#there are a lot of other interpretations and headcanons that can branch off of this but I think it is regularly ignored

[fish-bowl-2]

Watching episodes featuring the Kankers, especially from the earlier seasons, the more and more it feels like people ignore how they "weaponize" affection rather than hold any form of legitimate romantic interest in the Eds.

What I mean is that a lot of people still seem to interpret the three as being absolutely enamored in the Eds. This is a wild interpretation, because every facet of their interactions really just stems from old-fashioned bullying to me. I mean, there is clearly the "assault" factor, but even setting that problematic factor aside, I can name other moments between the characters where that was not the case, and the Kankers focus was to instead humiliate and belittle the Eds. Such as: making fun of Eddy due to his height, stealing their clubhouse, infiltrating the Eds "mind-control" scam and making them act like dogs, generally just aggressively beating them up. Even when a "romantic" aspect comes into play, it is more about the Kankers weaponizing it to humiliate the Eds: going out of their way to parade the Eds as their "carriage horses" after getting "married", the gross pet names, calling them "boyfriends" in general. It really reads to me as a farce. I can recall back to my experiences in middle school where it was a common tactic to call someone their "boyfriend/girlfriend" in a jeering fashion that did not imply any form of positive association. You could tell you were being made the butt of a joke simply due to who it was coming from. I clearly remember a guy asking one of my friends "out" only as a complicated way to make fun of her.

This feels exactly like what the Kankers are doing. Or at least, a reason for why they are so persistent. It is an entertaining game for them, and they can tell the Eds are vulnerable which makes it way easier for them to get the upper hand. Could there be some innermost romantic interest that just has trouble properly manifesting? Maybe, but that really starts to veer on headcanon territory (which is fine, but in addressing what is actually apparent in the show I really don't see much grounds for this). The Kankers are first and foremost bullies. I think taking that aspect out revokes a certain element of what makes them interesting in the first place.

[minecraft-inspo]

This is an updated version of a post I made several years ago, expanded to include all living things in Minecraft, not just the mobs.

Have any questions about why I placed something where I did? Please check out my explanatory post here before you ask about it:

Anything marked as “confirmed” is either a real evolutionary relationship as we currently understand them, or a relationship that is easily intuited. For example, goats and sheep are actually closely related, while spiders and cave spiders can be easily intuited to be related. 

If the lines are solid, please check Google before you try to correct me - real life evolution is sometimes unintuitive! Yes, birds really are reptiles, pandas are carnivorans (which is not the same thing as a carnivore), dolphins are ungulates, and kelp isn’t a plant.

Yes, I know zombie horses exist. No, I didn’t include them because they don’t spawn naturally.  

I’ll include the same disclaimer that I included in my last post: This tree is a mixture of actual biology and my personal headcanons, and so far as I know there is nothing objectively wrong with where I placed specific mobs, but there could be a lot subjectively wrong if you were to interpret the mobs differently than I did. In other words, the biology should be correct, but don’t take this as a statement of the actual canon within the game. I should also note that this tree makes the assumption that all life originated in the overworld, rather than evolving separately in each dimension. I also included non-mob blocks and items that would likely be considered animals, or evidence of animals existing.

[sweet-evie]

I have so many thoughts and headcanons about the Gojo clan... You have no idea. 😭 Also, I'm talking out of my ass and everything I say is fictional and from pure imagination... Don't take it seriously.

The Gojo clan may or may not span 40 generations based off of how long ago Suguwara Michizane lived...

and ummm... That's a lot of generational wealth 🤯.

Imagine if you married into that -- married Satoru Gojo. You're automatically the highest-ranking woman in the family, on top of having access to all that money. 😆

Listen, some of the world's richest families like the Rockefellers currently span 7 generations and they're worth billions of dollars.

Damn I really need a full backstory on the 3 major clans. I need to know how rich they are and how they maintained and/or grew that wealth until the modern day.

There's plenty of drama and info on the Zen'in clan. We get crumbs and pieces about the Kamo clan...

But info on the Gojo clan is close to nada, and I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM DAMMIT! I'm so thirsty for more worldbuilding in JJK, you have no idea.

At this point, just seeing Satoru's parents would make me happy.

I have a headcanon that Gojo's family, apart from being sorcerers and political powers in the jujutsu community, are probably mixed bags of company shareholders, politicians, lawyers, philantropists, etc.

Yeah, it's said that the Gojo clan is a one-man army that consists of Satoru Gojo, but I interpret that as Satoru outshining every other family member -- especially every other practicing sorcerer in the family. (There's simply no surpassing the wielder of the Six Eyes and the Limitless technique).

The Gojo clan is a sorcerer clan first and upper tier members of Japanese society second.

Some of Satoru's male relatives are probably Shinto and Buddhist monks. The point is to have a foothold in influential religions among non-sorcerers.

I like to think that maybe one sorcerer in the clan has Limitless... maybe his grandpa, but the man was never as efficient with it as Satoru Gojo.

Maybe the majority of the sorcerers in the Gojo clan fight with Grade 1 cursed tools and good-old hand-to-hand imbued with cursed energy. Maybe other cursed techniques exist within the Gojo clan too... It's all just overshadowed by Satoru.

I also think the Big 3 actually tend to keep to themselves (e.g., the Zen'ins having their own military unit). Their spawns don't ALL go to Jujutsu High, do they? It's a choice for them rather than a necessity. Like, Jujutsu High was established primarily for sorcerers who come from "somewhat normal" backgrounds, unlike people from the Big 3. Satoru was born into jujutsu sorcery and it's the only life he's ever known, whereas people like Suguru who come from non-sorcerer families are brought into Jujutsu Tech to learn about what it means to be a part of jujutsu society, and to teach them that they're not, you know, mentally ill because they can see curses.

Quick side note, I imagine Jujutsu Tech as the bridge between the branch of the Japanese government that is aware of the existence of curses and the jujutsu society as a whole. It just kind of makes sense that way, especially when you consider where their funds to pay people come from -- not from thin air, that's for sure. I mean, how else do the higher-ups get the funding to pay their actively practicing sorcerers, especially the special-grades? Does jujutsu sorcerer pay roll come from citizens' tax money?

Also... On top of Satoru Gojo having access to his clan's generational wealth and assets, how much is he getting paid as an instructor at Jujutsu Tech? Is that salary separate from his special-grade sorcerer salary? Is he technically working 2 full-time jobs?

Man is rolling in cash...

Anyway, I want to circle back to the point that Satoru Gojo is the most active sorcerer in the Gojo clan when it comes to interacting with the higher-ups and being a constant presence in Jujutsu Tech. Obviously, his fingerprints are all over Jujutsu society politics as well.

I headcanon that Satoru comes from a big family, actually. Satoru is an only child, but I imagine lots of cousins and aunts and uncles and distant relatives, and the Gojo estate is probably one massive compound where most of the family lives. Like, they can live in that huge ass ancestral property if they want too... There's plenty of room.

The clan also likely owns several other properties and probably small temples or shrines across Japan. They have one ancestral seat and other properties. That goes for the Kamo and the Zen'in clans as well.

That real estate portfolio be popping.

As for actual size, think Heian estate in ancient Japan big. It's expansive.

Maybe the sorcerers in the family would be fond of living in the Gojo estate. The others, especially the ones who hold positions in the government or the military or who have public-facing jobs have their own homes registered under their own name, and not... you know... registered under the family with the clan head.

Another headcanon is that the clan head is capable of assigning properties and other clan assets to family members if he chooses to. Satoru Gojo can give away houses if he wants too, like a nobleman or European feudal lord. But for real, the Gojo clan might have been part of the nobility in ancient Japan, only losing their noble titles after the Imperial family changed the rules around the 1940s.

Speaking of, it's probably not a reach to assume, that the clan head has his fingers in many many honey pots. 🍯 That is to say, Satoru Gojo has access to more money than he can spend in a single life time. And after he's passed, maybe the money just goes back to the surviving members of the clan.

I need to know Satoru Gojo's net worth.

I think each of the Big 3 has their own hierarchy and their own family politics. Again, the Zen'ins are a prime example...

For the Gojo clan, I headcanon that there's a small council of elders -- people way older than Satoru. Satoru's own father is probably part of that. Put his grandfather and a couple of uncles and aunts in there too.

How do they work? I imagine it's pretty similar to how the Small Council functions in Game of Thrones. Like, there's someone in charge of managing finances, someone who keeps an ear on clan politics, someone who has a foothold in the national military, etc.

I imagine they have a bi-weekly gathering. They offer counsel, but the final decision in any dilemma they discuss always falls to the clan head -- Satoru Gojo.

I also headcanon that Satoru has a penthouse somewhere in Tokyo -- a place he considers as his own residence, away from clan politics and the rest of his probably snobby family.

But Satoru is always busy, so his penthouse is way too clean. It looks like no one lives there.

This is the vibe of the penthouse... I have his penthouse in my Sims 4 game.

Speaking of snobby... The Gojo's clan general reputation? I would say... They're intellectual people, some of them are likely obsessed with history, and rigid and formal when it comes to observing traditions. I imagine they have a tendency to be really elegant.

Whenever the Zen'ins look at them, the stereotypical thought is, "Look at those pompous, snobby, jackasses."

In the succeeding years since December 7, 1989, the Gojo clan's sense of pride has only grown, because well... The most powerful and strongest sorcerer of the modern age came through their lineage.

Needless to say, Satoru Gojo is the pride and power of the Gojo clan.

Satoru's parents were practicing Grade 1 sorcerers... really active in the field, and Satoru's grandfather was Clan Head for a time.

Satoru's mom retired from fieldwork after she married Satoru's dad and after she got pregnant and became a mom. I love my headcanon that she's a shrewd politician and is all about maintaining good standing with the elders while doing intelligence gathering. The woman maintains a network, so she's always in-the-know.

Satoru doesn't make it easy for his mom especially when he goes around and does what he wants. e.g., Becoming a benefactor to Megumi, saving Yuji and Yuta, etc. She's actively working to cover his tracks wherever she can.

Satoru's mom is actively looking for a wife for him, for obvious reasons. The plan never came to fruition because of the Shibuya incident and Ch #236.

Satoru's father is more politician than actively practicing sorcerer by the time Satoru was studying in Jujutsu Tech. He's all about maintaining solid relations with the other clans, the elders, and collaborating with the branch of Japanese government that knows of the existence of jujutsu sorcery. He probably works with the Japanese government too.

Satoru Gojo visits the family estate once in a while... for other business, but primarily for hearings and clan meetings. It's peculiar to look at during these meetings because Satoru is the only person in that room who isn't wearing traditional clothes. Like, I headcanon that he shows up in casual attire, or his Jujutsu Tech uniform, complete with the blindfold.

His mom probably tried to talk him into wearing traditional clothes for these meetings when he was younger, but it just never stuck. Satoru is Satoru, after all.

After Satoru Gojo passes away, I like to imagine the Gojo clan takes a bit of a backseat. It's probably the wiser course of action too, considering everything that's happened in Japan after October 31, 2018.

[I know some people think he's the only survivor of the Gojo clan, but you gotta think of the fact that he learned about Hollow Purple from some people. Someone taught him FBE as a kid.]

[nikoisme]

Alright Achilles and Patroclus headcanons take 2:

-Patroclus is older than Achilles (this is canon but it's fine),, not by much, in my head it's about 2 years;

-They are the same height!

-Before Patroclus killed the boy over dice, they got into a fight and Patroclus ended up breaking his nose. It healed with a slight deformity and he has a bit of problems with breathing through his nose;

-I portray Achilles with amber/hazel-ish eyes,, but i'm so tempted to change them to blue purely because of this:

-Achilles and Patroclus got along immediately. You know how some kids in kindergarten are best friends and maybe swore a blood oath by the end of the first day? That's them.

-Chiron had to constantly keep them from getting into trouble and getting killed. They were really reckless as kids.

-Patroclus almost never gets sick. Even when he does, it's nothing serious. Achilles on the other hand? He's the first to catch a cold or any sickness. The moment it gets slightly colder he is sick;

-Achilles is an excellent swimmer and can hold his breath underwater longer than average;

-It's not that Achilles is afraid of Patroclus' dogs,, he just avoids them. Doesn't think much about them, but they kind of tolerate each other based on their shared love for Patroclus.

-Achilles and Patroclus kind of have this little.. grudge against each other since they were kids. It started with Achilles tripping Patroclus. Then Patroclus returned it by letting a branch hit Achilles (he didn't hold it for Achilles to pass,, he just let go of it and it smacked him in the face). And that whole "oh you'll fucking see for this" thing extended through adulthood;

-Patroclus' sense of humor I talked about here;

-Also he has a habit of boasting over someone he's killed and just cracking jokes as he kills them, and usually someone of the Achaeans will hear him and go "oh my gods" and just burst into laughter;

-He does that partially because Trojans will obviously be pissed off and rush forward,, but he just wants them to come closer so he can kill them;

-On that topic, Achilles doesn't really know how to joke. He doesn't understand most of the jokes, and frankly doesn't like them. He only understands Patroclus' humor and slowly learned his own as time went on. Also he is shit at recognizing tone of voice (that's why he is on complicated terms with odysseus. never knows if he is fucking with him or not).

-And my interpretation of their relationship here;

-Thetis and Patroclus never interacted much, but she is quite fond of him;

-While Patroclus gets along with pretty much everyone in camp, he isn't afraid to call out anyone's bullshit.

-For example; he gets along just fine with Odysseus (they often talk about dogs :D) but he is willing to get into an argument with him any time.

-On the other hand, Achilles and Odysseus get along great on some days, but on some days they can't stand each other's guts.

-You know how we talk about how Patroclus has to hold Achilles back when he gets mad? I stand by that. But whenever Patroclus gets mad, he has to be held back by several people (that usually being Achilles, Automedon and/or Phoenix). He needs to be given a lot of time to calm down.

-On that topic, Patroclus has so much rage stuffed inside of him. He just chooses to remain calm and collected and find a reasonable solution for things,, but as a result he is a ticking bomb just waiting to explode. He usually takes that rage out on the battlefield.

-Patroclus and Achilles aren't constantly next to each other in battle. They are always ready to rush in and help on other sides of the battlefield, then they get distracted and just fight their way through. But they always somehow spawn next to each other. One will turn around and see the other just fighting next to him out of nowhere.

