie through his eyes while Viktor is stone cold. Have Jayce be completely anxious the first night away from the kids, and Viktor is playing it cool but he’s secretly anxious too. Idk man. I’m exhausted.

#This isn’t me coming for Viktor— I super relate to him which is why I’m so thrown off by so many fan works #jayvik #arcane season two #arcane spoilers #arcane season 2

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frailwife98 · 3 days ago

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MYTHOS OF THE RAT KING & OTHER SYMPHONIES

every brilliant girl i’ve known has a rat somewhere inside her / curled in the belly like a stowaway sin / mine speaks ancient etruscan & plays the violin / he wears a crown of hair i pulled from my own brush / he makes demands / he says “bleed with more conviction” / i say “i’m tired” / he says “be baroque about it” / this is the part where you laugh / this is the part where i say i swallowed aristotle & all i got was nausea

my father once said i had the temperament of a scholar & the instincts of a stray / (he wasn’t wrong) / i sniffed out books like blood / devoured them spine-first / loved the ones with dust / loved the ones with diagrams / hated the ones that told me what i already knew / they say knowledge is power but i think it’s a parasite / gnawing behind my eyes until i blink out eurydice / until i choke on dates & citations / until the rat inside me starts chewing symphonies into the furniture

yes, furniture / he’s gotten clever lately / started rearranging the living room into a grecian amphitheatre / started whispering in chorus: “the tragedy of intellect is that it never kisses back” / oh god / he’s right / i tried once—kissed a boy who quoted sartre mid-argument / tasted like cheap bourbon & latent misogyny / i preferred the rat / at least he doesn’t try to debate me while i’m bleeding / at least he doesn’t correct my pronunciation of heraclitus / at least he has better taste in composers / the rat adores rachmaninoff / says it’s romantic how the music swells without warning / says it reminds him of me / says i’m all crescendo no restraint / he’s cruel like that / kind too, when i forget how to spell my name / when my skin forgets how to contain me

he says i’m a myth not a malady / says girlhood was never supposed to be linear / says i’m a polyphonic catastrophe / & i believe him / because the rat doesn’t lie / just writhes / just weaves his tail into my nerves / just nestles in the gaps between thought & action / & when i freeze in the supermarket, staring at the yoghurt for too long / he hums a requiem / says: “they called you precocious because they feared what you’d remember” / says: “they called you mad because your voice went too many directions at once” / says: “they called you girl because they didn’t know what else you could be” / & i say: “can’t you stop composing for one second?” / & he says: “no, darling, the concerto’s nearly done” / & i say: “then let it play” / & he does / & i dance / barefoot in the kitchen with my rat king god whispering sonatas into my bloodstream

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sos717 · 3 days ago

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Let this be a future reference for anyone attempting to “call me out”?

@truenotnew if only you had done your research babes. I wasn’t going to do this at first but this is an incredibly dangerous way to go about addressing things you find to be problematic in YOUR community. And if you truly wanted to be a genuine person and call out what you find to be wrong, you have to do a background check on the people you’re LITERALLY BERATING.

Mind you this is quite literally the FIRST thing you read on my page (but I can tell you didn’t):

Notice: the giant red circle

I think some of you people are hallucinating an entirely new dimension when you do things like this especially considering I’ve gotten asks specifically asking why I’m “teaching ND wrong” and everytime I respond with “what im telling you is not a practice and its not even ND, it’s just the nature of experience, it’s not even “manifesting””

Besides that, you go on wayyyy too confidently making really juicy statements about ignorance and saying that I do this for dopamine and… money? Please tell me where my courses are, you better run me a check because It must be somewhere I can’t find. Tell me where I’m being monetized 😭😭😭. I don’t even have any platform I use but tumblr. On top of this I have the most sporatic and inconsistent post schedule, I disappear for weeks at a time so I promise you it’s not for clicks 🤭. You also go on to say that our or my responses to anons or askers are rude, wow, I’ve never gotten that, you wanna know why? Because I’m not 🤷‍♂️, I see people in a position that I was once in and just want to help, I know it sounds kind of new for people to just help because they want to help but here I am. I was on here when my posts got 0 interactions, to when it gets 1k to when it gets 20, it’s never been about some useless clicks girl WHAT 😭😭😭.

