#you don't actually like the character!!! you only like what you want them to be!!

[splataii]

thigh fucking with ayato to relieve his stress from work so he bends the reader in his desk while degrading him (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

ayato x reader

cw: domtop character, subbottom reader, degradation, minor feminization (use of the word cunt), minor voyeurism, minor sir kink, petnames

lmk if i miss anything!

<3

“sir.. please,” you squirm under ayato as his body keeps you bent over his desk, hand on the small of your back as he feels around for a small bottle in his desk.

“what? this where you want it?” he smiles as he traces a finger up your exposed hole watching as it winks back up at him, leaning back to spread the lube all over it, “in this slutty cunt a yours?”

“‘m not a slut..” you slur, biting back a moan as he laughs, your face too cute to ignore. i mean your body is practically jumping at his touch while your poor cunt tries to take his fingers in, desperate to be filled.

it had been another regular day in the office before you were called up for another one of your lil “private meetings”, the angst on his face clear as day the moment you stepped through those grand doors.

the man is in desperate need of an actual break, what with the commission beating down his door 24/7, and ayato couldn't think no one better than his favorite boy..

his boy, to give it to him.

you were just made to take him. your desperate whines and moans music to his ears as he slowly jerks off your sad cock, spreading the lube all between your thighs and back up to your eager hole. honestly, he can't imagine how he ever makes it through the day without you

if he could just pay you to look all pretty bent over his desk, filling that pretty boycunt a yours up like it deserves to be filled, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

“oh, puppy, look at you,” he coos sweetly in your ear, his dick jerking against the curve of your ass as he bends over to take your dick in his hands, dirtying it with your precum, “this is all it takes to get you wet? a whore like u cant go two minutes without having his hole stuffed, hmm?”

your ass perks up to his touch on instinct, rutting against him for some friction on your rim. you needed him inside you so bad.

“no baby,” ayato hums, small frown on his face as he presses his finger into the skin of your hip to hold you still, “none of that,”

his hard cock slides in between the warmth of your lube slick thighs, groan escaping his lips as you clench around him from the sensation. your hips stutter as you rock against him, the feeling of his cock against yours just too much to handle.

“what a slutty little ass you’ve got,” he gropes, “what did i tell you?”

“please,” you shake your head, hole winking up at him everytime he prods, begging for any sort of attention, “please put it in, please sir,”

and you make it so hard to resist what with the sweet way his name falls off your tongue.. but only good dogs get treats he reminds you, all gentle smiles as he runs his hands down your back and squeezes at your thigh, finally starting to fuck you in earnest.

“stay tight. don't let up till i finish,” he grunts, keeping you bent over his desk as your hands grip onto the edges of the table in an attempt to keep balance against the smack of his hips against your ass. the tip of his dick pokes through your thighs as he uses them like a fleshlight, spreading his pre all over you and the underside of your abandoned cock.

ayato's all up on you, chest pressed against your back as he groans in your ear so you can know personally just what you do to him. it has you fucking yourself back on his hard cock, begging for him to just touch you already, but the sudden ringing of his old desk phone distracts you.

ayato reaches for it, your eyes widening as you glance up at him shaking your head, but he just holds a single finger to his lips before sliding the phone onto his shoulder, giving his fingers full freedom to slide back into position on the small of your back as he slows his thrusts to a slow grind of his dick. you've got nothing to worry about, really. he's gonna make sure to fuck all those useless thoughts out your pretty little head all the same.

“yes?” he doesn't do much to hide the annoyance in his tone, his hands pressing into your warm skin, using you like some cheap toy as he forces you to stay down and take it.

“two pm? no, cancel that, thank you. yes i’m sure,”

it feels like his stupid talk could go on for forever, but he still manages to stay cool on call as he draws the softest moans out of you, pulling out from your thighs to see how you flinch when he slaps his dick across your unused hole, lightly tapping the side of ur ass so you can arch for him some more just like a good toy should. it all has your mind falling away, uselessly rutting yourself back onto his cock as he plays with you, making sure to stay all pretty laid out on the desk for him.

“i’m a little busy at the moment,” he leans down to press a kiss on your shoulder as he squeezes at your ass, voice almost a low whisper, “isn't that right?”

all you can do is nod your head, body too hot and aching to say no. so thoroughly fucked out you don't even notice hes ended the call already, phone disgarded somewhere on his desk as he picks up his pace again, watching his cock dissapear into the folds of your thighs as his free hand reaches around your middle.

“gods, youre so fucking filthy, look at you,” he laughs, pinching at the head of your cock, spreading your pre all over his fingers, “you really get off from being used like that?”

“‘m not,” your words break off what with the way your body betrays you, thighs clenching as he starts jerking off your pathetic cock,

“i wonder how everyone would react,” he leans down to your level, lips warm on your ear as he keeps his hand tight around you, “if they saw how wet you get from just the touch of my fingers,”

you rut back into his hand, silently begging, but he keeps his touches light, laughing at how desperate you get.

"use your words, puppy," he gently hums before squeezing your chin in his hands and forcing your mouth open with his fingers. his face is so close to yours you can feel his words on the skin of your neck, but his body keeps you pinned against the desk stuck from facing him, "cmon, tell me what you want,"

“please, sir,,” your body jerks as you cry, way too focused on chasing his hand. the feel of his fingers tracing over your tip, the rhythmic sound of his skin on yours, it leaves your head too empty to think of anything but release.

“a slut like you can do better than that”, he moves his hand from your dick, the smile on his lips clear as day as he listens to your incoherent moans, rubbing your mess all over your tummy.

“please let me cum, please,”

you can feel the smile on his lips as he takes your wrists in one hand, lifting you from his desk and exposing your fucked out body to the empty office.

your head falls back against his chest, body almost giving out when he finally takes your cock in his hand and finally gives you what you've been begging so prettily for.

“that’s it, let it all out,” your legs shake as you jerk your hips to try and match his pace, head too dumb to do anything but whine as you finally cum, voice caught all up in your throat, ayato's lips on yours silencing you as he finishes all over your thighs, and you all over his hand.

[blughxreader]

Hi no your world building idea on the financial implications/restrictions of the purge are making me chew through steel actually. Because sure it keeps getting higher and higher financially, but that means that people (who don't just succumb to illegal means) start to develop weird cultures around it.

Like people who decide young that they would rather just make themselves as likeable as possible in hopes of getting a yandere for themselves the same way some people hope to become house spouses. Obsessing over looking and behaving perfect to the point of not knowing who they actually are outside of performing this role 24/7 (because who knows when their potential meal ticket might be watching? Where they put cameras? You can never risk breaking character. You have to be the character and hope they never find out the truth)

Celebrities in interviews talking about how they wanted to be famous in part to have resources to find the best darling and then keep them. People trying to become a celebrity's darling just so they can try and network their own career.

People add keeping their darlings on the list of lottery winning fantasies. Talking about the way they'd decorate their rooms and the things they'd give for mental and emotional enrichment.

Purge sympathizers who argue its an honor for you to be chosen as a darling since it means an easy life for a year. Darlings being financially taken care of, sure, but dealing with people taking them even less seriously as individuals because of the ""privilege"" to the point that then asking for basic rights or ammendments becomes a war against them being framed as greedy or demanding. (They already financially support you, and now you're insisting that they let you outside too??? What's even the point of kidnapping you then?? So what if it's for medical and dental care, that just means people who aren't your yanderes touching you, examining you, not a chance).

I'm just having so many thoughts and it's your fault (affectionate)

FROTHING AT THE MOUTH

Incredible ideas. The culture around the Purge is so interesting.

Like imagine a Yandere who’s dreamed of having a Darling their whole life, only for a bigger and badder yandere to show up and kidnap them? Anyone can kill and be killed. Darling, Yandere, and Normal aren't permanent labels.

There would be Darling seminars, where people could learn how to catch the attention of a high-value yandere. Or Yandere seminars, on how to maintain passive income and keep the darling reliant on you once the captivity period ends.

And maybe early in post-Purge captivity, there are mandatory and voluntary workshops for Yans and Darlings to learn how to coexist together in accordance with the law.

I actually love your ideas. Lottery winning fantasies? Kids dreaming about their future Darlings instead of weddings?

It's easy to map out the laws in a world like this, but culture is so multi-faceted and intricate. I'm actually barking at some of these ideas

Sorry this took so long to respond to haha. Your ideas were so good that i had to think for a while about how to add to them.

[copperbadge]

Immediate Writer's Block

Had a comment on another post where I thought I'd probably need more space than the notes in which to respond, so:

constant-state-of-self-discovery Oh I get the envy I feel it right now how the fuck do you manage to write without impassable writers block after 5-9 sentences because I haven't fucking figured it out lol

I do have some advice on this!

I think most writers get blocked from time to time, it's normal and my general strategy is just to wait it out, but if you're frequently blocked after only writing a very little bit, I think the problem is one of two things: either you don't know what you want to achieve with the scene you're writing, or you don't know what should happen next within the scene to achieve that goal. If you frame "I'm blocked" as "I don't have an answer I need" then often you move from just sitting there, sweating and staring at a blank page, to thinking productively about how you're going to get where you're going. It's the difference between not knowing an answer and not knowing an answer but knowing where to look for it.

An invaluable piece of advice for this, which I think I picked up from someone who got it off a National Novel Writing Month messageboard, is "When in doubt, ninjas attack." It's not meant to be literal, you don't need to have ninjas or fight scenes just because you don't know what to do, but it helps to get the creativity flowing again. If you don't know what should happen next, or you know but you're having trouble actually writing the scene, it can be very helpful to induce a moment of uncertainty or surprise -- to have a metaphorical ninja attack. One time I did this literally -- the POV character was just on the road somewhere and I didn't know how to get them from a pastoral country road to their actual destination in an interesting way, so I had them get attacked by highway bandits and have to fight them off, which also allowed me to demonstrate that the character had significant unarmed combat skills. But it can also just be like, two characters who are having a boring conversation can be interrupted by a third person, even just a stranger asking for directions, or there can be, IDK, an explosion, or something goes missing, or etc.

Sometimes it also helps to leave it alone but keep it in your mind and go do something else -- listen to a podcast, take a walk, read a book, not because those things are distracting but because all our inputs eventually feed into our brain and come out as reactions. If you're thinking about your book while you're wandering around a park, something you see in the park might have an impact on it. If you've got YOUR story in mind while reading someone else's, you might be more inclined to look at what they're saying and see what you think of it, how it might play into your work.

And honestly, sometimes you just gotta go past it. I'm working on the next Shivadh novel right now and it opens basically with Simon the chef getting into a spat with his love-interest-to-be over some cheese. He want the cheese, she won't sell him the cheese, so they get off to a very contentious start. But I suck at writing conflict especially when it's basically "A character I like is being pompous and another character I want people to find likable is being stubborn and somewhat unpleasant". I've been stalled on it for a while. But I know where the scene ends up, like I do know what the goal is, so I just...skipped it and went on to writing a scene I like better, where they meet a second time and actually discover each others' identity and that they're about to be forced into the grownup equivalent of a school project. Once I've gotten dug deeper into the story I'll come back and write it, and by then I'll have the benefit of knowing the love interest a bit better.

So yeah -- I think a lot of breaking a writer's block, especially when you don't need rest but are just stumped about what to do, is to twist and look at it from another angle. It's not that you don't know what to write, or don't want to write what you know you have to -- it's that you don't have the correct answer to a question, or you need to leave that part alone to ferment and come back to it later. At least, for me.

[chirpsythismorning]

The Vanishing of BLANK Wheeler

I wanted to make a list, from least likely to most likely, for which Wheeler I think is going to go missing.

But I also wanted to give a little disclaimer first, that even if these titles are real, they could still be fake, or could even possibly change given how much time we still have until s5 actually premieres.

For s2-3, the Duffers literally released official promo videos announcing episode titles for their upcoming season, with some of them changing when the season finally premiered.

Like in the case of s3 for example, they dropped a s3 episode promo video only a day after they completed filming. Meaning them titling 3x06 The Birthday, made absolutely no sense. They knew they didn't film anything birthday related for that episode. So they intentionally gave that one a fake name.

In the case of s4, that was the first time they promoted an upcoming season without giving fake titles, with the s4 promo announcing them following through with what we ended up with when s4 finally dropped.

I guess I sort of assumed s5 would follow in s4's footsteps, but from a leak standpoint, it might be smart to remember that fake titles are still a possiblity regardless. Especially in this case, where it's getting to the point in production where leaks are unavoidable. And so that might even explain why they play with this idea of fake episodes, which is because they can rest easy knowing leaks will mostly consist of half fake titles they planted there.

But for the sake of this post, lets humor the title for episode 2.

