#like there's a difference between 'this was referenced in the show and now i'm going to expand on it :)'

[ach-sss-no]

someone asked why i loudly asserted that the stewing rabbits bit of lotr is the opposite book vs. movie and i think it is time to move off of the giant reblog chain i'm making

The Premise: Sam, Frodo and Gollum are all doing the opposite of what they are doing in the book in some fashion or another

(first off: in the movie they abandon the stew and don't eat it. the book takes a lot longer with all of this, and they do in fact eat the stew, and I definitely understand the movie couldn't be as expansive with the pacing but it's just. funny to me. they don't eat the stew vs. they do eat the stew, there's your first opposite)

now. THE SCENE: Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit

(Small disclaimer/disclosure: I referenced the script instead of a movie clip for this, so there may be some nuance missed in visuals or whatever but I don't think it would be enough of a difference to matter and hopefully you will soon see why not)

Frodo

Starting with him because this is simplest.

In the movie, Frodo is just sitting there minding his own business when Gollum dumps dead rabbits in his lap. (Then he doesn't interact with the ensuing conversation at all)

In the book he's asleep when Gollum brings the rabbits and does not participate in the scene. Okay, so he's awake vs. asleep. Easy.

(Also, book Frodo didn't witness the conflict between the other two characters and had no opportunity to intervene, which creates an interesting 'what could have been', but I am digressing. We are only 10% of the way in. buckle up)

Sam

In the movie, Sam is passive and reacting. Gollum dumps dead rabbits in Mr. Frodo's lap oh no what do I guess we'll cook them

In the book, Sam is active and orchestrating events.

Sam decides of his own accord that he wants to address their dwindling supplies:

Sam had been giving earnest thought to food as they marched. Now that the despair of the impassable Gate was behind him, he did not feel so inclined as his master to take no thought for their livelihood beyond the end of their errand; [in case you forgot. Earlier on Sam was like 'we won't have enough food for the way back' and frodo essentially responds with 'the way back. oh you sweet summer child'] and anyway it seemed wiser to him to save the waybread of the Elves for worse times ahead.

Note: This is all very good reasoning by Mr. Samwise and an excellent example of why he's so necessary to the quest! Yes, staying alive is step one.

But Where to get food? In both movie and book Sam is taking advantage of his resources (dead rabbits acquired via gollum), but in the book he's way more proactive about it:

An idea struck him and he turned to Gollum. Gollum had just begun to sneak off on his own, and he was crawling away on all fours through the fern. 'Hi! Gollum!' said Sam. 'Where are you going? Hunting? Well see here, old noser, you don't like our food, and I'd not be sorry for a change myself. Your new motto's always ready to help. Could you find anything fit for a hungry hobbit? ' 'Yes, perhaps, yes,' said Gollum. 'Sméagol always helps, if they asks-- if they asks nicely.' 'Right!' said Sam. 'I does ask. And if that isn't nice enough, I begs.'

In this point in the book Sam has now:

Decided of his own accord that he has a problem and that he wants to actively solve it

Arrived at a solution to the problem without any outside help or suggestions

Commanded Gollum to go hunt

In the point in the movie Sam has done:

Nothing

I'm not exaggerating. In the movie the scene hasn't started yet.

In both book and movie, rabbits are acquired a little while later. In the book this is a nonevent because Sam requested and expected rabbits. In the movie, the rabbits unexpectedly appear, and Gollum says they are for the hobbits to eat (Sam doesn't even come up with the idea to eat them on his own!)

They are young. They are tender. They are nice. Yes they are! Eat them! Eat them! [He bites and tears into the raw meat.]

GOLLUM SHOWED HIM HOW TO EAT THEM LIKE A MOTHER CAT.

Anyway, in the movie, we just cut to Sam stewing the rabbits after that.

But in the book, Sam isn't done arranging things:

He thought for a bit, while he took out his knife, cleaned and whetted it, and began to dress the rabbits. He was not going to leave Frodo alone asleep even for a few minutes. 'Now, Gollum,' he said, 'I've another job for you. Go and fill these pans with water, and bring 'em back! '

'Sméagol will fetch water, yes,' said Gollum. 'But what does the hobbit want all that water for? He has drunk, he has washed.' 'Never you mind,' said Sam. `If you can't guess, you'll soon find out. And the sooner you fetch the water, the sooner you'll learn. Don't you damage one of my pans, or I'll carve you into mincemeat.'

So now Sam has:

Decided of his own accord that he has a problem and that he wants to actively solve it

Arrived at a solution to the problem without any outside help or suggestions

Commanded Gollum to go hunt

Lovingly watched Frodo sleep

Collected rabbits after they were provided and begun skinning them

Assigned Gollum to fill his cook-pans

Gollum leaves to do this new errand and Sam starts building a cook fire.

He was just stooping over his fire, shielding it and building it up with heavier wood, when Gollum returned, carrying the pans carefully and grumbling to himself. He set the pans down, and then suddenly saw what Sam was doing. He gave a thin hissing shriek, and seemed to be both frightened and angry. 'Ach! Sss -- no!' he cried. 'No! Silly hobbits, foolish, yes foolish! They mustn't do it!' 'Mustn't do what?' asked Sam in surprise. 'Not make the nassty red tongues,' hissed Gollum. `Fire, fire! It's dangerous, yes it is. It burns, it kills. And it will bring enemies, yes it will.'

Sam has just been given a completely sane and rational reason why a fire is a bad idea (they are in a dangerous area and can't risk attention!) (as well as a reason that is less pertinent- it looks like Gollum is afraid of fire, and he may have sensible reasons to be afraid of fire because it is dangerous, but this is not Sam's problem)

Sam addresses the 'it will bring enemies' thing

'I don't think so,' said Sam. `Don't see why it should, if you don't put wet stuff on it and make a smother. But if it does, it does. I'm going to risk it, anyhow. I'm going to stew these coneys.'

And Sam is like, nah.

Now Gollum gets upset that he's 'ruining good meat' by cooking it

Now Sam de-escalates

Now, now! ' said Sam. 'Each to his own fashion. Our bread chokes you, and raw coney chokes me. If you give me a coney, the coney's mine, see, to cook, if I have a mind. And I have. You needn't watch me. Go and catch another and eat it as you fancy -- somewhere private and out o' my sight. Then you won't see the fire, and I shan't see you, and we'll both be the happier. [He still managed to slip in a 'get out of my sight'] I'll see the fire don't smoke, if that's any comfort to you.'

In the movie he just insults the quality of the meat:

SAM What's to ruin? There's hardly any meat on 'em.

...which I suppose is fair in this alternate universe where the rabbits were just dumped in his lap, unwanted.

Then in the movie they skip to the taters conversation, but in the book, there's more!

Back to the book:

Gollum withdrew grumbling, and crawled into the fern. Sam busied himself with his pans. 'What a hobbit needs with coney,' he said to himself, 'is some herbs and roots, especially taters -- not to mention bread. Herbs we can manage, seemingly.' 'Gollum!' he called softly. 'Third time pays for all. I want some herbs.'

Gollum says no.

'Sméagol'll get into real true hot water, when this water boils, if he don't do as he's asked,' growled Sam. 'Sam'll put his head in it, yes precious. And I'd make him look for turnips and carrots, and taters too, if it was the time o' the year. I'll bet there's all sorts of good things running wild in this country. I'd give a lot for half a dozen taters.'

Now Gollum asks what taters are, gets a cryptic answer, and is offered a kind of food he has just expressed he does not want (cooked food) and again ordered to fetch herbs. Gollum declines.

'You couldn't say no to that.' 'Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips!' 'Oh you're hopeless,' said Sam. 'Go to sleep!'

The movie finally has some of the same words in almost the same place:

SAM PO-TAY-TOES! Boil 'em. Mash 'em. Stick 'em in a stew. Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish…. SM�AGOL [i'm not fixing it blah] [Sticks out his tongue in disgust] Pbbbttt!! [so now he's just devolved into making fart noises] SAM Even you couldn't say no to that. [He takes a sip of the stew] SM�AGOL Oh yes we could! Spoil nice fish... [scrambles up close to Sam] Give it to usss rrraw... and wrrriggling! [That line is not in the book. every time i see it quoted i age a year] [Makes sickeningly happy face.] You keep nasty chips. [Hops away] SAM You're hopeless.

The scene here ends in the movie.

In the movie, Sam has:

Watched rabbits be thrown at Frodo

Started cooking them after being all but commanded to eat them

Had some banter with Gollum

Left the scene without eating his stew

Sam is a passive character who is not orchestrating events, but rather reacting to them. A character being passive is not in and of itself a bad thing. I am only pointing it out because it is different from the book and a big change to this specific character (wanted to mention that because some people really don't like passive characters in general, I think they have a place. Frodo is rather passive in this scene but he obviously has a purpose.)

...In the book, Sam stews the rabbits for an hour and then eats the stew with Frodo

Frodo yawned and stretched. 'You should have been resting Sam,' he said. 'And lighting a fire was dangerous in these parts.

Wow! Was it? I feel like someone mentioned that earlier.

'Gollum! ' Sam called and whistled softly. 'Come on! Still time to change your mind. There's some left, if you want to try stewed coney.' There was no answer. 'Oh well, I suppose he's gone off to find something for himself. We'll finish it,' said Sam. [...] We don't see eye to eye, and he's not pleased with Sam, O no precious, not pleased at all.'

Whyever not?

To sum, book!Sam has:

Decided of his own accord that he has a problem and that he wants to actively solve it

Decided he's going to assign Gollum to the problem (This also demonstrates Sam's interpersonal intelligence. He notices what Gollum's capable of and understands intuitively how it can be turned to something industrious and useful) (Sam has made some missteps in other areas which are in the next section)

Commanded Gollum to go hunt

Collected rabbits after they were provided (according to his request), and began skinning them

Watched Frodo sleep

Assigned Gollum to fill his cook-pans, specifically because he does not want to leave Gollum and Frodo alone together, which is sensible

Threatened to carve Gollum into mincemeat, while holding a knife

Watched Frodo sleep and reflected on his poor health

Skinned the rabbits and put them in stew

Been told a cook fire is a bad idea and declined to stop what he's doing. A character being told to stop doing something & continuing with it anyway is another way for that character to show agency.

Asked Gollum to fetch herbs and potatoes (was refused)

Foraged a few herbs himself

Eaten lovely stew (while lamenting that there are no onions in it, and no bowls to put it in ;_;)

Offered Gollum stew long after (hours after) Gollum got angry and left

...all because Sam initially decided he wanted to acquire and cook food, and then took every necessary step to make that happen of his own accord.

Sam is an active character with high agency.

He is also showing more care for Frodo here (watching him while asleep and fretting over his health, lamenting that he somehow made rabbit stew from nothing by using his resources (which do here include another character- people are also resources!) but he can't put it in a nice bowl for mr. frodo- there's just a lot more here, which is natural because prose is a more detail-rich medium. Not all of this would have fit in the movie and I'm not saying it should have.

Even allowing for time, however, I do think there would have been a way to collapse this scene to the needed time requirement and still have Sam in charge of it instead of Gollum.

The scene finally ends on:

Then he noticed a thin spiral of blue-grey, smoke, plain to see as it caught the sunlight, rising from a thicket above him. With a shock he realized that this was the smoke from his little cooking-fire, which he had neglected to put out.

Did anyone foresee this?

Gollum

In the movie, Gollum is foisting a gift on Frodo and forcing social interaction that he doesn't want.

In the book, Gollum wants to go away somewhere so he can eat and is pressed into reluctant manual labor instead

Gollum is a little different from the other two characters in that his personality and motivations are also completely different here. (Where as Sam at least still has the same goals of looking after Frodo and making food.)

The scene is in Sam's POV so what Gollum is thinking and feeling has to be inferred from his actions/words/tone, but he's not exactly subtle.

The movie scene starts off with Gollum turning up with rabbits. He dumps them in Frodo's lap. He makes a spectacle of himself. He starts mauling the corpses.

The book scene starts off with Gollum trying to slip away somewhere to eat in private.

That's another thing. Gollum doesn't demonstratively bite into things Gollum always slips away somewhere to eat in private. Earlier:

It was actually not long before Gollum returned; but he came so quietly that they did not hear him till he stood before them. His fingers and face were soiled with black mud. He was still chewing and slavering. [He didn't bring food back on purpose. He's still chewing because he only has six teeth.] What he was chewing, they did not ask or like to think. 'Worms or beetles or something slimy out of holes,' thought Sam. 'Brr! The nasty creature; the poor wretch! ' Gollum said nothing to them, until he had drunk deeply and washed himself in the stream. Then he came up to them, licking his lips. 'Better now,' he said.

(Emphasis added.. Imagine you just recruited a serial killer to your D&D-party-in-real-life and he silently turns up covered in mud and won't talk to you. It looks like he's been eating bugs. He won't speak. he won't tell you what he's eating.)

Back to the scene in question: Gollum's leaving. Sam flags him down and asks him to hunt.

'Hi! Gollum!' said Sam. 'Where are you going? Hunting? Well see here, old noser, you don't like our food, and I'd not be sorry for a change myself. Your new motto's always ready to help. Could you find anything fit for a hungry hobbit? '

He asks in an insulting and confrontational way. ('old noser' + 'Your new motto's always ready to help' reeking of suspicion)

To be clear, I'm not criticizing Sam whatsoever for disliking and being suspicious of the known murderer he's traveling with against his will. but the way he talks to Gollum does have consequences.

'Yes, perhaps, yes,' said Gollum. 'Sméagol always helps, if they asks -- if they asks nicely.'

Gollum is reluctant and asks to be treated politely. I don't find this response disproportionate or unreasonable. Consider what would happen if anyone talked to LOTR-era Bilbo Baggins the way Sam just talked to Gollum. The ash would still be falling from the sky.

Anyway Sam's response is to mimic the way he talks.

'Right!' said Sam. 'I does ask. And if that isn't nice enough, I begs.'

