#thanks for reading my science rambles lol

[allamalad]

OK I KNOW THIS IS RANDOM LEGITIMATELY HILARIOUS TO ME AND I THINK SFW VORE PEEPS ON THIS APP WILL FIND IT FUNNY HHAJSMDBSH

OOKOKOKOKOKSO LIKE, ok so I learned this in my ap bio class (I love the class so much its fun)

basically in a nut shell it's that when there were two types of cell, eukaryotic and prokaryotic (animal and plant type cells) (bacteria type cells). yk they'd just do cell stuff.

But one day one Eukaryotic cell ate a prokaryotic cell through endocytosis (basically taking it into the other cell body whole), but for some reason that cell wouldn't get digested inside the other cell.

These two cells then proceeded to create an endosymbiotic relationship, the inner cell providing energy to the outer cell while the outer cell basically provided protection. This theory exists because the mitochondria not only produces atp, the substance that provides energy to the cell, but also because it has its own DNA instead of having the same DNA the rest of the cell has. Oh also the mitochondria has a double membrane.

All of this science supports the theory of endosymbiosis, aka the theory where a cell vored another cell and caused a critical step in evolution lol.

[higherhell]

Popping on to say sorry for the extended absence once again and that I'm not sure when I'll be back in full capacity. To paraphrase that one old newspaper clipping about life being one damned thing after another being an understatement, The Damned Things Are Overlapping, quite a lot right now. Miss you all and I hope to catch up at some point but I don't know when exactly. One would hope soon, but everything feels like shaky ground right now, so no promises. Love you though 💜

[jpdrawsalot]

*looks at u w big giant hamster eyes* what do u think janus was doing during pdh/if they were with zane's gang

MY TIME HAS COME YEAAAAAA- Now I can ramble about my Janus hcs

Prefacing this with my transmasc nb janus agenda. They arent as built or masc-looking as I usually draw them during PDH-era.

They also got braces and a binder.

To start off, I imagine Janus transferred to PhoenixDrop High around the time Zane was starting his gang.

Early on, Janus got labled as someone you don't want to mess with or affiliate with. Although half of the stuff was rumors.

Often times you'd find him in the student services office (or the equivalent) when he's supposed to be in class.

Nevertheless Janus isn't a horrible student or person. They have difficulty reading but they have a great memory for visual and verbal lessons. And even if they are supposed to be sitting in the office as a punishment, they at least try to help out faculty with copy runs or organization. They like to be productive with their time.

I think it would be silly if Janus and Zane met during a science class like Chem or Bio bc they're lab partners. They get aquainted bc Zane actually explains stuff in a way Janus can understand and remember.

Even if the reason is mostly bc Zane doesn't want to risk getting snapped in half like a pretzel log by a guy who allegedly fistfought their PE teacher...and won.

However they actually start becoming real friends shortly after. Janus invites Zane to his hockey matches, Zane invites Janus over for videogames, etc. Teenager stuff.

I think the main reason Janus went along with Zane's gang idea is bc he thinks people underestimate Zane's potential as an individual (like what the Shadow Knights did, just kept brushing him off as a cringe nerdy kid n stuff) and it sucks when your friend isn't taken seriously as others as you do them.

And so, Janus is happy to be the bite to back up Zane's bark. If it means Zane gets taken as seriously as they themself are, Janus doesn't mind getting in an extra fight or two.

Not to mention, the friendship isn't entirely one-sided. Janus has his deal of emotional turmoil and bad days too. Teachers or alpha-wannabes talking down to them, antagonizing, or being overall disrespectful and the occasional bout of just general bad vibes. Zane's there for him or at least tries to be when he can't in his own Zane way.

Probably skipping a class to just sit under the bleachers, let Janus rant and cry without judgement. Maybe lets them nap and wakes them up when next period is about to start.

Do I hc them as having a relationship at one point in time? Yes. Do i have an idea of when that is? Not really lol

Anyways, Janus my beloved, thank you for the ask iggy!

[a-substantial-trash-pile]

i kinda love how your benrey has gotten progressively more soft and chubby over the years, idk if you intended it but it gives the impression that they’ve been getting the love/care in the real world that they didn’t get in black mesa and it’s really cute idk where i was going with this other than fuck yea fat scruffy benrey

god you understand me thank you so much for this ask now i have an excuse to ramble about this AUGH 😭 because yes!!! that’s exactly it. looks like it's time for another "trash rambles so long she has to put a 'read more' cut again"

it’s cuz my first renditions of benrey were on the skinnier side, which i grew to dislike (for my design personally—this doesn’t apply to other people's benny body types!). and at first i’d hate on my earlier benry renditions to myself, but then i realized, “hey, that’s kind of being mean to myself and i’m trying not to do that as much, so maybe i can find a way to incorporate this into what my benny is now without insulting/bashing myself?” so i made it a headcanon that at first, during hlvrai, benrey is thin and paler because he hasn’t really eaten or been out of black mesa much at all (being stuck in a game/time loop sucks like that). they technically don’t need to eat so it’s not really something that’s on their mind. BUT once all the chaos is over and benry finds themself in a healthier environment with people that care about them, they start thinking about these things. it helps that post-hlvrai/hlvrai2, gordon gets into cooking lol. making food becomes part of his love language. also bubby is hella good at baking (gordon is not). also benrey gets to go out a lot to hang out with members of the science team. like walk sunkist in the park, or attend a backyard bbq at the coomer's, or go on a road trip, you get what i mean. :)

one issue i’ve run into with this tho is that i don’t really want to draw benny the way i headcanon him during hlvrai and hlvrai2 (which i made take place immediately after hlvrai), which bring inconsistencies when i do make anything in that time period. like these for example:

technically benry should be thinner/paler here since this is during hlvrai2 electric boogaloo, but i just can’t really draw them like that anymore. although i’ve tried doing some variations where benrey is in different stages of post hlvrai/hlvrai2 like here:

but i enjoy drawing softer rounder benrey more. so that’s part of why this headcanon isn’t really something i talk about because it’s kind of confusing. UNTIL NOW. so thank you again for your ask if you even read this far (completely understandable if you stopped lol). it's just nice to finally get it out there instead of keeping it all in my brain.

[sneezemonster15]

Hey, thank you so much for answering my previous ask. I love reading your blog and what you have to say. Also I forgot to mention the person who thinks Sasuke fucked Karin also talked about what you said on your blog with someone else, https://dushman-e-jaan.tumblr.com/post/663748673413464064/i-saw-a-post-where-anyone-who-says-that-sasuke-and I'm pretty sure that's your post bc I read it. They're basically making fun of the whole thing and again slapping the "brothers" label onto practically everything you said 😭 What are your thoughts on this?

Hello.

Woah, yeah, that is my post. I wrote it a long time ago, I had no clue that they got this triggered by it, that they went through it line by line, as a response to me, replying to every statement I made in second person and didn’t even tag me. If it weren’t for your ask, I would never have found out about it. Well, I am going to take it as a compliment, whether they like it or not. Lol. 

I don’t generally write my content to defend my takes, I give all the reasoning and cite evidence within my posts, and if someone has a problem with it, I generally reply to them in the comment box. But since this aforementioned post seems like it has gone some way into the anti SNS fandom, and because I wasn’t even aware of it, I will address some of these issues. 

Okay. Gear up, this is going to be long.

First things first. They are offended because they don’t agree with my statement :

“Well, at least you are being consistent. Because people who think Sasuke and Naruto are brothers are the same people who think Sakura and Hinata are feminist role models.”  

And they want to make it clear that there are other fans who don’t think highly of Sakura and Hinata, but still consider Sasuke and Naruto brothers. Well, I will give them that. I am aware there are additional fans who consider them brothers, CASE IN POINT. My bad. 

Honestly, there’s a lot of stuff here, that just doesn’t require my response. Like my mention of Tarkovsky. It was used as a figure of speech by which I wanted to say that decoding Sasuke and Naruto’s romance wasn’t rocket science, it’s a straight statement, I don’t know why they gotta twist it. I think the mention of Tarkovsky threw them off, because they feel that only they have the authority to talk about more brainy things. Lol. So I am going to sidestep all the fountains of their insecurities and come to the point. 

Okay so, they insist that Sasuke and Naruto are spiritual brothers, mainly because their chakras are reincarnation of Indra and Ashura’s chakras who happen to be biological brothers. And they take great offence to my statement that people who think of them as brothers are heteronormative and homophobic. I will come to that part later, I will address the reincarnation part first. 

I honestly thought we were past this non-sensical and juvenile non-argument of them being brothers for the aforementioned reason. These antis use such big words and cite academic papers and articles and then, flip right over to say something so counterintuitive and irrational, without even considering any alternative understanding, it hardly seems like an argument and more like intellectual masturbation. Which it is. 

Okay. This is their argument to support their stance. 

“However, this story includes chakra, Indra, Ashura and is very much tied to spirituality. Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism deal with that. Kishimoto took his inspiration from there.Hindu scriptures exhort spiritual people to lead exemplary lives, control their sexual desires and abstain from sex, just as they are expected to control all desires and practice renunciation and detachment with their minds absorbed in the contemplation of God or the Self.” 

And it doesn’t stop there, this rambling goes on and on and on…phew. I appreciate the amount of effort they have seemed to put in their arguments. Sadly, it's all as misguided as it can be, lol. 

While I agree that one can see the myriad influences of various philosophical schools of thought and spiritual belief systems in Kishimoto’s work, NONE of it proves their brother argument. Why? Because it’s all out of context. I see this a lot, the pitfalls and trappings of sticking to one’s projection in one’s favourite piece of art/literature and bending text and context to their will, with citations, whether it’s relevant or not. 

Such mental gymnastics, lol. I have seen this kind of response by student film theorists when they analyse Ozu's films. Oh why did he put that vase in the centre of the frame, what did he want to say by showing that vase? Did he mean to depict loneliness or does it indicate the effects of capitalism and consumerism in an insular, collectivist, traditional Japanese society of the times, or is it about the soul that is trapped in the material prison of flesh etc etc etc. Over analyzation. Which they apparently have accused me of, hahaha. 

Unfortunately, that’s not how storytelling works. And it definitely doesn’t work in Naruto’s case. They would do well to remember that writers are not out to con you. Any writer worth his salt uses a combination of narrative tools to tell his story. Sad thing is most fans in this fandom just don’t understand how stories are written, the specific tools that a writer uses and the narrative devices that guide and lend a certain flow and approach to the story. Kishi is just like any other writer, in that context. So when he wants to give a certain narrative or visual information to the audience, he will use these common tools to drive his point home. For example, foreshadowing. What is foreshadowing? 

Sourced from Wikipedia : 

“Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events. A writer may implement foreshadowing in many different ways.”

And do we see this foreshadowing in Kishi’s plot? You bet, :).

And this is Chapter 3. Lol.

If Kishi wanted to depict Naruto and Sasuke as brothers, he would not have made them kiss. Even if accidentally. This scene, right at the start of the manga, indicates the very romantic nature of their relationship. I wonder why these stans don’t find it suspicious that even though this kiss is supposed to be accidental, both Naruto and Sasuke think of this kiss as a precious memory, not as a joke, but something significant, something that contributed to develop their dynamic in the manga. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of films in my life, but I have never seen anywhere where two likely brothers were made to kiss like this, for the sake of developing their dynamic. Only in romantic relationships. 

