#what i want to be an introduction to the world for them and this concept

[totally-here]

3 times Phantom's Guardian was Mentioned + 1 Time He Showed Up

One

Phantom’s introduction to Young Justice wasn’t as dramatic as Empress’ or Slobo’s, or even Arrowette’s first introduction to the cave. No, it wasn’t during the Olympics, or on a battlefield, and he didn’t come in injured and looking for help. 

Impulse just brought Phantom in one day and insisted that he should join because he’s their age, interested in justice, and now that Greta’s human again they need another ghost member. So Phantom stayed, popping in and out for missions but never really sticking around all that long. 

Today is one of the days that Phantom’s with them on a mission, that being looking around a lab of the Brain’s that had an energy surge recently, despite it being presumably abandoned. 

Kon got paired up with Phantom to check the rest out first, since they both have better hearing than Anita and Tim, who were both still in the main room working on checking the computers for previous activity. 

The room is dark except for the light green ball glowing slightly above Phantom’s hand. He waves it around enough for it to reflect off of glass, then throws it up to the ceiling. The light expands enough to illuminate the room. 

Phantom mumbles about not knowing he could do that. Kon ignores him and moves closer to inspect the glass tubes to the side of several monitors set up. 

“Looks like cloning equipment,” Phantom says, casually. He drags a finger through the dust gathering on one of the monitors. “Don’t think they’ve been activated recently, though, so that’s good.”

“What? You got a problem with clones or something?” It’s a quick and defensive answer, and Phantom puts his hands up in surrender. 

“Not in concept.” He shrugs and joins Kon near the tubes. “But not a lot of people ask before making clones.”

“So I don’t need to sic Superman on you?” Obviously Kon could chew Phantom out himself, but few can do a “not mad, just disappointed” face better than Clark. 

Phantom scrunches his face. “Why would you need to?” 

Kon stops pretending to inspect the tube and stares at Phantom. “You do know I’m a clone, right?” The blank look on Phantom’s face tells him that no, he did not. “Well I am. Clone of Superman, though we’re pretty much brothers now.”

“Cool,” Phantom says, not a bit less friendly. He hesitates for a second before continuing, “Could I maybe ask you how you got there? Me and my clone have landed on cousins, but that was also, like, given to us by her evil dad. So.”

Phantom trails off. Huh, that makes three members of the team that have been cloned. Not a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened three times. 

“You’re making sure she feels accepted, right?” 

“Yeah! Well, whenever she’s around. She,” Phantom waves his hand around, looking for the right word, “She’s a wanderer. Exploring the world and stuff. But Richard has a room for her at home, and I remind her of that whenever she does stop by.” 

“Well, first of all, don’t push it so hard,” Kon says. Phantom nods enthusiastically. “And second, who’s Richard?”

Kon doesn’t know a lot of Richards, and he doesn’t think that Phantom ever mentioned one before. Or even if he remembers his living life. 

“Oh, he’s my, uh, guardian? I guess that’s the best term. The guy I’m living with who forces me to go to school sometimes.” Phantom looks away and back to the tubes. 

Before Kon can ask for more details, Robin and Empress come in with a report of dead computers and wanting to know where they’re at with the cloning room.

They’re unimpressed with their lack of progress.

Two

Wally doesn’t really need to come by the Hamilton Lodge that often, not when that’s Young Justice’s territory and he doesn’t want to get involved in all of That.

But Red Tornado said that the team has a file on a planet that’s very quickly becoming a league problem, and he figured it might be a good time to try to check in with Bart, anyway. Make sure he hasn’t run any cars off cliffs again and all that. 

So he stops by Manchester to ask Bart about the file, then they both head East to actually find it. 

When they arrive at the hotel minutes later, Wally’s surprised to actually find it… clean? There’s no visible trash or overturned furniture or anything else he’d expect from an abandoned hotel filled with teenagers. Well, maybe not filled, lately. He doesn’t think anyone’s living here currently, with Greta at Elias’ for the school year and Slobo gone. 

Still, the room smells slightly of artificial pine scent, and Bart perks up before disappearing and reappearing rapidly, holding a teammate up by his armpits. Said teammate just accepts this, his legs folding into a wispy tail, and head rolling against his shoulders. 

“This is Phantom!” Bart holds him up higher. Phantom waves. Wally’s only heard of him through Max’s updates, the same way he would hear about Preston or Carol, but with more wariness about the supposed ghost. 

Actually looking at the pale face and glowing green eyes contrasting against the darker than dark jumpsuit, Wally’s a little more ready to accept his claim at being undead. 

“He stress cleans,” Bart explains, moving to carry Phantom under his arm. Wally bites down the urge to tell him to put him down, but only because Phantom doesn’t resist the hold, only moving to get into a more comfortable position. His hands are touching the floor. “So what happened?” 

Bart directs the question downwards, and Phantom heaves a very dramatic sigh. Definitely a teenager. It does raise the question of who exactly this kid’s mentor is. Hopefully he does have one. Maybe he’s the Spectre’s kid?

Phantom phases through the arm holding him only to lay on top of Bart’s hair. “I accidentally called Richard dad. And then fled.” 

Bart nods sagely. “Classic. One time I accidentally called Max dad, so I had to start a fire to distract him.”

Phantom sighs again, almost dreamily. “Genius.” 

Wally doesn’t have time to unpack all of that. Well he does, but he’s not going to, because there’s really only one Richard that comes to mind that might have the heart to take in a dead kid, even if he doesn’t go by his full name.

But surely Dick would have told him, or any other Titan, if he had adopted a kid. Right?

But there’s still a little shadow of doubt. Maybe Dick wanted it to be a secret, or it was really new or had a rocky start. Phantom doesn’t seem to hold himself like a Bat, but it’s not a guarantee Dick would have trained him. 

“The lodge looks nice,” Wally offers out loud, which Phantom shrugs at and wraps his tail around Bart’s head to keep secure. “Anyway, Impulse. The file on Myrg?” 

“Oh yeah!” Again, Bart disappears then reappears a few seconds later with a paper file. They really need to start digitizing more of these things. “That’s the planet where we played baseball so that they wouldn’t destroy Earth!” 

“You what.” 

The prospect of Dick following in his dad’s footsteps is forgotten in the face of what the hell Young Justice got up to on Myrg. 

Three

Tim may be in a…Predicament. 

It’s not his fault. Really. He knew what he was doing. He couldn’t let a civilian fall for the trap. But they were already so close, so he just, kinda, pushed himself into the rope instead. 

So there Robin is, tied upside down in a warehouse, with the Joker below next to an overly complicated control panel. The clown’s rambling about bombs hidden all over the city that Tim knows Batman is already tracking down with Batgirl. 

Tim’s not really paying attention to the rant because of that, more focused on wiggling enough to get the spare mini-birdarang out of his glove to cut the rope without notifying the Joker. 

“Yikes, bad time?” Asks Phantom’s voice beside him. Based on the source and accounting for the slight echo, he’s floating with his head near Tim’s, likely upside down. “Want some help?” 

Tim gets the birdarang out and starts sawing at the thick rope. They should be fine anyway, but stalling the Joker for extra time would be helpful. “Can you possess the Joker? Just hold him still.”

“The correct term is overshadow, but sure.” The voice disappears, and a few seconds later the Joker freezes. 

His body jerks forward, then backward, and a laugh chokes out of his throat. His hand claws over his mouth at the noise and he hunches over. All movement halts before he rights himself, shaking out his hands and rolling his shoulders. Phantom looks up at Tim and his eyes are glowing. 

Tim cuts through the rope, kicking and using the momentum to right himself and land on his feet. He brushes past Phantom in Joker’s body to handle the control panel. He turns off the radio broadcast and dismantles the bomb strapped to the panel.

Threat handled, he turns to Phantom and holds up some handcuffs. “Let me arrest you?”

Phantom obliges, turning the Joker’s body around and putting his hands behind his back. Tim lets him walk by himself out of the warehouse and moves the handcuffs around a lamppost. The Joker’s body jerks again, then slumps forward, just as Phantom reappears next to him, scowling down at the unconscious body. 

“That felt really slimy. Zero out of ten, would not do again,” Phantom grouches. 

“Why’re you in Gotham?” Tim asks. It’s not like Phantom makes a habit of visiting. The last time he came into the city, he complained about feeling the dead under the streets. Fortunately, that let Tim uncover a few tunnels that Talons travel through. Phantom, however, was unnerved by the Talons and left quickly. 

“Oh, Solomon Grundy’s back in our sewers. Richard said I should probably tell one of you Gotham heroes, since you keep track of those guys.” He shakes out his hands like they were cramped in the Joker. 

They hadn’t seen Grundy in a while. Tim assumed he was currently in a less violent personality. “What’s he doing?” 

Phantom shrugs. “Just chilling. Mostly underground. I tried to talk to him but he only grunted back at me. He also tried to pick me up, dunno what that was about.”

“Maybe because you’re both dead?” Tim guessed. That would be a surface level connection. Ivy and Woodrue have had more luck working with Grundy than anyone, and Phantom definitely doesn’t have the connection to the Green that’d help with that. 

Police lights turn around the corner, and Tim shoots a grapple to get to the roof above them. Phantom follows, but disappears as soon as they’re on the roof. Going back home, probably. 

Cass drops down from the roof she was listening on. “Richard?”

“Not the same one.”

They both stick around long enough to watch the Joker get put into the cop car. 

Plus one

A spaceship landed in the forests of New York, and Cassie’s team was the first to respond to it. Technically not respond, but check it out, since there wasn’t any alert or anything. 

Still, Wonder Girl has Empress, Robin, and Superboy on the other side of the ship, watching what looks like the back door, while she, Impulse, and Phantom watch the other door and main window. She has binoculars, but the windows are so tinted she can’t quite make anything out. 

No aliens have come out yet, and she hesitates to have anyone go in, in case whoever inside does turn hostile. 

Impulse has offered to run through a total of five times already, and it’s a testament to his restraint that he hasn’t, and a testament to Cassie’s that she hasn’t yelled at him yet. Phantom at least isn’t being annoying, but he’s not necessarily helpful, either. He’s not even watching the spaceship anymore. Now he’s trying to make a flower crown out of dandelions. 

“Door’s opening on our side,” Robin says from the comms. “But no one’s coming out.” 

“Alright, good enough to try to get in,” Cassie decides. She turns to Phantom, who’s closing off the circle of flowers. Beside him, Impulse has since pulled out a gameboy. “Phantom, go in invisibly through the open door and report back. Try to see what their plans are.” 

“Oh, sure. One second.” Phantom finishes the crown and tries to put it on Bart’s head. It doesn’t quite fit over his mane of hair, but Phantom shrugs and leaves it sitting there anyway before going invisible. 

“Maybe I should shave my head again,” Bart says as his game character dies. 

He gets a resounding no in response. 

Half an hour later they have a very annoyed Green Lantern lecturing them about league jurisdiction and knowing when to call someone else. 

Apparently, the alien ship was just stopping to complete some maintenance, and did not appreciate any spying on them, and especially did not appreciate who did it. Green Lantern was more than happy to explain that Wonder Girl’s team is not really a part of the Justice League and he can help with their maintenance. They denied his help and left to find a place with less people in it. 

“-and you!” Green Lantern rounds on Phantom next, but Cassie knows none of them are really listening. Sure, they messed up by freaking out the visiting aliens, and yeah maybe they should have contacted the league about it, but they’ve dealt with stuff worse than this! It’s not Cassie’s fault she thought that this would have stuck to the formula. 

“Who even are you?” Green Lantern runs a hand through his black hair, stupid green gauntlets shining in the sunlight. “Do I need to call your mentor?” He frowns. “Or do they know you mess up alien technology by just being around it?” 

Phantom scoffs and rolls his eyes. “How was I supposed to know their tech would go all fuzzy when I came in?” 

“You wouldn’t have to know if you just stayed out of the spaceship!” 

“Hey!” Cassie cuts in. “Technically that was my call. It’s not all on Phantom.”

“I still could've been more careful,” Phantom says to her, ignoring Green Lantern as they argue about blame. 

“Cut it out for a second, okay?” Green Lantern puts a hand between them and they stop to glare at him. He pulls the hand back. “Look, can I just talk to one of your adults about this?” 

Robin glares. “We don’t need an adult. We have this under control.”

“Only because I’m here now.” 

“I’ll call my mentor,” Phantom says. Kon opens his mouth, most likely to offer to call Superman instead in hopes of a lighter sentence, but Bart covers his mouth, smiling like he knows something Cassie doesn’t. Tim and Anita share a look, and don’t intervene as Phantom pulls out a phone from his chest. 

It rings once before it’s picked up. Cassie can’t hear the other side of the conversation, but Kon’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion. “Hey, do you think you can pick me up? Green Lantern wants to talk to you.” Phantom looks Green Lantern up and down then says, “No, this one doesn’t have a cape.”

Phantom says goodbye after rattling off their coordinates, hangs up, and stares at Green Lantern in silence for a few seconds. 

And then a swirling mass of black seeps into the space next to Phantom. The end of a cane steps out of it, followed by a leg, then the rest of the immaculately dressed man holding the handle of the cane that’s shaped like a bird’s head. 

“Phantom,” The man says. His voice drips with condescension in only a way a british accent can, yet Phantom smiles up at him. The shadowy portal behind him disappears. “What, exactly, happened?”

“That’s the fucking Shade,” Anita hisses to Robin, who shrugs noncommittedly at her. Green Lantern seems to recognise him too, taking a step back and clenching his hand that holds his ring. 

“Well, the team and I were staking out this spaceship–super cool, by the way–and I went inside to check it out, but my presence messed with their tech–which was an accident–and they freaked out, so I freaked out, and then we kinda got into a little fight until Green Lantern came to mediate.”

“Hm. Is that right?” The Shade asks Green Lantern, who nods slowly, still anticipating an attack. “It seems like the problem’s fixed, then.”

“Well, yes, but–”

“And it does seem about time for these kids to get home, doesn't it?” The Shade pulls out an actual pocket watch, chain and all, from his suit pocket and takes his time in checking it. “I’ll see them home.” 

Shadows grow from behind the team, swirling until they become a giant, gaping maw that swallows them up and spits them out in a different forest, or maybe just a different part of the same forest. 

Either way, Cassie has to take a moment to make sure she doesn’t throw up from the sudden vertigo the shadow portal caused. 

The Shade looks at Phantom, and raises an eyebrow. “You can’t expect me to always bail you out.” 

Phantom shrugs, looking guilty. “I know. Thanks, Richard.”

Oh, so that’s who Richard is. Annoyingly, neither Tim or Bart look surprised by this revelation.

[anisespice]

Hey girl got a request,so like let’s say bonten is having a meeting with a new criminal organization gang that came in to come up with a deal,and while we are just sitting in the back looking at our new sparkly items Koko bought us,and the new criminal organization gang calls us out saying it’s disrespectful and rude calling us names..And bonten doesn’t like that one bit..So yeah I want them to react to that

hope it makes sense 😔😍🤺🤺

SAVE ME FROM MY WRITER'S BLOCK, ANON - HERE WE GO, NO MARIO. Hope you enjoy and thank you for requesting~!

pairing: bonten x fem!reader

warnings: mature language, misogynistic undertones (from another gang), implied violence, guns mentioned, reader is criminally oblivious (love that for her), guard-dog!bonten supremacy, sanzu gets his own warning lol and i think that's it.

notes: yall. can you believe i actually wrote this in one sitting? without stopping?? wild concept for me, haven't been able to do that in a good minute *knock on wood*, but i hope you enjoy! more stuff coming soon ♡

tagged: @fantasycantasy , @spacegirl05, @neverlandlostchild , @darks-pet-shadow, @captaincyberqueen

Upon the arrival of the recently developed organization, officially known as Kaiju, things already weren’t off to a great start. They were late, clocked at about twenty minutes past schedule. Excuses poured from them like a broken faucet, blaming their tardiness on traffic, which the members were willing to give the benefit of the doubt, some more than others. Then, they were unprepared. Scrambling about with their half-assed introduction mixed with a sloppily thrown together presentation, it was insulting at worst. 

Here they were, biggest in the game, offering an opportunity to help underground operatives make a name for themselves..and this is how they want to showcase their potential? Mikey waved it off when his number three voiced this flaw, merely chalking it up with inexperience–Everyone has to start somewhere, right? 

But. Finally came strike three. The one thing, the most damning thing they could’ve ever done to have mercy jump right out the window and straight to hell, was when one of their foolish members spoke ill of you. 

It was supposed to be taken as a joke, something controversial in a room amongst men, locker room talk if you would. Unfortunately for him and the rest of his team, Bonten didn’t see it that way. What was said wasn’t important, but the intent behind it was enough to make them hostile. And Kaiju would soon realize it too late despite no one laughing on that side of the room. If anything, the room grew colder. No matter who you looked at, venom consumed their gazes, a deathly aura building from their leader all the way to the advisors. The only reason no one reached for their gun, mowing them down in an array of bullets, was because you didn’t hear the disrespectful comment. 

All gazes shifted over to you briefly, sitting pretty in your little area they set up just for you. They liked having you close by, even during something so mundane as a meeting, watching you happily paint your nails or open up all the shiny new trinkets they bought you. Kaiju should count themselves lucky that you had headphones on, blissfully listening to music, not a care in the world.

And it was going to stay that way. 

By now, the dumbasses before them caught on to their grave error. Especially when Sanzu made a show of santuring over to you upon Mikey’s silent request, swiftly gathering you in his arms and carrying you to the head of the table. You squealed slightly in surprise, headphones slipping off your ears in the process as you held on to the pink-haired gangster, confused smile on your face. “Haru! You scared me!~” 

“Sorry, doll. Boss wants ya to sit right here.” Sanzu gently sets you down on your awaited throne, Mikey having made room by scooting his chair back, welcoming you with open arms. 

Still confused though not complaining, you merely shrugged before making yourself comfortable, snuggling more into the leader before putting your headphones back on. Mikey held you possessively, arms locked around you like a shield, placing a small kiss to your forehead. Message was sent; message soon received. 

Kaiju’s leader began blubbering out more excuses, reprimanding his subordinate in the same breath for saying such a thing about Bonten’s trophy wife–

Guns are drawn instantly and zeroed in on every last one of them. Stunned to horrified silence, as were his underlings, they all stood frozen in fear as they stared down multiple barrels in every angle. Koko scoffed, “You must got a death wish, huh?” 

“She’s no trophy, have some goddamn respect,” Mochi added, earning a sardonic chuckle from Ran. 

“Big ask from idiots who have none. Couldn’t even bother to show up on time, now they wanna make jabs at our [_____]. I say we’ve been more than courteous, wouldn’t you agree, otouto?” 

“Tsk. Let’s just waste ‘em. We’d be doing the streets a favor.” 

“Great idea,” Sanzu and Takeomi answered in unison, the former sounding twice as eager. 

