#they are simply doing basically everything in a way they believe is perfectly normal and straightforward and is confusing and offputting

[wheelie-butch]

I could write a summary or try explain the plot and concepts and why I'm doing this but actually I think my wolfpack x player character fic can essentially be characterised by the line above tbh.

[zolass]

Detectives Attraction Ch. 06 Top Male Reader x Male Yandere Harem

Didn't know what to do with the chapter- but another one down and some sprinkled past trauma- yes M/N is 28 all characters are late twenties or early thirties.

Also I took yesterday a day off of writing from almost two weeks going strong with writing- and thanks for 500 followers <3 I don't know if I should make a special thing but first I'll probably redo my request page TvT

cw: Mention of past trauma, murder, usage of drugs followed by overdose. 1.4k words.

“The guy mentioned the Serpents, that he was loyal to them–” M/n felt how the honey brown eyes of his partner seemed to burn a hole into the side of his face, most probably in shock, “What? The Serpents have something to do with the break ins in your apartment? That seems– dangerous…” Elias eyebrows furrowed, as he looked back at the road from the passenger seat, leaning back into the sun warmed leather. 

M/n only let out a grunt, “They’re not fond of the idea of me getting closer to their shady business– even if I’m most definitely sure they would get away scott free with this shitty system we have,” Both of them knew it was true, “If they suddenly say I resigned to a different station– don’t believe it, I’ll mostly be gutted like a fish in same shady underground warehouse–” Elias pulled a face of disgust, “But I’ll advise you to then lay low– I know you’re a good man– a little naive that you think that you simply can change this place without doing any harm…” M/n continued, before he stopped in front of the building of Alicia Wallace.

“But in this world– it’s not possible to achieve good without doing bad,” M/n mumbled before he got out of the car. Elias sat in the passenger seat for a little longer– the words of his partner echoing inside his head, making him unable to not glance at the man that just got out. Following suit, Elias rounded the car after getting out and closing the door, “Does that mean you’ve–” Elias didn’t continue his words, as if they were suddenly stuck in his throat, but M/n knew what he wanted to know.

“Yes I have– a few times… obviously not against any of these people we’re trying to protect– the ones that only have people outside of the corruption of these groups,” “But what if they were forced?” Elias mumbled, honey brown eyes laced with concern. “That thought crossed me once too– but if you were forced… you wouldn’t take someone’s life with a smile on your face,” M/n grunted as his e/c eyes landed on Elias. “It was pretty early in my life when I had to– realize it. It was in a cruel way too– I lived with a happy family, a mother, a father and two siblings, a sister and a brother,” M/n glanced at the house in front of them– it looked perfectly cut out of a story. 

But slowly it turned into a different one– the paint and layout slowly changed, into the house he lived in as a child. The facade was beautiful– just like the one his family wore. “I’m the oldest of us three kids– I was basically the protector of my siblings and I liked to know with me they were safe,” M/n spoke- his arms crossed over his chest. “It was in the middle of spring in which everything seemed to turn worse for me and my family. I came home from school when I was twelve, I thought it would be a day like always– coming home, getting ready for lunch with my family, going out to play or study– just a normal life, but it was suddenly so far from that.” M/N grinded his teeth at the memories.

Elias looked at the detective, who looked so lost in thoughts that he didn’t know what to do so he simply continued to listen– slightly confused why the other even told him his story. “When I stepped into the house– the first thing I noticed was the smell– it was thick and disgustingly clinging to my tongue and nose, it was blood I had found out moments later– when I stepped into our dining room that was connected I found them, my mother, my siblings and my father,” a short heartbeat of silence, “Only one of them was alive– the other three laid dead on the floor– blood pooling underneath them while their empty eyes simply– started in a state of shock into nothing.” Clearing his throat from the feeling of the tightness that squeezed his throat, “You might wonder who it was– it was a surprise for even myself back then– my father. I still remember how– traumatized he looked even if he was the one to pull the trigger, after all he was the one with the gun in his hand,” 

There was a moment of silence between them, the fresh breeze sending a few shivers down Elias’ spine, additional to the story. “Well after he seemed to realize I was there– he only told me to call the police and I did– they took him with them he’s in a prison since– sixteen years now, since this unfortunate thing happened, I never visited him– it might be because I want to believe that he couldn’t have possibly done it– after all he basically worshipped the ground my mother walked on he loved us all dearly, they had disagreements of course everyone has– but they never fought, hell even got violent with each other was not a possibility,” M/n spoke, “That’s why I’m still doubting if he really was it– if he wasn’t just a pawn in a larger game. It came out after investigation that he indeed was in trouble because he stood with one foot in a syndicate,” E/c eyes met the honey brown ones, “It was always strange– of course he could’ve been acting and suddenly snapped but I never tried to get behind it, but what I did was get rid of the syndicate my father was associated to,” his hands clenched into fists.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” Elias asked confused, which made the other raise an eyebrow, “Because while all of this happened there were news reporters who put all of it to freely read, if it was on paper or on the internet– ‘The L/N murder’ or whatever they called it back then–” “Isn’t your last name Howard?” Elias suddenly asked, which made a small chuckle ripple from M/n, “Well after I got sent away– and the rest of the relatives and reporters jumped onto the scandal like starving hyenas, I changed my name at that time I didn’t want to have any connections anymore that tied me to it– now all that’s tying me to them is my blood,” M/n muttered. 

Elias honey brown eyes were focused on his partner, before he silently nodded. “Let’s go in– maybe Alicia feels up for a few more questions,” the taller man spoke before he stalked up to the steps of the house, the other detective following him close behind. The H/c male was ready to knock on the white colored wooden door, when he noticed that the door wasn’t even fully closed. With a frown he pushed against the door, which opened with a scraping and squeaking. 

Both men drew their guns, before walking in with slow and silent steps. Their eyes scanned over the place in case of someone lurking and waiting with a weapon in their possession. But soon the only place they didn’t look in– after finding the house basically abandoned, was the bathroom. After they both stood in front of the door, Elias gave a nod towards the other who kicked the door harshly. 

Yet what they saw was– not what they thought.

Laying in the bathtub was Alicia, her eyes unresponsive, and as they walked closer M/n checked her pulse– none. Glancing at her wrist, he could only sigh. Small needle imprints. Said needle laid beside the bathtub, “Looks like an overdose,” Elias mumbled, before he sighed and took a few steps out of the bathroom calling for reinforcement, before stepping back in. “Everywhere we go death seems to have already taken root, huh?” M/n on the other hand didn’t respond immediately.

“She was the last one that could’ve been a resource to getting closer to the Serpents– they really are efficient in what they’re doing,” The detective grumbled, before he stepped out of the bathroom after hearing the nearing sirens.

“Looks like I have to take a different approach,” M/n mumbled to himself as he glared at nothing in particular.

After putting Elias up for informing the closest relatives of Alicia Wallace’s, M/n was glancing at the lit up screen of his phone from time to time. He was wearing a dark coat, button up shirt, a pair of good fitting pants in which he still could run and boots– just as he stopped outside of a club. 

He knew it was a place where he could either gain information– or simply have a hit put on his head.

[magnificent-buckless-butt]

MY THOUGHTS ON BRAVE NEW WORD

SPOILERS AHEAD! :D

That opening title absolutly overstimulated my autistic sense but I can't deny it was very original and I liked it

Let's get this out of the way: the Cap movies have the best fight scenes. I don't care about laser beams and superpowers actually. Just hand-to-hand, perfectly choreographed fights are my jam and I loved every fight scene. And holy moly Anthony and his stunt men killed it.

On the same thought: Joaquin Torres is our Self-Insert character period. "People say I did not die with style." Joaquin is just us: wanting to fly, look good and even more so, be next to Sam so he can fangirl real hard all the time. I'm sorry, but Joaquin just say everything we want to say and do everything we want to do (namely, gush about Sam). Another proof: him laughing about Isaiah before fangirling over him once he learns who he is.

Obligatory Shirtless Sam Shot. (And Nobody Complained.)

Not only the Cap movies have the best fights, they're basically the only movies trying to acknowledge what's going on in the MCU. And actually, the shots aroung the Celestial Island made it all the more grounded because the Cap movies are really about normal people having to deal with not normal things/events. Loved it.

