it has been literal YEARS since I read the shadow hunter books and i am STILL not over the incest jace-clary storyline. besties it isn’t even the grossness of it all it’s the fact that 1) they just believed the evil, pathological bad guy who would do anything to destroy them and 2) how literally easy it is to disprove the incest theory. CATARINA LOSS LITERALLY WORKED IN A HOSPITAL just get her to do a damn DNA test and whoop oh my god look how easy it was they weren’t siblings. still drives me nuts to this day. WHY WOULD YOU JUST WITHOUT QUESTION BELIEVE YOUR EVIL DAD???? WHY WOULD YOU DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO TEST THIS THEORY????? 

Bob in female fight club au. Thoughts

Probably named Marge

Rather than doing a direct inversion (ie making the character the exact opposite, much tits -> no tits, etc) I think sort of an analogue would work better riffing off the motherly role Bob has, in combination with the group being for uterine cancer/ovarian cancer

The women come together, and they cry, cry, cry, over lost husbands, who left them because they got cancer, because overwhelmingly, men leave if their wife gets cancer, over lost relationships with children, who stayed but resent them, over lost Motherhood, that thing you were told was your worth but now you are told you're shit. Remaining Women Together. Despite. Despite despite despite.

What is it, about purposes. Want to see misery, see women fed their own physical oppression as lost salvation.

Marge, whatever her name is, her husband divorced her, left her with the kids and medical bills stacked as high as she is tall. She is thankful she still has her kids, it makes her feel like she's still worth something. She's had to try and get back into the workforce. No one wants to hire dear former stay at home mother Marge. She shows you her kids in her wallet in her purse and there are no pictures of her. There's a picture of her old husband, which she keeps to show her kids if they ask. They're old enough to go to school now, which is good, because it gives her more time to work. Life is hard, but she's doing her best.

Marge, who is on hormone therapy so she doesn't get those "side effects" she's heard about from other total hysterectomy patients, the future of early dementia and degeneration and horror. Who does pelvic floor exercises in hopes it will minimise the fallout of the surgery. Who carefully rips every hair out of her upper lip and chin because even if it would be normal for a woman, a woman whose gone through menopause, a woman at all — she knows, it's probably the estrogen tipping back over into testosterone, and she can't handle any more losses. She compensates. They all do.

The support group is her Me Time. It is the single hour plus half hour commute she can afford once a week for herself. So she gets here, and she cries, cries, cries, and the others cry with her, all over how their lives have fallen apart since they got ovarian cancer, got breast cancer, and their lives derailed because they can't be proper women anymore.

They cry in their waterproof makeup. Another product to promise womanhood. Identify yourself via consumption. Identify yourself by covering yourself up.

And when she finds fight club. When she finds something that says, jesus fuck. You are more than your children. You are more than your ability to have kids. You aren't a failed woman, that's a sack of shit you've been sold wholesale. When she finds something that promises her she will grow, achieve personhood, not because she was the ultimate martyr mother, not because she played the game of human or woman, but because it promises a freedom from all that, identification and repulsion of such sickening chains. When she stops worrying about her slightly deepened voice, and works to keep her dose even keel for her health, to avoid the toxic highs of accidentally juicing, rather than the lesser effects of a black lip hair or two. When she has a photo, not of herself in her wallet, but of the things she makes with other women from fight club, of the one view of the sunset from that one parking lot that she always thought was wonderful, when she has things in her wallet for her and her enjoyment. When she has corded muscle and a built up spine, when she sits her kids down and explains why they only see dad one weekend every other month, all the fun holidays, because dad decided staying with her through cancer was too hard even when she stayed with him through four lost jobs pissed away in alcohol and lottery tickets.

And Marge, who gets shot by the police on a regulation chill-and-drill assignment for Project Mayhem. Whose obituary in the newspaper talks about the children she left behind, how she battled cancer and kept caring for them, how she was such a strong mother, whose kids would now be shipped off to their grieving father who is so, so brave and stunning for standing up and taking care of the kids he made and dropped as soon as his live-in servant had a few issues. Her name is Marge Paulson, and she was forty-eight years old. She was a person. She will be remembered in the annals of Project Mayhem, lest what little there was of her be stolen from the world. She was killed by Project Mayhem, but they're the only ones who will remember Marge Paulson.

which mychael are you?

truck freak

crazy ass

Ужасы за пределами человеческого понимания.

Steve!

