#oil fire meta

[eleemosynecdoche]

See, the thing with the oil fire is that it's taking relatively grounded character aspects: Sanae is explicitly a nerd and is frequently called out as out of her depth, trusting, and guileless. Tsukasa is a weak youkai who works as a professional evil minion and tries to establish power in a situation through finding people's vulnerabilities and pressing them there.

So you put those things together, and Tsukasa plainly can't really do much to manipulate Sanae, who's much stronger than her, but Sanae is also goodhearted and unwilling to use that strength to smack Tsukasa around. (That would be Tsukasa/Reimu as written by Yoshimurakana.)

But because Sanae is a nerd and Tsukasa is kinda sexualized in her design and portrayal (in a ZUN way), it is funny to conceptualize these interactions as Sanae having awful sex with Tsukasa and Tsukasa falling in love but not becoming a better person, because Sanae has no clue how to encourage that. And then project some of our own experiences or experiences of people we've known into that bad sex and loving relationship.

Now you want a fucked-up Touhou ship? I've got Seiga Kaku right here.

[dizzyhslightlyvoided]

Kochiyasanae-no-Kami and Kudamakiten-no-Kami, the Moriya goddesses of miraculous fertility,

my brain, immediately after I'd typed that: You know, given the oil-fire-subset Posting on that particular subject, that's pretty much a complete bit by itself.

Kochiyasanae-no-Kami and Kudamakiten-no-Kami, the Moriya goddesses of miraculous fertility, trans women, and lesbians.

my brain: Yeah that's a complete bit too.

Their descendants keep running into a situation where one of them is an arahitogami shrine maiden, then she becomes a full-fledged kami and so her girlfriend becomes her shrine maiden, and then the girlfriend also becomes a kami, thus necessitating that they find another new shrine maiden.

my brain: I think that's good enough ... feels like it could use a little more, though.

Also, every such pairing is between someone Very Conniving, and someone who's immune to the manipulations for whatever reason but is either humoring her partner or is willing to give her the companionship she wants regardless. This goes all the way back to Kochiyasanae-no-Kami's mothers.

my brain: Okay, there we go, comedy secured.

[chick-with-wifi]

Meta: Root's message for Shaw

In 4x05, Root says, "if the worst comes to pass, if you could give Shaw a message?" when she believes she will die in the fight against Martine. Although we don't hear the exact wording of this message, the context and Finch's reply of "I think she already knows", tell us it is a declaration of love.

Then in 5x13 when the Machine is fading, She tells Shaw, "There's something I think Root had wanted to say to you. You always thought there was something wrong with you because you don't feel things the way other people do. But she always felt that was what made you beautiful. She wanted you to know that if you were a shape, you were a straight line. An arrow." 

During their time together, Root's flirting consists of exaggerated innuendo to push Shaw's buttons ("I'll do yours if you do mine" in 3x23, "I love it when you play doctor" in 3x17), and in return Shaw pushes Root's buttons by aggressively pretending she doesn't care about Root ("I missed you like I'd miss an intestinal parasite" in 3x20, "I wouldn't want anything to happen…to the dog" in 4x10). Root never disrupts the delicate balance of this dance, never asks Shaw for more than she's willing to give or demands any confirmation of her feelings, beyond light teasing such as "and is that why you came to see me?" in 4x07.

But in the event of her death, she wants Shaw to know the true extent of her feelings. Given that she always intended it to be this way, this means the message isn't for her benefit - it's for Shaw's. She wants Shaw to know beyond a shadow of doubt that Root loved and understood her for exactly who she is, and has no expectations for what her grieving process should look like. She doesn't want Shaw to ever feel like she isn't enough.

A variation of this also appears in 4x11. In one of the Machine's simulations, Root calls Shaw while knowing she doesn't have long left and it is the only time we see her push for any sort of confirmation about their relationship. She says, "Why are you so afraid to talk about your feelings? [...] We're perfect for each other. You're gonna figure that out someday." and is elated with Shaw's reply that "maybe someday [...] we can talk about it."

Since the Machine is able to accurately predict Her assets and knows Root's final request well enough to carry it out in 5x13, She knows this is the one situation where Root would push the issue enough to make it clear that she loves Shaw and that she would be thrilled with any degree of confirmation Shaw chooses to give.

Their conversation in the real timeline begins in exactly the same way, with Root in a dire situation calling Shaw to say, "Hey, sweetie. You busy?". Shaw replies, "A little. Skip the verbal foreplay, Root. Why are you calling?" and Root says, "Can't a couple of gals take a little break from work to catch up?". However, at this point Shaw arrives in the stock exchange and the team's chance of survival increases considerably.

The rest of their conversation plays out similarly, but is toned down. Root says, "We're so good at this together. You're gonna realize that someday." Where the simulation began with Root asking a direct question about Shaw's feelings, this is an open statement that doesn't put any pressure on Shaw to respond.

Shaw replies, "Root, no offense. You're hot, you're good with a gun. Those are two qualities I greatly admire. But you and me together would be like a four-alarm fire in an oil refinery." Just like how Root in the simulation was happy with Shaw's response, she cheerily replies, "Sounds cozy." Since at this moment her life is no longer in immediate danger, she doesn't feel the need to say anything further.

[ashenmind]

Ashenmind’s Theory of Touhou Post Nicheness

Posts generally fall somewhere along the following tiers based on what knowledge is required to appreciate them (whether they be jokes or theories or something in between). As tier increases, the potential audience rapidly gets more limited.

Tier 0: Requires absolutely no knowledge of Touhou

Tier 1: Require passing knowledge of touhou (e.g. bullet hell, lots of girls)

Tier 2: Requires general touhou knowledge (e.g. a common character’s traits, game plot, or setting) or passing fandom knowledge (e.g. people like making stuff for touhou).

Tier 3: Requires specific Touhou knowledge (Detailed descriptions and relationships of common characters, traits of less known characters, specific plot points) or general fandom knowledge (e.g. people really like Marisa).

Tier 4: Requires detailed Touhou knowledge (e.g. personalities of less known characters, specific scenes and interactions) or specific fandom knowledge (e.g. aka yakumo, oil fire)

Tier 5: requires exact Touhou knowledge (e.g. wording of specific descriptions or dialogue) or detailed fandom knowledge (e.g. origin or background of given topic, meta knowledge of posters)

Tier 6: Requires exact fandom knowledge (e.g. “I just saw that post!”)

Tier 7: Requires Precient fandom knowledge (e.g. “I know a post is coming because the poster is my roommate”)

[classicanalyzer]

Fallout Series Thoughts and Reflection

"Everyone wants to save the world. They just...disagree on how." Maximus

It's one day until one month since this amazing series was released and I have a lot to talk about Fallout!

A Vault Dweller (Lucy MacLean), a Brotherhood Squire (Maximus), a Ghoul Bounty Hunter (Once a human called Cooper Howard)...and a dog (Dogmeat) travel the Wasteland in pursuit of their goals. In doing so, all four will change the Wasteland for better or worse, and discover more sinister secrets. And as Siggi Wilzig, an Enclave defector, asks Lucy in their first encounter,

"Question is will you still want the same things......when you have become a different animal altogether." Siggi Wilzig

The opening (The End) was perfect. The tension reminds me a lot of TLOU’s opening. We look into the eternal 50s culture United States in the 2070s. Cooper's reaction to the first bomb dropping is just acting perfectly. He at first tries to assure his daughter, Janey, that it's just a fire...only to see the smoke turn into a mushroom cloud. His reaction then just turns into one of pure horror that conveys how this is the end of society. That shot of him and Janey looking at the mushroom cloud and the ignorant American families watching TV says everything. As the rich family hides out in their bunker (the father punching his friend which is a foreshadowing moment of humanity's desperation for self-preservation), we see Cooper and Janey ride on their horse as Lose Angelos is bombarded with the title card popping up (Each episode has a unique variation of the title card based on what's going on).

