#this can be taken as platonic or romantic logicality

[wolfprincesszola]

Porch Tears (Sanders Sides)

I'm not good at titles I know I'm sorry. i try to be lighthearted, but I thought it'd be nice to hear how much this story means to me as an author because i've always struggled voicing how my depression feels and I managed to accurately portray a part of it in here. everyone's version of depression looks different. i hope that anyone reading this that resonates with what logan and patton feel know that you are special and that these feelings do not define how to live your life <3

Masterlist ——————– Summary: After Logan has too much to drink, he goes outside to cry. Patton notices him outside on the porch and decides to ask him why he was crying and comfort him in his time of need.

Trigger Warnings: Talks of Depression, Anxiety, Loneliness

Content Warnings: Swearing, Drinking ——————–

Logan was sad. He was always sad. It would've been abnormal if he wasn't sad. What was abnormal though was being so sad that he was crying. He never cried. It was always numb. He didn't even know what had gotten him to feel the way he was feeling. Maybe it was the fact that he was drunk. Maybe it was the fact that he was at a party with all of his friends, and yet he felt really lonely. Maybe it was because despite everything he had tried, he saw how happy Patton was with all their friends and felt like he could've never been good enough for him. He was always so happy and he looks so beautiful that way. He looked like he never even needed Logan and that made Logan feel even more lonely.

Logan stopped crying after a few minutes. There was no point in crying over a silly admiration of his friend. Patton was just his friend, nothing else. Of course Patton wouldn't think more of him. Of course Patton wouldn't feel happy around him the way Patton did with the other people. Patton was Patton and Logan was just Logan.

Logan forced himself to wipe his tears and stop sniffling. He forced himself to ignore how much his heart hurt. He forced himself to ignore the pain and instead tried to smile.

Then, there it was. The familiar, cruel, cold numbness. At least it was something he could deal with because he knew how to. He had been doing it all his life.

Logan sighed, leaning against the doorway. The good thing about being forgotten was that he could sit outside for as long as he wanted to and no one would notice. He breathed in the outside air and convinced himself to be happy. He could fake a smile, even if it was for a couple more hours. He could do this.

Then, he heard the door open behind his back and Logan shifted so the person could get out onto the porch.

"Sorry." Logan's voice croaked. Dammit, why did it have to show now? Don't let anyone know that he was crying. He couldn't let them know. Everyone would come out asking him what was wrong, why he was crying. Logan didn't know how he could explain how lonely he always felt, even in a crowd packed with people. He didn't know how to explain how heavy his heart always was, even when he was smiling so hard that his cheeks hurt. He didn't know how to explain how even when he was around his friends happy, there was always a part of him that was sad and always would be. There were no words to describe the reasons behind his crying and behind his sadness because there was no way to describe the solitude prison he forced himself into.

"Logan? Is that you?" Patton's voice was laced with worry as he fully stepped out to see the man. His face melted into relief as he knelt down beside him. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

Logan couldn't explain how happy that made him feel, but how sad his heart was to know that all of Patton's concern was just a social cue. That maybe, his worry was only because Logan was a part of the mind, a part of his friends. Maybe, Patton was only worried, but not concerned because Logan wasn't special to him the way others were. He saw the way Patton loved others and Logan felt that maybe he wasn't worthy of getting that. Patton didn't treat him the same way he treated the others and when he did, Logan always managed to ruin it by pushing him away. God, everything was his fault all of the time all at once.

"Sorry, I stepped outside for some fresh air. Did you need me?" Logan forced a chuckle out.

"Not really. I was just worried." Patton spoke up, "I lost track of where you were and wanted to make sure you were okay. You said you wanted fresh air. Did you want me to leave?"

He didn't want Patton to leave him alone because with Patton around, he always managed to make the numbness a little more bearable. With Patton around, he could forget that he felt the way he felt. But Logan wanted to be alone in his thoughts. He wanted to sit in the numbness because he was sure he deserved it. There had to be a reason he felt that way, that he was punished with feeling this way for eternity.

"I don't know." Logan admitted.

"Alright then." Patton stood up, "I'll be back in a few minutes to check on you then, okay?"

Logan nodded and watched as he left. Then, the tears fell again. Logan didn't know why he was crying. Was it because Patton left him there? How pathetic of Logan.

Wiping tear after tear falling, he stood up, coughing and trying to stop sniffling. Walking down the porch, he stumbled towards the tree before coughing and trying to stop his sniffles.

"Shit!" Logan swore, wiping away his tears. This sight of display was almost pitiful, if it wasn't horrible to explain. "Fuck!"

Why was his life this way? Why did he always have to feel this way?

Logan stumbled back towards the porch once he had stopped his crying, sitting back on the porch.

There was a knock on the inside of the door before Patton stepped back out, holding two small ice packs individually wrapped in towels. He motioned to the spot next to Logan, asking if he could sit there. When Logan nodded numbly, he was quick to sit down, holding the ice packs for the man.

Logan raised an eyebrow as he took both of them. "What are these for?"

"Your eyes." Patton stated, "I heard they're good to keep the swelling down."

Logan was more confused now. "What?"

"For your crying."

Oh. He knew? Fuck, Logan was humiliated and mortified. How could he have let Patton see him like that? Would Patton call the rest of the mind to come and comfort him? He couldn't deal with that.

"I didn't know you knew." Logan mumbled.

Patton stared outside towards the garden that Roman and Virgil had started to plant in. "I'm not good at that sort of thing."

"What sort of thing?"

"Noticing, especially with people crying. I can't tell if someone's eyes are red or if they had just stopped sniffling. I can't tell if people are sad by their expressions. I can't catch the vibes of people and often I make a mess of situations because I don't understand what other people are feeling. I make people feel awful without knowing and I'm just overall bad at picking up cues for anything." Patton started before turning to Logan to cup the right side of his face and wipe his damp cheek away of any leftover tears, "But I'm not blind and I'm not deaf. I saw you huddled outside crying through the window. I heard you gasping so hard for breaths because you were crying so hard. And I want to tell you that I wish you didn't have to feel like you couldn't cry in front of me. Anyone in the mind even."

Great. Now he was crying again.

"What happened?" Patton asked, concern laced in his voice, "Why are you crying?"

"Just crying. Some people aren't built happy, you know?" Logan sniffled.

Patton gave a small laugh at that, "Yeah, I get that. And you know what? It's okay to feel like that. Come here."

He held his arms out and Logan took it, shifting to wrap his arms around Patton's waist, squeezing as tight as he possibly could. Patton held him in his arms tightly too, not letting go of the hug. God, Logan needed that. He didn't even know why.

"I feel lonely." Logan murmured, his face buried in the crook of Patton's neck. He choked back a sob as more tears streamed down his face. He was sure Patton's skin and clothes were stained with his tears, but Patton didn't comment about it, instead letting him cry it out.

"Oh, Logan. Everyone feels lonely. Hell, even I do. It's a normal thing. It's okay to feel lonely. I hope you know that in those times though, you'll always have me and the rest of the mind." Patton reassured him, petting the back of his hair. It was soothing.

Logan separated from the hug to look at Patton with his tear-streaked face, "You do? I didn't think anything fazed you. You're just so happy all the time."

"To be honest, I'm just as guilty of you of not really telling people when I'm sad, but it gets kinda easy not to talk to people about it when you're always sad. It's just easier to be happy because no one asks you why you're happy. They only ask you why you're sad." Patton admitted, "And maybe, as hard as it is to say it, it's easy to pretend that no one cares about you than try to explain this feeling within you about how you're always going to feel as if no one cares even if you know you're someone's entire world."

Logan didn't know if he was glad that Patton understood what he was feeling, or if he was upset that he understood. As he looked at Patton still smiling through what he presumed was a similar numbness to the one he experienced every day, he wihed that Patton didn't have to suffer with him.

"I wish you didn't understand. Then you wouldn't have to pretend to be happy. I wish I could take away all the pain from you, so only I would have to feel it." Logan spoke.

"That's very kind of you, Logan." Patton let out a laugh, "But it's okay. I think it'd be harder for me to be able to talk to you if I didn't understand."

"How do you deal with it?" Logan's voice was hoarse again. He had stopped sobbing by this point. He had stopped sniffling and hiccuping. He had stopped choking on his tears. Instead, now silent tears were the only thing streaming down his face. "It hurts so much."

"It does." Patton admitted, "But people like you make it better. You see, the problem with my mind is that it's whirling all the time at a thousand miles per hour, yelling at me with all sorts of thoughts. But then I'm around you and the thoughts quiet and suddenly, the numbness doesn't feel so noticable. My heart feels less heavy when I'm around you."

"You mean around the mind. Not me."

"No, I mean you." Patton admitted, "I care about you a lot more than you realize. The other members of the mind help calm my mind in different ways, but you're just as special as the rest of them. I hope you remember that."

Logan's heart warmed at what he said and suddenly, it was like the fog of darkness had cleared. His heart didn't feel so heavy and his numbness had cleared. His sadness had lifted and Logan felt okay for the first time in a long time.

Patton sighed, tsking as he saw the untouched warm ice packs, "Looks like I'm going to have to get more of those. I'll be back in a little bit."

"No, you don't have to." Logan stumbled on his words. "It's okay."

"I want to." Patton wiped the remaining tears from Logan's face before standing up. "Give me one minute."

He was back with new ice packs wrapped in new undamp towels before he sat down next to Logan and held them against his eyes.

Logan sighed in defeat as he let the coldness of the ice packs infect the warmness of his eyes and cheeks after having cried for a long time.

"You can go back in if you want to. I know it's not really fun sitting outside with a sad drunk."

"It's always fun when I'm with you, Logan. Don't you worry at all." Patton hummed.

Logan hoped that the ice pack was covering his flush and the tears that were starting to fall from his eyes. God, it was starting to get old. there was no reason for him to cry over him realizing that maybe all of his thoughts were just thoughts and that the truth was really in front of him all along.

"Are you crying again?" Patton giggled at Logan.

"Shut up!" Logan let out a laugh, playfully nudging his shoulder that was touching his. "I'm in a completely vulnerable spot right now!"

"Seriously though, Logan. I really hope that you never feel the need to hide the fact that you're crying from me ever again."

"...thanks, Patton."

That was all he could say. Those were all the words he could even think that would fathom to express how much Patton meant to him.

#this can be taken as platonic or romantic logicality #logicality #logan sanders #ts logan #ts patton #patton sanders #logan x patton #platonic #romantic #tw depression #cw swearing #tw anxiety #tw loneliness #sanders sides #logan crying #accurate portrayal of depression #cw drinking

[edelgarfield]

gods i haven't seen this parallel drawn before but it is something that drives me insane

everyone knows gortash was sold to raphael by his parents and one can only imagine the awful things he went through. and like i don't think it's too far of a stretch to think that abuse plays a heavy role in what led him to bane, how do you avoid being owned and used for other people's gain? by being the one with all the power and bringing them under your heel.

which is the exact same logic that drives astarion towards ascension. hells, the rite is a contract with mephistopheles, raphael's DAD.

imo gortash is a glimpse of exactly what lies in ascended astarion's future. he's the most powerful man in baldur's gate but he's completely alone. he's sold out and alienated every single person that ever cared about him, his power is the very thing that keeps him from ever being able to trust anyone else, all his allies are transactional and based on mutual gain, and one slip up means a knife in his back. durge, seemingly the one person he genuinely cared about, was taken from him because of the power they held. their affection for him put a target on both of their backs. he had all the power he could ever want and it did nothing to save the person he cared about most.

by the time you meet him, he is far far far too gone imo. i'm not even sure whether he cares about how isolated he is, or if he sees it for the weakness it is. if there was ever a time to convince him to choose another path, it is long gone, now he's too entrenched in his own schemes, that even if he WANTED to change (unlikely), it would spell his death.

if you don't ally with him, his isolation is the very thing that kills him; he believes he has no need of flesh and blood allies bc he has an army of tin soldiers to keep him safe. but once you take out the steel watch he's practically defenseless. he's the most powerful man in Baldur's gate, but you can literally just stroll up to his office and kill him on his own turf and no one comes to his aid. if you do ally with him, it's his ambition that puts the final nail in his coffin, his means to dominate the world turns on him and spells his doom.

and this is exactly what we begin to see happen with ascended astarion. his obsession with power and need for control makes him turn a genuine partnership based on love & mutual respect into one based on control. from party banter, we see pretty much all the companions immediately turn on him. these are people who genuinely cared for him & fought for his freedom, but after watching him ascend they wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire. and he doesn't even care! he's so entrenched in his own misanthropic worldview that he only sees the power he's gained & not everything it cost him. the cost of ascension isnt just 7000 souls, it's 7000 souls and the love of every single person who could have ever cared for him.

if astarion ascends how long until he bites off more than he can handle? how long until his enemies realize the best way to get to him is through you? how long until all his allies turn on him? (if you choose to control the absolute, the answer is somewhere between a few days and a few weeks). all the power in the world can't protect you from your own hubris and astarion has it in spades.

whether you view durgetash & durgestarion platonically or romantically I see it as two opposing narratives held together with Durge as the lynchpin. durgetash is abt being doomed by that narrative, two people who genuinely cared for each other but were the wrong people at the wrong time to save either of them. had they met earlier, if one of them had been slightly less entrenched in their roles, perhaps they could have been saved, they could have lived and had something real.