For starters, it's worth noting that the person who shared this leak originally said 'BLANK wheeler'. So as far as I know, they did not give any number of letters via underscores (_) to hint at who this Wheeler could possibly be. It's when ST news accounts caught wind of the leak and started rolling out posts, replacing BLANK with 5 underscores, that led a lot of fans to assume that the Wheeler had to have 5 letters in their name, which would have obviously ruled out Ted and Mike. But since all the Wheeler's are still on the table based on the original leak, they will all be included in this list.

5. Ted Wheeler

Believe it or not, there is something that I think actually warrants considering Ted as a possiblity.

There were some posts @stranger-chichka made a while back, comparing visual parallels between Stranger Things and Chernobyl, which could be hinting at this concept of Ted being in danger.

TBH though I think Ted being in danger or ending up dead is a possiblity regardless of him actually being the missing Wheeler.

Technically speaking, quite literally no one on the show is ruled out from being in danger at this point, so that's not saying much.

And considering the show is going to need to kill off some people next season and they are insistent on not killing any of their leads, supporting characters amongst the ranks have a high risk at being taken out. The emotional connection for Ted from the audience isn't as strong as other characters, but at least him being in close relation to a few main characters is something? I mean, he's funny I guess?

Quite frankly I don't think it's likely nor do I think it would actually make sense narratively for Ted to be the one to go missing out of all of them. I think it's a lot more likely they'd just kill him off, hence the Chernobyl parallels which imply he's gonna die. And so wasting time by having him go missing, only to kill him, just doesn't track. I think they'd just get that over with without dragging it out for very long, if anything.

Can you just imagine someone on the show shouting emotionally, It's Dad (Ted). He's gone.' Like, okay... And? I have a hard time imagining the characters being in serious turmoil over this, at least not enough for it to warrant like final season stakes amongst a bunch of other crazy shit happening. At best, the characters would be indifferently guilty for getting him roped into all this.

So yeah, I really don't see it happening.

4. Nancy Wheeler

I honestly feel like Nancy is even less likely to go missing than Ted, but the un-seriousness of an episode titled The Vanishing of Ted Wheeler is so astronomical, that I really had no choice but to put him last.

The reason I think Nancy is just very unlikely to go missing is because they technically already had her go missing as a cliffhanger between Vol 1 and 2 last season. It would just fall flat if they repeated something along those lines, with that same character, 3 episodes later. Vecna could have killed her and yet he didn't. His point was to send her a message, which was why he did what he did and then released her. The choice to target Nancy and taunt her about her family's safety in the first place, felt like their attempt at foreshadowing the danger that is to come for all of them, but one specifically. One of them that is not her. Which will make this moment back in s4 feel a lot more impactful upon rewatches.

So yeah, not feeling like Nancy is very likely.

3. Karen Wheeler

Karen is sort of a hard nut to crack all around. In the case that she is somehow connected to the Creels (Alice), anything is possible in terms of not only her being targeted, but again the entire family being at risk in some capacity. Without much to go off of outside of the obvious very haphazard timeline confusion, I feel like putting her somewhere in the middle. She was given a poster for s4. If she is Alice, then yeah it would make sense to target her. The stakes are also a lot stronger in comparison to Ted, because she was the parent in the family that actually came to Mike or Nancy and told them verbally that she wanted them to open up to her and is actually shown trying on several occasions. Whereas Ted is sort of just there when he's on screen. So the characters' distress would be a lot more dire and interesting to see unfold amongst everyone.

I also remember there being a leak in relation to Karen, Holly, Mike and Nancy all being at the hospital filming. And this was also like a day or so after ST dropped a video of Cara saying she was filming that day to hype up fans. So that leak did check out on the Karen front at least. Which puts her at the hospital at some point, potentially along with the rest of the Wheelers. Now that I'm thinking about it though, this could all fit with a Ted Wheeler death...

At this point, I'm sort of like indifferent to the possiblity, but it's still more likely than Ted and Nancy to me.

2. Holly Wheeler

It all goes back to s1, when Karen was visiting the Byers to console Joyce after Will went missing, when Holly sort of ventures off to Will's room, being guided by the lights, and sees the demogorgan in the wall.

I feel like people overlook this moment too, because it's kind of crazy that Holly has seen UD shit for herself. She was young enough that she could rule it out as just imagining things. And that could be partly the case even if she is skeptical.

There is something about Holly that makes her curious and sort of open to this world that most around her have no idea exists. And yet simultaneously some of the people closest to her do know about it and could easily clue her in when the time comes to do so, and because of that, I think she would probably be able to believe it all a lot faster than others.

Maybe this is a story where things need to happen and it just always ends up this way, but she has this tendency to be included in things that feel very important. Like in s4 with her playing with the lite-brite, and how that ended up being used to communicate with the others in the UD. There's this almost clairvoyance vibe about her. Her feeling the need to follow the Christmas lights to Will's room and her noticing and then fixating on the trees in s3.

Like I said, I don't know if it's something deeper, but it very well could be in the case she is connected to the Creels.

And while that is all somewhat compelling, at the same time it also feels very convoluted. Even if the Wheelers are Creels, I don't think that means the Wheelers would have powers, given that Henry got them when he was a child, meaning none of his family could have gotten them unless they too were taken in by the lab at some point, or were born with it.

Though I'm being full serious when I say the theories about Mike having time powers or maybe just manifestations from his emotions connected to the powers of others around him is one of my favorite theories of all time. I want it to happen. It would be cool. But that just opens the door to all of the Wheelers in my opinion, assuming his time powers came from being related to Henry. And if it was done that way, I feel like it would add way too much confusion to the story, where now all the Wheelers are gonna need to have powers, and then as a result would just takes away from the uniqueness that is already associated with Henry, El and potentially Will. One person potentially having powers without us knowing until the end aka Will, is enough honestly. Adding the Wheelers to the mix might be a bit much.

I'm also not totally convinced of the Wheeler's being Creels, and yet I also can't seem to want to rule it out entirely. But the prospects of Holly having powers or some sort of ability and just going through the same thing as Will when he was young and unaware of his powers, who is just now finding out the truth about his experiences... It just feels like serious whiplash honestly, when they haven't spent much of any time on Holly up to this point.

Like what are the stakes here exactly? What makes her disappearance and what that would look like compelling, on her front specifically? Because sure, I can see it being compelling watching the perspective of those around her reacting to this, what they would do to try to save her and all that, but what does that mean for her exactly? Are we going to see what she's doing? Are they going to hide it from us like they did with Will and then have to spend even more time uncovering it later on. And what does she even gain from being alone and taunted by Vecna presumably? What does the audience gain from witnessing that sort of event? There isn't a lot of story to explore there, outside of maybe making direct parallels to Will in s1? And then wouldn't that sort of take away from the importance of Will's role in it all just now being uncovered, if it all just repeats for Holly?

Which brings me to something that I see a lot of people using as strong evidence for why it has to be Holly, which is the fact that they recast her character.

What I think people are failing to consider is the fact that the twins who were cast to play Holly originally, were like 3-4 years old while filming s1. They weren't just kid actors, they were damn near baby actors. And while I know a big part of the reason why they gave Holly such few lines over the years was because the actors were aging way faster than the character they played, I think another factor could have been the fact that their acting experience is near nothing outside of Stranger Things, which is also pretty little on its own as well given that they have very few lines on the show.

It's not at all uncommon for child actors, let alone toddler actors to leave the industry once they start getting older. It could be for personal reasons, like wanting to explore other ventures, or it could be that they just don't perform as well with all the added expectations that come with acting as a character who is a kid with a lot of lines vs. a baby with 2 lines.

The girls got cast because at the time, they were able to perform as well as a 3 year old possibly could and would be expected to be in that role. But does that skill carry forth as they grew older? When now they have to deliver full sentences and carry conversations for scenes that are longer than 5 minutes? They've never really had to do that up to this point. Is it something that they feel comfortable with doing? Is their performance believable and is it something the writers feel confident about?

Honestly, I think they might have recast Holly, not because I think she is going to be targeted and focused on as this missing person they have to find, going through a near identical situation to 11 year old Will, but because they simply want her to be more apart of the story in general. And maybe because either the twins and/or the production didn't feel that they would be able to perform it in the way that they wanted it to be done.

And I mean, even if Holly isn't the one to go missing, one of the Wheelers is going to go missing based on this leak. If it was one of her parents, she would get a lot more scenes than she has in the past. If it was one of her siblings, again it would make sense for her to be more involved with the story. No matter what she is going to have a bigger role.

So no I don't think her being recast is as strong enough of proof as some might believe. If anything I think there is much stronger evidence that, like Karen, if they are related to the Creels, Holly is as fair game as any of them. The stakes could be high because she i such s a child. And her parents and Nancy and Mike worrying about her seems like something they would obviously do because she is so innocent and completely ill-equipped to endure something like that. But like I said, I just can't picture an focus like that on her, for her character, being very compelling given that Holly isn't really someone that needs like alone time with us witnessing it...

But there is one Wheeler left, and boy oh boy would he benefit from being alone.

1. Mike Wheeler

The most simple explanation for why it makes sense for it to be Mike, is that he genuinely benefits more than anyone when it comes to being alone with his thoughts, and with the audience watching. There's a lot of stuff dude has to work through in his own head, and since they haven't really let us have a moment alone with him that isn't under ten seconds since s3, an episode or two dedicated to making that a priority would make him coming back and things building up to the end, feel a lot more earned.

The audience needs to feel confident about how Mike feels about things. It can't be a guessing game for much longer when so many different factors are involved.

And while I think Mike may be the strongest possiblity in terms of the value it would add to the overall story is compelling enough to put him at number 1, the evidence supporting it happening is even stronger.

If we want to be crazy we can go back to the beginning. Plenty of fans have already speculated about how Mike is always late at the start of every season and how that might play into the beginning of season 5 again. I made a post about this recently and speculated it would happen one last time around the 15 minute mark. And maybe I was wrong... but maybe I was also right? Because if the second episode is called The Vanishing of Mike Wheeler, it's likely Mike's fate wouldn't be confirmed by the opening of 5x01, but in fact the closing scene of 5x01.

Throughout the show Mike plays a key role in leading the others, he's even referred to as 'the key' in s3 by Hopper. You know this show and their keys, they don't joke about that sort of thing. It's likely that Mike's story and what it is leading to is going to be central to how all of this ends.

Also in s3, there is one scene in particular that I think could be hinting at Mike being targeted, along with the s4 main poster with all of the characters. In the poster, we see El at the top, with Max and Mike as near equals on each side of her. Of course their roles are central and that's a fair layout on it's own arguably, but the equal-ness provided to Mike and Max feels very intentional. While she is slightly bigger than Mike in the frame, that could be a hint in regards to her being central now in s4, with Mike joining the mix alongside her in s5. Honestly, they could have made it so these two were beside other characters that also played a huge role in s4, and yet they chose those two to give a specific focus to. I think that is interesting (and probably intentional).

But if I'm being honest, there are so many moments in s4 specifically that hint at Mike being in danger, that I will not be able to include it all in detail in this post. So I'm going to link those below and then build off of some of it with some new details I've recovered that are worth re-contextualizing again with all of this in mind.

Hints regarding Mike and Will being targets of the town, but Mike specifically being focused on after the word 'missing' is said...

I'm gonna expand on this one because I think it's important to recognize the massive curtain in the background as this is all happening. And I vaguely reference this concept here as well which is worth checking out. But not is this whole concept of the curtain pretty blatant in this episode, this scene of the town all fleeing to hunt down hellfire club, is followed directly after, by this:

Notice how Mike is nearly always central in these moments? And how what follows feels eerily similar to what is about to go down at the end of s4 aka Suzie = Mike.

Now, this has already been talked about plenty so I won't go into detail, but... based on everything else happening surrounding this, this would apply to Mike in the sense that not only is he not in love with El, he's gay and in love with Will aka a boy. A BOY!

And then this mention of 'the terrible truth'. This word has been used like 3 times in the last few minutes. First intensely during Jason's speech about a terrible truth, with Ted and Karen being focused on with the Mike and Will extra in the background.

But what is even more crazy is that what follows sort of seals the deal for me that, this IS about Mike and it's foreshadowing what is about to come in s5.

5:02... 5x02!!!!

Also peep the watch and the letter from Dustin under it... I don't want to speculate but lettergate is looking extra relevant within all of this as well...

And to close off this point, lets show the shot that follows directly after this one.

Then later in the season, after Nancy is back from being taken by Vecna, here we have this long and emotional pause before she says Mike's name, last after her mom and Holly.

If they wrote and filmed this scene, knowing Mike would be the Wheeler missing early s5, it would make sense for them to list off the characters like this.

