reminder that authors on AO3

a. can read the notes and tags on bookmarks of their fic

b. are being really fucking nice letting anybody read their stuff for free when they could have kept it for themselves, it doesn't matter if it's great or just eh

c. didn't post their fic to get graded on it.

i don't care if it's a good grade, it's rude. if you don't want to make it a private bookmark at least use a code so nobody else can tell you're taking off mental points and comparing them to the rest of the class wtf.

datey dates! ₊˚⊹ ᰔ

about. what type of date riize would bring you to! warnings. foods, fish?? (idk if it's counted) cursing.. pairing. bf!riize x fem!reader author's notes. this has been on my mind too many times, so i had to type it out..

𖦹 shotaro..~

an arcade date with shotaro! i think this suits him very much. i knew that he was totally going to bring you to the dance stage to show off his dancing skills. he would probably catch the attention of people around him, but he didn't care; as long as your eyes are on him, he'll continue <3 the others were astounded by him! like, who doesn't?? crazy.. and you'll be his proudest gf ever. then he would drag you to the hockey ice or basketball (totally not by force) and teach you how to play it (if you dk) after that, he'll wrap up the day by taking some pictures at the photobooth, will prettily decorate it together with you!

𖦹 eunseok..~

picnic dates are so him. he will prepare all the foods and set up the place! he felt like falling in love with you all over again after seeing you dressed up, and he'll think he's the luckiest man ever by having you as his gf. he will even learn how to cook your favorite dishes :( (you see him in the riize's contents on yt?? he can cook cook) not a particularly good chef, but he is determined on everything about this date!! making sure it'll be the perfect date you've ever had in your life. feeding you while having love in his eyes is true true. half of him is anxious, wondering if you like it or not. when you say it's good, he'll be letting out a relief sigh LOUDLY, as if the world will end if you don't like it.

𖦹 sungchan..~

and for this.. i think sungchan would perfectly fit with the grocery dates. like, if you see this man, he'll have the most boyfriend material pictures ever?? (pls give me one sungchan in my life, i'm going crazyyt) goofiest man who will tease you by putting up your things on the air. oh! oh! escape room dates >:) my man looks all confident, thinking he will get out of the room easily. but oh boy.. he's wrong, probably gonna cry out at the staff, begging them to let him out. he can't stand the thought of separating from you, which drove him crazy (when it had just been 10 minutes)  treats you an ice cream as an apology for ruining the date </3 and he would totally repeat the same things all over.

𖦹 wonbin..~

aquarium dates!! wohoo we all have been waiting for this >_< hear me.. so, wonbin + aquarium dates = literally perfection. he watches you from by his side, you were looking at the fish swimming around you. he just nodded along with you when you told him facts about fish when he had zero knowledge about any creatures living in the water. the smile on his face stayed from the moment you both stepped inside the aquarium until the end of the day. he will buy you a matching keychain (totally not an idea from wifty) and have it hanging on his bag. take lots of pictures with you!! his wallpaper? changed to the pic of you pointing at the stingray. holding your hands all the time and will not, ever, let go. even when you said you needed to use the bathroom.

𖦹 seunghan..~

romantic dinner at home!! he is the most gentle person i've ever seen (bring my boy back! he did nothing wrong) he has the house all set up. the candle, the flower path for you to make your way straight to the table after the long day you had. he'll be embracing you with warm hugs. then he'll kiss your forehead and lead you slowly to the table. you don't care if he bought the food from delivery! he has already prepared everything for you using all his efforts and ideas. he will pull your chair like a gentlemen himself. then he takes a seat in front of you (tripped over his own chair, because he fell for you lol) at the end of the day, he will massage you and prepare your bath.. he is so sweet!! drying your hair after the shower and will carry you in his arm to the bed.

𖦹 sohee..~

a movie date with sohee is the highlight!! you don't get him like i do.. study your favorite genre of movie, actors that you like, and types of cartoons that you watched. he had all your favorite snacks prepared.. like oh my god how much do you love him for this.. he will also prepare the fluffiest and most comfortable blanket you have ever felt in your life. cuddling session is all he can think of all the time.. boy just wants to cuddle you and 100% will not focus on the movie playing, when he has his arms all wrapped around you (even if it's his favorite movie) play with your hands, tracing some sweet words like "i love y/n" on your hands. he'll be the one who slept first, and i can imagine him snoring mimimi kind of thing.

𖦹 anton..~

my love!!!!!!! he is the most loml out of all the lomls.. my man will bring you to the nearest cafe in the city. study dates with you ^^ he already ordered your fav drinks and desserts for you, and trust me, this man will not focus at all, like how can he? your beauty distracts him. those serious faces of you making him melt at his place. he wants to kiss those pouty lips of yours so bad. how can you look all cute like that when you're just doing your assignment??! then later, he will start to do his work (just after you scolded him for wasting times) but you know what? he doesn't give a fuck. staring, looking, and watching you are the only things he can do. he is so so whipped. he is that down bad for you.

© CALLANTON 2024. all right reserved. please don't copy or steal any of my work/post! ʚɞ

Honestly Geto and Gojo having the same death anniversary which happens to be the most romantic day in Japan, with a character in-story stating how romantic it is should be enough evidence to convince anybody that SatoSugu are supposed to be a romance.

On top of that, we hear that JJK0 is about Yuuta and Rika's love but it's also about Geto and Gojo's relationship.

Then Gege Akutami specifically assigning break-up songs to Geto and Gojo.

AND THEN; they each get canon songs made in each other's POV speaking about their feelings specifically for one another. Where Gojo's song contains lyrics like "Even though I’ve come to know the scent of you being different from mine" and "Any prayer, any word Could bring us closer, but they couldn’t reach you Just like a silent love, In the summery colors along my cheeks". And Geto's song has lyrics like "Even trivial conversations are fine. Show me your blushing face once more" and "It exists only here. I want to touch you" and "Though I understand a wounded heart. Why do I end up hurting and leaving the same scars?"

The animation team going out of their way to give these two more soft moments hanging, creating visual parallels through the Betta Fishes, the flowers, the entire OP for Hideen Inventory but especially the part where we are seeing Gojo's vision being filled with Geto looking amazing while he rides Geto's rainbow dragon.

I saw someone say we're just projecting western views of romance onto satosugu but like, LOOK AT ALL THIS. I cannot stress enough the insanity of their death dates. It's like two people dying one after the other on Valentine's Day. This is some Romeo & Juliet bullshit. JJK in general has next to no romance, no one's pining after each other, the few times there are implications, it's very short. The most obvious one is Mechamaru and Miwa. Now imagine if Mechamaru and Miwa were the ones who got Ao No Sumika and Akari. Imagine they got 5 episodes dedicated to their story and Mechamaru dies on December 24th and Miwa's the one forced to put him out of his misery for betraying them to Mahito and Kenjaku.

Okay do you fucking see how ridiculous denying SatoSugu is? If Mechamaru and Miwa got all that even WITHOUT saying an 'I love you' no one would question their romance.

I know people keep making fun of shonen animes for having a stronger 'romance' between the two guy leads than with any other love interest but I've seen that stuff and even there it isn't nearly as deliberately romantic as SatoSugu. I can tell that Kuroko & Kagami, Gon & Killua or Levi & Erwin are supposed to be friends, the shipping thing is based on the established friendship stuff but SatoSugu are so blatant it's hard to think of another explanation.

I saw a point about how people are projecting western perspectives of romance on platonic friendship expression in a different culture, which I do get, I think it's a valid point. Idk much about how people express friendship in Japan but I have heard there's a lot more skinship and openness as compared to western cultures.

But w/ SatoSugu there isn't anything that can be read as purely platonic, there's always an ambiguity or it's directly romantic.

