#4. the fact that there's a real possibility that he got canonically put in a cartoonish fullbody cast post-springlock incident- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

case-of-traxits · 4 months

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50 Random Character Asks:

Tseng, 1 - 50

You know you had this coming.

50 Random Character Asks: Tseng Edition

I can't even pretend to be surprised here, can I? Well, I got your second ask with your choices as well, so they're in here. 💖

50 questions. Whew. I'll give you guys a sampler on the first one, but the rest are going to be under a cut. This took me SO LONG to do. I've literally been working on it since the 17th! All together, there's 4934 words in this bad boy, excluding the questions.

So uh. Enjoy nearly 5k of meta about Tseng. XD

That said, please keep in mind that all of my answers are specific to how I personally write Tseng. I'm not going to necessarily distinguish every piece of canon from headcanon.

[For this ask game!] || [Still accepting]

1. Canon I outright reject

That Tseng knew Zack was being kept in Nibelheim. For me, it just doesn't work with the rest of Tseng's arc regarding Zack and Aerith and him keeping all of those letters. So. No. Technically, in BC, Tseng is aware that Zack and Cloud are both alive and badly injured, and Hojo orders for him to "prepare the mansion," but never actually says what he's going to be doing there. Tseng sends the Player Turk to clear it out, and then Veld shows up and sends all of the Turks to work on handling the townspeople and everything instead of the mansion. So it's entirely possible that Tseng never knew, according to BC, that Zack and Cloud were placed in those tubes in the basement.

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

Tseng is absolutely capable of slapping Aerith. I realize that they took that out of the Remake, but I just feel like it's critical for his character for you to know that he is absolutely capable of that level of violence, even against someone he cares about.

3. Obscure headcanon

Tseng is the third (and youngest) son of Kisaragi Godo's older brother, who was emperor during the Wutaian War. He was brought up in one of the Leviathan Temples to keep him as an effective (and safe) spare to the throne before he defected to Shinra. His forehead marking is a holdover from his time in the Temple, and he'll never admit to a single soul that sometimes, he feels the guiding hand of destiny (or fate or whatever you want to call it) in his life.

4. Favorite line

"It must have been a real thrill for you… Did you enjoy it?" I think this is everyone's favorite canon line. With the possible exception of the "Mr. President," line from the Remake. That one's pretty damn good, but it requires actual explanation, doesn't it? XD I will say, he also has the canon line of, "I put everyone else at risk because I feared feeling guilty," in BC. Which is... telling.

5. Best personality trait

Tseng's loyalty is easily his best personality trait, in my opinion. We see a lot of it in BC, with his dedication to trying to help and save both Veld and the department, as well as in CC, with his devotion to getting those letters to Zack.

6. Worst personality trait

Tseng's devotion to doing things "correctly" is definitely his worst personality trait. I am firmly of the opinion that this is the thing that's held him back on just killing the President and installing Rufus early. I mean, I have no doubt that there is technically more to it, including the fact that we have no idea what kind of succession clause might have been put in place for Rufus to inherit.

7. Age/height/weight headcanon

Age // Born in 1975, so he is 8 years older than Rufus and Reno, 2 years older than Sephiroth, and 3 years younger than Reeve. Height // I usually go with 5'8", but I'm a little flexible on this. I'll go up to 5'10". He cannot, however, be taller than Rufus for me. Weight // Eh, I don't really do weight HCs.

8. Unpopular opinion about them

Hm... Do I have an unpopular opinion about Tseng..? I don't know that I interact with enough Tseng fans to know. Maybe my insistence on him being fairly easy-going when he isn't at work? I see Tseng as the sort who can go with the flow to some extent, mostly because I don't think he'd work as well with Reno if he wasn't.

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

Oh man, honestly? This might be my unpopular opinion, but his "death" scene in the OG. With Sephiroth. And no, not just because of my ship goggles. But there's just so much implied trust there, at a point where Tseng probably shouldn't trust Sephiroth. He just... He talks to Sephiroth like he's still sane, and Sephiroth cuts him down during it, and then he still drags himself back through the entire Temple of the Ancients to get to the entrance so that he can let AVALANCHE in.

10. Best moment on screen (or in the book)

See above. I just... I love that scene. It's easily his best scene.

11. Faceclaim for the role

Satoh Takeru.

12. Crack headcanon

So, I don't think I have a straight "crack" headcanon for Tseng. I do have some crack-treated-seriously headcanons, including that he doesn't heal well magically (explaining why he spends so much more time in bandages and recovery than basically everyone else), and that if he's not friends with Reeve or in a romantic relationship with a partner who insists otherwise, he would live entirely on takeout. Tseng does not cook, in my opinion. He's perfectly capable, but why? He's spent years curating an extensive collection of takeout menus he considers acceptable food, and he eats exclusively from restaurants that have passed his very exacting standards. Ooh! And this: Tseng drives a small black sportscar at possibly dangerous speeds in Midgar. It also has no plates, but there's not a cop in Midgar stupid enough to try to ticket it.

13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done

Possibly trusting Sephiroth when he ran into him at the Temple of the Ancients, but honestly, there was probably no way he was walking out of that anyway, right? So excluding that... Probably, the actual 'dumbest' thing he canonically does is in BC, when he chooses to rescue a single lone reactor guard instead of destroying a ship full of weapons that Shinra can't afford to let get out. That's definitely treated as his dumbest choice by the canon.

14. Most heroic moment

When he literally, while dying, drags himself through the Temple to make sure Aerith gets the keystone.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

I mean. He canonically murders people for his paycheck. So probably that? Unless you're more offended by the 'abandoning his country' backstory, of course.

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

He will always wonder if he could have made a difference for Wutai if he'd fought for them instead of going to Midgar. Not that he regrets leaving. He is fairly sure that he was always meant to be at Rufus' side. But there's always that small, lingering thought.

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them

I actually have an old fanmix that more or less I still use. That said, you can also add "Secret (Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Theme)," covered by Denmark + Winter.

18. What they’d go to see a therapist about

I am going to read this is what he should see a therapist about because I'm pretty sure if he had to go see one, he would spend the entire session silent, watching the therapist and making them horribly uncomfortable. (Unless it's Angel, but she's one of @ladykf-writes' OCs that I gleefully borrow whenever I can. She's a counselor specifically for Turks, and Tseng knows better than to try to argue with her.) Honestly though. If Tseng were up to date on mental health, I think he'd need to see a therapist about his inability to be settled with anything less than perfection from himself. And, you know, probably talk to them about the killing people thing.

19. Vices/bad habits

Tseng smokes. It wasn't a habit he was in before Midgar, but while he was being 'debriefed,' he discovered that asking for a cigarette meant he got to go outside and see the sky and breathe the (admittedly not great) air. However, due to him not healing super well magically and needing to actually recover naturally, he did eventually notice a cough and slight shortness of breath that he couldn't shake. So he tries not to smoke as much anymore. Still, he does keep a pack of his clove cigarettes on him at all times.

20. Scars

Oh plenty. All the Turks have them, and Tseng has a few more than most given his difficulties in healing.

21. Drink of choice (not just alcoholic)

Alcoholic // Junami sake, served warm. He has a few brands that he likes, most of which need to be imported from Wutai. Non-alcoholic // Caramel Macchiato with extra caramel and extra whip. Not that he'd let anyone catch him ordering it. He has a single barista that he goes to in the coffee shop in the Tower (her name is Peony), and she knows better than to call his order out. Tseng's sweet tooth is something he keeps very much under wraps.

22. Best physical feature

I mean. How do you pick? He's gorgeous. Maybe his hair, but I have a weakness for beautiful hair.

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

Vetiver. But that's probably just because I HC his cologne as having notes of vetiver in it.

24. Most annoying habit

According to Reeve, it's Tseng's uncanny way of reading you. There's nothing more frustrating to him than Tseng's little, "And is that all?" sort of question because he knows that Tseng means, 'I know there's something else and here's your opportunity to tell me what it is before I go digging.'

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere

Assuming he is not allowed to bring his phone, and assuming that a backpack full of his usual supplies (he has one in his apartment, one in his car, and one in his office; he finds it unlikely he'd be caught somewhere without it) doesn't count as a single item, and assuming that he's not stripped of his usual clothes/gear when he's dropped off... 1 // A survival radio with a rechargeable battery. 2 // A waterproof map. 3 // A first aid kit. Really, he'd probably be fine even if dropped off with absolutely nothing, but trust me, he would not be happy about it.

26. What they would do if stuck in an elevator with [Lazard]

At first, there would be a long stretch of silence as they both studied the number display and then the elevator panel itself. Lazard would be the first one to move, leaning forward to punch a few of the buttons, but once it was clear that the elevator was not moving, Tseng would sigh and tip his head back and study the ceiling. He's cataloging everything he needs to do, wondering briefly what he can hand off, what he could text some of the others about to ensure it's done in time. Then he looks over at Lazard, who is sighing and pushing his hand through his hair. There's another few moments of silence before Lazard pushes the emergency call button, and after they're both reassured by the voice on the other end that maintenance is aware of the issue and working to restore functionality, Tseng slides down to sit. Lazard looks over at him, then sighs and takes that as an invitation to do the same. "Do you think it's inappropriate to text Reeve?" And Tseng looks up at Lazard, a small, knowing smile on his lips. "That depends," he murmurs. "Do you actually want to get to that meeting?" Lazard chuckles, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose slightly, and he looks back down at his phone. After a moment, he lays it face down on his leg and tips his head back against the glass wall of the elevator, and he looks out over the city on display behind Tseng. Tseng notices he doesn't start texting. The silence is comfortable. Companionable. Neither of them have any stake in impressing one another, and there's no need to fill the silence with talking only for the sake of talking. Tseng supposes that they're lucky that it isn't winter. Else they would have to sit much, much closer. A glance over at Lazard, who has taken off his glasses briefly to rub one of his eyes, and a little smile touches Tseng's lips. Not, he decides after a minute, that it would be a bad thing, necessarily.

27. Their guilty pleasure

Tseng loves sweets. Basically all kinds, but he does have a particular weakness for good chocolate and good caramel. His secret indulgence that he'll never admit to anyone who knows him is that sometimes, during the winter, he'll order a large hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and get a caramel drizzle on it from the coffee shop in the Tower. But only if his usual barista (Peony) is working. Since she already knows his coffee order is something equally ridiculously sweet, he finds that to be less humiliating than adding someone else in on the loop.

28. How they feel about [Reeve]

Complicated. On the one hand, Tseng and Reeve are always, always good friends when I write. One of Tseng's first long, solo missions with the Turks (and I really should rewrite that fic with my current Tseng's backstory and clean up the prose a little) was to function as Reeve's escort on a reactor tour. That's a minimum of two weeks if they're taking advantage of helicopters periodically, more often three full weeks of travel when Reeve drives the whole thing. And of course, the driving is definitely Reeve's preference. Reactor tours are practically the only vacation he takes. But there's no way you don't spend three weeks on a cross-planet roadtrip and don't end up very close to the person you spent all that time with in the car (unless, of course, it's terrible and you just want to murder them). But at the same time, there are secrets between them that they both know they can't know about one another. Reeve can't know all the gory details about Tseng's life as a Turk, and Tseng can't know about Reeve's... let's call it his uncanny knack with the reactors. Now, do I ship them? Honestly, yes, sometimes. I mean, I usually pair off Tseng with Sephiroth and Reeve with either Lazard (if I want canon to happen for something later) or Genesis (if I'm wanting a fix-it), but I can absolutely ship Tseng with Reeve. Honestly though, that's kind of an unfair question. I can ship Tseng and Reeve with nearly anyone.

29. Eating habits

If it weren't for Reeve's insistence on a weekly meal with him and Reeve's occasional order of groceries simply arriving at Tseng's apartment unannounced (he only really sends dry goods these days; produce and dairy get delivered by Reeve himself when Tseng invites him over), Tseng would live exclusively on takeout. Expensive takeout. But takeout nonetheless.

30. Sleeping habits

Tseng slept in a Midgardian style bed for about a week while he was in debriefing after he defected, but eventually, he took all of his blankets and everything and just started sleeping on the floor instead. Now, in his apartment in Upper Eight in the middle of Little Wutai, he's found someone who can make him a gloriously oversized futon, and his one "concession" to the Midgardian way of doing things is that he no longer puts his futon up every morning. He has four futons to rotate between, with a veritable army of sheets and blankets for them that he's gotten as what he suspects is something akin to 'tribute' from some of the Little Wutai locals. He's done his best to make it clear that he's to be treated as anyone else in the community, but he's hardly going to refuse these things. Tseng sleeps lightly, waking up at basically any sort of unexpected sound, but he has the enviable ability to drift right back off.

31. If the had a tumblr what would it look like?

Honestly? It would be all precisely curated images/gifs of nature. Probably of waterfalls and rivers and creeks. But it would be immaculate. Perfectly tagged and maintained.

32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh

I don't know that it is guaranteed, but Reno's antics often get a smile or a chuckle out of Tseng; particularly so when someone is underestimating Reno in some way. He has a tendency to find amusement in watching someone walk right into something they should have seen coming. That said, both Reeve and Rufus are also able to routinely get a smile out of him; Reeve because he's just so warm that Tseng can't help but to smile back and Rufus because, well, to be perfectly frank, he's a sassy little shit sometimes and Tseng loves that about him. (For the record, Aerith also often fits in that "sassy little shit" box, but Tseng does his best not to let her see him smile, or else she'll take it as encouragement.) If we're talking about something other than people though, the sort of thing that will routinely get a smile out of Tseng is people watching. He likes sitting on a bench in the Tower or in Midgar in general and just... watching people go by. It helps him feel grounded in the world.

33. Something guaranteed to make them cry

I don't know that anything specific is guaranteed to make him cry. He's very much a 'buckle down and take care of things,' sort of guy instead of the emotional reaction sort of guy. That said, he doesn't handle it well after Nibelheim. Even if he's not in a relationship with Sephiroth, the whole mess of 'handling' the survivors and realizing just how far the President will go to keep himself in power and the uncertainty of what's going on with Veld and with AVALANCHE and just... It's isn't pretty.

34. How they react when they are feeling [excited]

Tseng has, as a general rule, muted outward emotional tells for anything he's feeling. It was trained into him when he was at the Temple, both as a potential heir to the throne as well as because he was being trained to be a priest. That said, when he's genuinely excited about something and not just 'looking forward' to it, someone who knows him can tell. He's distracted from other things. And sometimes, if you're talking to him and he's excited about something, he might ask you to repeat yourself. Not like, "Oh, I didn't hear you, what?" But you'll get a lot more of those little noncommittal "Mm?" sounds out of him. Unless you're talking about the thing he's excited about. In that case, you'll have his complete attention, and his usually small, amused smiles (the smug ones; you know the ones) are a bit bigger, more genuine and, dare I say it, softer.