The show captures the dark comedy and the satire of 50s America, Capitalism, and the Cold War. When Wilzig talked about how the cyanide pill (which tasted like bananas too!) was the most humane product Vault-Tec ever made (it really is), that was Fallout humor alright. We even have a pre-war bit where Sebastion Lesie sold his vocal rights to RobCo for their Mr. Handy bots for around $186 (I know it could be 186 thousand but I love the possibility he only got literally 186 dollars). Another is when the "execution" of Lucy by the inhabitants of Vault 4 which was very elaborate to set up death by beheading... turns out out to be death to the surface (as the Overseer is trying horribly to cut off the rope). A funny meta joke is how the teaser joker poked about Amazon Prime being the company with 2-day shipping in the teaser trailer. Then the show was released 2 days earlier than its stated release date (The show came out on April 10th, 6 PM PST when its original release date was April 12th).

"The future, my friend, is products. You're a product. I'm a product. The end of the world is a product." Sebastian Leslie

The attention to detail in this show is also amazing. In the first episode, the radio mentions the President not present at the White House. That follows the lore of the President moving to the Poseidon Oil Rig. I also love how in Episode 2, Maximus mentions Tidus' Power Armor having Tempered Lining and Lucy brought it up too in Episode 5. In Episode 8, The Ghoul mentioned the weakness of the Power Armor suit just below the chestplate. It further explains why Maximus didn't die to the Ghoul since the Ghoul was trying to aim for that but due to that modification, Maximus was able to survive. They also brought back the hacking mini-game when Norman was hacking into the Overseer's computer.

There's also the question of how to rebuild humanity. Each faction (Vault-Tec, NCR, BoS, Enclave) has its own vision for the Wasteland. Maximus perfectly described the setting perfectly well in his quote at the top.

Lucy’s (Positive Karma) naivety and optimism really show her as the heart of our main trio. Even by the end where she gained a lot of cynicism, it’s still her underneath it. I also appreciate her character so much when she doesn’t follow the “character’s bond with another is broken because they lied” trope. I like how the folks of the Wasteland can't stand Vault Dwellers because of their nativity, self-centered attitude, and how it was really for the rich and privileged who could afford to go to a Vault. However, she proves herself to be an earnest character who truly wants to make the Wasteland a better place, and adapts to survive... but doesn't lose sight of who she is unlike the Ghoul. I cannot wait to see how S2 takes her character. Her relationship with Maximus is also pretty sweet as they both help each other out and bring out the best in each other.

"I just doused an innocent man's face with acid, and I've only been up here two weeks. The wasteland sucks." Lucy MacLean

Maximus’ (Neutral Karma) character development was nice to see. He still has a long way to go but he’s starting to understand what being a “hero” is about rather than just having physical power. A hero knows to sacrifice your desires (The Power Armor) to help others (giving back the fusion core). He wants a life beyond the Brotherhood and is clearly disillusioned with the organization. When his friend thought he killed Moldaver and declared him a Knight, his face tells another story of how he felt about this.

The Ghoul (Evil Karma) may have been a cruel bounty hunter who believes in the worst of the Wasteland...but there are moments of his former self still inside. His taking a liking to Wilzig's dog (whom he eventually named Dogmeat) and granting his Ghoul friend Roger a mercy kill reveals there might be hope for him yet. His former self, Cooper Howard. is nothing like his current self. I love how the show made it clear he was once this human who couldn't initially bring himself to kill someone... even if it was for a movie! Even when he tries to initially deny the evils of Vault-Tec and buys into American Cold War propaganda, it's clear he still values his friends (even if they're supposedly "Communists") and eventually starts to really question what the hell is going on.

"I'm not a Communist, Mr. Howard. That's just a dirty word they use to describe people who aren't insane." Lee Moldaver

The reveal that Vault-Tec was responsible for dropping the first bomb (or at the very least planned to do so) was genuinely one of the most shocking bombshell reveals ever. You feel the nervous breakdown of Howard Cooper as he’s trying to process his own wife advocating this insane genocidal plan. I wonder if the shadow figure overseeing the meeting of the corporations is from the Enclave. I also really love the detail that Mr. House is the only one questioning the logistics and the proposal (Daily note that Mr. House is just as bad as everyone in this room, it's just that he sees less value in causing the end of the world). It shows why he decided to go against this insane conspiracy plan as we see the fruits of his preparations in New Vegas. I also love seeing Frederick Sinclair (Also New Vegas), the owner of the Sierra Madre Casino, Leon Von Felden (Fallout 1), the mad scientist behind the FEV and the Mariposa Military base, and Julia Masters, the chief financial officer of REPCONN Aerospace who sold out the company to RobCo.

"It's a fun idea. There's a lot of earning potential with the end of the world. But we're talking about making a significant investment based on a hypothetical. How can you guarantee results?" Robert House

"By dropping the bomb ourselves." Barbara Howard

Moldaver is no saint (she did let raiders massacre Vault 33 and almost killed Lucy, her friend's daughter), and it shows how far the NCR has sunken to achieve its aims. However, a lot of her actions are based on the horrors and crimes against humanity she witnessed. She wanted to rectify them and give the Wasteland hope, no matter the cost. She had seen her failures to stop the old world from being destroyed, and she would not stop until she could make the Wasteland better, even if that meant the NCR not living to see that better world.

Lucy's quest to rescue her father is like a twisted Fallout 3 narrative where the Lone Wanderer's quest was to find their father. But instead of her father being a scientist who wants to further heal the Wasteland, her father is responsible for destroying one of the most developed nations post-war because they weren't Vault-Tec. It's also implied it might've been out of jealousy since the show hints that Moldaver and Rose MacLean were more than just friends.

The collapse of the NCR was something I knew would happen based on the state of it in NV, but the final nail in the coffin being at the hands of Vault-Tec was something I did not see coming. I love that the last action of the NCR Remnant was to restore Shady Sands's power with the cold-fusion reactor. Even when the NCR is gone, whatever arises from the NCR will not only do the job better but now benefit from infinite energy. This is in comparison to the US government whose last action was to nuke the world and for the Enclave, leave the American populace to die.

The West Coast of the Brotherhood took advantage of the NCR's collapse to reestablish itself and with the help of the East Coast's BoS, they're now the largest military presence in California. The final battle between them and the NCR Remnant is a mirror foil to an event mentioned in New Vegas with the Helios Power Plant. We see how Maximus grows disillusioned with how far the organization has fallen and its own Knights not being the heroes he looked up to, even his superior agrees about how the Brotherhood is not what it once was.

Vaults 31-33 may not have an extreme experiment as the other Vaults and in this case, Vault 4, but the experiment is still horrifying. Vault 32-33 are meant to be breeding pools for Vault 31, full of Vault-Tec personnel in cryogenic pods (which I think is how maybe Lee Moldaver survived), to create the "best" Vault-Tec personnel. Vault 4 is a vault where scientists govern the people...which went as well as you might expect (The experiments going berserk and the Vault Dwellers revolting). I also love how the Gulper we saw in Episode 4 is one of Vault 4's experiments (also explaining the human-like finders inside its mouth) and who also ate the Overseer. I wonder what Norman will do given how Bud puts in him a seemingly impossible situation.

Then there's the Enclave and the pre-war Corporations. The Enclave really only shows up for a flashback sequence for Wilzig but, interestingly, the show glosses over them. What interests me the most is that Wilzig knows about the Vaults 31-33 experiment and Lucy's full name. Obviously, the Enclave still has observations of the Vaults, but as I mentioned before, that shadow figure observing the corporate meeting might be them. Speaking of the Corporations, we see the results of unchecked Capitalism with no regulations in this franchise and this show. We see the insane troll logic that these mega corporations will win the "great game of capitalism" by outliving everyone. Mega corporations have no logic other than their insane troll logic that what matters is they survive regardless of who suffers or dies in the name of profits.

"So, the U.S. government has outsourced the survival of the human race to Vault-Tec. Vault-Tec is a private corporation that has a fiduciary responsibility to make money for its investors. And how does it make money? By selling vaults... The cattle ranchers are in charge, Coop." Charlie Whiteknife.

You can tell how much Nolan and his team love Fallout by the work they put into this show. They did such an amazing job that Tim Cain, one of the OG creators of Fallout, praised the hell out of this show for bringing Fallout to life. I cannot wait to see what S2 will bring us.