As much as i think toshiros complicity is based in his cowardice I do kinda get why he didnt talk to tade about what he thought abt how she views her retainership. Like even if he had that conversation like what could she do other than nod and smile—the power differential between them is huge. I feel something that plays into his conflict aversion is that if he did get upset or hit someone its not like they could hit back without serious consequences. But also he’s been raised in an environment where his comfort has always been prioritized above other ppls wellbeing and he def chooses the easier route A Lot. Like the fact that instead of genuinely engaging w whats going on w izutsumi and tade he ignored all his retainers, let maizuru handle it, and went on some two year spring break dungeon crawling whatever like words cannot describe what an abdication of responsibility this was. That instead of working w his party he went off on his own w his retainers bc he just didnt want them to know he was a noble that much (granted he also didnt think laios was cut out to lead which tough but fair) like cmon man…. But i do think his fight w laios was good for him even tho it was a shitty bitch fight when they rlly shouldve been helping their party revive ppl bc he could have a conflict on equal footing w someone. His whole life hes viewed himself as someone w no power (and the ways this is false esp on the island) but i think in the dungeon he realized he genuinely has a responsibility to his retainers n his actions led to them following him into something really dangerous when they had no dog in this. But also it seems as an attempt to reciprocate, he does seem to have become very observant of other people beyond what is normal bc he doesnt speak much. Culture plays into his clash w laios but i think the fact he’s grown up being so closely observed and in turn closely observes others plays into it too. But its fun how hes always toeing the line between being a spoiled brat, being too passive bc of his own lack of agency, n also that hes genuinely intelligent and has thought a really long time about power.

I think it also gets at why marcilles plan to equalize the races by making their lifespans the same was doomed to fail and also highlights how she can only view other ppls oppression thru her own suffering—that theres always going to be differentials in power that are difficult, but you have to interact meaningfully w them rather than running from them. A simple world w easy solutions like that would be bloodless and false, no?

I don't know if someone has pointed this out yet, but, have we considered we're looking at the form (or, at least, one of) of Sleep here?

on this episode of leanne comes up with the worst and most tragic fic ideas in existence. i'm thinking house of leaves x good omens

Wait wait wait wait for maximum pain for all involved in the ff7/hp crossover

Harry has to go back when he’s 14 because his name came out of the goblet and the magical contract is so strong that even a world away ignoring the summons could kill him. And on a more meta standpoint he has to be there so Voldemort can be brought back so Harry can eventually kill him.

And it tears Aerith apart to have to send him back. To not be able to save him just like she couldn’t save Cloud. To know that he will be hurt no matter what she does.

But, she is nothing if not resourceful.

So she sends Harry back to his planet at 14 but she also sends all of AVALANCHE (plus a few extras maybe idk) with him and they are frankly out for blood.

I know some of you might have other favorite characters in UT/DR, and that's completely fair, I myself didn't have a favorite for a long time since I loved them all.

..But can we all agree that Asriel/Flowey is the best character Toby has ever written until now?

Just everything about his tragic story and development, how in genocide we can see explained how he changed so much from a sweet little boy who just wanted to save everyone and who loved his family, to a sadistic, apathetic, and manipulative flower.

That, and the hints that Flowey is still Asriel no matter how hard he tries to deny it. He's done so many awful things, and has gone through so much and in the end he's just a scared, panicked, sad child who doesn't want to be alone.

I couldn't explain it too well I think, there are just so many things to love about him.

It's all just so, so good.

a crack in the wall

The thing that struck me immediately, like the first time I saw the scene, was the Director saying “...and now, we have a monster in our kingdom.”

framed like that, holding the sword she stole so she could frame Ballister.

My literal first thought was “yeah, I’m looking at one right fucking now”. Two seconds later she’s using that sword to get rid of a threat to her order, so like yeah.

It’s not subtle cinema language at all, it’s basically shouting it at me, but I liked it anyway. She’s a threat and the movie is no longer remotely hiding it.

when u didn't come back after 6 days i was worried this had happened to you

Yeah, it turns out grimace really doesn't like people celebrating his birthday. Yeah, it was a warning shot. Yeah, I won't do it again.

They're actually so lucky he didn't start melting into their couch??

caitie let me bug ur inbox rq 🥳 i can't stop thinking abt how ppl would assume deku would have a nice sweet baby and bkg having the opposite, but when they do have their kids it's the other way around and deku's baby is so mean to EVERYONE even tho they're literally a couple months old or smthing, just mean mugging ppl and not letting them touch or hold them except deku or you.. then they see how bkg's kid is so much nicer and sweeter and loves to socialize and walks/crawls up to ppl and smiles and lets them carry them and loves to laugh and everyone just thinks,, did the babies get switched at birth? 😭 but their kids look just like them so they know that isn't true but idkk i just think deku with a mean baby is so €}!*]€~ bc he's just like "haha idk where they got that from :D" or "wdym they're a sweet baby?" and the baby is just frowning at the person taking to their daddy 😭 anywho gnn~

AW :( Deku's baby isn't mean!!!!!! Just sensitive!!!!!!!!!! And colicky, and cranky b/c they need sleep, and picky, I mean... they just have preferences!! It's not their fault they love their parents more than anyone!!!! -Deku, at some point, probably smh...

