#i mean if you're as invested in this madness as i am anyway

[braisedhoney]

listen guys. i am being so restrained about how much i loved the graphic novel. i am rabid. i am constantly consumed by a level of affection (platonic) that is causing me physical pain. i have literally carried this book with me everywhere for the past two days like a support blanket. my desire to draw is so high that it's almost leveling up to art block. on the contrary i finished an animation i was working on before the gn dropped because the residual brainrot is making me scream. cap'n is Not Okay™️ (affectionate)

remember that one post where i was like danny (formative silly) vlad (formative babygirl) and dan (formative blorbo)? yeah.

bro i might as well be haunted my entire brain is ghosts.

[piracytheorist]

Episode 28 thoughts!

Did I say I was elated by the political commentary from one (1) line in the previous episode? This one had LOTS and I am so excited to get more into the world building!

Since this episode is mostly focused on Yuri, this post will focus on his part. The other parts are light-hearted and unrelated to the plot of Yuri's part, so I'll make a separate post for them. Maybe.

I admit, though Yuri is nowhere near blorbo territory, I am genuinely intrigued by his character and I can't help kinda investing in how his story will progress.

It's almost scary, how good at his job he is. The SSS have truly hit the jackpot with him, considering how capable he is, how dedicated he is to protect his sister, and how young and easy to manipulate.

Their wanted guy does something completely non-suspicious and tries to run out the window the moment he faces arrest, because that's exactly what an innocent person would do! Anyway, he gets ambushed by Yuri and oh my god.

Yuri please. That's not a normal face to have after throwing someone down - especially someone who actually drew a gun at you? Interestingly enough, the guy didn't draw a gun in the manga.

Then we see about the anti-East stance of Westalis, and... that's a very interesting image there.

"The Devil's Republic" instead of "The People's Republic". "The Age of Confusion" and "The truth as told by photographs". Imagery of mass graves and harsh military law. Also, Cyrillic letters on the journals to the left and right! I wonder if they're actually translatable, but in any case it's interesting that it's the West that uses Cyrillic letters along with Latin ones. I'd have loved to be a Japanese-speaking fly on the wall when they decided on those stylistic choices.

So Perkin already had issues with the law, and was using his journalism skills to rebel against the Ostanian government.

As I said, I absolutely loved that we got some political commentary on this episode, as I've been dying for some signs on how Westalis sees Ostania. And well. It's not good.

Perkin lies and constructs scenarios that fit his "Ostania is a nightmare" narrative, manipulating the audience loud and clear.

Like, look, buddy. I know Ostania sucks. I know surveillance and censorship are the death of freedom, but you don't need to go that far. It's yourself and your work you're sabotaging that way.

And he's not even... like, he then mocks the kid and tells him if he continues to "not share his toys" he will be arrested and killed? Bro, chill.

That's what happens when you join the trenches of a cold war but have no sympathy for your fellow human. Perkin mocked and terrified the boy and then he left laughing. He had no reason to do either of that.

Looks like Perkin's mother died, and her death was caused by their poverty; probably a sickness they couldn't afford proper treatment for. So he's in for it for personal reasons, though again, that doesn't justify being so mean to an innocent kid and manipulating the people of a foreign nation.

Wait, wait. Perkin says something interesting.

According to what he says, people keeping their wealth for themselves and not sharing - aka capitalism - is what the West stands for. But then he's mad at Ostania's government for forcing them to live in poverty and thus causing his mother's untimely death? What's going on, and what is his reason behind making the child fear the West? Because what he says there certainly isn't going to inspire the kid to go against the Ostanian government.

I'm leaning towards him not trusting Westalis either - and is just using them to rile them up to help bring the government down - and/or having a lot of unresolved issues that he's bursting out irrationally on a little kid, because the kid can't defend himself and is an easy target for Perkin's ire.

The fact that Yuri of all people, the personification of no control over one's feelings, got so mad at Perkin for terrifying the kid like that, says a lot.

Yuri made all of those appendices about what clothes Perkin wore and what people rode the underground train with him, so when Yuri mentioned Perkin went to the market, I expected a "See appendices for what he bought there" lmao

Interesting detail that Perkin had a cactus and a succulent, plants famous for needing very little care. The ashtray is also full. Visual commentary!

At least whatever is wrong with him is really really funny. The way his superior has caught onto that though XD

And he's conscious of it lmao

It's a good sign, if you ask me.

Lotsa books and another plant, I can't tell what it is but it's one that seems to require water and sunlight; and it's seated next to their full library!

Meanwhile, Perkin unknowingly, but unsuccessfully, reaches for Yuri's sensitive buttons. Yuri writes his sentence about Perkin probably being motivated by his care for his family... but Perkin is the enemy, you see. Maybe kinda related to what I said in my meta about Yuri's extremism, to him the "other side" are monsters with no empathy who only want to bring chaos. Suddenly he's faced with a man who threatens the safety of the country Yuri's beloved sister lives in, and with illegitimate means to boot, yet his motivation is something Yuri can relate to.

Considering Yuri got so mad at Perkin for scaring the child, I wonder what Yuri's reaction will be when/if he finds out Twilight's core reason to be a spy. That would gut him, I think.

Yuri's original notes on the paper say "Although it is still in the investigative phase, these actions may be caused by his personality and beliefs. Another possibility is hatred of a particular group or individual. However, that seems somewhat insufficient for the motive. Is Perkin [motivated] by concern for his family?"

It's easy to call a man such as Perkin a bigot and use such a narrative to explain his actions, and thus dub him the "enemy" and a "monster", along with anyone who would ever oppose the Ostanian government. So Perkin caring for his family and their future shocks Yuri to the point that he rips the paper off, deleting any signs of sympathetic view towards Perkin.

Perkin waits for his opportunity; after the mail is cleared from "suspicious" letters, he takes over from his coworker so that he can slip his very incriminating - and very misleading - "evidence" in.

Apparently people aren't too suspicious of people offering to help.

Perkin knew what he was doing, though. After his father warned him, he hesitates for a moment before the throws the letter in the cart and seals his fate.

It is pretty terrifying, though. Defamation is no joke but it's one of the things free press has to tolerate, if it wants to be called "free". Legal action can be taken after the press is out, in a public court, and investigate on how much of it is a lie and misinformation aiming at hurting someone or a group of people. Letting prejudiced and brainwashed police officers dictate what should be said and what not is at the height of censorship.

Perkin realizes he's fucked. He's terrified, but he knew what he was getting into - and he has experience with getting in such trouble, after all.

He's not a nice person, but I felt so sad when he said goodbye to his father and just... walked out to accept his fate.

Something interesting regarding the SSS is that they refer to themselves as "kokka hoan-kyoku" (State Security Service) and that's their official name for them, but the people may call them either that or "himitsu keisatsu" (Secret Police). I don't think I've heard anyone but citizens (and WISE agents) use the latter. Like earlier, when Perkin threw the toy gun in the trash, one of the boys used the phrase "himitsu keisatsu". I feel that's interesting because it may show how using the latter may be less... "respectful" for them.

When Perkin is being arrested, for example, he uses "himitsu keisatsu", and then calls Yuri "the government's dog". So that shows how much he respects them, lol.

SOMEONE SLAP HIM ISTG

Heeeey, Yuri... what if post-identity reveal Yor really really fucking loves Twilight and will be devastated if he's hurt? WHAT THEN?

But also hey, the fact that Yuri felt the need to reply to Perkin? It's a sign that this whole case had a much bigger impact on him than he expected. He put Perkin in the mould of "bad person who wants to destroy the country my beloved sister lives in, who makes his family sad" in order to avoid the possibility of relating to him.

He'll get there. He'll get there. It's a good sign he offered to request for financial aid for Perkin's father. Perkin thanking him for that speaks for what truly mattered to him.

I just love how layered everything is. Since the whole story is mainly focusing on Twilight's side, we as the audience are meant to sympathize and want peace to be secured, and for outside forces to help bring down the totalitarian government. But we're not meant to justify Perkin's behaviour, whether that's his fictional narratives or the way he mistreats innocent children, and at the same time we're meant to understand his motives were sympathetic. No-one's perfect, and the road to hell is paved with good intentions. At the same time, we're shown that Yuri, the "enemy" of Twilight's side, also has sympathetic motives and can also show empathy.