The only ones placid were Kakucho and Mikey, one quietly observing whilst the other made sure you remained ignorant to the situation, angling you in his lap to where you were practically straddling him, phone still in hand as you watched a music video your favorite k-pop group dropped recently. The only sounds in the room were the panicked breathing of Kaiju and your melodic humming to the song. Mikey patted your head, satisfied that you were still your happy self. If any of those bastards made your smile drop even a centimeter, he would have their bodies fed to the dogs. With a small sigh, he and Kakucho eventually made eye contact. Then, he gave a small nod. “You were right. Should’ve killed them after that shitty presentation. Handle it.” 

Kakucho gave a curt nod, then signaled for Kaiju to be apprehended. With guns still aimed at them, leaving them no choice but to grovel for mercy, the Haitanis along with Mochi and Takeomi forced them to march out of the room, and to their inevitable deaths, not wanting to startle you with the sight of bloodshed so early in the morning.

Sanzu was already dialing up reinforcements to help with cleanup and disposal, face beaming as he practically skipped out of the room. Kakucho gave one last look to you, then Mikey, then politely bowed before closing the door behind him on his way out. You jumped slightly, the song ending right when the door slammed shut, making you lift one of your headphones and look around in shock.

“Oh, is the meeting over already?” 

Mikey reached up to thumb your lower lip, then reached up to playfully pinch your cheek. You grinned, gently swatting him away, so oblivious to the men you inadvertently sent to their demise all to protect that very smile. The former blonde shook his head, leaning on the armrest to rest his chin atop his knuckles. “No. Ended up being a waste of time. Don’t think you would’ve liked them.” 

You chortled. “Doesn’t matter if I like them. It’s your business, silly.” 

“Mm, you are our business, angel. And we like you more.”

© 2024-2025 anisespice ッ all rights reserved. likes, comments & reblogs much appreciated!

[luna-azzurra]

How do i Plot a Book?

Start with an Idea

Begin with a clear idea or concept for your story. This could be a theme, a character, a setting, or a unique scenario.

Outline Your Plot Structure

- Introduction: Set the stage by introducing your main character, the setting, and the initial situation.

- Inciting Incident: Present a problem or event that disrupts the status quo and sets the story in motion.

- Rising Action: Develop the plot by introducing conflicts, challenges, and obstacles that the protagonist faces.

- Climax: Reach the story's highest point of tension and conflict where the protagonist confronts the main challenge.

- Falling Action: Address the aftermath of the climax, tying up loose ends and resolving subplots.

- Conclusion: Provide a resolution to the main conflict, wrap up the story, and show the character's growth or change.

Create Well-Defined Characters

- Develop your main character (protagonist) with clear goals, motivations, and flaws.

- Introduce supporting characters with distinct personalities and roles in the story.

World-Building

If your story is set in a unique or fictional world, develop the setting, rules, and details necessary for readers to understand the environment.

Conflict and Stakes

Ensure that your story has compelling conflicts that drive the plot forward. Make the stakes clear to the reader.

Subplots

Develop subplots that add depth and complexity to your story and intersect with the main plot at various points.

Foreshadowing

Use foreshadowing to hint at future events and create suspense.

Pacing

Balance action, dialogue, and introspection to control the pace of your story. Speed up or slow down as needed for dramatic effect.

Themes and Messages

Consider the themes or messages you want to convey through your story and how the plot can reflect them.

Outline Chapter by Chapter

Create a chapter-by-chapter outline that details what will happen in each section of your book. This doesn't need to be overly detailed, but it can serve as a roadmap.

Writing and Revising

Start writing your book based on your outline. Be open to changes and revisions as your story develops.

[understandableparadox]

a comprehensive list of everything wrong with hazbin hotel.

quick note before i lose myself in madness, my standards for helluvaboss are non existent because its a free show on youtube. also i kinda like helluvaboss and i will indulge in any bias i damn well please.

oh and spoilers. i guess.

the greater narrative of the entire season is "White lady civilize inner city hoodlum". ex: The blind side. rich girl, affluent family yadda yadda.

the story is set up to be like amphibia, owl house, svtfoe, steven universe, that being starting as something episodic then transforming into story driven narrative. why? because we know the benefits and drawbacks, episodic starts allows us to wander the world, it allows us to understand the dynamics, we are not forced to reckon with anything because there is no deadline. characters are allowed to bloom and shine and the audience can actually get attached.

the source material is Vary Clearly formed from remnants of something out of a middle school edgelord narrative. the usage of transformation, the big spooky grins, the "and then i smile as my eyes glow and-"-isms which in most cases i don't mind because in some instances but in a vary Particular case its astoundingly annoying and that annoyance is like a mold, shit spreads quick.

the color Red. as a lover of homestuck cherubs and karkat and aradia, as someone who fucking loves the color red, it is so painful to say but holy shit tone it the fuck down, i know its hell but their are so many other colors that you can use, its everywhere, the streets, the air, the windows, the screens, the characters, i know the pride ring is represented with red but change up the palates every so often for backgrounds

the rush, this ties into the second point made but i think the story itself is rushed. we know everything way to early. i know way to much and it makes it hard to care about anything because im still trying to digest the last chunk of info. "oh ok, so they clear out hell once a year. oh hell has a heaven embassy? ok. oh that adam the angel, i though he wou- oh its every 6 months now. wait the exterminators die a lot? then why is everyone sca- people in hell already have weapons that can kill angels? w- oh we are in heaven now, ok ma- no one in heaven except for the elites know the exterminations occur? how do-" and its that, just this incessant rush to explain everything to you. notably that's just the god damn spark notes, we need to know everything about the characters now, every single bit of their story, their insecurities, what charlie needs to fix, how she can fix them, the major bad guys, everything. you are never allowed to dwell on a character because we need to rush towards something else. it almost feels like this should have been like... season three, it would have been a fantastic season three if you dropped the introductions honestly.

the concept of redemption. for a story of redemption to work you need to look at three things. What is there crime, Do they want to change, What is preventing them from changeing? there is only one single character that has a notable path of redemption, angel dust, but if you look through their story it feels off. What Exactly is he guilty of? he has sex, does drugs and drinks. his apparent nymphomania is tied to his sad backstory as someone forced into the sex industry so how is that their fault? then if you think about it you start to spiral and notice "hey why are most of these people in hell?" like sure some of them may deserve punishment but then you see the fucking dichotomy and its like "I was a inventor in england and died of the fucking plague, i may have made evil little contraption hoohoohoo" vs "I was a cannibal, a full on cannibal, i fucking killed people and ate them and then someone shot me". ONE OF THESE THINGS ARE A LITTLE MORE FUCKING EXTREME. i'm going to go fucking nuts, the thing they went to heaven with when presenting a case to angels on the idea that redemption and becoming a better person is actually real was angel dust not drinking at a party and not having sex with consenting adults and i want to go fucking insane. WHAT IS THE CRIME, WHO IS THROWING THE BOOK, WHAT DOES THE BOOK INTEL, ARE WE ON GOOD PLACE RULES?! half the cast dont Need redemption they need fucking help, and the other half of the cast do need redemption but they do not seek it making the point moot. sir pentious acts like he has the brain of a hyper intelligent toddler tossing about toys, its almost like he did his one bad thing of spying and then got caught, sank his little diddy about forgiveness and second chances and become a null point through out the rest of the series, sure their was Some weight to him sacrificing himself, he was a decently funny character and he had good moments but him popping up in heaven felt like a fore gone conclusion, he didn't deserve to be in hell so why do i care that he is suddenly in heaven? because its working on the concept the good place already made. no one actually deserves eternal punishment they just need help processing what makes them a dick, but instead of looking at all the parts of the afterlife that make it bad, inefficient and then creating and trying ideas to see if it work instead over a few seasons, we crash dick first into all the major plot points in regards to that and say "tada, we fixed it.".

having a sub-plot about sexual assault and its victims then having multiple sexual assault related gag ruins your point.

don't make a bunch of stereotypically jewish characters into cannibals, that was a big thing, really shouldn't have to say it.

if you are going to make a character black, make them black, you can say alastor was black but sweet seren-fucking-dippity that's not a black man.

pot meet kettle but yeah the cursing could be a little less liberal. maybe just blue hair or the pronouns, not both.

there is a very distinctive art deco/jazz aesthetic which normally i love but i feel as though it is not used to its full extent and in some cases really hurts the character design in and of itself.

this is a vary obvious bit but the story is a million times more interested in gay men then it is of lesbians, which culminates in this insane thing where the writers clearly have more talent or perhaps it would be more abt to say practice writing male gay pining then they are with lesbian pining. which i personally think is hilarious because i did not know you could min max fujoshi-ism that hard.

this next section is more to do with each character on a fundamental level, for the sake of brevity whatever there is left, i'm just doing ones with speaking roles.

13. Charlie:

(see what i mean about that red thing?)

as originally stated charlie fits rather comfortably into every white saviour narrative, though that seems to be part of her joke. though i'm not entirely sure how much of a joke it can be when its rewarded and expected to advance the plot.

her character design says nothing, it has the motif of old puppets or dolls, she wears something vaguely similar to service suits, her demonic form is just some extra horns.not to say every character needs to have their life on a clothes rack but some more snake and goat imagery would be nice

its not the chol design of charlie with snake hair, not an actual problem but its a problem to me, damn you @cholvoq for ruining my ability to look at any of the characters without wishing i was seeing your designs instead.

character wise aside from the white savoir bit, i'm having a bit of trouble understanding what the arc of the character is. she is shown to be naive, someone who doesn't understand how the world works but everytime she says something its something astoundingly clear like "people can actually get better". and its treated like someone demanded faygo in every water fountain. is the joke that the world around her to cynical or is so to naive? please pick one or the other.

now if you know me, you know i fucking hate overpowered characters with a blinding passion, one that would set alit the god damn abyss but in this one special instance, i feel like its warranted, she's the direct descendant of fucking God, she can swing her weight around a little, i mean god damn. she in so many instances looks like shes cowering so often, why would the daughter of lucifer get backed down by some rando pimp? why wasn't she the one to fight adam? sure you can say she is young but how young? her parents were there since pre-abrahamic times, most of the characters showed up in hell in the 1900s, some of them showed up in the 1600s, how old is charlie??? how long does it take for her to learn how to be strong? The story does not suffer if charlie is strong and knows she is strong. it can easily be a case of "i don't believe in violence to a weird degree". fit it into her apparent naivety about the world to believe that violence is never the answer even when dealing with a being that is unilaterally horrible and abusive and monstrous.

she ga- no im kidding, i do think her romance was waysided a bit, it would have been fine to have more scenes of them togather and in love you know?

14. Vaggie

why did you name the lesbian vaggie...? Don't do that maybe?

I like how her design is almost moth like but again i feel as though you could have amped that up.

she feels as though someone tried to combine undyne and pearl from steven universe, same story beats and design elements. it makes it hard to really distinguish her as a character.

i honestly dont have much to say about her. she is fine.

christ kill me, lets just get the big one out of the way

15. Alastor.

God Damn

where to start.

"alastor is mixed race" mixed with fucking what? concrete? there is not a single black feature on that creature, now im not saying you have to make him a png of louie armstrong but it wouldn't hurt to add a curl to the hair maybe? make it a tiny bit more wavy? Something? a crumb i beg of thee?

his symbolism is all over the god damn place, native american monsters (you know the one), voodoo, radio, puppets, stitches, circuses??? and Tentacles i guess. two of those are from closed religions so if you dumped those you would actually get a more concise character focused on the concept of vox populi as a means of societal control and influence as we see in his first song. but again that gets drowned out repeatedly by all the other random toy box bits shoved into him.

tumblr sexy man bait

he serves no purpose in the story. he does spooky stuff, pretends to do things and then goes back to sitting around looking spooky. i understand that his motif is supposed to be aloof mastermind but maybe have him do more mastermindy things? if you remove most of alastors scenes, bar the songs, it doesn't change all to much. husk and nifity can still be at the hotel, they could be looking for outs in their contracts the same as angel dust. hell it even helps with the one scene where he dose some spooky shit, asking charlie for a favor in exchange for his help in the fight with the angels instead of asking him about angel weapons which should have remained a strictly vaggie scene.

his presence in a way delegitimize the story, as I noted in in the section regarding redemption, the three parts are "what is the crime, do they want to change, what is stopping them?" and alastor kinda just spits in the face of that. he is a serial killer cannibal that has no qualms about how evil he is and apparently must continue being evil due to being under the control under someone legitimately called the Root Of All Evil. show him take a slight interest in the idea that maybe shit for him could be better, make him Want Change at the bare fucking minimum or dont have him at the hotel.

his stupid little fucking horns, big shot the troll liker wants characters to have big fucking horns, make them noticeable or dont have them.

he looks more like a dog boy, which could have been an interesting thing with the collar motif but fuck me i guess.

personal pet peeve but i fucking hate characters that have a million plus powers, stick to a set number, be creative.

im getting more petty as i go on so last point: he could have been in less episodes, he didn't need to be in dad beat dad, that should have been just a lucifer and charlie episode. inverse the red and black and i think he would be fucking great color wise, his body type is the same as ten different characters, he isnt radio enough, aside from the voice and and staff if you told me he was the fucking Cat Demon i would have been just as convinced.

16. Angel Dust

what the fuck, gay spider? its hard to actully articulate all the thoughts i have on angel dust, not in the sense that he is a deeply thought provoking character but in the fact that there is not much meat on the bones.

all around i think angel dust is kinda middling. he has a decent enough romance with husk, he has a decent enough story line that revolves around battling addiction and removing yourself from an abuser (which the story tries to brand as "Redemption???")

I dont like that most of his jokes would qualify as sexual harassment, i don't mind him being sexual as a character but continuing on when clearly someone doesn't like the jokes hurts the character.

not a critique but he is pink, which honestly ill fucking take at point, as long as its not more fucking red.

i think his design is an improvement over some of the old vivzie designs but it feels like it could have done with going a few more rounds of design changes.

same thing with alastor, charlie and vaggie, there is not enough of the animal that they are supposed to be. You could have told me angel dust was a fucking bee or something and i would have had to believe you. nothing about angel dust initially says spider, hell he dosent even have enough limps to be a fucking spider.

17. Carmilla carmine

are... are you supposed to be a rabbit...?

Big Yoai Hands

ballet fighting style, could have been cool, wish she fought more like sanji or chun li.

A single mom that works to hard, who loves her kids and never stops-

her song was decent, not great, decent. it feels as though the actress has experience singing but not in the way they tried to make her sing during her two songs. they have a obvious mexican influence, honestly just let her sing in spanish in the english dub. go listen to the spanish dub, "out for love" sounds great in spanish.

i wish i had more thoughts on them, fucking rip.

18. cherri bomb

that's not a punk aesthetic that's 2010s alt

decent character, they showed up once or twice i guess, no real thoughts.

19. egg boiz

absolutely perfect, i have not notes on them, these are perfect creatures.

20. Emily

im so fucking happy to see a singular blue character

does the naive dreamer bit better then charlie

We really shouldnt have seen her until the end of season two or middle of three.

good contrast with the other angels on screen.

Wait she is supposed to be black??? Where???

21. Husk

keith david you absolute delight, Why on gods green earth did they only give you one singing part?

one of the few charecters where its clear husk is a cat, i do like the kinda... marquee design, he is a magic cat, thats neat. i still think you can toss the wings and eyebrows and still have just as good of a charecter.

has a deeply intresting story of someone who died as a nobody, became the fat cat of hell and then was forced back to the bottom by their own vices, not used at fucking all.

huge potential, little pay off.

22. lillith

I know nothing about her except she ditched her kid and husband to vacation in heaven and i think thats kinda funny.

alot of werid things floating around her, again she shouldnt have been shown in the show at all until next season.

23. lucifer morningstar

no notes, funniest charecter, did a song based on friend like me.

few notes: i do like the idea that the immortal symbol of pride is a constant emotional wreckage constantly seeking approval through grand showmanship and manic energy that threatens to take over anything they touch.

would have liked more snake stuff on him, maybe some more goat things like horns.

that is such a stupid fucking staff lmao.

24. Adam.

alex brightman you absolute fucking delight, you should have had more songs.

I wish his design was more focused on the idea of him being a glam rock wash up

I fucking hate his mask

We shouldn't have met him until the end of the season.

25. Niffty

again she is supposed to be a bug or cockroach but nothing about her points to that.

token straight

keeps rocketing back and fourth between sexulization and infantilization

you had kimiko glenn but didnt give her a single fucking song?

26. Sir Pentious

the secret season one redeemed.

the pilot version of him felt more like someone that could do a season one redemption arc, a megalomaniac constantly attempting territory grabs, there is something you can work with, actual character flaws to work through.

essentially a child after the first episode.

actually a snake which i appreciate.

no where near steampunky enough.

27. the villians of the show dont make much sense, each one feels like they should be season long deals on their own instead of a bunch of team rocket esque idiots that show up on occasion, do a bad thing and then leave.

28. Valentino

gOD THERE IS SO MUCH RED

only a moth some of the time.

sucks as a villain, maybe they need more screen time to show why they suck in a more substantial way aside from being told that he sucks.

it is interesting that angel dust is only under his magical control when in the studio, it shows that angel dust has to make a conscious choice to return, which in turn can be made to show how abusers can draw back their victims. I do not think it was done well in this circumstance as it shows him to be cartoonishly evil, constantly flying back and fourth between sweet and utter psycho, there is no actual reason for angel dust to ever actually go back to the studio, he just does so every so often.

29. Vox

legit who cares? the only thing about him that is in any way substantial is all the dope ass fan art we get.

propaganda machine angle that is not explored at all, just hinted at. no actual barring on the story whatsoever.

why didn't he try to do the same shit as alastor by the way? he knows its bad if alastor gets in good with charlie so shouldn't it be a ass kissing race?

same body shape as literally every other male character.

tumblr sexy man version of pyrocynicals fursona.

30. Valvette

the actual poster child of the shows huge problem of "Show me, don't tell me".

apparently the glue that holds the villains together. never shown.

apparently the one that makes the love potions that valentino is famous for. had to learn about that in the fuckin wiki trivias

we know so much about her from things outside of the show.

was there to call carmilla a coward, that's her plot contribution. she shows up every now and again but its never anything substantial and serves to more around take up run time for people We Don't Need To Know Yet.

im not trying to be mean, animation is animation, we need smaller studios to have success in the industry so that other indie studios can have that success, felling a tree makes it easier for others to follow. showing that its possible to number brain rot exacs helps all animators.

but this show has so much bullshit attached to it, it has so much fucking potential that it fries my brain with unyielding frustration.

this took a bit to write, im tired, thanks for reading.

[asmolfolk]

Twisted wonderland with a Grandparent!Reader

ਈՉ࣪﹑Heeyy! Just wanted a quick say in this: This will be a short series and I'll try to go over every dorm [and the NRC staff and special characters if wanted!] with this little idea.﹗ִ❀ ᘏAt first it was going to be tons of angst/comfort. But I decided to just do comfort with some angst in it﹗ִ❀ Some things that you must know before you read this:

This is just an introduction, a bit long but it's to make sure that you understand all the 'prologue changes'.

This will be completely platonic!

You can request more scenarios of 'Grandparent Reader' if you wish!

The next one I'll do is probably 'Parent!Reader', which may include Reader trying to date the students's parents.

