#they're all different and not synonymous with each other

[theminecraftbee]

Just out of curiosity, do you know any alternative ways of showing types of relationships that could be used on ao3? I find the & and / method to be very constraining, especially with ambiguous or multi-dimensional relationships. & for platonic and / for romantic does not allow for a proper representation of nonstandard relationships, for example an enemy/loathing or polyamorous relationship. (Homestuck quadrants are their own thing and are not what I am asking for/about.)

answer that answers your question:

yes and no. if you just want another category of markers to exist, i know you said no homestuck quadrants, but those are probably most commonly used, although they're all synned to the / tag. i've seen some exchanges that want to differentiate use /& together, i've seen ? be used, and i've seen some invent their own tag (largely exchanges use these for matching purposes and it's rare but i HAVE seen it). however, there's no unifying convention, and ao3 will eventually syn all of these to either the / or & tag (usually the / unless the wranglers have a very good reason to think it's the & tbh). so know that even if you use your own symbol, it will show up in the relationship tag it ends up synned to.

one of the most common solutions to this is to use the symbol closest to what you want--personally i tend to just use the & unless there's fic content i think gen fans would really hate, since & is the tag that covers the much wider spectrum of relationships in my head, although some people will differ--and use freeform tags to disambiguate. for example, last days has the & tag for joe and cleo, along with a "queerplatonic relationships" tag! i believe "ambiguous relationships" is also a canonical tag, and you don't have to use canonicals if you can't find the one you like! the world is your oyster.

(here i'll also note: the & doesn't require them be like... friends. it just requires the fic be about their relationship in some way, and for this relationship to not be romantic or sexual. enemies is absolutely covered here, as is like, weird coworkers, or even tags like "hero & the public".)

(similarly, the / tag doesn't require they like each other, it just requires it to be a "ship"; enemies who have a ton of sexual tension goes under this, as do things like abusive romantic or sexual relationships; just make sure you're using your warnings and additional tags appropriately!)

the other most common solution is to tag both the / and & tag and use a tag like the "ambiguous relationships" or "this can be read as either" or "queerplatonic relationships" or whatever other disambiguating tag you think it needs. this is less common in the mcyt fandom because of the mcyt fandom's history of being SUPER WEIRD about shipping, but it's often the most common solution in fandoms that aren't this one.

"i want ao3 to have a ship tag that is neither & nor /, and is not considered synonymous with either" unfortunately this doesn't exist and isn't going to. like i'd love to say there's a way to make it exist but it Won't because of how ao3 was designed to work on a backend level and also ao3 does NOT change quickly, for better or for worse. you're going to have to pick between "make up a symbol and it will probably be synned to /", "use the tag you think you like best", or "use both". i wish there was another option too, if it helps, but the additional tags are really useful here!

"use no relationship tag" is also always an option; the relationship tag is not a required tag!

answer that answers your two examples, neither of which really fit the question as i understand it, hence me separating them out:

a fic about the relationship between two enemies is either the & tag if you just want the one that is actually meant to be used or the / tag if you mean for it to be like, the kind of enemies that have sexual tension. use additional tags to additionally disambiguate (example: just put in the tags the canonical tag "enemies" and you're good to go). the & tag is for ANY kind of platonic relationship, it does not require the two characters like each other, only that the fic is about their relationship! you can use the homestuck <3< if you REALLY wanna make it clear but that's synned to /, so like, up to you. if you're super worried someone will misunderstand the & tag you can also just not tag a relationship, relationships aren't mandatory tags.

i have no idea why you're asking about polyamory because that has a solution that's entirely unrelated to the problem you propose: you just tag the ship. ship tags with more than two names in them are legal tags, as long as it doesn't go over ao3's tag character limit you're good. if you do hit the limit, just use more than one tag! this is totally fine and follows ao3 conventions, don't worry. if it's the kind of polyamorous relationship with metamours, where not everyone is dating everyone, this is where more than one overlapping relationship tag REALLY helps. plus: you can mix / and & tags! not all of them will be canonical yet, but that's true of ANY ship tag you're originating! i have seen the form of "character/character & character" in many fandoms before, it's totally valid and will disambiguate! (also, the ensemble tags may help you here if you're doing like, a polyhermits thing; "hermitcraft ensemble/hermitcraft ensemble" is a legal tag and i think what polyhermits is probably synned to.)

so yeah, hopefully this helps some! good luck out there!

[solarvermilion]

YOU DON'T NEED TO OR BE A WITCH TO BE A PAGAN, SATANIST, POLYTHEIST ETC.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Do you know why dogs do that little exhausted sigh when they lie down even when they haven't really done anything that particular day?

I, too, make exhausted little sighs when I flop down and am suddenly extremely comfy!

But, okay, here's what super interesting. I didn't want to just give you a flippant answer, so I started looking up if sighing is a behavior in other species than humans. Because it's always worth keeping an eye out for accidental anthropomorphism. Turns out? The science on sighing is fascinating. Stay tuned for intense nerding out, and maybe a bit more of an answer.

First off, we gotta know what a sigh is.

"The sigh is a deep augmented breath with distinct neurobiological, physiological, and psychological properties that distinguish it from a normal eupneic breath. Sighs are typically triggered by a normal eupneic breath and are followed by a respiratory pause, which is referred to as 'postsigh apnea.'"

In non-jargon, that definition means sighs are a deep breath with a different pattern to it than normal, easy, regular breathing. "Augmented breaths" are frequently used as a synonym for "sighs", and the best definition I found is that "they comprise prolonged inspiration and increased tidal volume followed by a respiratory pause and several seconds of faster breathing. So a longer than normal inhale where you take in more air than normal, then an exhale, and then pause before breathing in again. Oh hey, look, I found a graph!

The graph is super well labeled, but just to be clear: each cycle of the red line is a normal breath, where what's being tracked is the movement of the chest wall. The part where the vertical blue bar is, that's the cycle with a sigh. The red line spikes really high (during inspiration, or breathing in) at that blue patch, and for longer than the normal period of a breath. See how it's almost like two inhales on top of each other - a normal slope and then another upward spike? That's the "augmentation" of the normal breath, almost a double inhale without breathing out in-between. Then, after the red line drops (on the exhale) there's a flat bit. That's the respiratory pause, which the period after the sigh where you wait before you inhale again.

Apparently people have been tracking sighing scientific for like, over 100 years. The first record of it in academic literature was in 1919. And we know some really cool stuff. All humans sigh spontaneously. Even babies sigh! They do it every few minutes, whereas it's less frequent but still pretty regular in adults: one study found about once every five minutes, or twelve sighs an hour.

Okay, but why do we sigh? We only sort of know, because there's a bunch of different things that have to be studied to answer that question. The direct physiological aspect of it is the most well known at this point. You've got lots of little sacs lining your lungs, called alveoli, that facilitate gas transfer from the air you breathe into your blood. They make sure oxygen goes in and carbon dioxide gets breathed out. But sometimes they collapse and deflate, which prevents them from doing their job. When you do a big sigh, the air quantity in your lungs ends up being double that of normal, which inflates them again. So sighing is a way of doing lung maintenance, in a sense.

But there's so much more going on when you sigh than just that! This is the stuff researchers are still working on. They've got some pretty solid conclusions to start, but they're very emphatic that there's a ton more to learn.

Basically, the main hypothesis right now is that sighing functions as a "reset" for your internal state when it's out of balance. People sigh more when they're acutely anxious or stressed, are anticipating a negative outcome like a shock or seeing a negative image, or have chronic anxiety, PTSD, or panic disorders. Higher sigh frequency is also associated with pain: people with chronic low back pain sigh more, and how much they do correlates with how high their pain rating is at the time!

Another aspect of sighing is that it's frequently associated with periods of relief. Studies have noted that people sigh when they're able to relax following tension, like if they're interrupted while trying to do something really mentally taxing, when they finish a task that took a lot of attention for a long time, or if a negative stimulus stops/goes away. The reason behind that is actually thought to be why people sigh so much when they're upset or in pain: sighing doesn't just signal relief, but actually cause it! Some studies have found that people experience a temporary reduction in muscle tension right after a spontaneous sigh. (Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to also happen when you sigh on purpose.)

Sighing is also thought to facilitate behavioral and emotional transitions. The frequency at which someone sighs changes even just when they transition from sitting to lying down. People frequently sigh right before they fall asleep or start to wake up. One study found that people sigh more frequently when they go from a situation of being unable to anticipate what's next to a situation where they know what the outcome will be - regardless of if that outcome is going to be negative or positive! That led the researchers to hypothesize that sighing functions as an emotional reset from states of high internal arousal (a word which here means "the state of feeling awake, activated, and highly reactive to stimuli.") So sighing might not just bring relief when something really intense ends, but it might also help people prepare for upcoming stress.

Basically, researchers think that sighing may contribute to what they call "psychophysiological flexibility." That means that sighing helps keep someone in a physiological and emotional state that matches the situation they're in, and helps the body and mind adapt quickly when something changes. They noted that these types of transitions may involve "anticipatory, activation or recovery responses." In other words: they think spontaneous sighing is relevant not only when you're worried about encountering a leopard in the bush, but when you have to hide from the leopard you tripped over, and then also when you're calming down after the leopard got bored and left.

There's a whole bunch of research left to do about how exactly spontaneous sighs do what they do, but there's also a whole other aspect of the behavior that hasn't really been studied yet: their social function! In humans audible sighing is a salient social signal. (The researchers said the part of the paper addressing this that it is a "lay belief" that sighs have a "communicative function to convey emotions," which makes the whole thing feel like it was written by aliens observing humans from afar). But they did note that sighs for social communications may be totally different from other types of sighs, since the exhalation is often very exaggerated and doesn't always occur in tandem with that "augmented" inhale pattern that spontaneous sighs have.

