#this also applies to beyond evil in my eyes

[the-music-maniac]

Y'know the more I think about it, the more I realize that instead of arguing with people who don't believe queer coding can exist or wanna act like all characters who don't have a confirmed sexuality are automatically straight, I can just straight up find any arbitrary justification tweeted by some dudebro on twitter for why this character in particular is gay.

#fight fire with fire and all that #queer coding #someone online said “good omens” for this one LMAO #this also applies to beyond evil in my eyes #good omens #ineffable husbands #beyond evil #jwds #i will add fandoms as i think of them #trigun stampede #vashwood #does riding on a motorcycle together count i think it does

[beenbaanbuun]

mean yet soft w/ wooyoung

words - don’t ask, i don’t know

genre - fluffy smut

warnings - mean!dom wooyoung, also soft!dom wooyoung, face fucking, spanking, degradation, nicknames, aftercare, hes literally jekyll and hyde

not proofread but i’ll get round to it soon :)

so wooyoung is a little shit, but he isn’t evil

like he’ll tease you until the end of the earth, but the moment you get hurt by his words he’s clung to you like a koala telling you sweet nothings

and if that’s not enough, he’ll go one step beyond sane just to apologise to you

one second you’re pouting and the next he’s buying you flowers and cooking for you as an apology

not that he doesn’t do both of those things anyway

it’s just that when he’s trying to beg for forgiveness, he always goes a little overboard

you won’t be able to move without bumping into a bouquet of flowers, and you’ll actually have to beg for him to stop cooking for you because you’re way too full to eat most of it…

but something in my sick and twisted little brain i like to think that this applies to the bedroom too…

like imagine you’ve just pissed him off a little too much

bratted too close to the sun, if you will

the glare he gives you honestly makes you want to kneel down and beg but he won’t let you

not yet, anyway

because whilst you’ll definitely be knelt down in a second, letting him pound his pretty cock into your slack jaw, he has to make sure it doesn’t hurt you first

“kneel on the pillow for me, princess… that’s it, baby! we don’t want your pretty skin getting bruised, do we?”

and sure enough, there’s a plush pink pillow waiting for you

it’s almost heartwarming, until the second your knees hit the fabric and suddenly there’s a dick in your mouth pumping in and out like there’s no tomorrow

and then when he spanks you, you can guarantee he goes fucking hard

i’m talking trouble sitting down hard

red hand prints for days hard

tears streaming down your cheeks as he makes you count for him hard

and it hurts like fucking HELL and he knows that

but that doesn’t stopping from delivering soft kisses to the sweltering hot skin in between each spank

soothing strokes along your ass to make sure you know he’s not really mad

oh, and don’t get me started on the words he tells you…

he will call you every single name under the sun

bitch, whore, slut, dumb, so on and so forth

“fucking slut,” he spits, punctuating it with an extra hard thrust, “panting for me like a bitch in heat.”

and you are, you can’tdeny that

face pressing into the pillow, tongue sitting pretty on your bottom lip as you gulp in as much air as possible in between thrusts

his beautiful cruel words swim around your dizzy head, but before they even have chance to sink in, he’s letting you know just how much he loves you

“you’re a whore, aren’t you,” he grins as he nuzzles your cheek, “but that just makes me love you all the more. my whore, baby… all mine.”

and then the aftercare?

if you lift a finger, he’s going to place a curse on your entire bloodline because how dare you do his job?

he is supposed to be taking care of you, not you…

“hey, idiot,” he stomps over to the bed where he left you whilst he got water, “i thought i told you to sit still and let me do the work! why are you taking the sheets off?”

“felt dirty, youngie…”

he just rolls his eyes

“let me carry you to the bathroom, okay? i’ll sort the sheets…”

and youd better let him carry you to the toilet and sit you down (because you should be peeing after sex… no uti’s in this household)

if you don’t let him, he’s going to do it anyway

only rather than lifting you up gently, bridal style, you’ll be hoisted over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes

and you can complain as much as you want, but you can’t out-do the doer

you complain about him taking care of you, let him bring out a 40 slide power point about everything you do that annoys him that he’s been saving for this exact moment in time

like seriously, just let him do his job

it makes him feel better about being a dick

#ateez drabbles #ateez headcanons #ateez oneshot #ateez fanfic #ateez smut #ateez fluff #ateez x reader #ateez scenarios #wooyoung smut #wooyoung fluff #wooyoung x reader

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @steddiesongfics.

Diamonds on the Soles of His Shoes

May Prompt: Song Released in 1986 | Word Count: 2000 | Rating: T | Characters: Eddie, Steve, Robin | CW: Language | Tags: Post S2, Pre S3, Eddie POV, Pre-Steddie, Pre-Platonic Stobin, Eddie & Robin From Band, Graduation Party

For a song released in 1986, I picked Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon.

Partially hidden behind the trees, Eddie looks at the house, large and looming. Sure, he's been by it before, did a bit of trick-or-treating here in the rich neighborhood, but he's never actually been inside Steve Harrington's house. Never stepped foot over the threshold, beyond those red double doors.

Said doors are standing wide open tonight, inviting the whole world inside. 

Steve Harrington's graduation bash. Everyone's invited. That's been the mantra all week. 

Everyone. 

Eddie's not so sure that everyone really includes him, and he didn't even graduate, anyway. Not even on his second try, and he's dreading the idea of spending a third senior year at Hawkins High. He'd be able to run Hellfire Club for one more year, but that's about it. The silver lining, small and weak, compared to the dark storm cloud that is the prospect of another year in that hell hole. 

He sees a girl from band, Robin Buckley, also lurking and lingering at the edge of the driveway. 

"You goin' in?" Eddie asks, sidling up to her, making her jump.

"Uh, maybe?" she says, but doesn't sound sure about it. 

"You know Steve Harrington?" Eddie asks.

"Only the back of his stupid head," Robin answers, snarkily. 

Eddie laughs, agreeing, "Yeah, same."

But she doesn't move, and he doesn't either, "Why are you here, Robin from Band?" he asks, like that's her legal name.

She doesn't seem to care, just saying, "Reasons," and it's just cryptic enough that he's curious.

"Do you have a crush on Steve Harrington? Gonna make a move before it's too late and he's off at Harvard or Purdue or wherever daddy's money bought him a spot?"

"More like Roane County Technical College," Robin mumbles under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she says, then turns and looks at Eddie, "just. I saw him applying to Scoops Ahoy, you know, the ice cream shop in the new mall? I don't think he's going to college."

"Maybe it's just a summer job," Eddie says, but that doesn't sound convincing even to his own ears. Why would Steve Harrington need a summer job selling ice cream?

"I don't think so," Robin says, and she's holding back. He can tell.

"Spill it, Buckley."

She cuts a look back at the house, then back at him, "Like, okay. You cannot tell anyone I know this, because, like, I took an oath–"

"You took an oath?" he asks.

"Okay, I didn't take an oath. But there was a lecture. A big lecture, about not repeating anything about what I saw cross the guidance counselor's desk, you know? I was her aide, fifth period."

"Okay, well, what did you see?" Eddie asks, because now he's curious. Very, very curious.

"Steve Harrington didn't get in anywhere. Nowhere at all. And now he's trying to sling ice cream all summer. With me."

"No way," Eddie breathes out, loving that he has this dirt on the little rich boy. Harrington's crown has been repeatedly tarnished this year, and Eddie's enjoyed watching the fallout from afar. 

"You didn't answer my first question: Do you have a crush on Steve Harrington?"

"No," Robin says, and Eddie follows her line of sight. Oh, ew. 

She's looking at the instigator of at least ninety-seven percent of the fallout King Steve's suffered, as he's holding court at the front door, like this is his party instead of Steve's. Billy Hargrove, surrounded by girls. Some freshly graduated, like the perpetually tone-deaf Tammy Thompson.

Eddie rolls his eyes. If he had to choose between the lesser of two evils, he'd take Harrington. 

"Hargrove?" Eddie asks, not even trying to hide his disgust at her bad taste, "I don't even really know you, Buckley, but you can definitely do better."

Robin laughs, but it sounds kind of sad, "I'm not interested in Billy Hargrove, either."

Eddie doesn't get it, then. If she's not here for Steve, and she's not looking at Billy, she's looking at…oh. 

No way.

He should have realized, should have seen himself mirrored in her or some shit. But he says nothing. If he's right or wrong, he'll never know, because it's just not discussed. 

"Glad to hear it, Robin From Band," Eddie says, and offers her his arm. "Wanna go in with me, then?"

And he's surprised when she slides her arm through his elbow.

Robin finds some girls she knows from her own class, and Eddie slinks off towards the pool. He can smoke a cigarette and see if there are any customers out there, so he can make a little bit of money, selling off his shittiest weed.

No such luck, it's strangely empty. Pool drained, even if it's getting warm enough for swimming, especially if it's heated. 

Eddie walks over to the diving board, and tests it, making sure it's not too bouncy. He doesn't want to take a header into the empty concrete, that's for damn sure. It seems safe, so he shuffles out until he can sit on the edge.

Lights a cigarette, and swings his feet.

The party inside is loud, and jam-packed, and Eddie is sure coming here was a mistake. There's nothing for him here, not at Steve Harrington's house. He should have rounded up Jeff and Goodie and found something else to do tonight. He's sure Gareth would have hung out, if he could get his mom to extend his curfew.

"What are you doing out there?!" The question comes, so sharp and hard, that it startles Eddie so much he nearly topples into the waterless void.

He grips the edge of the diving board, but loses his lit cigarette into the pool. Into the pile of dry leaves from last fall. Shit.

"Um, trying to burn your house down?" Eddie teases, and when he looks back, Steve Harrington is standing there, annoyed.

"Get off of that," Steve says, arms crossed across his chest like he needs to protect himself. From Eddie? In what world?

"Well, since you asked so nicely," Eddie taunts, batting his eyes.

"Please get off that," Steve says, dry as dust. No humor to be found. Which is odd. Eddie went to school with Steve for a long time, he is funny, as loathe as Eddie is to admit it.

He crawls off it.

"Just let me get my cigaret-"

"Leave it."

"But-"

"Don't go down there, Munson, are you stupid?" Steve snaps, and Eddie takes a step back. He's not stupid, but he's pretty pissed off now.

Eddie narrows his eyes, "Yeah, I have to repeat my senior year for a third time, Harrington, we all know that already," Eddie snaps, but rapidly loses steam. Steve Harrington's face says he didn't know that, not until Eddie told him. 

Fucking idiot, opening his own goddamn big mouth.

"Uh, well, um…" Steve trails off, "I'm sorry? I didn't get into any colleges if that makes you feel better. I was probably one D-minus in Mrs. Click's class from joining you."

"Ms. O'Donnell is the one torturing me," Eddie answers, off-kilter that he's even having this conversation with Steve Harrington.

And Steve smiles, "Yeah, I hear you. I think she only passed me because of my last name."

Eddie is taken aback, Steve Harrington is aware he gets special treatment? Aware of the diamonds on the soles of his shoes, as well as the noses so far up his ass they'll never see sunshine again?

Well, hell. It isn't good ammo to know Steve Harrington can't get into college if Steve's willing to tell him that himself. Kinda takes all the fun out of it.

"Heard you might be the new King of Scoops Ahoy," Eddie teases, and it is teasing, now. Not taunting.

And that must read, because Steve smiles.

"I'll look great in a sailor suit. I hope we get tips, because I'll kill it," Steve says, hands on his hips. But he doesn't look aggressive, he looks amused. 

And Eddie did that. Hot damn.

"What's up with the pool?" Eddie asks, and wishes he hadn't, when the black cloud passes over Steve's face.

"You know, Barb," Steve says, so soft that Eddie almost doesn't hear him.

Eddie's only heard rumors and gossip. That she went missing. That she didn't, and was instead found killed by everything from monsters, to Steve himself. The former seems more plausible than the latter, and isn't that ridiculous? 

