#I'm just. gonna have to not be online for a while to avoid spoilers I guess?

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Oh wait I have shit to do on the 25th oh no

[karatekels]

WARNING: SPOILERS WILL BE COMING! 🚨

So, as we all know, part 1 of season 6 is dropping tonight! It's looking like midnight my time, and because I am a large baby, that is past my bedtime.

I'm going to be binging the episodes early tomorrow morning, and posting my ranting rambling thoughts here - maybe I'll just use this post? - the way I did for the first five episodes of my rewatch.

I will hide them under a cut, and I don't plan on posting anything about the new season outside of this post for a week or so.

Basically, if you want to avoid spoilers: read with caution!

Episode 1: Peacetime in the Valley

…God I really love how they do music on this show.

Okay this peace better die real fucking quick because I’m annoyed.

CHOZEN IN A SHORT ROBE, NOW WE’RE TALKING.

Looking at this newspaper clipping, I wonder if we’re supposed to care about little details or if they just didn’t really care and it’s completely random. If it’s NOT random, I have thoughts:

Why is the photographer who took Terry’s mugshot only named by their initials. Anyone know a B.T.?

…okay, looking at the column on the left, this had better be a joke. CLOWN MURDER?!

And then the article itself is cobbled together. Unless this is just a fake newspaper as a plant, then this is pretty week bud.

Coincidentally, if you or any other showrunner would like to hire me to write fake newspaper articles for your show or movie so that people like me don’t tear you apart online, I am available!

Okay so Tory and Robby are clearly still together, and the only thing that isn’t complete peace is Kenny and Anthony only looking at each other from a distance?

DANIEL’S SMUG SMILE AS THE COBRA KAI LOGO GETS THROWN AWAY GO FUCK YOURSELF SIR.

Amanda YES, bring up Terry getting the charges dropped!

Kreese vs. US Marshals eh?

Stop talking about my man without showing him, Daniel.

Oh good, already tension between Daniel and Johnny’s views on things.

OH JOHNNY LOOKS GENUINELY DEVASTATED THAT THEY DEMOLISHED THE ABANDONED WAREHOUSE.

…wow we really are just forgiving Benedict Penis Breath for some reason, huh?

IT DID NOT TAKE AWHILE FOR YOU TWO TO TALK AGAIN, ROBBY. YOU LITERALLY JUST HAD A FIGHT AND THAT SEEMED TO FIX EVERYTHING??

…Johnny wants to use fire on the children? I can think of a couple that can be guinea pigs *cough*KYLER*cough*

Ohhhhhh… Daniel picking Chozen over Johnny isn’t gonna end well. What if instead we got rid of Daniel and Johnny and Chozen hung out.

– insert Sekai Taikai exposition here –

And the new name of the dojo iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis… I MEAN, WE’VE ALL BEEN CALLING IT MIYAGI-FANG FOREVER.

Of course Daniel is angry (I mean it is a stupid picture of Mr. Miyagi but still)

…Chozen going against Johnny here really doesn’t check out. But I am here for a Chozen vs. Johnny fight.

The worst double-date in history! WHO CARES IF SHE DOESN’T WANT TO LEARN MIYAGI-DO??

Robby, don’t you dare speak ill of the precious Kenny/Silver mentorship dynamic you JERK.

Daniel (and Chozen) being so dismissive of Johnny’s feelings makes me sad

Oh DIP OMINOUS TEXT MESSAGE GOOD THING YOU BOUGHT THAT AXE.

Tory looks so sad and I hate it. Eat your waffle cone, Miguel.

Robby why in the hell would interrupting the game make Kenny want to listen to you? Also lmao look who’s taller now Kenny grew like 2 feet.

HI SHAWN. …Being ominous in an arcade is great.

Daniel preaching balance when he’s simultaneously…Daniel is infuriating.

…Chozen alcoholism subplot? ANDNO KUMIKO?! BUT I SHIP IT SO HARD!

Oh Johnny really brought the axe huh?

OH MY GOD STINGRAY I’M DYING.

Shawn your child brother is starting high school please do not take him to a strip club.

ROBBY WHY WOULD YOU APPROACH WHILE THEY HAVE BATS.

WE DON’T WANT TO FIGHT, he says while joining the fight!

…am I Stingray? “Because it’s awesome” – I WILL BELIEVE IN COBRA KAI FOREVER.

And he appreciates that Amanda is a smokeshow.

Don’t you dare disrespect ponytail dude, Shawn Payne.

Did the prison system actually help Shawn? SHOCKING.

Daniel being the bigger person? Only took HOW MANY DECADES?!

…so we’re calling it Miyagi-Do? Even though it’s not just Miyagi-Do? THIS IS DUMB.

We don’t get to see how Kreese got to Korea? REALLY?!

Episode 2: The Prize

NICK! YAY TERRY BACKSTORY! (Also Barrett yay but I mean… TERRY)

Kreese defending her is so cute OH MY GOD SHE’S IN THE AIR CHILL OUT GRAMPS.

Oh good, sewage in the cooking pots.

Not a real talk about money on this show! Oh, we’re cutting away?

…Why did we linger on that one student when Kim said “Silver is gone now”? Am I just looking for hope where there isn’t any?

I’m sorry, how old is this man going to be now? HE LOOKED 80 IN THE LATE 60S.

Does Amanda just dress like that everyday? Daniel is a lucky man.

I would watch an entire YouTube series in the vein of Trixie & Katya’s “I Like to Watch” that’s just Chozen watching reality shows.

“Your incompetence is why I must stay alive” is a brutal fucking line.

Kyler and his gaggle of 45 year old college freshmen. Or just Brucks.

…please think Chozen and Johnny are a gay couple, Mr. Realtor. Okay no, but Johnny blowing this up pretty spectacularly is pretty great.

Why do I feel like this is going to culminate in Kreese stabbing Immortal Kim because he’s “worthy of taking control”?

OR THE SNAKE COULD BITE HIM UMMMM.

As someone who has been in university in some capacity for like a decade, this… was not my experience. Though watching Kyler get shit on is kind of fun.

OH NO DUTCH REFERENCE. HE’S STILL IN PRISON THOUGH THAT’S GOOD.

Deus ex Johnny-fan ftw!

NOT HALLUCINATION NICK MARINI!

…Okay, so we are just gonna double down on the homoeroticism with men being each other’s weaknesses? I mean I’m here for it.

Frats have always seemed so stupid to me, with hazing and shit. Even for morons like Kyler. Never thought I’d see the day where I’m rooting for Kyler but I guess here we are. DESTROY THE DOUCHEBAGS. (Though how is anyone getting into college with this ASSAULT)

American tourist loses mind in cave, talks to snake. Film at 11.

Kyler acknowledging he’s a moron? I’m here for it. NO NOT ANOTHER FRAT COME ON.

LMAO Johnny insisting he has a job – AND IT WORKS HE JUST STARTS SELLING CARS.

Amanda is right though, what’s in the briefcase, Johnny?

Kim Da-Eun is gonna JUMP Kreese’s bones istg

Episode 3: Sleeper

Chozen freeloading is hilarious

“Chicks dig me” as a response to possibly having a daughter is crazy.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!

…the cobra is still in your dealership, Daniel?

“I’m a girl dad” – Johnny Lawrence, 2024 (or whatever year this is supposed to be I can’t remember)

…okay this episode is called Sleeper and we’re seeing that same student we did in the last episode when they said “Silver is gone now” DID TERRY HAVE A BASTARD CHILD AND NOT KNOW ABOUT IT?!

You tell ‘em, Devon.

Lol “LEE, CALL YOUR DAD, YOU’RE HANDLING THIS PROBLEM AT YOUR HOUSE.”

