#types of technical analysis technical analysis course

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[mystycalypso]

TRICK QUESTION YOU DON'T GET A CHOICE!

(Also this is gonna be so all over the place. This is literally my autism that I've had for this man since he first showed his purple face to my child eyeballs vomited onto your tumblr feed)

"Jack? Why did this start?" You may ask.

Well, my dear reading listener, as you might know, I started rewatching the show again after seeing a video featuring Laserblast and Silverspark. I was just gonna watch iy normally with Kaydin (We did afterwards, and AthenaP when I catch you for mischaracterizing the hell out of my man because you basically ONLY watched the clips from 'big reveal', when I catch you! /j) so we sat down and binged the entire series together. Tears were shed, laughs were had, Ian and the cast went live on saberspark's channel, joe cuppa fanart was made, it was great.

But as we started season 3, a feeling of silent dread filled me. One I've held ever since my glorious and very relatable deadbeat bisexual freak came on screen.

Shadowy Venomous...

I don't know how controversial or argumentative the fandom is over Venomous vs. Shadowy anymore tbh, but jesus, it used to be rough. And I was dreading that my husband would HATE this man. Aaand, to be fair I was right. Even just the goo trap was causing some serious loathing for the purple mans, and the when the reveal first happened, they straight up said "Nah he's fucking with them" Carol was looking at him and they're like "Yeah he was totally- WHAT?!"

They did not appreciate his deadbeatedness, but watching him try to be an awkwardly good dad did sort of win them over again. And after lets get shadowy they were even a little proud of him.

Then Carl happened. Oooh, Carl.

"I can't believe he lied about shadowy! That he manipulated him to bring out TKO that he-"

It was literally the only episode so far where I had to pause and rant to explain it all much more artistically than I intended. ...Which is what I'll now do here too.

First of all, Carl himself and that whole shebang, in what I call...

A lesson in confirmation bias!

K.O. went into this with built-up anxiety about TKO and Shadowy already. He was still under the idea that TKO was made by Shadowy and, as a kid, has very black and white ideas about heroes and villains. His preset fears on what to expect are MAXED out. Of course he was going to assume any mistake from PV was intentional and for the worse. NOW.

LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR

I am not blaming K.O at all. He's a 6-11 year old who's inherited a load of self worth and anxiety issues from his old man (a great example is actually early season 3 with him worried about his powers not being as good as rad/enid's, kinda like laserblast waaaaas). And yeah, when your dad's evil and he keeps accidentally being a dumbass you're gonna get suspicious. Especially if his ass keeps assuming you have way cooler powers than he ever had because I mean, you are your momma's boy, and you do consistently kick ass.

But on the other hand, let's look from the other perspective, something I both totally get why not, and desperately wish we got.

Venomous has finally admitted his relationship to K.O. something we know was gonna be dragged out longer but didn't get to out of universe because it was cut short, but in universe I think when he revealed it was entirely linked to his own confidence. Something he'd clearly been working on. After all, his fears of how good he could be as a partner and father were helped (slowly) by Boxman and Fink. He feels stable enough to own up what happened and why he is who he is now with pride, whether that gains him further love or hatred. And when his bio kid does want to be in his life, he accepts it, encourages it. He's taken this on, even when his son and ex girlfriend launch them into the sky.

He's trying to bond with him, it's- awkward and weird for both of them, but at least he can tell himself he's trying to help the kids out. ...Only to find out he accidentally created a dark alter ego for himself that he didn't know about and threatened his daughter into secrecy. That's uh- stress inducing, to say the least.

You can feel that- relapse in a way- of his issues. He'd felt content as a powerless individual because he didn't need them, he felt in control of his life, and now he knows the reason he feels so awful all the time, constant migraines and suffering was because of a stronger, eviler version of himself? Yeah, no wonder it panicked him enough to yank Shadowy forward. Everything he thought he had basically just got yanked out from under him.

And I do not doubt after his kids saved him that he was genuine about not wanting to live like this. About wanting to get rid of shadowy. Just like K.O. did when he saw the damage TKO was doing.

After all while K.O. visually takes almost entirely after his mom, emotionally he and Venomous are constant parallels. So I think he tried to do just what K.O. had done, push Shadowy deep into his subconscious where he wouldn't be a threat. Where he could try and do better, be better. And he gets to work on something special to show his boy next weekend.

Alright, so... your first 'good' invention is a total failure and monster. Oopsies. At least you can help your kid fight it... sorta. God, that's right being powerless is kind of useless when stopping destruction. And good Cob, you can't believe the one thing you thought you could do to save the day. To be a hero to your kid just made it 10 times worse. But- this is fine! He's clearly holding back, right? So he must just need encouragement to whip out those strong, incredible powers! The ones that pummeled boxman Jr. and made him such an incredible hero!

...He's not doing it. Are you really that bad at encouraging kids? Probably. Maybe he needs that more demanding tone like Gar seems to use. No, that just makes him seem panicked. Good Cob, you're doomed. Oh, never mind, his friends are here. Saved by teenagers in spandex. I mean, you're thankful, but like- kind of embarrassing. At least it's over with. You can enjoy the drive home and hopefully no hard feelings from K.O. When he finally speaks up on the drive, he's, admittedly understandbly, accusatory. But you try and play it off calmly. You did promise him, didn't you? Even if he can't really trust you, you promised fink, too. He pushes further. Why? Does he think you're not capable of getting rid of him? Not strong enough to get rid of him? What just because you didn't know he was there, just because you don't have special powers to fight him off? Just because he's a hero?

Take a deep breath. Your voice is snippy, but you try to sound firm and fair, and he leaves. You're not good enough, you guess. Of course not! You can't take him to big sportsgame games like Gar. You're not the perfect parent like Carol. Sooooorey K.O. Soorey you're not the perfect hero dad he wanted! You're useless and powerless and evil!

You collapse in your office. You've never been enough have you? You weren't good enough for Carol, for POINT, or even for your own son.

You don't even know what's bubbling up in your son outside, how ironically your struggles match each other. All you know is that despite your best efforts to grow and change and be better again... you're not enough. You can't even fight back against yourself. You can feel him, this creature you put inside yourself in such desperate attempts to gain back your weak powers to begin with. Before you even know it he's sucked you back into your mind.

He may be talking, you can't fully tell anymore. What's the point in stopping him? He's stronger than you, he has what you don't, what you can't have. He's everything you could never be.

He's...perfect.

(Seriously this text is so vital to his character and arc and I feel like some people just- totally ignore it)

He may have similar elements to other Turbo Characters, but Shadowy Venomous has never been them. Turbo forms in other characters are a channeling of the darkness in you, but shadowy is when it completely controls you. and no detail better exemplifies that than his wrist bands. Every other turbo character's bands are just that, similar to sweatbands, bracelets or jewelry. But Shadowy Venomous' bands are specifically cuffs. Because unlike all the others, he is an outside force trapping Venomous inside his own mind.

"But, he says they compromised, that this was because of the power Venomous saw he could have" But, we never here this from the horse's mouth. We only ever hear it from an unreliable source, an antagonist. And while Shadowy is a liar, the text has always stated the facts on the scenario even when it's awkward or a secret. Do I believe he did this for any particular reason? No. It wouldn't impact how TKO saw him and he has no reason to believe knowing the truth would male K.O. fight back further and affect his plan. It could just be a demonstration of his character, as this statement really had the biggest effect on viewers. After all plenty of people outright ignored the text, K.O. and Venomous' mirroring and his reaction once Shadowy is knocked out of him.

And... that's the other important thing isn't it? I mentioned it briefly but, Shadowy as far as we're aware was now always within Venomous like it was K.O. and if it was, I don't think it was nearly to the same extent as Shadowy. More of a- turbo Laserblast. Instead this creature was created in attempts to bring back what he had lost. Spending years so absorbed in feeling useless and like a sickening failure. To Point, to Silverspark, and to his future son.

And when TKO finally has enough, because sadly for Shadowy, TKO's fists are thicker than blood, he decks his old man so hard this happens.

That's an odd detail in itself compared to other turbo forms, the fact that he's been just punched out of this man, not once but twice. Even he seems disgusted and- somewhat horrified of what just coughed out of him.

Sure maybe it's just because he didn't know what was going on entirely. After all it's entirely possible he was disassociating within his subconscious, and that's why we don't see Shadowy attempting to 'shut him up' similar to what TKO does. But on the other hand, and linking this to the previously mentioned idea that Turbo Laserblast may have existed

I don't think he fully registered this thing as an outside force. This could also be why, as I sort of showed in that little Carl POV scene, he gave in to Shadowy so easily.

And seeing this thing not only get forcefully ejected from him with such ease but literally SQUASHED by his own kid like nothing when he was so weak to it.

That's slightly amazing, perplexing and kind of traumatizing.

And before he can even fully process all that, he's reminded that his- or well Shadowy's- actions have consequences. And unlike Shadowy, he doesn't fight his fate.

"Do your worst kid."

God this ONE LINE just- I'm grabbing him like a fnaf plushie. Claws around his neck affectionately. It's why I think people who say this man hasn't had any sort of redemption are just flat out wrong. He knows even if it wasn't directly his fault, it is. He did still create Shadowy within himself, and when it came down to it, he couldn't even find it within him to fight. Besides, he may not have understood it years ago, but seemingly without any powers is when he could be at his happiest.

Do I believe in any way that Venomous' best life could ever have been a full hero redemption arc? No. I don't think Heroism could ever be more interesting to him as a career or good for his mental health as villainy was, especially before he became bored with it all.

He was at his best and healthiest as a person with his husband at his side, his daughter at his back, and the three of them aiming fire at the plaza. Super villainy is boring, dull and overpowered, just like super heroism. Becoming so overpowered that you begin comparing yourself with the impossible standards of those around you is inevitable when placed on such a high pedestal, even if that pedestal is one of infamy. But Boxman, he was petty, low powered, treated like a joke, and he was having more fun than anyone else because of it. The perfect kind of life for a man like Venomous.

It's why, when it comes down to it, what would be best for them, the president of the universe did what he did.

Now sure you could ask why he wouldn't just give that perfect future with Boxman in the first place, but I don't think that's how this worked to begin with. Combining it with the final episode, it's more accurately, 'everyone's path to their best life' And for Venomous that did require stepping away from well- everything. Sure it's phrased as "Oh he wanted to be the most powerful person on the planet so they're on an empty planet haha" But damn was it the perfect step to heal.

No stress of the extra consequences he had on the world and how that kind of rise and takedown would effect his name as a top villain? Just as long as he needs to bond with his daughter and commit petty crimes? Not having to return to Earth until he's ready and feels capable enough? And what does he do immediately after coming back?

attack the plaza. "We came to finish what we started here on earth" would seem like a reference to Shadowy's plan, but Shadowy was never a reflection of what Venomous really wanted, nor what he needed. Because Cob dang it, destruction is at it's best when facing something Shadowy mocked openly, the back and fourth of classic villainy.

Which, of course is why, on the best path, when given the chance to redeem himself and heal in the way best for him, he returns to the very man who made it all possible. Sure he could try and understandably excuse it as Shadowy, heck fink understood from the start how different that man was from her father, but he knows it's not a matter of excuses, but once again facing his actions head on. Something I think greatly mirrors Laserblast's "death". Instead of staying away, hiding from it all and relapsing his progress. He owns up to it. I hurt you, even if I didn't mean to, I hurt you. And I'm soorey.

And dammit, imposter syndrome may be strong, Shadowy may be strong too, but a relationship willing to face each other's problems will always be stronger.

To make a really long story short, when doing an analysis of Venomous as a person, his growth, etc, I think more people need to treat Shadowy less as a sign that Venomous is this awful parent incapable of change or only focused on power, but more as- his own worst antagonist on a level no other turbo form could match because like how Shadowy was manufactured off something Laserblast may have had before, the person he was were manufactured from his fears, driven by years upon years of unhealed imposter syndrome and self loathing.

And sometimes the best cure for that is a partner will help you feel content with the life you really want, rather than one that will continue to hold you on that pedestal.

Lads, I'm going feral. Who wants an info dump/rant about Shadowy and Professor Venomous?

[meatgrinder-0]

something that ive found myself thinking about a lot recently is the loss of autonomy that you have over your identity and what makes you "human" when you die.

(as has been said before by multiple different people) technically ford does not die when he goes through the portal, but as many have said at this point--in a metaphysical way when he goes through the portal he is dead in the eyes of his dimension, so i find in the narrative he experiences a similar loss of his humanity and in the same way that might've occurred with his death, his memory for any that have access to any form of it constructs him into an idea rather than a person.

and really anything can be said and done with him by the people who are still "alive" when this occurs. since he is in all aspects dead people can use him to justify their actions, as a figure in their concepts, and imagine him up to be whoever they want him to be for as long as he remains dead. the audience of course also partook in these same things prior to his reveal by theorizing about what type of person he was or how he might fit into the narrative as a person but to be more specific to examples of this idea in the show is how stan and dipper see ford as an idea.

due to being absent ford had no possible way to influence what stan thought he would want him to do about the portal outside of his existing warnings in his journals so stan is able to twist ford into a justification to work towards opening the portal, and during the length of his work on it according to alex's statements about stan "expecting ford to be weak and in need of help when he came out of the portal" (i feel the likely useless need to say whatever a creator says about their work is always only as canon as one wants it to be but this is worth mentioning here and i think it makes sense contextually within the text) the ford who comes back is so jarring because in his "death" he's become an ideal of what stan wants to see in him to play into his hero fantasy and hopes of earning back his appreciation

and of course as i think about a normal amount of times per day--the duration of the show presents the author as a figure that is wrapped up in a concept of ford while presenting him in a much more mythical format--another one of gravity falls' mysteries. pretty much every main character that isnt stan views him in this mystical light throughout the show with dipper being the prime example and uses the idea of "the author" as a driving force to pursue the questions that the town begs them to ask. there is something to be said about how creators of the show refer to journal 3 as "its own character" in a way that clearly separates it from it's author. even outside of the universe of the show itself, even in the show's own writing team ford--somehow despite being already being only a concept by virtue of being fictional--is stripped of humanity and becomes an even further abstracted concept.

but even to the ford who is alive the self who had gone through the portal is also a concept. i know this idea isnt explored much in canon if at all but bear with me here while i make shit up for fun--in a way, we ourselves the way we are now are dying near constantly. when we wake up each morning we of course have access to the same memories and the same body and the same experiences as the self we were before we fell asleep, but if we were to get existential, how can we be sure that we are the same consciousness that we were before?

even if this is a bit too absurd of a concept to be applying to a messy braindump "analysis" of a fictional character theres something about how extreme change in a person (often from trauma as ford has experienced for Obvious reasons) or even just the passage of time leaves the former self as nothing more but a memory to even the body that it once inhabited.

as i said theres not much to connect this to in the canon of the text, but i do believe that ford does see his past self who wrote the journals as an idea just as much as anyone else in his life did.