Gollum leaves, and is gone a long time. While he's gone, Sam gazes lovingly at Frodo, and - this is not directly relevant but I wanted to note it:

Gollum returned quietly and peered over Sam's shoulder. Looking at Frodo, he shut his eyes and crawled away without a sound. [Seeing that Sam and Frodo are occupied, Gollum slips away without interrupting, which is also a different vibe from 'assaulting Frodo with rabbits while he's just sitting there.'] Sam came to him a moment later and found him chewing something and muttering to himself

Look! There's a character arc happening in the background [but not in the movies] It will reach fruition at Cirith Ungol [in the books]

Anyway, Gollum is chewing on something so he's clearly taken time out to hunt for himself as well (note for context: He's disastrously underweight and has been complaining of hunger).

On the ground beside him lay two small rabbits, which he was beginning to eye greedily. 'Sméagol always helps,' he said. `He has brought rabbits, nice rabbits. But master has gone to sleep, and perhaps Sam wants to sleep. Doesn't want rabbits now? Sméagol tries to help, but he can't catch things all in a minute.'

Gollum has brought rabbits on command, and he's reluctant to hand them over. This is the direct opposite of bringing rabbits of his own accord out of nowhere and forcing them onto somebody.

'Now, Gollum,' he said, 'I've another job for you. Go and fill these pans with water, and bring 'em back! ' 'Sméagol will fetch water, yes,' said Gollum. 'But what does the hobbit want all that water for? He has drunk, he has washed.' 'Never you mind,' said Sam.

That was a reasonable question, asked politely and prefaced by 'yes I'll do it'. There's no call for a 'never you mind' and there's certainly no call for this:

`If you can't guess, you'll soon find out. And the sooner you fetch the water, the sooner you'll learn. Don't you damage one of my pans, or I'll carve you into mincemeat.'

Gollum does the work and is careful with the pans as requested.

He was just stooping over his fire, shielding it and building it up with heavier wood, when Gollum returned, carrying the pans carefully and grumbling to himself.

He set the pans down, and then suddenly saw what Sam was doing.

Gollum discovers that 'Never you mind' meant 'I am going to do something you find dangerous and terrifying' i'm pretty sure this is what he's seeing in his POV

He gave a thin hissing shriek, and seemed to be both frightened and angry. `Ach! Sss -- no!' he cried.

Gollum gets angry.

At this point in the movie, Gollum has:

Dumped rabbits in Frodo's lap

Told him to eat them

Played with the dead animals in front of Frodo

there's a cut to Sam cooking the rabbits- Gollum makes no comment at all on the safety or feasibility of a fire, but gets right up close to it to peer into the cookpot, so he must not be too scared of it.

In the book, Gollum has:

Tried to slip away, presumably to eat, because he's hungry. Or maybe he just wants alone time! Shelob is not in visiting range. He's not being dastardly. Leave him alone

He's been flagged down to do additional work, and interrupted from whatever he wanted to do

Went off somewhere. Caught two rabbits (with his bare hands, I assume??) Also caught at least one other thing, because he's chewing something when he comes back

Came back with rabbits

Left Sam to his tender moment with Frodo and went off for more alone time

Gently floated the idea that perhaps Sam doesn't want these rabbits anymore, surrendered the rabbits when asked

Agreed to another errand that is probably difficult for him to do, after hunting down at least two rabbits Up to this point Gollum has been called 'old noser', had his speech patterns parroted at him in a mocking way, had a polite question refused, and been told he will be 'carved into mincemeat' if he damages the cooking pans (does Gollum even know what a cooking pan is? When was the last time he's seen one? Was he just handed some foreign object and told 'put water in it and don't break it' 'of course! why?' 'stfu') Gollum has a whole long complicated history that would reasonably make him very prone to difficulties with emotional regulation. Severe trauma and centuries of social isolation are involved.

He only just now gets angry, now that he thinks Sam is going to start a forest fire and summon orcs and the first word out of his mouth is a relatively restrained 'Ach!' a word that doesn't even start with an F!

Gollum says fire is harmful and will draw enemy attention. Sam says essentially 'probably not but if it does that's too bad'.

Another bit of context is that Gollum has been presenting himself as the 'wilderness survival guy' and has obvious pride when he's talking about finding his way through the marsh. Sam isn't just being dismissive of Gollum, he's particularly dismissing something Gollum has real knowledge of and takes pride in that has nothing to do with being a corrupted evildoer.

Then Sam says he's going to cook the food.

'Stew the rabbits!' squealed Gollum in dismay. `Spoil beautiful meat Sméagol saved for you, poor hungry Sméagol! What for? What for, silly hobbit? They are young, they are tender, they are nice. Eat them, eat them!' He clawed at the nearest rabbit, already skinned and lying by the fire.

After all of that, we are at 'They are young, they are tender, they are nice. Eat them, eat them!' In the movie, the scene started with this line, apropros of nothing, and it's just. Yelled at Frodo. It's an invitation.

In the book: The same line is a cry of frustration. This isn't a non sequitur, this is a last straw! Gollum is hungry. He's been chronically hungry for a long time. The rabbits are exactly the kind of thing he likes to eat. They must smell amazing to him because now they're skinned. He had to turn them over to Sam after going to the work of hunting them (he didn't have to do this, he could have just not come back, or pretended he didn't find anything- whether or not his motives are pure, and they probably aren't, he's doing what he promised).

In return: Sam told him to do more work, and then started a fire- which Gollum seems to genuinely think is idiotic and puts his own safety at risk because he's stuck with these hobbits for the time being- Sam won't listen to reason and put it out, and to add insult to injury, that meat he insisted on?

HE'S JUST GOING TO RUIN IT

Imagine you were hungry and you brought someone an oreo (also you had to wander around in the woods and find the oreo and then surprise it from behind and break its neck), and that person just! scraped off the cream filling and replaced it with spray cheese! after that person called you a jerk and set a fire in a trash can! Maybe that person loves spray-cheese oreos! Maybe everyone but you loves them! I think you'd still be frustrated! (If you're the person who loves spray cheese oreos, pretend it's something else.)

On my first reading of the book this is where I got that sinking 'I am feeling a mite sympathetic to the horrible murderer that I know is just going to stay evil and die in the end' feeling. Gollum is being dreadfully annoying, but he's been pushed past his ability to self-regulate. It feels like the dynamic of antagonizing someone until they melt down and then criticizing them for melting down (Sam is not intending to do this, and doesn't even seem to notice that's what's happened, but the result is the same.)

Sam smooths things over and lets Gollum leave! until

Until

'Gollum!' he called softly. 'Third time pays for all. I want some herbs.' Gollum's head peeped out of the fern, but his looks were neither helpful nor friendly.

WHYEVER NOT?

'A few bay-leaves, some thyme and sage, will do -- before the water boils,' said Sam. 'No! ' said Gollum. `Sméagol is not pleased. And Sméagol doesn't like smelly leaves. He doesn't eat grasses or roots, no precious, not till he's starving or very sick, poor Sméagol.'

(Gollum was retching at the scent of flowers earlier. He may be annoyingly dramatic but I have no cause to doubt that they really did make him feel ill)

(also, I'm out in the weeds speculating now, but I just noticed Gollum is starting to spout off talking about himself and how he feels after Sam pooh-poohed his fretting about the fire, and it feels like a bid for recognition, did you notice Sam has not been calling him Sméagol? Sam isn't using his real name.)

The response:

'Sméagol'll get into real true hot water, when this water boils, if he don't do as he's asked,' growled Sam.

Gollum is here under duress and is cooperating with a quest that is in every way opposed to his personal interests and survival.

'Sméagol won't go, O no precious, not this time,' hissed Gollum. 'He's frightened, and he's very tired, and this hobbit's not nice, not nice at all. Sméagol won't grub for roots and carrotses and -- taters. What's taters, precious, eh, what's taters?

He hasn't had any rest because he was immediately sent off to hunt. I'll bet he is tired

Gollum is still willing to stop being angry because he saw a shiny new word, let's see how this goes

`Po-ta-toes,' said Sam. 'The Gaffer's delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won't find any, so you needn't look. But be good Sméagol and fetch me the herbs, and I'll think better of you

Sam gives a cryptic answer and demands more work. 'I'll think better of you?' Lies! Gollum just did two errands and received nothing but more verbal abuse. Sam did not even thank him. This was where on my first reading I was saying to myself 'oh no Sam is mishandling this really badly and doesn't even notice'

I'll cook you some taters one of these days. I will: fried fish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn't say no to that.' 'Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips! ' 'Oh you're hopeless,' said Sam. 'Go to sleep!'

Gollum doesn't understand what chips are. He just said he doesn't like plants or cooked food. He's tired and hungry and has been ordered around all day. He did everything asked up to now and in return he gets called hopeless.

Sméagol willingly, nonconfrontationally, successfully did two out of the three tasks, and when he refuses a third task after being demeaned and dismissed, he's called hopeless.

So Gollum leaves. That's the end of his involvement in this scene. he didn't hit anyone, bite anyone, or call Sam anything worse than 'not nice', 'silly' and 'foolish' (He does not call Sam a 'stupid fat hobbit', that appears to be a movie invention as well)

In the movies, he threw dead animals at frodo and some of this dialog was said without any of the context. haha funni.

The takeaways from the book version are that Gollum can understand and follow verbal commands and do errands (this is important because Gollum needs to be somewhat sane and lucid in order to satisfyingly be held accountable for his crimes), will cooperate when asked, communicates poorly, has trouble controlling his temper, and may at any time be in physical distress and not show it. (He doesn't give outward signs of fatigue.)

The takeaways from the movie version seem to be that Gollum is hyperactive, doesn't understand facial expressions, and finds cooking to be an alien custom. No one tried to ask him to do anything, so I have no idea whether he can understand requests and do tasks or not. May or may not be lucid.

Can we at least agree that Sam saying 'You're hopeless' after this:

Give it to usss rrraw… and wrrriggling! [Makes sickeningly happy face.]

is a different vibe from Sam saying 'You're hopeless' after hearing this?

'[Sméagol]'s frightened, and he's very tired, and this hobbit's not nice, not nice at all.'

Summary

Why is this scene the opposite?

Frodo has gone from being asleep but serving as an emotional anchor (both Sam and Gollum look at him and have some kind of emotional revelation, although the latter has his in private and we don't ever know what it is, the cad) to being awake but doing nothing and leaving. (He does go and find Faramir when the scene ends, but at that point, we are moving on to the next scene. so I don't count it.) Frodo has gone from affecting events while asleep to having no effect while awake

Sam has gone from being in charge of what's happening to passively reacting to a chaos gremlin

Gollum has gone from following orders until he can't take it anymore and suffering to being a chaos gremlin who does whatever he wants and seemingly having a good time? he's dancing around

The stew goes from eaten to uneaten

The overall purpose of the original scene appears to have been mainly to establish character and relationship dynamics. The movie scene... is doing the same, I suppose, but it's so brief and stripped of context that it almost feels like an homage more than a real scene, like it's there because they couldn't get away with entirely cutting it. And as every character is behaving contrary to what they used to in one form or another, the overall effect is:

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Ask me about the waterfall scene next

[9hikers]

i am curious why fandoms gravitate towards specific archetypes/tropes. sure, they're not all the same, but the similarities are more than i'd expect when the source materials span different genres and mediums

[befuddled-calico-whump]

✨Content Tagging Guide✨

disclaimer: this is not directed at anyone, nor was it sparked because I've seen anyone mistagging anything. I just like lists and I'm going to make it everyone's problem :)

So you wanna write a story with darker themes, but are mayhaps a little uncertain about all the different content warnings you've seen.

Not to worry! Hopefully this quick guide will clear things up. To illustrate each level, I'm going to use macaroni and cheese as the content example. Without further ado...

cw: macaroni and cheese

^^this warning is very general. It tells the reader the content will show up at some point within the text, but doesn't specify the detail, use, or extent.

cw: macaroni and cheese (mentioned)

They drove through town, past the busy main street, and the factory where the local brand of macaroni and cheese got its packaging.

This warning tells readers the content will be mentioned; maybe in dialogue, or in a description, but not explored in detail.

cw: macaroni and cheese (discussed)

"I'm lactose intolerant," he said. "So I can't---well, I shouldn't eat stuff like that."

"But you did anyway?" they pressed. "I'm sorry, just... How did it feel? After?"

"Awful. I really should've listened to my common sense and ordered something besides mac and cheese."

As you'd expect, this warning tells the reader that the content will be discussed, either in conversation, or through a character's thoughts. Discussions can involve the moral implications of the content, how the content fits within the world, philosophies relating to the content, and the emotional or lasting effects of the content on a character.

cw: macaroni and cheese (referenced)

He tapped her shoulder. "Hey, I didn't see you after work yesterday, you okay?"

"Fine now," she said, shrugging. "I just had a bad batch of mac and cheese for lunch."

Very similar to "mentioned", this warning often implies a non-explicit, non-graphic mention of the content.

cw: macaroni and cheese (implied)

He frowned down at the bowl, then averted his eyes, appetite lost by the gooey yellow mass inside, and the heavy, creamy smell wafting off it.

This warning tells readers that the content is not outright stated, but the character's reactions and actions imply what's going on. If you could remove the context from the scene/paragraph in question and make it look like something else is happening, you probably have implied content. Note that there is a difference between simply "implied", and "heavily implied".

cw: macaroni and cheese (fade to black)

She took her seat at the table, queasiness building in her stomach. Her least-favorite food was to be served, and while she knew it would be rude to decline it, she wasn't looking forward to lunch. As the dreaded bowl was placed before her, she picked up the fork, and plunged it in.

Similar to implied, but instead of carrying on through the scene the content takes place in, fade to black builds up to the moment, and stops, often transitioning to the next scene before the content is given any kind of detail.

cw: macaroni and cheese (non-explicit)

For lunch, he was served a bowl of mac and cheese, one of his least favorite meals. He choked it down anyway, and hoped he wouldn't get an upset stomach.

