#I'm terrible with keeping up with names on principle

[sins-of-the-sea]

Meanwhile...

"How the HELL are you confusing Dessler and Dozle?! They are not only nothing alike, or even LOOK alike, but they're not even from the same show!!"

"They both engage in sci-fi space battles with giant ships and mechs, they're both on the antagonistic side of the heroes, their shows came about roughly the same time, AND their names start with the letter 'D'!! Cut me some slack!"

"It must be embarrassing when you are the bigger nerd than Phoebus without Guy around, Ruixiong."

"Shut the fuck up, Shagua."

[thewritersofdeceased]

HELLOO!! Soooo I so love your Tbp content!! And This is my first time ever requesting anything, and I'm so excited for tbp 2 anyways enough of my rambling :>>

Can you please make a Vance x Reader, like for example Vance is like very into Reader but reader is terrified of him bc of his reputation and all yk? If that makes sense lol

Hey, hey! No worries about the rambling I love it! This was a blast to write!! (please anyone request more Vance stuff I love writing him so much)

Gender neutral pronouns ! 

Vance was in love.

That’s right. For once in his life, Vance Hopper was in love. It felt weird. He saw how this sort of stuff affected his parents, but he hoped this wouldn’t end up the same. His parents were a terrible duo. At least his father was. He worked with the law, and he was usually the one to show up and drag the blonde into the station. He always got annoyed. Not like Vance cared what his father thought. Let alone how many times he got dragged to the station.

No. Vance cared about what someone by the name of Y/N thought about him. That's who he was in love with. But Vance was a violent kid, a kid with a hot-temper and a couple records in the cops record book. The amount of fights he got into and the amount of times he got arrested because of them. Or the threat of charges. Now that was hell when ever a parent of a kid would threaten him with charges, let alone when it was Moose. He hated Moose. Moose was a bully, everyone knew this. Though he despised the man whenever he would go after Y/N. The amount of times those two fought and got sent to the principles office was crazy.

Way too many times could Vance recall that. But here he stood again, leaning against his locker and standing beside a couple boys. They were younger than him, he could see that. Vance was around fourteen, the oldest of the group. He was the one about to go to highschool whilst the others entered their separate grades. That was fine with him. The boys would still have connections to him, they didn't live that far and the middle school wasn't a far walk. So if any of them got hurt or in a fight, Vance could run to the middle school and help 'em. Until Billy finally hit his own Freshmen year. Griffin was the youngest, so of course it would take a bit of time for him to reach High-School.

But what if y/n and him went to different high schools? What if y/n's parents decided to leave Denver and go somewher else? A soft sigh escaped Vance as a voice to his right rang out. "C'mon, Vance. You have to talk to them sooner or later." The voice to the right of him was Bruce Yamada, the second oldest of the group. "Right. They're scared of me, dumbass." Vance commented, rolling his eyes as he leaned his head against the locker. It only stiffed a laugh out of Bruce, who raised his brow and gently nudged Vance's shoulder. Bruce knew why people were weary of the group, and it was all because of Vance's reputation. But he wasn't the one to speak up next, no. Griffin did. Even if the boy hardly spoke, being selective Mute. "It's your reputation, Vance." The youngest boy thought of the blonde like an older brother.

Which, Vance didn't mind. He would protect the youngest kid with his life. He'd protect any of these kids with his life, even if he died. Well, he didn't want to die, that was for sure. A sigh escaped him as his arms crossed. "Well, then I've gotta pick up my act, ain't I? If I want a chance with them?" This surprised the younger and second oldest. "You really plan on changing your ways, Vance?" Bruce asked as he stared at the blonde with messy hair. It'd be a challenge for the fighter. He knew that for sure. But he needed to change if he'd have a chance with Y/N. A low sigh escaped Vance as he crossed his arms and hummed. "I have to. I like 'em, you all know this." He reminded, trying to keep himself calm as he watched y/n interact with their friends.

This may take a while, but if he wanted to talk to them? He had to do it. He had to stop getting into fights, as bad as that would be. Specifically when it came to Moose. Or Buzz and Matt, and even Matty. He was a fighter, but he'd stop for his crush. Lower his reputation one way or another.

[tanith-rhea]

hii! I wanna say first and foremost that im loving all of ur larissa/reader fics sm. I really liked the screw ur roommate one ;-; and i wanna give a prompt for a fic if ur up for it! So its like this...

Young larrissa, morticia, gomez and f!reader are at a secret nevermore nightshades party. They play spin the bottle/truth or dare and it starts off harmless till reader's dared to kiss who they think is the prettiest amongst all of them. Everyone thinks its morticia but oop its larrissa. After that, chaos ensues and maybe things get spicier? Light vandalism/skinny dipping mayhaps? Would be cute if there's a flashforward and Principle Weems looks back on that youthful night.

Truth or Dare

Thank you so goddamn much for this ask anon! I had so much fun writing it and I'm really excited about it. I think it's an excellent idea and loved every second of coming up with this! Hope you like it as I did writing it!

Word count: 2.3k

They've been drinking for a while now. You think, observing Morticia and Gomez eyeing each other. The party was dying down by now, and if it were up to you, you would already be in bed with the rest of the group, but Larissa was going back with Morticia and asked you to keep her company lest she'd be left alone with that disturbingly horny pair.

Morrison and Mccoy were still there as well, but Larissa would be alone to deal with them if you left, so you stayed. There probably wasn't something you wouldn't do for her, and sitting with her in the dock overseeing the lake to Raven Island, you weren't tempted to head back.

"This is getting boring," a sultry voice asserted a few meters back, "We should play a game."

It was Morticia, approaching with Gomez in one hand and a recently emptied bottle of cheap wine in the other; drinking wine at seventeen, The Nightshades were pretentious like that. It spoke of how biased you were that you thought Larissa was the only one who actually pulled it off, looking elegant and thoroughly decadent while drinking straight from the bottle.

"What do you suggest?" Larissa humoured her, making space between you to the others to sit in a circle on the wooden pier.

You wanted to be alone with her, in all honesty, but Morticia had a glint in her eye that piqued your curiosity and made you nervous altogether.

"How about verum aut consecutio?" she eyed the others; the boys had come up and sat as well, Mccoy between you and Larissa, Gomez beside you and Morticia "In turns, we all spin the bottle in the middle of the circle, and the person whose its neck points to is asked to make a confession about themselves, or face consequences" her smile was devilish, you were equal parts excited and terrified.

Maybe it was the alcohol — you were a terrible lightweight — but you liked the idea very much. Antagonism towards Morticia forgotten in the name of fun, you nodded with the others and prepared to start.

Since Morticia was the one to give the idea in the first place, she spun the bottle first. Round and round it went until it stopped, pointing at Larissa. Fuck, this could go horribly bad; but Morticia only seemed amused.

"Larissa..." she smiled, biting her lip "where are you ticklish?"

Oh, that was harmless, maybe this could be fun.

"You know where I'm ticklish" the comment made you uncomfortable and the fake annoyance on Rissa's face was like a slap, "I'm ticklish in my ribs" she arched a defiant brow, a side smile curling her lips.

You knew they were friends a while back, but you didn't know what happened for the easy jokes to turn into a passive-aggressive competition of wit. They were begrudging companions at best now, admiring each other but unable to voice it. You used to think it was sexual tension, but it made you hurt too much to even entertain the idea, so you decided to turn a blind eye.

The next person was Morrison, directly in front of you, and he asked Gomez what would his wishes for a genie be. Several rounds passed by, with some funny confessions and ridiculous consequences. Mccoy was dared to do a sexy crawl up to Gomez and Morticia to, impressively successfully, lick her own elbow.

It was Morrison again, everyone was in high spirits from having seen Gomez twerk for thirty seconds, and he spun the bottle. Until now, it had only fallen on you once and you asked for confession, telling everyone that you had a strawberry-shaped birthmark on the left side of your lower back. This time, you decided to choose consequence.

"Kiss the most attractive person in this circle" wait, what? No one had done something actually physical before. Did you have to? You probably didn't, but the temptation of having an excuse...