"War never changes." Barbara Howard and The Ghoul

[dieauster-und-diegarnele]

A:tLA general meta and theories

water/earth/fire/air/general

Passive bending

Gaang's address in Ba Sing Se

Tea of four elements

Aang is a sunshine boy and Toph is a gremlin

Learning during the war

Kataang beats Zutara

Bumi meets Aang after 100 years

About previous avatars

Character's wrong fandom treatment

Wan Shi Tong "He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things"

Tea pots in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1

Tea pots in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2

Tea pots in Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3

“Siege of the North" filming - left and right

“The desert” forces characters into circumstances that fundamentally change core aspects of their personality

“The Phoenix Flight”

Great non-benders Sokka and Suki

THE FOUR ELEMENTS + CHEMICAL ELEMENTS

There is nuance in mercy: Aang and Ozai

“The King of Omashu” and Foreshadowing

Color Theory in ATLA Part 3: Siege of the North (links for the previous parts are there)

The Gaang: first and last battles (sort of)

“Rock paper scissors” exist in the Avatar universe

Great A:tLA characters

“There is no war in Ba Sing Se” (about balance)

The best written characters of all time

Avatar drinking game

The Sokka and Zuko dynamic

Can waterbenders bend oil? Can earthbenders bend glass? Can airbenders bend sound? Can firebenders bend mixtapes?

Key cultural influences of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Culture tips for writing asian settings: naming taboo

@atla-lore-archive - EVERYTHING about the show canon

The only advice Aang doesn’t take is Yangchen’s

[galaxymagitech]

Robins on a Rooftop

This fic was written for the Batfam Secret Santa 2023 (run by @wait-whos-batman) for @howtokillavampire, and it is...still technically 2023. You can also find it on AO3 here.

Summary: An encounter with the Mad Hatter goes horribly wrong and Tim runs away. Better to quit than to be fired.

Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Mind Control. While under mind control, Bruce attacks Tim.

***

The lights are blinding. Tim had wondered why everyone looked so squinty on stage during the Gotham Academy Musical, and now he has his answer. The lights are blinding, except for the Batman’s shadow, which engulfs Tim like a creature from his nightmares. Tim’s going to die on stage and there’s probably something poetic about this, but Tim’s no Jason Todd. He has a B in English right now and he does all his reading on SparkNotes. So, he’s a whole lot less worried about poeticism right now and a whole lot more worried about the burning pain in his ribs (broken or bruised?) and the sluggishly-bleeding cut across his torso and the gauntlets wrapped around his throat.

Tim closes his eyes. His mind is terrifyingly blank, racing to nowhere, lost in fear and confusion. He can’t look. If he looks, he’ll see the white eye-lenses of the cowl and Batman’s mouth curled into a grimace and Tim can’t. He can’t see that right now, not if he wants to live through the next few minutes and prevent Batman from becoming a murderer. His murderer, to be precise.

Going against all his instincts, Tim forces himself to stop trying to peel Batman’s fingers away from his neck. He’s a fourteen-year-old non-meta human; he’s not going to be able to break the Batman’s grasp. It takes all his willpower to make his thrashing legs go still and let his arms fall to the side, but Tim manages. Then, he rotates right shoulder to reach behind him, feeling around desperately.

The thing about Tim is he’s not that great of a fighter. He’s good, sure, but not compared to the other vigilantes stalking Gotham’s rooftops—certainly not compared to the Batman. But he’s a thinker, and that just has to suffice. Tim’s been keeping track of this battle from the beginning. Every move—the way the goons shifted into formations like the cogs of a well-oiled machine, the way Batman joined that machine once the headband was slipped over his cowl, and the way Tim’s bo staff rolled across the floor when Batman brutally disarmed him.

It would be a lie if Tim said he’d led the fight to this point so that he could win. He just got lucky. But considering how unlucky it is that the cowl’s anti-mind-control circuitry was the exact part damaged in the fire Firefly had set, well…Tim thinks he’s owed that luck. And the universe seems to agree, because if Tim’s right—and he usually is—his bo staff should be somewhere right behind him.

Tim’s fingers close around the cool metal of the bo staff and he compresses it, twisting his arm back towards his chest. And then, bracing one end of the bo staff against the floor, he looks straight into Batman’s eyes and extends the staff.

Batman doesn’t go flying across the stage, but he grunts in pain and topples to the side, his grip releasing. Tim coughs, lungs screaming for air as he scrambles away from Batman, bo staff raised in a sloppy defensive position. He’s surrounded by goons and Batman’s making his way to his feet and Tetch is in the front row seat, sipping calmly from his teacup.

Tim can’t escape from Batman, but he doesn’t need to escape. He just needs a few seconds. Tetch’s eyes go wide as the cup pauses just before his lips, but it’s too late for the Mad Hatter. Launching himself off the stage, Tim somersaults and lands right in front of Tetch. In a single, fluid motion, Tim swipes the hat from the Mad Hatter’s head. And the jolt of electricity that strikes him a moment later from Tetch’s taser, well—that doesn’t really matter.

The goons freeze, before collapsing to the ground. Tim sees the moment Bruce returns to himself, the way the man’s posture switches from aggressive to guarded, with only the slightest hint of confusion. The Mad Hatter begins to flee as Tim struggles to his feet, muscles burning and twitching from the electric shock.

“Robin, are you—”

The lights are no longer on the stage, they’re shining directly on Tim. The Mad Hatter must’ve made it to the lighting box area at the back of the audience. But why isn’t he fleeing? Tim doesn’t get it. He raises a shaking arm to shield his eyes, grimacing.

And then Bruce’s eyes fall on Tim and the bright lighting is the least of Tim’s problems. Tim can feel the weight of Bruce’s gaze, heavy as a lead uniform weighing down his entire being. He knows Bruce is cataloguing injuries. He knows Bruce is comparing them to what he observed in the fight before he fell under mind control. He knows what Bruce is thinking. But when Tim tries to speak, the words catch in his throat like barbed wire and he coughs and coughs and coughs. By the time Tim’s throat is no longer burning, the stage is empty.

Stumbling forwards, Tim struggles up the nearest aisle, clutching the railing. When he makes it to the lighting box, he sees it’s empty. Throwing open the exit doors, Tim steps into the theater’s lobby. And there he sees Batman hunched over Tetch, his fists pounding into the Rogue’s face again and again and again—

Tim rushes towards his mentor, boots pounding even on the lobby’s carpeted floor. “Stop,” he says, and it comes out as a hoarse whisper. “Stop, just stop, just—” He pushes weakly at Batman’s shoulder, but of course the man doesn’t budge. Tim doesn’t know what to do. He can’t hit Batman and he’s too weak to pull him off and he can’t shout and it’s like Bruce is in his own world. It’s like Tim isn’t even there for him. Just Bruce and the Mad Hatter and failure.

Tim’s supposed to be better than this.

Tim’s supposed to keep Batman from falling over the edge.

Tim’s supposed to be Robin.

But, he thinks as Nightwing crashes in through the second story window, I was never a real Robin, was I?

***

It’s close to 5 am, but Tim doesn’t feel it. Only Friday patrols last this late—by now, he should be asleep in bed, under several layers of warm blankets. Instead, though, he perches on the edge of his chair, a mechanical pencil clutched tightly in his fingers. He’s holding it wrong, but that’s not the point. Pencil is erasable. It’s not the proper writing implement for a permanent resignation letter. Now that he’s drafted his letter, delayed as long he could, all that’s left is to write it for real.

It takes an effort to put the pencil down and pick up a ballpoint pen. And then, carefully, neatly, Tim copies his words onto a crisp, white sheet of paper. He tries not to let his hands tremble. He lets himself get distracted by how the wet ink shimmers in the lamplight, but only for a moment. When the letter is finished, Tim sets down the pen and lets out a long breath, feeling the air fade away through his half-open mouth.

Tim should be tired, but he’s not. And he’s certainly not excited either. And he’s not scared, he’s not. If Tim tries, he can still feel the pressure crushing his windpipe. And that’s terrifying, so Tim doesn’t try. Instead, he just feels detached, separated from the world, a second out of phase.

It’s fine now, Tim reassures himself. Tetch has been dealt with—brutally. Which is the real problem.

