#i am not sorry for the length lol

[thatndginger]

Happy WBW! What role does music play in your world? Does it keep history and legends alive? What genres are popular? What situations do people sing or listen in? Are there concerts and stars or is it more localized? How has it changed over time?

First off, I apologize profusely for how late this is! I felt like this question deserved more effort than I’ve been able to really put into things lately ^.^||

That being said, I’m answering this for War Witch - since Shapeshifter’s music scene is almost exactly like our real world one - so buckle up!

In terms of sound, Aeterre [War Witch’s planet] is somewhere near our Romantic Period of music. It’s all acoustic - electronic instruments have yet to be invented - but highly varied in style depending on the region. Take Korin. In the main hubs, the typically ‘Koric’ cities and population centers along the coast, there’s a focus on modern music and keeping up with modern trends. ‘Good’ art - and by extension music - lays emphasis on emotion and a glorification of the past and magic at the current time.  Popular musicians tend to eschew traditional ideas of structure and convention when creating music, creating elaborate pieces that evoke intense emotion and imagery. Attending operas and concerts is a pastime enjoyed by both the upper classes and the growing middle class. Some of the most popular operas tell the tales of heroes from the Unshattered Age, when magic still lived in everything and “things were better”. A lot of these operas have fairly… loose interpretations of events. It’s primarily a form of enjoyment.

But for the lower classes, music tends to be a little ‘dated’. The poor aren’t able to easily access modern composers and musical trends, so their music tends to be from an earlier time, and simpler in scale. There are no grand orchestras in the poorer parts of Koric cities, after all. In these parts, music is usually found at festivals and dance halls, large celebrations or special events. An important addition: protest songs have always been important for the lower classes, and there is a well documented history of protest music especially in relation to the organized labor movements and industrial workers. 

If you move away from the coastal civilization centers, into the farmlands and areas that haven’t always been under Koric rule, music becomes much more ‘folksy’, but also much broader in variety due to a wide array of cultural backgrounds. Music tends to be more ‘useful’ for lack of a better term in these rural areas. It passes on knowledge, preserves history. Depending on the region, some songs may only be sung at certain times of year, during certain festivals. There are work songs, rhythmic melodies meant to keep workers moving in time with each other. Music is still entertaining, yes, but it feels much more like something that binds a community together in these rural areas.

In the Tirallfain Valley, music has a very unique sound. Because of the region’s geography - straddling the border of Korin and the Suaythen Empire - the music there has hints of both traditional Koric and Suaya sounds. But, because of the region’s general isolation, the music generally sounds unique from either. Most famous songs tend to tell the tales from the Unshattered Age - battles won and lost, heroes and villains, great witches and gods - or detail natural events and seasonal changes. In more 'modern' songs, there is a distinctive thread of 'fuck the Koric' that isn't always subtle, as many in the Tiraillfain valley resent Korin's colonization both during and after the Unshattered Age.

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

If Chase Yuong and the First Ninja start a fight, who will win in your opinion? Either way, it's going to be epic.

anon ANON thank you. I've been dying to think more about those two in the same context, ever since i realized the similarities of these two idiots i like (greenish hair? martial artist? magical? kinda lived long???) But i've shoved those crossover-ish ideas away since i am busy with other stuff lol. but this gives me an excuse >;)

Ok, if we do NOT take canons in consideration (because lets be truthful, cartoons rarely can give a full scope of a character to our satisfactions lol) so I have 2-3 vague scenarios in which they clash (IMO either of them can win??? (because i like them both, even if i am more of First fan, so I cant decide who of them winning would be more entertaining lol)):

If First Ninja in his prime (sometime after imprisoning Sorcerer but before the Ultimate Lesson) clashed with 700 yo Chase Young (since this fucker is canonically 1500 yo) who would probably try to defeat First in order to make him part of his Jungle Cats harem:

Chase is ridiculously, stupidly overpowered but one could argue that at 700 he hasn't yet reached the height of all his powers, so First would certainly have a fighting chance. First is supposedly uniquely trained since (probably) his birth by his Ninja Clan and continuous battles with the Sorcerer (and most likely other creatures, like Sorceress and Tengu and etc.) throughout his teenage-young adult life to take on enemies like Chase - overpowered magical beings/soulless monsters - with the help of Ninja Mask and all its powers.

Admittingly, in this case the win will most likely go to Chase, if only because of his experience and overwhelming array of powers at his disposal. Though considering we do not know the full scope of Ninja Mask's powers, First has like maybe 15-25% chance to win (and at least 30-45% in my mind if i consider my own hc about the mask lol), but not 0%.

