#because it seems to be the assumption at least with the people i've encountered so far

[weremustelidae]

random sep heap blogs reblogging my posts... they don't even know i'm reading this series for the first time and these are my live reactions

[tollingreminiscentbells]

In the defense of bottom!Voldemort|Tom

I'm in a mood, so I've decided to break down my thoughts on this topic and I'm putting it in the tags for anyone who is interested. With a suitably melodramatic title.

The rules here are simple: if you know you won't like this, don't read it. If you read it anyway and don't like it, that is the definition of a you problem. Okay? Okay.

So let's talk about why I think it is incorrect and, frankly, offensive to claim that Voldemort|Tom bottoming is inherently out of character.

In order to have this conversation, we're actually having a bigger conversation about sex. Because that's really what this is about.

Something that has popped up in a handful of comments on my own fic is surprise that Voldemort wants to suck Harry's cock. Now, I'm going to be charitable and assume that the people who say things like this don't realize what they're implying. But the reality is that they are operating from the assumption that a man sucking another man's dick is, at least to some extent, weak and degrading. A subservient act.

This is both homophobic and factually untrue. A significant percentage of people who like dick also like giving blowjobs. It's an enjoyable, pleasurable thing to do. And even if the physical act of sucking cock doesn't turn someone on, there are so many other reasons to want to do it. Getting off on being the source of your partner's pleasure, for one example.

But let's move on to the elephant in the room: anal sex. Specifically, the act of being penetrated. The interesting thing about bottoming is that, contrary to what some people seem to believe, it's the more powerful position. Penetration is only happening because the person bottoming is granting permission. Even if that person has ceded total control of the encounter, the fact remains that they made that decision in the first place and could un-make it at any time.

If that agency does not exist, the sex is not truly consensual. Full stop.

Moreover, a strong, dominant personality =/= topping. There is no innate correlation. This is where misogyny really comes to the table. Bottoming seen as a feminine act, and femininity conflated with weakness and submission. Do I think (most) Tomarrymort readers are consciously thinking this way? No. But that doesn't mean the underlying bias isn't present.

There are so many ways penetrative sex can play out. Yes, you get the "classic" version of the person topping being dominant and the person bottoming being submissive. But you can also get topping from the bottom, where the dominant partner in every way is the person being fucked. Or maybe no one is taking a dominant role. Et cetera. This is a broad overview, not an exhaustive list.

Do you see what none of these things have? An assumption that topping=stereotypical masculinity and bottoming=stereotypical femininity. Even with a couple that likes playing with that flavor of gender roles, it's a choice they're making. And before someone willfully misunderstands me, there is nothing wrong with that choice. But don't mistake it for something it's not.

So now that we've clarified that being penetrated is not weak, degrading, or even inherently submissive, let's bring this back to Tomarrymort.

First of all, have you read the books? Voldemort is campy as shit. High drama and a surprisingly great sense of humor (his jokes are fucked up, but also pretty funny). He's not this hyper-masculine figure. On the flip side, Harry is not an effeminate man. He's a jock who will fight you.

So from whence comes this zealous dedication some people have to a fixed dynamic that puts Voldemort|Tom in the masculine role and Harry in the feminine role? Yes, we've established that sex positions are neither of those things, but we all know that's the assumption simmering toxically in the background.

I can't say for sure, but my instincts tell me that it comes from a shallow read of both characters. Voldemort is a powerful man who commands a terrorist organization. Harry is the good-hearted hero, defined by his capacity to love. And this can get twisted into Voldemort|Tom taking and Harry giving in a very reductive way. Even when the relationship is meant to be consensual.

Obviously, I don't think this is universal. I've read a lot of incredible takes on sex in this fandom, with different top/bottom/switching dynamics. And this is fanfiction, which means you can play with characterization to your heart's content. What I'm talking about is people insisting that Voldemort|Tom must top and Harry must bottom and anything else is wrong.

Why are you so adamant about that? Have you ever given it a moment's thought? If you prefer it, you prefer it, that's all fine. But when it morphs into claiming that bottom!Voldemort|Tom is out of character and bad, things have crossed over into the arena of the absurd. Like what you like, but be aware of what you're really saying when you talk about sex.

Not conflating bottoming with weakness and topping with strength would be a good starting point. Understand that there are myriad reasons a person might want to bottom. It can be a source of relief, allowing someone else to take control so you don't have to. It can be an act of manipulation. It can be a form of domination. And sometimes it's just because bottoming is what feels good and they have more fun that way. Or it's just the kind of pleasure they're in the mood for on a random Tuesday night.

No one is telling you to read things you don't enjoy. And no one is saying that fixed top/bottom dynamics don't exist in the real world. But it's ridiculous to apply a fixed dynamic to such a degree that you get upset when other people write something else and consider a fic "ruined" by it. You really should put some thought into your biases. It's good for you. But even if you don't, when you claim a sexual dynamic is inherently out of character, you're actually just wrong. So stop doing that. It will be a net gain for all of us, including you.

[prince-liest]

I just wanna gush bc omg I love the 666 series so much. I think it made me realize I might be... furry-ish? adjacent? I just find it so satisfying how you go into detail about the unique body features of both of them, the way it feels to have deer ears or kiss a TV and just generally how much thought is put into the way their bodies work, and I've realized that my interest in that kind of idea is a pretty good reason to partake in more explicitly furry media lmao. Anyways

I'm also really in love with how you maintain the balance of each of their personality traits. Vox is simultaneously so pathetic and cringefail (also your dialogue for him is perfect, I can hear it crystal clear in my head) but also he has vastly more emotional intelligence than Alastor, no doubt at least in part because he has to deal with Val, and he's able to marginally calm down with his obsession to deal with sticky situations, but even then he still retains his personality and bumbles things sometimes because of the flaws in said personality! It's great. I also really appreciate the balance you've struck with Alastor, I feel like often Alastor is either written to either soften up so immediately that it feels disconnected from his character or is written overly mean and heartless for my liking and the way you've written him is such a delicious balance between softer aspects such as the prey instincts or moments of vulnerability and his untouchable and manipulative self, and also the way this side of him is neither written as wholly a front or wholly his real nature and the complex ways this makes him struggle with his increasing vulnerability. TL;DR arghgr your characterization is so good it makes me go a little feral

Also while I'm here, I'm curious whether you can give an answer to the degree to which Alastor is touch-averse. There's obviously a lot of ways in which he fundamentally dislikes touch but it also seems like there's at least some kinds of touch where he doesn't dislike the touch itself so much as he's afraid of the way it brings about feelings of caring and/or enjoyment being cared for. I'm curious how much, in general, you would say his touch aversion comes from either cause and possibly what kinds of touch do/don't provoke those flavors of aversion

Omg, what a lovely ask to receive. Honestly, everything you said that you enjoy about how I characterize these two is very much what I've been actively gunning for, so it's an absolute delight to see it outlined back to me. Success!!! Thank you so much!

And ahaha - I'm not a furry but I fucking love inhuman characters. Being raised in the pits of Homestuck fantroll RP made me enjoy the whole "they're bug/fish aliens" thing and it definitely rears its head again any time I encounter characters with inhuman qualities. I love writing Vox's TV/computer-ness and Alastor's deer and radio bits, and integrating them into who they now are as people.

As for Alastor's touch-aversion: It's funny that you ask about this, because the next chapter of 666 is going to dive into it a bit. Specifically into the fact that it's not, like, a set of boundaries that is consistently defined, and I write him that way on purpose. The very first time he and Vox sleep together, Alastor bottoms. He becomes significantly less amenable to touch after he goes through an uncomfortable rut cycle that gets sexual. By the time Vox convinces Alastor to fuck him, Alastor would never let Vox do that again and frankly only agrees to topping because Vox gave him an option that didn't involve getting his dick out. Then in the next episode, they're having clothes-off sexual contact. So, what gives?

Things that play into Alastor's willingness to touch and be touched as far as Vox is concerned:

How does he see Vox at that point in time? Disgustingly entitled (ew)? Hilariously beneath him (haha who cares)?

Does he care about what Vox thinks of him? Does Vox touching him draw his attention to positive or negative assumptions he has about Vox's perspective on doing so?

What value has he attached to this particular touch in the power balance of their relationship? Is he humoring Vox? Does he assume Vox thinks he's owed this? Does he perceive it as something Vox is genuinely doing for him?

Has he tried this particular kind of touch before? He's pretty willing to experiment, but that doesn't mean he'll do something twice without a compelling reason if he didn't like it the first time.

Is he getting off on this situation sexually? If so, is it fully willing (read: not a byproduct of uncomfortable hormones) on his part? That only really happens when he's in a submissive role and Vox is hitting a few very specific kinks, a major one of which is basically CNC tilted 30 degrees to the left.

Is he enjoying the touch in platonic ways? How does he feel about that? Is it a vulnerability to want something? Is it feeding his ego to be catered to? Is he worried that what he enjoys platonically is being read into in ways he doesn't like?

Is he fucking drunk? Things that bother you when sober often seem like a non-issue when you're not, both on a physical and emotional level.

How much touching has been happening recently? Has he hit his limit? Did he deliberately put himself into a situation earlier to have his limit be hit and surpassed, and now he's in the aftermath?

He does have a certain fundamental purely physical dislike of touch, but it's something that is really affected by how he perceives each individual situation as well as his relationship with Vox at that time, and his previous experiences!

[dream-meltic]

Something I've always gone on long, red string on pinboard style overthinking sessions about is this one specific line from GG World:

"It is said that the project was developed under the Sanctus Populi."

LONG POST UNDER THE CUT. I WANTED TO GIVE A PRIME EXAMPLE OF MY INSANE THOUGHT PROCESS AND HOW QUICKLY IT SPIRALS INTO MADNESS. PLEASE ENJOY. I DID NOT. MY HEAD HURTS. IT GETS MORE UNHINGED BEFORE IT EVENTUALLY JUST STOPS MAKING SENSE.

