#I put so much trauma onto Mei

[musicalmoritz]

i’ve been following you for a little while because i’ve been considering getting back into TBHK. it was one of my strongest fixations but i was totally put off by the fandom’s reception of one part of the story until i dropped it entirely.

i thought i’d ask to see if the fandom has changed at all since i was last in it, and you seem really good at analyzing media: what’s your take on the amane/(possessed) tsukasa sa theory? i won’t argue regardless of what your opinion is! i’m just curious to see how the fandom is treating the story now. i miss the series alot ngl

Have I finally made it as a TBHK fan creator now that I’ve gotten an ask abt the SA theory?? Jk jk, that was a terrible joke I’m sorry guys

Before I get into this I wanna say thank you for being so respectful, people tend to have very strong feelings in this theory (for good reason, it’s a serious subject) and that can lead to pitchforks whenever it’s brought up. I’m going to try to discuss this as neutrally as possible but I will warn you that I’m very biased. I love Tsukasa as a character and the Yugi twins as a sibling duo so as much as I try to see both sides, I simply don’t want this theory to be true and that plays a large role in how I perceive it

TW: This is going to contain more mature themes than my usual posts. Talk of incest, abuse, sexual assault, sex, trauma, PTSD, and a very brief mention of lesbian fetishization

Starting off with how the fandom as a whole talks about it, people are very against it nowadays. When the anime first came out it was super popular, but now you can’t even mention it without someone telling you never to bring it up again. I have only posted about it once and it was a joke about Tsukasa and Teru both having allegations made against them (tho the Teru ones are way less common and only made by fans who want them to be true bcuz they hate him or ship him with his brother). So far I’ve strayed away from going in depth with my thoughts on it, writing this feels like I’m swinging a bat at a hornet’s nest. If your problem with the fandom was that they denied this theory, then I would continue to stay away from it. People on here are more open towards it than TikTok tho so if you still want to get back into the fandom, I would recommend staying on Tumblr. Someone made ONE post implying it on TikTok recently and the entire fandom was shitting on them for like a week. Those instances are rare, I like the fandom overall, but it has its toxic moments and areas just like every fandom

Okay now onto the theory itself. I’m not going to pretend I don’t see where it comes from, there are some scenes in the manga that are drawn and worded weirdly. Most notably the scene in the Picture Perfect Arc where Mei wrote “Brother Lover” on Amane’s face made me wonder if they were trying to imply something. I have since learned that other translations don’t have the incest implication, but it’s still odd to me that they allowed that in any version. Still, he just looked kind of annoyed as opposed to getting flustered like he would have if something was going on with him and Tsukasa (the way he gets flustered when his feelings for Nene are brought up). So I viewed that scene more as a dark humor joke from Mei, I don’t think it was meant to imply anything serious between the twins

There is another scene in that arc, however, when Nene sees Tsukasa clinging to Amane and Amane does get flustered. He starts blushing and says “um…we were just…” and doesn’t really finish his sentence. This made me raise an eyebrow, but I also wouldn’t take it as confirmation that there’s anything romantic or sexual between them. It could very much be viewed as Amane being embarrassed. I feel that the strongest evidence for the incest theory comes from this arc, but that’s only if you want to run with the scenes I mentioned. I also find it strange that people never use these scenes as evidence, only panels that are drawn kind of weird. Fans seem to be stuck on a lot of early scenes with this theory which weakens its substance

For the record, I will not be analyzing the scene from the anime intro. That has already been debunked, the shadowy figure wasn’t Tsukasa, it was a representation of Hanako’s guilt. Although I disagree with the theory, I’m trying to be fair to the campaigners by debunking the stronger pieces of evidence

The strongest evidence for this theory comes from the art, which is just as important to the story as the writing. With manga and graphic novels, the art tells half the story. It shouldn’t be overlooked, so I understand how some fans lean into it. Look back at the official art I put at the top of this post, it’s weird. Hanako is leaning over Tsukasa while Tsukasa holds his chin/lips and arm. They’re posed like a couple. We would never see the Minamoto brothers posed like that. In other scenes, we see Tsukasa touching Amane’s face or holding him from behind. They’re very touchy with each other, more-so than the other siblings in the series

I have two reasons for not taking these type of scenes/arts seriously in a romantic sense. One is that Tsukasa is simply an affectionate character, and Hanako is the same way. I think it’s more part of their behavior than being specific to each other. Secondly, if it’s intended to be taken in an incestuous way then I genuinely believe it’s fan service. That’s one part I don’t deny, AidaIro have certainly given us reason to believe the twins are like the Property Brothers. I just don’t believe it has any place in the actual story or their dynamic. Fan service is common in TBHK and sometimes it veers into problematic territory. Just look at the scene where Hanako possesses Nene to assault Aoi, and then Kou gets flustered by it and can’t help. A random lesbian fetish scene that is never brought up again and plays no role in the story other than moving us from A to B. I have also heard that there’s incest in some of the other works they’ve made, so it’s not a reach to assume they’d throw in a little fan service for the Yugi twins. How seriously you want to take those scenes is up to you, personally I will continue to deny it until we’re given undeniable confirmation

Back to the twins just being affectionate, we see them act that way with lots of characters. Tsukasa is clingy to Sakura and Mitsuba too, sometimes very suggestively. That doesn’t mean he’s into them. I will say that Hanako is most notably clingy to Nene, someone he’s in love with, but we see him get close and friendly with the other characters too (he sat on Kou’s side and booped his nose during their first meeting). And Tsukasa is the one who initiates their physical affection 99% of the time, Amane’s been receiving it since early childhood so him copying Tsukasa’s behavior makes sense. Romantic relationships in adulthood are determined by the way we interact with our families as children so him repeating these actions in a romantic context doesn’t indicate anything abnormal. In fact, it’s a very realistic portrayal of how our love languages and attachment styles evolve over time

And keep in mind, they’ve been that way since they were three years old, it’s just the way they interact with other people and each other. Tsukasa is a very childish character too, one who has very little concept of personal space and boundaries. So him being a little too clingy with his brother might not mean anything. Again, you could read into it if you really wanted to, but the way he interacts with Amane is nothing out of the ordinary. It aligns with his usual mannerisms, if it were specific to Amane then he wouldn’t act that way with the other characters (Amane was also clingy with Nene before he fell for her). Think of it this way, you don’t see Akane holding Teru’s hand or confessing his undying love to Nene. Characters are going to act differently in their platonic relationships vs. romantic/sexual, and we don’t see that difference with the Yugi twins

A difference we do see with them, however, is that Tsukasa isn’t physically aggressive with Hanako the way he is with everyone else. He never attacks him or tries to hurt him, in fact every time he sees him he gets overjoyed and tackles him in a hug. He has no problem hurting him emotionally and mentally, but we never see any physical aggression between the two. This leads me to believe that the SA theory is invalid, it doesn’t line up with how Tsukasa treats Hanako currently or in any of the flashbacks. If anything sexual took place between them, it would have had to be consensual, because the more solid evidence backing this theory focuses on Hanako’s side of things. He’s very possessive of Tsukasa, and he doesn’t experience a trauma response when they’re touching normally. If it’s an intense scene and Tsukasa is telling him horrible things while touching him, then he freezes in place and starts crying. But when Tsukasa is just hugging or clinging to him, he only gets embarrassed. Hanako does show some signs of PTSD, but that trauma is rooted in him killing Tsukasa. If the trauma were anything sexual, we would see him experience those same trauma responses he displays in violent scenes when Tsukasa touches him in any context. At the very least, we’d see him get way more uncomfortable than being mildly annoyed

(Note: I am aware that not everyone reacts to trauma and PTSD the same way. I do not have any trauma of my own so I am going off what I have heard throughout my life from others sharing their stories. I am in no way trying to invalidate anyone’s experiences, no matter how you react to your abuser your feelings are valid and I hope you get the help you need)

Another common piece of evidence used is that Hanako is hypersexual. I believe this is a serious misuse of the term, hypersexuality is so much more than being a pervert. People who are hypersexual usually think about sex all the time, they engage in excessive sexual behaviors and even think about it in completely normal contexts. This is a common response to many types of trauma, not just sexual. It’s a way for people to gain back control after they’ve been abused, or sometimes it’s a problem that arises from porn addictions or a weird relationship with sex. Even if Hanako were hypersexual, that wouldn’t necessarily indicate SA. He has canonical trauma aside from that, and it could also come from the pent-up frustration of being a middle schooler for 58 years

This is another situation where we have to account for the context. You can’t just take one element of a character’s canon personality and run with it, that’s the leading cause of mischaracterization. You have to consider how that behavior lines up with their other traits. Hanako is an allosexual boy who has been 13 for literal decades. Middle school boys are already one of the horniest species on our planet, it’s an awkward time when you’ve just learned those feelings exist and what they mean but you’re not emotionally mature enough to do anything about it. That usually goes away in the next few years when teens start getting into relationships. Now imagine that feeling staying with you for fifty-eight years. That’s over half a lifetime of being stuck in a transitional period. You have so many strong feelings, but you can’t do anything about them. Not just because of maturity, but because there’s no one to do them with. It makes sense that you wouldn’t know how to act when you get your first girlfriend (not excusing any of his weird behavior btw, frustration is not an excuse and it doesn’t make the way he treats Nene and Aoi okay. But it’s still important to understand his reasons, especially in this context)

I also want to note something I don’t see pointed out often, which is that most of the major scenes of Hanako’s pervertedness occur when he’s talking to Kou. TBHK has a very realistic portrayal of male friendship imo, and this is one of those examples. Having a girlfriend isn’t the only thing Hanako’s missed out on, he also hasn’t been able to make any friends his own age. He’s trying to get Kou to engage in “locker room talk” as a way to bond with him. Whether he’s trying to convince him to share his own preferences, or just wanting to mess with him, it brings them closer in a way. One of the main ways Hanako expresses affection is by annoying people, but I do think part of it is because he wants to be able to talk about hot girls with his only male friend. Sadly, he got stuck with the only middle school boy who respects women

We as a fandom tend to focus on these scenes as “omg Hanako’s a pervert,” or for people that ship him with Kou it’s “aww he’s teasing his boyfriend,” but I think the purpose is more-so to build a realistic friendship dynamic. I find it funny that the fandom as a whole leans more into the teasing explanation whether they ship Hanako and Kou or not, it’s funny to me that we all automatically go with the gay interpretation. But Hanako often uses jokes to cover up his deeper feelings, he acts like he doesn’t care when he actually cares very deeply. So him playing up his pervertedness in an attempt to make friends seems very on brand

My last piece of evidence against this theory is a bit silly and a lot of ya’ll aren’t going to want to hear this but Hanako is most likely straight

*the crowd boos me*

I know, I know, I love the bi headcanon too and I think it makes sense, but unlike with some of the other characters I don’t think it has a place in canon. He acts overly friendly with Kou sometimes but if you’re going to assume they’re queercoded, you have to assume the same about Aoi and Nene (both affectionate friendship that look a little queer sometimes). Shipping aside I read them as a purely platonic duo, if there are feelings on either side then it’s more likely Kou since he’s bisexual. Lots of people point out the scene where he flirts with Kou as a girl, and I agree that was gay af but I kinda think he was just trying to mess with him. And keep in mind that the first thing he wanted to do as a girl was look at girls changing in the locker room (yuri yuri lesbian yuri wlw gay gay lesbian yuri)

