#it is so much more interesting and makes me much more engaged

[deadboyswalking]

Right after Zoro and Sanji get engaged, only hours from the proposal, they have an interesting late-night conversation.

"Gonna have to be a long engagement, Curly."

"And why's that?" Sanji asks sleepily from his comfortable position lying on Zoro's chest, "Having second thoughts already?"

"No!" Zoro replies, a bit too sharply before softening, "It'll just be a while until we can get back to the East Blue."

Sanji is silent for a long moment.

"Do you still have... family there?" he asks.

"No, but you do," Zoro says quietly, "You'd be sad if your old man weren't there."

Oh. Sanji hasn't even had a chance to think about Zeff yet, but Zoro has. Though Sanji was the one to propose, Zoro has clearly been thinking about this for a while. Zoro knows how important Zeff is to Sanji, how much Sanji loves The Baratie and the chefs there, and he's already planning for them to go back home for their wedding.

It's so different from Whole Cake Island, an unfamiliar and extravagant place where Sanji had been surrounded by detested blood relations, enemies, and strangers while he awaited political marriage to a sweet girl he barely knew. But Zoro knows Sanji and knows what he really wants, even if Sanji would never make a fuss and bring it up himself.

Sanji has never felt this loved.

"Yeah, the geezer would probably kill me if I got married and didn't invite him," Sanji finally says, his voice thick with emotion, "And The Baratie is the only place I'd trust to make my wedding feast."

"We could invite my sensei," Zoro adds, "And Johnny and Yosaku, if those two idiots haven't gotten themselves killed. I think they settled down in Nami's village."

"What about Mihawk?" Sanji asks.

"If I haven't defeated him yet, sure," Zoro grumbles, "He likes fancy restaurants and he'd probably get along with my sensei. Perona too since she'd haunt me forever if I left her out. What about Ivankov?"

Sanji grimaces, mostly for show.

"I'll invite Iva, but I don't think he'll show up. He's way too busy with his kingdom and the Revolutionary Army to go all the way to the East Blue just for our wedding."

Zoro hums in thought.

"I think you're wrong about that. Who else?"

Needless to say, by the time they finally fall asleep their tentative guest list has over 500 names on it. Even if Zoro and Sanji aren't quite as sociable as their captain (who they'll definitely have to restrain from inviting everyone he's ever met to their wedding), all of the Straw Hat Pirates have made many friends on their journey and will make more by the time they get back to the East Blue.

Sanji's last thought before drifting off in the arms of the man he loves is wondering how much advance notice he should give Zeff before his beloved restaurant is swarmed by all of the friends that the lonely little boy he saved grew up to have.

[baldurdashitall]

TMAGP Prediction:

What will make Alice actually face the fears?

Of any character from any horror franchise, Alice Dyer seems to have the best survival skills. Girl has been working a horror analysis desk job for 10 years and still seems relatively okay.

Her strategy all this time has been 'ignore whatever is going on and don't get curious'.

Investigating the Magnus Institute with Sam seems to be the first time she violated this, and we can see that it hasn't gone well for her. Now that she has 'caught the eye' of whatever is out there, she's been using a different strategy of trusting her gut and not being alone when she feels watched.

However, looking at how she handled Gwen's reveal in TMAGP 18, it seems like she is still employing the 'ignore it's strategy for all the horrors except the one she's directly dealing with. Tbh, I wouldn't be surprised if she has seen other coworkers spiral into the horrors similarly to Gwen, as a result of them getting curious and getting involved.

When Gwen said 'dont get attached' on Celia joining the OIAR, I'm sure she was saying so considering the high turnover rate. However, I wonder if Alice's confirmation of this was based in more than just the turnover rate, but also the fact that she's seen people 'go weird' over the years and lose themselves to the fears. Coworkers either leave quickly to find other employment or end up much, much, worse, except for Alice.

Which brings me to what I think will actually push her over the edge to get actively involved in what's going on- Teddy. Here's a man who has left the OIAR, Alice seems quite fond of him, he obviously is doing his best to find a normal job, a normal life, has absolutely no interest in returning to the spooky horror job, absolute paradigm of how to not die given Alice's rules of engagement.

