#when i say i go absolutely FERAL for symbolism

[oneshotgremlin]

"The twelfth Major Arcana card. Suggests ultimate surrender, sacrifice, or being suspended in time."

Anyways check out Dead Man Walking AU by @pizzabox-box right fucking now 🫵👁👁

[mayashesfly]

Rain Code Chapter 5 and Epilogue Spoilers

The ending of this game has given me such intense major brainrot it's unbelievable. And not to mention all of the FUCKING SYMBOLISM AND PARALLELS AND FOILS I CAN SQUEEZE OUT OF THIS THING

Yuma and Makoto being Number One, looking for a Perfect Solution without Emotion.

Yuma taking the first step to grow out of that ideal by entrusting his memories to Shinigami.

Essentially shedding himself from the chains of his previous identity as Number One. By giving Shinigami the Key to his memories.

Shinigami who creates Solution Keys. Solution Keys that can unlock the Chain of Mysteries blocking the path to the truth. (Chapter 4 Mystery Labyrinth)

And time and time and time and time again throughout the game, Yuma had others helping him. Being there for him. Taking care of him. Loving him.

And despite him falling in despair time and time and time and time and time again, as Shinigami reaps the soul of the culprit, someone was there to pick him up again.

It might've hurt. It might've been painful. Uncovering and facing the truth. But together, he was able to handle it. He was able to live more freely, more happily being unchained from mysteries. Having people there in his life.

Maybe he been different when he was Number One.

Maybe he had been alone.

At first.

But now, he is not.

And though he may have lost Number One, he has gained freedom and happiness through others.

It's ironic how The One chained to a Death God was the free one.

Now let's think about Makoto.

Did he had anyone there when he learned the painful truth?

Had he known during then that there was others like him?

Facing the truth of being a Homonculus all alone...

It would be painful.

It would be lonely.

And even then, when he had found out he wasn't the only one.

He alone was the only one that could've saved them from themselves.

Saved them from the sunlight.

Caging them all in the unending rain.

He faced all of the problems of Kanai Ward by himself.

Manipulating those he see fit in order to keep Kanai Ward safe.

Despite being Number One, He could not seek the Perfect Solution through the Truth.

He covered and chained himself in so many lies and mysteries that he could not help himself.

And others could not help him.

There was no Solution to be found.

Here was no keys to be found by him or someone else who could've helped him escape from the entangle of chains of mysteries he had trapped himself in.

Think about it, in the Mystery Labyrinth, his Mystery Phantom acted so much like the lost and scared Yuma we have known. So blinded by all of the mysteries and alone that he refused the truth.

There was noone in that Labyrinth helping Phantom Makoto except Actual Makoto.

There was noone in that Labyrinth helping Actual makoto except Phantom Makoto.

He, quite literally, wrapped himself up with all of his clones that wore masks.

He, quite literally, continued to change his masks as he see fit.

He, quite literally, hid himself among his clones that wore masks.

Masks upon masks upon masks.

And despite having had multiple Solution Blades at a few points, he had cut nothing. (From what I remember)

I can't help but think about how Yuma said Makoto was asking for help.

And how in Makoto's last stand, he was quite literally asking for help.

Makoto needed Yuma to use the Solution Blade, the Solution Keys, to cut his mask.

Makoto needed someone to help him.

He was looking for a Perfect Solution, no, an answer, as we stared at his real unmasked face.

He had begged for us to search for the truth and now here we are.

If Yuma making a pact with Shinigami was his cry for help to change.

This was Makoto's cry for help to change.

We just have to wait and see if Makoto can finally be free and happy.

(Though seeing the Epilogue, it seems like Makoto still needs some help to truly finally free himself fully.

His journey isn't over yet.

Let's just hope that help won't come too late yet again.)

[itsmeimclown]

like my irl feelings are that luffy is canon aro/ace and will never have a canonical romantic or sexual relationship with anybody but my littler sewer rat brain 🐀 🧠 says that Luffy's ability to make zoro say how high when he asks him to jump and that Zoro will then jump at their throats and go for the kill is so poetic and romantic and just the /loyalty/ and devotion it consumes my soul

I am feral for undiluted loyalty and devotion because I, too, am an unhealthy codependent, submissive, bratty bitch just like zoro

don't even get me started on the God/demon symbolism

someone would call zoro "strawhat's dog" to his face and zoro would bark at them before absolutely obliterating him just to screw with them

and a part of zoro would enjoy it

but then there's LawLu

and their sun/moon anaologies

and the fact that law is also a captain so he's Luffy's equal

and luffy can just talk to him without fear of disappointing his crew (he never could but like he wants to be strong for them)

and the fact that he saw luffy at his absolute lowest

and saw him breakdown at marineford and shifted around his organs in a grueling surgery to keep him alive without even knowing him

and then he sees him wake up in a world without ace where luffy almost kills himself in his grief

and he kept the strawhat safe the entire time (like he was always seen with it until he left it with rayleigh as he left)

and THEN he has to go and say that shit about living to see Luffy through his fight with doflamingo or die there with him

and the fact that he has these cute little smirks and smiles he gives Luffy

and his speech about Luffy being able to make miracles

I LOVE it

conflicting ships that even conflict with my views on Luffy's sexuality

[bwat5-blog]

Jinx: The Best Version

**Spoilers For Arcane**

In the vein of my earlier post about Caitlyn and Violet's reunion, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate this moment for Jinx. Because at the end of the day, my belief that this character deserved for us to see more of how this went down, doesn't take away from the absolutely epic impact of what we were given.

Jinx is a complex character to say the least, and while all of the main characters are fighting their own inner battles throughout this story, her pain is uniquely hard to watch. We meet this kind and curious little girl, and watch as her mind is torn apart by the world around her as Powder sinks below the waves, and only Jinx is left.