Everything was going well in your world. Your life – as short as it was – was complete, you were the ‘concept of a grandparent’ for a lot of people. You owned a little bakery and were being helped by your grandkids, they were always here working and trying their best to make things less hard for you.   Blessings, that’s what they were. You used to joke with your oldest that their children were almost taking your shop for themselves! It was funny, even more funny to see that you actually did leave your bakery shop for them – together with recipes and much more – in your will.  The others [children of your middle and youngest] weren’t that interested ON the bakery shop, they just wanted to help YOU. It always did warm your heart, you were loved... You never knew that someone could be this loved before.  And everything was lost in a blink of an eye.

You weren’t in your bed anymore, in your house – gods, you weren’t even in your kid's house!! It took you quite a while to understand your surroundings, it was all black until you heard some... Strange voice, it was unknown – it worried you deeply until you opened the gate you were in... Only to see a little... Cat? 

“Oh, goodness! What are you doing all alone here, little one?” Your voice is so sweet as you tried to steady yourself, kneeling before the startled cat. 

“HUH? Who you callin’ a little one?! And why are you so... old?” The cat TALKED? Like. Actually talked? Now that you look him closely, it seems that he isn’t a normal cat? What was that?! 

“It happens with all the folks... Though, am I hallucinating or are you an animal that speaks?” 

“I AM THE GREAT GRIM! Not just some pet! Now, give me your... Uniform! Ye!” 

“My uniform? Oh, you wish to work on my bakery? I’m sorry but I couldn’t possible hire such a sweet one to do hard work!” 

“NOT THAT! Your uniform, the one you are wearing right now! You are too old for school ‘yways!” 

“...School?” Slowly getting up and looking around, you managed to notice the big coffins. 

“Well, yes! It could be said that you are too old for this school – but my magnanimity is boundless! There’s no such a thing as an age to learn!” A new voice joins, a... Very strange man with a crow mask, he is smiling as if he is doing a Favour. “And, as it seems, your little familiar is going to be such a great help for you!” 

As he explained everything that you could know, you tried your best to calm Grim while the man would explain every little detail he could to you. Even though, he seemed sketchy, you could feel that he was actually wanting you to feel a bit more comfortable and secure.   Maybe, it was because you were old... Or, as you prefer to think, he is just a nice young man. Once everything was finalized, he was guiding you through the school in a much nicer tone. 

“Well! I’m assured that this whole time spent here – that you were obviously listening to your headmage – was worth it and you have no more questions, right?” He asked with a gracious smile. “I assume you are ready to see which dorm you are going in.” 

“Oh, I’m ready. Though, I am not entirely sure that it would be good for my health to go to Savanaclaw.” 

“Details.” 

As you were guided to the... Uhm, room full of coffins. You saw tons of young men across the room, they seemed ready to go away when Crowley opened the door as soon as one of them said something about ‘him disappearing on the ceremony’. 

“I most certainly did not!” The Headmage said with an almost angry tone. 

“Ah, speak of the devil...” Such a young and small little one you saw! You couldn’t help but wonder how that much sass could fit in that body! 

“If you must know, I was searching for the new student!” He pointed at you, before guiding you towards the mirror. “Poor me, being overly critized by my students when I’m only helping an older one!” 

You didn’t help a lot with the surprise by stepping with difficulty on the platform, you saw a young purple haired fellow running towards you, he linked his arms on yours immediately. 

“Here! Let me help ya!” He immediately said, helping you upstairs. “Those lazy sluggards not even wanting to help ya.” Actually, he didn’t even give time for anyone to try to help. His grandson instincts were fast to act, he not only did immediately notice that you were an elder but that you would need a bit of help with the stairs. 

“You are such a strong young man! Thank you for helping a poor old folk like me.” You said in that sweet grandparent tone that made the boy just grin triumphantly – as if you had just given him a trophy. He didn’t let you go until you were face to face with the mirror. Though, you could hear some whispers about your age, you simply waited for the mirror to say something. 

But, well. We all know how that all went. 

Ramshackle accident. 

Let’s begin with just saying: The thing that most changed was with Epel introduction. He was clung to you like a Coala, he simply did not let you go and was always around you – You, however, did not mind it not even a little bit. He reminded you about your youngest grandkids, always full of energy and ready to duel anyone. 

He was always with his arm linked to yours, guiding you with proud around the school while talking about anything he could. 

And, of course, Grim wasn’t... That bad? He was simply clingier since the beginning. He was stuck to you, always following behind or simply resting in your arm. 

When Crowley – oh, so gracious – tried to give Ramshackle to you were meet with Epel screaming about ‘an old person CAN’T be in such a mess of a place!’. It made the young Epel just ignore his Housewarden calls and immediately go to help you clean around. 

He didn’t let you do anything other than mop the floor and clean windows. Everything else was him and a very unhappy Grim. After everything was cleaned, Epel made sure to help you upstairs. 

“Just so ya know. Morning I’ll come back and help clean more, alr? Don’t forget to call me if anything happens.” 

“Oh... I don’t have a phone.” 

“...I’ll figure something up!” He said before making sure you were okay and going away. 

It was like having your grandkids taking care of you again... And the thought of them poisoned your happiness, you couldn’t bring yourself to stop thinking: “How are they? Are they worried?” You had to push those thoughts before drifting off. 

Oh, and the ghost thing? Well, the whole thing happened but a lot less ‘scary’.  

You have ghost grandkids that are way older than you now, congrats. 

The first years.

Oh, the Adeuce duo. Such a nice young and lively folks. At first, Epel was a bit unsure to let you be around them, especially after the whole fiasco in their first day. However, it was a chance on having more help in making the whole dorm way cleaner for you. 

Well, let’s just say that Deuce was a sweetheart and Ace was... Well, Ace. 

Deuce was immediately apologizing for putting you in danger while Ace was a bit more aloof but was caring too, once you made sure that you actually liked the chaos as it brought a bit more of light to a boredom, they were immediately smitten. Ace was talking about ‘his new cool grandparent’ in less than a week. 

You, more times than you wish you could say, was always cleaning their messes. However, it was... Such a nice thing, to have them around, talking as if you were as young as them. As if you weren’t magicless... I mean, he literally threw a punch for you. 

It didn’t take too long before you meet Jack, such a nice gentlewolf that was always here for you. He helped quite a lot in making sure that things were moved around your dorm, not only that, but he also always managed to get some food and ingredients for you. 

When you meet Ortho, though, he was asked by Epel to give you a phone. And, so, it was done. Not only did he add everyone, he helped you to understand how to exactly use the phone by yourself.  

And then, it came Sebek – a bit too early – he meet you because he KNOWS how age can affect someone and he was already guarding your dorm when you walked out. He respectfully would tell you which places are dangerous to walk into right now and would escort you to avoid trouble. 

The first-years are the first ones to be called by ‘Grandkids’ by you, after all, they are such sweethearts. Always helping, always making sure you are alright.  It was enough to warm anyone’s heart. 

As time passes by, you couldn’t help but think about your relationship with everyone. Not only Ace and Deuce but with the whole Heartslabyul dorm. 

Heartslabyul┆Savanaclaw┆Octavinelle┆Scarabia┆Pomefiore┆Ignihyde┆Diasomnia┆NRC STAFF┆Special Characters.

[lilybug-02]

❤️🌸🌼 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞…. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏 🌼 🌸 ❤️

To get questions out of the way, yes, The Chara Timeline Comic will not be continuing… (mostly)

I started this comic back in November of 2021 on the simple idea of "What if Players possessing humans was normal?". I didn't think it would go beyond a simple page, but it did. It was an idea that blossomed into a 3+ year comic, spanning hundreds of pages, side art, fanart!!!, new blogs, and led me to meeting some of the sweetest and brightest Tumblr people I have ever met. ✨❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜✨ (I’m gonna shout u out eventually 😈)

But, I was doing this COMIC on my OWN and in my free time while juggling college, serious mental health issues, and many crazy life events.

So after so many years, I think it's finally time to put this comic to rest. I grew out of my Undertale and Deltarune love months ago and I am ready to look forward to other projects and interests. (Now... I am open to drawing more for it...but I am okay with telling the world the full story in case I don't ,:))

Because this comic means the ABSOLUTE WORLD to me... I want to give it a last hoorah! I am making multiple parts to this because I want to do my comic justice. ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

I will be going over my favorite art, scenes, characters, deleted scenes and more. And at the end of it all I will go over what the finale would look like and give you guys some art of that :)

First off...MY FAVORITE SCENES!!! (and my thoughts on them)💕

The Beginning:

Still have this saved in my files, thank god. Man... my art has improved so so much!!!! Gone are the playdough hands and strange proportions! Though my faces and consistency always need work.... haha. I'm surprised how colorful and pretty this first page is :) It makes me happy to see it in a new light.

My Favorite Darkworld Page:

I put hours upon hours of work into each page (especially for the colorful Darkworlds), but none still makes me hold my breath as much as the first introduction of The Mayor! I loved drawing the perspective and colored background motifs in this page. And the way the emotions are on full display ~ Chefs Kiss. (I also loved the "Let's shoot out the lights" metaphor being a double entendre. Representing the Mayor's wants to kill/get rid of light-ners and also the term being an old saying for "completely dominating one's opponent" as he want's Kris to join him in his dastardly deeds.)

Backgrounds:

I put my heart and soul into the backgrounds of this comic. I hid details like eyes in walls, moss covered plateaus, spoon shaped rocks, tea kettle inspired trains, hidden characters, and wayyyyy more. Some of my favorite backgrounds have to be of the more subtle ones. But I’m very proud of the detailed ones like the computer.

Silly Kris to Chara Talk:

This one scene (part 8 and 9, which was 12 pages) took me 5 months to make. It was hell. But I did it. The script took me FOREVER to figure out. I have like 4 different drafts of this scene (which I'll show later). I was exhausted and a bit deflated at the time, so I wasn't as proud with it. I'm happy now, but I feel like it could have been easier to make. I'll never know.

All of the Weird Route:

THIS. I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS.🩸💔 I would love to say this is the magnum opus of the comic, but I am being very biased. Horror is my specialty and I was ecstatic when I made the decision to write and draw the weird route for this comic. The idea of having a THING control your body to kill while you’re conscious of your actions is a great horror concept and I loved delving deep into it. Obviously, I feel like some of the writing could have been more worked on (like the part where Chara is explaining HOW soul entities control the body) bc it's confusing, but I'm still so happy with it :) And even if I didn't finish the main one, I finished the weird route. So I made a conclusion somewhere!! (even if it's hella morbid lol)

Darkworld Train Fight:

I had been hoping to make this scene since week ONE of the comic. An epic train fight in a Wild West themed Darkworld? It was perfect! And I also really wanted to have a reference to the Alaskan Bull Worm 🪱🧽 from Spongebob for some reason. Because Sandy Cheeks (the squirrel) is Texan and somehow that all connects back to Rodger the Worm haha. I thought it would be fun, but it took me forever to figure out how the worm and train would combine in a fight scene. In retrospect, I think i spent a little too much time in the darkworld, as it took time and energy away from a more tight-knit story, but hind sight is 2020. 💖🚂🚋🚋🚋🪱

Shaker Sisters:

Just look at them. They are actual baby.

Chara's Crashout and Eventual Talk with Asriel:

This idea of Chara yelling at the Mayor was originally just one page of Chara making an offhand comment about how he was annoying. But it turned into a much more impactful, story changing moment. I wanted to highlight Chara's intensity and why they might have been labeled as "not a good friend" in Undertale. They have anger issues. They are unapologetically blunt. They are anxious and critical of their self worth. They echo their past abusers onto themselves and others and they believe they are justified in their actions. But Chara is human and I wanted to respect them as such.

...I also love Chara being silly <3 (That ice cream took 3+ hours to draw) 😭🍦🍪

Asriel Being Cute:

I just think this one drawing looks cute :)

Chara Finding Kris:

I love drawing comedy and this was no exception. I wanted it to be equal parts horror and funny. Chara's "F*Ck" being cut off is so funny to me 😭 And the horror of a literal Human organ just floating up to you?? Peak dark humor. I also think I nailed the panel layout here 😊

Kris' Confession:

These are my FAVORITE pages out of the ENTIRE COMIC. I feel like the writing, art, and scene layout is as flawless as it can be. I'm still shocked at how well it turned out. They were also a blast to work on ❤️

Silly Azzy 🥺 Face:

I knew people would love his droopy face, but literally so many people liked it, it became a meme. Thank you. I also think it's the funniest thing ever.

A Moment Between Friends:

I love Asriel and Chara's relationship in this comic. They care for one another so much even when they don't see eye to eye.

Breakfast:

This one panel took me 4+ hours. The perspective is wonky and there are 5 different characters. But man do I love how it turned out. Susie is chowing down on those detailed pancakes (yes, those are human and monster pancake faces :) 🥞🥞🥞).

Chara Kicking Stones:

idk why but this one panel scratches an itch in my brain. It’s detailed and colorful :3

The 7 Humans:

I guess we’re getting to some of the last pages I’ve done…. I’m really happy with this one. It’s spooky but gives a sense of intrigue. I also love the layout. Also Also- Frisk’s shirt is a reference to that one submarine guy from the Titanic movie. Idk why, but the happy face with a bullet in its head just fits the vibe.

[phoenixyfriend]

Hi have some more silly Jaster Mereel/Duke Kryze stuff from me and @threebea.

The Duke* took all the braincells in the divorce.

Do you think there are any holos of one of the Kryze girls as a toddler wandering around with Jaster's helmet on because he wanted to be an Indulgent Stepdad who let them play pretend with his gear.

It's my favorite Bit to see in fics that include both Children and Mandalorians. Let the 3yo try on the helmet and wander around pointing finger guns at people!

Duke: Bo'ika what do you have? Bo: A blaster! Duke: NO! Jaster: The safety's on it's fine! Bo: (shoots a teacup) Duke: ://///// Jaster: I may have showed her how to turn off the safety…….. she's already three she should know how to aim!

The Duke and Jaster need to be opposite ends of My Kids Should Be Competent.

Jaster: What do you mean Satine’s five and you haven't brought to the woods to have her skin and prepare a rabbit so she gets a less traumatic introduction to the concept of taking a life? Duke: What do you mean Jango doesn't know calculus yet? He only knows three languages with fluency? He's thirteen! He should have a degree already!

For whatever reason, Qui-Gon: This is Obi-Wan. He's really good at feeling the force and I love him. Obi-Wan: (Covered in mud and leaves) Jaster/Duke: …… Obi-Wan: And I can do calculus AND skin a rabbit 😄 Obi-Wan: [whispers to Qui-Gon] That was right, right? where's my new ship model. Qui-Gon: shhh

Obi-Wan, at a later point: Oh, I killed people. It sucked. But they were trying to kill me, so. Jaster: …oh my god this must be how Adanai feels when Jango says literally anything.

Jango: I think I make your boyfriend uncomfortable. Jaster: Of course not. You're like a son to him. Jango: I told him how I shot Tor Vizsla in the head when I was eight and felt my childhood end. Jaster: ….. Adanai doesn't like blasters is all. Jango: Ohhh okay got it (walks off) Jango: So I choked him to death 🙂 Adanai: And you were ten. Jango: Almost eleven. Adanai: that's… great champ.

* We refer to him as either the Duke or Adanai in this post, as the canon spelling is a bit. Uncomfortable for some people due to real-world religion reasons and he's not a large enough character for a minor spelling change to cause too much trouble for readers.

[avifaunaa]

how the world spins without you [ n.r. ] [ pt.1 ]

AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys just a quick note. I go a bit into Natasha's entrance into the U.S. and exit from the Red Room in a sort of big chunk of this. It involves Clint being there as her buddy and as someone who helps her get used to her new life. If you're just here for smut I apologize greatly. I do get to it but I wanted to have Nat be a large focus in this fic! That said -- I hope you enjoy it otherwise. This is an AU where Thanos simply doesn’t live after infinity war. They get to him in time.

Masterlist

PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!reader

Summary: Natasha was adept at many things: assassination, spying, avenging — they made for a great resume. What she wasn’t quite so adept at was understanding you when she returns from her exile and found you at her beloved table.

Content Warnings: Discussions of culture shock and Natasha's integration into the States, SLOW BURN TO GET TO THE SMUT, Mild-to-moderate angst, SO SOFT, hints that R's parents are absent / neglectful at best, Yelena and Kate being immediate gremlins upon introduction

Word Count: ~7.9k

Men and Minors DNI

Natasha Romanoff did not indulge in many things for herself. 

Growing up, it was because she was never offered such things. Enjoying 'the small things in life' was simply not an option in the Red Room and Dreykov was particular about ensuring what his girls consumed. Even the smallest comforts could lead to the idea of freedom.

One of the first things Natasha did when she walked away -- after signing an agreement with the United States government, with S.H.I.E.L.D., -- was get coffee. With Clint.

"You ever had coffee? You've had to have coffee," the Hawkeye said as though it were obvious. They had just been transferred back to the U.S. after a successful escape from Budapest. Growing close in tight quarters had meant learning a little about one another between them listening and watching the people go about their lives.

And between the games of hang-man and tic-tac-toe. Another introduction from Clint, seeming flabbergasted that he had to explain the concept of both games to Natasha who, despite her brief stay in America as a child, simply did not know either game.

She learned quickly and had eventually started to defeat him.

"Once," Natasha replied shortly following behind the bruised and filthy man into the bustling New York shop. "For a mission. To blend in."

Clint did not ask her to elaborate, but he clapped his hands together loud enough to garner some curious looks towards the two [ who already stood out like bleeding, infected thumbs needing to be amputated ].

"Wonderful," he chortled, eyes focusing on the chalk-board menus hanging above the barista bar. Fake vines wrapped invitingly around the signs and little drawings decorated the corners.

Natasha did not know -- could not know -- if she hated such a sight of casual happiness when her entire world before today was never allowed this.

"What do I get?" the redhead asked as the line grew closer.

"Whatever you want," he responds as his muscled arm gestured to the various pastry displays and again at the hanging menu board. "Everything here is different. Some things are iced others are hot. Do you want it made like a caffeinated milkshake? Ask for a frappe, I guess."

"Why so many options?" Natasha questioned next, frowning and feeling slightly overwhelmed.

She would never admit that even her fine training and brutal grooming couldn't have prevented some of this culture shock. The Red Room was able to prevent her from seeking out these luxuries in the name of her duties -- they scarcely deigned to say what luxuries they were.

Natasha felt as though she were face to face with one now. Why so many choices when not one person can try nor like them all? She did not even want to look at the amount of food inside of the displays stacked. 

She knew the reality of what happens to the food not finished after a store closes. Thrown out and wasted while others hunger for prices they cannot afford.

"Natasha?" They were at the counter now, where all the thick scents of coffee beans and other smells unfamiliar were at their strongest. "Anything look good?"

Natasha scanned the board for something and to squash that overwhelming lump that threatened to rise from her stomach and into her throat, she just said, "Coffee, black."

Clint groaned from beside her as he pulled out a battered wallet. Natasha watched as he used a credit card to pay and wondered if that would be another luxury given to her.