Please don’t be a stupid retcon of Miyagi’s character please don’t be a stupid retcon of Miyagi’s character please don’t be a stupid retcon of Miyagi’s character please don’t be a stupid retcon of Miyagi’s character please don’t be a stupid retcon of Miyagi’s character

Got a lot of mystery boxes in this episode, huh?

…”we can have a girls’ night,” says the 50-something year old man to the 3 teenaged girls he isn’t related to. I do love his relationship with Devon though. It’s a shame she’s going to die in a freak karate accident so that Johnny can name his daughter after her.

THE HORRORS LOCKED AWAY IN A HIDDEN COMPARTMENT ARE THAT HE WAS A BOXER?!

…oh and he beat the shit out of people.

AND HE CHANGED HIS NAME?! OKAY SHIT’S GETTING INTERESTING.

Lmao the Ouija board fakeout

Yeah good Daniel, leave your dolled-up wife in the shady gym.

OH MY GOD JOHNNY PLEASE STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

Kreese is really just trying to make a bunch of killing machines (or at least one, anyway), huh?

The Big 3 weren’t lying when they said they were going all out this season with the fights.

Also is Kreese just fine with the snake bite? He’s fine?

Oh noooo, Mr. Miyagi wasn’t a perfect human I’m SHOCKED.

Johnny is SO happy they’re fighting I love it – OH NO BOOOOOOOOOO PEACE. Go get matching tattoos or something you dorks.

Oh no Daniel, is your perfect worldview crumbling? Was surrogate daddy not as perfect as you thought?

YES, CHOZEN. WHAT DID HAPPEN IN CANCUN?

Nooo Chozen don’t leave even if it is for Kumiko I’LL MISS YOU.

Yes, let’s end the episode on “girls are easy”

Oh no wait, more Daniel mourning the loss of his innocence

Were the rumours right? We’re going to Spain? LET’S GOOOOOOO – wait how are they going to afford everyone going?

And we’re down to six – Miguel, Robby, Hawk, Sam, Tory… Kenny/Demetri/Devon?

Episode 4: Underdogs

Hawk thinks patriotism will earn him a spot? God I hate that mohawk.

“Each and every one of you has a shot, even though many of you are either our children, close enough to be our children, or are our clear favourites”

SHUT UP DEVON IF ANTHONY GETS PICKED I’M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE.

Johnny assuming he’s as good as a partner at the dealership is KILLING me

THANK YOU FOR TELLING HIM NO ABOUT ANTHONY, JOHNNY.

Why is Daniel so against them… actually earning their spots?

Hi Mike!

Lol flashback – but why not show Terry?

YES DEVON MY QUEEN.

AWWW, Penis Breath is so happy with his new name.

SERIOUSLY? ANTHONY?

If Anthony makes it I’m killing myself.

Devon speaking up for all neglected minor characters everywhere.

What in the actual fuck is going on. Go away Yasmine you suck. OKAY BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF DEMETRI’S HAPPINESS. …maybe her dumping him would’ve been better she is the WORST.

Binary Bros. will be the couple with the drama this season.

This capture the flag game seems fun but Mike can’t look at everyone at once…

I mean your son IS going to bleed and get the shit kicked out of him, Daniel. Wake up. No? Gonna keep feeding him your bs? Cool.

Barnes has quite the craftsmanship.

JOHNNY VS MIKE LET’S GOOOOOOOO… but away from the saw please.

HEY HE SAID THE THING.

…we’re really just gonna call each other bad boys with a straight face?

Okay Devon, enough with the negative self-talk. You’re sounding like me.

NOOOOOO Binary Bros. are fighting!

Kenny is kind of cocky af and I hope he doesn’t get it.

Smart move would’ve been to go up top and see if you can spot the flag…

OH WE TOOK KENNY OUT WITH A CHEAP TRICK…that’s not funny.

Oh SHIT Demetri is being an asshat. Why is NO ONE asking bout Hawk?

MAN now Devon has to feel bad because someone else chea– OH MY GOD IT WAS HER.

Episode 5: Best of the Best

Why does Tory’s mom healing feel so ominous why does Tory’s mom healing feel so ominous why does Tory’s mom healing feel so ominous why does Tory’s mom healing feel so ominous

Oh look Kreese has come for a visit.

And yet another blonde champion has turned against Kreese.

OH MY GOD, DEMETRI SHUT UP.

Robby you lovestruck little fool it’s adorable.

I really love Terry (duh) but Johnny is 100% my favourite Sensei.

HEY LEAVE THAT CANADIAN DUMMY ALONE, EH?

What about your worst impulses, Danny Boy?  S H U T    U P   and appreciate your hot wife for once, Jesus!

…Carmen is going to go into labour in this episode isn’t she.

AND there it is! Nope wait, false alarm. Everybody go hug Miguel.

NO NO NO DON’T BE DEAD NO NO NO

GOD FUCKING DAMNIT

HER FIST WAS CLENCHED – WAS IT KREESE?

Why does Sam and Miguel’s relationship seem so focused on beating Robby and Tory? While Robby and Tory seem actually into each other?

Daniel you suck, you hypocritical, self-righteous twat.

This is some mighty fine acting, Miss Peyton List. Best crier on the show since Xolo!

JOHNNY YOU HAVE A BABY ON THE WAY CAN YOU NOT YANK THE STEERING WHEEL.

…he’s right though. SHUT UP DANIEL.

Okay but Johnny this is really stupid you’ve sold cars for four minutes.

LMAO “YOU’RE FINALLY LEAVING HIM” GOD AMANDA LISTEN TO JOHNNY HE’S RIGHT.

Johnny gonna embrace boxing with the students? Daniel can’t really say anything about it not being about Mr. Miyagi then.

She kept… the bottlecap… I AM NOT OKAY.

You did not try, Daniel. Shut the fuck up. I’m mad at you. Go away. Get your head outta your ass.

You don’t get to know everything about anyone, Daniel. Especially when you’ve got your head so far in the sand you can’t even come to grips with who YOU are.

Amanda go find Tory. GO FIND TORY, AMANDA.

Okay there’s Tory. USE THAT MOTIVATION, ROBBY.

Can Robby get a decent haircut for once please? He’s a cute kid, his head deserves better.

Good for you, Robby. (Also why do I feel like he’s going to change his last name to Lawrence once the baby is born and then they’ll all just be one big happy sappy family)

I’m sure that Tory seeing both of Sam’s living and supportive parents there won’t screw her up at all.

Oh that’s gonna be Tory’s therapist or something for Amanda isn’t it UH OH.

YEAH YOU NEED TO STOP THE FIGHT.

OH SHIT. Not Danny striking first.

FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH WITH THIS KUMBAYA SHIT.

…Kenny’s gonna be mad about that – oh wait he’s not there and I’m sure it’s going well for him.

Not the bloodstained headband.

…Hawk really kept the dumb mohawk for the tournament huh?

Tory and Kenny gonna be fighting for Korea with Kreese?

(Why is Kreese there? This is televised? The police??)

LET’S FUCKING GO TORY.

[tasmanianstripes]

I'm gonna make an original post because I am not a discourse blog nor am I looking for a fight or, God forbid, for somebody to harass the OP or me over this. I am just a disabled person who's really fucking tired with how people treat accessibility features and I need to vent out my frustration

(As a disclaimer, idk if the OP of that post is disabled or mentally ill or anything, nor do I care. It genuienly doesn't matter. Being disabled or mentally ill or having any kind of disorder doesn't prevent you from being ableist. You can't hide behind "I'm disabled/have PTSD/whatever".)

But I saw some garbage take about trigger warnings today, that basically boiled down to that fanfic writers and artists don't need to use trigger warnings, that it's a fairly new thing and the standard for fiction was not using them for many years, and anything more than what the site requires is just a courtesy, but what ticked me off was these two ending points

(Image ID: A tumblr text post that reads "➡️ It is your responsibility to protect yourself and close a book, or hit the back button if you find something in fiction that you're reading that upsets you. ➡️ You are responsible for protecting yourself from fiction that causes you discomfort." End ID.)