But it's her journey to find out who Jinx truly is, that makes her such a special character. We see her torn between being the shattered ghost of Powder and Silco's terrorist daughter, until she has been stretched so thin she pleads with her own sister to take her life. She is only able to begin her path toward healing, when a certain slightly feral street urchin enters her life.

Her time with Isha starts her down the road to finding who she really is. As Vi comes to see the good in her, and she is able to separate herself from the monster Silco turned her into, although it is through unimaginable loss and pain, that darkness is finally scoured from her. So in the 11th hour, when someone she believed had given up her comes to save her life, she is ready to listen.

**It had to be Ekko. I love Vi, she is my favorite character, but Jinx had to be saved by someone who wouldn't put their love for her before the truth. She knew Vi was going to be in her corner, no matter what. So in a moment where she sees nothing left in her worth loving, someone like Vi who she knows won't give up on her regardless wasn't the person to get through to her**

Vi and her forces are being overrun by the shimmer hulks (no idea what they are called just my best guess), Caitlyn is stabbed, standing alongside Mel against Ambessa herself, and "chaotic humming in distance" as the show so expertly subtitles it draws their attention.

The Queen of Zaun leads her people to war:

Arriving on her base WHICH WAS APPARENTLY AN AIR BALLOON Jinx arrives in a blast of music and colorful explosions, leading the firelights and her people to war. We see her bright colors, hear her loud music, she even treats us to one of her signature smirks while a glitchy grin ghosts over the screen, but this feels entire different. This is not the keening tension of an unstable mind. For perhaps the first time, it feels like the trappings of "Jinx" are hers to command, not ropes around her neck. Bearing the symbols of those she loves and has lost, she opens fire saving the topsiders who have hated her, and saving her beloved sister. All while Ekko and his warriors descend from on high, and the people of the undercity who refused to fight for Jayce, have rallied behind one of their own.

Finally, we see her not only reunited with VI, but at peace with one another as they are now, even in the midst of this terrible battle. And in what could be her last moment among the living she stands for her beloved sister who had always stood for her, making sure the last person close to her lives.

"There's no good version of me"...

"Everyone who gets close to me dies"...

At the end of her story for this show, the young girl who tortured herself for the deaths of her family carried them with her into battle, leading her people wo once feared her, and saved the life the person who would never give up on her. And it is this version of her, the best version, that I believe sails off into blue, ready to write her new story.

[twosides--samecoin]

"RJ wears two bullets in his hat in case he and Duncan are cornered and he has to emergency pull the plug on them" is my "he wouldn't fucking say that" because

a) I've shot a Winchester or two in my time and he is not using .308 rounds on him and his child in quick succession if that's what he has to do to avoid the same fate as Lucy. I promise you RJ would see the issues inherent to accomplishing that task in an emergency. I'm not gonna get too deep into it on this fine Wednesday morn' but suffice to say: rifles are meant to be shot one way and this HC requires an alternative method that would be pretty easy to mess up and would require uh. At least a few minutes of lead time

b) Even if the bullets are a largely symbolic and half-hearted idea formed in the absolute depths of his depression (and hell, I write Angstville depths of his depression RJ), there's a lot of things I know I think when depressed that I don't really mean

c) "but what if he's in a Carla/Boone situation where Duncan is surrounded by ferals and backed against a wall and there's no escape" Yeah sure fine. The multiverse is a cruel mother. Situations could happen that could warrant mercy killing Actions.

d) My RJ/Duncan are inspired by Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which is a book where survival is two sides of an ugly coin. I see him exhausting every other option, then telling Duncan to take his rifle and run like hell; he'd sacrifice himself. I have a hard time seeing RJ actually looking at Duncan in his scope and going through with it: If there is any other option, who is he to decide his child's fate in this way?

addendum: Live and let live if this is your HC; what makes me disagree with a HC tends to be weighing it against practical/mechanical issues, so my interpretation is the bullets are a symbolic representation of people he loves.

[saintsenara]

the war of the roses - a snippet

sirius black/severus snape explicit

december is the month of updating all my wips, it seems, so here's a wee look at the next chapter of the war of the roses... coming this week.

in which harry and sirius have a chat about voldemort.

‘That’s not how he works though.’

The chains of the swing rattle as he sits down.

‘He doesn’t - I don’t know how to put this - He doesn’t piggyback on random chance. He’s not spontaneous. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen how he freaks out when something isn’t going according to plan… He’s not opportunistic. He plots. He fixates. He obsesses… And everything he does is because he thinks it means something. He goes absolutely feral for signs and symbols and rituals and all those things… He said that himself. Last year. Wormtail wanted him to pick anyone - any old enemy, he’s got enough of them - to use as his blood donor. It would have had the same effect. But he had to have me.’

That’s… That’s true. Sirius remembers it - remembers how he’d sworn when Harry had described Wormy - Wormy who’d held him as a baby, who’d dandled him on his knee at his Christening and laughed when James pretended to give him a sip of his pint - slicing into his arm, remembers how he’d clutched Harry’s shoulder so tightly he’d worried he’d break it and still hadn’t been able to stop, because he’d needed to prove to himself that Harry was still there. That he’d survived this latest horror and was still alive, still flesh and blood and bone.

He’d just - he must have forgotten that part of the story after Harry said that James had emerged from - 

‘And it’s the same with the Prophecy,’ Harry says, still steady, still calm. ‘He could have picked Neville. But he didn’t. He picked me. And once he’d done that - once he’d decided it was about me - that was it. He’s never going to change his mind. He’s never going to think that the Prophecy doesn’t have to be fulfilled, that he could just ignore it and leave me alone. He’s going to spend the rest of his life trying to kill me… And that means I have to kill him first.’

Sirius looks up at him, and even through a haze of tears he looks… he looks okay. He doesn’t seem terrified anymore, not like he did when he was pacing around the drawing room, fiddling with the tat on the shelves and desperately seeking an escape route. But he doesn’t seem like some impossible golden idol either, something magical and untouchable, a tawny, memory-wisp vapour which cannot be grasped between two fingers.