This is on Bed's page. And it's... a really weird line? What do you mean it's just said to be? I guess it's a natural assumption to make when Bedman is working with Ariels, so maybe this is just a conspiracy theory people in-universe have- but Bedman doesn't seem to have known her that long, as his exact plans existed before he met her. And the Bed has gone through 8 generations of frames- so far we've only ever heard of 3rd gen as well and that was through a collab. How quickly did it go through those 8 generations? It also says the improvements were made because of the stresses placed on it during Bedman's missions. If those 8 generations weren't all made within the time span of 1 year or so... just how long has he been doing all of this for? How many people died before Xrd even started?

Xrd takes place entirely within 2187 and Ariels became Sanctus Maximus 10 years prior. And the quote says Sanctus Populi. Meaning, in some way or another, other members of the Populi were aware of Bedman's existence. We know Phalanx Nine at least knows he exists, but there's more? There's more people in the Populi that knew Bedman was out and about going on murder sprees that did nothing and told no one? Obviously Ariels's personal guards aren't about to say anything, but other people? Did she hire people specifically to look after Bedman and create the bedframe? How DID she find Bedman in the first place? Sure, she'd be able to encounter him in the Backyard, but where was his physical body? Bedman mentions a "home" exactly ONCE, but where IS this home? Where were him and Delilah hidden this entire time so that the Sanctus Populi could then find them and hide them again, this time under their watch?

Which leads me to a weird, extremely unlikely but unfortunately (FOR ME) non-zero chance thought, what if Bedman was around the Populi BEFORE she was Sanctus Maximus? Is that why the rest of Populi would do nothing about him, and why it specifies the POPULI was the one responsible for Bed and not Ariels? He doesn't seem to have known Ariels for that long, he has to dump the whole "I've been friendless forever" (loser) on her at random. What if he was kept secret by Hapinus during his whole... sudden mental... spiral, and she only found him recently?

What if Crow had something to do with this weirdo.

[eosofspades]

so i'm seeing some ideas going around that this (horrifying) scene from the trailer -

- isn't our Ghost, but a Ghost, and i wanna talk about it.

i do think this is our (the player's) Ghost, for a couple of reasons! for starters, there's the obvious - the classic shell they use for The Guardian's Ghost in trailers, the Guardian being a Titan (also what Bungie tends to depict The Guardian as in trailers), the fact that in a trailer of this significance, it seems really unlikely that they'd be showing us something as intense as this with an unknown/unnamed character, etc.

but more importantly, a lot of people seem to be thinking that this Ghost and Guardian are... actually getting sliced up, which i don't think they are.

bear with me for a bit! while that's absolutely what looks like what is happening, i'm at least 80% certain this scene is going to be the Witness giving the Guardian a terrible vision/hallucination (similar to what happened in Shadowkeep where we encountered the Dark Guardian in the Black Garden.) and there are another couple of reasons for this!

(the rest under a read more - this one really got away from me.)

for one thing - purely from a technical standpoint - the Young Wolf and their Ghost just... straight-up can't die; at least not permanently, at least not yet. they're the player character; you're going to need them to actually continue playing the game.

(i've also seen people suggesting this can't be our Ghost from a technical standpoint because that would mean Bungie having to do the slicing animation for every single Ghost shell in the game, which, to be fair, is a completely valid assumption to make - but in my opinion, based on the sheer volume of detail within this game's scenery and animation, and the unbelievable attention to the smallest possible details that most players won't even notice - i would absolutely not put it past Bungie to put in that effort, and, moreover, i have another idea that goes hand-in-hand with the "this is a vision" thing; that they didn't have to animate every single shell - but i'll get to that in a bit.)

now, from an in-game perspective, it doesn't make sense to me to have this not be our Ghost, or to have it not be a vision. for one thing - if what the Witness is doing is actually slicing up all of these Ghosts and Guardians and ships, that's just… a little bit nonsense. yes, the Witness is unbelievably powerful and terrifyingly dangerous, but if it is actually capable of unmaking living, paracausal things with a single flick of its finger, that seems… unlikely in terms of power, at most, because if that’s the case there truly is no fight to be had. the Witness could obliterate the Guardian before we even had a chance to draw our gun. it just seems unrealistic that if the Witness was that overtly powerful, there could even be a compelling battle against it.

(it’s also worth mentioning that the Witness’ entire thing is visuals and appearances over actual physical confrontation. it doesn’t even appear in the flesh to Calus at all times - in fact, the trailer makes a point of showing that it speaks to him through a cracked mirror, and in the final Seraph cutscene that it appears to Eramis via a screen; there’s the fact that the Darkness is constantly waving around this motif of visuals and appearances (the Dark Guardian vision during Shadowkeep; Deepsight; the Nightmares on the Moon, etc.) and even that it’s name is the Witness - you get it.)

there’s also the matter of emotional impact. like, don’t get me wrong, this is fucking horrifying. actual, full-body dread and fear at this scene when i first saw it. but you cannot tell me you would be just as distressed and unsettled if it were a random Ghost paired with a random Guardian we’ve never seen before - our Ghost has been getting so much character insight and development in the last two DLCs (his fear -> reluctance -> hesitant acception of the Guardian using Stasis, his complicated feelings regarding his faith in the Traveler explored during Witch Queen or his hostility -> understanding towards Fynch, etc.), i can’t imagine Bungie is going to give us this close-up, visceral, nightmarish scene with a Ghost we don’t know and have no attachment to.

(also, i made a post about this already, but in this trailer alone i am seeing SO MANY parallels to The Red War campaign - the fact that the Ghost and Guardian are in the exact same position as we were during the Red War intro is not lost on me. this also ties back into my “only animating one Ghost shell” thing - if it is a vision, i think it’s possible that the reason the Titan in the trailer is in “older”-looking armor is because you’re seeing yourself and Ghost in what could be a potential callback to the Red War - hence having Ghost be in the Last City shell, and the Guardian in “older” armor; because what’s happening here is not what is real; it’s supposed to be the Witness getting into your head. (or, again, maybe the Titan is just in that armor for the trailer and Bungie did animate the Ghost shells! at the very least, i doubt that having a non-player’s Ghost be in the Last City shell is probably not going to happen, since that’s the shell we tend to associate with our Ghost.))

what i think is actually happening here is one of two things: either the Witness giving the Guardian a horrifying “vision” in order to scare us/make us understand why it believes the Traveler heralds death and needs to be eliminated (i’m going to shamelessly plug in my obsession with Unveiling once again, but the Winnower explicitly explains to us at least couple of times that it believes existence is full of suffering and many things would be better off not existing at all to spare ourselves the torment. i can absolutely see the Witness trying to intimidate/terrorize us with a vision like this in order to get across its point that the Traveler will allow us to suffer and writhe and never be able to escape it.)

the other guess i have, which is unlikely but still something i think would be very very neat, is that - with the Witness’ whole shattered glass motif and the way its hands move, like it’s altering reality as it exists - it would be incredibly interesting if the Witness were actually “dismantling” us, so to speak - even if just for a moment, maybe before summoning us to the final confrontation of the campaign, just as a sheer power move. so when the Guardian gets there, they’re afraid and disoriented and unable to focus (this is, again, incredibly unlikely, probably, but i really really want to see some threats from enemies on an incredibly personal level. i have been dying for an enemy to get to us in an uncomfortably up-close and personal manner, or at least for the Guardian to have actual reactions to things. i would love to see another callback to the Red War, maybe, with the Guardian and Ghost collapsed and the Witness towering over them.)

obligatory disclaimer that i could always be wrong, of course, and if it turns out to be a random Ghost and Guardian getting ACTUALLY sliced up i’ll admit it and eat my words, but with what we’ve seen at this point in time, it really doesn’t make sense to me that it would be anything other than a vision being experienced by the player Guardian and our Ghost.

[eff-plays]

(re: hiraeth's reaction to astarion's confession) i'm glad i'm not the only one whose character was hurt by astarion's confession, especially since i haven't seen a lot of the fandom talk about it (or maybe i've missed it, idk). i understand it's an important thing for astarion to let out and i stood by him regardless but my tav did not take the news like sunshine and rainbows. if it's okay to ask how did hiraeth handle the confession in particular? were they open about their displeasure or did they just keep it internally?

Aah, I'm sorry Nonny, I think you possibly misunderstood the post, sorry for not making it clearer!

Their reaction was more in the sense of them regretting not turning him down? Because they have a lot of trauma related to being deeply devoted to someone who ended up betraying them in a very cruel away, so they basically swore off "real" relationships. They expected Astarion to betray them eventually and this "sorry I manipulated you" is that initial betrayal, so when he says it, they're almost relieved, because they saw it coming and it feels bittersweet to have it confirmed. It's weirdly comforting to them.

They assumed Astarion was up to something from the start and that he had no real feelings for them, it was just sort of a friends (?) with benefits thing to them for the longest time. And though they did start to catch feelings early on (around the mirror scene), they're very adept at ignoring those feelings anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal to them when they found out he was trying to manipulate them. The reason they went for him over anyone else is because he's so obviously shady and selfish that they assumed they'd know what to expect from him. Cruel people are predictable, etc etc. The guy who betrayed them in the past was literally the most perfect little prince and he ended up being a huge jackass, so picking the most fucked up weirdo was basically a safeguard against being hurt. They basically chose him on the assumption it'd go to hell, and when it seems like it does initially, they're like "Phew. I thought this'd be a lot worse, actually. I kinda saw this coming tbh."

Obviously they're hurt that he did it, because they'd hoped at least the attraction and chemistry had been mutual (and it is, but they don't know that and don't bother asking), but on some level they're like "Yeah, no, makes sense." They're sorta ready to bury it and move on, because tbh they've been through worse and they've also been on the deceiving end (ha) of this type of deal.

So when he admits he has feelings for them, that's what sets them off. Because now they're in danger of being betrayed, truly betrayed again. In a way they can't predict or protect themself against. Because if they agree to becoming "more" with him, that means it'll hurt all the worse when it goes to shit. Way worse than just being manipulated through sex. Because now their heart is on the line again. So I think they were less hurt by his confession and more upset that they accepted it/reciprocated at all?