Mike peeking in the frame at this moment is not suspicious at all...

If it wasn't enough that Jason hyped up the whole town to see the Hellfire club as their enemy responsible for all of this, here we have a focus on Mike specifically being targeted by Jason.

The Duffer's statement about the show overall in the Piggyback script, and I gotta say it fits Mike a lot more than any of the other Wheelers.

Mike is a Paladin. And when they break an oath, they might spend an all-night vigil as a sign of penitence... aka everything is going to come to a head and Mike is going to be alone dealing with this shit for a bit, until he can come back ready to face it.

And I know it's controversial, but this post explains perfectly why Mike being central to this would make the show go full circle in a really compelling way.

Mike hasn't really unpacked...

Karen lookalike standing in front of the missing persons board. Could be any one of them but still, considering the costume of this extra looks closer to what Karen was wearing when she reunited and hugged Mike... I'm gonna put it more so with him.

Mike's guilt and shame regarding the past and what it has led them to could also play a big role and why him going missing would be worthwhile to explore. Part 1 / Part 2

Mike paralleling Yuri, who eventually reveals the truth (in his pocket) after stalling. If Mike parallels him all throughout the start of that moment, what does that mean for how it ends for Mike?

An antique funeral home fan behind Mike in the s4 character promo photos in the Creel attic, how Mike is seen sitting before Will sits beside him shortly after and it involving upside down imagery, Mike's first line in the show being used to later foreshadow his fate in early s5, and also bringing it back to Suzie's house which I already went into but it might be helpful to look at it again from this lens.

The Duffers would not pass up on the opportunity to parallel Mike with Finn's other character Richie in IT, which is literally based on a book that heavily inspired ST in the first place. And how all of that plays into the queer-coding for Mike going all the way back to s1.

The Duffers revealed after posting the funko-pop shotplanning pictures (2) that they were finished with planning for 5x01-5x02.... meaning this shot of Mike all by himself, is going to occur in one of those episodes...

We could still hypothesize Holly is the one to be taken, given that she doesn't have a funko and so they couldn't include her here regardless. But the fact that Nancy is with the other seems to imply to me that they are all likely working together to get Mike back, who is alone.

This one is a little more hard to pinpoint for sure, but it comes from a BTS Ross posted recently.

We are clearly in the Wheeler's house here. And if you zoom in, it looks like someone is standing (hiding?) behind a doorway/curtain. And the only person that seems to fit it imo is Mike... But why would he be hiding in his own house...?

It just makes me think about what is going on with Mike in early s5. What would be occurring that has him in this sort of situation? And it makes me wonder if him going missing has solely to do with him being taken and gone in one single moment, or if it could involve him avoiding his family and others potentially, with him being taken after that.

Lastly, I'm going to go into more choppy territory, stuff I know only a couple of people will actually consider. But it is pretty fucking fitting of what is about to go down so I can't not mention it.

In the Puzzle Tales' most recent Hellfire Campaign, this is the title...

Like the whole chapter is just a big joke on Mike about him being scared to be alone, which is painfully ironic if this is the direction the show is about to go for the next 2 upcoming episodes.

And then we have a song WSQK posted on Twitter back in January. I know people don't believe that this account is connected with anyone in the production, which is fair because I myself rarely believe leaks from anonymous accounts as it is. But I've been keeping up with it and it genuinely doesn't seem like a fan could come up with these songs.

The song I'm about to mention is the 7th song they posted, called Army Dreamers by Kate Bush. And you might fight it sounds a lot like the situation Mike might find himself in in early s5.

And though I'm sure I didn't cover everything, I feel like all the things I've mentioned and referenced from other posts are plenty to at least consider this as opposed to rejecting it all together.

At the end of the day I think there are some valid arguments for all of them to some extent. And quite frankly all of the Wheelers and most of the characters in the show will find themselves in danger in a way that is going to probably last longer than just one single moment the entire season. So even if it's just one of them, I don't think that rules out the others playing a bigger role in what is going down.

I just think narratively, there is one person that benefits from being on-screen and alone with their thoughts. And the other 4 being confronted with what that person discovers eventually will also make all of this a lot more worthwhile than any of the other options in my opinion.

[cripplecharacters]

Salutations! I’m in the process of creating a story wherein both characters are missing an eye. One has a prosthetic, but is presently isolating themself in the woods, and wears an eyepatch to protect the eye while alone; the other’s socket is either empty, or they have a glass eye with no actual details (iris, pupil, etc.). I’ve struggled to find references for the latter, and fear it may come off as unrealistic. I understand prosthetic eyes keep the eyelid from collapsing, but aside from that could a person just not wear one? If these options are unrealistic, please let me know. I can supply you with concept art if need be.

The story itself centers around these characters after one of them finds the other by accident. They’re painted as foils—the one hiding out in the cabin adhering to a self-made sense of logic that centers on cycles and confirmation bias, while the only who takes refuge there after running away is deeply paranoid and prone to hallucinations. The first character is missing their left eye; the other their right. I don’t want to make a symbol of their disabilities, but I feel their designs simultaneously stress their opposing perspectives, as well as the fact they paradoxically still manage to see “eye-to-eye.” Their visual impairment is just one of many ways they’re able to connect across the story, as they also bond over their obscure passions and delusions, and respect each other’s warped worldview to such an extent said worldviews start to blur together. In addition to this, the story places an emphasis upon an entity known as the “ocellus,” which is basically the “false eye” you see on moth wings. In my outline so far, it’s the name of a mysterious band which the pair discover in a record collection, and resolve to solve the mystery of (regarding the members, music, etc.) One of the characters also sleeps with an eye mask with the pattern of moth wings and their respective ocelli overlaying their own eyes; their paranoid counterpart also sees eyes in the trees and wood of the cabin.

Absolutely none of this is set in stone; before it is, I just want to know how much of it is fine, which parts “moralize” or make a symbol of a disability, and what is straight-up ableist. Please let me know if you need more details.

Hi!

The prosthetic eye has two main functions: 1) to keep the eye area stay in shape, 2) to protect the socket. Both of these can be achieved by conformers (it's like a big contact, except it goes into the socket and not on the eye) which I talked about here!

A blank prosthetic eye would probably be fine. The process of getting it custom painted is expensive from what I know, and IRL a lot of people will decide on the generic kind rather than a custom. If in your world the generic happens to be a blank, there's no problems I can think of? Potentially, you could explicitly say that it's not how most prosthetic eyes look like (maybe someone else knows a person with an eye prosthetic and they comment that it's unusual?). You mentioned that the character doesn't have it in all the time, so I don't think the trope of "blind character has blank/white/milky eyes" applies here because it's clear that it's a prosthetic.

A person could decide to go bare, but the sensation of blinking could be uncomfortable, and they would need to clean their socket more to get rid of anything that could get inside. Normal saline could be used for that.

I don't think there's an issue in them missing different eyes at all. If you want to make sure it's not giving "Just Magic Symbolism" energy then you could incorporate some boring everyday things that would make sense. If they go somewhere together, they could decide to walk missing eye-to-missing eye, so that they see what's going on the sides rather than in the middle, things like that. It could make it feel more grounded, so to speak.

I don't see any issues with the moth fake-eyes symbolism either, I think it makes sense for the story you're trying to tell.

If you want to be very safe, I would have a character (can be minor, or background) that's also missing eye(s) that's not connected to any of the potential symbolism and is more of an average Joe of Not Having an Eye.

In case you decide to get into that, it would be nice for them to have different causes of why they don't have eyes. It feels like in fiction it's always physical trauma, but there's a whole more that could cause someone to not have an eye;

anophthalmia,

retinoblastoma,

severe eye infection,

elective enucleation (removal) of an already blind/painful eye,

just to give you a few ideas! Giving them "boring" everyday reasons of eye loss will also make it feel less symbolic and more like a regular disability. Think "dramatic swordfight with Huge Meaning" vs "yeah I had cancer in my eye when I was 2".

I hope that this helps; if you have any further details you'd like to ask about feel free to send another ask!

mod Sasza

[peachseashell]

━━ ㅤ꒰ 🩰 ꒱ who is that from ? 

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ Includes Wanderer , Kazuha

⋆.˚ - Genshin impact characters getting jelly when you recieve flowers and love letters by someone other than themselves !

⋆.˚ - Gender neutral reader & they are referred as "partner"

⋆.˚ - cw's: jealousy , petnames such as 'dove' , 'my love' are used.

⋆.˚ - a/n: i missed writing , sorry for being away for a while <3 anyway, I'm so bored and i need more requests ! And i might start writing for other fandoms soon , maybe.

━━ ౨ৎ 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐑

It was no suprise that you were indeed popular amongst your friends and colleagues at work; you were pretty , smart , nice and everything someone could want in a person. Which unfortunately for Wanderer , made you very desirable to others.

"What is that ?" he hissed and pointed at the paper in your hand with a heart shaped wax seal. "It's a letter, dear." you replied shortly . You earned a scoff from him, "I know what it is. What does it say?"

He visibly gagged at the loving words written onto the paper. "...cringe." he tore it from your hands and threw it away. "Don't be so cruel, they probably poured their whole heart our into that." you frowned at him.

You earned a scoff from him, " So what? You're my partner and everyone should know that by now. " Wanderer is such a drama queen. "Calm down, you're acting like I reciprocate their feelings..." you rolled your eyes at him.

"Do you?" his face darkened . You giggled, "of course not ! You know I love you." you placed a hand on top of his and he finally gave you a small smile, "I love you too."

━━ ౨ৎ 𝐊𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐇𝐀

Kazuha rarely feels any jealousy towards anyone who shows affection to you; because you deserve all the love you can get! However , one person in particular has taken a liking to you to the point you're suffocated by them every second with gifts. And Kazuha is fed up with feeling like the third wheel.

"Are those from them?" Kazuha asked , gesturing at the bouquet of roses in your arms. "mhm!" you hummed back. "oh...they're nice." he put on a half fake smile. You noticed this and took his hand in yours, "Are you okay?"

"Yes...why wouldn't I be?" he raised an eyebrow. "You look upset." Kazuha looks down at the roses, "Do these gifts not bother you, dove? don't you get annoyed?" He squeezed your hand.

"hmmm...actually now that you mention it, sometimes it's too much. Do you dislike the gifts?" you wanted Kazuha to open up more to you. "uh...maybe." he said it with hesitation. "they're getting close to you, too close for my liking."

"it's completely fine to feel that way. Kazuha, you know you're the only one I have my eyes on , right?" you giggled lightly. "I know . I don't think you're the type of person to run off with another man." Kazuha removed the roses from your hands so he could wrap his arms around you in a very warm hug.

Why is this lowkey cringey ummmmmm

[marikosenwrites]

karasuno boys - dating headcanons (pt. 1)!

a/n: sen here!! heyy obsessing over our haikyuu boys are we <3 yes i am i'm only on season two right now though, almost season three!! i'll be doing aoba jousai, nekoma, and fukuroudani gakuen! enjoy!

characters: hinata shouyou, kageyama tobio, tanaka ryuunosuke, sawamura daichi, sugawara koushi (suga-san🥹), tsukishima kei (TSUKKI🥹) [pt. 1], yamaguchi tadashi, takeda ittetsu (just me and one of my favorites), ukai keishin [and in that order] {pt.2}

pt. 1 || pt. 2

notes: in this au, kiyoko can't be married to tanaka...yeah. they're still in highschool, btw

gn!reader

↳ ❝ [ 日向翔陽 HINATA SHOUYOU ] ¡! ❞

-this cutie omg

-probably the first to confess

-gets all blushy when you're around at the start of the relationship

-you love ruffling his hair

-if you watch him practice until the end, he treats you to meat buns!! if he doesn't have enough money, he'll just share one with you

-kageyama is jealous omg and tsukishima is just like "the chibi got a girlfriend??"

-loves you so very much

-his love language HAS to be words of affirmation and physical affection

-you just can't help but return the affection

-if you don't know how to play volleyball, he's gonna teach you!!

-if you know- he's going to ask you to talk to him

-dates will be chaotic and affectionate

-often cooking dates!

-you love his family especially natsu

-also love them amusement park dates with him

-he's so fun loving and all

-kisses are very innocent, close to no spice at all except when he's feeling super annoyed or something

-loves cuddling with you when it's bedtime <33

-does NOT have a specific schedule rest assured

-calls you his dove (aww)

-you love calling him sunshine <333

-HE'S JUST SO BRIGHT

-I SWEAR

↳ ❝ [ 影山飛雄 KAGEYAMA TOBIO ] ¡! ❞

-a sweetheart actually

-he's so cold on the outside but lights up when you're there

-kisses have a little bit of spice

-he's too prideful to confess first ig so you make the move

-loves it when you come to his practice to support him

-at some point he has requested you to become a manager because sometimes ukai thinks you're a distraction for him so asks you to walk out for a bit to let kageyama concentrate

-you bet he has worried over it because he didn't know where you went

-ok onto the main shit

-dates are always somehow sport related (HOW DOES HE KEEP FINDING THEM)

-sometimes an outing or two when he's actually free and not busy with volleyball stuff

-you'd think he isn't clingy...WELL IT'S THE OPPOSITE ALRIGHT.