Okay. So. I've been a nerd forever, but what about doggo sighs? Why do they occur? Obviously, the research doesn't give us a direct answer. The majority of the behavioral / situational research on sighing has been done on people, not animals. But it's pretty well documented lots of animals sigh (it might even be all mammals, I just don't have a citation for that). And some of the studies that have been done on animals indicated that they, too, sigh in relief when negative situations end or unpleasant stimuli go away.

Let's go back to my joke at the beginning of this book I've written. My first instinct was to be like "who doesn't sigh in relaxation when they finally get a chance to rest their bones?" That totally matches what's in the research: getting a chance to rest after activity is often both a behavioral transition and an emotional one, and if there's any physical discomfort being experienced, physical rest is often is a relief.

It seems fairly probable that dogs sigh when they lay down for at least one of those reasons. I can't prove that hypothesis, but it tracks with what the science says so far. The situation you described meets the main identified criteria for sighing: there's the physical transition of laying down, the behavioral/emotional transition of being ready for a period of low/no activity, and the possible relief of pain or discomfort that comes with laying down. We don't have any any evidence (that I was able to find) of species that sigh for other reasons, or sigh in situations that don't meet those criteria. We don't know for sure that this is accurate - this isn't fact, simply my educated guess. But since sighing seems to help muscles relax and relief discomfort, it seems reasonable to me that a good old sigh after the relief of laying down would make the transition to a resting state feel even better.

Sources:

Effects of the hippocampus on the motor expression of augmented breaths

Brainstem activity, apnea, and death during seizures induced by intrahippocampal kainic acid in anaesthetized rats

The Integrative Role of the Sigh in Psychology, Physiology, Pathology, and Neurobiology

Sigh rate during emotional transitions: More evidence for a sigh of relief

The psychophysiology of the sigh: I: The sigh from the physiological perspective

The psychophysiology of the sigh: II: The sigh from the psychological perspective

Affect Arousal

UCLA and Stanford researchers pinpoint origin of sighing reflex in the brain

[freuleinanna]

I'm still confused about Verna.. I thought she was a demon?? Because why would Death be going around making a bunch of deals with people? After Verna told Pym she decided to go "topside" I thought she was some kind of crossroads demon since it implies she came from below (hell)

Oh! I feel you, and I struggled with that a lot too. She does seem a lot like a demon. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct in my thinking either, but here's why I personally think she's Death. Kind of a long post, sorry. I hope I make myself clear, but feel free to follow up!

So, Verna. An anagram for Raven, that much is established. Ravens are wonderful - symmetrical even - creatures. Bringers of death in a wide understanding. Bringers of good luck in many cultures. The duality is amazing. To me, that also leans majorly into the theme of death being a concept of duality: an enemy for some, a friend for others. Each greets her differently. I'm not talking about the characters here, but people in general.

There's a proverb I came across a while ago that reads 'Death is a great leveller'. Meaning, everyone's equal before her. You have no leverage or buffer against death, and it doesn't matter if you're poor or blindly, feverishly, grotesquely rich (like our folks here). Everyone pays the last bill. For everyone, there's a day of reckoning. It's a major theme with the show, at least. Verna also says 'Buy now, pay the bill later' - although it can still read very demonic, I agree.

She's obviously ancient, and I was leaning toward the demon theory based on all of her talking. Yet - she also keeps ranting about Egypt and pyramids and Cleopatras and such. What's the one thing with Egyptians everyone knows of? They honored death. Death may have been a bigger part of their lives than life itself. The Usher Twins' obssession with all things Egyptian, antiquities, jewelry, swords and such, plays a nice parallel here too, because they're just collectors. They have no grain of honor for the real thing, for what these things are tied to. Kind of a nice thought, I guess.

Anyway, back to Verna. She says on multiple occasions how intrigued she is with us, 'adorable little things'. She saw the pyramids, the expeditions, and she wanted to see what else we do, she wanted to see what Roderick and Madeline will do (in her own words). It's all an experiment to her. She makes an offer just to see what we, people, do.

Here's where my beef with a demon theory comes in. No demonic creature I could think of, be it an actual demon, a trickster, or something else, is that sincerely intrigued. Something something death loving life something something.

Demons, in my understanding, are most interested in winning the deal. They come up with incredible challenges, they enjoy torture, emotional or physical, they never let anyone win. Verna has never once expressed this. Quite the opposite. She gives everyone a chance to step back. Even when the ink has dried and everything's decided, each Usher sibling is conditioned to make a choice: push forward, or step back. Neither of them steps back. Neither of them takes a long hard look at themselves (except Tamerlane, both literally haha and figuratively, as she's the only one to have realized how lost she was in her way - just at the end, when it didn't really matter anymore, but still). Verna is kind to those she takes (sincere pet names, regrets of having to do it this way, making sure they know it's not personal, etc). She grieves with them, just before. Grieving - 'The Raven' being about an expression of grief and trauma - ravens as synonyms for death... you get the gist. Oh! Except Freddie - cause Freddie struck a cord. Infuriated her. So he doesn't get an expressed choice. And he would've blown it like coke anyway, so meh.

And then Arthur Pym. Oh, Arthur Pym. I honestly couldn't imagine a demon kneeling and thanking someone who's refused them.

About Arthur Pym, by the way. It's the one story I hadn't reread, and I should have, it turns out! haha Anyway, a few notes about his travels:

In the story, Arthur Pym is expressedly afraid of white color (North Pole, yada yada, white being the absense of colors/life, and the absense of life is death).

Verna enumerates the moments she witnessed of his travels. Someone getting left in Sahara. Someone getting shot in the Arctic. Something bad that was done to an Inuit woman. Why would she follow Arthur so closely? She didn't know him, he wasn't her favorite. I think it's because she came to collect those deaths. If she is death, she would've been exactly there, where people died. She would have also seen Arthur not partaking.

Aaaaaaaand it makes her 'You saw me' line sound better, because he had sure seen death along his travels.

I think the part about a place of out-of-time, out-of-space creatures and hollow Earth was a bit unnecessary, BUT I can try and tie it in this way:

It showed us how Arthur might have coped with what he saw, and he 'saw a lot', even in his 70s it's difficult for him to recall, and it made him think of humanity as a virus, literally;

He might have thought up that ethereal realm simply because he was in an expedition? Exhaustive conditions for both body and spirit? Traumatic experiences? If he saw Death, he might have cloaked it in his mind to cope with it, thus came his stories;

Verna going 'topside' may just mean that she had to go take a look herself, actually be willingly present for the events - to see the brave little humans conquer the earth. 'Topside', as in, 'visible, present, participating'. If Death exists, I doubt it bothers with our boring human realm but lives downunder, among all threads that weave the world.

So that's that on Arthur Pym.

A few other references my mind is too exhausted to tie in nicely:

Death takes Lenore. THE Lenore from 'The Raven' (mostly) and 'Lenore' (secondary). That happened. Also, death talking to a child of life? Regretting having to take her? Not very demonic of dear ol' Verna, in my opinion.

Her mourning veil, her last toasts to the Ushers at the cemetery? Demons don't tend to grieve their players. Demons don't respect and love them enough, and 'what is grief, if not love persevering'?

Death is the last threshold. Before death, we look upon our legacy (major theme with the show), we remember our losses and loves (Annabel Lee!!!!! love the poem, brilliantly done), we get heavy with regrets. We face death as an enemy & fight, like Madeline did. As a friend, like Arthur did. We confess, like Roderick did. All that is too significant to me overall.

And the last thing. It's Edgar Allan Poe. The whole Death tribute is a giant, incredible, thought-through-to-the-bits hommage to his literature where Death, figuratively and literally, takes the throne.

I hope I managed to express myself alright there. Thanks if you read it through, and as I said before, feel free to follow up or elaborate on some ideas. There are oceans to discuss. <3

[dorianbrightmusic]

PSA

-OCD is not a synonym for neat or preoccupied with tidiness. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is all about distressing intrusive thoughts and rituals (compulsions) used to combat those thoughts.

-Intrusive thoughts are not synonymous with silly things I want to do. They're deeply upsetting, often taboo mental apparitions. Letting them win is the last thing anyone wants, and nobody is immoral for having them. (See 'impulsive thoughts' if you need a term.)

-Anorexic is not a synonym for thin or emaciated. The majority of anorexic people have OSFED atypical anorexia – that is, their BMI is above 18.5. You cannot judge the severity of someone's illness by their appearance. (If you're worried about someone, look out more for rapid weight loss than thinness, even when it's occurring in someone in a larger body. 10kg in 10 weeks is never a good thing.)

-Eating disorders are not synonymous with just anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is an ED, but it's nowhere near the most common. Bulimia is an ED, but again, not the most common. Together, they do not constitute the most common. The most common ED is binge-eating disorder, and the second most common is atypical anorexia, which is one of many, many OSFED categories. Those living with ARFID, pica, night-eating syndrome, rumination disorder, subthreshold BN, subthreshold BED, and orthorexia all deserve dignity, compassion, and acknowledgement. Remember: EDs are not necessarily thin, and never glamorous.

-Schizophrenic is not a synonym of all over the place, abnormal, unpredictable, dangerous, or crazy. Nor is schizoid or schizotypal. Folks with schizophrenia spectrum disorders live with hallucinations, delusions, disorganised thoughts/behaviour, and/or catatonia. They are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators, and go to huge lengths to act okay even when distressed by symptoms.

