#comparing them to a cactus

[reachout-tothe-truth]

oh yeah, FYI every residents’ appearances are altered because of them giving up their soul up to Blizzie/to the hotel + losing their grip of reality, instead giving in to the despair they believe in (a.k.a. “going insane”, air quotes)

similar to the latter half, sometimes their appearances are altered due to them losing grip of reality and instead living in their own little reality that they believe in instead that was created by a strong positive moment in their life that they desperately want to go back to again.

then we got odd cases like Jibanyan’s… Yeah so basically any of the hotel owners (Blizzie, Whisper, Junior) any alter anybody’s appearances to their likings, thanks to the remaining powers Blizzie has. Why? Why not.

#☆ (it’s time to make history!) #☆ (yo-kai horror show AU) #the whole altering their appearance based after a positive moment in their life was so strongly based after #the koma siblings being in the roles of the cactus siblings (cactus gunman + cactus girl) PLUS komami being in the role of lost doll #also manjimutt is kinda an odd case?? although he went mad while in the hotel it also caused dandoodle to pop into the hotel and #now suddenly they’re both robot-like things with scales attached to them passing out judgements as they go around. #and they both hate it. dandoodle doesn’t mind it that much since he has gold plating and has high respect compared to any other residents i #the hotel but manjimutt? oh man does he hate it.

[puzzled-pegasus]

Here's some silly little metaphors that I think the dragon tribes would use

SkyWings

“Don’t count your clutch before they hatch.” (Don't plan too much too soon)

“Gold is better than silver, but silver is better than nothing.” (If you can't do it perfectly, still try your best. Most dragons forget the second part.)

“‘Sorry’ can't suck the fire back in.” (The damage is done and now you're dead to me.)

“You been eating too much burnt meat or something?” (Are you nuts?)

“Stop all this smoke and use your fire.” (Stop rambling and get to the point already; or stop complaining and do something)

“Doesn't know his tail from his wings.” (Stupid or clumsy)

“You fly like a depressed pigeon.” (Slow flier)

“There's no fire in a rainstorm.” (Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get to work.)

“Nighttime is for the NightWings.” (What are you doing up? Go to sleep.)

SandWings

“She’s all rattle, and no strike.” (Like all bark no bite)

“A diamond in a pile of quartz.” (Like a needle in a haystack)

“You’re watering the cactus and ignoring the sapling.” (You’re focusing on the wrong thing; barking up the wrong tree)

“Everyone thinks the camel looks silly until the dry season comes.” (Don't listen to them, they don't know how unique and strong you are)

MudWings

“Crocodile tears.” (Fake crying in order to gain sympathy)

“You can only catch a trout if your mouth is open.” (Be open to new experiences)

“If the tree gives away too much, it ends up as a stump.” (Don't let people take advantage of your generosity)

SeaWings

“Happy as a clam in high water.” (Very happy)

“The flying fish feels like a fool when it sees an osprey.” (Don't compare yourself to others, run your own race.)

“Plenty of fish in the sea.” (Plenty more opportunities to come.)

“You’ve got ink in your eyes.” (You're blind to something important)

“Lobsters only die when they don't leave their shell.” (Keep yourself busy with new experiences and you'll life a long life)

NightWings

“Sleep is for the dead.” (Why waste your time sleeping when you could be productive)

“SeaWings know their fish and SandWings know their cactuses, but we NightWings know everything else.”(NightWing supremacy propaganda)

“Being nice to a deer never got one in my mouth.” (Other dragons don't matter, only your goals.)

“A prophecy always comes true.” (I told you so but more cryptic)

"You're counting the stars." (You're doing something tedious towards an unachievable goal)

RainWings

“Gray’s her favorite color.” (She's a huge bummer)

“A lemon is yellow on the outside, doesn't mean they're not sour.” (Referring to someone who is two faced or fake)

“I love honey, but I’d rather not get stung by the bees.” (I could do this, but it requires effort so I don't wanna)

“Nobody likes a rotten banana.” (Nobody likes a bummer/downer)

“Don't tie your tail in a knot” (don't get all upset)

“I have all my berries in a basket” (I have everything sorted out)

“You couldn't sneak up on a pineapple” (insult to one's camouflage skills, popular among children)

IceWings

“The seal who asks why the orca is chasing him is the first to get eaten.” (A favorite of parents telling their kids to shut up)

“Not the sharpest icicle on the roof” (kinda stupid or slow)

“Clear as polished ice” (i understand or see it very well)

“You're looking a little pink in the face” (you look sickly. IceWings can turn pink from eating too much krill; a symptom of malnutrition. This line can be applied to any illness.)

“Blue blood kills, red blood spills.” (Patriotic propaganda implying that IceWings win every fight

“The SkyWings toss their blue eyed hatchlings because they're worried they'll be as strong as an IceWing.” (More propaganda)

HiveWings

“Pretty is for the SilkWings.” (Vanity is stupid and impractical)

“If it buzzes like a bug and bites like a bug, it's a bug.” (Don't ignore the obvious)

“Clearsight works in mysterious ways.” (I don't know the answer to your question, now go away)

SilkWings

“It's not always good to know how the honey gets made.” (Don't stick your snout where it doesn't belong)

“She's got a couple of threads loose.” (Calling someone a little crazy, threads refers to weaving)

“The bee minds its flowers and the spider minds her silk, it's when they mix that bad things happen.” (Mind ya business)

LeafWings

“Flytraps only trap because the soil doesn't feed them.” (Dragons don't get angry out of nowhere)

“Looking like a leaf only hides you in the forest.” (Time and place)

“If a branch doesn't bend, it breaks.” (Be flexible)

“Even the corpse flower attracts the flies.” (Even someone who seems ugly to one dragon they can seem irresistible to another)

#wings of fire #wof headcanons #metaphor #idioms

[rainyinautumn]

there's a parallel in last life that I don't see talked about as much as it deserves and so I'm going to dissect the ever-living hell out of it. remember the ghast farm incident? everyone remembers the ghast farm incident. Grian turns red, he starts knocking blocks of a bridge out from under Mumbo, "there's a way we can still be friends," etc etc etc. it's fantastic. WELL. two sessions earlier, there's a similar confrontation between Scar and Joel after Joel turns red, except the roles are reversed. Joel approaches and it's Scar who starts breaking blocks of the bridge, trying to put distance between the two of them. HOWEVER, the interesting difference here is that Scar is doing it not because he doesn't want to be Joel's friend anymore, but because he still wants to be. lets take a look at a transcript of part of that scene, shall we?

[Scar breaks several blocks of the bridge.] Joel: Scar, what are you doing? I know you're not my friend anymore, but come on, Scar. Not the bridge. Scar: I wanted to make an arrangement. Are- are we not friends? Joel: We can't be friends, Scar. We can't be friends.