Loved the politics, the various languages. Always love some multilingual movies. But, uh, the French politician was badly done: none of our politicians have an English accent that good eheh

WE'RE BACK AGAIN WITH CANON SAMBUCKY IN THE MOST ABSURD WAY. This time, it's the official french subtitles: "love you, buddy" got translated into "I adore you my mate/bro". Like. Please, "Je t'adore" is not a good translation of the casual "love you" that Americans do.

I am fairly convinced the scene was scripted until Sam squints his eyes. I believe the ending was improvised and I just rolled my eyes real hard like "this is why we always need a third character when you two are together because you just stop the plot all the time"

Joaquin's accident gave me "Symbol of Truth" flashbacks but I don't know if it was deliberate. Or simply a call-back to Civil War and Rhodey's fall. Either way, I think it was symbolically charged and I loved it. (Not the Joaquin nearly dying part obviously)

Joaquin on his hospital bed at the end? An angel. Why is this man so beautiful. Can't believe we had to lose 4 years of him.

I was fully convinced, when Sam bent towards him (to give him his secret about his kick technique) that he was gonna kiss Joaquin. Ngl, my OT3 ship I had been thinking for the sequel to my fic "Deleted Scenes" just hit me like I was the one being in the right.

I still don't know how I feel about the ending. On one hand, I absolutely wanted Sam to prevail like this. By being Cap, not by punching hard. On the other hand, I thought the fight was too brief and less intense than the Celestial Island one. Which made me think back to TWS and Tfatws and uh, yeah. Tfatws remains on #1 place for me.

Prepare your Ao3: I'm making fics.

[lizzie-queenofmeigas]

Hello Lizzie! I used to think the “Team Greens are never beating misogyny allegations” was just a rolling joke since greenies love stress it that Aegon the Useless is the only true heir, perfectly fit to rule the Seven Kingdoms just because he’s a man. However, I’ve recently discovered the “alysmond” rabbit hole and I’m not gonna lie, the green fandom’s treatment of Alys Rivers is disturbing, to put it mildly.

To start with, I was genuinely surprised to learn the Alys/Aemond thing (books) is considered… Romantic. Alys’ “stans”, including women (!) tend to brush off the fact she was Aemond’s war prize- basically an object he could use as he pleased – and claim he was always respectful, gentlemanly and courteous, saved he from Strongs, who  used to mistreat and abuse her and nothing in FnB implies their “relationship” wasn’t consensual and Alys was beyond delighted to jump to bed with the man who slaughtered her entire family/ employers, including young children she used to nurse/look after before her very eyes. They even say the “war bride” is an utterly romantic term and stresses how much in love Aemond was!

Then, there are all those headcanons virtually reducing Alys to her sexuality. She was  a wet nurse? Oh, she must have had enormous breasts / mommy milkers, just made for Aemond to play with! They also fetishize Alys’ age and slobber over their idea of a “witchy milf” (btw book Alys doesn’t look her age). This sudden love for an age gap relationships is quite surprising given how much their like to shit on daemyra and call Demon a pedophile because his wives – Laena and Rhaenyra -were significantly younger than him (not that by Westerosi standards, they were both women grown when they married him). Why Aemond’s “love” and “attraction”  to 40-ish lady can be something utterly normal, but teenage Rhaenyra cannot have feelings for 30ish Daemon or find him appealing?  But Daemon is a “pedo” and a “rapist”, while Aemond’s a “milf connoisseur with an amazing taste in woman”. Funnily enough those avid defenders of Daemon’s “victims” love to call Alys “Aemond’s Riverpussy”, “The Strussy” and so on…

Of course greenies are massively disappointed in season 2 of HOTD, Aemond didn’t meet Alys and generally don’t seem satisfied with her portrayal. I find it upsetting people who take pride in being (show) Alys’ fans, apparently don’t care about her personality. They flatly refuse to accept it that she’s in friendly terms with Daemon, believes the prince that was promised will be Rhaenyra’s offspring (and it’s likely Daenerys) and apparently cares about the poor and the innocent. They also deny the fact Alys cried at the thought of Daemon leaving her and claim they don’t see any kind of affinity between Alys and Daemon. If Alys’ actress brings up the subject of the characters’ friendship (for example in an interview) they contradict her every word or try to make it all about Alys’ future “love affair” with Aemond. When Gayle says Alys feels lonely, longs for human connection and found a kindred spirit in Daemon, they interpret it as “alysmond foreshadowing”. It’s sad they want the character they allegedly like so much to renounce everything she believes in just to throw herself into Aemond’s arms… I hope the showrunners are not going to service those people.

Disclaimer: I haven't seen the second season of HotD and I don't plan on doing it. Everything I know about it is because of gifs here on Tumblr and people's opinions.

The Green stans misogyny is something very worrying to me. You know, I wouldn't have a problem with them if they simply liked the Green characters more. That's fine, to each their own. But the way they want to make them in the right because "male primogeniture is so fair" and refuse to acknowledge the obvious misogyny in every character of TG, it's fucked up.

The whole thing with Alys is incredibly disturbing. I don't believe Alys was a witch witch, if anything she was a woodswitch, but if she was a witch witch she literally sent Aemond to his death (and without being one she did the same because everyone knew Daemon was gonna kick his ass) what of that screams romance? Here's the truth, Alys was taken as a war price and raped by Aemond after he killed her entire family and then she got him killed. There was no romance here. You can like fucked up dynamics, but don't pretend they are something they are not.

The thing about the Greens is that not only ate they heavy on double standards, but they also project a lot on TB characters. Aegon was a pedophile? No, Daemon was. Aemond was cruel? No, Rhaenyra was. Their allies betrayed them? No, Rhaenyra's did.

Not to mention they are completely unable to think critically. They believe everything Eustace says, but laugh at us for believing there are some truths in Mushroom's words.

I would recommend avoid TG posts, because some are genuinely so upsetting.

[tomwambsgans]

i'm ngl it's because i recently read fight club, But i'm thinking a lot lately about castration and the true/deepest implications of it irt nero and sporus and tom and greg. obviously we've got tom's line about greg being "castrated on pay" and some pretty solid analysis on that being a matter of tom keeping greg dependent on him, but tbh even with said meta posts...

like, i'm sorry, but it's a weak line. it feels just as strangely on the nose as shiv falling down the stairs, and in fact like a line that exists specifically to match shiv falling. it almost even seems like a last-minute rush to complete Following Up The Nero And Sporus Thing, like they did the first part and managed to get all the way to the last episode before realizing they'd forgotten to do the second thing, so they had to reach for anything they could relate castration to without having to film a new scene. this feels especially evident/likely in the fact that there is NO way greg's salary is actually getting docked to the degree that tom implied. it's markedly disappointing, too, in the way that setting it up with shiv literally falling down stairs had the audience looking forward to how the rest of the overt symbolism would play out. castration on pay was the most mundane and least expected possible conclusion, lol. and not at all on par with the literal fall. like if that is the castration we were actually waiting for the whole time...

it's also all overkill, for that matter, considering that the s3 finale fit "pushed his wife down the stairs and married sporus" thing perfectly fine and a perfect amount of vague. like tom ALREADY betrayed shiv, symbolically "killing" her, and had an ancient-roman-wedding-handshake agreement with greg about his soul. even tom and greg's initial dynamic in the final season often feels like that of a married couple. which begs the question: why have the stuff in s4 on top of that? it may very well be simply one of the many marks of s4's drop in quality, caused by a myriad of irl factors. or it could possibly be on purpose to specifically bring home something else about the nero and sporus story. maybe it's to reinforce the tomshiv divorce and also tom and greg's marriage after all the rapid shifts in dynamic. who knows.

but what i DO know is that i wanna get to the bottom (lol) of the castration symbolism/motif. so i'm gonna go through everything that could possibly inform the audience's interpretation.

i'll start with the least significant, which i believe is the reality of castration in ancient rome and in the circumstances around the irl nero and sporus. part of why this falls on the bottom rung is the fact that historical accounts of nero especially with sporus are hotly contested. another reason is that the story tom tells is one that not only omits many details in a technically misleading/recontextualizing way, but also adds details that are present in no known accounts.

