#but other kinds r still alien to her | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blockgamepirate · 5 months

Text

R = Rose (well, it's probably her), E = The Ender King

R: Long ago, E: A lifetime ago,

R: there was a child of the sky… E: there lived a man who fancied himself an explorer. . .

R: whose feathers were as dark as the night, of wings E: who flew with angels' wings,

R: that span across the Heavens. E: as vast as the endless Void.

R: He would take flight, possessing an unwavering spirit E: He soared wherever his whims took him,

R: and journeying through the unknown with a brave heart. E: claiming the treasures and secrets of the unknown as his own.

R: Day by day, E: Time after time,

R: he overcame trials and tribulations, an unwavering soul. E: he fought through trials no person was ever meant to survive.

These opening lines match so closely and it makes the differences in wording and tone very noticeable and interesting.

Rose (I'm just gonna assume it's her, alright) calls Phil a "child of the sky", the Ender King a "man who fancied himself an explorer". Rose is older than the Ender King and she's a protector, she views him as a child. The Ender King is scornful of others doesn't care about anyone but himself and views Phil as a man but immediately implies that Phil himself doesn't understand himself as well as he understands him.

Rose refers to the wings as "dark" but for the Ender King dark wings are kinda obvious, I mean what other kinds of wings are there, right? Instead he focuses on the comparison with angels, because feathers are kind of an alien concept for him, maybe, idk.

What Rose sees as "unwavering spirit", the Ender King sees as "whims", what Rose sees as journeying with a brave heart, the Ender King sees as conquest of the unknown. I think both are majorly projecting here lmao. They're describing themselves more than they're describing Phil.

Rose stresses Phil's unwavering soul "overcoming" trials, the Ender King sees them as battles to be "fought", maybe with a hint of grudging respect for Phil's success against all odds?

The rest of the text in each letter is less obviously mirrored, but the broad lines are still the same:

Rose describes Phil’s misfortune as seemingly having no clear reason, it’s just something that happened and it was a tragedy, but there's still hope for him. She focuses on his feelings of sadness and the way his presence was missed.

The Ender King blames Phil and sees this as some sort of divine punishment for his greed, again projecting his own faults onto Phil, that can only be escaped through redemption. This is clearly how he sees his own predicament now. And he draws that connection himself, explicitly.

I think by this point it's obvious that Rose views Phil as a child (her child?), the Ender King views him as a reflection of himself.

Rose only mentions herself off-handedly, doesn’t make a big deal of herself and even tries to dismiss her identity as unimportant. She only expresses her familiarity with Phil and that she feels his pain and wants to help him. She assures him that they will meet again (not realising that her message ended up being everything but comforting for him, oops.)

The Ender King talks about himself almost as much if not more than he talks about Phil, and only sees Phil’s value in his relation to himself. He makes a big deal about being THE ONLY ONE who can help Phil, which he offers to do, in the most condescending way possible. ”to grant you the peace of mind you so desperately seek”, okay dude.

And of course the way he addresses Phil is full of mockery where Rose's is full of gentle praise. It's interesting that he calls Phil by name, though, while Rose only addresses him by the same sobriquet she used in the beginning, "child of the sky".

It's also interesting how Rose seems to focus a LOT on Phil's wings, but it's hard to say if this is metaphorical or literal (or both). The Ender King's letter definitely makes it sound more like it's about Phil's mental state, him seeking "peace of mind". Rose also sort of touches on something related to that with the comment about his memories, but that's kinda it. The Ender King refers to his derealisation episodes very bluntly. Although I don't think either of them mean the problems with derealization is the thing he needs guidance for, considering they're BOTH actively making it worse with their messages.

If I were to guess, it's probably about him losing his memories and getting trapped on Quesadilla Island? idk. Possibly also the wings but I'm starting to lean towards the wings just needing to heal on their own and he probably doesn't actually need help with that.

Anyway, there are a lot of differences between the letters, but there are also a lot of core similarities: both of them are in a way treating him as a child, or a naive and childish person, both of them recognise his pain, both of them offer guidance and relief for said pain, although one through "faith" and one through "redemption" (oh boy there's a lot to say about that particular contrast that one could maybe make some real life comparisons about...) and although Rose does it a lot more, both of them associate him heavily with his wings.

I feel like there's also a certain level of respect for him in both letters, paradoxically. You wouldn't think that from how you have this almost coddling tone on one hand and mocking and condescending on the other. But they both describe him as a larger-than-life figure, almost like a mythical creature or a legendary hero (hero in the ancient sense of the word). And the way they BOTH emphasize the unfathomable vastness of his wings in such similar ways also doesn't seem coincidental. That's not how you (as a god) describe a mortal man, that's how you describe a fellow divine being.

(Honestly, these descriptions almost sound like he's a personification of a natural force, like he isn't just like the night or like the darkness, he is the night, he is the darkness, he is the void. What else would have wings that stretched out across the entire sky?)

And of course they both ultimately see him as someone worthy of their divine guidance.

I'm so excited to see if the other deities send him their own messages, I can't wait

#ph1lza #qsmp #philza #ph1lza hardcore s4

263 notes · View notes

spacehippieface · 1 year

Text

A monstrous tripod, higher than many houses, striding over the young pine trees, and smashing them aside in its career; a walking engine of glittering metal, striding now across the heather; articulate ropes of steel dangling from it, and the clattering tumult of its passage mingling with the riot of the thunder. A flash, and it came out vividly, heeling over one way with two feet in the air, to vanish and reappear almost instantly as it seemed, with the next flash, a hundred yards nearer. Can you imagine a milking stool tilted and bowled violently along the ground? That was the impression those instant flashes gave. But instead of a milking stool imagine it a great body of machinery on a tripod stand. [...]

Seen nearer, the Thing was incredibly strange, for it was no mere insensate machine driving on its way. Machine it was, with a ringing metallic pace, and long, flexible, glittering tentacles (one of which gripped a young pine tree) swinging and rattling about its strange body. It picked its road as it went striding along, and the brazen hood that surmounted it moved to and fro with the inevitable suggestion of a head looking about. Behind the main body was a huge mass of white metal like a gigantic fisherman’s basket, and puffs of green smoke squirted out from the joints of the limbs as the monster swept by me.

Let's talk tripods! Every artist and fiilmmaker has different interpretations of the fighting machines. It's not hard to picture a towering three-legged alien death machine, of course, Wells gives us a good picture of what they look like, but I want to go over a few depictions of them and compare them to his written description, in no particular order, because I think it's interesting, and I think WOTW might actually be a special interest:

Wells drew this one himself. It's a stick figure, of course, but this was how he pictured them. I especially like the little guy going "oo-er!" at the sight of it, almost in polite terror.

The BBC version. To me, this one owes a bit more to Transformers design-wise, and moves like the Cloverfield monster, like the MUTO, like a lot of giant monsters we've seen in recent years, terrestrial or otherwise. But they are still menacing, and they actually make a clear "aloo!" noise when calling to each other. I've got to give them that, even though the BBC screwed up the Martians, the cylinder, they kept going on about Russia, the whole "you can't marry her, you're already married to your cousin" bit. It was a mess.

The Edward Gorey illustrations. O is for Ogilvy, burned like the flag. P's for the Parson, oh, what a drag. Sorry. This is basically a flying saucer with legs. Bit silly,but the tentacles are there, and the legs aren't the stiff kind Wells hated. Which brings us to...

Warwick Goble's illustrations from the original publication of WOTW in Pearson's Magazine. Wells famously hated these so much that when WOTW was published as a book, he wrote a segment into the story ragging on these stiff-legged water tower tripods. I think Goble took the milking stool description too literally, his tripods are always drawn tilted.

The 2005 Spielberg tripod. Great. Massive. Scary. Everything is there. The tentacles, the Heat Ray arm (two even), the suggestion of a head, even the basket. Say what you want about this movie with its excessive amount of Tom Cruise and young Dakota Fanning screaming, but the tripods are fantastic. Damn near perfect even. I think Wells would be very pleased.

The 1953 design. I am very fond of these, they're a great classic sci-fi ship, but they're more akin to the flying machines than the tripods. The filmmakers try to loophole their way out by talking about invisible electrostatic legs (which you can see when the machines initially appear) but I'm pretty sure they went this route because the film was getting more and more expensive and the budget wouldn't extend to stop-motion for the legs. Still, a wonderful creation, the goose neck/cobra head design for the Heat Ray is a good touch and my god, the hissing, ticking noises these things made. Love them.

The Jeff Wayne musical design. My favourite. My beloved. My nightmare fuel. Totally iconic. I'm sure when most people think WOTW, their first thought is the legendary album cover featuring one of these monsters melting the Thunder Child's valiant heart. Doesn't make them book-accurate though. The Heat Ray is built into the chassis, it's all one unit rather than a separate head on a body, the basket was given to the handling machines, and they are stiff-legged in stills. But they're scary in motion, and their howls still give me the jibblies. OH GOD, THOSE HOWLS. Opening Horsell Common And The Heat Ray on the Highlights album with that scream isn't fair!

Henrique Alvim-Corrêa's illustrations for the Belgian publication, and Wells' favourites. The effects of the Heat Ray are chilling, and they're definitely sinister when there's a lot of them just standing there or coldly blasting humans. But I'm just not sold on those googly eyes, they make them goofier. Although when these designs were used for the War of the Worlds 1913 indie game (which I still need to play) the eyes were just blank. Redemption!

#daily war of the worlds

514 notes · View notes

katshuya · 2 months

Text

No matter what George does. No matter if he twisted it into "Elia was ok and never felt humiliated nor used, and the Martells didn't mind what Rhaegar did" or if George decided never to talk about Elia. R x L will always be disgusting and not a tragic love story.

Any sane human being can see that.

Even in a creepy scenario where she was ok with it OR one where she didn't love Rhaegar, he will always be to blame, and he still used her.

