#watch as the both of them learn to exist as individuals for themselves

[corinescorner]

How to be a System Ally

This can be a post for both non-systems and systems! We all should be educated on how to be an ally for the community! It's aimed towards non-systems, though.

Educate yourselves. Before engaging, you should learn about systems and plurality. Different types of systems exist, and come in many, many different ways. Terms llike headmates, switching, co-consciousness, etc. should be learned before interacting!

Read about experiences: Follow blogs, watch videos, or read posts from systems who share their journeys.

Avoid assumptions: Not every system is the same, and their internal experiences and why they even exist can widely vary.

Use correct language! Ask about pronouns, names, or terms that the system may use. They can vary between each system, or even each alter.

Respect system-specific terms: If a system describes themselves as a way that's unfamiliar, instead of calling them fake or lying, take time to understand what it means. Ask questions, do research.

Don't assume every system view their system or plurality as a negative or a problem. Some systems see it as apart of their identity, regardless of how they formed.

Respect boundaries and autonomy. Like anyone else, systems have boundaries, and it's extremely important to respect them. Some systems are more open than others, but don't assume that every system should talk about their inner world.

If you're not sure who's fronting, ask before assuming! Some systems may let you know, but others may prefer to keep it private. Respect both.

Never, ever pressure a system to switch for another alter to interact with. Or in general. Switching isn't a performance, and asking is very invasive.

If a system requests to be treated as individuals between alters, respect that. Don't treat them as a singular identity unless they prefer it. Ask questions.

Validate their experiences. Systems face a ton of invalidation, both from the outside work and even in their own community. As an ally, you should validate every experience.

Believe them. If a system tells you about their experiences being a system, believe them. Don't question their legitimacy or dismiss their reality.

Acknowledge the diversity in systemhood. Whether a system formed due to trauma or not, their experiences are valid as a plural or system. Don't engage in debates that question the validity of "real" systems.

Support how they view their system. Some view it as a disorder, while some view it as their identity. Support how they see themselves without your own judgement.

Many systems, particularly the ones formed from trauma, can be sensitive to certain topics. Ask about what topics they would like to avoid, and respect it. Avoid triggering language; slurs, stereotypes, or graphic descriptions of trauma can be harmful.

Avoid intrusive questions. Questions about how often they switch or what their trauma history is are often invasive. If they want to share, they will.

Amplify system voices. Share content, posts, or messages from systems who are advocating!

Correct misinformation. Gently guide a person to the correct information. Remember, misinformation generally comes from lack of education, so pointing them to the right direction can help.

Offer support, not pity. Systems don't inherently need rescue or pity. Don't be the "hero" of systems. Listen without judgement, listen without trying to "fix" things. Celebrate their strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses.

Support a system automony. Systems are allowed to make nonconventional choices for their system. Whether it's delaying recovery, purposely splitting, creating alters, etc. They are allowed to make these choices.

Continue to educate yourself. Plurality is a diverse and growing field of discussion. Keep up with new conversations and research.

I hope this is able to help people who are newer to the system community or what to help advocate for their system friends!

[pillow-priestess]

The Ever-Growing Garden

/cw hypnosis from flowers and fruits and generally a nice life, dubcon, death as circle of life written for #bunbothypnovember 2024, Day 19: Flowers!

A beautiful flower garden deep within an enchanted wood, tended by an unusually sedentary clan of fairies. They pollinate the trees and bushes, bring in new seeds, convince spirits for favors, and lovingly decorate the whole clearing.

Over time, the garden becomes a minor landmark of the forest. A bubbling brook of fresh, healthy water is diverted through. Adventurers and wanderers stop for a night, leaving fruits and trinkets as rent. Birds and beasts live and die here, their bodies subsumed by earth spirits to feed the flowers.

Throughout it all, the fairies remain. Most of their kind are nomadic, flitting between trees and groves and happily whiling existence away. But those who visit the garden tend to stay and watch it grow. The flowers are sweeter here, the fruits tastier, the company more entertaining.

Years pass. The garden continues to grow, more inward than outward. The variety of plants and fruits intermingling in such a small place is unheard of, as is the friendliness of the fae who tend to them. They don't hide from any intruders, going as far as to greet newcomers and welcome them 'home.'

A rare few of the wandering big folk are convinced to stay here. The garden provides food and shelter, and the caretakers make better company than certain adventurers with a chip on their shoulder could ask for. Life in the grove isn't terribly exciting, but it's… comfortable. Made with love.

The fairies learn to care for their guests as deeply as they care for the flowers. Some folk may have expected a rather chaste existence here, but the little ones are more than happy to prove them wrong. An elven sage once retired here, believing herself past her prime, but her moans filled the forest as loud as any other once the fairies worked their magic. A strong, loyal warrior rested xer head on the grass for but a few hours, and even that was enough for them to 'convince' xer to desert xer master, to live in a pleasant daze and tend to the plants instead.

A lovely assortment of residents across decades and decades of growth. Each gave to the flowers in their own way, but near all were pleasured by the gardeners every day. They were gorged on fruits and nectar so that their own could soak into the fertile soil. The fairies grew very experienced.

Several spent their remaining days here. Their existence was made a pleasant one, and when they passed, they gave all of themselves back to the garden. Their bodies, their souls, their magic, their experiences. All of it fed the flowers.

And with enough time, it evolved into something new.

The fairies already arranged the plants in beautiful patterns, ones that changed by the year as they grew and overlapped. Soon, both fae and flora were compelled to spiral towards the center of the grove, arranging a natural path to one great, growing bulb, and the life coalescing within it. Memories of countless lives flowed into the nascent entity, feeding it, sustaining its growth, informing it of every microscopic action that led to its creation. It gained form as much as it gained ego, and began to unconsciously develop an appropriate identity.

The already loyal fairies grew infatuated. Their excitement grew as spring approached, the redecoration constant as individuals argued amongst themselves of the best display for it to wake up to. The more heated ones nearly came to blows, but always seemed to devolve into nights of passion instead.

When the day finally came for the Bloom, all were in concordance. The small legion of gardeners assembled around the flower, and began to gasp and cheer as its petals spiraled outwards, slowly revealing the feminine form within. They hung in the air, giddy to approach, but waiting for her to wake.

And wake I did.

When my eyes opened, it was to a sea of colors and little faces, all utterly devoted to Me. Praise hung from their lips, desperate to worship Me in My new form. When I graced them with My first smile, some nearly swooned out of the air, giddy that their goddess was proud of them.

For that's what I am. A minor goddess, true, but a deity nonetheless. I am this grove given form. I am the culmination of several hundred years of love and care in service to the beauty of the earth. They've always worshipped Me, and the only thing that's changed is I now have a mind to direct them.

I don't have dreams of expanding My domain. This garden has stood for many years, and I'm content to stand for many more. My gardeners are perfectly happy in their purpose. They've spent centuries cultivating their green thumb, all to be wrapped around Mine. We are happy here. And now, so are you.

…Look at that pretty smile. You blissed out about halfway through that story, didn't you? I don't blame you. The fruits here are nearly as intoxicating as the experiences, and you've certainly indulged aplenty so far.

You'd like to stay here, wouldn't you? Nod your head for Me, dear.

That's right. That's a good little gardener. Just settle into your role here. Let My fairies kiss your skin, let My aromas fill your lungs, let My love guide you down.

