#putting my morals and views aside

[ladyseidr]

my favorite part of the william and henry dynamic aside from The Horrors is just them infodumping abt tech @ each other for hours

[mattsdolll]

𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 - 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨 . . ୨୧

hockeyplayer!matt x quietgirl!reader

𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 . . their entire lives they've always had a strong disliking towards eachother, what happens when matt makes her cry? i've never wrote anything like this so feel free to critique ! this is soo cliché😭 ib: august by chase atlantic. enemies to lovers, somewhat forced proximity ??,kinda angst, smut, mention of panic attacks, no use of y/n, p in v, unprotected sex.

this is my first time writing semi-angst & smut so this is kinda basic and i lowkey hate this fic but i love the concept of it. more work coming soon since i'm finally out of my tumblr slump & will be more active, in honor of me back in my chase atlantic phase..

"how do we expect to be anything when we don't try to be anything?"

2.8k words

enjoy🤍

year eleven was tough on everyone, matt especially. he had always struggled with school but with hockey and midterms he was stressed. next year was graduation & everybody had to take school very seriously in the hopes they'd pass. he had a couple of friends aside from his brothers, most who he didn't speak to much. nick and chris were the few people that were keeping him sane during this period of his life, he hated it. hockey was his escape, it let him get his pent up frustration out in a healthy way. you and matt had never gotten along, as pathetic as it sounded you were "rivals".

your relationship with matt was agnostic, for no particular reason there was just a strong disliking towards you on his end - or so you thought. you were too busy doing better things in your life. you could never pinpoint why but he just couldn't tolerate you. your entire lives he just seemed stand-offish about you. about a year and a half ago, everything changed for the worse. you had gotten into a massive argument over something trivial, your memories of the fight were vague. ever since then you had ignored him and he returned the favor. he had taken a liking to one of your closest friend and you had an issue with it, believing she deserved better, she did. you could almost hear the anger coursing through his veins as he screamed at you that night

"you can't just fucking do that! i liked her and you..you messed up everything! i wish you would just-" the brunettes words echoed through your head, he was furious, frustrated and deeply hurt, you couldn't see that at the time. you wondered if you were wrong in trying to protect your friend. you wondered if he had good morals. you wondered if you made a mistake, did you make him hate you?

you were suddenly snapped out of your thoughts, your teacher calling on you to present your assignment to the class, the eyes of your classmates staring into the back of your head as you made your way to the front of the dull room. you began your presentation, a lame low effort articulation of your view on mental health until you met his gaze. the brunettes eyes pierced through your soul, that look of pure concentration was bothering you, it was somewhat troublesome, he wanted you to mess up, he knew the eye contact would make you lose focus, you pathetically stammered over your words. you forced the rest of your speech out of your mouth, returning to your seat, he smirked to himself, his eyes following your body as you walked. you wanted to crawl into a hole and die, you hated public speaking or expressing your feelings vocally, it was something you'd struggled with as a child, he knew that.

it was a cold night in august, fall dawning upon the small town. the leaves slowly dying, sweaters being worn, pumpkin spice becoming the not so new trend. one of your close friends had offered you tickets to the game tonight, held at the school's ice rink. you were hesitant. she gave her ticket to you because she had gotten sick and didn't want to put the ticket to waste. you had no plans tonight, never mind getting ready to actually leave your bed. you took a hot shower, the scorching water streaming down your body. you blow dried your hair, straightening it and tying a low ponytail, lacing a black bow around the brunette locks. you threw on baggy jeans along with a black tank top, small silver hoop earrings and white sneakers, along with a black jacket draped over your arm. you drove to the venue with heavy eyes. you touched up your mascara and lip gloss in the mirror, the remnants of your makeup from earlier still evident on your face. you made your way into the school stadium, the cool breeze of the ice hitting your skin.

the game was somewhat boring to you, you had no idea what it meant to shoot or what dribbling was, but you tried to make the most of it. there he was, only a few meters away from you. the boy skated around the ice flawlessly, the void-like pit in your stomach felt full, your insides fluttering. you couldn't help but be impressed, you had never seen him play before, you never realized he was so good. he scored a few goals, the score was 7-5. his team was ahead, until the opposing team knocked matt out of the way, causing him to tumble over, falling on the ice. the crowd gasped, the opposing team scoring three points for their goal. matt hit his mouth against his helmet, blood leaking from his lips, he skated to the bench, cleaning up. you felt suspense building in your stomach, his appearance disheveled, hair scruffy, face sweaty, you couldn't help but think he looked..different. were you enjoying this?

apparently you were, you didn't exactly like matt, you just enjoyed watching the games, the games where he was the most important player, over and over and over..seeing him get so frustrated, it was like some kind of amusing pastime. after one of the many games you'd attended. during one of the mid-season games, his team on a winning streak. he had "finally" spotted you in the crowd while on the ice, he nearly choked on his spit, seeing you watching him play, he felt a sense of cockiness rush through him, the urge to win now unbearable. he needed to prove how good he was, but why? he scored the winning point, his team cheering and celebrating, his friends lifted him up over their heads. on their way to the locker rooms. you took in the familiar sight of his disheveled, ruined appearance, drinking in the sight. he caught you staring, however, a cocky grin spreading across the boys lips. you attempted to mask your embarrassment but it was too late, he kicked off his gear in the locker room, changing everything but that hockey jersey. the short sleeved top hung off his body perfectly, the color contrasting his eyes.

"stalking me now?" he teased, sitting next to you on the bleachers, the way he sat so confidently all of a sudden, not like his usual self, his demeanor was alluring, you had never felt this way about him until now. well maybe since last month. "i wasn't stalking you, i had nothing better to do tonight" you tried to protest, he simply chuckled. "yeah? and last week, the week before..and before.." he drawled cockily, he had seen you, every game, gawking at him. how could you not have noticed? "you don't talk much, hm? didn't get taught how to communicate growing up?" you went quiet, you hated talking, you were never allowed to growing up. you had developed this "don't talk unless spoken to" mindset and it carried on into your school career, resulting in you having little to no friends. it was a very touchy subject to you and you hated how badly it got to you.

matt was only teasing, trying to make a conversation until the tears brimming your eyes almost instantly made matts cocky grin disappear, his expression now evident with worry. you felt the familiar feeling of your throat closing up, your heart began to throb harder. you couldn't even mutter out a word, you got up and headed out in fear of breaking down in front of him, the last person on earth you'd want to look weak in front of. you settled on the grass by a small garden on the school grounds outside a now locked and empty classroom.

the second you took off matt knew he had made a mistake, he rushed after you, somehow losing you in the process. he found you eventually, sitting down with your knees to your chest, calming yourself down. and in that moment, he saw himself in you. he knew how it felt, the horror washing over you as the air deflated from your lungs, your throat tightening, he hated that feeling. he knew it all too well. he needed to provide you some sense of comfort, solace from his touch. he made his way to you and sat next to you, gently putting a hand on your shoulder. "hey..breathe, you're okay." he whispered reassuring words into your ear. you weren't having a full blown panic attack like you usually would, but this was still bad. you felt the feeling slowly ease out of your body, you felt like you could breathe again. "thats it..doing so good.." he whispered into your ear, stroking your arm. his words went straight to your core, something about the tone or the resonance of his voice in that moment did something to you, you felt your inner thighs become drenched, your heat beginning to ache.

"i'm so sorry, yeah? i didn't mean to make you cry tonight, or that night last year, i liked her, a lot. she never spoke to me or even looked at me, i just wanted her. i was right there but she was busy doing other things, she was everything to me, her smile, her teeth when she smiled, her hair..that haircut, the way it shaped her face..i..i was in love, okay? and i couldn't have her." he rambled out. the things he had described were some kind of literary illusion. this "girl" he was describing was nothing like the girl he so called wanted. this "girl" he was describing didn't resemble her at all actually. this "girl" was you.

all along, he wanted you. you never wanted him back, but you wanted him now. was it too late? did you miss your chance? did he still have feelings for you? why did he ignore you for a year? your thoughts rushed through your brain scatteredly as you tried to form a single word. he tilted your face towards his, seeing that panicked expression written on your face. he wiped the tears that stained your cheeks, trying to make it up to you. you gazed up into his eyes, noticing the different shades of blue and slight haze of grey in them. you noticed the tiny freckles on his face, so slight you could only see them under the moonlight, you noticed the way his curls fell over his forehead so perfectly as if sculpted in God's vision precisely. he was so perfect. you held eye contact for a few seconds, you wished you could, taste him, savor him. you batted your eyelashes at him, and that was all it took to drive him insane; your eyes. the specks of color in them were so beautiful.

he noticed the pleading look in your eyes, as if you were begging for him to do it. it did him in. the last bit of his conscience telling him to stop fell away, and all that was left was his urge to kiss you. he got a bit closer, his hands still resting on your face as he inched his face closer to yours. he tilted your jaw and pressed his swollen lips into yours. your eyes fluttered shut, giving into his touch. the kiss lasted for what felt like hours. he prodded his tongue against you, silently begging you to let him kiss you deeper, his hands finding their way to your jaw, eliciting a soft gasp from your lips. he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, his tongue massaging yours. you felt yourself gravitating back toward the grass, him laying you down gently. his hand cupped the back of your head before you hit the ground.

it felt like sweet relief, pain and pleasure coursing through your body. you felt like you were on fire from how desperate you were for him in that moment. he hovered over you, gently kissing you. you tugged his jersey, pulling him further into you. your nails scratched down his back, almost hard enough to draw blood, drawing a guttural moan from him. he looked down at you desperately, your eyes flicked from his eyes to his lips

"i want this"

you whispered softly, finally vocalizing your wants. a new experience to you, yet it felt perfect with him. he looked down at you for reassurance. "yeah? you want this, pretty?" he cooed softly, your pussy ached. you gave a weak nod for him, giving him permission to touch you. "i want this, please." he sucked and nipped at your neck, pressing against you more, his touch gentle but eager. you writhed underneath him, the sensations throughout your nerves becoming unbearable. "matt..do you want this?" he paused briefly, staring at your face. "yeah pretty, i want this, i want you." his lips latched onto yours, trailing hot open mouthed kisses along your neck. his hips subconsciously rolled against yours rhythmically.

you felt his now hard cock pressing against your thigh, causing you to moan softly. you couldn't describe how badly you wanted him, he wanted you just as much, he was just hesitant to take you right then and there, in the middle of a garden. he wanted it to be special, but his need was overlapping his thoughts. he kissed you once more before pulling away. "need to feel you, fuck- pretty..please?" the boy begged, you nearly salivated at the sight. you gave a quick nod to which he quickly took his shirt off, hooking his fingers under the loops in your jeans, tugging them down. you quickly pulled your shirt off as well. he slowly stripped you of your clothes, leaving yourself in nothing but underwear. he groaned at the image, tugging his own pants down, his hard dick slapping against his stomach. it wasn't huge, but it was definitely big. his cock twitched in his hand as he pumped it a few times, pre-cum leaking furiously from the reddened tip.

you watched him in pleasure as he slowly approached you, lifting your hips a little. "lift your hips f'me" he mumbled, holding you in place. he pulled your panties down slowly and teasingly, you winced as the cold air hit your pussy. he rubbed his tip up and down your folds, admiring you. "such a pretty girl, hm? all f'me.." you crumbled, whimpering pathetically. a small smirk tugged on his lips as he eased into you, stretching your walls out. you groaned at the burn, it was uncomfortable but felt so good. he pulled out halfway before gently thrusting his hips into you again, letting you adjust a little. "fuck, angel youre so tight..have you never been fucked before?" he mewled, feeling you clench around him. you shaked your head weakly, pulling a desperate moan from him. he gradually picked up his pace, his cock going deeper with each thrust.

your pain faded into pleasure, small gasps leaving your swollen lips, he watched your tits bounce with each thrust, finding it incredibly endearing. he leaned his lips down to your nipple, sucking at the flesh gently. you laced your fingers through his loose locks, tugging the curls. he loved it, moaning against your breast. a string of saliva left his lips as he pulled his face up to look at you, your fucked out expression causing his cock to twitch harder. he buried his nose into your neck, speeding up more. the sound of skin slapping echoed through the halls, he panted softly. "shit, angel..'m so close..gonna cum, can i cum inside you, baby?" he whispered into your ear, how could you deny him when he begged so sweetly? you nodded, threading your fingers in his hair, the knot in your stomach beginning to unwind.

his thrusts grew sloppy, his cock twitching desperately. your walls enveloped him deeper and deeper. you gripped his shoulders, a pathetic whimper fell from his lips as his orgasm washed over him like a wave. cum spurted from his tip, painting your insides. your orgasm soon washed over you as well, both your liquids mixing at some point in the process. he slowly and carefully pulled out, looking down at you nervously. "was that okay? did i do good?" your jaw almost fell open, how could he ask that? "matt..that was fucking amazing" you mumbled softly, drawing a smile from his lips. he giggled softly, collapsing on you. he was like a whole new person, you barely recognized him. "yeah? i did good?" he giggled. you smiled sleepily. "mhm, so good."

he planted a gentle kiss to your lips, brushing a strand of messy hair out of your face. "pretty" he whispered admiringly. "can i take you home?" you nodded a little. you couldn't believe your life. you just had sex with the guy who you thought hated you for nearly two years, then again, how could you expect to be anything when you don't try to be anything?

