#so i obviously corrected that here

[sntoot]

designs for my azem (with color!)

more info under the cut bc i ramble

their name is hestia! and they may have been an experiment for creation magicks early in life (looks lovingly at the raids for confirming my suspicions that creation magic could absolutely be misused on people). so their hair n eyes r supposed to be weird, their hair specifically supposed to give you the idea of fire-head [gender redacted], and their eyes are supposed to be iridescent as opposed to the usual glow ancients have. they would really rather everyone behaved normally about it and didnt bring it up though

they dont have any memories from before they were found abandoned as a child, and due to the amount of strange things wrong with them, venat/azem ended up taking them in as she investigated, which turned into an apprenticeship and then got them the position of azem. venat never found out where exactly they came from, but she is certain of is that someone did experiments on them and that they are much happier as her adoptee and azem than digging into their past.

they almost always glamour over their actual convocation mask with a regular one bc they dont want to intimidate anyone by being azem (emet-selch has long since given up on complaining about it). if they are in a place like elpis where they need their hood down and their mask off, they cover up their hair with a scarf and wear their mask anyways until they get told to take it off. its both because of how strange they look but also because their aether is warped in a way to draw in other people’s aether (which is mostly just annoying in that it makes people think they have a gravity to their presence). but the amount gets worse when they get people’s direct attention and dont get a chance to mitigate, and in some cases it ends badly because people have differing reactions to being drawn to them

[blusandbirds]

eli moskowitz - "am i making you feel sick?"

[sassypantsjaxon]

See, the thing that gets me the most about Zeff being Sanji's father is that it's probably just so obvious to everyone else

They're pulled off the rock together, more dead than alive, and the kid still bites at anyone who tries to pull him away from the old man. Their rescuers never decide whether it's a trauma response or if they think the two were already attached before all this happened

Sanji's a little more civilized at the hospital they're taken to, but he still refuses to be separated from Zeff. He lies and says Zeff worked on the Orbit with him. Their caretakers just take his word and assume that if Zeff wasn't his parent before, he is now

(they're not wrong)

There really aren't many reasons for a little kid to be at a sea restaurant built to cater to pirates

Patty and Carne arrive at the Baratie, not knowing what to expect, take one look at these two blond haired, blue eyed, bad tempered cooks, and immediately go "oh. this is a father and son business"

(they're also not wrong)

They are far from the last hires to come to this conclusion. Pretty much everybody who goes through the Baratie makes the same assumption

The fact that Sanji gets more upset about anybody insulting Zeff than about them insulting the restaurant as a whole doesn't help anything

Patty and Carne start taking bets on how bad Sanji's freak out is going to be the next time some one tells him 'shouldn't you have a little more respect for your father?'

It does not get better as he gets older.

In fact, as he climbs the ranks and cooks who didn't see him fighting tooth and nail for his position come in, they'll assume he's just a brat who was named second in command just because he's the owner's son

Patty and Carne start taking bets on how long it will be before Sanji will have to put the new hire in his proper place

And then the Straw Hats arrive and Sanji tries to say he's not leaving with them.

Luffy's complaining about it to the others and Zoro (dead father), Usopp (abandoned by father), and Nami (yet to accept that her father still loves her) are all just like "Well, if he doesn't want to leave his dad, then he doesn't want to leave his dad."

Luffy (doesn't know dads are a thing people usually have) is just like "???" But still refuses to take Sanji until Zeff's given his permission and Sanji's agreed to go

And it doesn't stop just because Sanji's no longer working next to Zeff for people to make the comparison

Chopper and Franky learn about this man who took in a feral kid, gave him a home, and taught him his trade and immediately go "Father" because it's exactly what Hiriluk and Tom did for them

Sanji didn't name himself Black Leg.

When his bounty was issued and he had to be given a full title, somebody looked at this blond haired, blue eyed, bad tempered pirate, this cook who fights with his feet and won't hit women, and somebody looked at him and went "I recognize this"

He was given a name in clear reference to Red Leg Zeff

The thing about Sanji and Zeff, is that despite how long it took him to admit it to himself, Sanji's always been Zeff's son

[hollowsart]

Legend of zelda (if you like it) doc ock ! (Specifically like the guardians in breath of the wild)

"I've always found those wandering guardians to be quite fascinating, namely their legs. So! I took it upon myself to examine the remnants of the ones you've defeated and crafted something quite useful out some spare parts you've delivered! What do you think? A brand new personal mode of transportation! All the benefits of mobility, but with less stress on the body! Well.. among other nifty little things that they're modified to be capable of!"