35. Their idea of a perfect day

Tseng's idea of a perfect day... well, to some extent, that varies based on where we are in the timeline and if he's in a romantic relationship, but in general, his idea of the perfect day is as follows: Nothing disastrous happens. Barring that, he'll settle for: Anything disastrous that did happen was handled. Appropriately. In all seriousness, Tseng is very much the sort who focuses on living each day as though he won't have another, and he doesn't let himself indulge much in idle fantasies. He's much more interested in perfect moments. A good morning run with someone he likes. An effective training session with one of the other Turks. Watching someone grasp something that he's been teaching them. An evening walk with someone he loves. Sharing a ridiculously rich chocolate cake with them afterwards. That sort of thing.

36. Their favorite season

Tseng's favorite season in Midgar is fall, when there's a near constant wind coming off the mountains. It can be difficult to track the seasons in Midgar, since there's not much by way of greenery, but fall means a cool wind that helps disperse some of the excess heat that comes off the Plate under his feet. Back in Wutai, his favorite season was summer. He liked watching the fireflies in the dusk at the Temple, and no small part of him misses that.

37. What they really think about themselves

Deep down, no matter what else, Tseng knows that he is an oathbreaker. He can justify it to himself or dress it up all he wants, but he knows that his father, that his brothers, that his country counted on him, and he walked away. He abandoned everything he'd ever known and walked into the camp of the enemy and swore to help them instead. It's part of why his loyalty is so fiercely held now, and part of why he's so careful to be as pristine and perfect at what he does as is possible. He knows what his family— had they survived the war— would have said. Once an oathbreaker, always an oathbreaker, and now, he's tied to the oaths he has made in a way that he wouldn't be if he hadn't defected, because he's terrified that they would be right. That puts him in the position of conflicting loyalties, and why he is so careful not to make promises once he's in Midgar. His first loyalty is to Rufus now, his second to the rest of the Turks, and if there's anything that keeps him awake at night, it's how he's supposed to juggle the additional loyalties that he's found himself collecting (Aerith, Reeve, Zack, Sephiroth, Veld, Reno, etc.).

38. Favorite holiday

Valentine's Day. Or, to be more exact, the day after. When Tseng can get a box of very nice chocolates for extremely cheap. XD No, in all seriousness, Tseng quite likes the Midgar celebration of the dead, All Hallow's Eve, with the fixation on costumes and frightening people. He finds it fascinating for a culture that spends so much of its time not talking about the dead.

39. Favorite game

Tseng likes card games. He's good at them for the most part, and in fact, when he first defected and arrived in the SOLDIER camp, he realized very quickly that his traditional Wutaian garb was only going to keep him Othered. So he learned to play poker from watching several hands, and he won himself gil and spare clothing alike off those SOLDIERs who heard his— at the time— thick accent and thought he'd be an easy mark. He still has a soft spot for poker.

40. Favorite book

Have two of Tseng's favorites. Both titles have been translated from the original Wutaian for your convenience, but Tseng only has the Wutaian copies in his home. "When the Sun Rises in the West," by Yurieva Aiko. This is a collection of poetry made from the letters recovered from the belongings of Wutaian soldiers after the war. "The Sleeve Cost Me Nothing Compared to You," by Sato Ivan. This is a collection of short stories and poetry about love and the fleeting nature of romance.

41. If they could have lunch with anyone in the world (living or dead, from any fictional universe or the real world), who would it be?

Before he defects // Tseng would like to have lunch with one of the previous emperors at this point, just to try to get some perspective on what's happening with his country. Particularly, he desperately wishes he had someone to ask for advice from. He's torn on what he sees going on, and he wonders what's wrong with him that he seems to be the only one who sees that there's no possible way for them to win this engagement with Shinra. After he defects // During his time in Shinra, given the option to have lunch with literally anyone, Tseng would like one more lunch with someone he loves. He's very much of the opinion that the best thing to do is to savor every moment you get with someone, no matter how mundane or fleeting. Post-canon // He would like one more lunch with Aerith and Zack. Just to see them again, and to convince himself to let their ghosts go.

42. 3 comfort items

1 // Tseng has kept, over the years, exactly one kimono from his time in Wutai, and while he never wears it anymore, sometimes, when he's feeling nostalgic, he'll go and run his hands over the silk. 2 // After he completed his training to be accepted into the Turks, before he left the Academy in Junon to go back to Midgar full time, the Acting Director of Operations in The Junon Branch of the Administrative Research, Anya (also one of @ladykf-writes' OCs), gave him an inlaid bone and black alloy knife with a blade cleaning kit. This is the knife that Tseng wears strapped to his left thigh (the left pocket is cut open in every pair of his pants so that he can reach it). 3 // When Rufus was fifteen, he gifted Tseng a solid black watch with no markers on it besides a pair of mythril white hands and a single mythril accent on the face that marked the twelve. Rufus never intended for Tseng to keep it as a staple, but while Rufus has gifted him other watches since then, this is the one that Tseng wears as his every day watch.

43. 3 favorite foods and 3 they despise

Favorite Food 1 // Sushi from a tiny hole-in-the-wall place in Little Wutai. And when he says hole-in-the-wall, he means this woman literally just sells bentos out of her kitchen. Favorite Food 2 // Fiola's in Upper Six is one of his favorites. They have excellent Mideelan pasta and even better bread. The bread is, in fact, good enough that while Tseng usually doesn't eat bread with his meals, he'll make an exception for Fiola's. Favorite Food 3 // There is a tiny bakery in Upper Three that sells the absolute best chocolate cake that Tseng has ever had. Despised Food 1 // The "sushi" for sale in the Midgar cafeteria. One of them had mayonnaise in it. Despised Food 2 // Pork rinds, a surprisingly popular snack in Midgar. Tseng suspects it's a holdover from when the area was much more farming-oriented. As it stands, every sector, Above and Below, has their own 'special' flavoring for them, and Tseng has yet to find anything redeeming about them. Despised Food 3 // Tseng doesn't despise bread exactly, but he fails to find it enjoyable to eat most of the time. He'd prefer his carbs come in sugar, pasta, or rice, given the choice.

44. Their happiest memory

Tseng has a couple. The first one is of one of the last times he saw his mother. He was about eleven, and he was brought to her rooms so that she could see him. They spent the evening reading poetry and him showing off his sword forms and her telling him how proud of him she was. He helped her brush out her hair and braid it for bed, and then she returned the favor and kissed his forehead and sent him on back to his own rooms. He has a small jade comb that he found in a secondhand shop in Little Wutai that makes him think of her. His second happiest memory is nearly always with Reeve, of their drive around the planet on that first reactor tour. It was the first time Tseng traveled that he could just enjoy the process, and he has fond memories of the times they rolled the windows down and Tseng could let his hand hang out of the car and just... feel the breeze. Reeve had been content to talk about nothing or put on an audiobook— and those had been something delightful to learn about, something that Tseng had immediately invested in because that was a great way to listen to the language— and let them just ride.

45. Their favorite celebrity

Tseng is embarrassed to admit it, but when he first arrived in Midgar and Junon, his Standard was not nearly as good as he'd thought it was. The tutors he'd had in Wutai hadn't been native speakers, after all, and while he'd learned very well from them, there was no way he'd be mistaken for a natural speaker. So he'd immediately immersed himself, watching the news and reading everything he could get his hands on, and eventually, he'd discovered what were called 'soaps.' He never really followed a lot of the plot lines— he felt sometimes like they had put several novels in a blender and poured the resulting concoction on the screen— but he did eventually decide there was one actress, Gabrielle Cooper, that he enjoyed watching. She had one of the most neutral accents he'd ever heard, and he followed her from show to show faithfully. Even long after he'd stopped watching soaps to help with his Standard, long after he'd more or less shed his own accent completely, he would catch himself picking up a magazine or a tabloid if she was featured on the cover.

46. The person they most admire

For a long, long time, it was Veld. And then everything with Felicia happened. And it isn't that he no longer admires Veld, but he certainly seems more human now. What Tseng admires most about Veld now isn't the seemingly perfect Turk persona that he presents, but his dedication to what he thinks is right. Post-canon, the person he probably actually admires most is Rufus. Rufus Shinra, who was brought up to rule the world and has been barred from the throne. Rufus Shinra, who should have had everything and instead has had to cobble something together from the ruins left behind. In that vein, Reeve is an extremely close second. Reeve was never intended to be the one in charge, and Tseng knows that Reeve would like nothing more than to hand it all off to someone else and go back to designing houses and buildings and parks. But there's literally no one else to hand it off to. So he trudges on, running the now-largest military force in the world, making decisions that shape the entire world with almost no oversight.

47. Their dream job

If Tseng wasn't a Turk and hadn't been brought up in the Temple and was just an average Midgar citizen? He'd be a restaurant critic. He'd write the most detailed and possibly scathing reviews possible, and restaurants would fear him.

48. Scariest moment of their life

A few months before he defected, during a ritual for Leviathan at the Temple, Tseng nearly drowned. This was one of his big catalyst moments for abandoning Wutai, as he realized in that moment that no matter what anyone told him about how important he was, they all saw him as expendable. After Advent Children, the scariest moment in Tseng's life was watching Rufus jump from that building.

49. Favorite toy as a child

Tseng was given a wooden training sword very young that he absolutely used to menace every Temple Guardian he ran across until he was big enough for proper training, and he cherished it right up until he left the temple. He didn't take it with him, but he made sure to polish it and leave it in a respectful place when he left. He is sure that it was broken and/or burned upon discovery that he had chosen to side with Shinra.

50. A memory they’ve blocked out

I don't know that Tseng has very many memories that he's blocked out. Tseng is very unflinching when it comes to facing who he is and what he's done and what's been done to him. He believes in facing things head-on and in dealing with the consequences that brings.

Congratulations on making it all the way down here, omg. IT WAS SO LONG!!

All of the love. 💖

#ff7 #final fantasy vii #tseng of the turks #meta #I cannot believe I wrote damn near 5k on this thing #BUT HERE YOU GO.

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aromanticbuck · 3 months

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What do you mean about fate and FS and Moustead?

Hello! Thank you for falling for my lil trap!

There is so much because I'm longwinded, have fun with this I got too excited getting to put this all into words.

I've been against using "fate" as an argument for FitzSimmons, specifically, since... 2017? Yeah, that's when that half of s4 aired. I'll give you a SparkNotes version, for anyone who didn't watch Agents of SHIELD - Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, who I do love as a ship in the early seasons, I have nothing against the ship specifically, just the "they're fated to be together" argument. They met at the SHIELD academy when they were kids, when Jemma sat next to Fitz in a class and they became... friends? They both thought the other hated them and they were gonna be rivals, while secretly admired each other and how smart they were the whole time. Anyway, now they're married and have a daughter, which is cute as shit, good for them, this is not an anti-FitzSimmons post.

I don't think they're fated to be together.

I use the Framework-created alternate reality to make this point every time. In that reality, Ophelia is the one who sat next to Leopold, and that butterfly effects into them being in a relationship down the line. Ophelia specifically set it up to be that way, I get that, I know that's how the Framework arc worked. My username was HoldenDadcliffe across most social media for 4 years, I know what I'm talking about. But the argument could be made that Fitz would have ended up with anyone who sat next to him in class and engaged with him, whether as a friend or a presumed rival or what have you. That's the only point I want to make. It could have been anyone. In the real world, it was Jemma. In the Framework, it was Ophelia. It could have been Matt, my Bruises Verse OC, it could have been anyone. It was the situation that brought them together, not the universe. That doesn't make the relationship any less important or genuine, it's just a fact.

Anyway, I would argue that Moustead is fated to be in each other's lives, especially if we take the possibilities in Bolivia into account. Not necessarily in a romantic way, because soulmates, or whatever you want to call it, don't have to be romantic. I just think they're meant to exist in the world together, and the universe seems to be encouraging that.

For instance, in Afghanistan, Jay did make friends with Knox first. In canon. They were close, they built explosives together, had to rely on each other to survive, the whole nine yards. They were halfway around the world with only their team to count on and trust. They had to be a family to stay alive. And then Knox did everything he did, and that friendship was obviously completely ruined after that, which meant that one of Jay's most important relationships at the time was just... decimated. He had to find someone who he could actually rely on, someone who wouldn't murder civilians because he wasn't taught to handle his emotions in a healthy way.

Mouse wasn't exactly handling his emotions in a healthy way, either, but at least his poor coping mechanisms didn't have a civilian body count, you know? Like, the only person he hurts is himself? It's fine, he gets better, eventually. But the idea of the universe seeing Jay make a friend, and going "wait, no, not that one, come back here" is just so... *chef's kiss* It's just a coincidence, at that point, but there sure are a lot of coincidences, aren't there?

He gets attached to the one other person from Chicago. The one other person who survived that war zone with him. The one person who kept him sane - who he also kept sane - when they got home and had to navigate civilian life again.

They just work, you know? They balance each other out in so many ways. Jay is absolutely driven by his heart - he wants to help people, he wants to put good into the world and take bad out, he wants to fall in love and have a constant presence in his life. On the other hand, Mouse is driven by his head - he's so smart, and he uses that to learn about computers and the world around him, and he has great ideas. They both rely on those opposites so much that it hurts them. Jay holds onto relationships until they tear him apart. Mouse thinks things through so much that he had to turn to drugs to keep himself from unraveling.

They even go so far as to completely reject those opposites in themselves. If Jay used his head, he'd know to let go of relationships and connections long before they hurt him the way the do. If Mouse used his heart, he'd be less untethered, he'd have more connections to his Chicago life than just Jay. Of course, all of my labels for them are just headcanons, but Jay being aspec and Mouse being arospec adds to this so beautifully.

Even if it is all coincidence, that balance is so important to their relationship. If one goes too far, the other can pull them back, and they really make up one fully functional human being together. They share a braincell, for sure, and Mouse usually has it. Jay certainly didn't have it in s5, that's a fact.

I think, with Jay leaving the show - and rehashing the same speech that Mouse gave him with only slightly different wording - the universe might be pushing them together again? Obviously, canon hasn't mentioned Mouse since s4, and we're never going to know if they're actually serving their country together again, but I can pretend. I can pretend that the person Jay called his best friend is still in his life, somehow.

But especially with how s9 went, and that whole year leading up to Jay leaving for Bolivia...

Even just starting with the Knox episode, 9x03, that had to bring up memories that he hasn't thought about in a while. I'm almost certain that he came across a few pictures of Mouse while he was doing his digging, even if we didn't get to seem them on screen.

After that, I want to bring up 9x09. Lovingly, the rushed marriage episode. (I love Upstead, but their romance arc was rushed and if they, the writers, had taken the time to develop the relationship more, they could have navigated the distance much more easily, or at least put off the actual wedding until Jay made his way through his crisis and they were both in a more stable place, but that's just my opinion and not the point of this post, ignore me) I just think about that episode a lot in a Moustead context because of what made Jay panic and rush into it like that. They had to get the FBI off of Voight and Hailey, obviously, but the steps they took had to be personal to him, at least in the context of his friendship with Mouse. A young, queer-coded drug addict, who was the same age that Mouse was when they met, using him and this weakness (that Jay canonically doesn't judge, he literally gave Mouse drug money in s1) and holding that over his brother as leverage, it's... He saw the lowest point of his best friend's life right in front of his face, something that he couldn't fix before and can't fix now, and Jay...