This being said, the main point of this is to make you recognize that if you want to call someone out go ahead! But make sure you have your details correct! When you out out a statement that has insanely bold assumptions, they sure a hell better be true, otherwise it’ll look like your doing it for clicks… 🤭

(This is off topic but I noticed you focused on ND and yet your page has bible quotes in it, as if ND has any relation to the Bible, hmm, is that not..misleading?)

#blommp717 #nonduality #manifestation #manifest #law of assumption #non dualism #master manifestor #nondualism #advaita vedanta #law of attraction

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yayamemes · 2 days ago

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TO QUOTE ASTARION . . .

∗ collected dialogue from baldur's gate 3

thou art saucy as gruel.

don't let fear cloud your judgement. that's what alcohol is for.

it's not you, you understand. it's me. i have standards.

just tell me i'm beautiful and we can call it a day.

there's a time and place for violence. i mean, this place is perfect, but is it the time?

fine, see how you get on without me.

ugh, that is an unfortunately fair point.

do you mind? i'm brooding.

you can't be serious. this is a howling wasteland!

enjoy your night with whatever goblin will have you.

i'd prefer my art to be a little less... shit.

now that's a lock that screams 'pick me'.

this would be perfect if i had wine. but i don't, so it isn't.

never listen to your second thoughts, they always spoil the fun.

tell me you had a plan beyond 'put us in danger'?

that's not normal, is it...?

some day, that soft heart of yours is going to be torn out of your chest.

thank you so much for telling me. now please, piss off.

seems i was wrong about you... about us.

what i've lost... what i've gained... it's all so much.

you're too cute to die.

i would like to see her dead in a ditch, but i can tolerate this.

well, well. look at you.

death doesn't become you.

no sweet hearts, no. i prefer them savoury.

are you working against me? or are you just simple?

hm... let me give it another go.

pity. you're tastier than you know.

how i have a whole new life stretching out in front of me, and you... you won't be able to join me... will you?

oh, don't be so sour. it's a party.

nothing's changed, but gods... everything feels different.

you may be right... that doesn't make it sting any less, though.

oh, you're a rare treat.

you think i'd kill you, just like that? darling, i would never.

i have my reasons, you can be sure of that.

we need a way out. now.

so, he's keeping notes on me? that would have terrified me.. once.

there now, we're all friends again.

now, if we're done, we have more important business to get on with.

we both want to survive, but why merely survive when you can thrive?

i spy with my little eye... nothing of note, really.

a distillery? not my preferred tipple, honestly.

such ambition. you make me look positively humble.

did that count as giving me the side eye?

is that... normal?

well, whatever you're into.

i was just wondering when you'd invite me back for a bite.

this will all be over soon.

it's enough to put you off tentacles for life!

really? and how, specifically, have you misjudged my fine character?

don't you EVER compare me to him.

i like this bloodlust look on you. ooh, very flattering.

hm? oh, i was just pondering that heart of yours.

all i had to do was not fall for you, which is where my nice, simple plan... fell apart.

hold very, very still.

well, some rest is better than none.

i've always wanted a vicious killer for a pet.

looks like the booze got the better of them, they're practically unconscious.

well, i hope there are no bad feelings.

wallowing in filth is for pigs and children, my dear.

now go, before i change my mind about roasting you.

worse than useless.

oh shit... i... did i do something wrong?

don't mind me, i'm just enjoying the show.

i don't know if i'm horrified or jealous.

oh, please. there's no need for such language.

i need you, you need me. it's that simple.

a chained book? oh, that's just begging to be read.

interesting choice, but who am i to judge?

i won't lie, it is tempting...

still alive, i see.

i'll try to restrain myself if you do.

a pile of old, dusty corpses. lovely.