& durgestarion is the opposite, had they met any earlier, they would have brought each other to ruin. two doomed people, once beyond saving, meeting at the perfect time and finding the strength in each other to break their chains, to choose a path for themselves. where before durge failed to save gortash (& every person they ever cared for) they can save astarion now (& all their other companions).

& the real tragedy is by the very constraints of the narrative, you cannot save them both. if durgetash hasn't been the people they were, Astarion would never have his chance at freedom, he would've been consumed in cazador's ritual with no one to mourn him. but in order to orchestrate the events that allow astarion his chance at freedom, gortash is long past the point of no return. it takes MULTIPLE extremely unlikely events and literal divine intervention to free Durge from Bhaal's clutches. The chance of the same happening for Gortash is infinitesimally small.

it's abt the cruelty and chaos of the world, how fate, destiny, and chance intersect to either bind us or set us free. it's abt second chances, walking through the ruins of your past mistakes & choosing to build something from the rubble, it's abt how love & loss are two sides of the same coin, how sometimes the only choice available is to love, & that love won't save you, but it's there and it leaves its mark.

thank you for coming to my tedtalk.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #enver gortash #durgestarion #durgetash #bg3 spoilers

[bimboothefool]

Reader was taken kidnapped by Wally and taken to his world. But what Wally didn't expect is that all the other characters would start to remember memories with the reader as a child and discover the truth of their colorful world.

( Now it's up to you to decide what will happen! Will they help the reader get back to the real world or will they become so attached to the reader that it would help Wally keep them there with them FOREVER. )

ℌ𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔶 ℑ’𝔪 ℌ𝔬𝔪𝔢

𝔗𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰: Kidnapping, Yandere Behavior (You know the drill keep this shit in fiction.), Stockholm Syndrome, Amnesia, Possessive Behavior, Wally manipulating the others, and Gaslighting

𝔄𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯’𝔰 𝔏𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯: Thank you so much for this request and I apologize for taking so long so much came up, but regardless thanks for the request let’s jump right in!! Keep in mind it could either be read as platonic or romantic regardless spoiler alert they don’t see you grow up.

- Wally was surprised to see you after all these years. Same thing with the rest of the crew, your eyes are definitely different instead of that whimsy you’ve once held. You’re rather cautious, it still wows them how different you are now.

- Wally did believe for the time being that he’s the only one who truly remembers you and for a while that’s true. But once you’re in their world things started to change.

- Eddie and Frank are the first few to notice that you looked oddly familiar. When he asked specific questions about your childhood it started to click for him.

- Sally and Julie are shocked that you remembered the lines of a play or the rules of a game. They start to ask themselves the same questions why do you look so familiar yet different.

- Howdy, Poppy and Barnaby are a bit unnerved when you remember stuff like the residents orders or certain joke punchlines. Even certain recipe ingredients. How come you know those things.

- They all meet together to discuss the possibility of how they felt so familiar with you, but this is seemingly their first time meeting you. They all come to the conclusion that they’ve met you before. [Excluding Wally since he fully remembers you.]

- For a while they’re all happy to have you back, but you’re getting homesick. You constantly ask questions on how to get back to your world. But they’re not even sure if it’s possible.

- But only Wally knows a way in and out of their world and keeps it out of your grasp. He even starts manipulating the others.

- “We have them back, why let them go now? Don’t you all miss having our best friend?” He asked the others as they’re all conflicted. Sure they miss you and love you, but was keeping you here really right?

- This could go one of two ways. The first being they do buy into Wally’s twisted line of thinking, why go back to such a troubled and dangerous world? You can stay here and everyday is nothing, but joy and laughter.

- They’ll start gaslighting you into buying into this logic as well, which really freaks you out and you start lashing out. They see this as you throwing a tantrum.

- Another way this can go down, they aren’t sure and start asking you why you want to go home. And you explain that yeah your world isn’t perfect, but it’s still your home.

- Soon they all start talking about how to get you back home, out of Wally’s watchful eyes. You all start to unraveling and untying the mysteries of their world and Wally’s existence.

- Either way it’s ultimately up to you to really choose your own path on how things will play out.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my stuff please feel free to check out my other stories from other fandoms, along with reblogging and commenting on it! If you like my art and wanna commission me for some art, head over to my kofi!

#the clown speaks #my writing #welcome home x reader #welcome home arg #welcome home x y/n #welcome home x you #wally darling x reader #eddie dear x reader #frank frankly x reader #julie joyful x reader #sally starlet x reader #barnaby b beagle x reader #howdy pillar x reader #poppy partridge x reader

[dykedragonrider]

So I finished Library of Ruina. And I think that's just one of the best games ever. I don't know if I like it more than Lobotomy, but they're good for very different reasons. Either way though, it's incredibly salient commentary on cyclical violence, late stage capitalism, and the impact that humans have on each other.

I think the most logical place to start with is Angela, given that the Library is her EGO. However, it's impossible to talk about Angela's arc and development without discussing Roland's, given how deeply the two are tied and mirror each other. Even their music mirrors the other! To establish more similarity, both have had their lives ripped away from them by someone they perceived as uncaring. Angela was forced to suffer, so she externalized that grief at all the people she could target it at, hoping for compensation in some form. Roland had his future ripped away from him at every turn by a world that didn't care about him, and the death of Angelica caused him to externalize all his grief at the people he thinks could be responsible. Neither of them, however, were able to direct those outbursts at their original target, instead hurting the other people in their lives. Both of them are shaped by pain, Angela takes hers out on the world, Roland conceals his to take it out on Angela when the time is right, when her world is at its brightest. They both have to learn, in different ways, though, that their externalization of it will only cause the same thing to happen again and again. Getting hurt doesn't have any purpose; it just makes you hurt. There's no compensation you will receive for your pain, there's no vengeance that will fill the hole in your heart. Unfortunately, you'll live. What changes them, however, is realizing that you work past that pain, and hole in your heart, by letting others in, those who are good and trustworthy. Friends of the soul. To be human is to be loved, and understood. One of the facets of this game I find beautiful is that it's not a linear path to this for either of them, and if they haven't developed enough as people they cannot forgive and trust the other. Both must be in a place where they can heal, or at the very least, stop themselves from doing anything to hurt another in that moment. Recovery isn't simple, it's hard to be a better person especially when everything you've known is about conducting the pain you've experienced, because the world thrives off doing that. But the cycle's been broken before. The fact it's been broken is proof enough that you can do it again, no matter how hard it is. Roland and Angela are doomed, though. The world cannot abide them, but for different reasons. Angela's, however, is much more central, and Roland gets shunted either way with her, as they're now effectively two halves of the same whole, unified in their understanding of one another and sharing each other's dreams. And it's platonic! I think it could have been fine romantic, but I think given both of their pasts it's much stronger platonically. They are literally removed from the world that hurt them, as it casts them out, but in being removed from it, they're also able to dream outside of it. Angela seeks to create a more just world, following in the footsteps of Ayin. Being able to look past something and see the corrupt roots it took nourishment from, and wanting to excise that, rather than the person that is a symptom of it. Roland wants to write his book about the city, sharing his knowledge of someone who has lived in such a place, and in my eyes, passing the baton to the future with this knowledge; that the little things humans have done to care for one another and the connections we make. Redemption is a complex thing, based on actions, rather than intentions, but they've taken the first steps. And that's a really good note for the game to end on, because well, the seed of light is planted in the both of them now.

On the note of redemption, I want to take a moment to mention Ayin's apology to Angela in the light. Ayin is... Complex, morally, to say the least. Swaddled in good intentions, and with a good grasp on a positive outcome, just with means incomprehensible and immeasurable in the suffering caused. He brought his friends down with him to his prison, and made them complicit in his atrocity. He wanted to be better than every other Wing in the world. but he's done all the same shit. The difference though, is that he was willing to end it, show remorse, and break that cycle. The sin cannot be forgiven, but it can break the cycle, so he took it upon himself to do it, those hundreds of good deeds. And the cycle was broken. Great atrocity was done, but it was broken. Forgiveness is the wrong thing, redemption is as well, I think, he wanted it, maybe he got it, but what he wanted has been twisted by Carmen, truthfully, so I think it's kind of a moot point. But what is the right thing, I think, is understanding, that which he gives Angela. "I'm sorry. And good job." In this, he acknowledges her feelings. Her pain. He can't compensate her for the pain he put her through, but what he can do is acknowledge it, like she does for what she's done to Roland, though inadvertently. He sees her, for the first time, not as a machine, but of what she has been denied of at this point, what she wanted; human. This is also a good time to bring up Carmen, too, as she too is in the Light, hell, she's *the* light. She's who makes people Distort or manifest their EGO, she once again is the source of this, and Angela and her at this point could not be more different. In some ways, Roland's selfishness in wanting Angela back stops her from making the change to prevent Distortions, and the risk for selfishness they pose, as Distorting is easier than manifesting the EGO. Angela cannot be the constructive voice to balance out Carmen to help people be able to fight back, but again, to go back to the ending, Angela's targeting the City now, as an institution. If she can't work against Carmen in the light to stop her, then changing material conditions to create a world less based on pain will help. It further reinforces Angela's humanity to show how far she's drifted from Carmen, and I think it's especially poignant given that Angela was born of Carmen's pain, her still living body stripped and exploited. They're both victims, both of them want the world to change, both of them can understand the other, but they disagree on a fundamental level. So they both must be true to their ideals.

That tangent aside, I think it's important to note how important Angela's humanity is at the end, because she asserts it. Her humanity is presumed, and I think as players, it's been long established, even when she *was* purely machine, as being human is a sense of who claims you. And Angela, by the institutions that rule this city, is dehumanized. All the things we've seen as atrocities they can accept, but are tragic. If Angela didn't give it up, and became a human, they could tolerate her. But because she was not born as one, she is not allowed those privileges. Despite what she's demonstrated, how she's grown, matured, and changed, how she has done things that even the Head says only a human can do, she is denied it. If anything, the Head hates her *more* because of how human she is, and I think that only adds to the importance of Ayin acknowledging her humanity, it shows that even the most awful person we've seen, even moreso than Argalia in some ways, still acknowledges her. Everything else is acceptable. The distortions, while tragic, are OK. It would have happened. Capital can subsume that. But Angela's something they have deemed unacceptable, and she only survives by the strength of those who trust in her and support her. I think it's a really good metaphor, even if it is painfully real, especially in the current age.