He just seems sure. Like he’s alright. Like he knows what he’s doing.

Like he knows Voldemort. Like he understands him. Like he doesn’t think he’s the intimidating, unstoppable force of pure magic the Order talk about in hushed tones. Like he’s just some bloke, and Harry’s got him sussed.

And something reaches out and shakes Sirius, some realisation that - even though he’s such an enormous, malevolent presence, stalking his life like a hunting dog; even though he’s responsible for the worst thing which has ever happened to him; even though he’s increasingly convinced (not, of course, that he’s imagined it in any detail) that he and Snape are shagging - he can’t actually picture what Voldemort looks like.

He can recall reading Harry’s interview in the Quibbler - the one Snape, looking for the first time like he possessed a modicum of respect for somebody named Potter, said had made Dolores Umbridge nearly shit herself with rage - in picture-perfect detail. He can see how the light looked, and what sort of muck encrusted the table, and what dregs of whisky were in the glass in front of him. He can see the paper and the words and the cartoon of Harry on the front page.

But - for some reason - the description Harry gave of Voldemort - skeletonised, serpentine, unholy - hasn’t ever solidified into an image in his mind.

And that’s - he supposes - because he couldn’t ever picture what he looked like. Even last time.

(Except for his eyes. You could never forget those as long as you lived. Even if you’d only seen them once, burning beneath the shadow of a hood, as they examined James across a battlefield.)

The Dark Lord flits across his thoughts like pigment, diluted with too much water, marbling and splitting and smudging on a page. Like a blurry long-lens photo, slithering across the fading newsprint still pinned to Reg’s walls, of a very tall, very thin man.

A shadow without a face.

And it comes back to him - being Harry’s age, being nagged until he rolled out of bed and put on his best robes, being dragged to Malfoy Manor, his mother hissing in his ear for him to behave, to not be flippant, to say nothing about politics, to not insinuate that Mr Malfoy fucks the peacocks, to refrain for once from embarrassing them all.

Such fucking bullshit - which he’s sure he must have told his mother, probably earning a night without supper for his trouble. His parents’ delusions that they were the most important on earth always vanished the second they came into contact with people with actual authority, inexpertly mutating into something muleish and plebeian and simple-minded and resentful.

His father was smug - his stupid face (Sirius’ face) even more punchable than usual - because he was being allowed to mingle with the great and the - well - not good. But it pinched at him too, it bothered him - you could tell - that - no matter how subtly it was expressed, no matter how fulsomely they would have denied it - Abraxas Malfoy and Romulus Lestrange and the elder Rosier and the elder Avery and the elder Nott and all the rest thought that he was beneath them.

His mother was the same. She was proud - went rapturous and spoke too quickly - of Bella and Cissy going from the draughty Georgian box Uncle Cygnus claimed was a country pile to palatial estates with ballrooms and conservatories and whole battalions of house elves. But she knew - and it bothered her too - that Valentine Malfoy and Agrippina Lestrange and the women they took tea with saw themselves as doing Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella a favour in taking their daughters off their hands, with not a word said - in public at least - about any insufficiencies in their dowries. Bella was too much of a bitch. Cissy had tanked her value on the marriage market by having a sister who’d wrapped her lips around a Mudblood’s cock. But they were beautiful, and Lucius was smitten, and Rodolphus was utterly disinterested in spending a long time on finding himself a woman (if the rumours were to be believed), and so the girls had wormed their ways in.

He remembers being shown into some magnificent sitting room or other - Reg marvelling at the ceiling (that’s called a squinch, Sirius, and that’s called an architrave) like a twat - as the house was a bustle of activity. He remembers piles of flowers being carried in, in anticipation of the wedding which would take place the following day, and Cissy sitting - perfect and pure in tiers of muslin - next to her fiancé, who looked as much of a prick as he always did. He remembers his mother - she’d shed her usual black for rose, it washed her out - perching delicately on the chaise beside Mrs Malfoy. He remembers Bella picking with transparent disdain at a cherry cake as the conversation turned to Cissy’s trousseau and her honeymoon in Paris and how romantic Lucius is. Her husband had returned home from their honeymoon a week early. To ‘attend to some business’ with one of the Selwyn boys.

And he remembers - he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget - the way the air changed. All the flowers’ perfume and the scent of cakes and honey and the blowsy humidity of young love vanished, giving way to something as cold and still as the grave.

And all because an elf appeared before Abraxas Malfoy and said that he was to come - and all the rest of them were to come too; the ones, he now knows, who’d let themselves be branded like cattle - to the library at once.

(And Reg had stared, enraptured, at the sight of the richest men in England hurrying to obey.)

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Hello!!! I gotta say I am absolutely LOVING Jadeite Ginkgo so far, I loved keeping up with Cyanide Narwhal when it was still a WIP! When it end I was so sad to not a have those updates to look forward to, so I was thrilled when you busted out JG!!! It’s such a unique and beautiful concept!!!

I noticed l your designs for the Clan Uniforms had a detail that made me go feral!!!! For the pants for both Qingce Chen & Tianheng Bai, did you unintentionally make them up or purposefully use those symbols?

Because they are/look like the Trigram symbols from the Korean Flag!!! I know Trigrams are mainly a Taoist thing, but it made me so excited to see them because I’m half Korean lol! When I saw the Gon on QC’s pants which I know represents earth I was like “WAIT A MINUTE!!!”. Seeing the Gam (water) on TB only confirmed it, but I don’t know the outer two Trigrams, did you take them from the Taoist version? I do think the Josen Dynasty Flag for Korean had all of the Trigramd but also I cannot remember!! But you were so big brain when you put those on the uniform!!! Sorry for the long post lol!!!!

no worries, and yeah! they're indeed from bagua, obviously for the taoist aspect but i did always find it interesting that the skorean flag had them as well

to be fair chongyun's in-game design has them also, and that's mostly what had me adding them onto the designs hahaha

the ones on the tianheng bai uniform are the exact same ones from chongyun's canon outfit and in the same order, while the ones on qingce chen are gèn and kūn, which if i'm not mistaken are for the mountains and the ground

[aroaceleovaldez]

Do you have any headcanons in regard to Cassius as a Grace sibling? Like Thalia's (and Jason's) reaction specifically?