Scar knows that Joel is a red life and that he might hurt him, but he still wants to be friends, so he's providing a way that they can be near each other while he isn't in any danger by putting a gap in the bridge. he even breaks it again when he comes by to chat later. during that chat, Joel reminds him of how dangerous he is, Scar says he "gets it," and then proceeds to let him continue living under magical mountain. Scar doesn't "get" that he needs to be cautious of Joel—what he "gets" is that he's taking a risk by letting him stay and that he's already accepted something might happen. and he's OKAY with that. Joel is red. he gets it.

now compare that to this excerpt from the ghast farm incident:

Grian: Y'know, Mumbo, there's a way we can still be friends. Mumbo: Yeah? Grian: Yeah. [he starts breaking blocks at of Mumbo's feet] You could join me.

with Joel and Scar, it's a red life choosing to step away from his friend in order to protect him, while said friend tries to find a way that they can still be near each other without placing himself in danger. with Grian and Mumbo, it's a red life choosing to try to take his friend down with him so that they can be near each other because he can't accept not being his friend. the fact that in BOTH scenarios the friendship is symbolized by a bridge being broken is a perfect illustration of one of Grian's lines from the ghast farm incident: "it was a bad idea for the wrong reasons." those friendships should have been a good idea, those bridges should have been a good idea, but now they provide a connection that isn't safe, and they all know that.

and I'm not done talking about this. no no no no no. this offers a FASCINATING insight into why desert duo is Like That. Scar would sooner let Grian kill him than have to stop being his friend. Grian would sooner kill Scar than have to stop being his friend. which is all kinds of perfectly fucked up and explains exactly why 3rd life ended the way that it did. it also makes the cactus scene from double life very interesting to think about. remember the cactus scene? it's a doozy.

Grian starts session by dropping a stalactite on Scar's head as a prank and (unintentionally) taking them down to two and a half hearts. Scar then retaliates by leaning against a cactus until Grian breaks it. he then leans against Yet Another Cactus until Grian breaks that one too, at which point they are at only one heart. a question I've been asking since that day is this: if Grian hadn't broken the cactus, would Scar have stepped away before it was too late?

using bridge theory, we can find an answer to this.

the answer is no.

this isn't necessarily because Scar is actively trying to get them killed—it's more because he knows with absolute certainty that Grian will break the cactus. he's not prepared to step away because he isn't worried he needs to. see, the difference between Grian and Scar is that Grian is willing to throw around the lives of other people to get what he wants, and Scar is willing to throw around his own life to get what he wants (the fact that what they really want out of all this is often the other's trust is an issue I will dissect another day). once again, last life is the perfect example of this. Grian steals a life from Scar right off the bat and gets another one out of him by force a few episodes later. meanwhile, Scar makes a business out of selling his soul and threatens Team BEST that he'll kill himself in order to go red life crazy on them. and they don't doubt him! and they SHOULDN'T doubt him, because Scar is the kind of guy that would do that! the same way that Grian is the kind of guy who will drop a stalactite on his soulmate's head but break the cactus he's leaning against.

Grian is willing to risk Scar's life, but he's not okay with Scar risking his own life, because he knows that he's completely willing to stand against a cactus until he dies if it makes a point. so Grian breaks it.

but Scar knows Grian as well as Grian knows him. Scar knows that this is hardly a risk at all. so he leans against the cactus a third second time.

#normal about desert duo #normal about last life #normal about how the life series is a tragedy of epic proportions but is also just a block game that some guys play for fun #these two are so integral to each other's demise it is unbelievable #desert duo #grian #goodtimeswithscar #last life #double life #overrainylyzed

[loud-whistling-yes]

Wooooo winners gang (design notes + version without scott's stars + halos under cut)

General

All of them except martyn have scars related to their final death

Also gold accents for all of them :DD

Took 5 minutes of debating with myself back and forth on whether I wanted black eyes, red eyes, purple eyes or whatever goddamn eyes their skins have

Ended up with dark red eyes. Which is not even a colour I was thinking of as shown above

Also this isn't even that related to the design or anything but I like to think the winners only remember as far as the game they won. So like grian only remembers 3l scott remembers 3l and ll so on and stuff. Makes shit funnier. And more dramatic. (looking at you whatever the fuck dl!galaxy duo had going on)

Grian

Poncho and the flowers were inspired by @/cherrifire's design :D

Scars on the head are from the fall. Also not shown in here are bloody marks on his hands from the cactus ring LMAO

Tiny wings don't fly D:

Scott

So

As you can see

I may have went a bit overboard with the headcannoning

Relates to an old post of mine (oh god. It's from 2021. oh god this is VERY old.) Where I hc-ed ll!scott to have becomed a starbrone after dying. Hence... Whatever the fuck this is

Not really happy with how the galaxy thingy came out 😭 might redo it sometime...

But yeah lighting scars :)))

And the crystals around him are kinda half-melted also from the lightning... Also a thing from the old post

Pearl

Frayed soulmate string :)

Explosion scars on face, chest and right hand from the explosion. Basically she threw herself to the explosion or something idk I've been looking at the mirror for 20 minutes now with stupid looking positions

Crystals are shared soulmate trait she got from scott

Martyn

Ehhhh I might redesign him someday he isn't as well thought-out compared to the others cause I've had months to think of the others designs...

No scars for him lol. Like I know irl he just got smited by grian but in his video he actually runs out of time so...

He's got his hourglass tho (top part empty as it should be :))

His head is meant to look like pufferfish :D yellow and blue and all

Yes I think about the banner belt a lot

His halo is based of mars and its moons phobos and deimos :D

#mcyt #life series #life series smp #grian #pearlescentmoon #martyn inthelittlewood #scott smajor #it has just occurred to me 3/4 of the people im tagging have a tumblr im scaref now #3rd life smp #last life smp #double life smp #limited life smp #whoop #my art

[bbrissonn]

in which y/n attends the ears tour in detroit with cole and luke

lemon au masterlist

y/nzegras

liked by colecaufield, avazegras and others

y/nzegras best night of my life 🪩🐍🧣(last pic is my live reaction of hearing haunted and i almost do as surprise songs)

also shootout to coley for being the best photographer out there, and to lukey for running to the bathroom to get my toilet paper cause i was crying too much 😗

tagged colecaufield

view all 108 comments

colecaufield t swift >> hs

y/nzegras @/colecaufield okay woah now, comparing mother to father is something we do NOT do here short stuff

lhughes_06 why wasn't the fit changed included...?

y/nzegras @/lhughes_06 shhh that's for another post

trevorzegras @/y/nzegras outfit change...???

y/nzegras @/trevorzegras yuh, you would know if you were an actual swifty and came with us loser

colecaufield i can confirm the statement abt the last pic, my ears still hurt from the yelling

y/nzegras @/colecaufield :))

friendsusername can't believe you decided to go to the one in detroit instead of coming with us...

y/nzegras @/friendsusername sorry loves, but mr coley offered me free tickets, can't say no to that <33

trevorzegras @/y/nzegras 1. you're such a fake friend, ditching them like that 2. stop using my friends for their money

y/nzegras @/trevorzegras 1. i was on facetime with them so shush 2. cole offered them to me as an early birthday gift. ur friends like me more than you, stay mad whore 😌

colecaufield @/y/nzegras ur my fav zegras

y/nzegras @/colecaufield this is why ur my fav

jamie.drysdale @/y/nzegras what about me...?

y/nzegras @/jamie.drysdale ur my west coast boy :D

jackhughes why do i have 20 million friendship bracelets in my room with weird letters on them @/y/nzegras

y/nzegras @/jackhughes it's part of my plan to turn you into a swifty

jackhughes @/y/nzegras what on earth does ATWTMVTVFTV mean??

y/nzegras @/jackhughes it's a song duhhh look it up jacky

jackhughes @/y/nzegras ITS TEN MINUTES WTH

y/nzegras @/jackhughes consider it ur song of the day :)

jackhughes @/y/nzegras wait when you'd even go in my room...?

y/nzegras @/jackhughes i have connections, lots of help from the inside

jackhughes @/y/nzegras WAS IT LUKE??

y/nzegras @/jackhughes im not saying it's him, but im not saying it's not him either 😃

load more...

