#the two were never antagonistic to each other but they didn't see each other as more than acquaintances at best

[arolesbianism]

Anyways! Yeah Sliver was the younger iterator that looked up to Stars that I talked abt briefly before lol. Stars was the first of their iterator group to bounce, and cut off her communication systems long before Sliver died and wouldn't come back online until long after. Girlie missed all the consequences of her actions while dealing with separate consequences of her actions, so sad how were the rest of your group going to tell ppl to shut the fuck up abt the death of y'all's baby sister

[gr1mstar]

I'm a huge Dark romance book girlie

So can you write LDS boys finding out what she was reading like they had no idea reader has a fascination with dark romance books with psychotic ml or villains

I'M BETTER `✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹

note. i'm also a huge fan of darl romance books so i had fun writing this. thank you for your request love. also, i'm sorry for the wait, i hope you like it.

contains. love and deepspace boys x reader, fluff, sfw.

ZAYNE

you both had this hobby of reading, so it wasn't strange when zayne found you on the sofa in the living room of your apartment, reading a new book.

the only difference between you was that zayne read books related to medicine and history, while you liked to read romance books. zayne knew that you weren't into history or medicine, so he didn't bother to explain in detail what he read, but he was more satisfied listening to you complain that the two protagonists are stupid that they don't see that they love each other others.

at least zayne liked listening to your stories until they disappeared. suddenly, you started not telling him anything.

so curiously, when you put the book down to go drink a glass of water from the kitchen, he took the book you were reading at the moment, wanting to see what makes you stop sharing the plot of the story.

after some time, making your way back to the living room and seeing zayne with the book in his hand, his face red and a shocked expression on his face, you started to laugh subtly.

"what is it? what's with that expression?"

speechless, zayne puts the book down, moving closer to you.

"to understand that this is how you want me to be too?" he said, placing his hands on either side of your waist.

"what?"

"to talk to you like this… to tie you to the bed with something and make you stop walking the next day? to be crazy about you? what do you say?"

XAVIER

seeing you blushing in front of the book you were reading, xavier couldn't help but ask you what you were reading.

"ah, just a romance book." was your answer, returning to reading, the blush on your cheeks not disappearing.

not satisfied with the answer, xavier sighs and sits back with his head in your lap. thinking that he had nothing to lose, in a second the book you were reading now was in xavier's hands, his eyes on the lines you had just read.

"what is this?" he asked, flipping through a few pages and then looking at the cover. a smile appeared on his face. "do you like this stuff?" he continued, handing you the book back.

you didn't answer now the blush in your cheeks being much more obvious than before, your gaze moving down, avoiding his.

"i understand that you like antagonists more than heroes, right? someone obsessed with you?" xavier said, approaching you with big steps, now being a few millimeters away from you. bending down, his face was directly in front of yours, and with the help of a hand he forced you to look at him, grabbing your chin and turning your head.

"you're lucky, princess. i can be mean sometimes, but you have to take responsibility for it."

RAFAYEL

rafayel never understood what you like so much about books. it is a fictional story, with a fictional person. why waste your time reading about them when you have him, alive and very sexy, in front of you.

this, out of curiosity, he tried to read one day, when he had no painting to complete.

getting into bed, with a cup of coffee 'for energy', he started reading the last book you recommended, not expecting what would happen next.

the hours passed quickly, and in the middle of the book Rafayel lay down, looking at the time in wonder. the whole day had passed, and all he had done was read.

"i lived to see this too." he heard, immediately seeing that it was you at the door. "are you reading?" you asked, laying down on the bed next to him.

"let's say. i was curious why you like it so much." Rafael answered, leaving the book on the bedside table and taking you in his arms.

"and did you like it?"

he didn't say anything, taking his face into the crack between your shoulder and neck, inhaling the aroma of your body. he didn't want to admit that he liked the book, being too ashamed to tell you that now he understood why you liked it.

"so you like it." you said, laughing lightly.

"no. I'm better."

© 2024 gr1mstar — all rights reserved. please do not copy, modify, repost, translate, or claim my content as yours.

[thesoftboiledegg]

"Unmortricken" was a lot. In fact, it might have been a little too much.

To start, I loved the glimpse of what exists outside the Central Finite Curve. The visuals were stunning and reminded me of M.C. Escher's drawings. The Jetson-like family was a nice touch--if anything can happen, who says they can't have different animation styles? All those colorful portals make me wonder what's lurking just out of sight.

It's also funny that the space outside the Curve is full of Rick's favorite thing: crystals. If he took a trip there, he'd come back with his pockets stuffed with gemstones.

Evil Morty's reappearance gave us a decent character study. Since he wasn't the antagonist, we saw him interact with the C-137s as a regular person. Morty's a little impressed, and Rick has a grudging respect for him. Others have called Evil Morty the Rickest Morty, and I agree: similar intelligence, similar technology and similar bloodthirst.

I was glad that he left in the end because that's what his character arc is about anyway. He doesn't want to be part of anyone else's story, not even another Morty's.

However, that's also part of the issue that I had with this episode. Seeing Evil Morty was great, but it was also a little...pointless? You could've had the same story without him. He's not working with Prime, and he has no ties to C-137 after "Rickmurai Jack," so it felt like the writers just said "Hey, you know what would be cool?"

I'm not against writers having fun and giving the audience what they want. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (yeah, groan at me, Marvel haters) is fan service in blockbuster form, and it was one of the best theater experiences I've ever had.

Still, if Evil Morty came back, I think he should've had a separate episode. The episode juggled C-137 Rick, Morty, Evil Morty and Prime Rick pretty well, giving them satisfying interactions with each other, but no Evil Morty would've meant more relationship development for the C-137s.

Evil Morty's backstory also didn't reveal much about him. I mean--yeah, we all figured that he had an abusive Rick and got fed up. The fact that he had a "regular" Rick instead of a deranged lunatic does make a point about the banality of abuse. Monsters aren't always raving maniacs who torture people in their basements. Ordinary people can wear you down with a slow drip of toxicity and neglect.

I enjoyed this episode, and Evil Morty's return was exciting, but cramming the series' two biggest antagonists and storylines into twenty minutes was a little overwhelming. New plot developments kept showing up, too: Rick found Prime! Prime's various lairs! Omega device! I would've preferred a two-parter.

I'll admit that if you told me that we'd see Evil Morty and Rick Prime in the same shot, I never would have believed you, but here we are.

On that note, Prime's characterization was perfect. No attempt at a cutesy, sad backstory; he's a laughing monster until the end. And is it really the end? He has regeneration abilities, but C-137 acts like he's dead and even gives up the search. This leaves us with a few options:

C-137 killed him.

Prime fooled C-137 into thinking that he's dead when he isn't.

C-137's keeping him alive for later use.

Hopefully, this is more complicated than it looks because I'll be disappointed if this is the end of Prime. He's a brilliant reflection of C-137: the Rick he'd be without his tiny shred of humanity.

And Prime's a maniac, but he tells C-137 the truth. Rick broke into Prime's house. He pretended he belonged with this group of strangers. He latched on to Prime's grandson because he never had his own. His brutal, violent streak never went away no matter how long he tried to play house.

Prime says "Admit it! You would have been me!" In season three and parts of season four, Rick was close. His love for his family--love that he pretended he didn't have--and desire for their approval just barely pulled him back. But what kept that spark alive? How close was he to becoming a cold, unfeeling shell?

In the end, C-137's not satisfied after he destroys Prime--and weirdly, I'm not satisfied, either. Beating Prime to an unrecognizable pulp doesn't bring Rick's original family back. It doesn't erase the atrocities that Rick's committed. It doesn't make his grief go away. It doesn't change the fact that Rick teetered on the edge of turning into the monster that he despised.

What's more satisfying is that Rick didn't turn out like Prime. His Morty doesn't give two shits about Prime, but he loves him. He hugs him in relief (come on, Rick, hug him back already!), cries out "Rick? Rick!" and shakes his body when he thinks he's dead, and talks excitedly as they return home.

Rick's going to therapy, which Prime would have mocked. He went from having nobody to living with FIVE kids if you count Morty and Summer. Even he and his Jerry are pretty tight.