I mean, yeah, he swallows it down and replaces it with projection and coldness. But isn't that what Twilight does, too?

God, my heart fucking aches. He's twenty years old. He has his entire life ahead of him and this is where the regime lead him into. It's terrifying, and it's meant to be.

Yuri is so confident he'll catch Twilight and the director is like "Yeah whatever. If that helps motivate you." I see now why he referred to him as a cute puppy in episode 8. Yuri has very little experience and dreams very high but in a way, that keeps him motivated to work his ass off and never doubt what he's being told to do.

... Huh. Another similarity with Twilight? (sans the lack of experience)

Yeah oh my god that's even scarier. The director thinks that catching Twilight is too much for Yuri, but he allows him that "illusion" because it motivates Yuri. Fuck. Disgusting.

You'd think that a household with a spy and an assassin living in it would be using their peephole a little more often. Instead Yor looks surprised to see Yuri at the door. Like I get how it needed to be this way for the show, but it's a funny concept XD

Their outfits are so cozy! I love how they use different shades of red for Yor. And a detail!

I love how every single piece of clothing Yor owns has rose-shaped buttons. It's like she has an unlimited supply of them in every colour and just replaces the normal buttons with them. I know it's for stylistic choice on Endo's part but it's a cute little headcanon to have XD

Anya <3 she doesn't understand and she's still freaked out by Yuri's obsession with Yor but she cares <3

And that's the thing! Anya cannot understand the intricacies of what's just happened. She just reads Yuri's mind and what she gets is "He needs comfort." And she offers it T_T

ACAB but that doesn't mean one can't be a sentimental bastard. You know?

The little heart on the moon ended me. What an episode!

Overall, I loved it, especially after writing down this analysis! Not much plot-wise but I really appreciated this look into the political situation and how all of it affects Yuri - and how there's a lot in him that can help him grow.

Oh, and reminder that I'm anime only, so please no spoilers from the manga 😁

[qqueenofhades]

How does one not feel hopeless during these times? I just turned 24, and news came out today that we're going to permanently fuck the climate in the early 2030s if nothing changes. And by the previous track record, nothing meaningful will change fast enough. I'm not ready to die and I don't want to think I'm part of humanity's last generation, but it's getting increasingly hard to think otherwise...

Welp. Okay. Here's a bit of food for thought.

First: I get it. I absolutely get it. I see those articles with headlines like "Why Civilization Will Collapse by 2040!!!!" and it's like, well, what am I even doing here? What is the point of my life and is it going to end in some Mad Max-style apocalypse? Why the fuck do the people who have the power to make major changes and/or stop their destruction of the planet just not care??? Why do they think there's another backup Earth out there??? THERE IS NOT!!! WE ONLY HAVE ONE PRECIOUS BEAUTIFUL PLANET AND YOU ARE RUINING IT MORE IN A HUNDRED YEARS THAN PEOPLE HAVE DONE IN ALL OF HISTORY!!! MOTHERFUCKERS!!! MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!

[Stand by for incoherent rage.]

After the rage phase often comes the despair and the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, which can be paralyzing and feel like there's nothing to be done. Which isn't true, but boy, it's hard not to feel like that. If you want to feel like you're doing something personally, there are ways to change your daily habits and to volunteer with earth groups and take part in protests or whatever. Maybe it won't solve everything everywhere all at once (ba-dump-tssh), but the core theme of that movie is learning to live anyway when things feel rotten and hopeless and like there's no more chance for a future and that you yourself aren't important. So there's that.

This isn't willful delusion or Pollyannaism. Things are bad and need to be addressed urgently, and while there isn't as much progress as anyone would like, it is still happening. And -- I want to emphasize this -- a lot of climate change activism, rightly or wrongly, relies on scaring YOU personally enough to feel that unless you do A,B,C,D etc right now, the world will end within 10 years. Fear is often a good motivator especially when people don't seem to be taking it seriously, but while climate scientists are issuing serious warnings about the changes we need to make, they often and repeatedly emphasize that it is NOT hopeless, and saying/acting like it is already inevitable and irreversible only benefits the people who stand to gain the most from the current status quo (i.e. billionaires and corporations and big polluters). There are things that can be done right now and progress that is already being made, so don't let that get lost. We used to hear a lot about the ozone layer -- now we don't. Why? Because we fixed that motherfucker! It's possible and it can be done.

Next: climate change is extremely unlikely to cause the widespread end of humanity, at least in my, your, or anyone currently alive right now's lifetime. Yes, extreme weather events will get more widespread and severe; yes, biodiversity is at risk in an unprecedented way, and there are plenty of reasons to wonder what the future global climate will look like and who it will affect the most. But we've already been living with the effects of climate change for decades, and we're still here. We are still building futures and living lives and all the rest of it, and while there are always things to worry about, it's not the case that this needs to be framed as an instant, imminent, apocalyptic, and unavoidable thing. The people who do put it that way are generally not the scientists actually working on the problem, and have a lot invested in scaring you and making you feel helpless to change anything, not just environmental and climate policies. Which isn't the case, so yes. Chin up, my dear. It may not always be okay, but it's still going to BE okay. If you know what I mean.

[nostalgia-tblr]

one of my general multifandom problems (and i accept that it's a me-problem) is that there's not many pairings where i usually want to read a lot fluffy fic about them. i don't know why that is, and i'm also not saying it's bad if other people do (because like i said there are pairings i want to read mostly fluff about), i'm just setting the scene here, okay?

so anyway, fanon lokius is really fluff-focussed (in both fic and discussion) and partly it's that there's been a point where someone's decided it's "the wholesome pairing" that's much healthier than "the selfcest" and leaving aside the issue of whether or not selfcest is Bad, it means (at least as i interpret this) there's a certain amount of fannish investment in there not being any darker or less wholesome side to lokius. it's a happy healthy loving zero-red-flags relationship in a good 99% of fandom takes. which is fine obviously (gosh i'm really disclaimering this one aren't i!) but i like the darker side and the "actually this was pretty fucked-up" readings so even though i am in theory interested in lokius, i'm not much into fanon lokius (which i'm sure people will tell me is canon lokius and i disagree there but whatever) much at all, to the point where i barely interact with that bit of fandom really.

it's like when you read meta about some pairing you just Do Not See and you're thinking "WTF is this? when did this happen? how did they arrive at this apparently common take that is new and confusing to me?" only i do see why people would be shipping them so i'm more like "yeah that bit was very shippy! they should kiss! no wait where does the torture fit into all of this? are we just not... well, that's fine i'm sure someone else has... no? oh okay."

so that's where i am on that one. i'm not mad i'm just disappointed. *locks you in a torture-loop until you're willing to agree with me* (*in a wholesome and very pure way obvs*)

[ebonysplendor]

I'm a Copycat Review 👯‍♀️

TL;DR: Declan is fucking nuts, and if you thinks that's fucking nuts, wait until you figure out the MC's back story because it's also, you guessed it, fucking nuts ... fuck.

Game Link: https://drcllemlon.itch.io/im-a-copycat

Notable Features: Side-image sprites, named MC, she/her MC, Yandere LI Spiciness: 1/5 -- Pretty wholesome, for the most part. A sex scene was implied and there's a suggestive-ish cg, but...meh, super tame LI Red Flags: 3.5/5 -- Gaslighter, animal abuse, stuck in the past, physically abusive

Want to know more? Well, let's get into it!

Yeah, I don't know why I dropped the "f" bomb so many times...? Well, anyways...

Okay, so, excitingly enough, this was actually a requested game! Not only was it requested, but it was requested by the dev themselves. Allow me to flex for a singular second or two.

No, like, deadass, can everyone just forget about the game for two seconds and focus on me? Like, I'm actually hype about this! I didn't have to go game hunting! The game hunted for me. THE DEV hunted for ME. I'm just mad excited about that. That being said, if you didn't know you could send me requests, now you know lol.