Let me state it out in as clear words as possible. - In a macro sense, the overarching narrative of this manga includes a clear intention by the author to push the characters of Naruto and Sasuke to give an appropriate name to their relationship, continuously harping on defining and redefining their relationship with plot points strategically appointed to affect their dynamic that further propels the central narrative of the story.

Simply put, Kishi forcefully insists on weaving this story in a way that forces the protagonist to think and rethink the meaning of what he feels for Sasuke, as instigated by Sasuke himself, who every time they meet, insists Naruto answer his question as to why Narutio is so hell bent upon following him, why does he care so much so that he is ready to leave his training and the people he loves behind, just to bring Sasuke back. And everytime Naruto even breathes the word ‘friends’ or ‘brothers’, Sasuke’s either annoyed or surprised or displeased, never satisfied, never convinced. The satisfaction comes at the end of the manga, in chapter 698, when Naruto finally gives some explanation as to what he means by it. Shippuden didn’t end with the war arc, it ended with Sasuke and Naruto’s reconciliation. It didn’t end on the note of an ideological conflict and its eventual resolution, it ended on the note where Sasuke asked Naruto :  But what does being friends mean to you?

And Naruto said with a clear sense that he understands what Sasuke is asking of him and so after thinking for a very pregnant pause, says : Even if you were to ask me that, I don’t think I would have an answer. But when I see you carrying your burden, it hurts me, so much so that I just can’t take it. 

You really don’t need a PhD to see the nuanced significance of this text.

Point is, this going back and forth trying to define their relationship is not an isolated incident, it basically makes the backbone of the story. Which is why the aforementioned dialogues make sense, as they form the conclusion of this story.  If they were brothers, why would this element exist?

Everything in the story serves to contribute to the central narrative and for the sake of character development of its main players. 

That Kishi saw a need to even discuss why they were not friends, and that they were not brothers, but that Naruto feels immense hurt at seeing Sasuke hurt, is indicative enough that Kishi was definitely not trying to portray them as brothers. That these stans consider them brothers, when this art made by Kishimoto himself exists, is proof enough that they are highly indulgent of their self projections.

They are so motivated, for their own projections, to ignore the nuanced characterization of Naruto’s closeted gay self, or Sasuke’s oft pointed disinterest in women, that their understanding comes off as extremely lacking.

Ask yourself, why would Kishi even write these nuances in the way of visual imagery and strategic scenes where Naruto is made to react so strongly to even mild and unintentioned homoerotic moments? Why would Naruto be written to overcompensate to cover these moments up with something distinctly heterosexual? Why would Kishi even put so much effort in writing these characters this way if Kishi only wanted to portray them as brothers? What would even be the point of it?

Every single chapter goes through multilayered scrutiny by editors after it’s written, which means anything that is unnecessary or extraneous to the narrative is taken out. It’s supposed to be concise, and yet have the desired effect on the readers. Why keep those texts or panels that don’t serve the story? Instead, why do these elements serve to develop the characters? They obviously mean something, don't they? They are there for a reason, and anyone who has seen the portrayal of homosexuality in media will instantly recognise it. Those who haven’t can at least wonder why and venture to find out instead of giving their relationship names that are incongruent with their actual dynamic. 

No other brotherly dynamic in the manga itself is even close to Naruto and Sasuke’s. Honestly, I have seen so much Japanese media outside of manga and anime in the last year, and I didn't see two men or boys depicted as brothers who make kissy faces at each other, or stand side by side looking like they are giving each other hand jobs and orgasming, or where one man’s mouth is deliberately drawn over another man’s crotch. To say that this indicates they were depicted as brothers, is not only counterintuitive, but downright ridiculous and plain stupid. It’s some real heavy duty denial. 

If Kishimoto meant for them to be brothers because their chakras were reincarnation of Ashura and Indra, he would have made some character say it out loud in some context. Like I said, writers are not out there to con you. They will make sure that their intent is clearly shown to the audience, through text, subtext and visual language. And everything about Naruto and Sasuke, everything that contributes to their dynamic, whether it be dialogues, orchestrated situations, plot points, visual imagery, some of which exudes sexual tension, in no way indicates a platonic relationship. Those who have the presence of mind to pick it, will pick it, those who don’t would spout non-sense like our antis here. Lol.

Kishimoto knows how to use foreshadowing. Case in point.

He gives us an advance hint of what’s to come, and the narrative takes its twists and turns, being developed with this thread in mind, and then the arc ends with a conclusion of the underlying idea foreshadowed earlier with the hint. NONE of this is accidental. It’s all part of writing, it’s a literary tool, a narrative device. Hell, it isn’t a coincidence that Kishimoto keeps repeating this element over and over and over again, where Naruto goes through a whole range of situations and emotional upheavals in order to understand his feelings for Sasuke. First, he wonders if Sasuke is like a brother, or a friend, or more. Kishi can’t say it explicitly, but honestly, he doesn’t need to. These antis look for all sorts of reasoning and proof OUTSIDE the manga. If they were a little more honest with themselves, they would see that one really doesn’t need to do that, all the pertinent information that one needs to decode the nature of their relationship is inside the manga, in panels, visual imagery, dialogues, narrative development and notes.

Like I always say : First rule of deduction : Work with what you have. Facts, use what’s is available to you in the source material. 

It is absolutely valid to look for outside source if you see a solid and legitimate reason to, which is congruent with the source material, like in the case of Chikamatsu. It’s already established clearly that Kishimoto is his fan, he has put a lot of effort to pay tribute to him in his own manga, he makes sure that this element is clearly present in the context and text, and the editors have talked about it in the notes. And ALL of that makes it a legit link, for one to connect it with Shinjuu. 

The antis talk of irrelevant sources such as Jainism and Hinduism and whatnot, lol, it honestly looks like a super desperate attempt to twist and deform and bend the narrative to their interpretation where they conveniently ignore all the relevant panels where Naruto clearly says that him and Sasuke aren’t really brothers to Hagoromo, where Sasuke makes it a point to say to Sai that he only has one brother, clearly implying that he doesn’t consider Naruto a brother. All these extra interpretations that antis force upon the narrative is a result of their own projection. It's as simple as that.

If Sasuke was satisfied with the explanation that they were brothers, why would he keep asking Naruto the same question again and again? Doesn’t that indicate that he isn’t satisfied with Naruto’s understanding of it? And he is only convinced of it at the very end, when Naruto is bleeding out, about to die, when he finally, with much visible reticence, admits that he doesn’t know how to explain it?

Think about it, if they were just brothers, why would there be this hesitation? Being brothers is not a controversial thing, it’s not a taboo thing, it’s not abnormal, opposite in fact, given how much the characters of this story are shaped by their familial bonds. Instead of thinking of the most obvious things, these antis round up obscure and entirely irrelevant articles to sound smart and intellectual, as if that’s gonna make a difference. How is this extraneous intellectual regurgitation gonna help your case if your basic premise is wrong? That’s not how dialectics work. Lol. 

Then they said this.:  “(Considering Ino to be a closeted queer who only went for Sasuke to gain Sakura’s affections would be another one of these hilarious mishaps.)”

I honestly don’t know who they are referring to, because I have never said or implied anything even close to it. Maybe they are just assuming things. It’s not the only time they assume things. They also think I am some Western Man with my capitalistic and consumerist takes on Naruto. hahahaha. 

Damn, I can't help but notice that whenever someone disagrees with them, they instantly label them as Western. Well, they are wrong on both counts, because neither am I western, nor a man. In fact, my socio-cultural understanding of the world is pretty close to Japan’s. I would also like to mention that my community practises the same religion that happens to be the official religion of Japan. But of course, I have never needed to flex on that, because it’s just not needed. The information that I got from the manga itself, plus my own experience of media is enough for me to make my points. I am able to qualify my content with the evidence found INSIDE the manga, and if I see clearly delineated references to outside material in it, I point them out. Like I have done here. 

Honestly, it’s as simple as that. No need to twist your head at a 180 degrees to prove your point, if you are trying that hard, it becomes clear you have no legit leg to stand on and you are making shit up, just to validate your headcanon.

Don’t act against intuition, don’t act against text and visual language, don’t act against what is both explicitly and implicitly given in the manga because that is the opposite of examining something objectively. But well, people do worse to keep sticking to their denial.

Anyway, this foreshadowing can be seen in the first arc, where the central theme is ‘protecting one’s precious person’ and how one can unlock special hidden strengths when one is motivated to protect the person most dear to them. This element is foreshadowed in the relationship between Zabuza and Haku and through twists and turns, is finally concluded at the end of the arc, where Sasuke almost dies to protect Naruto and both unlock special powers for each other. Not rocket science. Kishi is a generous author that way, he wants this reader to know what he is saying and what he means by it, and so he will supply enough textual and visual information to make sense of the overarching story and themes. To simply ignore that for one’s head canons is a gross injustice to the story and the artist. If you have to ignore what he is saying explicitly or drawing explicitly, why even bother to engage with this manga? lol. What a waste.

It is not a complicated thing at all, in fact, it would have become a lot easier for Kishimoto to write this story if he could just have explicitly written them as brothers, a lot of effort would have been spared, no? And it would have all been believable, because it makes total sense that Naruto would want to save and protect his brother. The story would not change at all. Then why the hammer like insistence on having this whole brother or friend or comrade dialectic? Why? You know why? 

Because they are NOT brothers. 

Next, they said this : The problem with a lot of western readers is that they discard any and all relationships, familial and platonic, in favor of their romantic obsessions and delusions of “freedom” in a capitalistic society,................... ... the widespread consumption of amorous rituals constitutes the core of contemporary romantic love, reinvigorating capitalism and lovers alike.” 

And this goes on and on….I am not going to put the entire thing here, it’s basically unnecessary blathering and intellectual masturbation. 

Snickers, Delusions of freedom in a capitalistic society. Bwahaha. Where is this even coming from? Entirely irrelevant. Reminds me of my younger self when I would deliberately attach esoteric sounding citations to my papers to impress the professor and would still get a B. Lol.

I have written enough on the subject of the importance of familial bonds which shape the characters in this manga, so they are definitely wrong on that count. But well, they think they are the authority on Japanese media, what can I say? Sidestepping what’s actually in the manga and supplementing your argument with entirely disproportionate and irrelevant pointers only indicates that they are floundering. When you have no legit foundation for your argument, this happens. Lmao. I am no stranger to it, thankfully I got over it in my teens.

Then they claimed this : (Remember, Kishimoto comes from a very small village and is from a different generation altogether; so the odds of him penning anything even close to the “sexual categorizations” of the post-modern western sexual-domains are less than the second coming of Christ.)

Hahahahahaaha, I know you can’t tell, but I am literally wheezing here. 

These stans literally talk like Kishimoto is a hundred year old man. Like…the lack of reason and logic in this statement is so apparent, I am surprised that they thought it would be worthwhile to make this comment. Lol. Sexual categorizations of the post-modern western sexual-domains??? What crap!!! Hahahah. Just say you are a straight homophobic woman who wants Sasuke’s dick and go! 

So what if Kishi comes from a small village and a different generation? Does that mean he doesn’t know what homosexuality means? He doesn’t know sexual categorizations of the post-modern western sexual domains? What a bunch of hooey, lol. These stans talk of homosexuality like it’s some kind of western propaganda. Go ahead, tell me it’s not homophobic, heh. PoSt mODerN WEsteRn SexUal DomaiNs. Lololol.