That's why the R x L stans always try to either ignore her existence or reduce it into nothing and her into some kind of supernatural alien human that is ok with everything dirty done to her.

Because they know their oh so tragic, self insert true love story will always seem disgusting because of Elia's existence in the story.

No amount of excuses or fanarts will ever change this truth. No matter which characters George will make accepting and supporting of them (Ned, Arthur, Oberyn, Doran, Ashara, Lewyn and even Elia herself....ect). Why? Because it's unrealistic.

Even if R and L's were running away from Aerys, then suddenly *accidentally* saw a prophecy or fell in love.

OR Even if George made it that Rhaegar wouldn't have left her if she had been able to give him another child. It doesn't change that he abandoned her and their children in the worst way possible with no protection against Aerys and his loyal kingsguard. And even then, it's hard to believe she'd accept just because he told her : Hey, I see in my dreams that I have to have 3 children or we all die. Like, what is this? She almost died for that, no thanks to you and your one after another impregnation.

It's disgusting and not well-written at all.

That's just the plain truth.

That's why a huge part of the fandom dislikes it. Not because they "didn't read the books" or "they lack critical thinking".

It's actually because they know how to think instead of inserting themselves as not like other girls girl and shipping themselves with terrible husband and father, charismatic depressed prince charming.

Poor Rhaegar had a sense of doom following him and knew he'd die soon so Elia let him be? That's very idiotic.

No. Elia being fine with annulment or polygamy isn't normal unless she is forced to. And you know it.

#anti Rhaegar #elia martell #asoiaf #anti rhaegar x lyanna #game of thrones #elia deserves better #lyanna stark #rhaegar targaryen #lyanna isn't faultless #a song of ice and fire #grrm critical #Anti GRRM

56 notes · View notes

janeway-or-the-highway · 5 months

Text

My entry for the @25daysofvoyager ! A little part 1 of a J/C fanfic. Fluff. Action/Adventure. Angst. Aliens mistaking JC as married again. Enjoy!

“Chakotay, please!”

Kathryn dodged another blow and stumbled backward.

“Chakotay! This isn’t you!” She shouted at him, still struggling to put any distance between them on her sprained ankle, before it finally gave out.

He strode toward her, but paused when he saw a large branch on the ground. He reached down and grabbed it, then seemed to test it in his hands.

“And how do you know this ‘isn’t me’?” Chakotay said, his voice deep, and dangerous.

“I know you!”

“No. You don’t,” he said, closing the distance between them and swinging the branch down on her.

THREE DAYS EARLIER

Captain’s Log:

“It is our second day in orbit around the planet Caldar. The Caldari are a very pleasant people and trade negotiations have gone well so far. The Caldari have graciously opened their planet to the crew for shore leave. Tuvok didn’t find anything to suggest bad intent and didn’t have any objections, which I guess is as close to a compliment as you can get from a Vulcan. It is nice to be reminded that the Delta Quadrant has just as many friendly species as dangerous ones. Everyone is in desperate need of some R&R. Myself included, as Chakotay is always reminding me. Being stuck in negotiations, Chakotay and I have only seen the government centers of Caldar, but I look forward to getting to explore this rich planet more. Chakotay mentioned hearing that the twin sunset over the cliffs of Rohem was worth exploring, and I am hoping to take him up on that. Tom and Harry keep coming back with stories to keep us entertained in the meantime. A personal highlight was Tom’s retelling of Harry’s failed attempt to ride, what Tom described as a horse-sized mix between a pig and a hippo. The Doctor says that Harry needs to be off-duty for 24 hours. I had to elbow Chakotay to keep him from bursting out laughing at the Doctor’s report; Harry’s already embarrassed enough as it is. However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be enjoying those holo-photos later.

On the business side of things, Caldar continues to impress. The planet might as well be one giant ball of dilithium. You should have seen how fast B’Elanna made it to the bridge when the planet showed up on sensors. Their entire economy is built on the sale and trade of this material that we so often find ourselves scrounging for. At first, I worried about what they were going to ask for in exchange, but what the Caldari are most interested in are the various cultures of the Alpha Quadrant. Their people collect different cultures and integrate them into their own society. I recognize some bits and pieces of cultures from throughout the Delta Quadrant, while some things are completely new. However, the custom that is of the utmost importance is their one unique tradition. The Caldari take partnership very seriously. Their society includes partnerships of all kinds; males with males, females with females, and male with female, etc. Regardless of the type of partnership, once a pair has chosen each other, they become part of one another. This “sacred partnership” is at the heart of their civilization and they champion it above all else. However, from what I understand, they do not believe in the concept of soulmates, rather that they are all on a path that will one day lead them to their missing piece. It is a society built on the idea of the peaceful pursuit of love. It is quite beautiful.

Anyway, I am hoping to exchange our cultural database we will get enough dilithium to keep B’Elanna happy for quite some time.

Despite everything that this planet has given us, I find myself still apprehensive. The Delta Quadrant is rarely this kind and I…”

The chime to the ready room interrupted Kathryn’s log.

“Computer, end log” she said while pushing the console to the side,

“Come in.”

Chakotay walked in.

“Good morning, Commander,” a soft smile spread across her face.

“Good morning, Captain. I have the crew rotations for the next month.”

“Thank you. Have I missed any more of Tom’s stories since I’ve been off the bridge?”

“No, but you did miss Neelix’s rousing report promising ‘new and improved’ recipes for leola root” Chakotay chuckled as Kathryn’s face turned into a grimace.

“Hopefully they are better than his last ‘masterpieces.’ I’m still low on replicator rations from last time.”

“Me too. Mostly from you convincing me to get you more coffee,” Chakotay said with a knowing look.

Kathryn smirked, “Captain’s prerogative. Plus, you have to admit that his latest attempt at ‘better than coffee’ coffee was unbearable.”

Chakotay chuckled. “Well, if Caldari food is anything like their hospitality, I think that we will be alright.”

“Yes,” Kathryn stood and made her way over to the viewport. She clasped her hands behind her back, “The Caldari have been extremely welcoming to us.”

“But you’re worried,” Chakotay joined her at the viewport, “worried that they are too good to be true”

Kathryn gave him a sideways smile,

“Have you been reading my log?”

“No, I just know how you think”

“I feel like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’ve been in trade negotiations for over a day and all they’ve asked for is Picasso and Kadis-Kot! My gut is telling me there is something more,” she sighed.

Chakotay put his hand on her shoulder, “We have one of our last trade meetings today. Whatever comes our way we have always been able to make it through. Today will be no different.”

Their eyes met and Chakotay couldn’t help but get caught in those pools of blue. Their relationship, after so much hardship, was finally starting to settle down again. Their weekly dinners were the highlight of his week and recently Kathryn was starting to let him in a little more. Not beyond anything that couldn’t be brushed off as close friendship, but still.

Chakotay knew that he had fallen for Kathryn a long time ago, from the moment they locked eyes on the bridge, but it was the shared moments like these where he recognized the depth of his feelings for her. He would wait for her. The angry warrior would stay by her side, for as long as it took.

Spirits, I’m lost.

“Thank you, Chakotay,” she said softly.

“Of course, Kathryn.”

“Tuvok to Captain Janeway.”

He dropped his hand from her shoulder.

Tuvok and his timing.

“Go ahead.”

“Captain, the Caldari ambassadors have arrived to begin negotiations. They are waiting for you and the Commander in the briefing room.”

“Thank you, Tuvok. We are on our way”

Chakotay moved towards the door, but Kathryn continued to stand looking out the viewport. Chakotay’s voice interrupted her worried thoughts,

“Are you coming, Captain?”

“Yes, I am right behind you”

Chakotay flashed her a smile and exited. Kathryn shook her head and followed after him.

Oh, I am so lost.

“Captain, I am glad that Voyager found its way to our corner of the galaxy. I think both of our people will benefit from these negotiations.” The Caldari ambassador, Turin, sat at the end of the briefing room table. The color of his skin reminded Kathryn of lilacs. The soft texture of his light purple skin was accompanied by small streaks of green that accentuated his humanoid cheekbones and jaw. His cheekbones stuck out on his face but seemed like they wrapped around his head towards the back of his skull, giving his face a sleek appearance.

“Thank you, Ambassador. I agree. I hope you find Alpha Quadrant culture as interesting as we do”

“Yes, there is much to explore. You have an extensive database on so many species! It will keep our scholars busy until the next Dual Eclipse!” The green streaks of his skin gave a soft glow with his excitement.

“I hope so, and if I may, I would recommend Dante. He is a philosopher from Earth’s history, and a personal favorite of mine.”

“Thank you for the recommendation. Now, Captain, I have a few formalities before we begin. Requirements from the High Council. You understand?” Turin said.

“Of course”

Turin reached into the satchel that sat on the floor next to him and brought out a beautifully bound book filled with greenish pages. When Turin opened the book, Kathryn realized that the pages’ green hue was similar in color to the streaks on the Caldari’s faces. She wondered if this was due to choice, or something in the planet’s biology that affected both of them. She suppressed the urge to ask as he began to speak.

“Captain, as you are aware, our society values partnership over everything else. You assured us that your culture assumes a similar view to the importance of partnership, which is what allowed us to begin this fruitful relationship between our two peoples in the first place. However, we are concerned, and frankly somewhat… off put, that you have yet to introduce us to your partner.”

Kathryn paused and tried to absorb what Turin was saying, “I’m sorry, Ambassador. I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Turin’s mouth twitched, “We do not interact, or much less conduct trade, with peoples whose leader is unpartnered. It is an unspeakable offense. Furthermore, if we were to be led into an arrangement under false circumstances regarding one’s partnership status, we would consider that an act of aggression against our planet.”

