#sorry for the entire essay i am

[hartmannyoukaigirl]

I looked up tohou because u post a lot about it and omg u are so correct about the character design.. it's so beautiful and interesting and REAL and so far away from the grossness of current anime. i quickly scrolled past the fanart because i didn't want to pollute my brain with it . The official art is so good. I wish there were anime shows that had female characters like that (unfortunately i dont play games and i dont know how to so playing touhou itself isnt an option). Do u perhaps know about any shows?

GIRL WHAT. HELLO. HI ??? U KIDDING ME I DIDNT SEEM A LUNATIC 24/7 TALKING ABT TOUHOU SJFJFKF

IKR IKRIKRIKR the designs are Soooo fucking good amazing. Reimu & Marisa are of course iconic and there's also characters like mokou who is. my favourite design actually !! and junko ( touhou. Search Junko Touhou ) hecaita clownpiece ... reisen .. eirin kaguya youmu yuyuko yukari ( her second design ) etc etc god there's sm characters that are just absolutely perfect and amazing. ZUN thank u for being the only male artist ever

there are a few shows with good female character design however they're very rare and even then, I never loved them ( both the characters and designs) as much as I loved touhou <3

Touhou is a game series only, there's a few ( fan made !!! ) anime 'adaptations' but they're ..... ... ... .. . . ... .. . . .... . . . . there's memories of phantasm however if you're going to watch it take with like an entire spoonful of salt because it Anime fies alot of things and makes touhou. bad. and shows fanservice of the kid characters ok actually dont watch it

even if you're bad at bullet hells/shmups I reccommend playing it nonetheless, I can give u download links and how to install and everything ! it might be a bit hard at first but it's fun. the character interactions are really funny and the music is. of course. AMAZING. and the spell cards ( bullet patterns ) are beautiful albeit torturous.

alot of touhou is also on YouTube... like geniunely a whole lot of content is just videos, either Animations or PVS or canon or fan made music ( you've 100% heard atleast one touhou song in your life. at the very least. Bad apple and night of nights are touhou and you mustve heard either of them at some point. also alot of songs you might've randomly liked on YouTube are touhou without you knowing, that happened to me a LOT ) idk. it's very fun to watch the various stuff people make, the fandom is seriously exteremely talented and amazing and. god. I ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ touhou PVS so much they're so fun and silly and cute and tbh, if you've loved vocaloid and it's community before then touhou is gonna be Heaven for you. it's like an upgrade with SO MUCH CONTENT to what I loved abt the vocaloid community ( people making shit up and making exteremely beautiful music and art and stories and PVs about it, except with touhou there's the canon characterization which Expands stuff, if I'm making sense ) idk just. yes. yeah

The Content and absorption of touhou is through playing the games and seeing all sorts of beautiful, emotional, dramatic, comedic, silly and all extermely fun stuff people made based off the silly lil charas in the games. I love the community.. it's really not an anime that you watch but rather a community you have fun in honestly

[lovesickeros]

☆ decadence divine [ act I ]

{☆} characters arlecchino, neuvillette, furina {☆} notes yandere, drabble, gender neutral reader {☆} warnings yandere content, stalking (implied), kidnapping (implied) {☆} word count 2.3k

ARLECCHINO

Arlecchino was wont to leave social gatherings to her subordinates– the private meetings were where she thrived. It was so much easier to lure your prey into a trap when you didn't have prying eyes and ears waiting for the barest hint of blackmail.

She clicked her tongue in distaste, her eyes narrowing beneath the mask of the fox as she set down her cup sharply. It was difficult as it was to draw them from the safety of their bubble– at the slightest hint of danger, her quarry would run. A chase would be fun, but she couldn't risk getting caught here. The political nightmare it would cause..it already gave her a headache. She had to be discreet.

They weren't making it easy, however.

Which is why she never liked crowds. But this chance didn't come by every day. She wasn't going to simply let it pass by because of a little danger. She'd have them eventually, it was just a matter of how. There were already numerous of her own lingering in the crowds, hidden beneath the masks that every patron bore. It was difficult to stand out amongst the flurry of masked patrons constantly shifting around the room, moving from one conversation to another, gliding from one dance partner to another.

Her heeled boots clicked sharply against the tile as she stalked through the crowds, keeping a wide berth yet always lingering nearby– she was sure they could feel the vague sense of being watched, but with the huge crowds..her lips quirked into a grin with the barest flash of teeth. There were a great many ways to break them in– she'd spent a great amount of time and mora to get anything she could for blackmail, if she so wished. She had the backing of the Fatui as well if she played her cards right– it wouldn't be difficult to convince them that they were a valuable target, and none of them would dare to question just what she did with them afterwards.

Perhaps a bit of play, first. Test the waters. She was familiar with playing the polite gentleman, despite her status as a Fatui Harbinger. Stage something for her to intervene, perhaps, to look the hero. The look of shock when she revealed the wolf beneath the wool..she could see it already. That wide, doe-eyed look as they realized the monster they've followed blindly like a lost lamb..she was beginning to see the appeal.

All it took was a few hushed words and subtle signals before the tiles started to fall in place, her hand gliding along their lower back as she leaned over their shoulder with a thin, predatory smile. She'd have to organize for the agent to be released later, her eyes following as the Gardes dragged him out of the room in a flurry of curses, but for now..she tilted her head to peer down at them, polite and almost apologetic.

"You aren't too startled, are you? Now now, there's no need to look so..scared, poor thing. I won't let another lay a hand on you," She cooed in a sickly sweet tone, the husky rasp of her voice whispered in their ear like dripping honey. "You have my word. Now, why don't we get you some fresh air? Come. Allow me to escort you."

Her lips pulled into a jagged grin at the relief in their eyes– the blind lamb following the shepherd as it led them into it's maw. Just a little longer, and she could finally have her own caged bird– a pretty thing to admire, to protect, to possess.

Something no one else would ever touch again. Something hers.

NEUVILLETTE

Neuvillette was not one for parties. The intricacies and delicate handling of public relations he oft left in the capable hands of Furina, rather then himself. It was only at her behest he even attended at all, but he still felt rather..out of place amongst the bodies constantly shifting through the ballroom like a constant rush of water from one end to the other, no rhyme nor reason to the flow. The only thing that kept him afloat among the tides was the mask of the deer obscuring his face– even if it was exceedingly difficult to truly hide himself among the crowds, most passed over him without second thought.

Though he had to be honest with himself, even if he couldn't bring himself to admit it to Furina despite her insistence that his attendance was mandatory. He had his own reasons for coming– selfishness that left a sour taste in his mouth. It was purely by chance he'd seen the briefest glimpse of them prior, and he..was intrigued, that was all.

