#when the human goes in the drowning machine

[gaytruckerthoughts]

julian, half the time not spent having tummy time with valkyrie, waiting for me to get back from the shower:

apparently he would occasionally sit there and worry about me and blinky-blink at the door 😭😭🥰

me, scritching himb: i missed you too, jules. showering is just not the same without you yelling at me to get out of the shower

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: Queer science fiction, part 1

There is a lot of queer sf out there, and I read a lot of sf. When I started working on this list, I quickly realized it was impossible to include all that I've read and enjoyed in one single rec post. Thus, this is the first of so far three queer sci-fi book rec posts.

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean "guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending", but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/a-spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don't always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of "gay best friend" or a blink and you'll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

Previous book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books, many worlds: portal fantasies, many worlds: alternate timelines, robots and artificial intelligences, post- and transhumanism, alien intelligences

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley*

Dietz is a soldier in the war between Earth and Mars - to travel to the battle front, she and her fellow soldiers are broken down into light to be able to quickly travel across space. But something keeps going wrong with Dietz's travels; her memories don't match up with the mission briefs, as she experiences time itself turning in on itself. Is she going mad? Or are the things she's learning skipping through time the truth - and the war that's stealing her life the lie? A mindfuck of a book that's scathing in its critique of fascism and war. Features a sapphic lead but no romance.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot duology) by Becky Chambers

Novella. Long ago, robots, upon gaining sentience, simply laid down their work and walked into the wilderness. Long after, a tea monk looking for purpose follows after them into the wilds, where they come across one of the robots seeking its own sort of answers. While not plotless, this story focuses more on character and vibes over plot. Also has a nonbinary main character and features conversations on gender between human and robot.

Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey*

Thora and Santi are strangers, brought together by a coincidence and torn apart just as abruptly when tragedy strikes. But this is neither the first nor the last time they meet - again and again they encounter each other, as friends, lovers, enemies, family, every time recognizing in each other a familiarity no one else carries. But with every new life, a mysterious danger grows ever closer, forcing them to find out the truth of their connection. This is a puzzle-box of a story that goes some entirely unexpected places in a very wild ride, featuring a bisexual co-lead.

The Archive Undying (The Downworld Sequence) by Emma Mieko Candon

In a world where AI gods sometimes lose their minds and take entire populations down with them, Sunai was the only survivor when his god went down. In the 17 years since, he has wandered on his own, unable to either die or age, drowning his sorrows in drink and men. But his attempts to flee his past comes to a stop as he is forced back into the struggle between man and machine. Featuring some pretty wild world building and narrative techniques, this book will definitely confuse you, but it is worth the experience.

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart

January Cole works security at the Paradox Hotel, last stop for tourists heading for the timeport, which allows them to travel to and witness any moment in time. But years of proximity to the timeport has left its damage on January, making her unstuck in time, letting her relive memories of her dead lover even as her sanity slips away bit by bit. As she starts witnessing proof of a horrible crime in the hotel that no one else can see, January must race against her own mind, a killer, and time itself to solve it before it's too late.

A Fractured Infinity by Nathan Tavares

Hayes Figueiredo is a struggling film-maker who wants to finish his documentary, whose life gets turned upside down when handsome physicist Yusuf Hassan enters his life, claiming an alternate version of him is a great inventor who’s sent a mysterious device to their universe. As Hayes gets drawn deeper into the conspiracy - and his feelings for Yusuf intensify - he has to decide just how far he’s prepared to go to win the life and the love he wants. Featuring a very gay and very morally dubious lead, this is a creative and strange read.

Bridge by Lauren Beukes

When she was little, Bridge and her mother Jo used to play a game - one where they traveled to other worlds, inhabiting the bodies of their other selves. Now Jo is dead, and as Bridge is cleaning out her apartment she finds a strange device: a dreamworm, the very thing that supposedly makes inter-dimensional travel possible. Suddenly faced with the possibility that multiverse travel is real, Bridge is struck by a different question: could her mother still be alive? Scifi spiced with a healthy dose of body horror and some absolutely wild twists, Bridge also features a bisexual lead (however this is a blink and you’ll miss it moment) and a nonbinary co-narrator.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers series) by Becky Chambers

Rosemary Harper just got a job on the motley crew of the Wayfarer, a spaceship that works with tunneling new wormholes through space. With a past she wants to leave behind, Rosemary is happy to travel the far reaches of the universe with the chaotic crew, but when they land the job of a life time, things suddenly get a lot more dangerous. A bit of a tumblr classic in its day, this is a cozy space opera with an episodic feel and vividly realized characters and cultures. While pretty light on romance and focusing found family, there is a main f/f relationship.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Life on the lower decks of the generation ship HSS Matilda is hard for Aster, an outcast even among outcasts, trying to survive in a system not dissimilar to the old antebellum South. The ship's leaders have imposed harsh restrictions on their darker skinned people, using them as an oppressed work force as they travel toward their supposed Promised Land. But as Aster finds a link between the death of the ship's sovereign and the suicide of her own mother, she realizes there may be a way off the ship.

Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire trilogy) by Yoon Ha Lee*

Military space opera where belief and culture shape the laws of reality, causing all kinds of atrocities as empires do everything in their power to force as many people as possible to conform to their way of life to strengthen their technology and weapons. It’s also very queer, with gay, lesbian and trans major characters, albeit little to no romance.

The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin

1969 classic. Genly Ai is an emissary sent to the planet of Winter, meant to help facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But he's unprepared for Winter's citizens, who spend much of their time genderless or switching between genders, making for a culture wildly different from that Genly is used to.

Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota series) by Ada Palmer*

Centuries in the future, humanity has deliberatly engineered society to be as utopian as possible, politically, socially, sexually, religiously. Written in an enlightenment style and featuring questions of human nature and whether it’s possible to change it, and what price we’re prepared to pay for peace, this book is simultaneously very heavy and very funny, and written in a very unique style. While still human, the society presented often feels starkly alien.

The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

This book fucked me up when I read it. It’s weird, it’s gross, there’s So Much Viscera, there are literally no men, it has living spaceships and biotech but in the most horrific way imaginable. Had I to categorize it I would call it grimdark military sf. It’s an experience but not necessarily a pleasant one.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling*

Possibly one of the most unsettling books I’ve ever read, and definitely the most claustrophobic. Gyre, a caver on an alien planet, ventures into the dark and dangerous underground, guided only by a woman who has no compunctions on using and manipulating Gyre as she sees fit to obtain her secretive goals down in the caves.

Escaping Exodus (Escaping Exodus series) by Nicky Drayden

While my feelings on Escaping Exodus were mixed, it cannot be denied that the dynamic between the two leads and the way they go from childhood best friends to enemies on different sides of a class and power struggle is very delicious. It also features some really cool worldbuilding of living, alien generation spaceships and the human culture that has developed inside them.

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky*

The Doors of Eden is something of an experiment in speculative biology, featuring versions of Earth in which various different species were the one to rise to sentience, from dinosaurs to neanderthals. Now, something is threatening the existence of all timelines, dragging multiple different people and species into the struggle, among those a pair of cryptid hunting girlfriends and a transgender scientist.

