#i wasnt expecting this to get THIS big lmao

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

LOL I hope Dogday and Catnap end up together after all the typical romantic comedy shenanigans!

How did Dogday get feelings for Catnap? I bet it was hard once Catnap went off the deep end…but did he ever feel the same about him before? I imagine they were both at least pretty good friends at one point…

:3

Dogday and Catnap were close since before they were turned into toys. I think kid Dogday (Im considering naming him Oskar) would protect Theo from bullies, and was worried sick when he just dissapeared one day. When they turned into toys, both Dogday and Catnap continued to be sort of close to each other. Catnap was isolated from the other Smiling Critters, and it was Dogday who would drag him to interact with everyone! I think this is when the mutual crush first started. Dogday saw a kind-hearted and shy friend who genuinely wanted to connect with others, while Catnap saw a ray of sunshine dragging him out of his misery corner in order to have him make friends with others.

For Dogday, Catnap was just everything he needed during that time: Someone who listens and is kind, not demanding much from him, much less getting mad at him for not doing things right. Catnap helped calm him down, and Dogday, touch and attention-starved, just caught himself suddenly developing an innocent crush on his best friend.

However, after the Hour of Joy, Catnap spent some time hiding with the Prototype as he taught him how to hunt. When he came back to the Playcare, he had changed. Hardened. He wasnt little Theo anymore, just like how Catnap wasnt little Oskar anymore. One became a hunter, the other, a leader. They clashed many times with Catnap wanting to go after other toys and the Smiling Critters not wanting to kill for their own survival. And when Catnap's religion became bigger than his own logic and morality, the two fell apart.

Below the cut are my thoughts on how their relationship went during the decade and after Angel rescued them!

Catnap did attack some of the Smiling Critters and he did tore off some of their limbs to feed the mini critters and himself. It was either that or starve, at least in his POV. Him crucifying Dogday consisted of him almost begging poor Oskar to quit with his morality and join him and Prototype. He wanted Dogday to listen, and he wanted to be together with his best friend, but tearing someone's stomach and legs off isnt the way to make them listen to you talk about how the guy who put everyone into this mess is the one and only true savior and god.

After Angel arrives at Playcare and saves not only Dogday but Miss Delight and even some of the mini critters, Catnap's world view start to shift, esp with how Angel treats him. "What happened to you?" is one of the first things they say to him, and Catnap, lonely and away from his dad/god and any company asides from the mini critters, just inevitably ends up getting attached to who he now sees as a messiah. This only gets worse after Angel saves Catnap's life.

Dogday... Oh, my poor baby. He DESPERATELY wanted Catnap to quit with the Prototype bullshit and just listen to him. They can hunt others, yes, but they shouldn't be cruel about it. They can confront the Prototype about putting them into this situation, they can leave Playtime Co, they can do anything, but please please please just LISTEN to him and STOP TALKING ABOUT THE PROTOTYPE AS IF HE'S A GOD. Dogday is ready to kill Catnap if necessary during Angel's time at Playcare, mind you, he just doesn't want to do that. And when Catnap is saved, guess who helps Angel treat his wounds? Yup, it's our big puppy.

Dogday feels guilt from letting his friends die, and feels anger at Catnap for helping with their deaths and for crucifying him. He wants Catnap to do better, but he feels like he lost him and will never get him back. And his happiness at seeing Catnap helping Angel is only for a moment, as he realizes Catnap just changed his god for Angel to fit the label.

After they confront Prototype and they leave the factory for good, they're both kind of lost. Catnap deep down knows neither Angel nor Prototype are gods, but what else are they for being able to survive such circumstances? And for Dogday, what else is there in the outside world, now that he feels more alone than ever before because his mind isn't busy with surviving anymore?

And then, BAM, every single Smiling Critter was actually alive. They're both shocked but happy at this, and begin to rekindle their relationship as they both agree that they're the only ones who can actually protect both their old friends and the newfound family they have. Their relationship at this point is two traumatized young adults trying to protect what they have of hope, still getting out of the survival instincts and way of life. They bicker a LOOOOT, but since day 1 from escaping they have sometimes slept next to each other because that's the only way they can fall asleep. They have so many conflicts but they are so much about each other in a way only they can truly understand (and also us but we don't count because we're just readers and players lmao).

With enough weeks passing by, and with enough long nights of these two being close and even playing with each other because they missed the other so much, they start talking. Untangling the mess. Catnap did apologize to Dogday when they were still inside Playtime Co, ofc, and he and Dogday had a moment when they saw the Sun for the first time since they were young children, but two conversations aren't enough to fix +5 years of hurt.

I think the mutual crush smacks them both in the head at the same time during the, like, third month of living with Angel. Sillies gotta be silly right?

