#it's like the one line he draws in the sand and i just can't bring myself to make overriding it the way to go IT'S WRONG

[soryualeksi]

In all seriousness for once, any other autists / nd folks out there, prefereably with autist / nd kids? Having any suggestions on how to get my 4-years-old son to tolerate ANY medical examination at all?

Because in theory I would have to do a Covid test on him, but there’s no way I’m getting the swab in his mouth.

Taking a temperature in any way? Refusal. Letting doctors check inside his mouth / ears / eyes? Rarely possibly, with lots of convincing and a lot of time. Basically, he is VERY uncomfortable with all medical examinations and his reaction to things that make him uncomfortable is avoiding (understandable), running away, stiffing his body in some corner, refusing to move at all and eventually screaming himself into a meltdown...

I don’t want to override his bodily autonomy and FORCE him into medical examinations, BUT medical intervention to assure his health are also the one line I draw where I say “In this case I can and WILL override your will if I have to, because it is my responsibility as your parent to keep you save.” It’s the one thing I am, reluctantly, willing to force him into if I have to. But I wish I didn’t HAVE to. Because it’s BAD to override his own autonomy over his body and it makes him feel bad and also I’m scared it will traumatize him in the long run. (It doesn’t happen often, just so I’m not being creepy / callous. It’s actually VERY rare I force him and it’s ALWAYS about serious health issues. Think “can’t breathe because lungs full of infectious slime” that has to be treated.)

So any ideas, any ideas at all, how to get him to, you know, want to “comply” on his own? Because I’m reaching a bit of mental breaking point here from the stress of one kid with Covid and now trying to get the other kid to at least let me take ONE GODDAMN MOUTH SWAB. And for the future, I can’t always have “how the FUCK am I gonna get him to get examined and treated without it being a potentially traumatizing disaster with lots of screaming and crying”.

What would / did help you / your kids / kids you know with getting less uncomfortable and scared of medical procedures? Because it’s a very specific issue and I’m just. Drawing a blank. I guess because I can’t really make out what makes ME tolerate this kind of stuff, but in my case I think it’s because medical stuff is my special interest and I’m weird about it?

I just want to be able to take a temperature or do a goddamn Covid swab from the mouth without everything being horrible. 

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

TGCF couples at the beach

Because i want to go to the beach so bad rn

HuaLian:

Hua Cheng isnt too fond of the sun or the water but gege said he'd like to go so they're going.

Everything is fancy and luxurious, only the best for gege.

A large beach bed with a canopy, drinks and snacks served at all times, the whole nine yards.

He wears those fancy sunscreen lotions with foreign names cause he may be dead but he also burns easily and turns into a big baby about it.

Xie Lian insists they dont need to do all that and can just chill in the sand with a towel, which Hua Cheng finds preposterous.

They have a big ass umbrella over the canopy bed too cause the sun is a deadly laser.

So much affection - cuddling, kissing, being all sweet and lovey, feeding each other watermelon and gathering seashells

Theyre sickeningly sweet

Hua Cheng is able to keep his hands to himself for about 5 seconds max

If there are any noisy kids or families around, Hua Cheng sends Yin Yu to scare them off

(They take Yin Yu with for this express purpise but hey free all inclusive vacation, a win is a win)

Xie Lian never burns ever and refuses to wear sunscreen. Hua Cheng pouts about it because 1) dont want gege to get a sunburn and 2) cant teasingly rub lotion over him smh

Hua Cheng builds one of those fancy sand statues of Xie Lian and he thinks its the most romantic thing ever

It is

So many kisses in the water and swimming together all lovey

Hua Cheng is never seen not drinking a margarita

"You do not need to keep your swim trunks that low, San Lang." "Gege, tan lines are terrible."

BeefLeaf

SQX cant get He Xuan out of the water once they arrive to the beach. Nope. That is his habitat now. He belongs to the fishes.

SQX rents out beach chairs by the bar because how can one tan without a drink in hand?

Skimpy swimsuits because SQX also abides by the tan lines are the devil mentality

Manages to get He Xuan out of the water with the promise of ice cream

Talking shit about everyone around while eating ice cream and drinking martinis

So many seashells. He Xuan gives them to SQX as an offering aw

"XuanXuan you cant drown people that say indecent things about me!" "Who says" "the law??"

He Xuan brings SQX little fish he catches if they look colorful or pretty

"XuanXuan, put some tanning oil on my back!" And He Xuan spends like 10 mins trying to find the correct bottle because SQX brought like 50 and the tanning oil SQX wants looks like literally every other bottle there

So many selfies

He Xuan digs tunnels in the sand whenever he isnt in the water. SQX has to talk him into not using the Earth Master shovel

Theyre checking out hot people together

He Xuan puts on sunglasses to pretend he isnt staring at SQX

"XuanXuan you cant throw jellyfish at children!!"

SQX flirts their way into free drinks and He Xuan broods about it but also he is deeply in debt so he can't turn down free shit lmao

FengQing

Arguing, so much arguing, but hey thats their love language

"Thats a shit spot for a towel" "okay find a better one then" "here!" "Thats like a foot away whats the difference??"

Feng Xin refuses to put on sunscreen cause he thinks its not manly

"You cant beat the fucking sun, Feng Xin!"

Mu Qing refuses to get his hair wet. Feng Xin makes it a point to dunk him in the water at least once

Feng Xin falls asleep in the sun like an old man and Mu Qing draws dicks on him with sunscreen lmfao

They argue about who goes to get drinks and snacks and just end up going together

Feng Xin insists to exclusively drink beer until he tries one of Mu Qing's deadly cocktail combinations and hes hooked. He insists they add a little umbrella to his drink now so he and Mu Qing match

Sand castles competition turned chasing into the waves turned underwater kisses

Mu Qing judges everyone and Feng Xin cant help adding in to the commentary because its surprisingly entertaining

Beach sports! Theyre so competitive too so its extra fun and they make bets over everything

[purplink8]

I think it's worth noting just how much Light detests being called evil. Which is likely due to his father's morality being strictly ingrained in his personality.

On Lind. L. Tailor's appearance, Light was surprised, sure, but he also took him lightly:

He was amused really. I don't think Light was thinking about killing this guy at this point. Lind. L. Tailor was, after all, a 'moron' as far as Light was concerned, and wasn't much of a challenge.

Contrast this with the striking kneejerk reaction Light has when the aforementioned 'moron' uses Light's trigger word ('EVIL'):

...wow. ('L' went from a regular moron -> too damn stupid haha)

In all seriousness, the worst thing you can call Light is probably 'Evil'. He CANNOT stand it.

This is because Light spends his whole life trying to live up to his father's ideals, to be righteous, to incorporate his dad's morals to every fiber of his being.

So look at how emotionally conflicted (and hurt) he is when Soichiro indirectly calls him (Kira) evil. He is much more affected by Soichiro being the one saying it (compared to when Lind. L. Tailor said it) as he can't bring himself to completely dismiss it (compared to Lind. L. Tailor: Light didn't give a damn about his opinions).

His father would not ever bow to evil (said in reference to the Kira case, but it holds true universally for Soichiro).

Being Kira complicates matters since his father very obviously doesn't agree with Kira's morals- so Light draws a line in the sand for himself.

He would not, under any circumstance, cause any harm to his family as Kira.

But since Death Note is a Tragedy, we know that Light being Kira indirectly puts his family at risk and then we come to this heartbreaking scene:

This, as can be expected, CRUSHES Light. Not only does it mean that Soichiro had doubts against Light being Kira even after the mock execution, it also means that he still views Kira as evil, as he's glad that Light isn't Kira, inadvertently disowning Light (who IS Kira) on his death bed.