Down, down, down, deep into the earth with Me.

You'll be as much a part of Me as they are. And you'll be happy.

Good…

Good…

I'm proud of you. Leaving behind what you once knew takes heart. Your heart will serve you well, here, where all can indulge in your passion.

Let Me guide you down, little gardener. Down between My legs. I've got a beautiful flower for you to tend, right here…

[nqmonarch]

Red Flags in HSR Characters

I have a problem of simping for the most red flagged characters except I can't handle red flags. Like violence makes me nope the fuck out of any relationship, I am so scared of getting hurt in any way, shape, or form. In real life I'm fucking terrified of being manipulated into being dependent on someone because I've experienced that shit and it isn't fun. Hate being insulted, degraded, all of that.

But the red flagged characters are just too cool???

Like Dr. Ratio, sure he's a pompous shit and would probably end up degrading you which I hate but he's so cool?! So I need to find some way to make him into this weird yellow flag without making myself into some super genius because no way is that gonna happen.

So instead put him in like a tutor AU, he's teaching you and when you get something wrong he gives you such a side ways insult. Like it takes a minute to realize it's an insult, it's worded in such a creative peculiar way. The second it registers you begin doing ten times worse on every question. It doesn't take long for him to realize that being told you're shit isn't inspiring to everyone. So he takes a... kinder approach. He's still a hard ass and strict but he's actively trying to do better and you can tell, when he starts a sentence suddenly stops and then brings that sentence in a completely different direction. You both end up learning. You end up learning the material and he ends up learning how to be somewhat better at dealing with people whose ideal day isn't being insulted.

Then there's the aeons. i simp for all of them, like how can you not??? Especially Nanook (using he/him pronouns for Nanook), Yaoshi, IX, and Aha. Now first off IX isn't a red flag IX is a lovely little black hole who I will defend with my life. But the other three??? They're as red as a stop sign.

Like sure, Nanook would probably destroy you the first chance he gets. Maybe Nanook is the destruction because he wants to be destroyed. I, I don't know man. Like he's so beautiful but how the hell do you even write romance with him? That isn't just like destroying the love interest.

Maybe he's had an insatiable urge to destroy everything ever since the dawn of his existence and he can't remember why. He's always been filled with rage, hatred, toward everything that's existed. Then he sees you and it all comes rushing back toward him. Your death, the hole it filled, the only thing that could really be blamed was the universe. It was everyone and everything's fault. So he would destroy it all to protect you.

Still a red flag but man I'm trying my best, no matter what Nanook will always be a red flag. Yaoshi on the other hand... surely there's a way I can make Yaoshi into a yellow flag after all they just want to help.

Yaoshi who would save your entire planet, heal every individual part of the ecosystem and every person, just to see you smile. They would ask nothing in return and instead remain by your side, enjoying the beautiful of the world. Then the mara strikes, people begin to lose their minds and themselves and you're left to beg them for a way to reverse this. But this is the price of life.

Yaoshi assures you that this is natural but they still watch on in horror as you inevitably succumb to the mara as well. Only then do they try to figure out how to fix it.

The further I get the more hopeless I become. Then there's Aha...

They probably found you entertaining at first, a human full of surprises and excitement, someone that could survive any trial. Then you grew on them a bit more and they found himself becoming attached. Aha wasn't supposed to be attached but this of course just makes an opportunity for more entertainment! Now they're actually invested and can experience the nail biting tension of all this drama!

Just another form of entertainment, it'll be a shame when you're gone though.

Then there's all the other beautiful red flags Ruan Mei, Jing Liu, Blade, Luocha, and Aventurine and Sunday seem like red flags as well even though they're not out. Like if bad to date why do I want to date?

Their red flags are a part of them and it's hard to work around it, so sometimes you just gotta embrace it. Life's rough man. In the end it's my fault for liking red flags. I'll just stick to Jing Yuan for now, peak husband material.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Hours in the Moonlight: Somnolent Gloaming - 5. Quite the Interesting Endeavor

Summary: You’d learned your lesson at the very least. Listen to Sebek when he’s implying someone is important. Even if he is yelling. After all, both Malleus and Lilia were starting to seem more and more important as well as powerful. And perhaps more curious, was that they weren’t hiding it at all.

Series Type: Gender-neutral reader/ Vampire AU/ series/ romantic/ angst/ angst with comfort/ fluff/ sfw/ platonic interactions too!

Trigger Warning: Vampire

Word Count: 1170

Hours in the Moonlight Master-List

In hindsight, I felt almost bad for the way I’d largely ignored Sebek’s words. After all, they had been clear indicators as to exactly how important an individual Malleus really was.

I almost apologized to the young man as he entered the library, glancing around the room until he spotted me. It would have been rather awkward if I had apologized to him though, considering Malleus was still sitting with me in the library.

Apparently the sight of his clan leader was beyond surprising for Sebek, considering how the young man’s eyes bugged out, making their odd yellow-green color even more obvious than it already had been.

And somehow, I just couldn’t believe he was as ancient as his peers, which I figured had something to do with his behavior.

I almost felt myself smile as Malleus looked at the young man, like there was nothing at all odd about the situation and that, if anything, Sebek was the one behaving strangely. But then, it was true that after our conversation, laden with tidbits that just made me increasingly curious about the clan leader of Diasomnia, Malleus and I had simply existed in peaceful silence.

He’d left me to my research, quietly offering his assistance should I need it, and I’d honestly expected him to get bored and leave. But instead he’d simply gotten himself a book and went about reading. Apparently satisfied to stay here with me in peaceful silence.

I didn’t know if it was due to some curiosity of his about the vampire hunter who hadn’t come specifically to see him or some other odd reasoning, but I didn’t have any complaints.

After all, he seemed perfectly unbothered by me, and didn’t pay my presence much mind. 

It was true Vil had implied that once one got used to my scent, I would no longer tempt vampires the way I usually did. Similarly, it was also true that a good number of the vampires I’d gotten to know seemed largely unbothered by me or at the very least they were able to control themselves.

Perhaps Malleus already had a tolerance for my scent that apparently attracted vampires due to being used to Silver. And if that was the case, the Diasomnia clan might be one of the easiest clans to evaluate since I would assume the other vampires here would have a similar tolerance.

Still musing silently to myself, I watched Sebek slowly recover from his shock and look pointedly my way, “THE HOUR GROWS LATE!”

I closed my eyes as soon as he yelled as if it could help with volume, but I opened them fairly quickly when I heard Malleus let out a hum from where he sat.

He was frowning, which was odd considering the fact he’d been wearing a pleasant expression up until now, but I nodded at Sebek nonetheless. Genuinely grateful for him informing me since this room had no clocks and I’d neglected to put on a watch before coming here.

“I see, thanks for telling me. I’d best be on my way so that you can all get some rest.” I paused, hesitating slightly before I looked towards Malleus, “Um… With all the past clans, I’ve come every night until I finish the evaluation, so…”

I’d barely even managed to trail off before Malleus was speaking, a smile on his face like he was truly pleased with my words, “Of course, you are welcome to come here for as long as you like.”

I stood, surprised to see him mirror my motions and look towards me expectantly until I started off towards the door where Sebek stood.