And something is going to happen to him. Something horrible and undeniable is going to happen to Teddy, a man who has followed Alice's rules, who has no interest in all the spooky stuff, is going to suffer greatly and Alice will realize that no one is safe.

If Sam got hurt, if Sam was consumed, Alice would be sad, no doubt, but she's warned him! She told him this would happen. it's unfortunate but she did her due diligence. if Teddy dies, if Teddy gets hurt, that throws Alice's whole approach out the window. She'll realize no one is safe, and once that false security is shattered completely, then she will be willing to get involved, because obviously not getting involved still won't save you.

Or it will be something with her brother lol who knows maybe both!

[simonsezsewart]

☀️Triangled☀️

Trigun Stampede X Tangled

Original Vashwood Fan-Comic by @SimonSezSewArt

(Pages 1-5)

Omg It’s finally here!!! ;0;

I’ve been working on this for over a week now and I finally have the first five pages done!!

Apologies for the inconsistent art style and quality, I’m still figuring out what I’m doing lol; also I originally made the first 3 pages in black and white like a traditional manga (hence the specific page ratio) but realized half way through that all the lines, dots, and high contrast were triggering my migraines… whoops… ;v;

At least it gives me a chance to practice my coloring skills. (Lord knows I need it. The purple dress and the orange sand keep wanting to clash so much oof ;v;)

As for the story, I figured simply combining the two story lines of Tristamp and Tangled would make it feel a little bit boring/predictable, which is why I’ve decided to mix and match things, as well as add my own original spin to the story, hopefully to keep y’all engaged/entertained! ^^;

My goal atm is to update with at least one new page every Wednesday (for WooWoo Wednesday, obviously), but potentially more, idk yet. I might also consider posting the comic to AO3 if y’all are interested. This is all pretty experimental for me, so I’m figuring stuff out as I go lol.

Lastly, a big thank you to those of you who have left such nice comments in reblog tags! Your kindness and supportiveness mean the world to me!! :)

[sneeb-canons]

heart is the lowest-empathy of the bunch. he gets caught up in his own emotions, no time for anyone else's. if someone else is upset when it's happy, it'll be annoyed at them. if someone else is happy when it's upset, it'll... also be annoyed at them. it's an involuntary response, sometimes he feels bad about it later. usually he doesn't. whether or not he acts on it depends on how pissedoff he is

mind is the highest-empathy, by some counts; she is the most capable of properly understanding others' feelings, but what she decides to do with that information varies. they generally (try to) remain composed, of course.

soul doesn't know what an empathy is. has considered herself low empathy in tthe past due to not really reacting to others pain with much more than 'uhm. Awkward!!..." but also cannot bring himself to kill an ant in his shower because it Feels Bad despite threatining the other two's lives as, yknow, a major point of the loop so?? who even the fuck knows. Not them certainly (just like me fr)

theyre all also alexythemic as shit. they rarely know how they feel unless the emotion is very powerful and even then it's basically either 'Good' or 'Bad' with little recognition for nuanced tones--with the exception of anger, which they feel clearly and distinctly.

that even applies to heart, of course! must suck being an incredibly emotionally driven person who cannot distinguish their emotions (minus anger and spite, of course) to save their life. not like i would have any experience with it. haha. slowly turns to the camera

On a slightly lighter note, uhh

i have a special interest in rain world so. they all get to be rw fans. yayayayay.

[rain world spoilers from here on out LOL sorry.brainrotting]

mind mains spearmaster, and has probably actually speedrun their campaign once or twice. big into movement tech. once wanted to make her own region mod but couldn't come up with any interesting ideas and eventually gave up. sees themself in five pebbles in a 'recognition of the self in the other (derogatory)' way, but would never admit to it.

heart mains artificer. has claimed to relate to them, mind told him that this is what some might call a 'red flag'. has several really cool region mod ideas but no lediting skills, alas. a lore guy more than a tech guy. despite not knowing much in the way of movement, is a force to be reckoned with in arena mode. also relates to pebbles, but in a slightly different way

soul mains rivulet (gotta go fast!) and genuinely cried when getting their ending with moon. tends to prefer vanilla to downpour, but has an attachment to each individual downpour campaign (it's complicated). ascension supporter. out of all of them, i think soul is the most likely to actually engage with the fandom. saint kinnie, because of fucking course they are /silly

Headcanon #602

[ceruleanskies48]

Jealous Mizu

It’s Day 5 (Banter) of @taimizuweek! Like many in the BES fandom, I’ve been thinking a lot about love triangles since the creators have been unrelenting in their teasing of a Mizu-Akemi-Taigen love triangle. In particular, recently I’ve been thinking about jealousy. Although some ship the trio as an endgame throuple, “love triangle” typically implies an unstable arrangement that can be leveraged to create juicy drama through sparking feelings of jealousy, betrayal, and abandonment. 