And the worst thing is, Light would never get a chance to change his father's mind.

[prince-liest]

oh my god…. prince……. you can’t do this to me. you’re saying next fic has vox getting fucked, focuses on vox’s transness (AH), AND ALSO HES ON THE OFF SEE SAW OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH VAL?????? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL MEE?!!?!!????? I THINK I MIGHT ACTUALLY COMBUST. and bc another anon asked abt how alastor views the violence in voxval’s relationship, i have Another thought on the matter. as much as alastor looks down on vox, they can be Very similar sometimes. they are both egomaniacs and very prideful. i don’t think vox, without outside interference, would ever ADMIT that the violence he faces is 1) something he truly hates AND 2) out of his control. he can’t admit he hates it, because then why isn’t he stopping it? that would be admitting to not being powerful enough or strong enough. and hello, 50’s toxic masculinity coming through, he CANT be a victim of domestic violence. he’s a powerful, rich, and important man. it all comes down to perceived weakness. so, the solution is to pretend he’s mostly fine with it. sure, he can act disgruntled and upset in the moment, but i don’t think he’d ever let himself take it seriously. because then he has to start drawing lines in the sand, and what happens then? will val look down on him? will he lose val? yeah, he is not risking that over a problem he mostly refuses to acknowledge exists. and as you said, this is all happening in the setting of hell, where ultra violence IS the norm, and vox himself is excessively violent. it’s the most delicious 50 layer cake of fucked up-ness.

RANT ASIDE THO. i have a question. 2. do you ever plan on having vox interact with the hotel crew outside of angel? ANDDDD what would charlie’s reaction be to their friendship/situationship/ kinda love affair. i think she could add SOOOOO much hilarity and Intense Emotions to this series. not that the boys haven’t been doing their part in that so far. charlie just intensifies everything she does, god bless her. -🌓

The "getting fucked" bit and the trans conversation bit are directly related to and relevant to each other, and frankly I'm just very happy to be out here writing the specific flavors of deeply queer shenanigans that I'm writing, and to have people actively enjoy that. It genuinely means a lot to me that I've strayed so goddamn far out of the bounds of good old top/bottom yaoi archetypes that introduced me to fandom and yet have a wildly enthusiastic audience nonetheless. So, that was my long way of saying that you bring me a lot of fucking joy, anon, hahaha.

As for everything you're saying about Vox, power, and masculinity: YOU! points dramatically at you YOU GET IT! YOU GET IT!!!!!! Everyone just read this, this is it, this is the thing. I have no notes to add. There is a reason that the main point he raises the moment he actually says something vulnerable about it (before he immediately cuts himself off) is a complaint that he's an overlord, so why—?

And with regards to your questions: I'm not gonna lie, my actual planning for 666 is usually, like, extremely by the seat of my pants. I plan nothing except, "Oh, shit, had an idea for the next one. Lesgoooo—" and that's been the case for literally every single installment. It's all just been evolving naturally and building on top of itself. So! I can't say that I plan to have Vox interact with the hotel crew or Charlie, but I also will never say that I'm actively opposed to it.

That said, I do think a lot of this fic is kinda structured around hitting specific topics that come up in intimate settings between Vox and Alastor specifically, with occasional tag-ins from Angel Dust, so I don't really know if there's anything in particular I'd like to write that I think would work better in this series if more characters got involved. But, hey! Never say never!

[pennpenn]

FremiMay Day 8- Fatui

I took some inspo from Collei's background for this one!

Fatui Experiment Fremi!

It was mainly so I could practice drawing a different pose that I wasn't used to. You guys get a bit of line work just for a treat.

This probably comes from an au where he is sent off to Dottore before Arlecchino became knave. He gets long hair because I said so.

More details about the experiment au below because it has mild spoilers to the Fontaine archon quest

Tomorrow's prompt is 'kitty'!

The experiments being conducted would be related on how to get Fontaine-born people to resist the primordial sea water.

Dottore's plans are to see how much a person can take and what puts them on the brink of dissolving. He also wants to study dissolving and why it happens. Yet, Dottore isn't actually aware of the Fontaine people being Oceanids.

Freminet happened to be the experiment where he found the perfect point of: becomes water but doesn't dissolve. He is completely unable to control his powers and mental state. Just like Manga Collei he just kinda... Gets possessed? He becomes more Oceanid than human, the voices of his Oceanid brothers and sisters scream to him. Freminet loses the ability to act on his own and has a period of time where he just rampages.

His body has a blue tint to it, but can retain some color. Such as his hair still being blonde.

His Oceanid can escape his body but it causes his body to melt into a puddle. The tail of the Oceanid cannot leave the puddle. When the Oceanid returns to the puddle it takes a bit for his humanoid body to return.

Freminet also likely has issues with sensations. He can't necessarily feel pain due to his body being water, but he also can't necessarily die by being stabbed. Because his body is water.

Talking about his body being water, let's talk about elemental reactions:

Having cryo be used on him is probably the closest he'll ever get to the sensation of death. His body and mind are frozen, it's as if his time has completely stopped.

He cannot feel the force of geo. If you were to crush him with a geo construct he would end up reforming in a few days. If you were to trap his body within a geo construct his mind would still work. He can't necessarily die without more primordial seawater turning him into a full Oceanid at this point, so he would just have to wait patiently until he is freed.

Freminet typically avoids dendro because it zaps his energy. It becomes harder for him to fight his Oceanid urges and he loses control easier. He does, however, move slower when dendro is being used on him.

Electro makes him jittery! He violently shakes when he is imbued with electro unless he is touching something to transfer the charge. If the electro pulse is too strong then he will become immobile.

Pyro is probably the closest Freminet will get to actually feeling 'hurt'. His body literally boils if it gets too hot. If he gets too much heat then his body will be unable to keep its form and he may melt. So if you are bringing him to the Sumeru desert make sure you bring a bucket! Otherwise you may have to shovel some wet sand in your bag and wait for him to reform later.(He luckily does not evaporate)

Anemo doesn't necessarily do anything special to Freminet. If he is hit with a strong burst of wind that would shred his body apart he typically reforms quite quickly. (When he is a puddle it takes a lot longer to reform than if he just has to rebuild some water to get a neck or arm again)

Hydro doesn't necessarily effect him. He kinda works like a hydro slime. But on the note of water, liquids that aren't room temperature may risk him experiencing discomfort.(Like if you were to try to microwave a mug of cold water, sometimes half of the water is warm and half of the water is cold. It's uncomfortable to drink. He gets that feeling when drinking things other than his current temperature)

Not me coming up with an entire universe and lore for a simple art prompt.

I could go more into a ramble on if he escapes then his own personal Amber(as she is Collei's hero) would be Chongyun. Cuz I think that would be cute.

Anyways kudos to you if you actually read everything. If you want me to make this into a full fledged au lemme know in my ask box or in the comments. If you wanna be goofy then if you read this far put 🪼 in the comments. I like jellyfish.