"Did she die in your pool?" Eddie asks. Maybe she drowned.

Steve just kind of shrugs, "I don't know. Maybe. Where you were sitting was the last place she was seen alive, though."

"You're shitting me?" Eddie asks, but he's pretty sure Steve's not kidding.

Steve shakes his head. 

"Sorry, I didn't know," Eddie says.

"I know you didn't," Steve says, "it just scared me, seeing you sitting out there. All alone. Sorry if I was a bit of a dick about it."

And hell has frozen over, Steve Harrington is apologizing to him. 

"Um, you weren't. It's okay. Sorry I just made myself at home."

And Steve laughs, "Well, that's fine," he says, waving his arms around, "look at everyone else."

"And why aren't you with everyone else?" Eddie asks.

"Like who? My only friend these days is thirteen-years-old."

"Say what now?" Eddie asks, because that sounds creepy. Is Harrington, like, a pervert now? He'd heard rumors last winter about Harrington hanging around Hargrove's little sister, but he hadn't given them much credence. He knows the rumors that go around about himself, and the vast majority of them have no basis in reality either.

"Long story," Steve says, "long, long, story. I'm, like, his babysitter? Him and a bunch of other street urchins, I guess?"

"You're a babysitter?" Eddie asks, disbelieving.

"It's as shocking to me as it is to you. I'm not bad at it, though," Steve says, and he smiles.

"You're not like…messing with underage girls?"

"Jesus Christ, no, what kind of freak do you take me for?" Steve says, and he sounds so disgusted that Eddie's sure that's the truth.

"Sorry, I had to ask."

"Unless you mean, like, Nance?" Steve asks, brow furrowed, like he's really thinking this through.

"I do not," Eddie says with a laugh, "I thought you were broken up, anyway?"

"We are," Steve says, "definitely. We are. What about you?"

"Am I broken up with Nancy Wheeler? Yep, have been for as long as I can remember, anyway," Eddie snarks, and Steve Harrington laughs. An ugly, open-mouthed bray.

It's dorky, but real.

And Eddie's heart does a thing that he definitely didn't give it permission to do in his chest. Flipping and flopping, all willy-nilly.

He's not supposed to like Steve Harrington. 

Harrington's a rich boy, who doesn't try to hide it. And Eddie's poor as a pocket, with nothing to lose. 

But right now, standing out here in the near dark, he does like him. God help him.

"Word of advice, from one freak to another, stop saying it like that, or people will think you're a perv. Lead with the babysitting part."

Steve nods.

"If none of these people are your friends, why have a party? Why spend money on assholes that don't deserve it?"

Steve shrugs, "Habit, I guess. Won't be like this much longer, though. My dad's pretty mad about college. He's cutting me off."

Eddie blinks. That's…unfathomable, really.

Steve keeps talking.

"So, I got a job at the ice cream place in the mall. To learn my lesson. Earn my keep, whatever. You should come by, I'll hook you up," Steve offers, and Eddie feels insane. That can't possibly be a thing that they'll ever do. 

Then, Steve tries to sweeten the pot, "Pretty sure I'll be wearing a funny hat."

"And working with Robin From Band," Eddie says, and Steve just shrugs, like he doesn't know who that is. 

Poor Harrington, Buckley'll eat him alive, given half the chance.

And maybe, just maybe, Eddie will swing by to see that happen, live and in person.

Free ice cream and a show. 

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddiesongfics and follow along with the fun! 🎶

Notes: Oh, these kids. If they only knew how important they'd all be to each other just a short time later.

#steddiesongfics #1986 song #stranger things #pre steddie #steddie fic #platonic stobin #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #thisapplepielife: short fic #thisapplepielife: steddiesongfics

[wrathofrats]

Mushy May Day 6- "you're blushing"- alpha and omega.

As usual thank u to @forlorn-crows for the prompts

And thanks to @ghuleh-recs for the divider!

No warnings apply, just 750 words of alpha and omega flirting (:

“Papa would never say that omega” alpha snorted

Omega chuckled to himself as he wiped the rim of a golden chalice with a cloth, setting it neatly in its place on the table.

“He did! Best guitar player in the entire ministry. Said he wouldn’t have wanted to summon anyone else”

Alpha set down the matching plate in his hands, giving omega a side glance. It was barely effective through the thick mask that adorned his face but he hoped omega had gotten the point anyways. He pulled the tablecloth free of any wrinkles as he took a look over the communion table one more time.

“Papa has threatened to send us back to the pits for spilling a drop of wine on his precious tablecloth, there’s absolutely no way he gave me a genuine compliment.” Alpha turned to stare at omega through his own mask, seeing as his eyes crinkle in what he can only assume to be a wide smile. “Besides, if you wanted to tell me how talented I am then you’re more than welcome to. No need to hide behind the excuse that papa said it”

Cleaning the chapel after mass was always a lackluster duty. Mostly sniffling from the dust that never seemed to dissipate, and making sure everything was to the ministry’s high standards of organization. It was always alpha and omega who were forced to stay an extra hour or two to wipe everything down and put things back in their places. The roles of being the right hand men of papa would be nice with their high ranking, but more often than not it meant they were sent to do boring monotonous tasks together that papa had deemed important.

“Oh I never need an excuse to compliment you, just don’t know if you can handle it” omega teased. A goading tone to his voice.

“You don’t affect me as much as you think you do, you’re only fueling my ego. But if that’s your intention then please do go ahead”

Omega stood to lean against the podium, an almost challenging look in his eye, practically asking if alpha truly meant what he said. It was a stupid stand off admittedly, more for alpha to metaphorically flex his muscles and stroke his ego than it was to really prove omega words couldn’t get to him. Or if it was purely for alpha to hear omegas sweet thoughts about him, then that was his business.

“Have I really never told you how talented I think you are? That you continue to impress me with how fast you learn the songs?” Omega said, crossing his arms in front of him

“Yeah I’m sure you do” alpha rolled his eyes, “probably because if I didn’t papa would have my head, we can’t all be favorites around here”

“You’re my favorite if it’s worth anything”

Alpha tried to look like that didn’t immediately make his chest constrict. A stupid tight feeling that he got whenever omega acted like he did like him beyond their stupid jokes and banter.

“Well I’d hope so. We are together constantly, didn’t think it would be earth or something” alpha played off like he expected that kind of answer.

“I just think that under your massive ego you’re actually really kind, I know how gentle you actually are alpha” omegas voice softened in a genuine, comforting way. He stepped away from the podium, instead making his way slowly towards alpha, who seemed to fumble at watching omega step towards him.

“Just not a complete evil bastard, is that so hard to believe?”

“I mean it’s not hard for me to believe at all, you’ve always been a sweetheart, to me at least.”

Alpha fiddled with the cloth under his hands as he tried from some leverage on the table. His eyes darted around, a horrible attempt at looking inconspicuous while also not looking omega in the eye.

“And that’s not even all of it. You’re so handsome under that mask, it’s such a shame papa makes us wear them all the time, would love to actually look at you while we work”

“Shut up” alpha choked

“Why? Are you blushing? You seem really flustered” omega chuckled, continuing to move forwards while alpha tried to subtly move backwards.

“I’m not blushing you asshole”

“Oh really? How about you take off the mask then”

“You just want to see my face since you love it so much” alpha tried to play off. He turned his face towards the floor, even the idea of omega seeing his eyes was more than a bit overwhelming as his face heated.

“Maybe I just want to see you blush for me”

#mushy may #the band ghost #ghost #nameless ghouls #ghost bc #fanfic #wrath writes #alpha ghoul #omega ghoul #mushy may 2024

[posletsvet]

A Somewhat Messy Exploration of the Concepts of Purity and Impurity in Satosugu, and perhaps some more

The yin and yang symbolism in Satosugu (here I'm using 'Satosugu' as a short way to refer to the relationship between these characters, not necessarily a ship dynamic) has been brought up and discussed a lot in fan analyses lately, and by those who have mental capacity to express it far better than I ever could. However, there is one more thing I would like to talk about in relation to Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo's dichotomy, and perhaps some more.

As much influence as Chinese philosophical concepts (such as already mentioned yin-yang) have on Japanese cosmology, religious views of the people of Japan are actually an intricate and complex amalgamation of various teachings and beliefs, with Shinto being numerically the most prominent faith of the country. I was curious as to how the ideas found in Shinto could be applied to Gojo and Geto's relationship, and I guess I've stumbled upon some inkling of a thought in this regard -- so please bear with me while I rant.

Before this gets too long, I'm putting my rambling below the cut.

To begin with and give a little bit of context, the core teaching of Shinto is to have profound respect and reverence for nature. As a polytheistic and animistic religion, Shinto is defined by its belief in the kami, who are stated to inhabit all things, including objects of the surrounding landscape and various natural forces. Due to such elemental qualities of the faith, purification takes place as one of its central aspects and a widely followed practice, as well. There is a great emphasis laid on spiritual and physical purity and cleanliness. That being so, the moral categories of good and evil (or virtue and sin), so important in the western worldview, give way to a different outlook on things: the world is perceived in terms of 'clean' and 'dirty' rather than 'good' and 'bad'.

This concept finds a reflection in Gege's writing primarily through Tsumiki as someone who's essentially an embodiment of the virtue of being innocent and pure at heart. When she's brought up in the narrative, the image is frequently accompanied by flowers -- and more often than not, especially when it comes to Megumi's perspective, those flowers are white lilies. And those are one of the most common and prominent symbols of purity. When Tsumiki's innocence is symbolically destroyed with Yorozu taking over her body, white blossoms are depicted as thrashed and stained in the background. Her purity is further defiled by her death as everything related to death and decay is considered foul as it desecrates the world's natural state of cleanliness, fertility and life.

I'm only bringing this up to show how Gege incorporates this religious framework into the body of symbolism in his story. And the further you search with these concepts in mind, the more you are able to uncover.

Satoru Gojo as purity and perfection

Satoru Gojo is a character whom you can't help but read as a perfection within the context of the world he exists in. He's the absolute strongest, wielding the power to bring all the knowledge of the universe and the forces which shape it under his control, he's repeatedly elevated by the narrative as someone unreachable and untouchable whereas nothing seems to be beyond his reach. He also has an extraordinary appearance, matching vibrant aquamarine eyes with fair hair, so rarely found among full-blooded Japanese people. He embodies an ideal for his society.

Satoru is associated with white and sky blue -- the colours most widely believed to represent purity, innocence, perfection, serenity and safety. Those are lofty, noble, airy and spacious hues which also bring in mind vast open spaces and immeasurable and unreachable heights and depths, symbolizing Gojo's detachment from the mundane world where corruption and putrefaction take deep root. Not to mention Satoru's noble background as an heir of one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families.

Actually no, forget this, I do want to mention it and expand a little on my thoughts regarding Satoru's family and upbringing. It's highly likely he was overprotected and sheltered as a child, and along with a teenage-years rebellion on his part which such a childhhod brought about, it also thwarted his ability to make connections with people around him as he basically lacks common experiences and/or interests with them. He's somewhat sterile when it comes to displaying empathy and emotional intelligence, which results in a peculiar sense of innocence about him. For the lack of any better way to articulate this idea, I'd say he's pure in this regard: clean and untouchable and spotless, devoid of nearly everything that comprises a regular person's experience.

This shows even in the way Gojo chooses to cope with his trauma in the aftermath of the Star Plasma Vessel Incident. That traumatic experience seemingly barely leaves a mark on him because he opts for pushing it aside and moving forward, while going out of his way to make sure there's a safe distance between him and the source of his vulnerability by improving his technique. He fixates on bringing his Infinity technique to perfection, and as a result it leaves no opportunity for anything to touch him if he himself does not want it to. Yet again, it leaves him stainless.

Not only that: he becomes emotionally detached from the cruelty and filth of the jujutsu world, becomes numb to it, with little to no emotion ever reaching his core to shake it. He's neither angry nor vengeful on Amanai's behalf after her death. He does not allow for hatred and spite to poison his mind, neither does he feel any doubt. He stays clean from all the negativity at the cost of coming off as cynical and unsympathetic.