Game Plan

Act I: Group Chat Between MC, Solomon, and Simeon

MC: Simeon and I are supervising a trip to find fairy rings. Have any advice?

Solomon: *confused demon sticker*

Simeon: Blame Barbatos. He got Mammon and Luke hooked on the idea of finding one.

Solomon: Mammon makes sense, but Luke?

Simeon: Apparently there's a type of fairy ring that's produced with flowers, which can be used as an ingredient to make a "special rare type" of dessert.

Simeon: Barbatos' words, not mine.

Solomon: Well, fairies is a subject I know little about. Most literature about them has been lost to time, and what remains are either wildly exaggerated or fictional altogether.

Solomon: Your best bet is to simply go out and look for them yourselves.

MC: Real helpful, Solomon. *eye roll emoji*

Solomon: *glaring crow sticker*

Solomon: You might have a chance of finding some if you look in places that are free of human influence, like deep within forests or lakes.

MC: Makes sense. I can't imagine fairies liking people very much.

Simeon: Based on what I've seen, there isn't anything like that around here. Not in this part of the human world, anyway.

MC: Let me talk to Levi.

~~~

Act II: Text Chat Between MC and Levi

MC: Have you heard about the hunt for fairy rings?

Levi: *nodding crow sticker*

MC: I asked Solomon for advise, and he said that they might be in areas that are free of human influence.

Levi: Already ahead of you.

Levi: The closest location that would fit that criterion is Lake Io Lanthe.

MC: How far is it from here?

Levi: Several hours. If this is supposed to be a mere day trip, the quickest method of travel would be by private jet.

MC: That's out of the question.

MC: The ONLY reason Lucifer is even allowing this to happen in the first place is because of Simeon. I don't want to push my luck any more than I already have.

Levi: Makes sense.

Levi: The next quickest way would be to travel by overnight train. I can have Crowe buy you a tour package with reservations in a sleeper car.

MC: That wouldn't be too bad.

MC: Is there anything you'd like me to get while we're gone?

Levi: You don't need to repay me, if that's what you're asking.

Levi: Belphie says to be careful of banshees.

MC: Didn't realize he was with you.

Levi: He just came in. He's in a weird drawing mood and wants to sketch some of the creatures in my fish tank.

MC: Ask him if he wants anything.

Levi: He merely shook his head before focusing back on his sketchpad.

Ocean Deep Ch2 Spectacles And Scales

((Warnings for mistreatment of the mers by the sideshow owner and some of the other people, Buying and selling of mers, mistreatment of animals briefly shown, etc.

 typed in random anime man into Google and this is the first photo that popped up so I'm using this as reference to what Akira looks like.

https://images.app.goo.gl/Kxk9rU7mkMZRiRXbA)

It was a beautiful day today. 

That's usually what the default positive thing you thought was whenever something went wrong or you were feeling bad. You'd look outside and even if it was raining, you'd still find something outside to think about. The clouds looked like funny bunnies today. The next the sky would be a beautiful blue. Those flowers look wonderful. The snow looked sparkly in the sunlight. 

Anything to stay positive in the crazy world ruled by creatures unseen and more powerful than the average human. You've never seen one personally thank the gods, but you knew something must've been going on with all of the disappearances that's happened for hundreds of years. Whether it's some humans, natural accidents, runaways, or something else you didn't know but you weren't going to be one of the ones that ended up disappearing. You had a plan for your life. 

You wanted to work on yourself and maybe find someone to settle down with, and then maybe have a few children later down the line when your career was solid and you knew you'd be secure enough. Maybe even adopt a few animals! You've always wanted a small pony! Maybe a big dog you could roughhouse and snuggle with. That'd be nice. Just you and a domestic life. But for now you were just content with just working at the local florist shop and putting your life together. 

It wasn't bad. You got to help with lots of pretty flowers all year round, there was always the pleasant smell of flowers in the air, it earnt you a decent living, it wasn't too far from your house, and your boss was a very kind old lady who's been doing this for years. You were lucky to have found such a good job. 

"Thank you for coming by. It's always so nice to see you again, Akira." 

You briefly looked up from where you were watering a pot of begonias with an old teapot. One of the local men was in today buying a small bouquet of peonies for whatever reason he wanted them. Being a decently big town, you kinda knew him but with the town still being big you also didn't. You knew this man, Akira, was the son of one of the fishermen families while his mother's family were glass blowers. You only knew that because your boss mentioned that Akira's mother's family were the ones that made the giant glass greenhouse connected to her house, she used it to grow all her flowers year round. But outside of that and just seeing him around every so often, you didn't personally know Akira. But he also had a reputation for being handsome. 

He certainly has the looks to back that up. Greyish-white soft hair. Silver eyes. A tall muscular physic. And a handsome face that looked like it was sculpted by an excellent artist. You only gave a brief look over your shoulder as the two spoke.. before going back to work. It'd be rude to stare while they spoke and you had a job to do which was to finish watering these plants. 

"You too, Mrs. Satoshi. And may I say you don't look a day over forty."

A strong of chuckles that had you rolling your eyes and inwardly groaning. "Oh, stop. You always say the sweetest things to people."

"I can't help it if I wear my heart on my sleeve.~ But while I'm here, I might as well give you this." You heard a distant sound of rustling paper and a moment later Akira spoke again. "Here! I've been handing these out for everyone to see."

There was a pause of silence before your boss hummed again. "Your uncle finally gotten that display up has he?"

"Absolutely! He calls it an 'ocean viewing through glass' and he's planning on showing it off at the end of this month!"

"Having a small tank of pet fish is one thing, but who's ever heard of people keeping giant tanks full of fish just for people to gawk at? Anyone can just go down to the beach and see most of the critters in the water."

Akira gave a deep chuckle in return. "Oh it's going to be be so much more than 'just fish's, Mrs. Satoshi. The opening night is free to everyone who shows up, and there's going to be plenty to see."

"I'll certainly think about it. Tell your family I said hi."

"I certainly will." Footsteps carried away the man from the counter before they slowly came to a stop right behind you. The sudden feeling on eyes on your back had you pausing before turning over your shoulder and finding Akira staring at you with a half lidded smiling face. "I can't forget about your lovely assistant now!"

You blinked and a second later a hand held up a piece of paper to you. F/c eyes glanced at the parchment and noticed that he must've pulled it out of the bag slung over his right shoulder since a few more corners of paper were sticking out and the top opening. The paper made some crinkle sounds when he waggled it at you pulling your attention back to it, and slowly you reached out to take it from him. Your eyes gazed over it and it became pretty apparent that it was a flyer advertising the opening of a new business. Hand written too, detailing the opening date and time and other things. 

"Oh...Thank you," you remained polite.

He smiled maybe a bit too widely but only turned to start walking away with the flowers in his hands. "I hope to see you there."

You watched as he left through the front door and slowly looked back to the flier in your hands.. before just putting it away and carrying on with your business. The roses were in need of the water and the flowers weren't going to water themselves.

"You know I think he likes you."

"...What?" Your head turned to the smiling older lady.

"He passed by here practically every day and he always gives a look at you through the window," she teased, "He's a rather handsome young man, and his family has such a profitable business."

You grimaced. "That's just really creepy. If he likes me then he can be a man and talk to me about it, and I don't even know him. We're strangers. Besides-" You turned back to the flowers pouring more water from the large teapot in your hands. "-he's not my type."

You just wasn't feeling like getting close to Akira. He gave you a bad feeling, and genuinely he really was not you type. He looked really handsome but it was more than good looks that counts. What about personality and character? Nah. The other girls could have him for all you cared. The older woman only hummed in thought before shrugging.

"If you say so, Dear. Just remember you're only young once. It wouldn't hurt to find someone nice to settle down with before it's too late."

"I also have my whole life ahead of me so I have plenty of time to settle down and find someone if I even wanted to. I don't want to rush into anything that I'll just regret later." 