-he actually craves YOUR attention and YOURS ONLY

-i think you two would have a cat together (named it NOTHING after the other volleyball players you know :/)

-loves your cuddles too

-WAIT WAIT HEAR ME OUT

-YOU KNOW HE BUYS THEM DRINKS RIGHT

-HE WOULD BUY LIKE HUNDREDS FOR YOU IF YOU WANT

-aww the little (wait he's tall) guy

↳ ❝ [ 田中龍之介 TANAKA RYUUNOSUKE ] ¡! ❞

-the hot-headed guy just can't get enough of you

-you sometimes make fun of him for being almost bald-

-but he's okay with it because he loves you (as long as you dont do it that often)

-okay so firstly like kiyoko WHEN HE SEES YOU HE CONFESSES TO YOU ALMOST IMMEDIATELY

-one second he's dumbfounded by your beauty, the other he's confessing to you already

-like you reject him first few times

-AND THEN AND THEN YOU START TO FALL FOR HIM

-THEREFORE YOU ACCEPT WOOOOO

-it's uh "Y/N-SAN! I LIKE YOU CAN YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!!!" and then you're just like "ah- yeah. mhm."

-he's just like :o WHAT

-okay that's it for the confession

-dates are always what you want

-if it happens you want to make cake, go for an ice cream shop, an amusement park- whatever, you name it and he can afford it? YOU'RE GOING

-they're all so sweet...

-he's also needy at some point when you're dating

-so...MORE IN MY NSFW LATER

↳ ❝ [ 菅原孝史　SUGAWARA KOUSHI ] ¡! ❞

-i'm gonna bet 100 dollars that he's the one confessing

-STEP ONE: get you as his girlfriend

-firstly he's going to ask you to meet him during lunch in the morning

-second when you're both there he confesses

-to his surprise you accept to go out with him and one date turns into two, into three and ON

-STEP TWO: MORE DATES TO COMEEE

-always ice cream dates and baking dates

-always appears to get flour in his fluffy hair

-ALSO ALSO YOU LOVE PATTING HIS HAIR AT ALL TIMES IT'S LIKE COMFORTING YOURSELF

-sometimes picnics too <333

-STEP THREE: there is none for now but THERE WILL BE SOON. SOON ENOUGH.

-his way of giving you affection is by kissing you, cuddling, and giving you praises...

-do you have a praise kink (nvm forget i asked that)

-cuddling in bed is one of his favorite ways to go to sleep

-you stroking his back is too

-you guys are always the talk of the karasuno vb boys group when you guys get together for gatherings (the perfect couple?!?!?!?!)

↳ ❝ [ 澤村大地 SAWAMURA DAICHI ] ¡! ❞

-he's definitely the one to confess first being the big boy man he is <3

-literally will kiss you when you accept

-so taken aback you felt like you were going to faint

-his kisses are so gentle help

-ok maybe not sometimes but we all know when that is

-love playing with his ears mayybe?? i know there's nothing different with the rest, but i just feel like it's with daichi

-your first date is an amusement park one ✨✨

-p.s. you shared the cotton candy lmao-

-he literally walked you home and your parents invited him in for dinner

-they like him very much thank you

-relationship has been approved now your parents are urging him to marry you even though it's only one week into the relationship-

-now HE'S the one that pats your head every time he passes you in the hallway or whatsoever

-when you move in together LITERALLY EVERYTHING IS YOUR CHOICE NOW

-you can choose the flat, the decorations, the vibes, the furniture- EVERYTHING

-loves you that much yes

-the sweetest guy ever NO DEBATE

↳ ❝ [ 月島蛍 TSUKISHIMA KEI ] ¡! ❞

-SALTY SHIMA. THIS MAN IS SO SALTY

-i swear bro

-he has rizz though that's for sure

-he confesses to you first (it was during lunch you remember the day like it was yesterday)

-his kisses are half spicy (igg since tsukishima is that kinda person)

-the mean to the public and only kind to you kind of person <3

-dates are usually home dates (he's an introvert (i headcanon))

-perhaps if you can persuade him (it's a 50/50)

-first date was a movie date

-then you went home with him (you went to his house)

-and met his parents

-they liked you very much <33 now treat you like their daughter

-the next time you went on a date, you brought him to yours and he made a good impression but they don't love him as much as his parents do to you

-i will write the time skip arc for this because i am biased and you literally can't stop me (but tell me if you want more i'll reblog it with more hcs)

-you were so happy for him when he joined the sendai frogs

-cheered for him on every game (LIKE THE SHIRT AND THE SIGNS AND STUFF)

-facepalmed himself out of spite ya bet he got a scolding for that

-"KEI KEI KEI GANABTTE," that was you, screaming at the top of your lungs at your HUSBAND.

-"oi, tsukki, who's that?"

-tsukishima facepalmed himself, earning a glare from you, "my wife."

-"EHH?? TSUKKI HAS A WIFE??"

-lmao the most normal occurrence

-after that koganegawa would often come to you and ask for dirt on kei (screw him for facepalming)

-saltyshima (in the public) → sweetieshima (in front of you only)

©marikosenwrites 2024-25 all banners, dividers, and work. please do not steal. i own none of the HAIKYUU!!/ハイキュー！！ characters mentioned. reblogs, likes, and comments are welcomed. <3

[acourtofthought]

My husband finally put into words for me something that has been the main problem with this whole Anti Gwynriel because of Gwyn's past narrative.

According to Anti's, it's not ok to ship Gwyn with Az because she's not healed enough and hasn't shown that she's ready for a relationship.

According to Anti's, fanart of Gwynriel in provocative positions are not appropriate because it's disrespectful to Gwyn due to her SA, that she needs to first give verbal consent before we're allowed to imagine what a HEA for Gwynriel might look like.

And at first, it almost feels like a gotcha for them because you question whether you're disrespecting real survivors by saying, "she doesn't need to give consent for us to ship them since it's a book." This statement is true, I don't think readers should be forced to abide by real world morals when it comes to possible paths a characters arc might take, however it makes you pause for a moment to question whether what you're saying is disrespectful to those who have been victims.

But he actually flipped that entire thing on it's head when he said, "if the issue is about consent, then why is only being applied to a SA victim? Shouldn't consent be applied to everyone?"

It was kind of a lightbulb moment for me because those Anti's never vocalize how it's wrong for people to ship Eris & Az, Mor & Emerie, Vassa & Lucien (SA victim), Lucien, Jurian & Vassa, the LoA & Helion (because at this point they are not a consenting pair), Nesta & Eris. There are a bunch of non canon, non consent ships in this series and nobody has an issue with those. Nobody takes up the crusade arguing that it's wrong for people in the fandom to imagine those pairings together or drawing fanart of them in NSFW positions. Most of the time they're celebrated but has Emerie consented to having a sexual relationship with Mor? All she did was call her beautiful and Feyre had done the same in ACOMAF. Why do they never call out fanart of that pairing? Or Neris after Nesta harshly rejected him? Where Eris is currently suffering torture at the hands of Beron and we've got no clue as to his sexual preference. Also, Elain only consented to a fully clothed kiss in the bonus (remember, she grew up with human morals which she still holds fast too, she didn't jump right into bed with Graysen), we have no evidence she wanted more yet there's plenty of NSFW E/riel artwork out there and I'm betting some existed before SF, before she even consented to a kiss.

The only time I've ever heard anyone argue for consent or argue against NSFW art is in relation to Az and Gwyn and the message they're sending is that only female characters who have been SA need to give consent before fans should be shipping them.

That's when the shipping agenda makes itself known because if no other non-canon / non-consenting pairing disturbs them to the point they need to create post after post surrounding how wrong people are for shipping them, then it's clear to see that it's only Gwyn being shipped with Az that they take issue with and when only E/riels make these arguments, it seems highly suspect.

Gwyn's SA is irrelevant in terms of consent because EVERYONE should have consent before engaging in physical acts with others no matter their past. However, Gwyn's SA should not be the weight dragging her character down, the scarlet letter on her chest that means the fandom isn't allowed to give her the same treatment that all other characters receive. Where we're free to imagine and create fanart / fanfiction / headcanons (even the NSFW variety) for any pairing that we desire, regardless of their past or preference, even those who have never expressed romantic interest towards one another, except for Gwyn.

Consent in the actual book will be important but consent having already been given in our imaginations so we can imagine possibilities beyond what is currently written is the right of any reader.

[transmascaraa]

hi its 🍓 anon, can I request comfort with Gaming, Bennett, Scaramouche, Cyno, and Tighnari?

I accidentally hurt my cat's leg maybe like 20 minutes ago from when this is in your inbox but I've honestly just been crying and curling up on the ground where she's laying underneath my desk. I feel awful even though it's an accident ☹️

I'm hoping she's okay and it's not bad but I'm scared I permanently gave her a limp or that she will hate me and no longer want to be around me anymore

multiple characters headcannons!

you accidentally hurt your pet.

characters: gaming, bennett, wanderer, cyno, tighnari x gn!reader

author's note: hi 🍓anon i'm sorry i'm doing this req so late but writer's block is there for some reason🤷‍♂️ I HOPE YOUR CAT IS OKAY NOW THO AND THAT SHE STILL LOVES YOU IK HOW IT IS😭 anyways i decided to write this cuz i was bored lmfao enjoyyyy🔥🔥

♡ Gaming

-definetly gets worried after he sees you on the ground crying like that.

-"no... my love, what's wrong? you can talk to me, okay?"

-all while the pet was in the corner of the room, unphased.

-if left the room soon enough, but that was unnoticed by gaming.

-after you did your best at explaining the situation to him, he understood what you meant.

-a bit confused as to why were you thag worried about it, but he reassured you that your pet was fine and that they most probably forgive you.

-he's going to cuddle the pet with you to help you "apologize" to it.

-with gaming there, your pet will forget about what happened and just cuddle with the two of you there like nothing ever happened<3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

⑅ Bennett

-now, he's hurt a fair share of animals in his life due to his unluckiness.

-and he always feels really bad for them afterwards, so he would understand after you vent to him about it.

-"hmm... yeah... i get it.."

-but him, knowing that you're not as unlucky as he is, he reassures you that your pet is okay and still loves you.

-he'll prove it to you too.

-but first he would first make you take your mind off of it for a bit.

-and then feed the pet together as some parents to their 3yo child.

-now, speaking of him proving it to you, he'll just let you pet it and let it slowly lean into your gentle caressing of it.

-the only time he was lucky in his life was when he got to be with you.

-you just looked to precious being happy that your pet has forgiven you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

✧ Wanderer

-he just doesn't get it.

-why the hell are you rolling on the floor, crying, because you THINK you hurt your pet?

-"but are you sure you've actually hurt it? y'know, if you actually did, then its anger is justified-"

-until you started crying more.

-"b-but you probably didn't. so don't worry. you'll be fine, just like that like creature you call your pet."

-i mean you stopped crying so it was something????

-you'll have to beg him to cuddle you w your pet but eventually you'll convince him.

-the funny part was the fact that the pet was just more fond of wanderer, rather than you, despite forgiving you for anything and everything.

-for some unknown reasons, all animals like him, really.

-(if your pet is an aranara in some type of this teyvat au then it's even cuter)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

๑ Cyno

-he doesn't react much, really.

-not like alhaitham, but just more of his canon personality when he's not making dad jokes.

-i mean if anything, he's confused, but yeah.

-he just stares you on the floor.

-"what happened?"

-in the most monotone voice ever.

-and then after he understands why you're doing all of that, he shows a bit more of emotion.

-hardly spotted, but it's there.

-"well... i know something that can improve your mood. what do you call a-"

-you just give him a death stare. he doesn't continue speaking from there.

-afterwards, you'll feel the little cutie together and see that it's totally fine!

-you will get to hear the joke he was meaning to say sometime later, now he just doesn't wanna irritate you, he feels as if you need happiness now, not his dumb dad jokes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

✿⁠ Tighnari

-he genuinely gets worried.

-but worried in a mom way.

-"you're crying because of something you THINK? are you hearing yourself right now?"

-he's sassy, even when genuinely concerned.

-now, after telling you to take a few deep breaths, calm down, and drink a glass of water, he sits you down and lets you explain everything in great detail.

