#But there is a lot of stuff where I'm like “I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING” but it's way too open ended to be a proper “theory”

[roraimae]

If anyone sees this, favourite "Sif is so loved" moments from Acts 1 and 2, before the personal quests?

This will not be used to cause emotional damage I promise (lying)

[mona-risms]

Polytrix with a really accident prone gf. That’s it. That’s the tweet-📻

Congrats now your closet is fully replaced with bubble wrap

So this trio is naturally protective as hell, right. It's only natural, they don't want anything bad happening to their gf!!! ......But unfortunately when it comes to YOU being the Anything Bad That Happens To You it's 😭😭😭 WELL. They don't know what to do 😭

They're all EQUALLY worried for you, but Rumi would be the MOST visibly worried. Her eyes are ALWAYS watchful of you and your environment and she is genuinely so ready to jump at whenever something goes wrong and you get into another accident. It gets to a point where it's like she's teleporting out of nowhere (she's actually just stupidly sneaky, but post-movie this can and WILL be taken literally) just to catch you while she basically babbles out like "are you okay? You didn't get hurt, did you?? Please be more careful-- DO YOU NEED THE DOCTOR?????" "Rumi I'm fine" "I'll get you a doctor" "ALL I DID WAS SLIP"

Mira's not as explicitly worried as Rumi is, but you can see it a LOT in her actions. She basically follows you around like a guard dog whenever she can, and she is SO reluctant to leave you that if you don't work closely with them, she wonders if they should just bring you to work every day to keep an eye on you. She's not frazzled and freaked out like Rumi is, but she is VERY close and attached to you, not out of clinginess though she does always love being close to you, but bc she needs to Not see something collapse on you every five steps you take please. She thinks Deeply about how safe their penthouse is ("maybe we should replace the stairs, she might fall up and down" "????UP??????") and how safe all the other venues and stuff are for you, and in every place they go to do idolwork in she ALWAYS asks what the hazards are 😭 without any sort of context 😭

Zoey, while VERY worried for you, also kinda finds it a bit funny 😭. Though not to your level, I wanna think that she's also a bit accident prone (while the girls adore the both of you with all their heart, this also has them Slightly reluctant to have you paired up tgt for like idk doing normal things bc it just tends to be accident prone² with you two). She'll be like SUPER DUPER WORRIED about you, and for example maybe she spots smth start to topple down on you or smth so she Runs to push you away but ends up tripping into you instead 😭😭😭 which I mean. She DID get you out of the way! But um! Now SHE'S the one that fell on you! She often plays it off like "heyyyy never seen a face like you before aha 😝" before the both of you proceed to go into hysterics........and then headbutt each other on accident. Oops!

These three are already natural idiots so combining them with you 😭 is funny as fuck 😭 but also they lose Years off their life every time you get into another accident one way or another 😭 they love you though so they'll ofc kiss you as they take care of your bruises, but also? They're Genuinely debating whether to lock you in the house for safety /lh

[vote-gaara]

Ikemoto, you're turning me into a hater

My Unpleasant Thoughts on Chapter 25 of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex

Hello! I'm back and in utter disbelief on how three simple panels can make me so unreasonable angry - and I just gotta say, Ikemoto is turning me into a hater with these three panels right here:

Yay, Gaara lives!

I wish he would've DIED!

At least then this whole hassle would've meant something unless you're Yodo then it's a freebee, I guess!!

*Breathes*

Okay...

Okay!

Now that I've calmed down, let's do a review on all that has happened in recent chapters of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex.

1. Designs

Okay but what in the ever living fuck did the Kazekage estate turn into? Is that a waterslide coming out the side?! Why does it look like an octopus from space? WHY IS IT SO UP IN THE AIR?!

*Breathes*

Okay....Okay, alright. I'm calm now.

Typically I am opposed to criticizing artists for not being akin to other artists, and though I may admit that I do favor Kishimoto's style due to nostalgia and personal preference, I feel that the entirety of the Naruto franchise should be upheld to a certain standard, and I do not believe that Ikemoto is maintaining that standard at all.

Ikemoto's designs are simply unreasonable to me, and it makes for really uncanny feelings that pulls me out of the emersion I would have felt when reading. Everything is just way too extra, to overdesigned to the point of near vertigo as my eyes roll around the page, trying to figure out what's important and what's not. Basically, I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking at because I feel so overstimulated by how ostentatious (and inappropriate) the character designs are.

And that's not a bad thing in art - I think Ikemoto is better at drawing complex styles (such as hair) in comparison to Kishimoto - but it somehow Ikemoto's style seems to convey less emotion but with more crammed into the panels.

With Kishimoto, you always knew what to look at because the action or emotion of the panel caught your attention immediately, it drew you in so that you could really nestle into the story and feel out the characters. Then later, going back and rereading and noticing all the background details felt like a treat and an added layer to a complex world, and Kishimoto was good at background details! However, nothing was competing with what was going on front and center.

With Ikemoto, I feel like I'm going through a fashion magazine first. Everything is about the outfits, the clothes, the stuff that they're wearing. Emotions and actions come second because they can't compete with how overly detailed all the outfits are.

Too add to this, I know a lot of people have made their comments on this already, but I'm also going to add my two cents and say that the inappropriate portrayal of the female cast is stomach churning. Not only because they are ninjas, but these are children!!!! What are they doing dressing like that?! It's honestly horrible.

Not to mention that it's so, so, SO hard to hit hard with emotions like sadness, anger, fear, guilt and love when you're in the middle of watching one of the female cast die and suddenly you're eyes lock onto the literal whale tail thong straps that are just chilling. Right there for the world to see! It's just...Disrespectful? Trashy, maybe? Definitely inappropriate, and not to mention just basic poor design.

As I said, they are ninjas. Is dressing provocative suited for a ninja? Yeah, alright, maybe in some cases such as spy missions, but I don't think female ninjas should be going to battle with shorts so short that their pussy lips are hanging out it's inappropriate.

With Kishimoto sometimes I felt that the female ninjas weren't dressed for the part, but it always felt like a character fashion statement than anything else, and no where near as egregious as Ikemoto.

Even the stuff he changes, I don't understand. For example, the Kazekage estate.

Why did this:

Turn into this:

What's the point of it? Who thought "Hmm, you know what we need? The Kazeakge estate to be as tall as a skyscraper! For what reason? Eh, just cause!"

It makes me wonder...Is this the same universe as the original Naruto? Are we on a different timeline separate from the original? If not, how did the Suna ninjas pull off LIFTING the entire estate? And why?

I'm back at the why.

WHY?!

It doesn't even look good, it looks silly. Like before the estate looked like a place of business, but now it just looks like it's about to count down and blast off into space as some kind've weird space ship design, like what the heck.

And don't get me started on the fact that out of all the crazy designs, all the details and complexity of outfits, Ikemoto took away the ONE THING that is nearly synonymous with Gaara.

Why did this:

Turn into this

Ikemoto.....Ikemoto, you literally took away a complex design that is very marketable and very characteristic of Gaara and replaced it with a club I would rather beat myself over the head with

Thank you for nothing.

Horrible.

2. Misuse of Character Appearances

So does anyone know why Gaara and the sand fam were even in these last few chapters?

Did we learn anything?

Did anything happen? aside from the most bogus death imaginable, more on that later

What did we learn from this entire ordeal aside from the fact that yeah, Gaara is still selfless and Shinki still takes after him and....And....and that's it.

Oh wait, no, that wasn't it. Actually, we had a set up for a really great character development moment between Shinki and Yodo (and Araya) BUT OPPS it's gone. Whoops, nevermind. Apparently that wasn't as important as just simply...letting a character die just cause.

Literally this page was the most emotionally invested I had been in awhile:

But now it's gone. Gone because apparently it was just intrigue bait and now it's over, which is really truly unfortunate because we finally get to see more depth to the successors of the sand sibs. Here it's implied that Shinki has taken after Gaara's denseness in subjects of romance, we see that Araya is actually really in-tune with his emotions and also selfless, as well. I read it that Araya has romantic feelings towards Yodo, but he feels Yodo is romantically interested in Shinki. Yet what does Araya do? Get jealous? Angry?

No, he instead asks Shinki to pay more attention to her.

That is good character building, and it's so interesting but yet THIS was the conclusion:

Basically a "thank god everything is back to normal." That isn't fair to the readers. You can't just bait and switch just because you want to drive engagement by bringing back fan favorites such as Gaara and Kankuro.

Well, I suppose you CAN do anything in writing, but don't expect your readers to me happy about it, especially when it's as mismanaged as this. Introducing beloved characters with the intent to engage them in a "high stakes" fight and then offscreen the conclusion is just plain lazy writing, and the pacing is horrible too, which probably contributes to how unfocused the story is!