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Ascension follows Alana Quick, an expert Sky Surgeon who stows away on a spaceship in hopes of landing herself a job. But the ship and its crew are in deeper waters than she expected, facing threats emerging from a whole other universe, all of them searching for the same person: Alana’s spiritually enlightened sister. Undeniably a bit of an odd read, Ascension is also very creative and features polyamorous lesbian relationship.

Contagion (Contagion duology) by Erin Bowman*

Young adult. After receiving an SOS, a small crew is sent on a standard search-and-rescue mission. But what they find are not survivors awaiting help, but an abandoned site, full of dead bodies and crawling with something... monstrous. No romance, but features one sapphic co-lead and one who can easily be read as demisexual (however this doesn't show up until book two, which has more romance).

A Memory Called Empire (Texicalaan duology) by Arkady Martine

Mahit Dzmare is an ambassador sent to the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire, where she discovers that her predecessor has died. Trying to protect her home, an independent mining station, from being taken over by the empire, Mahit struggles to find out the truth of her predecessor's death while carrying the voice of his ghost in her head, guiding her as best he can. Light on the romance but does feature a sapphic relationship.

The Outside (The Outside trilogy) by Ada Hoffman*

AKA the book the put me in an existenial crisis. Souls are real, and they are used to feed AI gods in this lovecraftian inspired scifi where reality is warped and artifical gods stand against real, unfathomable ones. Autistic scientist Yasira is accused of heresy and, to save her eternal soul, is recruited by post-human cybernetic ‘angels’ to help hunt down her own former mentor, who is threatening to tear reality itself apart. Sapphic main character.

Dawn (Xenogenesis trilogy) by Octavia E. Butler*

After a devestating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Queer in the sense that the Oankali doesn't follow human ideas of gender and relationships, which is mirrored in their romantic relationships with humans. It is, however, pretty dark, with examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.

Remnant by Kate Genet

One day, Cass wakes up and finds everyone else is gone. Not dead, just gone, leaving her in a world which nature starts taking back with a dangerous, unnatural speed. But as she tries to survive this new normal, Cass realizes she may not be alone after all - but who else is out there, and are they a threat?

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace duology) by Erin Bow*

Young Adult. Featuring a dystopian future in which an AI forcibly keeps world peace by holding the children of world leaders hostage. If anyone attempts to start a war, their child will be executed. Greta is one of these children, kept in a school with others like her. But things start to change one day when a new, less obedient hostage arrives. A unique, slowburn take on the YA dystopian craze, also featuring a bisexual love triangle.

Iron Widow (Iron Widow series) by Xiran Jay Zhao

Young adult. Zetian is a citizen of Huaxia, where mecha aliens are constantly trying to breach the Great Wall. To keep them at bay, couples of men and women pilot so called Chrysalises, giant transforming robots. But the pilots are not equal - the women almost always die, sucked dry by their co-pilots. When Zetian sets herself up to become a concubine-pilot, she does so with the plan to assassinate the male pilot who caused her sister's death. Features a polyamorous main relationship.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool:

Survival Instincts by May Dawney

Lynn Tanner has been surviving the post-apocalypse alone with only her dog for a long time, trusting no one. But when she's forced to travel the dangerous remains of New York City alongside another woman, her priorities are challenged. Is staying alone really the best way to stay alive?

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

When con-artist Jun Ironway gets her hands on possible proof of the powerful Nightfoot family, controllers of interplanetary travel, committing genocide, she has in her hands a chance of taking them and their monopoly down. But the family and their allies won't go down easily, and sends two brutal clerics to stop her.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

A neo-victorian alternate history, in which a part of Congo was kept safe from colonisation, becoming Everfair, a safe haven for both the people of Congo and former slaves returning from America. Here they must struggle to keep this home safe for them all.

[bbagelbitch]

Assorted Nekoma headcanons: (just for funzies)

(they've been sitting in my archives for YEARS)

First years:

Lev actually managed to get a girlfriend at one point about halfway through first year, she asked him out because she thought he was cute, broke up with him a week and a half later after realizing he’s a dumbass and a bit of a weirdo

Shibuyama is one of those people who you’d think he’s just listening to Taylor swift or something but he unplugs his earbuds and its like- little darkie or some screamo heavy metal LMAO

Shibuyama has a helicopter mom which feeds his anxiety to the point that he carries pepper spray with him sometimes

Tamahiko has a pet tarantula

Inuoka is the kind of person who’d wear shorts when its snowing out

Inuoka and lev will both unironically do Fortnite dances during practice

Shibayama totally has a bunch of allergies and is a picky eater

Inuoka and lev are basically just human garbage disposals (will eat ANYTHING)

Lev can’t swim

Biblically accurate lev Haiba (gets the worlds WORST sunburns every time he goes outside)

Lev has low blood pressure and will randomly faint when standing up too fast (Kenma has the same problem but refuses to admit it)

Inuoka is one of those people who types in all caps the majority of the time. Every literature and language teacher he’s ever had has told him off for using way too many exclamation points. (He can’t help it he’s just a happy little dude)

Lev texts constant updates about what he’s doing t the team group chat to the point where he’s been kicked off of it more times than he can count. (Usually for talking about taking a shit) (see Charles Boyle from B-99 for reference)

Second years:

Fukunaga and Kenma rarely have actual text conversations but they’re constantly sending memes back and forth to each other

Tora actually has fairly curly hair and it was a borderline afro when he was in elementary school (he’s part latino in my mind argue with the wall)

Kenma listens to almost exclusively video game soundtracks (skyward sword is his favourite)

Tora totally listens to girypop rap (he is 100% a Flo milli Stan sorry)

Tora has asked kai for advice on how to talk to girls SEVERAL times and the information that you should just talk to them like they’re normal people blows his mind every time (how does kai do it? Is he a witch? A demon?

Fukunaga owns at least 3 cats and they all have weird names (inspired by my friend who’s cat’s name is Fax Machine)

Kenma is the world’s driest texter (canon actually)

Also fukunaga uses :3 constantly

Fukunaga and kenma constantly bully Tora about his obsession with looksmaxing and say shit like “he can’t talk he’s too busy mewing” LMFAO (you either drip or you drown taketora)

Tora knows how to braid hair cause he’d help akane with her hair when they were younger

All of the second years used to bite people when they were kids

Third years:

The third years have done group costumes for halloween since their first year

Kai is basically the team’s dedicated tutor (Kuroo is too snarky and yaku is too impatient)

Kuroo listens to western (English) music cause he thinks it makes him seem cool and he developed a superiority complex about it. “Oh you haven’t heard of Radiohead?”