Tetch survived, but he’s been sent to the hospital, not Arkham. In the end, Nightwing had to pull Batman off of the Mad Hatter. It’s Tim’s fault. He was supposed to make Batman better, and maybe he helped in the very beginning, but all he’s doing right now is making things worse. Tim doesn’t know if he was just an excuse or if Bruce really was that angry over being mind-controlled into attacking Tim. But either way, if Tim wasn’t present to be hurt, Bruce wouldn’t have nearly lost control.

There’s an obvious solution there. And Tim tries to be a logical person, so when he sees a logical solution, he takes it.

He also takes the Robin suit, partially because he figures it’s safer to be out as Robin right now than a random (admittedly short) fourteen-year-old in rich people clothes. Tim will return it, eventually, but since he also kind of needs to do some break-ins (physical records are a pain and Gotham CPP is too messy to have converted fully to digital), he figures it’ll still be useful.

And it’s not—it’s not like Tim was going to last much longer as Robin anyway. Bruce would likely fire Tim for this mess. Maybe he’d phrase it as “I can’t bear to fail another Robin” and make Tim feel patronized instead of incompetent in a misguided attempt at kindness. But there’s no world in which Tim gets to stay Robin after how badly he messed up. Not just in the fire earlier that night or the fight at the theater, but afterwards, when Tim couldn’t tear Batman away from Tetch. He’s shown how useless he is, and Batman’s going to realize it soon if he hasn’t already. Better to quit before he’s fired. Better to leave now.

Tim really should be planning his break-ins, but instead he finds himself on a rooftop. He breathes in the smoggy air and tastes the strange cocktail of chemicals that makes Gotham home. From up above, the city looks beautiful, bright lights sparkling across a dark canvas. From down below, Tim would still say it looks beautiful, but from here—

Well. Tim can understand why, after all these years, Bruce has never given up on Gotham.

Tim doesn’t know how long he sits there, but he figures it’s got to be a while, because he hears the sound of a grappling line slicing through the air and then a whisper of footsteps behind him.

“Mind if I sit down?” Nightwing asks. Tim shrugs. Dick folds his legs into a seated position next to Tim and looks out at the glittering lights. “Bruce went to check on you and…he found your note.”

“My resignation letter,” Tim clarifies. It still hurts his throat a bit, but Alfred’s possibly-magical lozenges are a lifesaver. Technically, he was told not to talk, but all Bats are experts at ignoring medical advice.

“Yeah.” Dick turns towards him. “Look, I…we understand. Bruce understands. It’s fine if you have to get out for a bit. But what I don’t get is…why did you run away? It was terrifying, seeing that note and not knowing where you were. Bruce was in panicking and I wasn’t far behind.”

There’s something distinctly off about Dick’s phrasing, but Tim can’t put his finger on it. “It’s easier if I get a head start on things, you know?”

“A head start?” Dick tilts his head curiously.

“Well, if I stay then Bruce will have to call the CPP, and I don’t want to get swept up into social services and maybe get a social worker who’ll remember I existed and ask to meet my uncle,” Tim explains.

“What.” Dick says flatly. “Tim, you don’t have an uncle.”

Tim gives him an unimpressed stare. “Yeah. Which is why I have to fake one, and it’d be super frustrating to have to hire an actor to trick a social worker. So, if I leave now then I can resolve it all before Bruce has to deal with it.”

Dick puts his hands out like he’s pleading with someone. “Okay, um, can we back up here?” Tim shrugs. “Why would Bruce call CPP?”

“Because I’m not staying at Wayne Manor anymore,” Tim says slowly. He feels like he’s explaining it to a two-year-old, and—well, he knows that Dick is incredibly intelligent but right now it really doesn’t seem like it. “That’s…something you have to call CPP for? When the kid leaves your care?”

“Oh,” Dick says quietly. He looks away from Tim for a moment, takes a visibly deep breath, and then looks back. “I didn’t realize—That’s. That’s okay. It’s okay if you feel that way. You can stay with me, though. I registered as a foster parent a while ago in case something happened to Bruce. Robin can work with Nightwing and Dick Grayson can foster Tim. So, you don’t need to…invent a person.”

Tim throws his hands up in the air. “But I won’t be Robin!”

“That’s okay,” Dick says. “If that’s what you want, that’s okay.”

“But…it’s not a question of what I want,” Tim explains, looking down. “I left because quitting is better than getting fired! I don’t want Bruce to take away Robin, I’m not ready, but if I give it up, then…I can…I can pretend I’m okay.” It hurts to admit it, that he’s only pretending. Tim knew he wasn’t going to be Robin forever. He knew he was going to leave eventually. He had accepted that, he was fine with that, he liked that maybe he had a shot at actually surviving to an old age. But he’d always thought that he’d leave on a high note. After a good patrol. Bruce would congratulate Tim and thank him for his service, like a soldier retiring. And it would be like Batman was graduating or something, ready to exist without a Robin. Tim would know it was coming and choose it for himself. But, he’s not going to get that, so he has to pretend. “It’s easier if it hurts less. Cleaner. I—”

“Woah,” Dick interrupts. Tim freezes, gaze snapping to Dick’s face. “I don’t think we’re on the same page here. Why are you leaving again?”

“Because if I’m not Robin, then there’s no point in staying at Wayne Manor. I’m there—I was there because it was convenient for the Mission, that’s all.” No brainer.

Dick closes his eyes and leans back, before reopening them and scootching a little closer to Tim. “We definitely aren’t on the same page.”

“Why did you think I was leaving?”

“Well…” Dick shrugs. “Bruce did attack you with a batarang, bruise two of your ribs, and attempt to strangle you. And he was mind-controlled, but you still have that memory, so…we could understand if you need a break.”

Tim blinks at him, because that thought…never really occurred to him. He thinks of how his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his ribcage, how his mind turned terrifyingly blank, how Batman’s gauntlets dug into his throat, and—yeah. Yeah, that might make things a little awkward. But that’s Tim’s problem and he’ll get over it, because Batman was mind-controlled and Bruce would never, ever do that. And besides, he’s worked with people he was genuinely terrified of before, he’s worked with Lady Shiva, so even if he did suddenly develop a fear of someone who he shouldn’t logically fear, Tim would be fine. Right? Tim would make himself fine. “I’m fine,” he says, because he realizes he’s been silent for way too long. “It was Tetch doing that, not Bruce. I’m fine.”

“Bruce isn’t going to take away Robin, Tim,” Dick says. Tim hums disbelievingly, turning his head away and swinging his legs. He counts the thuds of his heels against the stone masonry. “But, even if he did—you don’t need to leave the Manor. You’re not here just because it’s convenient. You’re part of our family and you have a place here, Robin or not.”

“He isn’t going to take it away because I quit before he could,” Tim responds. It feels like he’s talking in circles with Dick. He should be breaking into Gotham CPP headquarters right now, not having pointless emotional conversations on a rooftop. “I failed tonight. I let him get mind-controlled and I couldn’t stop him from nearly killing Tetch. I failed as his partner and I failed as his light. And I’m not part of the family.”

“No. Batman isn’t going to fire you. You didn’t fail, and even if you did, you’re still learning. And you are part of the family. You’re Robin.” Dick smiles at Tim, and even though Tim knows he’s spouting complete BS, it warms something behind his two bruised ribs.

“Being Robin doesn’t make me part of your family,” Tim says. “And even if it did, Dick, I’m not Robin anymore, so I don’t belong with you guys.”

“Nope!” Dick says, overly cheerful. “You’re one of us now. No takebacks.” He shifts, expression turning serious. “For Bruce, Batman’s like a mask. A persona he puts on. But for us, Robin is…different. Robin isn’t a character we’re playing. It’s part of us. It’s who we are.”

“It’s who you are,” Tim corrects. Dick is the one who created the title. The first Robin. The one who defined what Robin meant. Jason continued the line and added his own flare. But Tim? He put on a uniform and went to work. “Robin’s always been temporary for me. I always knew I’d retire and just move on with the rest of my life.”

Dick shrugs. “Even if you quit, that doesn’t change a thing. We’re Robin, Tim, and that means something.”

“It means I saw a need and I filled it. Dick, I’m not—I wasn’t—a real Robin and you know it.”