Kishimoto pounded out chapters WEEKLY and he was able to really zoom into different scenes. Think about when the sand sibs rolled up for the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Each one of the sand siblings had their time in the spotlight and because of that we got to not only enjoy their screen presence and their growth/new abilities, but after it was all said and done, it felt like a redemption...because it was one! I got the undertone from that entire fight that yeah, they were "technically" there on a mission, but the mission was more personal than that. That's even what Gaara says, "I owe the leaf a great debt."

It felt personal, but it also felt like they were ninjas. There was layers to it, just like how there were layers to Yodo and Araya and Shinki, but in the latter, it's basically vaporized, and I ask myself why?

Is it because it would've taken too much time given that Boruto is only once a month? Did Ikemoto forget? Does he not like the suna characters?

I said before that it wasn't fair to the readers, but now that I think about it more, hell, it's not even fair to the characters.

I've never felt more like they were pawns...

3. Misuse of Character Death

So Yodo is dead?

Like...Dead-dead?

And this...THIS is the conclusion:

I keep reposting those three panels, but they make me angry. They make me angry because, as I said above, "everything back to normal!"

Not like Yodo died or anything!

I mean at this point they aren't even writing Kankuro correctly. As if he would really just say, "Oh, thank god Shinki and Gaara are okay. Looks like nothing bad happened! Oh, and that girl? What was her name again? Oh, well, thoughts and prayers to the family, I guess."

Bullshit!

The Kankuro I know would have absolutely been devastated about it. Why? Because he cares. GAARA CARES! Shinki should care!!!

Yodo just died and they are just going to give us three measly, stupid panels that basically make Kankuro look like an asshole for only caring about the boyz, and not even MENTIONING that he lost a member of his squad.

Damn.

Damn...

Ikemoto doesn't even know what characters he's writing.

Plus Yodo's death scene is just so disrespectful to her. Instead of reflecting on her own life, she instead has some sage advice for Sarada, as if they are just the best of buddies and Yodo can see into her mind. Give me a break.

Yodo was used, and her death was a waste and a misuse.

[traincat]

Hi! So we talk a lot about evil spider-man but what about evil fantastic 4??

Also fun! Gleesquid on ao3 / @gwenjoon has a really fun evil Fantastic Four AU: Between the Smoke and Ruins, Spideytorch, rated T. (I blanket rec all of Gleesquid's Spider-Man and Fantastic Four fic.)

I think with evil Fantastic Four, it's more that there's just more directions to go in than with Spider-Man -- with Peter, you can go the Kingpin-esque villain route (which is my preference) or the mad scientist route, etc. But there's four people to consider with the Fantastic Four, and you have to come up with a reason for all of them to go bad. Which I can do, of course -- I think twisting the origin story just so could set this up nicely. (For the sake of the discussion, I'm going with a 616 modeled Fantastic Four here, and we're discounting the Maker for the moment. Sorry to the evil spaghetti.)

So in more recent years, the spin with the Fantastic Four has been that Reed specifically engineered their celebrity as a safety mechanism, so that they're not treated like freaks or, worse, used as human experiments or tools for the military.

(FF v3 #60) "These were people he loved, and he'd destroyed their lives. Thanks to him, they were fated to be freaks... lab specimens or worse..."

(FF (2018) #35) "I can't repair their lives. But I can give them new ones."

(FF: First Family) First Family probably leans into this the hardest, and while it's not my favorite update on the Fantastic Four's origin, it presents some interesting ideas anyway.

So I don't think it's difficult to kind of -- nudge this in the opposite direction. Think of Reed and Doom as two sides of a coin again; if Doom is capable of being a supervillain, then so is Reed. Reed's motivation is just rooted in love for his family. If they were hurt, tortured, because of something he did to them -- the miscalculation, the cosmic rays, the rocket crash -- then why not let that guilt become anger towards the people who hurt the ones he loves most? If they're going to be larger than life, why not infamous supervillains instead of famous superheroes? To dress them in fantastic outfits, to launch the most outlandish heists. And no one will hurt the people he loves best again.

(Somewhere in Latveria Doom is unbearably turned on.)

It's too involved for me to think about writing until I clear some other stuff off my plate, but I really do like the idea of supervillain couple Peter and Johnny, too, and I know how I'd do it. I do have to kill off the other three for this scenario -- sorry -- and leave Johnny the sole survivor of the rocket crash. Lost, alone, and spiraling (Johnny does not do well on his own), he accidentally sets fire to the loan sharks who come after him because of his father's outstanding debts. Up-and-coming villain Spider-Man sees the whole thing going down, and he's intrigued. All that power, and a pretty face to match -- he just knows they could do great things together. And Johnny? Just wants to be needed.

Beyond just that, he just wants to be loved, and Peter's always fallen hard and fast after that first spark.

I just think it would be fun. But yeah, I think there's a lot of directions to go in with evil Fantastic Four. I also like the idea of branching out from Bullet Points, where Reed is the only survivor -- how do things change if one of the others also survives, etc. There's just a lot of options, and I would like to write a villain AU one day. I had started one when I first got into Marvel, but it is not fit for consumption.

[average-kuresawa-enjoyer]

Finished the hirakagi light novel a little while ago almost two weeks ago. oops. I'm afraid I don't have as much interesting to say, mainly because most of my annotations were just me crying out in gay agony. So there's gonna be a lot of that here. But I still wanted to make a little writeup like I did with the sasamiya LNs to preserve my thoughts on it. Overall- really enjoyed it! Very sweet and charming. The chapter where Kagi gives Hirano the earrings kind of rocked my whole world. I'm still recovering from that.

- "When he met the dorm leader, Hanzawa, Kagiura immediately got the impression that he was the sort of guy who never stopped smiling." Ha Ha Ha. His motto is to wear a smile every day....

It's such a big part of his charm to me. Gives him a unique atmosphere. Guy whose eyes you rarely see always wearing a smile to the point that it's unnerving-- and in his first manga chapter he's already laughing evilly and stuff LOL. But then you get to subvert that, showing his eyes and putting the smile on pause whenever you want to have a sliver of his real emotions peeking through.

I also just think he's a very fun loving guy despite The Everything. Bursts out laughing a lot. I don't know where I was going with this. I like hanzawa bottom text

- "If nothing else, the fact that [Hirano] lived in the dorms meant he was away from home, too. Where was he from?" Later chapters reveal Hirano lives nearby-ish, which was kind of surprising. I had half pegged him as a country bumpkin. But this makes a lot more sense LOL

- "Is this guy some kind of delinquent? The blond dye job, the cold look in his eyes… And are his ears pierced?" This impression lasts all of two seconds but it's still so embarrassing for him. That's the love of your life dude. You're going to loudly exclaim I'm Horny For Hirano-San to niibashi in like six months.

"'Huh. Well, sorry again. C’mon in. You can leave your other slippers there. Swap ’em for room slippers.' Hirano bent down, still sort of mumbling to himself."

Okay, oyaji. Again I don't know if this is a quirk of the YP translation but Hirano kind of acting and talking like an old man is so moe to me. You're sixteen years old dude. Why do you act like a 50something uncle. I love you so bad.

- "Hirano couldn’t help but admire how meticulous he was." It's fun seeing Hirano's initial impressions of Kagiura before they became... Like... soul bonded. I think their personalities are really compatible; even if Kagi didn't develop feelings for him, I still think they would have been really close.

- "the young man who’d been living with Hirano the previous year, and who was a year ahead of him in school, had already moved on to fashion himself a temple of study in his new room." Ichinose mentioned!!! Woohoo!!! The ichinose fandom is dying reblog if your tummy hurts

"Sasaki dyed his hair a flashy brown color and had covered himself in piercings (not that Hirano was one to talk). No matter how you put it, he was a man who stood out. He was handsome, but he had a nasty look in his eyes—he acted like everything was too much trouble, and during special events, he didn’t even try to hide how disinterested he was. As classmates went, it was hard to get close to him. When a guy so tall acted so cold, people found it intimidating—but at the same time, he wasn’t quite as bad an apple as he looked. In spite of the tough-guy attitude, Hirano had heard him remark, 'I don’t like to fight. I’m no good at it.' If he had to guess, Hirano would have said Sasaki found high school boring."

Hirano's description of Sasaki makes me feel evil. first of all Handsome Hey hirano. Hey. Do you have something to tell the class. I feel like if they hadn't both met someone they fell madly in love with in their second year sasahira might have ended up as this bizarro odd-couple. Their friendship is so strange and charged. The Ship That Never Was. Depressed flashy rulebreaker x disciplinary committee stickler r-18 hardcore BL don't like don't read

I don't know. That chapter in the sasamiya LNs where they meet each other in their first year is glued to the inside of my head. Hirano who's got a goal he's set on pursuing and lives his life with singleminded determination and just doesn't understand the idea of someone giving up on their own life vs Sasaki who feels aimless and lost in everything he does but admires people who are openly passionate. That's so compelling.