If First Ninja's 800 yo. spirit somehow was released from/embodied by Ninjanomicon to clash with 1500 yo Chase Young in the Modern Present:

Here a lot of my hc come in play. I fully believe that if First - with all the developed abilities, experiences, memories, power (and possibly spirits) acquired during his stay/merge within the Ninjanomicon and from over like 200 people who ever used the mask over 800 years - fought 1500 yo Chase - who spent at least a century or 2 or 3?? hidden away in his Fortress, growing just a bit complacent, since he clearly became too strong and thus bored of the world when it couldn't offer him decent opponents anymore, at least not until current Monks - the fight could go either way.

Chase is still stupidly OP, but its clear that he was deprived of good opponents for a loooooong time, since he resorted to fight against/taunt teenagers and Omi, who is basically a kid still. And they frequently managed to outmanoeuvre him in their confrontations, if not in an actual hand-to-hand fight then at least in common sense lol.

Meanwhile First trained and learned with his each of his successors years in and out, and while we dont know exactly what sort of things happened, we can say for sure that the fighting was continuous. Ninja barely had any rest, for the Sorcerer probably attracted chaos inclined allies and minions and thus a never ending stream of enemies for Ninja to battle.

If basic bitches clash aka OG Good Chase and First Ninja before he was First Ninja:

This is just for fun and because I fully believe that pre-Ninja Mask First will trounce Good Chase. xD

We do not know Chase's past, and there are various headcanons on how he came to be a Xiaolin Monk, but let's just say that judging by his apperance and XS voice, he is probably a very young adult-ish before he drunk his Soup, so he most likely was a Monk since at least his pre-teen/teen years. He appears to be insecure in his Monk-ness and in his abilities to become the greatest warrior despite his competence, since he was swayed/manipulated/convinced? to sell his soul to a demon for more power and freedom from Monk values.

If we judge First's appearance and voice, he would be perhaps a slight bit older than Chase when he became The Ninja, and not to mention since he was born into the Ninja Clan, he was likely trained since he was very young. His personality appears to be very studious and there is certainly a great deal of strength in his character since he not only managed to continue on with his duty even after loosing his brothers but also not succumbing to the overwhelming Power of the Mask that can corrupt those of weak belief and hold the title of the Ninja longer than anyone else.

(Not to mention I am of very biased opinion that Ninjas are cooler than Monks. lol. Also we can assume they all have magic of some sort. Like think Naruto like Ninjas and Xiaolin Elemental Dragons/Monks.)

ALSO in case 1, obviously if they fought with the agreement that if Chase wins he would ABSOLUTELY add First into his Jungle Cat harem. First will most likely add/request a stipulation that Ninja Mask was not taken with First and I can see Chase honoring that agreement, so the Ninja legacy will continue on and Chase still gets an incredible warrior to his ranks, and perhaps more warriors if the future ex-Ninjas would decide to try and fight him later on. ;)

(first's animal form would be either a leopard or iriomote cat (both native to Japan) or a crow because tengu connection/associations ;D )

And if First wins, he certainly would figure out how to contain Chase, (perhaps even in the Ninjanomicon itself hohoho) since he somehow managed to contain a sorcerer that controls chaos with some binding, magic from a mythical beast and in a deep hole that perhaps connected to some dark realm, like??

;)

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

current editing moodboard, please send help

[no1ryomafan]

I know that every genre to ever exist is really just a ever growing evolution process, every single thing within a genre is influenced by each other somehow just each thing retools things to make it its own identity, so seeing overlap between things isn’t shocking but I gotta say: Mecha’s influencing each other will always fascinate me because the tiniest detail will be used in something that was ripped from another show. What do I mean by that? Well it’s only DAWNED ON ME that Roger’s watch in Big O is CLEARLY inspired off of Daisakus in Giant Robo!

This is such a obvious detail given Giant Robo is the mecha influence Big O takes-it wasn’t just “Batman but mecha”, it pulled a lot from this-and the robot itself feels inspired by Robo, but I hadn’t noticed the watch detail because of how it’s retooled in Big O.

In Giant Robo, the watch is used to command the robot, but in Big O, since Roger pilots the robot, he uses it just to call his robot, so it’s way more minor in that show but it’s still so clearly inspired off of Daisaku commanding Robo in battle.

It’s not only a homage but it’s making something new, for potentially maybe another mecha to pull from, and more to come after. This genre is so fucking COOL.