-Schizophrenic is also not a synonym of multiple personalities/volatile. For the disorder involving having different facets of personality that are generally unaware of each other, see Dissociative Identity Disorder, and even then, don't assume it's a) dramatic as it is in the movies; b) evil; or c) trivial. DID is a trauma disorder.

-Delusional is not a synonym of wrong. Nor is it the same as this politician/friend is saying something I do not like/that is potentially dangerous. Delusions are false, fixed beliefs held despite evidence. And generally, folks with delusions don't tend to proselytise them. I know that certain politicians have beliefs that seem to persist in the face of evidence, but nevertheless, we don't need to stigmatise mental illness further to call out poor political/social behaviour. If you need a word for the pundit spewing potentially dangerous content, use 'dangerous' or 'wrong', but don't call them delusional.

-Bipolar is not a synonym of all over the place or fluctuating results. Bipolar disorder involves mood states that, even in the rapid cycling form, tend to last at least 3-4 days (mania) and weeks (depression). If you need a word for the weather, use 'British' instead.

-Psychotic is not a synonym of evil. Psychosis is losing touch with reality, whether it be through hallucinations or delusions. It doesn't make a person bad or violent. It's just a neurological phenomenon that may be distressing. It's also relatively common: 6-15% of people will hallucinate in their lifetime.

-ADHD is not a synonym of just quirky/scattered/forgetful/unfocussed/lazy/careless. ADHD is fundamentally a disorder of being able to choose where to direct attention, rather than of just I can't focus. If someone can't tune out the noise of the crowd, but can't prevent themself focussing on something trivial because their brain is wired that way, it's not laziness or just being quirky/scattered.

-Autistic meltdown is not a synonym of temper tantrum.

-Borderline is not a synonym of harridan.

-Narcissist is not a synonym of abuser.

-Mentally ill is not a synonym of volatile or bad person. This doesn't mean we have to make something artificially positive out of mental disorders. If there is good to be found in certain disorders, great; if there is nothing positive about living with certain others, that doesn't make you any less real or resilient than anyone else. It's okay to have complex feelings about your own disorders. It's okay to feel exhausted or frustrated by a disorder. But never should anyone have to face stigma.

[machine-saint]

i think one of the fundamental problems with the word "techbro" is that it has multiple meanings, some of which contradict each other.

the original term brogrammer referred to programmers who act in a very stereotypical masculine way, as a pejorative. the word "techbro" was sometimes used as a synonym for this. this is why the word "bro" is there, because it's a comparison to frat bros. this is also the only sense mentioned on the wikipedia page. this is also the sense i see the least usage of on tumblr; it was really more of a thing back in 2012-2013 or so.

people also use it to refer to people who are pushing the latest fad; web 3.0, blockchain shit, NFTs, LLMs, whatever. this usage does not require that the person actually knows anything about programming. some of these people genuinely believe in what they're advocating for, some of them are just hopping onto the latest money-making thing. this is the y combinator set.

a third usage is to refer to people who are very into self-hosting, and "own your hardware" type stuff and don't understand that computing is a compromise and not everyone wants to spend all their effort getting stuff to work. this is the rms type. unlike the second definition, this one requires the person to have fairly deep technical knowledge. theoretically you could have someone who doesn't know a lot about computers but is real big into this kind of stuff, but in practice that never happens.

(i'm broadly sympathetic to this type; i avoid music streaming and sync all my music using open-source software, that sort of thing. the "techbro" part, in theory, comes when they look down on others for not making the same choices. of course, the line between "you're looking down on me" and "you're arrogant for simply believing that you're right" is thin.)

in particular, sense-2 and sense-3 "techbros" have very opposite beliefs! one wants to run everything "in the cloud", the other wants to run everything locally. one wants to let chatgpt run your life, the other hates the idea of something they can't audit be that important. both tend to be very "technology will save us" types, but the way they go about that is very different. one makes very sleek-looking but extremely limited UI, the other will make ultra-customizable, ultra-functional UI that's the most hideous and hard-to-use thing you've seen in your life.

and so you can see here the problem: what can we actually say about "techbros" that's meaningful, other than "techbro is when i don't like someone who likes technology"? if a word isn't used as a self-descriptor, but only as an insult, what stops it from becoming broader and broader until it loses all usefulness?

[tossawary]

Metatags and Subtags on AO3

If you're an experienced Archive Of Our Own user, you probably know how these work. They are both super useful and intuitive. Years ago, even after using the site for a while, I still found a clear and direct explanation of parent tags, synonym tags, child tags, metatags, and subtags super helpful for improving the way that I tag my fics and the way that I search for fics (both including and excluding tags).

This is a little long, but I wanted to be thorough laying things out point by point, and include lots of images for visualization purposes. (I have included image descriptions in alt text, but have limited them to the relevant text of the screenshots rather than everything.)

Disclaimer: I am not a tag wrangler and have never been one. If you want the official introduction to tagging by the people who know what they're talking about, then you should visit the Archive's Frequently Asked Questions pages under the "About" menu.

There is an entire section on tags and how to use them. I didn't even screenshot all of it because I'm trying to save space.

Also under the "About" menu are the Wrangling Guidelines. These are written by tag wranglers for tag wranglers, available for anyone to read. The text can appear dense and full of jargon at first glance, but it's thorough, well-written, and very helpful to read through if you want to understand how the Archive volunteers sort tags.

The Wrangling Guidelines contain the official definitions of parent tags, child tags, synonym tags, metatags, child tags, and more. If you are interested in becoming a tag wrangler, the guidelines best explain the kind of work that the Archive's volunteers do.

What I am writing here is a more casual, amateur introduction from one user to another. This is an explanation with visuals included of what metatags and subtags are, how to find the metatags and subtags being used by other users, and how to use metatags and subtags to improve your own tagging and your searches.

You can't use or avoid tags that you don't know about, right? So, how are tags linked together? What is "tag nesting"?

I'm going to assume that you know what a tag is, how to tag a work, and how to search for works using a tag. And that you know about and that there's a difference between Media tags, Fandom tags, Relationship tags, Character tags, and Additional tags.

What are Parent Tags and Child Tags?

(Skip this section if you're only interested in metatags and subtags.)

There are two different "parent-child" systems within the Archive. The ones called "parent tags" and "child tags" are used to sort Fandom tags underneath Media tags, as well as Character, Relationship, and Additional tags underneath Fandom tags. The Archive FAQ page shows this nesting structure.

If you visit the tag page for the "The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System" Fandom tag, you will see that its parent tag is the "Books & Literature" Media tag.

This means that the "Scum Villain" fandom (child) shows up under the list of "Books & Literature" fandoms (parent).

It also means that when creating works or bookmarks, when typing tags into the search bar, canonical child tags (Characters, Relationships, Additional tags) of a parent tag (Fandom tag) appear first in the auto-complete options.

Browsing the child tags of the "Scum Villain" Fandom tag (or any Fandom tag) is actually really funny, honestly, because you get to see all the wild and sometimes kind of random things that people tag in their works specific to your fandom.

Synonym Tags (Tags with the same meaning)

On the tag page, you can also see all of the "synonym tags", listed under "tags with the same meaning". If anyone tags their works with these alternate ways of saying "The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System", then those works will still be sorted into the "Scum Villain" Fandom tag, because the tag wranglers have made these different tags synonyms to each other.

Synonym tags will also show up under searches using the canonical tag. Works tagged "Alt Verse" and works tagged "A bit AU" both show up when searching by the "Alternate Universe" tag.

Synonym tags mean that you don't have to know the precise canonical tag for every fandom or trope or alternate universe, because the tag wranglers are there to give you a little boost and add your tag to the right canonical tag if you didn't get it perfectly. I mean, I still think it's important to learn the basics of tagging and try your best not to make their lives harder, but you really, really don't have to stress about things being Perfect.

What are Metatags and Subtags?

The second "parent-child" system within the Archive are "metatags" and "subtags", which do not have to belong to a specific fandom. If you go to the "Alternate Universe" Additional tag page, then you will see that it is parented to "No Fandom".

These are the tag types that we're interested in right now!

Let's say that there are the Additional Tags of "Cookies" and "Baked Goods".

Tag wranglers will make "Cookies" a subtag of "Baked Goods" because cookies are a type of baked good.

"Baked Goods" is therefore now the metatag of "Cookies".

When you search for works using the "Baked Goods" Additional tag, all works tagged with "Cookies" will show up even if they aren't also tagged with "Baked Goods". Searching a tag will show you everything tagged with a subtag of that tag.

They aren't synonyms of each other, but they're related.

If you want to search the "Baked Goods" Additional tag because you want to read works tagged "Cakes" or "Pies" or other baked goods, but you don't want works tagged "Cookies" because you hate cookies, you will have to explicitly exclude that subtag using the search filters.

Here are the metatags and subtags of the "Cookies" Additional tag:

It's like "Food" is the parent, "Dessert & Sweets" is the child, "Baked Goods" is the grandchild, "Cookies" is the great-grandchild, and "Oreos" is the great-great-grandchild. They're all nested under each other.

Searching the "Food" Additional tag gives you the whole family nested here. Plus a whole bunch of other food-related subtags like "Cheeseburgers" and "Ice Cream".

Searching the "Cookies" Additional tag gives you just different types of cookies and no other types of food.

How can I use Metatags and Subtags?

Let's go to the tag cloud under the "Browse" menu. Go to the "Browse" menu and click on "Tags".

This will show you some of the most popular tags used on the Archive. I like to look at the tag cloud sometimes to help myself figure out what tags I should use on a work.

Let's say that I'm writing fanfiction that involves an intimate scene of two characters bathing together. (I was originally going to use a more serious tag as an example like "Abuse" but the screenshots of all the involved tags made me grimace, so let's go with "Bathing/Washing".) I'm going to click on the "Bathing/Washing" Additional tag. It's one of the tiny ones in the tag cloud above.