No but it's funny because... EVEN BAKUGO thought he'd get the mean one and was so ready to like... provide discipline and therapy for his child for YEARS, only to not need it even remotely (at least, for his first, maybe)... and then there's Deku who, out of everything, never even dreamed of the possibility of having a mean baby... and there he is suddenly having to pull out all the stops just to get them to stop swatting at strangers and then later, hiding behind your legs at parties. Man is STRESSED as all hell.

("safe hands, baby. SAFE HANDS--" and he's grabbing their little fist at supersonic speed to stop it from going straight into Iida's glasses. Thank god he's not offended (because the babe can pack a real punch for someone no bigger than a watermelon)... even if for the first time in, almost ... EVER, Iida's looking back at Bakugo with some kind of genuine respect. Who, meanwhile, is just smirking proudly about it.)

asdnfjkasd even Bakugo's kid is a little wary of the Deku's baby... which Baku finds absolutely hilarious because it was kind, uncle Deku's 8-monther that was able to make his sturdy two year old cry just by refusing to be held (he was mad about it at the time though lmao because of course he was).

But Deku's kid never quite gets over the mean streak, don't you think? Has a good heart but is still just as grumpy and cranky, w/ a permanent frown, except now they can verbalize their excuse... just like their dad. "What do you mean, I'm mean? I'm just sensitive >:(" they say, because that's exactly what they've been hearing their whole life. And to be fair, it's true... just, very poorly expressed.

Bye.

-

Thank you for buggin me with this, anon!! I hope I did this lovely idea justice... I enjoyed it very much <3 sleep well + lovely dreams to you🥰

Okay no wait hey can we go back to day one and how the evil eye said "hey ur all srsly fucked up and I want u to suffer, but like, can u do it for me and start killing each other? I'll give u points and maaaaybe you'll get ur kids back? :3" and everyone said "fucking bet! I'll kill my friends!" In like 2 seconds flat. Like? What. Not even a little hesitancy? Guys?

Driving me insane actually. This is why I'm bolas rojas. It's because this event has driven me mad.

At least 40% of the reason why I want to see Tomgreg in a romantic relationship in canon is to witness the other characters' reactions to discovering it

something i can't help but think about when it comes to the new movie... who is going to be the antagonist? yes, as the perpetrator of the magical girl system, kyuubey is the root evil of all these problems,

but from a narrative perspective i think we want something new for this movie

i don't think it will be homura..

my guess is that the movie, and homura's association with walpurgisnacht, stems from homura's belief that she is a monster -- and therefore she plays the part of the worst monster she knows...

with that in the picture, the "madoka way" wouldn't be for homura to actually be the monster, the one our characters take out in the end...

so i think -- and this is a wildcard! -- but i wonder if it will be the other half of madoka...

the voice during the telephone call does resemble a voice that (i think) i've heard Aoi Yuki do before... and if thats the case, it brings new light to "Bring hope, bring hope."

...but, it also might recontextualize "Love. What nonsense."

what if, by removing "madoka" from the law of cycles, homura broke it? what if she reduced it to something emotionless, something mechanic and overly logical, like kyubey?

i think that would be a fascinating place to take the movie... let us see the repercussions of homura splitting madoka into two! it's hard for us to see why she's convinced she's a monster when there's no drawbacks to doing so! and if it is a mistake, let her confront that mistake, hopefully alongside madoka

Gambling Apocalypse Tenma AU

As I rewatch Kaiji I inevitably end up wanting to combine show I like with other show I like and stuffing fav characters into show. So here we are.

This was uh going to be a short summary type thing but I accidentally wrote a novella about it sorry

This AU starts off with a much more depressive Tenma. After Tobio's death, rather than immediately pour his grief into developing a robot version of his son, he recedes into himself, psychologically paralyzed, likely turning to alcohol to drown out his anguish.

His mental state is taken as an opportunity within the Ministry of Science to have him ejected from his position; Tenma was never the most well-liked director, and there were those with ambition to usurp him that would jump at the chance. Not that he especially cares in his state.

He's eventually dragged out of his stagnation by Ochanomizu - who, inadvertently, becomes the very catalyst pushing Tenma to develop a robot replacement to his child. This was not what he meant by encouraging Tenma to fill the void left by his son.