[terriblygrimm]

friendly reminder that this exists

“i don't think luke is presenting an argument either way. because i think luke also, of any jedi in the galaxy, understands what it would be like to be with the person you care about most -- to be with your father figure”

[shooks-stupid-stuff]

after like 3 years of saying i was going to, i've finally started playing len'en

i like this guy a lot

[magnoliamyrrh]

hearing my professor say "sex workers" in class after and while literally and explicitely talking about nonwestern victims of sex trafficking using those terms like. im gonna eat my own tongue. im gonna scream so loudly and so silently it will burst my lungs. im going to become a black hole.

in general i find that term to be so fucking offensive bc it can only maybe apply to a very very small minority of well off economically privileged women who "choose" to do "sex work" (and even many of them talk abt feeling exploited - almost like prostitution is inherently expolitative wow) but. you know sometimes those "sex workers" are the only ones ppl rly picture, they dont picture street prostitution, hitckhiker hookers, sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, that the averege age of entering prostitution is 14, drug addiction, pimps, constant violence, etc

but. dear lord help me. in the context of literally taking explicitely about victims of "sex" trafficking in relation to poverty. to still have this postmodern god forsaken fucking nightmare so dug into your hear you say SeX WoRkErs;;; I ;;; I. Honestly im so offended. Its so fucking offensive. Like i almost wanna fucking cry. And she aint even white lmao shes indian like maam as a fellow immigrant please stop parroting the western bullshit i beg you. its so god damn fucking offensive and this bullshit is passed off as progressive and right and parroted by professors and taught as a given and preached and taught uncritically and then parroted by students and then. someone posts it online and some idiot reads it tells it to another idiot who tells it to another idiot. And then this insanity affects the whole westenrn "FeMinIsM" movement. And then, not only do I personally have to deal with a bunch of fucking idiots who have the gull to tell ME how the fuck I cant or can speak and how I should fucking feel when they dont got a single damn clue, BUT ALSO. this sort of cultural fucking idiocracy leads to real life impacts. Ala, western european states legalizing prostitution, thus the horrid rise of sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, child pornography, etc, of mainly balkan, roma, refugee, immigrant, poor, etc etc women. Ala, there was this article written by a Romanian prostitute in spain. She was complaining about how because of this sex work narrative now even more men come to prostitutes bc theyve bought this bullshit narrative of the "happy sex worker" so. now, they have to put all this extra fucking emotional effort into pretending like theyre enjoying what these men are doing to them and like they want it and all this shit. Which, let me tell you, its a whole lot easier to just dissociate when you get used to being regularly raped than it is to have to pretend like you fucking want it and enjoy it too. Something along the lines, these men want your soul not just your body, and this much worse...... And how, because of this, they also have to invest more in makeup and shit to look "well" which fuether just sinks them into the whole cycle which is quite hard to get out of. So. So.

As far as Im concerned. All the god forsaken postmodern nonsense that is propagated in western social sciences academica - has real life fucking effects. It has. The things written, the things discussed, the things professors say. Ive said before, that maybe postmodernism has some academic value (though we didnt need french people to be like, yo dude did you know multiple perspectives on life exist? inssne!). But. It doesnt fucking stay in academica. None of this bullshit stays in academica. And apart from this sort of bullshit not even being "feminism" and being inherently detrimental to the unity needed for social movements, inherently complacent, inherently antirevolutionary, inherently fucking REEKING of western individualism and selfishness up the fucking ass,,,,,,,,,it has real life fucking affects.

Westerners whove never fucking been through any of this shit sit in universities coming up with all these fucking theories but who pays the price. Who pays the god damn fucking price? Who? For their thought experiments? For these societal experiemnts? For these bullshit western ideas of freedom and progress and feminism? We do. My people do. We do. God fucking damn it

[halforcdad]

really saw someone call lucy immature and compare lucy not telling kate she was looking for a new apartment to lucy getting upset at kate for not telling her why she made the move from DIA to FBI (to point out the hypocrisy of not communicating) like what is context

[devilishdelights]

I played the demo and apparently vere can kill us? Not me tho I’m just 2 good 😎🔥💯

[jvzebel-x]

🦋

[toelessbastard]

IFORGOR IT WAS IDIOTS DONT GET COLDS THURSDAY OHHHHHHH

[darlinqs]

so i

[captain-is-king]

okay i didn’t want to annoy anyone with a stream of consciousness live-blogging of the episodes which CAME OUT TONIGHT!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!

so here are the notes i took while watching if anyone wants to scream with me please feel free to do so

EDIT: HOLY SHIT IM A FUCKING IDIOT CHRIS IS CHRIS RODRIGUEZ!!! I WASNT EXPECTING HIM THIS SOON IN THE SERIES AT ALL. oh god and percy being friends with him now makes the betrayal so much worse oh shit oh man.

episode one:

- blackjack was percy seeing through the mist oh my god

- MYTHOMAGIC

- THIGHTY WHITIES

- oh my god they just trade sandwich toppings. that is so cute what the fuck

- grover psychanalyzing people. yes. good.