Click!

I am now being shown every work that has been tagged with "Bathing/Washing" or one of its subtags. I don't care about this right now. I want to see the metatags and subtags. I'm going to click on the underlined tag again at the top of this page, where it says "70,063 Works in Bathing/Washing".

Click!

Yes! Now I'm seeing parent tags (No Fandom) and tags with the same meaning. I'm going to scroll down to subtags.

Wow, there are a lot of sex tags in here, like "Hot Tub Sex" and "Shower Sex"! Unsurprising! But now I know that I can use both the "Bathing/Washing" metatag for what's generally happening and the "Bubble Bath" subtag if that's what specifically happening.

For a more serious tag like "Abuse", the tag page will show me subtags for all the different specific types of abuse that people regularly tag in their works. If I was writing fanfiction for some "Cinderella" fandom, then I might explore the "Abuse" metatag and decide to use the specific subtags "Verbal Abuse" and "Familial Abuse" to warn potential readers.

Maybe someone is able to read about physical abuse, but depictions of verbal abuse trigger them, so they might try to filter out "Verbal Abuse" specifically. And if someone is having a hard day and doesn't want to read about any kind of abuse, then filtering out the big "Abuse" metatag will remove all its subtags from search results including the specific tag of "Verbal Abuse".

You don't have to individually type out "Gaslighting" and "Domestic Violence" and "Dogfighting" one by one into the exclusion filters. They're all subtags of the "Abuse" metatag. Filtering out just one big tag gets rid of all of them.

If you figure out the big "boss" tags (the metatags), then you can make exclusion of tags more efficient. Or you can search across large groupings of loosely related tags more efficiently.

More examples of Metatags and Subtags

Filtering out the "Mental Health Issues" metatag will get rid of any work tagged with its subtags. This includes: "Depression" or "Mental Breakdown" or "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder".

Or searching by the "Mental Health Issues" metatag will show you every work tagged with its subtags, if that's what you want to read about. Further examples of these subtags are "Bipolar Disorder" or "Schizophrenia".

Using the metatag "Alternate Universe - Science Fiction" will return works tagged with "Alternate Universe - Space" alongside works tagged with "Alternate Universe - Steampunk". Here are all the subtags of "Alternate Universe - Science Fiction":

I have used both "Alternate Universe - Science Fiction" and "Alternate Universe - Space Opera" on one work before, even though space opera is a subtag of sci-fi. I wanted to be specific about what kind of sci-fi it was, but I didn't think that everyone would know what a space opera was. I wanted to catch people who were looking specifically for Space Opera AUs as well as those generally browsing the metatag for all sorts of Science Fiction AUs.

A work tagged with "Alternate Universe - Flower Shop" will show up under "Alternate Universe - Retail". Retail AUs are subtags of the "Alternate Universe - Career" metatag. If you want to see your favorite characters working a (probably shitty modern) job, then searching by the metatag of "Alternate Universe - Career" will return to you Coffee Shop AUs, Teaching AUs, Nanny AUs, Journalism AUs, Hospital AUs, and anything else subtagged to that metatag.

The "Alternate Universe - Historical" tag has both "Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece" and "Alternate Universe - Regency" as subtags. Along with many, many more!

Using the metatag "Sexual Content" will bring me all the fics tagged specifically for any kind of sexual content. Excluding the metatag "Sexual Content" will banish every fic tagged with things like "Masturbation", "Blow Jobs", or even "Dirty Talk".

I find it useful to visit the tag cloud for ideas when I feel like there's a tag that my work needs that I'm forgetting. Like, oh, yes! There's "Substance Abuse" in my fic, so I will click on that for ideas on how to be more specific. There's a subtag called "Alcohol Abuse/Alcholism" and a subtag of that subtag called "Excessive Drinking". Perfect! There is excessive drinking in my story. Because I'm trying to use a limited number of tags for this particular fic and the story itself doesn't focus on the substance abuse being depicted, I will choose to only use the tag "Excessive Drinking" knowing that it will still show up under or be filtered out by its two metatags.

If I was writing a story that not only depicted excessive drinking but was specifically about substance abuse and alcoholism as the main subject matter, I might choose to use all three of those tags to underline the fact that this is a key, major element of my story.

Conclusion

Subtags and metatags can be great for conserving tag space. It can be like using five or more tags in just one tag! Your works have hidden tags that you may not have known about!

Using the tag cloud to search for interesting subtags can also be a cool way to find new and really specific works. Clicking on the "Alternate Universe" has taught me about cool AUs that I didn't know other people were writing in other fandoms! (It has also taught me about AUs that kind of weird me out. But that's life! Your kink is not my kink and that's okay.)

Yes, this all depends on whether or not people tag properly.

Yes, this depends on how the tag wranglers have organized things and it's an imperfect system led by its users. Sometimes tags are accidentally organized into the wrong metatag.

But it's pretty incredible that it works as well as it does. A big thank you to all of the Archive volunteers who make it work!

Seriously, go browse the "Alternate Universe" Additional tag page and look at all the subtags. Some of them are really funny. Did you know that there's a "Transmigration into Minecraft" Additional tag subtagged under "Alternate Universe"? I didn't. If I'd thought about it for long enough, based on what I know about the current popularity of Minecraft and Transmigration stories, I probably could have guessed that eventually. But I didn't! So I learned something today about what "the kids" are up to! I hope they're having fun.

[buskingalbatross]

I've been a part of the phandom since I was fourteen back in 2012, but i've only recently deviated from my lurker ways and started being active in this community on tumblr. which I have been enjoying immensely! I'm super confused about something however, and so i'm making a post about it. please help.

often when I see the word "parasocial" used among the dnp audience, I've noticed that it's used with really negative connotations. Or with the implication that having a parasocial relationship is inherently bad and terrible. today, for instance, I've seen the term parasocial likened directly to "creepy."

I'd like to ask why that is-what has led to the perception of a parasocial relationship in this fandom as one that is intrinsically invasive and creepy. And I'd like also to put forth my own thoughts on why I think it's unhelpful and incorrect that we use this term to be a near synonym for creepy.

first, a definition. I'm turning to Hank Green for this, as he succinctly sums up what a parasocial relationship is in this vlogbrothers video (a recommended watch). He says a parasocial relationship forms "when the parts of your brain that are designed to have a social relationship between you and another person are used to have a relationship with a person who does not know who you are or, sometimes, cannot know who you are... because they're Huckleberry Finn."

At its most basic, a parasocial relationship is a relationship between you and someone fictional or nonfictional who doesn't know who you are. Hank goes on to say, importantly! that parasocial relationships have been happening since the beginning of time. People have been fans of famous or talented people since time immemorial, people have cared for fictional people since the first stories were told among humans.

~ ✌🏻continued below✌🏻 ~

Similarly, in one of his Am I The Hole videos, Phil says that becoming obsessed with things is normal. "People hyperfixate on stuff. It's fine." We all do it.

In many ways, parasocial relationships are as natural as myriad other forms of human bonds. Humans can't help but connect to each other. To other living and even non-living things. Bonding and connecting and forming communities is what we do. And because of that, I think it's a disservice to oneself be ashamed of being in a parasocial relationship, or to use parasocial as a term to serve as a stand in for a disrespectful fan of someone. I think it fosters a sense of guilt where there shouldn't necessarily be any, especially if you as a viewer of Dan and Phil are respecting the boundaries they have set. You are doing something so normal! So human! You are finding support and comfort and empowerment and motivation and creativity and any number of other things from other people.

There is great joy and great good that can come from parasocial relationships. Obviously! Think of Phil's birthday stream, the feelings you experienced when the lights came on in the theater after TATINOF, all the laughs (among other things) Dan and Phil have gotten from our memes and art.

And it's important to consider the other side of this as well. Dan and Phil also have a parasocial relationship with us. It's different, of course, but they do think of us, make decisions because of us, without truly knowing us. At different points in time maybe they know the loudest of us, a few individuals, but for the most part they do not know who we are. They don't know who you are. But they do think about you. They think about what ties us together, our queerness, our beliefs about the world, the internet, our status as socially awkward and or mentally ill nerds etc. They think about how certain videos or projects or merch will be received. All creators are in a relationship with their audience. And it is often a parasocial one.

Basically i find myself exasperated with stumbling over the word 'parasocial' in this fandom. I want to have the information and know the truth and add my own thoughts! Maybe parasocial is used by other people elsewhere on the internet to mean something bad, but my thesis is this: it's not a bad word. It's a descriptor. And it's a normal thing. Those people are wrong. You shouldn't feel bad about being in a parasocial relationship with Dan and Phil! You should call that relationship what it is with pride! And do as much good with it as you can.

conclusion: talk to me about this! What is your perspective, what am I missing? let me know please. would be happy to talk about this with anyone.

(ok what do i do now do i thank you for reading? i don't do this. text post over.)

[wheeboo]

I'm still heartbroken that jeonghan cut his hair but I know I actually missed it and he looks super good with it (⁠╯⁠ರ⁠ ⁠~⁠ ⁠ರ⁠)⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

So imagine him coming home to reader, and them seeing his new hairstyle. He didn't warn them so they're sulky because they can't play and style his hair like before, but they still glance at him every so often because he looks good in it. Reader is aware that they missed him with his short hair too and jeonghan is aware of all of that. So he's just enjoying reader pretending to be mad and pretending to not notice the glances they keep throwing at him.