...But, well, he is no longer the director of the Ministry of Science. His access to limitless government funds and resources for "scientific research" has been cut off, and this is a project he cannot finance on his own. He can't ask Ochanomizu for help, but...interestingly...a representative of a certain shady organization known as the Teiai Corporation reaches out to him, offering to finance and support his project. A sane and well-minded Tenma might think better of it, but grieving and desperate, Tenma accepts their offer and is able to create a robot in the image of his beloved Tobio. For a while, there's joy in his life.

But the bill, as ever, comes due: Tenma must pay up, and the very resources that had been at his disposal will certainly ensure that he will, or else. Of course, he doesn't have the money; instead, he is given a choice. He can relinquish the robot Tobio in order to wipe out his debt - the child is a sophisticated and powerful robot, after all - or he can participate in a certain illicit event hosted by the Teiai Corporation.

It's nothing major...just a four-hour gambling cruise with a collection of desperate, damned souls that were also swept into debt with Teiai. The conditions are simple: Those who choose to participate are given a chance to clear their debts wholesale should they win. And should they lose...?

Well...no one really knows what happens to the losers seized by Teiai. It's said that they labour away their debts under Teiai's watchful eye and are freed once their work has covered their debts, though it's rumoured that most perish before they reclaim freedom.

There's only one answer Tenma can give, of course; he's not willing to lose Tobio again.

Thus is Tenma's debut into the Gambling Apocalypse, where he must become cutthroat in order to survive; if he wants to see his son again, he must make choices that will doom the hapless to miserable servitude, with a nonzero chance it ends in their death.

He survives the cruise, but of course, it was hardly enough to clear his debt; the cruise was never going to be the end of it. Teiai doesn't let go of its victims that easily. He will be called on again: this is a weight that hangs over him, all while he returns to his son Tobio. The same hands that have pushed innocents into hell must now be the hands that can embrace his child.

He wants to protect Tobio from the truth and enjoy what peaceful moments he's allowed with his son, but it's difficult. It's difficult to be the parent of a child who cannot understand the danger that looms ahead; this "happy" home is not to last. Tenma angers quickly and easily. He turns that anger onto Tobio.

As Teiai's games become more and more vicious and unrelenting, as his conscience holds onto the last vestiges of thread that remain, Tenma even threatens, once, to give the boy in: it would all end, then; the debt would be clear and no longer would he have to endure Tobio's childish annoyances, his ungratefulness.

The next time that Tenma is beckoned, Tobio takes matters into his own hands. He does understand, now; and he would have, if only Tenma had bothered to explain sooner. If it's a debt that needs clearing, he will work. He will help his father clear his debts however he can. Of course, it's difficult to find work as a child; but a circus troupe finds amusement in the idea of a child robot, and takes him in. He is whisked into a certainly unpleasant working situation, but he remembers his father, and what he must be enduring. Tobio, also, will endure.

When Tenma returns, Tobio is gone.

All that held Tenma back from becoming something monstrous has disappeared. All that kept him going has disappeared. When he is called upon by Teiai, there is no knowing what sort of person might come out the other end; whether a monster clawing his way to freedom regardless of what actions he must take, or a desolate husk surrendering defeat.

There is still a light, however dim: Found by Professor Ochanomizu and rescued from the circus, Tobio - now Atom - is able to shed light on the situation which Tenma took great pains to keep hidden from his old friend. With time running out, Ochanomizu and Atom must do what they can to save Tenma - from Teiai, and from himself.

-----

UHHH and that's a wrap!!!! I couldn't quite decide which way Tenma would go after hitting Rock Bottom in this AU, and tbh it would really depend on the kind of mental state he's in at the time. On the one hand I like the narrative of Ochanomizu and Tobio racing to prevent Tenma from crossing a line (actual outright murder probably) - or having to pull him back into humanity (and yknow, his ensuing penance)

But on the other hand having him get sent to Teiai Evil Hell Prison would be interesting because a) there's a lot of narrative potential having Tenma faced with what Teiai is doing with the people that lose the games and b) need him to decimate the foreman at chinchirorin Kaiji style

Tenma's whole character is definitely a much different guy in this AU, he starts off pretty sympathetic, the guy you wanna root for, he just ends up having an inverse character arc where he gets worse instead of better. His conflict with "Tobio" is also kind of reversed, less about being unsatisfied with Tobio as a son and more not being able to handle the fact that he probably has intense PTSD now and isnt capable of coping with it in a way conducive to being a parent (or like, coping at all)

Anyway that's gambling apocalypse tenma!!!