Which I absolutely agree with, which is why it's so frustrating.

Because how can somebody protect themself if the author chooses not to disclose potentially triggering and dangerous content they're posting?

Is it a standard? Yeah. Does it mean it's a good standard and shouldn't be changed? Hell no.

Yeah it is within your right to refuse to trigger tag something, but it doesn't mean it's the moral choice nor that it doesn't make you an asshole. Like not giving up your seat on a transit for a person in need is within your rights and you nobody can stop you from not doing that, but you are being a prick.

I'm all for people controlling their own online experience, they shouldn't demand somebody not post something and instead learn to block and filter their own experience, but they can't feasibly do that if somebody chooses not to use warnings. Just because something is the standard or law or a policy doesn't mean it's a moral choice. AO3's "Creator chose not to use archive warnings" is a good compromise, it can keep the creator from spoilering their story while warning the readers that they're clicking on their own risk. But to post something with absolutely ZERO warning? Yeah, full offence, you're just a cunt.

Call me crazy but it's not "courtesy" when it's about accessibility and people's health and safety, it's the bare minimum you should do to avoid dangerous situations. It's not just about comfort for many people, posting something triggering without any warnings can be genuienly dangerous. If you genuienly think everyone can just click away from a fanfic like that and be only uncomfortable at most then you're naive and sheltered, a lot of people need these warnings, fandom spaces are hostile to disabled people as is. If you want people to protect themselves from fiction that causes them discomfort or worse then you need to give them the tools to do so, you can't just wash your hands off any responsibility and absolutely refuse to meet anyone half-way.

It seems that when some people say "you need to control your own online experience" don't genuienly mean it, because if they did they would understand it's a two way street. No, they just want an easy guilt-free way out to shooting down people who criticise them for posting uncensored, not warned about triggering content.

I swear to god, when people pull out "Well it's the standard!" when talking about accessibility features for disabled people it makes my blood boil. Well it SHOULDN'T be!

[kawareo]

Hi I would love to know all about your 13th moon story if you’re okay with sharing it

I'm kissing you on the mouth rn anon

SO

13th Moon is a story I've been putting together for about half of my life at this point, I'm very proud of it but also I'm not ready to share too much about it online because I do hope to make genuine career out of it one day (kind of a life goal to make it an animated series one day). I'd like to start putting out actual comic pages in the next few years when i figure out my artstyle better, so I'd like to avoid major spoilers while I'm just on Tumblr ^-^'

What I do want to share though is the story's main antagonist, which is why I put him in tf universe to mess around in! He starts the story already as a fully developed character and he doesn't have a lot of secrets (seemingly) so he's perfectly fine if he's out in the wild! Strike's my mass murdering special little meow meow so it's been so fun seeing people like him as well, have this fluffy pic of him while i work on other stuff :3

He's with @cuppajj 's oc Drillburst! Those two have their own stuff going on and JJ's also been posting some 13th moon related stuff because of the roleplays we've done that are set in my universe (which is why Drill's also green here btw).

So long story short i'm probably not gonna go into explanations for much of 13th Moon lore in the very near future, but i sincerely appreciate the interest!! Strikendown au is just Strike messing around in space with Cybertronians and it's been really fun!

[kafus]

i said i wanted to talk about my SV trainer a little bit and i have decided to write a post about this now while waiting for dinner because i am bored lol

i do not have art of her atm so you'll have to take these images for now. i also have no idea what the fuck to name her i somehow haven't been able to decide so we're just gonna call her Kafu even though that is not her name that's just the name i use for online play LMAO. oh and he uses he And she pronouns so if u see me alternating that's why. anyway. this is going to be long i'm putting it under the cut. no pressure to read it i'm just rambling

basically when i started playing violet i had avoided spoilers/leaks and stuff and i had no idea what was going to happen except for what was in trailers, and i knew about the robotic paradox mons so my robot obsessed ass decided okay. you know what. kafu is also a robot and somehow comes from the same place these paradox mons r coming from. i went thru the game with this in mind, this is why kafu wears sunglasses to cover her really inhuman colorful robot eyes, it makes them less jarring and doesn't instantly give her away to strangers. him being a robot is actually a secret (he appears very human/realistic) that the cast of SV finds out about as trust builds throughout the journey. for what it's worth this is also why his sunglasses are off in the credits pic for the main story, he took them off while in area zero where literally no one was around and it didn't matter lol

this is all well and good and gave me an extra point of attachment to sv's cast during the main story but the dlc makes this really interesting in particular because of the crystal pool scene. not only is the time machine and the story of SV a paradox but kafu herself is a paradox. the way i'm handling this is subject to change but my current idea is the following:

there is a prior timeline before any of sv's plot, where turo got the idea for the time machine of his own accord. heath and paradox mon sightings still exist regardless and so does terapagos, who is not pulling the paradox mons literally from the future of sv's world but the future in another dimension (it has both time and space abilities). in this timeline, turo finds terapagos himself and actually owns it and is able to weaponize its powers to make a much MUCH more potent machine than what we see in violet, because instead of drawing on terapagos' inadvertent abilities that it doesn't have much control over, he is controlling its abilities directly. essentially this future realm with the robot paradoxes and the paldea we know are mashed together and this creates an ecological apocalypse. terapagos, in emotional desperation, thru its desire to fix what has happened, calls upon kafu who is one of the few remaining sentient androids from the robot mon world (he has an intrinsic connection with terapagos because reasons i'm still developing) to save everyone. and kafu does, and smth similar to the crystal pool scene happens in which she is the one to give turo the idea for the time machine, instead of terapagos being the cause. this prevents the sort of ecological apocalypse that happened before, since the machine is much less powerful, and now the timeline is in a cyclical paradox where he is the one who gives turo the idea for the machine and is always there at the end to be the one giving him the idea, essentially patching up the apocalypse timeline and making sure it never happens.

SV, then, is a representation of what the timeline looks like AFTER kafu has prevented the apocalypse. she's not really in a time loop? she is in her own continuum and actually unaware of the apocalypse timeline, completely amnesiac, until the ID plotline (by the way the literal indigo disk is a remnant of the original apocalypse timeline when turo had direct access to terapagos lol) in which capturing terapagos again allows it to share this information with her. and even then it's not like she's reliving the same plot over and over, it's more like she is in every timeline at once to always save it but my oc is just the one in this one timeline.

to be clear i've never worked this in depth with time shenanigans before so there may be holes or other things i need to work out here but that's the GENERAL idea. ANYWAY here's a list of kafu's relationships with everyone that i made on discord the other day :)

my trainer's relationship with everyone (i'm saying "my trainer" here because i was talking on discord and i'm too lazy to fix it):

nemona: really close friends, nemona was the first person to find out about his robot shit and accepted him with an almost concerning lack of distrust or complaint. my trainer is just as into the rivalry as nemona is and because my trainer has protag energy and cares a lot about being strong, they spar a lot. i think they're qpps in spirit even though they wouldn't call it that

arven: he's definitely more attached to my trainer than my trainer is to him but they are still good friends. i think my trainer has some trauma with turo and she has a hard time dealing with seeing him when with arven, and arven has a lot of heavy shit going on with that that can be hard to handle. but when they get along they really do get along

penny: my trainer and penny are not emotionally close in particular but penny and nemona are dating and so my trainer sees her a lot and they get on just fine LMAO. i think penny has interest in general tech stuff, not just on the software end, and so my trainer might awkwardly go to her if having a bodily function issue or question and penny's always willing to figure that out for the sake of her gf's bestie

carmine: while distrusting at first, carmine and my trainer ended up forming a really good friendship by the end of teal mask. it's a little complicated since my trainer feels terrible for hurting kieran the way that she did, and carmine was a part of that, and for a while my trainer's very bitter about it but they're able to make up and proceed

kieran: BOYFRIEND!! my trainer empathized with kieran's situation from the start. they have some sort of intrinsic connection because kieran's story might not be so disconnected from my trainer's after all… the ending of indigo disk brings them very close together because kieran sees my trainer's shit firsthand and you know. everything that happens in general

also for what it's worth i made a new team for both DLCs and of course i had my initial tam of 6 from the base game so kafu canonically owns 18 pokemon throughout the journey, these guys:

main story: meowscarada/clodsire/rotom heat (shiny)/dragonite/slowbro/tinkaton teal mask: mightyena/ribombee/ninetales/kommo-o/quagsire/yanmega (shiny) indigo disk: flygon/galvantula/meowstic/scrafty/cinccino/metagross <- all shiny

his favorites are meowscarada, yanmega, and flygon though :)

anyways yeah gaming i need to elaborate on my made up kieran lore and draw weird angst art of my oc who i still need to give a proper name and him LOL