While I personally don’t like the idea of Mizu suffering from such negative emotions, thinking about Season 1 through the lens of love triangles has made me realize that perhaps we have already seen inklings of jealous Mizu through her banter with Akemi. 

In particular, I’ve been intrigued by the moment in Ep. 4 when Mizu tells Akemi that she “begs to eat trash.” On first watch, this seemed really harsh (is Taigen really “trash”?), but I just figured, Taigen’s station is way lower than the Shogun’s son, and he was Mizu’s childhood bully, so she has reason to think poorly about him. Upon further reflection though, I think this moment actually shows some romantic jealousy on Mizu’s part.

In the episode before this, she left Taigen a very flattering letter that showed that she greatly respected him (and did not actually think he’s trash). She left him her the broken blade, took his scarf, and told him they’d meet again. Shortly before Mizu and Akemi’s conversation, Mizu fantasized about Taigen when seeing the male prostitute and swordsman kiss. And in the cut scene right before they talk (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0KFcvrRedc/), she was looking at herself in the mirror and wondering if she could be considered sexually appealing. 

In light of all of this, I think the reason she so venomously chastises Akemi is that, on some level, she felt like she had a special connection with Taigen—even a potential romantic one—but feels threatened upon learning that Taigen’s fiancée is the beautiful, high status, and extremely feminine princess Akemi. Who could compete with that? There’s a tinge of injustice in her voice, like, why do you have to go after *this* trashy dog (whom I have conflicting feelings about but have begrudgingly come to see as sort of being *my* trashy dog), when you could have anyone else? Insulting Taigen is probably also a way for Mizu to suppress her own burgeoning feelings.

This comparative dynamic also comes up in the forge scene, after Mizu hops off of Taigen. For a moment, she feels a possible romantic connection to him, and it seems like she’s about to reveal her gender to him, but then he brings up Akemi. Mizu seems to believe him—that his boner was due to thinking about Akemi—which makes her confess instead to watching Akemi being taken away. I imagine in that moment, Mizu tamped down any hope she might have for a spark with Taigen, reminding herself that he’s in love with the beautiful Akemi, with whom she could not possibly compete. 

Mizu’s jealousy also comes out in her not-so-subtle jabs at Akemi and Taigen’s relationship. When they first meet, she tells Akemi that Taigen seemed more upset about his hair than his broken engagement. Later, even when she’s trying to bring Akemi and Taigen back together (and hyping up Taigen as a potential "great man"), she tells Akemi that Taigen BELIEVES he loves Akemi very much. For such a straightforward person, such veiled language stands out. She's a wingman with a conflict of interest.

Mizu is not the only one feeling tinges of jealousy. Akemi explains that she wanted to meet Mizu to see what power Mizu has over Taigen to make him run away from her. It’s interesting to see this comparative dynamic between these two women, who in many ways could not be more different, yet who are brought together by Taigen, who notably is their only topic of conversation in Season 1 (sadly Akemizu Season 1 doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test, but I imagine that’ll change in future seasons).

As the writers further develop the love triangle in subsequent seasons, I’m curious if we’ll see jealousies intensify and who will be jealous of whom.

[shadowqueenjude]

He was an asshole for this, but Eris had long since stopped caring. He knew that he had to do some bad things now so that he could overthrow Beron and prevent far worse things from happening later. As for bad things he’d done? This didn’t even make the list.

It wasn’t hard to drug the shadowsinger and drag him away. Eris had already caught him once before, and he hadn’t changed his tactics since. Fool.

When the Inner Circle’s janitor woke up, he began to struggle. Predictable, but Azriel could do nothing against his restraints.

“You,” Azriel growled, trying to throw himself at Eris, chair and all.

“Me,” Eris replied calmly. He took a sip of his wine.