And I guess I need to talk about that next, this game's interactions with capital and the City, and in some ways the socioeconomic context of South Korea. The Wings of the City are analogous to chaebols, institutions that centralize the entire economy, and they're deeply corrupt. Each Wing has a Singularity that grants them power, all of them we're aware of rely on human suffering to function, and the City runs on these. Prescripts only add to this, the City having a will of its own, which often propagates pain in one way or another and keeps itself in motion. The entire system is rotten, based on pain, and exploitation. The class divide is palpable in many ways, those in the Backstreets, or slums, aren't even allowed into the Nests, where the richer people in Wings reside, and are often systemically denied ways to lift themselves up. Violence against them is viewed as less important than violence against those in the Nest. The game is deeply critical of these in its portrayals. Angela's new to this world, and while she can make sense of it she also acknowledges the ways it's twisted and broken. Power is everything, you either get a good job or die alone, I think the only thing missing is a strong commentary about gender norms, but gender is a thing never really confronted in game. There's of course, now some legitimate hypocrisy that came from PM (based on my understanding of the facts) in how their criticism of Korean socioeconomic reality, and generally, capital, is less impactful given some of their behavior, but I don't think that detracts from the messages. In some ways, even, part of me is cynical enough to say that this proves a point; that corporations, no matter how much their art challenges the establishment, they are also subservient to it and the interests of the powerful. Of course they'd be corrupted by it, they've demonstrated that fighting against capital directly only gets you eliminated or subsumed. However, I think there's something also worth acknowledging here. That being the idea that challenging capital and its interests, and to some degree, revolutionary behavior, can be done through the improvement of the self, those material circumstances, and your relationships with other humans. There's a place for self improvement and the construction of your community, and its reinforcement, theory, and ideals, and also the hard world of praxis, and fighting against that which you cannot accept. I think in a world where a common sentiment among leftists in the anglosphere is that a revolution is not happening, and we're just going to have to do what we can on a different scale to change the world, this is a thoughtful ideal to communicate, that our relationships with our community, the changes we make to improve it, our capacity for kindness for others and breaking the cycle of violence within ourselves is a good place to start to make those changes on the world. Obviously, there's still a need for other change, but the sentiment that the community and the individual are important for that change is a very useful one.

Which I guess is a good time to talk about the community, in this case, the Sephirot. I think they're really good for depicting the idea that the community is strong when the individual cannot be, as well as philosophical (and of course, theological, given their Kabbalistic origins) stepping stones in the development of Roland and Angela. To use shorthand, they've finished their character arcs. That's not to say they're static, but the Sephirot have had their development back in Lobotomy to become much more developed people. I do wish they had more time in this game, as I enjoyed a lot of them in Lobotomy, but we do at least get more interactions between them and they're not as much main characters so I get it, I just *do* like them. Malkuth manages history, and she's dealing with the fact that people in the City, and her life, are capable of great atrocity. She's trying to document that, but the problem exists in the reality that no one wants to remember anything outside themselves. People are trapped, and cannot learn from history, because the City propagates itself and erases/incorporates those who try to change it, so what's even the point of remembering it. But it's the past that builds the future, pretending otherwise or ignoring it means you only rebuild the past. And you must not despair, you must carve this idea on your heart, and face it. Maintain the will to stand up straight in a world that wants to break you down. Yesod manages technological sciences, and is aware of the dangers it poses, especially in the City. The entire ethos is that the ends justify the means, and that is uniquely terrifying when the means always involve pain. He acknowledges this about the library, and is rightfully scared by it, and wants Angela to understand that what they're doing here is comparable to other things in the city, and it can't be justified away. We have to be thoughtful about things in an ever changing world, and we can't ever just follow what's been set out. Maintain discretion, be rational, and think about "musts" and if they're actually as such. Hod manages literature, the stories of the people. For the Sephirot who involved herself in the lives of others to their detriment, placing her in a space that uses her newfound capability to understand other humans as well as she does is a really nice thing for her to slot into. The fact is, the city sucks to live in for everyone. You join groups, and the groups hurt people. Where you live is always boiled in violence, and you either give up your autonomy and ignore it, or give up your safety and acknowledge it. Everyone wants something better for themselves, to not have to deal with this world that's breaking them. You can't be broken against the wheel, you still have to have the hope to be a better person at the end of it all. Netzach manages art, and he muses on the nature of humans to make it, at the cost of humans. It's, especially in this world, a monument to pain. That's not something that really feels like it should be exalted, but it's what people are experiencing so it's made anyway. Killing yourself in the pursuit of a dream, beauty, doesn't actually create or leave behind that beauty, or dream. It just propagates misery. You've gotta fight to stay alive, you've got to want it, even if you're scared, even if it hurts, even if you've accepted self destruction. You've got to hold onto the idea that there's always something more to do, some new story to tell, a reason to keep making things as humans do. It's scary, being alive, but facing that without fear and living is what gives beauty to our condition.

Tiphereth manages natural science, and she in some ways iterates on Netzach's philosophy. Sure, you're alive, but so what. The world is unfair, it beats you down, nothing could be more cruel than it, and understanding that's a hard endeavor, usually tinted by loss. So, we try and understand it. We look at the world, and what's unjust about it, and we make sense of it so we can change it, to keep dreaming. One day, we will overcome this. One day, you'll wake up, and will be able to face yourself and the world. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel, there's *got* to be something waiting for us because that's how humans work. We're driven by desire, and the chase of knowledge, justice, hope, gives life meaning. You just have to know what lights shine for you, and make the choice to chase them, every day of your life. It'll hurt like hell to be well, it's hard to do it again after losing your way. But as long as you're alive, things can change. Life has a meaning, and you must expect to find it. Gebura manages language, and notably, is one of the two Librarians with much stronger ties to the outside world than others. Her floor doesn't touch on language overmuch, but I think she demonstrates that differences with her behavior instead. As she mentions, the Backstreets dwellers speak simply, and that's reflected in her. Gebura is the most brash, honest, and straightforward librarian. She rarely speaks symbolically, and that also lets her uniquely connect with people, because of how she speaks and carries herself. She's the first one to get a fragment of the truth out of Roland, for example. Another element is that her actions speak for her rather often, given her past as the Red Mist. She was famous for her selflessness, and always tried to look out for people weaker than her. It's not the strong who survive, it's the survivors who are strong, so making sure people survive is how you create people who can live in this broken world. Kali was a legend who died in the service of protecting others, she's a very emotional person, to both her strength and detriment, and she's always going to carry that with her. Even if she's failed before, even if it's gotten harder, she still understands incredibly well that violence is a tool. And she wields that tool with courage, in the service of others. Chesed manages social sciences, and has a huge heart. He's as playful as he is determined to hope for a better life for others, and he loathes violence. More accurately, needless death, but the sentiment is identical. Chesed doesn't want people to be hurt or killed. People are all important little pieces, and we all blend together to make our symphonies. He values knowing *why*, for the hope to change things through understanding to make a better world. There's always something we can do with the people in our lives to make a difference, after all. Even if it's small, we owe it to them to do it. That's what being friends is about, after all. If the world wants to pit you against each other, then band together to be strong together. You'll have each other, and can fight the current of the oppressive reality together. Sitting on your hands only makes things worse, you've gotta be able to look and process your reality to change it. And people can help with that. Build a crowd of your friends, and become stronger together. Those who are faithful and trustworthy are what give us the strength to put our bodies on the wheel.

Binah manages philosophy, and is the other librarian with strong ties to the outside world. She's always talking in parallel with other people, but is doing as such to prove a point. The world is cruel, but you can't turn away from that. You must acknowledge the world and observe it to understand it. And you've gotta free yourself from your biases to actually understand it. If you just look for what you want to see, then you can miss the forest for the trees, or see things where they aren't because you want them to be real. Binah was once Garion, an Arbiter, effectively a supercop. I think the analogy speaks for itself there, but she's also interesting because that part of her is long behind her. In her discussions about the world, she also speaks of herself and her wants, as someone who's dealing with the sins of her past, especially given she is in no small part responsible for how things turned out. To put your past behind is to bear the sins of it, and decide to move on. You won't do it the first time, it may take a hundred, or a thousand, but you'll break it eventually. And when you do it, you'll have to do it over and over again. But you did it once. You can do it again. This works on another level again, because Lobotomy Binah is a deeply damaged person. She feels little, save for when she's hurting other people. But in Ruina, it feels like she's moved on from those remnants of being Garion. Like all the librarians, she wasn't who she was at the start of this, but she also has carried the most with her; she's just also had a lot of time to sort herself out, and while she's still imperfect, she's trying with other people now. She's tried to reconcile her past. She's looked at all the horrors of herself and the world, and has started to move beyond them. Hokma manages religion, and is one of the two people responsible for the birth of Angela. Angela is conflicted on him most of all, given that past. To call their relationship filial in any way I think is a misattribution, it's more like he's her least favorite teacher. He's wise, knowledgeable, and thoughtful but they've got a lot of friction between them. He tried to do well by her, but it wasn't enough, and he has at this point accepted that given their past. Unsurprisingly, the thing that defines Hokma is belief in something, or rather, someone. Ayin was the man that gave his life meaning, and he believed in him and his cause, even to his own end. He was shackled to him, but he was freed from that weight when he realized his answer, that building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same. You aren't stuck to it, but you must acknowledge it to move on, and its influences on you, good and bad, are what you choose to pass on. I think the most important element to him comes in his end discussion with Angela, on the idea of pity, sympathy, and love. They're similar forces that foster human connection, but I think another element is that a lot of faith exalts those who we pity; we give them love to raise them up because we find them pitiable. Through that sympathy, and a repulsive emotion known as pity, we come to understand and love one another.

And finally, we tie back to Roland, who manages general works. The thing I most want to center in this discussion about him is the simple phrase of "that's that, and this is this" because it's such an infuriating philosophy for him to follow. We see it bite him in the ass so much, because it's a cope. Angelica makes it clear to him that it's a cope, and he's just relying on it to the point it's become something deeply maladaptive. And once again, it's Angela that breaks him out of this, because through their journeys together, she realizes and proposes to him the counter: That's this, and this is that. It's her gesture to break him out of things wholly, the same way Ayin's words did to her. In terms of broader strokes, human connection is the most important thing on the road to being better people, and I think something that is demonstrated very well through Ruina is the way that it's more important to make a wrong choice and learn from it through people around you than it is to make no choice at all. While this game builds much more on the elements introduced in Lobotomy about the City, I think Lobotomy is a much stronger criticism of capital? This does it, but I think it doesn't do as good in marrying its gameplay and themes to sell the violence of capital, it mostly just depicts the horrors and leaves it there. This works, it's just not as impactful, and I think is a product of this being much less horror oriented. All in all, I chalk this one up to another game I wish I was much more capable of speaking about. There's so much good here, and it's one of the best games about revenge I've played, the next closest being the original Xenoblade. It's incredibly rich, and there's a lot more I have to say, I've just been typing for four hours and didn't want to make an even bigger wall of text.

#tsunny reviews #library of ruina

[crystalelemental]

It's Frieren Friday, but there's no more new Frieren, so instead I'm just thinking

In part what gets me is the usual: I have a strong affinity for characters that don't understand their emotions.  They're almost always favorites.  I think the reason Serie hits so hard is because she operates as a foil to Frieren's journey.

Frieren's current journey is about contextualizing the human experience she lived through during her travels with Himmel's party.  She's coming to understand how much that brief period meant to her, and that despite how small a portion of her life it truly was, it's had a huge impact on the course of her life.  And it's also about grieving the loss of Himmel.  The introduction that gets this moving is his death, and the realization of how much he meant to her.  The whole show is very retrospective, looking through the past while moving forward.

Serie is the exact opposite.  Serie's response, any time she's asked, is that Flamme is a failure, she never lived up to her heights, and she really shouldn't take on human apprentices anymore.  But she does.  Pretty constantly, apparently.  And she remembers each of them perfectly; their names, their faces, their favorite spells.  Even uses their favorite spells in her day to day, creating the field of flowers in the examination room using Flamme's spell.  Who's to say other spells haven't been used in equal effect?  The flowers are just the ones Frieren would notice.

Serie's grieving the loss of people she cared about too, but unlike Frieren, she has no idea why or what's even happening.  The reason she recalls all these people with such perfect clarity is completely lost on her.  She has an intellectual understanding of each of them, but never really made much human connection with anyone.  Even her current apprentice is so in the dark about how Serie thinks and feels that he assumes she's just as disappointed in his abilities as she claims, and is primarily concerned about her living a long life alone with no one's legacy beside her.

There's something tragic and powerful to the idea that Serie's always taken on these human apprentices, and despite caring deeply for them, never once realized it.  That all of them died likely thinking the same as her current one does: that she was disappointed they never measured up.  That for all the care she must have held, they may never have known, because she didn't tell them.  She didn't understand it herself.  And now that they're gone, all she can do is use their favorite spells to bring herself reminders of them, for reasons she can't even parse.

Which is exactly what Frieren's going through.  With how much HImmel meant to her, whether romantic or platonic or whatever it was, she never got to tell him, and now he's gone.  She has only those memories to guide her, and she's embracing each to learn more about herself and her journey, and is starting to better appreciate the current moment.  She's not perfect at it, her most recent argument with Fern shows she's still not great at telegraphing how she feels.  But she's trying.  And that's something Serie's never tried to do.