You didn't want to end up like so many unhappy couples you've seen over the years. Fighting and yelling and having affairs- No. You didn't want that. You were going to take your time and if someone comes along then it'll happen. If not- Well you can always get that pony or dog you've always wanted to keep you company. You didn't need to be married or have children to have a good fulfilling life. 

Besides you were perfectly content right now with how things were. You didn't need anything changing or any surprises. Everything was just fine how they were. Not a single thing needs to be added. 

"Are you going to his uncle's grand opening? I think it would be quite interesting to see what all of the excitements about."

"I don't think so. It's just going to be a bunch of fish in giant tanks. If you ask me, that's too much work to maintain. Not to mention that the amount of cleaning the tanks and constantly hauling new water to replace the old sea water-..." You shook your head. "No. Not worth it if you ask me."

She hummed turning to grab a pair of tweezers and cut away the dead leaves off a miniature rose bush. "Well you never know. It might be fun to just go and look. It is going to be free after all. "

"Maybe."

You both left the conversation at that and didn't bring it up again. There was no point. You didn't want to go and really you shouldn't to not give Akira any more encouragement for his creepy behavior. It made a shudder run through your spine and you cringe in disgust. You'd definitely be avoiding him from now on. You'd just ignore him and everything would be fine again.

With a sigh of relief, you just went on about your day and ignored the feeling in the back of your mind. It was nothing.

You hadn't heard anything else for the next three days, and it was just business as usual around here. You were having a peaceful time with your work and had all but forgotten about the encounter with Akira or his uncle's 'grand opening' except for the occasional old flier on the ground or the occasional topic of it being brought up in conversation, but it wasn't very often and you'd forget about it quickly after anyways. But there was one strange thing that happened to at the end of the week. It was really a spectacle. Really it was. Not really a thing you'd usually see around these parts. You hadn't even noticed it really, with your back towards the roads. You were too busy helping your elderly boss pick up big plant pots outside that her frail body was too weak to lift. You'd be needing these for an upcoming big delivery for (ironically) Akira's Aunt Linna as you were informed by your boss. Apparently she was planning on adding a whole lot of giant rose bushes around her home and these heavy pots were gonna be used to transport the bushes over once they were ready in one of two weeks. Unfortunately your work was interrupted by your boss when the kind lady looked over her shoulder and gasped catching your attention.

"My oh my." She looked surprised with a hand to her chin.

You followed her gaze and paused surprised as well as a few other people on the streets around you. Coming from up the road was two giant stallions being pulled along by a strong looking middle aged man. He was cursing at the animals straining to pull along their cargo and angrily whipping the reigns with each curse.

"That's sick!" The words escaped you before you could even think.

A nasiating disgusted feeling churned about in your stomach as you watched as the poor animals strained and slowly came up the road and past you both. The sounds those poor ponies were making made you want to grab a whip and swing it at the gruff looking man as they slowly walked by you. The cargo they were straining to pull was...Well you couldn't tell what it was. It was BIG. At least six feet high, ten feet long, very rectangular, and covered by old wet tarps tied together by ropes. Your eyes widened looking up at the thing as it slowly pulled past you with the man yelling at the struggling ponies, briefly a shadow fell over you both and you froze solid as it continued to be pulled by you both. 

"It ..seems like they had come up from the beach. That's probably one of the tanks Akira's uncle wanted for his opening," your boss eventually broke the silence and pointed out the size of the presumed tank.

You didn't say anything about it for you were frozen in shock. For your eyes could have SWORN they saw the brief sight of a hand and half a face peeking out at you from a gap in the tarps..The light. You told yourself. It was just the light playing tricks on you. There's no way a human was under that tarp. You were seeing things. You shouldn't involve yourself in this. Forget it. Don't get involved in this. It wasn't worth it. Nothing good would ever come out of sticking your nose into other people's business anyways. You turned away from the sight of the cart disappearing and the distant cries of the man's cussing to place another heavy pot down off to the side, the last thing you needed was unnecessary drama in your life. 

Besides it's not like whatever Akira's family was doing would affect you.

Mutants in love

warning : fluff, kissing

Summary : Valentine's Day on earth is a day full of devotion, love and sweet gestures. Flowers, chocolates and jewelry are not only exchanged between people, but also at Charles Xavier's school for gifted children, who are presented with one or two fiery gifts.

Info : So finally something for the X-men and my fav John Allerdyce, since Aaron Stanford will be back as Pyro and I'm here for it. So have fun reading :)

--------------------

Valentine's Day was a special day of love, the flowers bloomed, spring slowly gave way and summer made its entrance. It is a day when lovers come together and people buy flowers, chocolate and other small gifts.

Small gestures to show how much their love means to them. But this day was not only for the humans, but also for the mutants. The mutants, the other species on the planet that could also love.

So there was also love between the mutants. Be it Charles and Erik, Logan with Scott and Jean, Bobby and Rogue or sometimes Kitty, depending on how early the feelings of love were carried around. But others at the school also thought about how they could show their love.

Either with home-baked things from the kitchen or with small handmade things. Others went a little further and used their strength to create something or even a declaration of love, which worked much better for some. When Jean's telekinesis wasn't causing cakes to fly around and Logan and Scott were trying to catch them.

But there were also attempts that were far less dangerous Kitty who made a wall of flowers that she pulled up out of the ground, Erik who made metal statues for the school and other types. But in all this there was also the couple of fire and water Pyro or John with civil name and his girlfriend with the manipulation of water.

A couple that attracted and repelled each other in many different white ways. From the initial bickering when she put out his fires as he learnt to control them, or his fire slowing down her waves when she had the sniffles and the fountain at the front of the school threatened to spill over.

It was an eternal back and forth between the two of them but in the end they found each other at the latest when they saved each other more than once in training simulations, she picking up tips from Jean and John from Logan, both adults having a completely different approach when it came to the handling of mutants.

Which is why nobody was surprised when noises came from the craft/art room and the kitchen during the night, while different types of light could always be seen on the meadow. Until the long-awaited day arrived.

A day on which they would both find each other again after lessons at which Professor Xavier had released everyone.

She was just making her way to her room with her friends to pick up John, who had told her they were meeting up for a chat.

Just outside his room she caught a figure in the corner of her eye and knew it was John flashing his fireball to get her attention.

,,Ehm, guys, I've got to go, I'll see you later," she said hastily and hid herself before running out of the corridor and disappearing around the corner after the fireball, which was glowing in a strange rose colour and kept forming shapes.

A heart, a sun, two people hugging each other. ,,Pretty," she murmured and continued to run after it before opening the door to the garden outside. She saw the different couples, felt the warm sun on her skin, the chirping of the birds and the love in the air, warm and embracing.  

The ball that had previously been a fish swimming around formed itself into an arrow that danced around her with caution and showed her the way. ,,I'm already coming" she smiled as if he could hear her through the fire but maybe he could, who knows?

Following the arrows, they walked more slowly, mindful of their surroundings, past the fountain, the tree that was held together by vines and rose up after Scott had broken it.

Until they finally arrived at a slightly secluded spot on the grounds, something that couldn't necessarily be set on fire...hopefully. ,,You found me, Raindrop," the brown-haired man grinned and winked at her as he called the fire to him and let it hover beside him.