This isn’t to bash anyone’s headcanons btw, I headcanon Hanako as bisexual and I do ship him with Kou. I’m just saying that I wouldn’t bet my money on him being intended to be bi in canon. In my post about possibly bisexual TBHK characters I included him as an honorable mention, I just haven’t seen enough substantial evidence so far to believe he was intended to be interpreted that way

I’m aware that sexuality isn’t the biggest obstacle for Tsukasa and Amane, but it’s a relevant mention. If Hanako doesn’t like men, I doubt he’d want to be with his brother of all men. Even if he liked men that would be a terrible option. AidaIro have also confirmed in one of their official arts/doodle skits that Nene is Hanako’s first love, which further leads me to believe nothing happened between him and Tsukasa. You don’t get with your sibling if you’re not ride or die about it. And as I mentioned before, anything that happened between them would have had to be consensual in order to be in-character and line up with the evidence surrounding the incest theory

Lastly, I do believe the love between the brothers is somewhat genuine. It’s horribly toxic, Hanako left Tsukasa in some sort of void for decades and now he continues to keep him around as a yorishiro despite knowing it makes Tsukasa miserable. He loves him so much that he can’t let him go even when it would be good for Tsukasa. That’s selfish, it’s toxic, and on Tsukasa’s side things aren’t much better. He adores his brother but he also resents him for everything he’s done. He hurts him emotionally and attacks his friends. And, of course, Amane killed Tsukasa. Not exactly Brother of the Year

But through all of this, you can’t deny that the love is there. Fans who believe Amane hates Tsukasa kind of miss the point, Tsukasa wouldn’t be Amane’s yorishiro if he hated him. He loves him dearly but in a very complicated way. Adding romance or lust to that love frankly doesn’t make sense to me, it’s adds an unnecessary layer that doesn’t line up with the rest of their dynamic. It feels like a “yes and” to their story. I have read analyses that explain both sides, and ultimately I remain against this theory

I hope this helped you understand my perspective!! I tried to be fair to both sides but as I mentioned, I’m very biased. This is a very uncomfortable subject so it was difficult to write about, but I like tackling more complex topics. I don’t block people who believe this theory unless I dislike the way they talk about it, some people insist it’s canon to the point of hating Tsukasa for it or saying the series is bad. But for those that are more open-minded about this theory, I don’t mind interacting with them. In general though this is something I try not to think about lol

[revlischarm]

Behold, Morro for season 4 in the Lego Monkie Kid au!!

Below the cut I’ve put some details about the season, as well as their design.

• So, Morro gets trapped in the scroll along with everyone else!! Inspired by what one of my friends on discord mentioned, apparently the scrolls work for all memories, not just for recording JTTW stuff.

• Therefore. We’re gonna get some Morro trauma. Since the scroll can put you in the worst memories you had/in some kind of past life, I thought, “what better than to hurl Morro back into his misdeeds as a ghost?”

- That’s why when Morro’s in the scroll, he’s gonna be walking around in his old gi from the show. I didn’t give him a cloak or anything for the sole reason of me having a hard time drawing it

• Boy oh boy Morro absolutely hates having to be dressed in the robes of his past. He’s been trying to move away from what he did, to forge his own identity and life. Yet now he gets put right back where he was, at the peak of his darkest times, and MK and Mei end up bearing witness to it, no less!

• Long story short Morro just. Is going to be miserable this whole season. Their past got dredged up in such a messy way for all to see.

• I don’t wanna give away too much since this post is mainly just for Morro’s season 4 design, hehe.

• You want more info?? Send in asks! I will devour them and answer back dutifully.

• Now onto design talk, tw for some blood stains and detailed description of death for a bit

• The only details I’ll really say for Morro’s scroll design are that his outfit is fairly burnt and torn up in many places, due to how he died. Well, more so the condition his clothes were in when he passed away.

- The front of Morro’s gi is stained with dried blood because of how he died, which I personally believe to be due to the kethanol gas in the Caves of Despair. There’s more info about it on the wiki, but the effects I’ve given to it basically are that prolonged exposure will cause someone to bleed out, with blood coming from the nose and mouth and the eventual exsanguination is the cause of death. So yeah, you just. Drown in your own blood, can’t get enough actual air and asphyxiate, bleed out, etc. The gas can kill you in a number of ways I’d say

• Moving past all that…Morro gets longer ribbons now!! He added on a new ribbon, since he bonded with Red Son at the end of Season 3, and off-screen between the last season and this one, lol. Think of their friendship as…fanning the flames. They kinda just hype each other up and it’s very chaotic.

• Morro actually trains with Macaque to learn some shadow magic!! They’re super interested in learning teleportation via shadows because it’s cool as hell, and they just generally like to spend time with Macaque. After some time, Morro finds that his eye markings are getting kinda…larger and discolored.

- Surprise the universe/gods saw Macaque taking in Morro and went “oh successor??? The Six-Eared Macaque has a successor??” And long story short, after an initial bout of extreme panicking, Morro realizes that he’s now got some cooler new markings!!

- Yes, I’m contractually obligated to change Morro’s eye markings with each new design at this point, lay off me

- I’m very happy with this marking design tho!! It looks very nice and is easy for me to draw. The markings actually manifest themselves in the way of like…scar stuff. And I tried to have them resemble Morro’s actual cursed markings as much as I could, but it was hard to do that when it kept veering into flame territory (which I wasn’t aiming for). So yeah!

- I also added a little chart at the bottom to demonstrate the differences between the markings and also how Macaque’s and Morro’s purples are different. Mac’s is more on the blue hued scale, while Morro’s has more pink tones to it. There!

• And last but not least, the tail(s) of Morro’s sash got longer!! I did this for the purpose of giving their silhouette a more monkey-like appearance, with the longer sash acting as a sort of faux shadow tail. This works great for any silhouette shots!

• So yeah! That’s that! Feel free to ask anymore questions, I’ll be glad to answer!!!

• Oh also I forgot to draw it in but you know how everyone else gets a cool weapon during season 4 from the scroll? Yeah, Morro’s taking the memory of the Sword of Sanctuary with him.

[t-u-i-t-c]

Top 5 Toku dramas!

this is a tough one, i've seen over 40 toku series and it's pretty hard to compare things and narrow it down. i'm also aware that some things i am very into aren't everyone's cup of tea as we value different parts of toku. for example, i don't care that much about mecha, but i do care about characters and details. i care about it feeling like the people on the show care. that being said, let me give you 5 toku series that changed my brain chemistry in no particular order with some brief notes.

(these are not my top 5 overall bc i'm indecisive, just 5 that had an impact off the top of my head.)

put "top 5 (anything)" in my inbox and i'll give you an answer

ohsama sentai king-ohger

the third sentai i watched while airing, but only the second from beginning to end

it's one of my favorite sentai, if not my favorite

has one of my favorite characters of all time, racules husty, and jeramie brasieri is not far behind

interesting lore that is pretty consistent and fleshed out

interesting conversations about grief, loyalty, guilt, and power

bug-themed

fashion icons hymeno ran and yanma gast are present

satisfying conclusion and fun crossovers

gender neutral representation

kamen rider saber

gorgeous suit designs

kento and touma are present and are a perfect example of loyalty and devotion - so much love that you can feel it in the air

dad swordsman who loves his young son and his son is also doted on by the guild

interesting discussions about trauma, existentialism, guilt, betrayal, and love

mei, girl of all time, is present and is the backbone of the guild even though she's not a swordsman herself

storious is there, which is all he has to do for me - also megid ot3

guy who fused with his sword and who's very interested in comics and mundane things, and is quick to call other swordsmen out

whatever desast and ren had going on

touma is one of the riders ever, he cares so much and wants to save everyone he possibly can and grasps onto hope with every ounce of strength he has

touma's entire wardrobe is iconic

trio of deep sin = cinematic masterpiece

gosei sentai dairanger

i'll never be over it, i'll never forget the ending and i'll never not feel something when i think about it

incredible episode in which red takes in the enemy and nurses him back to health - he even tucks him in

the iconic duo of kazu and shoji who stare at each other longingly and have really sweet moments

guy who is a turtle

the music>>>>

heated drama between women

the team genuinely feels so bonded like no matter where they go they'll always end up back together

the ending? an experience in and of itself

talks about cycles of violence and hope and the balance of good and evil

note: it's quite dated and has moments that may make one uncomfortable - sexual harassment mainly

kishiryu sentai ryusoulger

(i can't not talk about this one as i have a particular fascination with it)

canalo is in it and he's one of my favorite guys of all time - just a very lovely guy

i'm actually very into the mecha in this series and how they are used to show souls being bonded

koh is one of my favorite reds, he never looks down on fellow ryusoulgers and insists that there's no leader amongst them

lots of interesting lore that i've been taking a lot of notes on, some is explained and some is not but it fascinates me

tyramigo - a kishiryu that koh shrinks and who learned to speak from watching tv

the ending dance is so fun and cute, every time i see someone from the cast doing it they look like they're having the time of their lives

wyzul <3

asuna has great physical strength for some reason, it seems to be an oddity, and while she's a bit embarrassed about it in the beginning (it's not explained why but one could think she feels out of place being the only one with this ability) she prides herself in being strong later when protecting children and that always stuck with me

i think that it does some interesting things with the bonds between the ryusoulgers and discussing trust, strength, resolve, and care

dinosaurs

kamen rider build

banjo and sento best match - so much trust and belief in one another

discussions of grief, guilt, compliance, sins of the past, forgiveness, and war

stunning suits

evolt is a character that i very much enjoy watching in any form

lots of twists and turns done well with the help of foreshadowing

banjo wears shirts that say things

sento is one of my favorite main riders, and i would explain why but i don't want to spoil anything here

banjo is my favorite secondary so far too

the movies are very good and i love them

bonus series: kamen rider geats & tensou sentai goseiger

are these all perfect? no, a few have some very obvious flaws and holes and others are just not everyone's cup of tea but they did have a great impact on me. i don't particularly recommend anything as tastes differ but i think value can be found in all of these in one way or another.

[sublieu]

Melanie Martinez songs I think resonate with lmk characters

A.n this is probably not accurate but let me enjoy this. Also this is part 1 of songs that embody lmk characters.

Mei- Teacher's Pet

The reason why I put her as the person to have this song as a fav is due to the fact she gives more of a stalker girl vibe if she wasn't raised properly by her parents on what love is.

Although this does talk about pdos, this could go both ways, let's put this in a different example, a boss and their assistant.

The boss could be a rather polite and enjoyable person of which everyone loves or everyone wishes to be, whilst their assistant is shy, quiet and reserved. The assistant looks up to their boss and even develops an unhealthy crush to the point where the boss themselves try to distance themselves from them, but no matter how they try, the assistant forces them together which can lead to a very toxic dynamic Extremely fast. To the point where the assistant starts stalking them as a means to figure out what they like from what they do not.