~

y/nzegras

liked by lhughes_06, _alexturcotte and others

y/nzegras twinningggggg

view all 73 comments

trevorzegras this is the outfit change??

y/nzegras @/trevorzegras yuh

trevorzegras @/y/nzegras im a little dissapointed ngl

y/nzegras @/trevorzegras idc, go cry about it little baby

_alexturcotte @/y/nzegras i wanna be like you when im older

y/nzegras @/_alexturcotte purr as you should mr cactus 😽

_quinnhughes when'd the outfit change happen exactly...?

y/nzegras @/_quinnhughes i missed the end of cardigan to be ready for the 1989 set

trevorzegras @/y/nzegras isn't cardigan like one of your fav?

y/nzegras @/trevorzegras si, but i was sobbing and i only missed like the last minute of it

lhughes_06 security giving you a weird look when you explained why you had a whole other outfit with you was the best part of the night

colecaufield @/lhughes_06 "it's called an outfit change mister" -y/n zegras, 2023

y/nzegras @/colecaufield he obviously wasn't a swifty, i don't get why they hired him 🙄

load more...

#bri writes #lemon au #luke hughes #luke hughes fluff #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes fic #luke hughes blurb #luke hughes imagine #luk hughes insta edit #trevor zegras #cole caufield #jack hughes #quinn hughes #alex turcotte

[antimony-medusa]

Okay so, the thing about Boundaries, and why people keep bringing them up over and over again to creators, is I think there's a bit of a desire for what people are doing here to not be weird. Cause like, the creator signed off on it, so like, I'm fine and you can't make fun of me or get mad at me.

And like, I understand the desire to not be made fun of or have people get mad at you, believe me, I know, but I think we have all just gotta accept that what we're doing is— it's a little weird, bro.

Like by definition what fandom is is getting a little too much into your thing. Fan comes from Fanatic. We all saw some block men and we went way too hard with it. And I think that sufficiently viewed from the outside, there is just no way to do any kind of transformational creation and it not be weird to the wrong people.

Like, taking a character and making them miserable? One of the honourable fandom traditions, whether you're whumping them or if you go hard into comfort at the end. For someone entirely outside of fandom, that's just like why are you DOING that, bro, and when you add in the fact that we're using people's real names (well, gamer tags), there's no way for that not to be odd. "The creator said it was okay" is not going to make people go ??? any less. (Let me emphasize that this is fine, it's just like, also, you bring that up on the bus and peope go ????)

Let's look at fluff. You want to write about your characters in a coffee shop au? You want to write about your characters in a cuddly family dynamic, taking care of each other? You want to age down characters and write kid fic where they learn to face the challenges of the world and it's just so cute and you love them so much even if nothing really bad happens? I promise you that my non-fandom parents are gonna be like "why are you spending your time on that" and again, if you throw in the "is this real people" (it isn't, but that is a delicate thing to explain), you're looking at people staring at you in discomprehension and backing away.

Shippy stuff. Again, one of the honourable fandom traditions. You just love your guys and you want to write about how much they love each other (or maybe make it tragic about how only one person can make it out of the cactus ring). You spent all this time thinking about their feelings writing it out. You write out a kiss scene. It makes you flail happily. Most people don't do that! Absolutely fun to do? Yes! Something you can bring up as an ice breaker at the company potluck? Probably not! We are too much into the characters, and that's fine, but it's still gonna look a bit odd from the outside!

Plotty gen. You're writing an entire new story, but you're taking existing characters for it? Like it's original fiction, but you're using existing characters? Why not just write original fiction <I have had this conversation. Oh, you're writing a story about minecraft characters, and they— they get tortured? Like it starts with them being tortured? <also a fun conversation to be in.

I'm mostly thinking about this from the fanfiction side, but art, meta— we are just getting into things way too much. We're spending hours on this stuff. We drew the creators minecraft sonas in maid dresses. There are millions of words of fiction on the archive about every conceivable universe of good/bad things happeing to the characters. It is a primary hobby, where I could be learning piano or paying attention to sports. And I'm not, and like, that's fine.

I am here to tell you that people absolutely might find what we're doing weird, and also it's entirely fine. I just ran a poll about the sexiest minecraft character that got 68k votes on the most voted poll. And then I had to explain that to my doctor to explain why I didn't really have a normal baseline for the past week to compare to. (Doctor visibly thought it was weird but he was also like "you go" because he's a good doctor, but I had to start with explaining minecraft because he knew NOTHING about what I was talking about.) You just gotta accept that fandom is for a small segment of the population, we are all having fun with ourselves, and it's for us, it's not for the general population, and stop trying to make it palatable to people who don't care to understand. People on this site keep saying "racist white boys" and then they don't have the intellectual curiosity to pursue further as to why maybe that's not true, having a boundaries post is not going to make them nicer. It's fine. They're being jerks, we're just having fun.

And like, stop trying to get the creator to sign off on it. Accept that sometimes we're being weird and they can look at it if they want to see the weird fanatics going too hard with the characters. They will tell us if we're doing something they want to stop associating with their name, and up until that point, just accept that what we're doing is weird, and have fun with it.

We're weird.

Be more weird 2k23.

Have fun with it.

I wrote a time travel AU in DMs with a friend last night about a bird man and a minecraft piglin. Not normal. It's FINE.

#discourse #mcyt #medusas banger posts #fandom meta

[transmasclittledestiny]

Can I get jealous Dethklok headcanons?

Reader x jealous Dethklok members!

Canon typical violence and substance use

Possibly ooc (I need to rewatch the series)

Gender neutral reader

Nathan:

He doesn't usually feel the need to be jealous, I mean he's the front of Dethklok, he shouldn't need to worry about anything interfering with the relationship right?

Yeah, no.

He's very protective of you.

He gives his bandmates a whole rundown about what not to do when you're around since they've gotten a little too close with some of his past relationships.

He didn't worry about Murderface too much though, for many reasons.

If you guys are out at a bar and someone starts flirting with you, there will probably be a bar fight, and Nathan will definitely win.

Nathan would probably have his hand around you the rest of the night.

He might not even wash the blood off his knuckles just to show anyone else not to fuck with him or his partner.

He's kinda like a big grizzly bear, don't touch his honey

(that was such a stupid fucking joke I'm sorry)

Pickles

Pickles doesn't really get jealous often, but it might just be the fact his off his ass usually.

But when he does notice someone getting a little too close to you in a way he doesn't like, he's loud about it.

He would probably call them a douchebag and punch them in the face.

If he got in a bar fight, I'm honestly not sure if he would win.

Not because he isn't strong, I think he can pack a punch.

I just think he might drink too much to really stay on his feet long enough, there's a 50/50 chance he'd win, depends how much he drank beforehand.

It's very sweet though, even if he doesn't win.

Toki

If Toki gets a reason to be jealous, he won't be as upfront as the previous two with it.

He would probably make a passive aggressive remark and pull you away or something.

"Heys, leaves that douchebags, I gots to shows yous something."

He knows you love him so he doesn't need to worry about you leaving him for someone, but he can still get jealous.