He refused to let his thoughts linger on the sleepless nights he spent prying every piece of information he could from loose tongues and obscure documents, every moment he managed to squeeze in between trials spent lingering in their most favored locations– cafes, stores, restaurants, the like.

Now a masquerade.

He tried not to let the guilt gnaw at his conscious, but it lingered like an age old scar that still ached.

So he relegated himself to simply residing in the further corner, nursing a goblet of water like a fine wine, trying not to let his eyes stray to the brief glimpses of them through the ever moving bodies filling the center of the room, dancing like puppets in music boxes.

Still, his hand twitched in an instinctual desire– a need to clasp his hand in their own, to touch his lips upon their knuckles, to indulge in a moment of reprieve and unshackle himself from the mantle that bears heavy upon his shoulders. He seeks reverence, worship, but not of himself– but towards the one who had drawn the eye of the dragon amongst the waves of humans he'd seen come and go for a great many years.

No one could compare, he is certain. None have left him as breathless, as hopelessly infatuated, as the one who made him wish only to kneel at their feet in senseless reverence until he could no longer speak. A hopeless man, indeed, if he has never even truly met them.

Instead he's spent his time prying into their life from the shadows. Caution, or simple cowardice?

He dares not ponder.

Yet in his ceaseless pondering he'd blocked out the world without, failing to notice the figure stepping up beside him until their hand brushed against his elbow– just the briefest touch, but it had his pupils narrowing and his entire body tensing like a coiled spring. That touch..bliss. It left him breathless and lightheaded as he tilted his head to regard them, his lips parting in a shaky sigh. They are as beautiful as he remembers– even with their face obscured beneath the mask, he would never forget them.

"Greetings, Monsieur– I hope I didn't frighten you too much." Their laugh made him feel rather faint, just the sound of their voice making his hand tighten around his cane. "..Not at all. I was simply lost in thought." He admitted apologetically, trying to reign in the urge to cup their face between his palms. A dangerous thought. He didn't want to scare them off when they'd provided him a priceless opportunity.

"My apologies, you must have needed something. It was rude of me to have been so absorbed in my thoughts to have ignored you." He continued, gently turning to set his goblet down– offer them his full attention, be a gentleman. The words rang in his skull like a ceaseless alarm, blaring and rattling his thoughts as he gently took their hand in his own. It was a split second decision– an indulgence, but he could simply not help himself. Even with his gloves between them, he felt like he was going to lose his composure just from such a brief touch..

He truly was a hopeless man before an altar, praying for a salvation he intends to bury deep beneath the waves– to keep it hidden in the darkness of the depths that only he can reach. A selfish man, he must be, to even think of it, but it is an itch that he cannot scratch. A need that must be satisfied. He cannot allow any hands but his own to tend to them, to know what it feels to touch them, to hear their voice and see their eyes as he prays– prays like a man starved, devotion born of desperation.

"I hope I did not make you wait too long." He smiles, soft and affectionate, like the bloom of spring beneath the winters chill– yet just as deadly, only masked by the sweet fragrance of flowers.

He had waited too long.

No longer.

FURINA

Furina was right at home amongst the crowds– where the masks obscured the identities of most, it was impossible to not recognize the charming banter of the Hydro Archon beneath the mask of the lamb as she graced the masquerade with her presence, speaking with a silver tongue to any who would listen. A truly enthralled audience fitting for the grandest of performers in Fontaine.

But her eyes lingered not on the people who's praise dripped from their lips like honey– yet so very bitter upon her tongue. Even the mask obscuring her expression did little to hide the longing that had her visibly deflating like a popped balloon. She hated all the eyes on her, really– it was suffocating. She was only putting on a show in the foolish hope that they'd finally pay attention to her. Just her luck, she supposes, that instead she's had to throw herself straight into the role of Archon without a pay off..

They hadn't even spared her a glance! It would be infuriating if not for the fact she couldn't even keep her composure just seeing them across the room. They didn't even have to look at her and she could feel the heat rush to her ears as she forced another smile at the crowd gathered around her. It was unfair how easily they could fluster her without even knowing it– her heart was thumping so hard against her ribcage she felt like it might burst.

Her only solace was the fact none of the patrons seemed to realize she'd clocked out of the conversation, her thoughts and eyes lingering on the distant figure– what a lovestruck fool she makes..it was a chance encounter she'd seen them during one of her outings. That was all it took to enthrall her, evidentially, try as she might to have ignore it for months.

They never left her mind for longer then a day, in the end, and she had to face the fact they had managed to enrapture her so deeply she felt like a newborn lamb learning to walk whenever she so much as thought of them. What an embarrassment! She..she was the Archon, she had a reputation to maintain, she couldn't be seen fawning over a human.

But oh, she still longed for it, beneath the veneer of a God. She'd watched them more times then she'd admit even to herself, wishing to find herself in place of those who'd hands were cradled so casually in their own– to hear their voice, their laughter, as often as she pleased..like a fine delicacy she so badly wished to taste, yet so far from her reach.

Would they think her pathetic for her infatuation? She pursed her lips at the thought, trying to bury the sour mood beneath her faux image of the Archon. Yet it lingered, and with only the quietest of excuses, she slipped into the crowd like a ghost– she needed to leave before she did something..stupid. Neuvillette would surely have a few choice words with her if she did, and she was inclined to avoid such a fate.

She..she just needed a moment to collect herself was all. That was it. She could go back to playing Archon for a little longer, she just needed a moment to herself. At the very least, the balcony had been regarded as off limits so late into the party– which gave her an opportunity to slip out of the public view for the briefest of moments. A welcome reprieve– she was starting to feel suffocated amongst the crowds.

Perhaps on instinct, she reached for the mask, lifting ever so slightly away..only to let out a startled yelp at the touch of a hand on her shoulder, the mask slipping back into place far too easily. It made her lightheaded, even now, but she dared not to dwell on it.

But when she turned sharply on her heel to chew out the person who'd followed her and had the gall to scare her..oh, she was done for, her ears flush with heat. The brief glimpse of their eyes beneath the mask, the curl of their lips as they smiled– her heart stuttered in her chest, and she was certain it had stopped all together when they clasped her hand.

"Y–you.." She wanted to be angry, to brush them off and leave with her rationality in tact, but the warmth of their hands on her skin rendered her speechless. She was no better then a fish on land, struggling to fill her lungs with air as she drew in a shaky breath. "Ahem, you caught me off guard. That's all. Surely you do not make it a habit to sneak up on people?" She huffed in indignation, trying to mask the fluster that threatened to break through her carefully crafted facade.