Well now end of my delulu I'll go reminiscing about his long hair ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

ANON U AND ME BOTH. i feel like i just went thru a divorce after 30 years fr but GOD does he look so good in his short hair too- HONESTLY ANY HAIRSTYLE he does he just looks amazing jlfsjfkd

jeonghan walks in like nothing, as if nothing was different the moment you laid your eyes on him for the first time tonight. he puts his belongings down like normal, walks over to kiss you on top of your head like normal, and even struts into the bathroom like he was doing his nightly routine like freakin normal.

and then when he finally emerges out of the bathroom and places himself next to you on the couch, his presence was enough to lure your attention away from your phone as he reaches down for the remote.

he cut his hair. short. and he didn't tell you--he didn't mention anything at all the entire day about a haircut. you notice that it was still fluffy from the perm he had not that long ago, but you can't help the pout to your face knowing that you aren't able to play and style his hair like he used to let you do.

but he looks so good. beyond beautiful, astonishing, and every synonym in the damn dictionary, and you can't deny that.

"angel?" his voice snaps you out of your thoughts. "you keep staring."

he knows what he's doing, and you know this because he's freakin' yoon jeonghan, the absolute bane of your existence and someone who managed to capture your heart.

"you cut your hair." you murmur quietly.

the corner of jeonghan's lips only tug into a smirk--that damn smirk.

"but you love it though, correct?" he asks you, lifting a teasing brow.

you huff out an annoyed breath, crossing your arms together. "I won't be able to style your hair like I used to. remember when you let me braid it?"

he does, and he remembers the absolute joy to your face each time he let you play with his hair. you've seen his hair both short and long, fluffy or not. he knows that you can't resist it still.

"but tell me, love," he leans in closer to you, eyes kept on yours. "I know you've missed this hair too, and I'll let you play with it all you want, hm?"

you feel the frown to your face struggling to keep still. and when it finally breaks, you let out a sigh.

"why do you have to be so stupidly attractive in every single haircut?" you ask him, running a hand through his hair.

jeonghan just chuckles and settles himself within the comfort of your arms, your breathing synchronising with each other.

"...but I can still play with your hair, right?"

jeonghan hovers just for a moment to be able to look at you, giving you a warm smile that sends your heart running for the hills. he leans in to be able to pepper some kisses to your lips, to your jaw, and even some to your neck, before settling into your embrace once more.

"you know I'm all yours, angel."

[spacelazarwolf]

I’m an Italian ger who’s being converted in an Ashkenazi community. I want to connect to my culture so badly!!! Is there any books you’d recommend, Italki food you love, or special rituals you do on Shabbat / during the week that are influenced by being Italian? I’d love to introduce more into my own practice!!

yeah! also this ended up being probably more in depth than you were asking for so apologies lmao.

so for some context (in case you or anyone reading this is not already aware), italki jews are a specific group of jews within italy. italki isn't like a nationality, so it's not a synonym for "italian jew", it's more like a regional identity. people from rome, naples, and venice are all italian, but they're also roman, neapolitan, and venetian. even if they move somewhere else, they'll likely still retain that regional identity. italy didn't become a unified republic until 1871, so culture and language and food varied a lot by region (which it still does), and that's true of jewish communities too, especially those that came from other places.

italki jews are jews who were brought to italy by the romans or traveled to rome to be merchants, and have been there since roman times. ashkenazi jews came during the middle ages, primarily settling in the north in places like venice. it's very worth noting that ashkenazim in italy, with the exception of one or two communities, have significantly different musical tradition, pronunciation, language, and food than other ashkenazi communities. sephardi jews came mostly after the expulsion from spain and portugal, though there were some living in sicily and southern italy.

with all that in mind, i'd definitely recommend doing some research into the demographics of the jewish community in the place you or your family is from. if you already live there, it should be much easier!

resources:

the jews in italy- their contribution to the development and diffusion of jewish heritage

cookbooks by edda servi machlin (she has several, but some are hard to find)

cucina ebraica

i highly recommend checking out torah.it. it's a fantastic archive of recordings and pdfs all about italian jewry. you will spend hours there and still have only scratched the surface.

rabbi barbara aiello also has a lot of different resources.

i highly recommend checking out the work of leo levi for research on italian jewish music. he spent years interviewing and recording chazzanut, scholars, and other community leaders and saved so many italian jewish melodies from complete extinction. (i believe all these recordings are uploaded to torah.it as well)

primo levi is another italian jew to research. he wrote many books that are available for purchase, including a memoir about his survival in auschwitz. there is also an institute in his name dedicated to the preservation, study, and celebration of italian judaism.

ensemble bet hagat put out an album of reimagined italian jewish music a few years ago and i believe they are also working on a second one. it is beautiful.

anyway that's probably enough nerding out, i can get to the more personal stuff and answering the actual questions you asked me now lmao.

right now, it's just me in my apartment so there's a lot of traditions i can't do, but if you have family or friends you can invite over, there are a lot of lovely traditions you can incorporate. i use a three branched candelabra for my shabbat candles. the middle candle is lit first and used to light the other two, as you would with hanukkah candles. if you have multiple people at your table, you can give them their own individual candles, in which case you will light the shamash (middle candle), pass it around the table for each person to light their individual candle, then the host will light the two other candles.

for food, i love making riso del sabato. it's a risotto dish with saffron and it is delicious. there's also a pumpkin ravioli in brown butter and sage sauce in cucina ebraica that is to die for.

[trans-cuchulainn]

you tend to write about irish mythology but at the same time you seem knowledgeable about other myths, so i was wondering if you could answer a question? my question is, would be offensive to create a version of arthurian myths but with most of the christian elements removed? christianity seems heavily baked into each and every arthurian story so i was wondering if it would be wrong, or outright offensive, to remove it?

i don't think it would be OFFENSIVE (christianity being a dominant religion so it's not like erasing a minority culture; the texts being literary rather than for religious purpose themselves means it's not like using canonical religious material – people share a belief system with the stories rather than believing in the stories themselves, barring probably a very few outliers; plus it's definitely been done before, tons of modern retellings don't engage with the christian aspects although frequently this is done in a boring way)

arthurian literature comprises a huge range of stories written over a huge time period for a variety of purposes. some of them are super duper christian. some of them are just kind of culturally christian because they're being written by christians within a christian context and that's what they know. some of them only have a light touch of it and some of them are dripping with it

i think whether it can be done effectively without leaving you with a story that no longer bears any resemblance to the story you started with depends very much on which stories you decide to retell. for example, a lot of the lancelot-grail stuff is extremely bound up in christianity and removing it without patching the holes is probably gonna weaken the story. now, you might want to reimagine them entirely within a new belief system. i would consider that to be patching the holes, as long as it's done carefully and effectively as with all worldbuilding. but just taking the story and excising the christian elements and not doing anything else is probably gonna undermine the story a lot

on the other hand there are other stories, particularly some of the romances (knights getting up to shenanigans in a self-contained story within an arthurian setting) where christianity is just the set dressing, and taking it out isn't going to leave such massive gaps; these would be easier to rework in a new context without needing to develop an entire belief system for the characters to be operating within. although tbh the whole of chivalric literature does rely on some pretty specific assumptions about hierarchies, loyalty, obligations, righteousness etc that are often bound up in, though not synonymous with, medieval christianity, so even there you do need to think about what is going to replace it

i would say if you're trying to keep a medieval western european setting, you can't really take the christianity out (of the setting, and really of the characters too in 90% of cases) without making it completely ahistorical. so it also depends if you're trying to retell it as in "i am reworking this story in a world and context of my choosing" (sure, do whatever you want) versus "I am producing a version of this text to introduce people to this story" (taking the christianity out makes it far less accurate and misrepresents the text, maybe don't do that)

i would also say that medieval christianity is much more exciting and weirder and often very different from modern christianity, and a lot of modern engagement with those aspects overlooks this fact and makes it boring and staid. but actually a lot of it's batshit and adds some fun colour to the stories in a way that can be enjoyable regardless of your personal beliefs about any of it. taking it out as many modern retelling seem to do often just makes the story more boring, so something interesting needs to fill the holes imo

so tl;dr. morally wrong, no, not in my opinion. narratively wrong, depends on the story and your purposes.

[jazzmckay]

anders & merrill parallels

despite coming from contrasting walks of life, anders and merrill have a lot in common. tension rises between them due to fundamental differences in their belief systems; things that could help them understand each other incredibly well mostly just drive them apart, which is such a tragic loss for two people who are in desperate need of support.

ways anders and merrill parallel each other:

childhood displacement and resulting isolation

on a quest for the good of their people

their faith

association with spirits/demons

lack of support and eventual tragedy

childhood displacement and resulting isolation:

at the age of 12, anders was taken from his parents to the ferelden circle. when merrill's magic manifested as a child, she was sent to another dalish clan that needed a keeper's first, having to leave her parents behind. their magic meant they had to be uprooted from their homes and families. merrill's displacement was not done maliciously--mages are moved around so that no clan goes without a keeper to preserve their history and culture--but it does still mean she lost her family very young and only has vague, wistful memories of them.

marethari, as much as she thinks she's doing what she must / what's best for merrill, is not a good parental substitute. their relationship may have started decently, until the matter of the eluvian drives a wedge between them, but what happens at this point doesn't paint marethari as a good parental figure. marethari chooses to send merrill away rather than trying to reach a compromise with her, or even just comforting her and helping her process her grief in a healthy way. it's clear merrill thinks of marethari highly, but it seems like acceptance and emotional support may not have been a large part of their relationship. in addition to this, as a keeper's first, merrill's training and apprenticeship likely took most of her time, making it harder to nurture other friendships.

