#yeah that's bad and literally just you wearing them down until they accept;;

[gay-jesus-probably]

Let me just preface this by saying everyone is allowed to have their own opinions, TOTK is a really fun game, and I'm glad that other people have been able to enjoy the story as well.

...But I'm being dead serious with my complaints about the narrative being 100% imperialist propaganda. And I'm getting really tired of people replying to those posts by saying it can't be imperialist propaganda, because imperialism is bad and the game says that Hyrule is the good guys.

Like, guys. That's not the argument you think it is. Yes, I am aware that the game tells us Ganondorf is a flat, one dimensional character with no ambitions, interests or motivations beyond destroying the entire world for the hell of it, and also it's totally not racist because he's green, not brown like literally every other member of his race. Unfortunately literally all of these things are kind of the entire goddamn problem.

See, the thing is, everyone trying to make these arguments is accepting the game at face value. Hyrule is the perfect and almighty nation chosen by the demigod Zonai, and whose royal family has the right to rule due to their divine heritage. The other races exist to serve the glory of Hyrule, and they're happy to do it. Ganondorf is pure evil and must be stopped at any costs.

But that's not how anything works. The story informing me that Hyrule is the ultimate good that has done nothing wrong is the whole goddamn reason why I don't trust Hyrule at all. There's always more of a reason than that. And the game fucking suggests there was more going on! Ganondorf mentions Rauru has repeatedly 'invited' the Gerudo to become Rauru's subjects, and let's be clear here, it doesn't matter how peaceful those 'invitations' were, when the guy who owns every single magical nuclear missile in the world repeatedly demands you surrender to him, there's always going to be an implied threat of 'do it or get magically nuked'. Just that power difference alone shows us exactly why Ganon would feel threatened enough to invade. It's because Rauru was holding a gun to his head, and Ganon was expected to just trust that he'd never pull the trigger.

And yes, even if it wasn't intentional Hyrule was always threatening to wipe out the other nations, considering the entire royal family walked around openly wearing their magical nukes as cute accessories. If they couldn't be safely hidden away, there wouldn't be four other secret stones sitting untouched in a vault until the last second.

But that's never acknowledged. Of course Hyrule is the only nation with the right to the secret stones; even if other races get to touch them, they can only have them if they swear eternal blind loyalty and servitude to the glory of King Rauru and Princess Zelda. Ganon wanting to have one magical nuclear bomb out of a stockpile of eight of them is proof that he's dangerous and evil. I mean my god, what if he just walked around all day wearing a magical nuke and using its power for his own benefit, that would be terrifying. It's only okay when Hylian royalty does it.

And you can't argue that Ganon betrayed his own people, considering we don't get to know fucking anything about his relationship with his people. He's shows as the leader of the Gerudo, we're told he's a hero to his people, he has soldiers that loyally follow him into battle... and then oh nevermind, they all hate him and will spend eternity trying to atone for sharing a race with him. How did the entire race do a complete 180 in the span of at most a few months? Who cares, what's important is that now they accept they exist to serve Hyrule so they get to be the good guys now and we don't need to know why they were following Ganondorf, or why they stopped following him.

Basically my point is that yeah, I fucking know how the game insists everything went down. That's the entire reason I think it's imperialist propaganda, because the entire story feels like Hylian propaganda to conceal and justify some horrific atrocities that caused all of this. I literally do not believe that I'm getting the story through reliable narrators, especially considering that the only people allowed to actually tell me the story are all the characters that have the most reasons to be heavily biased in favour of Hyrule.

When the game shows me protagonists that have a massive amount of power and control over the entire world, then says the bad guy doesn't like that system just because he's evil, and literally nothing and nobody in the game says anything to oppose that take, I have some questions about what the fuck the story isn't telling me. And I'd really appreciate it if people would stop trying to argue with me just by telling me to stop asking those questions.

[kiyomitakada]

okay fuck it i went to a leonardo da vinci exhibit today and now i have a leonardo da vinci death note AU in my head because i am a parody of myself so you can fucking have it i guess what do i even do with this

light yagami: young genius polymath who is good at literally everything

unfortunately for him he is a foreigner in italia (his family immigrated) so the government is not letting him anywhere near their weaponry projects. instead he does art. yes light yagami painted the mona lisa no i do not take criticism i’m in too deep

his portraits are predictably amazing. smash hit. soon aristocracy from all over italy is contacting him to draw them and their mother. this means he doesnt even have time in the day to draw giant fuckoff warship designs anymore. what point is there to life, he sulks.

eventually he accepts a commission from one kyosuke higuchi! we’re italianizing him because i really don’t think this AU works otherwise but let’s call him higuchi anyway. higuchi is a fifty-something duke of something or other who has recently married one misa amane who is twenty-something (the same age as light). misa is the subject of the portrait because higuchi just loves his darling wife so much (read: they had a shotgun wedding and higuchi needs to keep up appearances)

light is like wow someone who isn’t white it’s been like five years. i kind of feel bad for her, this situation is very suspicious. hello miss amane if you’ll just sit down over there while i get my brushes

misa (seeing the first person who has been even remotely sympathetic to her absolutely horrific life, noticing he hasn’t tried to make any advances on her at all [this is a good thing]): I AM DRASTICALLY IN LOVE WITH YOU.

light: what

misa’s plan of seducing light predictably fails because he’s light, so she explains she has to get the fuck away from higuchi somehow

light is like okay well i am sorry to hear that but what does this have to do with me.

misa, tearing up: im a damsel in distress! also i can get you information about his court

light: whats his job

misa: financial advisor

light: oh fuck yes okay

so light’s plan is now to worm into the yotsuba court to get funding and hopefully sway them enough to let him pitch his cool weaponry ideas so he can Change The World. he does need income in general too (both for himself and his family; expected lifespan was way shorter then obviously).

misa’s plan is to kill higuchi somehow which will be much easier with light as backup she thinks

so. light packs up and moves to the yotsuba court which is thrilled to have THE light yagami portrait artist (i do more than portraits…) in their employ

oh yeah, misa mentions, the prince of the yotsuba court is kind of… weird

light: you could have told me this before

misa: ehe. dont worry about it!! it’s just um. he had a weird personality shift a few years ago? and now he refuses to wear royal attire. he always dresses like a peasant.

light: well it’s not like i’m going to be there to judge him on fashion am i.

THAT’S RIGHT. SIKE THIS IS AN ISEKAI NOW. yes L does remember light killing him <3 he (L) woke up in fifteenth century renaissance italy in a twenty-something-year-old body immediately after the heart attack. by some miracle he already knew italian.

so everything is going swell until one day light walks into his workshop to find the prince flipping through his notebook

light, sleep deprived: hey what the fu—i mean. uh. good morning your highness

there’s no need for that formality. call me L.

(…but your name doesn’t start with an L?) thank you, your highness L. um. sorry i know my handwriting’s messy.

on the contrary i find it completely readable, as long as one reads backwards and caesar shifts it three letters forward.

(oh SHIT he’s onto me) haha what are you talking about?

in fact i think this mechanical dragonfly contraption is rather ingenious.

oh aha that’s not important, just a passing fancy honestly

[ignoring him] if only you had some better way of providing torque, because as it stands the spring engine is extremely poorly designed.

what the fuck did you just say to me

[they end up physically fighting over the notebook because of course they do. meet cute!]

some more details:

ryuk is the patron light eventually gets after being in higuchi’s court for a bit

rem is higuchi’s personal assistant, who was disowned by her own royal-blooded family because her family sucks. she hates her job. if it weren’t for misa she’d probably be on the other side of the country by now

i don’t know where the wammy kids are. they’re definitely competing to be the heir to L’s throne but also they’re not related because there is no way that all the wammy kids (the whole orphanage of wammy kids) could have come from the same person. maybe some kind of insufferably high collar royal boarding school? did they even have those? help me

kiyomi and teru are both advisors in other courts (which are extremely corrupt, light seethes, in his perfect world there wont be any of those anymore) (you work for a court light) (thats different)

okay i’m done for today. you never know about tomorrow though. /threat.

[ @deathnotetober day 12: isekai ]

[cokoweee]

Okay last one I think…lovely stuff as always, I’m just juggling another brainrot right now, but I was itching to make some remarks. First off I’m glad midwesternvibes mentioned the text thing in the most recent update, because I was tickled to see that too! Probably the first time he had color since before their “spat” in the kitchen. As much as I know it’s still a roadblock in his recovery, I’m glad to see the voices coming back for Donnie. I kinda get this feeling they are hanging out with him until they know he’s going to be “okay”. And I have this little idea to myself, that when Donnie is able to start healing and processing his trauma, he stops hiding from them and is no longer afraid to see them. Of course that would be when they would start to slip away. (And that would be so rough for Donnie) Grief is kinda like that too. Sometimes you can be okay for a long time and you’ll have bouts where you still miss that person(s) even when you know you have accepted and moved on.

So I’m curious what is the situation that Donnie is on a watch. Is it just Draxum’s concern? Is it in case Donnie gets catatonic again? Is it in case he gets violent again? Is it to save his liver (those supersoldier genes only thing keeping it from failing)?

Also Draxum fixing Donnie’s sweater like a dad (only for Donnie to have his femme fatale shoulder thing as soon as the door is closed)

I’m a little surprised that this is the first time Kendra has seen Draxum do his mystic vine magic…or… he just hasn’t had too…or…all the mystic stuff happening lately has made Kendra more aware to it…or… but whatever the reason…appropriate reaction, lol

So something I have noticed that has me enticed is Donnie has been wearing his hand prosthesis more often.