-Achilles doesn't really mind blood (he literally spills it every day). But he kind of freaks out when he sees his own, whether it's a nose bleed or whatever. On the other hand Patroclus tends to his own wounds by himself like it's nothing.

-Now, they are both formidable warriors on their own. A Trojan soldier will see Achilles and while that's horrible on its own,, he can't help but think where is the other one??? And then he gets killed from behind by Patroclus. They like to ambush soldiers like that.

-Patroclus is the one who listens to Nestor's long stories. Listen, everyone at camp respects the man, but they always find a way to get Patroclus to do the listening instead of them. He takes one for the team.

-Also Achilles gets nosebleeds often.

-Patroclus and Menelaus were really good friends! And after Patroclus was killed, guilt was devouring Menelaus from the inside.

-Antilochus kept a very close eye on Achilles after Patroclus died. He is also one of the first/only people Achilles let into his life after Patroclus.

[deth-of-a-junkie]

i have a lot of postal dude headcanons, so ive split them up.

so heres my postal 1 dude headcanons

p1 dude has a special interest on the jets and weaponry used in ww2 and the vietnam war, but also the U.S military as a whole. he specifically likes to collect vintage U.S military memorabilia and propaganda. he can go on for hours about the faults of the government and government greed and corruption, he hates the system. he also knows a lot about JFK assassination theories and will go on for hours about them.

oh yeah. postal 1 dude is autistic.

he also has a spin on guns. he knows them all by name and loves to learn about different manufacturers and how each one are built. he knows how to deconstruct them and put them back together. he even has some guns he's made himself. legal? probably not. he doesnt care.

p1 dude also prefers reading in books for information instead of searching the web for them, so amongst the mess of his house is just piles upon piles of books.

p1 dude also is great at poetry. he loves writing too, which is why i think he started his diaries.

he also loves drawing! he loves going out and drawing scenery the most, he also likes drawing nude figures. he finds the human body to be interesting.

p1 dude is religious. im divided on if i see him as someone whos spiritually aligned closer to catholics (though i wouldnt call him a straight up catholic, he doesn't like the church.) or pagen.

talking about pagen dude, correct me if im wrong, i dont know much about pagenism (but ive been trying to learn more as of recent), but he specifically worships greek gods. out of the gods, his favorite is ares.

he hangs around poostall dude a lot. they arent really friends, they're kinda opposites of each other, but poostall looks up to him as a mentor in philosophy among other things.

he used to be active in his local punk scene when he was younger. he has a lot of cds and tapes of obscure bands that almost no one has heard of.

he loves metal more then anything though, and he also has a large collection of horror films (all on vhs, a few of dvd. he doesnt have his dvd player plugged in so he only uses it if he has too. also refused to buy blueray. if its the only option he burns it onto a disk himself.).

his favorite genres of metal are melodic death metal and prog metal. i would also say dsbm but i feel like thats too corny. he loves opeth. also death.

he's non-speaking most of the time by choice. the older he's gotten the more he started to isolate himself, and he usually chooses to ignore people when theyre talking and not respond at all, mainly just people who ask for directions and stuff on the street he'll just ignore. he just doesnt feel the need too, he likes to stay invisible.

talking about that, he hates leaving his house. it used to be because of anxiety but it slowly became due to his other mental health issues getting worse, especially his fear of everyone being out to get him/everyone else being demons/whatever your interpretation of his reasonings behind postal 1 is.

3 in one shampoo. also uses hand soap to shave instead of shaving cream. also uses hand soap to wash his face...

he needs glasses. his sunglasses also has his normal prescription lenses in them, his eyes are sensitive to light so he chose to make them sunglasses too (i believe this is possible. if its not, well it is now). he also has a 2nd pair that are just normal glasses, he uses them only to read or when he's walking around his house at night. (this is totally not me self reflecting with the realization that i just found out i need glasses..../s)

I DONT KNOW HOW I FORGOT TO MENTION but also has a special interest on nuclear disasters, nuclear power plants, and radiation. theyre not separate theyre all apart of one fixation that branches off the core idea of nuclear power. like he cant have one without the other. if that makes sense.

also uses he/they. he doesnt out right say it, he doesnt use social media so its not like, in a bio or anything. he just naturally picked it up. will also accept she being used to refer to himself, but is not something he states publicly or asks people to do. he was surrounded by the queer community growing up as most of his highschool friends were apart of the community so he just one day realized he wasnt opposed to it being used in reference to himself.

he is an ASSHOLE. he used to be more considerate in his youth but the older he got the grumpier he got. he is SCARY when he insults someone. like he will have an entire ass speech of him just degrading someone until they literally have nothing left to say for themselves.

doesnt get angry though. he's calm when hes upset and frustrated, or will straight up just make fun of and make harsh jokes about the situation (i mean that like. if he gets into a disagreement with someone on the street he will laugh at them and mock them by teasing them. thats what i mean.)

[girl-of-ink]

Puzzlefic Recs

These Days We Celebrate / Reconfiguration by Phoebeus

Original synopsis: “Originally a series of canon-compliant stories spanning the six month gap between the defeat of Pegasus and the arrival of Otogi, it now includes a branch-off story that changes the climax of the Millennium World arc and explores what would have happened if Atem had gotten his own body a month prior to leaving for Egypt. [Manga-canon, Puzzleshipping]”

Type: Series of oneshots + one multichap longfic

Word count: 300k+ altogether

Rating: G/T/E

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Times read: 3 times for the whole series, at least 5 or 6 for Reconfiguration specifically

Standout characters/aspects: Yuugi's mom & Honda

Notes: The holy grail. The puzzle fic to end all puzzle fics. Nothing beats it. It aligns almost 98% with my personal headcanons, & the small things we disagree on are contextualized in a way that makes sense in the story. Yuugi's mom is iconic in this story, & my own interpretations of her lean heavily on her portrayal in this series.

Haunted House Sweet Home by InkFlavored

Original synopsis: “Yugi doesn't believe in ghosts. He never has and, up until now, he thought he never would. But when he moves into his new apartment, things start disappearing, doors start slamming, and an ancient crown has it out for him. He's forced to face reality: he's living in a haunted house. But will he be ‘living’ there for long?”

Type: Multichap longfic

Word count: 150k+

Rating: T

Warnings: Mention of eventual major character death, brief mention of eventual Yuugi/Atem/fem OC in final chapter

Status: Complete

Times read: Probably 3ish

Standout characters/aspects: Feriha (fem OC) has a very small part, but she is integrated in a well-thought-out manner & quite likable.

Notes: This fic takes a lot of normal aspects of ygo like “cursed object” and “troubled king” and gives them a new spin! Bonus points for writing an OC villain who works as well as Hazim does.

Egyptology Exercises / All This We Do in the Name of Ma’at by Nedjemet

Original synopsis: “My attempt at redoing Yu-Gi-Oh with a focus on character development, magic, and historical accuracy instead of card games. While this is technically a series, "All This We Do in the Name of Ma'at" functions as a standalone story. All of the other stories are just in-universe follow ups to show what the characters got up to after the story was over. These shorts largely function as stand alones, too, since Ma'at follows cannon very closely in the important ways. All of the stories are ordered loosely in terms of when they occured. You can read them in any order.

All of the Egyptology is heavily researched and I did my best to get it right. If something is off and you have a source, please send it my way!

All of the stuff in modern Japan has minimal research done and is more for flavor than anything else. I'm going for anime-level accuracy with that, not realism.”

Type: Multichap longfic + a couple of shorter multichap fics + bonus work diving into the Egyptology research used in the fics

Word count: 200k+ altogether

Rating: T/M/E

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Times read: Twice for All This We Do in the Name of Ma’at, probably 5-6 times for the two sequel fics

Standout characters/aspects: Nedjemet’s research on the Egyptology aspects is very impressive

Notes: Really good! The main fic is quite plot & research heavy tho, so I find myself revisiting the two shorter follow-up fics more often. More fluff than substance for me.

The Last Puzzle by Tenderwulf

Original synopsis: “11 years after the Ceremonial Duel, Atem and Bakura inexplicably find themselves back in Domino. When they meet their previous hosts, they realize how much things have changed: Yuugi, the now world-renowned King of Games, is going through a marriage crisis, Ryou is struggling to balance studies, work, and his brittle mental health, and Malik... well, Malik is living his best life—and his own yami is nowhere to be seen.

They soon realize they all have to work together in order to solve the mystery of the yamis’ return: some to make sure that they stay, and some to make sure that they don't.”

Type: Multichap longfic

Word count: 300k+

Rating: T

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence

Status: Ongoing

Other ships: Tendershipping [Bakura Ryou/Yami Bakura], past Peachshipping [Mazaki Anzu/Mutou Yuugi]

Times read: 1

Standout characters/aspects: Yami Bakura’s character development is stellar.

Notes: Very good, altho I confess that I’m slightly more interested in the puzzle storyline than the tender story (which happens to be the main plot lol). Very much worth reading.

Keep the Light Shining by Clydeside

Original synopsis: “Yugi's new job as a lighthouse keeper sounds simple enough... until he realizes he's not entirely alone on the remote island: a dark spirit haunts Crawford Sound.

It lingers like a shadow in the night.

It watches, and it waits.

The past keepers warned of an inescapable terror, but as the days turn into weeks, Yugi begins to think it's not the ghost he ought to fear.”

Type: Multichap longfic

Word count: 50k+

Rating: M

Warnings: Major character death (Atem is already a ghost)

Status: Complete

Times read: 3

Standout characters/aspects: Worldbuilding!!!! This story is so gorgeously atmospheric

Notes: Please please please read Keep the Light Shining, it’s so good. The horror aspects combined with the romance and mystery aspects are so well-balanced.

Lineament by Zuzeca

Original synopsis: “Once seven, now three. A broken Pendant, a crumbling empire, and tugging at the seams of reality, hints of a sinister power returning. His faith in destiny strained past breaking, newly-crowned-and-deposed Pharaoh Set makes the questionable decision to try and solve the Millennium Puzzle with magic. As it goes with magic, his efforts are rewarded…but not quite in the way he expected.”

Type: Multichap longfic

Word count: 50k+

Rating: M

Warnings: Major character death (Ghost Atem again)

Status: Complete

Other ships: Logicshipping [Priestess Isis/Priest Seto]

Times read: 3

Standout characters/aspects: Set & Isis are very interesting & well-developed characters here.

Notes: Really interesting twist on the whole series. Somewhat of a time travel fic, but in a much more satisfying and less cheesy way than most.

Snake Charmer by InkFlavored

Original synopsis: “Prompts: ‘Wow, my pet snake looks so cute this morning and I’d be even happier if I actually had a pet snake.’ & ‘You curse under your breath in a foreign language and I know I shouldn’t be turned on but I totally am.’

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 20k+

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Times read: 5

Standout characters/aspects: Osiris the snake is an icon

Notes: 100% fluff. Cute snake. Utterly delightful.

Cut Off / Whiskey, No Chaser by InkFlavored

Original synopsis: “Few people choose a day during the week to drink away their problems at a bar downtown. Most people wait until the weekend, content to simmer with their issues until Friday. Others do it at home with friends, and without worrying about how they're supposed to get home in time for work in the morning. All in all, it's rare that someone walks into a bar on a weeknight at ten-thirty to start drinking.

But that's exactly what happened to Atem.”

Type: Two multichap longfics

Word count: 100k+ combined

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Other ships: Past rivalshipping [Mutou Yuugi/Kaiba Seto]

Times read: 2

Standout characters/aspects: Great way of showing how Atem becomes part of the friend group

Notes: It’s cute! Not InkFlavored’s best work, but all of their stuff is worth reading.

Macchiato Incommunicado by InkFlavored

Original synopsis: “Prompt: ‘my favorite coffee shop is closed for the day so i have to find somewhere else where i can get my overly-advanced pretentious order and i found the place where you work and now i never use the other place anymore because even though you always serve my drink with a “what the fuck has normal coffee ever done to you”-sigh you're really cute and i'd like to go out with you.’

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 15k+

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Times read: 3

Standout characters/aspects: Points to everyone else in this fic for putting up with Yuugi & Atem’s stupid bullshit.

Notes: Pretty good interpretation of the dreaded miscommunication plot and the cliché coffee shop AU.

The First Leaves That Fall by Clydeside

Original synopsis: “When Yugi arrives in Yubari to settle the last of his grandfather’s affairs, he finds a mountain village in quiet decline. Most people have left for the city, buildings are crumbling, and nature grows dense and wild against its outskirts.

But among those who remain, superstition abounds, and they all offer the same advice:

Stay out of the forest.

Yugi, however, is intrigued. By the puzzle of its shifting paths. The riddle of a wind that speaks, if he listens.

And, perhaps most of all, by the stranger who always shows him the way out before dark.

Or: Yugi falls hard for the local cryptid. Not everyone is cool about it.”

Type: Multichapter longfic

Word count: 40k+

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Ongoing

Times read: 1

Standout characters/aspects: Honda & Miho are really great friends, and bonus points for local Shinto priest Bakura, who is as ominous and strange as ever.

Notes: I love this fic!!!! Again, Clyde is the best at writing spooky & atmospheric stories. I can’t wait to see what really happened in Yubari to make the nature spirits (including Atem) so angry.

Chained to You by SajiSpellhart

Original synopsis: “Taking place after the events of Season Zero, all the shadow games happened but Yugi never found out he was possessed by the spirit of the puzzle. Now he's an adult, living on his own, and he starts to notice strange and spooky things happening around his apartment. When he sees his own shadow moving Yugi begins to suspect his new place is haunted. But is this shadow spirit malicious or... kinda sweet?

Yami does a bunch of stupidly sweet domestic shit for Yugi to help take care of him. Expect romance, fluff, self-care, and Puzzleshipping shenanigans.”

Type: Multichapter longfic

Word count: 100k+

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Ongoing

Times read: 1

Standout characters/aspects: Yami is incredibly cute in this fic.

Notes: Really interesting AU where Yuugi never finds out about Atem as a high schooler, and so Season 0-esque shenanigans continue into adulthood.

He Has a Heartbeat by Kaibbage

Original synopsis: “Atem is back, and this time he's living and tangible. As such, Yugi cannot stop touching him - and vice versa.”