[agnol117]

i haven't thought of myself as my deadname since i was fifteen.

this wasn't intentional, but i don't think it was unintentional, either. i'd adopted the name "Agnol" online by then, taking a word i'd learned in french and chopping off letters until i was left with a word that was just sounds, and wasn't necessarily masculine (it's worth noting that "Agnol" is also the name of a superboss in Pokémon Colosseum, and that may have inspired me, but i don't recall ever reaching that boss). this wasn't really for trans reasons, not at the time. if you'd asked fifteen year old me about it, i probably wouldn't have had anything positive to say about being trans, if I had anything to say at all. but even then, there was a sort of sense in my mind that "deadname" was my body, while "Agnol" was me, in a way that was separate from my body.

in addition to all of this, i'd been playing as the girl in any game that let me since Dragon Warrior III on the gameboy color. truthfully, this came in waves, especially in Pokémon games -- i'd make a girl character, get embarassed about it, restart as the boy, get frustrated that that didn't "feel" right, restart as a girl, and repeat the cycle. eventually i just took to getting both versions, one to play "publically" at school as the boy, one to play on my own as the girl. and while all this was going on, i played around with names. i won't go through them all, but suffice it to say that it took me a while to settle on "jill," a name that feels right in a way i'm not going to get into here, and by the time i did i was pretty willing to actually acknowledge that i was, in fact, trans. i was also, by this time, thirty-one. it had been a rough decade and a half, and even then, i'd spent quite a lot of that time actively avoiding thinking about gender stuff.

all of this now brings us to Earthbound. there's gonna be pretty heavy spoilers here, and while it is a thirty year old game and most of what I've got to say has been kinda brough into the pop culture knowledge of Earthbound, this is your chance to turn back.

i'd been using "jill" as my name for characters when i could for about a year and a half when i got to my first playthrough of Earthbound. i'm not out in real life, because for reasons involving my health and safety, i can't be. so i was jill in games, in the places i could be. but, well, as much as i wished it didn't, that always felt like a character i was playing. and really, that's to be expected. much as i might wish i was, i'm not a pokémon trainer. even things like OneShot, where you as player are ostensibly a character in the story, didn't really feel like i was really "there." it didn't really feel like me.

Earthbound changed that.

at a certain point in Earthbound, you're prompted to enter your name. notably, the game specifies that it's asking for your name. you, the player. it verifies this later, but after that, you still have like four more dungeons to go through and a bunch of story shit happens and honestly i forgot it happened.

and then you get to Giygas.

i have a lot of feelings about this fight, but really, most of them aren't relevant here. the important part is how the fight ends. you reach a point where your characters cannot damage Giygas anymore. that's actually underselling it -- the fight reachs a point where you can't even understand what Giygas is doing to your characters anymore. it's become a meme at this point, but "You cannot grasp the true form of Giygas's attack!" is legitimately terrifying. you're not even fighting a clearly defined opponent anymore. you're fighting the background.

and Paula prays.

the game kind of obliquely hints at this, but having played Mother (which is, in retrospect, a truly tragic name for the series) previously and knowing that when you fought Giygas in that, you beat him by singing a lullaby at him until he has a mental breakdown and leaves (it's that kind of series), i kind of expected this. Paula prays, and as she does, various other characters in the game sense it, and they pray for you and add their strength to yours. and then, after praying a bunch of times and getting help from so many of your friends, your prayers stop working. Paula's call is absorbed by the darkness. but she tries one more time, and someone answers.

you.

the player.

the name you put in.

this was...moving. this touched me in a way that i struggle to find words for. i said in a previous post about this that after beating Earthbound, i had to go take a nap, and i wasn't kidding. it has been a week since i finished the game, and i'm still trying to process this. because they called out to me, and they did so using the name i've picked for myself. they needed me, and the me they needed is the me i've been trying to be for so long. for so long that when i first felt that longing, that feeling that i wasn't who everyone was telling me i was, i didn't have the words for it. i didn't know it was a thing i could feel. and Ness and his friends needed me. the person i want to be. the person i really am.

and my god, that just meant the world to me.

[subdee]

Tagged by @hxhhasmysoul thanks again munen!

I will tag: @nangke @syncopatedid @autumnxsunflower @trashsketch @applepi00 @mariposahxh. Only if you want to!

Favourite colour: these days, purple

Last song: Replacements - Answering Machine. Unless you count the baby music that plays from the baby toys, then it's Itsy Bitsy Spider

Last movie: I said it briefly on here, but it was "Barbarians" on Halloween. I went in blind after seeing it on an online best-of spooky movies list so all I'll say is it was seriously messed up and I still think about MANY of the scenes, especially when I have to go down to the unfinished part of my basement. It's been so long since I've watched a real horror movie (not a parody) that I forgot they can be genuinely disturbing.

...I'll say one more thing, it's a horror movie directed especially at women. I mean it's a horror movie about things that women, more than men, are likely to find upsetting and scary, especially in the beginning.

Other stuff I watched this year: I'm still on my Great British Baking Show kick! Currently on season 8, after the switch from BBC to Chanel 4 and after they changed the presenters. This show is terrible because it just makes me crave sweets - and I always crave sweets when the weather gets colder - and as a rule, there's nothing like that in the house. Like I'll eat some strawberries or part of a cantaloupe or an apple slice with honey because that's the only sweet thing we have. Anyway, I like the new presenters.

Shows I dropped this year/didn't finish: The Marvelous Ms. Maisel. We'll probably get back to it, but it was too hard to watch while also scrolling my phone / making the baby's food for daycare / cleaning the baby bottles / etc. during the one hour of free time I have every night before bed.

Currently reading: the BNHA manga as it releases each week, that's about it.

Currently listening to: the local jazz radio station, the records I have in my house. Carole King - Tapestry was the last one. And Andre 3000's new record with the funny tracknames.

Currently working on: STAINING THE BACK DECK, oh my God we've spent the last three weekends on this. But it needed to be done, it had 30 years of mold on it.

Current obsession: I was gonna say the baby, BUT ACTUALLY. I started watching the Scott Pilgrim anime and I'm four episodes in. The show tricks you into thinking it'll be a rehash of the comic by being a beat-for-beat recreation of the first volume - including the visual gags! - until suddenly, it's completely different LOLOLOL I had to get my comics off the shelves, and reread them to be sure that yeah, no, that's definitely not how it happened before. Gonna avoid the show tags bc spoilers, BUT HERE ARE MY PREDICTIONS:

It's a smart move for the show to switch the metaphor from Scott fighting the evil exes (your new girlfriend has baggage that makes you feel insecure, you have to deal with your insecurity by winning a fistfight against each ex to prove you are worthy of her) to RAMONA fighting the evil exes (you have to deal with your own past and put it behind you before you can move on). Because like, yeah there is a metaphor when Scott fights the exes, but it's an annoying one that centers the feelings of an insecure dude over the feelings of the girl he's dating.