-then he brings the pet to the both of you, while he checks the pet for any scars, but they fortunately aren't there!

-you get incredibly happy and hug both tighnari and the pet, but he still doesn't understand if ut was worth the crying on the floor.

-your pet literally still loved you.

-but at least he was happy to help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

okay i think this wasn't that bad

i really like cyno's and tighnari's tho

but this was fun to write overall tbh lol

| 🍓anon | @mariaace <3

[preservationofnormalcy]

A family moved in down the street last month. This sounds normal, but they're suspiciously close to one in a story I'm writing. I made a character last year with the exact family. Did I somehow predict this family's arrival, or have there been any past cases of peoples' fictional creations coming to life?

We call this "parafictional" manifestation, and you can learn more by clicking on the parafiction tag my intern Jenny will append to this post. The short version is that this does happen but we have to be careful. The vast majority of the times this happens, especially with a fictional property only one person know about (like this personal project you have) these aren't truly self-aware entities that have manifested - these are lures.

Some entities like Outsider behavior patterns feed on the human capacity for creativity (has a lot to do with emotions involved with creative expression being particularly attractive to psychophagics) and to harvest that, they'll exploit your own thoughts and creations. Either to feed on you psychically, or literally.

Be careful. You obviously don't want to assume these new neighbors are automatically harmful in this way - it could just be a big coincidence - but there's a few things you can do.

Ask another creative neighbor about them. These things will be a mirror, typically. They'll reflect what the viewer already has in mind. You might see these folks as Mr and Mrs Smith from your book, but your neighbor might see them as Mr and Mrs Takahashi from the manga he's working on.

You could also very gently ask them some nonsense questions. If this is a lure, it'll also be a "chinese room" - an entity that is able to mimic human conversations simply by examining textual data en masse and regurgitating what the response is likely or expected to be without actually understanding it. You might feel silly, but try asking a nonsense question, like if the sky feels glarble or if nods yon today. If they just raise an eyebrow, green flag. If they try and respond without breaking stride, red flag.

If you get a couple red flags that way, send us another message. We'll send someone out.

[tzthrowbacks]

oh by the way i just came back from challengers..

some thoughts :

everybody was acting DOWN

such an entertaining plot from beginning to end. low stake movies about messy people...that's exactly the kind of movie i needed right now, and i actually liked the flashbacks (saw some complain about it)

everyone is pathetic in their own way but i lowkey expected waaaay worse from art given what everyone (im looking at you z) was saying. he's a looser and a snake absolutely, and i know what he did initially was shitty, and i think he's boring as hell so i understand why tashi was losing her mind in this marriage lol. but idk i thought he was going to be way more.... insufferable ? in terms of scenes and dialogues i mean

chemistry wise, tashi and patrick oh man.....was giggling and kicking my feet everytime they were together. i know they were written that way but tashi art scenes felt soooo bland in comparison

don't jump me but i expected more tashi ? not in terms of screen time, but more about her as a character. i know she's the connective tissue between them all. i think she's an interesting character, she's complex, but i wished it explored more of that complexity. i have a clear idea of who the boys are, their personality and quirks, idk if i feel the same way about tashi, but maybe i need to sit on it and rewatch psa : i didn't read the script, that's maybe why i expected more

anyone want to discuss the ending ? how did you interpret it ? i smirked when patrick did his special move letting him know they fucked, but also i feel like it gave art the drive to outperform and their embrace at the end sums up their relationship. all their problems would've been solved if they just got together lmao. and tashi only cared about watching some 'good fucking tennis' and she ended up having it, hence the final shot of her, smiling

i need josh

[hunieday]

Green Bubble - Shuffle unit Event Story Translation

Please note that I am not a professional translator and I'm only doing this to share the side materials to those who cannot access them, if you notice any mistakes please let me know nicely. Enjoy!

Rokuya Nagi: HIII, everyone! Have you tried "GREEN BUBBLE" yet?

Yotsuba Tamaki: It's us! We are "GREEN BUBBLE"!

Isumi Haruka: It is! right!

Kujo Tenn: That’s right.

Kujo Tenn: "GREEN BUBBLE" is the new product from "Jyuurokugumi" as well as our unit name.

Rokuya Nagi: Yes! "GREEN BUBBLE"!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Pop! Pop! Pop!

Kujo Tenn: What are you doing.

Yotsuba Tamaki: It's the bubble popping dance!

Rokuya Nagi: OH! Pop! Pop!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ready, everyone~!

Isumi Haruka: Huh!? Pop...

Kujo Tenn: Excuse me. Can we proceed properly?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh, yes...

Kujo Tenn: It's a wonderful new product as well as an introduction to our unit, so I'd like to do it properly.

Isumi Haruka: See, we got scolded! I was gonna do it properly too!

Rokuya Nagi: OH! We're not fooling around! It's a wonderful performance! Let's do it together!

Rokuya Nagi: 3, 2, 1...

GREEN BUBBLE: Pop! Pop! Pop!

Isumi Haruka: Wow... Kujo Tenn joined in too...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Don’t you know? Tenn-Tenn’s the kind of character who'd join in stuff like this more than you think he would.

Kujo Tenn: Wait, Yotsuba-san, don't lean your arm on my shoulder.

Yotsuba Tamaki: What about my chin?

Kujo Tenn: Your face is close, too close.

Isumi Haruka: Huh!? Aren't you guys too close!? Is this how it is between you two!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: That's right.

Isumi Haruka: Awesome...

Kujo Tenn: What do you mean awesome?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Isumin, won’t it be cool if you and Nagicchi got close too?

Isumi Haruka: ...! T-that's true, but I heard he might look friendly, but actually be quite closed off.

Rokuya Nagi: OH... Who on earth told you that? That’s a huge misunderstanding.

Isumi Haruka: Um... an acquaintance of mine...

Rokuya Nagi: Well that acquaintance of yours met me in the worst possible way and doesn’t wanna listen to what I want to say.

Rokuya Nagi: The door to my heart in front of you, Isumi-shi, is wide open. Please, come on in.

Isumi Haruka: Alright, well... I'm intruding.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Isumin is inside Nagi's heart right now.

Isumi Haruka: Maybe, yeah...?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ha. What's it like?

Isumi Haruka: What's it like!? What’s it like uh, um...!? How am I even supposed to answer that!?

Isumi Haruka: It's……uh….. it... it smells nice...?

Yotsuba Tamaki: ...huh...

Rokuya Nagi: ...OH...

Isumi Haruka:.... Stop acting like I bombed a joke!!

Kujo Tenn: Moving on, it's the "8th anniversary! Four Thanks Project!”

Isumi Haruka: Wait, hold on...!

Kujo Tenn: As part of the limited-time unit formation celebration, the "Ask This and That!?" edition.

Kujo Tenn: Let’s get the "GREEN BUBBLE" version started.

Kujo Tenn: Everyone, please support us! Don't let the other units sway you.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Because we're the best, right!?

Rokuya Nagi: Yes! It's really, totally lonely to be separated from the other IDOLiSH7 members, but...

Yotsuba Tamaki: I'm here!

Rokuya Nagi: Tamaki! I love you!

Kujo Tenn: Don't get too cozy. I'm a member now too.

Yotsuba Tamaki: I love you!

Rokuya Nagi: I LOVE YOU!

Kujo Tenn: What about you, Isumi-san?

Isumi Haruka: ...I don't really understand that but!

Isumi Haruka: I hope you love me! Love us! Love this unit, and love "GREEN BUBBLE"!

Kujo Tenn & Yotsuba Tamaki & Rokuya Nagi: Yay!!

Isumi Haruka: W-was that okay? Is it alright?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Don’t worry, it was alright! So cool!

Rokuya Nagi: It was cool!

Kujo Tenn: Well then, let’s read what the staff have to say...

Isumi Haruka: He-... wait! You bastard didn’t tell me your impression yet.

Kujo Tenn: Bastard?

Isumi Haruka: Ah. sorry... your impression, Kujo-san...

Kujo Tenn: It was cool. Your straightforward message opened the door to my heart too.

Rokuya Nagi: OH...! You used the door to your heart! Excellent utilization!

Isumi Haruka: Kujo Tenn said I was cool...

Kujo Tenn: Are you embarrassed?

Isumi Haruka: No. It feels great...

Kujo Tenn: Ah, I see.

Isumi Haruka: To be told I'm cool by Kujo Tenn...

Kujo Tenn: Are you blushing?

Isumi Haruka: No. I just feel really good...

Kujo Tenn: Ah, I see.

Isumi Haruka: I made Kujo Tenn say I was cool...

Kujo Tenn: You’d be cute if you blushed because of me too.

Yotsuba Tamaki: It’s true. Nagicchi you smell nice.

Rokuya Nagi: Tamaki smells nice too! Hm... Is this vanilla?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Bingo! I licked some vanilla extract.

Isumi Haruka: Why!?

Kujo Tenn: You're not supposed to lick it, you know!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Mikki was trying to make something, and it was on the table.

Yotsuba Tamaki: He drops some on the palm of his hand like this, but it's not that sweet. I fall for it every time.

Isumi Haruka: That's true! His hands smell like vanilla!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Sou-chan finds out every time I do this.

Kujo Tenn: Do you get scolded?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Used to.

Rokuya Nagi: And now?

Yotsuba Tamaki: He says it’s kinda soothing.

Kujo Tenn: You've grown stronger, Osaka-san...

Isumi Haruka: But this might be good when you're hungry.

Yotsuba Tamaki: You turn it into a trend amongst ZOOL.

Isumi Haruka: Got it. I’ll make it a trend within the group first, then make it go viral.

Yotsuba Tamaki: You better credit me when it goes viral.

Kujo Tenn: Smart move.

Rokuya Nagi: Please make my fragrance a trend after that.

Isumi Haruka: Impossible, it sounds too expensive!

Rokuya Nagi: No, no. It's reasonably priced.

Kujo Tenn: I don't think it's all that out of reach. It's a collaboration perfume with Kokona-chan.

Yotsuba Tamaki: How do you know that, Tenntenn!?

Kujo Tenn: Just a little bit of knowledge.

Rokuya Nagi: Welcome to my world.

Isumi Haruka: Somehow we seem to be getting along mysteriously well?! aren't we!

Kujo Tenn: That's a fitting response. Actually, we received a question from the staff.

Kujo Tenn: "Do you guys get along well?"

Isumi Haruka: Perfect timing!

Yotsuba Tamaki: We do!

Rokuya Nagi: We're friends!

Kujo Tenn: We're get along well. Let's continue with the "Ask This and That!?" shuffle talk.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yes! Then, let's ask other questions!

Kujo Tenn: Yes.

Rokuya Nagi: Yay!

Isumi Haruka: Yeah.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh! I’m your MC, Yotsuba Tamaki!

Isumi Haruka: What are you laughing at. Can you even do it properly?

Yotsuba Tamaki: I can! Everyone! Cheer me on!

Rokuya Nagi: Tamaki, fight!

Kujo Tenn: Do your best!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Alright! So who's up first? Isumin?

Isumi Haruka: Huh!? You’re the one who chooses!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: I'm the MC so I'm the king, right!?

Isumi Haruka: That’s not how it works!?

Kujo Tenn: A dangerous person is taking the initiative.

Yotsuba Tamaki: You don’t get it! Maybe that person’s nervous! What should I do, Nagi!?

Rokuya Nagi: Relax, it's okay. Just face that camera and give us some fan service.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Huh!? Fan service!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yay!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Wink!

Rokuya Nagi: Wow! So cool!

Yotsuba Tamaki: I calmed down for some reason...

Isumi Haruka: Doing fan service calms you down.

Kujo Tenn: As expected of an idol. That was splendid.

Rokuya Nagi: Isumi-shi, did a question come to your mind right now?

Isumi Haruka: Um, n... not yet!?

Rokuya Nagi: Well then, may I ask a question?

Kujo Tenn: Oh, clever.

Isumi Haruka: You’re so kind!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Nagicchi, you're so mature!!

Rokuya Nagi: Fufufu. Yes. Mitsuki gave me a secret mission yesterday.

Yotsuba Tamaki: What's that!? Did Mikki say something to you?

Rokuya Nagi: Yes.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Try saying it Mikki-style!

Rokuya Nagi: OK.

Rokuya Nagi: Listen, Nagi.

Kujo Tenn: Are unreasonable requests the norm in Ainana?

Isumi Haruka: Scary...

Rokuya Nagi: You guys are the only shuffle units that consists of only teenagers.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh, he’s right!

Isumi Haruka: Seriously! Kujo-san, did you notice?!

Kujo Tenn: I sure did.

Rokuya Nagi: You’re the oldest in that group of teenagers, so you gotta be the best brother.