So I'm really sorry I can't commiserate, Nonny! I think the main reason nobody brings it up is because he admits his plan failed and that he has real feelings for them, so people go easier on him for it. I do think it's 100% valid and deliciously angsty if Tav does get upset at his confession, though. He fully expects them to be upset and that's what makes it brave that he confesses at all. And if your Tav had real feelings for him and their encounters up until that point meant something to them, I think them getting hurt over it is absolutely justified and could lead to a lot of interesting headcanons and interactions. Like, a lot of Tavs, mine included, suspect something is up, and that lessens the blow a lot. So when your Tav is truly in love with him, his manipulation worked on someone he grew to actually care for. He actually hurt them a lot worse than a Tav who saw it coming. That's a really interesting angle and I'm sorry nobody else is vibing with you on that :/

I defo am even though 💖 Even if it's different for Hira.

[kawarikisaki]

The only real problem I have with your theory is while we don’t know much about Toichi’s Kid him being responsible for a gang that does so much evil does seem a bit out of character but then again if Night Baron is based on his Kid and he’s also a murderer maybe he was a far darker version of Kid than his son. But he couldn’t have been too dark as Kid. But then a lot can change in 8 years. There’s another meaning to the string of numbers name he had before Yusaku gave him the name Kid. 1412. Since he refers to himself as his original title in the wallet. That and I’m pretty confident Chikage knows about at least Corbeau can’t see her being okay with her husband being the head of the most evil criminal group in the canon. (Though Toichi was totally taking a page from her book with his interaction with Shinichi and Ran.)Though he could be keeping that from her too. I really hate this. Because for a crack theory it’s pretty solid. He might already know his “older brother is alive” though wouldn’t he be upset that his subordinates almost murdered his son?

Alrighty, hope you're ready for a long one, because it's time to discuss what we know about Toichi/Kid the first, and just how easy it is to twist some of it into a sinister light. And also a few other marginally connected thoughts, because I may as well keep this mostly consolidated.

We'll start with Kid. You're right that we don’t have much on him, because we only have two direct examples of Toichi as Kid, one being the Phantom Lady flashback, and the other being the encounter with his 'older brother'.

The Shinichi encounter isn't particularly helpful for this, as he was very much putting on a character for a child, and even if Shinichi has a idetic memory we're getting a recounted version of the child's perspective ten years after the fact.

But Phantom Lady? Helpful, we have Toichi claiming to prefer more elegant methodology than those employed by Phantom Lady. And he also states that he didn’t initially intend for the white suit to be his crime outfit, it was meant to be a stage costume (though he may be lying here, why would he need a hanglider in his stage costume?), but knowing that it was meant to be for his 'civilian identity' and assuming that he's also Corbeau then we can assume that the black suit he'd have been able to fully plan matches his true tastes more.

But we can also make a few assumptions based on the fact that Nakamori-keibu, the closest thing to a Kaitou Kid expert that we can use for this (Yusaku isn't helpful he’s a gremlin, he would gladly confuse the situation for fun) and the fact that he was under the impression that new Kid and Old Kid were the same person means that Kaitou Kid’s MO didn't change considerably enough for Nakamori-keibu to question them being the same Kid. Which means that if Toichi was doing any murders as Kid then he wasn’t getting caught, since Nakamori-keibu is confident Kid wouldn’t murder to the point that if a death happens at a heist he just hands off the crime scene to the homicide detectives as "nope not Kid."

That said, I think that if Toichi is secretly Karasuma Renya then its likely that he wasn’t doing murders as Kid, but rather just playing around and taking the chance to lead a fun and fulfilling life. Karasuma Renya is supposedly greedy beyond compare, why not be a jewel thief, get a wife to place in his 'jewelry box', a humble home considering his fame as a performer (a sign that he's stockpiling his real wealth elsewhere?), and hey lets toss in a child too- people enjoy raising children. That is to say it was possibly just something being done on a whim.

And since you brought up the names... I've always thought of the "Kaitou 1412" number as like a police assigned case number or something, rather than a meaningful name that Toichi came up with himself. And, as such, i tend to view him signing with it as something akin to a formal signature. Though as for why he would use a formal signature on what was essentially meant to be a correspondence between friends... I don't really have an answer; perhaps the name 'Kid' was only recently established at that point and part of the purpose of this whole communication was too accept the new name (but I doubt that because i feel like if the name Kid didn't come up till that late in his carrer as a thief then it probably wouldn’t have stuck for long enough to be the primary name in use when Kid returned.) In any case here, I'm meaning to point out that he didn't get to name himself as Kid, so much like how the costume supposedly wasn't initially intended for crimes and therefore the black one is probably more planned and in line with his actual tastes- the name Corbeau was likely the same.

As for Chikage.... whether she and Toichi are acting as Corbeau together or Toichi is doing it alone there’s no getting around the fact that she definitely knows about it, and most likely she’d have to be in on it. Though whether that means she's also aware that he's a crimelord on an international scale on the side (which would be pretty hard to hide) isn't necessarily connected, after all the Boss and Corbeau could be two entirely separate crime-sonas he's got going on. For the sake of the theory it makes more sense if she's helping him; in the DCMK world people that are presumed dead can get away with a lot, but it'd definitely be easier with someone aside from just his underlings helping to make moves for him. Though don't know if he'd have told her that Kuroba Toichi is an alias and he's old enough that he should be long dead...

In any case, it's bad news for Kaito in so many ways. Not only is his dad alive, regularly in Japan, and not contacting him; as it turns out, he's also very much a worse criminal than Kaito originally thought. Kaito had already been somewhat shaken when he found out his dad was Kid. He hadn’t wanted it to be true and even resolved himself to follow the same path to understand. So what happens if he finds out his dad is murdering people- or at the very least ordering others to murder on his behalf so he doesn’t dirty his own hands? What happens if he finds out that when he almost blew up on a train doing a favor for his little detective that the people behind were acting on his dad's orders? What happens if he finds out that it was probably part of the plan for him to be brought into the 'family business'? I'd like to think he'd be disgusted... but there are darker paths that could be taken given what Toichi's skill set likely includes and especially considering how much Kaito loves and respects his dad.

As for what Evil Toichi would think about his underlings almost killing his son... well again the MK organization and the black organization are two different groups, but it is true that the crows have tried to kill Kid- even if by accident. I don't think that he'd be particularly upset about it, every time that Kaito has been involved with anything related to the BO he's gotten involved with of his own volition, and besides Kaito is plenty skilled enough to survive just about anything. Everything we know about Toichi from canon just leads me to think he's the kind of person who has immense confidence in his own skills, so if I'm gonna twist him into a villain I've just gotta push that a little farther, maybe he's holding Kaito to the same standard he holds himself and thinks that a 'little assassination attempt' would never be enough to even touch someone that he trained... And maybe if Kaito did die to such a thing he wasn't a worthy heir to begin with. Or maybe it's not quite that sinister and he sees Kaito almost dying as something like a training exercise. But whatever the case he must not be too concerned about it, given that as far as we're aware those responsible haven't really received any punishment.

Yeah, it's ridiculously solid, the fact that there's not really anything concrete that can be used to refute it is kinda wild to me even now. But I still consider it a crack theory because even if it's plausible it's not good if Kaito's story and Shinichi's story need to be two separate things. It's wonderful for the purposes of fanfiction because it very cleanly connects their stories, depending on how Kaito takes the news he can be disgusted with his dad's actions and join Conan to stop him or he can join his dad and become a villain.

But like I mentioned in one of my previous posts this would be messy for the narrative on a meta level if it turned out to be correct, and that's why I consider it a crack theory and not just a theory. If it's true then it's fine for Magic Kaito to become required reading for Detective Conan- it's a very different kind of story but it's short and it'd give important backstory, but conversely it's kinda unfair for Detective Conan to become required reading for Magic Kaito. Sure most people that are interested in one are probably already reading the other... but imagine a fictional scenario where someone is reading Magic Kaito after it's finished; it's around 50 chapters give or take, and the ending feels kinda hollow because even though Kaito found out his dad was a villain and resolved to bring him to justice but then the story just ended there... , then this person goes onto tumblr or reddit or some other fandom space and finds out that the real ending is locked behind reading 1752 chapters of a completely separate manga where Kid was a cameo character early on then eventually joined the main cast to take on the final threat. Plus it'd make things weird because it would feel like Yusaku should have a bigger role than he currently does if his old friend/rival is the villain...... unless Yusaku dies.

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Why I use the distinction of "non-alcoholic beverages" in (most of) my x Readers

Because this is Tumblr, I've been here long enough to know it's probably necessary to preface this by saying that I am *not* shaming people who do or have written their stories this way within the Star Wars fandom specifically.

This is just something that bugs me, personally, that I've debated on speaking out into the void that is my little corner of this site for a while now, and I'm hesitant to get it off my chest for many reasons, but ask I take on requests, this is likely a pattern that will start to crop up more.

I'll slap it below the cut so if you read it, it's your choice to read something you may disagree with that I'm trying to maybe ask a little more consideration for, but mostly why I write my fics the way I do.

I'm afraid someone out there will think I'm trying to police the fandom when I ask that people be perhaps a little more considerate of those who consume Star Wars x readers that don't drink.

I, personally, don't because I don't want to screw with my medication that I take for mental health and chronic health issues like migraines/pain. This is one of the very, very, very, VERY few things that can disrupt my immersion in a fic without at least a general warning that drinking is in some way involved.

All these lovely fics about going to 79's for a flirtatious fling, or a truly spicy encounter, with whichever Clone suits my fancy almost always seems to involve an assumption that:

A.) Reader is of drinking age for starters (and that varies country by country)

and

B.) Reader does not fall into a category that would exclude them from drinking; situations like my own, or they're a recovering alcoholic, etcetera.

To fill a void in the content I wish [I would get more of] to see, my fic requests that do not get slapped with a 13+ (or 18+) age warning, I chose to make the mention that what you're drinking with your favorite Clone is explicitly non-alcoholic because I'm not going to assume you're of drinking age even with your age(range) in your bio because I don't know if you do or don't drink.