Also just Nero's stepchildren, do you have any relationships between them that you particularly enjoy thinking about?

YES!!!! I have SO many thoughts about this. first and foremost, Cassius as a Grace sibling:

His age theoretically matches up with him being extremely young (about 1!) when Beryl died (cause Thalia says Beryl died about three years prior to TTC, at which point Cassius would be 4). Which relatively fits with what we know of the other Tri kids. It also potentially implies that the Tri intentionally killed Beryl and made it look like an accident, which is potentially very interesting particularly relating to Thalia and Jason's relationship with their mother and just Beryl's character in general.

Also interesting - Cassius would have been born after Thalia was turned into a tree!

I've mentioned before my theories about him being a child of Zeus or Jupiter, given his name being one letter off from an epithet of Zeus and his description comparisons to Jason (which could also lean into Cas as a Grace sibling!). I personally like to think he's somewhat symbolic of Zeus' childhood - being raised apart from his siblings/his siblings being taken from him before he was even born, perhaps his descriptions of being associated with having juiceboxes being associations to Zeus as Kronos' cupbearer, etc etc.

I think Thalia and Jason would be HORRIFIED about how Cassius ended up in the Tri's hands. Also just Cassius' situation in general. They both have very complicated relationships to their mother and the idea that they had yet ANOTHER long lost sibling? Who similarly up until that point had led a tragic life like the two of them and they had no idea and were thus unable to help him all this time? The DREAD!!!!

Once they find out about him I imagine they would, of course, become FIERCELY protective of him. They've both lived such brutal lives and this poor kid has already been through so much and they are going to do their darnedest to ensure this kid never has to deal with anything else like any of that ever again.

I also imagine they'd probably similarly worry over the rest of the Tri kids a bit, when it sets in that they've all lived lives like that. They're both a little sensitive to the concept of kids being taken from their families and molded into this idol of a child soldier due to Jason's experience so finding like twelve kids going through that (and one of them is their FULL BROTHER) is like a personal nightmare for them.

As for the Tri kids in general - yes!!! I have some general thoughts about the Tri kids [here] and designs [here] but some specific ones:

Lucius and the Artemis kids are bffs, for obvious reasons (Apollo and Artemis). I imagine they're both left to their own devices and encouraged to be a bit feral (Nero fostering analogies to the more wild and destructive aspects of Apollo and Artemis) so they've got a lot of issues, but they're sort of each other's rocks.

Besides Lucius, I like to think the Artemis kid's other closest sibling is the Poseidon kid (Cause moon and tides :D). He's pretty much the only other one who can get her to mellow out/calm down.

The Aphrodite and Hephaestus kids are also bffs. Intense solidarity between those two.

The Hera kid wants absolutely NOTHING to do with Cassius. I hc Nero generally tried to get the kids to replicate dynamics between the Olympians and have a few of them form little duos and such, so the Hera kid and Cassius get nudged together a lot. Cassius doesn't mind cause he's everybody's friend but Hera kid HAAAAATES it. She doesn't necessarily hate Cassius but she doesn't want to be forced into a duo.

Most of the rest of my thoughts for the Tri kids is just them being encouraged to replicate dynamics between the Olympians or the Olympians themselves and what effect that has on them.

[kradogsrats]

I'll be doing a scene-by-scene breakdown of Viren's dark magic fever dreams at some point, but I just want to get out the part making me go absolutely feral:

In the first sequence with the mirror, he says, also for the first time:

We meet again. Only this time, here I am on the other side. The path of fate is already chosen. Every step I took, I took because I had to.

Now, who is he speaking to? His reflection? Well, maybe... but at literally no point in this sequence is the shot angled to see the face of the mirror:

He seems much more to be addressing the mirror itself, as a symbol of where everything went horribly wrong pivoted to the events that brought him to this point. He's on the other side of a whole bunch of things: history, death, several moral event horizons—but, figuratively, he's also implying that he's on the other side of the mirror. Which, you may recall, is a literal prison.

Now, just to quickly summarize the thesis of the eventual big meta on this: every single thing in this entire dream sequence is about choice and free will. Yes, including the Twin Peaks section. Exactly like Callum's was.

The second time we see the mirror, we do get to see Viren's reflection, as it changes from showing his younger self to his corrupted self. This is much more explicitly referencing a crucial pivot point in his past—immediately before this we had the section with Soren, at the end of which Viren protests, "I had to do something. I had to save him. I had no choice!"

Then we have the final mirror sequence, also the final sequence in the dream:

Viren again stands before the mirror, and delivers the exact same monologue... but this time addresses his younger self, seen on the other side of the mirror.

I think, because of the shot framing and various other things, this is almost definitely what Viren saw when he had his first dark magic vision, years earlier. The mirror, and himself—older, more powerful, but also ravaged by corruption and regret—delivering this warning. That's why the monologue sounds weirdly rehearsed, he's literally delivering the lines he heard years earlier. As he must.

And this is again a pivotal moment in the path Viren took—the first time he did dark magic—but it's also a pivotal moment now. Because, like younger Viren says:

No matter where you are on the path, no matter what you've done before, every step forward is a choice.

So why does he apparently not remember his own reaction? Well, Viren is quite possibly the only person to ever have two of these visions, which we now know occur only the first time a person does dark magic, so we're already deep into some weirdness. Maybe he remembers it happening differently. Maybe he didn't remember it at all, until now. Maybe he remembers it clearly, but years of poisoning himself with pragmatic bitterness have twisted it in his mind into something he could dismiss as naivete, and only now is it suddenly hitting different. (It's that one.)