Rick knows this, but he still feels empty all the time. Vengeance doesn't work, drinking doesn't work...wouldn't it be easier if he just switched off his humanity and laughed at everything, even his own death?

But now that he knows how it feels to be loved, especially by his hypothetical grandson, I think he'll always find himself at the Smiths' doorstep.

[fanstuffrantings]

Things the live action one piece had that I enjoyed:

Genuinely intimidating Buggy. People forget he's actually supposed to be scarey and the choice to have the town already be decimated with him forcing the crowd to adore him is amazing. Plus his portrayal was just fun all around.

Garp chasing luffy to test him. It totally fits and it gives us a secondary antagonist throughout the season for people who don't watch the anime/read the manga to enjoy while also developing Helmeppo and Coby. It keeps their B plot while still building the main story.

Usopp and Kaya's romance. The anime already has the implication there but if anyone got a romance I'm glad it was usopp. It's a sweet one and I'm someone who hopes the anime actually ends with them as a couple.

How they adjusted bits of the characters to better fit the medium. Sanji being a natural smooth flirt, usopp being cowardly but still doing what was necessary being two of them. We have a much shorter timeline to work with and doing slight changes meant that the characters could endear themselves to the audience more smoothly.

Luffy discovering his abilities during fights. Another thing that is more helpful for new watchers.

Mihawk actually fully putting down the krieg pirates. It was disappointing we didn't fully get a sanji arc fight but the choice to show Mihawk's skill during the garp call as he easily dispatches the huge krieg pirate army was a genuinely good call.

The crew having less hostility towards each other. I'm always going to love the anime dynamic but the live action dynamics kept the core of their relationships even with the changes. Sanji seeming to adore luffy, luffy being attentive to everyone, and nami being disgruntled but not outwardly violent with them.

Alvida keeping the same actress and her weight/looke never being something lobbied as an insult against her. All insults were on her personality. Her actress is genuinely fantastic in what other things I've seen her in. If we get season 2/Loguetown I would love to see her play off Buggy more.

Syrup village being a shipbuilding town, it helps explain usopp as the original best choice for fixing the merry while also helping us understand how he'd be able to know about building weapons. And using it to then trap everyone in the mansion during the final battle, truly inspired.

The live-action was clearly cared for and I do hope we get to see more arcs though I wonder how it will work.

[asukiess]

so like. why didn't anyone, specifically emilie, help amelie?

one can speculate, on top of normal twin-closeness and sibling relationships (which do play with various themes in the show but usually land with protection and love), that emilie and amelie were close--you can hc that they were antagonistic or resentful or often at arms, sure, but it does seem as though there was love there, an understanding that they were sisters and each other's other self.

we can also speculate amelie did not want children. from the transcript: "The king, the queen, and the lord all dreamed of the same thing: a child for the good princess, an heir for the kingdom."

so. emilie returns to court and sees her sister... and? what, amelie is good at covering her bruises? it's not glaringly obvious that amelie is suffering? emilie makes snide comments about amelie never leaving, about her obvious contempt for their parents and her shelter-dog nature?

and learning that amelie is looking for fertility treatment, too? that doesn't ring any alarm bells to emilie? the transcript makes it seem as if they're beautiful opposites, I'm sure this is not lost on the two of them. so if emilie is, ha, dying, to have a child, she must know her sister never wanted them? ("Take shape and give substance to our immense yearning for a child"; "our" can only be taken as an unreliable narrator, from colt; it's his jealousy, after all.)

is emilie mad that amelie never stands up for herself? is she mad that she didn't object to an arranged marriage--you always did that during games, too, and that's why you're not much fun, love.

but... is there a reason emilie used the miraculous herself, and yet colt used it, perhaps other than just his own narcissism? maybe emilie told gabriel to instruct colt to use it instead to save her from falling ill.

just makes me think !!

[tyrantisterror]

I've seen Utena and Evangelion get compared to each other for both being 1. dark coming of age stories that get increasingly surreal as time goes on and 2. supposedly deconstructing their respective genres. And I think there's a good basis for comparison in there, definitely, and they've both become anime I've made a point to revisit because they struck a very strong chord with me.

I think what gets me when comparing them, though, is that Utena gets to do what Evangelion sets up but never managed to finish - and some people inexplicably criticize Utena for it?

Cause Evangelion was clearly meant to be a longer series. They establish early on that there are eight Evas and eight teenage pilots for them. In the series itself we see four - well, five, technically, since an angel posing as a human named Kaworu tricks everyone into letting him pilot an eva, but still. There three side character teenagers introduced early, one of which pilots an eva (to disastrous results) while the other two remain supporting cast. It's possible they were intended to eventually be eva pilots too, but it's also possible the mystery pilots might have been foreignors like Asuka.

Either way, it's clear the story was meant to become bigger, but because of various behind the scenes reasons it didn't - it ultimately remains focused primarily on Shinji, Gendo (the true antagonist), Asuka, Rei, and to a lesser extent, Misato. And don't get me wrong, that still makes for an incredibly engaging show - I wouldn't trade any of the episodes and scenes focused on those cast members for the world, the depth to which those characters are explored is a huge part of what makes the series meaningful for me.

But Utena, while being a similarly character-focused series, does get to expand its scope in the way Evangelion set up but never paid off. The cast of Utena does get larger, and while the focus remains primarily on Utena, Anthy, the true antagonist Dio, and to a lesser extent Touga and Nanami, it finds time to shine the spotlight on a very rich supporting cast of characters. The Black Rose arc in particular is great for this, because it gives the supporting cast members introduced in the first arc - Juri, Miki, Nanami, garbage boy Saionji, and Wakaba - their own arcs and, in many cases, their own relationships with characters outside of Utena and Anthy's direct orbit. The lives and relationships of all these characters become really rich and interesting, with their own quirks and problems to overcome.

And, like, I've seen some people say this is a flaw - that these are "filler" episodes, that you can skip the Black Rose arc entirely, and it's baffling to me. The way all of these characters interplay with each other, how their struggles and arcs mirror and complement each other, is what makes the world and story of Utena so rich. It's still about Utena and Anthy in the end, but Utena and Anthy's arc is also made so much more meaningful by how it reflects the arcs of everyone around them - that ultimately all these characters are sharing facets of the same struggle, and if there's hope for Utena and Anthy at the end (and there is, especially in the movie), then there's hope for all these characters and, indeed, everyone in the audience who sympathized with them.

One thing that'll plague my imagination till the end of my days is the concept of what Evangelion would be if it could have broadened its scope the way they originally planned, and the way Utena broadens the scope of its narrative only fuels that wonder more. I'd kill to see Evangelion's Black Rose arc, and I'm so glad Utena got to have its world grow.

[findafight]

Ohhh fic where Steve and Robin and Dustin and Erica all casually make funny little haha jokes with each other about getting tortured/almost caught by the Russians under Starcourt because they all have that shared trauma and had many a long late night calls reassuring each other they're alive and playing dnd together and fulfilling lifetime supply of icecream obligations.

They do this because sure the rest of the party knew there were Russians under Starcourt but everything they went through in that basement was sorta...forgotten in the aftermath of literal flesh monster. And with Hopper dead and the Byers moving, there's so much happening that whatever happened to Steve's face (lost another fight...) and why he and Robin went from mildly antagonistic co-workers to codependent goobers who couldn't go literally a day without seeing the other or what made Dustin always ask if Erica was going to come for party hang outs are all sort of brushed under the rug. Not a big deal, really. Bigger things happening after everything.

And they cope together and scoops troop is a weird little section of the party no one but them really understands. Robin and Steve are attached at the hip and to a lesser extent so are Erica and Dustin (but they'll never admit it), and they all have mini gatherings together.

So, the casual mentioning of starcourt and specifically what went down with the Russians is commonplace for them. (Erica is quick to remind them she saved their asses, and are they so lame they need her help again? but she smiles and Steve and Robin just laugh and give her a big hug.) And somehow, they forget that not everyone really knows what went down before July 4th 1985.

And I want them to do it in front of everyone. I want them to have their stupid "this was so fucked up but we're alive and we got through it so now we have to laugh or we may never stop crying about it" banter at a big "we saved the world again!" Barbecue. I want the rest of the folks there to go silent and them not to notice.

