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nalyra-dreaming · 3 months

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Pre season 2 rant - heavy on sarcasm!

This is the... well by now somewhat meditated on rant I promised a while ago. It has a lot of cussing, so be warned.

It is a… summary comment about some views I‘ve seen around, from “bad writing“ to the “abuse“ and other things. Oh, and it's about the "lying" subject. With receipts!

I‘m getting this out of my system before season 2 hits, and before more of the press leading up to it is released, because cast, crew and writers as well as the show have given us all of it already and, tbh, if I‘m going to see anyone scream “bad writing“ or “Louis being made a liar or the memories revisited/changed is racism“ when the changes will hit I‘m just gonna block you.

Fair warning.

This is long… so under the cut.

This show has made color-conscious choices. Brilliantly so. They also have an astonishing meta level.

And what we saw was not the truth.

That much is clear now. HAS ACTUALLY BEEN CLEAR FROM THE END OF SEASON 1 ON.

Jacob has said at the TCA panel that Louis is trying to regain his true memories.

Here is a reminder of some key statements by cast and crew:

Here are interviews and statements by Assad and Jacob and Sam and Rolin and the writers & producers that what we have seen was not the (whole) truth, that Louis’ tale has been “tinkered” with, influenced.

I'm heroically refraining from adding the gifs of Rolin and his statement again. Which are from the episode insider… and remember when that aired?! Yeah… 😒

But I've seen things recently that make me want to pull my hair out, to be frank. For example this, behind the link:

...Like, not making him a whole flat ass liar is actually the point, guys. And no it does not undermine the story....

As the writers said:

I mean, I get it to an extent. It's becoming clearer and clearer that the show some people made up in their heads is not the one they'll be getting. (We've been trying to tell them, but hey.)

Yeah.... That.

Unfortunately @blackgirlasis has blocked me, (and I have returned the favor now that I noticed), we only discussed something recently, but I think the reason might have been after I posted that video, in which it is literally said that "not everything Louis says is a lie", which, given her statements here might speak for itself, especially this part of that statement:

"It is actually ACTIVELY harmful to perpetuate the idea that the Black characters aren't to be trusted with the narrative and that we need Lestat to come through with the honest accounting."

You know, I would actually agree! Which is also why I always emphasized that we did not get the WHOLE truth. I also kept more than hinting at the fact that Armand is, well Armand.

BUT - and here it gets interesting - why is JACOB's - a BLACK man's - statement discarded? Why do they do not want to hear it that Louis does, in fact, lie? And, just to be clear - I do not NEED Louis to lie, nor be proven a liar, and I think the show will do its damndest to explain via the "tinkering" that Armand did. They will give some of the blame to Armand.

But to flip one's shit over argumentation that the MAIN CHARACTER, a BLACK MAN has already stated... that is what I find interesting.

Like, why do you* (*generally spoken, not her especially) accuse people of racism over this, when HE has already said that Louis does, indeed, lie. Why is he not actually listened to? I don't get that. Why is agency taken away from a living, breathing person to give it to a fictional character? Why is his statement that "not all representation needs to be healthy representation" not kept in mind?

Louis is Louis. Louis being color-consciously handled didn't "change the character an awful lot".

JACOB said that. Here. Interestingly enough in a comment about the racial consideration the show does(!).

Louis is NOT a whole other character despite the changes, and the twists that will happen in season 2 were always set to come, as the friggin' video of BEFORE the show aired is proof of. They talked about all that. They know it didn't all happen as shown. They knew Louis did lie. But NOT about everything.

They also knew that some of the scenes did not happen (at least as shown). And now... "it’s clear that Louis is somebody hugely angry with a man he loved deeply and now presents them as a monster…" Also Jacob Anderson.

Presents. Them. As. A. Monster.

Bailey Bass said in the SDCC interview, that it is not clear who is the "villain here" in various scenes, interestingly enough, because the dynamic keeps changing. Which of course was after they shot a myriad of scenes that would not make it into the final s1 cut. Again: why is she not listened to? Why do you take her agency away to give it to a fictional character?

And I'm not even starting on the others. Sam. Rolin. The writers.

Also, re the abuse and scenes being revisited. Again, screenshot as example:

There is nothing simple about this show. Especially that scene.

BUT the show knows what it‘s doing! I'm not going to rehash all that here now, here are links on that.

AND THE WRITERS SAYING IT WILL BE REVISITED... is from December 21, 2022.

DECEMBER 22.

A revisit and a change of that scene will not be bad writing. (Or tasteless.) They already DID so in the last episode of season 1, continuing that will simply fall into line with what we have already been given. That's not bad writing. That's just the show, and there's people who just did not want to examine that.

Because it will be echoed, and it will serve a purpose.

I know the show did the meta level of patriarchal domestic abuse, but for fuck‘s sake, the story itself is about vampires struggling, and Louis is struggling.

The show has a meta level of abuse, and patriarchy, and recognizing is valid and the meta discussions are too.

But Louis is not chained to his coffin guys, he could have left, and a fight which shows off power discrepancies within the show story line is not automatically domestic abuse.

*slow clap*

No-one wants this to happen for the sake of "redeeming" Lestat. Because he does not need that redemption. They're all murderers and monsters.

They kill. For a living. LITERALLY.

THEY ARE VAMPIRES It's not about vampires trying to find their humanity.

It's about vampires trying to find a way to live with themselves, because they are, indeed, monsters.

Doubting the narrative which was TORN APART WITHIN THE SHOW is not the same as bad writing or racism FFS, nor is actually looking at what we're given - and knowing the fucking, 50 year old books. And recognizing the hints and parallels.

I have also seen the take that Lestat isolated Louis... and like, did we watch the same show? You know, even with the vampirism (which, of course™, could not free Louis as promised)...

Months of flirting openly in NOLA, public wooing. DECADES LIVING IN NOLA. Operas. Restaurants. Family dinners. (And Louis stopping Lestat there, AS a mortal...) Cleaning the cribs, years of "human entanglement" because Louis wanted it.... Banjo barbecues, political influence, wakes... Everybody knew.

(Like, I could pull up gifs here.)

"Isolation". Right. It has nothing, at all, to do with the Rite of Passage, or Louis' depression.

Of course not.

I mean, Jacob says that Louis is very depressed during the time leading up to the fight, and his and Sam's discussion here is interesting as well, but hey, I mean, why listen to the actual black actor, right.

As a last thing.

Yeah. Tell me you know nothing about the books without telling me you know nothing about the books.

And, as a note, context is important if you pull up other scenes from the VC.

Welcome to the fucking Vampire Chronicles.

Anyone expecting big bad patriarchal abuser Lestat is not going to have a good time.

And honestly, to those: don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Good riddance - and BON VOYAGE

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ride-thedragon · 10 months

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The Lack of Nuance with House Velayron.

I want to establish that the strange relationship to blackness in the show is confusing.

The show runners didn't write black characters. The Velaryons are Valyrian.

The cast is filled with black actors who draw parallels in their interviews to their blackness and this house. Without correction.

In a similar vain to how house Targaryen, house Hightower and house Lannister are all played by white people the Velaryons look black but are not written o be perceived as black in the narrative.

It's not inherently colorblind casting because the intent was to differentiate the Velaryons and Targaryens and to show how obvious Rhaenyra��s adultery is. It does, however, act in the same way. Their blackness isn't supposed to impact the narrative past that extent. Unfortunately, that's not how race works in media. Look at Bridgerton. For example, they knew they wanted to include racial elements to justify their alternate history while imploring colorblind casting and building these characters around their actors.

The biggest issue that comes from this understanding is that because they didn't write the script with black people in mind and just wrote it thematically to reach up to the dance, they end up sidelining and putting black characters into a lot of reductive stereotypes and fulfilling harmful tropes that contribute to the oppression of real world black people.

Laena is the second choice bride for Daemon, a white prince. He spends their marriage, making it known that he'd prefer to be with his other niece while not discounting the fact that they are happy enough for their circumstance.

Laena is a black girl who is passed over twice in the narrative for white women for different reasons. Her husband can't truly love her or their black children to the full extent he would her white counterpart.

Laenor is a gay man who can not do his duty to the realm and, as a result, does not sleep with his wife, causing her to look for a man who will essentially making his successor not from his blood.

Laenor is a black gay man explicitly traumatized during a wedding, not being able to fulfill his duty. His wife finds someone willing to do it during this time and he agrees to take the blame. The kid doesn't look like him. This pattern and behaviour continues because it can cost these kids their life. Rhaenyra actively contributes to the erasure of black succession for this house, choosing instead to sleep with and have kids by a white man.

Certain things work with this change. Corlys saying 'history does not remember blood it remembers names' gives 'I'm not black I'm OJ'.

The perception of success defines him more than the inherent loss of blackness he's pandering, too.

That wasn't the show's intention, though. None of my reading was intended to be placed on the story.

They made Laena into a sapphire who ended her life brutally after thinking it would be lost to childbirth.

The statistical and historical relationship to black women and childbirth was a burden the show runners did not consider.

It gets worse when the writers call it a 'dragon riders death' because it's so much more brutal than the death she endures in the book. A black woman chooses a brutal death as opposed to being helpless in childbirth. That's not imagery that was utilized well.