Before the trauma induced episode, the only time we ever saw Donnie wearing it was when he was out or in “mission mode”. It makes sense, he needs to be able to save his ninpo for more than just temporary fingers. So why now… I was gonna suggest he is on edge, but I also remembered, as I was writing this, that you mentioned him having a slight disconnect to his ninpo…so yeah fingies is not a luxury he can afford right now. In any case…. Hmm…Donnnie….you know…if you didn’t shut your second dad outside…he mighta told ya that Kendra went out…ya know…? Also not sure if it’s just clueing us into Kendra still being sick or that trope of “if you sneeze three times it means someone is talking behind your back.” ? (I quote this one when I sneeze a lot, I’ll go “okay who’s trash talking me?!”)

Anyway please take care! Also p.s. if you do start to play Minecraft I hope you have fun. (I tried to play it but my laptop is too old and it crashes, so I can’t give much advice on it) also p.p.s I found a WIP of a thing I started writing for this AU in July, and I kinda…forgot I had it. It’s gonna be so out of place if I ever finish it, so just heads up for whatever was the hot topic then… <_<

GAHH I ANSWERED THIS BUT THE APP CRASHED AUGHHH. Let’s see if I remember what I said

I think I showed it a few times that despite Donnie constantly wanting said voices to stop, whenever they actually do, he feels uneasy. It’s quiet and he feels alone. I don’t write every single voice he hears all the time but just ones that feel right to show. There’s a lot he hears. The good the bad and the horrible.

Dancin a bit in that prosthetic part it’s a bit of a ref to sumthin y’all like to tickle a good bit sometimes lol

DRAXUM! A man not meant to be a father but ended up being a guardian. He hasn’t used his mystics cause there’s no need! Also Draxums reasoning for putting pickle boy on watch isn’t just his!

Casey is one that enforced it so harshly. That episode at the farmhouse was technically the first time she’s EVER seen Doobie in that state. Literally witnessed him break down, almost wipe out a farm and try to tear apart his own body. Both want no risk of not being able to get to Dibble so keeping him out of the lab that he can lockdown is a must for them

OOF THIS IS LONG HOPEFULLY I MADE SENSE. Cause I forgot a bit of what I said before

[azureforreal]

Can you give us some facts about Splendid and Splendon't?

Didn't expect someone to be interested on them, all right

Do you enjoy reading? Cuz there will be a lot of that, had to draw some things tho QHAUAHUAHUAHAU

Get ready cuz this is a rideeeeeee

First I need to explain their relationship from the very beginning

Its a big

"I did what I thought was the best for you"

(AND ITS BOTH SIDES)

Growing up Splendid ended being that child who does everything, "the jack of all trades" kid, or being called "the gifted kid". He basically did things using recognition and praise as fuel until hie ended up crashing with a big burnout and a lot of high expectations on his back. Its to a point were he was being taken for granted, "Of course he would do that, he's Splendid after all"

In the end he noticed he had never lived for himself, it was always for the wishes of others.

And he wanted to protect his brother from that. He wanted him to have his own life, free from the gaze of others.

So he decided to take everything to himself so his brother wouldn't face the pressure or constant glares, of course, it came with the price of him growing distant from his brother for being way too busy.

But for Splendont, it ended with him becoming the child who was aways being compared, the "not good enough" one. So he just accepted that becoming his bitter self, becoming the opposite of his brother and not giving a fuck about what others think.

Then the war came and Splendid wanted to enlist with the intention of freeing himself from the weight of expectations for a while and trying to have some time to himself, perhaps follow his dreams of escapism that he had while reading comics.

And to his surprise, his brother wanted to enlist too. Splendid was against it but when Splendont set his mind or something, its too late.

Fast forward to after the war, it still a difficult relationship for both of them

Its not something they can just shake hands and be happy go lucky best brothers, there was a lot of negligence and postponing things for later until it was too late.

And they are too prideful to settle things down first or ask for help, in that aspect, you can see how much they are alike

NOW LETS GO BACK TO SILLY STUFF

Splendid is the oldest twin just by a few minutes

They live in the same house and this makes a scene in chapter 3 hilarious, Splendid knew exactly were his brother went after leaving him alone in the street "Bro, I literally live with you"

They have nicknames, Splendid can be called as Did and Splendont can be called as Don (yeah, without the "t" because the amount of puns it was possible doing with it made him soooooo mad XD)

Splendid had a wish of becoming a photographer, the idea of freezing memories eternally console him from his reality, but OH BOI, do we have some news for him

Splendont doesn't like wearing the hat from his uniform, the first chance he gets, he's taking it off, Splendid its not a fan of it too, but he tries to hide it and show he follows the rules.

They do dumb competitions against each other (Splendid wont admit it out loud but he's extremely competitive), like getting to the end of a corridor first, getting in the line first etc

Sometimes they will team up to piss off Flippy, they have many inside jokes about acting like is the end of the world every time Flippy shows any respect

They would look like this in human form. As they are twins, Splendont is basically a red Splendid if he didn't tie his hair, and yes, they have an ahoge, NOBODY IS STOPPING MEEEEEEEEEEEE

They are conventionally handsome while Flippy is that one analogue horror looking friend, so you can imagine what the three look like together (Flaky has shoujo filters in her eyes, she grew up with him)

Splendid has a bad vision when it comes to reading things up close. He sees it as a weakness someone could use against him, so he tries to hide it, sometimes he forgets his glasses at home

but somebody dont.

Then he proceeds to throw a chair at him

"NOW you can see it coming" XDDDDDDD

As much as Did tries his best to keeps things civilized, sometimes he has a huge family drama fight at work with his brother while Flippy is in the background asking himself "Could I use this as blackmail?" QHAUHUHAUAHUAHUAHUAHAHA

But why Splendont decided to join the army in the first place? I leave that interpretation to you, what do you think it was? kekekekeke

[justanotherhh]

something i haven't seen much of so far is analysis of charlie's journey from the perspective of someone who also needs to change how she engages with others (vaggie too, but that feels more obvious as she's an ex-angel/exorcist and a sinner)

when charlie tries to help angel by confronting valentino it's been built to in the other episodes, because it's made very clear that she doesn't respect sex work -- she's got that "we need to save them from themselves" type attitude you see a lot with people who haven't done critical analysis into their own biases from a position of mildly-to-severe privileged disgust and haven't engaged with the perspectives of sex workers as people who can frame and understand their own experiences (whatever work they engage in and why they do sex work to begin with). same for her opinions on addiction

the scene where angel has to do a reenactment with sir pentious frames addiction as

something to be judged

something pitiable

something predatory

which isn't exactly a great way to bring angel onboard with the programme/make him feel less like shit. meanwhile the anti-sex + weirdly heteronormative attitude is also present in that scene by having sir pentious dress up as a virginal young girl in an anime-type school uniform with a big lollipop (the irony of this being practically indistinguishable from a porn setup feels very intentional), who declares that "she" won't be having sex before marriage as the great crescendo (sidenote, monogamy in the afterlife sounds.... like a long time to be monogamous......... yzma voice: "why do we even have marriage??")

angel, up until his duet with husk, is having it made clear again and again that the people seemingly helping him find the essence of his being inherently gross. he likes sex -- yeah there's the performance/face he has to wear to get through the day, but i think the bdsm club was a sincere suggestion and vaggie literally calls it disgusting/shoots it down without thinking about how to do so respectfully (again, she's an ex-angel/exorcist, she has biases of her own to contend with, but also the implications that nobody in heaven is having fun sex or negotiated kink and bdsm... tragic. do they even have a sex club called consent up there?)

charlie is a fairly conservative person at the beginning of the story. yes, she wants to help, but her framing of what "help" looks like doesn't take into account her own biases; presumably she grew up with the idea that "sinners are bad people" as much as anyone else did, if not more considering lucifer gave up on the sinners and that's been her environment from birth -- cut off from the people she's supposedly in charge of, but "hearing stories." (in both the pilot and happy day in hell she clearly has a fondness for the sinners, but it's as an outsider, someone who does not relate to them, and generally there's that overtone of "royalty doesn't know shit about what anyone is going through" which, charlie being a ruler, i wonder if that will be a focal point or just something to accept, it's not a dealbreaker for me, just something i noticed, esp as helluva boss has poked on power dynamics in hell along those same lines). the yearly murdering of demons is, likewise, something that is simply status quo and so even getting to a place of "hey maybe we shouldn't do that" is big and was inevitably going to create more cracks in the logic of black-and-white heaven-or-hell, so it's cool that that's where we the audience get to first meet her -- right as those threads are about to start unravelling

but at the very beginning, in some ways she echoes elements of characters like adam and lute (who are of course far more in-your-face, being villains) in her original assessment of what makes someone "a bad person" -- it causes her to create a system that doesn't actually work, and then of course the hotel is destroyed, but next time they'll build it to be better! (metaphor *jazz hands*)

why is angel in hell, is the question later asked. is it because he was/is an addict? because he drinks? because he does sex work? because he likes sex? (it may be because he's killed people/was in the mafia, but we don't have all the context yet, for now those are the things people know in the story itself) at the beginning charlie isn't asking the right questions, questions that would need her to go into herself and challenge her own biases, but throughout season 1 she goes from merely proclaiming that "everyone" can be saved, to sincerely challenging the idea of "needing to be saved" from things that shouldn't be judged in the first place. "if angels can do whatever and remain in the sky." yeah, how are we stipulating what's allowed and what isn't hmmmmmm? stay tuned for s2

(and youknow, apologises to angel for overstepping his boundaries, so it's not like angel doesn't know that she does care for him, ep4 gives a lot of development for their relationship as well -- it's the tipping point for a lot of what comes next)

interested to see how that challenging will continue in s2. she's gone from "we have to make you into a good person by cutting out things that make me (and others) uncomfortable from a conservative/purity-based judgemental framework" to "why do we have these systems of judgement in the first place?"

tl;dr angel changed a looot in s1 but so did charlie. she understands better now that the work she's doing is going to look very different from what she'd first anticipated, and poking at her own biases in relation to angel helped that journey and brought her closer to actually understanding and relating to the people around her

(there's another element here about charlie and vaggie as queer women in this particular universe, but it's a slight tangent so... different post)

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

I've thought about the contradictions between Abstinence Camp and NPMD a lot, specifically with Pete, and I think I kind of love them??? I don't know how intentional this was, and I honestly don't care, but think about it- Pete is confident in himself and his ability, but he struggles with the difference between how he sees himself vs how others see him. He's got some identity issues, that's normal, but they don't show up at all in Abstinence Camp, there's not even a hint of trepidation in his friendship with Steph. The only time he even mentions being a loser is when he thinks it might negatively affect Steph's reputation, but that's concern for her, not himself.