[sethnakht]

there's an au in my head where vader shows up at jabba's palace before luke but after leia's capture on a tip call from boba fett. leia, captive on jabba's throne, senses his arrival well before she sees him; watching his descent into the throne room, she regrets conjuring the spectre of "powerful friends" to scare jabba. vader has strangled several guards by this point; jabba doesn't care; he receives vader as though they were old business partners, without a translator. vader interrupts jabba in the middle of a self-congratulatory overture - jabba is harboring the leader of the rebel alliance, he says, pointing at leia, and must surrender her immediately. this escalates; jabba offers han instead, vader counters that jabba will relinquish the princess or die, jabba reaches for the controls to his rancor pit, leia averts her eyes, unwilling to key vader into the trapdoor beneath his feet, and suddenly vader is gone and she and the whole throne retinue are sliding, lurching, falling; they're the ones in the pit, and when she looks up, she sees vader staring down at them with an ignited lightsaber, surrounded by poorly aimed blaster fire. she looks away just as he begins to deflect it.

vader has decided to pay boba and lure luke and punish jabba all at once; he leapt over the throne and pushed its occupants with the force, pickled frogs and leia included, into the rancor pit. he still fully intends that leia be made his prisoner - he doesn't want to kill his best line to luke - he simply assumes that since she's survived him, she can survive anything. as it happens, leia does escape the rancor because it feasts on the stunned jabba first, breaking the chain that connected her to him; dodging the panicking attendants, who also end up eaten or mauled, she finds the pit entrance and secures herself by bringing down the threshold gate. if vader's right about leia, though, he's wrong here about luke, who isn't provoked into appearing. becoming impatient - having slaughtered every guard who hasn't fled - vader deprives artoo of luke's hidden saber and decides to draw luke to him where he cannot fail to appear. stuck between gates in the dungeon, leia shrieks and missteps, slicing open her boot and her foot on a misplaced axe; vader has materialized silently, like a shadow that shouldn't be in the desert. he's in a foul mood; ignoring her limp, he pulls her out by the chain still attached to her neck (because he's petty and hasn't forgotten her comment about his 'leash') all the way to his private ship (the nubian j-type that symbolizes and effected his removal from tatooine, the ship he has in the comics). with usual bumbling luck (let's say his restraining bolt no longer works because jabba is dead), threepio trails them and ends up boarding too, commenting blithely about the ship's royal trappings.

well aware luke is on tatooine, vader doesn't leave the planet; flying in a way that leia first thinks is just intended to keep her off-balance, he heads for the lars homestead. lashed to the co-pilot's seat and without a sense of their direction, leia looks at featureless sand and can't help but call up the map in her mind to where obi-wan would have lived. it's popular fanon that vader can't read leia's mind owing to natural mental shields; I could see exploring an alternative where he can sense her strong emotions, where he does swoop in and catch the fish swimming right at the surface - only that what he catches is what she's chosen to sacrifice, or what she sees no reason to hide. what to him is a prize is to her an acceptable loss. so maybe in this au, there's this history between them: on the death star, she'd given up that obi-wan was part of her mission, anticipating that he'd be on alderaan and out of reach, while protecting the location of the rebel base; maybe that's why she survived her interrogation, because vader had gone so distracted with the bait that he'd lost interest in the fish. point being, vader is well aware that she's thinking about obi-wan right at this moment, and leia is chilled to realize, just from the quality of his silence, that she knows that he knows.

but this soon doesn't matter, because she realizes they're being pursued by what's left of jabba's guard and the millenium falcon. vader is possibly an even crazier pilot in atmosphere than in space, performing stomach-turning stunts like killing the ship's engines and going into a freefall dive to get each attacker but the more distant falcon to destroy itself; the falcon he shakes off by heading straight into a massive sandstorm. droid-like as he is, leia realizes he doesn't rely on the ship's instruments when the storm causes half to fail and they still make it past flying debris. after landing, vader orders leia to put on a flightsuit and helmet before they exit into the storm, lest she take unnecessary further damage. freeing herself of the mask the moment they're in an enclosed part of the homestead - which required passing through a courtyard open to the hostile elements - leia is first surprised by vader's choice of an abandoned hovel, then concerned when threepio reveals where they are. the more details threepio spills (the more the limits of his memory banks are revealed to vader), the more uneasy leia becomes. luke's family died because of the empire. but they'd still be alive, she can't help but think, had she not sent the death star plans to this planet. perhaps enjoying this dark turn to her thoughts, vader doesn't interrupt the flow of commentary. evidently unfazed by his own role in murdering luke's family, he prowls through their home as though it were his own castle. leia can imagine he's designing a trap for luke. silently, she implores him to stay away.

luke doesn't come. a massive piece of farming equipment, left unmaintained for too long and violently unmoored by the storm, smashes into vader's ship, taking out an engine. bounty hunters hired by angry hutts try to finish the job; vader kills them, but not before they've set his ship on fire. and vader starts to go slightly more mad than usual; the tatooine sand in his suit and smoke preventing use of his ship's hyperbaric chamber and luke's refusal to acknowledge his psychic pleading/threats and threepio's obviously mindwiped chatter and leia's scorching presence, her immense grief and scorn, her way of judging without having to speak a word - it all warps, and blurs, as he paces like the suit is cooking him from inside, and touches the wall disjointedly, and makes sudden disappearances to repair his ship with cheap moisturizer parts. for her part, leia is judging. she knows why vader wants her alive, and she's angry to be used again as bait, to say the least. and she's also judging her own chances: she's not eaten, not had access to water, she's lost a good deal of blood, her foot is bandaged with dirty cloth, and luke's lightsaber is hanging from vader's belt, tantalizingly near.

she tries to goad vader, to distract him from his ship repairs and the trap he's creating and the second lightsaber on his belt. he's become predictable, and luke won't come. she has no reason to hide her love for luke, so when vader lashes out mentally - jealously pilfering surface impressions of luke from her mind - he can remain blind to her intentions. only vader is paying real attention to her now that he's gotten to taste those memories, she's fed a hunger she hadn't known could devour, and she understands that he's draining her, taking from her, that she's shriveling up from thirst and regret and this connection. he's seeing her value as for the first time and isn't seeing her at all - and when threepio begins crying for help, drawing vader's attention away, leia is certain she is going to die.

vader wants to know when threepio entered her service. threepio is only too glad to answer exactly. leia is too depleted to care about what he shares - better that he spill the secrets of the dead captain antilles than having vader back in her head - she drifts into unconsciousness, and dreams. she's back at the palace in aldera, in the oval garden, where a stone statue of queen amidala had stood watch over beds of white asters. leia had liked to look into the child-queen's solemn face - her mother had often brought her here to tell her stories of amidala's adventures - but in her dream she is facing the statue's back, a meaningless circumstance that somehow chills her. she circles closer and yet can't get around to the front, and the harder she tries the more the details slip from her, until she can't even remember amidala's face. this too, she has lost.

anyway, that's the setup. it escalates from there. vader is paying enough attention to entertain new suspicions about luke's strong feelings for leia; amongst the many other threatening things he does, he finds desert cacti and makes leia drink the nectar. (for all she knows, it's poison, and the spikes on the surface cut her fingers and press against her face like needles.) leia, still certain she is dying, commits to saving luke as her final act, which she believes means killing vader. vader repairs his ship; leia ensures the self-destruct goes off while they're both on it. vader absorbs the blast, keeping leia alive at the cost of compromising his own life support; suddenly faced with the chance to fulfil her wish, luke's lightsaber in her hands, leia finds herself unable to follow through - because vader tells her to do it.

at last, a figure on the horizon. luke is come.

[foggyforest4169]

'𝙿𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚎' 𝚂𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗 '𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝' 𝚁𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚡 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚌!𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Summery: You're a sniper for task force 141 and there has been rumours going around about you and Ghost

A/N: Im doing this for my fellow gay ghost lovers since I can barely find any male reader fics. This is also my first so enjoy!

Sitting in a watch tower can be really understimulating; especially when you can't see nor hear any action, no gun shots, no screams from people being stabbed or killed, no flashes from grenades... nothing. You duck my head down and pick up the newspaper that was left here last time, reading about all he horrors in the world and wondering about where we may be placed next. The force had speculated turkey will be where the next mission to stop some sort of gang. You hid in your little nest of sand bags and cement blocks flipping through the paper, filled with celebrity gossip.