The thing was, you had the most embarrassing fancy on Larissa. She didn't correspond to your feelings, quite obviously not interested in anxious lesbians with no control over their lives. She was the most beautiful creature you ever laid eyes on, but not only that, she was kind and caring, compassionate but with a fiery side that could make you roll on the floor laughing or pant to catch your breath at how hot she could be.

You looked at everyone, you knew what they were expecting. The obvious choice was Morticia. It was a consensus that she was the most charming and sexy girl in the school and you were the gayest disaster to ever step on Nevermore's grounds, but you didn't agree with that. Gomez seemed tense and Mccoy seemed bored. Morrison seemed smug for getting himself the pretty sight of two girls kissing. You were just paralyzed with fear. What would she think? Would things be as they always were after it?

"C'mon, quit making us wait" Mccoy grumbled.

With a deep breath, you stood up to cross in front of him, hearing a sharp intake of breath from behind you and looking at a shocked Larissa on your front. You lowered yourself to one knee, foot planted beside her thigh. She was seated on her legs like a courteous little princess, her hands clasped together on her lap, shoulders tensely straight.

"May I have a kiss?" you whispered, looking for any signs she might want this as much as you did, fearing to find the opposite.

"Are you serious?" she seemed so unsure it hurt. You could only look solemnly at her.

She gave a curt nod, still quite incredulous. You couldn't read her, something you weren't used to. You leaned into her, closing the distance.

It was a bit awkward at first, her lips were partially parted and yours weren't, but soon you saved it by cupping her cheek and guiding her through a slow exploration of each other's mouths. She tasted wine-sweet with a hint of the peppermint tea you had before going out. Her lips were soft and lovely caressing yours with gradually increasing enthusiasm. You weren't in a hurry, you could do this forever easily, and if she wanted time to evolve it into something deeper you were happy to oblige. Her tongue teased out; you were already kissing open-mouthed, but the feeling of her tongue slipping between your lips and sucking yours to her made a satisfied groan escape your throat. Just as you were going to cup her neck with your other hand, fingers already ruining her hairdo, a coughing sound interrupted your thoughts.

You parted, face hot in embarrassment you had only seconds ago felt none of, to see the agitated expression on Morrison's face, Mccoy awkwardly trying to look the other way after staring dumbfounded and Morticia grinning slyly. Gomez didn't seem particularly fazed, and you wanted to hug him for it.

"Okaaay," Morrison cut in the silence "that was something..." he cut himself for a moment before blurting "your turn Larissa" and thrusting her the bottle like a hot potato.

The game deescalated after that. Everyone seemed to silently agree that you didn't need much more excitement that night. But after a while, Morticia grew bored, as she usually did, and suggested everyone should take off their clothes and have a midnight swim.

By then, the other boys were passed out on the grass by the boats. You and Larissa hadn't talked since the kiss and she seemed to avoid your gaze every time you looked at her. Which meant she was looking. You tried to fool yourself with hope but secretly hated that you were only paving the road to heartbreak. She didn't feel the same.

Morticia began taking off her dress and jumped graciously into the water, calling Gomez to join her. He did it without a preamble.

You eyed Larissa silently asking if she was alright with it. She finally looked at you and gave a short, tight smile, before taking off her shirt and skirt and lowering herself into the midnight-coloured water. You followed suit, leaving your clothes with hers.

Morticia started a fight of spilling water and soon the tension had gone again. You felt grateful to her for the first time that night. Larissa was laughing and Gomez was an absolute surprise, attacking everyone when they least expected.

It was very late, the moon halfway down the sky. You were all tired from swimming and cold for stopping the War of Water, and you were going to suggest leaving and going back to school when Morticia said:

"I think Gomez and I are going to head back, I'm feeling chilly and would like for someone to warm me" she blinked at him and started swimming away with him in her tow.

You were suddenly left with Larissa, and couldn't help but think Morticia was doing something. Scheming. Was there a reason for all of this? Did her smile mean something back at the game?

Larissa looked at you for a second, not joyful anymore but tense.

"I think we should go too. It is rather cold."

"Larissa-" you didn't know what you were going to say, where you were going with this, but you had to try, right? Things were already a mess, you could tell.

She stopped, her eyes looking at the surface of the water between you.

"I think we should talk about this" you drifted closer into her personal space.

"What's there to talk about?" she looked to the side, seeming very interested in the trees on the other side of the lake.

"About what happened... about us" you tried, carefully placing the pad of your fingers in her jaw to bring her eyes to yours, she let you.

"I don't know what you mean, it was just a game" she didn't look at your face, instead focused on the freckles on your shoulders, covered only by the straps of your baby pink bra.

"Then why won't you look me in the eyes?" you were starting to get annoyed, she looked at you so fast that it seemed as if she was scared; scared of giving something away, betraying how she felt "I know something is different. You didn't talk to me for this passed hour and you look like a dear in headlights every time I look at you."

She wasn't saying anything. Was she spearing your feelings? Was she avoiding you because she didn't want to give you the wrong impression? Was she... Jesus, was she uncomfortable with your proximity?

You floated back a bit, giving her room. You knew this would happen, you knew giving yourself hope was idiotic.

"If you think I'll act differently... I won't" you reassured her in a small voice "I'll be normal, I'll keep it under control just as I've ever done. I won't expect anything to change or for you to want me back. I can do it, Larissa, I'm used to it. Just don't... do what you're doing now, looking at me horrified like that. Are you okay?" her face was slowly contorting into something horrible, shocked and... disgusted? You felt yourself starting to cry. What have you done?

"Oh my god, is this too much? Should I have kept quiet? Fuck! I'm so sorry, Larissa, I am. Please don't be repulsed, please forget it!" now you were sobbing. She didn't feel the same, and she was repelled.

You didn't see anything, tears clouding your almost-shut eyes when you felt the water and her arms around you.

"Shh, love. Calm down" her voice was soft in your hair "I'm not repulsed by you, how could I?" she pitied you, of course.

Still, you weren't strong enough not to give in and bury your face in her. Her chest was hot against your cold face.

"I'm not repulsed by you, I'm surprised with you" she continued whispering "I am disgusted, but only with myself" she parted from you a bit, taking your face in her hand "I'm disgusted that I was such an idiot not to have realized."

Her kind smile is a searing knife to your buttery heart. You didn't have her love, you had her pity, which was almost as painful as a disgusted rejection. She felt sympathy for you.

"Fuck" you let it escape in a broken gasp "I can't look at you Larissa, don't give me that" you were starting to swim away, feeling humiliated when her hand caught your forearm.

"What? Don't give you what? I'm not understanding your signals y/n, in one minute you're confessing to me and the next you are rejecting my feelings?"

What the hell was she talking about?

"What fucking feelings, Larissa?! I don't want your fucking pity, I love you! I can deal with you rejecting me but I can't just stand by as you think oh poor y/n, so desperately in love with me, wish I could feel the same!" you screamed at her, but she wasn't listening, she was smiling; quite beautifully so. She had a smile that could light an entire city plastered on her face.

You were confused and angry and didn't see it coming but in a second you were looking at her and the second she was kissing you. Ferociously. She was smiling against your lips and her hands held your face firmly. You melted into her, giving up the second her lips collided with yours. Of course you would let her do whatever she wanted, even if you didn't understand a flying shit of what was happening.

When she parted from you, smile still in place, you struggled to catch your breath.

"You absolute idiot. We are absolutely the biggest fools in this school" she laughed "I love you too, you silly girl" and she leaned in again, kissing you with the biggest smile on.

You stayed a bit longer at the lake; suddenly you didn't feel so cold anymore.

Sorry for the late post. Saturday is d&d day, so I wasn't at home for most of the afternoon. Kisses!

Part two can be found here.

[theseasasleep]

Story of Kunning Palace, E05 (semi-live reaction)

Of all the ways I thought Ning would handle the proposed slander against her beloved Zhang Zhe, the way she actually handled it did not align with my imaginings in the slightest. Sometimes what plays out is really better than the fiction in your head, hee. I did not see her calling out, not the dumb fiancee but the You-daughter. Nor did I foresee her half-drowning her in a jar full of goldfish.