Truth is, pre Meiji era, Japan was perhaps the most progressive of all cultures when it came to sexual categorizations. Here, this post is educational. Funny how these stans call SNS western and then do the same thing that most western fans do, who know absolutely nothing about history of sexuality in Japan. Here, they should maybe learn about it before sounding this ignorant, the video is pretty self-explanatory. 

Edo period Japanese culture accepted homosexuality as the purest form of love that could exist between two samurais. Young men were allowed and even encouraged to have young male lovers, and after a certain age, they were expected to get married to women. A lot of men chose not to. And even though it was frowned upon,  it wasn't a punishable offence.

Hell, one doesn’t even have to go there, check out Edo and Meiji period art, you will find lots of peculiar, very creative art with homosexuality as its subject. I would put those pictures here, but it would make this post x-rated, lol. The sexual imagery is off the charts, like Japan’s imagination is mind-boggling, like woah. They might be a small country but the scope of their imagination is huge. With the advent of Meiji era, that changed, as homosexuality became illegal, but this art was still produced underground.  

Hell, a lot of the most celebrated artists in Modern Japan have created art about homosexuality. Film makers such as Nagisa Oshima, Takashi Miike (Shinjuku Triad’s Society, Big Bang Love, Juvenile A), Toshio Matsumoto (A funeral Parade of Roses), Akira Ogata (Boy’s Choir, a film about two orphaned boys who study at the same institution, and eventually fall in love with each other), have made excellent cinema on the subject matter. And these aren’t your run of the mill commercial yaoi creators, these are serious film makers whose films have done their rounds in national and international film festivals, earning awards and accolades from critics and audience alike. 

The film, ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’ is a story about a young, gay, cross dressing boy who is in love with his father, a modern day adaptation of Oedipus Rex, only flipped. And this film was released in the 60’s. A product of the Japanese new wave cinema, it is considered to have influenced Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’. It was considered quite a controversial film for its time in the west. It took over forty years for ‘Hereditary’ fame film maker Ari Aster to make a film on the subject, ‘The strange thing about the Johnsons’ in 2011, and the audience was shocked to their core with it. Japan was doing this shit in the 60’s. Lol. Oshima belonged to a small region in the southern Okayama prefecture called Tamano, founded in the 40’s. So? Kishi also belongs from the Okayama prefecture. What, people from small villages remain ignorant throughout their lives? They can't learn? They can’t be exposed to stuff? 

Oshima was a pioneer of Japanese New Wave cinema, going forward to become one of the most celebrated film makers in the world, with a beautifully distinct voice. He made films on themes of homosexuality, and his stories were inspired by real life events in Japan. He made Gohatto, a Jidaigeki film (which basically translates to Japanese period drama, usually set in the Edo period) which is about Samurais lusting after a bishonen boy, training at the Shinsengumi, organization of Samurais. People of Japan are more than familiar with the tales of Shinsengumi, they grew up with it. He made ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’, which also features homosexual themes, starring David Bowie btw.

Kishimoto wasn’t even born or was of legal age when some of these films were released. Japan was experimenting in the fields of cinema and various subject matters, including unsimulated sex in a legit film.

They think he wouldn’t be aware of these films, Kishimoto who happens to be a film buff himself? Honestly, how insular do these stans think the Japanese are? 

These people talk like the Japanese are some dumb, ignorant group of people, who don’t know shit about what’s going on in the world. Honey, that’s you, not them. Kishi is a well read, well exposed, well rounded writer. 

Like yes, Japan was quite insular at some point of time, but after the second world war, they were forced by the allied nations to open up their borders. And the influence of western elements and themes can be seen in their art. In fact, western influence had already taken roots since Meiji era. The men even had to cut their hair for it. Even kabuki wasn't left alone. And it's not like this is some well kept secret. Kishimoto’s manga is definitely very much Japanese, but it has a cross cultural appeal as well. I don’t think one is doing their due diligence when one simply ignores that factor.

Okay. Let’s talk of Kishimoto’s influences. 

These are a few excerpts from Kishimoto’s interviews, the Western influence is pretty clear. Does this look like some dude who doesn’t know what he is talking about? Does this look like someone who is inert and insular and ignorant?

Look how inspired Kishimoto is by Akira and its mangaka, Katsuhiro Otomo.

For those who don’t know, Akira was the anime that opened up the western markets for Japanese animation and manga. The film was made for the express purpose for Japan to open the western markets for her products, show off their goods to the world, that this is what they can do, and as it turned out, it was better than anything western audiences had ever experienced in terms of animation and storytelling at that point of time.

Cartoons were earlier considered to be for kids, the common perception was that animated media was supposed to be infantile, catering to a certain target audience. Akira changed that perception. The legacy of Akira is humongous. It opened up doors for other animes and mangas such as Dragonball Z, Ghost in the shell, Naruto even. This was the time in late 80’s when Japan was experiencing an overall good economy for the first time in 20th century, their financial shares were soaring. This was the time when corporations had opened up in Japan, and anyone who was ready to become a salary man could take advantage of the financial benefits resulting in significant disposable incomes. So people had more to spend on entertainment, and so production companies were chasing talented mangakas left and right to adapt their work into anime. Japan was so committed to this great enterprise of Akira, they formed a committee to finance the very high budget that a commensurate and successful rendering of the manga’s adaptation would require. The committee consisted of Kodansha, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Bandai, Hakuhodo, Toho, LaserDisc Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation (if you can’t tell, these are big, huge corporations) who all forwarded money and promotion towards the film, and appointed the mangaka himself to direct the film, because who else would be able to tell this story better when so much was at stake?

Otomo worked his ass off, drawing hundreds of storyboards to condense the 120 chapter long manga into one film. And he did it, and what a film it is. Like wow, I was blown away. Akira, being a cyberpunk manga, also has that cross cultural appeal, even though its major themes are still very much Japanese, but if you look closely, this film tells a story the entire world can benefit from.

Kishimoto is inspired by American film makers such as Michael Bay, Quentin Tarantino. He talks of Takeshi Kitano, lovingly known in Japan as Beat Takeshi, a very popular figure in the west, who also was a regular in Oshima’s films, having played major roles in his gay films. These stans think Kishimoto, a cinephile himself, isn’t aware of these films? Bullshit. Lol. A lot of mangakas want their work to be recognized by the entire world, especially in the west. It speaks of their global success, why would they want to just keep to their native audience? 

Truth is, otaku culture evolved in a very specific way. The second world war, especially after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed, drastically affected the ethical and emotional landscape of the collective Japanese psyche. While the reverberations could be seen in their media, unfortunately, it wasn’t in the mainstream media where these effects were manifested, rather it was in alternative media, in the subcultural genres. You don’t have to take my word for it.

Takashi Murakami, a product of Otaku culture himself, talks about this, someone that Kishimoto himself has paid a significant tribute to in his manga (Deidara’s aesthetic is super flat, which is basically a socio-politico-cultural art movement pioneered by Murakami). And I saw for myself what he was talking about. Japan is a collectivist society, there isn’t much freedom for individual expression. Japanese emperor Hirohito, who is directly held to be responsible for the Japanese contribution to second Sino-Japanese war and the second world war by many historians, was considered to be a God by the Japanese, literally. Like Kim Jong Un style. No one questioned him. But after Japan’s role in the war as the predator and subsequently a victim, it broke the Japanese in a major way. Turned them humble, repentant. This collective grief and shock and widespread devastation brought the people together, they forgot their differences for the moment, to somehow pick up the pieces and go on living their lives, with gratitude for what they had. But yes, it’s not as explicit in their mainstream media as others. I mean the amount and variety of films based on the second world war that I have seen in European and American cinema, like damn. Japanese cinema on the other hand? Pretty tame in that regard.

Takahata made ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ on this subject, a heart rending and deeply disturbing story about two orphaned siblings living during the war, is considered as one of the most effective anti war films ever made in the history of cinema, as said by Roger Ebert, the man himself. Anyone who has seen the film will know it is an anti war film. But when Takahata was interviewed about it, he denied it. He said he didn’t make an anti war film, he wouldn’t even talk about it and later, stopped giving interviews about it altogether. Never underestimate the censorship of the Japanese administration. Oshima, a staunch modernist himself, a huge critic of Akira Kurosawa’s old world values and humanism, equally critical of the right wing and extreme left wing politics of Japan, made heavily political films, broke up with the studio system that launched his career, because of how left leaning, political and individualistic his voice was. His films were often banned or taken off screens, he was subjected to numerous court cases. But he persevered and even a stroke couldn’t stop him. But that’s Oshima. Oshimas are a rare breed. 

So what couldn’t be seen in the mainstream media, you saw them in alternate or subaltern media. Akira is a direct testimonial to this. Akira is a story about a bunch of orphaned kids living in a dystopian world, that has been devastated by a bomb blast, past which Tokyo, now Neo Tokyo, is submerged in corruption and civil wars. The administration uses children as weapons to protect their own borders, but is eventually destroyed by these same children, when they couldn’t handle their powers. The reverberations of the post war atrocities can be viscerally felt in the themes of this manga, prompting a myriad of ethical implications and queries, questioning one’s understanding of a nation, of responsibility towards one’s people, love, hate, revenge borne of that hate, power, megalomania, philosophical implications of technology and the destruction borne of it, conflicts between different ideologies and so on and so forth but it’s resolve is quite familiar.

The resolve is about love, redemption, atonement and peace. That wars happen because there is love and hence there is hate, it's the people that make wars happen and it’s the people that pick up the pieces and go on living. That one can be hopeful even in adversities. No one is singularly condemned, no one is singularly held to blame even though it’s not difficult to see that things could have been handled better. But it’s not as black and white as that. It’s complex. World is complex.

But what we do see is that Tetsuo, an orphan who lives on the streets, who loses himself in the quest for power, fuelled by his need to be acknowledged, finally gives up on destroying everything when his lover Kaori dies protecting him, and at the urges of his best friend Kaneda, Tetsuo finally sees light, for the sake of his love for Kaori and Kaneda, and so he repents before dying. That all his passions come to nought when he loses the one thing he held dear to him, love for his friend and girlfriend, the only people that made him feel like he mattered. 

Similar themes can be seen in another manga Kishi is influenced by. Ruruoni Kenshin, basically a romance manga in shounen, written by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Battosai, the political assassin, falls in love with Tomoe, a spy, basically two people from opposing ideologies. Tomoe sacrifices herself for Battosai, even after Battosai has discovered her true identity. The manga  is structured with themes of ideological conflicts of love, revenge, love for one’s nation and adherence to one’s philosophy/belief systems, as it's set in the time period of transition between the Edo and Meiji era, but the resolution is similar. That love trumps all, that true love is greater than all the constructs made by humans. 

Is there any wonder we see similar themes in Naruto? Kishi uses similar effects and themes for his world building in Naruto and Shippuden. A dystopian society where children are barbarically used as weapons, where gross injustices happen, but people go on living. This world imagined by Kishimoto is a reflection of the real world, richly dramatised with similar themes of love and conflicts and ideological differences and war and devastation and revenge and human ethos and peace and atonement. Similar resolve? I would say so.

And I won’t even dismiss that Sasuke’s character is definitely left leaning. Sasuke is partially based on Sasuke by Sanpei Shirato, a popularly known leftist voice in the manga industry. It’s pretty clear for anyone with half a brain to see that Sasuke is anti-establishment, and for good reasons too. The collectivist, utilitarian, highly corrupt system of the shinobi world leads to utter devastation and genocide of his entire clan overnight directly under the noses of the citizens and leaders of Konoha, and whose body parts are then commodified in the name of protection of the same nation that was built around the philosophy of ‘Will of Fire’, which was supposed to protect them but instead who slaughtered them in their sleep.