But ultimately what we have here is young Viren asserting to himself and to current Viren that no, he has a choice, and always will have a choice. That is, in and of itself, a choice he is making—he's choosing to reject the excuse that his older self made the foundation of his life, I had no choice. He also extends the same choice to current Viren—I am free, and so are you. And current Viren, having now been given that choice, chooses to take it. It's an absolutely crazy time ouroboros of choices, and I fucking love it because the absolute crux of Viren's arc here, at the end of this season, is knowing he still has a choice.

[dopepoisonivyoncrack]

I find Astarion's thirst for life unmeasurable and impressive like...HOW? WHY? WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM??

Its said even before the transformation he was interested in eternal life and power; his own theme song is "I want to live"; even during his 200 years of pain and torture and suffering with seemingly doomed fate he had moments where he dared oppose his master; he is absolutely terrified after he escapes but tries his best to survive, feraly I may add, despite his lacks and faults and clumsiness. He can't make it on his own, his fate if not recruited is a grim reminder, yet even then he put such fight and opposition that Cazador had to kill him again and turn him a zombie to get control over him. So this will to live on isn't motivated just at the prospect of a better life when he sets free and joins the company. I've heard many real stories of terrible past and traumas and respective people finding the strenght to hold on to hope, to want and fight to keep on living. When asked, many of those people usually said they found the strenght in religion or their family, their loved ones, sometimes art. But what about Astarion? who doesn't have any of those? I'm not saying he sounds unrealistic, he is greatly written! just that... he is an intriguing symbol of braveness, of will to live, of strenght to keep on going despite every adversity, when there seems to be no way out, no end to the misery. And he likes these signs in others too, like he is finding kin. Oh, you seem someone with ambition? feral? you want to live high and fine and enjoy the best of life? Fav!!! Delicious even! if you're down to do some immoral stuff to get you there <3

At the moment I wish I had at least a fragment of his strenght, I could make my life better. And the best part is that he doesn't have anything special to give him advantage. He doesn't seem to be made to be one of those sappy, inspirational stories. He is fucked up, and scared, and average, and clumsy, able to set some goals but no idea how to get there. His every plan is "fuck around and find out" but he is so determined to stay around and do it. I find that amazing, and a bit funny, and endearing...and sweet...

[zukkaart]

YAY YOU LIKED MY IDEA ☺️☺️☺️ you’re so right about Zuko too I can totally see it. Azula slipping back into her scary persona when Zuko arrives because he’s from her old life and everyone in the tribe going ??? Azula what’s wrong 🥺 and Zuko being madhappy that Azula got to get away (and he didn’t). I think Sokka and Azula would have become friends (maybe he reminds her of Ty Lee) and when Zuko comes to visit he gets super protective of Azula and it’s a Zuko/Sokka standoff while Azula’s in the middle trying to convince both of them that she’s the mastermind in control (she’s not and her ocean kumquats are burning). Eventually Sokka and Zuko realize they want the same thing and then zukka obviously because of course.

Also I go feral for the hair symbolism in Atla and it’s canon that Azula doesn’t know how to tie her topknot and the water tribe doesn’t wear their hair like that so she would Have to wear it another way. Perhaps a symbolism for forced vulnerability. Maybe Hakoda walks in on her trying to tie her topknot and he offers to help her. She begrudgingly says yes and he ends up tying her hair like his because it’s closest to what Azula is trying to do. His hair is sort of half down half up which I think symbolizes how he’s offering to her an out from vulnerability but it like only half works because he’s so kind to his children and children in general and she’s so disoriented by the new customs and kindness that she does let her guard down a little bit. (Also I think Azula would refer to hakoda as “my husband” when she feels threatened because he’s the chief and being his wife implies protection even though they don’t act (or think) married at all. And maybe eventually this turns into just a joke when Azula realizes she’s not actually being threatened in the SWT). Cue Sokka seeing Azula’s wolf tail for the first time:

Sokka: hey! You’re stealing my hairstyle! Get your own!

Azula: MY HUSBAND DID THIS >:/

(Also because I love when Zuko says “the fatherlord” so much I think Azula absolutely has to refer to hakoda as hakodad or my husdad at least once.)

So late responding to this but i genuinely couldn’t think of a good enough thing to say or add so I’m just gonna leave it here for the people to enjoy x

[controversial-blorbo-bracket]

Controversial Character Tournament Round 2: Kromer from Limbus Company vs Anders from Dragon Age 2

(remember that these characters are fictional and your fellow tumblr users are real. please be normal in the notes, i will not hesitate to block if you harass people)

Propaganda under the cut:

Kromer:

HATE: - "Nasty, scrungly, murders people for having advanced prosthetics, but yet the fandom still loves her, I will never understand that"

Anders:

LOVE: - "So Anders blew up a chantry as a symbol of mage rights. He's wild. Completely feral. I love him so much. He's canonically Bipolar (like me) but it's written in the worst possible way. He is possessed by a demon, technically. He's so unhinged. So many people hate him. He is technically a terrorist. The later game literally changed it so even if you agreed with him, no you didn't" - "hes SOOOOOO." - "He has a controversy page on wikipedia (It is not about that time he blew up a church). He likes cats. He gives poor people free magic healthcare. There is so much discourse about him all the time. His writer hated him. He escaped a cult. He's canon bipolar AND bisexual. He's possessed by a spirit of Justice (who rocks so hard.) He hates the Catholic Church. He lives in a sewer. He's really mean and petty. He was put in solitary for a solid year. He's one of two openly queer (i.e. mentioning it outside player romance) companions (the other being Isabela Dragonage) in his main game. Anders isn't even his birthname, it's a nickname given because he didn't speak for months when he got taken to the Catholic cult prison at 12. He drank long-lasting poison to fight an evil corrupting force because he wanted to not be murdered or have all his emotions lobotomied from him by the Catholic church prison guards (This is almost completely unrelated to the possession.)" - "Anders! He's a medic for those too poor to afford healthcare! He loves cats! He has a cat named Ser Pounce-a-Lot because he's a perfect man. Anders absolutely says ACAB, except in DA2 it's ATAB: All Templars Are Bastards. He's canonically bi! He runs an underground railroad-type deal for mages to escape from abusive institutions! He blew up the in-universe Catholic church for opressing his people (mages)! Some say this makes him a terrorist. I say this makes him a babe ❤️❤️❤️ He is unreasonably mean to Fenris, but imo that's just Bad Writing we can handwave away ok? ok. cool." - "there is a controversy section on his wiki page bc his bisexual ass made the straight male gamers angry by flirting with their characters. ppl in the fandom have also been arguing nonstop for 12 years abt his actions at the end of da2. do u want to go to anders discourse? too bad we're going to anders discourse."