[crescentfool]

I noticed you're a Ryomina!!! How did you get into it? And do you have any good fanfics/doujinshi you can advice me to read? ANYTHING on Ryomina actually? I'm dying for anything about them!!! Thanks!!

yes!!! it's me!!! i'm ryomina fan (one of many)!!! thank you for visiting my askbox, i'll do my best to answer all of the questions because it always makes me happy to see that ryomina sparks joy for people! :D

...this got really long because i like linking to things, so i'm putting it under a read more (IM VERY NORMAL ABOUT THEM)

how did i get into it? i got into persona 3 around august 2021 through the movies- at the time my only experience with the persona series was with P5R / P5S / P5D. p3 was the one that interested me the most (i thought minato was very pretty + i caught wind that the themes of the game were very resonant with people). i picked the movies over the game because i'm a guy who plays games at a snails pace, haha.

admittedly, i did latch onto ryomina because of the scenes in the third and fourth movie (i have mentioned in the tags of this art i drew how much i felt like i was exploding and blasting off to the moon watching it).

but what really dug me into the ryomina hole (and what has kept me there) was thinking about how much ryoji encapsulates the themes of p3- and how interconnected his fate is with minato. i wrote some musings about their dynamic here, if you're interested!

tl;dr: what if we were both boys and we were mirror images of each other and i inherited your kindness and looks but god doomed our narrative even though we're soulmates

on ryomina fanworks recommendations:

regarding fics: i'm going to assume that you've probably read the fics that have the highest kudo ratings on them, so i won't really be listing those.

a personal favorite fic that i always hold close to my heart is Eurydice's Vow by crescentmoontea, which explores the idea of ryomina in p5r's third semester. this was the first fic i read about ryomina and it made me tear up lots...

i also think a lot about I Alone Await You by Nail_gun, literally scrumptious writing that captures the ryomina dynamic so so well. actually check out Nail_gun's other ryomina fics while you're at it too!

other fun fic i'm fond of: can't get my mind out of those memories (what were they?) by foxmulder_whereartthou. ryoji being homeless lives rent free in my head and it's all because of this fic. there's a bunch of other fun ryominas from the same author too (i still need to read them)

BkZa555 also has some fun AU scenarios if you're into that too, notably with Zagreus (P5-Setting, Ryoji focus) and The Definition of Insanity (TIME LOOP fuckery!), but they're currently ongoing.

these were some ones that came to my mind first- as i have the strongest recollection reading them. admittedly i haven't really been reading fic this year, so i don't have many recommendations from fic that came out this year. but if you're so inclined to let ryomina consume your soul, i definitely recommend giving the newer works in the ryomina tag a look-see and see if it strikes your fancy!

as a side note, i do have a few ryomina fics that i've bookmarked on my ao3 here, though i have to say that i'm not sure how well they hold up in terms of like... what i would seek out of a fic these days. but they made past me happy so i bookmarked them, LOL. it's kind of outdated (my collection of fic recs has my old username *disintegrates*).

regarding doujinshi: i have not read all the ryomina doujinshi available, but as a starting point, please take a look at this list from pandora-scans from livejournal!

notably, this is where you can find the strawberry-chan say good bye doujin- which features a small and cute comic from shuji sogabe (the p3/p4 manga artist), as well as other artists. the existence of this doujinshi is the funniest thing to me because it's like "HEY if you're wondering what the volume 8 cover is really gay it's because sogabe contributed to a ryomina doujin." this fact makes my head spin (positive). it explains a lot about the manga.

regarding persona side material:

i know you didn't ask for these but i thought that i mine as well list these too, since i feel that the side materials have some fun expansions on ryoji and minato's interactions. i haven't... watched/read all of these but, hey, i like to share these things!

for comic anthologies for the persona series (some of which have ryoji!). if you're interested in reading them, here's a scanlation index from maboroshi-no on tumblr. i don't think this is a comprehensive list, but i think it will be a great starting point!

for some translations of the persona 3 drama cds, check out imaginary-numbers on dreamwidth! ryoji and minato interactions can specifically be found in the persona 3 character drama cd vol. 1, and for the audio + english subs, you can watch this video on youtube:

and ohh the musical. ryoji singing and dancing gives me so much joy. i haven't watched the musical in it's entirety (only fragments), but here are some links that may be of interest to you:

Ao no Kakusei (The Blue Awakening), Sakuya version - playlist for the first p3 musical, translated by Phoenix Maiika.

Ao no Kakusei (The Blue Awakening), Kotone version - playlist for the femc version!! also translated by Phoenix Maiika on YouTube.

Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade (English Subtitles) - playlist by rumio!

P3 Weird Musical DVD & Soundtrack Booklet Scans by rumio_k - twitter thread that links to these funsies, if you don't have twitter, here's the publicly shared drive link.

god. these sure are a lot of links, huh? i hope you enjoy them- pick and choose whatever sounds most appealing! (if this overwhelmed you im sorry GKLHLDH i just like being very comprehensive in my answers about things so i got carried away).

and as a reminder, you (and anyone else reading) are always welcome to browse my tags/archive and reblog things from there anytime! i have... nearly 300 ryomina posts which, while mostly consists of art, has a few fics, meta, hcs, gifs, memes, and whatnot scattered about.

or browse the minato and ryoji tags too! there's.. nearly 1k minato. and 500 ish ryoji. and they're going to keep on growing because i can't stop being obsessed with archiving these things. god help me i am so deep in this hole called ryomina hell and now you're here too. welcome aboard!