“Would you like for us to send someone to escort you back home, or perhaps on the way back here tomorrow?�� The words came from behind me and had my eyes widening. 

I turned to look back at where Malleus stood before I slowly shook my head, “No… Thank you, but I should be fine making home and back here.”

 He nodded at my words, a slight smile on his face, “Very well then. Sleep well, Little Hunter.”

I nodded, still not entirely sure what to make of the clan leader of the Diasmonia clan, before I turned and followed Sebek out of the room.

And though he was silent, Sebek eyed me as we walked. 

A small part of me wondered where Silver was, since the two of them had seemed to be a bit of a duo when I’d seen them together before, but I didn’t ask.

Instead, I walked silently through the corridors until we reached the front door of the mansion. It was only then that Sebek spoke, “Are you trying to win over our leader, human?” 

His voice was low, causing my eyes to widen in slight surprise at his tone. But when I turned to look at him, there was no threat on his face. Instead, it was a mask of smug confidence that puzzled me even further.

“If you are, you will be met with failure. Lord Malleus is not so easily charmed by little mortals,” I felt myself frown at his words, wondering how on earth he’d come to the conclusion.

I shook my head slightly though, my voice coming out in a questioning tone that clearly evidenced my confusion, “I’m not trying to charm him….? He just came in there to ask me some questions.”

Well, ask some questions and drop some hints about his own importance. Though why he had done that was still beyond me unless it had just been some form of strange flex.

My words only seemed to make Sebek smugger, “BUT OF COURSE! He has no doubt already figured out whatever plot your master has.”

I could only assume that my ‘master’ was Crowley, which was an infuriating thought but not entirely wrong. He was, unfortunately, my boss.

But apparently Sebek still did not trust the idea of me being here to evaluate the clan and check some records.

I sighed slightly, preparing to explain myself before another voice broke in. One that had me turning to look at the speaker and making eye contact with red eyes that were filled with amusement..

“You mustn’t keep our guest, Sebek.” Lilia only paused briefly before he smiled at me and continued, “You go on, dear. I’m sure a youngster such as yourself has many things they need to do. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

I nodded slowly at Lilia’s words, quietly thanking him and bidding both men farewell before slipping out the door.

It wasn’t until I was almost back at my apartment that I realized that Lilia had not been present when I said I would be coming back to the clan tomorrow.

There wasn’t much I could do about it now, though… I would simply have to wait and see what tomorrow evening brought. 

The only thing I could say at this point was that evaluating the Diasomnia clan was already turning out to be quite the interesting endeavor.

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[discountenancer]

Here’s why Jasnah and Hoid is a great ship:

It’s not a ship.

It’s a stopgap.

I think Jasnah and Hoid do, on a personal level, enjoy each other. I do not think Brandon is writing them to last, and that’s intentional.

Jasnah finds Hoid to be an intellectual equal—“after all this time” implying she has never encountered someone who could be on her level before. She finds him “fascinating”. She needs his knowledge to save her planet and people. She doesn’t trust him. The text says this directly.

Additionally, they’ve been ‘together’ for what can’t be more than a few months. I don’t remember how long between Oathbringer and ROW, but it’s not long. People don’t fall in love that fast, and both Jasnah and Wit are too smart and risk-averse to let themselves do such a thing. They are not in love. They are doing a very strange form of dating, on top of which they are facing down Odium. No walks in the menagerie for them, just a constant barrage of stressors on all sides. They are under a great level of stress and not doing anything remotely close to courting or dating, physical affection from Hoid aside. Jasnah doesn’t even call him Hoid, so it’s unclear if he’s divulged that name to her despite telling Dalinar and Kaladin, who forgot or refuse to use it. The text is clear that he has told her some things about himself, like not being Alethi, using some power of physical transformation, and being immortal, but she’s stymied on anything else. I don’t think she’s the sort of woman who would insist on calling him Wit in private if she knew a more personal name, but I could be wrong.

So: Jasnah needs Hoid as an ally, needs his vast knowledge of all things Odium/Rayse, and perhaps fancies him as a future partner (“curious how the relationship would develop”). She doesn’t seem to be betting on Hoid 4 Life, but is enjoying the comfort it provides in the moment.

What does Hoid get from this?

First, he gets his dick wet. Jasnah’s canonically very beautiful. The benefit there is obvious.

Secondly, he gets to influence her decisions. He is shifting the boulder to roll in the direction he wants. Hoid is after something, and we don’t know what it is. I do genuinely believe he wants Odium contained—having a God roaming around the universe who wants Hoid specifically to die would doubtlessly be a big ol’ wrench in whatever his plans are. Hoid can do his work much more effectively at Jasnah’s side than on his own. He gets into the Big Important Meetings and knows all of the Plans being made. He gets to cast his vote. Jasnah takes his opinions into consideration.

They are both deriving an immense benefit from their relationship. Don’t let the sex fool you into thinking it makes what they have deeper than it is—as an ace person, I believe Jasnah sees sex as a necessary compromise in maintaining the relationship (“she could provide the intimacy he desired….this was not a new experience for her”). This is unsurprising. Sex is a small price to pay for, uh, saving the planet from an enemy you only recently learned exists and also happens to be the god of hate incarnate.

Brandon has said of the pairing "Wow, that's a really great and a really terrible match all at the same time, and that's what I'm looking for, in a lot of ways.”

Great match for intellectual brains and snark. Terrible match because something is being set up under the pretense of what we are assuming is a sloppy last-minute ship randomly set up in the second half of ROW.

There’s a WOB about how Jasnah and Hoid perceive power—I cannot find it, so here’s the paraphrase I’m drawing on:

“we should be concerned about how both Hoid and Jasnah view power and that’s what drew them together”.

Jasnah and Hoid are creatures of philosophy. Jasnah values the masses over the individual and Hoid values the individual over the masses (“[he] is legitimately empathetic to the individual”; telling Dalinar he would watch Roshar burn to get what he wants while devoting time and risk to helping various characters through rough spots). This is where their attraction to power and how they subsequently use it will put them at odds. They do not have the same goal, though they don’t know it—or perhaps Hoid does already, but is playing the game. Jasnah wants to save Roshar. Hoid wants to save Roshar, but more importantly, as he’s said, he wants to save his own interests.

Jasnah is brilliant, but I do think Hoid is conniving enough to manipulate her. “Yes, he did seem genuinely fond of her. He said it had taken him by surprise as much as it had her” (ROW 99)—this does not mean romantic relationship. It could. It could also mean a general fondness, like a dear friend. We have not seen Hoid or Jasnah exactly palling around with anybody on their own. We don’t know if they’re awash in good judies. They are two very smart people burdened with difficult tasks. Jasnah didn’t like Wit when we first saw them interact. Now they get along and playfully banter. That’s some unexpected fondness for sure. Trauma bonding, baby! It’s a hell of a drug!

Jasnah and Hoid are not fated to be together. They’re not supposed to be convincingly in love, because they aren’t. They are together purely by circumstance and their time is largely consumed with trying to stop Odium or Jasnah picking Hoid’s brain for her scholarly pursuits. Their relationship is, for now, enabling them to tackle the task in front of them. They are together for now, to save Roshar for now. After the battle of champions in SA5, it’s anyone’s guess—mine is that Jasnah will use what she’s learned against him somehow, and he will oppose her directly in pursuit of his own unnamed goal.