This tells the reader the content will be present in some form, but not described in detail. It may have some active bearing on the character or plot, but won't be particularly graphic. While the character may be emotionally affected after the fact, the content itself is glossed over.

cw: macaroni and cheese (explicit)

The bowl was placed in front of him, steam still rising from the substance inside. He knew what it was before he looked. Mac and cheese. And he'd have to devour the entire bowl of it. He lifted the first forkful, strands of yellow cheese trailing from squishy curved noodles, all the way back into the bowl, even as he raised it to his mouth. Damn, it was extra cheesy. He knew his lactose intolerance just wouldn't hold up.

This is often used as the heaviest warning, telling readers that the content and the characters' reactions to it will be described in detail.

Again, this was something I mostly just wrote for fun, and to dramatize mac and cheese but I do hope someone out there finds it helpful. Let me know if there's a type I missed! :)

[chawarin-panich]

I really had to read with my own two eyes multiple times since this post had multiple people add on to it, bringing it back to my dash again and again, that the drama from Tharn and Phaya's past life did not feel dramatic at all. And somehow that detracts from taking the drama of the present as seriously as the show is taking it. This story is based on Thai folklore? The Naga and Garuda are eternal enemies. The love between a Naga and a Garuda is an insult to the literal cosmic order. Chalothon who was only trying to preserve the natural order has been wronged by their love. The natural order is also referenced several times but especially when the priest was like keep Phaya and Chalothon away from each other, they're destined to be enemies. Not meeting the show halfway to accepting this as part of your lens as an audience is frankly...an interesting choice to make. The next bit is pure conjecture on account of me not being Thai but I'm trying to relate to what The Sign is likely trying to do from my own understanding of Asian folklore and the way we use those stories to build new stories. What is there to get out of this show other than the big fuck you to 'natural order' of things that must be because of the way that they are. Why can't a Naga and Garuda be in love? This must be a concept that people explore under the general lens of forbidden love in Thailand (pure conjecture but also like I don't know how it can't be true). We all have our poorly explained versions of Forbidden Love gone bad; Romeo and Juliet, Ram Leela, Devdas would be some heterosexual stories of Forbidden Love that kind of hand waves around the forbidden part a little bit that I'm familiar with. Devdas (the story I'm most familiar with of the one's stated) and its myriad adaptations is a story about the absolute ways we hold on to class even as it brings about our own downfall.

It's a great pick for a queer adaptation because the reasons why the lovers couldn't be together was so made up and really came down to ONE person (Devdas' mother) who just couldn't let go of class even though everyone else was literally begging for the two to just be together because let me tell you none of you have met a poor little meow meow on the scale of Devdas.

The Sign is bringing the forbidden love between a Naga and Garuda as a parallel of the forbidden love between two men. Homosexuality outside of the legal sphere really does come down to an ideological difference as to what is natural vs not. Homosexuality goes against a natural order of reproduction. And this is true. Two men cannot reproduce, two women cannot reproduce with each other.

The challenge isn't to prove that they can, it's to prove that reproduction isn't the centerpoint of human life, that we have transcended the need for our life to be dictated by this 'natural' order because on principal our societies just aren't built along the paradigm of 'survival of the fittest' where the benchmark of species fitness is its ability to reproduce.

Thai shows including things that have come out of Idol Factory (that produces The Sign) are often socially engaged with LGBT rights within Thailand. Now that gay marriage is legal or on its way to be, I assume a move in the direction of bringing same sex relationships up to the same societal respect as straight relationships would be a natural direction that future screenwriters will go.

The Sign is trying very hard to take the question of homosexuality right to the heart of Thai culture and tradition and talk about it from that lens [this is less conjecture and more paraphrasing what Saint has said about the show in interviews] And I know that you all are capable of meeting a story halfway in respecting its desire to set up the stakes through references of allegorical story telling since y'all have been doing it with Last Twilight and Le Petit Prince. So I don't know even know why I had to make this post but: tl;dr: The stakes of the love between Tharn and Phaya and the forbidden nature of it is set before you even see much of the show just from the fact that Tharn is a Naga and Phaya is a Garuda and as a member of the audience you have to accept that the love between Naga and Garuda is a deviant form of love in Thai culture.

[accio-victuuri]

how many cpns can you get from a 7 second douyin by wyb? 💚💚💚

The Douyin King is back! I know i’m not the only one who missed his random ass douyin posts. They are very much welcome, he is free to share one everyday. I’m cackling at the comparison going around between WYB and other people. So, the rest of the celebrities and influencers are posting on a regular basis per month and have different topics.

photos at work, travel photos, interests/hobbies. this line represents the whole year. there is another diagram that shows how many per line, like 1-2 or more. then you have wang yibo 😂😂😂

line 1 : I'm busy at work and have no time. // line 2: I don’t have time to skateboard, ride a motorcycle or play golf // line 3: Visit my gege’s camping site and the volcano scenery is very good and has a lot of material// line 4: happy and don’t have much time// line 5: Shoot whoever is lucky enough to shoot!

then all the lines after is when he will post — shows that he will share a lot towards the end of the year to keep up with KPI. lol. he is rushing his homework again, to the point that on the video, people are searching what wyb’s kpi mean. which is the engagement metrics he needs to reach and now he gotta work on it, even the fans know and expect it.

the memes are also hilarious! 😂😂😂 ( cat memes below ) basically him working on making his “cool” posts to the internet.

Honestly, never change yibo. We love you as you are, Our Gremlin Best Actor. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

That was a long intro, now let’s move on to the sweets & CPN…..

• @rainbowsky already talked about the messenger bird CPN & how it might be for ZZ’s Hennessy endorsement.

• similarity in how sometimes, they just wanna post an emoji for caption. this one is a cute parallel from 2021 and 2023. If you wanna further clown with WYB using kadian 13 for yizhan then go ahead too 😌

• it is being compared to him referencing his shoes before, picking up his shoes ( xie zi ) (xz) ; and now it’s another homophonic clue ( jm ) ⬇️⬇️⬇️

yes we know that you get to meet more often now cause you are both in Beijing! It’s so cool how their language can be used for so many things and you can play with it to send different meanings. international fans could never 💀💀💀💀

• talking about picking up and meeting, cpfs remembered ZZ’s 11/17/21 douyin post. It’s the one with him and a light saber and a sexy transformation. Going by his clothes, I’m thinking it was what he wore during the DC tencent conference and at the time of posting it was already considered as leftover. but I could be wrong, cause he might have worn other leather jackets that year for ads.

anyway, the point is — please compare the background of the rooms. the walls. you know. add the floor too. 👀

look, this isn’t the most unique type of interior. i would say it’s pretty basic like how we clown about hotel curtains. i’m guessing yibo’s is an evisu shoot sometime ago ( cause his hair is not that fluffy anymore idk if his stylist did something to make it like that even with his recent cut ). this place may be a studio of sorts that can be rented out and they just happen to have filmed there.

or… or…..

this could be XZS office. or one of their rented office. Why? this CPN is similar to the one in 2020. How we speculated that the birthday shoot was done in XZS office so ZZ could supervise the direction of the shoot too.

we also love to talk about how xzs and ybo office are right next to each other ( it’s a fact xzs is close to yuehua building actually ) so maybe that can be an explanation too 😂😂😂 it’s not uncommon for an office to have a separate space to do regular photoshoots so maybe theirs have that. or this could have been done after and wyb dropped off their office and took this.

hahahahahaha! so many explanations all because of a wall. that’s the kind of life we turtles have 🙃

Personally, i’m hoping for a 24 hour relay between them. 🙏🏼

-END.

[fangirleaconmigo]

On the topic of book scenes that were changed, one of them that interests me is the scene where it seems Geralt and Yen have died in The Last Wish. In the book, the mayor of the town starts to go on about how it’s so sad that Geralt died but don’t worry they’ll build him a statue. This greatly angers Dandelion and he yells at the mayor. In the show, Jaskier is the one who’s like “This is so sad, but don’t worry I’ll write the greatest ballad for Geralt!”. The complete change of the personality of the same character is what interests me. I love reading your analysis, so I was wondering if you have any thoughts on this. I know the change was probably for comedy purposes and that this is pretty insignificant, but to me, Dandelion’s reaction in the book just really screamed such a deep love for Geralt so I found the change a bit disappointing.

The Last Wish vs Bottle Appetites - Dandelion's reaction to Geralt's 'death'

Hi Nonny! Thanks for the ask. You sent this to me so very long ago, you may have completely moved on. BUT I figure if you aren't still interested, someone who follows me might be, so here I go:

Your ask is about a compare/contrast the book vs TWN scene where Geralt is presumed dead, and we’re comparing how Jaskier(Dandelion) react to his possible death, and how much emotional weight the scene is given.

I'll start by summarizing, but just a note: Dandelion does something in the books that I don't know how to interpret and maybe you (or anyone reading) can give their thoughts.

Ok, we’ll start with the show.

Bottled Appetites

In the show, the mayor and town dignitaries are not in the scene where Jaskier thinks Geralt is dead. It is just him and Chireadan looking at the building. Things are quiet, and Jaskier assumes they are dead.

"Are you sure they were up there? This can't be happening. This can't be happening."

I gotta say, Joey Batey, sells the emotion here. He has the most expressive eyes. He could do just about anything with any material, I think.

"Why did Geralt go in there, it doesn't make any sense...to save a mad fucking witch, why?"

It cuts away to Geralt and Yen. When it comes back to Jaskier, he is on his knees, assuming they are dead. Here is what he says:

"What am I supposed to do now, hm? It wasn't supposed to go this way. I'm going to write you the best song, so that everyone remembers who you were, what we did, everything we saw. And I will sing it, for the rest of my days. "

That is what you means as far as it seeming like he's giving up rather quickly. As he speaks, most of the camera work is on Chireadan, who goes to actually look whether they are dead. Chireadan stands in front of the window. At the end of his speaking part, the camera is back on Jaskier for the punchline.

"He always said I had the most wonderful singing voice."

And that’s the jokey joke. It references the b plot of Geralt feeling bad that he called Jaskier’s voice a ‘pie with no filling’. When Jaskier is hurt, Geralt says that he doesn’t want that to be the last thing Jaskier remembers.

Clearly, that would not be the last thing Jaskier remembers, because he will just change it to suit himself. It's a little of the ol’ Dandelion impenetrable ego performance.

And that is the 'piercing' of the dramatic moment you referenced.

But then Chireadan comes back.

"They're alive."

And Jaskier is like...

"Bollocks."

They go look in the window together, and see them having sex. Chireadan pulls Jaskier away.

The Last Wish

In the books, it's quite a different set up. 

Dandelion is with the Mayor (Neville) and Priest of Rinde (Krepp), while Geralt fights with Yen in the building. 

The reason for this reflects what I think is the biggest difference between the two stories-Yen.

Much like in the show, Yen did send Geralt to beat up the townspeople who are against her. (the tone is quite different, and the show doesn’t show it, but the basics are the same)

However, Yen does not want Geralt to get into legal trouble on her account, so she sends Dandelion back through a portal, and asks him to use his last wish to help Geralt.

Dandelion drops back through the portal.

“Innocent!” yelled the poet in a clear melodious tenor, sitting on the floor and looking around, his eyes vague. “Innocent! The witcher is innocent! I wish you to believe it!”

So now Dandelion is with the mayor and the priest, and Geralt goes to help Yen against Dandelion’s advice. Like in the show, Dandelion advises against it.

“Geralt,” said Dandelion, ‘you’ve gone stark raving mad! Keep away from that bloody strangler!”

And look, he has a point. He’s basically like, she is choosing this. She wants to do this. She used us both against our will. She is powerful and terrifying (the subtext being, why would she need you. If she’s dead set on this shit, then let her do it)

But of course Geralt goes. He is already falling for Yen. I think in the books it’s more clear as to why. But that’s sort of beside the point of this post. (At some point I want to do a compare/contrast Yenralt.) 

But anywho. In the books, Dandelion is with the mayor, the priest, and Chireadan and they are watching the building from a safe distance.

Dandelion is distraught.

“What’s happening there!” Dandelion, clinging to the wall, strained his neck, trying to see in the downpour. “Tell me what is happening there, damnit!”

Then as the house begins to fall, 

“Why did Geralt have to go in there?” groaned Dandelion. What the hell for? Why did he insist on saving that witch? Why? Chireadan, do you understand?”

Of course, Chireadan is in love with Yen, so he understand perfectly.

Then, Dandelion is terrified Geralt will die. He is upset, he is wailing.

“Are they both going to die?” wailed Dandelion. “How come, Krepp why? After all, the witcher--Why by all perfidious and unexpected plagues, isn’t he escaping? Why? What’s keeping him? Why doesn’t he leave the bloody witch to her fate and run away? It’s senseless...It’s suicide. And plain idiocy!”

The mayor is not so distraught.

“It’s his job, after all,” interrupted Neville. “The witcher is saving my town...if he chases the demon away, I’ll reward him handsomely...”

Then Dandelion cuts him off. 

Dandelion snatched the hat decorated with the heron feather from his head, spat into it, threw it in the mud and trampled it, spitting out words in various languages as he did.

Now, I believe that spitting in one’s hat is considered something for good luck, and in some cultures is meant to ward off evil spirits. Dandelion looks down on superstition as is quite explicitly atheist, yet he resorts to it the minute he’s desperate on Geralt’s behalf.

(If I am reading that correctly. It could also be an expression of antipathy for Neville for all I know. Maybe someone else can comment, I'm just guessing)

And then Dandelion realizes something. They explained to him that Geralt actually has the wishes, but then it dawns on him that Geralt could use it to save himself.

“But he’s...” he groaned suddenly, “still got one wish in reserve. He could save both her, and himself! Mr. Krepp!”