Anywho, so, the game!

Admittedly, this game was a lot better than initially expected? If you've read my reviews before, you know I'm conceited and want to be absolutely immersed and live out my sick, twisted fantasy by self-inserting. Unfortunately, this game isn't a self-insert, and the start was a lil' slow, not gonna lie, but like once shit started rolling? I no longer cared about the lack of self-insert because lmaooooo it got kinda wild.

There really is something so lit about a game that you're like "...Yeah, I don't think I'm feeling this" or "I don't think I'm going to vibe with this" but then you're suddenly super invested, and you're just sitting there like "What the hell is going on?!". I can honestly say that that was exactly what happened, and gods damn it, am I glad that I stuck around for the madness.

That all being said, I think the intro is long enough. Let's get into the game, because lowkey excited to tell you guys about it. As always, I will give you as much information as possible without actually spoiling it because you just may have to gotta, really, totally play this for yourself

So, boom.

We do the generic wake up in the morning feelin' like PDiddy thing and welcome the day with positivity. After admiring the sky for a little, we notice that there is that good breakfast smell in the air and rush into the kitchen, but not before putting on the glasses that our loving boyfriend always reminds us to wear -- don't wanna trip over any steps or anything like that haha ha... ANYWAYS!

Before we see the breakfast, though, we see the absolute snack that's in front of us. The snack is bae, and the bae's name is Declan. Look at this little cinnamon roll.

To go off topic for a bit, I've seen cuter/more hot LI's but this one got the "adorkably cute" aesthetic pretty good, because he is lol. He's a dorky cute, and frankly, it's fitting.

Anywho, so we exchange our good mornings, eat our breakfast, and help Declan clean, even though he's adamant that we don't have to. I mean, sure, we could've not helped, but what kind of partner doesn't help with household chores?! Nah, we're gonna help the bae! So, we do, and...we get hurt in the process. It hurts, and Declan's freaking out a bit, but we get patched up -- even though we're not bleeding or anything -- and life is all good again.

We get dressed, making sure to wear our super cozy jacket to make sure we don't get cold -- even though, we're never cold but Declan always insists that we are -- and get our day with Declan officially started, but not before this weird little quip happens.

See, Declan gets a call from work, right, and he's trying to explain to them that we still aren't well after our car accident. Apparently, it was pretty bad, and we got some kind of amnesia from it, so Declan took some time off work to get us reacclimated to...well, life, but corporate ain't trying to hear that and told him to bring his ass back into work, like, yesterday. So, Declan somewhat finesses it and is able to get an extra day, but he's super sad that he has to leave us, and the feeling is definitely mutual. No worries though! Why? Because we've still got two days, so why not just make the most of it while he's here with us! Until...he falls ill, that is.

So, us being the amazing girlfriend that we is, we take care of Declan like he's been taking care of us. After a little while, Declan just opts for sleep, and we let him do so. Sleep does help a lot when you're sick, after all!

Tending to ourselves, we try to make ourselves a fat bowl of totally not Lucky Charms, but Luck Jewels -- totally different, and not at all the same, so don't argue with or "@" me. Whether we're eating knock off Lucky Charms or a totally different cereal doesn't matter though because there's not really any of it left except the dust, not to mention we totally wrecked the shelf while trying to find something else to eat.

This is a bit of a problem because we don't have a screwdriver to fix the shelf, and we're still damned hungry! We don't really have any choice but to go to the store, but for some reason, Declan's really weird about us leaving the house since we're still struggling with amnesia and remembering how certain things work, let alone how to actually do it properly or so he tells us. So, we put on a brave face, get dressed, take some money from his wallet, and head on out!

While scoping out the supermarket, we make note of these really bomb cupcakes in the window of a bakery and make a note to visit another day, but right now, we're on a mission, and we must stay focused, my bois! As planned, we get in there, get our cereal and a screwdriver. Okay! So far so good! Well, our plan kind've diverged when we run into this girl, and...huh...

She damn sure looks...

...a lot like us. More than a lot, actually. She's pretty much an exact copy. Well, that's...slightly uncomfortable and extremely confusing.

Clearly, she's thinking the same thing about us because she kind've rushes out before we can think any more about it or even say anything to her about it. We decide to follow suit and rush home ourselves to fix the shelf and finally eat something! We messed up a little though because we had gotten hurt -- again -- and Declan isn't exactly wearing glasses for no reason; he immediately noticed. We handle it pretty well though through some innocence and tears, and Declan drops the topic as soon as it comes up. Everything is gucci, again, and we're able to move on with our day and go to bed like normal.

The next day rolls around, Declan goes to work, and we officially have the house to ourself and our trusted stuffed companion, Bruce. After some debate, we decide that today is the day we could go to that Bakery that we saw and get some of those cupcakes that we saw in the window. When we get there, something really odd happens.

The guy who works in the bakery is talking to us like he knows us, even going as far as to mention our dad. He starts trying to follow up with us and mentioned stuff about a break up, and this evil man, and someone named Mittens and...what the hell is this guy talking about?

So, of course, we're just standing there, because we came in for cupcakes, and this man just comes out of the woodwork with all this...information, and we don't know how to respond to any of it, but here's the even wilder part. Remember that doppelgänger we had saw yesterday? She's ends up coming into the bakery during all of this, and immediately, the man takes note of his mistake and allows us to go on our way. Like...what the hell was that?

Whatever though, we eat some of our cupcakes, hide the rest when Declan comes home, skip dinner (for obvious reasons), and get to bed. Fast forwarding a bit, we end up leaving out again, and we're feeling a bit adventurous and decide to buy some hair dye to color our hair like the girl that we saw because...well, we thought it was super pretty, and we wanted to be pretty, too, so it felt like the right thing to do lol. It...didn't come out well.

Like, at all. Aside from the absolute disaster that our hair came out to be, we have an even bigger worry: How is Declan going to react when he sees us?

Yeah, that's...what I thought.

Well, now...this is damned embarrassing, but still, Declan is our sweet and loving boyfriend! He loves us! Surely he wouldn't think it silly of us to want to dye our hair. Surely he wouldn't make fun of us for failing so miserably. Surely he wouldn't get angry that we snuck out to buy the hair dye. Surely he wouldn't get angry when he figures out that this wasn't our first time sneaking out. Surely he wouldn't lash out and turn into someone he isn't...

Surely not.

And that's all I'm going to tell you! Aht, aht! Don't make that face! You know that I (usually) never tell you about how a visual novel ends! You gots to play it for yourself if you want to know how it ends, and trust me, you're going to want to know. Just a tip, this isn't even the "true" ending, and believe me when I say...

It gets pretty wild.

Okay, so this game is actually pretty good!

Y'all know I wouldn't lie to you, even if a dev specifically asks me to review their game, and let me tell you, I was not feeling it at first. I honestly truly wasn't. The start was kinda slow, there was a side-sprite of the MC, and there wasn't an option to put your own name in. I was pretty bummed because one of the main things for me is the option to self-insert, so for me, the game was kinda doomed from the start, and I probably wouldn't have downloaded it if I was just scrolling along and saw this game on my own, but listeeeeeen.

The plot itself, while it's nothing super innovative or anything, it was pretty damn solid. I really want to tell you the specifics but it would literally ruin the game as a whole. Honestly, from the title and just what I told you, you can probably gather what's going on, but how everything goes down and the information that we find out and ultimately how it all ends is a bit wild.

It's not a super choice heavy game, but the choices that are available -- and pay attention because this is about to be a "pro not really pro but something I think would be helpful to point out" tip! -- are essentially options that dictate how the second half of the story goes and what points you to the "bad" ending, the "good" ending, and the "true" ending, so keep that in mind.

The only gripe I have about the game is that the title is kind've a dead giveaway as to what's going on, especially when you play through like the first couple "scenes" or so of the game. Other than that, it's a pretty good read! It definitely kept me interested despite it being more "novely" (if you read my other review, that's a word I use to describe visual novels that have a more linear story line). Not to mention, the art style was pretty damn adorbs, and I liked that there was a lot of different CGs. I haven't run across a visual novel yet that's had as many CGs as this one has, so that was definitely a welcomed change because...well, I like art/drawings lol. Like, look at some of these images!