FIERCE

Judging by the all the clips I have gorged on, this particular love line will be quite strong and trend for a while. Sigh. A decade plus of drama watching has whittled my patience for second lead to first lead love lines to whisper-thin nub but everyone keeps commenting on how amazing Zhang Zhe is so.... I guess the wait and watch won't be too grating.

...

I'm not sure I understand.

Zhang Zhe broke or bent his principles to help her on the oath that she'd become a good person thereafter.

Sometime later, Zhang Zhe is condemned to death for this.

Did he naturally get caught? Or did she deliberately sell him out? Was it more similar to the Yan Lin situation in which her people made moves without her knowledge and when push came to shove, she didn't make the necessary moves to upend the conspiracy for the sake of remaining Empress?

Whatever the case, it's clear Ning did many terrible things - some in ignorance, some in knowledge - to accomplish everything she achieved. I think she squared most, if not all of it with herself when weighing it against the ultimate end result... until Zhang Zhe ended up on the chopping block. I don't think she would have been able to write this sin off and once one stone in her ambitious bedrock was overturned, the rest likely came apart. It's why when she knew she was going to die she wanted her death to mean something, to be a reparation of sort to the only person remaining who might accept it because he thought she was worth something, because he's that good.

...

Oh. Oh. Look at the expression on his face as he listens to the patronizing, sexist drivel:

My scrumptious proto-feminist

...

LOL, he did a dignified catwalk and every lady in the room forgot to think and breathe!

I understand, ladies, I understand.

Geez, Ning, Xie Wei had them open a window for you, and only you, so you would have fresh air and bright light, to improve your mood and chances! Not to silently accuse you of being a potential cheat!

Wow, this is all up hill climb, my guy. Get your shoes with the best tread on, Xie Wei.

I know not a drop of Chinese and even I can see that's atrocious. And what did she draw in the corner. A flower? A dancing sun? A really fat, disproportionate hand with a vestigial finger?

And she asks, did she put too much effort into [failing]? Girl. It's so obvious she'd bring out the contrarian impulses of a saint. But maybe it's worth it since we get this face:

Teacher does not approve.

What I am enjoying so much in this scene is the action and counteraction. The way they each boldly challenge the other. She sent up an exam paper so abominable as to be a mockery [of him]; he passes her. She tries to expose her "stupidity" to the rest of the class; he threatens to critique the entire class, turning everyone against her idea.

point:

Counterpoint:

Concession:

Me:

...

I'm not even touching the "dementia." Rolling my eyes and moving on.

But, but, but... How was he so spot on?! How did he guess at reincarnation?! I mean, yeah, he said he doesn't believe in the supernatural but it can't be a coincidence to the narrative that he's the first to come closest to the truth?

Xie Wei: Ning, what's your relationship with Yan Lin? I NEED TO KNOW... *whispers* for science.

Oh, your father asked me to take good care of you in the palace... Yan Lin asked me to help you... By the by, that study partner list? Yeah, another ministry generates it but ultimately it has to run by me. The moment I saw your name I marked you for the palace. After going to so much trouble, it would be stupid of me to release you from palace duties now!

Xie Wei, be like:

...

God. I Hate Ning's Mom.

[commehter]

Does Zu-Ozai ever get to have a romantic partner again? Losing Mai (and their not-yet-born child) seems like it would be profoundly lonely.

Ah. Well...

The short answer is that I don't have any solid plans on including a romantic interest one way or the other for Zu-Ozai in SToFLO. Let alone a particular who that would fill the role. I'm open to options, but I'm not married to any of the ideas I've had thus far.

Long answer (and potential spoilers) under the cut.

The thing is, it's kind of an awkward topic to tackle. I understand the desire for Zu-Ozai to have someone, but... Simply put he's a 19-year-old in a 35-year-old body, tossed 6 years into his own past and grieving the loss of his first wife and child. No matter what I choose to do, that's going to be messy.

The entire main cast (and the bulk of the rest of the cast for that matter) is way too young. A good chunk of the remaining cast is too old. In the leftover sliver of the canon cast, that isn't already married... Frankly, I'm not seeing any options that I'd care to write.

Maybe I've missed someone, but I can't think of a single canon character I'd be happy pairing with Zu-Ozai.

That leaves the OC route and... Welp, I haven't ruled it out, but I am highly aware that main-canon-character/original-character pairings aren't terribly popular and put a lot of readers off. (I should know. I'm one of the folks that typically avoid them like the plague.) I could get into the weeds of why, but that might easily spiral into a rather long rant... Suffice it to say that MCC /OC pairings tend to be poorly written about 98% of the time before we ever get into other reasons someone may not want to read such a pairing.

I'm still playing with the idea though because I have read a few fics that did it right. (Vathara's Embers comes to mind for giving Iroh an OC girlfriend that I rather liked.) But the "trick" to doing it right largely comes down to the OC in question having a life and purpose outside of being shipping fodder, so I can't just make a random OC on the sole basis of "Zu-Ozai deserves a wife."

That comes with its own tangle of problems. What is the OC's other (read: main) role in the story? How does this OC enter Zu-Ozai's life? Why does she stay? Are they actually compatible personality wise? What about principles? What are the political ramifications? Can I, as the author, write it in a manner that is organic rather than forced?

Honestly, the answer to that last one is probably "only if you actually let it happen organically instead of pushing it."

So... Yeah. I'd like for our boy to find someone, too, but it's not something I'm going to focus on for fear of producing something truly cringe-worthy. (Either way, I write at the pace of frozen molasses, so it will be awhile before Zu-Ozai is ready to move on and try dating again, anyway.)

**As a final aside, my current leading idea (as of writing this post) for a potential OC match is Suki's mom. -- It's my understanding that Netflix actually made a character for that role (Did they axe Oyaji as village leader or something?) so I might end up stealing Yukari's name. Pessimist fish already decided we were stealing Raava's name from TLoK for the Avatar Spirit, after all. -- A warrior from a small, neutral nation that no one cares about seems about his speed for someone he might actually be interested in without creating a political nightmare in the process. Comes with a bonus excuse to drag an itty-bitty Suki into the narrative, too!

...Someone is going to have to explain to Zu-Ozai that children "playing" hide-and-explode(-plus-blades-for-the-nonbender) across palace rooftops is NOT a normal "sibling bonding experience." Just imagine, three little hellions and their dad who doesn't think they're doing anything all that unusual. Mom be like "no that's definitely not normal... keeps their skills sharp, though." ...Okay, so I'm half-tempted to do it for the hellion step-sibling trio alone. So adorable and yet terrifying!**

[opinated-user]

Lily dismissing rape allegations because the victim is someone she hates is … fucking gross

like for example I fucking hate Nekoshadows I think she’s a lying coward after she was exposed for keeping quite about someone being in contact with a known child predator…. But even with all that I still felt bad for her when it came to light how fucking terribly her boyfriend treated her especially when he admitted he never actually loved her

like I think Neko’s isn’t a good person but I still think what she went through was awful and she didn’t deserve it

so if I can believe that someone is a victim despite also believing them to be a scumbag that kept quiet about a predator… where the fuck does Lily get off not believing a victim of rape simply because she doesn’t like them like what the fuck

hell another example: I do not like Omnia and think she’s a pretty bad person … but I also believe her claims that her Ex partner Xzae abused her

you can dislike someone or hate someone .. and still believe that they’ve been abused or raped

it isn’t mutually exclusive you don’t have to like a victim personally to believe they are a victim

like this is the same shit that fucking coyote lovely got on blast for when he pretty much admitted to stopping helping a victim because he hated her like this is the exact same fucking thing

between Courtney and Sunny, LO really just told to every survivor ever "if you ever said anything against me, then your abuse deserves to be erased and i'll defend your abuser, just to spite you", which isn't just gross... that's just straight up evil.