,,I always find you... it's not difficult with your heat," she said with a smile before he wrapped her in his arms, his warmth was always pleasant, he always warmed her and in the end had warmed her heart too. ,,Well, then take a look at this, love, just for you," he announced, pointing at the curtain behind him before holding the fire over the metal construction.

Only seconds later, colourful fountains of fire and sparks appeared and colours that couldn't be more different began to form a picture.

The image flickered, showing moments they had shared together, sweet, heartfelt and romantic, until it ended with the embrace before the flames slowly diminished and died out.

,,John... that was beautiful, just incredible!" she cried into his arms again and felt his rewarding kiss on her lips, his hands on her back, holding her gently. ,,I know I'm good," he winked and she rolled her eyes with a giggle before pulling out her present, the small box she had made herself with special contents that she couldn't have built without Colossus and her powers.

i,,Here, I thought this was just right for our hot adventures," she said and he opened the box and took out the metal pendant next to the home-made biscuits in the shape of little flames.

,,Heat-resistant stable, it doesn't melt... at least not on the spot," she said, pointing to the raindrop and the flame they both represented. She saw something flash in his dark eyes, the light pink colour on his cheeks and the smile on his lips that was soft and touching.

,,You don't know how much I love you, do you?" he asked and before she could say anything he had kissed her again, touching the pendant on his hand. ,,I love you too," she murmured, feeling his hand go to hers, lightly stroking her fingers and they knew that their love was unbeatable. The fire met the water again in nothing but pure love.

--------------

@thefandomqueen2882

I've just read an article (in Gazeta Wyborcza) about a very popular series of books among young teens in my country, Poland, called "Rodzina Monet" (Family Monet). The author gained popularity while publishing on Wattpad lol. The article basically said that it's problematic because these books are read by young girls, even 10 years old, and it glorifies violence. Plus it just isn't well written - there were some fragments in the article and yeah it's not well written lmao. A woman in the comments said that her daughter is reading this book and asked if she should forbid it. Since no one answered her, I replied that I don't think forbidding the book is a good solution and suggested talking to her daughter about it, showing her the article and asking what she thinks about it. But I don't know anything more about that situation, for example how old the daughter is. I don't think I'd worry if my child were to read this book, I read trashy stuff too. But I started wondering if maybe there should be some control in such a case? The thing with the books from what I gathered (I haven't read them) is that they are about a 14yo girl, who suddenly lost her mother and grandmother, is sent away to US from Britain where she starts living with her 28yo (handsome) stepbrother and his 3 (also handsome) brothers. She lives in a beautiful villa since the stepbrother is super rich. He's also cold and distant and doesn't understand that she has issues with food (she has some kind of eating disorder). Some of the things he and his 3 brothers do can be described as domestic violence but they apologize, buy her expensive stuff and are all adult handsome men. Yeah it's a young adult fiction. The thing is that it's just not well written so none of the bad behaviours is commented upon.

--

Sounds like typical godawful id trash that people eat up. Making a rule against it will just make it more tantalizing.

It would be far more valuable to kick any worthless partners out of one's life and demonstrate not putting up with shit to a tween girl than to ban her from reading trashy books.

One could always try buying her something better, but IME, people who try that always do it wrong: they buy books that are better written, yes, but the vocabulary and sentence structure are a thousand times harder, there's zero iddy wish fulfillment, and the plot is something fucking depressing and supposedly edifying.

Readers can smell a tryhard "your taste is bad" gift a mile away.

I think it's also important when trying to find replacement trash to understand what the kink actually is. Why is it age gap? Well, have you seen 14-year-olds? They're awkward and covered in zits. Of course the protagonist is young like the readers and the hotties are older.

More importantly, why is it abusive? Absolute idiots will be like "Because society taught girls wah wah wah wah wah", but the actual reason is obvious if you've read trash romance for adults:

It's so the love interest(s) can be in the wrong.

The self inserty protagonist of this type of story has very little power. Not only is she usually younger, but she's poorer, a fish out of water in a new situation, etc. The way she gets power is by the love interest doing something absolutely horrible, realizing they have erred, and then groveling forever. Their guilt is an effective way to manipulate them. And yes, retail therapy is usually the next step from this particular trash classic all the way back to The Flame and the Flower.

You can try giving a teen girl a book about a teen girl action hero who is awesome and whose love interest likes her because of that... But if the reader doesn't feel awesome, she's still going to prefer a book about a loser with a destined, fated love or a misunderstood woobie whom other characters have to grovel to after not initially realizing she was special.

You can't fix self esteem by handing someone a book they don't identify with and telling them their id is wrong. And if self esteem does improve, that doesn't mean the lizard brain is going to switch trash fiction tastes anyway.

One can try leaving other fun books around, but that's about the most that could be helpful.

You're my people

just a thorfinn fic I wrote, still a wip so plz enjoy :)

Things are quiet. I watch as the fractured pellets from the bucket bounce off the back of my hands. I clean off the last remains of the fish before hanging it to dry. Smooth creaking of wood as the wind glides along the walls of this cabin. I stare into the fireplace, cracklings as it swelters. Glowing and leaving an orange hue along the floorboards. The silence let's my thoughts flow. Guilt, regret. It's so thick during times like this. I don't deserve the silence, the peace. This cabin isn't mine. We took it, like the people we are-

-Before I know it, the quiet is gone. The wooden door creaks open and from the outside blows in a frigid gust. He's stumbling into the room. Face bloodied and beaten, jaw set like a dog ravaging in all it's misery. For a moment I just stare at this scene. Even though I've seen it dozens of times by now, it still always manages to send my stomach twisting. He's angry, seething almost. His head is downcast as he's stares at the snow clinging to his boots. Blood dripping, blooming like crimson flowers as they drop onto the floor. I catch a glimpse of his face through his hair, a new bruise forming along his eye and cheek. His old dagger clamped in his hand, knuckles going white from the grip.

Another duel lost. Added to the list of many. It's not something new, since we were kids Thorfinn's always done this. Chasing a victory that will never come. Something to put an end to this endless revenge. He's spiraling down something unimaginable. I know it, he knows it too. It's all he is, all he's ever been. One of these days it will cost him his life -yet there's a rage so prevalent it's almost palpable- I wonder if it already has. I can barely even recognize him sometimes.

But he's here now. Standing in the doorway. He hasn't said a word, eyes set on the dagger in his palm; his father's dagger. Uncanny how such an object could hold so much to it. I move towards him. Wood creaking under my boots, filling the silence.

Years of this. Of watching this. I can't stop the frustration from clawing at me.

"Why do you keep letting him do this to you?" I breathe, taking another step closer. "You know how it always ends."

I can see how he sucks in a breath, brows furrowing at my words. But he knows. All these years we've spent together, I'm not one to bite my tongue. Still, he brushes past me.

"You don't know. You'll never understand it." His voice is painfully quiet. Brittle almost. I turn, watching as he rummages through the cabin, searching for something to bandage himself up. His eyes are distant. I know he's a million miles away by now, yet I can't stop myself from pressing on.

"You're the one that doesn't understand." I echo back in sharper tones, hoping that my words get through that dense mind of his. "He's using you."

He heaves in a breath, drawn and centered. "Just stop." His voice is low, warning me to drop it. He's still looking away from me, avoiding me.

I ignore his attempt to ward off the topic, drawing nearer. "How many more times untill Askeladd gets tired of you? Throws you away like some piece of-"

"I have to do this." Thorfinns voice cuts through mine, stopping me in my tracks. He turns to face me. And I can clearly see the damage now, only it's not just physical. "I need to-" he stops as if he's holding something back. "I just have to." His words are loaded.