Second off this feels like such a stark difference from how he's seen at the start of the sasamiya manga/anime. Which is intentional because that's largely from Miyano's point of view, I know. And this is before he even meets Miyano anyways. It just... I don't know... Recontextualizes his character a bit. Miyano sees him as cute and cool and patient, Hirano sees him as flashy and... dangerous...??? Which is probably closer to the impression he leaves on most people, even if Hirano immediately follows it up with "he doesn't like to fight though". (No wonder Tashiro was freaked out by him at first.)

'he was handsome but he had a nasty look in his eyes' god. I feel like I tripped and stumbled into an alternate universe where Sasaki is like.... have the people seen or read raise wa tanin ga ii. I feel like I stumbled into Yaoi Yakuza Fiancé for a moment there. I loved the scene where Hirano sold his kidney to win an argument

- "[Sasaki] seemed to know how to go about learning arithmetic." ohhh I wonder if being so used to baking conversions and the like from a young age is part of why he's so good at math now. That and/or helping at the front cash. That'd be fun.

- "'Kagiura’s not like that,' Hirano snapped. Kagiura was serious and dedicated. Hirano thrust the notebook back at Sasaki. Sasaki’s mouth was hanging open slightly, as if he was stunned by Hirano’s reaction, but Hirano didn’t know why he would be." I CAN THINK OF A FEW REASONS WHY HE WOULD BE!!!!

Like I said. Even if their relationship never took any turns for the romantic. I think they both have too many traits the other admires for them not to come out of things at least mildly obsessed with each other. [suddenly struck by adult au implications] auuuhggghfghhh

- “Huh? Aw, nothin’. I mean… It’s nothing.” was this a keigo thing? like, he keeps slipping up and using informal language with Hirano? if that's the case, I get why they localized it like this, but it does come with a fun side effect of making kagi look like a country boy lol. Yeehaw

- "He’s more than 180 cm tall [...] ten centimeters taller than [Kagiura] was." seeing kagi describe this guy who's taller than him atp puts into perspective how fast his ass is growing. Isn't he like 6 ft 3 by third year? What Are They Feeding Him. Were the green peppers the only thing holding him back? And once Hirano got him to eat like five of those the limiters came off?

"He looked a lot like Miyano, in fact, but his air of confidence made him feel completely different [...] Hirano started to get a pretty good idea of the young man’s personality. He’s an egotist through and through. He was cute, he knew it, and he was going to make use of it. It might not seem like a very nice thing to think about his roommate’s friend, but Hirano could already tell this was someone he wouldn’t get along with."

Hirano's first impression of Niibashi is kind of wild. We rarely see them interact in the manga, so I wonder if his opinion of him's improved at all since then? Their dynamic is so unique as the two most important people in kagi's life even if they... don't really like each other? or at least don't feel fully comfortable with each other. just based on the "by the way, Kagiura passed out... just so you know" and "DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THEM!?!" hirakagi scenes

I feel so starved of Niibashi interactions... He's a pretty unique character in the cast all things considered, so I'd love to see him talk to more people other than his giant gay bestie. Not that I don't adore his relationship with his giant gay bestie. But I did get really excited when he cameoed in the sasamiya LN, so.

The part about him immediately thinking he looks like miyano is like a brand seared into my mind. I wonder how things would shake out if Niibashi was Sasaki's queer awakening instead? ....probably worse. For him psychologically. But that's what makes it fun(?)

- "If he asked, Hirano might even let him use his knees as a pillow." Okay. Gayass. I think it's cute how fixated on this idea he ends up getting by the time they do it in the manga. He wants to understand...

- "If his practice regimen sometimes seemed brutal, it was only because he had such a clear vision of where he wanted to be." Kagiura and Hirano are so similar in that way... Passionate people...

"[Hirano's] household was only himself and his parents, and his father sometimes lapsed into silent spells. Exuberance was not his 'thing.' They all got along just fine; Hirano had no complaints about his family, but he couldn’t help feeling a pang when he saw people his own age who were used to living with their siblings."

I'm so hungry for more Hirano family lore. I constructed such vivid headcanon-parents for him from this section alone. With ages and jobs and hobbies and everything.

I think his trait of wanting a sibling/pet to dote on is really cute. Pinches his cheek. Motherly personality with nowhere to go.

"[When imagining a romantic partner], Kagiura imagined someone who would be courageous enough to give him a push if there was a path he wanted to take and loving enough to wait eagerly for him to come home again. Someone with whom he could spend calm, cheerful days, without having to put on an act or force anything."

The way this is literally his and Hirano's relationship. Throws up and dies one million times. AGH and the fact that part of what Hirano loves about Kagi is how open and honest he is with him, and that he doesn't put on an act or force anything..... OTL OTL OTL

"He wanted to be like his mom, who would ask his dad 'Do you want some, too?' whenever she was having a cup of tea. He wanted to be like his dad, who would come home with his mom’s favorite snacks on a random evening, just because."

Related to the last one because this is the kind of thing they'd do. But also it's cute that both the examples he thought of related to food LOL. growing boy....

- "Niibashi might have acted annoyed, but his immediate willingness spoke to how close they had grown as they got to know each other over the past few months." Yup, That's Niibashi. I'm so deathly curious as to what their first meeting was like, and what their first impressions of each other were.

- "Kagiura gave off the faint but sharp aroma of antiperspirant. He seemed acutely worried about his body odor, but he never really smelled too sweaty." See, when he explains it like this it sounds less like a fetish. And I do think Kagi is overly conscious of his BO because he doesn't want to freak out the guy he likes. But I mean... Hirano isn't always the most reliable narrator when it comes to stuff like this......

- "He only really saw Hirano in his school uniform whenever Kagiura contrived to pass by him in the hallway." asfjskdbjsgdj????? He's so funny for no reason. I'm imagining him and Niibashi being late for class because Kagi makes them take the long way around just so he can go "Hi Hirano ❤️"

"Niibashi did every bit as well, or even better, than Kagiura had expected. His presentation, which he delivered with a smile that oozed confidence, was tremendously effective, and he had done his research [...] Niibashi had a gift for networking and was already reaching out to other classes that would need similar materials. Kagiura and the other two committee representatives practically felt like his assistants instead of the other way around."

Niibashi rules. There's an alternate universe where he gave up on his dreams and became The Worst Business Major In The World. I love him so much.

- "The student council president, Touou, was fussy and particular. [...] sparing no one from his condescending glare, he was somehow striking—but he didn’t look like he was having much fun." Was this the guy Hanzawa was beefing with in his second year? I'm so curious as to his deal. Maybe it's lodged somewhere in that mythical 10k words of plot....

"There was one more surprising thing: the way Niibashi calmly and completely handled Touou’s interrogation, which sometimes approached the level of browbeating. It was enough to make Kagiura wonder if the two were friends, but he didn’t want to interrupt the fun Niibashi was obviously having, so he kept his questions to himself."

First of all, I think Niibashi's beautiful debate kid spirit is really funny. Second of all, I feel like I'm misremembering but wasn't there a bit where the student council made a club to take care of the campus cats, but there was only one other person in it? maybe that was niibashi... could be cute. I'm trying to banish the elaborate rivals to friends to lovers story in my head.

- "The very smell of the room seemed different without Hirano hanging out there." I have like. Five different bookmarks for the dogboy kagi archive. This one's the funniest though. There's also the bit about Kagi saying Hirano's bed always smells good.... okay man...

"'Without you here, Hirano, the room feels too big and quiet.' He heard a sort of hoo, and Kagiura couldn’t help closing his eyes at a tickle that felt as if Hirano’s breath were right on his ear. 'You’ve gotta be sleepy, Kagi. Better turn in for the night.'"

Putting aside how this is kind of life-ruiningly intimate. Does it feel like they say that a lot? One of them says/does something overly fond or affectionate, and the other gives them an out by saying "are you tired?" It's interesting. Like their equivalent of Sasaki's "haha jk.... unless", but manifesting differently since the foundation of their relationship is taking care of each other. I think I remember it in one of the sasamiya extras... And in a pic that I have saved because Hirano's fond expression made me throw up and die one million times. Let me see if I can find it.

Here it is. Jesus fucking Christ. I can't look at this imagebfor too long or I'll start wailing in agony. The point I was trying to make was that they use "are you tired right now?" as a kind of reflexive "did you mean to be that intimate/fond with me?" way out. I'm going to move on because this image is going to kill me dead if I look at it too long. She's Really Good At Drawing Expressions.

My self indulgent wish is for there to be some kind of tipping point, where one of them says "Are you tired?" to give the other an out from the situation, but the response is "...No." and then they make out or something idk

- Their lovely little road trip slash countryside visit was my favourite chapter by far. I have a soft spot for those kinds of stories already, and I also just think it was really sweet and intimate. I really hope they do it again for Hirano's next birthday in the manga. (I'm pointedly ignoring the plot bunny that's staring at me right now.) It's a lot of fun seeing the characters outside the confines of a school setting, both visually and character-wise.

