#i didn't think they were around here but it might just be categorized into the general north-east part of the us kdjfhgk

[nothorses]

ive seen a few posts talking about gender socialization as a terf idea, and im not sure I understand... I was wondering if you could help? I understand gender essentialism is a dangerous tool they use, and I see how "socialization" gets used as a more acceptable way of framing hatred of trans people.

but also, im a trans man and I do genuinely feel like my being raised "as a girl" affected my personality and interests, especially in childhood. particularly things like being taught to be quieter and more polite than my classmates and stuff. is there something im missing here?

The term "gender socialization" generally implies that socialization relies strictly on gender, and I've seen this defined either to mean AGAB (trans women are socialized and men, and trans men are socialized as women), or the gender you actually are (vice versa). Either way, it's an extremely reductive and restricting view on what is, yes, at least related to a real phenomena.

The thing is, "socialization" is different for everyone. The factors that play into it can range from the gender other people think you are, the gender you think of yourself as (which might change over time), the gender you actually are, to things completely unrelated: race and ethnicity, disability status, religion, the culture you grow up in, and so many others.

What's being discussed is essentially the impact of one's culture, and their culture's view of gender, on the way they think of themselves. Boiling that down to "male or female", even if you're not calling trans women "men" and trans men "women" to fit them into that model, is still a massive oversimplification that denies any possibility of variation in experience.

For example: I also internalized a lot of misogynistic ideas about myself growing up. But I was raised by a single mother who believed in some feminist ideals, and in a progressive area, and without the influence of religion in my family; so some of the ideas I grew up with were "you're a bossy bitch who talks too much", and some of them were "Never Rely On A Man". And while I didn't know I was a trans man yet, I also felt dysphoric about things like crying; not because I believed men couldn't cry, but because my mom encouraged me to fake cry because crying (white) women get their way.

That's not really a comparable experience to one that, say, a Christian cis woman in the US south might have.

The other flaw in this theory is the implication that "socialization" is static. Once you reach a certain age (which is never really defined), you magically stop absorbing messages from the world around you, and become cemented forever as Socialized Male or Female.

Aside from the fact that this obviously isn't true, you have to wonder: what about trans people who transition when they're children? What are they socialized as?

This isn't just an inaccurate view of the way people develop. It's a form of gender essentialism- the idea that gender determines certain immutable qualities in a person- which is itself related to, and supports theory underlying, sex essentialism; i.e., TERF and otherwise transphobic ideology.

Buying into the same idea that "man" and "woman" are stagnant categories with no overlap isn't good when you allow trans people to be categorized by their actual gender instead of their AGAB. It's still the same core philosophy, and it's still just as damaging- to intersex and nonbinary people in particular, but also to all trans people. The gender binary doesn't serve any of us.

Trans liberation means understanding, or at least leaving room for, the nuances and complexities. It means allowing people to exist in complicated ways, and to define and categorize themselves. The strict, static, and binary understanding of gender presented by "gender socialization" theory only works against that.

#trans #transgender #trans liberation #transunity #gender socialization

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Hey, I stumbled across your last post addressing the toh blog critiquing fans of belos and how they engage with the show and i'd like to put my 2 cents in as an au creator who has belos featured in my aus.

When I made arofam, I was just goofing around, it was before s2 officially aired and I thought at work one day "oh, belos and this gg kid look like parallels to luz and eda, wouldn't an au swapping them be funny?". I made that au based solely on that, and everything after that was straight up just me trying to work around everything the show was throwing at me and try and adapt it in the au. It became more emotional with time, but it wasn't built on a foundation of trying to make his canon self less bad nor excuse anything he did. (Undoubtedly that goofy au just made me more invested in those characters over time).

Like we didn't even know belos's plans, his abuse of the ggs, his brother, nothing, when I made the au. The show really had to make me work to make belos likable in my au after that.

I say this because it's why it's wrong to always make assumptions about ppl based on what they create or are engaged in. You don't have to like the content yourself, but there's a variety of reasons ppl make aus with philip in a prominent role. Some wanna explore him in unique ways that canon can't, some are intrigued by his backstory and wanna play with that, and some are like me who just woke up one day and thought " Ok, but what if we did a silly with him?".

It would be wrong to categorize everyone into one box, with the same ideals and same opinions. Not everyone will have the same draws but assuming the worst of a fan who likes to play with the main antagonist in noncanon work or personally have different opinions on his execution in the show is extremely judgemental and hurtful because a lot of these fans are just having fun and have very little malicious intent.

If you have criticism of the work and wanna kindly address it to the creator, then sure, they might be allowed to give their opinions on where they were coming from while they're at it in case the work was misinterpreted.

But you can genuinely hurt ppl and creators by throwing them under a " bad person" label without allowing yourself to understand them or their work and why they made the choices they did.

I guess the point I'm making here is, fans engage with the media they like for a number of reasons, if you're going to make accusations on them, at least have clear solid reasons rather then basing it on pure assumptions based on work that might not even really be that deep in the first place or even just the comments of a few fans.

If they're being purposely malicious and awful then sure.

But sometimes it's really not that deep, some ppl just wake up one day and wanna imagine a swap au with belos or wanted a cooler death.

People shouldn't be crucified online for that.

100% agree with you there! I've stated before that this fandom has a tendency to connect a person's morality to the type of media they consume or how they engage with it. It's really unsettling, tbh.

You don't like AUs that redeem Belos? Or make him a goofy uncle? Or make Caleb the evil emperor?

Then don't read them. You're not the target audience.

In other words...

I hope any and all creators with a Belos AU aren't discouraged because some ninny on the net, who thinks they're the arbiter of social justice, got mad because they decided to have fun with a fictional character.

Fandom is not activism.

Just chill and let people put the old man in a dress.

#the owl house #emperor belos #philip wittebane #fandom shenanigans #asks

[r3dkn0ts]

I'm somewhat curious because everyone has their own perception of killers in dbd before they came into the realm. Out of all your faves (like Caleb, Tarhos, Billy ect..) do you think any of them are still....well virgins?? Most of them were either too focused on revenge and bloodshed to even think about ass or coochie (lookin right at you slinger also I LOVE UR BLOG SM)

I have other stuff in the drafts I'm working on atm ( do not worry followers! it will be posted! eventually! ) but Man this just. rattled my brain so hard that I had to start writing Immediately

I'm just gonna pick the guys you listed or else I'd be rambling way too much and also idk what the hell to categorize this as so ummmmm just putting it under the cut. I guess these are more like character studies than anything?

SEXUAL HEADCANONS FOR THE DBD KILLERS Featuring Caleb Quinn, Tarhos Kovács, and Max Thompson Jr.

Themes: Smut, smut, and a little bit of fluff at the end. Honestly, what did you expect? Warnings: Mentions of canon-typical violence

The Deathslinger / Caleb Quinn - I'd imagine Caleb is around his mid-to-late 60s ( if you don't think too hard about the time-fuckery that is the Entity's Realm ), so the man definitely has some years under his belt. - When it comes to sex, though, he might've fooled around with one or two folks in his younger days. Like most other cowpoke of his time, he didn't really care what gender he was laying down with. - Yes, I am saying that Caleb is pansexual. All cowboys are at least a little bit gay. I don't make the rules. - He definitely didn't see any action after nearly killing Bayshore and being stuck in a penitentiary for 15 years straight, that's for sure. - Plus, there's no good reason to be horny in a place like that. - That being said, he knows the basics and maybe a trick here or there, so he's not a total buffoon, but he's not a floozy either.

The Knight / Tarhos Kovács - Being taken from his home and put into slavery at such a young age, he didn't exactly have a normal childhood. - Tarhos didn't have the time to be concerned with anything remotely romantic or sexual, constantly going on campaigns with his men and killing everyone that stood in their way. - He would never admit it to anyone, even himself, but this man is so touch-starved and needy that just hugging him would probably give him a boner as stiff as his claymore. - Tarhos tries to ignore sexual urges until they go away, but that doesn't always work, so he might have to rub one out once in a while. He feels guilty about it every time. - Yeah, he's a virgin. No experience at all.

The Hillbilly / Max Thompson Jr. - Oh, this poor boy. We all know his story by now. It's pretty obvious that he never had any physical contact, much less that of a romantic or sexual nature. - Back in his time, television shows weren't nearly as scandalous as nowadays. There was no way of accessing pornographic material unless you got special magazines, which he of course never did. - Going through puberty, he would feel strange and uncomfortable, just trying to ignore the weird feelings he had. It made him want to crawl out of his own skin. - Those habits stuck with him into his adulthood, constantly fighting his own body and trying anything to get the strange feelings to go away. Eventually, he figured out that friction was the easiest method. - You could say he's "innocent", but I prefer "clueless". - If someone were to truly earn his trust and explain to him what erections, masturbation, and sex are, he'd get super flustered and cover his face in shame. - His first time would need to be slow and more of a tutorial than anything else. Dude's probably gonna cum as soon as a hand touches him. Just be patient.

#dead by daylight x reader #dead by daylight imagines #the deathslinger x reader #caleb quinn x reader #the knight x reader #tarhos kovacs x reader #the hillbilly x reader #max thompson jr x reader #fluff #smut #headcanons #gender neutral reader #character study

[iepurasdepraf]

Part 3! This one is a little shorter because I wanted to establish a little more personality.

As Jonathan Crane loomed over you at the foot of those old dusty stairs, you could only compare yourself to an overfed pigeon cuddling up into the breast of a falcon while you eeked out your silly little questions in meek squeaks "Is there anyone there who'd like to communicate with us?" You held the audio recorder up a little higher "Can you give us a sign you're here?" Your nerves made you want to chatter. Speak quickly, loudly, and nonstop so you clamped down on your bottom lip to shut yourself up the best you could between questions in the attempt to give whatever was there, if it was there, the chance to speak. As much as you hoped something responded, you hoped nothing did even more.

"The door opened." Fuck your life. You looked around. Not seeing which of the several existing doors right off the bat, Crane kindly added "Upstairs." Sure enough, the door at the top of the stairs had at some point opened. You didn't see when. It was closed earlier when you had approached the stairs. You loved that. You loved that for the both of you. You didn’t know you could experience being sarcastic to yourself, but being pants shittingly terrified was apparently pumping blood to portions of your brain that heretofore had been unactivated. You put your foot on the step, but didn’t go up. 

Instead, you leaned back until the back of your shoulders pressed just slightly into Crane’s abdomen. It took a moment of absorbing some of his confidence through osmosis to finally head up the stairs to the landing. You had to stand on your tippy toes to peek over the edge between the balusters. You could see a little into the room from the dull moonlight coming in the window through the old lace curtains. There wasn’t anything obvious in there that you could make out. “I don’t see anything.” You said turning to find Jon exactly where you expected him for once, standing partially beside, partially behind you. He’d quietly come up the stairs to join you and see for himself. Your hand bumping his free one when you reached out for comfort in the dark without thinking. You pulled back at the last second of course, not wanting to invade his space. He hadn’t withdrawn which was enough comfort in itself as a gesture. 

He didn’t need to stand on his tiptoes to look. You were only slightly jealous. All you got in the way of feedback was a hum. He was taking advantage of the full spectrum in the viewfinder. Looking into the room then back to the screen. “I thought the window would be open.” Is all he said about any of it. That would make sense, especially with the draft. “Maybe there’s another window?” A head tilt. Maybe he was considering it. Maybe he just had water in his ear. You didn’t know. “I’ll…go have a look.” “Mm.” You were beginning to subconsciously categorize his noises and that one registered as a “Yes, that’s a good idea.” noise. It felt far from that.