He masks this by putting up a front of an emotionally immature individual with childlike mannerisms and an attitude resembling that of a teenager rather than a fully grown man. He also nurtures a somewhat naive belief that Suguru still can be trusted, that there's some hope for him turning away from the path he's chosen. In this regard, he still bears the innocence of a child.

Last but not least, shedding away the more humanly parts of himself, Gojo instead becomes more attuned to the natural world through his ascension -- the main source of purity, as Shinto has it. Moreover, he basically rejects death by coming back from the dead after finally grasping how Reversed Cursed Energy works. And I've already explained the importance of something like this when talking about Tsumiki's passing.

Gojo Satoru's mind is free from resentment and hate, his body unstained by death. He's a character who represents complete spiritual and physical purity.

Suguru Geto as impurity and corruption

Where Gojo's character exhibits perfection, Geto shows abruptly stunted growth and degradation gnawing away at him bit by bit; where Gojo stands to symbolize cleanliness and purity, Geto presents desolation and decay and that filth which is left in their wake. Geto is a character whom the narrative treats as a symbolic foil to Gojo, starting from him being expelled from Jujutsu High and ending with his death being described in the light novel as a curse purged from existence. If Gojo serves as an example of a perfectly fit cog in jujutsu society and sets up a desirable ideal, Geto, named the worst of all known curse users, represents everything that the very same society fears and despises.

Starting with colour symbolism again, such colours as black, dark brown, warm beige and mustard yellow are the most common colours to be associated with dirt and a filthy, dingy appearance. And while I'm not saying Suguru himself has such an appearance (although he does forsake taking care of himself at some point), those all are the colours found in his palette. Black is also considered to be the hardest colour to keep clean, even more so than white, as it shows all the stains and grime so well. Which is quite interesting if you consider that Suguru's downfall and defection ultimately bring out, both to the audience and to Satoru, everything not only malfunctioning, but straightforward cruel, vile and despicable in the existing system.

Geto's deeply empathetic personality is the basis for his own corruption, his inability to set boundaries between his own emotions and the suffering of others leaves him extremely vulnerable in a society which actively punishes people for being unable to extract emotion from their duty and caring too much. The thing is, Suguru is elbow-deep in emotion. For instance, if Satoru managed to shove his feelings aside in order to put together a plan of action when Kuroi got abducted, Suguru immeadiately plunged into self-blame. His own empathy is what's clouding his vision, his feelings pile up within him without any healthy outlet until they start rotting him from the inside.

Geto lets the rot in by caring too deeply, vile emotions that he feels on behalf of others festering in his mind. He can't stand the sight of atrocities commited by Jujutsu society and finds them nauseating, while the rest of the world he exists in treats those abominations as a norm. And even so, he dives deeper into all this by trying to make a difference and save ordinary people.

This is symbolically represented by Geto's Curse Manipulation, with him consuming curses which are basically a corporeal manifestation of all the negative emotions people vent into the world in their daily lives. The more curses he absorbs, the more doubt and resentment he lets inside and the more they consequently stain his once pure ideals and aspirations with bile building up inside of him. His very sense of self is twisted by the weight of the unsightly hideous reality, and while he stays true to his strict set of ideals he is forced to adapt by the trauma of his experience as a sorcerer and the 'realisation' which it brings. Because if one endures such severely traumatic events, one must sooner or later come to the conclusion that there's something inherently wrong and malfunctioning -- either with you or the world you live in. Geto chooses to stay true to himself by assuming it's the latter, and this choice results in his corruption in the eyes of those who run that very world.

There's also something to be said about the intimacy of the act of consumpton: you let the thing you consume nurture you and become a part of you. Cursed spirits taste absolutely foul, and what that means to put this despicable thing in your mouth and swallow it is unimaginable. Geto's absorbtion of curses is supposed to represent how he basically desacrates himself by letting himself experience everything at such a deep emotional level, inevitably tying himself to putrefaction of the world.

And of course, the last thing that plays its role in the defilement of Geto's character is his death.

Brief wrap-up thoughts

I could honestly ramble on and on about this for ages, but I guess it all just boils down to my admiration for Gege's ability to break the mold with his writing. He takes a trait which is largely associated with protagonists of their stories and shapes his villain's whole personality around it -- and vice versa, with Gojo and his seemingly egotistic tendencies.

Once again, Japanese religious beliefs organically encompass so many elements originating from so many cultures with no coherent systematization existing up untill late 19th centuary, and I find it absolutely fascinating how Gege's story reflects that. It leaves us with such an interesting controversy of an emotionally detached hero dwelling in a morally grey area alongside with a deeply empathetic antagonist whom both other characters and the audience find deserving of sympathy and pity.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk analysis #geto suguru #gojo satoru #satosugu #tsumiki fushiguro #she gets mentioned as well #and i still do not know how to tag properly #jjk meta #for some reason it took me so so long to finish this #are words exhausting sometimes #it seems the more i think the more scatterbrained I get #i am once again telling you #i'm sorry for how messy it is #and also #welcome to a new episode of how i'm so not normal about the religious symbolism in fiction

[mooshorange]

I've decided that it's time to talk about one of my favourite things about Jekyll and Hyde: the fact that Jekyll's desires aren't ever stately explicitly. He talks about how evil they are and how completely unacceptable that side of his nature is, but he isn't specific. We know a little about what Hyde does, but we don't even get to hear much about that. Some things that Hyde does go beyond Jekyll's original intentions (or, at least, that's the impression he leaves in his letter to Mr Utterson) so that isn't even much of a guide.

I really like that we never find out what it is. If I hadn't read it, I would probably expect that the openness of it would frustrate me, but I find it adds to the book in so many ways.

For a start, is shows just how much Jekyll wants to repress it. Even when he knows he's dying and he's just leaving a letter to explain everything to his friend, he can't say what it was he wanted. He talks about things Utterson already knows and things he needs to mention, but he just won't say.

It also continues the general sense of mystery and fear of the book. You never fully answer all your questions. Nothing is completely clear. The book keeps you thinking and wondering.

It also means you can't completely judge Jekyll's actions. You can judge the rest of what he's done and the way he acts, but you will never know the full truth about him. If it told you something horrific, maybe you wouldn't empathise with him. If it told you something that was barely bad, you wouldn't really appreciate the good and evil within him. You can't completely condemn or forgive him because you don't have all the information.

Then there's my favourite effect of this, it widens the impact of the book so much. It isn't grounded in any one time period or set of morals. As views on what is good and what is evil change, the book remains relevant. It's open to any interpretation. What did he do? It's up to you to think about it. You can project your own ideas onto him. Everyone's thoughts on the matter can apply. You can see yourself and your own struggles in him. He is whatever fits best in the eyes of the reader, and I just think that's really neat.

So, what did Jekyll do? Who knows. Maybe he did cocaine? Maybe he was gay? Maybe he just wanted to be a general menace to society? I will never know, and it only makes me love the book more.

#J speaks #Jekyll and Hyde #The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde #Jekyll and Hyde weekly #long post #I'm just so obssessed with it #I think adaptations which focus more on Jekyll and show exactly what he gets up to lose something #something small and almost imperceivable but still something #drug mention

[a-student-out-of-time]

Talking about the Eden Killer Theory (Again)

//Hey there, so...it kinda seems like my blog has officially just become a DT theory blog at this point, so here's some more of my thoughts on a particular one I've touched on before.

//This is something of a response to this defense of the Eden Killer Theory, written by @venus-is-thinking, who is a proponent of the theory along with many others. And having read it, I can't help but feel that a lot of the points raised here are in response to many of my own criticisms, from the motivation issues to how it would play a role in the narrative.

//Now, as I've said my previous posts about this, even if I don't agree with this theory, this isn't meant to belittle anyone who does. I also have to admit that there are a lot of good points raised here. What I'd like to do is, instead of just trying to debunk them, I'd like to offer some counterpoints and alternatives, as well as address the points that make this theory not work for me.

//I'm also not going to push my own theory here, just stick to what I feel are some equally plausible explanations.

//So Venus, if you read this, know that I'm impressed by the time and effort you put into this, and I just want to offer some feedback:

I'll start by saying, thank you for not perpetuating this idea that Eden is somehow secretly some evil genius mastermind, because a lot of Eden Killer Theory posts really have that vibe to them and it bothers me to no end.

My first big question is why Eden would kill Arei and not Arturo, the guy who has actively threatened her. Nobody but Arei knew about that and thus would never suspect her of doing it. Arei herself really seems like she'd have Eden's back in that regard.

I will say, just because we have multiple LGBTQ+ characters, it doesn't equate to "sapphic girl betrays everyone to be with her GF" not being problematic. The quantity doesn't matter, the presentation does.

I do appreciate the focus on her motivation as having more to do with her family and people she wants to reunite with. My issue is that the same argument could be applied to others who we know have friends and family, like Rose, Veronika, Hu, even Ace. What makes Eden the exception here?

The hidden quote is definitely interesting, and it could apply to this case, but it could also apply at a later date. I've also looked thoroughly into the hidden quotes and wondered about their meanings, so I'll admit there's an argument to be made in your favor here.

Eden being the primary force trying to end the killing game does feel to me like it's meant to be more of a long-term thing. Maybe the idea isn't that she's running out of time, but the longer she spends in this game, the more it wears away at her attempts? That doesn't necessarily mean she'll be a killer, now or later, but maybe it takes a toll on her motivation?

"Every single second killer commits their crime due to previous attachments that go beyond the killing game." Now, this is something I've had people who disagree with my theories argue with me about, how we can't predict where the story will go, yet they'll still use the same formulaic tropes and archetypes in defense of their own points. We can't have it both ways, and it sounds to me like you do believe this will follow a fairly similar route to the previous games. Fair enough. As a counterpoint, I want to address that, while this is largely true, one could also make the same argument about my primary candidate for the Killer (though not necessarily the Blackened): Hu. After all, we've had some insights on Hu's past, how proud she is of her name and how she didn't want to go with her old one just because it was something English-speakers made fun of. Combined with her very motherly attitude, her dialogue with David after his reveal, her own secret quote and the like, it also makes her seem like a pretty good candidate in my eyes.

"Wouldn’t it only be proving Teruko right if Eden were to become a killer? Yeah. It would. And that’s the point at the story we’re at." I have to completely disagree with you there, but we'll get to that shortly.

"I don’t think it would make any sense for Teruko’s beliefs to be strongly challenged in Chapter 2." Counterpoint: Teruko's beliefs should challenged here, at least in a way that makes her reconsider them. Not necessarily throw them out completely, as even I don't think she would, but maybe open up a little to the idea of trust. Namely that trusting nobody at all means that she also can't trust people who claim they're innocent but have no proof. Maybe going with enlightened self-interest as a starting point. I don't like this idea that Teruko is going to double down this chapter, because it would otherwise feel largely pointless. We already covered this perspective in chapter 1, we had her be betrayed by two people she was close to, we've had her explain this and beat the point in throughout the entire thing, from her life before the game to the many scars across her body. If we end on "Well, looks like I was right not to trust any of you," what changes? What's there to be gained? How has this done anything for her character if she hasn't learned anything or changed at all? I'm not saying she's going to join the friendship club, but just that I think the story is better served by her being willing to trust somebody and having it not blow up in her face for once, despite her experiences and expectations. That feels like actual setup and payoff, you know?

The Monocredits thing feels like pure speculation to me, so I don't really see that as evidence of anything.