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 3k

Rating: E

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Times read: 10 at least

Standout characters/aspects: 

Notes: So cute!!! One of the best Atem Comes Back oneshots out there. Very sweet short little PWP.

Superimposed / Bird Rock Lambchop (Bird Bigger Bird) by Toffeecape

Original synopsis: “Yugi wants his other self to have nice things.”

Type: Series of oneshots + short multichaptered fics

Word count: 70k+ combined

Rating: E/M

Warnings: Some installments mention major character death (but with the caveat that the characters cross over to the Egyptian afterlife), most have no warnings

Status: Complete

Times read: Superimposed probably like 5 times, whole series twice

Standout characters/aspects: Love Yuugi’s urge to provide for Atem, very sweet. I also love the chapter of Like a Stone into a Pond that focuses on Yuugi’s mom’s relationship with Atem.

Notes: This series is sort of YMMV for me. To be entirely honest, the smut gets a little too weird for me in a lot of installments, so I don’t revisit it too often, but the first installment is definitely my favorite, and I love seeing the intimacy between Yuugi & Atem grow while they’re still sharing a body. The 4th installment is my other favorite, as it focuses less on smut and more on character interactions.

Phantom Limb by Killdoll

Original synopsis: “In the hospital after the fire where Yuugi reassembled the Millennium Puzzle, Yuugi and his Other Self have a heart-to-heart.

(Puzzleshipping, set during anime canon, attempted ghost cuddling.)”

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 3k

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Times read: 5+

Standout characters/aspects: Really great characterization

Notes: Very sweet examination of the aftermath of (the anime version of) the fire.

Pieces of Puzzleshipping by Phoebeus

Original synopsis: “Originally this was where all of my tumblr prompts and random ficlets would come to live, but it's quickly become home to all of my random puzzleshipping fluff, instead. We shall acknowledge it as such until at least one other ship invades!”

Type: Oneshot collection

Word count: 17k+ combined

Rating: E

Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings (I don’t remember anything too triggering in these oneshots besides a safeword use that is immediately respected in chapter 10)

Status: Complete

Times read: 2-3

Standout characters/aspects: To be honest, I don’t remember these individual oneshots all that well, but I love all of Phoebeus’ work.

Notes: Bite-sized and enjoyable fluff!

Getting Rivalzoned (and Learning to Live with It) by Oogenesis

Original synopsis: “Finding out that your best and closest and most infuriatingly attractive rival has come back to life is one thing.

Finding out that he and his former vessel have eyes only for each other - well, that's quite a different matter.”

Type: Short multichapter

Word count: 8k

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Unfinished (seems to be abandoned, but I recall the last chapter working fairly well as an ending, so it’s not too infuriating)

Other Ships: onesided Prideshipping [Atem/Kaiba Seto]

Times read: 3ish

Standout characters/aspects: Just so incredibly funny. 

Notes: This is my ideal prideship scenario. Sorry, Kaiba.

Visiting Hours by Oogenesis

Original synopsis: “Kaiba, at Atem's insistence, finally brings Yugi along on one of his visits to the afterlife, and promptly regrets it.”

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 1.5k

Rating: T

Warnings: None (possible major character death as Atem has already crossed over to the afterlife)

Status: Complete

Other Ships: One-sided prideshipping [Atem/Kaiba Seto]

Times read: 5ish at least

Standout characters/aspects: Same as the previous fic, just so funny to see Kaiba so deeply jealous while being completely ignored.

Notes: Love how excited to see each other Yuugi & Atem are.

Ours, Not Mine by MagiMevi

Original synopsis: “The spirit found such ease and amusement in simply perusing Yugi's daily memories, and Yugi no longer wanted to just share them with him. He wanted to make them with him – he wanted the spirit to create new memories – he didn't want to just amuse the spirit with the passing fibres of his life – he just – he wanted -

Don't worry about it, partner.”

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 5k

Rating: T

Warnings: None 

Status: Complete

Times read: 2-3

Standout characters/aspects: Great exploration of Yuugi’s character

Notes: Yuugi scheming like hell to try to get Atem to live & enjoy himself while in the puzzle is one of my favorite tropes, 10/10.

Take Him (Cut Him Out in Little Stars) by InkFlavored

Original synopsis: “Most people think of light and silence as comforting things. To Yugi, they're anything but. Atem's mind is tearing itself to pieces and no one understands.

PuzzleJune 2019 (Week 3: Light)”

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 5k

Rating: G

Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings (Major character death canon to the end of the manga)

Status: Complete

Times read: 5+

Standout characters/aspects: I love Atem’s talk with Akhenamkhanen.

Notes: Definitely one of the most influential Atem comes back fics to my own work! It’s fabulous, 10/10.

The Seldom Seen by Clydeside

Original synopsis: “Yugi’s soul has gone missing after reassembling the Millennium Puzzle in the fire, leaving the Other Yugi to fill his place.

As he tries to hide the truth from Yugi’s friends and family, he searches for his partner and the scattered pieces of his soul. But without Yugi at his side, he is losing control of the Puzzle’s power over the shadow realm… and the creature it contains.”

Type: Mid-length multichapter

Word count: 45k

Rating: T

Warnings: Major character death (albeit tagged as “only sort of permanent”)

Status: Complete

Times read: 3

Standout characters/aspects: Angst!

Notes: I love any fic that examines Atem’s relationships (or lack thereof) with Yuugi’s friends and family. 

Jolly Sailor Bold / Shellfish Tendencies by Kudalyn

Original synopsis: “‘The seas sing for those who are lost, and for those who find as well.’

Atem is a siren/merman and Yugi is a ghost haunting a sunken ship Atem comes across. Atem is intrigued by the ghost, hangs around enough that they start to get to know each other, getting attached, and falling for each other over time. But Yugi’s memories start to fade, as ghosts don’t get to stay forever on the living plane, and Atem has to deal with this loss.

My entry for the YGO Big Bang 2018!

Content Warning of character death and mourning, with reward at the end if you stick through it ;)”

Type: Series of two oneshots

Word count: 15k+ combined

Rating: M

Warnings: Major character death (sort of temporary? It’s complicated lol)

Status: Complete

Times read: 3ish

Standout characters/aspects: Honestly really interesting implications about the origins of mermaids……….

Notes: Super fun twist on a mermaid AU.

Untitled Puzzleshipping Doujinshi by Kaluda

Original synopsis: “This is a doujin I made in 2019 that I decided to post here as well. Inspired by the end of the Dark Side of Dimensions film.”

Type: Short comic

Word count: N/A?

Rating: Unrated (I would say G)

Warnings: None (Major character death canon to manga/anime)

Status: Complete

Times read: 3ish

Standout characters/aspects: Such cute art!!!!!! 

Notes: Rare comic example, but it’s posted on ao3, so I’m counting it as a fic. It’s really very sweet & short, go check it out!

Angle of Approach by InkFlavored

Original synopsis: “Definition: (in golf) the angle at which the club head strikes the ball. This affects the trajectory the ball will travel and spin. 

The only thing Atem hates more than his family’s annual summer vacation is the “family” part. A whole three months away from home, away from friends, and away from freedom. This year, he’s nearly resigned himself to the worst trip he’s ever been on, surrounded by people he couldn’t care less about.

Then he meets Yugi, and decides to make his own fun.”

Type: Multichap longfic

Word count: 130k+

Rating: E

Warnings: No archive warnings apply, general warning for emotional and slight physical abuse by parents, and definitely warning for workplace sexual harassment

Status: Ongoing (Unfinished? Abandoned??? I sure hope not)

Times read: 2

Standout characters/aspects: Yugi is phenomenal in this AU. I’m obsessed with him.

Notes: I love this fic!!!! I usually don’t like fics where Atem is an asshole, but apparently it’s fine if he’s a bottom lmao. Anyway I love seeing Atem very very slowly become a better person against his will, and I’m really hoping Ink_Flavored is still working on this fic. It’s one of my favorite ongoing works.

Dress Up Game by InkFlavored

Original synopsis: “The Mutou family, including the newly resurrected Atem, get invited to a wedding. Neither Yugi nor Atem have anything to wear to the event, but it’s not a big deal. All they have to do is go shopping to pick something out. How bad could it possibly be?”

Type: Two chapter fic

Word count: 25k+

Rating: T

Warnings: None

Status: Complete

Times read: 3

Standout characters/aspects: Really great attention to detail about Japanese culture. Taught me a lot about traditional Japanese weddings!

Notes: This fic is so cute! Really nice fic that focuses on Atem living life after coming back from the dead.

Await Red to Become Anthracite by Zigur_zig_ah

Original synopsis: “Yuugi, security guard un-extraordinaire, leads a particularly mundane life. He sits in front of a monitor for eight hours a cycle, pretends to concern himself with the safety of five-hundred and thirty-nine Roman coins of no value whatsoever, and occasionally, when work is especially slow, occupies the unenviable position of Duel Monsters champion of the known universe.

But something stalks the perpetual darkness of Proxima-b. A horror from beyond the grave, loosed in a moment of carelessness, has set its hollow, empty sights on Yuugi - and Yuugi, try as he might, can't seem to stay away from it.”

Type: Medium length multichapter fic

Word count: 30k

Rating: M

Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings 

Status: Complete

Times read: 1

Standout characters/aspects: Really fun combination of futuristic sci-fi, horror, canon, and ancient Egypt?

Notes: A bit less romance-y than plot-centered, but the way the story unfolds is really fascinating.

Hindsight by Cloudsmachinations

Original synopsis: “Yugi needs to wear glasses. Atem needs to calm the hell down.”

Type: Oneshot

Word count: 2.5k

Rating: T

Warnings: None 

Status: Complete

Times read: 3ish

Standout characters/aspects: I love an Atem that is down bad

Notes: So cute tbh

[tvckerwash]

thoughts on ct's fighting style and her position in pfl because I can (utc bc it's long lol):

okay so I like to jokingly refer to myself as THE wash meta/analysis guy, but I also absolutely love ct if anyone wasn't aware (she's my 2nd fav character behind wash if you couldn't tell lol), but as much as I love her it's honestly pretty difficult to write any sort of 'objective' meta or analysis posts about her because we don't know shit about her. so while this is meant to be a companion piece of sorts to this wash post, I just wanted to make it clear that a lot of this post is going to be based around my personal interpretation of ct (though I will try and be as objective as possible where I can be).

so much like wash, I think ct is also fairly unique among the freelancers for a few different reasons. one of them is that she's one of the few freelancers to wear a unique set of armor instead of the usual mark iv, and I think that ct's armor can actually tell us quite a bit about her skill set and what kind of role she possibly held. ct wears the eod helmet and chest which is primarily designed for protection from explosives, but when it comes to ct the more important information is that the eod armor was designed with less available grabbing surface than other armor variants. she also wears the scout shoulders, which is a variant that is focused on stealth capabilities.

from this information, we can easily deduce that ct's skill set primarily revolves around be slippery and sneaky, and when paired with what we see in the show it's pretty clear that ct is an intelligence operative. I think that ct is specifically a cyber operations specialist, and that prior to being recruited for freelancer she worked in ONI's section one (the actual intelligence gathering sector of ONI that is used by other UNSC branches).

another unique aspect about ct is that she is the only freelancer to consistently arm herself very lightly, with her primary weapon(s) of choice being two M6G magnums, and her other weapon(s) being two combat knives. this goes inline with what I've said above, and due to how lightly she arms herself I believe that ct generally isn't involved in any heavy combat scenarios. this point is supported by team b's failure to retrieve the briefcase with the access code during the heist in s9 (seriously, who tf thought it was a good idea to put 2 snipers and an intelligence operative all together as one team for a smash and grab retrieval mission??).

now to actually break down the whole 1.5 fights ct has in s10, I think that she probably somewhat shares wash's more grounded and pragmatic approach to combat as a whole, with the exception of her preference for duel wielding (which I personally headcanon is a thing she chooses to do because it makes her feel like an action/spy movie protagonist).

in both of her fight scenes ct seems to rely very heavily on her ability to plan ahead and get the jump on her opponents to take them by surprise (dropping from the ceiling to take out the two marines when she met up with the innie leader in the scrap yard, and using her armor enhancement to conceal her real position which allowed her to pin tex's arm behind her back), and I think it's safe to say that she probably isn't the kind of cqc fighter than can mow people down left and right like carolina can.

as mentioned above, I think ct's main goal is to take her opponents out in the quickest, quietest, and most efficient ways possible, much like a spy or an assassin, and while her loadout is great when she is in ideal circumstances where she's able to sneak around and avoid unnecessary combat, I don't think it's very good when it comes to drawn out encounters. we see this in her fight against tex and carolina, as while she handled herself pretty well it seemed like the longer the fight lasted the sloppier ct ended up getting, and eventually she made enough minor mistakes that carolina was able to knock her off her feet and disarm her in a single move, and tex, who was now aware of ct's armor enhancement, was able to cut her down.

[whatsnewalycat]

Just Dumb Enough to Try

Chapter 11: Shallow

Word Count: 3.7k

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit (18+ only)

Tags / CW: swearing, cheating/infidelity, lying, smut, spanking, PIV sex, daddyyyy, dirty talk, we're going to pretend I know anything about ranching, i've shoehorned several headcanons in here, lotta lotta fluff

Chapter Summary: Our heroes have a sleepover (part one)

Notes: Chapter title from "Shallow" by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper. Also small note - idk if anyone actually listens to the Spotify playlists I post for chapters, but I put "Chattahoochee" by Alan Jackson on this week's playlist… and I forgot what a fun song that is. I don't even like a lot of country music, but that song makes me want to kick a fucking door off its hinges. I'm posting a day earlier than normal because I'm bored. I might be releasing more chapters earlier than anticipated because I've been able to backlog a ton of writing. Idk, we'll see what happens!!

[ First Chapter ] [ Previous Chapter ] [ Spotify Playlist ] [ AO3 ]

Peña Ranch, Laredo, TX June 24, 1998

You follow the directions Javier scrawled on the back of a receipt, hoping that you interpret the chicken scratch correctly. Clouds of dust billow out from beneath your tires as you make your way down the desolate dirt road. The radio is off because you’re so nervous, you can’t concentrate with the music playing. Your heart skips a beat when you see a driveway branch off of the road; the gateway above it reads Peña Ranch.