"He’d always been the older dormmate, the guy on the Disciplinary Committee—but in the eyes of the wider world, he was still just a kid in high school." <- related quote

-

................I don't have much to say. Except. Is it just me or is this so weirdly charged. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this random ass passage since I read it. You don't get to have him girls, he's MY soup boy... He makes MY stomach feel warm with happiness....

- "[Hirano and Kagiura] people-watched in the station shopping center until their ride came." I'd love to be a fly on the wall while they people-watch... Kagiura seems like the type to make up elaborate backstories for passing strangers to make his partner laugh.

- Kagi's little cousins are so cute. Him refusing to go easy on a 5 year old is so funny. And Hirano being mobbed by a swarm of kids protectively because they could sense how tired he was rocks. It's always fun getting to see Hirano's nurturing personality directed at people other than Kagi, and how it changes accordingly.

^ this line I wrote in my writeup for the sasamiya LNs feels prescient. if I think too long about Kagi's big family happily accepting Hirano as one of their own I Will Burst Into Tears. Another shimmering thread in the tapestry and all that

- "'Sorry for laughing.' He’d been surprised—and happy. He didn’t say it out loud, but the fact that he couldn’t keep the smile off his face probably gave him away." - Hirano laughs when he's really really happy!!! Like with the homemade cookies. There's another instance of it in the extra manga.

-

"That was just how it usually was in the dorm. Hanzawa seemed a bit sensitive about homosexuality, and he was notorious for his ability to sniff out any guys who seemed to be getting too close and drop in on them at inopportune moments. Word had it his contempt for gay people wasn’t completely arbitrary but had something to do with his family circumstances, so even Hirano pitied him for it."

So much to take in. first of all. I have so many Thoughts about hanzawa that I don't think I can articulate properly. it is still interesting that Hirano's still really close with hanzawa, and they share a really lovely friendship even as Hirano knows this (and as he gets closer to kagi/recognizes he wants to be in a relationship with him he still doesn't seem very bothered by it? maybe we'll see this develop in coming chapters. I don't think Hirano aught to cut him off or anything drastic like that, just that it feels like a well of untapped drama potential)

And like. obviously Hanzawa isn't homophobic. You and I both know this, even if Hirano doesn't. He has complicated feelings about queerness, and I feel like he's internalized a few ideas about his own sexuality considering his kind of harrowing family situation. But he still cares really deeply for the queer people in his life-- including his brothers, including Miyano, including Kagiura once he cottons on to how fond he is of Hirano. Obviously he hasn't yet had the development he had in sasamiya to make him more open about that. But I'm a little intrigued... doesn't his reputation as an apparent homophobe bother him at all? Does he just accept it as a necessary evil of preserving order in the dorms? Or has he so deeply internalized the I Have To Be Normal logic that dictates his existence that he just passively accepts his reputation? I need to vivisect that man and peer inside him with a flashlight and I'm serious

- "'Don’t apologize! It was a feast for my eyes!' one of them called back. Whatever that was supposed to mean. Maybe she meant because Kagiura was so handsome." Gasp. Fujo girl? Fujo girl and her gf???

THEY'RE THERE IN THE EXTRA MANGA IT IS THEM WOOOOOO

I <3 fujo girl and her gf. Peace and love on planet girls. Their cute school festival date... I can imagine it being fujo girl's idea because she wanted to see an all-boys high school so so so badly askjsdfbhgj

"If Hirano was, as Sasaki said, getting better at looking after others, it was probably because of Kagiura. Living with him had taught Hirano that even when he was really worried about the guy, just telling him what to do didn’t have any effect. Plus, he’d learned about joy—and about gratitude. He’d started to think lately that the reason his parents could communicate so naturally and easily was because they’d been doing it since before he was born, sharing with each other and valuing each other."

Lots to say here. First of all Hirano family mention woohoo! \o/ like I said, I have elaborate headcanons that will probably crumble to dust the moment they're shown on-screen. But oh well

Second of all. I know he hasn't even considered considering Kagi in a romantic light yet. But I feel like this passage relates to Hirano's understanding of love? Maybe? When he thinks of people being in love, it's less about open affection and more about commitment and active communication. Getting to exist in the same space as someone, making them happy and enjoying their company. Like a couple that's been together for a long time. A marriage like a best friendship. Hey where have I heard that one before

-

Nuances lost in translation...? Or maybe my perception of the word "roommate" is just skewed, because it doesn't feel like a very intimate word to me... Maybe he's just touched to be considered such a big part of Hirano's life?

- The ending scene with them and Hanzawa is really, really sweet. I don't have anything to say beyond "it made me really happy". Also sorry Hanzawa your life's about to get a little more stressful

auuu auuu auuuuu......

- I'm sure this is just a standard courtesy thing to say, but the author saying "Hirano and Kagiura are such lovely characters that writing them was a pleasure" is very sweet.

Okay. One last thing. I especially don't have anything insightful to say for any of these bits I highlighted, so you can skip this section entirely. The quotes are mainly just ruining my life.

== LOVE AND TENDERNESS AND YEARNING QUARANTINE ZONE ==

"[Kagiura] felt warmth spread through his chest, touching the part of him that was, admittedly, lonely." - p. 21

"[Hirano's] golden hair seemed to glitter in Kagiura’s bleary eyes. It was lovely. Kagiura nearly found himself whispering the question: Did you make it that color because it looks so good on you?" - p. 27. Okay I do have a minor thing to say here which is I think it's really sweet how into Hirano's hair colour Kagi is

- "The 'new guy,' Kagiura, was easy to read, and it was clear he thought the world of Hirano and took to him quickly." - p. 37

- "but it left him thinking that he and Hirano felt closer than family." - p. 84

- "Kagiura, drawn by how Hirano moved in the room’s cramped entryway, almost reached out to touch him, but he forced his hand back. He took a step away from where Hirano was crouched by the door. He didn’t mind jostling with his teammates as they changed in the locker room, but he didn’t feel that close to Hirano yet. At the same time, he couldn’t help but sense that he was overthinking it." - p. 102

"Ever since his new roommate had arrived, the place seemed unbearably quiet the moment Hirano was alone." - p. 110. They've known each other for like. A month and a half atp. My goodness. It's like if a slow burn was a quick burn.

"If Kagiura can just pass his classes, I’ll bet he could get an athletic recommendation to college no problem. Hirano’s gaze softened a bit at the thought—but it was a pointless fantasy right now." - p. 113. he cares for him so much. I just felt a palpable tug in my chest

"I wonder what Hirano’s class is doing for the festival, Kagiura thought, and closed his eyes. He could still see a faint image of Hirano’s smiling face. He wanted to tour the festival stalls with him, a skewer of delicious yakitori in his hand. It must have been the sunlight pouring through the window that made him imagine Hirano in a light-colored yukata—the classic summer-festival image." - p. 128.

I think a summer festival chapter for them in the manga would be really cute... <- wrote that before the new chapter's cover page was shown off. I love winning <- wrote that before the chapter actually came out. I love losing

"Squinting against the too-bright sunlight made him think of Hirano’s golden hair. It was ironic that a member of the Disciplinary Committee would have hair like that, and unfortunately all that bleaching and dyeing had damaged it. A real shame, given how good it looked on him." - p. 141.

This was the passage that made me put down the book in gay exasperation during my work break. He's so into Hirano it's not even funny. My Lord.

Something to be said about how they both get sunlight comparisons? Although maybe that's just a coincidence.

The Sparkles... I used to think they were reserved for moments of, like, little breakthroughs in Hirano's quest to understand his emotions, but honestly this moreso makes me think of that one sasamiya extra where Hirano meets up with Kagi just to "recharge" by looking at his face. It's cute. Solar panel ship

"Kagiura reached out to Hirano, caressing his lovely golden hair. [...] Hirano’s eyes widened a little when he felt Kagiura’s hand in his hair. 'What are you doing?' 'I thought maybe this would help you calm down…' There was a moment of silence, and then Hirano exhaled; Kagiura just caught the words 'Hey, it really does…' Hirano’s face softened into a smile. It was Kagiura’s turn to be surprised. I never knew he could look so gentle. Hirano looked like a cat who had taken a shine to him." p. 157-158.

