#offensive magics work the same basically

[wendichester]

˙✧˖° 🫧 ⋆｡˚ skincare,

summary. your skincare time is also dean's time.

pairing. dean winchester x reader

wordcount. 569.

The soft hum of water running in the sink was the only sound in the dimly lit bathroom. Dean leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, watching as you went through your nightly skincare routine. His gaze wasn’t casual—it never was when it came to you.

He’d seen you do a million things—reading, working out, cooking—but this? This intrigued him the most. No matter how tired you were, no matter how long or rough the day had been, you never skipped it. Even after hours tangled up in bed together, your skin glowing with the aftermath of love, you’d still pad into the bathroom, tie your hair back, and start working through your little bottles.

Dean couldn’t understand it. But damn, he loved watching you.

You caught his reflection in the mirror and smirked. “Enjoying the show?”

“Just... fascinated,” he replied, his lips quirking into a smirk. “You’re half-asleep, and you’re still doing this. What’s in those things, anyway? Magic potions?”

“It’s not weird,” you shot back, massaging something into your face. “It’s self-care. You should try it.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I’ll pass. Not exactly manly, sweetcheeks.”

You turned to him, arms crossed, one brow arched. “Oh, please. You coat your hands in motor oil daily. This is basically the same, just less greasy and smells better.”

Dean laughed, shaking his head. “No offense, sweetheart, but me and fancy creams don’t mix.”

You stepped closer, your hands already reaching for him. “Sit,” you ordered, pointing to the closed toilet lid.

“Bossy,” he muttered, though he obeyed, sitting with an exaggerated sigh.

“Close your eyes,” you instructed, squeezing cleanser onto your fingers.

“Not sure about this,” Dean hesitated for a moment but then complied, his long lashes fluttering shut. The first touch of your hands against his face made his shoulders tense, but you moved gently, massaging the cleanser into his skin with a tenderness he wasn’t used to.

“Relax,” you murmured, your thumbs gliding over his cheekbones. “It’s just me.”

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, his body melting into your touch. As you moved through the steps, applying toner, serum, and moisturizer, Dean felt something foreign—a strange mix of vulnerability and comfort.

“Hard to relax when someone’s this close to my face,” he murmured, though his tone was soft.

The products smelled nice, sure, and the cool sensation was refreshing, but what really struck Dean was you. Your hands on his face, the way your breath brushed against his cheek as you leaned in closer. The warmth of your fingertips, the soft rhythm of your movements—everything about it was you.

As you worked, he couldn’t help but open one eye to look at you. The concentration on your face, the care in your touch—it was almost too much.

When you finished, your hands lingered on his face for a moment, your thumbs brushing along his jawline. “There,” you said softly, your voice full of warmth. “How’s that?”

Dean opened his eyes, staring up at you, his heart doing something funny in his chest. “You know,” he said, his voice low, “I think I get it now.”

“Get what?”

He reached up, his hand brushing against yours. “It’s not the stuff you’re putting on my face. It’s you.” You flushed, your heart skipping a beat as he added, “I’d let you do this every night, just to feel your hands on me.”

want be part of the taglist.ᐣ ⋆.˚ ★— @iloveeveryoneyoureamazing ⋆ @deans-daydream ⋆ @ariasong11 ⋆ @ambiguous-avery ⋆ @krabog ⋆ @itsdearapril

[callsign-rogueone]

a fair trade

aaric graycastle / cam tauri x reader (sunny!!!!) words: 1.2k 🏷: progressing through the beginning of IF! this one has a lot of transitions and jumps between scenes, which is my least favorite thing ever, and a major reason why it took so long, but I wanted to show these two interacting every day and slowly becoming friends, so here ya go! the next chapter will be so much better and much longer, I promise 🥺

It’s incredibly strange to be standing in this corner of the gym again, in the same spot where Nadine had died, and Violet nearly had too, avenging her. You’d never seen that much blood before in your life – but now it’s gone without a trace. Had someone knelt there last night and scrubbed it away, or had it been erased with magic? Which option is worse? 

Aaric appears at your side, speaking softly so as not to startle you. “You’re fast, and you’re smart, but at some point you’re going to have to throw some punches,” he prods. 

That’s fair. You’re the only one of the group who hadn’t made any offensive moves in your assessment match, and the last to find a partner to fight with today. 

“Yeah,” you say after a moment. “I’ve been dreading that part, honestly.”

“Let’s see what you’ve got. Just a basic stance, first.”

You nod, settling into a position that looks something like what you’d seen Imogen do earlier — she’s probably a good bet to copy.

He shakes his head. “Your feet need to be farther apart. And if you tuck your thumb in like that, you’re going to break it. Here.”

He steps forward and adjusts your fist — not missing your inhale of discomfort as his thumb presses against the swollen joint of your ring finger. He pulls back immediately, offering an apology and adjusting the technique. “Sorry. You should be fine to just keep it loose like that, as long as you adjust the impact point — what part of your fist is going to hit your target."

Another nod.

"If you just do... this," he explains, carefully reaching out to rotate your wrist to the side, careful not to put any pressure on the bandage there, "then you can make an impact with your pointer and middle finger. It won't be as effective, but it'll work until your hand heals."

Realistically, it won't — it hasn't shown much improvement since March, and the burn doesn’t help things either — but he doesn't need to know that.

"Don't worry about it too much," he offers, sensing your apprehension. "You’ve got more strength in your legs, anyway.” 

———

Being assigned breakfast duty means fewer hours of sleep, but you’re used to being up this early, anyway – you’d be going to bed at this hour, if you’d stayed in Calldyr City, just dragging yourself into the bathing chambers to hose off the sticky feeling of the ale you’d been serving, and the unwanted attention you’d been paid.

Someone is waiting for you outside the girls’ dorms; Aaric. He looks a little shy, shifting his weight awkwardly as he speaks – at a whisper, considerate of those who have been afforded the precious extra time to rest. “I saw you got breakfast duty, too, so…”

You give him a warm smile. “Glad to have a familiar face around. Do you have any idea where we’re going?”

It’s evident that he hadn’t thought this part through. “No, actually. But it can’t be far from the mess hall, right?”

You just hum in reply, nodding down the hallway. “Good place to start.”

He’s right – there’s a little door you hadn’t noticed by the serving line, propped open for you. You can already smell the bread baking, hear the pleasant bustle of a fully staffed kitchen. Not too different from home.

....

You turn to grab another potato, your eyes catching on the one Aaric is holding -- it's mangled, cut in odd places, yet somehow still holding onto half of its skin despite him having hacked at it for a good two minutes.

So there is one thing Aaric Graycastle doesn't excel at, after all -- one thing you could help him with. But you’ve never been the type to offer unsolicited advice.

Aaric is nice, though, and he’d given you so much advice on fighting, so he probably won’t be offended if you return the favor. It's a fair trade, or close to it. Still, you choose your words carefully. “Have you ever peeled a potato before?”

“Once,” he answers, a slight blush on his cheeks. 

You cross over to his side of the table, grabbing one yourself along with a short knife. “You’re digging in too hard, and taking the meat along with it. You need to hold it more flat, and scrape, to take off just the skin. Like that,” you say with a smile, finishing yours and adding it to the bowl.

“How are you so good at this?”

“Years of practice,” you answer. “My best friend is — was —  a kitchen maid. I used to sneak downstairs to help her sometimes.”

“For once you’re done with those,” the cook announces, dropping a crate onto the end of the table with a thud. “Cored and quartered.”

“Whoa.”

“That is a lot of strawberries,” he agrees.

“It must have cost a fortune.”

His head tilts. There had always been strawberries, and a variety of other fruit laid out for every breakfast, more than they’d ever eat, but he’d never considered the cost, or what became of the leftovers. 

Thankfully you continue the conversation for him, a fondness in your eyes. “We bought a whole pound of them for my birthday once. We were going to try to make them last, but they were gone by dinnertime.”

He just offers you a smile and a soft laugh, returning his attention to the vegetables.

———

“I am a god among men,” Ridoc announces, grinning from ear to ear from where he kneels over Sawyer, the executive officer pinned underneath him in what looks like a very uncomfortable position.

“Yeah, and I’m the next queen of Navarre,” you quip over your shoulder. “Saying it doesn’t make it true.”

Aaric’s heart nearly stops. He can’t help but imagine you dressed in the fine silks of the royal court, bejeweled and shining, crowned in gold, seated beside him and Halden at his father’s dinner table — a beautiful but miserable existence.

This is better. This feels right, seeing you in the sleek black of the rider’s quadrant instead of yards of stiff brocade, being able to hear you laugh and joke like this rather than sitting quietly for the rest of your days like an ornamental vase.

Your boot connecting with his stomach and his back hitting the floor snap him out of his daydream, and knock the breath from his lungs.

Your eyes widen as you realize what you’ve done. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he wheezes, cheeks reddening as he takes your outstretched hands and lets you haul him to his feet — it takes a considerable amount of strength. “That was good.”

You can’t help but smile a little about your small victory, the only time you’ve bested anyone in combat, though you know he was definitely going easy on you. “Maybe one of these days, I’ll really win,” you laugh. 

He sounds considerably less winded as he speaks again. “We’ll get you there.”

You blink at the words he chose – not you’ll get there, but we. He’s invested in your success. That’s the squad mentality, you suppose. It’s odd, but not unpleasant. 

———

“I didn’t even know I had muscles in some of these places,” you groan, folding your arms on the table and resting your head on them. 

Visia pats your shoulder gently. “That’s good – it means they’re growing.”

Your response is muffled, but universally understood by the rest of the group, who are all similarly exhausted after a full week of Rhiannon’s extra training sessions. 

All except Aaric. “Eat,” he encourages. “It’ll help.”

[lynnnors-blog]

More Eltingville Headcanons

Here’s some more headcanons of these losers (my children) and me sidetracking on my essay for funz! I’m gonna focus on stuff I think they’d like/do!

- We’re all in agreement Josh would be a brony, his favorite? Pinkie Pie.

- I think Bill would like cardigans, I don’t think he’d like hoodies though

- Jerry would play the Sims (totally not telling the club) and make sim Bill like his sim (he craves acceptance)

- Pete would’ve used Axe spray at some point

Sanrio, who they’d like or who they’d get pair up with as a Collab:

- Pete would fuck heavy with Badtzmaru

- Jerry’s color is green so I feel he’d stick to characters with loads of green and I think he’d like Keroppi’s big ass eyes.