- mrs. dodds scene was underwhelming but that’s okay (edit: fight choreo is absolutely phenomenal the rest of the time)

- i am GASPING out loud at grover telling the headmaster

- obviously he’s doing it because it’s not safe for percy

- but WOOOOOOW

- eddie! what a cameo lmao

- i like that sally appears to argue with gabe more but also i’m worried she isn’t going to fucking murder gabe. it’s important to me that she kills that guy.

- also upset that percy probably won’t say “i know gabe would like to offer everyone in this lovely city free appliances” at the end

- near the septic tanks interesting detail to include 👀

- percy judging so hard like “you’re telling me found jesus”

- oh interesting the mist is responsible for grover which honestly makes more sense than hiding it? like if the mist takes care of monsters why not satyrs

- boys? i’m actually 24 I LOVE HIM

- mythomagic as training is fun

- would’ve been cooler if he swore on the styx and there was thunder but that’s okay

- omg i didn’t even realize his rain jacket was actually red until now. SUCH a good detail

- good animation of the minotaur very good

- oh my god the fight was the same like i could SEE the words on the page as i was watching it

- HE MUST BE THE ONE

- i grinned like a FOOL through the whole credits they’re so beautiful oh my god

episode two reactions under the cut!!!! i loved episode one but i liked episode two EVEN MORE so i have a lot of things to say.

episode two:

- annabeth just watching percy sleep with her arms crossed. she would.

- YOU DROOL WHEN YOU SLEEP oh my god the way she says it is like. so calculating. i always pictured it like a flippant thing in the book but no she’s like. angry. like it’s a remark on his character and she will use this detail to take him down in battle and it’s perfect and funny

- oh my god he’s turning away so grover doesn’t see him crying. i feel like this is a detail in the book somewhere but now i can’t find it happening so maybe i’m just losing it

- ok so the big house is not what i ever pictured but it is gorgeous and i love this version of it

- the diet coke

- but did you?

- he’s starting with me

- excuse me your highness

- dad? yes peter. it’s percy. exactly

- the audacity of mr. d. i’m obsessed

- “why must you ruin everything”

- omg the owls

- oh the cabins are so cool

- like one thing i never was able to picture was how camp was laid out and i just am eating so well this is so fun to look at

- I KNOW WHAT YOURE GOING THROUGH he really does though doesn’t he FUCK now i’m emotionally

- holy shit juniper????

- LMAO okay definitely not juniper she looks much older

- council of cloven elders is so much spookier than i thought

- mmmmm grover figured it out interesting

- also apparently names don’t have power. i mean that is the stance in heroes of olympus they did not care about names. so i get it

- so like. this is kronos? looking like the grim reaper in percy’s dreams?

- ok honestly the lack of annabeth so far is very upsetting

- mmmm “glory” interesting, luke

- who is this spunky kid with the hair

- YES. YES WHEELCHAIR USING DEMIGOD YES!!!

- idk why but them just using lighters takes me out of it. but it made me laugh

- yesssss hephaestus kids my beloved

- spunky kid with the hair is chris. NOW WHO THE FUCK IS CHRIS

- holy shit this is so sad. percy alone in the woods burning his candy

- OH MY GOD FOR HIS MOM oh my god i’m not going to survive this episode

- “i think i’ve made some friends here”

- oh this is too much. it’s giving “good kid” energy from the musical

- YES angry percy. i always felt like the musical emphasized how like. angry and upset percy was at his dad. obviously it’s a huge plot point in the book but it feels like more apparent in the musical and i always LOVED that about the musical so of course i LOVE that it is being emphasized in the show as well

- if percy doesn’t cut off medusas head and mail it to olympus after this and trying so hard to get his dad’s attention it will be SUCH a letdown i have to say it i’m sorry

- good bathroom scene. GOOD bathroom scene.

- are you stalking me annabeth

- yes

- oh i’m so in love with her

- like we knew she’d be phneomenal. but we’d seen so little of her in promo stuff!!! and i HAVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG TO SEE MY GIRL!!!!! AND HERE SHE FUCKING IS!!!!!!

- also saying annabeth is the head of the athena cabin and seeing tiny little annabeth is SO. funny. like we all knew it was funny that a twelve year old was in charge but SEEING it makes it so painfully obvious

- “she’s my little sister”

- they call them forbidden kids that’s a little silly but that’s fine

- also i enjoy that they’re talking about thalia-luke-annabeth earlier

- BABY ANNABETH HIDING IN AN ALLEY. oh i hope we get to actually SEE this scene one day because i do love it so

- “can you ask her to knock it off.” obsessed.

- these waterfalls are SO. cool. the one thing the descriptions of camp were always missing. i love a waterfall

- the kid playing the war drums has me laughing out loud

- laughing OUT LOUD at percy. flossing and peeing and whistling

- oh my god a lizard. i would too.

- just laying down. picking at a leaf

- i just noticed he actually has vans. skater!percy lives

- GUESS ILL LOSE DESERT PRIVILEGES good book line so glad it’s in here

- the fight choreo is SO. GOOD

- “NOT BAD HERO” ALSO GOOD BOOK LINE

- you were here the whole time and you didn’t help me? yes. what is wrong with you!!

