#what does intention matter if the end result is still the same?

[tls123]

"If, in the future, you see someone fall into a qi deviation, don't panic, and don't rush up rashly thinking you can save them. You must stay calm and call for help; don't try to do it yourself. If you don't, you'll definitely be more of a hindrance than anything, and you'll make a big mess, and you'll abandon yourself to despair from there on. You'll never be free of it for the rest of your life—even jumping into the Yellow River won't wash you clean!"

Shen Qingqiu was mystified. "If someone else fell into qi deviation, what would that have to do with me? Why would I panic? Why would I want to help?"

Shang Qinghua's face was the very definition of I knew you'd say that. "Either way, just make sure you remember."

okay...... all those threats, all that posturing, all of the liu qingge i'll kill yous..... and then you're telling me..... no, enough. i'll kms fr fr

[artisanalpeanutbutter]

Not gonna lie

I dont think I'll ever forgive my parents for how poorly they mishandled our dog's health. I constantly felt as though it was my fault even though I quite literally couldn't do any more than i did. I still feel as though it was my fault. He deserved so much fucking better. I love him, and he had to endure such horrible skin problems because my parents refused to take him to a better vet because they were convinced the one they went to was fine. Even though I protested them for YEARS. I tried so fucking hard to get them to see what was going on but they just let it get worse and worse. They would never listen. And I couldn't take him somewhere on my own because I was a kid with no money. My sibling was too busy to notice. And my mom couldn't accept that it was her fault, and that she could've done better. I think she knows now but is still denying it to herself. My dad, quite frankly, didn't care.

[eff-plays]

Ok so I watched the interview with Stephen Rooney, Astarion's writer, and here are some highlights. (I'm an aspiring writer and current game design student who wants to write for games so I'm sorry if some of these insights aren't as interesting to you as they are to me <3)

He calls Astarion his "horrible little vampire boy"

He loves seeing the fandom around Astarion<3

He did write other characters in the game, but mostly NPCs surrounding Astarion or his storyline, so it mostly revolved around Astarion

Astarion is not as connected to other companions/Origins as, for example, Lae'zel and Shadowheart, or Wyll and Karlach are to each other, but he is still reactive to their stories, even if it's just to stand off to the side and laugh when something terrible happens

He had a clear sense of where Astarion's story would start and end, but it got "muddy in the middle", but those are also moments where the best ideas come from

They write from the general idea that every character has one "good" and one "evil" ending, in order to give the player choice. RIP Ascendant apologists :(

According to Stephen, two of the most important aspects of Astarion's character (to keep consistent when bringing him to Idle Champions, at least) is that he enjoys violence, but is also fun about it

"He has a certain appreciation for violence, I guess? A bit of a murdery streak. [...] He's a vampire, he's all about blood, and he's all about, kind of, those darker sides of humanity. [..] But at the same time, he is ... He is really fun, he's really fun to write, he's really fun to have in your party, and it's very important for me that that is also represented."

"He's gonna stab you, but will have a smile on his face as he does it? I mean, I dunno. That's kind of him in a nutshell."

Larian would not have allowed for Astarion to be a typical brooding Dracula type, and there were scenes that were shot down for not being original enough

The main thing about Astarion was trying to get a "sense of fun." It would be easy to write a character that was very unlikable, and they absolutely did not want to do that

Rooney says Astarion is consistently terrible throughout the game and awful in a whole lot of ways, but he also needed to be charming enough that you could tolerate his presence and wanted him around

Rooney also had a lot of input on Astarion's stats (meaning the 10 Charisma is probalby 100% intentional)

He also had input on how certain lines should be delivered, even though the writers didn't directly work with voice actors

The way Astarion moves and poses is "all Neil"

Apparently, Neil Newbon worked on the character for years and Rooney did not speak to him once, though his voice work did influence how Astarion's lines were written and it became a "feedback loop" (Possible context for "ONLY SLIGHTLY, NEIL")

There were no points where a line delivery drastically changed Astarion's writing; rather it was a constant, slow evolution

However, there was one very spoilery moment where Neil gave such emotion to some "basic" lines that it fundamentally changed the scene (WHAT IS IT OMG)

It's difficult to balance approval, as you don't want to straight up write a monster. Every character needs to have some humanity in them. So if it comes to leaving the party, it needed to be the result of something central to said character. They wanted to be mindful of situations that would cause actual rifts between characters. (I assume this is why most generic disapprovals/approvals are +/- 1 or 2, while character-related ones give +/-5 or more)

However, as they don't write straight up horrible people/monsters, it doesn't come up as often as one might think.

The interviewer makes a point about how characters like Astarion and Lae'zel are good examples of how to play "evil" characters, as they are maybe not the best people but are still eager and willing to stick around the other party members

They worked to make sure the characters would work as a group, no matter the configuration of the group. The characters needed to be on the same path, even if they don't always agree or walk that path the same way.

Stephen Rooney is very proud of the "climactic" scene of Astarion's story. (AS HE SHOULD BE.) He even had to step away from the computer and have an emotional moment. Me too, man.

He's also "extremely pleased" that there's a point where you can punch Astarion in the face. "Actually, that one might be my favorite part" A MAN OF THE PEOPLE!!

Stephen Rooney's tip on what specific thing you should try out with Astarion: When he's trying to get a "sneaky nibble" at night, you should "probably" let him bite you. Way ahead of you there, sir.

No discussion about Astarion's romance unfortunately, but that's that!

[brokenmenswhore]

Hii🤭 I saw you writing for the marauders and I was wondering if you could do like a lover version of the poly one you already posted, totally ok if you don’t. Thanks anyway 🤍

don’t touch | poly!marauders

pairings: poly!marauders x reader, remus lupin x reader

warnings: none, maybe just jealous remus?

a/n: wasn’t super sure what direction to take this but i hope this is ok! i’m so nervous that someone is gonna request something and end up hating what i write kfjkejejek

this is technically a reimagined drabble of this request!

────── ☾ ──────

Remus was never shy about showing his affection for you, especially in front of his friends. He was proud to be with you, and wanted to show off that he had you, but was still protective over your relationship.

He would often hold your hand or kiss you out of the blue when you were walking with Sirius and James, or sometimes he would hug you, lift you, and spin you around in the hug, almost knocking his friends over. It was clear that he was enamored with you, and with his friends always around, it was becoming harder for them not to feel the same way.

When it started, you told Remus to cool it down in front of your friends because you didn’t walk to make anyone uncomfortable. Remus said it didn’t matter and he didn’t care.

Sirius wanted the kind of love you and Remus shared, and he had a rather large crush on you as a result.

The four of you walked down the corridor, ready to leave classes behind for the day.

“Will you pleeeeeeease come to Hogsmeade with us?” Remus begged, throwing an arm around your shoulders and kissing your temple.

“You know I have to study,” you sighed, “otherwise I absolutely would.”

“Oh come on, all you ever do is study study study,” he continued, “don’t you wanna hang out with us?”

You giggled, “of course, but not more than I need to study. I’m going to fail charms if I don’t get my shit together.”

Remus groaned in defeat.

“Come on, give yourself a break,” Sirius started, “you’re too hard on yourself. One night won’t make or break a semester-long grade.” He smiled, tugging at the sleeve of your robes.

Remus noticed and glared at him, but Sirius had no intention of acknowledging him.

You sighed. Remus eventually gave up when you protested, but Sirius was stubborn. “Fine.”

Sirius nudged you, smiling and turning away from Remus as you blushed slightly. Remus pulled you in for a kiss, marking you as his.

The entire time in Hogsmeade, Remus didn’t let your hand go once. He would even keep your fingers intertwined when he used the hand clasped to yours.

“Rem, you’re being ridiculous,” you said, pulling him into an aisle away from Sirius and James.

“How so?” he replied.

“You’re acting like if you drop my hand it’ll fall off.”

“Am not,” Remus protested, “besides, what’s so wrong about wanting to hold your hand?”

“Nothing,’ you responded honestly, “but for someone who wants to make out on the couch sitting next to Sirius, you sure seem jealous that he nudged me.”

Remus sighed. “He knows he isn’t supposed to act all lovey-dovey with you. He only does it because he’s into you.”

“So? You’re not his dad, you can’t tell him what to do.”

“I don’t want him being all touchy with my girlfriend. That’s not weird.”

You let it go, knowing that Remus wouldn’t budge on his stance no matter what you said. At dinner, you sat between Sirius and Remus, James next to Remus and away from any tension.

“Oh, you’d love this,” Sirius said, pointing to the drink menu and showing you one of the options.

“Absolutely,” you said, “I’m getting that.”

Remus began to run a finger through your hair, brushing the strands out enough to make his actions obvious to Sirius. You didn’t draw any attention to it, and continued talking with everyone as normal.

Sirius could tell that Remus was intentionally working him up, and Sirius had trouble controlling his temper.

“You know, you really do have the prettiest hair,” Sirius said, curling a strand in his fingers.

“Oh, so we’re just gonna forget that you’re not allowed to do that?” Remus snapped. “Don’t touch” was Remus’ rule- he didn’t want either of them near you. You were his and his to kiss and hold and squeeze only.

“Isn’t it her choice what I do to her?”

His choice of words sent Remus spiraling. Sirius noticed, and scooted out of the booth as fast as he could. Remus was trapped in between you and James, so he just lept over the table.

