Twisted anxiety reader in a singing contest show (MHAHAMHAHAH) It would be a reason why she was singing in the woods.
✨ imagine✨
MC is feeling useless and unhelpful and just wants to pull their weight in supporting the dorm and stuff. Just overall trying to be more useful to Yuu.
So she overhears smth about a anonymous singing contest and the winner will get $5000 which for mc, Yuu and Grimm that's a lot of money. And 2nd and 3rd also has cash prizes. I think she goes for 2nd place ,so she has the money of 1st without the popularity of 1st. So she puts her fears to the side (🤨no she doesn't) to help her friend and cat.
I see this contest being an online voting type thing. Also celebs 😉 do go on the show to help promote it, to judge them and what ever else they do.
In the show they give the contestants a "wish"/ charm that can help them with their performance (enter ✨shimmers✨ & instruments magic that was talked about). It what makes the show popular
Now we give MC song/writing abilities. She honestly has a diary of kind. She needs it.( Torture her bout it later😈)
Now I'm sure we wondering how does this come into play
THEY THINK THE SONGS ARE ABOUT THEM
They'll all find a way to connect the songs to themselves. If songs says an eye color or hair color the characters with said color goes crazy about it.
Enchanted by Taylor Swift is one that comes to mind as a song that everyone relates to.
Rook/ jade would send clips of MC singing on the show and "THIS IS THE VOICE I HEARD"
I have so many sub-plots for twisted singer reader.
Also I'm really glad to like hearing things like this. I was really nervous to send the asks.
More to come along at one point or another ☺️☺️
i immediately thought of “ivory skin and eyes of emerald green” from jolene and rook just going:
shout out to @/a-twistedheartslonging because i WILL NOT stop using this cute little rook meme they made fldkaldkakwkdkxkakdkfhx
OH MY GOD READER IS SO NERVY AND SCARED AND THINKING SOOO MUCH ABOUT THIS SINGING COMPETITION AHHHHH
they’re physically reacting to thinking about it. they’re nervous tics come out (that happens to me, whenever i’m suppppper nervous i start chanting and get anxiety induced tics) and yuu and grim are getting worried because nothing has happened, so why are you so anxious?
OH MY GOD HAHSHSHAH IMAGINE THE WHOLE CONTEST IS FILLED WITH INTROVERTS HAHDHAHAHAH they all get to suffer at our expense
MUWHAHAHAHSHZHHAH AHHHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAH😈😈😈
*clears throat* anyways 🙂
reader : *sings enchanted*
ALL of the guys she made eye contact with that week: …so you’re proposing?
OH MY GOD MAYBE ROOK AND JADE (for totally separate reasons) SEND IN A CLIP THEY TOOK OF Y/N SINGING AND SENDING IT TO THE SHOW BAHAHSHAHA
idk maybe there’s some super duper advanced magical technology (marvel’s equivalent of ‘quantum’) and y/n gets an invitation and they’re like????
I DIDNT EVEN DO ANYTHING YET
THE CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT IS SOOO REAL-
ROOK BRINGING VIL TO THE FOREST WHOSE GRUMBLING ABOUT HOW HE HAS HOMEWORK AND HOW THIS’LL THROW HIS SCHEDULE OFF-
“non non! roi du poison you must come with me avec hâte!” (with haste)
and they’re crouched behind a rock for a few minutes and vil is annoyed because rook is doing rook things again and he does not have time for this. especially not today because he has to find someone to endorse for the music show he volunteered to judge.
only problem: EVERYONE SUCKS OR HAS AN UGLY PERSONALITY!! vil is disgusted by the cockiness and the greediness of these… influencers who paid their way to be on the show.
it puts a horrible taste in his mouth, especially with how shameless they are to try and win his favor. he’s not some cheap executive they can bribe to put their foot through the door, especially with their lack luster… abilities.
vil almost called it talent, but you had to be good to have that.
just as he’s about to voice his complaints and leave, rook’s grip on his shoulder stopped him from moving and the finger to his lips stopped him from breathing. vil was visibly shocked because rook never put hands on him, especially like this.
there was a snap of a twig up ahead. rook’s forest green eyes flicked to the horizon a few times, head too, urging him to look.
