#ignore canon doa

[nirhia]

Cooking competition in the doa!

[navigatebetweenthelines]

When people say Cat Deduction isnt canon or that Ranpo is using Poe I always side eye them.

Several reasons why it is clearly canon but the most obvious is Ranpo's blatant favoritism. He hates being shown up more than anything:

Mushitarou one upped him then Ranpo made him cry

Fukuchi tricked him and Ranpo revealed his plan to Fukuzawa

Fyodor undermined him in Cannibalism so Ranpo stabbed him and set his helicopter on fire. He made a deal with a VAMPIRE LORD to stab Fyodor and set his helicopter on fire. Not to free the vampires, or end the chaos or stop Fukuchi. NOPE, he used his one deal with Bram to set Fyodor on fire. He was MAD. He was BIG MAD.

He is PETTY, and he is MEAN. He hates not having the upperhand.

Oh but when Poe did it... That's babygirl.

When other people threaten his family he enters a rage stage but when the pretty tall american does it he immidiately gets all giggly and invites him over to "discuss mystery novels". When Poe threatens the ADA he gets a standing invitation to undo plots to end the world. When Poe does things Ranpo can't do he gets candy and praise. And Poe did pretty much the same thing in his book, he almost killed Yosano, like how Mushitarou almost broke Kunikida, Fyodor almost killed Fukuzawa and Fukuchi nearly killed everyone. THE ONLY REASON Poe gets away with it is bc Ranpo has a big fat gay crush on him.

It also works in the opposite direction. It is so HARD to impress or attract Ranpo's attention. He called The DoA's plan boring, he's bored as he's strategizing with Dazai, he barely glances at Yokomizo's mystery. The line between attracting his attention and his anger is ridiculously thin.

Poe seems to never ever cross that line no matter how hard he tries. Yokomizo's mystery is only interesting to Ranpo because he can use it to tease Poe. After escaping Poe's mystery he calls it innovative and amazing (he never praises ANYTHING else in the series this highly). When Poe is a part of his plan he is practically beaming unlike his boredom with Dazai (so sorry suheki shippers).

Ranpo is head over heels for him. I dont get those "Poe loves Ranpo more" OBVIOUSLY NOT. LMAO. Poe has entered a very special place in Ranpo's heart, there's no ignoring that.

There's no other explanation. Ranpo fell first and Poe fell harder.

[merrysithmas]

missed opportunities with Spock & medicine in SNW

Okokok I didnt mind Spock & Chapel as I felt it was well-written (in conjunction w Spock & T'Pring) for the two of them and simply a stepping stone/arc to his further character development and exemplified his struggle converging his dualistic origins

but

Spock in TOS has an extreme (and to an outsider, illogical) aversion to medicine/medical procedures/medical personnel as evidenced by his deep mistrust of McCoy in TOS. I always postulated this is because he was mistreated or belittled or made to feel "wrong" by Vulcan medical facilities as a child given that he is a biological hybrid.

This "illogical" aversion to medicine is not based on the Scientific Fact that he as a science officer treats as secular gospel -- but is instead a result of his injured emotional nature, which felt ostracized and likely put on display as some kind of marvel/freak by the professionals he likely dealt with as a child.

I have a whole other post about Spock & Medicine and how his cantankerous and frequently mocking relationship with McCoy both displays his anger/disgust with the limits of the profession and, eventually, the healing of this wound via his friendship with Dr McCoy.

In TOS Spock dismissively refers to medicine as "potions" which make him feel sick and nauseous - (likely a side effect of his hybrid physiology where no medical traditions from either Vulcan or Terran origin completely mesh with his genetics or organs/hormones). Thus, even when he can get help from a compassionate provider - it likely does not help all the way or is uncomfortable to endure.

Discovery took this one step further and had Spock literally institutionalized because his emotional break following his visions/hallucinations which further highlights an origin for Spock's mistrust and distaste for medicine. We learn his visions were a result of an explicable cause & that medicine failed Spock yet again.

These experiences can even be applied to TOS and also color his relative annoyance with Nurse Chapel's one-sided affections.

Spock does not like doctors or nurses.

And he has good reason to fear and mistrust them despite his logical knowledge of their professionalism or expertise. Spock is scared, burned, and embittered by medical efforts and endeavors.

It is the one overt example in TOS where his human emotionality overtakes his logical mien almost effortlessly and with visible sharp resentment towards McCoy in almost every conversation they have.

Strange New Worlds seems to forget this important part of Spock's character which was evident in TOS (and eventually resolved by his friendship with McCoy), and expanded on in Disco with his institutionalization.

Sadly, his relation to Medicine in Strange New Worlds is a nonissue that pretty much ignores the canon in those two series - whether it is in a scene with Dr M'Benga or Nurse Chapel. It does not seem given the other canon he would ever be as cooperative or receptive to their treatments or suggestions.

However, as Spock is being written in this series to have mental duress over his "opposing" halves as personified by his desperate attempts to make two DOA romances with both T'Pring and Christine work - it seems this would be an important and relevant topic to broach considering Christine is in fact a nurse, and a representation of a system that has so far at this point in his life failed, harmed, and excluded him.

Not only that, but T'Pring is essentially the equivalent of a Vulcan psychiatrist.

It is fascinating that Spock, reviled and mistrusting of both medicine and psychology, sandwiches himself between a nurse and psychiatrist.

Despite his bone-deep betrayal by both of these institutions he finds himself indeed broken by them: beholden and shackled to the need for their love and approval - as deeply unhappy with himself as he is.

Spock, through these two flailing and ill-begotten relationships, continues to subconsciously punish himself for the truth.

That he is neither nor both - and there is no way to define him except by himself alone.

And that is what he fears the most: that he is truly alone in the endless universe.

Recognizable to no one.

[thelesbododo]

So I made a post asking about other people's headcanons for Nikolai's past and I'm gonna share mine now :)

Warning: It is going to mention death and abuse so if those are sensitive topics for you go ahead and ignore this post if you don't think you can handle it

(FYI some of this is gonna be based of the irl Nikolai, such as his and his parents' nationality)

Now here's so of the less sad bits,

Nikolai was born in a small village in Ukraine

His parents were Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish and spoke both Ukrainian and Russian, eventually teaching it to Nikolai

Now for the sad stuff,

Nikolai obviously has a more unnatural color scheme when it comes to his eyes and hair (whether or not his parents shared those traits idk)

Because of his unusual physical appearance and overly-happy personality, the people that lived within the village didn't take well to him, leaving him alone relationship wise for most his childhood

Nikolai didn't care much though, he could do almost whatever he wanted if no one else was around and that's what he did. He played in the woods, swam in rivers, etc

Because of the things the villagers said about him and his family, his parents began feeling ashamed of having him as a son and started treating him as if he was someone else's child (they didn't treat him badly but still not the way you should treat your child)

He didn't recognize this though as he wouldn't have any proper knowledge of what a family should be like and as a result he continued to love them

As Nikolai got older the abuse from the village became worse as they began spreading rumors about him and his family (and they might have bullied him)

After a while his parents shame became too much and they either abandoned him or killed themselves

Either way they left him alone

He tried to go for help but no one was willing to help him except for one man

Nikolai had never seen this man before but when he offered to take him in, Nikolai agreed

The man took him to his group of traveling performers/circus (ik it sounds like a weird root to take but just let me finish)

When Nikolai sees the group they seem upset that there was someone new joining. Nikolai doesn't think much of this because he's used to not being wanted

Now the man he met was the ring leader of group and as time goes on Nikolai realizes that this man is manipulative and abusive, keeping him and the other as prisoners

(Now because he is abusive idk whether to make Nikolai's scar be a type of branding or have be the result of abuse)

At a trauma response to the abuse Nikolai's ability activated making it worse for him as he had to incorporate it into his act (he didn't know he could transfer people through it yet)

As time went on his preforms personality mixed with his original, more or less creating what we have now

One day be snapped and killed the ring leader and stole either his hat or coat

He then decided to test using his ability on a person and when it worked he used it to escape

His time in the group is what began his obsession with freedom

Sometime after he met Fyodor and join the DOA

I don't think any of this is backed up by canon but it's what I ended up deciding on

(the preformer/circus part was completely based on how he acts and how he dresses)

[incorrecthuntingdogs]

"#i have a post canon ''au'' where the ada is forced to (temporarily) take in the disbanded Hunting Dogs"

what??? that sounds so cool??? can we hear more about it

Gladly! I'm happy to get to talk about it :D even though it's sort of a loose concept lol

This is excluding Tachihara (for obvious reasons) and Fukuchi; as much as I would want him to spend time and properly reconnect with Fukuzawa, I doubt he'd get the opportunity to after the whole mess with the DOA, either because he's going to jail, or... well, that other thing...

