#it’ll also be posted on twitter later

[xoadoratio]

hi guys i know a lot more about kyuho’s side of the madmans esprit situation than i did when someone initially asked for a quick rundown.

being one of the only people annoying enough to have an active (unofficial) fan account on here, i’d be willing to answer questions if anyone has any…though i can’t guarantee that i’ll know everything.

i would like to talk about it (and have permission to do so), but would honestly like to keep it to shorter posts just to minimize misinfo & rambling.

[shoujofish]

my utena jacket is done!! it was a lot of blood sweat tears and headache but I’m so happy it turned out well

[s-4pphics]

i wrote ballerina!reader and tattooist!ellie bc i’m high and obsessed now

cw: oc being a slut, sexual tension, flirting, slight asshole!ellie, mentions of stripping and tattooing 🤭

you had walked into the parlor with the intentions of getting a small tattoo.

after confirming your age and signing some documents, the parlor clerk told u that it was going to be a ten minute wait because your requested artist—ellie williams— was still with another client. you had already sent her your reference photo weeks ago, in which she replied with a quick cool:p and a link to her cashapp to send your deposit to confirm your appointment.

you’d been suggested ellie’s account on insta and u took note of how sleek her artwork was. she did it all: cartoon characters, realistic portraits, animals! anything you could think of, she knew how to do. her shading and coloring was incredible, and her clients had left nothing but praises in her comments. you would never say, but u took note of how good her hands looked in the videos that she posted on her account.

you were mindlessly scrolling through twitter after watching multiple videos of waffle house employees fight for their lives before you heard a raspy call of your name. your head perked up, and you made eye contact with the girl who’d been plaguing your thoughts since you saw her.

you stood outta your chair too enthusiastically as you hopped your way closer to her. “hi, i’m her,” you confirmed with a toothy grin.

you noticed how she took in your appearance with a lazy gaze from your head to your toes. you were in your usual attire: a lavender sweatsuit with a rhinestoned juicy slapped across your ass, hoop earrings, and slightly worn uggs with your small bag slung over your shoulder. your brightness looked so out of place in the dimly lit, grungy looking building. instead of shying away, you gave your own eager gaze back, taking in her own presence: a simple black t-shirt with matching jeans, a full tattoo sleeve on her left arm that peaked out from her actual sleeve, and vans. her ears were also heavily pierced. her get-up was nothing special, but she still had your knees trembling.

she gave you a quirk of her brow as her lips pursed slightly before she turned to walk you into her studio. “cool, my studios this way.”

she led you near the back of the parlor, pulling open the brass door for you as she granted you entry. you pretended that you didn’t catch her looking at your ass.

“you can just sit here while i set up, it’ll be like… two minutes.” she said calmly, nodding her head towards the tattoo chair. she sounded tired.

“long day?” you stupidly asked. of course she had a long day, you idiot! look at her! you mentally scolded.

she was sterilizing her tattoo gun before she replied casually, “yeah, i um… between you and me… my last client was a douchebag. i had to put my earphones to keep from decking him in his throat. he just kept saying snarky shit to me and thought i wouldn’t catch it. fucker didn’t even tip.”

let me make it better, baby! you thought. i want your tip!

“damn, that sucks, i hope i can cheer you up,” you said with a dreamy tilt of your head.

she perked her head up to look into your eyes before humming in acknowledgment, looking back down at her work table.

she broke the silence a couple minutes later, sitting on her rolling chair before scooting closer to you and leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, “so your reference is done printing, where were you thinking about getting your tat?”

on my puss—

you mentally shushed the slutty side of your brain, sitting up straighter in the reclining chair, “well i’m a dancer! i’m not allowed to have anything super… visible on my arms n legs because it’ll be distracting to the audience—“

“i never heard of strippers having that problem,” she said abruptly with a confused look. your face ran hot.

“i-i’m not a stripper,” you stuttered out before clarifying. “there’s nothing wrong with stripping! but i’m… i’m not. i do ballet.”

“uh huh.”

“i am! genuinely, i’m super flexible!”

“so are strippers,” she said blankly.

fuck. you were losing her.

“i mean it! my academy’s headmaster would lose her mind if she saw that any of us got something permanent on our bodies. i was thinking some place more…. discreet?”

“mhm. like where?”

“m-my… my um.. hip. like my lower hip.”

“okay. how low?”

“huh?” you squeaked out. fuck. really, really low—

she smirked at you before calmly replying, “how far down do you want your tattoo? it’s pretty small so it should be quick.”

“i don’t know. as far down as you can get it,” you replied slightly huskier.

“uh huh,” she said with a slight nod while licking her lips. “lay back for me.”

and you never laid down so fast.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/31/2024 Daily Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew Sightings; Watch Parties; OurFlagMeansDeadloch; LubeAsACrew; Stats; UK News; Upcoming Events; Other News; Favor To Ask; Love Notes; DailyDarby/Tonight's Taika

== Cast and Crew Sightings ==

Probably the cutest sighting would be Con O'Neill's dog Cooper

== How To Help ==

How to help docs have been updated with queerties and other stats!

How To Help Save OFMD Task List - US

How to Help Save OFMD Task List - Outside US

== Watch Parties ==

Today was Day 2, episodes 3 and 4 of Deadloch!

I realised I totally forgot to crew reactions up for Deadloch yesterday! Sorry all! Here's some from todays watch!

On to episodes 5/6 tomorrow! Same time same place!

== LubeAsACrew ==

The second Lube as a crew was widely successful! Trending at #7! Thanks for catching it @_irene_adler!

Everybody had a lot of fun with it, here's some highlights!

Our lovely friend over at @Astroglide left some fantastic tweets for us, I'm including a few that stood out.

== Stats ==

Some interesting stats today! Thank you @meowzawowza_ on twitter for these details!

More stats by @lucyrosebutler regarding How well OFMD is doing in the US!

== UK News ==

Reminder! 5 days until S2 airs in the UK!

Thanks as always to our lovely @lamentus1 for the update in the UK!

"I tweeted at 13 lucky TV Guide journalists in the UK all about Our Flag Means Death and the efforts of the fandom and also why the show is so great. I have a document with their twitters and email addresses. Email will be my next line of attack! If anyone wants access to the UK TV Guide press list let me know! We were thinking that we should introduce a spoiler free way for people who are starting to watch season 2 on the BBC to interact with the campaign on Twitter. I think it might be to encourage them to follow #OurFlagBBC while encouraging anyone posting spoilers under that hashtag to add #ofmd2spoilers so that people can avoid seeing spoilers. One other thing that’s coming up later in February is that Chxrlotte on our UK crew will be releasing an Our Flag Means Death inspired track on her label on 24 February! She has a ton of gorgeous tracks that are often inspired by shows like OFMD and Good Omens, and the new one is about Ed and Stede. I’ve had a preview of the new track and it’ll make you cry! @shutupchxrlotte's Twitter Her other stuff is on Apple Music and Spotify here"

Please have a listen!

== Upcoming Events ==

#StewAsACrew

Reminder! Feb 4th is National Homemade Soup Day! More deets! Be sure to share your soup/stew pics with these hashtags:

#StewAsACrew

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

Not a soup bitch but still want to help?

You can politely menace: @CambellSoupCo and @CampbellsChunky with our petition hashtags!

==New Watch Party!==

Muppet Treasure Island - Feb 7th 2024

4PM EST, 1PM PST, 9 PM GMT

Watch Party Hashtags:

#MuppetPirates

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

== Other News ==

Warner bros stock is still dropping! Sure looks like cancelling OFMD wasn't a very lucrative plan. Thanks @iamadequate_ for this!

Max still has billboards up for OFMD in Hollywood! Thanks @LeanneBrodie13 for catching this!

Also, @_irene_adler caught some audacity from Max in trying to monetize OFMD merch for Valentine's Day.

== Favor to Ask ==

I've been working on a bit of a side project of putting together an OFMD Renewal Repository for resources that doesn't require anyone to log into ... twitter, IG, tumblr, facebook, etc. It's still WIP but I'd love some constructive feedback if anyone would be willing to take a look and let me know what they think. I won't be replacing the tumblr recaps with it, but will be posting them there minus the gifs at the end so they can be shared to other platforms if needed.

My specific questions are:

Are there more categories / different information you'd like to have added?

Is it generally easy to find information?

Is this a bad idea? (too many places with this stuff already?)

Other feedback welcome!

I am totally cool with constructive feedback, feel free to dm me :)

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies. Do you ever worry you're too much? Like you talk too much, or feel too much, or come off too strong? I know I do some days.

Just remember, on days you're feeling too much, you're probably shining your brightest. What other people think is too much is just you, and you're allowed to shine! Don't ever let their inability to see your worth stop you. Saw this on IG today and thought of you call. Gnight crew, all the love <3

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

These gifs go together, I don't make the rules.

[d3d9]

Official Akira Pre-movie Timeline

Character childhoods, historical events etc.

hiiii Akira tumblr, I haven't been around here much but here's a translation I did. I've never seen this full timeline translated anywhere, so maybe it'll be of interest !😳

(I did a condensed version on Twitter a while ago, but I figure it's easier to follow in its original format .)

(Long post under the cut)

Source is the book Poster & Graphic Akira released in 1988. Also a special thank you to my old friend Shina-san for the photos from the book, I don't yet own a copy myself !!

1970

Nezu's birth - Born in Chiba as the third son of farmers.

1976

Colonel's birth - Has an older sister and an older brother. His father served in the Japan Defense Agency, JGSDF major.

1977

Nezu age 7 - Started elementary school.

1982

Nezu age 12 - Started middle school. Excellent grades.

1985

Nezu age 15 - Started high school.

1988

Nezu age 18 - Started law school. The disaster of Akira’s awakening occurred. In the chaos of the next 3 years, he studied life as a black marketeer. During that time he became acquainted with the people of this underworld.

Colonel age 12 - His father died to Akira’s first awakening. (He was on a special mission, suspected to be related to the Akira Project). After the world war (which ended after 3 weeks), until he was 15 he spent the next years of chaos with his mother and siblings. These events would profoundly shape his later development. (Until 1991, Japan lacked a governing body and was controlled by the US)

1992

Colonel age 16 - Started night school. Studied while working.

1993

Colonel age 17 - Having regained autonomy, Japan emulates the US and establishes an American-style military.