Jay, who just wants to help people, and put some more good into the world, and fix things because he hasn't had much control in his life and now he's older and stronger and he can do something. He used this intimate knowledge he has of people in that situation for his own personal gain, in a way, and doesn't that make him feel so dirty? But he can't think about it too hard, because he's not the one who uses his head. Mouse is his head, the one who would have actually said out loud how stupid and reckless and horrible that idea was and how they shouldn't do it. Because it was exploiting a literal child, who didn't do anything wrong beyond giving into vices. But Jay... Jay is the heart. He finds someone he cares about and he holds on so tight. And he was already engaged to Hailey, so what's the harm in moving the wedding up?

He'd already lost the person he'd been thinking about for months, and it's not like he could just call and ask Mouse to come back to Chicago, not after how things ended. But he could hold onto the people he loved who were close. He could turn an engagement into a marriage. He could insert himself further into Voight's bullshit. He could cement himself in the team and focus on what he had, not what he missed.

Then there was Adam's undercover thing, and the overdose, and even if November 2011, specifically, is from my headcanons, how many times did Jay worry? How many times did he text or call or pop by to make sure that Mouse was high but not in danger? How much did he check in after Mouse's multiple felonies and other petty crimes and make sure he was okay and alive? How many times did Jay have to worry, over their 10+ year friendship, that he'd lost someone he cares about so much?

And then there's s10, with his exit, and that entire episode doing the exact same thing to me, emotionally. 10x03, my beloved, my ride or die, my defining moment... A veteran is doing his best, getting pulled into crime just to pull himself afloat, getting hurt and getting himself killed through that. Isn't that something Jay has seen before? Just with a less tragic finale? Of course he helped clear up the guy's record, so that his family could still get the benefits, and all of that wasn't done for nothing. And then...

He left. He went back to the army, however loosely, basically quoted Mouse's reasons for why - because how else would he explain it? The logic is sound, of course it is, the head handles the logic. Jay just followed the logic laid out for him six years earlier, when his heart finally caught up with it.

And the idea that they somehow ended up in the same area again? Working together and rekindling their friendship now that they're finally on the same page? What else could that be?

It's fate.

#answered #jay halstead #mouse gerwitz #greg gerwitz #greg mouse gerwitz #moustead #cpd #chicago pd #one chicago #brief discussion of upstead #brief discussion of fitzsimmons #entirely neutral opinions nothing negative just a thought process #because i love both ships that's just not what this was about #also this can be read entirely platonic on the jay/mouse front #however you want to vibe with it #winterbonesthings #alex says things #i'm gonna think about them all day

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tetrakys · 1 year

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MCL Alternate Life review

Now that the three 4-episodes routes have been fully released, I’m ready to spend some final words on AL in general and the three boys specifically.

Plot

The plot is quite simple: AL was created to mostly address the break up, it is the canonical ending to Lysander, Kentin and Armin’s routes (while UL and LL are the canon continuation of Cas’ and Nath’s routes). The general plot is meeting your old boyfriend again, reconnect, solidify the relationship and resolve the long-distance issue. Quite simple, it’s the con of having only 4 episodes, but it does its job well, for years we asked for something that would fix the break up and we got it. Also I liked that the main structure was the same for all three boys, it provides a sense of continuity and a main theme for the season.

System

Same as the other seasons, 2AP x line of dialogue, however there is one main difference. Episodes 2 and 3 have choices which lead to different illustrations and scenes, meaning that they should be replayed twice if all illus with the crush want to be obtained. I personally quite like this system because the episodes are short and cheap, rarely over 1000 AP and this gives me a reason to play twice and extend my gaming experience. Plus replaying doesn’t bore me since the scenes are different as well so it’s almost like having two episodes in one.

The Art

I’m generally always happy about the quality of MCL’s illustrations, and I think AL keeps up with the high standard. As a con, I’d say that the poses might be a bit repetitive, hugging and kissing tend to be quite similar among the three routes, but other than that I’m happy. Backgrounds and sprites are also very good imo, but I’ll get to that soon.

Now, a closer look at the three:

Lysander

My Victorian prince was perfect as a teen and remained perfect in adulthood. Personally I think he looks even more beautiful, if possible, and his personality didn’t change at all, only slightly more mature due to being an adult with adult responsibilities. If on one hand this means that we got exactly what we lost 4 years ago, it also means that he’s the crush that remained the most static, didn’t have a real evolution like all the others did. Like a fae prince who remained frozen in time. It might make his journey a bit less interesting that’s true, but on the other hand can you improve perfection? I don’t think so.

In fact he’s the only crush we didn’t break up with. At first I was a bit surprised “for sure it must be Kentin the one we don’t break up with, right?” but afterward it made so much sense. His AL is one of rediscovery of someone who we never really lost, and despite me not liking farm life it makes perfect sense for him and Candy to have ended up there. His story is soothing, and calm, just like him. Finding him again is like feeling you finally found your place and your home.

Kentin

Kentin grew up a lot since high school. Not only physically as he got taller and bulkier (and hotter) but also mentally. When we meet him again we find someone who has completed a personal journey, a new person who knows his worth and who they are. These years spent travelling the world alone made him grew up and now he’s able to love Candy in a healthy way because he can also love himself.

His AL is one of getting to know the new mature person he’s become but also finding out that what really matters, his feelings and good heart, are always the same. Its route is full fluff with 5 minutes of drama which only serve to learn how different being with him is going to be now but also how his love didn’t change. His story is about personal growth and the work you have to put on yourself before being able to be in a relationship.

Armin

Armin is still the same jokester as before, but he’s not a boy anymore, it’s clear that the break up made him grow up as well. His new looks are similar to what he used to wear before (without Alexy’s terrible involvement), I’m not a big fan of the yellow but it compensate with the haircut which imo makes so much more sense than that octopus-looking one he had before. I also love that he kept a smirking teasing expression which is so him.

His route, while remains similar to the other two in its basic structure, is completely different in the sense that while he did grow up and became more mature, his story isn’t as much as getting to know him while getting to know who Candy and him are together and if they can build something solid and long-lasting. With Lys and Kentin we get a finished product, with Armin we get a work in progress, that makes his route more eventful and dynamic. We start with a fight in episode 1, get a whole journey and end with a final declaration which address all the issues and uncertainties. We see both Candy and Armin grow during the story.

Personal considerations

I think all 3 routes are really well done so preference becomes a matter of personal taste. On my side, Armin’s is above the other two for the simple fact that I enjoy the drama and the enemies-to-lovers vibe. I also love Candy in this route, and the teasing relationship the both have. I loved following their journey, for me this route is pretty much perfect and I can only hope Beemoov keeps up this amazing writing.

The other two routes are also really great. Kentin’s route is perfect for people who like fluff above all and just want to live a sweet love story. Lys’ is for people who want to play something soothing and with a more fairy tail vibe.

I’m happy we finally got a happy ending with the three of them and these endings make so much sense: with Lys we could only join him in his farm life, not my thing as I said, but I never saw Lys as someone who could enjoy the rockstar lifestyle, his choices don’t have to work for me, they have to work for him and I’m happy they do. With Kentin it wouldn’t have felt right if he gave up his lifestyle and stayed in town for us, it would’ve been a complete step back from his personal journey to see him give up everything and chase Candy once again, so I’m happy it’s Candy the one joining him this time. And with Armin, with all the times Candy was the one to follow him in his passions and hobbies (plus the whole long-distance and Disney debacle) it had to end with him staying, and I’m so glad it did.

So now that we got our happy endings, what’s left?

I guess we’ll see 😏

#mcl #mclal #my candy love #mcl rambling #game review

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tsukikoayanosuke · 2 years

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Captain Talks About Some Writing Things - About MalleYuu and is this ship even possible?

With Ignihyde Arc finally reaching its conclusion and the Shroud Brothers giving us their sweet, sweet angst, the last dorm we need to go through is Diasomnia. Even though we just had a drama surrounding its uniform, it seems that it didn’t stop any of us from loving this boy.

Speaking of loving, as we know, Malleus Draconia is the poster boy of Twisted-Wonderland, thus certainly he gains a lot of attention from the players despite not appearing that much in the main story, to the point of some fans ships him with Yuu/The Player.

Today, we will be going through the possible romatic relationship between Malleus and Yuu. We’re going to see how many times they’ve interacted and is it even possible to ship them under in-game circumstances.

However a fair warning: This will be a deep dive between Malleus and Yuu/The Player, not OC Yuu! If your OC Yuu is shipped with Malleus, it’s fine. We’re here just to see the canon interactions, not headcanons or fanfics. Also, there will be spoiler since we’re following the JP update instead of EN. In addition, I’m not the best in researching, all of the translation can be found either in the wiki, Tumblr, or various sources. I’ll try my best to link it down, but any mistake in interpretation is mine.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

A Brief Summary of All Malleus & Yuu Interactions in Main Story

Prologue & Heartslabyul Arc:

Malleus was only mentioned in Episode Prologue-3, 1-8, and 1-28. In the prologue, we see how even mentioning Malleus name brings awes and fears. In Heartslabyul Arc, Trey said that Malleus is one of the five great sorcerers in the world, and Cater added that Malleus is on a different level. He was mentioned again 1-28 by Leona but he’s planning to "start that revenge plan on Malleus”.

Savanaclaw Arc:

Malleus was mentioned many times throughout the Savanaclaw Arc, mostly because he’s Leona’s biggest target.

But Episode 2-14 marks Malleus and Yuu’s first meeting. Malleus sort of trespassed Ramshackle Dorm property and was quite surprised to find someone is living there. Yuu didn’t know Malleus back then and once again, this came as a surprise for Malleus. When he asked their name, Yuu gave him his name but Malleus didn’t give his name for “If they knew who he was, it would certainly leave a chilling impression.” (We will come back to this later, let’s put a pin on this). Malleus left after that, saying that he would need to find another abandoned building to walk around at night.

Octavinelle Arc:

There are two episodes where we meet Malleus: 3-24 and 3-37.

3-24 took place after we failed the second day because we got our asses beaten in Azul’s office. Malleus, or Tsuno-tarou as we decided to call thanks to Grim’s suggestion., once again returned for his nightly visit and found the dorm was way noisier than before. After Yuu told him about their situations, Malleus said something about gargoyle: how even though they look scary, they protect the house from torrential rain. Connecting this with our situations, Yuu picked up that Azul’s contracts are not as invincible as the thought.

In 3-37, we managed to get back to our dorm and Malleus appeared again. He wouldn’t have guessed that we would win against Azul and how he would like to see the ever calm Ashengrotto make a terrified face for it “must have been quite a sight”.

Scarabia Arc

Malleus didn’t appear in Scarabia Arc at all, but a certain scene in Episode 4-39 managed to gain some attention, because the fact that he sent a holiday card through Lilia.

Pomefiore Arc

In exchange for the holiday card, in Episode 5-48, Yuu gave Malleus a ticket to VDC which surprised Malleus how Yuu “know not the meaning of fear”.

In Episode 5-67 however, might be the most important interaction so far. After the overblot battle, Malleus arrived to the destroyed coliseum. This is when Yuu learnt that "Tsuno-tarou" real name is “Malleus Draconia, the next head of the Valley of Thorns”. After retelling what had happened, Malleus fixed the stadium because he “was simply interested in seeing them (the NRC Tribe) perform” and Vil better “show him a performance I will never forget”. Oh, and he let Yuu to still call him "Tsuno-tarou".

Ignihyde Arc

Malleus appeared in 6-14 until 6-18, however he and Yuu doesn’t have any direct interact because they are mostly focusing on the attack from STYX. After that, Yuu and Malleus doesn’t interact again until the 6-83 where Malleus noticed Yuu being fine, even if it was cut with Ace and Deuce.

About Malleus and Loneliness

Before we can see why Malleus and Yuu interaction is important, we need to see Malleus from a certain angle: the loneliness angle.

It had been a running gag of Malleus not being invited because he seems inapproachable and students fear him as seen in the Prologue-3. We also see how Malleus isn’t invited in the dorm leader meeting in Episode 2-6 and Episode 5-2. When he does get invited, like during the VDC or the Yasmina River Firework Festival, he tends to come the earliest so he wouldn’t miss it. This shows how Malleus really wants to be part of something or at least having the connection with the others. You can be seen with how he really care for his tamagochi-like game that he got from Lilia (imagine a virtual pet). When it got wet, he’s pretty upset for that and he’s pretty grateful that Deuce can fix it. He even wish for his tamagochi to make friends.

Malleus himself has a lonely life, despite being a prince. In the Scalding Sands' Al'ab Nariya, he said that as a crown prince of Briar Valley, he cannot leave his country, which might cause why he doesn’t quite understand with technology because of the sheltered lifestyle. In his 2021 birthday interview, the only family member that he mentioned is his grandmother who is the queen, meaning that he possibly doesn’t have any siblings and is an only child, thus there’s no other option of who will be next in line except Malleus. As the crown prince, he had a big duty for his country, thus he’s dedicated to his role, like how he memorized how to survive on a deserted island in his 2022 birthday interview and why he can’t go courting Princess Eliza despite filling the height criteria in Ghost Marriage Event.

We can also see this with Malleus relationship with time. We knows that fae ages different than humans, thus they will live longer than most of the cast, as mentioned how he doesn’t feel any different when during his birthday and see how humans celebrate their birthday is quite peculiar. This is enhanced how Malleus has been thinking hard at the final episode of Ignihyde Arc on how, as Lilia said, human life is “like a this silk thread spinning on a wheel, easy to break".

Episode 6-52 makes a great highlight for this. Despite only meeting Yuu a couple of time in the main story, The Player has left a great impact in Malleus, being a constant relationship.

MALLEUS: I’ve come here seeking solace.

LILIA: … This place has been quite a favorite of yours since entering the school.

MALLEUS: Indeed. It hasn’t been quite the same since Yuu arrived…

MALLEUS: I initially felt disappointed when he first started living here.

MALLEUS: I enjoy desolate places. Ivy creeping through the cracks in the walls, wind sneaking in through the broken windows…

MALLEUS: The silence and solitude present in places no longer frequented by humans puts me at ease.

MALLEUS: History leaves its mark not only on us, and it makes me feel less alone.

LILIA: ………

MALLEUS: Still, I wonder why…

MALLEUS: Yuu has gone, and no one wanders these halls tonight…

MALLEUS: It’s as if a thorn has pricked me. I feel nothing but discomfort.

MALLEUS: It looks as desolate as I’ve always fancied, and yet…

LILIA: Malleus……

The Setback of MalleYuu

Before we can talk about this, this is a friendly reminded that this is viewing MalleYuu in a romantic light and is about Game Yuu/The Player not OC Yuu. Mostly when we’re speaking about MalleYuu, it’s often to be directed to romance. We’ll be addressing that, but keep this in mind.