. . .

tags !

@mattscoquette @blahbel668 @emely9274 @pearlzier @wompwomp-1

[starcurtain]

A Look at Ratio and Aventurine... and Ratio/Aventurine

I was morally obligated to use this picture.

Anyway, I got an ask about my understanding of Ratio and Aventurine's relationship both in canon and as a ship that I have been holding on to for a while now because... phew, there's like... a lot to talk about there... But I felt I should at least give it a try, so here is my attempt to comment on the intersection of two of Star Rail's most complicated personalities. Long post is longgggg; you have been warned.

First, Aventurine's canon relationship to Ratio:

In the interest of not hitting tumblr's image limit, let's just throw out some of the information we have in one go:

It's pretty complimentary. (Yet somehow...)

The implication of the infamous "Keeping Up with Star Rail" video is that Ratio understands Aventurine better than anyone else, and Aventurine knows this. At the very least, putting all shipping aside, Ratio is the person who can explain Aventurine's behaviors best. He's the person Aventurine chooses do so. This suggests significantly more knowledge of each other's lives than the game first led us to believe.

Other people (read as: my GOAT Owlbert) perceive respect from Aventurine to Ratio, and although I read them as a bit sarcastic, the 2.1 mission logs not only repeatedly confirm that Aventurine views Ratio as smart and reliable, but that Ratio is reliable "as always," again indicating a longer and closer history of collaboration than we get to actively see in game. The devs were working hard to tell us "Penacony isn't Ratiorine's first rodeo," which is interesting--given Topaz's voiceline recommending the Trailblazer avoid working with Aventurine whenever possible, we're led to believe through 2.0 and 2.1 that not many people will willingly work with Aventurine more than once, let alone many times.

While going through psychological scrutiny from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come his Harmony-infused self, the "Future" Aventurine suggests that Ratio and Aventurine are quite similar, and that Aventurine puts a surprising amount of trust in Ratio, to be willing to hinge such a dangerous plan on something as untested as Ratio's ability to act. At the very least, Aventurine's own psyche is pondering on Ratio and whether or not their connection has any emotional meaning.

But despite all this evidence suggesting Ratio and Aventurine spend significantly more time with each other than we get to see in game, Aventurine's own thoughts cast strong doubt on whether he and Ratio are actually close.

Aventurine's "About Dr. Ratio" voice line suggests that Aventurine believes Ratio does not particularly like him. He seems to think that Ratio would prefer to stay away from IPC operations where possible, and it's "unfortunate" for Ratio to be stuck with Aventurine as a conversation partner. He's tolerated, rather than enjoyed. His overall impression seems to be that Ratio mostly views them as distant coworkers.

When the "Future" Aventurine suggests Ratio did not betray Aventurine willingly, actual Aventurine immediately pushes back:

(Personally I'm on the fence about whether this was real doubt or just a ploy to continue sussing out Sunday; see my other post about this scene for some more thoughts.)

But if we take this statement to be played straight, it implies that Aventurine doesn't fully believe Ratio will side with him, even (maybe especially) in dire circumstances. If this statement is real doubt, then despite considering Ratio the person who best understands him, despite building an entire life or death gamble around Ratio's loyalty... Aventurine still doesn't think Ratio even likes him.

Aventurine's not stupid or blind, so theoretically he should be able to read the situation better than that. But actually, there's plenty of evidence both in the game and outside it to suggest that Aventurine is not the most accurate judge of his own relationships to others and is a down-right terrible judge of his own worth as a person.

"Future" Aventurine suggests that one of Aventurine's deep inner flaws--the truths that he rejects about himself--is a massive inferiority complex. This is backed up well by the mission text, where Aventurine's thoughts about himself spiral into self-harm, and the scene in the maze, where "Future" Aventurine taunts our Aventurine with the unforgettable fact that his entire life was only worth pennies:

There's also pretty consistent self-deprecation, with both "Future" and real Aventurine noting several times that he's a pathetic mess of a person that other people don't trust or like.

The overall impression 2.0-2.1 left me with is that Aventurine is perfectly capable of respecting and caring for others, but virtually incapable of accepting other people genuinely respecting and caring for him.

Part of this seems to stem from the directly-stated sense that he's a failure whose only worth is in transactional exchanges, using and being used by others (there's so many layers to this--internalized racism even), but I also suspect that much of his inability to accept genuine connection from others is defensive behavior.

Aventurine's true self, Kakavasha, is deeply hidden away, like the ghost of the child that manifests from his Harmony delusion in the Dreamscape. Although Aventurine clings to that person, claiming that he has "never changed," he actively coats over his beliefs, his kindness, and his authenticity with the mask of a "cavalier gambler," with glitz and glamor and showy distractions. No one gets to see Kakavasha. No one gets to know him, because being buried deep in the dirt is the only way to remain untouchable, and fiercely keeping one's distance is the only safe bet. (For both Kakavasha and any fools who would doom themselves by daring to care for him.)

So: Canon is telling us that Ratio is one of, if not the, closest people in the world to Aventurine. But canon is also telling us that that still means absolutely nothing at all, because Aventurine won't let himself be close to anyone living.

Aventurine's senses of self-worth, trust, attachment, and safety have been warped so badly by ongoing and untreated trauma and mental health issues that, at least until the end of 2.1, I just don't think he was capable of even accepting genuine friendship from Ratio, let alone anything more.

(Interesting side note here: Ratio is actually one of the people Aventurine calls "my friend" the least. He only says it directly to Ratio a single time in all of their lines of dialogue across 2.0 and 2.1, and even then, does so only when right outside Sunday's door, while almost certainly being spied upon by the Family. Anyone who knows how often "my friend" is peppered into Aventurine's dialogue otherwise should know that the absence of the phrase is actually pretty telling. It almost feels like canon Aventurine's not even sure he can call Ratio his friend, at least to Ratio's face.)

Which makes Ratio's canon relationship to Aventurine quite sad and ironic:

From start to finish, Ratio canonically esteems Aventurine more highly than almost any other character in the game. I'm not even talking about shipping when I say that there is no character Ratio is closer to in the entire game.

At present, Ratio has only four voice lines about other characters, and of those four, Aventurine's is the only one that isn't someone from the Genius Society. The only one. Ratio's voice lines are also notably, uh, not very complimentary. Herta is "talented but not helpful to others" and "sees no one as her equal" (read as: she's self-absorbed). Screwllum is a "monarch, rather than a genius" (with the vague implications of being a tyrant), and Ruan Mei is overly ambitious and "fooling everyone."

Meanwhile, Aventurine is "our man" (who is "our" Ratio? who?) whose success "can't all be chalked up to luck," implying that part of Aventurine's success must come from skill. Ratio notes that Aventurine questions his own ability... but as far as Ratio's evaluation goes, he seems to doubt that Aventurine will ever experience a downfall. For someone who thinks 99% of the people he meets are mediocre failures scrambling around in the filth of existence, to be recognized as skilled and unlikely to fail is quite obviously glowing praise.

Then, of course, there are numerous moments that echo Aventurine's hints, implying that Ratio spends significantly more time with Aventurine than we see on-screen, that he knows Aventurine extremely well, and, although he tries (vainly) to pretend he isn't, he's clearly quite concerned with what Aventurine thinks of him.

Especially this last one. "No wonder that gambler likes you so much" is pretty intentional on the devs' part, confirming that Ratio and Aventurine are having off-screen conversations we players are not privy to, which obviously would indicate a closer relationship than the in-game cutscenes could cover.

Then, Trailblazer has the option to flat out ask Ratio to "rate" Aventurine. (Star Rail ship bait is not even subtle.)

At first, this line might read as all over the place:

"The bosses say we're partners but I wouldn't say that" -> Read as: Ratio wants people to know how their relationship is classified but doesn't want to admit to being actually invested.

"I see myself as the teacher to everyone I meet" -> Read as: Ratio at least pretends that he doesn't view anyone as his equal; everyone is either above him--geniuses--or below him--students.

"Aventurine is not that bad of a student" -> High praise; even Ratio can't pretend Aventurine's untalented.

"Actually, Aventurine's probably in metaphysical danger" -> Read as: Ratio is aware of the "void" Aventurine is experiencing and his mental struggles.

The ultimate takeaway of Ratio's "rating" actually says more about Ratio than Aventurine. When it comes down to it, Ratio's choice to answer this question for the Trailblazer instead of dismiss it tells us that Ratio has spent time quantifying and trying to define his relationship with Aventurine, is willing to at least discuss that relationship with other people (when we have no evidence he ever discusses any other personal/non-academic matters with anyone), and that Ratio pays attention to Aventurine's mental states.

Canon Ratio is not beating the allegations, I'm afraid.

But actually, I think the biggest tell about Ratio's canon relationship to Aventurine is that Ratio's behavior completely changes the moment Aventurine appears in the game.

In every single one of Ratio's other appearances, two facts are hammered home again and again:

First, Ratio hates interacting with fools and "noisy" people. He wears his plaster bust so that he doesn't even have to see them. Canonically, we're informed by both March 7th and Argenti that Ratio brought and was wearing his headpiece in Penacony. Curiously though...

The players never see it throughout 2.X--probably because 90% of Ratio's scenes are with Aventurine, and Ratio is never shown wearing his bust on screen with Aventurine--even in their very first meeting in the Final Victor lightcone. Aventurine clearly knows of the bust, but despite Ratio verbally going on and on about how Aventurine is the most "flashy" and "devoid of logic" person Ratio knows... the devs deliberately send their message: Ratio has chosen not to cut himself off from Aventurine.

Aventurine can be more "clamorous" than a screaming peacock, but Ratio will still not put up walls against him. This isn't accidental. The devs had every opportunity in the world to go the opposite route and make jokes about Ratio refusing to take the bust off in Aventurine's obnoxious presence; instead they decided that Ratio apparently has a glaring, Aventurine-shaped exception to his "I don't want to perceive you fools or be perceived by you" life rule.

This "willing to tolerate shenanigans only if Aventurine is involved" behavior continues basically throughout all of Penacony's plot. In 2.3 for example, if you turn around and talk to Ratio again on the Radiant Feldspar, he flat out says:

But there's no actual explanation for why he's there in the first place. He mentions he was assigned to watch over "the IPC's ambassadors," which theoretically should apply to Jade and Topaz, yet we never see him interacting with them in any capacity. He's never even shown in the same room as Jade or Topaz, and he's not shown doing any other form of business for the IPC on the Feldspar either. Theoretically, he could have been on the Feldspar to meet regarding the Divergent Universe... except Screwllum wasn't there yet, and Ratio doesn't mention a single word about the Divergent Universe to the Trailblazer.

The only person Ratio talks about in his dialogue on the Feldspar is Aventurine, and the only non-Trailblazer he talks to in 2.3 at all is also Aventurine, replying to him and only him in the group chat.

He looked like he might give it a shot to try to befriend Boothill and Argenti at the end of 2.3... but immediately changes his mind and leaves without saying a word to them.

It's not really a stretch to suggest that the only reasonable excuse for Ratio to attend the party on the Feldspar was if he was there for Aventurine, a behavior that he himself notes is out of character. ("A waste of time" he says, as he stands there anyway.)

But, second and even more importantly: Ratio's single most defining character trait is that he believes people need to pick themselves up. The entire point of his debut appearance in the game was to present his philosophy that if the powerful or privileged intervene to continually "save" the mediocre, ordinary people will never learn for themselves or get the chance to grow. It is in times of desperation, he says, that fools exceed their limits and reach greatness.

This is why, in 1.6, he insisted on Asta and the Trailblazer being the ones to solve the attacks happening on the space station, without relying on Screwllum or the other geniuses. Although Ratio did actively intervene a little (using the phase flame to save the researchers from death), he did so only from behind the scenes, where his actual help would not be noticed by those affected and where it had no impact on their decision-making or their struggles to solve the mystery.

He let Asta and the Trailblazer panic. He let them flounder. He even deliberately misled them at points, claiming that Duke Inferno must have kidnapped the researchers (when it was actually Ratio himself who re-routed them).

Ultimately, Ratio let Asta and the Trailblazer grow from their experiences.

This is also why he lets the Trailblazer go blazing in to fight Ruan Mei's faux emanator of the propagation, despite knowing that Trailblazer was not actually strong enough to win. Ratio watched and was ready to intervene... but in the end he did not, because it was the Trailblazer's fight to lose.