Ugh, the amount of CGs just scratched my brain so correctly. I am a visual novel CG slut, I tell ya. Anytime there's a CG in a visual novel? I'm all over that shit. I love CGs. CGs for life. CGs forever.

Okay, that's enough gushing about the CGs...

ANYWAYS! That is my review of the game! Again, I thought it was a pretty solid read, and I recommend! It's free, so, what have you got to waste other than time? As per usual, I provide a link at the top, bottom, and within the review, and it is right here. Don't be shy! Go ahead click it, download it, play it, and share your thoughts on the dev's game page! Send them those lovely words of reassurance to let them know "Hey you! I liked your game, and I think you should make more!". As always, donations are super helpful as well, and if you want to be extra fancy, here is a link to the dev's tumblr page!

All righty! That's all from me this time around! Drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around~!

I'm a Copycat

[woogly-boogly]

people who are ok with spoilers or think that hating spoilers is unreasonable have clearly never felt the pain of searching you favourite character and the autofill says "death scene" or "betrays x character" or something.

one of my friends argues that if a spoiler ruins the story for you, then the story isn't strong enough anyway, and that if knowing what happens ruins the movie for you then by that logic rewatching it should be impossible.

now idk about you but i feel that the first time viewing a movie is a totally different experience to rewatching it. not knowing what's gonna happen provides a different kind of joy to seeing it for the third or fourth time. if it's my first time watching a movie but i know a specific character dies, i'm gonna be spending the whole movie waiting for that character to die. i can't help it. it's distracting and taints the experience. i don't have that problem when i've already seen the movie though because the difference is knowing everything that happens in the movie because i've experienced it, versus knowing nothing except one or two specific things because my idiot cousin couldn't keep his mouth shut or something.

i wouldn't have enjoyed The Cabin in the Woods half as much the first time if i'd known how it ended, but that doesn't mean i enjoy it less when i rewatch it. yes i'm still watching the same movie, but the context is totally different. choosing to experience a new story is not the same as experiencing it after having already seen it before. it's ALSO not the same as wanting to experience it and then being told something about it against your choice. the difference matters, to me at least.

it screws with the emotional impact too. i experienced a major character death in a game i was playing for the first time a few months ago but because i knew about it already, all i could think of was "man... this would've hit so much harder if i didn't know it was coming". that feeling sucks and i haven't played the game since. i want to, but the whole thing's kinda tainted.

as for the story being weak if spoilers are capable of ruining it... nah man books 8 and 9 of Skulduggery Pleasant are absolutely excellent storywise, but i know for a fact that if someone had told me about some of the major deaths before i read them for the first time, that would have RUINED it for me. when you're already invested in a thing it's easy to have your excitement for the next instalment ruined by "so and so dies!! hahaha you mad bro!!!"

they're called spoilers cause they spoil the damn thing lol

this isn't an invite to argue with me btw i am objectively correct and if you disagree you're literally the devil la la la i'm not listening la la la la la

[palialaina]

You know, it's always when I think it's going to be a calm time that I just get jumped by nonsense.

And honestly, I wasn't too impressed by Kenli when I met him, but this kind of tanked my whole opinion...

I get that he definitely doesn't feel qualified for the job, but... pushing your duties off on other people just because you can't bear to hurt someone is... you know.. kind of not okay.

Like, how was I supposed to be okay with telling Auntie Del about the taxes and taking away teh farm?! I had to make Dad come with me to help me say something!

And of course then we learned that Auntie Del's grandfather was a very smart man and that made things a lot less stressful, but also, Kenli really should have dealt with all of that himself instead of insisting I do it.

I should have told him to grow a spine, ugh. I really wish I knew how Kenyatta came from parents like Eshe and Kenli, because she's awesome, and they're... well. Not that great.

Dad said I was being a little harsh, but he did agree that Kenli should also have done his job, so like...

Feh.

Then I had to help Hodari get some iron, which wasn't so bad. Right up until Najuma popped by and told me the mine was haunted. Like, I don't think it is, but also, Najuma's a kid who lost her mom and her dad is... well, he tries, but he's really bad at actually hearing her.

So I told her I believed her, and went to talk to Hodari, again. He said it was just how dark the new tunnels in the mine were, so he had me gather up some lantern bugs to help brighten the passages some.

I'm pretty sure there's les... insect-murdery ways to do that, Hodari. I mean, I did it because like heck I'm going into a dark dark mine either! My eyesight is bad enough that I'd probably end up freaked out too!

I try to stop by Naj every time I'm out in Bahari, just so she knows she's not alone. Maybe I don't get the whole fascination with mining and explosives, but I know a lonely kid when I see one.

She did complain at me about the idea of Auni having a crush on her. Auni's way more invested in bugs and the Order, fortunately. It's a shame there aren't more kids around her age; being stuck together with someone just because you're the only two around can kinda suck.

With that nonsense out of the way though, I was finally able to get around to actually doing what I wanted at Bahari. So much useful beachcombing today, all the oysters! I still haven't caught the bottle with the sushi recipe in it (and I'm going to smack whoever tossed it into a pond around here...), but I did catch some other new fish with my very pretty fishing rod!

Oh, and Eshe was in a mood. Apparently Zeki jumped her (seriously Zeki? What the heck???) and then a chappa stole her money pouch. I have so many questions, but it took a ton of effort to just keep a straight face and be solicitous about it. I had to rush off before I just busted out laughing at her face.

She looked so mad! So huffy! I don't entirely get why she's telling me these things now, but it's weirdly nice to see that she's not... always Like That.

ANyways, after I decided I was going to try and improve my skills with my bow. I... am definitely not the best. It's really not my favorite thing (bug hunting is worse, but not by much), thought I understand why Hassian wants us to hunt the chappa. I swear, every time I shot one, at least four more of them scattered!

Hassian actually kind of saved me from getting my face kicked in too.

I was chasing a chappa, and a sernuk just came out of nowhere. And then so did Hassien! Just yanked me out of the way like it wasn't any big deal!

I had to give him something for it, I mean really. And I was carrying around some extra food to snack on, so I insisted he have some, and I think he even smiled a little!

...his smile isn't as nice as Jel's, but. Well. It's nice to see him smile period. Even though he said he was taking out misplaced anger on me, I still think he doesn't actually like many humans.

I can't really blame him, I guess, but it'd be nice if he was less... bitey.

Hm.

After that I decided I was doing going out and about, and just went home. I had to work on my house some more, and I think I'm close to actually having it just perfect~

I decided it made more sense to have the bigger room be the living room, and that was one heck of an adventure, getting all of that moved around and rebuilt, and I kind of wish I knew magic, because holy heck....

But now the house is better laid out, I think. I need a new couch, which means I have to gather a lot of plant fiber and silk, and I still need more iron (soooooo much iron), but after that, and I find a few more finishing touches, it's gonna be just perfect.

And I got to show both of my human friends around! Orion's still working on his house and he has no idea what he wants to do, so maybe I gave him some inspiration! Lark's still working on their set up too, but they both were really amazed at everything I've done. I had to point out that I emerged before they did, so I've had more time to make it this comfy.

They were both still impressed. It was a nice feeling.

And then Jel came to see me, since I had once again lost all track of time, and he admired my house too, and I think he was going to say something, but then he changed his mind and instead asked if I could help him muddle through a bout of artists block.

So I made him help me weed the garden! He went and used the guest tub after (I finally got a spared wardrobe in there, and some extra clothes too), and we had dinner, and then he beat me at chezzu again, and I told him almost everything I'd done recently, and he scolded me for being an insomniac, and I teased him about being exactly the same, and he's currently passed out in the slumber party room, so I think I won that one.

...I also think I'm going to drag my blanket off my bed and go snuggle with him. Just because I can.