This is a alternate version of what teacher's pet means, desperately wanting someone of higher power to see them and wanting their affection and attention so much to a point where they would go crazy for the slightest touch or compliment they receive from the other.

Redson- High school sweethearts

Reason looks like a very lonely demon who would be desperate enough to marry someone he could love and raise a family on his own but due to his judgmental parents (because they do give off an overbearing and judgmental vibe). He can't marry someone he truly has interest in.

In many of season one's episodes, if you pay attention to his interaction with his parents, you can clearly tell how submissive he is towards them (until a specific episode where he storms off to win a race). This is ultimately him standing up for himself for once and starting to grow tired of his parents behavior.

Wukong- Show & Tell

I've analyzed his character and can give off certain hcs that would match up to him as a celebrity and a person in whole

Wukong obviously loves fame, but he doesn't like the fact his fans could be overbearing and toxic, consistently wanting more and more from him until he's nothing but dust and short fame.

Evidence that backs up my claim is due to the fact he willingly chose an island where it's near impossible to reach and find, he allows very few people to come onto his island from fear of being harassed. Hence why He's so comfortable around Mk being in his home as if he wanted, he wouldn't allow Mk to hold his staff, which is of great importance to him.

Tang- Soap

Tang obviously suffers from anxiety from before the third season, if you watched his movements and mannerisms you could tell he might be suffering from anxiety and stress.

This could be from long-term trauma or something that affected him in the past that could explain why he's so nervous and why he's happy whenever MK brings up anything that has Wukong in it, because he feels as if that's the only way he can resonate with someone because he feels like he 'lacks personality'

And that is part 1 :D, part 2 coming soon

[soubiapologist]

dogfight

you made your bed, now lie in it.

____________________________

characters: nisei, seimei, mimuro, mei, implied mimuro/nisei warnings: it's loveless whump use your imagination. is that what the kids call it. whump. i don't fucking know non-graphic (?) blood, abuse, physical assault, implied teeth trauma, implied drug and alcohol abuse, implied eating disorders, abandonment, animal death mention, religious imagery wordcount: 692 words other: this is like pseudo poetry psuedo stream of consciousness with some ambiguous perspective shifts, capitalization is intentional, idk i haven't written fic or really prose in years i hope this came out okay. smiles.

he took two teeth like communion, like pills he's taken before

(it's not so difficult to pill a dog if you wrap it in something sweet)

god watching from behind, from above

i don't know what's going on

an honest start

but i'm not afraid of you

the lies never stopped, though

and you glance back at master

(there's nothing you could do, even if you wanted to, and you don't.)

before you bolt ahead and your bodies collide

for the first time

was he always this light?

it's a little late to be asking that when you're on your back, on the ground.

it's raining and it's getting in your mouth and he tastes just like you always thought he would; the same as you

and you know that because you can taste yourself too as the dog bites down and can't let go

it's for your safety, can you tell yourself that? is that what the dog thinks?

but you can keep your teeth, and you will, you think, reaching up and tucking his hair behind his ear, like a child into bed

i'm sorry

a laugh overtakes the start of a sob, because you can't learn new tricks, you don't know those words; you were not taught those words.

i cannot understand if you don't sink your teeth in, that's what the collar is for, to protect me from you. it's just play, it doesn't mean anything, i've heard it before, i've heard it before, your barking, your warning

his instincts do not match yours, because you are alone

(there is no bite coming)

you pull back, and wipe him on your mouth as you try to stem the flow of wine that you swallow as well, and sea water parts the rest as you realize he tastes nothing like you always thought he would; the same as you

you're too young to be drinking like this

was he always this pale?

even with all his force, there's barely a weight on top of you, the same as his palor, and you wonder if the sun has followed the moon on nights like these for him; it's hard to tell what time it is when you're sitting in the dark waiting for a call, spinning out, the only voices you hear itinerant and surrounded by walls you can only traverse in static

God watching from behind, from above

and He's a man you know nothing about

you've never had to worship

you touch his bones as he ascends

not on purpose, but it's a thing you can't help but feel

(you've lost control of the feeling in your arms, gripping for anything to hold onto, you can't let go)

fabric can't hide it anymore, not when you're closer than ever before, there's no lie you can tell yourself when you can finally feel him in your hands

you wonder when the last meal you had with him was

(never)

a sip of tea stolen from your favourite mug, was it so precious?

(back to God)

a blow comes again on His behalf as he retreats

was that fun?

shaking assent.

and for a moment you do believe this is salvation for him.

because someone needs to save him

he's made himself so small

you missed him as he fell through the cracks

it was raining when you came and it's raining when you leave; he took his books and bags and so many small things you don't remember but you miss all the same, and you let him

so it washes away the last traces of him you'll ever see

and you go home and she asks you what happened

and you tell her and she says she never liked that dog

she understands that much, but she still doesn't understand it all

you try to explain to her why they have to put down the dog and she asks why dogs fight, and you say because they were bred like this and she asks why and you say because someone wanted a dog that fights and then they didn't.

[basicallyjaywalker]

Do u have a favorite oc?

(Thank you for enabling me JJ)

I love all of my OCs equally but the one i've given the most development is Jackie

I really enjoy doing arcs for OCs and Jackie's is the most finalized. The tl;dr is that a lot of her character focuses on learning independence and developing a sense of self. She is magical and nerdy and kind and will constantly show up in OC writings if I don't control myself

Autism rant under the cut bc when you enabled me you got me on a "was literally ranting to my boyfriend about my ocs earlier so is in a talky mood"

Jackie Fei aka I am putting this girl through the grindhouse of trauma and she's gonna come back better

Jackie is the one who, when I started reworking/rebooting my OCs in 2020 got the biggest change, design, powers, and relationships-wise. Her arc is about learning to define herself and escape her issues with co-dependency.

I am sort of exploring this in my fic Selenelion, which focuses on her relationship with Lloyd (which does play in a lot to her arc) (also shameless plug for the fic it's only two chapters but i'm gonna start working on it again in november) because well... a lot of her co-dependency is there.

Up until post-S7 in the timeline, Jackie latches onto people as sources of strength to an unhealthy degree. She was raised by an oppressive, overbearing caretaker and had her life dictated to her for 18 years. When she tries to escape and gain independence the first time, she gets kidnapped by the Overlord ends up latching onto Garmadon. After Garmadon dies she latches onto Lloyd. It isn't until she and Lloyd have a blowout fight in S7 that she realizes how much she's defined herself using other people. She was Garmadon's Student. She was Lloyd's Girlfriend. Four years ago, she ran away to find who she was, and she still hasn't done it. So she runs away again. Lloyd is fucked up by this but don't worry he'll be fine.

And that ties into her powers. Jackie uses magic as an elemental power, but I want it to be different from other forms of magic in ninjago. Her magic needs a power source to draw on, and the healthiest one is herself, but she does have the ability to draw on others. For example, the Overlord teaches her how to use Dark Matter as a source (bad idea, do not do this, it damages ur mental health) and I've toyed with the idea of Lloyd lending his power to her in battle. Her personal strength is like a muscle, she needs to use it and work on it to grow stronger and relying on other sources doesn't allow her to develop it (which leads to issues when she starts relying solely on Dark Matter in S2, only to lose access to it)

Who Jackie is Post-S7 is a different person and for me it's important she gets that development then because even though I'm a fake fan and haven't finished S8 (I should be soon bc I've been feeling brave) I know her reaction to Garmadon's resurrection and her relationship to Harumi is going to occupy my brain for fifty years, along with how she and Lloyd interact and how their relationship grows in this time (I am determined to give them a healthy romance with a happy ending after a tumultuous start)

None of this is even mentioning the super complicated relationship she has with Wu and Misako at first because her mom... well, her mom Mei is another fascinating character who will be talked about when I talk about my thoughts on the previous generation of EMs at some point

One fun fact about her Post-S7 that I gatekeep but will make appearances is that she curates the Museum of History after she comes back from a long self-discovery journey. She does a lot of research into genealogy and is determined not to let any of the myths, legends, histories, or lore go unremembered (she and Misako and Twyla love to bond over their shared interests). She has an intern named Jenny who goes onto curate the museum after her.

Other general facts:

1. her color scheme is galaxy + green, with purple featuring prominently

2. she's the best at video games of her friends

3. the ninja she has the closest friendship with is Kai, the member of her team she has the closest relationship with ties between Hannah and Roxie

Sorry for the rant, thank you again for enabling me to talk about my OCs I love any opportunity to do so, and hopefully you enjoyed a mini-essay on why I often think about her and why she's up there in terms of my lovelies <3

[captain-temhote]

Mei on the left is my version of Mei, mostly for “The Thorns of Waste” AU

Mei on the right is like, 6 years later, before the last fight she’ll have with the Monkie Kid group

I’ll provide information about “The Thorns of Waste” AU later

[crowties]

Talk about Bronya's third person thing! Do you think it's to do with neurodivergence?

Oh, absolutely! Honestly, anyone who says it's not because bronya's neurodivergent probably doesn't get her at all. Though I think there are also other factors like her views on her identity that play into this quirk of hers as well. The way she refers to herself in third person contributes so much to her character development and surprisingly, I haven't seen anyone talk about it yet, so buckle up folks!

To start us off, let's mention that it's been established that bronya started to use "the bronya" or simply just "bronya" to talk about herself instead of "I" or "me/my" very early on in her life. Dating back to 2012, when bronya was in the russian army (at age 12), you can see that even then, she used third person for herself. It isn't something that she's just picked up out of the blue, nor is it a phase of any sorts.

My take is that during her time in the army and cocolia's orphanage, bronya viewed herself as an asset of war - a tool of assassination, if you will - because that was what she was taught she should be for the majority of her childhood. Calling herself "the bronya" may have been her autistic way of expressing how she saw herself in a mechanical light back then. This is key to illustrate her relationship with her identity throughout the story.

When bronya joins st freya, she still uses third person. At someone her age, it may be considered childish, or even redundant to do so. However, she contradicts any such assumptions with her hard intellect and her knack for strategy. Here, you can see that she slowly gets back in touch with her sense of humanity (a great example is bronya frying her brain chip for mei). You would think that as she starts to learn that there is more to life than an order to shoot, that she would drop her soldierly way she calls herself, right? Not really. Not at all. bronya still continues to use "the bronya."

Even when she becomes the HoR, she doesn't use "I", nor does she use "me" or "my." In fact, at the end of the cyberangel cg, she says: "seele... bronya is coming for you." Additionally, her herrscher transformation canonically restores any brain functions she lost in the x-10 experiment. So, since she still speaks in third person after her transformation, we can safely say that it has nothing to do with any sort of brain trauma. Anyway. This is fundamental, because even after she reconnects with her humanity, her higher order emotions, and establishes a sense of wholeness and newfound determination, she is still "the bronya." This is because instead of changing what she calls herself, bronya chooses to redefine her title, and consequentially, her identity. "the bronya"'s definition goes from a cold blooded sniper to a girl that will put her utilitarian philosophies on hold to defend her loved ones.