Ratio's most defining character trait is that he believes standing back and observing is the true kindness, rather than inserting oneself and denying people their autonomy or opportunities to grow.

Buttttt... then there's Aventurine, and suddenly the story is completely different.

Suddenly, Ratio isn't an observer but becomes essential to the plan. He's even walking around making big claims about being the manager of the task, flexing all of his C+ acting ability to actively carry out their mutual ploy.

In 2.3, he claims he was just there to watch, and his Penacony sticker asserts he's only "a supporting character"--yet we have never seen Ratio take a more active role in the entire game. Unlike with the Trailblazer in 1.6, he's not primarily watching events unfold from shadowy corners. He's in Penacony as Aventurine's active partner in crime.

And, even more telling--he later jeopardizes their entire mission just to ask if Aventurine needs help.

What? Huh? The character who is famous for the voice line "You look distressed. Is something troubling you? If so, you can figure it out for yourself" is suddenly offering his assistance entirely unprompted?

The guy whose motto might as well be:

Is suddenly out here throwing his own core philosophy out the window to solve Penacony's mystery for Aventurine and save him from himself in Aventurine's hour of greatest need?

A lot of people get hung up on the second half of Ratio's letter, the part about staying alive, which of course is very sweet. But I think the second half causes people to forget that the first part of Ratio's letter is, quite literally, the answer to Penacony's mystery.

Ratio gave Aventurine the answer.

This is like if your professor just gave you and you alone the score key to the final exam and then turned around to insist he "doesn't play favorites."

Of course, Aventurine is brilliant and didn't need Ratio's answer about dormancy, which makes the fact that Ratio went out of the way to give it to him even more odd. Ratio despises unnecessary repetition. If he wasn't dead worried, he would never have given Aventurine an answer that Aventurine had the power to find on his own.

And, as far as canon tells us, Ratio has never done this for anyone else.

The difference is night and day. It's literally the Gordon Ramsay meme, with everyone else in the entire game being the "fucking donkeys" to Aventurine's "Oh dear. Gorgeous."

So: Even if we entirely put aside shipping, if we look strictly at what we're given in canon:

Ratio treats Aventurine with more respect than he treats most other characters in the game.

He involves himself in Aventurine's struggles in a way that he flat out refuses to do for anyone else.

He compromises his own beliefs purely out of concern for Aventurine.

So, at least as far as we've been shown in canon, it is accurate to state that Aventurine is the closest character to Ratio--and unlike Aventurine (king of self-gaslighting), Ratio isn't even good at acting like he doesn't care.

Frankly, the whole thing is a little sad. Ratio's behavior is so blatantly out of character that a smart person like Aventurine should easily be able to determine it is genuine, but Aventurine's personal hang-ups and ongoing trauma make it difficult for him to even see that authenticity, let alone put faith in it. Even in canon, Ratio is mostly unable to help himself when it comes to Aventurine, which is especially unfortunate given how badly skewed Aventurine's perception of himself and others is by the start of Penacony's story.

PHEW! I finally made it through canon content!

Now there's just... everything else... 🫠

Well, to be honest, I don't think I could ever manage to put all my thoughts about this ship into one post. Probably not even fifty posts.

So rather than trying to say everything there is to say about Ratiorine, what I want to focus on is how fantastically these two characters just fit together. Like puzzle pieces that need to be mirror opposites in order to link, these two characters parallel each other while also perfectly filling in each other's voids. It's some of the best character pair writing I've seen in a long time (though I'm still sort of convinced it was at least 50% sheer luck on Hoyo's part), and my perspective on their ship can really be tied to my underlying perception of Ratio and Aventurine's characters as remarkably similar individuals:

It's obvious that Aventurine is not a healthy or well-adjusted adult man, but like... neither is Ratio.

Both of these characters are "not quite right" marginalized people who, at least in my interpretation, have essentially given up on even faking normality and are now just vaguely play acting their way through being functioning members of a universe that is entirely unequipped to accept them for who they are. In a world full of cyborg cowboys and people with wings growing from their heads, the game still manages to somehow convince us that Aventurine and Ratio are odd ones out.

Kakavasha can't even exist in the dystopian capitalist hellscape of the IPC's machinations. "Aventurine" isn't even a real person, just a never-ending performance, a slick, devil-may-care persona without a single ounce of substance.

Ratio, meanwhile, is a world of one, rejected from the only place he thought he could find validation and acceptance but unable to lower himself to fit in anywhere else.

Aventurine is so bad at making genuine connections that he turns everyday conversations into gambles because he doesn't believe people will care enough to keep talking to him without tangible incentive.

Ratio's insistence on treating everyone as students, not as equals, also means he has an excuse to never emotionally engage with anyone he meets. (This is not at all a textbook method of intentional avoidance to prevent any chance of social rejection. Not at all.)

At the end of the day, Aventurine and Ratio both come across as desperately lonely, and so caught up in their own situations that they really don't have the ability to climb out of that hole on their own.

Preventing them from even being able to maintain any form of relationship is also the fact that neither one of them can even find justification. Neither one of them has a reasonable answer to the question "Why am I alive?" anymore, because Aventurine's reason died on Sigonia and Ratio's reason died with an IPC invitation instead of a Genius Society letter. Though their differing perspectives have led them on opposite paths pursuing their own answers to that ultimate question of "Why should I keep living?" (Aventurine was headed toward giving up before the end of Penacony, while Ratio has invented an immeasurable, impossible goal to distract himself from feeling purposeless), both of them are pretty much miserably unfulfilled in their current lives.

They're also both violently allergic to emotional vulnerability and to having any of their flaws or true desires actually be perceived. Both of them put up insanely high walls. Aventurine pushes boundaries with everyone he meets to provoke their hatred in advance, before they can come to disdain him for his "real" flaws. He acts out harmful racist stereotypes to use others' preconceptions for advantage, manipulating every situation he's in--incidentally affirming the stereotypes against his people by doing so.

Ratio puts a physical wall of plaster between himself and others, but the plaster bust actually doesn't have anything on the mental and emotional gymnastics he's engaged in to justify his isolation from the world, doing everything in his power to convince himself that he's isolated by choice, that it's perfectly logical for Veritas Ratio to have nowhere to truly belong, no one to truly belong with. He's so mundane after all. Of course the geniuses don't want him, that's just commonsense. But everyone else is so... different, so foolish, so illogical... It just wouldn't be reasonable of him to try to become one of them either, to be their friend instead of their distant educator. (You know, if you never try to integrate with others, then they can't reject you. Ratio has learned his lesson.)

Somehow, Aventurine and Ratio are two of the most competent and successful people in Star Rail's entire universe and simultaneously also two of the most misfit, reject, dysfunctional messes in the game. Like... Blade has a better support network than Aventurine and Ratio combined. The 7000-pound murderous mech with a disabled, genetically-modified war veteran who never got to live a normal human life hiding inside it is more capable of making friends than Aventurine and Dr. Ratio.

Which is why I love that the devs decided to make their canon backstory: "Some absolute treasures in the IPC and the Intelligentsia Guild had the galaxy-brained idea of pairing Ratio and Aventurine as strategic partners." The game's writing really said: "These two characters are so socially stunted, they have to be assigned a relationship like it's homework."

They may not have it all figured out yet, but the fans see the design: Now that Ratio and Aventurine have each other, they're not alone anymore. I have never seen two characters better fit the "Is anyone going to match my freak?" meme only for the actual answer to be "Yes."

Ratio is "plays chess with himself" levels of loner weird? No problem--Aventurine is "Wanna take bets on who's going to die today?" weirder. Ratio wears a plaster bust to ward off idiots? Aventurine transforms into a monster on command, which is pretty much guaranteed to achieve the same effect.

Ratio wasn't chosen by Nous? That's fine, Aventurine's one job as a "chosen one" was to save his people and now they're all dead. Nobody can keep up with Ratio in conversation? Watch a single comment from Aventurine turn him into a fumbling mess on live television.

Ratio's inability to relate to the experiences and development of any peers his own age have left him extremely isolated and with a permanently scarred sense of self-worth? Wow, I wonder if Aventurine knows exactly what that feels like.

They just... fit.

And, changing focus a little here at the end: While I personally think that recovery from trauma requires internal motivation and self-kindness foremost, I also think that Ratio and Aventurine's relationship should be considered from the perspective of how they help to fill each other's gaps.

Unlike any connection at the Genius Society who will always evoke unpleasant memories of Nous's rejection, Aventurine isn't going to make Ratio feel intellectually inferior. Aventurine has nothing but good things to say about Ratio's intelligence, and it's even apparent that Ratio felt comfortable enough to at least mention his Genius Society woes to Aventurine, something he explicitly does not do with anyone else.

Even when it comes to social interactions, Aventurine isn't going to make Ratio feel inadequate, because honestly? Aventurine's almost as bad at them as Ratio. Aventurine is much better at faking it socially, but when it actually counts? When he's trying to be real with others? A solid 70% of the people who meet Aventurine still end up wanting to strangle him. The guy tried to apologize for threatening to detonate the Trailblazer like a bomb by buying them a model train...

Then there's this:

Aventurine is the only character explicitly called Ratio's equal in game, and more than just treating him respectfully as an equal, Aventurine also exhibits one extreme appeal that no one else in game has ever shown to Ratio: Aventurine makes Ratio feel needed. For Aventurine, Ratio is not a forgettable after-thought as he is to Herta and most of the other geniuses. He's not just "some weird guy who scolds me about school" like he is to the Trailblazer. Ratio's intellect and skill were integral to Aventurine's plan from step one to the very end. Ratio has a place in Aventurine's plots. For a character who directly assesses worth by how beneficial a person can be to others, the fact that Aventurine can make Ratio feel wanted and valued probably produced some of the strongest personal fulfillment Ratio has had in years.

On the opposite side, Ratio's in a unique position. Out of every relevant character in Aventurine's story, Ratio is the only one who has nothing to lose by choosing Kakavasha over "Aventurine." Ratio doesn't profit off Aventurine or take any expensive gifts from him, like the Trailblazer does. He doesn't need Aventurine's luck for anything at all. He'd be able to work for the IPC even if Aventurine wasn't in it. Ratio certainly doesn't want the glitz and glamour of a shallow gambling hustler persona. His work doesn't require Aventurine's continued involvement like Topaz's and Jade's does. He'd probably prefer not to know any Stonehearts at all, thank you for asking.

Outside of deliberate-acting insults about Sigonians for Sunday's sake, we're not told that Ratio has any connections to--and therefore has no preconceived biases against--Sigonians. Being a person who values self-determination and a refusal to live in mediocrity above all else, he would have nothing but esteem for how far Aventurine has managed to come despite the harsh circumstances of his life. Ratio probably wouldn't even think Aventurine's belief in Gaiathra is that strange; one of Ratio's doctorates is actually in theology.

Unlike literally everyone else in the universe who needs "Aventurine," we have every indication that Ratio's respect and admiration will only grow when he finally gets to meet "Kakavasha."

Loneliness, rejection, betrayal, a lack of understanding from others--all of these can leave wounds that only genuine, deep bonds with others can heal.

On death's doorway, in the darkest shadow, when Aventurine had to make the choice between passing on to be with the family that loved him and choosing to return to a reality without them... Ratio's letter was there, telling Aventurine the exact thing he needed to hear to choose life: Someone is waiting for you to come home.

If the resounding rejection of Star Rail's Nihility is belief in humanity's power to make meaning in our own lives through our connections to others, then the ultimate message of Ratio and Aventurine's arc in Penacony is that no one needs to be alone. The world is not as empty as you fear.

And that is a message that Ratio and Aventurine can learn best through each other.

(I just... love them so much...)

[luveline]

hi lovely! could you write something about reader taking care of james after he was injured while playing quidditch or rugby? (your choice!) thanks so much <3

ty for requesting<3

“Oh, fuck me,” James moans. 

You ease his leg gently onto the cushions you’ve stacked beneath his foot and ankle. “Sorry.” 

“Fuck.” He covers his face with his hand. “Fuck.” 

The expletives are expected, though perhaps not in such a quantity. You rub his calf gently, a warning, before putting the frozen bag of peas down onto his knee. He flinches, hisses, and brings his second hand up to join the first. Hidden from view, you might not know he was in pain if it weren’t for the tight set to his jaw —he holds his breath for a while.

He breathes out hard. You kneel at the foot of the sofa to hold the peas there, your hand instantly freezing and hurting. It can’t hurt half as much as what James is going through. You stick it out. 

“Sorry,” he breathes out a moment later, letting his hands fall to his chest. He’s still in his training uniform, a tight Spanx black shirt stretched over his chest and arms, his red and white shorts, even his socks, one pushed down and the other just below his uninjured knee. “Sorry, I’m not swearing at you.” 

“I know. I wouldn’t be so nice to you if you were speaking to me like that, Pots.” 