The main thing that got me was the motivation change with his outfit. In Abstinence Camp he says that he wears the classic nerd look on the advice of his cool older brother, committing to an aesthetic. In NPMD he says that the outfit is specifically designed to prevent as much harassment as possible. Those two things didn't really click in my head until the thought popped up- what if he's just lying? Camp Idontwannabang has a strict social hierarchy for sure, but it's one that Pete doesn't have any reason to care about. You show up for the summer, you do the dumb activities, you have a bad time for a few months, you go home. There isn't a Max at Camp Idontwannabang. Sure, there's the Axe-Man, but he's just a scary story, the Boogeyman to blame when kids go missing in the woods. All he does, hypothetically, is kill you. Very bad, but he doesn't follow you home, drag you through the dirt, humiliate you for years on end, frighten everyone else into leaving you behind. So when Steph asks about the bow tie, why would he say the truth? Why would he drag all that baggage into a place where he is finally separated from it? Yeah. I wear it because I like to wear it. I make the choice to wear these things this way. I want to stick with this look. I feel cool.

He's been beat down since the fourth grade, not just by direct attacks on him, but by the attacks on people around him. Every choice he makes is in direct response to how Max has reacted to a similar choice in the past. The whole reason he wears a bow tie is to avoid what happened to Travis Colson. His most iconic fashion choice isn't really his own. It's a defensive reaction. All the nerds at Hatchetfield High are basically living in survival mode. The threat isn't just not being accepted, or being challenged by mean kids, the threat is getting the shit kicked out of you. The threat is being harassed and humiliated so badly and so constantly that you have to literally change your home address.

One of my favorite NPMD scenes is the scene at Pasquale's parking lot, because this might be the first piece of media I've ever seen that actually understands why people don't "stand up" to bullies. Sometimes when someone wants to hurt you, they will just do it. Max doesn't need a reason to hurt people. He just wants to, and he doesn't see any reason not to. Pete tries to establish himself, hoping that Max is putting up a front, hiding behind a tough façade. And he might be. But that doesn't stop him from beating Pete until his fists bruise over.

Pete isn't just hyping himself up or trying to act confident in front of a cool girl. Pete is reclaiming his autonomy. Because he doesn't get to make decisions for himself at school, it's all a futile effort to keep out of Max's line of sight. But anywhere else he gets to decide why he does things. And I just think that's neat.

[nat20potato]

DIALOGUE DRABBLE

Summary: Xenk and Edgin gets separated from the rest of the party while running from trouble, and Edgin sprains his ankle.

Rating: G

Pairings: Mild Edgin Darvis/Xenk Yendar

"I'm fine, I'm fine, stop fussing."

"You are clearly not fine, as evident by the limp that you are unsuccessfully hiding-,"

"Well maybe I'll be able to hide it better if you pick up the pace, we don't know how far back we've lost them and Simon won't be able to hide our tracks for too long-,"

"The currents are strong and the river is deep; were you to slip and fall it will delay our journey all that much further. If you would simply allow me to-,"

"Don't, Xenk, please, you only have so much energy and I need you to keep it until after we meet back up with Holga and Kira and we see how bad her wounds are. I'm sorry for slowing us down but I promise I'm trying, ok?"

"I understand your reticence, but that is not what I was about to offer. Climb on my back."

"...Ex-fucking-scuse me?"

"It is not an offer of intercourse."

"No, I fucking-got that-you want me to climb on your back? While in a river?"

"We are stationed by large enough croppings of stone that provide enough respite of the currents and a boost, should you need it, there is no better station of security in current conditions."

"Xenk, I'm 200 pounds and change bone dry, and I have-have stuff on my own back. My lute."

"My circumstances and training have allowed me strength to carry heavier burdens for longer periods, and it is a practical solution in our dire conditions. Hurry."

"Xenk, you're wearing armor."

"Edgin. Please."

"Shit. Fuck. Fine. Hold my lute. Hold still. Ow. Oh shit that's the ankle-,"

"I apologize-,"

"Don't. Any more and my pride might not survive."

"It is not my intention to wound you or your dignity any further-,"

"I know, I know bud, keep walking, yeah? I appreciate it, I do, but let's keep this to ourselves when we meet up with the others."

"Our hands would not have been forced were I less careless in our previous battle, and I would have had enough energy to heal both you and your daughter-,"

"Don't do that, Xenk, you held off a whole tribe of bandits on your own, saved Simon's life, you can't save everyone."

"I am not well-versed...it has been. A while since I have quested for long periods with company...besides myself."

"See? Not your fault. Wow, you are REALLY not straining at all. Little bit further."

"I would like to apologize; were I quicker to take to travelling with company, with others, perhaps I would be less inclined to selfishness-,"

"Prioritzing your own health and well being in the middle of battle isn't selfishness, Xenk, and we need you at your best anyway, you couldn't have known Kira was gonna be struck down like that. But forgiven, ok? Forgotten. No harm done."

"Some harm had been inflicted."

"Not by you, even indirectly. Besides, if practice travelling with company's the problem, there's an easy solution for that."

"...you would offer me a place in your family? Still, after my mistakes?"

"We've literally just had the conversation about how you didn't do anything wrong, but yeah. Of course. Kira loves you. Always good to have another competent fighter in the bunch. Truth be told we're probably the ones getting the better end of the deal if you do."

"I disagree. The love, care and camaraderie you share between yourselves is a connection found few and far in between, even amongst fellow adventurers. You hide not your affections and love amongst those you take under your wing, Edgin Darvis, and I would be...honored, to be amongst those you have come to accept as kin."

"It's not...that deep. Whatever. Dry land! Thank God. Oh ow. Ow. Ok, you know what-,"

"Perhaps it is more prudent for me to carry you a little bit rest of the way until we find a safer place of rest."

"Great! Good idea-only if you can carry-,"

"It is no trouble; you are lighter than you assume yourself to be."

"Ouch."

"Have I troubled your injury?"

"Only the one on my pride."

"Rest assured I will set you down before we reach our encampment."

"Appreciate it buddy. 'Least that means I'm losing the beer gut."

[tired-jacs]

Just read (well, listened to) In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens and with how criminally underrated and sparsely talked about as I’ve found it to be I feel it important to point out an extremely sweet moment I haven’t seen talked about. (Also just general thoughts.)

BIG spoilers under the cut!!

I adore the detail that Corrie IMMEDIATELY upon seeing Athlen emerge safe and alive put her little self between him and the MASSIVE crowd that had formed and glared at everyone who got too close like… as if she didn’t already approve enough and immediately accept Athlen as yet another big brother him saving her SOLIDIFIED it. She’s like “I will actually kill any of you if you take one step closer to my big fish brother” and she is so right for that. Hell yeah babygirl give them that death glare, let him have the breather he no doubt needed after LITERALLY BEING ON THE VERGE OF DEATH.

Also just??? Can we talk about the panic that had to have overtaken Athlen upon waking up?? Like he KNEW why he was still alive and he KNEW there’d be a cost, so imagine if he didn’t see Tal emerge right away. I swear if he didn’t see him immediately upon waking up that poor boy had to have been panicking SO HARD. Just ABSOLUTELY assuming the worst until he sees him get pulled out by his siblings. And even then he was terrified of what it had cost Tal to save him.

Athlen as a character is just so fundamentally good like all he has ever done is try to make friends and help people he could do no wrong ever in his life. Just a sweet, cheeky little fish dude who doesn’t like wearing shoes. I would say I would die for him but he would HATE that LMAO

Also also, adore the fact that even after, or rather ESPECIALLY after Tal breaks down and sets his captors’ ship ablaze, it’s emphasized so heavily that he is fundamentally a good person as well and that he at his core is driven by kindness. As much as I very much enjoy pacifist narratives I adore the fact that this book didn’t treat any of the characters as bad or wrong or evil for killing those who harmed them and would’ve continued to do so.

10/10 will hyperfixate on for a GOOD long while

[dgknightblue]

So there is this AU swimming in my head where RVB characters are from different time periods and gets dumped into some place and are forced to interact.

Im not too sure on exact time periods for them, but an approximation of them.

But who is from the future, Wild West, and stuff?

Carolina and Church are future people trying to do something I don’t know what and accidentally pulled people at first before doing it on purpose kind of.