Sasuke’s interests and need for justice stands in sharp contrast with the ways of the shinobi world, and where no one could understand him, Naruto finally does. He is the only one who tries. He is the only one who is capable, who is made to be capable by the way of the narrative where Kishimoto develops his character accordingly. Naruto is naive and simple minded to start with, but he is written to learn and evolve and understand different points of view. To learn from people’s tragedies and losses and grief and motivations. He is exposed to the way of this world through anti hero archetypes such as Nagato and Obito and Zabuza, where after Naruto, through his own inherent moral and humanistic code, begins to understand a world that is founded on love turned hate, which further paves the way for revenge, but is determined to put a stop to it. By proving his love for Sasuke, and Sasuke accepts his love. Sure, had it not been for Sasuke, he would have let it continue or have simply died with Sasuke before he could witness a better world.  But my point is, similar resolve : Love trumps all, peace, redemption and atonement. 

This is not to say that I approve of the ending, I do not. I hate it. Firstly, if the theme of Naruto and Shippuden was already established and concluded as 'love trumps all else including the socio politico cultural structures and institutions made by humans ', then why the hell were they made to marry women when they are clearly gay? And secondly but equally importantly, Sasuke should have gotten his dues, he deserved it, so did Neji and Naruto. The truth of the Uchiha massacre should have been revealed, and Konoha should have taken accountability and repented, these are after all, some major themes in the manga. Kishi broke all sorts of storytelling rules at the end and I am mad as hell at him for that. But unfortunately, I didn’t write this story and couldn’t have had if I tried. Doesn’t mean I will look for things in it that aren’t there. Kishimoto is not a communist or a right winger. He is Japanese. Both extremist interpretations of manga are misguided. Tobirama was a bigot that plotted against the Uchihas, Hiruzen was a complacent failure of a leader who let things happen in his regime that by no means indicates good leadership, Uchiha clan was discriminated against. But Kishi could not have made Sasuke reach his goals, not if Naruto, the protagonist, was supposed to be of any consequence, which essentially makes Naruto hold a moderate position. I also don’t like the fact that the ending and consequently Boruto, diluted Sasuke’s belief systems and very justified goals, I wish they could have modified it to a conclusive ending where him and Naruto could have worked towards changing the status quo, but I don’t think it would have materialised, Shonen Jump is strict about these things, namely pedagogic values appropriate for a certain target group. 

The conflicting ideologies definitely serve to make this manga drama and intrigue rich, but let’s not go overboard and look for things that aren’t there, which is what these stans seem to do. There’s no use in chasing shadows. 

Then they said this : “He (Miura) actually does talk a little about the sexual tensions between Guts and Griffith! Must’ve been one of the parts I was having a hard time putting into decent English. Basically Miura says that he doesn’t really agree with how people read sexual tensions into the Guts-Griffith relation, because men can have passionate feelings about each other without it being like that……..Yet none of this is meant to be “romantic love”. There’s passion here, intensity, obsession, but it isn’t sexual. ”

Truth is whether it be western or Asian media, the concept of misinterpreting homosexuality as brotherhood is quite well explored in global media. Don’t believe me? Here. All facts, no frills. 

One doesn’t even have to go very far, just look at Clamp, and you would be lucky if you were able to find more than five heterosexual characters in their entire range of mangas, lol. And honestly, their example of Berserk actually works in my favor and not theirs? GriffGuts is a valid gay ship. But of course, if they can reject SNS, it’s likely they would reject GriffGuts. Kishimoto and Miura, no matter what they say in their interviews, why is that more important than the story itself? Not like Kishimoto sounds all that confident in his interviews either, when he talks of them being more brothers than blood brothers.

I have not looked very deeply into Berserk, so I would like to invite veteran blogger @maoam to shed some light, one of the very few bloggers that I find with one of the most balanced and informed takes on Naruto and other relevant mangas.

Going ahead, let’s see what Miura says of boys.

Really Miura? Now what is this 'tingling' feeling?

What does this remind me of?

Lol. Now this isn’t the most accurate translation. This is the accurate translation, I am not sure of the source, I got this screengrab a long time ago, but I know for a fact it is legit.

Btw, the 'kyun' sound effect used here is used in Hentai to denote sexual arousal, lol.

Tell me what kind of brothers feel these feelings for each other? I have seen numerous Japanese films whether it be family dramas, Jidaigeki films, Japanese LGBTQ+ films, and I have never seen brothers behaving with each other like this once. Not once. What spiritual brothers? Lol. Why go against reason, intuition, narrative, visual imagery and cultural context to prove something using irrelevant sources? 

Like I thought we were past this Brother argument, it’s the 21st century, there are more discussions on homosexuality, the subject of homosexuality has gained more exposure and a lot of talented and individualistic creators have explored this subject. So why is Naruto fandom this backward and narrow minded??

I find it hard to believe that despite Kishi’s subtle but not really, and repetitious ministrations on the issues surrounding a stigmatized subject such as homosexuality, is that invisible. All you need is an open minded approach, that is all. You do that and the manga will unfurl itself so you will be able to see things that you so conveniently ignored before to satisfy your headcanons. Is it that unfair of a request?

Do these fans think they know everything about everything? They couldn’t have missed something? Something as glaring and apparent as SNS? Before they claim that they are some omniscient, all-knowing being, maybe watch some LGBTQ+ media, and compare notes? Analyse tropes? Give themselves some credit, that they have done their due diligence before spouting things they obviously do not understand? Or is that too much to ask for?

Maybe they have learnt everything in the world that is to be learnt and there’s just no free space in that highly evolved noggin of theirs. 

Maybe we are all just stupid fans who don’t know what we are talking of, even if we give the most objectively valid reasoning and evidence found inside the manga. Maybe they know best, maybe that’s why they think Sasuke slept with Karin, even when he shows no interest in her apart from maybe once or twice protecting her as his teammate, something he also does with ALL his other teammates? And generally, gets really annoyed and uncomfortable with Karin’s over the top sexual proposals, and then doesn’t think twice about getting rid of her when she is used as a bait to have him captured. Hmmm, I see their logic. They must really be the all knowing omniscient being, the Arahat, the wise one, the one who finally achieved Nirvana, proper enlightenment and all huh? Damn I feel so small. (A tear rolls down my downy cheek as my bosom trembles in humiliation). LOL.

Interestingly, the way Miura talks of boys, that they give them a ‘tingling’ feeling, makes me think. Keep in mind, Miura never married, there is no evidence of him having had a girlfriend. But let’s not speculate, even if it sounds fishy. 

Understanding homosexuality in a conservative society is crucial in order to understand the SNS dynamic. There’s no doubt that Kishi wrote Naruto as a closeted homosexual and Sasuke as a homosexual boy. If one denies this, I can’t even take them seriously. 

But it reminds me of an anecdote my gay friend told me. He is a national award winning filmmaker, an intellectual in his own right, and works a lot with the trans community in my country. A conservative, ultra religious, non-western country. As a young man in his twenties, when he had just come out, he would date men who would simply not identify as gay. He would sleep with them, and do what do people sexually attracted to each other do. But sleeping willingly with a man and accepting the gay identity are two different things. Where my friend understood these nuances even then, as having come from a conservative society himself, he would not force them to come out. These men would never even acknowledge that being attracted to men and not women makes them gay, it was not even a part of their understanding. Rather, they would think of it as something that ‘certain’ men do. Doesn’t mean it’s weird or uncommon, even though they knew straight men did not do this. But they would simply not go there. They would just chalk it up to something temporary, something that they needed to do before they got married to women they didn’t feel anything for, because that’s how it’s done. It’s not like they weren’t aware of the gay dialectic, my friend would talk to them about it, but they would simply not acquiesce, the denial was so strong. Till date, these men don’t admit to it, now they are married and have children. But still look for sexual relationships with men outside of it. 

Which brings me to my next anecdote, told to me by another friend of mine. He is a stylist, absolutely flamboyant and openly, proudly gay. Very adventurous and experiment loving. He told me that in his experience, the best carnal fun he had was with Muslim men. And that most men who approached him for sex were Muslim men. (This is not an attack or criticism of the religion or community, it’s just something my friend told me). He would be approached by these men who would have the most voracious of appetites and tastes, and my friend went with it because he preferred to suck circumcised dicks, lol. Quite a lot of them were married, but my friend didn’t discriminate. He told me the same thing, these men would never identify as gay, not even during intimate moments, nope. Accepting your sexual identity is a more than a matter of sex. People in conservative societies face a lot of challenges and obstructions before even coming to certain realizations about themselves, it’s not that easy. In many ways, my country is even more conservative than Japan. Homosexuality is quite a taboo, hell, I didn’t even know the concept myself till I was well into my teens, and even then, I was only told the most stereotypical of things. I also grew up in a small town. It was later, when I went to the city to study, when I came into contact with people from all walks of life, nationalities, tastes, and sexual orientations, that was when I understood them as people, and not categories and labels. And now I have a friend who works as a dominatrix for a living and I still learn a lot. 

I refuse to judge people on the most basic and stereotypical of preconceived notions. 

The reason why I consider these fans to be homophobic…. Honestly, what gives them so much confidence to consider Sasuke and Naruto as brothers despite everything that is in the manga? Everything, from characterisation to plotting to the overarching themes to visual imagery to cultural context to text indicates their very romantic relationship, not platonic. Naruto admires the way Sasuke looks physically more than once and effectively calls him hot in Gaiden, what kind of guy thinks of his brother in those terms? 

These stans are so pressed to label them brothers without even looking at gay media, or gay narratives, without even paying attention to nuances in the manga, or Japanese historical context or their own gay media, appropriating everything for the sake of their projection, dismissing or ignoring loads and loads of text and panels and characterisation, why? Why can’t they at least entertain the idea for once and reread the manga with that approach? You can’t be so sure of your projection, c’mon, you know it’s counterintuitive, it just simply doesn’t gel with what’s in the manga. So why this extended stubborn denial? Give me proof that reincarnated chakras make two people brothers. Where does it say in the manga? Show me. I can show you everything that I claim, it’s all inside the manga. Where’s yours? So just because it satisfies your ego, it’s a valid take? Why are you this sure of your takes? Given you have gotten multiple things wrong? Like objectively wrong. 

Look, I understand denial is a strong factor, when we don’t want to see things we don’t like, our minds act like blinders. It would restrict your vision and make you see only what you want to see. And what a sad way that is to live, what a waste of time. I don’t believe in living that way, not in my media and not in my real life. But this obstinate refusal to accept SNS as romantic, is nothing but one’s desire to not accept Naruto or Sasuke as homosexual because you think it’s icky? Undesirable? Unattractive? Different from shounen norms? And because you want them to be straight so you can self insert? Whatever the reason, as long as you ignore real evidence and real proof, I will see you not only as heteronormative but also homophobic, you don’t gotta be overt, your underlying beliefs reek of prejudice and bias, especially when you haven’t done your due diligence, something that you mandatorily should have done in order to analyse this story. Doesn’t take a PhD degree to see that. 

Like Denis Diderot said - We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us. But we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter. 