just to make a comparison, Courtney has no reason at all to give LO any grace or compassion. yet he fully believes and understand that LO's claims of have suffered CSA are valid, only after looking at her past behavior and consider it with the knowledge of a fully grown adult. even after everything LO has lie about him and try to pin down on his name, Courtney still hasn't even attempted to say that LO never suffered any abuse in the past. that's all LO. LO is the one who wants to claim that Courtney never went through anything, at anyone's hand, ever, at no point of his entire life. according to LO, Courtney ran away from home simply "chasing a guy", no because the house was abusive and suffocating for him in part because of her presence there. Courtney had a CSA trauma response by replicating it on another kid, no because he suffered CSA at anyone's hand, but because he is just that evil. nothing that Courtney ever does or did is ever a response to trauma because he never suffered any. that's the narrative that LO wants her audience to believe in. even the abuse that had nothing to do with LO and it was cameron's fault, that doesn't get to be called out either. Sunny right now doesn't deserved to be believe in. his abuser doesn't deserved to be called out for, not even warned about. in fact, the abuser will get treated as a mere victim who is injustly mistreated by the evil community who evilly harassed the not evil "native" trans woman (who never talked with anyone from the Nation outside of one funeral and never again). all because they stopped being the yes man of LO. i'm not being hyperbolic at all when i say that this is inhumane. i know that LO doesn't have any moral, principles and she'll always, always, prefer to look for herself alone before anything else. but it can't be forgotten that LO is just a terrible person, a dangerous person, who not only perpetrates harm herself against vulnerable people, but will enable other predators to do the same. the only people i feel sorry to are the vulnerable people on her audience that still don't know there's a target on their back.

[sariastrategos]

"You'll never win, you know."

"I'm not trying to win anymore."

Another name I see in my notes! @jaynesilver hello, thanks for humouring me!

Kylo stared intently at the board thinking about his next move. Just like he’d stared and thought about all of his previous moves. And just like all his previous moves the moment he made it Hux countered it effortlessly and he lost yet another piece.

“I thought you’d played this before?” Hux drawled, taking a sip of his whisky.

“Shut up, I’m thinking.” Kylo growled.

Who’s idea was this anyway? Which one of them decided playing Sabacc was a good way to spend their down time? How was this supposed to improve their working relationship?

They’d been trying to get along better lately, to keep peace on the ship and stop their arguments from hindering their efficiency. So they’d made a deal that once a standard week they’d have a drink or two together.

Kylo didn’t drink but it was the principle of the matter. Hux would have a glass or two of whisky, Kylo tea and they’d attempt to get along with conversation and to get to know one another.

This had devolved into weekly encounters that often led to no talking at all and getting to know each carnally rather than in a simple, friendly manner. Kylo now knew all the little sounds Hux made when he was so close Kylo just a little more that’s it right there -AH! YES!

And Hux now knew what he looked like down on his knees for him at long last. And that Kylo could feel the thrill it gave him pulsing through the air around him.

And to be fair, they had been getting along better on shift. So really it wasn’t a bad thing, it just wasn’t the original goal.

And just like that, Kylo knew what he needed to do.

He was terrible at Sabacc but he knew something he was good at.

Abandoning all hope at strategy he kicked off his boots under the table.

“Oh stars Kylo tell me your feet aren’t going to choke me out?” Hux sneered.

Kylo smirked up at him “Not with my feet but I can do that for you if you’re interested.”

He was rewarded with rolled eyes and a huff when he blindly made a move. Hux countered it with barely a pause. “You’ll never win you know.” He commented, taking another sip.

Kylo trailed his foot up the inside of Hux’s ankle and snickered when he coughed up his drink. “I’m not trying to win anymore.” He replied, rubbing up and down his calf. “Not Sabacc at least.”

Hux glowered at him, setting his drink down. “Don’t think I can’t still beat you while you’re trying to distract me. I’m trained to make decisions under duress.”

“I know you’ll still beat me” he replied, nudging up his inner thigh “and I know what a phenomenal general you are.” The tips of his ear’s were going pink “I’ve seen you in battle, watched you direct the troops while under fire, unshakable in your confidence, flawless in your planning.” His foot finally found the outline of the general’s cock in his jodhpurs “I never stood a chance at beating you in a game of strategy”

He watched a myriad of emotions cross his face, pride, suspicion, lust and knew he had him when his cheeks started to go splotchy.

“You’re shameless.” He clambered out of his chair, already undoing his belt. “A cheap play.” The jacket was tossed carelessly on the floor “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Kylo laughed as Hux climbed into his lap and buried his hands in his hair, dragging him into an angry kiss. “You just said I’m shameless!”

“Shut up and put your mouth to better use.”

Thanks again!!

[pieroulette]

#002 a coffee and a stranger ▶ KOGA YUDAI.

、oneshot practice.

author's note: yes i'm a sucker for this man. i'm terribly struggling alot w writing—so small oneshots, drabbles, and a koga yudai keeps me going everyday ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

the fleeting aroma of the freshly brewed coffee had you averting your gaze towards the counter, giddily kicking your feet in tiny motions as you waited in both patience and excitement as this was your first time trying out a slightly expensive coffee at a famous coffee shop in the city.

your entire life—you had spent each cent into your needs rather than wants, remaining firm in your principles in saving money till you can afford to even shift your eyes towards the 'want' section.

so why not give yourself a tiny bit of pampering today?

today seems to be your lucky day, as the coffee shop had a fairly few customers present today which means less public anxiety for you.

"here's your order, miss."

a young man's voice encapsulates your heart into tiny thumps, the way he enunciates each syllable feels as if he had taken professional vocal lessons; melodic and relaxing.

thump, thump, thump.

a cup of coffee was placed before you, yet the long fingers caught your attention—till your eyes slowly shifted over to his bare forearms, one that literally showcases visible veins as his sleeves were rolled up.

and dear lord, does he have that pretty smile—along with those pair of beady orbs that held bubbling tenderness in it, the soft breeze brushes his loose black strands that covered bits of his forehead added sort of a soft pink tint—as if a manhwa panel had came alive.

you didn't even need to take a glance to know that he had a pretty smile just like his voice. but surely he truly did.

this stranger, you wonder what is his name. and was it as sweet as his voice and this fine coffee? you immediately shook your head—laughing at childish thought as you came today for the coffee, not for a cute waiter.

your eyes however, finds itself watching the back of the cute waiter.

for awhile there—maybe it's not too bad if you want him for yourself, you thought. sighing, you did—as nothing could go wrong if you ask for a simple name, right?

"hey." you called out. your eyes widened horribly, covering your mouth that had decided to betray you against your own will.

"yes?" his heels spun around immediately upon your call, curiousity glazed over his beady orbs.

"is it okay if i ask for your name?"

he blinked a few times—clearly taken aback by your question. yet it didn't last long as his lips hang slightly apart, emitting a low giggle paired with a small grin that he tries his best to suppress.

"yudai, how about you?"

2023/09/08

[skayafair]

John, Lies and Trust, and the Dark World Pt.2

Part 1:

The Dark World

That's the part where I get very emotional for many reasons.

First time was bad enough to become what appears to be a life-long trauma and the worst nightmare John's terrified to death about. But THIS time he experienced a close bond with someone, learned what not being alone feels like, reshaped his mind to be more human-like... and lost all that. He was in the worst place in all the worlds, alone, again. Somewhere he'd give almost anything to never be. Unfamiliar horrors are one thing, but it's entirely different when you went through hell, know exactly how unbearable it is, and then you have to go through this again. Knowing how it would feel. This is devastating. And that's the first blow.

The second hit is that if I understand it correctly, ending up in the Dark World is fate worse than death because you cannot die there. As I get it, things there are already dead. So if a god - fine, a piece of a god, doesn't matter in this case, - ends up there, and gods are immortal, they have to endure this indefinitely, most likely forever, with no hope to escape. As if the very nature of the Dark World was not bad enough, the worst thing about being there this time was that it went on and on and on, the horrors didn't just happen one or a many times, they kept happening with no end in sight. Before there was at least a book. Now there was nothing. So no matter how long John held to his newfound principles and determination... anyone would run out of this eventually. I'm not surprised he rolled back to the old ways. By its description, the Dark World is not a nice and welcoming place. And, like I said, John wants to live and couldn't die there anyway, so he had to preserve what he could. He had to survive, and a survival mode is never pretty. We don't know what exactly he had to do there - on his own and for Kayne??? - but judging by the way he was in s3 I think we can confidently say one thing: he didn't enjoy any of it, and that's important. I'll get back to this later, but mention that Arthur in his survival mode is pretty terrible either.