There will come a day where they realize the next obstacle they face is each other. They are locked in an embrace with knives in their hands.

TL;DR: Jasnah and Hoid are not in love and it’s okay if you don’t think they’re a good match, because they aren’t, and Brandon has said as much. Their relationship is setting up a mighty, mighty plot point in the back half of Stormlight.

[taxinealkaloids]

I do adore how absolutely unhinged all of the Eye-aligned characters are; Jon is trying his best to be normal but is also the "it's remarkably easy to buy an axe in London guy," Gertrude mutilated a man and threw his body in a hole, and Jonahelias did...all that. Maybe the spooky eyeball really does eat social skills/morality because the 3 of them are freaks of the highest order

Oh I think you’re sort of getting at something that I consider one of the defining features of the Beholding as an entity! (Keep in mind this is all just my interpretation and I don’t claim to be the defining authority on this subject.) 

 While the Eye certainly could be the reason for the general unhinged-ness of our three featured avatars, I would like to submit the alternate theory that it was the other way around; they were Already Like That, and that’s what drew the Beholding to them. I feel that the Eye is kind of unique in how it views its avatars. Many of the entities behave primarily as predators; they are interested in their avatars only insofar as they can use them as tools with which to hunt, and they override their original form and personality to facilitate this. They don’t really exercise their own will anymore; rather they exist as an extension of their patron. In ep 47 Jon asks The Distortion, Michael, whether he owns the hallways Helen got lost in; in response, Michael replies, “Does your hand in any way own your stomach?” I think this sums up the way avatars become incorporated into their patron entity really well. Michael isn’t a person anymore, he’s an appendage, grabbing the Spiral’s prey and dragging it into the hallways to be digested. Now some entities, notably the Web, clearly DO have agendas beyond simple consumption, but the Web is, to put it lightly, a control freak. It doesn’t have any interest in its avatars having free will. Annabelle is a puppet with a head full of spiders. She’s not herself anymore either. Basically, most of the entities don’t gain anything from their avatars having free will, so they take it away. 

The Eye, though? The Eye does gain something from its avatars having free will. In fact, their free will is kind of the POINT, isn’t it? Elias, Jon, and Gertrude aren’t puppets, because puppets aren’t any fun to watch. In my opinion, the Eye isn’t USING its avatars so much as it is excitedly observing them like lab rats. You wouldn’t want your lab rats to be puppets subsumed by your own will, because that would be boring as hell and also pointless. You wouldn’t learn anything that way, and nothing exciting would happen because you’d already know everything the rats were going to do. You want them to participate in the experiment! Their participation is essential, actually! So, instead of taking over their minds or twisting them into monsters, the Eye provides its avatars with the necessary tools (compulsion, partial omniscience, etc) to be really great at data collection and then it just sort of…sets them loose and watches to see what they find out! Of course, for this laissez-faire approach to work, it needs the sort of people who are already inclined to do the necessary legwork. If you’re a voyeuristic eyeball god and you have the ability to bestow individuals with cosmic powers, you’re gonna give them to people who are gonna do something interesting with them, and Elias, Jon, and Gertrude certainly don’t disappoint. Even before Jon started to feel any of the physical effects of Beholding’s hold, he was exploring the murder tunnels, stalking his coworkers, and  throwing himself in the path of avatars in a desperate attempt to satisfy his own curiosity. Gertrude was basically running around trying to fistfight every single entity and blow up their shit. Both of them were basically putting on the best show possible. Tragically, we don’t know much about Jonah’s own path to Beholding, but I bet the room the Eye allows for its avatars to retain their free will and find things out for themselves would have drawn him to it over the other entities. (I do also headcanon that he originally was quite impulsive, inclined to throw himself into potentially dangerous situations in order to satisfy his curiosity like Jon, and had to learn over the years to temper these inclinations in the interest of not dying.)

Anyway, tl;dr, the eye WANTS freaks of the highest order and that’s why they’re all Like That. Thanks for your ask <33

[sol-consort]

The relationship between humans and turians just as a collective always has frothing at the mouth because there so much potential. Humans and turians are the type of opposites that perfectly complement each other, the types that fill in the gaps the other has. Order and chaos are perfectly balanced concepts and one cannot exist without the other.

Both species believe in service over self, but humans understand that you have to take care of the self a little too. We understand that a little selfishness is okay and healthy even.

And type of public service humans value are the small things like feeding your neighborhood, watching someone’s kid for the night so they can have time to themselves, picking up trash in the public parks, building community gardens, the tiniest action of putting your shopping cart in the corral.

Humans have the ability to show turians how to be individuals and turians can in turn show humans how to be a better collective. Match made in fucking heaven imo

It's a beautiful sentiment, but both species should be allowed to keep their flaws and make mistakes. Humans will be humans, and turians will be turians. Time after time history proves that it is a flat circle and each lesson must be relearnt.

Species don't have to balance each other out into a semi-symbiosis . Turians shouldn't attempt to fix humanity's impulsiveness and egotistical strives, humanity shouldn't attempt to change turian's militaristic lifestyle just because we don't get its appeal and view mandatory military training as a dystopian concept.

It's not the turians job to discipline us or make us a better collective. Neither is it our job to get them to ease up or teach them how to be individuals. If Turians only want to indulge in humans for fun, so be it. If most humans only go after turians out of intrigue and curiosity for the unkown, why stop them?

Radical acceptance of each other is far better than attempting to change one another, that's just the synthesis ending with extra steps, isn't it?

Could different alien species get along if they were alike and learned from each other? Yeah duh, of course they could when they are so similar.

But could they get along while holding drastically different values? The core idea of humanity is that you can not put humanity into a perfect mould or fit it into a box, we are far too different from one another. A human might relate more to an alien than another human. Atypical becomes the norm.

The core idea of turians is that the betterment of their species is above all.

And maybe that's okay? to be different and still get along or not get along, people can just mind their business. Because turians and humans aren't two random people that can kiss and make up, those are two entire civilisations.

Human civilisations themselves hold very different and often opposing beliefs, yet you don't see people attempting to get them to learn from each other. Because that's not the point. We shouldn't be trying to become like one another; we should embrace our differences.

What's "better" for each species is far too subjective. Where do you draw the line? How will you ensure that we don't just end up gentrifying turians into humanity 2.0 because that is the only point of reference we have for how a species should behave. We—humans—do not even behave like that. It's a fantasy, an idealised version of the perfect species.

Most of your thoughts—my thoughts, everyone's morals and beliefs—are a byproduct of our time-period and environment. Who knows how these values will hold up 1000 years into the future? Hell, who says they'll still be relevant 100 years from now.

Every utopia is another's dystopia, extend decency and respect to different culture and things, even if you don't understand them, even if they might contradict your own beliefs. To get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Plus, turians and krogans work better as opposing forces ngl. Now that is true order and chaos. Humanity just happened to be the one to strike the turian hornet's nest and get most of the heat. We're far more similar than we think, much like we are similar to krogans as well, asari and salarians too! Even drell and hanar at times—because that's the point. We are the most diverse species, we can connect to everyone on some level, jack of all trades, master of none.

[puellaphantasia]

Oddity found this JCA meme on Deviantart, time to cringe like it's 2010. Elaborations on some of the questions under the cut

2). It would literally be easier to list the characters I don't like than my favorites, I do genuinely love most of the cast, they're all really fun and bounce off each other so well.