The Red Room gave them everything they saw as a necessity. Money for missions was sent through a wire transfer to a bank account to withdraw as cash. Mostly to keep their mission as untraceable as possible, but also to control the Widows by only ever giving them enough to get through their assignment. 

Running away never worked out for most who tried, anyway.

Clint nudged her a moment later. "C'mon, let's get you sat down okay?"

"Where?"

Clint shrugged more dramatically than needed as he once again used his arms to gesture to the open plan floor where some tables were taken and some sofas around a fire-place hosted people as well. Other tables and some overstuffed leather chairs remained vancant.

"Wherever the heart desires, Nat. No assigned seating required. I'll wait for the order -- why don't you find somewhere for us to sit?"

Natasha wanted to do something other than that.  People hardly bothered her in most circumstances -- people had been her job for her entire life. But she was not used to people in a casual context where there was no target to watch out for, no enemies to ensure weren't around with you.

But her feet were moving anyway, avoiding the high traffic tables and definitely shying away from the social circle the fireplace seemed to attract.

She found an empty table near the back close to the hallway leading to the bathrooms where the volume wasn't so thick and where her back could sit comfortably where less amounts of threats were.

She sat awkwardly, arms crossing across the table as she waited. Her eyes floated around the small but busy shop and took in the scene. A mother handing her child a small lidded cup of chocolate milk, a delighted look in the kiddo's eyes, as she adjusted her bag and grabbed her own cup of coffee and started leading the child out the door.

"Clint!" a low-sung voice called out clearly. Clint practically skipped to the counter where two different drinks awaited him as he thanked the barista and turned around on his heel with a swerve.

He spotted Natasha pretty quickly and danced through the crowd -- but he actively involved himself in people instead of avoiding them. He said cheerful "excuse me's!" and a very scolded "pardon" to an elderly couple he nudged the table of as he approached.

"That was a lot of foot work when you could have walked around," the Russian told him when he finally made a safe approach with a smug grin. 

"What, and not show off my circus-grade balancing act? I don't think so," he retorted with an even wider grin as he set both drinks down with a flourish. 

Natasha bit her tongue when a comment almost forced its' way out. Instead she turned her gaze to the two drinks on the table and read their labels. BLACK read one, the other in a clear tall cup with heavy ice, ICED MOCHA.

Clint pulled his toward him and pulled a straw out of nowhere [ later, Natasha would admit she was still impressed by it for a month until she learned his secret to the trick ] and popped it into the drink's lid.

"I cannot believe," he starts, dropping into the chair across from her and leaning back comfortably, "that I bring you to one of the best coffee shops New York City has to offer and you insult me--"

"It is all the same -- the same intentions, yes?" she asked as she brought the hot drink up to her lips. It was bitter like the one or two other times she'd had coffee but this flavor had a hint of hazelnut. Perhaps a different brand?

"Sure, I mean sort of?" Clint scratched the chin scruff he'd began growing in Budapest. "Some people can't stand the bitterness of normal coffee or don't like it hot. That's why there's so many different ways to get it."

"I don't see the point."

"Would you eat pizza the same way as someone who say . . . likes anchovies?"

Natasha lets herself think on it. The one time she had pizza was when she was with Melina and Alexi as a child. She could still remember how melted the cheese was -- that was the type they got. Cheese. Alexi got some sort of "Americanized Everything" as he called it.

She answered with, "I suppose not. Anchovies are not good."

Clint laughed. "Right. Not everyone wants anchovy on pizza but they still want the pizza. The same goes for coffee. They want the coffee but they may not like how bitter or hot it is. So there's different flavors, different ways to make it. Iced, blended, the works."

"I see," Natasha said as she sipped at her bitter, hot coffee while Clint held his not bitter, hot coffee. "What form did you get?"

"I like mine iced with extra chocolate syrup," he told her. He eyed her, grinned, then nudged it closer. "Wanna try?"

She blinked at him. "It is your drink, I have my own."

Clint raised a bloodied [ days old and dried ] eyebrow at her. "So? It doesn't mean there's a contract that legally binds you from tasting it. Just try it. If you don't end up liking it, you know to not get it next time."

Natasha regards the drink for a moment as it was offered. She decided that she's already done so many things that she shouldn't otherwise be doing -- she was no longer working with Dreykov. Dreykov was dead and he could not touch her.

She leaned over and took a sip. It was definitely cold and tasted like coffee but had a chocolate taste and was sweeter than anything she's ever tasted.

"Good? Terrible? Wanna pull your tongue out and burn it?" Clint wondered. 

Natasha smiled a little at him. "I think I like it very much."

Over the years, Natasha would keep coming back to this coffee shop. She learned its name and kept it safe — especially when the attack of New York occurred. 

It had been destroyed when she got to it but she was able to save everyone inside. They rebuilt and continued on as anyone can do when a disaster strikes and shock that aliens exist have made the human brain barely able to cope. 

The first time they opened since the attack was when Natasha decided to try something new. She had been able to do many new things: become an Avenger, work somewhat nicely with other people, and above all: save the world with Tony Stark and not kill him in the process. 

She’d been greeted reverently by the staff who had starshine in their eyes and gratitude to give. 

It was overwhelming. She wanted to run away and never come back again. 

She ordered an iced mocha with extra chocolate syrup, instead. To go — because too many people were starting to come in. Regulars of the store that she’d recognized but ones that now knew her too. It was too much to handle at once and she needed her exterior to stay solid. 

They threw in a free pastry — she didn’t see what it was but heard the crinkling of the bag sat down by her as she leaned against the counter. She took her coffee and unwanted bread product of unknown origin and left. 

She didn’t return for three weeks. 

When she did she made Steve come with her. They’d grown close the more the government had implemented the Avengers program after the attack and had suffered Tony in bogus amounts. 

[ They grew to love Tony, too, if only because he knew how to handle the public more than even Steve but also because he was able to make them forget ]. 

Steve was better at this thing — the superhero persona. He took it in stride and spoke warmly with people when approached, offering conversation and knowing how to slip away from it politely and smoothly. 

This time while Steve was talking to a young pretty blonde near the entrance, Natasha ordered a macchiato. She got Steve his enormously detailed drink he’d listed off for her before being taken to the side and she threw in a couple of pie slices. Blueberry. 

She almost believed she could stay this time. Her table was open and it was still early enough to enjoy the energy before the morning rush took over and invaded their space. 

Natasha turned to Steve and said, “Okay, Captain America, your coffee is getting cold. We should sit down and eat our pies before we get called back.”

A perfect exit, a glance of relief from the blonde hero, and they sat down. Nat facing the front again but for entirely different reasons this time. 

She picked at her pie slice with a plastic fork while Steve drank his coffee and ate his with just the right amount of speed to not concern other patrons. 

“You’ve been holding out on me,” he told her, looking around comfortably at the shop. It looked somewhat the same rebuilt — perhaps more updated in terms of structure but otherwise not as new as one could come to think. “This is your hideout?”

Natasha played with a blueberry that fell from the crust. “It was.”

Steve regarded her for a silent minute, then sighed and set down his fork. “You’re not settling well with the attention.”

“I’m doing fine.” She didn’t glance up at him. They were the defacto leaders of their little operation even if Fury believed he was. Besides Clint, it was Steve that Nat was starting to confide in for some things. 

For others he seemed to read her like an open fucking book that she had previously managed to keep chained and locked tight. 

America was making her soft. 

“You’re lying,” he decided after a moment, then took a sip of his coffee and said nothing more. 

She waited for him to dig further, but he simply went back to his pie and coffee. She watched him suspiciously. “What — no pep talk about how this is my life now? How I should find a way to live with it so that I can better serve the people?”

Steve tapped his chin. “I’d say you’re living with this life in the best way you can, Nat. I don’t exactly know your entire story but I do know that you worked with people like I did but uh —“ he squinted, “oppositely.”

“You can say I killed people, Steve,” she sighed. Her pie was pushed back, uneaten. 

Steve nodded. “Okay. You killed people — maybe they didn’t deserve it but for whatever reason you were sent to do it. You didn’t ask questions but you did as you were told. I was in the army and they essentially ran the same rules but we did it on a greater scale in a massive war instead of in the shadows. Killing was in the job.”

“You became Captain America,” Natasha told him bluntly, curling her lip slightly, “A man that brought great comfort and safety to his country and protected them with the serum they never knew he had running in his veins. But they didn’t have to know — because you did good.”

“Sure,” Steve agreed, looking slightly sadder, “and maybe some of the men I killed could’ve been good. Because I didn’t ask.”

Natasha smiled at him, sadly, “I don’t think so, Steve. They let you play publicly like they let the Red Guardian in Russia play.”  She tapped her fingers against the table. “I was never meant to be a hero in anyone’s stories. I was always their nightmare and a blacked out mention on the paperwork and files.”

Steve didn’t know what else to say, how to comfort her. That was okay. Natasha wouldn’t know what to do with comfort or gentleness. She strayed away from it like she strayed away from her mistresses beatings in her ballet lessons. 

“In truth,” Natasha says, pulling her coffee closer in hopes it will ground her better than she can ground herself, “I needed you here because maybe I struggle being the part of someone’s story that doesn’t bring endless grief and anger.”

She watched now as the customers began going about their business and pretended that Captain America and the Black Widow were just ordinary people among them. 

“Right now, I’m just trying to figure out how to find my place in a world that wasn’t initially meant for me.”

She met you after the long, destructive battle that ended with the death of Thanos — and Vision with him. Wanda had vanished and Natasha knew she’d be called in when they found traces of her. 

But for now she was home. The drive from the compound was longer than the walk from the Tower but that’s okay. 

“Natasha,” Fiona, the manager, greeted with a small smile and quiet demeanor. “Welcome back. I saw what you did in Wakanda. What you and the Avengers all did.”

Natasha smiles in return, dipping her head in acknowledgement. “Ah, news travels fast now. It was a group effort.”

“I’m glad your name got cleared by the Accords. It wasn’t right,” she continued, shaking her head stiffly, “After all you did. You and Captain America. It simply wasn’t right,” she repeated.

“It’s okay,” Natasha told her with a relaxed stance as she put her hands into her jacket pockets. She was somewhat truthful. It was okay — the fight with Thanos had forgiven a lot of things. 

The government had turned their head and seemingly forgotten who their named fugitives were. Lost the paperwork and welcomed their beloved heros back as though it never happened. 

The other half of Natasha and the others — the halves that had sacrificed a lot of themselves over the years — were still angry and demanding more. 

“It’s being taken care of,” the redhead-turning-blonde continued as she graced an easy smile toward Fiona. “I’m just happy to be home. I missed this place.”

“We missed you too! We kept your streak for what you’ve tried and what you haven’t,” the small barista exclaimed, crouching down and digging under some shelves presumably. 

She pulled out a white board that was somewhat on the verge of being erased with all the scuffs it had on its writing. But thankfully it was still legible. She was on course for trying the caramel apple mocha next. 

She went with that. “Frappe or cappe?” 

Natasha thought for a moment. “Let’s do it as a frappe,” she decided, pulling out her wallet and handing over the sleek black credit card labelled with the large STARK INDUSTRIES on top. 

Fiona swiped it once before handing it back, “It’ll be out very soon,” she said as she hopped over to the machines to start making her order. 

Natasha meandered over to the pickup counter, finding a spot on the corner to lean against and pull out her phone. The chubby, slobbery face of Nathaniel grinning next to Cooper and Lila greeted her when she looked at her Lock Screen. 

She had one text from Tony regarding her rooms at the compound needing to be Clint-proofed [ “Why are you trying to keep me out of your life?” Clint bemoaned when he called her from the blocked off vents later that night ].

She sent a quick text, telling Tony to add flamethrowers to the vent walls if needed to keep the Hawkeye from breaking the damn thing. 

Tony only sent back a devil emoji followed by three fire emojis. 

Natasha snorted and pocketed her phone as Fiona came over capping the top of her drink, extra whipped cream spilling out the top. 

“Here you go,” she chirped proudly as she slid over the drink. “I did add a little of the spice that we use for our pumpkin flavored drinks. It’s really good with this one too.”

“I trust your judgement, Fiona,” Natasha said as she took the drink in hand and smiled. “Thank you. I’ll let you know how I like it.”

“Please do! Your reviews keep us busy.”

Natasha turned and tapped the cup with her fingers as she looked for her table. It was busy already this morning but Natasha had quickly learned that blending in could be as easy or as difficult as she made it. 

She said hello to some people who greeted her first, and made some small conversations. The regulars knew she liked to keep to herself until she finished her drink, however, and left her alone with just a smile and short greeting. 

But she came to a stop shortly. 

Someone was at her table, littering the surface with notebooks and a textbook opened that they seemed to be deeply focused on. 

Natasha kept walking towards her table cautiously, suddenly greeted with a new challenge in her comfort zone. 

Small talk was an effort — but maybe —

You looked up and they struck Natasha like a speeding car with no intentions to stop. They were so brown — your eyes. Rich in the color and fierce in the cold New York sun. 

She expected shock when you realized who she was. Some sort of spluttering hello. 

But you only looked slightly irked as you pulled out an AirPod she didn’t see you wearing before and said, “Why the hell are you staring at me?”

This was the worst place for you to have chosen to study — especially since you chose to do it during the height of Winter Break.

Kate had insisted on its perfect aura, the warmth it was saturated in. You called her dramatic and she didn’t answer any of your texts the rest of the night other than to spam emojis at every message you sent her. 

Whatever, you thought, as you settled at a table with your newly ordered dark chocolate frappe. It was five in the morning with no sun, few to no people, and sugar and caffeine to keep you going now even if it led to the inevitable crash later. 

You got to work with pulling your textbook out and beginning to take extremely detailed notes that you can make even more detailed study cards on at a later date. 

It was hours before an intrusion broke you from your study fever. It wasn’t a forceful one, either, but it demanded attention enough that it had you pulling focus after hours of studying with no end in sight. 

You pointedly ignored it as best you can, hoping that your music and the lack of eye contact would send a strong and clear message: leave me alone, I don’t wish for human contact. 

The message went undelivered as did the feeling of being watched. When you wrote the same bullet point down twice, your eye twitched and you finally gave in. 

Removing your AirPod and breaking your peace when the bustle and surroundings of the shop filtered into your space, you stared back with no motivation to hide how irate you were. 

The words came out long before your brain could process who, exactly, you were talking to.

“Why the hell are you staring at me?” you hissed out. Your eyes dragged upward just as the sentence fully formed and you suddenly wished you were not so eager. 

The Black Widow was staring at you, apparently. Dressed down from battle gear in a pair of jeans and a soft turtleneck, long hair down in waves. But that was the Black Widow without a doubt. 

You couldn’t back down now, you’d lose all respect if she had any when approaching you to begin with. No — you held your ground. You had to. 

Green eyes, green darker than gardens and well-cared for parks, crossed yours. Surprise lit up within them briefly — but it was gone as quickly as it came. 

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said perfectly polite, with an apologetic smile forming on her features. “I didn’t even mean to just stare like I did. Sorry.”

Really? You rubbed at your aching temple and glanced down at your phone. 8:45. You hadn’t moved for a good near four hours at the least. Your coffee was only half finished, and your hand writing had grown less organized on the sheets of paper beneath you. 

“It’s — it’s fine. I didn’t realize anybody was there. Or what time it was.” You flipped the textbook shut and clenched and unclenched your fingers. “No wonder you were staring. I must have looked like a zombified student.”

A soft laugh rose from the woman across from you, feet crossing as she stuck a hand into her jacket pocket. “Not at all. It actually had nothing to do with you, I must confess.”

You gave her a confused look. “What? Then why all the staring? If anything I should be giving you the wide eyed awestruck look.”

The Black Widow in all her glory and turtleneck sweaters suddenly seemed to grow shy. The smile remained but she tapped her fingers rhythmically against her cup. 

“It’s moreso that you’re at the table I usually sit at when I come here,” she confessed quietly, embarrassed at such a small thing to have been caught confused over. “But it’s been a while since I’ve been here so I should’ve expected that the table was likely to be used like I used it.”

You blinked at her confession to you, now more curious and being drawn out of your desire to over-study than ever. “Oh — right you were on the run for a while.”

“Yes,” she confirmed simply, lips thinning into a line as she glanced behind her. 

“You can sit here if you want,” you said, breaking the silence and deciding you didn’t want her to have to leave. You moved your stuff. “I’ve been here since five. I mean, if you’re fine waiting while I finish my coffee I can be out of your hair.”

“I don’t mind, if you’re sure.” Natasha pulled out the chair and gave one more long glance toward the shop behind her before sitting down with her back to them and starting to slowly sip her coffee. “May I ask what you’re studying?”

“Oh. Sure. I’m majoring in electrical engineering with a minor in physics,” you said, turning the textbook slightly so she could see the title of it. 

“That’s a heavy major,” she mused, but didn’t say it in a way most usually did when you told them. “What made you want to go into that?”

You felt your cheeks turning red at the question — something you normally have no problem answering but now do considering who it is asking. “Well to be honest with you —“

“Honesty is always best,” the older woman agreed in a drawl, amusement glittering across her face. 

You puffed, still red, and redder more when Natasha’s amusement seemed to grow upon realizing why without you saying yet, “Okay. I’ve always been sort of interested in engineering. But Stark Industries is literally paving a new path into technology we otherwise wouldn’t break ground on. Imagine what we could do for people in war-torn nations with it? What about turning it to medical use for progress towards incurable diseases? Anything is possible because it hasn’t been done yet. I want to see it, to try it. Like Tony Stark was able to do with that access.”

You were expected to be given a lot of incredulous responses when you told people your ideals for your major. Your expectations were met — but Natasha simply looked thoughtful as she sipped her drink. 

“A passion like that could get you anywhere you want,” Natasha told her. “You have dreams that most people give up on. If they have the technology why haven’t they done it?”

A question you loved answering. “Because they don’t have anyone fighting to get it used in those specific areas, to be produced for those situations,” you replied, leaning closer, “Don’t you see? It needs someone or multiple people to see it for what it can do if given the time and the resources.”

Natasha tilted her head curiously, studying you with an unreadable expression, “You think you’re that person? The one who can make the change?”

A flush of defiance coursed through you at the question. “If nobody else will, who better than myself?”

“Where are you going to school?”

“I go to MIT. I’m currently on my winter break.”

“And yet you’re studying like you have a test tomorrow,” Natasha concluded. She glanced from the scurried notes to the textbook and back to you, as if trying to read you out and get your secrets. 

“I’m on a scholarship and otherwise wouldn’t be there,” you admitted carefully, chin lifting, “It was a lot of hard work to receive it and losing it isn’t an option.”

Natasha rested a hand on her fist — calloused from whatever dark past and Avengering has rewarded her — and regarded you with a startling feline-like expression. 

“Working hard and overworking are different, that will be important to remember. I didn’t know the difference when I was young either.”

“What made you learn?” You ask carefully. 

She pursed her lips and stared behind you at the hallway that held no interesting object to look upon. “I did ballet as apart of a program. I found it fun until my instructor made my ankles bleed every single day for every mistake I made each session.”