-- Otto, Hylian engineer

[pseudophan]

i think people on twitter have a fighting fetish because otherwise what explains this nonsense

it's genuinely unbelievable at this point i swear they're inventing new things to argue about

[sengoku-nadeko]

[corvidcentral]

I think the only reason Six didn’t straight up murder Dean in the Sierra Madre was cuz they were dissociated 95 percent of the time. It’s a miracle neither of them mauled the other

DM Six below the cut :3

They’re down two limbs cuz of Lanius,,,, I have a comic regarding their fight in the works but yeagh.

Also I feel like they’d be having constant migraines and bloody noses in the Sierra Madre,,,,, awful combo of the Cloud and brain damage. Other fun fact I think they made an Awful leg prosthetic via Ghost Person leg and a medical brace or two. When in Rome I suppose

[worstloki]

Loki surveilling the skyline of New York from the top of Stark Tower and clocking that his favorite paired set of buildings are gone. sad

[sigurdjarlson]

I always found that sweet how a lot of the time in TLG Med would jump to reassure Khadgar or even apologize after snapping at him

And yet in some ways the cruelest thing Medivh said to Khadgar in my opinion was correcting him when he called Karazhan “Our Tower.” And reminding him he was there at his whim and he could send him away at any time.

And he never did apologize for that one and honestly I don’t really blame Med for that per se? It is his tower and Khadgar can’t tell him who is allowed there. What I mean is going by JUST the power dynamic they have as mentor-apprentice, Khadgar is absolutely out of line there

In some ways could have come off quite spoiled and entitled but the thing is I don’t think that was the case at all.

He’s become so comfortable in Karazhan he’d started thinking of it as his home. Then Medivh has in one conversation reminded him it very much was not his home and he could send him away at anytime if he so wished it

He’d finally found someone who cared about him, respected him and treated him as a person. He found a place where he felt he belonged for once in his life and…

No wonder he was so jealous of Garona for a while after that. He’d been reminded that all of it could be taken from him at any moment and here was someone stealing his Master’s attention.

Just thinking about how that jealousy so obviously comes with feeling like he’s not enough and insecurity about his place in Med’s life.

Just very interesting how I think it could very well have went over Med’s head as not that big of a deal too? One of those things he’d be like huh oh yeah I said that? Meanwhile Khadgar is spiraling about it

He could of also been absolutely aware of how harsh it was because Medivh does lash out like that on occasion (especially towards the end of the book as Sargeras gets harder and harder to fight) he can be a little shit we know this

(Don’t really blame him for that given being possessed by the demon lord Sargeras is probably just a teensy bit tiring /s)

Also seen valid and honestly very possibly canon interpretations where he’s also trying to push Khadgar away cuz he knows what’s coming and what Khadgar is going to have to do.

The more attached to him he is the more difficult it will be for Khadgar to do what needs to be done.

What better way to push someone away then hit them right where it hurts?

And yet even then I think those words hurt Khadgar deeper than he’ll ever know :(

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

I need you to know how much I'm literally bouncing off the walls because of your writing!!!!! Every time you post a snippet my brain is recalibrated and I only think about it for the next few hours IT'S SOOO GOOD🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

If it's okay to know, is the cult mentioned in the recent fantasy au snippet an actual cult unlike in the modern au, and are they connected to Wally or warlocks in some way?

I hope you're having a good day/night whenever and wherever you are 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

!!!! Yippee!!!! Thank You!

no no this is an actual cult lol - there's a whole plot in my mind of them going after Home and successfully separating them from Wally. they're a big problem! i guess they're not connected except in the fact that they want to have a demon at their command, and demons in this universe are very rare / hard to find. Home seemed like easy pickings! and it kinda was! the cult's plan would have gone off without a hitch, except for two things

one, this particular demon is unusually attached to its host. two, there is a group of ragtag maniacs hellbent on hunting them down and reversing what they've done <3

[passthroughtime]

yagami, WHY do you have to be such a bitch around kuwana. i'm going to strangle you.

(P.S.: he didn't tell kuwana that tesso said not to feel bad about it. obviously.)

[0x28]

i really don't think you should be promoting organisations from other countries on social media unless you have direct ties to them. like people unfamiliar with the context will just end up sharing stuff that's pretty contentious with the local left and they just have no idea. for some stuff e.g. the swp in britain, yes some quick online searching will bring you up to speed, but for some other stuff the issues w various orgs mostly just spread by word of mouth. and while im happy to say that eg a certain org is known for being transphobic, some of the issues we have with orgs can't just be shared on our public social media on a website that doesn't respect privacy like tumblr, bc to explain them means to reveal (& therefore reveal to the state if we're posting on tumblr) our involvement/past involvement with them as political organisers.