You had just stepped into the hall from the top of the stairs when you realized it had been a terrible idea to go stand in the creepy dark hallway. A quick look down the hall to the left with your flashlight revealed there were more rooms on the first floor than you thought. Two on either side of the hall to the left of the stairs that might be bedrooms and one at the far end that logistically made sense to be a bathroom. It was comforting to focus on making a mental map rather than go wandering into the unknown. To the right of the stairs was the open door and at the very end of the sort of loft area there was a window. You could see through the yellowed drapes you couldn’t see anything at all. Just a void. You knew the woods were out there somewhere and it being that dark out there meant that the porch light had finally turned off between you closing the front door and managing to get up here.

You could only fidget and procrastinate for so long.

Huffing at yourself for being right you gingerly eased the mostly open door the rest of the way. Having to switch from a few fingers to the palm of your hand when it didn’t budge on the first push. Needing a little oomph to go the rest of the way. There was another window, it was closed. There wasn’t much else in there. A rusty old bed frame without a box spring or mattress, bedside table that had a vintage lamp sitting on it, sans shade or light bulb, and some kind of old dresser that had an inch of dust on it. “There-” You nearly jumped out of your skin. It wasn’t that he’d moved or anything when you turned around, but there was a creep factor to just seeing him leering through the railing at you. “Jesus Christ-” You cleared your throat and once more that jack-o-lantern smile was by far more creepy than his generally unreadable and eternal resting bitch face. “There’s another window, but it’s closed.”

He tilted his head slightly as if puzzled “Funny.” Oh, super funny. Sure. A regular riot. The look you were giving him must have telegraphed that you didn’t find it funny because his smile dropped. He did, however, make an weird little hrmhrmhrm noise. Like a laugh, but not really. A laugh’s twice removed cousin made weirder by how he could do it without emoting. Sounded like a noise a gremlin would make. Maybe a gremlin was making it? “I’m glad you’re having fun.” Crane shrugged and quickly turned his attention to the viewfinder. He didn’t want to admit it? Or wasn’t? Could he have fun?

Back on task, if you wanted to prove anything to Crane, you’d have to rule out everything you could. You looked the door over with your flashlight. The wood seemed swollen, cracking around the mortise plate. The humidity was high. It had been raining the last two days. Maybe it just hadn’t closed all the way? You look down at the floorboards. They ran out from the room to the hall all the way to the ledge instead of being cut at the doorway with a transition. Could you two standing at the bottom of the stairs tilted the woodwork enough to make the door open? A little rube goldberg machine-esque, but maybe. 

“Could you go to the bottom of the stairs for me?” Crane’s eyebrow went up, but he nearly seemed eager to go along with whatever you were up to judging by how quickly he acquiesced to the request. As he’d been from the jump, strangely. You shut the door, he went to the bottom, and nothing happened at all. “A few steps back?” Thump, thump, thump. Nothing. So you opened the door just slightly. “Ok, and again?” Thump, thump, thump. Again, nothing. “Try a hop?” He made an incredulous noise, but sure enough there was a not so soft thunk from behind you. Door didn’t budge though. 

“Huh.” “What?” Well,” You pursed your lips and move to stand at the railing to look down at Crane while trying to think of any other test you could do on the spot. “I was trying to recreate the door opening. The wood is swollen from the weather and I thought maybe the floorboards could have moved when we were walking around, but it didn’t work. Even when the door wasn’t closed all the way.” He looked mildly impressed, probably because you didn’t jump to it being ghosts right off the bat. It felt like you’d hit a fear plateau or maybe nothing was as scary as what was standing at the bottom of the stairs at this point. Crane offered a shrug as you leaned against the railing, resting your elbows on it. “Got any ideas?” He rolled his eyes thoughtfully around then just gave you that crooked smile and held his hand up. Couldn’t think of anything? 

You tsk’ed him and got a snort for your trouble. Well, time to disappoint the Professor. “Can you open this door again for us?” You asked, holding your audio recorder up. Neither of you moved for a few seconds, you held your breath. Nothing happened. “Anything open down there?” He looked around then shook his head no. Disappointed, you turned back to the door. How was there a draft if all the windows were shut? All the doors? There wasn’t a fireplace. There was a wood burning stove down in the living room, but the chimney was the typical pipe kind. It couldn’t do it, could it?

Now you were frustrated, so much so your fear was subsiding. You believed in ghosts. You wanted to turn to him and say ‘See! SEE! I was right! Months of arguing and I was proven right in the first hour!’ but that was too easy and this proved absolutely nothing. It proved the door opened and it was weird. Neither of you could substantiate it for either side.

You’d have to keep trying.

#jonathan crane x reader #you x jonathan crane #you x scarecrow #scarecrow x reader

[hunieday]

8th Anniversary story - Chapter 6

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8

Please note that I am not a professional translator and I'm only doing this to share the side materials to those who cannot access them, if you notice any mistakes please let me know nicely. Enjoy!

Mizuno: We’re going to rely on internal and consumer surveys to decide on the members that will form each unit…

Mizuno: What lineup do you think would be the best for the units? Please let us know for reference.

Mizuno: We would like to know what your expectations are as idols so that we could use your insight for publicity later on.

Yuki: You’re asking us to divide the members based on their beverage type…?

Momo: I think I'd be in the sports drink category.

Izumi Mitsuki: Sports drinks sound good, right? Momo-san has that sports image. Speaking of which, I think I’m in the sports drink category too?

Izumi Iori: If it were up to me, I'd place you in a category that caters more to women. Something like tea or juice-based carbonated beverages...

Izumi Iori: What kind of flavors are you planning for those?

Mizuno: We're still discussing the matter, but we're thinking of a lightly sparkling, bittersweet flavor...

Kujo Tenn: Lightly sparkling... If that's what you’re going for, I don’t think it’s suitable for Izumi Mitsuki. Maybe it's more fitting for Izumi Iori?

Izumi Iori: I also think that's a possibility. It might suit me, Kujo-san... Maybe even Osaka-san?

Osaka Sougo: Do I give off a bittersweet image?

Yotsuba Tamaki: Actually he’s more of an energy drink guy.

Momo: Yuki, you might fit in there too, right? Yuki doesn't give off the image of a sports drink or energy drink vibe...

Mizuno: Ah, actually, for the energy drinks we're thinking of a taste that's not about charging up your body with energy…

Mizuno: We’re thinking of a chill and healing taste, caffeine-free to help with relaxation, recovering physical strength and reducing stress…

Mido Torao: That sounds like it might suit Minami.

Isumi Haruka: I know right? He fits right in.

Natsumr Minami: I sort of see it. Wouldn’t Yuki-san also fit in this unit?

Yuki: I also think I lean more towards relaxation.

Momo: Then, let's rearrange things based on what you guys just said. This goes in tea...

Izumi Mitsuki: How about this for sports drinks? Tsunashi-san, are you okay with this?

Izumi Iori: I think Yotsuba-san fits there as well.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Sports drinks? I’m not really a sports guy.

Izumi Iori: Still, you give off a sporty and fresh energy.

Osaka Sougo: Who else besides me could fit the melancholic image?

Kujo Tenn: If no one else fits, I’ll join you.

Osaka Sougo: Ah, I am honored. Thank you for working with me in the sad people category.

Kujo Tenn: Sad people category is quite the phrase…

Izumi Iori: Are you certain I should be here? Isn't Nanase-san more suited for tea?

Nanase Riku: Tea? I love tea!

Izumi Iori: I didn't ask for your preferences. Rokuya-san might fit around here...

Rokuya Nagi: OK! Let's stick together, Riku!

Nikaido Yamato: A chill energy drink seems to fit Yaotome, right?

Nikaido Yamato: Cool exterior and hot interior, moderately balanced…

Yaotome Gaku: Really? What about you?

Nikaido Yamato: I’m a tea or chill type of person, right?

Izumi Iori: Tea... perhaps.

Momo: Chill sounds good, but Yamato, I think your image suits a classical vibe.

Nanase Riku: Yamato-san, let’s be together!

Rokuya Nagi: Welcome, Yamato!

Nikaido Yamato: That would make it a unit with three IDOLiSH7 members…four if we include Mitsu. That doesn't seem very balanced.

Izumi Mitsuki: Should I go elsewhere then?

Inumaru Touma: How about we focus on image for now?

Izumi Mitsuki: That's right! What about ŹOOḼ? Categorizing you sounds challenging.

Yotsuba Tamaki: If we're talking gorilla tier energy drinks, that's ŹOOḼ.

Mido Torao: I get it. In that case should I go with tea...?

Natsume Minami: I think you could pull off the melancholic vibe surprisingly well. It’s quite refreshing.

Osaka Sougo: Then, we'll welcome you here.

Inumaru Touma: Haru, let’s go for the sports drink.

Isumi Haruka: We’re going there?

Momo: Chill or carbonated drinks suit you just fine, but having Haruka with the sports drink unit would be nice and fresh!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Come on, join us!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh, we're together!

Isumi Haruka: Yeah... pleased to work with you.

Momo: Has everyone decided? Alright, let's announce the results!!

Mizuno: Oh, it's Momo-kun's live MC... I'm glad to be able to hear him up close.

Momo: Ahaha! Sorry, force of habit!

Momo: As the first selection, we have the tea group: Yamato, Mitsuki, Nagi, and Riku!

Nagi Rokuya & Izumi Mitsuki & Nanase Riku & Nikaido Yamato: Yay!

Yaotome Gaku: I can see these four being tea drinkers. They look like they’d relax by the window and chat.

Nikaido Yamato: Sipping tea by the window, sounds very ladylike. Greetings, everyone.

Izumi Mitsuki: Hohoho. Pleased to meet you, sister. (t/n: he calls him onee-sama, a polite and sophisticated way to refer to someone older than you in this context)

Nanase Riku: Elegant! It's your specialty, Nagi!

Nagi Rokuya: I’m at your service. Let's have a wonderful tea time.

Inumaru Touma: Ahaha! They started acting right away.

Kujo Tenn: However, if one of the new units consists only of IDOLiSH7, it will be a waste for the shuffle premise.

Izumi Iori: Will there be adjustments in that regard? To ensure there will be no overlap with the units from the opening ceremony? 

Mido Torao: What about the survey? Will it stay as it is?

Mizuno: Well, we're still considering those aspects.

Momo: For now, let's move on, shall we? Next is uhhhh, sports drinks! Sports drink members, gather around here!

Isumi Haruka: Yes!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Count me in!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Should I stay here?

Momo: Momo-chan is in here too!

Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh, isn’t this super cool !? there’s one member of each group, we’re super balanced!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: That's right! Tamaki-kun and I were in the opening ceremony unit together.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Yeah, those were the days!

Isumi Haruka: You guys look like you’d be good at sports... I'm not that great, though.

Momo: That's not true! You can dance so well!

Isumi Haruka: Th-thank you very much. But, I'm not really into proper sports or team sports...

Momo: Really? I’d be encouraged if I had someone like you on my team! How about we play soccer together sometime?

Isumi Haruka: Soccer... I heard that you were an incredibly skilled player, Momo-san.

Yuki: He was the captain of a team that made it to the national tournament.

Momo:  You say national, but really it was only back in high school!

Isumi Haruka: That's amazing… Tsunashi-san, did you play sports too?

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I love sports! I used to play in different school clubs.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: You know, since I was tall, I often substituted members of different clubs.