I want someone to mention Steve not getting a black eye this time, congrats! and Robin going "the only reason why I didn't get one last time was because the Russians said-"

And Steve, who is lying with his head in her lap, reaches up to gently cup her cheek and says in a terrible Russian accent "don't worry, we will not ruin your pretty face!" (everyone is quiet around them, they do not notice)

She laughs. "And punched me in the gut a few more times. I peed blood for like, three days."

Steve goes "ewwww" only to be pinched by robin.

"you peed blood too, dingus. You got it worse than me and my pretty face."

He giggles and opens his hand up for a high five "pissing blood buddies, hell yeah!" And shifts in her lap. "But they bruised my pretty face. Rude."

"aww. It's okay, Stevie, your face is still so pretty. Prettiest boy in Hawkins."

"thanks Robin."

"at least Dustin and Erica got us out before they started ripping out fingernails." She shudders.

"or used the bonesaw"

"mmm. Unfortunately not before we got funky truth serum drugs though."

He leans up, looking at the two "y'all couldn't have been a bit faster?" But he's smiling, teasing. A well worn joke.

Dustin and Erica respond simultaneously with "I'm missing bones, Steve, what do you want from me?" And "I was ten and my legs were short as shit. Beggars can't be choosers." Respectively.

It is at this point an Actual Grown Up butts in.

"what. What do you mean ripping out fingernails?"

Robin and Steve look towards Joyce, who asked.

"like. To interrogate us? Because we just kept saying we worked for scoops even with the truth serum."

"because they thought we had to be superspies to get into their creepy lair and not a bunch of kids."

"mmhmm"

Hopper jumps in "wait. You were tortured by them?"

Robin and Steve give him eerily similar looks that express how obvious the answer to that is.

"yeah, duh."

"I don't go looking to get brain damage every year, you know."

Hoppers eye twitches. "Why didn't you say anything?"

[shygirl4991]

FIRST PRIZE WINNER

Your not the bad guy

First prize reward for @retardedpsyche Art done by @b-r-i-n-g-x the other places prizes

Tags: Angst, Comfort, fluff, nightmares

It was late into the night, the crew were all in their beds resting and having sweet dreams. Everyone except one meme guardian, SMG4 tosses and turns as the voice of Mr. Puzzle echoes through his head “And SMG4! Who knew you could play an antagonist so well, high marks from me!” He turns away from the voice to see the castle again, seeing the eldritch horrors cover the place he once knew as home made him feel sick.  He walks through the halls to hear those voices again “You will never be good enough,” he covers his ears as he keeps walking the hall.

“Nobody likes your videos!” “You are a failure!” “YOU'RE NOT ENOUGH!” SMG4 could hear each voice slip through the cracks as he ran faster through the castle; he needed the voices to stop to leave him alone. He charges into a room and slams the door shut, it was quiet, he was able to think again. That's when he heard frantic typing, a chill went down his spine as his eyes adjusted to the dark room. There he saw himself, the strange pink stains all over him, the light gone from his eyes. Nothing but a machine, working nonstop to be perfect.  He heard screams making him turn, his eyes going wide seeing a pool of black liquid start taking his friends. 

He runs to them attempting to pull them out, one by one his friends vanish into the strange pool “No…NO I CAN SAVE YOU GUYS!”  he grabs Three and pulls. SMG3 lets out a dark chuckle “So this is it huh…i really thought we were friends now,” Four’s eyes water as he keeps pulling only to see his partner sink into the pool. “Please…no..” he falls to the floor as SMG3 vanishes, he looks at his hand shaking, his thoughts running a mile per minute. He then hears clapping, breathing heavily, he looks up to see Mr. Puzzles.  “My my SMG4, no matter what you do you still are the villain. Do you really think your friends trust you after this, you and I should really get into television together!” SMG4 felt his anxiety slowly being replaced with anger, clenching his fist he gets up ready to fight the television. Only to pause seeing the man holding SMG3, the screen shows a smug expression “Give it up Four, look back at your show and it's clear as day you're the bad guy!” he then tosses three on the floor “And SMG3 was your victim for years.” Four shakes his head taking a step back, he couldn't be the villain.  The room goes dark, only the light of the TV shining through as it shows moments of SMG4 acting cold and uncaring towards his friends. Four closes his eyes “STOP!” he jumps out of bed stretching out to air, he shakes looking around his familiar room. 

He wipes the sweat from his forehead, takes a deep breath before he starts to walk. The nightmare brought back all the guilt he had shoved away, he hated how he hurt his friends. He couldn't look at himself for weeks after the whole thing, everyone but one person gave him space after the events. Sure, Mario did his best to keep the guardians spirit up with memes and silly adventures. But no one understood him better than his other half, his old rival of many years. SMG4 slowly walked to the front of the castle, with a deep breath he stepped outside. After fighting Mr Puzzle the two agree they needed ways to reach each other in case of emergencies, together with SMG1 and two created meme doors. The doors were hidden in different locations and could only be activated with meme energy, Four never thought he would be so thankful to have those doors. Since he didn't have a spare key to Three’s cafe he went to the back of the building to connect with the secret door.

With shaky hands he uses his meme powers to unlock a hidden door, he looks around as he walks in to make sure no one else tries to sneak in.  Making sure everything was sealed he walked around the cafe, his dark thoughts were starting to slip in. What if the man didn't want to help him? He looks back at the hidden door contemplating if he should leave, only to pause mid step hearing the sounds of an elevator. He turns and there with messy hair and in pajamas was the man he was looking for, Four gave a shy wave as he fixed up his own pajamas. Normally the man would give an annoyed look and start insulting him , much to Four's surprise the other guardian expressions soften. He walks over to the coffee machine “You look like shit,”  Four rolls his eyes walking closer to his partner “Gee thanks, make mine strong if you could.” 

Three lets out a hum as he lets the machine do its magic, they stand there listening to the hum of the machine as it pours out their drinks. Once done Three adds the final touches before handing Four his cup, with a small nod they both walk over to one of the tables. Four looks down at his cup slowly tracing the rim of it before picking it up, Three frowns as he watches Four drink his coffee “Not like you to come over at three am.” Four sips his drink hoping the warm drink would help, holding the cup he looks at Three “Ah well never hurts to get some late night coffee!” Three gave him an unamused look as he pushed his cup aside “You didn't come here cause you thought i would fall for a stupid line like that did you?” Four sighs again as he stares at his drink “Three…do you think i'm evil?” Three’s blinks surprised at the question “No, you're a pain in my ass for many reasons but you're not evil.” Three frowns and gently reaches out to the man “What brought this up?” Four bits on his lip remembering his dream,  he is selfish and tends to go overboard with his content. He looks at the hand reaching out to him, a flash of his dream hits him. How the man in front of him was swallowed up by the black pool, how he couldn't pull him back to safety. Anxiety hit him as he pulled his arms away from three, he then crossed his arms looking out the window.  “Our battle with Mr. Puzzle just brought some memories back is all,” he sighs getting up ready to leave. 

Seeing Four ready to leave, SMG3 gets up and grabs his arm “Four, what happened at peach's castle isn't your fault,” Four pulls his arm to free himself. Three watches concern as the man in front of him shakes “Not my fault? I wanted to make the perfect video. I clicked his ad for the keyboard. I ALMOST KILLED YOU ALL!” Four felt himself shake more as he hugs himself, holding back his tears he whispers “I’m…a villain just like he said.” 

Without saying anything Three gently touches Four, the comforting touch was enough for the meme guardian to collapse into Three’s arms crying “I’M A VILLAIN!” Three holds Four close, letting the man finish before speaking. He pets Four’s head “Four i have known you for years, trust me when i say your not a villain. We all have our moments of weakness and that's okay, but hear me when I say you're the kindest man I know.”  Four cries hard into Three’s shoulder, they stay in this position for a while. Three wasn't sure how much time passed since the man broke down crying, all he did know was at this moment Four needed all the comfort possible. “Hey four, want to stay overnight?” 