[mercurial-chuckles]

is smutober still open? if yes can i ask for stucky x f!reader + 17. "seeing the love marks they left on their partner later and getting turned on all over again remember how it got there in the first place"? i thought maybe steve or bucky seeing the marks the other left on reader? or even better, steve or buck seeing the marks reader left on them. anyway, up to you, i love all of your stucky works, you make their relationship feel so real and i love how you don't focus solely on the boys with reader but on bucky and steve and their love for each other as well.

Wanton Affairs

Pairing: Steve Rogers x F!Reader x Bucky Barnes | Stucky x F!Reader Warnings: Overloaded Fluff Galore | Domestic Supersoldiers | Poly relation | Language | THE SMUT galore | Threesome | Fingering | Littleshit supersoldiers on the loose | Irresistible Bucky | One torn bra | Supersoldier Sandwich | Soft!dom Steve | Soft!dom Bucky | ~6k of fluffy n filthy goodness | I've broken the fic into three parts with breaks if you wish to stop and continue later | Unedited. If you find any errors (you will), please kindly ignore them for the moment. I typed as I went. I'm too disoriented to edit, but I will as soon as I can | Lemme know if I'm missing anything. A/N: My first threesome. I mean, first time writing a threesome. I'm already whimpering in dread. So, be gentle with me. Treat me tenderly, and some validation would really ease me. Thank you for sending in the ask for SMUT-BER FEST. My apologies for how--embarrassingly--long it's taken to get to your ask. I hope you enjoy reading it, my sweet anon! And thank you for your kind words. This is also my submission for Stucky Bingo | Prompt: Napping | @stuckybingo Most importantly, I've added a small dialogue prompt inspired by Trick or Treat wheel of potential doom. @yenzys-lucky-charm I'm sorry this thought has been marinating in my head for so long, love. I'm way past the due date, and this isn't technically my submission. Since you mentioned how excited you were about this prompt, and now that I've FINALLY gotten inspired, I wanted to tag you. Please feel free to ignore it if any elements of this fic aren't your forte ✨ Hope I did it justice 🩷 Note: Do not Steal, Copy, or Plagiarize any part of my work! Banner and Divider made by me. Picture credits to internet! Thank you :) Check out my other works: Masterlist

Indulge Away!

Bucky gets what he wants, even if it means seducing fighting an annoyed Steve Rogers

Bucky, as per Steve's entirely unqualified yet riveting diagnosis, was a little shit with a severe case of cuteness aggression.

Why, you ask?

Well, it was 2 p.m., and Bucky had just returned home from the compound. And when he walked in and saw you peacefully napping, he absolutely couldn't resist his joy.

Despite Steve's firm warning that you needed rest after pulling an all-nighter, Bucky just couldn't help himself. He'd missed you terribly all day--too many hours apart.

So, like the true, needy mess that he was, he decided to be obnoxiously loud, hoping you'd stir awake, give him a warm smile that would relax him in no seconds, and let him curl up next to you.

Those were the hopes of the brunette man.

But his other love--the too-practical, too-Captainy--was already dousing his plans in cold water.

It wasn't that Bucky didn't understand the importance of your sleep--he did. He knew you'd been putting in extra hours, working on the analysis of some foil, and you hardly slept the last few days and that you didn't sleep at all last night.

Stupid Project!

But you, in all your serene, angelic glory, just looked so irresistible lying there.

Not to be too dramatic but he was desperate and downright itching for you to hold him.

Last night had been miserable. He'd tossed and turned all night, and with Steve holed up at the compound, there was no one to hold him while he slept. Which, of course, meant sleep was out of the question. Steve had tried convincing him to come over, mumbling something about hologram testing and training updates--like that was supposed to be enticing.

A bunch of lies, if you asked Bucky.

Steve was a really needy puppy. The man could hardly stand being away from you for too long without either of them keeping watch. And sure, the offer had been tempting, but Bucky had backed off, figuring he'd crash on the couch with some trash TV instead. The last thing he wanted was to deal with Tony along with his sizable ego and the others when he was in a mood. Not that he disliked any of them--he just wasn't in the headspace for socializing. So, he let Steve play the responsible Captain at the Compound while you worked and he decided to stay back and suffer in peace.

In the early hours that morning, he went to his scheduled training session, running on barely any sleep. You had texted saying you'd be home in the evening, but when he saw you both back earlier than expected, he just couldn't resist, could he?

Thus, he proceeded with his noisy campaign to wake you up, much to Steve's horror.

"Bucky," Steve hissed from across the room as Bucky slammed the bathroom door.

"Stop that," he warned, half-amused by the exaggeratedly loud noises Bucky had been making since the moment he arrived home. Steve's enhanced hearing only made it worse, amplifying the noise tenfold. But Bucky had the same enhanced hearing, and Steve knew how stealthy his lover could be. That meant Bucky was intentionally making a racket to wake you up--and that annoyed Steve.

"Stop what?" Bucky huffed, raising an eyebrow as he marched toward Steve, intentionally stomping every step.

Though it had plenty of closet space, the walk-in closet attached to the bedroom was far too small for the two of them. Steve had dimmed the lights to avoid disturbing you and even drew the curtains in the bedroom to block out the intense afternoon light pouring through the windows.

"Shh... she's sleeping," Steve shushed, flinging a shirt he was folding toward Bucky in an attempt to get him to stop. But Bucky caught it mid-air, tossed it back into the laundry bin with a grin, and, without missing a beat, yanked Steve toward him by the collar of his undershirt.

Bucky cradled Steve's jaw with an exaggerated air of seriousness, murmuring lowly, "Ya know, I just saw a picture of a grumpy cat online that looked exactly like you."

Bucky's grin widened.

Steve's frown deepened, and the playful glint in Bucky's eyes only intensified.

Rolling his eyes, Steve swatted Bucky's hands away from his cheeks and snorted in amusement. "You sure it wasn't you?" he deadpanned, picking up clothes one by one and sorting them into fold piles and hangers.

Bucky chuckled, shaking his head as he pulled Steve by the neck, his lips nearly grazing Steve's.

Poor Stevie couldn't resist now, could he? Because Bucky looked irresistibly handsome, and he was a weak man when it came to Bucky or you.

Steve felt his resolve slip, and before he knew it, his lips were gravitating toward Bucky's as Bucky leaned in for a soft, teasing kiss. A low moan escaped Steve, and before he could deepen the kiss, Bucky pulled away, leaving Steve with nothing but a rush of warmth and utter annoyance.

Steve groaned, rubbing his face. "You're such a jerk," he muttered, irritated by the half-assed kiss and desperate for more.

Bucky's grin widened wickedly. "What? Do you need me, punk? All you gotta do is ask," he teased, "Nicely," he added, his voice thick with amusement, before leaning in again--this time intently, pushing Steve against the tiny space of empty wall beside the door. Their lips collided, groaning at the taste, deepening the kiss as they moved closer, instinctively pulling each other tighter. The arousing kiss continued, building and building until…

The unmistakable tear was heard.

Both of them exchanged a look.

"Oh, shit!" Bucky laughed, pulling away just enough to look down.

Steve followed Bucky's gaze and froze, his face going pale. There, in Steve's hand, were the torn remains of your favorite bra. It was a cute piece, too, with little dinosaurs and cacti prints. You looked adorable wearing it.

"Son of a bitch, that's her comfy one," Steve muttered in exasperation, turning it in his large hands to see if it was remotely salvageable, but the fabric was in tatters.

"Eh…" Bucky hummed, plucking the fabric from Steve's hands, and inspected the shredded piece with little sympathy, "I hate these traps," he muttered.

"Nope, gotta say goodbye," Bucky sniggered, putting the ripped fabric back into Steve's hands. Steve groaned in defeat.

Bucky patted him on the shoulder with exaggerated pity, and taking advantage of Steve's guilty reminiscence, he slipped out of the closet and into the bedroom, leaving Steve standing there, still processing the carnage.

Bucky plopped himself on the bed with zero resistance from Steve whatsoever. He quickly discarded his joggers, cursing himself for deciding to put them on after the shower. He threw them, aiming for the chair, but Steve caught them mid-air, a frown returning to his face.

Bucky's smile widened at the sound of Steve's angry grunts, whispered under his breath. Ignoring all of Steve's warnings, Bucky turned his focus entirely to you, snuggling comfortably beside you, and wondering how best to announce his arrival.

Steve seemed to read his thoughts because he snapped, nearly shouting, "James, get your ass over here and fold the laundry with me if you're so bored!"

Bucky snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'm not bored, Steven. I'm sleepy," he declared, finger traced gently down your cheek, and you made a soft noise in your sleep.

Steve's patience ebbed away all at once. He cast one last look at your peaceful, slumbering form, Steve had just managed to help you fall asleep, and he wasn't about to let Bucky mess it all up.

With a determined stride, Steve marched over, grabbed Bucky by the waist, and hauled him off the bed without warning. Bucky let out a surprised laugh, but Steve anticipated the noise, quickly pressing his hand to Bucky's mouth to silence him as he began marching him out of the room.

"What the hell?" Bucky grumbled, his brain catching up.

Steve only made it two steps into the living room before Bucky, like a reflex, tackled him to the ground with a booming laugh.

"You're really not listening. Let her sleep," Steve hissed, his voice strained from holding back his irritation and laughter.

"I wasn't doing anything," Bucky guffawed, straddling Steve and pinning him to the floor.

"Cut it out, Buck."

Bucky, now the one in control, held both of Steve's wrists to his chest, completely enjoying the struggle.

"GET UP!" Steve grumbled, pretending to be annoyed, but the amused smile tugging at his lips betrayed him.

"Is that all ya got?" Bucky mocked, raising an eyebrow. "For a man who pulled a helicopter…" He tutted in mock disappointment. "Bad, Stevie. You gotta replenish your big boy energy."

Bucky placed a teasing kiss on Steve's jaw, his breath warm against Steve's skin. "I think you need a nap, too," he whispered.

Steve narrowed his eyes, and as the smug grin on Bucky's face fully registered in his mind, "You look quite energized Buck, and you definitely don't need a nap," Steve remarked flippantly.

Bucky's grin faltered, but only for a second. He kept Steve pinned with his metal arm, his face now just inches from Steve's as he leaned in closer. With a soft chuckle, Bucky pushed off Steve, sliding away from him smoothly and practically leaping off the floor and onto the bed in two long strides, knowing fully well that Steve wouldn't repeat the same mistake of hauling him off the bed a second time.

Bucky mentally counted to five, and sure enough, Steve appeared in the doorway, a frown marring his adorably stupid face.

Steve walked in fully intending to get the rest of the laundry done, however, he glanced at the bed, eyes greedily taking in Bucky's overtly happy and awfully comfortable expression snuggling beside you, and Steve sighed, conceding defeat. With a roll of his eyes, he finally walked over to the bed and carefully settled on the other side.

"You're folding the laundry later," Steve mouthed to Bucky, his voice just above a whisper. He then carefully slid his right arm around your waist, almost instinctively, and settled it over Bucky's side of the bed.

Bucky chuckled proudly, satisfied with himself. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead before slowly slipping your hand from beneath your pillow, gently resting it on his own. Your familiar scent filled the space between them, soothing Bucky like the pleasant sound of rain.

Steve peeked at Bucky, a small, affectionate smile tugging at his lips as he felt your feet worm their way between his legs. Bucky's right arm found Steve's on top of your pillow, and without a second's delay, Steve interlaced his fingers with Bucky's, letting out a quiet hum of satisfaction.

"Such a punk," Steve murmured, squeezing Bucky's hand affectionately.

Bucky snorted. His eyes fluttered closed, surrendering to the soothing calmness of both you and Steve.

"And no funny business," Steve added softly, his voice almost teasing as he kissed the top of your head, his breath warm on your skin. Bucky smiled to himself, too content to bite back with a reply.

The absolute nerve of Steve to question Bucky's purer, entirely innocent intentions of cuddling and falling asleep peacefully.

****

Steve is sometimes ALWAYS right

Still groggy and barely awake, you blinked open your eyes--only to be met with two bright blue ones and a wide grin. It scared the shit out of you, and you let out an ungraceful squeak.

"Fuck you, Bucky," you mumbled in surprise, but your cry was quickly muffled by his cold metal palm as he hushed you.

You blinked a few more times, adjusting to your surroundings, finally registering the cozy, familiar position you were wrapped in. The warmth of Steve behind you, his face pressed into your shoulder blade, his nose tickling your skin as the unmistakable sound of his snoring reverberated through your back.

"Stevie's snoring? Aww." You cooed, a sleepy, contented pout pulling at your lips. Bucky grinned beside you, nodding.

It was rare for either of them to snore--what with the serum taking most of the brunt of their bodies--but once in a while, exhaustion got the better of them.

"I recorded it, too," Bucky told you proudly, leaning in to press a soft kiss to your lips.

You sighed happily, licking your lips--his kiss felt like the sun's warmth on a cold winter day.

"Of course you did," you chuckled, a yawn slipping out before you could stop it.

Just as expected, Bucky tried to slip his fingers into your mouth mid-yawn, but you swatted his hand away before he could pull his usual antics. He chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners in that charming, divinely gorgeous way that always made your heart flutter.