3). I appreciate that the Ice Crew has fans, but I just couldn't stand them, they were poor replacements for the Enforcers.

Oddity and I both are both of the opinion that the Ben-Shui monks are kinda creepy, not sure I can elaborate they just...ew

I don't remember liking Paco when I watched this as a kid, he didn't grow on me on a rewatch as an adult, and I'm not sure I'll learn to like him in my reboot fanfic- but my god I'm going to try.

Viper...I genuinely forgot she existed. Even when I did a second rewatch with Oddity there was a whole episode that I remembered seeing in my initial rewatch that I completely forgot Viper was in. I wish I liked her more than I do, but she's just really boring.

4) Again, it'd be much easier to list characters I don't like than ones I do. I would have put Tarakudo on the favorites list, because I remember really liking him as a kid, but when I did my rewatch he didn't hold up as well as I remembered so he didn't quite make it to the favorites list even though I still like him.

6) Seasons 2-4 are the whole reason to watch JCA, honestly. S1 was a good foundation, but it didn't really start to shine until s2, but even then, I have to admit the Demon Sorcerers arc got pretty reputative and the non plot episodes sort of dragged on. There's very few episodes outside of s5 I didn't like, so I wouldn't say skip 'em but I think they could have been interlaced in the Demon arc a little better

S3 gets a bad rep in the fandom, and I get the complaint of it just being the Talisman Hunt 2.0 but honestly the character interactions are at their best in this season, several of the Nobel animals themselves have such fun personalities. I wish that s3 had it's own Mcguffin to collect that I could buy replicas of on Etsy, but it's not a big complaint to me compared to just how fun s3 is

S4 had the best individual episodes. I think more could have been done with Tarakudo interacting with the other characters, he was a little passive until the final episode and that's why he didn't make the favorites list, but the new types of Shadow Khan, their powers and the different situations the masks created were some of the best scenarios in the whole series.

8) Mei Xing and a cast of other OCs will be appearing in my fanfic Jackie Chan Adventures ↺ -wink wink-

9) I didn't actually create Mei Xing to ship with Tso Lan, it's just something that ended up happening while I was planning out her part in the story. It's just really funny to me that after I decided this aspect I looked to see if there was other Tso Lan/OC pairings, and saw two others who were also named Mei- I swear this wasn't done on purpose.

10) Just for the record, I also considered drawing the scene where Daolon and Uncle froze each other while Big Jade was fighting the Ogre, that scene just sticks out to me as one of the funniest in the show because of how they were both that stupid. I love them. They need to kiss.

[tofuless]

I have a few story concept ideas and need a place to ramble to see what people think of them lol.

Concept 1: a college student is mysteriously turned into an immortal during a near death experience which angers Death himself. However, it turns out the student doesn't want to be immortal, and the two team up to find a way to fix them so that death can claim their soul. Along the way the two bond as they seek out the truth of what happened

Concept 2: (I'm kinda disappointed in Tokyo Debunker so imma do my own dark academy story idea 👿) After an unfortunate series of events, a young individual named Cass finds themselves marked for death by an entity that seeks to consume their soul for more power. They're narrowly rescued from the entity by a mysterious group that call themselves The Drifters before learning there's two sides of reality; the world of fiction and the world of nonfiction, that coexist within the same plane of existence. To ensure the world of fiction doesn’t pose a threat to humanity, The Drifters watch over both worlds, disguising their organization as a prestigious school where they secretly handpick and train new guardians to aid in their endeavor. Cass must now learn to navigate both worlds while balancing classes, and seeking a way to remove the entities mark before it can come back to finish the job.

Concept 3: In a world where monsters secretly walk among humans, a vampire is task with solving a series of bizarre murders occurring all over New York City. With the help of time traveling abilities, they steadily grow closer to the truth, only to learn the culprit isn't as easy to catch as they thought. With the case now shifting from a city to an entire timeline, and history being tampered with, the vampire needs to figure out who to trust and how to fix the timeline before its damage becomes permanent.

Concept 4: The stars have vanished from the sky, plunging the world into darkness. Humanity struggles to adapt and survive as the world slowly dies. A young girl catches sight of a star falling from the sky and rushes to investigate, only to find the last Star, who turns out to be some kind if alien. She learns the stars were actually warriors of an ancient species that were battling a dangerous darkness lurking within space. The darkness was winning, and now the fallen star was the last of his kind. With the darkness now looming over Earth, the girl and the star need to find a way to bring light back to the night sky before all is lost.

[elshells]

Agent Ace || A Guide to the Guard

"Stay Vigilante and Prevail!"

So, you want to be a Guardian? You've come to the right place! Welcome to Ella's guide to the Harmont Guard!

If there's one thing you know about Agent Ace, or the Harmont Heroes series as a whole, it's that the Guard is the city's biggest line of defense. A Guardian must devote themselves wholly to civil security and be ready to put down their own life in order to protect another. Are you up to the challenge?

Well, even if you aren't, stick around! Let's take a leap and learn what it means to be a Guardian—but beware of spoilers!

Rise From the Rubble

The law exists to keep the people safe, but only until the law decides the people are not worth saving. In years long past—but still within living memory—plague struck down the nation like a warlord's gauntlet, sparking conflict between civilians and enforcers of law. Deadly curfews lead to violent resistance lead to hatred and destruction, ending finally in apathy. The enforcers chose to abandon the people they swore to protect, and tore everything they had to the ground, until nothing was left. Citizens lived in hopeless anarchy, choked by sickness and poverty, until, somewhere in the scorched remains of city once known as Harmont, one humble soul decided it was time to make things right. This individual rallied others under their cause, healing the broken, cleansing despair, and bringing back the solace that was thought to be lost. And once Harmont was reunited as one, they gave their life to build the city back up to what it once was—to what it was meant to be. A place of harmony. As this once-ruined city came to life before their very eyes, the people of Harmont hailed their hero as an Angel. Today, we know them as the Architect. As for their most reverent followers? They became the first generation of Guardians.* Thanks to the Architect's efforts and sacrifice, Harmont became the sovereign state of the nation. The Guardians designed a code of morality to uphold in this newborn era, and took on the responsibility of raising more heroes to bring others salvation. Today, ordinary folk of all makes and backgrounds commit to being Guardians. While many dedicate themselves to the continued fortification of Harmont, the strongest of them set off to the forefront of the new-age War, once again fighting to bring order and harmony to the world.

*During the events of Agent Ace, we have entered the fifth generation of Guardians.

The Guardian's Moral Code

The following oath is pledged by incoming Guardians and acknowledged by the Watch:

Guardians may only initiate drastic action against an opposing party under the jurisdiction of the Watch.

Agents of the Watch must be shadowed by a scout in the likely event that a mission may put them at risk.

Training and clearance by a superior is required before an agent or Guardian can register a new weapon under their name.

Any agent or Guardian must undergo a mental evaluation by a doctor and give a demonstration of skill under the supervision of a superior before they can be certified to carry firearms in the field.

Use of weapons in the field should be reserved for high-risk missions and ceremonial events, and individual use of such weapons is highly monitored by the Watch.

For reasons of protection and accountability, an agent and a Guardian must both be present during private audiences, including interrogations, council hearings, and matters of court.