“Don’t start,” he says, but he’s smiling for the first time since he slid in the field. You raise your chin at him, smiling back, and he raises a heavy looking hand to your chin, chucking it lightly. 

“It’ll stop hurting once you keep still,” you say. You’re not sure if that’s true, but sometimes the only escape from pain is a lie. 

“My ibuprofen isn’t kicking in. You know, Sirius says it kicks in quicker if you lay on your right side.” 

“You probably shouldn’t move, handsome.” 

“You think I’m handsome?” 

You rise up on your knees to offer him a kiss, which he takes immediately. He whines against your lips in pain and pushes you away gently. “Don’t tempt me, angel, please. It hurts so bad,” he complains, eyes squeezing closed. 

“I’m so sorry.” 

“Yeah, you should be,” he says, giving your shoulder a friendly shove. “Away, angel in human form. Get lost before I hurt myself. You’re too much to resist.”

You decided to make him a cup of tea, but you’ve not even boiled the kettle when he’s shouting for you to come back. “I didn’t mean it!” 

You return with a tray of tea and biscuits and he perks up from his depression. “The ibuprofen must be working now,” he says. 

“I’ll get you some deep heat,” you say through a mouthful of biscuit. 

“Yeah?” he asks, dipping his own in his mug, the tray balanced precariously across his lap. “You’ll rub it in for me?” 

You’d genuinely love to. “Of course I will. Have some tea first and let the painkillers really sink in. I don’t want to make it worse by touching it.” 

James gives you his biscuit out of love. “Thank you. You’re like my beautiful doctor.” 

“Shush.” 

You finish his biscuit and put your tea aside to tuck yourself into his waist for moral support. “You played a great game,” you assure him, pressing your cheek to his shoulder. He lets his head fall down onto yours, silky hair brushing your ear. 

“Good, ‘cos it’ll be my last for a while.” 

“Don’t be silly,” you say, rubbing your palm down his stomach to hug him. 

“For a week. Maybe two.” 

“That’s fine. You can spend two weeks on the sofa with me kissing me and watching telly, and then you’ll have to work your socks off and train back up again,” you say easily. 

He relaxes with a sigh. “That doesn’t sound bad.” James turns his mouth into your hair. “…That sounds amazing.” 

[lady-of-endless]

Risotto Nero romantic headcanons (sfw+nsfw)

Author's Note: Sorry for being an old-school romantic and writing headcanons like these, don't come at me. I wanted to take my time with Risotto as he is so complex. I really hope that those are not too far-fetched. I hope you'll enjoy it! The lovely gif is not mine, I'm thanking the owners for it.

P.S. Prosciutto will be next. I just have to calm down from the feels I have for the husband, I mean Prosciutto.

SFW

- The most beneficial context for your relationship is for it to start off as a partnership, a team. This way, you go through many critical and dramatic experiences together and that will only bring you closer and strengthen your connection. Even after confessing, this dynamic remains, you are still a team, watching for each other.

- Everything about him indicates a slow burn. From obtaining his trust first and then his heart. Even after those two are won, he's still reluctant to the new dynamic. He will never deny those feelings even if he thinks that someone in his position should. Risotto is not just rationally intelligent but also emotionally intelligent so he knows that such desires of the heart cannot be stopped. He doesn't deny the feelings but he suppresses them. He knows how complex those emotions are and that's the problem, it complicates everything around him and you. But little by little, he starts giving in and surrendering to his love.

- At first, he analyzed you only from a strategic point of view (regarding your abilities and how you can work with his team) and in time, it escalated into a deeper and more emotional point of view. Because of this and because Risotto values other opinions and perspectives from his teammates, he seeks advice. No, he won't ask directly but he'll be more attentive when the others talk about you. However, the only one who Risotto might ask for an opinion is Prosciutto because he shares some morals and principles with him. Surprisingly, Prosciutto will put his rational arguments aside a little bit because more than the respect and admiration he holds for Risotto, he wants him to experience this sort of happiness.

- Risotto will not know how to react when receiving your affection, at first. There are many thoughts and morals that don't let him receive affection right. Many of those thoughts are regarding his line of work. He has made peace with the fact that he's not a good man, that he doesn't deserve good things. He's okay with it now, he did what he had to do.

- His preferred love language is acts of service. He's used to doing things for others (but even so he doesn't see how selfless he is) so acts of service are his way to show his feelings. He would do anything for his close ones so for you, his loved one, he would die for you, kill for you, protect you, anything, you name it. Plus, Risotto is always very observant and because his interest is your well-being, he pays extra attention to your needs. About receiving, it can be anything. Again, he doesn't see himself worthy of love.

- He rarely smiles so when you finally catch a glimpse of this rare occasion and compliment him, Risotto is lost. Any sort of comment like this will have him feel things he never felt before, in a good way. As a result, he starts smiling softly more at you in privacy.

- If you get severely injured on a mission, he still keeps his composure in your presence while helping you, patching you up, and even trying to heal you with Metallica. He's serious while doing it but it will be the only time in which his hands start trembling. After helping you, while you rest, he's still there watching over you fully neglecting his need for rest. As you sleep and he looks at your injuries, that's when his composure breaks. The guilt he's feeling is heavy in his heart, thinking how this way of life is not what you deserve and it's his fault.

- He's capable of many things, he's also a strategist but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have moments in which it all gets too much to process. That's where you come to the rescue. He doesn't want to pass his difficulties to you so it will take a lot for him to let himself tell you what's wrong.

- Secrecy and subtility are a must. But he'll get you (he'll make it), a dainty and thin silver bracelet with a charm that resembles some sort of blade. Whenever he's thinking of you and wants to let you know it, you'll feel that bracelet move a bit from his magnetism, as a reminder.

- As subtle as he thought he was, in time, every member of La Squadra will know what his feelings are towards you. Melone was the first to notice the way Risotto looked at you. Since his discovery, Melone couldn't keep it for himself and since then, they all started behaving suspiciously. They smirk every time you talk to Risotto about missions and other formal details, they try to let the two of you alone more, and so on.

NSFW

- Contrary to popular belief, he's not rough (not every time at least) or freaky behind closed doors. His usual and favorite approach is slow and deep. He likes to take his time with it as he sees sex as not just a way to get pleasure but a moment of deepening the connection you have already.

- He never wants to use sex as an outlet for his pent-up frustrations and stress but if you give him the green light, he might give into it when things get too much to bear. But he still holds back a little bit, worried about how rough he can easily get. If you're into this rough approach as well and it's noticeable, he'll feel less guilty but still careful.

- He can go on with the foreplay for hours. Risotto likes to feel the tension build. Enjoying the reactions and the growing desire gives him the most pleasure, more than the act itself. Because of this, he might sometimes slip into trying orgasm denial with you.

- At first, he doesn't see the point of experimenting with kinks because he's so touch-starved. He only needs you. However, gradually he will start asking you for consent about some ideas he has. Watch out for your hands. If you get them close to the metal bars of the bed, your wrists will get caught in metal bindings in the blink of an eye.

- Quiet in the beginning but soon you'll see him losing his composure and start grunting and growling close to your ear as he buries his face in the crook of your neck. Not only that but you'll hear sweet words of affirmation, unheard before as he gets lost in the feeling of you.

- Aftercare is obligatory. It always gets intense, sometimes even rough, and he's aware of his size too so calming you down and taking care of you is both a way of showing his gratitude and also a duty (don't get this one wrong, he sees the act of aftercare as important as the rest of his duties, that's it). The aftercare always ends with him holding your hand and kissing it as another silent expression of his gratefulness and adoration for you. It's his unbreakable habit.

- He has to admit, he likes to mark you. Not in a possessive way, that's why those marks will only be on parts that are not usually visible. But because he loves the image and concept of your skin reacting to his affection. You can leave marks on him as long as they're not visible, again, it's about secrecy and subtility. He might feel a bit proud, just a bit, when he looks in the mirror at the scratches you left on his back.

- Doesn't get bored of being on top. After all of that slow burn and build-up of your deep connection, of course, he wants to look into your eyes when you both let yourselves be engulfed in the pleasure. Might even get a little mischievous with it when he's in a good mood. "If you look away, I'll stop."

The only situations in which you are the one on top are when you simply ask for it or when you tell him you want to help him relax. Hearing those words coming from you while you start touching him with care and warmth is going to be the death of him.

- Not a fan of quickies. He needs the whole thing. As mentioned before, he needs to feel the tension built and loves taking his time with it. But also, above all, he wants to treat you right so a quickie will never be enough for this.

[realvicoba]

My views on Gon's rage scene!! 🤓🫶

Let's get this out of the way first— is Gon a selfish monster?

Let me show some nuance in his rage scene and tunnel vision onto Pitou, how he hurt Killua, and his threats on an innocent girl.

Even while filled with rage to the point of almost losing himself and dealing a killing blow to Morel at that phase of his life, he was still worried about Palm's safety and one of the first to realize the inherent danger Knuckle and Meleoron were in on that staircase and the possibility of Youpi not having an oppenent.

He still had the wit and the care for his comrades.

And when Knuckle came on screen while Gon was actively seething in front of Pitou, he still made an effort to let Knuckle know that Pouf was a liar.

So we saw two little scenes where Gon showed that despite his rage and goal, he still put time aside to help his comrades. In the middle of all the anger, all the guilt, and the bloodthirst— he didn't forget his bros.

We already know he did wrong things. Threatening Komugi was very shocking, but as I've mentioned in my Gon character study— it was a moment of anger, confused morals and desperation to keep the monster in control.

With that out the way, let's get to the main course... How he hurt Killua.

Killua wants to be relied on, no matter the cost. He wants this to be like the volleyball match where Gon could only rely on him regardless of how much pain it could cause Killua— he wants them to go down in flames together, a "lover's suicide" as the original Japanese text says.

He wants to be proven to once more that Gon needs him and no one else, that he can't go alone. Killua needs to feel important that way, he needs to feel worthwhile, that he can do something for his best friend to help him the way no one else can.

Gon going off on his own like that broke that source of comfort and self worth Killua had created in Gon needing him.

And if anything, I think it was very important for Killua's character.

It was incredibly important for Killua to be pushed away at that moment, to not be allowed to sacrifice himself, and in turn get the time to rethink what he needs and wants to do with his life and his views on friendship.

And having to clean up an impossible mess after him put into perspective just how important Killua is, and that's why he was so adament on being the one to save Gon.

It's honestly such an interesting scene— It's not like Killua suddenly did a 180, but something this severe and seeing Gon's immature side and flaws on display more had a huge hand in his character development.

That's Killua's side, what about Gon's? We know both of them love each other dearly, and while Killua wished to go down with him, Gon wanted to be the one to carry that burden. Alone.

"I killed him."

Even though Killua was there too, and blamed himself as well. Gon didn't consider him responsible at all despite him running away as well, and Killua saying so.

And Gon comforts Killua, and himself.

As much as Killua sees Gon as the light, Gon sees him as the voice of reason. His awesome, smart friend who does no wrong— both have each other on a pedestal.

Though blinded by confusion and rage during the fight, he undervalued Killua's judgment, but still listened enough to wait for Pitou to finish healing Komugi.

And I also believe Gon was saving up his rage for that moment.

It was his battle, because it's his fault. Killua has no business because not only did Kite not hold as much importance to him, but because he had no fault in the matter— Killua didn't need to sacrifice himself again.

So, while Killua was willing to die alongside his friend and carry the burden together, Gon wanted to be the only one sacrificing himself and carrying that burden. He said so in the Yorknew city arc, and he proved it in the CAA.

He loves Killua, and it even shows in his harsher and cruel words.

I hope this made sense 🙏

[venuslut]

tw: violence

I've just been obsessed with the whole strong evil man with an equally, maybe more, evil woman by his side.

Just think about it. Them sitting on a throne and you're sitting at his feet with your head in his lap, and he's running his hands through your hair as he kills off the useless or traitorous people to give you a show.

I would be on an absolute power trip in this position. My favorite pastime? Planning world domination with my man. My hobbies? Bathing in the blood of my enemies. What's my ideal date? Going on a shopping-turned-murder spree and then fucking while covered in blood.

Some may not be ok with participating in the killings and all that and that's ok. But imagine the pure sexiness your man emits when he kills someone. He's covered in blood but goddamn. Just being turned on by him being covered in his victims blood and just smirking so evilly as if he's getting off on it too.

Maybe it's after a major fight and you're both high off of adrenaline. You saw your lover cut down people with little effort and you can't help but shiver at the thought of him bringing his brutality into the bedroom. Him manhandling you like a ragdoll and treating you like a common whore. It sends tingles to your core and makes your enemies afraid of why you seem more energetic and bloodthirsty than before.