“It means we took an oath. But—it’s more than that. We spent part of our childhood fighting crime from Gotham’s rooftops. Only we know what that’s like. Not Batman, not anyone else. Just Robins. We know what it’s like to fly. We fought to save a city that should’ve been fighting to save us. And we were so stubborn that we convinced the most paranoid and smothering father in the universe that the best option for us was blatant child endangerment. Tim, you stalked Batman to collect evidence of his recklessness, followed me to Haly’s Circus, and had the guts to present all this evidence to him and force him to make you Robin. You’re a Robin, Tim. It doesn’t matter if you never put on a domino mask again. You’re part in this family, whether you like it or not. You can’t leave.”

Tim snorts, before realizing that Dick is completely serious. And engaging with ridiculous arguments, especially Dick’s ridiculous arguments, is usually a path to disaster, but…Tim is tired right now, and Dick is right there, and this may be the last time Tim speaks to him ever again. Suddenly, he desperately wants to keep the conversation going for as long as possible. “Okay, one. That sounds insanely creepy. And two, shared trauma and poor self-preservation instincts don’t make a family.”

“They make this one. You’re not getting fired, but you’re definitely not getting kicked out of the family. I promise. So, please, Tim. Come home.”

And Robin lies and Nightwing lies, but…

…they don’t break their promises. They don’t break their oaths. Dick promises, and he means it.

So when Dick stands up, offering a hand, Tim’s fingers twitch. And then, almost against his will, he places his hand in Dick’s and pulls himself to his feet.

***

When they arrive in the Batcave, Tim barely gets a chance to take a few steps before Bruce is right in front of him, cowl off, hair disheveled. “Tim! Are you okay? Dick, where did you find him? Do you—” He freezes, before taking several steps back. “Sorry. Is this better?”

“I—” Tim begins, before Bruce cuts him off.

“I’m so sorry, Tim. I didn’t keep track of the fight and you paid the price for it and I am so, so sorry.”

“It’s—”

“And I understand if you want to stay with Dick for a little while or if you don’t feel you can be Robin anymore, but if there’s anything that would help, I would, I would—” Bruce is getting genuinely choked up and Tim needs to calm him down but he can’t get a word in edgewise. Tim turns to Dick with an expression of pure panic. “I’m sorry, I’m—”

“B,” Dick says loudly, rolling his eyes. “Let Tim speak.”

Bruce pauses and then bows his head slightly.

“I’m not scared of you, okay?” Tim says. This situation feels genuinely bizarre. “I’m not scared of you, I’m not—I’m not upset with you?” He thinks, looking at Batman, that if he wanted to feel scared, he could. If Bruce put on the cowl right now, so soon after the incident, Tim can…Tim can imagine how he might get scared. And if he does getscared, then he’ll figure that out. But looking at Batman, all he sees is Bruce: a mess, bags under his eyes, out of his mind with worry. “We’re fine,” he says.

“Oh,” Bruce mumbles, and Tim can see him smiling ever-so-slightly. “Oh, that’s. That’s good. But I’m—”

“Don’t say it,” Dick mutters.

“—sorry.”

Tim feels like he should ask if he’s going to get fired, but he’s not going to suggest it if Bruce hasn’t thought of that yet. This doesn’t feel entirely real. He’s not 100% sure that he’s not still on the theater’s stage, running out of oxygen, about to die. That seems a whole lot more plausible than this image of Batman in front of him, looking like—

—looking like a father who thought he might have lost his son.

“Bruce,” Dick says. “Tell Tim you’re not firing him.”

“What?” Bruce asks, bewildered, and Tim feels his heart sink. And then, because the universe apparently likes to play games of yo-yo with Tim’s organs, Bruce turns to Tim and says, firmly, “Of course not. You’re not fired. If you want to be Robin, then you can still be Robin.”

“He thought that you—”

“Stop it,” Tim hisses.

“This is important, Tim. Bruce, he thought you were going to kick him out, too.” Bruce stares at Tim wordlessly. Dick makes a vague encouraging gesture with his hand, but Tim can’t tell who it’s aimed at. “Bruce, are you going to kick Tim out?”

That shocks Bruce out of whatever confusion he’s in. “No!”

“I mean, if I’m still Robin—”

Bruce looks vaguely sick. “Tim, you being here isn’t dependent on you being Robin.” He sighs, and Tim can see Bruce’s gaze flicker over to Jason’s memorial. “It’s not conditional on anything. You are always welcome here, in this manor, in this family.”

Dick grins. “Told you, Tim. You’re stuck with us.”

Tim smiles too. Mostly to mimic, but—

He thinks he believes them. And he couldn’t think of a better family to be stuck in.

[hotcocoabuns]

I think this was the first shot that subverted the idea I was getting of Dream’s character in the show. He’d seemed so still, like a statue. Beautiful, never meant to be touched. It felt as if simply laying your eyes upon him would be sacrilegious.

Presenting a little meta and character analysis of Morpheus in this scene from the first episode of The Sandman in the shape of a drabble. Feat. Dream’s Tears, Jessamy-oops-she’s-dead-now, and Roderick and Alex Burgess’ horrible decisions.

By me.

He looked like coiled rage, cold disdain, barely suppressed power. Unfathomable and of incomprehensible nature. Everything that was being done to him—the kidnapping, the disposal of his clothing, the theft of his tools, the humiliation—, gave me the sensation that what they were doing was foolish. Crazy. That they couldn’t even begin to comprehend the severity of their actions. Measly little humans trying to cover the sun with the tip of a finger. Trapping that which is more eternal than holy.

An attempt to contain the uncontainable, control the uncontrollable, inhibit that which cannot (should not) be inhibited. They were being stupid. Maybe their ignorance would spare them from the worst of the Dreamlord’s fury, but with each passing day their sins only bred.

It striked me as nothing but a matter of time. Not an if, but a when. And I’m sure it felt that way for Morpheus too. He’d break out of this greed-made, crystalline prison, bring vengeance upon his captors, recover his scattered tools, and carry on with his duties.

Like nothing happened. Here, Morpheus’ patience is deadly, maddeningly so. He is in no rush in front of them. He outright refuses to be. He betrays nothing. Gives nothing. Not a hitch in his breathing, nor a twitch of his eye, nor a parting of his mouth.

Immutable. Although he’s caged like the sweetest songbird that’s been captured only for its (jailer) master. Although the dreamers and the dreams and the nightmares call out to him. Even if they believe he has abandoned them, left them to fend for themselves.

He remains. Until Jessamy (loyal, good-natured Jessamy) decides she’s taking her chances. And what chances they are. She’s done waiting around for these greedy humans to slip. To mess up the well-oiled machine they’ve become to maintain the Lord of the Dreaming ensnared.

Even for Morpheus to conjure the help of his siblings, as inconceivable as that is. Eons could’ve passed them by. Earth could’ve collapsed in on itself, before he’d do anything of the sort. But hope is a mighty thing, and hope gets you to dream.

(Even of the impossible. Of the absurd.)

So, she glided.

She glided through the Burgess Estate, caused a distraction, reached her Lord. And THAT’S where everything changes. There, in those few moments, an emotion betrays the impassive face concealed behind hefty metal bars, holding his prison together.

Hope is contagious, and so are the emotions that accompany it. Morpheus stirs—not only stirs; stands. On his own two feet, after decades of waiting, waiting, waiting, ever vigilant—, and is moved. He looks up at Jessamy, his friend, his companion. She wouldn’t leave him.

Wouldn’t cast him aside. He smiles. There she is; she’s pecking on layer upon layer, impenetrable. They both know she can’t get through them. He knows well when efforts are gone to waste, and this is one of those occasions. Yet, there is comfort in her presence.

(In knowing he’s the one that hasn’t been abandoned.

Forgotten.)

Then, there’s a blast. Blinding, cruel. It’s so sudden, so loud, it makes him flinch. Blood, there is blood and innards and shards of bone splattered against his glass contraption. Outside, out of reach.

For a moment, it appears that Morpheus does not comprehend what’s happened. His eyes dart around, confused, disbelieving. That was a shot, a shot fired.

Then, oh.

Oh.

It’s Jessamy crumpled on the floor. It’s her organs sprayed on the glass, on the floor. Jessamy’s been shot.