Laenor rededicating his life to his family after his sisters death only to be replaced by a white man and killed off violently (not really though, he just abandoned his family).

They also casually make him and his dad absent fathers.

With Corlys, they unknowingly employ Uncle Tom tropes with him while making him absent from his family, and next season, a cheater with an outside family.

Vaemond is a black man being gaslit all around him, and when he stands up for what is a real concern to have in his shoes, in a moment where he chooses to be unapologetic and angry he's brutally killed by a white protagonist. They punish the black character who didn't want to assimilate.

Again, this wasn't the writers intention because they are not writing black character. With someone like Nettles, this relationship to the narrative will be clearer. The racism and prejudice she faces in the story are different from the Velaryons because she's perceived as other or black in this world. Like Missandei and Grey Worm, she's a black character in the universe.

However, the imagery that these things invoke can not be avoided just because you don't focus on them. That's even more reckless because you get the diversity points, claim there is a reason behind their blackness, and then utilize reductive tropes and stereotypes.

I truly think they should've utilized the Bridgerton method and attributed the difference to dragonriding and the fact that a lesser dragon riding family would still be better than a rich non dragon riding family and that their ability to have dragon riders now should evaluate their status even though, through the show we see it not shifting their dynamic.

Racism and the stereotypes that come from it aren't based on anything tangible. White hair dragon riders through marriage and people with white hair who inherently can claim a dragon by blood alone is the same nonsense racism is based on. It's not really an important distinction but a necessary one to perpetuate and hold power. It could simply be a prejudice that the Velaryons acknowledged is there and are trying to break through.

This is a good show. It was beautifully done with the source material they had, but consciousness when it comes to perception and duality are so important when it comes to media, especially when writing for marginalized groups.

I would've loved to see Laenor and Rhaenyra have a discussion along the lines of her icing him out of their family unit, replacing him during a hard time. Or him actively acknowledging the burden of his position as heir with Luke and relating to his inability to do his duty and Luke's burden of perceived bastardy.

I'd love to see a Corlys and Vaemond Arguemnt of Corlys' assimilation to the politics of Westeros and the identity of house Velayron being lost as a result.

Laena could've acknowledged her worth to their marriage, calling Daemon out on his complacency to their collective happiness and expecting him to be better would've ate, cleared and devoured.

Imagine that last scene coupled with book Laena's death. I would've secured the Emmy for Nanna.

Not only does this add to the world building, but it sets up future (technically past) relationships between the Velaryons and someone like Nettles. Between them and Targaryens.

I need a cold cigarette. I will end this by saying the framework should they decide to establish this better is already there. It's just unfortunate that we lost three cool people before the nuance would hit.

#house of the dragon #hotd #a song of ice and fire #house velaryon #corlys velaryon #laena targaryen #laena velaryon #laenor velaryon #rhaenys velaryon #rhaenyra x harwin #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon x laena #daemon targaryen #vaemond velaryon #house targaryen #race in media #racist tropes #black women in media #black men in media

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aingeal98 · 5 months

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I have like. Two versions of Damian Wayne in my head. I think it's a consequence of getting to know and love him via Morrison's run on him and then wanting to know more, doing research into his mother's side, and being horrified by how racist the retcons made were. It didn't really change how much I enjoy Damian in any significant way, because I liked him for his dynamic with the batfamily and how entertaining he is as Robin. It's just that when it comes to anything deeper than that, about what motivates him, what he internalized growing up, the impact his childhood abuse had on him, anything to do with Ras or Talia really... A lot of writers fail so badly at making it compelling and instead just make me cringe and want them never to touch the al Ghuls again. And so we end up with two Damians:

Damian Wayne aka the Damian I love: Most easily described as an in-character, well written Damian with a solid backstory. Robin Son of Batman and his Robin run both pull this off pretty well. They don't downplay the horror of his childhood but they don't cross over into cartoonish territory either, and they allow Damian to have complicated thoughts and feelings about what he did and what was done to him. You can see how his abuse shaped him without it being shoved hamfistedly down your throat, and I don't come away thinking "I have to ignore all of this no matter how important it is to his character because logically Ras and/or Talia would not fucking do that". Also he's hilarious and makes me root for him whether he's insulting his enemies or electrocuting Jason or dying for the fifth/sixth time. Like that's my son and I can write a million words on his mentality and how it's changed and his opinions on his parental figures and his character development and how he'd interact with x or y character and-

And the second Damian, aka the Woobie Damian. The one you get where hack writers want to give him a sad backstory to justify how Edgy and Badass and Damaged he is and write the most cartoonishly over the top evil Ras and Talia possible. Most recent example I can think of is Tom King saying Ras locked Damian in a box with no water for a week because he didn't tie his shoelaces right. Or Morrison's Talia murdering her own son. Or how SuperSons wrote Talia. And look, it's not that I won't accept horribly, ridiculously evil villains. My favourite character's dad abused her in more extreme ways than even the worst al Ghul writer could come up with. It's that these are characters with already established personalities and traits. Unless they are being mind controlled they would not act like that and do these things. Just like how Bruce Wayne wouldn't lock Dick in a cave and feed him rats. There are ways you can show the impact of growing up in a cult and raised by an evil grandfather and being told repeatedly that you are destined to lead them all into a better world and trained in the art of killing a man. And these writers fail miserably at pulling any of that off. It's as shallow and boring as "You know why I'm mean to you all the time? Because my family taught me love is a weakness. I said mean things to you and stabbed you but my grandfather used to beat me for showing kindness to animals. Don't you feel sorry for me now?"

It sucks. I hate it. Anything with that Damian in it, I automatically filter out of my personal canon. The only way I can think of making it good is if it's like the "Slice the Baby Saturday" meme, where Damian is just bullshitting to see how much he can get away with and deliberately testing his family with stereotypes. But unfortunately those writers are dead serious about Ras making Damian climb up a whole mountain with no safety gear even if he falls and breaks his arm or dies. Because that is definitely something you would do with your one and only heir. They're literally two minutes away from saying Ras gave Damian a puppy and then told Talia to kill it in front of him.

So basically when I say that I love Damian and he's my favourite male Robin, know that woobie Damian is not a part of this conversation. Real Damian I would kill for. A writer puts woobie Damian in front of me and says his mom stabbed him I say let him bleed out so I won't have to endure comics about him anymore.

#dc #damian wayne #talia al ghul #ras al ghul #dc rambles #sorry it's time for my monthly al ghul rant #I bottle it up every time I see a bad Damian comic and then vent it in posts like these #abuse tw

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paris-geller-was-straightwashed · 8 months

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okay, so, spoiler alert: I actually haven't seen the season final bc I'm canadian. in canada we get rez dogs from disney +, and for some reason, s3 came out weeks later then it did in the states. so I'm only on the episode with cheese camping with the uncles (which was a sweet episode!), but, because I can't help myself, I've been snooping in the tags anyway for ppl's reactions. and, unfortunately, I found out about jackie/bear.

honestly, I'm usually not surprised by forced m/f romances when it comes to tv/movies just bc of how often they happen. but, this to me is more crushing - because unlike all the other times, I was given a bit of hope. that's what makes this so frustrating. one, because of the dynamics with jackie/bear vs jackie/elora which I'll get into in a second, but namely - because these are good writers. that's what makes this show so special; all the relationships are well built and organic (or organtic, as big would say) and are properly developed along with the show. you can really see how the characters care and fit in with each other, bc the writers have cared about them and the dynamics. which is why jackie/bear makes no sense, as does the complete drop-off of elora and jackie's dynamic.

while I'm gaming for more queer relationships, I'm actually not against a m/f couple if they're developed well (take 'the good place', for example) and the characters genuinely care for each other. so, my question is, given all this and how well the writers have done with all the other relationships -

if jackie was inevitably going to end up with bear, why does her story start with elora?

granted, it starts with the whole rez dogs gang and bear getting beat-up, but we don't actually start to see jackie as a character until she starts interacting with elora. we have so many moments, where you can see, how jackie pays specific attention to elora. from the very moment jackie approaches her, saying she 'knows' that her friends aren't seeking escape as badly as she is and, quite literally, shoots her shot by saying that if elora changes her mind, she knows where to find her. giving elora her knife, asking about daniel, confirming with elora after getting home that they were going to try again for california together, texting her after the incident at the youth program with willie-jack to say sorry and ask 'what are you up to?', and especially that moment when she steps aside to tell elora to be safe going to cali with the rez dogs and elora assuring her they'd be back, these extra two seconds where you see a longing look.. there was such specific tiny details that would give off how much, maybe, jackie really cared about elora. perhaps now, we could just say this was all a showing of jackie being lonely and wanting friends, but if that's the case, then why not do this with bear???

that's my problem with the bear thing - there was no build up. sure, they had their moments, like the potato dance and falling asleep on each other and whatnot, but, maybe this was just me, it didn't feel especially significant? starting with the potato dance, I thought they were just building the pathway for jackie to be enveloped into the group and that this was the way to make up for jackie and those other kids hurting bear; it honestly wasn't giving me anything else. and even bear wasn't reacting any which way to jackie in the beginning, besides with animosity and maybe some nervousness. they really just didn't like each other. and even as the show went on, that didn't change much; they clearly became friendlier (ie jackie texting bear about his mom), but going into s3, we didn't get those special moments between like we did with elora.