So anyway, I see two possible reasons for this, one of which being related to Yosano's ability and the surgeries (credits for the idea to @sinetempore lol) or the less likely but far funnier option of Kenji dragging Tecchou to Fukuzawa like "can we keep him :D".

On the one hand we have some very awkward interactions with the people that were literally hunting you down like a week ago, which is equally uncomfortable for both parties. They'd eventually warm up with each other (Tecchou and Kenji setting a good example by being the only ones actually interacting with each other casually at first), but until then no one is having fun with the arrangement. And everyone is aware it won't ever happen for some of them. Jouno and Kunikida just sort of ignore each other completely, and you won't ever find them alone in the same room.

(I feel like Lucy would get involved in this process too, probably dragged in by Jouno who noticed that she used to be in a similar position. She is, in fact, even more wary of them than the ADA members, the only exception here being Tecchou.)

On the other hand, though, this opens some really nice angsty possibilities for the Hunting Dogs, and I'm not talking about the physical ones. We don't know how long they've really existed, but assuming it's between 6 and 14 years the chains of the government must be imprinted so deeply in their minds. And without the surgeries, their capacities are nowhere near as where they used to be; and that's leaving the side effects of not receiving them anymore aside. Imagine them out on their first new mission and failing. Imagine their panic. All aside from the punishment they would have received as Hunting Dogs, failure simply isn't a familiar feeling for them anymore. I doubt Fukuzawa would send them away all on their own for multiple reasons, and the ADA members accompanying them are... concerned, to say the least. It takes a long and sort of one sided conversation to even figure our what's wrong, and even longer to sort it out. It was, in fact, the first and last time Jouno and Kunikida actually talked to each other. Neither of them ever acknowledged it again later.

On the OTHER other hand, we could get the friendships I want to see so badly. Ranpo and Teruko. Dazai and Jouno. Guys I'm not joking I need Dazai and Jouno to be friends so badly. They (and Fyodor) are in fact the only characters I have not one, but two childhood friends AUs for. I need to see them together.

[fluentmoviequoter]

Pretty Lies

Pairing: Victor Vale x EO!fem!reader

Summary: As you die, you wish to know to truth: about what your life meant, what happens after death, everything. When you come back, you know when people are lying and when they’re telling the truth. You are a human lie detector, who Victor Vale decides to use to his advantage.

Word Count: 4.8k+ words

Warnings: descriptions of injuries and death (reader is an EO), spoilers for Vicious and Vengeful, takes place after Vengeful but ignores something that happens, EMT codes and medical terminology, OC villains, angst, canon-typical violence, fluff, Victor is Dol's biggest fan. I think that's all?

A/N: I'm desperately searching for an actor/model/anyone that matches my mental image of Victor to make gifs. As I said in the warnings, this takes place after Vengeful but doesn't reference something that Victor does/experiences because I didn't think it was necessary (and it made me sad reading it tbh). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think!🖤

Masterlist Directory | Victor Vale Masterlist | Request Info (OPEN)

Your heart rate slows to a crawl as your mind races, and questions form in your cerebrum faster than you can process any answers. Asking yourself these questions, you don’t register the sharp pain in your chest or the shortness of your breath.

Why? What was the purpose? What happens next? Did I make an impact?

The last thing you hear before the questions stop is, “Check for pulsus paradoxus; blood pressure unstable! Code 99: W, 902H… 914C, DOA.”

✯✯✯✯✯

As your hearing returns, a steady beeping causes your head to pound. Opening your eyes slowly, you realize you’re in a hospital room.

“Welcome back,” a nurse says as she walks in. “How are you feeling?”

“Not great,” you respond.

“I’ll call the doctor.”

She walks out, and you feel a strange flinching sensation in your right wrist.

“Hello,” the doctor says, introducing himself as he looks at your vitals. “You’re making quite the recovery.”

Another flinch.

“Do you remember what happened?” he asks.

“Umm, I was in an accident,” you answer.

“Yes, you had a fairly severe case of cardiac tamponade; blood gathered around your heart and the pressure caused some problems.”

“My heart stopped?”

The doctor nods. “We performed a thoracotomy, cleared the liquid and brought you back.”

Your wrist flinches again, and you look down, feeling the sensation but seeing no evidence you’re moving.

“There were no complications,” the doctor adds.

Your wrist feels like it contracts quickly, and before you think about it, you say, “That’s not true.”

The doctor swallows, checking your chart and avoiding eye contact as he admits, “The injury that caused the tamponade is fairly hard to correct, at least permanently.”

“You’re saying it could happen again?”

“Yes.”

Flinch. Truth.

“I would encourage you to get a service dog trained to your symptoms and get your heart checked regularly. It may come back, but considering how quickly you recovered, I consider it unlikely.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

“Of course. I’ll be in a few more times today, but you should be ready for discharge soon,” he says as he leaves and closes the door behind him.

“That was true,” you mutter, looking down at your wrist. 

✯✯✯✯✯

“How could you possibly know that?” Sydney asks, spinning her cocoa cup as she sits across from Victor.

“Your brain, the medial temporal lobe and the medial and lateral prefrontal cortexes, makes false memories, Syd,” Victor answers, not looking up from his paper.

“But why?”

“That’s a question for a psych major. I was pre-med,” Victor deadpans.

“If the brain makes different memories, though, why do we think some of the false ones are real?”

“Trauma responses?” Victor suggests, sighing as he looks up. “I really don’t know. Deep inside your brain, you know which ones are true, unless you somehow convince yourself which ones are false.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Walking out of the hospital, you hear as many lies as you do truths.

“You’re going to be fine,” someone promises. Lie.

“There isn’t much we can do.” Truth.

“The bathroom is down the hall.” Lie. You look over and see a young boy laugh as another child walks in the opposite direction.

Speeding up, you decide to go somewhere you hopefully won’t hear anyone. While you walk down the street, you see a small coffee shop off by itself. You walk inside and take a deep breath at the lack of people. Only five or six customers occupy the cafe, and only two don't have their noses buried in computer screens. You order a drink and sit in the back corner, lying your head on the table as you enjoy the quiet.

When you pick your head up to take a drink, you feel a weird sense of pain, less painful than nudging, like it’s directing your attention away from something. Even stranger, the pain isn’t real. Turning toward the sensation, you notice a pale man wearing the black clothes and the blonde girl sitting across from him. They could be siblings, but that doesn’t feel true. The girl looks over at you, her eyebrows raising when she sees you looking. She taps the man with her foot, and he glances up before following her gaze, his eyes locking on yours. 