Also kuroo and yaks have pretty similar music taste (a lot of modern rock) but the key difference is Kuroo likes arctic monkeys and yaku likes the strokes (they argue about which band is better constantly (yaku is right, its the strokes))(cause they always have to be arguing about something smh)

Kai also totally has a longtime girlfriend in high school bro is possibly the only person on the team who’s done ANYTHING with a girl (probably one of the only people on the whole damn SHOW)

Kai defo knows martial arts I would not want to face him in a fight

Kuroo still uses emoticons instead of emojis :3 ;D and whenever he does, yaku makes fun of him and tells him to “get with the times”

Yaku 100% repeats what Kuroo says in a mocking tone whenever the opportunity arises

Kai is the type of person to say “personality” when asked if he prefers tits or ass

Miscellaneous:

Nekoma is the most neurodivergent team in the whole show bruh like come on 

(autistic: Lev, Kenma, fukunaga.)(kenma totally also has ARFID)

(ADHD: Inuoka, Yamamoto, (both textbook cases of ADHD in guys) Kuroo, fukunaga) (Fukunaga my AuDHD king)

(OCD: Tamahiko, shibuyama (I just get vibes ok leave me alone) 

(Yaku isn’t neurodivergent he just has anger issues lmao) 

Kai is the only sane one on the entire team

Kuroo is also 100% one of those kids who got diagnosed with adhd really young so he appears mostly normal thanks to being medicated from the age of like- 6

Every single person on the team is oblivious as to when someone is flirting with them (kai is the exception)(girls pull out the wow your hands are so big and you’re so tall all the time and NOBODY reads into it)

Kai exclusively smells like a mix of vanilla and sandalwood and on the other side of that spectrum, Yamamoto reeks of axe body spray and b.o. No matter how many times Kenma tells him that axe actually drives girls away, Tora never listens.

Akane becomes manager of the boys volleyball team once she reaches high school (the first years will be third years by then)

The team all protective as HELL over akane (canon tbh)

[paranoidginger]

Random headcanons for the TF2 mercs!!

Scout: ADHD hardcore, should probably be medicated for it, but isn't. This man cannot stand still for anything, he is always tapping his feet or fiddling with something. He definitely bites his nails, especially his thumbs. Repressed bisexual who is accidentally homophobic because he thinks he isn't supposed to like guys, and thinks everyone chooses to like the opposite gender. He's a surprisingly good artist, and he has dyslexia. That mixed with dropping out of highschool made him somewhat illiterate, spelling is hard, and so is reading any big words.

Soldier: Jack of all trades, he has had every job possible, but if he weren't in love with going to war, he'd probably settle on properly running a raccoon sanctuary. He is the reason why Medic had to invent a cure for rabies. Definitely thinks that being a lesbian just means that you like women, regardless of gender, he refers to himself as a Lesbian after learning that Pauling Identifies as one.

Pyro: Probably not even a human, uses any and all pronouns. They're really smart, despite acting childish, and are the one who built their flamethrowers. Probably collects stickers. Would definitely watch MLP and drag the other mercs into watching it with them, Pinkie Pie is definitely their favorite of the mane six. They draw a lot, and are pretty good at it whenever they want to be, they just prefer drawing silly things. Their room probably smells like burnt plastic and gasoline.

Demo: Only goes sober whenever shit gets super, super serious, like one of the other mercenaries that he cares about gets hurt. He's got a really strong caretaking instinct that gets drowned out by drunken recklessness. He's a total lover, and definitely the type of guy to kiss the homies goodnight. It takes a LOT to actually get him drunk drunk, like, I'm talking ungodly levels of alcohol that would probably kill the average person. He's Spy's drinking buddy, and probably knows the most about Spy's background from listening to his drunken ramblings about regrets and how he wishes he was a better father. Demo probably knows a lot about most of the other mercs, just because he's a good listener and a vault whenever it comes to sensitive information. He's also really fucking smart. Probably pansexual tbh, just based on vibes.

Heavy: He gets nervous whenever he has to help out any of the more 'delicate' mercenaries. He knows he's ridiculously strong, and he has excellent control of himself, but he can't help but feel like he's handling glass whenever he's helping out any of his injured teammates, especially when it comes to Scout or Spy. He's super fucking protective of all of his team though, and would absolutely crack skulls if anything happened to any of them. He is the only person other than Medic who is allowed to touch Archimedes. Probably bisexual with a preference towards men.

Engie: He's usually pretty polite, but can be one of the most brutal out of any of the classes. He's definitely autistic with a special interest in machines. He probably wants to capture one of the mvm robots just to run tests and see if they're sentient. Low-key god complex, like, moreso than medic, he's just super humble about it. He definitely talks to all of his machines. He's 100% a trans man, I can see him as being demisexual.

Sniper: Definitely autistic, he's probably got a shitload of random animal information. Total arachnophobe, but only towards small spiders. Hand him a tarantula and he's fine, but show him a stick covered in baby spiders and he's going to probably kick it as far away from himself as possible and run away. He adores lizards of all kinds, and probably used to lay on the ground watching them all the time as a kid. This man can't use a kitchen for shit, but he manages to make anything he cooks over a fire absolutely delicious, he probably refuses to share though. Probably Asexual. Has a shitty taxidermy rat in his camper that he's unnecessarily proud of, and he probably collects bones. Super into oddities and weird little knick knacks, and he still has all of his baby teeth that he keeps in a little jar on a shelf. Can't run for shit, but could walk for hours if need be. Likes doing arts and crafts, he knits in his free time, and almost always has a sewing kit with him.

Medic: Knows a little about every different medical field, he just sort of studied up on whatever piqued his interest. DOES have a PhD in medical science, he just lost his license to legally practice in a hospital or doctor's office. Gay, probably a trans man. Has definitely experimented on himself before, giving himself different deadly diseases and whatnot just to challenge himself to make a cure before he dies. Also autistic. Spoils the fuck out of his birds, and would probably Frankenstein together a human body for Archimedes if he could figure out how.

Spy: Bisexual genderfluid icon. Usually only gets caught because he's being way too much of a cocky showoff. Definitely wears eyeliner and says that it 'helps him see better' when it's bright out, even though it's 100% just a fashion statement. Has a collection of antique cigar boxes and lighters.

[brainrot-stitch]

Chronically ill tss light steve truthers wya....

Anyways chat u won't believe what I have on the mind rn

There's an episode early steve saga where light steve traps sabre in the snow thing and builds a house or temple or whatever and Sabres like "come on man I'm already sick this is cold:(" or whatever. Do u guys remember that. Or am I actually js fucking crazy and making this shit up wait hold on let me go check rq I FOUND IT "come on man I already have a cold you're letting me stay out in the snow and all that?" At 9:38 on the video where he first finds light steve. Giggles and kicks my feet imagine if sabre got sick(er) and light steve being both a steve and a cold icy snowy guy didn't know that. That the cold is not good for ppl. So sabre gets sick and light is like ?? Idk if this is a good idea or not it's 7 am I woke up at like 2 or maybe 4 I'm not sure I mightbe delulu

ANYWAYS random yapping woooo none of this is gonna b coordinated

Anyways anyways yea rainbow steve trauma from the experimenting and machines early steve saga but also. Sabre being scared of deep water and/or drowning. Because of both blue steve and rainbow steve mann that mf has almost drowned a LOT over and over again. Just so much water. Rip 💔💔 rainbow is like "let's go swimming!!!" One day in the rainbow town and Lukas is like "yea sure it's a hot day out that would b cool" or whatever and Sabre is like "uhhhh hahsha yeaahhhh sureee.."