“What, you planning to kill me?” he snarled, rattling the chair with his struggles. Eris rolled his eyes.

“That would be counterproductive, wouldn’t it? Would rather ruin my alliance with your court.” He placed his glass down and steepled his fingers in front of him. “No on the contrary, I’ve taken a special interest in you, Shadowsinger.”

Azriel’s face was filled with a ferocity that promised a slow death to Eris. Eris merely tsked at the expression.

“Anger does not suit you, Azriel,” Eris purred. “You lose all your pretty boy features.”

“SHUT UP!” Azriel roared, shaking the chair again. “I fucking hate you.”

Eris sighed. “Funny that you turn your hatred towards me when it is your companions you ought to despise.”

Azriel’s eyes narrowed on him. “What the fuck do you mean?”

Eris shrugged. “It’s not my fault I was engaged to marry Mor. I was a mere child then, powerless to do anything to stop it. I didn’t want it any more than Mor did, only I didn’t dare disobey my father while Mor disobeyed hers. She got punished for it. Got nails all over her body. But had I brought her over that Autumn court border to heal her…she would’ve suffered a fate worse than death. She would’ve become Beron’s servant. Like me. Forever.”

Azriel said nothing. He knew Eris was right, even though Eris was sure he was loathe to admit it. Eris continued, “But your best friend, that brutish general, slept with Mor while knowing what the costs may be, while knowing that you were in love with her.” He laughed lowly. “Some friend, huh?”

Azriel still said nothing, but Eris could sense the target of his anger shift. He was being convincing then.

“How much do they truly respect you? Forcing you to do their dirty work. Making you torture people because they’re too squeamish to do it themselves, even though Rhysand possesses daemati powers and needn’t resort to torture. Isn’t it triggering, considering the torture you went through in your youth?

At last, Azriel said something. “Yes,” he whispered.

“You are the outsider there,” Eris continued. “Both of them mated to Archerons, yet the third Archeron sister belongs to my brother. Don’t you feel rather left out? Like you’re not truly a part of their group? Who there really understands the anger you keep rooted deep inside?”

Pain and sorrow flickered across Azriel’s face, and Eris stood up, stalking over to him and leaning before him. “But I understand,” Eris murmured. “I understand, because it’s the same anger I shove deep down inside because I am under Beron’s thumb. We are the same, you and I. But if you come with me, if you help me overthrow Beron, you won’t be so powerless anymore. You won’t need to hide the anger inside. We’ll finally be free.”

Azriel swallowed. “What would you have me do?” he asked. Eris smirked, resting his hand on his face, rubbing his thumb against his lips. Azriel’s cheeks turned red at his touch. “Spy on your friends for me. I want to know how much they’ve been keeping from me. And then in a month…you quit and join me.”

Azriel raised a brow in challenge as he stared Eris down. “I still fucking hate you,” Azriel muttered.

Eris chuckled. “You’re a fool if you think I care, shadowsinger.”

But Eris knew Azriel was lying. Azriel didn’t hate Eris. Not really. Not like he hated himself.

Just like Eris.

For day 4 of @azrisweek free day

[hyacinth43]

your designs and hcs have engaged my chronic "NEED to put those guys in scenarios" disease so i love coming up with AUs esp cuz i've been cooking up fic ideas lmfao. . . .

i think i've seen a few asks alluding to the gang engaging in human functions even though they're mostly robotic and don't need to.... but that's made me think of a pipeline au sorta... Default ai forms -> Humanoid -> Human(?) but gradually between humanoid and human. the gang realizing they're slowly becoming more and more humanlike. losing their higher capabilities... becoming more squishy etc etc... how does this work? errmmm magic. but i like it because it could be potentially tormentful :3c esp with a lot of the more logic big brained ones. i do wonder with AM though lol.

also i have been so obsessed with wopr and edgar, and have been thinking of so many hijinks they could get up to together. cuz they seem like a hijinks duo to me lol

and i need to come up with something good for tau 🥺 he deserves all the attention i'm sure you'd agree

ANYWAYS just thought i'd share some thoughts. cuz i have been brainstorming lots of different things but nobody i'm close with is aipilled so i need to assail the big boss herself HSBAJSBA

WOW I love that idea! I think AM would be SUPER conflicted about it, his whole hatred/jealousy of humans would really come out in full force. Auto wouldn't deal with it well either, since he's the most robotic of them, and he's been "alive" for 700+ years, becoming mortal would be difficult.