“I’m gonna kill you!” Remus screamed, chasing Sirius out the door, leaving you alone with James.

“So,” you started. “maybe we should get going?”

[frommybookbook]

Earlier today, some friends and I were discussing one of those Star Trek captains memes. You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones that pit the captains against each other with pithy descriptions that glorify and champion the men and shit on Janeway. The ones where Picard is describe as the wise teacher and scholarly diplomat; Kirk is the brave trailblazer and lovable rogue; Sisko is the take-no-shit commander and more-than-human uniter; Archer is the quick thinking explorer and the avenging do-gooder; Pike is the empathetic Boy Scout and the quippy everyman…and Janeway is an irrational murderer and erratic loose canon. And, as usual, I went on a bit of a rant. They (looking at you @redsesame, @epersonae, and @emi--rose) told me to share it here so, if you trudge through this whole thing, blame them.

Does Janeway make some questionable decisions throughout VOY (Prodigy!Janeway is a different conversation for another time)? Yes, absolutely. But here’s the thing: every captain does. What I still love about her though and will champion until I'm blue in the face is that Janeway owns her decisions more than I think any other captain does.

Picard and Kirk hide behind the Prime Directive a lot. That's the reasoning Picard gives for not interfering in the drug running in “Symbiosis” and leaving the Ornarans trapped in dependence on the abusive Brekkans. His line, “Beverly, the Prime Directive is not just a set of rules. It is a philosophy, and a very correct one. History has proved again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well-intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous." is a cop-out we hear from him time and time again, especially to Dr. Crusher, as she is the one who most often calls him on his bullshit.

Kirk does the same thing. We still this when he leaves Shanna and the other thralls behind in "The Gamesters of Triskelion" and when he forces Elaan of Troyius into a marriage she clearly doesn't want because it's "for a greater good." And all the while, he's got Spock at his side giving him confirmation bias that he's following regulations.

And Sisko, Sisko makes some of the most horrific and destructive decisions of any captain and uses not only the Prime Directive to fall back on, but he's got the Dominion War to blame. He poisons an entire planet to get back at one man he feels betrayed him in "For the Uniform" and don't even get me started on his actions in "In the Pale Moonlight".

Enterprise is so unjustly shat on by the fandom that I almost hate to bring some of Archer's questionable choices into this conversation but I'm going to do it anyway. Similar to Sisko and the Dominion War, Archer has the threat of the Xindi in his back pocket to excuse some of his worst behavior. If Tuvix is the worst thing people can point to for Janeway, then we have to talk about Archer and Sim, the simbiont created solely to be a living tissue donor for an injured Trip, a procedure that will kill the living, breathing, sentient Sim. Archer orders Sim created against the arguments made by Dr. Phlox. He rationalizes his decision with the same argument for the greater good that we see from all the others. He says to T'Pol before Sim is created "…we've got to complete this mission. Earth needs Enterprise. Enterprise needs Trip. It's as simple as that." And it doesn't end there. When Sim is grown enough for the procedure and has figured out what's going to happen to him, he challenges Archer himself, arguing for his own right to live, and Archer sticks to his guns. This exchange directly between Archer and Sim is haunting.

Archer: I must complete this mission; and to do that, I need Trip. Trip! I'll take whatever steps necessary to save him. Sim: Even if it means killing me? Archer: Even if it means killing you. Sim: You're not a murderer. Archer: Don't make me one.

Not only do all of these captains (except Archer, who arguably writes the damn thing himself at the end of the series) have the Prime Directive to fall back on, they also have Starfleet/the Federation/Vulcan High Council right there on speed dial to validate their choices and hear their excuses and give them another commendation. They all know that ultimately, they can turn to someone higher in command to turn to for help.

Janeway is alone. She is alone with her crew 70,000 lightyears from home with only her training and her own moral compass to guide her. Yes, she claims the Prime Directive a lot but she also goes with what she feels is right and she is clear about that with her crew. When she makes the decision to split Tuvix, despite what everyone else says, she sticks to it and more importantly, does the procedure herself. Picard would have forced Beverly to do it, saying Doctor I gave you an order, your conscience be damned, and Archer does the same to Phlox with Sim, but Janeway takes the tool out of the Doctor's hand and says it's my call, I'll do it. When everyone is angry and mad about her destroying the Caretaker's array, she stands up for her decision and says yes, I did it, because it's what my Starfleet training said to do AND because I think it was the right thing and it's on me to make the hard choices.

She also can admit when she made the wrong decision, which isn't something we see from the other captains. In the season 5 opener, "Night", we see her in a depressive state because she's questioning her decision to effectively strand her crew in the Delta quadrant but she comes out of it when she's reminded by her senior staff that the crew believes in her and trusts her, she should do the same for herself. When the Doctor has a mental crisis in "Latent Image" after questioning his own choice to save the life of Harry Kim over that of another crew member, Janeway admits she did the wrong thing by first deleting his memories of it so he could get back to work and then sits with him for days while he works through it because that's what captains do.

And she does all of this without the backup and support of Starfleet. She doesn't have anyone higher on the chain of command. She's 70,000 miles away from the admiralty and her support system. There's no one higher than her to give her a break from making every decision.

To quote my fellow Missourian Harry Truman, for Janeway the buck stops with her in a way it doesn't for any other captain and she is painfully aware of that and owns that and that is why I love her and she's my captain.

[ryuichirou]

Why is Ortho included in ship art? He died as a child, and although he was rebuilt, his emotional intelligence and maturity level stayed the same as that of a child. Although I fully disagree, I do want to understand your reasoning. Especially since Ortho and Idia are related and I saw your art of them kissing. I am genuinely confused.

I’ll be honest, Anon: the amount of people who message us pretending to be genuinely confused while having ill intentions are more than I care to admit, and this is very tiring; this is why I might sound a little dry in my reply. But I don’t mind explaining it if you genuinely want to understand it. That being said, let this be the last time I am ranting about this topic because there is nothing new I can say.

Here is the short answer: Ortho is included in ship art because we ship him with other characters. Ortho having a maturity level, mentality and/or intelligence of a child is a myth that contradicts canon and only exists to antagonise people who view Ortho as anything other than Idia’s baby mascot with zero agency. The fact that Idia and Ortho are related is not a reason not to ship them: shipping is fictional and doesn’t reflect one’s views on irl matters. Exploring taboo and problematic dynamics and tropes in fiction is a part of natural human experience. What I care most about in shipping is characters’ dynamic that I find fun for shipping. Their relation to each other comes second, but I won’t pretend it doesn’t exist if it does exist.

Now I’ll give you a long answer. Starting with “Ortho is a child/8-year-old/5-year-old/toddler” argument.

We actually saw real 8 yo Ortho before his death in Idia’s flashback and, wow, we can see that AI!Ortho and flashback!Ortho aren’t the same Ortho. "My largest amount of birthday data comes from eleven years ago, when I was five” is the line that Ortho says in one of his Birthday vignettes, which indicates that even though he does have memories of dead!Ortho, he is not stuck in the age of 8 – he thinks and feels that his fifth birthday happened eleven years ago.

But also just in general, if you listen to him talk and compare it to how he talked in Idia’s flashback (both the voice and the manner of speech), it becomes pretty clear that he is older. He is younger-looking and has a high-pitched voice but it’s due to the fact that Idia designed him to look that way, and there are a lot of potential reasons why he could’ve done it (all non-canon and theoretical, so we won’t dive into them today), but he is definitely not 8 years old. Ortho’s AI constantly learns new information, learns more about being a human – he is clearly maturing as the story goes, thus showing that he is in fact capable of aging mentally, and he’s been doing it from the moment Idia first created him. He is naive and inexperienced, but that doesn’t make him an infant.

Plus, post ch.6 he is always being grouped with other freshmen who are also sixteen years old. This is his age group. This is how old Ortho would’ve been if he was still alive, and this is how old AI!Ortho feels. He’s a proper first year student just like Ace, Deuce and the rest of the boys, and the story keeps highlighting it in all the events that happened post ch.6.

Speaking of post ch.6. At the end of the story AI!Ortho and real/blot!Ortho actually merged a little, as far as you can remember. Blot!Ortho, wow, is also 16. He’s been stuck in the Underworld since he was 8 and he existed all those years and grew up as well despite his terrible situation and more than unusual company, so we can safely assume his age. His merging with AI!Ortho also influenced him (AI!Ortho) in a way, making him more human as a result as well.

Not to sound mean, but I think the majority of people who still insist that Ortho is mentally 8 either don’t pay attention to his character, his story and how he interacts with others at all, or straight-up choose to believe that lie because it makes it easier to attack shippers or anyone who likes Ortho in general.

But also guess what, none of that matters actually because ultimately he is a fictional boy, and fictional characters’ ages are irrelevant. Just like fictional characters’ family relations are irrelevant. Even if you don’t think it’s right, that doesn’t change the fact that it is irrelevant, and the only thing that could be done about it is that you can block people and/or tags that make you upset. There is no shame about it: I avoid a lot of ships and tropes that make me upset.