“Can we help you?” he asks, his eyes narrowed as the nudging sensation strengthens slightly.

“No, sorry. I, uh, I thought you were someone else,” you apologize as you turn back to your drink.

“Remember what I said,” the man whispers, sounding much kinder than when he spoke to you.

You ignore them until they leave, but as soon as the man is out of sight of the coffee shop, the patrons begin whispering to one another, truths and lies floating through the air as new life enters the atmosphere. The distraction of pain is gone, too, and you jump out of your seat to follow the man in black.

“Hey!” you yell as you catch up.

He turns around, pushing the girl behind him as he sticks a hand under his jacket.

“Yes?” he asks.

“Was that you? The pain that kept everyone from looking at you?” you ask.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think you still have the wrong guy.”

You shake your head as your wrist flinches, barely noticeable, but enough to be sure he’s lying.

“That’s not true.” The girl pokes her head out, and you look at her to ask, “Can you do something, too?”

“No,” she whispers.

“That’s another lie.”

“Look,” he begins, raising a hand toward you.

“No, no, you look. I died yesterday, but now I’m a walking lie detector. So if you can do something too you have to help me,” you ramble, dropping your shoulders as you add, “Please.”

“You know when people are lying?” he asks.

You nod, and he looks at the girl, gesturing his head toward you.

“My name’s Sydney,” she says, standing straight as she steps beside her protector.

You nod and introduce yourself, tapping your hand on your thigh rather than shaking Sydney's hand. Her protector doesn’t seem like he would appreciate the sudden movement.

“This is Frank,” Sydney says.

Shaking your head, you look over at him.

“Lie?”

“Lie.”

“My name’s Victor,” he corrects, extending his hand.

You shake it, scrunching your nose in pain, your chest tightening much like it did yesterday.

“You died very recently,” Victor says. “I can control pain, obviously.”

“What can you do?” you ask Sydney.

“Doesn’t matter,” Victor interjects, looking at Sydney as she steps behind him again. “What kind of help do you want?”

“I’d like to know why I am a human polygraph test now,” you answer with a weak chuckle.

Victor looks around and sighs. “Come with us. Syd, call Mitch and tell him we have company.”

You thank Victor quietly and walk behind him, watching people turn away from him as the same nudging that pulls you to him pushes them away.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Okay,” Victor says, looking at Mitch’s computer. “This says you were gone for nearly two minutes. You were on the brink of brain damage.”

“What caused the bleeding around your heart?” Mitch asks.

“An accident. I don’t remember many details, though,” you answer, fiddling your fingers in your lap.

“What were you thinking about when you died?” Victor asks.

“Umm, there were a lot of questions. Like what would happen after I died and what everything meant. That’s all I remember thinking.”

“Have you heard of the theory of EOs?”

“ExtraOrdinary?” you clarify. “Just what I’ve seen in the papers. The masked vigilante that got arrested? Uh, something Ever, I think.”

Victor clenches his jaw as he nods. “Yeah, he was an EO. Just like me, Sydney, and you.”

“What do you mean, me?”

“EOs are, in the most basic sense, people who died and came back with something extraordinary,” Victor explains. “Unfortunately, something is also missing when we come back.”

“You’re saying that this power, whatever, is because I died? I have to live with this forever?”

“Yes. But, I have an idea, if you’re willing to help.”

“Help how?”

✯✯✯✯✯

“Where is the new EON facility?” Victor growls, wiping a knife on his sleeve as he circles the chair.

“I don’t know!” the man in the chair cries.

You lock eyes with Victor and shake your head; another lie.

“See, you do know and you’re just not willing to share. That’s not very nice,” Victor says, bending forward and placing his hands on his knees to look into the man’s eyes. “Tell me where it is and the pain goes away.”

“You’ll never find it!”

You shrug when Victor looks up at you; it’s not an answer, so it’s relatively true and false at the same time. Schrödinger’s answer.

“Do you want to meet my friend?” Victor asks, a small smile on his face. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Victor walks around the man, leaving him thrashing against the restraints. When Victor reaches you, he looks into your eyes as he speaks.

“Seeing you, knowing that you can tell what’s true and false will make him more aware of how serious this is,” Victor explains. “Are you up to this?”

You nod and follow Victor, similarly dressed in black to hide in the shadows.

“Why don’t you tell her what you told me?” Victor begins. “Where is the EON facility?”

“I don’t know,” the man repeats, staring at you.

“That’s a lie,” you state, setting your hands on Victor’s table of knives as you lean back against it. “Why don’t you tell me something true? No one ever tells the truth anymore.”

“Probably because you’re going to kill them regardless!”

“Is that what he told you?” you ask, cocking your head as you glance at Victor. “No, no, you tell us the truth and we leave. We don’t need you, we just need your information.”

“I’m taking it to the grave.”

“Now that’s true,” you say, smiling. “What about your name? What’s your name?”

“Bradley,” he mumbles.

Victor returns to your side, spinning a knife as he leans against the table beside you.

“In the mood for sharing now?” he asks.

“Not with you,” Bradley snaps.

“Oh, I see. Pretty girl is worthy of the answers, not me. I get it.” He places a hand on Bradley’s shoulder, stooping to whisper in his ear as he walks out. “I think for a moment she is in danger and you will experience pain beyond what you can imagine. Understand?”

Bradley nods as your wrist flinches. Whatever Victor said was true.

“Why are you willing to share with me, Bradley?” you ask once alone. He shrugs, and you ask, “Where is EON?”

“I don’t have an address.” Truth. “All I ever heard was that it is in a building once owned by the government. Somewhere north of town where there’s not much traffic.” Another truth.

“Do you have any idea which building it could be? Or which agency owned it?”

“No.” You tilt your head toward him, and he sighs before asking for paper and a pen. “Just this one,” he says as he writes an address.

“Thank you,” you say as you slip the paper into your pocket.

“What happens now?” Bradley asks.

“We all move on,” you say, smiling at him before walking out.

Your wrist doesn’t contract when you lie, but you and Bradley know that isn’t true.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Good work,” Victor says as he emerges from the building, wiping his hands on his coat.

“Thanks. He gave me this address, but he’s not sure if it is the correct building. All he could say for sure was that the building is somewhere north of town, no traffic around it, and that it used to be owned by the government,” you explain as you walk beside Victor.

Victor nods and takes the paper from you, reading the address before putting it in his pocket. “It’s probably the right place; there aren’t many abandoned government buildings around here. How’d you get him to talk to you?”

“People are less inclined to lie when they know they can’t get away with it,” you answer. “And I’m pretty sure he was just scared of you.”

Victor nods, keeping his eyes on something ahead of you as he shifts you to stand on his other side.

“Would you have killed him if I wasn’t there?” you ask quietly.

“No. I needed the information, I would have found another way to get it,” he answers after taking a few steps in silence. 

Your wrist flinches as you round the corner, Dol greeting you at the door.

“Mitch, we got an address,” Victor says, passing the paper to Mitch. “I need the property records and a list of previous owners.”

Mitch nods and begins typing as Dol rubs his head against your thigh.

“Sydney, does he need a walk?” you ask, laying a hand on Dol’s head.

“No, I took him out this morning,” she answers.

“Can I take him anyways? He seems antsy.”

“Sure,” Sydney answers, smiling at you. “Want me to come with you?”

“No, keep doing whatever it is you do.”

She sticks her tongue out at you, laughing as you return the sentiment while clipping Dol’s leash to his collar. You wave to Victor as you open the door, waiting for him to nod before you leave. Dol leads you down the street, stopping to sniff occasionally before stopping in front of the coffee shop where you met Victor. He growls lowly as his shackles rise, and you look around but don’t see anyone or anything that would cause him to act so differently.