[drunkenskunk]

So, I was getting ready for bed, as I am Old™, and I have work tomorrow at Oh God Why The Fuck Am I Awake O'Clock. I looked at myself in the mirror, I realized: this is the look I was going for when I was designing Scarlet, my character in the Lancer game I'm currently in.

Hair tied back in a ponytail with loose frizzy bits along the edges, heavy bags under the eyes, the tired expression of a suicidally depressed alcoholic, faint scar across the nose from when it got broke that one time.

That is exactly the look I was trying to convey. Except my art skills are... y'know... kinda crap.

Also, I don't have red hair.

And Scarlet doesn't have disgusting, unshaven stubble.

And I'm not a mech pilot.

And... well.

Yeah.

[thrilling-oneway]

whenever people want to hate on d4dj why do they jump straight on "It's queerphobic bc..." as if it doesn't have the best queer rep of any rhythm game out there.

1757 words about queer representation in D4DJ and other rhythm/gacha games below cut

Like there are actual valid reasons to not like d4dj. There's definitely an issue with sexualising the high schoolers, I've made posts talking about it before. But at the same time, if you as someone who plays other of the major gacha/rhythm games is going to say that, you should probably address that SIF, bandori (and maybe enstars? it's been a while since I played) have some dodgy cards as well. Admittedly these cards are mainly old whereas D4DJ is still producing these, but you shouldn't act like your preferred game is perfect either.

But especially saying that D4DJ is queerphobic is so weird. To say that just proves you have no idea what actually happens in the game, and you're just taking screenshots out of context.

Firstly hayakoko. Okay so in the flashback where they get together they said "but we're both girls". Yeah, it's a cliche line that screams 'written by a hetero person', but within the context of the story it's not that bad if a little cringe. Neither Hayate or Kokoa had liked a girl before they started dating, this is literally stated on screen: Hayate says that she was a little surprised to realise that she had a crush on Kokoa. They're baby gay at this point in time. I think Kokoa's an interesting one to point out as well, because she's the one who said the line in the first place, and even after she admits that she likes Kokoa as well and they start dating, the True Love Kiss side story shows her being insecure about PDA in school. It reads a lot like she's had a very heteronormative upbringing, which is very common for queer people. It's probably more common in Japan where they still don't have equal rights for queer people (they don't have marriage equality, same-sex couples can't marry, the exception being if one is trans and hasn't legally changed their gender. and after they're married they can't legally change their gender). Not to mention she goes to catholic school, and as far as I know there's some issues there. So I don't see anything wrong with Kokoa not wanting to be out publicly, and being a bit insecure when she and Hayate confess. You gotta remember they are 15 as well (and ~14 when they started dating). Their relationship isn't going to be perfect, and that's normal.

And then Aoi and her gender presentation. Aoi has always been a very masculine presenting character, and is explicitly GNC, so I can understand that some people were disappointed with her wearing long hair and a ballgown in the Aoi & Haruna Relations event. But the anger some people hold towards this. Come on, how badly can you miss the point? Aoi's gender presentation has been a part of her character since her initial card story. She says she actually used to dress more feminine and have long hair in high school, but decided to change her look because she thought she suited the shorter hair. She also mentions that when she presented fem, she would be told she looked like a cross dresser, which obviously offended her. It's not hard to see that Aoi just wants to be seen as Aoi. It's not about how she presents her gender, she's still Aoi no matter how she dresses - Tsubaki mentions this in the A&H Relations. Nothing was retconned or de-canonised when Aoi wore hair extensions and a dress, it wasn't a sudden unnecessary change. The event explores the fact she wants to try different looks outside of her usual 'princely' one, but she's a bit of a people pleaser and is unsure about it because people associate Aoi with "androgynous good looks". There was no pressure from anyone to be feminine, there was actually pressure the other way. She wore a dress and had long hair for one (1) event, and 2 illustrations. Her most recent card has her in trousers with short hair again. Like you don't have to pounce on it being erasure because Aoi wanted to dress more feminine one time. She doesn't hate being GNC now, she's not permanently feminine now - Aoi being GNC is a part of who she is. Aoi being fluid with her gender expression is a part of her queerness and I don't get how you can miss the point so badly to call it erasure.

