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g0nta-g0kuhara · 6 months

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The Chapter 4 Essay Part 1: Kokichi Ouma

A metapost on my thoughts on Kokichi’s overall motivations and Gonta’s actions during ch4. Split into two parts. You can find the Gonta half here: (LINK)

I think the way Kokichi acts when he’s telling the truth says something crucial about his personality. When he’s telling the genuine truth, his expression becomes carefully neutral.

(post trial, chapter 1)

To me, it feels like he’s trying very hard to keep this face of neutrality. Normally, he’s able to expertly express any emotion that he wants to. In these moments, its almost like the emotion he’s feeling is so overpowering that he’s trying to repress it in order to maintain control over the face he presents to everyone else, but isn’t quite able to do so.

Kokichi is very careful about keeping people from seeing the parts of himself that he doesn’t choose to show. His villain persona and constant lying is part of this- He wants to keep people away from him. During the events of the killing game, he uses the distance that he creates in many ways. Part of it was that not having many close alliances allowed him to go off and do whatever he wanted during daily life. This let him explore the school and investigate the truth of the killing game without interruption or much attention. Lying also gave him distance between the game and himself. Pretending that the killing game was fun might’ve been his way to cope with everything that was happening. I think Kokichi is really damn good at separating himself from his emotions, lying to himself to do what he thinks needs to be done. This line from Chapter 1 is pretty telling…

(post trial, chapter 1)

This was also something he says himself to Kaito in the exisal hanger during chapter 5.

(post trial, chapter 5)

I’m inclined to believe everything that Kokichi says to Kaito in the exisal hanger. As Kiibo says when Kaito questions it, “I think his dying words may have been the honest truth.” Knowing he was about the die, and that he absolutely needed Kaito’s help to get his plan to break the killing game to work- to achieve his genuine, true goal- I don’t see any reason for him to lie.

This emotional distance extends past just the killing game. I think it's a key part of how he interacts with others around him.

Kokichi is an ultimate leader. I think he uses his talent throughout the game in an attempt to “lead” everyone from the shadows. He wanted to stop the killing game and escape with as many people as possible. However, his methods are very ends-justify-the-means. I believe that he did genuinely care about everyone at the ultimate academy, but in the detached way a distant king might care about his subjects. On the other hand, if he had to use or sacrifice a few as pawns for the greater good, that is what had to be done. It’s not like it didn’t emotionally affect him, but I think he was deliberately trying to keep his distance so that it would not impact him as much, and so that he could continue trying to tear the killing game apart with as many tools in his arsenal as possible.

(post trial, chapter 5)

With this core motivation in mind, this brings us to Chapter 4.

In my opinion, the Killing Game Busters was never a plan that was meant to succeed. From an in-game perspective, the idea that he was originally going to follow this mercy kill plan doesn’t make sense to me. Firstly, Kokichi already had suspicions that they were being watched as early as chapter 3.

(post trial, chapter 3)

…and he later confirms that he was fully convinced of this fact when Monokuma agreed to reuse the chapter 4 motive in the virtual world.

(post trial, chapter 5)

He knew that this killing game was for somebody else’s entertainment. I’ll go a bit into the secret of the outside world in a moment, but considering this, I don’t think he ever fully believed in it. Choosing to mercy kill everyone, in the name of a “truth” that was incompatible with what he had discovered… just doesn’t make sense to me.

Not to mention, from a narrative standpoint, I think the idea that he was completely for this mercy kill plan, decided to throw out the plan mid-trial, and then start an entirely different plan to end the killing game in chapter 5, isn’t very compelling. It weakens Kokichi’s overall character by making his motivation less cohesive and making him seem less organized over all, which I think is one of his strengths as a character. A Kokichi that is this fickle with what he’s trying to do would not have been able to write the script for chapter 5.

I think he always had different goals in mind with the Killing Game Busters. The first was something that is made very clear in chapter 5, but started here in chapter 4: He wanted to stop the killing to give himself room to break the game while minimizing deaths. The second was to further villainize himself, for all the reasons I talked about above, and some more I will get into in a little bit.

Seeing the secret of the outside world was undoubtably disturbing, regardless of whether he believed it or not; there is a noticeable shift in how Kokichi acts before and after he swipes that card key. Combined with discovering that Miu, someone he’d been working with closely, was planning on murdering him, I believe that seeing the destruction of the outside world pushed him towards more drastic measures than what he had been doing in previous chapters. He decided that in order for his plan in chapter 5 to work (which he had almost certainly already been planning at this point, considering how elaborate it was), he needed to make everyone question if pursuing the truth was the right thing to do at all.