"What's the time?" you murmured, tugging at his t-shirt. Bucky slid closer, effortlessly molding against you as you hooked a leg over his hip, his thigh slotting between yours. His warmth, his scent--you savored every bit of him.

God, you'd missed him. Missed them.

"4:15," he whispered, voice low and soothing. He leaned in, pressing a lingering kiss to your forehead, his metal fingers brushing your cheek, tucking away a few stray strands. At some point, your braid must have loosened in your sleep.

"How was training?" you asked, voice drowsy. Bucky grunted in response, lips trailing lazy kisses along your skin. You hummed, fingers idly playing with the fabric of his t-shirt, knowing exactly what that grunt meant. Training without Steve usually had him in a mood.

Bucky shifted just an inch away, his eyes locked on yours. And you smiled at him, watching his eyes twinkle with love. Unable to resist, you leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his chin. A comfortable silence settled. Bucky and you got lost in each other's touches, eyes blinking slowly.

"You really haven't been sleeping much, have you?" Bucky murmured, his brows twitching into a concerned frown.

You reached up, smoothing your fingers over the crease between them, watching as the tension melted from his face. He sighed under your touch, and you only shrugged slightly, a small pout tugging at your lips.

"I guess," you whispered, your fingers drifting down to gently massage his jaw. Bucky let out a low, satisfied hum, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

It was during these rare silences--filled with unspoken love you pondered how far you had come. You were so grateful. So unbelievably proud of the choices you had all made, of the life you had built together.

Bucky's expression softened even more as he grumbled, "I'm sorry." His lower lip jutted out just enough to make you want to suckle on it--so you did.

He let out a pleased hum, pressing a soft peck to your lips, his warm breath tickling your senses as he continued, "For trying to wake you up while you were sleeping. I'm such a jerk sometimes."

You let out a quiet laugh but quickly stilled when you felt Steve shift behind you, his forehead pressing snugly against the column of your neck as he instinctively pulled you closer. You waited, holding your breath to see if he would wake. When he didn't, you relaxed and turned your attention back to Bucky, your fingers trailing along his cheek, savoring the contrast between his soft skin and the roughness of his stubble.

"You think I even noticed? I was out like a light," you teased, grinning wide. "Besides, nothing to be sorry about… I know you're my Sugarpuss."

Bucky's eyes widened in mock offense as he dramatically gestured toward Steve. "He's Sugarpuss."

"No, he's not. He's the wise and responsible one of us. He keeps us in line. Besides, he'd only ever call you Sugarpuss," you teased, winking.

Bucky scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Though… you're more of a sourpuss most of the time," you added with a playful smirk.

Bucky let out a dramatic grunt before suddenly pulling you closer. Steve shifted behind you, now sprawled out on his stomach.

"I'd beat his ass if he ever called me that," Bucky muttered, tossing a leg over you and tugging you flush against him.

"You'd beat my ass too?" you teased, grinning as you pressed soft butterfly kisses along his neck.

Bucky moaned in satisfaction, the deep rumble of his throat vibrating against your lips.

"You're my pretty girl. You can call me any shitty name you want," he murmured, eyes crinkling with affection.

Before you could fawn over that, another snore rumbled from Steve, and Bucky turned his head to glance at him.

Shaking his head in mock disbelief, he huffed, "And he said he didn't need a nap."

"Yeah?" you asked, unable to resist the giggle bubbling up.

"Yeah. Hell-bent on me not lurking around you," Bucky said, shaking his head.

You laughed, snuggling deeper into his warmth.

"Guess what? He came by the lab... Captain mode," you whispered, your fingers threading through Bucky's hair, tugging just the way he liked. He let out a happy sigh, eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

"Really?" Bucky rasped, his voice thick with interest. His hand found the band of your panties, and he snapped them. You squirmed, feeling the warmth bubbling.

"Yeah! He announced that there was a meeting and that I was needed," you continued, chuckling. "Carried me home and put me to sleep."

Bucky hummed his palm kneading slow, lazy circles into your hip. His touch was heavy, possessive. His metal arm slipped underneath your shirt.

"Bucky…" you warned, shaking your head slightly.

But Bucky grinned, squeezing and massaging your tit, flicking your nipple. You squirmed, breath hitching at the sensation.

His smirk was downright sinful. "Put you to sleep, huh?"

Bucky seemed to take pity because he moved his hand away, but only for his fingers now trailing along your collarbone, then down the length of your neck. The cool Vibranium warmed instantly against your skin as he pushed your--Steve's--t-shirt off your shoulder.

"He left marks, didn't he?" you asked, tilting your head slightly, your face reddening up at the memory of Steve taking you apart after you denied that you were not sleepy.

Bucky huffed in mock offense, his fingers ghosting over the faint hickeys. "And he tells me, 'No funny business, Buck.'" He scoffed, shaking his head. "Wise, my ass. I'm the wiser one." The words were more for himself than for you, his lips trailing along the column of your neck.

The way your body responded to him was crazy.

"And I feel absolutely left out," Bucky murmured against your mouth, the warmth of his breath making you shiver.

The need to taste him, to pull him closer, was overwhelming.

"We can't have that, Buck," you whispered.

And then, as if reading each other's minds, you both moved at once. The kiss was passionately satiating yet a consuming hunger overwhelmed you. His tongue trailed inside your mouth, lapping at you hungrily, sucking on your bottom lip.

"You're a goddess, you know that?" he rasped, moaning at the taste, revving you up just right. "Fuck, I missed you so much," Bucky growled lowly. Your dismissive protests of his praise were captured by his mouth, kissing you more while he trailed his metal fingers down your stomach, slipping them into your panties.

Beautiful dilated blues gazed at you, and you arched into him, pulling at the short strands of his hair at the back when he cupped your heat and squeezed it. The moan that escaped you was hungrily captured again, hushing you by kissing.

And Steve shifted behind you, making you still in realization.

"Steve is sleeping," you murmured half-heartedly, feeling Steve shift slightly behind you, but Bucky chuckled, the absolute menace that he was, his fingers prodded at your slick entrance, "Gotta be real quiet then, hmm?" he groaned.

"Buck…" You started, only to be shut off by one finger inching inside, and your breath hitched.

"These are not helping," he groaned, caressing and nipping at the marks Steve left on you earlier.

You gripped onto his back, fingers digging into his skin as retribution for the pleasure he was providing you. Bucky nipped at the skin right under your ear, making you squirm. He pushed his second finger inside, setting a languid pace, and let out a rather low growl.

You moaned into his ear, licking the skin on the side of his neck, nipping. God, he smelled like temptation, and you felt weak.

You cried in delight as you felt his fingers hit the spot he was privy to.

You felt parched, and you needed him.

"I know, I know. Good fucking girl," he rumbled, shifting onto his back and pulling you effortlessly on top of him. You stumbled against his chest, breathless, limbs tangled.

You froze for a second, glancing at Steve, but he was still fast asleep, his steady breathing undisturbed.

When you looked back at Bucky, he was grinning up at you, dazed and smug, his eyes glinting wickedly.

You had a good retort ready, but he curled his fingers, turning the words into a moan, and his other hand weaved into your hair, bringing you close to his mouth and sucking your lower lip.

"Quiet, pretty girl. Don't wanna disturb him. Do we?" You bit onto his jaw, holding back the moans that were trying to escape.

Bucky adjusted you in his arms, pressing you against his strong chest, his fingers fucking your wet and welcoming heat. "Hmm. Fuck, you smell divine," he grunted.

Your teeth grazed his skin, his scent hit you tenfold, and the pleasure made you heady.

"Beautiful," Bucky mumbled, his fingers curled expertly inside, and you teetered on the edge of pleasure, breath caught.

"And mine. Ours," Bucky added, moaning against the corner of your mouth, his hips thrusting up against your thigh. The tickling sensation of his hardness made you squirm, and Bucky's languid thrusts turned faster.

"Bucky," You moaned, and he captured your mouth in a sloppy kiss.

"Yeah? Gonna cum, aren't you? Fuck. My perfect girl," he encouraged, and you nodded, mouth falling open, speechless, while your pussy gripped onto his fingers. The sensation hit you fast, clutching you into the depths of pleasure.

Bucky held you tightly, kissing your jaw as you rode your orgasm. He pulled his fingers out slowly, and you whimpered when he brought them to his mouth and sucked them clean. His eyes shut for a moment. "Bucky," you breathed. The sight always mortified and did things to you.

"I wanna eat you," he muttered hoarsely, his voice humming through his chest, making your heart flutter.

"But I know you can't keep quiet if I get my mouth on you," he chuckled condescendingly, pushing his boxers down, and your eyes widened, looking at him pointedly.

You shook your head at him, this time more vehemently, but Bucky's smug grin only widened as he adjusted you properly, and your hands held onto him for stability. He nudged you with a wink, giving himself a stroke and slotting his tip at your entrance. Your hesitation vanished with how good it felt.

You both could be quiet, right?

Your breath hitched as he slowly rocked from underneath, and you collapsed onto his broad chest.

"Are you close already?" He cooed, completely sheathed inside you. Bucky gritted his teeth when he felt you clench him.

Your breath caught as your fingers gripped at his t-shirt, and your mouth muffled with bites.

Bucky was making you speechless, wild, and a moaning mess.

A loud guttural groan escaped him, and you hushed him pointedly.

"Fuck, I can't help it," He remarked.

****

When Captain Rogers wakes up. Teehee!

Feeling the knot in your stomach tighten, you nipped at his collarbone. Bucky's palm flexed on your hip, pulling you more into him, and the slight pain it caused made you clench onto him tightly while pleasure rippled through your body.

Bucky hissed, muttering how perfectly you milked him. When his tip kissed your cervix, you moaned.

"Mmm…feels like heaven. Doesn't it?" Bucky hissed, pushing your t-shirt to the side harshly and biting your shoulder. Your nails dug into his biceps, metal and flesh alike, tightly. The contrast urged you on more.

Your t-shirt--Steve's t-shirt--rucked up high with all the thrusting, and you pushed Bucky's t-shirt just a bit up to feel his skin against yours--taut, muscular, soft, scarred, and all yours. "You're so pretty, Buck," You sighed happily, his hardness feeling so full and fulfilling, and you felt the familiar rush as you careened into pleasure.

A sleepy snort broke the moment, followed by a large, steady hand wrapping around your waist, halting your movement. The pleasure that had been building crashed just as fast, leaving you teetering on the edge. You almost wailed in frustration.

You and Bucky turned at the same time, cheek-to-cheek, to face the culprit.

Steve was awake--barely. Propped up on one elbow, his face was adorably scrunched, hair sleep-mussed, eyes narrowed at the two of you with faux disapproval. He let out a deep, raspy chuckle, the sound rolling through your body teasingly, making you squirm against Bucky.

You unknowingly clenched him just a bit, and Bucky groaned, rocking into you.

Bucky's stubble tickled your cheek as he spoke, his chuckle vibrating through his chest.

"Hands off, Steve. We're in the middle of something," Bucky growled, emphasizing his point with a deep thrust. No one could stop the moan coming from you. The pleasure building again.

When Steve tapped your cheek, you opened your eyes to see his amused grin. In the next instant, Steve straddled Bucky, towering over you from behind. His hand tightened around your waist before you were haphazardly lifted off Bucky.

Both you and Bucky hissed at the sudden loss of contact.

You expected Steve to throw you onto the bed, but no. Your eyes widened as you looked at Bucky, who looked back with an expression of both amusement and irritation.

Steve smacked your butt, and you squealed, trying hard to steady yourself on Bucky.

Steve didn't give you time. He pulled you up against his warm chest, discarding your--his--t-shirt and throwing away his to the side. Bucky's gaze shifted to your tits, and he grinned, his both hands coming up to squeeze them.

"Can't help yourself, Buck. Can you?" Steve taunted. Bucky cursed, throwing empty threats at Steve. Steve angled your hips, rubbing his tip against your slick.

Oh, Fuck! Your eyes widened.

You collapsed on Bucky at the sensation, and he steadied you.

"STEVE…Holy…" You gasped as Steve entered you slowly from behind without much resistance, simultaneously bending you onto Bucky.

Bucky was still hard, and he twitched against your tummy, hot and wet.

"Gotta teach him a lesson," Steve said, and honestly, you didn't care. You just want them to stop edging you.

Bucky bared his teeth in sweet agony as he moved to touch himself, but Steve was faster, and he swatted Bucky's hand away.

"Nuh-uh, you're gonna watch while I make our pretty girl feel good," Steve chuckled darkly, his broad frame engulfing you as he nuzzled your neck, placing soft kisses on your shoulder.

"Steve," Bucky gritted in annoyance, trying to squirm away.

"Can't take one order," Steve mocked, riling Bucky up, his hand splayed on the inside of your right thigh and spread you some more, firmly adjusting you on Bucky's torso.

"Fuckkkkk," You cried.

"You're not my boss," Bucky growled challengingly. You could feel him squirm under you both.

"Is that so?" Steve hummed from over your shoulder, too pleased with himself. His hands loosened the grip around you and moved to Bucky's jaw while Steve's other hand held your waist, hoisting you up just a bit. You held onto his forearm with both hands as you felt your knees wobble.

"You're such a punk," Bucky chuckled, his eyes blown in hazy lust. And with a single tap against his lips, Bucky sucked onto his thumb. The sight was hot and was making you delirious with need. You clenched around Steve, and a breathy gasp turned into a moan when Steve pulled out and thrust into you.

Your nails dug into Steve's arm harshly as the pleasure wrecked you.

Bucky pulled you and Steve on top of him and Steve eased you gently onto Bucky and pinned his hands beside him. The angled thrust had you almost coming. Almost.

Their weight and warmth added to your pleasure. Steve adjusted your hips as he pounded you from behind.

Steve nudged against your neck, propping against your shoulder as he leaned toward Bucky.

"I said no funny business. Didn't I?" Steve reminded Bucky, their banter holding nothing back as Steve pounded into you without breaking pace while Bucky kissed your parted mouth.

