#and maybe help someone too

[kikizoshi]

Some Things We Know Canonically About Nikolai

He can sew (since he sewed that skin shirt).

His Japanese is proficient enough for him to be able to pass as a Japanese secretary for six months, meaning that his grammar, tones, reading, writing, typing, and mannerisms are all native-level.

He can not only connect space with his Ability, but fuse one object into another if his Ability's output space is connected to a solid object (Atsushi's leg into concrete as the example).

He knew Fyodor before Fyodor was as proficient in Japanese as he is now (since Fyodor is still learning Japanese in the omake).

He knew Fyodor at least semi-well before the plot of Sunday Tragedy (both his recollection to Sigma and various omakes confirm this).

He isn't very familiar with the concept of a band (says, "It's like an orchestra, right?" when Sigma mentions a band in an omake).

He feels guilt and remorse when he kills people (according to himself).

He knew about Atsushi's Ability before they met (called Atsushi "Tiger Boy" when they first met, said that the rumours about his were true, and might have stabbed him knowing about Atsushi's regenerative ability).

He knew about Dazai's Ability too (and tested whether he could bring Dazai through a portal anyway).

He doesn't seem interested in killing people who aren't "targets", or at least, that's his reason he gives to Atsushi for why he kept him alive. I don't think he kills indiscriminately.

Nikolai envies people who are in the cage but can't see it, possibly meaning that he wishes he didn't see it at all, and that he's only trying to escape because he can't help but know it's there (meaning he doesn't think he chooses to see the world this way).

Nikolai is drawn to, or at least thinks very highly of, people who help others and do the right thing, even at the expense of themselves (based on what he says to the ADA right before he's sawed in half).

He can perform some sort of auto-blood-transfusion-thing, or "loop the blood back into [someone's] body" (he did it with Sigma).

Dazai can fall through one of Nikolai's space connection portal things, meaning that the connected spaces in each of the rooms themselves somehow aren't being touched by his Ability (or at least, the visible connected spaces outside of his cape are only connected to his Ability via the portal walls, so the space connection process must happen within his Ability's space, and not in the "real world"). This also has to imply that either Nikolai can move an object through two connected spaces without having the object touch his cape, or that his cape isn't actually connected to his Ability (though second option seems very unlikely, the portal Dazai falls through is connected to the ceiling of the room that Nikolai is in, which he can't touch, so he really may be able to connect space without it strictly being through his cape, as opposed to what was implied in every instance before).

His right eye seems to turn pitch black when he's overtly lying/putting on an act, and looks more 'clear' when he's being more truthful.

Some Things That Could be Interpreted

He may have helped Fyodor with Japanese at some point (based on how you interpret his Japanese pun omake moments).

He may be only partially/mostly used to modern society, depending on how you interpret his historically-inspired attire and not knowing what a band is.

He doesn't derive any pleasure at all from killing or hurting people (not outright stated but implied, from what I can tell from his expressions, the "enjoyment" in such activities seems entirely feigned).

He might not be interested in maiming people who aren't targets, since he probably knew about Atsushi's regenerative ability beforehand, though that might not be the case. It depends on whether or not shooting Tonan was part of a plan, I think.

He might not be interested in playing certain characters outside of their roles. For example, for Atsushi, who isn't a target but is part of the ADA, he drops the clown persona for a moment. He does it again for Tonan right before he releases him. Though there isn't much to go on, it could be interpreted here that he doesn't play acts for people said acts aren't originally meant for.

He might see people who are "in the cage" similar to actors on a sort of improv stage. If you think of his secretary act as being who he needed to be to have Tonan cooperate (and thanking Tonan twice for pretty much acting exactly as planned), then it could be similar to him thinking that Akaky Akakievich's superiors interacted with him exactly as they should, or if not as they should morally, then add they should societally, which ultimately trumps morality. All of this, Nikolai would think of as detached from himself, yet as he's still in the cage physically, and not yet even out (can only see the bars where others can't), he could watch and muse at all these goings on, and when it comes to him having to interact with those almost scripted personalities, he might script a personality for himself, working within the play that people unintentionally mould themselves into, being the exact sort of person that they need to interact with in order for them to make his desired result happen. (In action, this would be him being the meek, simpleminded, pitiful secretary, who seems only to exist in order to be briefly bullied and ordered by his superior, the Minister of Justice. And Tonan would have every right to treat the Secretary this way, would even be expected to, and it's such a normal scene that neither Tonan nor anyone else would think anything of it, they'd simply gaze over their interactions as though they were part of the wallpaper, and it would give Nikolai plenty of leeway to do whatever he needed to do in the government. It's also present in how he talks about being the sort of person the people he's killed needing to see, for them to think of him as a psychopath in order to find peace, so he played a psychopath for them {Tonan actually fits this description of needing it, too, and if you read it back, I think that exact interaction Nikolai described to Atsushi was happening when Nikolai untied Tonan}.

And yet he breaks the act, which doesn't fit his script at all, and you can see the moment it all slips from an orchestrated play into reality, if only for a moment.

Though I suppose there's also some irony here, that when Nikolai's breaking his personal script, he's saying lines scripted for him in the Book.)

Considering the way he thanks Tonan for his help, although somewhat mocking, I think enough in his expression when he's talking about the birdcage at Tonan to imply that he doesn't take how Tonan treated his Secretary persona personally (in his "I envy you" speech).

The particular way he always positions/moves his hands could be indicative of something, but of what seems completely open to interpretation.

Considering what he knew about Atsushi and Dazai's Abilities, he may know all of the ADA's Abilities.