You last saw Javi on Monday, only able to spend about two hours together before he dropped you off at home. He found a place to park on some back road. While rifling through his stack of cassette tapes he keeps in the truck, you found out that, much to your surprise and delight, his go-to album is Prince’s Purple Rain . Among his collection, you also found Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet, Johnny Cash’s American Recordings, and Alan Jackson’s A Lot About Livin’ and a Little ‘Bout Love. This small peak into his music taste is fucking fascinating to you.

But, to be fair, your curiosity is piqued by every scrap of information he’ll give you about himself. For instance, you asked if he's ever been hunting, then he casually told you about how he and his partner shot Pablo Escobar’s homing pigeons that were sent out to communicate via pigeon post while imprisoned. Which only made you have more questions.

“Can I ask you something?” you tilted your chin up to make eye contact with him while resting your head on his lap.

He ran his fingers through your hair, “What?”

“Well… when we went to that restaurant, in the bathroom before we, um,” you couldn’t keep a giant smile from spreading across your face, “fucked. You said something about having a um… body count.”

One hand continued to absentmindedly comb through your hair, while the other danced along your belly, causing your whole body to shudder. He hummed, “Mhmm.”

“What did you mean by that? Like, have you…” you scrunched your nose, not sure if you even wanted to keep asking this question.

He raised his eyebrows, “I’ve killed people, is that what you’re asking?”

You nodded, stomach twisting into a knot, “Do you regret it?”

“That’s a complicated question to answer,” he paused talking to think about it, but never ceased petting you affectionately. After a while, he said, “I don’t like some of the things I did in the DEA, especially… that. You lose a little humanity, you know?” he sighed, “I don’t know.”

You reached up and stroked your thumb against his cheek, stubble like sandpaper, and he leaned into your touch. You wished you could bottle this feeling. The tenderness shared between the two of you when you’re alone makes you feel whole and content.

“It’s ok to not know,” you assured him softly, running your fingers along his mustache, then down to trace his lips, “I’m just glad you’re here.”

He brought his hand up to hold you in place as he turned to kiss your fingertips, your palm, your wrist. And just like that, you were his. The gentle touching and kissing gave way to hungrier urges. Soon you were panting against his mouth as you both frantically pulled clothing off and out of the way.

Post-sex, still breathing heavy, you commented, “I can’t wait to fuck you in a bed.”

“Yeah?” he grinned over at you, basking in the afterglow, “You wanna have a sleepover?”

“A sleepover?” you grin from ear to ear at the slightly juvenile term, “I would love that.”

“Wednesday?”

And it was set.

When a well-maintained brick rambler comes into view, so does a blue merle Australian Shepherd, sprinting from behind the house to see who the visitor is. Javi steps out the front door and starts walking up to meet you, giving an enthusiastic wave and a bright smile that calms your nerves like a Xanax.

“Welcome, cariño,” he greets as you slam the car door behind you.

A grin spreads across your face at the warm welcome. You cheer when the dog skitters at your feet, wagging a stubby tail, then you drop into a crouch to pet him. Javier crouches down next to you, scratching the dog on his butt, causing one of the furry beast’s back legs to start thumping a plume of dust off the gravel driveway.

“What’s his name?” you peer over at Javi, who is just fucking beaming at you. Your stomach flips like you’re free falling.

“Pickles”

You literally squeal; small happy tears prick at the corners of your eyes, “Pickles?!? Oh my god this is the best, I love him.”

“Are you… crying?” he laughs as you both stand up and you wipe your eyes.

“I’m just really happy,” you sniffle, then try to hide your blushing face in embarrassment, “Sorry.”

His thumbs hook through the belt loops on your shorts and pull your waist against his. He leans his back against the truck, then places a light kiss on your cheek, rumbling, “Don’t apologize.”

Nodding up at him through your eyelashes, you flick your eyes between his lips and eyes suggestively. You lean in towards each other, lips meeting in the middle. The kiss is a slow, intimate thing; lips wet and mouths parted enough for your tongues to greet each other. You dissolve into it, arching your back against him, running your fingers through his silky hair. His hands snake around your waist before settling below the hem of your shorts.

The bulge in his jeans twitches as his fingers slide up the back of your shorts, where he firmly grabs handfuls of your ass. A quiet moan slips from your lips onto his. You feel him smile against you before he pulls back.

“Let me show you around,” he requests, slipping his hands out of your shorts. You push off of him, almost on top of Pickles, who has apparently been waiting patiently for you two to stop pawing at each other (dog pun).

His fingers intertwine with yours. Pickles follows behind diligently as Javi takes you on a brief walking tour, showing you one of the livestock barns, some other outbuildings, then brings you up the home’s back porch. As you’re walking up, his dad opens the sliding glass door and gives a small wave. Javi introduces you.

“I believe we’ve met,” he says gruffly, reaching out to shake your hand. He looks down at your hands clasped with Javi’s, then back up to you only after you let go of his son, “With the Bakers, right?”

“That’s right,” you nod, flush breaking out on your face right as your sweaty palm meets his rough one. when you pull back, you cross your arms in front of your abdomen self-consciously.

“Their boy Dan, aren’t you engaged to him?” he further inquires.

You clamp your mouth shut and just nod again.

Fuck fuck fuck

He turns his gaze to Javier, raising his eyebrows and pointing at you, “This is who you’ve been seeing?”

“Yeah, Dad,” Javi sighs, scratching the back of his neck and shifting his weight to one hip.

Chucho looks between the two of you, then shakes his head and chuckles, “You’re both idiots,” while sitting down in a rocking chair on the porch. Laughter bursts out of you.

“Really?” Javi rebuffs his father. Chucho simply nods and chuckles to himself. Javi turns to you, apologies written all over his face, “He doesn’t m-“

You cut him off, shaking your head and smiling with amusement, “No, I think that’s a fair judgment. We are both idiots.”

Chucho looks at him, points to you again, and laughs, “See?”

“Unbelievable,” Javi sighs, looking between you and his dad before settling his eyes on you, “You wanna go inside?”

“Sure. It was nice to see you again, Chucho,” you smile politely and wave at him while Javier guides you into the house by the small of your back. You enter the house into the kitchen. There’s a delicious savory smell wafting through the air.

“As you can see, we’ve got the kitchen, dining room, living room all right here,” he points around the open floor plan and identifies each area. It features a lot of rustic decor, brown furniture, a fire place in the living room… it’s a cozy space, warm and inviting, just like the Peñas.

“It smells so fucking good in here, what are you making? Do I get to eat it?” you question while wandering around the common areas of the house, trailing your finger pads long everything you come across.

“Barbacoa. Dad put it together for dinner, so, yes you get to eat it,” he tells you, leaning up against the kitchen island counter and shoving his hands in his front pockets. He observes you as you explore.

You make your way to a hutch that displays a variety of deer figurines, framed family photos, and other keepsakes. You zero in on one picture in particular, in which a young boy, looking to be 3 or 4, is being held by a woman. The boy has a mop of curly dark brown hair, huge dark eyes, and is laying his head on the woman’s chest, smiling so big you can see his dimples. The woman has the exact same facial features, and a bright smile is spread across her face. She’s beautiful. Her long, wavy, dark brown hair flows down her back.

“Is this you and your mom?” you ask, hunching over so you can examine the photo closer.

“Yeah. That’s a was taken at my 4th birthday party,” he tells you.

Peering back at him, then back at the photo, you smile, “You look just like her.”

You stand up straight and trace the engravings on the hutch, stopping to touch a figurine of a fawn that looks like it’s made a entirely of jade, then another that’s a glass buck standing alert. You’re so focused on the collection, studying each figurine, mesmerized by the variety, trying to determine what the criteria was for selecting each piece, that you don’t notice Javi hovering behind you, watching you closely.

His hands slowly creep around your waist as he pulls your back against him, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck. The embrace is all encompassing, and you sink into him.

“Do you want to see my room?” he mumbles against your ear. The words reverberate down your spine

“I am dying to see your room,” you purr.

He leads you down the hallway and ushers you into a slightly disheveled bedroom that’s furnished with a desk, dresser, bookshelf, and a queen size bed, made up with a black duvet. The white walls are almost completely bare, save for a calendar and a cork board above the desk.

“Ooo so this is where the magic happens?” you tease, biting your lip and poking him before you walk over to his dresser and start fondling the belongings he has on display. There are framed pictures: a much younger Javi dressed in a graduation cap and gown, mom on one side of him and dad on the other, younger Javi with a pretty smiling blonde woman, and a more recent Javi next to a tall mustachioed blonde man. There’s a dish with miscellaneous coins, paper clips, pins. A pair of sunglasses, which you’ve seen him wear frequently, sits next to the dish.

He scoffs and sits down on the bed, studying you studying him.

"What are these for?" you ask when you spot a few hardcover text books on his desk. Also scattered across the desktop is a haphazard stack of files and loose papers, a paperback copy of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, a DEA coffee cup filled with pens, an ashtray, and an open notebook filled with illegible scribbles.

He clears his throat, then falters, "I um... I look at cold cases when I have free time."

A grin crosses your face as you mutter under your breath, "That's so fucking cool."

You step closer to look at the cork board hanging on the wall above his desk, chest fluttering when you see the drawings you’ve given him: a deer and a willow tree. They're pinned up next to a calendar, along with your phone number. A confession leaves your lips, “I didn’t think you would actually keep these.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

When you turn around and face him, his brow is furrowed, mouth turned down in a frown.

“I… I don’t know. Nobody has really liked my doodles before,” you admit.

He grabs your hand and pulls you closer, resting his ear against your belly, hugging your waist as he mumbles, "I like them."

Your fingers card through his hair and he turns to gaze up at you, warm and wanting. It sends goosebumps rippling across your skin. You bend down and press your lips onto his, drawing back for a moment, only to renew the kiss with fervor. His tongue runs along yours as you part your mouth. As he kisses you, heat pools in your center from the insatiable way he nips and tugs at you. You’ve barely been touching a minute and already you want him.

Fiending for more, you climb on top of him and push him flush against the mattress. His fingers dig into your sides as he presses you down, arching his hips so you can feel how bad he wants you. It draws a shaky breath from your chest and you grind down onto him. He groans, “Fuck, baby that’s so good.”

The praise flips your stomach; you fold on top of him and growl into his ear, “stick out your tongue.” He follows your direction and moans as you lap against his tongue, into his mouth, licking every inch of the cavern desperately. You trail messy kisses down his face to his throat, where you stretch your mouth wide to suck and fondle the salty skin. A possessiveness falls over you; thinking of how women frequently approach this handsome man, you want a mark to show he’s yours.

His hands roam under your shorts, palming your cheeks in unison, bouncing your ass up and down, slow at first, with increasing speed as you arch your back into it and whimper. It sends a dizzying rush of pleasure up your middle, and you moan, “slap my ass.”

His palm meets your ass check with a loud smack. “Do you like that?” he asks through gritted teeth.

“Fuck yes. Do it again,” you breathe, nodding and popping your ass up as far as you can for better access.

“You like it when I slap your ass, baby?” he growls as a sharp pain shoots across the other cheek with a smack.

The sounds ring throughout the room with an echo smack smack smack smack, turning you into a writhing, sopping wet mess, crying, “Yes yes yes, baby holy fuck-"

“Yes daddy,” he corrects firmly. His deep voice bounces off the empty walls of his bedroom, harmonizing with countless smacks that almost bury the moans escaping you.

You gasp as his hands take up more real estate in your shorts, then he spreads your ass apart, “Y-yes… yes daddy. Fuck- yes daddy.”

He growls, “Such a good girl. Take your clothes off for me.”

You’re on your feet in a second while he sits up in bed, both of you ripping your clothes off frantically. Once you’re both completely stripped, there's a moment reserved to observe each other, nude, ripe with desire, panting and sweating. This is the first time you’ve seen each other completely naked in the light of day. This is the first time you’ve been together in a bed. You try to soak in every detail, noting that his shoulders are broad and tanned, slight farmer’s tan. Prominent veins in his forearms. Sparse chest hair. Soft belly accented with a thicket of dark hair running from his navel to his engorged, deliciously thick, cock. He’s fucking gorgeous.

His lust-blown eyes scan over your bare skin; he reaches out and runs his fingers along your sides, causing goosebumps break out on across on your skin. The touch is so soft, so delicate, in stark contrast to the slaps that have surely made your ass beet red. A small whimper falls from your lips as his touch sets your nerves on fire. He whispers breathlessly, “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

The words pull at your heart and suck the air from your lungs. He’s looking at you with such warmth and admiration, you start to blush and your cunt clenches. Your hands cup his cheeks, thumb rubbing along his face affectionately. His eyes bore into yours, hot and ready. You push him back onto the bed again and straddle him, sliding his cock between your slick, swollen lips. He embraces you in a kiss, sweet and gentle at first, then deepens it, pulling you down closer to him. When you pull back from his kiss just enough to press your forehead against his, you profess to him hesitantly, “I love the way you look at me. I- I love the way you touch me… you make me feel wanted. It’s… it’s fucking mad how I feel when I’m with you.”

He searches your eyes, nodding like he knows. Like he feels exactly the same. He starts thrusting, just so his cock lightly rubs up and down your folds. You shudder. His lips form an O and his brows draw together as he throws his head back.

You position yourself so his member is at your entrance, then lower down just enough to engulf the head. A groan flies from his throat as you keep him there, torturing him.

“Please,” he begs, bucking his hips up to get more of you. You lower yourself down further, working yourself open with him inch by inch, breath hitching as your pussy gets filled exactly how you need it to be.

Pleasure floods your body, rippling from your center through your toes and fingers. Your whimpers bounce off the walls as you rut up and down his shaft. He huffs and pants from beneath you, matching your movements with his own, arching his back until you’re filled to the hitch. You moan, “Your cock is- fuck- is perfect- m-made to be inside me.”

He holds your hips down against him hard and drives into you, making you gasp, then groans, “I love it when you talk to me like that, baby-“

You defy his grasp and start rolling your hips, grinding down onto him. He growls and flips so your back is against the mattress and he’s on top of you now, cradling your head in his strong hands. He begins pounding into you, and Jesus fuck the noises this man has you making as you’re panting and kissing on his lips, his face, begging for him to not stop; your entire body is humming and throbbing.