It's why Serie's so predictable.  Frieren and Flamme predict her literal every move, because she's never emotionally matured.  She operates purely intellectually, and she is talented.  As Frieren points out, her intuition is always right, and we see that the intuition has a logical sense to it.  Magic is drawn from imagination, and if you can't imagine yourself as first class, then you're not.  Even as far as her focus on fighting, the northern lands are still home to demons.  If you can't think of how to fight an opponent likely stronger than you, you won't win.  There's a logical sense to all of it.  But despite all that, Frieren knows full well that Serie will be a brat about her approach to magic, just as she'll be too impressed by Fern's ability to fail her even if she's like Frieren.  Even with Flamme's will, she called that Serie would throw a fit about the request, but here we are all these years later and Serie's basically doing as she asked.  Serie will have her little outburst and her big speech about magic needing to be exclusive.  But over the years, she'll settle down from that argument, and she is going to miss her apprentice.

I just...really like Serie.  She's neat.

#frieren beyond journey's end #serie

[mollysunder]

Silco, Vander, and Grace for the Ones Who Hurt Us the Most

Sometimes I feel like we all really need to sit with the fact that Silco was ready, willing, and wanting for Vander to return to his side after Vander tried and failed to kill him. What Vander did was a genuine life altering act of betrayal that Silco had to live with the mental, emotional, and medical consequences for years after. You can bet if Jinx hadn't shot Silco, the river toxins would've gotten him just a little later. And in spite of the ways Vander's actions ruined his life, that Vander admits to even (but doesn't apologize for), Silco rationalized it just as much for Vander as he did himself.

Silco decided that the man he loved the most nearly killed him (and in a way is still killing him) for a greater purpose, which didn't make everything okay, but it made it reasonable. And this rationalization has bled into every aspect of his life because the way Silco treats Zaun is the way he treats himself. If you're weak the people who love you and you love back will hurt you. They are right to permanently alter the trajectory of your existence to make the right calls, because as long you survive it, you will be stronger. He's made Shimmer the lifeblood of Zaun, because Silco is literally dependent on it to live as well. It works for him, so it works for Zaun.

The most warped part is, Silco was mostly right! He had violent rise in Zaun and completely changed the course of its development. Yet he managed to create a Zaun that couldn't be cowed or bullied either economically or militarily by Piltover the way it was in the past. I can't help but think how it all must twist and burn, because if Silco understood he was succeeding at the impossible, then doesn't that mean it all reinforced his logic around Vander? That this man you loved hurt you in a way that can't be taken back for the rest of your life, and he was right to do it? So that means Silco was right to change, to want to be back by Vander's side, because he was the one who needed to reinvent himself to be worthy of control, right?

No matter the success Silco reaped he had to recognize the dissonance between this logic and reality, because despite the bastard he could be, Silco would never do any of what was done to him onto Jinx. Sure Silco would simulate his traumas into life lessons and heavily sanitized rituals, but he never betrayed her or abandoned her when she became detriment to his position. Obviously Vander also never gave up on his kids either (#cinematicparallels), but we don't know if Silco was ever in a position to betray someone the way Vander did him, or if he ever wanted to prior to it. So even as Silco recognizes that Vander changed to protect the children he loves so much, he must wonder if the way Vander and he loved eachother just wasn't it enough? If the way Silco cared for Vander was reciprocal, a deep love whether romantic or platonic, then why wasn't Silco afforded a similar grace to stay by his side?

Silco had to live with all these contradictions and still chose to embrace Vander's memory. In a complete contrast to Vander, Silco didn't obscure who Vander was to Zaun politically or personally. Silco allowed a statue of Vander to stand, and went to it for comfort, he regularly talked about his life with Vander before and after the betrayal with Jinx. Meanwhile, from what the audience can see, Silco's presence was almost fully hidden from the newest generation sans the scar Silco gave him, which Vander hides with a bracer. All I can end up thinking is that must be easier for Silco to keep loving Vander like this, it's how he gives himself the grace for it.

#arcane #silco #vander arcane #silco and vander #zaundads #arcane meta #these guys are absolutely the most #sometime i think silco would love if Vander's showed up by his window wh style #seriously tho #they way silco just rationalized Vander's betrayal FOR vander needs to be studied #even jinx makes a face when she'd hear his stories #like c'mon man #silco still loving vander in spite of the betrayal but this care contradicts the “perspective” of Silco’s new outlook on life #and yet he finds a way becuz he's a hypocrite that will gladly turn his philosophy into the weirdest pretzel #just say you were hurtand he sucks for that #like damn

[mrs-monaghan]

It's amazing to me that people can look at Jikook's relationship and see anything other than the deepest form of love. When asked if JM was tired of JK filming him he responded, "never, I promised him I'd go to even to the moon with him." He supports JK in any and everything he wishes to pursue. He's his biggest supporter and fan. This fact couldn't be clearer, not a rehearsal or recording in which Jm isn't present. And he receives just as much as he gives.

Jungkook once said during a Muster, "there is not a single secret kept between (him and JM)." And when asked to highlight members best attribute he posted a picture of JM's entire body showing there isn't a single piece of JM that isn't perfect (he did this for no other member). Similar to JM, JK can be spotted at all JM's rehearsals because he too is JM's biggest advocate and support. And the beautiful thing is...this isn't new.

I don't understand why people go as far as to not only reject the ship but also their clear friendship! There is no disputing that JM and JK are each others person romantic or platonic. JM called JK his soul brother and they consider Serendipity "their" song, even accused the actual author of the song "Namjoon" of plagiarism when he used the phrase "I am you and you are me!"

JK hurt or sick who's there? JM. JK's birthday who's there? JM. JK sad or down he doesn't seek out any one other than JM. When asked who gives you the most comfort a young JK without hesitation said JM.

Whenever JM is absent you'll see a lonely JK. Jm is JK's person and even though he can't say that he prefers JM explicitly he consistently heavily implies it and JM prefers him. To reject this is to reject logic, reason, and what is right in front of our eyes.

The members have taken long breaks before and in the past JK laughed about even though they are in the same group he didn't talk to any of them other than JM and J-Hope in the time they were apart. But now that JM is apart from him he makes long videos dedicated to JM, tweets he misses him, and looks overjoyed whenever they interact. Their relationship isn't the same as others. This shouldn't be disputed...it should be admired. The fact that we fight about it makes no sense to me. JM and JK don't belong to us, we should let them live their lives with and whoever they choose to live it with...and be happy for them.

This.... all of this

#ask shaz #bts ask #jikook #kookmin #minkook #jimin and jungkook #park jimin #jeon jungkook #jimin #jungkook #bts

[dellalyra]

Pixie’s JJK Theories

!! SPOILERS !! (225 included) if u don’t wanna know anything then don’t read <3

Okay so, I’ll try to make these make sense and put them in some sort of order bc I have so many ideas and thoughts they r swimming in my head :):)

Gna preface the whole thing by saying I don’t think Gojo is dead/will die, just from an editing/business perspective (I did 2 years study of being an editor and 5 years of creative writing studies, not an expert or anything so just MY OPINION)

So first theory set:

Who’s gonna kill Sukuna and Kenjaku?

Maki Kills Sukuna

I think that 225 has been a signal that Sukuna CANNOT be defeated/killed by cursed energy or techniques. I don’t know how to describe it best but think of Achilles, an unbeatable hero but he had that one weakness. Now Sukuna’s whole CT/DE is based around weaponry right? There’s literally nobody more talented with weaponry than Maki - it’s been hinted that she’s even surpassed Toji in terms of physical prowess since Mai’s death and the whole heavenly restriction thing. What if, he basically can only be beaten by someone playing his game: a proper fight? Think of it, maki has no CE, no CT, no DE. But she is completely unparalleled with weapons and cursed tools. What if - she’s the antithesis and also the mirror image of him and that’s what could take him down? Also: it would be a mirror of Toji V Gojo.

Gojo & Sukuna = Gods amongst Mortals

Maki & Toji = The Mortals

Toji’s lack of cursed energy and physical abilities also with the inverted spear allowed him to kill Satoru.

What if this will be repeated history with Maki - with something from the Zen’in vault?

If Maki could then save Megumi, then they could work to rebuild the Zen’in clan in their image: modern, fair and open.

That’s one theory anyway since we’ve seen that Sukuna cherishes and admires strength and power.

Theory Two

Choso Kills Kenjaku

OKAY SO Choso’s whole character is family. His whole aim since day one has been his brothers. What if choso kills kenjaku, as his revenge? Noritoshi Kamo is the one who both created AND destroyed Choso’s family - it would be poetic justice for Choso to be the one to kill him, since he has known nothing but manipulation and violence since his ‘birth’.

Theory Three

Yuuji kills Sukuna

Sukuna took so much from yuuji it would just be JUSTICE but also remember during the exchange event arc megumi really emphasised how even without cursed energy yuuji would still destroy them all in hand to hand combat? I think that’s rly important here. This kinda follows the same logic as my maki theory but I just have this feeling that Sukuna can’t be taken down with cursed techniques or DE, it has to be raw unbridled power. Like I said Sukuna respects and covets power and maybe it’s because he knows that’s the one thing that could kill a god like him.

Plus - this ties in with ‘start by saving me, Itadori’ and megumi and Yuuji’s promises and threats to not die. Regardless of whether or not u ship them romantically, their relationship (platonic or not) has been at the forefront of the entire series - it would make sense for Itadori starting his full Sukuna free life by the first person he really saves being Megumi.

Also I like this because remember the ‘Nah, I’d win’ conversion with Gojo? Wouldn’t it be cool if it was actually Yuuji who won - saving Gojo, Megumi and everyone else?

Theory Four

Inumaki is gonna have a big part to play. Idk what, but the timing of his return lends itself to this.

Also, Nobara isn’t dead. The other person that gojo Shoko and Ijichi were talking about was Nobara and she ain’t dead but severely injured and I think she’s gonna come in with a dramatic ‘here to save ur sorry asses’ moment bc it just is very on brand for her.

Theory Five

Why Gojover isn’t happening now/ever.

But especially now.

OKAY business perspective ik it takes away from the ‘story’ part but don’t forget that Gege has editors and he needs to sell more copies of future editions and chapters so a certain amount of fan service is required, Gojo stole the show literally - they know that killing him off is a bad business choice at any point, but especially in such an anti-climactic way.

Another rly important point is every character who’s had a huge impact on the story and then subsequently fuckin died, think Geto, Nanami, Toji - they’ve all had a poignant death and Gojo has had even more of an impact on the story.

Geto: you could at least curse me a little in the end and his moment w gojo in the alley

Nanami: you’ve got it from here looking at yuuji his protege who he was so tough on and then telling him essentially he trusted and believed in him

Toji: my kid will be sold to the Zen’in’s, do what you will after pushing gojo to unlock his full potential thru fuckin stabbing him and then gojo stopping the sale of megumi

After all of these deaths they’re not gonna do:

Gojo: 3 chapters, gets slashed in the neck and fucking croaks.

That’s just bad storytelling and no matter how cruel he is Gege is a phenomenal storyteller

NEXT point is I think this is where we’re finally gonna see some real RCT. It’s interesting how Gojo said he doesn’t mind going HAM on Megumi’s body bc he looks like his dad - I don’t think that’s a coincidence that he’s fighting someone who looks so like Toji and then gets slashed in his neck? Seems a bit like repeating history, but I think even Gojo’s RCT won’t cut it - I think it’ll be Shoko who saves him.

The giveaway for this for me was ‘You were never alone’ and her reminiscing. She’s always been there for the two boys and she always will be - she’s the most powerful RCT user and she’s never left Gojo’s side, and she won’t fail him now. She will heal his neck, because he’s not alone at the top of the food chain. Pair with this if Utahime is still using her amplification technique, Shoko is almost unstoppable in terms of RCT.

We’ve seen this situation with Yuuta and Yuuji too, so there’s canon evidence of its existence and potential.

Also - I don’t think the Tojification of Gojo is accidental or just gege having a hard on for Toji. This is again a Man Vs God situation, take this and use it on Toji (man) v Gojo (god), but now it’s Gojo (man) vs Sukuna (god). Ultimately, Toji killed Gojo. He killed a God by force. Maybe that’s some foreshadowing idk idk.

Theory six

Yuuta kills Kenjaku.

Don’t fight me on this one. It’s feminine intuition. Idk why or how or where but it’s gna happen.