Isumi Haruka: You sure are a big guy...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Ryuu-aniki, try jumping with your hands raised like you’re blocking a volleyball!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Sure thing.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Hyah!

*Clap!*

Yotsuba Tamaki & Isumi Haruka: So high...!!

Izumi Mitsuki: What about chill? It's Yuki-san, Natsume and...

Inumaru Touma: Tora might work well. If it's chill mixed with energy drinks, it feels loose, right? Very Tora-like.

Mido Torao: I'm not that loose, am I?

Natsume Minami: I can sort of see it. Mido-san can go in a direction more noble and glamorous but also more relaxed.

Inumaru Touma: Yeah, that's it. A relaxed vibe.

Mido Torao: Relaxed, huh... what about you, Touma? I thought you were with the energy drink group?

Inumaru Touma: I’m not sure if I’m a chill guy…

Isumi Haruka: But I don’t think you fit the tea or sports drink image either.

Momo: chill or melancholic carbonated group... Who's in the latter group again?

Izumi Iori: If Mido-san moves, it would be me, Osaka-san, and Kujo-san.

Natsume Minami: If that's the case, would that make the chill group be me, Yuki-san, and Mido-san?

Nikaido Yamato: Yuki-san, how about carbonated drinks? You don’t seem like an energy drink guy, even if it’s for relaxation.

Nanase Riku: Touma-san, you give more of a chill vibe than a melancholic carbonated one, no?

Inumaru Touma: I could, but there are already three ŹOOḼ members in it.

Isumi Haruka: I've been left out…!

Rokuya Nagi: Hm... Indeed, ŹOOḼ does give off a loose image.

Nikaido Yamato: it is ŹOOḼ after all.

Rokuya Nagi: ...

Nikaido Yamato: Don't look at me with that serious face!!

Rokuya Nagi: OH...

Izumi Mitsuki: You've really gotten into dad jokes...

Nanase Riku: I see! ŹOOḼ and "Loose"! It's a palindrome! Amazing, Yamato-san!

Nikaido Yamato: Riku’s pure eyes are making my heart ache…

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I think Gaku might be around here? In a subtractive way...

Yaotome Gaku: What do you mean subtractive?

Touma: I get it. You have a strong character, Yaotome. It’s out of common people’s lines.

Izumi Iori: It's a high-end brand.

Natsume Minami: I think high-quality fruit juice or non-alcoholic champagne would suit you well.

Mizuno: Ah... Actually, we are thinking of using high-quality tea leaves and setting the price range slightly higher than average for the tea beverages...

Nikaido Yamato: Is that so? Well, that changes things. Wouldn't it be better for Yaotome to be in the tea group?

Mizuno: Overall, we’re aiming to have all four of the new products have a sense of uniqueness, so we're considering a slightly higher price range. We plan to use high-quality ingredients for them after all.

Kujo Tenn: In that case, are you also aiming for an energy drink with a sense of high-quality luxury rather than something common?

Mizuno: You are correct.

Kujo Tenn: Then, Gaku might work well in the energy drink group? If the other three ŹOOḼ members end up together, Isumi Haruka would cry...

Isumi Haruka: I won't cry though!?

Yaotome Gaku: Alright, I'll join chill’s energy drink club. Count me in.

Natsume Minami: Please to work with you.

Mido Torao: Count me in too.

Yuki: Me too.

Momo: Ahh, isn't this nice? The four members we have here radiate an extraordinarily chill vibe!

Izumi Mitsuki: Indeed! It feels very modern!

Izumi Iori: The last group is a carbonated drink with a hint of melancholy, right? With me and...

Osaka Sougo: Me too.

Kujo Tenn: I think I’m here too.

Inumaru Touma: So I guess I'll join this group?

Yaotome Gaku: Yeah, that should work. With Inumaru there you’ll balance out the overly neat atmosphere.

Kujo Tenn: Thanks. I guess you thought I was too neat and tidy.

Yaotome Gaku: Rather than neat, Tenn, the younger Izumi brother and Osaka are more like angels.

Nanase Riku: I understand!!

Izumi Iori: Well, I understand.

Osaka Sougo: I feel a lot of responsibility.

Yaotome Gaku: Now that Inumaru joined you, he adds a bit of edge to it, which works out just right.

Yaotome Gaku: It's fizzy with a bit of edge.

Isumi Haruka: yoy’re right!

Momo: Ah! So, I think we’re all done now?

Izumi Mitsuki: The Tea group!

Rokuya Nagi & Nanase Riku & Nikaido Yamato: Yes!

Momo: The Sports Drink group!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Yotsuba Tamaki& Isumi Haruka: Yes!

Yaotome Gaku: The chill Energy Drink group!

Yuki & Natsume Minami & Mido Torao: Yes!

Izumi Iori: The melancholic Carbonated Drink group.

Osaka Sougo & Kujo Tenn & Inumaru Touma: Yes!

*Clap clap clap*

Mizuno: Wow...! Thank you very much! I'll take your suggestions into consideration when creating the units!

Nanase Riku: Thank you very much!

Yotsuba Tamaki: That was interesting! I wonder if we’re at least a teeny bit right? I'm curious about how the actual combinations will turn out!

Momo: After this, you'll be conducting internal and consumer surveys to make adjustments, right?

Mizuno: Yes! We will use the initial ideas as references in our planning documents.

Izumi Mitsuki: I wonder how they’ll turn out.

Rokuya Nagi: I'm also curious about the new songs we’ll sing as units!

Nanase Riku: I hope your 8th-anniversary project will be lots of fun!

Mizuno: Yes! I'll do my best to make it exciting!

Yaotome Gaku: Leave it to us. We'll get everyone pumped up.

Izumi Mitsuki: Right! Let's give it our all!

Inumaru Touma: Yeah! I'm glad we can work together!

Mizuno: ...you guys...

Mizushima: Isn't it time we changed our attitude a bit, too...?

Mizumura: Y-Yeah, that’s right! It's our anniversary, after all!

Mizumori: Let's forget about the argument during the 9th inning of the baseball game when we were torn between whether or not the ball was out or safe!

Izumi Iori: You were still holding onto that?

Natsume Minami: That is extremely irrelevant.

Rokuya Nagi: OH... So there was a sad incident. However, this anniversary should be a good opportunity to reconcile and make up.

Rokuya Nagi: How about it? Mizuno-san, Mizushima-san, Mizumura-san, Mizumori-san.

Nikaido Yamato: That's right. Let’s flush the past down. Just like water. (t/n: this is another dad joke, since all four of the organizers’ names start with mizu=water, he’s telling them they should flush down their past)

Rokuya Nagi: Huh...?

Nikaido Yamato: Stop questioning me with that serious face.

Mizuno & Mizushima & Mizumura & Mizumori: Huh...?

Nikaido Yamato: Don’t hop on his bandwagon too!

Izumi Mitsuki: Yamato-san, Yamato-san! You're talking too much...!

Nikaido Yamato: Because, these people!? seem to get into nonsensical fights all the time!? I have to balance that…

Izumi Mitsuki: Okay, okay! You're amazing! Yamato-san is amazing!

Yuki: Rich boy, you’re acting really spoiled.

Nanase Riku: It feels like everyone from the mysterious company is one step away from reconciling!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Since it’s a rare chance, I hope everyone can get along with each other, communicate properly, and celebrate the anniversary!

Isumi Haruka: That's right... You might regret it later if you don't! You uncles!

Mizuno: ...But...

Mizushima: ...It feels like...

Mizumura: ...This might be the last...

Mizumori: ...Chance for a fresh start...

Natsume Minami: This is getting annoying. I'll grab you guys by the ties and throw you into a river.

Inumaru Touma: Mina, don’t treat them like we’re at Redfes again!

Nanase Riku: The final trigger... What on earth could it be?

Kujo Tenn: Nanase-san. We're idols, right?

Nanase Riku: Te… Kujo-san.

Kujo Tenn: in times like these, why don’t we sing?

Nanase Riku: You’re right!

Isumi Haruka: That might be it!

Nanase Riku: We've been moving people's hearts with our songs all this time!

Nanase Riku: I'm sure this time, we can also move the hearts of those mysterious people from the water series!

Izumi Iori: Seriously, you guys don't even want to remember their last names.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Let’s reach them! Deliver those feelings to the water series!

Yuki: We want to make the water series people happy.

Momo: Yuki and the others don’t remember either.

Mizuno: You idols... for the sake of people like us, to go to such lengths...

Nanase Riku: We all work to make everyone happy!

Nanase Riku: Guys, will you lend us a hand!?

Yaotome Gaku: Yeah! If that's the case, TRIGGER will go along with you.

Inumaru Touma: ŹOOĻ too!

Momo: Momo-chan and his Darling will lend a hand, of course!

Nanase Riku: Thank you!

Nanase Riku: Everyone! Let's clear away the lingering doubts in the hearts of the water series people with that song!

Izumi Iori: Understood. That song, right?

Nikaido Yamato: Oh! It's that song!

Izumi Mitsuki: I knew it, that song is perfect for times like this!

Yotsuba Tamaki: I get it, that song’s the only way to go!

Osaka Sougo: Roger. That song.

Rokuya Nagi: Alright! Let's sing that song you’ve all been waiting for!

Kujo Tenn: That's right. That song.

Yaotome Raku: We'll sing it!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: To unite our hearts and feelings, there's no other choice but that song!

Momo: That's what I like to see! Let's sing that song!

Yuki: That's right. That song.

Isumi Haruka: There's no other song but "that song," right?

Inumaru Touma: Let's give it all we've got! "That song"!

Natsume Minami: …”that song”, right...

Mido Torao: …”that song”, huh...

Nanase Riku: Here we go! Please listen!

IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ: ~♪♪♪

Kujo Tenn & Izumi Iori & Osaka Sougo & Isumi Haruka: 

♪ The closest thing to eternity in the world (Tenn, Pieces of the World)

♪ Our unfading GENERATiON, with you (Iori, MONSTER GENERATiON)

♪ Our path may still have bumps (Sougo, Kizuna)

♪ Got it... Say Wassup! (Haruka, Poisonous Gangster)

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Rokuya Nagi & Nikaido Yamato & Inumaru Touma:

♪ SHINE, in the shining light (Ryuu, Beautiful Prayer)

♪ You as the wind, blowing (Hatsukoi Rhythm)

♪ Ready go! Dark, Dark, Dark (GOOD NiGHT AWESOME)

♪ It's scary, someday we'll part ways (SASAGERO you are mine)

(t/n: im losing my mind someone please save me)

Izumi Mitsuki & Nanase Riku & Momo & Natsume Minami:

♪ We'll deliver our love's YELL (Mitsu, wonderful Octave)

♪ We met, and these feelings are connected (Riku, Welcome future world)

♪ For example, tomorrow's horizon (Momo, Your Rhapsody)

♪ Illuminating the water's surface, the summer Sunshine (Mina, déja vu)

Yaotome Gaku & Yotsuba Tamaki & Yuki & Mido Torao:

♪ We'll become the trigger that starts a storm (Gaky, Destiny)

♪ Echoing beyond the great tomorrow (Tama, The funky universe)

♪ No matter where we sing (Yuki, Taiyo no Esperanza)

♪ Our bonds won't waver, so let's go toward the future! (Tora, Utopia)

Mizuno: Huh...?

Mizushima: Huh...?

Mizumura: Um...

Mizumori: Uh...

Nanase Riku: Waaaait a minute! Everyone, STOP!

Nanase Riku: It’s... It's that song, you know?