After Miu’s body discovery, nobody was really worried about losing this class trial. Everyone had seen how Shuichi had guided them all to the truth and caught the blackened three times in a row, despite the unique difficulties in each case. They had full confidence in his abilities.

(investigation, chapter 4)

Shuichi is also not really doubting his abilities as a detective anymore. One of Shuichi’s core internal conflicts is his fear of the consequences of revealing the truth. Up to this point, it seems like he’s been moving past it. Especially after catching Korekiyo “Actual Serial Killer” Shinguji, who had no regrets or grey motivation for his killings. Shuichi’s morale, and subsequently everyone else’s, was at an all time high. (Of course, he was starting to feel a lot of pressure to solve these cases and save everyone on his own… but that’s another issue. ily Shuichi)

If Kokichi could take the wind out of Shuichi’s sails, really destroy the confidence he had built up so far, he could set up his impossible trial in chapter 5 to be more likely to work as intended. Everyone will be less motivated to try and figure out what happened if they are uncertain that finding the truth would actually result in anything good.

And I do believe he was trying to knock Shuichi off balance specifically. Damaging his confidence is one thing, but he was also deliberately trying to drive a wedge between him and Kaito. He antagonizes Kaito all chapter 4 investigation, including making up a nickname for Shuichi (“Shumai”) that directly riffs off Kaito’s closeness with Maki. He insists into the trial that he and Shuichi are partners now.

(class trial, chapter 4)

(Sidenote: Kokichi’s behaviour during trial 4 is genuinely really interesting to me. On top of the direct digs like this, he says a lot more subtle things to get under Kaito’s skin during trial 4 that I think are super neat to pay attention to.)

Theoretically, pushing Kaito away from Shuichi, combined with the powerlessness he’ll feel in the wake of the truth of both trial 4 and the outside world, could make him easier to convince to join Kokichi’s “side”. He even directly asks Shuichi to team up with him before leaving the virtual world:

(daily life, Chapter 4)

This leads me to believe that Shuichi was originally the one that Kokichi intended to use to build his impossible trial. I mean, if Shuichi was the one in the exisal hanger and presumed dead instead of Kaito, the chances of everyone else solving that mystery drops Significantly. Everyone else, aside from maybe Kiibo, was 100% convinced that Kokichi was the mastermind at that point. No one except Shuichi would’ve tried to dig as deep as he did, for better or for worse. I think this idea is supported by the note that Kokichi wrote next to Shuichi’s face on the whiteboard in his room (“trustworthy?”). He was clearly considering Shuichi as a person for one reason or another, and I believe this is it.

By condemning Gonta, who everyone else perceived as a kind soul who would never hurt anybody, someone who was struggling to understand what the virtual world even was with his amnesia, would be perceived by the others as kicking someone when they were down. Gonta has an absolutely miserable time through the accusations and wholly blames himself for how things turned out in the end. That, and Gonta’s actions were even well-intentioned. The secret of the outside world was apparently so horrible, Gonta thought it would be kinder to mercy kill everyone rather than force them to face it. This result would make everyone question if the truth was really as undoubtably good as they had come to think so far; Not only did Gonta suffer because they had to find the truth, but seeking the secret of the outside world would apparently also only lead to suffering. This would make them hesitate during Kokichi’s impossible trial.

(class trial, chapter 4)

As I said before, Kokichi’s second goal for trial 4 was villainizing himself even further. He says that this was a goal himself to Kaito in chapter 5.

(post trial, chapter 5)

Part of this villainization was just adding to the persona he had already created for himself and that I already talked about his motivations for before. The other part was what he says here. He specifically wanted everyone to think that he was the mastermind. This gave him leverage in two main ways. First, making himself appear to be the mastermind with an actual mastermind as hands off as Tsumugi genuinely gave him power over everyone else. He used this in chapter 5 to put a pause to the killings and give himself more room to enact his plan to break the killing game from the inside.

(daily life, chapter 5)

Although he then says “You guys can commit suicide together or kill each other… / Or, you can change your mind and stay here! You’re welcome to do that too!��, having experienced the secret of the outside world already, I think he’s pretty confident in what they will be feeling in this moment. No one is going to kill each other, and he knows that. He wants them to take that second option for the time being while he sets up his plot.

