#i dont share precisely bc of that !!!

[vampirefunkmetal]

clocking in for another nightshift at the "making fun of remmick nolastname sinners (2025)" factory

[araneapeixes]

drew a friend's Tav for her DTIYS :)

[always-undermining]

no debí... no debí haber dicho eso

[fantastic-nonsense]

hi i love your blog!! especially your wonder woman rec list has been *amazing* and your batman comics guide with the little character spotlights is the best one ive found so far. thanks to your filtering of good/bad comics for all these characters i continued reading comics (after reading battle for the cowl as my first ever dc comic, which was. interresting. to say the least lol). but I have a little question - i couldnt find if you've answered it before already, sorry - which is: how do you read your comics mainly? bc as a college student, i dont have heaps of spare money around, and as an european, i dont have access to that dc online comics thing so if i read digital i have to pirate them. but i understand that comics kind of live-or-die by monthly sales and interrest in a run. and things like the current cass solo and absolute wonder woman seem really interresting and i want those to continue, so i try not to pirate them and wait for the trade releases, but its all very expensive when you start to read a lot of comics. and you have read a tonne of comics, which made me curious - do you buy physical copies, or just use the dc digital thing, or piracy, for your main reading? how do you keep this hobby, like, econnomiccally responsible? because i understand you can just pirate everything, but its not like im *too* broke to buy anything, ever. just wanted to hear your thoughts on how you personally do this, if you wish to share.

(ignore the word vomit, being precise in english is not a talent of mine :D)

Aww, thank you so much! I'm so happy to have helped you and I'm glad you're still here (especially after starting off with BftC)!

I'm going to be real with you for a minute before I actually answer your question: because you are a college student who does not live in the US, the realistic answer for you is to download Ublock Origin (something you should download anyway), open readcomiconline.li, enjoy reading comics, and if you find a comic you like and think is worth shelling out money for, find a way to purchase it legally.

I have an entire spiel on comic book piracy that I will not expound upon at length here but generally boils down to "piracy is rampant in the comics industry because it's the obvious and inevitable result of making legally reading comics expensive, difficult, platform-dependent, and inherently exclusionary while de-prioritizing collected editions, digital sales, and international readers. If any comic company decided to be a competent publisher for even one year, piracy rates would plummet."

If you're still concerned about the ethics of pirating comics after that, allow me to let you in on the worst-kept secret in history: professional comic creatives do it too:

Now, to actually seriously answer your question about how I read comics and keep my hobby financially sustainable: I've been reading and collecting comics for nearly 17 years. The ways in which I have read and collected comics have shifted several times over the years. I purchase some comics (mostly physically), I read some comics through my local library system, and I pirate others. I am fortunate enough to live near a good local comic shop, though this was not always the case, so I get a lot of my new comics there right now.

I have a lot more disposable income now than I did when I was in high school and college, but I'm also a fairly frugal person by nature. When I do buy comics, I almost never buy them new or at full price. I bought around 90-95% of the comics I own either used or on sale. I've used many avenues and methods to buy comics: Amazon and Ebay, the back issue bins and clearance sections at comic shops, the huge used media store near my parents' home that has a fantastic comics section, and sites like instocktrades that sell trades at a discount to name a few.

The exceptions are trades I know have fairly limited printings (and so will end up being more expensive in the long run if I don't buy them new and now) and single issues for runs I specifically subscribed to in order to finanically support. I usually limit myself to putting 3-4 runs maximum on my pull list at any given time; I simply don't have the funds, space, or desire to buy single issues at a higher rate than that. I'm a trades girlie at heart and that's where I will stay. I have zero guilt over not shelling out additional money to companies who clearly do not actually want it (otherwise they would make buying their products easier and would properly support their creatives).

I do own quite a few digital comics, which I mostly bought when Comixology was an independent site and used to run regular sales. Unfortunately Comixology has since been fully folded into the normal Amazon storefront and the Kindle Reader functionality for comics is incredibly subpar compared to the old Comixology app, so I basically no longer buy digital comics. However, I amassed quite a solid digital collection prior to the merger in 2022 (I have pretty much every Black Panther comic ever published up until 2020 because Comixology did a weeklong "get every BP comic for free" sale in the wake of Chadwick Boseman's death, for example).

This is what 16 years of physically collecting comics looks like for me:

As you can see, most of the comics I own are trades/hardbacks. I find that purchasing trades is cheaper, easier, a much more pleasant reading experience, saves space, and as a bonus is much prettier from a display perspective. The two white shortboxes on top of the shelf are where I store all of my single issues. After buying a new single issue, I "bag and board" it for preservation purposes and then put it in the box, arranged alphabetically by title, like so:

the tl;dr on my reading habits is that while I mostly pirate, especially for newer issues, I also use services like DC Infinite or my local library (both physically and digitally via services like Hoopla) to legally read older comics otherwise and then primarily buy in trade (usually used/on sale, rarely new) as I find them.

The floppies I own are mostly a) books from my pull list, b) very specific story arcs or runs that I love enough to work on collecting individually, c) comics I like that have never been collected, so the only way to own them legally is through hunting down and purchasing individual issues, d) issues with pretty covers that caught my eye, and e) a few random other issues here and there.

I also use RCO to reference comics that I've read when discussing comics online and writing metas, regardless of whether I legally own the comic or not. I'm not going to pull out my legally bought, physical copies of Cass's Batgirl run, scan them, and then upload the pictures every time I want to write meta. I'm going to go to RCO and grab a screenshot from the relevant issues.

While I wish it didn't work this way, reading superhero comics is a niche hobby that currently assumes you have lots of free time and lots of disposable income. Ultimately it is impractical and realistically financially impossible to legally purchase every comic you want to read and discuss with other people. Reading comics via other means (whether legally or through piracy) is actually foundationally necessary to ensure the industry continues, not just because of the traditional lack of access but also the sheer impossibility of buying individual comics at the scale necessary to understand and discuss the stories these companies publish. Not to mention the difficulty of discussing comics online if you are a physical reader/buyer.