- Listen, Bill would deny any involvement with Sanrio character power scaling but deep down……. he’s so basic with his pick, no offense Cinnamoroll lovers 💔

- Josh? Bonbonribbon, no explanation. (I just think he’d like some really cute stuff, but he’s still an asshole and would push a child all the way to hell to get any merch of this character)

Werewolves vs Vampires??? (I’m just thinking of stuff I did as a kid with friends 😭)

- I feel that Pete would so badly wanna be Count Dracula but I know he gives off werewolf vibe too, like this guy would definitely howl at the moon and tell his classmate he was feeling some type of way after seeing it

- Jerry wants to be unique soooo bad so he’ll say swamp monster (he was put in the werewolf team by force)

- Bill, I always feel like the meanest people wanna be vampires so yeah

- Josh would be a vampire too, I think one Halloween him and Pete went out with the same costume (they fought)

Small Talents/Hobbies:

- Pete mentions doing figurines (or well kinda) I think he’d secretly be interested in miniatures (recreating murder scenes to be frank, or his favorite horror scenes from films)

- Bill can sew pretty well and probably even fix some materials here and there (I mean him and his friends break so much shit, you gotta start getting good at fixing stuff, specially when you’re not well off which Bill’s family isn’t last I heard, and speaking from experience 💔)

- I have this fun little headcanon that Josh, although his writing sucks, he’s actually pretty decent at writing romance, I connect this back to another headcanon in which he was more involved with his mom when he was younger, like they’d watch soap dramas together and shit

- Jerry he’d do little magic tricks, my thoughts are that he initially tried to impress his parents (who in my head mostly ignore him or are just not that present) it probably didn’t work but it was fun at least so he’d go ahead and learn more

Other stuff:

- I don’t think they all read fanfic, most likely to do so though would be Josh, Jerry and maybe Bill

- If they were Gen Z, they’d probably say the brain rot shit 😭 Bill acting all high and mighty would roll his eyes and say it’s stupid as hell but I know damn well he’d laugh on the inside

- Don’t let them have instagram, social media in general but instagram especially, after all, they are who they are

- Bill would receive his exact coordinates in this time in age, lemme tell you

- It’s kinda dumb but I lowkey do think Josh and Jerry would fall for an AI chatbot (help them)

- Pete would post his recommendations, he’d probably get strikes though

— Author’s Note—

Anyways, I gotta go back to doing homework 😔, but is there any headcanons or stuff y’all would like me to do? I was thinking on doing an Adult Eltingville Headcanons soonish! Anyways, see ya!

[happilychee]

fairy tail power scaling headcanons

fairy tail's magic system is based on vibes and so are my headcanons

♡ natsu is by far not the strongest member of the guild, but he is the most feral. it's not that natsu has more magic reserves or complicated spells at his disposal. he just won't stop. barely any magical energy left? he keeps going. broken bones? he keeps going. bleeding out? he keeps going (when lucy asks if he's ever cauterized his own wounds, he doesn't meet her eye.) body on the brink of collapse, bruised and mangled? he. keeps. going. if natsu needs to win a fight, he's going to win, at any cost.

♡ in terms of magical power, mira is stronger than laxus. her transformations increase her physical strength to inhuman levels, not even mentioning her magic. however, due to burying her magic for years after lisanna's death, mira has very poor stamina. she can one shot most of her enemies, but if they're as strong or stronger than her, she's in trouble. her magic depletes very quickly if she stays transformed for too long.

♡ laxus, on the other hand, has very good magical stamina. his magic reserves run deep, he has good control over his spells, and what comes as a surprise to many is that he's not just a brute, he's quite strategic. if he draws out the fight, he can definitely beat mira.

♡ the fact that she's younger by a good few years doesn't stop erza from being on par with mira and laxus. like laxus, if she drew out the fight with mira, she'd definitely win (although I think the three are pretty evenly matched in terms of magic reserves.) erza, however, has the same feral edge as natsu. where laxus has some basic self-preservation instincts, erza does not. she will fight until she physically can't if it means protecting her family.

♡ no one stands a chance against erza in hand-to-hand combat. they just don't. maybe if gajeel, natsu, and laxus teamed up with their enhanced dragon slayer strength they could land a few punches, but erza would still wipe the floor with them.

♡ at the start of the show, I'd put erza as the strongest of team natsu, then natsu a teensy tiny little bit above gray (gray has better control over his spells and his magic, and they're at about the same power level, but natsu has the slight advantage of dragon slayer strength and being Like That), and lucy as the weakest. as the show progresses, I'd say lucy rises to the same level as natsu and gray as they all get stronger, although she's not really an offensive mage the way that gray and natsu are. I think on average, wendy is a little weaker than natsu, gray, and lucy (her focus is healing and support, and she's significantly younger, after all), but in a pinch, she can be as ferocious as natsu.

♡ sting has a better grasp on dragon slaying magic than natsu. he's a healer, and oftentimes he functions as both offense and support, so he has to know the inner workings of his magic. sting's offensive attacks are as strong as natsu and rogue's, but they take up less magic and stamina because sting also heals during battle. the reason he lost against natsu in the grand magic games was because he was too busy fangirling and got shy😔

♡ because sting and rogue's magics are reliant on light and shadow, their environment affects them significantly more than the other dragon slayers. sting gets much weaker fighting at night, while rogue gets significantly stronger. their power levels fluctuate more than say wendy's, because she almost always has access to lots of oxygen. wendy probably gets affected the least by environmental changes, followed by gajeel and natsu, then laxus and cobra (lightning and poison aren't as accessible as metal and fire), and finally sting and rogue.

[eclipseberrycake]

Poly! MoonBerryCake x Reader Pt. 4

I went on Pinterest. Got inspired. I should be paying attention to class. Which I am. Kinda.

-> Part one

-> Part Two

-> Part Three

Sharing a bed with three other people isn't as romantic as you think. >:)

☁ Omg I'm writing headcanons that are actually headcanons and not practically a story i broke up because I hate connecting sentences and paragraphs?

☁ I'm shocked too.

☁ Omg I never even INTRODUCED MYSELF. Y'all can call me Milk <3 or Roo. Neither are my real name but I go by those names on Dandy's world <3 So if you've played with an Astro named Roo :).

☁Anyway.

☁ Sharing a bed with someone? Is nice, don't get me wrong. But it has it's downsides. Let alone sleeping with THREE people? Crazy stuff.

☁ For the first little while, you probably don't sleep in the same bed because...there's four of you. There's no bed big enough for you all to cuddle. When nights get really hard, sometimes one of you will crawl into whoever's closest room and that's how the night will go. Or if there's a rather hard run, one of you will put in the work and gather all the mattress, pillows, blankets and cushions you can get away with to build what is basically a large nest to keep the others nearby.

☁ By the fifth time that happens, Sprout is whining abo☁ut the work put into it and immediately is looking for a solution.

☁ Out of all of them, Sprout is the pickiest sleeper in my opinion. Astro can fall asleep literally anywhere. Literally anywhere. There have been times where panic hits and you come back waiting for the elevator to close only to realize he's not there with 12 seconds left to retrieve him.

☁ He's always very apologetic, don't get him wrong, but it's unfortunately just how the celestial works I'm afraid.

☁ Cosmo is kind of in between the two. He won't fall asleep mid-run, but he does have some things he absolutely needs or he won't fall asleep. Like, for instance, he needs blankets. At least three. No matter how hot it is, get him a fan then. That number lowers when he's sleeping with one of you to a whopping one blanket, but he needs something covering him.

☁ Sprout needs like the highest quality pillows, and blankets, and white noise, and a water cup in arms reach and and and-

☁ So Sprout is in charge of picking out a bed. However, this comes the question of who's room it will go in. Astro and Sprout have the bigger rooms, but both rooms have a...theme. And no offense to either, but You and Cosmo readily agree the fight to see which theme wins is not worth it.

☁ So, you and Cosmo take it upon yourselves to scour the blueprints of the building and talk with Brightney who has the records of the building practically memorized. She's able to direct you to the abandoned Handlers rooms. They're larger than the toon rooms and none of them have been claimed thus far.

☁ So you and Cosmo take the time, clean one out- The only one that didn't have a placard- and present it to the other two with bright grins and starry eyes.

☁ It's taken well with a flurry of kisses bestowed upon you both.

☁ So, Sprout orders the bed though the magical power of don'tlooktoohardintothelogic and the room is yours to claim.

☁ The room is evidently decorated with a mix of all four of you whether it be the addition of fairy lights along the walls from Astro, or the rugs with pies on them from Sprout, or the bedspread from Cosmo. Each of you is seen in every corner of the room and it's both brilliant and kind of frightening.

☁ Even if you all still have your original rooms, this is a much bigger step. You all wanted to see each other as much as possible previously, but now you're sleeping in the same room, waking up together, getting ready for your days together?

☁ That's all to say, sleeping together in one bed does not have its pros! There's always someone there for when a bad dream slips through the cracks, and most times at least one person is awoken by the sudden jolts and its already hushing you with a soothing presence and whispered reassurances.

☁ It gets hot and sweaty at times because of the body heat but after the introduction of a fan and opening the window, it becomes much better.

☁ Also the clothes? Stealing clothes is just normal for you all. At this point, any new article of clothing bought is just communal. You've lost count of how many times you're reading or playing games in the general area when Astro walks in, wearing your shirt and just collapses onto you for a nap, or Cosmo's in the kitchen with Sprout's apron or you've stolen Cosmo's sweater. Sprout himself is exasperated at the thought because he's so tall he sometimes struggles to steal anything. He feels left out!

☁ Have no fear though because once Astro becomes more comfortable to go without his cloak, sitting in your room in just a shirt and pants, Sprout is the first to claim dibs on it, him and Cosmo fighting over it. You're smart as you go right after the source, perched in Astro's lap as he watches them.

☁ Getting ready for bed is a routine now too. It used to be a clumpy and choppy thing, but soon enough you've all developed a way to work with each other so it's seamless with minimum hiccups.

☁ Sleeping through the night? Is...a process. Every night brings a new situation and it's a journey.

☁ Sprout and Astro are more often the not the bottom part of the pile. As I mentioned earlier, Sprout is a prissy sleeper so there have been quite a few times he's woken you up with a quiet "My arm's asleep, bud." and you have to spit back "Suck it up." before he's forcefully dragging you to a new position.

☁ The jolt sometimes wakes Astro and Cosmo, but they're quick to go right back asleep.