Kathryn’s typically quick-witted diplomatic mind felt like it stalled out. A partner? She was the Captain! A relationship out here could never be a partnership. Not when every available person was someone under her command. “Ambassador, you have to understand, as Captain, I don’t -“

“You don’t what?” The threat was clear. Turin’s jovial attitude was long gone and his streaks shifted to a deeper green as his mood shifted.

“I-“ Kathryn started, but Chakotay’s hand coming to rest on hers stopped her. She resisted the urge to yank her hand out from under his as she locked eyes with him. As it often was with him, she needed no words to understand what he was saying:

Trust me.

And she did.

“Ambassador Turin,” Chakotay started, “I am the Captain’s life partner.” He moved his hand on hers to interlock their fingers. Kathryn let him, since all of her energy was being spent actively trying not to have the panic she was feeling on the inside show on her face. “You have to understand,” Chakotay continued, “the Captain is not used to sharing the status of our relationship since our job’s put us in a tricky position, considering that it could be taken advantage of by our enemies. If our feelings and commitment to one another were to become common knowledge, any number of species could use that to their advantage. And, sir, as you said, our culture values our partnerships, and you’re right. If anything were to happen to Kathryn, I would stop at nothing to get her back, including putting others at risk.”

Turin visibly calmed down, but seemed wary. “But why keep this information from us. We have shown nothing but hospitality to you!”

“We apologize and don’t mean to offend, but it is just something that we’ve gotten used to protecting.”

Turin seemed to accept this and clapped his hands together. “Oh, great happiness! We are glad to keep you as friends. Now, we must discuss the Three Trials.”

“The Three Trials?” Kathryn found her voice again, but still struggled to stay focused with her hand intertwined with Chakotay’s.

“The Three Trials are three tasks meant to prove your love and commitment to one another.”

Kathryn shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“This serves a dual purpose: one, to confirm your partnership, and, two, to determine if you are tjaasaktic. Will you comply?”

The universal translator faked to pick up the last word, but all Kathryn could think of was their desperate need for the Caldari’s friendship and trade. “When do we start?”

Should I do a part 2?

#25 days of voyager and prodigy #janeway x chakotay #kathryn janeway #star trek voyager #captain janeway #chakotay

82 notes · View notes

iamnotoriginalphil · 1 year

Note

Hey there! I was wondering if you would consider writing reader x Larissa where she takes home the panda from the fair? Like how would r react to her just turning up at home lugging the giant panda?

Here you go, Anon. I hope you enjoy it.

“Rissa?”

She poked her head out of the bathroom, fingers in her hair, pulling pins out with deft fingers. You turned your head back to look at the giant stuffed panda on the bed, nestled against the pillows, so out of place.

“Yes, my love?” she asked.

“Panda?” You pointed at it, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“It certainly is,” she replied.

“Sweetheart, I never thought I’d ask this, but why is there a giant panda on our bed?” you asked

She stepped out of the bathroom, doing her best to look innocent. You waited, wanting her explanation for the newest member of your family. She sat on the edge of the bed, still pulling pins from her hair.

“Have you heard what it says?” she asked.

“No?”

She gestured to it. You crawled over the bed, ignoring the way she sat back to watch you. Usually when you were crawling on the bed it wasn’t to play with a stuffed toy. You pressed its stomach.

“I love you.”

You looked at it, pressing the stomach again. The same message came from within it and you felt this was one of those moments where you might be dreaming. Or maybe you were having a fever dream.

“I’m going to ask again,” you said, turning back to her, “why?”

She sighed, holding her arms out to you. You crawled into her lap, now helping her remove the pins from her hair. She almost purred as your fingers massaged her scalp, leaning into your touch.

“You won’t believe it’s a gift for you, will you?” she asked.

“If it is, I’m going to begin to question when aliens replaced you,” you replied. Her lips quirked up in a smile, still painted red, so kissable.

You didn’t hold back, giving her a quick kiss, only she chased you when you tried to draw back. You laughed into her mouth, as she traced her hands down your spine. You sat back, holding her in place.

“So what’s up with the panda?” you asked, determined to get the answer.

“Wednesday won it and used it to distract me at the fun fair so she could run off,” she said with a sigh.

“That girl certainly keeps you on your toes,” you chuckled.

“She’s trouble,” she said.

“You like her.”

“Mm hm,” she said as your fingers began to massage her scalp again.

You placed a kiss on her brow, taking in her comforting scent, like flowers and old books and fire. She arms tightened around your waist until your head was resting against her shoulder and you were hugging her close.

“It can’t stay here,” you said, “I’m not sharing a bed with that thing.”

“Why?” You could hear the humour in her voice.

“Because your teenage student gave you a massive panda that says ‘I love you’ in a kind of creepy childish voice, and I’d rather not hear that in my ear in the middle of the night,” you said.

“Don’t worry, darling,” she said, “I’d much rather be cuddled up next to you in bed.”

“Thank god for that.”

You kissed her again, but you were both laughing and you couldn’t help but look at the panda again. You lent over, pulling it towards you, setting off the noise again. You got off her, walking over to the settee on the other side of the room putting it down.

You patted the top of its head before turning back to Larissa. She held her hands out to you, dragging you back onto her lap. Her kisses were sweet, and you quickly forgot about the panda.

#larissa weems imagine #larissa weems x reader #larissa weems #principal weems imagine #principal weems x reader

384 notes · View notes

cceanvvaves · 8 months

Text

growing up; p.jh

(moved to isanggayfrog) warning: none

Jihyo and Y/N have been inseparable the moment they met. The latter arriving in Jihyo's town at the raw age of 4, it was no question as to how the two became so close easily, being the same age, give or take a few months.

Two girls stood behind their fathers, small hands clutching the men's legs. The slightly shorter of the two stared with wide, curious eyes, wanting to make a new friend but too timid to approach first. Instead, she sent a shy smile, to which Y/n responded with a small one of her own. "Sorry about my daughter," Y/n's father laughed. "I assure you, she's very talkative at home. She's still young, so moving's probably different for her, though I hope she's too young to miss the old house much." Mr. Park looked at her amusedly, pushing Jihyo out from behind. "Go on, say hi."

***

"'M bored," complained Y/n, lazily scribbling a messy 'bear' on her paper. She glanced over at Jihyo's drawing, eyes widening impressed at the much neater flowers. "Look," said Jihyo excitedly, "this one is me" - she pointed at a stick figure in a triangular dress - "and this is you!" she tapped another 'girl' with wiggly lines for hair. The doodles could only be told apart by the dresses' colors, one pink and the other purple. She wrote a barely legible note that said 'Y/n n Jihyo 4evr' with a crossed out 'Jiho' and inverted r. "Really?" Y/n asked brightly, understanding the seemingly alien handwriting. Jihyo nodded. "You agree, right?" "Of course!"

***

"Dad?" Jihyo called up to her father. At 8 years of age, she proved to be a very curious and observant child. "Why do you kiss mommy?" Mr. Park looked into the innocent eyes of his daughter and chuckled. "Because I love her, very, very much." Equipped with this information, she skipped happily to her best friend, pulling her along to the privacy of the bedroom, away from parents' prying eyes. Jihyo suddenly became nervous, which didn't go unnoticed by Y/n.

"What's wrong?" the (still) slightly taller asked, taking her friend's left hand in her own, since the right was hidden behind her back. Slowly, the young Park produced a small, square box, topped with a purple bow. "I asked mommy to let me get it for you," she explained, head bowed. Y/n took it carefully into her hands, slowly lifting the lid and gasping at its contents. A beautiful key pendant shone back at her, its golden glow reflecting in her eyes.

"It's... beautiful," she breathed. "I- thank you- I can't- how can I-" She was cut off by a chaste kiss to the lips, given by none other than Jihyo, oblivious to society's views. "Dad said people kiss when they love each other," she mumbled. "And I love you," she finished matter-of-factly, with a bright smile, which Y/n returned after recovering from the surprise. "I love you, too!"

***

"Did you have fun with Jihyo today?" asked Y/n's mother during dinner. At the mention of her best friend's name, the 8 year old's eyes brightened. "Yes! She gave me a gift. I love her," she finished confidently, scooping some rice into her mouth. Her father frowned. "You love her?" Y/n nodded, "I love her! Like you love mama." Shaking their heads, the parents thought she was too young to know the different kinds of love, so they let it pass, taking it to mean that Y/n loved Jihyo as a sister.

***

A duo of 12 year old girls cuddled by the window, limbs tangled in the covers and staring at the same book. Both of them looked quite untidy, which wasn't really unusual since it was very early in the morning. Y/n and Jihyo had had a sleepover, presently reading Cinderella's story together. "You know, I always wanted to be a princess," Jihyo stated, turning a page. Y/n snorted. "You're already like Cinderella, you somehow manage to lose your shoes and I have to tie your shoelaces." The shorter scowled before retorting, "Well, you're like Elsa, so cold."

"I am not cold. You're like Belle! If books were people, you'd probably marry one." "Then I'll be Belle and you'll be Ariel, you're as clumsy as her, anyway," Jihyo decided. "Nah, I'll be your prince charming," Y/n teased. "Are you implying that I am the beauty and you are the beast?" Y/n feigned a look of hurt. "Rude! And I thought my future girlfriend was a lovely lady." Jihyo blushed.

***

But all the oblivious talk about love and being girlfriends, all the 'dates' and sneaked hugs ceased as they grew older. People started to raise eyebrows when they were a bit too close; it was no longer cooed at like it was when they were 'young and clueless'. With this, the best friends drifted apart, more focused on getting good grades, hanging out with other friend groups and living their youthful life. Their relationship only worsened when Y/n didn't lose her 'childhood feelings'. Jihyo, on the other hand, had gotten herself a boyfriend, no longer having enough time for all her friendships. It was probably because of this they had a fight.