“Dol, what’s up, buddy?” you ask quietly, setting your hand on his back.

He barks in response before pulling you to the corner. When the hospital comes into view, his growling gets louder as he looks between you and the building. You see someone walk out of the hospital with a hood over their head; they stop walking suddenly, and the hood snaps up in your direction like they’re looking at you.

“Dol, run,” you whisper, dropping his leash as you both turn and run toward the door you left just a few minutes ago.

Dol is a few steps ahead when a hand leaps out of an alley and pulls you into the darkness.

✯✯✯✯✯

Victor rolls his eyes when he hears Dol’s incessant barking at the door.

“How many times do I have to tell you to take a key?” he asks as he opens the door, freezing when he sees Dol is alone. He leans down and picks up Dol’s leash, looking into his eyes as he asks, “Where is she?”

Dol doesn’t answer, obviously, but looks behind him, the direction he came from.

“Sydney, did she say where she was going?” Victor asks, closing the door as he pulls Dol inside.

“No, she just offered to take him for a walk. This is bad isn’t it?” she responds, grabbing Dol’s neck as he sits at her side.

“Sydney, remember the promise?”

“No one will hurt me because you’ll hurt them first. Yeah, I remember.”

“I made the same promise to her. I’m going to find her. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, tell Mitch to get you and Dol out of here.”

“We’re not leaving you!”

“And I’m not dragging you down with me,” Victor promises as he walks out the door, his black coat trailing behind him.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Tell him to stop looking for EON,” the hooded figure says, its hand around your neck as you’re pushed against the brick wall in the alley.

“Who? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you say, panting as you struggle to breathe.

“You do know! Maybe you can tell when other people are lying, but you’re not a very good liar yourself, are you? How many lies have you let him tell you because you think you’re helping? He killed my brother and now I will kill him.”

You feel a flinch signifying the truth of his statement as you ask, “Why?”

“He’s not good. EON is doing good. Until EOs can be understood, they can’t be trusted. Surely you understand how important trust is.”

The pressure is taken off your neck, and you cough before saying, “Torturing people doesn’t build trust.”

“Is that what he said we do? Victor is many things, and a good liar tops the list.”

“He’s not a liar. You are.”

“Really?” A dark chuckle proceeds the demand, “Ask me to lie.”

“Why?” you ask.

“I am not going to kill you.”

Lie.

“I only want to kill Victor.”

Lie.

“What about… I only want to kill Victor first.”

Truth.

You look up but can’t see anything past the hood. “Why are you doing this?”

“EOs aren’t trustworthy until they prove it. Show where your allegiance lies and maybe I will let you live.”

“You know where my allegiance lies: with the truth, and you will kill me no matter what I do.”

“That’s not true.”

It’s not, you know that, but you trust Victor. Or at least you think you do.

“Trick him into lying and see what your detector says. I’ll give you some time to reconsider.”

You blink, and the hooded figure is gone. Rubbing your neck, you stumble out of the alley and into someone’s arms.

“What happened?” Victor demands.

“Did you kill someone?” you ask, gripping his biceps.

“No. What are you talking about?”

Truth. But you know differently. You release his arms and try to back away from him, but he drops his hands to your waist and holds you firm.

“Let go,” you demand.

“Not until you tell me what happened.”

“There’s people here, Victor.”

“They’re not paying attention to us. Talk.”

You look around and see that no one is looking at you. As usual, no one notices Victor.

“Why do you push people away?”

“To keep the people close to me safe,” he answers.

Truth.

“And why did you let me join you, help you, whatever it is you call my role here?”

“Because I thought your ability would be helpful. And I knew EON was back and wanted to help keep you safe.”

Two truths.

“Fine. Did Dol come back?”

Victor nods and releases you, watching as you walk past him. He clenches his jaw before dialing a random person’s pain up as he follows.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Victor asks, letting himself into your assigned bedroom.

You’re sitting on your bed in the dark, staring out the window as you respond, “No.”

“Why?”

“Because I think you’re lying to me.”

Victor sighs as his leg hits your bed, jostling the mattress slightly as he stands behind you.

“About what?” he asks.

You turn around to face him, looking up into the dark, barely able to make out his face, as you say, “Lie to me.”

“Tell me what happened,” he demands again.

You shake your head and lean back.

“Why is this so important? Don’t you trust me?”

“I did. And I want to. But you’re not making it easy right now.”

Victor sighs and runs his fingers through his pale hair before kneeling by your bed, looking up into your eyes as he offers, “If I lie to you will you tell me what happened?”

You nod as you lean forward, closing some of the distance between you. “But talk to me like you normally talk to me, don’t tell me something that is obviously a lie.”

“I’ve never killed anyone,” he says.

Truth.

“How do you do that?” you whisper. “I know you’re lying but my body still tells me it’s true.”

“Have I ever triggered a lie response?”

“Once. When we first met you said you didn’t know what I was talking about and that I had the wrong guy. But everything since then has been true, or so I thought.”

“My turn,” Victor says, cutting you off as he stands. “Tell me what happened in that alley.”

You take a deep breath and scoot back, allowing Victor to perch on the edge of the bed. “I was walking Dol and he stopped suddenly and started growling. His shackles raised, too. We were in front of a coffee shop, the one where you and I met.” You look down at your lap as you try to remember every detail of what happened next. “Then he led me to the corner, where you can see the hospital, and someone in a hood came out and looked toward us. I let go of Dol’s leash while we ran but I got pulled into an alley.”

“By the hooded… figure?” Victor asks.

You nod and continue, “Whoever, or whatever it was, told me to tell you to stop looking for EON. They knew your name, too, and said that I let you lie to me because I thought I was doing good.”

“What else did they say about EON?”

“That they were building trust with EOs, that until they could be understood they couldn’t be trusted.”

“Anything else? Did you see or hear anything that could tell us more?”

“They said they want to kill you.” You pick at the comforter as you add, “And me, if I don’t reconsider and show my allegiance is with them.”

Victor stands suddenly and turns the light on. 

You close your eyes tightly at the sudden brightness before asking, “What are you doing?”

He places a finger under your chin, raising your face toward him as he looks at your neck. His jaw clenches before he pulls his hand away.

“What?” you repeat.

“You didn’t say they touched you.”

“Obviously they touched me, Victor, they’re bad- wait, you killed the brother,” you say, remembering what else the hooded person said about Victor. “They said, ‘He killed my brother and now I will kill him.’”

“Bradley,” you and Victor say together.

“You lied to me,” you accuse quietly.

“I thought I was protecting you.”

“How do I know you’re not still lying?”

“Because I can lie to you, I just also know how to manipulate the truth. Yes, I killed Bradley.”

Truth.

“And I killed my friend Angie, and I killed several other people.”

Truth.

“And I will kill you if I have to.”

Lie.

You look into Victor’s eyes, and he shakes his head. “I can lie to you and get away with it, but only if I think it’s protecting you. I don’t know why it works. Maybe it’s just because I care about you.”

Truth.

“We need to find Bradley’s brother,” you say, standing and following Victor down the hall. “Victor.” You grab his arm to stop him, facing each other in the dark as you whisper, “I care about you too. Thank you for telling me the truth… and for lying to me.”

Victor smiles, just a flash in the darkness, before pulling you into the living room and opening Mitch’s laptop.

✯✯✯✯✯

“You reconsidered?” 

“I did… Jake. But I didn’t change my mind,” you answer, crossing your arms as Victor walks in behind you, a shadow visible for only a second as he melts into the darkness.