.... though I'll miss the focus on the mundane in the original comic, how much it reminds you that Scott is a loser but he's like, trying to improve. Like you know he's a loser from the jump because he doesn't have a job and he's a mooch and he's dating a high schooler, but briefly you think he might be kinda cool because he picked up Ramona, but then she tells him he has to get a job AND HE CAN'T so you're like... oh. Yeah this guy actually is a loser. But (as Ramona says) perhaps he's a loveable loser? He does keep landing these great girls ...

And we can still do that exact same speculation without Scott on screen, as Ramona learns more about him in the course of her investigations, so that's pretty clever... I wonder if Ramona will actually like him if she ever manages to rescue him :p.

Anyway since this show is now a whodunnit...

As of episode four, vegan boyfriend #3 seems superficially like the person who kidnapped Scott, but it's too early for him to be the real kidnapper.

The next most obvious suspect is Wallace, because it's clear Young Neal didn't actually write the movie script, and only Wallace (probably) knew what Scott said to him that morning, before he went to the party and met Ramona.

Why would Wallace do it? To get Scott out of the apartment and become a movie star, maybe...

But I actually think Wallace is ALSO too way too obvious, and he's being set up as the person you'll suspect all the way up until the final reveal at the end...

I think it's probably Giddeon, in the end, again, actually. Like we know he has all these cameras set up to observe Scott and research him, right? Maybe he noticed Ramona was using his head as a shortcut and started his research early...

Why would Giddeon do it? Maybe part of a ploy to make himself appear sad and pathetic so Ramona will feel sorry for him and he can get close to her to date her again? Maybe he knew Scott would beat all the other ex-boyfriends (as written in the movie script) in a straightforward series of fistfights so he's trying a different approach?

Either way, I doubt the storyline with Giddeon is over. Even if it is, though, I'm really enjoying that this remake throws the original script out, because it's fun to speculate and fun to play spot-the-differences. Like maybe it IS Wallace, you know? Why not!

Though it is a shame that this is no longer a show about being a loser and 'leveling up' your life - the videogame conceipt is more of an aesthetic choice now and less of a thematic metaphor - and about the Canadian indie band scene.

On a final note, I know we're supposed to not like the scrubs - or would he be considered a fuckboy these days? - like Scott, but I always found him pretty relatable, personally. Especially because I was dating a woman when the comic came out, like, the idea that you landed this great girl but you need to fix yourself before you can date her... it resonated. :P

Anyway. Don't tell me how it ends XD I'm too obsessed to not finish this mini-series quickly, but I also only have an hour of free time a night.

[kiekiecarrera]

https://at.tumblr.com/lizziethat/oh-god-i-just-know-the-jiara-hug-when-they-reunite/s2mqhajycwhj

On feb 15th embargo lifts and the screeners can talk about episode 1.

Can’t decide whether to stay off socials or not, I don’t think I want spoilers but I also love reading and joining in on the hype 😫🤦‍♀️

first of all that ask broke me down bc this is exactly how i imagine their reunion hug is going to go like it’s literally on my obx bingo card pls

and about the embargo lifting, i'm so on the fence too. Like i really wanna go into the season with as few spoilers as possible (i say that while fully aware i have consumed every single morsel of content/bts we've gotten so far), but also 8 days is a long time to stay off social media like i have obx content on ALL my accounts and i have to be online for work how the fuck am i gonna avoid the shitstorm

[ramshackle-dweller]

Introduction + Rules

Nice to meet you, I'm the prefect of Night Raven College's "Historic" Ramshackle Dorm. Which is a fancy way of saying I'm the guy who keeps this busted old building full of ghosts from falling down on top of me and my talking cat. 

According to the Headmage I'm also his "Esteemed Assistant and Unofficial Ward" which is a fancy way of saying I'm his unpaid errand runner. 

You wanna know something specific about one of NRC's oh-so-big-and-scary students or faculty? I've got you! They don't call me the 'beast tamer' for nothing! 

Meet the Prefect! 

♡Hey! You can call me Prefect (They/Them) I’m pretty easygoing and a little bit of an airhead so don’t be scared to approach me, I promise you're not going to fail the social interaction with me! <3 

♡I’m a long time fic and rp hobbyist who's trying to get back into it (aka Twisted Wonderland is dragging me back into it by the ankles) so sorry in advance if I’m a bit rusty!

♡Also!!! Warning! I am not caught up on the game story/all events! I have also not read every available card story etc and I’m a fool who is waiting for new events to hit english Twist before getting deep into them! So if I don’t know about some detail in cannon or something, I apologize! 

♡ No worries about spoiling something for me by referencing it though, I’m not super pressed about avoiding ALL spoilers 100% It’s gonna happen. Just know I might be like “hmm idk how to write about that” <3

Welcome to Ramshackle! 

♡I am +18 so it is almost guaranteed some of what I write and say will not be squeaky clean D*sney approved fun! I’m an adult fan and I don’t own or represent the official Twisted Wonderland game and media!

♡ I’m also GAY and this blog will be full of extremely LGBTQ+ interpretations of the cast! (boyxboy, yaoi, don’t like don’t read!!1! etc etc you get the joke) 

♡ All that being said, I will absolutely offer you a heads up for what is in store for you on anything I write. That way you can stay safe and avoid content you don’t wanna see! 

♡ On the age thing, ANYTHING I write will be presenting the NRC boys as +18 college student versions of the characters. That's how I see them and it’s how I’ll be writing them! 

♡ I will write things about the babies (Ortho, Grim, etc) but it will be strictly things appropriate for the babies! 

♡ I will also write stuff about the NRC staff but if it’s anything romantic etc then it will be about them with other adult non-student characters! No underage stuff or weird power dynamics here, folks! 

♡I also might,,,break down and write stuff with my Twist Ocs here as well,,,maybe,,, they are my blorbos,,,, <3 

Okay kids, cover your ears! 

♡ Romance stuff is cool, Flirty stuff is cool, 18+ silliness is cool.

♡ I honestly can’t say if I want to write anything solidly NSFW here or not. I’m caught somewhere between being pretty shy online and going  “I’m a grown adult I can say and feel what I want as long as it’s safe and in an appropriate space!” Either way please bear with me while I feel out what’s comfortable!

♡  Oh and don’t worry about saying or asking about something that you're unsure about. If I'm not comfortable with something I’ll just let you know and not write about it (boundaries and communication, folks! That's how we interact with other humans safely! If someone as awkward and neurodivergent as me can manage it, so can you! <3)  

This is an all boys school…right?

♡ The stuff I write concerning the reader ('scenario’ type fics etc) will be written gender neutral and if I need pronouns for it they will be They/Them because hey I don’t know you so I won’t assume <3 

Oh no, he’s hot!!

♡ Ships!! I like Ship stuff!!! I will write Reader x Character stuff but also I like Character x Character stuff! Also poly ships!! As far as who I ship with who eeeee idk I think lots of the pairings have potential so i’ll just go ham. Just… no hard feelings if something you like isn’t something that clicks in my head enough to write about it, no hard feelings my brain is just fickle. 

♡ I for sure love Floyd/Riddle, Vil/Idia, Jade/Azul,  Kalim/Jamil and Crewel/Trein mostly because all of them are funny to me, ur honor. 

Off With Your Heads!! 

♡There are a few rules here in Ramshackle, but they're pretty basic, this isn’t Heartslabyul!

♡First off, don’t be rude! I’m doing this for fun just like you are!

♡I will not be writing Yandere or abusive relationships, non consensual anything, anything regarding incest or underage people in relationships, nothing super gross ( a lil blood and violence is fun of coarse, just no guts or gunk outta the body)

Wanna talk to the prefect? 