Uhhh uh um

Early tss light and sabre spent a good amount of time together especially alone. I like to think they bonded during this time both off and on screen. Cuz like bro rarely shows up in the rainbow town era and past that idek. But even tho light and sabre aren't as close as rainbow and sabre I still like to think they're real good pals :3

Idk if I've said this before maybe I have maybe I haven't idk but sabre when nervous or thinking or worried and anxious or whatever will pace around or take walks or whatever. But will he completely silent (unless he's muttering to himself which I can totally see happening). But like his footsteps are light and near silent because of the muscle memory or whatever from being an ASSASSIN because that's so real to me I'm such a 'sabre was an assasin in the past before tss/rq' believer u guys don't understand how derranged I am about this. Anyways yea he will accidentally fnaf jumpscare ppl just like showing up behind them or whatever its so silly

I HAVE SO MANY HEADCANONS BUT I FLIPPING FORGET THEM ALL AS SOON AS I GO TO WRITE THEM DOWN FUCK MY STUPID FRICKING LIFE 😭😭😭��

Also I am as much of a human sabre believer as I am an avian sabre believer. Like yeah let that man be a bird but also not depending on the mood. Both r awesome

Galaxy steve does NOT know how to spell gorgeous don't ask why this is necessary information. It's real he told me himself I swear

MORE ASSASSIN SABRE BS he's a super light sleeper from having to wake up at the slightest noise and be on guard all the time. He still frequently wakes up if he hears smth his subconscious perceives as abnormal. Also i think he'd have a pretty high pain tolerance but it gets higher as tss goes on because he gets struck by lighting so damn much u can't tell me his nerves aren't at least somewhat fried 😭😭😭😭give bro a break PLEASE. Also I think posture would be a big thing like he's all played back and relaxed and silly but when they have to go like sneak somewhere they (rainbow and lucas- or js whoever he's with at the time idk) can physically see as he slips back into old familiar habits with practiced crouching and silent footsteps and staying in the shadows and all that.

Lukas was also an assasin remember. Remember guys. And his assasin skin has a scar on his face and a blind eye I think wait let me go check

YEAH. YEAH so he totally still has that during tss. Giggles and kicks my feet and twirls my hair. Anyways I haven't finishes Sabres assassins creed series yet but I think Lukas would be used to Sabres habits but he himself would have more guard habits than assasin ones. Like the posture and unconsciously reaching to rest a hand on his sword in that classic templar (is that how it's spelled??) guard fashion as like an idle thing to do w his hands before remembering its not there.

Oh also another thing on the sabre vs water didn't he like. Didn't he almost drown a few times during his assassins series too? Bro water has got it OUT for him 😭 😭

[dairy-farmer]

Please consider: Split personality Jason where Jason sees Tim as a little brother, but the Lazarus Pit is infatuated with him.

Jason tries to do the whole Attack on Titan Tower thing, but the second he leaves eyes on Tim with pit madness, the Pit falls in love. Maybe the Pit absorbs some of the memories / personality of the people that are dipped in it, and has absorbed some of Ra's creepy obsession towards Tim. Or maybe it just sees how beautiful and brave and strong he is. The Pit wants to be near him, touch him, hold him kiss him fuck him. And while Jason may not want to kill him anymore, he definitely doesn't seem Tim the same way.

Personally I would love it in this situation if the Pit gently dub-cons or non-cons Tim, possibly without Jason knowing, and Tim can't say anything because he doesn't want to break up the family or scare Jason away from the batfam.

!!!!!!! so there's this horror movie from the last decade which is about possession and there was this really amazing scene- i honestly don't remember the rest of the movie or even thinking it was that good but this scene sticks out in my head and it's where the character that is possessed is a young girl and a bunch of stuff happens so she's sent for an MRI. during the procedure her mother and sister are in the adjoining room with the doctors who are running the machine and slowly, bit by bit, the scan is coming in with each picture presenting a more composite scan of the body. and the sister is watching as it happens and she can see in the scan, the face and body of an entire person curled up in her sister's abdominal cavity. that scene!!! was so chilling!!! it stuck in my brain even years later!!!!! i love the idea of rather than jason having a split personality, he is sort of kind of possessed by the pit because the thing is- jason was dead. he crawled out of his grave for some reason and it was the pit that fixed up all the loose ends that gave him back his mind and i think it would make sense that the pits were powered by a supernatural quality.

maybe in repairing jason's mind the pit inserted some of itself into him and maybe the pit has incorporated parts of the other people who have used it over the centuries!!! and a lot of those people? not very nice, good people.

a lot of those people were violent, entitled, and selfish. like the prince who killed sora, ra's wife, after ra's healed him using the pit. the pit has too much muck and tar even good, honest people who are dipped can't reverse the effects and come out...worse.

the pit has been tainted for a long time. long before humans ever touched it, furiously hungry predators would chase terrified prey down into caves and they'd fall in, tainting the waters with the hunger to devour at any cost.

when jason sees tim he feels hatred and envy and anger. and if that had been all he'd felt that's all the pit would have acted on.

but...there was something else in jason's gut when he saw tim for the first time. an odd twinge and swirl in him, a feeling that was drowned out by everything else but was there nonethless. attraction. tim was an attractive person and jason's body had felt that and the pit that had made its home in the water of his brain picked up on it too and that hunger...that desire...came back.

jason does not know what happens. and his attraction never goes away. its only when that pulse of heat in him flares up that the pit seeks out tim and forces him to ease that desire.

jason never thinks to tell tim. to confess. because of the tower and because he knows tim would never reciprocate. but the attraction never dies down and every time the pit indulges it fans their flames.

and tim. never tells. he doesn't want the shame, the humiliation, does not want to be the reason why jason is ostracized because jason is rejoining the family. slowly. he and dick laugh together, he and bruce are on the mend.

tim does not want to be the reason that is disrupted he does not want to find out...if bruce and the family would choose him. if they would even entertain the possibility of their jason doing something...something like that.

so tim...keeps his mouth shut. and he tries hard to maintain his distance no matter the frowns or concerned furrowed looks shot his way. they will never tell him to forgive jason or try to get them to be anything but civil. but tim will see their judgement and disappointment either way.

tim does his best to find work outside gotham, he finds exuses to go to the titans. even though the tower has been, proven unsafe.

sometimes tim will spend nights in kon's room. kon is confused but accepting and holds tim so that tim can catch, at least, a few hours of sleep.

it helps.

sometimes. but kon can't always be there and tim gets tired of staying up an vigilant. he needs to sleep sometime. and jason...jason is always there waiting for him to.

[hannahhook7744]

Isle Kids being off putting or just plain off;

Based on a dc bat family post I can't find.

Jay, Jade, Hermie Bing, and Yzla bending in ways that shouldn't be possible.

Carlos having a way with machines and animals that goes beyond what even his similar minded relatives can understand even from a young age.