“I will avenge my brother,” Jake vows as he removes his hood.

“Dying at the hands of your brother-in-law must have been embarrassing,” Victor taunts from the dark. “I can’t imagine what kind of power you received to deal with something like that.”

“Come out and see,” Jake calls.

“I actually do most of the bidding,” you interject with a smile. “Easier to determine who’s worth the time when you know if they’re lying.”

“And is he lying to you?”

“He was. You were right.”

“Then why are you still helping him?”

“Because you lied too.” You stick your hands in your coat pocket as you walk toward Jake. “EON does torture EOs, and when they get tired of the EOs or deem their powers useless, they kill them. That’s not building trust, that’s genocide.”

“And your little shadow boyfriend killing everyone he can get his hands on isn’t?”

“He doesn’t kill everyone,” you argue. “But tell me, have you ever killed anyone?”

“Of course not, I’m not a monster.”

“Oh,” you sigh, clicking your tongue. “See, the bad thing about a half-truth, is it’s also a half-lie. Killing your wife accidentally is still killing your wife, Jake.”

Jake lunges toward you before Victor drops him, creating enough pain that he curls in on himself. You step over him, looking toward Victor as you continue talking.

“One more question. What did Haverty promise you before he died?”

Victor eases the pain, his eyes on Jake as he stands and turns to you.

“Nothing.”

“That’s a lie, Jake. We feel the same way about lies, don’t you think? Be considerate and tell me the truth or you’ll learn just how convincing Victor’s power can be.”

“Doesn’t old Victor back there have to see someone to use his power?” Jake asks, smirking at you.

“I see you talked to Eli,” Victor calls. “What Eli wasn’t around to find out is that once the initial connection is made, the power works a little differently.”

“Just tell us what we need to know, Jake, and no one else needs to get hurt.”

“Or you could just make yourself invisible because that’s how you feel, right?” Victor taunts.

Jake rushes into the shadows, and you look down at your wrist as you tap the heel of one shoe against the toe of the other. Victor emerges a moment later, dragging a nearly unconscious, half-invisible Jake back to you.

You squat beside him and whisper, “I really am sorry about Bradley, I know what it’s like to lose someone. But you were going to lose him anyway. Just tell us what Haverty promised you and who you were working with.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jake groans.

Truth. You look up at Victor with wide eyes.

“Why doesn’t it matter?” you ask.

“She’s dead. And everything I earned is gone.”

“Marcella?” Victor asks.

Jake nods, and Victor gestures for you to stand beside him.

“Run, Jake, and stay away from EON,” Victor says.

You watch as Jake disappears.

“Is this fight ever going to end?” you ask.

“Not likely,” Victor answers.

“Who killed Marcella?”

“Eli.”

“And then you killed him?”

“Yes.”

“Victor,” you say, drawing his eyes to yours. You smile and say, “No, you didn’t.”

Victor opens his mouth to argue, but you turn and walk away, calling, “Sydney is a better sharer than you.”

Victor rolls his eyes before catching up with you.

✯✯✯✯✯

“You’ll never figure all of them out,” Victor says, dragging a Sharpie across the first page of his parents’ newest book.

“Sydney, help me out?” you ask.

“Dol, don’t let Sydney help,” Victor adds.

“Okay, so saying you’d kill me is a lie,” you muse aloud.

“You said you’d kill her?” Mitch asks, looking up from his computer.

“She told me to lie,” Victor answers with a shrug.

“Someone else tell me something,” you request, turning away from Victor.

“Dol is ugly!” Sydney says, complying with your request.

“Don’t listen, buddy, you’re the most handsome guy here,” Victor whispers, setting the marker aside to pat Dol’s head.

“Obviously a lie, c’mon, Syd,” you chide playfully.

“Dol likes Vic just as much as he likes Sydney,” Mitch adds.

“That… you think it’s true, at least,” you determine.

“And why wouldn’t you?” Victor asks Dol. “We’re both amazing, aren’t we?”

“Try to trick me,” you demand.

Sydney says something, but your wrist flinches before she finishes, the sound of Victor’s marker drowning her out. The same as when he whispered to Bradley. You turn to face him, and he raises his eyebrows as you take his marker.

“Did you just say something?” you ask.

He shrugs and looks back to the page. You glance down and find the few words still visible: 

“What did you tell Bradley when you left me alone with him?” you whisper.

“That I’d hurt him if I thought you were in danger.”

“And what did you say just now?”

“You read it.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I meant them both, and I still do. I won’t let anyone hurt you because I’ll hurt them first. I let you stay because I care about you but it grew from there.”

“Finally,” Sydney says behind you.

Your wrist flinches as Victor rolls his eyes at her.

“You love me? I love you.”

Victor smiles. Not the smile he smiles before he lies, but a genuine smile. “That’s good to hear.”

“Good indeed, now stop making us uncomfortable,” Mitch says as he sits beside Sydney.

Dol barks as Sydney argues that you and Victor are cute together.

Your wrist flinches with every comment, especially when Victor whispers, “I’ve loved you since you accused me of lying the first time we met. Even though you lied to me, too.”

[zukkaoru]

i love chuuya figuring out they're nonbinary during the time they're with the sheep or it always being something the just sort of Knew. i like the idea of them feeling that disconnect from the gender binary as far back as their memory goes and just rolling with it. but the more i think about it, the more i also like it not being something they figure out until post-doa arc/post-canon.

like.. chuuya not having the language or the means to figure out what they feel in terms of gender while with the sheep (or even in their early mafia days) and so they just sort of. push it down and ignore it. and they hold onto the concept of masculinity because fitting into the binary keeps them human, in their eyes. they don't need any more reasons for people to question their humanity; they don't need any more reason to question it themself. but slowly, they begin to realize they've been holding themself to a different standard than everyone else. gin can play around with their gender identity and presentation, and chuuya has never seen them as less human for it. ranpo can casually drop that they're not a man after chuuya mistakenly refers to them as one, and chuuya will correct themself without batting an eye. when akutagawa starts referring to atsushi with they as well as he, chuuya makes a mental note of the change and that's that. so why is it when chuuya wants to separate themself from their birth gender, it's suddenly an argument against their humanity?

maybe it isn't until chuuya is twenty-three (ish) that they truly accept their own genderqueer-ness. maybe it takes years of ignoring the obvious signs before chuuya is ready to accept that part of who they are. maybe ever-confident port mafia executive nakahara chuuya is still unsure about some things, and that's okay, because they've got time to figure it out.

[crimsonxe]

So LiS: DE livestream:

Still at the start of live stream but they're starting off good via "we knew we'd have to respect the original 2 endings of LiS" and this

"romance" fuck off, the only romance I need is Chloe and Pricefield continuing.

Okay, having Elyse Willems as the host is unfair >.< Love her, if that wasn't clear.

Just want to point out that the term they use for Max's profession:

[An artist-in-residence is when a museum recruits a person (or group of people) with a specific skill or attribute to produce work, provide advice, and/or promote the museum for a defined period of time, from just a few days to a year or more.]

Fully fits in-line with the idea of her just being temporarily away from Chloe or even Chloe arriving later if the Bae ending option is chosen.

"There is no canon ending to LiS" very good approach to have in mind. Players via a convo with Safi will get to set choices made in prior game, including the LiS ending choice. Ignore YT's dumbass CC errors:

Like I said, they don't need to bother any romances cause they're DOA. Chloe is the only one for Max and vice versa when I play.

Safi is cute as a FRIEND but not anything more than that and for sure doesn't remotely match Chloe & Max's chemistry

Still not a single reason given why Max had to be brought back for this instead of just having a new character with no ties, including an iconic relationship from the first game.