[samble-moved]

post itself

false flags

trans/adjacent tags

accessibility features

tumblr live post (thanks for the link, @problemnyatic)

flashing / strobing / lights

unblockable flashing ad

buying ad free

staff @/macmanx guilt trip

list of staff + more issues

[i-say-stupid-things]

psa: you actually are worth it. you are worth the trouble. you are not too much to put up with. your disability doesn’t make you unlovable. you’re not too much of a burden to “put up with”.

you are amazing and lovely and the right person will come and see just how wonderful of a person you are. your disability changes nothing about that

[lucabyte]

On autonomy, and what it means to be Obliged to Help.

Bonus:

[im-ashl]

based on a dream i had some nights ago

it was a pretty fun experience this was me after

[buggachat]

(random s5 finale musings) tbh I don't think Marinette chose to keep The Secrets™ from Adrien because Gabriel asked her to. I feel like Marinette keeping secrets like that is so consistent with her character; she hates giving people bad news, she hates rocking the boat, she hates upsetting people, she always chooses to keep any 'controversial' information to herself for as long as she can get away with (examples: bubbler scarf, telling Queen Bee she was benched, confessing to Adrien, warning Chat Noir about Scarabella or Rena Furtive, never told Chat Noir about Chat Blanc, etc) that I just totally believe she would've done it either way. She was even already having nightmares about Adrien hating her for finding out she defeated his father, so I feel like Gabriel's request was moreso giving her a go-ahead than it was a primary deciding factor, yknow?

[chronurgy]

Idk man thinking about Caleb and Astrid and breakdowns. How the one time we see her have a breakdown it's so neat and quiet and private in contrast to Caleb's messy, public, even violent breakdowns. Do you think she looks down on him for not being able to control it? Do you think she resents him because Trent still wants him back even after all of it and she could never get away with something like that (does the specter of the hysterical woman keep her up at night)? Does she envy him because that's what freed him? And does that just cause the resentment to pile even higher because she could never allow herself to fall to pieces like that? Because someone has to stay in control. Someone has to keep it together.

[def-not-kaz-brekker]

I hate it when people don’t take aromanticism seriously. I hate it when they say “oh it’s just a phase I also thought I was aromantic but then I got a partner.” It doesn’t apply to everyone.

Respect aromanticism as you would respect any other identity

[barawrah]

brother

[yuwuta]

gojo would kill your work husband. but if he were the work husband, that's a different story

REAL!! he’s such a hypocrite because if someone mentioned you had a work husband, his entire world would stop and he wold devise the absolute worst plans to make sure that your co-worker, everyone at your job, and everyone in the next building over knew that he was happily committed to you 

but if he is the work husband, he’s very........ dutiful in his role. there’s a loose office/lawyer au in my head where satoru is your secretary, and for all intents and purposes, your personal assistant, and he’s good at his job, but mostly because he considers his job to be pleasing you. he has coffee for you when you arrive, he moves your schedule around without you asking, he has answers to questions before you can even ask them, he has fresh flowers on your desk weekly, pokes into your meetings to pretend to hand you a file that’s really just maybe a single document in a manilla folder with candy on top of it—he’s made himself your business, your partner; he’s made himself irreplaceable, and he loves to remind everybody of that fact. 

he’s also extremely loyal. sure, he could day a week’s worth of work done in about a day, but that doesn’t mean he’ll just use his talents for anybody. he’s your secretary, so he’s at your beck and call, and everyone knows it. they know he’s the best, but also that he’s off limits—not because you won’t share him, but because satoru won’t let himself be shared. 

he also extends his duties beyond work, of course. when he hands you a print out of your schedule for the day and you’re confused by the three-hour block of time you have in the middle of the day, satoru just helps you shrug your coat of your shoulders and smiles, “that’s for the lunch date you have with me, of course!” hanging up your coat in your closet for you, “i’m paying, see you soon, sweets.” and because you’re great at your job, and satoru helps you be great, nobody really questions when the two of you have time for a 13-course tasting menu at 1pm on a tuesday afternoon. and if they did, all satoru would say that you two had a lovely date 

[teaboot]

(I'm a security guard.)

[aaandbackstabbed]

Della: ARE YOU-

Launchpad: fucking.

Della: KIDDING ME?! YOU-

Launchpad: fucking.

Della: IDIOT!

Goldie:…now, what was that?

Launchpad: Donald banned Della from swearing so I’m helping her out

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: violence mention / death mention / ]

Will never stop thinking about how Leo, all alone in an endless void and being beaten again and again and again by the only other living thing around, still finds comfort in that space. The situation he was in was completely hopeless, and in any other circumstances he would not have escaped, at least not fast enough to save him from permanent (or even fatal) damage, be it physical or mental.

And yet, despite the bleakness of his situation, despite the agony and helplessness, all he needs is one glance at a crumbled photograph, one glance to remember his family, and that’s enough of a reason for him to smile.

Maybe that’s why his powers center around manipulating space - because no matter how much space is between them, no matter how dire his own situation may be, just the thought of his family, alive and okay, is enough to give Leo hope.

[spicyet]

Victorian Fantasy AU

Crown Prince of Wa, Nakamoto Toshiro; Still struggles to make allies, even after learning Western customs and changed his way of dress... But, his western teacher, Laios, doesn't give him much room, nor time to feel like a failure. So things aren't too bad.

[turquoisemagpie]

Appreciate the little things.

Not to ignorantly deny all of the big bad things in the world, but to survive them.

[only-lonely-www]

So basically ATLA brain rot has hit me like a truck