- oh i love her SO. much. i love them both so fucking much

- one of my FAVORITE lines is “poseidon, earthshaker stormbringer. hail perseus jackson son of the sea god” and i’m so glad we got it

- i like jason mantzoukas because, like that post about gene wilder, you can really believe he’d let those kids die

- also one of my favorite scenes is annabeth being invisible in the big house the whole time percy is being offered a quest and chiron is like “someone already offered to go with you” and annabeth takes her hat off to reveal she has been there the whole time. and it’s always been so funny to me but i don’t mind that the humor of it was still maintained in the scene after capture the flag being altered a little bit. and we still got “not bad hero”

- oh shit are we not getting the oracle. i guess it makes sense. it’s a lot of time when someone can just tell percy they think it’s hades but like. actually. BETRAYED BY ONE WHO CALLS YOU A FRIEND!! FAIL TO SAVE WHAT MATTERS MOST!! ITS KIND OF IMPORTANT and the oracle is like a very important plot point later

- I AM SALLY JACKSON’S SON. YOU TELL THEM

[strawberry-milkbunny]

I have no one to talk to about Tokyo Rev so here r my random hot takes that I need to say:

- Emma and Hina r boring and used as romance plot devices it’s okay to admit that Wakui can’t write women idk I don’t expect shounen/men to be able to write girls well (still cried when Emma died tho bc she didn’t deserve it!!!)

- lol I LOVE Yuzuha and Senju tho

- I actually do like Emma and Draken together but I also firmly believe Draken is in love w/Mikey and was just projecting onto Emma LMAO

- Yuzuha is a lesbian

- Controversial: I don’t think Shinchiro was THAT great of an older brother. Like he was cool but he still introduced Mikey and Izana into the world of gang life/normalizing violence and yeah OG Black Dragons isn’t like that but….what do u expect when u form a gang??? .obviously there’s a high chance that it’s gonna develop into LEGIT gang activity

- As an adult and someone who was basically raised by an older sibling w/a big age gap (my sis is 7 years older) I kinda don’t blame Takeomi for being a bad older brother??? Realistically he’s a 17 yr old in charge of raising 2 toddlers like NO SHIT he did a bad job. At least Shin had his grandfather to help out but Takeomi actually had no one. Doesn’t explain y he’s a brokey LOL buttttt again I don’t FULLY blame him for being a bad sibling still hurt my boi Sanzu 😤😤

- I HC that Mikey is used to having a caretaker (Draken and later Sanzu) bc when Shin died he was so depressed and genuinely couldn’t get out of bed

- Takemitchy is also lowkey boring/typical shounen protagonist and canonically stinky like Hina could do sm better. This is personal preference so I find myself wanting more chaotic/dumb protagonists who are slightly morally ambiguous like Denji, Gintoki, hell even Naruto at times. Takemitchy didn’t get character development until BD arc and that’s just a bit too long for me….

- Koko and Inui r gay and dating 💅🏻💅🏻💅🏻

- the Haitani brothers r the kardashians of the TR universe they’re so embarrassing Deadass show up and pose/do absolutely nothing I LOVE THEM SHKSKSKSK

- I love how it’s universally agreed that Mitsuya and Chifuyu r the best bois

- I have mixed feelings about Izana. I genuinely do like him and DESPISE how he’s whitewashed by fanart

- I get it u genuinely just wanted to not be alone and found out ur adopted in the worst way possible but…..idk how that justifies killing ur own sister but u do u ig 🤷‍♀️ and u have KAKUCHO AS UR FAMILY WTH

- don’t listen to me tho I’m a Mikey and Sanzu stan LMAOO 🤭🤭🤭

- Izana is the definition of mommy issues and 100% had crunchy hair lik mans was homeless

- if I saw Izana IRL I would RUN 🏃‍♀️idk he looks a lil crazy

- also this man does not know Tagalog he didn’t even know he was Filipino until he was lik 12

- idk the Tenjiku arc is so funny to me bc Izana is deadass: imma kill everyone in Mikey’s life for revenge and Mikey is lik: bruh I didn’t even kno u existed until last week and now ur killing our sister UNPROVOKED ???

- Bonten!Mikey is a virgin/no libido mans is DEPRESSED

- wished the Bonten arc was longer simply for the outfits bc Wakui KNOWS FASHION but that shit was DEPRESSION

- 3 Deities Arc was amazing and also funny/serious at the same time. It literally was an all out brawl in an AMUSEMENT PARK

- fr tho wtf was Benkei, Wakasa and Takeomi doing there??? Like they’re canonically 27 GO GET A JOB STOP FIGHTING 15 YEAR OLDS SHKSKSKS

- U cannot tell me that Sanzu WASNT sad when Baji and Mucho died.