so: WHY was sporus castrated? there are 2 main possibilities/reasons.

to maintain his youthful [and therefore feminine] beauty. the real sporus was most likely around 16 when nero had him castrated. and the practice of castration to preserve youth had precedence. basically, twinks were REALLY in. it's alleged that sporus may have already been more effeminate (and sexually attractive) than average. but it's also said that sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to poppaea, which nero chose him for specifically and wanted to maintain.

in order to marry him with legal/social sanction. ancient roman society, rather than being built upon the heterosexual, was more built upon the Top/generally masculine. Eunuch was a gender class/category essentially equivalent with Woman, which allowed sporus to specifically be nero's wife. this didn't mean that his marriage to sporus was necessarily seen as good and normal, only technically acceptable.

and i have a ways more to go with the analysis but i'm gonna say right here that i do not think the first reason bears any significance to tom and greg. firstly due to that there is no textual evidence that tom wants greg to be explicitly feminine, even compared to himself, and a LOT to the contrary. tom consistently invites greg to join him in performing masculinity and gaining power through it, case in point the "let's fight like chickens" scene that directly follows the nero and sporus story. secondly, sporus's possible resemblance to poppaea does not track to greg and shiv more than incidentally; greg being shiv's cousin doesn't directly earn tom anything. but more importantly, imo, is the fact that what would have made nero want sporus to look like poppaea is in direct contrast with both the story tom tells AND the way their arc plays out.

so NOW, to demonstrate this, let's look at the irl poppaea's death/murder, which happened during her second pregnancy. different historians (even those alive at the time) have different theories for how it went down. who knows how much truth they're based in, bc there's a clear heavy bias against nero, but they're all we have anyway and therefore all tom would have had. here they are:

nero kicked her in the stomach in a fit of rage, while she was fighting with him about how much time he spent at the races (main theory/rumor)

nero kicked her in the stomach in a casual outburst

nero "leapt upon her belly" either accidentally or on purpose

nero poisoned her (uncommon rumor, most likely bs)

she died through no fault of nero's at all, simply bc of complications with her pregnancy (this has the most evidence, and is believed by many modern historians)

you'll notice a complete lack of stairs-related death theories, and in fact a near total lack of Nero Purposefully Murdered Poppaea theories. the general idea is that nero deeply mourned poppaea's death (and was remorseful, if it was his own fault), and proceeded to replace her with sporus, even calling him by her name.

which feels like a good segue into the more significant story of nero and sporus to analyze: the one that TOM told.

Sporus was a young slave boy. He was Nero's favorite. And, uh... you know what Nero did to him? Well, Nero... pushed his wife... down the stairs. And then he had Sporus castrated and he married him instead. And he gave him a ring. And he made him dress up like his dead wife. ...I'd castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat.

without looking into the actual story, this would sound like nero murdering his wife in order to marry sporus. with bringing up sporus first, it even sounds like nero met sporus and started favoring him prior to killing poppaea. which is also overtly analogous to tom and greg's relationship arc.

despite what tom must have read in his book, and what one could very easily imagine him, a Wife Guy, latching onto in that book... tom isn't telling greg about the tragedy of an emperor who accidentally killed his wife and then had to replace her with a young boy. tom literally invents a method of death that there is NO preexisting source for. furthermore he chooses one that does not sound remotely unintentional. at best he keeps in line with themes that suggest a violent miscarriage. but he removes all notions of an accident. he turns it into an unambiguous, purposeful uxorcide.

so, since all notions of trying to keep sporus looking like poppaea are not only unfitting as potential parallels, but also utterly irrelevant to the version of events that tom tells, and since we know tom twists and omits many other details (like what happens just a year into their marriage) anyway... what reasons DOES tom have for bringing up castration in this story? here's the possibilities i can come up with:

to make it sound less overtly romantic through means of the bizarre. classic diversionary tactic. literally without the castration it would sound undeniably like he's just saying "i read about this ancient roman gay marriage. an emperor murdered his wife so that he could marry a boy. i would like to do that with you also :)"

to make it sound less gay, specifically, because of nero's power in the situation. this of course calls back to that second reason for the actual sporus to be castrated. it's not gay if i've made you a eunuch, greg.

to emphasize the cruelty on nero's end. tom often puts himself in the role of a villain, especially irt his behavior with greg. considering also that this whole scene follows tom talking about how he's going to prison (AND that the next time he calls greg sporus it's in the scripts before the diner scene, where he agrees to sacrifice himself and go down for greg), it would make sense for him to buffer this confession with the caveat of what a bad person he is, like express in SOME way how insane his feelings are and how terrible he knows it is that he feels this way about greg. tom is notoriously unable to make normal apologies either, so. it tracks.

i think all of these are true, and i'm sure most would agree. i'm also sure most who've read this far are in full agreement that tom fixated on the story of nero and sporus in particular because it was a gay relationship with just enough ambiguity that he's able to relate to it without panicking. hell, the "he gave him a ring" line alone doesn't even evoke an ancient roman marriage nearly as much as a modern american one. i can't find even any sources that specifically mention a ring from nero to sporus, so i imagine tom invented that as well.

BUT while i'm here i do still want to mention a couple other queer things about nero to drive home that it's not just incidental gayness but overt homosexual desire being portrayed, as well as to emphasize that second reason that the irl nero may have had to castrate sporus:

prior to knowing sporus, nero had a mock-wedding as part of festive role-reversals during saturnalia. in this wedding he took the role of a bride, marrying a different freedman.

this is apocryphal and practically historical fiction, and may also specifically be due to perceived deviancy in nero, but it's old enough (like 13th century) that it's lowkey in the nero "canon" that he had womb envy and was obsessed with being the one to get pregnant

okay so NOW... how does all this translate into the actual events demanded/foreshadowed/symbolized by this story? if pushing shiv down the stairs is the betrayal that keeps her from being able to block the gojo deal (but also shiv is shown to fall down a couple real stairs)... and marrying sporus is making the "deal with the devil" (AND the sticker on the forehead)... then what's the castration? what was the first, less on-the-nose-and-simultaneously-meaningless castration, at least?

my best answer is that it's tom getting greg to drop his brightstar buffalo plans and follow him instead. because if death is just corporate death, then your testicles/manhood is your independence. tom says you're a joke, you can't function on your own, you need me (i need you). he's insecure that greg will leave if he has the option to do so. fair enough.

......and yet i come back to my initial disappointment, because that is barely different than the pay castration. and it's redefining greg's symbolic testes to something that tom gave him in the first place, thus practically retconning the first castration. but if that's it, does shiv's literal fall also replace her kick out of the company? that would sure be stupid! is the point of rehashing the symbolism to be stupid? to have meaningless stuff follow up the more significant events? even if that was the case, wouldn't you at least be doing it to give a visual element to the symbols? if shiv gets actual stairs, WHERE are greg's actual balls? or ANY balls!!!! greg even started wearing grey suits which he hadn't done before (but shiv had), and got a "ring" in his final scene. where's the FUCKING balls, huh?????

(anyway)

occam's razor, i think, may be that the meaninglessness of the castration specifically is the point. tom's insecurity that greg will leave if he has the option to (that greg would never actually want him but only need him), has been present for basically the duration of the show. it's just a character trait, and thus doesn't even work as foreshadowing when that just means "he's gonna keep doing what he's been doing." then, take that second reason--the purely pragmatic, not based in heterosexual-adjacent desire reason--for nero to castrate sporus. aka the only reason that makes sense for the way tom spins the story.