[wheremermaidsdwell]

character bingus: sif, thor, loki, bruce hulk, any dnd ocs (as far as your circle of friends you dnd with), ariel, flounder,

i am blanking rn on any other fandoms you're in. (probably for the best tbh)

you went for it huh lol. love you.

under cut for length and also there is commentary

i don't think anything here is too surprising.

i don't think my opinions are too controversial within sif fans and my old rp account was closing in on 900 followers when i stopped so obviously the general public can't object too badly? I have had an occasional loki stan get mad tho. bite me.

the only valid sif ships are thorsif, sif/ladies, and sif/clint therefore fandom sucks because they barely think to try and ship her anyway and I gave up trying to find fic forever ago. I should write more. maybe there's sif/valkyrie now? idk. there should be.

you know I put maybe but I think my controversial Thor opinions are def a lot. AoU and Infinity War are Good Actually to his character, Taika doesn't know what he's doing and is a disservice to Thor, and Jason Aaron is a bag of limp dicks. Also making thor a joke in endgame was shitty and giving someone a child is not a way to fix them.

also th*rki sucks and I hate it

@thelaughingmagician also has valid Loki opinions. She is bae.

So. I like Loki. I hate Loki FANDOM. I like complex willing to be a villian loki not 'im a sob story wah wah' loki. He has layers! And some of those layers are absolute assholery and deception. more The Avengers Loki, less nonsense.

so it's a half on overrated because he is, overall, overrated, but in my preferred interpretation of Loki (the Right One) he is dreadfully underappreciated.

Also when I say he should be part of a dynamic I mean it's a crime we've never gotten a full thor/loki/sif convo because THAT is the shit I am talking about friends. Those three together is perfection when done right. understanding the balance is important. Not to even get into my thoughts on sif+loki frenemyship.

You know I do like Bruce but I’ve never gone far into fanwork for him. I had a really great one in my first marvel rp group who was super fun.

Still shouldn’t have been in Ragnarok tho ✌️ 

I am calling myself out here and doing her dirty bc I retired this character last year and while she was my first dnd character ever and I love her I also got frustrated and bored of her. My friends miss her which is why she's overrated - I could not be happier with my new girl.

she has the potential to come back if my current character dies or i really miss her, but I don't intend on it lol. She has visions of the future so me and the dm can go 'well she had a vision and had to come tell you' at any point (or just 'she missed you' but that's less fun than Danger)

I am dying to play more in our campaign bc i want to play her more and flex her skills. She got cut out from her guild, is trying to find a way to get some stability and safety so she can get her lover (a noble girl) back. If she doesn't get shanked by someone (I made sure to invest in con lol) maybe she'll get to have a happy ending where she gets rich, marries her girl, and blackmails nobles on her off time.

Ariel is perfect. Next question.

Chubby, nervous, loyal. #relatable

I have more tabletop characters but no one wants all of them so I gave the two from my main dnd campaign. I play Ars Magica, Shadowrun, and Call of Cthulhu too.

[tim-hoe-wan]

(Before I start yes I'm just a casual fan of harry) I think the issue of harries is that they thought you're going to say that harry has no interest in women and like that he's forcing himself into hooking up with them to escape from his sexuality and secretly hate women haha, so that's why he never committed to the women who were he likely dated bc he didn't actually attracted to them, and they also say he's very hot man. Anything else than admit that he's just a credited fuckboy who can't be loyal 💋👍🏽

Also I believe harries insanely project into him, from their own attraction to only gender, to imaginary perfect prince charming who loves his one and only princess. I wonder if they ever notice their weird behaviors? Becoz they blame to one another about projecting on him. When they're both wrong anyway!!

I too have to blame his team to making him a blanket state AND ☆internet boyfriend☆

That's why you will always see: why he doesn't date a guy? Why he doesn't date a girl in 2000s? Why he doesn't date a black? Why he doesn't date a plus size? Why he doesn't date a granny? Why he doesn't date a south American? Why he doesn't date normie? Why he doesn't date a hamster? Why he doesn't date an Asian? ..... trust me I'm Asian, I would never appreciate it if he dates my people like that's a part of his job; He own people nothing. His fans are so invested in his Personal&Dating life that his team should be ashamed of themselves, if he didn't have Gp's support, he would be 100% bigger flop than other dudes in 1d. I hope his team changes the promating antics and shift the focus on his Music career. Sorry it was too long, I'm annoyed I only want to hear about his music and see his live shows

I don’t even want to learn anything further from harries. I am exclusively only listening to my circle about the deal with Harry. Before all this tumblr anons I always just graze over the Harry topic. My only statement will be:

Every LA and London highstreet girlie knows he’s been with men and women. That means he isn’t forced to date women, that also means he can be into men at the same time.

My friends have been almost totally unanimous haylor and holivia were mostly or pure pr

No matter how much hate you send me, same people confirmed hendall dated

Even if I show you unseen photos throughout the years of Harry and whomever (which I have not saved cause those really are just for the gc), you guys already believe what you want to believe end of day. It’s not even about theorizing, you guys take your opinion as facts and get mad at me if I don’t agree with your version of reality.

I am not his fan. And I don’t care end of day what he chooses to do in his private time.

[throwaway-yandere]

You know what, I think purple friend is better. Imagine if you ate a whole bulb of garlic instead, white friend wouldn't really sit wellPFFT

*snaps fingers* I forgot I sent that sketch, I was so focused on my wife's birthday - OMAYGHAD I'M SO SORRY IT LOOKS SHIT I HAVEN'T DRAWN IN A YEAR ALDHEOELWND BUT WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE OUT OF RICE, YOU JUST BOUGHT SOME DAYS AGO

Wait yes sorry it looks horrible, I also should have asked first so I would know how much gender envy you wanted pfft - why are we investing our stocks on the man we want dead? - looking at your persona just mad me notice the really cool second set of eyes detail! Anyways that was fun, I die everytime I remember it

Wish ko-fi had Gcash connected so I can make you eat more onions too, it's healthy for you! Stop rEMOVING IT FROM YOUR PLATE, WHAT ABOUT ONION RINGS HUH

heck yeah!!! so cool that someone noticed that i have two pairs of eyes lololol (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)!!!! My train of thought when creating the internet persona was

"It needs to have glasses and it has to look androgynous as much as possible just like irl me... It's supposed to be a reflection of myself so how do I make this persona look as dumb as I am... I'm dumb af, even if I have two pairs of eyes I still wouldn't see any red flags that's why I'm running a yandere blog– oH LET'S MAKE THEM HAVE RED GLASSES SO THEY WOULDN'T NOTICE ANY RED FLAGS HAHAH–"

Honestly... I have no idea why I'm investing in this company– probably just for Alice lmao other than that I don't want wanna beef with Alhaitham everyday–

AND HEY HOW DARE YOU YOUR DRAWING IS GREAT:

ajdjaoa also pls good lord don't send me anything unless i could pay it back ysiakdkwoaoa aND NO I WON'T EVER STOP REMOVING THE ONIONS– onion rings and garlic bread are gucci tho– bUT OTHER THAN THAT NO I REFUSE–

Edit: ALSO SHT FORGOT TO MENTION: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR WIFE BY THE WAY 💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐

[renegadesfics]

Omg so sorry for falling asleep on ya last night 😂 But now I'm up and I'm having my coffee and trying to remember all my questions. Okay so

1- how do the adults feel about all this? I feel like Wayne is either completely disinterested or like mad as hell at the reader.

2- What about the Hellfire kids? In that lil snippet Mike seems annoyed but he's also a like 14 year old boy and puberty could just be hitting him like a brick so idk

3- why is reader driving around with no heat in their car????? It's about to be winter in Indiana it's gets below 0° easily get that shit fixed omfg

4- what has Eddie been doing for the months they've been apart? Just sitting in the house being a sad boy? Kissing other girls? Kissing other boys? Or is he like completely love sick and writing the worlds greatest emo anthems on his guitar.

5- ARE THEY GONNA GET BACK TOGETHER????? THEY LOVE EACH OTHER 😭😭😭

6- even if they do get back together what happens after the holiday when reader goes back to school???????