Four sniffs pulling away looking at Three’s face surprised “I…really?” Three nods giving the man a soft smile as he wipes his tears away. Four hugs Three letting out a breathy laugh, with a small pat of the back the pair get up and head down the elevator. Once in Three’s room the pair walk towards the bed, Four lets out another giggle “To think in the past just sharing body heat was the end of the world for you, are you gay for me or something three?” SMG3 rolled his eyes and gently smacked his ex rival “Haha I see you want to go back to your castle.” SMG4 pouts at the comment as he watches Three get in the bed, with a pat Four climbs next the man. It was strange being such good friends with someone that attempted to kill you in the past, even stranger when you cuddled up to him for comfort. Three hums to help Four relax, as he starts to drift to sleep he makes sure to whisper “Thank you for saving me Three.” 

[threepandas]

Bad End: Cold War

The receiving room was beautifully furnished. Neither overly ostentatious nor fussy in design. But it had a... coldness to it. This entire god forsaken building was, artfully hidden fireplaces be damned.

And it wasn't just the temperature.

The North may be a cold place, but the people there had always been a hardy one. Kind, if stoic. Not the sort for empty words and flamboyant gestures. So to see a building like this? One so very, very COLD? It spoke of something rotten. Something gone terribly wrong and far beyond control, hidden away out in the countryside where no one could stop it in time.

And it had.

And it DID.

And oh, how we SUFFERED for it, didn't we?

I didn't understand what went wrong. I knew, KNEW, because I was no fool, that the Story would change. Since I was remove a load bearing antagonist, how could it NOT? But... well, I did not wish to die. Certainly not for some other girl's love story. I refused to suffer. To be humiliated. To lead a life of pain and degradation. Just so she might frolic about with men, only to ultimately end up on the throne.

She would either have to find her way to greatness on her own merit, or settle of mediocrity. But it would NOT be built upon the back of my suffering. I gracefully bowed out. Took leave of the stage. And? Comported myself as befit a daughter of my house.

They were not... the most open. In fact, they struggled to connect. To offer or even receive comforts of any kind. But my family LOVED with a fierceness that would lead armies and burn nations. We were ABSOLUTE. And we? Stand TOGETHER. Always.

I would never forget. No matter how many days pass by. WHO I first saw when I opened my eyes. Clustered around my tiny form, rumbled and undignified in a way I would never see them again, with eyes that shone with such RELIEF. I never saw my mother's make run like that again. I half believe she hopes I do not remember.

But I DO.

And I always will.

In the Story, my character was a terror. Haughty and cruel. Sadistic. A wealthy brat that played God right up until all her sins came due. She drove a great deal of the early plot. I? Did none of those things. I threw myself into being a good daughter and a shining reflection upon the parents I loved.

I took my etiquette lessons seriously, to the delight of my teachers. My school work was promptly finished and followed by clarifying questions, to the joy of my tutors. I was polite to my peers. Overlooked their embarrassing early fumbles and mistakes. Helped them navigate social disasters with dignity. Promised nothing yet remained approachable.

My prospects had been ABYSMAL in the Story. It was part of the Narrative's punishment, I think. Though in hindsight, it is an ugly thing to do. A wonder I ever found such a story interesting enough to read. I imagine, it is the difference between tales and lived events? Nonetheless. My father was FLOODED with letters.

My poor mother absolutely HARRASED. Not an outing could go by, without SOMEONE mentioning their DEAR, SWEET son or nephew. To maintain proper appearances and neutrality, I was forced to attend more party's and events then I EVER wished to see.

I felt like a slab of meat up for auction. A show pony. But I also knew it was temporary. That I need only keep an eye out for a good, respectful man. Listen to the rumor mills. Discreetly bribe a few servants for information that "everyone knew". It was, after all, the way of things.

Should have been, the way of things.

But trouble started. Strange infighting, that started between boys and escalated to entire households. Tense, unspoken, lines dividing garden parties that only the day before were amicable. The Protagonist and her Harem of powerful players? Were BLIND to it.

Two of them were PRINCE for God sake! How had they been RAISED, that they could not feel the sudden shift in the socio-political landscape of their Father's court? He certainly could. And it clearly unnerved him. Yet? The Harem, each son's, each HEIRS, of some powerful position? Seemed both blind and deaf to all but the painfully obvious.

And even THAT? Was apparently unconnected to each other in their empty little minds. Had they nothing but flowers and glitter between their ears? One had to assume.

People were... accidentally forgotten. When invitations were sent. Then deliberately. Then OPENLY. Then? They were SNUBBED. Events deliberately scheduled on the same day, at the same time, as another. So all of polite society would have to CHOOSE. It was escalation.

And if it had been on or two houses? It would have been scandalous. Depending on the house, perhaps even worrying. A handful of houses? The king might have tried to get involved. Forcefully mediate. But it... it was somehow so much WORSE. Was EVERYWHERE.

Like someone had carefully examined the entirety of the Court for fault lines, then SWUNG. Some silent, careful, machination that left everyone at everyone's throat. Divided. Weak.

Easy to manipulate and control.

I could not for the life of me find the source of it all. My social season becoming swiftly more and more dangerous. Politically charged. People pushing and PUSHING for alliances I could not and WOULD NOT give without consulting my family. The capital was no longer safe. So... I quietly left.

Letters of vague excuse. Family matters, cousin so-n-so in their time of need, I'm sure you understand. Too late to stop me and under the cover of darkness.

It... I tell myself it is not my fault. That it would have happened either way. That I could not have known. But... but guilt is a heavy thing. It sits like lead in your gut. Like chains around your soul. They were waiting, I think. More, I suspect. Because...

Because the capital all but EXPLODED.

The carnage was IMMEDIATE. Not even a full day later, at a hunting party, the heir to one house shot the second son to another.

He did not survive.

The powder keg finally sparked and it all went up in flames. Alliances that had stood for centuries, shattered. Brother turned against brother. A wedding turned into a bloodbath, as the bride turned on both her family AND the groom, escaped into the night. Fights broke out everywhere.

The festering tension that had gone for so long unspoken? Could no longer be ignored. Would not, be ignored. The king was helpless to stop it all. The gaurd could only do so much. The fluffy, happy, empty headed little world of comfort the Protagonist knew? Was shredded to pieces.

It became starkly clear that the royal family... couldn't handle it.

That their heirs were... Weak.

Captain of the Gaurd, the Prime Minister, even the King's strongest supporter, the Duke of the East, ALL of them had... weak and ineffectual heirs. One or two could be a failing of parentage, but all together? They had let someone sabotage their sons. Make them puppets to be used and discarded at convenience.

The natural suspicion, of course, fell to the one most benefiting from said son's empty headedness. Much to the Harem's horror. No! Not their beloved shared girlfriend! That the world was burning around them? Of no consequence. But upsetting their darling little mouse? Unforgivable!

It was an act of true, genuine, paternal love; that those fools were banished by the king. They would have been killed horribly had they remained.

My family and I? Retreated to our lands. We had enough to survive. Our House and our People came first. We sent no messages, we received none. I practiced my frankly terrible embroidery. My maids gently CORRECTED my frankly terrible embroidery. The country BURNED.

Powerful people were picked off, one by one.

And wouldn't you know it? A new star was rising from the chaos. A voice of reason. Charismatic. Driven. Handsome and powerful, with the bloodline to match. Conveniently allied already to all those people who had replaced the Old Guard in government! How very serendipitous. That those positions should just... open up, like that. That he just HAPPEN to have such qualified people at the ready.

What ARE the odds?

My House knew our monster know. We watched. Careful. As he smiled and smiled. One hand open in welcome, the other? Holding a knife, hidden just out of sight. The king saw him for what he was. And the monster saw a worthy foe in the king. They were, after all, both very Dangerous men.

It was likely swordsmen duel.

Deadly steel clashing, shining, swift as it dances, from attack to defend to attack again. Experience versus youth. Power against power. The king was an old dragon, stood against a tiger come to see him dead. And though the dance was breathtaking? In the end... the dragon was old. Tired. And not the man he had once been.

The tiger won.

The king died in his sleep. Of... natural causes. No one believed it. No one dared say otherwise. The crown princess ascended the throne. She had played the game well. Taken after her Father. Been neglected in favor of her idiot brothers. In the Story, she was to be married off. A side character never to be heard from again.