Everything changes, in a second. Morpheus, unmoving, severe, statuesque-

cries.

His tears cling to his eyelashes, they wet his eyes, slide down the length of his nose, gather and slip off his Cupid’s bow.

He looks down, the crumpled shape of Jessamy being taken away, and he fixes the Burgess fledgling with a stare more frigid than the Antarctic itself. Everything’s changed now. Alex has sealed his fate. Morpheus rarely forgives. He does not forget.

This is personal now.

There shall be no rest for the wicked, and he’s going to make sure of it.

[dylan-rodrigues]

Tell Me That You Love Me ep. 1

did bro just toss a bucketfull of oil onto the fire?? Yeah, that kid's getting *so* fired....

Most selfless kdrama FL award goes to... The flight attendant training must have really kicked in, huh?

That ramen looked so good 🤤

This drama is giving me a lot of A Piece of Your Mind vibes. Like the cinematography, the music, the pacing… I think even her cafe is on one of the iconic streets from APOYM? I'm pretty sure up that hill, you'd see Seo-woo's recording studio? In fact, is that the same cafe with the pretty shadows on the roof?

Her trying to learn KSL was so sweet, but him giving her that drawing of her addressed to Ms. Actress... 10/10. They're two very wholesome ppl so far

Why was that shot of her in the train so stunning? Actually, every scene in this drama looks like a painting or an artsy photo the ML would take. Like, the budget for this must be high as hell. The cinematography is gorgeous, the production value is insane. Everything looks so sleek and polished.

Ooh, they're gonna have a fateful second meeting in Seoul? Man, it sucks that they keep missing each other tho they’re just a few steps away… but it wouldn't be a kdrama otherwise.

I hope we're not getting bigotry and prejudice against ppl with disabilities from this landlady … getting flashbacks from that scene in ✨🍉

I like this actor, he's so expressive and lively. I like the character too, he looks very kind and he seems like a nice teacher too.

I also love the lil doodles over the students, they're so cute.

There's gotta be a less rude way to put that, director guy.

This episode really made me think about how much suffering and stress and tears actors have to go through in their careers.

Also, this is kinda meta no? An actress acting as a bad actress who’d be a good actress if she just acted more soulfully.

Wait a minute, that's just sexual harassment?? Yuck 🤢 the way some ppl fetishize flight attendants…

Their smiles when they saw met again could light up a city. 🥹

Wow, that was such an amazing first episode. I enjoyed this premiere even more than My Demon, tho it's diff genres. Just top to bottom, amazing work from everyone.

[eleemosynecdoche]

Okay. Oil fire serious posting, huh? Now my friend @rlyehtaxidermist is a patient, forbearing soul, and I've been known to get a little hot under the collar at times. The language may get spicy. You have been warned.

Anyways, there are people apparently trying to do some kind of shipping war over this interpretation of Touhou 19 and of Sanae and Tsukasa. They level three basic charges- that there's no support for it, that it's a shallow sex ship, and that Tsukasa is obviously manipulating Sanae. Let's take it from the top.

1. No Evidence, Not Canon

Well, I could go and take screenshots and get the Japanese text and screenies of confirmed "sex isn't real in Touhou" people trying to puzzle out the parts of the Japanese text where Sanae and Tsukasa use very familiar language with each other. But I won't.

Why does it matter? Like, take it as a given that this is the case, that this ship is created from nothing. What would that mean? That people need to stop talking about it? Or restrict their posting about it to some kind of space for non-canon shipping? Is that reasonable?

Look, shipping characters on the basis of them being in adjacent stages has a history in Touhou. Some of them, like Parsee/Yuugi, got ZUN offering some support for it much later, through indirect means. Others, like Nitori/Hina, are kind of unpopular nowadays. People still make art and comics and doujin novels for those unpopular ships based on proximity. And why shouldn't they?

Some of my favorite doujin works- Ōkawa Bkub's "Charm" series, ALISON Airlines's drug-themed and mind-expanding works, Komaku Jūshoku's Ran-chama shorts- are far outside the boundaries of what ZUN produces. I think it's good that people take what ZUN puts down and run with it. I think that's a much healthier way to creatively engage with an artistic work you enjoy. It also gave us Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko When They Cry, Undertale and Deltarune, and other independent works where the influence isn't quite as obvious.

Anyways, all that freedom brings with it people being allowed to ship in ways you think aren't canonically supported, as part of being able to creatively reinterpret the work they're engaging with.

2. It's A Shallow Sex Ship!

Now let's be fucking clear here- what people are implying by this is pretty clearly "You're using this shipping to get off!"

Look. Do you really think that people are likely to be getting off to the idea of sex that's unglamorous and kinda mediocre, a bit awkward? If there is some kind of fetishist of that kind posting about SanaKasa, I'll buy them a drink to salute their extremely broad and abstract sexuality, which would be quite rare indeed.

I'm being mean. The more likely thought process here is that social assumptions around whether anyone would use direct and somewhat crude language about weird sex without being aroused at that moment or being some kind of perpetually-horny sex pervert are shaping how people react to seeing posts where a foxgirl's tail is used as a proxy for her having an erection.

So set that aside. I'm gonna talk about why the sex posts are meaningful to me personally.

I'm not an old hand of Touhou fandom, I came to it as a grown adult with the period between Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom and Hidden Star in Four Seasons as my entry point. But what I learned very quickly is that there's a lot of Touhou stuff, posting, art, comics, fanfics, where people offer up sexual content that I find deeply unappealing (mostly because it's dull, het, and not infrequently invokes sexual violence). And then, eventually, I realized that there was a kind of reaction to this state of affairs.

This was the sense that Touhou fandom was divided into bad sexual stuff and good desexualized stuff. And sexual stuff from a lesbian or WLW perspective was lumped in as part of the bad, with an assumption it was made for men too. And so if you wanted to enjoy the lesbian overtones of Touhou, the Touhous better not be having sex!

This is in turn correlated, I think, with the sense of Touhou as the whimsical side of the "cute girls having tea parties" media metaconcept. All of this ties really heavily into a broader social understanding of sexual desires between women, between nonbinary people, (or even between men much of the time) as intrinsically predatory and needing to be desexualized to be acceptable.

But Touhou isn't a series about cute girls doing cute things at tea parties in the text. In the games, it's a bunch of rude women threatening each other with violence in erudite ways, then engaging in elegant examples of that violence, and finally going drinking together. There's intrinsic sexual tension to all of that. It's people flirting with each other, showing off their stuff, and then getting to know each other at a bar.

Touhou's gotten more explicit about the sexual side of things. Tsukasa, who's drawn with what are instantly recognizable as sexually charged expressions, lidded eyes and insouciant gestures, whose outfit loosely resembles both short pajamas and a romper dress with the skirt cut away to show off the built-in bloomers, is a noteworthy chunk of that, and then she gets treated both in the fandom and in UDoaLG by powerful beast youkai as, essentially, a born slut.

But the sexual aspects have been there since Perfect Cherry Blossom at the latest. The implicit flirtatiousness, the women with extremely close relationships. So what talking about Tsukasa having bad sex and falling in love means to me is a couple of things- it's an acknowledgement that sex is going on. It's also a way to engage with Tsukasa as a character who's engaged in what is only barely subtextually survival sex work, and offer up the possibility of love in a very normal and unglamorous sense, for Tsukasa to be sexual and yet loved and fully worthy of love.

Making them both transfem or transfeminine-coded (i.e. Tsukasa probably didn't transition, but her penis is still effectively a trans woman's rather than that of a cis woman who shapeshifted in terms of how characters understand her position and body) is in turn an extension of that, of how trans women's bodies are fetishized (especially in sex work). And taking these bodies we, as a group of people, have, and treating them as sexual, but in a more naturalistic way yet playful way. And so for me it's just a matter of being truthful- this is describing the situation in terms of the world as I know it, within certain specific boundaries of Touhou I like to use.

This humongous nerd can have a loving, fulfilling relationship while not being good at sex and having to figure that out. This poor little kon kon can be loved without it being transactional, without having to try and become purified and sweet and "More tea, Miss Sanae?" Even bad girls (in several senses) can love and be loved. If you're gay enough with your cringe girlfriend, a miracle will happen.