Bucky winked. "You have no right demanding shit from me, punk." he traced the slightly dark marks on the expanse of your chest, ones that Steve took his time leaving earlier.

Steve's breathless laugh tickled your throat as he pulled Bucky for a kiss, effectively squishing you between them. The angle only made you scream as pleasure shot through you.

"Easy there," Bucky warned Steve.

"FUCKK…" Steve lifted you off Bucky slightly, his one arm wrapping around you carefully, firmly, resting both of your weights on his knees, straddling Bucky.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. I aim to please. You know that," Steve said to Bucky while adjusting Bucky's cock directly where you were connected, rubbing it gently on your clit, and you gasped, squirming away from his grip. The sensation was driving you nuts.

All three of you moaned in sync. A litany of curses spewed.

You threw your head onto Steve's shoulder, both hands gripping his forearm as he rocked into you.

"Eyes on me," Bucky demanded, squeezing your tit and pinching your nipple. It felt like a Herculean task to open your eyes, but you did, meeting his darkened blues. He parted his lips, tongue peeking out as he forced you closer. Steve loosened his grip, maneuvering you closer to Bucky.

"You smell so fucking good," Bucky grunted, taking you in a searing kiss.

"Look at you. So needy. Fuck, I could do this all day," Steve moaned, increasing his pace. Despite the pleasure coursing through, both you and Bucky rolled your eyes at him in sync, and a few breathy chuckles escaped you.

"Shut up," Steve exclaimed, chuckling. Steve unwound one of his forearms and trailed it up Bucky's chest, carding through Bucky's short locks as he tugged them.

"OH FUCKKK…" Bucky moaned lewdly, baring his teeth and biting his lower lip.

"Can't take one order now, can you?" Steve hissed as his pace faltered, he was close, fucking sporadically.

Bucky intertwined his fingers with yours with a squeeze that spoke of love amidst the filthy, noisy mess you all were making. Steve placed an open-mouthed kiss on your neck, nipping as his fingers from Bucky's hair moved to place his large palm on his chest, right above Bucky's heart.

Bucky's erection rubbed against you and Steve hard and fast, right where you were joined.

"You're close, aren't you, Buck," Steve grunted as he rolled his hips, pressing you sensually against Bucky.

The manly groans, their scent, and their warmth, added to the sweet sensations…Holy Shitz! You were coming for the second time that day around Steve.

"I love you both. FUCK!" Steve moaned, thrusting a couple more times before you felt the hot white ropes filling you up, and you came tumbling down as white-hot pleasure throbbed your senses as you milked him, clutching onto both of them so tightly that it would have left their bones broken were they not supersoldiers.

"Oh shit!" Bucky groaned as he rocked upwards, cumming all over your front and his.

Your body flailed as you collapsed into Bucky, and so did Steve. Steve's taut, sweaty, muscular chest weighed you down onto Bucky, and his partial weight felt heavenly on you.

"I love you," You breathed, eyes closed as you nuzzled into Bucky's soft t-shirt, the stars still exploding behind your lids.

You felt euphoric!

The three of you laid there for a while.

You didn't--couldn't--open your eyes when you were readjusted, now lying on Steve.

Steve's laughter rumbled against your back as you felt Bucky move over you.

"Open 'em, sweet girl," Bucky cooed against your mouth, and you did. He grinned widely.

"You got one more in you, don't you, doll?" Bucky asked. His cock was hard, tip nudging your slick heat.

You bit your lip, not directly answering, but rocking against his tip. Bucky gave a dazzling smile as he inched inside you.

Oh, you were going to be sore and would need all the rest, but you couldn't deny your man, could you now?

"Good girl," Bucky groaned as he gently adjusted you above Steve.

"I love me some supersoldier sandwich," you managed to utter, your words broken and mostly turning into a moan.

"Oh, we're aware," Steve quirked, placing kisses alongside your neck, spreading your thighs wide, and holding them firmly as Bucky fucked you in missionary on Steve.

"Feels good, Buck? Is my cum warming you up well?" Steve taunted, revving Bucky up a bit more.

Steve moved strands of hair out of your face and brushed Bucky's forehead, and you could feel his hardness poking your hips.

Bucky groaned as he fucked with much more vigor. Dear Heavens! You felt every thrust, and it also made you conscious of your weight pressing into Steve.

A thought, while quite stupid, crept into your fucked out mind unknowingly.

"Hey, hey…too much?" Bucky asked, stalling his movements. You blushed, shaking your head, and tilted behind and looked up at a concerned Steve.

"Are you okay?" You asked him. You saw the look of recognition in his eyes, and his concern etched away.

"I am, sweetheart," Steve sighed, adjusting you more firmly, and you squealed. Bucky tapped your cheek, and you met his gaze reluctantly.

"Buck, love some sense into her, harder," Steve chuckled, placing a kiss on your temple, his hands massing your thighs.

You gasped. "I didn't mean…OH FUCKKKK," You started, but Bucky's thrust cut you off.

"BUCKY," You moaned.

"Sorry, pretty girl. Captain's orders," Bucky chuckled, fucking you maddeningly fast.

"Oh, now you follow his orders." You cried and arched on Steve's naked body.

Steve's hand tugged at Bucky's hair. And Bucky moaned, biting onto your chest. Steve turned your knees, helping you wrap them around Bucky's, and you clutched onto Bucky tightly.

Steve's hand crept between you and Bucky and rubbed your overstimulated clit. It really didn't take long before you felt the orgasm consume you.

"I'm…"

"Cum for me." Bucky breathed against your skin, his stubble rough and sensual against your chest as he sucked on your tit.

You were thankful that your home was far off civilization, completely private, because the way you shouted, you bet people would have surely freaked the fuck out.

"Holy Shit!" Bucky's hips stuttered, and soon he was filling you up, moaning loudly in that deep voice that made your pussy flutter.

~

"I love you," Steve whispered reverently, and you hummed blissfully, unable to form any words in response after those body-shattering orgasms. You fell into a dreamless void almost immediately, ears ringing as your body trembled in the aftermath of pleasure. You had no idea how long you slept.

"Come on, doll, gotta clean you up." You were barely aware of the events that followed, only remembering being carried to the guest bedroom vividly.

"Gotta change the sheets, doll. Sleep here," Steve said as he gently adjusted you on the queen mattress. Steve and Bucky's muffled voices sifted through your foggy mind.

"You're a fucking idiot, Stevie. I love you," you heard Bucky laugh, and you chuckled, mentally agreeing with him, though you weren't entirely sure what they were talking about.

Steve scoffed playfully, muttering something at Bucky that only made him laugh harder. Then, Steve tucked you in with a warm blanket, placing a tender kiss on your cheek.

"Get going, Buck. You promised to finish up with the laundry. I'll make dinner," Steve said.

"I'll help, too," you mumbled into the pillow.

Steve chuckled, peppering your neck with kisses that made you squirm from the sensation. "You're going to sleep and get all the rest. Understood?" he declared.

"Yes, Captain Rogers," you breathed, relaxing as your weight sank into the mattress. Steve's kiss lingered on your cheek long after, and you heard the floorboards creak as he shuffled away. The door groaned softly when he stepped into the living room.

God, one of you seriously needed to oil the door. The croaking was getting creepy.

Moments later, the bed dipped beside you. Bucky's warm fingers slid through your hair, massaging your scalp with slow, gentle strokes.

"Don't make me come in there, Bucky," Steve's voice carried from the living room, laced with warning.

Bucky chuckled against your neck. "He's such a prick sometimes," he groaned, his breath warm against your skin.

"I heard that," Steve's voice was much closer now. You chuckled sleepily.

"Steve tore your favorite bra," Bucky stage-whispered.

"Huh?" you mumbled, confused. You weren't wearing a bra, though. You blinked your eyes open, only to see Bucky being dragged out of the room.

Ummm…I'll be hiding and working on those amazing ASKS in my inbox, if you need me… 🫣🤭🙂‍↕️

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[mogamuncher]

Heeey I'm back! It's finally time for the full Cakeverse analysis gang!

Ok, so, for a refresher:

There's the Forks, the Cakes and the Plates (normal people), and it goes like this:

Plates are just normal people, the majority of the world population, nothing new here.

Forks: Can't taste and sometimes can't smell either, sometimes they used be able to taste but lost it with age; either way, they can only ever taste cakes.

Cakes: Basically normal people except that they're delicious, everything from them (flesh, tears, saliva, etc) tastes like cake (or other foods if you want). You can't tell who's a cake or not unless you're a Fork that's tasting them in some way.

Now, I have to add some stuff that's really interesting and that the og author said, that we'll be getting into today.

• Forks go absolutely bat shit insane when they taste the Cakes most of the time, that can lead to a lot of things, cannibalism, sex, or (if you're cultured) both.

• Both Cakes and Forks suffer from their own societal plights. Cakes die a lot, and Forks when discovered are instantly pinned as murderers, criminals and perverts, even if they haven't done anything wrong yet.

• Cakes can derail a Fork's entire life, and Forks are like sin and temptation to Cakes.

Now, I want to talk about these because they absolutely fucking vexed me and now I want to make this all of y'all's problem.

「The First Taste」

It's essentially a common rule as said by the author that the Forks go insane after feeling the taste of a Cake, now, let's talk about: Why?

See, Cakeverse is technically an Au based from the likes of Omegaverse, which you can see by the structure being similar to Alpha/Beta/Omega with the three types of people out there. But, in ABO the Alphas going insane is due to a specific event, heats, which are there specifically for reproduction and are said to bring out animal instincts out of people's control, while Forks are based on simply taste, food, and not something as biological.

Of course it's up to the individual writer to an extent, but my interpretation of why Forks lose it when they taste Cakes is more psychological when compared to Alphas in the Omegaverse.

Imagine that you are completely unable to see color, never once have you seen one, you grew up hearing all about how wonderful colors are, you saw others compliment the colors of several works of art, you heard all about the colors of the world around you, but all that you see is beige and grey. Now, imagine that one day you bump into someone, and suddenly you're able to see all the colors, for the first time ever in your life, you can finally experience blue skies and green grass, you can see the same way the rest of the world sees, something that was fundamentally missing from you is finally gifted to you by this stranger on a silver tray.

You're finally complete.

That's the reality of what Forks go through, years of eating tasteless food, seeing people enjoy food wholeheartedly and rant about the tastes, hearing about the differences between expensive food and cheap food, and then suddenly finally tasting cake. Of course they go insane and fixate on it, it's like the final puzzle piece finally sliding into place, something that they've been missing this whole time being manifested with only a taste.

Before, eating was a chore, something simply to survive there was no joy in it, no fun to be found in desserts or snacks, but with only a single kiss the Fork finally feels what it is like to crave food, to want food for the taste.

Cakeverse in nature is oddly psychological, playing with the concept of taking away something extremely core to the human experience, taste. It's inherent and everyone has it, you'd probably feel like a freak of nature if you didn't have something while everyone else has, right?

That's what Cakes bring Forks; normalcy, joy and purpose, it's basically like a shot of endorphins all at once straight into your bloodstream, there's a good chance it'd hit like a truck and fuck you up majorly.

Forks acting rashly probably looks different than when Alphas do the same, because the motive is inherently different, but the desperation is arguably more raw.

A lot can be written on what that reaction would be:

Immediately trying to taste the Cake (kissing, licking, biting), trying to play cool only to strike later (potential kidnapping, manipulation, planning and scheming in general), the Fork can try to resist temptation or maybe the Cake can notice the extreme reaction and run away, maybe the Cake can instigate and bait the Fork to take a bite.

It could lead to fluff, to relationships starting, relationships ending, it could smut, it could be gory cannibalism, hell, it could be both.

Either way, the sheer amount of character study that could be made out of this tidbit alone is insane, and the story concepts don't stop there!

「We Do, In Fact, Live In a Society」

Cakes don't know who they are until it's too late, but I can imagine that in society they'd be treated with a lot of extra care if they are known beforehand, as they are constantly in risk of dying.

Imagine that they'd also be majorly babyfied, the "nooo poor babies that can't do anything wrong, poor helpless and weak Cakes, they clearly can't take care of themselves, they're so vulnerable, don't worry I'll speak for you to protect your honor" would be insane. Any Cake that consensually and willingly gets with a Fork will be doubted if they truly wanted to do it, think nosy people pulling them aside to ask if they're ok and pressing to see if they're abused, think people immediately thinking that Cakes can't consent to anything with a Fork on principle despite them being grown adults.

Online discourse would definitely have people saying "Cakes are minor coded" or some shit, mark my words.

While Forks would be instantly persecuted for everything. Because of something they didn't choose, that was inherited at birth, they now are fully seem as murderers, kidnappers, rapists and just the lowest of the low. People will gossip, people will get defensive, people will cower any time you slightly raise your voice, you're seen as a predator, treated no different than a wild bear. To society at large, you're an unruly dog, and all eyes will be on you forever, watching, waiting for the day that you take a bite.

In a sense, it's almost like any Forks that do commit crimes instantly have a justification to do so, it's expected, really, you're a Fork, of course you'd snap one day. It's both maligned and normalized, everyone expects it and it almost gives Forks a reason to do so. Forever a self fulfilling prophecy.

Now I'm sorry that I'll keep bringing the Omegaverse up, it's just that it's really handy for comparison, but I find it fascinating that in a way, the societal effects of this are a mish mesh of the societal views seen in ABO, but like, in a way that doesn't make me want to vomit.

Can I be so fr with you guys right now? I don't like the societal parts of the Omegaverse, ever since I was a kid in the early hay days of the internet, that always made me uncomfortable, and it's also a bit lazy in a way. The problems in society with the Omegaverse are basically just Sexism, it's misogyny with mpreg, and a lot of fics end up feeling like a Handmaiden's Tale with mpreg. Replace Alphas with men and Omegas with Women and you get the Omegaverse, though it gets a bit interesting since there technically is a built-in "fuck or die" and aphrodisiac system with heats/ruts, but very few writers do something interesting with it.

My problem is that it's always either uncomfortable or outright boring, very little fics do it well and most of the time authors simply choose to side step it altogether, which I completely understand and actually prefer at this point.