Perhaps, it is a suggestion far too sudden, yet these fostering feelings I can only wish to suppress are too strong in this moment. "You don't need to do anything," I reason. "You don't need to be here, fighting for him."

"What about you then?" He shakes his head, footsteps echoing on the wood as he approaches me. "You fight for him too. Why don't you leave? Why are you even here?"

My brows knit together. "You know I have nothing for me. Nothing out there," the words are flowing before I can even stop myself. "But you.. You have a family, a life waiting for you."

A family, a life. The words seem to linger on my tongue. Something I can only see in my dreams. Something so fickle, unrealistic for me. But for him- It's real, it's there waiting for him; yet all this time he's been running from it?

His eyes widen, body and stance stiff. From the way his stare bores into mine, I know I should've kept my mouth shut. Still I continue, trying to save my skin even just a bit.

"You can go anywhere, find your family because you actually have one." I pause for a moment, the silence engulfs us. Desperation is evident as I utter the question; "How many else can say the same?"

The words are sharp when Thorfinn finally speaks. "Then you go find them then." His voice is cruel, cracking like embers from the fire. He doesn't mean it when he speaks. "Let them be your family, your people."

And he's pushing me away, pushing everything away again.

Yet my chest is rising, stunted. I finally breathe out the words. Letting them sink as the crackling in my voice flares. "You're my people. Cant you see that?"

And It's way this his stare drops downward. Hands curling at his sides that I can see as his mind seem to fill with lost memories; images of a past long faded away.

The silence is steady, the only thing breaking it was the wind howling around the cabin. Even the fire seems to have died down. Hazel eye stare at the way my hands clench and unclench; his gaze is awfully distant.

All this arguing and Thorfinns still bleeding. Chest struggling with shallow breaths. I swallow hard, listening to the wind in silence. Eventually I drag my feet to the small table, bucket of water and a rag in hand. Cleaning the bruised, bleeding. All the stains of war carved into his features. Deep and shallow. You can't run from it.

This life has no pity on us.

I feel my arm being pulled. He's looking at me now, searching my face. I feel my hand hovering over his chest. Hesitantly, I allow it. Allow for Thorfinn to push my hand closer, fingertips brushing the fabric of his tunic. He places my hand onto his heart. It's warm. It's hammering against my palm. Rhythmic, a force of life. Yet there is something so tired and angry about the way it pulses.

I know it. Maybe he knows that too.

"This is my purpose. I need to do this." He barely whispers. "So let me."

And all I can push out from my chest is, "You're wrong. You always have been."

𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗜 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘?

RAGHHHH it’s been a week and I’ve been thinking about this the whole time. I wasn’t really in the headspace when writing this but I tried

Crappy writing Dawgh😟 ion know where I was going w this jus beat w me. I’m craving to put shoko in here so bad

Recounting all of the new memories you made today put a smile to your face, weaving your hands through the water back and forth while you were on a canoe.

Going through a path of freshly bloomed flowers only to pick one and place it in riko's hair

Hot steaming noodles as you all sat as a table. Giggling at gojo fooling around with riko's food.

The sun started to set and the clouds continued to shift, you all made the decision to go to Kuroshio sea. Splitting up to look at the sea life and see if there was anything to buy at the gift shop.

Walking alone was riko looking at a multiple fishes that ranked from different shapes, sizes and colors, it didn't go unnoticed and you watched her with a nostalgic expression.

Feeling a tap on your shoulder you turned around to see the same white haired male you had been traveling with for a while now.

"Ah, gojo it's you" not quite turning around to face him you confused to watch your sister.

"Satoru."

You finally turned around to face him, "pardon?"

"Just call me satoru instead" a little smirk tugged at his lips.

"Whatever.." you rolled your eyes and turned away from him but stopped when he took your hand. You looked at him from the corner of your eye and that's when he began to speak.

"You look like you have something on your mind, don't you?"

His expression turned serious for a moment, "c'mon, indulge me for a moment"

Sitting down on a bench in front of a section for the smaller sea life you started the speak. "I've..been thinking recently.." he let out a hum in response with a lollipop in his mouth.

"What am I going to do when riko is gone? I mean sure I should continue life and it's not as if I was in her life before very much but.." you hesitated.

Satoru noticed and eyed you with a unreadable expression before turning back the tank in front of you both. He's never seen you like this before at all. What happened to your snarky remarks and scolding?

He stayed silent but continued to listen to you, burying your head in your hands your gaze casted down to the ground with a bit of tears threatening to spill. "What would Kuroi do? Hell what would riko tell me to d—''

"You wanted my opinion on it right?" He asked abruptly. You stopped rambling with your eyes still carded to the floor.

"I think you’re stupid".

.

.

.

"What the fuck?" You looked at him deadpanning as a tear started running down your cheek. Gojo reached his hand out and wiped it from your check but never let go even afterwards. Gently cupping your cheek with unreadable intentions.

"Stop asking what other people want, you're your own person and you have your own wishes right?"

Your eyes widened at his explanation. "Let me ask you something.." he leaned in and with each inch you backed up until he was right in front of you.

Inches away from your face he asked "what do you want to do?". Your eyes narrowed at the male who had supposedly pinned you to the bench you were having a heartfelt conversation on.

“More like what are YOU doing?”

“Answer the question n/n” you put your hand up to his chest as a last attempt to move him away.

“Say, how about you come back to jujutsu high with us?” He studied your movement with an unwavering gaze. “Satoru, stop messing with me get off.”

You continued trying to push him off but he still never moved an inch. “Your fatass is going to crush me!”

“Is that a yes?” He asked with hopeful eyes and a teasing smile.

“Yeah yeah whatever now get the hell off of m-’’ your vision was filled with something white.

He was kissing you. ‘Holy fuck.’

You ceased all actions and he took this as a chance to lean his forehead fully against yours and he tastes just like the lollipop he had in his mouth. You concluded it was strawberry and closed your eyes to return the action.

His tongue swirled inside your mouth and once he was done he left a little bite on your lip drawing blood. You looked up at him slightly in surprise with what you just did

“We fucked up..didn’t we?” You breathed out heavily.

Satoru nuzzled his face into your neck pressing his full weight into you. “mm..yeah, we did.”

TAG-LIST: @tabbycake @vduxx @thebigcheez @sattosugu @96jnie @sammyiguess @bao-yu-sarah-morningstar-wang-9 @boo-kugo @vile-woman @itsmekalou @tojisworm69 @bbynday @whats-humanity-lol

I went to the market today, and it reminded me that the biggest curlural disconnect I've ever experienced on the internet was finding out that Americans and a lot of Northern Europeans think of the farmer's market as this pretentious, expensive place where people go to buy overpriced organic produce from neat, quaint little stalls.

In my experience, you go to the market because things are way cheaper than at the store. You can buy fruit and vegetables for a third of the price, and clothes and jewellery for less than 10 €. The market is where the vendors yell to get your attention, and they let you try the fruit you want to buy (which means the street is littered with fruit stones and rinds), where there are speakers that blast out obnoxious neapolitan music, where everybody speaks dialect and no one uses the formal "you", where you can dig through haphazard piles of second hand clothes to find skirts or dresses for 1€ a pop, where they sell flowers and small farm animals and pots and pans, where you have to know how to haggle (I used to go with my grandmother as a child. I don't think that woman ever paid full price for anything in the 87 years of her life), where the whole town stops to chat and gossip, where children play loudly and old people spend the whole morning.

There's a mix of cultures and languages, and there are people from all walks of life.

It smells of sweat, overripe fruit, salt, and fresh fish.

It's probably the least glamourous or pretentious place I have ever seen.

In my hometown, the market is held on Thursdays on the street where I live, and there’s no better feeling than being woken up by someone yelling "Come on, beautiful ladies! We have fresh tomatoes!"

Thursday has always been my favourite day, purely because of that. One of my earliest memories is tagging along with my grandpa through the stalls, eating black olives from a plastic bag and spitting out the pits.