APHO is a total gong show in the way that it erases all the internal progress that bronya has made in the storyline (along with her physical disability, which I talked about in a separate post). bronya takes noticeable effort to mask this trait of hers, as seen in the arahato conversation between her and mei:

What makes me blow comically large plumes of smoke from my ears is the line: "bronya has grown up." This insinuates that she may have been pressured into speaking in first person, because she never would have taken anyone's shit about her speech patterns when she was younger, so why did she now? It's also clear that she's actively suppressing it like STOP... WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT... But that's not what makes me totally furious. What has me going is this line from the first half of the soq arc:

SHE'S SAID THE EXACT SAME THING ALREADY. And after stating that she was grown up, she still proceeded to use third person, which means she herself didn't see this particular speech pattern as childish: someone imposed that idea onto her later on in APHO. It's blatant erasure, which is why I'm taking everything that happens there with a grain of salt.

I've gone a little off the rails. Back on track! With all being said, it's plausible to say that bronya's third person referral is not a trauma response, nor is it a childish phase or even brain trauma, but rather an autistic trait, and a catalyst to illustrate her relationship with her identity.

My little tldr mic drop for this is that throughout the main hi3 storyline, bronya has consistently referred to herself in third person, and this habit comes from a neurodivergent way to express herself, along with how she viewed herself as time passed. In the early stages of her life, "the bronya" was best described as a figure of war and assassination. In the middle stages of her arc, "the bronya" is someone who is learning what it means to be human. near and at the last stages of her latest appearance, "the bronya" is a fully fledged HoR successor with a drive to defend everything and everyone she loves.

She has always been "the bronya," the only difference is that she is rewriting what that title means to her.

[thestarfilledsea]

Okay. I’m going to ramble about LMK, specifically the idea of a Macaque redemption arc!

I don’t have any friends to talk about this to, so enjoy this post! I just needed to put this somewhere that’s not my brain.

(Spoiler-y for lmk season three, see more under the cut.)

I didn’t even proofread this or check for errors. Just have this chaotic strings of thoughts lol

I feel like the only possible way that a Macaque to have a even sort of satisfactory redemption is if he sacrifices himself in the special(?) that’s coming out(if there is one?)

in season three, in my opinion (it’s okay if you disagree just don’t come after me for having it)

I felt really bad for Macaque. It was much easier to dislike him when he was nothing but a cocky bastard that projected his trauma onto others.

What really unnerved me was when the said cocky bastard looked genuinely scared Of LBD.

It didn’t feel right. And it’s been hinted on Twitter by a writer that LBD manipulated Macaque into thinking SWK killed him, even though he didn’t(???)

Yes he’s done some shitty stuff but I think it would be cool to see him try and make up for his mistakes.

As of right now, Mk gave him a chance to help fix what he caused and he ran away like a coward.

The only way the team would ever willingly take him in is if he got wounded while sacrificing himself to help them.

I think Mk wouldn’t want Macaque to die, even if he doesn’t trust him.

Now what would be REALLY cool is if when SWK arrives to try and fight LBD, he gets overwhelmed and is losing. Maybe Mk couldn’t get there in time or SWK is at a spot where Mk can’t reach.

Maybe SWK is bracing for the final strike when from out of the shadows, rises Macaque.

He takes the blow for his old friend and he, Mk, Mei, and SWK win the fight.

Of course LBD is still alive, she just retreated back to megatropolis. They won a fight, not the war.

Mk is excited and relieved that Monkey King is okay, when both of their attentions turn towards Mac.

He’s wounded. Badly.

Macaque tries to slip back into his shadows to avoid confrontation but gets grabbed by SWK. He then proceeds to pass tf out.

Cue an awkward redemption arc from Macaque while he recovers from his injuries. Slowly but surely he starts coming out from his shell.

ALSO THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART

Later in the season after some of the redemption arc, Mk completely looses control while fighting. Macaque tries to stop the kid seeing him beginning to go too far, but Mk just looks Macaque dead in the eyes and is like,

“I don’t use a weapon, I am the weapon.”

And then just fucking explodes with magic.

Nobody can calm him down. Not Mei, not Redson, not even Monkey King.

But Macaque takes a page out of Mk’s book and does the same for him that Mk did for Mei when she lost control, Mac starts talking and trying to reach him.

Mac: Mk look, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have ever said that to you.

Mk doesn’t respond but Macaque steps closer, fighting against the gale of magic trying to push him away.

Mac: you’re not a weapon, you’re so much more than that! And I’m… I’m sorry Mk. I’m so sorry.

Mk’s eyes widen and the gale stops, and Macaque reaches him and wraps his arms around the kid.

It was the first hug Macaque had in years. (It would be even better if in a previous episode there was a joke about Macaque never hugging/touching people)

After a moment of initial shock, Mk reciprocated it, fully regaining control in the process.

God I just really want a redemption arc for him. Like really badly.

Anyways. If you got to the end of this I’m impressed lmao. Feel free to let me know what you think!

:)

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: Nirvana in Fire - A Primer

(Masterpost)

Warning: Mild spoilers for the first 5 or 6 episodes

I have injected all 54 episodes of Nirvana in Fire (The TOS/first series, not the TNG/second series) directly into my neck vein in the past week, having initially bounced off the first episode the three previous times I tried to watch it. I thought a primer might be useful for people who are undecided about watching it, or who are finding the first episode as confusing as I initially did.

This will be followed by Episode recap posts, although not (I hope) at the pace or word count of my Untamed recaps (which are ongoing!). (Edit: see masterpost for more)

I watched it on Viki but I think it’s on Youtube as well.

What is Nirvana in Fire and Why Should I Watch It?

Nirvana in Fire (aka Langya Bang) is about this guy, Mei Changsu. 

He goes by various names in the drama but we're just going to call him Mei Changsu for simplicity. He's looking for justice and he's very very clever. He's also sickly and obviously dying possibly doesn't have very long to live.  

He's secretly a member of the royal family, and all of his old friends think he's dead. He had a medical trauma that turned him into a different actor, so most of his friends can't recognize him. In order to get justice, he needs to shake some things up in the capital, so he goes there and starts manipulating people.

The Pugilist World

He's also, conveniently, the head of a Wuxia ("pugilist" in most subs) society that's like the CIA of the Warring States Period. This gives him a good supply of friendly minions.

His main people from the Pugilist side of things are: 

Sarcastic Kung Fu doctor. He's important in the first episode and then we don't see him for like 40 episodes and then he's important again.

Sullen/adorable Kung Fu adolescent, who is nearly unbeatable and is played by the kid from Tomb of the Sea & Fights Break Sphere. He is with Mei Changsu throughout the story as his bodyguard and reminder that MCS has a soft heart sidekick.

(more after the cut!)

The Court

Over on the court side of things, there's an emperor, who is a paranoid jerk, but also has some layers to his personality. He’s not a cartoonish villain.

Happily, the show doesn’t lean too hard into the whole “I dare not!” thing where nobody can talk normally to anybody in the court because they’re afraid of being executed. 

Chinese emperors got to choose the next emperor from among their offspring, rather than being constrained by primogeniture like European monarchies, so sibling rivalry basically reached its apotheosis in Chinese Imperial families. Among this emperor’s progeny are four princes who actually matter. 

1. Prince Qi was executed as a traitor, but wasn't a traitor, and Mei Changsu wants to clear his name, along with the names of all of his supposed followers who were also executed. 

2. The Crown Prince, who is in favor. He is dumb. He looks like this: 

3. The not-crown Prince, who is in favor and wants to become crown prince. He is smarter than the Crown Prince but not as smart as Mei Changsu. Nobody is as smart as Mei Changsu. He looks like this: 

4. Prince Jing also wants to clear Prince Qi's name and insists he was innocent, so he is out of favor.  Prince Jing is a fine upstanding moral heroic dude, who has a temper and can’t keep his mouth shut.   

Prince Jing looks like this.

So, we're rooting for prince Jing, obviously.

Mei Changsu is also rooting for Prince Jing because 

They were best friends back when Mei Changsu was a young, different-actor guy without a medical trauma 

He'll be a good ruler 

He, like Mei Changsu, wants to clear up this whole traitor situation 

He looks like this: 

The Friendships

In the current time, Prince Jing doesn't know who Mei Changsu is so he doesn't fully trust him, and talks smack about his values. At the same time he just *feels* an affinity for him and they look at each other like this.

Do they lock eyes like that for the entirety of every conversation? Yep, pretty much.  

Also Mei Changsu's old girlfriend is in the picture, and she's fucking awesome, which makes the shipping situation complicated when the Changsu x Prince Jing energy is so strong. 

This is how she gets onto a horse:

Here Mei Changsu is pretending that he is a dude she just met, rather than her long-lost fiance (who, reminder, had a medical trauma resulting in a totally different actor changed appearance). 

Gazing heatedly and with maximum intensity at a person is a good way to pretend you don’t know them. 

I think she’s fooled, don’t you?

She conveniently disappears for like 25 episodes in the middle of the show, which uncomplicates the shipping situation a bit, for a while, anyway.

She has a best friend who's the Wuxia version of a tough lady cop, speaking of shipping.

There are a pair of young friends who share one brain cell and hang out with Mei Changsu, and who develop in interesting ways as the story progresses.

Then there's the guard captain who is an old friend who DOES know who Mei Changsu is, who's super hot and...not the sharpest nail in the horseshoe.

Captain Handsome is the only guy who can beat the Kung Fu kid. 

The Plot

Mei Changsu wants to clear the names and restore the honor of a whole lot of dead people--an entire army full of them--and the best way to do that is to put his friend in a position of power. 

He assembles a bat-team and then starts playing an extremely complex game of political Weiqi, driving opponents into impossible situations and taking them off the board one by one, while they work to do the same thing to his forces. 

The emotional connection between Mei Changsu and Prince Jing is hugely important to the story, but they don't spend most of their time together - they're working in different spheres toward a single goal, touching base often but not sharing many lighthearted moments or spending a lot of time socializing.  

So if you're craving a best-friends adventure story or a (covert) BL romance story, this isn't it. But the emotional journeys of the two main dudes are incredibly deep, and each of those journeys gets ample screen time.  

The M/F romance is also deeply important to the characters’ journeys but it’s not primarily about being together; it’s about working together toward a higher purpose. 

Is this a normal way to react when a woman you don’t really know brings you to visit the empty house of a condemned criminal you never met? Sure. Is it normal of her to randomly bring you to your own abandoned house when she just met you? Probably! 

Is it reasonable for a man to look this good in blue fur? No!

Fundamentally this is a plot-driven story, with really no filler -- story threads that seem unrelated all weave back into the main story, and stories about side characters tell us important information about the main characters. 

It’s a truly beautiful story about seeking justice and bringing peace to the souls of the dead--it’s not a revenge story, and Mei Changsu has a surprising amount of compassion for the people he opposes, even while he’s manipulating them into ruining their lives. 

It's. Freaking. Awesome.

[inkweaver22-blr]

Here’s chapter ten! I do believe this is the first chapter with absolutely no dialogue! I hope you enjoy it regardless!

AO3 Link

<Previous | First | Next>

Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Ten: Soft Shadows

Redemption is a hard process. Yet the cycles seem to make it easy for one particular demon.