I'm just honestly so invested in this storyyyyyy. It's so well written and genuinely interesting. You're such a good writer. The way you say so much with so little dialogue. I am in awe at your skills, truly.

Oh god! No reason to apologize at all, I'm so glad you got sleep, that shit's like... super important!! Thank you for coming back and continuing the conversation, that's so sweet!! Okay, but onto your questions:

This definitely gets addressed in either part 3 (edit: posted just recently!). In part 4 or after, we may also get reader's parents' take on the whole scenario. Can't keep your personal life very secret in a small town, it seems.

That part's already done, actually, and while I feel like I struggled a bit to capture the kids in fully robust 3D, I also recognize that this is reader's first time interacting with them and First Impressions are a thing. They may pop up more in later parts, I haven't totally settled that one yet. (I’ll give you this much, reader definitely likes at least some of them.)

The heating was just a funny little quirk that I added in the beginning when it was all only going to be one part. It was a like, a throwaway one-liner I had tossed in just to add some depth to the character? But now I'm thinking it's probably something they should get looked at before they leave Hawkins.

I will just go ahead and put out there that I fully 100% invest in the concept of queer Eddie Munson. The personal interpretation of that queerness is up to any one person and how they see it, and I'm not here to police anyone else's perspectives on that. I, however, do interpret him as somewhere on the Bi/Pan side of things. (As a bisexual woman, this could just be me projecting.) Strictly speaking, this isn't relevant to the plot, but you kind of hinted at it with your question and I just wanted to take a second to talk about it. Anyway, my plan is definitely to get a little bit more into how Eddie spent the months reader was gone, but I'm not totally certain when that'll happen.

That's the big question, isn't it? Can't provide much by way of specifics here without big spoilers.

Unfortunately, I also can't give a whole lot away on this one because... I mean, y'know. Have to keep you hooked somehow. But I do plan on at least kind of answering this before I wrap the entirety of TtDS up!

Thank you again for your interest in the series and engaging the way you have!! It means so much and I'm so grateful to have people enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Maybe in a slightly selfish way, I love talking about it. So. Anyway, hope I answered your questions as best as I'm able to at the moment and hope you enjoy what's coming!!

[oldarticles]

College vs. Real College

by Jake Hurwitz

Like many of you, I grew up watching Saved by the Bell, Boy Meets World, and (don't tell anyone) Dawson's Creek. Those shows taught me all I knew about relationships, family problems, and, as years passed without network cancellation, college life. Well, you can imagine my disappointment when I moved into my dorm freshman year only to discover that the college life portrayed on television during my youth was not even remotely similar to real college life. Allow me to explain:

Saved by the Bell: First of all, the fact that Zack got into UCLA without ever doing any homework (aside from that project he did with the Native American that one time) just because he got a good SAT score is ridiculous, but I won't even get into that. Zack moves in to his dorm with A.C. Slater and Samuel "Screech" Powers. Talk about a stroke of luck! Who saw that one coming?! As freshmen, Zack and the guys had a sweet common room, complete with a kitchen, which connected them to one Miss Kelly Kapowski and her two hot roommates, Leslie and Alex. My freshman year I lived in a 12 by 10 cinderblock cell with a strange Indian kid who had a nasty Hot-Pocket addiction and rampant body odor. There was no common room connecting our room to the room of three gorgeous women. Instead, we had a hallway with a puke-stained carpet connecting our room to the R.A.'s room - who, by the way, was not an awesome ex-football player named Mike but a tiny computer nerd named Barry. Yeah, my first day on campus was a let-down, and it only went downhill from there.

Boy Meets World: Just like Cory, Eric, Topanga, Sean and Angela, I applied to Pennbrook University. Sadly, I didn't get in, but not because of my low G.P.A. or because of a lack of extra curricular activities. No, I'd say the biggest determining factor in my not being admitted was that Pennbrook doesn't exist. That's probably the reason my spell check has it underlined in red right now. Anyway, as if that wasn't bad enough, I was totally thrown off when I went to my first class and didn't see my favorite teacher from high school standing at the front, ready to throw some sweet life lessons my way. What the hell, Mr. Deck? Mr. Feeny followed his students from school to school. I know change is difficult, and you might be missing that PhD, but, dude, get with the program. I mean, what am I supposed to do if Topanga gets mad at me? Or what if Angela wants to move to Europe for a year with her Dad? I can't solve problems like this on my own!

Dawson's Creek: That's when I started thinking, why should I even go to college? Pacey didn't go and he did fine. He was an investment banker, and later in the very same season, a chef. Those things sound like stuff I can do without ever getting any sort of actual training, right? So I put on a suit and went out there and gave it a shot. Amazingly, no brokerage houses or five-star restaurants hired me after my interviews. I did everything Pacey did; grew the goatee, drove a cool vintage car, even tried to use unnecessarily big words in my sentences"; unfortunately my math knowledge is at or below third grade level, and I don't know how to use a calculator. The chef thing didn't go too well when they discovered my culinary skills were limited to making Easy-Mac, and even that comes out a little watery sometimes".

What I'm trying to say is that college is not like TV. You're not going to bang Joey Potter, Topanga or in Zack's case - whoever the hell you want. Your teachers aren't gonna be Mr. Feeny or Professor Lasky (Thanks IMDB!). And you're gonna have to work hard to excel in life, my friend. But there is one upside that TV didn't tell you about. There's tons of alcohol to drink and crazy drugs to do in college, way more than any TV shows let on. So have a ball! Cut loose! Get fucked up! Hey, maybe Topanga will pass out and you can feel her boobs.

[edge-oftheworld]

ever find a good blog or fan creator you think is really good and then scroll back and find they were a bitch and a troll to sierra and kaykay and probably crystal back in like 2018 and pushing a narrative that was obviously false and made no effort to redeem themselves or take down any of it? like i don't hold grudges, not usually, but some extremes are unacceptable and do cause harm to the people in question and like. the people you're in the fandom for too

and so in my classic style i am mad when i see that but some weird glitch in my brain turns that energy into compassion so here's my attempt at a reasonable understanding take. on my quest to be actually neurodivergent affirming, and my take of musicians being healthcare workers: pretty universally, we take music in when we're feeling unseen, lonely, struggling, we find songs we relate to, we get invested in the people who make them who we relate to through their songs and other content they share, the nature of the parasocial relationship means the love we give is never reciprocated personally only collectively. and there's a bit more creative license to fill in the gaps of things they don't share in the pictures of them in our heads than when with real people: real people will call you out on your bullshit or disappoint you by not being that fantasy and so someone will leave. anyway

in an ideal world we all find our tribe who understand us and we all grow in our understanding of ourselves and other people and we facilitate them finding that social capital too, we share it around. but in the meantime and in real life more generally music and parasocial relationships help get us through the times we don't have that. they can also inspire us to find it for ourselves and other people (why do you think i'm here seriously guys) and i can't overstate how much this saves lives. lives and relationships and careers and life goals and it sounds triumphant when i say it like that, and it is.

but the truth is it's messy, sometimes it is quite literally surviving til the next show. living for the next bit of content. and sometimes brains don't get it right and it's easy for youuuuuuuuuuu to say if it's not something you struggle with JUST BE RESPECTFUL and i want to. i really want to because if someone is so convinced their take is true and they NEED to express that, but it's hurting people, really defaming, invalidating, bringing down their confidence, causing lasting hurt. it does need to stop.

but it's not necessarily helpful to the struggling fan to just say 'stop that', you need some way to meet that need. and most of the time we don't have that. we don't have comprehensive mental health services, they're still pretty basic, monocultural, as good as they are, access is still shit, supply and demand do not equalise. and then all you have is music. and so i don't know where everyone is coming from. but i can guess and i can have compassion. like i get it. i feel responsible for making the world a little better and helping help get where it needs. because it's gonna help protect the people who are being hurt by this because it's really happening. for celebs it's a massive problem. for their partners who may or may not be famous in their own right (it doesn't matter either way brings its own struggles) too.