Yes, the industry is severely outdated and still prioritizes monthly sales of physical single issues despite that not actually being a good indicator of a book's eventual financial success. Yes, ideally everyone would be able to legally purchase comics. But in reality, no one does so. I can probably count on my hands the number of comic readers I know who have never pirated anything. I don't begrudge anyone, especially people who live outside of the US and usually only have access to a very limited selection of stories, deciding to pirate comics. Please do so. You don't owe the Big Two shit. I only ever ask that if you ARE in a financial position to support the comics and creators you love by legally purchasing comics that you try to do so. Go and be free.

[kamaela]

a year of fandom in recs

cutie pie @garagepaperback tagged me in a 2024 fandom wrap up post and so yeah, i'll hop on the sentimental train. i've been inspired by so many things this year and i shall do my best to honour them in the rambling list below!

--

having previously been an avid lurker, i've thoroughly enjoyed making friends with some truly inspiring people in this fandom. without a doubt this has been a bright, bright spot on my year and im so grateful! you're all so wonderful and i love you and hope you know that.

@kk1smet has been a source of joy and inspiration from the start. my first ever fic (Got Me Started) was inspired by their prompts, and then my first ever fest fic (Mirror, Me) was sparked by their stunning art. THEN they honoured me with my first ever fanart for my fic (To Be Punished). im so blessed to call them a friend!

i can draw a straight line from every single word i've posted on ao3 to the fanworks that inspired them. ive read/seen sooo many wonderful things this year and it's impossible for me to name them all. ive picked out a few below the cut that are directly responsible for lighting a fire in me so strong i had to write that shit down. if you haven't already, please give some of these fanworks a go, they're all top notch.

+ @yiiiiiiiikes25 wrote cruising altitude from the raven cycle fandom and it fucking rocked my world. i am telling you right now, i have never read anything like it. it is an absolute masterclass in craft. every single word is thoughtful and precise. i thought i knew what voice and diction and pov were and how they can be used to tell the story you want to tell but really, i had no idea. yikes has this way of pulling you so deeply into a characters pov that its honestly disorienting to come out of. i fell in love with these random boys from a fandom i'd never read nor cared for, and i keep going back. i don't care if you are drarry monogamous, if you want to experience some of the best this dumb hobby we're all addicted to has to offer, i implore you, go read cruising altitude. go. GO. and then go read the rest of yikes catalogue bc ofc they also do drarry impeccably.

+ @garagepaperback i read this heaven of mud and haven't been the same since. then i read javelin and ive been permanently altered once more. not only is garage directly responsible for exes becoming my all time favourite trope, but the way they explore the deep, long-lasting effects of trauma (in these and all your other fics) is second to none! its incredibly beautiful and impactful and has left such as lasting impression on me. and all that is wrapped up in some of the most poetic and stunning prose ive ever had the pleasure of reading?!?!! get out of here (but also please dont i value our friendship dearly)

+ @mintawasalreadytaken i read All I Want For Kwithmath and then i went on a tear and read most of their Dead Drarry: Do Not Eat series and honestly had the BEST TIME. they write some of the greatest toxic, kinky, fucked up drarry, but somehow make it so i really fucking care about these two idiots, and want the best for them?? minta is so good at hooking you right from the top and then pounding those hooks in deeper and deeper. the end result is that i now cradle toxic drarry in my hands and wont ever let them go (and sometimes I even try writing them)

+ @eleadore's as the plant that never blooms and everything i could ever want helped to shape and sand the edges of the drarry dynamic i love and want to write! el writes some of the hottest, most rewarding, prickly to tender drarry out here. pls run don't walk.

+ @faiell and i shared our drarry fic debuts on ao3 this year and their fic, Purple, absolutely blew me out of the water. it's expertly written, hot as fuck, contains the shifting power dynamics that are at the core of what i love about drarry, and has SUCH A satisfying ending. i was grinning and cackling for about 3-4 business days after reading. (also peep their tumblr to scream at their art) fai, i've said it before and ill say it again, i'll follow you into fire, i really will.

this post is getting far far too long but i cannot end it without also mentioning some (not exhaustive) of the STAND OUT creators i've had the pleasure of experiencing for the first time this year. i'll include a rec (all drarry unless stated otherwise) + whatever unhinged drivel i put in my bookmark for each but it goes without saying that the talent runs deep and id rec multiple creations from these guys if this post wasn't already novel length.

@citrusses' Our Objective Remains Unchanged: THE drarry muggle au. reread a 100x material

@oknowkiss' draco malfoy's substitute murder service: this made me laugh out loud at several points and its only 10k!!!! also draco is simply lovely, i love him so so so so very much i want to be his friend and just listen to him talk and be insane. this whole thing is thoroughly enjoyable.

@mono-chromia's Red Wine Supernova: everything about this is wonderful, the relationship development, the sex, the writing. you'll want draco to step on your face after reading.

@putridpommes' [ART] Step by step (NSFW): sub harry. draco stepping on face. neon and sweat. what more do you need.

Helenish's A Soft Spot For Lost Causes (draco/ron): trauma treated kinda unserious but still seriously. gorgeous dialogue.

wild (orphaned): Okay so the banter/dialogue is unmatched, the relationship development bw draco and harry is soooo realistic and so delicious. a study on learning about yourself what it means to forgive

corvuscrowned's An Emerald In The Sky: stretched and pulled taut by this story, perfect longing/pining/yearning, heartbreaking and beautiful

peu_a_peu's The Superfluous Man: utterly delightful, hilarious, i want to stay in the feeling this fic gave me forever and ever. never not thinking about flustered yet domestic draco, endless quotes. An mpreg?? WHAT?? it's peu.