#rp meme #roleplay meme #rp starters #rp resources #rp prompts #bg3

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0nsyu · 14 hours ago

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There can be overlap between the physical heart and the metaphysical heart for sure, I think that’s natural when people have always been able to feel the beating in their chests respond to their emotions. But I have a few issues with using these particular examples to help determine what RGG was going for here for a few reasons:

CSM and AOT are both lauded for their brutal, gory depictions of human anatomy, so placing importance on the physical heart doesn’t surprise me. But the objective and intended effect of that symbolism isn’t going to map neatly onto RGG, which isn’t a work where that kind of thing is central to its presentation and artistic vision. Also, I would say AOT’s slogan reinforces my point. Recall Erwin’s(?) quote: “I’ll say it again… Those of you who remain here to join the Survey Corps will probably die soon. Ask yourself… Are you willing to offer your hearts to mankind?” The use of the slogan is a direct call to die for the cause. It’s part of how it valorizes military service. I don’t see an entwinement of the two here, ceasing consciousness is just what happens when you die.

I can’t speak for CSM because I don’t even know where it’s set to be honest, but KH and AOT are both highly Westernized works. KH wouldn’t exist if Disney didn’t see it as a vehicle to promote their media, while in AOT’s setting is heavily European and in it Asians are extinct. RGG is drawing upon fundamentally Asian beliefs and etymology for the elixir (and leaving them intact), so they’re just not cut from the same cloth.

Lastly, these all reference the human heart, and I think with the heart of an animal, even if that animal represents a character, that introduces degrees of separation. If he were after Kiryu’s human heart (and in Y1 he did at least act like he wanted to kill him), that’d be morbid, but would have some precedent for romantic readings. But with an animal, it’s a byproduct. And a lot depends on the character who’s searching, the character the animal represents, the animal, and external factors like whether the name the animal is given matches what it is, how closely, and what the animal represents. I mean, in this game you have Majima going on a date with and getting romantically attached to a tiger, which is ostensibly much more direct than the whole Kiryu-dragon dragon-sperm-whale heart-non-heart thing, but even that has too many degrees of separation for me to take it seriously as a definitive statement on Majima and Saejima’s relationship, personally.

I have only a passing familiarity with all of these works and had to look up a lot, so I could be off, but that’s my impression. Feel free to correct me unless it’s about AOT, which I personally don’t care to engage with further. But while we’re on the topic, I think that even if we take it all in the way that’s the most favorable to this theory (that it does represent Kiryu’s heart), what Majima wants the heart for also matters.

In both English and Japanese, there’s a pattern to the romantic sense of it; if you’re aiming for someone’s heart, you “steal” it, you “capture” it, you “win” it, you “make it yours.” It’s about possession. But Majima isn’t searching for the heart to keep it. And I think your examples actually highlight an interpretation that’s being overlooked here, so I have to thank you for that. Without a heart, or without a heartbeat, you die. I’ve talked about AOT’s heart representing “life” already, but the same goes for CSM; without the Pochita heart, Denji would still be dead. Without a heart, a Nobody can never live a full life.

So as I was saying, Majima isn’t searching for the heart to keep it, but to give it back to Kiryu; in other words, to give Kiryu back his life. Not like the reality as seen with Rodriguez’s father, hanging on by a thread long after his time should’ve been up, but in the way he imagines it, restoring Kiryu to who he was in his prime before the cancer and chemotherapy.

There’s another layer to it in that the heart doesn’t exist in the way he imagines it. It can’t keep you young, it can’t keep you at peak physicality, it can’t even keep you alive indefinitely. And even with those caveats Majima isn’t able to obtain it in the end. If you interpret the heart as representing life, it’s about coming to terms with the fact Kiryu may die, and if he doesn’t, he may never be the same again. And even if you take it as romantic I would think Majima’s failure to obtain it would suggest it’s one-sided and nothing will come of it, like other portrayals you don’t seem to be satisfied with.