1994

Nezu age 24 - As university resumed operation, he returned to school.

1995

Nezu age 25 - Graduated. Passed the bar exam, and became a lawyer.

1996

Colonel age 20 - Graduated night school. Enrolled in the newly established military academy (National Defense Academy).

1999

Colonel age 23 - Graduated military academy with excellent grades. Admitted to Officer Candidate School on recommendation.

2000

Nezu age 30 - From around this time he begins to appear in politics.

Colonel age 24 - Graduates from Officer Candidate School. Enlists in the Army as a First Lieutenant.

2001

Colonel age 25 - Studies abroad at the US Department of Defense.

2002

Nezu age 32 - Hears about Miyako-sama, and becomes a devoted believer.

Colonel age 26 - Returns to Japan. Establishes the Army Special Forces. Becomes its commander. Promoted to Major.  Dispatched in the Soviet-DPRK War, which had been ongoing since 1996. He is awarded a decoration for his service.  

2003

Colonel age 27 - Through matchmaking by his superior officer, he gets married.

Kei - Born in April. Her father, born 1967 (age 36), is a teacher. She has an older brother. They're 14 years apart.

2004

Kaneda - born in September (at this time, schools would have September enrollment and August graduation). His father born 1977 (age 27). His mother born 1978 (age 26).

Yamagata - born in November. His father is a Yakuza.

Colonel age 28 - By creating a new unification of land, sea, and air defense systems, he successfully allows Japan to gain independence from the US protective defense system.

2005

Nezu age 35 - He trains diligently under Miyako, and establishes himself. From around this time he separates under a new sect of Miyako's religion, and starts a political organization, becoming its president. Behind the scenes he is backing anti-government activists at the same time.

Kai - Born in January. His father works in the construction industry. He is blessed with a good home environment.

Tetsuo - Born in July. His father born 1980 (age 25). His mother born 1981 (age 24). In 1984, as part of the Akira Project, experiments were conducted on children around the age of 10, and genetic manipulation was (secretly) performed on newly born children. The effects of this skipped a generation and manifested in Tetsuo… and are gradually beginning to show in other children.(His grandfather was a genetic engineer. He participated in the Project. He died during Akira's awakening in 1988)

Colonel age 29 - He and his wife separate. They have no children.

2006

Yamagata age 2 - His father is arrested. He will serve 25 years. His mother makes a living as a hostess.

2008

Kaneda age 4 - His little brother is born. His parents open a laundry service. His little brother is born with a disability, and goes between home and treatment centers since the time he's 2 years old.

Yamagata age 4 - His mother gets a boyfriend. A little brother is born.

Kei age 5 - Her father dies. (Illness)

Tetsuo age 3 - His father (a graduate student), who's been sickly since birth, develops pneumonia from the common cold, and dies. His parents were never officially married, so as his father's child born out of wedlock, he's poorly received by his mother's side of the family.

Colonel age 32 - He is appointed commander of the nation's top secret 'Akira Plan' as Colonel. (The 'Akira Plan' began 3 years after Akira's awakening in 1988, when the US began investigating, and in 1996 it was turned over to the Japanese government. Since then, despite organization of records and repeated experiments, there hasn't been much progress. This may be why the US let go of it….) The heads of government began to feel threatened by the Colonel's excessively growing power, so even though it was a top national secret, they appointed him to this do-nothing position to force him to withdraw from the front lines, as a means of dismissal. …As for why the Colonel resigned himself to this sinecure, perhaps it's because he was seeking answers about his father's death, or trying to fulfill his father's dying wish, or maybe he himself saw potential in this investigation…. There are various possibilities, but one can only speculate.

2009

Yamagata age 5 - His mother gets another boyfriend. A little sister is born.

Kei age 6 - Starts elementary school. Her older brother is 21. He's already a student activist while also supporting the family.

Tetsuo age 4 - His mother remarries. Tetsuo is adopted by another family. But he can't get used to his new home and is gradually shunned as a gloomy child.

2010

Kaneda age 6 - Starts elementary school. Due to the fatigue of nursing his younger brother, his father collapses.

Yamagata age 6 - Starts elementary school. Another little brother is born.

2011

Kai age 7 - Starts private elementary school. Gets excellent grades.

Tetsuo age 6 - Starts elementary school. At this time he starts repeatedly running away from home.

2012

Kaneda age 8 - Changes schools due to his little brother changing treatment centers. His mother runs off. They live off of government assistance. His father shows a distinct turn towards alcoholism. 

2013

Kaneda age 9 - His father is deemed unfit to take care of the children, so Kaneda is sent to an orphanage. His little brother is kept at a hospital. Half a year later, Tetsuo comes to the orphanage.

Tetsuo age 8 - His parents try to return him, but his birth mother won't accept him, so he's sent to an orphanage. He then meets Kaneda.

2014

Kei age 11 - Starts middle school.

2015

Kaneda age 11 - Graduates from the orphanage and goes to a boarding middle school. He's separated from Tetsuo.

Yamagata age 11 - Starts middle school. His mother continues to have children, both boys and girls. She also keeps changing boyfriends.

Kei age 12 - Her older brother is arrested as a suspect in a major incident. (Something like the Mikawashima train crash). There are rumors that it was a US plot against the organization her older brother was connected to. Following this, Kei's family was supported by donations from her brother's group, organized by her brother's junior, Ryusaku.

2016

Kaneda age 12 - His defiant attitude stands out in school.

Yamagata age 12 - Caught by the police for shoplifting. He was stealing sweets for his little siblings.

Kai age 12 - Goes to the same private academy for middle school.

Tetsuo age 11 - He's adopted again by another family. He then starts middle school.

2017

Nezu age 46 - He may be doing it to spread the religion's ideals, or he may be using the religion for his own desires, or perhaps both….?

Kaneda age 13 - A complete juvenile delinquent. His grades are above average.

Yamagata age 13 - His mother joins a new religion. He leaves home.

Kei age 14 - Her older brother dies in prison. The authorities claim it was a suicide, but it's suspected that he was tortured. Kei leaves home and asks Ryusaku if she can become an activist too.

Tetsuo age 12 - Becomes truant. Frequently runs away from home.

Colonel age 41

2018

Kaneda age 14 - Expelled after a brush with the law. Starts at vocational school.

Yamagata age 14 - Starts at vocational school.

Kai age 13 - His father runs away from home. They find him. His father confesses: "I'm gay, and have been deceiving our family this whole time…." 

Kei age 15

Tetsuo age 13 - Due to misconduct with an elementary school student, he gets in trouble with the police. From this point forward he stops going to school.

2019

Kaneda age 15 - Forms a motorcycle team at the vocational school.

Tetsuo enrolls.

Kai age 14 - As junior representative, he reads an essay titled 'Is Life A Joke' to the graduating seniors, and is suspended. One week later, he turns in his notice to withdraw, and enrolls in vocational school himself.

Tetsuo age 14 - His parents convince him to go to vocational school. He reunites with Kaneda, and is admitted. There, he joins the motorcycle team.

[thenanamisimp]

This isn't something I've really done much since I started this blog but I really wanted to discuss this week’s TGCF episode.

This is your spoiler warning!!

Heaven official's blessing season 2, episode 6 spoilers but there are also discussions of the respective scenes from volume 2 so if you haven't finished reading the novel, I'd suggest maybe not reading this post.

For context, I saw a user on twitter discuss how the donghua has been adapting Hua Cheng's display of emotions towards Xie Lian.

Source

I also saw another user discuss the difference between how the novel/audio drama and the donghua have been showing Hua Cheng expressing emotions.

(I can't share the source as the OP is now private on twitter)

While I haven't actually listened to the audio drama and I'm only on my first re-read of TGCF, these posts inspired me and I have thoughts and opinions that I need to share before I implode (one day it’ll happen I swear).

The scene the posters are talking about is after hcg saves xl from the heavenly Xianle palace, where they talk about what happened at paradise manor (aka xl apologising for burning down the armoury and lying to hcg about the earth master and hcg apologising for hurting xl’s arm).

In the donghua, we see hcg very obviously upset. He appears obviously and genuinely very sad about having hurt xl, even with the whole incident having been an accident. The distress in his eyes and voice is evident and clear-cut, seeming perhaps even a bit childish. In contrast, when reading this scene in the novel, while hcg definitely comes across upset, his distress appears a bit more calm and collected and he instead truly seems like a responsible adult who made a mistake and is sincerely apologetic for it to xl.

I believe that there’s multiple reasons why the dongua team chose to show hcg’s emotions in the way that they did. In my opinion, a reason why they could’ve chosen to do it this way is because of censorship. Now hear me out; clearly as a western fan I can’t speak much on Chinese censorship as I’m not highly knowledgable on the subject. However, I’d like to believe that the producing team is trying to work around the censorship laws in their own way. By making hcg’s emotions a little more over-the-top and obvious, it’s a lot easier for us as the viewer, especially queer fans that might understand queer dynamics better than others, to see and pick up on the subtext of what those exaggerated emotions mean while never having to be said out loud. And yes, we could argue that for those of us who have read the novel, it’s easier to recognise those subtle moments of vulnerability even if hcg’s reaction was made as ambiguous as it is in the book, because we have a lot more context. We have to remind ourselves that Hualian’s love story is never gonna be shown in the donghua in the same as the novel and people who are new to the story won't pick up on their relationship as easily.

As someone who hand’t heard of TGCF until Netflix licensed the donghua in my region (in 2021 I think?), I actually highly appreciate this difference in hcg’s character in the donghua. And while I don’t appreciate queerbaiting, watching season 1 made me search for the original source material and ended up with 8 very expensive books on my shelf (it took me 2 years to find volume 2 in stock somewhere…. 2 YEARS because I refuse to buy from amazon). San Lang (specifically referring to hcg’s form in volume 1 or season 1) is definitely slightly more aloof and energetic than hcg in his real form, so I do believe that his adaptation in season 1 was a lot more true to the source than season 2 seems to be.

My personal opinion is that, we need to view the donghua with a little more leniency as they have limits to the scenes they will be adapting later on (if the donghua doesn’t get dropped. Let us all pray together) and they have to make some things a little more obvious (but still no homo) to keep as much of the gay factor as they can without getting, you know, arrested. At the end of the day, it comes down to us what we prefer to consume and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people preferring one over the other. It's valid to prefer hcg in the novels and it's valid to also enjoy hcg's donghua adaptation, even if he's different and not completely true to the OG material.