☁ Other nights you're woken by Astro pushing at Cosmo, groaning softly. "Just keep jamming your knee up my crotch, that's fine." It did not in fact sound fine, making you grin before burrowing back into your chosen boyfriend pillow at the time.

☁ Some nights both you and Cosmo are rudely awoken by Sprout and Astro shoving at each other, arguing over who is taking more of the giant bed despite an entire half of it not being in use.

☁ Speaking from experience, when sleeping with another person, one half of the bed goes unused at all times. Idk if it's just like instinct to huddle together, but like yeah. That's what happens. doesn't matter how you all lay down, by the end of it all, you will all be in one heap on one half of the bed.

☁ One of you falls off the bed at least once a week. Most times it's you or Cosmo, who's laying on either Sprout or Astro when they roll over and take you with them only for there to be no more bed for you.

☁ That's the true difference between them. Astro is all "Did that hurt?" and when you're like "I'll survive." He's immediately like "That's not what I asked?!"

☁ Sprout's laughing and tells you you'll be fine, dragging you into his arms and smothering your face in apologetic kisses.

☁ By the way, once they're comfortable, you'll miss the seperate sleeping quarters. Astro has shoved so many articles of clothing into your face asking if it smells clean enough Tisha won't hunt him down.

☁ He hasn't learned even after you've told him yes three times when you knew Tisha would rain hellfire.

☁ Cosmo brings treats into the bed. You know that tiktok that's like "Making food in bed without my bf/husband/dog noticing." That's him. He's literally got a griddle somewhere. You've woken up to him making pancakes, watched him turn, smile at you and return to his project like...huh.

☁ When Sprout woke up that night, wrapped in Astro, he was only mildly confused before the rest of his brain jogged awake and he was left staring at you and Cosmo both sitting at the foot of the bed, eating pancakes. Like it wasn't three in the morning.

☁ The griddle was banned the next morning.

☁ Three days later, Cosmo had an easy bake oven.

☁ Astro didn't even question it when you handed him a pretzel bite, eating it before returning to sleep.

☁ When he off handedly mentions it the next day, there's a distant shout from Sprout before he's appearing in the doorway, demanding more information.

☁ He never finds it.

☁ Arguments go crazy too.

☁ not fights, but those little squabbles you get into after youve been with someone for a while and they're existance is just so adorable and loving and it pisses you off bc wdym they chose me.

☁ On runs especially. Sprout is NOTORIOUS for pining one of you down in the elevator, hands squeezing your cheeks, "You are so annoying, oh my god- I LOVE YOU." Like he doesn't know how to handle it.

☁ I didn't mention this previously but the distinction between how he treats you three versus everyone else is SO FUNNY. Like if for some reason none of you are the same run, he literally sits in the corner and pouts. Vee is so over his shit.

☁ He does this thing where he walks up to a machine and just bangs his head against it and cries about how he doesn't want to be there.

☁ The SECOND he's back, he acts like he wasn't a mopey kitten.

☁ Like I have this imagine of him coming back, walking into the kitchen. You and Cosmo are covered in cake batter. Astro is sipping on a drink, leaning against the counter as he watches you two. Immediately he's just relaxed because this is such an idiot thing to do, but you're his idiots and that's what matters.

☁ You have a notebook of shit you've all said.

"Tough shit toons, you're distractor has a thesis to examine to a molecular level about the connection between Spongebob and Chappell Roan."

"It's like a perfect oval. Like a circle compressed by the Thigh Master."

"Her laugh reminds me of a dog just before they throw up."

"The lamp. It's just sitting there. Like you- who said they would do the dishes!"

☁ It's a national treasure.

☁ The other toons think you're their own little show. It's so funny to them. It's like the Toonashians (Have yall seen those tiktoks?)

☁ Especially when it's between Sprout and Astro. As two mains, their fights are so funny. They both do that thing where they turn to you and Cosmo and ask who's right. Neither of them are.

☁ You and Astro are not allowed in the kitchen alone. Period. You make unholy concoctions. Remember the pudding fiasco? Sprout put a ban on you from entering the kitchen. Everyone knows. Pebble rats you out fastest.

☁ Sprout is banned from the Hamilton soundtrack. You threatened to drown him in the shower after hearing him belt it for the fourth week in the row early in the morning.

☁ Speaking of! Morning routines! Sprout wakes up first. Makes it all of your problems. But he does do coffee/tea/juice/ whatever you need to start your day and has it ready with a kiss by the time you make it downstairs.

☁ Cosmo is normally next, leaving you to fend off Astro by yourself.

☁ Astro is such a cuddler, so good luck getting him off. Normally you have to pry him off with Cosmo's help after he's done his morning routine, replacing yourself with a pillow.

☁ He gets up right after that, immediately sensing the pillow is NOT you. He's grumpy and tired and just heads straight to the kitchen where Sprout is waiting. Coffee is first before anything else for him along with some snuggles.

☁ Y'all so domestic its cute asf.

☁ Of course the relationship has its pros and cons, but every day and night you're reminded of just how worth it it always is.

☁ Ahh im out of ideas so idk when the next part will come out <3

[cookie-lore-keeper]

Cookie Glosssary

A lot of humans might not know some of the terms used by cookies, so, I put a list of the terms here and an explanation for what they mean!

A

Ancients/Ancient Heroes - The 5 great heroes who wield the soul jam. These

B

Baby Dough- Baby cookies

C

Beasts/Beast Cookies - The Corrupted cookies who had the Souljam before the Ancient Heroes

Bland - An offensive term for a cookie that you find boring or not unique

Crumbs - the fallen parts of a crumbled or injured cookie. If used in the context or, "Oh crumbs", that can basically be, "Oh fuck."

Celestials - Godlike cookies who weren't born cookies but somehow became cookies and originated from the human world

Cheesian - A cookie who is descended from the Golden Cheese Kingdom

Cookievorous - something that hunts cookies

Créme Republican - Refers to cookies who are from the Créme Republic

Crispia - The main Continent of Earthbread

Crispy - Refers to a healthy Cookie. Is also slang for a young cookie

Crumbling - Dying

D

Dragons - When talking about Dragons, cookies usually mean the Dragons that are able to turn into and communicate with cookies. But, they're are also dragons who don't have this ability

Dark Cacaoian - Refers to cookies who are from the Dark Cacao Kingdom

Dough- Body or skin

Dough-Brained - An offensive term for someone you find dumb

E

Eyecing- Eyes

Earthbread- The world that the cookies are on

Elementals - Refers to the powerful god-like cookies who rule over a specific part of nature

F

Frosting - The umbrella term for hair. Not all hair is made out of frosting, but all hair is called frosting

First Cookies - The witches who had their souls rebaked into cookies. Because they are witches, these 12 cookies are very powerful

Flatster - A slur for cookies

Flavor - Refers to the specific taste of a cookie but can also refer to the cookie's ingredients

Freshly Baked - A baby cookie

G

H

Hollyberrian- A cookie from the Hollyberry Kingdom

I

Ingredients- The things that make up a dessert's dough. Can also refer to their genes

Icing- Refers to facial features as well as any decorations on a cookie

J

Juice - Unless specified that it's non-alcoholic, juice is an alcoholic drink

Jamline- The familial line of a cookie

Jellies - The food cookies eat. Practically everything they eat is made up of jellies

K

L

Lifepowder - The magical substance that gives dessert creatures life

M

Millenial Cookies - Cookies who are from the Millenial Forest

Magichanical - A combination of modern techonology/robotics with magic

Mercookies- Aquatic cookies

N

O

Oh Witches - Like, "Oh God/Oh my God"

P

Q

Parfaedian - A cookie from Parfaedia

Pasty - An offensive term for cookies who have a lot of Vanilla flavors or ingredients in their dough

R

Rising Dough - A growing cookie. Usually refers to a young cookie

Resonate Ingredient - The main and most important ingredient of a cookie.

S

Syrup- On cookies, syrup refers to makeup, since a lot of makeup is made out of syrup. On clothing, it's basically a synonyms for icing

Shortbread- A slang term that refers to a small cookie

Soggy- A wet cookie. Being soggy for a cookie is dangerous because they can literally die if their dough becomes too soggy

Soul cheese - What the Golden Cheese Kingdom calls a cookie's soul

Soul Jam - An item with great power that gives the Ancient Cookies and the Beast Cookies their power. Contains a lot of lifepowder.

Stale- An older cookie. Can be used as an insult in a different context

Strawberry Jam - Basically the cookie version of blood (doesn't work the same way human blood works though)

Sugartearean - Cookie's who are from Sugarteara

T

Toothcing - Teeth (most cookies don't have teeth so idk why this is a term 🤷‍♀️)

U

V

Vanillian- Refers to cookies from the Vanilla kingdom

W

Wizards - Similar to the witches, the wizards were humans with magical powers and also created cookies

Witches - The humans with magical abilities that created dessert kind

X

Y

Yogurcans - Cookies who are from Yogurca

Yakgwans - Cookies from the Yakgwa Village

Z

Feel free to tell me anything that you think I should add!

[noneatnonedotcom]

behold my ultimate creation! autism knight!

simply put it's jaune but instead of being based on joan of arc he's based on the nameless knights of fairytales and arthuriana.

he'll work in any au, basic idea is he's a really good knight but he's got no idea what's going on in the deeper plot, he's just interested in being a really good knight and helping people then leaving to help others.

dude's got knight autism.

this can also work for characters like pyrrha or ruby.

Peerless: (800CP) The knights of Britain are renown for their skill, power and honour. The knights of the Round Table exemplify Britain’s virtues to an even greater extent. You? Lancelot at his height is the only one you can call a peer and he doesn’t remain there for long. Few men are as perfectly well rounded as you. Your physical abilities are enough that you could fight powerful adult dragons and demons to a draw with your bare hands or even win if you added a good weapon to your side. You’ve got unbelievable levels of martial skill in both offense and defense, across two dozen kinds of weapons, such that even without your physical abilities being so great you could slay armies. You have strategic and tactical abilities that let you lead small forces to crush far larger ones and can even make a good substitute for a king if your liege needs to spend a few months away at war, though you are far below the sort of king that can create a golden age. You have a high level of natural talent at any skill or ability you try your hand at and find it very easy to learn and train to become better at new things, quickly surpassing even the most venerable of warriors in their specialties. Of course, you would not be peerless if you did not also look the part. Among all the men in the world, only the divine could outmatch your physical splendour and even then, only by a touch. Your king might frown on the hordes of maidens that lust after you but you really can’t help it, as you gather admirers and love interests even when fully armoured and masked. Just something about you.