Footstep track closer and the newspaper is thrown to the side as if it would disappear

"Pay attention private, you'd be dead if i was an enemy"

Ghost says in his usual gruff voice as he creeps into your watch tower, blood splattered on his mask and uniform, holes littered all over where the bulletproof vest deflected any sort of bullet or stabbing attempts.

"I heard you come up LT" you tried to argue back

"That's because i wanted you to hear me" He says settling down next to you in the sand bag nest. He was right you've seen firsthand how slick he could be on the battlefield, he got the name ghost for a reason, deadly silence until he was on target and could commence with his lethal attack

Either way his company was much welcome, he warmed you up as you crammed in the small nest. He rested his hand on your thigh... this is strange, Ghost has never been a touchy person but recently hes been doing small gestures like this especially when people were around

"Sir, if you keep doing this then then there'll just be more rumours" you say turning from the sniper so you can look at him, his facial expression unreadable because of his mask

"Didn't I just tell you to pay attention?!" He says annoyed "You're still on duty, now keep a look out"

You look back in your scope and carry on the conversation "Do you even know about the rumours?"

Ghost kept to himself, he loved his crew but wasn't a very gossipy guy unlike Soap and Alejandro. The only time he really gossiped is when he was shit face drunk

"About?"

"Us. You being attracted to me like flies on shit with the leg grabbing or trying to hold my hand or the post it note sketches of your mask you keep leaving on my desk... I even heard Soap speaking about our night in mexico..." I say pulling the trigger and watching the bullet fly through his skull and his body slap the floor

"Ah those rumours..." He grabs your jaw pulling it away from the gun for a moment "I made them up shithead, I started them all" You could here the smirk in his voice as he spoke. He lets go of your jaw but you carry on staring at him, dumbfounded at what he just told you... Why would he bring that up... who did he tell... how the fuck did it spread so fast??

"What?! Why?!" you semi shout, trying to keep your cover

"For the last fucking time Y/N, keep alert and be quiet!" You roll your eyes playfully and carry on looking around again "I did it so none of the other twats try hit on you because you clearly haven't seen the way they look at you. Originally, I just told johnny because I know he likes to gossip. That's why no one 100% believed it until I started being more touchy and leaving the drawings" The smirk lining his voice but how with a hint of jealousy

"Did you have to be 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 detailed with mexico though?" you say trying to hide your face so he couldn't see the blush when you thought back to that night

"Details make the juicer darling" He teases as he pulls up his mask and kisses you on your cheek "Plus it was pretty fucking impressive" You can feel his arm wrap around your waist as he chuckles in your ear "I think were done here, come on"

He helps you out of your nest and the two of you go back to base.

[p4nishers]

i still can't believe buck actually said the words "better than me" when eddie asked him how chris was doing after he was shot. like. that's insane. that's genuinely, completely insane. and the way he just goes out and says it with a nervous little chuckle then barrels on before eddie can say anything, APOLOGIZING for breaking down infront of christopher, ONCE AGAIN admitting to being a fucking mess after eddie was hurt. like my guy was trying real hard to form a coherent love confession after the love of his life almost died and while said loml was on too many sedatives at the moment to catch on. the shooting was a real slap in the face for buck in regards of his feelings for eddie bc while yes i do believe he known about them before, only after the shooting did he really feel the need to do something about it, bc again, he almost lost THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE and he'd never got to tell him if he did. but then of course he's slapped in the face again by eddie revealing the will and meaning it as a love confession while buck takes it as eddie drawing a line in the sand in their relationship, as him being downgraded to second choice. his whole demeanor changes towards eddie after, and i think it's most noticable with ana. bc before he was being AT LEAST half-heartedly supporting, trying to make an effort for his best friend but after shooting he's just. not. he straight up tells eddie to dump her, rather forcefully pushes at eddie to realize his relationship is failing, looks SOO happy, for completely unrelated reasons, im sure, after eddie basically tells him he's breaking up with ana. which is just so. ugh. yeah also him bringing up the shooting with eddie multiple times, "i mean you did also just get shot". him comparing his relationship with abby to eddie and ana's, while sounding like he's talking about a completely different thing (his own feelings for eddie.) i mean come on: "eddie, i've been ana, i know what's like to be in love with someone who's not all the way in, deep down you know it and it hurts" u trying to tell me that's about abby?? REALLY?? when he was intimidated by the responsibility of a serious relationship and of potentially taking care of her mom but with eddie he genuinely never, ever had that. he was all the way in the moment he drove eddie to chris' school and never once shown intimidation or annoyance at having to deal with chris. sounds like to me he was only all the way in for one relationship and that was not with abby. "that's not how you talk about someone you're in love with" and how would YOU know mr buckley, since u basically refused to talk about abby while and after u were in a relationship with her. and god his face when eddie says "if i'm being honest with myself it was ana". the naked surprise but also relief he shows seeing the first cracks in their relationship. he doesn't even try to seem supportive. "so what are you going to do" the fucking. transparent interest in how will eddie choose. he was so obvious, man. i've said this before and i'll say it again: s4-5 was buck's pinning era and it all started with the shooting.

[crystallinestars]

"Bullying into submission" is unfortunately an excellent way to put it 😔 People really need to learn that while feeling the need to vent is more than okay (just look at how much I've complained so far lol), making posts / snide comments with the sole aim of creating Drama or Discourse or straight up jumping into someone's space to berate them for quietly enjoying themselves in a way you don't approve of is truly the best recipe if your goal in life is to be miserable 24/7, on top of being a huge dick move.

I was also thinking about what other anons have brought up (how they feel straight up alienated by popular hcs always being one 'extreme' or another with no in-between) and I feel like these discussions (including the ones on social constructs, loved your input about that btw) are all linked by a common factor: some people try to draw hard lines in the sand in order to neatly categorize stuff in easily identifiable boxes or tropes. Sometimes what we could call "the norm" seems so ingrained in people's minds that it does not even occur to them to try and question this status quo, and so a lot of nuance is either lost or not even explored to begin with. At least that's how I see it, I still need to think about this some more.

I'd say that these "hard lines" aren't only drawn between all we've mentioned, but between communities too. I'm going to say this kinda clumsily but like, why are we treating anyone who isn't "just gay / lesbian / straight" as if they were an enemy and/or a threat? Is it some kind of insecurity that can only be soothed by constant validation? Why is it that when someone dares to make something slightly different, we're bringing out the pitchforks?

This hostility (and just the fact that these discussions / this Discourse seems very cyclical) kind of reminds of a tweet I saw a while ago. I unearthed it for the occasion lol:

"People love to pretend it’s so weird that others get upset when you claim something they like is bad lol.

Slandering something that another person appreciates is akin to insulting/questioning their intelligence, especially when it comes to a piece of work."

The original post was about slandering works as a whole, but I think it can also apply to more specific aspects, like enjoying something in particular in a given work. Why are we pretending it's weird that people get upset when you keep telling them (explicitly or implicitly) that their fun is lame at best? I know people love to say "that's just how the internet is, Get Used To It" but honestly? It's such an empty excuse and it makes me want to bang my head on a wall, because why couldn't we just all keep our manners to begin with??

I feel like I'm answering everything in a weird order lol but about Welt, that's pretty much what I had heard about him! I've been thinking that I should at least look into Hi3 a bit, just to see the links between the games and Mihoyo's overall evolution 🤔 And I didn't know about that lore book! I don't even know if I'm surprised about this reaction but I do know that fandoms sometimes confuse the hell out of me because I've seen just as much Guizhong enjoyers as I've seen people shipping Zhongli with Childe??