Then when you get home, you both can't keep your hands to yourself. Wanting desperately to take each other's clothes off and fuck until your both stupid and drooling. You don't even care about the blood staining your designer clothes or your silk bed sheets. You wanted the blood on you as well, you wanted to taste it as you passionately kissed him, to feel it on your skin as he thrusted his cock into you. As he bit you in different places, drawing your own blood while you clawed at his skin in pleasure, both clouded with overwhelming lust for each other.

Aside from the sex, he would treat you like the queen you are. If they insult you, they're insulting him. Of course, he wouldn't need to put the person back in their place as you were capable of doing so yourself. He would only need to stand on the sidelines and smile proudly while their screams of mercy echo out. He would be so in love with you and shower you with gifts 2417, ranging from new clothes and jewelry to expensive things.

I rave about you fighting alongside him and all that but in hindsight, he wouldn't let you lift a finger. Having you by his side was already a grueling task so he didn't want to run you off by overexerting yourself. Your room would be filled with the softest and lavish bed, and while gone, he would allow you to sit on his throne. You're not always by his feet, sometimes when you find the position to be demeaning you sit on his lap or arm-piece instead. After all, you wanted to get a good view of the impending blood bath or look just as menacing as your lover.

Sometimes, you don't want to be the bimbo or the nice and main girl y/n. Sometimes you want to be evil, cruel, and bloodthirsty. You want to ditch your morals and watch the world burn, and you want to do it with your lover by your side.

Or maybe that's just me.

[eloquentlytired]

consolation.

pairing: august walker x reader

summary: your former boyfriend is a useless gambler with no care for you or your life and that much is proven when he unfortunately involves you with his debt. your fear your life might be threatened but there's more to august walker than what meets the eye.

warnings and tags: hurt to comfort — brief mention of blood — gentle august walker — some sexual tension — large age gap— questionable morals.

agony fills every inch of your body as you’re pushed into an empty room of a hotel you've never been in. it wasn't like you could ever afford such luxury— or maybe you would've been able to during vacation if your useless boyfriend ( well former boyfriend ) hadn't snatched away all your savings and used them on gambling. you were so devastated once you found out that night but all you could do was cry and cry.

you searched for a bathroom inside the expensive hotel room and when you finally found it, you wanted to sob again. this time out of relief. you didn't bother removing your clothes and pushed the glass door of the shower aside to enter it. your hands shook as you twisted the handle and once the cold water was soaking every inch of you, you felt at peace.

a silent minute passed as you sat underneath the running shower, pulling your knees to your chest like a hurt child. it was a position that would help you calm down instantly and you did it more often now that you were in university. the sound of a door opening and closing as well as approaching footsteps didn't ease the horror you felt. you squeezed your eyes shut and buried your face against your knees as new tears slid down your pale cheeks. the footsteps kept approaching and sounding closer than ever.

nothing could put an end in your miserable cries, not even the unknown figure that pushed the bathroom door open and walked to you. the running water was drowning most sounds around you but nothing could drown out your loud heartbeat which had become a burden to your poor body. an arm moved past you and twisted the handle behind you, shutting off the running water although you were already soaked to the core. the quietness was almost overwhelming but curiosity aside you didn't dare lift your head to see who was before you.

but then he spoke, his gruff voice taking you by surprise.

“that’s a stupid way to wash off blood.” august said while his green eyes examined your bloodstained clothes. you immediately recognized that voice of his — the same voice that had given orders for men to invade your house and kill the loser you once called a partner. you carefully raised your head and looked at him, giving him a generous view of your puffy eyes and trembling lips. you were certainly a sight.

“will you kill me?” was the first thing you asked as august allowed a faint smirk to ghost over his lips. the older man remained silent as he raised one of his hands to wipe a stray tear away from your cheek. and then he replied, “your boyfriend paid off his debt with his life. why would I take yours?” he isn't my boyfriend you wanted to say but you doubted if august gave a fuck about that. your eyes were weirdly calm for a young girl that was forced into such a brutal situation. august’s hand remained hovering over your cheek as he kept brushing off your falling tears each time. “are you scared?”

your reply to his question was a gentle nod and he found himself quickly amused by you. august carefully sat by your side in the shower and without a warning slipped an arm around your waist, pulling you on his lap. you didn't fight him nor spoke ill against him — whether it was out of fear or not, he enjoyed it. “he offered me your life, you know.” his words shocked you and you were left looking at him with your head tilting slightly backwards. he was larger and quite taller than you and his moustache made him seem all more imposing. but august was way too gentle with you in that moment. “but you didn't take it.” you whispered as august practically cradled you into his arms, grazing your cold cheek with his knuckles. his hand was warm and you unconsciously leaned into his touch, chasing after any heat you could get. he seemed to understand as he squeezed his arm tighter around your waist, pulling you closer against his chest. “no I didn't.” august replied and slid his fingers at the back of your neck, guiding your head on his shoulder. you said nothing as you laid your cheek there, your curious eyes still gazing at him. august simply laughed.

“why?” you asked.

“why what?” august quipped back although he knew very well what you were asking him. “why didn't you accept what he offered you? why didn't you kill me instead?” there were many emotions swirling within those eyes of yours and august was intrigued to know every single one of them. he leaned his head against the shower wall, the same stupid grin gracing his lips. “I’m a businessman, not a monster.” it was almost funny coming from him and if you weren't severely traumatized by the images of august shooting your ex before your eyes, perhaps you would have laughed.

as if sensing the storm brewing inside your mind, august tapped your bottom lip with his middle and pointer digit. you parted your lips on reflex and august pushed his fingers past them, sliding them over your tongue with deliberate gentleness. your immediate reaction was to widen your eyes and shift on his lap but august was cradling your nape immediately with his unoccupied hand while softly shushing you. as if you were a little girl. “easy there. I won't hurt you.” he muttered and only then did your jaw relax around his fingers, your wide eyes flickering to each corner of his face. “shh. shh, sweetheart.” august muttered again upon seeing your panicked expression and tapped your tongue with his fingers as if to remind you they're there. you stared at him confused, unable to understand what he meant. “suck.”

the order was firm but spoken kindly in a sense. your eyes stared at august’s helplessly for a mere moment before you complied with his words. you wrapped your lips properly around his two fingers and began suckling on them as august’s eyes burned into you. with your head laying comfortably across his chest, he resumed massaging your nape with his other hand and keeping you somewhat grounded in reality despite how exhausted you appeared to be. “that’s it. good girl.” the touches on your nape were like gentle waves while the fingers in your mouth allowed you to have some sense of control. a control that august willingly offered to you. your shaky fingers grabbed on his wrist as you suckled on his thick digits greedily and although one might argue how immoral your behavior was, you did not care at that moment.

you needed his consolation and august let you take it.

“just like that.” he rasped as your tired mouth suckled a little more lazily than before. you found your eyes quickly closing as august tightened his grip around your nape and pressed a reassuring kiss on your forehead. it was a mere kiss yet it made you whimper because of the intensity of the situation. “you can sleep. I'll be here.” your eyes were already shut and your heartbeat had begun to slow down as august held you against him, your wet form shivering. your passing stunt with the shower had done a number on you and he could tell by your lips which were starting to bruise.

“silly girl. so stupid.” you could barely register his words, let alone his movements. all you felt was something — someone — lifting you up and carrying you.

once sleep overtook you, the vision of a man with broad shoulders and a thick moustache danced beneath your eyelids. and a comforting weight upon your tongue lulled you to sleep entirely.

author's note: I wrote this rlly fast bc the idea of one sucking august’s fingers wouldn't leave my mind. it's very sloppy and I apologize 😂

[motherlvr]

okay so idk if you’ve watched gilmore girls but i would love to see a miles morales (earth 42) w a reader who’s like lorelai gilmore (rambles a lot, is very funny/witty, says a lot of obscure pop culture references a lot and teases people a lot lot) idk i feel like the two would have some very silly interactions 😈 (love ur work btw 😘🙏🏼)

this req was so fun to write, tysm for the req! sprinkled in some stuff so she isn't exactly lorelai, but hopefully i did the prompt justice!

wc: 1.6k

pairing: Earth-42! Miles Morales x (lorelai gilmore!) f! reader

warnings: friends with lots of tension, cursing, this has the iconic "will you just stand still?" scene from gilmore girls, possessiveness

-----------

"Lucy, I'm home!" You loudly announced as you swung the door open and let yourself into Miles' dorm. Apparently, both of you were past knocking.

Looking up at you, who had broken into his dorm, he pointed out "You ain't even room here."

"What do you mean? We're like Troy and Annie at this point." Aside from the fact that their relationship was more one-sided and they never ended up together. You were hoping your story would have a different outcome.

Miles was tranquility laying on his bed with his back against the wall before you let yourself into his room. Making yourself at home on his bed with him, you sat next to him. He pulled your legs on top of his and said, “What're you here for, ma?" You thought he sounded like a fellow convict asking you what crime you committed. You stated, "Conspiracy, apparently."

Usually, when you came by, you always wanted to sneak off campus. He was too familiar with you to not know what your intentions were from the minute you stepped in. You couldn't tell if you hated or loved how he could see through you. He narrowed his eyes at you and you defended yourself, "What? I can’t come see my favorite guy? You always think I'm schemin' some diabolical shit."

Shaking his head at you and giving you a small smirk, he asked, "You tryna go out or sum?" "Yeah, bet you'd like that huh." You cheekily teased, suppressing a snort at your own joke.

He already knew why you barged into his dorm, so he said, "Yea, I would. Let's go, ma." He guided you up and you both walked through the door of his room. You had to stifle a giggle as the both of you ran down the hallway and snuck past the security guard. Exiting out of a side door of the dormitory, you both successfully escaped. After all the times you've snuck out together, the route out just became muscle memory.

Walking down the bustling streets of Brooklyn, you felt alive. Holding Miles' arm, you noticed a new bakery had opened up. "Oh, let's go try it out, Miles!" You exclaimed, pulling him along. As Miles opened the door for you, the sweet aroma of newly baked goods filled your senses.

Stepping up to view the large menu that was hung up, you were distracted by all of the options when someone called out your name. It was a worker of the bakery, a friend of yours. Beckoning you over, he greeted you. "I haven't seen you in a hot minute. You look as good as ever." He winked at you. This made Miles' eye twitch subtly. Miles slowly unwrapped your hand that was resting on his arm and set his arm on your waist instead. To which your little guy friend didn't get the hint Miles was sending him.

You giggled at him, "It's been forever. How've you been?" Miles tuned out your whole conversation with him. He stood protectively next to you, as stoic as ever.

As you finally wrapped up your conversation with the other guy, you ordered take-out rather than dining in. Sitting down next to Miles, you waited for your orders. You swore you saw steam coming out of Miles' ears. "What's with you?" You asked him. "Nothin'." He said. It was bullshit, and you knew it.

Your orders came up and Miles couldn't wait to bolt out of there. Picking up the order, Miles wasted no time in putting his hand around your waist and rushing you out the door. "Damn Miles, stop movin' so fast. Usually, I'd be into that, but-" He shut you up before you could say anything outrageous by stuffing a piece of a Churro into your mouth. You muffled a "What the hell?"

As you both sat on the ledge of the student dormitory's rooftop, you watched the sun slowly set. You both sat shoulder-to-shoulder, eating the churros that you had picked up earlier. Miles seemed to be in a better mood than earlier. Swinging your feet over the edge of the building, you said to Miles,

"I was taking this quiz on the internet, right?" Turning his head to you, he asked, "What quiz?"

You responded, "You know, one of those 'What Movie Are You?' quizzes on the internet." Miles nodded his head in acknowledgment and you continued "And guess what it said," He tilted his head at you and hummed, urging you to continue.

"Marley & Me!" You chuckled, "Which is crazy, 'cause I don't even have a dog. Then I was thinking. And maybe I'm reaching here, but I figured out the meaning!" Taking a bite of your churro, you said, covering your mouth. "You're like, my Marley."

Furrowing his brows at you, he said, "Mami, Marley was a dog."

"Yeah, but just overlook that for a second. Although Marley drove John batshit crazy, he brought out the best in John. I'm like John, and you're Marley!" You exclaimed like you had just discovered a new species.

Miles deadpanned at you, pretending like he didn't find you amusing. "I ain't a dog though, ma?"

Honestly, that was debatable in your mind. You replied, "I've said 'down boy!' more times to you than I have to an actual dog."

"Ion know what you mean." He shrugged. But you knew he remembered. He always looked like he was going to attack whatever other guy you spoke to. What was his deal, anyway?

Dropping the subject you said, "Okay moral of the story, I'm trying to say you bring out the best in me." You mumbled the end of your sentence and he teased you, "What was that? The last part." You only rolled your eyes and enunciated,

"Marley was the missing piece of John's puzzle, y'know? Like, what is John without Marley? John's better than me though, 'cause I don't think I could go on if I lost Marley." You tried to subtly say. This had to be the strangest analogy you've ever made, you thought.