Mysterious: (100CP) "Enigmatic, mysterious, people stop to stare and have no idea why. There's just something strange, different about you, at least after you get your hands on this perk. Upon purchase, you gain an air of mystery that makes others curious and questioning about you, like there's always another layer to your character or something buried further down that you're hiding.

You also become good at maintaining it.

If you act up front and casual, then people just might be a bit curious about you. If you really go all in on being mysterious, you may develop into a kind of small urban legend or have a profile in some intelligence gathering agencies."

Can’t Read My: (100CP) You got one hell of a poker face. You could be having a mind shattering meltdown while appearing outwardly as perfectly composed and well mannered to the extent even the Cloudy Sword Sect would be impressed. This is also somehow genetic, meaning your kids will be equally as good at containing their inner freakouts behind a face of serenity.

the basic idea is taking the mysterious badass and turning it on it's head. the person with these powers can't be read in any way, can't be predicted as a result. and has the skills and physical abilities to always win no matter what situation they end up in!

... they just havn't been paying attention and have no idea that they've been foiling the same bad guy's plans for the last six months and now secret relics are getting involved and magic is real I guess and why the fuck is this all spiraling out of control?

what the fuck even is aura!?!?

also why is everyone coming onto them? they just wanna save people from evil is that too much to ask?

whichever character you make the autism knight will gain unfathomable abilities but at the cost of forever not knowing what's going on and everyone assuming it was all going to their keikaku (keikaku means plan)

thoughts on which character you'd make the autism knight? it can be from any media it's a very versatile character.

@howlingday @weatherman667

@heliosthegriffin why does this feel like the shadow knight if he was OP instead of barely scrapping by? like in an au where jaune had amazing abilities from the beginning he just never bothered to look deeper into things and kept saving the day never knowing that he was becoming enemy number 1 for the forces of evil.

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! Do you have any advice on how to handle an inherently fictional facial difference (that was caused by a fictional reason and while may have some partial crossover/parallels with elements of real world FDs, ultimately is a fictional one and is specific to the world/lore) in a way that would not come off as harmful to real facial differences? I also have some characters with actual real life FDs in the story, but maybe there's something else I should consider?

Also, what is your opinion on fictional disabilities in general? Not when the story just has a vague disability that can't be strongly connected to anything specific from real life, but when author specifically develops a fictional condition/disability/chronic disease etc in context of/based on elements of their fictional world?

Hello!

A fictional facial difference has basically the same potential pitfalls as any other fictional disability. You can take a look at this post where we talked about what not to do, TLDR: make sure it's actually a fictional disability and not just one you haven't heard of yet and be mindful of what real conditions it could be reminiscent of (and avoid stereotypes accordingly).

It's good that you also have characters with actually existing disabilities, it honestly annoys me to no end when people boast about their "disability rep" while all they have is 20 different "magic character can't do magic" characters. So this is definitely a big plus.

The only thing you need to keep in mind is to not split the two (character with fictional FD vs characters with IRL FD) into separate categories, consciously or not. Don't treat the one with a made-up FD as better or as inherently prettier than "those other people". Ideally they're all just treated the same in the story since that's the only option that makes logical sense.

Also, it was mentioned already in the post I linked, but unless you have some very specific scenario you purposefully want to do and actually comment on, avoid making the cause of her FD either 1) result of her parents doing Evil Drugs or black magic or whatever or 2), contagious. Very little FDs have those origins, but many are stereotyped or downright accused of being such.

Other than that, think of the same stuff as you would with IRL facial differences existing in a story. How does society treat them? What is the acceptance level? Are the majority of people knowledgeable (a person can know exactly nothing about being disabled and still be kind and accepting; it's not exclusive)? Are FDs more common because medicine is less advanced?

For the last question; it depends. If it has symptoms that real people have, there are gonna be real people who will relate to it (if done well) and real people who might be offended by how it's portrayed (if done badly).

Let's say your setting has a magic toxic flower that causes lower limb paralysis and/or weakness after someone steps on it - that's fictional, but there are many real world disabilities that share similar symptoms, even if the cause is obviously very different. If this was the fictional disability, the characters who have it would probably share the same community as characters with SCI, neuropathy, MS, etc.; it's based in fantasy but it's easy to imagine that it could be real.

In this context you should be researching the symptoms - leg paralysis and weakness - and potential treatments - physical therapy, learning how to walk with orthoses/crutches, painkillers, etc. Real readers with real symptoms will be able to relate to this kind of fantasy disability.

But let's say the fictional disability mainly presents as chronic pain and muscle spasms caused by the person not using magic enough. This on the other hand, doesn't work as a (respectful) fantasy disability. The main "accusation" people with chronic pain get is that we are lazy and if we just did more of [usually exercise] we would be cured - it doesn't work like that, and it would be frankly offensive to make a whole illness where the chronic pain is caused by someone not waving their wand enough or whatever. No one will be relating to this because it's not based on how stuff works, it's based on a stereotype. "It's fantasy" isn't a get out of jail free card, you still have to be conscious of what you are implying.

As long as you do research and keep in mind which real things your fantasy disabilities resemble (e.g. Hansen's disease and ALS will have very different stereotypes attached to them) so you can avoid making a connection you don't want to make.

Hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[thewertsearch]

ERIDAN: for all that trainin you did ERIDAN: i wwouldnt be the incredible holy wwizard i am noww wwithout your help […] KANAYA: I Hope You Use Your Magnificent Powers Of Light And Hope For Goodness And Purity And Lets Not Forget Science

At this point. Kanaya is Human Sarcasming better than most actual humans.

ERIDAN: dont wworry im all ovver that shit you dont evven knoww KANAYA: Uh Oh I Hope That Didnt Come Off As Too Sarcastic […] KANAYA: Please Dont Take Too Much Offense ERIDAN: haha damn kan if thats your idea of offense bein made then i honestly gotta fuckin wworry for you ERIDAN: tell you wwhat ill givve you some lessons in dealin out the dark umbrage to repay you for your tutelage in the wwhite science

I think Dave taught Kanaya more about the art of trolling in a single conversation than Eridan could in an entire lifetime.

That guy can troll better than most actual trolls.

ERIDAN: wwhats that thing there KANAYA: The Matriorb KANAYA: I Was About To Go Hatch It In The Core To Restore Our Race ERIDAN: that sounds ERIDAN: hopeful […] ERIDAN: if theres goin to be any sort a hope for our race as the prince of hope i demand to be invvolvved ERIDAN: so dont go anywwhere wwithout me got it […] KANAYA: Fine

I’m all for the construction of neo-Alternia, but I really don't think Eridan should be on the planning committee, unless we also want a neo-hemospectrum.

Honestly, the only trolls I'd really trust to rebuild their society are the bottom half of the hemospectrum, and possibly Gamzee. The other highbloods can go sit in the corner.

ERIDAN: its not magic wwe talked about this kar KARKAT: RIGHT, IT'S POWERED BY SCIENCE, I FORGOT. KARKAT: OR HOPE. WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT MEANS

I don’t see how Hope translates to a robot-exploding beam, though.

If it was wizards he was blowing up, I’d understand, because it would be consistent with my theory that he's weaponizing his hatred of FRAUDULENT MAGIC. If anything, his Science Wand should strengthen a robot, since it's a product of the TRUEST SCIENCES.

ERIDAN: i had a harder time than anybody wwith this game ERIDAN: it wwas really fuckin unfair wwhat challenges i got saddled wwith ERIDAN: i wwoulda fuckin MURDERED for a land full of a lot a harmless brains and fire ERIDAN: but no ERIDAN: it wwas so lonely ERIDAN: hey guys anybody wwant to come hang out wwith me in the land a wwrath and angels

That sounds cool, though. Angels, I assume, are how Hope is represented in his Land, and I’m sure Eridan synergized well with its wrath. I wonder what physical form it took?

ERIDAN: anybody at all i knoww it isnt anythin like one of your flippin land picnics ERIDAN: anybody please ill evven settle for the kittycat shipper cavve girl

You can't complain about loneliness and then insult your ‘friend’ in the same breath. That's not how any of this works, and the fact that you're unaware of this should tell you everything you need to know about why you're lonely.

So Karkat does know about Nepeta’s little crush. He is a relationship aficionado, after all.

Poor Nepeta.

I sort of figured Karkat didn't reciprocate her feelings. He's preoccupied with plenty of other redrom prospects, and he basically never mentions her.

Karkat’s honestly a little too nice to Eridan. He’s being such a bro here, but what Eridan actually needs is to be brought down to size a little.

Granted, I think Eridan needs a bigger shock to the system than an angry tirade from Karkat. I feel like Terezi could tear him to pieces - but since it's unfair to expect her to put up with him alone, I'd put both the Scourge Sisters on this assignment. >:)

What Karkat is aptly demonstrating here is that there’s a difference between an Eridan kind of asshole and a Karkat kind of asshole.

Let's be real, here - Karkat's a dick. But he's a dick who holds no true malice, knows when he's crossed a line, and is willing to sincerely apologize for his past actions, and make amends.

Eridan possesses none of these qualities, which is why he sat alone in his house for a month while Karkat befriended the entire cast.

[soylent-crocodile]

Myr (Monsters)

(Silver Myr by Kev Walker)

(I FUCKING LOVE MYR! They're cute, they're iconic, they're interesting bits of worldbuilding... I HAD to make 'em! Mercifully, I've separated Mirrodin from New Phyrexia, and created the Plane of Steel, a fun little plot hook roughly referencing Mirrodin's creation. If you want to make these native to the Plane of Metal- new to PF2- or simply old machines of a dead culture, feel free.

Also, this will contain rules for Mana Myr, which I spiraled off the five colors of Magic, but expect more myr in the future!)

Myr are mysterious creatures native to the Plane of Steel, an artificial plane ripped from the Plane of Earth and turned into a vast network of self-sustaining machines. Myr themselves are the most common denizens of the plane, servitors to an unknown master and performing upkeep on their more complicated cohabitants.

Myr have been imported from the Plane of Steel in rare quantities, and serve as a rare treasure on the Material Plane, loyal servants infused with magical energy. Some, however, fear inviting such mysterious creatures into their homes, especially paranoid wizards and watchful politicians, as it's a known fact that myr are vulnerable to scrying- and it's a distinct possibility that their master is still watching.