----------

Redemption was a tricky thing. It required so many different events to happen in a certain order that it rarely occurred.

The first step was to commit some form of wrongdoing.

This was unfortunately the easiest part to do and most people never moved on to the next.

The second step was to realize and acknowledge your actions as wrong or harmful.

Many had justified their own actions over the course of existence and never saw themselves as doing wrong. Worse, many knew their behavior to be cruel and simply did not care or relished the feelings of power it gave them.

The final step was perhaps the most difficult to achieve.

One had to feel genuine remorse for their actions and wish to change.

Very few actually made it this far in the process as it usually required a catalyst of some sort. A personal revelation after going too far or someone laying your actions out clinically so you couldn’t justify them. Even a single act of unconditional kindness and trust could make someone wish to change.

Then came the truly hard part: actively changing your actions.

The path to redemption was not a short one. It took a lifetime of pursuit and dedicated work to not slip into the temptation of reverting back to who you were before.

Closing yourself off and pretending you didn’t care was easy, after all. What was difficult was being honest with yourself and allowing yourself to feel.

It helped if you had people around you to offer support and love. If it was from the same people who you had harmed originally, all the better.

But earning forgiveness wasn’t the goal of redemption. Some would refuse to give it, and you would have to live with that as it was their right to do so. It may hurt, but you had hurt them first and have no right to demand it even if you had changed.

Being redeemed wasn’t for the benefit of one’s victims. The hope was that you could grow into being a better person. It was for your own personal peace of mind. Whether others choose to accept that you’ve changed was not up to you, but you must continue onward regardless if you were to ever live with yourself.

Tang was intimately familiar with this process. The amount of cycles where he had been some sort of villain was not small.

The first three steps came easy to him. Feeling remorse for his wrongdoings and wishing to change were simple for one stuck jumping through time.

He could even spot a suitable catalyst for his potential ‘redemption’ fairly quickly. MK’s kindness and belief of the good in most people had certainly been useful on many occasions.

Having the whole process down to a science himself, Tang was even able to pull others into changing their ways sometimes. The Demon Bull family were commonly caught in his actions whenever he was a part of it.

(Having Red Son as a younger sibling had been interesting.)

What was bemusing to the scholar was that throughout the cycles there was one person who would constantly be redeemed, even without his meddling.

The Six Eared Macaque was an interesting puzzle.

He seemed to fit into the group that knew their actions were harmful, but did not care. Yet time and time again, he would become one of their allies.

Tang hadn’t known much about the demon early on in the cycles, but the knowledge about him came inevitably.

Macaque had been a “beloved friend” of Sun Wukong in the past. At some point, they had a falling out, Macaque seeing it as being left behind by Wukong.

The scholar had actually experienced part of that tension back in that cycle with the time traveling cactus.

So it seemed feelings of betrayal, jealousy, and abandonment were Macaque’s main motivations.

That last one was eerily similar to MK’s insecurities.

Macaque was very much like both Wukong and MK when Tang stopped to think about it. All three had repressed emotional trauma and coped with them in wildly unhealthy ways. Usually by pretending they weren’t there.

Macaque channeled those repressed emotions into schemes of revenge. He used lies and illusions to get what he wanted. He was condescending and sarcastic to his enemies, seemingly cruel and uncaring.

And it was all a facade.

At least, most of the time. There were a few cycles where Macaque was genuinely a despicable person who showed no remorse.

As much as he tried to hide it, Macaque was actually a very emotional being. It was quite easy for him to get attached to one or more of their group and slowly his cruel streak would fade.

Macaque’s catalyst for change was usually a person. It differed from cycle to cycle, but someone would show him some kindness or trust and before Tang knew it they would have another sarcastic immortal monkey as a part of the team.

MK was obviously the most common person to get the demon to change. Macaque was not lying when he called him a good kid. Having four father figures in those cycles seemed to be good for MK.

Wukong, while usually not the initial catalyst, tended to play a big part in Macaque’s redemption. Being old friends, they knew each other extremely well. While that tended to lead to a lot of arguments, it also led to them picking up where they had left off their previous relationship.

It didn’t really bother Tang that said relationships were often romantic in nature. Watching the two monkeys cuddle when they thought no one was looking was just too cute.

Mei was an interesting choice for Macaque to become attached to. He often ended up becoming her mentor, teaching her how to properly wield the Dragon Blade. Both of their sarcastic natures worked surprisingly well together.

The biggest surprise had been Pigsy.

That cycle, Macaque was basically under house arrest as ordered by Heaven. Pigsy, not wanting the manipulative demon to be anywhere near MK, forced him to stay at their apartment. It was some time later when Tang had woken late in the night to some loud noises and had left his room to complain.

Only to find Macaque pressing a kiss to Pigsy’s cheek before fleeing his room, pursued by a flustered and angry pig demon soon after.

It was strange, but Pigsy’s gruff and silent compassion meshed really well with Macaque’s easy going and nonchalant attitude. The scholar found their affection towards each other endearing.

Tang supposed it was only a matter of time before he himself acted as Macaque’s catalyst.

The cycle had started early, about a year before the original events. While working at the library, Tang had been approached by what he immediately recognized as Macaque in his human disguise. He had requested help on learning more about The Journey to the West for a school assignment. Tang, deciding to play along, offered himself up as an expert on the story and they began meeting weekly to go over it.

Macaque truly did not know the full events of the Journey in this cycle and seemed upset at several points, such as learning about the fillet used to inflict pain on Wukong. Over time, the pair began to meet up more often and discuss things other than the famous book.

He really should have expected falling in love.

Macaque was still sarcastic as ever, but never malicious. He made jokes and comparisons that had Tang’s side aching from how hard he laughed. He was quick to pick up Tang’s quirks and preferences, surprising him with his favorite foods or a nice new set of bookmarks.

He was still Macaque, but this softer side of him made Tang’s chest flutter.

As he lay in bed with his partner, (who had still yet to reveal himself to Tang, but he was patient), Tang couldn’t help but feel a new place in his heart open up for the shadow demon. He had already been considering adding Macaque into his family due to the many times he had joined them, and this just solidified that decision.

Oh Tang knew the cycles where he never changed would be painful. Watching as someone he loved went down a path of self destruction wasn’t easy. But he held onto the knowledge that there would always be the cycles where Macaque did become a part of their family.

As long as the possibility existed, there was hope that the same could happen in his own timeline.

If he ever got back that is.

Tang shoved that increasingly reoccurring thought away and closed his eyes, letting the soothing sounds of Macaque’s breathing lull him to sleep.

----------

A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!

Macaque is the fandom’s darling bad boy, so of course I had to have a chapter discussing his many, MANY redemption’s over the many fics and AU’s.

In particular, (Teach Me to Be) Tougher Than Leather, Softer Than Silk by *checks notes* HOLY SHIT! I had no idea this was by @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off until just now! *ahem* Anyway it is an AMAZING fic with a practically never used pair and I highly recommend it.

Tang seems to have a type doesn’t he? Demons that seem emotionally distant, but are big softies at heart. It’s probably the purring that gets him. ;P Also does Tang/Macaque have a ship name? If not I'm dubbing it InkyPages.

Don’t worry Tang! I’m sure those intrusive thoughts will go away all on their own.

Important notice! I’m probably going to be putting this fic on the back burner for a bit because I really want to write about the cycle mentioned here. Not as part of Scattered Cicadas, but as its own thing. So keep an eye out for that!

Until next time!

[crystalas]

Medical Muddles

Medical muddles

More of the Demon Bull Divorce AU, another one shot wherein Tang gets a phone call from a panicked Mei about an exploded truck and Red Son needing the hospital. Red Son blurts out a few secrets in the process…

also send me prompts if you want more of the Demon Bull Divorce

 Tang was sitting in his study at the university when he got the call from Mei, from what he managed to decipher from Mei’s panicked ramblings is that he needed to get to the garage and fast. Red Son and Mei had been working on the Noodle Truck while Pigsy and MK were at a Food Hygiene training course [she mentions something about installing a nitro and Tang made a note to tell Pigsy before he drove it again.] She had gotten a phone call from her dad and left the garage to answer it, luckily, she had managed to turn a corner when there was a massive explosion that shook the building besides her. She had found the truck’s fiery remains, a decimated garage and Red Son slumped against the far wall.

To be fair at this moment during the call Tang wasn’t that worried. He had seen Red Son take a jet bike to the face and only be temporarily stunned, heck he had seen on live TV the fire demon being ejected from a high speeding racing car onto the road and walk it off! Blunt force trauma was nothing the demon couldn’t handle. But Mei quickly swept away that peace of mind when she continued to tell him how Red Son had been impaled through the shoulder to the wall by a large piece of shrapnel. He told her to keep calm and wait for him and by no means call an ambulance!

By the time Tang had gotten there Mei was freaking out, she hadn’t mentioned the blood! It was splattered all around garage wall and the guilty piece of metal laid on the floor coated in it. Red Son was passed out and Mei was clinging to him trying to put pressure on the wound.

“Mei what happened? You know better than to remove objects from wounds like that!” Tang cried as he rushed over.

“It wasn’t me!” she squeaked as he checked him over “I was keeping him conscious when he just muttered something how he needed to get on with clearing this up and just yanked it out!”

Tang checked him over, he had cuts and scratches all over and the smaller ones where quickly healing, it was big ones that he was worried about. Red Son may have demonic healing abilities but even he could bleed out it seems.

“Help me get him into the car, we need to get him to Sandy’s” Tang declared as he tied the fabric Mei had been using tighter onto Red Son’s shoulder, the demon muttered something incoherent as they dragged him to Tang’s small city car.

“Hang on…Sandy’s?!” Mei asked “We need to get him to a hospital!”

“Trust me a hospital would only complicate things!” Tang declared as he drove off with Mei in the back with Red Son keeping him steady as Tang drove like a mad man through the streets, “He’s a demon remember? They don’t do well with purified water and saline would be the first thing they try and pump into him, not to mention blood types, physiology and all sort of other complications.”

Tang couldn’t help but remember the time Pigsy had cut himself badly while in the kitchen; if he remembered right Pigsy was trying to show off his vegetable dicing skills and it had gone very wrong with a deep gash on his hand. Tang had rushed him to A&E only for the nurse on duty to give him a look and told him that the veterinary clinic was two blocks away. This was twenty years ago mind you but it still put a bad taste in his mouth when he thought about it.

They got to Sandy who Mei had been called on the way there, he was ready and waiting for his patient when they skidded to a halt on the peer. Sandy wasted no time quickly tending to red Son’s wounds and applying medical balms and applying bandages and gauzes, giving Red Son a small cup of syrupy tea to help with the pain. Mei hovered close by and watched how Sandy worked with practised ease.

“Don’t worry Mei Red Son will be fine, he just needed a little help this time that’s all” Sandy declared once he was done “He’ll be up and about in…”

Red Son stirred and sat up groggily.

“Well right about now it seems” Sandy amended, Red Son looked around blearily before smiling at Tang and waving weakly.

“Heeeey Mr Tang…” he slurred “why do you smell like beetles and gold? And why does that make me hungry?”