Skwisgaar

Best way I can explain it is like when your dog smells another dog on you if that makes sense.

If he gets pushed far enough though, there will be blood (for reference, the scene where he beats a guy probably to death in Snakes N' Barrels ||)

I might bomb this cuz I don't rlly know how to write Skwisgaar I'm sorry in advance.

He might not seem like it, but he can get quite jealous.

You might think he doesn't care since he prides himself in his great he is, especially since he's the lead guitarist of Dethklok and all the sex he's had with no real care in the world, but he does.

And that jealousy might get pushed deep down to keep up his whole front, but it might backfire in the end and cause a bit of a breakdown.

When that little line finally snaps, he'll start to pay extra attention to you and probably always have a hand on you (in public.)

You'll definitely realize what's going and sit down with him to talk about it but he'll pretend he doesn't know what you're talking about.

You have to reassure him that you'll stay with him which might cause some emotions and he'll get mad at himself for cracking, but you'll again reassure him it's ok.

It's like dating a Cactus (joking, maybe)

Murderface

Murderface would probably be the easiest to get jealous and is already pretty insecure about his love life.

So when he sees someone flirting with you, he might make a small scene.

He makes it (very) loud and clear to anyone around that you're taken, and that he's the one you're taken by.

It's a little embarrassing...

He doesn't do it to embarrass you though, he dies it purely because he thinks someone else might genuinely steal you away.

I mean, he's the bassist, they aren't exactly the most popular as shown multiple times in the show.

And he knows he's not exactly the best looking guy out there, at least not compared to his bandmates.

But you love him, and you remember to tell him that after his little moments.

#metalocalypse x reader #dethklok x reader #nathan explosion x reader #pickles the drummer x reader #toki wartooth x reader #skwisgaar skwigelf x reader #william murderface x reader

[cipheramnesia]

a story by @rox-and-prose and @cipheramnesia

Part 3: Inveterate Scars

The only sound in the corridors of Genghis Khan was the slow throb of a giant breathing. It was barely audible, always just below the floor or walls, nearly vibration alone at times. Sy thought it sounded a little like the rush of a monorail through a long tunnel, perhaps. Nothing echoed along its walls or wide empty corridors, his own voice barely came back, his running footsteps reduced to thuds. The silence was the same kind he remembered from university libraries, where every word slipped into racks of data cartridges or soft carpet, anywhere it could hide to escape notice.

The bloodstains on GK's floors were browning, but the pool on the bridge was still a darkening, sticky red. It reeked of sour copper, and he hadn't had time to clean. He felt like he'd been walking for hours, screaming at GK to show him medical supplies. He couldn't even remember what he said, what GK said. Most of the emergency kit was empty, discolored spaces where whatever passed for bandages or antibacterial cream had vanished over time, but he clutched several rolls of polyplast-like material and a few metallic tubes that sloshed.

"There is no certainty these materials are safe for Laika's use," GK advised, while Sy staggered his way through the floor switch into her room.

More blood, not as much as the bridge, but enough. Her skin almost seemed to have a blue tinge, terrifyingly pale compared to her usual brown and olive undertones. He dropped what he held and put his hand under her nose. Faint, still breathing. The cactus thorns and torn clothes he'd tried to pull her wound together with seemed to have held enough for the moment. Some of the rags were starting to soak through.

"How do I use these?"

"She appears stable. It may more prudent to avoid the potential aggravation of her injury rather than undertake the risk of incompatible medical procedures."

"She isn't stable, she's bleeding more than breathing. These," Sy waved the rolled sheets, "look like bandages. Are they bandages?"

"..."

"GK if you don't tell me what they are I'm gonna try and figure it out by myself."

"They do not- Your words do not describe them well. They are biologically static shell component. The fluid component will permit structural permeation without deterioration."

"This sounds a lot like a bandage."

"Her- Laika does not share a compatible structure with a Pilot. It may prove beneficial to her injury, or it may eject her soul from this shell, may it find a stronger shell one day."

"Well I think that's going to happen anyway if we don't try something."

"I am also attempting to locate assistance."

"What do you- Nevermind. Show me how to use the thingy."

"Biologically static shell component. You will need to activate it with biologic matter to prime the component to the recipient structure."

Sy stuck his hand in Laika's blood and smeared the bandage. "Please don't die yet," he said. "You can't leave me alone with GK." He took a deep breath and began to unwind the bandages.

In the ever expanding void of space, and interlace of structure and system, Genghis Khan reached in its own way for help, hungry and waiting.

#gkw #long post

[crowscadence]

Some random BSD headcanons because my old post about this is old

•Gin is really good with animals and young kids

•Atsushi is like a magnet for cats. He’ll walk outside and 80% of the time have at least one cat come up to him

•Ranpo has autism (tbh at this point so many people headcanon this that it could be considered fanon. Also this totally isn’t me projecting shhh)

•Yosano is good with kids

•When Dazai joined the agency, he bribed Ranpo into not revealing his backstory by buying him whatever snacks he wanted whenever he wanted

•Chuuya’s least favorite dog breed is the chihuahua solely because Dazai sometimes compared/compares him to one

•Poe was a theatre kid in high school but worked stage crew due to stage fright

•Dazai was super big into MCR when he was younger and still listens a fair bit now

•Dazai can’t care for plants. They will die in his care (me projecting because I killed a cactus by underwatering it)

•Poe’s favorite Shakespeare work is Romeo and Juliet (basic ass answer-)

•Chuuya is at least semi-fluent in French if not entirely. He’s also somewhat fluent in English

•Kunikida played some sport like country club tennis as a kid

I’ll add to this as I think of them

#bsd #Bungo stray dogs #bsd headcanons #bsd gin #bsd Atsushi #bsd dazai #bsd Ranpo #bsd Yosano #bsd chuuya #Ranpo is autistic I know because I am Asagiri #bungo stray dogs headcanons #text #bsd Poe #romeo and juliet #chuuya #bsd kunikida

[rosenbergamot]

really cant believe (yes i can) that mumscarian solidified their polycule in s9 solely to fuck with doc like can u imagine being mumbo and ur two closest friends, both of whom u have been harbouring these bubbling feelings for, suddenly ask u to join them. out of NOWHERE. because of an OOPSIE. a little FUCKY WUCKY

like these are feelings that u have been tamping down for YEARS, because even though u have had ur moments with them, sometimes it feels like nothing compared to what u know theyve gone through when u havent been there. sometimes the weight of sand and cactus and poppies and lilacs is so heavy on them that u can almost visualize it as crowns on both of their heads. the silences between them are underscored with an unknowable tension, and u want to be able to know so badly, but u werent there when it all began; even if u were there for two of the other ones, u still have no way of KNOWING and thats what kills u. so u never confess. u keep it to urself. they can never feel the same.

and then the two of them blow up docs tunnel bore and suddenly one random day theyre on ur front step with these stupid hippie outfits and theyve got one in ur size and they look at u so earnestly but so mischievously and it feels like this is the moment its all been leading up to. they blink their pathetic eyes at u and they say “hi mumbo we did a fucky wucky would u pleade join our polycule so that we can kill docm77 for realsies this time also btw this is a compeltely genuine invitation we really both love u and havent been able to tell u because ur autistic swagger is both blindingly beautiful and strangely awkwardly intimidating” and u just have to be like “…..yeah ok. sure.” and then u spend the next few weeks having the wildest sloppiest gay sex of ur life in crowded tents and getting dirt under ur nails and doing ecstasy while docs alerts remind u of the whole purpose of it, and even if that should feel strange and bittersweet, theres still such genuine joy u all feel together, and then when its over ur like “alright so this was a bit right?” and theyre like “god no ur stuck with us forever” and thus u are now officially in a relationship.

and it was all because of docm77. like. what. does he know. does docm77 know that he invented polyamory

#i dont remember writing this #mumscarian #hermitshipping #rosie talks #they drive me CRAZYYY yall don’t understand #absolutely the craziest few weeks for one mumbo jumbo #perhaps. #this requires a fic #HAHA

[letomills]

Download: SFS / Mega

Outfits that give your sims the appearance of merfolk, for ages toddlers to elders. Recommended for use alongside @midgethetree's Mermaid mod (further mods for merfolks by Midge here). Note however that these outfits are enabled not just for swimwear but for all clothing categories, to accomodate simmers who play a fully underwater neighborhood (inspo). If you want to change the categorization of clothing in bulk, I can recommend the Outfit Organizer or the BSOK editor.