- Baji was straight up his childhood friend and the only one other than Senju who knows about the plane incident/Mikey’s possessive side. And In the OG!timeline I’m pretty sure Baji was the only friend Sanzu DIDNT attack. While with Mucho he was pretty much his older brother, Sanzu just decided Mikey was better

- Tbh if the dark impulses/Shin thing wasn’t real I would’ve firmly believed Mikey had DID or something. Which again made only worse by the fact that violence and death is such a regular thing in his life (GET THIS MAN THERAPY LIK WTF IS SHIN AND GRANDPA SANO DOING???)

- Kazutora going a lil crazy is lowkey expected and I hate how we only find out about his home life in the character books. This kid grew up in a physically and mentally abusive household (gaslight to pick between parents and as s/o who has experienced that shit it’s fucked up) and I rlly don’t think prison helped out his mental stability either no shit he tried to kill Mikey

- I don’t ship Mikey and Takemichy (despite the IMMENSE gay ness btwn them) firmly bc I think everyone can see how much power Takemitchy has over Mikey idk it has a weird power dynamic like if Takemitchy tried he could 100% control Mikey (platonically or romantically)

- Baji, Chifuyu and Kazutora r a throuple

- I HATE how Sanzu is reduced to this crazy drug addict. Sanzu is canonically smart, manipulative, and formally trained fighter. He also REMEMBERS the OG timeline, he had to experience Shin dying twice and everyone else die no shit he’s a little bonkers/needs drugs to take everything away. Plus his relationship to Mikey which tbh is a whole separate post

- controversial !!!: I ship Mikey and Sanzu or Mikey and Draken. Sanzu only bc this man has a big ass crush and deserves some niceness for once

- ppl write Kakucho as this shy, nice guy like ur not wrong but mans is also running UNPROVOKED into Yakuza offices like it’s the gym while dragging Rindou wit him 😭😭😭

- the haitanis r the best sibling duo

- It lowkey makes me mad in fanfics where Ran is depicted as cheating w/Rin’s gf like??? This man raised his younger brother himself u cannot tell me he doesn’t love his brother and would actually do that to him

- Ran would 1000% do anything for Rin and i firmly believe he kinda regrets not saying anything in court to prevent Rindou frm joining him in jail. Like saying he forced Rindou to kill someone w/him, abusing his brother at home, etc especially in the Bonten! tl he def thinks about wtf he dragged his brother into

- I also don’t think they’ve slept w/ the same person before. Idk I feel like they have diff types like Ran goes for more motherly/mature types while Rindou goes for sweeter/shy types

- Draken has road rage

- Yuzuha should’ve been taller like AT LEAST 5’7 bitch is related to Hakkai and Taiju for gods sake

- OG BD 100% thought Wakasa was a girl for at least a month. He’s canonically 5’3 and pretty.

- Characters who r 100% bisexual: WAKASA, Senju,maybe Hina, Draken (def in denial), Rindou, Ran (he’s a whore as long as ur pretty he’s down), Sanzu, Koko, Kazutora, Chifuyu

- Mitsuya had a crush on Draken

[pomogando]

OMG I JUST SAW UR REQUESTS R OPEN!!! Hiii!!! I was wondering if you could write (headcanons, or whatever you want!!) of Banhammer and an Artist S/O?? The gender can be neutral!! And like the S/O has a special sketchbook just full of Banhammer, and only him. But the S/O left it out on accident and Banhammer takes a little peek inside it 👀 And theres also like little side notes too!! Like, "Drawing the love again <33" or "Silly guy!! <3" or even like some embarrassing thoughts like, "WHY HE LOOK SO FINE AT 46 ✋" lmao Hope u have a good day!!!! Or night!!!

Banhammer and artist s/o

(No tws, romantic intended, fluffy, gn reader, a bit short..)

If there's anything you found out from being with banhammer, it's that he was, by default, nosy.

You were always drawing him, usually when he was busy working out and you had nothing better to do. You liked being by his side anyhow.

He was covered in sweat when he saw you look up from your sketchbook, then quickly look down once you got your reference. He instantly jumped to your side to see what you were doing.

"Ew, banhammer! You're sweaty!"

You quickly closed the notebook, shielding it with your body as he pouted and asked to see what it was. You always showed him your drawings. Why was this one any different? "Let me see!" He whined, a big paw on your face as he tried to grab your sketchbook. You couldn't help but laugh. You wouldn't dare show him what you drew, your face turning red out of embarassment

He tumbles over his own weight, allowing you time to escape and hide the sketchbook.

He was lucky enough to see a glimpse of it, and the figure looked familiar, but it wasnt enough to satisfy his curiosity.

He didn't bother about it after, which was surprising. After another day of drawing, you huffed as you put down the sketchpad in frustration. It wasn't coming out how you wanted. He pulled you into his lap, gently squeezing you as he purred. It always seemed to calm you down despite being hotheaded. You laid on his chest.

You slowly drifted off to sleep. Banhammer was about to join you when he took notice that your sketchbook was right there, free for the taking. He quickly (but quietly) reaches for it, his hands shook in excitment.

He flipped through the pages impatiently, he saw the ones you had shown him first. Then he found the ones you hadn't, his eyes widened as his face started heat up.