Now we enter the territory of questions and assumptions, but still. I wondered if John had some hope - certainly not much, but some - that Arthur would get him out of there, like the first time? Or that when Arthur dies, they'll at least meet each other? John knows that together they can endure any horrors. Almost anything feels more bearable when you aren't alone in this. When it isn't lonely. But no one came. John was abandoned, completely, for good. @keykidpilipili mentioned how this situation with the Dark World is similar to Aqua's in KH, I went to watch the scenes with her and I think they really deliver exactly how unbearable this is and why. What makes me think I'm not just making things up is the fact that Arthur heard his voice during one of his first NDEs. What if it actually was John, calling from the Dark World, desperate for any glimpse of hope and companionship? Cry with me And then in s3 Arthur really says it. "How about we find each other if we end up there". Gods, my heart.

One last thing. Whatever happened there, however long it lasted, whatever John had to give up and lose there... he kept his promise. He never forgot his one and only friend, never stopped keeping him dear. And I think it's another important thing not only about John and how much his whole personality is built around being true and genuine, but also about their relationship.

Yes, to me John is about truth and not lies. His reationship with both is complicated, but... when one builds themselves up as they go, not knowing who they are yet, only exploring the concept and the limits, lies tend to really confuse them. John hates being misjudged, called by any other name than the one he chose himself, when others say things about him which are simply not true as if they knew better. He's going in a full rage mode immediately. Oh how much I understand you in this, pal. It's important for him to distinguish the truth - what actually is there, and about himself as well, - from lies, assumptions and illusions. Important to keep them apart.

But, again, when he's backed into a corner, he'd revert to lies as one of the escape means, hating every moment of it. It's a survival tactic for him - a bad one, but one of the most familiar as it seems, and therefore nearly automatic, like a knee jerk reflex. It's also the last resort.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

My journey through John Oliver's IMDB page that I've been doing in the last few days (summary: his old Cambridge doc got taken off YouTube, I got paranoid about how I'm glad I'd saved that but this is a reminder that nothing stays on the internet forever so you need to save the stuff you want to keep, this escalated too quickly into me buying a new external hard drive just to see how much of his IMDB page I can download and put in one place) has brought me through a documentary about Russell Howard from 2021. I previously knew that documentary existed, but I hadn't watched it because even before Russell doubled down on the Jordan Peterson thing enough for me to be done watching his stuff (I ignored the mild comments for months before he actually invited Peterson onto his show and made ignoring it impossible), I didn't need to see a documentary about how the pandemic made life difficult for an extremely rich and successful touring comedian.

However, I learned today that John Oliver had a credit in the documentary, so obviously I immediately downloaded it. To be honest I haven't watched the whole thing, I just skipped through it in search of the John Oliver bits. Because I have given up on Russell Howard, but his former connection to the Chocolate Milk Gang, and my hobby of cataloguing all Chocolate Milk Gang history, is the only thing that will make me temporarily suspend my closely held principles such as a hard line against all Jordan Peterson apologists. I did the same thing with his recent podcast, rolling my eyes when I first saw it announced because surely he doesn't need another platform and Britcom doesn't need another bland podcast, until I saw that there would be a John Oliver episode and obviously I listened to that one.

Anyway, the point is that there was some fun Chocolate Milk Gang history in the documentary, I've cut out the relevant clip:

The Chocolate Milk Gang goes by many names. Andrew Maxwell apparently called them "the guys with the bags". Stewart Lee has called them "The hanging around gang". In a discussion with Richard Herring they were labeled "the nerds of the circuit". But here we have a new one: the golden generation. A name coined by Russell Howard and then immediately and entirely justifiably ripped apart by John Oliver, what good stuff. I greatly enjoyed that. Someone should make a Chocolate Milk Gang documentary. I could probably cut together a Chocolate Milk Gang documentary from all the media files I've hoarded. See how many names they've been given over the years.

Based on the ten or so minutes I watched, I think I might genuinely be capable of putting together better videos than the person who made this Russell Howard documentary, the editing on it looks surprisingly amateur-ish for a film about such a huge mainstream star. However, it did provide me with very slightly (only very slightly, but still) higher quality versions of a couple of CMG-related images I had seen before, but had only seen in terrible quality, so it's nice to have those a little clearer:

And I hadn't seen this one before, I don't think Andy Zaltzman changed in appearance at all between 2003 and about 2017.

Oh and Steve Hall shows up at the end, which is fun. I like that guy. I like Steve Hall probably too much, given the fact that the main thing I've heard him do is be quite gross on several episodes Daniel Kitson's radio show in 2007-2008. But it was really funny. Those episodes made me laugh almost constantly and I recommend them to absolutely no one, no one should ever hear that. Though it's not the only thing I've heard him do. I have to be the only person in the world who watched the We Are Klang sitcom in 2023 just for one actor, but that actor was not Greg Davies. Oh and Steve Hall was in that Late 'n' Live recording from 2007, but that's not a lot better for making him respectable. He writes on The Russell Howard Hour and on some level I know he was probably involved in bringing in Jordan Peterson and probably if I asked Steve Hall to tell me all his political opinions I wouldn't be able to enjoy his old sitcom anymore, but luckily he doesn't have a big enough platform to tell us all his opinions so I'll just assume it's fine.

@lastweeksshirttonight, tagging you in case you don't happen to see this post because you'll really enjoy that video clip, it is relevant to your interests.

[frumfrumfroo]

(Sorry if I am belabouring the point, so feel free to ignore this ask) no yeah I'm definitely the same way and you're never wrong for having personal reasons not getting into something immediately - I think some of the fandom anxiety comes from the fact that things get cancelled so quickly without sufficient viewership (or even with sufficient viewership, which is a whole other nut). It puts a weird amount of onus of a show's success on the fandom, which is even stranger in the time of broken trust and active resentment of audiences/audience engagement with a text/trying to 'outsmart' us. But ultimately there is something severely rotting at the root that I don't think we have any control over.

And yeah the popular perception of TD season 1 is that it's grimdark because its protagonist is deeply wounded and many a fanboy is butthurt about its celebration of redemption. It's an incredibly, incredibly dark show, and so that tragic beginning is hard for a lot of people to get past, I think, when it's not the final conclusive thematic remark*. I would say that Dark is similar to this if you want an idea of the tone. Somehow we have ended up where the children's modern day fairytale is grimdark and nihilistic and shows inured in tragedy are idealistic and redemptive.

Anyway, very thankful for your blog in keeping me sane in the time of psychedelic narrative rules, and being Principled, because sometimes I feel like a stick in the mud lol.

And the asterisk is there up above because I have heard this exact description of a popular book series (A Song of Ice and Fire) and I disagree with this conclusion, partly because the series is unfinished, partly because I think the fanbase on Tumblr is overly optimistic, and also because TD has an absolute conclusion which is idealistic. So I just want to note this so it doesn't seem like I'm misrepresenting or overstating the show lololol.

It's also extremely unsavoury the way big name fans and the former twitter cabal, wherever that hangs out now, will take advantage of this anxiety and use it as a bludgeon to make a captive audience feel like they have some 'duty' to support the financial success of giant evil corporations. Giving Disney more money and bullying people for not giving Disney more money is not a moral victory, I think we should all be able to agree. Abusing calls to support artists by co-opting them into the service of mindless consumption of branded refuse is fairly repugnant. Saying 'vote with your dollars' between a choice of Disney Extruded Movie Product A, B, or C is both hilarious and sad.

eg: that tie-in comic, I think it was the TLJ one? The one with the terrible art. It's a commissioned product, the artist was paid once and as little as possible to create it for solely marketing purposes. Applying fandom etiquette to it or saying it should not be criticised because of high turnover times is frankly fucking ridiculous. It's a professional commissioned product they were selling for profit. They had all the time and all the money in the world, there's no excuse for it to be awful and absolutely no one should have felt obligated to buy it or keep quiet about how bad it was. Maybe the artist could have done better under better working conditions, but that doesn't make the actual product we're being asked to purchase acceptable. Giving Disney your money is not going to improve those conditions and it's not going to help that artist.