straight up, jackie didn't pay half the attention to bear as she did elora, (besides maybe singling him out to beat him up but even that was with others). jackie singles out elora specifically, and even when they return home, continues to stay by elora and be invested in her and a possible friendship/relationship, showing it was never really about her needing elora's as a get-away ride. jackie is open and almost soft with elora; with bear she's resistant and gruff, and even when the two groups are cool with each other, they seem to just get on each other's nerves, ie the scene in 'friday.' yeah sure 'opposites attract' or whatever, but if that's what you're going to do, then there has to be some merit to it when it comes to writing a story (also, I am so sick of the 'boy and girl are constantly arguing and seem to hate each other hahaha bet they're gunna be married in ten years' trope). whichever one you ship, the big thing is that if it was going to end in romance, why was it written this way? elora/jack seemed so intentional that even I fell for it, and bear/jackie seemed hastily chopped together without any emotional weight or appeal to it - and yet it played out in the exact opposite on screen.

there's no point to this post. I'm just confused. I feel a lot of disappointment bc it's almost like these writers know better, know how to write organic relationships, and then while they appeared to be building one, suddenly threw it away for another without much structure behind it.

someone make it make sense.

edit: ppl in the notes saying there was no confirmation of jackie/bear, so just to clear this up, I'm, again, going on what I've HEARD. and what I heard, was that there's a scene where the rez dogs + jackie are saying goodbyes to the adults - at some point, bear lifts up his hair, exposing two hickies on his neck, and then - either before or after, it was unclear - when jackie is hugging rita goodbye, rita playfully whispers to her to 'go easy on his [bear's] neck' while jackie looks a bit embarrassed. once more, this is just what I've heard has happened, from multiple different posts, and frankly even if they don't announce the relationship by having them kiss or something, it's clear enough as the audience what we're suppose to pick up on.

#reservation dogs #rez dogs #reservation dogs spoilers #again if you ship jackie/bear like that's fine I really don't care live your dreams #it's not so much about which ship is better or whatever #it's more about my frustration with the show and how it was all written #like even if you like jackie/bear some of you gotta be kinda annoyed that there wasn't any actual scenes together #elora danan #bear smallhill #elora x jackie #for the record when I say 'relationships' here I mean any kind platonic or non

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princeescaluswords · 3 months

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I always find there's such a stark difference between tgt fans and soc fans, and this is could possibly be because of the way the fandom interprets the texts. Six of crows is a heist novel, about people who aren't chosen ones and just live in Kerch. You don't have to be special to be worthy of getting your story told. Soc fans get that. But Darkling fans? Well, it just *can't* be that Alina chooses to be ordinary over being the Darkling's queen, so she apparently *must* end up with her abuser, even though she does not share his morals; even though she is the antithesis of everything he is because she will never see others' lives as expendable for a greater cause. Alina is compassionate and revels in being the 99%, and Darkling fans seem to hate that. Alina was never meant to be a power fantasy, but for Darkling fans, the idea of being normal was never an option - because to them, why would you not choose to be part of the 1%; why would you not turn this into a power fantasy, even when when the author always intended for tgt to be the opposite?

Unfortunately, I have only seen the Netflix adaptation of the Grishaverse. I don't know what "tgt" stands for. However, I can talk about the unpleasant intersection I find between power, status, and ethics that occurs in fandoms. When I refer back to Alina, the Darkling, and the other characters in the Grishaverse, you should bear in mind that it is constrained by my limited knowledge, and I welcome any correction of what you feel is a misinterpretation.

When it comes to many people in our culture, they may claim to want a good story, but they tend to be quite simplistic in their value systems when they think they're not going to be judged for it. Which means they want power fantasies, instead. The problem, of course, is that power fantasies don't make satisfying stories. It's like trying to survive on a diet consisting solely of cheeseburgers.

Let me give a concrete example. In my primary fandom, Teen Wolf, I recently came across an unlabeled post-season 2 story where Jackson Whittemore -- who, for those who don't know, is white, rich, good-looking, entitled and captain of both the lacrosse and the swim team -- is talking about Scott McCall (the lead protagonist in the show but not this story) in very negative terms, complaining about Scott's lack of decency in not telling Allison Argent that her mother was bitten by Derek Hale, an alpha werewolf, while Mrs. Argent was trying to kill Scott. The bite caused Mrs. Argent to kill herself, and, for a time, Allison blamed Derek for her mother's death.

Now, they set aside the fact that the show made it clear that Scott didn't tell Allison because, by the time he figured out what had happened (he was unconscious when Derek bit Allison's mother), it was already too late to change anything, so Scott decided not to tell Allison so that wouldn't be the last memory she had of her beloved mother. You would think that people would view this as an effort to be kind, right? Wrong!

Fandom sees this as an utter betrayal, because it is Derek Hale's feelings, as a white, rich, god-looking, entitled Alpha Werewolf, that should take precedence over Scott's girlfriend's feelings. It doesn't matter that while Derek did come to Scott's rescue, he had beat, manipulated, lied to, betrayed, and tried to murder innocents under Scott's protection for almost all of the first two seasons.

Also relevant is that this is the same Jackson Whittemore, who witnessed his next-door neighbor "kicking the crap" out of his son, Isaac Lahey, and said nothing about it to anyone. This is the same Jackson Whittemore, who when he got the Bite, dumped his girlfriend and told a homeless man to go die in another parking lot, before turning into a murder lizard slave. This is the same Jackson Whittemore for whom the only solution that Derek Hale managed to come up with when this happened was straight-up murder. This is the same Jackson Whittemore whom Scott fought to save from Derek. There is no hint in this fandom story that Jackson is being a hypocrite or being ungrateful or even aware of the contradiction.

The author chose this. Jackson's signature callousness and selfishness simply vanishes just long enough for him to condemn the person who tried to save him for not wanting to hurt his girlfriend's feelings. Why? Jackson is privileged, and he has that in common with Derek, so it is obvious that Jackson will take Derek's perspective in the matter.

Which brings us back to your example. Alina is the Sun Summoner, a living saint, and incredibly powerful. Of course she's supposed to take the side of the Darkling, who is also incredibly powerful. His creation of a slave caste for his kind, his manipulation and murder of countless others, and his creation of the Shadow Fold poisons her nation. This is irrelevant to power fantasy, where power should make her perspective identical to his.

In the modern day, our culture certainly talks about the dangers of the elite, but fandom gives its participants the way to celebrate a freedom from the ethical consideration when it comes to personal power. To them, since fiction =/= reality, they can indulge in their lust for power and status regardless of the consequences. To them, there is no reason for Scott McCall to value Derek Hale's feelings above Allison Argent's; Derek is more powerful, richer, and better looking (and a guy!) so Scott should choose Derek's side. To them, there is no reason that the Sun Summoner will choose a course in life that will prevent her power from corrupting her; if she allowed herself to be corrupted, she'd have all the status of the Darkling.

The problem they have is that the artists behind both the Grishaverse and Teen Wolf, which you are free to consider trivial, still examined the world around them and came to the conclusion that power doesn't supersede the necessity for ethical thought. In other words, the artists realized that power fantasies might give momentary pleasure, but in the end, they don't produce meaningful stories.

Some people have a problem with that.

#scott mccall #alina starkov #darkling #grishaverse #derek hale #jackson whittemore #fandom problems #fandom racism

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shoechoe · 1 month

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Seeing as you also read the Invader Zim comics, did you notice the opening of Florpus takes after the first issue? Also I'm not going to lie, I absolutely hated how the comic version is just an excuse to dish out excessive humiliation on Dib. Like Zim straight up fat shames the kid and it annoys me when people brush it off as just "dark humor." especially because Dib wasn't even being a jerk. Sorry to vent too much but I feel like the only one bothered by that.

Yeah, I noticed. I actually heard that Florpus was a "re-imagining" of the first comic issue before, so I wasn't surprised by it. One of the things that did surprise me (from what I've read so far- I'm struggling to find the full fifth issue online RN, I might have to find where to buy it) was how mean they are in general- like, meaner than the show got, I think. The first two chapters just being Dib torture (as well as how much it tortures Dib in general) is a big example.

(The comics seem weirdly like they try to change up ZIM and Dib's dynamic from "They each win their individual battles sometimes, but neither one gets what they want" to "Dib constantly fails at everything no matter what" which, to me, doesn't work as well.)

ZIM gets picked on quite a bit too, but his chapters struck me as a lot more fun to read than Dib's chapters. The one where the Tallests pick on ZIM and then it ends with him straight up killing them on accident was hilarious. I wish Dib's chapters were more like that.

Personally, if you don't mind me ranting about something slightly different, what I disliked even more from the first issue was Gaz's chapter. Like, Gaz didn't like how Dib tried to pull her away from her video games, so she tortures him by simulating him as a player character and has him die ten million times...?? I'm pretty sure that's worse than anything ZIM has even tried to do to Dib.

What really gets to me is the way that it makes Dib apologize to Gaz for "not respecting her interests enough" like he's the one in the wrong even though Gaz is putting him through I Have No Mouth-level torture just because he annoys her when she wants to play her video games. I'm all for Gaz being comically evil (I always thought she got too much shit in the fanbase for it), but not when you butcher a bizarre attempt at a moral in it.