The safest, and most inclusive option for already very inclusive fics that I've seen other lovely people on Tumblr write, is present a non-alcoholic beverage.

It's coming up in another fic that I'm working on, but there is a bar scene I've written that presents Reader with two choices when they greet the bartender. It is never specified which one they chose between the drink with alcohol, or the drink without. That's up to imagination and it's, I feel, more inclusive to people like me who do not, can not, or choose not to drink. The beverage has no bearing or effect on the plot, it is merely a prop while they talk to the Clone the storyline is centered on.

To reiterate; I am not shaming or policing anyone, but just perhaps venting a small-potatoes frustration of mine that I wish would change, but I understand that's asking a lot... Or that someone might see this and take it as an attack on their writing. That's not what this is.

This is just me saying "This is what I do. Here's why. Make sense? Cool, thanks for giving me a moment of your time." and leaving it at that.

[kardia-library-official]

"How the hell old are these people?"

(Another riff off that one post, but this time it's about a tangent in replies and hopefully contains less of my unserious ass trying to articulate serious concepts.)

I won't be commenting on every character, just the ones where I've been given reason to think about it in any sort of depth. (Lucas, Vishnal, Livia, Russell, Terry, Cecil) My opinions are my own, and are barely even opinions, because I'm not actually super invested. I just thought thinking back on a few of the assumptions I've made was interesting, and could be interesting as an example of one person interpreting this stuff.

Okay! Let's get into it.

Lucas: So, @darkacey mentioned that it's weird that people keep calling him "old" because he has facial hair, and yeah, he's not old. Just going by appearance, I'd guess anywhere between late 20s and early 40s. Which is weirdly realistic, because people in that range tend to all look the same to me even now that I'm in it. But also wrong, because of course he's unknowably ancient. BUT his current form might not even be as old as he looks. AND we know his life basically restarted yesterday. idk. He's Lucas.

Vishnal: I mentioned him in the replies, because I am absolutely haunted by that "he's 6' tall and a lot younger than he looks" comment from his VA. It makes no sense! How old does he look? 17? 23? 31? The artstyle isn't detailed enough to tell. And what would that make him? 12? 18? 25? For my own peace of mind, I've just decided that he can make an uptight first impression that gives him kind of a "22 going on 40" vibe until the illusion almost immediately shatters. Also, maybe this was more of a problem in his former life? Like maybe he got a lot of "excuse me, are you their father?" because he's on the tall side, perhaps hit his adult height early, and was often shepherding all his younger siblings around.

Livia: It's bizarre that she has cut romance dialogue, because the age difference feels sooooo awkward... But not in the direction you might think. See, even though I know the whole joke is that she's an ancient powerful dragon who can't even go to a bar because she looks like a kid, my brain refuses to parse her as anything but a tiny middle-aged woman. I feel like I have encountered many, many Livias, a surprisingly large number of which were running some event or operation like it's the Navy. It's a whole type of person!

Russell: I've said this before, but I refuse to believe that guy is under 30. He has a whole implied tragic backstory, which had to take place after he was old enough to be drafted (or enlist, I guess, but he Would Not Fucking Do That), and before he took in Cecilia, who is whatever age she is now. Even wiggling the numbers a little (how old is Cecilia, how old do you have to be to be in the military in this world), I don't think he could be as young as even the game itself seems to want you to believe. Fun fact! He's one of the few characters on this list that I have a specific number for! In AtNG, he is roughly 32.5. Sabrina is about the same age, and Edward is about a decade his senior (I tacked them on because I had estimates for them but nothing else really to say).

Terry: At first, back when the world made sense, I had him estimated at "about Russell's age idk." But Word of God is that he's 25?? And apparently even at least one person working on the game was kinda stunned by this, if I recall correctly? I dunno, that's just not very many years, and it's implied he's been through so much shit! How I ended up making this work for FSCB was a) giving him a really rough upbringing and very early adulthood, and b) working from the assumption that he's 25 at the start of the game and quickly turns 26. And you know what? Now that I have all that worked out, I like that he's in his mid 20s. I feel like that's just one more burden he has to bear. :P And some of the things in FSCB I had most fun writing are the moments where he's interacting with Cecil and it becomes really obvious that they're not that far apart in age. (Also, if anyone ever points out that he and Lucas seem to have a slight age difference... I don't think either of them would ever stop laughing.)

Cecil: ...Look. We've been over this. That boy is 18. Anyone who says otherwise either forgets what being 18 was like, or is so close to being 18 themselves that they have no perspective. But I remember. I remember wearing some really goofy hats, and wanting so badly to be included in all forms of adult business, but ending up getting railroaded into running around with the kids and actually really enjoying myself. (Okay, so that last thing still applies, and might just be personality-mediated.)

[hoghtastic]

I am very very sorry anon. But I just don’t believe anything that you wrote. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the admin said certain asks will not be posted anymore and then this ask pops up. Nothing you said feels sincere to me. I think you are just a trolling stan, who has sent in asks before. I think you are having a bit of fun with everyone. I think you decided to switch it up and come at this from a slightly different angle, so the admin would post your ask. I think your ask is also poorly written, in terms of authenticity. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you chose to deliberately use some of the same words/phrases/sentences that some anons have used to describe the behavior of stans. Such as: feeling “seen”, “crazy”, “BS”, “analyzed stuff” and “desperately trying to prove that Johanne does not live with Alex”. But you claim this is just you being “open” and “vulnerable”.

So you are jealous of Johanne and the thought of them living together or getting married is a bit of an issue. Not because of anything Johanne has done or posted. And you won’t make assumptions about who she is based off of that. And seeing Alex happy makes you a little sad. And even if Alex was single, your chances of being with him wouldn’t increase. Okay anon, everything you said is exactly what the stans say about the “haters”.

In addition, you claim that you know whatever happens between Alex and Johanne has no bearing on your life/affects your life at all. You admit that they are strangers. You don’t know them. And your opinions of them are based off of what you have seen and read about them. You also realize that Alex isn’t your friend or boyfriend. But anon you know that’s exactly what the “haters” have been telling the stans. You are just mixing everything together. I think you are just trying to mock “haters”/everything that has been said about the stans. And at the same time use what the stans have accused the “haters” of doing just so you can pretend to “point the finger at yourself”. I think you are just trying to flip everything around. It’s also a nice touch that you called yourself dumb and usually smarter. Considering that a couple of anons have sent in asks accusing stans of playing dumb. And also thinking that they are so smart/clever when they send in trolling asks.

I feel for people who are truly experiencing a parasocial relationship with someone. I just don’t think you are one of them. Not even a chance. The ask just seems 100% fake to me. I hope that’s ok for me to say here admin. It’s just my honest opinion. If I am wrong, then I am sorry. I guess I have been in the fandom for too long. I guess I have seen too much trolling. I hope other anons will send in asks and give their opinions. I’m curious to see if I am the only one who feels this way.

Anon to anon, in response to this ask.

Of course it's okay to express your opinion on this, especially since the anon asked for "opinions and suggestions" in their ask. However, I believe you might be reading too much into this, as I feel the anon deliberately chose to use some expressions that are usually directed at stans and/or haters because they're familiar terms here, and because they felt applied to them. The ask felt genuine to me, as I've encountered people in the fandom (a particular IG account comes to mind) who I feel could have written such an ask, or at least identify with its content. But, there's also the possibility that I'm wrong and you're right and it was nothing more than another attempt at trolling. Either way, I felt the ask served its purpose so less informed people could actually learn a little more about parasocial relationships, which I feel is an important topic in today's world. So my (and hopefully yours) time wasn't completely lost. 😊

[miss-ing-diary]

October 17, 2022

Diary Entry #14

Summary of the sixth week

A big sigh for monday comes again...

I got enough rest for two days since starting today I will be in night shift. Big yehey!!! No CSR, no ASN, and no critical accounts needed to have a PO's. *Smiles*

This week will be another and reset week and let's do our best self, okay?

I got my readings today. Somehow, I felt at ease when I saw the chariot and the empress on my cards. Flash forward. I'm at the office. He took a glimpse of me... I thought it would end right there, but he went beside me and said “sana all pang gabi na”. I didn't respond, so he turned his back. Well, you know, I show a stern face on the surface, but inside my heart flutters a little. That ends it.

The first night was nuts, yet it was fun! I knew there were rumors about ghosts at work, but I can't believe that I will saw it with my own eyes. I don't get why people always connect white clothes to ghosts. Ghosts do not always wear white clothing, at least not the ones I have seen or encountered in my life. She wore a normal shirt and a long skirt. Up to now, I can't erase the image out of my mind. That woman really shook the hell out of me.

Tuesday came and, well, as usual, I got to work and got to see him again. To be honest, I felt like a stranger to the people in the morning shift (one of the reasons why I don't like to be part of them). Yeah, that's right, even if he is part of it. Anyway, the first thing I did when I got inside the office was to stay in the corner. I saw him doing some crossword puzzle on his computer, and I felt content just taking a glimpse of his back. Minutes passed when his shift was about to end. He went to the corner where I was doing something to sign the overtime form. When I excused myself because technically he was on the way, he laughed a little and said his apology like? Why? He didn't do anything wrong. I moved forward and it was 6 pm. I was segregating some documents when my co-worker suddenly touched my back. When I flinched because of shock when I heard his laugh behind my back right after I reacted, and when he was asked why he laughed, he said it was nothing. Not to make an assumption, but is it just a coincidence or that he was actually watching me from the back? Ahhh!!! Stop thinking anything self.