The people they pull they don’t get to choose who fits into what they are looking for.

But things….

All of our lovely sims are in the cast with a few of the freelancers.

Simmons is a trans man stuck in an era that doesn’t support him. He gets pulled after he finally runs a way. Well he was born with one leg and he kind of got hurt so he was bleeding pretty bad. Yeah he was a mess on the floor. He was scared and begged them not to hurt him or drag him back to his father.

I’m thinking he’s a lower aristocrat’s only child that was out of wedlock during a time of arranged marriages and stuff. He has his mother’s knife that his cousin gave him before going overseas for war. His father tells him that he’ll be marrying some merchant’s son named Gene or whatever and be grateful. He hates it and he feels bad being called his name. He likes his grandfathers name more.

Blugh what an xss!

Once he finally calms down and gets patched up, he accepts what’s happening and loves all the mechanisms he’s never seen before.

They all catch on to what he doesn’t see and don’t know what to do. Except Sarge, Kai, Donut, and Grif.

Sarge boasts about doing his own top surgery before growing a beard and enlisting into the army. Simmons finds himself drawn in and in full admiration for some reason.

Kai has Grif’s support, they would absolutely know how to get him accept little things to get him warmed up to the idea of him being him.

Donut is full of support and advice and is very friendly!

They get Simmons out of his shell enough to see his eyes sparkle some times. Sarge makes Grif Simmons’ personal carrier since they don’t have access to a wheelchair.

Grif is just glad Kai and Donut convinced Simmons it was okay to wear pants. He’d trip over that long xss dress that didn’t belong any where near Simmons.

So they end up spending a lot of time together and even sneak off. I can imagine them in the shallows of water at night talking and Grif teaching Simmons how to swim.

They get real close and Tucker and Kai and Donut try to spy on them sometimes. They individually have to cover each others mouths so they don’t blow their cover just to scream , “JUST FXCKING KISS ALREADY!!! DXMN IT!!!”.

Eventually as other things happen Sarge is more than happy to reintroduce Simmons to the group.

When Simmons gets a prosthetic leg, he gets so excited and runs up to Grif and pulls him a way to do what they usually do but Grif doesn’t have to care him any more!

He can still carry him once in a while though <3

On to other people….

Wash gets trauma sometime before getting pulled but I’m not sure which era and what gives him PTSD.

I know I said I was moving on to other people, I want to say this:

Simmons can cook really good, his father thought that was beneath an elite individual and banned him from going to the kitchen ever again.

Tricks and skills he’s learned:

Piano, violin, proper etiquette, dancing, knife things from his cousin, cooking from his mom, sewing from his grandmother, poison and plants from his grandfather.

The only one that has a problem with Simmons is his father and literally has no reason or excuse to be. Too bad Simmons got stuck with his dad being the only family member he had beside his grandmother. She refuses to die simply for Simmons sake until she gets murdered passes from natural causes.

She was actually the only reason he stayed after his cousin was considered KIA. Never found the body though. It’s been years, where did you go?

Simmons finds a book no one listens to him explain. (It’s the manual, for what? Something he has control of now :3) They are in for a surprise :3

Simmons is his cousin’s last name.

Anyways, I don’t want to separate Grif from pizza so he is in time period where there is pizza even if it’s one of the early versions that’s actually called pizza.

He found a thing called Oreos and worship them.

He also wants to kiss Simmons so fxcking bad, but doesn’t see all the signs. Simmons has no personal space with Grif and only Grif. Kai sticks to Simmons side at first to help him out and gradually slides farther a way to help her brother.

One night they find alcohol and they all talk.

They learn Simmons has more unwanted experience than wanted and that the only one that is considered experience (because it was wanted) is Simmons eating a girl out. Simmons is Bi.

Simmons invites Wash to the virgin club along with Doc. Wash declines and Doc agrees.

Tucker has Junior beside him sleeping. His baby boy <3

Carolina and Church still trying to figure out some bull crxp with the unground lab on the island they are on. Some are not helping like they think they are. Caboose.

The library in the villa is where Simmons is during the day when he isn’t with Grif.

Caboose, Donut, Lopez are sometimes making sandcastles competing with Tucker, Junior, Kai.

Grif is in the kitchen making food for Simmons and him when Simmons is in the library.

Wash is training with Sarge and whoever else from the freelancer group I haven’t a clue.

When Locus and Flex show up as antagonists somehow Locus enters the fold. He tries not to get too close to Simmons, Kai, or Junior for reasons.

Donut definitely didn’t throw a water balloon at Grif’s head from across the beach for revenge and spite.

Doc and Dr. Grey are having lessons on being a good doctor when she shows up.

Eventually things pick up when Temple and his (small) group + Zealot soldiers do the thing that start the problems that got them all stuck together.

When things get bad, Simmons realized what the book he found goes to. He summons Tex kind of and he’s under her protection now. He is also learning coding and glad he doesn’t have to go back to his era. He doesn’t exist until now after all.

Learning his cousin becomes the kings advisor was a shock, but he’s glad they are okay.

I didn’t write for everyone because I got stuck at Grimmons moments <3

[doiefy]

fuck it, why not, nct 127 as engineering students

it's midterm season and i needed smth fun to do lmao. partially inspired by dumb shit i’ve seen/done

taeil: social butterfly exchange student studying something super obscure like petroleum or mineral engineering. on his first day of school (after getting run over by a roomba), he made up some stupid lie about his home country in an effort to appear more interesting. shit escalated, the lies continued, and now four years later he’s sir moony dal tae-1-methyl-cyclohexane-il from the glorious country of kwangya on planet mars. he’s actually from korea.

johnny: biomedical engineering student who will literally never shut the fuck up about going to med school. drinks redbull for breakfast, lunch and dinner. brushes his teeth with redbull. puts redbull in his diffuser. smokes redbull. did i mention he’s drinking redbull right now so he can stay up studying for the mcat? and that he’s trying to get into med school? in all seriousness he’d be a great doctor. but he’d also prescribe redbull.

taeyong: overworked mom friend studying electrical engineering. in a perpetual state of panic, sleep deprivation and electrocution; but he always has essentials on hand for his kids. be it bandaids, tampons or condoms, all you have to do is ask. oh also he modifies roombas to chase people down hallways while singing the thomas the tank engine theme song. he’s like michael reeves but giggly and with good intentions.

yuta: part time chemical engineering student, full time drug dealer. accepted his offer to the program because he watched one episode of breaking bad while stoned out of his mind, so it's all over for you when he figures out how to cook meth in the lab. the only issue right now? yeah he failed the lab safety training like six times and thought hydrofluoric acid was edible. he's not allowed into any undergraduate lab, much less onto campus at all. yeah he got expelled.

doyoung: obnoxious industrial engineering student. won't shut up about optimization and how his very optimized schedule has allowed him to maintain a 4.20 gpa, do 50+ extracurriculars and get multiple bitches. eventually his extensive spreadsheets creep out every girl he gets with and he has a crisis over his sexuality. gets suspended for public indecency with jaehyun two days before graduation.

jaehyun: goes into civil engineering thinking he can convince everyone he's straight by working with straight members and supports in infrastructure. resident hetero fuck boy up until he learns about bending moments in his second week of school, at which point he comes out. often struggles to finish exams because he's too busy thinking about how the pipe or beam he's analyzing looks too much like a penis.

jungwoo: the nicest mechanical engineering student you'll ever meet. is so sweet and innocent that people are constantly mistaking him for a freshman. mentors younger years, has the most cracked linkedin, brings coffee and donuts to class, generally just a good guy. oh, and the guy who looks exactly like him, who gets fucking hammered at every event and once did a line off a portrait of Isaac Newton? pfft nah that's not jungwoo. no way.

mark: aerospace major and music minor, but he spends so much time in the music faculty that no one believes him when he says he's in engineering. makes a "it's not rocket science" joke at least once in every conversation. probably giggling like a fucking buffoon in the back of a class, so loud that you can hear him in lecture recordings. he also can't go anywhere without recognizing 30 people and fist bumping all of them in turn like "brooooooo."

haechan: stinky computer engineering student who only ever wears the same two hoodies in slightly different shades of grey and considers walking in the rain to be an acceptable substitute for showering. claims he's grinding league and valorant during exam week so people underestimate him. everyone's surprised when they find out he's been on the dean's list since year one AND knows how to do laundry. again his laundry is two hoodies in slightly different shades of grey.

[honorarysimp]

Oh, I've been busy today, haha. But we'll, let's start with Saci Perere. It might be a bit long, so I will try to resume all for you.

Saci Pererê:

Imagine this – there’s this little guy, and he’s no ordinary boy. First off, he’s got only one leg, but don’t let that fool you. He’s super quick and full of energy. He wears this red cap that gives him all sorts of magical powers, like the ability to disappear and reappear wherever he wants. Oh, and he always has a pipe in his mouth, puffing away as he causes a bit of mischief.

Now, Saci is known for his love of tricks. He’s not mean or evil, just a mischievous spirit who enjoys playing pranks. He might hide your things when you’re not looking, tangle up the horses’ manes, or blow out the candles right when you need them most. If you ever see a whirlwind, you can bet Saci is traveling inside it, laughing as he spins through the air.

But here’s the cool part – Saci didn’t start out as this prankster. Originally, he was part of Indigenous legends, a protector of the forest and the creatures in it. As time passed, African and European stories blended with this legend, and Saci became the clever, tricky figure we know today. Even though he’s a little rascal, he actually respects nature and helps out people who treat the forest kindly.