(it's also a motivation that leaves room for not even actually doing it. sporus wasn't going through rapid masculinization or anything. and they only lived another year. you could get away with just claiming that you did it for a while, probably.)

i should say there IS technically a third reason, postulated by modern scholars, for sporus's castration: to intentionally humiliate a potential rival for the throne. imagine if tom had told greg about nero and sporus upon first meeting. obviously things changed very quickly, but if all castration is here is tom keeping greg on a tight leash, then it works. and if the castration is nothing, then greg nearly tanking tom's plan out of naivety can be a nothing version of sporus wanting revenge. and shiv falling down real stairs can, instead of actually intending to set up a meaningful castration, be a red herring in that regard and simply foreshadow her pregnancy.

and that could be it. but... i've got One More Thing. maybe the most significant of all. lightning round:

who or what, in modern day where tom and greg live, actually IS castrated?

animals

specifically dogs

hmmmmmm

and why are DOGS castrated?

to reduce sexual and territorial aggression

reduce other unwanted behaviors

to keep them from breeding

okay. think greg's newfound sexual confidence in s4 and tom's distaste for it. tom's continued anxiety that greg's independence might lead him to leave him. think greg being tom's attack dog and how that nearly backfires at the very end. greg approaching tom at the end like a begging puppy.

think full circle: who's the rescue pup, i'll take care of you, i've got you...

i feel justified in recontextualizing all of this, and i come back to fight club:

Valley of the Dogs. Where even if they don't kill you, if someone loves you enough to take you home, they still castrate you.

[ateez-himari]

Hi bb!!!! Thank you for the heartfelt reply you gave me cause like mingi has to be the most geniune idol out there❤️‍🩹, I'm not saying that he shows us everything cause obviously there's plenty of emotions or actions he can't show us but the fact that he always acts out his emotions makes me happy🥹

It's rare to see idols being natural(they're not to blame cause it's basically the idol standards put by fans) which I think is stupid, "fans" should know better than to hate on their idols for doing basic human activities such as eating normally, and should instead be happy to see their idols acting naturally and being comfortable enough with their fans to show this domestic side of them

But speaking of my actual question I knew it's gonna be MATZ I mean they're the oldest and they always think two steps ahead💓, but it's so cute that all of the members supported them and I'm so glad kq has this rule cause honestly I wouldn't expect such fine men to be single🤭, and it's stupid when comapnies put a dating ban like what? that's a basic human right to have someone love you in a romantic way

And I honestly feel sad when people focus on woosan or seongjoong just for their closeness and moments rather on their skills and talent, but I mean we're already so far into that no one could change their mindsets🤷

And im so happy they're going to couple events like that's so cutee🥹

And I wanna ask a question because I wanna do a little something hehe🤭if you were to choose a song that perfectly fit mingi's and hima's relationship what would it be??

Love you mwahhh💗💗

Hey sweets 🥰, I'm so sorry it took so long but I've finally caught up with everything so I can answer this! I completely agree with you honestly idols are humans just like their fans and they fall in love, they make mistakes, they get their heart broken, but they should get to experience this as openly as the rest of us. (Seeing how boyfriend material all of them are, I refuse to believe they're single too dw 🤭)

MATZ being the oldest meant that they were very involved in her life specifically especially because of the environment she came from (she was loved a lot but people also made many mistakes, so she was always unconsciously older than she should have been). Actually I'll give you a little spoiler for a draft that I have; When they lived in LA Himari used to sleep alone on the couch but one night Hongjoong fell asleep on it while everyone was washing up, which made her share a mattress with Seonghwa and from that day forward nightmares became rare, so they kept that sleeping arrangement until moving back to Korea.

This is a tough question so I went through quite a long playlist to answer this (it was fun don't worry) but I would say Intro: Serendipity by BTS (Jimin). The title means 'the occurrence and development of events by chance (in a happy and beneficial way)' which is essentially what brought them together, it was simply the chance of them being the same group as one another that led to the meeting of two soulmates.

The song itself talks about the fact that two lovers fit one another perfectly while the speaker asks whoever is listening "Let me love you" and since both struggle with loving themselves, it illustrates perfectly that the love they cannot create is simply given by the other. There's also a line saying "As much as my heart flutters, I'm worried", which expresses the deep rooted anxiety both have to this day (although that worry can extend from their relationship to truly anything in their lives). In a very cute coincidence, Jimin also refers to the person listening to this song as "my angel" which is Mingi's nickname for Hima🥹

I always write them as two puzzle pieces created solely for one another and this is what the song talks about, people that fate brought together by pure coincidence which led to the blooming of a beautiful relationship. The overall sound of this track also suits what their love is like, very gentle, calm, complete and despite being simple flows ever so perfectly throughout time. (Euphoria by BTS (Jungkook) would also have been a good song for them)

The fact that they were made for one another doesn't mean that she didn't truly feel love for Eunwoo or Mingyu, but it was different than what the two of them have. It was adoration, affection, love, and she felt at peace when they were together but it was not the sense of completion she has with Mingi, it didn't feel like their hearts beat in sync, their voices didn't sink into the depths of her mind when hearing it even for a brief moment.

As usual sweets thank you for your question (and your patience)! Love you too, MWWAAHHH 🥰💕

[nothingenoughao3]

Hello! #15 for the ask game?

From this ask game!

I will select my favorite movie, along with the usual caveats that I can't possibly only have one favorite, there's a rough category of about thirty films that I would say are my favorite for various reasons and which one rises to the top depends on my mood and current fixations and blah blah blah blah.

With all of that in mind, my favorite film is Tremors (1990), and here is the ramble as to why.

Sincerely, I believe this is a perfect movie, up there with The Godfather in terms of its quality. It is a horror/comedy that perfectly balances the split genre in a way many other films can't. It's hilarious AND scary. The practical effects are creative and gorgeous. The actors are all top notch. There is a reason this is the only film of his that Kevin Bacon will rewatch.

The movie's length is perfect--it does not overstay its welcome. The characters in general, and Val and Earl in particular, are gorgeously sketched out despite the runtime; modern films would take twice as long and become bloated with flashbacks and unnecessary details which this film communicates simply by showing us Val and Earl waking up and going about a normal day.

It's endlessly quotable. "The hell you did! Baloney and beans!", "No breakfast?" "STAMPEEEEEDE!", "I'm a victim of circumstance", "I GOT ME A GODDAMN PLAN", "... pardon my French", "I can't believe we said no to free beer!", "I wish you had, Fearless Leader!", "I wouldn't give YOU a gun if it was World War Three!", "Broke into the wrong goddamn rec room, didn't ya, you bastard?!", like, I honestly could go on here but then I'd just be flashing back to the entire fucking script, which is gold, it's gold Jerry.

The opening of the film bookends perfectly with the end. Not a single line of dialogue is wasted; even the goofier shit is brought back later with a purpose. And, well, there's a reason why Burt is such a famous character. Just the fact that he and Heather have bullet makers in their basement shows that the filmmakers knew survivalists or cared about getting even incidental details correct.

And, uh, the practical effects, I do have to mention that twice. The graboids look phenomenal. They still hold up today! They're slimy and gross and weird and also have character; for christ's sake, we sort of get to know Stumpy over the course of the film, learning how much more clever it is than the rest, and calculating. Not only does it look great, it's fascinating. Years before "Jurassic Park", we had a film that perfectly encapsulated how it would feel for a whip-smart predator to actively hunt humans, and what it would take for humans to defeat it.

Also, Val and Earl are absolutely queer for each other, don't even fight me on it.

Basically, everything you love about the plot structure and character building of "Shaun of the Dead" was already achieved in "Tremors".

[bisexualgarrus]

My personal thoughts on Arcane s2 is that it isn't as bad as some people are saying, but it definitely isn't a masterpiece. I liked what they tried to do with all the characters this season, but the rushed writing made all of the storylines seem lazy and boring, especially in comparison to season 1. This season could have easily been two seasons, or at least it could have had a fourth act for all the storylines to have a satisfactory ending.

Vi and Caitlyn could have been a good ship if Caitlyn would have had a proper redemption arc, and if we had seen Cait apologize to Vi. The way they instantly trust each other after months of Cait's betrayal is kinda stupid. It doesn't make any sense on neither's part. We never see Cait having real doubts or fears about Ambessa, we never see them slowly building back the trust they had, etc. It's just lazy.

Vi becoming and enforcer alongside Cait could have been something interesting to see if it had more development. But I literally don't believe it for a second that Vi was willing to through toxic gas back into Zaun just because she witnessed 1 (one) terrorist attack. Like come on, Vi isn't that stupid.