As for the post-credits, I think my overall point is that the localized lines encourage you to look at it in such a fragmented way that it loses its meaning. It’s only within the framework that Kiryu himself is the dream that it makes sense to view everything Saejima said between “Funny how ya went to Hawaii all so you could chase a dream, then. You forget that?” and “Kazuma Kiryu.” as basically filler, just build-up to the “Kiryu reveal.” Like I’ve been saying, that framework is faulty on account of the localization, and I’m sorry I can’t put this any other way, but that “build-up” is Saejima explaining what the dream is.

Notice how he says “You forget that?” This is an amnesia story. Saejima, not necessarily knowing whether he did forget the reason he went to Hawaii in the first place despite ending up on the right track and recovering the rest of his memories (and he does at least seem to have forgotten telling Shigaki he didn’t want to play chaperone), is explaining the reason, for both his and the audience’s benefit. It comes directly after and is inextricable from him bringing up the dream in the first place. It’s the key to understanding the whole story. With all that said, I have already translated and explained everything I can, so at least to me there’s no further meaning in lingering on this topic.

I wanted to leave this until I got to this point in the reply so before I continue, I did happen to see that anon you get when reblogging this and I want to say it was entirely uncalled for. For me this conversation has so far been remarkably civil, and I’m very sorry you’ve gotten grief over it. I’m with you and the second anon there.

To move on, since you say you meant it within the context of a conversation about queerness I’ll take it as that, but I still think the subjectivity of player experience means that all content is missable. After all, according to RGGS themselves, plenty of people have only ever played Ichiban’s games and don’t care to return to the Kiryu Saga or spinoffs like Gaiden and Pirate Yakuza. Kenji Matsuda (Jason’s actor) did this in the beginning and later become interested in other works; likewise Rintaro Nishi (Watase’s actor) initially only intended to play 5. To them Mine and Nishitani may as well not exist, and the things I mentioned would be their only (and therefore their biggest) points of reference for portrayals of queerness in RGG. And even then, plenty of people skip through all of the dialogue and play for the gameplay. There’s no universal experience.

So when I’m talking about the studio’s attitudes to portraying queerness I honestly just don’t care if it’s minor, or missable, or exists outside of the game altogether. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s never seen by the “casual” or “average” player. What matters is that it was put there by the studio with every intention of it being seen. There was a whole process of thought and implementation involving multiple people. And in that framework Ichiban and Kiryu and Majima have already been portrayed as queer, it just hasn’t been portrayed through confirming KazuMaji.

I also just feel that this scenario makes a lot of assumptions. Who can say if one or both of them have romantic feelings for each other? Who can say they’ll be anything but minor characters from now on? Who can say if it’d be in the main story? Who can say if it wouldn’t just be one line dropped and never acknowledged again? Who can say it wouldn’t be in optional side content? Who can say it wouldn’t be behind a dialogue choice? Who can say it wouldn’t be an in alternate universe game? Who can say it wouldn’t be in a mobile game? Who can say it wouldn’t be in a tweet or a video or a livestream or a fan-meeting? Who can say it would necessarily recontextualize anything in everyone’s eyes when plenty of people already read it that way and plenty of people won’t change their minds no matter what and plenty of people won’t care one way or another?

It’s all subjective. Maybe in your circles it’d be the most memorable and talked-about thing from that story, but my circles would be rolling their eyes at “fanservice” and “spoon-feeding” before moving on. I’ve posted about never-before-seen concrete answers to questions people have been asking for 20 years and no one was all that surprised. So maybe in this very specific scenario things would play out how you say, but it’s so specific I don’t have anything to add.

In the same vein, pretending they do want to put something like this in is just beyond the scope of my objective in bringing these things to attention, even if that wasn’t the original topic of your reblog and conversation with the OP. There is only basis for them wanting to portray queerness in some form or another, which they have been doing before and since 2012 when that tweet was posted. That’s what I care about. I don’t know whether KazuMaji in specific has ever been in the running and it doesn’t make a difference to me personally if they have. I care about everything else they’re doing and I care about making people aware of it so the two or three characters widely accepted as queer and the possibility of KazuMaji going canon isn’t the only thing they can count on as a way to be shown acceptance by the games and the studio.