They say that if you ever want to catch Saci, you have to throw a rosary into the whirlwind, and if you’re quick enough, you can steal his red cap. Once you have that, you’ve got all the power – but good luck catching him!

Curupira:

Picture this: a small, wild-looking boy who roams the forests. But here’s the twist – his feet are turned backward! Weird, right? But it’s actually super clever because it lets him confuse anyone trying to follow him. They’ll think they’re going one way, but they’re actually heading in the opposite direction, totally lost in the woods!

Now, Curupira isn’t about tricks like Saci. His main job is protecting the forest. He’s like the guardian of the trees, animals, and all the creatures that live there. If anyone tries to harm the forest, like cutting down trees unnecessarily or hunting animals just for sport, Curupira doesn’t let them get away with it. He can get pretty fierce and is known to chase those who disrespect nature, driving them away or even making them disappear forever.

But he’s not just about scaring people off. Curupira is deeply connected to the forest, and those who treat it with care and respect have nothing to fear from him. Some stories even say he helps travelers who are lost or in need of protection if they’re kind to the environment.

Despite being small, Curupira is super strong and fast, and his powers come from the forest itself. If you ever hear strange, high-pitched whistles deep in the jungle, that’s probably him, letting you know he’s watching. And if you see animal tracks that seem to lead nowhere, well, now you know why – it’s Curupira, walking around with his backward feet!

Corpo Seco:

His story is pretty eerie, so get ready. Imagine a man so wicked in life that not even the earth wanted to bury him after he died. Yeah, he was that bad. They say he was cruel to his own parents, treated people horribly, and had no respect for anyone.

When he finally died, instead of being accepted into the ground like everyone else, the earth literally spat him back out. His body couldn’t be buried, and neither Heaven nor Hell wanted him. So, his spirit became something cursed – wandering, restless, and looking for revenge.

They call him "Corpo Seco" because his body is all dried up, almost like a skeleton covered in wrinkled, tight skin. He lurks in the forests or by the roadsides, waiting for someone to cross his path. And trust me, you don’t want to meet him. If he catches you, it’s said he can drain your energy and your life force, kind of like a parasite. He clings onto people, making them weaker and weaker until they’re as lifeless and dry as he is.

But here’s the thing – people believe that the Corpo Seco is more than just a ghost or a monster. He’s seen as a warning, a punishment for those who are heartless, especially to their parents. His story teaches that if you live a life full of cruelty, disrespect, and evil, you might end up like him – rejected by the earth, cursed to wander forever, unable to find peace.

So, next time you hear rustling in the woods late at night, you might want to stay clear. It could be the Corpo Seco, always on the hunt for his next victim, still seeking revenge for the life he wasted.

And lastly, a bonus one haha

Cuca:

Alright, so let me tell you about the Cuca – one of the most terrifying figures in Brazilian folklore. Picture this: she’s a witch, but not just any ordinary witch. She has the body of an old woman, but her face? It’s the face of a crocodile or an alligator! Creepy, right? And trust me, she’s not someone you’d want to mess with.

The Cuca is known for one thing in particular – she loves stealing children who don’t behave. Parents often warn their kids with this rhyme: “Dorme, neném, que a Cuca vem pegar...” which basically means, “Go to sleep, or the Cuca will come and get you.” And she really does! If a child is misbehaving or refusing to sleep, it’s said that the Cuca will swoop in and snatch them away to her lair, where they might never return.

She’s a master of black magic, living in a deep, dark cave far away, surrounded by the thickest forests or on top of mountains where no one dares to go. Her presence is always felt when there’s a storm brewing, and it’s said that she can fly through the night, her terrifying silhouette appearing in the lightning flashes.

Now, the Cuca isn’t all about stealing kids just for fun – she represents the consequences of misbehavior, a symbol of fear for children who don’t listen to their parents. But she’s also cunning and powerful. Even adults in some stories are afraid of crossing paths with her because she has knowledge of ancient spells and can curse anyone who dares challenge her.

Some versions of the legend say that the Cuca is immortal, but every seven years, she falls into a deep sleep to regain her strength. During that time, there’s a brief moment of peace, but when she awakens, her reign of terror starts all over again.

These are actually so interesting I can’t believe I’ve never heard of them! Are there any more? Does anyone else have any more??

I love these, thank you so much for taking the time to explain and share with us🫶

[nidmightcookies]

I'm definitely not trying to tell you that any of your posts are the problem!

I didn't think so from your wording, I just wanted to check that we were on the same page!

I promise I wouldn't take time to type at you if I thought you were trolling. 

Appreciated! I didn't really think you were pointing fingers at me. Your wording was polite and nonspecific enough, I just wanted to check if you were trying to gently tell me what an asshole I am. I'm a tad sensitive to passive aggression (not that you were! it's totally a me-side issue).

I'm a big fan of earnest discussion, and I think that it's worthwhile even if we're ultimately going to disagree.

I agree (even if we disagree, lol).

When people -- especially fans of color, especially indigenous fans -- see others characterize Ed as exceptionally violent or quick to anger or unsympathetic or abusive, they're immediately on the defensive.

I don't, and never did, think that Ed was uncontrollably violent, quick to violence, inherently dangerous, or any of that. I acknowledge that he was pushed to his limit until he couldn't take it anymore. I simply can't accept that he was never violent or never hurt the crew, because we saw it happen in the show. That's the whole of the argument I was making in the beginning.

I get where fans of color don't want to wade through racist shit once more, but all I can do is repeat, that's not what I was saying... I do, however, see where I made a terrible decision, responding where I did. It was a combination of poor timing (I'd just been irritated by someone else's post) and I've always admired PCCP's argument/writing style, so I thought I'd try talking it through there, since he was writing on the subject/potentially in response to the bitchy post I'd just made.

So here we are... I keep making the same argument, explanation, and apology, and I don't believe it's getting us anywhere. Someone just literally asked me if I understood the definition of "uncontrollable", which... yeah, I do, that's why I said Ed wasn't uncontrollable, way back in one of the first post.

Can't help but begin to wonder if people are really reading what I wrote, or just went: hey, the latest racist idiot said something, better go prove them wrong.

For example, I don't think that there's a widespread, genuine belief that Izzy is intended to act as a Christ figure and an AIDS metaphor,

I got nothing. I can't even imagine where to begin the mental process that would lead someone to that conclusion.

bad faith interpretations of dissenting ideas, but that’s been an issue everywhere forever.

I do feel the bad faith thing is a large part of my particular situation here. The thing that set me off down this discourse journey was a post by someone who just screamed troll in the way they constantly posted about how tired they were of having to correct people on how much Izzy sucks all the time, intermingled with unsolicited "PSA: Izzy is shit." I made a bitchy post about that person, PCCP came along with his post, and...

I know, I shouldn't have taken the bait in the first place.

Valid! I wouldn’t agree with anyone who says that Ed doesn’t endanger or harm the crew. Those are definitely things he does.

Thank you. That's all I wanted to get across.

I generally limit my blocking to people with takes so bad that they make me mad or, in a few instances, people who might get mad if a post of mine lands on their dash. Some of us are better off as strangers.

Very true. I've advocated for blocking people in the past, in the name of peace, but I recently went through and unblocked a bunch that I couldn't recall being particularly annoyed with. Shouldn't have tempted fate.

We don’t know what’s up with Hornigold, but the sailcloth he wears in Ed’s subconscious makes me think he was mutinied as well. 

Interesting! Can I ask why? I've always thought it was a neat character detail, but I didn't catch the mutiny angle. Like, he got stranded with only the bit of sail to wear?

Since we (me and the people I usually talk to) consider Izzy separately given his very different relationship with Ed, “the crew” is a shorthand for “all of the named characters on the Kraken ship who aren’t Izzy.”

I guess we've reached the point where we have to agree to disagree, because I just can't accept the exclusion of the ship's first mate from the rest of the crew. He might be on a different level from "just the crew", but he's still crew. *shrug*

I’m also not going to be at my best if I feel like someone is, in trying to defend Izzy, invalidating my own lived experiences. It sucks!

It really does, and I'm sorry if I contributed to that.. I feel like that's a little part of what made me so crazy (also I'm just pedantic) about the posts I'd see claiming Ed never hurt anyone, even though we all watched it happen. After a certain point, it felt like fandom gaslighting, for lack of a better term. There was this underlying threat of "if you don't accept my version, you're the problem". I've lived through that IRL, it wasn't even that big a deal overall, that person is no longer in my life now... but I'm still pissed about it, lol.

I really, really don’t want to hurt you by defending Ed here if there’s a chance that I’d be dismissing something you’ve gone through.

I appreciate that, and I also don't want to do that. So then, how do we do this fandom thing? Do the sides just never interact, or can we find a common ground that isn't riddled with landmines? I don't know how to proceed...

Someone on here once said that Izzy’s S2 arc is an abuse victim’s fantasy: an abuser is motivated to change for the better and ultimately admits to being in the wrong.

I recall seeing the term referenced, but I got the impression that it went the other way: the abuser got what what coming to him, and the victim lived happily ever after. I prefer the interpretation you gave!

But I have seen several instances of people saying that Izzy is a pitiable, sympathetic victim of abuse and characterizing Ed as a violent, abusive monster all in the same post -- enough to consider this a thing that people do say.

Too much to hope that's some of that bad actor posting at work? No... no, I've been in fandom spaces for ...officially decades now (god I'm old). I know there are just as many people who really have the blind spots, as there are trolls wanting to stir up shit. Hell, maybe more.