It seems she was not content with such a fate.

Now she was Queen.

My family and I applauded. Polite. I hoped it marked the end of the strangeness. So many had died. So much had changed. Surely... surely it was over, wasn't it? But then? In the cold light of the early morning hours? A letter. Pristine and on a fine paper. Sat like a viper upon the table before us. A bomb.

My Father had stared at it, over steepled hands, like if he glared long enough? It would simply catch fire and burn away. The Monster's crest. Pressed lovingly into the wax. What... what did That Man want with us?

I watched him grit him teeth. Run his letter opener through paper like he was imagining jerking it across flesh, slitting the bastards throat for DARING to threaten his family. I held my mother's hand as he read. Watched his grip on the pages go white knuckled.

He didn't even tell a servant to burn it.

He slammed his chair back, in a terrible fury, and marched straight to the nearest fireplace to consign the letter to the flames. Over his dead body. Was his announcement. I... I had a terrible feeling it might be, whatever was on those pages.

The letters kept coming.

My Father burned them all.

Then? Trouble started.

And I did not need to see history twice, to know how it would end. I got up early. Waited near the damn GATES. My Father could not burn the letter before I read it, if I was there first. It... it was a marriage proposal. I... I did not understand. Why? For what POSSIBLE reason would he...?

It did not matter though, ultimately. I would be saying yes.

For my family? Anything.

And so I packed. My Father knew he couldn't stop me. I was entirely too much his daughter. It was why he had burned the letters. I was doing exactly what he would have done. He vowed to kill him. Slowly. Held me a swore. He would make me the loviest widow to ever live. My Mother promised to go look up family recipes for poisons. For rats, of course.

I loved them so, so much.

I LOVE them even now.

It is why I sit, back straight, fragrant tea untouched, in this cold but beautiful receiving room. I wear my best dress. The one that makes me look coldly beautiful. Elegant but untouchable. I feel like a winter spirit in it. Something made of ice and bone. I wear it when I want to feel stronger. I don't know if it's helping.

If I hold myself still. Count my breathing and do not think. I can almost... ALMOST? Slip into a trance, I think. Let my mind unfocus. They are keeping me waiting. It's a power play. So be it. You will find me unaffected. Bored even, by your petty displays. I stare peacefully into nothing. A statue in a silent room.

I hope I fucking unnerve them.

Confident footsteps. How quite has it become, that I can hear them, even through the door? I do not turn my head. Note absent-mindedly that the tea before me has long grown cold. This whole damn place is cold. I dispise it. The door is opened for the master of this house. I pointedly do not greet him.

"Aaah~, So COLD" He sing song's, almost chiding, it'd be nearly playful if not for the hint of something darker threaded through his voice. He has an almost victorious little bounce to his step as he approaches. "But then again, I already knew that, didn't I? Frigid, untouchable, and unfeeling~ Now? Now you're MINE~"

He laughs. There is something half disbelieving, half euphoric in the noise. Like he's finally gotten everything he's ever wanted and doesn't know what to DO with himself. He invades my space. Looms. Eyes a touch too wide as he stares. Drinking in the sight of me sitting before him, like he can't believe it's real.

"Do you know, snowdrop? How long it TOOK? What I had to DO to achieve this? Ha ha!" The grin that spills across his feature is unhinged. All I can do is sit, tense and frozen before a madman, as he speaks. "The WHINING, the COMPLAINING, the 'what about meeeee'~! They never shut UP! Wretched and pathetic to the last, they panted after you like DOGS."

Hands slid from his pockets, to come to rest on either side of me on the arm rests, bracing and caging me in. Trapping me as he leaned down. Entirely too close. He smelled like winter air, sharp but clean. His eyes were a blue grey so hauntingly pale, they seemed to bore straight into the soul.

"But they were so GREEDY. So DESPERATE for power. It was EASY, to play them like fools against each other. Make them DANCE. And worth it. Because I get what I wanted~ The brat get her silly little throne, and you?" His grin was all teeth. One hand coming up to rest on my head. "Now you can NEVER escape me."

The hand slid, slow and fingers splayed, downwards. Possessive as each finger brushed, stroked, the side of my face. My jaw. My neck. His eyes following it down with something that could only be blatant lust. His grip tightened around my neck. Not enough to choke. Just, it seemed, to prove to himself that he COULD.

His thumb rest again my pulse, facinated.

Sliding back up to cup my chin, gently forcing my head up, so I had no choice but to meet his eyes. His eyes were dilated. I glared.

"I am going to RUIN you." He whispered, sounding entirely too reverent. As though it were some act of worship he had planned. "Take you apart at the seams. Pretty, pretty little thing. Mine, all mine~"

"I saw you first, you know. You couldn't even be bothered to look at me. I tried all night. That's when I KNEW. I was going to hunt you down. MAKE you mine. Marry you and destroy anyone and anything that stood in my way. And I DID~♡"

"I'm going to have each and every part of you, Darling. Love you and love you until you can't HELP but love me back. We are going to be BEAUTIFUL together. You don't have a choice~♡"

[wizardfrog69]

'•.¸♡ what being in a relationship with them feels like♡¸.•

How being in a relationship with the bsd men feels like

Gn!reader

Masterlist

Enjoy!

Feat. Fukuzawa, Atsushi, Kunikida, Dazai, Ranpo, Akutagawa, Oda, Poe, Fyodor, Nikolai

Yukichi Fukuzawa:

⛾ it may feel distant at times but still loving.

⛾ he is often at work so the two of you can't see each other but when you do you can feel peacefulness and calmness.

⛾ he feels protective in a way which reassures you you can keep your gard as down as you like, not even needing it.

⛾ although he may not look pleased, he is, just know that he is, he is very pleased and happy to be there with you.

Atsushi Nakajima:

❀ being with him feels soft, calm and warm

❀ just like being friends with a cat

❀ he doesn't want anything to happen to you so he's always so nice to you.

❀ he wants to take care of you, to always be near you and for you to always be happy in a warm and peaceful environment, which he tries to always provide to you no matter what weather it be at home or at work, he just wants you to enjoy yourself

Doppo Kunikida:

✎ ̼ your relationship would be an ideal one

✎ ̼ greeting you in the mornings, weather its when you wake up next to him or as he sits sipping a cup of coffee while reading the news paper

✎ ̼ being romantic in thee afternoons

✎ ̼ caring in the evenings

✎ ̼ loving at night, and so on

✎ ̼ if he's with you then he loves you with all his heart and nothing can change that, even if the oxytocin wears off*

✎ ̼ it even sometimes feels like you're already married for years now.

Osamu Dazai:

: ̗̀➛ being with him feels like listening to your favourite song on repeat or wearing your favourite piece of clothing

: ̗̀➛ he feels like returning to a memory

: ̗̀➛ even if you didn't know each other for long, he still feels like a nice memory of laughter with your best friends

: ̗̀➛ it feels as though whenever he laughs it becomes engraved in your mind as your new memory which just becomes vivid everytime you see him

Ranpo Edogawa:

☆ his affection feels sweet and even sour at times

☆ he loves being near you and showing his love by hugging, saying sweet thing in your ear, handing you his snacks and so on

☆ all he needs is your presence and your comforting praises

☆ though he may say or do somethings without thinking of the consequences but he doesn't mean to hurt your feelings

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa:

☾ a relationship with him feels like a one sided relationship

☾ not always, only at times

☾ he isn't one to show affection or not in the traditional way atleast, his love language is more acts of service then physical touch

☾ he doesn't show emotions well so it seems one sided a lot of the time

☾ this doesn't mean he doesn't love you, he does and deeply he just has a hard time expressing his emotions and feelings he has toward you but that all doesn't matter to him, as long as you love him and know he feels the same way about

Sakunosuke Oda:

♡ a relationship where it feels like its lasted forever and will never end as long you both live is what a relationship with Oda feels like

♡ everyday he shows you how much he loves you, there isn't a time where you doubt his love towards you nor your love toward him

♡ even if you've know each other for a couple of months or years, it feels like you two have been married for well over a hundred years and your so called marriage will last a million more

♡ you two are the only thing you need to feel as if you were a big and loving family, ofc the orphans will be a part of that family aswell

Edgar Allan Poe:

✒ being with him feels like listening 'the last waltz' by Englbert Humperdink while reading a really good book about a murder mystery

✒ a perfect mix of romance and death in one with a hint of mystery and chosen isolation with the person you

✒ Poe loves you very much, and his feelings are best reflected in his writing, maybe he writes about a protagonist who is always the most beautiful person in a room, or an antagonist who has a heart made of pure gold. This character being accompanied by a raccoon sometimes!