The comics and Florpus definitely attempt to make Gaz and Dib feel more like a regular pair of siblings than just two assholes while keeping the IZ-style dark humor, but the last chapter of issue #1 failed pretty hard at it. It's especially frustrating because I feel like the comics do this much better later. The story where Gaz learns that Dib will explode if he gets sad so she spends the entire day trying to make him happy was one of the best ones, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, I feel like that chapter is an exception. Most of the time, I think IZ is just not very good at handling wholesome emotional arcs and positive relationships between characters. (Like I've said before, I could go on a whole rant about how Dib and Professor Membrane's relationship gets handled in Florpus.)

#asks #long posts #invader zim #invader zim comics #the fat shaming is shitty as well i agree #IZ has always had issues with bullying fat people for comedy. unfortunately that is absurdly normalized in children's stuff #it's not fun or poking fun at anybody that deserves it it's just hurtful. especially for fat kids who already get bullied so much IRL

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severussnapeconfessions · 6 months

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How do you think severus would react to positive domestic behavior? Like I’m late here’s a kiss goodbye or wait let me fix your tie it’s not quite right

Hum. Not badly, I suppose. However, I am going to take the conclusion that from your message, he would find it strange. Well. Here goes the verbose that no one has asked for:

He had to desensitize himself first from any kind of domestic behaviour, not only because his example was painful and cruel, but also because he lived alone most of his life. Even the positive stuff were laced with dubious outcomes. I can imagine Eileen being nice to her husband out of fear.

Having someone positive for a change like a cheerful or genuinely helpful person around the house would leave him uncomfortable at first because he kept remembering the days when he lived with his parents and arguments were brewing at every turn and behind every kind gesture, but once he got used to it and saw that no discussion or second intentions were on sight he would ease into it and not be so wary or on a permanent state of alert. Earning his full trust would be as hard as winning the lottery.

Unfortunately I think he would restrain himself from speaking his mind about something that bothers him, fearing you'll both end up in an argument like the ones his parents did. He doesn't want to lose his partner.

In this case he would avoid speaking up, swallow the frog, and eventually blow up over tiny meaningless things that accumulated for so much time he doesn't know how to contain them.

Severus would have to learn how to communicate better as a partner and make sure he didn't accumulate so much, and overcome the fear of upsetting his significant other. Sharing a domestic life with someone isn't sunshine and rainbows. Some things need to be talked.

And untreated childhood trauma would weight on him big time.

#severus snape #snape confessions

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c0rvidbones · 3 months

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hello I love your art a whole lot!! tell me more about Wit (he's hot and evil and I require more juicy details) and Ruby (his design goes so hard) please?

oh my god hi i did not expect to come back to 20 notifs. (/pos) youve given me a much needed ego boost tonight thank you. is it bad i cant remember having ever posted ruby art?? ive only ever gotten One comm of him which is a crime, my violent martyr son should rly get more love than i give him 😔 but thank you for asking! buckle up this is gonna be a long fuckin post ♡ everything under the cut including relevant character art

WIT

behold, all art of wit i have including one i havent posted here bc i never actually finished it and the wip of him being a silly giggly boy. pls know i came up with him like MAYBE a month ago. two, tops.

SO wit is actually a what-if au of another oc of mine, his name is doodle. doodle (seen below) is a very robin-hood-esque oc, honorable thief and kindhearted, swashbuckler rogue that dual wields rapiers bc hes insane. but hes insane in like a normal way. he was a horrible child but he did grow out of it and its rare to see him w his hair down so pardon me making him look absurdly pretty in that one.

as you can see there are some (but not MANY) differences between the two. kid wit does have the starry hands/peets im just forgetful dont @ me about it djdjdj

ANYWAYS so the what-if of the au that wit is, essentially, little singular things didn't happen to people in that au world. it goes like so;

wit: never met his childhood best friend when he was a freshly injured orphan. was alone from the (elf) ages of 0-16. ended up studying magic (illusion wizard) since he didn't have someone to lean on for that sort of thing.

laika (wit's mom): never truly broke out of an archfey's madness curse. stuck with a very twisted version of the spell Tasha's Hideous Laughter burned into her mind. everything is funny and if it's scary? even funnier. she died briefly. shes back now, but still madnessed.

perseverance (wit's dad): never saved his mother from a death blow in the be-all end-all fight to save his home. was held back by someone who he thought was a friend, killed that person and then ultimately spiralled so hard that he became a lich. may or may not have accidentally killed laika.

something something one decision can change your whole life, me and my friend loved playing with that concept.

okay now that you know a lil lore/history i can dive into what wit is like.

as a kid (drawn with the short megafloofy hair) he's very mischievous and bastardly, almost always smiling or grinning but it's more to lean into the uncanny valley effect his eyes cause than out of any actual joy or anything. he doesn't Blink and he knows it unnerves people because he also has a freakishly high insight (i think its like a +9 or smth??? at level 9??). he loves to come up with fucked up spells, like. for example i saw a silly post on here the other day that was very jokingly having a wizard cast a spell of "10000 bricks until you die" but then i was immediately aware wit would (1) come up with that spell, make it functional, and have it unfortunately obliterate everyone that gets hit with it, and (2) he would call it Wit's Bricks which i think is fuckin funny. he would also come up with spells of like. cause heatstroke. boil all fluid in your body. FREEZE all fluid in your body. he's a little freak with extremely low empathy for those he isn't connected to with blood ties. that said, he's kind to his family (albeit very blunt and will call them out if theyre being stupid) and inquisitive. he DID look his dad in the eye when he met him for the first time and went "are you dead?" which. again, hilarious, but BRUTALLY blunt. he then called his dad cool because yes his dad is now a lich and therefore undead. he's a little freak but he's still a kid and that is ultimately his saving grace, what small child isn't a little freak.

as an adult (long ponytail) i get a feel of him being aro and using romance as a way to manipulate people. he's definitely still not a good person and far more stoic than he was as a child. also he most definitely maintains a constant illusion to make it seem like his eyes are always closed, which lends an air of mystery to the strange elf that seems to always be standing right behind every throne in every kingdom of faerun. i say this because i like to think he would become what's called a King's Wit, which is like a combo of royal advisor, court mage, and "guy the regent has insult other nobility since insults are beneath the reigning royal". he uses all of that to his advantage, gaining the ear and trust of every single person of noble blood that is part of any royal or ruling court, and he will bend and twist their choices so subtly that they won't realise he led them to ruin until it's already too late. which is his ultimate plan. he's STILL somewhat a robin hood style of character, but he takes it a bit further and with far less kindness to the nobility. he guts their coffers completely and every hoarded coin down to the last copper inevitably will land its way conveniently into the lap of the common folk. he does take a healthy chunk for himself - did you know being a wizard was EXPENSIVE in dnd btw? i didnt until i made wit - but most of it is for the local citizens. he does this everywhere he goes if he sees that it needs to happen. fucker topples kingdoms For Fun, because he never gets caught or credited with the ruin he leaves behind himself. he's awful. he probably still comes up with fucked up spells and he manipulates his way into wherever he wants to be. i love him.

---

RUBY

behold! @polterpumpkin drew my (not very) little guy for me! this is part of a greater set but this is the fully coloured one and arguably my fave bc it captures the absolute batshit energy ruby brings to the table.

ruby is a tiefling that was born in a lab. voluntarily, his parents participated in a sort of study that wanted to eval why it is tieflings could be born to non-tiefling parents. (both his parents are half-orcs, interestingly!) he participated in it up to a certain point, before he got sick of being poked and prodded and Watched. that's when he demanded to be released and, when he wasn't, both his parents helped him escape, unfortunately leaving his other two tiefling-born siblings behind in the process. both parents Died helping him escape, and he was embittered as is by the whole study bs, and then to have his parents die Saving him? it left him with this sort of hole he didn't know how to feel.

so he fills that hole with every vice he finds agreeable. he drinks, he fights, and he drinks again. he's a drunken monk, and one full of unbridled rage and a death wish. he isn't my happiest oc but he isn't my worst off (that would be talisman bloodhunter). he's constantly seeking a grand and worthy cause to die for, literally. he's a wannabe martyr, because he doesn't think he has anything to live for. no lovers, no friends, no allies, MAYBE a coworker or two on the occasion he's needed (he is so not needed most of the time, because it isn't often any job needs an angry monk tief to glare around the place). he has just those two sides to himself - party animal and underground drunk brawler - because he doesn't want to think about the pain underneath them both. he's tragic in a very human way, hilariously enough, but he's not a bad person. even if he's being dragged by the tail to do a job, he's ultimately going to be helpful and he ALWAYS keeps his team alive. he'll grumble about it but he'll do it, and if you thank him he brushes it off, muttering something or other about how it's just his job, don't Thank him for that. i think having a friend would Fix him but fuck if i know what would get past his thick skin 😔

i dont get to play or write ruby really, not for any specific reason other than the dnd games im in have been going for So long, and that i havent really been super inspired to write him. but i love him! literally my car is named after him! i have so many feelings for him and i hope one day i get to play/write him so he can be more fleshed out.