Ah, what a cruel twist of fate..she'd slipped away to escape their allure, but here they were, dragging her back into their orbit without even knowing how deep her infatuation ran. They were alone, too..it was a chance she wasn't sure she'd ever get again.

Maybe, just this once, she could do something for herself rather then everyone else.

She buried her guilt, the fear– buried it beneath the need to be seen.

"But if you want to make it up to me.."

[nyxofdemons]

this was going to be like a mile long essay but i just realized the most concise way to say it is that "it feels like a retcon that blitz has been so resentful and hostile towards fizz all this time since he was supposed to feel guilty" is simply not a good criticism when we have been shown, time and time again, that blitz's number one defense mechanism when he feels guilty or judged or attacked is to lash out, to deflect and ignore all his responsibility, and to shift the blame to someone else. that's like. his defining character flaw

[ur-local-remy-kinnie]

wowzers akane the goober!! (submission for @mari-lair’s dtiys)

[chuuyadelune]

back with more thoughts about the BSD S5 OP, iron cage. setting aside the visual symbolism in the opening, can i just express what a fucking phenomenal song choice that was? it’s darker and grittier than the other openings and fits perfectly with the kind of ~vibes~ this season will have (particularly as we get to the later parts, with the shin soukoku fight and beyond.)

like, even if it is still GRANRODEO singing/performing the song, it’s still got a pretty darn different feel compared to the others which just suits the kind of energy BSD takes on after the introduction of bram and chapter 88?

straight up from the nasally, reedy thin guitar timbre for the opening riff, the song subverts expectations at every turn. the harmony is destabilised at times, the drums are literally everywhere, going from half time to double time back to half before it settles fully into a (new!) groove for the hook. kisho literally screaming. the song feels like upheaval, like chaos, but of a much more sinister kind than what S4’s had to offer?

because S4’s opening is like, still chaotic but there’s still some kind of hope to it. but here… instead? it’s just sheer havoc and it’s honestly perfection. the song feels like the title of chapter 88 if i had to sum it up — as though tumbling down. but that’s kind of what the vibe of everything after chapter 88 is. things are falling apart and nothing is exactly going the right way for the detective agency and it feels a lot more desperate and the stakes feel much higher. which… i suppose they kind of are in terms of the story.

i suppose what i’m trying to say is: the song very much fits the tone change that BSD S5 will take later on as we progress. and it’s literally perfect. the music remains one of the most well-executed parts of the anime. thank you GRANRODEO 🙏

[pigeonwit]

mr pidgeon. you made a post about crace (crutchie and race) as a ship like two months ago. they are my number one realest pairing of all time. the otp of otps. do you have any more thoughts about them? if so please share bc content is so rare and far between ty

love the way this is written like a formal request my guy. 'please sir may i have some more' type energy. love it. ABSOLUETLY yes.

so my big thing with newsies is that - to a certain degree - ALL the characters could potentially work together relationship-wise. it really just depends on how you want to interpret them, and since there are so many different productions of newsies and so much room for interpretation of all these slightly-different versions of the same characters, i have a lot of different interpretations for all of them. i've got a big empty brain and something has to fill it, and i spent so long pondering crutchie and race's dynamic in the,,, foooour years? five? five years of me being a newsies fan, that they're just,,, stuck in there and they're not leaving. so i would be THRILLED to share some thoughts*.

*every single crutchtrack thought i've ever had throughout my (approx) five years of watching and re-watching livesies and seeing uksies twice.

so my interpretation of crutchie and race as characters is like... they're both friends of jack's, but that's kind of where they end with each other. i didn't see their interactions in the musical as brotherly as other people do, i saw it more like 'we're supposed to be friends and this is how friends treat each other but it's just not landing the way it should' - in livesies and uksies, crutchie seems pretty offended (and a little pissed off honestly) that race implies it is only his limp that sells him papers. we know race is joking, but i don't think it ever occurred to race that that's not something he's allowed to joke about with crutchie. and to me, that speaks to them never having hashed out those boundaries together, which i interpret as them not having spent that much time bonding one-on-one despite both being so close to jack.

i also think crutchie being such a realist (especially in uksies, dude is kind of a jerk) made it difficult for them to connect with each other as well - i know a lot of people interpret 'king of new york' as race trying to keep the newsies from losing hope, and i imagine that that's part of it, but he literally got his name from constantly betting on horses at sheepshead, and with crutchie being such a realist ("we got the right to starve, let's just get our papes and go", rolling his eyes at katherine promising them a place in the paper, etc) i imagine that causes some friction between them. race, despite everything, believes there has to be some small chance things can turn around, whereas crutchie (again, ESPECIALLY in uksies) believes that focusing on what's real will keep him from getting stung - and THEN, during the strike, both of them seem to switch; crutchie is the one trying to be optimistic because he's finally let himself believe that they have a real chance, and race is pulling away because he knows the odds are stacked against them. and again - they are NOT getting along over it! race openly derides him in front of all the newsies! i wouldn't call them POLAR opposites, and i do agree they probably got along the way friends do, but all of their interactions gave me the idea that neither of them really seem to Get the other in the intrinsic way all the other newsies seem to. i never interpreted them as actually close, and certainly not brotherly, at least not until the strike, wherein they both start to realize there's more to the other than they thought. i think crutchie has always been underestimated by the people around him, even jack, and i think race always brushed him off as just another naive stray that jack was looking out for and didn't bother getting to know him, the same way crutchie probably brushed race off as an impulsive loudmouth gambler and didn't get to know him, either. i think their friendship became WAY more solidified during the strike for the split-second it lasted; and i think crutchie being taken away so soon after is left this massive hole race had been to oblivious to notice before.

i think race very suddenly realized the weight of crutchie's absence, especially right before king of new york - crutchie is definitely not an OPTIMIST per se, but he does clearly try to be kind to people, even when the situation is dire. but no one's doing that now. they're all wallowing in their loss and no one's there to goof off and make them smile again; hence, 'it ain't been the same without ya' (yes i made an entire backstory for that one fucking line i don't CARE okay i don't CARE you don't know how much that broke me). and i think after the strike, race - however conscious he is of it - is the one who keeps looking towards crutchie, keeps noticing all the little things he does to keep the newsies sane, keeps seeing the way he sets his shoulders when he's stressed and fiddles with his rosary when he's nervous, and doubly notices all the ways in which crutchie tries to hide that from people. i think he realizes that for all the years he spent knowing crutchie, being kinda-maybe-but-only-in-a-group friends with him, he never actually knew him at all. so he makes more of an effort, tries to talk to him more, even tries selling with him at one point, purely because race is the most annoying person alive when he's curious, and crutchie,,, DOES NOT care for it, obviously, because why is race being so nice to him NOW, when crutchie's freshly out of the refuge, than he ever has been before?