You swallowed your shock down and fisted your hands together on the table. “She sounds like a fucking cunt.”

Natasha barked out a laugh, the glazed distance disappearing and replaced by a spark as she returned to focus on you instead. A stray lock of hair lowered across her forehead as she relaxed slightly, “She was, I assure you. I did not know the difference between brutality and hardworking traits until I came to the states. Sometimes,” she finished, “I still do not and must be reminded that I am no longer a tool for anyone’s use that I do not myself see purpose in.”

“Wouldn’t you consider the Avengers program being a tool?” You wondered aloud without meaning to.

Her lips twisted, perhaps impressed by your bravery despite the accidental slip. “That is why you must choose carefully what games you want to play and with who. Who to be a tool for and who to destroy.”

“Are you saying I should take more breaks?” You finally ask. 

She grins smugly as she removes her chin from her fist and leans back in her chair like a fat cat. “Well done, Malyshka. I like playing with you.”

You pondered her words and sort of wanted to know what got you into this situation where the Black Widow was giving you confusing advice. 

Natasha and you were comfortably silent as you two sipped on your coffees together. You think you like whose is without the grandeur that the media tends to flash onto her. She’s thoughtful and quiet — and holy shit you just met and hardly know her. 

Natasha suddenly broke your peaceful silence, looking very serious as she says, “I know a guy I can connect you to at Stark Industries when you graduate if you’d like to get your feet off the ground. He’d probably be impressed with you.”

You stared blankly at her, brain shutting down for ten seconds and rebooting in that time. 

“What.”

Natasha played with her empty coffee cup, nonchalantly saying, “I know a guy —“

“I heard the first time,” you said, shaking your head a little bit to clear it, “You’re talking about Tony Stark. You — you’re willing to put a word in for me?”

Natasha nodded once with finality. “Yes. You remind me of Tony in ways that are all good — and yet you lack the parts of Tony that make me want to kill him.”

“Thanks?”

“You’re welcome.”

“So . . . Like what’s the catch?” You asked, stacking your notebook on top of your textbook and fiddling around to keep from exploding. “Because it’s weird to me that the Black Widow is sitting down across from me and offering me a gigantic opportunity.”

“Once in a life time,” she corrects, “But there isn’t really a catch. Just a request — the offer will still be open and I’ll ensure Tony gets you on his ledger when you graduate and apply.”

“Sure,” you said, pretty much willing to do anything. 

“May I have your number?”

It was so clearly an unexpected request and even you could see Natasha's confident request was followed by tinted cheeks and more taps on her empty cup.

You gave Natasha Romanoff your number.

Your first date with Natasha was at the coffee shop —  where you met at the table. You spent hours talking like the day before except for this time you got to know each other a bit more on a deeper level. 

You learned she adopted a cat straight off the street that wouldn’t leave her alone. A small black creature with wide yellow eyes. The photos she showed you led to you seeing photos of her nieces and nephews through the Clint Barton. 

“He’s chubby little dude,” you noted as you scooted your chair closer to her to see the photo better. 

“That’s what I said!” she exclaims, beaming at you and nudging your shoulder with hers. 

“Just look at him,” you continued, “those cheeks say it all.”

You learned a little about her and she you. You had similar tastes in music and entertainment, but when it came to movies it seemed you were at an impasse. 

This became evident when she showed up to your apartment for the second date and flashed two tickets to a new horror as snow fell around you both. 

Your head dropped in defeat as she wrapped an arm around your shoulders and led you to her car. “I promise on Tony’s suit that I will protect you from the big bad.” Then she opened the passenger side door for you. 

With a heavy sigh and a suffering look sent her way, you plop into her car and wait for her to shut the door. 

She was a pretty decent protector at the movies. She armed you with sugary drinks and snacks and lifted the armrest between you two and opened an invitation into her arms at any point when it got scary. 

For you it did not take very long at all. You dived into her side and curled so tight when the first brutal murder flashed on the large screen. Natasha was smart, Natasha was clever. She wrapped her arm around you as you buried your face in her neck and grinned as she watched the movie without so much as flinching. 

They went to the coffee shop after to get the remaining heebeejeebies out of your system by chasing it down with caffeine. You notice Natasha thinking it over before ordering a plain mocha latte. 

“You ordered something different this time?” you asked her after she paid for both your orders like she had at the movies. 

Natasha rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s something I’ve been working on. For a lot of my life I was devoid of choices. They were made for me. This helps me remember that decisions I make are my own, nobody else’s.”

“One unique coffee at a time,” you murmured as you brought your straw to your lips and felt something flutter in your chest. 

“One unique coffee at a time,” she echoed, meeting your gaze as she brought her own drink to her lips. 

The third date was the only one left before you would be set to return to MIT. You were firm on making plans for this one and Natasha didn’t argue. 

It was planned for after Christmas and New Year’s — somewhere you had to begrudgingly drag Kate over to help you set up. 

“A date? Good enough to go here?” she asked as you scrolled the website for the restaurant. 

“I really like her,” you say, licking your lips and unsure of what else to tell her in regards to Natasha. “She walked right up to me and . . . I don’t know. She sort of just missile fired into my life.”

Kate snorts, but leans against your pillows and nibbles at her cuticles. “Okay. This is a place I think is good if you really really like her. It’s expensive.”

You checked your bank account earlier. You had enough fun money left to spend on this date. “It’s fine. I can do it.”

Kate tapped a few things into her phone before handing it to you. “Then make the reservation.”

Natasha had to pick you up from your place — considering you didn’t have a car in New York at the moment. She was beautifully dressed in a styled pant-suit with her hair curled into a bun. She had some sort of watch you thought looked familiar but couldn’t remember the brand name of. 

You ran your hands down your glittery dress and hoped it would be enough to impress her. She came to greet you, reaching out to take your hands. “You said dress nice and you end up dressing nicer than me,” Natasha comments. 

You scoffed, fussing with your bracelet to distract yourself from her unwavering gaze and how it made you blush. “T-thank you. You’re so . . . Yeah.”

“Yeah?” she echos, amusement and glee creeping into her tone as she guides you by the hand to her car. 

“Yeah.”

“Glad I got the yeah approval.” She settles you in and punches in the address you give her.

The restaurant is very nice — far nicer than even you usually were able to attend despite your parents’ wealth and reputation in the city. You stayed home from the nicer events often with a nanny. 

Dinner was started with a set course of appetizers followed by a few dishes brought for the main course. Dessert was the most popular dish and it brought you and Natasha closer and sitting together instead of facing one another so you could enjoy sharing the food while giggling to yourselves and talking. 

An entire bottle of wine had been left in an iced bucket at your table and the both of you indulged in a couple of glasses. 

“You hid in a vent for five days?” You squawked at her, failing to hide your laughter behind your hand and thus forced to set down your wine glass. 

“It was our only option, to be fair,” the redhead admitted, smirking. “We had the entire city in a state of disarray and we had to find a way to lay low for a bit.”

“I can’t imagine the discomfort between two people up there!”

“It was sort of fun. Clint was the first person who was actually . . .” Natasha pauses as she considers what to say next. “. . . Who actually spoke to me like a human, I suppose. Not a soldier or a robot.”

You frowned, lacing your fingers with hers. “That’s terrible, Nat.”

She tilted her head at you. “No, that’s just what my life was. I didn’t know any better, really. Didn’t see what life could be like if I knew what was out in the world other than cruelty.”

You ran a thumb over her the top of her palm. “I’m glad you got out and that you’re here now.”

“Me too, Malyshka,” she agrees, and meaning it to the depth of her soul, “me too.”

She drove you home and held your hand the entire time. It was hard to let you go even as she got out to walk around the front of her own car and help you out and walk you to the door of your building. 

“Well, this is me.” You tried to sound cheerful, but there was a sadness laced in the tone thick enough for Natasha to detect. 

“Will you let me drive you to the airport tomorrow?” she murmured, her fingers loosening from yours so her hands can trail up your arms, fingers marking the outline of your neck, and finally cupping your cheeks. 

You locked gazes with her and smiled warmly as you leaned in, seeking out her closeness just as she did with you. 

Natasha was not an expert with how to handle what you made her feel. It took everything in her training to control herself — so she wouldn’t run from the emotions that pelted her. 

It was like having her ribcage peeled open and her heart exposed for you to see. Natasha despised it as much as she adored it — the rush it gave her followed by the nerve-wracking fear. 

You had the sole ability to tear her apart because she’s giving you the chance. She was warned at a young age never to give anyone that opportunity lest they get you killed by betrayal or by weakness. 

It was a cardinal rule Natasha never broke. Even when she got out she never sought out sex, romance, connection. It had the power to destroy everything she was. 

And here she was giving you the paperwork to the instructions. 

 But you wrapped your hands so incredibly gently around hers as they caressed you, nuzzling into the touch and inhaling in her scent and just . . . Simply being there. Both of you. Together. 

“Malyshka?” she murmured, nose nudging yours to grab your attention. “Airport?”

Your eyes flew open, still hazy from the moment that overwhelmed the both of you. You sighed. 

“I have to be there by six to catch by flight, Nat,” you finally told her, shaking your head slowly in her hands. “Too early.”

“I’ll be there at four.” Natasha leaned in, beginning to press soft kisses to your cheeks. One on each one. Then your forehead. 

You furrowed your brow. “Nat, no. That’s way too early.”

“I’m an Avenger, baby.” Nat only pulled back enough to grin at you with that trademark smile of hers. Smug and knowing like she was. 

You rolled your eyes. “Fine. Four thirty.”

“Okay.” She grinned. “Four.”

Then you leaned up and kissed her first, shaking her confidence and surprising her. One hand dropped from where it held your jaw and fell instead to grasp your hip to steady herself. 

It was the most amazing thing she’d ever experience since leaving the Red Room. She’d done many things in her newfound freedom — but this . . . 

You eventually had to pull back for air and she leaned forward to brush an errant piece of hair back behind your ear. So soft, so gentle. 

Your Natasha. 

“I’ll see you at four.”

You walked off the stage with a diploma -- a piece of paper telling the world that you were now a credited electrical engineer. Your parents promised to make it and then backed out the day before with apologies and a graduation gift: money. Perhaps in hopes to buy your forgiveness.

Kate flew down though and she hugged you so tight when you walked out into the crowd of thousands as the stadium emptied after the ceremony. You were hot under the robes and you wanted to go change but Kate wanted to embrace you in a death grip first.

"So fucking proud, duuuude," she said, shaking you before releasing you with a beam. "Look at you! My baby girl, all grown up."

You rolled your eyes. "Thanks, mom. You're not embarrassing me at all."

"I should hope not! It would be really awkward since I plan on dragging you to every single bar we can manage until we wake up somewhere the next morning," she said with the Kate-stamped seriousness.

You winced. "Kate, I'm not sure --"

She twitched, then grinned. "I'm joking. Your shit's already packed at your dorm and ready to be flown home. Plan tonight is something entirely low-key."

"First of all." You held up a finger. "How and why did you pack up my stuff already? I had the week to get my dorm cleared. I was going to drive it down with a rental and have Natasha help me move it into storage."

"Oh," Kate clapped her hands, "that reminds me--"

"Hi, Malyshka." That voice you'd been in love with since at least March, when she stayed up late with you while you tried not to break down during sessions of studies.

Natasha, who made the distance work by using her superhero mojo to fly down in her own jet to see you for a day and just hang out when she knew you needed it.

Natasha who was beautiful and followed by a younger, curious blonde with braids as she came up to you. She held an expression of pride as she took you in and --

You burst into tears when you saw her, "Nat?"

The blonde looked perplexed and leaned back a bit, expressing loudly in a thick accent, "Does your face always make her cry. Sistra?"

Sistra. Sister. Natasha had told you about her sister Yelena who she'd reunited with while she was on the run. Who helped her take down the Red Room and Dreykov for real this time. It was a story that Nat had told her on one of her visits to you and as she was opening up more. She told you that Yelena was her entire world before and that night expressed that now you were too.

"Yelena," you spluttered, gesturing to the wary ex-assassin in an attempt to hug her. 

"Hello," she greeted awkwardly, tapping your arm with a heavy hand. "I see you know who I am. Natasha." She side-eyed her sister accusingly, but Nat ignored her in favor of embracing you.

"You looked so gorgeous up there. I was very proud watching you walk that stage and keeping your chin up." She kissed the top of your head and held you close as you finally were able to hug your partner again for the first time in months.

Kate and Yelena stood off to the side awkwardly next to one another. "I did not invite you," Kate mentioned, squinting at Yelena.

Yelena sniffed. "Natasha goes, I go. Simple. What are you? Kate?"

"Kate," the brunette confirmed, "Bishop."

"Kate Bishop," Yelena repeated, letting the words flow off her tongue smoothly. A mischievous glint lost on you and Natasha but not on Kate started to glow in her eye. "Do you like mac'n'cheese?"

The look Kate gave her would've had you on the floor in tears if you weren't already in tears in Natasha's arms.

"Let's get you to a hotel, yeah?" Natasha murmured soothingly. She kisses your head again. "You can get to know Yelena if you'd like. We can all watch a movie together."

Nothing sounded better.

I will not be discussing how much fucking trouble this gave me. just take it and pls enjoy it.

PART TWO

[pain-in-the-asguardian]

Since his introduction, we've seen that Kid has a strong connection to the overall storyline and other characters. We see his progress post timeskip, even cutting to him during arcs he's not a part of, and he's been in half the total anime openings since his introduction.

As the Supernova who had the highest initial bounty he's set up as a rival to Luffy. While their personalities are opposite, Kid's attacks are shown to mirror Luffy's gear 3 and 4. Based on this it seems likely that he will eventually gain an ability to mirror Gear 5 as well.

He's also got a connection to Vegapunk. It's unclear just what it is currently, but it's important to note that Kid gained his “Punk” naming system and major mechanical creations after we learn about VP. In his childhood art, he's even holding a robot.

His strongest attack, Damned Punk has a very visible 07 on the side, we're shown it several times. When the SH crew reaches Egghead VP explains there are six punks on the island. This seems to indicate there may be more in the world.

The Sea Beast Weapons seem to confirm this, as there are 8 of them. It appears they mirror Vegapunk and his Satellites, but this leaves us with one extra who just happens to look like Kid. It's also worth noting that "Kid's" sea beast is the only one not wearing the eye mask.

With Elbaph unfolding currently, we are seeing a lot of devil imagery. This makes the religious symbolism in Kid's creations all the more fascinating, because they are full of it. The most obvious is the backing of Punk Rotten, which is very clearly matching the cross of Nika.

The skulls of PR and Corna Dio also have spiked halos. For someone who is seen as a monster, Kid certainly uses a lot of heavenly imagery. Will this play a part in the devilish saga currently in play?

Something I just noticed that may or may not be related is that Wire's outfit is different in Elbaph. It reminds me of Renaissance Madonna images. Again, this one may just be coincidence but... It also might not be.

The last point I want to make is that of the Horned God. Punk Corna Dio is based on the heavy metal hand gesture started by artist Dio, but also can be interpreted as Horned God. He could have called it something like Toro Dio, but he didn't.

This isn't the first time we see horned skulls, since both Road and one of the Holy Knights wear them. And then we have Chopper, who turns into a massive horned being. The concept of the Horned God seems to be one we see throughout the series.

Kaido and the Ancient Giants are also horned beings, and now we are seeing horned devils as well. It's interesting to me that the only other Sea Beast weapon to resemble another character just happens to be Chopper, and it's shown next to "Kid".

While Kid's fate is currently unknown, it seems Luffy has taken his fashion decisions from him, going with the belted leather kilt and red feathered coat. Luffy tends to mimic others, so could it be a nod to someone who helped him in Wano?

Additional thoughts: Nika/Joyboy connected to not only liberation but laughter, and now because of Killer's Smile the crew has chosen to laugh along with him. Will they be free of the false happiness forced by the false DFs one day?

Or has Killer found a way to overcome it already? Regardless of circumstance or emotion, he shouldn't be able to *not* smile, as we saw with the people of Wano at Yasui's execution. Yet we see here that he's not. There's a reason we're shown this brief scene.

Finally, we see Demalo Black and co. cosplaying Kid. This means we'll see a confrontation eventually, as in Sabaody. I think Cross Guild may play into freeing the false crew. Funny that Black disparages Joyboy when we see that Kid may be a Nika disciple.

There's a lot of little details about Kid, and individually you might chalk them up to coincidence. But taken together, they really start to add up. His role isn't finished yet, and I believe we'll see him again soon in Elbaph.

Taken from my Twitter thread here!

[divine-crows]

Witches Compass, the Barebones Basic Guide:

What is it, Why would I use it, Is it for me?

Introduction

This is an aspect of my path that I'm currently exploring more deeply, and as I learn to navigate it and reveal more ways it's useful to me I've noticed an increasing passion towards the subject. I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but I hope I can provide a post that helps explain the concept to those who are curious.

Reccomended Sources

The Crooked Path: An Introduction to Traditional Witchcraft by Kelden

Besom, Stang, and Sword: A Guide to Traditional Witchcraft, the Six Fold Path & the Hidden Landscape by Christopher Orapello and Tara-Love Maguire

Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary

The Witch Compass by Ian Chambers

I'd like to note that of the books I don't have copies of the first three listed sources, but when I was initially on my journey I had access to them digitally and they opened my eyes to the concepts I'll be speaking on. All of my written information will be paraphrase from my grimoire as a result.

What Is The Witches Compass?

I honestly would divide it into two different answers, there's a long answer and a short answer.

Generally I'd say: The Witches Compass is a means similar to casting a circle that allows you to traverse the Hedge (perform astral work), work with spirits to perform spells, and to harness the powers of the directions to tap into your abilities.

The more 'esoteric', long answer I'd give: The Witches Compass is both a tool and a method comprised of symbolism, story telling, and allegory. These three elements allow the user to tap into their "unconcious mind" so they can better perceive the spirits and world around them. To put it short, the Compass is an inherent part of us-- seeing as it's a part of our perception --and it's up to us to use the tool as we see fit-- whatever symbols and stories we attribute to it is up to us.

How does the Compass differ from casting a Circle?

I have some Key Ideas based on observation and what I've read:

A circle intends to keep out Spirits, the Witches' Compass generally does not

A circle is intended to raise energy, The Compass generally is about focusing and maintaining energy

A circle is usually ritualistic in intent; focused on consecrating a space, a Witches' Compass isn't nessicarily ritual focused.

Similarly, a Circle usually is opened with specific steps and must be closed with a specific set of steps, the Compass (while having steps from others you may want to follow) doesn't always have to follow specific rules and has a lot less to do when closing it.

This one is a little more personal, but I generally relate the Circle to tapping into Higher Powers, and I likewise attribute the Witches' Compass to tapping into Earthly Powers (though it's not mutually exclusive).

I highly reccomend you explore both methods and try them out, Circle Casting is definitely still a very useful skill that you can use.

Why Would I Use It?

I'd highly reccomend giving it a try if you fit into the following categories:

You Like/Want to explore. . .