#c0rvidspeaks #ask me about my ocs #and-a-pidgey-in-a-wepear-tree #ruby #wit dalca #oc #i was almost done w this like an hour ago but the fucking APP CRASHED and ate my whole reply #also the tags is where i realise i never gave ruby a last name oh noo

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incorrectshantaequotes · 5 months

Text

A Quick Christmas Sneak Peak

Hey, remember that fic preview I mentioned yesterday? Well...here's the scene immediately after the opening scene! This is partially because of one particular spoiler that will become clear as you read on, and partially because...my brain has a better idea of how this scene goes and I wanted to get it done first.

Rottytops was familiar with being on the receiving end of explosions, a fact that she imagined wouldn't be too surprising to anyone who knew her. From mornings where her brothers had dragged her out of bed to witness a half-baked idea for a spell in a coffee-deprived haze, to some of her more elaborate pranks blowing up in her face, to one particularly memorable occasion where she hadn't watched her steps at Ammo Baron's most recent lair at the time and stepped on a landmine. Shantae fussed a LOT over her after that last one, much to her delight. The point was, Rottytops was familiar with explosions, much more than the average human - maybe even more than the average zombie, even. That did not make it hurt any less when the spell she'd been preparing violently burst in a flash of pink, white, and purple, throwing her back and slamming her body into the wall at mach speeds.

"Owwwwwww..." Rottytops groaned, slumping as gravity took hold and plopped her body down to the floor. She rubbed the back of her head with a wince, suddenly feeling a belated relief that she'd had some form of head protection. Not a hard hat, sure, but the full-blown hazmat suit had to count for something, right? ...Right? "Looking on the bright side, might have given myself an early Christmas present - a concussion! Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."

She trailed off, looking towards the ceiling, and let out a quiet sigh. She would've made to rub her temples, but unfortunately all that would've done in her current outfit is smudge the glass. This was...not the best result, but in hindsight, not unexpected. All her work in dark magic didn't really help her that much with the regular stuff, and, well. It probably would've helped immensely if she had, y'know, a half-genie to help with her spell involving the Genie Realm, but the only one available right now was Shantae, and that'd ruin the surprise! Maybe it wasn't the best idea to immediately shoot for the moon, but dang it, she'd wanted to get something special for their first Christmas as a couple!

...of course, if Shantae were here, she'd probably say something about how she shouldn't be so hard on herself and that there was always next Christmas, and just by thinking that she could almost hear the imaginary pep talk from her girlfriend. The image made her snort a little and an affectionate smile crossed her lips, Rottytops shaking her head as she pulled herself off the floor and dusted herself off. Brain Shantae had a point; no point in sitting around feeling sorry for herself! Even if her initial attempt hadn't gone well, she still had time - she could try again, or just be satisfied with the half-dozen gifts she'd gotten Shantae already and make a note to get the other half-genies over in Scuttle Town next year so she could do this properly. She almost began to hum a little as she stretched and began to move to do just that, but any music was caught in her throat as she looked at the epicenter of her spell and saw that she wasn't alone.

And though the smoke hadn't quite cleared out yet, there was one unmistakable feature that she couldn't have possibly missed - the distinct, pointed ears.

The zombie girl froze in her tracks, mind racing with the implications and running the math to come to a few conclusions. Her first, near-immediate conclusion, was wow; considering her spell was supposed to let her into the Genie Realm, bringing a genie over here was one hell of a backfire (and a prime example of why magic freaked her out. yeah, rich coming from the zombie dabbling in the dark arts, but at least dark magic had consistent results and didn't change because the magic felt like it). The second, much-more concerning conclusion, was oh no, is she okay? Now, admittedly, Rottytops wasn't an expert on how genies fared outside of the Genie Realm, but she DID remember when Shantae recounted those Genies she met on her first adventure and how rough they'd looked by the time she'd come around and gotten them out of those weird cages. Granted, at least some of that was absolutely because of the cage thing, if not all of it, but Rottytops felt the need to double check because Shantae definitely would've throttled her if she didn't.

Hesitantly, and as quietly as she could, Rottytops took a few steps towards the prone figure. She silently debated the best way to ask if anything was broken, or if she had some sort of weird allergy to the air or something, but before she could figure it out her train of thought was cut off by the sound of boisterous laughter. She sounded...warm. Energetic. Somewhat manic, with the sort of feral energy Rotty only really expected from, well, herself, but equally present was the sheer sense of RELIEF. As if a great weight had just been lifted from the genie's shoulders, and she couldn't help but laugh at the freedom she'd been given. Faster than she could blink, the genie turned and lunged at Rotty, nearly knocking her over with the impact and pulling her into a tight hug that had the zombie suddenly much more concerned about her bones than she'd ever been in her life.

"Thank you!" With that, the genie woman pulled back, and Rotty was finally able to get a good look at her. The first thing she noticed was her eyes - for the most part, they looked close to human, but what set her apart was how the eyes seemed to glow with a vibrant purple that shifted hues even as she stared in awe. In the back of her mind, some part of her noted that the purple, in all its hues, matched Shantae's magic perfectly, best illustrated with the puff of smoke that always accompanied her transformations. She had purple hair to match - again, the same shade as Shantae's hair - done in a messy bobcut that left most of her face clear, and a warm tone to her skin that reminded her of polished wood...again, the exact same shade as Shantae's. Huh.

"It's been a while since I've been in this old thing," the genie remarked to herself, poking her arm with an undisguised fascination and turning her body this way and that to get a better look at herself. She didn't have much height to her - actually an inch or two shorter than Shantae - but she more than made up for that by being built like a tank. Rottytops had thought Harmony was built like an amazon, but this lady had her beat by a MILE, and her outfit definitely showed that off: a bright purple leotard that covered most of her torso but left her shoulders and back exposed, along with a set of black leather boots and gloves with a trim of purple fur and a brown belt decorated with bits of fur, feathers, and scales. There was a bit of pudge here and there, bringing to mind a mother who hadn't quite burned off all the baby fat, but she wore it incredibly well in all honesty.

And, well. Rottytops didn't want to assume or anything. Shantae didn't exactly have any picture to use for a reference, and it was a bit of a wild leap in logic when there were a dozen genies she could have picked up. But, considering all the very notable similarities, she had a nagging suspicion she knew who this was, even if not by name, and honestly she wasn't sure if that made this whole mess better or worse.

"...honestly, I'd thought it'd be a lot longer before I'd be able to use it, too," Rottytops' musings were cut off by the genie in question staring at her arm, her energy dying down for a moment to give way to a quiet wonder. Then, she snorted, and gave a sharp grin with a lot more fangs than any human would ever have. "Ha, and they can't even say I'm doing anything wrong here! Sure, I may not be complaining about the results, but it'll be clear that this was an accident on both fronts-"

"Both fronts?" Rottytops cut her off, raising a questioning eyebrow and mentally shoving the rest of that sentence off into a mental box somewhere to ask later. Far too much to unpack with that. The genie turned to Rottytops at her questioning, her expression turning slightly sheepish in a way that, again, Rottytops couldn't help but find familiar.

"...ah, right. So I maaaaaaaay have interfered with your spell a bit? And before you say anything," The genie raised a hand with a suddenly stern expression, cutting off the wave of incredulous anger in Rottytops before it could even start. "As a being made entirely of magic, trust me when I say that if I hadn't interfered, the magical blowback would have been a LOT worse. I wasn't just going to let you take that, not when you're so close to..."

The genie trailed off, shaking her head. "What am I doing? I know it's been a while since I've been down here, but that's hardly long enough to forget my manners!"

With that, the genie stepped forward and grabbed Rottytops' hand, giving it a firm shake that jerked Rottytops down with the strength behind it. "Call me Mena! And you're Rottytops, right?"

Almost immediately, all other thoughts fled the zombie's head as she stared at the genie - Mena - with wide eyes. "I-Whuh-huh? How'd you know that?"

"We may not be able to do much in the Genie Realm, but we can watch your world, and, well..." Mena shot Rottytops a grin. "I made a point to remember the names of all my daughter's friends."

Rottytops could feel her heart soar with that one sentence alone. It probably wasn't the most important thing to focus on in the moment, considering how Mena all but directly confirmed she was Shantae's mom and that definitely made this a lot more complicated, but Rottytops couldn't bring herself to care about that stuff right then. All that she could think about was that Shantae's mom knew who she was, by name even, probably knew of Rottytops' more...questionable deeds, and yet in spite of that she not only acknowledged Shantae and Rottytops' relationship, but cared enough to actively save Rottytops' life from the sounds of what she said earlier. It was very pleasant to know, considering she had been a bit anxious about meeting her in the Genie Realm beforehand, and Rottytops found herself so caught up in the pleasantness of it all that she didn't think twice before mentioning, "It's girlfriend, actually."

Then, she promptly froze, a newfound dread filling Rottytops at the confession as she realized that Mena might not have known that, and she quickly looked down to see the genie's reaction. Thankfully, she quickly found herself relieved by how Mena's eyes glittered with delight. "Oh, you made it official? I must have missed that - congratulations, you two!"

She slung an arm over Rottytops' shoulder, grinning with clear pride. "I'll have you know, I was rooting for you both, even with your stumbling blocks. I'm sure you've realized that being officially together doesn't make the road ahead any easier, but I think I can confidently say that it's all been well worth it! It's definitely been something seeing that from the other side, at least..."

That last bit was said in a whisper, getting Rotty to raise an eyebrow and let a sly grin spread over her features. "Oh? What was that? Am I hearing that the dense skull is genetic?"