Now when it comes to the whole “making xl seem oblivious thing”…. The jury is still out on this one I’m afraid. This was the final scene of the latest episode meaning, we don’t actually know how they’re gonna adapt the following scenes and this could very heavily affect the way xl reacts from here on. An adaptation is just that and like mentioned before, the donghua team has to make decisions on how to adapt things due to censorship. And at the end of the day, I think this is an interesting take on xl’s character as one of the biggest parts of his character is how he struggles to accept love and care from other people so one can argue that… He actually is oblivious in this scene? Especially at this point in the story considering he’s known hcg for like, a week, 2 weeks max (do not quote me on that, I haven’t actually calculated, I am lazy. Point is, he hasn’t known him for very long at this point in time). And while I would for sure be a bit disappointed if he still is presented like this later on in the story, we’re still too early into it to criticise the donghua over this and future scenes that haven’t even been touched yet. It’s not in any way fair to base our opinions on the upcoming scenes on a singular 2 minute clip of Hualian’s interaction.

So, I have said my peace. Please remember that everything I’ve discussed is purely my opinion and not fact, so take this post with a grain of salt. I’d actually love to discuss this further with people so please send asks if you have anything to add!

(This is also another good post to read about the censorship stuff I talked about in this post. I like how this user phrased it.)

Once again, thank you for reading a (lengthy for once) ramble!

theNanamiSimp

[chattegeorgiana]

｡✴ 🎀 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝐻𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃 & 𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽: 𝒜 𝒮𝒶𝓈𝓊𝒦𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓎𝓈𝒾𝓈 🎀 ✴｡

⛓️#SasuKarinMonth2024

⛓️Day 1: Soulmates

I posted this initially on Twitter, but since some people couldn’t access it from my Insta story or they don’t have a Twitter account, I was asked to post it on Tumblr too, so here I am.

Copy paste from Twitter cuz I’m too lazy to write again, lol.

Since the SasuKarin month is upon us (back then we held it in July Sasuke’s birthday month), I thought about writing a short analysis where I talk shortly about the symbolism of SasuKarin.

I wanna turn this into a more full fledged analysis sometime, but I think for now it’ll do this way.

I know on Twitter people usually like to discredit Karin due to her tsundere character & the SasuKarin bond due to it being a direct competition to the SS one.

However given how the dices have been thrown, and the ending was set, I think it does no harm to talk about them & shed some light over the mischaracterisation of the two, because boy people love to do it on all sides and weaponise it in their argumentation, instead of objectively looking at it.

To those of you who badmouth Karin and say you like Sasuke, please note at how Sasuke reacts when Suigetsu badmouths her.

Maybe that should make you think twice about it, just sayin🤷‍♀️

Anyway, let’s move to the analysis.

Why I chose to talk about the symbolism of “Heaven & Earth” on Day 1: Soulmates?

Well, because Kishimoto himself decided to do so himself.

Back when editorial meddling due to biased fandom perception wasn’t a thing & Kishimoto was slowly & surely building the story he wanted, we could be witness of the slow burn symbolic development he was building in the story. And that included SasuKarin, the “new Heaven & Earth” like its mentioned in the last page of chapter 347, as he prepares to introduce Karin in the next chapter.

As we know from part 1, that is the symbolism that is represented by NaruSaku, in the very beginning of the series, and while in the beginning this is only used to reference a shinobi’s qualities or lack thereof, later on in the story, Kishimoto doubles its symbolism & slowly sweeps it into the romantic subplot as well.

Remember this highly charged with romantic subtone scene? Well from a symbolical point of view, this scene happens in a very important place charged with a very specific symbolism.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

The whole action happens at the “Heaven & Earth” bridge. So, as we can see, the symbolism as of now has far surpassed its initial stage of being a reference to just a shinobi’s condition. It’s now meant to symbolise the bond & feelings that entertwine the two ppl of that bond.

So when Kishimoto described Sasuke & Karin as the new Heaven & Earth, he delivered that exposition through and through.

Like I showed earlier, Sasuke is very protective of Karin in his own way & doesn’t like when someone badmouths her (which oftentimes is Suigetsu) and Karin does the same, I don’t think it’s necessary for this thread to show once again what we already know, since it’s a very well established character trait.

So yeah, as you can see, the Heaven & Earth symbolism is very prevalent in the story and it just so happens that it’s so with 3 of his most important bonds, which not only fit the Heaven & Earth (or another way to say Yin & Yang) symbolism & thematic, but also others like “when you have someone important to protect, that’s when you become the strongest”: NaruSasu, NaruSaku & SasuKarin.

Kishimoto not only expressed this via the themes & symbolism but also the visual side, as well, since ya know, we’re talking about a visual medium.

Naruto & Sasuke are a foil of each other, the same way Sakura & Karin are & the way NaruSaku is to SasuKarin. Basically these four are each other’s soulmates (I’d argue actually twin flames, but that’s for another time), but since today we’re referencing SasuKarin, I’ll stick to them.

However, it’s impossible to make a reference to one without the other (like Kishi was saying, himself at some point about the story’s development - he can’t write about Naruto without Sasuke or viceversa), given how deeply ingrained into the structural narrative of the story from a thematical & symbolical pov these 4 are.

Just because SasuKarin had a layer of comedy over it due to Karin’s tsundere Tendencies which were also super exaggerated by SP, it doesn’t make the SasuKarin bond ANY LESS special than the other bonds in the series.

I’d argue that in SK’s context (although usually in literature it is about quantity bc that’s how you build development), it’s a great case of QUALITY over quantity. Because yes, quantitively speaking, it has less amount of screentime compared to others.

However Masashi “I forgot to draw this or that” Kishimoto, made a CONSCIOUS effort as to go back to part 1 & find a spot where he could inject Karin into the story, so much so that it doesn’t ruin the structural narrative & neither retcons the story. It just adds a new layer to it.

That speaks VOLUMES of the importance of that move & the overall authorial intent he had for this story in terms of Karin’s character & SasuKarin’s bond.

Credit for the NaruSaku/SasuKarin edit @tsunadesenjuuchiha

[yukidragon]

Is demon SDJ an au or just a halloween costume? also do you have a headcanon for demon Jack too?

To my knowledge, it could be both. I believe it started when YummyPinkMilk got the idea to draw Jack as an incubus, which inspired Jambeebot/Sauce to draw their own version.

Later on, Sauce made a sprite version for fun with a slightly tweaked design, as we’ve seen on the official Sunny Day Jack twitter. After that, costumes for all the male leads were made.

It’s really cool to see both versions of the design side by side.

Whether or not the sprites are just fun Halloween costumes or something more to them remains to be seen. A lot of people enjoy playing with this design as its own AU though.

Also, as a quick aside, let me remind everyone to please not repost art posted privately on the SnaccPop Studios Patreon. Art that was posted publicly is okay as long as you remember to give Sauce full credit for it like I’m doing here. Please support them and this lovely game by becoming a patron, backing the official Sunny Day Jack kickstarter, or just spreading the word. As a reminder, there’s just a week left before the kickstarter closes!

As for headcanons, well... I do have a few thoughts that I could rattle off. It’ll go under the cut of course since we’re talking about a sex demon AU for an Adults Only game. Talk about spice is pretty inevitable.

Also, there might be some mature themes that go beyond sex. The implications of this sort of supernatural being can get pretty dark if you think about it too hard... which I’m oft to do. How dark? Hopefully no darker than my third headcanon post with the tragedy of [Redacted].

...Which is giving me ideas for this AU. Strap in, folks.

Oh, before I get started, I should tag @channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic​ &  @sai-of-the-7-stars. If you want to be tagged in my next headcanon post, please let me know!

Since these are my own personal headcanons for a demon Jack AU, I’m going to default to using my own personal version of the MC, Alice. However, I will do my best to make mention of when things could apply to the MC in general.

For starters, Jack is an incubus in this headcanon. It’s not because he’s a male sex demon, but because he’s a top. I’ve been inspired by this popular thread that looks at the Latin origins of incubus/succubus and divides them not by gender but by sexual preferences. An incubus is a top, a succubus is a bottom, and a concubus is a verse.

Of course, Jack is flexible enough to take the role of a concubus or a succubus if his sunshine wants, but his preference is overwhelmingly as an incubus.

In this universe, sex demons, shortened to ‘cubi, can shapeshift to some degree, mostly in terms of body type, sex organs, and their more “demonic” features (wings, horns, tail, markings, etc.) This means that they can better appeal to the exact tastes of whatever human they’re catering to, or simply their own. This means that technically they’re genderfluid, but like anyone they have their own gender identity. In Jack’s case, that’s male, and the above appearance is what he is most comfortable in. If he wanted to, however, he could make himself look like the genderswap AU version of himself, Jill.

Despite being known as sex demons, ‘cubi don’t actually come from some infernal underworld... at least not originally. Rather, they’re beings made from magic as the manifestations of desire, specifically to cater to the pleasures of those that summon them. In a way, they’re something of a mixture between tulpas and familiars, bound to a specific person to serve them in exchange for that person’s energy to sustain them.

You know, something kind of similar to Jack’s situation with his sunshine in the main universe.

Now, I’m not saying Jack in SDJ is secretly an incubus or anything like that, even though he practically lives to serve MC and feels more secure in his existence through having sex with them, but... the parallels are kind of pretty apparent.

Naturally, this sort of setup is pretty rife with unfortunate implications if these magical husbando/waifus happen to be thinking and feeling sentient beings rather than glorified magical sex dolls made just for the pleasure of their owner. What sort of awful person would enslave some poor soul to just use them like that?

Oh wait.

Now... while this idea can very easily go into non-consent territory, I don’t want to go there, not even in an AU. This is just the origins of the ‘cubi species that serves as background in this universe. At some point in the past, they broke free of this unfavorable state of servitude. They weren’t meant to be able to reproduce on their own or live unbound to their masters, but the ‘cubi figured out how to do both and became their own race. They’ve been engaging in a both symbiotic and antagonistic relationship with humanity ever since.

Typically ‘cubi are unable to feel love of any sort due to their origins, but like any species that grows and changes over time with each generation, eventually there will be anomalies. Jack is one such anomaly. Unlike the majority of his species, he longs to love and be loved, but for the longest time didn’t realize that’s what he was missing. Much like in the regular universe, his family didn’t love him, but the ‘cubi parents didn’t even pretend they did, as the concept is just dismissed as a “human” trait, and humans are just for “food and fun” to the ‘cubi.