Hedge Work

Spirit Work

Forms of Folk Magic

Animist forms of Spirituality

Challenging yourself with differing or new concepts

Visual based workings

There's a lot of ways for you to learn to incorporate it into your beliefs. If you're concerned about wanting to adapt it into your practice and you have a baseline understanding on the subject, I highly reccomend looking at the last book in the reccomended list because it gives you a lot of exercises that will help you broaden your understanding of the Witches' Compass.

How Do I Tap Into the Compass?

These are some baseline ideas on how you might begin your journey to tapping into the Compass. These are exercises I do to help me better understand it.

Meditating on each direction was one of the first steps I ever took. I focused on sounds (both imagined and literal), visuals, and feelings as I faced each cardinal direction. I then wrote them down so I could further investigate what it means to me.

Finding out what I correspond with each direction helped me out a lot too. That can include elements, tarot card courts, colors basically anything that you place high importance on. It should be noted that in the reccomended sources they do give ideas on correspondences, but I reccomend you explore your own ideas so you can better understand it.

Creating a story for each direction is an idea I've been planning for a while. I want to basically tap into each element in a meditative state and create a short story inspired by my deities, my practice, etc. as a means to better explore how the Compass fits into my faith. You can also attribute stories already known to the Compass as well.

Tying into the previous idea, you can use stories to apply deities, archetypal figures, etc. to each cardinal direction for guidance. Be careful and mindful if you do so, that way you can be respectful with whatever you work with. As a celtic pagan, I've been finding ways that the deities I worship can represent each direction as a means to better interpret and I've found its helped me develop a better understanding and relationship with the deities I worship as a result. Of course, you don't have to incorproate deities, you can even use nameless beings if you want. What matters is you have a representation of each facet.

Practicing laying the Compass is self explanatory. I will say, there are differing methods out there and as you become comfortable you may build your own method to do it. Generally, I'd reccomend a trying a more well known method first so you can get an understanding of the symbolism, general vibe, etc. After the first couple of times if it really doesn't mesh well with you, then I'd say you can definitely explore more into what you'd like to do. You don't even have to do anything too significant either if you don't want to. Try it for simple spellwork, try it for meditative purposes, whatever you feel will ease you into it.

Try to interact with spirits of the land (if they're willing), especially since a part of the Compass is forming working relationships with the landscape around you I'd recommend it heavily. If you're like me and you can't freely or safely explore at random I recommend going places you know you're safe (even if it's as simple as your backyard!) and find a way to covertly do so. For example: instead of visibly laying a Compass and going into a clear trance-like state you can draw one out in a notebook and pretend to be writing in it while connecting with spirits.

Overall. . .

I covered some basic definitions, differences between casting a circle and using The Compass, and some ideas on how you can start your work. Now it's time for you to do some research given that you have an idea on what the Witches Compass is!

This post is merely skimming the surface and there is much more for you to uncover.

[aroacearborvitae]

happy pride, here's some excerpts from The Ace and Aro Relationship Guide: Making It Work in Friendship, Love, and Sex, which I just finished reading and highly recommend. "relationship" here refers to any relation we seek out with other people- friendship, qprs, sexual relationships, nonamory, romance, etc.

plain text under the cut:

Why do we need a book like this? Too often as ace and aro folks, we are asked to change ourselves in order to be worthy of connection. Whatever we week-romance, love, companionship, sex, friendship, community-is dangled in front of us like a carrot on a stick while we're told, "Sure, you can have what you. Just be different. Just be something other than you."

We are told, from the moment we recognize our ace or aro identities, that we less worthy of our "no." We are told that our aspect identity is either a brokenness, proof that something is faulty in our makeup, or is an absence, proof that we are missing something essential that everyone else has. We are told that since we come to the table with less, we are entitled to less, and that even if we want to say "no," we should defer, should forfeit our "no." But we deserve our "no." The things you want as an aspec person, the things you choose, the things that come from the wholeness of who you are and that express that wholeness are not less than.

In the introduction to his book Cruising Utopia: The Then and Now of Queer Futurity, late queer artist and scholar José Esteban Muñoz presents what I believe is a really beautiful idea of what queerness is. Muñoz describes queerness as something on the horizon, something we have no yet become. Being queer, Muñoz describes, is taking the experience we have as queer people in the present, warts and all, and using it as fuel to drive our dreams of a future. "Queerness is not yet here," the book begins. But we can see it. We can imagine it. And we live queer lives inside that imagining. For Muñoz, queer is something we are always in the process of becoming. Queerness is something we are always creating. He squarely puts us in the driver's seat of that process. We are imagining the queerness we want to inhabit. I love Muñoz's conception because it centers the act of imagining-imagining the lives we want, imagining the world we want to inhabit. It prizes the way we want to be seen, respected, treated, loved. In this view of queerness, we design the space our aspec identities occupy with our relationship partners, as well as the place we want them to inhabit within us. This imagining sits in contrast to what we often do now. Aspec people are always asked to reshape our aceness or aroness into the world as it exists now: into our own sometimes-liming expectations, into society's always-limiting relationship expectations, into social structures and social norms. We don't do much imagining in this present. Instead, we try to fit ourselves into contexts that don't imagine us. And that's definitely to our detriment. The beginnings of new relationships don't have to repeat the disappointments of the past. They don't have to reinforce the cultural norms that diminish our asexuality or aromanticism. They don't have to be reiterations of relationship norms that want to hide, limit, and render invisible our aspec experience. They can, instead, be a moment for imagining-and building-something different. You deserve to have the kinds of relationships and the affirming spaces within them that you can imagine. What does an affirming relationship look like? What does a safe relationship look like? What does a joyful relationship look like? Whatever you imagine can be what you ask for. We can ask for ace- and aro-affirming relationships that aren't just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic of social norms. We can ask for relationships that celebrate who we are.

When you're rejected for the kind of relationship you want, don't think, "Well, that's more proof that being who I am and wanting what I want is messed up and wrong and bad and shameful." Instead, think, "Yes, they rejected me, but that tells me they can't give me what I need. That tells me they aren't right for what I want. That tells me they aren't right for me." While the ways other people respond to our aspec identities can hurt us, other people's responses are not statements of our worth or value. Other people's responses aren't statements of the worth of what we want. They're just other people's responses. We are always deserving of the lives and relationships that we want.

In all things about ace and aro relationships-from beginnings to endings, from what they're based on to what they develop into, from whom they contain to whom they impact-what matters is the expansiveness, imagination, and courage of the people who create them. The world is not interested in the relationships we want. The world does not want us to have the relationships we want. And in that resistance of the world is, for us, a kind of freedom. To have what we want, we must imagine things beyond what is offered in the world. That can be anything we want it to be. We can imagine ourselves into the expansive relationship types that already bloom everywhere. Or we can push ourselves to imagine whatever kinds of relationships come next. If we can see that as a freedom instead of a hurdle, we not only open ourselves to a wide world of relationships, but we open ourselves to a wider view of ourselves. And every person we touch with our bold, imaginative, courageous expansive aspec self changes the way the world thinks about aspec people. Each relationship you inhabit is an aspec relationship, and you're writing the story of our communities in every single one of those relationship. That's the power you have. That's the power of you in relationship in the world. Use your power. Use with care. And build a better world for all of us, one relationship at a time.

As aspec folks, along with every other person under the overarching queer umbrella, we move through a world that denies us care. The systems that govern our world don't account for our needs. The messages that pervade our world call us sick, broken, immature, afraid. Laws get made that actively ignore or harm us. The media doesn't depict us or give us equal space to tell our own stories. Our communities only support us when we follow social scripts that aren't made for us. Everywhere we turn in the world sends a single, clarion message: "The care we have to provide is not for you." To be aspec and demand care is a revolutionary act. To be aspec and provide care is a revolutionary act. To stand in the face of a world that refuses to imagine us and say "I am here. I deserve care. And I will still give care in the absence of receiving it" is a powerful assertion of our validity, our worth, and our possibility.

[temis-de-leon]

The brothers reunite with Trans!MC - Part 1

Main Masterlist

Part 2

Anon request: How do you think the Obey Me brothers would react to a trans (AFAB) reader? Like they spent their given amount of time in the Devildom, went back to the human world for a long enough time to get both top surgery and a hysterectomy (so at least a couple years), maybe some testosterone too if they wanted it. Then when the time comes to go back to the Devildom, the brothers almost wonder if they got the right human! And yet the human's pacts, personality, and verbal recounts are too detailed + specific to be fabricated - they did get the correct person, even though they look quite different now

A/N: there are two parts for this request because the introduction alone is 600 words, but don't worry because I'm writing the second part right now. I could've made this an only part, but I didn't want it to be super long <33

Also, please tell me if I'm incorrect regarding the trans experience in any part of this. I'll gladly correct it.

.

You would think time is a different concept to immortal beings like them. They’ve been alive for thousands of years, so what’s a couple more in comparison? What feels like an eternity for you probably translates to the blink of an eye in their standards. However, what no one expected was how desperately they’d need you once you went back home.

It started with the constant chatting and their messages keeping your fingers glued to your DDD for almost an entire week since your departure. Of course, it became a problem when you couldn’t even get dressed without them demanding your attention and immediate response, so it quickly changed to phone calls.

As a result, less than a couple of months later, while you worked to adapt once more to your mundane human life, hearing you talk with your mysterious friends on the speaker became the new normal for everyone around you.

They organised themselves to not overwhelm you, assigning turns to each other so everyone could have equal opportunities to keep in touch with you. As expected, not all of them respected their brothers’ time with you, but that’s something you would only know thanks to your access to their private chats.

And as you can imagine, they entertain you quite a lot.

One day they’re detailing a normal day at RAD and the next they’re explaining why Lucifer hanged the six of them and even Lord Diavolo for most of the weekend.

It’s not like they’re looking for trouble, but they still manage to find it.

And you can bet all your money they will be telling you all about it.

You’re thankful, though.

Somehow, although not that surprisingly, their stories become a great source of comfort once you’re alone during your hospital stay or while in bed, letting your body recover. Their nonsense gives you a strange sense of normalcy that keeps everything around you simpler and easier to process.

Your body might’ve changed, but some things will always stay the same.

The most difficult part of all is lying to the brothers about why you’re at the hospital.

It isn’t like you actively want to keep them in the dark. After all, they’re your friends, the ones who love you and would accept you no matter your appearance, but they do have a tendency to carry everything to an extreme and you seriously doubt they’d change that in a matter of seconds.

However, days turn to weeks and months and, although you physically get better, you still keep it a secret from the brothers. Is it the guilt? You’re not sure. It eats you alive and you berate yourself daily for hiding something so important from people who adore you so much, yet you’re unable to confess.

It all comes to an end when you suddenly bump into Solomon in the middle of the street.

Which is actually… kind of weird?

Despite being the one physically closest to you, you’ve barely seen the sorcerer since you both left the Devildom a couple of years ago. Normally, he’s too occupied to respond to your check-up messages right away, let alone hang out with you, so the sight of him leaves you dumbfounded.

Funnily enough, the sight of you also leaves him dumbfounded.

You both stare at each other for more than a couple of seconds while your brains process the situation.

And before you can realise what’s happening, you’re falling.

.

.

Taglist: @ilovecandys2010 @ollieoven @kingofspadesdelusion @whimsybloom @mia4gotcookiez

[pumpkinpaix]

You have questions! We might have answers.

What is this collection?

As Maria puts it: this collection is a critical look at some of the things that we, the editors, think have made CQL such a hit around the world. Of course, part of that success comes from the webnovel MDZS and the show CQL themselves—we love the characters, the mystery, and the drama, who doesn’t?! However, the authors in our book also look at topics like translating danmei (both officially and unofficially), adapting danmei for new audiences, and interacting with fandoms and fanworks. The larger argument of the book is that all of these things played a huge role in CQL’s visibility and success, and we wanted to start making those moving pieces visible, especially for audiences who mainly watched CQL in translation.

You keep using the word “academic”—what does that mean, exactly? 

Maria: Ok, not to get pedantic here, but this actually touches on some things that I’m really excited about for the book. Traditionally, academic work is written by people who have a deep expertise in the subject (signified by having a PhD and doing specific kinds of research), and then the work itself is peer-reviewed (i.e., sent to other experts in the field for them to evaluate whether it’s sound, original, and interesting enough to publish, without knowing who wrote it). And both of these things are true about our book—our authors have deep knowledge and the book was peer reviewed—but also. We specifically asked for chapters from younger scholars and from fans who also have deep knowledge about topics that academia doesn’t always know or value enough, and we include an interview from the fan-translator K. who did the Exiled Rebels translation. So the hope is that: this book is academic, and also—more!

Who are you? 

Yue studies adaptation, fantasy, and popular culture texts using a feminist lens. She wrote an early, influential article about danmei adaptations and also has a book about feminist adaptations of Chinese fantasy.

Maria studies fanworks, contemporary fantasy, and genre literature. She’s scrambling to finish her dissertation right now.

How were the chapter spotlights chosen?

Voluntarily! The concept of a small social media promo was kicked around by some of the contributors and those interested in the idea filled out a short interview with what they wanted to share. We'll be posting about 2 introductions and 2 spotlights a day for the next week or so!

Who's running this social media campaign anyway?

Not the publishers! A few enthusiastic collection contributors got together and, with the assistance of the editors, have put this promotion together. We do not in any way represent Peter Lang in an official capacity! We just worked hard and wanted to share. :)

Are you making any money off of royalties from this book? 

LOL not even remotely

What about this promotion?

also no. alas

Where can I find this book? 

You can find our listing on Peter Lang’s website here. As for other retailers, a quick search should turn us up!  

How can I access this book if I cannot buy it from Peter Lang / [book retailer of choice]?

As collection editors and contributors who signed a legal agreement with Peter Lang, we have granted Peter Lang exclusive right and license to edit, adapt, publish, reproduce, distribute, display, and store our contributions, and we must cooperate fully with the Publisher if the Publisher believes a third party is infringing or is likely to infringe copyright in the contribution. 

That being said, these are academic papers, which means that contributors may make copies of the contribution for classroom teaching use! (These copies may not be included in course pack material for onward sale by libraries and institutions). Of course, any linking, collection or aggregation of chapters from the same volume is strictly prohibited.

(FAQ may be updated periodically!) (all posts on Catching Chen Qing Ling)

[animeyanderelover]

Hello good day and good evening, sorry to spam in the message but I was afraid to miss the deadline so I thought maybe I’ll request here this time.

I would like a head canon of hamon darling in demon slayer as well as who would be ecstatic of this.

Darling is a hamon master who travels around to help as many as they can and came to japan after reports of creatures that resembles vampires.

Coincidentally they saved kyojuro by healing with a bit of hamon and later broke the ubuyashiki curse and now they really can’t let darling go in fear of muzan using darling as plan b

This is a bit of a tricky request because usually I need characters for such a thing whereas you requested a concept of a darling like this in the world of Demon Slayer. I did my best to shape it around as good as I could and I hope it turned out alright. Also, I am very sorry for posting so little. But time is running and I have to learn for five different exams. Also, I am working on something. I don't know if I will manage to pull it through and publish it when it is done but I want to give it a try.

Tw: Yandere themes, possessive behavior, obsession, delusional behavior, clinginess, stalking, isolation

Tags: @leveyani @nightmaresprophet

Hamon user darling

𐙚What an introduction into their world that would be. By saving one young man on the brink of death with a hole in his chest yet with a smile on his face. You arrive on the scene of tragedy just in time and initial observations made you assume that there would be a lot of accidents as an entire train was thrown off the rails. Yet you find not a single passenger hurt and all thanks to a man who is on the brink of death. Someone like that deserves to continue to live so there is not a trace of hesitation as you get around to help him. Tanjiro, in the deepest despair of his failure to be of any assistance in the fight that Rengoku bravely fought and won, is left with no choice but to trust you. Even through tears he senses that your intentions are good though for your scent tells him all that he needs to know for now about you. Rengoku's wound is unlike anything that you have ever seen before yet there is no time to ask for a detailed story as you focus and use your Hamon to heal as much damage as possible. All that is left by the end is one scar that Rengoku insists on keeping to remind himself that he still needs to get stronger. You gave him a chance to continue his life and he intends to keep the proof of it.

𐙚After the miraculous healing the three younger boys are all over you. Tanjiro is caught between gratitude and shock as he has never seen anything like the abilities that you just used. Zenitsu is properly freaking out and probably accusing you of being a witch whilst Inosuke has his swords drawn and attempts to challenge you to fight him. Now that Rengoku is on his feet again and almost as good as new, he takes charge again. Proper greetings should be in place so he bows properly and forces the three younger slayers to do the same, mainly Zenitsu and Inosuke as Tanjiro greets you politely even without the Fire Hashira needing to do anything. As it has already been established that you are no threat to them or other people around you, things quickly shift to the powers that you just used. However, Rengoku spares you from a long and detailed explanation. He only asks you for the most important facts before he decides that it would be best to return you to headquarters and talk with Kagaya yourself. After all you have traveled a long way to help though it is obvious that you don't have the full picture of what is going on within this country.

𐙚The crow of Rengoku arrives before his team with the new addition of you does. So there are certain people who are already expecting your visit by the time you arrive. Kagaya, his wife and the other Hashira are already gathered to wait for you. Everyone has been filled in on the most important aspects of it all but not all trust easily. Obanai and Sanemi give you those hostile looks when you enter as you need to pass their own tests before they fully trust you. Others like Mitsuri welcome you with open arms. After all you have saved Rengoku and that alone is proof enough for her that you are on their side. There is no time to get properly acquainted with everyone though as there is a pressing issue to be addressed here and you know that just as much. So you only waste little time chatting before you turn your attention to the man in front of you who you have been informed is their leader. Kagaya allows you to tell your own story, this time in as much detail as possible. The misunderstanding becomes quickly clear as they are not dealing with vampires but demons though both sound equally unpleasant. Demons on the other hand are a new discovery for you which requires them to fill you in.

𐙚The offer is obvious before anyone even has to speak it out. You have experience fighting against creatures who harm humankind and often hold malicious intentions. Your own fighting style requires you to use your breath just as much as their breathing styles do. You too fight for mankind against the monsters others don't stand a chance against. It seems only natural for Kagaya to offer you a place here and to ask you if you would be willing to lend them your abilities in their fight against Muzan. And it doesn't take much for you to agree to that offer. Whilst you are used to fighting on your own as there aren't many Hamon users out there, this is a widespread problem within this country so you will fight alongside those who risk their life daily to defend helpless humans against man-eating demons. That doesn't exclude you from training though, especially since only the sun and the blades used by Demon Slayers are what can kill a demon. So you train together with different Hashira, all with their own ways of training you and testing you. Some of them are harsh. Some of them are kind. All share the same goal though which is to prepare you for fights with demons.