Both sat around a glass bottle among friends, together in a mutual friend's house. The small group was in the middle of a Truth or Dare game. The last player, Nayeon, who'd just danced to the Macarena for 5 minutes, spun the bottle. It landed on Jihyo, who was asked by a mischievous Nayeon after picking Truth, "Was Daniel your first kiss?" Jihyo glanced at Y/n, who either didn't care or wasn't paying attention. "Yes," she said. Y/n stood abruptly and stalked off without a word, leaving the remaining girls confused.

***

"Why are you avoiding me?" Jihyo cornered Y/n at the girl's bathroom. "Why do you care?" she shot back, already having a bad day and not wishing to deal with anything at the moment. "What? Because I'm worried about you, idiot! Your grades dropped when you're usually a perfectionist, you seem to leave every time I enter the room, and you're always grumpy!" Y/n glared, rising up to her full height, trying to intimidate the shorter. "Why don't you hang out with your boyfriend instead, huh? I bet he keeps you busy." Jihyo gasped, offended. Pushing Y/n harshly by the shoulder, she said in a higher voice, "What are you implying, huh?! What's your problem?"

"You! You're my problem! Just because we're older, you left me! Sure, I understand you have limited time, you have to juggle it between studies and socializing, but every time I try to hang out with you, you have to decline for your other friends or boyfriend! Is seeing them everyday not enough? Do you even miss me?" she ranted, pushing her way out and slamming the door, leaving Jihyo bewildered.

***

"Jihyo's here to see you, dear!" Y/n's mother called from downstairs. "I'm busy!" she yelled back, but it was a complete lie. She was simply lying down on her bed and sobbing inside. "You shouldn't lie to my face like that," her visitor said with her arms crossed. Peeking at her from under her arm, Y/n scoffed. "Leave me alone." "That's not nice," Jihyo patted the covers smooth. "Do you remember what we used to do here? You said you'd be my prince charming." She smiled at the memory. "Well, you've found your true prince charming," the taller turned away. "No, actually. We broke up a few days ago. I suppose you didn't know because you've been avoiding me," Jihyo added shrewdly. "Why?"

"'Cause we agreed that we didn't like each other anymore."

"Okay," said Y/n, dropping her head back on the soft pillows and willing herself to fall asleep. But she was interrupted by Jihyo. "Do you remember what happened here when we were eight?"

A flash of memory went through her mind. Of course she remembers, it was the happiest day of her life. No, every moment with Jihyo was the happiest. Her hand subconsciously moved to wrap around the key necklace. The action was noticed by the giver.

"You still have it."

"Yeah,"

Silence.. and then-

"Can I kiss you?"

Y/n shot up in surprise, looking incredulously at her friend. "Sorry?"

"You heard me," Jihyo whispered, scooting closer. Y/n thought for a moment. Jihyo broke up with her boyfriend, so she wasn't ruining a relationship.. "Okay."

Jihyo pressed her lips on Y/n's quite roughly, not as gentle as it was when they were 8. Hands roamed each other's bodies, the atmosphere getting hotter by the second and both girls losing the ability to breathe-

Before it escalated further, Y/n pushed her away. "Was that enough for you?" she mumbled with swollen lips, stretching her collar in desperation to cool down.

"It only ever felt right with you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Y/n grinned. "I'll be your prince charming."

#twice #female!reader #jihyo x reader #park jihyo #twice imagines

120 notes · View notes

illarian-rambling · 1 month

Note

Daisy and Daffodil for the flowery ask game ;)

Daisy - What inspired you to create your OC?

Izjik: I'm scared of fish and underwater caves and needed someone to be scared with me

Sepo: Izjik needed a friend and the concept of a mute, aroace, siren man was funny to me

Twenari: Sepo and Izjik needed someone to pull them into trouble, and wouldn't it be great if she was Doctor Strange but a twelve year old girl?

Djek: For a very early draft, Izjik and Sepo joined a mercenary guild, and I wanted a really underwhelming sorcerer who was good at other things on their team. Funnily enough, there was also a knight character in their squad named Destoux. I scrapped him, but the idea returned as Daedryn, the book 2 antagonist.

Astra: I needed a wizard npc to get my dnd players on the right track for a story arc. I wanted her to have a real hick accent because wizards are usually posh and british. Later on, I liked her enough that she got a book.

Mashal: I needed another npc accompanying Astra to have an emotional attachment to the villain. Also, robot. Love robot.

Ivander: I did a sketch this one time of a leperous elf woman wearing a beautiful porcelain mask. That idea morphed until it became a half-alien man wearing an illusion to cover a curse.

Daffodil - Is your OC likeable?

Likable is a pretty subjective thing, so I'm gonna rate them on how much I personally would want to spend a day with them.

Izjik - 9/10: A very solidly likable woman. She's funny, down to earth, could bench press two of me, and loves hiking. The only downside is that she wouldn't get my nerdy jokes.

Sepo - 7/10: Once he warms up to you, he's clever, likes to tease endearingly, and will do most anything for you. He's very much a grumpy older brother. However, that warm-up period is really rough.

Twenari - 8/10: We're both nerds, but in different directions. I think I could have some wonderful conversations with her, and I always love someone I can read in silence with. I do think I'd forget that she's twelve and invite her out to an R-rated movie or something.

Djek - 6/10: Personally, I'm not the type to hang out with life-of-the-party extroverts. I think he and I would get along swimmingly, I just don't think we'd interact much due to different hobbies.

Astra - 5/10: Lord, this woman would get on my nerves. I get that her prickly overconfidence is a defense mechanism (I wrote her that way, after all), but if I had to interact with her as a regular person, I doubt I'd see past it. I'd still think she's undeniably cool, though.

Mashal - 8/10: A genuinely kind and lovely man. He's the type to make you cupcakes because he thinks you're having a bad day or to remember what music you like so he can listen to it later. He only gets points off because he's a bit of a prude and would frown sadly whenever I talk about graffiti plans.

Ivander - 4/10: A fascinating specimen of a person, but god, what an absolute bitch. He's mean to people, no two ways about it. He'd make that middle school bully face while fake-complimenting your shoes to make you feel poor. He isn't lower on points because I appreciate people who are unabashed gossips and have no compunctions about telling me what Kelly from HR is up to when her husband is out of town.

Thanks for the asks, these were fun!

#writing #writerscommunity #writblr #my ocs #author

13 notes · View notes

shoko-komi · 5 months

Text

This special edition of The Komi Report is split into 2 posts. This is Part 1. Click here for Part 2

Hullo! Welcome to the mildly anticipated 2023 Annual Edition of The Komi report! What awaits you below the read more mark is the ultimate retrospective on this year in Komi Can't Communicate. What makes it ultimate? As far as I'm aware, it's the only one of its kind. So I win by default.

I've spent the past week re-reading and ruminating upon the 50 chapters of Komi that came out in 2023, and I've done my very best to boil it all down into the ultimate mega-report!!! It's a long one, so only open it when you're ready for a read!

CONTENTS

1. A Letter from the Editor

2. 2023 in Review

3. The Emoi Awards: (My) Top 5 Chapters of the Year, Most Emoi Moment, Funniest Joke, and Reader’s Choice

A Letter From the Editor

Dear Reader,

It's been a long time since I tried to engage in fandom. People with whom I'm not already acquainted vex, confuse, and frighten me. So rather than seek out community, I'm inclined to keep to myself and my close inner circle of friends. You might say that Alice can't... Alice can't com... communi........

But I love Komi Can't Communicate so very much. Getting my little dose of emoi every Wednesday is the best part of my week. So, to extend the fun and keep myself from bursting; I started making reaction posts, called them The Komi Report because I like to play pretend, and here we are now!

The Komi Report is consistent only so far as it's always unfocused. I get so wrapped up thinking about the things I want to say that I forget to say most of them. I'm scattered, I'm overly harsh, and I'm awkward. However, I amuse myself tremendously. So it's alright in the end.

I like to imagine this is some big, serious publication with a large readership. That's far south of true. But there are a small handful of people who interact with the Report on a regular basis. By my personal standards, that puts me on par with the editor of the New York Times.

So my hearty thanks to anyone reading this special edition of The Komi Report. I have endeavored, in my silly little way, to stir up a few silly little emotions in your heart. If I succeed at that, then I’m satisfied indeed.

I wish you happy holidays, and a very happy new year.

2023 in Review

Alice,

The Komi Reporter

In my mind I break Komi Can't Communicate down into three major sections based on Komi's three years of high school. Her first year is the Bronze Age, second is the Golden Age, and third (which is still, of course, ongoing) is the Silver Age. By this naming scheme I don't mean to imply that one year is better than the other. Only that each of them represents a distinct period of Komi's narrative and for Tomohito Oda as an artist. Talk to me about that sometime; I'll talk your ear off.

Here I've attempted to break 2023 down into its major constituents as well. It's messy, considering the meandering nature of serial fiction like this, but I think I've done a decent job. How exciting for me.

‘Kawai’ encompasses both her story arc and chapters wherein she features predominantly. ‘Kissy Kissy’ and ‘Rumiko’ explain themselves. ‘Emoi surprise attack’ lumps together Ogiya, Emoyama, Fuki, Yadano, and Michita's story beats because I think they're identical in tone and intent. And ‘Komi and Hiki Reunite’ gets its own colour because I love Hiki Komorebi. And I can do whatever I want.

RIP the younger siblings. Shosuke, Hitomi, Ai, and Sanjuro-Rokuro appeared only very briefly this year. Fingers crossed they get some good moments in 2024.

To reflect on 2023 as a whole, I will discuss my general thoughts on each of these segments individually; bar Hiki and the assorted miscellany, for that would require talking too much about individual chapters and would derail everything and plunge us into a lake of fire.