"...well, I wish I could say otherwise, but...you should ask Mimic about it, he'd tell it better than I could," Mena chuckled, shaking her head. "Let's just say that I'm sure he's glad you two managed to figure it out before her father and I did, considering he had to lock us in a closet to get our heads straight."

"Oh, that's hilarious!" Rottytops cackled, already having a bunch of different images in her head and making a mental note to definitely ask Mimic about that story later. As she took a moment to calm down, she then remembered that she never did answer the question she'd initially approached Mena with, and took a moment to straighten herself up before clearing her throat. "Now, I hope you don't mind a slight change of topic, but, um...are you good? Like, physically speaking? Any aches or allergies or whatever?"

"Hmmm..." Mena took a moment to ponder Rotty's question, and almost unconsciously her hand drifted to a large scar that ran over her right shoulder. Rotty could just about see the edges of a similar one peeking out behind her heck and just over her other shoulder, and considering the size and shape she had a very good suspicion as to what caused it, but decidedly didn't ask. "It is a bit sore around this old wound here, admittedly, but I'll gladly take that. If it were up to me, I wouldn't head back to the Genie Realm at all, but..."

"Ahhhhhhh," Rottytops nodded in understanding. "Obligations back home?"

"...something like that," A bitter scowl crossed the genie's face, and she briefly turned away from her audience, muttering something about councils and stupid lack of flammable buildings and a few impressive curses that had Rottytops' eyebrows both shoot up to her hairline. She was definitely going to have to unpack that later, but for now, she stayed silent as Mena turned her attention back to her, letting out a deep sigh. "While we're asking questions, there is ONE I feel like I should get out of the way. I don't watch everything that goes down in my daughter's life, and I'm not a mind-reader, after all."

"Oh? Well, ask away. Floor's yours," Rottytops nodded with a wave of her hand, idly leaning against a wall as she silently wondered what kind of questions she had to ask.

"Right. So...what, exactly, did you want to go into the Genie Realm for?" Mena asked, not really accusatory so much as curious, looking at Rottytops expectantly. That didn't stop Rotty from wincing. This...might not be particularly pleasant, depending on what Mena did or didn't know.

"...so, uh. I was actually planning on running into you, believe it or not? And then getting you to write a letter," Rottytops began, silently cursing as Mena nodded and motioned for her to continue. "Had to do a bunch of research, a lot of which consisted of hanging around snackcakes so I wasn't complaining. I maaaaaaaay have looked through that scrapbook a bit, too-"

"Ah. And I'm guessing you found the section regarding genie biology and dark magic when you did that?" Mena interrupted, to which Rottytops slowly nodded. The genie relaxed a little, giving her a gentle smile. "I was wondering what that hazmat suit was for."

"...yeah, I...didn't really want to take any chances after reading that? Definitely explained that whole Dynamo thing from a while ago," Rottytops admitted. Honestly, it'd been a bit disturbing when she read about how genies had next to no natural resistances to the effects of dark magic. It made sense, sure - genies were entirely made of magic, of course there weren't any barriers for the physical and psychological effects of the stuff, but that didn't stop her from cringing a bit when she imagined it. After all, the reason she and her brothers were able to handle dark magic so well was because they, and just about every other zombie, were well-acquainted with the dangers of it. For all the stuff brought them back from the dead, it sure didn't care about leaving their bodies intact; the reason half the civilized zombie population had a crippling coffee addiction was because it was one of the most effective ways of making sure the dark magic in their systems didn't eat away at their brains and leave them a shambling, moaning husk. And that was with the restriction of a physical body. Knowing that genies had nothing for that...

"Well, you'll be happy to know that there's no need to worry - you're a closed system. You'd only have to worry about hurting me if you were slinging spells around, and the only way for the mental effects of the stuff to kick in is if a genie was using dark magic herself or with a machine like the Dynamo," Mena pat the zombie on the shoulder with a reassuring gaze, clearly understanding. After a moment, Rottytops took a moment to slowly take off the hood of the hazmat suit, prompting a grin from the genie as soon as she saw her face. "Attagirl. Besides, I'm currently a lot more...physical than I usually am, so you have even less to worry about! You'd only have a real problem if I was in my true form."

"True form?" Rottytops repeated, caught off-guard, and looked to Mena with wide eyes.

"Well, someone clearly skimmed through the chapter..." Mena gave her a light-hearted chuckle, shaking her head, then turned to her with a grin with a few too many teeth and the purple in her eyes expanded to consume anything remotely human. Then, Rotty blinked, and she was back to normal. "I'll have to show you sometime, it'll be fun! But we're getting off-track. I've heard a lot of the what and how, but don't think I haven't noticed you haven't gotten around to the why, young lady."

...well, there wasn't any use avoiding this forever. "So...how familiar are you with Shantae's past Christmas's?"

Mena blinked, her head tilted a bit. "...well, I've seen her open all her presents each year, but I'm going to take a guess and say that's not exactly what you're talking about."

"Mhm. Well, it was...I think about a week ago, and Shantae and I were talking. I was making a few Christmas jokes, she was helping me figure out the best presents for Sky and Bolo, we talked about some dates we could set up later, typical girlfriend stuff, y'know? And then at some point the conversation turned to Christmas traditions," Rottytops began, her eyes shooting up to the ceiling. "I told her about all the fun ways the Cadavers did things, she was telling me about how she and Mimic celebrated Christmas, and then suddenly right in the middle she got real quiet. Contemplative. Kinda scared me a little, honestly. Then she pulled up right next to me and asked if she could share a secret that, according to her, only Mimic, Sky, and Bolo knew. I was curious, so I agreed, and..."

Rottytops sighed. "She told me that, in her youth, she'd had her own, private Christmas tradition for a little while. For five straight years, every Christmas Eve, just before she went to bed, she'd make a quiet wish on a star that one of her presents would be a message from you. A letter, a call, anything. And after five years of no response, she eventually just...gave up. She said in hindsight that you were probably a bit too busy healing up from the Pirate Master to do anything, so she didn't really blame you, but dang it, that was the saddest story I'd ever heard! I didn't say anything to Shantae, but after hearing that I knew exactly what I had to do. For our first Christmas together as a couple, I was determined to get that message for her, one way or another. And I don't do anything by halves. So...yeah, that's it. There's your why. That answer your questions?"

The zombie turned to look at Mena, and quickly struggled to keep her heart from banging out of her chest. After all this time talking with her and seeing how much she clearly loved Shantae, Rottytops had kinda been expecting the crestfallen grief she saw when she looked back...but the apoplectic rage mixed in? Not so much. She was suddenly very glad she wasn't on the genie's bad side as she slowly turned to look at her. "...did she say exactly when she started that tradition, by any chance?"

"Uh...when she was ten years old. Why do you ask?" Rottytops answered, taking a step back. Mena didn't seem to notice, eye twitching a bit as she took a few deep breaths, and then she stared at Rottytops with a forced, pointed grin that looked about two seconds away from turning into a scowl.

"Do you have a pillow I could scream into?" The genie asked, slowly and deliberately and clearly trying her absolute best to remain calm, and also not exactly succeeding. Rottytops elected not to point this out, and instead took a moment to open the door to her bedroom and gesture to it with open arms. "Thank you. Excuse me one moment."

Without another word, she entered the room, slammed the door, and...oh, wow. Rottytops thought she had some good curses before, but this? This was next level. Honestly, if not for the context, she'd be tempted to take notes, but very carefully didn't, simply waiting outside while the genie took a moment to vent. Of course, there was a bit of concern when she heard the sound of fabric tearing, but she got the answer to what that was a moment later when the door burst open and out stomped Mena, holding a shredded pillow between her teeth and looking absolutely rabid. The genie spat out the pillow a second later and then snapped her fingers, and with a bit of magic it was as good as new.

"...sorry about that," Mena quietly apologized, shaking her head. "I just...discovered that a certain target of my rage has even more reasons to be furious at them than I thought there were already."

"Pirate Master?" Rottytops ventured out with a guess, only to quickly have it shot down with a snort.

"Oh, I WISH. At least that bastard has the decency to be dead in the ground; I have to live with these people," She shook her head, looking just about ready to go off into a rant, but then she paused. Slowly but surely, a smirk began to grow on her face, and she turned towards Rottytops with a newfound vigor and a glint of mischief in her eyes. "...say, what time is it, exactly?"

Taking the non-sequitur in stride, Rottytops looked at the clock. "About...9PM, Christmas Eve."

"Good, good...so, we have about 24 hours, because Galva isn't a snitch, and as much as I'd love to simply wait to see my daughter in-person for the first time in a long, long while, I think it'd be better if she didn't have to see me with so much stress, don't you think?" Rottytops very much wanted to ask who exactly Galva was, but she kept quiet. Because, like she had so many other times, Mena was acting very familiar, but this time, Rottytops was less thinking about Shantae and more about herself. "And while I don't have the real subject of my anger to take it out on...I do happen to know that there are quite a few people who, while they haven't done anything to me, have certainly made my daughter's life a lot harder than it needs to be."

"Are you going where I think you're going with this?" Rottytops asked, beginning to match Mena's smirk with one of her own.