“You’re such a good girl, taking me so well,” he coos, holding your foreheads together while he fucks you into the mattress.

“Javi- baby- fuck, I’m going to cum-“ you cry, arching your back up towards him as the tingling in your center starts to grow. You whine and press your lips onto his for a sloppy desperate kiss, needing to be as close to him as possible.

His hips stutter as he starts to come undone, “yes- be a good girl cum for me baby, let me feel that tight pussy-“ and you find your release, crying out as pleasure ripples across your body and around his cock. He follows shortly after with a feral groan.

“Holy shit,” you whisper as he rolls off of you, then drapes his arm across your stomach. He hums and closes his eyes in agreement, pulling you into his chest. You settle there, content to feel his heart beat against your ear as he plays with your hair. The rise and fall of his chest hypnotizes you into a tranquil state. With your fingertips and your nails, you absentmindedly draw swirls and hearts onto his torso, trace his facial features, explore him with a wonder you can’t help but have.

He kisses the top of your head and mumbles, “I have to do some stuff outside, you wanna come with me?”

“Will I get in the way?” you ask, not sure what ‘some stuff outside’ entails.

He frowns, “Of course not.”

So you both get dressed and go outside, meeting Pickles and Chucho back on the porch where you left them.

“Hey Pop, we’re gonna go take a drive around,” Javi informs his dad as he leads you towards a four wheeler.

You get on after him, securing your arms around his waist, and Pickles jumps on behind you. While navigating around the land, Javi points out different landmarks, tells you stories, and details to you different things he keeps an eye out for while driving around like this, like fencing that needs repair, signs of overgrazing, making sure the cows are all acting normal, etc. With every nugget of information he gives you, you ask too many questions in return, but he’s patient and knows you’re just inquisitive.

Not only do you feel physically close to him, clinging onto him, nuzzled against his back, inhaling his scent… but you also feel emotionally close to him. He puts his hand on yours every so often, rubbing his thumb across your skin affectionately. You know he's giving you a tour because you’ve shown interest in what he does on the ranch, but also, you think he actually wants to share pieces of himself with you. You wonder if he’s been able to share himself freely before. You haven't been able to. Not like this. Being with him always brings you a great sense of euphoria, but it’s especially intense today.

Once you return to the barn, the three of you hop off as Javi kills the engine. Chucho is still in the rocker on the porch, but has a tall, sweaty, glass of iced tea in his hand now. It’s fucking hot out. If you were hydrated enough to produce saliva, you'd be drooling at it.

“Y’all hungry?” he asks.

“Starving,” you respond without hesitation.

Javi presses his hand into the small of your back, guiding you inside, “Let’s eat.”

[ Next Chapter ]

[agitowarrioroftheforest]

Long post - Meta on my Transmasc Agito headcanon 🏳️‍⚧️ ( I am unhinged about it)

This Will have Spoilers(however vague) for the movie: Origin: Spirits of the Past!

Long story short, My headcanon is basically:

everything is the same, except that he used becoming Enhanced to speed-run his transition

First you have the concept of becoming Enhanced, making a deal with the Forest, which Agito expresses is something he wants in the first scene he speaks in. Being Enhanced is just getting superstrength and plant powers within the story, sure,

But if Agito is trans, receiving the power of the Forest can be seen as his steps towards self-recreation, becoming the person he wishes to be/have his body be the way he wants. Agito knows there are risks to being Enhanced, he’s thought this through for a long time it seems. He wants this and tells his father such when he has to say goodbye to him.

Agito then makes his way to the heart of the Forest and is given a new form after the forest twin spirits tell him “We will trust your heart. We will give you the power of the forest.” His Enhanced body is different from his old one. Along with the power he gains, there are aesthetic changes. He has more defined muscles now, his hair is silver, his eyes are green, and he’s baring significantly more skin than his earlier outfit. (Old outfit was 2 baggy t shirts and a jacket and baggy pants)

His new skintight crop top also does resemble a binder in some ways xD

But what i’m getting at here is that Agito’s confidence absolutely skyrockets as he gets used to his new body. He needs time getting used to it of course but he also barrels straight into battle, he throws a missile shell over his head, busts out of a jail, chases down a train. He seems like a different person, or perhaps, this is who he’s always wanted to be.

Then there is the way Ragna, and especially Toola reacts when she first sees Agito after he get his powers. She tells him, with him chained to a wall that they can “Return his body to normal” and Agito is deeply insulted, telling her he made the choice to change his body this way of his own free will. Given Toola’s attachment to the past/ her idea of normalcy, she is scared for him at first and asks him “Why? Why did you do that?!”

Neutral City on the other hand, and his father, and Yolda especially, affirm him in this path.

Idk…. Like, Agito’s enhancement reads so much as a transition allegory to me...then Toola’s first reaction kinda just solidifies that. This is something she grows out of, seeing that Agito’s happy about the changes and just as much her friend as before.

Agashi, his father, showed support for him to live as he is. When Agito sees childhood memories after he sacrifices himself, His younger self wishes to be stronger and his dad affirms that is strong enough as is and is proud to have him as a son.

When the Forest brings him back to life, Agito seems much more at peace. Way more comfortable in this body than his old one and even shows off while carrying Toola down the side of the volcano. (It’s ridiculous and I love it) He enjoys this, telling her that everyone’s power, the Forest, and his father’s strengthens him.

A detail I adore is Agito’s love for his father and vice versa is symbolized as a flower.

The enhanced form = transition allegory isn’t perfect though. Agito’s powers will eventually turn him into a tree, this is what happens to all enhanced after over using their strength. Tho he’s still at peace with that in the story.

This interpretation is going off Agito knowing he’s trans before being enhanced, and I will also add that as a transmasc person I definitely felt connection to the character for a lot of these reasons, his unique style and his expression of masculinity. Some are self projection reasons haha.

Omg I forgot to mention the body horror. Agito can turn parts of his body into tree like branches as an extension of his link to the forest. It’s seen as something almost romantic in the animation itself. Even if Ragna calls him a monster for it, it is clearly something the movie itself sees as beautiful.

This analysis doesn’t go over all the reasons Agito wanted his powers, others being that he wanted to protect his home and couldn’t fight the Ragna army/Shunack without superstrength and he wanted to help Toola who didn’t know she was being manipulated. Also I didn’t mention Yolda’s scene, but she has the same powers and helps him to get used to some of the changes, giving him some tips on channeling his strength because she knows what it’s like.

[chibipsycho-v3]

Okay, here’s some fun stuff completely unrequested! I got to thinking about the Uberbots a lot today (thanks to some specific folks *ahem* ¬  ,¬ ) and I made some general/dating headcanons for each of them~ It’s not much, but these are my interpretations of them and what they’re like with you. Enjoy!

Uberbots x Reader Dating Headcanons

The Photographer

The Photographer is an Uberbot that tends to enjoy peace and quiet, preferring to quietly tinker with his photos and darkroom. Though any time you come around, it's a welcome change of pace. You're the only one other than the Uberbots that can disturb him without upsetting him.

Sometimes he has difficulty articulating a thought- he appreciates when you slow down or wait for him to figure out how to say something. He gets a little embarrassed when he trips up like that, so he greatly appreciates that you accept that part of him seamlessly.

Totally has photos of you- while some are candid and taken while you are just relaxing with him or doing some idle task, he knows that taking photos without your knowledge is rude. So he'll ask if he can take pictures of you, especially when you both venture into the forest.

His love languages are quality time and acts of service! You are one of the only persons the Photographer knows that he can just... sit with, sometimes in silence while both of you do your own things. He appreciates your presence all the time. And while he can't manage some of the tasks you need to do, he tries his best to help with the ones that he can. It's not uncommon to find that he's done some of the chores to take the pressure off of you.

The Archivist

The Archivist is a very studious 'bot that loves her work, but tends to get lost in all of the files that litter her space. Sometimes you have to remind her that life is not all work, which she appreciates. After all, she gets to spend time with you instead!

Music resonates with her for some reason, you can catch her humming something idly almost any time. Usually it's some classical piece, but occasionally she branches out... particularly if you show her something you think she might enjoy. Then you can hear her hum it for a few days afterward.

Definitely studies you when you're not looking. The way you move, the way you laugh, the way you react to stimuli... It's all research, she swears.

Her love languages are verbal affection and physical affection! There's no end to the pet names for you: dear, dearest, darling, sweetie- she's even called you 'lovebug' on occasion. And if you were fine with it, you bet she'd cuddle you while flustering you with sweet nicknames and praises. Uhn-uhn, there's no getting away from the Archivist's love; you'd better learn to accept compliments and little static smooches with grace!

Unfinished Boss/Blank Canvas

Blank Canvas (or just Blank) is a curious sort of 'bot. He's a bit like Stim in that he wants to see and experience new things, now that he's been given life. He's not quite good with words yet (he has to search for the right one sometimes) but he loves to talk with you about anything at all.

Show him your hobbies! He loves to hear you explain them, no matter how technical you get. Chances are that Blank will pick up on at least one of them and join you in it... and he's pretty good at it once he gets a handle on it.

Unsurprisingly, he actually enjoys art. Though he seems to favor abstract art more than traditional... Maybe it has something to do with his face resembling Picasso's later pieces.

His love languages are gift-giving and physical affection! He finds lots of little interesting things in his gem-land home and he saves them to give to you. He's fascinated with you in general. He's going to poke and prod you until he works his way up to holding your hand, petting your head and hugging you. Unless of course, you're not cool with that. In which case, he will keep himself from touching- but you may have to remind him a time or two. You're just so interesting to him!

G0lly

Oh gosh, G0lly is the cutest Uberbot, help. She gets excited a lot and tends to interject conversations with fun things that she's discovered- and maybe just now remembered she wanted to tell you. She is the embodiment of, 'I didn't mean to interrupt you, I just randomly remember things and get really excited.'

That's not to say that she's ditzy or vapid, though; she's actually very smart! I mean, she does have the entirety of the internet at her disposal. Whatever she or you want to find out, it's only a search away! That said, you'd better not make her search anything... untoward. The other Uberbots might throttle you for destroying her innocence.

She does have a sarcastic streak that shows itself from time to time, it's always a fun surprise when she quips something unexpected.

Her love languages are verbal affection and quality time! G0lly literally has a thesaurus in her head. She's going to call you every sugary-sweet nickname until she finds one that sticks, and you'd better believe that she's going to find every word to tell you what you mean to her, even if they're in different languages. Also there's nothing she loves more than to scour the internet for fun videos for the two of you to watch, cuddled up and giggling together.

[charcubed]

I keep seeing posts that are like "interpretations of bi!Dean and gay!Dean are equally valid!" and I used to be like, sure, straight!Dean is definitely wrong but beyond that, see him how you want, who cares.

But now (esp after the Last Call script) I just don't understand the gay!Dean truthers? I follow quite a few on sm, and when I initially followed them I was like "they accept Dean is queer, that's good enough for me." But now they're really starting to get to me and it's not really worth arguing about to them, but I wanted to rant to you about it, cuz you get it.

The script literally included "gorgeous women" in the bar. Dean has canonically been sexually AND romantically attracted to women. He's based off THEE bisexual Neal Cassady.

Like I'm not really trying to defend m/w relationships (lol) but why do even queer ppl insist on erasing his identity when it's so clear? Why do they have to take that away?

Gay!Dean in AUs is one thing, but in the actual, textual canon of the show, Dean is bi. And no, gay!Dean and bi!Dean are NOT equally valid interpretations. And I don't think I'm an asshole for saying that 🤷🏼‍♀️

Sorry it took a few days to get to this. Work and life have kept me busy and tired!

Unironically and non-sarcastically, Anon, I'm glad you've seen the light and seem to understand this topic more now. You are, of course, entirely correct. And you're not an asshole for saying it either.

I'm going to take this opportunity to answer your (potentially rhetorical) questions, and also bounce off of you and lay some stuff out about this topic in general at length for the first time–despite the fact that it may turn me into public enemy #1 again. I am already hated for non-combatively voicing these facts on Twitter (this thread tends to be considered one of the "ground zeroes" of the nonexistent "debate" lol), but I have avoided being dog-piled on Tumblr so far, so... fingers crossed I can miraculously keep it that way!

My hope is that anyone who is predisposed to taking this topic very personally just moves on instead of attacking me (or subposting me?) for any of what I'm about to say. I'm also not forcing anyone to read this, before anyone's like "that's way too many words" or "it's not that serious lol."

I do think this topic is important. I've made the decision to publicly spell out why. And if anyone doesn't want to read it, that's their prerogative.

To your questions, Anon:

I think a lot of this comes down to a fandom-wide problem (all fandoms recently, not just SPN) of not understanding the difference between headcanon and canon, the dimensions as to why that distinction does have its uses and its necessity, and the value in both. I'll get into this later.

But in this fandom specifically, based on observation and lengthy conversations I've had with a dozen long-time fans who are my friends... I personally think it's maybe a new dimension of viewpoint that's branched out from a holdover of "all interpretations are valid" being the party line people have clung to a very long time. (That’s also true in other fandoms, but I think it’s especially true here.) It's a form of solace people don't want to deviate from. No one wants to be seen as or feel like the ~jerk~ who's ~invalidating another person's view of canon~ in response to someone else's knee-jerk reaction of hurt. This is a fandom with early-2000s cultural baggage and context, where people dealt with feeling like the "crazy fangirls" who shipped Destiel and dared to call out queer subtext. Misha's "You're not crazy" tweet exists for a reason. I do feel like a lot of well-meaning people–aside from misunderstanding or being ignorant to the analytical roots of this topic and why they absolutely matter–just know what it feels like to have their thoughts on queer content in a show feel "invalidated," and they don't want to be perceived as doing that to other people. And/or: they’ve felt invalidated before (in this fandom or others!), and so they’re hypersensitive to anything they perceive as doing that to them again, especially if they tied personal identity into the projections they’re making onto the media they enjoy.