I bring all this up because Cakeverse actually brings a lot of interesting concepts up in it's consequences on the world at large, the nature of Forks and Cakes mirrors a lot of real life concepts, but leaves enough fantastical elements that there's still intrigue in what could be explored and seem from authors writing certain details of it.

Would there be Cake support groups? Would there be Fork rights activists? Would there be people who are both Forks and Cakes, like a hybrid type? What are different relationship types seen as in the eyes of society as a whole?

It's all so complicated and the problems are different between the both of them, also, they're evenly split, which is a breath of fresh air.

Now, it's time to get even deeper into this, what are exactly Forks and Cakes relationship with each other like?

「Would You Still Love Me If I Was Cake?」

According to the author, Cakes can derail a Fork's life and Forks are temptation to Cakes. Now, why is that?

Imagine you're a Fork, living your life trying to do what you can with what's been handed to you, probably being discriminated against if you haven't been able to hide it well, when suddenly you taste someone (kiss or by accident, like a shared water bottle), and next thing you know you lose your mind. Your entire world falls apart, thoughts of dreams, future, your own sense of morality, it all melts away like sugar in water because you just experienced heaven and now it's all you can think about.

Someone completely normal beforehand, suddenly driven to obsession with just one moment, an entire life detailed into the unknown because they just had a taste of cake, thoughts being all about one person and their taste, the inability to stop even you're desperate to do so. It's madness, and almost like a tragedy, doomed by their own personal narrative of Fork meets Cake, the Forks turns into a starving beast whether they want to or not.

But Cakes? Imagine you have someone you love, and they want you so badly it drives them mad, imagine kissing the same lips that want to be stained with your taste, imagine putting yourself in the way of jaws that any of these days can close down on you and swallow you whole. You're constantly in contact with someone that could just straight up eat you, consume you whole and leave nothing behind, but your heart aches for them, you present yourself in a silver platter again and again.

Maybe you want to be eaten, to be consumed. Maybe you like being wanted, maybe you enjoy providing something to to others, you made them so happy that it doesn't even matter to you that they are taking chunks out of you, you'll gladly let yourself be torn apart if it means someone else is satisfied.

It's all about the usage of "Cannibalism as a Metaphor for Love™", it's all about loving someone but constantly wanting to eat them into non-existence, it's about to struggle between your brain heart and stomach.

It's about having your cake and eating it too.

The themes, the metaphors, the opportunities are endless and frankly I'm driving myself insane just imagining all of it, the angst also would be utterly fucking insane, imagine you live someone and you eat them, wouldn't you be upset? You loved them and you killed them yourself, with your own hands, their taste is on your lips and you licked your plate clean.

I'm screaming and crying and throwing up as we speak, the number of things you can do here are endless, soooo. . . Let's talk about some of my ideas!

「All My Fanfiction Titles Are Just Songs」

Last post I basically tagged a bunch of fandoms that I wish would use this trope (I'll also be doing that with this post), so now I'm going to showing some of the ideas I had for this AU that I might or might not write in the future, all of which you guys are totally free to use as prompts as well (just tag me on them lmao)

So, going ship by ship:

「Loveit」: Dead Plate fanfic, Vincent x Rody, Fork!Vincent and Cake!Rody. I imagine that the moment Vincent finds out is during the Best Served Hot ending, after biting Rody's ear, his reaction would show instantly on his face and Rody would notice right away. After that it can lead to a lot of things, fighting, smut and cannibalism galore, their relationship would only get more complicated after such a discovery. Hell, you can even have Vincent find out earlier, if you truly want more juicy drama, maybe Vincent will attempt to make Rody into the meal instead of Mason this time? For funsies you could even reverse it, Rody as a Fork would be fascinating to see, him bonding with Vincent that he also can't taste anything, only for him to find out later that he can taste Vincent himself, holy shit the intrigue.

「Eat You」: Death Note, Lawlight, Fork!Light and Cake!L. Imagine Light both having to hide the fact that he's Kira, but also having to hide the fact that he's a Fork, imagine the never leaving stain that being a Fork would be on his own self-perception of perfection, imagine the so called god that punishes criminals also being considered a criminal by default in society's eyes if he's ever found out. Kira selling out his own kind because most criminals would likely be Forks (whether they were rightfully convicted or not), and then comes in L, a detective, a nuisance, Light's equal and a Cake. Maybe Light would find that out later on, maybe while they're playing as friends in college or while chained together, and now L had effortlessly thrown another wrench in his life yet again by default, like they're meant to be opposed by fate itself, where Kira is a Fork L is a Cake. L would likely goad Light on, trying to bait Kira out, by any means necessary, even if it means being eaten.

「Eat You Piece by Piece」: Hear me out, Batjokes. Fork!Bruce having to hold himself back from breaking his own morals due to finding out Joker is a Cake, Fork!Joker only getting deeper into his Batman obsession after tasting a Cake!Batman, Both Forks bonded by not having taste, maybe both are Forks that differ on how they react to Cakes (Joker regularly eating them while Bruce retains his morals and chooses to not hurt them), maybe both Cakes that got here because they were almost eaten (different Batman and Joker origin stories?). The opportunities are all intriguing and promptly end in bloodshed, expect angst and discussions of what is moral, also just so much angst holy shit this shit hurts.

「I Eat Boys Up」: Dungeon Meshi, Labru, Fork!Laios and Cake!Labru. I'm thinking post canon by accident, maybe something like sharing utensils, and I'm going to be so fr with you right now, this story coming from me would be a lot of romanticism through food metaphors and unending smut, feral Laios is my equivalent of heroin and I could imagine him describing Kabru's taste in detail to him while eating him out. But if smut isn't your jam, exploring how Laios and his monster obsession, especially in the form of food, as someone who can't taste would be intriguing, in a story so closely tied to food, you have to wonder how it would all change if the main character couldn't even taste. Also, I doubt Kabru would take the knowledge of him being essentially prey well, so there's that bag of worms to go into if you want.

「Blame Gluttony」: This one is purely self indulgent but like, Re:Zero with any ship, Cake! Subaru and Fork!anyone else. Imagine Subaru's world doesn't have this Cakeverse nonsense at all, but the world he's transported to has, imagine how scary it would be that one loop he suddenly finds out that he's essentially universal prey here (maybe in the second loop with Elsa), imagine the weight of all the things that already are trying to kill him along with the fact that he's also got a new thing to worry about? Maybe instead of just the rabbit loop, there's now multiple loops where Subaru is eaten alive, maybe there's loops where his dear friends themselves are eating him. Can you imagine if Emilia was a Fork? If he found out after the kiss of death and she commented on the taste of his lips as he was dying, if it came up again after their kiss, Subaru having to tackle with his love and heart belonging to someone that would one day eat him whole. Imagine the witch not longer just wants to touch his heart or kiss him, but she also bites him when he tries to tell the secret. Imagine maybe Rem is also a Fork, imagine that his death by her hands also involved her tearing into him chunk by chunk. What if Otto was a Fork, what if Reinhard was one? Seriously all the opportunities are equally traumatizing and I'm living for it!

Honorable mentions include: Persona Shuake and Shuada (Fork!Protags and Cake!Detectives) for the optimal mutual murder extravaganza, Okegom DSP Satanivlis (Fork!Ivlis and Cake!Satanick) for a rare case of role swapping, South Park Kyman (any way works tbh) for mutually assured destruction, Slay the Princess (Fork!Princess and Cake!Birb) because themes, Soukouku (Fork!Dazai and Cake!Chuuya) for making canon even worse than it already is, frankly any investigrave game would be peak here, Hannigram for obvious reasons.

But that's all I have for now, so, what have we learned here?

We learned that: I'm mentally ill and you need to write about the Cakeverse NOW.

[tls12lessthan3]

what i think each member of kimcom would post about if they were on tumblr:

kim dokja: incredibly obvious. he runs the single dedicated twsa fan blog in existence, which is interspersed with his commentary on other webnovels he's read and his ongoing feud with the sssss infinite regressor official tumblr

han sooyoung: has a media team which technically run the sssss infinite regressor official tumblr but logs into it occasionally to answer hate mail from that one guy. otherwise considers herself too cool for tumblr

yoo joonghyuk: wrong type of chronically online for tumblr but i could see him having a cooking blog or alternatively a blog thats an extension of his gaming career

yoo sangah: literature blog with analysis and aesthetic quotes she mostly reblogs from others, with some feminist theory that always seems to pop up right after a conversation with han myungoh

shin yoosoung: cute pictures of animals on her main with a dedicated demon king of salvation fan side blog

lee gilyoung: cool photos of bugs with terrifying bug facts on his man and what he proclaims is an even more dedicated demon king of salvation fan side blog

lee jihye: i feel like she would be really into the fandom side of tumblr, either with jdj shipping or with a wlw ship that reminds her of herself + na bori

lee hyunsung: no real theme, literally only reblogs other peoples stuff from blogs he thinks are cool (and of course everything from the other members of kimcom :) )

jung heewon: infinitely too cool for tumblr i fear

han myungoh: shitty porn blog that gets deleted and replaced with a mommy blog when he has his daughter

gong pildu: landlords rights activist blog

jang hayoung: yet another demon king of salvation fan blog. i also think she would treat her main as her diary and talk about every little thing. she has so many mutuals and is always doing ask games with them :)

[erriga]

THE QUARANTINE QUERY

(tl dr I didn't vibe with the demo for some silly and not so silly reasons)

Welcome to my special post where I will try to explain my personal problems with Quarantine and the general creative and narrative direction the next game seems to be heading towards. I decided to write a longer text instead of a couple of bullet points, because one does not simply write a thesis about a game just to later complain about it in a sarcastically laconic tone.

Things this essay is going to be:

my opinion/critique

an analysis

a reflection upon my feelings about the series in general

Things this essay is not going to be:

an angry rant about the new game in the spirit of they changed it so now it sucks

an attempt to prove that old pathologic = smart and new pathologic = stupid

Ok, with the disclaimers out of the way, let's get into it, and by it I mean levels of pretentious nerdiness unknown to many.

I wrote down four statements that describe my general feelings about the demo. They will serve as a frame of reference for what my critique will fundamentally touch upon instead of trying to fit every possible complaint I might have in a disjointed fashion. Here they are:

I feel like Quarantine expects me to:

Consider Dankovsky to be a specific Character in a specific Story

Believe Dankovsky has an internal world that can be mechanically represented in the ludo-narrative

Find said internal world to be compelling enough to let it filter the whole experience of the game

(presumably) emotionally connect with Dankovsky due to all of the above

If all this sounds confusing - good! Keep reading, it's going to get even better.

So, is Daniil a character?

Yes, of course he is. But what does it mean in the context of the original game compared to Pathologic 2 and now Quarantine?

Over the years I've come across vastly different opinions about the quality of character writing in the original Pathologic. I am not including complaints about the English translations or other technical aspects, just the most basic tendency of how the game portrays its characters. Most people I've seen who have passionately engaged with the game (including me) tend to describe the original game's characterizations as nuanced, complex and strangely realistic despite their rather theatrical tendencies. But I've also heard others say the exact opposite. That the characters don't feel like real people at all, their personalities are incoherent and fall flat due to a lack of consistency, and that every single one of them, from an old man to a literal toddler, falls back on the same pseudo-philosophical cadence, which while attempting to make them seem deeper ends up dehumanizing them even further. And even though those two opinions seem to be contradictory, I think that they are both the exact same reason why the writing of the original game captivates me so much. Because it doesn't really matter.

I wrote my thesis about the brechtian influences in Classic. One of the most characteristic aspects of the Epic Theatre is the attempt to remove illusions typical to traditional theatre, among which is the illusion of a character's psychology. I believe that you can absolutely argue that the characters in patho 1 were designed to behave like Brecht's characters - lacking internal psychology, mainly serving as mouthpieces for political and philosophical arguments, more so types than individuals. But here's the catch - I believe it's actually impossible to create a character completely immune to identification, because we as humans love to project our silly little emotions on pretty much anything, including animals and inanimate objects. Compared to those cases, Gorkhon's gallery of strange individuals is a painfully human display. So it's no wonder that many of us did indeed relate to those weirdos, just like nothing can possibly stop an audience member from identifying with Mother Courage or Galileo in Brecht's play. But the fact still remains that none of those characters were designed with this kind of simple emotional identification in mind and thus the attachment we may feel to them is more of a byproduct than the main goal. Taking a character who was meant to be analytically pondered and instead adopting them as a breathing human being is in that case, almost an act of rebellion. It's like saying, this is mine now.

Coming back to Daniil, this lack of clarity of how much he was written with this sort of characterization in mind is the main reason why I found him so compelling, he always kept me asking: is this part of Daniil as a coherent whole or is it just a philosophical stance which I should ponder at this moment or is it the writer's attempt at predicting what the player (presumably a straight male player) may want to say through this character? Does Daniil say "wow" because that's how he speaks, or is it just an oversight? Am I supposed to treat optional dialogue as things he would say or just things that are sometimes said in his world? The point is I DON'T KNOW and I love that I don't know that! It gives me so many posibilities! To me Daniil's character isn't so much about what he exactly says or does, but rather the internal logic that guides him. And I am the one who can choose its exact mechanism. He is mine.

Meanwhile, I feel like Quarantine wants me to treat Dankovsky like I would treat most other characters in traditional/popular media. Here are his personality traits. He is intelligent, he says so himself, and that lady over there also said it and he knows science and formulas and speaks Latin. Here are his thoughts. He has a memory about this thing. He feels guilty about that. I suddenly have a whole army of simple sentences that are meant to help me umderstand Daniil in this new iteration. Not so much a puzzle but a construction manual. And I'm not saying that this way of storytelling is fundamentally bad just because I can parody it as simpler than it really is. I want to engage with the new game's writing on it's own terms but so far I haven't done that mostly due to the giant dankovsky shaped object blocking the view.