likewise, the circles aren't a good place for mages to form relationships. they're under constant scrutiny, they have to be careful about any connections they form, many mages may feel they're safer keeping to themselves. children born to mages in a circle are even taken away from them. circles are a hostile environment in many ways, and wouldn't inspire the mages to foster companionship. anders refuses to talk to anyone, even the other mages, at first. he escapes seven times. it isn't until karl that he has any reason to stay, and then karl is taken from him, too.

both anders and merrill have the people they care about taken from them repeatedly--and in merrill's case, the people she cares about even push her away. they grow up disconnected, isolated, and having to fend for themselves. i think this leads to some of the personality traits they have in common as well, namely their intense stubbornness. they have learned that they're largely on their own, so they make decisions on their own, and can rarely be swayed once their minds are made up.

on a quest for the good of their people:

anders is fighting for mage freedom--eventually at all costs. merrill is determined to restore her people's history--not necessarily at all costs, but she goes far further than anyone else would. both of them are driven by wanting better for their people. they are passionate about their goals. these goals are at the forefront of their lives, they are goals they strive for across years, relentlessly. they don't give up, no matter the difficulties along the way. they desperately want positive change for their people. their goals say a lot about them as people, and these qualities are things they share with each other in an incredibly synonymous way.

their faith:

anders is andrastian, and merrill believes in the creators. anders' faith doesn't come across so strongly, because he is of course opposing the chantry's rule on how mages should be treated, but the chantry's teachings have been ingrained in him since growing up in the circle. he believes that there are spirits, and there are demons, and the demons are wholly, inherently evil. his understanding of justice supports his understanding of this dichotomy. merrill, by contrast, was taught that all spirits/demons are just like people, as varied as any mortal. she says all of them can be dangerous, but they can be helpful, too, and she is confident in her ability to treat them carefully and safely.

they butt heads on this badly. anders asks if merrill started blood magic by accident. she says no, she did it very intentionally. anders asks if maybe she just doesn't understand the difference between spirits and demons. she says no, i have a belief of my own and don't need to borrow yours, thank you. it's inevitable that you'll become an abomination, anders claims. skill issue, merrill replies.

their faiths are different, but the two of them are similar in how strong their belief is. it's that stubbornness again: they will not be swayed. they can't agree on blood magic, or how to view demons, which is the main thing that keeps forcing them apart despite how similar they are.

association with spirits and demons:

on the topic of their different perspectives on spirits and demons, another main thing they have in common is anders' relationship with justice, and merrill's relationship with demons she communicates with through blood magic. anders doesn't appreciate them being compared in this manner, but from merrill's viewpoint, they are very much comparable, and in fact, anders is doing the same thing she does, but far riskier. she has no intention of ever joining with a demon. she says anders has no room to judge her, when he has let a spirit in.

both of them are willing to communicate with spirits, both of them have a more open-minded approach to spirits, and this is something they could find common ground on, if not for anders seeing a difference between spirits and demons while merrill does not, and anders' belief that he has corrupted justice into vengeance. it doesn't matter who is right, if either of them are. both of them are doing something risky but thought/think they have a handle on it, that they could/can control it.

whether or not they're right, it leads them to tragedy regardless.

lack of support and eventual tragedy:

merrill is right that she can fix the eluvian. she's also right that eluvians were important artefacts to the elvhen and they could teach the dalish more about their history. she's right! and it doesn't matter. no one believes her. everyone thinks she'll only bring them destruction. her clan turns her away when she refuses to back down. even hawke can not believe in her. many of the other party members don't believe in her. she's right, and it doesn't matter. her clan has a high chance to end up dead. she loses marethari regardless. many party members comment on the fallout in harsh ways. the guilt is already eating at her. she fixes the eluvian, and there may be no one left to share in her success, she may not even be able to feel victorious herself, after what it cost. she is alone. she has always been, in some way, alone.

how different could it have been, if someone had understood what she needed? if someone had as much faith in her as she had in herself?

anders lived the experience of a young mage ripped away from their home and family, forced into a circle, forced under templar and chantry rule. he knows what it feels like to be a lost, scared child, locked in an unfamiliar place, where armoured figures with hidden faces are always watching. he has experienced the abuses. he has been imprisoned and tortured. he has had people dear to him taken from him and made tranquil, even though they were harrowed, even though they never would have done something to warrant it. until joining the wardens, his life was an endless battle to just be free.

the fight for mage freedom, and his manifesto, are a matter of life and death for anders. everyone else, though--they can ignore it, because it doesn't impact them directly. they can believe the potential for mages to be dangerous justifies systematic abuse and even culling. anders is frequently ignored, belittled, or even hated for his mere desire for freedom, and for his passion for the freedom of all mages. he is screaming at the top of his lungs, and no one is listening.

in the end, no matter what, he blows up the chantry alone. he's out of options. it's been years, and nothing else works. no one cares. he has been pushed to his limit. he doesn't want it to be like this, but it's all there is left, and something has to give. he does this alone, and is willing to give his life in the aftermath, because he has nothing left to give.

this likely never could have gone differently. anders has been doomed since the moment he was born a mage.

conclusion:

anders and merrill are characters whose lives often mirror each other: mages who have never been able to form strong, healthy, and/or lasting relationships, finding themselves isolated and needing to rely on only themselves. they are deeply passionate people who strive to do good and make a difference. unfortunately, this works out tragically for both of them.

in a perfect world, maybe they could have been exactly what the other needed. their empathy and determination could have let them help each other. the base is there: when anders first starts asking about merrill's blood magic, he does it with a tone of concern. many times, merrill can express her wish for anders to be happy. in a conversation with sebastian, merrill reveals that anders has warned her to stay away from the chantry. they disagree with each other, but they do care. at anders' harshest, he is talking about himself more than he's talking about merrill; as he feels himself fraying, he projects his anger at himself onto her. he sees their similarities, and he's afraid. she could have reassured him, they could have supported each other, could have put their heads together and found new solutions. the potential was there for their similar experiences to give them a uniquely strong companionship, but they just never managed to grasp onto it.

[rshmra]

PRETTY BOY!

plot: niki swears he met the girl of his dreams at the convenience store late one night- however, his discovery proves to be misguided. the "girl" he likes is actually just a really pretty boy, and he's the main vocalist of the new and wildly popular boy group of four, X_CAPE.

<- prev. masterlist. next. ->

written: 3k words

chapter seventeen: best buds!

as soon as heeseung had voluntarily offered to drive riki to yn's, the latter instantly knew there was an ulterior motive behind his actions. the man would never do something so helpful and kind of his own volition, and jake jumping at the chance to tag along made it all the more suspicious. but for the time being riki's chosen to just be grateful for the ride, then ultimately make a dash for it upon arrival.

currently, he's sprawled in the middle row with his limbs occupying all three seats. his head hangs uncomfortably to the side as he attempts to locate a suitable angle to hold his phone at, while heeseung and jake (loudly) whisper to each other in the front.

"i can't believe he's growing up..."

"we should give him a pep talk, right?"

"his first legit crush that might actually work out-"

"i can fucking hear you both!" the subject of their conversation unceremoniously shoves his head into the empty space above the center console, and the elder duo have never been so quick to stare straight and close their mouths.

jake sweats. "...we weren't talking about you."

"you reek of absolute bullshit-"

"oh look we're almost there!" heeseung brakes harshly, sending ni-ki tumbling backwards and effectively cutting off any further snide remarks. the boy literally has to transfer the drinks he'd previously situated on his lap into his arms, clutching the box tight to his chest as his super-safe driver performs not three, not four, but five consecutive sharp turns before slowing again.

it takes a full minute for niki to recover from the amount of jostling he endured. "...how much did you have to pay to get a driver's license."

"awwww shitttt, that's the worst whiplash i've ever gotten... worse than that one time on the rollercoaster..." the australian winces, massaging his neck aggressively.

"whoops. sorry." hee isn't sorry in the slightest. "we're here anywa-y..." his voice dies in his throat as X_CAPE's apartment building comes into view, jaw dropping to the floor as he pulls up. "well what the fuck?"

what the fuck indeed. the complex is giant, with a very modern look to it. at least thirty floors are visible, and it spans over a large area. the trio's gazes are synonymously disbelieving as heeseung comes to a full stop, jake being the first to snap out of his awe-induced trance.

"this is so unfair! hybe has favorites?!"

"no shit, and clearly it's not us!"

as the ramyeonz shout and complain due to the size of the tower, riki comes to his senses and realizes this is his best chance to escape without receiving a barrage of nosy questions or something along those lines. "well this is my stop thanks for driving mei'lltextyouguystopickmeupbye!"

"wait, wait, wait." alas, he's a second too late- heeseung's punched the button to lock the doors in a flash, and he finds that he's been trapped. "we wanted to talk to you, first." in perfect unison he and jake have swivelled their heads to gaze directly at their maknae, who curses to himself.

"fuck, so this is what you wanted to do."

"as you navigate through life... emotions are some of the hardest aspects to handle and control." jake's starting off the "heartfelt" speech with a bang. "especially with someone who makes you feel even more different, you might want to cast those feelings aside."

"you may find yourself trying to convince both you and everyone else that they're just a friend to you," heeseung joins in dramatically. "but that is not the solution, young nishimura-"

"i'm nearly eighteen, shut up. and can you stop trying to sound smart?"

"sh, shh, shh." jake hushes him with a solemn expression on his face. he places a hand on ni-ki's shoulder, staring unsettlingly into his eyes. "don't rush to figure it out or pick every interaction apart. just live in the moment and don't worry about problems that haven't come up yet, okay?"

"can i go now? please?"

"i know it may be overwhelming when you're in a situation you've never experienced," hee's still plowing on, unphased. "but trust me, you've no need to fret. yn will definitely like you back!"