@stratigraphywrites' Untouched: this is delicious!!!! the push and pull between draco and harry is expert. extremely extremely hot

@lemonlimelea's we'll start anew: yeah this is wayyyy stunning, gorg writing, long time span capturing all different facets of harry and draco's relationship

@hephaestiions' It's You: one of those ones that leaves you panting and scratching the walls, crying for more.

okay if you read all this, thank you i love you. happy new year!

No pressure tagging any of the above plus @dryrsheet @its-the-allure @phoenixortheflame @smehur. would love to read about your year in review!

[vencyrus]

Mini-analysis on Tsubakino's fighting style and why I think he's comparable to Suo and Kiryu bc I loved watching him fight

//Wind Breaker S2 spoilers under the cut //Also english is not my first language so theres probably some words i coulda used to make this shorter but i dont know them OTL

So from what we've seen so far (anime only), Tsubaki loves cute/pretty/stereotypically feminine things and he takes kind of a protector role for Shizuka. Something we see from three other characters: Suo with Nirei, Kiryu with the unnamed girl, and Anzai with Nagato. (Anzai doesn't matter for the sake of this comparison since we dont rly see him fight but i gotta give my boy the creds he deserves)

I don't have clips for what I'm gonna say abt Suo and Kiryu's fighting styles and I'll be grossly oversimplifying it since this post isn't about them.

From what we see of both of them, they focus heavily on evasion and counterattacks, not often do they strike head-on.

-----I ACCIDENTALLY RAMBLE ON HERE SO U CAN SKIP-----

Suo seems to do it for fun, keeping things playful, and making sure not to get hit. In a 1 on 1, we see Suo gets his opponent frustrated so they leave themselves open for heavy counterattacks and when in a brawl, he still focuses on evasion but makes sure to always follow it up with a counter. We barely see him block and mostly redirects. AAHHHHH IM RAMBLING OK MOVING ON.

Kiryu fights very similarly, but for a different reason. He doesn't have the same weight to his strikes that Suo has. In the group brawl, we see him redirecting his attackers back at Sakura to finish them off after he knocks them off balance. Then in his 1v1 vs KEEL, we see him employing the same tactics but this time, he keeps his opponents attention. There is no one to redirect him to so, like Suo, he frustrates his opponents, finds an opening, and strikes. Being much more precise than Suo, taking down his opponent in one weak hit.

-----HERE WE GET BACK ON TOPIC-----

Point being, with heavy focus on evasion and redirection, their fighting styles can be described as very elegant and graceful. Words that can be used for stereotypically feminine things. At a glance, Suo and Kiryu are very similar to each other and Tsubaki is almost a polar opposite to the both of them. However, they do share a lot of similarities. All three being very forthright and blunt in what they have to say. The only difference being in the delivery of their words.

That being said, seeing the similarities between the three and the themes that Tsubaki's character centered around, I assumed his fighting style would be very similar to the two.

We do get a hint of this not being the case after we see his dancing at the end of EP20. To the unintroduced, pole dancing appears very weightless due to the minimal contact a lot of the moves have with any surface with a lot of reliance on momentum. Lots of flow to it and stereotypically a feminine form of dance. Animation tends to use a pole dancing sequence to showcase the female form in a sexualized manner, ignoring the athleticism required to perform such feats.

However, if you pay attention to Tsubaki's sequence, its not meant to appear sexualized. A lot of the detail is put into showing off his muscle mass/definition and athleticism as opposed to elegance and style. He is rather tall compared to the rest of the cast (even accounting for the heels) and if put side by side with Umemiya, depending on how inconsistent the animation is, the two are almost comparable in size.

OK SO NOW TO THE ACTUAL COMBAT ANALYSIS I PROMISED OOPS I KEPT RAMBLING!!!

So where we see both Kiryu and Suo are very light on their feet, Tsubaki is very grounded. Every swing he throws out has a lot of weight to it. Normally, heavy swings means long recovery, usually means you leave yourself open to a counterattack. But he uses a lot of the momentum to create false openings, turning his back to his opponent but still using that momentum to either throw a second strike before they can react or to quickly block.

We see Tsubaki throw off three kicks like this in the episode. He does kick a lot in this fight, but these are very different. His very [rotational?] fighting style lends well to swinging kicks. He swings his whole body around as a form of defense and offense. The difference is that these are thrusting kicks. Only forward momentum, no rotation, and not as centered or grounded. He's very wide open and can easily be knocked off-balance. But each time, it successfully zones his opponent. He only goes for these risky moves when he's sure he can connect.

In contrast to Suo and Kiryu, he's not as talkative as them during their 1v1s and he's a bit more of a brute, focusing on heavy hits and blocking. He is a big target after all, towering over most of the cast.

That being said, he still stays very true to his character, starting off the fight in a playful manner, almost teasing his opponent like Kiryu and Suo do, while also throwing in a bunch of fancy footwork and spins to make up for his shortcomings.

All three of them are very deceptive and precise and they throw in so much showmanship and grace into their routines. Tsubaki just has a different way of delivering!

[yuukei-yikes]

LOVED the latest kagefuture!!! Honestly was feeling a little weird that Ayano was getting so enabled by like everything around her so I’m glad harutaka (❤️) were there to reality check her and the audience ngl? Especially Takane like yeah she’s so right for calling out the baby fever and how Ayano is making excuses - really messed up one at that (like, what, you don’t get to tell people they’re toxic because you’re jealous)!!!