"Chapter 2 is typically a chapter in the canon Danganronpa games where things get worse, not better." I've gone through the entire canon series and a few fangans that have reached Chapter 3, and I have to say, this is untrue. Chapter 2 is where the seriousness of the Killing Game sets in further, but you still get moments of character development, revelation, and new developments in their favor. Chapter 3 is typically the low point where things hit their zenith of severity, since that's also where two people die and the killer is really fucked up, and the group also often learns just how bad things really are. Yes, it's still a rough time, but it's also where we get things like Toko, Fuyuhiko and Maki starting their gradual rises to prominence and development, the reveal of Alter Ego, and it was SDRA2 Chapter 2 that made Hibiki Otonokoji into one of my favorites in that game because she grew so much in such a short amount of time. Chapter 2 is really not where tragedy overwhelms growth and development...that's Chapter 3's job ^^;

"Eden is one of the most heavily featured characters, and to me, it feels more like one being set up for immediate payoff rather than long-term." What makes you so sure? Kyoko, Nagito, Shuichi, Himiko, Toko, Chiaki, Kaito, Akane Taira, Yuki Maeda, all of them were prominent early on but they didn't really play big roles until much later in their story lines.

"If she’s already spent two chapters being nice, happy and supportive, where does she go from there that’s narratively interesting and different? The only answer I can really come up with is “becoming less nice, happy, and/or supportive.” I gotta be honest here and say this does a major disservice to Eden as a character, and feels you're saying nice characters are boring or static. I won't put words in your mouth, that's just how it sounds here. For some alternative ideas, Eden could be more proactive in trying to help others, and maybe if Teruko starts to come out of her shell, she could be there to try and help her forward. If we go back to your point about her secret quote, maybe the two of them end up switching roles so that Eden starts to feel lost and Teruko is the one to try and support her. Eden's point that she's not naive or stupid, that she knows that the world can be a cruel place and chooses to be kind regardless, is a powerful moment that strikes a chord with Teruko, even if she doesn't want to admit it. That's already proof that there's more to her than just "nice and friendly support girl," as maybe someone who's seen how harsh life can be and might be able to relate to Teruko even more than she's letting on. For me personally, this is actually why I see David as the Blackened of this chapter. After that reveal, where he's admitted he's a manipulative nihilistic shitlord, what else can you do with his character? Nobody's going to trust him, he doesn't really contrast Teruko's perspective so he's not really a rival, and he's got a very doomerist mindset about everything so I don't see him being a chaos gremlin. I think he instead works as a warning for Teruko. He is what she could be if she sticks on this path of self-serving fatalism, and as the Blackened, his death would be a wake-up call for her to change.

Once again, credit where it's due, I had no idea this was there and that's a pretty good point. My counterpoint here is that it's such a broad statement that you could just as easily apply it to anyone: it works just as well for David, for instance. It could also apply to Hu, Levi and even Arei in this chapter. It also doesn't really scream "Eden is the killer" to me, just the idea that being a good person isn't easy or glamorous.

"Hu is someone who hasn’t gotten that much character arc focus, so I think she’ll probably be a bit more of a spotlighted character in the next daily life." Counterpoint: Hu is the killer and this is what "A Good Person" is referring to. Think about how much Hu has tried to be the Team Mom, stand up for Nico, work with David, be a nice person and everything, even if she did fight frequently with Ace in this chapter. While she didn't share her secret, David actually called her out and suggested she's not as upstanding as she claims to be. Her secret quote- "I want to pay for what I’ve done. But even then, I still want to live."- would also fit very well there if it turned out she was the killer. It could even be both of our ideas; having followed David's orders to kill, she has to grapple with that fact and regain everyone's trust, especially Eden's.

"This is pretty much the entirety of Arei’s character arc." And it's very unsatisfying if we just leave it off there, so I don't buy that's all there is to it.

"Chapter 2 frequently deals with the concept of bullying." Having seen the canon games and fangans that have passed Chapter 2, I can say that this is only sometimes true. DR1, SDR2, and DRA did, but V3, SDRA2, Antebellum and Blowback were tangentially related or completely distinct. As you point out, even sticking to canon, this is true just 66.6% of the time.

"Ace bullied Nico, and eventually they snapped and tried to kill him in revenge." Counterpoint: Nico didn't snap, it was David's fault. Keep in mind, the last time we saw Nico before that scene, they were with Hu and David in the Relaxation Room. Now that we know David manipulated the hell out of Hu, is it really a stretch to suggest that, after all their fights, David also might've pushed Nico into trying to kill Ace? It would guarantee someone would die and David's secret would be preserved.

"Eden simply didn’t believe her relationship with Arei actually changed." Counterpoint: Eden is friendly but she's not blindly trusting. She had no idea why Arei saved her from Arturo, so maybe she thought that this was Arei trying to mess with her? It isn't until she has proper context that she sees it as a potential friendship. Personally, I think the statement that "you don't know how much this means to me" lends credence to the idea that Eden has had some hard knocks in her life as well, much like Teruko, but she's chosen to be kind instead of recoiling into cynicism. And again, even if we wanted to say she didn't actually buy that they were friends, why would she kill the person who was trying to be friendly with her and promised to protect her instead of the guy who was actively threatening her just minutes earlier? Bullying is one thing, but someone pulling a knife on you over a secret is quite another. As we see in Episode 7, she's still skittish that he's following her. Why Arei and not him?

I believe that moment with Charles and Whit has less to do with their feelings on Eden and more to do with the idea that something more is going on with Arei than we've been assuming.

"They did pair up Xander and Min though, so it’s not like it’s impossible that they paired a victim with their killer." Maybe, but we've only had one full chapter so far. Seems a little preemptive to decide that this is all foreshadowing.

"However, it’s possible that the message the creator wants to send us is that the cast isn’t currently capable of being entirely positive and friendly." I agree that's a possibility, but it's just as possible that they're saying they can, but the cast needs to address the issues plaguing them. If Chapter 1 is about the breaking of trust, Chapter 2 could be about rebuilding it and Chapter 3 about forging it or seeing it break again while trying.

"I believe the motive of getting back to her previous life, in combination with the constant fighting, Arturo's threats against her and her apparent inability to actually make a meaningful change in those around her, would be enough to get her to break and kill in this Chapter 2 position." Okay, fair. Again though, what sense is there in killing Arei to achieve these goals? Like you say here, Arturo actively threatened her, and that seems much more pressing than a girl who bullied her but who since apologized. Why kill Arei and not him? I don't see the logic behind any of it. If it's because Arei is an easier target, that really just makes Eden look selfish and opportunistic, especially when Arei promised to protect her.

You don't get genuine breakdown scenes like this in the first half of the chapter, when there's still so much to learn about the ins and outs of the murder. Not unless there's going to be some kind of reveal, and that reveal isn't necessarily going to be that she's the killer.

While DRDT is full of hidden meanings and foreshadowing, sometimes I feel like the fandom takes things too literally. Like, if Whit said "Dead at 6," would people assume he or Charles is the mastermind?

David is saying a lot of cruel, guilt-trippy, misanthropic things by design, and Eden is grieving. It doesn't seem strange that she's going to start blaming herself. My counterpoint here is that he's trying to shift blame onto her because this is HIS fault.

"I think it makes more sense if it’s her coping with the fact that Arei did want to be her friend, and she killed her." Counterpoint: Eden is grieving someone who she did want to consider a friend who she believes is dead, and which she personally blames herself for because she wanted to include Arei in her activities earlier. She wanted them to be friends, and now she thinks her efforts lead to Arei's death. I don't really get why this needs to be anything more insidious or emotionally loaded.

Why it doesn't work for me:

While it's clear that you've put a lot of thought into Eden's motivations, what kills this theory for me is HOW Eden could be the killer. Any effort to reconcile the events of Chapter 2 with her presence, character, motivations and the time elapsed either require her to be insanely fast or genuinely malicious, manipulative and evil. Especially considering Eden would've had to set up a trap or something to break Arei's neck and then set her body up to look like she hanged herself.

Charles' statement that they fucked up, which I'm sure is in reference to the time and alibis, is also not really evidence because he's yet to elaborate on it. We don't know what he's going to say or who was where at any time. We can't make any snap judgements about it and will just have to wait for part 2 to see what it's about.

None of this explains the purpose of Teruko's prosopagnosia. If we're going to accept that small bits of dialogue and sprites are foreshadowing, then we also need to accept that a minute-long conversation and name-dropping of Teurko's condition is even more important. Nothing about this theory explains why that's there other than ignoring it or saying it's for later, and those are very weak arguments to me.

Why did Arei appear in the cafeteria after Ace's attack but say nothing? What purpose did that serve in the story? I've seen some people suggest that, to explain the prosopagnosia, it's actually meant to be Eden in disguise, but that makes no sense on multiple levels. Even if we wanted to say that she's an evil mastermind, why would she disguise herself as Arei and not just let everyone think she's still locked in her room? I know that's not part of your defense, but I just wanted to bring it up.

What's the significance of Arei having the secret "You're a murderer and you hold no remorse" if Eden is the one who killed her? We know Eden's secret and she's not a murderer.

How does David figure into the Eden Killer Theory at all? It seems like his role was mostly skimmed over.

What's the significance of Teruko's momentary flashback right after Arei's breakdown, where her crying reminds Teruko of someone? We never got follow-up on that, but the screen went black and time was devoted to her internal dialogue, which leads me to believe it's meant to be important.

//Again, these are just my thoughts on this theory and why they don't work for me. Even taking the narrative and thematic relevance out, the actual mechanics and character motivations just don't really work for me to see Eden as the one behind this.

//As I've made clear, my thinking is that David is the true blackened of this case, but Hu is the one who carried it out for him. He got her to kill for him, trying and failing with Nico at first, only to learn that the Blackened and the Killer can be different people in this game. His mindset and attitude, made pretty clear by the MV and Tally5, are that he's a fatalist who represents the logical extreme of Teruko's thinking, and what she could end up as if she continues or doubles down.

//His death would do a lot to serve the narrative and develop Teruko's character, while Hu's survival but status as a murderer could be the focus of her arc in Chapter 3, and Eden would then have to contend with all of this while trying to mend the group. I have my own theory as to why all this is the case, but that's a story for another time.

//Once again, while I disagreed a lot with this theory, I appreciate the thinking put into examining everything and trying to analyze every potential scenario behind who the killer may be.

//Credit to Venus and all the other writers for also getting me to think more critically about small details I either didn't see before or didn't think much about at first. I hope my points here can do the same.

#mod talks #a student out of time #drdt #danganronpa despair time #eden tobisa #eden killer theory

[strangestcase]

Honestly I hate how the fandom logic of "I like this villain but only bad people like villains and I know I am a good person therefore this villain isn't evil just misunderstood" has pervaded Jekyll and Hyde fanon on Tumblr.com because I believe a lot of (popular) fan versions of Hyde are beyond boring. They're not villains, just a nebulous "naughty", a man that has the aesthetic of evil but lacks the guts to enact it, the sort of person that calls their impulse to eat chips "intrusive thoughts".

The "not evil just misunderstood" route is VERY hard to apply to Mr. Hyde because, as a character, he IS evil, very evil, and impossible to misunderstand once his true nature is made evident- all he is is visible. He can't conceal his evil even if he tries.

That doesn't mean he can't be complex or sympathetic (and in my opinion he is both those things), but in the eyes of the fandom, complex and sympathetic = good person, or at least, non-evil person... so that makes Hyde go from a terrifyingly tangible incarnation of what happens when you repress the darkness and never work to fix it... to a """"chaos gremlin"""" that is violent but not too violent, murderous but not too bloody, weird but unlikeable, off-putting but not unpleasant.

I think that The Glass Scientists -a somewhat Tumblr popular adaptation that can be described as loose at best- poisoned the fanon well to a point by taking a clumsily executed "not evil just misunderstood" route with Hyde (...which I don't really get since in the concept art stage, Hyde was very much a straight up irredeemable villain, even if he also was a comedic relief character). The gothic literature fandom is, sadly, fond of its fandom groupthink. If this adaptation, which we collectively see as good (note the "see"; I personally don't think TGS is a good adaptation in part because of that very OOC depiction of Mr. Hyde), does this, then we can do it too!