This is actually the first part of a three-part set that will also include conversions of these outfits for custom body shapes. Edit: part 2 - part 3.

Swatches and details below the cut.

The meshes

Apart from the EM mesh which is new, all meshes are slightly edited versions of the meshes from Marvine's Merfolk project, or @jellymeduza's versions of those meshes when applicable (bottom of this post). Children to elders have fat morphs, teens and adults additionally have preg morphs.

All of them had a visible neck seam which I fixed. Example on AF:

(Note that I made this edit only after taking the UF swatches below.)

I also modified the fat morphs on the CU and AM meshes (they were 100% Maxis-match, I made them a bit smoother and, well, less weird, hopefully).

Polycounts are very low, ranging from 1,404 for PU to 1,934 for UF.

~

The recolors

All recolors have sortindex numbers that ensure that they will appear neatly arranged set by set in your CAS catalogue, after all of your other CC clothing (right before the Maxis stuff).

All are enabled for all clothing categories including maternity.

Shoe sounds are set to none.

The textures, though I made edits to most of them, were taken from other creators credited below.

TF & AF use the same textures: the TF recolors can be either standalone or repo'd to AF. TM & AM & EM use the same textures: the TM and EM recolors can be either standalone or repo'd to AM. CU and PU have their own respective textures.

Marie Fay

Textures edited from Marie Fay's beautiful The Little Mermaid set. I erased the portion of semi-sheer texture that went up the back as it didn't look great on deep skintones. Compared to the original recolor files, unnecessary bump maps have been removed (the TM recolors don't appear weirdly mislit and are now useable) + shoe sounds have been set to none + sortindex numbers have been changed.

~

Simsllama Kosmiks

Textures edited from @simsllama's Kosmik recolors. Same as above, I cleaned up the back (you can see how it was before clean-up on the fifth picture I shared here), removed unnecesary bump maps, fixed the shoe sounds and edited the sortindex numbers. Also adapted for toddlers.

~

Midge

Textures edited from @midgethetree's mermaid tails. I reduced the exposure on the F bra, replaced the F bottom textures with the M textures, smoothed the waist seams (there was a white cast that looked weird on deep skintones), fixed the texture bleeding onto the fingers, adapted for EF by replacing the AF bra with the Marie Fay EF bra that Simsllama also used above, adapted for toddlers. The grey recolor is now available for all ages.

~

JuBeos + RavenKitty

Textures taken from this post by Meshy. I just had to adapt them for UM, EF, CU and PU, fix shoe sounds, edit sortindex.

~

Cactus

Also textures taken from this post by Meshy. Adapted them for UM, EF, CU and PU, fixed shoe sounds, edited sortindex.

~

Lady Turquoise

Textures taken and adapted from Meshy's post. Flat-chested shapes (PU, CU & UM) only get one version. No shoe sound, proper sortindexing.

~

Misc

Textures 1, 3, 4 and 5 are from Meshy's post, texture 6 is from another Meshy post, texture 2 is from here, texture 7 is by Sunken-Woglinde (from here and here). Adapted for missing ages, fixed shoe sounds, sortindexed, yadda yadda.

~

Sunken-Woglinde Metallics

Textures originally by Sunken-Woglinde, though I edited the UF version into its own thing (it's giving Catallena but I'm not mad at it). Necklaces by Liana (from here, here and here). Many edits including reducing the contrast on the bump map. No shoe sounds, etc.

~

The T

Original texture by The T. Very cool textured matte appearance thanks to a beautiful bump map. Recolors 2-8 are by me, toddler texture replaced to match everybody else. Usual file edits.

~

Sherahbim & Van

Original texture is Sherahbim's Maiden of the Sea, which Van recolored. Adapted to missing ages and did the usual file edits.

~

And that's it, let me know if you see any issues!

#sims 2 #download #sims 2 cc #ts2cc #s2cc #sims 2 download #s2cc merfolk

[sharb]

Sharb's SAGE 2023 recommendation list

SAGE is over and I've taken a look through some really good games this week. Wanted to shout out some of the ones I thought were really cute in no particular order.

With over 200 games I can't play through and recomend all of them so please if you're interested in any of these I recomend going to https://sagexpo.org/games.html andlooking at some of the other games available.

These are just the games I've played, if you don't see your game here that's not a comment on the game's quality, just what I had time to check out.

Remember to click the thumbnails to get access to the game's pages

I was immediately interested in B.U.D.D. for it's art and references to games like wonder boy, what really surprised me about it was the humor as it's actually funny in a cute way.

If you like wonder boy or classic sega adventure games I can't recommenced B.U.D.D. enough.

@cyanroxanne pitched this to me as a SHMUP for people that have trouble getting into SHMUP games, after playing the demo and taking a minute to figure out how the game works I actually had a lot of fun with it. I could definitely recommend this to people who wanna get started with the genre, really amazing art too feels like it's a treat just seeing what the next area looks like.

RPG games can be really hard to push on SAGE because of how many games there are to go through and how long they can take to complete, a lot of streamers tend to pass over them for the sake of time so they can cover more games.

So here's my RPG recomendation, Cubenen Gardens is a game being made by @thegamedawg who actually got me to play test his game months ago, the game's still in development but what I've got to mess with so far the game's strongest aspect is it's characters and world building as you help Micheal (the saddest sopping wet creature on the planet) navigate a mall trying to find a rare monster but gets wrapped in more and more conflict.

David gets keen is really short but it has a really strong gameflow to it, my only gripes with it is that the ability HUD could be given more clear graphics as your moves are represented by circles which can make it hard to figure out what they belong to without pressing their corresponding buttons.

Beyond that the grass stage is amazing, playing the level normally gives you a pretty average platformign game but when you start building up speed using your spin move on slopes you can get to insane speeds and just fly through the level skipping puzzles and enemies and clearing the level in seconds, it's really fun when you get the hang of it.

@wootinaboot

Meander land is a really small game by @whiskerfjords game's really fun to play casually, I thought the story and characters were really cute and I'm actually really excited to see what Whisker makes next.

Out-class Hunter from @7hrone returns again with a brand new level to check out, it's a return to Doom style third persons games, specifically SRB2, it's been fun following the development of this game and watching it improve each demo.