He was silent for the majority of your rambling, so you turned your head to glance at him to see if he picked up on your words. But he was already staring at you. "Are you even listening?" You annoyedly deadpan at him. "Course I am. Continue." He said, encouraging you to go on. You shrug and said, "Alright. As I was saying," But as you glanced at him again,

He was leaning into you and the words died on your tongue. Your heart was pounding in your ears. He gently moved your chin towards him, and you anxiously waited for his next move. He leaned closer to your lips, a sly grin slowly growing on his face. You could reach up and connect them right then and there.

And then he swiped your bottom lip with his thumb, brushing off crumbs. He turned his head away from you and resumed your previous conversation. To which you had forgotten what you were previously speaking about. Your eye twitched slightly.

“So, what movie you think I am, ma?" He casually asked, crunching on his churro without a second thought.

Man, screw that.

You'd fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book. What was this tomfoolery? "Oh fuck you, Eric Matthews." Angrily mumbling under your breath, you glared at him.

He pretended not to hear you as he swiped his hand over his mouth to conceal a laugh that threatened to come out.

Focusing back on reality, you said, "I think we should head back to the dorms now. You know, in case they catch us up here." He agreed and you both hopped off the ledge and onto the rooftop. Heading down the stairway to the dorms, you walked side-by-side with him.

On the walk back to the dorms, you couldn't explain how the topic of love came up. Then again, you couldn't explain most of your conversations with him. But who would've known love could be so controversial? You told him,

"Love's a bitch. But speaking of love, you ever notice how you can always tell when someone has a crush on someone else?" It was exhausting seeing two people who liked each other just beat around the bush.

You continued before he could even open his mouth, "You know what they say, if someone likes you, you'll know. But if they don't, you'll be confused."

"How would y'know though?" He queried your statement. "The eyes, they never lie." You said.

He found it almost ironic how oblivious you could be. "Yeah? What are mine sayin' then, ma?" He said softly.

You both arrived at your dorm's door. Turning to him, you tried to analyze his gaze. His gaze was intense, like your eyes were the only ones he could see. You swore your heart stopped for a moment. And suddenly, he was getting closer.

"Hey, hey." You nervously blurted out, raising your arms in your defense. "What are you doing?" You questioned, your eyes widening.

His patience was running thin as he sighed, "Mami. Will you just stand still?" He grabbed onto your waist and tugged you into his hold. Your hands lay on his chest, unsure. His head tilted down towards you and you just about liquified in his embrace as you wrapped your arms around his neck. His lips stopped inching towards yours, they merely hovered over each other. His eyes had a playful glint in them. He was teasing you. If he didn't kiss you right now, you were sure you'd go insane. "Miles-" You started to complain until he cut you off with a kiss.

Your senses were overwhelmed, solely by him. His comfortable and familiar smell, the warm feeling of his lips on yours, and his fingertips that held onto your waist. His breath was tickling yours. You were sure that if he wasn't holding onto you, your legs would crumble completely. Your hands slithered onto his braids, playing with them as your lips moved together.

The beat of your heart played a song so loud you felt like he could hear it. As your eyes fluttered open to look up at him, you knew he could read the obvious affections you held in your eyes. Looking into his eyes, you hummed and pretended to ponder it. Grinning at him, you said,

"I think they're saying that we should do that again."

--------

Lucy, I'm home - I Love Lucy

Troy and Annie - roommates from the tv series Community

Eric Matthews - love interest from Miss Congeniality

the eyes, they never lie - scarface

lmk if you wanted to be added to the taglist!

a/n: i said my reqs were open and then i forgot to turn them back on very sorry LMAO

[evermorethecrow]

would you speak on this crosshairs pupil Chuuya trend you're doing

this was my evil plan to manipulate nawy into sending an ask so i could make a full post on it...

ALSO YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

aside from the fact its just fun i wanted to mimic the eyes certain devils have in csm

(art by fujumoto and mappa studios)

As a general art thing i like to give non-human charecters funky eyes

i consider it a fun way to know a bit about a charecter before their properly introduced

Now regular 15 chuuya IS human but his eyes are like this because he doesnt think he is, i like to have charecters effected by their own or other peoples opinions of them

I do a slightly more annoying version of what harukawa does with light in eyes

In example (using an oc of mine)

Misacho's eyes in Misacho's pov (Its based on how she sees herself morally)

Misacho's eyes in chuuya's pov (based on how he sees her morally)

And then misacho in the readers view (unbiased lense so its based on how she actually is)

It makes it more complex and i think its fun if you have to first decode who's perspective is influencing whatever comic or image there is and then get a read on the charecters opinions based on that

Circling back to 15 chuuya

I like making him more monstery looking with sharp teeth and nails and funky eyes especially when hes around the sheep (he gets MORE monstery then) because of the sheeps feelings about chuuya and his own about himself ect

in short this was an excuse to rant about details i like to put in my art

[idontknowreallyidontcare]

KÖNIG HC’S FOR MY KÖNIG GIRLS.

- I HC him as being definitely taller than your average man, but not his fanon height. Many people go with the narrative that he’s 6’10/2m 08cm’s, for what I understood this is a made up data, nowhere is it specified that he’s actually 6’10, so what I actually assign him is a height of 6’7, we know how Ghost is somewhere between 6’4/6’5 which it’s still pretty tall (1,89 cm), but we also know by comparing the models, that König is a bit taller, so I am kind of basing his height on this difference between him and Ghost. Also, knowing he could not be a sniper because of his height motivates me even more to think that he is indeed a guy bigger than your average. Again, it’s a personal HC, may or may not be shared, it’s not a canon attribute.

- As I already specified in some of my other posts, I view him as a clean individual, in a sense than he has a routine and will try to maintain it even on duty. Being at the barracks will not obstruct his routine, he washes his hair with shampoo and conditioner, he uses a particular face soap, made for his type of skin, and he uses body lotion instead of a bar of soap. It has to be said that he wasn’t always this organized, for example, thanks to you he got to buy the face wash that he now brings everywhere he goes, you kinda talked to him about using a bar of soap for all the body and explained to him how unhygienic was to use the same towel for face, body and cock/ass, because despite you being ‘clean’ after the shower, you’re still dragging bacteria form around your body onto your face and hair, overall you kinda motivated him to uplift his already good habits. He sometimes lets you do his skincare too, and when he remembers, he will actually put some face cream on. He’s still a bit fearful of coming as not very masculine, but you’re making him work on it, so he can accept that taking care of himself will never be a turn down for you, not when he’s already so hot for his age, he better maintain himself!

- Another critical point about our Köni is his age. We have a vague idea of how old he could be, many HC’ing him from 35 to late 40’s. My guess is he could be somewhere between 38 and 43, I do prefer him as a 39/40 years grandpa tho. Again, personal HC, do not take it as canon! I’d be happy honestly if they would reveal his age, probably because no matter what, I’d still simp even if he turned out to be 50 years lmaooooo.

- Yes, he does come from a village in the country side, but he did join military pretty young, so I HC him as being actually a pretty open minded individual. Remember he gets to work with technology every day, he knows what’s going on around the world, and him joining young actually was a benefit, because he got to form his own opinions in a place that welcomed every kind of human beings. He didn’t get to grow up from the hate he received at school so he kind of escaped a life where he could’ve easy became what we call an inc€l today. He grew some balls, got his priorities right. He was for sure subjected to some kind of morally wrong opinions that grew into him, that’s why you’re spending time on him, being patient and trying to explain to him many things he considered undeniable reality until he meet you. The classic ones are: males should not cry because only girls do, women can work but they would be better at home, men don’t pay attention to their physical appearance that’s for feminine boys, and many similar things. He’s slowly getting out of his habits, and you’re proud of him.

- Listen, people have mixed feelings about this one but imma say it, aside from shipping and all, König is not and will never be Homophobic. He does not have any problem with lgbt+ nor is he disturbed by couples openly showing affection in his presence. Early access to internet and a very religious family could have created the worst possible outcome for him, but he was never big into religion, already redeeming it a waste of time at a young age, but still attending church because of his mom. He knows some recruits are openly gay, he doesn’t see a problem nor does it bother him knowing he could be someone’s crush. Now I do HC him as completely straight, but again it’s MY way of imagining König, I still think that in an orgy or threesome with reader, if he trusts the other male part, he would not be against having their cocks in the same hole, rubbing against each other, or in general he would not be against having some skin to skin contact with another male because at the end he does it because it only benefits you.

- He is a perverted dog, not only because he is ‘old’ and has fucked young girls (not minors! He is not morally fucked up like that), or generally his sexual history is pretty normal for a man that age, he was just always eager to see, learn and search for what he felt was exciting to him. He had threesomes before us, he has sex, he did many things that gave him the skills and experience he’s been using on us, but yes overall I HC him as being the one that always had a porn journal under his pillow, he would even lend them around the barracks.

- He loves pussy. He eats it for HIS own pleasure okay? He would die between your legs. He cums only by eating you out. He gets drunk on pussy. Pussy is what he lives for. He’ll never die on field, living purely out of spite, because he’ll no! What do you mean he’s never gonna enjoy your pussy again if he dies! ABSOLUTELY NOT! He’ll get home, beaten, cut, stabbed, whatever, but he’ll be home to you, and he will lick your pussy for the rest of the night saying “this what’s keeping me alive honey”. And truth is you can’t deny it to him, because it’s so good, no matter the circumstances, it always brings him back home.

[sugar-grigri]

I was wondering what you think the likelihood is of an actual canon Asa/Denji romantic relationship is? I mean obviously they're building that Asa has feelings for csm/Denji (separately) and Denji has shown passing interest as well. I wonder if it's feasible at all or are they going to be pitched against one another now that Asa's getting seen more in the public eye while Denji is forcibly pushed aside.

Love your blog and enjoy reading your analyzes of the chapters/characters/plot!

Denji and Asa will have a romantic relationship 

I'm sorry to answer so late (almost 2 months later) and without justifying my delay, I think it's the right time in view of the last chapters to answer !!! I think Asa and Denji will have a romantic relationship. Before explaining my arguments, I would ask that we all put our personal preferences aside. I'm only interested in Denji and Asa's writing and story arcs. Now that that's been cleared up, let's get down to business.

First of all, I'd like to reiterate a few points about Denji's development and objectives.

In part 1, Denji understood what it meant to be loved properly, the different facets of love, how to protect and pamper a family, just as his response to the antagonist was driven by his love for Makima. It's important not to deny that Denji has become attached to Makima, and the paradoxical aspect of this affection is what made the end of Part 1 so brilliant and memorable.

Firstly, it confirmed that CSM's main theme from the outset was love, and secondly, it proved that Denji's response was extremely sensitive and mature. Instead of locking himself into a cycle of revenge and hatred, he forgave.

But above all from a narrative point of view it's interesting because in the first part, Denji grasped his value as a human being, knew what it was like to be considered and loved by Power and Aki. I've always seen Part 2 as a response to Part 1.

After the character has grasped that he can be loved, Part 2 places within it, consecrating it as the pivotal protagonist: Denji's beloved, Asa Mitaka. Instead of simply mystifying the love interest as a deuteragonist, as many works do, and depriving us of her point of view, Fujimoto places her with equal narrative importance. Which makes sense, since love is a central theme, Denji's love couldn't take a back seat.

All this to say that the very fact that Asa is also the protagonist puts us on the right track. But there's nothing to stop it all being a trap? Just as there's nothing to stop the relationship between the two protagonists opening up to a lovely friendship, is there? From a personal point of view, I'd have found it interesting if Denji had struck up another platonic friendship with a girl, with no undertones.

But that's not what Fujimoto has in mind...

Asa and Denji are written to complement each other. And when I say complementarity, I make it clear that the writing doesn't imply that a relationship between the two of them would solve their internal problems. Their flaws are put to the test by the external scenario.

For example, Asa's lack of trust in others is underlined in her development compared to other characters such as Yuko and Yoshida.

Yuko and Asa had a sincere friendship, although this drifted into moral combat as the young girl wanted to be as beneficial and useful as Chainsaw Man. As for Yoshida, he torments Asa, playing the game of promiscuity in order to create distance between the two of them, motivated as he is by Chainsaw Man. But his aim is not to become like him, but to prevent him from acting to the full.

Whether it's to inhibit Chainsaw Man or to become like him, Chainsaw Man has occupied a place in Asa's relationships with the others. But again, this only serves to underline the extent to which the destinies of the two protagonists are intertwined. Instead of hating Chainsaw Man even more for disrupting her relationships, Asa Mitaka unknowingly experienced his profound kindness.

During the aquarium arc, Denji simply occupied a special place regarding this issue. While the young girl mortified herself about being a good-for-nothing, a loser like Denji, it was he who paradoxically helped her. Firstly, because he'd listened to her explanations, boring though they were, about starfish and the fact that they're edible. What's more, Fami can control those she would have starved, so subconsciously the fact that Denji offered her food saved Asa.