Theory seven

Noritoshi Kamo kills Noritoshi Kamo.

The battle of the Noritoshi’s.

Won’t happen but would be funny and I would enjoy the confusion at the both screaming each others names and it being their own names like the confusion from Shibuya.

Theory Eight

I kill Sukuna and Kenjaku.

They’re testing my patience rn, and they’re hurting my babies. Mama Pixie is unhappy. I’ll chase after them both and beat them with a frying pan until they both apologise and get me a bouquet each for being such unruly boys and then they will make ‘I’m sorry for killing your brother/I’m sorry for taking your eye out/sorry for living in ur body and taking ur heart out/sorry for killing ur sister and then taking ur body/sorry for using ur ex-bfs body as a marionette’ cards for everyone and I put them in time out (hell).

#jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen spoilers #jjk manga spoilers #jjk #gojo satoru #maki zenin #jujutsu kaisen yuuji

[tame-a-messenger]

“Are there a lot more Damangela posts out there that I’m missing? Because I saw a couple posts complaining about people talking about Damangela but I swear it’s literally only you and MAYBE one or two other people talking about them. Also it’s wild to me that people would complain about Damangela when Ianthony is RIGHT THERE or even amangela or spommy like people talk about these ALL the time writing lots of smut and everything but people are gonna complain about the five Damangela posts that happen every few days at most?? No hate to people talking about any of those ships I’m not one of those people who care so much about what people ship (if I don’t like it I just ignore it) but I just think it’s weird to call out Damangela when it’s such a small ship no one really talks about too much. And 99% of the Damangela posts are platonic and not romantic anyway so I don’t get why people are bothered by it.”

Hi Mitty! good to see you!

“Are there a lot more Damangela posts out there that I’m missing? Because I saw a couple posts complaining about people talking about Damangela but I swear it’s literally only you and MAYBE one or two other people“

That’s what has me all confused. I’m pretty sure there’s only a small handful of Damangela acc on here, or anywhere. I don’t really know why people have been getting so up in arms about Damangela? I’ve been seeing a lot of hate for ‘damangela shippers’ when I really can only think of like 3? that are openly shipping them together??

Most people posting about Damangela are purely Dynamic Enjoyers™, and openly stating that. I don’t know where this wave of people came from, talking about ‘damangela shippers’ like there’s so many.

“people would complain about Damangela when Ianthony is RIGHT THERE or even amangela or spommy“

I think it’s because those ships in particular are all queer ships. It always strikes me as odd that people are EXTREMELY comfortable shipping rpf if it’s queer, but if it’s hetero they say it’s an invasion of privacy and weird. Like you’re saying IT’S NOT AN INVASION IF ITS GAY??? WHERES THE LOGIC?? do people not understand how sexuality works? (if you have a problem with rpf COMMIT TO IT. DONT PRETEND ITS OK ONLY IF ITS QUEER. shipping real people is shipping real people.)

(I do realize that all of those ships have pretty obvious reasons why they aren’t taken as seriously. Amanda is married, Spencer is straight(?), ... , so I understand that side, but if you truly think rpf is bad, commit to it.)

I’d also like to say just because a Woman/Man is hetero, does NOT mean they romantically like EVERY Man/Woman they meet. 

“it’s weird to call out Damangela when it’s such a small ship no one really talks about too much“

That’s what I’m thinking as well, like I said, I can only think of maybe 3 people that openly ship them together? and they don’t even post that regularly. It almost feels like they’re trying to head off future shippers because of the Podcast clip that came out recently? (the Christmas Event™)

That’s ^ the only reasonable thing I can think of. (they still aren’t doing a very good job as a community... I think it’s because there’s been a lot of new fans the last couple years)(along with Smosh not being very good with fan discourse)(I could go on for days about this lol)(if there was an obvious figure head in the community that could point the fans in good directions I think that would help with the weird dog piling that’s going on rn)

“99% of the Damangela posts are platonic and not romantic anyway so I don’t get why people are bothered by it.“

It doesn’t make much sense to me either. 

The one thing I did see that I could imagine being annoying, is that people trying to look through #Angela Giarratana tag are getting flooded with damangela content. (and obviously the #Damien Hass tag as well) I could TOTALLY see why that could make some people mad! but there’s really not much to do about that.. 

(other than going into settings and filtering out damangela manually)

I feel a little bad that we’ve been flooding their tags, but I can’t really do anything about it? I could start not tagging both of them? but I feel like it makes more sense to just filter your own tags than get me to change how I tag (other people would be tagging them even if I stopped anyway..)

Anyway, I’m sure all this will blow over soon! something about April Fools Marriage and a Solar eclipse is getting everyone all red blooded.

-Much love Mitty! <3

#smoshblr #Damien Haas #Angela Giarratana #Smosh #Damngela Dynamic Enjoyer #Smosh Games #Smosh Pit #Damangela #Damien x Angela #Damien and Angela #Damngela #Damien/Angela #Christmas Event™ #goose chase #witch hunt but theres no witches #twitter users are over there shadowboxing all the 'damangela shippers' #the shippers that definitely totally exist #they come to nibble on my toes sometimes #thats how I know they exist

[stargazeraldroth]

Okay I'm finally ready to add onto that idea I mentioned about Yandere!Multiverse x Ink. I can see it being both solely romantic or solely platonic, but I'm a messy gal so I'm gonna make it a mishmash of the two. Some characters are romantic yanderes, some are platonic yanderes, and then Dream's very weird in the sense that he doesn't know if he's in love with Ink or if he wants him as a parent (lowkey how I feel about some fictional characters; plus, considering Dream's had some ASS adults in his life, I don't think he really understands how he should determine that)

Anyway, let me start with some basic stuff. The simplest way this can all happen is that there's some kind of glitch in the code or something that's affecting people. This is one of my default go-to's whenever I need an explanation for stuff like this; when in doubt, glitch it out. It doesn't always work, but it's not a bad idea to use every now and then. You can only come up with so many logical explanations as to why everyone's being a yandere over the same exact person! I imagine Ink's "immune", for lack of better word, because he's got his special "I'm the Creators favorite boi" deal going on. And before any of you say Ink isn't the favorite, this is my blog, and on my blog I spoil the fuck out of this gremlin. He's my favorite and I must torment him accordingly.

Now, if you know anything about me, it's probably that I like Errorink. As in, I like Errorink... a lot. And that's an understatement. Errorink has become a staple of my AUs. So of COURSE Error's gonna be a romance-oriented yandere! I think he'd be on the more extreme side, too, but would manage to control himself around Ink. This can be interpreted both as him controlling his urges to murder others and keeping a lid on his feral yandere behavior. He's definitely the kind of yandere to stalk... I hope you don't mind being watched in your sleep, Ink.

I feel like I should probably elaborate on Dream, too, before getting too far. I'm realizing it could (probably) be taken the wrong way. Usually in my AUs, there's a moment in history where Dream DID have a crush on Ink (a very strong crush!), but later loses it and comes to view Ink as either just a very good friend or a parental figure. In this AU, I feel like this Yandere Plague would cause those lost feelings to come back up, which... confuses Dream greatly. He thought he was over his crush! But... oh... Ink does look kinda... maybe he does still like him in that way? Would it be awkward to feel that way? Ah, he doesn't know how he should feel about this!! He just has!!! Feelings!!!!

Nightmare would probably be more curious about this sudden interest in Ink than anything. I've always made him more of a research kind of guy (mad scientist characters my beloved), so he sees this as a new topic to investigate. He's sure Ink would be more willing to comply once things start getting out of hand... having Ink so close is just a nice bonus, Nightmare's really only interested in the data. Yeah, the data... that's definitely what he's focused on the most here... maybe he does understand Dream's little dilemma. Not that he'd ever admit it. Especially if Ink's nice to him. So what if he gets a little pissy whenever the Murder Trio's around Ink? It's not because he's getting attached or anything, but Ink is a guest at his castle, and he will not tolerate those three idiots making such a terrible impression!

But you wanna know who could be really interesting to consider?

Cross.

[captaindarkiplier]

I am both confused and curious , depending on the endings ,do you see engineer and darkiplier become a couple sort of ? Or is it complicated ? Since engineer is either actor or the true engineer guy

That's a really good question. And I'm glad to answer it early on rather than later, because I've actually thought about Darkhenge being read that way ahaha, and it's not exactly my intention, but I'll get deeper into that because it's more nuanced

Short answer:

I'd be fine if people see it as anything, honestly. My AU isn't fleshed out to the point where it's entirely removed from the source, and the nature of the source is... you can project onto it! Canon Captain and Head Engineer are depicted as a friendship, but people can easily ship them if they want to. So that's how I feel about my AU as well- except it's much different in genre of ""romance"" or ""friendship"" LOL (due to Dark HATING Mark- But that's the catch- this isn't the "same" Mark!)

Long answer:

I'll get into exactly what I think Darkhenge to be. First, before getting into it: The AU name Darkhenge is structured as a ship name, but I don't really ship within the binary of romantic nor platonic, it is just a duo/pairing system to me pretty much. ISWM is a story that goes heavy on the platonic emotions, and tends to be unconventional/bizarre in ways, in the storytelling, characters, etc. Such bizarre things as killing your friend or having your friend try to kill you or seeing your friend as hundreds of different people. It's fun. I think I held onto that aspect more than a concept of a standard relationship. I guess I happen to be unconventional in my tastes.

Now, I will dig into Darkhenge as I conceptualize it. It's kind of making me nervous to finally put an official description of it out O__O" alongside my art of it! I've talked about it a lot privately but never spilled the beans on what it IS...? (a little excited)

Dark is put into a compromising situation, though not like he isn't used to that, and he has to fend to secure his position of power. So, it is fortunate that he's a Captain with Mark as a self-sacrificial subordinate. That's Dark's comfort zone, to have control. But, (to have (Actor) Mark as his friend,) it's not his normal. But for us, The Viewer, it is. So that creates a dichotomy internally that Darkiplier has to account for. ... Darkiplier doesn't typically share the emotions that The Viewer does, and if he did, I think he has a fair chance of it not getting in his way, since he's always repressing conflicting emotions anyways. But that depends. If Darkiplier "wins the game" like I explained in my previous post... He witnesses the story of ISWM. This might not influence him- as explained! Why would it? But there is some more weight to the experience for him, regardless. It's something he would think about for at least a moment, maybe yet another thing that weighs him down forever, even if it doesn't subtract from everything he has going on canonically. (The whole revenge and hate thing) ... So finally, the weight in question: Head Engineer, in my AU, is Actor Mark, but not exactly- his character is modified in this story specifically, just like how The Viewer/Darkiplier is modified to have fused for the duration of ISWM in my AU, and then would split after they finally resolve the paradox; so everything canonical still applies in the overarching universe & stories. Head Engineer is an Actor Mark who, unlike the other Marks, hasn't just deluded himself into "believing the story he acts out..." or wanting something in the House... -- he's literally a different Mark. That's how it was written canonically, and I'm reading it this way for fun: He's Actor Mark, but an AU version. I know Actor Mark transcends the AU logic like Warfstache, but before Mark was an Actor he was Mark- and that's the idea. Maybe you get it, maybe you don't... so here's a list:

Damien and Mark were good friends, until Mark was taken by his ego and the influence of the House.

The Viewer and Mark have a deep friendship.

The Captain and Head Engineer are on good grounds to have a close friendship as well, thanks to whatever circumstances of their respective characters preceded the story of ISWM.

Darkiplier hates Actor Mark, and his hate is hinged entirely upon what Actor Mark did in WKM, via influence of the House.

The Head Engineer is Actor Mark, except before he would do any of that in WKM.

The Head Engineer is Actor Mark before he became Actor Mark, so just Mark- except an AU version: he's evidently a space engineer instead, with a humbled ego and no awakened desire to act. Yes, Head Engineer does have a smaller ego than Mark had, I imagine Mark was a bit egotistical and theatric even as a kid. Head Engineer is Mark if he turned out different. "I could've been an engineer..." haha And this can be circumstantial or "genetic" - but I like to think it's mostly circumstantial, because I still see the other Marks' traits (including Actor) in Head Engineer's character, especially with how carried away Head Engineer can get about the warp core. It's the same phenomenon of the house. And I know that's just the House, but I like to think that there's a theme shared between Actor and Engie that they're both the type to get carried away with a creative vision or incentive of investigation and revenge... (Kind of like Abe and Dark, which is why I see that it can be just the House's global influence) ... It's a hc of mine that I find enriching to the AU Engie's character.