Diego, despite being perceived as the 'normal' de Vil cousin, giving off a sense of danger when he smiles at Auradon adults who haven't earned his trust. His song and personality drawing people in like a siren call.

Reza knowing things no human should and having no light behind his eyes.

Evie and Uma having strangely enchanting personalities that draw almost everybody in.

Claudine Frollo, Eddie Balthazar, and Hunter de Vil being so quiet that people often forget they're there.

Harry coming off as unhinged in one minute and a completely normal dude the next.

Cj Hook and Ivy de Vil setting things like water on fire.

Lefou Deux creating toys after just looking at them. Having no idea what goes into them and just making them work somehow.

Hadie talking to what other people can't see even at eight years old.

Red screaming 'off with your head' when angry and seeing nothing wrong with it.

The LeGume brothers being inhumanely strong.

Ginny looking somewhat younger than she is as she ages.

Harry Badun never looking in the mirror.

Zevon being able to make potions out of nothing.

The Stabbington cousins being weirdly in sync to a point where it can't be a gag.

The Smee Twins knowing where the other is and if they're in pain when it should be impossible.

Celia and Freddie being able to convince people of things without much effort.

Dizzy being unnaturally cheerful.

Mad Maddy being strangely attached to dolls and talking to them.

Sammy Smee, Harriet Hook, Anthony Tremaine, and Jace Badun seeing something absolutely wild happen and not even batting an eye at it.

Rick Ratcliffe casually saving someone from drowning before continuing what he was doing without reacting to it.

Clay Clayton not staying down for the count when hurt and finding it fun.

The number of Tremaines and Madam Mim's grandchildren being untrackable because people just keep popping up.

The total number of isle kids being unknown as more and more keep popping up and keep disappearing.

Uma's crew (Jonas, Bonny, Desiree, Gonzo, etc) knowing where she is and believing in her without question when off the isle.

Just. Every single isle kid being strange in some way that anyone from off the isle (and even the isle parents in the early years) find off putting.

And no one knowing why or how.

The isle kids not even knowing they're off putting over half the time.

[blueikeproductions]

And it begins, the EarthSpark toys are on clearance.

So far it’s just these size classes, but it’s not looking long for this toy line. None of it really moves super well. The store I was in moves the Tacticons a little better, but probably only because they’re so cheap.

Among the Deluxe line, Nightshade continues to shelfwarm, with the ROTB and Legacy toy lines still doing better by comparison.

If this changes for TFOne’s toy line later this year remains to be seen, as we still have no clear idea on what the movie is like or what the TFs look like. A candid shot of an Orion Pax popcorn bucket is the best we got, and most people are playfully making fun of how chunky it is like Energon Optimus Prime.

(Art by staticoctopus on Twitter, it’s cute and fits very well with the topic, lol).

Meanwhile, Skybound’s still knocking it out of the park, and is garnering far more discussion and speculation that EarthSpark can ever hope to have.

It’s doing what Bob Budiansky had been making a point of from the start: you need Earth and humans to properly tell the stories of alien robots that turn into vehicles, just having them only on their own doesn’t work unless it’s Beast Wars or Beast Machines. Because you get WFC, Prime Wars, and Cyberverse when you strip Transformers of its humanity figuratively and literally.

It’s why EarthSpark is so weird, because it is trying so hard to make statements it has no qualifications to make, and pretty much treats most of its non Megatron, non-Mandroid and non Jawbreaker male characters like morons. Robbie practically dies and the show treats it somewhat as a joke, instead having Alex & Dot love up Mo while Robbie lays there probably thinking of the worst retirement homes he can shove his parents in to. The human X Transformer relations are still frankly terrible unless you’re a Malto. If modern writers despise the Chosen One story, they’re sure going all in on the Maltos as being chosen for a vague destiny, aren’t they?

Meanwhile, Skybound does this:

Telling a much better and heartfelt story about humans and Autobots coming together with future trials yet to come. There’s a reason people criticize the inept and some that shady EarthSpark Optimus (his only saving grace currently is being voiced by Alan Tudyk), but most universally praise Skybound Optimus as the return to form Transformers desperately, desperately needed.

On top of that, spoilers for context, Sparkplug sacrificed himself to save Optimus, by merging with the Matrix, revitalizing it. Now Optimus is guided by the human wisdom of a repentant Sparkplug, who previously was consumed by the horrors of the war he served in, the death of his wife & eldest son and his alcoholism used to drown it out.

Now Optimus is seeing what appears to be Sparkplug’s memories due to his influence of the Matrix.

It’s led many to assume this is Optimus stepping into the role of father to Spike, mirroring Star Saber & Jan. I think that’s terrific idea, Optimus better understanding humans from the get go but now having Sparkplug as his Jaga to potentially guide him further.

It also seems to be a reverse Hi-Q from the Marvel comics.

And that resulted in Hi-Q evolving into a new Optimus (mostly because of the Action Master toy at the time, but still.)

This is what EarthSpark wants to be but refuses to do, it’s what IDW thought it was trying to be, but absolutely failed, and now we’re at TFONE.

Hasbro is now trying to properly advertise it with an animated logo on places like Instagram. The movie is set to come out this September if all goes well with the toys trickling out around that time (though toy distribution being what it is, probably January 2025 at this rate).

Like EarthSpark, One is stated to have “political” commentary and characters like Nightshade according to leaks and rumors. This I guarantee will kill this movie faster than EarthSpark if the story and characters aren’t up to snuff. Thankfully, audience test screenings have been very positive so far, but another problem we’ve all anticipated. Comments about the official logo now have people incredibly confused and hesitant to go near ONE because they don’t know if it’s Bayformers, Bee/ROTB, or something new, and being told it’s a new thing doesn’t seem to be helping…

Skybound remains the best thing Transformers has had in a long time. One has the potential, but I think its main “non politically driven” deterrent is it being another movie with vague ties to Bayformers and being a cartoon movie. (Some are actually angry it’s an animated movie and not a live action thing, it’s confusing…) There’s apparently plans to to make TMNT: The Last Ronin into an R movie under Paramount, as it too is the only good thing TMNT has going for it (besides Mutant Mayhem, but we’ll see how that goes for its TV show), so it’s entirely possible Hasbro may chose to do the same with the Energon Universe, as it’s the only thing period Transformers has going for it right now…

[sol-consort]

Not over how Javik can read your emotions by a simple touch. How useful would it be if you're someone who didn't express themselves often? Maybe you don't even understand your own emotions half the time or recognition them, yet Javik can easily tell each wave going through you apart from its sisters.

Your tearless sadness, your joy with a lack of smiles, your unbotheted but secretly bothered expression. Any difficulty you might face when it comes to both traverse the bottomless oceans of your emotions, but also attempt to make something comprehensible out of them for others around you whilst battling the waves not to drown.

Because something we all come to terms with is accepting disappointment in love, that our loved ones simply can't read our mind, they can't know what we're feeling or thinking if we don't activity communicate it.

So we lower our standards, accept that mishaps and miscommunication will happen, become content with the imperfections of love.