Funnily enough, the fandom also likes murderous, irredeemable Hydes like the MazM version -a complete bastard that is implied to sexually assault a woman at some point- and the musical version -a complete bastard that EXPLICITLY sexually assaults, abuses, AND kills a woman-... but it can be explained away by a simple fact: MazM and musical Hyde are conventionally attractive. TGS Hyde, who was often hailed as the most accurate adaptation there could be back in the day, is also conventionally attractive (...but he wasn't in his concept art stage, in which, I reiterate, he was genuinely evil and frightening).

Compare and contrast with LXG movie Hyde, whose personality is a carbon copy from the original's, down to the speech patterns, but is hated across the fandom for not having a book accurate design (and for being ugly... like his book counterpart).

I feel like the fandom has fallen into the trap Jekyll would have wanted you to fall into: assuming that, because he's handsome, and "nice", he is without fault.

So, Hyde's evil is in character and a trait like any other if Hyde is handsome, but if he is ugly like he was in the book, or if the adaptation -wrongly- takes it one step further and gives him a facial difference (which I will agree, is pretty fucked up), then Hyde's evil is totally out of character and overblown and exaggerated and Not At All What He Was Like In The Book (in which, as we all know, he was just a misunderstood weird guy that just so happened to have bad vibes! everybody pity him!).

#long post #jekyll and hyde #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #jekyll and hyde weekly

[roobylavender]

UTRH is a yay or nay for you? What are your thoughts on it?

generally a nay. my main contentions with it are as follows:

the bruce characterization is ass. granted i understand winick is operating within a specific post-war-games context, but i don't think that precludes him from applying bruce's no kill rule or character history properly. bruce is hesitant to play god, yes, and would hesitate to kill a villain of his own volition, but he's not opposed to allowing villains to die if saving their victims is a more pertinent priority. the bruce of pre-00s canon would not have prioritized saving the joker's life over saving jason's, at least imo. jason would have been his first and foremost priority and to hell with the joker, whether that meant letting the joker go or letting him die in the debris, etc. saving the victim would be paramount. ig you could argue that jason as framed within this specific situation was not a victim per se, but he was the general victim of the joker's transgressions, and i think bruce would value that not only in general but also specifically considering he nearly murdered the joker in the first place immediately following jason's death. i don't think bruce coming to his senses before he could actually do so devalues jason's worth as a victim in bruce's history

winick's approach to condemnable evil is severely flawed. it's not praxis for jason to dispose of every drug dealer on the street. that's an approach detached from any sort of material reality. and, to give winick some leeway here, i would be okay with jason nonetheless going through with all of this if there was any follow-up critically questioning jason as to those flaws in theory. but editorial engagement with jason as a character never seems to go beyond the basic question of whether or not it's right to kill. it never extends into the domino effect consequences of that decision to kill on a systemic level. it never really asks why killing is bad specifically in context of the victims it generates. the cheers story by zdarsky makes an attempt to ask that question, but it fails to stick the landing in a myriad of ways not only bc of how it mischaracterizes jason as a child but also bc of how it mischaracterizes his ultimate desires (bc obv jason's problem is feeling like he doesn't belong in the family. eye roll)

tangentially, the fact that jason's parents are removed from the equation entirely. this is concerning for two reasons. the more prominently discussed of those reasons is how the retroactive erasure of catherine and sheila from jason's narrative removes any opportunity to emphasize on the fact that he was not reckless so much as he was someone who cared deeply for people and thereby acted upon that care. the less prominently discussed of those reasons is how the retroactive erasure of willis conveniently removes any opportunity to engage with the flawed ideology as to designations of evil that i mentioned above. i am always amazed that so many writers, but esp winick, forget willis was alleged to have died, by starlin, in a death in the family, because he was a cog in the mob boss machine simply trying to support his family. willis potentially presents the greatest opportunity to criticize jason for his actions bc the people jason is doing away with, in part, are no different from his own father. the loved ones left behind when jason does away with gotham lackeys are no different from himself. they are the boy left to fend for himself in a dilapidated apartment, booting car tires to make a living. and the fact that no one wants to draw that comparison absolutely astounds me

and like. minor complaint in comparison ig but i feel like having bruce be the only one party to jason's return was stupid lmao. the guy haunted the bat mythos and everyone in it for fifteen years preceding his re-entry. you would think it'd make sense to give him the opportunity to terrorize them all upon return (i am not counting hush bc hush is a nonsense book and it should never have existed)

#outbox #ig in sum i like the bones of utrh i simply find the meat questionable. seriously stenchy. revolting a bit

[heartlurch]

if u had to define it, what is it that u try most to bring out or represent in what u make, both aesthetically and narratively? I get a lot of the feeling if weird childhood feelings intersecting with like, adult feelings we don't quite understand yet- a kind of innocent puppy love that leads to a very sado-masochistic but equally innocent frame of mind. the idea that you want someone to be completely part of you, in every sense, in the most innocent- but not necessarily nice- way possible. like, when you're little, anything makes sense because nothing makes sense. (and also something something the inherent closeness of siblings...)

A real thinker. Hmm, how do I word this...

Aesthetically, I've always been drawn to 'cute' things. Little anime mascots, pretty creatures with bright eyes and long flowing hair. I'm inspired by things like Hamtaro, early Pokemon/Neopets design sense, a couple aspects of Digimon... My Little Pony! All things that have been dear to me since I was a lil kid. :3

I was also an edgy kid, though, so the kind of narratives I was inclined towards making were full of, er, murder, kidnapping, rape, slavery, cannibalism, torture... debauchery. Le weird age gap relationships, le interspecies, le forbidden love. (Funnily enough, I was late to the game with incest, it didn't really 'click' until I was about 17...) But yes, sado-maso, that was the core fixation. I wanted to see raw emotions! Misery! Scary situations! Dire romances!! And, I wanted all of these things to be inflicted to the pokemon, the my little ponies. I wanted to see those designs, that I was so attracted to, be put through this. Being honest, I don't think it was about contrasting something from my 'childhood' with something 'adult'... Well ah, real animals experience violence, death, rape, subjugation... *taps chin* I'm not sure if it feels like an 'adult' concept, because it's not as if it's exclusive to adults... Anything can experience intense circumstance, right? At that point, it's a matter of wanting to apply a sense of 'reality' to these creatures... Beyond that, it's also as simple as mashing up my favorite things together in a big pile. At that point, it's just incidental I wasn't like, idk, into detective dramas and putting the pokemon in that. (Not to nitpick too much... I'm just reflecting on my perspective. I'll circle back to this.)

Anyhoo... His little pea was thinking of such things at age like, 8, or something. Though I think I was closer to 11-13 when I was trying to actually write and draw these thoughts. None of this is so unique really; you can find tons of dA galleries from kids who want to see pikachu be fucked up and evil. As a result, I didn't feel like I was weird for what was doing, tbh. If anything, discovering fanfic dot net and dA made me feel validated — lots of people want to see this stuff! It was euphoric for a moment. Ah, so lots of people think like me... Cool!

I was mostly self-conscious at my own feeble skills. I'd have in my mind all these complex, winding narratives... Envisioning demon rituals where a kid needs to crush a live mouse between his teeth, swallow it whole, to complete it — but I couldn't remotely illustrate my thoughts. I'd barely be able to make some chicken scratch scribble of the design, and it'd be some feeble chibi lol. I felt a dissonance between my art and my desires. And it felt incompetent of me...

(You wouldn't know this girlie is a despondent sex slave, would you-??)

How do I improve drawing things that are pretty, cute, and appealing to me... but also, how do I create atmosphere? How do I convey all they are going through? This is where it's difficult, because there's not much to teach you how to... draw your cutesy little critter, writhing in agony. Expressive faces and posing are such a hill to conquer. And then beyond that, I have to realize there's other art that inspires me... I really love moeblob anime girls! Frilly shoujo styles! Expressive toons and furries... The simplicity of something like Adventure Time. What do I take away from these things? How do I integrate them-? I was honestly so clueless about it for years. Kind of at a loss of how to convey everything.

By now, I realize I want things to be mm... fluid, fantastical, a bit boneless... But not TOO boneless, it needs to be! Grounded! It needs volume, weight, I don't want things to get too loose, too flat, too 'shapes'. There's a lot of beauty to organic form... Grit to the living body. I want to imbue my favorite designs with that! A mascot is often designed with no intention to see it twist, flex, roll around, writhe... I want to look at a design like pichu and give it muscle and organs. It has a skeletal structure! It breathes! It exists. With all the dreamy, unreal smoothness of a real mouse. :3

Beyond that, I had much to hone about what I value in narratives. Getting it down to a science... What do I really want? At first, I think I over-emphasized wanting 'bad things' to happen. Harm happened, but too much for the sake of it. There was not enough meaning behind it. What imbues it with meaning...? I've found that the answer is: characters being obsessively, madly in love. A love that consumes everything, a love that drives you to act in a way you can't understand. This is where you get into the 'want to be completely intertwined, want all of you, no matter what '. That mentality. The kidnapping should happen because of love! The cannibalism should happen because of love! The rape should happen because of love! Love, love, love. It's always out of love! Love is the only thing that matters.

As for your bit about "adult feelings we don't quite understand yet", I do ponder this sort of thing quite a lot. I feel like... a lot of your experience as a child is that people underestimate what you are capable of. It's kind of frustrating! You see how children are depicted in things... and it makes you feel microaggressed, almost, haha. I'm not so gormless... I have an inner world, I have desires. One can develop an arrogance about this even... I think kids are pretty arrogant, often. Since they know they're being underestimated?

But... you... don't know everything yet! You can be in over your head. That's the tricky thing; there's a lot you haven't experienced before and cannot put to words yet. There are feelings that you have, that you chase, but you don't even know why. Sometimes it's fully unconscious... or sometimes, you're half-aware of it, but you struggle to confront it. Maybe you'll let yourself 'get away' with what you're doing, by not looking at it head on... Ah, and then, I think about all the memories I have of being pointlessly scared or confused about something that was so simple in reality. There are so many anecdotes people share from childhood that I really dwell on. An innocuous post like this really sums up how you can have a very inexplicable but real fear, that gets overturned by something very arbitrary. DON'T YOU HAVE A 100 MEMORIES LIKE THIS...?? It's the comical aspect of it all.

I really like the respective 'flavors' of specific ages as well. So it's fun to get into the head of a 15 yo, a 13 yo, a 12 yo, a 9yo, a 6yo... And the intersection of different personalities and ages! What about a distinctly 'slow' or immature kid, paired with someone younger yet more mature? Or perfectly on their level? Or... [goes on and on...] How do they encourage one another, who instigates what, what do they incidentally stumble into? I love accidents. I love not planning to do something... not intending to do anything more than an innocuous game. Or a mish-mash of, one of you is more clueless, the other knows they're doing something underhanded... Indeed, it's not always nice. It's often selfish. Love makes you selfish, love makes you impulsive and reckless. But it also makes you covet, find things precious. You end up feeling protective, as much as you feel destructive. How contradictory it all is!! Hehe. As you can probably tell, by now, I could spend all day thinking about this stuff...

Now that I have my ultimate best friend forever and ever, my wifey, it's all I want to think about. :3 I feel like being with her specifically, is what helped me fully understand the appeal of sibling characters. I've kind of dabbled in it before but, it's really being with Avvy that makes me crave the fantasy of wanting to be born together, grow up together... Never be apart. We're inseparable and spend every second with one another, so it's very natural to translate our dynamic into something like the Yugi twins. How warm and cozy! Let's play forever!

Bit of a tangent, but it's all relevant, I promise.