I understand that people don’t want to seem ~mean~ or make waves. I also don't want to seem mean or be mean, which is why I try to be as clear as possible whenever I talk about this and I never go after people directly (or interact/reference any of the many subtweets from people who openly talk shit about me. haha). But the facts shouldn't be seen as "mean"; they are simply facts. And yes, they absolutely matter.

Because the thing is... none of the above has any bearing on the nuances of the topic at hand, the indisputable fact that Dean is bisexual in canon and that claiming otherwise is erasure, and the truth that none of this should be seen as a threat to people's headcanons. 

These are all things that people should understand, and I will not apologize for knowing that and saying it. Misunderstanding this–making the false claim that “all interpretations of Dean’s sexually are equally valid as long as you see him as queer”–is an act of bisexual erasure in this context, and it often (unintentionally!) plays into biphobic talking points. And yeah, in my opinion, that’s something people should care about because it’s worthy of both personal and fandom examination. It is, in fact, why “representation” matters at all.

Let’s not kid ourselves: the bulk of this fandom-wide discourse is about Bi Dean vs Gay Dean. So, y’know, that’s the bulk of how I’m going to address it to just get it all out there.

Right out the gate, let me clarify this: I am not saying–now or ever–that those who are self-proclaimed “Gay Dean truthers” or argue that “Dean being gay in canon is a valid interpretation” are deliberately coming from a place of malice and the intent to contribute to bisexual erasure. By all means, I’m sure most aren’t! Nonetheless, intent does not equal impact. I’ve even seen people say “I’m a Gay Dean truther and I’m bisexual, so how could I possibly be contributing to bi erasure by arguing for Gay Dean?”  But in this situation–as in any other–no one is immune from unwittingly perpetuating harm, even including bi people. And it’s important to understand why that is.

“Interpretations” are not opinions, not all are equal, and they do require some level of skill. This is not a personal attack, or a moral judgement on anyone, or somehow a threat to people’s enjoyment of a favorite character. It is just fact.

Gay Dean is not a valid possibility in canon. There is no lens that justifies an argument of it with canonical basis. I have to break down why, in order to sufficiently express why claiming otherwise is a harmful position to take, so bear with me.

(No, this is not an invitation for a Gay Dean truther to treat this like a “debate” with me or waste time writing out a counterargument. Please just exit the tab if you’re somehow here battling that urge.)

For someone to say that Dean is gay in canon, here is an incomplete list of what has to be erased, ignored, or explained away:

• His sexual attraction to, romantic love for, and relationship with Cassie.

• His sexual attraction to, romantic love for, and relationship with Lisa (whether or not one thinks she was ever the ~ultimate love of his life~, attraction and love were present.)

• His stash of and enjoyment of porn that includes women, which is referenced many times.

• The moments where he was seduced by a female-presenting monster.

• Each and every time he made a reference to or joke about his attraction to women.

• Any fling he ever had with a woman on screen, and the enjoyment he had in the process.

The man is canonically sexually and romantically attracted to women, and he has acted upon that and even enjoys that about himself in wildly diverse contexts. It is a blatant part of the text of the show. (The fact that we are at the point where this is somehow a main point of contention rather than his attraction to men does make me feel a tiny bit insane, to be honest.)

Now, in my experience (which I don’t claim is comprehensive!), the people who argue for Gay Dean tend to explain ALL of this away under some form of universal umbrella of Dean being “performative,” a variation on compulsive heterosexuality they ascribe to him. The claim or explanation tends to be that Dean was performing a mostly-faked attraction to women based on his father’s expectations and outward pressures he received in the culture of his life. Moments are often cherry-picked out of context to support this “reading.” 

Who is Dean supposedly performing FOR, even in the moments where he acts on his attraction to women when he is alone? How does this explain his significant relationships with women like Cassie and/or the legitimate visible enjoyments he received from those interactions, as well as his flings with women throughout the show? How does this explain things like the Last Call script, where Dean is very clearly written as attracted to “gorgeous women,” a factoid that is not only very clear on screen but also (of course) written in literal black and white?

(There are no sufficient answers to these rhetorical questions. Once again: please do not waste time trying to give me any.)

And what evidence are Gay Dean people using for comphet or performative Dean? The “evidence” is often a misread of canon, pointing towards the consistent theme and false goal presented in the text of the show of characters’ efforts to strive for an “apple pie life,” aka a heteronormative ideal family. Gay Dean people misrepresent what this theme and through-line in the show is actually about, which is the totality of learning to accept your life rather than striving for something ill-fitting, that what you need and want need not be mutually exclusive (family life including fulfilling romance + hunting life can coexist), family is what you make of it and how you define it, and there are no true limitations on what all of this “should” be. While these themes are inherently queer, they are not about narrow performances of masculinity, femininity, or sexual identity, but about making space for ALL forms of all of the above–AND about identifying what it is that one wants and thinks they can’t have.

Namely, for Dean, that’s a version of settling down in a life that fulfills him in every direction, with an open and honest mutual relationship with the person he is in love with. This latter point would be true whether Cas was a man or a woman (though the fact that he is a man of course adds further dimension of interest to the story). Dean doesn’t think he can have a romantic relationship / family that lasts, and by later seasons that yearning is a key part of his character. The times it didn’t work out for him weren’t because those other people were women, but rather because the “lesson” he internalized from traumatic instances of loss is that hunters don’t get to do ~the love thing~ or get the settled down life. This is stated in the text of the show multiple times, and that’s also why Dean seeing examples of hunters who made any kind of balanced life work (especially masculine queer hunters like Jesse and Cesar) is pointed and purposeful. To say it’s about comphet instead (with no sufficient canon evidence that supports that) disregards a key point that’s central to Supernatural’s story, and in my opinion it disregards it to its detriment.

For Dean’s journey in particular, it is about freedom from limitations of structure, and knowing that he contains multitudes. The things he got from John–loving classic rock and loving his car, for example–are no less core joyful parts of Dean simply because they originated from his father. Dean can love classic rock and still occasionally love a Taylor Swift song, for example. He can love cowboy movies and manly movies, and also enjoy chick-flicks. It’s the idea of learning that there are no limitations, not that masculine interests are not inherently something he loves for himself or that aren’t important parts of his identity. It’s an expansion to openly include more, not a switch or a narrowing. The same applies to his sexual attraction and his queer identity. He can be attracted to cowboys and bikers, and also be attracted to gorgeous women. Him being attracted to / loving women does not mean he cannot and does not feel attraction and love for men; likewise, him being in love with a man does not mean he wasn’t and isn’t attracted to women. 

(“Last Call,” as an episode, exists in part to drive the totality of these points home, and emphasize that Dean’s attraction to men is something he’s known about himself for most of his life and acted on previously. So is most of the queercoding and queer subtext applied to Dean–which is specifically coding him as bisexual. His attraction to men is sometimes established or made clear because it echoes his attraction to women, etc. etc. Dean’s canonical attraction to men is a whole other post.)

So here we come to why saying otherwise and trying to shoehorn a comphet narrative onto Dean in canon is harmful:

Aside from the fact that to claim Dean��s joyful attraction to women is performative is to cut out chunks of the story and is thus not supported by canon, and it relies on making assumptions about and projecting onto the text… unintentionally or not, the implication is that bisexuality is not queer enough, or that being gay is somehow “queerer” and thus more compelling and a preferred concept, and that attraction to different genders is a heterosexual / straight trait requiring removal. No one is queering a text in a more revolutionary way or unlocking a ~secret good Supernatural~ by making a bisexual man into a gay man. That’s simply not how this works.

“Preferring” an argument for Gay Dean in canon requires explaining away or misreading all of those moments Dean has with women, essentially replacing them with trauma or suffering or discomfort that–in my observations–also sometimes rely on stereotypes of gay men. It also involves potentially preferring to twist them into behaviors Dean must have universally put himself through not out of genuine joyful desire but at minimum because he felt like he “should” or at maximum in an attempt to “fix” his “gayness,” even when no one was watching. And it points to the pressures Dean experienced about living a life that fit him fully–pressures that exist not just in his world, but also in our patriarchal world and society–and it implies that queer people can’t authentically experience attraction or love to someone of a different gender, because maybe they’re actually just “performing” the heteronormative ideal. As in: a “visually queer” relationship is the end goal, right? For Dean, that’s an m/m relationship... so surely m/f matters less, or maybe it can’t be a genuine and significant part of a queer person’s life.

Once again: I do not think any of this is intentional on the part of Gay Dean truthers, nor do I think it’s done with malice. Nonetheless, these harmful biphobic viewpoints permeate these conversations and misconceptions when people say these arguments are valid.

There is no canonical basis for explaining away all of Dean’s moments with women, and the story does not provide or point to any kind of cohesive narrative reason to do so. YES, people absolutely experience comphet in real life, and those experiences are valid and exist. YES, real gay men can and do sleep with or have nuanced romantic relationships with women before realizing they’re gay later in life. No, that does not mean that’s how analysis of a fictional character in a fictional story always works, especially in regards to a story built over time like Supernatural’s unique approach and the way it was molded to place queerness and specifically bisexuality at the core of Dean’s story.

Ascribing comphet to Dean in canon–or making any other insufficient justification for explaining away his attraction to women–is personal projection. And yes, it is bisexual erasure.

This is not a position fueled by personal hurt for me, as I would say the same here whether or not I was personally bisexual. It is an acknowledgement that these conversations don’t exist in a vacuum, and that’s something everyone should care to understand. I know what comphet storylines look like in fiction, and I know they are worth defining as such, and in other fandoms I even defend that very loudly. This is not the case here, and to say it is requires mental acrobatics that are objectively unsupported by canon... and invariably insisting otherwise perpetuates one of these harmful biphobic viewpoints whether or not one realizes it.

To say Gay Dean is a legitimate read of canon–which it is not–supports people who are erasing his varied sexual and romantic attraction to a different gender simply because they’ve decided they want to ignore that. “I like the idea of Dean being gay” does not mean that he is gay in canon, and writing meta to that end is a problem. It’s not an invalidation of someone on a personal level or some weird variation of homophobia to say that, and I do think people should maybe examine why they seemingly like the idea of him being gay more than him being bi, or why they staunchly defend it (or any other “different queer reading”) as a possibility. 

I understand there may be the urge to be like “is it that serious” or “this is just a CW show,” but to that I would say… then why are we all here?

Clearly, most people do still care about queer representation on some level and understand that queer subtext is present and acknowledge that Dean isn’t straight... hence the origin of this new prevalent concept of “as long as you say Dean’s queer then it’s fine.”

But in any piece of media, the text is the text is the text. The text can also be compelling, and fascinating, and contain value whether or not it’s an exact reflection of you personally as a fan and as a person. Sometimes there is arguably even greater value in being able to find reasons to relate to the humanity of a character or in a story even though elements differ from who you are personally. It is an exercise in empathy, and it is a pillar of why humans tells stories to each other to expand our viewpoints, and it sometimes results in examining the sources of that empathy. It’s why “representation matters”: not just so we can see ourselves, but so we can see others, and find reason to empathize despite differences. There’s unquantifiable power in that, and it’s also why the diversity of queer experiences and identities should be championed and acknowledged both in fiction and in reality, not turned into a monolith. Our solidarity amongst our individual queer differences and identities is our truest version of strength and authenticity. We are not all exactly the same, and that’s a good thing. When care is taken to specifically convey that in fiction, it is worth not only acknowledgement but also defense.

So: do we or do we not care about why representation is important, and why these sorts of conversations should exist at all? About censorship of queer storylines, and diversity in the queer community, and solidarity in differences? About bisexual men, a vastly underrepresented group in fiction, and the specific censorship that affected Dean’s bi story accordingly? And about how these viewpoints people can place onto fiction through fandom-wide conversation–like implying Dean is ~queerer~ if you say he’s gay, or that you’re somehow sticking it to the CW and “straight culture” if you suggest he’s gay–can influence biphobia that translates into ways people see bi people in real life?

In other situations even in this fandom, people understand the value of diverse queer experiences. No one would dare to say that “you can argue Charlie is bisexual in canon because as long as you say she’s queer it’s fine.” Charlie is a lesbian. It’s very, very clear, and she shows and states that she is only attracted to women. Dean’s attraction to women in canon is equally clear, and is part of his bisexuality. Why is erasing that defendable?

Look: it is people’s God-given right to write whatever fic they want about “what if” variations of Dean’s sexuality through a different lens. It is not their God-given right to make things up about canon and call it analysis.

It is a universal truth that fandom is always going to take canon and mold it into other versions that they love, for their own personal reasons and in ways that have value to them. That’s why transformative works like fic exist, and it’s why fandom is awesome, and I’m glad people use aspects of their favorite stories to tell other inspired stories that are of personal significance to them. But the word transformative is used for a reason: it’s an alteration of canon. It’s not a bad thing or a personal attack on people to say that.

There is a difference between understanding canon and writing actual meta / analysis of the show, and writing AUs for ones own enjoyment and fulfillment. (This is true on AO3 or on Tumblr/Twitter. I often see posts that are positioned as “meta,” but again, are just cherry-picked weirdness.) These differences are important, as is understanding how headcanons and fic affect surrounding conversations and fandom perceptions. And this fandom seems to have a very big problem with understanding the difference between these things, while taking it extremely personally in a negative way when people try to explain why the difference matters.

Confusing analysis and transformative fandom does a disservice to both, and denying the value in the former is not only a form of anti-intellectualism but also removes some of the beauty in the latter. If we can’t distinguish and differentiate between canon and headcanon, we can’t discuss the value in understanding the canon, nor adequately discuss the artistic value and power in creating derivative variations from it in personal ways. Both are different, both are equal, both are vital, and insisting the distinction is needless hampers conversation across every space. And nowhere is that more true than when one is discussing queer representation and queer censorship, like in the case of Supernatural. Again, why are we here? Why do we care? You cannot argue for and discuss the problems of censorship sufficiently if you don’t understand what was censored–and in Dean’s case, that was his love for Cas and his bisexuality.

I leave you with this (probably unneeded) analogy:

Imagine Dean’s a zebra.

(Sorry, EDS community; not that kind of zebra.)

People are trying to say “Dean is a black and white hoofed mammal <3″ and well, that’s accurate, but that doesn’t mean him being a zebra isn’t its own unique thing. A whole bunch of people are looking at him though and saying “well I prefer to say that Dean’s a black and white horse,” because they like that viewpoint better. Close enough, right? A black and white horse is basically a zebra, right? And then there’s the people who are like “I think Dean’s a cow!” and it’s like, okay, no idea where you came from, but whatever.