The priest explains how difficult that would be. Then the house ‘explodes’ and the djinn escapes. The mayor and the owner of the house rejoice. The owner of the house has previously said that he has good insurance, so he says ‘what a wonderful ruin’. Dandelion is not so happy. In fact he is distraught, understandably. He sees that the house has fallen and he is afraid they are dead.

“Dammit, dammit!” hollered Dandelion...”it’s shattered the entire house! Nobody could survive that! Nobody I tell you!”

The mayor jumps straight to the same conclusion, but it significantly happier about it.

The witcher, Geralt of Rivia, has sacrificed himself for the town,” mayor Nevills said ceremoniously. “We won’t forget him. We’ll revere him. We’ll think of a statue...”

Dandelion does not react well to this. This is the part you were referencing.

Dandelion shook a piece of wicker matting bound with clay from his shoulder, brushed his jerkin free of lumps of rain-dampened plaster, looked at the mayor and, in a few well-chosen words, expressed his opinion about sacrifice, reverence, memory, and all the statues in the world.

I kind of wish the book had spelled out exactly what he said because I think it would have been amazing. But Dandelion tears him a new asshole and tells him where he can put the statue. We just don't get to hear the exact words.

Then it grows quiet. Dandelion is still afraid they are dead, but decides to go look to make sure.

By all the gods,” muttered Dandelion, “what silence...they’re dead I tell you. Either they’ve killed each other, or my djinn’s finished them off.”

Notice he still calls it 'my djinn', I think because he found it. He clearly is ready to blame himself. But then they go take a look at the ruins. They start to hear noises.

“Yennefer’s alive,” said Dandelion suddenly, straining his musical ear. “I heard her moan. There, she moaned again.”

And like in the show, Chireadan looks through a broken window, seeing Geralt and Yen having sex.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said quietly. “Let’s not disturb them.” 

Chireadan is heartbroken, because he loves Yen.

Of course Dandelion is curious and doesn’t want to be put off (as always).

“What are they doing,” Dandelion was curious. “Tell me damnit!” The elf smiled very, very sadly. “I don’t like grand words,” he said. “And it is impossible to give it a name without using grand words.”

I think because of the involvement of the mayor, showing the way they see the witcher (useful, but highly expendable) next to Dandelion (that’s my friend, motherfucker) is interesting. I like that Dandelion tears him a new one.

The moment is definitely moved past much more quickly in the show, though to be fair they have a lot less time.

But what does everyone else think? If you’ve got this far, please share your thoughts! Which version of the story do you prefer? And what was the hat spitting all about?

[chirpsythismorning]

Skam show-runner Julie Andem clocking the fuck out of Mike being queer-coded in s1 of Stranger Things, and then using it as inspiration to queer-code Isak in s3 of Skam can be something so epic.

THIS! THIS is what I'm talking about!

In ST, there are two scenes in s1 (pretty/still pretty) that milkvans use as irrefutable proof that Mike has always had romantic feelings for El, with the primary object in the scene being a mirror.

THIS. MEANS. SOMETHING.

Mirrors in film mean something more often than not, but especially when they are the focus of a scene is when they definitely mean something. And the way they go about it differently in between those two scenes in ST, drastically differently, and considering the subject matter is very very queer coded, is how you really know there is a significance in this case.

And that scene above from Skam proves it.

Because apparently, another filmmaker watched ST, picked up on those odd details surrounding Mike and said shit I'm gonna use that...

Notice how Isak here, a gay teenager who is fully in denial with others and himself, to the point where he makes really homophobic remarks often, gets caught denying a bunch of girls as being attractive in a conversation with his friends. And so now they're questioning him and making him feel on edge bc the focus is on him and his attraction (lack thereof) to girls.

While his friends aren't even implying he is gay in this moment, it's just them genuinely being confused why he doesn't think any of the girls they think are attractive are attractive, you can still see that Isak starts to feel the pressure and so he latches onto the first girl he thinks of, Emma.

Emma just so happens to look like Natalie Portman with her extremely short hair.

Low and behold this very girl enters the room shortly after he says this and so now Isak has to face this and give his friends the impression he is fully interested in this girl, otherwise they would DEFINITELY suspect something is off. And so he goes all out.

He outs himself.

He literally says Don't you look like that boy from Stranger Things, and then follows it up with saying he would only be attracted to her if we're assuming he is attracted to boys, only to quickly backtrack and start to approach her really flirtatiously, then going all out by making out with her.

As this happens, he is kissing her in the bathroom, in front of a mirror...

Now I want to make clear, I am not saying ST was inspired by Skam. I'm pretty sure I did make that clear, it's actually the other way around, which is even more incriminating arguably.

S1 of Stranger Things came out in 2016, whereas s3 of Skam came out the following year in 2017. The hype for ST was so immense, to the point where you had Norwegian teens referencing it in everyday conversation.

The creator of Skam took scenes from ST that framed Mike very peculiarly in s1, and used it as queer-coding for a character that ended up being revealed as gay.

For those that haven't seen Skam Norway... Run. Leap. Drive. Teleport. Do what you have to do and go watch it. It's not available on any streaming, in fact it's only available online through fan-sites outside of where it's based. Conveniently, all 4 seasons with English subs can be found HERE.

Basically this show is amazing and you need to watch it. Some seasons I like more than others. But the gist of it is that every season focuses on a different character from the main group, where they experience some sort of misunderstanding/miscommunication that leads to them being misinformed about certain things, followed by them making mistakes and having doubts, though it tends to end in a way that feels so refreshing compared to what we're used to.

Skam also translates in english to shame, so the idea is that there is an arc surrounding some form of shame every season.

With Isak in particular, he's the focus for s3, though his arc starts to become more clear as early as the end of s1.

Eva, the character in focus for s1, borrows Isak’s phone to call someone, and ends up seeing that there's gay porn in a bunch of his tabs on his browser. Their friend Noora also witnesses this and she ends up being the focus of s2.

Throughout s2, we get even more blatant hints that Isak is gay and in love with his best friend...

So it's established pretty early on throughout the series that Isak is queer and in denial about it, but it isn't until s3 that he himself is able to confront it.

The way they go about this arc, with Isak having unrequited feelings, is exactly how ST would have done it IF Mike hadn't returned Will's feelings.

So if you're looking for more byler proof, go watch this show and see how they don't let Isak pine over his best friend Jonas for more than 2 seasons.

When the story finally puts Isak at the forefront, they give him his own love interest instead of keeping him pining for his friend. It's really pure and amazing and TBH I would have been fine if ST was framed this way, with it being clear from the beginning Isak's feelings were unrequited, and with the other half of the series focusing on him moving on and finding love himself, and also with his best friend and him still being very close.

Although Isak has that queer-coding from the very beginning, with him looking at his friend all fondly, he is still not able to confront any of it. The following season he dates a girl and is a little over the top about it, though we can also see that he is struggling despite not wanting to face it. It isn't until s3 when the story shows us his inner struggle at the forefront, that we see him finally confront it and accept it.

For those that don't know, Skam also loosely inspired the Nick Nelson gay test scene... So we have character that despite showing many signs of being queer, to the point where we know he literally watched gay porn, is still finding himself in a situation where he's taking gay tests 2 years later....

While he might have the knowledge deep down, he was not willing to face it. In fact he was doing everything he could to avoid confronting it.

But then he falls in love and suddenly it's not something he can ignore anymore...

[sapphic-agent]

I think one of my main annoyances in Hori writing is him trying to redeem every villain and hero that some of them just doesn’t deserve that redemption.

Like; it’s reminds me too much of Naruto. But the difference is Naruto isn’t being held by modern standards since it set in a fictional world with ninjas while bnha is set in 200+ years in the future in modern japan.

I absolutely despise Endeavor and how he abused his family as a whole; in modern society he would have been put in jail, and yet he still gets a redemption arc. It’s feels like it’s cheapen all of the todorokis trauma.

And shoto being bakugo friend is another thing, since bakugo is so much like endeavor… like, if I had a classmate that act so much like my abusive parent that I absolutely despise I wouldn’t be close to them at all.

It’s gave me bad feeling how Hori just brushes all of the trauma the characters have from the actions of other characters selfish acts.

When I started reading the manga in 2015 I thought the concept is really good and having a main character with anxiety and socialization problems (in the start) made me hooked, because I had those things too. But looking at it now 8 years later I just feel so much dissatisfaction and disappointments..

You have a great point about Naruto. I mean, I'm not a fan of Naruto because of reasons, but it's the same concept as to why I like Vegeta better than Bakugou despite Vegeta technically being a worse person. Because MHA and DBZ are two very different shows. One is about becoming stronger and being able to face any threat to the world no matter what, the other is trying to push a narrative about morality and being a "true hero." The Z Fighters do have their own moral compasses, but it varies between every character. So there's no overarching theme that's beating us over the head.

Someone described this problem with MHA perfectly; it's constantly preaching about morality while willfully being tone deaf about its own overlaying issues. And that wouldn't even be so bad if so many of these issues weren't set up in the beginning to be addressed later.

I talk a lot about Bakugou, but I think we should focus on Endeavor like you mentioned. Not only are they similar in nature (temperamental, overzealous, dangerously ambitious), they're also two characters who benefit the most from the system in MHA.

...And it's barely ever acknowledged.

I mean sure, Dabi calls Endeavor out and it leads to the public losing faith in heroes. But not only does the family he abused and/or neglected choose to help him (I can't get over Fuyumi and Natsu taking blame for Touya when they were LITERAL CHILDREN wtf, not to mention Rei), why he was allowed to do this is never addressed. People knew he wasn't the kind hero All Might was, and it was something his fans admired along with his strength. Because as long as you have a strong quirk, you're admired in the MHA world and allowed to get away with whatever you want. Yet this is overlooked so easily.

(I like Hawks (because of Zeno Robinson mainly), but him dismissing this is so weird?? Why on Earth would Horikoshi go out of his way to introduce a character with an abusive father and make him an Endeavor fan? With no moment of clarity either?? There's something really off about that)

Bakugou's apology (one day I'll make a post critiquing this scene) is a little better in this regard as he does acknowledge that he was enabled because of his quirk. But again, it's really just skimmed over and only referenced to give Bakugou an excuse.

And the people who do question society and its system are either villains who are use it as an excuse to cause destruction and hurt people (the LOV and Overhaul) or bloodthirsty murderers (Stain). I would have loved for Horikoshi to introduce a group of vigilantes or anti-heroes who work outside of the HPSC and call out how discriminatory their system is.

Someone's talked about this before, but the Todoroki and Bakugou "friendship" was so forced and unnecessary. Bakugou has, at every turn, been completely unsympathetic towards the fact that Todoroki was abused and yelled at his sister for talking about it in her own home (but sure, let's call Bakugou an abuse victim I guess). Todoroki should have at the very least remained indifferent towards Bakugou like he was in the beginning.

Izuku deserves so much better than how Horikoshi treats him. He's either used as a tool to make Bakugou better or he's shoved into the background of his own show. He was so relatable in the beginning of the series only for the plot to suck his character dry.

[pynkgothicka]

Ｈｏｗ Ｔｈｅｙ Ｓｐｏｉｌ Ｙｏｕ

Synopsis - Just little Hcs for my envisioning of yandere! Bts

Tags and Warnings - SEX. Mentions of punishment I believe???

Authors Note - Something to hold y'all off while I get through this tae fic I got cooking

A friendly reminder that all my works are dark fanfiction! Please if you do not like that do not read them! This is your final warning before hitting the keep reading button!!

Jin

Gifts! Praise! Cooking!

Its literally his favorite thing to do, he doesn't really enjoy being mean and punishing you.

All he wants is a perfect relationship and that's all.

Something he really enjoys is putting on 50’s love songs and slow dancing with you in the living room. Its something he cherishes, as it gives some resemblance of normalcy when it came to the taboiness of your relationship.

“Oh! You like this stuff? I’m glad I love putting in that extra push just for you, now come on finish eating, I have a nice bath set up just for us.”

Namjoon

He spoils with love and attention

Being such a busy man, he finds time to hunker down with you and cuddle. Your presence often bringing him comfort.

He wouldn't dare have it any different. Especially if you'd been so good for him.

He also sometimes after a hard day at work comes home with a bouquet of roses and other nick knacks he knows only youd appreciate.

“I called in, I just don't feel like going in… I wanna spend some time with my baby…”

Yoongi

Sex.

That's all.

Literally just fucks you senseless, pushing you into overstimulation.

Yeah sometimes he’ll massage you, but that's just so he can get his hands on you enough to hint at what he actually wants.

“That feels good huh? There's so much more where that came from. I gotta reward you for being such a good girl.”

Hoseok

Trips!

If he's seen how good you've been and he gets some time off, you better expect him to come home and tell you to pack up.

He loves suspense too. He will keep up that suspense and surprise of where he's taking you for as long as he can. Just for fun in fact sometimes

Plus it's just you and him trapped in some foreign unknown place! It's just perfect in his eyes.

“Aw my little sugar plum, I'm glad you got everything packed. Me your going to love this vacation I promise.”

Jimin

He will smother you with just him.

He's overbearing and clingy so expect tons of cuddles just out of the blue.

If he's not cuddling you hes taking you out on dates. But more intimate dates like picnics

The two combined is almost identical to heaven for him

“Aw come here, I wanna hold you forever. You've been so good, you know how much I love it when your good for me.”

Taehyung

Gifts. And when I say gifts I mean it.

He has so much money, so why not spend it all on you?

Necklaces, Dresses, Shoes. Anything you could ever want

Sometimes it's things you've asked for or referenced wanting. But others and majority of the time it's things he thinks would look good on you. Then he has you model it all afterwards

You better make a good choice of what you try on last, because Taehyung is so riled up he's going to tear it off and then fuck you senseless

“Fuck you got me all worked up baby, you should come over here and help solve that problem.”

Jungkook

It's really a mix between fucking and taking you out

Sure sometimes he's in a big show off just how good my baby is being mood and takes you out to hang with him and his friends

But he has rules (you have to stick him 24/7 yada yada)

But then whenever he's not in a going out mood he's in a fuck you til you can only remember his name type of mood

“And whose been such a good fucking slut? Yeah that's right, only you… just you.”