He definitely didn't expect all these drawings of him. It felt like seeing a photo of himself. Each picture felt like a shot to the heart.

He ran one of his clawed fingers gently across the lines of a detailed sketch of himself. The attention to detail made him exasperated. What didn't help was the loving notes on the side of each sketch of him.

"My beloved ♥️"

"Love of my life!!"

"Handsome.."

He was practically a mess reading all of the little doting messages. He let out a small breath of air in an attempt to calm his beating heart. He wanted to pull you into a tight hug and never let go. He continued reading the small messages and the doodles of him doing mundane things. One of them drawn of him after one of his phighting matches. He remembered you eyeing him, at the time he thought maybe you were upset about something.

"How can someone be so perfect?"

He closed the book a bit louder than he meant to, unable to handle the praise.

...

The next time you draw him, you'll think he wasn't paying attention to you. Maybe he lost interest? The relief you felt quickly vanished when he looked at you with a smug smile

"Are you getting my good side?" He said proudly, posing for you.

Your pencil dropped to the floor as you gasped.

"Banhammer!"

[socialist-microwave-laser]

hi!! i hope this isnt too invasive, but im just curious, as someone who has converted to judaism would you view religion/judaism as a choice?

the reason im asking is that i studied theology in college and it was something we discussed within the class, whether religion was a choice or something inherent within a person, but my entire class were either muslims from muslim families or atheists, so a lot of the perspectives were that it wasnt a choice (ie "im atheist because i dont believe in god, but i wish i could be religious, so it isnt a choice" or "im religious because i do inherently believe in god, and for that reason i couldnt choose atheism") so id be curious to hear your take! no pressure of course if its an invasive question or likely to cause disagreements

oh no worries at all! i think honestly part of the problem here is the definition of judaism as a religion lmao. it's an ethnoreligion with a unique approach to history (it's currently pesach, and we are commanded to feel as though we personally were brought out of egypt. we re-enact the exodus, every year not having enough time for our bread to leaven. highly recommend reading yerushalmi's "zachor" if you're interested in how judaism interacts with time). basically, joining judaism is WAY different than joining any other religion (afaik). you literally have a new ethnicity, jewish

so talking about this from the other side, there are a bunch of atheist jews, and my rabbi told me i'm not even really required to believe in gd in order to convert to judaism, and on the other hand i can believe in the existence of other gods! i'm just not allowed to worship them. so there are some religious jews, there are atheist jews, there are agnostic jews, buddhist jews, witchy jews, and so many other kinds!

to me, this gets to my understanding of religion as a culture. the measurable parts of a religion are common practices, common objects, common texts, common important days, either common answers to a question or common frameworks or common questions or whatever else. religion to me seems like a framework through which we can channel our feelings about the world, and which we can use to understand/interact with the world around us. in a sense, culture is the same. growing up in kentucky has given me the common practice of corn mazes in the fall, the common object of horseshoes as symbols of luck, the common texts of shakespeare and poe, the common important days of the derby and oaks, the frameworks of thinking in terms of a two party system and having a hesitancy about going to a Big City™️. i can't change the fact that i grew up in kentucky, and i can choose to adopt new practices and habits and even to move to a different place, but it's harder to unlearn some of the stuff ingrained in me, and even if i do move, that doesn't mean i get rid of my memories and feelings about kentucky. it's the same with religion. i can't change the fact that i grew up in a christian household, was told to mourn in a christian way, and have lived in the bible belt all my life. even converting to judaism, i still have good memories about christmas and easter, and i'm still expected to go home for christmas

aside from this, honestly i wouldn't even say my beliefs have changed very much from christianity to wicca-flavored witchcraft to judaism. i still have a Wow This Is Big feeling when i'm hiking in the appalachias or singing in a big group of people, i still fundamentally love humanity and think human collaboration is powerful and beautiful, i still try my best to live my life according to my set of morals (which honestly have changed more due to my queerness than my religious affiliation). i feel like, at least partially, my religious exploration has been more of finding what framework best fits with what i believe and what i deem important to me. so i suppose in that way, i'd say beliefs aren't a choice but religion is

but what about the beliefs in my life that have changed according to some intentional impulse on my part, like that trans people are weird or the belief that statism is the best way to organize a population? i deconstructed and unlearned that, a practice that was definitely not by accident, but it also wasn't as easy as flipping a switch and going "i don't have any transphobic thoughts anymore." i think as easy and tempting as it is to say that hatred and bigotry is a choice, i don't think i agree. it's a choice whether or not to be an asshole to someone. but even still, the framework of who you should care about if you've been an asshole to may be something more inherited

i honestly could keep going, but i've already written enough. i'll go with this: for many people, their religion is what they grew up knowing. however, i would argue that most people have enough access to information about other frameworks that they probably made some sort of decision to continue on the path they were already on (those who are staying within a certain religion because of force are not who i'm talking about here). so in that way, religion is a choice. however, i do not think that religion and belief are necessarily the same thing. i think beliefs are more fundamental and that religion is what allows us to put those indescribable gut feelings into words. i think beliefs are changeable, and that one can choose to put in the work to change a belief, but i think it is much harder for me to classify beliefs as 100% a choice as well