So like, of course I bring up the personal politics of the staff. Of course I bring up evidence and past accounts and anecdotes. What else matters, let alone matters more? Why would I give hypotheticals as much or more weight than what I know to be true, particularly hypotheticals contradicted by what I know to be true? Why should I go along with hypotheticals that, no offense but in all honesty, portray them as paranoid, spineless sellouts that don’t stand by their politics when I know the opposite is the case? I will for the next little bit just so I can reply as thoroughly as I can, but no more than that.

Firstly, regardless of demographic, there has never been a successful “boycott” of any major release in gaming and companies know it. Gamers are not an organized group, they are not disciplined enough to hold to their principles, they have no leaders, no popular support, no allies, nothing. At most there can be enough backlash to reverse a decision or improve the product, but that’s it. Even just this year so far, Avowed and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows have both been “boycotted” by the anti-woke crowd and yet topped the charts and sold millions of copies. On top of that, RGGS has no rivals to redirect money to, because other studios can’t compete with the quality, speed of output, and fantastic workplace it’s cultivated over 20 years.

YLAD faced more backlash for being an RPG than IW did for being “woke,” and neither made a dent. IW even went on to sell one million copies in its first week, the most the series has ever sold. Gaiden and Pirates both sold over 100k, which at least in Gaiden’s case is confirmed to have been above expectations. With games that can pull those numbers in their first week, how would people know about KazuMaji going canon before buying the game to be able to effectively boycott it? Avowed and Assassin’s Creed were boycotted over things in pre-release material. Like are they announcing it in a trailer? How will people know it’s supposed to be serious and not taken out of context? If it’s not in any pre-release material, how will people who’ve been playing too long to refund it boycott it?

As for the wellbeing of the workers, like I’ve said above, any action the anti-woke crowd has attempted to take (if any) has been ineffectual. The most you get is articles and tweets shouting into the void, 4channers being 4channers, and trackers marking every game in the series as “woke” whether they’ve played it or not. The political climate in the USA and the political climate in Japan is not the same. Extremist violence has been on the decline since the 90s in Japan. Besides cyber-attacks and hacks, the only publicized case I can find in which workers were harmed was the Kyoto Animation arson (which was not over politics, but over alleged plagiarism). Since then, the issue has been taken extremely seriously; one person was prosecuted and another arrested over sending death threats to Arika (motives unknown) and Nintendo (“making a shitty game”) respectively.

Aside from that, there have been no cases of targeted harassment in the past six years I’ve been following localization team members and Sega employees. Many of them honestly don’t even have a social media presence. Of the ones who were most prominent, Jon Riesenbach received misplaced complaints about the localization of the Remastered Collection, but they were legitimate complaints, just directed to the wrong person, and Scott Strichart had parted ways with Sega for quite a while before deleting his Twitter account because he couldn’t handle seeing criticism of the localization of games he didn’t even work on himself. That’s it.

And honestly, in my experience the specter of “loc team harassment” is a made-up concern to silence criticism. I was harassed non-stop for days, even sexually harassed, over my criticism of Gaiden’s localization by people wanting to protect the loc team from “harassment,” meanwhile not a single member of the loc team was even spoken to about the topic in that whole period. And this characterization of criticism of the localization as anti-woke has also resulted in incomprehensible takes such as “criticizing racism/anti-semitism/ableism/biphobia/lesbophobia/erasure is siding with the anti-woke crowd.”

Even if all of this weren’t the case, it’s Sega of America and the individual team members’ responsibility to handle harassment and criticism. Ubisoft put together a task force to deal with online harassment on behalf of their developers and advised them not to mention they work for Ubisoft, why wouldn’t Sega of America do the same if they thought it was pertinent? And given it’s their responsibility, not the responsibility of the Japanese team, why would that affect what the Japanese team puts in their games?

I would argue the far-right knew perfectly well what they were against, too, because I’ve seen it with my own eyes. They were against the sanctity of the Japanese setting being ruined by going to America. They were against the inclusion of Black and Brown people, even if they were only in the background, even if they’ve always been there. They were against the increased prominence of female characters. They were against “the localization” professing feminism, when the original text did too.