“Red Son, how are you feeling?” Tang asked and sat in front of him who wobbled slightly as he tried to focus on the scholar before giving a happy smile.

“It’s so weird that you smell like that…oh hey Mr Tang, I feel fiiiiine!”

“Sandy? Is this normal?” Mei inquired looking at the gentle blue giant, he coughed nervously.

“I may have given him a bit too much pain relief…” he muttered.

“Dragon Horse girl!” Red Son cried happily and beckoned her over, “Great you’re here we need to get moving!” Red Son struggled to get up but failed due to his injuries.

“Red you need to keep still” Mei said gently as Tang pushed him back into the bed.

“No, no, no, no I need to get back to work on the truck!” Red Son declared “Pigsy can’t know I messed up; we need to fix it before he gets back!”

All three exchanged a look of disbelief, Red Son was pale and clearly not thinking straight. Mei knelt down in front of Red Son’s bedside so she could look him in the eye.

“Red the truck is totally trashed” she said slowly as if she was talking to a small child “there’s nothing we can do right now so why don’t you just rest for now…”

“Trashed? That means I need to work quicker!” he stated and wiggled out of bed but his legs gave out before he could even take a step and Mei caught him before he could collapse on the floor. “Maybe I could find a transmutation spell! I mean if noodle boy can do it with a stick I can do it with fire magic, Com’on dragon horse girl I need to get moving!”

“Red you nearly bled out, you need to rest!” she tried again but Red Son shook his head and was becoming distressed. Mei helped him back onto the bed but he just curled up gripping his hair with his good hand.

“I’m trying so hard this time!” he whimpered “I’m trying so hard and I’m still screwing up!”

“Red…”

“I can’t afford to mess up this time!” he cried out tears now pricking his eyes, “I have no where else to go! I don’t want to stop playing pretend!”

That last bit got the three’s attention and Tang could see Mei bristle angrily as she grabbed Red by the unharmed hand to get his attention.

“What do you mean ‘play pretend’?” she demanded, “This better not be some long con you and your parents cooked up to get us to lower our guard!”

“I wanna keep pretending that you guys like having me around” Red Son whimpered “I like it when you guys listen to me and pretend that I’m doing a good job…I know it’s only a matter time before you guys get sick of me and want me gone…I…I just don’t want that to end…I don’t want to go back to feeling alone and despised all the time…” at this Red Son broke down into tears. Mei’s suspicious anger dwindled away as she tried to console the now sobbing demon boy.

Tang glanced at Sandy who gestured at his kitchen, he gave a nod and Sandy went to go make some sleepy time tea. Tang was angrier at himself than anything now, he had hoped his experience with helping MK through his issues would have given him a sort of template to help Red Son through his. He had assumed that because Red Son hadn’t been showing any ill signs like MK had when helping him deal with his family and abandonment issues that Red Son was coping with it all. That clearly wasn’t the case and he now realised where he had made a very foolish mistake on his part.

MK had only a few years to build up his emotional walls and learn how to put on a façade, Red Son had centuries to work on his. After all it had taken him and Pigsy weeks to notice how much Red Son was reluctant to go home or the faded bruises.  

Sandy came back with the tea and handed it to Tang to give to Red Son so not to crowd the already upset boy, the poor demon looked up at him forlornly as he approached.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered “Please don’t hate me…”

“I don’t hate you Red Son, none of us do” he said tenderly as he gave him the tea to drink “I’m more upset by the fact it’s taken nothing short of you loosing a couple of pints of blood and being off your head on pain killers for you to be emotionally honest with us.”

“I’m sorry…I’ll try not to mess up anymore…” Red Son mumbled.

“Just drink this and try to rest, ok? We’ll talk more when you wake up.” Tang exclaimed Red Son downed the tea before flopping back onto the bed, his eyes fluttered shut and soon he was asleep.

 Red woke up slowly his shoulder hurting like a bitch along with other body parts. Red Son and pain were old acquaintances at this point so he took note of what might need attention as he tried to move his aching limbs; he attempted to recollect what happened.

He was working on the Noodle Truck; Mei was there he remembered that because they were discussing the logistics of installing a nitro into the truck. He was doing some routine maintenance while checking where improvements could be made when Mei got a phone call, he had begun to check the oil levels when he heard her answer the call.

“Hey dad! How’s things?”

That innocent question struck a chord in Red Son that made his heart clenched painfully and then he did something he hadn’t done in what seemed like centuries…he lost control of his powers. Before he could even think about it flames licked up around his body and normally that wouldn’t have been issue had he not been currently working near flammable liquids.

There was an explosion and he remembered being thrown against a wall from the blast, aching agony erupted down his spine followed by several sharp pains across his body the biggest one in his shoulder. His ears were ringing as he saw Mei rush up to him calling to him through what felt like walls of cotton wool. He saw the truck…oh god what a mess he needed to fix that before Pigsy saw it…he tried to get up and only then saw the large chunk of metal pinning him to the wall.

Mei tried to fight him as he grabbed the metal and tore it out, by the gods that hurt but he needed to get moving, there was work to be done and besides this wasn’t the first time he had done this. However, when he tried to cauterize the wound shut Mei was putting her hands over it with her jacket and getting in the way. He didn’t want to burn her by accident but she wouldn’t let go of him… he didn’t remember what happened after that because things got very fuzzy very quickly.

His last thoughts before he blacked out was that he needed to remember to grab a mop there was messy puddles splattered all over the place…

He finally opened his eyes and looked around and saw Pigsy sitting next to his bed, wait how did he get here? Oh crap Pigsy was here! He hadn’t fixed the truck!

Pigsy glanced down at him and noticed he was awake, Red Son felt his gaze burn into his skull.

“How you feeling?” the pig man asked gruffily “Heard you got hurt badly”

“I’m fine!” Red Son blurted “I’ll be up and moving in no time, don’t you worry demons heal fast…” he sat up and tried to move he wobbled but stayed up straight. “I’ll get back to work now okay?”

“Sit back down!” Pigsy barked and Red Son looked at him annoyed to be ordered around but saw that look of displeasure and sat back down. Cold dread now filled Red Son’s chest, he hadn’t fixed the truck he had left a huge mess and Pigsy was obviously mad at him. But if he was going to get punished then he was going to at least face it like the demon prince he was.

“My apologies, as soon as I am able I will repair the…” he started but Pigsy just glared at him even more angrily.

“You seriously think I’m worried about the truck?!” he snapped “Tang told me what happened! You had been skewered and nearly bled to death!”

“Oh…” Red Son stuttered.

“Don’t worry about the truck, MK has trashed and reassembled that thing so many times I’ve lost count.” he explained,

“So…you’re not mad?” Red Son ventured softly.

“Listen Red, I’m more upset about the fact that you are more concerned about a freaking hunk of junk than your own health!” he explained.

“So, I can stay?” came the quiet reply.

“You thought I was gonna chuck you out because of this? Red if I did that MK would have been out on his butt several times over!” Pigsy explained “What matters is that you’re ok, you really scared us there”

“You’re really not mad at me?” Red Son asked again, the idea that he wasn’t getting punished for this wasn’t quite sinking in yet.

“No, I’m not mad and I’m not going to kick you out or punish you or whatever else messed up thing you got cooked up in your head!” Pigsy declared “What we will be doing is talking about this idea you got that your place in this family is based solely on what work you can do, cos it ain’t! you’re a good kid Red you don’t need to keep proving your value, you need to be able to see that we care despite what you can or can’t do…”

Red Son was looking down at his fists that clench and unclenched at the blankets on the bed. Pigsy was worried for a second that none of that had sunk in and if anything he might have made things worse somehow until he heard a hoarse whisper.

“You said…This family…” Red Son repeated so quietly “I have a place in this family? You really want me around?”

“Yes!” he sighed happily and put his hand on Red Son’s arm. “Yes we do!”

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

anonymous: How do you think hbn would have reacted if he found out that mr was a bbbf all along? Would he feel guilty for doing all that to one of his own people?

Long post and spoilers under the cut!

Frankly, I don’t think he’d be too torn up about it. It might make him pause for a minute, but ultimately I think Hua Binan would have simply brushed it off. Hua Binan has empathy, but it’s too conditional for him to have felt bad for the things he did to Mo Ran, even if he knew Mo Ran was a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast like him. The fact that he’s one of the rare ones would prevent Hua Binan from sympathizing with him, imo. See, the main dangers that Hua Binan and the majority of the rest of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts suffer are:

1). They have golden tears, a dead giveaway of their status as descendants of a demon race

2). Cannibalizing/having sex with them raises a cultivator’s cultivation level

3). They have an extremely low cultivation level, meaning that they’re essentially powerless to defend themselves

Mo Ran doesn’t have 1) or 3). In that case, it’s nearly impossible to tell that he’s a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast; not only is his mother dead, but Mo Ran himself isn’t aware of it, either. That greatly reduces the danger he’s put in for being a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast (although it sure did not save him from literally every other kind of danger). Which means... Mo Ran being a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast is not, after all, much of a similarity with Hua Binan, or a connection from which Hua Binan would develop sympathy for Mo Ran. 

I think his thought process would be something like, “Oh, he’s a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast... but he can cry when he wants to without his tears giving him away, and he’s not powerless to fight back against the cultivators who would want to rape/cannibalize him to raise their cultivation level - assuming he’s even found out in the first place, which is nearly impossible? ...Well then he’s really not in danger for being a Beauty like the rest of us are, is he?” Of course, this is... not a mindset most decent people would have, as Mo Ran has been through hell in other ways and many of those ways were because of Shi Mei, but when have you ever known Hua Binan to show basic moral decency?

There is one person that Hua Binan sincerely cared about (not including Chu Wanning) who was not a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast, and that’s Mu Yanli. I don’t think anyone can deny that he loved his sister - he’s devastated when she dies. You could say that, well, Hua Binan obviously cares about her since she’s his sister, but I don’t think just being biologically related to him would be enough for Hua Binan to care about someone. Pretty... far from it, actually. I don’t think Hua Binan would have any scruple murdering someone related to him, lmao. There’s a few things beyond their biological relations that bind the two siblings, and those things are why Hua Binan loves Mu Yanli despite her not being a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast.

One factor is their shared history; they were together since before Hua Binan got hit with all that trauma of his father eating his mother alive, which was the start of his determination to use the Path of Martyrdom to get his people to safety. In essence, they’ve known each other, and were probably close, since they were both harmless, innocent children, before becoming scarred and hardened. I think that probably warrants some level of a connection, even from someone as cutthroat as Hua Binan. 

Another thing - Mu Yanli, like Hua Binan, suffered because of their father. Mu Yanli loved Hua Gui (Hua Binan’s mother) and considered her her mother although they weren’t biologically related. Their grief, and probably resentment and trauma, over Hua Gui’s (very horrible) death is shared. That’s another connection.

And third, Mu Yanli was working with Hua Binan to free the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts. She was just as determined as him to end their oppression and brutalization. Definitely a strong connection there. (And I know many people hate Mu Yanli for what she did to Mo Ran, but gosh I really do love how she felt so strongly for the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts despite not being one of them. That “please, let them go”... I felt that.) Mu Yanli and Hua Binan are united in their single-minded dedication to ending the suffering of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts, to the point that they’re willing to use extreme violence. 