It's just Wednesday so as usual, I got to work and saw him doing his work too. When his shift was about to end, Ate Rea was turning over, he suddenly asked Ate Rea and Julius to go home, which made me a little confused because they drive home differently. Anyways, when Ate Rea was done and I sat in front of the computer, he went beside me and excused himself to use it, so my initial response was to stand up and turn my back on him. I've heard that Fatima even teased him because of what he did. Something like he took my place. That's why I left. I finished the documents that needed to be segregated and then gave them to our supervisor. After a couple of minutes, our supervisor called me and told me the error. I immediately got the documents and went outside. I heard our supervisor call him. When I went back in, he approached me and eagerly asked me about the matter. When it was done, we formed a circle for our meeting. Our supervisors and team leads just talked about something regarding the company, then he said something that made me look at him. After that he asked why I was looking at him so I answered nothing (that part made me confused). Nonetheless, this day was very tiring.

Thursday, nothing much happened so let's go forward to friday. I don't know, but this day was different than the other days. I was extra happy. Why do you ask? Well, it was because of him. To be honest, I'm not expecting anything to happen between us since he seemed to be in a bad mood when I tried to approach him yesterday. So, back to the present. I was calling for Juls when he came from the door and responded to my call (he has the same name as Juls, so that makes sense). Then, of course, I told him that he wasn't the one I was calling. After a couple of minutes, Ate Angee came and I greeted her. I felt a little off because of the presence of the other shift. Ate Rea seems to have changed since we started the night shift. Anyways, I called Ate because I had something to tell her. When she responded, I told her that I'd tell her later when he also asked about what I was going to say. He was signing an overtime form at that time, so that's why he heard it. After that, he went beside me and asked it again. That's why I called him “tsismoso”.  He reached for my handy notebook when I snatched it away from him and said “no”. After that, he went out to get ready to go home obviously and I started to do my work since it was nearly our shift when he came back again and stayed beside me. He complained to Ate Angee because I always makes “trip” him “daw” which I never did (like when? I don't even approached him when it doesn't work related). Then Ate Angee told him to go home because he was distracting. Aaaahhhh... overall I was very happy today. 

Saturday comes, I went to work and the first face I saw was his. I went to my usual place and tried to finish writing an entry here when I accidentally looked at him and saw he was looking at me too. He then played a hide and seek gesture to me (papansin amp) but it just a couple of minutes because I was busy. Then I went beside Princess when I saw a new face and when that new face greeted me I was shocked because it was Kuya JL. 🥰 He came back to get his clearance. I was told “cute” by Joseph because of my hair style (well I preferred my hair looked that day too. Emo style 😝)

Overall, I was really happy this week because it was stress free. 'Til again!

[skaterfc]

continued: i assumed ghosts dont go to limbo because ghostbur wasnt there until he actually like died so i assume its more like switching places from the point that a character dies (im not sure how death and revival exactly works on the dsmp--this is my assumption). so i thought that was kind of how tommys ghost was canon ? cause hes the only one who hasnt had a ghost at all to this point but it could also be a plot hole. idk you have me thinkin

Alright this is gonna be long. Not in a bad way! This isn't discourse or anything, just analysis and that's just how it goes when talking about this stuff.

Long discussion about Ghosts on the DSMP ahead!

One thing you have to get straight about this, is that there is little consistency between all the ghosts on the DSMP. For this we are going to talk about our 4 confirmed ghosts, Boo, Ghostbur, Ghost Mexican Dream, and Glatt. (austinshow and velvet are both dead, but since they don't have ghosts (nor a time when they were alive for us to compare to) they will be left out of this "essay"(i can't believe i have to say this, only in the dream smp lmao)) The only consistent aspects I have found between all ghosts are as follows:

- A "washed out" color pallet/ grey skin and hair

- Overall more carefree (while they can have moments of distress, a neutral state for them is one of a carefree attitude)

- And a weakness that would "kill" them or send them back to limbo. For Ghostbur its water, for Glatt its the sun, for MD its possibly Quackity, and for Boo its doing a song and dance

That's all! you would think more fundamental aspects of ghosts need to be set in stone, but no. You would think that maybe ghosts need to be separate from their selves in limbo, but MD and Glatt both make reference of traveling back and forth between limbo and the overworld. Maybe the ghosts need to be stagnate characters, set in their ways and unwilling to learn or change, but Glatt goes through a whole character arc in Tales. They need to be happy? nope. They give out stuff that meant something to them when they were alive? also no. Its frustrating!

So, the the idea of Tommy not having a ghost while everyone else does is consistent with the inconsistencies of ghosts. Confusing, right? Never said the dream smp didn't have plot holes lol. So it is not out of the realm that Tommy is just special and didn't get a ghost, for some reason.

Lets look at what you said, though.

Limbo is weird. And that scene with Glatt in the gym is good for us getting to know more about limbo (and is really funny).

Im rewatching that section of the stream here for this, and the gym does seem to be Schlatts limbo. From Boo's description of what limbo is (a type of ball where sometimes the faces will cross into each other, and that is how people can see each other in limbo.) we could say that Schlatts gym is a place in limbo where this "face" of the "sphere" crosses into the overworld. Like a place where ley lines cross.

Then again, Schlatt also said that Wilbur would come in to the gym occasionally to annoy him, while Wilbur has said he did nothing of the sort, and has instead said that Wilbur couldn't leave the train station. So this might not be totally accurate.

When Schlatt alludes to Tommy here he does say "he comes down here" (present) but also its important to note that when this stream aired, Tommy had only recently been revived. (Quackitys vod says march 17th as its upload date, so the stream was likely a day or so before, and Tommy was revived on march 3rd) While limbo time works differently, we don't know what time Schlatt's gym operates in. In this encounter, real time, but who knows. Maybe when talking to different people time is different? How long does Schlatt think he's been dead for then?

Food for thought, but its also to be noted this clip does NOT prove Ghostinnits existence. I've been trying for like the past hour to find a clip where cc!wilbur said that Ghostinnit isn't canon, or at the very least he's not in limbo, but I've had no such luck. There is a very good unofficial vods channel for Wilbur so I'm sure someone more dedicated could look though those to find it exactly, but that's a bit overkill for me and for this haha.

Now for a bit easier thing to ... disprove? argue against? You were under the assumption that ghosts didn't go to limbo "because Ghostbur didn't go there until he actually died" and that's false!

The two ghosts we see instantly after revival are Boo and Ghostbur, and both actually talk about their experiences in limbo that they briefly had before getting put back into the world.

When Ghostbur comes back initially, several people asked him what death was like (i think mostly Tubbo and Quackity, this was like the day after the 16th), and while he insisted he didn't go to hell, he described death as "nothing." Sound familiar? maybe like Tommy's limbo?

But wait, why would Ghostbur's limbo and Tommy's be the same? And if the void was Ghostbur's limbo, why is he at the train station now? For the first one, we could take it as Tommy heard this description of what Ghostbur's death was like, and as such that's what he expected of limbo, so it became like that. It could be like the sphere thing, where Ghostbur just took a peak into either an empty space, or Tommy's limbo (if it pre-existed). Or we could take it as, since at this point, only Schlatt has died, there hasn't been enough time for a proper limbo to form for Ghostbur to see.

Which brings us to Boo (we'll get back to the train station). Boo didn't describe his limbo, so much as tell us that he was able to see Ghostbur crying at the train station limbo. And then went on to describe the ball thing. If that were the case, a Ghost's brief visit into limbo when they die (or are born) could be looking at a section of this "sphere." And limbo's for people only are on the "sphere" if there is someone to inhabit that limbo.

So when Ghostbur died, there was only 1 limbo on the "sphere" as such there was a lot of "blank space" and so Ghostbur saw nothing. When Boo died, there were more limbos there so he was able to peak into Ghostbur's limbo.

And when Ghostbur goes back to the train station, I believe that this is just a factor of Ghostbur and Wilbur being, at least from the same person, if they are not still the same. So they would have a smiliar limbos. Ghostbur just wasn't able to see it the first time around because it didn't exist yet (quite literally, cc!wilbur hadn't thought of it yet). It also to be noted, its not exactly the same as Wilbur's train station. Cc!Wilbur has said that it is dirtier, darker, and Wilbur had no TV's telling him what everyone said about him. This shows that this is Ghostbur's unique limbo, that while similar to Wilbur's, is his own.

I hope that makes sense! I know Boo's explanation of the way he thinks limbo works is confusing enough, so this could make it even worse haha.

One way I've seen that has the most merit for being canon is that Tommy did get a ghost, he just appeared in the prison cell with Dream (where he died, which is consistent with Ghostbur showing up where Wilbur died) and Dream killed Ghostinnit to revive Tommy. i think this is the most likely, if it were to be canon, but no other people from limbo have mentioned seeing Tommy's ghost, or Tommy since he died, save for that one Schlatt clip.

Finally, your totally good artemysty for not knowing how death and revival works. I don't totally know myself, and its not made very clear in canon so I don't blame you! I've seen even theories that the revive book is not a revive book at all, but a wish book where your wish is to bring the person back. (because when Dream tried to revive Techno they got a wish) We don't even know how many canon lives a person comes back with when they are revived! Why is it called "limbo" instead of "the afterlife"? Wouldn't limbo be Lady Death's domain? Why is Dream XD feeding on the souls there then, cursing them to a afterlife of misery? There are a lot of unanswered questions!

I saw a very good theory awhile back, i forget who by, but they said that Ghosts are possibly the parts of the person alive or the personality traits that that person didnt want others to see. Ranboo didn't want other to see his suicidal thoughts, Wilbur didn't want others to see his emotional heart, but Schlatt was confident til' the very end, and that's why his ghost is much the same.

I, somewhat similarly, thought that perhaps when someone dies, they are only split into two (a ghost version and a version in limbo) if they are a person with a lot of emotional turmoil. Where you are very divided in yourself, in your head. I think this works for Wilbur and Ranboo, since both tend to compartmentalize their past actions, seeing them as different people entirely (the different burs for Wilbur and Ranboo's enderwalk). And like I said before, both Schlatt and MD were much more confident in themselves.

Feel free to look into this with me! I am open to discussion here! I love talking about the ghosts on the DSMP, I'm even open to talking about hcs regarding Ghostinnit!

[isimp4hawkz]

The Thief

(Hawks x Fem OC)

this is an old fic of mine, back when i first got into hawks (what have i become?) i never published it. please bear with my undeveloped writing :} and on behalf of my pre-obsessed self, i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i did writing it.