BOTH: - "I really liked Anders in Dragon Age Awakening, I thought he was fun and funny, but he's insufferable in da2 and his fans and apologists are so annoying. He's a terrible person in that game and they have to make stuff up and ignore all the awful stuff he says and does. He's so awful I always kill him at the end of the game because I hate what he became."

[imagionationstation]

Heyya! I hope your break from social media was nice! :D

I just wanted to say I love your writing both on here and ao3, and find myself looking through your character and episode analysis on here a lot when I need inspiration.

I drew some art of your separated feral donnie au and i hope you like it. Hope ya doing well! :D

Okay, hear me out, I saw your post and I made a response and then Tumblr deleted it so I got upset and walked away with the intent to come back and reblog it later and totally forgot.

There is a reason that I never get to Asks even though I spent all day thinking of how I'll respond until one thing interrupts and now that Ask is lost to my drafts until I stumble upon it months later-

The memory loss is strong with this one.

Also, thank you sm. I adore when people can use my random stuff to positively influence their writing/art. That's literally why I write them, because I fully realize that there's a lot that can go under the radar and it's not fair of me to wonder why people only notice the bad when I have never stepped out to share the good.

THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO KNOW.

Plus, there's not nearly enough 2012 Donnie fanfiction out there, so I do my absolute best to fill that hole. I love to make converts. CONVERTS TO THE DONNIE FANCLUB CAUSE.

Because I like him and all that he does a normal amount <3

BUT ANYWAY LOOK AT HIM- THE FERAL CHILD!

He. Is. So. Realistic. I CAN'T EVEN BECAUSE THAT'S HIM.

The little gap- the big brown eyes- the cracked plastron and the scarring around his throat and the symbol on his chest- MAN.

HE'S SO ABUSED AND HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW IT.

Like I look at him and his little crouch and his squinty glare that looks like this boi needs glasses because he doesn't know how to properly glare or even have a mean bone in his body my gosh his big brown eyes are right from my brain he's so innocent I CAN'T-

YOU GUYS ARE MAKING ME EVEN MORE NUTS OVER MY OWN AU AND I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT'S POSSIBLE-

NOW DON'T GET ME STARTED AT HIS LITTLE HISS.

Honestly, this kid wouldn't hurt so much as a cockroach, but if that monitor even considers shocking his Friend again he will learn to change his ways, so help him-

[ryind]

SPOILERS FOR OPPENHEIMER BY THE WAY BECAUSE I HAVE WAY TOO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS MOVIE AND WANT TO DISSECT IT

Okay so I know there are some very reasonable and valuable complaints, comments, and criticisms about Oppenheimer and how it handles the ACTUAL victims of the war, martyrizing Oppenheimer, an arguably very gray character in reality for more reasons than the atomic bomb and...trying to poison his mentor. You know. The basics.

THAT SAID I AM GOING ABSOLUTELY FERAL FOR CILLIAN MURPHY'S PORTRAYAL OF OPPENHEIMER LIKE I HAVE A 3 IN 1 DEAL FOR HYPERFIXATIONS RIGHT NOW I THINK BECAUSE WE HAVE THE ACTUAL MOVIE, CILLIAN, AND THEN OPPENHEIMER. AGH. LOSING MY MIND. PICKING APART EVERY SCENE AND DETAIL WHILE ALSO GUSHING ABOUT CILLIAN'S PERFORMANCE.

on that note here's some things I worked out about the movie, or rather, my takes on them for those curious (some of these are definitely a stretch, but I like seeing how far I can push a metaphor once I find one, so here we go):

Lotta controversy about the "I am become death" quote during the sex scene, which, fair. I can see why they included it though, upon reflection. In the moment, it just feels like a strange foreshadowing of the bomb itself, which did Not resonate with me and seemed fairly jarring, but upon closer inspection, I think the relevance of that quote in *that* context is that this is the first person Oppenheimer lost. Jean needed Oppenheimer, and he blamed himself for her suicide (or murder, maybe). This was the first time he "became death, destroyer of worlds"; the first marble in the bowl, which mirrors Oppie's reaction to the bomb's actual detonation quite well, too, I think. Something terrible has just happened, and yet the expectation is that Oppenheimer shows up and pretends all is well and he isn't horribly damaged, just martyring on.

SECOND

The orange from Rabi might be a bit deep or I might be a bit stupid. Oranges tend to symbolize positivity and aid, so being told to eat one by a friend in his most vulnerable moment is a kindness, hence some symbolism there. I did unpack this deeper though, say, such that oranges need to be peeled to get to the sweetness, and they are one of the sweetest citrus fruits, though they maintain their tang. This represents perfectly how the orange delivery felt in that scene; sweetness from Rabi in a moment of vulnerability, the orange peel gone, the bitter and trauma numbed exterior of Oppenheimer stripped away for just a moment before the sour slammed back in full force. Also just. Really stretching it but oranges being segmented could both represent a fractured mind AND the different perspectives on Oppenheimer as a whole and his reputation to this day.