i imagine crutchie might chew him out for it, really lays into race for trying to take care of him when crutchie's made it pretty clear he's more than capable of taking care of himself - and i think race gives as good as he gets, really, because race doesn't shy away if someone's picking a fight with him. but i think at some point in the argument, race must say something along the lines of 'making up for lost time' - and that's something crutchie turns over in his head a LOT afterwards. until he realizes that oh, this isn't about his time in the refuge, it's about all the time they spent nodding at each other instead of saying hi or how are you, it's about all the times they awkwardly smiled in passing because neither of them knew what to say, it's about all the times they COULD have known each other and just. didn't. out of sheer convenience.

so crutchie turns up the next day and tells race they're selling together, and that's that. okay, so crutchie's blunt, race didn't know that - or, well, he did ("you're seeing stars all right", "ain't we got no rights?" "we've got the right to starve", etc), but he didn't... know that. not really. crutchie's polite to the delancey's and wiesel when they buy their papers, but when oscar tries to yank his papers as crutchie grabs them to make him lose his balance, crutchie stands completely firm, strong enough to make oscar wobble a little - and takes his papers with a saccharine smile and a 'thank-you'. okay, so crutchie's a decent person, race did know that, but he's no push-over, he's actually kind of tough, and race... did not know that. it was always there, and race never knew it.

so they sell, and every so often they make some attempts at conversation that, as awkward as they are, are still enjoyable. crutchie's funny, actually. not just roll-your-eyes funny, but genuinely, clutching your sides funny. he's kind of dark, too, and race loves it. and as much as race is noticing that, crutchie's noticing how smart and insightful and genuine race can be when he's not trying so hard to be a loudmouth - or maybe he was always that genuine and crutchie had just rolled his eyes and figured he was just being a loudmouth anyways.

they start selling regularly. they keep talking, asking questions - they try to keep it small, but somehow 'what's your favourite selling spot' becomes 'how'd you come to new york' which becomes 'how'd you meet jack' which... tells them a lot. and over some time, they're really starting to understand each other. it's weird - they're both very aware that race shouldn't have to ask what crutchie orders at jacobi's when they've supposedly been friends for years, they're both aware that crutchie shouldn't be surprised that race has so many cousins when he talks about them all the time, so on, so forth. but those cracks are starting to fill, and over time, they fit together. friends. real friends.

and when they're up late and drinking on the fire escape, and race turns to him and asks, "you ever been kissed? just, y'know, just askin'..." they both understand each other perfectly.

[sisterdivinium]

It might appear somewhat essentialist at first if used to examine real, breathing human beings, but Carol Gilligan's "Images of relationship" can provide an interesting framework with which to understand certain facets of Warrior Nun. More so when coupled with David Hayter's comment on how the show's "women are always right and the men are always kind of screwing things up," for her article, dealing in systems of moral understanding, might point us towards the reasons behind this openly admitted narrative "bias".

In a nutshell, Gilligan observes the different strategies by which boys and girls seem to resolve moral dilemmas, deviating from traditional interpretation. This is because, Rosemarie Tong reminds us, "Gilligan challenged the Freudian notion that men have a well-developed sense of justice — a sense of morality — whereas women do not". By looking beyond these hurried and prejudiced conclusions of (male) researchers before her, she "argued instead that men and women have different conceptions of morality, each equally coherent and developed and equally valid". She bases this idea, then, on those resolution strategies that were found to consist of, for boys, a tendency to see the moral dilemma as "sort of like a math problem with humans", while the girls were more inclined to view it as "a narrative of relationships that extends over time" — so if boys seemed "logical" through their impersonal abstraction of a situation, invoking concepts similar to those of law and justice, the girls were more likely to follow a different, "personal" logic, through "an awareness of the connections between people", identifying "a web of relationships that is sustained by a process of communication".

Where this all intersects with Warrior Nun is that the male and female characters seemingly display these same propensities of moral judgment.

If we start with the men, we will quickly see that they are all caught up in their own abstract systems, prone to grand ideas and concepts while detached from the world and the valuable human bonds that make it up, just as Vincent sees the quest for a hypothetical "better world" as more important than the life of a very real, concrete woman he claims to love. Mr. Hayter himself, in the same interview conceded during the OCS Conclave of June 3rd, mentions how father Vincent and cardinal William are irresistibly attracted to the notion of power: "here's this guy who can do godlike things, so why wouldn't I follow him, you know? ... We gotta have some power ... that we bow down to or whatever". This is how he transmits a glimpse into these characters' psyches and we could safely argue that this behaviour and thought pattern extends to the rest of the men in the show, including Duretti, Kristian, Adriel and even Michael Salvius.

Whether these men mask their fascination with power through other words or not, theirs is a cause which easily calls for violence and a willingness to kill or die for it.

Earthly power inspires Francesco Duretti to have the current halo bearer killed if need be as he attempts to consolidate his bid on the Holy See; Kristian Schaefer would sacrifice the world as readily as he does his old acquaintance Duretti in the name of this power that lay entombed for a thousand years but communicated through the voice of a sick little boy; cardinal William Foster is inebriated with the idea of being a new god's right-hand man, so he brutally slaughters his colleagues to buy himself a place at Adriel's table, even if that means getting no more than his master's crumbs; father Vincent is so eager to find someone or something powerful enough to take the burden of "his darkness" from atop his shoulders that he convinces himself of there being divinity in the parlour tricks of a manipulator, killing a symbolic daughter in this trickster's name; Adriel would bleed humanity dry without a second thought all the while claiming to save it in draining its belief for the benefit of his own megalomania; finally, Michael subjects himself to the will and authority of Reya, whom he claims to be "unimaginably powerful".

Of course the women of Warrior Nun are mostly all ready to lay down their lives for their own cause as well, or else we wouldn't have their iconic motto of "in this life or the next", but the motivation behind it is what sets the men and the women wholly apart here. If the former are intoxicated by the concept of power, the latter are embedded in a family of sorts, in a dense network of relationships that they can identify with some ease, and which informs their decisions and actions more than just dogma or theory.

Most if not all of the female characters struggle between two different stances: one is an offshoot of the males' abstract organisation of the world, while the other is a more "hands-on", "organic" order; between "duty", or what is said to be their duty, and that which their own perception reveals, their "personal" logic by which the "self [is] delineated through connection", seeing one another as actual sisters instead of mere pieces upon the church's chess board. We see the dilemma take place within Beatrice, Camila, Lilith and Mother Superion, who are all faced with a choice of sticking to their place in a well-defined (artificial, abstract) structure or valuing instead the human connections all around them and that stand in opposition to this man-made categorisation of life.