-Edited slightly-

-Not 100% canon-

-Some aspects may seem far fetched-

Words: 2k

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

Hawks’ POV

Recently, I've been cycling through a continuous loop of circumstances whereas every time that I'm about a millisecond away from saving someone in danger- the same, new, and hot pro hero swoops in right on the knick of time and steals my shot.

A spontaneous looker of a woman who went by the hero name Tundra. I hadn't ever heard of her before the little debut she had as of last week, as goes with most rookies. But this one was quick to gain her prominence in this city.

Do I honestly care all that much? Not really.

I think it's cool when a brand new hero who's fresh out of their side-kicking days steps up and climbs through the ranks, earning themselves a little popularity with the citizens as they answer their calls for help.

And to be frank, I've been taking it easy these days. More than I usually would. Out on the beaches during the day, and partying all throughout the night. Free time was scarce for me. I definitely won't put off having a good time while I still can.

Sure, if someone happens to be in danger on the way to the club, or down on the twisting roads that lead down to the shore, I swoop in and save the day.

The locals around here had basically memorized my name from years of service, but I was afraid that my name had become a blur in the mixture of countless other hero's.

Hell, maybe I'm just being dramatic. It's not like they could actually forget me of course. I'm the number 2 hero in all of Japan, how could you forget me?

You'd think that taking a short hiatus would gain me some sort of up in demand from the fans, but it was the exact opposite of that. I had fallen down to 4th in the approval ratings, instead of remaining proud in my little silver throne.

All because of her...and my own laziness.

And then, I decided that that was enough fun...to some extent...for now at least. It was time to head back into the city, and reclaim my throne—or, at least try to.

I settled onto the roof of my favorite building, it was the tallest one around here. If I wanted to catch a crime in progress, here would be the optimal place to start, where I had an eagle eye view of the city.

It’s funny, being up on this tower reminds me all too much of when I first met the vixen for myself.

An interesting encounter it was.

This is how it went;

I grunted when my wings had suddenly twitched with premonition midair. It was a natural reaction that occurred when something was about to happen, usually abruptly without much warning, a small shiver that pulsated through every single one of my feathers in the blink of an eye.

Instantaneously, two flashes of white sped past me in a blur of haste, followed by a gust of wind that physically made me wobble in my flight.

Ahead of me now flew someone. With a pair of wings as white as snow itself, feathers littered with black markings.

"Woah-" I uttered as I regained my balance, blinking in shock.

They were soon just a barely vivible spec in the distance.

'Huh...Well that's new. Can't remember the last time I saw another winged person besides...'

That person's name was long since lost in my memories. Last I heard, they'd transferred to another hero agency in distant city.

I'd only shrugged it off.

It was best to just continue my leisurely flight. I was in no rush, after all. I've waited this long to get back into the game, what's a few spare minutes of taking my time got on me?

The office building stood tall, barely piercing the sky. It's thin structure made it look like just the faintest breeze could make it topple.

A draft of wind blew viciously against me. It was much cooler up here, the air was naturally a bit thinner. Not that I wasn't used to it, but it had been well over a week since I'd gone here.

I exhaled peacefully as I took my perch on one of the building's edges, gazing down at the city. The sun was beginning to dip into the horizon, lighting the land with tranquil variants of orange and pink. People looked like mere ants from up here, scurrying aside toy vehicles.

The sunsets always looked so nice from here.

Most would see this as a time to be at home and prepare themselves for bed. But for a villain, it was happy hour. A time for iniquity to prosper in the shadows.

'Now then, let's see if we can find any-'

"Hey there." A voice had spoke from behind me, causing my feathers to stand on edge and bolt me into the air on instinct with one strong flap. I immediately whirled around, dumbfounded.

A woman stood before me. The pearly white pair of wings sprouting elegantly from her back and dotted with black markings taking me back to moments ago. They fluttered subtly as she studied me.

'That's strange...why didn't I sense her?'

She sported an inviting smile on her face, yet I could tell by the look in her eye that she was unsure of what to think of me. "Sorry for startling you. Come up here to wait for the stars?" She asks as she looks thoughtfully into the distant sky.

Her eyes shone a sharp grey that caught the sinking glow of the sun. The costume she wore wasn't exactly loose against her skin, ivory feathers imprinted into the fabric around her waist. Curves hugged in all the right places. Rather stunning.

'A hero?'

I must've been staring in a daze for too long, because she'd cleared her throat, shifting her weight from one leg to another in a little rocking motion.

I honestly didn't know what to think of her myself. I've never seen her before.

Mild curiosity somehow got the better of me in seconds. I'd've liked to get a bit of information off of her for my own self pleasure. A little flirtatious prodding would do the trick just fine.

"Now why would I waste my time lookin' up there when there's a much better view down here?"

She sucked in her cheek, never breaking eye contact with me as descended back down onto the platform so we were at the same level, hands dug deep in my pockets. Slapping on one of my signature lazy smirks, I continued, "So tell me, what's a beauty like yourself doin' all the way up here on this fine evening?"

My feathers had suddenly puffed up. It had startled me, but I managed to play it off with a small stretch.

That only happened whenever I wanted to give off a sense of superiority towards another individual, among other things.

She eyed my new display curiously. "Y'know, I could ask you the same—In fact I already did, actually—minus the little pick up line of course." She avoided the question, responding with a little quick-witted remark. It was hard to tell if she was hiding something, or if she's just being cautious.

"Well if you'd really like to know, I'm on duty. This is where I come to sort of survey everything."

She nodded, agreeing that that was a reasonable answer, and when I asked her about her own intentions, she responded with, "Oh, similar reasons. You're looking at a newbie trying to find her way in a foreign country, all while taking steps towards her dream of making something of herself.”

"New here huh? Excuse my manners, or lack of. Allow me to introduce myself. Wing Hero: Hawks." I gave her a curt bow, "Last time I checked, I'm still in the top 10 heroes in the country."

She gives me a strange look after taking my words into consideration. "Hawks..." The way my name rolled off her tongue as she sounded it aloud for herself made me swallow a lump. "In the top 10 you say? Never heard of ya—Granted, I've never really heard of anyone around these parts." She looked over into the horizon, rubbing her bicep. She seemed deliberately captivated by the colors settling onto the land.

'So she claims to be new to the country...'

I wouldn't doubt it too much. The honey color etched across her skin would definitely make others think twice about where she's from. There's also a small accent lingering at the back of her tone, I find it sexy.

Still, I'm rather curious about her, so I'll say something a bit more patronizing as an experiment, testing the waters or whatever. I bring my arms behind my head, looking over at the sunset. "Don't feel bad about being in the blind side. A newbie wouldn't know much about me in the first place unless they're some kind of huge fan, or even a stalker."

Then the look that burgeoned in her eye enthralled me. A corrosive flare. It spoke clear words. 'I don't like when people assume things about me.'

I almost bit my lip. 'That's hot.'

She sighed out nasally. "I can assure you, I'm neither one of those. Owl hero: Tundra." She barely spat that out as she crossed her arms, unintentionally making her breasts bulge in their bindings. "I've been on official duty in this city for over 72 hours now." She looked aside.

'Well that explains the wings.' Wouldn't a quirk like that be manifested from up North? But her skin and accent...She's a living cocktail.

And so I pressed on, chuckling. "I knew it. That cluelessness is bound to stem from lack of experience."

She raised an eyebrow as she met my eyes again. "Excuse me?"

The calmness in her voice was almost unsettling. It threw me for a loop. I genuinely can't think of any other female I've meet who could keep such a level-headed reaction up while being involuntarily insulted.

Those reactions were coaxing me to push her buttons. 'Let's see how far you'd go to remain in complete, professional control...'

"Don't take it personally, pigeon, it's just a fact." I was mostly betting on the bold assumption that she wouldn't take that nickname too kindly, and boy was I right.

"Pigeon?-" Her eyes flared along with a trembling fluff of her feathers. From the back of her throat came a short, rumbling sound resembling a hoot. Telling me I was crossing boundaries in a coherent avian language. Her pupils constricted, staring daggers straight through me.

'Hm. Definitely got bird of prey in her. Or maybe that's just her.'

I cooed mockingly in response, my wings unfurling widely to fan at her. Come at me.

The tension in the air weighed a ton as we stared each other down like natural enemies for a few lengthy seconds.

She seemed to have taken that as a challenge, but to my disappointment, she was quick to recompose herself, allowing her once erect feathers to relax against her back with a curt roll of her shoulders. Her eyes dilated back, though still a bit on the small side as she looked at me. I could feel it in every barb of my feathers, she was ready to tackle me a few moments ago.

It was sad to say that I found myself mildly disappointed. Mildly because to put it short, that reaction would've had my tail wagging if I were a dog. Well worth the effort it took to bring it to light.

She huffed out a breath. "You know what? I should probably be on my way. I'm wasting my time here. Good evening, Hawk man."

And with that, she calmly whirled around, unintentionally flashing me a great view of her juicy thighs and ass as she stormed off to the edge of the building, not forgetting to dramatically spread her wings.

Every step she took made those thighs shake. Holy fuck.

I had to will myself to not stop her. This urging curiosity to know more about this woman was certainly bubbling in its wake. Can't be the last time I'll see her. I don't think I'd allow it, actually.

She didn't look back as she jumped off the edge of the building, swooping down into the depths of the city.

I sighed, eyes promptly returning to study the calmness below. 'She's got a bit of a fire to her, doesn't she?'

"I'll stick a bit of a fire up your ass." A faint slur of mumbles drifted through the wind, making me blink confusedly as it reached my ears.

When I turned to look, there was no one.