"and even if he doesn't, he'll definitely be nice about rejecting you!"

the two share a meaningful glance. "well said, bro."

"you too, bro."

riki's had enough. he shakes out of jake's grip to roll down the window, inhaling a deep breath. "HELP! HELP! HEEEL-"

"oh, don't be like that!"

the boy's about to threaten his seniors to call the police for kidnapping until a familiar voice joins the fray, light and soothing to the ears. "riki?"

yn's slim figure emerges from the entrance of the building, clad in long basketball shorts and a short black top. his hair is pulled up and tied back away from his face, with only a few pieces framing the edges. even in lounge clothes he still never fails to look gorgeous, and niki breaks into a grin.

"my fucking savior!" the window's opening is wide enough that he can slip through (albeit awkwardly) while hee and jake are distracted, snatching his beverage box on his way out.

yn glances up at him weirdly as the taller jogs forward to embrace him casually. "what? why didn't you just open the door?"

"it's locked."

"hi yn!" ni-ki's torturers wave enthusiastically inside the vehicle with a cheery greeting, radiating innocence. riki knows better, though.

"file a restraining order! they tried to lock me in there and kill me!"

"stay far from him, yn. he escape the hospital earlier today and he's deranged and psychotic!"

"now who to believe..." yn releases a puff of breath exaggeratedly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"obviously me. here, i come bearing gifts." riki holds up the beverages, and he doesn't miss the way yn's eyes light up after catching sight of the variety of teas. immediately he grabs the one with brown sugar and slams a straw into the top, reaching for niki's free hand with his own and tugging him indoors at breakneck speed.

"that's an awful thing to do you guys, goodbye!" he hollers over his shoulder at the laughing boys, in the process missing the 'don't fuck this up' heeseung mouths to riki before switching the engine to reverse.

the male glares at the car's backside as it disappears into the distance, yn eventually growing impatient with this behavior and dragging him into the elevator. "you owe me, i saved you from your own members." he smirks as he pushes the button for the top floor, which goes virtually unnoticed.

"but i got you boba, so we're even."

"honestly i can't really refute that logic." he raises his eyebrows at the remaining cups. "why'd you get four?"

"because my mom taught me to never go to another family's house empty handed."

"she certainly raised you right. how's your wallet feeling?"

riki opts for silence, which earns a good cackle.

"aw, you're sweet for that. but you didn't have to!" he hesitates. "not for the other three, at least. absolutely for me though."

"wow, you're generous."

"i know, right? i'm so fucking generous i'll share with you!" yn takes another long sip and extends his straw to riki, who gladly leans down for a taste. "it's so good, did you order from that new place down the street?"

"uh, yeah... it was like, 14000 won per drink."

yn sputters at the sheer price. "holy crap?! now i feel bad, you get unlimited visits to the penthouse in exchange."

"ooh, cool- wait, you live in the penthouse?!" niki all but screeches.

"how do you think i saw you arrive? we get the best view from the top." the elevator chimes brightly, and the interior does not disappoint as the doors roll away. riki is met by the sight of floor-to-ceiling windows as they step in, the main room wall-free and spacious. there are twin spiral staircases farther off in each direction, leading to the open second level, where two bedrooms are installed on both sides with a quaint living area in the middle. kuli and ivory smile warmly at the pair from the kitchen on the right, whereas to the left a separate hall wing and dining space are set up. riki spins in circles, gaping at anything and everything (he's 99% sure that chandelier hanging high above is draped with real diamonds), and the others laugh at his stunned expression.

"how," he manages to form words at last, "did you get this place?"

"the company wouldn't buy it for us in a million years, if that's what you're asking," ivory hums, retrieving some ingredients from the refrigerator.

"yeah, kuli's family is fucking loaded so it's basically their place, but they wanted us to live here and who were we to decline?" yn explains briefly, riki following his footsteps to the kitchen island like a lost chick. how befitting.

"it's not like hybe had anything to complain about either, 'cause my parents pay for pretty much everything and- is that boba?" two sets of laser-focused eyes, one hazel and the other light brown, fixate on the drinks riki's carrying. he hurriedly slides them on the table, getting the feeing he'd be torn to shreds if he held to them any longer and in good time too, because not a millisecond later the eighteen-year-olds have dropped what they're holding to pounce for a tea. kuli chooses taro while ivory takes matcha, and all is silent for a couple beats (save for yn's stifled giggles).

"...the next time i go out i'm making you a copy of our key," kuli concludes finally, ivory nodding in agreement.

"i support this decision fully."

"in other words, they love you and want you to come by as much as possible," yn translates swiftly. niki blinks slowly until it computes, and a wave of relief washes over him. he resists the urge to allow his shoulders to slump, finding comfort in the fact that his lost money lead to benefits in the end. yn picks up on this, casting him a sideways smile and leading him up the stairs.

"are you staying for dinner?" kuli calls from below.

"yes he is!"

"i am?" his friend blanches.

"yes, you are. trust me, you don't wanna miss kuli's cooking, it's to DIE for."

"oh, okay." riki nods, then snickers. "did he really just ask if i'm staying for dinner?"

"total mom line, right? it's in his nature at this point- there's boba, chae!" a blur of motion flits down the opposite stairwell, accompanied by the loud bang of wood against the wall as chaeri sprints at the mere mention of the group's favorite treat.

"watch the fucking door chaeri!"

"thanks ni-ki!"

yn grins fondly at his stupid friends before pulling riki into his bedroom in the closest corner, heaving a sigh. "fuck, they're a handful." he plops down on his mattress to curl up, patting the spot next to him as an indication for riki to sit with him. he's happy to oblige, though in doing so takes interest in the loaf nestled on the edge of the bed-

"your cat!" said pet perks at the exclamation, deciding to observe the newcomer. mandu lazily pads to his feet and paws the material of ni-ki's white sweatshirt a few times, and it's all he needs to approve of the new guest. he proceeds to make himself comfortable on the boy's legs. "well, shit. how am i supposed to move now?"

"easy, you don't." yn snaps a quick picture of the boy while he's distracted and goes to grasp for something on the surface of the wraparound headrest. he tosses a nintendo controller on the blankets and keeps the other, standing to set up the switch console in front. "you can turn to see better, he won't mind." gradually shifting so not to disturb the feline on his lap, ni-ki takes the time to examine his surroundings.

a long panel of stainless glass extends from wall-to-wall on his left, and yn wasn't kidding when he said he got the best view. the point oversees a vast expanse of the city, where most buildings seem tiny in comparison and cars appear to be mere dots. the walls are painted in a shade of warm beige, similar to the color yn enjoys wearing the most, and fairy lights are strung from the ceiling to give the room an even more cozy vibe. potted plants are scattered throughout, and candles can also be spotted at random. (most of them smell like coffee with some being vanilla, which explains yn's signature scent.) a massive army of plushies sit neatly at the foot of the bed, but the one that stands out most is a large black cat squishmallow; the one riki won for yn a while back. he chuckles softly at the memory.

other little additions contribute to the overall charm of yn's room. a sage green bean bag chair. a spotless, fluffy off-white rug on the ground. a small shelf of books, with an LED sign that reads-

niki practically guffaws. "pussy?! yn what the hell."

"my friend yunjin thought it'd be funny to give that to me for my birthday last year," yn snickers.

a few posters are plastered on the walls, yet they're easily dominated by the sheer amount of polaroids and photos that are pinned. riki scans over so many beaming framed faces, some familiar and some not- danielle and hanni, chaewon and kazuha, huening kai and beomgyu, soul and keeho- too much to count. but it's obvious that a particular individual pops up a lot more frequently than the rest, and he's pleasantly surprised to discover that it's his own.

"wow, i must be really important to you or something, huh?" he smirks, admiring the amount of pictures they're both in.

"no shit. what'd you expect?" yn snorts. "you're, like, my... best...bud." aww, fuck. why did i say that? he feels a strong urge to jump out the window.

ouhhhhh... ouch. the dreaded best friend zone. they say time heals all wounds, riki, but that one might take a while.

he chooses to brush it off (read: completely disregard the comment), eyeing the collection of games yn owns instead. "animal crossing, we should play animal crossing! i wanna see your island."

"sure you don't wanna play mario kart? ah, never mind actually. i'd just beat your ass either way."

"is that a fucking challenge?"

it doesn't even take two minutes for the match to quickly get heated, resulting in kuli stomping up and barging in to yell at them to shut up. it also doesn't take long for them to grow hungry and dinner's still being prepared, so they run to the closest convenience store to restock on snacks... which just so happens to be a CU.

"wow, memories." yn snorts, beelining for the drinks as they walk in.

"oh man, i forgot we met in one of these shitholes!"

"now don't disrespect the sacred CU... hey, didn't you forget how to speak to me coherently for some reason?-"

"I WAS JUST TIRED."

"alright, whatever you say."

a half hour later they've returned to the penthouse, having forsaken the nintendo and turned to netflix, particularly a show yn claims he's rewatched 5 times now. "it's fucked up in, like, the best way possible," he murmurs, settled with his head in the crook of riki's neck.

on his end, riki prays that he doesn't notice his rapid heartbeat as yn lies on his chest. don't get him wrong, he's ridiculously cozy with his neck propped up by pillows, an arm wrapped loosely around yn's waist and the sleeping cat stretched out across both their stomachs, but he has to keep reminding himself it's not a big deal not a big deal not a big deal. obviously yn initiated this with platonic intentions, there's no need to think so much of it!

somebody help the poor kid, he's down abysmal.

a knock interrupts his thought process, and chaeri opens the door. "dinner's ready." maybe it's a trick of the light, or he's just imagining it, but niki swears that for a split second the younger's eyes narrow skeptically at him, a sharp spark of distrust flashing in those dark irises. and then it's gone, replaced by the normal chill expression he usually has. yn has no idea, of course, groaning loudly.