there's always going to be a lot of fun ways to enjoy rotating ryomina around in one's brain, i think- they're a pairing with such fun symbolic imagery that is So Deep (to me) but ALSO they're immensely hilarious and weird guys (affectionate). so i love to share these things in hopes that it gives you joy too! they are the most couple ever (to me) (i'm biased)

thank you again for the ask! i hope it can satiate your need for more ryomina, and be a nice aide in exploring the p3 fanspace :)

[martianbugsbunny]

Personally i doubt thor knows loki loves him

U know what I'm gonna take the challenge on this one. Now, this post will only discuss their relationship in the movies before Ragnarok, because I don't really like that movie and I think it did a great disservice to both the characters and their relationship; the brightest and best of them comes from Thor, Avengers, and Dark World in my opinion, so I will be talking about what I love rather than what I have at best apathy for. Sticking it under the cut (it got looooong because I love to think about their dynamic), so if you want my opinion, read on, and if you've seen enough opinions for a lifetime and don't want any more, scrumble away and have a lovely day

Okay so let's start with Thor. In the beginning of that movie, there is absolutely no doubt in Thor's heart that Loki loves him, and here's why: Thor is an arrogant man who is largely blind to the things he doesn't agree with or understand. He has this mentality of other people just being made to love and adore him, because he's the future warrior king of Asgard, he's the golden boy, and because Asgard's people really do love and adore him, so his arrogance is only being confirmed by other people's actions. And of course, there's nobody who should love and adore Thor more than his brother, right?

Now, here's where I want to digress for a minute to talk about how incredibly unhealthy their relationship is. Thor kind of has the same outlook that Loki expresses in Avengers, that people are beneath him, and that's why they should all be looking up to him with awe and praise, and that extends even to his own brother. He tells Loki to mind his place and kind of brushes off his advice, because even though they're brothers and that's the closest anyone could get to being his equal, it's still not enough. Thor views Loki as another person who is beneath him, but who ultimately can't do anything but look up to him and love him.

This is an illusion.

Loki does love Thor. Their relationship, with how complicated and messy it is, only works if they truly love each other, and they do. But it's not the blind, adulating love that Thor expects. It's a jealous, aching love. Loki craves being equal to Thor, a problem that's only exacerbated by the way Thor denies him that position. He craves to be loved as he's assumed to love. And the problem with a love like that is how quickly it can turn. If Thor won't give Loki the affection he needs, then Loki isn't going to show Thor affection the way Thor wants him to, either.

That first movie is in multiple ways a brutal awakening for Thor. He's not the man his father wants him to be. His entire life he's been training to be king and then that future seems like it's been ripped away from him. He has his power and then it's all gone. And his brother, this person around whom he's constructed a narrative of almost reverent adoration, suddenly turns against him, tries to keep him in exile and then to kill him, tries to take the life that was promised to Thor. That looks absolutely nothing like the love Thor has believed Loki feels for him.

I would feel some doubt at that point. I think anyone would. My sibling tried to kill me. Does he still love me? Did he ever love me?

And to add to that natural doubt, Thor doesn't understand Loki. He never really has. He doesn't know what it's like to be, as Loki says later, living in the shade of someone else's greatness, the trickster brother who's never really trusted, let alone lauded. And correct me if I'm wrong, but even by the end of Thor, he doesn't know what really tipped Loki off the deep end. He doesn't know that Loki's just found out he's a Jotun in a land of Asgardians, that he's the very thing he's been brought up to hate and fear, so Thor doesn't understand why Loki is acting so erratically, which must compound the doubt for him. From his point of view it's like a light switch flicked and now Loki's trying to kill him, which increases the did he ever? question. Was it always a facade? And I don't think Thor ever quite realizes the illusion he built around Loki, the difference between his expectations and reality to begin with, so he also wouldn't be seeing that it's not quite instantaneous, that there were years of building resentment and longing that contributed to the tipping point of Loki's changed behavior.

So by the end of Thor, yes, he's got to be wondering if Loki loved him.

But when Thor appears in Avengers, do you remember what plea he makes? He says I grieved for you, I want you to come home. That's not the kind of thing you say to someone you think doesn't care about you. That's a plea to the heart. That's Thor trying to get to the love he knows is in there somewhere, behind everything else that's built up around Loki's heart; that's Thor saying I know you still love me, I don't know what changed, but please let our bond be enough to fix it. Whatever he's been thinking about between the events of those two movies, he's moved past that doubt enough to think maybe Loki's love for him will be enough to bring him home, even if some part of him expects Loki to say no anyway. We know that in the interim he learned of Loki's status as a Jotun, so maybe Thor's even begun to try to understand. Maybe he's been thinking about the fact that life got very hard and very confusing for Loki very suddenly, and he wonders if now that some time has passed, there's a chance Loki wants to come back and work through it with him and their parents. When he says "we were raised together, we played together, we fought together," he's not just trying to convince Loki that he's loved, he's trying to remind Loki of his own love.