Use of a Guardian's alias in the public eye must be enforced and respected, except posthumously, under individual discretion.

A Guardian is never exempt from the rulings of the Conventions of War.

ADDITIONAL OATHS

"Stay vigilant and prevail": A combination of the less-common phrases 'the Watch is vigilant' and 'the Guard prevails.' Usually said as a gesture of good luck.

"I swear it on my name": An informal oath within the Guard, to swear on your name means that, should you be incorrect or acting on deceit, you forfeit your title as a Guardian. While an individual cannot be stripped of their position on the basis of this oath alone, an alias is given with honor and pride, and many Guardians take these words seriously.

Now you know the history, and you understand the code. You've learned what it means to be a Guardian. Are you still with me? Good! Now it's time to learn what it takes to be a Guardian... PART 2 COMING SOON!!

TAG LIST: @writernopal, @mysticstarlightduck, @livums, @wotchergiorgia Message me to be added or removed!

[sunfl0wersandillusions]

some things i would like to see explored in unicorn: warriors eternal based on the first three episodes:

feeling like the cycle of unicorn’s reincarnation and fight against the evil and emma posing issue with it is gonna bring into critique the fraught effort at justice of the whole thing, posing questions of punitive vs restorative justice. if the way that the good side works is that it’s only keeping the evil back every time they’re around, not fully addressing the evil at its root so it doesn’t happen again in this way, i feel it’s natural this fraught system come about, as other people have suggested before, from merlin himself keeping this cycle of reincarnation of both sides intact. like maybe he has some claim to stake in “the balance of good and evil” where the evil can’t just be defeated once and for all, it has to keep coming back. this, the conflict becomes not how do we defeat the evil as it exists superficially here and now but how do we find the root of it and address it there.

in a more personal vein, emma and melinda’s conflict of personal fulfillment vs self-sacrifice for the greater good, and more broadly the schtick of this incarnation and this show individually of unicorn reincarnating into teenagers rather than adults, all seem to suggest the theme of reconciling the individual with the broader world they inhabit in the cultivation of a meaningful existence. which is a conflict inherently relevant to adolescence, wherein individuals learn about themselves as well as the world they inhabit and their relationship to it. i think bringing the spirits of unicorn close to these questions with their teenage incarnations will finally allow them some perspective of who they as individuals are independent of their heroic duty; whether that’s through witnessing and supporting the unique sensibilities and developments of their hosts or through their hosts guiding them through the discovery of those sensibilities for themselves. and for the hosts, i see unicorn working to guide them through that journey of understanding where they fit in the world by offering them a means and opportunity to contribute to making it better. finding that balance of while it’s not their only reason for being given their personal pursuits, a meaningful life as they grow is defined not just by their personal pursuits but how they interact with their broader world as well. unicorn and their hosts in this way learn from each other the meaning of fulfilling existence.

gah this show has so much potential i’m so excited to see what genndy and co do with it!! watch unicorn: warriors eternal and talk to me about it pls i think i feel a new brainrot coming on

[guessimabasicnerdgirlnow]

All of this being said, I do think the people who didn’t like it only because symbrock spent most of the run not bonded together are being foolish

Of course this probably doesn’t mean much since I am personally an enjoyer of their moments of mutual hatred too (which didn’t happen in this run, as we all know, their actual divorce makes whatever little moments of conflict they had now seem like children’s play), but

I feel a bit like I did in the beginning seeing non shippers of the non tumblr side of the fandom complaining too about them being separated. I think I had some of the same arguments I have now:

It can be nice to see them existing without each other! I actually love that they managed to do it without making them hate each other like in the actual divorce! They can get to have their own individual conflicts, and individual flaws, and individual relationships!

I’m particularly not a fan of Symby being written as just an extension of Eddie, which happens sometimes. I like it when they are a whole person

Besides, just them being bonded means nothing sometimes when for example in 2018 they seemed like they didn’t even like each other. Do you remember the anti-psychotics, I can’t forget the anti-psychotics. That was shocking for me to see after having only watched the movie

And it’s not the only example, they had their whole toxic era before the divorce in the 00’s, and there are all the canon AUs that go fully in the corruption route…

Did this run always portray their relationship well when compared to my personal view of it? No. There were moments in it that bothered me a lot. The Dylan author really fucked up in how they portrayed Symby before the paternity reveal, for example. The backstory recap in Venom War: Spider-Man was a little weird. While I personally was convinced by it, I can see why some may think Eddie eventually becoming Meridius makes no sense. And they did retcon Sleeper into having been born from a vacuum

But them being separated was not the issue. Did we all miss the whole thing that Eddie becoming distant from the ones he loved, losing his feelings and humanity, is what doomed him and almost the entire world?? Or that Symby learned to see that their feelings are not a poison?? They got Spider-Man’s blessing, of all people, to go back to Eddie, who loves and needs them??

They didn’t get to get together again in the end but it’s not because they don’t belong together. It never felt for a moment that they didn’t belong together. This is just the conflict, the obstacle in the way to keep the story going. They both sacrificed themselves to save their kid (and in Eddie’s case, to save Symby too). Their separation in the end was too an act of love

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 241

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 42 - “Komachi's Decision and the Arabian Nights“ Date watched: 10 January 2024 Original air date: 7 December 2008 Screenshots Precure Metamorphose Gallery | Sky Rose Translate Gallery Project info and master list of posts

Komachi, fabulous she, shielding and blocking

You know what’s fun? The night. What’s more fun than night? An Arabian night! What’s even more fun than an Arabian night? How about a thousand and one of them? Yes, today we are going to dive into another classic story to fight some bad guys, and learn some lessons along the way about self-worth. Let’s dig in!

The Plot

Anacondy pays Shibiretta a visit to implicitly threaten her job, so the witch gets fired up in plans to retaliate against Eternal’s second in command, as well as capture the Rose Pact.

Komachi and Nozomi are chatting in the library about the value of stories and just how many of them there are that Komachi’s could get lost. Nozomi tells her that no matter what, she’ll find her friend’s book. Suddenly, everyone finds themselves sucked into another world… or several, and facing unique individual threats from their stories.

Despite being separated, the girls and fairies figure out that this is another of Shibiretta’s plots and manage to reunite with each other by following the narratives and intents of the tales. They confront the witch and tell her she’s using stories wrong, which she rebuts as they’re just tools to use however she wants. Everyone was able to reunite with each other because they respected the stories. Nuts adds that the story of 1001 Arabian Nights is about a woman telling stories to the brutal king every night, in an attempt to get him to soften his ways; and what Shibiretta is doing is completely counter to that narrative.

In response, Shibiretta creates a genie Hoshiia and kidnaps the fairies and rose pact, so the girls transform, and the battle moves outside of the palace. They have trouble fighting it, since it can turn into smoke and their attacks just pass right through it.

Cure Mint and Shibiretta engage in a verbal tete-a-tete:  the Witch from Eternal says they both uses stories to suit their needs, but Dream defends Komachi saying her stories are exciting and heartfelt and she loves them, while Shibiretta just makes messes of existing stories. Shibiretta retorts that she tried telling stories to the director, and he was unmoved, causing Mint to shoot back that stories won’t respond to her methods. They fight again; Milky Rose defeats the Hoshiina while the Cures take out Shibiretta once and for all with Rainbow Rose Explosion.