Rokuya Nagi: You gotta protect everyone and be a good leader!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Leader! Nagicchi, you're the leader!? So that's why you supported me!

Rokuya Nagi: Yes! As long as everyone is okay with it, I'll be the leader of this unit!

Yotsuba Tamaki: That's totally fine right?!

Isumi Haruka: Yeah! Izumi's brother is so kind too!

Kujo Tenn: Yes, that's right. We’ll be in your care, Rokuya-san.

Rokuya Nagi: Thanks!

Rokuya Nagi: So if I'm the leader, then I'm practically a king...

Isumi Haruka: Hm!? I heard that line somewhere before!?

Kujo Tenn: You're also a dangerous person.

Yotsuba Tamaki: I know this one! You usurped me!!

Rokuya Nagi: Alright! Let's do it! Please answer this upcoming question!

Rokuya Nagi: Which idol, other than the members of your own group, would respond to your rabbit chat right away?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Other than our own group... You mean other than the members of this unit, right? Not IDOLiSH7?

Isumi Haruka: So, other than… the members of ŹOOḼ!?

Kujo Tenn: You mean someone from another idol group than TRIGGER?

Rokuya Nagi: Yes.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Sounds interesting! I wonder who would respond immediately!?

Isumi Haruka: Huh? You mean we’re gonna text someone right here and now!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yes yes! Other than members of our own groups!

Isumi Haruka: Huhhh...?

Kujo Tenn: ...

Yotsuba Tamaki: What’s up with you two, why so serious? I’m sure there's at least one guy who’d respond, right?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Especially Tenntenn, he's a guaranteed winner, right!? Anyone would be happy to get a rabbichat from you!

Kujo Tenn: Too risky. It's dangerous precisely because they'd be happy. ...But well, understood.

Isumi Haruka: Understood means you figured it out? Huh!? Who?

Kujo Tenn: It's a secret. Have you decided?

Isumi Haruka: Have I...

Isumi Haruka: There's only one person, do you think they’d respond..?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Huh? Why are you asking me? Oh...! Ah…

Isumi Haruka: Yotsuba, did you want to text them?

Yotsuba Tamaki: No, they're from my group. It's fine, I'll give it to Isumin.

Isumi Haruka: Okay, then I'll take this one.

Yotsuba Tamaki: "Take this one", that’s hilarious. They’re probably gonna reply now.

Isumi Haruka: Awesome!

Rokuya Nagi: Oh... It's a private conversation...

Kujo Tenn: I think I know who Isumi-san is referring to.

Yotsuba Tamaki: What should I do... Oh, Tenntenn.

Kujo Tenn: What?

Yotsuba Tamaki: ...Is the big guy working right now?

Kujo Tenn: .........The big guy is working right now.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh, too bad!

Isumi Haruka: I get why you’re talking like that but... who could it be...?

Rokuya Nagi: The big guy might be available. He mentioned that the shoot was interrupted due to rain earlier.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Huh? How do you know?

Rokuya Nagi: He just sent me a photo a moment ago. It's a late-blooming cherry blossom.

Isumi Haruka: Cherry blossoms...

Kujo Tenn: Ah... Thank you very much for your help that day.

Rokuya Nagi: Likewise. I was able to witness your wonderful stage.

Rokuya Nagi: It’s a memory I will cherish forever. Thank you very much.

Kujo Tenn: It's an honor. I'm genuinely happy from the bottom of my heart.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Isumin, you probably don't know. Nagi helped a lot with the "Zero" musical.

Rokuya Nagi: I didn't do anything. We just talked about memories.

Rokuya Nagi: The big guy turned those memories into a magnificent performance and created an unprecedented piece of art.

Kujo Tenn: I’m glad to hear that... I’m sure Ryuu will be delighted to hear that too.

Yotsuba Tamaki: You just said his name.

Kujo Tenn: Ah, sorry.

Yotsuba Tamaki: It was so obvious. Well then, should I try sending a rabbichat to the big guy since we might get an answer?

Isumi Haruka: Doesn't that ruin the surprise? You should go for someone else.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Nah, the person Isumin’s targeting ain’t really a surprise anymore, right?

Kujo Tenn: I don’t think you’d be able to guess who I’m choosing.

Yotsuba Tamaki: It’s definitely the first person.

Isumi Haruka: Who did you choose? Isn't it that person?

Rokuya Nagi: If it's that person, I think they'll respond right away.

Kujo Tenn: I think they’re quite different from who you all are imagining.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Huh!? Who!?

Rokuya Nagi: OH! The person I’m imagining is definitely waiting for a chat from Kujo-shi!

Kujo Tenn: Sorry, but there are plenty of people waiting for a rabbichat from me.

Yotsuba Tamaki: There it is! The little devil!

Kujo Tenn: Can I send it now?

Rokuya Nagi: Please go ahead.

Isumi Haruka: Who is it!?

Kujo Tenn: I wonder if they’ll respond... Oh, they've already seen it.

Kujo Tenn: They responded quickly! Oh, they also sent a photo.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Who? Who is it?

Kujo Tenn: Momo-san.

Rokuya Nagi & Isumi Haruka: Oh!

Kujo Tenn: "Good luck with the recording!" he said. He sent a selfie with Yuki-san.

Rokuya Nagi: OH! It's a tulip field!

Isumi Haruka: What are they doing? They're holding a big picnic basket and a shovel.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Are they on location or something?

Kujo Tenn: He says it’s their day off today.

Isumi Haruka: What the hell are Re:vale doing...

Yotsuba Tamaki: He sent more messages! Read them all.

Kujo Tenn: Do we really need to?

Yotsuba Tamaki: You better read them! Momorin sent them to you!

Kujo Tenn: …

Kujo Tenn: "Tenn-chan really wuvs me lots mwah mwah, I’m with darling right now but I will give you my wuv too!"

Rokuya Nagi: In other words, the direct translation is "You seem to like me, but since I'm with my most beloved right now, I'll share some of my love with you."

Kujo Tenn: Am I being rejected?

Yotsuba Tamaki: That's hilarious!

Kujo Tenn: But thank you for your reply, Re:vale-san.

Yotsuba Tamaki: It's a shame Re:vale’s not in this unit. I’m happy we could mingle!

Isumi Haruka: Aren’t you being too casual with your seniors!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: It’s fine!

Kujo Tenn: Who's going next?

Isumi Haruka: Oh! I'll go.

Isumi Haruka: Please… Please respond...

Isumi Haruka: …

Kujo Tenn & Yotsuba Tamaki & Rokuya Nagi: ..........

Isumi Haruka: Huh, there’s still no read receipt...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Damn it! Nagicchi, isn't our number one person free right now?

Rokuya Nagi: Our number one person is at school today.

Yotsuba Tamaki: But isn't it lunchtime?

Isumi Haruka: Maybe they're busy…?

Kujo Tenn: What should we do? Wait for a response?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Hmm... Is there no one else, Isumin?

Isumi Haruka: Huh!? They're not here! Can I not text ŹOOḼ!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Nope.

Isumi Haruka: I don't have any other friends Besides ŹOOḼ...

Kujo Tenn: If I were in a different unit I would have responded right away.

Isumi Haruka: Huh!? That's... Stop teasing me, you little devil! Don't say things that'll get my hopes up!!

Kujo Tenn: But it's true?

Isumi Haruka: Huuhh!? You're embarrassing me…! Wait, don't take a picture.

Kujo Tenn: Hehe...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Good for you, Isumin.

Rokuya Nagi: That’s a page of youth.

Isumi Haruka: What should I do, though...do we wait for Izumi’s reply? Ah. I said his name.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Then you can use my partner!

Isumi Haruka: Th-the one that starts with "O"!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yup. The three of us talked in a group chat before. They'll respond right away now.

Isumi Haruka: Wait, hold on. I'm nervous... What should I say...

Rokuya Nagi: Why don’t you send a sticker?

Isumi Haruka: A sticker!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Remember the dinosaur one? The one where the dinosaur breaks the door. That one's good.

Isumi Haruka: Why!? That’s so rude outta nowhere!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Maybe they'll feel a connection.

Rokuya Nagi: The gaogao dinosaur is so cute! I like T-kun too.

Isumi Haruka: Oh... Thanks. I kinda... like T-kun too.

Rokuya Nagi: Yay! He’s one of us.

Isumi Haruka: This person looks flashy, but they're nice... Alright, I'll send this sticker.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Go for it!

Kujo Tenn: Will it show as read?

Isumi Haruka: It did!

Yotsuba Tamaki: What did they say? what did Sou-chan say?

Isumi Haruka: Um…

Isumi Haruka:  "Thank you for your help. What a cheerful dinosaur. If this was sent by mistake, no need to reply."

Kujo Tenn: He’s so serious.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ahahaha! Sou-chan, that's hilarious.

Isumi Haruka: It sure is...

Yotsuba Tamaki: So?

Isumi Haruka: S-So what?

Yotsuba Tamaki: What did you think?

Isumi Haruka: He kinda…He  used a lot of polite language and seemed very kind...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ah, yeah, that's true. I'll tell him that you called him kind.

Kujo Tenn: No, this is being recorded.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh, right. Everything’s being filmed! Man, now I'm kinda embarrassed!

Rokuya Nagi: There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Just give that camera some fan service.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yay! No need to reply!

Kujo Tenn: Should you really be saying that line with that smug look on your face?

Isumi Haruka: Haa... Anyways, I’m clear for now. Hm? This isn’t a mission, is it?

Rokuya Nagi: Yes! It’s nothing more than simple question.

Kujo Tenn: Last but not least, Yotsuba. Who are you sending the rabbichat to?

Yotsuba Tamaki: The big guy from TRIGGER. Everyone, gather around a bit.

Rokuya Nagi: Are you sending a photo?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yup. Look at the screen.

Kujo Tenn: A rare group photo.

Isumi Haruka: Oh... I kinda want this photo too...

Yotsuba Tamaki: I’ll send it to you. Alrighty, let's do this on the count of three...

Rokuya Nagi: Yay! Click.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Nice! One more time. Click.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Thanks. I'll send it now!

Isumi Haruka: Let me see. How is it?

Kujo Tenn: It's a nice photo, isn't it?

Isumi Haruka: Amazing! Great photo! It really feels like we're friends!

Rokuya Nagi: I'm happy! Another precious photo to add to the collection!

Kujo Tenn: I wonder if Ryuu saw it?

Yotsuba Tamaki: He saw it and... Oh, he already replied!

Yotsuba Tamaki: "Thanks for the photo. Your shoot seems to be going well. I'm having lunch right now."

Yotsuba Tamaki: ...And he sent a photo of his lunch!

Rokuya Nagi: OH... Why didn't he just send a selfie?

Isumi Haruka: Looks delicious! I like this pink furikake-like sweet thing! (1)

Kujo Tenn: It's sakuradafu, isn't it? (2)

Isumi Haruka: Cherry blossoms?

Kujo Tenn: No, it's supposed to be fish paste.

Isumi Haruka: Fish!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: I’m glad we got a reply! I'll thank Ryuu-aniki for the photo!

Kujo Tenn: Okay.

Isumi Haruka: Are we finally done with the first question?

Rokuya Nagi: Sorry. I made it a difficult question.

Isumi Haruka: It's okay, it was fun! So, can I ask the next question? I think it'll be quick!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Sure.

Kujo Tenn: Go ahead.

Isumi Haruka: Um, so, how do you guys feel about your managers?

Kujo Tenn: Our manager? I've known them for a long time, they're someone I can trust.

Isumi Haruka: Like a family member?

Kujo Tenn: It’s a bit different than that. I consider them one of the most important members of TRIGGER who’s not visible to the public.

Kujo Tenn: It’s most likely the same for Gaku and Ryuu?

Isumi Haruka: Ha...that’s great.

Isumi Haruka: What about you guys, Yotsuba?

Yotsuba Tamaki: We get along really well. They're super nice, super funny, and super cool. 

Isumi Haruka: I get it, MEZZO”’s manager is so cool.

Rokuya Nagi: IDOLiSH7’s manager is also very kind and very sincere. They always listen to me.

Isumi Haruka: They always listen to you huh, do you talk to them about stuff other than work?

Rokuya Nagi: Sometimes we ask them for advice, but we also chat like friends.

Isumi Haruka: I see...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Why this question?

Isumi Haruka: It's just... You know, ŹOOḼ has a manager.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Duh.

Isumi Haruka: And, in this project, the four members of ŹOOḼ were shuffled into four different units, right?

Isumi Haruka: And each of us went to record songs and shoot music videos for those units.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yepyep.

Isumi Haruka: So... I wish I didn’t, but I ended up asking which song they liked the most?

Rokuya Nagi: What was the response?

Isumi Haruka: "Good Good Games."