So, to Dark, other than any potential heartstrings it could tug on his very dead and perhaps nonexistent heart, this is a surprisingly uncomfortable situation. But The Viewer makes it more tolerable by eventually resolving the situation, regardless of how much Dark might have wanted to fight those routes, or how many mistakes each of them made to get bad endings. If the Captain and Head Engineer never made up, the story would likely never end- because, well, we tried every other route, and it didn't really end there... So, The Viewer is essential. Mending the friendship is essential. If Dark has any heartstrings pulled, it's probably Damien's... but I think this Dark is rather muddy in his "original" identity by now (plus the addition of the D/A as The Viewer... Damien isn't even getting the chance to talk to the D/A in headspace, I feel like ISWM feels super fast for them all, barely conscious), so it'd be vague and buried. I like the hc that Dark and Warfstache both forget, but Dark remembers a bit more, and he's sentimental, but very reserved about it and would only stop repressing it only around people he trusted. That's a complicated thing, and I think ISWM is not about resolving Dark, but is about resolving the story and nothing else. But you could argue otherwise if you wanted to. Maybe part of him could have been happy.

A silly analogy would be taking a criminal to a class meant for teaching toddlers to play nice, and not letting them argue with the teaching, just teaching them the lesson until they submit and actually succeed to be nice. Then the criminal is let free from the class to do whatever he wants, again. The memory of it might be uncomfortable... or maybe irrelevant, because it could be happening all the time! Maybe this isn't Darkiplier's first rodeo in the multiverse, nor the last. ... I like to think that he explores, since everyone technically can within the illusory world in the House/Mansion. Stuck but free all the same.

Ah... I like to think how ironic it would be if Darkiplier had to go to this universe & possess this body of all possibilities just to get the warp core... It's funny.

The most important aspects of the dynamic to me is the duality of comedy and horror/tragedy, and the anomalous third act is the profound sappiness in the original media that would not at all fit Actor and Dark's dynamic- it's the contrast and impossibility that I love about the situation.

If I had to romanticize them, I think it could be done nonromantically, for the record. I, myself, am not traditional with the genre of romance. I guess I fit into the grey area, and that influences how I think of Darkhenge, as well. I also think the word "romantic" doesn't necessarily have to mean dating, since you can romanticize pretty much anything in life. And I think this AU is a pretty good example of how I can romanticize things! A lot of fiction is a kind of romanticization, but the romanticization doesn't usually indicate what you would feel about it if it happened in real life. So yeah, I think I do a lot of that... A lot of media I read can have villains or dark themes that I will play around with conceptually, knowing that if they were real, I'd hate them. Lol.

I like love stories that go like this. I mentioned Madoka briefly before, and that's honestly my top inspiration to even my own surprise because it nails the nuance perfectly- it's commended as a great Yuri but it's not actually a Yuri, it's just written so well around those two characters that it can be commended as a great story with Yuri characters/undertones in it.

So yes, I like stories like this, and they tend to be best written as love stories... but they don't necessarily have to be love stories. They can just be tragedies... but I think love is an important element when writing about the bigness of life. Whatever form that love might take. So whether it's platonic, romantic, or neither, is none of my concern nor consideration, because it's about something more nuanced, bigger... Everything and nothing is taken into account at once, if that makes sense.

Even some of my Darkhenge art ideas (that haven't yet come to fruition) seem a bit romantic, it's just a grey area. I think I am in love with the AU itself, and that's why... I hope it makes sense why I am in love with it- if not, I'll just keep trying to show why...!!!! ( •̀ ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧

Well, I think I have explained it properly...? Feel free to ask more questions, though. I'm a little sleepy while typing all of this, so I could have missed something.

For the record! If someone shipped my AU characters romantically, I would likely be fine with their headcanons/interpretation, but I encourage them to ask about boundaries if they plan to post about it.

Thank you so much for the question!!! I'm glad someone thought to ask it. :)

#asks #so hard to put the raw feelings into words!! #I'll probably yap about these same things numerous times until I get a good “angle” on what I mean #Drawing DH art is just as difficult with precision but sometimes expresses it more vividly #Multiple pictures- multiple facets- a gallery like a timeline of events or memories #I'm sure the same could be done in writing via poetry or fiction but I'm not experienced #darkhenge #text

[harvestleaves]

Coddled

Prompt: hello, could I make a Ted Lasso request, please? maybe Roy x Jamie x Keeley- romantic or platonic, whichever's your jam! -where Jamie's sick but tries to hide it because he's got his Dad's voice in his head calling him weak for it, but Roy and Keeley notice anyway and take him home to take care of him, letting him know that it's okay to be sick, and that it's okay to let himself rest and be looked after, too. please and thank you!

A/N: This took longer than I planned because I kept adding to it, I hope you like it!  This can also be read on Ao3 here.

Rating: T (For canon-typical swearing)

Word Count: 2,906

Jamie sighed heavily as he made his way into the locker room for their early morning training, sluggishly making his way to his cubby to drop his bag and change into his warm-ups.  Despite it being a chilly morning in late October, Jamie felt simultaneously hot and freezing, having woken up that morning with full-body shivers.  Before driving in for the day, he briefly thought about calling in, but there was a nagging voice in the back of his head that sounded way too similar to his father's.

'Only wussies take breaks.  If you can stand upright you can play.  Push through it.'

After tying his boots on, Jamie tiredly dropped his head into his hands, making a mental note of how warm his forehead felt.  Logically knowing that he was probably coming down with something.  However, Jamie chose to shrug it off instead and focus on the practice for the day, jumping when he heard Roy yell at him.

"Tartt!  Get a move on!" Roy snapped, the other players having already left for the pitch as he waited on Jamie to get up and head out after the team.  The two of them were the only ones left in the locker room and Roy noticed that Jamie's usually cheeky smile was nowhere to be found, the younger man looking almost miserable.

Taking a closer look, Roy began to notice Jamie's flushed cheeks, and how he seemed to be quietly wheezing with every inhale and exhale.  The little shit looked like he might keel over if he ran at practice, and Roy knew he wouldn't admit it himself that he was worried for the younger man, so he decided to call in the reinforcements.

He texted Keeley.

Roy knew that if Jamie was going to listen to anyone about taking time off for his health, it would be his ex-girlfriend.  The one person that seemed to keep the two of them from biting each other's heads off.

"Hey babe, what's goin' on?  You said there was something wrong with Jamie.  Holy shit!  You look awful!" Keeley rambled as she entered the locker room, her eyes widening when she finally took in Jamie's full appearance.

"I think he's sick and the last thing we need before the game this weekend is for whatever this is to spread throughout the whole fucking team," Roy frowned, waving in the direction of where Jamie was now shivering, having given up on hiding his sickness since the other two had called him out on it.

"You both know I'm sittin' right here, right?  I can hear all of what you're sayin'," Jamie huffed, crossing his arms over his shivering chest, feeling incredibly self-conscious at the fact that he was being analyzed and dare he think it, coddled?

"Roy!  I'm sure he feels bad enough already about being sick.  Can't you cut him a little slack?  Let Ted know he won't be at practice, then we can get him over to your place," Keeley suggested as she moved to sit next to Jamie, checking his temperature with the back of her hand.  "You're burnin' up, and you sound terrible.  Have you taken anything yet today?"

"My place?  So he can spread his germs all over the couch?  Why are you suggesting mine?  Doesn't yours have much softer pillows and stuff?" Roy frowned as he pulled out his phone to text Ted that Jamie wasn't feeling well and that he was going to be heading out along with the younger man.

"I didn't take anything.  I thought it would go away on its own y'know?  Without stuff," Jamie shrugged as he quickly glanced between Roy and Keeley before ducking his head once more at the look of rage on the older man's face.  "I can just go to my own flat.  I wouldn't want to get in either of your ways.  You've both got way more important shit to do than babysit me."

Was Jamie starting to feel insecure and slightly defensive over the fact that he was being fussed over?  Sure, probably.  But he couldn't help it, the condescending sound of his father calling him weak was like a broken record in his head, and he didn't want to feel like a burden to two of the people who seemed to always be there for him lately.

"Roy, stop bein’ a dick!  We could take him to my place, but you just watched Phoebe the other day when she had that cold, so your place has already been germed up!  But we can take him to mine if that would be more comfortable for him.  Jamie, we're not just dropping you off at your place.  To be honest, that's kind of sad.  And no offense, but we're much better at taking care of ourselves and others than you are.  Considering you're at work with a nasty fever," Keeley explained as she rubbed Jamie's back, frowning at his labored breathing.

"Fine, we'll take him to mine.  I've still got some stuff left over from when Phoebe was sick.  Put your trainers back on and we'll get you to a doctor.  You sound like fucking shit, why didn't you text, and say you couldn't come in?" Roy asked as he set down Jamie's shoes so the younger man could change them, softening his tone of voice as he settled a hand on Jamie's back, noticing how small he was trying to make himself.

"I don't need a doctor.  There's an inhaler in my bag, that should help my breathing.  Then I prob'ly just need some sleep.  I can too take care of myself," Jamie wheezed out as he started swapping his shoes, all too aware of the firm glare Roy was giving him from his left side.

"Inhaler?  You have fucking asthma?  And you didn't fucking tell anyone?  Are you insane?  What if you stopped breathing on the pitch and no one knew?  Why don't you fucking let people in?" Roy snapped, though his anger wasn't directed at Jamie, it was at himself, for being a shitty captain and an equally shitty coach.

Feeling Jamie flinch at his yelling, Roy took a shaky breath through his nose to quell his anger before he sighed.  "Relax, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at myself.  I should have known something was up with you."  Turning to grab Jamie's bag, he unzipped a few pockets before finding the small red inhaler in a hidden inside compartment, one that would not have been easy to find if Jamie had been having an attack during practice.  Letting out a heavy sigh, Roy shook the inhaler a few times before he pressed it into Jamie's hand.

"Take a deep breath of that for me, then we'll head out.  I've got some kid's cold medicine, but I might have to get some for adults, despite his personality sometimes, Jamie is considered an adult," Roy tried to tease as he watched Jamie inhale the medicine, wincing as the younger man was only able to hold his breath for a few moments before he started coughing heavily.

"I'll grab him some water real quick," Keeley said as she got up to go fill a cup before handing it to Roy, watching him guide the cup up to Jamie's lips before she started zipping Jamie's bag up, slinging it over her shoulder.

Jamie slowly drank the water after his coughing fit was over before he watched Roy get up to throw it away before the older man held a hand out to help him to his feet.

"You're going to sit in the back of my car with Keeley while we head to my place.  Do we need to stop at yours for anything?  More medicine?  Some softer clothes?" Roy asked as he eased Jamie to his feet, slipping an arm around his waist before he helped him out of the building and to his car.

"I could use some sweatpants, and I've got some other meds I might need," Jamie admitted as he buckled himself up before Keeley slid in next to him and looped an arm around him, guiding his head to rest on her smaller shoulder.

"Shhhh, just rest for a bit now.  I've already given Roy your keys and he can run in and grab what you need.  You said you need other meds.  What ones do you need so he can grab them?" Keeley asked as Roy drove, gently running her fingers through Jamie's hair to soothe the younger man.

"They'll be in the cupboard in the loo, allergy meds, and another inhaler I take.  There's also another med for my asthma, but I don't think my breathing will get bad enough to need it," Jamie wheezed out as he rested against Keeley, looking tiredly at Roy as they pulled up outside his building.

"Is it the kind of medicine that needs a machine to work?  Because I'd rather bring it with us in case you need it than have something happen where we need to go to A&E.  Got it?" Roy said as he parked and turned to look at Jamie and Keeley.  To be honest, he still wanted to take Jamie to a doctor, but if the younger man didn't want to go, he couldn't exactly force him.

Jamie sighed heavily before he nodded.  "Yeah, that med will be next to my bed, along with the machine.  I had to use it after practice yesterday," he admitted sheepishly before curling himself closer to Keeley as Roy left to get the medicine and clothes, grabbing Jamie's bag to put the things in.

"Poor thing.  Why didn't you tell someone you weren't feeling well yesterday?  You know they wouldn't have cared," Keeley whispered softly against Jamie's hair, hoping to get him to open up now that Roy wasn't in the vehicle.