and he’s more than pleasantly surprised to see… you- well as much of yourself that you would allow the watchful eyes of the trees see. your ceremonial robe covering your short stature.
rook looked at vil expectingly, but vil was still confused, so what if a student was in the woods? unless it was his own this was a problem rook should bring up to the other house wardens. and it wasn’t illegal, nor against the school rules so-
then, you started singing.
he couldn’t recognize the song. but he could recognize the passion. yes you were untrained and flat in a few sections but that didn’t matter. you were good, pitchy but good.
song after song, sometimes repeating a few as you danced and bowed your heart away.
he wasn’t sure how much time passed but it was a considerable amount since the sun that once well over the trees now peeked through the canopy and was gazing longingly at the moon.
cursing, you looked around, bent down to collect the things you brought with you, and scurried away towards another entrance towards the forest.
vil was quick to react, to follow but rook stopped him. looking down at his vice house warden with an incredulous look, rook only shook his head softly. there was a reason you were alone in the woods and not in the various music clubs.
this was your little secret.
vil who WAITS for your submission so he can back you but you never submit… hm,
with a snap of his manicured fingers, rook is on it! maybe rook knows who you are, maybe he doesn’t, vil could really care less since the whole show is based off of anonymity.
(vil side eyes the influencers and other contestants who practically spell it out for the audience who they are so they can vote for them)
maybe to… put you on the right track vil has rook go to your little forest spot and place a flyer there, practically ENCOURAGING YOU TO SIGN. UP.
you think someone would get a hint right?
“huh, that’s weird… maybe i should change locations since someone else was here”
that’s it. rook’s sending in your video and you’re getting a flyer stapled to the tree saying you’re accepted. yes yes this is because of your fairy god mother’s NOW SING
vil also giving y/n some song recommendations he thinks that are good, up until he sees you gently pull out a FUCKING LOADED BOOK from your backpack filled with songs.
yes darling those are great but lol at all the nice songs he gave you! they’re in your range too!!
vil slowly finding out who you are because he heard you hum a song in the hallways that only the mysterious ‘forest nymph’ (what a ludicrous myth the students came up with) sang.
and yes he’s shocked that the ramshackle neet (ouch vil 😿) has golden pipes.
THE CHAT ROOM IS NOW INVITE ONLY TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE HEARD THE ELUSIVE FOREST NYMPHS SONG!!! (i’ll cook smthn better i promise)
VIL THINKING WHAT TO SEND THEM TO HELP THEM IN A CUT THORAT BATTLE ROUND AND ROOK OFF HANDEDLY COMMENTING ‘if only there were an orchestra here to play along with their beautiful singing’
ERUKIA!!
*cue golden instruments*
but in hindsight sight:
we’re gonna give her so much anxiety she’s not gonna know what to do😈 sorry pookie!! there’s no safe space at night raven college☺️🫶
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can't it even be more obvious thomas. why are you surprised that a sudrian historical site filled to the brim with armor and weaponry that dates back to the middle ages has old people afflicted with the gold dust working around the castle
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i was having a chuckle to myself last night about Gristol, and how his plans are basically:
Restore Ford Cruller's memory
Find Maligula
???
Profit
but then... of course they are, right? this is Gristol we're talking about. Fatherland Follies drives home again and again that he's still operating on a child's logic, a warped and reductive version of the world that he never bothered to grow out of. both of his memory vaults center on the images of his childhood, this idealized version of the past that he clings to no matter what. and that's still how he remembers Maligula, too - as this saviour figure, who rushes in to help him when he's in trouble.
[ID: Two slides from Gristol's memory vault, Glory to Grulovia! Left: Gristol clings to Maligula's back as she summons waves to sweep away his assailants. Right: Gristol and Maligula waving from a balcony as the people cheer. Gzar Theodore brandishes a dagger in the background.]
like so much else, Maligula represents a return to this idyllic childhood - to the peace and simplicity of his youth, when he was free from worries and responsibilities. in his mind, he doesn't need to make any further plans - once Maligula's back, everything will go back to normal. Maligula will make everything better.