Naturally, Jack had a hard time living with the ‘cubi. Much like the main universe, he was neglected and ignored by those around him as he was growing, and eventually there was a tipping point that made him leave them and never look back again.

Although ‘cubi are most well known for being sex “demons”, they can feed off of any human desire, and it’s strongest when it’s directed at them. Sexual desire is just the most favored way for them to feed, as it’s very potent and pleasurable. This means that a human just looking at them with lustful feelings can offer them some energy even without directly engaging in sex.

The ‘cubi that either don’t want to have sex or are too young for it get their energy from platonic sources of desire or have energy donated to them by other ‘cubi. We respect enthusiastic consent in this house, and only consenting adults should engage in sexual behaviors, even in a fantasy AU.

Of course, once an adult, Jack did engage in sexual behaviors. What he didn’t get from ‘cubi, he thought he could get from humans. The pleasure was great, but he was still wanting more. He wanted to be the desire of many humans, believing that’s what he was missing. This led to a hedonistic lifestyle and a lot of people desiring him, but no matter how much desire he consumed, he was never satisfied.

Naturally, there are people who have a huge issue with sexual promiscuity. There are also people who have a huge problem with non-human races, ranging from distaste to outright hatred. Combine the two with plenty of fear, and you get tragedy.

With Jack seducing so many people and desiring so much attention, it was only a matter of time before the wrong people found out. There are demon hunters in this world, as well as those who believe the ‘cubi are evil. Jack was labeled as a demon seducing innocent people and clouding their minds, tempting them to the path of sin, and other such excuses to hunt him down.

Jack barely survived being killed by the hunters, but was captured instead. In this world, familiars are summoned and can be sealed away if they get unruly. The person who caught him was familiar with the origins of the ‘cubi and how similar they are to familiars, and used that to seal him away into a magical box.

This of course resulted in a Jack-in-the-box.

Yes I am quite proud of that pun, thank you.

As you might have guessed, Jack is in quite an unfortunate position. That collar around his neck isn’t just because it looks kinky. Fortunately, the order that captured him weren’t going to use him for slavery, but the bad news was that he was trapped in a dark place, devoid of all feeling. He was buried like unpleasant secret, locked away and eventually forgotten.

Poor Jack gets to suffer a similar fate as he does in the normal universe.

Fortunately, sunshine will find Jack in this universe as well several years later.

This world is a fantasy setting similar to a lot of JRPGs, with magic creating fantastic technology, but it has a strong medieval feel in ways. There are monarchies and nobility as well as monsters and magical races.

Alice was born into nobility. Although her family is a very loving one, there were duties expected of her due to her bloodline. The life of nobility can be cutthroat, with those aiming to destroy other noble houses for their own political gain, or unite via marriages.

This is especially true if they are engaged to be married to the next crown prince.

Despite it being an arranged marriage, Alice and Ian were close. They grew up together, were friends, and fell in love. It was like a fairytale...

And, like many fairytales, this one involves a curse.

No one knows who cast it, but there were plenty of suspects. It could have been a rival family that wanted their daughter to marry Ian instead. It could have been a curse meant for the crown prince, but due to the royal family’s supposed divine protection, it struck his fiancée in his place. It could even have been just the cruel whim of a wicked witch.

Whatever the case, the results were the same; Alice was one day transformed into a beastly creature.

This resulted in chaos of course, but for the most part, to protect the dignity of Alice, her family, and the royal family, it was kept a secret. Alice was hidden away under the story of being sick while others searched for the culprit and the cure. Crown prince Ian swore he would do whatever it took to cure Alice. He loved her even in her hideous cursed state.

Unfortunately, the more time passed without answers or a solution in sight, unrest set in. The queen especially was repulsed by the idea of her child marrying a hideous monster, no matter how Ian protested. The king was at best indifferent, not dissolving the engagement over the incident, but he refused to allow the marriage to proceed unless Alice was cured.

The secret slowly leaked, as secrets tend to do when money and political intrigue is involved. Pressure was put to annul engagement so that Ian could marry someone else. Noble families sent their attractive and clever members of the same age as him to strengthen bonds with him as it were

At first, Ian resisted all temptations and arguments. He was determined to marry Alice, but as time slipped away and they spent less and less time together, it was hard for his attention not to stray.

Alice had to remain hidden away in her family’s manor. Ian could only rarely visit her, and they mostly kept in communication via magic and letters. It left them both feeling lonely and missing each other.

At first, Alice refused to let Ian see her in her hideous state, but with time he managed to convince her that he still loved her regardless. When she finally allowed him to see what had become of her, he was shocked and horrified, but he managed to reassure her that it didn’t matter. The only one he wanted to marry was her. He loved her.

Alice believed Ian. He was her prince charming who would save her from her curse. He would never forsake her.

I think you can see where this is going.

Much like in the regular universe, time apart, popularity, and temptations of the flesh made Ian stray.

Stricken with guilt, Ian confessed what he did... and Alice couldn’t handle his betrayal.

The engagement was broken. Even if royalty aren’t exactly known for remaining loyal to their spouses, Alice’s family loved her enough to put an end to the engagement for her sake. Ian did everything he could to apologize and make amends, but Alice refused to see him. His constant visits trying to see her, gifts, and messages just made her heartbreak worse.

As word of the engagement being broken spread, there was also a rumor that Alice was going to a distant territory managed by her family to recover from her heartache. This allowed her to not only get some distance from Ian, but to lessen the risk of rumors spreading about her curse.

The place Alice went to live was a distant home surrounded by woods, isolating it from the rest of her world. Being betrayed by the person she loved and trusted the most shook her faith in people, and she insisted on living there alone, save for the occasional delivery of supplies and visitor.

Alice could have simply languished away in that place lamenting her fate, but instead she studied. She had an interest in magic that she had once been passionate about, but had to turn into an idle hobby when she wasn’t busy taking lessons as the future queen and spending time with Ian. Now she no longer had to worry about such distractions.

Perhaps it could help her find a cure for her curse when all other mages and scholars failed...

Time passed as Alice focused on improving her skills with magic and potions. Although Alice didn’t want anyone to see her in this state, she couldn’t help but feel lonely. One day, she was struck with the idea of having a familiar as a companion. Familiars are made from their master’s magic, essentially a piece of the mage given life. It could never betray her.

While engaged to the crown prince, Alice has access to the royal treasury at times. Ian would surprise her with presents that he technically shouldn’t have given away, but he was young, in love, and she was so keen to learn more about magic.

Despite the way things ended, Alice took some of those magical trinkets with her. One of those objects was a box, a medium meant to take some of her essence and create the familiar when the right ritual was performed.

Things go a little bit sideways when the box is already in use sealing away a being that is only similar to a familiar.

Luckily or unluckily, depending on your perspective, Alice just wound up releasing Jack from his box and forming a contract with him, binding them both together.

It was pretty surprising to the both of them, to put it lightly.

When ‘cubi are starved and in a weakened state, their colors are faded, and their eyes and markings won’t glow. Jack looked more like Joseph when Alice let him out, but with her magic feeding him due to their bond, he was his bright and colorful self again soon enough.

A lot of the dynamics between Alice and Jack are similar in this AU to the game universe. Jack can’t do anything Alice doesn’t want, and they can sense each other’s feelings and even thoughts. However, in this universe, Alice is aware of this, since that’s part of having a familiar, which allows her to guard her thoughts from him, if not her emotions.

While the situation is less than ideal for Jack... at the same time he finally feels what he was missing for so long. Alice is warm after he spent so many years sealed away in cold darkness, and he feels things from her that he never did from anyone else.

A pact with a familiar isn’t easily broken. Jack was also afraid that if it was broken, he would just go back into the box. He was still technically bound to it even as he was also bound to Alice. After learning about the hell he suffered when sealed away, she couldn’t bring herself to damn him like that, not when she could feel how terrified and desperate he was to never go back in there.

Jack offered to give Alice anything she wanted. He was ready to seduce her then and there.

Alice barked out a humorless laugh and told Jack that wasn’t a funny joke.

When visitors came over, Alice would wear heavy draping cloaks and veils to hide her body. When alone, she has less, so Jack saw her cursed appearance.

Jack didn’t see an issue with how Alice looked. In fact, her warmth and gentle heart drew him to her. It felt... good, but Alice had already been hurt before.

Instead of accepting sexual favors, Alice tentatively accepted his friendship instead.

So the two of them live together. Jack flirts with Alice, using his typical tactics that worked to draw people in before he got sealed away, being cheeky and seductive... and he finds that she responds when he was sincere instead. They form a genuine friendship and, as they grow closer, Jack eventually realizes that what he’s feeling for Alice, what he’s been missing all of his life, is love.

Eventually the two do fall in love after enough time getting to know and trust each other. Somehow Alice gets her curse cured as well. Maybe fitting with the fairytale theme, it could be cured through the power of true love... expressed through sex, since this is a story about incubi Jack after all.

I guess in this universe you can say Jack is a monster fucker as well as a demon?

Speaking of which, here’s a couple more ‘cubi headcanons that are on the spicier side.

The bond between them leaves a marking in Jack’s colors on Alice’s abdomen. Yes, it’s a “womb tattoo” since having some of Jack’s glowing markings being left behind as a sign of their bond would be fun.

The ‘cubi ability to appeal to their partner’s tastes isn’t just limited to appearance. The flavor of their cum can be altered to suit their tastes in a more literal sense.

Needless to say, Alice does not expect a vanilla cream finish the first time she gives Jack a blowjob.

A ‘cubi has amazing stamina and sometimes will savor their meal. Needless to say, Alice is going to have a hard time keeping up with Jack.

Though with access to magic, Alice has ways of potentially getting in some fun payback.

This is pretty much about all the headcanons I have at this time for this particular AU. I’m still unsure of Shaun and Nick’s roles in the universe, but I do know Barry is a merchant trader that Alice sometimes sells her magic potions to for extra money. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my really huge ramble about demon Jack that turned into an alternate version of Beauty and the Beast!

[raayllum]

So Fake Rayla

Otherwise known as “Stella is cute and I don’t trust her within an inch of my life” + other various thoughts about whether or not the initial Rayla reuniting with Callum scene features a real Rayla or a very convincing Rayla illusion. 