I'm glad we all agree WOPR and Edgar would be besties, it just makes so much sense to me.

Also, feel free to dm me any time if you wanna talk more about the computer guys, AUs you have, random interests, whatever. I'm sometimes slow to respond but I do love to chat :D And this is to anyone who wants to, not just anon. <3

[richonnesbitch]

Here's chapter 2 of my bridge wedding fanfic! I wrote this like two months ago and then got distracted with personal stuff so I haven't finished chapter 3 yet. I hope you all like this one! I'll upload chapter 3 as soon as I'm able :)

"Thank you all for meeting me here today. As you all know, the bridge is nearly finished. We discussed this before but I don't believe we went into detail. There was some talk of a party to celebrate. Would everyone still be up for that?"

"Rick, that's a great plan. Kingdom will most certainly do their part to help.", Ezekiel responded. Carol smiled and nodded in agreement.

Rick looked to Jesus. "Sure, Rick. That'll be good for all of us."

"Oh, great. I'm glad to hear that. Michonne and I.... we're gonna get married on the bridge. I was hoping maybe it could be not only a celebration for the bridge but a reception, too."

The room lit up as he dropped the news.

"Congratulations, Rick Grimes!" Ezekiel extended his hand out to Rick, shaking it firmly.

"Congratulations, Rick.", Carol replied genuinely. She flashbacked to their recent conversations where Rick seemed more than interested in her and Ezekiel engagement.

"Congrats, Rick." Jesus grabbed his shoulder and gave it an affirming squeeze. "We can definitely do that."

"Definitely.", Ezekiel concurred. Carol nodded.

"Thank you all. I really appreciate this. Alexandria will handle food and decorations. But I was wondering... Ezekiel, Carol... would Kingdom mind handling desserts."

Carol stared at him. "What kind of desserts did you have in mind?"

"Well, a cake for me and Michonne. Red velvet with cream cheese frosting is her favorite. That ones a must. For the rest it doesn't really matter as much... maybe some brownies, cookies, maybe some pies, cinnamon rolls.... you know, that kinda stuff. Jesus, maybe Hilltop can bring some wine or booze for the adults to enjoy. People may get a little inebriated, but we'll make sure to have plenty of people on guard who aren't drinking. Alexandria will bring the main food."

-----------------------------

"Baby, I'm home!", Rick hollered out for Michonne. No response. "Michonne?! I'm home. Michonne?!"

He could hear a muffled yell coming from upstairs. As he walked up, he realized it was coming from the bathroom. He opened to door to find Michonne undressing as the bath water ran.

In her black bra and panties, she approached Rick to greet him with a soft kiss. "Hi. How did it go?"

Rick unhooked her bra, tossing it to the side somewhere. "It went great. Everybody's on the same page."

"Good." She removed her panties and began to unbutton Rick's shirt. He kicked off his boots as she undid his pants and blue boxers. "You and your boxers."

"What's wrong with my boxers?", he joked back.

She giggled. "Nothing. Nothing."

A smirk grew on his face. "Something apparently..."

"Nothing. It's just you only ever wear one color."

"Yeah, so what?"

"Nothing! I think it's cute you're so set in your ways." Michonne placed another kiss on his lips before leading him to the tub. He got in first so she could lean back against his chest.

This bathtub was extremely small. Probably too small for the two of them. They didn't care.

"Anyway. I think things are coming along nicely."

"Yeah?", Michonne turned off the water. "How's it all gonna work?"

"Well we can start things at 6. The bridge opening first. There's a banner being made for us in charge to cut. Hilltop has a Polaroid camera we can use to capture the moment. I'll figure out someone to take pictures. Then's our wedding. Gabriel will say some things, we do our vows- oh speaking of vows. I don't wanna brag buuuuut...." He dramatically blew air out of his mouth. "It's gonna blow you away. You've got some competition. I know you use to take creative writing in college and all but... what I got. It's poetry."

"You finished your vows already?"

"No but I got a good start. In between breaks at the bridge I would write. What about you?"

"I haven't started mine yet."