Making himself appear like the mastermind also benefited his impossible trial plan directly. Everyone would be much more likely to vote for someone they were convinced was the mastermind rather than one of their friends. No one would suspect that it was really him that was the victim.

“Using Gonta and making him into a murderer” was a significant part of how he villainized himself, but the way he treated Gonta during this whole experience was also a major factor. Starting as early as just after Miu was killed, he begins to be really aggressively mean to Gonta. He just straight up bullies him throughout the second half of the trial.

(daily life, chapter 4)

(class trial, chapter 4)

And then, after all this, he acts remorseful and sides himself with Gonta at the very end. It isn't genuine emotion like he felt before Kaede's execution, shown by his neutral expression. To me, this uncharacteristically open expression of grief feels like it was just set up to exacerbate the impact of his cruelty after Gonta’s execution. At this point, everybody’s little faith in Kokichi has been shaken significantly. With the shock of the trial, maybe you Could start to believe they were on the same side, as a team. Then, at the reveal of the extent of Kokichi’s manipulation, that is all ripped painfully away again.

(post trial, chapter 4)

Even if these parts of trial 4 make my stomach turn, I don’t want to imply that Kokichi is completely cold-hearted and unfeeling. Actually, I think there were multiple moments in chapter 4 that show him struggling to regulate his emotions and keep face around everyone else while he enacted this plan.

1: I don’t think Kokichi initially planned to make the reveal that Gonta was the killer as dramatic (or frankly, a bit traumatic) as it ended up being. He had been carrying himself a certain way during the first half of the trial, and I think Shuichi lying to his face in front of everyone about Kokichi’s own alibi dramatically changed his attitude. I mean, Shuichi lied (as he had done almost every trial and gotten 0 flack for) and Tsumugi even called him out on it, but everyone believed him over Kokichi anyways. So when Kokichi lies, it’s completely inexcusable, even though he’s been working tirelessly on his own trying to save everyone?* But when SHUICHI lies, and gets caught in it, people go along with him? They don’t doubt their trust in him for even a second? This double standard infuriated him. It’s at this point that he completely shifts in energy. If Shuichi, no, everyone, is going to disrespect him like this, he was going to make them suffer for it.

(class trial, chapter 4)

2: Kokichi only goes full villain after Kaito says “Kokichi, If you really cared for Gonta, explain yourself to everyone” in the post trial. I think that even though he was always going to paint himself as the villain, he was legitimately affected by the things that had just happened (Gonta’s death, Miu’s attempted murder, the secret of the outside world, even if he knew it wasn’t real) and what he’d just done. Even if he was trying hard not to be. The sudden shift he has from not saying anything to cackling about how little he cared about Gonta feels to me like he was kicking himself back into gear after trying to process some genuinely difficult emotions. 3: After Kokichi punches Kaito down, and everyone completely ignores him in favour of helping Kaito up, Shuichi says these iconic words to Kokichi: “Kaito always has us by his side, see? But no one wants to be around you. / You’re alone, Kokichi. And you always will be.” Kokichi responds like this:

(Post-trial, chapter 4)

There’s something about the way he cuts himself off, pauses, and then his mask falls. I think Shuichi’s words got to him more than he wanted them to. Honestly, Kokichi’s attitude towards cooperation, keeping everyone at arm’s length, and insisting (to himself) that he (as a leader) must fix the killing game completely on his own just seems so lonely to me. Even if he is intentionally trying to alienate himself and get everyone to hate him, being so viscerally cut into like this must have hurt. Especially from someone he was trying to work to get onto his side. It’s no wonder he quickly left after this moment.

This is what I think drove Kokichi in chapter 4. He’s a leader who wants to “lead” his classmates into safety, but he isn’t afraid to use underhanded, cruel tactics if he thinks it will get him ahead in the game for the greater good. He viscerally represses his emotions in order to keep himself going and keep everyone else away from him. He tried to destroy Shuichi’s confidence and drive a wedge between him and Kaito to get him on his side for his plan. He used and made Gonta into a murderer to villainize himself and discourage everyone else from seeking the truth.

Whenever I imagine Kokichi on his own, out of the spotlight of the Audience or the eyes of his castmates, he’s never as expressive as he is in the open. I think in reality, Kokichi is a pretty depressed and lonely person. His clownish personality isn’t entirely a facade, and outside of a killing game scenario, I think he would act pretty similarly to how he does in game. But I do think that he uses it as a mask for his true emotions. While I feel like the “evil villain” persona is a genuine part of Kokichi’s personality, outside of the killing game he probably doesn’t act on it as deeply as he does in-game. I also think Kokichi struggles with letting people become close to him, even without anything on the line. The killing game just caused him to lean into these aspects of his personality hard, and in potentially the worst ways.