Inumaru Touma: Ah!

Nikaido Yamato: My bad! It's that song!

Yaotome Gaku: OKOK. It's that song.

Rokuya Nagi: Yes! I got it.

Nanase Riku: Is everything okay?

Yuki: It's fine, it's fine.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Perfect!

Isumi Haruka: It's that one, right?

Nanase Riku: That's right, that's right! Exactly!

Kujo Tenn: I completely understand.

Osaka Sougo: That one over there.

Izumi Mitsuki: We can do it. One more time, please!

Nanase Riku: Alright! Now, please listen, water series!

Izumi Iori: You're abbreviating too much, aren't you?

Mizuno & Mizushima & Mizumura & Mizumori: Yes!

Nikaido Yamato: It's alright.

Nanase Riku: Let's do it! On the count of three...

Yaotome Gaku & Izumi Iori & Yuki & Isumi Haruka:

♪Bare your fangs, devour the silence (Gaku; Crescent Rise)

♪Let's set up the Perfection Gimmick (Iori, Perfection Gimmick)

♪Higher and higher than the multicolored lights that decorate the city (Yuki, To my Dearest)

♪Soar even higher (Haruka, Storonger & Storonger) 

Mizuno: Ah...

Mizushima: Somehow...

Nikaido Yamato & Nanase Riku & Momo & Inumaru Touma:

♪We're always chasing after it (Yamato, TOMORROW EViDENCE)

♪When we grasp it, tomorrow will change into any color (Riku, NiGHTFALL)

♪Let's sing, let's sing, looking up at the sky (Momo, Journey)

♪Here we go, Bang! Bang! Bang! (Touma, you know which one)

Mizumura: Ah... ah...

Mizumori: ...That's enough! Everyone! let's make up!!

Mizuno & Mizushima & Mizumura: Mizumori!!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke & Rokuya Nagi & Izumi Mitsuki & Mido Torao:

♪Let our wishes reach, even if they're far away (Ryuu, Negai wa shine)

♪I'm always thinking of you secretly (Nagi, Sakura message)

♪Fly high! That's why I believe (Mitsuki, RESTART POiNTER)

♪Roar, roar, all living things (Minami, 4-roar)

Mizumori: When I listened to their song, I understood!!

Mizumori: It's fine for us to be all over the place!

Mizuno: Indeed…!

Mizushima: Even though they were singing different songs...

Mizumura: It's so wonderful!

(t/n: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH WHY ARE THEY STILL SINGING SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Kujo Tenn & Osaka Sougo & Yotsuba Tamaki & Mido Torao:

♪Let's embrace our feelings to the fullest (Tenn, Natsu shiyoze)

♪Yes, Dancing BEAT!! (Sougo, gee i wonder)

♪Beyond those unsaid feelings (Tamaki, miss you.)

♪Don't misunderstand, if it's life, I've long since cast it aside (Torao, Survivor)

Mizuno: Let's make up!

Mizumori: Let's do it!

Mizushima: That ball was safe!

Mizumura: No, it was out! I’ll give you back your point!

Mizuno: Thank you very much! Because of all the idols…!

Mizuno & Mizushima & Mizumura & Mizumori: We've made up…!

IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ: ~♪♪♪

Izumi Iori: (And so...)

Izumi Iori: (The hellish planning meeting came to an end.)

Mizuno: It's a little late, but once again, I'm Mizuno from the PR Department of Jyuurokugumi.

Izumi Iori: So, you're from Jyuurokugumi huh? Known for flashy and buzzworthy product launches and famous for food events...

Mizuno: I'm truly grateful to hear that.

Izumi Mitsuki: Why did you use an alias to hide your company's name?

Osaka Sougo: That's right. Was there some reason you couldn't tell us?

Mizuno: The reason we asked all of you for this job is that you're popular idols trending among the young generation, and you represent the spirit of the new era.

Mizuno: However, if we had revealed our company name, Jyuurokugumi (Sixteenth group), we were afraid that people might easily misunderstand and think we were trying to gather 16 people...

Mizuno: I apologize if we ever misled you and made you feel uneasy…

Kujo Tenn & Osaka Sougo & Momo & Mido Torao: What the hell...

Yotsuba Tamaki: Don’t sweat it. We have numbers in our names too, so we often get jobs related to numbers.

Osaka Sougo: I know someone whose company has the word five in it.

Mizuno: Haha... I'm sorry. Would it have been better to be honest from the get-go?

Mizuno: Can we continue with our business as planned?

Nanase Riku: Of course! Please leave Jyuurokugumi’s anniversary to us!

Mizuno: Thank you so much! I'm genuinely so happy! Once again, please take care of us!

Mizushima & Mizumura & Mizumori: We look forward to working with you!

IDOLiSH7 & TRIGGER & Re:vale & ŹOOĻ: Please take care of us!

Izumi Iori: I'm relieved that it's resolved peacefully.

Kujo Tenn: Indeed.

Kujo Tenn: (But I feel bad for suspecting him. I should give Kujo-san a call tonight...)

Osaka Sougo: (Maybe I should send him a get-well-soon message...)

Mido Torao: (I should visit my family's home soon...)

Momo: (I might try sending a rabbichat someday...)

Yotsuba Tamaki: They seem to be reflecting on something...

Yuki: I wonder what's wrong?

Nanase Riku: I'm curious about how the campaign and shuffle projects Jyuurokugumi has in store will turn out. 

Nanase Riku: I'm looking forward to seeing how they’ll select the members!

To be continued...

#i7 #idolish7 #ainana #idolish7 translation #id7 #8th anniversary #beyond the period #trigger #re:vale #zool

[amphiptere-art]

My brain is failing to grab anything. But here you could have this from warehouse.

There was an entire scene in Warehouse centering somewhere around the fact of Sally the YN just not caring about the fact that Dim was sentient? I vaguely remember that Dim was crawling on the walls. I think because he was hiding? I have the feeling this pre-faced a conversation with eclipse in the arcade. Because I do vaguely remember the arcade. So let's try and structure this out? Grasp it the straws and get a basic timeline of what this encounter was.

Dim was still considered non-sendient. Sun and Moon might have gotten an idea that maybe he was gaining sentience. But It hadn't gone far yet.

Dim was probably confessing to eclipse that he now feels like he really is sentient. Sun and Moon told them about how he's latched onto their learning program and now it makes so much sense why he's gotten smarter. At the same time though he feels so scared and bad that he doesn't want to tell the others. He doesn't want to tell anyone that he himself thinks he's sentient.

Eclipse is probably telling him it's okay. Eclipse himself doesn't necessarily want them to tell the others either. Starting to speak about the fact why he's in the arcade. Which is that he was basically deemed too dangerous because he was too smart. Making Dim even more nervous over the idea.

Q Sally walking in. Dim panics. Not only worrying about his sentence but also worrying about exposing his friend. So he scrambles to hide. Choosing above the doorway that leads into the arcade.

Sally walks in somewhat confused. Having actually come in to investigate what Dim was doing. Dim tries to scramble back into parts and service. Which is only connected to the arcade by the principle that DJ is a little hard to move in the smaller building. Sally catches him though. Asking why the hell he's on the ceiling and why is he running?

Dim tries to play it off. Saying that he simply got startled and worried about if they were an intruder. But when they learn they weren't, they didn't want to bother them. Sally tells him the basic it's okay. But press is the question of who were they talking to?

Dim is terrified to share his information about eclipse. But he's also terrified to come up with a truthful lie. Which you can still only tell truthful lies because he's still not exactly sentient enough to make them up. Choosing between the two he decides to sacrifice himself. Telling Sally he was just talking to himself about maybe the fact that he's... Sentient.

Sally looks in with an air of null before saying that's great. They honestly would like a more familiar personality to talk to. Dim getting completely confused by how nonchalant they are. Basically asking why they are not angry or concerned about their sentence. They aren't supposed to be sentient.

Sally once again tells him she doesn't care. So what if he sentient? She already saw Dim as her single and only little buddy. She already sort of made up intelligence around him. Sure it wasn't true at the time but she's honestly happy to have it true now. It's nice to have a familiar friend that they can now talk to.

Dim is completely taken back. They're basically rebooting. Which gets Sally concerned. Asking if maybe he wants to go to parts and service? Dim responds with maybe. They are feeling what is categorized as confused? They feel like they should be expressing a feeling of joy. Sally tells him it's okay but she wouldn't mind checking it anyways. May as well just get the surest confirmation that he's sentient.

Dim follows and they go do a little test. This wakes up sun and moon. Who are confused why there in parts and service. As it is a place they hate. Dim trying to tell them not to worry about it. They have already basically filled in for repairs all the time already. Sun and Moon start to relax before Sally playfully announceses that Dim is sentient. Which gets them on a tirade.

Both of them shouting no way. That can't be true. Stuff like that. Dim gets fearful of their yelling. Quietly whispering for quiet. Sally luckily notices and isolates Sun and Moon. Which gets the more angry but they are reduced to a text app. (Which I just realized I have never explained but I will definitely have to explain now.)

Anyways. Dim relaxes now that he's not being yelled at. Sally basically asks him if maybe he wants her to explain it to Sun and Moon instead of him. Dim agrees. Slightly complaining about how they've been so mean. Something he doesn't catch on but Sally does.

And that's the end of the encounter really? Or at least the most important parts of the encounter. I'll give you the rest of the story later. I have remembered I have to explain the text app.

#Warehouse #i'll add tags later

[yonemurishiroku]

In your older/ present Nico au how do u see a selfcest plot working out?

A March 15th ask! My sins just pile up don't they... Deep apologies to anon for the long wait. 😭😭😭

Referring to the selfcest plot here: 1 2 3 4 (Pretty messing tho bc I literally just post whatever I think of, pls go to the tag for more)

Anon please please know that I'm so, so glad to see someone interested in the selfcest AU and that your ask delights me to no end. This is my jam and only mine bc obviously nobody's unhinged enough to come up with it. 😭😭😭

To answer your question about "how a selfcest plot works out", I'm assuming you're asking about the relationship aspect, aka how their feelings come to be acknowledged? 👀

In that case, truthfully, I have no idea. LMAO. 😂

Actually no that's not right. Hmm. I mean. When I came up with this AU and decided to categorize it as "selfcest", the only thing in my mind was that: I wanted to see Nico love himself.

So, intrinsically, I suppose it might be a little different from what you might consider a typical romance? - the same way I sometimes go for the peculiar, rare, unnamed types of love. In this case, the important thing - the thing for which I built this whole AU and everything around it - is that Nico getting to show himself what love is.

The love in this, to me, is not technically like typical mainstream romances (of kisses and lovemaking etc...), but rather something about to cherish, to protect, to pray for the other's happiness, sometimes to hate as a result, and to fall.

Abstract, I know. I don't understand half of the things I wrote either. (And to think that I project my own self-esteem problem onto it...)

Anyway, the supreme repertoire of this AU is: the Older Nico showing his younger self that he deserves to be loved and could be selfish - because no one else has done it for him and selfishness is the peak unhealthy self-love - and thus, somewhat salvaging himself from the mistreatment he received in his lifetime.

Rather than romance, let's just say it's cherishing.

So, what about the Young Nico? How does he feel about this?

This is actually an angst pool I like to swim in, but like water, I can't properly get it out.

Let's just put ourselves in yNico's shoes. You have someone who treasures you so much it's unhealthy, and from said affection sprouts their wrongdoings. You can somewhat realize they're at wrong, but they're so nice to you, trying so hard for your sake, and suddenly the weight is on your shoulders.