[randomthefox]

The Sonic spin-off crowd doesn't understand that their personal favorite spin-off is not and never will be the center of the universe.

If Sega decided to start incorporating characters/ideas from the spin offs into the main series, they would start with stuff that was made in Japan first. Then MAYBE they would start playing with the idea of including things from Western material.

There's also the fact that Sega would only be interested in paying attention to things that had major financial success and positive publicity. Stuff like the paramount movies and Sonic Prime, basically. Simply having a ton of fan art on Twitter would not be enough to convince Sega to spend effort on something from a long dead spin-off.

Folks also need to stop assuming that every single spin-off is gonna become a pillar of the franchise or something. People have convinced themselves that any day now, the games will become a fusion of every single adaptation and give everything equal spotlight. But in reality, expecting something from Western material to get more than an appearance in one of the mobile games is just crazy.

Tangle got an easy to ignore, namedrop in frontiers, and a screenshot of her face in a tailstube video. So yeah, Tangle exists somewhere in the games universe, but that doesn't mean the entirety of idw is gonna be placed on a pedestal. A fully realized game Tangle could be completely different from whatever is happening in the comics.

Honestly this only seems to be a problem with the SatAM/Archie fans. Fans of Sonic Underground don't have this problem. No one is demanding that Sonia and Manic get added to the games. I'm sure they'd be over the fucking moon if they were, but it's not like they're insisting upon it the way Archie Snapes do.

Sonic Team clearly isn't interested in incorporating stuff made by other creatives. And why would they be? I think Twitter has brain rotted people into thinking that "adopting" another person's creation and trying to "show your own take on it" is normal. It is not normal. Professional* creatives would rather make something new that is all their own - that might take inspiration yes, but is irremovably their own creation that they have full ownership over, not just a (bad) redesign of someone else's thing. Cultural differences probably also a factor: in Japan it is considered extremely rude to do the shit that Twitter fanartists do. As exemplified by whenever Japanese artists have that shit done to them and they respond by going "da fuq I didn't give you permission to vandalize my art" which the brain rotted crowd then reacts quite violently towards.

(* note that I am saying professional in the literal sense, not the figurative sense. I'm not saying they're artists who act professionally. I am saying they are paid tradesman in a working profession.)

I also don't think Sonic Prime was a major financial success lol. I think it was DOA. I'm sure they got a nice licensing fee out of it but it's not like SEGA makes royalties off of how frequently it gets streamed on Netflix. And based on the way Netflix treated it I don't think it was very successful. Or maybe it was and Netflix was just ashamed of it for other reasons I dunno. Typical corporate response to something having a lot of success is to run it into the ground though and they're definitely not doing that.

Tangle being name dropped really doesnt prove anything because as I keep pointing out: Sticks also got a name drop. Doesn't prove that Sonic Boom which is clearly an alternative universe is canon anymore than Tangle being mentioned proves anything about IDW.

[blvcklizard]

So, I've mentioned this before, but I've been thinking about it again so I'm finally making it into a proper post. Do you ever think about how Jouno's ability alienates him from the Hunting Dogs?

As in, all of them have a specific job in the team, and their abilities fit it perfectly.

Teruko specialises in interrogation, with an ability that makes people extremely vulnerable to torture.

Tecchou's job is fighting, with an ability that makes it impossible to escape his sword.

Tachihara is a spy, with an ability allows him to easily access, steal or change data.

Fukuchi is... well, Fukuchi, but he's their leader, a living legend, with an ability that makes him basically invincible.

Jouno's job is localisation/capture, and he's made out for it, too. We have seen that his senses let him scan an extremely high radius within seconds, and he's a human lie detector. You literally can't hide anything from him, physically or mentally.

Except that these skills have nothing to do with his ability. In fact, while all other Hunting Dogs have abilities that give them major advantages on their field of expertise, Jouno's is literally useless here.

On the other hand, what are the advantages his ability gives him? He can't be hurt by most weapons, and he can easily escape from almost anything.

It's a perfect ability for a criminal. Especially a high-ranking member of a criminal organisation or, taking it a step further, a terrorist (AKA, a member of the DOA). It doesn't even take any interpretation to come to this conclusion, since it's literally one of the reasons why Fukuchi recruited him in the first place. It's still sort of sad to think about it, because it emphasises how he was never meant to be a Hunting Dog like the others and that despite everything, this puts him in a sort of outsider position.

"But Silver," I hear you say. "What about Tachihara then? He was a criminal too, so shouldn't he be in the same situation?"

I'm glad you asked!

Well, the real answer is probably that he wasn't recruited to join the DOA (or so we can assume?) and his ability was a convenient coincidence. But the nice thing about fandom is that we can sometimes ignore the simple explanations, because I actually have a (separate) headcanon that could explain this, too.

If you've ever heard me talk about them, you know that I headcanon that Jouno first suggested/encouraged Tachihara to take the job in the Mafia, but this might add something interesting to that thought as well.

Because there would be the possibility that this thought crossed his mind. Sure, metal manipulation offers endless possibilities, but as Teruko mentioned it's a perfect ability for a spy; about as fitting as, say, a fighter being able to extend and twist his blade as he likes.

Tachihara was looking for a place to belong. He explicitly confirmed this more than one time. Now, we don't know enough about Jouno and his past to tell if the same applied to him, but we do know that he came to like his job, and if we want to overanalyse we can even say that he might have sort of an inferiority complex regarding his position in the team. Either way, in context of this, he gives Tachihara an opportunity he never got, and never will get.

I'm pretty sure I'm overinterpreting this as it's two headcanons supporting each other with no proper canon base, but it's really interesting to think about what this would mean for the Hunting Dogs cycle. Because while yes, Fukuchi didn't pick Jouno just because of his ability, it still connects him to the DOA rather than the Hunting Dogs, while it's the opposite in Tachihara's case, with his ability getting him in the Mafia, where he essentially belongs. Jouno's ability ties him to his past, Tachihara's ability offers him a future.

[kikizoshi]

The issue I feel I always hit upon with Nikolai is the six months he spent as a secretary.

If he'd joined the DOA suddenly and, within a few weeks to two or three months, decided to kill himself like this and went through with it, that'd be one thing. But he spent at least six months before Sunday Tragedy as Tonan's secretary, doing God-knows what, which is a real sticking point for me.

I mean, really think about it. Nikolai's whole plan seems unhinged, and somewhat mirrors Gogol's death. But Gogol's death was sudden, with almost no time between talking to the priest and taking up his fast. There wasn't time for deliberation or second-guessing.

Nikolai's part in the DOA's plan, though, gave him more than plenty of time to think it through. He had so many nights after coming home from work. He had so many opportunities to leave. Over six months. It completely changes the context of his death. It's impossible for it to have been impulsive, or spur-of-the-moment. It was methodical, intentional, decisively decided upon.

And that's... really bad for me rn. Because it says something very fundamental about his character, that he was able and willing to spend six months as a Japanese secretary to a high-ranking official, and to stick to that plan the entire time (I'm ignoring Nikolai's whole wanting to kill Fyodor thing until I see evidence that it actually furthers his character).

No matter how I look at it, deciding to die in that way had to be an impulsive action, just as Gogol's death was, and yet according to the manga, it couldn't have been an impulsive action, at least not for so long. At first, sure, it could've been impulsive, but Nikolai had more than enough time to think about it and change his mind (and I believe he'd be able to back out regardless of what the DOA wanted, he's resourceful enough).

The only other explanation would be that Fyodor somehow manipulated Nikolai into wanting to the whole time, which... I guess could be said. But that sort of explanation just undermines the entirety of Nikolai's motivation imo.