Jinx's mental health problems literally disappear this season lmao. Her storyline with Isha could have been amazing if it was given more time! Jinx just killed her father and suddenly she's normal because she adopted a girl for two seconds. I know many people are sad about Isha but we literally know her for five seconds, I personally couldn't feel so bad for her because she's just reduced to cute girl that helps to move Jinx's narrative foward. If we would have learned about Isha's story, and we could have seen Jinx slowly learning how to take care of someone.

My boy Ekko was massacred. He deserved sooo much better this season. And I genuinely liked the alternative universe with Powder, I though all of that was great, but I hate how his character was reduced to that. Ekko should have gone back at the same time as Jayce, he should have reacted to what Viktor did to Zaun, he should have reconnected with Vi which is basically his only family left. Vi and Ekko should have gotten an ending together where they rebuild what's left of Zaum, because they've always been the ones to take care of their people. It just feels like both of them were sidelined into their relationships and their bond was completely lost and forgotten.

Mel discovering she is a mage could have been a good storyline if she had had the time to properly explore it. How it's interwined with her identity. She also goes from "I didn't know how to control my powers" to literally controlling them perfectly in the span of like, a day. It could have been cool for her to be able to slowly learn how it works and finding a purpose in it, because it feels like she didn't even want it in the first place which is just sad... Everything about her character is so sad. It was a missed opportunity for her to find a place outside of politics where she could have been happy but it wasn't.

The Piltover/Zaun problem was soooo stupid. The whole "let's unite because now we have a common enemy" felt so rushed and again, it could have been something interesting if at any point Piltover recognized the oppression and inequality they've caused instead of Zaunites simply saying well okay... let's go fight with them I guess we have no choice.

Sevika had so much missed potential, especially when it comes to the Piltover/Zaun conflict. In the end we see her becoming a politician, but this is something Sevika never would have wanted in the first season. And her learning to trust Piltover and going a more pacifist route after everything she's seen could have been a good arc for her but it's just no there. Of course for this to happen Piltover should have also shown remorsement about whay they've done but they also don't so I don't know, it just felt stupid.

Viktor and Jayce are, in my opinion, the only ones who had a storyline which didn't feel compeltely rushed. There are some parts that could have been better though. Viktor's descent into madness could have been a bit slower for me, as well as the cult's creation but oh well

Even the secondary characters could have been treated better. Vander/Warwick only serves as a prop to bring Jix and Vi together, there's no exploration of his suffering which is so sad. Singed and Orianna's storyline..... God I wished we could have seen more of them. Half of this mess is bebcause Singed was obsessed to bring his daughter back to life which could have been soooo cool to explore further!!!

There are some more things but I guess I've said enough. I personally believe this season had the basis for a good story and I see so much potential in it. I don't think it's a piece of garbage like some people are saying but if only all of they had taken more time to treat all of the characters with the respect they deserved, it could have been perfect.

[esther-dot]

Hi, i sent that link for more reference about the subject. The more the merrier, right? And i think it's always nice to appreciate the efforts of all the meta writers, old and new ♥

Curiously, the other post from 2017 you linked (by princess in a tower), was written after the convo in the link i sent (marydri was princess in a tower old url).

Have a good day :)

(Continuation of this convo)

I genuinely do believe “the more the merrier” which is why I always attempt to link to posts if I know where I first heard something, but I’m also reluctant to go too far into the “crediting” idea because the last time this came up, it wasn’t a celebration of what the older Jonsas had written, but an attempt to make a newer Jonsa meta writer feel like crap. It wasn’t used to include, but was a deliberate attempt to discredit and just kinda, exert ownership of ideas and prevent people from taking things in new directions.

As a Jonsa, a fan of a ship that only exists because fans decided to come to their own conclusions and offered new readings on characters and dynamics, even reinterpreted themes of the story, you have to understand just how off-putting and counterproductive that behavior seems to me. I want every jonsa to feel heard and appreciated for their efforts, for them to enjoy the fandom, which is why, when I’m active, I do my best to both boost newcomers and link to older metas, but prior experience with this works cited idea has made what I consider a pleasure, a real minefield.

Fandom is all about how we inspire each other to create, it isn’t just about the source material. A comment sparking a meta, a meta inspiring characterization for a fic, a fic inspiring art, I’ve seen all of that and think it’s a beautiful thing. So no, I don’t think that’s “curious,” I think it’s perfectly normal for a comment to inspire someone to write a meta. I’ve tagged people in asks to get them to write about an idea, had other people then write metas about it. I like it! Also, ifeas grow in unpredictable ways, and we’re all engaging with our beloved book or show via different mediums and on different websites and in many different languages, so choosing to assume the best of each other’s motives is necessary, and I’m wary of anything that discourages people from engaging. We don’t know which meta someone else has read. For a while, I read all the knew meta, this year, I haven’t even tried to keep up. Sometimes not being credited isn’t an exclusion, it’s simply because you weren’t part of the journey for that specific individual. I’ve seen people come to the same conclusion following very different paths a lot in fandom! And generally speaking, I’m really not sure how “ownership” of a parallel or of a theory works? Waymar’s death foreshadowing Jon’s or that he’ll lose an eye or that we’ll get romantic Jonsa, all are offshoots of the basic “these guys are described the same way,” but I’d think it a bit odd for the person who first noticed the parallel (years before it became a Jonsa thing) to feel ownership over everything that came after.

An infamous example of the futility of theory ownership is the poor blogger who came up with a Sansxn version of the Ashford theory which Jonsas looked at and said, “you do not know what to do with this but we do!” and ran with it, and they’ve been trying to squash people jonsa-ing it or speculating about Sansa x Aegon ever since:

You get the idea. It’s a great theory, I don’t like the original ship, but kudos for op for noticing the parallels. They saw something, someone else saw it too. Many, many people ran with it. It’s inspired a general “Jon is the last suitor” or specific, “Jon will literally go to the tourney” spec in our fandom. I’ve read lots of stuff about it and enjoyed it all. However, I don’t assume everyone who writes about the Ashford Tourney is stealing from the op. I genuinely think a lot of fans didn’t even know where it (potentially) originated, and I certainly don’t think the original goal of the theory (Sansa ends up with the Hound) precludes reinterpretations.

Anyway, I absolutely make an effort to credit Jonsas whenever I can, but having witnessed what I have within our fandom, and seeing how other people treat Jonsas because of this stuff, I’m resistant to getting bogged down in this issue. I don’t want fans to feel like they can’t post about Waymar without someone vague blogging because they weren’t credited. I’ll gladly read a dozen posts talking about the Waymar -> Jon -> Sansa wildly in love -> Jonsa idea and love each and every one of them. I enjoy reading different takes on the same idea. It takes nothing away from those who have already made up their minds about what it means, and sometimes, the new post words things in a way that clicks with a new audience which is something we all should appreciate. It’s all upside imo!

[lordelmelloi2]

Sakura Matou for the blorbo bingo

When you have lived Sakura's life, or a life with similar bullshit as Sakura, you realize how immensely boring the act of suffering is. That in of itself will make you crazy.

Her passive aggression makes me crazy. The fact that it's not considered by many to be an open aspect of her character like a rotting wood also makes me crazy, because to me, it's Right There and it's going to eat her and her relationships alive.

It drives me fucking crazy that after Heaven's Feel they basically said "Sakura is normal now". I hate the take that Sakura is totally innocent. That's just simply not what I think HF was trying to communicate, that's not what the scene between her and Kirei was trying to express. Sakura retaking her agency over her abuse also came at the cost of her realizing she now had the power to commit atrocities, and she did. When you're ritually abused like that you're whole life you can easily adopt a mindset that makes you believe it's all justified to lash out and hurt others because you suffered. I do believe Sakura was heavy in that mindset.