It's messy, and it's my happy place, and I am honestly sad that a lot of people don't get to experience it.

what kind of hanfu would you envision lupin wearing :3c

// Hello anon, first of all: thanks for sending something so catered specifically towards me (designing useless alternative outfits for my blorbos). Second, I just want you to know that this was one of the most redraw-heavy, hair-pulling, triple-digit-layers experiences you've sent me on. Also lots of reading and research, which I am now going to make you read.

There's a lot of different styles of hanfu depending on the eras, the three main, popular styles these days are from the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. There's more but you don't need to know about them here lol.

The ones I've drawn here aren't like.... super historically accurate but more of a mix of modern hanfu + Lupin-vibes for the✨aesthetics.✨

This is called Feiyu-fu/飞鱼服 from the Ming dynasty, which translates to 'flying-fish uniform' for its depiction of the Feiyu/飞鱼 in the embroidery. It's not actually a fish but a dragon-like creature, with wings and a fish-shaped tail (guess why it's called flying-fish lol). It's one of the more popular types you see in modern hanfu because it's just really elaborate and cool looking.

Speaking of elaborate, here's a closer look at my suffering!

Historically, Feiyu-fu was one of the type of clothing to be bestowed upon people by the emperor. There's like different tiers depending on the embroidery, the dragon or the Long/龙 is like exclusively for the emperor and then following that in order of tier are: Mang/蟒, Feiyu/飞鱼, Douniu/斗牛, Qilin/麒麟 etc. Those guys, unlike the Long has 4 or less claws instead of 5. If it's confusing, don't worry about it, they're basically different types of mythical "dragon-like" creatures.

There's a whole culture of gifting these specially embroidered clothes (from the imperial court to court officials, nobles, foreign royalty etc.) and it's pretty prestigious to get one. I found it fitting for Lupin since:

it's very lavish and opulent, also high-status

seems very much like the type of thing Lupin would somehow get his little thief hands on✨

unrelated but the two white stripes down the front on aren't a thing, I made it up for style + to add the lupine flowers on it (although they kind of look like wheat??? I tried my best ok)

Okok so fun fact, later in the Ming period, the Feiyu started to not be depicted with wings for some reason, and it became really really hard to differentiate it from the Mang, so some people just started wearing their Feiyu as a Mang... because it's a higher tier and second only to the emperor's Long-clothings. I just think that's funny and it reminds me of Lupin lmao.

Here's a more casual style with the Feiyu-yesa/曳撒 robes + a zhaojia/罩甲 on top!

So the flower here on the zhaojia is the plum blossom, or meihua. It's known as one of the four "gentleman-ly" flowers along with, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum (梅兰竹菊).

I thought the gentleman-ly theme was fitting for Lupin... although the four flowers' symbolism is more for strictly pure, noble and righteous characters.... That's ok, it's how Lupin thinks of himself anyways psh

Close-ups for the long-hair enjoyers. The little thing he's wearing is called fa-guan/发冠, it's basically a little crown-like thing that's used to hold up hair, sometimes coupled with a cloth/ribbon. The version on the right is a style very commonly seen in cdramas these days but it's historically-inaccurate... it looks cool though lol.

More details! These are called hebao/荷包 and they're basically little pouches to store things in, like money or handkerchiefs. They can also be used to carry fragrant herbs/perfume. They can also gifted from young women to men they like :^))))

For alternative hanfu styles, I think something like the modern Tang dynasty-inspired hanfu would fit Lupin as well... they're more flowy and with larger sleeves that you can hide stuff in... They look best in motion! An example from those videos of skateboarding hanfu guys.

Alright that's finally done! I'm going to go and pass out for the next 10 hours _(┐ 「ε:)_

[DISCLAIMER: this post contains strong language and cannot be recommended for anyone]

On the  journey to a new language it helps to have themes one works with. Because I’m a biologist, one theme when trying to expand my vocabulary is of course nature and especially animal names. Oh my, what fun things I learned on the side.

Interestingly, the word animal (สัตว์, saht /sat̚˨˩/) itself is an insult. As such, when directed at a person, it translates to something like asshole, shithead or bastard, but especially when combined with a super rude pronoun อี / ไอ้  (ee / âi  = you for woman and for man respectively, please never use these), it really conveys contempt.   

Porsche calls Kinn สัตว์ already in the first episode, (not with badterrible pronouns at least, but the pronouns he uses are lacking common decency, even if they are not in-your-face offensive)

(I have to say that the more I learn Thai, the more I am rolling my eyes at these two being total jerks to each other in the beginning. I mean… I was told about this, but still… Seriously guys, where are your manners? Your mums would be so ashamed of you!)

Anyhow, back to animals.

Animal names are fun to learn because living things are a good conversational topic (that also happens to interest me a great deal), but also because many Thai people are named after animals.

Thai nicknames (ชื่อเล่น chuu len, literally name play) are unofficial, but they are the names people use the most and it is normal that for example at school or workplace this is the only name people know of a person. Usually the nickname is given by parents and it can be short for the official first name (Kinn, Khun), but way more often it is a descriptive word or food or animal or (especially for girls) a plant, flower or fruit, but it can be anything. And I mean anything. It is very popular to give a child an English nickname that just sounds nice. So we get Barcode, Bible,  Job and so on… 

Self evident amongst animal names are the fluffycute or big and strong, like: cat แมว (maew - yes it's meow-sound), deer กวาง (kwaang), bird นก (nók), baby chicken เจี๊ยบ (jíap), tiger เสือ (sĕua) etc

[sidenote: เสือ is also a common name for the whole genus Panthera - “big cats”, so name for most of them in Thai starts with เสือ - for example leopard is เสือดาว (sĕua dow - star tiger), animals in Thai in general have a lot of names like this: bird this, bird that, fish this, fish that, which is familiar to English speakers, but somewhat special to my Finnish ear.]

More interesting animals people are named after:

pig หมู (mŏo) — pigs are considered very nice and valuable animals in Thailand, so this is not at all a bad name, but a cute one given to a much loved boy. To be fair, หมู  can be used to call someone chubby, or gently scolding them for eating too much, but it isn’t offensive, really, unless combined with expletives.

Mouse/rat หนู (nŏo), frog กบ (gòp), tadpole อ๊อด (ót), shrimp กุ้ง (gûng), ant มด (mót)... all of these being obviously suitable names for a tiny, adorable child.

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I decided to save you (for now) from my terribly rambly, long ethnozoological ponderings I've had while digging into the creepy crawly nomenclature. It is pretty fascinating, though. No wonder - Thailand is a tropical country and consequently the invertebrate diversity there is breathtaking. I’m so jealous.

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In my opinion a very misunderstood animal is Asian water monitor Varanus salvator. Its name is เหี้ย (hîia /hia̯˥˩/), which is also one of the most vulgar, profane, insulting thing you can say to anybody in Thai. DO NOT USE. 

How did this poor animal end up being a terrible insult? Asian water monitor, like most members of Varanidae, is a generalist predator that eats whatever it can catch or find, including carcasses. But instead of being praised as a valuable, free cleaning aid, it is seen as a dirty animal because of this (fine, they also can predate on farm animals – a monitor in a chicken coop equals bloodbath). Them living in the murky, muddy places isn’t helping their public image. Historically, they are considered bad luck and that killing them definitely causes bad things to happen. Even saying the name is considered unlucky, so many people call them ตัวเงินตัวทอง - “silver and gold” instead.

Sure, water monitors are big, surprisingly fast and they can give nasty, easily infected bites, and claw and hit hard with their tails, but they are also important, interesting and kinda derpy animals. Asian water monitors are kept as pets even, although they require a lot of room as they can grow up to 3 metres long (in average 1,5 m). They can be tamed and they learn all kinds of things. I think they are cute and I would love to meet a pet monitor someday and give it belly scratches (wild animals I prefer to observe from a respectful distance away, but it would be supercool to see one).

Regardless, เหี้ย is a Profanity. Linguistically, it can be used pretty flexibly much like ‘fuсk’ as a noun, adjective, adverb, comma, full stop, exclamation mark… But do not use it - it really is much worse word than even 'сunt', especially combined with  อี / ไอ้ ( ee/âi). 