It’s not just liking Izzy more (totally fine) or not liking Ed (also fine); it’s an unwillingness to view Ed as a complex character with trauma and motives and emotional complexity.

And, as many have pointed out, it's not even hard to see Ed's motivation and trauma. It's not subtext, it's something explicitly shown in canon.

It’s placing all of the blame on the big, scary, violent indigenous man.

I wonder... I want to think that we're all equally drawn to a show for good reasons, I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. I've known enough blatantly racist/homophobic twats that wouldn't even give this show the time of day. I guess I'm unaccustomed to the more subtle variety.

(I’m not trying to insinuate that you’re saying any of that or would agree with it, btw!)

I didn't think so this time! :) I'm enjoying the conversation, thanks for indulging me.

Heyo, @nidmightcookies! This is my response to your reply on Atticus' post over here -- I didn't want to take away from the message of that post or the additions from other POC.

Sidenote: I'm extremely white and have no credentials that make me qualified to talk about race (I'm just a person who reads and tries to listen), and my takes are probably going to show that. That's another reason I didn't want to clutter up the original post with my reply.

In response to this

“Why is it racist to depict Ed as uncontrollably violent?  Because he's not actually depicted that way in the show.”

you talk about Ed baiting the crew to murder him and committing other violent acts. The original point is stating that Ed is not depicted as uncontrollably violent in the show, not claiming that he perpetrated no violence full stop. Yes, Ed does violence. No, he is not uncontrollably violent.

What Ed does is purposeful, not uncontrollable. He doesn’t push Lucius off the ship after he gives up all hope because he’s a violent guy who just does stuff like that, and the mutiny situation in S2E2… as allthinky said in a response, “that’s Ed at the end of his rope,” not him being uncontrollably violent. He’d been working towards suicide ever since he started baiting Low. As a backup plan, he’s been working the crew hard, disregarding their well-being, and being an overall awful boss in an attempt to incite a mutiny. 

Yes, he was “a serious, immediate threat to his crew” by the time he was out of other ideas to make someone take him out. Ed commits acts of violence -- I don’t think I’ve seen anyone claim he doesn’t -- but he always does so with some amount of reason (not necessarily good reasons) and control. 

“Upon reflection, my biggest issue may be with the people who argue that Ed's never been shown to be violent, or that any time he has resorted to violence, he's absolved of blame by the fact that someone was mean to him first. Which... I don't think I've seen you make either of those arguments at any point in the past.”

I’m really glad that you mentioned that OP hadn’t made either of those arguments (that you know of), that was genuinely very cool. As for the rest of it, I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone say that Ed is “never shown to be violent” or that he can always be “absolved of the blame” unless you want to remove all of the nuance from common talking points. 

He is never shown to be more violent than the average pirate and, due to his deep-seated trauma relating to his own capacity for violence, he’s actually on the less violent end of the pirate spectrum. He can’t be absolved of all blame for his actions because he’s a grown man who makes his own choices (and saying otherwise robs him of his agency). What I’ve seen said is that Ed’s actions are informed by things like trauma, abuse, and racism. His actions make sense. They’re not spontaneous violence committed because Ed flies into rages and homicidal spirals out of the blue.

“Not saying we shouldn't consider it [that is, are we “assigning more weight to Ed's violent actions than those of other characters or assuming he's worse than he actually is”], but I mean. If a white character on the show had cut off his employee's toes and fed them to him, shot him in the leg, ordered his death, held a gun on his other subordinates, marooned some/tossed one overboard, threatened to drown the ones that remained... because he was pushed into it, with the same combination of abusive childhood/hostile work environment... would he be equally deserving of that consideration? Would it be an overreaction to call him dangerous?”

Probably, but if everything was the same except Ed Is White Now, his baggage and his relationship with Izzy wouldn’t be exactly the same. Ed's race isn’t inconsequential. We can't really remove race from the story and end up with the same character, y'know?

Also: I do think it’s inappropriate to turn this question back on POC. I don’t think that POC are obligated to reconsider biases against a white character.

“Izzy is crew”

Ed’s relationship to Izzy is not comparable to his relationship with the crew. The crew have done nothing wrong and haven’t behaved antagonistically towards Ed. Izzy and Ed have a complicated, toxic, and difficult relationship (regardless of where you stand on whether or not Izzy’s abusive), therefore any harm caused to Izzy has to be considered differently than harm caused to the rest of the crew.

“Even if we say that he doesn't count, Ed still pushed Lucius off the ship.”

Yes, Ed did do that, but I think that Atticus is talking about Ed’s S2 actions in that point, not what happened in S1. Most (I think all?) meta I’ve read does consider Ed pushing Lucius off the ship an act of violence that Lucius himself did nothing to provoke. 

This might be controversial, but I’d put Ed pushing Lucius overboard on par with, like, a particularly unjust firing in a workplace that isn’t a pirate vessel. When we watch OFMD, we have to adjust our physical violence meters to account for the fact that we’re dealing with an environment that’s full of physical violence.

“Also, emotional abuse directed at the rest of the crew is still abuse”

I don't consider Ed emotionally abusive. He works the crew hard. He’s a terrible boss who doesn’t give his employees vacation days or paid time off and then throws them a sad pizza party. That sucks, it’s not okay, and his final death spiral in S2E2 is terrible and he never should have involved the crew in that. 

Abuse is a pattern of behavior that’s meant to control people. Not all harm is abuse. When I say that Ed isn't abusive, I'm not saying that he didn't hurt people.

“So... I was raised by a physically and psychologically abusive parent. I get that Ed's been hurt, is still hurting, and why. The "why" doesn't matter for the question of "did he or didn't he", though. It may or may not be his fault, he may or may not have done it because he felt unsafe. The point is, his actions did hurt people.”

Same, friend, and I'm sorry you went through that. (That’s actually one of the reasons I’ve always been wary of Izzy. What he says and does in S1 is too familiar to me, sometimes to a point where I can’t watch certain scenes.) I don’t think anyone’s saying that Ed isn’t hurting anyone, or that all of his actions can be attributed to abuse. If that’s not what you’re getting at here, apologies for misunderstanding.

“His boss that he was trying to control was brown.  Was that a factor in his power play though, or was it because Taika wound up being cast as Blackbeard? Any other (white) actor in the role, would Izzy be as bad for trying to control him? Would the scripts have gone a different way?”

Here’s the thing. In the show we have, Blackbeard is played by a Maori/Jewish man, and this fundamentally alters the character. There are things in the show -- whole episodes, if you want to look at S1E5 and the fancy party guests who treat Ed like exotic entertainment and not a peer -- that wouldn’t be the same if Ed was white. 

And yeah, Ed being brown changes the dynamic between Ed and Izzy. It would still be bad if a white guy was trying to control another white guy, but it wouldn’t be bad on the same level. Same goes if they were both brown. A white man trying to control the behavior of an indigenous man is worse.

“Izzy got permanently disfigured, crippled, and dead, while Ed came out largely unscathed in a physical sense, due to Muppet logic. Not to say one is more deserving than the other, but for a bunch of fans, there's probably a sense of Izzy getting the short end of the stick, to consider.”

That’s fine if some people feel like Izzy got the short end of the stick. It’s fine that some people feel like Izzy’s arc was kinder to him than it should have been. It’s okay to feel whatever! We connect emotionally to different characters and that biases our opinions and meta. That’s not a crime. We just need to be aware of our biases and why they exist.

The thing with OFMD is that Ed is a main character with more background and a story that, at every turn, asks you to sympathize with him. We’re given a look into Ed’s psyche. We understand at least some of his trauma and hurt and why he acts the way he does. Izzy has virtually no backstory and we’re never offered a glimpse into his mind; we don’t know why he’s like that. You can totally like a secondary character (or even an antagonist!) with no real canonical background or mental groundwork. It’s fun to ask why characters do what they do when canon doesn’t offer us any answers, and who doesn’t love a mystery box? 

But with OFMD, it can raise eyebrows when people say their main concern is the suffering of a white man who behaves antagonistically towards a brown man, especially when that brown character is a well-developed lead who also suffers (and suffers at the hands of aforementioned white character). It’s not inherently racist for someone to care more about Izzy than Ed, but it’s also not unreasonable to ask that someone to think about the possibility that subconscious racism could be factoring into their point of view.

“I don't think it's fair discussion to have a rule saying ‘even though you didn't directly call out the brown man, your argument is still racist’... even if it's true in many cases, it effectively means that no criticism of the character can ever be considered valid. If someone wants to argue ‘removing your employee's toes and feeding them to him is abusive behavior’, they can't, because of the unspoken skin colors involved? I don't know what the solution to this is.”

No one is saying that all criticism of a character of color is racist or invalid. As allthinky said in response, we’re saying that “those critiques have to be based on real evidence, and placed in a careful context, so that their actions can be understood as human, and not just the brutality of some brute.”

Criticize, but criticize with evidence and with awareness of the context of the criticized behavior. 

With the Izzy example, you have to consider the context of their relationship and Izzy’s actions throughout S1. Izzy isn’t just an employee: he’s a trusted second-in-command who has been insulting, controlling, and disloyal; he endangered not just Stede but also Ed and the rest of the crew; he told Ed that he was better off dead than acting as he was, and that Izzy's loyalty belongs to the violent worksona that Ed wants to shed. Is Ed being abusive when he’s reacting in response to abuse from his abuser? 

“[T]he show has layers (like an onion). Sometimes the meaning is not entirely surface-level, and everyone has a different level of comprehension. Sometimes obvious things to us aren't obvious to other fans/vice-versa. There's a whole 'nother discussion of media literacy to be had.”