But what drives me crazy the most is this idea that she'll walk away from it all not still carrying the aspects of the sort of emotional and psychological trauma she endured with her. To me that's not gratifying or like... accurate. You do not endure the complex traumatic circumstances that Sakura endured and walk out the other way a perfectly functional person. I wish we could've seen an actual after-story where Sakura experiences a sort of perspective shift -- even though she's with Shirou and he's given up everything to stay with her, something's not right. Shirou is not healed of his trauma and neither is she and she is still just as passive aggressive and borderline as she was years ago, albeit less so since she's no longer literally in the Torture Chamber. There are still so many things she is going to have to reconcile with. The lifelong sexual assault by her grandfather. The lifelong sexual assault by her brother. The fact she's been incestuously abused at all! Does anyone understand what that does to your brain??? Your very being, your entire soul??? Just being with Shirou is not going to be enough to fix you, I have always been frustrated by the idea that Shirou just "fixes" Sakura as if that's a realistic expectation of him at all.

I so desperately wanted that to be reflected in the story. But, well. Given that there aren't a lot of Abuse Rescue stories that focus on how you can ruin your own life after escaping trauma, or really any that acknowledge you still have heavy effects of trauma after escaping as a whole... it frustrates me. It frustrates me immensely. I wanted it so badly. I wanted to see someone who was also tortured her entire life to see how she dealt with the aftereffects.

I just think it's truly, truly, absolutely rare to walk away from that and say "Well, I'm happy now" in the unique position that she's in. Fate is not a real story, no, but it has a lot of realism in the character's emotional processes and how that works, and I really wanted Nasu to follow through. Seeing what he's done with Sakura's character so far, I will always be unsatisfied...

[silverasks]

new lore-told from Charlotte’s pov (anything typed in brackets is a fourth wall break as any info shared there is not yet known by the character at the beginning of the first book)

Abris is a sacred ritual that combines the soul of humans with a spirit's core power. By knowing oneself you know your soul, by focusing on who you are inside people are able to conjure forth runes, using the might of a spirit companion together you could do fantastical things like moving water in the air, flying, moving the earth, bending fire to your will (etc.)but those who don't know who they are, have a bit more difficulty. (looking at Chen who will have a character ark about this)

Spirits will always have a core connecting them to a key element, for example, Dazzling cobalt-winged luklor who have augua cores can almost fly by manipulating some water from whatever mass it calls home to fill their wings and lift them up, allowing them to fly short distances without any wind needed. 

while a nimbus cloud racer who have cores of sky can travel faster than the tides by manipulating the air around them And an Igneous hide wyvern has a core of fire and earth allowing them to manipulate the magma inside the volcanoes they call home to give them a hide tough as obsidian that fits them perfectly, with them only needing to forge new ones when they grow out of an old one. 

Spirits are marvelous beings that can manipulate core parts of our everyday lives, but with the help from a human caster together they can create marvelous things, while spirits can only speak to those close to them or in the same core-type as them humans can talk to all, by bonding to a human a spirit gains the protection of an entire village instead of having to fend for themselves. 

But silver changes everything we know about spirits, they can talk to all sorts of spirits regardless of their fiery core, and their ability to look just like a human poses questions to how smart spirits could really be. 

The all eyes allegiance is quite insistent that nothing other than the great fox of light (Kon) can be as intelligent as humans, all spirits and other gods are just mindless beasts in their eyes. Oh yeah gods, haven't really explained that one huh. Well, they're basically just really powerful spirits who control the elements all cores stem from, like Keotira the god of earth whose form changes with the seasons or warka the god of the ocean, legends say she used to be part of an ancient kind of water spirit called Agua Inayah before she became a god.

 but the allegiance swears it's simply sacrilegious to say a god could be anything other than born into its power. how else would the great fox of light be so powerful? Spirits are born with power, they can't just gain it over time. At Least we think, no ones ever seen a newborn spirit or ever seen one be created so no one has any ideas. 

I think the key to finding out might be in the ruins from before the cataclysmic meteor storm that wipes out all who lived in Hadon before mer’ka citizens colonized the desert land. Some even think that the Augua Inyah lived here before, at least some that still believe they exist. 

Though better hints may be the process of corruption, when a spirit dies their form becomes solid instead of its usual smoky, wispiness and their bodies begin to rot. No longer can they regenerate and the wound that kills them slowly dissolves their form, until a shadowy void-tentacle thing we call Gea’qua. 

Gea’qua are formed when a corrupted spirit goes anywhere near a reflective surface, the surface will turn black and a Gea’qua will rise from it. There is no known way to stop a Gea’qua however certain scientists have been studying ways to stop them and return corrupted spirits back to normal, however no such luck. 

There's actually not much known about spirits, that's why I'm studying to become a Magusologist (person who studies magic) maybe if we better understand the spells we better understand spirits and the powers they hold. 

[that-vampire-loser]

I agree that these things should be discussed and explored, because even though we don’t exactly agree with Nora about these topics, she did write them.

The one thing I will never understand though is Andrew’s misogyny.

How could Andrew Minyard, whose close friend is Renee Walker, a woman, a STRONG woman, whom I don’t believe would ever associate with a misogynist, hate women and think that they’re inferior.

I’m aware that Nora said that he is a misogynist in her extra content, but the way she wrote him and especially his friendship with Renee shows the contrary.

Moving on to some of Nicky’s creepiness (and I do believe he was a bit creepy)

Some of the things that Nicky said COULD potentially be seen as him being confidant in his sexuality—him constantly hitting on Neil even though Neil wasn’t interested and appreciating Neil’s looks—but there are many things that could only possibly be viewed as creepy and predatory.

Nicky saying he wanted to get Kevin “too drunk to be straight” was simply creepy and can’t be viewed any other way.

Nicky kissing Neil can only be viewed that way as well. And while I am CERTAINLY not excusing his actions, we should take into account that he was drunk, high, and everything that happened that night was horrible.

Moving on to Aaron, many of the things he said could be viewed as homophobic. (I’m not sure if Nora said anything about him being homophobic in the extra content, so I’ll only be talking about things from the books)

While the things he says could be viewed as homophobic, I don’t view it that way. The times he seems “homophobic” are mostly when Nicky is being CREEPY towards Neil. Yes the way he tells Nicky to stop is him basically calling Nicky disgusting, but Aaron (and almost all of the characters) are assholes. He said it in an asshole way.

He also said that he would tell Erik on Nicky, which shows that he recognizes Erik as someone important to Nicky. I personally don’t think someone who was truly homophobic would really associate himself with his cousins boyfriend.

Neil was definitely selfish in the beginning, but he develops throughout the story.

Kevin is bitchy, and the way he was written didn’t really show much improvement, but I think that the farther away he gets from the nest the less bitchy he becomes.

And while he was certainly bitchy, he showed a softer side a few times in the story (VERY RARELY) like when he got the chess piece tattoo and when he spoke to wymack at the last game.

(Also I don’t really know enough about Jack to talk about him)

All of these characters have flaws, but that is perfectly normal, and the flaws I covered CERTAINLY aren’t all of them, but all of these characters grew throughout the story.

Everyone can have their own opinions about these characters and these things I went over, but these are just mine. (I’m sorry I just really don’t see Andrew as misogynistic or Aaron as homophobic.)

Anyways i think we should explore Andrew’s misogyny and we should explore Nicky kissing Neil without the latter’s consent and we should explore Aaron and Jack’s homophobia and we should explore Neil’s selfishness and we should explore Kevin’s bitchiness and we, actually, should explore all these negative trauma responses instead of screaming and wailing and erasing them. Fruit.

[yuikomorii]

Who do you think are the most mentally strong diaboys?

// I'd like to make a top three, even if I believe number one is already obvious:

3. Kino

Being forgotten by your true "father" and abandoned in Rottenberg is a very sad scenario. Kino was also bullied because of his race, since the ghouls did not treat someone like him well. However, after releasing his powers, they began to respect him, so Kino became their leader, and unlike other characters, he also got Yuri, his friend, by his side. Kino is a mentally strong person, but he still struggles with it, especially given his resentment of the Sakamaki brothers for obtaining Karl's "love," even though they did nothing to him. He also gaslights others for "having it better," and dwells on his past to the point of obsession. It feels as if he doesn’t live for himself anymore, but merely for recognition.