And that is exactly how Kinn uses it here, calling Vegas a water monitor.

He continues here. Now adverbial use, so not directed at person. Less offensive, still pretty mean tone.

(I cannot believe this man had the audacity to tell Porsche off for his language...)

There are my uncivilised musing for now.

Why Bloodborne is like thiiiiis (creativity notes, don't mind me)

I do like how cosmos/arcane in Bloodborne have different colors, too? There are:

turquoise/cyan - Ludwig's moonlight sword and Guidance Rune, Small Resonant Bell + the mist from which summoned cooperators appear, mist around Gehrman after he turns to the Moon

'pale' blue - magic of cosmic Kin like Brainsuckers, mist around scythes of Church Servants (at 15+ Insight), Milkweed Rune, mist Gehrman and Micolash disappear into when hit, haze inside skull of Laurence before we saw his memory for some reason...

a more saturated blue - magic of Celestial Emissaries, Eye Rune, that weird spiral trap in Isz dungeons, Rom's meteorites, eyes of the scourge beasts in Choir's base, Call Beyond charging, Choir Bell, Fluorescent Flower's magic

purple - Messengers' lamps, magic of Nightmare Executioners (behind their helmet and from their axes), portal from Lecture Hall into Nightmare realm, lanterns Church Servants are carrying, skulls of Fish people (mages) + accursed brew, glowing eyes of enemies that got hunter's Blood Echoes, Wet Nurse's magic

deep red - trickled state of Logarius' Wheel, his whole magic actually, skulls of Executioner's glove, Maria's Quickening mist (after stabbing herself), mist around Brador when he invades + Sinister Resonant Bell, cursed effect that Cain servants can give the player

What I can reliably gather from this, is that the color of Moon's power and guidance given to the hunters IS cyan, and I've been misremembering Gehrman's mist as pale blue when it is p much like Ludwig's guidance, yes. And that from colors meanings standpoint placement of Purple works very well! It feels like a combination of 'curses' and blood + 'cosmic' arcane. Red + blue = purple. Especially I'd say seen from Fish people, who are using the same cursed Pthumerian magic represented by skulls, yet were... touched by arcane blessing QUITE a lot, ok? And Fishing Hamlet priest will even give us Accursed Brew as a reaction TO Milkweed equipped. But also, the fact that Dreaming is both bloodshed and magic, and it's mechanics are tied with purple (lamps and recovering Blood Echoes from enemies)...

Blue hues also broadly overlap, it seems. The only truly visible difference is color of Eye vs color of Milkweed. I'd say the colder and paler blue is closer to 'marine' arcane, and is more 'primal', whereas more saturated blue is closer to the 'stars' and more 'perfected'. However, 'pale' blue also has its merit connected with the dream and the hunt, of course!

______________

I started to try to put all this together all because I was unsure of what to color-code Laurence on earlier stages, when Arcane was more prevalent in Healing Church, as opposed to his later corruption when he delved stronger into blood and left the nerds (Choir and Mensis) to do their thing... I suggested purple, but then hesitated because it'd fit Micolash too because of Nightmare connotations, but then @val-of-the-north said:

Purple is blue and red, arcane and blood Both Laurence's pursuits I think it still fits him quite well He was a man of both, but all who came after him chose one or the other

And yeah, I think this actually works really well! (Though it is yet ANOTHER time Laurence and Micolash are both perfect to share a concept... They are just doomed to be rivals, hahaha) I am already thinking about how to elaborate purple into his design! Mostly I just broke my mind over this because I struggled with what color to make Laurence's ribbon, since I didn't want to make it blue (that's for Willem and Choir, which doesn't go with my headcanons on timeline and Laurence). But also it would be too "early" for red, nor my Laurence WEARS a ribbon in his 'third stage' to begin with.. Other variants are to use cyan patterns, like Ludwig's guidance, or try more golden (so, golden ribbon). But I think purple is just really good! Because the connection Val made about how it color-codes both of Laurence's gimmics at once is great.

P.S. Oh boy... So, Ludwig - cyan, Gehrman - blue, Laurence - purple and Maria - red. 🌈🌈

P.P.S. Nightmare Executioners (the mobs), however, wear cages on their heads (not dissimilar to those of Yahar'gul Hunters), and also protrude tentacles from their faces... That makes me think of Micolash again. Not sure whether they were result of Micolash's experiments, OR Micolash took the inspiration since School of Mensis IS a faction of the Church after all.

The Magbox Christmas Speech (or something like it)

So it's been a little over a month since anybody new showed up in the system. If there is anyone else to find, now is obviously not the time to find them... so for all intents and purposes, this may as well be it. Putting this under a cut because it's long. But if you want to know what life has been like as a system since we discovered ourselves 6 months ago, go on ahead.

I've seen things happen in our inner world that you wouldn't believe. The ways our mind acts out the struggles between parts, the struggle to redefine ourselves, to try and find meaning in something that's been suppressed for 35 years? We don't just tell ourselves a story, we live through it. We drink deep from the well of our subconscious, we feel the arms of our loved ones around us as much as we feel every blow in a fight. I've tried to fight it and our brain won't let me. It just makes things more and more real; taking away control over things like my in-system ability to change size, and feeding me dizzying sensations of rising and falling in our body until I get pulled "out of front" abruptly. And I know, once I'm no longer looking through the eyes but stuck in that far-too-real dream, that I'm either too big to touch our "control desk" or I'm too small to reach it.

It's not all bad, though. We've learned to co-operate with the whims of the subconscious and reap the rewards, finding sanctuary, finding community, finding wonders we've never lived but often dreamed of. I've eaten fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding, dived into streams and caught fish with my teeth, dug up sweet potatoes with my hands and roasted them on a bonfire. I've danced in a moonlit field, on the deck of an airship, and at a spiraling rave in another dimension. I've jumped into a carbonated lake in a volcano, been on a low-gravity spacewalk, and flown through the clouds of what we call Dreamscape. I've seen the magenta moon rise for the first time over the Village Green like a flag of victory, and the Deepwoods so full of glowing flowers - how our system interprets hope - that it looked like it was on fire. We have a pub, a park, a cafe, an arcade, a ballroom for celebrations, we have an adult-size "funhouse" full of things to climb and ballpits to fall into. We've dined under a sky full of stars and seen it light up with fireworks. Our world is equal parts magic and mundane. But I've also held the parts of us that never got to grow up, as they cried and screamed and revealed horrors we'd long forgotten. I've felt one of our own try to jump on my back and control my actions like a puppet, because they were the one keeping the system suppressed, and they were convinced everything had gone to hell because of me. I've felt the sheer existential terror of a deeply blurry front, where everything you know gets lost in the fog, and you suddenly realize you don't know who you are. I've seen alters try to tear each other apart with teeth and claws, try to ruin our realspace life by hurting other people, try to hurt our shared body because it feels like there's no way out. I've wept over what happened to us and what we never had, knowing that the ones who made us this way would never believe us, never mind apologize for what they did. And I've enacted Operation Kaiju; a contingency plan we hoped we'd never have to use. I've grown to a huge size, and faced down the giant amalgamation of every bit of trauma that didn't get to form an alter over those three and a half decades, that was so big it could only manifest as a place inside our head - The Red Forest. Full of eerie silence, an endless layer of fallen leaves on the ground, trees with white bark like stripped bones, always cold but devoid of wind or snow. And after it trapped one of us inside it, the first thing that alter said on getting out, covered in cuts and scratches, was "don't go in there, it hates us". It hated us because how dare we do this, how dare we pull ourselves away from it so it becomes less and we become more. And I've shouted at it, screamed at it as it rose up out of the world and tried to claw at us, told it no, you can't have them back. They are mine. I don't want to fight you but I will not let you take them from me. And I've put my hand on the wall that kept it separate from us; comforted it, listened to it, until it was finally ready to lay down peacefully and let itself die in order to become the rest of us.