This is a really really really lovely moment. I'm going to politely refrain from making a joke about neko = bottom. It's a really lovely moment. I hope the 10 seconds dies soon I need more casual intimacy moments from them or I might blow up. Augh

"Even after Hirano went to the bath, though, when Kagiura was snug in bed, he could still feel the sensation of that golden hair on his palm." p. 158-159

"They made it with a minute to spare—they were the last of the passengers to get back on board. Hirano and Kagiura chuckled at each other (just moving their lips, not making a sound)" p. 192

"The way [Kagiura] sort of shrank in on himself as he voiced the question was charming in the way only handsome guys could pull off." p. 240

"'So you’re saying I’m, like, superspecial?' 'What, you happy about it?' Like a puppy? Hirano teased, getting a big grin out of Kagiura. 'Sure. Y’know, I’m really glad I ended up as your roommate, Hirano.' Hirano couldn’t help but smile at how good Kagiura was at being lovable. Against someone so affectionate, he would never win." p. 241-242.

Let's all blow up together

[randomfoggytiger]

DD: "My mother died three years ago, almost three years ago now. And she suffered from dementia for six, seven, eight years before that; and we had to have a lot of caretakers for her. And one of them ended up stealing from us. So, there was missing money; and now there was getting the police involved.

DD: "I went to my mother's apartment in New York where she was living-- not alone, she had help. And I.... And she was always desperately concerned with money. Y'know, she was a child of the Depression: it was always, 'You're going to wind up in the gutter'-- that was always the phrase in my house-- 'You're going to wind up in the gutter.' Eating brussels sprouts 34 cents a pound, everything. I knew the price of everything going into my mouth per bite. Stuff like that. And again: this is not to say this is a bad person, this is just to understand where she's coming from.

DD: "And one of the brilliant things the caregiver who did rip us off did was she purchased, like, five thousand dollars worth of counterfeit bills. And when my mother used to sundown-- which is what elderly people do, they get anxious late-afternoon-- she would dump this fake money in my mom's lap; and it would soothe her. Y'know, it was like a brilliant move. I think it might work with me.

DD: "But anyways. I had to somehow tell my mother, who had pretty severe dementia at this point, that the police were going to be looking at her bank account. And I had to make clear to her that there was nothing that they-- y'know, she was not in trouble. And if she was healthy, my mother would have been really upset if there was any kind of activity in her bank account; but she didn't seem to care. She just, she thought, 'Oh, okay, so the police will get here.'

DD: "So, we're waiting for the cops to come and interview her. And... I'm afraid to tell you this story.

DD: "And, and, uh. She goes, 'You're not going to get married, are you?' And I was like, 'Um....' She, for the past four or five years, she was like, 'You're not going to get married, are you?' And I would always say, 'No, no, I don't have any plans to get married. I'm, I'm divorced....' And I was like... we had this time together, now in this apartment; and it's quiet. And I'm like, 'What-- this is a weird question to be asking me', y'know?

DD: "And so I said, 'No, I don't have any plans to get married. But what would be so bad if I did get married? And why don't you want-- don't you want me to have companionship, or a relationship?' And she said, 'No!' And I said, 'Why not?' And she said, 'Cuz then you couldn't marry me.'"

Terry Real: "Aww."

DD: "And.... I believe even if she didn't know what she was saying-- anyway, she was giving me some kind of a truth. And I just remember, like, time stopped. And I saw the dust motes kind of suspended in air, in sunlight. Small apartment. And I thought, 'Oh. You just kind of liberated me. You just kind of... gave me the truth; and now I can just let it go.'

DD: "There was no sense in her that she had said anything weird, or, y'know. She was just in that place where everything-- boundaries, like you talk about, are no longer real to her. It was just all this... stuff."

Terry Real: "She showed you the truth of what it's always been. 'You're mine. You're here to service me.'"

DD: "Yeah. Yeah. So." [Chuckles.]

Terry Real: "Tell me what it triggered in you. I mean, you can pass--"

DD: "Well, because I've always felt that that was the truth. Y'know? And now I'm hearing it from the source, y'know? Even though she's not in her right mind, et cetera, and all that things; and she's not a bad person, and she's not an incestuous person, and she's not these things that you could make up from somebody saying something like that. She merely needed me like that. And that was a problem, for me. Y'know, that became a problem for me. So, that's why I say it was liberating, in that way."

[tangents-within-tangents]

Oh man lol it's kinda funny, this conversation made me realize that I myself had actually been leaning too much into the 'hand of the author' with the chip arc. I think it just seemed so illogical to me that the Jedi would accept the chips and Palpatine's explanation, that no one would be even a little suspicious, that I also kinda wrote it off as 'lazy writing because RotS has to happen' instead of considering in-story reasons for why the Jedi might respond that way (like oof do they believe the clones are all inherently violent and need to be controlled? um wow)

#she very clearly considers herself to be acting in the clones' best interest and yet she also doesn't involve them in any of her decisions

Yes! I think that really clinches it. I think especially of how Shaak Ti resolves the situation with Nala Se by saying "That is for me to decide", purely asserting her authority. I get this sense that maybe the Jedi think the best hands are their own; if someone is going to control the clones at least it is them as they will act in the clones' best interest (which is a sentiment I see in fandom a lot too). But what happens when she isn't there to speak on their behalf? What happens when someone exploits that system like Krell, or eventually the Empire? And is it really acting in the clones' "best interest" if you never even ask them for their input? If you leave them vulnerable in a position where they can't speak for themselves? If you've already decided to rank them lower priority than the Republic as a whole?

Because the fascinating, complex, frustrating part of canon that I personally love to dig into is that the Jedi simultaneously did right by the clones and also did them dirty. They at once affirmed the clones’ humanity and participated in their oppression. And they knew they were doing something wrong but they considered it a part of the sacrifice they were making for the sake of ending the war, and ending it quickly.

ahhhhhhhh this this this! (and I definitely see it in your writing and appreciate it so much btw)

My biggest beef with the pro-jedi crowd is how often I see them echo actual irl justifications for slavery, in this case the 'myth of the benevolent slaver'. They will mention all this good stuff the Jedi do, they are nice, they respect the clones, they use their names, etc, as if that makes it all okay. They skip over the "and yet" and move on. When the truth is that there is no such thing as a 'benevolent slaver' because it does not matter how well you treat your slaves, they are still slaves, and slavery is wrong.

When it comes down to it, the Jedi are using the clones as weapons just as much as Palpatine, and just because they are doing it for a good cause doesn't change that.

That said, I'm really glad you brought up the good the Jedi did, bc that shouldn't be discounted either. The Jedi and clones do care for each other, and ignoring that can take away from the tragedy of Order 66 on both sides. There is genuine care, and that is confusing. I can get so behind the 'benevolent slaver' stuff not as a fandom excuse but as something that is very present in canon and so so ripe for exploration!

Like the way Jedi experience war alongside the clones but in such fundamentally different ways. The confusion and pain of the people who treat you so well and value your personhood being the same people who give you orders and contribute first-hand to your oppression. What's it like for that kindness to mean the world, but also nothing at all in the end?

Like gahhh this situation is so complicated, let the clones feel more complicated things about it than just guilt and admiration for the Jedi!!!

There is so much that is under-explored in canon and that's what always gets me with TCW (lol it's no wonder tcw and tbb is what turned me to fanfic). I wish we actually got to see more of a response to Slick from Obi-wan and Anakin bc that is not something that should be brushed off. I wish we got to see more dissent from clones besides just Slick and Cut. And clones dealing with not so good leaders who aren't full on evil Sith traitors. I wish we got to see more grappling with doubts and complexity, more in-depth clone reactions to finding out they even have inhibitor chips!

I want to see Rex (who said "I know this report will fall on deaf ears" about Fives) dealing with the complexity instead of just fondly remembering Anakin as the Best Jedi General tm. I want to see clones find out that the Jedi knew about Dooku and the chips and chose to cover it up, that would be interesting af! (and well I started a draft now but it prolly won't be finished for ages lol)

And most of all, I want us to be able to explore those stories and have these much needed discussions without it being dismissed as "Jedi-bashing" because people will take any critique or nuance as a condemnation

The whole “the Jedi as both individuals and an order are morally perfect, none of them have ever done anything wrong ever, it’s the Sith and the Senate who are to blame for everything” is equally annoying to me as “all organized religions are evil always” takes. It is in fact possible to reconcile “sometimes organized religions do not handle their social power well, to put it mildly” and “when a religion becomes a part of/beholden to a government that religion becomes invested in defending that government regardless of if their tenants align with its policies” and “not all people of the same religion hold to the same tenants” and “not all religious people are good people, actually” and “the Jedi are The Good Guys and we should interpret SW through this lens” and “the Jedi genuinely want to help people and do good in the galaxy” and “nothing any people or culture or religion does will ever justify a genocide against them”

I think a lot of people who grew up practicing their religion but stopped as adults, especially Americans who were only exposed to religion through Fundamentalist Christianity, try to find a way to put the Jedi into one of two boxes. And that's not how religion works. That's not how faith works. That's not how politicized religion works especially. And this is all farther complicated by the fact that, while the Jedi were indeed inspired Buddhism and Islam, they were also inspired by knights and cowboys and samurai. It is both difficult and inadvisable to make any kind of one-to-one comparison here.