...is what i thought, but then i remembered this line:
[Screenshot source. ID: Gristol, in Truman's body, bows on his hands and knees in front of the newly-awaked Maligula. The caption reads: "Yes, High Priestess! I am here to correct the mistakes made by my father!"]
and that's kind of interesting, right?
to be clear: this happens directly after Maligula sees Helmut-in-Gristol's-body, and recognises him. her line before this is:
"Little Gzesaravich! Have you come to pay for your father's sins?"
my first thought was that Gristol hadn't expected to still be in Truman's body by the time he managed to find Maligula, and this was him trying to placate her and buy some time until he could explain the situation. but watching the cutscene back, that's clearly not what's happening here. Gristol is answering as himself, and his response of throwing himself to his knees before her is, as far as i can tell, genuine.
so what is going on here?
in Fatherland Follies, there's this line in the ride narration that stuck out to me:
"Why didn't the Gzar help Maligula in her time of need? No one knows, but historians agree - it is Gzar Theodore's biggest failure."
other lines mention Gzar Theodore's "mistake", and it's wording Gristol himself echoes in the screencap above. evidently, he believes that his father abandoned Maligula, leaving her to her fate at the hands of the Psychonauts, and it was that mistake that lead to them being driven out of the country - that mistake which he seeks to correct. maybe he even feels like he has a debt to repay to her for his family turning their backs on her all those years ago.
the 'High Priestess' thing, though - that's kinda weird, and threw me for a loop the first time i played the game. it took me until my second playthrough to connect the dots, and remember how the room in the Lady Luctopus - Gristol's room - was full of Delugionist scribblings and symbols.
[Screenshot source. ID: left, the walls of the hidden backroom in Gristol's hotel suite, covered in scrawlings of eyeballs and Maligula's name. Right, the pinboard from the hidden backroom. On its surface are photographs and newspaper clippings connected by pieces of string.]
i mean, look at this stuff! he had a whole conspiracy board and everything!
we learn very little about the Delugionists and their beliefs as a whole during the game, but i think drawing the connection here suggests two important things. one: that Gristol was in deep with this stuff. i don't know how he linked up with them - maybe via old family connections, or just good old-fashioned digging (we know he's skilled at worming his way into peoples' good graces, after all) - but it seems likely that he's begun to internalise their ideas, maybe even warping his own memories of events. and two: the Delugionists themselves are, if you'll pardon the pun, pretty far off the deep end.
like... i understand why PN2 didn't go heavy on the "mass-murderer cult worship" aspect of things, in the end, but man this is such a tantalising glimpse into the wider mythos around Maligula. Gristol is proud and haughty and thinks himself above everyone else; the fact that his first reaction seeing Maligula is to throw himself to the ground at her feet says so much about the way he's come to see her. he's not just trying to bring back Maligula, his childhood bodyguard. he's trying to bring back Maligula, the High Priestess of the deluge, the semi-mythical figure whose supporters believe even death couldn't stop. he doesn't even flinch at the way she confronts him, and maybe it's because he's bought in so completely to this deified figurehead, this idea of Maligula; more a living force of nature than a person. and it all comes back to the same place: an abdication of responsibility, not just to the person who protected him when he was little but to this avatar of floods and destruction. Maligula will make everything better.
i'd write more about my thoughts on the Delugionists but that'd be taking a hard turn into speculation, and this is already kind of long and rambling so i'd better end it here. but what an unexpected and evocative line, right? it's some of the only stuff we have to go off of regarding the Delugionists as a whole, but i think it does such a good job of hinting at the wider story - at teasing another layer to the mythos surrounding Maligula, one whose ripples we see throughout the game but which never quite breaches the surface.
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chibis from a few weeks back
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thoughts on vampirism as a symbol of trauma
i've been thinking about this in relation to Astarion's story arc for a while and started writing this post a couple times, only to have it become much longer than expected, so for now this post is just going to be about the different paths of ascension vs spawn from the end of his personal quest. (i think there are multiple ways to read his story, and this is just the way i've been reading and thinking about it.)
the basic idea of this post is that Astarion's vampirism is a physical manifestation or symbol of his trauma, and therefore the two different ending paths for him are distinguished by how he addresses his vampirism (and therefore trauma).