Myr are unique among constructs in being easily repairable once slain. Upon reaching 0 health, a construct with the Myr subtype is not destroyed; rather, it turns inactive, and will reactivate upon being returned to positive hit points. However, a myr that reaches -20hp is destroyed as usual. Additionally, the knowledge of how to create myr has been lost or well-hidden, and they lack rules for construction. Fortunately for myr, they are capable of reproducing themselves, although attempts to study how they do so have not succeeded in creating animate constructs.

There are thousands of different kinds of myr, most being only slight modifications on a basic design; what is presented are some common archetypes and a few notable variations.

Mana Myr

(Myr Moonvessel by Danny Orizio)

Among the most common servitor myr, mana myr work on the machinery that makes up the bulk of the Plane of Metal, and these servitors are attuned to one of the eight schools of magic. Of the myr of the plane, it is the mana myr who are most desired, and those who find themselves in possession of multiple, or let them reproduce, sell them for exorbitant prices.

Each school of magic produces a myr of a different color. Even though they are all made of the same substance, the magic forged into their bodies makes them appear as one of a variety of colors; the mana myr of each school of magic is named after a metal or mineral it resembles.

This small humanoid construct has a strange head shaped like a heavy beak. It resonates with magical energy.

Misc- CR1 LN Small Construct (Myr) HD2 Init:+2 Senses: Perception:+3 Stats- Str:8(-1) Dex:15(+2) Con:- Int:4(-3) Wis:14(+2) Cha:14(+2) BAB:+2 Space:2.5ft Reach:0ft Defense- HP:21(2d10+10) AC:13(+1 Size, +2 Dexterity) Fort:- Ref:+4 Will:+2 CMD:13 Special Defenses: Construct traits Offense- Slam +2(1d3-1) CMB:+0 Speed:25ft Special Attacks:  Feats- Lightning Reflexes Skills- Perception +3, Spellcraft +0 Spell-like Abilities-  Share Memory /at-will Make Whole 1/day Special Qualities- Mana Servant, Scrying Focus Ecology- Environment- Any Languages- Common (Can’t speak) Organization- Solitary Treasure- None Special Abilities- Mana Servant- A mana myr is designed as a vessel for magic. When created, it is infused with magic from one of the eight schools of magic. When used as a focus to cast a spell of that school, the spell is cast at a +1 caster level and with a +1 DC. A mana myr registers as strong magic of its school when viewed through Detect Magic or similar spells. Scrying Focus- Myr are perfect vessels for scrying on. They get a -5 penalty to saves against spells with the Scrying descriptor, and magical sensors made to scry on a myr and its surroundings get a +5 bonus against rolls to perceive it. Additionally, myr- and any object or creature they are in contact with- are not protected by spells such as Nondetection and Screen.

[brw]

From The Ashes, a ranking;

I'm bored and sick so thought I'd do my own little ranking of the From The Ashes books, because I've read basically all of them? I think I'm missing a few so I'll put those at the bottom without rankings because it would be unfair to judge them based on nothing.

Storm → great writing, great art, commentary on Krakoa and framing of it that I find very interesting, a series that absolutely deserves to go for as long as it needs to for Ayodele to tell his story.

Exceptional X-Men → honestly I could swap this with Storm and be just as happy. Absolutely great takes on Kitty and Emma that are definitely needed after how weird Krakoa was for both of them, and I LOVE the new kids she's introduced. Bronze especially is a little ray of sunshine, I love her.

X-Men → Pretty good! I've been enjoying reading it and it's clear MacKay has done his homework. Definitely a Cyclops book, which isn't my thing but his Scott is good enough that I don't complain about it, either. A strong flagship title for the current X-Men era, and I really like how he's set up the characters, albeit maybe has a bit of a bloated supporting cast.

Psylocke → I've been really enjoying this so far! Very nice art, I love all the work Wong does to flesh out her backstory and give her an unique antagonist, give her more of a supporting cast, I hope this run gets a full run because I think it's very deserving of it!

Mystique → I fucked with this. Don't want to spoil too much for anyone who hasn't read it but it's a great murder mystery vibe, I loved following the story and trying to guess what would happen in the next issue, and the twists were generally very well executed! Another very fun mini to look into, I had a good time reading it!

Sentinels → I wasn't expecting to like this so much but I really do! I enjoyed the narratives of disability in it, and I think it's an interesting mini that I hope will be built upon more later down the line.

Magik → Getting into the Meh category for me here, but if I was a big Magik fan I imagine it would be higher. As it is, it's alright; hasn't really grabbed me or inspired me to get into Magik more, which I think a solo should generally strive to do? But I like the way the magic plot and use differentiates it from Psylocke and Laura Kinney Wolverine, and the Darkchylde as almost an altar or something is very interesting to me.

Laura Kinney: Wolverine → Made completely redundant to be honest by the existence of Psylocke, a more interesting and frankly more necessary project than this book is. Other than being too similar, it's just solidly mid, but I wouldn't say it's bad, just kneecapped by being too similar to a better project coming out at the same time.

X-Factor → It's not particularly offensive, albeit I'm not a massive fan of any of the characters so if I was more invested I'd probably be more upset. The commentary isn't really well thought out, but it isn't offensive in the way NYX is. Solidly in the Meh category. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it hasn't harmed me personally.

Dazzler → Just kind of embarrassing and woefully mediocre, don't really have anything substantial to say because it wasn't a substantial comic. Mid!

Uncanny X-Men → Not Good. Granted, I'm aware if I was a Rogue and Gambit fan, I'd probably like it more; as it is, it feels like a book made for X-Men '97 fans scared of comics, and not comic fans. Which wouldn't necessarily be a problem, if those 4 kids weren't so annoying, and more specifically, if Simone didn't clearly like the weird racist horse girl who stopped being racist immediately after Gambit told her to stop it the most. The nicknames I find incredibly grating and annoying, and the pacing is just bizarre. Rogue looks anywhere between incompetent and insane, and having a female villain's tragic origin be that she didn't have Charles' baby or whatever is such a choice. I don't like this book, BUT I concede a lot of my gripes are personal related to my dislike of the kids, and I see why RogueGambit fans like it.

X-Force → I actually stopped reading this after the first arc and first issue of the second arc, because it was one of the worst, most uncomfortably ableist things I've ever had to read. Genuinely upset me on a very deep, fundamental level, and I do not understand how on earth having a bunch of heroes beat up an autistic person made it past however many editors it takes to put these things on page. Awful book, needs to be canned and forgotten forever, but at least Forge looks hot I guess.

NYX → There's a lot that you can say about this book, but I think more than anything else, giving Kamala Khan, a very genuine contender for the most beloved Muslim character in pop culture, an evil racist terrorist cousin who tries to blow up a community center is one of the single most egregious things to ever be written, and it's cancellation is a net gain. Horrible book.

DID NOT READ HALL OF SHAME

Phoenix, Wolverine, Rogue: The Savage Land, Cable: Love and Chrome

Maybe these books are good, but none of them inspired me to go pick them up, so I won't include them.

So, yeah. I wanted to share my thoughts now that I think we're 10 months or so in to From the Ashes. While I do think there are a lot of complaints that can be made regarding bloat, redundant titles, unnecessary books, etc, there's also some really good and interesting titles as part of this launch, which I hope continue to grow as this era continues!

[brucebocchi]

Ranking 2024 anime, Pt. 3: #30-21

hey, this post is also available on my ko-fi, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i do this for free and am currently between jobs. you can find part 1 of the list here and part 2 here. thanks!

We're chugging along. I'd say we're finally getting to the good stuff, and there is plenty of good at this point in the countdown, but I also just really like complaining.

Let's get it.

30. KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!, season 3

I have a tendency to refer to the more brainless and/or trashy anime I watch as “junk food.” You know the kind; the ones that don’t really add anything to your life and don’t stand up to the more fulfilling series, but still get the job done when you go into autopilot. I’ve found that, as a habitual (non-metaphorical) snacker, I tend to just reach for something when I’m bored so I have something to do. And looking at it objectively, I don’t tend to enjoy myself while doing it and I usually don’t feel good afterwards.

I feel much the same way about watching KonoSuba.

Not that I think it’s ontologically evil or anything, but KonoSuba often has just as much going against it as it does working in its favor. For every joke that hits, and some of them absolutely do hit, there’s another that makes me question why I’m even watching it. I’m not against dark or even occasionally offensive humor; I adore It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a show to which KonoSuba often draws comparisons. The issue is that, at its worst, KonoSuba's humor often defaults to either “this person is a pervert,” “this person is a pedophile,” or “this man got sexually assaulted.” My issue isn’t with the subject matter so much as the fact that they rarely rise above the level of base shock value and that they keep happening like that. It almost feels perfunctory, like the writers had quotas to meet.

It’s not all bad, though. Even having only gotten into KonoSuba in early 2023, I still found myself lamenting its hiatus, and An Explosion on This Magical World somehow only made the heart grow fonder for the party members that weren’t Megumin. I appreciate that Darkness plays a pivotal role in the third season, because Darkness is hilarious and terrific. This season had a couple of the best jokes and goofy facials in the series, and it ends with such a good punchline that it nearly invalidated all of my other complaints.

Overall, it’s a bit of a wash, but I can’t be too upset. It’s more KonoSuba, and it’s reached the point where that’s practically a value-neutral statement.

29. Wistoria: Wand and Sword

I don’t really have much new to say about Wistoria. It’s not the best magic school anime I watched this year and certainly not the best fantasy, but it looks terrific and it’s a fun enough time if you turn your brain off.

And turning your brain off is a necessity here because Wistoria’s story is as basic as it gets. It’s more or less Mashle if it wasn’t a comedy, and it’s such a transparent, dirt-simple power fantasy that it might as well be an isekai. Guy’s trying to keep a promise to his childhood friend, he sucks at the one thing everyone else does to the point of getting bullied left and right, but he’s super crazy strong in his own special way. Actually, shit, I just described Kaiju No. 8.

Rule of cool wins out here, and this show does look phenomenal, but it might be better enjoyed via YouTube clips. I’m curious to see where the story goes from here, but I’m not completely sold yet.

28. Chained Soldier

Chained Soldier is horny isekai trash. Chained Soldier fucking rocks. We got big monsters, wild action sequences, unique and memorable character designs, casual femdom, solid comic relief, interesting (if predictable) twists, uncensored boobs, it’s got it all! 

It’s not the best-looking show in some parts, but that’s forgivable. The production values were fine, all things considered, and the action sequences in particular were terrific throughout, but I’m really glad this series is changing studios for the second season. I’ve read ahead in the manga (don’t judge) and Passione is gonna do a bang-up job as the action and shameless fanservice both ramp up.