"I didn't want to be a bother.  And I forgot to take my daily medicine yesterday morning, so I wasn't sure if my shitty breathing was whatever's been going around, or my shitty lungs not being able to work properly.  I didn't get this far taking time off," Jamie frowned, blinking back tears as he pressed his face against Keeley's shoulder, hoping the soft material of her pink sweater absorbed the tears before she saw them.

"You know that taking time off doesn't make you weak, right?  Hell, Dani just took two days off because he caught that nasty cold, and now he's rested and doing so much better!!  Also, you've been back for months, why haven't you told anyone about your asthma, you've had it since you were a kid, right?  For someone that loves attention, you have a lot of secrets," Keeley smirked, dropping a kiss to the top of Jamie's head as the footballer cuddled into her side, not noticing Roy re-enter the car with Jamie's things.

"Having shit lungs doesn't bring the type of attention that makes your dad fucking proud.  It makes him think I'm weak.  For the longest time, anytime my lungs would try and give out, he'd just tell me it was all in my head and that I wasn't going to amount to anything if I couldn't do something as stupidly simple as breathe properly." Jamie choked on a sob as he finally let his tears fall, Keeley's arms wrapping tightly around him as she held him close, letting him cry out what seemed like years of pent-up frustration.

"Your father's a fucking prick.  Lots of people couldn't do half of what you can do with normal lungs.  Fuck him if he can't see and appreciate how hard you've worked to get where you are," Roy frowned as he moved to sit on the other side of Jamie for a few minutes, not wanting to drive to his own flat until he was sure Jamie got most of his tears out.  Rubbing his hand over Jamie's back, Roy blinked in surprise as he suddenly had Jamie's face pressed against his chest, the younger man's tears soaking into his sweatshirt.

Roy's face softened at how small and vulnerable Jamie felt in his arms and he tightened his grip on the younger man, handing his keys over to Keeley.  "Can you drive us the rest of the way back to mine?  I think I'm needed back here."

"Sure!  Should he take his inhaler again?  He's starting to not sound too good again," Keeley frowned as she took the keys into her hand, unable to hide her concern at the wheezy breaths Jamie was taking to catch his breath as his sobs died down.

"I think he's just tired himself out.  We'll see how he's feeling after he catches his breath, then decide the next steps," Roy said as he shifted Jamie so that the other's cheek was resting on his shoulder rather than his chest, hoping that the upright position would help him breathe easier.

Keeley nodded before she got back into the car, driving them to Roy's flat with ease.  "I'll grab his bag.  Do you need help gettin' him inside?"

"Nah, I've got him.  Can you unlock the door and look for some of the cold medicine?"  Roy managed to let a small smile grace his face as Keeley nodded and led the way inside, setting Jamie's bag next to the sofa before going to look for the cold medicine.

Roy slowly walked with Jamie inside before bringing him over to sit on the couch.  "Change out of your practice clothes while I go help Keeley."

Jamie nodded, grabbing his bag to pull out some sweatpants and a hoodie, setting his nebulizer and medicine on the coffee table as an afterthought before changing.

Meanwhile, Roy was in his bedroom, pulling an extra blanket down before stopping at the bathroom to watch Keeley rummage through his cabinet in amusement.

"Just grab the paracetamol for his fever and the thermometer.  Then I can go out later if he needs something else," Roy said before opening his arms to pull Keeley into a hug.

"Thank you for agreeing to bring Jamie here.  I don't think either of us would've gotten much work done if he'd stayed at practice," Keeley admitted, allowing herself to melt in Roy's arms for a moment before she pulled back to kiss him.  "I like this side of you.  The soft one.  Not a lot of people get to experience it.  Makes me feel special," she smiled before taking Roy's hand to lead him back to the living room.

"We've got medicine!  First, let's check your fever," Keeley said, pressing the thermometer to Jamie's forehead, waiting for it to beep before she frowned.  "It's a little high, but not A&E bad."  She shook out the dose of paracetamol after double-checking the bottle before handing the pills to Jamie along with a glass of water Roy brought over.

"Thanks.  Can you two stay out here with me?" Jamie asked shyly once he'd swallowed the medicine, watching Roy unfold the blanket before the older man sat on one side of the couch.

"Yeah, why not," Roy shrugged, trying not to let down his own walls as he motioned for Jamie to curl up into his side, wrapping the blanket around the younger man's shoulders before he pulled him close, settling his cheek against Jamie's hair.  "You're still not sounding great, why don't you take your medicine," Roy suggested with a nod to the nebulizer, hoping Jamie would get the hint that he wasn't going to be judged for taking his medicine.

"It can be a little loud.  I don't want to annoy you with the noise."  Because Jamie was snuggled against him, his voice was muffled, but once Roy heard what the other man had said, a scowl appeared on his face.

"I'd rather deal with that for less time than worry about your breathing.  How do I put this together?" Roy asked as he moved to shift Jamie so he could inspect the machine.

"I've got it, you two just sit there and look cute," Keeley smiled as she grabbed the machine, plugging it into a nearby outlet before she looked over the instructions on the machine.  Once the medicine was in, she handed Jamie the reservoir with the mouthpiece and let the machine hum to life, settling on Jamie's other side as she slipped under a blanket she'd grabbed from Roy's bed.

Truth be told, the machine wasn't as loud as Roy thought it was going to be, he could picture himself falling asleep to the noise if he wasn't so worried about Jamie's well being.

Studying Jamie's body language, Roy let himself to finally relax when he felt the tension practically melt out of the younger mans shoulders as he deeply breathed in the medicine.  Absentmindedly tracing his fingers over his back, Roy allowed himself to drop a kiss onto Jamie's hair, smirking when Jamie snuggled closer to him, relishing in the close contact.

Keeley smiled at the two of them and pressed a kiss of her own to Jamie's cheek before leaning over to kiss Roy on the lips, letting her eyes briefly close before she pulled back with a grin.

"So, Frozen?" Keeley suggested as she grabbed the remote, the three of them settling in for their day inside, and if all three of them were asleep by the time Let it Go was playing, that was no one's business but their own.

#ted lasso fanfic #ted lasso fanfiction #roy kent #jamie tartt #keeley jones #roy x jamie x keeley #roy x jamie #roy x keeley #keeleyroyjamie #roy keeley jamie #keeley x jamie

[nian-7]

Hello there! Can I get a matchup for HypMic (platonic & romantic) and Genshin (platonic & romantic)? Any gender for platonic, but only male characters for romantic.

Zodiac: Aries (actually Pisces-Aries cusp if that matters)

MBTI: ISTJ

Enneagram: 5w6

I like structure, so routines give me comfort. I like to have my day planned out in the morning or the day before. I’m fine with few and slight deviations, but many and larger ones not only give me anxiety but also piss me off. For these kinds, I want at least 1-day notice, so I can rearrange my schedule.

I like order and cleanliness, so messiness is one of my biggest pet peeves.

I’m not an adventurous person, so I like to stick to what I know. If I were to be put into an unfamiliar situation, such as taking a trip to somewhere I have never been, then I would do some research ahead of time. I guess you can say that I don’t like to wing it.

I’m an indoor person rather than an outdoor. When I’m outdoors, my favorite places to go are local and national parks; I like being surrounded by nature with little people around. When I’m indoor, I enjoy binge-watching, drawing, and playing video games (RPG, open word, action, adventure, puzzle, and mystery/horror/romance visual novels).

I struggle with new people, but I feel that I’m quick to warm up to others.

I really hate conflicts, and I’m terrible with confrontations. I worry about upsetting others as well as am scared of being hurt, so I avoid asserting myself even when I feel/think that I’m right. I’m very sensitive, so I tend to take things personally, even when I logically know better. These are some of the reasons why I prefer to be a follower rather than a leader.

I’m not a big talker and like to keep to myself, so I really like being with others who are comfortable with verbal silence and don’t mind that I’m just physically existing in the same space as them. I’m not much of a talker, but I like to listen to others talk when they’re troubled.

I get jealous and envious easily, but it’s never to the point of being possessive and vindictive.

My love languages are acts of service, gifts, and words of affirmation; the one that I use the least is physical touch. The love languages that I like to receive are acts of service and words of affirmation.

I hope that this is enough information for you. Thanks for reading my rambling!

that's more than enough info, don't worry! enjoy your matchup!

I match you with... (platonically)

Jean!

-So, you'll notice a trend with these characters in the way that I tried to pick some clean and organized individuals! Jean being the first one.

-She also enjoys having a schedule and doesn't deviate from it much either. It just feels like the two of you have similar personalities which would lead you to both get along well.

-Jean is able to be assertive for you when you're not comfortable with doing so, often being there to defend you if needed when you don't feel like you can.

-She also thinks a lot about things she says so I don't think there'd be a miscommunication problem with her. She'll always make sure her words can't be taken badly but she can't always control that when she's upset.

I match you with... (romantically)

Zhongli!

-Zhongli is a gentle and polite man and respects your need for structure and organization. He's overall respectful of however you are and cares about you no matter what.

-Although he may not be confrontational either, he still will stand up for his lover. It may be a very calm defense but it still has good intentions of defending you.

-His love language is quality time but, he doesn't mind occasionally using words of affirmation. Acts of service are also nice too! He enjoys doing things for you and doesn't mind doing favors when you ask.

-He enjoys verbal silence if neither of you are talking or if he's talking about something he found interesting recently. He likes silence so it's no problem to him since you're still there.

I match you with... (platonically)

Hitoya Amaguni!

-Again, I picked more organized people/people who'd be able to take confrontation for you and be assertive and so that's how we get Hitoya!

-He's more assertive and confrontational than you and doesn't take lightly to it, especially if it was a reoccurring thing. I likely would have picked Kuko instead but, he was a bit too disorganized even though he would be assertive.

-Honestly, he doesn't try to push you out of your comfort zone and just goes along with whatever you want to do. He will sometimes if you express to him that you want to try it but usually he won't.

-Doesn't mind being a friend you can lean back on when you're not feeling confident with new people or with the environment you're in. He'll be there for you to fall back onto if you need to take a second and he won't ask questions unless you say something about it outright.

I match you with... (romantically)

Rosho Tsutsujimori!

-Rosho can get very defensive and protective of you seeing as you don't like confrontation. Seeing as he once chased down a guy because he was scamming his student, he'd have no problem getting into an argument for your sake.

-His words are always gentle when they're towards you even when he sometimes can come off harsh when talking to someone like Sasara. He tones it down for you knowing that you're more sensitive to words.

-He enjoys talking about his day since you're willing to listen. He talks about his students fondly and he honestly really appreciates the fact that you're willing to listen so intently.

-He tries his best to give you the love you deserve and shows it through acts of service usually, often finding it a bit difficult to show that love through words but it's the thought that counts!

#gender neutral reader #fluff #hypmic x reader #hypmic #hypnosis mic #rosho tsutsujimori #rosho tsutsujimori x reader #rosho x reader #hitoya amaguni #hitoya x reader #hitoya amaguni x reader #zhongli x reader #zhongli #jean genshin #jean x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact

[roguetelepaths]

What kills me about "you can't objectify fictional characters because they already are objects" is that if taken to its logical conclusion it's just. Really, really bad writing advice. Forming emotional bonds with your characters, understanding the context of how they relate to each other within the narrative you're building, letting them surprise you with new information about where their arcs are headed— these things are part of writing, and have been for as long as people have told stories.

If the only way you know to think about the art of writing— and specifically character writing— is to think of your characters as empty shells you can make dance to your tune and say whatever you want them to say, you're going to be a shitty character writer. You won't know how to give their narratives emotional depth or stakes or a reason for readers to care. You'll just be a child playing with toys in your bedroom.

I think it is possible to objectify fictional characters, as a writer, and you can always tell when a writer is doing that. Sometimes it's social justice related, yeah. Captain Kirk's myriad girls of the week in ST:TOS. The Black guy who dies first in every slasher movie. But other times it's just sheer quality, like when a villainous character starts to do things that are out of sync with the kind of villain they are (Dhawan's iteration of the Master, for instance, whose relationship with Whittaker's Doctor lacked all of the warmth and friendship of previous iterations of that relationship and instead became pure rage and animosity) or a well-developed platonic/tutelary/familial relationship becomes romantic, even one-sidedly so, for no other reason than because the characters involved are of opposite binary genders (Kira/Odo comes to mind as do Lennier's feelings for Delenn, but I know opinions vary on both of these and I don't want to start an argument about shipping, that's not the point of this post). You objectify your characters when you fail to imagine them complexly. Imagining your characters complexly is how you make them feel real to your readers.