2. Kou

Losing your wealth, ending up in a manhole, then in an orphanage where you were assaulted and exploited because you were a pretty child... As horrifying as it may sound, Kou has a very realistic past because the events that happened to him actually occurred in Romania during that time period. Honestly, despite his background, I'm surprised he's generally such a cheerful person. He would have been first on the list, but Kou never moved on from his experiences. He, like Kino, held a grudge against the Sakamakis for having "a better life" than him, despite the fact that he was unaware of their past. Anyway, he was in MB at the time, and based on DF and LE, he's doing much better now and is a sunshine boy, so he deserves this spot.

1. Ayato

I guess it's always been obvious that Ayato is mentally the healthiest Diaboy. His past is almost on the level of Haruka from Moshikami, which says a lot because it's so messed up that I wouldn't have been surprised if he lost all hope, but he didn't, which is really admirable.

Ayato never complained about what he went through, never gaslighted others for having it better, never engaged in a harmful coping mechanism and never projected on others. Yes, he has insecurities; he is afraid of not being loved or not being the best, but he is not dependent on these. He could still live peacefully without achieving them. Furthermore, he doesn't need a person to "fix" or help him deal with his struggles; he simply wants someone to appreciate and believe in him.

He's a carefree person who surprisingly prefers to look on the bright side and holds no resentment toward those who have wronged him as long as he knows their reasons and that everything turned out well. His ability to forgive people so easily is both a strength and a weakness because some people do such horrible things to you that they no longer deserve your forgiveness.

I like Kino but he literally burned you alive, beat you up, stole Yui, and wanted to sell you to the church to be slaughtered, but in the end, you gave him a second chance and were the first to integrate him and recognize him as a Sakamaki?? And normally, I wouldn't mind this since I give a bunch of second chances too but the thing is, nobody is willing to forgive AYATO if things go wrong, and that's painful because it's so unfair. ://

I might have realized why Karlheinz thinks Ayato is more special than anyone else, and this quote from his DF Ecstasy epilogue perfectly explains it:

Karlheinz (describing Ayato): Valuing your life, grieving, lamenting your misfortune, suffering…

And resisting!

That’s what Adam is all about!!

Basically, what makes Ayato the official Adam is the fact that unlike other demons, who are ignorant to death, he still has a desire to live and fights for it. No matter how much pain he has endured, nothing can break him.

One of the reasons his LE route was so reviled in the Japanese and English fandoms is that nothing hurts more than seeing an energetic and strong-willed character who appeared that way in seven games suddenly lose all hope and drown in misery.

I have written a too much about Ayato, but he deserves it. He’s not the smartest or most calculated guy, but he is unquestionably the most mentally strong one, and I doubt any other Diaboy would have ended up as approachable as Ayato if he had been in his position.

[firecoloredwater]

OKAY NEW AU IDEA

What if: it was standard for shinobi children to have an animal (a regular animal) sealed to them while very young, in order to give that child the animals’ abilities later, in a werecreature-ish way.  (Specifically, the type that has a distinct “inner wolf” with its own instincts, desires, and reactions.)

If everything goes perfectly, the result is a shinobi who can shift between human and animal size and shape, and also any combination in between, as well as having the option to give themself senses equivalent to their animal while in human form.  In exchange they have a few, controllable animalistic instincts/tendencies, like liking catnip, wanting to sunbathe, wanting to build/sleep in something nest-shaped, etc.

Of course things usually don’t go perfectly.  It’s pretty normal for shinobi to not have perfect control of shifting: that might mean they simply can’t access certain forms, or can be startled into/out of forms, or more specific things like “can use eagle eyesight, but only if shifted at least halfway to eagle size/mass.” It can also result in things that make being a shinobi completely impossible, such as someone with a rabbit sealed to them who exclusively reacts to battle by running or freezing, and can’t overcome the rabbit instinct in order to fight.  Or, in the worst cases, with the person being overwhelmed completely, turning into an animal, running off, and never being seen again.

I find this especially interesting because while you get all the usual werecreature opportunities (“hahaha no I don’t like him at all.  Can’t imagine why my inner animal is so mad at that other person for flirting with him!  No idea at all”) a character can have basically any animal that exists, BUT which animal they have is usually dependent on what their parents would choose/want for them, and not what necessarily suits them.  So some characters will end up at odds with their own paired animal’s instincts/traits.

Anyway!  I have lots more thoughts but I have rambled through the basics already, and I’m really curious what anyone else makes of this!

More tangential thoughts under the cut.

A sealing is believed to work better if A: it’s done while the kid is as young as possible, and B: if the kid and the animal are as close to the same (relative) age as possible.  If the animal is much older than the kid, it’s more difficult to use/control; if it’s much younger, it’s weaker.

Different clans have different traditions regarding which animals they use.

Some clans use one or a few animals exclusively.  (The Uchiha use domestic cats and hawks or falcons, with very few exceptions.  This is probably the most common approach.)

Some take that extra far, and have a specific breed of an animal that they created and maintain specifically for the purpose, which exists nowhere else.  (The Hyuuga probably do this, though I don’t know which animal they use yet.  Probably one for the branch house and a different breed/animal for the main house.  Nara, of course, use their deer, so they’re also in this category.  The Yamanaka might as well, but I’m undecided.)

Some use whatever is available/useful.  (The Senju did this.)

The Inuzuka are considered weird as fuck because they don’t seal their kids to any animal at all (because their dogs are independent people, and they aren’t going to seal their kids to anything ELSE).

I don’t know what the Aburame are doing.  They could probably seal bugs to themself?  But they also might just not seal anything to themself, like the Inuzuka don’t.

Culturally, sealing a bird to a kid is complicated.  It still happens a lot, because flight is so useful for a shinobi that needs to escape or spy.  But bird forms and traits are difficult to use in a fight (can you give yourself talons?  Sure!  But they’ll be on your feet, which is not nearly as convenient as being able to sprout claws on your hands) and are considered particularly Awkward for girls/women, because of the whole shirt vs wings thing.  Girls do still get birds sealed to them sometimes, though, just not as often as boys do.

It’s fashionable among shinobi to go around with a few of your animal’s traits visible, but you’re not supposed to keep the same traits visible for long.  So the fashionable thing to do would be to have cat ears during lunch and claws at dinner, and a tail the next day.  It’s a way of showing off control of your animal/its abilities.

But that’s like the supermodel version of the fashion.  Most people don’t have perfect control and being a shinobi at all is still impressive, so going around with the same animal trait visible all the time is still Very Cool.  (This interacted weirdly with Naruto’s whisker marks.  He tried REALLY HARD to convince people they meant he was cool, but didn’t succeed very well.  Some people thought he’d drawn them on.)

Most of my headcanons for specific characters are for the Founders because that’s the corner of fandom I’m mostly in, but:

Sasuke got a typical Uchiha animal sealed to him within a few weeks of being born (as would be normal for the kids of shinobi clans).  Probably a domestic cat but maybe a hawk of some sort.  He’s good at using/working with it in the way that he’s a genius generally and good at everything, but hates all instincts he gets from it.  He may have grown up hearing cute stories about how Itachi insisted that Sasuke HAD to get this particular animal, in which case he hates everything about it.

Naruto has the kyuubi, and no regular animal at all.  No one is sure if adding a regular animal after the fact will do something weird and dangerous to the kyuubi seal, and definitely no one wants to risk it.  This contributes to him being considered a loser in the academy, because he can’t draw on animal senses or other traits (like claws) to use.

Sakura, as the child or civilians, didn’t get an animal sealed to her at all until around when she became a genin.  Being a tween instead of an infant she had a lot more say in what she got, but she used that mostly for “what would Sasuke like?”  On the other hand she IS smart, so she probably picked something that’s known first for being pretty, but is also very useful.  A swan would work very well but is kind of the obvious answer.  A cat is also likely, especially if Sasuke has a cat too.  Regardless she struggles for a while with how to keep the animal happy/cooperative, since she’s not used to having non-human instincts or desires and finds some of them a bit embarrassing.

Kakashi has a wolf.  He REALLY wishes he had a dog, or at least a wolf that looked more like a dog, but.  That’s a wolf.