Again, during the Battle of New York itself, Thor makes a similar plea. He offers that he and Loki stop the fight together, and his eyes are so incredibly soft when he says it, you know he believes it can still work. That belief comes from knowing there's something in Loki that wants to say yes, something that loves Thor enough to give up his dream of kingdom and stop the invasion. His use of together is interesting not just because he's offering Loki a way out, putting it on the table that Loki can exercise his heart and choose a better path, but also because he's finally putting Loki on the same level he is. We can do this, we can return home, you just have to find some part of you that loves me enough to choose equality with me in this fight over equality with me in having thrones. He also holds back when he's dueling Loki, which is a horrible idea if you actually believe a person has the capacity to kill you, but if you don't believe that, it's an ultimate show of trust. Thor kind of puts his life in Loki's hands by not using his full strength, and only after Loki rejects his offer and stabs him does he finally use more brute force, although it's still not enough to kill Loki or even knock him out. Thor really believes, not just wants to believe, that Loki will not kill him given the chance, that there is something in him that wants to go home, and it's all because Thor, after all his shattered illusions, still believes there is love for him in Loki's heart, even if it has been touched and twisted by anger and pain.

In Dark World, Thor is much more pessimistic when he breaks Loki out of jail. He basically says that his brother is no longer in there, that he won't hesitate to kill Loki if he steps out of line. I think this is important to note because Thor isn't saying I don't believe you love me anymore, he's saying the person who loved me is dead and this shell is all that remains. Thor says he no longer has hope, but he's still clinging to that belief that Loki did love him, in his own way, and he would rather view Loki as dead than let go of it.

But beyond that, there's the fact that he not only lets Loki out of the handcuffs, he gives Loki a knife. Once again, you don't give a weapon to someone you wouldn't trust not to kill you, and you don't trust someone you've had so much tension with not to kill you unless you believe they love you. Loki says "trust my rage" re: Frigga being killed, but I would argue that actually wouldn't go in his favor. Thor has seen what Loki resorts to when he's not processing his emotions in any way other than rage: he attacks Thor, he falls into perfidy, he just lashes out at the closest target. And even despite that, despite having fought Loki in Thor and in Avengers, having witnessed firsthand what destruction Loki was willing to either cause or help facilitate, Thor still gives him a weapon and trusts that Loki isn't going to kill him. There is clearly still a part of Thor that is saying he loves me, he's not going to kill me.

Of course, by the end of that movie, Thor is rewarded in his faith. Loki stabs Kurse to save Thor, and it appears to cost him his life, and as he's dying, what does Thor say? Stay with me. In essence, loving me so much you'll die for me isn't enough, love me so much you'll stay alive for me. It's not a rational thing to say to someone who appears to be bleeding out; a person can't generally stave off death on willpower alone when they've been stabbed in the gut. Thor always ends up speaking to Loki's heart, because he knows that heart is bitter and full of rage and grief but also love, even though Loki is absolutely horrible at expressing it most of the time. I want to talk about why Loki might've faked his death and taken Odin's place at the end of that movie in another post, but part of me really thinks he chose that specific way to fake his death because he wanted Thor to see that Loki did love him, and that was the only way he could think of to reach out without actually having to confront his own pain and the enormity of the breach between them. Now, the "I didn't do it for him" could be taken one of two ways: it was actually for Frigga, or it was actually for Thor. I'm very much inclined to believe the latter, as Thor is the one present in the scene. Also, the expression on Thor's face when Loki says that is so frozen, like yes, I wanted more than anything to be told that you still care, but not like this. And it feels like Loki is doing his best to communicate that he does love Thor, but his communication skills, especially with Thor, are severely distorted, partially by that unhealthy relationship they had early on where he most likely never felt entirely welcome to speak his true feelings, and partially by the chasm that opened between them when Loki went into his downward spiral of destruction, both of himself and of others. I genuinely think Loki doesn't know how to just say it. To quote myself from an earlier post I made about Loki, he feels like "there’s no way he can possibly repair the relationships he’s broken," so he doesn't try to apologize and make up for it. Like someone else (I forget who) has already said, sacrifice is the way Loki makes up for things. So he gives Thor this image of a sacrifice, the ultimate expression of love and devotion, because he doesn't know how else to say it.

What's the point of all this? Thor knew Loki loved him. That's the whole point of their story. Their love for each other is the cornerstone on which that immense cosmic narrative is built. Even with doubt, anger, bitterness, frustration, grief, pain all complicating their relationship and getting in the way of actually expressing love to each other, the fundamental truth of Thor and Loki is love. Is faith. Is hope. Is saying maybe you don't know how to say it, maybe you're trying to shut it down, but I know there is something in you that loves me and that's the part I choose to believe in.

Thor knew Loki loved him.