And, one by one, they take the side of that one character who seems to have kept her lucidity and fidelity to her own understanding through it all: Mary.

Mary never lost sight of her priorities. Her focus on friends and sisters illustrates Gilligan's point rather well when she is the only one who insists on understanding what happened to Shannon all the while the OCS is made to concentrate its energies on the halo instead. Of course it blinds her to Vincent's betrayal, but that is his fault more than it is hers; her moral compass points at the right direction for the most part.

And, each at their turn, the nuns adopt (rediscover?) this same mode of thought. Beatrice's efficient, obedient soldier façade crumbles beneath the urgency of siding with Mary rather than following the arbitrary decision of some man invested with the power of an institution; Camila outright admits wanting to be kicked out of the church just so she can stay near to the people who represent her allegiance more than liturgy itself ever could; Lilith literally travels to hell and back to rejoin her sisters, regardless of how her subsequent mutations upset her loyalty later on; Mother Superion sheds her prominence within hierarchy, risking it all, by standing with "her girls". Even Ava, an outsider with no ties to the church but who so desperately wanted to "live", trades a vague, abstract notion of what "life" and "freedom" entail for the very definite, tangible reality of the family this group of women becomes for her.

Another outsider equally stuck between "bodiless" logic and the reality of human connection around her, Jillian Salvius, too, falters before choosing her side when faced with these two points of view: that of "pure" reasoning and that informed by the consciousness of surrounding relationships. Her quest for "knowledge" is not sufficiently strong so as to potentially sacrifice someone in her inner circle. Season one has her holding young Michael back from stepping into the machine she herself had created for this purpose when concern overrides calculation; season two gives us a powerful scene where she is tempted by Kristian into joining Adriel's ranks as he claims she is already a part of it all and dangles before her the forbidden fruit of the world's hidden laws, the elusive answers the scientist in her has always searched for. He tries to hook her in by simultaneously appealing to her intellectual interests as well as her understanding of the web of relationships when he claims she is another link in the chain that leads to Adriel...

And Jillian refuses him.

Kristian would never convince her of already being within this specific network of relationships because he was the one to rupture it first.

To these women, unlike the men, it's not about ideas — or, rather, about rationalisations, given how their interpretation of what is logical or reasonable is more than open to inquiry. To these women, it's not about loud, large but empty words vulnerable to tampering and shifting meanings; it's not about power.

It's about people.

Rosemarie Tong says "Gilligan believed that women's moral development takes her from an egocentric, or selfish position to an overly altruistic, or self-sacrificing position and, finally, to a self-with-others position in which her interests count as much as anyone else's" — and this seems to describe perfectly well the inner trajectory that these characters follow. We see traces of the selfish in Ava, Jillian and Lilith, as well as of the self-sacrificial in Beatrice or Suzanne, but they all appear to converge on this path towards constructing a "self-with-others" whereby they are all individuals inextricably tied to one another — and aware of it, acting accordingly. A sisterhood, a direct sisterhood that supersedes the very church structure which facilitated it to begin with.

Of course Warrior Nun is too intricately built to allow itself to be so smoothly explained; if Carol Gilligan provides a framework that helps us to identify what is so positive and deserving of attention in the female characters' attitudes as championed by one of the show's own writers, it also falls short on other points and her propositions can then be questioned by the show in turn.

We need but a few examples.

If Jillian Salvius values the significance of association with others more than she does a cold, distant overview of things (the latter being the stereotypical scientist attitude), then how is it that she seems so prepared to immolate Lilith at the altar of curiosity? One relationship takes precedence over the other, yes, and we cannot compare the love for a son to whatever affection or respect there is for anyone else, but the nature of Jillian's experimentation with Lilith, had it gone forward, is quite brutal even for the sake of a debilitated child. Jillian's stance is understandable, but this "self-with-others" thing isn't as clear-cut as we might think.

Lilith herself oscillates between those three positions of moral development described by Gilligan, going from selfish to "connected" by the end of season one, but ending season two in almost complete isolation, with only a hint towards her previous place in a web of sisters as she aids Beatrice in getting Ava to the ark... Shortly after having dug her claws into the warrior nun's flesh.

But perhaps Lilith is a more special case than we realise at first. Our early childhood experiences define much of our character, after all, and the words we use have a bearing on how we view and reconstruct the world in our discourse; Lilith's understanding of the relationships between people, of "family", probably doesn't reflect that of her sisters given the ill-treatment she must have received from her relatives. If one's primary web of relationships is so tainted, what model can it ultimately provide for later connections? Just as Ava's mistrust for nuns is justified by her previous, negative experiences at their hands, Lilith's experience with intimate or familial bonds surely affects her maturing sense of being linked to other people. If family is a positive value for Ava and Mary, for example, it cannot boast of the same meaning for Lilith, whose family is a source of stress and misunderstanding rather than a harbour of love.

The treatment she has received might have corrupted her grounds for moral judgment by communal lenses in a way Beatrice's rejection by her own parents did not, leaving Lilith adrift as long as she does not somehow attempt to re-signify what human connection ultimately means. To Lilith, as of yet, the web of relationships she necessarily belongs to mirrors the initial disposition she was brought up in, as a hierarchical structure where every link is tainted by the stench of power and domination — the OCS is a family much like her own... Where orders are given and meant to be obeyed.

We cannot know for certain what it is that she sees or feels after Adriel "unlocks" her wraith-vision, but there is something peculiar in how, reflecting this idea of abstract versus material views of the world we've been discussing, Lilith claims to see reality when she casts her eyes upon the nebulous demonic figures only few others can see. In her opposing traits are mixed, delivering a strange synthesis we cannot quite make out yet and making Lilith a hybrid both in body and in thought.

And while this fact alone seems to interrogate David Hayter's comment about how the women in the show tend to be correct, we can further complicate the statement by glancing at Reya.

There is frightfully little we know of her, but a lot of the information we do have is conflicting: Reya is unimaginably powerful, yet needs to manipulate two young people to do her bidding for her in fighting Adriel; her predictions are "meant to be" yet do not manifest in the way they were said to; she is described as some sort of benefactor by taking Michael in, but she sticks a bomb into his chest and the very sight of her sends him reeling; she is, as far as we know, a woman, yet she might very well be at odds with the other women we see in the show. How, then, are the women always right?

Perhaps they are so when following their conscience as guided by their understanding of community and sisterhood, when belonging to a network of relationships and acknowledging it. That would exclude a murderous sister Frances, a confused Lilith and a mysterious, distant Reya from the definition.