✒ the love letters and poems also say much when it comes to his love towards you.

Fyodor Dostoevsky:

♔ he may seem heartless but this isn't entirely true, he does a heart it's just entirely filled with the love for you

♔ there is nothing on this earth that fyodor could love more, despite this no one can know about this as revealing his weaknesses can put him and more especially you in danger, and that is the last thing he wants

♔ Fyodor is a smart man, so keep his feelings for you is a little too easy for him, sometimes keeping them from you and even from himself and this can be evident, he often is also consumed by work locking himself in his office for hours even day at a time and never seeing the light of day, not even his love, unless they bring him food and tea to keep him breathing.

♔ but when he does have time off he can think of nothing else then spending it with you. He loves you and these are the times he shows you how much

Nikolai Gogol:

✶ Nikolai is very out going and this cannot be hidden when he express his love to his dear lover

✶ He's very expressive making a relationship with him exiting and filled with surprises

✶ he would love to take you to all crazy places and an adventure after adventure which can be tiring at times, that is when he will show you in a more calmer state how much he loves you, it may be out of character but he loves laying on the bed or sitting on a couch and just hug you constantly showing you his appreciation in a more physical way

༺♡༻ 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 ⋆ 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 ༺♡༻

* ok so ik if the oxytocin levels are low in a relationship it would mean that the couple would split up but idc alright even if he doesn't love you he still loves you

[batneko]

I'm forced to listen to Christmas music all day at work, so here's a Last Christmas bowuigi idea for your enjoyment featuring everyone's favorite* trope: misunderstandings!

*(lol nope)

Bowser has unintentionally achieved "friendly rival" status, and is invited to a big lodge to go skiing and snowboarding for a week. He still feels awkward around everyone, but they're all pretty welcoming, and he's not even the only former antagonist invited. Still, he's not quite willing to mingle with the whole crowd, and finds himself spending more and more time with fellow wallflower Luigi.

Luigi is a good listener. So good, in fact, that Bowser finds himself opening up a lot more than he meant to. So good that even Bowser realizes he's been dominating all their conversations. By the end of the week he thinks they're getting along well enough that he might actually call Luigi a friend.

Then, on the last day, he gets a note from Luigi asking him to meet in private. He's happy to do it. Looking forward to it, even. Maybe he can make things more balanced between them by listening to whatever it is that's so important. It had to be preceded with a note.

Then Luigi confesses that he has feelings for him. And Bowser doesn't believe it.

He's certain that this is a prank, and furious that Luigi would toy around with him like that. So he tears into him, breaking down all the reasons he would never even consider a relationship with him. He gets mean. He gets personal.

By the end both of them are heartbroken and convinced they were wrong about each other.

A year passes. Bowser is still sort of kind of friends with the others, and still gets invited to things, but he doesn't talk to Luigi at all. Bowser doesn't know who else was in on the "prank," so he's back to being cautious about who to trust.

Luigi and Mario are close, but they don't tell each other everything about their dating lives, so Mario doesn't press when a depressed Luigi says he got rejected and he'll get over it eventually.

He does, mostly, but seeing Bowser doesn't help, especially since the crush never quite goes away. There's a part of him that knows - even if he thinks it'll never happen - that if Bowser changed his mind Luigi would jump at the chance.

Next winter there's another trip to the ski lodge, and Bowser is invited, and Luigi resolves to put it all behind him and move on. Ask someone else out. Someone... safe.

But Bowser sees that Luigi has his eye on somebody else, and all the anger he thought he'd gotten over rises up again. How dare he act like nothing happened? How dare he think he can just have a normal holiday fling, as if he didn't use that exact premise to shatter Bowser's heart last year?

So Bowser starts blatantly flirting with Luigi whenever they're in a group. Compliments, playful teasing, one or two double-entendres. Whenever Luigi tries to talk to Bowser alone, Bowser walks away and refuses to say a word, but the rest of the gang think that Bowser is Staking His Claim.

The plan works, and Luigi's hopes of a new relationship are dashed before they can really start. The worst part is that the first time it happened Luigi had almost fallen for it. If he hadn't seen the glare Bowser shot him when nobody was looking, he might have done something foolish. Like flirt back.

It's a week of torture, but finally on the last day Luigi manages to corner Bowser and confront him. Ask him why he's doing this, why he feels like he needs to ruin Luigi's chances.

"Are you kidding? After what you did to me last year? You think I'd just forget?" "What I did to you?" "You didn't think I fell for that, did you? I don't know if you were recording it or if someone was waiting to jump out and laugh at me, but-" "You thought it was a prank?" "Yes! ...wasn't it?"

It takes some time (and some more yelling) but eventually Bowser accepts that Luigi wasn't lying, and they both have to re-think the entire last year... as well as what they know about each other. Bowser realizing that he was right the first time about how nice Luigi is, and that he could have had something great if he hadn't jumped to conclusions. And Luigi realizing that if Bowser thought a genuine confession was a cruel joke he's probably not nearly as confident as he acts.

"Give me a second chance," Bowser blurts out. "You're interested? After everything you said about me last year?" "I was mad, I was ranting, I don't even remember what I said." "I do." "Give me... a third chance."

Luigi says he needs time, Bowser (reluctantly) says okay, but also says he will do anything to make it up to Luigi. Favors, public humiliation, anything.

"If you still think I'm the kind of person who wants you to publicly humiliate yourself, you really don't understand me at all."

Neither of them sleeps well. In the morning while everyone is packing up, Bowser sees Luigi step into a quiet corner with the person he'd been planning to confess to this year. He's practically steaming from jealousy, but Bowser forces himself to stay away. He's not going to get a fourth chance.

But as he's about to leave, Bowser is stopped by Luigi. He hands him a scrap of paper with his phone number, and beckons him closer.

"Kiss me." "You sure?" "My brother is watching. So is the princess. You know what it'll mean if you do it, so..."

Bowser doesn't have to be asked twice.

He does get punched thirty seconds in as soon as Mario puts everything together, but it's worth it.

[blackblooms]

irredeamable development retrospective. Part 1: shadow and light This is gonna be pretty messy since what came before or after gets all tangled up when you go back this far, but the earliest project that can be identified in the file is a game about controlling a specter where you could take control of all kind of people or creatures and use their unique attacks and movement ability to navigate the world.

We got humans, cats, snake, ants, succubus, and my beloved mitons, a race of giant rolly polly pillbugs.

Aniway, the story eventually developped into being about a rivalry between two specters sibling. Nox and solaria. They also each came with a unique appearance for each race they could control. Through, i sadly never did make their mitons form...

The idea behind the game was that each chapter, you would awaken as one of the two and try to usurp and destroy whatever the other had built in your absence. Nox eras were more focused on primal cults of fear and darkness while Solaria would make grand empires to worship her. There was a back and forth between the two but time and technology would progress with each era. All i got left when it comes to how the world would have been laid out is this line map that shows the general ways the area connects and the ideas of how certain locations could change depending on the era.

There were also plans to introduce a new antagonist later on with Cain, a new, much more powerful specter that forces the sibling to make a truce. His backstory was that he used to have a similar rivalry with his brother able, but eventually ended up destroying him and is now deeply sad and alone.

So how far did it go? The game pretty much didn't get out of the conceptual phase. Got around to code the possession mechanics and a few of the races' movesets, but that's about it. Anyway, you`re free to get inspired by or even steal anything here. I have way more ideas than i can actually use and everything in these old projects has either been abandoned or altered so much that it's now something completely different. See you next time for the next chapter of our retrospective. Capitalism, IN SPACE!