[gendercynicalgrantaire]

A little bit ago I saw you make a comment about how radfems fail to realize there are trans normies. I've been thinking about it and I wanted to ask, other than yourself, do you know very many trans people irl who are normies who don't have any explicitly homophobic or misogynist ideas about gender and sexuality? I know they exist. But I've been disappointed by more than 1 transman who I thought cared about me and respected me as a lesbian when we really got into discussions about sexual orientation. Like I try not to become jaded but its really hard when I have trans friends I trusted for a long time and then they tell me same sex attraction is harmful or that gender roles are innate (ie: "I know I'm not a woman bc I don't vibe with xyz stereotype that I believe is true for every other woman I meet unless she identifies otherwise". I don't think every trans person is a actively toxic or anything but I feel like homophobia and misogyny is so rampant and explicit from the trans community in current year it's really hard not to be jaded as a defense mechanism.

Hi! So I found the post you were talking about. The intention I was trying to communicate wasn’t so much that normie trans people are unproblematic in their views of gender, but more so that there are trans people out in the world just trying to live their lives who aren’t narcissistic manipulators like a lot of internet TRAs might come off as.

When I call trans people “trans normies,” I’m defining that as trans people who are mostly not online and mostly not involved in trans discourse. And trans normies, like other kinds of normie, sadly tend to have some unexamined assumptions about how things work based on the dominant culture they were raised in.

Most of the trans people I know irl fall into one of two categories: the ones I meet at PFLAG meetings or trans-centric spaces, and the very rare ones encountered out in the wild. I’m going to hazard a guess that most trans normies are the latter-- they tend not to run in circles with many other trans people, and they also tend to be more interested in passing to blend in, both of which make them more difficult to find. They, like me, tend not to really run in the “trans community.” And admittedly, it’s even rarer that I meet a visibly trans person in the wild that I grow close enough to that I learn all about their gender philosophy, because I too have internalized assumptions about other trans people’s feelings that make me jaded against them (I’m trying not to fall into the idea that I’m “not like other troons” lol), and I’m trying to work through it to find and see if there are ones who have gender philosophies I can vibe with.

Most trans people whose gender philosophies I have heard, then, are the ones I meet in PFLAG and trans-centric groups. So probably a little less normie, but there are still normies mixed in there. And I’m not gonna lie, some of the ideas I hear make me cringe a little or feel like they would quickly fall apart if poked at. I don’t know if there’s a single trans philosophy out there that’s going to satisfy the gender critical community. But what I can say for trans people is that the vast majority of them that I have met irl believe in the following (paraphrased):

- If someone’s sexuality/dating pool excludes me, that’s their business. It can be a little disheartening knowing how small my dating pool is, but trying to convince people who don’t want to date trans people to date trans people is not a solution. I want a partner who loves me for me, not one who pretends to love me for woke points.

- XYZ stereotype does not mean that someone is a man/woman/nonbinary. (Insert just about anything in the XYZ. The trans and nonbinary people I meet in real life are also some of the most pro-gnc-cis-people people I know.)

- I am consciously aware of how I make cis people uncomfortable, and I make a conscious effort to mitigate that discomfort to the best of my ability while still living authentically and keeping myself safe.

- Cis women can have their own spaces. It doesn’t concern me.

- Obviously there are issues that only impact natal females and ones that only impact natal males.

- I understand that I have the biology of a certain sex. I might be uncomfortable with having a body of that kind, maybe even to the point where I don’t like to use the anatomical terms to describe my body in contexts where I can avoid it, but I’m obviously different from a [cis man/cis woman]. If I didn’t understand that, I wouldn’t be calling myself transgender.

I make these points because of their relationship with gc discourse. It’s inconvenient for gendercrits and radfems to acknowledge that there are trans people who feel this way. It’s even more inconvenient to know that the number of trans people who feel this way is not insignificant and thereby easy to dismiss.

In particular, I want to focus on the second point: stereotypes do not a gender make. Because honestly, most of the trans women at the PFLAG meetings aren’t talking about how they played with dolls as kids or how they just love being expected to wear make-up (often in an effort to pass, because unfortunately our gendered society does turn make-up into a tool for reading as female), and the trans men there run the gamut from hyper-masc to fairly feminine. There are a variety of trans philosophies I’ve listened to that stray away from the idea that simple gender stereotypes make a gender.

More often the story is one of alienation -- alienation from one’s body, from one’s appearance, and/or especially from society. And this alienation usually disappears (or at least fades into background noise) once transition has been undertaken. The trans person in question might not always have a satisfactory explanation for why that is -- and again, I don’t think any explanation fits the radfem/gc ideal -- but it is distinct from the rhetoric “wigs and dresses don’t make you a woman,” “lack of those things doesn’t make you a man,” which trans people are generally well aware of. This is what I hear most often from other trans people regardless of sexuality, mental health history, class, or any other dividing lines that gendercrits like to use to explain trans people away as simple, easily dismissible categories (think Blanchardianism).

Hmm...I hope that answers your question? I know I probably went off the rails there. Again, I can’t claim that trans normies can’t be problematic, or even that most of them aren’t problematic. Most normies in general are problematic because they tend to live less examined lives. But I also know there are trans people out there willing to listen to and calmly discuss the other side of things, especially if their viewpoint is just parroting what they’ve generally heard from the mainstream side of trans discourse.

In that regard, you’ll have the most luck with passing trans people and trans people who’ve been settled into their identity for a while. Non-passing and newly-out trans people tend to be defensive and self-conscious in a way that more seasoned and socially integrated trans people just aren’t. That’s another post in and of itself though. If a trans friend of yours says something along the lines of “I know I'm not a woman bc I don't vibe with xyz stereotype that I believe is true for every other woman I meet unless she identifies otherwise” (if they use that wording -- not sure if that second part is what they actually say or just the implication you’re picking up on, but chances are they don’t think every woman vibes with it and just need that pointed out) but they also seem like a chill person and you feel safe doing so, don’t be afraid to calmly and casually bring up a point of disagreement. It might not be something they fiercely cling to or have even really thought through all that much.

[dailyaudiobible]

10/26/2020 DAB Transcript

Jeremiah 49:23-50:46, Titus 1:1-16, Psalms 97:1-98:9, Proverbs 26:13-16

Today is the 26th day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it's great to be here with you today as we continue our journey through this week and approach the end of a month. Today is the 300 the day of the year believe it or not. What a year to remember. But we’re 300 days into this year since it's a leap year. So, we will continue our journey forward. We’re working our way well…well into the back portion of the…of the prophecy of Jeremiah but when we get to the New Testament today we will be encountering the third and final grouping of letters known as the pastoral epistles. So, we’ll, of course talk about that when we get there. But first we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Jeremiah chapter 49 verse 23 through 50 verse 46.

Introduction to Titus:

Okay. So, as we…as we were talking about when we began our time together today, we’re at the New Testament, so we are about to encounter another letter. This one is called Titus and as I said this is the third of a group of letters known as the pastoral letters or the pastoral epistles. And we…we’ve talked about this. Like, there's nothing new between first Timothy second Timothy and Titus in certain regards. They are personal letters. They are disputed letters, at least in terms of penned these letters. Obviously, they have been attributed to Paul for a very long time but for also almost an equally longtime scholars have…have questioned whether that's possible mostly because of the development structures of the church. So, one of the things in Titus that we will encounter that we also encountered in Timothy would be some characteristics to be looked at in a person who wants to seek ministry or ordination. Titus and Timothy are both still consulted until this day for that purpose as we'll see when we read it but there are other somewhat confusing things about Titus. One of the things is just trying to place it historically, trying to figure out Paul's imprisonment in Rome after he appealed to Caesar and what happened between, you know, the time that he sailed to Rome and the time that he was executed by…by being beheaded. Somewhere in there if this is within Paul's life, somewhere within there is when these letters were written. So, trying to sort that out has been a point of scholarly debate for a very, very long time. So, here's…here’s kind of the lay of the land. Titus was converted early in the apostle Paul's ministry. We find his name mentioned in many of the letters. It appears that once…once he converted or once he believed in Jesus he was a part of Paul's ministry from then on. And an interesting thing about Titus is that he…he accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to attend the Jerusalem Council that we read about in the book of Acts, the first church council, the one that opened up the can of worms about who gets to be in and the Jew and Gentile debate that we've talked about so many times as we’ve moved…as we’ve moved through the letters. So, at that Jerusalem Council pretty big decisions were being made. Like do you have to convert to Judaism and then you can follow Jesus and you have to do all the stuff like circumcision and all that or what? And we know the outcome of that. What’s interesting is that Titus was at this Council as a Gentile. And that indeed would make a difference. It's way easier to marginalize or stereotype people when you don't know them, right, when you can just make assumptions about them and thrust them to the side which is the case here with the Gentiles. But when you are actually having a conversation with a Gentile who is full of the Holy Spirit then you too have to say, “well who am I to stand in the place of God on this?” And, so, Titus was there at the Council. Now, back to like “where did this fall in Paul's imprisonment? Or what's going on here?” There is a scenario that Paul was released from prison, his first imprisonment, the one that he appealed to Caesar, that he was subsequently released and was for a period of time able to move around again and so went on another missionary journey, this time to the island of Crete. The Cretans apparently had never heard the word of the Lord, the Good News. And that the Cretans were notoriously, you know, carnal but when…when the Good News was spoken it captured…it captured many of them a…a community formed as was the custom as happened so often when Paul traveled around to bring the Good News. And, so, this new community on Crete forms and Paul then leaves Titus to be the pastor of the church in Crete, not permanently but to stand in for him while he continued to move around. And, so, it was left to Titus to kind of form the leadership, form the community, teach the people, raise them up into leadership. And, so, then the thought here is that Paul wrote this letter after he had departed Crete. Probably if…if it were Paul, if we’re following that line than this would have to be like the same time, he writes like first Timothy he writes also Titus. And, so, a letter, like a personal letter from Paul to Titus would give Titus then this apostolic authority of Paul. Like he would have in writing, like if he…like if he’s being challenged in Crete by the Cretans about his authority then he’d have this letter to say like, you know, “Paul…Paul put me here. It's under that authority that I'm forming the church. It's under that authority that I'm saying the things that I've…I've said. It's under that authority that the decisions we’re making as a community are being made.” And, so, that's generally what we find in the letter to Titus. Of course, as I've said, most biblical scholars today would say, “no. These kinds of church structure things, these were outgrowths of what God was doing, but after Paul's lifetime.” And, so, that…so, this letter comes later and is written as a Pauline letter following kind of Paul's ethos but was written by somebody who was in one of these churches and as a disciple of Paul of some sort somewhere in the emerging next-generation this letter comes. So, there you go. There is some context which we try our best to keep before us at all times as…as we’re continuing our journey through the Scriptures. So, that’s the lay of the land. Let's begin. Titus chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father we thank you for your word. Every day we thank you for your word. That's why we're here, that’s  why we come around the Global Campfire every day, is to allow your word to come into our lives into our senses into our minds into our hearts challenging and correcting and rebuking and comforting and moving us forward in the way that we act, in the way that we determine our choices and decisions. We are so grateful. You've touched everything about us, and you continue to do that daily. And, so, we are so deeply grateful. And as we continue this journey move…moving further into new territory we are eager with excitement at all that you have yet to teach and tell us before this year is over. And we recognize that as we get to the end of the year, we encounter a lot of shorter and shorter books. And, so, we’re just…it’s gonna seem like we’re moving faster and faster, but we are out in front of it and we are asking you to help us slow down, stay focused, and not only finish this month well but finish this year well. And we finish this year well by starting now. And, so, come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can press the Hotline button it's in the app, super convenient no matter where you are on this planet and share from there, or if you prefer the telephone there are numbers that you can use. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number. If you're in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to call…I was trying to say dial and call at the same time…either one of those will work. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