I would prefer people to stop accusing me, a real person, of actual vile crimes (or having dark thoughts about them? What the fuck is wrong with you?) because of fictional, made-up things. If I want to, I can unrelate Ortho and Idia, and my fanart would stop being incestuous with a snap of my fingers. I can make them enemies, I can make them kill each other over and over again, I can kill Idia instead of Ortho. I say this to show how little it matters, and no, ~the implications~ don’t count. People make them up and choose to believe that instead of listening to the person in question. About a real person, let me repeat myself. You (plural/neutral you, not you, Anon) cannot make shit up about another person’s thoughts, ideas, and views just because you find it convenient.

As for why I personally ship Ortho with Idia despite them being siblings, you’re in luck because in addition to this already long post I have an even longer post for you to read if you’re interested! It’s been more than a year since I’ve written that post my reasoning is still pretty much the same, so I think it’s a pretty good one to read if you genuinely want to understand us better.

But if you don’t want to read another long post but are still interested, here is a TL;DR:

I love their deep love for each other and don’t want to just explore the platonic aspect of it – there are a lot of other scenarios that I want to play with;

there are a lot of tropes related to this ship that we love (us two against the world; AI in love; causing an apocalypse for the sake of your loved one; unhealthy and codependent relationship; obsession, etc);

their story has a lot of motifs that could be read as romantic (i.e. Orpheus and Eurydice analogy) that we really enjoy;

personal reasons; relatability (not elaborating on that; not related to incest though lol);

they’re sexy lol I love robot parts, size difference and a lot of other aspects that I won’t mention here.

I hope that explained some stuff. Just to be clear: I don’t want to force anyone ship Shroudcest, in fact I don’t care if we are the only people in the world shipping them (that will never be the case though lol). I just love Ortho very much, and I think he is a very fun character that has a lot to offer, and I really don’t like that people want to create this aura of “he’s just baby don’t touch him” that stops people for getting to know his character better. He is cunning, he is smart, he is caring, he is psychopathic, he is a lot of things, and all of those things make me want to see him bossing Idia around, acting cute around Vil, bonding with Malleus over their differences and similarities, all of those things.

[rebo-chan]

This was a HELLA LONG POST SO IM PUTTING IT UNDER A CUT. THIS WAS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT A XANXUS ANALYSIS, SO I HOPE YOU VARIA FANS ENJOY??

OKAY so I did my last poll (Favorite arc) because I wanted to figure out which arc/aspect of an arc I should look at next. And Varia won. Also, as well my friend has been slowly scheming to get me into the Varia as a whole. Safe to say, it's starting to work. ANYWAY, since I've never done him before, the thing I wanted to look at here is Xanxus, his relationship with his wrath, and with his "pride". To start, Xanxus comes into the Ninth's care as a child being fooled into believing that he was the Ninth's son. Overtime, under the Ninth's care, he is led to believe that it is his birthright to be Vongola X. Pride as defined by my beloved Simon arc is something you can't give up on. This is no doubt Xanxus's pride. The only problem is that it was a fake one, so easily ripped away from him by the mere fact that he and the Ninth had no blood connections. This is where his Wrath "begins", furious at having been 'betrayed' that there was never any intention to make him the heir. The very thing he made his Pride. It's here, his wrath introduces him to Squalo who walks into the lion's den (or at least someone he had believed to be a Vongola Lion) wanting to see where that anger led him. Squalo, the series embodiment of the word 'Pride'. Eager to prove that Xanxus, who he believed to be the Ninth's son, he would be a valuable ally to.

Squalo and us the audience then get to see personally where Xanxus's Wrath had led him. Despite Xanxus's pride being fake, it was still not something he could give up on. He was going to take his pride back, no matter who bled for it. Hence the coup. His Wrath made him chase after his Pride, and what it ended up being was one.. big temper tantrum from the hands of someone with far too much power. It's not lost on me as well that the result of the coup is referred to as the Cradle Incident. A cradle, what you would do to calm down a screaming child. It's also here that Squalo finds out the truth about Xanxus not truly being Vongola X. In the midst of this family debacle, Xanxus's pride is confirmed to not just himself but to Squalo as well as false. Lucky for Xanxus, Squalo was never following his pride but rather his rage. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure that Xanxus sees it that way.

As Xanxus wakes up from the ice with years having passed, it does nothing to sooth the burn of his anger of his ripped away pride. He hatches up another plan, the ring conflict, in order to crush the one that his 'birthright' was given to. To spit on his father's choice and destroy what the Ninth had wanted for the boy, just like his wants were destroyed. "Show me what that old man saw in you." Is no doubt the wrath slipping through. It's a "What made you a better choice than me?" I don't doubt that the relationship between Xanxus and the Ninth is.. almost irreparable at this point, but he is still someone who thought highly of the Ninth's opinion just based on that and the fact he felt betrayed by the ninth's action. He again WAS proud to be his son, either that's from the benefits that being the heir for Vongola X brought or out of some genuine familial love. It's hard to say frankly and up to interpretation. (In the very least, we can at least say Timoteo did genuinely care for Xanxus but this post isn't about him<3) Either way, the ring conflict begins and it is Xanxus's chance at retaking his pride and getting his proper and true revenge for what was done for him.

But this time though, there are slight differences between now and the coup. Time either in the cradle or otherwise has morphed how Xanxus sees things. There's.. an added humiliation to Xanxus now, one that hates what happened back in the coup. Not in the way that he regrets what he did, persay but rather the way the Ninth's eyes looked upon him in pity, the way he sees that same look in Tsuna. The fact that Squalo was there, whether or not he had heard what happened. It burns Xanxus. He wants his pride back, but he wants it renewed. Freshly removed from his past. He wants the Ninth gone, and for the way Tsuna shares that same look in his eyes, he's going to take both of them down in one go if he can help it. (The cloud battle, putting Tsuna in the situation where he could be charged with possibly ending the Ninth's life. It would've been poetic, wouldn't it? The two gentle souls of the Vongola destroying one another.) Then, there's Squalo.. Squalo, who "dies" in the rain battle and Xanxus can only laugh. Because, finally, things are going his way. Now, everything is in place. He can now take the position of Vongola X without the threads of his past holding onto him tightly, reminding him of his failure, of who he really is, of his falsified pride. What's poetic is that it's the embodiment of Pride who appears, with an absolute refusal to die, for real pride isn't something you can give up, that reveals Xanxus's truth to everyone. Tells everyone what was essentially that no matter how hard Xanxus struggles and plots and rips and tears, his 'pride' will never be his again. Xanxus doesn't accept this, it wasn't Squalo's intention to make him to either, but the option isn't in his hands. It never was. The ninth, at the end of the cloud battle, blames himself for all of his happening. For not being strong enough to do what had to be done. This can be interpreted as him referring to not killing Xanxus during the cradle incident, but it can also be interpreted as him not being able to tell Xanxus the truth from the start. Not being able to deny Xanxus the chance of life away from the slums. His 'kind' action only served to put Xanxus's life down a path of the inability to choose. Almost paralleled to Tsuna in a way, who brought into the role of Vongola X against his will, Xanxus is kept away from Vongola X against his will.

Xanxus's wrath is a weakness, let me make that clear. It blinds him from the truth, from his unfortunate circumstances, from accepting that it just couldn't be. I'm not sure if he'll ever accept it, so long as he has that wrath. But, the good news is that we see ten years later into the future, his wrath is no longer an open enough of a wound for others to poke at and prod to get him to react the way they want. His response to Raisel was nothing less than a "Do you think I'm that easy?" He IS better there about it. The Vongola is STILL his family, no matter what inner conflict there is and no outsider is going to be able to rip into him half as easily as the people from inside did. As for what he's done with his pride ten years down? It's hard to say, he desires Vongola at its strongest and at that time it was the strongest under Tsuna's control. I won't pretend he doesn't still want the title, but the wound isn't fresh anymore at least by then.

OOGH. WELL, THATS IT. I'm curious to see if you guys have any interpretations about his "pride", if you agree, disagree, or if you have any interpretations of what his pride has become ten years down the line. Thank you for reading this far!!!

[azalawa-scroggs]

I'm gonna ride the wave here and talk about Rise from the Ashes and why, even though I think it's a good retcon and doesn't involve any contradiction either factual or thematic, I believe it is still undeniably a retcon.

The crux of the matter, I think, is the definition of retcon. Here's what Merriam-Webster has to say about it:

the act, practice, or result of changing an existing fictional narrative by introducing new information in a later work that recontextualizes previously established events, characters, etc.

It has to change the narrative, not the events of the story themselves. It has to recontextualise the events in question. And I'd argue the case does those exact two things by establishing that Miles Edgeworth not only never willfully forged evidence, but was morally against it in the first place, even though the contrary had been implied in the four first cases of the game.

Here's how Miles Edgeworth is introduced in Turnabout Sisters, in the first conversation we have about him with Gumshoe. There are two dialogue options, one where you can say that yes, you do know him, or one where you say that no, you don't.

Here's what Phoenix has to say about Edgeworth if you pick "I know him":

I know him. He's a feared prosecutor. He doesn't feel pain, he doesn't feel remorse. He won't stop until he gets his "guilty" verdict.

And here's what he has to say if you pick "I don't know him:"

(Of course I know him... I was just playing dumb. He's a cold, heartless machine who'll do anything to get a "guilty" verdict! There are rumors of back-alley deals and forged evidence...)

The words "forged evidence" appear only in one of the two options. They're only rumours; there's nothing established. However this is the first discussion of his character; this is the first impression we get of him. The idea we are supposed to get from him is someone ruthless and without scruples, who "hates crime with an abnormal passion."