I've known joy and I've known fear, and so has everybody else. I've seen the paths between our domains crumble from stress and cut us off from each other for weeks. And the system raised its voice in song, as one, to tell me they're okay, because we will never be alone again and that is a promise. There is no going back. And now, at the end of the year, we're here. Who knows what our system will look like in a year, or in 10 years. Over the course of the rest of our shared life. We've desperately searched for our missing parts together over the past six months, and now that search could very well be coming to an end. Our total headcount, 39, doesn't seem like it'll go up but might actually go down. This has already happened three times; Roxxy fused with Rosie and gave us Roxanne, Rakugaki and Charlie became Anarchy, Yvonne and Harvey created Nocturne. Maybe more will happen, maybe they won't, but whatever their choice is we know that nobody will ever go dormant again if we can help it. There will never be a time where someone faces such overwhelming despair, they go to sleep and hope they never wake up again. But here's to the start of a new chapter. Here's to moving forward as one and as many at the same time. We're done digging in the depths for whatever hurt might lie in there, and we don't need to just survive any more. We don't need to keep settling for something to kill more and more time, feeling neither highs nor lows, expecting nothing and never being disappointed. We can do better. We have to start figuring out how to thrive. Happy Holidays, from all of us to all of you. - Terry & The Alters Of The Magbox System

Thoughts on the parents of Coral Island: Dad edition

So... I think it's still too early to say considering everyone's stories and dialogues aren't complete yet but here's my thoughts on the parents of Coral Island so far

Jim

what do you mean Lily's job is not a real job?

being rather cold at first aside, he's a pretty cool dude

have you seen his younger pic drawn by the og artist? holy shit he was so hot

major tsundere vibes. like seriously we started off with him saying I look like I've never used a tool in my entire life before (he's right) to him teaching me how to make his specialty- smoked salmon

he's one of the non-dateables in the island that I have most hearts with

probably the kind of father your classmates look forward to seeing during parent-teacher conferences because he's good looking (along with his wife, she's good looking too)

you inherited your abundant knowledge in fishing and fishes overall thanks to him, even thought you don't fish often

Sunny

I LOVE HIM

his personality totes match his name

second highest hearts with him, only because Jim loves shiitake mushrooms and wasabi and those are abundant in spring.

he reminds me a lot of my grandpa so i love him x100000000

i give him a flower everytime i see him

much like Jim, thanks to him you know a lot about fishes and fishing in general.

Jack

another cool parent, he gave me phat thai and then a lemon to make phat thai

another parent your classmates look forward to seeing during parent-teacher conferences

probably a cinnamon roll

the kind of dad whom you'd spend your weekend mornings together with the animals, telling each other about your week.

feels like a friend more than a father

Randy

TBH i don't know him enough but I have a lot of hearts with him because I see him often so I just gift him a flower like I do with everyone else (i should really chill and take it slow and talk to people smh)

probably the fun dad that you can easily open up to

definitely the kind of dad that can help you with your homework

the kind of parent every your friends look forward to seeing whenever they hang out in your house

Paul

another cinnamon roll

another dad that can help you with your homework

takes you on his adventures whenever you're not in school

lots of great memories together

always excited to tell your classmates about what he does for work

thanks to him you know a lot of animal trivia

i feel like out of all the dads, along with Randy, he'd tell the most number of dad jokes- and they're actually funny

Antonio

another dad I don't know shit about, but considering he takes days off to spend time with Valentina, he's definitely a good dad

the kind who'd take his kid's drawings to work to show his colleagues

I feel like he's also the type who'd support whatever occupation you want to pursue, as long as he sees you putting in effort and results are showing

probably lowkey strict, but you'll be thankful once you're older that he is (with a bit of pettiness cuz you missed out on some of the fun stuff your other friends went through)

you have cool and pretty outfits thanks to him HEHE

Walter

typical old money dad, what more can i say

knowing how to deal with money is something that's become second nature to you, thanks to him

brings you out to play golf with his associates

brings you out to play tennis with his associates

good luck if you're the only kid, the family business is definitely going to be managed by you

Joko

another super fun dad

cracks a lot funny jokes, not just dad jokes

his storytelling is god-tier, probably the reason why dinner is at least 2 hours long

known as the funniest dads of dads among you and your classmates

Wataru

another dude i have a lot of hearts with but don't know much about because his dialogue is so little

the kind that takes care of you silently (and you're super grateful for it)

quiet type of dad, but probably very observant regarding your needs (hence probably why Wakuu is the way he is towards him)

dinner is often quiet, but once it's time for dessert that's when the tea starts to spill (but you're doing most of the talking)

he's definitely the coolest, he owns a friggin chickin boat

Rewatching The Apple be like

finally! I took a break of about a year but I'm back!

I feel like I'm always saying this but how many people, especially high ranking people does it take for them to go on a mission? because of "strange sensor readings"??

I forgot how hot Bones is, fuck (<- this is also Jim's and Spock's internal monologue whenever they see him, btw)

"Husbandry would be quite efficacious" Spock I had to google that word before I was sure but I think you just proposed

Ah, the garden of Eden was just outside Moscow scene, we've all seen it

So he just used kilometres which I am happy about but before they were talking about the planet having an average of 76° which must mean Fahrenheit. I am confusion

killer flowers over here lol

Scotty fishing for shore leave <3 love him

Pavel using this situation to flirt as if he did't just see a colleague die like two metres in front of him

no matter how often I rewatch it, the explosive rock scene is one of the funniest things ever to me

Spock diving in front of a deadly plant for his boyfriends is the best thing ever to me, sorry not sorry <3<3<3<3<3<3

Oh wow, the transporters don't work, that's something I've never seen before in my life.

Spock calling the hypospray "potion" <3

Jim is so fucking right every time someone jumps in front of someone they could just fucking yell for them to get out of the way. This way it's much more romantic tho so...

These lighting bolts are so... realistic

Three redshirts down, and one of their dads apparently helped Jim get into the academy? But why did the redshirt not get a better job than redshirt if his dad apparently had some sort of influence?

ah, the survivor's guilt mixed with the guilt of being in charge... getting real Hans Kammerlander vibes rn... (google his name and the Manaslu if you don't know what I mean)

"what do you want, Violins?" will now be my answer every time someone comments on my tone of voice

ohhhhh, this was the planet of the Aryans! (not sure if my being German makes it more or less ok for me to say that, but there isn't another word I know for blonde ppl with blue eyes who are conventionally attractive)

Spock just touched this man's chin. With his hand. Is that cheating?

"If you don't get those Warp engine's working you're fired" mate if he doesn't fix them he'll literally die. WHat are you, Hermione?

Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more

"It makes me uncomfortable" bitch I bet, those things look scratchy as fuck

I like how half of them immediately got rid of these flower things <3 literally me

you tell him Spock! Humans literally are the minority!!!

"stawp fighting!!!! They've got the Enterprise!!!!" Jim I hear you but philosophical arguments are literally my only life source

sex. the word you're looking for is sex.

goddamnit they are all so uncomfortable talking about one of the most natural things in the world, idk if I should be amused or sad for them

awwwww, she calls him Pav!!! they are actually pretty cute

i feel gross watching the natives kiss and idk why

how to kill someone 101

oh really Spock. you telling me James Tiddies out Kirk wants to ignore the prime directive? wow. what a shocker. I am shocked.

Bones stepped on the belt of his tricoder when getting up and for some reason this is endearing to me

This is the third time Spock injured himself this episode and yet he is still capable of more sass than any squatch I know (get it? sasquatch. haha.

Damn, Martha can fight! Oh, and the last redshirt has died

awww hell nah, Scotty lost his job :(

awww hell yea, Scotty got his job back :)

They should give them actual sex ed wtf

the bickering at the end is always my favourite thing <3<3<3<3<3<3 10/10 will watch again (and again and again and again)