So, that leaves me between a rock and a hard place. Because I don't want to change Nikolai's character so fundamentally by altering canon, but I also can't explain to myself how he could've gone through with this whole thing, if not on impulse.

The only reason I can think to explain why Nikolai would be a secretary is because Akaky Akakievich was a secretary. And, just like Akaky Akakievich, he dies after appealing to a superior and without his overcoat ("Save me, sir!" and, if you look at the panels where he's in the chainsaw chair, his cape is conspicuously missing). But making that parallel isn't enough justification for why my interpretation of Nikolai would do this. Even if he didn't want to stay behind in Russia while Fyodor went off to Japan to become a terrorist, I don't see why joining in said terrorism would be anything more than one of his frequent flights of fancy.

I'm not ignoring the fact that he wants to be free. I know that's why he does everything. It's the fact that this particular way of going about freedom is absolutely batshit insane and he had enough time as a secretary to reflect and realise that.

It's also just really difficult for me to make that freedom compelling... Gogol wanted to purify himself, and, presumably, that priest he spoke to at least suggested that an extreme fast would help. His morbid fear of death, hypochondria, religious extremism--all of these character traits help contribute to the relatability of his actions, paint a picture as to how he possibly could've ended up there. And we can feel the humanity in his actions. There's something innately human about fear of death and striving for purity.

But Nikolai's freedom... Try as I might, I can't find an angle that finds its roots in humanity. I try to relate him to Kirillov, but Kirillov looks ascance and tells me that their motivations aren't alike at all, which is certainly true. I try to relate him to Gogol, but my issues are mentioned above. In sheer desperation I try to relate him to Akaky Akakievich, but there's nothing there for it. I've even tried Nastasya Fillipovna, and while she was helpful in other ways, nothing could be found for his freedom.

As I understood it, Kirillov's whole thing was "If God doesn't exist, then I must be God, because my existence is the only one I can prove, so I must be God and not remember>death will free my soul and I'll become God again", and since he was going to die anyway, he figured he might as well accept and give his death to Verkhovensky. But it also seemed to me sometimes that he just wanted to die, and was coming up with excuses. Either way, even that sentiment of "if my existence is the only one I can prove, then am I God" is fairly relatable, I think, even if Kirillov as a whole isn't much.

But Nikolai's freedom... He feels that society is a cage, and wants to escape it. Which... sure, it makes sense, especially for an extreme and eccentric personality like him. That he can't ever truly seem to break free of his societal conditioning is relatable. But somehow, torturing eight people to death and sawing himself in half because he's upset that he can't overcome his conditioning somehow isn't all that relatable.

I feel like Gogol's death was, in its own way, a perfect literary conclusion to Gogol life (though very early and I dearly wish he'd lived far longer). It was foreshadowed and fit his personality completely, and as a story is deeply fascinating and moving.

But Nikolai's death... it was sudden and shocking, a bit intriguing, and that's about it. It certainly didn't relate to any deeply human struggles. People do kill themselves often because of societal rules and conditioning (and people's poor reactions to them when they don't fit those rules), but they don't typically methodically plan out violent acts of terrorism. And I don't find domestic terrorists who commit acts of extreme violence to be particularly relatable. Or redeemable.

I want to make it work so badly, but I fear I never will. My Nikolai might be able to do it if it was spur-of-the-moment, with no time to reflect, but as a secretary... Well, actually, it's even worse than that. Not only does he have time to reflect, but living as a secretary again when he hated it so much the first time would also give him insight into how his life was as an actor... Idk, it's just a mess.

[loveriddenapple]

I have to admit, I do not understand interpretations of Fyolai where Nikolai is a minute away from confessing all his feelings for Fyodor. For some reason, I take his "I wanna kill Fyodor because he makes me feel things I haven't felt before" quiet seriously in a way that this reasoning with Nikolai is more connected to his morals and his absolute abstinence (if I'm allowed to call it that haha) of them. All Nikolai knows is kill, how he interacts with others around him is he's the Killer Clown and the rest are his victims. (I know he's a jester, but let me use that expression for better comparison.) But of course, they are roles for him to play into. Nikolai loves theater and disguises, he acts in a theatrical way, so it won't be a stretch to say he navigates life through roles, drama, theater, etc.

But this Killer Clown wants to be Fyodor's friend. This might not be anything new to him, especially that it is so easy for him to call Fyodor his "intimate friend" and, after all, the guy understands him and they have pretty much the same interests (death for the example). Who knows he might have felt kinship with other people before but chose to ignore it because he is supposed to be The Killer Clown. A monster doesn't make friends, so Nikolai makes people he wants to be friends with his victims. His strongest emotion towards Fyodor is connection - human connection, and of course, he does not know what to do with that other than deflecting it by murder. For Nikolai, it is easier that way. It's what he knows. Heck, Fyodor even understands that part of him, understands the complication that comes with his emotions and his coping mechanism.

When it comes to his feelings for Fyodor, Nikolai is essentially towing the line of friendship and "Eh who cares, I'll kill him in the end, anyway". He would seek affection and attention from Fyodor, whether that's platonic and romantic, and then comfort himself with the idea that he will absolutely kill him someday. That way he knows what do with his emotions, he is not being enslaved by his brain or heart or wherever the fuck feelings come from. And what's even more complicated is that Nikolai feels guilty with the bad things he does. Even with people he doesn't consider his friends, like his victims for the DOA plan, he already feels guilty about it. What more if you wanted to kill someone who you wanted to be close with? I don't think Nikolai is not stupid enough to think that if he does go with whatever coping mechanism he does with his emotions aka killing people, killing Fyodor, that he would absolutely not be able to live with what he would feel right after. Guilt. Regret. So much pain. Once again enslaved by emotions gained from human connection. And he would not want that, but he also would not let go of the idea of killing Fyodor.

It's like, he would keep being Fyodor's friend but never ever, for the love of god, confess to him ever. I think he'd rather die than do that. I think he'd rather tell Fyodor he'd kill him than say he loves him. He already did that canonically lmao.

I know Nikolai gives him nicknames, tells him he misses him, and spends more time with him than with others - those things painfully telling enough, so gay of him. Very gay. But he is still essentially treating Fyodor like a friend, only with other special treatments that he would never give to Sigma or to anyone.

He is totally down-bad but in a repressed and insane kind of way. He's like "Omgg I love Dos-kun so much, he is my very very good friend, and I'd love to be with him all the time but I don't wanna be his stupid boyfriend. What are you talking about" At least with BSD canon that's how he deals with it. Of course, it comes with the trauma their world is giving them and their terrorist affiliations, so they cannot approach love or friendship in a normal way. At all.

(Same goes with Fyodor, but he also his own ways. Like granting the wishes of others in his own twisted way.)

But with AUs though, or in a kinder world, Nikolai would probably only have "Maybe he doesn't feel the same way" kind of problems with his feelings for Fyodor. Or maybe he doesn't wanna ruin their friendship. Or he doesn't know how to hit on him lmao. A lot of complications can be placed in exchange with his personal problems about human connection. And a lot saner coping mechanisms other than killing the person you had a huge crush with.