"You what?", he sounded slightly offended.

"Well I kind of have an idea... of what I want it to be. It's just all in my head right now, you know?", she attempted to comfort him.

He paused for a moment. "Well... anyway. After the wedding we do the party. I thought we'd do homemade pizzas for food. Everybody likes pizza right?"

"I sure do."

"Okay, pizzas it is then. We can do five different flavors, give the people a little variety to choose from. Hilltop is bringing liquor. I'll have plenty of people on guard, don't worry about that. Kingdom is bringing desserts. We'll have a feast. We'll have music. Everybody is gonna have a good time."

Michonne chuckled, reaching back with one hand to cup Rick's face. "I love you so much."

"I love you so much."

"You know... you don't have to throw a big wedding to prove that. I'd be okay with just you, me, Judith, and Gabriel on that bridge."

"You don't want a big wedding?"

"No, I'm not saying that." She scooted around to fully face him. "I just mean... a destination wedding at the end of the world is something I never could have imagined. I feel lucky enough just getting to marry you."

Rick smiled. "No, if anyone's lucky it's me. I'll never understand how I got so lucky."

She looked at him amusededly and grabbed their soap, lathering him down generously. "Wait, what the hell are we suppose to wear?"

"Oh I got that covered, too. I spoke around to some of the woman and they're all gonna get together with their best dresses for you to choose from. Tomorrow at noon in the church."

"Woooow. Look at you.", she teased. "You really know what you're doing."

He laughed. "I'm just working with what I got."

"What about you, what will you wear? Got some sort of secret suit?"

Rick laughed again. "No. I've got a nice light blue button down. And some slacks. The theme is light blue."

"There's a theme?!"

"Well yeah. There's gotta be a theme."

Michonne grinned.

Rick took notice. "What is it? What's that smile?"

"I'm just... happy."

Rick's heart began to swell. That's all he ever wanted for her, to be happy and safe. It was all coming true for him. "Come here." He pulled her in for what was suppose to be a peck on the lips. Before he could stop himself he had her out of the tub and in his arms heading straight for the bed.

-----------------------------

"Rick, can I speak to you for a minute?"

Rick let out a sigh. He was much too busy lighting the obscene amount of candles all over the place. "Yeah... Eugene. What do you need?"

"It's about the music."

Rick paused to give Eugene a death stare. "I thought you told me you could handle it." He didn't mean to be short with him, but they had a very limited time frame and he was stressing to get things done on time.

"I can. I am. I will. But... I need to know what it is that you want to be played. I am not not a mind reader."

"Eugene, I don't know... just play easy-to-listen to stuff. Ask Rosita or someone."

"Are you doing a first dance?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Well don't you at least want to pick your first dance song?"

Rick set the lighter down. "Yeah."

"Follow me."

He followed as Eugene led him to the large table a few feet away from the bridge with a cd player and speakers on it. "So I took the liberty of finding a few albums for you to choose from."

"Okay"

"We've got the soundtrack album to Grease, a Kelly Clarkson album called All I Ever Wanted, one called Best of the Beach Boys, another call-"

"Eugene, I have to get back to decorating. Let me see." He grabbed the Grease CD off the table, turning it over to see the track list. A slight smile grew onto his face. "Number 3. That's our first dance." He handed the album to Eugene, quickly walking back to the bridge.

"Rick, it's time!" Rosita yelled out to him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Already?!" He looked at his watch. There was never enough time these days. "Shit." He knew he was probably sweating through his shirt at this point. Whether it was from the heat or from anxiety, he couldn't be sure.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Idk how I feel about armys saying Hobi's streams are lower because of the fandom hating the rapline and others saying it's because of boycotters. Something about both narratives rub me the wrong way, as if both sides are trying to push narratives that don't truly really stand up.

You've said you don't focus on streams I think but you're still a rapline bias BPP. You still bias Hobi so you know about his streams. How do you reconcile how these narratives are?

***

I don't think this is complicated. Hobi's numbers were lower because some ARMYs didn't stream his album. That's it. It's the same case for RM.

It doesn't mean the fandom "hates" the rapline or that boycotters are to blame (given they so far appear to be a small minority). It just confirms that the fandom has imploded and so there is less cohesion around music goals, and so ARMYs who just aren't the audience for that kind of music aren't going to stream it.