Hashirama has an Ussuri brown bear.  Powerful, impressive, but not overly aggressive; a very good standard (Future) Leader/Clan Heir animal.  Butsuma might very well have the same, and if not, he probably has a Japanese black bear.  (The Senju don’t limit themselves to one animal as a clan, but they do have sometimes very specific thoughts about what’s appropriate for/conducive to someone’s position in life.)

Tobirama has a dog, either Kai Ken or Kishu.  Useful, obedient, loyal, but not particularly friendly to anyone outside his immediate family.  Great for the second in command/backup heir.

Itama has either a Blakiston’s fish owl or a Long-eared owl: great for sneaking and spying in places/ways that bears and dogs can’t.  Mostly this was to cover the bases that Hashirama and Tobirama didn’t.

Kawarama has a boar: powerful, dangerous, and aggressive to the point of recklessness.  It was meant to make him a better weapon.

Madara skipped the “domestic” part of the Uchiha standard domestic cat and has a tiger.  He likes to give his hair stripes.  Unusually (for a shinobi that has the ability) he almost never gives himself claws because that would ruin his gloves.

Izuna has a... well, a bird.  I’m eyeing the black kite (known to spread fires in order to hunt) and Lidth’s jay (aesthetic corvid), but really any hawk/falcon/similar would work equally well.  Could get into eagles too.  (Or hummingbirds, for humor.)

Mito probably had an ordinary fox, and had some thoughts about binding the kyuubi to the ordinary fox in order to eventually merge them and make the kyuubi a bit more mortal/manageable.  It didn’t work though, for her or for Kushina (who might well have had an entirely different animal to begin with) and Naruto doesn’t have a regular animal at all.

I think that edo tensei summons just... don’t have their animal anymore.  It’s a flaw that frustrated Tobirama immensely.  All of those abilities are gone, so in this verse edo tensei versions of people are significantly limited relative to how they were while alive.  Not enough to make them weak, but it’s a pretty dramatic omission.

[beastlyadam]

“I am perfectly aware of that fact,” he points out, not needing to be reminded of just how desperately so many of his friends were to lead a normal life again. Adam was aware of that more than anyone, in all honesty, constantly remembering how all of this was his fault whenever any of their curses were brought up. It was what had finally sparked him to find Arthur in the first place, to give any information at all to the Order in hopes of finding some kind of an answer. But he just simply could not let go of the feeling of dread and paranoia that constantly lived in his head. “And are you certain it is worth getting all of their hopes up? When we have no clue yet if this witch will be able to do a damned thing?” It was just another ploy to try to get Claude to reconsider telling her everything, but he had to make every argument he possibly could. They needed to be prepared for any and every potential outcome.

It was nice that his friend was so worried for him, but nothing that he suggested seemed at all plausible to Adam. And he was going to make that known. “I’m not putting some kind of mystery drug in my system,” he rejects that idea outright, refusing to even begin to consider anything along those lines. Though he had wished before that there was some kind of sedative strong enough to knock him out or even just calm his beast during the nights of his transformation. But he barely trusted Arthur or the Order with the basic information of their curses, no way in hell was he ready yet to accept any sort of injection they tried to give him. “No one’s going out there. That's nonnegotiable. It’s far too dangerous, you know that, Claude. The forest is a monster in and of itself, especially at night. Those nights in particular. I have managed and survived on my own this long, I will be fine.” It wasn’t a sentiment he was completely confident in, but he needed his friend to believe it either way. Because for all Claude had said that he may be practically on the hunter’s hit list, Adam didn’t have it in him to clarify that he wasn’t just on the list - but he was the list. The biggest prize coveted amongst all of the hunters across the island.

"Fine, then, I'll tell them," Claude easily agreed. If that was what it took to get Adam to his side of giving the Order everything they had, then, it had to be done. There was not a worry in his mind whether the information would be used against them--they already knew everything about Adam they could possibly find out, and the rest of them weren't inherently magical themselves. The worst that could happen, in Claude's view, was that their curses simply got worse--even then, he wasn't sure if that was possible. "I don't think a single one of them doesn't want to have our lives back to normal, though."

As much as he hated to admit it, Adam was right: no one could physically be around him during the full moon without risk of getting seriously hurt. There had to be some way to keep himself, or someone else, unseen by neither Adam nor the hunters if they were to hide out; he just had to figure out how. "I don't know--maybe we ask Arthur if there's something that can sedate you, and you can stay indoors. That, or someone will have to be on hideout and hope you don't find them." Neither plan was fully foolproof, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, Claude would feel better if he had eyes on his friend while he was in his most vulnerable state. "Maybe ... perhaps we attach a camera to you, or something of the sort. So, if you're in trouble, someone can be on standby. I just can't have you going out there while knowing you're practically on their hit list, Adam."

[tuhhadkeryo]

Hello, I'm here for the Hacker hair hcs, please. Do you think he's always worn a wig? Do you hc his natural hair color is diff? Blonde like when he took the Ring of Radopolis?

Hiya! Any Hacker hcs are welcome and I’m dyin’ to talk ab his hair. So here they are + some doodles :3

I think he used to have hair when he was younger, but when he lost his power he lost his locks with it! Kind of like accelerated aging. That’s a whole other story so I’ll stick with his hair for now.

Young Hacker loved the smooth, effortless, dashing slicked back style of the 50s. 

Of course, as is everything else in the universe, his hair seems to be against him - coarse, doesn’t hold volume well, and is straight with the exception of a tiny bit of wave near the ends. So he got it cut into a well blended, layered/mullet style so he could carefully gel, tease, and blow dry it into that coveted 50s style. (With a dash of cyberspace trends too ofc ✨👌)

When he lost his power, it was a few days before his body started suffering real, shocking consequences and his hair fell out in his hands in chunks. Quite traumatic for him and he despises every moment that he’s forced to wear a wig instead, especially after all the time and effort he put into his hair. 

His wig he keeps in a more severe, slicked back look, perhaps more fitting for his villainous aura. In order to keep every strand out of his face and looking good, he uses his own brand of wig gel to both give it shine and keep the style in hold. 

Hacker has a difficult time embracing his hair by itself, mostly because it was basically the opposite of what he wanted - straight, coarse, flat, and medium thickness. If he didn’t know how to take the best care of it (he didn’t) it could get oily easily  and stringy. Very boring, to him. He does everything he can to change it, using products galore or various methods to get it looking the way he wants in the morning. (Messy hair 👇)

To him, throwing product after product and over brushing and overall damaging the hair is perfectly normal and he would find it very difficult to believe that somebody like Slider can wake up, shake their head, and continue on their day. 

His hair def looks perfect when he’s fixed it up, but who could tell differently with basically glue to keep it in place and slime to give it shine? Very much fake and sculpted into that beauty standard.

At night time he’ll drag a comb through it, scraping out all the shit collected in between the hairs, and underneath is a frizzy, damaged wig. He just thinks that’s how it goes to get the hair you want and it’s infused into his daily routine.

Truthfully, Hacker’s a sad case of ignorance and arrogance about hair products and embracing one’s hair texture. If he learned somewhere to take care of his hair it’d probably be shiny, more wavy (coconut oil yo), thick, and coarse. You know, rock the right styles or stick with the slicked back look - either would work. And after getting his wig, if he ever got his power back and therefore his hair, I don’t think this would be too far off from his search history. And if he did figure this out, he’d probably be much happier with it. Although I’m pretty sure he’d be happy with any hair after his baldness’s XD

Which brings me to his wish - to have a head of hair of his own. His dream style. 

Thick, voluptuous, soft, wavy, lightweight, voluminous, blonde…

And of course you might’ve wondered before, ‘well, why not get a wig with all that?’ 

It’s his own hair of course! Effortless! He doesn’t have to do anything to fight with it or change it, simply maintain! And it’s *his*. Not a bought wig which bruises his ego.

For his natural hair color - I think it’s black due to his black eyebrows, and examples of black body hair animated in the show. Blonde is possibly a color he lusted after for a long time, or maybe just a whim of the day. 

It’d be interesting if blonde was his natural hair color though - fun design!

Aaaand a random mustachioed Hacker

Thanks sm for the ask!! I hope it was good for ya

Sometime I’ll do a finished pic of Hacker wearing longer hair or something, bc I like hair :D