It’s early in the story and a teensy bit shaky, but Chained Soldier is already a fun time. I have reason to believe it’ll only get better as it goes. And not just because of the boobs.

27. Suicide Squad Isekai

You wanted an isekai starring the Suicide Squad, and by God did you get one. This is a perfectly serviceable series by Suicide Squad standards and a pretty middling isekai otherwise. Nothing about the world in which this series is set is all that interesting or groundbreaking, but you’re here for anime Harley Quinn (and a few other DC villains I guess), and this show delivers.

Fluid, expressive character animation (when the studio wants it), a terrific Japanese voice cast, and entertaining hijinks among Batman’s infamous rogues’ gallery combine for a plenty fun time that ultimately doesn’t have much staying power. If you liked the James Gunn movie, you’ll have a decent time here. No more, no less.

Between Uzumaki’s disastrous production, Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’s apparent mediocrity, and last year’s unwanted, execrable FLCL Grunge, I’m just glad that at least one recent anime production with Jason DeMarco’s fingerprints on it came out unscathed.

26. ‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess

I ended up watching so many discrete series during the winter season that it’s probably not a coincidence that my bottom four series on this ranking (and six of the bottom ten) all aired during that season. When you filter feed, you’re gonna take in a lot of garbage. Sometimes you need some stuff that’s “just fine” to clean the palate.

‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess is probably a bit better than even “just fine,” but it’s not gonna be a ready recommendation. The premise is pretty one-note on paper: Warrior princess got captured by demons, they try to coax intel out of her via temptation, she folds, the intel is worthless, and the cycle begins anew. But if a run of over 250 manga chapters and climbing is any indication, the series manages to keep it fresh. Time for “Torture” works because it isn’t beholden to its premise and instead decides to play hopscotch with its own framework. Gradually but noticeably, the unnamed princess and her inquisitors and “torturers” become friends, they all enjoy the spoils of her snitching together, and they really just keep it up because that’s how this stuff is supposed to go. 

Nine months later, I still don’t know why I liked this show so much. It’s just the right amount of silly to me, and it’s cute as hell where it counts. Not the best thing I watched this year but far from the worst. If you want something dumb and weirdly wholesome that’ll make you chuckle here and there, it’s a good pick.

25. Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night

This is one I’m still agonizing over a bit. Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night is a terrific show on so many levels, but I still felt let down by the end of its run. It wasn’t even in the same ballpark of disappointment as Uzumaki or Metallic Rouge, thankfully. Like Uzumaki, it couldn’t live up to the promise of its all-timer debut episode, but on the flip side, Jellyfish largely maintained its high production value. Like Metallic Rouge, it felt like the narrative largely spun its wheels until the writers realized they only had two episodes left, but Jellyfish didn’t leave me feeling like I’d just wasted four hours of my life.

This series already had massive shoes to fill if it was going to be the best showbiz anime produced by Doga Kobo airing this year (“I’d have two nickels” and so on and so forth), but Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night unfortunately ended up getting outclassed on several fronts by shows that just did almost every element better. It looks terrific, it has a memorable cast, the music’s great, and it’s a welcome entry in the “Girls Doing Things” anime canon, but it was shown up in its own broadcast season by Train to the End of the World, Girls Band Cry, and Yuru Camp. The real shame is that it seemed to have designs on being a tremendous LGBT show if it played its cards right, and instead opted to throw those cards in the air and walk away by the end.

I’d still recommend this show if you temper your expectations of any real narrative punch. There were some tremendous original series that aired this year, but Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night just didn’t reach those higher levels. There’s a whole bunch of good in there, but they couldn’t quite piece it all together.

24. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, season 2, part 2

I’m gonna be real here: I’m sick of writing about this show. It’s exceptionally well-made and, on balance, easily one of the best anime of the decade so far, but the subject matter can touch such controversial and uncomfortable territory at parts that I can’t recommend it to anyone. 

The back half of Mushoku Tensei’s second season actually did a lot of work towards making up for a lot of the less-tolerable moments in the preceding ¾ of the show, even delivering a couple of the spring season’s best episodes, and then it gets weird again near the end. Not nearly as bad as it gets in the first season, nor in the worst moments of this season’s first half from 2023, but still off-putting, even for people who stuck with it for this long. I expect this to continue.

Mushoku Tensei is a great show. Don’t watch Mushoku Tensei.

23. Undead Unluck, second cour

David Production’s adaptation of one of Weekly Shonen Jump’s most inventive and ambitious action series continued into the start of 2024 as the story just continued ramping up and getting wilder.

Undead Unluck had an interesting, if occasionally uncomfortable start, with a fascinating power system and tons of secrets left to be revealed, and as it continued you could start to see the camera slowly pulling back. Midway through its second cour, shit completely hits the fan and any expectations you may have had fly out the window. Undead Unluck’s debut season was an amusing curiosity for most of its run, but the status quo is upended so effectively midway through the second cour that I was completely hooked. There were some infuriating pacing issues at those exact moments that were enough for me to dock it several spots on this list, but it’s still absolutely worth watching.

I decided to read the Undead Unluck manga a couple months ago and for as wildly as I thought the anime ramped up its scope by the end of this run, it turns out that the series as a whole goes to even crazier lengths than that. I’m completely sold now and cannot wait for more.

22. Kaiju No. 8

Counter to the series I just talked about, Kaiju No. 8 is one of Shueisha’s least​​​​ innovative battle shonen series. And that’s okay! Nothing wrong with wanting to see people fight giant monsters and one who can turn into a giant monster himself, and maybe you don’t want to have to deal with Attack on Titan’s incoherent politics to get there.

There is fundamentally nothing special about Kaiju No. 8, but I do appreciate that the protagonist is an out-of-shape thirtysomething desperately clinging to his hopes and dreams. No particular reason. There’s some interesting worldbuilding early in the story, and although it does lend itself to protag Kafka’s strengths in battle (non-”turning into a monster” category), it all falls to the wayside when it’s time for monsters, guns, and explosions. And I’m fine with that stuff, but I was hoping for a bit more of a hook.

All in all, this is a very well-made show, if a little muddy-looking at times. I wouldn’t have chosen YUNGBLUD and OneRepublic for the opening and closing themes, but it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the show. I just like complaining about that stuff. Looks good, sounds good most of the time, and endearingly dumb. Can’t go wrong with that.

21. Mashle: Magic and Muscles, season 2

I ranked this show’s first season pretty low on my 2023 list, but I was willing to stick it out for another season, and I’m glad I did. Mashle really finds its footing during the Divine Visionary exam arc and irons out a lot of the issues I’d had with the first season, primarily how little the comedy initially landed for me.

A series that initially had my eyes either rolling or glazing over quickly recovered my attention early in the second season. Creepy Nuts OPs are a cheat code, I swear. Even putting the killer music aside, Mashle looks a lot better as well and has a much more engaging story in its second season. You can really feel it gaining its footing and finding a bit of swagger as the season goes on. The fight sequences are much more engaging this time out, and sometimes you get all the satisfaction you need out of seeing an emotionless weirdo punch the shit out of a mean nerd. A bunch of the jokes even land this time around!

I’m glad I stuck this out. Mashle is, at the end of the day, a hilariously blatant Harry Potter send-up, and frankly has no good reason to hit like it does, but I’m finally sold. At the rate it’s been going, Mashle seems to be set to adapt the entire manga, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of it.

[ghostieblotts]

Okay so it is late but as promised, a post with more about the saf mlp au I'm working on which as of today has already split into two aus. Why am I like this.

So, first things first - clarifying the two aus. The first, which this post is about, is more in line with saf canon - it follows pretty much the same events, the characters go through similar/equivalent experiences, and it stays about as tonally dark (if not potentially going darker) as the original - the difference is that they are also all magical horses/ponies as inspired by My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The second, which I only really started thinking about today so I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing with it, is basically taking concepts for the characters in the first au and putting them in the world and genre expectations of the original tv show - in other words, what if things didn't suck for these cartoon horses. (It's mostly a fun little self-indulgent thing to think about.)

This is probably going to be a long post about a few details relating mainly to the first au. I'm going to put in a cut. Most of what I have been thinking about so far deals with just trying to work out what's going on with Curt and Owen.

The first thing I decided about this au and kind of the one thing I am the most certain about is this: Owen is a unicorn and his horn breaks in the fall. This is the clearest thing to me in this au - I think it works well for many reasons but also, it just instinctively feels right to me.

The broken horn isn't the only physical impact of the fall - Owen also ends up with major scarring and probably a host of other issues but I think the loss of his horn is probably the most impactful thing for him. I think that a unicorn's horn would be a key part of identity and self-image for many (potentially culturally but also just because of how important it is functionally - that's how unicorns control their magic!) so I think that having a broken horn in this au works quite well with that aspect of the fall.

From a practical standpoint, it has a huge impact on Owen's magic. While I don't think Owen was exactly a magician - magic was probably more of a matter of dexterity for him before he got some offensive magic training for his job - like many unicorns, magic would be a key part of how he went about his everyday life. By the time we reach the events of most of SAF, he has spent three years training to try and recover. He has regained some magical function, but his magic is difficult to control. It is erratic - it manifests in sparks and bolts like electricity - and it is also far more prone to being affected by Owen's emotions than before. (Which could be interesting to play with for some scenes, though I haven't fully explored that yet.)

As for Owen's cutie mark - I did toy briefly with the idea of him being a blank flank, which I think could work quite well/interestingly if you lean more towards the view of "cutie mark = destiny/identity". However, I tend to lean more towards "cutie mark = special talent", so for me that means that Owen's mark is a tragedy mask. His special talent is performance, and all that means - acting, deception. It is perhaps most accurately described as pretending, though I don't think he would ever call it that himself - at least not outside of his own head. Getting his mark was not a happy memory and it is not one he is willing to talk about. (I'm tentatively contemplating having it so that Owen earned his mark in some situation related to having to hide something so that he could stay safe and/or avoid being outed, since that would be a pretty strong reason not to tell anyone.) He's explained it with various stories relating to theatre and movies, most likely. Even mi6 - who, strictly speaking, should have been given the full true story - were given a story closer to the truth, but ultimately just another use of Owen's talent. If he has ever told a full or true version of his mark's origin, Curt is the only one Owen has ever told the true story to.