It's already so complicated.

And to think that said person is your future self? That everything they do is just for your own good? That you sometimes want to trust them - over anything else, knowing nothing good would come out of it? That you have to choose between yourself and what's supposed to be "good"?

It's a can of worms I've yet to unpack. If I were to write this down it'd be a 20-something chapter of 100kw self-doubts and manipulation, for which I abs do not have the willpower.

BUT, let's just ask: Can you even call it love?

Again, it depends on what, exactly, you consider love. In this case, the gratitude is definitely there, the affection is def there - how can it not? when the F!Nico is the one teaching him about love, the desire to hold onto is def there; but the conflicts are also there (bc yeah I just have to make F!Nico an antagonist sue me), the doubts, and the "I wish it didn't have to come to this".

That, in a way, you give up on it, but you'd still be willing to give it a chance - if only there was one: The Young Nico treasures the precious things his future self has taught him, and he knew he had to give up on that, yet he couldn't stop himself from holding on.

Ah I love the blurring borders of love.

If you've followed me long enough, you'd probably realize that I don't always follow the definition of mainstream love/romance. In fact, when I say that "these two are in love", it's hardly ever about them wanting to kiss or lay around in the sheets, but rather them having a deep connection - whether it's by hatred, a grudge, a type of co-dependency, etc...

The term of "selfcest" itself, whilst posing as a couple tag, is used by me to indicate a connection, a somewhat attraction, and not completely a romance of normal standards. ❤🎇✨

So, to answer your question of how the selfcest part might play out: it's love, all the same.

#nico di angelo #pjo #hoo #toa #yone rambling #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #selfcest #selfcest au #selflove nico #time travel au #time travel #yone au #yone writing #self love

[futuresoon]

ohhh i can't play dead plate myself (running a linux) but i did watch a walkthrough and thank you for introducing me to it <3 such a fun premise and execution. id love to read whatever you end up writing on it!!

:DDD thank you! i didn't play it either actually, i watched manlybadasshero's LP and felt my brain melt out my ears. but i'll get around to at least buying it. i do not really know where this story is going but hopefully it will be good! here is the first bit, just for you.

Le Parisien Libéré, April 16th, 1961: “La Gueule de Saturne: Parisian high cuisine at its most lifeless”

-André Galliard, staff critic

Walk along the boulevards of downtown Paris and you will find your appetite tempted by any number of eateries, from the smallest hole in the wall to the grandest haute cuisine. La Gueule de Saturne appears, at first, to be a bistro of some elegance: intimately-sized, with a modern sense of decoration and a head chef of no small renown. Its name reflects, perhaps, a certain sense of humor which one might find refreshing compared to the usual straightforward, pleasant naming conventions in the restaurant scene. I visited with no small degree of anticipation for my evening. Alas, I found the experience wanting in almost every respect.

The first crack appeared while I was being seated. The dining area was oddly understaffed, one waiter doing the job of at least three, rushing me to my table while two others looked to him for their own orders. La Gueule de Saturne is not a large restaurant, but its popularity would lead one to expect a degree of financial solvency. Could they simply not afford additional workers? Or was this a minor disaster in scheduling? Regardless, it made for a poor experience. I found myself with little patience for a server perpetually late to attend me. I would expect this sort of service from a dingy diner, not a bistro of such high reputation.

The food itself presented a different quandary. The first course, a pumpkin bisque, was in every way prepared competently: the texture creamy and smooth, the ingredients high-quality, the presentation respectable. And yet every spoonful instilled a sensation that I can only describe as confusing. I, as a critic, am not often lost for words, but I struggle to find the right ones to accurately portray the taste of the food at La Gueule de Saturne. It was as if I had been offered a glass of the finest red wine, and upon drinking it, discovered it to be colored water. In a way, it fascinates me. It is so lacking in depth, so devoid of savor, that I cannot place it in the category of ‘bad’; were it not for it being made of organic matter, I would hesitate to even categorize it as ‘food’.

What must go into the preparation of dishes with such emptiness? Chef Vincent Charbonneau claims his restaurant to be his life’s work--bold words for someone barely scraping thirty--and so what does that say about him? This bland, soulless flavor paints a picture of a life barely lived, an existence shut off from the joys and sorrows of humanity. A person lacking tenets of the human condition so basic that it is almost difficult to describe what exactly is missing, like a fish trying to define a world without water.

Love, perhaps, is the word I am thinking of. Every dish I ate at La Gueule de Saturne was deeply, profoundly lacking in love. Some may say this is not a measurable attribute, but those people have not tasted what I have. Whatever Charbonneau’s laurels, I can only assume that the man is missing something fundamental to both artistic expression and human nature. Perhaps he is incapable of it, perhaps he simply hasn’t found it yet, but whatever the case, I cannot reasonably recommend La Gueule de Saturne to anyone who sees food as both a nourishing and pleasurable experience. As for Charbonneau himself, I can only hope he takes these words to heart. If he does not, he may find himself relocated from the world of high cuisine to the world of the sanitarium.

#this was supposed to be like a paragraph but i wrote the whole thing whoops #futuresoon talks about dead plate

[daffodi1]

I've been in and out of the VnC tag in the past couple of days after doing a reread of the series (and finally watching the anime) and one thing I keep seeing is people asking if the whole thing between Vanitas and Noe is "queerbaiting". I can kinda understand why some people might think that, but here's my personal take on why Mochijun had no such intention (TL;DR I AM TIRED OF PEOPLE BEING MEAN ABOUT THIS SERIES AND I AM TIRED OF THE ONES DEFENDING IT BY SAYING THEY'RE NOT GAY. COME AND FIGHT ME.)

So, a lot of these opinions are going to come from some of my understandings about Japanese fandoms and the way their genres work. In order to explain this, I'm going to need to talk about another piece of media I like, an indie game called "Witch's Heart". I PROMISE I will get to why this has to do with VnC and the idea of queerbaiting.

Awhile ago, the dev of Witch's Heart came under fire for saying that any non-canon ships should not be put in the main tag, especially gay ones because "Witch's Heart is not a game about gay people" (please keep in mind that the dev could not speak English very well before you get your panties in a wad about the poor wording. They've already stated they have nothing wrong with gay ships or LGBT headcanons). A lot of people were outraged, especially since the American fandom for this game is heavily LGBT. But the thing is; the dev themself has been seen liking gay ships and art of their characters as trans, so many argued that there's no way this person hates to see those things *period*, they just didn't want them in the main tag for some reason.

That's when the Japanese members of the fandom came forward to explain; and here is what I learned. Japanese fandom tends to focus a lot on the idea of "fantasy", that being the idea that anyone can interpret any relationship as being romantic or platonic according to their wishes. That's why a lot of relationships when written tend to teeter on that line of romance and friendship, and why a lot of characters may seem subtly LGBT coded. It was stated that the reason headcanons and non-canon ships did not belong in the canon tag is because in Japanese fandom, the canon tag is strictly to give people an idea of what the story is about, whereas the non-official tag is for any headcanons and ships that aren't canon-compliant. Posting something unofficial in the canon tag is thus seen as selfishly declaring your ships and headcanons to be canon, prioritizing YOUR fantasy above anyone else's. That's why a lot of people took issue with it and saw it as rude.

It was also stated that LGBT things, especially M/M and F/F relationships, tend to be shoved aside into their own "genres" regardless of what the story is actually about. For example, sometimes I even see "No. 6", which has a very heavy plot outside of the romance, sometimes tossed to the side and categorized as "BL" (which grinds my gears for many reasons. And if you're asking "what's no. 6"-- go watch it). Thus when they said "this is not a story about gay people", they were referring to those genres.

You may be asking "okay cool but what does this have to do with VnC--" hold on hold on I am GETTING THERE.

So what I am saying about VnC is this: A lot of Mochijun's stories tend to have very homoerotic themes and relationships in them, but nothing that seems explicit. I personally believe that this is because she wants to create that "fantasy" I mentioned earlier without her stories being shoved aside and being considered "Just BL" stories. I think that doing this and allowing LGBT people to fantasize about seeing themselves in these characters they love might be the best she can do without her stories simply being tossed aside, and I don't think that what she's doing specifically counts as "queerbaiting". Several of her characters and their interactions are queer coded: Domi and her gnc manner of dressing and flirtations with women, Jeanne's way of acting around Domi, the way Roland acts around Vanitas and Noe (and how Noe blushes in response), the way Jean-Jacques and Noe's interactions happened when they could have easily put those interactions between him and Chloe instead, and of course; whatever the hell Vanitas and Noe have going on. I will never believe that she did this all just because she hates gay people and wants their money. I believe she did this out of love for her LGBT audience and a desire to give them characters they could relate to even if it can't be entirely explicit. And many people may be frustrated that it never will be as explicit as they want it to be-- and hey! You know what? Your frustration is valid! But I don't think Mochijun is the one to be angry with-- I think we should be more angry with censorship and those who shove stories with LGBT characters to the side in the first place and act like those stories don't matter outside of the relationships.

People may be thinking "did you write this just to yell at the queer fandom" and actually, I did not. I wrote this bc all of the discourse I saw defending this show was saying that Vanitas and Noe were "just friends" and that their interactions were not at all queer coded. Don't get me wrong: if you wanna see them as just besties, that's fine but to deny that any homoerotic subtext is there is being willfully ignorant at best. I won't tell you why because there are literally a million other essays you could read on the matter by fans that are more mentally ill about dedicated to the matter than me, and this has gone on too long anyway. But I couldn't stand the idea that the only two options were demonizing Mochijun or turning a blind eye to queer interpretations. There HAS to be a middle ground, people.

#vnc #case study of vanitas #q word #emil chatter #dear god im mentally ill

[wisteria-lodge]

snake primary + bird secondary

Hi, I'm here to submit a SortMe, but take your time getting to it, it's no rush ^^ To start, I'm pretty sure I'm a Snake Primary with a Badger model. As a kid in school I was quite a stereotypical Badger, kind, openminded, helpful etc. but I was still kind of a spoiled brat (3rd and last child). My family bowed to my whims many times, and I threw many tantrums... in fact, I was very kind only outside the house, and quite selfish with my family.

It's kind of interesting that you had SUCH different presentations at home and at school, and are so self-aware about it. It's kind of making me think Actor Bird, because those personas are situation specific. School!You and Home!You.

Another note is that I never had a proper best friend(s) in school or anything, I was the type to be on the fringe of the social circles, knowing most people,

That also kind of makes me think Actor Bird: a different "you" for every group? And if you were a Courtier Badger, which is possible, I would have expected you to befriend *groups* more. But here it's all about individuals.

being friends with some, but never really super close. I was always jealous of that.

I see where you're getting Snake primary, this does sound like a primary thing.

Anyway, as I got older, depressed, burned out, my Badger burned and trying to help everyone in the world became too much. I thought at first I was a Burned Badger Primary, but I realise that while I do sometimes feel guilty about not helping every person in need, I get more satisfaction helping myself or my own friends. Genuinely the things I can excuse my friends for has sometimes lost me other friends. So I think I'm a pretty solid Snake Primary.

Yeah, I'll second that. Maybe at one point you thought you *should* be a Badger primary, or were *supposed* to be a Badger primary. But Snakes are practical, and you don't seem to be cut-up over any of that.