In this sense, then, even if the characters are not static or simple, even if they waver between the moral positions suggested by Gilligan and which do not seem all that definite to begin with, her text is still enlightening as relates to why the women are, "word of God", the moral touchstone of Warrior Nun.

Having been robbed of further development of the story and universe for the time being, however, precisely because of an abstracting, impersonal corporate logic that sees only numbers where there should be people and the wonderful effect this show has had on them, there is only so much we can conjecture on this subject...

[transmascwillbyers]

Okay, hot(ish) take time: While I love Anti-Hero and think it describes Mike almost perfectly, another byler song from Midnights that deserves infinitely more love is High Infidelity. It describe the whole Mike/Will/El triangle in S4 from Mike's POV so well it's almost eerie, and the best part is, it can pretty much be interpreted as either a milkvan breakup song or byler angst, depending on how you look at it. It's just such a beautiful song and you need to stop sleeping on it okay?

[notbeyondbirthday]

1, 2, and 21 for Beyond!

Hiii Isa!!! Thank you for the ask! 🥰

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

He has everything. Obsession. Vengeance. Trauma. He's doomed by the narrative. He's a freak. He's a fake. He's a funhouse mirror for the most beloved blorbo in this fandom. His very existence raises so many questions about L, the successors, Watari and Wammy's House and I'd go as far as to say his existence gives them all dimension. The destructive nature of Mello's rivalry with Near is the first implication we get that the existence of Wammy's House as an institution and by extension, Watari and L, may not be an unequivocally good thing after all. There are risks and consequences. Beyond Birthday takes that implication and makes it an observable fact and from there the possibilities are endless.

Death Note does not address Watari's motivations or ethics nor the ethics or efficacy of someone like L having the incredible unilateral power and influence that he does, which is a shame because it's such an interesting angle to approach the story from.

I have seen people say they don't like the addition of Wammy's House or dislike what the LABB adds to the story if you don't just handwave it as a spinoff. I get that. Wammy's House is about as unrealistic a concept as the existence of L himself so it can feel superfluous. For me, the LABB makes the mythos surrounding L more believable. Are we meant to believe all was well in the creation of this superhero figure? I can't, so the LABB makes sense in that regard...it represents the collateral damage of such an unrealistic endeavor. It's too much power and too large of a burden to rest on any single person. However, if you're invested in a particular characterization of L, Watari, the successors and their relationships or upbringing before reading the LABB (especially if those characterizations are on the wholesome side), the LABB might fly in the face of all that. (Though, if they went through with making Mello and Near L's KIDS instead I would've fucking hated that. He would NOT DO THAT.) Anyway, it is ultimately a spinoff so people are welcome to dismiss it on those grounds. If I'm being completely honest though, the LABB is what gives the successor side of the story the depth and stakes that make it truly compelling for me. I LOVE the successors in the main material but we just don't get enough of them! The LABB gives them more context even if I refuse to accept Mello's goofy ass narrative voice in the novel (I just don't think he talks like that, but. Hey. Maybe he does. Mello understanders weigh in!) Anyway sorry this got so long and off topic, my point is that I love everything about him but what I love most of all is that he's an entire story in and of himself. If he exists every character he's even tangentially related to gets another dimension, a fucked up dimension and I'm into that shit.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Beyond Birthday represents extremes to me. Obsession, imitation, competition - he takes everything farther than anyone else, too far, in pursuit of his goals. He wipes down his crime scenes to the lightbulb sockets. When he decides to challenge L, he's not even interested in living to see the fruits of his labor. His selfhood, his body, his life are reduced to tools he uses to undermine L, and he views Naomi Misora the same way. You can see this in how he speaks about her as Beyond Birthday, rather than Rue Ryuzaki:

I don't think this is just him underestimating Naomi, I think this is him being so obsessed with L and their 'game' that he reduces everyone and everything to their role in that construct. His victims and himself included. Besides that, we see an incredible amount of self-awareness here. He understands the impression he makes as Rue (a freak), he actively curates his mannerisms (down to his laugh) and flat out tells us how detached he is from his own ego when he says: "There are things I must do before B can surpass L." With this context it's not hard to understand how he successfully convinced the families of his victims to hire him to solve their murders. Rue Ryuzaki is just another piece in this game and arguably, so is B...and they can and will be changed and discarded as the game requires. We see the man rifle through an underwear drawer, crawl around the floor, and listen in on someone in the bathroom...there is no shame, no limit, nothing that deters him from his goal, even his own self-destruction. B truly is an extreme freak, even pretending to be an extreme freak to that extent makes him an extreme freak in and of itself, and that's my favorite canon thing about him.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Oh man, I LOVE writing dialogue for B...my characterization of him is dramatic and provocative and often verbose. He is here to get a reaction out of you, full stop. I think that's why I enjoy roleplaying with him, there is so much joy in forcing other writers to put up with him always trying to fuck with everyone. I love coming up with elaborate schemes for him to try and pull off for the same reason - the feeling of coming up with something so harebrained that even I wish Beyond would use his cleverness for something productive is so satisfying. Additionally, getting into his head and trying to untangle and express his...fucked up, often self-contradictory reasoning, thoughts and feelings without him ever willingly opening up about any of that is a fun challenge. As far as what I don't like...well, it's mostly self-inflicted but as fun as writing B is, I also feel a lot of pressure to get it right. B will want to take charge of any given situation or dynamic; he is fearless, capricious and extreme. There is not much if anything I would past him... so I often wonder if I'm going far enough. I never want my own limitations to get in his way and I think so much and so deeply about this fucker it sometimes feels like I'll never actually be able to properly express those ideas. For example, despite all of my ranting and pondering about B's inner world, in my one published fic, On Killing, Curiosity & Cats, it's mostly L's feelings and internal monologue I am explicit about (even though I am not at all an L expert). It felt easier, or perhaps safer, to show and imply things about B rather than state them outright. Writing him feels like a delicate balancing act, especially if I'm going to publish it! Sometimes Beyond Bitchboy just feels bigger than me.

character ask game

[snixx]

I love following a person and seeing they have a dni and it’s all no terfs no racists you know the standard stuff and then out of nowhere I’ll get jumpscared by CATRADORA SHIPPERS

like okay loser calm down I’ll leave I see you’re allergic to awesomeness

[lilysundragon]

I'm so torn on the new Alkaloid MV/song for so many reasons but primarily I think my issue stems from the idea that it's trying to do two things at once and not really succeeding with either.

It needs to be Tatsumi's climax song. In this department, I think the song's sound is perfect this is exactly what I imagine a Tatsumi center would sound like. I've always thought that Tatsumi was a bit underrated as a singer and this song proves why his voice is great. It's also just flat out a fun song.