Lemme know if you can find the cool cactus, you'll know which one I'm talking about if you follow my games ;)

Prototype N is just a really really solid action platformer game from @arriettylunaris each level has a lot of thought put into it's design and the weapon combinations can be a lot of fun to mess with, I really can't recomend Prototype N enough.

I can't get over how much character personality this game oozes, feels like around every door I'm going to run into something new I like either being a character or a game mechanic that's just fun to mess with, each character brings their own moves and their levels take advantage of a lot of their movements.

I'd compare this to those old 90's Disney game adaptations but this game easily out does them in terms of design as the designs look like they were ripped right out of an old 1940's cartoon shorts.

Peak meme aside, I actually had a lot of fun playing this, Super Freaks is a fun lil platformer game with references to a tonne of other works, you probably saw this game referenced countless times this Sage but it is just really goofy fun, tho I would really recommend playing this with friends if you can, game feels like it was designed around the kind of multiplayer chaos, if you saw the stream I was part of you can see why.

Sorry to all my friends who have heard me talking about this game all week non stop and seeing me reverse engineer SMBX 2 to [redacted] but this was easily my favorite game this SAGE if not the most replay-able, I keep booting this up just to try and make it thought the level as quick as I can.

So if you're like me you've probably been seeing @punkitt-is-here s pony comics or more specifically, the Susan Tax payer comic and the charm, humor and personalities of all of them absolutely coats this game.

It requires a bit of set up, you have to download SMBX2.0 separately in order to play this and SMBX has it's own set of issues that kinda bleed over into some of the issues in the game that need to be ironed out but beyond that this is a really fun demo to play and I absolutely can't wait to see where this goes.

Techpack currently is one Namco inspired arcade game, Tech has put a tonne of time and research into how to nail the old arcade style. The only thing holding it back right now is that the only game available is really simple and short, but man I'd be kicking myself if I didn't mention the presentation on it alone is enough for me to recommend checking this out, really reminds me of the old Namco collection games on playstation.

Now put my rabbit in as one of the cameos :gun_emoji:

Ok that's all the indies I could cover, some honerable mentions that I've been wanting to check out include

kid bubblegame JLFJ 2 Veggocalypse Mekanikko

As for the fangames I've played

Here's a game I wasn't expecting I'd be recommending, Mushroom Kingdom Fusion has been in development for over 15 years and always felt to me about quantity over quality but this new demo really impressed me.

The game is starting to take shape and there's actual structure to everything where as before it was just an open sand pit for them to figure out what to do with.

There's still a lot to be done but what's here is just a blast to mess around with. something really satisfying about struggling with a level, switching over to Samus and just blasting all the enemies and bosses away, tho I assume these characters will be unlocked in the final game as most of them are completely over powered.

This does bring me to one complaint though, Mario needs a buff. Mario is by far the hardest as he has few defense options and a lack of a health bar that almost everyone else have a huge advantage over him, and Mario having a health bar isn't too far removed from games like SMB2 and the modern 3D games.

But regardless I never thought I'd play this game and actually try to beat levels so I could see more, secret hunting is finally rewarding and expanding and finding more of the world is really fun. The game's length is absolutely HUGE, one world is about the size of an average Mario game which is insane.

And I'm really happy to see that loading has been optimized tho I don't know if that's because I'm running a machine that's not made 15 years ago.

@velacosmos has been working hard on creating a new Demo for SAGE and this one actually surprised me.

Taking influence from mario maker 2, Shang Mu Architect is a Freedom planet challenge level maker. which is quite impressive on it's own but has a tonne of extras.

Namely now there's actually a story mode to go along with the game, truth be told I'm not too big into freedom planet's cast to really know how well this game captures their personality but I still think it's really cool to actually have something that doubles as a proper freedom planet fangame since as far as I'm aware we're yet to see an actual game that actually follows the original games style.

Your mileage is definitely going to depend on how much you enjoyed the original freedom planet but I definitely think this is worth checking out.

Of the top of my head way back when stealth was pitching a mobile port of sonic 3, I swear I remember one of the ideas was expanding the match stages into full fledged level.

Sonic 3 Chronicles is an interesting "what if" scenerio where after angel island instead of falling into Hydrocity Sonic and co continue past the cutscene area and into the endless mine from match making.

I never really thought of those match stages as being connected to the main stages but this does a rpetty decent job of introducing new gimmicks and mechanics to go along with those stages.

The game is definitely rough around the edges and needs a lot of tightening up but what's here is a cute game that does it's best to follow sonic 3.

Also Mighty is here... I don't know why but thank you.

Gatoslip is a hack of Sonic the hedgehog created by @vadapega a very small demo with a tonne of personality put into it.

Yes, this is a hack, you're going to need an emulator in order to play it. Now which emulator do I recommend?

Probably the steam workshop if you still have your copy of sonic 1 before SEGA took it off the store page.

Vada's always been an inspiration for my art and it's great to see him finally go for something that really expresses his personality. The writing's great, the battles are really cute and I love the strategies for defeating enemies. Game's filled to the brim with visual gags with one gag in particular giving a lot of "replay value" (you'll know what I mean when you beat it)

can't wait to see where this ends up.

Again check out

https://sagexpo.org/games.html if you haven't yet, this just scratches the surface of what's available and there's a tonne of great games I looked over in this list.

#sagexpo #sage2023 #indie game #fangame #sonic

[caroline-bunny]

something that makes me crazy about scar and grian in third life is how the power dynamic between them works.

Yes, grian is technically indebted to scar, but we've all seen how scar never insists on it. grian is the one who pushes the debt.

scar is an instigator, so he steals from and threatens dogwarts and everyone else. grian "begrudgingly" follows along, complaining the whole way and pushing back. but he still follows nonetheless, following scar up monopoly mountain and following him to the very end.

at one point martyn (i believe) suggests to bigb that they should "rescue" grian. then bigb agrees but adds "well, i think he likes it...". which is fair. the two then compare grian's situation to stockholm syndrome. even though i find the comment funny i don't fully agree.

grian as a character does whatever he wants to do. if he wants to play pranks, he plays pranks. if he wants to stay, he stays, and that's what he did.

everything grian does is of his own will (pulling out a lava bucket and pouring it on joel, only to put it out immediately. he builds him and scar a base without being asked. he does all of these things and says, "poor me, i'm being held here with a MADMAN against my will."

if this isn't proof enough then look at when grian turns yellow. he's not indebted to scar anymore, he died in his own trap and could just go anywhere he wanted, but he went straight back to scar. that's a very important part of their dynamic (to me at least) and i dont see people discussing it often.

grian literally admits this about scar: "im technically yellow so i could leave but i just have this... moral obligation to him... he's the most interesting character on the server. i just cant let him go."

scar is the one that ends up betraying grian in the end. not grian, who had every oppurtunity to either leave or stab scar in the back or not look out for him like he did. a lot of it is absolutely the guilt over the prank, but i think grian also has a huge soft spot for scar in general.

this isn't to say grian is entirely complicit in scar's shenanigans; grian warned everyone he came across that scar was trying to charm his way into a new pair of boots or a chestplate. i think this was grian being cheeky, as they often are to one another (i doubt scar forgot to wear armor as much as he claimed to).

scar in turn is meant to be more of a "leader" role, but he doesn't play that role often in third life. he likes playing on the same level as grian and the "debt" grian owes him eventually turns into a partnership; two people fighting on the same side equally. this extends itself into the cactus ring, where it's equal chances of winning with no armor.

in conclusion they make me so so crazy and i am unwell about them. sorry if this is messy

#third life #grian #gtws #goodtimeswithscar #desertduo third life #desertduo #trafficblr #third life gtws #third life grian #third life scar #ramble #yapping

[tvickiesims]

Flowers Default Replacement

A replacement for all square flower beds - a completely new look for your gardens!