I also appreciate them calling out her weird kind of like traditional view of relationships. it always icked me out that Ayano seemed ok with like kidomomo but not when it’s her brother and a man she doesn’t admit she’s into. that said I also get why she’s icked by the sharing comment because in the end that is still also her brother

anyways I really like how it doesn’t paint Ayano in a good light and honestly that’s nice. Good people don’t always do good things. Just because she’s a good person doesn’t mean everything she does is right and justified!! And just because Kano is (kind of) a bad person doesn’t mean everything he does is toxic and abusive!! (which just made me think oh god she lowkey called her brother abusive I’d be pissed too what)

Sorry for the long ask this was so cathartic ngl I love how messy and complex it is. everyone sucks (/positive)!! except harutaka they’re perfect

thank you!!!! im glad you liked it :3

yup ayano getting some tough loving was necessary i'd say. i feel a little bad for her bc kano yells at her. shintaro yells at her. now harutaka yells at her. but she HAS been acting crazy she needed the reality check

sorry for being such a kano apologist but he's not a bad person at all!! not even kind of. he's just extremely private and never really learned how to cope with all the super fucked up shit he went through. he's done everything he thought was convenient to move past the situation, even tried making peace with shintaro in part 15 (not understanding that his feelings for him, both positive and negative, are stronger than any voice of reason)

realistically he just wants to move past this. but if they all were to pretend nothing happened like he wants, he would inevitably resent it forever, which is what ayano doesn't want and the reason she keeps pushing it so much. i wouldn't use the word "abusive" here either. ayano is in fact making excuses because she just doesn't want shintaro and kano together simply because... it's weird for her! ex boyfriend and brother. it's weird.

but also... from her point of view, shintaro and kano haven't been Good to each other. precisely bc of what takane tells her: they dont know what goes on behind closed doors. actually, ayano has NO CLUE what their relationship is like because they never showed her or told her. shintaro isn't her property and kano's a grown up. both of them CAN in fact do whatever they want. of course they're sorry it's weird for her but for kano, his feelings for shintaro started getting too serious to the point their relationship got out of his control, and shintaro, like he tells ayano, wasn't thinking of how it'd affect her. it's kind of unfortunate because neither of them is like, wrong for it. it's just how things happened.

i really wanted outsider characters to tell ayano how counterproductive her behavior is. she wants to solve things so everyone will be happy but it makes her act very selfish because she wants to force what she thinks is right to do, because she's desperate to keep peace with everybody but... how can that happen? sorry i feel like i keep defending everyone. all 3 of them are acting kinda nuts but i do believe in their own ways, they're all within reason considering their personalities and situations. ayano is just holding very very VERY tight to trying to have control. while kano lets go of anything he realizes he can't handle anymore, even if that's shintaro, or himself or his sister.

and ayano's not freaked out by kanoshin being gay like kidomomo lol i guess the gayness of it all plays a part of it, cause she's like trying to figure out shintaro's thought process maybe, how he can go from her to him or something, but i think she'd be equally frustrated even if it wasnt gay

[ego-meliorem-esse]

Okay but why do François and Arthur keep separating if they are the only ones who understand each other that well? It's their arrogant personality? Their vicious habits and need to be correct? Bc I actually see françois more aggressive and Arthur more permissive in the end which seems to be contradictory to what I see people writing in the fruk shippers. I don't get it, no hate

Nah nah all good valid question and i do agree actually on most of what you say.

They dont separate in the traditional and common way we associate humans and human relationships with. Not fully.

Lets say they spend a vacation together. They go to the beach and drink and find bars and terorrize supermarkets during their stay. They are happy and content and a destrucrive power couple. But they are still nations and nations have more responsibilities than two moddle aged human men could ever have. So they clash on a thing or two. One takes a stab at an old phychologial wound thought healed. The other gets irritated but doesnt express it (cus emotional repression is legal apparently) and he takes a jab at the other at their weak spot. And they are irritated at each other and start to bicker bc both are too hardheaded to apologize or talk like people who didnt grow up during the middle ages. Now any small mishap irritates the other. A big fight then separation. They dont see eath other for a longer period of time after that. They might hit it off again with an old friend/enemy/lover and its fine. The problem is that François knows exactly what to say and what nerve to pick and get on it to get Arthur to react as he wants. And Arthur is too much of a sarcastic person and generally a man who enjoys a good challege which he might not get from everyone he interacts with. At least not precisely the way he likes. Like Alfred, Arthur gets bored seemingly quickly with a person. Also his affection can be missinterpreted as belittlement or even a jibe or taunt. He portrays himself as polite and appropriate but in truth he is a hard man to get along with. And few people know how to deal and distinguish his comments.

So after a randevouz with Portugal whom he hasnt seen in a while, he is once again sitting at home by himself pondering what takeout to get bc who has time to cook these days. He is still annoyed with francois but doesnt think too much of it. So after a while something happens and he wants to talk to someone about it, so having all but forgotten their little feud he picks up the phone and dials the french phone number. François picks up and you can hear the irritation in the "I thought the lord is still pissed at me. What a surprise." To which Arthur responds with "Oh do shut up. Now listen I've recetly got word that......" because who can be as stubborn as mules yet forgetful as fish at the same time? These two.

I do think to a certain degree Arthur is more permissive. Especially as he got older and saw his empire sink into that ocean he loved so much. François has more of a need to prove that he is still on top of the game so he does tend to be more assertive in some situations and discussions.

Even if they dont speak to eachother for multiple years at a time, something will come that hauls them back to one another. Be it shared history, mutual understanding or good gossip.

In short, small things break them apart and smaller things bring them together.