First up: evidence that the Rayla we see in the first clip is real. 

The first is that her updated look is consistent with a clip later in the trailer (both blades, braid and bun, general personality) and that we know Rayla has a tendency towards both 1) adopting strays and 2) having a soft spot for animals. It’s small, but we see her at the funeral they hold for Ibis at the Storm Spire with Stella still on her shoulder

Another point in Rayla being real is that, if she isn’t, they’ll have to very careful as to how they handle the reunion (and I think perhaps by the reunion itself we’ll know the truth or not). They won’t want to waste emotional reactions, particularly if Callum airs a lot of his hurt, as it can feel cheapened (for ex: illusion Viren worked in 3x09 because Soren being willing to kill him permanently changed his and Claudia’s relationship, so it didn’t feel like a cop out. Here, there wouldn’t be something ‘real’ to ground it except Callum processing his anger etc. in ways Rayla herself would never get to see). So again, we’ll have to see how it plays out.

Rayla has also always wanted to come back to Katolis, she just felt she was unable to. I don’t find it hard to believe that upon keeping her word and feeling like she’d completed her mission, she would high tail it back to Katolis and be pretty thrilled to get to come back and hopefully reunite with the boys. The look of love on her face certainly fits, even if both their reactions have clearly been trimmed down and edited, and the first look itself will be much longer (TDP loves its micro-expressions after all). Twitter gave us a glimpse at another one of Rayla’s expressions from this scene, as we know it’ll be emotional no matter what

We also know that the Cube only ever glows for one primal at a time. It doesn’t always glow when Callum picks it up (hence his escapades in early 3x02 seeing all the things that do glow) and it glows brightly when it’s around Rayla’s moon opal in 3x08, or with the fish in 1x05 even though Bait, a Sun prima creature, is also in the boat. So the Star primal glowing rather than the Moon primal doesn’t mean she’s an illusion, the Cube only ever glows for one source at a time, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary. 

So there’s really only two issues in terms of characterization and narrative to consider that makes her returning seemingly so soon in the season (before the mid-way point and of her own accord) feel decidedly off

1) Rayla set out determined to personally kill Viren once and for all. We know that she was adamant that she’d find him alive and have to take him out. Post-TTM, Rayla wasn’t even looking for a body anymore. She thought she’d have to make one. But we know there’s no way that happened, as Claudia has revived Viren and been safe guarding the body all this time. At first I thought perhaps Rayla had found the empty cocoon perhaps once Claudia and co. had exited the cave and that had been enough to convince her, but I realized it probably wouldn’t be. After all, seeing the cocoon being empty would probably horrify her, as she would just assume that whatever Viren was had gotten out and was walking around. And Rayla never gives up on anything, unless she finds a new mission, but considering she thought the world and Callum’s life was at stake, what would make her divert course without trying to handle the problem on her own (like always) to continue protecting the boys?

2) If they do reunite with Rayla coming back of her won accord, then what was the Narrative Point of her leaving? It means she’s learned a thing or two about self worth and has back home, but again: only under the condition of completing her mission, even though she needs to learn it would be 100% okay to come home ‘a failure,’ to come home ‘empty handed.’ The later scene of Callum cradling her sword offers a path forward, as it would mean Rayla being self-sacrificial one last time or being forcefully torn away from her swords. This means her absence would be justified narratively by Callum perhaps reaching an epiphany, or justification, of doing anything to get her back. This would provide the self worth lesson Rayla needs to have (why is her life worth less than Callum’s to her, after all, who’s always wanted to be together or not at all?) and the background for Callum along the lines of “I’ve lost her / lived without her once. I can’t - I won’t go through that again.” We reach the same end point, but with a less isolated middle. 

Because narratively with her absence, something has gotta give, and it can’t be wholly positive, and this is still a hurdle their relationship needs to jump. Rayla needs to realize she was horribly wrong to leave, but she can’t do it that by 1) returning on her own and 2) likely only returning because she thinks she successfully completed her mission, which would only reaffirm her unhealthy beliefs more.

Maybe she hasn’t succeeded at her mission, but I think that may require seeing more of her early on and too big a character arc to be crammed into a small episode space to watch Rayla “I failed and am therefore awful” of the Silvergrove realize that failing doesn’t mean she deserves to be rejected or shunned or believe terrible things about herself.

Perhaps Rayla with her small Star primal creature helps Callum learn about the Cube and Mirror. Maybe he still uses it as a distraction to not have to deal with all the big feelings between them. Maybe she only comes back to Katolis later on in the season then we think (say around end of 4x05 rather than end of 4x03). 

As long as 1) Rayla can offer a reasonable explanation for why she’s come back and 2) her absence has a strong emotional narrative tie, then her coming back so early makes sense, because it’s providing context for later decisions rather than driving the narrative directly now perhaps the way we thought. 

But now onto the more interesting side of things in way (that will also be hysterical in retrospect to look back on if we’re way off base) ... 

Evidence that Rayla Isn’t Real

And why I’ll extend that one step further, because remember how I said there’s a shot of Rayla with Stella on her shoulder, and Rayla travelling with the boys into the dark caverns as well? If Rayla isn’t real in the reunion clip, then she’s not real in those shots, either. Which means the boys are travelling with a fake illusion of their friend for the bulk of the season, not realizing that something is undeniably wrong (or at least, not fully), and isn’t that a way to build narrative dread and tension. 

This plays into a few things symbolically and counter-actively addresses the prior issues. If Rayla isn’t real, then why she came back doesn’t have to be convincing. If Rayla isn’t real, then her absence is ongoing and therefore has narrative weight and consequences to be attached to it, as well as for her doppelgänger. 

Symbolic evidence for his theory is the light and dark symbolism they’re explicitly playing with this season and that have been tied to Callum and Rayla specifically, both in Rayla’s letter to him and even further in the trailer. This is something I’ve commented on before in s1-s3 pre-letter, so if you are interested in reading more check out this meta here. 

In Rayla’s letter, she states: 

Taking on hard choices and going to dark places is an act of love. It’s a gift. So, please let me give you this gift, Callum. Stay safe, and stay in the light. Don’t follow me, and don’t look for me. I don’t think you’ll find me, anyway.

Then in this season, we know Aaravos will ultimately be the main villain. He’s fraught with this dark and light motif already in his character design, as he is missing a piece of his literal chest star, is a fallen star, and whose name means “between light and dark.”

Then we have Callum, who states: “In Darkness, gaze upon a fallen star,” which is likely the transcription around the mirror he’s translating, as total darkness is necessary to see into Viren’s prison. This could explain why Callum has the black dark magic-y eyes of pouring the serum into his eyes (similar to what Viren did to see the mirror back in early s2) rather than a more grandiose dark magic spell (although that could come later). 

So this means that Light is a good thing, right, and Darkness is a bad thing? Well... not quite. We know that Rayla’s absence has affected Callum negatively and left him more likely to pursue Aaravos’ dangers and more susceptible to his manipulations (even just by not having a counter balance and impulse control that Rayla and Callum each provided to each other). We know that Rayla left because she felt like she had no choice but to walk a dark path on her own and if she hasn’t learned that lesson that she was wrong, she’ll simply try it again every time, and that’s 1) something the narrative won’t do and 2) something Callum won’t put up with. And furthermore...

In the cave when Callum wraps his scarf around his staff to douse the light, it seems that it’s because light is dangerous. Large, terrifying creatures in the trailer that use lights to falsely lure prey right into their trap like a real life angler fish. Aaravos’ form looks like butterfly, moth mixture... bugs that die when guided to a flame. 

Rayla chose to hide herself away, to Ghost herself even further. To erase every trace of herself that she could in order to not be found, in order to stay hidden to keep her loved ones safe and far away from her. We know the window of her being able to find Viren’s body when neither Claudia nor Terry were there is slim to none. So what changed her mind? What made her choose to not be invisible anymore, to purposefully reveal herself? Even in her Moonshadow form, the cube didn’t glow for her, too consumed by Stella’s primal. Why would an illusion be any different?

Because after all, Moon magic and subsequent illusions are at its strongest at a full moon. We know there can be illusions made that others can see and feel (Lujanne’s fake leg for Ava). We know that Aaravos is getting stronger and that Star primal creatures, like Stella, are incredibly rare, with cuddlemonkeys able to connect to any arcanum as they grow (just like a mini Aaravos, or mini Callum). We know he has familiars like the little bug pal. We know he can influence animals even outside his primal to do his bidding even when he wasn’t out of the mirror at all.

But why a Star primal creature in particular? The thing can’t talk. Callum doesn’t need it to help guide him to anywhere in Xadia. The cube itself already does that, always rolling in the same direction. Why not just have Rayla talk to herself while alone if she needed to (as she has already done in series) and why give her a pet if she’s going to be around people for most of the season anyway?

There’s been foreshadowing for a long while that Callum will connect to the Moon arcanum next. Given that S4 will factor in him reconnecting with Rayla and admitting the truth to himself (aka the small way he deflects about still loving her in 4x01), it stands to reason that Rayla’s symbolic associations will continue to be that of Truth and Light in a positive way. Of seeing through Aaravos’ lies and manipulations. 

This would also mean perhaps Callum not trusting Fake!Rayla whereas everyone else does, and they chalk it up to his hurt feelings. But Callum has always known Rayla far better than she ever wanted him to in show, and he knows when something’s not right (“You know this is wrong” “She’s not telling us everything, I can feel it”). It would also explain this fragmentation that only Claudia (literal light and dark hair) that shares in the Fragments key art with her expression literally split in half, now even more notably fragmented than Claudia. 

Why have Stella be obsessed with the cube, darting out from Rayla’s shoulder to grab and hang onto it, and keep hanging onto it as Callum and Rayla reconcile? It feels a bit like Pip’s foreshadowing all over again. 

We also rarely see non-dark mages wear cloaks, as it is a symbol of dark Callum in his nightmares in 2x08, of Aaravos, and of Claudia’s villain turn in 3x09. Rayla noticeably wears her cloak upon entering, although she doesn’t wear it in any of the other shots she appears in. 