Speaking of-

THE BACHELOR-CENTRIC MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE

This demo is so much about Dankovsky that it almost makes me embarrassed in his name. And honestly, I'm surprised I feel that way, considering how much I usually enjoy stories where a character's perception shapes the narrative to a great extent. I love symbolic dream sequences, guilt-driven visions and unreliable narrators. But the way Daniil's perception of himself and his surroundings doesn't really feel like a service to him as a character, but rather a narrative shorthand to spoonfeed me, the player, the most relevant information. The way Daniil's thoughts appear around objects is realistic to the extent that yes, human thoughts can be often rather simple and disjointed but there are moments where I think this mental streamlining is detrimental to his characterization and rubs him of nuance. The worst culprits of that are (IN MY OPINION):

Him calling Eva a ray of sunshine

The part where he references the fact that he and Artemy always fight about whose methods are better

Any time Daniil or someone around him refers to him as especially intelligent

Mr Little's Special Tutorial Perspective or Please Daniil Explain This To Me Once Again

None of those ideas are fundamentally bad, not at all. I'm curious to see his relationship with Eva develop, I want to see him interact with Artemy more like they did in the original, I can see some great ironic potential in the constant hyping up of Daniil's intellect and yeah, I hope Yakov is revealed to be some secret government agent or something. But I'm annoyed that I feel like I can predict all of this from just a couple of lines in the demo. I want to be confused and unsure of my own judgement. I want to be proven wrong, surprised, and ashamed of my own surface level analysis. And that can still very much happen, perhaps even in the comments on this very post or once the full games comes out. But right now I feel rather pessimistic.

I don't have a good segue for this part so now let's talk mechanics.

PRESS B TO EAT A CIGARRETE

The new mechanics try to break away from the body-first focus of the original game and the way Pathologic 2 expanded on those ideas even further. This time it's all about the mind, baby. Which - again - on itself isn't a bad idea. If this game was just 2 with different dialogues it would be very hard to justify its existence as a stand-alone product that needed to somehow be funded over those last 6 years. But the result to me feels more like novelty for novelty's sake. Not everything of course - the diagnosis part of the gameplay is definitely its most well-designed aspect, and there is a consistent logic behind it. Where Artemy saw systems, Daniils sees individual parts, where Artemy had to rely on luck, Daniil controls all the variables etc etc. The same, however, cannot be said about some of the other new mechanics.

Managing Daniil's mental state doesn't feel that much different than making sure Artemy drinks enough water and I personally think it's a wasted opportunity. I'm not going to insert myself into the discussion about whether the game's use of terms associated with bipolar disorder is accurate/tasteful because other people with relevant experiences have already voiced their opinions about that and will hopefully continue to do so in the future. My point is - regardless of what exact mental condition or more general function of the human psyche the game is trying to convey, it does so in a manner so simplistic that it doesn't encourage me as a player to connect with it on a deeper level. Apathy is blue because it's sad, Mania means, well, mania so it's red. Once again, I have only experienced a small portion of the game's final system so I might be in for a surprise and perhaps I will get to see Daniil experience something... purple?

Also adding to my previous point about switching perspectives - I think this mechanic will be an absolute gut punch in the final game. I hope it's something akin to the original meeting with the Powers That Be, especially with the way multiple characters can "jump" into one conversation at any moment. This will surely be utilized for some mind-fuckery and I can't wait to see it. I think this is also the one aspect of the demo that gives me the most hope as far as my beloved emotional confusion is concerned. Because what is the switching of perspectives supposed to indicate really? Are we supposed to filter it once again through Daniil's perspective because of the framing device of him recollecting the events? So nothing we learn by getting the insight into other characters' thoughts can be taken at face value because that's just how Daniil sees them? Are those other/new characters even real or just exist in Daniil's psyche? Does it have something to do with the time travel blahblah? Or are we not playing as Daniil at all but some other entity entirely? That's the main question I hope I don't get a clear answer to but rather contradicting paths to follow. But despite that optimistic outlook I still need to get into the final aspect that made it difficult for me to engage with the new game on its own terms, and instead deciding to take its dead corpse apart.

I CARE TOO MUCH BUT NOT ENOUGH

I just can't get over the fact how much this game wants me to identify with Daniil or at the very least find him cool. Cool as in how modern characters are often cool. Wet cats, chaotic bastards, jerks with hearts of gold and vaguely homoerotic energy with other male characters. And I'm not saying this as an insult, narrative trends are a thing, I find many of those archetypes to be endearing more often than not, but my problem is that it still only serves Dankovsky as our center of the world. By flanderizing him and making him fit into a more recognizable character archetype we lose the feeling of him being always at odds with the world around him, the way he used to be conflicted over every single thing in the original game. This new world is too suited for him to be a hero of his story, a tragic hero but a hero nonetheless, while in my opinion what made him uniquely tragic in classic was precisely the fact that he wasn't anyone's hero.

I know this constant comparison to patho classic can get tiring, so let me use another point of reference which is also the reason why I am even writing this post in the first place - The Marble Nest. I love the marble nest. I find its narrative structure to be expertly crafted, emotional beats placed in just the right places and godd i still cry over the fact that they put his soul into a nutshell. And the funny thing is that TMN does share a lot of similarities with the new demo. It's a Daniil-centric story with a framing device that encourages us to look at the entire experience as Daniil's impression of the reality around him. It's a short and rather simple experience with a strong central theme. So why do I feel so emotional when Daniil talks to the death in that game but feel pretty much nothing when he talk about dying in Quarantine? Maybe because The Marble Nest is still steeped so deeply in the theatre influences which I hold dear to my heart while Quarantine moves away from them and maybe towards another medium entirely. Theatre never pretends to be reality and it's artificiality is always front and center. Film meanwhile often has the tendency to try to replicate reality or even try to be reality itself. In one of those cases I feel like an active audience member and in the other like a passive voyeur of some vision of reality. Or to put it simply, in one case I am afraid of Death and in the other, I am watching someone act out being afraid of death. That is a highly personal preference though and I'm genuinely happy to see that many people do indeed relate to this portrayal of Daniil, especially when it comes to how his mental problems are displayed front and center. And that's amazing! I want to see all the fan input that comes out of it and I hope the final game delivers on everything they hope for. But for me? I think I might need to take a back seat, at least for now. Watch the scene from afar, perhaps get a fuller picture. Because I want to care and understand and know and feel. I really do. But sometimes it's not possible and that's also good.

So, if you've read this overwritten mess to the end, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and encourage you to voice your opinion. Art doesn't exist without discussion so let's discuss!

POST-SCRIPTUM - ON THE NATURE OF MAKING GOOD THINGS IN YOUR PAST

One last thing I wanted to add which feels highly relevant to the my critique is the question of what to do when someone says they liked your old work better? I like to think of myself as an artist and I think that many of us do, even without getting into how according to Beuys everyone is an artist. So you make a thing, some people like, perhaps many people do. So you keep making things, you grow with them, change, realize your old ideas were often childish or naive which you can only do through gaining experience. So you make new things, often drastically different from the ones you made before. And someone says "I liked the old stuff better". And they don't say it as an insult, even though it may sometimes feel like it. Because you cannot recreate whatever you did in your past. And you want to grow. Does that mean that you got worse instead? That you peaked in your past and it's all downhill from here? Of course not. You know that. I know that. I hope every artist knows that. And yet it still hurts. It hurts to be perceived as a line graph when in reality you are a recursive function.

----

all images made by me, the ones with yellow background are from a shitpost animatic, the white one was a joke I made after hearing the famous"sherlock mind palace fruit ninja" pitch, and the last one is me in my Daniil cosplay. Goodnight Bikini Bottom

[parasolladyansy]

Link's hand is an interesting question. There are multiple distinct possibilities.

Something that can't happen is link getting Rauru's arm. He wasn't there to give it to link, and as such link would still have his dead arm.

So that leaves Arceus with these options:

Leave it

Heal it

Give Link a new arm.

Leaving it be is an interesting option. It would leave some questions, namely "WTF happened" on the end of Galaxy team, since Link's arm would be a burnt, scarred, unusable mess. Also, Most Links have been left handed, It'd be an interesting premise if this one went left handed because of necessity.

Healing it outright would be an option, although you'd run into the problem of "why does he not use it" and "What happened to the malice/gloom" Link got severely crippled by Ganondorf, and even with Rauru's arm, he still suffered the effects (namely, the missing 17 hearts) Arceus being able to just fix his arm like that would leave you with the question "why does he not just recover the gloomed strength too?" since both were the effect of Ganon, it would be weird for Arceus to do one but not the other. Rauru got around that dilemma by outright removing and Replacing Link's arm.

Which brings us to option 3, Arceus makes a new arm for Link. This one would be neat because of the same reason Rauru's arm was. Link got a completely new arm from someone, In TOTK, Rauru sacrificed his own, Arceus can't (or more likely Won't) do that, since it'd be more a hoof. So Arcy'd have to design one for link.

For that design We'd have to look at Arceus themselves, Rauru's arm, and the Arc phone.

Arceus has two skin types, The white stuff, and the black stuff. with the black stuff being mostly undersides, where regular animals would have white fur that indicate their "weak spots" (picture of fox attached as reference.)

Furthermore, Arceus and the things it designs (see, Arc phone) are marred with gold and green highlights.

I imagine that the armor bit would consist of more straight, sleek, interconnected lines, like you see on the Spacetime trio, Of course that would be made of Arceus's golden bits. With Arcy's Sigil Where the big circle thing is on the back of link's hand. The arm itself would be white, with gold or emerald green nails, no visible blood vessels, and be mostly white on the top, and black on the palms and bottom of fingers, base of the wrist (again the bottom) and elbow pit. (See pic below, I marked the areas I'd put black bits in red. The rest would be white)

It'd still be super weird which is why Link would probably hide it from the paranoid villagers.

Hmmm! OuO! This is a well thought-out analysis.

I had similar thoughts about the “Arc-Arm” route, though couldn’t figure out how to make it look good, you know? I actually had some more ideas as I was drawing Link - just gotta sketch them out. Certainly will think about what you said, too.

It’s interesting - at first I was like “of course Arceus would heal / replace poor Link’s arm”, but then I had the thought of how it’d be if it was still crippled (Rauru said it was a life-threatening condition, but maybe the Galaxy Team medical corps would be able to treat him, whether by amputation or at least address the life-threatening part). It would give him more of a reason to rely on his Pokémon (I HC he’s ambidextrous, but favors his right), & maybe it would help endear him to the Galaxy Team or the villagers like “the poor boy (ignoring Link is in his 20’s now lol), wild Pokémon must’ve done that”.

However, I think I really do favor the “Arc-Arm” option. Like functionally, it can do the more mystical stuff the Arc Phone can (eg. open the Lake Trio’s caves) while maybe the Purah Pad (that he gets back in a similar way he did in TotK, minus the Construct) can do the more technical functions (eg. the digital map of Hisui).

Cool stuff!

[giantbonfirestars]

Analysis (+Headcanons/theories) I have based on this video

So it's already made abundantly clear that this is centered around Season 4 Emerald Secret

And I am very certain that this is what Aphmau experienced while under the effects of the Forever potion.

She could, somewhat, hear things going on in the real world. Whether it be Aaron's voice or her own voice. Plus there were the occasional visions of what was going on.

And even when she didn't see it, she knew what was going on out there too. Which we see in the prison scene when Aphmau comes across Aaron locked away in the prison cell.

This would also explain why Aaron disappeared immediately after. Because Aaron is not in this little Limbo world. He can't do anything there because he is not there. That was simply an image conjured up by Aphmau's mind, or possibly the world itself as a form of playing tricks on her mind.

It also follows along with what was already confirmed back in Season 4 about those under the effects of a potion being aware of what was really happening.

My specific theory/headcanon is that this is a sort of limbo like world where anyone under the effects of the forever potion goes. Or at least the mindcontrol kind (aka not the type used on Tatiana). Which is also why we see Zane and a few other people there.

Zane was very clearly for a long time to the point where he was forgetting things and isn't quite sure how long he was there other than the fact that it had been a while. And Zane was the first person of the three that season to be put under the effects of the forever potion. He was under the effects for a couple days.

The whole wife and kids thing? Well the kid did say that she actually doesn't have a dad. Maybe it was just Zane's imagination trying for some last attempt, desperate grasp at something that could be considered normal before he lost his mind entirely?

(I'd also like to think that when he was knocked unconscious it helped break down some of those walls keeping him from reality which is where we get that scene of him and Garroth in the woods until he is cured and freed which is why we don't ever see him again after that in this video.)

Then there were also the other people who we could see wandering around the place. They are people also under the effects of a forever potion, just not the one's be Ein of course. Peebs/Ollie (the blonde guy) was acting deranged, the same way Zane was starting to, so he was likely there for a long time as well. Probably even longer. Even the kid was acting a bit crazed. And slowly as the video went on, Aphmau started to act a bit more crazy-like and forget things as well.

Then what is very clearly people all zipped up and crawling around like monsters?

People who have already been fully affected by the forever potion. Once the effect becomes permanent, this is what becomes of them. When they are free and moving around, they are still technically able to escape if they are able to figure it out. But like this they are confined. They slowly lose themselves until they break, leaving themselves permanently trapped.

It is made very clear throughout the video that Aphmau is under the effects of the forever potion as well since, not only is she hearing things from only when she was under during Emerald Secret, but also when she looked in the mirror her eyes were green for a moment. Another peek at reality.

We see multiple of these peaks at reality. The voices. The green eyes. The snow. The bandana. The jacket. Every single scene on the mountain where she sees Aaron for a moment but not herself.

This is also clearly happening to the other people. For example when we see the stabbed man hanging out of the fridge and Peebs/Ollie is acting a bit crazy again trying to claim his innocence. I honestly think that's someone he unwillingly killed due to the forever potion.

There is still of course the possibility that this is all centered around Aphmau's consciousness and not a joint limbo. For example the kid constantly accusing Aphmau of hurting someone, being a monster. Peebs/Ollie attempting to stab her using a knife eerily similar to the one she stabbed Aaron with.

I still like to think that it is a joint limbo. But it is a place meant to torture them, even if it means torturing each other. Which is why they seemed to act one way one moment and then act differently another.