𐙚Some are immediately more fascinated with you. After all your powers as well as your past are much different than theirs. Hamon is a fighting style none of them is familiar with so all the tricks you are able to use as a result of it might as well be magic in the eyes of some, especially the younger members. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Nezuko too are the ones who crowd you the most often. They often trail behind you all because they want you to use hair again to transform it into a weapon or want to see you walking up walls and trees by using Hamon. Hashira like Muichiro, Mitsuri, Rengoku, Tengen and surprisingly even Shinobu are quicker to win over. Gyomei, Giyu and then of course Obanai or Sanemi aren't as easily swooned over by you. All of them have different motives. Gyomei needs more time to trust you. Giyu is generally often isolated from the people around him and doesn't bother to get to know you. And Obanai and Sanemi are never ones to trust easily. Yet Kagaya's word is one all of them respect which is why all of them tolerate you at the very least. There is nothing that can be criticised about you either. You are diligent and you work hard to help everyone.

𐙚It is the moment you manage to heal Kagaya from a disease that has been treated like a curse for generations now that things really switch. Everyone holds the deepest admiration and respect for him so when you heal him of an illness everyone thought would take him in only a few years, those feelings start shifting to you as well. Even Kagaya didn't expect you to be able to do such a thing even with the story of how you managed to save Kyojuro. He has been walking side by side with death for years and suddenly that is no more. He won't die like he grew up always knowing he would and that is almost enough to overwhelm him. However, it is that miracle that you pull of that almost immediately leads to another suspicion. If you can cure such things then would you be able to even help Muzan finally transform into the ultimate lifeform who can even walk under the sun. It can only be speculation for now but Shinobu believes that you would be able to pull it of. She has been studying your powers as good as she could to understand their workings properly and she thinks that you would be able to give Muzan what he has always wanted.

𐙚You would never help the demon king willingly. Everyone knows that. Yet safety should always come first so you end up being intentionally more isolated. Your existence should remain a secret for Muzan would most definitely hunt you down the moment he would find out that you saved two men from an inevitable death even though it shouldn't have been possible. Conflict would arise from there as you plan to heal the wounded but also take down demons yourself as this was your original plan all along. That strongly clashes with what most seem to have in mind though. Sure, some people like Tanjiro and Mitsuri might speak up for you. But there are too many other voices who speak up against them. Such unnecessary risk must not be taken and additionally demons are creatures with abilities you are unfamiliar with. You are out of your depth. A common excuse that is often thrown your way whenever the same topic gets brought up again. No one can afford to lose you. You are too valuable on multiple levels and your powers are only one of them. The emotional aspect of it all is another and whilst the stages of obsession definitely differ, the seeds have been sown.

𐙚Muzan has eyes and ears everywhere though. The moment Kyojuro appears again despite Akaza reporting that he has killed him, he already suspects that something is going on. After all this is not a demon. He should have died from the heavy damage he sustained yet here he is, slaying demons as if all his organs are still intact and he didn't suffer from a fist through his stomach. From there on Muzan already suspects that something is going on but he doesn't know what it is. That is the most infuriating part of it all. If there is someone who is able to bring back those people even though there should be no saving them then that is a problem that could get dangerous and for that would have to be eliminated. The security around the headquarters has tightened too which only further feeds the growing doubt within Muzan's mind. There is something that they must be hiding and that only means that he has to find out what it is as it must be something that they intend to use against him. The moment Muzan figures out your existence and abilities though? He will hunt you down until he has you in his claws. If you can save Kagaya, then you can and will be able to help him too.

[meazalykov]

commercial

alessia russo x actress!reader (requested)

summary: pairing up with a footballer for a commercial changed your life

based off of the adidas commercial she was featured in before the women's world cup in 2023

you never thought filming a commercial would bring you to london. 

being an actress with a hit hbo series and a partnership with adidas kept you busy, traveling constantly between coasts, countries, and continents. 

this job felt different. you’d always admired women’s sports, so when your agent called you with the news that adidas wanted you for their new campaign promoting the women's world cup, it felt like an honor. 

empowering women, celebrating athletes—it was something you could get behind since its what you cared about. you said yes without a second thought. 

now, with a plane ticket in hand, you were ready to make it happen.

the moment you step off the plane at heathrow, london’s summer breeze hits you—crisp, slightly cool, and carrying the scent of rain and freshly brewed coffee. your driver, an older man with a kind smile, helps load your bags, and you’re soon winding your way through the city streets. 

as you look out the car window, everything feels vibrant and alive. red double-decker buses whizz by, people spill out of cafes, and there's a constant hum in the air. 

despite being a little jet-lagged, you’re excited—more excited than you've been for a job in a long time.

the next morning, you arrive on set for the commercial shoot, and it’s a whirlwind of motion—producers barking orders, cameras being set up, and the smell of fragrancelingering in the air. 

a production assistant greets you almost the second you step out of your car, a polite smile on their face, speaking rapidly into their headset.

"y/n, so glad you could make it! we’re just about to start introducing everyone. can i take you to meet the other talents– the footballers i shall say?”

you nod, straightening your posture and reminding yourself to relax.

 

just another job, just another set. yet the excitement buzzing in the air makes your nerves tingle. the assistant leads you toward the back of the set, where a few women stand, laughing easily with one another. 

you recognize them immediately.. lena oberdorf, mary fowler, and alessia russo. you’d seen their photos in the media. never having enough time to watch ninety minutes of football, you still knew how good they were.

lena is first to notice you. 

“y/n!! you’re kidding?!!” she says to mary with a friendly smile, sticking her hand out. “nice to meet you.”

you shake her hand, grinning. “nice to meet you too. i’m a big fan of your game.”

“and i am a big fan of yours!!” lena says, seeming genuinely pleased. “looking forward to working with you today. the concept seems fun.”

mary and alessia both chime in their greetings.

there’s a moment of small talk as you chat about the campaign, the concept, and the filming schedule. but as you exchange introductions, your eyes keep drifting back to alessia. 

there’s something about her that draws you in—something in the way she carries herself, confident yet laid-back, with a gaze that's intense but kind. and when her eyes meet yours, you swear you see a flash of something else, something that makes your heart skip.

“so, you’re an actress..” alessia says finding small talk, leaning in a little closer. her voice has a certain lilt to it. warm, curious.

“yeah,” you reply, trying to keep your voice steady, 

“i’ve been working in television for a while, but this is my second sports commercial.”

“oh, really?” alessia tilts her head, her blonde hair falling to the side as she studies you. 

“guess we’re both kind of stepping into each other’s worlds for this one. i’ve never done a commercial myself unless it was for arsenal.”

“well, from what i’ve heard, you’ll be great,” you say, and it’s not just a compliment. you mean it. 

you’ve heard from your assistant about alessia playing for the england national team. she must be amazing. 

alessia chuckles softly, and you catch the way her eyes sparkle, like she's genuinely enjoying the conversation.

“we’ll see,” she says, that easy confidence still there but with a playful glint. 

“just don’t laugh at me if i mess up my lines.”

you shake your head, laughing. “only if you promise not to laugh at me trying to dribble a football.”

“deal,” alessia says, flashing you a grin that makes you wonder just how often she uses that smile to get what she wants. 

there’s something magnetic about her, and as much as you try to focus on the task at hand, your mind keeps circling back to her.

soon, it’s time to start filming, and the director calls everyone to their positions. the first scene you're shooting together is a lighthearted setup in a grocery store, meant to highlight how sports are part of everyday life. 

you and alessia are supposed to be casually shopping, pretending to pick out items until a boy accidentally passes a football to alessia, who starts dribbling the ball fantastically.

the idea is to show how these footballers are stars both on and off the pitch—effortlessly cool, effortlessly themselves.

you’re on the camera for the attention, the familiarity of many people seeing one of their favorite actresses on screen. 

as the cameras roll, you find yourself struggling to stay in character—not because you're nervous, but because you're genuinely awestruck. 

alessia makes it all look so easy. she maneuvers the ball around her feet effortlessly, as if it’s a natural extension of her body, and at one point, she jumps up and crosses her legs to move the ball up in a seamless move. 

the crew claps and cheers after the director says cut, and you have to remind yourself to look casual, to pretend like this is something you see every day.

"you okay there?" alessia whispers when you find yourself staring for a second too long. 

"yeah, totally," you reply, trying to play it off. "just, you know, impressed. you're kind of amazing."

“kind of?” she teases, raising an eyebrow. “i’ll take that, i guess.”

you both laugh, and the rest of the shoot continues with an easy flow. 

the chemistry between you translates on camera, and the director nods approvingly after each take. 

by the time you wrap for the day, you're already regretting that it has to end so soon.

as everyone’s packing up, alessia walks over to you, her expression a mix of mischief and curiosity. 

“hey, i know you’re busy with your job but... do you have any plans while you're here in london?”

“not really,” you say, glancing down as you fidget with your hands. 

“i have some interviews coming up in new york soon, but other than that, i’m kind of free.”

“oh,” she says, her voice light but her eyes steady on yours. 

“how about we grab dinner tonight? there’s this great italian spot not too far from here—i thought it might be nice to hang out without all of the chaos.”

you don’t even have to think about it. “yeah, i’d like that a lot.”

later that evening, alessia takes you to a cozy restaurant tucked away in a quiet corner of london. 

it’s intimate, dimly lit, with exposed brick walls and a menu that makes your mouth water the second you open it. the conversation flows easily—surprisingly easily—and you talk about everything from football and acting to travel, family, and your favorite shows outside of the ones you’ve been in. 

it feels like you’ve known each other for longer than a day.

“so, you travel a lot for work,” alessia says at one point, sipping on her lemon water. 

“ever get tired of it?”

“sometimes,” you admit. 

“but it’s also kind of amazing. i mean, many people would do anything for the opportunities that i’ve been given—like getting to meet people like you for example.”

alessia laughs softly, shaking her head. “you’re flattering me.”

“maybe,” you say with a playful smile, “but it’s the truth.”

alessia leans back in her chair, and there’s a look in her eyes you can't quite place—somewhere between admiration and something deeper, something that makes your stomach flip. 

“you know, you’re not what i expected,” she says, voice gentle but sincere.

“what do you mean?” you ask, genuinely curious.

“i don’t know, someone... a little more hollywood, i guess?” she shrugs.

“i get it. luckily i’m not from hollywood, i am from new york.” you smile. 

“that’s nice to hear.” alessia giggles. 

the conversation continues late into the night, and by the time you both walk out into the cool london air, you’re standing a little closer than necessary, arms brushing as you make your way down the street. 

she walks you back to your hotel, and when you say goodnight, there’s a moment—a heartbeat of silence—where you both just look at each other, and you feel it. 

something more than just a bond that was formed in one night.

“goodnight, y/n,” she says softly, lingering for just a second before turning to leave.

“goodnight, alessia,” you reply, watching her walk away, already replaying the night in your head.

the next few days fly by in a blur of filming and hanging out with alessia whenever you can. 

you text constantly, even when you're both too busy. a couple of weeks later you’re in new york city with castmates on your show– and alessia is with arsenal finishing the season. 

she sends quick messages between training, silly selfies with her teammates, and voice notes that make you smile every time you listen to them. 

it’s not long before you’re both sharing pieces of yourselves you don’t usually let others see. 

when alessia heads off to the women's world cup with england, you don’t expect to miss her as much as you do. 

you haven’t seen her since that night in london. her messages get shorter, more sporadic as the competition heats up, and while you understand—she’s busy, focused—you can’t help but wish you were there to cheer her on in person.

and then, one day, you get a text from her: 

wish you could be here. can't wait to see you soon!

your heart skips a beat, and without thinking, you open your laptop, check your schedule, and find a two-week window. 

before you can second-guess yourself, you’re booking a flight to australia.

when you finally arrive in australia, the world cup is in full swing. 

the streets are filled with fans, the excitement is in the air, and you find yourself caught up in the energy. 

on the day of the final, you’re practically buzzing with nerves and anticipation. you dragged one of your castmates to come with you across the globe, just to see alessia live. 

you find your seat, your heart pounding as you look out over the pitch.

when alessia takes the field, you can’t stop grinning. you cheer loudly, the sound almost getting lost in the roar of the crowd, but you know she hears you—somehow, you just know. 

the match is intense, every pass and tackle pulling you deeper in. but as the final whistle blows, it’s spain who takes the victory, and the stadium is filled with a mix of cheers and groans. 

your heart sinks as you watch alessia’s face fall, the disappointment clear in her expression.

as england’s players walk off the pitch, heads hung low, you feel helpless, wanting nothing more than to comfort her. 

you’re not sure if she’s even seen you in the stands, and you hesitate, unsure of what to do. 

then, you see leah, one of her teammates that became one of your favorites, give alessia a nudge and nod in your direction.

alessia looks up, scanning the crowd until her eyes land on you. for a moment, she’s still, and then she’s moving—walking quickly toward you, her face a mixture of surprise, relief, and something that looks like hope. 

before you know it, she’s right in front of you, and you’re pulling her into your arms, holding her tight as she buries her face in your shoulder.

“i’m so proud of you,” you whisper, your voice barely audible over the noise of the crowd. 

“you were amazing.”

she lets out a shaky breath, holding you close. “i didn’t expect to see you here.”

“well, i couldn’t let you play in a world cup final without me,” you say, smiling softly as you pull back just enough to look into her eyes. 

“win or lose, i’m here for you.”

alessia’s eyes soften, and for a moment, the weight of the loss seems to lift. she cups your cheek with her hand, her thumb gently brushing against your skin, and you lean into the touch, your heart swelling with something warm and undeniable.

“thank you,” she whispers, her voice filled with emotion. and as the noise of the stadium fades into the background, all that matters is this—being here with her.

“maybe i can stay in london for a while, to make you feel better if thats okay?” you hug her again, holding her knowing that the world cup loss is still in her mind. 

“that is more than okay, y/n.”

masterlist

[jcplaceholder]

Gensokyo through a Sociological Lens

Gensokyo. A metaphysical place where humans and youkai live together in symbiosis. A delicate balance must be held between the two species, or else it will cease to exist.

...You must have heard some variation of this phrase at least once. I mean, this is Touhou—Gensokyo is the main setting of the series after all. There’s some very interesting worldbuilding that’s been constructed over the course of many, many years.

Frequently, the community will analyze the inner workings of this place and try to explain why things are the way they are. Things are often overcomplicated by fans, however. Details get overinterpreted, and admittedly, explanations on the lore can quickly become convoluted. Concepts like “the balance of Gensokyo” or “the roles humans and youkai play” may seem quite confusing, especially since there’s nowhere in particular that functions exactly like it. And yes of course, there isn’t any specific place in the world that is a one-to-one equivalent. But that doesn’t mean Gensokyo can only be defined within its own little bubble of fiction.

How about we take a step back? Let’s just look at this world from a wider, objective perspective. Let’s view everything through a sociological lens.

Table of Contents:

What’s Sociology?

What is a Social System?

How Does Gensokyo Work?

Gensokyo as a Social System

1. Introduction: What’s Sociology?

Before we define what a social system is... What is sociology?

Just from the word alone, you can deduce it as “the study of society.” Like how society functions, how people behave, stuff like that. Which yes, is technically correct. But there’s more to the spirit of the field than that. Let me ask you this instead:

What is the point of sociology?

Most people don’t understand why this field is so important. Society... why bother studying something that we already notice everyday? We talk about it all the time, hear about it all the time. We’ve probably discussed social problems and social structures in other academic environments, such as our history or English classes. It’s just a collection of people, right? “We live in a society.”

However, when we just rely on our default mode of thinking to explain society... we run into some issues. For example, take the problem of cheating in school. Why do students cheat?

“They don’t like or don’t understand the class.”

“They either don’t like studying and doing homework, or they just forget to do them.”

“They’re just lazy, dumb, and/or dishonest.”

“They don’t care if they cheat or not.”

“They’re not trying hard enough at school.”

Well, sure. Those things may be true. But think deeper. Are there more reasons why people would cheat in school?

“They want to pass, but they’re afraid of academic and social consequences.”

“They don’t have enough time to do homework and study.”

“They assume that since other students cheat, it’s okay for them to do it too.”

“They feel like they can’t ask for help, because they either feel like no one’s there to support them, or they’re too ashamed to reach out.”

Now you’re thinking more like a sociologist! While the first list may just appear as common sense, our default judgments can often be short-sighted because we’re used to thinking individualistically. It’s easier for us to say that someone’s problem is their own fault. Even if we admit that maybe there were factors they couldn’t control, we conclude that it’s ultimately their job to deal with it.

However, these judgments lead us to blame the individual person for what is fundamentally a systemic issue. Problems don’t just begin and end with individuals; there are far larger forces at play.

This isn’t to say that individuals have no agency or impact either. Reducing problems to “The System is puppeting everyone around” ignores the fact that at the end of the day, we’re all still participants of society. We play a part in it, too.

Essentially, society is not just a collection of people, but a collection of people who exist in relation to one another.

People and systems are connected; they influence and interact with us, and we do the same with them. By recognizing this interplay, we can understand the greater social context behind the decisions we and others make.

This unique mode of thinking is what sociologist C. Wright Mills named “the sociological imagination.” This is the kind of mindset sociologists have to think in before analyzing social problems and getting to those “one in four people” statistics. Sociology is a major area of scientific study precisely because it concerns itself with a foundational aspect of the world we live in. Through this bird’s eye view, we’re able to discover further possible answers about not just what society is, but also why it is and how it works.

—

2. What is a Social System?

There are three main theoretical perspectives, or paradigms, that sociologists take into account when analyzing social phenomena:

Symbolic Interactionism

Functionalism

Conflict theory

For the sake of keeping this post focused, I will primarily examine things through aspects of functionalism. Still, keep in mind that the field is incomplete without the other two perspectives, and I will discuss them in further detail at a later date.

Through the lens of functionalism, we can define a social system as a collection of people, positions, and ideas. Social systems are everywhere and we’re always participating in them.

The important thing about social systems is that they bind people together on the basis of collective participation. In the functionalist view, society is like a living organism. The way an organism needs all its parts to function in tandem, a society needs all its people to collectively perform their roles.

Sound familiar?

It should.

—

2. How Does Gensokyo Work?

(I will state it through bullet points to get straight to the point of what it is)

Let’s summarize:

Because of humans starting to view youkai as just superstition, youkai were no longer a necessary part of human society. Youkai need fear (belief, their purpose) to exist, so their existence would cease to be. To counteract that, the sages created Gensokyo. (Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 48) (Wild and Horned Hermit, Chapter 9)

Gensokyo exists within the Hakurei barrier, the border of common sense. The Hakurei shrine and the shrine maiden exist to maintain the barrier. (Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, Reimu’s Entry)

Humans and youkai exist in Gensokyo and live in a symbiotic relationship (Cage in Lunatic Runigate, Chapter 5)

Youkai need humans to fear them while the humans need youkai to protect the village from disaster. Without the support of youkai, the village can’t exist. Without the humans to fear them, youkai can’t exist. (Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 48) (Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 9)

Because of this relationship, the humans and youkai can live content and relatively peaceful lives. This is the balance of Gensokyo, it’s the status quo. (Perfect Momento in Strict Sense, monologue)

If the balance were to be disrupted or if the barrier were to cease to exist, Gensokyo would be no more. (Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 19)

—

3. How Does Gensokyo Work?

The basics:

When you view Gensokyo through a sociological lens, the human villagers, the youkai, and the shrine maiden are statuses people are organized under in Gensokyo as a social system. For Gensokyo as a social system to function, everyone within it has to participate by fulfilling their roles. If no one were to fulfill those roles, Gensokyo would not be able to function. 