Kawai

Reddit is a hostile and alien environment to me, but I like to peruse r/komi_san every now and then to see what people are saying. The Kawai-heavy months were particularly fun, because Ms Rami dominated conversation and polarized the entire subreddit into petty arguments, the likes of which I still chuckle about. There were Kawai haters, Kawai lovers, Kawai haters who compared her to Yamai, Yamai lovers who tried to turn those comparisons into a positive. It was chaos.

(Link)

Me? I'm a Kawai stan for life. I'll say it at every opportunity; I love when Komi shows off her passionate side – stubborn as a mule, jealous, competitive, and a little domineering. The study camp arc brought those parts of her right out. So, although I didn't find Kawai all that interesting as a character at first, I was enjoying myself.

An old flame of Tadano's - mentioned for the first time in a passing joke long, long ago - appears unexpectedly. She's like an evil dimension Komi – down to the way her shining silver hair contrasts with Komi's dark black-purple. There's no actual risk of her stealing Tadano away, but she undermines Komi's confidence and challenges her openly. A challenge that's impossible to resist.

They spar back and forth. Kawai has the advantage in athleticism and intellect. But when they come to the final portion of the quiz game, Kawai's self-centered attitude is her downfall yadda yadda etc. etc.

Then.... then.... they have that talk on the beach...

...where she reveals her batshit insane long-term plan to watch over Tadano from afar; become the perfect bride-to-be in secret; then appear when the moment is right, drive away all competition, and sweep him off his feet??? Ice-cold kuudere/yandere bitch queen. Be still, my beating heart 💞.

But she has the self-awareness to see things clearly – As she talks to Komi she begins to realize how her attitude has steered her wrong. She sees how Komi and Tadano have something real; how she's been fooling herself all along. Kawai admits that she was behaving poorly and concedes defeat. Growth!!!

I'm going to backflip across the room. I felt like I had achieved nirvana the first time I read this.

I see in Kawai a girl who's been isolated for so long – stuck in an absurd romantic fantasy as a coping mechanism – that she has no concept of how to engage with people casually. She was a lonely child, her parents died tragically, and then she was raised by people who didn't know what to do with her. She seeks meaningful connections but has an extreme, intense personality and abides by an overly literal definition of what makes a ‘family’. Thus, her behavior is overbearing and, at times, inappropriate. But she means well.

Also, she's the best new character since Rumiko and she should never change ever.

One of her lackey's has a big, gay crush on her...

...and I hope Kawai notices her some day.

I saw many people who were frustrated with how heavily Kawai featured in the first half of 2023. I for one think we need more of her. Much, much more of her. I choose not to address her... interesting relationship with her relatives. One must turn a blind eye now and then.

Kissy Kissy

Every romance story faces a serious problem when the lovebirds finally hook up. How do you retain romantic tension once they're formally together? Many stories don't. This is perfectly fine if the story ends at the confession of love, but if the story continues then there needs to be a deeper foundation to the relationship than will-they-won't-they tension (or you can contrive a reason to split them up again).

Komi Can't Communicate has not suffered from loss of romantic tension!!! Wahoo!!!!!

I was stoked back when it became obvious Oda was going to bring Komitano together so soon before the end of the series. I had no doubt the romance would remain compelling - Komi and Tadano are just plain old nice to see together; whatever they might be doing.

So to find out they'll be dating for an entire third of the series??? Yes please. In the english translated tankobon, the love triangle ended in March with the release of volume 23. So we got Komitano officially dating in print; then a few months later, in the weekly chapters, they kissed for the first time. What a year!!!

Tadano is boundlessly patient and thoughtful, and he understands Komi's needs with intuition that crosses the border into mind-reading. He became her first friend motivated only by an earnest desire to help, and never demonstrated jealousy as she became increasingly independent from him. He's a pleasant fellow; faithful, gentle, and kind.

Komi is.... well, she's Shoko Komi

The build up to it is so sweet. A festival date with just the two of them~ She's wearing the dress he chose; he's wearing a shirt with buttons on it (a step up for these shonen romance boys).

Then it goes terribly... and you'd expect these two stress machines to be panicking. But no, they've grown so much and bonded so deeply. They laugh it off in the rain and retreat somewhere dry for a smooch or two... 🥰 kyaaaaaa ✿!!! Emoi!!! And they're both crazy flustered about kissing... but Komi gets assertive... she's kinda like that asldnalsjdnja

The romance is alive. And between these moments, I just like seeing them together; no matter what's going on.

Rumiko

Way back when Rumiko was introduced, she was like a revelation. Her strong, unique personality and chemistry with the rest of the cast made her an instant series staple. Introducing a new character for a long and complex love triangle plotline was a tricky proposition, and Oda managed it with a stroke of genius. Such a stroke of genius that everything before Rumiko's intro feels, in retrospect, like it's missing something. Which is not to say that pre-Rumiko KCC is bad, or that Rumiko should have entered sooner. No. Everything about the way she was handled is perfect...

...up to a certain point. On a tangential note: if you think Rumitano should have been the outcome of the love triangle (hello! you know who you are :3) I can't honestly say I disagree. I don't agree. But I also don't disagree.

(Ch. 285)

(I like Rumitano and Komitano equally. And RumiKomi) But all of this is just lead-up to the matter at hand.

What's pertinent to this 2023 review is the way Rumiko has been handled post love triangle. During moments of passion I've blamed it on Wakai monopolizing her time, but that's unfair. Wakai is just fine. His will-they-won't-they plot with Rumiko is just fine. I do enjoy it at times. What gets on my nerves is how reduced Rumiko feels. At some point Oda decided she's ‘girl who makes unsightly facial expressions’ and that's so much of what we get of her when we get to see her. Her personality has been somewhat squashed.

Couple that with how the focus of her plot with Wakai is primarily on him. She feels like a side character now, when in the past she was effectively a third protagonist. It was inevitable that she step down from her peak of prominence as her role as rival-in-love came to an end, but... idk. She's Komi's best friend (Tadano doesn't count). She’s the Rumiko Manbagi.

There are moments where Rumiko's personality still shines. During her date with Tadano in particular (which was a breath of fresh air). I also enjoyed her summer festival date with Wakai (Accidentally calling a girl ‘mum’ on the first date? I'd die). Those moments are lovely. But feel diluted...

^^ In this moment I felt like her relationship with Wakai might become really interesting akoakjsndnasd

I said up above that I think KCC is in its Silver Age. Well, there's a major reason why. The magic isn't lost, but it's faded ever so slightly without the golden lustre of our favourite gyaru's hair......

But who knows what'll happen next? Oda surprises me constantly, and I think that's one of the things I love so much about this series. Right when he starts to lose me, Oda reels me back in. A comeback for Rumiko could be right around the corner.

Emoi Surprise Attack

This is the loosest of my categories. What can I say? I'm a loose girl. No... uh... pretend I didn't say that. It's true, but this isn't the time or place.

These stories are related insofar as the last few months of 2023 have been a grab-bag of minor characters receiving surprising and heartfelt little stories. Ogiya, Emoyama, Fuki, and Yadano were joke characters who never seemed destined for serious attention, but every one of them came out swinging and hit a home run... wiht our hearts............... they sent our hearts into the stands.........

Michita is new, and I hope we see her again soon.

Anything more I have to say about these chapters would require talking about them individually, which is beyond the scope of this section. So let's do a lightning round:

Ogiya – PHENOMINAL

Emoyama – PHENOMINAL

Also, Hello Moromi-san. Is there a woman in your life? Can we be Mrs. And Mrs. Emoyama?

Fuki – PHENOMINAL

Yadano – PHENOMINAL

Michita – PHENOMINAL

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGG!!!!!!!!! (cry of Emoi)

There you have it.

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

So ends the overview!! If you're bothered I didn't talk about something in particular, don't worry; the Emoi Awards get more specific. There's sooooo much that I left out in the pursuit of brevity.

I want to make a special note of the reveal in Ch. 407 – Interview. Komi plans to study International Communication in university. I was anticipating the reveal of her course of study, and I wasn't disappointed. It could not have been anything else.

My overall feeling about the series at the moment? Great!!!! I complain bitterly at times (I'm a whiny, weeny windbag) and I'm at my harshest when I'm forming first impressions. But going over 2023 and remembering all the good times brought into perspective how much fun it's been. It also really put into perspective how much Komi has grown as a person. She’s so confident now compared to where she started from...

So... yeah!

And now the contentious business begins...

The Emoi Awards

Paam pa du paam!!!!! (that's fanfare)

Now it's time to get granular. This is the cream of the crop. The best of the blessed. The chapters and moments that had all of us laughing, giggling, chuckling, guffawing, weeping, sobbing, and crying.

My opinions about Komi Can't Communicate are perfect and definitive, so if you disagree with me about any of this... argue vehemently with me. I'm not joking. Don't be mean to me or I'll cry, but do please tell me your opinions! The more you talk to me about Komi, the more powerful I become. Mweh heh heh heh heh heh

Here are the categories:

(My) Top Five Chapters of the Year

(My) Top 5 Chapters of the Year

Most Emoi Moment

Funniest Joke

Reader’s Choice

I did NOT expect this to be so hard. I had to firmly limit myself to only five choices... and I was tearing my hair out. This mANGA IS SO GOOD ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

Listed in order of publication (love has no hierarchy. Except in kink).

1. Chapter 392 - Kawai is...

Kawai spends the entire study camp being a fierce enemy to Komi, then stays up late and has an emotional heart-to-heart on the beach with her, then runs 20kms all the way home... and by noon the next day she's in Komi's house to propose marriage. And she's already been to Tadano's to do the same. Bisexual, polyamorous, and a serious go-getter. When Kawai wants something, she spares no expense.

My regards to the future prime minister of Japan. It's a shame Rumiko didn't think of this first.

But seriously, though; I laughed out loud the whole way through this chapter. I was delighted to no end. If I ever doubted Tomohito Oda's ability to surprise me, that doubt was erased forever. Kawai was a good character, in one fell swoop she became legendary.