The Secondary gets hard. Depression and lack of purpose, motivation

... and People, I'll bet

made me burn and for a long time I didn't know what my Secondary was. Now I think I may be a little Bird/Badger, but I've associated that with studying/hard work so much it felt alien to me. But while schoolwork has always been a chore, for fandom stuff I can go nuts making quizzes and spreadsheets for innocuous things most people don't even care about. I run a video posting account and when I'm saving videos to post, I'll sort them into categories despite the fact that I usually don't go through the categories later at all?

You know what Bird secondaries like? Categorizing, organizing, preparing.

I've made a dozen different accounts for different fandom purposes—bots, roleplay, etc. I'm not sure if any of this helps actually, but I feel like it's the only way to see my Secondary LOL.

It's Bird :)

All those descriptions about Birds gathering a billion different skills for opportune times never resonated with me, though. So I was never sure if I was really Bird.

I think you're probably defining 'skill' differently than I am. To me, running dozens of blogs, knowing how to write bots, quizzes, roleplay, make spreadsheets... those are absolutely skills.

Maybe it's just Badger? I do like to have people around me to rely on, but that might be a social anxiety thing.

Or a human thing.

I suppose in a problem I tend to default to asking friends for advice before I google stuff. Okay so maybe I am a Badger Secondary? Damn did I just answer my own SortMe? Um... well anyway I hope you can help me figure it out/confirm it haha. Thanks for reading this far.

You're a Loyalist primary, and it sounds like you've got people now (which is good.) I would be surprised if you didn't talk with them. But the actual evidence and descriptions of problem solving... have all been Bird. Your secondary was Burnt, and I could see how that could make you distrust/devalue it. You might absolutely have a Badger model, or maybe the Bird is a model you built *because* you burnt out the Badger (that absolutely happens.) But I'm just saying what I see.

#sortinghatchats #sortme #wisteria sorts #snake bird #snake primary #bird secondary #burnt secondary #shc

[feisaru]

Oooooo may I ask about 🫂 and 🎭 headcanons for Fei please?!

And if you're still up for more, than 👗 and 🧸 headcanons for Saru please and thank you! uwu///

Thank you so much for the ask! Sorry this took so long, I had to think about it

🫂: a hc about friendship

WHOA buckle up this one's a tad bit personal. Him and Saru have been in a "friendship" until they were around 20 years old. Maybe they updated the label to "BEST friends" once, but that was the peak of it (still was a huge step for Saru) (and this made me remember a really bad shitpost scenario ft. my OC). That's when Saru went "haha if it weren't for him, I would be dead by now, might as well just-" and pulled his head out of his ass (this means "stopped being a coward" for those who don't know) and really said "I love you" for the first time without beating about the bush (The reason Fei didn't feel the need to confess before Saru is a topic for another time but here's a hint: it was not because he was afraid of rejection). The thing is, by that point they had been kissing (and everything else basically) in high frequency for a few years already. Most things you'd think are a couple thing, they probably had done already. Their Something, as I like to call it bc that's how Saru started thinking about it one day as well, just had no real label beyond friends (which to Saru is already a special thing, anyway). And they didn't even really feel the need to label it. It was beyond categorization. Their special Something. I'm relatively new to this label in particular, but I guess this goes in the direction of the QPR domain (label that's v dear to me also). Yeah so turning their weird little beautiful Something into an official relationship was in and of itself just a matter of formalities. Quite literally almost nothing changed after they became official partners. But they sure do enjoy telling each other they love each other from that point on. (This makes me wanna reread the other times I've talked about this... damn)

Okay all jokes aside, the real hc was, Zanark and Fei actually get on pretty well. Fei gets on with a lot of people, sure, but Zanark is not so into being friends with everyone and he likes Fei a lot. He thinks Fei is amazing for still being the way he is, for not caving in and letting all that happened weigh him down forever although life has evidently dealt him a bad hand. But he also thinks Fei should most definitely not be shouldering all the burden by himself. I and a friend of mine agreed that it would have been nice if Fei had gotten to structure his thoughts in a more personal talk with someone before the final match. You know, unpacked a bit about Everything that was racing through his head, stated his motivations to someone, made up his mind on some stuff. More explicitly and in more depth and length than canon allowed him to. And even tho Zanark is no expert at comforting, we both thought that Zanark would have liked to check up on him. And Fei would have not had such a hard time explaining some things to him because they are from the same time etc etc. So we roleplayed something that you can imagine as a scene that happened off-screen. It was very very nice I loved that

🎭: a hc about what they lie about

Hard one. Fei doesn't lie a lot. He really sucks at that, as Saru mentioned once. He downplays things or avoids talking about certain topics altogether instead. So even if that's technically cheating, I'll tell you about that instead. He has a tendency to downplay his own feelings and needs. He wants to look after everything and everyone as much as he can and he forgets that he deserves breaks and somebody looking after him too.

👗: a hc about their clothing style

HHHH lotta thoughts on this one actually. But I'mma control myself. Saru is half This Guy Has No Fashion Sense, half Extra. He only knows how to dress when he really wants to. He's gender non-conforming about it. The harder you tell him he shouldn't wear this or that, the harder he wears it. Because he runs on spite. He will wear it because he can, fuck your whole life heteronormativity. He has overly specific kinds of clothes that he feels good in. He loves wearing heels because he is like the dog on the counter that likes feeling Tall.

Okay, so I don't get carried away any more, here's sth more specific: in his generally tad bit less bold first 3-5 years post-CS, he always found himself returning to oversized hoodies and pullovers. There was a rather simple black one that he wore often.

🧸: a hc about their childhood

Hah this one's hard... because these are the thoughts I really only speak about once in a blue moon, even privately with the people closer to me. Let me try and find something that won't feel so exposing (for lack of a better word) in my head.

Once again a beta hc that may change in the future: I like to think that similarly to Fei's rabbit, he once owned a monkey plush. Basically from birth on. I have not yet made up my mind about what exactly happened to it, but whichever was its fate, it wasn't good. Saru quickly grew to be not very fond of it because of who he got it from and what it stood for, to lightly put it. The plush has experienced his beginner attempts at externalizing his inner pain.

Ask game from which this is from

#yea i felt sappy up there dont touch me sniff #and locket #i wanna thank you for always being so kind #it really gets to me🫶🦔 #feisaru receives asks #ask game #princesslocket #ask #the only thing that initially came to my mind for the last one was something im not ready to discuss yet actually thats why this took #hella long #inazuma eleven #feisaru

[wouriqueen]

Single's Inferno 2 was entertaining. It still had some of S1's obvious flaws, but I'm note sure I understand some of the commentary I've seen here and on other platforms?

Like, why is Seulgi getting hate? That girl has been nothing but appropriate and as honest as possible this whole show. Her behavior being different depending on how attracted by a guy she is, or how comfortable she is with him, is 100% normal and human. She hasn't pretended to like Jongwoo as much as he likes her either - giving a chance to someone who's interested and whom you think you might like back after getting to know them is a real thing people do in real life lol. Jongwoo himself knew that. Tbh I did think she'd choose Jinyoung, as she obviously was very attracted to him, but I think he scared her off with his "stability" talk. She's still a student, she's younger, I don't think she wanted something complicated. In any case, it's actually impossible to truly fall for someone in such a short time, so it's okay for people to evaluate their options - especially that it's literally the show's point.

Also not getting why Jinyoung is being accused of disparaging Soe's looks, he simply noted Sejun's ideal type was the "charismatic" type (or sophisticated, or whatever other word they use) as opposed to Soe being the "sweet" type. I totally get being uncomfy with how Korean people so easily label people in general and categorize women by "type" in particular (sexy-cute, cute, sexy, charismatic, party girl...) but he didn't make that up.

And why are people resenting the men for going for the girls who fit more the Korean beauty and dating standard on a show where they only have 9 days to make a choice and much fewer days to even decide who they're going to pursue, and where the importance of initial physical attraction is that much bigger given there's a lot of personal stories and subjects they can't discuss for fear of disclosing age and profession ? The person you go for in that context would not be the same as the one you'd go for after really getting to know everyone and getting to witness their charms. The show exploits the first urge, not actual connections, despite it's claims. It's also different when you have several "options" which you'll then inevitably compare, as opposed to a chance encounter in real life with one (1) person. The fact that the Korean beauty and dating ideal is much stricter than in other countries can be felt, obviously, but all the factors above heavily influence those decisions as well.

Now don't get me wrong : I 100% agree that the man gravitating around the same girls makes the show extremely predictable. That is it's main flaw. But if anything, it's the casting team choices that should be criticized - they knew what they were doing when they cast Soeun and Seulgi, just like Jia and Jiyeon in season 1. The show might be more interesting if they didn't cast those kind of girls (not derogatory at all, to be clear) .... but there also would be less competition (which they want to keep the drama high) and maybe a higher number of people not remotely interested in anybody (though some of the connections on the show are already clearly exaggerated).

Anyway I liked this season more than the first one. None of the guys were annoying or too pushy, I really really liked every single one of the girls, and everyone expressed themselves pretty maturely (Yoong Jae took his time but he got there lol). Thrilled Soe had some positive development, she deserves it (shocked at how mature she was for her age). Bummed that Sejeong couldn't go to paradise at least once, but more pissed at the producing team for casting her while knowing she'd probably be in that position (like Yewon last season).

#single's inferno 2 #my thoughts #sorry to my mutuals for the dating show rant krkrkr

[drabbleitout]

Find the Word Tag Game

Tagged by: @andromeda-rising-897, @kaiusvnoir, & @spacetimewraithwrites (...I think that's everyone...) I took words from each tag to use My Words: Forgotten, Tear, Fire, Stay, Water, Weather, Work, Wince Tagging: @kcsmall, @stormbrightwriter, @druidx, @neshamahs, & everyone who tagged me AND anyone else who would like to join! (As always please don't feel pressured or rushed!) Your Words: Pillow, Slippery, Country, Frighten, & God Note: Stay hurts me, no matter how many times I read it. Also, this might be the first time Garnet's around & I don't have to put a language warning! What about that!

Forgotten

From somewhere out of view, Valetta approached, adjusting her hearing aid piercing and welcoming Lora back. A pass of words as she continued on to, Beau assumed, her desk. Lora watched her go, smile of her response sinking into something almost sad. Her every movement at her desk was forgotten in whatever thoughts she was having until her eyes blinked rapidly, jolting and returning to the dossier on her desk.

Tear

Ives blinked, gaze lowering to Ryker with an almost animatronic tilt of the head. “Good afternoon, officer. How may I be of assistance?” Ryker sucked in a breath, burning in his throat, unable to tear his stare away from Ives’ distant expression. No, not Ives. He wasn’t Ives anymore. Duras had gotten rid of him. This was GW-IV5.

Fire

Its body caught light, inorganic and matte, limbs gangly for its almost human-like stature. Massive shoulders with a torso largely out of proportion of its hips and legs. Angular, a number of cords hung from its limbs, faceless with a flat, diamond-shaped head. A deep rumble rippled the sludge around their legs, shaking into their bones. A shriek, a groan, not quite a voice as much as a sensation. It charged, bolting from one side of the tunnel to the next, leaping over their heads as one massive hand seized Garnet by the front of his vest. Before he could fire it slung him down the tunnel, into the dark, pinning Beau to the wall.