♡Feel free to send me an ask or tag me in a post! Like I said, don't worry about making a mistake or something! The worst thing thats gonna happen is that I’ll give you a friendly ‘no thanks’ and be on my way! As long as it’s Twist and I find it fun it’s a go!

♡Got a prompt idea? Shoot! Got a scenario or head canon that's rotting your brain? Pass it on over, friend! Wanna yell about silly Twist thoughts? I wanna hear them! Is your Dorm Leader acting weird and you're worried they're gonna Overblot? I’ll get back to you in 2-to-5 business days pal, I need a breather from the last one… 

[rcpunzel]

anyway i'm sad because both pacific drive and shadows of doubt are such cool games and theoretically both right up my alley but they each have traits that make me feel like i can't play them.. with pd i just suck at survival and find it so stressful even with all the baby settings enabled.. i do really appreciate the level of customisation they have added though. i've started watching gab play it finally, was avoiding do so for spoilers but i think if i DO ever play it it's not gonna be for a while.

and with shadows of doubt. well. ALL I SEE is people online saying it's too easy? and nobody talking about the issue liam and i both faced when trying it (this is significant because we are generally massively different kinds of gamers so them having the same experience as me was very validating lmao) which is that we wish it was more detective game, less home invasion sim.. like we do not want to deal with cameras shooting at us we just want to unravel a mystery.

all that said, backlog golf has restarted and i have no inspiration to play anything because of this lol. i'm always at least a lil bit burned out, i started dream daddy and i think it's fine and cute but i cannot play it for more than five minutes. ac: odyssey is the other backlog game i've been playing since october of last year and i love it but it's a LOT and not the vibe right now. i need something i can really sink my teeth into while also not getting too overwhelmed. thus i am announcing that i'm finally going to try disco elysium. i've had some small things spoiled for me but otherwise i know nothing about it and i'm excited and hopeful. it's not long before uni starts again and pulls me back into a depression hole so i need to find some semblance of joy before then

[ichigoporky]

Ichi buys a T-Shirt Online — 👕

Hey there, berries! Gather around because I've got a little story to tell you! Spoiler alert: it's about patience, Snoopy, and a t-shirt!

How I found the T-Shirt — 💻

The other day I stumbled upon a cute online store that had super duper cheap prices! Naturally, my first thought was, "Is this real?" The prices were so unbelievably low!!!!!!!!

After doing some research (always do your research!) and being sure that the page was safe, I added a super cute Snoopy T-Shirt to my cart and bought it the same day!

The Wait... — ⌛

Now, let's talk about patience... Waiting for that package to arrive felt like watching paint dry! Each day was like an eternity, and I couldn't help but wonder, "Will it actually show up? And if it does, will it be... in one piece...?"

After three days passed, I had time to think and adjust my expectations. For the price I had payed, even if I received a piece of fabric instead of a t-shirt, I was still gonna be happy! I just wanted the package to be here already!

And... the day finally arrived! I swear, I've never ripped open a package so fast before. There it was, in a little box, my beloved Snoopy t-shirt! Happy piggy dance!

Uh Oh — 😬

Now, here's where the plot thickens... As I eagerly put it on, I realized that it was a little bit small for me. Oopsie! Turns out, I was so excited about the low prices that I forgot to double-check the size chart on the website!

But hey, size oopsie aside, I'm super happy with my new Snoopy t-shirt! (I didn't own any Snoopy t-shirts before, so I'm happy to have my first one!) Sure, it might be a bit tight, but nothing a little stretching and strategic breathing exercises can't fix, right?

Patience — 🍃

And you know what? This whole experience made me think about patience. Sometimes, good things really do come to those who wait, whether it's a package arriving at your doorstep or life's little surprises!

Patience also helps you consider different perspectives while waiting. It allows you to think calmly, avoiding getting swept up in the heat of the moment.

The End — 🏁

So, that's my story and my small victory of the week! Let's celebrate these little things more often! Who knows? Maybe next time I'll nail the size, hehe!

Alrighty, my berries, that's all from me for now! Keep being cute, and remember, be patient with your environment, with others and with yourself the most! Write you next time! Byeee!

[photoniccyclone]

SFR Update: Chapter 7 draft begins

Hello lads!

I'm pleased to announce that the Sun Fueled Rage Chapter 7 draft is officially in progress. Though I might need to break off from it for a couple weeks soon because I won't be available. I doubt you'll see me online during that time because Season 5 is also coming out and I won't be able to watch it during that time so I'll be inactive once again to avoid spoilers.

Still though! I'm gonna see how much I can get done from now until when I have to sign off.

I'm kinda excited about this first scene I'm writing because, while I was dreading it before, it's actually starting to turn out better than anticipated. Fun fact, this scene was originally going to be in chapter... 3? or 4?...but as the story expanded and events had to be displaced, this scene moved along with it. However, that may be a blessing in disguise, as my writing has changed a bit since back then and looking back at the scene now, it isn't exactly up to the standard of what I would like, so it's getting a bit of glow-up treatment! Aspects of the scene are being rewritten to make it better, and what I have right now already feels much better and FAR more suspenseful then the original version was.

If y'all want, after chapter 7 releases, I could post the original version of the scene as an addition of cut content so you can all see what changed between iterations. It's actually the first time I have a fully written out scene that's been "cut" so I don't just have to use explanations of what it may have looked like.

Other than that, I'm gonna hope to get through this chapter as fast as I can. I really don't wanna spend as long as I did with the past few chapters on this one but only time will tell how that turns out.

That's it for now, hope to see you all soon!

[stairset]

Okay yeah the walmart ps5 deal thing is a total scam

[deliriumsdelight7]

I don't think I've heard the story of how you came to OUaT and Rumbelle, and how you ended up here in the trash heap with the rest of us. Would you like to share?

I'm going to throw this behind a readmore tag, because it got LONG. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I am incapable of brevity.

It all started last... wait, no, the year before. Holy crap.

It all started in 2020, shortly before COVID lockdown. My work already let me work from home three days a week before any of this started. I like having noise when I work, so I would typically throw something mindless on TV while I worked from the couch.

I'd been avoiding Once Upon a Time for years. At my last job, my boss was watching season 1, and she basically spoiled every single thing that happened (y'know, except the ONE THING THAT WOULD'VE HOOKED ME). So I figured, why bother watching the show when I already know everything that happens? Then the following year, one of my coworkers said I needed to watch the show because of the totally hot guy. She showed me a pic.

Hook, guys. It was Hook. Needless to say, I wasn't interested. He's pretty and all, but not my type.

Anyway. Back to 2020. I finally decided to watch this show while I worked, because I do love fairy tales. The show was certainly interesting, but didn't catch my attention. Until a little episode called Skin Deep.

My first thought when I saw Belle was, "huh. She kinda looks like Belle." Then, Rumpelstiltskin showed up, and I thought, "Ohhh, I get it. It's sort of like what he did with Cinderella's fairy godmother. He got rid of the beast for some reason." Then Maurice called him a beast, and the penny dropped.

"WHAT," I thought. "How is this guy my beloved beast?!" I continued watching, highly skeptical that I was going to like it. The chipped cup scene happened, and I grudgingly admitted that it was a good touch.

Then the curtain scene happened. As soon as I saw her on a ladder, and him below, I thought, "she's gonna fall and he's gonna catch her. Man, this is cheesy."

And then, she fell.

And he caught her.

And they looked at each other.

And I was a goner.

The moment the episode ended, I was looking up spoilers for if and when they got together. "If these two don't get together and have a happy ending, I'm quitting this show RIGHT NOW." I found all sorts of spoilers - the good, the bad, the ugly. Mollified, I continued watching through to the season 1 finale.