[idkman-ijustwannamakeatournament]

Round 2: Match 14

"Two Sides of the Same Coin"- Two things that are regarded as part of the same thing. Even if they're very different, they have at least one common thread that helps them fit into this trope.

Propaganda (under the cut):

Scrooge McDuck and Flintheart Glomgold:

(no propaganda)

Hershel Layton and Jean Descole:

"Layton is the protagonist and Descole is his antagonist for the whole prequel trilogy, with a hero/villain dynamic. Both of them have interests in archaeology and puzzles, they both know fencing, they are both excellent at unraveling a person and what makes them tick. Their confrontations are quite interesting because of this and also pretty funny at times because Descole is a cartoonish villain

MAJOR SPOILERS for this next bit idk how you handle this in propaganda but people still tag these after 10 years

In the third game of the prequel trilogy (Azran Legacy) Descole actually disguises himself by my unmasking and cooperates with Layton and pals under his real name and appearance, Desmond Sycamore. The similarities between Desmond and Layton are also very obvious and they work together very well (also turns out they are both archaeology professors). Desmond eventually reveals himself as Descole and you might feel really stupid if you didn't figure it out before the "reveal."

Des then eventually reveals himself as Layton's long-lost older brother with the same shitty father who's the main villain of the game. He goes through a sort-of redemption where he shows that he has grown to care about people more than he seemed to in the previous games where he was a villain. Then he fakes his death and they never canonically see each other again (although people often headcanon that they eventually reconcile and Des shows up to bother Layton sometimes with antics).

Also in Miracle Mask there's a pretty heavy-handed metaphor for how Layton and Des are "two sides of the same coin." There's this artifact called the Mask of Chaos which is rumored to have a counterpart called the Mask of Order. Layton figures out that they are both part of the same mask, and he and Descole (in disguise) put the two halves into this machine and solve the city from being drowned in sand (that part's not important). Anyway the metaphor is that Layton represents order and Des represents chaos and they're both two halves of a whole.

Also they both have tragic backstories where they have loved ones who died violently and they never properly coped with it. The fact that they lost each other as brothers when they were children and then lost each other again so soon after reuniting just adds another layer to this.

There's probably more tbh. Also be prepared for the layton fans on tumblr to unionize to vote for layton. We are small but mighty."

[sephirthoughts]

1, 2, 13 and 49 for Genesis, please! 💜

Oooooh Genesis! Yayy I love him! Thank you for the ask!!

1. Canon I outright reject

That his actions in Crisis Core were insane, evil, or in any way made him a villain. Genesis may have been envious of Sephiroth, to a point, but he had hero-worshipped him since childhood. Some people seem to forget that context when they talk about the interactions between the three Firsts in Crisis Core (also the terrible English localization destroyed the plot of that game).

Genesis was a huge Sephiroth fangirl, as a kid. He wanted to be a hero too. He was told he would be. He spent his life up to that point training and working his ass off for Shinra, only to find out in the worst way possible that A: his entire existence was an intricately constructed web of lies, and B: he was going to die before he even got to start living. And it was all because of something the people he'd trusted and dedicated his life to did to him.

Of course he freaked out and ran away and started attacking Shinra, he was in a panic and doing everything he could to find a way to survive. Zack is the protagonist of Crisis Core, so Genesis is the antagonist, but Zack is working for the evil moustache-twirling villains, who are the real cause of all the conflict. Genesis never wanted world domination, he just wanted a fair goddamn chance.

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

transmasc Genesis i will die on this hill come at me cowards

13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done

Sephiroth

Ok real answer: The dumbest thing he ever did was that shitty way he approached Sephiroth in the reactor, when he wanted his cells. However, I don't see it as the nasty, bitter verbal attack people seem to translate it as. That would make ZERO sense in the context of their friendship and even just the rest of the conversation.

I actually get the strong impression that Genesis was trying to do a "shock him with the cold hard truth and he'll see the light" thing. Also I think he truly thought that if Sephiroth understood that Shinra did the same things to him, he'd rebel against them too, and come to his side. He wasn't saying "you're a monster" he was saying "you're a monster just like me."

Tragically, he didn't bet on how mentally and emotionally fragile the "big strong hero" Sephiroth really was, or how deeply it would shatter him to be told he wasn't human. Sephiroth's mind rejected it so hard he had a psychotic break, after all. Of course he reacted badly to the way Genesis approached him.

But I don't think what Genesis said was meant to be as horrible as it sounded. His delivery was flippant and bitter because he was fucking pissed off at the world, not because he was really trying to hurt Sephiroth. It was a case of two well-meaning people crashing headfirst into each other's deepest wounds and disaster ensuing. A perfect tragedy.

49. Favorite toy as a child

Genesis was given pretty much whatever he wanted, as a child, and subsequently, didn't place much value at all on things. His fancy toys and games gathered dust in his too-large bedroom, that was filled with all the gifts his parents gave him in place of love and attention. The only way to get approval was to earn it, by constantly being exceptional, and better than other kids.

However, he had a wooden sword (rough hewn and amateurish in design, hardly more than a stick) that he clung to like it was the most valuable and precious object in all the world. His parents had no idea where he got it wanted him to throw it out, but he was fiercely protective of it.

He left it in his bedroom when he left Banora to join SOLDIER, and it can be assumed that it burned with the rest of the town. There is absolutely no proof that he went up to his old room and carried that one worthless little thing away with him, that would become the symbol of both the childhood dreams and the childhood friend, that he could never get back.

Thank you so much for the ask!! I love talking about Genesis!! ♥️

[comradeboyhalo]

q!Bad has been trying so hard to burn his bridges so I consider purgatory a win for him! Though will say that I think it's nice that he and Bagi's bridge seem more or less the same? I don't think that his bridge with Bagi burned because she didn't have expectations from him like the others did from not knowing how Bad was before + she's heard him talk about wanting to eat/kill people and him being in the war before and still decided that was the guy she wanted to hang around her - even when they met up and she decided to go into her safe zone, she still gave him a chance to talk with her rather then going 'oh nah actually you're going to kill me so we won't meet at all' or she could have told her teammates on him, gave Bad permission to kill her and has been actively going 'hi Bad!!' when she saw him before the whole transferring team situation, just wanted to ramble that I appreciated the way their friendship works and how I feel like there's not gonna be a difference for them when they go back to the original island

yes! you are so right and i will now ramble!

i see q!bad's friends categorized in two areas: friends who can deal with his demon nature and friends who can't. bagi, despite her strong moral code, has seen bad at his worst, and is able to stomach all of it. she is able to forgive him (even if he may break her trust), understand the way he navigates his relationships, and continue to know that despite his actions, she has his back and he has hers. others who similarly take bad in stride are foolish, tina, aypierre, and etoiles. he may fuck them over, but they all end up shrugging it off and bouncing back. (this, of course, goes especially for foolish).

i would say phil and bad had a good friendship, but purgatory has effectively ruined it. they were just never close enough with each other for phil to understand who bad is at his core. cellbit (from what i observed) seems to hold more immoral actions (i.e cannibalism, murder) with a much heavier weight than bad. yes, he is a dark character, but notice how cellbit needed to be pushed in this direction via external circumstances? meanwhile bad always seemed to be holding off eating people and murder to just "fit in" with society, because these traits are just more innately part of him. and this is why i think bad won't hold a grudge against cellbit for purgatory, but cellbit could.

forever and baghera are a special case in which they became friends with someone who was nice and caring, were able to ignore the dark implications of his moral code, but then couldnt anymore once he began to spiral downwards. theyve both had their purgatory moment with him; they've already seen the lengths he'll go to. its definitely taken a toll on their friendship, but if they were able to move past his torture of ron, they'll be able to move past this too (and they already have: baghera may be opposing him but she's still happy to chat, and forever and bad's relationship has honestly improved in purgatory).

i do think, at the end of the day, bad is the kind of guy that is very easy to hate, but also someone you really want on your side. take tubbo or pac. he was by the far one of the most antagonistic characters to them on the island. but when you're fighting to survive, suddenly that bloodthirsty demon is real nice to have at your back. its why foolish is so careful to prod into bad's plans, to see if their motives line up. i do believe that, even if he burns bridges with majority of characters, he is still someone most characters would want to fight with, rather than against.