they're giving us music to get us through shit and how do we repay them? sure with a good decent (if insecure) amount of money if they're popular enough. but also with this behaviour that no matter what the complex suffering and neurobiology going on behind it is, they (celebs) have no obligation to be understanding about it. they should not have to go through any of it to begin with. it's like. being traumatised for offering some help? i know there are good stories that outweigh this but i do truly think we especially have to be kind to their partners who might get less of that direct benefit and more of the hate. we need to believe what our artists say and if they're lying to us for some reason or another, that's their business.

and while i'm on the topic of that and neurodivergent affirming takes I did just want to say: open your mind to different ways of expressing different kind of affection, platonic, romantic, sexual, and know all of these can come incompletely and have blurry boundaries and there are a million reasons if there was potential for a relationship (whether or not in any case there is/was is none of our business) someone might not choose to pursue it, which are also none of our business. and each of these kinds of love might look different with everyone's brain too: if there are labels for why they're not our business unless we're told, and yes, sometimes it will look like one thing to us but not to everyone because everyone is different and experiences these things differently. like of course you can ship them! but you can do so while maintaining an open mind to what they're actually experiencing and learning from and discovering how they explain it in their own words not trying to gaslight them on the internet or worse to actually sabotage any relationships that don't suit your agenda. just stick to your fanfics and put them on registered users only (and also don't tell a celeb to read fanfics about them or another member of their item. there is so much sensitive stuff at play here).

all this stuff isn't 'oh you're not a proper fan if you don't do this perfectly'. it's about reducing harm to us as fans and to our beloved artists and their loved ones and just keeping trying to grow and be better people in this vein every day. admitting we're struggling and we fucked up sometimes and actually making an effort to do better and to fix things. I think all of this is one of the most authentic things we can do as a fandom: never give up on that. be motivated to do what these artists are doing you know? it's dynamic, it's fun, we've all been through some shit together and we're all coming out of it and we're going to be kind.

[lunarscaled]

"Ya mad at me?" He is grinning.

@despairforme

"Mad? Why would I be mad?"

-> But despite the exaggerated fake shock in their tone, so soured under the too much sweetness it could be a tart candy, their tail gives a heavy and uncharacteristic snap against the ground. It doesn't mean anything, of course---Lyric could stomp around and crack rocks and throw a fit all they wanted, but none of it would hold a candle to Nnoitra's strength any time soon, and so their options of true recourse are limited. Their arms cross tightly over their chest, snug around their ribs, and they turn their head away from his sardonic grin with a Hmpf! sound as their tail gives another displeased thump.

"I assume this is about Gita, if you cared to get her name, but I'll have you know I'm well past it."

-> Their tone somewhat belies otherwise, but they aren't raising their voice and they aren't taking on an intonation above querulous at best. They know the only way to play this game is to not play at all ( see: allowing their good natured frustrations about the treatment of their friend to get to them ) and they must gently remind themselves that Nnoitra is not Tesla. The banter carries far more weight if they irritate him, and far less empathy if they bore him, so they attempt to keep it in check. They have easily had this conversation out twice over with Gita herself, anyways.

"I was just invested in the well treatment of my friend, even if she said otherwise. But you're both adults, and who am I to fuss at her like a mother hen for her selections."

-> But they don't uncurl themselves, and it doesn't stop their tail tip from twitching in the remaining frustration that Gita does not care as much for gentleness as Lyric would like her to. A lady of death to the bone, her decision was true to form, even if Lyric didn't understand it.

"So, no, I'm not mad at you. Not that I could do anything even if I was."

[infinitelycomplexpuzzles]

// Dr. Ocktoid makes a much better ooc face for displeasure than spider tsum, tbh

anyway, I am glad that women in comics can now express more than just lust and envy

that's good, we've expanded what they're allowed to feel, I'm glad for that, we've really made progress since the 90s

that said, I am still upset that we've not yet allowed women in comics to express gluttony except as a joke

I mean, lbr, it's good we've added diversity in comics. That's a real positive! not so good all characters in comics share one of four body types though. It's pretty tiresome when you see it.

Also! what the fuck is with every character either having kids or losing kids

this is like how all the characters that came around in the 90s and 2000s now are old gruff dad characters, because their target audience is late 50s guy who wishes his kids didn't hate him, apparently???

you cannot just insert children into situations to make your emotions more now that you're no longer allowed to fridge love interests, writers!

Yes, I am mad that they decided the best use of MJ is to have her adopt kids in another dimension and then lose them over the course of like two issues and expect that to be big and dramatic when we the audience haven't gotten a chance to feel anything for them

also, way to just have characters break up randomly marvel! nothing says 'care about our writing' quite like telling the audience that nothing is worth investing in!

[yinses]

B R A N D E D

| he would make sure that everyone knew who you belonged to |

tattoo artist! sukuna ryomen

rating: t

a/n: this is going to be a three part series. it got too long because i couldn’t shut up. thank you to @teoran for beta reading !! 

you should have never informed yuuji that you were thinking about getting a tattoo, because of course his first response would be hey, sukuna owns a shop. why don’t you stop there. as if you didn’t already known that. your other friend, unfortunately had not known how to be subtle about it.

its when you go to hand off your card that they gasp audibly, drawing the attention of both yourself and the woman behind the counter.

“you’re not going to ask for a discount? i mean you know the owner, right?”

she jumps back quick enough to dodge the errant elbow you throw her way.

you knew you would regret telling her.

the woman is undeterred as she take your card, looking bored with the news. “so you know sukuna, huh?” the way she said it implied that it wasn’t the first time it had been made known to her.

you had known the man long enough to know where her thoughts were going with that assumption. sukuna wasn’t only popular for his art. a shudder rolled through your body at the idea of being categorized as one of his flings.

it wasn’t as though you were intentionally shaming the women. but it was sukuna. the same guy who locked you and his younger brother out on the patio whenever he was meant to keep an eye on you. and then blamed you for hiding from him when the responsible adults got home.

in hindsight, maybe you should have chosen another location. but now your card has been charged.

you scribbled your signature on the receipt, “uh yeah, awhile now. im not requesting him or anything.”

“his appointment book is full anyway. he doesn’t take walk ins.” its not said snidely, just matter of fact. as if she was seasoned with dealing with these kind of customers.

the man of topic strides in then, carrying a few bags of take-out that he drops carelessly onto the counter. he doesn’t m look unlike any other day, a loose white sleeveless shirt with a low hanging v-neck that just invited attention to his skin. the swirls of black ink made permanent by his hand only. though that was the advantage of this field and owning your own business on top of it.

sukuna was prepared to ignore the clientele planted at front desk, until he did a double take. those vermilion eyes took you in, morphing from speculation, to shock, a pinch of awe, then back to postulation.

“what are you doing here?”

a small frown mars you face. you didn’t actually consider that perhaps sukuna wouldn’t want you here. it was one thing to know the guy, but whether you wanted to accept it or not, you weren’t just another customer. so you unsurely respond with, “getting a tattoo?”

the snort he gives isn't one of annoyance. in fact its almost comforting to see the minuscule curl of his lips until they start to part, “yeah, missing something aren’t you?”

you realize with a frown that he’s referring to his brother.

“i have other friends.”

that slow smile wides as he gives your friend a brief look of appreciation. suddenly all those years of witnessing him cart his flings around rise to the forefront of your mind.  really nothing rarely changed. “ i can see that.”

his gaze cuts back to you, “what are you getting? your boyfriends name?”

you cant tell if he’s teasing, fishing or a combination of them both.

he turns to lean over the counter, arms flexing at the action and pinches the fresh design still hot from the printer. you resist the urge to shuffle in place as he inspects the image with more interest than there were lines. it was hardly all that complex, just as you intended.

sukuna finally voices his opinion, to no surprise of your own. “yeah? kind of small isn’t it?”

“its my first sukuna,” you drawl.

you realize too late that the wording isnt best around him.

“no kidding.”

he tugs a styrofoam box free from the plastic bag before gesturing to you with a tilt of his head.