it's pretty clear that the vampirism itself is a traumatic experience for Astarion, from how he describes almost dying, then actually dying, and then everything that comes afterwards at Cazador's hands. but i think of this a step further, in that the actual symptoms of vampirism are also part of this. there's an idea that there are physical manifestations of traumatic experiences held in the body, even if the trauma itself was psychological in nature (i.e., the body keeps the score). this is how i read vampirism for Astarion, specifically.
to start, he's turned into a vampire after a traumatic experience (almost being killed by a group of people one night). he's "saved" from this by Cazador turning him into a vampire, but still his body literally dies when he turns into a vampire, which is another separate traumatic event where he feels himself die and then has to climb out of his own grave. (also noted, i believe it's hinted that Cazador orchestrated the attack on Astarion that almost killed him in the first place, so Cazador is the cause of all of this trauma in one event that is Astarion becoming a vampire.)
his body is physically changed by the experience. he loses things because of it, maybe things that were not particularly important to him but now seem incredibly important once they're gone (like walking in the sun) or things that were previously important to him and now he can no longer enjoy (living indulgences and pleasures like food, or his own reflection). also critically, he cannot get those things back. his life is changed (literally ended) and there's no fixing it.
he learns coping strategies during the subsequent 200 years, which i will not get into in this post, but suffice to say that he learned things that he believed would protect him in the moment.
after the tadpole when he experiences freedom from Cazador's influence for the first time, there are some critical shifts that happen to start him on a path to address these things, or not. the recent interview where the devs mention that the ascended path is one of fear, i really agreed with and have said similar things in previous posts, because to me, i think the main difference between how Astarion acts in those paths is that for ascension, he relies on the methods he learned in those 200 years to survive in the moment, while in the spawn path, he learns new ways to cope.
to elaborate on that, i think the ascension path specifically is about avoidance.
in trauma, avoidance is what it sounds like: avoiding any triggers or negative emotions related to the traumatic experience. the avoidance can manifest in different ways, but a key idea is that by avoiding those negative feelings, they are never actually addressed.
i think there are two big ways this manifests in Astarion's story, related to vampirism:
ascended Astarion is avoiding those negative feelings of fear of Cazador (or someone else doing what Cazador did) by focusing on seizing power and control. if he's more powerful, in control of a situation, then nothing bad can happen to him again.
the way this ties back to vampirism as a symbol of trauma is that this is literally described to us in the game as the natural course of life for vampires: they live in fear of other vampires, fear of their own spawn seizing their power, etc. this is the story of Vellioth and Cazador, and then later Cazador and Astarion (regardless of the choice he makes to ascend or not). we even get a list of vampires where ALL their life spans/eras of power are timed so that we can infer that each subsequent vampire has killed the previous vampire to dethrone them.
so, vampirism itself is trauma and the known course of vampirism is this same cycle we see repeated with multiple vampires and histories in game. by taking a different path and not becoming a full vampire, spawn Astarion has started to learn a new way of dealing with his vampirism/trauma, rather than avoiding it.
the OTHER major way i see this manifest in the game is how ascension and spawn paths deal with the literal symptoms of vampirism: walking in the sun, Astarion's reflection, food versus drinking blood, the vampiric state of undeath, etc.
these are all things that changed about Astarion when he became a vampire, and things that (in the normal course of events) cannot be changed back. he died, he's dead, there's no curing his vampirism. in other words, there's no going back to who he was before the traumatic experiences. that by itself is a neutral statement, the same way that there's no going back to who a person is before any major event (be it meeting someone important, choosing to take a certain job, etc etc), because we are all constantly changing and growing. HOWEVER, i think the places with Astarion where this stops being neutral is how he addresses that fact: with acceptance or avoidance.
to elaborate on the second point, which is my main reason for making this post:
on the spawn path, Astarion learns new ways to be and to live with his vampirism. in his epilogue, he can mention that he's not bothered by losing the sun again, he can describe finding a sense of belonging with others who share his vampirism, and he can define himself in new ways that he's picked for himself rather than stay in the definition of vampire that Cazador held.
in the ascension path, Astarion avoids all of those difficult realizations and choices. he falls back on the same strategies that helped him survive in the moment for those 200 years, but which can and do hurt him after escaping that environment. he's working hard to keep from addressing those negative feelings -- and on the surface, this works! he can walk in the sun without the tadpole! he has new vampire powers and he can do all the things he lost when he died! he can see his own reflection again! but, he's still a vampire, still has his fangs, still has his red eyes.