"Oh, absolutely. Don't get me wrong, I love Shantae and think she's grown into a fine woman and a great hero, and a large part of that is her seemingly endless reserve of patience and understanding...but between you and me?" Mena leaned in closer, eyes quite literally sparkling as she whispered. "That is far more because of Mimic - and to some extent, her father - than my influence. Personally, I was always far more the rebellious bad girl. But let's keep that a secret for now - no need for Shantae to know just how many times her mother landed herself in jail, right?"

"Okay, sure, but you are definitely telling me that story later," Rottytops narrowed her eyes and poked Mena in the chest, but she couldn't help her grin growing wider. "Soooo...pranking spree? Is that what I'm hearing? Hitting up Mayor Scuttlebutt for how small Shantae's paycheck is?"

"Oh, he'll be first, and I have plenty of others in mind," Mena nodded, fangs glistening in the light before she slung her arm around Rotty's shoulders and pulled her close. "Come on, now - the night is young, we're both wide awake, and there's plenty of time! So...how about we get to some mother-daughter-in-law bonding, and act the part of Krampus?"

...and there's your preview! Like I said before, even if I can't necessarily get this done by Christmas, I do very much plan on getting this done just because this is SUCH a good idea. And don't worry, you'll be getting plenty of Mena; save for a few cameos, this fic primarily alternates between Mena's POV and Rottytops' POV. There's going to be a lot of fun here, so look forward to it!

#shantae #not a quote #headcanons #christmas

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madreemeritus · 8 months

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Erik's final arc in the original novel is... intriguing.

alert: mentions of death, violence and possible suicide ⚠️ also spoilers from the Leroux novel and Lucíola (José de Alencar)

We never get to see how or when Erik truly died. I've seen people saying he literally died because of the kiss he recieved on the forehead and even joking about him never being able to sexually satisfy someone (bodyshaming hahaha how funny), but this is restricted to the memes only.

If Erik had died from a discharge of emotions, he would be dead right after kissing Christine (and recieving the kiss). And that's not what happened. He died days after this event. And more, he warned Daroga about his death, he says he was going to die, "dying of love", which means that he knew exactly how and when he was going to die. The kiss didn't actually killed him.

Some people theorize that Raoul actually shot Erik when he broke into his mansion. Which is valid and makes sense, however, it's we cannot know it actually happened since Erik doesn't seem to be hurted, bleeding or injured. And, i don't know, if Erik was shot, wouldn't he try to take care of his wound or at least call for help, since Daroga and Christine were two people that he could trust? Count Philippe seemed certain that his brother killed a simple cat with shinning golden eyes. The golden eyes don't seem like a coincidence to me, though. Maybe Erik did break into De Chagny's mansion, but Raoul couldn't shoot him?

well either way this chapter only makes me hate raoul even more but let's continue

The most obvious answer would be that Erik unalived himself. Considering that he presented suicidal thoughts before, it unfortunately makes sense. The first time he mentioned a suicidal desire was when he explained his Don Juan to Christine. He said that, once his masterpiece was finished, he desired to sleep forever with his score within the coffin-bed. He changed his mind, though, after he believed Christine loved him back.

And the second time, obviously, is when he threatens to blow up the Opera Garnier. He was determined to die alongside with everyone there. Which is an interesting topic about his character because he hated and blamed both himself and the society aroud him that drove him into misery. And his perspective wasn't wrong.

It's very sad to think about Erik unaliving himself. His motivation is understandable, but he needed and deserved a second chance (he earned a second chance actually, he just couldn't use it). I still think his mysterious death only happened because of public preassure, as it has happened with many other serials stories in that time (example: Lucíola by José de Alencar, Lucíola was supposed to end alive and happily married, but the misogynistic public preassured the author to kill her).

But how do you think Erik truly died?

#the phantom of the opera #erik #poto #gothic #gothic literature #gaston leroux #poor unhappy erik #cw: death #cw: suicide

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summercreolefanfictioner · 2 years

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shuu and maya || the vampire doll and her guardian

(moodboard + relationship headcanons)

"They didn't mind the silence. It wasn't awkward or deafening. It was just... nice."

Just like his other brothers, Shuu doesn't think of Maya as food or anything. For him, Maya's only a human doll that a vampire gifted to serve them.

The only time it changed was when Maya did that full spin kick in front of Reiji and almost cut his head off. Well, tbh Shuu wasn't that fazed 'cause Maya is just a human. However, bcos she was trained under a vampire to kill other vampires that are causing havoc in the human world (plus Karlheinz directly stated that she will be a part of the Sakamaki family), Shuu immediately got the hint that Maya is like a double-edged sword to all races out there.

Ofc he knew of Kanato's fascination towards her, despite her serving Karlheinz, and she doesn't try to kill them so he doesn't mind her being around.

Plus, she makes good steak (ya know rare A5 wagyu just like how he likes them)

Another thing that brought change to their relationship is that Shuu was assigned to be her guardian. Not stepbrother or anything of the sort. Legal guardian.

He was even frowning when he handed the documents in the city hall, the staff eyeing him suspiciously like how can a 19-year old guy become a "father" to a 17-year old girl?

And since then, news spread over school that Shuu has a secret daughter and that Maya's real age is 14 (help they're basing them all on Maya's height)

There's even a running joke in the household that since Shuu is technically Maya's so-called "father," that would make Kanato her "uncle" and she his "niece." Moreover, this would mean Shuu is Kanato's "father-in-law."

Mostly Ayato and Laito tease him abt it.

"I can't believe you married your niece," they would say.

Kanato be like "SHE IS NOT MY NIECE!"

But tbh Maya has always been mistaken as Shuu's daughter, even in public. Like there's this one time they went out to buy brand new pillow cases and bed sheets for the manor and the sales lady showed this cute patterned duvet.

"I think your daughter will like this polka dot and bear pattern. It's been our best-seller ever since last week."

"... She's not my daughter."

They don't talk that much to each other, but Shuu is never annoyed by her presence, prob bcos she doesn't also talk to him. The only time they get to talk is when he decides to eat somewhere before going home or when he tells her something about the household chores.

He was actually the first diaboy to discover Maya's affinity for spicy food. Like one time, it was past lunch and Shuu thought they should stop by a restaurant or somewhere. Unfortunately, Shuu's a bit limited with his budget and Maya knows this (ofc she knows the bros are freakin wasteful w/ money), so Maya had to take the lead and not make him look like a beggar.

"Shuu-san, I saw this one ramen restaurant, and they serve this one item with steak. It's not A5 like yours, but I want to eat it."

And Shuu was surprised to discover that Maya can eat spicy food. Like all he knows is that she only eats sweets given to her by Kanato. Actually, moments like this is where they really start talking to each other. Like what Shuu likes in his food (cause Maya makes some of their bento) or it's kind of good that she doesn't talk to him that much

And yes, Shuu was astonished to see the amount of money in Maya's bank account.

He doesn't actually act like her guardian 'cause Reiji is there to do that for him. However, there are times that he takes up the role.

One example would be when Maya was skipping her PE classes out of nowhere bcos some of Kanato's fangirls kept on cutting up her PE uniform and throwing her shoes in the trash.

Well, he lent her his uniform and shoes (he doesn't use it anyway since he practically skips class a lot) but it was so big on her that Maya had to tie the end of the clothes to fit her. She even inserted paper in the shoes so she can wear them. This actually infuriated Kanato, to a point that he could practically smell Shuu all over her.

Shuu was even the one who made all the arrangements for her wedding, even their wedding papers much to his dismay. Ofc Maya served him an extra rare A5 wagyu steak bcos of this. And yes, Kanato made him touch Teddy with one finger bcos he is "Maya's so-called father"

If Shuu was actually being honest, Maya's body proportions can pass as his ideal type since she ain't a chichinashi and she's not overly thin nor fat. In fact, he doesn't agree with Ayato claiming Maya doesn't have sex appeal bcos Shuu knows she has it. The poor doll isn't just comfortable with too much skin in general (especially in the upper body)

In short, he finds her pretty cute alright (yes, he keeps this thought to himself cause dealing with a hysterical Kanato is troublesome)

In the fake human AU fic series, Maya is the only girl Shuu allowed to work for him as his secretary.

He actually finds it funny that cats kept following her in a straight line when they're walking out in the streets

So, in a nutshell, their relationship is like this:

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oasis-makcr · 10 months

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I mean, you can have this ask be the start on how all the wrong things Crowley did wrong.

Oh, Seven, where do I start. I've only been here for two years, but there's so much. I think he's mostly gotten worse this year, though.

Very easy to bribe.

Unfortunately that's why he let me transfer to NRC. My father paid him a generous sum of money to let me attend school here, and I'm still not exactly sure how much money. All I know is that it was enough to completely renovate the Scarabia dorms -- keep in mind that every dorm has its own pocket dimension -- and then STILL enough to fill an entire room with gold, jewels, all kinds of valuables, and I know it didn't put a dent in the family finances. At least some of the money was so that I could take the role of Housewarden as a freshman. You know, despite the fact that I had no idea what I was doing, and had not even asked for the role.

This is also why he lets... a lot of things at the school slide. An example I find honestly a little more egregious is that he made a DEAL with a STUDENT attending the school here to let him open up a cafe in their dorm for the rest of campus. The cafe isn't what I have a problem with; what I did have a problem with is that this student would then go on to make deals with other students who couldn't possibly meet the terms of the contract, and would be forced to work for his establishment and effectively be at his beck and call. And Crowley did nothing about it because... ????