I'm marking time by what we see in the show, and I don't think we would see Owen's mark until the end. I think coverups (makeup? Something like a sticker??) for cutie marks would be standard practice in espionage in this universe - Curt would probably have an assortment of different fake marks over the course of the show, and Owen would have at least two (a1p1 disguise and DMA). I think the staircase scene would probably be the first time we see Owen's mark, and possibly the first time we see Curt's if not around Doing This or maybe Torture Tango. However, as the DMA (or I guess the DSA? Deadliest Stallion Alive? The neutrality of Deadliest Pony Alive/DPA might work well too but I'm not sure if it fits), Owen actually only wears one. As part of the scarring he has, one of his marks was burnt beyond recognition in the fall.

I don't actually know what Curt's cutie mark would be yet. I'm thinking it could potentially be something to do with being the "sharpest of shooters", though (which would be a neat bit of close-ish foreshadowing if we first see it in the staircase scene). However, if there's an option that's more inherently tied to spying, I might take that instead. What I do know, though, is that he took ages to earn it. I'm imagining that Curt as a kid/teenager would have been desperately trying to find his talent, throwing himself at a bunch of different things, getting really frustrated with people dismissing him or talking down to him because he didn't have his mark. He'd develop a real desperation to prove himself, and when he finally did get his mark, he clung to it.

One last big thing: working out what kind of pony Curt is. This is the elephant in the room, for me. I have two options that I like, each with their own benefits and issues.

On the one hand, he could be a unicorn, which I think would work well to emphasise how closely matched he and Owen are before the fall (and then, with Owen's broken horn, this could add an interesting layer to One Step Ahead). This also means that guns might be able to be replaced by beams of magic and I don't have to invent a gun in mlp. (Though they might be more reliable for Owen than his own magic.) The other big benefit of Curt being a unicorn is that it would mean he is flightless - since either Curt or Owen being able to fly in a1p1 has the potential to cause major problems for the plot.

Having said that, you may be surprised that my other preferred option for Curt is that he's a pegasus. This requires some significant logistical wrangling to work within the plot, but also presents some opportunities I really like. The way I'm thinking it might be possible to make this work: having it be standard practice for pegasus spies to bind and conceal their wings. (If anyone has another idea though feel free to tell me!)

Why would they do that, though? I think a possible reason to do this is as simple as the following: wings are both easier to conceal and easier to break than a horn. While both are how pegasi and unicorns respectively control their magic (I am on team everyone has magic and it just manifests differently), I think wings might be more vulnerable in this way. In an occupation where you're expecting your agents to potentially get captured and tortured by your enemies, which body part do you think they're going to go for first? So I think it might be seen as the safest bet to try to delay an agent's wings being discovered for as long as possible. In this case, they would use specially designed bindings that also incorporate padding to make the shape look natural. And while having wings could be incredibly useful in an emergency situation, I can imagine that making sure that binder stays on might in practice be prioritised over potential emergency safety.

So while it requires logistical faffing (and might require some more to make it feel believable enough), I really like the idea of Curt being a pegasus because of the extra layers of guilt it adds to the fall. As @lycan-exe pointed out when I told them about it, it means that Curt did not save Owen even though technically he could have done. But his wings were bound and hidden under clothing, which Curt wouldn't have had enough time to remedy - which would also only make him feel more responsible - if only he was faster, if only he had set the timer for four minutes like they agreed...

So! TL;DR:

Owen is a unicorn with a broken horn

Owen's cutie mark is a tragedy mask and his special talent is pretending

Curt got his cutie mark particularly late, though I'm not certain what it is

Coverups for cutie marks are standard in espionage

Curt could be a unicorn or a pegasus (and despite the necessary faffing I'm leaning towards the latter.

Other things that I am not sure where else to include:

I'm imagining Owen having yellow/golden eyes

Curt is probably blue.

Mama Mega could be a pegasus but I keep imagining her as an earth pony.

And as a final note - something I also talked about in this post:

We've established that many pegasus spies go to notable lengths to conceal the fact that they have wings, because in the event that they are captured, this is dangerous information for your enemies to know. Unfortunately for Curt, he ends up in the unenviable position of being captured - and his torturer is very aware of the fact that he has wings. Whether or not he takes it, the opportunity is there for Owen to do some serious, possibly permanent damage.

[ilikekidsshows]

Sorry for jumpin your ask box like this. Marinette stans are... a pest to say the least and I wanna rant here because this seems to be like a save space. When I say it here my frustration can't cause trouble for me or anyone else.

I don't care anymore if people say I'm just a stupid salter who hates Marinette, I don't think this show will ever be able to undo the absolute fucking hypocrisy that is Marinette de-transforming and trusting an as good as defeated Gabriel like an absolute damn MORON

When 6 episodes earlier Adrien had to apologize in shame for 'having caused Marinette's disadvantage' against Lila in the class when HE literally still doesn't even know about what happened in the damn bathroom, but Marinette for damn sure KNOWS that Gabriel is an insane and sadistic abuser and terrorist!

And of course Marinette fans are bending over BACKWARDS to talk their way outta acknowledging any kinda truth one could be upset about. Saying that it's not the same cause Marinette is 14 (like Adrien and everyone else, too??!) and is, like, the purest and most wonderful but horrifically abused and misunderstood person who ever existed and that Gabriel not having taken Marinette's generous (empty) offer was totally just Gabriel betraying her pure and angelic heart that tried to do the right thing like the hero she is because 'she's so pure that she was able to see the good in him and wanted to give him another chance 😌'

When, what the hell?? Adrien was and IS being ripped to SHREDS for so much less cause of Chameleon! Just because Marinette couldn't ever confront Lila in a way that goes beyond "point finger and scream and then get upset when that doesn't work for 5 seasons straight"! There is NOTHING anyone can claim that makes the hypocrisy here make sense. Nothing. Didn't she just 'lovingly' patronize Adrien by saying that "sometimes the good we see in other people is only a reflection of our own goodness" and he had to act grateful that she's still able to love him despite his naivety and wrongness?? That was 6 episodes ago! Marinette, where did that energy go now that it's YOU?

Adrien had to 'learn his lesson' in shame and be reprimanded for a good moral advice he couldn't possibly know would backfire because he unknowingly said it about the show's most evil psychopath apparently

But Marinette can seemingly be the most gullible, hypocritical, and illogical moron on the planet, detransforming for no god damn reason in front of the not entirely disarmed and dying mass terrorist, abuser, and magical enslaver who's about to fail and loose everything he ever loved and fought for

But SURE, she totally didn't do Adrien's 'offense' from season 3 just 1000x WORSE, cause, didn't you know? It's ✨Marinette!��

Her flaws don't matter. In fact, anyone who says she is capable of REAL flaws apparently just mindlessly hates her and strong female characters like her. She can do everything everyone else gets dragged to hell for cuz fuck everyone and everything I guess! Mademoiselle center of the universe might be sad if morality applies to her.

At least if they'd SAY IT that they are okay with pathetic double standards and hypocrisy, but no. Everyone is acting like they're on the moral high-horse by just ignoring everythin that doesn't make Marinette look like the greatest person ever, because it's ✨Marinette✨and we're just mean haters who "don't get it". I sure get that Marinette's fans' and especially STANS' words have lost as good as all validity in my eyes starting with the retooling season 4 because of how incapable of basic self-reflection they seem to be!

btw, I didn't talk to them in this tone. I just wanted to have a conversation with people who say that they think the Marinette and Adrien situations are different and I get nothin but unfiltered hypocrisy and excuses upon excuses! It's just "Adrien was WRONG because Marinette was RIGHT!" with "Marinette was RIGHT but Gabriel was such an awful person to HER that he unfairly punished her pure heart of justice™! 🥺"

Like, get the hell out man. How is any discours supposed to ever exist again after all this??

I apologize again for intruding, I needed to get this off my chest. I still wish you a great day and thanks for providing a place for group therapy 😅

---

Marinette stans love to claim that any consequences for her actions is Marinette being “punished”. They’ve been crying and throwing up about “Marinette getting punished for things that aren't her fault” ever since the original pre-retool series. Even when there's no character to point an accusing finger at, they claim that the writers are punishing her whenever she doesn't get away with something scot free or gets minorly inconvenienced by anything. The idea that Marinette having anything less than a perfect day with every character worshiping her is the same as her getting “punished” has been the basic toxic Marinette stan’s creed for years.

I'm also just going to be really mean: all of Marinette’s good traits that the stans repeat are wildly exaggerated from traits every non-villainous character has. Because, if we take their claims literally, I certainly don't see this “pure heart of justice” and “always helping others” the stans claim she does, because she's too busy moping about or chasing Adrien whenever she's on screen to have the time to help people as much as her stans claim she does. She sometimes helps her friends and family and she saves Akuma victims cause that's her job, but so much more of her life is taken up by worrying about herself.

She's also not strong, physically or mentally. She is not secretly jacked and she has never gotten out of a stressful situation victorious without someone else there to prop her up first. In terms of these things, Marinette is average, “just a normal girl with a normal life”. Marinette isn't weak exactly, but any other “good” member of the cast is the same. She’s not exceptional in these things, but the stans love to claim she’s the greatest, purest, goodest thing that was ever spawned into existence in the world of Miraculous. I know the phrase “strong female character” lost any meaning long ago, but it’s kinda laughable we’re at the point where explicit failures like the season 5 finale are being touted around as signs of strength.

I also agree that the Miraculous fandom just can't handle discourse anymore. Some time ago I saw a post that had someone wondering why there weren't many new analysis posts in the fandom post-season 5 and the reason for that is that the fandom doesn't have space for that kind of analytical thinking anymore. The analysts saw what SentiAdrien would do to the series and, when the fandom exploded into the expected abuse apologia, they left. In addition to that the series can no longer withstand any kind of analytical viewing so the remaining, highly defensive fandom is against questioning what they're watching. You can't enjoy this show if you employ any kind of critical thinking, because the morals the writers elevate are rancid.

Marinette stans have always been like this. I've never been harrassed by Chloé stans and I used to post some very spicy stuff about Chloé. Every time I've been harrassed in this fandom, it was done by Marinette stans. The more toxic Marinette stans have always been the worst part of this fandom and now that the writers are pandering to them, they're really bold about pushing everyone else around.

[unknownsprings]

Jealousy

(An unfinished fic that is still on going)

Pairing: Raiden/Liu Kang

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 1,139

_______

“Alright, so let me get this straight.” Johnny says, pressing his palms together and pointing directly at him. “Basically Shang Tsung, in your universe, managed to lure you into a trap and used some sort of magical crystal to transport you into a different realm, but somehow accidentally transported you into our timeline and now you have no way back home?”