Each one of us must have realised it at some point, that no matter how much you explained yourself to someone you care about, at times, they simply will not get it. It's one of the things in life you learn to get used to, a part of human nature to grow into.

Javik completely defies that law. He breaks out of the mould. Not only can he read your brain, but your emotions too! He senses your body, your flesh, your blood running through your veins and your heart beating so quietly in the middle of the chaos of chemistry and cell division happening around it. Holding so many secrets inside, so many untold things you simply can't choke out, so many unfulfilled dreams and desires.

Not only does he see them, but he feels them as well. For once, someone is truly understanding you, understanding how it feels, how intense it can get. No one but yourself in this life can share your own experience. No matter how hard anyone tries, it's simply impossible to fully understand someone else.

Yet he does it. With a simple touch at that, too. He feels your soul, connects to it for a second in time, and views the real you, vulnerable and bare from all masks you put around your loved ones, not to make them worry.

He is you for a second as he processes each single overwhelming emotion you've felt for so many years.

No wonder he constantly wants to touch people. It explains why he's the way he is, why his words are harsh, why his face is expressionless. He never had to fake it, he never had to communicate his feelings through all these unreliable ways. Protheons could simply press a finger against one another and get to peak inside each other's hearts.

Our clumsy ways just pale in comparison, we are primitive indeed.

How can we even compete with that? It takes a lot of effort to have the beginning of a beginning for a crack code to someone else's emotions, and they can achieve it in literal seconds. Something that would've taken us years of close bonds, time, and great attention to come close to.

He probably feels it too, the guilt and shame hiding in your bones from not being enough for his needs. How lonely he must be, constantly misunderstood by those around him who are stubborn in their old ways.

Is that why he doesn't like machines? can he not read them like organics, so he assumes they don't have a soul? Is he scared that his so called perfected method of communication, might also be just as flawed as the rest of ours?

Javik wouldn't acknowledge your fears with more than a single phrase about you not needing to concern yourself if you're not enough, he chose you so don't question his decision.

But oh you'll never know what goes in inside him, you will never feel the erupting affection at the fact you loved him so much you felt guilty for not being able to give him back what he has given you. You won't even be able to suspect how much his heart is fluttering in response for your worries about him, for your great care for him.

It's as equally sad as it is endearing, stuck in a cage of his own making for being simply too evolved.

Imagine if you went back in time to an era before humans learned to talk with words, and you had to adapt to everyone else's ways of using vague gestures and occasional grunts. Primitive, too much room for error, could not come close to how much talking expresses your feelings and thoughts with such precision.

That's what it must be like for him. But at least you're there, and he can tell your heart is true, your love is pure. And that makes it, just a little bit less lonely.

His world is a little bit less dim with you around, the only caveman who's paid attention to the words he's been using.

[seat-safety-switch]

Every intricate little part of a mechanical assembly has its own story to tell. While you are humming down the highway, part of your suspension is held on by a bolt. A normal, boring threaded fastener. Nut goes on, together they clamp the two things together, wheel doesn’t fall off the car. Simple. Except it took hundreds and hundreds of years of study, machining excellence, standards creation, and thousands of half-ruined engineers’ lives.

To be aware of all these parts would drive you mad. Don’t believe me? Let’s take your body. There is a place in the US that is super-duper quiet, kept eerily so by insane reams of insulation. Companies take their shit there to make sure it runs as silently as possible, so your late-night DVD menu canoodling isn’t interrupted by the sound of the disc drive re-accessing the table of contents.

If a normal human being goes into this realm of silence, sits down in silence, they can hear their own body run. It drives people mad. Ever heard your jaw open? Yeah, it does that all the time, you just can’t hear it because of the other stuff going on. Same with all the bags of gas, half-implemented pumps, joints grinding against each other, and accidents of evolution that occupy your body. I think I’d go crazy too, trying to listen to all that shit, and it’s the same with a car.

We’re not really built to understand these assemblies. Sure, you can think seriously about all the different parts, but ultimately it all adds up to “a car.” You don’t think about the complex series of linkages, bolts, fasteners, bushings, and grease that allows you to steer. Even the most seasoned mechanic will just turn the steering wheel, and the car will steer. That is, until something goes wrong, and this is exactly where the car expert and the normal person diverge.

A normal person will turn up their stereo to drown out the noise of a bad wheel bearing. Maybe ignore it for awhile, at least until their next paycheque clears and they can go see the mechanic, honest. A real mechanic will ignore that sound forever. They’ll crank their stereo all the way to the moon, and then when the speakers begin to clip, doggedly chase problems with their sound system even when the front-left wheel threatens to fall off on the highway. And if their car didn’t have a working stereo to start with? So much the better.

So the next time you’re on the highway and you see someone with their music turned all the way up and a trunk full of stolen you-pick-it junkyard relays, maybe slow down a little bit. Give them some extra room. Because they’re trying to ignore that annoying wailing sound coming from the police car behind them, too.

[dangermousie]

My next kdrama rewatch is probably my favorite period kdrama of all time - The Princess’ Man.

It stars Park Shi Hoo in a role that elevated him to big stardom (and deservedly so - the man might be…well…on a personal level but as an actor he was always exceptional and this is imo his best role - the way he goes from human sunshine to feral vengeful barely human wreck to someone obtaining haunted functionality through love is something else) and Moon Chae Won in my favorite role of hers (she managed to imbue this ladylike and steady woman with so much sympathy and relatability. In other hands, her character would he boring or even be drowned by PSH’s because she doesn’t have an arc with huge changes likes his, she just stubbornly remains true to herself, but in hers she becomes one of my all time fave heroines.)

In case you don’t know the story, it’s the whole enemies and lovers thing. When the OTP first meet, she is the carefree favorite daughter of the King’s brother and he’s a treasured scholar son of a senior minister. We get mistaken identity hijinks and two smart, sunny, well-adjusted people falling in love. But her father is Sejo so even a quick glance at Wikipedia will tell you what happens - a bloody coup, his whole clan brutally murdered and his finding out the woman he fell in love with is the culprit’s daughter.

When he returns a few years later (surviving torture and a bunch of attempts to murder him - she buys his life by threatening his own but all that means is daddy tries to murder him later in private), gone is the sunny scholar and we have a barely functioning, unable to sleep murder machine who wants to use her in his plan for vengeance. And it goes on from there.

I love how gradual his changing back to sanity is and I love how immovable she is in loving him and knowing her family owes him. This is not one of those “my family fucked up but they are mine so whatever” situations - she fully recognizes the justness of his revenge and not because she loves him - she’d recognize it for a stranger. It’s because she’s morally always centered.

What else? If the secondary OTP won’t break your heart, you have none. The SML is a fascinating brand of repulsive - he doesn’t really love the FL but he wants her as some sort of victory over ML even if he thinks the man is dead because being second wore on him (think Gao from LP.) It features my favorite scar kissing scene of all time (when he kisses the scar on her back that she got from the arrow she took covering him with her own body - that act was actually what got through to him when nothing else could because he’d never trust words but that action? Good God!) Also, the scene where he actually sleeps peacefully for the first time in years on her shoulder? Aaaa!