But it wasn't enough. I needed more! I needed to see what would have happened if they'd been able to be together in the Dark Castle! So I did what any other crazed fan does: I went online and looked up fanfic. I wasn't familiar with AO3 at the time, so I ventured onto FFN. That was where I found @charlotteashmore13 and all of their wonderful Dark Castle fic. I devoured it all (and was too shy to comment - something I'd like to rectify when I have time).

Still, I needed more. This was right at the start of lockdown, so I needed something to occupy my time for the "two weeks" (hahahahahahaha) I'd be stuck at home. So I ventured onto AO3, and I found so. Much. Rumbelle. Fic. I spent six months just poring over different fics. Dark Castle fic. Storybrooke fic. AU fic. I wanted it all. And then I discovered the Anyelle tag: people giving a Belle to different Bobby characters. Now, as a rule, I do NOT like crossovers. Never have. But Anyelle is one big fat exception. I wound up watching California Solo, and knew that Lachlan desperately needed a Belle (and hefty amounts of therapy). A story started to form in my mind. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't leave me be. It was driving me mad. So I started writing Breaking Cycles, my Lachlan/Belle fic. It was the first thing I'd written for fun in `15 years.

Once I started posting, and getting a few comments, I realized that comments are nice! I love comments! And if I love comments, maybe other authors love comments too! Maybe if I comment on their stuff, I'm not being an awkward weirdo bothering them!

Right around this time, @kelyon finished writing Golden Cuffs. At the time, I only read fics that were already completed (a habit I've since stopped). I started going through the story, and eventually found the courage to comment, chapter by chapter (afraid that I was annoying the shit out of this amazing writer with my rambling). She was very nice to me, and patient with my rambling. She even read my fic! And then she convinced me to make a Tumblr account and join the community. I've never felt so welcomed by a community in my life.

And the rest, as they say, is history!

[venusoliver]

The Taste of Sweet Silk on Your Lips; Chapter 11 BTS

NOTE: This post will discuss plot points from Chapter 11 my Ao3 fanfiction, The Taste of Sweet Silk on Your Lips. Please refrain from reading further if you'd like to avoid spoilers!

This chapter, if I'm not mistaken, is my longest chapter yet. Woah.

I've almost completely strayed from my original outline. Almost. For the past couple of chapters my outline didn't reasonate with the final result at all, but I think I'm starting to get back on track.

The BDSM chapters are always the most difficult. There's a lot of terminology that can come into play rather quickly, not to mention the struggle to keep things consistent and clear. (Where are Mikasa's hands? How do I describe that? How do I phrase this differently than the last three paragraphs I wrote? Okay, hold on, what's a synonym for—)

Long story short, it's a handful. But when I'm done writing the chapter, when I can finally delete "DRAFT" from the title of my chapter page, it's a feeling I don't feel to often.

I feel proud of myself. And that's an amazing thing :D

But along with BDSM chapters comes references!

Now, my original plan was to actually watch live BDSM performances online. I watched a very solid handful before I started writing this fic, and I learned quite a lot, but in the end..

I'm a procrastinator, okay?

My schoolwork was starting to pile up. I was failing multiple classes (I'm only failing one now, yay for me!), and what does my brain do when there's actual work to be done? Not that. Anything but that.

Now, writing my fic isn't work. I LOVE writing this fic. But typing out extensive cartography notes and typing out prolonged sexual tension can start to get grouped together, and before I knew it—

A week had passed since my last update. That's always when I start to get anxious.

So, instead of taking this slow and watching low-quality footage of shibari clubs in russia, it was just me— my brain— and a very aggressive google searching session.

In the end, I'm still very happy with how things went.

The issue arose initially when I just.. couldn't find the right references. I had the picture in my head of what was going on, but I still needed a picture to look at so that my descriptions wouldn't become to vague and absurd.

Let's start off easy, Mikasa's lingerie.

I had a lot of options when deciding what Mikasa should wear. Something risque, of course, but nothing too revealing. It was a tough decision, but I think this picture does my vision justice! Aside from the shoes. Mikasa is a little too powerful in heels like that.

The next order of business was getting references for the bondage rigging.

The spreader bar was easy. Legs spread, bar in the middle, you're good to go!

Next up was the harness. I had a couple of other options I was debating when deciding on what type of harness I wanted on Mikasa. I originally went with something more dainty, with thinner rope and smaller knots— but once I decided on suspension-esqe rigging near the end of the performance, it only made sense for the harness to be more secure.

As for the arms.. that was the most difficult part of this chapter. Finding a reference, writing it out— when I go back to make minor revisions on the fic (grammatical errors)— it's going to be very hard to stop myself from rewriting that portion of the chapter.

The sheer joy that raced through me when I found this image is unmatched. I had scoured the internet looking for a clean, clear reference for what I wanted. After rephrasing my google search multiple times (shibari arm rigging, arms behind head, arms behind head shibari, etc.)— and praying I wouldn't have to use a p 0rn screenshot as reference, I found this image.

This is precisely what I was going for with her arms. Mikasa is a very fit woman, and I don't doubt that she wouldn't have a problem getting her arms behind herself like this.

In my mind when I pictured Mikasa bent at the hip, legs spread wide, arms lifted upwards behind her— this is precisely the position I envisioned her arms in. I used that reference when describing the actual rigging for the arms as well.

But enough about all the k!nky stuff! This chapter was a lot more sentimental than originally planned.

I'm consistently at odds with myself when writing these chapters, trying to give them the smut I intended while also making their relationship believable.

I ship these two insanely hard, but their dynamic is a really tough one to pinpoint and make work.

They're both very cold and shut off from people in day to day life, so for their relationship to work— they need to be forced together, and they have to be in a situation where their stubbornness pulls them closer rather than pries them apart.

With all of that to keep in mind, bringing in some fluffy aspects is crucial. It makes their connection make more sense. After all, neither one of this girl's is doing random hookups. Not often, anyway.

The fluff ended up coming organically. Even if their performance this chapter was still just a performance and not an actual BDSM scene, aftercare still comes into play.

Hitch and Annie had a far different dynamic because they were friends. They were friends, and experienced in the BDSM scene. They're able to perform without getting emotionally invested— because they don't love each other romantically. There's not this same intimate connection.

As for Mikasa and Annie, it's completely different. Annie loves Mikasa to the point that she's risking quite a lot to keep the girl in her life. Mikasa is new to the scene, but she's enthralled by the idea of letting down her guard and letting someone else pull the reigns for once.

They compliment each other in an intimate, romantic, and s3xual way. The performance itself and the aftermath should reflect that.

So, it does! I found myself smiling quite a bit at the end of the chapter. I really do love these two.

The next chapter will include full fledged smut, thank goodness. I'm both nervous and excited to start writing the chapter. But, for now, I'm probably gonna get some rest.

Thank you all so much for your support. I wouldn't still be writing this fic if I didn't know that there were people out there who enjoyed my work. It makes me smile even when I'm struggling :) I hope to see you all again when I post the next chapter. Thanks so much!!

[belphegorbillickin]

Okay, but I can definitely imagine Barb/Dia doing that. It seems like quite a possibility. But wasn't dying mc's own fault though? Like,, Barbatos did warn,,, unless he knew this was gonna happen and mc was DUMB AND STUPID enough to show up to everyone like: "hi." and possibly be dumb enough to get killed. Idk lol I forgot this part.

But what you said about Beel, I really like that. I think you even mentioned belphie guilt tripping you in your yandere hcs, and trying to make you completely depend on him?? I like those possibilities. Mammon though,, too soft. Like you said, they've robbed him a lot. He could have had so much potential to be a dark character. Similarly Levi omg.