Raiden, well Rayden as he calls himself to prevent any confusion, shrugs his shoulders. “That’s pretty much the gist of it, but yeah.”

“Can’t you just use your powers to transport back to where you’re from.” Kung Lao suggested and Rayden shook his head.

“Doesn’t work that way. I teleport to places, not jumping into unfamiliar timelines.”

Raiden crossed his arms, “But why this specific timeline?” he asks.

“Beats me,” Rayden shrugs. Much to Raiden’s irritation of the lack of a direct answer. “All I know is that the crystal Shang Tsung used, which may I add, the Kung Lao in my own timeline was supposed to be strictly protected. Is capable of opening doors to other realms, I never expect it to hold this much power to blast me into a different timeline.”

Kung Lao winces at the mention of his name of his counterpart, and Rayden notices as he quickly added, “No offense.”

“Speaking of timelines,” Johnny starts, almost shoving Kung Lao out the way, much to the monk’s displeasement as he grimaces. “Dude, you gotta let me know if I’m still a movie star where you’re from!”

Raiden frowns as the rest of the group gathers around his alternate self. Whom he doesn’t seem to mind answering questions as his friend’s chatter around him, intrigue at how different this Rayden is, besides the name, is compared to theirs.

The two look similar in appearance and height. But different in personality and clothing, his counterpart's personality is rather too nonchalantly with a hint of mischief in his counterpart's not-so-blazing blue eyes. His long white hair goes past his shoulder, added with a straw hat hanging behind his back. He wears baggy white clothes, a light blue vest with a similar colour of his sash wrapped around his waist. He looked like a normal commoner who doesn’t exude an aura of raw power that shows he was a divine being, a god, but rather a harmless looking human being.

His counterpart didn’t seem to show much of a threat with a rather low-key and approachable personality.

‘For now at least,’ Raiden thought and joined the group.

“So wait, in your timeline I don’t exist where you’re from?” Johnny asks and Rayden shakes his head.

“I wouldn’t say you don’t exist, I just haven’t met you yet and that includes you three.” Rayden points at Sonya, Jax, and Kenshi. 

Johnny’s face droops, “Oh man, I was going to be super stoked to learn about what my counterpart is like.” he whines.

“Well who knows, maybe further in my immortal years as time passes I might meet your counterparts. Although I did mention Kung Lao is in my timeline and then there’s Taja, Siro...” Rayden informs and then his blue eyes land on Liu Kang. “And then there’s you.”

Liu Kang who had been silent in the whole group blinks at the mention of his name. The rest of the group turn to face him and Liu Kang ducks his head, feeling a little embarrassed and shy at the attention.

“Me?”

“Mhm.”

Rayden approaches and circles around him, like a predator examining his prey. For a thunder god of another timeline whose personality is a polar opposite of Raiden’s and seems to be a little more approachable. The closeness of his counterpart circling around Raiden’s disciple makes Liu Kang squirm on the spot as he closes in.

Raiden’s eyes harden.

A little too close, he thinks.

“Hm.. it’s weird to see how similar you two are.” Rayden mentioned, stroking his chin as he stands at his side. “Same height, same eye colour and same build. Although the difference is that your hair is much shorter than his. Kind of reminds me of one of those karen hair cuts.” he says, touching a strand of Liu Kang’s hair and lifting up to examine the colour. Liu Kang’s brows furrow when hears Johnny and Kung Lao snicker.

Irritated, the red ribbon monk scowls as he slaps his hand and Rayden brings his hand back with a yelp.

“Lord Rayden, kindly please keep your hands to yourself.” Liu Kang hisses, cheeks tinted red.

The counterpart winces and shakes his hand as if in pain, “Ow, both respectful and feisty too.” he adds and continues making his way behind him. 

“Although you wear a little more modestly, I can tell that waist and those legs,” Rayden implies heavily. He bows a little low sideways as his blue eye trails up from his legs to his backside. Liu Kang hurriedly brings his hand behind him as he twists around to avoid the other thunder god’s prying eyes as he sees the older man straighten himself. “Still looks as fantastic as ever.”

Raiden makes a strangled noise in his throat that almost sounded like a choke, Liu Kang’s face flushes red with a horrified look, and Rayden’s blue eyes twinkle.

Raiden always knew there are possible and countless timelines with different versions of himself and his friends, his amulet proves that. But he never expected to meet this version of himself to be so- so shameless!

Raiden swears he’s going to strangle him.

Johnny elbows Kung Lao’s bicep and whispers, “I’ll bet a 100 bucks Raiden is going to kill him.”

Kung Lao whispers back, “200 if Liu Kang will be the first to beat him up.”

Sonya crosses her arms and smirks, “250 that Raiden is going to defend Liu’s honour.”

Kenshi sighs, “Guys…”

Jax jabs his thumb at Sonya’s direction, “I’m with Sonya on this one.”

Raiden quickly steps in front of his counterpart, shielding his eyes from Liu Kang’s figure as he glares. 

“Are you done examining my student?” Raiden asks coldly.

Liu Kang quickly comforts his mentor by giving him a slight squeeze of his bicep in his hand. “Lord Raiden, please calm down. I’m sure he’s just joking around.” Liu Kang reasoned, trying to de-escalate the  tense situation. 

Feeling the reassuring warm hand of his student through the fabric of his arm, Raiden breathes out and forces himself to relax for the sake of his student. And Liu Kang feels Raiden's tense figure relax under his grip. 

Rayden pulls his hands up in surrender and chuckles. “Apologies, just seeing a familiar face makes me feel a little homesick so I tend to get a little carried away.” he says and drops his hands.

“Rest assured, you will return home,” Raiden promises. 

‘And I’ll make sure it stays that way.’ he adds.

(To be Continued)

_______

Apologies if the character's seem to out of character. I'm pretty much new to the MK Fandom so I'm still learning 😭.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you think the Statue of Secrecy in the Harry Potter books should be broken?

I mean, that's an interesting question, and not one I'm sure I (or anyone else for that matter) is qualified to answer. It's sort of like asking "should a large and fundamental part of a culture change". It can change, and there'd be fallout from that, and the result would be something entirely different.

What I will say is the statute of secrecy, at least as we see it in Britain, sets up a potentially dangerous state of affairs for a civilization and especially one that is insistent on remaining ignorant of its neighbors.

There's a technical term for this that I'm completely forgetting at the moment but the idea is that if you have an extremely small civilization, in which there is also extreme isolation, then that civilization's technology not only tends not to progress but also regresses. This is a matter of population and knowledge being lost (you don't necessarily have 1-1 replacement for skills and techniques to retain what the civilization knows) and difficulty in innovating for similar reasons.

Now, wizarding Britain isn't quite this, and that's because we have Half-bloods and Muggle-borns. The population is ridiculously small, with Harry's class in Hogwarts being around ~30 total and no matter how JKR tries to convince me there's thousands at Hogwarts we only seem to see 100s if we're being generous, and the "pure" wizarding families being even smaller (~30 families many of which have died out). But we also get a few Muggle-borns every year and we get Half-bloods from magical people marrying Muggles either directly or those who came from Muggles two generations or less ago. We see technology transferred in from the Muggle world and accepted at large in the train for the Hogwarts Express, the Knight Bus, cameras, and radios.

There is technological transfer as well as some diversity in genetics.

The problem comes in that the wizarding world by isolating itself is incredibly vulnerable to diseases (dragon pox is noted as basically having wiped out Harry's grandparent's generation) and conflict (Voldemort's responsible for the ending of several cornerstone family lines). One bad famine, war, and epidemic could end the wizarding world the way it is now.

As it is, they may already be at a breaking point and not realize it, if enough of the families died out. (The Weasleys can't supply 3/4 of the population and you have to have someone there already to teach Muggle-borns magic in the first place).

There's also the issue that by isolating themselves so strictly the wizards have no idea how Muggles work or the state of the Muggle world. Arthur is painted as the best we see and he's offensively bad, it's a common gag how little he understands about the Muggle world as a Pureblood wizard. While people like Hermione and Harry are better, they also stopped their Muggle schooling at 11 and both spend as much time in the wizarding world as they can even during the few times they're sent back to the Muggle world. This is especially dangerous as Harry and Hermione think they understand the Muggle world extremely well, and while they're better than Ron, they're not the same as someone who is a Muggle, especially after they become adult wizards and have no reason to interact with the Muggle world anymore.

So we get a superficial understanding of Muggle technology (they know certain things exist, especially obvious physical devices, but their solution to making them work is to enchant them to float and they think they've got it) and basically 0 understanding of anything else.

We do see some crossover in that the Prime Minister has a direct line to the Minister of Magic, but we also see that it's a "you don't call us, we'll call you" type relationship in that the Prime Minister has been trying for ages to figure out what the fuck is going on when Fudge and Scrigemore finally show up and go "Oh, yeah, there's a changeover and we have a terrorist back who's going to fuck your shit up. Sorry". It's very clearly a position meant to shut the Muggles up and have their aid when the wizarding world needs something from them, not the other way around, which is bad relations (seen in canon, the PM was not a fan) and also makes it clear that the wizards don't care what the Muggles do or what they're up to so long as they do it off their lawn.

And that means... well, things could get spicy without the wizarding world having any means of warning.

Not to mention, of course, that it's barely being kept in place. We have canonical villages of obliviated people who act a little funny in the head because the wizards didn't want to move/wanted to feel progressive by living with Muggles. We have Harry alone causing a number of incidents such as flying a car over half the country with the obliviators then having to obliviate said half of the country. We have Muggle-borns popping up with the Ministry seeming to have no means of keeping track of them without the Hogwarts letter. We have a complete lack of understanding of recent Muggle technology (guys, a very small percentage of people actually understand how computers work, how information is stored, how it's replicated across the web, don't tell me that someone with a primary education up to age 11 understands all the nuance of computers. You may get one or two, but it's not going to be many and they're probably not going to have Ministry jobs because they're going to probably be Muggle-born and maybe, maybe, Half-blood).

So, basically, I think the statute of secrecy is unsustainable. They're rolling dice keeping it in place and one of those days they're going to roll for something that will not allow it to hold.

Does that mean it should be torn down?

Again, that's that "should" thing we got into at first, things would change, it'd get very messy and very ugly, but it's a change and not something I can really ascribe morality to one way or another. It just is.