Mo Ran doesn’t share any of these similarities - these connections - with Hua Binan. He did not suffer because of Hua Binan’s father (like Hua Binan, Hua Binan’s mother, and Mu Yanli) and he did not/will not suffer for being a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast (like Hua Binan, Hua Binan’s mother, and the rest of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts). He’s not working to end their brutalization either, and certainly not willing to turn to mass murder for it. He’s not even in danger the way a typical Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast is in the cultivation world. Thus, Hua Binan would not feel guilt for doing what he did to Mo Ran. (And disclaimer because I don’t want to be torn limb from limb - I am not blaming Mo Ran, or saying he’s bad, for not suffering the things stated above. He’s suffered plenty in other ways. Nor am I saying Hua Binan is right for treating him the way he did just because they don’t have many shared experiences.)

If anything, I think Hua Binan would have been even more spiteful of Mo Ran if he knew that Mo Ran was a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast. Kind of like, so he gets to be a special kind with a high cultivation level and normal tears, while Hua Binan and the other Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts can’t protect themselves from being raped and/or cannibalized, can’t even cry without the danger of being raped and/or cannibalized? The similarity between Mo Ran and Hua Binan of being one of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts is a shallow one, imo, thanks to the differences caused by Mo Ran being the irregular type of Beauty. It doesn’t really... give them any parallels, aside from their family trees vaguely branching off from the same place. Which isn’t really a parallel.

For me, what makes these two narratively foils is that at one point in their lives, they were just a pair of innocent children who suffered horribly and unjustly without doing anything to warrant any of it, traumatizing them to the point of latching onto the first person (Chu Wanning) who showed them kindness. And if their similar powerless childhoods weren’t enough for Hua Binan to feel sympathy for Mo Ran, I highly doubt that his disdain would change with the knowledge that Mo Ran is a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast - because, in Hua Binan’s mind, Mo Ran didn’t suffer the same horror that he, his mother, and the rest of the Beauties suffered for being Beauties. He didn’t suffer because of Hua Binan’s father, either, like Mu Yanli did. 

Tldr; Hua Binan is pretty pitiless (it’s kind of scary how pitiless he is lmao), and the revelation of Mo Ran’s lineage might have made him blink, but not much beyond that, imo. (I do think it would have been different had Mo Ran not been one of the rare kinds of Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feasts, though.)

[totallynotpuri]

I have... thoughts about Turning Red.....

Basic tl;dr because this got long. 

Turning Red, in concept, was an interesting way to show the generational divides a first generation immigrant daughter raised in America and her mother. However, it was bogged down by the story’s constant need to be “funny” and “modern”. There are great moments, amazing visuals, and good characters, but I can’t honestly recommend it without giving a heads up for cringe.

I would be lying if I said I hated the movie, I don’t. However I can’t help but draw comparisons to Encanto, both because both stories talk about the effects of generational trauma and because they both focus on a character who has to deal with being radically different than their family.

However, while Encanto drew me in and kept me in the story almost the entire time, Turning Red made me cringe way too many times for my comfort.

And look! I don’t think that’s inherently bad! It was an amazing way to show the generational divides between Mei and her family as well as how it effects her! However, I don’t want to see a movie where I was tempted to leave in the first 10 minutes of it.

Yes it’s a great way to represent a 13 year old’s point of view of the world. Yes it was a good way to story tell. Yes it was a great way to show how Mei’s mom doesn’t understand her and helps tell the audience everything we need to know in a short period of time!

But was it an enjoyable experience? To watch her mom storm into a deli and embarrass Mei in front of everyone and accuse a 17 year old of “devious acts”? To see her mom run onto school grounds and show pads to her entire class? To see Mei shake her panda ass at her mother in the finale?

No! Honestly no! The second hand embarrassment was going to kill me and I would have rather not seen it!

Not to bring it back to Encanto again, but I didn’t have to see any character shake their ass at the camera in that movie and I’m honestly fine with that. The story was focused on the story first and foremost, and that was honestly amazing!

Turning Red was so focused on being modern and representing a 13 year old’s actions and world that it took away from the message at the end. Would Encanto’s story have been as good if, during Mirable and Abuela’s fight at the end, it was interrupted by a capybara shaking their ass? Fuck no! So why did Turning Red think it was necessary to do that? Mei could’ve kept her mom there by talking about the emotions she had during the movie! But no! It was boiled down to “I’m GYRATING mom, look at me, a 13 year old shaking her panda ass because I know it makes you angry”

There’s just so much unnecessary fluff to it that makes the story weaker than it could’ve be. I wish we got to see more of the family interactions, both between Mei’s mom and her family as well as Mei and her family, because both feel lacking. Because while Encanto’s story felt rushed because there wasn’t enough time to let all the characters shine, Turning Red felt like it was giving too much time to unnecessary things and not letting the gems it hid in the sand to shine.

Weirdly enough, I don’t have as much to say about the cultural parts of this movie, much less than I did about Encanto, which is weird to me. I feel like this movie was supposed to represent me, supposed to talk about what it’s like to be a first generation Chinese American immigrant who doesn’t understand her family because of the different environment I grew up in, but all it made me think was “fuck, that’s exactly how annoying teenagers are”. 

I wish I could talk about the pressure to get good grades, I wish I could talk about the pressures to be perfect for my family, I wish I could talk about the traditions and divides and the misunderstandings, but I can’t! Because they’re not focused on as much! And when they are, it’s weak! It makes me think of the mom’s point of view more than Mei’s! It makes me feel angry that Mei is putting herself above the safety of a lotta people! It makes me sad that everyone but Mei and her friends are painted as in the wrong when they’re not!

It feels like a perfectly good soup that someone decided to add packets of glitter into for the pizazz. 

[lunar-wandering]

Heist time? Heist time!

me?? writing a crossover between Monkie Kid and Kaitou Joker that only a few specific people will probably read?? its more likely than you think.

Word Count: 1.5k

read on ao3

---

"You received a what?" MK asked, staring at Mei in shock.

"A...heist notice?" Mei said, "It's not for anything important really, just some amulet no one in my family really cares about, but we are required to defend it, so I was wondering if you would come along."

"Are you kidding me?" MK asked, jumping up off of his chair in excitement. "You got a heist notice from Kaitou Joker, Mei! He's world renowned! Of course I want to help you defend your treasure from him!"

"...Do you think Red Son will want to come too?"

"Even if he doesn't, he'll probably still come anyways."

---

"I don't understand how you forced me into this." Red Son complained, as the three of them leaned against the wall in Mei's Family's Treasure Room, waiting for the time on the heist notice to arrive. "I mean, it's just one thief. How hard could fending them off be?"

"I'm pretty sure it's harder than it seems." Mei said, "I googled him when we got the notice. The list of things he's managed to steal is about three miles long."

"And the list of things he failed to steal?" MK asked.

"Non-existent. Either he always succeeds, or he covers up his failures really well."

"Well he better hurry up and get on with it." Red Son said, "I don't exactly have all day after all."

"You do know that you don't have to stay in this room right?" Mei asked, "You can go and investigate other parts of the mansion if you're bored."

"Oh thank fuck." Red Son whispered, standing up and walking out of my room. "Shout if he shows up!"

---

Of course, as fate would have it, Joker and his assistant, Hachi, just so happened to jump down through one of the windows on the roof not even ten minutes after Red Son left the room. They landed on the ground in a crouch, proceeding to stand up-

And come face to face with Mei and MK's weapons.

"We aren't going to let you take the treasure, thief." MK said, before excitedly whispering under his breath; "Man, I've always wanted to say that."

"Oh, you think you can stop me?" Joker said, a smirk on his face. "Sounds fun."

And just like that, Joker suddenly slammed a smoke bomb down onto the floor, causing Mei and MK to back up and shield their eyes so that the smoke wouldn't get in them. During the haze, Joker forcibly bumped into MK, making him drop the staff. Joker bent down to pick it up-

Only to find that he couldn't.

"Huh. Weird." He said, trying again, and giving up when it wouldn't budge. "I'll have to get back to figuring out how to steal that later."

"You'll have to what-" MK started, but was cut off by Mei, who rushed pass him, aiming to swing at Joker. He dodged at the last second, maneuvering behind her and hitting her on the back, causing her to stumble.

Joker swiftly and casually took the sword out of Mei's hands, proceeding to jump on top of a nearby statue to be out of her reach for a few moments.

"Oh now this is interesting.~" He said as he observed the sword, "Maybe I should send out a heist notice for this as well-"

Joker suddenly paused, and a tense atmosphere filled the room.

The spirits of the past dragons had surrounded Joker, and they were all glaring at him angrily.

"...You know what?" Joker said, tossing the sword over his shoulder, causing the dragons to vanish, and for Mei to scramble to catch it before it could hit the floor. "I don't need this sword, I've got plenty already. Hachi, are you ready?!"

"Yes sir!"

"Wh-" MK whirled around, to see that, while he had been distracted, focusing on Joker, his assistant had taken the amulet from it's stand. "Hey, give that back!"

He lunged at Hachi, and the ninja gave a little shriek, hurriedly side stepping and tossing the amulet to Joker, who caught it and proceeded to turn to run out of the room, Hachi moving to follow close behind.

"Oh no you don't!" Mei yelled, immediately chasing after them, with MK quickly joining her.

They ran through the hallways, twisting and turning. They almost lost sight of Joker a few times, what with him using his image gum to try and disguise himself as various statues, but MK's true sight always let them spot him rather quickly, and then the chase would be on again.

It was during one of the points when they were running after him that Red Son happened to see them from his position of sitting up in the rafters.

"Oh for the love of- I told them to shout if he showed up." He muttered to himself, before sighing. It seemed like he was going to have to step in.

"You won't get past me!" Red Son said, jumping down into the thief's way, his hands on fire. Joker didn't even blink.

"What are you, some relative of Phoenix? The fire trick is so old school y'know." He said, not even bothering to stop. He vaulted over Red Son, who, faced with the fact that the thief wasn't afraid of his fire, had frozen in place in shock. Hachi quietly ran around him as well, muttering a quiet "Sorry." As he did.

"Wh- Hey! Get back here!" Red Son yelled as soon as the shock wore off, turning and joining Mei and MK in chasing after the thief. Joker just laughed in response.

"A larger audience just makes the chase more fun!" He shouted over his shoulder-

And then suddenly he came to a complete halt, Hachi bumping into him from the unexpectedness of the sudden stop. MK, Mei and Red Son stumbled, barely stopping themselves from also running into him. MK looked over Joker's shoulder to see what had made the phantom thief pause.

There was a cat in the hallway.

MK, confusedly, looked back at the thief, wondering why a cat of all things had made him stop. He got his answers as soon as he got a good look at him.

Joker was genuinely trembling, the bit of his eyes that MK could see under the hat were filled with fear.

From his side, Hachi sighed.

"Seriously, Joker?" He asked, a bit deadpan, but still with some concern in his voice. "I assumed you'd gotten over your fear of cats after so much exposure to Hosshi."