*I feel like here it’s important to mention that personally, I still think the collateral damage he caused in his attempts to stop the killing game matters. A lot. I don’t think he should be excused for the things he did, even if he had good intentions. This makes him a really interesting, morally grey character, and I like that about him.

#kokichi ouma #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #ndrv3 #ouma kokichi #kokichi oma #oma kokichi #drv3 spoilers #meta post #long post #(Sorry- I'm not putting this under a readmore because in the case where I change my username or deactivate #I still want this post to be readable)#id in alt text #Caveat that this interpretation is entirely based on the english localization #which I still think is valid #Part 2 coming in literally a couple minutes- just need to read over it one more time and add tags #shut up me

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riddlerosehearts · 1 year

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list of acd canon sherlock holmes things i absolutely love

(and am going to mostly put under a readmore because i made most of this list while rereading the entire canon so it is very long! listen i just think sherlock holmes is the best character ever and i need to share my love for him--)

immediately upon being introduced to watson he grabs him by the sleeve, starts excitedly showing off his bloodstain testing experiment, and claps his hands “looking as delighted as a child with a new toy”. once he finishes, his eyes glitter and he puts his hand on his heart and bows “as if to some applauding crowd conjured up by his imagination”.

watson: “i object to rows because my nerves are shaken”

holmes: “do you include violin playing in your category of rows?” he asked, anxiously

he’s noted to be extraordinarily knowledgeable and zealous in his studies, and yet on the same page it’s stated that he doesn’t know the earth travels around the sun and once watson tells him about it he immediately decides to forget about it because it’s not relevant to his work. this is where the famous “brain attic” monologue comes in.

watson writes this list about him and then throws it into the fire in despair:

has a habit of laughing in a way that’s described as bursting into an “explosion” or “roar” of laughter

frequently does this at crime scenes:

enlists a gang of street orphans to help him on his cases, pays them for their work, and generally treats them as equals but also playfully talks to them like a general to his soldiers

plays the violin for watson to help him get to sleep

is incredibly knowledgable on anything from different types of tobacco, to the ways one's trade can influence the form of their hands, to medieval pottery and stradivarus violins. and yet, i reiterate, does not know the earth revolves around the sun.

has a tendency of waxing poetic about the meaningless of existence, particularly when he’s bored from not having any cases to work on

once said about a dog “i would rather have toby’s help than that of the whole detective force of london”

used the word “doggy” when speaking to toby

once told watson “i don’t wish to be theatrical” despite all evidence to the contrary

disguises himself as an old man just to play a prank on watson

watson: “i think i had better go”

holmes: “not at all, doctor. stay where you are. i am lost without my boswell.”

is known to wiggle in his chair when he gets excited about a case

discovers that a man has tricked his own stepdaughter into a fake marriage so he can keep her at home and control her life and inheritance. acknowledges that said man hasn’t done anything illegal but still tells him “there never was a man who deserved punishment more” and that he ought to get whipped for what he did, and then goes to actually get his hunting crop, causing the man to run out the door at top speed

let a criminal go free because it turned out the man he murdered was trying to force said criminal’s daughter into an unwanted marriage

was suddenly made to participate in the wedding of someone he was tracking for a case, came home and laughed about it for several minutes, exclaimed “well, really!”, laughed for several more minutes, and only then did he actually tell watson what happened

responds to the king of bohemia insulting irene adler and saying she’s not on his level by saying coldly: “from what i have seen of the lady, she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your majesty”, which is basically him saying “actually she’s way better than you, so fuck off”

refused to shake said king’s hand

built a pillow fort in a client’s house so he could think better

let a poor jewel thief go because he cried, because it was christmas and therefore it was the season of forgiveness, and because the case was really easy anyway so it’s not his fault if the police are too stupid to solve it themselves

always reassures clients that they can trust him and watson and speak freely around them

is willing to waive his fee for clients who can’t afford to pay him, because according to him his profession is its own reward

this entire scene from speckled band when he gets confronted by his client’s abusive stepfather:

this nice little example of the gentleness he often displays with his clients:

the adventure of the copper beeches. just, all of it. a woman he doesn’t know comes to holmes for advice about a potential job she’s interviewed for and they both agree it sounds incredibly sketchy, she says she’s gonna take it anyway because she needs the money, and he’s like “well i wouldn’t want any sister of mine doing something like this but FINE i guess, just please write to us and let us know if you’re okay and if anything bad happens we’ll drop everything and come help you immediately”, and then the job does in fact turn out to be super sketchy and they drop everything and get on a train as soon as she writes to them

sometimes spends several hours out on walks through the park or the town with watson just relaxing and talking with him for the sake of it, despite watson frequently noting that holmes doesn’t have much appreciation for nature