Later on there is of course the case of the updated autopsy report. The new report is entirely legitimate and treated as such. However it is presented by the narrative as an underhanded trick, with Phoenix exclaiming against it, and further establishes Edgeworth's lack of limits in his prosecuting ethics set up by the conversation with Gumshoe - confirming our bias. We're still talking about narrative intent here, not merely the facts of the story. The updated autopsy report is not an instance of Edgeworth forging evidence, however it showcases his ruthlessness, which by extension serves to corroborate the rumours Phoenix was talking about with Gumshoe - making you believe Edgeworth would indeed tamper with proof without showing him doing so. Edgeworth coaching the witness's testimony and withholding the wiretap has the same effect.

Right before the second trial day, we get to talk with Edgeworth himself, who has come to warn us that even though he knows Phoenix, Phoenix shouldn't expect any mercy from him. Here's what he has to say:

Edgeworth: [...] whatever Mr. White says today, it will be the "absolute truth." No matter how you try to attack his testimony... If I raise an objection, I have it on good faith that the judge will listen to me. Phoenix: (What, does White have the judge in his pocket, too!?) So... you're saying I'm going to be guilty. End of story? Edgeworth: ... I will do anything to get my verdict, Mr. Wright. Anything. Maya: Why... Why!? How can you torment an innocent person like this!? Edgeworth: "Innocent"...? How can we know that? The guilty will always lie, to avoid being found out. There's no way to tell who is guilty and who is innocent! All that I can hope to do is get every defendant declared "guilty"! So I make that my policy.

There is also the climax of the case, where Edgeworth tries to request the trial to be extended one more day:

Edgeworth: Ergo! I would like to request one more day before Phoenix Wright is granted his freedom. I need time to make one more inquiry into this matter. Judge: Hmm...! Phoenix: (Another inquiry...!? This isn't going to be another one of those "updated autopsy reports"! This guy just makes up evidence as he pleases! This is bad...!)

This heightens the stakes and creates tension as Phoenix puts his foot down and requires for the trial to come to an end on that day - and it does thanks to Mia's intervention. Once more Edgeworth forging evidence isn't shown, but is implied in a way that we are meant to take as fact.

So that is the image we have of Edgeworth by the end of case 1-2, our first confrontation with him. Someone ruthless, someone who will do "anything" to get his guilty verdict - even if that involves shady dealings (such as, but not limited to, tampering with evidence). Someone without limits.

Then 1-3 happens, where in the course of the trial Edgeworth realises Will Powers is innocent and helps us corner Dee Vasquez into confessing to being the true killer, therefore throwing his trial and helping us win against him. This is a big deal. This is a cornerstone of the arc of game 1, of Edgeworth's redemption arc. After that we get the infamous "unnecessary feelings" scene, where Edgeworth confirms it: he was shaken by the events of this trial and his first loss in the previous one. This is something new for him.

And afterwards of course is 1-4, where we get to the bottom of Edgeworth's vitriolic hatred for criminals and discover his backstory. We get to meet his mentor von Karma, "twenty times as ruthless as him," and witness him pull all the stops to prevent us winning and making our life really difficult. Interestingly he, too, skirts the line of forging evidence, but that fact pales in comparison to everything he does do: orchestrating a murder and framing Edgeworth for it, destroying the letter that incriminated him, hiding the evidence of DL-6 so that Phoenix cannot have access to anything to solve the case.

(On a side note: von Karma using "faulty evidence" against Gregory Edgeworth is actually an established fact, and I think the way AAI-2 retconned that to introduce Blaise was quite clever, but maybe I'll make a similar post about Manfred after the AAI Collection comes out in September)

So that's Edgeworth's arc, where he is confronted to a world where getting a "guilty verdict" isn't always the morally correct choice to make, and where his worldview is entirely deconstructed to allow him a redemption arc. His return in 2-4 continues that arc with his new motto of the "truth" being the most important thing (implying that hadn't always been at the centre of his considerations).

Now compares this with what he says in 1-5.

Edgeworth: Of course not! I didn't touch the evidence. Yes, I will do anything in my power to win a trial. However... I do have a code, and I follow it faithfully.

This is the first time we hear of Edgeworth having a moral code. This is the first time we hear of Edgeworth having limits to what he allows himself to do to earn his guilty verdicts. Up until now all we heard was "anything," as well as justifications as to why defendants deserve and need to be punished - "anything," by essence, implies not having limits.

It's not a contradiction. But it's a recontextualisation, and therefore a retcon.

I'm not going to give quotes or we'll be here the whole day, but we all know what 1-5 then does; SL-9, the Joe Darke killings, Gant's involvement.

By giving the rumours of forged evidence about Edgeworth a tangible starting point, the case reframes them, from something that he was previously implied to do routinely to a single event, one that was orchestrated behind his back and that he had no bearing on or even any idea it was happening. By establishing that Edgeworth does follow a moral code, his image of fearless prosecutor is deconstructed even further; where in 1-4 we were given a reason for his actions, now we are actually being told his actions weren't as severe as hearsay (and Phoenix's bias) led us to believe.

The case also introduces the idea of "working with the defence" and the search of the truth to Edgeworth, which plants the seed for his eventual return in 2-4 and deepens his character arc a little more.

Thematically, I personally think 1-5 inserts itself very well into the larger narrative. It plays with both themes and facts established by game 1 and teases themes and facts that will come in the next games (2-4, all of game 4). However it does recontextualise Edgeworth's arc by establishing he never willfully forged evidence, contrarily to what was previously implied, and giving him a retroactive caveat to his policy of "anything to achieve his guilty verdict" that hadn't existed before. Therefore, it is a retcon, albeit one that works, in my opinion, well within the larger arc of the games and with Edgeworth's character.

[zuko-always-lies]

Unpopular Opinion: Ursa's parenting negatively affected Zuko

One of the fascinating things about the ATLA fandom is that people are utterly uninterested in analyzing how Ursa's parenting really screwed up Zuko, even though it's pretty clear. I don't mean to attack Ursa here, because I think she had good intentions, but, although her parenting was far better than Ozai's, it contributed to Zuko's many poor decisions.

I've given a broader coverage to values Ursa extols to her children elsewhere. The general point you should take away from that is that Ursa was critical in instilling imperialist values in her children and in teaching them to respect/obey the Firelord.

However, that's not the point I will belabor here. I want to turn to something else. Let's take a look closely at the scene where Zuko tries to perform Azula's firebending routine in front of his grandfather and his father but falls flat on his face:

Ozai frowns at this news. Zuko starts off well, doing the same circular motions as Azula earlier. He manages to produce a small fire blast, which does not impress Fire Lord Azulon. When he tries to create another one, he falls. He gets back up, panting heavily, and tries again, only to fall harder. Ursa gets up worriedly and approaches Zuko to comfort him. Young Zuko: I failed. Ursa: No. I loved watching you. That's who you are, Zuko. Someone who keeps fighting even though it's hard.

The lesson that Zuko learns from Ursa here is that his gift is stubborn persistence and that he should never stop trying to meet the toxic expectations of the Fire Nation royal court and of his father(she also might have inadvertently encouraged the Zuko-Azula sibling rivalry).

How do we know this is what Zuko took away from this? These scenes are paired together at the end of "Zuko Alone," as Zuko struggles to defeat Gow:

In the flashback, Zuko is sleeping in his room at night when a hand gently touches his shoulder. He awakens drowsily to see his mother dressed in a cloak.

Young Zuko: … Mom? Ursa: Zuko, please, my love, listen to me. Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. She pulls the barely conscious Zuko into a hug. Ursa: Remember this, Zuko. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are.

and this scene:

Gow: Who ... who are you? Zuko:My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne. Old man: Liar! I heard of you! You're not a prince, you're an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!

Zuko took Ursa's advice to never give up and never forget who he was to heart, and as a result even though he's been burned, banished, and declared a traitor, even though he objectively has no real chance of getting his status and Ozai's favor back at this point, Zuko is still trying to do that and refuses to let go of his long-lost position in the Fire Nation as crown prince. The smart thing to do would be to give up and move on, but Zuko refuses to do that.

We can also turn to what Zuko says to Aang in "The Siege of the North, II":

Zuko: I finally have you, but I can't get you home because of this blizzard. [Stands up and looks outside the cave.] There's always something. Not that you would understand. You're like my sister. Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck, though. I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am.

All of this brings me back to my main point. Ozai might have been the one who burned and banished Zuko, who abused him and declared him a traitor, who demanded that Zuko capture the Avatar, but Ursa is the one who taught Zuko the persistence that made him chase after legends for three years, that made him take reckless risk after reckless risk, that made him continue chasing the Avatar even after Ozai was having him hunted as a traitor across the Earth Kingdom.

The biggest problem in Zuko's life is that he refuses to let go of his dream of regaining Ozai's favor, that he refuses to accept that Ozai doesn't love and move on and find something better to center his life around, and from what we see Ursa played a huge role in this, because she taught Zuko to never give up trying fulfilling the expectations of Ozai and the court, no matter how many times he failed. Ursa wasn't intending ill, but her parenting had a huge negative effect on Zuko's life.