Besides, doesn't the whole walking around an abandoned place, places involving/tied to Aaron, places that feel strangely familiar, remind you of anything?

Once Aphmau reached the island that was laid out like the woods and cabin she traveled while under Ein's control, her outfit is changed to look like the one from Season 4 Emerald Secret. Another bit of reality bleeding through.

And as these blips of reality bleed through, they all pile on top of one another. She's in the clothes she changed into, her eyes are green, she's in the cabin and by the cliff side, she has the knife, she's hunting down looking for Aaron. The door even gets destroyed by the monster to the exact same way it was when Aphmau kicked Aaron through it back in season 4. Aaron backing up towards the edge as Aphmau gets closer.

And then she sees herself.

Everything has aligned perfectly and reality is clear again. No more blips, no more possibilities, just what was really happening this entire time.

We are confirmed that Aphmau is in some sort of mindscape when we see Forever Potion Aphmau point to her head and say "You've always been here. Right here."

Then of course we get the whole "In this world he never came back. Did he?"

So this version she sees. This is not technically her. This is a version of Aphmau where Irene never saved Aaron, where she was trapped with Ein forever. She became one of the monsters.

My theory that this what original Aphmau saw still stands despite this major lore drop at the very end. The version of Aphmau we've been watching is both of these women the difference comes at the end, when they are finally two separate people. The Aphmau we see through the eyes of continues on and is freed. The other Aphmau is trapped forever.

This version still exists even after Aphmau is freed. We see it in Season 6 When Angels Fall when Micheal reactivates that magic.

Because a forever potion isn't meant to be cured or broken out of. It is meant to last FOREVER. This version of Aphmau will always exist now. The two will forever share a mind. Only now they have traded places. One living her life freely in the outside world. The other trapped in her own mind.

Sorry if this doesn't make any sense, I'm not quite sure how to explain all of my thoughts

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

got any silly voxval headcannons? (Maybe velvette too idk)

like for example who cooks out of the three of them

Of course you can <3 I'm a really angsty girlie so I don't know how silly they actually are but there you go:

None of them can cook, but that's not really a problem for Vox and Velvette. Vox could survive on plain bread and black coffee for eternity, while Velvette could eat only candies. Val, on the other hand, is the ultimate hedonist. He's all about the tasty, full-fat fast food or gourmet stuff, and he's always pushing for takeout. Come on, guys, we're fucking rich, let's order something. Sure, they could hire someone to cook for them, but Vox is too paranoid to let an outsider near their food. He's still on the hunt for a chef who can match Val's extravagant tastes and is willing to sign off soul. If they had to pick someone to cook, Vox would probably be the best bet since he's the only one who can actually follow a recipe.

Velvette is the smartest when it comes to managing finances. Vox technically doesn't like to waste money but he has a taste for luxurious stuff, he can't resist an expensive car, fucking show-off. Valentino basically burns money on every useless shit he likes, I bet those crystals he badazzled his gun with were real diamons.

Velvette helps Val maintain his fluff, and he styles her hair. It's a cute little trade-off they've got going on.

Valentino has a habit of breaking electronic devices and downloading malware. Vox hates him for it.

Vox can easily go 72h without sleep, fueled by coke and rage. Valentino occasionally drugs his coffee to put him down to sleep, because after 68th hour all electronics in the tower starts malfunctioning.

Val used to be a full-time performer, but now he's more like a RuPaul—lending his face to the brand and only occasionally gracing the stage. But every time he does perform, Vox makes sure to be there front and center.

Their schedules are very incompatible and they have to spend a lot of time managing their businesses but they have weekly appointments to do catch up and discuss strategy. Those are usually very unserious, they end up hitting the bong and playing Mario Cart.

There was this one time Vox tried hitting on Velvette because she's totally his type. It was awkward as hell, and they both agreed to never speak of it again. Valentino has no idea about it.

Valentino would really want to have a dog but Vox really likes dogs so he doesn't allow him to get one by imposing strict anti-pet policy in the tower.

Val knows all of Vox's and Velvette's kinks and sometimes produces custom porn for them as gifts.

As much as they love spending time together, Val and Velvette can't stand watching TV with Vox because he gets overly emotional and doesn't allow to skip commercials because he enjoys them

Vox occasionally invites Val to be a guest judge on reality shows, which always skyrockets ratings but sometimes ends nasty for the contestants.

Val's obsessed with textures, especially nice fabrics. Give him a nice fluffy blanket and he will shut up for 15 minutes fixated on touching it.

Vox, with his business and strategic management degree, sometimes tries to pitch these ideas to Velvette and Valentino, he's like Guys, have you considered using the BCG matrix? Ever heard of SWOT analysis? We should discuss KPIs. They mock him relentlessly for it.

Val once tried putting drag makeup on Vox's face, and let's just say the result was... less than glamorous.

During their honeymoon phase, Vox and Val fucked everywhere. At first, Velvette found it amusing, but eventually, she grew to hate it. She finally snapped when she found out they'd fucked on the dinner table and she set it on fire.

Val "secretly" ghostwrote some trashy smut novels (they are absolutely horrible, worst Wattpad shit you could dig out). Vox secretly bought and read every single one, finding plenty of references to himself along the way.

Vox loves it when Val wears stripper platforms, even though it makes their height difference even more ridiculous.

Valentino's wardrobe takes two entire rooms and still expands. Vox doesn't know how to stop it.

Vox owns a few lingerie sets, only because Val loses his fucking mind whenever he wears them. Velvette designed them herself and keeps photos of Vox wearing them as blackmail material, just in case.

[starheirxero]

Theories and/or scenarios for killcode? Im hungry for it 👀

HAJAHAJSHISHWJD IM!!!! SO GLAD YOU ASKED bc honestly I had a period of time where I put a lottt of thought into KC for the purpose of blending him into my fix-it au!!! I'm gunna treat these asks as one bc tbh I'm just bad at distinguishing the two BSJABDJD

Ahem ahem. adjusts tie. I'm gunna start off with lil one-off headcanons and then I'm gunna delve into deeper thoughts and analysis.

I think the reason KC talks with such a deep, slow drawl is due to the fact that he was never meant to be a person + he specifically formed through being pushed down over and over. Due to the fact he was never meant to speak or think or exist, his vocal processing is slower and harder to force out compared to others who were actually programmed with it.

I've never drawn KC like this bc I've never properly put it to paper, but I think KC's early lava theming was everything. I love to imagine early KC with a red-orange-yellow-black color scheme, but as he changes, he quite literally "cools down", his color palette turning into an obsidian purple-grey-black scheme instead.

Tbhhh I used to be an it/its KC truther but I realized he's probably not the type to own the "I'm an object, a force of nature" vibe. I moved my it/its tsams truthing to Solar Flare <3

Okay I'm gunna go theory/analysis mode so I'm gunna put the rest under a cut bc I know it's gunna get long LOL

Ahem. Ahem. I have broken down how the kill code manifests in all the characters who have it and what that means for them.

I'm, of course, going to focus on KC! However, it's important going forward to note the 3 major ways I've noted the kill code manifests: through the need for death, the need for injury, and the need for disorder. There is more nuance, but that's how I've mostly boiled it down! Then, beyond that, these urges can either be tamed, quelled, or ignored.

KC is an example of the need for disorder, but not death or injury! He's said before that he doesn't desire the bloodshed, merely "the thrill." (Sources here and here) This also applies to why he treats people like pawns rather than people! He manipulates them to get the thrill of control, of being intimidating enough to make people listen rather than fight back.

However, notably, KC is also an example of someone with ignorable code urges. So ignorable, in fact, that he just... stops. He literally just decides to stop being evil! Not even Moon could do that, who is the only other person with ignorable urges. Moon could ignore them, yes, but it took monumental amounts of effort and he was very prone to caving if something went slightly wrong.

(I'm... not including Eclipse in this because he is a thorn in my side the moment he comes into the picture with the kill code. He's dubious as fuck and if I touch on that, this post won't be about KC anymore 😭)

This detail has always deeply fascinated me because... why? Why is it that those derived from him can be so powerless to the code, while he himself was able to walk away so easily? Now admittedly I never actually came up with a fully-baked reason when I first came up with all this, however! These are my impromptu theories from least to most plausible:

Because so many people stemmed from him, it sort of "chipped away" at certain parts of the code that left him as a technically incomplete version of the code. [Iffy bc isn't part of the kill code that it would "regrow" when taken apart?]

Because he is the kill code, rather than someone living with it. It could potentially be that being the direct source has a different effect than having it woven into you. [Maybe, but then it'd beg the question of why "direct source" vs "added-in" makes such a difference. Could potentially explain why Eclipse is also not as violent bc he's also directly the code split off?]

Because his ass didn't change!!! That this was another facet of his manipulation craving!!! We never saw him after his redemption so do we really know if he wasn't doing kind things with the intend to get more praise, more power, more respect? His intent matters still, just because he was feeding the poor doesn't mean he wasn't smug that so many humans were dependent on him. [This is honestly what I lean for, I just didn't know how to put it into words until now LMAO]

When I used to subscribe to more dadcode headcanons, I used to wonder of he'd endure shitty humans whispering behind his back about how scary he looks, how it's suspicious, but they wouldn't actually know anything. He'd just feel scared because they're skirting too close to the truth.

Now though? I think he'd find that to be the perfect opportunity to lean into their fear, to do something right then and there that'll make them shriek and flinch back. Like. I genuinely don't know why he'd be able to just, flip on a dime! I think he worked a soup kitchen to have people to control and be respected. I think he made friends so he could have a disposal of people to do what he wants. I think he'd get a thrill out of all the humans around him being intimidated by his presence—his red eyes, his claws, his toothy smile.

That idea is also a very big basis of KC in my previously mentioned fix-it au!! Because when he reunites with Bloodmoon, it's not a sweet father-son moment. KC, subconsciously, still views Bloodmoon as the perfect and most loyal tool! So, he immediately falls back into promises of comfort and glory through telling them "stop eating. look at me, i've ignored my code this long and been fine, no? your hunger will go away eventually. the pain will go away. stop eating."

I just. augrhegrhegr. I honestly adore KC's potential he's so fascinating to me. what's wrong with him!!!!!!

[sapionic]

Chrisean Rock and Blueface Synastry

I am going to do a Synastry chart reading or analysis for blueface and ChriSean Rock and I'm already seeing how Chrisean was in the situation she was in with a blueface and just being involved with all these extra people besides him.

Chrisean has Three placements in blueface's 11th house. She has sun in his 10th house. So that is probably why she was so smitten because of that 10th house sun influence.

But she has Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in the 11th house of his chart. Which also makes sense how she met him by being on his show and then she has Mars and Jupiter in the 11th house as well With Venus and Mercury in his ninth house. So that's why it seemed like he was The complete opposite from her.

not only does he have Mars in his fourth house natally, his Mars is in her fourth house So that could be the whole Close chemistry that kept them together despite having such distant Synastry + the baby.

even though they were pretty close when they were together.. Spiritually there was still some distance there. like the chemistry was There but in a different way

Because again, she has Mercury and Venus in his ninth house So he was distant towards her/still technically independent in his eyes. He still was acting like he was single and with her Mars Jupiter Saturn being in his 11th house, That's why she was in a third-party situation with Jaidyn and the whole family situation… and just everything getting blown out of proportion.

then we can always look at the planetary aspects with the Synastry chart in general

so when it comes to how their planets interact with one another, of course these two have an Ascendant conjunction which could be why it seemed like they're not helping each other grow. They both are giving off late degree Gemini rising influence and if you really know how to Study a rising sign energy then you would understand why I am going with this but even if you don't understand why I'm going with this, that is what I'm going with and the Ascendant conjunction could be more than enough influence to make people be strongly drawn to each other.

You know, it could be hard for these two people to pull away from each other. her sun squares his ascendant So she's not technically Perfection in his eyes basically and this could just show up as a lot of different things such as why she falls in his 11th house and not his 1st or 2nd, but with Mars square and Sun, that's a lot of Complex energy, but they can also create that weird Fiery passion between them as well. Like there's some complexity here, but it's causing a bit of arousal and then her ascendant is conjunct his moon

This could show up as Emotions clearly coming to the surface which we did see a lot. mainly with her though because with blue face His Mars and moon is square and his Mars is in the fourth house, so he didn't really want to show or present his emotions

Meanwhile, Chrisean's moon aspects allows her to freely show her emotions Especially when she's communicating.

that is where her emotions show the most. What's interesting is that her Venus trines his moon. So they had some type of emotional connection with this. then her sun is squaring his moon But the Venus trine moon can be more than enough for an unbreakable bond.

Okay, her moon opposes his Venus, but Her Venus trines his moon so it's like That's what that's kind of what caused his nonchalant reactions to her emotional outbursts. He dont like all that wild emotional stuff or the way she shows it on her end.

that moon and Venus connection plays a strong role w/ their stubbornness when it comes to pulling away from each other.

That creates like a really nice chemistry flow and that's more than enough for people to not want to let that go right away especially With any fourth house synastry.

so again his Mars is in her fourth house. So she was providing him with indoor activity basically and that could you know translate to family or just some type of domestication if it wasn't like a baby and stuff like that, but basically she's meant to Be connected to him in a way where there's frequent Interaction because her north node is in his second house. So it's like she's meant to be involved with him basically and he's meant to provide her with a sense of family with his north note in her fourth house.

But looking at the Davidson chart which is technically the chart for their relationship Let's take a look At what is showing up for them So when it comes to their relationship, they have two placements in the third house which is sun & Mercury and it's in Leo.

They have a second house Venus. they did get money together But Venus in a second house also could be like the whole You know display of affection and just the whole touchy-feely Type of thing.

Like how we seen that Chrisean just couldn't keep her hands off him and maybe he couldn't keep his hands off her as well It's just that Chrisean being heavy in Pisces energy. She was more Sensitive to the synastry. So it's like she showed more of the effects.

But they both have a cancer moon. So what's interesting is that they both separately have a cancer moon in the first house And they also have it in their Davison chart.

the Sun and Mercury are in third house It's like they enjoy each other's company so much.