So hm... going over my art journey and all... As an adult, I've reached a point where I can reflect on everything I've been drawn to, and why, and I can understand what I want to make of it all. I felt more aimless before, and helpless about how to make everything harmonize. It all kind of felt like a big soup of disparate things I was trying to mash together, with mixed results. Now I feel more exact. And I can reflect on my own experiences and memories and use that to connect and explore characters. I like this... it's like my entire life becomes a reference point, something to pull from. A moment, a feeling, a tactile experience... It can be plucked and made into art. Which is lovely. At this point, it makes me a little excited when I experience stressful things, because it can be something I use later. Physical illness is fodder for a sickly character. When I'm bedridden and my wife is bringing me water, it's like some weird kinnie euphoria lol. My twin is here for meeee... kaff kaff

I keep trying to think of how to succinctly summarize this all... Maybe I can't. The last thing I want to say is I put a lot of reverence in my personal art, now. And I'm pretty severe about this, I don't want to draw something out of any other reason than adoration. It needs to matter to me. I have to love it. A lot of my old art is embarrassing, but as long as I was trying my best, it's not so bad. The stuff I truly hate was when I faffed off and drew some meaningless meme, just cuz my friends were doing it. And drawing things purposefully ugly. Making fun of my interests, out of shame, or something... I resent this. I won't ever do this again! If I draw Tsukasa... I need to make sure I'm conveying how I love him and how he is beautiful! At most, if I'm drawing something silly, it still needs to be cute. Appealing. A silly little comic. It's no fun of me, I know, but I hate meme-y art as a result. Useless to me. It's easy to be irreverent. Try praying to something next time you draw, if you want a challenge... *insane person voice*

Something something... oh, the reason I feel 'weird' and 'crazy' nowadays, is because I think a lot of people outgrow the edgelord, drawing pikachu crying blood phase. Or, it developed into something more... *squints* 'respectable'...? But I feel as though my raw desires haven't changed. If anything, I'm leaning into it allharder into it than I ever did when I was young.

I hope any of this was interesting. 🙇‍♀️

#asks #under the cut bc too much waxing

[klonoadreams]

Quick question but have you seen the picture of Arven down at Sada’s lab? Cuz when I first found it in game I legit just sobbed because I felt so bad for Arven.. also if it isn’t spoilery, could you give ur thoughts on the Professors?

Since I have now finished the main story and it's been an entire month (i'll still tag it as spoilers), I can go all out here.

I saw it - IN FACT, when I first went into the lab where you first met Arven, I was looking around, and noticed there was a photo frame that was empty there, I was like, "HELLO????"

And later on, when I went back to the lab in Area Zero to check out everything else, I noticed the picture of Arven and Maschiff there and I just about went, "OH NOOOOOO"

LIKE, THAT'S SO FUCKING SAD.

That's all Sada (since I had Scarlet) had to keep her motivated since she was focusing so much on her work, LIKE...the way she said she needed more time, that she couldn't focus on her work and also keep an eye on Arven. Not to mention, the Koraidon she had in her possession sometime before Arven's birth. AND THEN HER HUSBAND JUST LEFT HER. LIKE....bro, what the hell. (just reverse everything in Violet so you can apply it to Turo - and it's still the same situation)

Nothing really excuses Sada/Turo from neglecting Arven, but it certainly does explain the circumstances that led to this, especially when you have the system in place to prevent the time machine from being shut down. Like, of course the AI would see more logic instead of letting emotions control them as Sada/Turo have, given their circumstances and (possible) desperation.

I truly believe it was only until after they protected the passive Koraidon/Miraidon from the aggressive one and took a mortal wound from it to realize that they made such a serious mistake. But by then, it's already too late. Nothing can be done about it, because they're dying.

So the AI is left with the aftermath, since by this point, they have their own sentience that leaves them conflicted. Again, the AI sees things more logically, and Sada/Turo's first personal experience with Koraidon/Miraidon was with one that was docile and smaller (when you compare it to the more aggressive one).

My personal headcanon at this point that is starting to ring more and more truth is that the Koraidon/Miraidon first caught was a baby, which allowed it to effectively get domesticated without any issues. Like a feral kitten having an easier time getting socialized, versus a feral adult cat.

Honestly, I just think it's tragic, because Arven is left with the entire burden of dealing with all this, without any way of getting full closure, beyond finding out that yes, his parents did in fact love them. They were absolute idiots and their parenting was terrible, but that doesn't change the fact that they loved him.

And if they had the chance, they would've gone back to him, but they can't. They're dead. He's alive - this is what he'll have to deal with the rest of his life. Things happen, I'm sure Arven is just relieved to know that he wasn't hated despite it all. But obviously, he's going to need a lot of support and therapy (like the rest of us, GOD DAMN).

Anyways, Arven deserves better, I still want to fight Sada/Turo, but I don't outright hate them. I genuinely like the angle the story went with, because you don't HAVE to be evil to do shit like that. Sometimes, things happen, and it just sucks.

But at least Arven isn't alone, and we were able to help out his Mabosstiff. And honestly, I'm good with that in the grand scheme of things (in terms of the experience I had with Scarlet).

(keep in mind Black and White is still my favorite game, and N Harmonia is my first crush, so I already know what the other end of terrible parenting and hatred looks like, and that's Ghetsis)

(I am honestly glad that despite the similarities, Arven doesn't have the exact same backstory as N)

#ask #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet spoilers #pokemon scarlet and violet #sada #turo #arven #i am an absolute mess like arven deserves better #but what's done is done #all we can do is be there for him #and also write aus #but otherwise just give arven a hug and therapy god damn

[a-la-campanella]

Dreaming of Garbage

AKA misc. Tatalov lore dump lol

It's a little late now to be making an analysis post on the Sweet Dreams "Penacony "The Great Tatalov" video, but who cares? I'm still working an Interstellar Journey post and that video has been out for even longer.

The video, for the most part, alternates between two speakers: Shatana and Himeko. Shatana, of course, is Natasha (they share voice actors, and Shatana is an outright anagram of Natasha). Of the two, Shatana is the only one who actually mentions Tatalov outright. Himeko's voicelines can be read as entirely unrelated to the whole Tatalov plotline going on, so for the purposes of this post, I'm ignoring what she has to say.

Most players won't remember this, but the first mention of Tatalov actually occurred as far back as 1.0 through interacting with a trash can in Boulder Town. (Thanks to u/merofsilence for pointing it out, I didn't catch that!) The dialogue is about the defeat of Garbage King Tatalov, by the hands of a younger trash can.

I... highly doubt these roles are fulfilled by Sampo and the Trailblazer, mostly because even in dreams we'd be able to sus out that Sampo wouldn't talk like that, but I digress; it's a dream at the end of the day. (I also have my doubts about the big trash can that Sampo fights being Tatalov, but that's more likely.) Though I do think this will be the same end we see for Tatalov when we arrive in Penacony, though.

The scenes with garbage or those taking place in Belabog are from the Tatalov dream; everything else is from Penacony, or a dream-like version of the planet. One of the inspirations for Penacony seems to have been Inception, a movie about dreams within dreams; so there are layers to these dreams, right? Reality is Penacony as it truly is/the hotel, and the first level of the dream is where all the fun parts of Penacony are. This makes Tatalov's story in a later level.

I imagine that part of the Penacony story (minus the details of interactions with other characters and actual larger-scale conflict) will go something like this:

The Astral Express crew checks into the hotel on the planet and then gets escorted to their respective rooms to enter the dreaming state. After arriving at their rooms, everyone starts to sleep.

We encounter Firefly in the first level of the dream. The photos with Firefly? She's just showing us around. Seems to have been some kind of conflict we're protecting her from and a secret she's hiding from us, too.

Enter the next dream? Or we enter that dream later.

The Trailblazer's dream brings them back to a Belabog populated by Trash Cans (hence the setting being Belabog), where we reunite with our beloved trash and the Big Bad Sampo.

We meet Shatana, played by Natasha, and she begs us for our help to rise up against Tatalov, who regardless of if he is or isn't represented by Sampo, is the Great Evil we must defeat to save the trash.

She tells us, "since that thing from beyond the sky arrived here along with the Eternal Freeze, Tatalov's eyes have been blinded." The thing from beyond the sky is, perhaps, meant to be the Stellaron, and it turned Tatalov into a poor ruler (maybe a reference to Cocolia?). "We must force the Garbage King to mend his ways under the banner of Skyfire" is just fighting back against Tatalov. Skyfire is a curse we can apply on enemies from Foxian Tales of the Haunted to make them explode, dealing Fire DMG... so probably a reference to that, and a nod towards Preservation Trailblazer. If Skyfire here is meant to mean anything else, then my guess is as good as yours.

Firefly might be sharing this dream with us? We do seem to share the dream with her when exploring Penacony (re: speculation that she exists only in a dream), and there was a trash can next to us when we got bombed, followed by Firefly's comment of "what kind of nonsense is this?" Our dream is too much for her, whoops.

I have no fucking clue who Sampo is talking about when he says "Follow me, you two." Like, one of the two people is probably the Trailblazer, but I'm skeptical to assume the second person could be Shatana... so who knows. Maybe Firefly? Anyways, he appears at some point to get in our way and terrorize the trash cans. What a cruel, evil man...

Success(?) and defeat of Tatlov to follow. The dream might end there, or we might enter a new dream, who knows.

As all this is happening, everyone else is down to business and battle and whatever is going down apparently involves whales. Based off the rough timeline from White Night, this would be during the dreaming time.

It's an absurd story we've dreamt up, but given how fleshed out some of the details are and the full on movie poster at the end of the video, it's likely a story we've been thinking about for a while. Trailblazer's Main Character arc to save the Trash Cans!

Parts I wasn't sure where to fit in timeline-wise:

So a massive Sampo throwing us into to Penacony? That happened, I guess. It could be a dream or it could some Alice In Wonderland mushrooms shit, since there was a massive March at some point too, though that was in a dream, I think...

We may have crashed in front of Robin and Sunday after we were tossed down. The ground from the crater looks similar to the ground in the photos.

There's also a normal-sized "Sampo" (he seems to be manipulated by Sparkle, what with the koi fish flying out of the way to reveal him with glowing eyes) who puts us to sleep at some point outside of the Tatalov dream, perhaps to force us back into that dream.

The part with green framing? I guess that's Sam's POV since the green is similar to his wings. And Acheron teams up with Black Swan and the Trailblazer to fight Sam... why is Black Swan fighting. Does she have something personal against the Stellaron Hunters? She's literally a meme, what the fuck. This is before Acheron has drawn her sword, so this is a different point in time than the one shown in White Night.

There's a quick sequence that doesn't really mean a lot yet; some bubbles, the... watch thingy or whatever floating in Penacony (I didn't pay attention during the livestream, no clue what its called), and some ID cards or some shit. I can't make out the letters well enough to translate them to English but it's at 1:04 for anyone interested.

#honkai: star rail #hsr #recall and retrieve #building an accelerated tree #trailblazer #tatalov #sampo koski is back! even if it's just a dream! #watched inception last week for this lol #it is. a christopher nolan movie alright #the movie is fine but #I think he could benefit a lot from giving female characters a personality #he'd write better females characters if he just made them all male first then genderbent some later... </3

[imherongraystairstrash]

Back with a fic I didn’t proof read! Also, I’m posting this on my phone and I can’t work the app half as well as I can the site, so sorry for that.

Knots- sophideon

“By the Angel, Soph! You’re murdering me!”

“Oh hush, now.” Sophie said to her husband, digging an elbow into his back. She had the sleeves of her nightgown rolled up and was sitting on the small of Gideon’s back trying to release a monstrous knot in between his left shoulder blade and his spine.

She winced as she tried to release the tension, pushing all of her weight forward. Beneath her, Gideon groaned in pain.

“How did you survive with this?” She panted.

“Trust me, it was easier than going through this.” Gideon said, lifting his head to look at her.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him back onto the pillow. Sophie kneaded at the muscle until it finally started loosening up.

“Almost there!” She exclaimed.

Gideon didn’t answer. The thought of having accidentally murdered him due to pain exposure crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it once her remembered that her husband was beyond dramatic when he wished to be.

Sophie rubbed the muscle until the knot was finally gone and sat back in relief.

“It’s done. How does it feel?”