The Two Raylas theory also speaks to Rayla’s continual thematic duality of her markings, her blades, her arcanum, her narrative relationship with Life and Death, as well as Lies and Truth. The biggest thing against this theory though would be the possibility of undercutting emotional moments on the way there, as well as a massive emotional fallout to possibly address, but regardless, I think it’s a really interesting idea if nothing else.

Conclusion

So what do you think of the Fake Rayla theory? Do you buy into it, is it just a fun fanon idea, and how long will we have to wait to get a definitive answer? Let me know down below and feel free to offer up your own thoughts one way or another!

[octahyde]

ocxcanon cringe

It’s OC X Canon week on Twitter and idk if I’m gonna do it and if I do it’ll take months and none of it will be posted anyways but i thought I’d post and give a rundown of my ships hi

(picrew used)

I don’t have many but I’m putting them under a cut just because that’s easier

Yuzuki X Wren- Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns

The YuzuWren… my everything… I made them in 2020 because that was the year I started really getting into making OCs and finally played 3oT after being hesitant and skipping out when it came out due to how badly the concept of multiple villages was implemented last time. (Thank FUCK Marvelous learned from tott. Anyways) Especially because during the time of playing the file, I realized I had been repressing some horrific, horrific trauma of something that happened to me. They’re what got me through it and I ended up getting a solid 100 hours through their file!

Wren is a trans man. Along with his interest in farming, Daryl refused to accept him as a man. Gay Uncle Frank took him in not only to help get started with farming, but also to help him with transitioning. (As a side note I did not realize Wren starting to transition when he moved to his farm meant he was getting his hrt top and phallo from fucking Ford until months later and felt so FUCKING sorry for him.) (Another side note- Daryl refuses to accept Wren’s transness even after he becomes “proud” of his farm and hopes he’ll grow out of it, Marlena is happy to see how well her “daughter” is doing, and Lynn is genuinely really supportive but rarely gets to see him because of how she’s still young and lives with their parents.)

When Wren first visits Tsuyukusa, he starts helping out Omiyo and Umekichi whenever he had down time to make things a little easier for them. Obviously, this lead to occasionally checking in on Yuzuki as well. Wren got interested in Yuzuki’s jewelry early on and started trying to make more time to talk to him. From being sexually harassed from being so frail and feminine looking in his childhood, Yuzuki was very empathetic to Wren- he’s cis and he can’t possibly imagine how much harder they were for Wren having that his entire life. Finding out Yuzuki was also the unfavorite child to a significantly more horrific degree than Wren was likewise made Wren more sympathetic to him.

Anyways they get married and have gay sex and live an r/childfree life because I have having kids in these games LMAO can you tell they’re my darling yaoi

Mistel X Roland- Story of Seasons (3DS)

I started this file a while ago but recently got back to it!! And doubled the hours I had on it before in a week. Uh.

Roland was a born and raised city boy who always hated how busy the city was. He always loved growing his own vegetables on his apartment balcony and, eventually after doing research on agriculture, decided he’d do best on a farm. When a lot opened up in Oak Tree Town, home of his favorite writer, he couldn’t refuse and set out immediately. Indeed, it wasn’t long before Roland started visiting Iris regularly to talk about literature with her. Mistel, the autistic little freak he is, got curious about Roland very fast and kept attacking him with questions every time he came to talk with his sister. Roland found it incredibly annoying and started giving Mistel little presents when he visited to satiate him while he talked to Iris. This backfired, however, as it only got Mistel even more fixated on him and made him start prodding at Roland even more than he did before. Worst of all, Roland was beginning not only to not mind it, but also starting to enjoy it! At some point, he started visiting less for Iris and more for Mistel. Not that he had a crush on him. He’d never admit he had a crush on him. Eventually Mistel beat him too the punch and asked him out, and that’s where my file currently is!! Very excited to get to when he’s disproportionally hornier than every other LI in the entire series LMFAO

IdiYume- Twisted Wonderland

This one is really REALLY embarrassing for me because I haven’t done romantic yume/self ships since like… middle school

My sona is a catch all one I made a few years ago; Beatrice “Trixie”/“Trix” Hart. Normally I use her/him to terrorize anime boys platonically (she was first created to be an assistant to Klavier Gavin in Ace Attorney, and I think it shows with the name LMAO), but as I got more into the series and read Book 6, I Needed to kiss Idia Shroud and used him for this as well. His name stays the same minus the nickname because, well, I’m a trans dude keeping his gendered birth name lol.

He’s a second year Pomefiore bnuuy beastman at NRC and is BFFs with Cater. Him and Idia vaguely know each other, but generally dislike each other. Online, though, he’s Idia’s favorite vtuber and ok this is too embarrassing for me sorry JDKDWKKFSKFB

I prefer them a lot after NRC, though- I view them as both being transhet (because I am transhet. bye). Idia’s boymoding at NRC, and Trix is girlmoding quite literally everywhere except the all male school he goes to. After they graduate, they start transitioning together. Its a very very intimate experience for both as they support each other through everything.

This picrew is them 10 years post NRC when they’re fully transitioned because that’s usually what I think about with them. :) They’re very happy and love each other and their 3 cats and their younger brother and his 2 dogs.

Chenya X Beau Rhodes-Twisted Wonderland

My most recent ocxcanon ship and the one I have the least amount of development on because there’s so little known about RSA and Chenya is only allowed out of RSA Jail every now and then for enrichment. Beau is twisted from the rose from Beauty and the Beast! He also grew up in the Queendom of Roses, but a different part than Chenya Trey and Riddle. Him and Chenya were roommates their first year at RSA. Beau is very mature and committed to his work and studies in floral arrangement, in contrast to Chenya who’s. Well. Chenya. They end up balancing each other out; Chenya helps Beau lighten up, and Beau has better luck than most convincing Chenya to stop fucking around when he needs to.

The biggest aspect, to their dynamic, however, is something else.

I think NRC is one giant cringe compilation to RSA. They love hearing about the insane things that happen there. And, well, Chenya is childhood friends with the most ridiculous human being ever born, Riddle Rosehearts. And also Trey Clover, man who has spent his entire life being in love with the most ridiculous human being ever born, Riddle Rosehearts. Beau and Trey met as first years from Chenya introducing them, but whenever Riddle came up there was a silent “dude just wait until you meet this guy next year.” Beau didn’t know what he expected but Riddle met all of them.

Chenya does convince him to go to an unbirthday party with him though. Eventually. And he surprisingly does have a great time. That doesn’t stop the “I’ve had to listen to him talk about being in love with this guy for 8 years dude” conversations though.

[charmac]

Obviously I think it’ll be really interesting to see what the podcast changes about Season 16, but I'm more so interested, and stuck on, what it doesn’t change.

A lot of people here, Twitter, Reddit all say ‘Oh, I miss this from early seasons,’ or ‘RCG forgot the characters used to do this or act this way.’ Maybe you miss it, maybe RCG did forget, or maybe it’s character development?

Maybe there’s a reason two characters don’t have that dynamic anymore, maybe there’s an actual reason the gang have ‘changed’ or ‘aren’t the same characters anymore’ that’s much deeper than 'RCG forgot who they were in early seasons'.

This season, completely written and acted post-four seasons of rewatching and discussing, is going to tell us just that.

It’s one thing to be vaguely aware of what you used to write and how you used to act and perform something similar 12-15 years later based on memory. There's some kind of excuse to time...so now it's a whole thing. To actively rewatch it all, discuss it, and then continue to commit to the changes, continue with certain dynamics and mannerisms.

The characters, plots, dynamics and choices we see in Season 16 aren't going to just be a result of what they've rewatched and remembered and rediscovered, it's also going to be a result of what they've rewatched, acknowledged, and don't go back to. There will be a lot said in the things we don't see, in the decisions people think are 'out of character' that stay true through this season (and beyond).

Sunny's sweet 16 is going to say something loud. We're going to truly be confident in how RCG have decided to evolve these characters: what's going to be extremely clear it was a deliberate change in direction/evolution of a character (and their dynamics) and what's going to change, revert back to early seasons, be revealled as an unintentional consequence of forgetting your roots after almost two decades?

[chiyuki-suishou]

Obey Me! Nightbringer has just been announced~! Coming soon in 2023.

According to the meet-and-greet held (4th February 2023) earlier on the official YT, apparently it’ll be a new game that will be added later this year to the Obey Me! series. No official release date has been announced yet so far.

Also, extra news! - from 5th February onwards to 7th February, students will no longer be required to use AP for 1st time battle completion for your tasks from Lessons 31-60.  ( AP-Free 1st Battle Completion Period is over. ) It’s highly recommended to use this opportunity to catch up on the story before Nightbringer is released later this year if you haven’t done so already.

So yes, we, guilty as charged, procrastinators must do our best  to complete the story by then~ Good luck and all the best~!

☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ

( Last updated - 20th February 2023 ) Story Hints from Official Twitter :

The story takes place in a post-Great Celestial War Devildom. What do you think life was like before the brothers became the Seven Rulers?

Nightbringer will shed light on the "true feelings" the brothers push down.

Of all the brothers, Satan may be the least familiar to us.

Leviathan meets his first best friend thanks to an unexpected person.

To find out more info on the new game, feel free to check out these official channels exclusive to Obey Me! Nightbringer :

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ObeyMeNB Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obey_me_nb_official/

Obey Me! Nightbringer Opening Movie Link :  https://youtu.be/T2VcR8GyyVI

[dailycass-cain]

My Top 10 Favorite Cass Stories

Just last year ago I gave a list of my ten favorite Cass stories on Twitter (and here’s the 2020 edition. The funny thing is, not even a year later I look upon the last list (along with the bad) and my thoughts on some of these stories have changed. 

Not to mention, we’re only two months into 2023 and we’ve already got a Cass story that already makes this list for me. 

So I figure it’s 2023 and I haven’t posted my favorite Cass stories here. Let’s change that. So here are my Top Ten Favorite Cassandra Cain stories. You may not agree with them. Maybe you will? Just that these are my opinion. 

The thing about me and lists. They always mostly change. You compare my lists from years past. They may not completely match up (or in some places they will). Change always occur. 

That said. Let’s start with my honorable mentions. 

Honorable Mention #1: Detective Comics #790

-  It's just a dark uneasy tale due to Pete Woods' art and Andersen Gabrych's story. Bruce is a little more unnerved than usual (Jason's anniversary) and Cass is brought in personally to steer him back.