I think that Atticus said it best here: “This is not a subtle show. That's not to say it's a simple one [...]. It's amazingly layered and emotional responses by characters are often extremely complex. However, when the show is trying to tell you something, it's not subtle and it never tries to hide it.”

There are a lot of things in OFMD that are subjective and open to interpretation, and those things are fun to discuss even when we have different takes. There are also a lot of things that are very clear. When people try to subvert the messages and ideas that OFMD is conveying loudly and openly, other fans get suspicious and wonder if the folks doing the subverting have an agenda, a bias, or just misunderstand what the show is saying.

I hope that reply was sufficient!

[pannacottawarrior]

in a sort of related note; at the christians or any other religious people who follow me (idk if there any; i have a small following anyway lmao) just;;;

please be aware of the kinda questionable things they tell you to do;;;

like please don’t feel like you’re doing anyone a favor or ‘saving’ someone by showing them the ways of god;; like go ahead and TEACH them about your religion if they ask for it but just keep in mind of how you word things; go about teaching them and etc;;;

wearing down your partner, friends and etc. into accepting your religion isn’t okay

[farfromsugafanfic]

SKZ Reaction To Having A Plus Size Partner

Genre: fluff, suggestions of smut

Warnings: some suggestive content/language, discussions of body image, a few instances of smut

A/N: I'm kinda tired of adding the gifs tbh. I got excited about this idea and wrote it quickly, so I apologize if it's too short. I am accepting requests for SKZ reactions and similar writings. Send me an ask!

Chan:

He isn't one to fall in love based on looks alone, especially not beauty standards dictated by broader society

Is only concerned about it if you are

Completely understanding if you tell him you are not having a good body image day

Always makes sure you're eating enough

Will work out with you if you want, but will never force you

Regardless of if your relationship is public or not, he will defend you from haters on Chan's room if necessary

Always makes sure you know that he thinks you're beautiful

Can barely keep his hands off your thighs

Minho:

Extremely protective of you. He understands the kind of hate that relationships like yours can get and he is NOT having any of it

Borrows your clothes

Constantly makes a point to show you that he can wrap his arms around you no matter your size

Your biggest hype man in literally everything you do. You learning a Skz dance to surprise him? He's filming and cheering you on. You bought a new dress? He immediately tells you how sexy you look (and it's obviously genuine)

Obsessed with your hips and ass (cause ofc)

Changbin:

Okay, listen, when I say this man loves your body, I mean he actually worships it

You know that narrowing of his eyes and tense stance he does when he's angry? Yeah, that's him if anyone even looks at you judgementally

May encourage you to go to the gym, but not to lose weight, he just wants you to be strong and healthy

If you ever show an ounce of not wanting to eat because of your weight, he will immediately go into carer mode

Never allows you to compare yourself to other skinnier people. He'll always say you're the prettiest before you can even let the thoughts get too far or voice them

Hyunjin:

Didn't even consider your weight or size

He just fell for you as you were

Definitely loves your style and will take a lot of joy in wearing matching outfits

If you ever have any doubts about why or if he loves you, he will absolutely flood you with affection and it may even make him go public with the relationship

Likes when you're on top during sex

Gets more upset than you do when you get hate

Absolutely loves your tummy and likes to hold it or kiss it

Whines if you ever say something self deprecating

Jisung:

Fell in love with you for your cute eyes and passion for what you do

Listen, he is a little nervous about showing you off, but it's because he's concerned about you getting hate

That doesn't stop him from loving every part of you in private

Like Minho, he's fairly protective of you

Loves buying you pretty things and having you model them

Writes you letters whenever he knows you're feeling down to reassure you and tell you he loves you

Also writes you songs, but never tells you or lets you listen to them until the album comes out and you have to put it together

It's hard for him to choose one part of you that he loves best and he makes sure you know that

Felix:

Literally, you couldn't ask for a better partner

He loves unconditionally and so your weight wasn't even a factor when he fell for you

Definitely bakes for you, especially if you're feeling bad about yourself. He wants you to know that you're always allowed to enjoy food and he'll love you regardless

Constantly trying to get you to sit on his lap and when you finally do he can't stop beaming

Doesn't want you to feel self-conscious and keeps communication open. Due to this, he will often come to you with his own concerns about his body

Does his best to make sure you're always comfortable

Seungmin:

Apathetic, but not necessarily in an uncaring way

For example, when you ask him if your weight bothers him, he'd say something such as, "why would it?"

Truly just doesn't get why anyone would care, especially when it's his relationship and not theirs

Always smiling when he sees you

Likes when you go shopping and come home and show him everything

Will try to help heal your relationship with food and always has a few of your favorite snacks on hand

Subtly observes your triggers and the things you don't like about yourself and works to slowly counteract them by complimenting aspects of yourself you don't like and doing his best to avoid you coming into contact with your triggers

Jeongin:

I do feel like he has some learning to do and could be a bit vain at first. I don't think he would be mean or outright fatphobic, but I think he may have concerns for your health or misunderstand you

With that said, I think that once he is crushing on you, he won't question it and his attitude will shift

He'll learn more about how weight doesn't equal healthy and comes to appreciate your body

You help him kick some of his unhealthy dieting habits

Loves holding your waist and encourages you to show it off with crop tops, etc.

Instead of getting too defensive of haters, he tries to educate them. But, if it upsets you more, or the hate continues, he'll be stern

Loves you so much and is ashamed he ever thought of your body as anything but sexy

[paradisetemporarilymisplaced]

So I was being a basic bitch the other day and listening to my true crime podcasts when it occurred to me just how suspicious Nile’s “death” would look to everyone not in the Guard, leading me to a train of thought that, 2200 words later, absolutely got away from me but I can’t let go so I’m inflicting it on all of you!

To set the stage, we know the movie takes place over approximately a week. Here’s what happens to Nile from the military’s point of view:

She dies is very seriously injured

She heals without a scratch

Just before she’s supposed to be shipped out to Germany, she vanishes, leaving two men concussed (and presumably reporting being knocked out by a woman with short hair wearing civilian clothes)

She goes AWOL for several days

They get word from the CIA that she is to be reported killed in action (details unclear)

So, at the beginning of this very weird week, the USMC has to tell Nile’s family of her death critical injury. What her family was told depends on how long she was dead – a Google search tells me that family will be notified in person within 8 hours of a soldier’s death, but we don’t know how long her first death lasted. For an injury, however, they’d get a phone call to notify them and the unit would arrange for them to visit as soon as the soldier is transferred out of a combat zone. Like I remember when I was in high school, a guy from my church who was a Marine was really seriously injured in a helicopter crash in Iraq and from what I could tell, his parents were told immediately and were flown out to Germany to see him, so it stands to reason that Nile’s family would have been informed relatively quickly after her throat was slashed, one way or another.

And then, she goes AWOL. Her family would be notified while the USMC tried to figure out where she went, not least because the military would want to know if she’s contacted them. (And it’s possible that her family may have been on the way to Germany to see her since we know that’s where she was supposed to go!) So for several days:

Nile’s mom and brother have no idea where she is

They know she was seriously injured and most certainly should not have been moving around on her own

They can’t get a hold of her

The military can’t tell them anything

And the next thing they know for sure is that she was “killed in action.” After being injured and vanishing into thin air. And they presumably cannot produce her body or any concrete evidence of her death. In any case, something sketchy is going on, so they’re like. SMELLS LIKE A MILITARY COVERUP.

In a surprise to probably no one, there is a well-documented legacy of mysterious US military deaths, particularly of women of color (TW for sexual assault in these links). The cases of LaVena Johnson and Vanessa Guillenin particular have made national news because of their families’ persistence in seeking justice. Likewise, Nile is a Black woman, and her mom and brother are most certainly hypercognizant of (a) state violence against Black people and (b) these high-profile cases of suspicious military deaths. So her family are seriously side-eyeing the situation, knowing that (a) the military has a serious incentive (and a documented history) of covering up things that make them look bad and (b) nothing about Nile’s disappearance and supposed death are adding up.

And Andy’s right. Nile does come from warriors. And you know who else does? Her brother.

Don’t get me wrong. Nile’s mom would absolutely not back down. She’d know something was up and want to get to the bottom of it. But based on what I know about Gen X parents (mine), they’re not the most technologically savvy. Like they can use the internet, but they didn’t grow up with it the way we young millennials and Gen Z did. So Nile’s brother takes the lead. And what do zillennials do best?

Social media.

Nile’s brother starts going hard on any site he can, trying to get the word out to see if anyone knows what happened to his sister. He starts a Reddit thread. He starts a Facebook group. He reaches out to the media and true crime bloggers and podcasters à la Sarah Turney, getting loud and being a general nuisance in hopes of getting some answers. He gets his friends and Nile’s friends involved. Maybe eventually Dizzy, Jay, and others from Nile’s unit hear about it and reach out, telling him what they saw and how weird it all was. He’s drumming up interest, and soon “Nile Freeman” becomes a household name (at least among the true crime fans).

Copley is, of course, trying his best, but at this point there is just so much that it’s impossible for him to scrub everything. Sure, he can erase new footage of Nile and the Guard, but what can he do about Reddit threads and podcast episodes that are speculating something weird has happened? Maybe he could hack the sites and shut those things down, but honestly, that’s the last thing he’d want to do, because that only adds weight to the theory that Nile’s disappearance is a military coverup. So eventually he has to tell Andy what’s going on.