Oh and General Groves when telling Oppenheimer he's essentially done with him but will ..try? To keep in contact? And update him?? He's buttoning up his coat if I remember right, mirroring his guard getting put up as he ends his amicable dealings and negotiations with Oppenheimer, adding layers and making himself less vulnerable. Oppie, meanwhile, smokes as the quiet, socially acceptable way to perform an anxious ritual.

Also the RAIN. Don't have this one fully unpacked yet and maybe never will but Cillian in an interview mentioned that Nolan described Oppenheimer as "dancing between the raindrops" and this has only half clicked with me but oh well here we go. The basic idea is likely that Oppenheimer doesn't abide by just one grouping of people or their ideas, or hop on any flow bound for one particular destination. Rather, he dances in the space between; in the uncertainty that looms closer towards the ground the further things fall. I think this works decently with what I've listened to and read about Oppenheimer as a person, saying he'd follow recent physics, always growing impatient with the current field he was in and seeking something more...I don't like the use of this word in relation to science but "trendy." I guess the dust particles and whatnot in the headspace sequences work in line with the whole rain theory too in terms of how Oppenheimer doesn't just think about the interactions and the space between, but lives and breathes it as the space between the raindrops; between those that make the biggest splashes, as he gets caught in the ripples. Also given his anti-war rhetoric throughout the movie I feel like there's maybe a fire/water thing going on with him trying to quench the bomb he created but ultimately failing? Who knows. Maybe it's just rain.

Anyways here's all the ramblings I did to myself to reach these conclusions. They are incomprehensible.

[aquaquadrant]

Hi there. I’m going insane and it’s your fault. Like I discovered your absolute emotional masterpiece of a fanfic the other day and it’s all I think about anymore I’m so obsessed; I downloaded tumblr bc of you and I don’t really know how this site works but I do know how to click the ask button so that’s your problem now. I got words for you

First off: HOLy the writing and the voices are so good??? Like the characters say things the way their irl counterparts would say it? How?? Teach me your ways? Actually tho what did you do to learn to do that, is it innate, do you practice?

Second: “He wouldn’t have known the sight of Tango’s pale skin flushing bright red all the way down his chest.” That sentence just kinda stuck out to me from the last chapter… for some reason... anyways (idk what my point is here but it sure has got me thinking thoughts :P )

Third: I said I was obsessed, and I think it was an understatement. I didn’t study for my chem final because of this (still got an A tho so dw) and I went to bed for three days straight thinking about it and I woke up every morning thinking about it. (It took a solid hour to snap myself out of it when I actually needed to get work done lol) And on the plane ride home for break I drew some things so I’ll just leave these here if you don’t mind (umm ignore the tango faces on the first page and his left hand on the second, there's something Wrong™ about them I gotta practice, ok?)

idk if the formatting is good or whatever but here they are

As you can see I love love love the scene after the nightmare. If I remember correctly, Tango started wearing the gloves to protect his claws so they could heal after he escaped, and then when Jimmy gets hurt he just instinctively gives them to him?? Hello, the symbolism??? Tango just surrenders his own protection, both physically, because he would rather protect Jimmy, but also emotionally bc it immediately reveals what he considers a flaw in himself, monstrous, hideous. And Jimmy sees him throw the walls up again, “He quickly shoves the gloves at Jimmy, moving to get up. “I’ll uh, I’ll get another pair tomorrow-”” but Jimmy won’t let him, instead looks at what could be considered Tango’s entire soul —his trauma, his Hels origin, the feral, blaze side of him, the side that lies and hides and lashes out at any who get too close, the “ugliest” parts of him —and loves him despite it? Even sees the beauty in him? Yea, no, I’m normal about that—

Anyways idk how long these things are supposed to be but I have a couple more thoughts so you’re still stuck with me. Ummm let’s see… I adore your impulse design. So I’m taking that, thanks. (If that��s ok) also was thinking about how Jimmy would wear shirts with the wings getting in the way (see bottom of 2nd pic), and then thought maybe that’s why he’s so good at embroidery or sewing in general, cuz he has to make custom clothes. And then I thought what if he made some *cough* outfits and had Tango judge them… or asked for help putting on/taking off a particularly difficult shirt... haven’t had time to draw that yet but ya know… one day. Aaaaand the blaze rods could theoretically make a pretty cool fire crown when Tango's angry, also blazes do damage when you touch them, but I don't think you get set on fire? So it must be the blaze rods themselves doing damage, so I imagine when Tango's fighting they swirl around him both to attack whoever gets too close and to block any incoming projectiles (see middle left of 1st pic). +gradients on the blaze rods :]

Last thing, I showed my sister the fic last night and she’s already read through it twice so you’ve infected two of us. We were theorizing on what’ll happen next chapter. We both think that the others will piece together, to some extent, Tango’s backstory before they figure out how to remove the collar, what with the cuffs he wears, the comments Atlas made about a farm, Atlas’s mentioning about using Jimmy that way for his feathers, etc etc. and the comment that Tango can hear everything? Yea, no, when that collar comes off he’s gonna be distraught, I’m wagering that everything immediately bursts into flames around him or something (cuz that’d be cool). I think he'll probably try to run away, too, but we'll see

Anyways, that’s not all my thoughts but this is getting pretty long, so maybe I’ll send another ask later if that’s alright. Have a good day! Post again soon! Please. Please I'm begging you. For my sanity plea-