But this is implicit writing, as it doesn't make sense until well afterwards, when Fujimoto spells out the conditions of the famine demon's power. When we read the aquarium arc, the one who finds the solution is Asa. Denji was merely a springboard.

This episode is central because Fujimoto, in developing the relationship between Denji and Asa, also clarifies the way in which he will write it: one will not overshadow the other, and he has not placed Asa as the protagonist so that she is not a pivotal point in the scenario.

But before this good experience, Asa only sees Denji's little flaws, the fact that he's a fan of Chainsaw Man, that he rips off homeless people and even goes so far as to dehumanize him, considering him somewhere between a cat and a criminal. Instead of idealizing Asa as Denji's great savior, she is first presented as a threat to the boy. But this chapter only confirms the future romantic (and tragic) aspect of their relationship.

I'm putting my theory back on the cat, because it's this symbol that heralds a perhaps not-so-pretty ending between the two of them. Fujimoto takes on the characteristics of a Greek tragedy, with a game of identities, intertwined secrets and a series of misunderstandings, with two camps, characters also preventing their relationship (Nayuta and Yoshida). But above all, it's tragic: Denji is somewhere between a cat and a criminal, just as Asa lost her mother while trying to save a cat, just as the first being Denji saves in Part 2 is a cat.

The cat is a figure that links Denji and Asa (the fact that they both saved one, that it is linked to their family (Power and Asa's mother), the metaphor of cat and criminal being what characterizes someone as morally gray as the two of them TO SUM UP their relationship will end in sacrifice. The ultimate proof of love. Isn't it wonderful to have a boy as the protagonist who pursues love, only to die for it? The reverse is just as beautiful: a young girl who closes herself off in solitude finds self-fulfillment in dying for the sake of another.

But back to something happier: Asa is the only one who has a healthy love (or rather, attachment) to Denji. Firstly, because she first faced Denji's and Chainsaw Man's flaws before seeing their good sides.

First, she doesn't project anything onto the boy, and sees him exactly as he is. She experienced his obscenities, his interest in sex that repels her. This was something I'd considered a flaw until now, to be honest; I was afraid that if the two protagonists ended up experiencing intimacy together, it would "save" Asa from her rejection of sex. But I was reassured by Fumiko's development, which parallels that. Fumiko has an unhealthy interest in Denji and is constantly contradictory in her dealings with him.

As I said, chapter 142 sets up a fairly simple idea: no one respects Denji's limits, above all, no one sees him as the teenager, the child he is. With Chainsaw Man, the same thing happens: people, faced with their powerlessness against the demons, project their grief and frustrations onto the machine man, to the point of pushing him to live again and again to kill his loved one, his big brother. 

No one hears Chainsaw Man's cries for help 

Asa stands out from all this: first, she's the one who wants to save Chainsaw Man 

Fumiko already had an idealized image of Denji before she met him, has an ascendancy over age, a manipulative strategy, but beyond these problematic issues she respects no limits, thinks Denji's sexual desires, which do exist (let's not deny it), are watchwords. 

She, who considers him a child, doesn't act at all in the spirit of protection that she acclaims. 

Asa has the opposite reaction, but purely the opposite. When she meets Denji, she's not at all interested, even distressed. She'll have exactly the same reaction to Chainsaw Man. She doesn't like him, so she has nothing to project onto him. And even her first reaction to him was far from idyllic. 

Fumiko's presence is also intended to underline the way she and Asa differ in the way they deal with Denji's limitations. 

Asa respects Denji's limits, or rather those he has set as rules dictated by his little sister. But Yoru crosses a boundary by kissing him. Without the desire to justify a non-consensual act, what Yoru is doing is crossing a boundary not set by Denji but by Nayuta, who is trapping her older brother in a certain solitude by wanting to protect him. The control devil is obsessed with a happiness that can only be found in the number of two, which is the common trait that links Makima and Nayuta, although they are not exactly the same entity. The first kiss between Yoru and Denji is then an act of rebellion, rather than Fumiko's constant overstepping of boundaries. 

(Again, these are two non-consensual acts, and I'm not justifying them, but they don't have the same narrative function).

But above all, the limits set by Nayuta have another meaning - they're there to consolidate the fact that Denji and Asa's relationship is a romantic tragedy inspired by the ancients, as Shakespiere was. The breaking of rules is a major theme in Romeo and Juliet, especially in the case of Juliet, who must choose between morals and her love, her family destining her for another marriage (symbolized by Nayuta). 

But we'll come back to the symbolism of Romeo and Juliet in a moment... 

Asa has met the purest version of Denji - whether it's Denji revealing his identity, or his profound kindness at the aquarium - and she's also witnessed the flaws of Chainsaw Man, this perverse monster, not good with words, who not only tried to reassure her, but actively protected her.

In other words, when we see her disturbed by her growing feelings for both Denji and Chainsaw Man, they are more than sincere, for she has seen them both as they were. But above all, she is the first character to love both sides of Denji's identity. Whereas Makima was obsessed with Chainsaw Man or Reze focused on Denji's weaknesses, Asa became attached to both the human and the demon.

Denji's dual identity is central, with the public hunters trying to annihilate Denji's demonic identity while the church relies on it, confusing the boy into having to choose one or the other, while the one who intends to help him unknowingly loves both sides. She likes him doubly. Asa is proof that Denji has to claim his two identities.

Not only is the girl also two, harboring a demon within her just as Denji has fused with a demon, but the way their demons are linked to each other and have a history between them only reinforces the destiny that binds them.

Asa is someone who intellectualizes her emotions to the extreme, so her love is more cerebral than Denji's, who thinks primarily through his senses, having a more instinctive love. Yoru occupies half of Asa's brain, while Pochita replaces Denji's heart, totally in line with this symbolism.

Above all, Yoru is disturbed by Asa's budding feelings, which also affect her. We've seen that Yoru hasn't succeeded in transforming Denji. We all stopped to think that she couldn't transform a hybrid, a demon. Yoru is a knight of the apocalypse and has a natural ascendancy over other demons, just as Fami had the falling devil under her control and Makima had controlled many demons. No, the reason why Yoru can't transform Denji is twofold: she's disturbed by Asa's feelings, which are also her own, and doesn't have the will to make him her weapon; but above all, they're not yet together, and the feeling of belonging to each other hasn't yet been established. It's not certain that Denji will ever become Yoru's weapon, since as soon as their relationship is established, he will symbolically offer her his heart.

In the current arc, Fujimoto places Asa in Denji's initial situation, so as to better parallel them: she becomes the church's new flagship image, her popularity competing directly with Chainsaw Man's. But while the current arc shows us the downside of these parasocial relationships, with Denji completely paralyzed by his existential crises, Asa experiences the opposite.

She who has always felt isolated is finally beginning to be appreciated and loved by the majority. In short, one begins to learn something that the other is just experimenting with. Denji and Asa are two very isolated teenagers who project themselves into the recognition their audience has in them. 

What's certain is that Denji's existential crisis doesn't just concern him, insofar as his experiences can serve as a lesson to Asa, that to become a hero is above all to be alone. The church intends to sacrifice innocent people to spur Chainsaw Man into action, a church that Asa now represents. Asa hasn't yet seen this side of the church, so Barem mocks her by presenting her as a naive young girl. However, Asa has the intuition that tragedy will strike, since she has a nightmare of it.

Asa's going to have to go beyond her moral limits, to take the brunt of her own popularity, and even if she intends to save Chainsaw Man as he saved her, I think it's he who's going to help her more, not to eclipse her but as a springboard to push the heroine to save herself.

Denji's development isn't slow, flat, in this arc, it just reaches its conclusion. What's left for him to do to end it all is to prove his love.

Even if it means dying for it.

[jadeazora]

A bit of review/overall thoughts for the Teal Mask.

Overall, a much better attempt compared to DLC1 of SwSh. The Isle of Armor was pretty cool, but the storyline was pretty bland overall. I found the story much more engaging here, especially when we get the true story of what happened between the "Loyal" Three and Ogerpon.

Speaking of the new Legendaries, the L3 are interesting with how much intelligence they show (from knowing how valuable the masks are and traveling across regions to get to Kitakami to clearly planning their revenge on Ogerpon right in front of you and Carmine) and how they might have been corrupted by the Toxic Chain. Ogerpon is also really cute with how much personality she shows. I feel SV really did a great job with bonding us with our Legendary partners overall.

Also with the Loyal Three, there's a number of interesting guesses about how they came back to life. My initial assumption was that it was something like them feeding on Kieran's anger and resentment to reawaken themselves, but there's also the theories that he was possessed by the Toxic Chain (we do see a purple glow travel up his arm during the scene if you pay very close attention, so it's possible this is where he would be possessed) and the rumors of the crystals from the Crystal Pool possibly bringing the dead back to life, since Carmine mentions a rumor where people have met those who have passed away there, and Kieran was hanging around with the Mask that had been imbued with those crystals.

(As an aside, SV has very much of a corrupted wishes vibe, from the Professor and their vision of a utopia would cause an ecological disaster to Paldea, to the Loyal Three wishing for beauty/power/intelligence when they made contact with the Toxic Chain at the possible cost of their morality, and how Kieran wishes to become stronger than the player but falls into his obsession at the end.)

Honestly, Kieran's launched himself into being one of my favorite rivals with the game seemingly building him up as a problem for the Indigo Disk storyline, but it's neat how the siblings undergo a complete reversal with how they view the protagonist. He's also a pretty decent challenge, with a fully-evolved team of six in the low-mid Lv70s all packing held items. (If you're doing this after you completed the main story of SV.) He puts up a much better fight than Geeta does, for sure, and I hope he gets to meet your base-game rivals in the next storyline.

Carmine is also really fun, especially when she starts warming up to us, but I do hope she gets called out for her earlier treatment of her brother, and how she started this whole mess by lying to him. Like, I don't think he would have felt left out by us just randomly running into Ogerpon. We thought it was a child until it dropped its mask, we could have just explained that to him. We're the new kid, how would we know any better or what the ogre looks like? I guess she might have been worried that two little kids would just climb up this dangerous mountain at night, but it still lead to more problems.

I loved Perrin's sidequest too, and hope we see her again in the Indigo Disk! Bloodmoon Ursaluna is so cool (already one of my fave Gen9 Pokemon and regional variants), and can actually give you a pretty fierce battle if you go in with a new team.

Kitakami still feels a little empty imo, just like the base game, but there's a good amount of small caves that sometimes have rare Pokemon inside, and places like the Chilling Waterhead that I wouldn't even know was there if not for Fezandipiti. Some other areas are also visually cool, like the Crystal Pool (interesting to see those crystals from Area Zero are showing up in other regions as well) and the Fellhorn Gorge.

I'm really excited for the Indigo Disk now, like full-on brainrot mode rn, and feel the Teal Mask really does a pretty good job of building up the second part of the DLC with all the little teasers we get. (In comparison, SwSh's DLC felt more separate between the two halves.) I feel they haven't shown much of the story aside (from the BB League/battling stuff), so things are probably going to get pretty crazy, especially with certain things the datamine has given us, in Pt2, and I really can't wait to see what happens next!

[mydisenchantedeulogy]

Sweet Decadence || Part 1 of 2 || Bi-Han/Sub-Zero

A/n: This is the sequel to 'The Bitter Truth'. I have separated it into 2 parts for my reasons, but I want to thank those who read TBT and supported the story.

Please enjoy.

Warning(s): obsessive behavior, female reader, reader uses magic, kidnapping, fights, sequel, post-game.

No Minors Allowed!!

There is something magical about the rain that makes the colors of nature seem much more vivid to you. Though perhaps it is just the blissful mood you are in, altering your perception of things. A rare sight these days, considering how inconsistent your thoughts have been since your heated run-in with Bi-Han.

Hiding away in your room at the newly set up Shirai Ryu compound, you stare out at the forest beyond your balcony in a dazed state as the summer rain pelts the trees and earth. 

It feels like nothing but a dream now, and to be honest, you sometimes yearn to close your eyes and return to that moment again. You do not want to be reminded of the past; of the anger and the betrayal that comes with it. No. You just want to remember the feeling.

He was right, that much is clear now. 

“You are in denial. It's clear to me where your loyalty lies, and until you come to terms with the bitter truth, I'll leave you with that reminder.”

A phantom pain seizes you, but you ignore it. Just like your morals at the moment. No, you are not an idiot. You know what Bi-Han desires is immoral, but you can not put aside your sentiments for him; sentiments that became clear when he fucked you. 

For fuck’s sake. That sounds bad. 

It is true though. Not a day has gone by since then that you haven't thought about him; about the way he made you feel, unintentional or not.

Tilting your head back, you rest it against the doorframe and stare up at the ceiling with the sound of the rain in your ears. Your mind is a labyrinth and you do not necessarily care. This ebb and flow of thoughts proves that you have not yet lost your standards. 

So long as you avoid Bi-Han in the future, you should be fine.