[coralhoneyrose]

Plot twist, I think I'm going to split this chapter of PtLY in two after all??? In which case the new chapter will probably be ready Friday...?

I feel a little guilty because it's only ~6K words long and I worry that compared to my usual chapter length that will be a disappointment, but...we're sitting in a weird zone where if I DON'T split it, then the last chapter will wind up like 17K, and that's so much. Also I have the first half p much done and still need to write a bunch of the second half so I feel like I might as well put out what I have if it stands on its own? (and also I know 6K isn't actually that short for many fic chapters, I just apply skewed standards to myself)

I'm *also* worried about publishing this particular set of scenes on their own because of the particular nature of the content and knowing it's not everyone's cup of tea. And so for people who want to skip those parts, this chapter will have even *less* to offer them but 😭 probably just gotta remind myself that I can't please everyone and to keep my focus on publishing the fic that I most want to.

[talkorsomething]

want to cut my hair again like you wouldn't believe. What are the possible consequences of going bald

[orcelito]

Shino raising his dead friends and friend's dog from the dead with the power of bugs as one friend's cousin watches [not clickbait]

[akanposting]

bros I was doodling and imagine if the most normal and human you've ever felt in your entire life is at the ripe age of 21 and it's bc ur personality is 90% microchip and also you've just discovered recreational drug use....kinda cringe

[aubins]

she is rasping and literally crawling toward yuri with big wet eyes because the week has been very unkind to her and she's a little scraped up from getting caught in a wilderness trap but don't even worry about it. however! she reaches them and her fluffy head perks up.

"yuri! yuri, we weren't on the same island last week, and bernie didn't want to miss you just in case—" rustle, rustle. from her belongings, she fishes out a lilac-ribboned box. inside there is makeup, carefully curated and dorothea-certified of course, along with a flower accessory she'd made herself. its blossom is the color of their eyes, which she is doing her very best to meet now, thank you very much.

(in fact, she's trying so hard that it pinches her brow just slightly. eye contact will always be her worst enemy but god if she isn't pulling out all the stops to show her earnestness. they deserve that much and plenty more.)

"happy, uh, early birthday...!" the gift is ushered into their possession. then her arms flap at her sides, and she blurts: "please don't get eaten by alligators, okay?! wait, are there alligators on this island? w-well, don't get eaten by anything! please. um, yes." nod, nod. "i don't get this whole competition thing, but you're still bernie's dear friend. and bernie really, really wants to keep being friends by the time your next birthday comes, too."

a pause. then, lips curl into a silly, fond smile that bernadetta can't help but make. "a-and it doesn't have anything to do with this weird island, but, um... you make me happy. so i hope this makes you happy, too."

Yuri Leclerc does not celebrate their birthday.

Sometimes, there are exceptions. Like the treats and surprises of a certain red-haired girl or the odd greeting here and there from Abyssians who have known them for long enough to learn it. Yet no matter how routine these exceptions start to become, they will always be just that: exceptions. Because, for so long, the day they'd said was theirs never really was their birthday anyway. Because, a long time ago, the boy who was born on their actual birthday died on the streets of Adrestia.

“Bernadetta,” is their hummed greeting as their gaze flicks over her, pleased— well, always pleased, really, to see her, and even more so when she appears to be in relatively one piece— their usual smile curling at the corner of their lips. “That for me?” they ask, tone teasing as she fishes the box from her belongings. It's not even my birthday yet, is the follow up, already upon the tip of their tongue when—

“Happy, uh, early birthday...!”

And Yuri blinks, stunned for a moment, because no, they think, they will never quite get used to these exceptions. Even as Bernadetta shuffles the gift into their hands, babbling that they shouldn't get eaten by alligators, if there even are any— “No,” they think they hear themself say automatically, first instinct always to reassure, “I haven't seen any alligators. And I won't get eaten, so don't even worry about it.”— and that they're her dear friend— “...ah?” is the only sound they make in response to that one, a little quiet and a little confused, because there's no automatic answer to it, not one that they want to give to such a genuine effort anyway.

They glance at the box now in their hands for a beat, then pull it open gently, as if afraid it might break. “You didn't have to,” Yuri says, gaze immediately attracted to the collection of makeup within. They know, of course, what it costs, and suddenly mean it doubly so. “Must've cost you a pretty penny. You should've spent it on yourself.” And even if some people would say it just to be humble, humility has never been one of their features. They know what they do and do not deserve.

After all, Yuri is no stranger to gifts like these. Makeup and jewelry offered to them because only the finest of accessories should decorate the most beautiful dolls— and never for free, of course, because nothing in this world is ever for free, and they are quite used to trading both face and body.

They kept them all, no matter how they loathe them sometimes. They may be prideful, but they are not foolish. There is a trunk under the floorboards beneath their bed in Abyss filled with their hoard, bountiful enough to convince someone they are a magpie and not a mockingbird. Bountiful enough to remind them that, now, the Savage Mockingbird can take a noble's expensive gift and slit his throat while wearing it if they wanted, then toss it without a second thought to disappear within their collection.