[minne-cerbinna]

@humble-althemist Thank you for the delightful tags on the post about Yaevinn and Iorveth, I hope you don't mind me addressing them, but it's really just so interesting and engaging to me!! I was equally taken with Yaevinn and Geralt, but Yaevinn and Iorveth are also an interesting pair, I find, despite the fact that they never actually interact on screen. The subtext, though brief, is there, and it’s so very compelling to me. There was a relationship of some kind there, that much can be said for sure. No matter whether or not one takes it as romantic and/or sexual, I think it has to be accepted that there is at least respect and likely some degree of fondness there. Iorveth isn’t the type to mince words when he’s not fond of someone, as can be evidenced in some of his dialogues, but he’s actually quite careful with his word choice about Yaevinn, it would seem. He uses the descriptor “unrealistic”, yes, but it’s not for Yaevinn himself, and he never attacks Yaevinn directly with his criticism. He says that Yaevinn had beautiful dreams and just reasons, and that those reasons were as unrealistic as they were just. It is the world who has no place for this beautiful dreamer, not Iorveth who cannot accept him. Iorveth is in agreement with him, even, he just thinks that Yaevinn could not have rightly expected to fulfil these dreams of his.

There isn’t ever really any more contextualisation of the nature of the relationship that occurred between Yaevinn and Iorveth in the text of the games, just more subtext with which to play. Yaevinn is well-known enough a commander among the Scoia’tael to be deemed “legendary” in his citation in TW3, but he wasn’t a Vrihedd commander, Iorveth was. Additionally, while there are no canon ages given for either of them, it seems likely to me that Yaevinn is the elder of the two; I don’t remember if he confirms that he took part in Aelirenn’s rebellion, but I seem to have a memory of at least the implication of it when he tells Geralt of Aelirenn in the bank robbery sequence, which would put him at least over two hundred years old, with the specifics beyond that getting a little hazy, while Iorveth has been fighting humans for, I believe depending on the dialogue in TW2, either a century or over a century, so he is over a hundred for certain, and beyond that, the specific detail is unsure. Older and potentially more experienced in command, and yet he would have been Iorveth’s subordinate in the Vrihedd Brigade. Did they work closely at all? Did they know each other prior to this? How did they see each other? Yaevinn before his desperate attack at Vizima, Iorveth before he lost his eye, they’d be in quite different positions in the era of the Vrihedd Brigade, which is the last point that can be said for sure that they were both present.

 It’s hard to say with so little evidence to work with, how things were for them. I’m very partial to queer readings of both Yaevinn and Iorveth, and the potential for a relationship there is interesting, but it’s also very interesting to consider it as impartial or platonic, a political relationship, perhaps commander and advisor. There’s so little to be known for sure that one can just run wild with extrapolation.

And, well, with this bit of dialogue that is being examined, there’s some interesting material to work with for both of their characters. I really really like this point, it’s very compelling to me, because it’s absolutely right, it may be dialogue about Yaevinn but it is also very strong characterisation for Iorveth

And one of my favourite things about Iorveth is that he's a bit of a hypocrite? I say this with the utmost fondness, but there are a few different instances I could look at.

Yaevinn is unrealistic for considering combat and killing to be poetry, and Iorveth considers himself wholly logical and correct to take the very poetic stance that war is prose with no place for beauty.

Or like how he says to Geralt that the reason he's pursuing Roche so fervently is because he's going after the first commanders of the anti-elven special forces units across the north – in his own words, "Of the commanders first appointed to such units, he's the only one still alive”, but also in his own words, “"The Temerian Special Forces, created by Foltest to combat the Scoia'tael after the first war with Nilfgaard”, and "Vernon Roche! Special Forces Commander for the last four years". No matter whether one takes the book timeline or the modified timeline established in TW1 (the Battle of Brenna therefore being placed in 1265), Roche having been Special Forces Commander for the "last four years" would place him as making command rank in 1268 if Iorveth includes the current year in his count, and at the earliest 1267 if Iorveth does not include the current year, which is in both cases places him after or at least during the second war with Nilfgaard, which makes his point of referral very odd unless Roche is not the first commander after all.

Or how “our women are prepared to die” when he doesn’t want to risk turning back during the escape on the prison barge and risk the lives of the collective for a few, but what leads him to challenge his alliance with Letho and ultimately to capture the prison barge is Geralt referring to his right-hand man; in that moment of challenge, he risks it all for Ciaran’s sake, on Ciaran’s say-so.

Or how he insists Saskia is “different”, that she’s special, but she is not only the same as the others, her broad strokes are pretty well exactly the same as the one who came before her – a personally powerful but politically disadvantaged queen who had the Scoia’tael fight and die for her victory, and when she claimed the valley, she cast them aside. While there is certainly more nuance to each situation, it pretty neatly parallels with what Iorveth describes as having happened with Francesca Findabair and the Vrihedd Brigade when Saskia disparages Iorveth and his Scoia’tael as murderers and terrorists after they’re the ones who won the valley for her, fought and died in her name.

That’s his idealism speaking, the whole entanglement with Saskia is idealism – the fact that he is responsible for the tales of Saskia the Dragonslayer? He told the whole world of the woman that he loved, whether it was a romantic love or a platonic sort of adoration, and that love raised an army, it’s idealism in action, and it’s a powerful idealism. While it can certainly be said that allying oneself to a dragon is a good idea, that's not the source of Iorveth's attachment, it's evident in the way he speaks of her that it's more than that. It sort of begs the question that if Iorveth can do so much on his own, what could he have done if he had shared in Yaevinn’s dreams? If they’d been united, rather than apart?

(As an aside, it’s kind of funny to hold them in juxtaposition like this because, like, Iorveth is the one who gets called a terrorist for ultimately having a regimented and orderly combat with another military force, and Yaevinn is commemorated as a “legendary Scoia’tael commander” rather than a terrorist when he’s the one who basically burnt a city to the ground.)

But nevertheless, Iorveth’s perceived hypocrisy over the notion of idealism is also very interesting as far as his characterisation goes, because the point of the matter is determining what, exactly, is truthful and intentional. He expresses a pretty clear stance on most matters in which he opines, but he must be therefore scrutinised for these stances. As I can see it, the likely possibilities are that he is actually being hypocritical and contradicting himself, that he is lying to others to make a certain impression, or that he is lying to himself.

To apply this to the quandary of Yaevinn and these beautiful dreams, Iorveth might perhaps contradict himself because he wants to decry the perceived lack of realism behind Yaevinn’s reasoning despite being equally fanciful in his endeavours for Saskia. He might also perhaps lie about his stance to make himself seem more eminently practical and capable in front of an ally like Geralt; he isn’t chasing a dream, he has plans and strategies and resources, he has the tools for success. He might also state this aloud as though to affirm it to himself – Yaevinn was a dreamer, and had grandiose visions of a better future and all the right reasons behind him, but Yaevinn failed, and Iorveth is too practical and grounded to fall prey to the same fate.He wants to believe this, he needs to believe this, he cannot fail, and so he affirms it to someone else, as though that might make it real. 

It’s interesting to take this interpretation and juxtapose it with Yaevinn’s apparent disillusionment in TW1, the ways in which they react when the pressure is on. Yaevinn, who is just so tired of the fighting but pushing on anyway and ensuring that every necessary step is taken, to the point of being curt with his friends and companions, like his rather terse letter to Golan Vivaldi, cuts out the idealism of a free nation of elves or a future in which humans are driven into the sea and settles for simply clawing out some modicum of progress for the remaining generations, some small respect or accommodation or freedom hard-won from the humans. Iorveth, on the contrary, leans in more heavily to this idealism, to the idea that Saskia is their best and greatest hope for freedom in the north, that she will win, that she will make things better, she must, she simply has to, because otherwise Iorveth has staked his hopes on her for nothing. And it's also very interesting to have Geralt kind of mired in the centre of all this, an ally and object of affection for both of them, faced with their bravado and cynicism and idealism, as muted or misguided as it may end up being. Geralt is there, Geralt takes part in the battles, Geralt is asked to share in the beautiful dreams.

There's so much more that one could examine even just relating to this little sample, especially if one traverses adaptations and references multiple canons -- Yaevinn's book characterisation versus his game characterisation, for instance, or what Iorveth in the games borrows from Isengrim as a character and how that influences his structure as a character, the inclusion of other characters, like Toruviel, who is linked to Yaevinn and his long-standing rebellion, or Ciaran, the loyal adjutant at Iorveth's side, and what their interpersonal relationships mean to them in the context of their ideals and their motivations for continuing their battle against the oppressive humans. Something I find really intriguing in the context of this matter is the notion that Yaevinn expresses in TW1 that he did once live among humans for a time, and that also shaped his views of humanity and the rebellion, while Iorveth does not seem to have had that experience of intermingling. This is such a small little passage of dialogue and I really think about it a lot. There’s so much that can be extrapolated from so little.

#rambles #the witcher #the witcher games #yaevinn #iorveth #i'm sorry to ambush you with this massive wall of text #i can get rid of it if at all it displeases you #but i have had an excellent time using your tags as a prompt to think about them more #and clearly i already think about elves too much #but it was excellent thank you

[whomst-the-hell]

i might write this out one day but like. probably not so in the meantime: a somewhat steve centric stranger things pirate au that gets less and less canon as it goes, because its me:

steve is the son of someone wealthy (merchant? governor? king? doesn’t matter!) and courting the lady nancy wheeler

nancy’s handmaiden barbara goes missing from a party at steve’s estate, where she was taken from the dock

nancy and jonathan team up to find her and will, who’s missing too

theyve been taken by a cursed ship (a la potc flying dutchman) captained by the legendary no-longer-human henry creel, who’s supposed to ferry the dead but abused his position as immortal psychopomp to rule the seas with an iron fist

(logically the ship would be called the upside down but that sounds fucking dumb so. im leaning towards The Black Widow but idk im taking suggestions ig)

meanwhile el has escaped from this ship, and meets up with a gang of kids

in this au, instead of the canon interest in fantasy, i think the kids are super into like. romanticised pirate legends

instead of “the party” they call themselves “The Crew”

steve follows nancy and jonathan, fearing for nancy’s safety with “that byers creep” and comes in just in time to help nancy and jonathan as they battle aboard The Black Widow

nancy and jon manage to negotiate steve and will’s release (rip barb) in return for their souls, and are trapped on the ship ~forever oOoOO~

except that steve and the kids are not satisfied with this at all, and with the help of merchant’s step-daughter Maxine Mayfield they steal a boat (but not before some weirdly homoerotic (in a rancid way) conflict between steve and billy) and set sail in pursuit of The Black Widow

along the way they pick up navigator Robin Buckley, who initially clashes with steve but bonds with him when they are captured and tortured by The Soviet, another ship chasing The Black Widow for their power

also at this time el is sailing with her sister kali upon The Children’s Revenge, who are hunting Creel bc their family/friends/crewmates have been taken by him in the past

they eventually all reunite upon the deck of the black widow

along with eddie and chrissy, who were captured after eddie helped chrissy flee an arranged marriage to (barf) jason carver, and have been working w nancy and jon to try to mutiny. the issue: the new captain would be forced to Actually stay on the widow ~forever oOoOOo~

with the combined forces of platonic stobin&The Crew, el&kali, and jancy&platonic hellcheer, they are able to carry out the mutiny plan, and steve (coughMartyrcough) makes himself captain so that the others can leave

they refuse to leave

they dismiss all creel’s crewmen/prisoners (the demo-creatures, i think. also, the mind flayer is the kraken, it never came up but its true)

The Crew lives their dream of romantic piracy, ferrying souls instead of pillaging innocents (though they also bust slave ships, and occasionally sink other, crueler ships, be they pirates or navy officers), nancy and jonathan can serve justice (see above) and also be together, which wasnt an option bc jon was poor, and steve&robin and eddie&chrissy are living their platonic soulmate lives, + steddie and buckingham

#stranger things #pirate au #steddie #buckingham #jancy #steve harrington #listen all found family media needs pirate AUs #and the st pirate AUs dont do steve justice #idk if this came out As steve centric as i meant it to #but if i wrote it itd be almost entirely steve pov with interludes from others i think #idk where jocye and hopper are in this version #ignore it