bc i just love studying talmud so much, i'm going to complicate your question even more by moving us out of the realm of personal decisions. i think it's interesting to note that my being jewish technically won't be my decision. when the time comes i will go before a beis din, a group of three rabbis, who will ask me questions and will ultimately have the authority to say that i cannot complete my conversion. additionally, the rabbi overseeing my conversion also has the ability to say i'm not ready to go before a beis din, or to say she doesn't feel comfortable overseeing my conversion anymore and turn me away. it's also an interesting complicator that my conversion likely will not be considered valid by some (namely, orthodox people) who only consider orthodox conversions to be valid. same goes for those who are known as patrilineal jews, or jews with a jewish father and a non-jewish mother (yes this framework does struggle under queer identities and relationships but we don't have time to get into that LMAO). currently, orthodox and conservative (no relation to the school of political thought) judaism only recognize jewishness as being able to be passed down matrilineally, and as such there are many people who have lived their entire lives as jews, and yet have needed to undergo some sort of conversion ritual to be considered jewish by a certain group

[trashworldblog]

METATRON IS SUCH A MASTER MANIPULATOR MOTHERFUCKER AND I HATE HIM SO MUCH OMYGOD HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DOING

(written all in one go after rewatching the finale, apologies for mistakes)

1) he went in person, although he SAID this wasnt that big of a deal, i seems like it definitely fucking was. not only does it make him seem more "just like you!" and likeable, he can also do things like bring aziraphale coffee to warm him up. (coffee that has almond extract in it, btw. that could be used as a threat of eventual calamity, or simply that god is watching. which also could be a threat that if angel doesn't take this offer, he could fall)

2) he resolved a complication in aziraphale's favor. he swooped right in with perfect timing in order to do so. it definitely was no coincidence that the second the angels started threatening extreme sanctions, the megatron stepped in and put them in their place. for aziraphale's entire existence, it seems like those angels have been making angel's life painful, and shutting them up so quickly must seem like a godsend (lmao) to him.

3) taking aziraphale away from crowley (basically isolating him) to chat about promoting him. ok, to be fair, this a bit of a stretch. but i think it still plays a role! after fixing up that whole mess and offering angel a latte, he asks to speak in private. crowley easily lets them go, likely because of the previous points, maybe some devine intervention, and metatron gets aziraphale alone. he talks about it like its a promotion (i thought aziraphale was retired?) and all the perks he will have. he can work with crowley! as an angel! together! (note how he can seem to only work with crowley AFTER he becomes an angel again. something the metatron already expects crowley to refuse). it seems like a perfect deal after everything they just went through.

4) he brings him back to crowley to "break the good news" knowing that crowley will hate the news, and they will end up fighting about it. he even says so after he picks angel back up (but we'll get to that in a bit). he must know quite a bit about the two of them, and how they have major troubles communicating with each other. he knows he's buttered up aziraphale enough to make him think this is a perfect ending for them, and he knows that after everything crowley's experienced (and completely losing the rose colored glasses that heaven seems to give to all the angels) they will definitely disagree about the whole offer, AND they wont be able to talk about WHY its a terrible offer for both of them. they also will struggle to see things from the other's perspective and will blow up into a big miscommunication mess.

5) after that major rejection (and the shock that comes with a rejection as big as that one) megatron sweeps on back, giving aziraphale no time to process what crowley was saying or why he was saying it, and takes him off to heaven with no lose ends at all. "dont worry about a thing! muirel will look after the bookshop. anything else you need? no? well, on our way!" at this point, the metatron easily looks like a night in shining armor for aziraphale. here to stop those mean angels from destroying him, accepting his dear friend crowley, hammering a wedge between the two of them, and coming back to save his day and take him to heaven to his new job.

6) he very subtly shits on crowley. it can't be major, yet, but a big part of manipulating someone is to isolate them, often by talking about how terrible they are. he starts doing this by saying "well he was always the type to go his own way" its subtle enough to fly under the radar, but it tells aziraphale : well, crowley is always on his own. he isn't with heaven, he isnt with hell. He's on his own side. and he likes to do things just to oppose and upset others! you couldn't possibly be with him. you just had a huge disagreement! how often does that happen between you two?