this is why i think the route is characterized by fear and why i found that interview with the devs interesting: by focusing on all those avoidance behaviors, Astarion ends up being stuck in a state of mind that's all about fear because it's all about avoiding that feeling. he feels great in the moment because he has been able to claim back some of what was taken from him, but this is not a solution because he's still a vampire.
personally, i do not read the ascension path as continuing a cycle of abuse, but as the continuation of avoiding the painful process of healing from trauma.
ascended Astarion is elated after killing Cazador because he feels the power flowing through him and it makes him feel safe in the moment, and because he is avoiding addressing any lingering feelings of pain or negativity, including avoiding addressing that he just killed 7000 people.
spawn Astarion meanwhile looks absolutely miserable immediately after killing Cazador when he cries and breaks down, and then he feels numb later because he's so overwhelmed. this i think resembles something that can happen in trauma therapy, where a person feels worse when they initially start addressing and working through their trauma, because it means actually feeling all of those negative emotions they've been avoiding.
in the end, ascended Astarion has not changed how he addresses his trauma or vampirism, and the ascension has actually given him more tools to continue avoidance. spawn Astarion meanwhile is exploring other ways of living with his vampirism, and can be experiencing success with that by the time the epilogue rolls around (even if there are some bumps and regressions along the way, like losing his ability to walk in the sun again).
because this is my main reading, i also don't think this makes ascended Astarion evil or irredeemable -- i think he shows that he does still have all the emotions that he's displayed through the game and therefore he still has the potential to follow the same path that spawn Astarion did in healing. but, the critical thing with the ascension path is that he does not have the clear motivation or triggering event to start him down that path. he's further away from that, and it will take more work to get there. everything he did after all comes back to the ways he learned to survive under Cazador, so those behaviors helped him at one point. the issue is that he's past the point of those things helping him, but he can't let them go.
tl;dr: i like looking at vampirism itself as a physical symbol of trauma and as a way to read Astarion's potential storylines, because it provides a context for me to view how the ascension and spawn paths treat his vampiric symptoms -- avoiding them in the ascension path by giving him an "out" of sorts to avoid addressing how those symptoms impact his life because of the extra abilities granted to him by the ritual, versus being forced to grapple with them and figure out a way to life with them and even enjoy them on his own terms in the spawn ending.
if you read this whole post, thanks for sticking with me and feel free to share your thoughts too. :)
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heres a little fun fact the felt trolls in my au dont have regular hemospectrum blood colors , theyre technically all mutants because their blood matches the canon colors of their hats
the only troll i can imagine passing off normal enough is doze his colors close enough to indigo
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years ago a cleric said to a tiefling "don't touch me!" And it spawned a long frienemyship. Now years later. The phrase is repeated....but between fwbuddies instead
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I've gotten accustomed to reading Jack's childhood skip as a narrative hand wave so he can function on more or less the same level as the other characters and since he's not human and we're watching supernatural it feels permissible to take that leap in logic and go ahead and read him as a young adult. He is highly naive and inexperienced and there is a very large power imbalance involved with him and his caretakers and those are core aspects of his character that make him uniquely vulnerable to the abuse and trauma that he suffered, but those things don't necessarily make him an infant and I don't think that's how he's meant to be read.
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most days I'm so chill with the fact I'm non-contact with my father, it was the best decision, I hate him, my life is so much more peaceful without him
then bam it's a random Tuesday at 8pm and I'm sobbing because I miss having a dad, like, excuse me what is this??
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J.L. Laynesmith taking the 'Buckingham Did It™' route for the murder of the Princes in the Tower AND the rumors of Edward IV's bastardy ... I have to laugh
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Struggle city this morning.