A sudden knock pulls you from your thoughts and you tilt your head to the side, glancing at the door to the far left of you. 

“It's unlocked,” you announce. 

A moment later, Harumi Shirai saunters in. You sit up to address her properly, but she raises her hand to stop you. 

“There is no need for such formalities, not when it is I who came to see you.” 

You grin. 

“As the soon-to-be wife of my Grandmaster, it is indeed needed.”

It is strange to address Kuai Liang as Grandmaster, but after all that he has been through and done to build the Shirai Ryu, he deserves the title. He even found time for love. 

Harumi offers you a kind smile. 

“It is our secret.”

She wanders across the room and sits in front of your vanity.

“Are you faring well?”

You hum.

“For the most part.”

After you came back from the fortress you reported to Kuai Liang about your run-in with Bi-Han, though you opted not to mention the fact you fucked him. The brand he left was hard enough to explain, but it could not be avoided; you needed medical attention. 

Kuai Liang viewed it as a failed attempt to lure you back to Lin Kuei, but it was apparent that he was curious about what dark agenda his brother had regarding you. 

In truth, you should be dead for denying him. 

“And your wound? I can have someone take a look at it if it still pains you,” Harumi mentions. 

You decline her offer. 

“Though appreciated, that is not necessary.” You subconsciously rest your hand against the brand on your side. “The pain went away months ago…yet it sometimes still burns.” 

Harumi frowns. 

“If it begins to bother you, I suggest you tell me.”

You snort. It is no wonder Kuai Liang loves her; she is considerate, yet stern.

“Yes, Madam.” 

Harumi nods her head in approval and then stands. 

“I will see you at lunch. You missed breakfast.”

You are aware. But you suppose that is what warranted this visit. 

“The rain has put me in a strange mood,” you lie. “But I will be there.”

Harumi seems unsure, but she does not voice her concerns. Instead, she wishes you a good morning and leaves you to your thoughts again. 

You understand. Kuai Liang and Tomas are worried about you. But it is not their problem, it is yours. 

Your obsession with Bi-Han is yours to bear.

Shifting your eyes, you stare in a haze at the forest again. Perhaps soon this fixation will pass. For your sake, it had better. 

–

At noon, you tear yourself away from the comfort of your bedroom, following the briny scent of fish to the dining room. A spread of rice and vegetables accompanies it, making your stomach twist in hunger. 

Before you sit across from Tomas on the left side of the table, you bow in respect to Kuai Liang, who nods his head. 

“I am pleased to see that you joined us.”

You grin and turn your eyes to Harumi beside him. 

“I was encouraged to.”

Kuai Liang glances at her, then returns to his lunch. You follow suit, however, you notice that in attendance, there are only the four of you. 

“Where are the others?” You ask as you pick up your drink.

“Running exercises,” Tomas answers. “Though some are spread out in the nearby villages.”

An unsure look from Kuai Liang makes you pause a moment. You raise a curious brow. 

“What is it?”

The Grandmaster sighs. 

“Nothing concerning as of yet…but we have heard rumors of hostiles.”

Hostiles. A neighboring clan perhaps. This is the first time you have heard about it, but you suppose the brothers have their reasons.

Focusing on your lunch, you hardly notice the injured ninja stumble in until he collapses to the floor in a bloody mess. In shock, you rush over to him, followed by Tomas who carefully checks over his wounds. He is in bad shape, but thankfully alive.

“Who did this?” Tomas asks in anger. 

The ninja raises his trembling hand. You notice a thin metal plate in the palm of his hand and upon further inspection, you notice a familiar symbol etched into it. Your stomach churns in dread. 

“Lin Kuei.”

Here of all places.

Tomas widens his eyes and takes the plate from you. He stands just as Kuai Liang approaches with a healer, handing the plate to him. 

“Where?” Kuai Liang asks the injured man. 

“W-West,” he manages to say. 

Clutching the emblem in his hand, he shifts his eyes to Tomas. 

“We shall go.”

Without a word, the latter rushes off. You feel a bit shaken, but despite this, you stand. 

“Grandmaster–”

“If you are unwell, then stay and protect Harumi,” Kuai Liang interrupts.

You understand his concerns, but you can not just flee from the cryomancer’s shadow every time it threatens to consume you. 

“I can fight.”

He gives you a nod and with a bow, you rush back to your room to change clothes. With your gear on, you retrieve your mask from the vanity, looking at yourself in the mirror. The sanguine look in your eyes is not something to be proud of.

A short while later, with the brothers in tow, you arrive in the village to the west. The earthy scent of petrichor mixed with death permeates the air. Multiple bodies are strewn across the dirt road, all Shirai Ryu. You find it strange. How is it that there are no Lin Kuei among them?  

A scream echoes through the but before the three of you can move, a pair of Lin Kuei descends from the rooftops of the nearest house. Their appearances are unfamiliar.

“Is that armor?” You hear Tomas ask.

It is. Each of them is decked out in similar armor akin to what Sektor and Cyrax wear, albeit they are dressed in Lin Kuei colors. Why, though? What is Bi-Han thinking? 

Another scream from the far side of the village rings out and Kuai Liang grunts irritably.

“We must aid those in need.”

You agree with a nod.

“I can take these two,” you suggest. 

Tomas looks unsure but Kuai Liang seems to agree. He places a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“Be on guard.” 

You nod. This should be no problem. You have dealt with the Lin Kuei before. Suits or no suits, it makes no difference. Tomas and Kuai Liang separate, leaving you alone with the two assassins. 

“Two-on-one seems kind of unfair,” you state. 

Neither of them comment. That's fine. You adjust the plates on your mask, then take a deep breath, releasing a sonic scream that should disorient the two. However, it has no effect.

What the hell? 

One of them suddenly teleports behind you and kicks you in the side, knocking you to the ground. It feels as though you have been hit by a truck. And to make matters worse, the assassin struck you right where the brand is. 

Fine. If they want to play rough. 

You stand and take a fighting stance. The assassin lying in wait teleports behind you while the other aims a kick at your chest, but you manage to dodge them by shifting to the side. Grabbing the latter by the plates on their shoulders, you yank them off balance and use their momentum to sweep them off their feet.

Lying on their back, you raise your leg in an attempt to axe-kick them in the face, but the other assassin grabs you around the chest and holds you in place as the one on the ground stands. It lifts its hand and an intense heat sizzles from within. You can feel it on your skin. 

It has a flamethrower. 

You grunt in annoyance and lift your lower body, using your feet to push off the fire-wielding assassin, striking them hard in the face and chest. The one holding you falls back onto the ground from the force, giving you the chance to free yourself and roll into a squat above them. 

Adjusting your mask again, you increase the volume of your voice. Then with a deep breath, you release a sonic scream point-blank into the assassin’s face. The metal vibrates at such a speed that it short-circuits, sending bolts of electricity shooting out. The smell that follows is nauseating. You wave away the plume of smoke that pours from the mask, but you are not given a moment to rest as the fire assassin shoots a jet of flames at you. 

Barely able to escape its range, you roll out of the way and onto your feet. Heat licks at your leg, but you manage to put some distance between you and the assassin, hiding behind a house, before you put out the small flame. 

These suits are no joke. You hope the brothers are faring better than you. It is like they were built to withstand your magic. You are not even certain there is anyone inside the suits. But how else are they moving?

When the flames stop, you dart out from behind the house, but to your shock, the assassin is gone. Before you can search for them, the whir of jet boosters catches your attention, and when you look up, you see a familiar warrior in red armor hovering above you.

“Sektor.”

What is she doing here? 

“This is a sight, running into you like this,” she states. “I should be upset that you managed to demolish one of my suits, but there is always more room for improvement.” 

You turn up your nose as you look at the smoking hunk of metal lying on the ground. So she is the one controlling them. 

“Bi-Han let you make that thing?”

“The Grandmaster has thoughtfully embraced my ideas for the future,” Sektor states. 

You snort.

“I'm sure he rewarded you well too. Tell me, does he like it when you spit or when you swallow?”

Sektor laughs.

“You are just as direct and spirited as ever. It’s too bad he considers you a waste.”

It shouldn’t have but her words make your blood boil. Your defiance must have switched the cryomancer’s opinion of you.  

“Your potential is wasted with Kuai Liang.”

The brand he left on you felt spiteful, a mark of shame.  

“Let's see who is the waste.”

You take a fighting stance but to your irritation, Sektor flies off toward the far end of the village. Where is she going? You tighten your jaw and chase after her. Her defeat will deal a massive blow to the Lin Kuei, should you catch her. 

Chasing her around the side of a nearby house, you do not consider calling for backup. All that is on your mind is beating Sektor within an inch of her life. But as you cross in front of a side alley, something akin to a net shoots out and seizes you, knocking you hard to the ground. 

You groan in pain, arching your back as the rock-littered street bites into your skin. What the hell? You struggle but the neon yellow net will not loosen. 

“Do not fight it. The energy net will only grow tighter,” a feminine voice orders.

You tilt your head to the side to see a familiar figure in a yellow suit approach from the side alley. 

“Cyrax. I should have known,” you sneer. 

She is never far from Sektor. You did not think that in your pursuit of her, she would ambush you. It is irksome.

From above, Sektor flies by and then lands beside her. Both of them ignore your attempts to test the net. 

“Are we done here?” Cyrax asks. 

“I have all the data I need,” Sektor answers. She pauses, then motions with a finger toward you. “All that is left is dealing with our friend here.” 

What is that supposed to mean? 

Cyrax removes a spherical gadget from her chest plate and approaches you. 

“This isn't personal,” she states, sounding as if she is about to put an end to you. 

Leaning down, she yanks off your mask, much to your displeasure, and then presses a button on the side of the gadget. 

So this is it. You sneer at her. 

“Tell Bi-Han he can rot in hell.”

“You can tell him yourself,” Cyrax states.

Before you can figure out what she means, the device beeps and then pops open. From inside, a sweet colorless odor sprays out and consumes you. Instantly your throat tickles, making you break out into a fit of coughs. You attempt to hold your breath but it does no good. Whatever the gas is, its fast-acting properties take effect and everything fades to black.

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

This Yamanaka interview rotates in my head every day for multiple reasons, but one of them has to be this quote when he talks about the characters

Yamanaka: For me, I do not want my characters to be perceived as two-dimensional beings. I stick to the idea that they are based on real people who happen to have a two-dimensional appearance. That’s one of my rules when creating characters, and I also make sure to write down their backstory in the materials.

So, even though the setting of the story in MILGRAM is a fantasy space, I wanted the characters themselves to feel like they could exist right beside you.

Thinking about this quote with the context of how flawed and shitty (in terms of morality and beliefs) the cast of Milgram is even putting aside their murders makes me respect Yamanaka so much for his bravery as a writer. Bad humans are still humans. They're made of flesh blood and bone like you and me, as well as all of the other factors that compile us as humans. By dehumanizing bad people and going "I could never become like that", you are negating yourself from actually self reflecting on your own actions and learning how to prevent becoming like those people by seeing them as monsters rather than human. And that is why I love the Milgram cast so much. The prisoners, for the most part, are shitty people even when you don't put their murders into the equation. It's easy to look at their actions, beliefs, and their selves at just their skin and turn your head away telling yourself "That could never be me" But once you take a cleaver and cut into them from the head down, their humanity starts to spill out. Their goals and motivations behind these actions, the experiences they went through that made them like this, and how that all culminates up until the moment of their murder. And when you view it like that, it's hard not to wonder if you would've done gone down a similar route if placed in similar circumstances. It's such a nuanced way of writing a cast full of 'bad people' that I rarely ever see, even in other casts with a similar concept. I have to commend Yamanaka for that.

[airaibunny]

fuck palestine i used to like you but now that youre defending it you lost a fan

it seems as though the only way israel supporters share their opinions is behind a veil of anonymity. this makes perfect sense; you’re very aware that your views are morally deplorable and you do not want to personally associated yourself with them. it is evident to me that you’re scared of facing the discourse your statements cause. i really hope this is just rage bait from a small minded individual, but if it’s not, let me be unequivocally clear: your words have zero effect on me, i do not care in the slightest about losing followers over this, nor will my opinion ever be swayed. my advocacy for the people of palestine is not something i take lightly, and it’s not something i’m willing to put aside to gain popularity on social media. any loss of followers due to this is unimportant to me when i consider the cause im standing for. how can one, with a clear conscience, endorse the actions of a country that is bombing schools, hospitals, and densely populated cities? are you aware of how many innocent people have died in palestine? if you’re not, the answer is nearly 30,000. if you are aware and simply do not care; i sincerely hope you can do some soul-searching and can change your character for the better; that is truly sickening. anyone who finds themselves at odds with my position on this matter is free to disengage from my platform. this message is my final acknowledgment of comments such as this. do not waste your time attempting to flood my inbox with further ignorance.

free palestine 🇵🇸