I love you, Kawai.

2. Chapter 406 - My Name is Kuro

Maybe I'm biased about Rei Natsukido. Maybe I'm biased because this was the first chapter on which I made a Komi Report. Either way, I'm biased and okay with that. Having Rei and Mira around for a visit all the way from America was so much fun, and we got the return of Komi Can't Communicate's #1 best character – Princess Elizabeth Alexandrine Georgine Jeanne Catherine Christiane.

I love that Mira acts all cool and distant but can't stop herself from becoming invested. I love how passionate and imaginative Rei is about the game. I love how Komi is just along for the ride and she's having a blast. I love that Komi is playing a boy character.

(Ch 169 – Playing With Dolls)

And I love their funky plush toys.

I love you, Rei and Mira.

3. Chapter 410 - Cicada-rrounded

Hiki Komorebi is yet another S Tier character. Unrelated to that; her height is so funny to me. She looks crazy tall next to the other characters - she even has a complex about it - and then you find out she's only 180cm. Japanese people are short.

Anyway,

Cicada-rrounded has this complete twist in the middle where it goes from a heartwarming reunion to a battle for survival against icky bugs. Komi and Hiki meeting again was built up for so long, and it's a beautiful moment,

and then it gets de-railed immediately in the best and funniest way possible.

I would go so far as to say this is a perfect chapter of Komi Can't Communicate. It's equal parts sentiment and comedy, and kills it on both fronts. If I had to pick a #1 favourite from these 5? I might maybe possibly be inclined to consider this one.

I love you, Hiki. Also Akira

4. Chapter 411/412 - A Two Person Summer Festival Stroll/The Second Time

I already gushed about these two in the overview section. What more is there to say? Except that it's a little annoying how Tadano remains so timid about romance stuff; but it gives us so many opportunities for assertive Komi to come out, so that's alright.

Komi is kinda like that... aosjkdoaksdokansdnajiosd. Get it, girl.

(Ch. 427 - Cool)

I love you, Komi and Tadano

(This special edition of The Komi Report continues in Part 2)

#komi can't communicate #komi san wa komyushou desu #komi #komi report #the komi report #komi shoko #shoko komi

19 notes · View notes

confluencechimera · 9 days

Note

Top 5 list of your own OCs. (｀∀ ´)Ψ

OUGH this is a GOOD QUESTION. I really had to narrow it down because I have so many babies but I think I got something solid

1 - Malech H'owl, an OC I made for St*r W*rs. she was based off an old chimera fursona of mine that I turned into a unique alien species and aaa I love drawing her SO MUCH. she's my go-to doodle char. she has a whole entire society and backstory where she was a ruler and a gladiator fighter and a tactician and a mercenary. because I got really into her. she is so self indulgent but that's probably why she's my favorite. I'm so attached to her I've thought abt making her a totally original universe recently divorced from the source media just for meeeee ✨

2 - Ace, who I've been trying to get a ref sheet done for for the past year and a half or so. He looks like a basic old furry on the surface but he's apart of a much larger sci-fi story where his species are trying to preserve history for future generations by inserting memory-recording ships into different members of their kind and then beaming all that into a supercomputer hidden somewhere in the galaxy. Ace comes from a middle generation (the first gen were adults who had the procedure done, the middle generation were fairly young, the newest generation are cubs), so his chip doesn't work entirely as well as the newest gen, and he gets weird deja vu moments of seeing other people's memories. He's also a mercenary. He has a cool spaceship and lives on his own on a barren icy planet. This is the best photo I have of him atm

3 - Howlite, another OC I made for a media (this one being TF!). I'm trying to redesign her atm so I don't have as many pics to show off. but he turns into a plane and later a big old SUV. she's got an insanely long backstory as well: loses everything in a big war, goes on a revenge quest, realizes she wants to live for something more, gets almost killed (twice) and then wakes up on Earth where she finds her old partner and learns to start a new life there. he's a Certified Strange Girlboy Bi Thing. here's a real edgy picture of her after killing a bunch of ppl.

4 - Glitch and Error, two REALLY old OCs of mine who I recently revived from my old dA days. They're personified computer viruses apart of a giant hivemind sort of setup, where the larger viruses "kill" and "consume" smaller ones to become bigger and stronger. The strongest virus rules over the entire hivemind and uses the smaller drones to go out and find electricity to feed on. Not a lot of super solid universe/hard-set rules for this story, it was just something I made for fun, but these guys have endured in my brain for over 10 years so they deserve a shout out.

5 - Comet, a very new character for me (and one I haven't entirely fleshed out yet), but a simple little black wolf furry. Her aes/story is a mixture of Stray Gods, a dash of Hi-Fi Rush, lots of Norse mythology and hard rock (Breaking Benjamin in particular) music. She's the lead singer of a band called Fenrir's Chains, and one day on her drive home from a local show she gets swept up in a Wild Hunt that actually gets her to meet Fenrir. The whole story is meant to be a sort of analogy for dealing with mortality but I'm still working the themes and kinks out. So, I only have a few sketches, plus the plushie she's based on in real life. (She's next to a plushie I plan to turn into Ace one day too!)

#thank you so much for this ask this was soooo fun genuinely. i love Ace and Comet a lot they've been especially fun to work on #but since Comet is so in early design phase I don't wanna put her too high over my other much more developed guys #oc things #saxhleel #asks

7 notes · View notes

trillscienceofficer · 8 months

Text

“Distant Shores” (Voyager short story collection, 2005) review: meh

I'd hoped this collection would be better, frankly; luckily the stories that involve B'Elanna (and there were quite a few of them, to my surprise) are mostly okay. Kes also appears prominently in at least two stories but Harry didn't really get one where he's the protagonist, and I'm surprised none involved Naomi or the Borg kids. Three stories seemed very concerned with the surviving Equinox crew and at least two seemed to want to vindicate them somehow?? I don't know, weird choices. But regardless, the problem wasn't so much in the ideas but in the execution, which was often atrocious.

story-by-story breakdown under the cut

“Da capo al fine” by Heather Jarman - this is the 'frame' story, you get to read the first half at the beginning and the second half at the end, but this story doesn't work so well for this purpose as the one on “The Lives of Dax” did for that collection. The plot is about Admiral Janeway and her last moments with the Borg Queen in “Endgame” but, idk. I think the author wanted to write a reckoning with all of Janeway's arch-nemeses but the story fails to have any stakes.

“Command Code” by Robert Greenberg - Tuvok and Chakotay get snippy on the bridge once Chakotay is left in command very soon after “Caretaker”. The concept is intriguing! Unfortunately the author's style is as dull as watching paint dry.

“Winds of Change” by Kim Sheard - this one was really fun! After being possessed by Tieran, Kes is struggling with her anger and reactivity so she goes to B'Elanna for help, and they try some of B'Elanna's sports holoprograms. This does not go well! Everything seems lost until B'Elanna offers a different approach to holoprograms, and it turns out they can work well together. This was just a really nice take on a dynamic that was really underexplored in the show (the author makes a point to say so as explicitly as she can), and it's honestly one of the best stories in the bunch.

“Talent Night” by Jeffrey Lang - my man Jeffrey (of “String Theory - Cohesion” fame) contributes to the collection with a hilarious story concept and great characterization for all involved, mostly B'Elanna, Tom and Harry, who are in charge of organizing said talent night. I can almost forgive the fact that it just an elaborate setup to get B'Elanna and Tom together by making B'Elanna needlessly jealous. Almost.

“Letting Go” by Keith R. A. DeCandido - this story is about the ones 'left behind' by Voyager, the families and loved one of the crew back in the AQ. I think I would've liked this way more if the author had chosen to follow anyone else other than Janeway's fiancé Mark. I liked how grounded the story is in the events of DS9 and First Contact and the range of reactions that all these people have to Voyager's disappearance, but I found myself wondering more about Greskrendtregk and T'Pel than Mark. I also found it hilarious that the story ends with Mark having married someone else and having to write to Janeway, who he's just learned is still alive, about it. I have to say though that it was a nice touch to have a lot of the people involved be the families of the crewmen who died in “Caretaker”—they obviously don't know what happened but the reader does, so their presence lends a lot of emotional gravity to the narrative.

“Closure” by James Swallow - Seven and Neelix get trapped in a cave that used to be inhabited by aliens and Neelix walks off to find a way out when—Kes shows up. Is it a vision, induced by the Ocampa artifacts in the cave? Is it actually Kes who's come back to say goodbye? It doesn't make much difference to Neelix, who is very glad to see her again. I think I would've appreciated this story more if it hadn't turned Neelix into too much of a lovesick fool; I don't like the idea that he actually never got over Kes with this kind of intense sentimentality. The story was enjoyable but something about it rubbed me the wrong way.

“The Secret Heart of Zolazus” by Robert T. Jeschonek - this one is terrible. Seven crash-lands on a planet and is saved by an outcast who pretty much gives her life for Seven and it's supposed to be ~inspirational~ or something but it's written in a way that... I don't know, reads exactly like one of those corny christian moral stories? I swear it's one of the most artless, embarrassing things I've read this year. The one thing it has going on is that Seven gets to kneel beside this dying alien girl who's taken a hit for her and so you can read some subtext in there, but the horrifying ableism is truly not worth the ticket!

“Isabo's Shirt” by Kirsten Beyer - the horrors aren't over though because this story is worse!! It's unabashedly J/C but oh boy both Chakotay and Janeway are so HORRIBLY out of character I couldn't cope. How did this even get published? Is this shipping brain at its worst?? Plus it's embarrassingly racist. I was never particularly interested in this ship but if THIS is in any way representative I am for sure steering well clear.