Now, with that. Is it possible for a MalleYuu endgame?

Possibly no. At least for romantic relationship. As far as we see, Malleus and Yuu are mostly strictly platonic. But why is romantic relationship not possible? Well, there are couple of reasons, but I’ll be talking about the big two:

1. The Fae Prince and the Isekai-ed Human (feat. the discourse between fae and human)

We need to look back to where Yuu and Malleus stand. Yuu is a human from a world without magic who got transferred to Twisted-Wonderland for reason unknown for now. Meanwhile, Malleus is one of the strongest magician in the world and the crown prince of a fae country.

Clearly, just from looking at this, there’s a status difference which would make any romantic relationship ala “star crossed lovers” is almost impossible.

As mentioned in the early section, Malleus is a crown prince. He doesn’t have any siblings, thus he’s the only one who can be next in line. The risk is way to big for romantic relationship with anyone that doesn’t give any benefit to the kingdom. Even in Ghost Marriage Event, Lilia said that "...even as a bluff, we can't let the next in line to the Valley of Thorns' throne go around proposing to ghosts. It would be a disaster for international relations". He couldn’t even do a fake-out proposal in risk of political disaster.

We also need to remind ourselves that Yuu/The Player is not from Twisted-Wonderland. Imagine the risk of having relationship with someone from another world. If there’s a chance of Yuu/The Player return or vanish to their original world, will the royal court approve the relationship? Not to mention, Yuu/The Player is canonically has no gender, thus there’s also a possibly of marrying Malleus wouldn’t even give birth to an heir, thus there’s no benefit for the kingdom. As we have seen in many kingdom fantasy story, many would prefers marriage that would favor political marriage rather than your traditional marriage with love.

In addition we have to point out how human and fae aren’t in a good relationship as Lilia’s wish in his Wish Upon a Star Event. He stated that he had been wishing this for years which implied it still going to this day. This would mean that Malleus knows about this as well. We could assume that Malleus might have a benefit of doubt, considering the school is filled with humans in a better light, but we can’t deny that he might aware of this.

2. Not Enough Building (feat. other mortals beside Yuu)

As we’ve seen in the first part of the main story interactions, Malleus and Yuu only talks a few times but they barely know anything about each others. Heck, Yuu only knows Malleus’ real name in Episode 5-67. Assuming that one semester is six month in Night Raven College, this can means that Yuu, despite being in the school for six months, doesn’t seem to know or make an attempt to research about anything surrounding the tall Diasomnia student with horns, seen how everyone is surprised of how everyone is surprised of the nicknames both in Episode 5-54 and Episode 5-67. (We also need to remember that “Tsuna-tarou” isn’t even something that Yuu thought of. Grim was the one who suggested it in Episode 2-16.)

Yes, that Malleus seems to value Yuu’s existence as said in Episode 6-52, however this is not enough to build a romantic relationship. We’ve complained a lot about Disney movie and how “you can’t marry people you just met”, but in this scenario, can you really fall in love with someone who you don't even know their true name?

Another thing that might be an argument is that Yuu is the only human who doesn’t see Malleus as a prince. While this might be true, we also need to remember that (1) Yuu is not native to Twisted-Wonderland thus might not understand the weight Malleus’ status, and (2) as said before, Yuu never made an attempt in research or Malleus even mentioning about it. While we can take this as Malleus being secretive, but do you really want to be in a romantic relationship with someone who isn’t being truthful or keeping secrets from you?

In addition, Malleus can have relationship with other humans. Like, Vil who is the only one who even mention that Malleus isn’t in the prefect meeting in Episode 2-6 and Episode 5-2. Or Riddle who Malleus at least respects as seen in Riddle’s Groom-for-A-Day card. Even Leona has one-sided rivalry with him as seen in Savanaclaw Episode and Malleus’ Ceremonial Robe. We can’t also forget that Silver is a human and is Malleus guard who Lilia raised, thus they might meet very frequently even before the main story. What makes Yuu’s relationship with Malleus, who only has at least six face-to-face conversations in the six months of main story, has greater weight than any other?

In Conclusion

Malleus and Yuu’s relationship has been a highlight of the game, however With weak development and in-game political weight, it’s seems that possible romantic relationship might be too far fetch. However, I do want to add that a platonic relationship between Malleus and Yuu can be reach, considering how lonely Malleus might feels and how Yuu is the new constant.

Also, a little note: not every interaction is romantic. If we see Malleus and Yuu as platonic friends, then this development is understandable. But if go straight with MalleYuu as romantic partners, then this is a very weak romance. You don’t become lovers before knowing each others. And with Yuu only knowing Malleus real name in Episode 5, you can’t say they have romantic interest with each others.

And that’s so far what I can say about. I might miss some things like how I don’t mention any Halloween Event or more card stories, mostly because I haven’t found any reliable translation just yet.

I do want to remind all readers that if your OC Yuu is shipped with Malleus, it’s fine. This is not me banning everyone to not ship Malleus with their Yuu, this is just a short look into the canon relationship.

Whether MalleYuu is canon or not, it’s up to Episode 7 to present it for us.

Thank you for reading~!

#the captain's rambling #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #malleus draconia #malleyuu

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nirvanai · 1 year

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aini spoilers ahead, but I got thinking about my “OK, so who actually programmed Tama then?” headcanons again and wanted to share them! To summarize, I have four main theories:

Pewter did program Tama and the game lies

Pewter didn’t, but someone else at ABIS did.

Tama’s AI was self-actualizing/”self-programmed”

Someone outside of ABIS programmed her.

And to expand on them a little, I’ll put the rest under a cut.

So, to start with 1: Pewter did program Tama. Honestly, I think this is actually the least likely theory here, for one main reason: Uchikoshi may mislead or be vague in his twitter replies, but he doesn’t lie about things. So between Tama herself stating that Pewter didn’t program her, and (iirc, correct me if im wrong!) Uchikoshi re-stating that, I really don’t think it’s likely. But I included it here just for completion’s sake, because why not.

For theory 2: Honestly, I also consider this one relatively unlikely, for the simple reason that Pewter is still at ABIS. Think about it this way: if they already had an engineer working for them who was fully capable of programming an additional AI-Ball and presumably then overseeing the Psync machine system, why would the government risk letting Pewter out of jail? Boss may have a lot of blackmail, but even then I find it hard to imagine the government risking such a major scandal unless Pewter was genuinely irreplaceable. And Boss’s dialogue in-game supports this, so I strongly doubt ABIS has another engineer of his level just sitting around in the background.

Theory 3 is one that I actually do think is a possibility. Laid out most simply, it’s the suggestion that Pewter may have thrown together some core basics to her programming etc, but her actual personality was something she developed on her own to suit her and Ryuki’s needs. Given the fact that the Wadjet system does seem to have some level of “sentience” with how it protected Aiba, its not outside of the realm of possibility to consider Tama having “grown” a sentience on her own.

Theory 4 feels unlikely for the same reasons as theory 2- not only would it render Pewter irrelevant, but that also would mean that more people outside of ABIS both know about the AI-balls, and would be capable of making them. The one strand of evidence in this theory’s favor would be the fact that Tearer seemingly knew about the AI-balls when meeting up with Ryuki, however it’s also possible that could’ve been the result of leaked confidential info.

And then, the secret 5th theory that is almost entirely a crack one but also has enough canonical possibility that I genuinely can’t ignore it: Tama was a real person who’s consciousness was transferred to the wadjet system somehow, to become Tama the AI.

Now, I thought of this one as a joke at first, but the thing is: multiple times in the game, Tama will make jokes and references to stuff that has Ryuki questioning her being an AI. Stuff like talking about her family, just a handful of weird tidbits that stuck out in my brain. It’s like 99% likely that they’re intended to be just that: weird jokes from the funny AI girl, but it’s still plausible enough that I had to add it to this post.

And honestly, as wild as that would be, I do genuinely think it’d be a very interesting possibility to explore? I love the idea of Ryuki and Tama working together to learn more about where she came from, and the ensuing horror and mysteries that could come about as a result.

Regardless, I do hope that this is something future materials will explore a little more, tbh. I don’t expect it to be high on the list of mysteries to solve, but I’d enjoy learning a little more about it.

#tama #tama aitsf #tama aini #nirvanai #aini #nirvana initiative #ai nirvana initiative #nirvana initiative spoilers #nirvanai spoilers #aini spoilers #aitsf spoilers #this has been bouncing around in my head of late #and i wanted to share a few random thoughts #don't mind me overthinking random throwaway lines again #but also if i'm onto something with one of these i'll be so excited-#(i do not expect to be onto anything lmao but who knows anything can happen)

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desertfangs · 1 year

Note

Do you have an in-canon explanation for where Daniel was in BCo? I like to think he's on a secret mission for the court that Lestat couldn't reveal in the book.

Oh my gosh I'm so glad you asked! I think about this all the time. The fact that Daniel isn't there is just so weird. Like everyone he cares about is there: Armand, Marius, Lestat, Louis... It's just such an odd and strange omission and we know why (Anne either didn't notice or didn't care, she did not have any use for him by the end!) but in-universe it's just completely baffling. So I have many theories: 1. Daniel is there but left out of the book because he and/or Armand demanded it. I've mentioned before that maybe he paid Lestat off to leave him out, and @rainbowcarousels and I have joked that maybe it's due to his mortal family and not wanting to draw more attention to himself while he's still in the span of his mortal lifetime and people may be searching for him. If he has relatives who are actively looking for him or curious about his whereabouts, the less attention he gets the better. (This is, at the very least, why I think his name is misspelled in Prince Lestat.)

2. Daniel is housesitting Trinity Gate. I don't know, they could pay a gardener to water the plants, it's not really necessary but maybe he got really into video games and wanted some time alone to play through some epic game like The Last of Us or Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Maybe when he hears things are going down (via Armand probably, or a weird Facetime from Marius where the camera is facing his bookshelf) he offers to come, but Marius and Armand are worried he would put himself in danger, and so he's told to stay where he is.

3. Armand sent Daniel out on business. The guy has more properties than Logan Roy and all kinds of investments. Maybe he sent Daniel on some business errand or to handle some big real estate deal. And again, maybe he told Daniel to stay away once things got dicey.

4. Secret Court Mission! I love your theory so I'm adding it to the list. Maybe there was some group of vampires they'd been trying to bring into the fold and Lestat suggested they send Daniel to go negotiate with them since he's charming and affable but also good at getting the heart of things and asking tough questions. Or maybe he's on a mission to acquire some weird vampire artifact or priceless work of vampire art that they'd rather not publicize the existence of, lest the Talamasca also try to get their hands on it.

So yeah, lots of possible reasons, all fun to think about. I go back and forth on what I actually think but I do enjoy coming up with reasons he's not there. And if anyone else has their own theories, I'd love to hear them!

#thank you so much for the ask #nodominion #vc headcanons #blood communion #daniel molloy #answers in the desert #vc #vampire chronicles

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akai-anna · 9 months

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So I just recently read your post about decto relationships with the bingo card thing, and I enjoyed it a lot and wanted to hear more of your opinions on other relationships. I would like to see which other relationships you choose and how you view them.

Firstly, I would like you to know: I cannot even put into words how happy this ask made me (the fact someone was curious enough to ask something from me unprompted! the fact that SOMEONE TOOK THE TIME TO APPROACH ME TO ASK!! AND ABOUT DETCO!!!), so thank you very much for making my day with this and giving me that dopamine rush. (Also, thank you for your patience, I got too busy and took me much longer to answer than expected!)

Secondly, notes still apply:

as in the previous ask about relating to this topic, i interpret relationships in the broadest possible sense

i check everything that makes sense to me, even if they seem contradictory; i view them applied to different situations/universes/possibilities

ship opinion bingo in question

*cracks fingers and rolls up sleeves* Now, let's get down to business.

I. Kudou Shinichi/Edogawa Conan - Miyano Shiho/Haibara Ai - Detective Boys Trio

The Elementary Squad

I have A LOT OF THOUGHTS ABOUT THEM SO GET READY.

In general, the friendship (friendship is a canon relationship!) these 4 (then eventually 5) little menaces of my heart share, is so very precious. The way these 3 latched onto him, and integrated him into their little group, how Shinichi LITERALLY ACTS LIKE HIMSELF AROUND THEM DESPITE THE KIDS HAVING NO IDEA ABOUT HIS TRUE IDENTITY. HE IS AUTHENTIC AROUND THEM. Also I forgot the number of times the kids called Shinichi out on his BS (like him switching between his adult and child speech patterns when interacting with adults/the police and disappearing acts) and how many times they all get in soooo much trouble because they are lil troublemakers, so curious, never saying no to adventure.

Shinichi is a mentor to them, teaching them about stuff but also their friend. Shinichi is Big Brother material, and the kids know that they can count on him, turn to him in need, and Shinichi cannot help but indulge them, involving them in stuff to an extent, while also trying his damnedest to keep them safe and protect them (even at his own risk and safety, bodily protecting them).

And then you add Ai to the mix, and she gets integrated into their tight-knit little group. Not only Shinichi finally has a connection to the BO with her, but also someone who is in the same situation as himself and someone who needs his protection. (AND SOMEONE WHO TEASES HIM LIKE HE DESERVES IT! AI-SHINICHI BANTER IS SO GOOD! LOVE THEM!) And Ai finds herself not only friends but a family. (Sometimes a family is one middled aged man, 2 fake and 3 real elementary students.)

She encounters unconditional kindness, which melts her cool exterior and as time passes she not only comes to care about these people, but also learns to lower her barriers. And ultimately makes the choice to be with them despite the risks.

You can give me these 5 kids in almost any combination and I would be so happy to see them (and could talk about them for hours without stopping, almost did them in different combinations separately, God, save my soul). Special mention: Mitsuhiko-Shinichi/Conan dynamic gets to me so bad because Mitsuhiko is the most curious of the 3, when it comes to knowledge. He LOVES learning, and applying what he knows (just like a certain someone we know). And Mitsuhiko learns well; he absorbs what Shinichi tells and shows him. (And I love how complex his feelings are about that.) Also the parallel between Heiji and Mitsuhiko, my HEART-

I could go on forever about these children of mine (AYUMI AND MITSUHIKO'S PUPPY CRUSHES ON SHINICHI AND AI RESPECTIVELY, HOW THEY ALL PLAY SOCCER AND HIDE AND SEEK TOGETHER, THEIR LIL ANTICS, HOW THE KIDS LEARN TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES- *GETS SMACKED WITH A PILLOW IN THE FACE*), so have this utterly adorable lil thing to close this section.

⊱✿⊰

II. Vermouth/Chris Vineyard/Sharon Vineyard -Kudou Shinichi/Edogawa Conan (- Mouri Ran)

This is such a delightfully precious and weird dynamic. I don't even know how to describe it, really because 1) there is so little content of this (WHERE IS MY VERMOUTH BACKSTORY/ARC!!! WHERE!!! WHERE IS MORE OF THEM!!! WHERE!!!) relationship in particular and 2) how do you even label something so unusual? Vermouth having such a solid opinion of Shinichi and Ran while the other two are so unsure what is exactly going on. (Shinichi is definitely suspicious of her with GOOD REASOn but also Weirded out I feel while Ran knows even less.) SO BEAUTIFULLY IMBALANCED AND WEIRD.