What I've observed is that the core fandom that also started with BTS, are hiphop-heads. They are fans who actually enjoy the grit, the experimentation, and the crudeness of hip hop, which is the bread and butter of the BTS rapline.

When we used to be a proper country, it was the fandom that worked to make much of that music more palatable for other parts of the fandom, by translating and spreading interesting nuances in their lyricism, by making cool edits and fan mixes, by hosting stream parties with fun playlists, etc. It gave the members a headstart in building an audience. It took cohesive initiative from the fandom, and now much of that cohesive initiative is either hibernating or gone. If BigHit actually knew what they were doing (which is dubious given what MHJ has shown about BigHit and HYBE), they'd take the headstart the fandom gave them and work to establish a more solid market/audience for the members as they matured.

But for that to happen, BigHit has to know how to actually market the members beyond k-pop, beyond mindless radio pop, to more specific audiences. And lol, well, I'm still waiting to see that happen. Just look at the difference in quality between the kind of collaborators the members themselves seek out to work with (Little Sims and Ryuichi Sakamoto) vs. what HYBE arranges for them (Kodak Black and Central Cee).

I'm not worried for RM though. I've never been the sort of fan to take personal stake in his accolades, rankings, or perceived success, but even then I can see he's still doing more than fine, all things considered. Could be have a better performance if more of the fandom was engaged or if BigHit marketed him more to an audience that would better appreciate his solo work? Of course, but I don't ascribe the reasons for that not happening to "hate" or whatever ARMYs think boycotters are doing.

If anything, I find the blame-shifting from ARMYs to boycotters a bit cringe. The fandom is split, people are distracted and most of the people here are more focused on fighting a war on Bang Sihyuk's behalf than actually focusing on BTS and taking time to appreciate their work. It's a bit pathetic, but not malicious and frankly, it's expected.

Stream Neuron and Right People Wrong Place.

[wraith-demjin]

I love how Arthur uses the excuse of looking for anything related to magic as an excuse to see Merlin’s room and to flirt with him. Because no they wouldn’t normally search the rooms in the castle because they trust everyone there, and then Arthur leaves with the guards immediately after searching Merlin’s room even though they had barely gone through Gaius’ chambers.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Lackadaisy Enrichment

[aphroditestummyrolls]

If you’re looking to avoid the wild oscillation of mischaracterising wylan van eck (the pendulum between uwu baby and mini kaz), it helps to just… stop blanket-labelling behaviour. Unlearn the idea of something being blank-“coded”— these things are fun and funny when they’re memes, but if you’re writing the character (or ANY character), stop approaching things like a handful of moments with limited context can determine what “type” of person he is.

Like… just let him be a person. Keep his backstory and his motivations throughout your story in mind as you take him from point a to point b to point c, and explore his thoughts and his reactions.

I don’t know, maybe that sounds tedious, but it’s one of my favourite parts of character work, and it’s a pretty huge part of writing. I honestly don’t understand how you can like writing and not want to do that, but I digress. If you’re looking to understand a character more completely, though, it helps to take the TikTok Typology of Characters out of your brain, and see where wylan takes you when you stop judging his every move so hard.

[ourhouseishaunted]

people acting as if laios can Do No Wrong and infantilizing him because he is autistic are annoying as hell. especially because laios belongs to my favorite genre of character: "person who desperately wants friends and deep relationships because they're lonely, and while part of their problems stem from people not wanting to understand them and refusing to meet them where they are, they also genuinely come across in a way where you Completely Understand why others can get turned off from them"

[gifti3]

I like to to think mcs who wouldnt fall into the conventionally attractive category getting shooked when multiple demons find them attractive

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

Wigfrid Characterization: Attitude Towards Maxwell

Ok. I've been seeing this trend time and time again for years now and I'm finally bringing it up bc. idk I do what I want.

While it is understandable to assume from an outward perspective that Wigfrid- a morals-obsessed, overly heroic, walking monologue of a norse angel- would hold an intense amount of spite and hatred towards Maxwell after all he's done... canonically, that simply. isn't the case.

And it's strange! It's certainly strange! But it's also fascinating! And I think it harps on a very interesting part of her character that no one thinks as frequently about: so long as Wigfrid considers you a friend, she will hold an astronomical fondness for you. Wigfrid loves her friends, and Maxwell is her friend.