[denkilightning]

i always imagine the ninja to use very different stances regarding their elemental powers... kais is very much more hands on, "get out there" big motions, martial arts to aid with his fire, and jays has a lot of minimal movement, but very precise and sharp hand motions (kind of like lightning bending in atla) like using only two fingers just bc he has to be more in control than everyone else (which i recently found out is a canon thing!!!)

yes yes yes all of them have specific fighting styles with little quirks.

like jays little fighting quirk is throwing people over his shoulder for no reason lmao

but yes i agree!!! kais big fast movements, his focus in the fight relies in how well he can feel the air around him so he can burn it (since yknow fires burning air), cole is more hard specific strong moves, nyas very fluid very wave like in her motions, zane is a mix between cole and nya, and lloyds moves are mostly inspired from kai and jay!!

and jay is a mixed fucking bag. he unconsciously takes so much inspiration from others fighting styles that he can execute practically every signature move of the others. but yeah hes extremely precise, especially with his powers due to anxiety that hell hurt innocent bystanders or his teammates.

thats before skybound though. after he fights like a completely different person. what to others might look like his powers get out of control more often, what actually happens is that jays survival instincts take over the fear of hurting others. he has a much more of a kill or be killed attitude running in his veins. his moves are sharper, faster and you dont wanna get kicked by him. (he forgets he doesnt need to use as much force when moving his legs now that theres no vengestone ball attached to him). its angrier.

and it takes a few years until he gets his calm back.

also oh?? jay needing to be more in control than everyone else is canon?? do tell?? (i might be aware of this but it mightve slipped my mind so pls share with the class!!!)

[midnight--sadness]

I love Gihun with all my heart, but shouldn't he have immediately suspected Inho because he's Player 1 and immediately wanted to befriend him like Il Nam did? At the very latest, when Inho suddenly learned Gihun's name, he should have known that Inho might have something to do with the games.

Besides, Gihun could have expected that the frontman might have sent someone to spy on him, since he had already announced that he wanted to end the games.

But like I said i love Gihun with my whole heart and I don't think he is stupid or something! This guy has simply won every game so far 😭

i definitely understand what you're saying! from the outside, it's kinda silly to wonder how gihun didn't notice but we have to think abt gihun's mindset.

gihun doesn't see these players as numbers, so inho being 001 would fly right over his head. those numbers mean nothing to him; we only see him having a reaction to his own number being the same from the previous games, which makes sense.

a player wanting to befriend him is also not something he would suspect bc gihun himself befriended others and benefitted greatly from it (he even says they are the reason he got to where he is when he's fighting with sangwoo); someone doing the same thing he did wouldn't raise any red flags. and besides, gihun wants to help these people, so them being his friends works in his favor.

the name thing is more ambiguous, but i think it is believable that youngil could have heard jungbae shouting gihun's name in the stairs. i haven't seen s2 in a while, so i don't know if jungbae repeas gihun's name between that moment in the stairwell and the time youngil says his name before the pentathlon. but, again, gihun has no reason to distrust youngil. (to be fair, gihun is very taken aback by youngil saying his name and he does seem suspicious for a few seconds.)

i mean, can we say gihun "expected" the front man to send someone? ilnam wasn't a worker, he was the head of the games. him being in said games was an anomaly, not the rule. i don't see how gihun should anticipate another person joining the games to trick him, especially bc ilnam is dead and to gihun's knowledge, no one took his place.

abt youngil's luck... unfortunately i can see why gihun doesn't suspect him at all. he's charismatic and friendly - he even wins a round of mingle bc of it. on the surface level, on the level gihun sees and knows, there's nothing wrong with youngil, nothing suspicious. his backstory with his wife was told to gihun on the first night precisely bc inho knew he needed to gain gihun's trust, and he knew gihun's soft heart would sympathize with youngil (i dont think inho planned to share as much as he did tho).

i find it weird gihun never saw those stares inho sent him but i can also understand that he was too busy rationalizing that he was back in the games, witnessing never ending carnage once again.

gihun isn't a naturally suspicious person. he's very paranoid but inho is good enough of a manipulator to not set off any of gihun's alarms. so, yeah, i understand why gihun never suspected him, and i'm glad for it bc it just means that the angst next season when gihun finds out the truth will be much more amplified 🫶

[mischiefsystem]

As a system we have experienced both like people seeing us as too much the same and not recognizing that each alter is their own person, but also like. People seeing us as way too different and not recognizing the whole like. We had a girlfriend who was like "its creepy that your alters share your memory its like they are spying on me" as if we were not also a part of this person she was having a relationship with.

I think thats why the concept of like. Every alter is a person, but the system is also a person is important to us. And its difficult to clairify what we mean since we are kind of using the word person to mean different things there since there isnt really seperate language for it other than "alter" and "system" and people dont inherently understand what that means which is the point of this lol.

And I think that can be a real struggle within the system community because for some calling an alter a person can make it feel like you are seperating them out too much and for some calling the system a person can make it feel like you are seeing the alters as too much the same. And honestly we struggle with both a bit, because society doesnt have this inherent idea of being your own person but still part of a larger identity, like its not the same as just a community of singlets so just explaining it as a community doesnt really work in in the same way since like. If you are shoving away an alter its bc you are afraid of what they are holding and afraid of that part of yourself and if you do that outsys youre just being a dick (which. It can still be being a dick insys its just also repression or something to reinforce dissociation from a trauma).