I guess, in short: Vermouth having a life-altering meeting with these two, only for Shinichi and Ran for it to be The Most Natural Thing?

I JUST LOVE HOW VERMOUTH IS SO FOND OF THESE TWO. (SHE LITERALLY HAS PHOTOS OF THEM!!!) HOW MUCH SHE WANTS THEM TO BE SAFE. SO MUCH SHE EVEN RISKS HER OWN LIFE AND SAFETY.

SO MUCH SHE WOULD SCHEME AND LIE TO KEEP THESE TWO SAFE. (SHE FCKIN!!!! DRAPED HER OWN COAT OVER HIM I'M!!! KDSNVKJSDVNKJSD *SCREAMS AT TOP LUNG CAPACITY* SHE FREAKING MADE AMURO PROMISED NOT TO HARM RAN AND SHINICHI, I'M GOING BONKERS!!!)

SO MUCH SHE WOULD EVEN TURN A GUN AGAINST ANOTHER BO MEMBER, WOULDN'T LET ANYONE ENDANGER THEM NOT EVEN HERSELF.

I'M! SCREAMING!! Love me a morally grey woman with her own agenda.

NOT ONLY THAT BUT SHE WOULD ALSO HELP THEM OUT? HER COVERING FOR THIS GReMLIn i'M DEAD, The WInK-

BUT SHE ALSO WOULD DO THIS:

(THE FREAKING GIRLY RUN SHE DOES AND THE LITTLE HEART, SHE KNOWS SHE'S OPENLY BEING A LIL SHIT TO SHINICHI AND I'M THRIVING-)

THEY ARE HER TREASURES YOUR HONOUR!!!

Each and every interaction with them has me IN ABSOLUTE HYSTERICS, MAKING ME GO CRAZY. For closing this section, I leave you with a (bad quality) gif I made (in a rush) because this part in the anime MAKES ME LOSE IT EVERY TIME. THE SLOW MOTION, THE WAY HE HOLDS HIM BY THE HANDS AND GENTLE WAY SHE SETS SHINICHI DOWN, I CANNOT.

⊱✿⊰

III. Hattori Heiji - Tooyama Kazuha - Mouri Ran - Kudou Shinichi/Edogawa Conan

THE OSAKA DUO (AKA FIRECRACKER PAIR) and the Tokyoites (AKA THE BIGGEST HEIZUHA SUPPORTERS OUT THERE)

I'll be honest, at first I planned to include only Kazuha & Heiji in this but then I started looking for scenes in the manga and got obliterated by my love for the 4 of them. (And yes, I know I already did Heiji & Shinichi in the previous ask, I love them, sue me. Also, i wanted to count "Not dating but married nonetheless" for Heizuha BC THEY ARE, but this ended up as a 4 character thing so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

To make it short: I FREAKING ADORE THEM.

In more detail: Heiji-Kazuha AND Shinichi-Ran both come in sets, DO NOT SEPARATE THEM. Then you put them all together THEY MAKE A WHOLE SET, A UNIT, A SQUAD.

But also there are different combinations: The Detectives And Cursed Bad Luck Duo, The Superstitious Girl Duo, The Not Dating But Married Couple, THE DATING HUSBAND AND WIFE DUO, THE SEPARATE TRIO COMBOS. *RIPS OF CLOTHES AND ROARS* ALL SO VERY GOOD.

THEY ARE JUST SO PRECIOUS TO ME, and they are just So- *CLENCHES FIST* THE BACK AND FORTH TEASING IN ALL KINDS OF COMBINATIONS, THE RUNNING INSIDE JOKE MOMENTS OF KAZUHA SAYING SHINICHI SOLVES CASES FASTER THAN HEIJI (TO HEIJI'S ETERNAL ANNOYANCE), OR HOW THE GIRLS THINK HEIJI AND SHINICHI/CONAN ARE LIKE BROTHERS-

BUT ALSO BEING A WITNESS TO ALL THE WEIRD CONAN-THINGS, OR HOW THE BOYS BOND OVER THEIR LOVE FOR THEIR GIRLS AND THE GIRLS BONDING OVER THEIR LOVE FOR THEIR BOYS, AND BEING THE BIGGEST SUPPORTERS OF EACH OTHER'S HAPPINESS (CONFESSING FEELINGS TO THEIR BELOVEDS).

MY BI ICON KAZUHA, NOT TO MENTION RAN'S CONFESSION IN KANSAI-BEN I'M FERAL, THESE GIRLS LOVE AND CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER (and the boys too, but more on that later) SO DEEPLY, IT'S ENDEARING.

RAN LITERALLY, ON HER SECOND MEETING WITH KAZUHA, NOT ONLY SEEING SHE IS UPSET, BUT ALSO GOING OUT OF HER WAY TO CHEER HER UP I'M!!! BEST GIRL!!! TRULY AN ANGEL!!! (Ya really are a nice girl, Ran, I CONCUR.)

THEN OF COURSE WE CANNOT NOT MENTION THE OSAKAN DUO. THEY ARE SO COMFORTABLE AROUND EACH OTHER, it's one of my favourite things, so UNABASHED WITH EACH OTHER IN WAY. They are (not dating BUT) MARRIED YOUR HONOUR, they really are like an old married couple.

Honestly, I Just keep THINKING of them all BECAUSE THEY ARE SO DEAR, I'M SCREAMING-

Also, it's so rarely mentioned but (because there is just so little of it in canon WHICH IS A CRIME, GET ON THE CASE BOYS) SHINICHI/CONAN-KAZUHA IS ESPECIALLY PRECIOUS TO ME, they have such great potential. Every time I SEE THEM INTERACT EVEN FOR A SECOND I GO APESHIT, ABSOLUTELY BONKERS. There is just something about Shinichi calling her "Kazuha" and "Kazuha-chan", the possibility of them BONDING OVER THEIR BELOVEDS AND YEARS OF PINING (because both Heiji and Ran can so oblivious it's endearing) but also bonding over HOW STUPID HEIJI IS AT TIMES, but also how much they both care for him and Ran. My dream is to see Kazuha make/get Shinichi a protective charm (let's be honest, hE NEEDS IT, and Heiji's seems to be sorta effective). There is a parallel there (now only if I could find the post for it). Also Shinichi not only being OK with Kazuha picking him up (LETTING HER!!!) BUT ALSO BEING FINE WITH KAZUHA HOLDING HIM!!! (FOR A WHOLE CONVERSATION!!!)

Also, ShinRan sharing that braincell.

I hope you enjoyed this wild rambling ride, dear Anon, and thank you for asking, I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! May you have a blessed day, darling!

#asks #anon #detective conan #manga #detco posting #la junk talks #oh my god... i went overboard again #but it was too fun...#also i wanted to include but couldn't manage to fit in:#1) the kids separately: ai-shinichi and ayumi-shinichi and ai-ayumi and mitsuhiko-shinichi and mitsuhiko-ai #(i'm sorry genta i'm not as attached to you as the rest)#2) NAGANO TRIO BC THEY ARE AWESOME OH MY GOD ALSO OFFICIAL OT3 OF MY HEART IN DETCO #3) MOURI FAMILY TRIO (and eri if she was around more god i LOVE HER) BC FAMILY UNIT YOUR HONOUR!!!#4) also about the last section: i can ramble about my children in all kind of combinations and i could do them separately too but... god #and lastly 5) PROF AGASA HIROSHI IS A GOOD MAN AND I WANTED TO INCLUDE HIM SO BADLY TOO #however i actually reached pictures limit in my post (and the magic number is 30)#i enjoy these way too much and at this point it's just me screaming #hope you enjoyed my word vomit haha #truly thank you for this IT MADE ME SO HAPPY

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rendellstreet · 2 years

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A while back you made a post about Eugene and the royal court and I'm curious do you have more headcanons about that

Anon I know you asked specifically for Eugene, but the more I think about this, I am going to take a detour and go on a head-canon / world building tangent about Corona and Frederic

To back it up, the original post was inspired by my knowledge of the French court at Versailles, which is known for the Scandal, Gossip, and Intrigue. Louis XIV put up and center himself in this Rich French People Drama as a means to weaken the nobility and consolidate his power as an absolute monarch.

Back to Corona, while I know some people aren’t keen on the idea, but I do like the idea of Frederic (and to a lesser extent Rapunzel) being a descendant of the Herz der Sonne, but not a direct descendant.

My head-canon is that der Sonne and Shampanier (who doesn’t have a name, but I like the name Zsófia so) were in love and got married, but neither one had real interest in... starting a family. They were pressed to have children but ultimately they were no kids, double income.

Fortunately, der Sonne did have brothers, five of them, and Frederic can trace his ancestry to the fourth one, because he ended up inheriting the throne*

*(Brother 1 died of illness, Brother 2 had a crisis of faith because of Brother 1 and become like, the Coronan version of a monk, Brother 3 and 5 died of illness 2: the electric boogaloo)

Now, as far as the royal court goes, Corona is this your typical court, with titled positions and whatnot. I do like the idea of Nigel and Captain being some kind of noblemen, Nigel’s family always were the stewards of Coronan kings, Captain coming from a family whose knight got titled and land or something,

But as a whole the Coronan courtiers are not particularly... friendly people, once you get past the smiles and etiquette, because this is a cutthroat business of getting the best position and putting yourself as close to the king and queen as possible. There WILL be blood and tears.

So where does Eugene fit in all of this?

Well, when Rapunzel went missing, there was a lot of anguish and distress Frederic and Arianna experienced, and the court did nothing to help but make it worse by jockeying positions as they always do, but thinking a distraught royal couple would be easier to manipulate, but then also like, “Why don’t you just have another kid”, which is kind of like. Dude. She’s been missing for like a week Holy shit-

Cut to 18 years later, Rapunzel returns! Everyone’s excited! But there’s also [squinting] at this fresh-faced girl who doesn’t know a lick of anything about Corona and more importantly she’s single. Cue a LOT of courtiers maneuvering themselves to be in Rapunzel’s favor and promoting their choice of a perfect bachelor to her -

Except. Eugene is there. And he and Rapunzel love each other very much.

So a big chunk of the contempt Eugene gets is everyone finding him being an unsuitable partner for Rapunzel and fuming about their plans being ruined

There’s also the fact that a lot of them know him as Flynn Rider, so for a while it’s an endless “Hey I know you, you stole-!”

Then of course, Eugene is poor and a common man, HIGHLY inappropriate for high society Corona, the transgressions of class and status. If they don’t hate Eugene for being Flynn Rider, they hate the fact that this common street urchin is moseying around the palace in his grubby little clothes and has the Princess of Corona eating out of the palm of his hand.

Several courtiers have gone out of their way to get rid of Eugene. But Eugene is 1) smart 2) sexy 3) stolen long enough from rich people to know how to play their games 4) forcing him out just makes his love for Rapunzel grow stronger and 5) he’s spiteful he’s not going anywhere :)

#Anonymous #Fandom chit chats #Eugene Fitzherbert #I made a long post and you all are just going to have and Deal With It #I'm sorry anon if this didn't answer your question fjdbjfdbjd #My brain went straight to infodump

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hattrickeryreviews · 7 months

Text

Power Play (Scoring Chances #3) - Avon Gale

"A freak accident during the Stanley Cup Playoffs put an end to Max Ashford’s hockey career. Despite everything, Max gets back into the game he loves—only this time, behind the bench as an assistant coach of the Spartanburg Spitfires, the worst team in the entire league. But nothing prepares him for the shock when he learns the new head coach is Misha Samarin, the man who caused Max’s accident.

After spending years guilt ridden for his part in Max’s accident, Russian native Misha Samarin has no idea what to do when he’s confronted with Max’s presence. Max’s optimism plays havoc with Misha’s equilibrium—as does the fierce attraction that springs up between them.

Not only must they navigate Misha’s remorse and a past he’s spent a lifetime trying to forget, but also a sleazy GM who is determined to use their history as a marketing hook. But when an unwelcome visitor targets a player, Misha revisits his darkest days, and that might cost him and Max the beginning they’ve worked so hard to build."

Did I reread it? Yes

POV: 3rd person limited, alternating between Max Ashford and Misha Samarin

Tropes: Denied-Rivalry, Age Gap, Grump and Sunshine, Underdogs, Injury

My thoughts:

Characters/Character Development: 5/5

Max: Max is a canonically disabled, newly hired assistant coach for the worst team in the ECHL. He’s got a positive outlook on life despite his injury taking him out of the NHL and losing him his fiancée. His character arc is more focused on improving the team and leaning into romance than it is on personal development.

Misha: Misha is an emotionally stunted, Russian ex-NHL player with a dark past and secrets he keeps close to his chest. He leans into punishment, most of it self-inflicted. His character arc is focused on allowing himself happiness, wherever he may find it.

These characters are fully fleshed out, with a past connection that makes sense and goals that intertwine nicely. Their development together romantically was set out wonderfully and really led to a believable relationship. The main characters were both very likeable, and the new side characters that were introduced really added to the story.

Believability (Hockey): 5/5

Just as the previous books in the series did, this book follows the ECHL, with accurate depictions of what that means for the characters. The team names themselves are fake, but the structure of the games and league is very real. I think that the setup for the team, along with the team trajectory, was very plausible. I also think that the strategies exercised by the GM made sense, no matter how bad they were. Overall, the hockey of this book was very realistic.

Believability (Plot): 4/5

I could absolutely see most things in this book being possible. A bit dramatized, sure, but what’s a good book without drama? I liked the trajectory of the relationship and of the hockey team, and I think most of the major plot points made sense. My only critique is that there were a few instances where I found things to be a bit too coincidental, which took away a bit of the realism.

Uniqueness: 4/5

Here we’ve got a hockey book that focuses on the coaches instead of the players, which is a fresh change of pace from about 9/10 hockey romances you’ll read. Their pasts together and separately are unique, and reading the book was a fresh change of pace. There’s a bit of predictability involved, considering the way hockey books usually go, but that doesn’t impact the reading.

Trope Integration: 4/5

Some of the tropes in here are very important to the plot. We’ve got this push for a rivalry throughout the entire story that the main characters fight against every step of the way. The characters themselves are the epitome of grump and sunshine, and I really like how those characteristics play out. The team is full of underdogs, and the plot never shies away from that fact. I would just say that when an age gap is introduced (here, of 11 years), that should play into the plot a bit more.

Series Integration: 2/5

This is the only place where I would say the story fell short. This book is definitely part of the series, but every main character, or important side character, is brand new to the series. The only foreshadowing for the story was a single line in the previous book establishing that this hockey team was getting new coaches. Otherwise, what saves this from a lower is that we at least knew this team existed beforehand, and at times this team focused on in this book plays the team from the previous books. However, this book does mark a separation at which point I can mentally consider the books a different story. If you were not interested in reading any of the previous books, you could jump in here with no confusion.