Said student has since gotten better about how he runs things, and no longer makes contracts like that, which is why I'm not naming him.

Again, the problem is that the Headmage really will let you get away with just about anything if you have the money for it.

Little to no regard for student (or really anybody else's) safety.

Crowley sees no issue with endangering the lives of his students due to his laissez-faire style of handling problems on campus. Well... perhaps laissez faire isn't quite the right term. It's laissez faire right up until he decides to blackmail students into helping with problems on campus that should almost CERTAINLY be handled by, oh, I don't know, the college staff? Granted, there have been some situations where I'm not really sure what the professors would've really been able to do, but I feel like that's even more reason to not place that kind of situation in the hands of their students.

Abduction of a student by a ghost which could have ended in that student's death due to how marrying a ghost works? Well, why not just send the students in with a specific ring that enforces the "til death do you part" part of marriage while asking the students to woo the ghost princess who's decided that one of our students is the love of her life and that she cannot be dissuaded from changing her mind?

The Faeland faeries have taken the magestone that helps regulate temperature and weather in the dorms to make into a piece for the Fairy Gala and they have to have a good gala or else it will remain winter for the rest of the foreseeable future? Sure, let's send some students in and disguise them as fae, if they cause an international incident and throw the climate of Twisted Wonderland into chaos it's not my problem! Aren't I so magnanimous? Oh, the students don't like this idea? They think the staff should handle this? I'll threaten to hold them all back a year until they help!

(Though attending to be part of the fashion show and dance WAS really fun. Still was one of Crowley's worst ideas.)

There's just a very consistent pattern about this and I know Crowley thinks this is a good thing, and while I don't think it's a terrible idea to let students solve their own problems, you can't do that with bigger situations like this. You really just can't.

Little to no regard for the well-being of students who rely on his so-called kindness to get by (the Ramshackle situation).

So I feel like at a school - and I've never been to school before NRC - it should be the responsibility of the staff to look after the wellbeing of their students. I feel like this is a reasonable expectation?

At the start of this year, a student from another world showed up in one of the coffins we have in the Mirror Chamber, which is where we also host a lot of our ceremonies. All freshmen get to be in a coffin because it symbolizes leaving behind your old life to become a mage, I think it's a nice notion, it's not really the important part but I felt like I should state this to explain why the start of the school year was weird.

Well in one of those coffins was a direbeast (Grim) and a human not from Twisted Wonderland (Cloud). They get out of their coffins early, it's a weird debacle, Grim set my ass on fire, it was a bit of a circus. Cloud isn't assigned to a dorm because while he DOES have magic, his magic is just different enough from ours that the Dark Mirror doesn't know what to do with him. So from what I know, he had to fight to be accepted as a student, same with Grim, who also is perfectly intelligent and capable of magic.

(Crowley also said he was tempted to turn Grim into dinner, which is a complicated subject for another time.)

What bothers me is that Crowley was more than willing to kick out a kid around my age with nowhere to go and be forced to fend for himself, and while he's given Cloud permission to be a student and ALSO a job as janitor, I'm still under the impression he's not being paid well, AND they live in Ramshackle, which is... I've seen the place during Halloween, the place doesn't have heating or A/C, there are holes in the roof and walls, Cloud essentially lives somewhere that should be condemned if it hasn't been condemned already.

Crowley also promised to find Cloud a way back home, but has done nothing on that front, but... I guess I'll give him a pass for that because Cloud has said repeatedly that he doesn't want to go back home, and from how he talks and acts, I think that's definitely a good thing for him.

The other problem is that Crowley also seems to 'forget' to even ensure that Cloud and Grim will even get food during school breaks because, again, they have nowhere to go home to, this basically IS their home, and it just! Pisses me off that Crowley's just allowed to do all of this and that there's really nothing I can do on a more official level because if I figure out a way to get him removed from his position, news about the overblots might come out, and that might put everybody on campus in a WORSE position.

But to make a long post short, I have no respect for the Headmage, and I'll tolerate him because that's what we're all expected to do, but otherwise I'm not happy about how he handles things.

#kalim blogs #kalim answers #ask #anonymous #{might add more tags later. we'll see}#long post ///

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catgirltoofies · 2 years

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In the Cycle II

this is a sort-of sequel to an older story i wrote, and based on a discord conversation i had about witches in the cycle and their memories.

there was a row of benches set by a stream, both going off in each direction for as far as the eyes could see. sitting on a bench, looking into the stream, sat a girl. the stars in the sky reflected off the water, making it appear as a portal into another world.

"Don't fall in," came a voice from behind her. she turned and looked at the younger girl walking towards her. she searched her memory for a name. "Nagisa. Or is it Charlotte?"

"Yep. Correct on both counts. Can I sit with you?"

without waiting for an answer, she hopped on the bench and slung a stone down the stream, skipping it a few times before it fell in the grass on the opposite end.

"Are you doing alright? Acclimatizing well? She wanted me to check up on you."

"Yeah. It's all very... different."

"Especially for us from the loops. Most of the girls here only have one or two sets of memories, but us lucky few have to sift through some dozens."

"I'm having trouble... remembering. Things. Plenty of things stand out, like Kyousuke and Kyoko. Madoka, Homura, and Mami of course. I remember most of the witches pretty well, but all the details are fuzzy. Who's still alive? How many times did they all die? How many times... did I kill them?"

nagisa sighed and tossed another stone, which just sank with a plop. "You're worrying too much on the negatives. Turning into a witch sucked, don't get me wrong, but there's always a silver lining. Think about the positives to your life, both before and during your time as a witch. All the dozens of times you became a magical girl, fought witches, only to become one yourself. What good came of it?"

sayaka thought. she closed her eyes and fought off her mental blocks, focusing hard on the details. "I guess... that one time Madoka threw away my soul gem-" nagisa raised her eyebrows, "-it helped the others to see the nature of being a magical girl. The truth kyubey never would have told them."

"Didn't stop her though, did it?"

sayaka smiled. "No. If anything, it's probably the thing that pushed her to change everything."

nagisa produced a handful of jelly beans and started picking out her favorites. "Guess I should be thankful, then. This life is pretty great."

sayaka watched the little girl pick through the jelly beans. she inhaled to say something, paused, exhaled, then started again. "You like living like this? Having a hundred different memories as a monster, and living as one?"

nagisa turned, shifting her face more towards her witch form. "Absolutely! All the benefits of witch magic, without damning mankind with curses."

"You... do know that the curses are bore instead by Madoka, right?"

"Sure. She made her choice, and takes our negativity in the place of mankind. Me summoning up handfuls of candy every now and again are nothing compared to your moping about your old life." her face shifted back to her more human self as sayaka's mouth opened in shock. "She wanted me to keep an eye on you. And I don't think it's just because you were her friend before all... this. She's worried about you."

sayaka turned back to the stream. the ripples from nagisa's stone tossing had calmed down, and she could see a flash of scales under the water. her scales.

"So... what can I do?"

"Put the negativity of your past behind you. There's no point complaining about what can never be changed. Don't forget the good, I know how much you care about the ones you love, and I have no right or intention to tell you to forget about your old life entirely. But put your mind forward. Focus on what you can do. For an example, take your old crushes."

sayaka turned and listened to the younger girl. it was strange, being given such sagely advice by someone so much younger than her.

"You're never going to see Kyousuke again. That's an unfortunate fact, but unless the whole system changes again, he's out of your view entirely. So just stop thinking about him. On the other hand, you've got Kyoko. She's a magical girl. There's about an 80-20 that she witches out and becomes an angel, like us, rather than dying in the real world. Odds are she'll wake up here one day, and you two can spend eternity together."

sayaka closed her eyes, thinking about it. she blushed slightly.

"How do you know all this?"

nagisa laughed, "I can read minds!"

"Really?"

"Nope. I'm just really good at putting together information. We've chatted enough that I think I know enough about you and your old life to say this kind of stuff. Judging by your blush, I think I'm right in thinking you have a crush on Kyoko. Don't worry, she's strong, I'm sure she'll make it here."

sayaka stood up and held an arm out to the stream. a great gauntlet reached up and gently held her hand. "I guess I'll have to get used to you, too."

"Now there's the spirit. Remember that you and your witch are the same - she's you, and you're her, even though you think you're two different beings. You're two sides of the same coin. Or I suppose, more accurately, Sayaka is one face, Oktavia is another, and you're the coin. You can't have any without all of them."

"I think I get it. We're all one, so I should be able to..." sayaka focused, and from her arm a gauntlet sprouted and grew back, fully armoring one of her arms. she smiled as she pulled her arm away from the larger gauntleted hand, which retreated back into the stream. she turned to nagisa, who waved with an arm which bore a sleeve that was obviously too long.

"Now you're getting the hang of it. Obviously it's something to work on, but I personally enjoy our little chats. All you need to do is accept yourself and you'll be alright." she stood and gave another wave. "I'm off to Gertrud for tea. You're free to join us, if you like."

sayaka closed her gauntlet, which melted back into her skin. "You know, I think I will."

#bebe #nagisa momoe #sayaka miki #pmmm #story #in the cycle

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