The idea behind this replacement is that you can mix and match all flowers and create more meadows rather than perfectly square flower beds. Base game flowers all have different shape and height and look great when combined and mixed.

All meshes and most textures were changed, sometimes parts of Maxis textures were kept. Marigold V1 mesh is my conversion of a marigold flower by sim_man123 (original can be found here). Opuntia cactus mesh is a Sims 4 mesh converted, edited and retextured by me.

All flowers have dead state but no wilting animation. I’d recommend using perfect plants mod and not bother with overwatering and weeds 😉

Important:

This replacement is incompatible with other default replacements for flowers of any kind (mesh and/or texture) and possibly recolors (I didn’t test it but they may appear broken even for flowers with Maxis textures).

Marigold flower and Nopalito’s Prickly Pears have several versions, be sure to keep only one for each of the two!

Marigold V2:

Marigold V3:

Prickly Pears (V2 is a bit less saturated compared to V1):

All of them:

All packages are separated so you can pick and choose the replacements you want for your game.

If you are interested in evolution and creative process of this project, click here.

This replacement goes well with my trees and shrubs replacements.

Also, I highly recommend using this mod by @simsantoinc​ to get rid of outside shadows on all flowers.

Polycount:

Trees replacement is here

Shrubs replacement is here

Tropical plants replacement is here

Desert plants replacement is here

Compressed, clearly labelled, picture included.

Download at SFS

#s2 #s2cc #bytvickiesims #mydr #default #default replacement #flowers #flowers dr #flowers default replacement #daisies of our lives #dandy daylilies #grand gerberas #iris surprise #merry marigolds #mundo verde inc perpetual pansies #nopalitos prickly pears #papavers poppies #tip top tulips #plants by tvickiesims

[sprout-fics]

I dont know if this’ll make sense so I will try my best, but I hope in the end it’ll just help ease the anxiety you might have cause I’m normally a silent observer and like watching and reading and enjoying from afar

But you know Christmas cacti? It’s a plain little succulent that quietly makes a space in your home green and pleasant? But during the cold months it’ll make these bright beautiful flowers that are just so vibrant and pretty compared to the leaves and it’s hard not to look at cause gosh is it pretty. And they’ll stay for some time, a good couple of weeks, and then the blooms will fall off and it’s back to its sleepy self again till next season.

That’s how I come to this blog, and your writing. It’s so lovely, even when you haven’t posted anything. It’s a comfort to come back to and I enjoy each and every time cause it was great from the beginning. And when you post something new, it’s so exciting and I come running.

So if you find yourself just wanting to sit back, not posting so often, I’m very sure so many of us will come flocking to your writings or posts anyways cause even if it doesn’t last long or forever or it’s only a short time, we’ll enjoy what you have to give cause it’s a treat every single time. Like a Christmas cactus

Does that make sense? Anyways. I will always look forward for what you have to give, even if it’s weeks, months, or years in between each release of anything. Cause it’s worth it to me and it’ll feel just as good as the first, second, and third time, ya know?

Happy belated birthday, sorry I didn’t say it sooner, but take care of yourself. You deserve every good that you get so take it! 😊

I've read this message several times within the past day. I think it's one of the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful messages I've ever had the pleasure to receive. I wish I had words to express how much I cherish it. I am so honored to be the recipient of this.

I used to feel the same way about this blog. It was a shelter from the rainstorm, a gentle place to land. Now, it makes me anxious and nervous- like being thrust outside into a gale and not knowing where to go. I think it's time I take a long, very long break. I tried to take one a little bit ago, but I don't think it solved the root issue of why I'm not enjoying myself, whatever that may be. I wish I knew. I wish I knew so I could fix it.

I'll be gone for a while. I'll still be uploading to ao3, but I don't find myself having the energy to crosspost here anymore. I'm not going to stop writing, but I am going to start doing it in a way where I'm writing for myself again, and not for others. I need to find the thing that made me start writing in the first place, so that if and when I come back, it will be through joy, not through an obligation of doing things just to do them. I have to stop treating myself like a content machine.

I'll still reblog things to @sprout-fics-reblogs probably. I like being here and seeing others' art and fics. I just won't be posting myself. I think I'm going to turn off asks as well. Just trying to shrink down and allow this blog to go dormant.

I appreciate every single person who has reached out to me. I have so many kind people following me and I think I take that for granted sometimes. Thank you. If you want to reach out to me, feel free to DM me, and I'll send you my discord.

Talk soon. Thank you. I love you. Bye.

[thyandrawrites]

On Nagi's emotional intelligence

One thing I find interesting about Nagi's character is that he's not only bad at getting across his emotions in a way that leaves little room for misunderstandings; he also struggles a lot to identify feelings (not just his but especially other people's) for what they are, and to put himself in other people's shoes.

Both the manga and Nagi's light novel offer several examples of this, and I noticed a common denominator in most of them. So I thought it could be fun to compile them in a post.

(long ramble under a cut! Contains slight manga spoilers up to manshine city arc)

Preface: I did not study psychology, and though I try my best not to misuse words and be insensitive, mistakes in good faith can happen. Please bear with me

So, what kicked off this whole thing is a scene from Episode Nagi. This one:

Now, without context it would be easy to write off Nagi as a self-centered genius who is looking down on team Z for being "weaker". And that's exactly how Isagi, who doesn't know Nagi prior to this, takes his questions. They're just a taunt, as if Nagi is mocking Team Z's determination to overturn the scores when they're a team that doesn't yet know its own skills fully.

And the thing is, regardless of Nagi's intentions, his words are condescending. He doesn't mean them to be, but you can't deny that calling someone stupid to his face is not conductive to a polite or constructive conversation, lol.

Unless you're Nagi Seishiro, that is.

Nagi... Doesn't seem to grasp that essentially calling team Z the bottom of the barrel while asking what keeps them going is... Well, rude. Patronizing, even. Which is why he looks so puzzled when Isagi's response is negative, and when he doubles down on his hunger for goals.

In his head, phrasing it this way was perfectly fine. He was genuinely asking, and he expected a response. He wanted to know, not to piss Isagi off and be left hanging.

The reason behind Nagi's obliviousness is of course a lack of social skills. We know he tends to keep to himself, preferring video games and the silent company of a cactus over social interactions, and it shows in how stilted his ability to properly communicate becomes over time.

But in the intro I said I don't think it's just a struggle with communicating what he means. I also interpret it as Nagi struggling to put himself in other people's shoes when their experiences don't mirror his, which complicates his attempts to communicate further.

What is translated as "What's his deal?" in the panel above in japanese has a bit more nuance than that, and it clues us in to what was likely going through Nagi's head a bit more.

"What's this creature (Isagi Yoichi)"

The kanji that compose Isagi's name are transcribed with a different reading (the furigana indeed reads "creature")

Now, if you read Nagi's light novel, the words might sound familiar:

(credits to @/ hoshi801_ on twitter for this translation)

That's because we have another example of Nagi being weirded out by and puzzled at how differently he and others seem to function.