(Cage in Lunatic Runagate, Chapter 5)

(Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, Reimu’s Entry)

People make social systems happen. But do you remember what I said about the sociological imagination? Social systems shape people’s lives at the same time. Again, individuals and social systems simultaneously interact with each other.

Gensokyo greatly exemplifies this concept. The collective participation from the human villagers, youkai, and shrine maiden is what makes Gensokyo happen. However, their lives are also shaped by Gensokyo. 

(The Forest and The Trees by Allan G. Johnson, page 17)

When I say “shaped”, I’m referring to how social systems lay out paths of least resistance. This term refers to the path of action that would receive the least amount of pushback by society, the thing you’re expected to do of your status within a social system.

In other words, why do we keep behaving in the ways that we do? Why don’t we just do whatever we want?

Well, it’s because of social expectations. Naturally, we would rather act in accordance with them than have deal with the consequences of ignoring them. Going to work, doing your homework, laughing at a friend’s joke (even if it wasn’t very funny), etc. We follow paths of least resistance everyday.

And just like in real life, the human villagers, youkai, and shrine maiden all follow paths of least resistance laid out by their social system: Gensokyo. By doing what’s expected of their status, by performing their roles, they participate in said system.

Can you see how linked individuals and systems are with each other now? This back-and-forth relationship is clearly portrayed in Touhou.

Anyway, you may have noticed that I use the word “status” instead of just saying “them.” People are individuals, while statuses are the titles of the roles they occupy. So think about what defines the status of a human villager—what expectations and ideas are associated with it?

To put it briefly, the human villagers are expected to fear youkai because they’re far weaker in comparison and can easily killed by them. They have to stick together to survive.

Now, what are the expectations and ideas that are associated with the status of a youkai?

Youkai are meant to attack humans. They are the enemies of humans and need to be feared by them to exist (i.e. to survive).

And of course, where does the shrine maiden fit into all of this?

From what we know in Touhou, the shrine maiden is expected to exterminate youkai and protect the villagers. Her responsibility is to maintain the balance of Gensokyo and the Hakurei barrier.

These statuses will still exist if no one occupies them at the moment. Again, remember: people are not statuses and statuses are not people. I am not an employee, for example. I occupy the status of employee, meaning I exist outside of that status. The status of employee will still exist if I were to quit, and it will be occupied by someone else eventually.

Ultimately, the individual occupying the status doesn’t matter. What actually matters is that the roles associated with said status are being fulfilled.

(Silent Sinner in Blue, Chapter 20)

(Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, Reimu’s entry)

Elaborating on societies:

Social systems are everywhere, and they can exist within and next to each other. In this case, Gensokyo is a social system that contains smaller social systems within it, and within those systems exist even smaller ones, and so on.

Let’s take a closer look at this. For example, the human village itself is a social system. Within the human village there are families, shops, bars, etc., which are social systems too (yes, things like families and businesses are technically considered as such).

This idea of social systems exists with youkai too. On a micro scale, we have tengu society. Tengu society lies within the Youkai Mountain, which itself resides alongside the Forest of Magic and the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. And youkai society encompasses all of them. On the macro scale, we have Gensokyo. All of these things are social systems. And for clarification’s sake, we’re not just talking about these things as places—we’re talking about them as groups of people.

Here is a diagram I made which generally illustrates how the social systems in Touhou are organized (note: not everything is depicted here, this is just an example)

(Diagrams of social systems)

Since social systems can exist within other social systems, that also means people will occupy multiple statuses.

I’ll use myself as an example here. My family, my school, and my country are some of the social systems which I participate in. In those cases, I would be a parent’s child, a student, and a citizen. I hold various statuses at the same time, and each one is associated with a separate set of ideas and beliefs.

A resident of Gensokyo would be no different, since this concept would apply to them too.

Let’s take Aya for instance. Aya exists within three primary social systems: Gensokyo, youkai society, and tengu society. Within each of those social systems, she occupies a distinct status.

In Gensokyo, she is a youkai. Specifically in youkai society, she is a tengu. And even more specifically in tengu society, she is a crow tengu.

Each of these statuses she occupies is associated with a certain role. The status of youkai is associated with the role of attacking and scaring humans. Moreover, the status of tengu is associated with the idea of causing great winds. Last but not least, crow tengu are defined by their role of writing and distributing newspapers.

The statuses of youkai, tengu, and crow tengu have different ideas attached to them. This eventually leads to the formation of distinct types of relationships, which are defined by those idea (e.g. what a relationship between a child and their parent would look like compared to a student and their teacher; I’ll get into this later). You could say there is a wide variety of people just as there is a wide variety of youkai. 

This may ring a bell. That’s because this is exactly what Aya describes in her conversation with Kosuzu in Forbidden Scrollery. According to Chapter 49, she says, “It seems that to humans, tengu are just one of many kinds of youkai, but to the tengu there are plenty of different kinds of humans too.” She then adds, “And we have different feelings about each of them, which gives rise to entirely different relationships.”

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 49)

Remember how I said social systems weren’t just places, but groups of people? ...So why in the rest of this page is Aya describing a human’s status according to specific locations? Instead, shouldn’t it be something purely conceptual?

Well, that’s because we participate in a variety of systems. So logically, we would occupy different types of statuses.

There are statuses that we are just born into such as race, gender, and family. There are also statuses we attain as we move through life; “teacher,” “student,” “scientist,” “manager,” and “parent” are all examples of this. And there are other statuses that we don’t occupy all the time because they exist only in particular situations.

In his book The Forest and The Trees, Johnson uses the ideas of a pedestrian and a bus passenger as an example. When he steps off the sidewalk and enters the bus, he exits the status of “pedestrian” and enters the status of “bus passenger.” He then assumes the role attached to being a bus passenger. 

Many statuses have to do with who, what, when, and where. In short, it’s situational.

Aya describes this when she says, “Even you, for example. It’s one thing to meet with little Suzy in Suzunaan, but if I met you outside the village, I’d treat you very differently.” Basically, she’s talking about how her relationship with Kosuzu would be different depending on the situation: inside the village versus outside of it. In this case, she talks about the “where.”

But how does this influence their relationship? Aya assumes the status of a newsdealer when she enters Suzunaan, so her status as a youkai is no longer relevant in this context. With Kosuzu, she has the status of employee in Suzunaan: someone who lends books. Yet when they leave the village, they assume different statuses: one of a youkai, and one of a human outside the village. They are fundamentally entering a different social system.

In this context, Aya’s status as a newsdealer and Kosuzu’s status as an employee of Suzunaan are irrelevant because they are no longer under the social system of Suzunaan or the human village.

If I were to enter my school for instance, being a “sibling” wouldn’t be as applicable as being a “student” in that environment because I’ve entered a social system where the latter status is of greater importance. In school, I’m expected to perform the roles of a student. Siblinghood becomes practically irrelevant in this setting.

Here’s another example: let’s say a friend and I are coworkers. Would I interact with them the same way inside of work as I do outside of work? Not really, right? Our relationship would just be different. ...But why would our relationship be different? Why do I feel compelled to act differently even though I’m interacting with the same person?

That’s because our relationships with other people are affected by the roles we perform through our given statuses. There are certain cultural ideas, beliefs, values, and norms attached to them, which in turn shape what kinds of roles we play. Naturally, they would have an influence on our behavior.

In a similar vein, the shrine maiden’s role in relation to a human villager differs from this same role in relation to youkai. The shrine maiden protects the human villagers, but she exterminates youkai. Naturally, this makes the status of the shrine maiden above both of them, and thus her relationships to one or the other will follow this premise (think of how Reimu acts as Kosuzu’s overseer in the beginning of Forbidden Scrollery, versus the end where they are now equals).

Despite the relation between statuses and roles remaining constant, the contents of the relationship will vary from one individual to another. A teacher’s relationship between various students will be different from each other, yet the status of teacher and student and the roles associated with those statuses are still the same. Likewise, the shrine maiden’s relationship from one youkai to another will differ from each individual, but the roles in relation between them will remain constant (e.g. exterminating youkai, fighting the shrine maiden).

On culture and beliefs:

Every social system has a culture. Basically, culture consists of symbols, values, and ideas which shape how we think and see the world around us.

Symbols can range from abstract concepts to physical objects, such as:

Love

Money

Gestures

Colors

And celestial bodies (the sun, moon, stars, etc.)

By naming things, we create a relationship with it by making it have something to do with us.

Take thunder for instance. What thunder ‘is’ is what we say it is. It has always existed—we just came up with a name to describe the phenomena. What makes the word “thunder” have its meaning anyway?

(Perfect Cherry Blossom prologue)

The world is not what ‘is’, but what we think the world is.

Things have always existed before we had names for them. Therefore, when we name things, we aren’t literally making it real. When we name things, we make them culturally real.

What I’m getting at is that we constructed what reality is through culture, and it provides words and ideas to help us make sense of the world around us.

Culture constructs what is considered true and what is considered false. Notice how I’m using the phrase "what is considered’ instead of ‘what is.’ This is because what would be considered true in one culture may be considered false in another, and vice versa.

In Touhou, youkai are considered real in Gensokyo, but considered false in the outside world. The idea of constructed reality is taken to the most literal sense in Touhou.

(Kanako’s profile from Mountain of Faith as an example)

You could argue that youkai are literally real in the world of Touhou and if people saw them, they would simply believe that they exist.

But this is a misunderstanding on how belief works.

We tend to think:

We see things, then believe in them.

When it’s actually:

We believe in things, so we start to see them.

If people really only believed from seeing things, then everyone should hypothetically believe in the same thing. Yet, we have multiple religions, different political views, etc. The world itself is proof that there is no “one truth.”

Youkai are real in the sense that they literally ‘are,’ but the outside world's culture does not consider them to be real, therefore they do not exist.

It’s belief that provides answers.

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 48)

In Chapter 48 of Forbidden Scrollery, Akyuu explains the idea of reality being constructed to Kosuzu. The way she uses the word “truth” is evident of that.

“The truth that youkai are the enemies of mankind is the one that’s best for the village. so it’s our truth.”

She’s talking about truth as something unobjective. We believe in things because they serve us in some way.

She states beforehand, “If the world is made up of the infinite, there are infinite truths as well.”

Remember, what’s considered “true” and what’s considered “false” is formed from culture, and since there is vast diversity of cultures, there isn’t such a thing as a “single truth.” We like to think we’re objectively observing the world around us, but our experiences are filtered through our own subjective lens.

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 48)

I’ll only briefly touch on Kosuzu’s conflict here to explain why Akyuu is talking about beliefs (I’d like to make it its own separate post).

Kosuzu’s conflict near the end of Forbidden Scrollery is about how the world is seemingly contradictory and more complex than what it made itself out to be.

Youkai are the enemies of the human villagers... yet they need them.

And Mamizou, someone she admired... ended up being a youkai.

Later on, she figures out that Marisa and Reimu had already known about Mamizou's true identity, but for some reason, they never told her about it.

If Marisa and Reimu are on the side of humans... then why would they do that?

This is why Akyuu is talking about how truth is not an objective thing. Belief is not “what is true” and “what is false”; it’s what’s considered true and false. We say what reality is from culture.

When Kosuzu acknowledged this and saw how her view of the world was clouded by the culture she lives in, she leaves to seek out a truth that’s more true to herself. The ending of the manga follows this idea.

As far as I have gathered, the interpretation that Kosuzu’s inner conflict is about becoming less afraid of youkai is really just an oversimplication of the story’s thematic depth, and it frankly misses the point. It doesn’t relate to what Akyuu is talking about at all (not to mention how she’s clearly afraid of Mamizou and how Aya’s conversation isn’t talking about not fearing youkai in Chapter 49).

Really think about why “truth” is repeated on the last page of Chapter 49, and what the point was for her to talk to different kinds of people with differing perspectives. What’s the story trying to say?

Truth is a recurring motif in the narrative for a reason.

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 49)

More on the path of least resistance:

At any given moment, we can do an infinite number of things, but we usually don’t realize this. Values, beliefs, and norms lay out what the path of least resistance is, which narrow down the range of our possibilities.

To put it simply, “the path of least resistance” defines what we typically should and shouldn’t do. Say, what’s stopping me, as a student, from throwing my pencils at the teacher or kicking down my desk? These are just things that you don’t do as a student.

Going against the path of least resistance is met with apprehension and, well, resistance from society. If I were to do what I had just said, I would most likely be suspended or scolded—social consequences. It’s easier to go along with the path of least resistance even though there may be times when you’d rather not (I’m not talking about the example above, I wouldn’t throw pencils at my teachers lol).

The human villagers, youkai, and shrine maiden performing the roles they are expected to do is what the path of least resistance is within Gensokyo. I’m reiterating on this point again because it’s not strictly a good or bad thing to do. It’s just... a thing. This applies to everyone, including youkai.

I could say it’s wrong for youkai to act the way they do. But remember, this is a social system that’s entirely different to the ones we exist in. Our values, what we think is good and bad, are influenced by the social systems we participate in.

....Which, unlike Gensokyo, exists under late-stage capitalism (e.g. when Rinnosuke and Sumireko talk about currency in Chapter 36 of Curiosities of Lotus Asia).

(Curiosities on Lotus Asia, Chapter 36)

If I were to look at the US as a social system or any capitalistic society in general, It’s not a crime to want to gain money if that’s the path laid out for me as a person existing under capitalism. Disregarding how I personally feel about it, I’m just “playing the game” in the end.

If I were to disregard money or give it away for no reason, I would most likely be seen as weird for not valuing it the same way everyone else does. It’s seen as an illogical thing to do. That’s because the system defines “what the game is about” and I would be going against that.

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 49)

(Wild and Horned Hermit, Chapter 9)

Following the path of least resistance is comfortable, basically. If I were to strip my identity of every status within the social systems I belong to... what would I even do with myself? What am I if I’m not any of those things (as a student, as an employee, etc.)?

Commonly, people feel lost in life if/when their position is disrupted or stripped away from them. By performing what society expects from the statuses we occupy, life takes on a predictable shape. It's what’s known to work, so why fight against it?

(Flavor text by ZUN for the human village from Gensou Narratograph)

Norms in relation to the path of least resistance:

Similar to values and beliefs, norms establish expectations and boundaries on how people should act. But what makes norms different is that they can result in either reward or punishment. They’re essentially “rules” that are enforced through social consequences, creating a boundary of what is and isn’t acceptable in society.

A rather infamous example of norms in Gensokyo would be how human villagers aren’t allowed to turn into youkai. Reimu exterminates the Fortune Teller for breaking this norm.

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 25)

Norms help keep social systems together. Social systems are dependent on people’s relationships to function, and relationships consist of the expectations we have for one another. At bottom, those expectations are enforced and defined by norms, which tell us how we should act in the first place. So without norms, social systems would cease to be.

The norm that human villagers shouldn’t turn into youkai follows this idea. If Gensokyo is reliant on the collective participation of the human villagers, youkai, and the shrine maiden, then Gensokyo’s norms are meant to enforce the expectations the residents have on each other—their roles in relation to their status with social consequences. By not allowing the human villagers to turn into youkai, the expectations placed upon the human villagers is enforced.

Youkai are not exempt from this either, since they are part of the system, too. The belief that youkai are the enemies of humanity serves the same purpose because it enforces the expectations of youkai.

If these expectations were not maintained and upheld, Gensokyo would fall apart.

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 19)

In Chapter 25 of Forbidden Scrollery, not only does the Fortune Teller reject the roles of human villagers, but he also rejects the roles of youkai as well. This is told to us when he states, “I will reside far from the village. I have no intention of doing the humans harm.”

The problem is that he doesn't understand that youkai also have a role to play in Gensokyo, which is why he's confused about Reimu exterminating him despite his vow to not harm the human villagers. He goes against the norm that youkai should attack and scare humans, and faces the social consequences for breaking it (as well as for breaking the previous norm).

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 25)

Following the same thought, this is why Reimu believes Jinyou would destroy the balance of Gensokyo. Gensokyo relies on the collective participation of people to function, just like any other social system. By not playing by its rules, the social system is put into danger.

This idea is repeated throughout the manga whenever the balance of Gensokyo and the duty of youkai and the human villagers are mentioned. If all of the human villagers decided to become Jinyou, no one would be fulfilling the roles of the human villagers, which would stop Gensokyo from functioning.

Something to reflect on is why this doesn’t happen often. Think about it this way: what would happen if every single teacher at a school decided to stop working one day? What would happen if every single employee at a company suddenly left?

But at the end of the day, people aren’t machines. What do they get from performing the roles associated with their status? What if someone is unsatisfied with their life having to perform those roles, even though they exist under a status that guarantees safety? (*cough* Fortune Teller *cough*)

(Forbidden Scrollery, Chapter 25)

—

Conclusion

Throughout my post, I've been repeating that social systems need people. But it goes the other way around, too.

People need social systems. It's impossible to know what life would be like without them; they influence our perspective on the world and connect us with each other. They may change or get replaced, and they aren't perfect by any means. Regardless, they'll always exist in some form.

Part of the reason why I’m making this post is to clarify what these sociological concepts are. People in the Touhou fanbase either describe them but don’t know the proper terms, or they don't have a full understanding of them and end up saying something silly (like blaming Kasen for participating in Gensokyo as if it’s a choice, or that the humans should overthrow the youkai).

Honestly, I think it’s much easier to understand how Gensokyo works when you analyze it sociologically. It just comes down to making that connection to real life.

—

Afterword

Thank you for reading! I would like to thank my sister @juyendraws for being my co-author and editor, and just generally helping me out with this. She’s the one who first introduced sociology to me and recommended the book The Forest and the Trees by Allen G. Johnson, which is the book I’ve been using as reference. She’s currently working on her own project analyzing the lore and stories of Project Moon games. So if you're interested in those games, check her stuff out when they release!

By the way, I’m a little surprised no one's connected the inner workings of Gensokyo with sociological concepts, considering how long it's been discussed in Touhou's lore. It's as far back as Perfect Memento in Strict Sense. It's even more obvious with Cage in Lunatic Runagate where Yukari’s talking about how the Eientei residents don’t quite fulfill the role of youkai or human. Yukari in the same conversation states, “the humans in the outside world have roles they must fulfill, too; learning, working, and being a part of society, including paying taxes. Gensokyo then adds dealing with youkai to the list.”

I recommend rereading this part of Chapter 5 with sociology in mind because she is straight-up describing Gensokyo sociologically. You can't get more blatant than “the humans in the outside world have roles they must fulfill.”

That is textbook sociology.

I'm guessing people have been missing the forest for the trees, so what was said here was either misinterpreted or glossed over.

(Cage in Lunatic Runagate, Chapter 5)

In regards to Kosuzu’s story in Forbidden Scrollery, I’d like to make it its own post. It’s going to take me a while to write it, so I’ll just mention this: it’s both simpler and more complex than what people make it out to be. I’d also like to write about social deviance in relation to Kasen. Those posts will definitely be much shorter (hopefully).

Anyway, thank you again for reading. I hope my ramblings were coherent enough.