[slasherwife]

I remember reading headcanons where s/o brought over they friend and was pretty affectionate with them (like hugging, kissing their forhead etc), Is it alright if I ask for same thing with Jason, Bubba and Vincent?

of course my darling love!! 💗🌷

How the slashers react to you being very affectionate with your friend

featuring jason, bubba, and vincent

summary you have a guy friend (or any friend really), and you want to bring them over to your home and catch up on things! your slasher knows your attentive and affectionate behavior very well, they love it!! but… showing it to anyone else? i don’t know if they like that 🥲💗

warnings possessive and manipulative behavior

Jason

jason is the opposite of possessive. he’s very old. he’s undead. he doesn’t have a lot of things to worry about. his mental processes are very simple. if you say that you are his, then you are his. no question about it! he doesn’t worry at all.

but at the same time, no matter how old he becomes, he is still just a boy. ‘jason’, the boy who loved his mother and sunshine and eating ice cream. jason who had crushes on people, and felt his heart fall when they got with someone else.

when your guy-friend comes over, jason is minding his own business elsewhere. he’s not dim, he knows if your friend saw a 7-foot swampy undead man, they would suspect something really really strange🥹but naturally, jason is quite protective of you. he doesn’t take his eyes off your ethereal form the entire stay.

while jason is extremely mature, seeing you so affectionate towards someone is slightly hurtful. jason hates being the jealous one. he thinks it’s unfair to you, when in actuality it’s very valid. he goes back and forth in his mind, “this is their friend. it’s fine”—“then why are they touching them like that?”

but when your friend leaves, jason’s pain dissipates. at this point, he circles back to his original peaceful stance, that he trusts you more than anything and anyone. he trusts you like he trusts his own mother. you would never have any intention of hurting him.

once he finds you jumping into his arms when the person is gone, he knows immediately that he is all yours, and you are all his. 💞🫶🥰

Bubba

bubba is a very jealous person, i can start with that. bubba is a very cheerful, excited, curious boi 😍💗. in the sense that he doesn’t regulate his emotions as well as the other slashers, he will express his happiness and excitement very dramatically.

he acts out his emotions a lot. when he’s thrilled, he jumps up and down. when he’s sad, he sulks and sobs in the corner. when he’s happy, he dances. and when he’s jealous… well things definitely don’t go nicely🥲💝

he will certainly be watching you both somehow, the entire time. because like any other slasher hubby, they will want to keep a close eye on their partner. a very close eye💗 bubba doesn’t even want them over. he’s already jealous of the attention you’re giving them. isn’t he your everything?? why do you need someone else?? y/n??

once you touch them in any way, it’s game over. bubba is raging. like i said, hes an extremely jealous lover. he grabs his chainsaw and is running straight to the room you are in, the sound of the revving weapon echoing closer and closer.

this will go one of two ways. an upset y/n and a dead friend, (and bubba blubbering and asking for forgiveness from you😖💕) or an upset y/n and their friend screaming and being chased out of the place, (mostly unscathed😉). you definitely prefer the second one since your friend means a lot to you, but either way it does NOT end well 😖🌷

of course bubba sees that his reaction upset you and while he is a little mad at you😠 (he would never hurt u lol dw), he would rather die than have you be mad at HIM. so either scenario results in him hugging your ankles and begging you not to be upset with him🥹💕(pwease forgive him🥲💞)

Vincent

this man is going to completely dissociate and give you the silent treatment. you will have no idea what you did wrong and no way to find out. listen, vincent is going to feel incredibly betrayed. and while he would never ever injure you, he wants to show you that you hurt him unimaginably😞

vincent is an overthinker, and he’s very insecure. he finds that the only protective tactic against this type of betrayal that he’s feeling, is to just dissociate completely and act like you’re not even there. it’s how he protects his big heart❤️‍🩹🥲

oh and your friend is dead. no question about it. they didn’t even get close to leaving the premises before vincent murdered them with his own hands. how dare they target his sweet y/n and trick them into giving them such affection? how dare they be the token in y/n ethereal eyes?

after vincent disposes of them, he returns to you finding the tension released slightly, and he will return most of your affections now. he directed all of his rage and blame on them by killing them, in a method of catharsis, so he feels a lot better after 🫶😇.

you will never hear from your friend again and you’ll think vincent’s behavior was weird but you’ll eventually forget about the whole thing 🤗💞

he’s very sly like that. you never knew he felt that way, had no idea he murdered that friend, and when things went back to normal you didn’t give the whole thing another thought! ignorance is bliss with vincent sometimes 🥰💗

[cupcakeslushie]

It kinda goes in order like this for who gets along with who the most:

Raph —> softest for April, Mikey, Donnie, Leo

Leo—> softest for Mikey, Donnie, April, Raph

Mikey —> softest for Donnie, Raph, Leo, April

Donnie —> softest for Leo, Mikey, Raph, April (April will eventually move to share the #1 spot with Leo lol)

April —> softest for Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Leo

Although this order can change pretty often, depending on things like who ate the last pop tart, only to leave the empty box in the pantry, and sometimes multiple siblings can share a rank spot lol. It is more complicated than I could put in a simple graph. They very much each have their own special type of relationship with one another, but this is kinda the basic dynamics for anyone wondering.

When the three bros have finally all reunited with the fam there’s an immediate period of a couple months where Raph and April patrol on their own, because Donnie obviously isn’t ready for that. So Leo has to stay behind to watch him, and Mikey has to stay behind and act as mediator, because the two can rile each other up if left alone. From the get go, Leo seems to only truly enjoy spending time with Mikey. He grudgingly respects Raph (despite the two butting heads so often), tolerates Splinter and is polite to April, but Donnie just presses all of his buttons, some that Leo wasn’t even aware existed to be pushed!!

And sure, Leo was instrumental in bringing Donnie home, and he’s happy he’s safe with them, and not with Draxum anymore, but HE DRIVES LEO NUTS. If he had hair, he’d be bald from yanking it out in frustration. Unfortunately for him, Mikey is constantly trying to make Donnie join in on the ‘brother bonding’ so Leo has to learn how to keep his frustration in check, if he doesn’t wanna hear Mikey whine. But once Leo starts to pay more attention to the way Donnie acts, it’s obvious that he’s not actually trying to pick a fight for the sake of it, like Leo first thought…more just the simple fact that Donnie wants Leo’s attention and doesn’t know how to ask for it. So Leo takes a page out of Mikey’s book and starts initiating things on his end, and finds that as a result, Donnie doesn’t go as hard with the antics.

One weird thing though, that Leo does notice. No matter how much attention Donnie seems intent on soaking up from him, the only person who ever gets to actually see Donnie’s new tech is Mikey. When Leo asks to get a look at the thing Donnie’s spent the better part of the afternoon rambling about, Donnie claims it’s still in beta—then he says the same thing the next three times Leo asks. Leo’s almost given up, when Donnie seems to relent and presents him with said tech, but he’s clearly jittery and beyond scared of something as he hands it over. When Leo asks if he’s okay, and Donnie haltingly begs Leo not to break it if he doesn’t like it—promises if it’s lacking in any way, he can upgrade it!—and Leo’s heart breaks a bit instead. So Leo maybe goes a bit overboard with the praise—feels a bit ridiculous, but it’s worth it when Donnie just lights up. From then on Leo gets first look at anything, and eventually, Donnie starts showing the rest of the family his tech as well. He even starts making them gifts clearly meant to make their lives easier (Over the years, Splinter and Raph did what they could with the lair, but Donnie really outfits it, until it’s eventually up to the same level as it is in the show). They’re not always wins, but when that is the case, the brothers always try and insist that next time whatever Donnie makes will be so cool.

As for Mikey seeking comfort, it depends on what he’s looking for. If he’s looking for advice on something, he goes to Leo or April. If he’s looking for emotional support or physical comfort or even just a sounding board it’s Raph or Donnie. Mikey is the baby, so he gets spoiled by his big bros and sis. But Leo and Donnie are probably the worst with it. And it’s even worse than in the show as far as them all being overprotective, but instead of being frustrated with it like canon, Mikey just eats it up and thinks it’s hilarious, because he knows he could easily kill anyone who would ever try anything with him.

They all kind of takes turns doing the whole “protectively standing ominously behind the sibling in the middle of the conflict, and giving the aggressor murder eyes over their shoulder”

As the protectee: Donnie and Raph would be totally oblivious (but when they did discover it Donnie would be “aw that’s so sweet” while Raph would be “YoU WERE DoinG WHaT??!”). Mikey as stated—just stands there smiling innocently as if daring the attacker to try it and see what state his siblings would leave them in, and April and Leo would just be sighing and trying to get the conflict resolved before there’s a fight they’d have to break up.

As the protector: Donnie and April are the most ready for violence (see Snow Day lol) with Raph sometimes being another one who’s ready to throw hands a little too quickly over nothing. Mikey and Raph are the loudest and most aggressive, Leo is by far the scariest.

@ebbz99 Leo is probably the most resentful, with Mikey being a silent second—never admitting it out loud like Leo can during the worst of his fights with Raph. Because the two of them have more solid memories of the day they got taken and how differently things could’ve gone. Donnie never had that peaceful life snatched from him, so he’s more wistful than anything, thinking about how different he would be if he got to grow up with Splinter as his father. But he would never wish one of his other brothers had been in his place. In fact, once Draxum discovered Mikey’s location he’d often threaten Three that he could go collect Mikey and put him through the same tests and training, if Three didn’t behave and follow his orders. He made Three believe that as long as he complied he’d leave Mikey alone—Three never knew that Draxum didn’t have the resources to follow through with his threats.