The Jedi are their own thing and I think they should be analyzed as their own thing, within the context of their own stories, not as a one-to-one with something real world. But I also would love to see more analysis that digs into the fact that being a part of a religion is not black and white, good or bad. Religious is just another thing that some people are, that informs the way they understand and interact with the world. Especially in the context of SW, the kinds of power they may or may not have access to.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Presents!!!

🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 (the story whose current section you’re most excited to share)

🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 (the story making you laugh most right now)

🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 (the story that you think will be the most surprising)

🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 (whatever is calling you to write right now)

Have fun Cal! Sending lots of love and gratitude your way!

- PCA <3

THANKS PCA!!!

18 for "the story whose current section you’re most excited to share" - that would be 🕺

---

"Hen said I should clear the air," Eddie mumbles.

He gets up before Buck can talk sense into him, and crosses the bar towards Boris.

Boris looks nervous and defensive. "Okay, now I know it really does look like I'm following you, but-"

Eddie shakes his head, cutting him off.

"Listen," he says. "I talked through what happened with my friends. They think I misunderstood some stuff and… And maybe I wasn't as innocent as I thought. So… Um, can we talk? I want to make sure if we're gonna hate each other, we're at least on the same page."

Boris snorts. "What a weird way to say that."

"Well?" Eddie asks. "Do you want to hash it out or not?"

Boris rolls his eyes.

---

18 for "the story making you laugh most right now" probably the same as before, but to switch it up, let's say 📦 bc it's fun writing them being freaks

---

So I don’t move out? Even though we just signed a lease together?”

“Uh…” Eddie mumbles. 

Buck thinks. He thinks about what Eddie is saying. 

Why wouldn’t Eddie want Buck to move out? Why would he still want to hold onto him after he’d signed in legally binding ink that he won’t move away? After he asked for Eddie to do this with him, to potentially adopt his child if need be? What motivation could he have…

“Eddie,” Buck whispers very quietly. “Why?”

He needs Eddie to say it. He needs it to be clear. Spelled out for him. Because he’s thinking thoughts, and thoughts are dangerous. Thoughts are forbidden, in this direction. That’s his rule. He’s been so good. So strict. He can’t falter now.

---

18 for "the story that you think will be the most surprising" probably 👿

---

“Everyone’s all, uh, detained?” Buck asks.

Athena snorts. “You’re not going to get bit, Buck. But be careful. You may be possessed.”

“Wait, what?” Buck asks. “Possessed?” 

Bobby sighs. “Athena…”

Athena smirks. She points across the park grounds where the biting and ritual nonsense has apparently occurred. To where Hen and Chim are already approaching an injured, incapacitated victim. There’s a strange shape drawn onto the ground with white paint and surrounded by stones. 

Buck feels cold. “Is that a…”

---

18 for "whatever is calling you to write right now" let's say ⚡

---

“Definitely something small and vicious.”

“Hey!” Eddie laughs, walking into the kitchen. “That’s your sister. Be nice.”

“Okay,” Chris amends. “She’s impressively vicious to her breakfast.”

“That’s my girl,” Buck says, bending to clean the mess Izzy has left on the floor. “Overachieving.”

“Yes!” Izzy cheers. Focusing only on the positives, good for her. 

Buck stands, wipes her face a little with her bib, and kisses the top of her head. 

“Love you, my little gremlin,” he whispers. 

“Love you, Daddy,” she parrots dutifully. 

He doesn’t really care about breakfast chaos after hearing that. 

⬦⬦⬦

He calls Maddie after dropping Izzy off at daycare. 

“Are you working today?”

---

[jesncin]

Your post about how Martian Manhunter and a J'onn and Clark friendship would even work in the Gunnverse given the context of Superman's rejection of Krypton, its culture and values and anything "alien" to his Kansas American Upbringing (tm), posing the question of how would that anti-alieness Clark interact with J'onn without connecting with and maybe even being distrustful of his alieness gave me war flashbacks.

If not this exact dynamic something quite like this in its worst aspects has happened before, in the Martian Manhunter Ostrander run (that i looked up because of your Martianposting) issue 20, the first of the "revelations" arc. Focused on J'onn discovering the ship that brought baby Kal-El to Earth, having a vision of Byrne's Krypton and being disgusted by it and passing the rest of Clark's life into adulthood worring not about this child being an orphan of a whole world, not understanding his origins and feeling different without any alien community, but how his alieness and potential embrace of his alien culture and values makes him a threat to the planet.

This story just straights up presents a xenophobic Martian Manhunter who chooses not to guide young Kal-El as a fellow alien but to secretly spy, judge and police him with the ever hanging threat of dealing with him if he ever crosses the line (i.e. comes to understand himself as an alien). In the end he befriends Superman not out of kinship by their shared alieness but in spite of it, because Superman rejects Krypton and his morals are 100% """"human"""" (american).

The story does acknowledge american anti-black racism when J'onn assumes the form of a black man to be a worker in the farm and keep an eye on Clark but the Kents are just magically totally above it and it only exists in the form of bullies being bullies about something. Even the police officer in the story acknowledges it as racist and unjust and lets J'onn in the form of a black man go away scott free.

You have talked about and remixed the Ostrander run a lot so you most certainly have read this issue already and probably has a more informed opinion about it in the context of the series it is in than me as i haven't read all that much of it and don't have the bigger picture. I defer to your authority in all things martian, but i do think this issue was a glimpse of what a Gunnverse/xenophobic interpretation of J'onn and Kal might be like.

Love how Kansas Parents(tm) and American Upbringing(tm) are fun little ways we cope with these comics haha.

Oh my gosh yeah THAT Ostrander plotline! Ugh! I'm generally not a fan of interpretations where J'onn "has been on Earth for eons and eons which includes stalking Clark forever and judging him from afar" because we just lose sight of the immigrant allegory that way.

I think stuff like CW Supergirl did a much better job portraying J'onn as a newly first generation immigrant having to be quick on his feet to assimilate into a human role accidentally assigned to him. And it's even better once J'onn's dad joins the picture, and Carl Lumbly's immigrant experience further informs his performance. It wasn't handled perfectly (as J'onn still did xenopbhobic slip ups), but way better than Ostrander's version in my opinion.

Yeah honestly! Both in the Ostrander run and the eventual Rossmo and Orlando solo we have J'onn shapeshift into Black men and the subject of race (especially in relation to the police force) is ever so conveniently talked around. And that's to be expected of non-Black creative teams handling J'onn. To my knowledge it's still just CW Supergirl and Nubia Coronation Special (clearly inspired by CW Supergirl's version of J'onn) that interrogate J'onn's relationship to the Black community with more nuance. And we know the difference is the creative teams behind those stories! David Harewood was very passionate about his portrayal of J'onn, and it shows.

One of the things that bring me a sort of cringe-whimsy are these panels I keep showing from Ostrander's run:

"Let me pull this quote from the writer Heinlein to refer to this completely indescribable inhuman experience" haha. It's a kind of writing that isn't aware that being "a stranger in a strange land" is very much a human experience! It's called being an immigrant. To be diaspora. But Ostrander is so unfamiliar with this lived experience that he has to pull from another science fiction writer to make sense of J'onn's alien existence. To the white imagination, that experience is science fiction and fantastical. Not real. And it's yet another very limiting interpretation, based on all the things you've listed. Having to make sense of J'onn in relation to Byrne's Superman? That's how Ostrander rose to the challenge, and it's to engage in more xenophobic tropes.

Suffice to say YEAH. You know, Gunn could totally pull from this. And with Tom King as his consultant for all things DC comics, it'd be a disappointing direction after all the things Black creatives have done to push J'onn away from that.

[howlingday]

Jaune: (Sighs)

Taiyang: Something bothering you, Jaune?

Jaune: (Flinches) I'm fine! I mean, erm... Y-Yeah?

Taiyang: Yeah, I can tell.

Jaune: It's just... I feel like Ruby and I aren't on good terms right now. A while ago, I said and did some stuff that I don't think she could ever forgive me for, and I don't really know where to go from there. (Sighs) Sorry to vent on you like that. I should just-

Taiyang: Nothing to be sorry about. It's healthy. Now, I don't know about this whole "save the world" thing you kids have got goin' on these days, but I do know a little thing or two about trust, and how you don't know if you can ever be forgiven for what you did to your partner.

Jaune: Huh?

Taiyang: When Summer and I first met, we tried to go out on dates. Not unusual in this line of work to hook up and experiment with your partner, right? Still, I did some stupid things that I regret. She lost all faith in me, and we spent a long time trying to figure out if we'd ever get back together.