My advice to them? Give yourself a break. Give yourself enough credit that you are open minded enough to entertain an alternative understanding, even if just for the moment if nothing else, and see where that takes you. Watch more media, watch gay media, talk to people, listen to their stories, try and understand their point of views, read more, compare notes, learn more. And ask if you don’t know. There’s no shame in admitting you might not know something. Because you obviously don’t. 

I am always of the mind of learning more and more, and I know I have strong opinions, but give me reason and logic and evidence, and you can bet I will listen, and even acquiesce to you, if I find it satisfactory. Because that’s how things should be, if we can’t grow and learn from what life teaches us, what’s the point? We all have a lot to learn, don’t we? 

Anyway, there’s some more shit that they claim which is essentially written in a similar vein, more or less, albeit in the same condescending tone. Lol. 

But I am done for the day, I am tired. So imma stop, this is me. 

[moodymisty]

okay so my original second idea before the Sevatar one came out more a word vomit than a request so just take this as me sharing an idea I've had in my head and I have no Warhammer buddies to share it with lol

this is a premise inspired by a oneshot I feel like I read at some point but I can't remember where. a human from the distant past, before ai tried to kill everyone and people still looked out at the galaxy with hopeful naivety, getting shot into the far future after their exploratory science vessel gets caught up in some warp storm. our scientist/explorer was in cryo sleep or something so is completely unaware anything went wrong. anywho, but who should pick up on the strange little blip of their ancient yet new vessel?

BOOM it's Trazyn lol. so he squirrels the whole kit and kaboodle to solemnace and ends up waking our mc up. maybe they initially think Trazyn is some form of advanced AI and after some surprise are pretty chill with him. maybe Trazyn plays along for a time, asks them questions about themselves and things from their time. shows them around some exhibits and such. our mc slowly coming to realize something is terribly wrong during their time on solemnace. Trazyn growing surprisingly attached to them, it's nice having someone to talk and teach things to and theyre so eager and inquisitive.

okay I'm rambling so anyway his lil human's life is so frail and short, not even a blip on the proverbial radar of his existence and he very much doesn't want to lose them so soon so he feeds the ctan shard he's got locked in the basement in trade for the knowledge on how to perform biotransference on them. Trazyn rationalizes that it's for the best, it's only temporary, the necrons of course will eventually figure out how to reverse their condition and everything will be fine. mc may or may not consent to the procedure.

I feel you on the having the no Warhammer friends to share with lol. Only just recently have I actually had people to talk about it to.

But man, Trayzn is such a funny dude lol. I haven't read The Infinite and the Divine yet (it's in the postage still it'll get here one day) but I love how despite how absolutely not human he is, he one of the more human characters in 40k. I mean he's just a hobby collector with a bit of a morose spin.

I imagine he's one of the few characters who'd despite being 'above' humanity in terms of pretty much anything, he'd probably be willing to kinda show off in a way. Tour his collection, chat about all the things he's seen. I mean if I was about to be frozen, I'd love to at least take a gander at the 40k British museum first.

Talk about a wide ride though, I mean thinking he's an AI would make the most sense because that would be a trip having to learn what a Necron actually is. Poor human has been thrown around enough.

But awwwww, Trazyn and his little out of time human <3 All things considered it's kinda cute.

Also thanks for sending in requests for not only letting me go apeshit about Blood Angels but ALSO Sevatar??? My crops are green and lush.

[gloriousmonsters]

ok i loved that cemeterything post about the different types of spellcasters. it actually reminded me of your original short stories (or two of them at least), taking place in that world with the soul-tearing magic. since you’re my fave ganondorf writer and the resident magician around here, what’s your take on the way ganondorf from the various titles “does magic” (interpret that as you’d like since that could mean a lot of things i guess) and what it says about him in your opinion. do you see differences across the titles?

no pressure to answer this for us, just got me thinking and i’m very curious to hear your takes if any on this topic

ooh interesting! I feel like... of the ones I've actually watched a playthrough of (I really want to play/watch the early games with Ganon sometime, esp ALttP) Ganondorf's magical body language is theatrical and the forms of magic he chooses are strongly inclined toward flaunting his upper hand, so to speak. He doesn't need to fight you, he has phantoms and puppets to do that. Okay, maybe he'll fight you, but he's going to lob magic at you with extreme drama, from a distance, probably hovering even though he's already twice your height at least, because he's an asshole. (And like, look at Twinrova. It's obvious where he gets it from.)

To me, it speaks heavily of either disdain or the need to pretend at it. When Ganondorf gets genuinely angry or decides he's going to treat an opponent seriously, he gets in there with a sword/goes beast mode/both. There's some variation--OoT opts more for the theatrical drama vibe, whereas to me TP reads as still theatrical, but more gritty in energy, colored by him having been through a(nother) war and gotten older--but Ganondorf's magic is just all about showing the way he views himself. he is Better Than You and he is going to throw lightning balls at you about it.

(An indulgent side-note into the way I've expanded on his magical... body vocabulary? in more intimate settings :P (but seriously, just. indoors. with more nuance than throwing lightning.) AtG Ganondorf, whether it comes across or not, uses gestures that I picture as stage-magician-y--a lot of close focus on his hands, gestures that read like distraction or like he's handling something invisible, making it appear or vanish. He's at Peak Duplicity in that fic, working on a very small stage, so it just felt right. and though i'm still working with getting him onstage, lol, my initial take on our hearts Ganondorf is that his magic both has a more... science-y and/or ritualistic vibe, reflecting his princess scholar in a tower type situation, and his magical gestures tend to be expressed with his whole body--more grounded and straightforward than AtG. anyway! thanks for the opportunity to ramble :P)

[demigoddessqueens]

so many vax requests lately!! not that im complaining lol how about we show some love to vex as well <3 could you write something with vex and a smart shy gf? maybe something like vex tries to flirt with her but the reader is too dense to get it and is really shy and cute when holding hands or with any pda? also maybe our cute gf goes off on long nerdy rants about spells and science too?

Yes!! Of course!! My girl deserves love! She’s perfect!

And so are Keyleth and Pike!!

It’s such a good thing you’re cute because Aaarggh!!

How can someone as adorable and precious as you not take her hints??

“The way you cast spells is so enchanting, darling.”

“Those runes on your arms…must have talent for them to be so flawless…”

And then sweet, cute-it flew over my head-you just reply back with “oh thanks Vex! You’re such a sweet friend!”

fRiEnD??!!! 💔

It’s torture at times!! Vex has half a mind to just yell her feelings to you, but also holding you and your hands gently

Vax and Percy automatically catch on. Vax is just naturally protective of his sister and hopes you’re not stringing her along. Percy is a tad bit jealous, as he fancied Vex as well, but he respects her decision and hopes you treat her right as well.

There was a time when you saw how sad she looked and decided to comfort her about it. This was it, the defining moment.

“When I’m near you, I feel…complete. Like I’m not judged. I can be myself and not be afraid. And by the gods I’m mad for you, more than anyone should be. But I’m afraid you may not feel the same….”

You swear you feel your soul leave your body when Vex tells you this. You feel your legs carry over to her before you’re both inseparable in a hug.

If your room is ever next to Vex’s, she can hear you muttering to yourself over spell notes and any other tomes/grimoires.

It’s the softness and inquisitive nature of your voice that soothes her to sleep.

Once you both get past the “confession stage”, Vex likes it when you read to her.

PDA is something that is cherished by you both, but you get a bit more giddy with it. Even if you try to keep calm, the red blush on your face gives it away all the time!

Vex appreciates you for trying because she knows it’s a new thing for you too. It’s so cute when you get that dopey, lovesick look on your face.

Mostly this happens a lot when you ramble about a new discovery in magic, and you pause midway with a blush because she’s just staring at you with such endearment.

[madstronaut]

baby's first konig longfic

(masterlist of my FaFiCoWriMo rambles at the Fuck It We Ball link below! looking forward to seeing this become a long untameable monstrous ouroboros of a list)

omg t h i s f i c. IT BARELY HAS ANY SMUT IN IT till the end and it is one of the hottest konig fics ive ever read (and honestly I think he takes home the trophy for man most thirsted over in COD fandom, sorry ghost but you’re all winners in my panties i mean heart I SAID HEART)

Reading: Cat/Mouse/Den by @papaver-decervicatus

idk wot it is - the tenderness and purity of their first few interactions? the forbiddenness of stumbling upon a private radio channel when they’re technically Not On The Same Side? the little GIFTS they give each other? How he can always find her despite her literally being a topranked sniper? the way their physical meet-cute is him literally catching her in his arms?! the knowledge maus can snipe him at any moment and yet konig willingly stepping into her crosshairs?  LLBLBLLLBLGLGB

That last “She’s pretty” comment for me was the emotional equivalent of stabbing me in the heart with a roughshod serrated knife in how cute it was (btw let me warn you if you haven’t already gotten the memo folx my whole brand is being aggressively encouraging and excited over fanfic and writers in an increasingly unhinged yet polite manner<3) 

in true konig fashion i love how excited he is that maus might be the literal death of him and that he would die happy if she was the one to snipe him lmao

also can anyone else relate to doing a private eye style deepdive into facebook archives stalking and searching for info about your crush and memorizing it like konig did here for mausy lmao

"It’s pathetic, the only place he feels any sort of peace is at war."

chef’s kiss, love this line. brief, but tells you so much about konig’s headspace

“A younger part of him is jealous. The older part smothers that part down as he takes in the view.”

I love this line!!! ive wondered sometimes about the science and why of attraction and maus basically living konig’s dream i feel must play a big part of why they’re so drawn to each other...and ofc no explanation needed for why she is attracted to konig because everyone is, undisputed law of nature, go look it up on wikipedia and jstor, thank you no questions at this moment

“There’s a creek at the bottom, and interesting flora marks the cliffs all the way down. He wonders what wildlife drinks from the stream down there and if there are any decent caves he could find an opening to.”

have u ever thought about what you or someone else might have been in another life, in alternate timeline? I can see biologist konig fitting in quite well in civilian life &lt;;3 LEMME DAYDREAM ABOUT ALL MY SOLDIER BOYS SAFELY RETURNING HOME FAR FROM OR NEVER HAVING TO ENDURE THE FOG AND TERROR AND HORROR OF WAR OKAY

“The exposed rock of the ravine flames to life with amazing browns and reds, and the stone sparkles like rubies and tiger’s eye stones as the sun's rays catch it.”

also sidenote the way the scenery is described here would make me want to go take a photo and download it and save it as my wallpaper; so descriptive and lovely i could see everything so clearly <3

“The sun is setting behind her. She’s very far away, but his skin prickles to life knowing that he’s being watched.”

I also love this usual role reversal of maus being the predator watching her prey (though is he arguably her prey if he wants to be caught? lol anyway putting aside the essay on existential questions in fanfic-)

It’s a beautiful place, really. It’s not such a bad place to die, he thinks. She’s a good shot. She’ll do it quickly. Nothing to fret about,really. It’s his own fault, anyways. 

I am obsessed with their chemistry but most of all something about this powerful man fully placing his life in her hands just does it for me

“I’ll bite, soldier.” She says, hurriedly, like someone might walk in on their little game. Like the teacher is about to find the two kissing in a supply closet at the school.