"Well excuse me for not recovering from my childhood trauma." Joker said,  causing Red Son to stifle a laugh.

The cat meowed.

"Shit." Joker hissed, backing up and practically scrambling to climb on top of the nearest person, which happened to be Red Son, who shouted indignantly in response, struggling to pull him off to no avail.

"..While I hate to use a fear against anyone, since I know what it's like first hand." MK started, "Would you. Give us back the amulet if we get rid of the cat?"

"Fine, fine!" Joker yelled, "I'll give you the amulet okay?"

Red Son finally managed to push Joker off, the thief landing with an "oomf" on the ground, and leaving the amulet behind in Red Son's hands. Mei made swift work of picking up the cat and quickly herding it into a nearby room. MK reached down and lightly patted Joker on the shoulder.

"There, was that so hard?" He asked, a bit of smugness in his voice. Hey, he had technically just bested a world renowned phantom thief, he could be a little smug. Joker just sighed.

"Whatever." He said, before quickly jumping up, grabbing his assistant in his arms, and turning to take off down the hallway without another word, laughing once he'd reached a good distance away from them. MK was confused for a moment, before-

The amulet in Red Son's hands suddenly popped, like a balloon, leaving only a card, the Jack of Hearts, behind.

The three of them stared at it for a moment, in silence.

"Oh that fu-"

---

It was rather late when MK finally walked into the Noodle Shop, practically dragging his feet. Pigsy glanced up as he walked in.

"There you are, MK. What took you so long, your shift started two hours ago." He said. MK sighed.

"Sorry Pigsy, I was busy....." MK trailed off as he suddenly noticed the other two people in the restaurant, at the exact same time they noticed him.

MK, Joker, and Hachi stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Welp, that's my cue to go!" Joker said, picking up the bowl he'd been eating out of and carrying it with him as he ran past MK and out of the shop, Hachi quickly throwing some money on the counter before running off behind him. MK didn't even try to stop them. He stood there for a few minutes, registering what just happened, before moving to sit at one of the stools by the counter.

"Long day?" Pigsy asked.

MK put his head down on the counter and screamed.

[seoafin]

tbh,, i havent read the raws of the interview yet, only the translated ver from fan-translator and b4 i start, i think that this will be just me talking in circle and in no particular order AND a real mess (my brain does weird things after exams) but uhh here we go

gojou collects talented people, and by doing so he finds the people he can most probably relate to, except that he can't, not really, because something in the universe shifted when he was born. and it makes me think of how he's always known it, that he is special, and he's proven it, time and time again— he wants to take in talented ppl and he does, but there rly isn't much he can do for them. for they are talented, more talented than the world can understand,,

but they aren't gojou satoru

gojou took in megumi, bc he knew megumi was strong, and would grow up to be someone even stronger, but gojou can't facilitate or encourage his growth, bc for all they're similar, they are so fundamentally different. ALSO,, while geto was in his life, gojou rly judged everything according to his understanding of geto’s moral compass. gojou wears a human suit and geto is how he learnt to wear it well 🏃

the dragonfly analogy regarding to geto’s response to gojo, who was shown wearing a dragonfly patterned yukata in HI arc,, i’m trying to not think abt the fact that dragonfly symbolized victory in jpn....pain. i quoted from a web here for more explanation : In Japan the dragonfly is known as the "victory insect", or kachimushi, because of its hunting prowess and also because it is known to never retreat. Dragonflies are agile and fast fliers and can even hover, but never fly backwards

and bringing this up again, matricide and patricide are 2 of the 5 worst act to commit in buddhism, and it was said that if u commit one of those act u’re going to spend a real long time in the deepest pit of hell before continuing the samsaric cycle (higher chances to be born as an animal after that probs)— this might be geto’s divine retribution. held no power over his own body and could be considered that he’s the same as those “monkeys” 💀

ALSO the fact that sukuna's interest is "eating" rly drives home his hedonistic philosophy of seeking pleasure for himself. and he’s a cannibal...makes me think if he’ll just chomp on ppl with the mouth on his stomach

randomly, to date i think he hasn't really called himself a human, shaman, or a curse, and has held himself apart from all 3, and we've also the intro of the cursed wombs so i wonder if he’s trying to become, or is, a different entity altogether

so onmyoji got mentioned in the interview and what they practice is called onmyodo and abe no seimei and kano no yasunori were the notable practitioners,, and the kamo in jjk is the same as irl who served the imperial court back then

maybe i was right when i said that the relation between the govt. and jujutsu elders are similar to how the shogunate and imperial court work (ie, the former holds the actual power) but... lets see later,,

and i cant believe that i actually nailed it on the analogy of jujutsu practices by religion,,, so mahayana buddhism, shintoism, and taoism is present in jjk along with their respective jujutsu practices...but between the 3, it shld (?) be taoism > shintoism > mahayana buddhism (which could took a path to pure land buddhism)

it’s weird that the number of curses are supposedly higher in jpn comparable to other countries when taoism was brought from china....tengen sus

so the zenin family tree is sth like :

brothers: [toji's dad] ; naobito ; ougi

so toji, naoya, and maki & mai are cousins of the same generation

[toji's dad] → jinichi (probs) ; toji → megumi

naobito → other brothers, naoya

ougi → maki, mai

but yea i’d call anyone who’s within/close or below my age range as cousins and others above 30 as uncles/ aunts LMFAO,, i dont rly memorize my own family tree 😭😭 especially since most call the other by honorifics instead of names : aunt, uncles etc or attaching said honorifics at the end of a name for an older sibling figure/ older cousins [but like ppl in my country also call the other who are older with sibling honorific even if we’re strangers,,, rly similar to korea’s hyung/oppa—eonnie(unnie)/noona but some uses more genderless honorific] (1)

tw // topic of incest, mentions of abuse

if anyone got the wrong idea when reading this : i am not glorifying/ romanticising incest(uous themes),, i’m looking at this with absolutely no lenses of bias even tho im rly against it

初恋 = literally : first love, or puppy love

恋 = romantic love/ deep longing

i literally don't know how else to put this...🧍and with language barrier...using a western interpretation of the eng word "love" to explain a jpnese term is not quite that simple, unfortunately

that thread omg,, i rly do understand how exactly someone could associated kindness with love bc of my upbringing, it was when i was slightly older that i was just...oh so its not like that orz,,, so the most plausible explanation would be that

but the problem is that,, akutami never specify when exactly she had a crush on them,, and when megumi answered todo’s question she had a “♡” reaction 😶,, uhmmm there’s rly no way to look past this if its this way or be in denial

i’ve seen some of "why wouldn't mai react that way after hearing megumi say he'd like someone who's compassionate when she's surrounded by men like naoya",, well I MEAN,,, that, but also mai probs admires that megumi grew up so well out of the clan, regardless of the fact that he had the foundation (10 shadows) to do so. imo she seems happy for him the way she can't be for maki, bc maki ultimately had to leave her behind

hate to say it but yea,, the 3 clans most likely still practice inbreeding in order to preserve their power and presumably their wealth too 😀

i had an idle thought abt it at first but i filed it deep in the back of my mind asap,, bc i ont wanna jump to conclusion abt this out of all things too early. it’s probably not even in jjk, but all those elite clans in other ani/mangas that produce powerful heirs and whatnot also do the same,,, but this way of (my personal) thinking was influenced when i first got into tsukihime (type-moon),,, i read abt the nanaya family background and found out that they practice that in order to keep their bloodline “pure” (to keep it short : they have an optical power),, and i had this kind of assumption ever since so there’s that

i’m,, convinced the zenins' inbreeding made it more difficult for them to get powerful shamans bc they got 2 jujutsu technique-less children with heavenly restrictions in the same generation: toji & maki

even more convinced that maki might be a bit stronger than toji bc toji could see curses without aid while maki can't so the pay-off must be higher,,, SJJASN IDK ,,, plus naoya sort of implies his older brothers are nothing compared to him, and idk if we should take that as his arrogance or that his older brothers rly are weak/powerless. it would make sense as to why naobito had a lot of sons, ig, as head of clan

i feel so bad that if one of the factors that can caused heavenly restriction is inbreeding,, toji and maki and mai had no say in how they wanted to be born but are scorned for it,, typical asian families projecting their traumas and ideals onto their kids but get mad when they realize that those ideals are ugly...😁😁😁

since the zenin are conservative,, i wonder if they still hold onto old jpnese dining traditions. where in ancient jpn, hierarchical relationships were made readily apparent even within families. a dining table where everybody sat down and ate as equals would be unheard of. rather, each individual is given their own table that indicates their status,,, someone who is not considered “strong” according to the zenin’s views most likely have no place at the table, and probs eat when those who are “strong” finished/ serve them when they are eating

if toji was tossed into a swarm of curses,, i dont think abuse during said time is below them,,,

the zenin clan was already great, but they further amassed power and strength by, what i assume to be, marrying and adopting powerful individuals into the clan 🤔 ,,, i imagine they're like the hiiragi but without doing what they did to shinya (ons reference)

BUT after all that, i like to think that since akutami’s a big horror fan, jjk might be an outlet to explore said topics or even darker ones, so i wouldnt be that surpised abt it. given that there’s more than enough “red flags” before this was dropped : a reference to “tale of hikaru genji” when a grown woman asked for gojou’s number in HI arc (out of all things); granny who transformed into the man’s daughter, sat on his lap and man just touched her waist; mei mei and ui ui ; and...this (incestous theme is in the novel btw)

lets not start with whatever the fuck in kubo’s head in the interview otherwise i’m writing paragraphs with every curse words possible,, those big 3 mangakas are so— UGH,, a planet w out (cis) men like him sounds real good rn 😌 if one of yall out there decide to do it,, pls hmu rly cant do this shit anymore

akutami said i like my men pretty and i like women who will step on my neck and spit in my face (I REMEMBERED TATSUKI FUJIMOTO’S INTERVIEW WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABT MAKIMA AND IT WAS SO 😭😭😭😭) but ykw,, love that for both of them <3

when i said 3 : one piece, bleach, naruto. aside from the blatant depiction/ characterize of women in those 3,, idk if some ppl arent aware yet but oda is friends with two (2) convicted pedos,, man...the major disappointment and disgust when i first find out abt it

anyways this is just my 2 cents (which i think rightfully belong to the trash can) so pls just take this w a lil to no grain of salt - 🐱

YEAH THE ♡ LMFAO I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A “good answer ♡“ heart BUT NOW IM RE-EXAMINING?????

honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if the three clans practiced inbreeding. but ik people are going to be  😡😡😡😡😡 about it when the queen of fucking england is literally married to her (something) cousin. i’m not justifying it but like....love the double standards, just as always with the west 😍

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING PED* LIST THEY SHOULD ALL BE IN JAIL. JAILLLLL. it’s all so gross. that’s why i fucking hate when people look towards manga for positive representation because the chances of that are super slim to zero, especially since the industry is saturated with misogyny and ped******* and a lot of other gross stuff.

i think ppl forget jjk is a horror manga LOL so obviously it’s going to confront darker themes. the question is whether it’s going to be done tastefully or not......