And I think this kind of thing is why there is like arguments within system communities about language and how to count it, I mean some of it is just repression and not accepting alters individuality or genuine thinking of alters more seperately than they are, or variation between systems on how seperate they are that people wrongly generalize to everyone, but a lot of it I think is like what ways a system has been misunderstood most commonly causing miscommunication

So clairifying that each alter is a person can feel pointless and pedantic if youve mostly been seen too seperately, and clairfying that the system is a person feels pointless and pedantic if you mostly have been seen as too much the same

So when you say x is a person it can feel like more of seeing systems too seperately or too much the same since if you only have been mischaracterized in one way then the way you arent mischaracterized can feel obvious so anyone drawing attention to it must be doing it *too much*

And its really really hard to talk about in a way that isnt too much since language is made for singlets, and language made for us isnt inherently understood so it feels like we need to translate it into this universal language that isn't as precise

But it feels really important because its painful to not be seen how you are

[youremyheaven]

I love your horse post!💘💕

Honestly I’d love to see more discussion about yoni animals. Here are some of my thoughts that I wanted to share with you because I’m not sure if I’m misinterpreting stuff or not

(Yap incoming)

-Snake yoni are the type of people to like sex for the emotional connection rather than the physicality? Not that they don’t like the physicality, but rather they like how physicality connects them with that person instead of just the pleasure of it. For mrig specifically, you talked a lot about mars and celibacy which I agree with, but I know a lot of mrig moons with horse/buffalo yoni suns who are very sexually active and open about it, but it’s usually not very casual to them even if it’s outside a relationship

- A lot of cat yoni have sex only so that they can have children. You mentioned a while back in a post about how sex is painful for cats and vaginismus in cat yoni women, but also historically cats have always been a symbol of motherhood due to the fact that they can have large litters. Again I’m sure some cat yoni moons still like sex bc of other placements but still

- But then you have rat/hares who have such huge litters to the extent that they become invasive species. I can’t remember if it was Claire who said about how jyestha men are the types to have 1000 illegitimate children due to the hare yoni influence 😂 I feel like these ppl are the opposite of snake/cat yoni because they just have sex to physically satisfy themselves

-Elephant yoni are kind of private about their sexual attraction? Even though they’re one of the horniest yoni, they have this sense of dignity which makes them keep most of their sex drive to themselves. Not as in they’re conservative, you just wouldn’t have them pinned as a freak if you didn’t know them like that

-I have a theory that smaller yoni are more passive sexually, mainly because the smaller sex drive means they don’t have that “instinct” to tell them what to do so they’d rather have someone else do the legwork.

Might apply less to straight men because of how they’re socialised, they’re scared to be a little passive because it’s “gay” or whatever. I imagine this would create the kind of guy who expects oral from you but never wants to finger or eat 🐱. Need a field expert to verify that one though

🩷🤍

thanku cutie <33 i'll make more yoni related posts in the future hehe

Snake yoni being emotionally intense and having an emotional attachment to sex is vv true. I dont think they feel satisfied unless they have one of those soul merging tantric type encounters. Their feelings run deep and sex to them is super profound. i feel like that intensity can be scary af for others. Snakes are scary creatures and if you've watched snakes fornicate, you know that its a weird visual where they kind of merge into each other. This is precisely the kind of intimacy these natives crave, they want to merge into you. 🥵scary but hot

the Cat yoni observation is interesting and could be true. idk if it applies to Ashlesha as much bc I've never really met an Ashlesha who had any maternal desire lmao but with Punarvasus it could be true but something I've noticed is that even if they dont really crave/like/want penetration, Cat yoni girliesss love the foreplay sesh,, they love to make out, they love to touch and fondle, they're like cats,, they want affection on their terms basically lmao,, I also think Cat yoni girlies love getting head more than anybody else lmao 👀 for them foreplay is sex and penetration is kind of an afterthought. I also feel like this makes them pillow princesses lmao

I had mentioned this about rat yoni before but yes precisely. sex does not mean much to these natives, they just love the satisfaction they derive from it. their libido is extremely high and they seldom feel satisfied with just one partner.

elephant yoni folks being private could be true??? but i feel like they are the people who are KNOWN for being sexy af,, they may or may not express it openly (some of them, def do) but they are 100% known for their sex appeal,, its the largest yoni animal for a reason. like rihanna, revati moon and rising, angelina jolie, revati moon, megan thee stallion, bharani rising,, cardi b, revati moon etc i feel like they wear their sexuality on their sleeve and talk about it openly?? they ooze such big dick energy, both men and women??? so intimidating and hottt 🥵🥵

you're right about that theory of yours to some extent😉not all small yoni animals are passive, each animal has its own sexual nature, so there are many variations. like cat yoni is def passive and they're pillow princesses who will not reciprocate anything but rat/hare yoni and dog yoni are different from that?? not to let my Venusian men bias show but Purvaphalguni men (rat yoni) will literally cover your whole body in kisses and go to town on you without expecting anything in return,, they love to enjoy the female form?? they love to take pleasure in your physicality and sensuality. making love to you is what is pleasurable to them, not anything you can do for them. looking at you, touching you, feeling you, doing whatever they like with you,, thats whats fun,, so they are not passive in the slighest, in fact they're so passionate and over the top and truly nasty freaks.

Venusian men also love to give head 👀and dont really expect you to return it or anything,, im not saying they'll hate if you do,, except that they're doing it for themselves bc they want to taste you, not for any other reason 🙈

[steakbones]

rereading (the first 2/5s of) moby dick bc i got myself a physical copy to mark up etc etc and the thing about the homoeroticism in moby dick is that you just dont expect it to start so early like youre a cultured well rounded worldly creature you know that historically people were up to some gay shit (as is the precise technical terminology) out at sea you just dont expect ishmael to be like "it was the best night of sleep in my life" about sharing a bed with another man on page 27 and for him to wake on page 28 and immediately compare their sleeping situation to a man and his wife. like we havent even gotten on the boat yet

[xamaxenta]

please pardon my zosan I have since recovered

also please pardon how long this is LMAO

sanji pov

You were simple

easier to know than the back of my own hand.

(Surely my hands had more fine lines,

more precision,

more substance than you could muster,

didn’t they?)

You ate

you slept

you moved,

so singleminded,

determined,

toward your goal.

Your determination surely enviable,

even in the simplicity

you seemed to drown in.