*me reading this line, giggling madly*

He sits down on the ground and opens his legs as wide as they’ll comfortably go and rests his cheek in his hand propped on his thigh. If he’s going to die, he’s going to give her a pretty show.

me: okay slut

also me: ✨o k a y slut✨

I also love how he’s imagining what she would be doing/how she’s reacting all based off what I assume is the equivalent of a shitty driver’s license photo he saw of her 🥰

i also feel like getting warning shots as foreplay IS so konig-coded (yes im fully aware as i type this that this man has so much fanlore, fan hcs, fanfic, faneverything out there despite not even being in the storyline of the main campaign lmao)

I also love the flip to maus’ POV - though when she notes how outrageous it is for him to keep his shiny knife on him i bet you my future firstborn that it’s to get her attention <3

also <3 sniper candy <3

also we love a girlboss who asks >100x to shoot him on sight lmao

It’s been months since the ravine and she’s seen him just about everywhere she’s been. When SpecGru was gathering intel on KorTacs drug affiliations, she saw him in the haunted deserts of Sonora, Mexico where she lies in the dirt redder than blood and coyotes sing her to sleep. She gazes down at him atop crumbling 16th-century Byzantine marble when she picks off the guards of a weapons supplier in Belgrade, Serbia. In the ancient and verdant bamboo forest of Yibin, China, hunting down spy affiliations, she camps across a creek from him for a night.

“we’ve got to stop meeting like this!” - konig, probably

He would’ve been a good sniper, in another life. If he wasn’t built like the trees she climbs for her shots.

mausy your crush is showing 🤭

He walks like a monster with three legs (and at some point about three months into their little game, she touches herself thinking about that third leg.

i mean honestly? give maus a medal for holding out for three months before succumbing, damn

The secret stays between them and their radios become the divining rods of close encounters.

secret forbidden relationship is one of my fave tropes <3

Mostly it’s just breathing on each line, mostly it’s just-

“König?”

“Maus?”

“Mhm.”

“Hmm.”

honestly this sounds more intimate than sex

She knows she should get a shrink or a good fuck to stop fucking thinking about him like this, but sometimes he whispers a joke into his radio and she laughs, and sometimes she tells him about the book she’s been reading, and sometimes he shows her his favorite knife tricks, and sometimes she tells him stories of before she was in the military and he always laughs and asks questions to show he’s actually engaged and he cares and-

this is so domestic and cute for warzone flirting <3

When they’re alone he’s the perfect gentleman, he gets no closer than when she reaches out to contact him first. When they’re not, it's a whole different story. He runs into the middle field like if he can just reach her, he can keep her. If he can carry back his conquest, well… kings get their war spoils, don’t they? It’s a terrible secret she keeps alive only in her heart, but she hopes one day he finally will.

mausy gettin bingo on all our fave kinks today, apparently

maus picking up on his knife skills and noticing his anxiety via the shaking hands (and that they don’t shake at all around her) is just peak PEAK PEAK PEAK fanfic vibes. feeling safe around someone is one of the biggest green flags in the universe and a gift <3

 It’s a shame, but she’s a little happy that it’ll be König, her cat, that’ll catch her corpse.

honestly these two were made for each other lmao

ok THE SCENE WHERE THE FIRST TIME THEY REALLY, REALLY MEET? HE KILLS FOR HER? LITERALLY PUTS HIS ARMS OUT FOR HER TO CATCH HER FALL? 

And the first thing he says is a promise. A promise of help. A promise of aid.

I was like speechless with joy and giddiness for a good minute or two reading this whole scene lmao SO SATISFYING esp with konig’s lil gasp when she falls into his arms <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 UGH PLS PAPS CAN I GIVE YOU A MEDAL??? A HUG??? A KISS???? MY UNDYING LOVE AND DEVOTION??? well in lieu of all this I’ll just give your fic multiple visits and so much rambling <3

also their first meetcute THEY EXCHANGE GIFTS????? HOW FUCKING CUTE ARE THEY GOD 

He has created, against all odds, something beautiful and delicate out of a brutal tool and doomed material.

so this absolutely stunning construction of a sentence pretty much sums up why I love COD fandom/fanfic writers so much..

I forget where I read this somewhere on this hellsite but it went something like “it’s subversive to write these men made to die/made for war, made to be loved instead” and reminds me of one of my favorite quotes that I stumbled on a random reddit Q&A 

“I get discouraged sometimes - just like everyone. I question whether my music/life/work matters at all.

The danger is letting other people define your soul's worth. Sometimes folks will like what you do, other times they'll hate it.

But I continually remind myself that I do NOT matter as a result of what I do, I matter because of who I AM. I am not a "human doing" but a "human being. " I matter simply because I was made in the image of the unmade maker, and I am loved by Love.”

“I am not a human doing, but a human being” 

“I am made in the image of love, and I am loved by Love”

“we are, against all odds, something beautiful and delicate, created out of brutal tool and doomed material” 

these words touch such a deep and core and unspeakably true part of me - that i forget often, that i find hard to believe, that i struggle to remember and cling to - and tbh one of the most frequent places I find this much-needed encouragement is in FANFICTION! <3

fanfic writers you are truly some of the most beautiful people on this planet &lt;3

anyway yeah, fanfic as therapy is a helluva drug and so fucking real

 if I could give all my beloved writers a diploma i would pay a calligrapher to write this gold leaf ink or some shit and put on my best lipstick and smooch it all over and print it out on vellum for you all <3

ANYWAY WHERE TF WAS I- o yes, simping over both maus and konig

When he turns to go she thinks how much his hands must’ve hurt to make this little thing 

this is so real; everytime I try my hand at sewing/mending (and i got tiny hands yall) for an extended period of time my fingers always end up so crampy in a uniquely painful way

i also get big “gift of the magi by o. henry” (truly one of my favorite short stories of all time) vibes from this exchange <3

(tl;dr: here, my heart, let me cut out and gift you my heart - oshit what’s that? your heart? *scrambles to catch and not break it*)

cos honestly on one level how fucking hilarious that they basically exchange a piece of wood and a rock lmao but really THEY ARE GIVING SOMETHING SO SPECIAL TO EACH OTHER <333333

The next time she sees him, about a week later, she sees him sharpening his massive field knife with the tiny whetstone on his comically large thigh, and in response, she thumbs at the wooden effigy in her pocket. They laughed into their radios to each other. 

ok how fucking hilarious and sexy that they are basically watching each other finger each other…..s' gifts

the final dialogue in chapter two needs to be in the merriam-webster dictionary under “flirting 101: peak examples”

but also omg THE EXTRA LITTLE GIFTS SHE LEAVES BEHIND FOR KONIG? HER FLINTING A HEART AND HIM SHATTERING IT IMMEDIATELY IN HIS GIANT-ASS SEXY ASS HANDS AND LEAVING HIMSELF BLEEDING AS PENANCE????? HIM IMAGINING COOKING FOR HER AND READING ALL TEH BOOKS SHE RECS HIM??? Honestly him musing about actually fucking her at the end is the LEAST sexy part of all this and the line about him aching to make her mewl did…things to me

if I could distill the maus x konig energy here into an drink, I think I could run up everest naked without breakin a sweat

The man is quick, but König is quicker, taking off through the snow like he did as a child. Running with reckless abandon, long legs carrying him faster and further than anyone else when he and his cousins would play capture the flag at his Oma’s house in Gauso. 

i love papa’s (really need to find a better nickname for writer while I write this lol) way of capturing like…the sense of child-like wonder/safety and domesticity you return to when you are in love/find yourself in the presence (physical or not) of someone you love in her writing, also why i really love this fic so much

Slicing that man clean between his ribs like a lion strikes a lamb was the second most satisfying experience of his life, greatly eclipsed by the settling of her weight against his chest when she trusted him enough to jump into his arms. 

*chanting to summon my talented fellow konig simps to draw fanart of this scene*

“You big, everywhere? I mean, with hips like those… ”

“...” Fuck, bad time to get a boner.

SIR.

hast thou not heard the term “video killed the radio star”???? you’re alone and miles away only talking via radiowaves, LITERALLY THE BEST TIME TO GET A BONER???? smh unless ofc the best time for konig is when he’s with maus &lt;3

“…he’d been chasing a little prayer in her shape. He wouldn’t have considered it ‘done’ when he gave it to her but-

Her warmth was still in his fingers, her beautiful eyes trained on him, her fantastic form somehow devoid of his blood or his filth in his rescue attempt, well. He had been praying, hadn’t he? It’s only right to pay tithing to the thing you worship. He gave her the figure, and he did so with the only real regret being that he couldn’t give her more and that he almost sullied her perfection with his violence.

also men near-worshipping the women they simp for is also a huge kink of mine (i mean whose isn’t it? also i hurt my brain trying to discern if that last sentence i wrote made sense but college was a long tiem ago for me soooo)

And to top it all off, when he wrenched himself away from her, heart heavy and entirely certain that she would never, could never, follow- she called him back and reciprocated. 

can confirm, reciprocated feelings is an indescribable feeling, war on drugs would’ve been game over day 1 if it was fought with requited feelings

When he turns away it is because his brain cannot comprehend a world in which she walks away with him.

well, snipe me right in the heart why dont you papi! (again, still need to find a different nickname for writer)

And in fairness, he would rather die than admit his treachery, not out of any misplaced moral but instead out of precaution for her safety.

honestly, husband goals

konig’s dream is p e r f e c t i o n “I love and trust you and feel safe enough to put my life into your thighshands, even if that means you’ll take it”

“Like dovetail joints, a great carpenter must have made them to fit together. There must be a God, and he must have made her to perfectly fit beside (and dare he hope, inside?) her. 

The only thing older than war to mankind is intimacy. You need soldiers for war, you need men for soldiers, and you need love to make those men. “

“He is remembering how to be human, to be a man and not a soldier, and he smiles back into her mouth.”

“She is giving him total control. Complete power and without hesitation. In her teary eyes, he sees a soldier’s trust, firm and unwavering. Ever faithful. Unquestioningly and genuinely she believes the man she’s at the mercy of will make her need no mercy. “

once again paps (yes yes need new nickname for writer, stfu mads) just dropping literary masterpieces casually

“König,” her eyes glaze over with worry. It’s a dangerous game they’re playing and they both know it. “Are you sure you want me?” She whispers, lips meeting the shell of his ear, he feels her fever pitch skin even through the fabric of his mask. His heart aches and he’s so angry with himself that she could even ask that. As if there were ever any questions. As if he has ever wanted anything else in his life like he wants this. As if there is anything else to want. As if there is anything else. 

Truly every beloved’s hopeful query and every lover’s debt to happily answer <3

 When he wakes up in his cold barracks, decidedly alone and not in between her thighs, he pounds the bed in frustration.ly ok the mood whiplash when i laughed out loud at konig pounding bed with his fists cos hes grumpy and horny

Not so dissimilar to the bride-stealing traditions his Oma had told him about as a boy.

damn oma what stories you be tellin to children lmao

though I AM recalling a medicinal anthropology class I took in college that was absolutely fascinating - we did touch on bride-napping as an actual thing in hmong culture (though from what I learned it has less IRL dubcon and more elopement vibes)

The fantasy of her is potent and life-consuming, but he is also viscerally aware that it is just that. A fantasy.

konig, thinking this, as he lives out most of his actual fantasies lmao

It is not real and despite his choking desire to be with her, he is not entirely sure she wants him.

ah yes, ‘idiots in love,’ an absolute banger of a trope

He wants so desperately to just be a fucking person for her. A person allowed weakness, a person allowed good-morning kisses, a person allowed terrible flirting, a person allowed to sit in the same room, a person allowed to touch and savor and make better another human. Allowed to heal, not harm. Allowed to save, not slaughter.