Gideon didn’t move his head from the pillow. “I can’t feel my back.” He said.

Sophie huffed and leaned down so that her head was leveled with his. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. She could see his dimples appear on his cheek.

“All better now?” She asked.

She felt him put his hands on either side of her hips. He lifted her just enough for him to turn on his back from under her.

“I supposed it may have been worth the torture.”

Sophie shook her head, “You’ll thank me properly tomorrow, Gideon Lightwood, once you see how easy it is to wield a broadsword.”

Gideon grinned, and lowered her to his chest. “Now it’s my turn to expel the evil knots of your back.”

Sophie got comfortable against his chest. She could hear his heart beating against her cheek. “If you think you can get rid of them adequately from this position, be my guest.”

She shut her eyes as she felt his careful hands roam across her back, searching for points of tension. It felt nice, except when he found a particularly large one, that sent sparks through her body when he applied pressure to it. Despite that, it was nowhere near as large as some of Gideon’s were. After a couple of minutes of searching, he huffed.

“You hardly have any! How is that possible?”

“Probably because I stretch better than you do.” Sophie said, just to tease him.

“No, you don’t.”

Sophie lifted her head and propped her chin on his chest so that she could see him clearly. “We both know I do. Though, I don’t suppose you can help it, men are simply careless in nature.”

Gideon gave her a leveled stare. “Now you’re insulting my entire gender?”

Sophie shrugged with a smug smile.

“Well, no matter how well you stretch, you train too much to not have any more.”

Sophie shrugged until she remembered. “Oh, I have a huge one on my right calf! I could hardly run yesterday.”

Gideon winced. “That’s the worst spot to have them.”

Sophie pushed his shoulder. “Don’t say that!”

“What? It’s the truth! They’re the most painful to release.”

“You should’ve just lied to me. Now I don’t want you to go anywhere near my calves.”

“And deceive you? I would never. But that’s beside the point; you’re stalling.” He said, sitting up.

…

A couple of minutes later, Sophie was on her back, laying in between Gideon’s legs. He was searching her calf for signs of the infamous knot she claimed to have. As she waited, she turned her head to the side looking at Gideon’s socked foot. She lifted her right hand, and put it on top of it. Gideon looked up at her, eyebrows furrowed, but she ignored him as she arched and flexed his foot for fun.

After that lost its appeal, she softly ran her fingernails on the sole of his foot. It twitched and Sophie bit her lip as she did it again.

“Stop doing that.” Gideon said.

Sophie answered by brushing her nails down the sole of his foot again. Before she reached the edge of the arch of said foot, it pulled away and nudged her on the cheek, turning her head to the side.

Sophie laughed. “That was rude.”

Gideon was looking down at her legs, but he smiled in amusement.

Sophie scrunched her nose as he found it. “Oh yes, that’s the one.”

His eyes widened. Sophie propped herself up on her elbows. “What is that face supposed to mean?”

Gideon looked at her. “It means this might hurt.”

Sophie sighed and lowered herself back on the bed. Suddenly, she gasped at the inexplicable pain coming from her calf.

“I take it back, it doesn’t bother me that much.” Sophie said quickly. “You can stop now!”

Gideon shook his head. “You can’t live with this.”

“Yes, I can. I can hardly feel it.” Sophie said, breathlessly.

Gideon stopped temporarily. “It’ll be over soon, darling.”

Sophie crossed her arms. “Don’t you ‘darling’ me. If I was truly darling to you, you wouldn’t be doing this to me.”

Gideon gave her an apologetic look before going back to kneading the ball of tension.

Traitor, Sophie thought venomously. The worst part was that she could see his wedding rune from here, as if it were taunting her. She stuck her tongue out at it. Gideon looked up, thinking that was for him and raised an eyebrow at her. Sophie decided to stick her tongue out at him too, because he deserved it. Gideon responded by digging his knuckles into the knot.

“You bastard,” Sophie gasped.

Gideon only laughed.

…

Only a short while later, they were under the bed covers, wrapped in each other’s arms. Despite Sophie’s previous protests, she was quite relieved to have that knot expelled. She tested her leg now, flexing and pointing her foot, and awed at how nice it felt. It felt even better than it had before the knot, though that could just be her mind talking.

She sighed, and looked up at Gideon. “I’m sorry I called you a bastard.”

Gideon looked down at her with his eyebrows drawn. “I don’t know if I can forgive you. You hurt my feelings terribly.”

Sophie huffed a laugh and pressed her lips to his. “Your sense of humor is drier than crackers. I’m the only fool who laughs.”

“It’s a good thing you’re the only fool that matters, then.” Gideon replied.

…

Tagging: @tsccreatorsnet  @atla-lok143  @rinadragomir  @youngreckless  @autumnangel20  @julemmaes @cupcakesandkittens  @no-scones-allowed  @ninacarstairss  @stxr-thxif   @icouldnotask @jordeliasupremacy  @cordelia-cardale  @will-effing-herondale  @axoloteca @heronstairs2014 @ilovemanicures @ti-bae-rius @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @readersconfessions812 @nightshade3465 @livvyheronstairs @zemiraa @proudtobealuthor @neurogliadudette @theenchanteddreamer @cheeseandmacarons @shadowhunting-hoolingans @writeordie-4 @amchara @myangelbach @livingformyself @dancing-under-the-moon @julescarstairs @wouldyouknowmeblind @grace-lightwoodd @livingformyself @ilikebooksandtvshows

#tsc #tsc fanfic #sophie collins #sophie lightwood #gideon lightwood #sophie and Gideon #tid #the infernal devices #imherongraystairstrash fics

[mejomonster]

Not to shame them because I think it's hilarious as all fuck, but it sure is peculiar how the Two of them like to swing between caretaker/brat and flirting competition. It's like they just slide to the other one when a fight in the initial one isn't going the way they want. Fei Du becoming a love option didn't actually stop the fighting it just made it even more awkward. It's a little hilarious it is. It's also a bit of why they have this Really particular relationship flavor. They're not lovers yet, but they're SO fucking emotionally close it's absurd. They're almost lovers but they are SO emotionally close it's a Huge Shift to just flip into casual flirtations when you both have each other's lives memorized already and have embarrassed yourselves worse in front of each other than anyone else.

The way it goes from Luo Wenzhou admiting he knows fei du is investigating and has for years, to Fei Du using the excuse of flirtation to block the sudden exposure about his actions, to needing to attack using the Luo-as-caretaker angle insisting Luo Wenzhou even checked his grades growing up. In the span of 1 minute they covered "suspicious of each other" almost opponents, sexual pursuit, and caretaking familial level intimacy. And that's just... them all the time. (It reminds me of Word of Honor throwing in the shidi dynamic except this one is in the novel itself and baked through into everything, meanwhile the investigating opponents reminds me of Death Note and Beyond Evil and Flower of Evil and I love that).

I'm screaming rhis is so good!!!! Luo Wenzhou saying first I'm hot, second don't hit on me til you drink your milk (again combining that parental Do What I Say shit with their Antagonistic opponent shit - you aren't UP for my level to win me - combined with I am a FINE catch of a man you Should want me). Like ALL their interactions reside in this grey zone of all 3 and its wild! It's interesting! It's a dynamic I just cannot get in another novel. I simply cannot go out and find 4 other stories that fulfill this particular relationship dynamic. It's fascinating to watch!

And lmao Fei Du that competitive opponent (wants TO WIN LUO WENZHOU so he can Be Good Enough/better than him), combines with the romantic intrigue (he can challenge me ohoho I like a challenge), and the caretaker/brat dynamic of (he said I CANT pursue him and to take care of myself well FUCK HIM I'm GOING TO FUCK HIM IM GONNA MAKE HIM EAT HIS WORDS WHILE I XXX). FEI DU you LITERALLY ARE JUMPING OFF THIS CLIFF YOURSELF. In a year when you're in a steady relationship with Luo "bastard" wenzhou cuddled up in bed just you remember you DECIDED to go and flirt some more. That you wanted to sleep with him and make him fall for you. That you got a warning and were still like FUCK WHAT THE OLD MAN SAYS I CAN TOO SEDUCE HIM IM GONNA MAKE HIM MINE. Then fei du sitting a year later in bed blinking dully: I sure did... make him mine... fuck I'm never gonna live it down I'm a SAP

Quote:

“Stop talking nonsense. When your dad had his accident, you were still in school, though your studies were sloppy and brainless enough—why weren’t you willing to trust that ‘reliable’ team then, sit back and collect your annual dividends like a well-behaved shareholder?”

Fei Du looked up and met Luo Wenzhou’s eyes in the rearview mirror; his gaze was deep, with a frank and familiar severity.

“You didn’t take on your dad’s company for the money. You were investigating him,” Luo Wenzhou said positively. “According to this inference, you applying to Yan Security Uni now has the same aim. What is it for— or rather, who is it for?”

“Maybe it’s to hit on you?” Fei Du said without turning a hair. “Perhaps my taste has suddenly changed, and I’ve started to salivate for Captain Luo’s type of…hm…deadly serious dark horse charm?”

Not a single straightforward word ever came out of this bastard’s mouth; it was all circles and obfuscation.

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping invasively over Luo Wenzhou’s straight nose bridge and slightly sharp lips, seeming ready to kiss him at any moment. With a trace of a nasal drawl, he gently asked, “How do you know my studies were sloppy, Captain Luo? Aside from secretly sending gifts, were you also concerned about my report cards?”

Luo Wenzhou: “…”

He let a breath out through his nose, unlocked the car, and under the attentive, ambiguous gaze of this bit of goods, without any warning, he reached out and grabbed the collar of President Fei’s thoughtfully arranged shirt, spoiling his large-tailed wolf’s posture.

“First,” Luo Wenzhou said sternly, “my good looks have always received wide social approval from the masses. They belong to a classic, timeless style of male beauty. If you think that I’m a dark horse, that only goes to show that you haven’t studied enough and are ignorant and ill-informed.

“Second.” His gaze swept over Fei Du’s arm in its cast, looking like the sight was a little too tragic to behold. “Darling, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone bold enough to talk as big as you do. You want to hit on me in your condition? You’d be better off hitting the milk and building up some calcium first, President Fei!”

Then he pointed to the car door and said to Fei Du, “Get out.”

President Fei had been invariably victorious in all forms of flirtation. Meeting for the first time with such a rude rebuff, he felt it was very novel. Shooed out of the car by Luo Wenzhou in his disabled state, he watched Luo Wenzhou’s back with a look that said he was itching to have a go; but for the moment he laid down his arms, closed his mouth, and followed him to the memorial hall.

#silent reading #lb #meta #like. fei du this bitch really LEANS forward like hes gonns trap luo wenzhou in a kiss #then says aww you kept track of my grades daddy #shut the fuck up fei du ToT #i think theyre going to unintentionally give themselves jusy a host of kinks they cant mentiln to tao ran #im like half joking but. thejr grey zone they cutrently occupy has many awkwaed zones and theyre #VALIANTLY crossing all the vague zones over and over

[caustic-light]

@iwormynation​ New post so I’m not burdening my followers with wall of text. Old post.

I want you to imagine a machine that can take thoughts from your head and make them into any medium of art instantly and perfectly. There will still be a learning process, because to construct a piece of art is a skill that you learn. This machine that takes away all the hassle of learning how to use any medium still only makes what you tell it to do exactly as you want it to. You still have to learn composition, shapes, colors, design, all the stuff that makes a piece as it is. And I really don’t mean this in in a gatekeeper way of “you youglings are too lazy to learn the real way” I mean this in a way where learning all of that allows you to make choices. And the more you learn, the more choices you have, the more intentionally you can use them, the more easily you can know exactly what you’re going for and how to make art do exactly that. The more easily you can also experiment and screw around.