The point is that those are all entirely different fucking things. They’re different animals. Someone wanting Dean to be a black and white horse doesn’t make him less of a zebra. Pretending otherwise is absolute nonsense.

This debate/discussion/discourse is equally nonsensical. That is the logic (or illogic) that applies here.

Just because Dean is “queer” doesn’t mean any queer categorization underneath that umbrella suddenly equally applies.

Dean is bisexual. And he is “queer” because he’s bisexual.

Those are the facts. 

And for the love of God, please... I really don’t think I’m an asshole for saying it.

So, to whoever made it this far: please do me the courtesy of not hating me for it or trying to bait me into a fight. 

I’m tired. Thanks.

----

EDIT: Couple of good additions!

•  @doctorprofessorsong added some good details about how some of these harmful biphobic concepts translate to real life, and real things that bi people struggle with.

• A lesbian anonymously sent in her perspective as someone who enjoys gay Dean headcanons/fic and agrees with this post, and agrees that the fact that Dean is bi in canon is important.

[dweebpheles]

Ma'am, ma'am I just read an article where it's implied Aldo is half Jewish and I honestly always thought he was full on Jewish did I miss something?

I mean, I know it's never clearly stated but I figured the leader of the basterds is gonna' be Jewish as well djdndjjdjd

Thoughts?

Article link ↓↓

https://www.chicagojewishnews.com/is-aldo-raine-jewish/

See I love getting asks like this because I love seeing everyone's interpretations and takes on Aldo and the other characters!! You opened a can of worms by asking for my thoughts Personally, and buckle up for this one,

I never thought Aldo was Jewish.

I've seen Inglourious Basterds [REDACTED EMBARRASSING AMOUNT] times and never once did I interpret Aldo as a Jewish character. He is just there, leading his 8 soldiers, and as a friend of mine said, he's letting them have the spotlight. I feel like that's very true. Like, he's not Jewish, no, but that man sure does hate racists. (Also, as a Southerner, I could write you a whole essay with a broad spectrum of reasons as to why Aldo Raine, a Southerner, hates racists, but that's not what this ask is about.) And if he's gonna put together a group of soldiers to fight said racists, he's not gonna pick up a bunch of random dudes from the army and say "lets go to work", like, he's gonna get 8 Jewish soldiers because (in my opinion of Aldo, I feel like) he believes it's more their fight to win, that sort of thing. So no, like, he's not Jewish, but that doesn't mean he can't hate and kill Nazis. He is just there to supervise the men he picked that he knows are ready, willing, and able to kick Nazi ass with a vengeance unique to them because they are Jewish. And if anyone has a privilege to be in a special "bushwhacking guerilla army" to kill Nazis, it's *them*, again, they're Jewish. Aldo can go to Europe and kill as many Nazis as he wants, yes, and he does, but his men have a personal reason to be there killing that he doesn't have: They're Jewish; he isn't. But that doesn't mean he isn't proud to be leading that group--of course he takes pride in it.

A lot of things lead me to this conclusion, and the main one is the way he words his speech to them in chapter 2's opening. Specifically "...I'm putting together a special team, and I need me 8 soldiers. 8 Jewish American soldiers." He doesn't count himself. Maybe it's because he's the leader, but if he was Jewish, I truly feel like he'd mention it here, if nowhere else (ex it getting slipped into conversation somehow in the movie elsewhere). To play devil's advocate, one could argue "well he didn't mention it in his speech because it's obvious he's Jewish! Hes leading a group of 8 jewish soldiers!" And like, y'know what, you're right. We've come full circle because this is why I love hearing other's interpretations.

(Branching off the speech bit, throughout the rest of his speech, he refers to himself and his men as a collective "We". One could say theoretically that he is referring to them all as Jews, but I've always seen it as him putting himself on the same level as his men, and putting military rank aside. A "we fight with each other as equals" sort of thing.)

Another reason is like, going through the screenplay, we see Donny going and getting a bat, and we see him getting signatures on said bat. Why? He wants to bash Nazi skulls with a ball bat covered in Jewish names. To Donny, its personal. To play devil's advocate again, one could say "well Aldo carves swastikas into the foreheads of nazi's he let's go because it's personal to him, because he's Jewish" and yknow what, again, you're right, because that's your interpretation.

So, do I personally think Aldo is Jewish? No! Not personally. And that's literally just my headcanon. It's never specified "Aldo Raine is Jewish", but it's also never specifically stated "Aldo Raine isn't Jewish" either. Thank you for this ask!!! I'd like to hear your thoughts, too, anon, so if you wanna shoot me another ask you're more than welcome, or you can DM me! I'd love to hear your take, and I hope you don't mind the essay! :)

[m1lkyw4yw1sh3z]

Yesterday we challenged ourselves to make headcanon designs for EVERY SINGLE canon slugcat in rain world. It was painful but very very fun!! And good design/shape language practice!

Design notes/headcanons under the cut! We're super proud of these!! Might change/simplify them a bit here and there based on what's easier/more fun to draw, but these are our interpretations!

General Slugcat Headcanons

Long tail, three fingers on each paw, sluglike invertebrate in the vague shape of a feline? Tails usually aren't prehensile.

Equally suited for two-legged and four-legged locomotion, very dexterous and agile.

VERY diverse in adaptations as time goes on; most slugcats have purposed organism ancestors.

Some slugcat populations evolve pseudo-fur (different from the Saint's fur, which is actually symbiotic moss)

As rain becomes harsher and the climate eventually becomes colder, slugcats first evolve towards more aquatic adaptations, then towards adaptations which conserve warmth.

Many of the semi-aquatic adaptations, such as slicker bodies which exchange heat with the environment quickly, prove detrimental to the overall success of the species once the world freezes over.

Survivor

The most basic slugcat and a baseline from which all the other headcanon designs branch off of.

Generally round/slightly square silhouette.

Yeah that's a slugcat alright.

Monk

Just a little guy-

Design has similar shape language as Survivor but with an added heart motif!!

Shorter tail to make the design rounder/more compact overall.

Used several shades of yellow from official art!! They look like mustard! Or pudding!

Their abnormally bright coloration probably made Survivor more protective over them.

Hunter

Bigger, stronger, more scruffy than the other base-game slugs, but less aggressive than Artificer.

The Rot is beginning to show through some of their scars but IT'S FINE HE'S FINE it's not going to spread further.

The regions of darker fur are either from the Rot or just old scars.

Neutral side effect of the Rot is that he eventually gains the ability to spit slightly corrosive acid.

Nightcat/"Wanderer"

Eldritch being that defies the laws of the world /j

Has iridescent fur with sparkly flecks in it!! They ARE the night!

Sort of an echo but not?? They're physical but impervious to harm.

The lack of gold accents marks them as not being of the void.

Rainworld devs please put Nightcat back in the game please-

Sofanthiel/Inv/Enot/???

One time we read an article about countershading camouflage. Sofanthiel is BRIGHTLY COLORED on their back and bioluminescent, they have anti-camouflage.

The constant blushing is actually just more warning coloration. They're just a little bit poisonous <3 (which is why they're the only slugcat besides Artificer that can Maul)

Overall, based on a sea slug! Happy mermay!

Probably also some sort of pseudo-echo. Stuck with Nightcat in the noncanon jail, so sad-

Gourmand

Lots of round shapes and swirls, meant to look approachable and friendly!

Overall, less adaptations, and more neutral colors, similar to Survivor and Monk.

INCREDIBLY STRONG, INCREDIBLY CLEVER, FULL OF WONDER AT THE WORLD-

One of the only slugcats consistently drawn with a visible mouth because he just doesn't look right without that big ol smile.

Spearmaster

A cryptid among slugcats (affectionate). No mouth, but an abnormally long snout, they can smell Everything.

The tallest of the slugs, with?? Some semblance of a bone structure somehow?? Suns what did you do to them??

Fast, strong, but so so light-

The only slugcat with four fingers on each paw, to be more dexterous with spears and signing.

When not needing to communicate, they usually travel on all fours; it's easier on their pseudo-bones.

Their patterns were not intentionally meant to look like a Liepard but it's kind of funny.

Artificer

Has the same reverse-countershading that Sofanthiel has, but for a different reason.

They are CONSTANTLY burning with rage and every creature that looks at them can see it. Who cares if they don't blend in, they can fight whatever threatens them.

Bristly, fur-like coat is slick with flammable, faintly iridescent chemicals.

Has a shorter tail than most slugcats, with coarse hairs on the end which can be used to quickly ignite the chemical they produce, like a match.

Meant to vaguely resemble a Scavenger for the ironyyyyy

Rivulet

Slick, aerodynamic, with webbed paws and fin-like structures on their forelimbs/tail.

Actually kind of short but when on land they're usually standing on their hind legs at full height, ready to pounce.

They have such huge ears to prevent from overheating on land (which is becoming less of a concern as the climate shifts) and to direct falling water to drip onto their external gills.

BIG OL EYES

Saint

The most far-removed from other slugcats in terms of adaptations.

Their "fur" is actually a heat-retaining symbiotic moss that all slugcats are born with now.

This moss originated from the increasingly watery environments that slugcats began living in by Rivulet's time.

More compact, vaguely rabbit-like proportions. The tufts on the sides of their head are derived from the external gills of their ancestors.

Huge pupils for taking in the small amount of light that remains between blizzards.

[talesofedo]

Because he obviously lives in my head rent-free this year, here is a compilation of Okada Izo headcanons I've come up with, mostly while I was supposed to be doing other things (like work).

Just to clarify, these are about the historical Okada Izo, and not based on novel, manga, movie, or TV series canon, although all of those are great interpretations of the historical person in their own way. My headcanons are not historical fact and shouldn't be taken as such, although I suppose there is always a chance some could be accurate.

If you're interested in the actual Okada Izo, I've previously made a "today I learned" post about him, which you can find here.

...

+ As a young child (before the age of 10), Izo was best described as kind and helpful at home, in the neighborhood, and at school (once he started attending), but especially with his little brother, Keikichi, who was 6 years younger. However, nobody would have described him as gentle. Even with the best intentions, little Izo occasionally showed all the gentleness of a wild boar.

+ Even when he was a child, Izo's hair was difficult to manage. It was thick and wavy (though not quite as bad as Ryoma's) and always looked a bit messy, even when properly put together using hair oil or wax. There were many periods in Izo's adult life when he wouldn't (or couldn't) spend money on buying hair oil/wax or having his hair done at the bath house.

+ When Izo was 8 years old, his mother started teaching him how to play Go, which she had learned from her father. Like his mother, Izo excelled at the game because he understood the strategy aspect of the game, but also because he remembered past games and worked hard to avoid repeating mistakes. Unfortunately, because so many of his peers thought of him as stupid, he was rarely given a chance to play. Had Takechi Hanpeita ever challenged him to a game of Go, Izo would have easily beaten him. One person who did ask him to play on occasion was Katsu Kaishu. Izo had about a 50/50 chance of winning against him.

+ When Izo's family moved from Iwamura village to Enokuchi village, he was 10 years old [historical fact] and not looking forward to starting at a new school because he understood that his reading and writing wasn't at the same level as other students'. (My theory about Izo's reading and writing can be found in this previous post.) He was worried about getting bullied and, as a result, came across as shy and standoffish at first.

+ Even though he was bullied for his reading and writing by the teacher and at times by his classmates, the other boys still wanted to be his friends: he was a fast runner (for short distances especially), a great climber, and generally good at any physical activity. Izo was the boy you wanted in your group if you were going to catch fish in the river or play generals and definitely if you were going to get into a "sword" (stick) fight with another group.

+ Izo partially made up for his difficulty with reading and writing by having an excellent memory and being able to recall texts that had been read aloud and stories he'd heard. He had a particularly large repertoire of ghost stories to scare his friends and his little brother. He continued to have a very good memory well into adulthood, including for places, dates, and small details. Unfortunately, this meant that when he did confess to his crimes after torture, and gave evidence about his comrades in the Kinnoto, he was able to provide a lot of detailed information.

+ Izo had a small jagged scar on the right side of his chest, about halfway between his clavicle and his nipple, which he got at age 12 trying to free a friend's kite from a tree. He lost his footing about halfway up and fell, hitting several branches along the way, one of which broke off and stabbed through his skin. Although the wound wasn't very serious (the branch was stopped by a rib), his friends ran off in terror. He made fun of them for this later and they didn't live it down for a long time.

+ Izo was afraid of dogs after a pack of feral dogs attacked him outside of town when he was 14 and returning late in the day. Although he didn't get any serious bites, the dogs tore his hakama and scratched his legs. Luckily, a group of farmers who were passing nearby, were able to chase the dogs away.

+ Izo's favorite food was manju. He did not like any foods that had a strong smell, such as chives [historical fact].

+ The fencing hall was the first place outside his own home where Izo was ever praised by an adult, which caused him to work especially hard to feel worthy of getting praise. He enjoyed being acknowledged for being good at something, particularly because he was never praised at school, only admonished by the teacher for being "stupid".

+ After Takechi Hanpeita opened his own dojo in 1855 [historical fact], Izo spent significantly more time there than anywhere else, including his own home. This was partially due to the fact that Takechi-sensei praised him more than anyone else, but also partially due to the fact that Izo was now teaching younger students who looked up to him. He enjoyed being able to give encouragement to others while also getting it himself for his hard work. He also enjoyed being paid a (very) small amount of money for teaching. Izo had more of a sense of belonging and family here than he had experienced anywhere else before.

+ Even though Takechi's dojo was where Izo felt most at home, he had been aware for some time that Takechi-sensei often referred to him as "that idiot" when he was speaking to other people and that even sensei's wife, Tomie, called him Takechi's "stray puppy." However, because he could not help looking at Takechi-sensei through rose-colored glasses and felt indebted to him, Izo came to think of "idiot" as a term of endearment and never complained.

+ Izo's relationship with Takechi Hanpeita was complicated. According to historical descriptions, Takechi was intelligent, well-educated, well-spoken, charismatic, talented at swordsmanship, cultured, taller than average, and handsome. Izo respected him for all of his skill and knowledge, felt indebted to him for being given a chance to travel and further his swordsmanship, and was incredibly infatuated with Takechi (which he kept to himself).