“Brief Candle” by Christopher L. Bennet - note: if you can't understand the distinction between romance and workplace sexual harassment you should probably not be writing romance! This is particularly galling because this is the 'Marika Wilkarah lives on Voyager for a few weeks' story which is something I wanted to see explored for a long time, and like... Marika HAS some interiority and convictions in this story but 1. we never see her really interact with other Bajorans if not in hindsight (why??) 2. her remaining resentment for Seven is barely mentioned and 3. she basically wants to be close to someone before dying and? essentially harasses Harry into having a relationship with her?? what???? If this were a fic it should get a 'dead dove do not eat' label. That was so, so awful and such a disappointment for the interesting concept this story promised to be. As I said in a previous post, the one thing this story has got going on is that Marika sides with B'Elanna during the events of “Barge of the Dead”, which I think it's a great take! But not enough to make me forget how bad the rest is.

“Eighteen Minutes” by Terry Osborne - the story of the time the Doctor spent on the planet from “Blink of an Eye” before he got beamed back to Voyager. I'm always extremely ambivalent about Doctor episodes/stories and this one is no exception. On one hand, the conflict he faces between his programmed-in hippocratic oath and the prime directive is believable, but on the other it ends up being another one of those weird power fantasies in which the Doctor gets the boundless gratitude and undying affection of the people around him because... he's done his job as a medical practitioner? It feels in character but I don't have to like it!

“Or The Tiger” by Geoffrey Thorne - LOVELY B'Elanna characterization in this one right until the ending, which I hated. Authors always tend to exaggerate B'Elanna's propensity for violence when in reality the show consistently shows her being very restrained and extremely remorseful whenever she snaps (and she only snaps because people tell her constantly that she's unable to control herself!) It's one of those stories where the point is 'aw the Equinox crew is trying very hard to make amends and the Voyager people are being mean to them' which... baffles me as a setup? It was interesting to see B'Elanna believably get into a rabbit hole when confronted with new technology that could help Voyager! But I'm not sure she wouldn't have snapped out of it as soon as it was pointed out to her that she might've been hurting living beings with her actions. We've seen B'Elanna struggle with this kind of moral quandaries before (“Prototype” and “Dreadnought” come to mind), so that the conflict dragged out for as long as it did here (and that she beat someone up for it!) feels deeply out of character to me.

“Bottomless” by Ilsa J. Bick - another one of 'the Equinox crew deserved a second chance!' stories, this time with crewman Marla Gilmore. I loved the technological conundrum (what do you do if your submersible is stuck on the bottom of the sea??) and Marla's lingering guilt and resentment felt believable and genuine. Shame that she expresses this mostly by being mean to B'Elanna (thought it happens mostly in her head), and you get the feeling she's just sharing the author's POV, since she has Tom saying some terrible garbage too... there's really nothing quite as diabolic as misogyny (and misogyny that's racially coded) coming from women authors! Ultimately Marla sacrifices herself to save Janeway and Chakotay and in so doing she expiates all of her Equinox sins, which would be okay (I guess) if it wasn't the exact same plot of “Brief Candle”, for some reason.

#trek novels #distant shores

18 notes · View notes

theoddest1 · 2 months

Note

i fear viv is like j*k*r -

there is evidence, proof, so so much of it. and even then, just her behavior alone, without the really bad stuff, is questionable to say the least. i dont know how to put it, but she and her fans act like 12 year olds on wattpad (i used to be one of those kids to some extent ik what im talking about here lmfao). it is a FACT she's horrible and disgusting (i could list a thousand other things here but the critical community already knows all this) and still people defend and dickride her. it is no lie that her fanbase is like a cult. i wonder if these people are actually completely oblivious or are just as horrid because the fact she's a horrible person is as clear as day. the fetish shit, her weird ass transphobia, her blatant disgregard to actual victims that aren't her fans, her drawing... that , her racism, her- should i go on? and i fear there is no consequences for BOTH these people- they will go on until they die without ever facing their actions and stuff. its disturbing.

its like j*k*r all over again. i sense a pattern here. not sure what kind, but its so fucking baffling how both are horrid and insufferable AS CLEAR AS DAY as people and HARM OTHERS and still get so much support. both need to be studied because what the fuck have they going on that protects them meanwhile some people on social media get cancelled for one sentence they said 17 years ago (not that that's not "valid" it's just baffling how some people get cancelled over the smallest shit meanwhile....) and these people get to enjoy their life without consequences while there's MOUNTAINS of proven evidence.

i feel like i discovered a goddamn alien baby the way im so fucking flabbergasted at all this.

anyways, sorry for the rant.

i hope you have a nice day/evening/morning/night!

Hey, no worries! Rant away! It's a very strange enigma for sure, and the fandon does indeed act like a cult! My guess for how Viv keeps getting away with all this stuff is that she has a parasocial relationship with her fanbase. The idea of landing a job or getting close with a creator with such a large following overrides any sense of reason or care for her actions, so people keep gassing her up because it could likely lead her to like or comment on their stuff. There's also the pseudo kind act she puts on, so people think she's the sweetest person ever when she has showcased the opposite. There's also a loooot of fandom bullying. Lots of the big dogs in the fandom bully people into silence or make em think they're in the wrong.

There's a WHOLE lot of control going on here, and thanks to her ass kissers logic is thrown out the window. Finally, there were the overblown posts highlighting things that, while weird or gross, aren't "cancelable" enough or downright exaggerations of the truth or lies. These threads on Twitter, especially back in 2019, did more harm than good and led many into believing there was a mob that simply wanted to cancel her for being popular. The threads consisted of her old cringe art (some are very questionable don't get me wrong) rather than the ones where she encouraged fandom bullying and made fun of a 15 year old fan for simply being critical of her work and called them nasty for it. No one did any research on her behavior or how she was an absolute bully to people like Starvader. Callouts need to consist of hard evidence so stuff like this doesn't happen, where your callout does more harm than good.

These factors led to many straight up turning off their brains and blatantly ignoring hard evidence. It's very, very stupid.

Also, who is the other person you mentioned? The only one that comes to mind is the guy who plays League of Legends and is famous for winning many championships.

#anon ask #vivziepop #vivienne medrano #viv get a grip #vivziepop critical #vivziepop criticism

16 notes · View notes

nicosavior456 · 2 months

Text

Adventures of Chika Hanabusa: The Restoration of Earth

Disclaimer: This book follows the events of Percy Jackson and Heros of Olympus fanfic, this fanfic will not include Trails of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase.

Chapter 24: Gaia’s Guilt

Chika PoV

I went to sleep after the reunion party after Nico dropped the both of us back to my home even though it was the afternoon. I felt myself going back to the unconscious realm. The field is still full of different flowers and plants. I never thought that this place could be pretty. Guess who decided to appear before me, it’s the same being that terrorizes innocent people. Gaia seems to be wearing jeans with a green tank top. Her humanoid form is about 7 feet tall with brown hair similar to tree roots and she does have the hugest bust I see. I'm not going to lie, she's super attractive.

“Oh, why to thank you, demigod, for the compliment, I’m glad that you found me appealing. By the way, I heard everything from this reunion party” Gaia stares at me with tearful eyes. Oh no, she can hear my thoughts. Wait why does Gaia look sad than flight out evil or angry? She suddenly pulls me in for a hug and kisses my cheek. Wait what is going on, last time she was all like 'I hate humanity'? I think Mother got her crazy mood swings from Gaia, that's what makes Gaia scary. It's the fact that I'm dealing with a rated-R version of my mother.

"You poor children, I never know your godly parents are nothing but deadbeat failures. This entire time, I just victimized another species that were harmed by those golden-blooded idiots. I honestly just assumed your kind are nothing but a bunch of glory-seeking idiots like back in classical times like Achilles, Hercules, and other selfish heroes." Gaia kept hugging me to her chest, which was surprisingly comfortable.

“I wish you give demigods a chance before you start another war," I say in an annoyed tone. Gaia holds her chin as if she is rethinking her strategy in some checkers' game. Gaia just decided to give me another cheek kiss and kept on hugging me to death. What is with the Earth being very bipolar? Gaia is super confusing; Well, I guess even she is more alien than the gods themselves. Sometimes nature can be warm and sweet like a sunny day with birds flying everywhere and suddenly earthquakes and tornadoes happen the next second.

“Perhaps I should have, but I still want your kind to stop damaging and polluting my domain.”

“Of course, I do want to save the Earth from pollution, but I'm not going to kill demigods or humans to achieve that," I say assertively while Gaia just pats my head.

“We don’t need to do that anymore. Besides your kind burned me for it, so I learn my lesson" Gaia laughs at her joke while I facepalm.

“I’m not sure what to feel about you Gaia and I know that you are not sure about me. Maybe we can try to form a partnership. We need to trust each other; I don’t want to go through that scenario when you possess me to eat gods.” Gaia just starts sitting in front of me and staring at me, but it’s not in contempt. She looks deeply ashamed and remorseful about it.

“You’re right, we do need to trust each other. I’m very sorry that I possessed you to consume Nyx’s kids that day and that I won’t possess you again. This will be a very slow process.”

“You’re right, it will be a slow process. I’m willing to forgive you for that day, but I don’t want to go through that again. Please swear on the river Styx that you will never possess me to harm others again.” I bowed before while she still stared at me.

“Whatever you want mortal, I swear on the river Styx that I will only help you if your life is in danger and by your permission to do so.” Thunder strikes between us, signifying the pact between Gaia and me.

"Now then mortal if you are serious about your goal, seek the current Lord of The Wild, Grover Underworld. He has taken Pan's spot, and you must help him on his mission.” Gaia says in a low cracking tone that sounded like tremors.

“I will seek him, thank you for the meeting.” I still bowed while Gaia walked over to me and held me up like a little kid. She is super strong; I would not want to get into a fistfight with her.