The same with the tros defenders saying they tried therefore you can't criticise them. A) they did not try B) this was not a sincere piece of art and pretending otherwise is just insulting and C) it's a corporate product made by a near-monopoly who employed alleged professionals. Nothing could possibly be more fair game for harsh criticism.

Ultimately putting this onus on fandom of you must throw your money away on this thing or be a free shill for this brand or maybe they'll stop throwing us any crumbs... like it's debasement. Given all the many recent examples of how public support doesn't matter unless it's that first weekend a show drops on a streaming platform or the opening box office, how being the 'wrong' audience makes you irrelevant no matter how many of you there are, how even very successful shows are dropped after two seasons because producers don't want to pay actors, etc. etc. it's even more silly. We should be demanding better, not propping up this nonsense. Creative people are being profoundly fucked over by this system and are often still fucked even if they make something successful.

If people want to support artists, buy independent and small label media. Go see original, mid-budget movies at the cinema (if you live in a city where you have any chance of one playing, that is).

And see, I have no problem with darkness, angst, and tragedy if I know it's going somewhere positive. Having to really go through it can make the journey and the ultimate conclusion feel even more rewarding. As long as it's not angst for angst's sake, but is doing something meaningful and necessary, it only enriches the hope at the foundation of redemption or recovery stories.

Idealism is brave, challenging, and requires sincerity. When the modern fairy tales are being produced in cynicism and by committee to meet a quota for the shareholders...

Thank-you ❤️

[remma3760]

Chapter 3

Summary:

Wei Ying begins his life at Cloud Recesses, while Jiang Fengmian plots to get him back.

I'm not entirely sure how old any of the children were when things happened in canon, so will be making my own timeline. Wei Ying's parents died when he was five, and Jiang Fengmian found him and brought him to Lotus Pier a year later. I know it was supposed to be longer, but that never made any sense to me. He was a child. He wasn't hiding. He stayed exactly where he was left so why did it take so long for him to be found? So, when my story starts, Wey Ying and Jiang Cheng are six, Lan Zhan is seven - his mother has been dead a year - Jiang Yanli and Lan Xichen are ten. Again, I have no idea when they would get their courtesy names, so I'm going to go with ten, which is also when they get their swords.

Scowling, Lan Qiren dropped the letter back onto his desk. This was the third one. The third. What was Jiang Fengmian thinking? The way he talked, it was if he had completely forgotten his wife's irrational behaviour, and the whole reason Wei Ying had even been taken from Lotus Pier. And, while he hadn't directly asked for Wei Ying's return, he was clearly leading up to it. Hmmn, maybe it was time to bring his contingency plan forward. The man was simply unreasonable. Who knew what he would try next.

There was also a letter for Wei Ying from Jiang Yanli. While he could believe that the little girl cared for Wei Ying, he doubted that she had written such a letter alone, or even at all. Fortunately, he had decided to review the contents before giving it to Wei Ying, and had been appalled. From start to finish, it was nothing more than a subtle rebuke of Wei Ying's behaviour. Claiming that if he had only behaved, none of this would have happened. That he had hurt them all terribly by running away and abandoning his duty to Lotus Pier. Didn't he miss them at all? Didn't he miss her? The whole thing was nauseating. Certainly not something a child would write unprompted. Lan Qiren felt a shiver of disgust at such an unprincipled use of the girl. 

He had shown the letter to Lan Huizhong, who had agreed that the inherent reproach from someone he cared for would certainly set Wei Ying back in his recovery. The poor boy didn't deserve the unwarranted guilt the Jiang heaped upon him. While it was against his principles to keep the letter from Wei Ying, he had to do what was best for the child, and decided to follow the healer's advice and so for now, the letter would go in the drawer. 

Sighing, he got up and headed for the medical pavilion. Yesterday, Lan Baojie had declared Wei Ying healed enough to leave, so he would be bringing him home today. There had been one rather traumatic moment when Wei Ying had thought they were sending him back to Lotus Pier, but once the misunderstanding had been cleared up, little A-Ying had been ecstatic. Lan Qiren had arranged for a new bed to be set up, next to A-Zhan's. Xichen was seeing to it now, excited that his little brother finally had a friend and happy to welcome Wei Ying into their lives. Such a good boy. Both - no all - his boys were good boys.

***

Jiang Fengmian was not happy. He knew Lan Qiren was a smart man so he must have picked up on his hints at wanting Wei Ying returned. Yet he said nothing. His letters were perfectly polite. He detailed A-Ying's progress but never once mentioned when he would be giving Wei Ying back. He spoke as if it had already been decided that Wei Ying would remain at Cloud Recesses. Jiang Fengmian had never agreed to that. Yes, the situation had been difficult, and yes, at the time it was best for Wei Ying to be removed from that situation. But that was weeks ago. He had talked with his wife and while she had not admitted fault, he could see she realised that she had gone to far and was sure she would never harm the boy again. He was sure she wanted Wei Ying back, too. 

Well, maybe the letter from Yanli would do the trick. She had been a little reluctant at first, but she missed Wei Ying and when he explained how important it was for Wei Ying to understand that he belonged with them and that her letter would help him see that and bring him home, she had complied. And Wei Ying adored her, so as soon as he read how sad he had made her, he would be instantly sorry and would beg to return to Lotus Pier. Besides, he must be tired of the Cloud Recesses rules by now. He was a free spirit, just like his mother. Lotus Pier was the right place for him. 

Satisfied, he pulled out some paper, deciding another letter wouldn't hurt. Maybe a letter from him to Wei Ying, stressing his childrens' misery at their beloved brother's absence. Did he really want to make them suffer? Why would he make them so unhappy, when he knew how much they loved him? Yes, that was the way to go. 

He hummed to himself, planning out his newest letter. Meanwhile out on the training field, another practice dummy met a horrible end. The two disciples watching from the sidelines ducked their heads and hurried away as the Madam's angry gaze fell on them. She sneered. Let them run. Cowards, the lot of them. Let them fear her. She was Yu Ziyuan. None of them had the right to judge her. None of them. All because of That Brat. How dare he be kept from her. Who did those Lan's think they were to keep him from her. It was her right to discipline him as she saw fit, and once Fengmian brought him back to Lotus Pier where he belonged, she would make him pay for inconveniencing her. She would teach him his place. It was her right. 

***

Wei Ying bounced happily, grinning at his Saviour Boy - at his Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan had visited him every day since he came here. Lan Zhan had read him stories and held his hand whenever he felt afraid. Lan Zhan was so good to him. Lan Zhan had been teaching him the rules. He loved how Lan Zhan would nod and give a pleased hum every time he learned a new one. He liked learning. So far, he had learned almost a hundred rules. Yes, there were a lot more to go, but he would learn them too and then he would follow them all and then he could stay here with Lan Zhan forever. He liked Lan Zhan so much. He didn't smile much, or talk much, but Wei Ying didn't care. Lan Zhan was always kind and always helped Wei Ying and always answered Wei Ying questions. Lan Zhan had saved Wei Ying, so Wei Ying knew that Lan Zhan was the best person in the world. 

Ever since he had been here, everyone had been so kind to him. Lan Xiansheng, who had carried him when he couldn't walk. Lan Daifu who had given him horrible things to drink but had promised that they would make him feel better and they had. And he had put cream on Wei Ying's owies. It had hurt, but Lan Daifu tried his best to be gentle and not hurt Wei Ying, so Wei Ying liked him too. And Lan Zhan had a brother! Lan Xichen, and he was so nice. He had brought Wei Ying a sweet bun and had smiled at him and patted his head. He was glad Lan Zhan had such a kind brother. He liked all of them, really. Not as much as he liked Lan Zhan, but he didn't think he could ever like anyone as much as he liked Lan Zhan.