All of this is of course my hyperprecise sexual fetish. Every last word of it.

3. All According To Tsukasa's Keikaku

"Tsukasa's just manipulating Sanae!"

Why is it important that Tsukasa be an undefeatable schemer and manipulator?

Let me put it this way. If Tsukasa can manipulate everyone equally well because everyone has weaknesses in their heart or whatever, that's blandly cynical. It makes her out to be some kind of overwhelming malevolence. If Tsukasa is really really good at manipulating powerful, perceptive, and forceful women, but completely unable to affect naive, slightly gullible, says exactly what she's thinking Sanae beyond marginally? That's funny! The one person that should be a cream puff to manipulate is beyond manipulation!

It's thematic! Someone who's open and honest and not trying to manipulate other people can't be manipulated in turn, because she's rejecting the game. It's relevant to Tsukasa's character! UDoaLG makes it clear that tube foxes are despised, that they're seen as weak and unable to fight like real women do. Tsukasa has to manipulate people because it's her only way to keep from being crushed, or so she thinks, because she's immersed in that reality.

Sanae isn't manipulatable, but also doesn't really try to crush her. Sanae offers a relationship between equals, even if they have different power levels.

It even plays into neurodivergence and mental illness- think of Tsukasa as someone unsure if she's manipulating people or not. Sanae being autistic and not manipulatable provides a reassurance that she's capable of doing better.

None of which means she's going to start being a saint or even a decent person, just that she's an awful person whose awfulness is hard to separate from her situation, but she can be in a better situation without having to become good first. She can stay malicious and kinda sucky and we know she's doing it on purpose now! We can say, "you are yucky disgusting, babygirl" and squeeze her into a Pringles tube without guilt. With minimal guilt.

Also, abilities are self-declared and Tsukasa's method of manipulating the other polycule members in Unconnected Marketeers mostly seemed to be encouraging them to do what they wanted to do already. Similarly, she can manipulate Aun in UDoaLG by playing on Aun's desire to be helpful and the dangers of the situation, but Aun also knows it's safe because her other body is back at the shrine. She's not, frankly, massively strong. In demonstrated "power levels" she's a step below Yachie "failgirl" Kicchou. Think about that.

Made it all the way to the end? Congratulations! Imagine a Touhou ending slide where I'm (whatever you think I look like) holding up Tsukasa and Sanae sock puppets.

[okayfinethisismyinuyashablog]

Inuyasha - Chapter 22 of 559...

Chapter Index

Ah...that feeling when tumblr eats all your text. The joys of blogging.

Anyway, Kagome is not down with being eaten by this frog guy, and Inuyasha is currently down with an impalement injury, so Kagome and Myoga are on their own. The plan? Boiling...water.

Boiling water would be fine...IF IT WERE AVAILABLE. Alas, there is no boiled water (or boiling oil) and no time to make some. The frog guy IS TRYING TO EAT KAGOME.

Frog Guy grabs Kagome by the leg and slams her to the ground, but Nobunaga...sweet, naive, foolish Nobunaga, RUNS AT FROG GUY and distracts him.

Nobunaga encourages Kagome to go do the thing, but as Inuyasha pushes himself up off the ground, he is being a total hater about it.

Inuyasha lets it be known that if he does ANYTHING, Frog Guy will die. It's clear communication. I like that. Oh yeah, and then Frog Guy attacks Nobunaga because no good deed can go unpunished.

Knowing that if she wants to save this guy, she's on her own, Kagome grabs the princess and starts running down the hall.

Nobunaga's monkey friend finds some FIRE. Some smol fire for a smol monkey.

Just then, Frog Guy attacks Kagome from behind, knocking her down and tearing through her backpack! Modern supplies spill out all around her. (Also, did YOU realize Kagome had a backpack on this whole time? I certainly did not notice...)

Even though Inuyasha thinks the plan is stupid, he still has Kagome's back. He jumps in between her and Frog Guy and he's totally ready to be done with him.

Just then, Kagome realizes she has the supplies...

...TO MAKE AN IMPROVISED FLAME THROWER. She sits Inuyasha and blasts a huge fireball at Frog Guy.

The frog yokai tries to escape the heat by abandoning the lord's body, ending the possession.

The princess runs, not to Nobunaga, but to her husband, who has returned to his normal milktoast self.

Afterwards, we see Kagome, Inuyasha, and Nobunaga outside the castle. Also, by the way, THANK YOU, KAGOME, FOR THIS BRIEF EPILOGUE SO WE KNOW ALL THOSE WOMEN DIDN'T COMPLETELY DIE. (Only some unknown number of them died because the frog ate their souls.)

Inuyasha is not above kicking a man while he's down, but he does backhandedly acknowledge that Nobunaga's ideals did save someone's life.

And so ends this adventure. And for the first time, I feel like Inuyasha and Kagome are actually FRIENDS!!

I had some meta written for this, but I honestly don't remember what it was, so...ON TO THE NEXT!!

Chapter Index

[dertaglichedan]

Not all repellents are equal – here’s how to avoid mosquito bites this summer

Now that summer is in full swing, mosquitoes have come out across the United States. The use of mosquito repellents can protect both your health and sanity this summer.

While mosquitoes leave bothersome, itchy bites on your skin, they can also pose a serious and sometimes deadly risk to your health. When a mosquito bites you, it may transmit harmful pathogens that cause dangerous diseases like malaria, Dengue fever, Zika and West Nile.

Avoiding mosquito bites

Mosquito females bite people to get vital nutrients from our blood. They then use these nutrients to make their eggs. One single blood meal can give rise to about 100 mosquito eggs that hatch into wiggling larvae.

There are several ways to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes, from wearing long, loose clothing and limiting time outside to placing screens over your windows and getting rid of standing water that mosquitoes might use to breed.

However, one of the best ways to protect yourself when you’re going to a place where hungry mosquitoes will be buzzing around is by using mosquito repellents.

Our team at the New Mexico State University Molecular Vector Physiology Laboratory has studied different types of mosquito repellents and their efficacy for over a decade. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself this summer:

All about repellents

The use of mosquito repellents goes far back in history, certainly predating written historical accounts. Some of the oldest records of the use of mosquito repellents date back to early Egyptian and Roman history. During this period, smoke from smudge fires was often used to repel mosquitoes.

Today, we have more options than our ancestors when it comes to choosing what type of mosquito repellent to use – sprays and lotions, candles, coils and vaporizers, to name some.

These repellents interfere with a mosquito’s sense of smell, taste or both. The repellent either blocks or overstimulates these senses. Scientists understand how certain repellents like DEET work at the molecular level, but for many of them, it is still unknown why exactly they repel mosquitoes.

...

Mosquito repellents that don’t work

Bracelets don’t work. Department stores and pharmacy chains sell hundreds of different varieties of bracelets. They are marketed as “mosquito repellent” bands, wristbands and watches, and their materials can vary from plastic to leather. Even if they are loaded with repellents, they can’t protect your whole body from mosquito bites.

Ultrasonic repellent devices don’t work. These come as electrical plug-ins, free-standing varieties or watchlike accessories that claim to emit a high-frequency sound that deters mosquitoes by mimicking bats. However, in scientific studies, ultrasonic repellent devices fail to repel mosquitoes. In fact, when our lab tested one of these devices, we found a slight increase in mosquito attraction to the wearer.

Dietary supplements – vitamin B, garlic and so on – don’t work. No scientific evidence shows these supplements protect people from mosquito bites.

Light-based repellents don’t work. These devices come as colored light bulbs, and they don’t attract insects that fly toward white light. This approach works well on moths, beetles and stinkbugs, but not on mosquitoes.

...

Mosquito repellents that work

And here is our ranking of what does work, starting with the best repellent/active ingredient.

DEET works. DEET, chemical name, N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, was developed in the 1950s by the U.S. Army and is a well-established mosquito repellent with a long history of use. The higher the percentage, the longer the protection time is – up to six hours.

Picaridin works. This synthetic repellent can protect for up to six hours at a 20% concentration. This repellent is a promising alternative for DEET.

Oil of lemon eucalyptus, or OLE, works. OLE, with the active ingredient PMD, is a plant-based alternative to DEET and picaridin. Its repellent properties can last for up to six hours.