+ Izo often found it difficult to articulate his thoughts and as a teenager became more quiet and introverted if the subject was anything "complicated", such as political discussion, or required individual thought and introspection. On the other hand, he was outgoing and excitable when talking about swordsmanship, telling stories, or recounting experiences he had (such as seeing an important person in town). Much of the time, the latter was unfortunately mistaken as "bragging" and earned him scoldings from adults and generally negative feedback from his peers.

+ Because he had been accused of "bragging" in the past and because he had spent so many years being called stupid by his teachers, Izo generally tried not drawing attention to himself outside the dojo. He found it embarassing when fellow Kinnoto members made fools of themselves with the entertainers at tea houses and would never willingly join in any dancing or singing in public. He also blushed very easily so there was no way to even hide his embarrassment.

+ Izo never thought of his swordsmanship as being out of the ordinary, but he was better than most, not just because of his continuous hard work but also because of his natural speed and talent. The fact that he only received his Menkyo Chuden (middle license) at Shigakukan was an enormous disappointment to him, especially because the master called his swordsmanship vulgar and without dignity in front of everyone. Even so, he continued to work hard at any of the other dojos where he was allowed to train, thanks to Takechi-sensei helping him have those opportunities.

+ Izo often felt abandoned when Takechi-sensei would leave him behind at one sword school or another to finish his training while he (Takechi) moved on to build his contacts with shishi from across the area in his pursuit of Sonno Joi. Although Izo never complained, and on some level understood being able to continue his studies was doing him a favor, he felt hurt anytime sensei left him behind.

+ When Izo felt nervous or anxious, he often chewed his fingernails.

+ Physical appearance: As an adult, Izo was of average height at 165cm (5'5") and of slightly smaller than average build. He was a little shorter than his teacher Takechi Hanpeita, and quite a bit taller than Katsu Kaishu (who was unusually short). He had a darker skin tone and freckles / spots / sun damage from being outside a lot. He was also described as having crooked teeth [historical fact].

+ The very first person Izo ever killed was Inoue Saichiro, whom he strangled with a tenugui. If he hadn't been with a group of three others from the Kinnoto who were there to help, in addition to having been slightly drunk on the sake their group had during dinner, Izo probably would not have gone through with the murder. As it was, once their group had thrown Inoue's body into the river, Izo threw up and then didn't sleep the following three nights.

+ Izo told himself he would never assassinate anyone again, that this murder was an exception to keep Takechi-sensei safe from being prosecuted, but being so indebted to sensei for all the years of being able to travel and learn swordsmanship, he couldn't say no the next time he was asked. He felt that it would have made him ungrateful and disloyal to someone who'd done so much for him.

+ Izo first started drinking a few days after Inoue's murder because one of his comrades suggested it would help him sleep if he had a few cups of sake before going to bed. However, it didn't take long for him to start drinking regularly. This gave him a reputation for really enjoying women and booze (as much of his drinking was done in the entertainment district) and caused many problems with his comrades because he started borrowing money to cover his bills. If Takechi noticed Izo's drinking, he never brought it up.

+ The only person Izo ever hated was Tanaka Shinbei of Satsuma, a fellow hitokiri who had previously killed Shimada Sakon. Shinbei was introduced to Takechi in August 1862 and became Takechi's sworn brother that same month [historical fact]. Izo was jealous that this random person from Satsuma had immediately made a place for himself by Takechi-sensei's side. When Izo found out that Shinbei had been arrested and subsequently killed himself on 11 July 1863 [historical fact], his only reaction was, "Good."

+ Izo had a fairly long (about 3.5 inches) scar going across his left forearm where he was cut during the assassination of Honma Seiichiro. A group of the Kinnoto had cornered Honma, but as an experienced swordsman their would-be victim put up a desperate fight. In the course of this, Izo was pushed back into a building and the tip of his blade caught on the cross-beam of the overhanging roof, allowing Honma to cut him while he was defenseless. The only reason Izo was not more badly injured was that one of his comrades had managed to stab Honma in the side at almost the same instant he brought down his sword - otherwise, Izo might have lost his arm. He later often wondered whether that might have been for the better.

+ Izo left Kyoto and went to Edo in 1863 because Takechi-sensei had left for Tosa once again. Without sensei in Kyoto, Izo's position among the Kinnoto was on shaky ground and he felt unwelcome: people who had harbored negative feelings about him as a person and about his murders on Takechi's orders were no longer afraid to voice their opinions once Takechi was not there to protect him.

+ Izo's time as Katsu Kaishu's bodyguard may have been the happiest part of his adulthood because Katsu-sensei never treated him any differently than his disciples, never talked down to him, and never called him stupid or an idiot. In fact, sensei went out of his way to explain things and include Izo in conversations. It was the first time someone made an effort to do so without expecting anything in return or being patronizing. Izo stopped drinking almost entirely during his time with Katsu Kaishu.

+ If Izo had to choose between fight or flight, he would have always chosen flight if he was alone and fight if he was with someone else, especially someone he was protecting. If he chose to fight, Izo's adrenaline would be so high that he later could not remember any details, and while he would try to play it off and make light of it, it would take a long time to calm himself after. Because the adrenaline rush made Izo overly excited and giggly, something he couldn't control, the behavior was often mistaken as "enjoying killing."

+ Izo left his position as Katsu Kaishu's bodyguard because of a misunderstanding following one such adrenaline rush: after saving sensei's life when the two of them were attacked late at night, Izo was smiling and Katsu admonished him: "You should not enjoy killing people." Having expected praise for a job well done, and being caught entirely off guard, Izo could only offer: "If I hadn't been there, sensei's head would be rolling in the street." When Katsu-sensei did not respond, Izo's mind was left to fill in the blanks. In the end, he somehow convinced himself that he did not deserve good things to happen to him, and that he needed to leave before he caused bad things to happen to Katsu-sensei. He never knew that Katsu Kaishu regretted not having apologized and prevented him from leaving [historical fact].

+ After Izo left Katsu Kaishu, his life spiraled downhill. Unsure what to do next, he returned to Kyoto where he realized he couldn't actually go to Tosa's residence in the city because he was considered a deserter from his domain.

+ Learning that Takechi-sensei had been arrested in Tosa in September 1863 left him even more despondent. The money he still had (some remaining pay from Katsu Kaishu and some money he had borrowed from Takasugi Shinsaku) did not go all that far for lodging and everyday costs and it wasn't long before Izo found himself on the street, worrying not only about his next meal but also his increasing need for alcohol because he had again started drinking heavily. Eventually, he sold the blade of his long sword, the more valuable of the two, to tide himself over. Even so, there were days he only ate by stealing stale food offerings at shrines or graveyards.

+ Around the end of winter (early February 1864), Izo started living in an abandoned home, a former merchant's residence that had been sealed off by the Kyoto magistracy because the family and their two servants had been killed by thieves. At least here he was able to sleep next to a brazier to stay warm, and selling some of the smaller items left behind in the home gave him a little income to cover food and drink. However, he was caught by the magistrate and charged with burglary after neighbors reported someone suspicious had been going in and out through a loose fence board.

+ Izo's time in the Kyoto jail was absolutely miserable. He wasn't beaten during questioning because he readily admitted to living in the abandoned house and selling items found there, but he spent the entire first week experiencing severe alcohol withdrawal.

+ After two weeks in the jail, due to its current back-log of cases, Izo received his punishment for burglary: 100 strikes and being tattooed as a criminal. After another five days, the period required to let the tattoo heal, he was brought to the edge of town to be banished, where a metsuke from Tosa waited for him to take him into custody and return him to Tosa.

+ Back in Tosa, Izo held out against severe torture for nearly 10 months, refusing to give any information about Takechi and the Kinnoto because he still felt indebted to sensei for all the years of support and giving him ability to travel to further his swordsmanship. However, he readily offered information about his own crimes committed in Kyoto, which he claimed were his own doing and not ordered by anyone else.

+ When Izo found out that Takechi had approached his brother and father asking for their help to poison Izo so he wouldn't give up any information, his world crumbled. For the first time in his life, he had to confront the fact that Takechi, to whom he felt so indebted, had only used him and thought nothing more of him than as disposable tool for his own ends. Heartbroken and angry, Izo gave up any information he had about Takechi and the Kinnoto, and then withdrew into himself waiting for his execution day. He wouldn't even make any effort to eat when he was offered food, or respond if anyone spoke to him, but he would occasionally ask to speak or send a letter to Takechi-sensei [historical fact], some part of him still holding out hope that there was some kind of explanation sensei could give him.

[penname-artist]

Are you currently working on any fics?

Also, are there any fic ideas you wanna see someone write?

I think you've probably mentioned this, but do you have any pairings you don't like?

Oh goodness, man I've got so many! XD aside from ongoing fic series like Chance of Rain, Right By Accident, and [insert fic title that hasn't been updated in a long time], there's some older pieces I've yet to finish making, and a few various one shots that need completing. Some of them are cool added ideas to headcanons and such (like a Dipper story that branches off from my Team Effort series), and some of them is just unexplained crackshipping, like a Blade/Skipper drabble I've been trying to finish for a year.

As far as what I'd love to see other people write, hm...kind of a tough one given I write most everything I want to see written, though lots of ideas get thrown into the void for grabs since I write so many. But I would honestly love to see more interpretations of alternate universes in the World of Cars, fantasy worlds or superheros or time travel, things that haven't already been done before in the fandom. I like the weird shit. (and speaking of the weird shit, I just had an inexplicable urge to write a rodeo AU, so that's going to be a fun project ;P )

Ooh, pairings that I don't like...well that's a tough one honestly. There's not too many WoC ships that I am 100% "against" or openly don't like. I think a lot of the times I just prefer one ship more than another, but I've seen some pretty uncommon ships well-written and they honestly slap, despite the crack.

I think by the majority though, I'm not as keen anymore on Dusty/Ishani and Dusty/Dipper, only because the material for both doesn't feel as strong as it could be. Don't get me wrong, they CAN be good ships if the work is put into it, but eh, I just haven't seen it yet. I'm also not super into Dusty/Skipper, unless, again, it's very well made. And, I'm not really big on any Cabbie ships, though admittedly that's more to do with the fact that the only ships I've ever seen with him are with OCs. (Cabbie/Windlifter is fucking cute though, ngl) Uhhh other than thaaat...I dunno, I'm more in it for quality of content than the ship as it is? You can make a lot of ships work well when you do it right. You can also fuck a lot of ships up if you do it wrong lol xP

[goodmode]

Lemm: 11 (by which i mean post a photo of a bug that kinda looks like lemm), 13, 25, 31, 48?

11. Faceclaim for the role (bug photo edition)

the elephant beetle has a very good short-horn-long-horn thing going on that suits his visual BUT the thing about those is, the long horn and general design suits Nailsmith way more. yknow with the fork at the end. so i don't think lemm is that. also, precious little fuzz on those things

woolly chafers have the exact amount of fluff i'd expect from Lemm but they don't have proper horns!! also they're apparently considered excellent fliers. i don't think my interpretation of lemm lends itself to having wings at all. (i've seen some fabulous interpretations! i fully believe everyone should have wings ever if it's cool. i love that. enjoy seeing it around! just not for my headcanon specifically, i like him being a groundbound normie)

the problem with placing Lemm is that his body looks a lot like like the "generic bug" design you have for most of the husks. which are incredibly hard to place because they're just circles with lines across em. and a head. like, you can tell mantises are mantises but what the hell are the generic bugs meant to be.

i can't place him with anything that is both a.) fluffy around the neck and b.) has strong-looking horns. so i guess my headcanon for "what kind of bug is Lemm" is just: he's a bug. he's fluffy and he has horns. i cannot elaborate and choose not to try. if i wanted to justify making up a species for him i could go down any number of worldbuilding routes and the truth is i just don't care to, he's just some guy to me

tl;dr long answer to basically say i don't have one lol. same as i don't have one for a lot of the Generic Bug Types in hallownest. at least with lemm i can say i've thought extensively about it and just turned up zero zilch nada, and am choosing to stick with the "eh, he's somethin" answer

(i headcanon he's a beetle of some kind, and that the horns lend themselves to fighting/wrestling opponents. that's as far as i can get before irl species ask me to pick a branch of specialists and ruin his aesthetic one way or the other)

13. Dumbest thing they've ever done

have you ever been young and thought you're indiana jones? you may be entitled to compensation [a/n: deliberately vague because i already have a specific headcanon for this and there's a good chance i'll do something with it]

second dumbest thing is generally coming to hallownest. not a decision for an older bug with no real combat skills to make with their head in the right place

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere

a crowbar/pry-bar (hefty and practical), a wanderer's journal (reading material! ...and also has some heft), and a brush/comb for his beard because the last thing you want is tangles

31. If they had a tumblr what would it look like?

it would have one of the default boring black-on-white layouts that makes it look like a WordPress blog. his askbox would be permanently closed and his bio would say something about not wanting to be interacted with, but the proof is in the pudding (pages and pages of him arguing back and forth very rudely with other history enthusiasts). i also think he picks up a very complicated tagging system very quickly and it makes sense only to him.

mostly though, it'd be reblogs of museum photos and rebuttals about historical theories. occasionally he leaves likes on certain people's posts. he thinks no one can see your likes but he hasn't actually turned off that setting and has no idea everyone can see him exhibiting blatant favouritism, so if you scroll down his likes page it's 80% history, 15% posts by ghost about stuff they've found, and 5% younger bugs posting about history in ways that are completely incorrect (is he laughing at how dumb they are or is he appreciative of a budding interest in history? it can be both)

48. Scariest moment of their life

there have been a few! he's had a long one. a certain incident in his younger years, perhaps. after that, descending into the City of Tears for the first time and seeing the state it's in and how big it is and the shambling husks and spikes and everything else - realising how monumental this task will be and how one wrong move in a ruin like this could cost him everything, along with a haunting understanding that he is not getting any younger. scary stuff. let it never be said he backs down from a fight though

(in rp shenanigans he's also been pretty fuckin terrified by the Shadelord. ranks pretty high on the list. he didn't back down then either)

[ask meme]