Before the world dissolves, Aqua assures Mint that all of them are looking forward to her next book. Over in Eternal, Anacondy remarks that a report for this would be pointless.

At dusk, Komachi tells Nuts she wants to write about her amazing friends and share the feelings of all the good times they have together, in hopes that if someone lonely reads it they'll be inspired to find friends like hers. Everyone else was listening in and all of them want to be the main character of her story, with their own spins, and this ends the episode.

The Analysis

What I Liked

It’s one of the better Shibiretta episodes. I’ve often criticized her episodes for only using the surface elements of the story and not putting the characters through the plot. This time they actually addressed that and made it the entire point of the episode: Shibiretta is only taking advantage of the stories for what she can gain from them (monsters and distractions to attack the precures) and not the underlying morals and emotions. I thought it was especially poignant how she said she had read stories to the director and he was bored, so that means stories are worthless at inspiring emotion; and Komachi shoots back that it’s precisely because all she does is to use stories like tools.

Also, as per the narrative, you can actually see the difference between embracing the story and using it as a tool. The girls are able to reunite by understanding the tales that they are in. Rin kindly asks the magic carpet to help them and it responds. Urara’s sincere feelings to protect Syrup revert him from 40 clones of himself back to one. Nozomi uses “Open Sesame” on the door, and later Karen asks for a sign of the right way to go to find Komachi. It’s a bit convenient but hey it works.

On that note, as usual the antics that the girls get up to in the story world are great, they make some good jokes and gags out of them. The 40 (actually 39) Syrups, the magic carpet, the “Open Sesame” scene and of course the genie Hoshiina, all great uses of the setting. I also like their outfits.

I feel like Nozomi and Komachi are one of the less explored pairings in this series. Sure, Nozomi was the one who first enticed Komachi to become a Precure, but they haven’t done much together since then. Komachi is usually paired up with her longtime friend Karen, and there was that one time she and Urara had a really good bond. It’s true that everyone has been supportive of Komachi’s writing throughout both seasons, but this episode is the first time that Nozomi explicitly praises, uplifts, and defends Komachi’s writing and what it means to her, and that translates to a really great climax where they work together to ward off Shibiretta.

The fight against the genie Hoshiina that turns into smoke kept me on the edge of my seat. Its permeability is a distinct advantage but then Rose turns around and uses that to her gain, before dealing the finishing blow. It’s the kind of creativity I live for here.

Similarly, the battle of the Precure against Shibiretta was really well realized with some great stylized animation and action. Shibiretta launches herself like a rocket, but Mint and Dream combo their attacks to deflect her, and then Lemonade and Rouge kick her out of the sky so the team can perform their final attack on her.

What I DIdn’t Like Nothing comes to mind.

Miscellaneous

When Nozomi uses “Open Sesame” on the cave entrance, she does Kamen Rider’s henshin pose.

One Thousand and One Nights is a compilation of stories from the Middle Eastern region, from a variety of authors and tracing origins back over a millennium. The earliest known mention of the central character Scheherazade is in the 9th century, but many of the individual tales are believed to be much older, hailing from India and Persia. Over time stories from West African, Hebrew, Greek, and other traditions made their way. It’s a dynamic work that was passed down by storytellers over many generations and cultures. There’s no singular version of the text, there may not even actually be 1001 stories as some of the most famous ones, which incidentally are the ones featured in this episode (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin and the Lamp, The Tale of Sinbad the Sailor) were actually separate stories that later got rolled into the collection much later. Trying (and failing) to unravel this complex history to give context to the references in the episode was a bigger undertaking than this blog merits.

In the scene where Syrup is supposedly cloned 40 times, as the 40 thieves that attacked Ali Baba, there are actually only 39 of him.

Conclusion

This was a fun episode exploring some real juicy feelings about anxiety and the future and legacy, and also the purpose of stories. It was a nice sendoff to Shibiretta, whom I’ve had very mixed feelings about throughout the show. She was a step up from the duo but solidly middle tier as far as Precure villains go. Smile Precure will give us another witch character to play around with so when I get to that series I’ll do a compare/contrast.

Next time on Precure Daily, Nozomi comes face to face with the director of Eternal! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei!

[temaylibrary]

An account of the after-meeting in the Professor's office, concerning Mecha and a certain Amiibo

This is, as far as I can make it out to be, a summary of the short meeting following a spatial and dimensional incident in the professor's office that resulted in him, Mecha, and some others becoming involved in an effort to stop a parallel universe from being erased.

As soon as the portly, well-dressed man bid farewell, Cosmo activated one of his many transportation spells and stepped through it into the confines of his office, clutching Mecha, his student's exams, and a troublesome Luigi-shaped amiibo. The transition was successful, and he found himself back in his office, no worse for wear aside from the mess on his desk and the oddly cleaner space where the black hole, shrinking down to nothing rapidly, had been.

The Luigi amiibo vibrated gently, catching Cosmo's attention. Gently, he set it down on the edge of the desk, eyeing it with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. He motioned to Mecha, offering her a drink to ease the tension of their recent ordeal.

Mecha, her helmet de-digitizing to reveal her stern yet tired face, sighed heavily. "After all that bother, a Silverhand would be decent to have right now. Unless you know how to make a Cosmo Canyon?" she said, flopping into the guest chair opposite the wizard.

Cosmo smirked. "It shares my name, I'll have to learn how to make one," he replied, noting down the drink's instructions on a piece of shale. "Should be up in a few minutes."

His attention returned to the Luigi amiibo, which seemed to show signs of life as he lightly scolded it for the issues it had caused. A hologram projection emerged from the amiibo, forming a rough vroid model of a feminine figure. The Lulz, as it introduced itself, apologized for the trouble and offered an explanation.

Cosmo and Mecha listened intently as Lulz revealed its identity as a manifestation of multiple individuals, split into different identities representing various traits, and yet also that they were, in fact, the original. It explained the existence of a counterpart, Lulz Prime, and the dangers posed by its instability.

As the conversation unfolded, Cosmo realized the gravity of the situation. They had prevented a potential catastrophe, but the implications of Lulz's existence were profound. Lulz spoke of retrieving its lost possessions scattered across the multiverse, seeking to regain control of its fragmented identity.

Cosmo proposed using a banishment spell to send Lulz back to its original plane of existence. After a moment's hesitation, Lulz agreed, and Cosmo cast the spell, watching as Lulz disappeared with a faint popping noise. The plan was to hold concentration for half a minute, just in case the place the Lulz was sent was NOT, in fact, where they belonged.

Thirty seconds later, Lulz returned, clattering back onto the table with renewed vigor. It expressed gratitude and a desire to stay under their care, seeking assistance in regaining its lost identity. The banishment was, in fact, successful-- but in order to actually stay there, to return to where the Lulz belonged, they would need to re-collect themselves. They were a long way from home, and with their memories regained after the strange Lulz singularity last year, there was a question of existentiality to be asked and answered.

Cosmo and Mecha discussed the logistics of Lulz's stay, considering its illusory form and limited capabilities. Cosmo, in a flash of curiosity, slipped a ring of Mage Hand off his own finger and placed it around the outstretched arm of the Luigi amiibo whence the Lulz hologram emitted. This, both miraculously and hilariously, gave the Lulz the ability to access the cantrip, carrying the amiibo around to afford them locomotion around the campus.