Andy, obviously, does not take the news well. However, she is also completely computer illiterate, because that’s Booker’s job and he’s the only one who ever bothered to learn what the internet is in any meaningful way. (She probably calls Booker for advice, and for the record, I think Booker would have no qualms about shutting down conspiracy threads, tinhats be damned, but Copley is too concerned about the consequences. He’s ex-CIA for crying out loud, he knows how it’ll look if they scrub every mention of Nile’s name from the internet.) Maybe she confers with Joe and Nicky but, let’s be honest, they’d be equally unhelpful. So at this point, she knows they have to bring in Nile.

But the thing about Nile is that she, too, knows how to use the internet (duh). Aside from her being a young millennial/digital native, we know from the cave scene where she’s giving Booker suggestions on how to track Copley that she clearly is even more computer savvy than the average person. And for that reason she almost definitely took over the day-to-day tech stuff after Booker’s exile. So I think it would be foolish to expect her to be unaware of what’s happening. She’s not contacting her family or posting on the message boards or anything, but she knows what’s up. So Copley and the team probably sit her down to “break the news,” but we know the girl does not have a poker face (see: literally shooting herself in the foot and not being able to play it cool whatsoever) and cracks immediately, telling them she’s seen everything about her case – she’s not interacting with any of it, she certainly didn’t instigate anything, but she knows. (And she is so goddamn proud of her brother.)

At this point, I’d like to pause and consider Nile’s role in the overall narrative of this movie. She’s set up as a foil to Andy, obviously, but she’s also a foil to Booker. Booker, who, like Andy, is a serious pessimist, but who, unlike Andy, still has very fresh memories and trauma associated with being the new kid, which have destroyed him. In his mind (and Andy’s), if Nile communicates with her family, she’ll become just like him in a century or two – bitter, alone, and stuck with her grief and memories of watching her family die and knowing they died resenting her. It’s a small sample size, but this is the only experience they have to go off of.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

There’s been a lot of discussion of TOG being a fundamentally queer movie – a group of people brought together because of something inherent about themselves that is different, that must be hidden, that causes others to hate, fear, and reject them. Booker’s backstory is the archetypal traumatic “coming out” story – his family learns who he is, hate him for it, and attempt to cast him out of their lives. He’s stuck with his trauma, his pain, his loss, and it consumes him.

But what if Nile’s family would be the opposite? What if her “coming out” to them as immortal is met with acceptance, love, celebration? What if her family is just overjoyed to have her back, and they don’t care what the circumstances are? I'm reminded of this incredible post from @shitty-old-guard-deaths a while back, where Nile’s mother hits Booker with a frying pan because “my baby let me believe she was dead for FIVE YEARS based on your bad advice???” (which may or may not have inspired this whole tangent). Nile takes the advice of someone who did the same thing she wants to do because she doesn’t want to risk her family’s rejection. She wants the good memories with her family and is afraid that showing them her true self will bring her unbearable pain, forever replacing those memories. But, with high risk comes high reward.

Anyway. Nile and the team are trying to come up with a plan for how to handle this whole thing, but she’s not really participating because she’s too afraid to hope. Until finally, quickly, so she doesn’t lose her nerve, she suggests she reach out to them, knowing that, realistically, that’s the only solution before things snowball even further out of control. The team is shocked, but realize that she has a point. They decide that Copley should actually be the first point of contact, posing as a US government official to talk with them and test the waters.

So Copley goes to Nile’s family’s house to talk with her mom and brother. They’re probably distrustful and apprehensive, but nonetheless secretly ecstatic that their work has paid off. They talk and review all of the information that they’ve collected, including testimonials from the people on Nile’s base and recent sightings (along with photos) of Nile (with the same three people) over the last few years that people have sent them but they haven’t posted publicly. At this point, Copley’s like, yeah this is about to blow up, we gotta put our cards on the table. He convinces them to come with him to some safe house/black site/whatever he can get that is technologically impenetrable (I’m picturing them in like, an interrogation room at a police station kind of deal), takes their phones, locks the doors, and brings in Nile.

What follows is the most delightful reunion scene of all time, bringing Joe, Nicky, and even Andy to tears as they watch and listen from outside the room. With Copley’s help, Nile tells her mom and brother about her immortality and what’s been going on since she died (within reason, of course), and they are thrilled. They don’t understand why (because no one does) but they don’t question it and they see it as a gift from God – she’s been resurrected, she will live, and she has a purpose. Her mother and brother are so happy to see her again and are willing to agree with pretty much anything to stay in her life as long as they can.

So. They set up some complicated agreement (they bring in the other three for support/intimidation as needed) setting the terms of their relationship. They swear Nile’s family to secrecy, maybe bringing up the lab to show how high the stakes are, and they readily agree. They come up with some cover story for Nile’s brother to share on the message boards (maybe that the government has opened an investigation but because it’s an open case he has to shut it all down? Tells people to direct their tips somewhere else? Something to that effect). There’s still speculation, of course, but without Nile’s brother at the helm providing the energy, the hype dies down as news stories are wont to do without any movement. And Nile’s family goes to work for the team. The experience has taught them that Copley can’t possibly do everything himself, especially when it comes to social media, so Nile’s brother takes the lead on the day-to-day tracking/social media while Copley and her mom focus on finding jobs and scrubbing their traces afterward.

So there you have it: Nile gets to integrate her biological family into her found family and spend the rest of their lives with them as it should be, Copley gets some badly needed help managing the reality of social media, the team finally has a positive narrative surrounding outsiders Knowing About Them AND about interacting with people from their previous life, and the audience gets the happy ending to this very lovely and very queer story to counteract the pain associated with Booker’s family.

Plus, you know, I’m a sucker for both a good government conspiracy theory and for Nile getting every good thing she deserves.

[shokopan]

𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟏 𝐩𝐦  .  𝐭. 𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐨

summary: drunk kuroo is the sappiest dork ever

pairing: timeskip!kuroo x gn!reader  -  tw: swearing & alcohol -  wc: 0.6k

note: just reposts for now until i run out or when i get motivation to write again :)

it’s only ten in the evening when you receive a facetime call request from your lovely boyfriend, who was currently staying with his friends at your insistence. as soon as you click the accept button and the call connects, you’re greeted by the sight of bokuto’s face and dual toned hair obscuring the entire camera view.

“oh hey, bokuto! what’s up?” you ask, blinking slightly as you spot akaashi in the corner of the screen reaching for a bottle of soju, “oh, sorry! hi akaashi,”

“y/n! hey! akaashi says hi too! not sure if you heard,” bokuto cheers, raising his own unopened bottle, “anyways, look at what kuroo taught me earlier!”

he proceeds to set the camera down and swirl the bottle, vision completely focused as he picks the phone up to show you the miniature tornado forming inside. bokuto then extends it out once again, ready to twist it open until he’s interrupted.

“dumbass! you forgot to tap the bottom,” kuroo groans, seizing ahold of the phone from bokuto and stares into the camera. he squints for a moment and leans back with a slightly dazed grin “oh hey babe, you come here often?”

a smile tugs at your lips from the presence of your boyfriend, flush red from the alcohol and  hair tousled even more disheveled than orthodox, “hey tetsu, you doing alright?”

“no! i should be asking you that!” he exclaims, pointing his finger at the phone accusingly, speech slurred as he leans in once again, “y/n, i’m a stupid man. stupid, stupid, stupid man for leaving my baby by themselves,”

you laugh a little and catch the sound of tsukki and hinata’s snickers as kuroo turns briefly to glare at the two, “you’re not stupid tetsu, i literally forced you to go on a trip with your friends. i’m doing fine here,”

“hmm, you did yell at me to go with them,” kuroo agrees, closing his eyes and nodding solemnly before opening his eyes wide in excitement, “y/n, y/n, y/n!”

“yes, yes, yes, tetsu?” you reply, humoring him a little as you let out a soft snort at the childish bright-eyed expression he had on his face that greatly differed from his previous easygoing, laid back disposition.

“i’m going to tell you something,” he inclines closer in as if he was spilling confidential information, “i miss you,”

your heart softens, just a little bit, at your endearing dork of a boyfriend as the grin on your face begins causing your cheeks to feel sore, “and i miss you too tetsu, but you’re gonna be home in a few days, alright? just hold out and have fun with your friends for two more days, and i’m all yours after,”

“wait, what if i left tomorrow?” kuroo suddenly pipes up with a hundred percent seriousness, “then i could be all yours even sooner,”

“but you’re driving lev and tsukki back,” you remind him, raising in eyebrow at his newfound enthusiasm.

“yeah, true,” he sighs, pivoting to presumably scowl at one of the two hitching a ride with him, “i just want to see you though,”

there’s a little pout drawn on his lips as you roll your eyes, but the smile you wear says otherwise, “but aren’t you seeing me right now?”

“but i want to see you in person, babe! i want to hug and kiss you, so bad- shut the fuck up tsukki, you’re just bitching because i’m a happily taken man and your ass is single, anyways y/n, can you please promise that you’ll give me a kiss the moment i get back?”

“of course, i promise, tetsu, but go enjoy yourself with your friends, yeah? i’m going to go now, i’ve gotta shower,” you reply, eyes softening gradually.

“okay fine, i love you!” kuroo sighs, holding the phone out as he waves goodbye, “say bye to y/n!”

the other men follow suit, with kuroo shoving his phone in their faces as they wave haphazardly, each of them matching kuroo’s luminous red face.

“i love you too, tetsu. goodbye and have fun, everyone! don’t drink too much,” you wave, leaving the call and clutching your phone for a brief moment, grinning to yourself at the events that had just transpired.