I'm just going to say it bluntly: people should REALLY pick a struggle and/or another hill to die on, because having a meltdown for something like that is just embarrassing. It does prove your point about the shipping lenses tho, because I can't think about another reason why a LORE BOOK would have made them feel so threatened 💀 I had seen the tantrums about Dottore (apparently he's too evil??) and Raiden (she's not evil enough??) but this?? MAN.

Kind of makes me think that people are lowkey hypocritical with their need to have canon confirmations, because they love to brag about THEIR pairings but as soon as the possibility appears that the devs MIGHT offer some kind of confirmation on one they don't like, even if it's one as 'marginal', for lack of a better word, as this one, they break out in hives. And the Thoma and Ayaka situation is just another proof that 1) YOU SHOULD NEVER FULLY TRUST LEAKS and 2) the bar we talked about keeps getting lower in hell.

And YES! I also felt like there were a lot of things about Alhaitham that were there to tell the players that while it's true he comes off as odd, eccentric, blunt, etc., he's rather kind all things considered! He's letting Kaveh stay in his house even if they don't particularly get along, he sticks to his moral code, he recognized Dehya's capabilities, he helps Tighnari with Collei's education, and so on. He seems to be the type of person that won't go out of their way to be palatable to others, but he also never goes out of his way to hurt anyone? And what's more, if you're willing to hear him out and truly pay attention to what he says, you'll realize that he's actually quite helpful? In a way that he's giving advice and letting people come to their own conclusions? At least that's what I can think about off the top of my head, so it's kind of hysterical to me that he gets reduced to "That Asshole Feeble Scholar".

This ask is getting long again (and messy) but I still want to add that I've seen your discussions about Nilou, Candace and Kokomi with Kaveh and it might be biased and/or controversial of me to say this but honestly? I think people, no matter their identities, just don't like women / don't even acknowledge how much they dislike women. As you said, same-sex pairings (and i'd say BL pairings in particular) are that much more popular and I'm getting pretty sure that it's in part due to the fact people don't pay attention to the female characters because they might be assuming they'll be boring. I've seen so many people bashing Kokomi, especially her story quest, yet they praise characters like Itto to high heavens? I know that it's 'to each their own' but sometimes I do feel like people don't give some (female) characters much of a chance to begin with.

At least to me it's pretty funny to see the difference between how you and the others have talked about your ideas for ships, and how the fandom talk about haikaveh lmao.

Kavelou shippers: I think they could bring out the best in each other, they could bond over their shared love for the arts and share ideas for their respective fields of expertise!

Loud Haikaveh shippers: omg they're roommates lol, when do you think Alhaitham will impregnate his 'c a n o n' malewife?? Why are kavelou idiots such snowflakes, 'conflict' is essential to make a pairing worth it and we're allowed to enjoy some fictional toxicity

Also, a bit of a side note, but it hasn't escaped me that people love to say that "toxic pairings are valid" for their BL preferences, but Acheron and Black Swan get exactly 1 deadly dance video and suddenly it's the most disturbing thing they've ever seen??

Anyway, I've seen you mention at least twice that you're thinking about making either a different blog or creating a discord server for all these rants you receive, and I think it's a lovely idea! I'm pretty sure I have an account on discord that I haven't touched in years so it has probably been deleted by now 😭 If there's anyone else interested in it would be a great alternative for you to separate your writing from the rants :)

Once again, I hope you're having a wonderful day or evening!

🪻

There is a lot to unpack here, but I will try my best to respond to everything. I'm sorry in advance if I don't touch on every point.

Regarding your "hard lines" comments. It's true that people draw boundaries between what they find acceptable and not, and while this would ordinarily be a good thing, here it's more to do with controversial topics like race, sexuality, gender, etc... and I can't help but wonder if the reason for such behavior is due to politics.

Most of this behavior is present in the western and english-speaking parts of the internet where American politics reign supreme. From what I have heard and seen, the progressive side deems everything that is considered the majority (heterosexuality, white skin, male gender, etc) as the opposite of what they stand for, therefore it must be conservative, which is bad. There's a lot more at play here than just progressive vs conservative, but I am not well-versed in politics, so I won't speak on it too much. Plus, this is all just a theory. But as I've said before, the West loves to drag politics into every aspect of their lives, fandoms included.

The quote you found is actually spot-on. Acting surprised when you insult something people enjoy or relate to is surprised pikachu behavior. Though I suspect these people aren't actually surprised, but are just trolling the people they offended, and are gleeful they managed to get under the skin of those whose views they dislike.

I think the lore book tantrum is another example of people wanting their characters to be "shiny toys", as you put it. Having an indication for a NL relationship between playable characters is a no-no for gacha games. It offends a lot of groups of people. For example, those that want to pair Zhongli with Childe, or self-ship with him, and the same applies for the Guizhong side (even though we had no idea what she looked like at the time). For some reason, there's not as much negative reaction if the ship being teased is same-sex though. Might be because it offends less groups, but it's still a baffling phenomenon for me.

Which brings me to the point about female characters.

I agree with you that female characters get hated on. In the anime and manga spheres, have seen a lot of comments about female characters from various fandoms, and the main complain with them was that they are not as fleshed out as their male counterparts. Female characters lack complex writing and character development, and get reduced to plot devices or love interests for the MC. Even in media made by women for women featuring female protagonists, some of these protagonists are pushovers that rely on male characters to save them. There is a desire for women to be equal to men in media, but it's not common to see.

It doesn't help that in Genshin, the first three chapters had bad writing, especially for female characters. Though not all, majority were were one-note characters with not much complexity or plot behind their actions, unlike male characters. This has improved significantly since Sumeru's debut, but I doubt it's enough to change the minds of some people.

So to make my point; female characters get hate for being boring. I also feel like women are the ones who hate on female characters the most? I have seen both fujoshi and yumejoshi communities hate on female characters for being the love interest of their favorite male character and getting in the way of their ships.

I am hesitant to delve into the topic of why some fujoshi hate female characters since it's not something I completely understand. I did a bit of research into why they prefer BL over NL, and while the gripe about female characters being boring was a main factor, there was also a lot of misogyny. I'm sure there are some other reasons aside from these as to why women hate female characters, but this topic is too complex for me to navigate just yet.

I will defend Kokomi with my life 😤 She got a lot of hate even back in her beta, and her story quest came under fire, as well. I thought her story quest was decent, though maybe my judgement is clouded because I love her so much. Regardless, her character is awesome and I relate to her a lot, so Kokomi slander will not be tolerated 😤

Regarding the difference between haikaveh and other Kaveh ships, I can only think that one is a fetishization of a gay relationships, while the other is a genuine appreciation for the dynamic between characters.

I actually saw only positive comments under the Acheron and Black Swan dance video. Yeah, there were jokes it was toxic, but I didn't see anyone complain about it, though I believe you when you say some people found it problematic. BL gets a lot of special treatment, I would say. Everything that's deemed bad/boring in GL and NL pairings is often painted as being better/good if it's BL. I've only seen a couple of "omg toxic yaoi ❤️" posts, and while those were jokes, it's shocking how much people love to pair enemies together. I see a lot of depictions of abuse in BL, and the shippers love it, so I suppose it's not that surprising? I find it concerning, though.

Anyways, thank you for your well-wishes, and have a great day as well!

[sorcharavenlock]

37. Oh, those summer nights!

it is our last day in Sulani and we decide to make the most of it.

"You wouldn't be so kind to rub some sun lotion on my back, would you?" I ask.

Loki agrees.

I turn over, completely missing the mischievous glint in his eyes.