But no matter how much the bros can sometimes be resentful/jealous of Raph, it’s nothing compared to the constant guilt Raph deals with on his end.

Leo is more likely to spit fire and rage than cry, but if he does ever feel tears coming on he takes off into the sewer tunnels or goes somewhere where he can slice something up. Donnie cries pretty easily since his emotions are always going haywire at the drop of a hat, but tries to laugh it off and insist everything’s fine. Mikey feels most comfortable crying alone at night, under his covers. If he is ever caught crying, he’ll always try and turn the situation on the other person by asking how they’re doing. He can actually be sneakily manipulative, so it often works, except with April and Leo.

Raph has a pretty hard time sharing when he’s hurt or upset, just from all that aforementioned guilt. He thinks that he has no room to be sad about anything, when his brothers are dealing with such heavy problems. He will go to April and Splinter if he gets to the point where he’s so stressed out he feels himself start to shut down, but he practically begs them not to say anything. He promises that he’s fine, now that he’s calmed, and had some time to untangle his thoughts, and he’s pretty convincing. It’s his job to be the port in the storm that his brothers can rely on, and in battle especially, this constant way of thinking has him putting himself in harm’s way without a care to his own well being. He’s such a naturally strong pillar that nobody really notices he’s having such a rough go of it—Raph is their tank, he’s practically built to take hits and walk away like it’s nothing, and most of the time he does.

It’s the emotional toll and burn out that takes him down in the end. When the rest of the boys finally have their eyes opened to how much Raph is struggling, they try their best to make him realize that he’s not doing them any favors by keeping all his emotions bottled up. It’s a little bit of a rough and awkward talk since none of them, except Mikey have any experience with unpacking emotions, but they do get their point across.

[actual-changeling]

ohhh yanno...I think sometimes why I get so uncomfortable with meta and theories with GO (specifically in defense of Aziraphale) is that it really starts to resemble pro Christianity rhetoric...and I totally believe that everyone should feel free to believe/not believe in any sort of religion they choose...but it starts to get real uncomfy real fast when I'm reminded of my own christian family and their condemnations of me and the experiences I went through growing up christian and then realizing I didn't believe in any of it...

and for some people maybe that IS why they so staunchly defend Aziraphale, but for me, it's why his actions made me so mad, and why the firm "aziraphale defenders no matter what" lowkey skeeve me out...like that post you said about knowing Aziraphale in real life...yeahhhh no I'd never be friends with him, and maybe that does make me too biased for Crowley, bc I'm imagining myself in his position, bc I HAVE BEEN in that position, but idk I just can't find it in me to defend angel characters or super pro christian type thinking ones when too much of irl has been negatively affected by those types of people. and yeah fiction is not reality but when the premise of GO is a satirical look on religion idk it's just iffy to be so pro angel/heaven imo (obviously this isn't about those who view it with nuance hahaha)

I know what you mean anon, I definitely feel the same.

Seeing people fall into angel good/demon bad without even noticing is... painful, to say the least. Defending all of Aziraphale's actions because he had "good intentions" or "still has faith" or "was traumatized by heaven" is harmful and unhealthy to say the least, and it 100% looks like pro-Christianity rhetoric at times.

We're supposed to look at Aziraphale and see somehow who yes, has good intentions, but has refused to deal with his trauma and problems and ends up making incredibly bad choices as a result. He is supposed to change, so defending his actions is counter-intuitive to the message Neil and Terry want us to receive.

Aziraphale is that kid who tells you sure, it's fine to no believe in God, but you will go to hell and suffer forever, who tells you everyone just needs to "try harder" and that "poor people have mor opportunities" (I still cannot process that he canonically says and believes that), who tells you that you can be gay, but don't be it in front of the children or any people.

Aziraphale is the guy who refuses to deal with his internalized homophobia and asks his queer friends to go back into the closet because he cannot deal with seeing queer people be happy while he is stuck in self-induced misery.

There are reasons why so many people are uncomfortable with his behaviour and ideologies—and you are supposed to be.

[sprout-senior]

my personal headcanon for how monsters procreate in utmv/utdr: the babies just appear.

enough magic and intent from minimum two monsters will make a baby, it doesn’t matter what kind of intent etc(thinking of how PJ happened as a result of a battle between an alternate ink and error)

so there’s no incubation period. due to this, babies are that much more reliant on their parents for the first couple years of their life. basically proximity to their parents is vital to their physical and magical development; they CAN survive with only one parent’s presence, but it causes problems(i am yet again bringing up PJ and how they were raised primarily by ink for the first few years, don’t have a super solid physical form, and aren’t very powerful despite having two gods for parents. obviously my personal reasoning for this is not canon btw)

this period of necessary proximity to their parents does not HAVE to be the original monsters responsible for their creation. they can develop just fine with “surrogate” parents, given the magic bonds successfully. they CANNOT survive without consistent parents, for lack of better phrasing. if left alone or passed between caretakers too much over a long enough period of time, the baby will Fall Down and subsequently dust. fucked up i know but it’s my worldbuilding headcanon and i get to pick the rules

babies can bond with more than two parents! there isn’t a known maximum amount of parents, since no one has really tried to push the limits, but with several parents the baby will paradoxically take longer to develop their specific type of magic(their physical development is not stunted, but their personal magic takes longer because their soul has to “pick” between several different types of magic to base itself on)

once they’re around two, the baby’s magic type is “locked in”, so to speak. if there are several parents, it can take as long as three or four years in comparison. their power level is influenced by their parents, but not entirely dependent on them. some kids just have more of an affinity for magic, for no discernible reason.

part of what i really like about this headcanon is that gender and species are not factors in making a stable child! incest is still weird tho, i am not a fan of incest in any capacity. also, this means no monster has to deal with the absolute nightmare that is pregnancy. no morning sickness, extreme pain, risk of life, etc is involved. lucky bastards (obligatory “disclaimer this is not to discount the experience of anyone who has had good experiences with pregnancy and have things they really like about it. just bc i can’t personally empathize doesn’t mean i can’t understand that y’all’s experiences are vastly different than mine and you have a perspective informed by things i’ll never have the same level of knowledge and understanding of”)

uhhh that’s the main stuff, i think. literally the entire reason i came up with this idea is because i am just. deeply uncomfortable with mpreg and skelepreg. i don’t have any problem with people who DO like it, i just personally can’t deal. this will not affect my opinion of anybody, i need to make that abundantly clear.

in any case, any utmv/utdr monsters i make will have been born and developed this way. yes this applies to female mammal monsters, it applies to ALL monsters in my personal headcanon. maybe i don’t need to clarify that but whatever

if you like this idea, you’re more than welcome to adopt it! i think it’s an interesting piece of lore to incorporate in stories. i might even apply this to magic centered original works, unrelated to utmv/utdr, because i have become attached. i might not end up pursuing original stories, that’s not really what i’m interested in at this point in time, but i’ll always keep the option open.

if someone else has come up with an idea similar to this, that’s awesome! i promise i did not intentionally steal anyone’s idea, i am not currently aware of anything like it, so please extend some courtesy and understanding for me in the event that there’s a coincidence. i would request the same for if someone comes up with something similar AFTER this is posted, especially since i’m such a small creator without a whole lot of reach.

finally, if i’ve accidentally done something problematic here PLEASE tell me so i can fix it! i never want to cause harm with my work :)

if you’ve read this far, thanks! id love to hear your opinions and/or additions if you’ve got any!

[eatifa]

do you remember? part three

a/n - hello! this is inspired by a tiktok edit and i used an author's quote for sanzu part.

this part is controversial so please read the trigger warnings and sanzu part is really dark and morbid.

part 1 - starring - mikey, koko and chifuyu

part 2 - starring - draken, baji, kazutora

concept - seeing her again, a person that they used to know.

starring - izana, ran and sanzu

trigger warning - gaslighting, cohesive relationship, gender inequality, abusive power stance

izana was toxic

it take a lot for izana to open up to someone. when it does happen, his feelings doesn't change but rather become more intense. the only difference is that a spark of paranoia get added to the hot boiling cauldron since his biggest fear is being abandon and being alone forever.

he doesn't know how to distinguish between the fine line of being protective compare to being offensive. as someone that never been raised with love and affection, izana could only see everything in tint of black and grey.

no matter how hard someone try to get izana to see things in a different way, the result would be temporarily, he would give it a go before reverting back to his old ways at the realisation of external factors.

izana rather be the flame than the one that get burnt. seeing the good in others is naive thinking, it's asking to be backstab by someone whose have ill intentions at the other person. afterall, you never know what someone is like at the end of the day.

this conversational mindset and negative thinking creates a knock on effect on his relationship with someone. he doesn't restrain her from doing what she want or the other small things like choosing the ideas for dates.

instead, izana plant seed of doubt inside the woman that she love. he see it as an act of precaution rather than being a harmful deed. it's not wrong if he doing it out of love.

"are you sure that you have been invited? maybe, it was just out of sympathy."

"it's been a long time since you have seen her, she must be closer with someone else by now."