[acemarkey]

♿️ and 🏳️‍🌈 for the doa trio🔥🔥 🔥

♿️ What is their disability/disabilities? What are the symptoms that they show? Be as specific or as vague as you want.

fyodor - ok well the anemia is canon. assuming he's still alive so is the amputee thing. he frequently faints and then just gets up and walks it off like it's nothing . also phantom pains w his arm . it annoys him to no end. also npd bpd and autism. Trust 💯

nikolai - BLIND IN ONE EYE and has HORRIBLE depth perception. very autiadhd. bpd and npd again. fp is fyodor. duh. depression maybe

sigma - Ermmm. She's autistic. and. um. ermmmm. chronic fatigue but Lol she doesn't care . she be the ignorer. Maybe cluster a i don't know

🏳️‍🌈 A random headcanon about them and their disability

fyodor - nikolai still keeps his arm

nikolai - the card covers his working eye. he has not elaborated on how he actually sees with it on

sigma - regularly passed out working at the sky casino and thought it was normal. fucking fyodor was the one who told her it wasnt

[newtrekcriticisms]

Welcome to New Trek Criticisms. This blog is a space for classic Star Trek fans who are dissatisfied with Star Trek Discovery, Star Trek Picard, and Star Trek Strange New Worlds, and their writing, representation, and place in Star Trek canon. Some things to note:

This blog is fervently pro-Michael Burnham. We are disappointed with the character’s overall poor treatment over the course of the series and believe she deserves better.

This blog is fervently pro-diversity. We are disappointed and in some cases appalled by Discovery’s treatment of its trans characters and characters of colour and favouritism toward its white characters.

Fans who take issue with Discovery because of its diversity or because of Michael Burnham as a character are not welcome here.

Please see below the cut for further information on our position and frequently asked questions.

Our Position

This blog takes the following issues with Discovery as a whole:

The mistreatment, sidelining, or fridging of its characters of colour (Burnham, Georgiou Prime, Landry, Culber, Tyler, Owosekun, Rhys, Bryce)

The favouritism toward white characters (Tilly, Stamets, Detmer, Tarka, Saru, Pike)

The mistreatment and use of the “bury your gays” trope with its LGBT characters (Culber, Gray Tal, Reno’s wife, whatever was going on with Tarka and Oros)

The way in which Discovery advertises and flaunts its diversity as a selling point, only to fall short when the show airs (the fridging of Georgiou Prime and demotion of Burnham, Gray Tal being DOA, Adira being misgendered)

The irreconcilable changes to established lore (including but not limited to the Klingons, Starfleet technologies in the 23rd century, other changes to legacy alien designs and lore)

The apparent lack of interest in numerous legacy aliens as major players or characters within the plotlines in favour of creating new aliens who will never be as deep or interesting as aliens such as classic Klingons, Cardassians, Ferengi, Bajorans, etc, in our opinion

The overall poor quality of writing, in our opinion

The way in which Nutrek as a whole ultimately fails to “feel” like Star Trek, in our opinion

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Frequently Asked Questions

You guys are the worst kinds of Star Trek purists. Fuck off. Not really a question, but thank you for the suggestion!

If you hate Nutrek so much, why not ignore it and watch something else? To use an analogy, if you see someone beating up your best friend, you aren’t going to look away. Both mods are lifelong classic Star Trek fans devastated over how the franchise is being handled. As Trek fans, we are allowed to have an opinion on the direction Star Trek is going in.

I agree with some or all of your points but I still enjoy Discovery. Does that make me a bad person? No. It means you are capable of critical thinking when engaging with a piece of media. Congrats!

Is there anything you DO like about Discovery? I like Michael Burnham, Philippa Georgiou (Prime), Hugh Culber, Adira, Gray, and Laira Rillak. I like the Michael is Spock’s brother and that Spock has dyslexia. I also liked species 10-C and the way the crew had to learn to communicate with them.

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Mod Info

We are two mods, a mixed nonbinary lesbian (Mod X) and a white gay man (Mod Y). We have watched TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, Discovery, Picard, and SNW.

[stygicniron]

Meta + Hades & Persephone

Ask Meme: Talk Meta to Me -- @furys-burn

Let me start this out by saying that this is more closely aligned to how Nico feels about Hades and Persephone in canon and this doesn’t necessarily pertain to any of writing partners I have writing these muses. Most of my mutuals I write with have rejected this part of canon, which is more than fine by me. Because their characterization is wonky.

So, this is going to get long because it’s complicated.

Nico is convinced that Hades hates him. Hades has said before that he wished Nico was the one that died and Bianca lived. Hades regularly said he was the weaker of the siblings and clearly seemed to think less of Nico for worrying about the rest of the demigods. Hades also takes advantage of Nico’s naivety uses that to trap Percy briefly in the Underworld. All that is to say that Nico and his father have a very contentious relationship. It’s not terribly clear if this relationship ever gets reconciled in canon or if Nico ultimately decides he doesn’t need his father’s approval. 

I do headcanon that after Nico dies, he has a place in the House of Hades and had more mobility in the Underworld than most of the dead. I also think he does pay visits to the Underworld quite regularly while living and even has his own room down there. There was a post on this site at one point that mentions Hades being a huge nerd who has a train set, and I’ve sort of taken that idea and applied it to Nico’s love of Mythomagic. I also headcanon that Hades as the representative of DOA records does get invited to various important events and Nico sometimes takes advantage of this--like with VIP tickets to SDCC.

It feels like Nico should be the heir to Hades as he gets to display more of the powers typically associated with the Underworld--death, ghosts, sleep (which is another Chthonic power)-- but it doesn’t seem to actually connect because Hades rejects Nico multiple times. (Hazel weirdly almost becomes an heir to Hecate, but that’s a different can of worms.) So I do think Nico ends up maintaining a connection to the Underworld, but he doesn’t ever really make amends with his father/being seen as the true heir, at least from what we see in canon.

Nico’s relationship with Persephone is even more complicated. A lot of the way the gods and demigod relationships are portrayed in PJO is that the gods are depicted as being absent/neglectful parents. I think this take resonated so well with the readers too, and it’s part of what made PJO so compelling to read. Sure, most kids don’t have superpowers, but most kids can understand what it’s like to be neglected by parents, or even to have that situation themselves. For Nico and Persephone though, this is a rough exploration of a blended family where Hades ended up having kids outside of his previously committed relationship. On some level, I do get why Persephone is hostile towards Nico, but on the other hand, it doesn’t feel like it fits Persephone’s characterization in myth otherwise.* Which all goes a very long way to say that Nico and Persephone aren’t on the best terms in canon. She mostly just tries to ignore him and when she does acknowledge him, she turns him into a plant which is lowkey horrifying.

*I feel like there’s a commentary here about how rr chooses to write the femme gods but I’m not sure I’m the one to dig into it. Leave it to say that Persephone doesn’t really feel like a goddess where some of the other gods do feel like gods.

HOWEVER, I know there’s also some talk about the idea of Dread Queen Persephone where she acts as the true power in the Underworld and Hades is more administrative. We don’t see this idea in pjo canon at all but I super vibe with this idea and in a way, Nico almost seems to be her heir than the heir of Hades.  Nico is mentioned as taking more after his mother, both in personality and appearance, so I kind of love the idea that he takes after Dread Queen Pesephone more than Hades?? I haven’t gotten the chance to explore this much, but it has been rattling around my brain.

I could ramble on about Nico’s relationship with these two forever, but I’ll put a pin in it for now.

[zumpietoo]

Rewatchability factor is DOA because from this former BH stans view everything takes on a different interpretation given the way it played out. They retconned BH by Betty saying she's "wanted to do [A*chie] since HS" thus making every fear Jug expressed in S1 B-day fight a reality, knowing B cheats w/A & that they get together for a length of time gives BH scenes a different connotation on rewatch & a BH reunion for rewatchability is a non issue, if Jabi is together at S7 end that'll be 3 seaso

Oh agreed—-plus it certainly won’t inform how the show progresses.

That particular post is almost breathtaking in how they utterly watch a different show and ignore 2/3 of canon. It would have been ludicrous before even jabis first kiss, now it’s fully and patently absurd