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i finally finished opla today so here are some thoughts:
love the little handsfree snail devices (do these exist in canon?? i can't remember but i feel like no)
i love peter's shanks soooo much. king of subtle acting. the love in that man's eyes for little luffy?? immeasurable.
really loved the way they made changes. was worried about how well op would translate to live action and they did such a good job
loved the whole cast tbh but special thank you to emily who absolutely killed the nami scene which makes me cry every single time no matter the format!!!! (still one of my fave scenes in the whole manga!!)
watching people who have never experienced op before loving this is so wonderful
but also watching people immediately question the shanks/buggy & shanks/mihawk relationships is fills me with joy
they somehow made mihawk bringing luffy's poster to shanks even gayer?? (in a fight, right?) i really didn't think that was possible given what the anime did....
opla mihawk and buggy ain't beating the in love with shanks allegations :)
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Re-reading my published fics and oneshots to try and get me back into the writing mood and am currently just surprised at how good I find some some of these.
Like, I know and understand that I'm pretty good at writing. People have told me enough times in person and in comments for me not to have some kind of confidence in my writing. But it's another thing to read my own stuff and find it genuinely entertaining, knowing that even if I hadn't written it myself, I would still like it.
It's a little jarring, but in a good way!
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❤️ + enjomo
Send ❤️ + a URL and I’ll write something nice about them/their blog!
AZZ!! AZZ!! THE ACE TO MY LUFFY!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH I WANT TO CHEW MY OWN ARM!! ( look it's an actual picture of us <3 )
where do i even start??! i know i'm going to miss something uuggghhh there's too much i want to yell about! i genuinely, no joke, sat on this in my inbox for a bit to really gather what i wanted to say and write down all the things i love about azz. and now, as i stay on brand and collect all my scraps of paper with little notes on them, i have to emphasize how incredibly kind, warm, fun, and patient azz really is~ he makes me think of a really great hug, the firm ones that are tight enough to squeeze a laugh out of you! ( aka my favorite kind of hugs )
azz is one of my OGs for luffy's blog and one of the first to interact with me! he was so quick to throw ace my way and shit it was all over from there! he was and still is always cheering me on, and i really don't know if i have the words for how much that means to me, especially from the beginning when i was just trying to figure out luffy's muse the best i could. he's always been down to entertain my ideas, whether it's here or on my multi, and he's got me feeling all warm for wanting to incorporate my muse portrayals into his ideas and lore as well. but wait! even when we aren't plotting things and verses and interactions, i find it so easy to bounce into random shenanigans with him! he's someone that i find really easy to click with :)
on top of being a generally wonderful person, azz is incredibly talented as well — in any of his writing for all of his muses, in his story building, his drawing skills, and all of the beautiful graphics that he makes! he has put an immense amount of work and research into his portrayal of ace, and it shows 100% in his headcanons, the way he writes ace's dialogue, and the unique ways he shows ace's actions and behaviors. i know i've said this before, but i'll say it here again: with the way azz melds these headcanons and the small but significant mannerisms into writing ace, i can't help but mistake what is azz's headcanons for oda's canon all the time. i swear i have to pause sometimes and remind myself that so many things are very much unique to azz's portrayal. BUT OH WELL IT'S CANON NOW AND IT'S PART OF LUFFY'S CANON AT THIS POINT TOO!!! AHAHA!
but outside of ace, i honestly love all of azz's muses. i could know nothing about a character he's writing, but his excitement and eagerness to write a character becomes my excitement to write stuff with that character as well! also, he loves all the cowboys and i too love all the cow folk!! YEEHAW!!
that being said, we live in very different time zones ( forever crying over this ) and we don't always get to synch our online time up, but when we do, the brainwaves vibe and shit i will stay up extra late if it means getting to talk to him about whatever it is we're talking about~ he is so chill and funny and forever one of my ride or dies, even if my attention gets pulled elsewhere for periods of time. i love him very many and he puts a smile on my face and i would happily fight off a flock of angry geese for him <3
@enjomo / from anonymous aardvark.
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chewing the walls about the way sunakawa reacts to the ogre story btw like. everyone else sees what the blue ogre did as this unbelievably selfless tragic sacrifice, to leave his home and only friend so that that friend could have the happiness he wanted. but not suna, OF COURSE not suna whose concept of friendship is entirely based around how he feels for takeo. to him, it’s only natural to make a choice like that. it’s the only choice that would make sense.
Who wouldn’t change the entire course of their own life to make their friend happy? That’s just how friendship works guys
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