As they discussed the next steps, Lulz experimented with its newfound ability, testing the limits of the Mage Hand spell. Mecha chimed in, recounting her own experiences with dimensional travel and offering her expertise to aid Lulz's research.

Despite the challenges ahead, Cosmo and Mecha felt a sense of excitement at the prospect of assisting Lulz in their quest for identity. It was settled that Mecha would have a space in the basement of the tower, and that Lulz's student enrollment paperwork would be processed immediately-- before Cosmo had to go and talk to the headmaster to offer explanations.

[spirit-small]

From a young age, borrowers are encouraged to do as much for themselves as they can. They're social creatures by nature, and thrive in larger community settings, but their continued existence depends on not being detected. This means that small family groups and, often, solo individuals, are the norm. Not by nature, but by necessity. To that end, borrower children are taught the necessary skills for survival as early as they're able. It's not to get them out on their own quickly, but more because of how fragile and volatile a borrower's life can be. Orphans are remarkably common. They're taught to fend for themselves, because soon enough they may have to.

This is Phoenix Wright's first solo borrowing.

He is 9 years old.

The risk is low. Only two beans live here, and they're both rather preoccupied at the moment. All he has to do is get a couple of things. It'll be over before he knows it.

He silently makes his way across a countertop, and climbs into a cupboard. He knows where his target is. This borrowing stuff is easy, he didn't even SEE a bean.

Too bad he didn't hear one either.

The cupboard he's in is opened and light floods his eyes. He squints and finds himself face to face with the younger bean, caught red handed, quite literally, on account of the Cheeto dust. Flamin' Hot, naturally.

They stare at each other for a minute.

And another.

And another.

It almost seems like the bean is having trouble processing what he's seeing, as if he can't figure out what the appropriate response is.

"Um, hello. My name is Miles Edgeworth. What's yours?" He finally settles on.

"Uh.. Ph-Phoenix... Wright?"

The bean- the Miles- laughs. "I'm not sure, you tell me. Is it Phoenix or not?"

Phoenix is baffled. "Y-yes. That's right, Phoenix."

"Right." Miles nods.

"Yes."

"What?"

"That's right. I'm Wright."

"You're right? Then we're both right. Right?"

"I thought you were Edgeworth? Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right."

"That's right."

The two of them just look at each other for a moment, and simultaneously laugh. Laughing! With a bean! Phoenix is starting to suspect everything about his worldview might be a lie. Either that, or he found a rare One Of The Good Ones.

"So, um... May I ask what you're doing in my cupboard?" Miles asks. Phoenix has to think for a moment. What if he only gets mad when he realizes he's being borrowed from? Beans don't tend to take kindly to learning that.

But then again. What other explanation could there be?

"I... I was inspecting them. See, sometimes little bugs can get into these things, through even the tiniest of cracks in the wall. How would you feel if you started putting on the Ritz, only to find your crackers crawling with ants? I'm really doing you beans a service, here." Phoenix lies through his little teeth.

"...Ah... yes. Of... of course. That... makes sense. You know, if you're hungry, you can just help yourself. I don't mind. I'm sure you don't eat much. You can even take a little extra for later, if you want."

Phoenix bites into a Cheeto. He doesn't even hesitate.

"Mmmrf... Shank you... Mrrnff..."

Miles laughs, not necessarily at Phoenix's shameless display of his lack of table manners, but just... At the absurdity of the whole situation. Phoenix double checks the contents of his bag, and prepares to leave.

"W-wait! Are you... Leaving?" Miles looks at him like a sad, lost puppy.

"I have to. If I don't return soon, I'll never hear the end of it. I mean it, though... Thank you. For letting me take that stuff, and... For keeping me a secret."

"I don't recall promising to keep you a secret." Miles raises an eyebrow.

"Well, you did now." Phoenix winks. Miles gets a determined look on his face and nods.

"I understand..." He watches him as he disappears through a crack in the wall he'd never even put a second thought into. "Wait! Will I... Ever see you again...?"

Phoenix steps back out into the light for a moment. He looks down, thinking hard, considering all of the angles. Turning his thinking around- If beans are so dangerous, then the best way to survive a world full of them is to have one on your side, right? He looks up at Miles, and smiles.

"I think we can arrange that."

[icedteaandoldlace]

Lace's Official Ranking of Couples from The Flash

1: Cisco and Kamilla

Best guy in the Flashverse meets best girl in the Flashverse. Instant recipe for perfection.

When I first heard via Tumblr that Cisco had a new girlfriend in season 6, my automatic reaction was, "Oh, Christ, ANOTHER one????" because while I don't dislike his previous love interests, I had grown tired of watching him fall head over heels for people who didn't care as much about him as he did for them. And given the less than encouraging (and wildly incorrect) criticism for Kamilla in the same post that I learned of her existence in, my expectations were very low, and I tried to just enjoy single!Cisco while he lasted, dreading what I thought would be yet another uneven and unsatisfying romantic arc for him.

So when a cute bartender offered Cisco a drink to cheer him up (half a season sooner than I was expecting her), and they struck up a conversation that felt so comfortable and effortless, a little wistful part of me was like, "Man, it's too bad he can't just date her. She's sweet and relatable and they have nice chemistry. If this was how he met the girl he ended up with, that would actually be really cute." AND THEN SHE INTRODUCED HERSELF.

Admittedly, I was still a little skeptical for a while, due to the frigid reception she got from the majority (or just the loudest members) of the fandom, but the more I saw of Kamilla, the more I couldn't help liking her, and she quickly became one of my favorite characters. A photographer, an artsy girl working a customer service job that she hates, who's attracted to Cisco's personality and decidedly turned off by all the stupid personas he tries on to try to impress her; who tolerates his chatty friend crashing their date with a smile, and is certain about her answer when he asks her if she really wants to update her relationship status.

Building a relationship with each other is easy, but it still takes some work. For Kamilla, it means letting not only Cisco, but his whole found family into her life, and accepting all facets of his life and dealing with all the craziness that comes with being part of a superhero team. For Cisco, it means breaking down his protective walls and letting himself be vulnerable with Kamilla, and trusting her not to let him down. And as their relationship progresses, they both support each other's careers (and get involved in them when needed) and never want to stand in each other's way. They're both fiercely protective of one another, and they have compatible aspirations that change at the same time, allowing them to grow together instead of having to choose between each other or themselves.

They are two very different individuals, but their differences don't interfere with their relationship, because they embrace them and work with them, instead of trying to make their relationship work in spite of them. It also works because they share a lot of similarities; they're both independent and driven, and they both understand this about each other and are able to balance their time spent together and apart. They're also both caring and loyal to their friends and a good ear to vent to and shoulder to cry on, and that carries over to their relationship with each other as well.

Kamilla makes Cisco happier than anyone he's ever been with, she's able to tell him when he's being an idiot while still being on his side, she's someone he trusts with things he's not ready to tell anyone else, while also understanding that sometimes the person he needs to talk to is someone who's known him longer, and what a lot of people mistake for a lack of chemistry is in fact just a lack of reliance/focus on sexual tension.

Even though they didn't get nearly enough storylines and they're criminally underrated, they're easily the second or third most developed couple in the show, and they are absolutely the cutest.