[meat-wentz]

FOB LORE POST Pt. 2

this one is mainly links, plus resources at the end for more in depth dives.

some cool pre-fob/outside fob links:

arma angelus livejournal

where sleeplessness is rest from nightmares (arma album playlist, heychris is working at the moment to get these on spotify)

the grave end of the shovel (arma EP)

last arma show

first novena show (pre-arma arma angelus)

racetraitor "broken dust" ft. a young pete and a young andy

another one

racetraitor 2019

racetraitor 2022

interview with mani mostofi 2018

now some general lore, i'll bold the ones that are referenced most often:

"The Story" 2004 (from My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue dvd)

"Cutting Room Floor" (LOTS of classic moments in this, joe sleeping in a cage, patrick drinking garlic butter, dunking his head in a pool, getting nervous and shaking pete's hand, etc)

extra bits sorry this literally opens with a dirty toilet

the story behind the album cover (patrick, joe and pete all lived in a shitty apartment together, where the cover of tttyg was shot on their broken couch, i promise this link is so much more informative these are just the basics)

take this to your apartment pt. 1 (fall out boy return to the apartment)

take this to your apartment pt. 2

a little reflection on the van accident

notes between patrick and joe (resolution by pete)

patrick in high school

first interview

HALLOWEEN 2003 (THE PRIEST SHOW)

the hollister show (includes pete jumping off the roof with an umbrella, van tour, andy "what's goin' on guys" which is important TO ME)

2003 acoustic set (IMPORTANT TO ME)

the hollister show pt. 2 (the show, which is fucking insane, sweater, shorts and black socks mention, borders mention, patrick drinking half a bottle of tobasco, pete getting tazed, first ??? mention of jason which will be expanded upon later)

i'm not putting release the bats lmao that's your job, warning it's gross, it's a will-tester for sure.

but you do get bedussey, it's like, on the syllabus. there will be a test.

FOBR bio during futct

the jason interview

patrick and pete interview for the documentary bastards of young (2005)

behind the scenes AOL

TRL debut

nintendo ds makes me forget that i don't have any friends

mtv vma performance of sugar (iconic because of the uniforms)

mtv2 video awards arrival

mtv2 win

warped diary (fob did warped in a fucking van, which is hardcore af)

behind the scenes sugar we're going down

behind the scenes dance dance

behind the scenes a little less 16 candles

fuse rock star guide (IMPORTANT TO ME)

you look good in everything honey

behind the scenes live in phoenix

don't google yourself

you look like the unabomber

wind power

fall out boy gets uncomfortable

pete's do's and don'ts for valentine's day

moustachette

world's most in depth interview

gabe bothering patrick with socks and sandals

piss roulette

IMPORTANT PATRICK VIDEO TO ME (black clouds and underdogs tour)

gay above the belt

it's not a hot girl

the backpack

mark hoppus shaves pete's head (death of emo)

drum battle and this view of patrick

andy drum solo (live in phoenix)

thanks pete

boys of zummer

happy paintings

coffee's for closers dance

YBC commentary by patrick and pete

family feud

just a few reading extras because i'm tired and i've worked on this for so long i'm going crosseyed:

pete/patrick huge primer

interviews

what a catch donnie songfacts page

in defense of folie a deux

(btw patrick does a different song every intro for i hate myself, also it's very healing please listen to all 6 episodes)

Loud and Sad Radio (pete podcast)

@stumpomatic-blog and @fobomatic-blog are both archival projects to document the band

here's a giant video vault

peachy.stump on instagram, invaluable resource for updates, throwbacks and all the little tidbits you could want.

[m-jelly]

Hi jelly! Hope you're doing well!

I would like to request another No Name Levi fanfic!

Reader is a solo artist (Inspo is Violent by Carolesdaughter) who was like an opening singer for the No Name band who were on tour. The band and soloist hang out, Levi develops feelings and Reader develops feelings. You can make it NSFW or SFW either is fine.

(idky but every time i think about Levi in No Name I think Corpse Husband 💀)

If you don't get to this all good take your time. Thank you so much! 🫶

Smoky room

Levi x fem!reader

Modern AU, fluff, romance, confessions, singer reader and singer Levi.

During practice the day before a big show, Levi confronts you and confesses his feelings.

Note: I only know corpse husband you referenced. To others who don't know one or either, just imagine being a singer like a different band or Levi as well, like Muse, system of a down, Paramore, evanescence.

@ladycheesington @levisbrat25 @nyxiieluna @li-anne @galactict3a @youre-ackermine @thebobaprincess @2moth-anon2 @cypidity @nbinairyn @bts-spnlvr12 @darkstarlight82 @emilyyyy-08 @notgoodforlife @demonic-bird

With a little adjustment to your earpiece, you were finally happy with the sound coming through. "Ah, all good now. Sorry everyone, it just was like a robot."

Levi climbed on stage and sat in a little spot. "Can I listen and watch?"

You blushed a bit. "You can."

Levi leaned back and rested on his forearms as he watched you closely as you performed. He felt his body tingle in pure excitement. The way you sang and moved was incredible. As soon as you were done he clapped for you making you giggle.

You put the mic in place and moved over to him as others cheered for you. "Thank you." You crouched in front of him. "How was that?"

Levi sat up. "You were mesmerising. I'm so glad we asked you to join us."

You smiled as your heart fluttered. "I'm glad too."

He blushed a bit and looked away. "So, uh...you single?"

You nibbled your lip. "Yes. You asking me out?"

He got up and cleared his throat. "Was just uh...asking." He cleared his throat and pointed. "I'm going to get changed and warm up before I'm on for a bit."

You sat there pouting a little. "Damn it." You stood up slowly and huffed. "Maybe next time." You made your way to your room, started removing your makeup and slowly changed into comfy clothes. "I thought he liked me..."

Levi felt like shit. He was going to ask you out, but instead, he panicked and ran off. He whined a bit and knew it was now or never because if he didn't, some other guy was just going to swoop in and confess to you.

He shook off his nerves and stormed through backstage and to your room. He shoved your door open and stared at you. The two of you just stared at each other. Levi just clamped up and couldn't believe how cute and pretty you were.

You pulled him into the room and closed the door behind him. "You okay, handsome?"

Levi pressed you against the door making you gasp. "Slap me if you don't want this."

You frowned. "What are you?"

Levi crashed his lips against yours. He tangled his fingers in your hair and pressed his body against yours. The two of you moaned in delight as you finally kissed after a long time of tension building up. The heat and chemistry between the two of you was electrifying.

He pulled back and panted. "I'm in love with you. I want you."

You gripped his shirt and smiled. "Me too. I want you so much. I adore you. I love you."

Levi tilted his head. "My recent love songs are about you."

You linked your arms around his neck. "Mine too. I wrote so many about you."

Levi picked you up and carried you to your makeup desk. "I guess we're just very lovesick, huh?"

"Yep." You purred. "Stay with me for a bit."

"I'd be happy to."

[oneknightstand-if]

FAQ

(That I just made up because there's no time for questions yet)

446,000 words for the first chapter?!?

(Damn, Tumblr insists on blowing up even small gifs into full size, huh)

I know, I know... that's not going to be sustainable unless we're aiming for the first 6 million word release in history. I'll be streamlining things more from this point onwards.

Is this a standalone or the first book of a series?

It's a series. The first book One Knight Stand will keep going until we finally complete that Lesser Circle of Seven (or die trying) but the apocalypse won't be over yet.

What is with all these wikipedia links in the game?

So I was going to have tooltips that popped up and explained things such as 'greaves' and whatnot like Twine games do… but oops, Choicescript doesn't have that capability. The closest I could do is include a link to a website that explained it.

I decided that wikipedia had the best chance of still being available years from now and have handy explanations to most things I was referencing (so I wouldn't have to chase after broken links when sites go down forevermore).

And then I just started running amok and linking to anything that the player might not know offhand. If you already understand the reference or have no further interest in it, please feel free to just ignore them.

How can I see the code for the game?

You can view the game code on my site the same way you do on Dashingdon just add /scenes to the end of the URL.

Do I need to know anything about King Arthur, Camelot, or random arthurian lore to play this game?

No, you don't need to know anything about it.

You can spend the whole game going "Who is Arthur? What's a Camels-a-lot? What am I even doing here?" as a legit strategy. (You can even play that way if you actually do know stuff about arthuriana.)

If you choose to be an in-game lore expert, it just means your MC is as likely to give an explanation as one of the other characters. However, anything important that the player needs to know will come up in the game itself.

You can also ask the other characters for info dumps on Camelot... and boy, will some of them give you (completely skippable) lore dumps all right.

Hey, this stuff that Merlin's saying about Camelot doesn't jive with what I know!

Maybe that's the difference between what canonically happened in One Knight Stand's backstory. Or maybe Merlin is just gaslighting you.

What's going on with Merlin's pronouns?

If Merlin's pronouns don't fit with the gender that you've chosen for them within the MC's speech or internal narrative, then that's a coding error (please report it).

If another character (say a little girl who's convinced that Merlin is Elsa) is using different pronouns for Merlin than what's expected, then that's simply how that other character is currently perceiving Merlin.

But what pronouns does Merlin prefer?

Merlin doesn't care what human pronouns you use for them. Out-of-universe I'll be using they/them for simplicity's sake (same reason I'll be using 'incubus' instead of typing incubus/succubus the entire time).

What's up with all of Merlin's kaomoji in their text messages and e-mails?

They're a fifth-century mage who's been sealed away for 1500 years... they're *trying*.

 m(✿￣ｰ￣)m plz understand

Why are there so many Merlin questions in this FAQ?

I don't know, it just ended up that way. Probably because they show up in Chapter 1 and have a rather... complex... situation that needs warnings attached to it.

(✿≖ᴗ≖ )ゞ "Naturally, I'm simply the most intriguing member of this party."

Are all RO's available to all MC's?

Your MC won't be blocked from a romance due to gender or sexuality. At most you'll get a passing mention if you're not the gender that the RO usually dates.

There are certain *other* mitigating factors, however... for example not all RO's are going to be kosher with the Serial Killer MC (especially if said MC won't knock off with all the killings).

Also there is one modern day RO that is incompatible with a certain Camelot MC background.

Is there a lock-in point for romances?

No, there will be several points where you can initiate and break-off relationships with the various RO's (and know that the RO's can take take those on and off-ramps just the same as the MC).

You can also romance another character after breaking up with your current RO... but that's going to get tougher and tougher the more you do that.

Can we start a romance in Book 1?

Romances will proceed at a different pace depending on who your MC is romancing (and also on your MC themselves). For example Adrian will be friendzoning you through most of Book 1 for... reasons. Meanwhile, potential sex scene with Merlin in Chapter 3 if you're feeling particularly horny.

Do I need to romance someone to take part in their personal subplot?

No, you just need to be "close" to someone, either platonically, romantically, or otherwise to take part in their subplot. You'll also need to actually be physically present (which will not always be possible for everyone at the same time).

Is there any poly?

In the series, yes, but not in the first book One Knight Stand, as forming the triad will require developing a certain level of trust and loyalty between all three members. And right now everyone is too busy side-eying each other in suspicion at this point.

Thus, since the poly options won't appear until Book 2, saying who is involved would be a *spoiler* since it indicates who'll actually still be available for romance later in the series.

In general, there are three triads that will be available... one is male/male/MC, one is female/female/MC, and one is male/female/MC. Note that there is some overlap in the characters potentially involved in various triads since only a couple of the ROs are interested in this sort of thing.

What about options for flings and friends with benefits--

*points to Merlin*

So... Merlin the incubus as an RO. Can they be romanced monogamously? Can they be romanced asexually?

You can indeed romance Merlin and have them be emotionally monogamous to you as the partner they will always return to while everyone else is a (literal) snack.

But they can't be physically monogamous with the MC. They need to eat and being Merlin's sole food source would literally kill the MC in two weeks or less.

In fact, romanced Merlin is even more likely to seek out other food sources just to make certain that the MC is safe with them and that they won't get too hungry and accidentally eat your soul.

Merlin's nature as an incubus means their sexuality is highly integral to them, and while they will reflect back what their partner wants/needs from them, they are not naturally romantic. Basically if you're not having sex with them, then a high affinity MC is defaulting back to platonic friends.

These are things that are definitely going to be brought up in-game if you try to initiate a long-term romance with Merlin.

Will any other RO have problems with an asexual romance?

Nope, sex can be entirely avoided with all the other RO's, just choose the snuggle options instead of the sex options.

How explicit are we talking here regarding sex scenes?

You'll have the choice between fade to black and something rather more explicit but not full-blown porn. If anything rated higher than that gets included as a DLC option (not part of the base game) will depend upon how much (if any) interest there is in that sort of thing.

Can I romance the saboteur?

You can certainly *think* you are! (Note: This is not recommended for your MC's longevity)

Can I romance the 404 Error?

You can certainly *try*. (You actually have a better chance here than with the actual saboteur.)

Can I romance the dude in the elevator, that random paramedic, or some stranger walking down the street?

( ⓪ ᴗ ⓪ )

So there's only one traitor, right?

There may actually potentially be more than one depending on the MC's actions. But there's always that one particular saboteur present despite whatever else the MC may do.

Will the gender of my past Camelot reincarnation be the same as the one I've chosen in game?

No, there's no connection between your MC's current and past gender (or really their current and past *anything* since they're basically an entirely different person now).

There are four different backgrounds available for the Camelot reincarnation, 2 male and 2 female, so if you end up with a past incarnation you don't like at the end of the game, you can replay for one more suitable to your tastes.

Who are the potential past incarnations of the MC?

That's for you to find out! (No really, this is one of the major subplots of the game).

What is with all these grayed-out options?

Options will be grayed out if they conflict with a previous choice the player made if you haven't fulfilled the prerequisites for unlocking them.