But while Bernadetta is a noble, she is not like them. (But how do you know? asks a voice. Yuri silences it. They just do— they must believe that.) Not because of this island, she says next, and as much as Yuri can guess where her mind tends to spiral to, they wonder if she can do the same. Because they would have thought it next, yes, wondered about an objective handed to her in the interim that perhaps needed completing or some other game their hosts wanted to play. Even with the reassurance, they might have still wondered.

But maybe it is because it is Bernadetta, because she had known them before they were Yuri, and know all the secrets and vulnerabilities that come with that, because no matter how many times she says she has forgiven them, Yuri is used to bracing for betrayal, that the mockingbird pauses. Briefly, yet completely and utterly struck still mid-flight.

And then they believe her, even when the first instinct ingrained in them is not to.

“It...” they start, then pause. Correct themself. “You make me happy, Bernadetta. With or without the gift. But thanks for thinking about my birthday.” Because it's nice to be thought about, in the end. If it needs to be put simply for her, without the mess of their past, then it— and she— makes them happy. Bernadetta doesn't need to know the rest. Yuri grins, then plucks the flower accessory from the box to hold out to her. This one, they can think about without straining their smile. No shadow haunts it; this one is just Bernadetta. “Help me put it in my hair?”

Next birthday, we'll still be friends. But they do not say it aloud. This one is a promise all for themself. Yuri resolves not to break it.

[shesmore-shoebill]

hey!! i just wanted to say i really admire your blog! you're always very well-spoken and articulate and you have good takes on topics. i wish i was as comfortable as you are talking about things at length so i could talk in detail on my own blog about the things i'm interested in, but alas, i am not. for now i will read your posts and admire from a distance <3 thank you for your contributions to the community

also kudos to you for putting walls of tags on your reblogged posts. i love to see people's thoughts, especially on posts that are more substantial than the average shitpost because it feels more personal (': pls never stop

🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 wait this is SO sweet, thank you so much! :D I'm really flattered I come off as well spoken and articulate, I feel like I am constantly just Saying Lots Of Words. I'm not sure I can turn off the verbose-ness, tbh, so I'm really glad it's improving your fandom experience in some way haha.

And hey fwiw, tumblr blogs are for you to have fun, so if you want to go ham chatting about things you enjoy, you know, go for it! And if you don't think that would be enjoyable, I mean, you're not under any rule to do so. I'm pretty shameless about doing it largely because I made this sideblog specifically for myself, just to store/post about Smosh stuff so I'd be able to find it more easily in the future. Being very detailed about stuff I'm enjoying is a gift for future me, and everything else needs to be a bonus, or something I can live with 😅 So that takes a lot of the pressure off, if that explains anything haha. IMO, if energy/time permits, recording details about and diving into the details of things you enjoy and why you enjoy them, tends to be a net positive. Both for the world as a whole (Other people who enjoy that thing get to share enjoyment) and for yourself, to really get a better understanding and appreciation of things you enjoy. And this might also increase appreciation of things you dont enjoy, interestingly enough! Win win. But to each their own, and not wanting to do that in public forum makes perfect sense. Do what works for you :)

I will probably NEVER stop doing the walls of text in tags, so im glad you enjoy it 😅 It's one of my favorite features of tumblr, I love being able to share thoughts in a form where the op/other people dont feel obligated to respond. Triply so for things like art and fic where I'll really enjoy something and it seems like a shame to not express that enjoyment with the maker. Tumblr does all kinds of wack things but the 'talking in tags' culture is a net positive in my book.

anyway. thanks! :D this was really nice to receive.

[milkweedman]

Sock progress (sogress ? Hm). Am about 1/3 of the way thru the gussets. Starting to suspect i did not evenly split this yarn, since i seem to be running out already. Altho im just making short socks probably, so theres not actually that much left to do.

I did also start out doing some fancy stitchwork, only to discover that it barely shows up with this yarn (its super fuzzy and dense, you can hardly count rows either) and then gave up after like 3 rounds, and im pretty sure you cant even tell.

Yarn is handspun southdown babydoll from roving, spun like 2 or 3 years ago.

[bravewolfvesperia]

/ I want! to try! something out!

as someone who loves single verse for muse experience shaping, I'm really interested in non-same mun*** thread connection; for each different Yuri of course. that would mean interactions for teen Yuri would shape things in other muns' threads in his adult verse for example*** (and some threads may become memories for instance regardless of age).

interactions with Claw, Asteria Yuri, Rays Yuri, and Transgressor Yuri would follow a similar pattern in that their own verses retain thread connections with different muses.

this would be fully opt in and mutuals of mutuals. info below!