"you should disable the read recipients, it's embarrassing to be left on read."

it would take a long time for her to catch on what he is doing. izana is too deceitful for others to tell whether his actions are genuine or not. the worst thing is of being his girlfriend, that she automatically give him the benefit of doubt the most.

izana is aware of this but he simply does not care.

izana know what he is doing but why would someone reflect on their actions or acknowledge the consequences if they don't feel guilt?

izana would never feel this no matter what happens. the only way out is rejecting him.

"fuck off, izana. get out of my way."

the ending of his longest relationship with a woman. it is time to say goodbye but izana still doesn't feel guilt or he see her as a victim.

izana is the one that put his utmost effort into the relationship, it's not his fault she suddenly switches on him.

the only thing that izana feel is heartbreak but his pride is too strong to beg anyone back. he rather be alone and forgotten than deal with being second choice.

when the mourning state finishes, izana keep it lowkey and forget about her but as more of his relationships face the same ending, the penny finally drops.

he is the problem.

it's a bitter pill to swallow but he needed to change before he inflict irreversible damage but it's a problem that izana need to face along. being alone never appeals to him but izana needed to do as a solo.

he stay single for a long time as the process start but he catches a glimpse of the first woman that he did it too. izana wasn't entirely sure whether it was a sign when seeing her in a restaurant, sitting at a table for two.

but if izana wanted to mend his ways, he needed to start with her first by apologising. as izana made his way towards her direction, someone else beat him to it.

another man, her date and izana couldn't help but feel a needle of jealously stabbed inside his veins.

but izana want to do the right thing since he no longer have the desire to revert back to his old ways. it is time to stop being a charade.

the victim blaming act card will just unravel his progress so izana decides to just sneak one glance at his first woman before turning his back against her and walking away.

some things are better left unsaid.

ran did it for the wrong reason.

ran knew it was a stupid idea to date the plain jane in high school solely because of a bet.

a light bet between him and his brother to see who could get the most reserve and quiet girl in their year goes on a date with them. the winning prize of the bet faded away in his mind since years had passed when the bet was formed.

ran was the winner.

it's backfired. the feeling started to develop. one date, two date and countless dates happened. a big commitment of moving in together when they reached their early twenties.

the whole relationship was formed on a lie from ran's side. he should had come clean after a few months in but as the time passed, the lies create more spiderwebs of deceit along with the love out weighting the guilt of scale.

the confession would either destroy the relationship or strengthen it. delaying the truth wasn't a sensible idea but the feelings had become too intervened where he was genuinely afraid his girlfriend would have a breakdown.

ran would just feel the loneliness but his biggest fear is that his girfriend would be traumatised too much to let anyone else in. it would be his own fault but the option of being there to let piece back together her broken heart wouldn't be available to him.

but when his girlfriend started dropping signs that she want him to propose. the moment had arrived to come clean before he completely fuck up her life forever.

"i need to tell you something."

"are you going to propose?"

he wanted to run himself over with a car or rot in a cell forever. it still wouldn't had been enough though.

she didn't believe him at first. the denial started to disappear when he rang rindou along with putting him on speaker to confirm the bet was the truth.

when the phone call ended, he was expecting tears or a slap to the face but the hollow look in her eyes made his heart drop. she didn't even make a sound, she just look numb.

she is in mute mode forever and it's all his fault.

ran couldn't stay though, it would be like adding oil to the fire so he left with conflicted feelings but he had already hurt his ex-girlfriend enough.

ran did secretly hope she would be brave enough to start anew.

so years later, when he was at a theme park with his brother, rindou pointed out a ghost from his past.

the girl that he broke her heart but seeing her with two children and a man standing next to her made him feel a bit relieved. she managed to move on and start her own family.

but ran never did, he couldn't help but feel a wave of regret washed over him when the relief died down.

he truly does still miss her.

she was never coming back though.

he wanted to be the father of her children.

but he only have himself to blame.

sanzu was forced

sanzu always believe that she was a wildcard but never imagined that she was a demon in disguise. if he knew that the encounter wouldn't had happened if he put his foot down and refused to be his friend's guest for a wedding, the start of a hellish predicament wouldn't had began.

but sanzu gave in and it was the biggest mistake of his life. he met her as one of the bridesmaid and he wasn't entirely sure why but she wouldn't leave him alone when he would goes to the buffet table.

he was sure if she didn't had to sit at that assigned table with the rest of the bridemaids, she would had stuck to him like glue throughout the whole wedding but her role was enough to do damage.

"can i have your number?"

the annoying woman asked out loud enough for the bride and groom to over heard them.

for fuck sake.

sanzu couldn't start a fight at a wedding that he wasn't even personally invited too. his friend would hate him forever and he didn't want to be a homewrecker for the newlyweds.

so sanzu grudingly typed him number in her phone.

"ring me, so i can save your one."

sanzu didn't want to say this but he could feel the gaze of the bride piercing him behind his back. but surely, a number could do no harm? he was wrong.

she had tried texting and ringing him but sanzu left her messages on read and let the calls goes straight to voicemail. but she still kept spamming her no matter what he would do.

in the morning where he decided that blocking her should fix everything, his friend knocked on the door and sanzu opened it without a second thought. another person was standing next to him.

it was her.

sanzu wanted to slam the door on them but that was too abrupt.

"i need to leave soon. come back another time."

he was hoping the excuse would be enough to scare them away.

"that's fine, we did popped in without any warn-"

"is it fine for me to use the bathroom?"

isanzu would told her to fuck off but he couldn't, his reputation was on the line. one thing lead to another and they ended up sitting at the table belonging in the kitchen where sanzu needed to act normal by giving them refreshments.

"so sanzu, tell me about yourself."

the start of his first conversation with the bitch.

after that, she sent him a message.

do you want to go out on a date?

sanzu just deleted it.

she disappeared for a month or so where sanzu believes that she finally got the message and deleted her number with a happy smile on his face.

but she doesn't deal with rejection well.

it started off subtle, receiving bad grades for the assignments of his master and receiving threats of retaking the year if there isn't an improvement.

sanzu did not understand why this was happening. no one jump from being the best in the class to the bottom. from that moment onwards, a domino affect started happening.

his dog went missing, his girlfriend dumped him, the rent suddenly jumped up out of nowhere that forced him to move out.

getting fire from his part time job was the last straw. this was no longer a coincidence and rewinding from the start must give a clue.

"are you implying that we graded your work wrong?"

sanzu gave up with asking the lecturers from getting that as his first answer. pissing them off would just be another problem that he couldn't deal with right now.

in the end, sanzu researched the university more in depth online.

the generous donors that help this educational institution.

one of the article that appears on the first page, sanzu was compelled to click on it. as the page load onto the screen, he scanned through the names till he stop at particular one.

sanzu zoomed in to get a proper close at the surname.

why did he recognise this one?

ding.

the paranoia started to get to sanzu when he heard the doorbell ringing straight away when he read the surname.

what was going on?

sanzu wanted to find out and running away wouldn't explain anything.

with a beating heart, he grabbed onto the handle and opened the door.

it was her, wearing a black checkered pinafore dress with a black ankle boots.

what the fuck is she do-

his face dropped. sanzu remember now. it was her surname, one of the first thing mentioned when she forced herself inside his home.

everything clicked into place but it must be a sick prank.

why would anyone be bothered enough to make his life a li-

"when I leave you will finally understand, why storms are named after people.”

sanzu wanted to believe that he misheard her statement but seeing her devilish smirk confirmed that his theory is correct and she know what she is doing.

"so listen to me, love."

sanzu wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

he was fuck.

eventually, she left sanzu for another person but he was never the same after that. his forced relationship with her was a living hell. sanzu genuinely doesn't knew how he was able to survive through that jail sentence.

one thing for sure, sanzu wasn't going to forget her name anytime soon and it would be a long time since he would trust another woman.

but time heals everything and the damage had fade away enough for him to start a relationship with another woman.

sanzu genuinely thought the pain was gone till she saw her again in a designer jewellery store. seeing a glimpse of her made him goes into panic mode that made him sprint in the opposite direction.

he just wanted to get far away from her as far as possible.

throughout the whole relationship, others would say she was nothing but sweet and sanzu would always wanted to add another word but he never could.

she's sweet but a psycho.

"when I leave you will finally understand, why storms are named after people.”

her threat popped inside his head again and she certainly lived up to those words but sanzu felt like turning around to tell her to fuck off.

but who would believe a man over a woman.

[dixbolik-lovers]

They are in a good home and their owner brings in another vampire. Reiji - Shu, Subaru - Ayato, Laito - Reiji, Yuma - Ruki, Ruki - Kou (each the thoughts of both sides)

Reiji — Shuu

• The second he realizes who you've brought home, Reiji is seething. All he can think is that he's going to be replaced by the one who somehow always manages to outshine him, and that thought doesn't do his mental state any good. He quickly starts to grow paranoid that Shuu is trying to sabotage him, and if he feels neglected by you, he'll become increasingly resentful.

• Reiji's presence doesn't really matter to him. Shuu knows that his brother despises him, but that's just... whatever. It's not like there's anything he can do about it, and he's fine with letting Reiji keep the spotlight. He has the feeling that Reiji is going to try something nasty sooner or later, but that's something to deal with when it happens. As it is, he just wants to be left alone.