In regards to Maxwell's old statues- by far the easiest way to compare the cast's opinions on him- almost none of the other survivors have anything nice to say about him (Woodie claims he'll use it as fodder to poke fun, Willow just flat out insults him, WX implies his ineptitude, you get the point).

There are only three characters out of the expansive cast of 17 who have anything genuinely good to say about them- even despite the circumstances and the statue's previous associations: - Wickerbottom, who has a pre-established relationship with Maxwell, both being magic wielders who seem interested in each others' crafts - Wolfgang, who- while not as obviously as Wicker- has a fondness and relationship with Maxwell that surpasses that of the other survivors - And guess who else. Wigfrid.

And I see far more interpretations that harp on the first two's bonds with the magician (though admittedly not as much with Wolfgang as he probably deserves) than I've ever seen with Wigfrid! I think because it's so easy to assume that she wouldn't ever give him a second chance. But really when you take a step back and look at what she has to say, she's incredibly generous with him.

Maxwell is the only survivor in the game she will specifically greet with the title of 'ally'. Almost as if she's trying to convince him that she's being genuine. She makes a constant and noticeable effort to remind him that she's a friend to him. An asset. An ally.

When he does something that isn't morally abhorrent, and when she speaks of his goodness, she phrases it in such a specific way. The kindness buried within his heart. As if to imply she believes it's been there from the start- that she or anyone else could simply help dig it out into the open again.

Even when she's playfully ribbing at him (which, lets be honest, everyone should to do because it's fun and he deserves it), she still keeps his health and wellness in mind. Of all people to make stronger- to trust with physical power and fighting prowess- she's willing to bestow it to Maxwell. The same Maxwell who kept her trapped in that place, gloating and sneering and sending hoard after hoard of mind numbingly horrifying beasts to kill her in indescribable ways.

She trusts him. She likes him. She wants to bring out the good in him. She's here for his redemption arc. She's actively making an effort for him. Its unhealthy to pit theater kids against each other for the love of god please they're the only two left in the Constant* let them have this-

[the-monkey-ruler]

I was reading The Monkey King's Daughter (you can read the whole book for an hour) and apparently the protagonist is also Guanyin's grandchild? Can Guanyin be shipped?

I mean I can’t say like what are like the moral implications of shipping GuanYin itself cause that is so not my place but I’m still going to answer this cause it kinda of interesting when it comes to modern media. First off saying that like I have never really seen romance done with GuanYin. At least in a serious way. But if I had to take a guess it can be seen as 'possible' as much as like shipping anyone in Chinese mythos, in that isn't really taken seriously at all. In a lot of modern fan spaces there are a variety of crack ships for more humorous or hypothetical situations like I have seen literally the Star of Venus shipped with Jade Emperor just cause. But I don't see much with buddhas or bodhisattvas in either post-modern media nor in fan spaces. At least that isn't Wukong or Sanzang since they are both Buddhas. And I have done a whole thing about how Wukong for decades wasn’t seen as a romantic figure until like there was a huge character reconstruction, but that isn’t usually the case for most characters.

I would say that the most mainstream instance I can think off the top of my head is The Lost Empire (2001) where it had the main character has a romantic plot with Gaunyin herself. Of course, that wasn't really a masterpiece within itself but this was considered like a 'bad choice' more so that it was just a very strange and awkward romance at that.

Funny enough I think I see more romantic for humor's sake on Guanyin in comic books or games as likes gags at most. Like in Westward comics (later a tv series) Guanyin has a celestial-turned-demon trying to pursue him that he always rejects. Another is more play for laughs but Guanyin in the Fei Ren Zai where people just don't know it's Guanyin and think she is so attractive.

I've seen some games that have Guanyin as like a pretty boy/girl but otherwise nothing even close to a romance plot. Those are more just for like aesthetics of making every character look overly attractive to sell it.

The best I can say is that is just kinda strange and a little strange personally but I can't say that it can be taken seriously. I mean Wukong is supposed to be a Buddha by the end of the novel, so if The Monkey King's Daughter has it that a buddha can have a daughter then there wouldn't be anything stopping the author from having a bodhisattva having kids.