“we have had the good fortune to bring peace to many troubled souls. i trust that we may do the same for you,” he says “in his easy, genial way” to a potential client who’s clearly very upset and sleep-deprived

is completely wrong about a particular case and asks watson to remind him of that case next time he gets overconfident

is noted by watson to be very neat and methodical in his methods and way of dress, while simultaneously being one of the messiest people ever who keeps his tobacco inside a persian slipper and his unopened letters held up by a knife in the center of his mantelpiece, keeps tons of criminal relics which apparently somehow end up in the butter dish sometimes, and keeps countless stacks of papers and documents all over the place

tells watson anecdotes about his past just to avoid cleaning up said documents

deliberately knocks over a table, shattering a glass fruit bowl which then sends oranges rolling all over the room, and then blames it on watson and runs away

says snarky things like “when gregson or lestrade are out of their depth–which, by the way, is their normal state” and “you’ve done very well, watson! it’s too bad you’ve missed everything of importance”

laughs when watson suggests he’s being modest about his abilities

picked up a rose and got all sappy and poetic about it

more specifically, picked up a rose and said that religion can be a science which involves a lot of careful deduction, and that flowers are a source of hope and proof of the goodness of god due to the fact that they aren’t a necessary part of life but are still so beautiful anyway

recovered an incredibly valuable government treaty for a client and had it served to him on a platter at breakfast because, in his own words, he “never can resist a touch of the dramatic”

faked his death and then revealed to watson that he was still alive in a manner that even he admitted was unnecessarily dramatic

had a full-scale wax model of himself created and used it to fool his enemies

made a diagram out of breadcrumbs to explain something to watson

broke into a blackmailer’s house for a case because he believed it to be morally justifiable, and admitted that he always thought he might make a good criminal

held watson’s hand while they were burgling said house together

twice

allowed said blackmailer to be murdered in front of him by one of his victims and then refused to take the case when asked because he just hated the guy that much

“flushed up with pleasure” when watson complimented him

asked watson to sell his medical practice and move back into 221b with him after the death of his wife. and then secretly gave a relative of his a ton of money to buy watson’s medical practice at the highest price watson would ask for, just so they could live together again

was nearly brought to tears by lestrade saying he was proud of him

let a dog lead him around on a case, multiple times in different stories

was very gentle with a client who he knew to be the victim of an abusive marriage and allowed the man who killed her husband to go free out of sympathy for their situation

noticed watson looking sad and touching his war wound and tried to cheer him up by echoing his thoughts and providing a deduction of how he knew what he was thinking

mentioned watson’s sparkling eyes in said deduction

talked about nothing but violins and his favorite violinist for an hour while he and watson had lunch together

likes going to classical music concerts and getting lost in the music

does scrapbooking

chuckles and rubs his hands together when he’s happy

this:

takes getting called "the devil himself" as a compliment

let a killer go because he had only killed in retaliation for the unjust murder of his lover, and holmes felt that he might’ve done the same if someone were to kill the woman he loved

on a completely unrelated note tells a guy who shoots watson “if you had killed watson you would not have got out of this room alive”

also reacted like this when watson got shot:

went undercover to supposedly give a guy secret government intelligence documents, and then gave him a book about bees instead

frequently disguised himself either for cases or just to fool watson and was noted to be a great actor

once disguised himself as an old woman with a parasol

tried the best he could to talk a young woman out of marrying a man who had a history of “collecting” women for sport and destroying their lives, and admitted to watson that he thought of her as he would think of his own daughter

was prone to “imp-like moods”

sent watson a message to come over at once ("if convenient--if inconvenient come all the same") just so he could infodump to him about dogs

wasn’t surprised that a dog died of grief shortly after its owner’s death, because of “the beautiful, faithful nature of dogs”

listened with great sympathy to a depressed woman who wanted to tell him her tragic story, picked up on hints that she was planning to commit suicide, talked her out of it by convincing her that her life does have value and then called her brave for choosing to live

got lost in thought looking out the window at the publicly funded elementary schools and randomly went on about how he believes they and the children who attend them are beacons of a brighter future

made hot cocoa for watson

shook hands with a baby

retired to the countryside to live on a farm and become a beekeeper.