In additon to being Tatsumi's climax song, however Undying Holy Love also has to be a Halloween song and here's where it fumbles a bit. I think it's fine that it doesn't sound exactly like a Halloween song, my problem is that the MV doesn't suit Tatsumi.

Crazy Anthem, Parallel Maze, Bye Bye Buddy, and Love Me Monster all fit their units to a tee, concluding their arcs by putting an emphasis on the visuals within their MV. Crazy Anthem contains tons of references to past Crazy:B songs, Parallel Maze is a look into the progress Ra*bits has made, Bye Bye Buddy is a big final hurrah for Double Face, and Love Me Monster is reclaiming "monster" for the twins, a part of themselves that they've been struggling with throughout !!. I'm not going to comment on Fine's Climax because I am admittedly not very familiar with them.

Because Undying Holy Love has to be a Halloween song, I don't feel like it has any big significance to Tatsumi - at least, not in the visuals. Translations for the song aren't up yet so maybe I'm dead wrong, but just watching the MV I don't get the vibe of Tatsumi Climax. None of the MV seems to hold any significance to him, it's just a normal Halloween MV. If this had released last year alongside Helter Spider or Ghostic Treat House I wouldn't bat an eye. In fact, I'd be really delighted by it. In light of the other Climax songs, however, I feel like it's very lackluster.

I won't get into detail about my grievances with the Climax events but as a quick aside... Some of them feel like huge, impactful events (Crazy:B, Ra*bits, and Double Face were the best at feeling distinct from a normal event) but as we've continued, they've felt less special. To me, this feels like a disservice to Tatsumi who has such an interesting story and has grown so much over the last three years. By splitting the event into both our Halloween event and Tatsumi's Climax event, it feels like the team has split their focus too much and has in the end come up with something that is neither Alkaloid Halloween or Tatsumi Climax.

I could eat my words when the story gets released, but to me it feels like HappyEle should've picked one or the other, either commit to Alkaloid Halloween or to concluding Tatsumi's story and giving us an MV that is in line with the others. That's just my two cents on it, tho.

Song's still an absolute banger.

[thespineoftherighteous]

Okay but please consider: Aaron and Allison bonding, but subtly because they’re allergic to outward displays of feelings

no because you're soo right (i think i even have a post of them drafted or something). i think Aaron would find Allison distasteful at first because 1. he wants to see her like that and 2. he only sees the louder, more draining sides to her. and i think Allison would write him off very quickly because you can't initially get much of a read on Aaron because he only bothers to let the foxes see the asshole side to him and she doesn't have energy to spend on someone like that (or particularly care to).

and i think neither of them are going to be in any rush to get to know each other because they simply Could Not Care Less. but after tkm Aaron slowly (so slowly) starts to come around to the Foxes and things start shifting. and she's definitely the last upperclassman that he becomes friends with (because Dan makes an active effort to get there and Matt's on relatively good terms with all the monsters and being considered friends with Renee doesn't require much effort) but once Aaron and Allison do get there it's probably more quieter and probably always more sharp, but it's good and they're good people to have in each other's corners.

honestly i imagine that Allison's relationship with Aaron is almost just like hers with Neil, just always more bite-y.

(also i think that it's when Aaron moves in with Matt that Aaron gets closer with the upperclassmen and thinking about that is always sooo scrumptious. because Aaron is the monster who keeps himself the furthest away from everyone and now he's just tossed right in the middle of the people he was trying to keep farthest away it's SO good)

[t-w-i-i-g]

the pain gap by rayne fisher-quann

x

[iiboronii]

I was SO unwell about I've Got A Dark Alley last night that my friend had to check up on me. Like it was just playing on repeat for hours and I almost cried. Anyways I feel like tonight will probably destroy all the fobbies super bad. And I'll miss all of you so much. I'll miss the live updates so much as we all watch streams together. Let's all be friends forever? I'm making friendship bracelets as we speak for each and every one of you. This might sound a little silly but I've loved this band for years and I forget sometimes what it's like to be part of a community that also loves them. But I feel like fobblr welcomed me with its arms wide open. It's been so real. Watching these streams with everyone and constantly refreshing my dash has been SUCH a wild experience but I've loved every second of it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you all so much and I never want this tour to end, but tonight is the night. I'm not ready for it. I don't think any of us are.

[jiseck]

hi y’all! you can call me mk. (she/they & cst). i haven’t tumblr rp’ed since probably 2017, so please do forgive me as i feel things out around the dash, my blog, and with kit. shoot me a dm if you'd like to plot as kit is totally open (i also have discord if you'd like that, just ask for my info!) and with all of that out of the way... meet my tender-hearted, hard-headed little guy.

stats && plots && pinterest

welcome to infinite entertainment! it's YOON JISEOK ( KIT ), who is a BACKUP DANCER. i’ve heard whispers that the 22 year old is pretty DETERMINED but lowkey HIGH-STRUNG. also, doesn’t he remind you of SUNG HANBIN?

kit is an older muse of mine but as it's been years i'm just going to be feeling him out through character development as time goes on. sorry for the one million words... feel free to skip to the TLDR / tidbits section. the important stuff is there!

EARLY LIFE -- TEEN YEARS ;

jiseok was an only child for the first handful of years of his life. in those first few years, his parents bounced around jobs, and they lived in a run down, one-room apartment while they attempted desperately to get settled. his mom’s life long dream was to be a novel writer, but ended up teaching high school literature. his dad was, and always had been, a teacher himself. 

when jiseok’s mom got pregnant with him, she went on maternity leave and struggled with postpartum depression that made it difficult to go back to work. his dad tried to make it work with just a single income, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. she bounced around from job to job, often cleaning up homes and business and taking on other odd jobs as she couldn’t handle the stress of teaching again. 

as jiseok grew from being a toddler to being a school-aged child, they finally settled down in seoul after what felt like a miracle situation — his mom got on the proper medication and was able to work a stable teaching job again. unexpectedly, his mom announced that he would be having two siblings come the spring, twins, she had told him excitedly. 

with jiseok entering grade school, and the twins being watched by his aunt during the day, she could afford to work longer days. when both parents began teaching again, they enrolled jiseok in a taekwondo class after school. he was good at it. he enjoyed the outlet from the noisiness that was a household that has two new twin babies living in it. he liked being at a place with faces he didn’t recognize from school. he was quite clumsy and rowdy in daily life growing up, spending many saturday evenings in the emergency room racking up bills for stitches and a cast on his arm after a nasty fall off of a slide. so he liked when he’d go to taekwondo and felt like he had control over his body and the way it moved, and what he could do with it. 

he was elegant, and quick in his movements, earning himself the nickname " kitty " from one of the instructional assistants at his taekwondo club.

now, he liked taekwondo just fine, but he found another love late into his elementary years. as his mom and dad would often work late nights at the school, his aunt jihyun would often pick him up after his post-school taekwondo lesson. she owned a dance studio just down the street and jiseok, kit, would go there to do homework so he didn’t have to spend all night alone. 

the nights he didn’t have much academia work, he would just watch the dancers. eventually, jihyun noticed the careful way he would watch them, and invited him to participate. one half of a dance class was all it took for kit to know that this is where is belonged. 