Stay & Water

But Garnet decided he didn't need a response, hugging him again to duck his face into the crook of Beau's neck and shoulder. "Oh –well… Okay," Beau tried not to laugh, patting him on the back. "How about some water? You want some water?" “No,” Garnet scoffed as if the idea were the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. And then, “I need you to stay.” Beau wouldn’t categorize it as normal, but he'd said it so clear Beau wondered for a moment if he’d miraculously sobered up. “That’s why I came with you, to make sure you’re alright tonight.” A hand slid up the back of Beau’s head, fingers filtering into curls as Garnet lifted his head, just enough to tilt their temples together. “I mean stay.” Not sober, far too low and rumbling. Beau caught a hand on the wall as his legs faltered, as if all the TLN suddenly rushed towards the points of contact like Garnet was electromagnetic.

Weather

“Hey Beauregard,” [Valetta] gently smiled, taking him from Lora to bring into the foyer. “Nasty weather, isn’t it? Come on, let’s get you into something warm and dry. Here,” she ushered him over to the bench that held their shoes, sitting him down to begin taking off his shoes. “I can,” Beau whimpered, making a half-hearted attempt to do so himself. “It’s okay, I gotcha,” Valetta shook her head, finishing them off. She stacked them neatly standing to offer out her hands, “come on, I’ve got just the thing and Lora has some Puerquitos you should try."

Work

Garnet came through the door, hands in pockets, strolling to his desk. He didn’t bother sitting down, opening a drawer to drop in his work phone and shut down his terminal. Beau noticed right away he was missing his work belt. Locking up his desk and grabbing the motorcycle helmet from underneath, he stepped towards the door. “Are you leaving for the day?” Beau called, causing him to stop. “Yeah,” he turned back, “think I’m gonna take some time off. Have a little vacation. So try and hold it down till I get back, alright?” Beau checked the squad’s calendar, unable to find any mention of anyone taking vacation time. Garnet wasn’t approved until June. “Alright…” Beau nodded, watching him go. He was lying.

Wince

|Can we help?| Beau asked noticing Midland’s eyes going heavy. |I would need a full OR. Oxygen at least—| [Mikki] pulled away from the connection, brow bending as hairline fissures emerged in her face. Her hands shook as she combed again at Midland’s hair, hesitating as he leaned into her touch. “You okay, Mikki?” He wheezed. “I… I don’t know,” static emerged in her voice, spreading her hand along the side of his face to cradle. “You’ll be okay,” drawing in for air he winced, attempting another more satisfactory breath making a frothing sound. Mikki sat him up straighter trying to help. |I want to tell him how stupid he was.|

#wip: tb #tag game #writeblr #writblr

[luckysoft]

Two things that recently caused me to reexamine some of my thoughts on sexuality, morals, shipping, cancel culture, that whole kind of sphere of topics... is 1.) The recent events on this site regarding trans woman (I saw someone try to do a callout on her as being a "rape-apologist" or something for liking cnc. Be so for real right now dude) 2.) A youtuber getting "outed as a pedophile and zoophile" for accidentally opening his porn folder on stream which contained DRAWN horse x human stuff and, as far as I can tell, one single instance of a niche character who is canonically 15. People were calling that "lolicon" which is.... categorically not what that word means. 3.) I liked the game the Coffin of Andy and Leyley. Oops. 4.) Recent legal efforts to sanitize the internet more and more and more AND the people backing these laws being revealed 100% of the time to be involved with hardcore religious organizations. 5.) This one's more vague but... the fact that this phenomenon seems to be snowballing? The umbrella of things that this kind of online purity culture deems bad seems to expand by the day to the point where I have now seen people on the internet attack others for... liking sex? Like, in general? Not just like a "Bonk go to horny jail haha" thing but like genuinely acting as if they have uncovered and highlighted a deep personal moral failing of the other party all because they publicly implied to an enjoyment of sex. I've seen this multiple times. What.

For the past few years I skirted around admitting I liked, or even participating in, certain anime or visual novels if the characters were in high school and there was a lot of fanservice or even explicit content, as well as some personal kinks. But like??? Idk man. Liking Mahoako as much as I do, even if some parts of it (Neroalice) are huge squicks for me, made me realize I really can't keep pretending. I have 0 desire to be in any sort of contact with irl minors, ESP in an nsfw context. I didn't create the cultural standard of high schools being like, the most popular setting for anime and anime-adjacent media, be it sfw or nsfw. That being said, the idea of denying myself something I might like that has associations to the aforementioned stuff, just bc someone (anonymous) might try to harass me (anonymous) sounds kind of nonsensical to me at this point.

Also idk mannnn I think it's pretty bad faith at a baseline to say that people who like, reblog porn or whatever of teenaged characters who look and act indistinguishable from adult characters are pedos. Liiiike, I can understand that with lolicon, the characters age is probably THE MAIN reason that the ppl who are attracted to it are attracted to it, and honestly I think that sucks and is icky. But with, like, pulling a character out at random here, uhhh, Yumeko from Kakegurui. You cannot convince me that her age is the reason people think she's hot instead of it being an inconsequential aside to every other aspect of her character in that context.

I know I'm not a bad person. I know I'm not going to engage in certain actions irl. I know these things about myself and that is all that really matters.

[samieree]

Born in Flames || Game of Thrones

OC x ?😏

-> Chapter XVI ''Happy heart, broken heart''

Chapter XVII ''Meereen''

"Would you like to sit?" Oberyn offered to Lord Tywin.

He and Elaria were currently using Lord Baelish's brothel in the capital, but Lord Casterly Rock had to interrupt them. He came accompanied by guards and asked to talk, so he agreed, although he would rather do other things.

"No, thanks." Tywin replied as his guards left, leaving them alone in the brothel room. He would prefer another place, but at the same time he didn't want to postpone this conversation.

"Wine?" he suggested, getting off the bed and throwing a scarf over himself.

"No, thanks." Tywin repeated.

"I'm sorry about your grandson." with that, Oberyn went to pour himself some wine.

"Really?"

"I do not believe that children are responsible for the sins of their parents." he replied with some venom in his voice, although on the surface his tone was still polite, or even pleasant. "Or grandparents." he added, looking at Tywin once he had filled his cup. "A horrible way to die."

"What way?" in just two words he managed to make it clear that the younger prince of Dorne was on his list of suspects. Oberyn understood the accusation immediately.

"Are you interrogating me, Lord Tywin?"

"Some believe the king choked."

"Some people believe that the sky is blue because we live in the eye of the blue-eyed giant." Oberyn countered, sitting back on the bed."The king was poisoned." stated a fact that they both knew perfectly well.

"I heard you studied poisons at the Citadel."

Is he accusing me again?

"That's why I know."

"Everyone knows you hate my family." Tywin maintained the same tone throughout the entire conversation. "You come to the capital, you are an expert in poisons, a few days later my grandson dies."

"Suspicious." he admitted, looking into his wine glass for a moment. "Why haven't you thrown me into the dungeon yet?"

"You talked to Tyrion in that brothel the day you arrived. About what?"

Ah... He thinks we were conspiring together. It almost made me laugh.

"Do you think we were conspiring?" Oberyn asked bluntly. Tywin then repeated his question, so the prince stood up and walked over to Tywin, this time answering the question."My sister's death."

"Which you blame me for."

They were now facing each other and staring at each other. There had been tension in the room since Tywin had entered, but now it was beginning to build dangerously quickly.

"She was raped and killed by the Mountain. The Mountain takes orders from you. Of course I blame you." all these years, his hatred for Tywin and the Mountain has not left him, and probably never will, even when he takes revenge.

And he will do it, he does not believe in the justice of the Gods. If you want justice, you have to bring it yourself.

"I stand here unarmed, without guards. Should I be afraid?"

"You came because you know me. I am a reasonable person. If I cut your throat now, I'd probably be quartered tomorrow."

"In war, people commit various crimes without their superior's knowledge."

"You also didn't know that Visenya belongs to my family and after her mother's death she should go to Dorne, under our protection?"

Tywin didn't comment on it in any way because he didn't have the ability to. Oberyn was right, but he would never admit it, and those days he could afford not to follow generally accepted rules, after all, after the war, he was a big winner and his daughter was the Queen.

"You also deny that you had any involvement in Elia's murder?"the prince asked another question.

"Categorically." this time Tywin replied.

They looked at each other in silence for a long moment, and Oberyn seemed to be assessing whether Tywin might actually be telling the truth. His eyes didn't answer his question and as the tension reached its peak, he turned around and went back to sit on the bed.

"I'd like to talk with the Mountain." he said, his back turned to the Lord.

"He'd definitely enjoy speaking with you."

"He might not enjoy this as much as he thinks he would." he reached for a grape from the fruit basket and ate it, looking significantly at Tywin. His intentions for the Mountain were obvious.

"I could arrange such a meeting." with that, Tywin finally moved from his seat, walking to the other side of the room.

"But you want something in return."

"There will be a trial for my son. Tradition dictates that he should be judged by three judges. The first will be me, the second will be Mace Tyrell. I wish you were the third."

He had to admit, he was surprised that this was what Lord Tywin wanted from him. It didn't seem like he wanted much from him, so there had to be a catch...

"Why?"

"Not so long ago the Tyrells allied with Renly Baratheon. They declared themselves enemies of the Crown. Now they are our strongest allies." Oberyn kept looking at him, wondering what he was getting at.

"Well, you made a Tyrell girl the Queen." he interjected. "Judging your son is much less of a temptation." he stood up and reached for his goblet with wine.

"I will also invite you to sit on the Small Council, to serve the new king with your knowledge."

Now there's definitely a catch to it.

"I didn't know you held Dorne in such high esteem, Lord Tywin." said the prince sarcastically.

"Without Dorne there are no Seven Kingdoms."

"Not without the North also, and somehow you can't extinguish the last spark of rebellion." he couldn't help but use this moment to cut him off.

"The Greyjoys are rebelling too. The Wildling army is marching on the Wall, and in the east, a Targaryen girl has four dragons, more than Aegon had when he conquered Westeros." he said all this, walking slowly past Oberyn. "I'm sure she'll set her eyes on Westeros soon. Only the Dornishmen were able to resist Aegon Targaryen and his dragons."

"Are you saying you need us? It's probably hard to admit..." Oberyn replied with a smirk on his face. "Why exactly would we fight against Visenya? She is my and Dorian's niece."

In fact, he had already heard about it at the court, and a smile quickly spread across his face as he thought about what would happen if Visenya came to Westeros soon. Moreover, he was proud of her. He remembered her as a girl who lived in fear of Tywin Lannister and preferred to submit. And now he heard of her as a strong woman who led an army loyal to her.

She may have inherited her looks completely from her father, but there was a large part of the Martell soul in her.

"Dorne hasn't gotten much good out of associating with the Targaryens."

"She's blood of my blood." he replied quickly. "In Dorne we don't murder mothers and children as a sign of loyalty."

"I offer you to bring justice to Elia's murderer, if you will help me bring justice to the king's." Tywin offered openly, no longer trying to turn Oberyn against his niece. He stuck out his hand towards him, waiting for him to accept the deal.

Speaking of Visenya, she has just arrived before the walls of Meereen. She could already see the huge pyramids from a distance, but the closer she got, the more impressive they were. Seeing the army, people looked out from behind the walls with interest, but rather without fear. They apparently believed that Meereen could not be conquered.

She got off her horse and wanted to get a little closer so she could speak to these people, but suddenly she saw the huge city gate opening.

"Lonely rider?" she asked, seeing only one man on a horse. She would have expected an attack, not something... like this.

"A champion of Meereen." Ser Arthur explained to her, standing next to her. "You are to send your own to face him."

"What is he actually doing?" she frowned, watching the man first show off on the horse, then dismount, shout something and unbutton his pants, to which she immediately looked away and sighed heavily. She was not at all entertained by it like all those great Lords in Meereen.