(actually tho take ur time. quality is worth it, and this is nothing but quality)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omg welcome. this was genuinely SUCH a lovely ask to read, but i wanna take the time to properly answer it so i’m gonna continue under the cut cause boy can i ramble

first off: HELLO, you got a tumblr bc of HTP?? incredible. i’m honored that this gay angsty little block man au was your introduction to the hellsite (affectionate). and don’t worry, i welcome asks no matter the length (tho i might not get to everything in a timely manner)

second of all: i’m SO happy you enjoyed my character voices. that’s definitely something that’s taken a bit of practice, especially for more understated characters that don’t have super obvious or unique vocal traits/vernaculars. i find it helpful to a) have spent a decent amount of time watching the source material and b) always go over my dialogue with the character’s voice in my mind, and see if it sounds like something they’d actually say. ofc, sometimes liberties can be taken based on the plot/setting of a fic but generally i spend a lot of time and effort on getting character voices right, so i appreciate the appreciation <3

thirdly: i like that particular sentence too ;0

fourth: THAT ART THO??? oh man. impulse looks amazing (i’ve always loved demon!impulse and gotta credit @lunarcrown for bringing that vision to life 💃) and the wings are SO well done, like you conveyed that leathery thin bat skin texture perfectly. the various tangos are SICK, i luuuuv seeing him in full blaze rage mode, using those blaze rods to their full effect. and those hands… goddamn. not only do i respect the hand anatomy but the ROSES… the shackles and their metallic texture… the gradient on tango’s claws… chef’s kiss 💋👌 and THANK YOUUU the post-nightmare scene was one of my favorites from that chapter, and you’ve summed it up beautifully.

moving on: as with all of lunar’s designs, she’s happy to inspire so BEHOLD, DEMON IMPULSE UPON YE (that’s a yes from both of us LOL) i love ur idea about jimmy making custom shirts to work around his wings, that’s one of those little details i never put much thought into but it fits so nicely with him being into embroidery. so jimmy def makes a lot of his own clothes (and occasionally some for tango), co-signed and approved. and ur on the right track about tango’s blaze rods- most of his defensive fire comes directly from them, doing that crazy swirly fireball thing that actual blaze do, but he does also have the ability to produce fire from his hands, he just doesn’t do it often. it takes a bit more concentration and practice, and he spent so long trying not to use his abilities that it doesn’t come second nature to him anymore. he was way more of a fire starter as a kid in hels.

last but not least: AWW it’s so sweet u got ur sister into the au (lord knows i’ve dragged mine into many a fandom 😂) glad y’all enjoyed it so much, AND now u have someone to theorize with 👀 i won’t say anything more on the matter other than i hope to get the next chapter out over the next couple weeks, so stay tuned…

[beevean]

a star ⭐ AND a query: are there any particular notes you have for Rain or What We've Lost and What We've Gained?

Ohhh!

Not much to say about Rain, it just came from a prompt and the idea that Hector would be "odd" enough to prefer rain over the sun. I'm not particularly proud of that one, to be honest, although I liked writing from Rosaly's POV and I took the chance to flesh her out a bit without straying far from what we know of her: she's disgustingly cute, she trusts Hector unconditionally and doesn't judge him for his weirdness, she's traditional in many aspects including having prejudices but willing to meet Hector halfway, and in short she embodies the better qualities of Christianity. I tried to incorporate other symbolisms, such as comparing Hector to a snake echoing his edgy moment in PtR, or Rosaly coming to appreciate the rain because it does kind of resemble his beloved in a way. And as I said in the notes, I just wanted to write a fully happy Hector for once lmao, let the man have one joy in the trauma conga line called his life :P

WWLAWWG is dearer to me, because I wrote a big part of it after suffering a loss - Julia's words about Isaac and her blaming herself for not loving him enough resonate too close to how I was feeling back then. I have all the feelings about her relationship with Isaac :) and i might have teared up a little when i wrote "i just want my big brother back!"...

It's worhty of note that it was born out of an idea that has little too do with the general theme of the fic - that Hector and Isaac can't have children due to their powers, something that would weigh on Hector when married to Rosaly as he'd see it as yet another consequence of his mistakes - and then spiralled into a much more wholesome headcanon that at last fixed all my grievances with the idea of Hector going to live with Julia. Maybe in the game Rosaly's makeshift orphanage doesn't exist... but nothing stops me from integrating it into the setting >:) I also go absolutely feral over the idea of Hector becoming Dracula, but this time in a positive way: by welcoming unwanted children and actually raising them with love, not to use them ;A;

Julia is a fascinating character for me to write, because she is a big big liar lmao. "Unlike her brother, whose thoughts and emotions were akin to a river in flood, and unlike Rosaly, with her clear, crystalline honesty, Julia was a placid lake, surface smooth and undisturbed." I could have phrased it better, but I liked the imagery here: Rosaly was gently honest and Isaac was brutally honest, but Julia hides everything behind her smile and slightly witty attitude, and Hector knows that something is lurking under the surface, and it's only a matter of time before it breaks the illusion. makes you wonder why she's like this...

I also tried to make Hector sound a little different here. This is post-CoD Hector, this is a Hector that has fully affirmed himself and his own agency. He's no longer the boy who would let himself be eaten alive to fill someone else's void :) it was very important to me that he took the decision to remove himself from a toxic situation, while still not looking like he was simply running away: I'm proud of myself for the idea of leaving the Devils with Julia, who in Kojima's art is shown taking care of them. There is something to be said that in theory, Julia would be an even better companion for Hector than Rosaly, because she fully understands Hector's powers and "curse", and being shunned because of it, and they can both be fully themselves around each other. This alone makes me imagine that the two would keep in touch through their lifetime, even from a distance.

(similarly I like the part where Hector muses that trying to assign blame on one person is eventually a futle endeavor, becase "it would always return to its starting place". You can't run away from grief, and what's the point in blaming dead people or yourself?)

And as I said in the notes, it's funny to me that it's the very first fic that used the Hector & Julia tag lol. But I still feel I wrote them as rather romantic, even though it wasn't my intention, perhaps for the moment of vulnerability they share together. I suppose you can read them as having the potential to fall in love, but kept apart by their trauma, which is the whole point of the story lmao.

and finally, this

“Then I’d better start packing as well,” she snorted, “for you seem hardly willing to part with your money.” “With all due respect, one hundred gold for a short sword may be on the excessive side–” “I’m simply teasing. Forgive me, but your pride is too easy to prickle.”

was a heartfelt jab at the game, specifically at my first playthrough where I didn't know how to stop being too poor for her shop :P