COLLEGE -- CURRENT ;

jiseok stayed in public school as he entered his high school years, which was frustrating as all of his dance team members began to join fine arts schools. it wasn’t in the cards for him, and he was okay with that. with him entering high school and the twins entering junior high, he knew there was no way his parents could afford private or specialized schools for one of them, let alone three of them. 

he focused on his studies intensely, knowing he had to score well on exit exams and classes if he wanted to be able to pursue a higher education, already stuck with a disadvantage just for attending public high school. he was dedicated and a perfectionist in all aspects of his life. his grades remained impeccable and he attended his dance classes every day after school. he lost sleep most nights in order to get both dance and school complete in a day. 

dancing competitively came shortly after high school began, finally old enough to travel on weekends with his team and compete. the fees were expensive and jiseok was able to fund them with scholarships and odd jobs he picked up here and there. the amount of work that went into it and the nights of sleep he lost didn’t matter to him. he loved dancing. he loved performing. 

it was on those long weekends away from home, tucked away in his own little world that he was a little different from other teammates (or so he thought, but much later in life would learn there were plenty of other people just like him). he had crushes growing up, but the first time he remembers feeling like he was in love –– as in love as he could be at sixteen –– was with a boy he met at a dance competition, who he blossomed a quiet, mostly secret relationship with.

he got outed for having a boyfriend relatively quickly after they began dating, and much to his luck, his parents, the twins, and all of his closest friends were more than supporitve. it didn't take away the sting when he'd get looks from other dancers at competitions, or teachers at school, or the elder's he'd pass on the streets, bravely walking hand in hand with his boyfriend.

now, as he’s studying dance in college and continuing to dance professionally, he still battles whether or not he will ever step foot into the idol-side of things. he likes his anonymity, mostly, and being able to return to normal life after doing backup-dance work for an awards show, or a concert, or an event. 

he’s pretty heavily involved in the queer space at his university and in the performance sphere, and knows that being an idol would mean giving that up, and he’s not sure he’s ready to do that now, or ever. 

LITTLE TIDBITS & TLDR ;

kit started dancing around age 11, the years before that spend in the taekwondo studio where he learned of his own grace and control despite being mostly clumsy and graceless in daily life.

he has two younger twin siblings that he loves like, seriously more than life. hyunsoo & seohyun are 5 years younger than him and have eagerly followed his footsteps in dancing. he's very protective of them.

his primary love is dancing, but has found a real passion for choreographing and teaching. in a dream world, one where he isn't a back-up dancer for idols, he would be a choreographer for some of the biggest names in the industry.

his favorite kind of dancing is contemporary, though it's easily his least practiced –– he just enjoys the vulnerability contemporary choreographies encapsulate.

he's quite the party guy, but mostly casually. it's fun for him on the weekends, especially to be involved in itaewon/the gay scene. he's very proud of himself and outspoken about his sexuality.

capricorn sun, virgo moon, pisces rising. so sorry. god bless. he is equal parts controlling (re: himself, his situations, etc., not so much other people though like with anyone it definitely translates. especially when he's stressed.) and sensitive. sweet little cry baby. for any and all reasons.

he has 4 tattoos! and a handful of piercings. he got his nipples pierced as a dare (but it wasn't very hard to convince him because he had kind of always wanted them done anyway).

he prides himself on having never turned down a dare.

his first year of college, he challenged himself to go on twenty-five first dates, and if nothing else make friends out of it. he got close –– twenty one. one of those dates is one of his best friends now.

bisexual and very open about it

Chronically Tired (he is busy all of the time. perfectionist to his core)

softy softy softy. very affectionate.

like, insanely trustworthy. probably Knows Some Shit

he does smoke cigarettes, pretty regularly. he's super high strung, and this is about the one area of his life where he allows himself this thing that is so clearly bad for him. nictone addiction started pretty young. dance kids.

once he sets his mind on something, he is in it to win it!!! competitive, passionate, determined, whatever you want to call it. all the way down to mario kart.

CONNECTIONS / PLOTS ;

best friend / his person –– i imagine kit would have like a long term best friend, at least since high school. they didn't have to go to school together, since kit went to public school, but maybe they were in the same dance team outside of school? maybe they worked together at an odd job? maybe they were neighbors?

roommate –– although he probably could afford to live on his own with the money gathered from gigs & his job at the studio, it would be much more comfortable to have a roommate !! // song jooha.

"first date number seventeen" –– on his challenge of going on twenty five first dates, he met someone who, in unlikely circumstances, became a close friend. this could have also been a friends with benefits situation, or maybe a slow-burn, or maybe just a friend in unlikely places situation. whatever!!

party / smoking buddies –– again, could be a friends with benefits situation, could be a wingman situation, could just be a we like to drink and bask in each other's presences... maybe they both like to go to the gay bars together. if they're an idol and jiseok somehow knows them, he's confidant number one and will keep your secrets.

dance parter –– dance is where he is the most vulnerable, true form of himself. maybe they dance together at college now, or maybe they've danced together for years, or maybe they do industry work together often.

ex best friend / ex lovers / enemies / enemies to friends / friends to enemies / etc etc etc . . .

very vague plots also listed here... but i am totally open minded, so we can just talk things through or let them happen organically. i love to headcanon though so don't be afraid to shoot me a dm. :)

[khaleesiofalicante]

Definitely thought of you when I saw this 💀💀💀

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM2DtUoex/

I HAVE THOUGHTS OMG.

Like...The music first of all is just *chef's kiss*

BUT THE FAMILIARITY BETWEEN THEM AHHHHH OMG THE MERE SWAG AND SUAVE AND SEXINESS

THAT HANDSHAKE??? AND THE WAY LEWIS WAS LIKE 'DAMN NICE FIT BRO' AND JADEN IS LIKE 'YOU TOO BRO' (or whatever the fuck they are saying to each other djfbsj)

ps - Willow is literally Rafael if he meets (And remembers...) Other Max lmao that handshake and the respect has me screaming.

ALSO this is literally what it would look like IF Max and Other Max can be bros instead of being dicks to each other 😭😭😭😭

David and I have this video saved on our phones now byeeeeeee