Subaru — Ayato

• While he's a bit happy to see his brother again, Subaru is also deeply concerned that this isn't going to end well. Ayato has always been one to cause trouble, and Subaru is dreading the inevitable fuck-up that'll earn his brother a serious punishment. He knows you're a kind owner, but that doesn't stop the worry that Ayato is going to make problems for both of them.

• Being brought into a new home, he immediately sees Subaru as competition. Even if it's just his brother, Ayato can't help but feel like he has to do everything possible to stand out and be good enough to keep. He develops an unfortunate habit of trying to provoke Subaru, and that habit only gets worse as he realizes that this new home is one that's going to treat him well.

Laito — Reiji

• He's not exactly opposed to having his brother around, overall. Laito doesn't particularly care about who he has to share a home with, especially since you've proven yourself to be so very kind. If anything, it's rather entertaining to watch Reiji struggle to earn your favor when there's no need for so much panic. And deep down... he's a bit happy that part of his family can also be safe.

• Reiji immediately assumes that Laito is being used for more of the same in this home— and that leads him to worry about his own fate here. He's as desperate to please you as ever, though, and only starts to relax as he sees that his brother is truly comfortable. The situation borders on surreal, but the two of them get along well enough once the initial tension wears off.

Yuuma — Ruki

• The shock of seeing one of his brothers again hits Yuuma hard, and as a result, he turns immediately, viciously protective. You've always been perfectly kind to him, sure, but that doesn't stop the instinct to keep his family safe from everything. It's an incredible relief to know that Ruki is alright, and even more of one that they'll be able to share a peaceful home without their former struggles.

• He's equally shocked to see part of his family again, and every bit as relieved. Ruki is still in a state of doubting your intentions (and if you're truly as kind as you seem), but Yuuma's obvious trust in you makes it a little easier to adjust. Even though he can't stop thinking about the two that are still missing, what he already has is a blessing beyond anything he would have hoped for.

Ruki — Kou

• Seeing Kou again is both a terrible shock and the most palpable relief Ruki has felt in years. His brother is in about the state he would have expected, but he might actually be safe now. You've always treated him well, at least, and Ruki wants to have hope that Kou will receive just as much kindness from you. And of course, he's forever grateful to you for letting Kou stay.

• Kou wasn't expecting to be safe in your home either, but seeing Ruki nearly shocks him out of his fears. He can't believe that this kind of luck is happening to him— and especially not that Ruki legitimately seems comfortable and happy with you. His brother's presence does a lot to help Kou start to trust you, and he adjusts much faster with someone around that he already feels safe with.

[ijustliketoreadstuff]

Adrien’s friendship with Chloe

As we know, Adrien has previously attempted to confront Chloe about her behavior and misdeeds, but unlike the previous times, his confrontation in “Derision” was different, why?, because everything was different .

At the start of the series, Adrien could not easily accept the idea of Chloe being as bad as everyone said she was, after all, they didn't know her like he did, they didn’t have the bond they shared, and so no matter what he saw Chloe say or do, he could never forget the years they spent together as children. They had a history together, a more positive view of one another which could not be easily set aside, and so to Adrien, this lighter side of Chloe was simply a part of her others did not yet have the chance to see

Adrien had a lifelong friendship with Chloe, unfortunately, it was precisely their friendship which left him no other choice but to use to his advantage in a desperate attempt to make Chloe understand the boundaries he was now willing to set between them. Not only to try and put a halt to her actions, but also reveal to her that there was only so much he could bare to watch her do, before he decided for himself that a friendship with her may not be worth upholding. Something which pained him to say to her in situations such as “Despair bear” and “Queen Banana”, but was a possibility he had no other choice but to consider. After all, the people Chloe acted against, were not just strangers, they were his friends, his schoolmates ,they were good people, all of whom had done nothing to deserve the unfair treatment she continued to give them. But regardless of the situation, Adrien was still willing to be compassionate towards Chloe, vouching for her when needed if anyone doubted her in the most important of situations.

(Adrien tries to vouch for Chloe in “Despair Bear”, attempting to convince everyone that Chloe can also have good intentions and her party is nothing to be suspicious about)

(Cat Noir tries to vouch for Chloe in “Antibug” as he realizes Chloe really was trying to help)

No matter how much others would detest Chloe, Adrien could never accept people telling him Chloe was nothing but useless and cruel, because to him, no one was useless, not even Chloe given the years they spent together as children when he was isolated from the rest of the world. Adrien wanted to believe Chloe could change if she had a little help and support in finding the right path to follow, he wanted to believe that no matter what others thought, she was still the same girl he grew up with and cared for, but much to Adrien's dismay, Chloe had different plans and different choices in mind.

(in “Malediktator”, Adrien explains to Marinette why he does not approve of everyone celebrating Chloe’s departure, believing she is not useless given she was the only good friend he had in his life growing up)

Over the course of the series, Adrien saw Chloe have her moments where she would say and do the right thing, and much like Marinette, Adrien had faith Chloe would strive to improve herself now that she had obtained everything they had hoped would help her realize following a path of change would produce better results in her life. But sadly, those moments they saw Chloe experience would all be taken a step back time and again as they watched her continue to find joy in her old ways, not only forgetting everything she had experienced, but also ignoring the people who were willing to be kind to her and offer her another chance. This loop of faith and disappointment repeated itself, and yet despite this, Adrien still could not bare to officially end things between them, even when she pushed him away in "Queen Banana". However, all this came to an end in “Derision”, when Adrien discovered the true extent of Chloe’s actions and the views she had of the world around her.

(Near the end of “Despair Bear”, “Zombizou”, etc. Adrien watches on as Chloe reverts back to her old ways)

Adrien promised Chloe back in “Despair bear” they would be friends forever as she proved to everyone she could indeed be kind to others, but being kind was something Adrien had inevitably accepted was only a brief moment with her and nothing more. Experiences he felt would help guide her to a better path, were quickly left in the past the moment she realized things could once again return to her favor. And as much as he had hoped her being given a second chance to be Queen Bee would help tip the odds in Chloe realizing she needed to abandon her old ways, to his disappointment, the path Chloe chose for herself did not revolve around selflessness and the lessons she learned with them as heroes, but rather the privileges she believed she was entitled to as a result of her new found title (more here)

Near the end of “Derision”, as Adrien saw Kim accept the error of his ways and apologized to Marinette for the things he had done(more here), he thought of Chloe and what she could do for herself by being offered yet another chance. However, unlike his previous attempts to confront Chloe, this was different, because now, it was no longer just an attempt to confront her, it was a moment of truth. Adrien needed to know once and for all if Chloe was truly the person he always thought she was, and yet despite his attempts to offer Chloe the chance to apologize to Marinette and prove to everyone she always had the honest intention to change, in the end, she refused. Revealing to Adrien the one thing he never wanted to accept but could no longer ignore, Chloe did not want to change who she was. Adrien understood Chloe was perfectly capable of changing just as much as anyone, but despite her experiences, despite the consequences, despite the opportunities and despite the people who were willing to reach out to her, Chloe refused to live a life where she couldn't prioritize herself and be prioritized by others.

(In “Queen Banana”, Adrien attempts to help Chloe understand she has done wrong and suggests she make amends for it by first apologizing to the group. However, the more Chloe had attempted to prioritize herself in situations, regardless of how unfair and unjust it was, the more she pushed Adrien away.)

Adrien grew up with Chloe, but this bond they shared was no longer the same child like friendship they grew up with, they were older now, their views of each other changed, and with the two of them now expecting widely different things from one another, it was in “Derision” that the two of them discovered just how different the paths they chose for themselves truly were.

The person Adrien viewed Chloe as, was the person he wished she would inevitably become if he continued to stick by her side, but his hopes of who Chloe could become were his alone, a reflection of what he believed his kindness and efforts could make way to if he held on just a little longer, supported her just a little further, but this change he hoped for Chloe, was not for him to decide, it was Chloe’s, but she didn't want it if it meant living without the luxuries and privileges she had grown accustomed to, privileges which  included tormenting others she believed were simply beneath her.

As Adrien heard Chloe proclaim those of their status had every right to torment others like Marinette for their own amusement and that a romantic love life was something he owed to her alone, he understood that no matter what he said to her, she found no fault in her way of living despite being aware it was morally frowned upon by him and others. Despite knowing she would risk loosing her friendship with him over continuing to prioritize her selfish ways, over time, it didn't matter, because to her, Adrian was the one in the wrong for not abiding by the rules she believed were set for people like them, and for not accepting the romantic future she believed was predestined for them to live out together.

As Chloe refused to listen and understand Adrien’s reasoning about the reality of her actions, Adrien began to reflect on everything he knew about her, everything he had seen along side her, and everything he had experienced in the world away from her, and in the end, he understood it only mattered to him, but not to her.

(Adrien accepts he was wrong about Chloe)

 It didn’t matter if he and Chloe had known each other since childhood, it didn’t matter what he knew about her that made him feel sympathetic and empathetic towards her, and it didn’t matter what bond they use to share, let alone what his hopes were for her, because all in all, he still had his boundaries and so did everyone else, but it was Chloe who was willing to break the boundaries of what was morally and ethically right time and time again, with little to no remorse, and for this, Adrien had decided to end things between them, not just for Marinette’s sake, but for himself as he refused to continue maintaining an unhealthy friendship with someone who cared only for themselves and found joy in hurting others, and if this meant he would now be considered a traitor through Chloe’s eyes, then so be it.