An AI cuts that part out. Yes, I can absolutely concede that there is a learning curve and skillset in knowing how to use the prompts for which effects. There is a lot of mediums that take away control from you at some point. You can pour resin, but once it cures that’s kind of it. You lost the chance to make a lot of changes. But isn’t it miserable to be as limited as working with an AI is? Isn’t that a miserable way to make art? From everything I know and everything you have told me in this conversation, I can not imagine a medium for self expression that is shittier to work with.

So you made this with AI:

oil painting of an evil princess, ornate lavender and pink details, fantasy, intricate, elegant, whimsical, highly detailed brushstrokes, digital painting, artstation, dnd concept art, smooth, sharp focus, illustration, art by alphonse mucha". Her hair piece totally looks like an eye, and it's a very fitting character design "choice" for an evil princess, but there's nothing about that in the prompt. 

Lemme ask you, which prompt of this decided to make certain parts more blurry than others? Which part chose the yellow border to compliment the purples? Which part made the pose, the composition? Why are so many of the prompts arguably the opposite from what you got? Sharp focus? This is blurry. Whimsical? Where? Detailed brushstrokes? Which brush strokes? There are no brush strokes.

This is all stuff the AI did based not on any artistic vision, but on averaging out elements of other art in a way that is absolutely incomprehensible to any human operator. This is not stuff you had the ability to make decisions on. How is your artistic expression in this when the medium took all the choices away from you, treated your instructions as rough guidelines, free to be ignored, when you did nothing between the basic idea and receiving the finished work?

This is not me saying “It’s cheap, it’s effortless, so it’s bad.” I don’t actually care how good it is. I care that it’s not possibly a representation of your own artistic intent, because it was generated without giving you any kind of peripheral to apply your artistic intent in terms of the choices that arise during creation. Maybe your ambitions are so low that you’re okay with that and you don’t mind having no artistic input beyond lose prompts and a “do that part again” afterwards. But if that is the case why go all that length to defend the artistic integrity of AI art?

You said all you care about is having an end product. Why bother with artistic integrity, why insist that this is your artistic vision and that AI allows so many people to create art and put their own vision into reality when all that matters is that it makes content for you? Why treat it as a revolutionary way to create art when it’s absolute shit as a peripheral to create art for anyone who demands more creative control over their own expression than prompts and redos?

It’s absolutely something that can be used in an artful way. And if it wasn’t trained on stolen art I would adore the possibilities it gives to artists. To make art more accessible. Every single art program has a shoelaces brush you can download because someone got sick of drawing shoelaces. Plenty of artists would love to be able to say “put a McDonalds in the background, so I don’t have to do it myself.” Plenty of artists would love to fuck around with it and treat it as a challenge. To see how much intent you can manage to get out of it. Or to see how AI generated images can be used in larger contexts. There is so much application here.

But to treat it as something that makes creating art easier and more accessible? No. That is not something it does. It makes generating images more accessible. If you want to use it to express yourself, it’s frankly just a shitty way to do so. You can put in a prompt and get something cool out and say “this is nice” but you didn’t make that. It’s not collaborative past the basic idea. You did not have any chance to bring yourself into it. And if you do want that you have to fight against your peripheral. Which, that is something a lot of peripherals also kind of do. Every physical medium especially has shit to deal with. But for a digital tool to be designed in such a way by human hands and to this kind of extend, that’s just bullshit. Why would you put up with that if you have any artistic ambition? How do you feel satisfied by the artistic expression of putting in prompts and getting an image loosely related to them that ignored and disregarded half of them?

[popculturebuffet]

Quick Thoughts: Scott Adams Does It Again, More Removals, ReBoot and Halloween Schedule

Hello all you happy ghouls and goblins. It's almost spooky season so that means it's time for the most haunting thing of all.. an old man yelling at the world in a comic strip. Also my halloween schedule

Halloween Schedule:

I've decided to shift in how I reveal my review schedule. I used to keep it on the blog but the combination of how long it takes to edit when this has to change frequently (as I don't book most comission slots in advance), and the fact Tumblr has made it so hard to access that even Kev, my most loyal reader, barely uses it, i'm just going to put them out here every month. As always schedule slippage and what not may apply.

October: 10/2: Garfield's Halloween Monthly Muppets: Muppets Haunted Mansion The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals 10/9: Watchmen: Two Riders Approaching Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes The Owl House: Thanks to Them 10/16: More Than Meets The Eye #2 Paranorman Mission HIll: One Bang for Two Brothers 10/23: Evil Dead 2: Beyond Dead by Dawn Emma Patreon Scooby Doo Poll Winner!

As you can see this year's halloween is less focused but as a result is giving you more spooky goodness for your buck with an all time classic halloween special, the start of a look at the spooktacular hatchetfield series (moved up to concide with Starkid's ongoing campign to hopefully drum up some numbers for stretch goals), more Evil Dead as we take a look at two of Ash's comics, the LONG delayed fan voted on look at paranorman and another poll this time for SCOOBY DOOBY DOO! I watched every movie with my good friend @jess-the-vampire and now you fine folks get to pick from the ones my patreons and jess pick out for you. Poll will be forthcoming.

In non horror news, we have the begining of the end for Owl House, my annual look at mission hill for the keviversary, and more transformers and watchmen. Pretty spooky huh folks?

Scott Adams VS the Environment

So yeah for those who didn't know, and i'm sad to inform you, Scott Adams who created the comic strip Dilbert and highly influenced a medium I love, comic strips.. ended up becoming, or maybe always was and just got more obvious with it in the trump era right wing maga loving douchecanoe. I already disowned him and got rid of all my dilbert when previously the man tried to use a school shooting to promote his side hustle. It's very sad to me a strip I genuinely used to love is now dead to me because it's creator is such a dick.

That being said I can still get some laughs from his behaviors as this morning I read an article. Apparently in recent dilbert strips Scotty talked about ESG's, essentially a way to get corporations to stop being captain planet villians and start being captain planet. Understadanbly being rightwing talking points given shape, form and a popular comic strip, Scott Adams thinks this is stupid and ranted about it in his comic strip

Yeah not only is that as far as I can tell not how they work, and an unfunny shot at necessary diversity, but the second strip is just baffling. Apparently Scott introduced a black man who identifies as white, which is not only very much not a thing, but also clearly designed with the same good faith arguging as my dad saying he could marry his cat if gay marriage passed. It's dumb

But the article, which I highly recommend, shows it SOMEHOW gets dumber. Yest shooting himself in the foot on gay sterotyping, gender queer sterotyping, trans sterotyping and just plain being a decent human wasn't enough. No he also encourages employees to send their employers these strips. The article even mentions wanting to see that because it'd be geninely funnier than either of these

I have my own two cents: Since when has ANY boss ever listened to a dilbert strip. Scott himself pre going off a cliff while yelling MAGA!, menteioned in a collection how bosses would ask employees to take strips down. Big Corpos aren't going to listen to the right thing for GOOD reasons. WHy would they listen to their employees? "Oh wow the guy who draws dilbert is mad at us better get rid of these tax breaks for doing the bare minimum of basic human decency so we don't offend the mighty Scott Adams"

Scott Adams fall is just.. pathetic at this stage. It's shame he's sunk this low but boy is it fun to watch

HBO Max and Netflix remove shows

Whelp SOMEHOW HBO Max isn't done, as it's removing both Tigtone and Lazer Wulf. Both shows I hadn't seen and really wasn't intrested in, but both shows that don't deserve this. It appears nothing is safe. The only possibly GOOD news is that CN shows are popping up on hulu as of late, meaning we MIGHT see some of the abandoned shows pop up elsewhere and they MIGHT be pivoting from Tax Writeoff to just selling their ip's for parts, which isn't GREAT, but it's still better as it least it means Close Enough might land eleswhere along with everything else they threw away.

Netflix is also getting in on it, removing one their first originals and a show I forgot existed and will probably again, Hemlock Grove. Hopefully this isn't the same nonsense and this trend dosen't continue. I mean I wouldn't be sad if I couldn't watch Rake the forgotten Will Arnett comedy you didn't know existed about a guy who gives adivce to people, but it's still weird to just throw out content you've already invested in at best and terrible at worst. It's not AS bad as HBO Max because unlike HBO Max netflix might NEED the tax writeoff as it tries to rebalance books and makes incresingly sketchy decisions, but it's still not great and I HOPE other streamers don't pick up on this.

Reboot early thoughts

Finally because this coudln't get any weirder, my thoughts on the recent Hulu sitcom Reboot which aired it's first three episodes this week. Which is a WEIRD model, as you'd think two would be enough.

Reboot is a sitcom starring the wonderful Rachel Bloom of Crazy Ex Girlfriend, a show I haven't watched but do know for it's charming musical numbers. LIke this one!

... why HAVEN'T I watched this through.

Anyways reboot follows Hannah, an indie darling whose latest film has given her the clout to do whatever she wants, so she pitches to Hulu a reboot of the old sitcom step right up about a couple marrying and dealing with both their precious son and the boys father.

So naturally they get everyone else back on board: Reed Sterling, played to pretentious perfectoin by Kegan Micheal Key whose finally found his second wind after a few failed shows post his best friend and former comedy partner becoming one of the greatest horror directors ever, a theater trained actor who left the show in a huff and now returns assured that original series creator Gordon is coming nowhere near it and leaving his equally pretentious girlfriend in new york, Clay Barber, the formerly drugged out mess, now a burnt out barely functioning but entirely jolly and likeable wreck of a man played by Johnny Knoxville being amazingly deadpan, Bree Marie Jensen played by a beautifulyl unhinged judy greer clearly channeling Cheryl, a primia donna actress turned duchess and Reed's ex with the chemistry naturally still being there, and Zack, a goofy awkward former child star who spent the rest of his career in awful teen films for what i'm assuming is disney channel. Naturally he's played by former Disney Channel star Calumn Worthy, who was on the terrible disney sitcom austin and ally which I reviewed. In the review I mentioned this show and that Calumn would likely do better. And I was right he was capable.. and suprised tha the ended up stealing the whole goddman show from a buffet of far more seasoned comedy actors. Don't get me wrong, EVERYONE here is great from Reed's up his own ass smuggery, to Bree frequently mockign reed to Clay freaked out talking about his Zack's mom gave him an orange slice after sex and called him a good boy and telling Zack not to punch him in the nose as "my septum's hanging on by a thread'

It's Calum who steals the show as he talks about "How cool is it we're all adults who have had sex?" has to constantly remind people who is is and awkardly treis to bond with Clay after Clay sleeps with his mom twice. Worthy is game to not only make fun of his own history but be the charming awkward goofus this series needs. Zack tends to have the best lines.

Of course this being hollywood, Gordon naturally comes back and Hannah nearly quits, as does Sterling. He ends up relenting on it as they ALL need this: Sterling hasn't worked a paid gig in a year (and it was for a hemroid commerical), Bree needs the gig as her divorce was under "kettle law" thus meaning she barely got anything, Clay need sit becaues "bad stuff finds me" when he's not working, and Zack needs it because shockingly teen movies don't like actors who need hairplugs playing teens. Weird given Disney hired a 30 year old once to play a 16 year old. Maybe it was a policy change

So they beg Hannah to come back, allowing the cast to maintain some dignity while still getting the money. That's when we get the big twist of episode 1 and the one that realy makes the show: Gordon, played by the legendary Paul Reiser playing peek douchebag, is Hannah's dad from the marriage before the one he based Step Right Up on and is introducing a new child in the pilot as the long lost child of Reed's character/Gordon's Self Insert to retake the story.

So now we get botht he intresting story of a father trying to come to terms with the crap he did while still being a huge old school douche, his daughter trying not to throttle him, and the rest of the crew dealing with all their shit including an inexperinced reality star gordon hires fresh off fuck buddy mountain (which if it wans't a show before this certainly will be now) , Reed and Bree's sexual tension and as I mentioned Clay nailing Zack's mom who creepily attends al lher sons performances. The cast has great chemistry, the jokes are high and this is set to be one of the best comedis of the season. Go check it out. And thanks for reading.

#team starkid #reboot #scott adams #hbo max #netflix #Youtube