Taiyang: She had every right to cut me out of her life, but she didn't. And after a lot of soul-searching, she finally gave me an ultimatum; either start over from scratch or say good-bye. We had to do a... What did she call it? "Factory reset" the relationship. So we had our second first date and she reintroduced me to her team and her friends. In fact, she didn't even let me sleep in the same-

Jaune: Uh, I don't think Ruby and my relationship is that close, Mr. Xiao Long.

Taiyang: Maybe not, but I learned something on the second time around. You know what that is?

Taiyang: I learned to listen. I listened to every word she said. Every song she sang on the radio. I asked her questions about her life and I learned so much every day. (Chuckles) Looking back on it, I still find something new to learn about her.

Jaune: Y-Yeah, but I'm not dating Ruby.

Taiyang: But you still need her to trust you, right? Now go on. Git.

Jaune: H-Huh?!

Taiyang: You heard me. You've got some learning to do, and I'm not the teacher you need to talk to.

Jaune: (Looks over)

Ruby: (Laughing with her team)

Jaune: ...Thanks, Mr. Xiao Long.

Taiyang: Please, call me Mr. Tai.

[vicolette]

hey I’m am wondering if you can do a lamine Yamal request! One were he is really overwhelmed and is in a lot of pressure and breaks down one day having a anxiety attack and reader finds him and gives him comfort thanks!

𝐌𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲 !

– Warnings : English isn’t my first language, uses of y/n & pet names, mentions of panic attacks but stereotypical, short, not proofread.

@ lamineeeeee

-> don't come over

-> I feel sick

@ y/n<3333

-> ?? Huh?

-> do you need medicine? I'm near a pharmacy rn

-> bro don't ghost me

@ lamineeeeee

-> WHO r u calling bro🙄🙄

@ y/n<3333

-> shhhh u didn't see anything

"Lamine?" Your voice came out loud and clear as you waited at the front door of his house, not thinking much of it when you didn’t hear anything, since he might be laying in bed. However, your movements halted when you noticed that the door wasn’t properly locked, sighing in disbelief as you completely opened it and stepped inside, closing it shut behind you. "Lamine, are you there?"

The kitchen was devoid of any people and you previously knew that his mother would be out with some of her friends and take her youngest son – Kenye – with her. Although upset that the tiny boy was gone, you wished that at least anyone could answer all the questions that you had.

"Oh my-" Before you could fully complain, you heard something above you, where his room was. It sounded weak, fragile, and unlike the Lamine that you knew. You were semi-quiet while going the stairs up, the sounds of sobs filling your ears.

Once you stood in front of the door, which led to his room, you hesitantly reached out to open it and find out what was happening, only to be dumbfounded when his door was locked and not the front door downstairs. You scoffed silently, listening to the noises stopping abruptly and knew that you had been caught.

"Hi, Lamine, can you open the door? I have medicine and some other stuff with me." Speaking in a calm tone of voice, you sounded a bit enthusiastic in order for him to open the door or (at the very minimum) feel safe to talk to you.

Silence was the only thing heard at first, which made you question if you were hearing things or just imagining things, before some movements were heard. His footsteps were light, just like you knew him, but Lamine was unbelievably slow at that moment when he then opened the door, and you immediately knew why.

His nose was slightly running and his eyes were red, definitely from crying. Messy hair, and the bedsheets behind him, on his bed, indicated that he only stayed in bed. However, before you could begin a sentence, Lamine closed the door shut and started the cry uncontrollably. They were silent cries at first, until they eventually turned into ugly sobs.

Your heart ached as you tried to open the door somehow and managed to get it just the slightest bit open, putting your foot between the space before you realized that he might not want to see you. So, in the best attempt at keeping a calm head and being a great girlfriend, you fished the medicine from the plastic bag in your hand and threw it inside his room, closing the door afterwards.

"Lamine, it’s okay. Everything's okay." Assuring someone from the other side of the room was quite weird, yet you focused on him and only him, since he needed reassurance. Nobody else was there to comfort, so you opted to stay for Lamine a little longer. "Just breathe, alright? No need to worry."

Seconds, moments, minutes passed by when he then finally stopped crying and reached for the door handle, opening it as he stepped back to give you space. When you entered his room, Lamine so grateful for your presence that he bawled his eyes out once again. Unsure of what to do, you approached and hugged him, swaying him from side to side in order to somehow give him some peace.

No words were exchanged between you two for the first five minutes, merely Lamine crying and complaining about how much it hurts. What exactly hurt, you didn’t know, but you stayed silent and present.

"I wanna lay down, too exhausting…" This was your cue to lightly push him as it earned a lighthearted chuckle from Lamine, the soft feeling of his mattress refreshing as he walked backwards and his back hit the bed. The smell of detergent filled your nostrils as you gazed upon him smiling, hearing from where you were how loud and fast his heartbeat was.

"Football i-is so… fucking f-frustrating." His voice cracked as Lamine placed his hands on each side of your waist and pulled you closer, your head now in the crook of his neck as it all clicked like a light switch – the way Lamine would struggle to dribble whenever you two hung out together, the way he would make up excuses, the way he would reply in a dry way.

And the reason behind it all? Disappointment, because it was a natural experience for a boy to feel like he hung on a thread with the number ten on the back of his jersey, which only served for pressure and more pairs of eyes to land on him. But you?

Oh, you were an angel sent from the heavens above.

Lamine still the sweat beads on his forehead, still felt dizzy for no reason, but his hands held yours and you were here, right beside him, so it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered when you were with him.

A beat of silence was heard while your fingers ruffled the hair on his nape, which somewhat managed to calm Lamine down. His voice was hoarse when he spoke, eyes full of love yet lingering desperation. "Are you uncomfortable?"

"No. No, I'm not." Medicine laid somewhere on the ground and the plastic bag with his favorite was forgotten as you patted his back, feeling him relax under your touch as he hid his face on your shoulder.

Within the blink of an eye, his head tilted back as he fell into the arms of Morpheus, light snores leaving his mouth, and this time, you didn’t complain about his loud snores.

(Okay, maybe you did in the morning.)

– A/N : I never wrote panic attacks before so if this sucks ykw

[pimpong]

I feel like I kinda have to put my take on the whole toxicity thing here, especially as someone who's seen multiple communities rise and fall like that (Dream SMP, the Gacha Community, all that)

EVERYTHING BELOW THE CUT!!!

To my knowledge, this started with Jimmy killing Pearl. Simple, right? This is how the series goes, oh noes, there's the next person!! But according to what I've read on here and some of my friends, nay. Jimmy's receiving death threats. Okay. That sucks.

First up, DON'T EVER SEND DEATH THREATS. WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING. THAT IS NOT HOW YOU DEAL WITH STUFF, ARE YOU CRAZY YOU PSYCHOPATH. Second up, I think those could either only have been children on the internet, or absolute idiots. Children because, fun fact, I've seen them grow so hostile because somebody did something to their oh so precious Minecraft YouTuber *coughs Just Nero and Chaosflo44 coughs*. Idiots, because, well, they're idiots. You shouldn't take things that happen in a MINECRAFT SERIES too seriously. Remember that there are REAL PEOPLE involved. Those REAL PEOPLE are, drumroll please, PEOPLE. THEY HAVE MENTAL HEALTH. THEY HAVE PHYSICAL HEALTH. THEY'RE PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME.

Now, of course, Pearl died I think five times last episode. That's a lot. I get it. But that's just the series, ladies and gentlemen and everything inbetween and outside. However, to my knowledge, while on red, SHE went after JIMMY. JIMMY DEFENDED HIMSELF. RED ON RED VIOLENCE. THAT IS OKAY WITHIN THE RULES. (No hate to Pearl btw, yes it's sad she's out the series, but that's just how it goes sometimes.)

Anywhoozles, I feel like there's a few ways to get around that in the future. My suggestions are:

1. Put a disclaimer at the beginning of every following Life Series video, telling the viewer that, hey, this is just a fun project, don't go after anybody, that's bad.

2. Move the series to another site completely, where everybody has a smaller audience, hence if there is damage, it's minimal.

3. Go in a less PG direction. Let them all swear, so the children can't watch (since I'm guessing most toxicity comes from children with too much power at their hands ((my friend even suggested adding Mythical J Sausage, because "he'll bump up the age rating real quick". Agreed)))

4. Strictly obey the rules so stuff like this doesn't happen

5. The lifers with the largest fanbases, or literally just everyone involved in the series, uploads a video talking about this, their boundaries, how this isn't a good environment.

For me personally, and probably a lot of other people as well, this community has been a safe space for a long while, and I'd like to keep it that way. Let's all just have fun, please.