"He says we're an army of men without... man parts. And you are not a woman, but a man who... Who hides his cock in his own asshole." Missandei's translation was not without some stutters.

"He should be silenced for saying such things." she replied. "Especially since he won't let me speak."

"Rual nyke bisa rigle, ñuha dāria. Kesan daor dissapōs ao, ivestragī nyke ossēnagon bisa vala syt a." said Grey Worm, offering himself for the task.

*"Do me the honor, my Queen. I will not let you down, let me kill this man for you."*

"Ao sagon se udrāzmio hen dovaogēdy, kesan daor risk ojūdan ao." she replied, with a delicate smile on her lips.

*"You are the commander of the Unsullied, I won't risk losing you."*

"I will do it. They say I'm the best knight in the Seven Kingdoms, I've killed a lot of people, I'll kill this one too." Ser Arthur caught her attention.

"I'm not going to gamble with your life." she answered briefly and decisively, then looked at Ser Barristan and spoke again when she saw that he wanted to say something. "Don't even begin."

"So I'll fight." Daario interjected, coming closer. "I don't command the Unsullied, I'm not dear to you, I'm not even a knight, my mother was a whore. I came from nothing and I will eventually return to it one way or another. But let me kill him for you."

For a moment - when he said that he was not dear to her - it occurred to her that this was not the truth, his life was not worthless and she would not want to watch him die. She even liked his courtships, her girlish heart was finally showing itself. But did she have a better choice? No.

"All right." she replied after a short while. Immediately afterwards, she glanced at the walls and added "You have a large audience, don't disappoint them."

She took a few steps closer towards the city, looking between the people on the walls and the rider who was already being handed a lance. She exchanged a few words with Missandei about Daario and his courage, and then approached him.

"Don't you want a horse?" she asked, a little concerned about how the situation was developing.

"Why would I want one?" he shrugged. He seemed completely unconcerned that he was risking his own life.

"He has a horse." she pointed out. "Besides, horses are faster than people."

"And dumber than them."

She was silent for a moment, she was about to give up, but she added something.

"If you die, you won't be able to show off to me anymore." she doesn't know what she was thinking, that she was going to talk some sense into him? Or maybe she just didn't believe he could have a plan? She believed that without a horse he had less chance, but in the end she did not order him to take a horse to this fight.

And Daario just winked at her in response.

She folded and retreated, returning to stand next to Missandei, never looking away from what was happening. The man rode on his horse with his lance drawn, getting closer and closer to them. She watched as Daario slowly pulled out his long dagger and - she guesses - kissed it lightly for luck.

Her heart sped up again, as if she hadn't had enough stress already. She clenched her right hand on the dark red fabric of her clothes, and shuddered as she watched the blade pierce the horse's head, it fell, the rider fell... And before he could get up, his head had already been severed.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips and her hand let go of the material and relaxed. Vis even returned the gentle smile Daario gave her.

"Issi īlon qōrdī?" she asked Grey Worm, to which he only nodded.

*"Are we ready?"*

It was time to speak to the people on the walls, there were more and more of them, they were pushing each other, everyone wanted to see who had arrived at the gate, to see what was happening.

"Issarosī hen Meereen!" she started, screaming loud enough for the people on the walls to hear her. "Iksan Visenya Targārien, hen Valyrio Uēpo ānogār iksan. Kostā ryptan yno iā ybaō aōha āeksia ivestretan ao nūmāzma nyke. Kostis vestās trutī iā pirtra, kostā pāsagon zirȳ iā daor. Daoriot jemas. Sir kesā ūndegon nyke hae iksan, ao se aōha āeksia. Iksan iā ābra, daor vala doīhi orvorta isse zȳhon gundja. Iksan se pryjatys hen belma. Ao ūndegon azantyr inkot nyke. Īlis buzdarīs isse Astapor. Sir pōnta iōragon inkot nyke, daerē. Pār īlon naejōt Yunkai. Lī qilōni sia buzdarīs isse Yunkai, sir iōragon inkot nyke, daerē. Sir nyke've māzigon naejot Meereen. Eman mērī mēre rūn naejot ivestragon aōha āeksia." she paused for a moment to make her next words sound more explicit. "Dāez tolvie vala, ābra se riña gō ziry iksos tolī aēlt. Naejot se simrī issaros: iksan daor aōha qrinuntys, aōha qrinuntys iksis paktot ao. Aōha qrinuntys uses ao se aōha riñar,ossēnagon ao se daoriot addemmagon syt ziry. Ziry iksos jēda syt zirȳ naejot addemmagon syt mirre pōja ziriōs!"

*"People of Meereen! I am Visenya Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyria. You may have heard of me, or your Lords might have told you about me. They may have told you truth or lies, you may have believed them or not. It doesn't matter. Now you will see me as I am. You and your Masters. I am a woman, not a man hiding his cock in his own asshole. I am the Breaker of Chains. You see an army behind me. They were slaves in Astapor. Now they stand behind me, free. Then we went to Yunkai. Those who were slaves there now stand behind me, free. Now I have come to Meereen. I have only one thing to say to your Masters: Free every man, woman and child before it's too late! And to the common people I say: I am not your enemy, your enemy is among you. Your enemy is exploiting you and your children, killing you and not paying for it! It's time for them to pay for all their crimes!"*

You could tell by her voice and posture that she finally felt confident in speaking to people. There was no longer any hesitation in her, she knew what to say and how to say it. She didn't care how many people were looking at her, in fact she was happy with every new set of eyes. It was nothing like she was in King's Landing, where she preferred to avoid being seen. Now she was no longer afraid of speaking Valyrian, and after a few lessons with Missandei her accent was perfect, some might say it was her first language.

It was definitely more difficult to try to learn Dothraki, but that's another matter.

"Perzys!" she shouted, and the catapults prepared in advance - and properly aimed to hit buildings, not people - launched barrels containing all the collars collected in Yunkai.

People panicked at first, but quickly saw that this was not an attack intended to destroy the city. Barrels smashed against the walls and collars fell out, landing on the pavement. It showed people that she wasn't lying. Each collar meant one freed person, and there were thousands of them.

Their enemy was truly among them.

"Istiti perpīdo syt se hembar dekurago." she said to Grey Worm as she walked away from the walls towards the camp next to the city.

*"We must prepare for the next step."*

Visenya Targaryen planned to take over the city from the inside, in a similar way to Yunkai, but not only with her soldiers, but with the help of the people. Robb Stark planned to get to the North, to Jon.

They both succeeded. Except Visenya was now the Queen of Meereen and could celebrate her victory, and Robb couldn't even rejoice in his survival.

~

-> Chapter XVIII ''Justice'' -> general masterlist -> Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon masterlist

#game of thrones #daario naharis #arthur dayne #game of thrones fanfiction #robb stark #Tywin Lannister #Oberyn Martell

[spacebutnotfar]

Pilgrimage

Over the years, I've started a pilgrimage. Throughout the months and years, I collect... things, trinkets, souvenirs, letters, photos, foods, leaves, a collection of things so lacking in common features that it might as well be called trash, though often trash can be categorized as the things people what to get rid of.

I guess, in a way, it is trash. I too, want to eventually get rid of it; it is just that instead of being so indifferent to its location, I am highly interested in where it will be.

Once I have enough, and let me tell you, the definition of enough has never been subject to so many revisions, I pack my things, call my time off the colony, and depart.

My wife was stranged at first by this ritual of mine. She was really suspicious when her boyfriend of 2 years one day knocked on her door and said he would be going on a trip out to the Redlands and near the peak of Olympus Mons.

Over time, she mellowed to it, even made the trip a few times with me, but ultimately, she and I realized that for whatever reason, it was my trip, my time to be alone with my thoughts and with my trash.

It's a long trip, about 4 weeks worth, and once I am off the Redland's solar farms, there are no more humans until I get back.

I took a photo of one of my trinkets, a seashell from Earth, though it had lost all its color and nearly looked pearl white. I found it one day in a playground; Though there it was surrounded by green grass and kids playing. I asked one of the kids if they knew whose it was, and after playing detective with one of them in the hunt for its owner, we came to the conclusion that the teddy bear on Miss Alewinth's desk was to blame. I don't think it would've held in court though; the deposition of Carlos, the wise tree snail, was made under duress because we threatened him with salt if he didn't spill the beans.

Nevertheless, the victim, Shelly, needed a place to rest for the rest of time, so it was only fitting I would take them with me on this trip.

Out here is where I only really appreciate the expanse of the world before me. I grew up in one of the largest cities on earth and was told that I would meet civilization no matter where I walked or how far I walked. It was supposed to be a great human achievement. For me, it was an overwhelming feeling of compression.

Here on Mars, I would need to go around the whole planet before meeting another human, and I don't think I have enough life support to get even a tenth of the way there.

People ask me if I thought this desolate, deserted, uninhabitable, radioactive, thin-atmosphere planet is worth living in. Every time I tell them of the last pilgrimage I did. Congratulations, you caught this one.

Time to reflect is rare, and Mars is unique in that there is nothing but reflections outside the colony. You are just in a suit, walking through sand and rock. You look up, and maybe you can stop a satellite, but that's it.

Want introspection? Come to Mars. Catchy slogan for the tourism board, eh? They rejected it three times so far, but they are good sports about it; it became a bit of an inside joke among the staff there since I always come by their office before going to Olympus Mons, and they are the ones setting up my equipment. I bet next time, they will run with it.

Today's item of color for you is a double A battery. No longer in production anywhere. This one fell off an old flashlight someone was carrying on their caravan flight to here. The poor fella died on the way to Mars, and so his funeral was here; the family asked for his belongings to be spread among the colony; they did not want to pay the cost of sending them back. Say "Cheese!" Howard.

He, too, was deemed trash, and so I took him with me on a past pilgrimage. Don't worry, it's not his actual body there, just his ashes

Not a lot of people can say their final resting place is on a different planet from the one they were born. Not a lot of people can say where they are buried, actually.

Howards was coming to Mars after the war to find work as a journalist. A lot of educated folks were; they figured if Mars was free, then surely there would be a need for white-collar work.

Among his things were a pair of books. "The Forever Question: Why?" and "For Who Do You Write". Augustine, the librarian, ended up with these excellent books, which really impacted him and how he looked at his work; as such, they were not trash.

Well, here we are. My little spot. It ain't much, but it's far and quiet. Now it's time to dig in.

It takes a while, and the hole goes deeper every time, or so I think, but I take a moment to look at my trash and start working through the list.

Hello Battery, sorry I could not find you a remote to fit into; this is your home now.

Hello Shelly, sorry I could not find your killer; I mean, owner, this is your home now.

Hello 10-dollar bill, I am sorry you are not legal tender here; this is your home now.

Hello Jane's necklace, I am sorry I couldn't find you a new owner; this is your home now.

Hello, screw from the teacher's lounge; sorry I didn't find where you screwed in; this is your home now.

Hello, suspicious USB stick; sorry I was not brave enough to figure out your contents; this is your home now.

Hello Self,

I am sorry I failed you, I am sorry we still struggle, I am sorry you have to keep doing this. But this. Is. Not. Your. Home. Your home is with Alice, with Martin, with Annie, and with the others.

I cherish these items and my time with them because I've made my time with them limited. They and this pilgrimage remind me that I am not here forever and that one day, I too, will need to be disposed of like trash. But if that is to be my fate, then I want those around me to treat me like I treat my own trash.

#space #sci fi #original story #short story