General enjoyment: 5/5

This is one of the better plots I’ve read, and I really enjoyed it. You see a lot of vulnerability from the characters, and I find them all very endearing. There aren’t many low points in this book when it comes to surface level enjoyment. Maybe once you sit down and start really thinking about what happened, you notice some holes, but I’d say most people don’t read hockey books for their philosophical content.

Overall Score: 29/35 or 4.1/5

#lgbt fiction #queer books #queer characters #lgbtqia #lgbt books #hockey romance #avon gale #scoring chances #book review #book blog #hockey #echl #ratings #rivalry #power play

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underjumble · 8 months

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A bunch of questions that weren't big enough to be their own (so I'm putting them together)

3. I realize you said HAS a bad haircut, but I came up with two scenarios that are tertiary canon (I came up with definition of the term so I am sure I'm using it wrong. What I'm saying is it has no effect on the canon so you can take it or leave it.)

The first is Asriel and Chara as kids, where they cut each other's hair for fun without their parents permission. Just being silly. The next is Temmie (without permission but does she ever get permission for anything she does) deciding she's bored and actually a salonist. No one except for other tems actually got their hair cut there while it was open. It got shut down real quick-- because surprisingly, hair everywhere isn't very sanitary for restaurants-- but the customers enjoyed their awful cuts so who's to judge?

4. They would grow up and take their place as the rulers, although Papyrus would be the only one really doing anything. Papyrus would try to overwork him like his dad did, but Sans wouldn't let him take too much on. The reason why the King Papyrus ending was so bad was because the brothers were forced to rule over a broken and hopeless kingdom without warning, but since Papyrus always was meant to be king and the underground is fine.

They're not as respectable as Gaster was, but they're still good, despite Papyrus being very, very eccentric. I think by the time they're adults in this timeline, Sans and Papyrus would be virtually indistinguishable personality wise from the original. Sans would be happier and not worried about the timelines because that hasn't happened unlike the original, but really the reason underjumble has them different is due to the fact they never got to grow up and let go of anything.

Unless Papyrus perfectly times when he has a kid, Papyrus would eventually outlive his brother. He'd be distraught at first, but as time goes by, he'll look back to Sans and smile fondly. He still misses him, but it wouldn't be a stab in the heart to remember him, it would be bittersweet. He came in Papyrus' life and left, but he still brought so much joy. This is assuming Sans' life isn't cut short for whatever reason.

They would probably collect human souls, but only after the human dies of natural causes, because the soul is just there, why not use it? Or you could take the route that humans with the souls together can break the barrier, since the magicians didn't die due to the barrier. Whichever you think of, the point is the underground would be happier.

5. Frisk wears a hoodie!! They're more reclusive and shy, hunching over and wearing the hoodie more. Other than that the outfit is basically the same.

6. Assuming you mean in game, Doggo doesn't really have hopes or dreams. He wants to feel and to have Sans back, but he's given up on the possibility for the most part. Sans just wants to take everything back, but knows it's impossible. Post game he just wants his brother to be able to be at peace.

Asriel's hope is that Gaster's plan won't work, that one day monsters will make peace with humans, and to see his family again. Chara's hopes are to make up with their family and free monsters. Napstablook doesn't really have a dream, and Mettaton wants to be famous. Toriel wants there to be a peaceful solution, the gays want to see each other and date and Gaster wants to take back what he believes is rightfully his.

Okay so headcanon. A lot of people take all the amalgamates at face value, the only ones. I don't think that's true. Alphys asked for all monsters that have fallen down. Of course not everyone would hand them over but I think it's quite possibly like. 15-30 fallen down monsters she got? My point is I don't think there's just five. Here are the canon five (but not all) amalgamates that you fight. I was going to draw them but I'm bad at drawing so I'll try to describe it. They don't have names yet so I'll just put a line of dialogue

smells like slush - Dess, Pyrope, and Madjick. Has melty ropes binding them and Dess' head and Madjick's melted orbs.

what a catastrophe! - probably not really using that line. Sans doesn't make puns in really serious situations. A handful of temmies and a final froggit. This one looks less like one whole and more like almost a pile. Not completely ofc but since most amalgamates have melted to the point it just looks like one creature.

I don't have any actual quotes I just wanted to show off the slush one and trapped myself - One from the jerry species, an ice cap and a chilldrake

- Gyfttrot, Knight Knight, Monster Kid's father

- Memory head with misgospel movements of eyes.

Underjumble Blooky canonically wears headphones the entire game so yeah! They just like me fr

13. Assuming we're not talking about with any souls or LOVE, Sans and Doggo is, I'm just gonna say it, they're like the weakest ones. Sans can't even interact with the physical world, or if he can it's very limited, and Doggo is a plush. There's a reason why he watches from afar and doesn't let himself get in stabbing distance until he feels like you can't hurt him. Just putting this out there so it's known I'm not including them. I would say Gaster. Undyne is strong as hell but she's not a boss monster, and none of the monster Dreemurrs really have a reason to have practiced and been skilled much.

14. I think he would be awful at names but not in the sense Asgore is. Bro would look at a place and name it a long scientific term. I've never actually thought about that idea though :0 I have thought about it a bit and I think Asgore still named the areas, since Gaster wasn't focused on that and he was close with Asgore, he got the privileges to.

15. It was from unnatural ways, I can tell you that. I haven't decided on how exactly, but basically yeah he did make Paps. Although I love that headcanon. "here's that tiny guy you ordered. hope it's okay if i fucked around with his genetic code a bit." Maybe that's why he can just float

16. Before she fell I assume you mean. Basically!!! She's a little silly hehehe. They'd interact like how the ogs would interact. They're still close, even though Maddie doesn't-- I guess i should say didn't-- live in the same house.

17. That's cool!!!!!

19. He uses long words and uncommon(?) terms that most people don't use in every day speech, and doesn't use contractions very often. I like to think he just uses some words wrong but he's been through countless timelines so that's not likely

#underjumble #undertale au #ask #temmlxx #tw body horror description #the underjumble crew

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ifmywishescametrue · 1 year

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if you're okay with it I think I'll send a few more asks, I love so many of your fics and it's fun to hear you talk about them :D 4 and/or 5 for a perfect match, and that's how it works, to the moon and to saturn, and dream of you all summer long? And 18 for One Bad Night? Thank you 💜

i'm more than okay with it! thanks for sending these and brace yourself for some rambling haha

I'll put 18 first, and then the rest below the cut!

18) If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it involve?

This is going to sound very self-critical or possibly like I'm fishing for compliments or something (i'm not!), but One Bad Night is probably the fic of mine that I like the least. I like the beginning and the middle, but it sort of falls apart for me at the end. I knew I didn't want to follow the exact Grey's Anatomy storyline from the end of season one, but while avoiding that I think it wound up ending sort of abruptly. The drama moment comes in the same chapter that it's resolved, which isn't great for pacing or plot, but I also standby the fact that I didn't want to extend it and have it be the same thing it was in the show. Those chapters wouldn't have read great, either, especially considering that there wouldn't be major side storylines and other characters' points of view to fill the rest of the time like the show can do.

Because I don't like it much, I can't really see myself writing a sequel, but ironically I do think a sequel would be the one thing that could redeem the pitfalls of the original.

Realistically, there would be ramifications after Tony reveals that he was technically married the whole time and only just got divorced. Even if Tony did tell him on his own accord, rather than the Grey's Anatomy version of his husband just showing up. Even if Steve decides quickly that he doesn't want to end things over it and turns back around after he leaves. There's still broken trust there. There's still this major issue to overcome that wasn't addressed.

If there was a sequel, it would explore all of that. Possibly introduce a Mark Sloan-like character to shake things up and add to the plot. Someone for Steve to get close to for a while, introduce some doubt in his decision to stay with Tony, produce some jealousy from Tony's side of things. It would take place before the epilogue and show how they got back to the good and overcame the rough patches, rather than make it seem like it happened immediately without any real consequences from Tony keeping that secret.

4) What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of / 5) What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

a perfect match

this is going to sound like such an odd detail but I love this section:

and that's how it works

I like it when a couple of sentences can sort of establish a dynamic or illustrate what a relationship is like, especially in one shots. It's my favorite way to give backstory without actually giving it, so the story is still very 'in the moment' or future looking, while also showing the depth of everything that would have come before it. They text all the time, and they study together, and Tony is a sleepy little angel, and Steve can't resist touching him whenever he has the chance.

I also just love the idea of steve and tony always having a very close and casually physically affectionate relationship even as friends. It's cute for them, fun to write, and gives just the smallest touch of angst with the underlying longing behind it.

also! since I talked about colors yesterday, this fic is purple. a deep purple with streaks of lavender.

this one came from the prompt "you can't say that and then not kiss me," and honestly I struggled so hard trying to think of an idea for it. It's a great prompt with a lot of potential, but there's so many different contexts it could happen in. If I remember correctly, I actually started writing a more canon-based fic for it - a very classic 2012 avengers tower scene with mutual pining - but I hated it lol. I deleted it, set the prompt aside for a while, and then this idea eventually came to me.

fun fact! tony is watching the movie He's Just Not That Into You at the start of this. I hate that movie. Genuinely cannot stand it. But, it worked for the moment, and I think tony would actually like it. Most of the characters are messy and make bad choices and I think in his most melancholy moments he'd feel a connection with that.

I have so many favorite details on this one, and I can't narrow it down, so here's three!

The symphony. I love the way the way it sounds, both when tony first says it and at the end. it's one of my favorite closing lines of any fic I've ever written.

All the different ways steve knows tony. his favorite foods and what to do when he's sad and how to make him laugh. love is stored in intrinsically knowing someone. the mundane and the important.

The m&m colors. this one is so very random, but thought really did go into sorting out who took what colors when steve was dividing them. tony is bright and vibrant red, orange, and yellow. iron man colors, yes, but also he's vivid and bold. steve is cooler tones with green, blue, and brown. calmer, more controlled and understated. a needed counterpoint to tony's fire, but still containing so much depth of his own.

and now for an overall fic color - yellow. warm, golden, sunflower yellow.

to the moon and to saturn

I love this fic, but it almost never existed. not online, at least.

It came from this prompt - "AU where Tony is Bucky’s younger brother and Steve grows up with them, with Steve and Tony also being close friends and they end up falling for each other after college when they become roommates."

It's one that I knew required a lot of backstory, but I also knew that I didn't want to start in the present and build the backstory into that like I usually do. It would have been too much and wouldn't have felt right, so I wanted to start from the real beginning, or close to it. I decided to play around with the writing style and techniques that I tend to like when I'm reading, like repeated significant lines and intricate, but minimalistic worldbuilding. Minimalistic in the sense that you don't know details like where they grew up or the time frame for it or the names of side characters, but intricate with the other moments you get. them playing in the woods as kids and riding bikes, phone calls while they're apart and stars stuck to their ceilings.

I wrote about 70% of it, but the problem with playing with the writing style is that sometimes self-doubt kicks in. It's not quite what I usually write, which people like, and maybe where I think the certain lines are poignant, other people won't. I almost deleted it entirely with the idea that I'd never finish or post it anyway, but I couldn't bear to do it. I created a new doc on my computer and just threw it in there, forgot about it, then found it again a couple weeks later. turns out with some distance and time from it, I ended up really loving it and finished it pretty quickly. now it's easily one of my all time favorite fics of mine, and I'm so very grateful for the little voice in my head that told me not to delete it when I almost did.

I'm proud of all the details, honestly, but my favorite section is:

I love the idea of eleven year old steve going around to all of these different dictionaries, hoping one of them will have a different definition because this version of infatuation just can't be right. Even if he doesn't understand his feelings much himself at the age, he just knows it's not that. It's wrong to say it's short-lived or foolish or unreasoned, because it could never be any of those things when it comes to tony.

this fic as a whole is a deep, forest green.

dreamt of you all summer long

There are a few details in the beginning of this one that are pulled from some of my favorite songs, in varying degrees of subtly.

"I knew I'd curse you for the longest time / Chasin' shadows in the grocery line" from Cardigan by Taylor Swift becomes:

"A flash of brown hair ducking around the corner of a grocery store aisle makes his heart stop for just a moment, before he realizes that it's not quite the same shade."

"Maple syrup, coffee / Pancakes for two / Hash brown, egg yolk / I will always love you" from Keep Driving by Harry Styles becomes:

"He learns to live with the memories that infiltrate his mind, until the space between them grows enough that it's been weeks since he thought about the taste of syrup on Tony's lips after Sunday morning pancakes."

"I know I'm a piece of work / But I wanna make it work with you / Do the dishes with Nebraska in the background / Are you listenin'? Are you sat down?" from The Party by Maisie Peters becomes:

"He turns up the radio as he does the dishes, washing each one by hand and hardly remembering that someone else used to sing along to every song while drying them."

I don't often pull in songs like that (unless a song directly inspired the fic), but I liked it in this one, especially for the last two. Cardigan is already a song about being haunted by a relationship that ended, but the other two are love songs. Both show these small, everyday moments where love sort of permeates every aspect. Breakfast and doing the dishes are something more when it's an act with someone you love, but those moments also linger when it ends. They hold a different sort of sadness.

Despite that, lilac and baby blue are the colors for this. Soft and hopeful.

#answered asks #thanks so much for sending these!#I literally spent two hours answering this and I enjoyed every second of it

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rozcdust · 2 years

Text

She’s so mean

Pairing: Kokonoi Hajime x f!reader

Genre: Crack, SMAU

Word count: 1.4k

Warnings: Canon divergent, profanity, ooc, mentions of stitching someone up, blood, mentions of violence, the reader is tired and a bitch

pt. 1 | previous | pt. 28 | next

“WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO?!” Sanzu was screeching and frantic, pressing the gas pedal to the floor, swerving on the road wildly.

“Sanzu, please shut up.” Mikey huffed, holding his bleeding shoulder.

“I CAN’T! YOU’RE BLEEDING OUT BOSS!”

“Who allowed him to drive?” Kakucho raised an eyebrow, holding onto the seat for dear life.

“WE HAVE TO GET HIM TO A HOSPITAL!”

“Ah yes, a nationwide wanted criminal waltzing into an ER. I’m sure that will work.” Ran muttered from his place on Kakucho’s lap, arms crossed.

“Don’t be rude to him, he’s stressed right now.” Rindou smacked brother over Mikey.

“Rindou you’re fucking heavy.” Kokonoi huffed, not amused by the fact Rindou was crushing his chest as he was seated on him.

“Not my fault you’re a fucking twig!”

Takeomi sighed from the passenger seat.

“WELL, WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO?”

“DIY?” Mikey suggested, receiving a glare from all 6 of his executives.

“You all are giving me a headache.” Mikey slumped into his seat, pouting.

“According to WebMD, that means you have a brain tumour.” Kokonoi noted, scrolling through his phone.

Rindou smacked him.