That last thing is the only identifiably right-wing localization controversy (as there was controversy over the localization adding commentary on cat-calling in Judgment, but frankly the issue of adding things that weren’t there before is bi-partisan) in my entire time with the series, and it’s the article I mentioned Yokoyama pushed back against in my last post. Yokoyama. Yokoyama, the face of RGGS, who absolutely faces the worst of anything thrown at RGGS, who reads everything and yet has no one on his block list, who stands by the work of everyone under him all the while.

So I’m sorry if I’ve gotten heated here compared to my previous replies but with all due respect, I do think it’s at least uninformed to consider that these particular scenarios might steer them towards playing it a little safer. They’ve never played it safe. They took an insane risk making a game about the yakuza in 2005 Japan when hardly anyone wanted to be associated with it and they’ve never stopped taking risks, all in the pursuit of works they can be challenged by and grow from that are true to their vision. I can’t in good faith engage with hypotheticals like this that don’t have basis in reality and don’t pay respect to the tenacity and integrity of the staff, so for the OP’s sake having to see our back-and-forth in their notes and my own, that’s going to be all from me. Thank you for the discussion and take care.

EDIT: Deleting previous reblogs for space and adding my original tags for my first reblog below:

#if i can speak honestly as the author of the mine essay linked in OOP #the question of whether something is canon or not is a binary one and its only utility is to quickly legitimize or delegitimize an argument #once you do away with it you'll have better conversations and less to worry about #i don't in any way regret that post or my stance but it only exists because there was such frequent opposition on the wiki #and fundamentally with m/m ships the western (and westernized) lens is incompatible with japanese works #because the depiction of m/m relationships and interactions evolved differentl #in the west “queerness” is a set of behaviors pathologized and legislated into an identity; depictions had to be coded and decoded #and there had to be definitive ways of doing that or a crucial avenue of communication would be lost #it's performative in the way saying “i love you” for the first time doesn't change one's underlying feelings at al #but instead acts as a signal to accept or reject the advancement of the relationship within the established cultural framework #by engaging with works in this way we try to find out if we are accepted by the work and if we can accept the work in return #but we forget that what we're looking for and whether there even is anything to look for is down to our cultural framework #the attitudes that led to this are a new-enough import in japan that many works do continue to depict behaviors #rather than setting into stone any specific identity or relationship status #in the same way japanese works also fundamentally exist outside of the western framework of “queerbait” a lot of the time #none of which is to say people can't discuss what they want of course #but i think certain lenses are a hindrance to meeting the work where it's at despite that being the objective of discussions on canon #also just like idk current rgg is casually queer enough that kzmj isn't particularly a win or loss to me

Hello! The twist ending of PYIH kind of shocked me. 'Twas really foolish of me for thinking that for the entirety of Kiryu's saga, Majima has just that twisted obsession with Kiryu, being a "Mad Dog" and all. I came across your PYIH analysis the other day and it really brought home what they were conveying with the ending.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the premise of PYIH. Is the sole purpose of Majima's "filming/documentary(?)" is to rehearse telling it to Kiryu? Because if it had been, that would be even crazier.

Oh, and at this point, is it even reasonable right now to interpret their relationship as platonic or brotherly? What do you think?

YEAHHHHH imo I think yakuza kenzan yakuza 3 (rooftop scene) is where we first truly starting seeing a glimpse of a deeper dynamic between Majima and Kiryu that goes beyond the "weird twisted obsession" reading, and we see more examples of it later as the series goes on (gestures at yakuza 5 and IW) but moments like those were decently subtle/blink-and-you'll-miss-it (not to mention they lessen in frequency also probably in part to Majima's lessening screentime throughout the series), but pyih's ending really goes out of its way to ensure that you actually Know how deep and genuine Majima's feelings are, which I am both extremely appreciative of and Kinda Crazy about