None of us slept much and the trip to the cave tired us out. Soon, the three of us are fast asleep.

Loki returns after a swim to admire his handiwork. He can't help but giggle, waking me up.

"This.... doesn't look good," Peter takes a look.

"YOU! YOU DID THIS!" I yell at Loki. "I look like a zebra crossing!"

"I don't see the problem! You are neatly stiped on all sides!" Loki shrugs.

"It was a mean thing to do!" Nea yells at him. "She looks ridiculous! Fix it Loki!"

"It was just a jest!" Loki protests.

"FIX IT!" Nea waves her finger at him.

"I suppose I could hide it with magic," Loki grumbles, unhappy his handiwork wasn't appreciated.

(Notice Kitty sleeping straight through the whole argument? 😂)

Loki casts his spell and I look like myself again, sans zebra stripes.

"I'm sorry," Loki takes my hands in his. "Please don't be cross. It was but meant as a jest."

"It wasn't very nice," I say.

Suddenly I realise he is not sure how to behave around me now in front of the others. He tries so hard to uphold a certain image and this is all new to him.

"I forgive you," I say and I kiss him on the cheek.

"Mari! Not in front of the others!" Loki protests.

Kitty opens one eye. "Loki, you doofus, we already know."

Loki eyes me in horror.

I shrug. "I don't hide important things from my friends."

After that, Loki isn't so awkward anymore.

The sun sets and a DJ arrives for a beach party.

"Come, let's dance," Loki says.

after a while, we make our way to the bonfire. Hey, Bruce is there too!

Look at those tan lines on Nea! 😂

"Let us go for one last walk on the beach together," Loki suggests.

We walk hand in hand for a while.

Tomorrow we'll be returning home. Was this just a holiday romance? Would it all be over when we get back home?

"I wish we didn't have to leave," I admit.

"Why not?" Loki asks curiously.

"I don't want this to be over," I admit.

Loki stops walking. "Who says it has to be?"

"it will be different at home," I try to explain.

"Here. I will draw a powerful magical rune that will ensure it doesn't have to end," Loki's eyes twinkle in mine.

"That is just a heart," I smile.

"Perhaps it may seem that way to you. But it is not just any heart, it is mine. Now it is out there for all to see, as scary as that may be. And it is all yours."

"Then I will take it and bring it back home with me," I reply. "Because while this heart in the sand may be stepped upon or washed away, your heart will always be safe with me."

[moongothic]

Knowing how funky One Piece world can be, Crocodile could probably blame his sudden change in looks after HRT on him being a late bloomer (in case if anyone asked about it)

Yeah, and I have discussed that before, how like, it is still plausible Crocodile could be stealth trans

For one, Iva-chan's ability to change people's bio-sex isn't actually that widely known about, Bon-chan even talked about them like they were a myth amongst the queers. So even if there were big news about a Shichibukai suddenly transitioning in the news, the average person outside the Grand Line (where Devil Fruits are so rare they're considdered legends by some people) might not even considder it possible that someone could just suddenly change their bio-sex

Another thing is that we know Crocodile had one (1) bounty before he became a Warlord (he could've had one or two smaller ones before the final pre-Shichibukai bounty, but we can't know for sure until Oda spills the beans), but we've never actually seen his original bounty poster from 20+ years ago. And we know that sometimes bounty images aren't actually that accurate, they can be decades old (like Robin's which took like 20 years to get updated), they can even be shitty drawings (like Sanji's). So it's entirely plausible Crocodile could've had a really shitty bounty poster originally And last but not least, we don't even know how often Crocodile was in the news pre-his heroic era. Like we know he made a name for himself fast and became a Shichibukai quick, but even if the news did report on his crimes often, for all we know those could've been text only without any photos of him (or if there were photos, they could've been blurry as hell because of sand or whatever).

The poing being that the average person might not have even known what Crocodile looked like pre-T. And so even if there were BIG HEADLINES and a massive scandal about Crocodile transing his gender... Like the average person who doesn't know about Emporio Ivankov could probably brush the news off as nonsense. And if there were no big headlines about it, Morgans just started reporting on Crocodile's heroics without really bringing up the transgenderism, again. Some people might be like "wait, I thought Crocodile was a chick", but if the masses don't know about Ivankov, a "you must be mistaken, clearly that's a guy" response and people moving on would make sense.

And yeah, the guy probably would've had to go MIA for a month or two for the pregnancy at the very least, for all we know Crocodile could've been lowkey MIA for a whole year (if not even longer! 'Cause we don't know what he was doing in his mid/late 20s). So if he suddenly came back with some extra scars and a giant hook, him saying he hit the gym after Whitebeard kicked his ass and/or claimed to be a late bloomer, for the average person that really could work as an excuse as to why he's changed so much physically since they last saw him (if they ever did).

The thing for me though is that it's just easier to imagine Crocodile being openly trans (and nobody gives a fuck because he transitioned like 17 years ago pre-TS), than jump through all these hoops to make stealth trans Crocodile happen.

[barrenclan]

Got another music for ya!! It never ends.

This song feels very Patfwcore. I can't think of anything to connect it to except barrenclan as a whole. Especially when it gets towards the end of the song.

Maddy, I will always treasure your music. I agree with you, too, I like the empty and sort of lost feeling this song has. It fits BarrenClan well.

"I'm a mountain that has been moved I'm a river that is all dried up I'm an ocean nothing floats on I'm a sky that nothing wants to fly in"

"I'm a fugitive that has no legs to run I'm a preacher with no pulpit Spewing a sermon that goes on and on"

(repairs my wall again and quietly sets up an enormous trap door directly beneath the spot you landed)

This is totally a Deepdark song! Anything about a man leading people into destruction with a smile and salvation is always Deepdarkcore.

"A beast in the business of selling forgiveness dead eyes on a treacherous grin And he laps up the vice like a wolf in the night he’s the left hand of God on the stage And with one hand he offers salvation to lovers the other it taketh away"

"So give me your fire give me your fear give me your faith when love gives you tears Give me your heart give me your fate give me your hand when love gives you hate"

Actually, I already agree with you! :) That song is currently on the PATFW playlist.

Okey dokey <3

"Who knows how some people turn to strange ones

Is it up to me to make them into dead ones

(Here we go again)"

"How do I meet the strangest men

They always seem to find me"

Oh, sure! That's always a good song for anger as well as sadness for someone who's died.

"Why should I have a heavy heart? Why should I start to break in pieces? Why should I go and fall apart for you?"

"Why should I play the grieving girl and Lie saying that I miss you And that my world has gone dark without your light I will sing no requiem tonight"

Nice! Been awhile since I've had a Thrasher song suggestion. This is definitely the sort of thing he would teach his kids, Cormorantpaw especially.

"Never say what you really feel Why make a choice when it's safer just to make a deal? Stay away from what causes a stir or offends Keep your heart silent, don't dispute And if it turns violent, make sure you know who to shoot And eventually every relationship ends So throw out your baby and murder your friends"

Two Brand New songs! Must be popular. Hm... I think it could fit Cormorantpaw okay, but there is another character that'd be better, though I think it's too spoilery to name them.

"A deer that a hunter shot in the heart Some dogs that got hit by cars All came to spill their guts"

"I'm slowly bringing you down from the Heavenly gates Now I'm drowning in the flood I made Well explain myself to me on the other side I'll watch from Heaven when I die"

Love a good song about going insane in the desert.

"I won’t stop to drop to draw A line in the sand ‘Cause I’ll be picked apart To pieces by coyotes"

"I might be the brain of evil Bad things happen to good people Good things happen to me"

Ahh, yes! Rainhaze feels very powerless right now, and perhaps like he's just following to his death because he can't find the energy to get out of it.