An example would be the "I'm lying about my amnesia" option not being selectable if you didn't chose to have amnesia in the first place. (The exception right now is the fencing & book club choices... I just haven't written those routes yet).

If nearly *all* the options have been grayed out, then usually that's triggered by your fear or vice kicking in or because your MC is literally possessed (Congratulations!). You may want to work on that.

I'm here for the story and not for the trauma… what background choices are least likely to spectacularly blow up in my face later?

In that case, I'd suggest the Lab Technician job, the Imposter secret, Abandoned or Abused as your childhood, Lust as your vice if you're not planning to pursue a long-term relationship with a RO (Sloth if you are), either Heights, Snakes, Spiders, or Closed Spaces as your phobia, avoiding Luck as your talent & avoiding the Internet as your addiction, and finally having Adrian as your close friend.

Not saying that you can't make other choices during the game that'll set you on the path to Hard Mode, but these background choices have the mildest potential repercussions.

I want the full spectacular clusterf*ck experience here! What background should I choose?

The Wrath (Vice), Accident (Childhood), and Serial Killer (Secret) combo is always f̴u̸n̷. The "Lying about my amnesia" secret is also it's own brand of mindtrip as well.

Also, some other options include starting off as a Security Guard as your career, with Fear Itself as your phobia (blood or death are also 'good' options), Luck as your talent, the Internet as your addiction, and of course Adrian as your stalker because obviously we don't need any good relationships to fall back on when playing Among Us.

What is going on with the "lying about your amnesia" option?

What indeed.

If you don't like meta fourth wall breaks or otherwise heavily self insert, you might not want to choose that as your secret.

My MC's skin is pretty dark, is that demonic-bruise thing actually going to be seeable?

Since the bruise being perceivable is an important plot point, then no matter how dark your MC's skin is, that bruise is darker still even if has to become the abiding abyss of a black hole to do so. (I even described it as a black hole in some routes to cover my posterior.)

My MC is intrigued by this agenda of demonic conquest & people-eating and would like to subscribe to their newsletter. Can I join the other side?

Well... there's certainly some Dead Ends where you can do that!

Screw all these people and this forced quest! My MC wants to leave the group and this plot behind.

You can certainly do that. You'll die (since your MC is currently on the top of several different 'Kill on sight' lists), but you can do it.

At some point the MC will be strong enough that they can split from the group and frolic off into their own nonstandard ending adventures in the apocalyptic world while everyone else deals with the whole apocalypse plot thing. But you're nowhere near that point yet.

So the MC can die prematurely here, huh.

Yep, this game is horror-adjacent and you're being given a hundred save slots for a reason. I'll be inputting checkpoints as well once we come to that part. Hopefully Choice of Games will start allowing normal save points in the near future.

Also, please note that all the Dead Ends include clues towards the truth of what's going on here that may otherwise not be knowable, so they're not complete wastes of time. Also, they all give Achievements.

What is a Cloudcuckoolander etc?

Please see this post for all your cloudcuckoolander needs.

What is going on with the Changeling MC?

Please see this post for all your changeling needs.

OMG, what the hell is this monstrosity that is Merlin's Guide to Arthurian Lore?

We're playing Among Us/Werewolf/Mafia/etc here. You aren't getting any word-of-god lore directly from me. That'd be too easy.

All info about the One Knight Stand world will be filtered through the natural biases (and lies) of the characters involved in the game. Hence, Merlin's Guide to Arthurian Lore.

Feel free to read or ignore, as you like. (Also feel free to text Merlin back and tell them exactly what you think of that doorstop.)

So Why 'Among Us' in the description?

Obviously, it can't be officially marketed like that, but I thought that would be the most popularly recognized description for this type of situation.

I also considered using the OG Mafia or Werewolf instead, but I thought that might've confused people into thinking that there are actual gangsters and werewolves present in the game.

About those werewolves...

No comment.

Are there any guides available?

Here's a link to various guides & info posts available on the Choice of Games thread.

Escaping the Monster Under the Bed

Getting Excalibur Shards

Gaining/Avoiding Corruption

Potential Past Incarnations

Saving & Getting Pippa Killed

Potential Camelot Incarnations

My save slots keep getting stuck in the Status Menu! (or any of the submenus associated with it such as Messages/Inventory/etc)

Unfortunately, that's a common problem with Dashingdon games or any games that use the smPlugin.js save system (like One Knight Stand). You can't save the game directly after checking the stats menu (or any of the submenus associated with the stats menu such as Messages, Inventory, menu). If you do, that save will be permanently stuck in the stats menu for good.

So you either have to...

Save the game before checking the stats menu

After checking the stats menu move the game forward by at least one screen before saving. That means picking an option, hitting the 'Next' button or whatever is currently available in that particular game.

What the hell is going on with Gawain in Merlin's Guide to Arthurian Lore?

So, while I was plotting out One Knight Stand and deciding which version of Arthurian lore would be taken as the "truth" of the OKS world, I looked at Gawain and his five million wives and lovers (because if you were going to create a female OC back then, high probability she's shacking up with Gawain) and then I decided, yes, I'm going to make all of them canon.

The yandere. The other yandere. The one who dosed him with aphrodisiacs. That one who died of heartbreak because he couldn't figure out how to get back to her castle. The cursed baba yaga.

Merlin's cursed ex-lover. [insert Merlin screeching in the background about not having done any such thing] The fairy daughter of Morgana... and that other fairy... and this fairy too.

All of them.

Good luck, Gawain.

[elusivecagedmockingbird]

High

[seokjin x reader] [1.3k+ angst, smut; male masturbation, ‼️ allusions of addiction]

Now That We Don't Talk | Not In The Same Way | Not Warriors

I hope you think of me highly When you're with someone else

-

Seokjin didn't mean to be so invested in the news. He only turned the television on as background noise in his eerily silent apartment.

But seeing your live interview aired on the channel has him sitting on the couch, listening intently to every word you say; waiting for the cameras to pan on your face.

You were always beautiful, but lately, you've been radiant.

He wonders if it has anything to do with your new relationship.

Or maybe just being finally rid of him.

He knows the last months of your relationship weren't smooth-sailing. Truth is, he was lost during those times—often blacked out. He was living high on the celebrity life. He faked his confidence during parties until he no longer had to—of course, with the aid of alcohol and something more.

If only he stayed with you on those nights and rejected the invites when he knew it was getting too much, too fast.

But everything was so new and captivating to him. And he was still an impressionable human being, he wouldn't deny that. Always curious and goes out of his way to dissolve the tension—in the end, everything backfired.

In the worst possible way.

Seokjin's ears perk up at the mention of his name. The host referencing your humble beginnings.

'Oh. Seokjin-ssi and I are pursuing different roles in the industry, I believe. But yes, if a project with him is offered, I would love to work with him. I'm always in awe of his films and regard him highly as an actor.'

At this, his head hangs low and lets out a bitter smile.

He hopes you were telling the truth. He hopes you truly and still think of him highly. Though he's sure if you meet again, he wouldn't be greeted with eyes staring back at him with glimmer and hope, like he could hang the moon if you asked him to. He hopes you remember him when he was at his best and not the Seokjin you left.

And if he happens to be the topic of discussion between you and your lover, he hopes you talk about him like a fond memory.

Moreso, he hopes you still defend him to your friends. They didn't exactly hide how they feel towards him the last time they met at a red carpet event. It was just days after your breakup.

He knew he still had you then. It was because he still had you wrapped around his finger that he thought he would never lose you despite him falling off the wagon again and again and again.

He remembers the spiteful words hurled at him as they tore a tipsy you from his arms. Their words fell on his deaf ears back then and now he gives himself a hard time for not listening. He remains guilty over a lot of things that happened that night. But he will never regret the brief moment he shared with you.

You two are sneaking off from the show like old times, escaping to a room booked under a made-up person, and just spending the remainder of the night in each other's company.

Seokjin slowly palms himself as he closes his eyes at the vivid memory. Every skin he kissed and nipped was so soft—your fragrance so intoxicating, but he thinks that could've just been your pheromones. You were always sweet. He licks his lips at the remembrance of your arousal flowing into his tongue. His wet tongue prodding your warm tight walls.

He wouldn't admit it out loud, but you were the reason he always bought cranberry juice—the taste is likened to your clit.

Throwing his head back in the headrest with a groan, Seokjin pulls his sweatpants down to his pants to free his touch-starved cock. He spits on his palm and strokes his member up and down, up and down, all while thinking how you felt that night.

He almost goes soft at the thought that another man held you now; another man feeling you up, making love to you, whispering sweet nothings as you both reach ecstasy.

Does your new lover know how feral you go with a soft nip to your clit? Or how you want your thighs spanked when you're nearing your climax? Can your boyfriend make you cum twice with just his fingers? And when you release, does he know when to pull you in for a kiss—swallowing your whimpers and in return, his tongue would deliver whispered declarations of love.

Seokjin sighs out your name and speeds up his hands on his dick. In a lustful haze, he thinks he can almost taste you. He must be going crazy because he also thinks he heard you whisper in his ear.

I love you, Jin

And that unravels him—toes curling and hips bucking upwards. His cock spurts out strings of cum that landed on his fist and pubic. If you were here, you would lick him clean as if his arousal tasted like your favorite ice cream.

He closes his eyes and imagines you—kneeled infront of him, tongue out and flat for him to clean his cock on. He continues to tug at his cock, milking himself dry.

Fuck. He feels like a pervert fantasizing about an ex girlfriend. Seokjin hadn't been in relationships a lot, but you remain to be the only one who reverts him to his hormonal teenage boy phase. He truly lucked out on you.

Clearing out his lewd thoughts, he thanks whatever god or spirit exists that allows him to keep his thoughts to himself.

-

This is the fourth time his call goes straight to your voicemail.

He wonders if you ever listen to the messages he left. It was probably for the best if you ignored it. Most messages were drunken pleas and booty calls. But this time, he's not calling to bother you, he swears.

Out of all the people who got hurt from his carelessness, you were the one who shouldn’t have and yet came out crushed and wounded.

Seokjin stands in the empty complex—what used to be filled with love and the epitome of home is now barren and cold. He almost cries again at the thought that the next time he comes back here, you won't be welcoming him home. Hell, even the scent on your pillow had faded away. You made sure to clear out all of your things from what once was your shared home, obliterating any shred of evidence that you lived together.

There was a time he gave in to his weakness—he bought a bottle of your perfume and sprayed it in every room. Sadly, it never smelled the same. It lacked you. He baked the same cookies you fed him on your free days, but it never tasted as sweet as yours.

In the middle of the room, Seokjin wades in his sea of regret.

His grip on the phone tightens. He rings you again. One last time, he bargains. Please answer just this once.

It goes to your voicemail.

Clearing his throat, Seokjin wonders how to fit his words within a 30-second recording. This is the last time he could call you in a long time. So, he tries.

"Y/N, it's J-ji-. It's Seokjin. I just really needed you to know that I'm sorry," he chokes. He quickly breathes air into his lungs so as not to lose a second. "I'm going to be away for a while. My agency's putting me in a care center. A-and I want to do this, too. I'm going to get better, I promise. Y/N, you know I still lo-"

Beep

Seokjin swallows the remaining words. It's probably for the best that he was cut off. You were already with someone else.

He can't help feeling bitter and jealous. But he also knows he gave up his right to do something about it the moment he walked away, and you were a saint to tolerate him for so long.

Resignation is the least he could do.

-

[chuuyrr]

okay okay idea!

so, gojo reader, right?

gojo reader who has a clash with the volcano headed curse like from the anime! gojo reader who shows off her skills to her lover (for this ask i’d say dazai and chuuya ofc!) once more with her infinite void technique, aka, domain expansion.

for this cross over i’d assume that domain expansion is something only she, and those in contact with the “gods” can use. feel free to tweak this idea however you see fit though!!

limitless

bungou stray dogs x gojo! reader

masterlist of infinity

╰➤ CW(s): major spoilers for jujutsu kaisen (gojo satoru's infinite void is used by gojo! reader, but not as a domain expansion, and gojo's fight against jogo is referenced), mentions of blood and violence, and jealous! dazai

╰➤ PAIRING(s): dazai x reader, chuuya x reader (separately)

hello, anon!! thank you so much for the idea. not gonna lie, i've been waiting for someone to request gojo! reader use infinite void so i could write about it. im also terribly sorry for the long wait, i struggled polishing it!! enjoy reading ♡

before you read: instead of a curse (since curses and cursed techniques aren't present in my bungou stray dogs x reader), i'm making the volcano head curse "jogo" as someone who's just like lovecraft in a sense. basically not a curse nor human.

nakahara chuuya !

chuuya arrived unexpectedly with his motorcycle after you had just finished work. chuuya coming to pick you up was unusual given the distance between yokohama and tokyo, as well as both of your jobs. in any case, you were delighted to be picked up by your boyfriend, especially after a long day of irritating the higher-ups.

nothing beats riding a motorcycle with chuuya beneath a moonlit sky, alone together as you two passed through a forest.

"you good?"

chuuya caught a glimpse of you as he drove you and him, noticing how your body was slumped against his back, arms wrapped around his waist, and face pressed against the back of his shoulder.

"yeah, it's just that the higher-ups were a pain in the ass earlier," you grumbled, "they all kept blabbering about self-righteousness shit during the meeting, it's really annoying."

"so you deal with that kind of stuff everyday huh?" chuuya asked with sympathy, "my poor baby."

"yup," you nodded, "and i know what you're thinking. why the hell am i staying at heiwa then? when i can like, i don't know, get a different job maybe—" just as you were about to finish your sentence, you noticed something approaching you and your boyfriend at blinding speed even with your six eyes covered.

you suddenly tightened your grip on chuuuya's waist. chuuya would have jumped if he wasn't driving the motorcycle right now, but before he could question you, you and him teleported away from the motorcycle.

chuuya looked at you and you two were now meters from the grounds right now with wide eyes. not because he is afraid of heights or anything since his ability is literally gravity manipulation, but it was because you had him by the waist.