But he is a soldier, he’s not a person, and he’s not sure he ever really was a person in the first place.

The only thing he wants more than to have her is for her to want him. That hope is a delusion deeper than the ravine they met at, he’s sure. 

🥹🥹🥹🥹

yep just uh nothing happening over here, not crying over fanfic what -how dare you insinuate-

He feels no shame when he wraps his arms around the bunched comforter on his chest, imagining it’s a slight body he faithfully cradles.

*tripping, stumbling, running to pay for a custom body pillow big enough for konig to hug for his comfort* (not for me, would be too big anyways)😉😏

no literally ive thought about it i might have to do olympic-level qualifying gymnastics stretching to fit someone of his stature anyway it’s not like i made to-scale stick figure models doodled out on post-its in various creative positions to work out the physics of it or anything cough

If she knew how obsessed he’s become that he cannot help himself from having dreams about her and cannot help himself from getting off to the idea that she killed him with her fucking thighs

sir. 

please. 

i am ready to beat off the hordes of other women with a sharpened stick who would find this hot and respectful af

also obsessed with this soap who chews on pencaps and macguyvers radios to look like they’re fucking (or maus just has her head in the gutter, but really girl whose isnt??? and someone really needs to tell me if this is wrong grammatically every time i type it it sounds right)

also as a certified soap simp i also just have to say, you know you’ve got it bad when you look deep into soap’s eyes… and fantasize about another man LMAO

“No thanks,” she purrs as she finally sets herself into position.

i like this subtle nod to konig after she re-tells her katze’s joke <3 ooooo reading papaver’s writing is like eating a three-course meal at your fave comfort diner<3

The early morning light hits the streets the same way it had hit the forest ground that day.

i also love this line <3 i can picture those blue-orange sunrise hours in my head and it’s so lovely because the scene is also tinged with all the complex emotions from their first meeting

He throws it up and catches it without looking at it, instead his eyes are laser-focused on Mouse.

hothothothothothothothot (i realize just typing out hot over and over again leads you to also read thot, but honestly, still tracks)

She remembers her trigger finger twitching with sinful power, she remembers choking back the insistence at killing another lonely person, devoid of their autonomy on a basic level when they signed up for a mercenary-issued ticket to hell.

this line…is too real 

“Because they are weapons of maus-destruction. ” Konig replies like it’s not the stupidest thing she’s ever heard in her goddamn life.

somewhere simon ghost riley has to suppress the urge to put down his rifle, stand up, and do a slow golf clap

Suddenly, his eyes look lived in, like someone has just put up new curtains in an abandoned house. His whole affect changes hinging on what was an irresponsible outburst on her behalf at best.

And for the first time, she does not fear a monster hunting her through the woods, silent and purposeful in his pursuit of prey. Instead, she wants to understand a man, whose eyes have lit up like a princess has just laughed when he kissed her hand.) 

*i am suppressing the feminine urge to print out paper doll cutouts of maus and konig and just hang them around random parts of my apartment making heart eyes at each other*

Maybe, it's dangerous, to wave a steak in front of a mountain lion, but what if she wants to get mauled?

these two, a match made in heaven. truly there’s someone for everyone~

also i love this COD book club that is happening; i also have a semi-regular work meeting where I hit the jackpot of getting the most chill but passionate cohorts and our goal is basically shooting the shit & talking about stuff we love and how to share it with the world like a workhours book club and I hope everyond gets to experience a little joy in the middle of 9-5 capitalist hell that is the workweek like this <3

Soap says, pulling out a well-worn copy of The Silence of the Lambs from the bag.

“He said he picked it up years ago in Polish thinking it was a cooking field guide.”

 fucking dying

how she could rest entirely on top of his chest and not touch the ground beneath them and-

once again i fucking love their inadvertent mindreading/mirroring their shared desires unbeknownst to each other. MOVE THE FUCK ASIDE, JANE AUSTEN

also if gromsko gave me “special field medicine lessons” I would probably pay to continue them

also on this note MEN ARE SOME OF THE SNOOPIEST MOST GOSSIPY BITCHES IN THE UNIVERSE CAN I GET AN AMEN? CAN I GET A HELL YEAH? CAN I GET A WHOOP WHOO-

she basks infatuated by the calamitous captivation he exhibits.

*fanning myself with ripped out pages of shakespeare and hemingway to burn at papaver’s altar*

When he lifts his hood to blow a kiss to her, she knows she will never get her traitorous heart back.

sir??

excuse me sir????

i thought you were told you couldn’t be a sniper? what the fuck is this tender bullshit of a snipe straight to my heart-

also that last chappy YAY ENEMIES TO ALMOST-LOVERS TO ALMOST-ENEMIES, LITERALLY CANNOT FIND THIS TROPE ANYWHERE!!!!

He’s always hoped to be able to pound down into her quaking form. 

the first time i read this i blacked out after seeing the phrase “pound down” and instead all i remember after slapping myself awake is actually reading the phrase “he’s always hoped to take her to pound town”

also why am i hot for righteous konig in shining armor being willing to go from zero to murder when he thinks maus is a pimp

and the INDIRECT KISSING VIA THE CIGGY? UNFFFFFHHH FUCKING KILL ME NOW SO I CAN DIE HAPPY (yes i am so easily pleased, sue me)

also i shrieked when maus kicks her crotch up WITHIN SPITTING/BITING DISTANCE OF KONIG PLEASE I WOULD PAY TO WATCH THIS FEATURE LENGTH FILM????

The throbbing in his pants also suggests that he’s probably forgiven her by now as well. 

*nodding sagely* yes, boners never lie

also maus slapping konig while he’s holding a knife between his teeth is big step on me queen energy

also the requital and reciprocation of the lines and actions they feed each other is just- one moment: *goes to sephora to buy more lipgloss as i ran out while giving chef’s kisses in bulk to papaver*

i love that konig is passing the time just being horny for maus, an efficient king 🫡

also when i saw gosau austria mentioned i went down a hole googling where it is/pictures and it is absolutely beautiful!!!! 

I eagerly await updates papi <3 

[bcbdrums]

Do you think Drakken tries to get rid of his flowers post finale? Or do you think he keeps them forever? I want to say he keeps them, but I also think he would find it embarrassing when they act out his own thoughts. I also think it would be cute if he kept them, and every time he wanted Shego closer to him, his flowers acted on it.

man.... i have been back and forth on this SO much. a lot of this answer is going to be personal opinion, but i WILL say what i think Drakken would actually do.

so, initially, i couldn't stand the mutation. initially my headcanon was he gets rid of them immediately and life goes on as normal.

part of my reasoning for this is because when i can't rationalize something scientifically in my brain, it collapses. and since the mutation is unrealistic as depicted (just like Shego's powers), i couldn't find myself writing for it logically.

in fact, i have more than one WIP with the mutation killing him. or the happy ending where he gets rid of it. that's how much it bothers me scientifically. it's one of those things where "it's a cartoon" can't break through to me, as much as i argue that point for KP on many other things.

if you've read my fics, you'll notice i never call Shego's powers "plasma" or anything like other writers. i stick with "fire" and "glow" and i never try to explain any of it, because, it cannot be explained. scientifically it doesn't work. and as my brain can't handle this, i had to just accept it as part of her character. but weird space stuff is easier for me to deal with than the plants.

so.... in my heart of hearts, i want him to get rid of it.

HOWEVER........ fantastic art and writing, by the likes of @cocoa-night, @gothicthundra, and others, have me seeing deeper possibilities for it.... especially cocoa's art. she really shows the cute side as you mentioned, and the vulnerability involved with the mutation. GT shows the same in her writing. i have many other WIPs due to this fabulous influence that deal with Drakken's emotions over being a freak, how to deal with these new powers, and whatever else it might do to him... iiii should finish some of these, lol.

in all my published post-canon writing, i either don't mention the mutation at all, or in Forget the Days Gone By (a Shego backstory fic, post-canon told through flashbacks) i have him working on removing it very easily. cartoon reset sort of vibe. so…. while my brain can't handle the lack of science with it, for creative purposes i can really see the possibilities.

(also see @split-n-splice's writing for fantastic depictions of Shego's powers and dealing with them)

so......as to what would probably actually happen? one of two things. if show writers didn't wanna deal with it, which they likely wouldn't, he'd get rid of the mutation offscreen w/o explanation. but realistically with a mutation that involved and with the power to control sentient plants... he'd keep it for world domination. actually i don't think he could remove it... i think it's permanent and would kill him. there's my science brain again... but, the cuteness factor and the humor factor? oh, yes. very yes. that's a goldmine right there. instead of blushing, he could burst into bloom when Shego approaches... the neck-petals could be an embarrassment thing... there's all manner of possibilities for fluff, humor, plot device, angst, etc etc... it goes on. many creative opportunities.

i think he wouldn't actually like the mutation, but Drakken's a renaissance man... he'd use it to his advantage immediately. and...yeah i don't think it's actually removable, realistically.

hope all that rambling answers the question and makes sense! thanks so much for the ask!

[old-lorarri]

congratulation on 3k!

may I request paper rings hihi<3

I am a virgo and I would like to be shipped with an f1 driver. I really love math and science and f1 my sports include swimming, futbol, and futsal. I enjoy cooking specially pasta. I also like reading and listening to music by LDR, The Weeknd, Arctic Monkeys, Marina, Taylor Swift, and Måneskin.

I think that is the best I can describe myself lol.

Thank you! Congratulations you deserve it! Stay hydrated! Lots of love! 😘🩷✨️

MAX VERSTAPPEN

max is the geography expert

your the math and science expert

though he's not really good at other sports besides racing

he will join you in doing swimming futbol and futsal

and you look forward to kicking his ass everytime

will sit there and listen to you ramble about you favourite artists

and will ask questions so he can makes notes

on what albums and merch to buy you late one don't he line

you also go to basically every concert you can

and he def get's you introduced to the artist themselves cuz hello your dating max verstappen

[pia-writes-things]

Thank you @bourbon-ontherocks for the tag, this was fun !

Are you named after anyone? A postal card lol More seriously, my middle names are my great-grand-mothers'

When was the last you cried? Depends on your definition of crying but I'd say yesterday when I rewatched Anne with an e and teared up. Otherwise, saturday night after finishing She said.

Do you have kids? nope

What sports do you play/have you played? dance, football, handball, swimming, climbing

Do you use sarcasm? Not really, I rarely understand when other people do, and it rarely lands when I do

What is the first thing you notice about people? Their smile and what their hobbies/passion are

What is your eye color? brown

Scary movies or happy endings? I must have answered this question a hundred times by now, you can have scary movies with happy endings, but I don't really like scary movies

Any talents? overthinking everything ^^ I don't really know tbh

Where were you born? France

What are your hobbies? reading, writing, watching series and movies, playing the Switch, talking with my friends, playing the piano, sleeping...

Do you have any pets? technically know but my parents have a cat and I grew up with her so I kinda consider her my pet still

How tall are you? small enough that both my sisters can lean on me whenever they feel like it

Favorite subject at school? french (literature), foreign languages, history and social sciences

Dream job? Social sciences publisher, or just publisher. Please just hire me when I graduate

tagging @earanie, @hemerae-ramblings, @capybaraonabicycle and anyone who reads this !