[foundfamilywhump]

Hey, hope you're having a great day! I saw on your pinned post you don't want anyone to add romantic additions to your posts, which I totally respect! If someone were to write for a prompt and the characters happened to be romantically involved, but nothing happens in the prompt, is that okay, or nah? Like say I write about A and B a lot, and they're dating, but if you only look at the prompt you can't tell. I'm not trying to bypass any boundaries or anything, I promise! If you're not cool with it I'll just use like, A and C, who are more platonic that two bros in a hot tub, or just Not Touch It. And on a general note, do you want to be tagged if i use something, and/or should i do it in a reblog? Sorry I'm very new to the writeblr/whumplr communities and still learning the code of conduct, shall we say. Have a wonderful day, I hope your wallet has more money than you remembered :D

i do try to be reasonable about not expecting people to double check every single blog they reblog from every time and having super strict rules about what people are 'allowed' to do with my posts and all. i don't think i've specifically put in my pinned that i don't want people making romantic additions to my posts, though it would very much be my preference that that didn't happen.

and as far as i'm concerned, any time characters are romantically involved that's it for me, i really don't want anything to do with it if i can avoid it! i don't believe in romantic 'actions' or anything. any action can be romantic if that's the intent/feelings/relationship, and any action can be nonromantic if that's the intent/feelings relationship. so to me it doesn't matter if 'anything happens' so to speak, it's about the type of relationship being depicted that makes the difference for me. i really am not trying to be judgmental or rigid or an asshole or anything - i really do prefer when i know straight up so that i can avoid things i don't want to see to the best of my ability. i'm severely romance repulsed and that's my boundary to manage and my situation to navigate, so i don't expect other people to like. baby me about it or change the way they do things to fit me.

if someone wanted to write about a romantic relationship based on something i've posted, you're more than welcome to! i can't stop anyone from being inspired by anything i've said nor am i trying to at all, i just don't really want to see it and i want to be extremely clear about the things that i post that they are always intended in a nonromantic way and to refer to nonromantic relationships. what people do with it after that is up to them! i just find it important as a romance repulsed aromantic person to be explicit and intentional in the presence i have in creative spaces, due to how overwhelmingly dominated by and focused on romance and romantic relationships those spaces seem to be for the most part.

i'd love to see things people wrote based on posts i've made, you're welcome to reblog or tag me!! but i do note that i would rather not be tagged in posts about romantic relationships, thank you!

this was a lovely and polite message and i appreciate it a lot! i hope i shed some light on where i'm at with this stuff in a way that's helpful or at least not like, fully sounding like a complete dick. i wish i wasn't like this, it would make my life in fandom and creative spaces a lot less uncomfortable and hostile, but here i am, so i have to work with what i've got.

[kingcatnine]

i’ve been getting more into sci fi and enjoying your sci fi posting, do you have any recs? (murderbot is already on my list)

hmmm ok see this is where having a storygraph would come in handy instead of just trying to keep a list in my head let me see...

for tvmovies of course I'm going to tell you to watch all of star trek. except the ones I don't care about... that's mostly just the newer ones. the original series, the next generation, deep space 9, voyager, enterprise, lower deck, prodigy, I feel like im forgetting something here but it's ok. the movies are also quite awesome everyone love the voyage home 🐋

I really like farscape but I havent finished it yet... it's FREE on TUBI it's about JOHN CRICHTON he's an ASTRONAUT he was SHOT through a WORMHOLE it's fucking badass.

I've been watching stargate sg1 with my mom recently and been enjoying it! military scifi isn't usuallyyyy my thing but I like the characters enough to overlook it

a lot of people like star wars i think it's got some interesting stuff going on but ultimately it's not really my thing I'd still recommend giving it a shot though yk it's popular for a reason really

pacific rim... one of my favorite movies points taken off for the use of the g slur I really hate the choice to do that and it's in the main Jaegers fucking NAME it's really hard to avoid it fucking sucks. regardless it is suuuch a good movie epic action and aliens and giant mechs hitting each other it rules.

wait can I cheat and put ultraman in here go watch ultraman. ultraman arc is a good one it's free on youtube go watch it @EVERYONE

books....

you've already got my friend murderbot on there that's awesome. soon it will be OUR friend murderbot

2001 A SPACE ODYSSAYYYYYYYY so fucking good. one of my favorites please read it you'll get to meet hal 9000. the movie... also exists 😃! im being too harsh really it's a jawdroppingly beautiful movie with effects that are still gorgeous today (it was made in tandem with the book back in 1969!) it just made a few changes to Hal and the other characters that I don't agree with, I feel like it doesn't focus on the characters as much & takes a less sympathetic view of hal which for me cheapens the story... it's still worth a watch really just AFTER you read the book ok. oh 2010 (the sequel) is so good too I actually haven't read the third book yet im saving it for a rainy day. oh one thing i will say for the movie is it gives David a trait of liking to draw and at the beginning of the movie Hal asks to see what he's drawing and he holds it up to hals lens it's soooooo cute it's so cute. it almost makes it all worth it.

hitchhikers guide to the galaxy! I'm a big fan of Douglas adams's writing voice like they really aren't lying once you read a Douglas adams you find out what every nerdy comedy writer has been trying to capture for decades. really funny series and very fun scifi yay yay yay

THE MARTIAN this one is a real page turner i really like the realism/plausibility aspect of it like it's really well researched. and it's fun! mark watney is a great protagonist he's very capable but he has his fuckups (as anyone would in such a situation) really great read. I've heard the movie is really good too im planning to watch it

I have no mouth and I must scream is another classic of course... scifi horror 🥰

ummm that's all i can remember rn I'm sorry it's not a deep cut I kind of fell out of reading for a good few years and I've been drawn towards the classic big name scifis first I want to see what all the fuss is about... and i often get my tits blown off for my trouble! yay scifi

[goldenmoon12]

Hello!

I'm 20 years old and brand new to the whump community! I'm here to draw comics where my OCs get the tar beat out of them. Hoping to meet like-minded people, I've never actually tried to talk to internet strangers so we'll see how that goes. I draw like this ↓

and I'll probably be posting more images than text What you can expect: •Short form comics (I don't know how to read <3) •Beating •Restraints •Drugging •Gagging •General Sadism •Masochistic whumpee •Emotional Manipulation •Medical •NSFWhump •A lot of transgender men for some reason

What you can't expect •Bad things happening to kids/old people/animals •F!Whumpee/M! whumper (bums me out) •idk i like to think i'm pretty open minded

Also a quick shoutout while I've got your attention to I'd like to direct it towards @doomeddestination @holidayinhell @forwhump for writing stuff that genuinely improved my life. If you're looking for something smarter than comics check them out

My ask box is always open and I am extremely taking both writing recommendations and drawing suggestions!

[dingodad]

ok finally getting around to the asks I got sent on this topic but I'm just gonna do it on this post so people actually know what the fuck I'm talking about LOL

Anonymous asked: well. if we already have satyrs and nymphs, then surprise dryads might not be unreasonable. get a little fire/water/grass trio going.

well they're not gunna be dryads. cus a dryad is just a kind of nymph.

Anonymous asked: what if one satyr and one nymph die before/ during entry and we have three groups of two (two satyrs, two nymphs, two tree people)

Anonymous asked: if walking tree people are real, we could hypothetically get a 12 person session with the same gimmick as the trolls of having all aspects, just w different class combos. bc 4 omega kids, 3 + 3 of nymphs and satyrs, plus 2 hypothetical tree people (one girl one boy). which is insane talk. but also maybe

the former felt a lot more likely when I first got these asks than it does now that we've had three nymphs and three satyrs all stealth introduced lol BUT. maybe the latter can still work. we've got our mock trolls maybe there's still room for a pair of mock cherubs as well. i know before now i kept saying they need to introduce as few new characters as possible but fuck it if you're doing 6 you MIGHT AS WELL do 8. right. what the fuck ever.

for the record obviously it wouldn't be a boy tree and a girl tree they would be the nonbinary species. duh

Anonymous asked: they’re all setup for the great game then the trees/dryads/ents/4RBOR34L 4MBUL4TORs trample every named character to death, ending the story with a classic homestuck subversion

i do keep thinking about how the movement of Deltritus' trees is said to "create large crevasses and ravines almost instantly, redirecting watercourses and altering the landscape over and over with each stride". like, with Dirk's fixation on Atlantis, the emphasis on the separation of Deltritus' land and sea, the nymph obsession with cataclyms... this won't happen. but something like it totally COULD happen. right. and the fact that they're animated by the breeze flowing through their trunks feels like such obvious setup for some kind of huge Windy Thing Event........

Anonymous asked: u kno i forget where but i couldve sworn in a mythos somewhere trees are used as portals by various fae/nature spirits so theres that? also maybe a literal tree of life reference if the satyrs do any nordic ref stuff.

i donno that it has to be THIS specific; generally speaking nature spirits inhabit nature, so trees are naturally a part of that. and nymphs, specifically, tend to be the spirits of specific trees (or rivers etc.)

the more I think about it the more I'm convinced that the satyrs + nymphs both being named for nature spirits means that the walking trees will still be relevant somehow. I just can't think of how that could possibly be LOL