Then the other Lan Daifu had come. He hadn't given Wei Ying any icky drinks or pushed and prodded at him at all. He had just sat and talked to Wei Ying, and listened to Wei Ying. Wei Ying wasn't sure what to make of that. Grown ups didn't usually care what Wei Ying had to say, but this Lan Daifu did. At first, Wei Ying didn't know what to say. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and make Lan Daifu angry, but Lan Daifu said that there was no wrong thing to say, and Wei Ying could say anything Wei Ying wanted to say, and Lan Daifu would listen, so that was good. Wei Ying knew Lan Daifu talked to Lan Zhan too, and Lan Zhan hardly ever talked to anyone, so Lan Daifu couldn't be bad if Lan Zhan talked to him and so that meant it had to be safe for Wei Ying to talk to him. 

Yesterday, he had been told he would go home today. At first, he had been scared and cried, because he thought that meant they were tired of him and that they were going to send him back to Madam Yu. He was so sad and scared. Lan Zhan held his hand and he looked sad, too. Wei Ying didn't want that. Lan Zhan was so good. Lan Zhan should never be sad, so he tried to stop crying and be brave.

Lan Xiansheng had looked worried, asked him why he was upset. Hiccuping, he told them he was fine. He would go and not be a bother. It was fine. At least he knew some rules now, so maybe he wuldn't make Madam Yu so angry all the time. Lan Xiansheng had looked shocked, then explained that he was not going back to Lotus Pier. That he was staying here. That he would have a bed right next to Lan Zhan's. That he would have his own trunk to keep his own things in right next to Lan Zhan's. He could stay. They wanted him to stay. They weren't tired of him and they weren't sending him away. They wanted him. When they said home, they meant here. Here was home now. He could stay with Lan Zhan always, and learn rules, and never go away. 

And, any minute now, lan Xiansheng would come for him, and they would go to where his bed was, and where he would have his own trunk with his own things in it. He would still be talking to Lan Daifu, but that was okay. He would talk to anyone as long as he could stay. He grinned at Lan Zhan again, swinging their arms, clinging to his hand, and Lan Zhan smiled back! A tiny smile, but it was definitely there. And he did that. He made Lan Zhan smile. He was so happy. He was going home. 

[astrowaffles]

toji to me is a very downtrodden character and thats the base of like aaalll my analysis of him. i think its a good idea to keep in mind that they're all living in a Secret Society with like negative morals and seemingly a core principle of might makes right. its not Just a lack of therapists, here, right, its an actively hostile environment. and then you have the zen'in upbringing which kicks that up a notch. i dont think toji is actually all that convinced of his power, bc he grew up being told he was worthless without cursed energy. he Never gets revenge on the zen'ins. why? his trauma response to this (get OUTTTTT) is different than maki's (spite them & eventually overcome them-- for approval ? hm.). shes intimidated by them sure but shes got that rebel spirit! girlboss. anyway back to the point bc i have one -> toji never escaped the zen'ins. he Wants to affirm that he's strong without cursed energy despite all the evidence that he actually is (and look how that final attempt went!). id like to propose a theory: he didnt think he could hide a child with The Zen'in Power Of All Time from the zen'ins. i dont think he could either tbh. ok actually are you caught up on the manga 🤨

Hello again! I really love this view of Toji's character, and it will surprise you to learn that I agree with you. I actually do. When I've been replying to your asks before, I've been talking from the perspective of his parenting decisions. But you're right, to take this any further we need to look at his actual personality/character.

Reasons to be sympathetic to Toji (a.k.a extend him the poor little meow meow factor):

abusive ex-family

no support

no therapy

dead wife

poor

gambling addiction

Toji was abused and was brought up in an environment where he literally meant nothing. He was useless. His reaction to this (get out, cut all ties, get stronger) is a response I'm actually proud of him for. So many people are probably still rolling around inside the Zen'in clan, having never got the balls to get out. Toji even chooses to change his name.

Being a cycle breaker is hard. For many people, it's impossible. For Toji - it was impossible. I extend sympathy and empathy to him here because it's DIFFICULT to let go of your upbringing and do it differently, do better. Toji can't bring him self to leave the jujutsu world. Nanami did it, and could have left forever if he so chose - but Toji can't. He's not a sorcerer but he can't let go of that being part of him, he can't stop his Zeni'in upbringing from shaping him. Neither can Maki, but Maki chooses to actively confront the clan and make physical changes to her life.

Toji just drowns in his spite - again, another thing we can hand him a poor little meow meow card for. He doesn't have the tools to heal or make better decisions. We feel bad for him. We sympathise. We want to still see him as a basically good person (and, to be honest, he probably is) who's just been scarred by the world.

So, to go back to what you said: you're right. He doesn't escape the Zeni'ns and I'm not convinced he wants to. He wants to show them he's better but he also can't bring himself to directly call attention to himself.

So let's bring this full circle and talk about what the original post was about: Toji's parenting. You said you still don't think he's a good parent. You're right, he isn't. He never will be. No Toji stan will ever be able to convince me that any of Toji's parenting choices were the right ones. But let's be sympathetic again, let's see how we can cut him some slack for those terrible decisions.

Does Toji even know how to be a parent?

We don't know a whole lot about Toji's parents. We know he hates them, if he ever truly knew them. We can infer he doesn't want to be like them. We're sure he never actively abuses Megumi, only passively, through abandonment. Perhaps he feels this is better than getting directly involved with a small child. He's described by the wiki as a cold person, specifically since his wife died and he 'reverted to his old self'. It's highly possible that Toji chose to abandon Megumi since he thought it was genuinely the best possible path. Toji can be cold, violent, and calculating, and he maybe felt he was in no position to be doing any parenting. We can sympathise with this!

(But he's still a bad father).

Did Toji sell Megumi to the Zen'ins so the kid could train to be a sorcerer?

It's definitely possible. I think this is what @honestlyyoungtyphoon was trying to tell me. Toji can't help a sorcerer kid, but he knows that Megumi needs training and he knows the Zen'ins would love to give it. And, yeah, maybe he's had this plan ever since he realised Megumi's technique, because he knew the Zen'ins would find out somehow.

Reasons this is still a bad parenting decision: the Zen'ins, while they treat their sorcerers well materially and are much kinder to them than they are to non-sorcerers, are still power hungry little bitches. Everyone knows this. While Toji would have no way to create a better plan, he knew himself it was bad. You ever wonder why Gojo went to see Megumi straight away? Because was Gojo was raised how the Zen'ins would treat Megumi. Gojo was living the life that Megumi would live in the future. And Gojo knew that it wasn't a life fit for anyone.

Toji knows that Gojos knows this. Toji knows Gojo could help Megumi. Toji passed the baton. And honestly, this is probably a reveal of part of Toji's true personality. He willingly sent a guy, his own personal enemy, to Megumi because he knew it was good for Megumi. Toji has a lot of pride and it must have taken a lot to ask that. THIS is probably what the aggressive Toji stans mean when they tell me Toji was a good parent.

So, overall: Toji is a damaged person who never received any kind of help and support from anyone except his (now dead) wife. There are many factors that help shape his decisions and parenting choices. Toji is probably a basically good person who is simply hurt by his circumstances, and even his truly awful decisions such as abandoning Megumi could have their roots in a belief that it was truly for the best. However: a good person does not make a good parent.

Toji was a shit dad and we love him <3

[power-chords]

It is 1936 and Eddie Ross, having emigrated from his native Odessa, wants passionately to be 100% American. In the determined pursuit of the American dream, Eddie, né Itzik Goldberg, changes his own and his family's names, in addition to the names and decor of his Canal Street tavern. Eddie is equally passionate about who he does not want to be: an East European Jew. He has escaped Eastern Europe; the Jewish part is harder.

The problem is, Eddie does not know how to be Jewish and American. He bitterly cites the terrible fate of his own orthodox father, also a tavern keeper, who met a terrible end during Prohibition when his allegiance to God and the law were no protection against bootleggers. Although Eddie scoffs, "He had his head in the Talmud, his foot in the grave," he cannot get the paternal voice out of his head. He lays the blame on the annual postcard he gets from the Sons of Moses reminding him of his father's Yarzheit. "Wherever you go, they find you, those Sons of Moses," he fumes.