[shadowbender19]

So, a new Heartless video just dropped. I had a notes doc open and recorded basically every thought that I had during the video. Some of these are vibes only, but I hope that someone finds this enjoyable.

This art style is truely stunning

Eira’s little ghosty boy? I love him

Alchemy’s Team Rocket vibes? chefs kiss

I love Alchemy so much, very gender (though so are all of them lol)

Variant outfits? Nice

Yo, the music that played at the beginning of Flint's section hit different

Flint's D&D vibes are immaculate

The way Alex does action is immaculate

Eira my beloved. My boy is back

“Snow Smith” gives me big Gray from Fairy Tail vibes

HE HAS A DAD

Is Eira going to build himself a forge?

I was wrong, but this is so much better. They were roommates!

I want to say that the fan fiction writes itself, but sadly it does not

Doppel and Glass having slightly different powers would be very cool

Doppel’s sketch reminds me of Ben 10 and I love it

Ah, nods so they’re artificers

Angst, I love it

River content lets go

River and Alchemy having matter vs energy powers (an oversimplification I know) could lead to some mad physic related bs

Powers developing and evolving is always amazing

Brooke is the name for guard girl

River’s logic and science based reasoning sounds like an incredible character point

New brush for the hair

River hitting mute on Lorelei is so funny

River’s eyes are iconic

New desktop background just dropped

Milk away, I love this stuff Ok, so I didn’t keep track of thoughts for the first two, so I’m going back to do Heartless

The quirk style names of each character’s powers spark joy

Grave robber is a sick name for a power, hope he finds a way to reuse it if this ever becomes a bigger thing

All I can think of is hungry hungry hippos, vibes are correct tbh

I love the balance created by the ghouls, great way to balance mimicry magic

Frosty boi Final thoughts

Not really relevant but before he colours in the eyes, this art style is very reminiscent of Ben 10 omniverse which I absolutely adore

The focus on change and evolution of their magic, especially as the narrative evolves is beautiful and makes me really want to see this as an extended story.

This art style sparks joy. The dynamic poses, the way that the clothes move with the action, the way that intangible magic is so clearly on display. I don’t know if this is just the way that Alex draws action, or if his art style has evolved once again, but it is so nice to look at.

Basically, I’m back on my Heartless BS. This is my formal apology to my followers who don’t know what that is, as well as an even more formal request of whoever the hell runs the discord server. Please add me, I wish to be a part of whatever the hell goes on there that I keep hearing about.

Finally, thank you @abd-illustrates, this was incredible And that’s about it. Thanks, for reading my rambling, I’ll probably be posting more about this over the next week or so, so stay tuned.

[ohgodmyeyes]

I am so happy you explained the feederism kink/feeding because I've always had a hard time explaining it to people around me because they seem to misunderstand it and think I am trying to harm someone (which is absolutely insane that they even think about it), and personally want to thank you, because of you I managed to explore more about it and learn much more. I always knew I kind of liked it but until I read your fics I realized how much I adore it. You are my favorite writer since day one. I am eternally grateful for your fics and how much they have inspired me and helped me to smile after a bad day.

Maybe I'm rambling at this point but I am being so sincere my heart is out.

- 💌

this is so sweet i almost don't know what to say... so i guess i'll put my heart out a bit too and tell you that fanfic and fanart were (and still are) a huuuge part of what helped/helps me accept my sexuality for what it is. so to know that i've paid that forward in any way with my own work is heartwarming... especially considering what a challenge it's been for me to create much of anything lately.

there are a million different ways to be attractive and to perceive attractiveness, and knowing from a very young age that the kinds of people i wanted to be closest to were also the people most likely to get derided for their appearance undoubtedly had an impact on me — on how i view myself, my own worth, others' intentions, and the world around me. every instance of fatphobia i witnessed growing up kind of hit me two-fold, and I'd be lying if i said that didn't play a part in why i'm so aggressive about defending my attraction now that i'm older. (maybe it's even part of why my simple, aesthetic preference morphed into a full-blown fetish — we'll never know.)

it can be hard, because i have plenty of issues and it's actually kind of embarrassingly easy to hurt me (lol) — but, knowing that someone else might possibly draw some solace or whatever from one of my fics and feel better in the knowledge that they are NOT alone with their "weird" kink is enough to keep me open about it.

because if we can choke each other for fun and milk each other for fun and blow smoke into each other for fun and tie each other up with rope for fun... then really, why can't we overfeed each other for fun, too? there isn't really any logical answer besides weight bias, and weight bias is fucking stupid. <3

anyone who thinks you're trying to cause harm hasn't been listening to you/doesn't want to hear what you have to say. because for everyone who wants to fill a big fat belly, there's someone else who wants their big fat belly filled.

like... it's not rocket science. :p

thank you so much, i love you for reaching out.

[mysteriawrites]

Hello! If you do Baldur's Gate 3 matchups, could I please get one? I'm an autistic she/they enby, I'm fine with any gender, and while I currently work at a library I'm hoping to become a professor of celtic languages and a linguist someday, so I'm learning Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Welsh. I'm super short, only 4' 10" (147 cm), with long wavy auburn hair, glasses, pale freckled skin and a boyish fashion sense. I also have some chronic illnesses like scoliosis, joint pain and asthma. I'm really polite and very friendly with everyone I meet, but I'm also very protective over my loved ones and can be sassy when I feel it's deserved. While I'm generally an anxious person, I'm not afraid to make the first move because I basically tell myself that the moment could slip away, but I will be having heart palpitations while doing that lol. My special interests include linguistics, science, magic (I practice witchcraft irl), cooking, video games, plant identification and a bunch of other stuff, though honestly I'm down to learn about whatever is available (within reason). I've been described as "homely" and "wise beyond my years" since I give good advice and am very self aware. I really enjoy taking care of people but can get flustered if the sentiment is returned.

Thank you so so much, take care of yourself and Happy Holidays sweetie!

We Interupt your regularly scheduled program for.......A MATCHUP TRADE WITH: @tolkien-fantasy

An: i haven’t finished bg3 so bear with me please

Gale of Waterdeep!!!

I’m just gonna say it. You two are fuckin nerds, but that’s part of what makes your relationship work so well. Gale is overjoyed to have someone who is not only as passionate about things as he is, but also shares the same passions. You guys also have similar views and personalities in general.

I’m not gonna go into how yall met since the game p much does that for me so I’m just gonna ramble about your relationship until i run out of ideas lol.

So Gale takes every opportunity he can to visit the library you work at. It’s killing two birds with one stone really: he gets the books he’s looking for and he gets to see his darling girlfriend.

On the topic of books you guys absolutely have reading dates. Whether it’s in his tower, your house, or at the library during your break you two will just sit together and read. Sharing notes on whatever the subject the book is about.

You guys also do joint magic research together. Lots of books and papers scattered everywhere, potions bubbling and brewing in cauldrons, blackboards covered in chalk. It’s basically your mad scientist lair.

Although you know how to not take things too far and we all know Gale needs someone to restrain him sometimes.

Gale enjoys you teaching him about your type of magic. He finds it fascinating and gives you his full attention when you’re explaining it. He also asks a loooooooooot of questions.

Given your knowledge on practically every language in faerun, you make his research so much easier by decoding ancient text for him. What would take him months to do would take you at most a week, although he does force you to take breaks if you ever get too into it and forget to eat or sleep.

You guys absolutely have a garden together. Not only to grow magical plants for your spells and potions, but also just some for cooking and because it’s a calming hobby/past time.

On that more domestic note, you do most of the cooking. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to cook, but he’s the type who would live off instant food and microwave meals so more time could be devoted to his research.

He does try to help though and he finds it very enjoyable to cook with you. It makes him look up from his books and attaining knowledge for a moment and appreciate what’s right there in front of him: you.

I feel like you guys would have a cat. Although you adopt Scratch the dog and the Owlbear on your adventure, I feel like he would really like a cat.

Also imagining that cat causing havoc in your lab by knocking stuff over, sleeping on your notes, and trying to steal your attention away from your work is hilarious to me but shhhh

Part of why he does so much reading and researching, is to try and heal some of your aches and pains. Even if he can’t take your problems away completely (though he’ll never stop looking and trying) he does want to at least make your life a bit easier and the pain more bearable if not non existent.

I’d like to think of Gale as an ambivert. He doesn’t get tired out by socializing, but also appreciates his alone time. So if you guys are ever at a social event he’ll be able to take the initiative for once and make up an excuse for you guys to leave when your social battery is low or you’re getting overstimulated.

He thinks your height is the cutest thing ever. How you have to get stool or latter to reach the higher shelves in the tower. He doesn’t mind having to reach them for you, in fact he enjoys it. He also likes wrapping his big frame around you when you guys cuddle.

Speaking of cuddling, while he doesn’t mind being the little spoon (despite your small frame he feels very comforted in your arms) he’s usually the big spoon. He’s nice and warm and likes having his arms around you.

He wants you to feel the same love, care, and protection that you give to others.

[reidslovely]

I have also been in a big Peter Parker mood lately and it’s all due to THOSE pictures of Andrew and Florence Pugh from the set of their new movie.The professor!Peter vibes are just insane

loooook those pictures are burned into my skull for-ev-er. and they do give off such professor vibes i love love love it. gives me like those silly little professors who just ramble and soapbox most their lecture and the last 30 minutes of class is focused on actual note taking cause he got off on how robotics is about to either save man kind or ruin it but we have to get our heads out of our asses and decide. and just picture like always going up to his desk after lecture (you’re like a ta graduate student) to share your own thoughts with him because you’re kind of shy to do it during his lecture because of the massive school girl crush you have on him. he knows, he can see that you like him but it’s never a topic of conversation until like a week before classes end and graduation he’s just brought it up so casually it makes you want to crawl out of your skin cause you thought you were hiding it super well

BUT NOT TO MAKE THIS TOO LONG IT ALSO GIVES ME LIKE PRIMARY EDUCATION TEACHER PETER VIBES!!! OMG

i’ve been reading the ‘among the dead man’ storyline and peters teacher moments stick out so big in that lol. like reading it last night and seeing him in a class room made me think about those photos. he’s literally talking to the kids about gases and all they want to talk about is how he used to be a big time photographer for the daily bugle lol. i feel like as a science teacher peter would have a thing for the english teacher down the hall, and all the students would be plotting to get them to date (they really think they can pull it off too their in middle school they think everything is possible) after seeing them interact how nervous peter is around mrs. (y/n) whenever she brings him stuff from the teachers lounge or resource room. or whenever he brings her things she’s left in the copier.

“mr. parker says you look nice in green.”

“oh that’s interesting mr. parker shouldn’t be talking about me to about you guys.” fully starts to wear more green in her outfits.

“ms. (y/n) was trying to check out a book about stephan hawking today at the library but miss. evans wouldn’t let her.”

he finds his own stephan hawking books he had to read for some reason at some point and brings them to her classroom during break.

this goes on for month and months getting to know each other. her learning more about chemistry and science to talk to him and he’s just rambling off everything he knows about classic literature and books even popular right now. right before christmas break theres a dance and they both get stuck chaperoning, and they’re talking and laughing. after the dance he walks her home annnd the tension snaps after he’s kissed her under some mistletoe. start back the next semester secretly dating.

sorry if this whole post was a flight of ideas and a struggle to read it is 8 am and i’m about to start finals study guides. but yes those pictures are soo..mhm love them <3. thank you for sharing with the class friend