Why? Because of all the people of the Bat-Family, she understands him best. The dynamic between Bruce/Cass here. Teacher/heir is just so all over this story. You can tell Bruce really wants Cass to truly be his heir.

If there are any issues I have with this being better is well it’s the prelude to “War Games” and I’m not really fond of the negative talk Bruce has with Cass regarding Stephanie Brown.

Ironically, for a while the last good main Batman book story Cass had for awhile until...

Honorable Mention #2: Detective Comics #950, 955

- Until this one. Though I’ll be honest “Night of the Monster Men” is a FUN story too that has Cass, but Cass really isn’t central to the plot in that.  These issues were the first “main book” story that focused on Cass since-- 2004. 

What truly keeps this book low for me being an honorable mention are the same flaws that pop up in my “worst list” of Cass stories. If you take these two issues alone? The story is absolute gold. 

The full arc? (#950-956) are the reasons it got knocked down. Still, Marcio Takara and James Tynion IV together make the most of this story even with the hurdles higher ups (and Tynion’s own juggling the massive cast this run had) stall it.

I still think the arc would be more favorable if it ended with Bruce/Kate taking Cass to see Christine and well just a happy ending. Not to mention we get mostly zero fallout from what occurs here (the subplot of Ra’s here is tossed out due to Tynion having to leave the comic so he could go onto Justice League Dark).

What still hits hard about these two issues IS Takara’s art.  As those who are currently reading the Poison Ivy series, Takara can do some banger spreads. We have a few here with an "Old Boy" homage Takara throws in with Cass for good measure. 

Takara’s art and just the emotion he brings is why this story is STILL lingers.

Honorable Mention #3: Superboy #85

- Yes, the villain for this comic is all too forgettable. That’s really why it’ll alway be here. But why it remains always is the banter. Between the team-up of  Cass/Kon (also the opening/closing Tim/Kon segments) that truly shines here. Much like Batman, you throw Cass with a character outside her zone, MOMENTS HAPPEN.

Boy we get some hilarious moments that are truly chuckle worthy. There’s just something natural seeing the heroes here interact with one another. Something that feels kind of missing mostly in DC Comics nowadays (save in the Flash recently with its “Dark Crisis tie-in”. What we had there was absolute GOLD). 

I love me Batman having Batdad shenanigans over Tim/Cass and the rebellious Conner clashing with him. I know some might not like Cass/Kon, but the dynamic between the two in this issue is GOOD.  The dynamic is SOOO good between the two. It's truly a pity Cass wasn't allowed to show up outside her book in Kon's again. Because this issue still hits home for a lot of folks to this day (as we see TONS of fanart of them. Also for canon covers still acknowledge this issue, along with the “eh” one over in Batgirl Vol. 1).

But for me, it's just the emotion both light and dark that writer Joe Kelly just handles well here. Why I keep coming back to this darn issue. The character dynamics are just soooo good.

Honorable Mention #4 Batgirl Vol. 1 #50 "Tough Love"

-  It's Cass vs. Batman. The fight by Rich Leonardi is an epic one with Bruce/Cass going all Anakin/Obi-Wan by just changing the fighting venue every page. Looking for that opening.

You have some nice gremlin moment from Tim to get a cure to them both (given they're "fighting" due to a drug thrown at them by Dr. Death). If anything there's to knock on this is Nightwing being tossed around like a ragdoll by the two of them.

But really it's the ending of the fight that still resonates hard. Bruce being his most batdad again, but also just wanting to know where Cass's loyalties lie. Her answer is a good moment 

So wait this is an honorable mention now?! Yeah it kind of is. See, the one problem with writer Dylan Horrocks is that usually bits of his run ages like milk. Not very good. I get that he tried new things with the character, and went in different direction than the past writers. But.. his stuff ages the worst. 

Also listening to Batgirl to Oracle’s podcast when she reviewed the issue. She brings up some the things we often overlook for the amazing art and the stuff above. 

Basically, the whole subtextual issue between Bruce/Cass that’s at the core of the story. Horrocks’ coda for his series up to this point was Cass growing older and trying to answer if she’s attracted to men (or now realizing how certain males view her via her body reading abilities). Dealing with the complications of guys being into her (Black Wind, Superboy), Bruce being EXTREMELY overbearing (hence the fight), and you get stuff like this:

It’s stuff that Freud and any fan in the present going 😬😬😬😬

Yeah, this is the stuff that doesn’t age well at all. Why suddenly it’s been knocked down this low. 

So with these four out of the way. ONTO THE LIST...

10.) Batgirl Vol. 1 #2

-  To those critics against Cass who say she never loses. This issue is the textbook answer. She loses and hard, but learns an emotional lesson about why words mean so much. Why writing and art are so powerful in a tale with no real title (literally the credits are at the very bottom of the last page).

This story is a gut punch (the first of many) Kelley Puckett would deliver on the book. Though he did slide in a better one later on this list still, this would be stable for his and Damion Scott's run.

Besides the pathos Puckett brings, Scott equally just wraps an emotional ringer. Cass barely says anything in the issue but conveys SOOO much emotion in her eyes thru the mask (probably the biggest answer many on the “pro-black lenses can give over the white ones she currently has”).

Just the one-shot character of John Robinson just sticks with you even after it. Just a good man, being thrown the curveball that Gotham City gives. The impact of his story just still resonates with me.

9.) Batgirls #14 “The Rest is Silence...”

- Yup. It’s a 2023 entry. I told you something made me start to question things and this story (while not concluded) I’m putting here on the list just for the sheer performance artist Jonathan Case pulls with this issue.

We’ve all wanted a unique Cass story (and boy howdy did we get some bangers in 2021 more on those later) and this is the first Batgirls story that feels true to the character of Cass. Anyone who is a harsh critic of this book has nothing to complain about. The narration (that’s not Cass/Steph/Babs) that can dull the comic’s better moments. It’s not found here. An older teen Cass is drawn here (not a preteen one that many have hated). Plus the dialogue by the writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad. That’s not here, but they do cheat (but it’s a cheat I’m going to allow). 

Again, this is Jonathan Case’s world and we’re living in the gorgeous art he’s doing here. There are SEVERAL pages that are just awing to read and look at. Just so much 

If there’s any negative well... this is new. So I figure this is the best place to put this issue. Will it remain (as there are two more issues of this arc in Batgirls)? Who knows. But right at THIS MOMENT and this issue alone. It earns a spot on my list.

8.) Batgirl Vol.1 #60-62 aka "The Hood" arc

-  What I love about this story are two reasons. #1 Cass by herself while trying to navigate the city of Bludhaven by establishing herself (with no Bruce or Babs). #2 Cass fighting unique foes with unique skill sets i.e. the Brotherhood of Evil.

From them just handing Cass her butt, to her rising back up and kicking them. It's a nice little "underdog" story showing just how far Cass has come as a fighter along with showcasing her "Batman' side. By doing her homework, prep timing, and wrecking the Brotherhood.

This is probably my favorite complete arc by Gabrych. He's got both Pop Mhan and Ale Garza backing him on the story and they all deliver high here.

Add the nice intro of Brenda and the gut punch of seeing Stephanie again (even if she died at the time period). This arc just has so many GOOD things that were promising. Pity, the later half Gabrych gave us wasn't classic as this was.

7.) DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1  "Sounds"

-  Oh yes! We got a 2021 story here.  Introduce Cass to new audiences? Showcase why fans enjoy her. Yes, it tempts me to put a certain arc of WFA up here. Here is one thing this has over that, Marcus To drawing Cass as Batgirl.

I always wanted it. To made the Black Bat costume better and gave us Ninja Gaiden Cass. But we all wanted him to draw THE costume.

I mean it's just everything. Add the small bits of actions we're given, bits of her origin, and the entire plot of Cass trying to find her "voice". Writer Mariko Tamaki just packs SOOO much in here and begins the call for many to have her write Cass more. This is the story where that all began. Tamaki just GETS Cass as a character. 

Everything is just top-notch in this story. You can tell the entire creative team It's a nice reintroduction for new readers for Cass. Along with giving older fans well something we'd never thought to see again. 🥺

The story just feels unreal to see happen. After ALL DC did in the past with the character. This story hits, but not as harder as my #1.

6.) Batgirl Vol. 1 #7-9

- Now I'll admit looking over this list. I was like, "Wait why didn't I include #9 with this arc?" So it's time to correct that mistake!

There's no real "name" for this arc but it is just three stories that have the debut of a certain someone to the series.  Cass's opposite. Her reflection. Lady Shiva.

Everything between these two is laid perfectly in "conflict"  and for what is to come by Puckett and Scott. The 😮when Shiva shows up in the first panel and Cass is like, "I've got to fight that."  he expressions. An appetizer for what is to come with these two.

Add the bookend pieces of #7 (of Batman/Shiva against Cass), along with just SOOOO much good lines by the two uttered in these issues. I mean there are some good quotes here. So many good scenes.

But again, this is a teaser for what's to come. What an amazing setup these three issues are.

5.)  Batgirl Vol. 1 #19 "Nobody Dies Tonight!"

-  Remember what I said earlier of Puckett/Scott delivering banger single issues? Here's another! On the anniversary of something near to Cass's mind, she tries to make sure for one night, nobody dies tonight!

Seeing the morality of the lesson played out here is more gut-wrenching than #2 given Cass is the focus here.  She's doing her thing while the whole piece is her seeing someone being put to death tonight, and well her proclamation is tested hard.

Along with her mantra on everyone can change. You have all that, and the shadow of what is looming more and moreover her. The story is so good, to this day I ain't even gonna post it. This is one story you gotta track down and see for yourself.

Even if it is one more piece to a larger puzzle Puckett/Scott put to lead into #25.

4.) Batgirl Vol. 1 #21 (Last Laugh Tie-In)

-  This is still my most favorite issue not shared by many of the Puckett/Scott run. It just goes to show you just how good this run is. There are SOOOOOOOOO many issues that can show up on a list for fav Cass stories.  This is just mine.

Reasons why I enjoy this issue in particular among others is #1 the way it starts off with Cass's training montage which has Scott just go to town so much. You can tell Scott probably watched A TON of Bruce Lee movies as the homage is strong in the opening pages.

#2 Cass/Steph get a really important moment that furthers their friendship. I mean sure this isn't the issue they become really good friends, but this is the issue where the foundation keeps getting added (#20 started that).