Connection makes them both feel young. it's enjoyable and they have a light-hearted energy to it So things was flowing a lot and very high maintenance with a lot of 2nd and third house energy.

Venus and mars both in a second house. This makes this connection Very high maintenance. very close knit. that's why you always see them both together a lot because when you have this type of like Make up in your synastry chart,This means that you guys are gonna be almost inseparable.

I'm surprised there aren't any fourth house placements in the Davison chart. They do have Virgo there, but it's at the fifth degree too. So it's like it wasn't and isn't the perfect Domestic situation, but you know, they do have Virgo there.

So that in itself can kind of tell you that something tangible will come from this connection And of course Mercury is in Leo. Okay So that's a Sun based type of thing and of course they have Sun in the third house So it's like it's a Sun based type of relationship It's light-hearted and child-like!

So when it comes to their domestic life, it's ruled by Mercury and Mercury is conjunct Sun so overall they have a pretty happy, active,potent, loud, domestic life and It's very interactive- very stimulating for them both and that is the only aspect Mercury makes so

You know, it's not necessarily bad or good. It's just more so how to utilize the energy

[alexglitches]

Li Jing's Parenting Analysis

A parenting analysis for Li Jing!

I know the seasons been out for a while now, but still putting it under the cut for spoilers

Okay, third analysis about Li Jing, and this time, it’s about his parenting style.

One thing people seem to dislike about him is the way he treats Nezha, despite being his father, and the common argument from people who dislike him is that he is an abusive father, which actually isn’t the case at all.

Sure, there may be some neglect on Li Jing’s part sprinkled around, but that’s more of him just focusing on his job rather than being intentionally abusive.

Parenting in Chinese culture is very different in western culture, and I believe that LMK Li Jing is a well written representation of said parenting skills.

In Chinese culture, parents are all about encouraging their kids to improve and do better, but they don’t praise their children for it, instead they would say something along the lines of “this is good, but you could do better”.

Because of this, and due to culture clash, many westerners believe that the parenting skills of parents in Asia, especially in China, could be considered abuse, and while there are many factors that can make this type of parenting as abuse, this isn’t necessarily the case for most families.

Li Jing’s parenting falls in line with this style of harsh parenting, the type of parent that wouldn’t praise their child, and will sometimes take the opposite side of their child in a fight, however, the Chinese style of parenting is much more “actions speak louder than words”. While Li Jing won’t expressly tell Nezha how he feels, he will show it in little ways (example, Li Jing putting his hand on Nezha’s shoulder, as well as his small smile at the end of the season).

And on the topic of Li Jing and Nezha’s moment with Li Jing telling Nezha how proud he was of him, I think I should bring up how stressful situations bring out the truth in people. And it was especially stressful for those two, because not only was Li Jing put through a ringer of emotions with switching sides and finally understanding what Mk and the others were doing, the world was also about to end, so of course he’d want to get in his final words to his son and how much he was proud of him and his work.

Abuse is much more complex than just ‘this parent doesn’t treat their child right’. There’s a lot of things that go into what abuse is and how it affects everyone. Li Jing was in a stressful situation, the world was ending, he was acting as the Jade Emperor at the time, and he had no idea what the full story behind it all was since Nezha actively kept said information from him. We have no idea how Li Jing acts outside of this stressful situation, so we can't jump to conclusions and assume that his parenting is like this all the way through.

(And a bit off topic, in the story of JTTW, Li Jing and Nezha are constantly working side by side, whether it’s fighting with or against Wukong.)

So to make a long analysis short, while Li Jing won’t outwardly say anything to Nezha, he has those little things that make it shown that he cares. And while there are aspects of culture clash between Chinese and western parenting, it doesn’t mean that Li Jing’s parenting style is abusive. As well as how abuse is much more complex than is shown to us in the show.

I think we need to remind people that LMK is a kids show, and the show is literally rated for ages 8 and up. It’s not going to show any heavy content that is darker for the demographic it’s made for. Yes, writing angst can be fun, but the show won’t do that, since it’s technically for kids.

[cuz-reasons]

Hey Rito! Got another question for you! You've mentioned before that you like the idea of Emmet picking up crocheting as a hobby. Are there other hobbies you imagine either them having, be it specifically from your Trilho family series or your other fics?

Emmet gets to crochet partly cuz I crochet and I love projecting my hobbies onto my fave characters lmao But also Emmet feels like the kinda guy to have more physical hobbies. He likes to make stuff and poke at things. In Trilho family series, he'll hang out at the shop and help where he's directed cuz he doesn't technically work there

In that similar line, i think he's more of a baker while Ingo's more of a cook. Mr. "Follow the rules!" enjoys a recipe and will stick to it. Ingo's just doing his own thing and hoping for the best, which usually turns out good cuz cooking is a lot more forgiving than baking. This also means they can't share the kitchen when one of them is making smth in there lmao

Ingo feels like more of a riddles and puzzles guy. For more projection, he's playing Professor Layton and Ace Attorney type games. Like visual novel with some puzzles in there too. Movies too. Buddy's got theories and analysis and everything. He's going on about the themes and cinematography. Emmet has only seen the amount of stuff he has cuz Ingo put it on or told him the whole plot.

And of course, in the Trilho family series, Ingo loves fishing. It slows him down in a way not much else can. He doesn't get all the intricacies like his Dad does, but he's happy just have a fishing pole, some bait, and a place to sit.

[magicwhiskers29]

Alright listen. I don’t want to get into ship drama, because this isn’t really about there being a problem with people liking a ship or whatever, but I’ve been stewing on this for a while, and I feel like we have GOT to talk about how strange it is that 5 seasons in, and Spicynoodles is still wildly more popular than Dragonfruit. I said I would talk about that, so here. Think of this as more of a fandom analysis than anything.

Speaking as someone who’s been lurking in the fandom since the start of 2021, so from before the pilot or S1 had aired in the US (Or UK, in my case), I can say from experience that Spicynoodles has always been very popular. Using the way back machine to see the AO3 tag stats for Jan 14 2021, we get that it’s by far the most used relationship tag (41 of 125 works, for anyone curious) which… Yeah, that lines up with how I remember it being at that time. And considering the state of the show at that point, this makes sense!

Red Son was the primary villain of season 1 (or at least the one who acted as antagonist in most of the episodes, if you want to argue that it’s technically DBK) who treated MK like a nuisance of a rival, and as someone who gave him silly nicknames and who bounced off of banter with him quite well. Given that they’re two male characters in a rivalry, and given coming fandom shipping tropes, I don’t think it’s surprising at all that they started being shipped in the first place.

I think especially giving the other shipping content type stuff in season 1. The most we got from MK himself (or Mei, for that matter) was that he was physically disgusted by the idea of dating Mei. Cool, so they’d set up that MK didn’t want to date his best friend, so what they’d effectively done, in this case, was get the female character out of the way of the ship preemptively. And for the record, I really like that MK and Mei and two close and intimate friends who would never want to even entertain the idea of dating! I think it’s cute and refreshing, but what’s relevant here, is that there isn’t (yet) a female love interest to ‘get out of the way’ of the rivals/enemies to lovers yaoi.

Also worth noting that Shadowpeach hadn’t taken off yet due to Macaque only being in one episode, and not being in the pilot (though it was still a thing – that same way back machine page lists it as having 10 fics written. It’s just notable that it was significantly less popular than Spicynoodles) and that Freenoodles was still mostly a background thing. The two prominent (male) characters that they had to ship were MK and Red Son.

The thing is, the show wasn’t going to stay in that kind of position for long. Revenge of the Spider Queen, the season 2 special, aired about a month after this early January 2021 snapshot, and I think it fairly succinctly marked the direction the show was intending to take Red Son and Mei specifically. The special gave us a lot of interactions between Red Son and the main cast in general, and of course many that I’m sure fuelled the Spicynoodles fans, because yeah, Red Son and MK bicker and clash in silly ways this episode! But they’re not the focus pairing at any point.

When the group splits up in the Celestial Realm, Tang goes with Pigsy (Yep, that’s normal) Sandy stays back alone (also par for the course) but then… MK also goes alone, whilst Mei goes with Red Son. This means that an important section of the episode is spent with MK overcoming his demons himself, whilst Mei and Red Son bicker and clash and get closer. They even pull a classic “mistaking the male and female duo as dating” joke, which whilst I don’t expect that or anything else this episode to have necessarily radically altered the shipping scene, or even particularly make Dragonfruit a thing, I do think it’s indicative of the increased importance these two would have as a duo, and as parallels, going forward.

And then Red Son isn’t really in season 2. Perhaps it’s not surprising that as of the Wayback Machine’s snapshot of August 12 2021, about 2 months after season 2’s initial release (though still before the US release of the show) although Spicynoodles is still dominating the AO3 tag, Shadowpeach is starting to properly gain. This makes sense given that Shadow Play had aired by this point, but it is worth noting still, imo. It means that, in general, M/M is still dominating the fandom, being curiously, a good deal more popular than even the platonic relationships, such as MK and Wukong or MK and Mei.

But I think season 3 is where it all gets a little baffling to me – especially the season 3 specials. A major plot point this season, is that Mei is secretly the weirder of the Samadhi Fire, Red Son’s signature weapon that he was born with. Combining this with s3e2, the Great Grand Dragon of the East, which puts the focus on Mei’s relationship with her family legacy, and general family struggles, it becomes quite obvious that Red Son’s and Mei are being written as parallels. Red Son and MK still have scenes together this season, which surely fuelled Spicynoodles, like the iconic ‘extra blankets and warm milk’ scene, or the scene where MK shapeshifts to fly Red Son off, but note how I specified individual scenes there rather than season-wide concepts?

Now, this analysis is not the place for me to say one ship is better than the other, or that there’s any kind of problem with having a preference one way or another. My point is that the show’s focus was very clearly on Red Son and Mei’s relationship, and that by this point, they have a very solid foundation for a ship, and yet Red Son and MK are still absolutely dominating that as a pairing.

Skipping ahead to July 4 2022 in the Wayback Machine for the AO3 tag, Spicynoodles is still the most tpopular ship, with Shadowpeach as a fairly close second and… Dragonfruit nowhere to be seen. Now, I will say, I can’t check the exact ship stats for this time. There is no saved Dragonfruit page. However, I can say that Dragonfruit is nowhere to be found on the sidebar of common relationship tags in the main tag, and also that M/M is almost 5 times more common than even F/M in general. Is this distribution unusually for fandom? No, but I think it’s relevant here, because the show had finally become more accessible by this point, with all three seasons available, but Spicynoodles was still dominating.

And to save us all some time, suffice it to say, this trend continues. Mei and Red Son are the more focused on duo, but also yet the far less popular ship. To check the stats today, March 9 2025, Dragonfruit has 441 fics, compared to Spicynoodles’s 1742, and whilst this obviously isn’t the best metric for gauging ship popularity, it is both an easily accessible one, and imo, a somewhat indicative one. I’m sure anyone in the fandom could easily recount how common Spicynoodles is in general, and from personal experience, I can say that yeah! Dragonfruit is hard to come across! It’s not non-existent, but curiously, it is rare.

These days, we have Shadowpeach absolutely dominating, as by far the most popular ship, as the show has further developed Wukong and Macaque’s relationship, whereas, frankly… MK and Red Son haven’t had much screen time together as of late at all. I’d honestly wonder if to some extent, Spicynoodles has lost it’s top spot because it began sharing its trope space with Shadowpeach a little too much, and that led to the more relevant ship taking hold. But that’s not necessarily relevant here, so I digress.

So how is it that we can have the crux of the season 3 finale be Red Son cupping Mei’s face as he withstands the uncontrolled fury of the Samadhi Fire to tell her not to give up, that we can have Red Son’s main season 5 appearance be a duo episode with Mei once again focusing on the Samadhi Fire as well as their blossoming friendship, that from the fairly early days of the show, they’ve been set up as duo that parallels each other, and yet I honestly wouldn’t blame anyone for calling them a rarepair?

There’s a few wishy-washy sort of arguments that could be made. Oh, the show isn’t really about shipping, which… yes, it’s not! In a literal sense, Red Son warming up to both MK and Mei is a friendship thing! Macaque and Wukong’s big fight ended their friendship! Tang and Pigsy are technically just good friends who raised a random orphan child together! But see how inside a fandom context, that list starts to sound more and more ridiculous? And see how suddenly not interpreting Mei and Red Son as romantic because the show isn’t about romance starts to sound like an excuse?

(I should say, obviously it’s perfectly fine not to interpret them as romantic in general, but my point was that I don’t think it’s fair to cite the show’s direction as a reason for that in general)

But I’d honestly say the most likely reasons I’d expect to hear would be either that people aren’t as interested in Mei as Red Son or MK, or that they’re put off by it being an M/F ship. And… Hm…

At that point, doesn’t the issue sort of start to sound like it’s just that Mei is a woman? Doesn’t it just start to sound like despite having similar foundations, Spicynoodles is more popular than Dragonfruit because it doesn’t involve a female character? I’ve tried to make it very clear in this post that I think Spicynoodles starting more popular is for good reason, but by this point, I fundamentally can’t quite understand why there’s still such a big gap in popularity.

Because this is the reading comprehension website and because I really don’t want this post to just be an excuse for ship wars, I should say, no, I’m not calling anyone who prefers Spicynoodles a misogynist. Obviously it would be stupid to make a claim like that.

What I am saying though, is that the general fandom trends towards these ship’s popularity are very likely rooted in misogyny, and that the answer to why there is such a disparity between these ship’s popularity is because fandom doesn’t fundamentally want to engage with female characters in the same way that it does male ones. It’s quite easy to already note that Mei is fairly underrepresented in the fandom given the prevalence and importance of her character to the show, and that hardly hurts my point…

I wrote this post because I really like Mei, and it bothers me to see her overlooked in general, and I wrote this post because I came across this other post earlier, and it struck me how much I was reminded of Spicynoodles vs Dragonfruit. It makes me sad to see, so mostly, I wrote this to express my frustrations. Once more, this is not a hate post for any of the M/M ships mentioned here.