"[name], what was that for?!" chuuya exclaimed, a little perplexed by how your arm was still wrapped around his waist before his eyes fell to see his motorcycle above go straight into the railings on the side of the road, "my bike!"

the motorcycle, which had no riders, had exploded from a fiery shot of magma from a distance, leaving chuuya's mouth agape.

you pointed casually at the motorcycle that had just been blown to smithereens, "that's why."

"y-you saw that coming?" chuuya sweat dropped, looking at you with wide eyes.

you nodded and drew half of your blindfold upward to look at the volcano-headed creature that had formed itself beneath you and chuuya with a single crystalline blue eye, "six eyes, remember babe?" you asked calmly.

"what is that thing?" chuuya narrowed his eyes.

it had a humanoid shape and a short elderly-like man physique due to its hunchback posture. the top of its head resembled a mountain, specifically a volcano like mount fuji. the creature had gray skin, but the top of his head was brown where the volcanic opening was. he also had a single cycloptic eye, two brown corks on the sides of his head that appeared to be plugging his ears, and a mouthful of disgusting black teeth.

he wore an all-black ensemble that included a loose shirt with quarter-length sleeves, matching pants and shoes, a green spotted cape, and a white scarf.

"i honestly have no idea." you shrugged as you lowered yourself and chuuya down about a meter away from the volcano-headed creature who was grinning darkly at you, finally letting go of your boyfriend's waist before taking a protective step in front of him.

"who are you, huh?!" chuuya scowled at the volcano-headed creature, the red glow of his ability activating surrounded his body, "do you even know who we are, shithead?"

"i'm after gojo [name], human." he answered gruffly, earning a surprised look from chuuya.

"human?" chuuya was surprised, but he had his doubts in the first place. indeed, he was anything but human.

"aww, so you're pursuing after me?~ how cute! i'm gonna have to decline though since you're not my type." you exclaimed enthusiastically, clasping both of your hands together with a smile, "this is nakahara chuuya-kun! my devilishly handsome boyfriend."

the volcano-headed creature scowled angrily at you before a swarm of insects flew out of the opening of his volcano on top of his head. "ember insects!"

with that, a swarm of insects with large stingers lunged at you at breakneck speed, catching chuuya off guard as a loud noise emitted upon impact before detonating into a flaming explosion, the ground beneath cracking from the force.

as smoke erupted, the volcano-headed humanoid creature laughed maniacally, "and they said you were the strongest ability user alive?" he exclaimed, his shoulders shaking with laughter, "hah! you can't fool me!"

"oh, but i'm not fooling you at all." you stated.

the volcano-headed creature's cycloptic eye widened as the smoke from the explosion cleared, revealing you calmly standing there with your hands shoved inside the pockets of your black miniskirt, still in one piece together with your boyfriend.

"you've got some nerve to doubt my girlfriend." chuuya smirked. god did he love seeing your infinity in action. chuuya wasn't going to lie, but he had a heart attack when the insects swarmed you two only to discover they had impacted your infinity.

the volcano-headed creature took a step back, his mouth agape in surprise, before scoffing. he then attacked in all directions with the same blinding speed as you and chuuya maneuvered through his attacks.

chuuya couldn't help but notice that the volcano-headed creature seemed to be more interested in you than in him. he not only knew who you were, but he was determined to kill you for whatever reason. it was useless, just as the volcano-headed creature fired highly concentrated flames left and right, and even from above. you used your limitless' infinity to render his attacks useless.

"this cannot be! i hit you! i should have hit the two of you!" exclaimed the volcano-headed creature, irritated that you and chuuya were unharmed despite his barrage of attacks.

"you didn't touch me; you touched the infinity that exists between you and me," you explained, sighing deeply as you waved off the smoke produced by the collision of his flames and your infinity. "and for your information, infinity exists everywhere," you said to the perplexed creature.

you began to reverse a compressed ball of infinity that glowed dangerously red by lifting your index finger in the air. "limitless: reversal red."

the divergence of your limitless' infinity produced an extremely powerful repulsive force, repelling the volcano-headed creature so powerfully that he was sent flying towards the forest beyond the road, destroying hundreds of trees and causing the ground to crack and form a massive crater. the volcano-headed creature was eventually sent flying to a lake deep within the forest, and you followed him, bringing chuuya with you.

you and chuuya were now standing on top of the body of water, which baffled him slightly. you watched your boyfriend lift and lower his foot. he wasn't sinking, he thought, but he also didn't feel light because he wasn't using his gravity manipulation ability at all.

chuuya exclaimed, blinking profusely as he stared at you, "we're literally standing on water."

"it's cool, right?" you asked, tipping the side of your head as you smiled at chuuya.

"this reminds me of my ability as well, but i can only make it appear as if i'm walking on water," chuuya said, nodding.

"my infinity is the same. in fact, the two of us are stepping on infinity. it just looks like we're standing on water, and that's actually the case while we were in mid-air earlier," you explained before your smile faded into a smirk, "you wouldn't mind if i showed you something even cooler, right?"

"what?" chuuya raised a brow at you. you can do something greater than your infinity, amplified blue, reversal red, and hollowed purple?

"oi, mount fuji-san!" you turned to face the volcano-headed creature, which had now recovered from your attack, "you good? you took quite the blow!"

"you dare insult me, gojo [name]?" a nerve snapped from the volcano-headed creature, his cycloptic eye deepening into an angry glare, especially when you burst out laughing.

your mocking words rolled off your tongue, "you'll be fine. after all, you're weak."

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME YOU STUPID BRAT!" the volcano-headed creature was enraged. the brown corks covering his ears flew away as flames erupted from them, as did the volcano on top of his head, "I'M GOING TO ENJOY SWALLOWING UP THAT SMUG FACE OF YOURS!"

a large number of highly concentrated flames had flooded the entire area, practically burning the trees and heating the water beneath your and chuuya's feet.

chuuya scoffed at you, "you just had to make him angry, [name]."

chuuya's response made you laugh as lava and rocks engulfed the entire area, completely drying up the water. everything was now practically on fire. chuuya felt as if he was in hell with you and that literal hot-headed creature because the temperature in the atmosphere was so high. he even had to take a step closer to you to avoid a burst of magma.

"THERE WON'T EVEN BE ASHES LEFT OF YOU, GOJO [NAME]!"

even when your enemy promised you death, you remained unbothered. that isn't the first threat you've received, after all. when you first met, your boyfriend literally threatened you because you ambushed and stole from port mafia. you held your ground as chuuya stood beside you until you reached for and took hold of your blindfold.

you smirked and drew it down to your neck, aligning your hand across your chest, curving your middle finger over your index finger.

"limitless: infinite void."

you had brought your target along with chuuya inside a domain, particularly the limitless itself, as the words rolled off your tongue. chuuya stared in awe as his and your surroundings had transformed into a vast void.

it was both beautiful and terrifying, especially when they turned their attention to the volcano-headed creature who happened to be your target. he was frozen in place, and it appeared as if he had seen and heard things, which he had.

"what is this, [name]? where are we?" chuuya asked, swallowing hard as he eyed his surroundings.

"this is the inner world of limitless. it's something i have access to due to my connection with sugawara michizane," you explained, sauntering towards the volcano-headed creature, the heels of your boots clicking in the process as you left chuuya's side, "and right now, every actions he takes are forced upon him infinitely."

"infinitely?" chuuya asked in confirmation.

"ironic, isn't it?" you asked monotonously, tipping your head to the side as you stared at the frozen volcano-headed creature with a dark glaze over your glowing blue eyes, "when granted everything, you can't do anything."

chuuya was then taken aback by a sinister smile on your face and he couldn't seem to adore your crystalline blue six eyes especially after what happened next.

you twisted the head you were clutching tightly only to yank it upwards with such effortless yet brute force with your bare hand, ruthlessly decapitating the volcano-headed creature with its neck completely twisted as the entire body fell.

chuuya was so shocked that it took him a moment to realize he was no longer in the limitless but had returned to reality. he watched your sinister smile fade as you slowly pulled your blindfold back on your eyes, but not until you gazed at the decapitated head on the ground into which you had dug the heel of your thigh-high boot.

your boyfriend was not going to lie to you. that was fucking terrifying. sure, you were hot when you were all scary and angry, but there was something about you that made chuuya doubt it was you for a second, and all he could say was "holy shit."

"[name]?" chuuya sauntered towards you, carefully approaching you, "you there?"

"whoops, sorry," you laughed as you looked up at chuuya before snapping back to reality and kicking the decapitated head that was still alive. "got lost in the moment for a second there."

"that was in the moment?!" chuuya cried out in disbelief, "but you.. that was.." he fumbled over his words, struggling to construct a sentence.

"i get carried away sometimes." you scratched the back of your neck while sticking out your tongue at him.

"i mean, i guess i get carried away too sometimes, but you were... how do i put this.." chuuya admitted, breathing out as he stared at you with wide eyes that were both scared and filled with admiration.

"you think i'm hot?" at chuuya's remark, your lips curved into a devious smile as you winked and placed a hand on your hip, watching a blush spread across his cheekbones.

"w-what kind of question is that?!" chuuya screamed, turning away from you and folding his arms across his chest, only to grumble a quiet response.

"of course i do.. idiot."

despite being a little spooked out earlier, chuuya definitely fell harder and was most definitely turned on.

dazai osamu ! (with kunikida third-wheeling)

your boyfriend was leaning against your shoulder while you sat comfortably in the backseat with him, and perhaps kunikida was scowling at dazai because why the hell was he showing pda in the middle of work. in any case, you and dazai ignored kunikida's reprimand and continued to stay put.

since the said assignment had something to do with another whole humans and supernatural entities experiment type of shit, dazai and kunikida were assigned to conduct an investigation with you being sent to help and gather information for heiwa.

while kunikida continued to converse with dazai, who was responding with funny yet joking banters to irritate him, you noticed something approaching you, dazai, and kunikida at blinding speed.

even if dazai slumped over you and made full physical contact with you, your six eyes were an ability he couldn't nullify with his touch. you gently pushed dazai away from you and leaned towards the driver's seat, your voice dead serious, unable to dismiss the now looming danger you saw from outside the vehicle.

"stop the car."

with that, kunikida, almost in a panic, stepped on the brakes, nearly recoiling from the impact if it weren't for the seatbelt on him; meanwhile, dazai's face planted onto the seat in front of him due to his lack of a seatbelt.

dazai groaned and stroked his face before looking at you and kunikida, "ugh.. what was that about?"

"why did you ask me to stop the car?" kunikida furrowed his brows and adjusted his glasses, which had almost fallen off.

"get out of the car, now." you demanded, immediately busting the door open.

kunikida and dazai were quick to follow. you immediately took hold of their arms and tackled them away from the vehicle as soon as the three of you stepped outside. a fiery explosion erupted from afar, completely incinerating the car. kunikida held a terrified look, while dazai's eyes widened with interest and surprise.

after the three of you got back on your feet, dazai blinked at you as you calmly shoved your hands into the pockets of your black mini skirt.

"i'm holder of the six eyes, remember, darling?" your lips curved into a half-smirk, "the six eyes allows me to see things even kilometers away, it not only gives me great processing power, but also vast perception."

"six eyes? that's right.. your six eyes aren't an ability. it works even if dazai is touching you," kunikida explained as he dusted his clothes.

"very good, kunikida-kun!" you exclaimed, clasping both of your hands together and pressing them against your cheek, "now, you and dazai be a dear and stay back right now, yeah?"

kunikida and dazai were bewildered, but did as they were told. a humanoid being had appeared from above to attack you, but before it could, you had immediately slid back, dodging the hit but causing a crater in the ground. before they yelled your name, a mound of the wall behind you rose and fired another shot of magma and flames at you, similar to the one from earlier.

the humanoid being chuckled darkly, "well that was easier than i expected."

"what is that thing?" kunikida's eyes widened.

"looks like our investigation decided to come after us, or in this case, after my belladonna," dazai sighed, shaking his head, "that thing isn't an ability user, and it doesn't look human either."

it was humanoid in shape, with a short elderly-like man physique due to its hunchback posture. the top of its head was shaped like a mountain, specifically a volcano like mount fuji. the thing had gray skin, but the top of his head faded into a brown color where the volcanic opening was. he also had a single cycloptic eye, two brown corks on the sides of his head that appeared to be plugging his ears, and disgusting black teeth.

lastly, he wore an all-black outfit consisting of a loose shirt with quarter-length sleeves, matching pants and shoes, a green spotted cape over that, and a white scarf.

you stood on top of the burnt up ground, your hands shoved in the pockets of your black miniskirt, "who are you calling easy?" you quipped, tilting your head at the thing that had just attacked you.

"did i wound your pride?" the volcano-headed creature asked you mockingly.

a grin made its way to your lips as you took out both of your hands and popped them, "nope, i'm starting to find this fun actually."

"ember insects!"

at that instant, the volcano-headed humanoid creature released insects that swarmed you in an instant, resulting in another fiery explosion followed by a loud noise.

kunikida and dazai stood back and watched as he attacked you aimlessly with fire-based attacks from all directions, fracturing the ground solely with his immense power. it's no surprise you told them to back off.

dazai wasn't concerned while kunikida was sweating bullets, wondering if you were still alive when the thing lit your head in flames, fearfully watching your body stagger in a spin.

okay, maybe dazai was concerned because your entire head was flames and didn't appear to be blocked by your infinity. but you couldn't possibly be dead. right? right?!

"hehehe, that was the gojo [name]? the limitless ability user everyone feared?" kunikida and dazai turned towards the volcano-headed humanoid creature that was now sauntering towards them and grinning maniacally.