I'm strongly thinking of trying to make as many interactions as possible*** be retained in a single verse. this is mainly because I don't consider every interaction or every muse to be in their own single condensed verse. like, Yuri talks to Raven and only shares that entire verse with Raven? unless it's specifically got points of AU-verse interest, I prefer it to be in a larger world! where that interaction will be a memory of his in other threads!

again, this would be opt in*** and you'd all be effectively "main" verse for each Yuri (child, teen and adult are all in the same verse as each other, but the others are in their own verses, hence why a thread with teen Yuri may affect a thread with adult Yuri), and I'm always up for doing side verses outside of main verses with people's muses independent of this. if we wanted them to meet two or more different ways, we could do that - I would just consider them to be separate verses that either can have a continuation of.

when interacting with multiples of characters, their interactions would be kind of like... branches of a single verse? so think of it like... event happens with a muse. Yuri is interacting with two of the same character after that event's timeline. that event still happened for my muse.

when dealing with multiples of a character, the referenced interaction/experience/thread will only pertain to one of them and that mun will probably know if it's them or not them, but I'd still love to have some threads that have connection to each different mun's take on that character. plus, if two muns with the same character opted in, that's basically how it'd have to go - just, everyone understanding "this is/is not a reference to my muse" as needed. obviously it makes the whole "single verse" interaction idea more complicated, but I'd like to simplify it by saying that particular thread is within the same verse as that referenced mun's muse.

***the reason this would be opt in and when it would show up:

some threads with others may be referenced (sometimes very) vaguely within other threads, but this will only be done within mutual spaces!

that is, if the person I'm writing with, that I'm about to make a reference to, also follows that other mun. if all three or more of us follow each other, that's the only time I would do it, due to the possibility of any bad feelings between non-mutuals, etc. someone I'm writing with may not like the person whose muse I'm referencing if I just reference the muse of someone they don't even follow. I don't know why someone is not following someone I follow and it's not my business, and I'm not here to create bad feelings for anyone.

in other words, you have me, writer A, writer B, and my thread with writer A. I'm about to reference a past or existing thread with writer B. me, writer A and writer B must all be following each other and writer A and writer B must have both opted into this (would be done via likes on a post). if Yuri is interacting with a Raven and I want to reference that in a post where I'm interacting with a Judith, both Raven-mun and Judith-mun (figurative people bc I know an entire Zero (0) Judith-muns at this time) must have opted into this verse idea and must be following not just me, but each other.

I'm not implementing this right away, but it's something I'm considering.

[steakout-05]

as i promised in the tags of one of my posts from yesterday, here's a recording of the new Halfbrick+ startup screen!

[the-sage-libriomancer]

16 17 and 18 for any fandom (choose violence ask game)

Oohoohoo an open-ended ask! Imma choose Bleach, because it's been on my dash a lot recently lol.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

This is kinda cheating because I know why people like the characterization, but I hate hate HATE when people write Isshin as a bad father who Ichigo hates being around. I am an absolute sucker for mediocre/outright failfather Isshin angst, but 1) Isshin is literally not that bad a father, especially considering how few tools he's working with, and 2) he KNOWS he fell short in a lot of places while raising Ichigo and is implied to feel terrible about it. And Ichigo doesn't hate Isshin! Despite the slapstick-heavy relationship they have, he loves his dad and there's no textual evidence that his negative feelings about Isshin are anything more than general annoyance. I get why people misunderstand the relationship as abusive/toxic but like - that's what it is. A misunderstanding.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

More fics that focus on the juxtaposition between Soul Society and the living world! For a series that's basically made up of souls in different afterlives, there isn't much focus on the living/human side of things, so I'm always a little disappointed that fandom didn't pick up the slack. I want to see cool fanarts depicting characters (metaphorically) crossing borders and sitting on one side of the chasm. I want to see fics with Soul Society residents reminiscing about their old lives or mourning the fact that they'll probably never get to see their loved ones again. I want to see Pluses that Ichigo and the gang interact with in their day-to-day lives, and the inevitable bittersweetness of performing their duty by helping the spirits move on.

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

The living world!!! I know the series itself didn't focus much on it, but again, it's disappointing that the fandom never talks about it either. It's only used as a backdrop where characters can be bored between adventures and occasionally freak out their human friends for comedic purposes. I think there's a lot of interesting stuff you can do with the living world, considering the blurry line separating the living humans from the soul beings in the afterlife(s). What about the fact that the majority of soul beings seem to start out in the living world before dying and becoming souls? What about the fact that Hollows and Shinigami, polar opposites and natural enemies, both possess memories of their human lives before they died? What about the fact that Uryu and his family are living Quincies while all the Wandenreich characters are implied to be souls of the dead? Idk I think I'd have to make a whole separate post about it to really explain what I mean, but it's not just "the place where Ichigo waits for the next adventure." There's a lot you could do with it!!