"Chop, chop, don't want to be late Lift up and carry your weight You've got no choice but to dance In a spiral of ants"

"You can't remember where you came from (In a spiral of ants) You can't remember where you're going (In a spiral of ants)"

"Now, now, don't run out of breath Don't feel surrounded by death, no Take the wheel, this could be your chance"

It's funny, one of the first ever posts I made on this blog was a drawing of Cormorantpaw with that song. Doesn't mean it can't also be Rainhaze!

"Wake from the scar, still feelin' sick Where did it get started? Where, oh, where did this come from? Oh my God, my head's a gun"

[antaresr]

Title: Two koi fish

Ship: Tendershipping

Summary: Ryou is in the process of moving into a new house, he finds many things he had forgotten and others he did not even know existed.

Rating: T

Notes: So I had a moment of inspiration, it was hot, and Bakura shouted in my ear.

~•~

Bakaura watches the sleeping body on the bed, it's summer, it's too hot and his landlord, who is used to the constant cold of London, can't stand it, so he sleeps in light pajamas on good days and on bad ones the only garment covering his body is a pair of boxer shorts.

Just like now, Ryou sleeps on his stomach, just in a pair of navy blue boxers, he's not a fan of the heat either, and working in the sweaty conditions he would have on his host's body makes him lazy, so he just watches Ryou sleep, the back soft and smooth, unusually dotted with moles and freckles. Bakura traces lines that connect the dots into an unfamiliar, amorphous drawing.

Then he remembers the astronomy and astrology books the boy owns, the constellations are nothing more than amorphous figures to which people have given imaginary shapes and ridiculous names with even sillier stories, but it gives meaning to their existence, Bakura supposes, just as Ryou gives meaning to Bakura by allowing him to use his body for his plans as long as he doesn't hurt his friends, what a sweet landlord.

So Bakura stops tracing and just observes and makes sense of those dots and connects them imaginary like in the old days, his imagination flies fast and the white back becomes a night sky and the moles and freckles become stars, taking shapes of animals, plants and legends he once heard, he places his full palm in the center of six moles, Ryou shivers from the coolness of his spectral palm against his feverish skin and sighs, these moles are the most beautiful constellation, on the right shoulder blade, and Bakura memorizes every single one of them, takes possession of Ryou's body and stands up, goes to the craft room and takes a white frame and places it on the easel, always ready for an attack of inspiration, the wooden palette fits perfectly in his hand and starts with a uniform black color.

Ryou packed the oils in the case he had recently bought in a sale, the case had a place for the palette, so he kept it there too, the brushes were in a pen case in a box. Like the rest of his belongings, the last room he had left was the craft room because of the horrendous mess he had, he was sure he would find a lot of carving blades because he always lost them in one way or another.

It was certainly the hardest room to pack, it had taken four hours of taking out, organizing and packing but it had been worth it, he found a new bag full of clay, the blades he had lost and one of his favorite books that he thought he had lost, he had no idea how it had gotten there but he didn't question it, all that needed to be done was to remove the easel and take the stacked paintings with him, there were too many of them.

He managed to dismantle the easel with relative ease, maybe he should check it, the back leg was stuck, surely the screw was swept out or something, he got a bag big enough to hold the paintings and empty frames, he put the empty frames away first, Honda had taken them away, and now he went through the paintings, There were some that he remembered painting himself on days when he wasn't feeling so well and others that had simply been inspiration, there was a painting of sand dunes and a bright sun, he had painted it as a conclusion to all the adventures he had lived in his youth, maybe he could give it to Yugi, maybe it would bring back good memories.

Then there were pictures that he didn't remember at all, he guessed that they had been painted by the spirit of the ring, they were mostly dark, he could feel the pain in the chaotic and angry brush strokes, there were no shapes, only chaotic colors, well.., The spirit could have dedicated himself to abstract art if he hadn't followed his desire for revenge, Ryou hesitated whether to keep the pictures, as a souvenir it would be very strange, he grimaced, but it was the last remnant of a hurt child, the emotions poured into them were strong and it felt wrong to just throw them away.

But the next painting after the red and yellow spots caught his attention, a night sky, the moon in a crescent and stars shining, they were just whitish dots and Ryou was sure it was not a known constellation, he checked the next ones, it was still the same night sky, but as he passed the paintings the constellations became more detailed, delicate traces to connect the dots and still be visible.

A deer, a lily, a tapir, a hand, and two koi fish, like the sign of Pisces, there were other dots without details, but those were the ones the spirit had decided to paint, they didn't seem to be existing constellations to Ryou any more than the fish, where on earth had the spirit seen such strange constellations?

"Oh man, that's a really good painting, you should have your own gallery," Jounouchi looked over his shoulder, Ryou had heard him coming so he wasn't startled.

"It wasn't me," he knew that the silence that followed was because it was impossible to imagine that the ring spirit could create something so beautiful.

"The other Bakura was very talented," Yugi was gently objective, Ryou couldn't deny the statement.

"And he was obsessed with fish" Anzu pointed to the next painting, this time it was just the Koi fish in close-up, swimming peacefully in the sky, it was a simple painting, he could even call it sentimental, Ryou felt a tingle in his right shoulder blade which he scratched absentmindedly.

"Well, I guess we all have a soft side," he shrugged and put the spirit paintings into bags, yes, even the ones that were just colorful blobs.

When they arrived at Ryou's new house, they left the boxes with their belongings in the living room while they went to the kitchen for snacks and drinks, Ryou sat down for a second, he was tired and his arms hurt, but something caught his eye, it was the fish painting that was peeking out of the bag where the paintings were stored, He decided he could hang it on the nail that was already set by the previous owners, so he stood up and took the painting out and carried it to the wall, hanging it up and centering it, it needed a coat of varnish to protect the paint but he could do that later.

"Hey, that looks great," Jounouchi handed him a glass of strawberry soda and Ryou nodded absentmindedly after taking a sip from his glass.

"I wonder what he was thinking or feeling when he made all those paintings," he sighed, the ghost had always been a mystery and even years later, he still left traces of riddles that Ryou couldn't decipher.

"Calm?" Anzu suggested, that could be it, couldn't it? They were swimming, following each other, they weren't fighting or anything.

"Aren't they supposed to mean prosperity?" Honda crossed his arms.

"That's in China," Anzu replied, giving him a small summary of how they had arrived in Japan.

"Love," Ryou whispered, Yugi was the only one who turned to him and smiled, "and friendship.

"Maybe we'll never know how he felt," the tricolor whispered as well.

"I guess he'll always be a mystery, just like he liked to be."