"yeah, yeah, we'll be down in a sec." chae nods absently and exits promptly, leaving riki slightly confused.

"...okay," he mutters, once again choosing to disregard that odd look he had received. but as he starts to rise mandu suddenly wakes and presses all his weight onto him, successfully preventing him from going anywhere.

"don't move." yn demands sleepily, eyes shut in relaxation. "i'll get ivory to bring up the food, or something, just... don't move, i'm so fucking comfy."

"okay- i mean, sure. if you wanna. that's cool." if niki's voice cracks six octaves higher than normal then yn doesn't acknowledge it, only caring about his answer. he hums in satisfaction, proceeding to unpause the current alice in borderland episode they're watching.

"chishiya's hot." he remarks offhandedly, and riki blanches.

"you're so fucking random."

"well, you had hair like that before, yeah?"

"are you calling me hot?"

"no, i'm asking you a question."

so they end up bickering for the majority of the series, paying more attention to each other than the screen while fucking spooning.

but don't worry, they're just best buds! you're right ni-ki, that sounds AWFULLY platonic.

notes: CRINGE ASFFFF UHH. ALSO I DID MOT MEAN YO WRITE THIS MUCH ?! so sorry for dipping for 2 weeks IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN ON GRANDMAMMY. anywhores is it bad to be planning another fic already

taglist: @silkentides @nikikids @totoroblop @winter-world @phantom-butterfly @simsoobean @byu @noredplz @sh0uj0-r3i @onementally-unstabel-kid @thepeachyhub @en-riki @ao5riki @bearseulgs @le0-0nidas @gothhyucks @to-toad @ddeonubaby @nootnootpinguuu @sunseeking-cryptid @priochebun @lanamoonroh @rodygr @mikahrh @mutlishipperfangirl @i9tky000 @heelover5 @cha0thicpisces @xrvrqs

bold can't be tagged!

[blogforwritinggenshin]

Incomprehensible

The archons don't understand why you kneel and bow to the others, to those who are beneath you. They ask you to explain and you shake your head sadly. The immorality that they are blessed with, it curses them to never understand such things. They cannot sympathize with humans. Their minds are warped from the power bestowed upon them.

You cannot make them understand that they are not so different from humans. You cannot comfort Zhongli or Xiao or Ganyu who struggle so hard to fit in among the masses. Or Ei, who lost centuries-hundreds of generations of life in her persuit of eternity. Even Venti cannot ascertain and grasp such concepts. All of them can only perceive humans in relation to what they patron.

Contracts, freedom, eternity. These are the things the archons understand perfectly, and only when a human acts within the scope of these ideas can the archon perceive them.

To them it's like watching ants crawl about and work away. They do not know what the ant is thinking but they see what the ant does so they believe any assumptions they make about it are correct. They don't stop to contemplate or reflect on the fact that they are projecting their own feelings onto the small creature. That the creature may have notions of its own.

To the archons, humans do not exist outside of their reign. They simply can't. What they sovereign is too broad and all encompassing. Avoiding their ideas is entirely impossible. And yet... despite their greatness and omnipresence, they cannot understand humans. Not the way you do.

Translucent golden string stretches out from your heart and connects you to every person in each city, at each corner of the land. Even the monsters are connected to you, except with silver string. You smile and greet and great every person with such kindness and respect. As though you are one of them. As though you aren't their great creator. So easily you touch the hearts of the people around you. You bring humanity and life back to the monsters of Teyvat. But your most devout followers, the archons, they have to work to even get close to you. Your heart rejects their advances, even those of simple friendship or worship. You refuse to see them. You refuse to acknowledge them. You do not claim them and it breaks them.

You manage to stop the world from turning upside down from their reactions to your rejection. You don't approach them to make them stop. You don't give them that attention. Instead you take away their powers. You strip them of their greatness. Winds cease from Venti's control. Lighting strikes are no longer Ei's to determine. The ground refuses to quake or mold to Zhongli's design. You take away that part of them and leave them even more hollow.

Now they are powerless. They can't tell if such a fate is worse than being without your love.

The answer is that it's one in the same. Synonymous. Intertwined in an unbinding way.

The world would've eventually returned itself to you. All control would be relinquished to you. It just happened sooner, rather than later.

But it'll be okay. They're immortals after all. They'll have time to get over the pain. To learn to live with their weaknesses.

Youre going to celebrate your people on the land you love so much. You won't bother to look towards the miserable deities. They are beyond salvation. Even pity wouldn't help them now. So there's no point in dwelling on them.

You closer your eyes and open your heart. You feel the joys and sadnesses and hope and dreams of all those in Teyvat.

It feels like true love.

[leolithe]

From a storytelling perspective, there are 2 angles i personally see when approaching Lotus's plurality

the 1st angle puts Natah's and Margulis' resurrection as the focus: "picking up" Natah and Margulis from the moments of their deaths and leaving them here in the present. this angle is reliant on the assumption that Natah and Margulis' memories are now completely intact inside Lotus' body. it describes the simple notion of 3 different women with their own separate lives sharing 1 body. it places more emphasis on these 3 being whole individuals rather than fragments of personality made to fulfill a purpose (...again. oops.). Natah and Margulis have their own goals and desires outside of the Lotus and the Tenno, and this angle is used to illustrate this disharmony between the three.

the 2nd angle puts Lotus' trauma as the focus, where Natah and Margulis were formed in Lotus' mind as a direct result of all the trauma she has endured from her creation as the Lotus up to The New War. this Natah and Margulis were both formed from the way Lotus views each of them. Natah for her decisiveness and power, and Margulis for her compassion and healing. in this angle, Natah and Margulis are Lotus' prosecutor and caregiver alter respectively, and they're dedicated to making sure the Lotus is safe and happy. this angle is used to illustrate Lotus' tremendous need for comfort, as well as her subconscious respect, loyalty and desire ;) for Natah and Margulis

the Meatiest way to write a story about Lotus' plurality is to use both these angles! Natah and Margulis forming from Lotus' memory of them, developing into whole selves again when their memories fully return, pulling the system into disarray with their arguments and discontent with how one is leading the other... then realizing that Lotus' well-being is synonymous with not just theirs but their harmony as well. coming to terms with their resurrections of purpose, recognizing the importance of getting along with each other, and finally working together as a stable, unshakeable system.

[meowunmeow]

Undead Unluck Chapter 196 Spoilers!!

WHAT THE ACTUAL FU

She seems to be so sure about this fact... Obviously it's because she made her predictions from information already established in the previous loop. But maybe this is trying to say something. What if she's wrong? What if it's not the same people each time?

It's been proven that she's right with the memories she got from artifacts showing Nico, Gina and Void always being in the team. But not the rest. Maybe it's shown like that on purpose.

Juiz didn't predict Billy's betrayal, so it's either that she has never encountered Unfair before or Unfair was a different person back then.

Oh and the chapter title makes me think that the next chapter will be named "Go!!!"

BILLYYYYYY <3 <3 <3 I MISS YOU (look at this silly man. I love him :]) and Grandpa Isshin with Baby Haruka!! I still love the beard pulling gag lol

Glad we get more in-depth information about Unbreakable. Out of every abilities, this one is the most vague. "Whatever they make that they poured their soul into becomes unbreakable" it's a fully mental requirement. Guess it also requires lots of training...

BRUH HE EATS SOULS?? Soul Eater lmao

Why is he holding the octopus like that 😭 it's like a squeaky toy that's about to pop

*moans and dies* FUUKO WITH A SWORD FUUKO WITH A-

Top and Haruka :]]

Huhhh does that means UMAs aren't simply personifications of concepts but are rather only closely intertwined? As in, if they're gone so is the concept but they are not the concept itself??

I wonder how many other previously established facts were simply mistakened assumptions...

"at this moment" that means she only saw it when Beast ate the octopus. Did something trigger it?

And it's really showing the uniqueness of souls. They exist but if you don't believe in them, it's nonexistent to you, example being Victor's "humans only live because blood pumps into their brain" as well as Andy not believing in it until the whole hypothetical timeline in the Autumn arc. It's taking the whole "it's all about how you see it" thing to the extreme.

Also damn Beast that eyeliner's gonna stab me with how sharp it is

ANFUU- *flatlines* HOLY SHIT IT'S THEMMMM

Everytime she calls him her partner I combust into flames I love them so much ughhhhh

"beasts are no different" I suppose souls are synonymous with life then

Autumn arc really was just the two of them learning from each other :((( as well as the first hint of soul, apparently. Fuuko's soul literally got sucked out by Artifact Soul Caliber so it should've been obvious, really.

Looks like Fuuko got it right on the money, based on Beast's expression giving off an "I underestimated the situation" message (Tozuka-sensei's such an awesome artist damn)

Oof looks like Beast's tendency to blabber is being used against him. Not even Talk no Jutsu, he's just overconfident and is falling from his hubris.

FIRST RULE REVEAL WOOOO (but not First Seat so not much celebration yet)

"born afterwards" that means soul/life begins all. Are UMAs affected as well? Or maybe I'm seeing it wrong.

THIS SPREAD IS SO GORGEOUS WOWSEE

Finger guns...???

BRUH... JUST... BRUH. (this and the following pages deserves its own post. I am NOT letting this get hidden away. what the fuck.)

TL;DR of the post if y'all are too lazy:

1) What the absolute fuck. What the fuck. My mouth has been agape for 30 whole minutes. What the fuck.

2) I think I fell in love with Fuuko all over again.