D4DJ is genuinely one of if not the best mainstream gacha/rhythm game for queer rep. There's so much more than just this: Tsubaki and Aoi are canonically in love with each other and there was even an attempted confession (they got interrupted), KyoShino have implied romantic feelings, same with NagiHiiro and RinMuni (mainly from Muni's side). Haruna was pretty much confirmed as lesbian during the A&H relations, and has had crushes on two separate characters. Saori's sapphic as well (there's one or two implications that she's bisexual). Having Hayate and Kokoa in a relationship opens the doors to more ships becoming canon in the future. The only negative representation I can think of in this game is Noa, so if you really want to go out of your way to say D4DJ is queerphobic, there you go. Noa likes cute thing, cute girls, and flanderisation took hold quickly to the point of her being creepily obsessed with the ri4 girls and a few others, and literally stalking them. Yikes. Her writing is improving though, especially in All Mix where she just occasionally comments on how cute they are without taking it too far, and they actually let her have other personality traits expressed that had pretty much been forgotten.

My point here is that if you're going to say D4DJ is bad rep or homophobic, you're admitting that your game is worse for representation. I'm not saying that the games in the "Big 3" (proseka/bandori/enstars) are bad by any means (idk about enstars actually I didn't play for very long), but D4DJ has definitely taken some big steps in queer representation that those games are seemingly too scared to make. Having a canon sapphic couple is a game like this is a huge deal, I'm not even sure if it's been done before. And before anyone says "but anhane and minoharu went on a double date in Buddy Funny Spend Time", neither of those pairs are stated or even fucking implied to be in a relationship outside of that event. It kinda just happens in one event, and even then it's still a bit vague on whether either of the couples are actually dating in the event. It's definitely heavily implied that anhane/minoharu have mutual romantic feelings, so they are arguably canon in that sense, just not in an established relationship sense. Bandori has done this as well with PareChu, have them go on dates and be clearly romantically interested in each other, only to never actually be a couple (I know tsumutsumu and reochi have called parechu an official couple, but that's word of saint paul rather than word of god, so take this how you will). Hayakoko is HUGE for this genre, and could mean good things in the future of other rhythm games (especially other Bushiroad ones).

--Break here where I went on a tangent about non-D4DJ queercoding--

Outside of schroedingers dating, both bandori and proseka have characters who are implied/canonically queer. I'll make this short because this is getting really long now and I apologise to anyone who's still reading.

For bandori, Arisa has a crush on Kasumi, Kaoru can be considered as canonically lesbian just from how she's presented, YukiLisa has a lot of implications for romantic feelings, as do MocaRan. Himari is also an interesting case, as she could be read as bisexual or comphet lesbian, it's never really made clear (at least as far as I know, I stopped playing bandori a while ago, and am not up-to-date on story, so anyone who's still reading feel free to add to this or correct me). There's probably some stuff missing here as well.

As for proseka, it actually has quite a lot of queercoding. I already touched on anhane and minoharu earlier, but Kohane and Minori are both heavily implied to be lesbian, An as well (although there's like one or two hints that she could be bi. I can cite them if needed). Mizuki is canonically transfeminine (their gender is unconfirmed), and they have been shown to be attracted to women. ShizuAiri and AkiToya have a lot of romantic implications in their relationships, EmuNene has gradually been getting more and more actually (Amidst a Dream). Ena is implied wlw and Rui is implied mlm okay I think I got everything tangent over.

--End of break--

Regardless of my criticisms, all of the games I've mentioned definitely show how much queer rep has grown and become a lot better in the last decade or so. While not focused on the rhythm game, the first generation of Love Live (2010-16) queerbaited* a fair amount. To give one example, there's an 'interview' with Honoka from 2015 where she heavily implies that she's straight, despite having ship tease with other female characters. Compare that to what we have 8 years later, and you can definitely see improvement. However I think it still needs to be addressed that what we have isn't perfect, and it probably will take while to get to a point where we can have more openly queer characters/couples, especially considering Japan as a country (and american/else localisation teams). But I think more people need to recognise how important D4DJ is for queer representation within this genre. It's really not common to have queer romance and gender presentation be directly addressed and frequently shown, and not just for the sake of making money.

I'm bad at ending essays.

* Queerbaiting - intentionally and maliciously leading a queer audience to believe they will receive representation which is then not provided. Whether the rhythm games mentioned do this or not is... debatable? It's done for the money which ticks the intentionally malicious box, queer people aren't for capitalising on. But a good amount of the time it's done to bait straight people who like yuri/yaoi. I do think it's queerbait though like heavily ship teasing a couple and then throwing in a line to imply one of them is straight definitely queerbaiting. april edit: it took me over a month to realise that there were words missing in that last sentence sorry about that. hi anyone who's reading this in the future

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]

love how in the historical romance world, both straight and gay, your career options as a man are duke, earl, crime boss, and pirate. that's it.