[super-hero-confessions]

little bizarre but also intriguing and disturbing to me.

but since there's (honestly way too much) discourse on becca butcher getting raped by homelander because of how people want to perceive/woobify homie as a character (despite all the horrible things he's confirmed to do on screen. lika y'all... raping becca is seriously not even close to the worst thing he's done like can we not ignore/forget about flight 37 and all the other shit for a hot minute?? why is *this* of all the shit where so many people draw the line???????)

anywho, it's interesting that the same people who woobify and love homie or make this same discourse about his character or try to say 'he's not written as a rapist' (seriously what the fuck, in the show yes he is, he's written as worse than just a rapist actually, by far) are also the same people who won't take a look at/dismiss the comics homie as lesser somehow??

i mean i get it sorta, he's not antony starr. but he's also not so far off character wise (starr does a great job bringing some core character elements to life *from the comics*) and honestly not as bad or sadistic as the show's version (at least not naturally/inherently...? that kinda only makes any real sense if ya actually read the comics... oh well). and wouldn't ya know it

comics homie *doesn't* rape becky.

he's just framed for it. like, and get this, he's *framed* for almost everything else too.

weird to me that there's so much discourse and woobifying or rape apologism or dismissal for show homie contrasted by genuine fear for even looking at comics homie, despite comics homie legit being more woobie than show homie and *actually* legit not having raped becky

leik why? why?? why even discuss or deny something confirmed in the show when you could just... read the fuckin' comic?? and go from there?

blows mah mind.

comics homie is a complex can a worms for sure, won't deny that. like the boy literally cries, curled up in fetal position because he can't understand why he's having so much trouble being the monster he's been made to believe that he is (doing bad things causes him literal mental breakdown because he's not used to it but believes he should be, contrast with show homie's breakdowns on the OPPOSITE spectrum of *wanting* to do bad things and being furious he *can't* even tho he'd have zero qualms about it)

but i guess i just don't understand why y'all bother even fixating on show homie having committed becca's rape when comics homie literally *not* having committed becky's rape is like... right there.

bitch... bitch, it's *RIGHT THERE*.

have seen maybe one or two fics actually explore this, tons and tons of rape apologist discourse trying to absolve homie or victim blame becca, and i'm utterly baffled by how full of shit it makes fandom look on a much bigger scale than it needs to be.

that's a fic idea right there i'm pretty sure has gotten a confession before. comics homie didn't rape becky and butcher was completely wrong about him from the beginning. what if instead of believing he was a monster and turning into one because butcher kept pushing, him and butcher actually worked to find out who really committed the crimes?

instead it's just more complaints on how show homie isn't written woobie enough for how some people want him?? what the dick???

y'all are basically complaining about him not being like comics homie while comics homie is. right. fuckin'. there. but y'all turn your noses up to him.

bitch.

and i gotta throw in a news flash cause like. show homie's gonna rampage. it's going to happen. that shit was predetermined, destiny and all that shit, and nothin's gonna stop it. and he will absolutely all the way destroy your little woobifyin' hearts. but i mean... it'll be glorious and i'll enjoy it. because i haven't ignored his writing or tried to draw a line in the sand for what he is or can be just to justify liking or sympathizing with him.

boi's a beloved monster. let's maybe not pretend.

but just like... how?

fandom... can y'all be a bit better? please? or just like. idk, maybe read the comic?

couple friends and i finally bit the bullet and did. unbridled rage, hella thoughts, so many feels, and needed breaks.

but no regerts.

[logansaxon]

I've got concept art for my characters!

Meet Samala Abekar Koodo, Young Fox of Naza and Karolin Bernadetta Kasveiser-Banchard van Tollua - best friends and platonic soulmates! Sama is level-headed and brilliantly intelligent for her age. She's a voracious bookworm and a gentle, kind-soul. She's God-Touched (autistic) and is gifted in the use of the Telekinesis spell as well as Mind magic as a whole, to the point that she's the first kid in class to learn fine control over masses of powder or fragments like sand and gravel. However, she is prone to nervousness, anxiety, and indecision, and sometimes can't bring herself to act in the face of pressing issues as she tries to figure out just what to do.

She comes from the oasis-city of Naza, in the land Zhuristan, a soft matriarchy with theocratic elements - they are the people of Tembelani, God of Adversity and the Will to Overcome, who honors those who forge on in the face of difficulty and refuse to give up until they have nothing left to give - and because having a child is an adversity of great importance and great danger, mothers have political power above anyone else in their society. Her parents of the recent line Koodo are prominent nobility in the city, though her father was a soldier who rose through the ranks till he could woo a noble. The Young Fox title indicates her age and her Mind affinity - Soul affinity makes one a Lion, and Body affinity makes one a Viper.

Karolin is passionate, social, and full of energy. She's gifted in swordsmanship and no-one in her class has managed to get that coveted best 2/3 match from her yet. She likes to go on cute little dinner or lunch dates with her classmates, regardless of gender or species, and she was one of the first kids in the class (after Sama) to learn Evocation magic - requiring a combination of Mind, Body, and Soul - and has gone on to become quite proficient. However, she can often let her fiery spirit get the best of her, acting impulsively and getting herself in-trouble.

She comes from the city of Tollua itself, home to the titular academy - the Tollua Academy runs the whole city in an Academocracy, where the school faculty hold political power and vote on city issues guided by the head of state and head of the school, the Chancellor. Her family dynasty, the Kasveisers, have had a prominent academic or two every generation, and both of her parents are faculty at the school. The Banchards were a local wealthy elven merchant family that conducted a convenient political marriage into a branch of the Kasveisers, but by now the elf blood is distant, leaving only the white hair.

After Christmas, I think I'll try and find an illustrator - I'm hoping to find someone who can draw in a cute, anime-esque artstyle like the work above - I don't know how close it'll look to the style above, but I'm just happy to be so close to making my first book~

Thank you to @magicalgirlmascot for this amazing work!

[akkpipitphattana]

no the thing that's really killing me about this episode is that like. ray was being so sincere in all of this. that man was genuinely trying to move on, with sand! & yes, he was a little too precious about defining their relationship as anything other than friends, but that was for some really good reasons! he hasn't fully moved on from mew, he's not totally sure how he feels about sand yet, he probably doesn't want to jump into a technically-rebound relationship inevitably doomed to end with hurt feelings, & also sand's the one who told him they were only ever going to be friends. the last time he pushed that boundary with someone, he was explicitly threatened with getting cut out of their life entirely. i'm not dissing mew for drawing a line, but ray's been burned here, & very recently. he is trying to respect sand's boundaries & feelings, like sand asked him to, because he cares about sand. & yes, he over-corrected, he was a little too tentative & left sand with a lot of uncertainty, but i think he was really trying here. he was opening up to sand & learning about him in turn, spending more time with him & deepening their connection, met his mom, & i really think they could have worked through their shared hesitance & fear of overstepping. they were getting there. & then boston careened in & fucking shattered it! i am so upset

sand and ray are so heartbreaking to me on principal because it's like. here you have two very broken people, two people who have both gone through hell and back, two people who genuinely, truly care about one another, that try so hard to be genuine and honest. but they both have walls, they're both terrified, they both have skeletons in their closet, and they can't help but hurt each other.

and everything this episode was just proof of that. we get to see them spend a day together, sharing in their interesting, letting each other in, having so many sweet little moments. but they still hurt each other! it's "i don't trust you with my life" and "i'm not his boyfriend" and boston's whole thing!

and like here's the thing. objectively what boston did was wrong, he shouldn't be poking his nose somewhere it doesn't belong. it's not his business. but even without boston popping their bubble, it was going to happen eventually. because ray DOES still feel something for mew, he is still holding onto those feelings, and this new thing with sand doesn't change that. he's trying to move on, yes, but he's also limiting it. because he doesn't think he can actually be loved, which is why mew is an easy thing to latch onto. because he doesn't and won't feel anything for ray.

but sand does. which is why ray keeps bringing up the they're just friends thing. because yes, sand said it, but ray has to. ray is the one that said friendship and sex can coexist, ray was the one that said he wouldn't want sand as his boyfriend first. sand played along. and he's still trying to, but you can visually SEE how much harder it's getting for him to.

and especially now, with him realizing that ray is in love with mew? oh he's just got to feel so used. he thinks he was making it all up in his head, that ray never felt anything for him this whole time. and ray knows that sand feels something for him, it's why he's so apologetic. despite insisting they're friends, he knows. but it's not like he can tell sand that he doesn't feel anything to mew because he'd be lying and outside of insisting that they're just friends, ray isn't gonna lie to sand. especially not when it would mean hurting him even more.