"again with this!" you said as the smoke from the curse's attacks dissipated, just as dazai and kunikida prepared to bite back a response.

with you sighing deeply, the three of them turned around to face you, waving off leftover smoke. the volcano-headed humanoid creature didn't appear to be happy as kunikida sighed in relief and dazai proudly grinned at you. as he came to a halt on his tracks, his cycloptic eye shrank with visible rage.

"is this a joke?" the creature scowled, disbelievingly staring at you, "you should have been dead! i touched you! i killed you myself!"

"no, you didn't touch me." you exclaimed, shrugging your shoulders before bringing your thumb and index finger incredibly close with a small gap in between, "you touched the infinity between us."

"what the hell are you talking about?!" he huffed, heavily breathing out his growing rage.

your face was bright and happy as you leaned forward and outstretched your hand towards him, "i'll show you then! come on, come on!"

kunikida looked at you, puzzled, but dazai couldn't help but dramatically gasp as you insisted on touching hands with this.. with this vile creature that didn't even look human!

"oi, what are you doing belladonna?!" dazai began, only getting his head smacked by kunikida, "ow!"

"don't interrupt gojo and whatever that thing is!" kunikida reprimanded him, scoffing.

"but just look at [name]-chan, kunikida-kun!" dazai huffed, stomping his feet while pointing at you, "she's clearly flirting with him! i may have done so in the past, but i don't anymore!"

"and that's what you get for flirting with women in the past!" kunikida grabbed him by the collar, violently shaking him to get dazai to take a grip.

while kunikida and dazai were arguing, the volcano-headed humanoid creature had finally agreed. he extended his hand towards yours, intending to touch it, but it abruptly came to a halt, much to his surprise. there was that unseen force between your hand and his that shrunk his cycloptic eye.

"see?" you giggled at his reaction before speaking in a deep yet enticing voice that made kunikida stop shaking dazai's head in your direction, "we could even shake hands like this you know?~"

kunikida watched his colleague turn ghostly pale, a betrayed and surprised expression on his face, "[NAME]-CHAN?!"

you ignored dazai's reactions and continued to press your hands against the volcano-headed creature, particularly your fingers.

you had deactivated your infinity just as he was distracted by the shocking revelation of your limitless ability, and with that, you intertwined your hands with him, but tightly. you then jabbed your freehand at him, causing the volcano-headed creature to cough up purple blood.

you attacked him with your free hand while holding his other, smirking, "there's still more!" you then let go of him while he was in mid-air. you thrusted your leg and kicked him, making sure the heel of your thigh-high boots dug into him before launching him into a crater you'd created from your frenzied attacks on him.

kunikida and dazai were taken aback. they'd seen you fight before, especially given how much you enjoyed hand-to-hand combat, but dazai was mostly turned on. when you were fighting chuuya in the past, you weren't all that aggressive on him. it was such a sight that he forgot he was supposed to be jealous in the first place, but that wasn't all you could do.

"infinity exists everywhere," you began, calmly stepping towards the volcano-headed humanoid creature that was attempting to rise after being brutally pummeled by your bare hands and kick alone, "and my limitless ability makes that concept a reality."

with a smirk on your face, dazai watched breathlessly as you took hold of your blindfold and pulled it down to your neck. you peered down at the volcano-headed creature, your beautiful crystalline blue eyes revealed, and mockingly laughed, "not only are you too dumb to not understand that, but you're weak."

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME YOU BRAT!!"

just as the volcano-headed creature got back up and was now burning in a red haze of fury literally speaking, you flitted your eyes up towards kunikida, and then towards dazai, who you winked at, catching him off guard and turning his cheekbones pink.

as you teleported in front of dazai and kunikida, you brought your hand close to your chest with your middle finger curved over your index finger, making sure to keep a good distance away from your lover so that he could not nullify your ability.

you had activated the arsenal of your limitless ability before the volcano-headed creature could lash out all his rage at you, your boyfriend, and kunikida, and just as he was about a good meter away from you.

"limitless: infinite void."

you had brought your target along with kunikida and dazai you remained a good distance with you inside a domain, particularly inside the limitless itself, as the words rolled off your tongue. kunikida and dazai gazed in awe as their surroundings had transformed into a vast void. it was both beautiful and terrifying, especially when they turned their attention to the volcano-headed creature who happened to be your target. they were taken aback. it appeared as if the volcano-headed creature had seen and heard things.

"where are we?" dazai inquired, taking a deep breath and continuing to scan his surroundings with kunikida.

this was something truly terrifyingly beautiful. he'd never seen anything like your ability before. it was dark but peaceful.

"we're inside the limitless," you explained, sauntering towards the volcano-headed creature, your boots clicking in the process, "perception communication. the actions he is taking are infinitely forced upon him."

"what does that exactly mean, gojo?" kunikida pushed his glasses further to his nose.

"it means [name]-chan's target will be able to see and feel everything while not being able to see or feel anything at the same time," dazai deduced perfectly with wide eyes and a smile across his face, "and they can't do anything but die slowly."

"just what kind of ability do you possess, gojo?" kunikida's face darkened as you placed your hand on top of the volcano-headed creature, grasping the mountain-like shape on his head.

"something only i, or perhaps anyone in contact with gods like sugawara michizane, can use," you explained, prompting kunikida and dazai to look at you almost worriedly as your voice abruptly became emotionless. "and right now, you are standing before the presence of his descendant."

you tightened your grip on the vile creature's head, causing a horrible shiver ran down dazai and kunikida's spine before their stomach dropped.

as the following event occurred, the ominous aura you were emitting worsened. you had violently twisted the head only to yank it upwards with such effortless yet brute force using your bare hand, ruthlessly decapitating the volcano-headed creature with its neck completely twisted as the entire body fell, smiling sinisterly throughout it all.

as it's now decapitated head rolled across the ground, you grabbed your blindfold once more, pulling it tighter and covering your eyes, breaking down the domain. you then stepped on the head, stomping your heel against it, and stared at it with a single uncovered frightening eccentric blue eye, your blindfold only covering half of it with the way you were holding it.

the more dazai thought about seeing you in this light, the more he realized you are exactly like him. you're like a coin with two sides, and what they saw earlier was your cold-blooded side.

you may have had control over this ability, the but it caused you to have a different vibe for a brief moment. it reminded dazai of chuuya when he was using corruption and wasn't himself. while chuuya was attacking in a frenzy of instinct with no intention of stopping, you simply stopped being human. you become incredibly aggressive in a frighteningly alluring way, displaying no emotion. to be more specific, frighteningly beautiful and dangerously strong.

when you fully covered your eyes with your blindfold, all of that seemed to fade away in an instant. you then thrust your leg forward, skillfully kicking the decapitated head in the air like a soccer ball.

"would you guys like to play soccer while we interrogate him?" you joked, giggling as you looked down at the decapitated head yelling at you to stop kicking him around like a ball.

"sometimes i forget how scary gojo can be..." kunikida sighed and shook his head before turning to face his colleague, "oi, dazai. are you even listening to me?!"

"you truly deserve the name belladonna. a beautiful lady, but a deadly poison at the same time!" dazai exclaimed dramatically, exaggerating by placing a hand to his chest only to run and kneel before you with his other free hand reaching for you, completely ignoring kunikida, "ahh~ i've just fallen for you even more my dear!"

"stop flirting in front of me, you stupid brats!" yelled the decapitated volcano head, "you two disgust me and stop kicking me!"

"you're just jealous that i'm her boyfriend and all you got was being able to hold hands with her!" dazai retorted, causing you and kunikida to sweat as he stood up and wrapped his arms around you tightly.

"oh, so you were jealous?~" you had a smug look on your face as you stopped tugging on dazai's hair and instead took hold of it to pull him close to your face.

"maybe just a little." dazai grumbled and pressed his cheek against yours.

"are you two done flirting with each other?!" kunikida exclaimed, glaring at you and dazai before stomping, "you two do realize our car burned down and we still have to question that.. that thing you're stepping on!"

"let's just give up on our assignment then!" dazai suggested cheerfully, radiating rainbows and sunshine.

"i agree with osamu, kunikida-kun!" you nodded, giving kunikida a peace sign while wrapping your arm around dazai's shoulder.

with that, you and dazai both got smacked on the head, and you ended up grumbling about it because dazai nullified your infinity due to his physical contact with you.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

[death-himself]

ok episode 6 thoughts

decent episode, doesn't top episodes 4 or 5 for me but it was good

kronos being portrayed by his headmaster is an interesting choice

the iris message is so much blurrier than I always imagined i'm crying

144p iris message you would think it would be clearer but nope that's so funny to me

with how involved rick is with the show that means that's always what he imagined iris messaging looking like I can't iris messaging is ruined for me

we didn’t get percy talking to the zebra T-T it’s fine tho i forgot that even happened in the book until i checked after watching

their whole conversation while watching the animals escape i love them

their chemistry is perfect in this episode

THE LOTUS CASINO HAS A ROLLER COASTER WHAT

i get people wanted poker face, but the dua lipa song is perfect, it’s like a slightly more modern version

i don’t know fashion throughout the centuries so i can’t really say anything about the costume designs, but i kinda wish there were more obviously out of place outfits in the lotus

is augustus mentioned at all in the books? i don’t remember a satyr named augustus so i guess he was made just for the tv series?

luring grover in with pan is a cool change

grover slowly losing his memory was played pretty well

i keep getting impressed by how good these kids are as actors

i honestly don’t know why people hate on lin manuel miranda so much, i think he made for a pretty good hermes this episode

but also the way they’re portraying hermes feels a little bit off?? i don’t really know how but something didn’t feel right about his character

i do feel like he’s the most “human” out of the gods introduced so far, and i think that came through pretty well

“to be so close to someone you love, knowing neither of you has any choice but to keep hurting each other?” that line is just-

as someone with a really complicated relationship with my dad that line just hurt goddamn

the flashback percy had??? i feel like that line doesn’t 100% relate to percy and sally’s relationship, but i see how that’d be how percy would feel

unless i’m dumb and that was referencing his relationship with poseidon lol

ok the end of their talk with hermes i wanna talk about that a bit

parenting sometimes being watching your kid struggle and being powerless to stop it: completely true

“we’re all just doing the best we can” now that’s some godly bullshit

the difference between that first quote and gods being parents is that they’re literally capable of doing anything

they could be more present in their kids lives, they just CHOOSE not to, that’s how it works in the books

sure it’s coming from a place where he thinks interacting will only make things worse but???

i can’t articulate my thoughts, i liked this scene tho, my thoughts on hermes are mixed as they should be

ANNABETH STEALING HERMES’S KEYS

“i’m multi-talented” I LOVE HER

percy forgetting grover felt so unsettling to me

hermes driving a taxi so real

percy trying to drive, i’m not gonna lie, that scene went on a little too long for me, but i was laughing the whole time so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ok percy getting 4 pearls instead of 3??? idk why but that change pissed me off

i paused to get out the book, and i guess it makes more sense then hades just deciding to return her

but at the same time there’s the line in the prophecy, he’s supposed to leave her in the underworld for that part of the prophecy

are they just going to end up accidentally breaking one of the pearls or trading it or something? that’s the only way i can see that still working out

i feel like these episode reviews always turn out sounding more negative than positive, but i swear i’m enjoying the hell out of this series, i just have trouble articulating joy lol

[broodwolf221]

meta that's mostly about vivienne and her pro-circle views, but also touches on both sera and anders. I love them all and that shows, none of this is character hate, but I'm trying to explore the nuance at play here

adding character hate on this post will get you blocked

cws: mentions of the following: abuse; starvation; murder

obviously sera and vivienne are very, very different from each other... but I think one important commonality between them is a desire to avoid anarchy as a solution

sera doesn't want the red jennies to become a new political power - she wants to keep the current batch of nobles on edge, knowing that the "red jenny" may come for them if they fuck up too much. she also doesn't want to take out all the current nobles bc she knows that new ones will rise to take their place. she hates the nobles, but she also sees how an anarchist revolution would harm the very people she cares about, those she's trying to help as a red jenny

vivienne doesn't want to abolish the circles, but she also doesn't want to permit the abuses within them... but she, quite realistically, views the destruction of the chantry/subsequent vote for the dissolution of the circles as an inciting factor in the mage-templar war

anders' actions gave people new and immediate reason to fear mages. whether he was right to do it or not - and I tend to think he was - does not preclude it having consequences, even those that directly harm the very group he was trying to liberate

further, the function of the circles as a place for mages to train is necessary, and is also why I personally tend to feel a little uncomfortable with direct parallels being made to rl groups. no minority or oppressed group in rl can accidentally burn down the family barn because they get upset. I'm all for ppl making these connections if that works for them, but I always look at things first and foremost as existing within their canon context, not referencing reality outside of it

with that in mind... training mages is necessary. they need to be able to avoid possession, to learn to control their abilities, etc. does it need to be in a circle tower? no! ofc not! but there does need to be a form of training

vivienne sees the circles as fulfilling that role. the dissolution of them plunged mages into uncertainty - the anarchy she is so opposed to. who will train new mages now? how will they even be discovered?

in banter with dorian, sera once mentions a mage who got picked up by the templars, so he's "better now." dorian reacted with shock, asking if she knew what the southern circles are like, and she replied that he got three square meals a day, a cot. and he wouldn't starve or be killed in the street, both of which she'd seen

this isn't saying circles are the ideal, because they have abuses occurring within them too. the one in kirkwall seemed to be the worst, but we can't know the extent of it in every circle throughout time. it is, however, a place with a severe power imbalance and stark controls placed upon people as a matter of course

it is also the current and only solution within a large part of thedas. without it, what will happen to those kids who get mad and burn a building down? will the non-mages around them be kind, or will they be brutal? will they be able to turn them over to rogue apostates?

this is the problem with anarchy imo - some systems absolutely deserve to be destroyed, but there are a LOT of people who are going to fall through the cracks in an anarchist revolution

so, tl;dr: anders was right. and vivienne is right. circles are bad, but they are also the only system in place rn. and sera and vivienne have an anti-anarchy pov that they share, which is very interesting to me.