I think the whole documentary thing is interesting. Given the fact that they went out of their way to get the equipment/crew/etc. for the "film version", I would say that the Majima's retelling of his story at the studio and at Kiryu's bedside serve different purposes, and that him telling the story on set was not specifically for Kiryu (what Majima plans to do with the "film version" I'm not completely sure, but I guess for now we can assume it's just a project Majima wanted to do while getting Majima Construction back off the ground?) I'd say the premise of pyih is both to retell Majima's story as he presents it to the "general audience" And Kiryu, hence why the game starts with one and ends with the other. It's the same story to everyone, for the mostpart, and the main difference between the two 'versions' is How he presents it (to the cameras/the players/main audience he puts on the fuckass pirate costume and the theatrics, to Kiryu he tells it to him straight, without the extra show stuff for the cameras. We can Assume the story he tells to each audience is practically identical, considering that the cutscene of him telling it to us in the beginning of the game and him telling it to KIryu at the end of the game use identical lines (cough cough in the Japanese audio), but his tone of voice between the two are notably very different)

Uhhhh shoot I don't know if any of that made sense 💀 Point is I think Majima telling the story of pyih is, in fact, meant for Everyone, it's just that Kiryu gets a sort of special, more authentically told version of it if you will (After all, Majima could've just shown Kiryu the film when it was finally done, but instead he went out of his way to tell it to him personally)

As for the question of "is kazumaji canon now", WOO boy. First of all I actually lowkey want to thank you for asking that question, I've been wanting to post about it for a while now but kept putting it off lol. I mulled over this exact question quite a bit during the week-or-so long time period that I was writing most of my analysis after finishing the game, and, despite the fact that I myself am very vocal about liking kazumaji in a romantic scenario/context, I would not personally call it canon, and I say it is still absolutely reasonable to interpret them as platonic.

While many of the aspects we see in their relationship (especially on Majima's end) such as obsession, devotion, etc. etc. are often associated with romantic interest (Especially in fandom spaces), I don't think they have to be considered specifically romantic. People who have read through my posts may remember a while back that I did an analysis of The Sun at 36.5 wondering if the song was written with the intent to represent Majima's feelings towards Kiryu (for the record this was incorrect and the meaning behind it goes past the scope of the game) and I was going pretty insane about it lol. That's because, had the song been written with that in mind, it would've meant with almost 100% certainly that they would be, in fact, canon, and that would've been Insane. However, this is not the case, and other than that theory I had there's nothing else in the games that would specifically state that either one has Explicitly Romantic feelings towards the other. Do they have a very deep and complex relationship, the likes of which they don't share with many other characters? Definitely. Is it explicitly romantic? I wouldn't say so

The main example I would like to bring up to argue against it would be minedai (*cough* my second favorite yakuza ship I fucking Love Mine Yoshitaka so much he's one of my favorites). I'll link this amazing post with all the examples but essentially, while minedai and kazumaji share many of the same themes in their relationship/dynamic (again, obsession, devotion, you get the drill (can you tell Majima and Mine are two of my favorite characters yet LOL)) the main difference between them is that, with minedai, it is basically outright said Multiple Times in Multiple Sources outside of even Yakuza 3 itself that Mine loved Daigo, with words used Specifically to convey strong romantic connotations, a choice rgg went out of their way to make every single time they wrote about them together. Kazumaji, on the other hand, does not use these kinds of words to describe each other, whether it be in words coming from Kiryu and Majima themselves, or official relationship charts, descriptions, etc.

Can feelings including romance be heavily implied without needing to be explicitly stated? Absolutely, but with the way rgg tends to Very Obviously and Explicitly state when characters Are romantically interested in each other, and also simply because there is still (imo) plenty of room to read kazumaji as Not romantic, I wouldn't say it's canon. And for the record, I wanna reiterate that this is coming from someone who is personally very enthusiastic about kazumaji as a ship, so I'm trying to be purely objective here, and that is my verdict (Also this is just a random aside, but I really don't agree with the people who are (unironically) labelling Kiryu and Majima's relationship as "queerbaiting". but that's a whole other discussion entirely)

Thank you for shooting an ask !!

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