[tobiasdrake]

Can you make something out of the Manga panel where (Future) Android 18 gets mad over video games? Or Android 18 in general, like how she uses a fighting stance like Krillin's in the Buu Saga, and the kienzan on "Mighty Mask"? Or breaking Vegeta's arm?Just, a general Android 18(maybe plus 17, or about her relationship with Krillin) character and fighting analysis?

Oh, yeah, 18 is great. What makes the Twins stand out both as antagonists and characters is that they're a stark departure from everything we've come to know in Dragon Ball. Neither martial artists nor warriors, they're children at play gifted unimaginable power without an ounce of discipline behind it.

This gives them a sort of universal appeal for an audience. It's fun to watch them wreak havoc with their play, but equally fun to watch them grow and develop as characters. The Twins came into this world with a wealth of potential.

18 often gets labeled as the serious one of the pair due to her stern disapproval or boredom over 17's antics. But it needs to be noted that she's every bit as playful as he is. They just have different ideas for how they want to play.

17 likes to savor his entertainment while 18 likes to binge. They're both childish - in personality, I need to note, as that's Future 17 and 18 up there who've been around for twenty more years than their present counterparts. Their actual ages are never stated.

And they take turns ribbing each other for their respective immaturities.

I've always loved how 18's complaint here is that 17's behavior is unbecoming of a robot. She's just like, "Oh, male sentiments; Your human base is showing, bro." Though she does also ping him with some straight-up Boomer Humor.

It was the 80's.

To be fair, she's right. Like. I cannot stress enough that 17's plan for finding Goku is to drive around the world aimlessly until a Goku appears before him.

Or that 18, despite her pretense of being above petty humanity, is snooty and posh.

Did she come from wealth?

Did Gero kidnap rich kids? Are they the children of some higher-up in the RRA? Or is she just aggressively city? She has some opinions about rural life that you don't usually expect from an orphan or runaway or whatever the Twins were before Gero found them. 18 is inexplicably classist.

Though 18 did say ACAB so she's not all bad. Two whole pages of the manga are just 18 fucking up some cops.

Nonetheless, this is how you know she loves Krillin. Living on the Muten-Roshi's island in the ass crack of nowhere is a sacrifice.

18's fight with Vegeta fresh out of the lab serves as our introduction to the Twins as fighters. The main element this fight focuses on is how... unflappable the Infinite Energy models are. We see Vegeta's attacks mess 18 up a bit.

But the emphasis is on how cool-headed and robotic she is. She's taking hits, but she doesn't act like she's taking hits.

This is another one of those lines that Viz didn't quite translate well, as it's easy to take to mean that he's failed to do any damage to her at all. Which is visibly not true. Rather, he's saying she's not acting hurt; He got a good hit in on her but she's brushing it off as if she were still in pristine condition.

18 simply doesn't react to damage.

In Fighting Game terminology, 18 has Super Armor. She and Vegeta are evenly matched but her physiology, as a bio-machine powered by an Infinite Energy generator, is a world apart from Vegeta's.

Notably, a breakdown of all of the androids on a title page indicates that 18 is weaker than 17.

This was published at the start of 17's fight with Piccolo, so I assume the purpose behind it was to explain why 17 is evenly matched with the reborn Nameless Namekian when 18 was evenly matched with Vegeta earlier.

That or sexism. It's shonen. You can never discount that as a possibility, and 18 is one of like five prominent female characters in this entire manga - and the only one ever to be able to throw punches at a Super Saiyan level.

In terms of technique, the Twins have little martial arts knowledge or ki manipulation experience to draw from. They're amateurs fighting at an advanced level. More than that, they just woke up into this power yesterday.

So while they are capable of learning to draw energy from their generators and use it like ki, as seen from their Future counterparts, the Androids of the present haven't had a chance to learn that. They never use a single ki attack in the entire Cell arc. They understand what it is, they're never confused when others shoot ki at them, but they don't know how to do it themselves. They haven't had time to learn.

This is what makes 17's force field in his fight with Piccolo so shocking.

It's also notably drawn to not look like a ki barrier or something. The crackle of lightning around it and the mechanical "VNNNNN" sound effect gives it the aesthetic of some sort of electric field. It is nonetheless likely powered by his Infinite Energy generator; I think this is what gave DBS the idea to make his whole powerset lightning based.

For the present, the Twins are pretty basic fighters in terms of technique. They're what you'd expect of random kids with lots of power plugged into them. They punch and they kick. But their intense power and limitless stamina makes them very good at punching and kicking.

It's a shame Goku never got to fight them. I'd love to see what he makes of their style.

In addition to that fight setting up the Twins' fighting style, the end of 18's fight with Vegeta (and 17's subsequent shitstomp of everyone not Vegeta) also demonstrates our first glimpse into what makes these Twins different from their Future counterparts.

They aren't interested in killing anyone. It's not super clear why that is. "Something something Cell something something butterfly effect" is the general explanation for all the retcons. This is what sets into motion the idea that maybe the two of them don't have to die. Maybe they can coexist with all the other amoral big-personality super-warriors on Earth.

A hill that Krillin will absolutely die on even if nobody else believes in it.

IIRC Akira Toriyama has stated in interview that he likes for romances to happen offscreen because he doesn't feel he's very good at writing them. So he just. Doesn't.

In my opinion, this is what makes his romances some of the best in shonen. Dragon Ball doesn't waste time getting to the relationship, instead preferring to enjoy being in it. Toriyama gives us this:

As an aside, the way Yamcha leaps to retaliatory violence because a woman rejected his bro has always read as a major YIKES to me but I digress.

But then she sees Shenron, comes back out of curiosity, and overhears Krillin spending a wish from a magical wish-granting dragon to help her and 17 live more comfortable lives despite her rejection.

And we get a second, more conflicted departure.

And then seven years later:

You can see the appeal of Toriyama's approach to romance here. Like. If you're great at writing romance, all power to you. But if you know romance isn't your thing? As a Not Writing Romance romance, this is great. All the pieces you need to understand how this happened are there.

This is probably the best Not Writing Romance of Toriyama's career. And it gives 18 an inroad into the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai. Despite 17 being expressly the stronger, 18 features in both the first and last fights that the Twins are ever given.

While the tournament's ending is predominately a bit of a goof that 18 dominates, we do get a legitimate fight for her. It's not much of a fight, as she throws down with Mighty Mask, who is Goten and Trunks in a trenchcoat. But it does show how she's evolved into a martial artist, as the 18 of the present demonstrates the first ki attack she's ever done on-panel.

Future 18 also learned how to manipulate ki, but that was primarily done through your standard ki blasts. Lots of them when she's mad at video games. (Felt.)

But this moment implies a lot about her relationship with Krillin. 18 hasn't just figured out how to use ki; She's been studying martial arts with him. In this moment, 18 realizes that Goten and Trunks are too strong to tackle head on.

But unlike any fight the Twins have ever been in before, she has an answer to that. She's taken Krillin's style as her own and learned a better understanding of how to be a martial artist. She has Krillin's signature Kienzan under her belt, as well as remarkable control over it to only cut the costume like that.

And more to the point, she has learned how to fight as an underdog. Faced with the power that the boys possess, 18 cuts the knot. She doesn't have to beat them; She only has to make them lose.

And then that just leaves the true champion and greatest adversary 18 will ever face, the legendary Mr. Satan.

She does not win the tournament but she has the trophy in her possession. Bulma would be so proud.

It's funny to me that this begins a tradition of throwing fights in the ring to Mr. Satan after giving the other matches everything they've got. The progenitor of that tradition was an act of flagrant blackmail. Really goes to show how bad Goku remains to this day at reading dishonesty. Innocent to a fault, that man.

18 doesn't get to be involved in the stuff with Majin Buu. But she's never been a character who'd want to be. She doesn't care about fighting and defeating monsters and stuff. She's only ever been looking for a good time.

The series leaves her off in a place where we can feel confident that she's found what she was missing. She has a family that she genuinely seems to love, a relationship built on mutual respect and tenderness, and a fuckton of blackmail money to finally return to her apparently high-class roots?

She had to took a long and weird-ass van ride through the backwoods to get here, but she's gonna be alright.