Eddie has not renounced Judaism; he has just made his own "deal with God, doing the minimum observance to keep Him calm and on his good side." That sends mixed messages to his two sons. He insists that Charlie attend Hebrew school until his Bar Mitzvah, "Because all God's gotta do is come through once to make Him worth your time... just when you die so you ain't scared shitless." But when Charlie leaves the house wearing his kippah, Eddie explodes, "How many times I gotta tell ya, kid — that is not an outdoor garment. That is an indoor garment only." The older son, Joey, having absorbed his father's principles and ethnic pride, enlists in the Navy the morning after he sees the vandalism on the sign over the Jewish Daily Forward to make it read, "Jew is for war." "Show 'em kid," cheers the proud Eddie, "show 'em how a Jew fights." But when Joey is killed, having refused to leave his battle station, Eddie is mad with grief and rage: "… tonight I go to Beth El, I go to the East Window because this is where God's supposed t'hear you better — and I tell 'im … get this, God. I ain't a Jew no more! Over, pal! Fifty years of bein' a Jew Loser... Take 'em, take the resta them, they're yours — you chose 'em, you got 'em."

Twenty years later, the adult Charlie confronts Eddie with the consequences of his upbringing. One of the happier ones is the critical and financial success Charlie, a writer, has had with his novels about a feisty immigrant bartender and his two sons. Eddie stubbornly withholds recognition of Charlie's accomplishments. He dismisses Charlie's Izzie character as unbelievable: "What kind of Jew is that?" he demands. Charlie retorts: "He's your Jew, Pop, you made him up. He's your Jew and so am I; no history, no memory, the only thing I'm linked to is a chain of bookstores."

That, of course, is not true. Although Charlie will obey Eddie's dying wish to be buried in "an aggressively non-sectarian joint," he lights a Yahrzeit candle for him and recites Kaddish. Besides, he cannot forget; he gets an annual postcard from the Sons of Moses. "They find me," he says, defeated by his own emotion, "those Sons of Moses."

—Ellen Schiff, "They Find You, Those Sons Of Moses": Collective Memory And The Disconnected Jew, 1981. Dude I spent like five minutes trying to figure out if that is a fucking piece of matzah Nate has on his plate lmao.

[clunelover]

Next weekend I am going to Chicago for a girls weekend with my Louisiana friends. It's really nice - they all volunteered to travel closer to me so that I could see them even though it would be easier for me to come to them since I am one person.

I am...kind of dreading it! One of the friends, the main one, is the one who I got into a terrible fight with in Mexico. Something I can't even fully represent in words because we were both drinking so I don't 100% remember what was said or how it started. She did a very nice and genuine apology to me for it (it was more her fault than mine, like she overreacted to something I said and then committed to misunderstanding anything else I said) but I've been wary since then. Like, I've been sloppy with plenty of other friends without ever fighting somehow.

I'm not going to drink on this trip (or ever again I hope!) so that will help. But just...idk, she has a whole thing about not wanting to be the only one to organize and plan and pick activities, but she also objects to how other people plan. Nobody was taking action on housing, so I found some cool Airbnbs (with four people splitting the bill we could have stayed somewhere pretty rad) and asked for opinions. No reply for a WEEK. Finally I asked what was up, were they too expensive cause I could probably find cheaper (I was looking for places where we could each have our own room) and she says "I hate Airbnb on principle, I would prefer a boutique hotel, I'll look for some soon." Okay so her whole career is in historic buildings, and she has a legit beef about Airbnb. But I have strong reasons to prefer it...namely to have my own space including a bathroom that isn't right next to where other people are sitting or sleeping...but her preference automatically wins. I tried to be proactive and come up with a list of possible restaurants and she says she'd prefer to keep that looser (which like...what's not loose about a list of possible restaurants and also we do have to make some choices so that we can get reservations).

Anyway, I am trying to remember that it will still be fun and I really like these people, quirks and all, and I want to put in the work to maintain the relationships. It will be a great chance to use my anxiety skills. And if it goes poorly I guess I'll have an answer about whether I care to travel with these people in the future. Also I suppose there's nothing stopping me from making a list of restaurants for my eyes only, that may well come in handy if the plan of keeping things "loose" doesn't work out.

[ikemenomegas]

In that one piece you wrote for gojo, the nightmare one, why did the reader have their bond mark removed? I had a bit of a hard time understanding it since english isnt my first language

No worries! I also probably didn't do a very good job explaining the "why" since I was a little focused on the "how". I'm sorry but the explanation ended up a bit long. Since it has to do with reader's emotional state, as well as the logistics of post-shibuya.

Warning for manga (and what will be season 2) spoilers ahead.

Gojo isn't a "mastermind" type like a few of the other mentor-trope characters or Getou, but he does have a few backup plans in place.

Like his contingency to make Megumi the head of the Zen'in clan, the only position in the family where he will be safe, should Gojo Satoru be incapacitated.

Removing the bond mark was his contingency for his partner. Gojo can't make his partner the head of a clan, he can't make them so indispensable that they are safe from being associated with him (also it says something about him that he thinks standing at the peak of a power structure is what makes someone untouchable). They're from a non-sorcerer family, and even as a first degree sorcerer, they can't rely upon allies from the Gojo clan or another family if he's gone.

The thing he came up with is terrible. There's a reason that Shoko wasn't sure the reader would go through with it. A sorcerer bond mark in this world is like a seal - it anchors the other evidence (such as a marriage certificate or the entry of a partner in a family tree) of a bond against tampering. A bond mark is difficult to destroy because it was invented as a way to keep powerful bonds from being broken by other people.

Gojo's instructions in the piece of paper the reader burned were to remove their bond mark if he were ever implicated/incapacitated (knowing they would also use their judgement about the severity of the situation). This would require Shoko's help since she is one of the few who can use reverse cursed energy on another person.

The reader character was not sure they would follow this instruction, and then the higher-ups placed a kill order on Principle Yaga, one of Gojo's closest allies, and someone helping guard the school from the elders' interference. The reader, as Gojo's partner, is even closer than an ally.

That's why they're told to stay at the school, so they could be watched.

They were still considering holding off on removing the mark (because of sentimentality) until they had this weird dream about Satoru effectively giving birth to a curse/a baby/having a miscarriage (or all three at once since this was a dream) and his unconscious body being manipulated by people who are going to make him do it again. The last part of the dream was that the reader knew he was healing and that whatever was happening to him wouldn't leave a mark on him while they woke up and had to remember this.

Having that dream helped decide to follow the plan because:

1. After the dream, it hits the reader that Satoru is sort of helpless, but they aren't and if they can do anything, then they have a duty to keep moving forward. They're going to take the out that Satoru left them and hope things turn out okay.

2. Destroying the mark is going to literally destroy the physical evidence that they were romantic partners, meaning that the elders are not going to be able to use that close connection to put an execution order down on the reader's head. (The name on the family tree, off screen, is physically burning away, the marriage certificate ink is going to fade). Since the higher-ups declared Satoru a fugitive and a traitor, said that anyone who helped release him was slated for execution, they're doing everything they can do buy time and put up a smoke screen.

3. They're grieving. Nanami is dead, Ijichi almost died, Getou is back but still dead, a bunch of students are incredibly injured. Part of this choice is them going "if he doesn't want me fine, never knew why he inflicted himself upon me anyways, best to get rid of the evidence of my own feelings" because sorcerer's have super healthy responses to grief 🙄.

Part of it is direct response to the dream, which includes numb sort of confusion of "being a witness to this and doing nothing is horrific for me" and "i don't know if people are going to do something to Satoru, but I am going to do what I can to try and stop it/this has metaphorically been happening all his life" and "nothing leaves a mark on him but the rest of us have to suffer" which is straight up not true, but again grief and anger.

It's a terrible choice to make because Gojo's situation is supposedly temporary, but the reader's choice is not*. It's also in the world of an alpha/omega pair a truly terrible thing to ask an alpha to abandon their omega. The reader character doesn't know if Satoru is going to want them back after this either, but they also decide after it's done that it doesn't matter. They'll burn the world themselves if that's what it takes to save the students.

*(that's what they think. I have an appropriately dramatic shonen style solution to this depending on what happens in the manga, but we'll wait on that)