You were stone,

cut single facet,

no refractions to shine through you,

no reflections to bounce from your dull planes,

cast shadow and rough hewn edge

shown proudly.

But then you smiled at him,

encouraged kindly while he spoke,

so animatedly,

about something you didn’t understand.

(Something none of us understand,

he’s smarter than he knows)

You held her hand

when she woke too early

for it to be anything but a nightmare.

(Though I was jealous,

I knew never to interrupt)

You caught him,

each time he leapt to you

with so much trust that you wouldn’t falter.

(such trust was duly earned,

I suppose,

for I never saw you drop him)

In those moments I realised,

maybe being stone isn’t so bad.

Your solidity reassuring,

your shade comforting,

your rough edges grounding,

easy to grip.

Only at your surface

are you dull,

I now know.

When cut, you show colours so beautiful,

patterns so intricate,

I am stricken by their beauty.

Swirling hues of kindness,

responsibility,

loyalty,

dance across you

like nothing I’ve ever seen.

I look at you and learn

that it’s easier

to see beauty in simplicity

than the complex shapes

and colours

that glint on diamond’s edge.

HOMEDAWHG COSMOS CAN I JUST SAY

IN SHAMBLES this rhythm is sOOO GOOD im salivating the next line for “i suppose” on its own thoughtful maybe yearning wanting PWUAPWUWHSOAHE

i also have a weakness for zosan bc theyre like narusasu coded im sorry yall dont kill me for the comparison, theyre like toxic in a super fucking funny way but it can have a sweet edge m everhrh

This is mad cute thank u for sharing ur moment of weakness zs

[splittersplatter]

Imma send more random numbers for the ask game

8, 9, 10, 15, 29

,,THANKS SOSMAGAINNDUHDUKHF

8. What do they love most about the other?

Army: Probably how Aloha can bring a positive light to almost anything—nice disposition, but also his truly happy side. Like. His genuine, non-public personality?? How he gets vulnerable in a private place?? Where its just the two of them Ouh melts Army into bits

He also secretly enjoys the flirting and flirts back frequently

Aloha: Ok this is heavly headcanon influenced so bear with me

Likely how much domestic energy Army has—always cooking meals for Aloha, casual communication, and how comfortable he gets around Aloha considering his public image—being able to loosen up once relaxed(which is hard enough to get him to do)

Also how diligent his boyfriend is—so Army’s fiery passion about everything, how precise he is. Diligent. Spic and span. This is more of an admiration from Aloha considering hes a bit scatterbrained and can’t organize and arrange for shit

9. What do they dislike the most about the other?

Probably how much their personalities clash and how frequently they have extremely minor arguments—can go for either one. Ofc it’s not a huge problem bc they’re chronically in love

10. Do they share any hobbies or interests? How does that bring them together?

well…t u r f i n g

I think since their thoughts on strategies are different, Army would ask about how Aloha’s works,,and they’d have an open conversation about how each other’s tactics would work in a match together, mapping out stuff. It’d be sweet

Otherwise, with Aloha surfing and Army cooking, I think how those could be brought together is like. In a domestic setting where Aloha comes home from a surfing tournament, Army’s got some fresh curry waiting for him…thatd be cute. Dont mind me

15. What songs remind you of their relationship?

ABAHGSHSBUAHISUHIU OHOHOHOHOHHOHOHOHO

DID SOMEONE SAY SONGS

THAT REMIND ME

OF THESE TWO. IM ESTATIC THAT YOU ASKED

Talk Too Much—COIN

I Do Adore—Mindy Gledhill

LIGHT SHOWER—Melanie Martinez

29. Describe their nighttime routine.

ooh this ones interesting, i actually havent thought about this one yet

Probably pretty average. Brushing teeth, showers…yadayada all stuff before they get to bed

when they do, Aloha usually goes to sleep first, as Army likes reading novels before bed. Sometimes Aloha will snuggle up to him and/or rest on Armys shoulder while he reads, ask him what hes reading about so he can let his boyfriend be a geek for a moment. Its sweet

When Army finishes the chapters he was reading(or the entire book, it really depends), he turns off the booklight and they head off to sleep. Aloha initiates cuddling like 98% of the time, and its rare for Army to not be welcome to the gesture because he himself is also a cuddler but he’ll never admit it.

OKAY SORRY FOR THE HEADCANON DUMP BUT THANKS FOR LETTING ME DO SO,,,I LOVE GETTING THESE ASKS SO MUCH DOES A SOMERSAULT OUT THE WINDOW

[yuukei-yikes]

That post str Harutaka angst hurts my heart a little but I do want it

HEH. CONFLICT IS SO FUN OKAY. haruka and takane get along too well i need a little something to have fun with.... also thank u for sending this im totally using it as an excuse to talk about it. i went crazy in this ask sorry

ok. i KNOW forward by winterhats exists...... and thank god it does 🙏in case u havent read it erm read it. thats like harutaka content 101... not to spoil stuff but something about haruka not telling takane abt his condition Does take place in that fic. but the thing with that fic is haruka has no memories.... (post str no memory haruka is a concept i was never a fan of bc it doesnt rly make sense to me?? Still love forward though🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏) SO IM THINKING OF a canon situation with haruka remembering fine yknow...

logically i think takane would be sad rather than angry once finding out. also she'd hear it from shintaro who is the only one who knew, aside from kenjirou but he's x_x post str💔 so shintaro it is. also it's such a shintaro thing to do isnt it?? accidentally mention it to takane or assume she knew and realise he messed up like, way too late. like he already said it like 5 times before he realised takane is asking him to repeat it so many times precisely because SHE DIDN'T KNOW

like i said i think its kinda a fragile thing because God its so sad. how could u even get mad at someone for choosing not to say they're dying. so yeah logically takane Would be mostly sad about both the sad reality haruka was living AND how she wasn't told, because to her it means haruka didnt trust her or maybe felt he couldnt count on her.