[ghoultyrant]

I've tried a few times to write Samus' pov before and I've had a lot of trouble. I feel like she is fairly inscrutable as characters go, being largely voiceless, and taciturn even when she does speak (not counting Other M). A lot of her dialogue is also removed from social interactions, being internal memos in scan logs. Idk. Maybe this is just me.

Samus as a character isn’t so much a cipher as an archaeological mystery.

The point of that comparison being that the Metroid series actually tends to tell a large fraction of its story through its environments, and does so quite well. Metroid II makes it clear that the endgame area is some manner of laboratory where the Metroids were apparently created, probably by the Chozo, but at some point control was lost. The laboratory is their nest because that’s where their existence as a species started, rather than the Metroid Queen selecting it as a good brooding ground for some other reason. Notably, the laboratory is unusually isolated and difficult to reach, even by Metroid II’s standards of travel distance, suggesting that the lab was deliberately cut off from the rest of the planet, and also probably explaining why the Metroid Queen didn’t wander off elsewhere to nest; she very possibly couldn’t.

In turn, this grounds a detail many players probably never questioned, but which is slightly odd on its own: that Metroids can apparently only grow into their Alpha and so on forms on SR388. As a consequence of natural evolution, this is certainly possible, but seems odd. But given that they’re clearly artificial, it’s easy to guess that the Chozo put that in as an artificial constraint; most likely the Chozo had plans for shipping them out to other worlds, and for some reason or another didn’t want them to change form once they were off the planet. (There’s a lot of plausible reasons for why they’d want this, but that’s a bit of a tangent)

Furthermore, this also grounds the Metroid Queen itself. Most players probably never question the fact that there’s literally only one Metroid Queen on an entire planet, because after all she’s the final boss. There’s obvious video game design reasons involved. But actually, it makes perfect sense in-universe: while fandom frequently assumes that any Metroid could potentially molt all the way to being a Metroid Queen, and that’s not an unreasonable assumption, it’s also entirely possible the Metroid Queen was one-of-a-kind because the Chozo carefully designed things so she’d be unique; that the Metroid Queen was built to be a Queen from the ground up, and is not supposed to be capable of producing more Queen-capable Metroids. That would be a logical thing to do to limit the damage in the event of a containment failure, and neatly explains why the planet has only one Metroid Queen even though Metroids themselves are running rampant across the planet.

Speaking of the Chozo and environmental storytelling, the fact that we saw their statues on two different planets back in the original trilogy was already a strong indication that the Chozo were a spacefaring species. Metroid Prime using scan logs to spell it out was a confirmation of an already-likely-true thing, not a state of canon invented by that particular entry. Again, I imagine a lot of players never questioned it because there’s game design reasons that are obviously applicable (eg that Chozo statues are frequently used to mark Important Power-Ups), but it’s extremely good environmental storytelling.

Anyway, that’s just some bits from Metroid II. Aside Other M and let me be brutally honest Samus Returns (I enjoyed it, but it mostly doesn’t try to do environmental storytelling, and probably-accidentally heavily retcons things, with the Metroid Queen’s nest no longer being set deep inside a laboratory being the most blatant example), the Metroid series does this heavily and constantly. The player is expected, if they care about the story and the world it takes place in, to look at the details they can see and make inferences.

And if they don’t care about any of that, it’s not intruding on their experience: they can just play a fun little game with blasting aliens and whatever.

Looping this back to Samus, though: yeah, we mostly don’t get Samus’ voice, both in a literal sense and in the writing sense. What we get is a ton of secondary information hinting at the kind of person she is, supplemented with concrete facts (eg that she was substantially raised by the Chozo), and then are expected to draw inferences.

As one of the more obvious examples: the first two games implicitly establish that Samus has to have a high degree of confidence in her abilities, or if she doesn’t she’s got a literally suicidal streak. She twice accepts missions to travel alone, deep into hostile territory, with the interstellar bounty hunter equivalent of nothing but the clothes on her back. Metroid II’s manual tells us that some elite corps of soldiers was sent to SR388 and never heard from again, and this didn’t dissuade Samus from going in completely alone.

This strongly implies she earnestly believes she can do the job when a literal small army couldn’t even survive: it’s not just that the Egenoid Star Marines failed at the mission, it’s that they were so completely out of their depth that none of them were able to escape the planet to report their failure!

Important and related is that starting from Metroid Ii it’s very normal for Samus to unambiguously have the option of just turning around and leaving. Her ship is on-planet, she uses it to leave at the end of a given game, and nonetheless she sticks each given mission out. She doesn’t encounter Omega Metroids and go ‘no, this is too dangerous, I’m out’. She doesn’t rampage across half of Zebes in Super Metroid and give up in disgust when she fails to find the stolen Metroid reasonably quickly. She doesn’t report the Space Pirates on Tallon IV to the Federation and leave them to clean up that particular mess while she goes to get a drink. Echoes and Fusion are the only games that actually trap Samus on-site temporarily to justify her ongoing presence, and even then if you bother to visit and scan her ship regularly in Echoes you’ll discover it’s ready for liftoff well before it’s time for the endgame, while in Fusion it actually doesn’t take that long to get back access to the Main Deck and thus her ship.

A lot of games that place a player character alone and far from civilization are very careful to explain that the player character was stranded in this strange place, and implicitly or explicitly sets the player character’s goal as escape back to civilization. The implication is generally that these are people who would never willingly inflict such a situation on themselves, and if they ever accidentally found themselves in such a situation with the ability to back out, they’d take it in a heartbeat.

Samus, meanwhile, keeps ending up in these situations and sticking them out. She doesn’t mind being alone with her thoughts for long periods of time.

It’s worth mentioning that the Japanese version of the original Metroid tracked how long you’d played, only your hours of play were presented as how many days Samus had been on Zebes. If you treat this ratio as canonical to all future games, which are generally designed so a first-time player will beat them in 4-20 hours... yeah. Samus has repeatedly spent several days or weeks in a row far away from civilization, and is just fine with sticking those situations out, and even inflicting them fairly spontaneously on herself if she has a specific reason for doing so. (eg she goes to Tallon IV in pursuit of Ridley)

Now, since this is inference there’s a fundamental ambiguity here. I personally tend to interpret Samus as being someone who finds socializing with her fellow sentients to be a stressful experience, such that going out into the wild for a week is a form of decompression and relaxation, but this isn’t the only plausible interpretation, and honestly I probably go to that interpretation because I don’t cope well with that kind of social interaction, rather than it actually being a better interpretation. One could plausibly interpret Samus as someone who, say, is actually fairly intensely social and just rates (Insert mission objective here) as more important than her own personal comfort. (In this interpretation, it would be assumed she instead decompresses from her missions by partying with her must-exist-in-this-interpretation large circle of friends) That’s certainly an excellent justification for her chasing Ridley in Metroid Prime, for example, and if we ignore Other M entirely I can’t think of a Metroid game that could be said to contradict that particular interpretation. (And Other M doesn’t count because it contradicts literally every other game on so many levels; if one game doesn’t fit while the rest are consistent with each other, you toss that one game as an inconsistency)

(Well, actually, another reason I take my interpretation of Samus is that she was raised by Ascetic Space Bird Monks, but then again plenty of people rebel against their upbringing. It’s perfectly possible to say Intensely Social Samus was driven crazy by the Chozo expecting her to be an Ascetic Space Bird Monk But As A Tiny Human, and even suggest that she takes being Intensely Social even farther than she would’ve otherwise as pushback against that whole thing)

BUT

While there’s room for interpretation and murkiness on details, Samus across the games has a fairly clear sketch of a certain range of plausible personalities. This range is also further reduced if we actually, for example, acknowledge Samus’ monologues from Fusion, which make it clear Samus concerns herself with the big picture (Suggesting that she sticks out her missions at least in part because often The Fate Of The Galaxy hinges on them kind of thing), and also seems to indicate (Consistent with her observed behavior), that Samus isn’t someone inclined toward negotiation as a problem-solving mechanism -that is, she doesn’t even countenance the possibility of trying to talk the incoming Federation goons into not trying to weaponize the X, going straight to ‘I need to make sure it’s not possible for them to try’- and that she’s got a bit of a philosophical streak to her, of exactly the sort one might expect of someone raised by Ascetic Space Bird Monks.

But even without the Fusion monologues, it’s not actually that hard to dig up a coherent personality for Samus, consistent with what we see across most of the games and compelling in its own right. It just takes a mentality that, while unusual for most writing/reading, is completely consistent with how the Metroid series prefers to convey its stories.