“Isn’t y/n a nurse?” Kakucho perked up, glancing at Kokonoi, “We could call her!”

His eyes widened, everyone’s expectant eyes on him, and he looked at everyone in the car with a panicked look.

“Absolutely fucking not.”

“KOKONOI OUR BOSS IS FUCKING DYING, IF SHE CAN HELP HIM-“

“I’m not dyi-“

“SHE WOULD LEAVE ME IF SHE KNEW!” Kokonoi screamed over Sanzu, effectively shutting up everyone in the car.

“She wouldn’t.” Kakucho muttered, holding onto Ran, who squeezed Kakucho’s shoulder softly.

“She’s a fucking nurse, she helps people, I’m a criminal. How can you be sure she wouldn’t leave me?”

“I- I just know she won’t.” Kakucho looked away, through the car window.

“Maybe we could make up a story? Like say he got injured somehow else-“

“She’s not fucking stupid, Rindou. And if even she believes that, how do we explain why we didn’t just get him to an ER?”

“You seem to be forgetting one key thing about y/n, Kokonoi,” Ran cleared his throat, grinning, “She is doesn’t give a fuck.”

“Boss, I swear to God if this is something stupid I will fucking skin you and make you into shoes.”

Your voice was tired, still full of sleep, which made sense considering it was 4 a.m.

Ran nervously chuckled, scratching his neck as he observed Kokonoi nervously pace around Mikey’s office.

“Sorry to wake you, but I kinda really fucking need your help.”

“It’s a Sunday night. What could you possibly need? Anything about the bar can wait tomorrow.”

“It’s not about the bar. You’re a nurse, right?”

“Nursing student. Why?”

“So my b- friend got shot and really needs some medical assistance.”

“Is it fatal?”

“I don’t know?”

“…you don’t know?”

“…no?”

“Where is the bullet?”

“In his shoulder.”

“Is there an exit wound?”

“I don’t think so.”

You sighed, rolling out of your bed.

“Fine, I’ll be there. Keep putting strong pressure on the wound.”

He beamed.

“Excellent, excellent, I’ll send Rin to pick you up.”

“I’ll borrow Keisuke’s car, just text me the address.”

You hung up without a goodbye.

What no one expected, was for Mochi to walk in, holding you under his arm with ease as one would a rolled up newspapers.

“Who does this belong to? Found her wandering in the building.” He pointed towards your irritated face.

“Put me the fuck down.”

“That’s mi-“ Kokonoi was shut up by a poisonous, warning glare.

“Dude, you do not look like a Sag at all, you look more like a Capricorn. Sure this is real?” You remarked out of nowhere, observing Mochi’s ID.

His eyes widened, and everyone in the room winced when he dropped you with a thud, grabbing his ID away from you.

“How the fuck did you-“

“She’s here to patch me up, Mochi. You can go.” Mikey remarked, observing you as you got up with a scowl, dusting yourself off.

“I am breaking like, at least 7 laws by doing this.” You huffed, dissatisfied with the state of affairs that met you.

Kokonoi had a worried look all over his face as he watched you ignore everyone and go straight to Mikey.

“Sanzu, you’ll crush his shoulder.”

“You said to apply strong pressure!”

“Strong, not bone-crushing! And calm down, you’re hyperventilating,” You gently pushed Sanzu’s hands away, removing the gauze to observe the injury, “Sano-san, you’re lucky. That’s not deep at all, and by the looks of it, didn’t hit any blood vessels.”

Mikey nodded, tilting his head towards the table.

There was a medical first aid kit, some surgery tools, and gloves.

“Can you help him?” Kakucho asked, biting his nails nervously.

“Yep. Where can I wash my hands?”

Takeomi took you to the bathroom, while Kokonoi started pacing again.

“She will fucking leave me.”

“She won’t.” Ran tried to sound comforting.

“She will.”

“Why would I?” You popped up back in the room, sitting in the chair placed in front of Mikey, pulling your gloves on.

“This will hurt like a bitch.” You disinfected the area, injected the numbing solution into the surrounding skin, starting to gently cut it to be able to get the bullet out.

“BE CAREFUL!” Sanzu yelled when Mikey let out a pained groan, only to be smacked by Takeomi.

“Let the professional do her thing.” Mikey mumbled, effectively shutting everyone up.

Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief when you managed to pull the bullet out, dropping it onto a coffee plate.

“You alright, Sano-san?”

“Yes. And you can call me Mikey.”

You hummed, prepping the sewing thread for the stitches.

“Well, anyone wants to share how this happened?” You raised an eyebrow, glancing at the six men gathered around.

Chaos irrupted as they all tried to speak over each other, and you had to roll your eyes.

Clearly they didn’t even attempt to get their story straight.

“We were at a shooting range-“

“It was a drive b-“

“We were in the bad part of the ci-“

“You see, Sanzu was-“

“Stop bullshitting.” You gritted out, grabbing the tools necessary to stitch Mikey up, getting up to maneuver around him.

Back to pin-drop silence it was, as Mikey observed you curiously.

“Y/n, this is a bad time, but we have something to tell you.” Ran sighed, ignoring Kokonoi’s pleading look.

“We’re a part of a criminal organisation called Bon-“

“Bonten? Involved with murder, drug trafficking and money laundering? I know.”

You had the chance to bask in the baffled, tense silence before they all started up again.

“You kn-“

“HOW?!”

“When did you-“

“What the fuc-“

“Why didn’t you tell us?! Koko was sur-“

“You’re not mad?” Koko asked insecurely, shifting from one leg to the other.

“No, why would I be?” You glanced up at him, tilting your head.

“Because we’re criminals?” Rindou pointed out, still uncertain you weren’t messing with him.

“So?” You raised an eyebrow, carefully tying a stitch.

“So that is not an issue?” Sanzu asked this time, observing you like a hawk.

He liked you, but he didn’t trust anyone around Mikey.

“Nope.” You had three stitches left.

“So you won’t leave me?” Poor Kokonoi seemed utterly puzzled, trying to reconnect the wires in his brain.

“Nah.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“100%?”

“110%.”

“Pinky promise?”

“My hands are kinda covered in blood, so no, but pretty boy, I just said I won’t.”

“Can you not flirt with your boyfriend when you have a needle in me?” Mikey’s eye twitched.

“As you said, I have a needle in you, you don’t get to make the rules.” You smugly answered, finishing the second to last stitch.

“Besides, I have several accounts of petty theft, arson, assault and battery on my record, I’m in no position to judge.” You noted, finishing your stitches, admiring how clean they looked.

“YOU WHAT?!” Sanzu and Rindou screeched, basically in unison.

“Yea, used to pickpocket a lot as a kid.”

“No, no, skip that, arson? Assault? Battery?”

“My brother and I had a competition who could set a better fire. Turns out an abandoned office building was a bad idea.”

You noticed the look Ran and Kakucho exchanged.

“Assault?”

“Had anger issues, got a lot of community work for that one.”

“Battery?”

“A guy tried to take a picture up my skirt when I was like, what, 15? I got juvie for a year.” You grinned, putting on a fresh pair of gloves to bandage Mikey up.

“You- what?” Kokonoi blinked.

“Oh, and manslaughter.”

“WHAT?!”

Taglist (closed):

@1818cigarettes @babu-haitani @dilf-city @wakasa-wifey @lagrimasdeglitter @kisekihany @missarabellla @bajifairyy @cryszus @r-xochitl @hana-patata @bontenacious @spookydraken @crybabylisa @rorobaijifuyu @yukihime-mikeys-girl @toobsessedsstuff @sammcaav222 @emilywaters @agoddess-inashell @levistiddies @t04dxm @qualitygiantshoepsychic @chilledraft @bontensbabygirl @brokencoinlocker @somniari-94 @yujibhabie @wakasagurl @sup-zfam @nqctre @chronic-claire-universe @rozewayne2005 @bxnten @graythecoffeebean @hanmascult @sanzuswh0re @yuushs @little-crow @halcyondaisy @st4rryhae @gvancagamer @passionateuchiha @haikyuu-simps-assemble @hecatve @notsodeadgirlwalking @royal-shinigami @marrymemanjiro @frogtits1 @netzukochannn

a/n: huge apologies to everyone for not responding to any replies, i’m just very exhausted and gotta cram for school 🥲 i will get to it as soon as i can 🤧 AND HUGE SHOUTOUT TO TUMBLR FOR REFUSING TO PASTE ANYTHING SO I HAD TO TAG EVERYONE MANUALLY 🤪 IT TOOK 12 FUCKING MINUTES 💀 which is why the links are missing because I’M NOT TYPING THOSE OUT MANUALLY FUCK THAT

anyways here is the discord link or whatever (yes i had to manually type it out. at what point do i get to call tumblr homophobic)

#tokyorev #tokyo revengers #kokonoi hajime x reader #kokonoi hajime x y/n #bonten #manjiro sano #kokonoi hajime #sanzu haruchiyo #kakucho hitto #ran haitani #rindou haitani #akashi haruchiyo

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thegeminisage · 3 years

Text

john abused both dean AND sam, just differently. in this essay i will

prove that the abuse manifested in different ways for each of them because that’s how abuse works in real life. this is based on the fact that john saw dean as mary’s surrogate but once he found out about the deal and sam having demon blood he blamed sam for her death. ok let’s fucking go

dean as mary’s surrogate

there are loads of parallels made between dean and mary in early season spn and late season spn. in season 12 dean directly calls himself sam’s mother, but even earlier than that we see him doing the cooking and child rearing. compare that to all the parallels made between sam and john (both of them losing their blonde woman significant others in a ceiling fire) and it’s clear that dean was meant to more resemble mary. it’s not a stretch to say that if we can see it as viewers this is how john saw it in his actual life. i do think john loves dean for being dean but he loves him more for being mary.

sam as the reason behind mary’s death

i think once john learned that sam had demon blood, some part of him must have always been waiting for the other shoe to drop with sam, not ever fully believing this kid was human, and maybe not even knowing if this kid was HIS. a popular theory back in the day was that YED fathered sam (something they had to actually address in season 4 to stop the speculation), and if WE speculated that hard, surely john must have too. i’m sure he loves sam as an extension of mary, and keeps and raises and protects him BECAUSE he’s mary’s, but similarly (or maybe inverse) to dean, i don’t know if he ever fully gave himself permission to love sam for being sam. in fact, i imagine john harbors a lot of self-loathing for failing to save mary. if we directly parallel john and sam, that means by some extent he would also hate sam.

john trusted dean with far too much, and sam with far too little

dean knew about monsters; sam didn’t. dean had memories of their mother and the night she died, and shared that trauma of watching her die with john; sam didn’t. dean knew when john was supposed to be home and who to call if he wasn’t; sam didn’t. dean was given the money and the guns and the CAR ITSELF; sam wasn’t. dean was taught to drive; SAM WASN’T.

dean was expected to do everything john was supposed to have been doing in his absence - he was to be a mother and father to sam, he was supposed to protect sam from evil, he was supposed to see to sam’s meals and homework and getting to school on time. and he was put under an EXTRAORDINARY amount of pressure not to screw this up even a little bit, despite the fact that he was only a kid. sam on the other hand was kept on a strict need-to-know basis for his entire life, right up until season 1 when they reunite at last. john didn’t trust sam with ANYTHING, and sam knew it. this contributed to his lifelong anger issues because he didn’t DO anything to warrant that kind of mistrust and probably got gaslit about it a lot of times either by john himself or dean (unknowingly, by parroting/believing the things john said). even in the pilot sam says very casually of his mother “she’s gone,” because her memory doesn’t hold the same place of reverence for him - best guess is that john didn’t talk about her much to sam because he didn’t trust sam with emotional stuff either. in s14 we learn that dean was the one who told sam stories about mary, including her terrible casserole - and their attempt at recreating it infuriated john to the point of him throwing the entire concoction in the trash.

john relied on dean for everything, and refused to rely on sam for anything

canonically dean was the one who comforted john after a bad hunt, looked after and fed his brother when john wasn’t around. dean knew how to use a shotgun; sam didn’t. dean knew who to call in an emergency; sam didn’t. dean knew about monsters; sam didn’t. this was done under the guise of “protection for sammy” but turn it around and it’s also protection FROM sammy. think of how angry john gets when he learns sam has been having psychic visions. he’s not just angry that dean didn’t report it to him, he’s angry that the demon’s plans for sam are coming to pass, and that sam is becoming less human. again, he can’t TRUST sam if sam’s not human, and it proves to john that he was right all along to keep sam in the dark as much as possible.

john gave dean too much freedom, and sam no freedom at all

“watch out for sammy.” sam was under constant supervision by either dean or john; john made sure of it. again, it’s protection FOR sam but also protection FROM him, in case he did something inhuman or evil. dean on the other hand was left alone without any supervision at all for days or even weeks at a time - he resorts to stealing bread and peanut butter and (according to jackles) turning tricks for money. he had to make it work and got up to whatever the fuck he wanted when john wasn’t looking. sam had to LITERALLY run away from home before he got the simple pleasure of eating pizza and having a dog by himself, independently. dean was given too much independence and freedom but sam was kept on such a short leash he had none at all.

john made dean feel unworthy, and he made sam feel unclean

when dean fails to protect sam from the shtriga in the season 1 flashbacks, he says his dad looked at him differently after. he also implies that john physically beat him when sam ran away in flagstaff. whether he meant to or not, john made it abundantly clear that his love for dean was not unconditional; it depended very much on how well dean performed the multitude of tasks john assigned him. dean grew up believing that his only worth was in what he could do for other people. he demonstrates this an an adult over and over and over, from letting his possessed family members beat him up to refusing to take care of his own needs, emotional and otherwise, and snapping at people who try to talk to him about his own feelings.

on the other hand, sam talks in season 8 about how even at a very young age he felt impure and unclean, even before he knew that he had demon blood, even before he knew that there was any such thing as monsters. kids aren’t stupid, and sam picked up on the vibes john was putting off - that john didn’t trust him, might not have loved him, and might not have considered him human or even his own child. without even knowing why, he spent his entire life feeling unclean and inhuman, not worth of being loved by his own family. even dean, who we all know loves sam unconditionally, admits in season 14 that he often took dad’s side on arguments because he had “his own stuff,” further leading to the alienation that was sam’s constant companion growing up.

AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY:

JOHN’S ABUSE PITTED SAM AND DEAN AGAINST EACH OTHER

john saved dean after their shared trauma of mary’s death. dean says in season 1 that the reason he stopped talking was that he was scared. iirc john’s journal implies he was mute for over a year, and dean in season 2 says that when he was 6 or 7 his dad took him shooting for the first time. if mary died just before dean’s fifth birthday, the timeline works out to dean talking again because john took him shooting. i believe that dean hero worships his father because after mary’s death, and dealing with the terror that something like that could come in and take his family away by killing them horribly at any time without any warning, john learning to fight back against the darkness - and teaching dean to do the same - is what gave dean his voice again. BOTH of them saw and carried the memory of mary burning on the ceiling for the rest of their lives. “watch out for sammy” and “get the thing that killed mom” were dean’s reasons to get up in the morning, because they were john’s reasons to get up in the morning. these things were LITERALLY his reasons for living. john gave dean a way to fight back against fear and gave him a cause to keep him going. abuse or not, dean never stopped being grateful for that, and he was the only other person in the whole world who understood the unique horror of what john went through that night. even all the way into season 10, he tells other people that john did right by him. it’s borderline brainwashing. part of dean’s self-worth will always be based on how good of a son he was to john.

on the other hand, knowingly or not, john did everything possible to alienate sam. he kept him on a short leash while also keeping him at arm’s distance. he didn’t trust sam with emotional things like the memory of mary, he didn’t trust sam with the truth about monsters and what they did for a living, he didn’t trust sam with his plans, he didn’t trust sam with the truth about demon blood. canon STRONGLY suggests john knew YED bled in sam’s mouth as a baby, but instead of telling sam or even dean about that, sam had to learn about it in a horrible flashback recreated by YED himself. when sam wanted to go to school, john told him no, and when he left anyway, john told him not to come back.

this is an equal but opposite kind of abuse. john totally fucked up BOTH his kids in complete inversions to each other.

which means that, no matter what john did, it caused sam and dean to fight. this isn’t an interpretation. this is straight up canon.

again, dean says in s14 that he frequently took dad’s side in arguments because he had his own stuff to deal with, and he was trying to keep the peace. dean, a victim of emotional (and implied sometimes physical) abuse himself, was not able to shield sam from all of john’s bullshit. he could stop sam from getting hit and having to see john during the worst of his drunken rages, but he couldn’t trick sam into thinking john loved him unconditionally, because john didn’t love either of his kids unconditionally.

when john acted in a way that was not befitting of a parent, sam rightfully took exception, which forced dean (who was ALSO BEING ABUSED, almost brainwashed) to jump to his defense. that led to john getting to do whatever the hell he wanted and sam and dean arguing about the effects. when sam ran away in flagstaff, DEAN was punished, leading dean to resenting sam for that incursion, even though sam was perfectly right to want to get away from an abusive household. when sam did a normal thing wanting to leave for college at age 18, he left, and dean resented him for that because that meant he was alone to bear the brunt of john’s anger.

sam repeatedly made logical, emotionally healthy choices in attempting to break the family dynamic, but because of JOHN’S BEHAVIOR, not sam’s, those choices wound up causing dean harm. JOHN HIMSELF was the ultimate wedge between sam and dean growing up and beyond.

and let’s not forget the biggest sin - john spent 22 years impressing upon dean that taking care of sammy was EVERYTHING, and then without any explanation at all, he asked dean to kill him, and then he DIED, which meant dean had to carry that weight by himself (because again, he’s been trained not to trust sam with things). like of COURSE sam got angry when he found out - that’s fucking fucked up! once again sam is being treated like a ticking time bomb for absolutely no reason - he didn’t ask to have demon blood or psychic visions or a dead mom or an abusive father. nor did dean ask to be saddled with the upbringing of an entire human at four years old who he then might have to kill. because dean will always feel gratitude towards john, and sam will always feel resentment, and because based on john’s treatment of them BOTH OF THESE FEELINGS ARE JUSTIFIED, john continues to cause fights between sam and dean long after he’s dead and gone, and that will never change.

on a final note: i’d like to bring this around to season 13.

after cas, mary, kelly, and crowley all die (or are presumed dead in mary’s case) in the season 12 finale, season 13 opens with nobody but sam and dean and jack. dean directly blames jack for these deaths. he says so multiple times. he says where jack can hear him that he knows jack is evil and impure and cannot be saved and calls jack a freak. when jack tries repeatedly to kill himself dean says to jack’s face not to bother, because WHEN jack does go bad, dean will be the one to kill him. dean does NOT see jack as castiel’s child - he sees jack as someone who brainwashed cas and kelly both and got them killed. dean does not even see jack as a human person worthy of life. from the get-go, all he wants is to put jack down. jack is born into a world shaped by pain and grief and anger, where people hate him simply for what he is and who died to get him here.

and again, sam identifies hard with jack. he justifiably protests dean’s treatment of him. jack is a kid and didn’t ask for any of this. jack is terrified of dean. sam reminds dean that john said all these things about sam that dean is saying about jack. john is still causing a rift between his sons over a decade after his death.

eventually, after jack uses his powers and brings back cas from the empty, dean pulls his head out of his ass and admits that he was wrong. he calls jack his kid more than once, and jack refers to dean as one of his dads. but the damage has already been done. jack struggles multiple times with his powers, accidentally hurting people and then wishing himself dead after. he also struggles without them; even when using his powers means using up pieces of his soul, he does it, because dean taught him that he’s only worthy of being loved and trusted if he’s “good.” even when he has NO SOUL, when jack does something bad he panics about it and seeks to undo it at any cost. that’s how deep the damage runs.

i see a lot of people remarking that in the arc of 13.01-13.05, dean became john, and i agree that he did. but dean didn’t do to jack what john did to him. dean did to jack what john did to SAM.

[spn masterpost]

#supernatural #dean winchester #sam winchester #john winchester #jack kline #liz watches spn #liz's meta #liz's spn stuff #YES YOU CAN REBLOG THIS PLS DO I WORKED HARD ON IT.#WHEW. glad i got that off my chest #this is why u can't call it the widow arc #sam revisited a WHOLE childhood of trauma here #the arc is about all of them!!!!!#backtagging to add #broken road #brcu

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sirikenobi12 · 3 years

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War & the Jedi

This will be a long meta rant, FYI.

The Jedi Order, specifically the Prequel era Jedi Order, gets a lot of hate these days particularly regarding their involvement in the Clone Wars. Accusations are tossed at their feet constantly ranging from corruption all the way up to warmongering.

Let’s first look at the Oxford English Dictionary definition of these two accusations, shall we?

Corruption - having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.

Warmonger - a person who encourages or advocates aggression towards other countries or groups.

The definitions of these two words are so very misunderstood when it comes to relation to the Jedi. If the Jedi are truly “corrupt” then where are the examples of their dishonesty for wealth or personal gain? In fact, I’d argue that canon (and Legends) makes a point to show us that it is the Sith who are in it for personal gain, not the Jedi. The Jedi have absolutely NOTHING to gain from this war on a personal level, in fact they are losing members in terrifying numbers.

The Jedi are also not advocating aggression towards the Separatists, in fact what we see instead is the Jedi DEFENDING against the Separatists. I have yet to see in either canon or legends an instance where the Republic forces invade a Separatist planet who doesn’t have an army or some military involvement (i.e. weapon factories). However, time after time we see the Separatists forcing peaceful planets who want nothing to do with them to either bow to their cause or die (i.e. Ryloth, Lurmen planet, Kiros, Mandalore) the Jedi and Republic Troops will then follow the Separatists to these planets, but they try to do what they can to liberate the planet from the Separaist invasion and then they give the planet the OPTION to join the Republic for safety and economic reasons, but they never force them, as is super evident with Mandalore.

Yet people don’t seem to see this and continue to drag the Jedi through the mud.

Here are the top 5 other “woke” takes I hear -

Jedi are peacekeepers and should not have gotten involved:

First things first, let’s look at the definition of Peacekeeper - a soldier, military force, etc., deployed to maintain or restore peace.

I’d argue by that definition the Jedi were still peacekeepers, it’s true that they weren’t a 3rd party as they normally were before the war, but their position was trying to maintain or restore peace. Peacekeeper is not the same thing as a Pacifist, the Jedi were skilled warriors (training from childhood to wield a lightsaber), the difference is Jedi used their skills for defense not attack which is what we constantly saw throughout the Clone Wars.

With regards to the idea that Jedi “should not have gotten involved” I ask you then what exactly were they supposed to do instead?

We see at the beginning of Attack of the Clones that the Jedi are worried things will escalate to war, they have obviously gone to the Chancellor hoping that a diplomatic solution can be presented to avoid bloodshed. Or if that isn’t possible then that the Republic have some way to defend themselves other than relying solely on the Jedi (i.e. an army). The Separatists are the ones pushing them to a breaking point, were the Jedi just supposed to stand back and let innocent people be invaded/killed because they didn’t want to get involved? The Jedi were “Guardians of Peace and Justice” which means it was their duty to help bring about peace in the galaxy while also enacting justice.

Then after Geonosis (where they lost approx. 187 members mind you) they learned that the Sith are leading the Separatist army - the Jedi are duty bound by their code to fight the Sith, they had no choice but to join the war.

So, I ask again...what were they supposed to do instead?

2. Jedi used a slave army for their own purposes:

Okay, I can (and probably will) write a whole argument based on just this accusation alone. There are so many fallacies I don’t even know where to begin but I’ll try.

I guess my first question is the same as #1, what were the Jedi supposed to do instead with regards to the Clones?

Technically speaking the Clones didn’t “belong” to the Jedi, they were “property” of the Republic (as stated by Lama Su in Attack of the Clones). In fact, the Jedi Council not only didn’t know about the order, they had vehemently denied Syfo Dias’ earlier request to raise an army in the first place. The Sith KNEW the Jedi would be against it, this was all part of their plan to trap the Jedi (as was EVERYTHING about the war) - they clouded the Force, they literally deleted Kamino from the Archives so the Jedi wouldn’t discover it until the Sith WANTED them to (i.e. Jango just happened to use a Kamino dart?? Come on people). Yoda even states “blind we are if creation of this clone army we could not see” he fully admits they missed it because the Dark Side was clouding their vision.

Regardless, the army was created, there was no changing that fact. Had the Jedi not taken command of the army do you think the Clones wouldn’t have had to go to war? Do you actually believe that the Republic who couldn’t get their citizens to give 2 craps about the war would’ve taken up the mantle and fought instead? Do you think if the Jedi were like “thanks, but we didn’t order this” that the Kamioans would’ve just let the Clones go free?

The answer you’re looking for is...no.

So, like absolutely everything about the Clone Wars the Jedi did the best they could with the cards they had been dealt. They chose to lead the army on the front lines, putting themselves in just as much mortal danger as the men they were leading. They even sent a member of the Jedi Council to oversee the creation of future clones/training to ensure they were being treated humanely (something the Kamioans thought was ridiculous). They were the first to tell the clones that they were individuals, they constantly put themselves in front of their men to protect them (i.e. season 7 Obi-Wan deflecting the rocket from blowing up his men). The Jedi did what they could, just because we didn’t see on screen Jedi stopping to grieve every time a clone died did not mean that they didn’t care - real life Generals can’t stop in the middle of a battle to grieve over their fallen soldiers either, so why is it we consider it a moral crime if the Jedi don’t?

Another thing I’ll add is once the Jedi had evidence that the Clones were actually ordered by Dooku, did they immediately stop and say “oh hell no, these flesh droids can’t be trusted, we should just have them decommissioned”?? NO! They defended the Clones, stating that they were good men and should be trusted (and look where that trust got them in the end).

The Jedi were forced/coerced to fight this war as much as the Clones were!! Why are we willing to forgive the Clones, but not the Jedi???

3. Ki-Adi-Mundi killing Geonosians was the same as Anakin’s slaughter at the Tusken camp:

This is another moment where context is everything because there is a HUGE difference between Ki-Adi-Mundi on Geonosis and Anakin in the Tusken camp. The fact that I have to even spell it out makes me wonder how people can even dress themselves in the morning.

The Geonosians were an opposing military force, attacking Ki-Adi and his troops. Anakin slaughtered unarmed women and children out of vengeance.

Now, had Ki-Adi turned to his men and screamed “to the catacombs!” brandishing his lightsaber with a murderous glint in his eyes and proceeded to cut down the unarmed bugs below the battle then you’d have an accurate comparison on your hands and I’d be appalled right there with you.

But, as it stands this is not the same thing...not even close.

4. The Jedi sent children to war:

So, this is a tougher one and I can even understand the concerns behind it, and I even share some of those concerns. The thing I will say to this is, given what we see throughout Star Wars, what constitutes a “child” seems to be different than our own real world definition.

Padme, for example, was 14 when she was elected Queen, and she wasn’t even the youngest ever elected. She (and her handmaids) were trained as children to defend themselves and their people both politically and in battle (much like Jedi), but you don’t hear people condemning the people/traditions of Naboo the way we see the Jedi being condemned for theirs.

Jedi children arguably mature faster than your standard person, and with regards to Star Wars there are also species’ age ranges to keep in mind. Grogu for example is still a baby at age 50, could it be possible that Ahsoka at age 14 is on the same maturity level as a human in their early twenties due to her Togruta DNA?? We don’t know, it’s never stated other than Anakin saying something about because of her advanced skills he forgets how young she is.

Obviously Boba Fett is treated like an adult by other Bounty Hunters - no one even questions when he picks up a job and is placed in charge of a group at age 12 or 13 (and he is placed in an adult prison without anyone questioning it). It could be that by law according to Star Wars that 13 is actually considered an adult. Throughout history (and in many different cultures) 13 was when people were considered to be “coming of age”, So, once again we’re placing our cultural biases onto a fictional space fantasy world without realizing it might not even be an issue in that world.

But even beyond all of that I ask you again - what else should the Jedi have done?

Their young Padawans would eventually have to grow into Jedi Knights, even before the war by the time they are teenagers they usually followed their Masters on missions (often very dangerous missions) in order to get real world experience. At the time of the Clone Wars the real world they were living in was one at war. If they hadn’t brought their Padawans onto the battlefield how else would they have learned how to strategize, or how to cope with the emotions of battle? They would’ve been ill prepared if the war had continued on for years and years as it had looked like it was going to do...once again, the Jedi had no real choice in this.

5. The Jedi lost their way because of the war:

Did they though?? I’d argue they actually didn’t. We first have to ask ourselves what is a Jedi - well, according to the very first time we hear any type of a description about a Jedi they are introduced as the “Guardians of Peace and Justice for the Republic” I don’t see how the war took that away from them.

The Oxford definition of Guardian is a defender, protector, or keeper. I fail to see how the Jedi stopped being any of these things because of the war.

Here’s the bottom line, the Jedi’s biggest mistake was that they fell for a plot 1,000 years in the making. The Sith spent over a millenia perfecting/hatching this plan, there was nothing the Jedi could’ve done to prevent the war by the time the trap was sprung. As always, I’m not saying the Jedi were perfect (I hate that I have to always specify that when I argue that the Jedi were good), all I’m saying is they tried to do the most good that they could with the situation they fell into - few groups/characters can claim the same thing.

Everyone seems to forget that the Sith controlled BOTH SIDES to that war, there was nothing - absolutely NOTHING the Jedi could’ve done that would’ve changed or won that war. So, instead they saved as many innocent lives as they could and to me, that’s very Jedi.

#star wars #jedi #Clone Wars #jedi appreciation #jedi positivity #jedi positive #pro jedi #stop blaming the jedi #meta #rant post #war #The Clone Wars #attack of the clones #jedi culture #jedi council appreciation #jedi did not deserve genocide

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