7) i wasn't sure where to put this one, but this all happens so fast. aziraphale doesn't have much time to think, weigh his options, and less time to talk to crowley about it. metatron swoops in, fixes the issue, grabs angel, explains everything, and picks him up as soon as crowley leaves. angel has no time to recover from *waves vaugely at love confession and angry kiss* all he can do is look around helplessly, struggle to put on a brave face, and accept that this is whats happening now.

okay great. theres 7 reasons the metatron is a big manipulating bitch but WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

when we pick back up with the boys aziraphale is gonna be either chugging the coolaid (please neil if this happens i will cry again) Or angel will be seeing through what is being played to him (demonic intervention? tbh this is less likely but it makes me less sad so i want to include it). um so expect the metatron and other angelic things to be huge manipulating bastards, and for aziraphale and crowley to learn the hard way why communicating properly is so important with your partner.

i think the second coming is a big thing (idk just a guess lol) and the metatron needs a good leader (that he can manipulate quite a bit). maybe he's planning something, maybe this is just how heaven does things.

either way, im excited to hear more next season. keep rewatching s2 for renewal, support the wga and sag aftra in the strike, i hope it ends soon with payment and benefits going to the amazingly talented writers and actors that made this show possible. i know a lot of people are hoping the next season is done quickly, but i just want a good third season, and that takes time and effort. thank you, neil, for this amazing story. good luck making s3! <3

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

silly love confessions: i keep falling in love with older men. except its not even romantic strictly i just become so attached and adoring towards dudes 10+ years older than me..its like romantic and physical adoration + big brother + idol worship............. to me its fine and i'm accepting it and in my mind love is good so its something to be happy about but honestly this situation kind of ruined one of my closest relationships because i made him uncomfortable i guess. I dont know, having a crush often feels creepy i suppose. but I wish there were more accepted ways to love someone to the extent i love people besides romantic love. I don't really want to date anyone I just want to communicate my adoration and affection and have it be reciprocated without there being the issues of whether you can be in a monogamous relationship or not......idk kind of rambling here but i feel like you are one of few people who could understand when i say i feel like my love is religious. and it keeps being tainted by the expectations of modern society. anyway happy valentines day !!!!! love u!!!!!

lolol...me as hell in my early 20s!! everyone i dated was in their 30s, men and women. i have always acted like an elderly person lmao so at the time it was impossible to find anyone my own age i cld relate to. Also probably some subconscious thing to do w my orphan's nature, having no adult guidance for the latter half of my childhood lol..

Also i totally understand wat u mean by wishing love wasnt so "regulated" by certain standards. A huge turning point for me around age 25 was realizing i want to love my friends & family & even strangers as unconditionally as possible even though its bound to get me hurt. i wanted to finally allow myself to b open to people & embrace them without judgement. my life has rly unfolded since that time 5/6 yrs ago & even tho it's been a bumpy ride, it has eventually lead me to the ppl who fully reciprocate this attitude, platonically or otherwise.

So dont be afraid to let your open heart lead the way, it's a rare treasure. One person's sincere unconditional love can be the catalyst for so much positive transformation & healing in the lives of others who feel lost & alone. thankyou for your confession & happy Vday to you too anon <333

[nicomrade]

i said id maybe make a post about my faves i was rereading this year so here it is ^-^ the other ones i reread i already talked about in my 2022 reads post lmao... so heres 3 comedy high school mangas that i love so dearly. none r really niche i will admit but i dont read school life much

Skip To Loafer - Takamatsu Misaki (2018 - Present) a seinen romcom about this country girl moving to the big city and making friends :) its honestly so refreshing and a mature, nuanced look at interpersonal relationships and growing up. i love every character in this? i will not lie the romantic arc IS there but its also kind of not the point. or its equally the point as everything else?. relationship hierarchies are explicitely discussed in the manga actually which i wasnt expecting. uhm "rep-wise" mitsumis aunt is a trans woman and this is also treated seriously without being the only thing going on with her and i am getting lesbianbaited soooooo bad. read skip to loafer and remember that we are all the same people deep down

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - Tsubaki Izumi (2011 - Present) the thing about nozaki-kun is that it understands perfectly the 4koma format. every page is its own bit, with a punchline every single time. nothing happens in nozaki-kun if its not funny- which means that all the romance development that happens, happens because its funny. i really need to emphasize this 1. nozaki kun is really fucking funny 2. there ARE developments in the character relationships, it is not a static manga and 3. each page has a punchline. read some mediocre 4koma and then understand how fucking good nozaki-kun is. its about this guy who is a shoujo manga author and this girl who has a crush on him and all the weirdos who know (or dont know) that nozakis a shoujo mangaka. that manga panel with the guy saying "read some shoujo manga and develop some emotions"? from nozaki-kun. just read it and understand the strength of 4koma done well.

Yugami-kun has no friends - Sakura Jun (2012-2019) what if i told you this school life shonen about a friendless guy and the girl who befriends him is not a romance? what if i told you yugami is autistic and treated with respect? what if i told you yugamis special interest is in rakugo? and what if yugami-kun was also really fucking funny. do you understand why this is one of my faves. the point of the manga is that social norms are fucking stupid and half the time you think someones rude its cause u are trying to force them in a situation they dont wanna be in. its fundamentally about meeting people halfway- one of the subplots is literally about how horrifying it is to have to keep up polite text conversation w someone you only vaguely know and how much both sides wish they could just stop texting without being "rude". and it transmits its deep love for rakugo better than [title censored for privacy] just read yugami-kun ok?