I didn’t really use tumblr at the time but my LJ was all TPM all the time. Watching it as it aired was harrowing since chances of a happy ending were so dim and yet I wanted it so badly. (And got it!)

I guess it’s time to go for mark 2. (Or whatever number since I rewatched it before.)

[xamaxenta]

MAS What if none of them were human?

Ace a soldier a machine made for combat and war. Grease and smoke, he has numbers and initials carved into his plating he can’t remember what any of them mean only that they were important. (He goes quietly as they prepare him for another wipe)

Sabo a living doll, delicate designs carved into porcelain skin. He was made to replace the dead son of a rich family. He was made to be perfect. Sometimes he dreams of drowning he’s not supposed to dream (the mansion burns and he can’t breathe but he doesn’t have lungs)

Marco something that may have been human once but he is so so old and his entire body has been replaced several times over. He is a healer this he knows for certain (He can’t remember when he stopped being human)

👀 you know that soft boof like woof large dogs make before they start howling? Me

Me rn

The aesthetic of all their separate situations and descriptions fuck so hard esp the Sabo one a living doll perfection incarnate made for an incredibly wealthy family to replace a dead son, learning that hes a replacement shouldnt hurt but it does

Ace with numbers codes and letters painted or burnished or etched into his metals 🥺 (also Ace leaving machine oil smear hand prints on Sabos pretty almost real skin )

Marco who used to be human and has to relearn his humanity delicious hes so broken, he doesnt think its worth seeking that sort of thing anymore but Sabo and Ace seem to think otherwise

[ladylaviniya]

Please someone lobotomise me. I don't want to have big human thoughts. I'm done. Just put me in a care home and let me go through dementia as I enjoy puzzles all day. I'd rather be at peace and forget things than have to continue feeling like I'm constantly drowning.

I hate myself and I hate that I struggle to fit into society.

I just want to be loved and I thought I'd be married with kids by now (yes I'm only 22 but I'm a Christian virgin who struggles with the physical feelings of being comfortable with sex other than the smut I write and read.)

I thought men were real- I thought men were romantic and worshipped women. I didn't realise how objectified and then shamed we are by men who behave like animals.

I don't want to work and I think that's a massive reason I'm having such a bad breakdown. I want to be a Pilates wife. I want to be at home baking and cooking and meal planning and loving a husband. I want to mend his work uniform and sit and rub his feet while he oats my head and tells me I'm his angel.

I don't want to work in disability care where my tolerance is so minimal to loud, overstimulated (overstimulating for me) aggressive clients. Or work with babies that scream and cry and hit along with angry parents that yell at you the moment something goes wrong. I wish job employment agencies would stop trying to pressure me into these roles. I KNOW THEYRE UNDERSTAFFED ALREADY SO IM NOT RIDING A SINKING BOAT- no THANKS

I just want my dad. I just want to go home. I just want to be 6 years old. I want to go to preschook again and do painting.

I don't want to work from 5pm-5am and walking Brisbane streets at night all alone going from one cleaning place to another just for one client to write passive aggressive comments in the Communication booklet and my boss to start telling other co-workers that I'm having meltdowns and I'm high maintenance.

I'm autistic and I just want to be treated like a toddler or a dog because that's kinder than what's happening now.

I just want a husband to look after me and protect me.

I want to just make cute little videos and not have to worry my pretty head about money.

I DONT WANT designer bags or clothes. I just want to have a house I'm allowed to decorate and make dresses or bake for church. And a husband who comes from work and pats my head and tells me I'm a good girl. At this rate I don't even care if he's fucking a receptionist on the side.

I get it how these are such white woman tears. But fuck I think every woman should have this dream off they WANT without any shame.

I know it's a "grow up this is reality, you're describing something that doesn't exist." WHY CANT IT EXIST. FUCK.

I don't blame feminism. Feminism is amazing and I love her.

I blame classism.

People can't survive on just single home incomes anymore and that's fucked up to me.

"but women had jobs too you're just describing the rich wom-"

Women with jobs were mostly young single women waiting to get married or women who never wanted to get married but needed a liveable income. YES some entire families worked to survive poverty back in the day, I wont disregard that, but FUCK

you would think being so advanced as we are considering we mass produce via machine etc, human life would be "easier" BUT IT ISNT.

And I'm TIRED. I really am. I've been depressed since the day I was born but because it's so normal to me I forget how depressed I am and then feel bad when I burn the fuck out.

[eternalglitch]

Can you give us the name of those novelas that you bought please? 👀💖

Sure!! Note that I cannot say if they are actually good yet, as I have only just started reading Archive Undying. So if you pick it up and it's terrible do not blame me lolol

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon:

WHEN AN AI DIES, ITS CITY DIES WITH IT WHEN A CITY FALLS, IT LEAVES A CORPSE BEHIND WHEN THAT CORPSE RUNS OFF, ONLY DEVOTION CAN BRING IT BACK When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: its favorite child, Sunai. For the seventeen years since, Sunai has walked the land like a ghost, unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he's seen. He's run as far as he can from the wreckage of his faith, drowning himself in drink, drugs, and men. But when Sunai wakes up in the bed of the one man he never should have slept with, he finds himself on a path straight back into the world of gods and machines. The Archive Undying is the first volume of Emma Mieko Candon's Downworld Sequence, a sci-fi series where AI deities and brutal police states clash, wielding giant robots steered by pilot-priests with corrupted bodies. Come get in the robot.

(glitch note: I started reading this one and I am obsessed so far. Pacific Rim and Evangelian vibes. Does have a LOT of cussing and mentions sex not an insignificant amount, so warning if that's not for you, but the characters so far and world building are very fun.)

Translation State by Ann Leckie:

Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. The realization that they might want something else isn't "optimal behavior". It's the type of behavior that results in elimination.  But Qven rebels. And in doing so, their path collides with those of two others. Enae, a reluctant diplomat attempting to hunt down a fugitive who has been missing for over 200 years. And Reet, an adopted mechanic who is increasingly desperate to learn about his genetic roots—or anything that might explain why he operates so differently from those around him. As a Conclave of the various species approaches—and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger is on the line—the decisions of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.  

Dragonfall by L. R. Lam:

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the 'gods' remember, and they do not forgive. Since they were orphaned, Arcady has scraped a living thieving on the streets of Vatra, dreaming of life among the nobility - and revenge. When the chance arises to steal a powerful artefact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history, they jump at it, for its magic holds the key to their dreams. But the spell has unintended consequences, and drags Everen - the last male dragon, who was once foretold to save his kind - into the human world. Trapped, and disguised as a human, Everen soon realises that the key to his destiny, and to regaining his true power, lies in Arcady. All he needs to do is convince one little thief to bond with him completely - body, mind, and soul - and then kill them . . . Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.

(glitch note: lots of reviews mention sexy dragons which admittedly I am a little nervous about because that kind of romance can be very much not my cup of tea, but I believe the author is not cis and the main character is gender fluid so I decided to give it a read anyways... Maybe I'll be surprised with how the romance goes.)