"Now go mortal, I hope you are better than the others. Help me restore my realm. "She said and suddenly I woke up on Reyna's chest while she was sleeping on the couch. She must have taken a nap as well. I have no idea how I ended up sleeping on Reyna's chest. I guess the party took a lot from us. You know what, I'm still going to lay on Reyna's chest because Reyna looks super peaceful while she takes her nap. Plus, I don't want to be an annoying jerk to her, I proceed to lay my head on her boobs and try to fall asleep again. Gaia and I are still at an uneasy truce for now but maybe our relationship will improve with time.

#pjo #pjo ocs #pjo fanfic #gaia

4 notes · View notes

solipseismic · 11 months

Note

i hope you know that every day i wish i could read your book and really enjoyed reading the nanowrimo tidbits you sent, you should infodump about it 👀

CROW ... this is so so sweet i am kissing u gently on the mouth . also this is great timing bc i am just about to compile a vigilante's guide to knowing when to die into a goog file that i can send to my friend (part of our bargain in me convincing him to do nanowrimo w me this year)

snippet from book 2 for u:

The Rift gave a sudden convulsive shudder. Skysteel felt it all the way to her ankles as it threw her out—and away. She was freefalling before she even knew it, pinwheeling through the air like a shitty paper airplane. Sky-ground-sky-ground-BUILDING passed in a dizzy blur right up until she smacked into a billboard with a comedic sound. She would have laughed, except her lungs seemed to have gone on impromptu strike at the time of impact. It really was a hard-knock life, huh? Black spots swarmed her field of vision. An Avian shrieked at the sight of her and dove, the razor talons of its feet extended fully and bladed wings gleaming in the bright sun. Poltergeist and Eidolon were both yelling something over comms but she couldn’t parse anything—all she could see was the golden light of the Avians surrounding her, all she could feel was the agonizing feeling of the Rift splitting open wider far above her. The golden light of the Avians turned blinding. Skysteel’s secondary eyelids dropped down for a split second. But— That was no fucking Avian. A man shining like a blue sun reached down and gently plucked an Avian off Skysteel’s prone body laying in the ruin of the billboard. One moment his hand closed around its shoulder and the next—it was a still-glowing pile of fine, off-white ash on the ground. “That was stupid,” he said. Skysteel took the hand he offered and heaved herself up out of the pieces of billboard she’d fallen to the ground with. “That’s what I want on my headstone,” she told him, wincing and touching a hand to her ribs.

anyways i rarely talk abt a vigilante's guide (which some of u who have been following for a long time may know under the previous title of "demon city" and / or "demon eyes" and so all the stuff i've posted abt it r under those tags) bc it's like That One Big project for me. like u know how brandon sanderson has the stormlight archive that kind of is the hub / culmination of all his works across the brandonsandersonverse (official term is brandon sanderson's "cosmere")? for me that's vigilante's guide. also it's exceedingly self-indulgent is the other reason.

it's gone through like 50 different iterations bc it's existed in my brain for nearly as long as i can remember (i think over a decade at this point) and the Ira Neda i talk about (my supreme blorbo, if you will) is the protagonist! i have ambitions for it spanning five books with the second (formerly "demon eyes") titled a vigilante's guide to destroying the world but right now books 1 and 2 are existing in the same doc (DEMON MEGADRAFT) because i'm trying to see what gets shaken out of it while i play with a non-linear timeline between the two

as a result, there are a lot of ideas that are getting spun into it (and even more ideas that i've had trial runs of before editing or cutting them entirely) but it's got the run of the mill superhero genre setup: we have a recognizable earth set in the near-ish future / a time that's somewhat similar to our own, we have a bunch of vigilantes running around fighting ordinary crime and supervillains (tho these are mainly just called "terrorists" in-world bc, well.), and different people have different powers from different things (but mostly it's because they're alien / part alien lol)

book one (knowing when to die) follows ira neda's arrival in anehaven, a (fictional) city in new york, where she is trying to unravel the circumstances that led to her twin brother's death several years ago. she promises herself, her family, her friends, and a lot of strangers that she isn't in that vigilante business anymore, if she ever really was: she's retired now. she just wants to live a quiet life (lie) and she doesn't intend to instigate anything (lie) and she is never picking up the mantle again (lie). but anehaven, like ira neda herself, has secrets of its own. the city is alive--and it hungers. people have been disappearing from the streets without a trace for over a year now, more and more with each month that passes. she makes some friends (criminal empress and her two partners in crime as well as ... actual partners), she makes some enemies (her fellow vigilantes) there are three questions now that have no answers: what happens to these people? why does the sidewalk have teeth? and who the FUCK is this other guy calling himself a vigilante?

book two is a little more abstract on account of I Still Haven't Figured out Subplots for it, but it's your stock alien invasion with ensemble cast: here we introduce cori sanchez, the (also) (formerly) retired HUSH, a mirek'ar necromancer; alec iakabos, SOLSTICE, and noah harper, EQUINOX, whom you can think of as "gosh, i really was VERY inspired by wildstorm comics when i was fifteen, huh," if you're familiar with apollo and midnighter from them; along with some familiar faces from the first book--alan and blue wilson (POLTERGEIST and EIDOLON, respectively) and ira neda. names capitalized to make it easier for me to keep track of them lol.

#THANK U FOR COMING TO MY BLORBOTALK ....#croidhe #demon city #demon eyes

13 notes · View notes

slexenskee · 2 years

Text

Re: Does Shouto have his scar/what happened to Rei in May Death Never Stop You

TL;DR - Shouto does not have his scar but Rei is still in the hospital. Okay and now for the long version -

So we don’t know the specifics of Rei’s mental disorders in canon, but judging from her actions I imagine there’s a whole laundry list of cluster a, b, and c disorders in there to certain degrees. For this fic I’m assuming her particular cocktail is bipolar disorder (mania and depression) with psychotic features (delusions, hallucinations), avoidant/dependent disorders, PPD and generalized anxiety.

Rei’s first born is a really weird fucking baby. He’s basically an alien. He doesn’t really cry or make much noise, and he has a terribly unnerving and unblinking stare. Sometimes it seems like he just sees right through her, judging her and finding her wanting and deciding to dismiss her from his perception of reality. Or at least that’s how she sees it - is it actually? No because Gojo’s awareness hasn’t even come in yet, but the whole ‘old soul in a new body’ is still making him a weird infant. Also the whole body/soul thing in JJK is very ??? which means its possible Gojo’s soul has always been in his body, and so has his cursed energy (even if his 6 eyes and his awareness didn’t fully manifest until he was about 4 or so), so even in utero he would have had cursed energy, and who knows how that would react in the body of a human without any cursed energy to speak of? In JJK even normal humans have trace amounts of cursed energy even if they can’t see curses, which would explain how sorcerers come from non-sorcerer families. But MHA has zero cursed energy, and the 6 eyes have evolved to see quirk energy. Idk what that would do to Rei, but nothing good, I imagine. I wouldn’t say her mental issues are entirely Gojo’s fault, since a lot of that is hereditary and environmental, but it certainly didn’t help.

In a normal person it would probably give mood swings, more depressive episodes, and other symptoms that we’ve seen in JJK for normal people who are unknowingly cursed - anxiety, sudden nervousness, bad dreams, that kind of stuff. But because Rei already had plenty of undiagnosed mental health disorders, it sort of compounded everything.

Rei is already under pressure just by the nature of her marriage, which I head-canon as her agreeing to by pure technicality of the legal definition of ‘consent’, but in reality was very much so caused by the pressure her parents, society and endeavor himself was exerting on her. Basically she made herself believe it was what she wanted because everyone else seemed to think it was the smart choice - marry a rich and handsome famous hero who has offered to take care of your family and you financially for the rest of your days, in a society that’s already misogynistic? I imagine her friends in school and just everyone in her everyday life even beyond her parents was putting pressure on her, maybe not intentionally, but exerting their opinions on her nonetheless.

This is a lot of stress and environmental pressure for everyone, but again Rei already had BPD and was more susceptible to these kinds of changes, and never got the help she needed to deal with any of it. In line with cultural values, it probably never occurred to her to voice her struggles aloud or seek help for them.

She’s alone, suffering under undiagnosed PPD, can’t bond with her baby in any capacity, feels like a failure, and it’s just a huge spiral that gets worse and worse until it eventually breaks.

I imagine she didn’t start having more violent/hysteric attributes to her psychotic features until this point in her life, and they would have scared her. I have to imagine this is canon, bc otherwise I don’t know how she ended up going from a mild woman to having a violent episode and scarring Shouto.

She’s also not taking any medication whatsoever, and has never been diagnosed or seen a doctor for her mental health issues. Untreated BPD is basically a recipe for disaster in this instance, but instead of harming her children like in canon, the coin flipped on the other side and she acted on her depressive side and not her manic one, and she makes an attempt on her own life instead. Frankly its unrealistic that she hadn’t injured anyone else in one of her manic episodes beforehand, like a maid or one of her own kids, but that’s where the avoidant distorder comes in, as she’s always been more of a recluse and more likely to hurt herself in a manic episode than someone else. But anyway this is enough to finally get psychiatric help involved.

Again, in canon she’s seen to be pretty cordoned off from life and has been in a psych ward for most of Shouto’s life - that wouldn’t make sense unless she had pretty uncontrollable violent tendencies and exhibited an inability to deal with stressors in regular life, so I have to imagine her particular cocktail of disorders is extreme and was probably already there and got worse due to the environmental factors of her marriage.

To be specific I’ve slotted her psych ward admittance into the timeline to be right around the time that Gojo confronts Endeavor in the dojo. Honestly maybe even like a week or two before it. At that point in time Gojo is spending like 80% of his time away from his own house and honestly has no idea it even happened. In his POV in ch1 he mentions how odd it is that Rei isn’t in the house when he stops by because she’s always there, then he’s distracted when he notices Endeavor and Shouto.

#tw: sui mention #fic notes #fic may death never stop you #mdnsy FAQ

71 notes · View notes