Kujo Tenn＆Yotsuba Tamaki＆Rokuya Nagi: Oh...

Isumi Haruka: “Oh” right!? It's like, you know! The manager’s face changed to worry as soon as he replied...!

Yotsuba Tamaki: That's not cool...

Isumi Haruka: Right!? It feels like they're not mine anymore, you know!?

Rokuya Nagi: I sense some jealousy here.

Isumi Haruka: Touma was happy then suddenly felt a bit uneasy. Minami, Torao and I just acted like nothing happened.

Isumi Haruka: Well, it's my fault for asking!

Kujo Tenn: Personal preferences are personal preferences, so it's okay. It's different from who they value the most.

Kujo Tenn: I understand why you'd feel complicated.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Does it happen with TRIGGER?

Kujo Tenn: We've been together for a long time, so we understand our manager's preferences.

Kujo Tenn: But we still feel a drive to compete with each other, as if we want to be chosen by them.

Isumi Haruka: Why are you not shaken up? I get upset and depressed easily…

Yotsuba Tamaki: No, I get why you feel that way. I’d be depressed if my manager told me Sou-chan was better.

Rokuya Nagi: I also want my manager to praise me first...

Kujo Tenn: Isn't that fine? That just means you have a good relationship.

Isumi Haruka: Are you sure!? Aren't you internally sighing at how childish we are!?

Kujo Tenn: It's fine, right? We're all kids.

Yotsuba Tamaki: What's up, Tenntenn!? Aren't you being a bit lenient!? Is it because the camera's still rolling!

Isumi Haruka: Ah, the camera...

Kujo Tenn: Come on.

Isumi Haruka: ...Um. Kujo…san…Remember when, uh... you said, uh...

Kujo Tenn: Yes?

Isumi Haruka: You said you don't do idol work to be praised, you do it for yourself.

Kujo Tenn: That's right.

Yotsuba Tamaki: What's with that!? That's so cool...

Isumi Haruka: Since then, I've started to, um... worry about... whether I'm doing it to be praised.

Kujo Tenn: That's admirable.

Isumi Haruka: Again... You're really...

Kujo Tenn: I mean it honestly. I think you're admirable.

Isumi Haruka: ...Because, you know, if you're doing it to be praised, then when something happens, you end up blaming the other person.

Isumi Haruka: You end up saying "I told you to do it", or “I didn’t wanna do it”, or “It’s all your fault”.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ah, I get it.

Rokuya Nagi: That's very important.

Isumi Haruka: Right. That's why it doesn’t matter to me. I'll sing my songs for myself with everyone here.

Isumi Haruka: It doesn't matter if I'm not chosen by my manager or the world as the best.

Kujo Tenn: Let's aim for the top.

Isumi Haruka: Huhhh!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Hell yeah! I wanna be the most popular in the unit!

Rokuya Nagi: I want to be popular too! "Never Green" is a wonderful song!

Isumi Haruka: Ah... When you say it like that, I want to be popular too.

Isumi Haruka: Yeah, I want to be the most popular after all! But Kujo-san is so far ahead...

Kujo Tenn: What are you talking about? Aiming for the top is the best feeling. 

Kujo Tenn: As long as you don’t hurt yourself or the others if you don’t reach it.

Isumi Haruka: Yeah…

Kujo Tenn: I wanna be popular too.

Isumi Haruka: Ahaha! That line doesn’t suit you.

Kujo Tenn: Why not? I want to be properly popular. Let's make the best performance with this song. One that makes all the other members jealous.

Rokuya Nagi: That's wonderful! Let's make them jealous! The idea makes my heart dance!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Exciting! Let's win over the adults as the children’s group!

GREEN BUBBLE: Yeahh!!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh... We got so excited as if we reached the climax but we still have some questions left.

Rokuya Nagi: We got into quite a deep topic. Let's keep it light. Who’s next?

Kujo Tenn: Okay.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yeah. Can I go next?

Kujo Tenn: Go ahead.

Yotsuba Tamaki: In relation to our song "Never Green," what's your favorite vegetable?

Kujo Tenn: Vegetable!?

Yotsuba Tamaki: I'm not really into veggies. But Sou-chan and Mikki said I should eat them.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Give me some recommendations! If you can't eat vegetables, plants are okay too!

Rokuya Nagi: Corn! It's sweet, has a nice texture, fresh, and it's really tasty.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Corn is so good! It's my favorite vegetable too!

Kujo Tenn: I’ve been into beets lately.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Beets?

Kujo Tenn: It's a pink vegetable. It's delicious even when made into jam.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Isn’t it a fruit if you can make jam out of it?

Kujo Tenn: I think it's a vegetable. It looks like turnip.

Yotsuba Tamaki: I see. How about you, Isumin?

Isumi Haruka: I like all vegetables, but I’ve noticed that I quite enjoy mint lately.

Yotsuba Tamaki: You've been eating mint ice cream for a while now.

Isumi Haruka: All ice cream tastes good, you know! Sometimes I put fresh leaves in and make tea out of it.

Rokuya Nagi: OH! Fresh herb tea is delicious!

Yotsuba Tamaki: How classy!

Isumi Haruka: Yeah! It looks beautiful. Minami made it for me.

Isumi Haruka: He's been growing them at home lately. He’s growing herbs in small planters…

Yotsuba Tamaki: Hm? Don’t we have a ton of these at home too?

Kujo Tenn: We have a lot of them as well. Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme...

Rokuya Nagi: It’s a Dokidoki Cultivation kit from some "Magical★Kokona" blind goods. I bought them in bulk and distributed them.

Kujo Tenn: Really!?

Rokuya Nagi: It seems that Natsume-shi's cultivation kit landed on mint. I'm glad Isumi-shi liked it.

Isumi Haruka: Ah... Y-Yeah... Thank you...

Isumi Haruka: It's really taking over the pot.

Kujo Tenn: Mint is fertile and reproduces quickly. Oh, wait a minute...

Kujo Tenn: I think Re:vale went to plant their herbs then?

Rokuya Nagi: OH!

Kujo Tenn: I was negotiating with Yuki-san to offer him the rosemary Gaku harvested the other day.

Kujo Tenn: But even Yuki-san’s family home ended up troubled with a large harvest of herbs.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Did they rent a field or something?

Rokuya Nagi: I think they’ll land in trouble if they plant these on the ground…

Isumi Haruka: We should let them know...

Rokuya Nagi: Let's contact them later. Well then, last one! Kujo-shi!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Huh!? Isn't it my turn to MC!?

Isumi Haruka: It's fine, anyone can do it.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Are you sure!? Okay then.

Kujo Tenn: Yes. Well then, I'd like to ask a question.

Kujo Tenn: It's also related to this song.

Kujo Tenn: “Never Green” is about someone who has had bitter experiences in their past, looking back and affirming who they are now.

Kujo Tenn: I think it’s that kind of song.

Rokuya Nagi: Yes, it is. It evokes the feeling of euphoria after going through and overcoming something.

Kujo Tenn: That's right. I think everyone here has overcome or endured something.

Kujo Tenn: If you were to meet your past self, what would you tell them?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ah...

Yotsuba Tamaki: It will be alright. You’re gonna go through tough times, but they all lead to being okay.

Rokuya Nagi: It's okay. I have a similar sentiment. What's different from Tamaki is...

Rokuya Nagi: You don’t have to hate, and you don’t have to be wary. It’s okay.

Rokuya Nagi: Everyone you meet will become someone you love.

Isumi Haruka: Wow... Somehow... Yeah, I get it...

Kujo Tenn: And what about you, Isumi-san?

Isumi Haruka: I still can't... I can't seem to find kind words to tell myself. I feel like I'd say something like "You idiot" or "It's your fault"...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ah...

Kujo Tenn: And aside from those accusatory words?

Isumi Haruka: ...Aside from them...

Kujo Tenn: Yeah. I think it's good to say something nice to yourself.

Isumi Haruka: Mm...

Isumi Haruka: ...Hang in there, I guess. Just a little more, so hang in there.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yeah. I want you to overcome this. I want to go pick you up myself.

Yotsuba Tamaki: We're all here for you.

Isumi Haruka: Stop it! You're trying to make me cry...!

Yotsuba Tamaki: I'm not! Are you gonna cry?

Isumi Haruka: I'm not gonna cry!

Kujo Tenn: Thank you for your answers, everyone. Each answer really touched my heart.

Isumi Haruka: Thank you.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Thanks a bunch.

Rokuya Nagi: I had a great time! Tamaki, will you wrap this up?

Yotsuba Tamaki: I’ll leave it to you.

Kujo Tenn: He’ll leave it to you.

Isumi Haruka: He's so carefree...

Rokuya Nagi: "8th Anniversary! Four Thanks Project"!

Rokuya Nagi: Celebrating the formation of our limited-time unit! This concludes the "Ask this and that!?" segment, "GREEN BUBBLE" version!

GREEN BUBBLE: Please drink! "GREEN BUBBLE"!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah…!

Kujo Tenn: Good evening! Welcome to"GREEN BUBBLE"’s live! I'm "GREEN BUBBLE"’s Kujo Tenn!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah…!

Yotsuba Tamaki: I'm "GREEN BUBBLE"’s Yotsuba Tamaki! Everyone! Let's get insanely pumped up during our live!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah…!

Rokuya Nagi: I'm "GREEN BUBBLE"’s Rokuya Nagi! We may be the youngest, but we'll make your hearts race the most...!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah..!

Isumi Haruka: We need more voices!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah…!

Isumi Haruka: Crave us more! Drink us up...!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah…!!

Isumi Haruka: I'm "GREEN BUBBLE"’s Isumi Haruka!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah…!!

Kujo Tenn: Here we go! "8th Anniversary! Four Thanks Project"!

Yotsuba Tamaki: To the 1,000 lucky winners!

Rokuya Nagi: The "Miracle Limited-Time 4 Unit Thanks Live"!

Isumi Haruka: Let's do this...!

Audience: Kyaaaaaaah…!

Kujo Tenn: Listen to us. This is our unit song, which is also the commercial song for "GREEN BUBBLE"!

Kujo Tenn: Ready...!

GREEN BUBBLE: "Never Green"!

The end.

Furikake: Rice seasoning.

Sakuradafu: Fish that has been finely shredded, seasoned and colored pink. Haruka thinks it’s cherry blossoms because of its name containing “Sakura (cherry blossoms)”

[atthebell]

i think one thing that's always been interesting to me is that people really believe/take for granted that the federation's goal is the islanders' happiness, when we really don't have any way of knowing if that's the truth. cucurucho says it a lot, claiming to care about islanders' happiness above all else, and it's been scattered throughout some federation lore (as well as being hinted at with the reset cinematics), but that doesn't mean it's actually true-- it could still be a smokescreen of what they really want. which, imo, is not happiness.

if it's all one big experiment, supposedly one of many, the idea that this one is the one that involves seeing what happens when islanders are happy is not a provable thing still, nor is it clear what that actually means to the federation. does happiness mean the islanders are content to remain on the island? does happiness mean building relationships and connecting with others? does happiness mean self-fulfillment (something deeply immeasurable)? it's not clear what it means to the federation, nor if that is their true goal. it could be that that has nothing to do with their goal, and is a complete misdirect. it could be that cucurucho's prime directive is the islanders' happiness (not that it's very good at that), but that's meant as a tactic to stymie islander curiosity/resistance. it could be any number of things.

and i think viewing it from a more meta lens of "we cannot tell what is or is not the truth; not only are all character povs biased but so is the larger narrative presented to us." i think comparing this framework to something like the good place is helpful, in that when you assume that what you're presented with is the truth and don't look at the setting critically, you will miss the fact that things presented to you as fact by any kind of source (including the framework of the medium itself or the established setting) are suspect and should be examined further.

i can even put it in a smaller way; there are ways within a limited character pov to present things as directly happening when they are not, and these are ways that mcrp creators have utilized. playing out an event that did not actually happen, canonical hallucinations, dream sequences that are not explained as such, physical representations of metaphorical experiences, etc. etc. are ALL things that mcrp creators of done. tricking your audience is an incredibly interesting and at times vital part of mcrp. so if just one creator within their own pov can do it, why can't the whole narrative? why can't you be convinced you're in a different genre, why can't you be convinced that the physical location your characters are placed in is someplace that isn't?

all this to say, i think a major issue in terms of analyzing media like this is allowing yourself to go along with assumptions without thinking about why you're falling so easily into them as truth. making all of your lore assumptions based off the notion that it is objective fact that the federation cares about and has the goal of islanders' happiness means you are going to miss details and fixate on others without looking at the full scope of possibilities. which i think was a serious issue during the height of investigation/mystery stuff-- people fell into the trap of "i KNOW this to be true" without considering the man behind the curtain. sure, cellbit found documents indicating that the federation was founded on isla quesadilla-- considering who sent him on the trail of said documents, who's to say that that's the truth?

i think bagi is a particularly interesting investigator when it comes to this kind of thing-- she's VERY good at holding onto a lot of different possibilites in her mind, even going so far as to act on a lot of them at once, and that means she doesn't take anything for granted. having all of the data in front of you, without attempting to skew it to a theory you already have in mind (which i admit is very difficult to do! humans are biased and are geared towards pattern recognition), is an important skill when it comes to any kind of data analysis or investigation.

anyway idk where i was going with this i just started thinking about like. what is involved in good theorizing and how focusing on something you believe to be fact can lead you in the wrong direction, and i think the idea of the islander's happiness as the federation's main goal is one of those very fraught assumptions people get caught up in.