[written-in-my-pages]

Ch17 sneak peek :3

I wanted to post this before I post the chapter to A03 because maybe you guys will have some theories heheheh

Warning for chuuya being angsty/depressed xd

꧁•⊹٭٭⊹•꧂

"Why'd you have to leave me, you ass?" Chuuya asked the air. If Dazai's ghost was lingering around in the pages still, maybe he could hear Chuuya. He hoped it was that way. "What about our plans. . .? The rings?" He huffed into the pillow, questioning if he should really be angry at a <em>dead man</em> or just. . .sad. Ever since Dazai died, and forced him into The Book, Chuuya's began to feel. . .hollow.

Like something got torn from him, something so important--replaced only by faded anger and aggression.

Was this how Dazai felt before he killed himself?

Hollow?

"I. . .I'll fucking kill you, boss," Chuuya sat up and punched the pillows, trying to release any amount of the obsessive anger he had in him.

It was futile; pointless.

"If you can't tie your own noose," He growled and hit the pillow, unhappy with how soft it was. It wasn't skin; not bones, not human. "I'll tie it for you, when I get back."

Deep beneath his anger, beneath his pure hatred he was growing for Dazai Osamu; port mafia boss, was an unbearable sadness. A sadness so deep he could drown in it.

And, in a moment of desperation for any amount of memories that Chuuya had of Dazai to remember him by, his brain goes back to the previous Universe; that hallucination of Dazai.

The hallucination had mocked and angered him, while in a state of near-death--but why? Because that wasn't the ghost of Dazai Osamu. No. It had to be something else.

right?

Chuuya's eye twitched and he stared at the pillow in his hands before he threw it childishly at a wall, got off the bed, threw on his boots and looked around the room again. There was something here. Something important--he could tell. He didn't know how, but he knew.

He began searching the bookshelves, careful not to knock any machines nearby over or as to put the books in a disarray. The titles didn't help; they were all about mechanics, machines, bolts--there was occasional poem books he recognized, though. He grabbed a book that had a scribbled out author and opened it. Flipped through it's pages.

And there it was. Right in the back of the book, by the "all about the author" section--

꧁•⊹٭٭⊹•꧂

Alright! that's all that you guys get unless you check out the chapter on A03 (i'll post something when it releases)

also, who's name do you think was in the back of the book?

[crepes-suzette-373]

The Genpei War and Germa

"Sequel" to my previous Genpei War parallel analysis post.

This one kind of goes into red string pinboard conspiracy, and not as straightforward as the Venus one. Final warning, this is kind of fanciful.

This is also in relation to my previous theory post about Germa possibly being connected to the ancient kingdom.

In mainstream Japanese storytelling, for centuries the Taira/Heike is almost always depicted as evil. Anything from corruption, destroying the nation by their evil deeds, even connections to evil spirits and all that. Naturally it's propagated by the Minamoto/Genji side.

In One Piece, I don't think there's that many entities who gets this "evil evil evil forever" reputation attached to them besides Germa. And based on my previous post, if the Genji side is World Government... there is some similarity there.

Besides, though they were defeated, the Taira weren't destroyed. There were still survivors who remained as smaller clans.

Among the so called descendants of the Taira was Oda Nobunaga, who I saw as the primary samurai parallel to Germa. And this could even branch off to even further conspiracies.

Survivors from the Ancient Kingdom founded or is generally part of Germa royalty.

Germa just wants to continue the "legacy" of the Ancient Kingdom, even if they're not actually personally tied to that kingdom by ancestry.

I'm not going to go that far yet, though. For now I just think Germa is a separate entity, but they know something about the void century and/or the ancient kingdom. Still, there is a connection there.

Also, I want to mention the exoskeleton.

I don't know if this is something I've mentioned before, but one of the conspiracies I had is that maybe the exoskeleton modifications were made based on or using the sea prism stones.

It might even explain why Sanji could block Kizaru's laser beam, since it was produced through Devil Fruit and not machine, and perhaps the exoskeleton can counteract that.

I don't believe we have seen any other example of what specifically happens if the Vinsmoke siblings faces fruit abilities. If it's embedded in the skin, then it's not 100% pure sea stone, so Big Mum and her children being able to touch the Vinsmoke siblings doesn't really mean much. It's like the sea stone shackles in Wano that only takes away special abilities, but doesn't really injure the person.

Well, as it were, I also had theorised that maybe the "sea prism stones" are actually the "exoskeleton" of some kind of ancient animal. My main theory is tortoise and lobster (in Japanese, tortoise shell is included in the broad category of "exoskeleton" too) due to the linguistic analysis (see above link). Since as of now it could be anything, though, crabs are among the list of possibilities.

So, in Japanese mythology, there is a certain water creature called "kappa" that is most commonly depicted as a reptilian creature with a tortoise shell.

Some legends said that kappa was the reincarnation of the Taira/Heike soldiers who drowned in the sea, when they were defeated in the sea battle in Dan no Ura.

Judge had alluded to the souls of the Germa ancestors having no land to rest. They may have originally died on land, if the Germa empire had land before, but if that land is gone they're then technically "lost at sea" now.

There is also a certain breed of crab whose shells are wrinkled in such a way that it kind of looks like a human face. Heikegani, it's called in Japan, because legend says they're also the incarnation of the ghosts of the Heike soldiers who died at sea.

Aside from the exoskeleton parallel, there's also that "ghosts of people who died at sea".

Even suppose I'm wrong, and the exoskeleton has nothing to do with sea stones, Germa still chose to call it "exoskeleton" and not something more straightforward like "iron skin". It still felt like a term that is connected to a still-hidden lore, and in this case, makes me think of the Taira clan.

Speaking of the souls of the dead. If you've ever heard that in Japanese mythology butterflies represent the soul of the dead, it was said to specifically refer to the swallowtail butterfly.

The same butterfly is the clan crest of the Taira, worn as a clothing motif by Oda Nobunaga, and in One Piece, it's the design inspiration of Reiju's raid suit.

You can see the swallowtail's iconic "tails" at the bottom of Reiju's wings there, and you can see how the zero motifs on the upper part of the wings somewhat resembles the circular patterning on the Japanese crest and design versioon of the butterfly. A real swallowtail butterfly does not have "spots" like that.

So again, another possible parallel.

But what is all this convoluted parallels supposed to mean? By the Genpei parallel, the "shogunate" is World Government.

The (supposed) lineage of the Taira nearly succeeded in toppling the shogunate system altogether, and wouldn't you know, it was 300 more years before the shogunate finally came down and the Emperor becomes the supreme ruler of the land again.

All this very convoluted parallel is to say, once again, the Germa empire of 300 years prior knew something very important that is needed for the plot. In which case, they're coming back, and pretty much because of that I think there's no need to worry about Sanji "turning evil".

His issue with the Vinsmokes is not over yet, even if he acts like it's all fine. I feel like he's going to have to confront them truly and properly one more time, and it would go against the theme of the story if it has a bad outcome. Why did we even have all the drama in Whole Cake if it's going to just go poof into nothing?

No matter how it plays out, I just think it will be fine. There'll be drama, angst, sadness, tension, but it will be fine.