“alright, lets knock it out.”

you look to the woman expecting her to complain about his pending appointments but she only returns it with a pointed look. when it came down to it, what the boss wanted goes.

right then.

turning, you address your friend who seemed more invested in watching sukuna’s departure. “are you coming?”

her gaze snaps to you and she doesn’t even bother to pretend. she shrugs, “you may not be squeamish about needles but i am.” her hand waves vaguely towards the lounge area near the coffee station and stack of assorted snacks. “i’ll come running if you scream though,” she teases as you turn down the hall.

sukuna’s voice carries from the right in guidance where you find him setting his food off to the side. the room is neat. though you don’t know what you were expecting given the health expectations lining his work. then again, you’d spent the better part of the decade watching him cart week old pizza boxes out of his room so it was hardly a baseless assumption.

aside from the desk of tools and variety of inks the only other defining feature was the wall at the back. there was no rhyme or direction to the madness. the once white wall was littered with varying penmanships and messages. almost like an autograph book. some derogatory, others genuinely thankful for his work - you think you see a few numbers too.

the cushion of the seat protests under his weight as he rolls to the center of the room. he has the stencil of your chosen art held up in expectation.

“where is this pretty little thing going?”

“oh my rib- here on the right.” you think nothing of bringing up the hem of your shirt to expose the skin just under the curve of your breast.

he almost looks impressed, though there is some doubt. he wheels closer and gives no warning as his hand palpates the area. “over the bone? that’s daring for your first tattoo, princess.”

the name was nothing new, an accompaniment to yuuji’s ‘brat’.

part of you actually grateful that its sukuna. the entire shop had good reviews but it was best known for his talent. besides, the charge was already sitting on your card.

“i can handle it.”

he’s still squinting at your side, fingers tickling at your skin.

“yeah?” he answers absently. nimble digits you didn't think had any taste for delicacy carefully peel the plastic from the stencil. he doesn’t second guess himself in the slightest before pressing it to your skin.

when he pulls away, the chair follows him as he collects a hand mirror from his desk to reflect the design back to you.

“double sure?” he’s still rallying your resolve, but there is a hint of warning to his voice as professionalism seeps in.

with a firm nod you seal the deal,” yeah.”

“aright, pin up your shirt out of the way. tuck it into your bra if you want.”

you were expecting this already, given the location you’d decided on. with sukuna that action comes effortlessly without thought. it was no different than the times he’d seen you in your bathing suit, your brain reasoned. at least you still had your pants this time.

sukuna rests back into a lean against his small desk. absently you note that his eyes haven't left you once since you’d entered the room.

“eager little thing aren't you?”

but its sukuna.

you shrug.“ i guess. kind of been saving up for this one.”

the noise he makes is non-committal as he nods to the angled chair.

without your shirt there was no barrier between yourself and the leather. you expected the cold chill but the lack of stickiness kind of surprised you. once again you were reminded of the indisputable list of reviews at your fingertips.

sukuna goes about collecting the materials to disinfect your skin, angling the bottle and cotton over the trash can to catch the excess drops. satisfied with the saturation, he slides back.

you try to absorb the brief shock you feel when he applies the alcohol to your skin. it was hardly a substitute for actual bracing to come but it was good practice. when you look up, you catch his gaze again.

he’d been more observant in these last few minutes than you could ever recall sukuna caring before. maybe it was the job. though the thought of him excelling at customer service has you fighting a snort.

“cold,” you supply and he gives another grunt.

he chucks the cotton ball into the trash with all the efficiency of a man who has made a sport out of it and probably keeps score.

deciding on a solid color eliminated the need for him to break away to change shades, eliminating any surplus time keeping you in this chair.

a gloved hand braces your side, pinching the skin, while the other holding the gun rests against your sternum. when the motor starts you take a careful breath in. sukuna’s eyes raise at the sound.

“not nervous?”

you blink, expecting him to just get to it.

“uh, not really? i’ve never really been afraid of needles.”

he pauses. just when you part your lips to ask what wrong the buzzing starts.

its impossible not to tense at the first bite of the needle. but you fight the urge to jerk. it stings. the vibration of the motor is uncomfortable against your ribcage but it's not unbearable. you certainly wouldn't cry.

sukuna seems to notice it as well.

“not going to lie thought you’d be more of a cry baby? weren't you the one sobbing after you stubbed your toe.”

you latch onto the idle chatter even if it's a jibe.

“i was eleven and i sprained that toe.”

he gives you a quick glance. “sure, princess. completely called for the waterworks.”

you snort. “yeah well it made me stronger. im barely affected today.”

your words are followed by a shift of his hand as it turns to follow a line, the movement pressing firmly against the underside of your breast. you're too attentive to the needle pinching at your skin to take notice.

but sukuna does, eyes narrowing without your awareness.

“yeah, i can see that.”

rather than closing your eyes to block out the pain, you find a more comforting distraction in tracing the lines of his tattoos with your gaze. you can hardly make out the first tattoo he’d gotten at the age of seventeen after forging his parents signature. 

the abstract design had now branched out, interlocking with new styles to map out the formation of a sleeve. it was almost like his own branded language. a dialect of bold shapes and bands. you’d never thought to actually ask what his tattoos meant. nor did you expect an honest answer.  

sukuna works rather quickly and efficiently while your mind wandered. even if he hadn’t squeezed you in during his lunch break this felt like the usual pace for him. he looked so in the zone as he followed the pre-made lines to perfection.

you weren’t the model customer, still having your brief moments of weakness but he rolled with the interruptions better than you expected. sukuna was brash growing up and didn’t tolerate nonsensical people. you’d had your fair share of opportunities to be chewed out by him.

and earned a reasonable amount of them, though your returning attitude said otherwise.

but this sukuna was softer, if you could put it like that. he knew the right time to give you breaks but didn’t let your nerves settle too much. when he wasn’t adding a layer to permanency to your skin, an errant finger would smooth over the swelling flesh.

more than once you heard him throw out a quiet good girl. that you knew was meant to be encouraging but it came with additional implications that tickled your skin.

he tells you that you should be grateful that the artwork doesn’t need any shading. that it was never a good fit for beginners.

your chest expands the furthest it had in the last half hour when he finally rolls back.

“alright, princess, go ahead and take a look.”

you take the offered mirror again and angle it to take in the fresh piece. the reflection you get back is- amazing. you’d been so concentrated?? on micromanaging the pain that you failed to take in the little details he’d added along with the original design.

as if reading your thoughts, he snorts. “it's not my art if i don't leave my mark. you can tell me it looks good you know.”

if you didn't know any better, you’d say he was authentic in his attempt to bait your approval.

and you had no reason not to provide.

your legs are a little shaky but you manage to balance yourself before brining the eldest itadori into a hug. sukuna goes stiff for a moment before returning the embrace and doesn’t resist when you press your face into his shoulder. there’s an awkward pat before they release each other from the hold.

sukuna .. before he’s shrugging you off.

“god, what a noob. at least let me cover it up. you’re going to irritate the skin.”

when he turns back to rummage through his desk you note the hint of a flush creeping up his nape. you know better than to mention it, instead just smiling at his back.

there is a scowl on his face as he applies the cotton square to your skin and tapes it in place.

“please do not itch this shit. i don’t care if you feel like your skin is going to fall off.”

he presses a small tube of antibiotic into your hand.

“and apply this daily. you don't need it drying out. “

you’re grateful for the little slip of printed instructions that follow. you were able to remember the sensible directions but it couldn't hurt to have additional guidance when you started to question the progress.

“oh and no sex.”

that was definitely not on the list.

sukuna raises a brow in all seriousness. “what? if you get your blood pumping too much.”

you call him on his bullshit,” this small? hardly. “

he raises his hands in mock surrender. “alright, try it yourself if you want. i charge for touch ups though.”

the two of you size each other up. just like old times.

with a sigh you relent, “fine, no sex.”

“good, see me in two weeks.”

his words stop you short. it wasn’t as if you needed anything added and he wasn’t a physician checking on your progress. if anything, you would only revisit your artist if there was a problem.

“what for?”

the dawning grin would follow you for the next fourteen days.

“to make sure you didn’t have sex.”