From Nagi's perspective, he's not the weirdo, others are! He keeps observing this world where everyone puts effort into things that he only sees as a hassle, and he doesn't get how anyone can find any appeal in them. In other words, Nagi doesn't really understand how other people work (how they think, how they feel, what motivates them), and he tends to use himself as a metric for understanding them better, not realizing how flawed that approach is.

I also reckon this is why he can sometimes come across as lacking tact.

"it's easy for me. How come is it not easy for you?"

What he says to Bachira during the 4v4 seems like another prime example of Nagi attempting to figure out others by comparing them against himself.

In his intentions, this little speech serves as a way to get Bachira to step up his game. After all, had he really been fine with not picking him, he could've kept his mouth shut, won the match, and picked Rin as he said he would. No need to warn Bachira beforehand, giving him a chance to prove himself in the field and compete with Rin as the best choice moving forward.

But the words Nagi uses are familiar once again.

"Do you think you'll get chosen if you lose? Still living in dreamland? [...] I want Rin, and I bet Isagi feels the same." -> Nagi to Bachira

Vs "you'd be satisfied if I chose you here? You wanna act like a team even if we're not excited about it? You think becoming best in the world is that simple?" -> Nagi to Reo

And then

"We don't need you the way you are now." -> to Bachira above

Vs, "'You're fine as you are.' That's what you said to me, Reo, but... For me to dream with you about being the best again, I want to change." -> Nagi to Reo (in his head)

Nagi doesn't really understand Bachira, either, but he understands the bond Bachira shares with Isagi. Two separate times, he sees himself and Reo's relationship mirrored in it, and that's what prompts his "pep talk".

While he might not grasp what motivates Bachira's ego, Nagi knows what motivated himself. So he offers much the same to Bachira. You want to keep playing with Isagi, just like I want to keep playing with Reo. So change, like I did. Keep working towards that dream, and don't throw in the towel, accept defeat, and wait for Isagi to pick you.

Bachira and Isagi's bond is pretty much the only time we see Nagi try and succeed at relating to someone else's emotions. He's able to do this because he can sense the similarities between them. It's a pattern he's plenty familiar with. So we could say he's still applying that flawed method I talked about above. Understanding others by comparing them to himself, assuming they think the same way.

But I'd like to point out that while he does get their bond as far as it mirrors his and Reo's, Nagi still doesn't grasp the ways in which it differs. Namely, he remains oblivious to Bachira's desire for connection. Nagi is perfectly comfortable being a loner, and while he misses Reo, he adjusts to the separation quite easily, at least emotionally. Well, partly because he caused it, but also because from his perspective, he and Reo were never really apart-apart. They'd eventually meet up again, Nagi would tell him all about his side quests, and they'd be fast besties once again.

At least, that's what Nagi envisions, because Nagi is a straightforward person who doesn't really grasp other people's perspectives past his own personal experience.

For that reason, I think, he remains oblivious to how his advice to Bachira hits like a slap where the boy's at his most vulnerable. But it all works out in the end, so in the grand scheme of things, Nagi has no reason to give it more thought past this interaction. Nagi's team loses, Isagi advances with Bachira, all is well again.

If Nagi got away with giving this as little thought as possible, though, his dynamic with Reo doesn't give him the same easy out. Not for lack of trying on his part. Reo doesn't initiate conversations with him for days (weeks?) on end, and Nagi is fine with never questioning it.

Now, normally I'd make a point here about how Nagi's major weakness is his refusal to think hard about anything unless he's forced to—or about how that's the main hinder to his development to date—but that's a post for another day. Suffice to say, for the sake of this argument, that his willingness to let things stay tense between him and Reo is part of the problem here.

Well, "willingness" might not be the right term here. From his pov, there isn't any tension at all, in fact.

Again, because Nagi had a reason that justifies leaving Reo behind, he doesn't see a strain in their relationship until Reo points it out to him. Worse yet, he struggles to see Reo's viewpoint even after Reo does point it out to him.

He's as clueless as they come, and he's closest to Reo than anyone else in blue lock. Despite this, not only does he not realize why Reo is upset with him and doesn't want to link up anymore, he also fails to grasp that Reo's angry at him at all.

I ran out of image space so I'm just gonna quote the next bit:

N: "We promised, right? To win the world cup together. I've just kept making the best choices I could for that goal. During the rival battle, I thought I could get stronger if I went with Isagi. And I chose England because I thought I could learn from Agi and Chris. So, now it's you, Reo. You're stronger now, so you and I can beat Isagi, unlike last time."

To which Reo understandably replies,

R: "Damn, you really are a selfish jerk, you know that?"

Nagi doesn't seem to realize that if you are a team, you should, you know... Communicate with your partner. Instead, he decides for himself, without even asking for Reo's input, what's the best course of action to achieve their dream, doesn't share his thought process with Reo at all, embarks on said course alone, and then one day randomly decides to have Reo tag along in it.

In his head, I think it all makes sense to him because he assumes Reo already knows all this, intuitively. After all, that's how their whole dynamic has been built so far. When Reo isn't anticipating Nagi's needs before Nagi has uttered them aloud, Nagi is instinctively following the vision Reo set up with a pass, and completing it with a goal.

I'd say that the fact that they relied so heavily on silent communication for much of their time as friends is half the reason why they are so bad at communicating with actual words. I'm including Reo in this because he's equally guilty of it too, what with him saying "do what you want" aloud, only to wish for Nagi to stay without verbalizing that thought to him.

But I digress.

My point is, in the scene above, Nagi assumes Reo would be fine with the split because Nagi himself was. It doesn't even occur to him that Reo might see it as the negation of their promise to each other, or that he would feel abandoned and forgotten about (sorry, can't post pictures, but notice his shock at Reo's accusations. Chapter 187). After all, Nagi spent the whole time thinking about all the things he wanted to tell him.

Once again, much like with Isagi in the first selection, Nagi's puzzled and surprised at Reo's angry burst in response to his pushing; he assumes the drive he feels will be mirrored or at least understood by the other person, but instead he's turned down, faced with a negative reaction he doesn't quite understand.

As Reo puts it, Nagi's imagination comes short of letting him empathize with Reo's feelings. The choice to move on without him is purely functional, then, but from his perspective it never involved any emotional distance. To Reo, however, who was left with an easy to misunderstand parting speech, the hurt of a perceived loss strongly overshadowed anything else. Nagi doesn't anticipate Reo's emotional response over rationality because Nagi himself is not an emotion-driven person. He doesn't see that Reo would be plagued by self doubt because Nagi doesn't doubt his skills. He fails to see how his actions could easily be misconstrued as indifference because Nagi's not one to read hidden meaning into people's words, and assumes others take things as face value, too.

But that's more than communication failure! That consistent lack of effort to imagine how others would feel or act in a given situation is a pattern, at least imo.

I think Nagi never had to make that kind of effort before, since he was pretty much on his own, and in a lot of ways he's still adapting to having peers he trusts and that he wants to be trusted by in response

One could say this is as much a process to him as understanding his own ego for football is, and I find that really fascinating to watch

#Bllk thoughts #Blue lock meta #Nagi seishiro #Nagi seishirou #Episode nagi #This took me way too long to type and I feel like the ending isn't as strong as the beginning #But I'm tired of looking at it so please accept it...? Thank you for reading if you hit that read more. Xoxo