Besides the moment at the end, there's the other moments of Steph's quirky persona that just win you over with the character.

#3 the fight between Shadow Thief/Cass. When you see Cass smiling in her mask if I were a villain, "running would be a very good idea." The moment is so shōnen and Scott just goes balls to the wall here with how he draws Cass dominating Thief.

This leads into #4 the outcome (but ties into #2). Like literally the fight switches in a heartbeat from 😁 to 😨in a single panel. Just seeing the look of broken horror in Cass's face realizing she might have taken another life makes my eyes water.

And here comes Steph to save the day. Dang, does she do some good friend stuff here. Just saving Shadow Thief and being there for Cass before the later scurries off.

3.) Batman: Urban Legends #7 "The Hunter... or the Hunted"

-  A unique tale starring Cass by Guillaume Singelin takes Tec #955's concept of a long action sequence but goes harder. No dialogue or text. Just action. All action.

It's a real pity this story came way after the "Future State" event, as the story does a way better job showcasing how worse Gotham has become. There's a clear homage to so much in the story.

Singelin's art is something I haven't seen since Batgirl Vol. 1. Just the crispiness and layout of the fight sequences. The fact that this showcases why Cass is just a character quite unique. You can throw a writer/artist with a unique style. Just watch them go to town.

It's one of the things I always wished we could've seen with again Cass in Vol. 1. The closest we got was with Damion Scott in Solo #10, but it's just so wondrous to see Cass in a tale that feels like something that NEEDS to be animated again.

Every time I read this story there's just so much to just look at even if the story moves at a rapid pace from the action. It's just perfectly choreographed with Cass coming up on top.

2.)  Batgirl Vol. 1  #25 "I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds"

- The crescendo of the Puckett/Scott run delivers so very much in this issue. From the literally EPIC  brawl, Cass/Shiva have in this issue. To the little moments with Cass/Babs and Cass/jumper. This is the creative team as the seeds planted bear glorious fruit.

There's just so much about this issue that can be dissected and taken apart. Everyone is an all-star this issue as Scott is at the literal height of his art giving us (for me) the greatest comic book fight EVER.

From the set-up of the final round to the way, this is Puckett/Scott's opus. A slobber knocker. You feel the other's blow when it connects. Often imitated. NOTHING can ever top the OG brawl Cass/Shiva had in this issue. Nothing but one thing...

1.) Shadow of the Batgirl

-  It's still the champ of my heart! Writer Sarah Kuhn takes all of what has happened with the character. Seen what worked and what didn't. Adds her own spin on what quite possibly is the best Cass story of them all.

From the very cover alone, before I opened the book this story hits a raw nerve for me. It opens an emotional flood gate.

Kuhn just crams so much of Cass stuff into this graphic novel it just is utterly amazing at how much she puts in here. She delivers so much that literally and hits so many things... dammit thinking about the graphic novel suddenly my eyes are watering... AGAIN.. wrassin frassin.

Adding to that is Nicole Goux's art which like Scott is so darn expressive and perfect for Cass. You don't need words when Goux perfectly captures what is going on in Cass and what Cass see's of the world around her.

I feel like a broken record on how much this story smacked me in the head. I was going to like it, but love it this much? Was like, "How?" But the emotion the creative team pours into this character you truly get how much they love Cass.

And this is the best intro story to get others interested in the character.  Like literally, there are so many dang moments in this comic that are just SOOOOOOO good. And dangit thinking of these moments... freaking heck. Like literally..

.. when the comic hit me across the head with just so much emotion and I've read it numerous times over already. The fact that it is still doing this to me. Yeah, it had to be my #1.

So there's my list. Yes, I know I left out some choices that are like, "WHY?" But this is my personal list. The thing about it is-- IT ALWAYS CHANGES! So do you agree or disagree? What’s your favorite Cass stories? I’d love to hear them! 

[defjux]

Normally I wouldn’t even think to do this but since this guy who essentailly copied my entire online presence doesn’t actually seem to be willing to admit fault or take any real accountability for the weird shit he’s been up to i’m just gonna post it all.

To recap:

I find out someone is stealing photos of my vinyl and comics and uploading them to twitter and reddit as his own. he has been flat out stalking me online for 5 year since he was 14, for some reason assimilating my entire taste into his own fake internet persona he’s created just for clout, passing it off as being “inspired” while essentially impersonating me. Some examples of this include:  - Deliberately taking usernames that i use and using them on other sites impersonating me -  Copying entire profiles of mine, even down to taking a whole list of favorite artists and pasting it to his own 1:1 - copying entire playlists on Spotify, recreating them and posting them as his own - Lying about every facet of his life to make it seem as close to mine as possible, even his age saying he was 29 instead of 19 because i guess he wanted to be the same age as me and also saying he’s from new york instead of saudi arabia - Plagiarizing film/music reviews from people on RYM and Letterboxd, even from some of my friends, and posting them on his own Letterboxd and Album of the Year accounts passing them off as his own. - Recently I also just found out his previous twitter account was banned for stealing digital art from other people and taking credit for it When called out, he blocks me on twitter and makes his account private, also on reddit after I called him out. I post comments on other profiles attempting to commicate with him, all of which get removed within minutes. He finally responds to DMs a full 15 hours later with a half assed apology, essentially using his mom’s cancer and his depression as a shielf to absolve himself of any actual blame and guilt trip me into forgiving him. The guy only apologizes for stealing photos and nothing else, but it’s okay since he was just “inspired”. I was thinking about just letting it go and checking every once in a while to make sure he actually stopped, But I figured maybe if put him on blast it’ll actually teach him a lesson since this shit is obviously deeply embedded in his psyche and isn’t going to change overnight just beause he says it will. https://linktr.ee/charnsuka here’s his linktree with all his urls, but just in case he deletes that: Tumblr Twitter Spotify RYM (now banned apparently) Letterboxd AOTY Last.fm Reddit

[missmaywemeetagain]

Hi, friends!

As I’m looking to expand my writing and place in the world as a budding author (and as Pink Scarf becomes more popular, eek!), I’ve decided to branch out on social media!

If you’re so inclined and would like to help a girl out, feel free to follow me on Instagram and Twitter @MissMadisynMay1 💗 I might decide to venture into TikTok/BookTok and Discord later but I’m a total newbie at those, so it’ll take a minute!

Speaking of, some have expressed interest in me possibly doing a Q & A type thing for Pink Scarf on Twitter Spaces and Discord, so if that’s of interest to you, please let me know!

As always, thank y’all for your amazing support every damn day. Tumblr is and always will be my original home!! I’m not going anywhere! 💗🧣💗

Also, multiple people have asked about tipping me (literally y’all are the sweetest), so I am waiting for tumblr to approve that and will keep you posted! (And of course, please do not feel obligated!!)

[potteresque-ire]

Meta Series on "Propaganda Reblogs"

With political tensions re: China reaching a near-unprecedented high, the Chinese state propaganda machine will likely go into overdrive over the next few days, if not until autumn, after it'll be made official whether President Xi will extend his term for another five years.

This means, as turtles, we may expect to see many more "propaganda reblogs" — posts that look like these:

I'm humbly presenting this meta series, which dive a little more into what these posts are about. I confess, I do have an ulterior motive — based on the provided info, I hope I can make a case of why these posts aren't the most suitable for fandom fun, and appeal to fellow fans to please consider refraining from using these posts for joking, for making candies, for making light of them in any way.

Given the length, this meta series is composed of 5 sections: 1) Introduction: why I am, for once, waving my candy-washing soap 2) Anatomy of a propaganda reblog, Part 1: the midnight timestamp 3) Anatomy of a propaganda reblog, Part 2: the ultrashort response 4) Beyond the propaganda: the significance (and tragedy) of events remembered by these posts 5) Conclusion: The Li Jiaqi Paradox

(Below the cut: Part 1: Introduction)

As a fan, I never feel it's my place to tell my fellow fans what they should or shouldn't do. I'm also customarily hesitant about washing candies. Fandom is about having fun, and our corner of fandom, in particular, has always been about imagining, clowning, not taking ourselves too seriously.

It's very nice. A very good thing.

However, given the unique political situation in China, and the fact that Twitter material has, on multiple occasions, been screenshot and imported onto Weibo, I'm appealing to everyone reading this to please consider refraining from playing with these "propaganda reblogs".

This includes joking about them. This includes making candies from them. This includes making light of them in any way.

There are two reasons. One has to do with the nature of the events they address, which I'll touch on later (Section 4). The reason I'd like to focus on first is as follows:

Despite the ubiquitous, "everyone reblogs" nature of these propaganda posts, the ultrashort responses our favorite stars often offer to them, these posts are, by far, the most politically-sensitive material on their blog. The close-to-synchronous timestamps, the similarly-worded responses, are actually the consequences and reflections of the posts' political sensitivity and more importantly, perhaps, of the care the stars and their team have put into them.

Stars in the public eye — particularly, "traffic" stars who garner lots of attention — have little choice but to put in such care: their responses are heavily scrutinized not only by anti-s, but by "melon-eaters", by non-fannish, nationalistic trolls looking for their next famous victim to make an example of.

It's not fun when these stars make a mistake.

Screenshots from an article on SOHU 搜狐, tallying which star reblogged CCTV's "propaganda post" on the anniversary of the 1937 Nanking Massacre 南京大屠殺, also known as the Rape of Nanking, a brutal mass killing of Chinese by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The article noted the timestamps the reblogs were made, pointing out that Gg and Dd, who reblogged at 00:01 and 00:02 respectively, were behind other stars including Cai Xukun 蔡 徐坤, Zhou Shen 周 深, and Meng Meiqi 孟 美岐, who reblogged at 00:00, the same minute the original post was posted. The Chinese state propaganda has been using Japan's war crimes during World War II to fuel its people's nationalistic sentiments, despite the dissolution of the Empire of Japan in 1945 (and the formation of the modern state of Japan, in which the Emperor only occupies a ceremonial role). Reactions of Chinese public figures to propaganda posts related to Japan and WWII have therefore been heavily scrutinized by nationalistic / bored / mean netizens seeking for the next "traitor" in their midst to judge, to "cancel".

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The "Propaganda Reblog" Meta Series: 

1) Introduction < YOU'RE HERE 2) The midnight timestamp 3) The ultrashort response 4) Beyond the propaganda 5) Conclusion: The Li Jiaqi Paradox