[some-pers0n]

Back on my Peril ramblings again guys

Peril is a character with a lot of polarizing opinions. You've got some people who love her to death, while others who, well, don't. The people who dislike her will go about how she's obsessive. Too clingy and relies far too much on Clay. That or go on about how she's just rude, mean, dangerous, and overall kind of a bad person. I...couldn't disagree more if I'll be blunt.

For starters, Peril is in a difficult situation. She was molded and shaped by her childhood. What she is now is a product of being raised as a living weapon. She was seen as being dangerous and a blight on dragon society. A hazard that, at any moment, could kill somebody. She is danger. She is peril.

Scarlet took hold of that. Scarlet manipulated this tiny dragonet that she stole away from her mother and raised her, feeding her lies in order to keep her docile and dependent. She was never alone. Never to act on her own accord. Anything she did was first of all approved by Scarlet, somebody she trusted and loved in a way. All Peril ever knew was hate and fear, so a dragon showing her any other emotions felt like love.

Peril is...unstable to say the very least. Like I just said, she's got a warped sense of relationships due to her upbringing. She has literally nobody outside the walls of the SkyWing palace. She clings to those she deems as friends and loved ones as she knows nothing else. She craves that feeling of love and especially touch. She has never known the love of a mother's hug. She has never felt the wings of a friend comforting her in a time of crisis. She only wants to be held and loved, but she cannot. She was born wrong. She is unlovable in her eyes. That's what everyone tells her at least.

It's when Clay comes along that things change. For once, she's seeing a dragon who, while still kinda scared of her...is respectful. He holds conversations with her. He's nice, friendly, and when she hears that he tried killing his troop, she immediately relates. It's one of those things that I feel Sick about, where in Clay and Peril both are deemed to be monsters since the moment they hatched when in reality they weren't at fault for anything. Clay and Peril are so good when you actually treat them like characters.

The point is that Peril sees herself in Clay. For the first time ever, she finds a dragon like her. A dragon that at the very least tolerates her. After years of abuse and being shunned and seen as nothing more than a monster, it's basically like Clay is giving her a boquete of roses and confessing his undying love.

She becomes obsessed, even more so when she's eventually free from Scarlet, but that comes later. She holds him to such high regards and views him as a dragon she wants to be around. She's easily jealous when other dragons talk to him. She's protective and constantly wants to be near him. She adores him.

Yada yada, the whole fight scene happens between her and Clay. Scarlet notices that Peril is rather fond of Clay and is using her emotions to manipulate her further. Again, Scarlet is extremely manipulative of Peril. She's the one who molded her into this. She's the one who was responsible for this. She's the one who made Peril feel as though all she could ever be in life was a murder machine, and that Scarlet was doing her a favour by letting that be her existence as opposed to killing her. Scarlet made Peril dependent on her.

So when she's gone...Peril feels lost. She feels like she's the blame for one of the very, very few dragons in her life that at least cared about her being gone. Now she's alone and seen once again as a creep. A weirdo. She doesn't belong here, not in the Sky Kingdom. Osprey is dead (another example of Scarlet toying with Peril's emotions cause the one time she acts out she has to suffer for it) and she's just tossed into the world without warning.

She in turn seeks out Scarlet, eventually finding her. Despite all of the abuse and suffering that Scarlet has put her through, she has nobody else. Scarlet's twisted and distorted love is the only thing she knows. She feels guilty for everything that happened to her.

I think it's easy for people to not really understand Peril if they don't really get her situation. What I lay it out, it sounds pretty easy to understand. Peril is a deeply traumatized and abused character who is shaped by her trauma and struggles to exist in this world as she only knows to kill. She's trying to unlearn all of this. She wants to be better. She's trying to be better.

That's what Escaping Peril is all about: Peril's recovery.

Escaping Peril is the conclusion to Peril's arc, with her coming to grips and terms with her trauma and by the end realizing that she is her own person. Over the course of the book, she struggles a lot. She goes back and forth on her feelings with Scarlet, conflicted on whether she loves her or wants to kill her. Perhaps both at the same time. It's messy and she feels lost and hopeless.

The only real thing that seems to be a beacon of light in her life is Clay, whom is basically not even in this book. Clay is her moral compass here. Anything she does has to be something she believes Clay would approve of. She's doing the exact same thing that she's done for years with Scarlet because, yet again, it's literally the only thing she knows. She is a deeply hurt character who struggles with the whole morality thing because ever since she was a dragonet she's been a child solider. She's trying to unlearn it all.

Which is helped significantly with her friends, namely Turtle. She isn't alone. She has a group of dragons who care for her and like her the way she is. Again, the themes of friendship and togetherness is a very strong one in this arc. The Jade Winglet learn how to be themselves and how they don't need to pretend to be somebody they aren't with a group of dragons who love them for who they are.

Peril...learns. She learns. She grows. I cannot emphasize this enough since some of you guys still don't get that part. Her character shifts and changes and develops over the course of this book. She learns that she doesn't need to depend on somebody for her own actions. Hell, by the end of the book, she burns the scroll of her own volition, knowing fully well that Clay would've hated that. She's acting of her own accord. She learns that she's not a monster and doesn't need to have her flamescales be repressed to be liked.

She's a deeply traumatized character who is trying to get better. She has been getting better, and she will only get better with time. She's happy now. She's happy with her friends and loved ones. Everything will be okay.

[shiki-jin]

YOUR CELESTIAL MAJESTY • SAGAU

(part 0 here)

was listening to TruE on loop while writing the last part of this, it's genuinely such a good song ugwvdya

also can you spot the contradiction ;D it's plot relevant i promise

not proofread, dont bully me ill write a thesis on why youre a meanie

—

you had long deleted genshin, since you had other things to do. you had wanted to go back to the game for a while now, now that you were less busy, but there was just one little problem.

it was now taking up nearly triple the amount of space that it was when you uninstalled it. around 300 whole gigabytes.

jesus christ, what phone can even handle this???

your phone, apparently. because as you opened the game to see if maybe a miracle would happen and that if maybe they would just, like, remove half of the things in the game, it just… kinda loaded?

no installing new files, no checking for anything, no nothing…. just an immediate pan to the gates of celestia.

you decided to check if it was the right genshin since this was just way too weird, but countering your judgement, every link you found led you to the same game, leading you to believe it not to be a bootleg or an illegal version.

guess i’ll trust it then.

you clicked on the gates which opened smoothly, and your screen turned white. then, the symbols of the seven elements appeared in gray.

and then the game just… opened. no loading time, once again. no getting stuck on the geo symbol, nothing. nada. just a smooth entrance into what you had to assume to be teyvat — but your surroundings didn't really support that claim.

the grass was brown and just looked off, the sky was gray. a darker shade than, say, mond’s walls, but it was like one of those game crashes.

well, except you could still move around.

you moved your current character around (the traveller? since when were they the only one in your team?) and decided to open the map after not figuring out where you could possibly be.

hold on, this is springvale? since when?

eveything looked dead, like it had been rotting for a century. you tried to ignore it though, and teleported to the inside of mondstadt. surely this was just some glitch, right? one that would fix itself if you teleported?

maybe the world loaded incorrectly, maybe the fact that nothing took time to load meant that it couldn't load, maybe this or that, maybe…

maybe this really was how the game looked normally. you hadn't done any quests though, so you wondered if it could be restored.

you took a screenshot of the your surroundings — the stone, worn down and dirty. the houses which looked to be in a horrible state, and… the npcs, all sickly and pale, like they were starving.

you went to reddit (yes, reddit), and posted the screenshot, asking if it was normal.

you closed the game and decided to take a nap, too tired to really deal with this shit any further.

while you slumbered, people replied to your post.

╰┈➤ lol me too anon, me too

╰┈➤ isn't the game closed or wtv? how'd you get this wtf

╰┈➤ they're trolling

╰┈➤ o makes sense oops

╰┈➤ So we’re all still mourning huh

╰┈➤ jokes aside that's a super impressive edit ngl

you remained unaware of the truth, but you'd find out soon enough.

actually, you'd find out now, apparently…

what the fuck?? why is my bed so hard now?

you groaned and forced your eyes open, seeing a dark, nearly black sky.

the only light was a single star, lingering right above you.

“since when was i outside...?"

a voice spoke to you, answering your question.

“you always have been, have you not? but would you like to head inside, my lord?”

... huh? i recognize that voice...

—

p.s. place your bets on who it is, i’m thinking of one specific character but if there's a fan fav i'll make it them instead since i haven't written anything beyond this point (⁠・⁠_⁠・⁠;⁠)

p.s.s. don't expect updates to this series too quickly, i wish i could write as quick as i think of ideas but sadly that's not the case orz

[pr-incey]

For a while—after being exposed to the antiship movement, because goodness knows I didn't care about this when I was younger—I wondered *why* fiction and reality were so different in my head. Why I could happily see things depicted in fiction that would make me sick to my stomach or upset me to tears just from thinking of it happening in real life. I couldn't come up with a reason for this for a while, which caused me distressed and made me worried that I might secretly be a terrible person after all.

But I've done some thinking and I've figured it out. Or, rather, I've returned to the mindset that came so easy to me in the past and probably did to a lot of people before the well was poisoned.

When I see a fictional character, I don't see a person. I don't see a person like *me*, anyway. I see a person within that piece of fiction's universe; a plane of existence that is wholly different from my own. Lines and colour, words on a page, virtual drawings being played sequentially at a speed that simulates movement. Sure, the written passage, 'He had eyes, ears and a mouth' is a representation of what *I* am, and what other people around me are, but it is fundamentally a plane of existence that is *alien* to me.

An alien is something that is decidedly not human. I feel empathy for other humans because I can relate to them. I have no desire to hurt them because I either know what it is like to be hurt in that way, or I can imagine what it would be like. I know the harm it would do to them, which illicits a reaction of disgust and apprehension in me. 'That's terrible,' I think, which simply kills any desire to cause any harm to a real person or do any disgusting actions.

This is why predators are such terrible people. They are fully aware of the harm their actions will cause and then go ahead with them anyway.

But with a fictional character, it's different in these ways:

1. First of all, we have to remember that they AREN'T human and so whatever I feel towards them cannot accurately mirror whatever I feel towards real flesh and blood individuals. They're projections of humanity from OTHER people in whatever medium they choose, but fictional characters are—and I cannot stress this enough—NOT HUMAN. If I pull off the head of a Barbie doll, does that mean I have the desire to behead someone in real life? Does it mean that I MUST have the urge to behead someone in real life, because a barbie doll is a 'representation' of a person? Your answer, I'm hoping, is no. Because Barbie is not human.

2. And because fictional characters are not human, I don't have empathy for them. Not REAL empathy, anyway, the type that stops the desire to cause harm. When I 'violate' a fictional character, it illicits at most only superficial disgust because I know that character will not live with the lasting consequences of my actions. They're a projection, a facsimile.

So that might bring you to another question, 'Even if they're not real, why would you WANT to do that to them, anyway?'

That I can't answer. The human brain is weird. Sometimes, people have dark urges. If a kid tosses their Barbie onto the ground and seems to take pleasure in it falling, can that accurately say they want to push a real person onto the ground? If someone seems to enjoy a violent video game like GTA where they can run people over and shoot them to their heart's content, is that a surefire way to know that they want to do those things to real people? I wouldn't say it is. Would you?

The final thing to remember is that it's not completely black and white. A serial killer might have been 'inspired' by a violent horror story, whereas the actual author of that story is a nice, well-adjusted individual. People with the desire to hurt actual humans might make do with projections, but it does not change the fact that they actually want to HARM people. The fiction didn't make them want to do that. They already did, and probably would have even if they didn't discover said fiction. And horrible people CAN make their own 'projections'.

Generally though I believe it is obvious when someone is just playing with dolls, and when someone is exhibiting an actual desire to hurt somebody.