The brothers are the embodiments of the 7 deadly sins, yet, tbh, I haven't seen too much of this side of them. At least, not like how'd I expect. Leviathan, for eg. Envy. I don't recall seeing his sin playing out anywhere except in the TSL Quiz thingy. I mean, it's been toned down a lot for someone who's the literal embodiment is envy. Idk I just don't feel he's like that? As from what I found: Envy (Latin: invidia), like greed and lust, is characterized by an insatiable desire. It can be described as a sad or resentful covetousness towards the traits or possessions of someone else. The struggle aroused by envy has three stages: during the first stage, the envious person attempts to lower another's reputation; in the middle stage, the envious person receives either "joy at another's misfortune"(if he succeeds in defaming the other person) or "grief at another's prosperity" (if he fails); the third stage is hatred because "sorrow causes hatred".[38]

Envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel, as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's.

They toned him down a little too much?? If this game has actually been inspired by demons and the 7 deadly sins, they could at least make them similar to the demons, at least in some way. I'm not that far into the game yet, but so far that I've played, I haven't seen much. As for a demon who is the embodiment of envy... I wish to see more. Levi is capable of A LOT.

Similarly, Satan. I sometimes wonder why is he even called the Avatar of Wrath when we hardly see it?? The only time I remember is him losing his calm during the whole body swap event. The fact Satan got mad at us refusing a pact actually made me think that he was the sin "wrath", but idk now. And the way it was said that "every smile is an act", I really like that concept too. But I don't think I've paid much attention to see where it played out. Sigh now Satan simps for cats like,,, please show me your dark/evil side sir.

The way you said Barb and Dia took part in a torture dungeon, I want to see more of that too. If they're demons, wouldn't they have caused SOME sort of bloodshed in a way? Especially if they're the strongest demons. Killing humans, eating them, or I even like to think doing the same to their own race. Torturing... Seems like something that every demon's blood would contain lmao, I'm not answering questions bye.

And I believe so too. The human seems like a pawn... I feel the demons would use humans for entertainment and their own purposes, while keeping up the facade of loving them. It's easy, since demons are manipulative. In that case, losing the human whether by their own hands or not would go like: "Oh well, that's unfortunate. Time for another human."

But if they REALLY did love you, I feel they'd still be manipulative. Like you said. Corrupting/spoiling the human so much to the point that they'd just HAVE to depend on them. I feel they'd also have yandere tendencies, or be "protective". Like, then I feel they really wouldn't want to let you go, despite knowing how much it can ruin your innocence.

I also don't like how everyone is after mc like "uwuwu master". The human is still a weakling despite having pacts, plus, the pacts aren't even demanding the human's soul or anything. I don't get why they let mc walk over them when they are CLEARLY much stronger? If I were a demon I'd do the opposite lmao. Making the human seem as if they are controlling me, but it's the opposite. I don't think a mere pact can change the fact that the demon's stronger,,, esp if the pact didn't demand the human's soul/life/whatever.

Also, thank you! Things got better for me :)) and also,

💫✨💕send this to ten bloggers you think are wonderful. keep the game going 💕✨

Ofc you don't have to do this, but I got this, and it really made me happy, so here ^^

Oh btw in lesson...56 I think?? Just gonna tag this as a spoiler, but where for whatever reason Satan was "Sully" and the angel Lucifer asked him whether he liked books, let me just say I haven't even played it that far yet, but Satan going, "...Every book here is precious."

TOUCHED ME SO BAD LIKE. I DON'T KNOW IT REALLY MADE ME SOFT LMAO HE'S JUST SO okay I'll stop 🏃– 🍹

It's been a while since I've thought in-depth about the whole time traveling thing tbh, but couldn't Barbatos generally see the outcomes of the world?

We went back because they wanted to know who opened it, but considering Diavolo's the ruler of hell who turned Lilith human and Barbatos is basically the ruler of time & practically the universe I believe they already knew Lilith did it since it had to be "blood related" basically.

Barbatos also knows he can stitch together timelines and get of "extra" MCs essentially, so I believe he'd take that into account. I'm not saying MC getting killed was 100% part of the plan, but that they didn't care of MC was traumatized because they knew they could bring them back if necessary.

Imo the real goal wasn't to find out who did it, but to avoid breaking the family's bonds and devotion to Diavolo. The way it worked out was incredibly convenient and "coincidentally" a huge upgrade for Diavolo that kept the status quo and made him look good (or at least better) to Belphie and Beel without making Lucifer choose.

We see that kind of repeat later when Diavolo withdraws from the play because he was worried Lucifer wouldn't be as loyal. That's also why Lucifer gets that warning from Barbatos.

I think a huge part of why Levi's characterization is like that is because not enough people like him enough to tolerate it tbh. Even Mammon and Lucifer stans complain about the other characters hogging screen time and a lot of them admit to feeling bad for other fans. Levi is pretty much always second to last popularity wise.

I think he'd actually be more liked if they focused more on the jealously instead of making almost every interaction otaku/Ruri-chan related, but it's a bit too late now. I really, really hate how they just pretend otaku culture always existed and that's all Levi ever was. Like at least make him have an obsessive personality and be hyperfixated on novels instead of talking manga in an era before Japan even existed. It's so unbelievably lazy and really takes me out of the story.

Another problem is we only really see him interact with family or people that could enact severe consequences like Diavolo & Barbatos or people protected by the exchange program. He never gets a chance to shine or be cunning. The closest we get is things like him purposefully trying to ruin Christmas for random people online in his Christmas card. I think if he genuinely got jealous of MC and some random demon he would summon lotan almost instantly.

It's especially painful knowing what we had & being so excited to get more only for all of that to get dropped.

In an early devilgram, Be You, Satan gets jealous and feels bad about not having much unique to him and Lucifer comforts him in his own way when the others make it worse. Mammon is the most empathetic though ofc. They also talk about horror movies and Mammon says he doesn't find them scary (& the way it's framed sounds honest, idk if it's a retcon or a lie,) and Satan says "I'm sure we've all witnessed plenty of real-life horrors worse than anything in the movies."

Then when Lucifer asks for a time when he was really angry Satan first casually then gleefully talks about torturing a family to death because a kid set him up to get scolded by their parents. Meanwhile the brothers act wary of him and worry about him getting out of control while Lucifer tells everyone to take cover for their own safety with a smile. Satan happily talks about them begging for their lives and says he wishes they saw it too.

Levi also says he hates hearing about people being happy, but likes hearing about the negative things. While Asmo and Mammon are freaking out he also calls Satan cool. Which shows at least a little bit of his envy for once. Satan also says just the aura of his rage is usually too much for humans which is also interesting.

But back to Diavolo and Barbatos, I don't hate how the whole torture thing isn't super open, it makes sense imo, but I would like to see hints of them hiding it. Especially if Satan or even attic Belphie was the one you could go to to learn more about it. If anyone would defy Diavolo for that it'd be them trying to bring Lucifer down with them, or even just Satan rewarding the hunt for knowledge and not understanding the human psyche fully.

Imagine if instead of a paper thin lie about being human we got a Belphie manipulating us by pretending he was locked up because he was against hurting humans and the whole exchange program was a scam? Or at least if he told us things no one else would about Diavolo that were true so we wouldn't trust him and etc. That's the angle I'm going with in my fanfiction at least, the original story is just so lazy and boring imo.

Yeah I'm not a huge fan of how they handled pacts either, especially considering they don't even get MC's soul. It's way too one-sided to the point where I don't believe someone like Satan would ever offer it, even if the first offer was a trick and he'd get your soul or something. I agree on the whole manipulation thing too, like how is it partnership if one side has complete control over the other?

Even just making it so that demons can fight against if they really don't want to do something like harming each other and having it corrupt MC would make it a million times better.

And that's so sweet, thank you! You've made my days a lot brighter too. Not much makes me happier than infodumping and complaining about Obey Me rn lol.

I really liked Satan's line there too, although I did wish he had more a reaction to everything tbh. That whole section felt a bit too easy imo though, like I kept waiting for it to all go to shit or something. I am glad they went back into more story-based chapters too. I hope they keep that trend and expand on it.