Other essential oils – some work, some not so much. We applied 20 different essential oils in a 10% essential oil lotion mixture to volunteers’ skin. Here’s what we found:Clove oil works. This oil, with the active ingredient eugenol, can protect from mosquito bites for over 90 minutes at a 10% concentration in lotion. Cinnamon oil works. This oil, with the active ingredients cinnamaldehyde and eugenol, can protect from mosquitoes for over 60 minutes at a 10% concentration in lotion. Geraniol and 2-PEP, or 2-phenylethyl propionate, work for about 60 minutes at a 10% concentration in lotion. Citronella oil works, just not so great. We found citronella oil at a 10% concentration only protected from mosquito bites for about 30 minutes.

FULL STORY, VIDEOS and more PICS

[gothchildvirtue]

"It Just Came To Me"

Wow I really burned the midnight oil again tonight, I said to my reflection,

I realized I was just looking at a mirage,

I am such a luminous spirit in my colossal darkness,

The world a mirror; alone mysterious,

The flame won't die as I face the odds,

Have to fight internally not to give in to the earth's baser instincts inside my flesh,

I am only the light, I am only the fire; soley focused on my objectives however much it hurts,

Not seeing the self as self; I have nothing to fear within the realm of Tao,

My meta cognition and awareness expanded,

Diving into the unconsicious and acting in accordance with those principles integrated also into my reasoning and rational behavior,

Only talking to the npcs required for the quest,

[imustbenuts]

thoughts about the conception of Tokyo Mirage Sessions from a meta perspective, and why it's not as zany as it seems.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, a rpg game spawned from crossing Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei really sounds out of place. at a first glance, the visuals are glitzy and the persona anime combat and presentation looks absurd, and TMS sounds like it just... doesn't fit as a FE game, right? heck, it probably barely fits as a SMT game.

mixing the two series sounds like trying to mix oil and water, which doesn't really work as evident by the pitiful sales figure.

except... they actually do have way too much in common. and TMS is fire emblem storytelling in some part.

FE presents itself like a tactical (western) medieval trpg, but it has a thick layer of eastern religion/culture embedded into its story telling. Naga, a recurring Divine Dragon, is a character based off a class deities in buddhist cosmology sharing the same name. there's a lot of soft Mandate of Heaven concept that goes on in nearly every series, and once in a while there's some buddhist named weapons too.

theres also this piece written by beej which highlights what the concept of Three Houses/Hopes is centered around. but long and short of it, Byleth is functionally a Bodhisattva in FE3H.

anyway, it's pretty buddhist, if not at least very eastern.

meanwhile, Shin Megami Tensei, a series about summoning gods and all that, also center around extreme cosmology story telling, leaning more towards the eastern side. theres always a lot of themes about death and rebirth and things happening in a cyclical nature in those series.

also, extremely buddhist.

now, about Tokyo Mirage Sessions and the core concept it centers around.

神楽 Kagura.

in TMS, we play as a bunch of idols singing and dancing with their performas to fight against mirages. sounds silly especially when watching them prance around before getting Chrom to cast a zio, but what they're effectively doing is something called Kagura 神楽, which can be translated as God-Entertainment.

kagura is a shinto ceremonial dance.

the aim of this ceremony is to 1) purify the gods, and also 2) to call down the gods to posses the shaman, often a female, in order for them to receive oracles. it was originally part of a divination ritual, but over time Kagura became a form of entertainment as well.

still, it must be silly to think of the FE characters as Gods in the context of TMS, bc these characters are at best *ahem* idols and not at all rulers of a proper domain of so and so.

honestly, calling any of these mirages a deity feels like a joke. they are lovable characters that we talk about, write fanfics and draw fanarts over.

but what if, these characters arent the true target of TMS' Kagura performance?

what if, the whole entirety of TMS' soundtrack, dancing, music, glamor and storytelling, topped off with a orchestration render of Fire Emblem's theme at its finale, wasn't meant for Fire Emblem or Shin Megami Tensei?

what if, these Gods TMS was trying to entertain through its Kagura were actually us, the players?

they might be taking the idea of the customer is god and pushing that several parallel dimensions ahead in 5d chess where nobody seems to realize it

[loneberry]

The Girl Who Turned into a Sunflower

Her Muse means water, the moisture on the banks,

which can be awakened by a drop of oil.

Her hair is bound by disturbing fidelity,

hands lingering around her neck

make her shoulder the shape of the island,

sprinkle a balsam that spasms the clouds.

He had won her in an archery contest,

a tame stag who wore pearl earrings

descended from a work of art, the head,

though not the body, painted from life.

Cries of animals hunted centuries earlier

took possession of the mountain.

Apples tended by nymphs of the evening

and effortlessly harvested had been the earth’s

wedding present, the losers in the singing contest

mutated into magpies. She gave birth as a myrrh tree

narrated across forty-four north wall windows.

Were it not for her exhausted transformations

she would know the hedge behind the Muses

is of unchanging laurel and resists fire.

–Medbh McGuckian, from My Love Has Fared Inland (2010)

.

.

This is too much. A poem about a girl who turns into a sunflower that begins “Her Muse means water”? Lord. I bow to the great Medbh McGuckian.

“The poem’s title refers to the Greek mythical figure Clytie, whose tragic love for the sun god, Helios, led to her transformation into a sunflower. The series of allusions to mythical transformations of women, bookended by water and the paradoxically ‘unchanging laurel,’ meta-poetically refers to both the mutability and the permanence of the poetic form.”

Actually, Clytie was turned into a heliotrope, not a sunflower. I allude to this in one of my poems when I write: What is the distance between tournesol and turnsole, a whole mythology erected on a false recognition—tournesol being French for sunflower, while turnsole is the English word for heliotrope. (Yet I’m grateful for this mistake.)

[sufferfly1]

Understanding the Market for Fire Resistant Fabrics Market : Demand, Supply, and Pricing Trends

The global Fire Resistant Fabrics Market is anticipated to reach USD 8.5 billion by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. In 2018, the treated Fire Resistant Fabrics segment accounted for the highest market share in terms of revenue. Europe is expected to be the leading contributor to the global Fire Resistant Fabrics market revenue in 2018.

 The growing need to provide workplace safety has resulted in Fire Resistant Fabrics market growth. The advancements in technologies and introduction of stringent regulations regarding safety of workforce further lead to Fire Resistant Fabrics market growth. Increasing demand for fire resistant fabrics from public spaces such as theatre, school and auditoriums, along with growing use in firefighting uniforms, transport, and law enforcement services supplement the growth of Fire Resistant Fabrics market. Growing demand of Fire Resistant Fabrics from developing nations provide growth opportunities for the market. The increasing use of fire resistant fabrics in construction, oil and gas, and mining sectors among others are propelling the growth of global Fire Resistant Fabrics market.

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 Europe generated the highest Fire Resistant Fabrics market share in terms of revenue in 2018. The adoption of fire resistant fabrics is expected to increase significantly in this region owing to increasing need to offer safety and security to the workforce. The increasing demand from the defense sector also drives the fire resistant fabrics market across various countries in the region. Market players in the European Fire Resistant Fabrics industry are introducing highly efficient and affordable fire resistant fabrics to cater to the growing consumer needs. Increasing safety concerns, growing military expenditure, and increasing use in the oil and gas and mining sectors are factors encouraging market players to launch efficient fire resistant fabrics across the globe.

 Leading global players are expanding their presence in developing nations of India, China, and Japan to tap the growth opportunities offered by these countries. They are also introducing new products in the market to cater to the growing consumer demands. For instance, in January 2015, Teijin Limited announced the launch of Teijinconex neo, which is a new type of meta-aramid fiber providing unsurpassed heat resistance along with excellent dyeability. This launch enabled the company to enhance its product offerings in the Fire Resistant Fabrics market and cater to the growing consumer demands.

 The well-known companies profiled in the Fire Resistant Fabrics market report include Huntsman International LLC, PBI Fibers International, Teijin Limited, E. I. Dupont De Nemours and Company, Royal Tencate N.V., Gun Ei Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Solvay S.A., Kaneka Corporation, Lenzing AG, and Newtex Industries, Inc. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers.Bottom of Form

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