im abt to overanalyse: personally from a writing point of view i think the reason haruka doesnt tell takane is because headphone actor was already written and the narrative where takane doesnt know was already there. haruka's 1 year to live thing was written a lot after, with over the dimension. but besides that: from a character standpoint, of course haruka wouldn't tell takane. she is the last person he wants to worry and the one he wants the most happy memories with. and something important about haruka and takane's relationship is the fact neither knows much about each others conditions. in both their povs upon introducing each other to the audience, they both explain their illnesses briefly. they both say "i havent asked much". to me its always been about haruka and takane deeply relating to each other about people feeling sorry for them. so they dont owe each other the explanations theyre so used to giving to others! so to me, haruka doesnt tell takane because 1.he doesnt want her to worry more than she already does 2.he wants to have happy memories of her 3. related to that, doesnt want her to look at him differently. she is the one person who gets it. if he were to come clean abt it, he'd lose it. besides, haruka tells shintaro by the time he's like. LOSING HIS MIND and really deeply depressed abt the situation. kenjirou also knows... but haruka's father could've told him since its mentioned they used to be colleagues. personally i think haruka told him himself, since he also mentions kenjirou is the only adult he's ok sharing stuff with, so in a way its implied if ur delusional like me.

erm. anyways. i got a little sidetrack IM GONNA GET TO IT OKAY its just, haruka's dying words for takane man. don't cry anymore, you're gonna meet so many new people, etc. he basically tells her he is just 1 person in the long long life he assumes she will have. theyre best friends, he knew takane would mourn him terribly and thats why he thinks all that stuff he cant actually tell her.. augh haruka's goodbye to takane always gets me so so badly. bc he KNEW... like, ene lives in so much regret for not telling haruka how she felt but haruka died knowing she loved him. even if he didnt know it was romantic, he still knew she loved him :( i was going somewhere with this. (pacing around my room) oh yeah. his dying words. haruka doesn't convey all this to takane while he has the chance because of the stuff i said before but the most important was number 3. he doesnt want takane to look at him differently. plus everything he says while he is dying... god id post the whole screenshot. but he says "dont get mad at anyone but me" "please dont cry anymore" "im so sorry youve given me so much and i couldnt give back" he... doesn't Want to see takane upset. he knows she will be upset anyway but its like. at least he wont be around to see it, in a way. we could see this as kind of selfish but like The guy's dying come ON. i think he has the right to do that. lol.

WELLLL COMING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL APPROACH LMAO.. takane finding out post str....... i went on that tangent to defend haruka precisely cuz i dont think takane would be genuinely mad. its a tricky situation and its not like she can be like WELL BUT U KNEW AND U DIDNT WARN ME!?!?!?!? Like THAT IS a pretty lame position to take. HOWEVER. CONFLICT (PUTS HANDS DOWN) i think takane just needs to be mad

WHILE TAKANE WOULD BE MORE UPSET THAN MAD she IS also super impulsive. like insanely impulsive <- finds out she loves haruka and immediately runs for it even if it terrified her. so in the spur of the moment she blows up on haruka about it LOL like as SOON as she finds out. like i imagine she probably hears it from shintaro and like immediately leaves mid conversation to go find haruka and yell at him. that kind of thing.

and haruka's all like 😨😨😨 and he's stuttering cuz HE HAS AN ANSWER ABT WHY HE DIDNT TELL HER IT JUST SOUNDS RLY BAD LIKE "ERM I DIDNT WANT TO SEE U UPSET❤️" like in over the dimension haruka does get pretty nervous when takane starts pressing even if its as a joke. so especially with something so sensitive he has no idea what to do. i think he'd try to be all composed though bc its Post Str and idk str haruka is so. ethereal he is so calm isn't he. i think he would get nervous initially and then get himself together but ends up coming off as dismissive. so hes like i didnt tell you.....because i didnt want to❤️ and takane probably just needed to be mad for a little bit and was gonna get over it and be sad but hearing that just makes her so damn upset for realsies and haruka notices how she changed from😡 to 😐 and hes immediately like oh takane.... no... i didnt mean it like that...i just mean...OH DONT MAKE THAT FACE I DIDNT MEAN IT... and takane's like NOO DONT TOUCH ME WHATEVER IM LEAVINGGG unnecessary conflict in a romcom vibes

conflict probably lasts like. a day or something. a week tops. its harder for haruka than for takane. takane finds it a little refreshing i think its also cool to link it to all the other headcanons abt haruka being super desperate to be in company because erm Daze confinement gang🙏💥 while takane's a little like. i havent had a minute to myself in 11 days. so this distance actually helps her a little while haruka is like Hour 5 without my girlfriend I've cried so much i cant see anymore

they both feel like shit and do spend the time trying to see the situation from each other's perspectives though so takane realises she's being self centered and stupid and admits she just wanted to be angry and took it out on the first thing she could grasp at. but it was unfair. takane will apologize first and probably tells him she doesn't need or want him to "protect" her feelings and wants him to count on her from now onward. haruka's like *nod nod nod nod nod nod* and thanks her for apologizing. hed try to also apologize but takane doesnt accept it bc he wasnt wrong it was her who was unfair. hehe. i think he'd be crying so hard too bc to him its all these feelings coming back abt how he felt when he died and all the things he thought of telling her then. maybe he would tell her abt it, like i was thinking about all the people you'd meet and how u should be happy and not cry for me. and how in disbelief he still is that theyre together. sorry im. auauggagaggsgsggqgggg

all this just for me 2 enjoy the mental image of the little time in between where theyre awkward around each other and takane wants a little distance for a bit. i think itd be funny to see haruka being totally pathetic abt takane not paying attention to him. anyways. yeah. something like that i guess