#this post is SO ridiculously long i'm sorry. if the readmore doesn't work i will scream #it's also been in my drafts for ages and i wanna post it now that i'm deep in sherlock holmes obsession again #it is mostly for me so i can remind myself how much i love him <3 #sherlock holmes #acd canon #edit: okay not only did the readmore work but there are TWO readmores and i have no damn clue why #i can't seem to get rid of the second one?? idk if it's because the post is so long or what lol but oh well

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obstinaterixatrix · 1 month

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Do u know any good mob psycho 100 fanfics?? Or authors??

well obviously my sister but I’m guessing you’re the same anon so 1) you already know her fics 2) you want different recs from what’s on her list (some of them being fics I rec’d to her lol). recs will skew heavily seri/rei and I’m just going through my bookmarks so it’s gonna be most recently read to oldest read. also seconding sister’s recs of bobmoss and crookedturtle. but I’ll add a fic from each anyway because I already wrote something for one while I was drafting this (oops)

Recollection by CowardlyBean

This is the journal of missing 31 year old Reigen Arataka, distributed with permission from friends and family. The version presented in this document has been kindly edited with added commentary by a loyal customer of his. -Editor’s Note

gen, experimental and in progress at 14k so definitely deserves more love than it’s getting. inspired by house of leaves; as the summary says, it’s some rando writing annotations about reigen’s journal, but Something Weird Is Going On. the 4th chapter updated so I actually need to catch up. also, sister rec’d this fic to me

Like Acid Reflux, or Love by partingxshot

Dating Reigen is like dating a single dad—only with more children, weirder scruples, and an extreme ruthlessness vis-à-vis group takoyaki discounts. He's not hot enough for this.

OR: "Me, You and Steve" by Garfunkel and Oates but with fifteen million teenagers.

OR: Outsider POV exploring Reigen’s dedication to his gaggle of bizarre children through an ill-fated dating attempt.

OR: Serizawa gets bruxism.

gen(/pre-relationship seri/rei), oneshot, 7k. oc/reigen breakup lmao. extremely funny concept, extremely good execution

Dream Dial by Alakazamboni

For the better part of nine years, Arataka has proudly worked in customer service at a behemoth of a company. At least, that's what he remembers, but a strange illness and a mysterious caller keeps trying to convince him otherwise. It doesn't help that this caller has the power to distort reality.

seri/rei, in progress, 16k. great uncanny atmosphere, and also reigen is trapped in time prison as a miserable office worker. hasn’t been updated for a while but read it anyway, the stoping point is fine

What We Make by crookedturtle

Reigen and Tome are kidnapped from the Spirits and Such office to be used as leverage against Mob. They have two goals: to contact the outside world, and keep each other safe. In doing so they engage in a dangerous game of lies and manipulation with their captors—a game with potentially deadly consequences.

gen (bg seri/rei), complete, 36k. Good for whump and high stakes interpersonal maneuvering & drama. I liked how the story extends beyond rescue and goes into how everyone navigates the fallout

Man's Best Friend by bobmoss

A cursed dog gets left at Spirits and Such. Anyone who pets it is doomed to die a horrible death.

Reigen, of course, pets it.

seri/rei, oneshot, 4k. funny and cute and sweet :) there’s a very charming tentative & tender vibe

heart line by ruthwrites

It doesn’t really matter, he reminds himself. He’s making a change, just like all of Reigen’s clients. What’s on his hands isn’t set in stone. He just has to make sure Reigen doesn’t see it— even if it might feel nice to have that steady attention, Reigen’s hands that are so much nicer than Serizawa’s folding around his.

(or: Reigen starts offering palm readings as a service, leading to Serizawa having to confront his feelings for his boss.)

seri/rei, oneshot, 6k. getting together fluff, a fun light read that also highlights serizawa’s insecurities—the internal narration has good character voice

If you won't believe me when I say it, believe me when I don't by deathdefied

Two years after Reigen invited Serizawa to work for him, he still can't quite categorize his feelings for his coworker. Instead of actually dealing with those feelings like an adult and talking to his friend, he decided to get really paranoid and overthink everything Serizawa does.

seri/rei, complete, 26k. reigen drives himself nuts lmao

Obvious by skeilig

Tome’s perspective on Reigen and Serizawa’s developing relationship.

gen (but about seri/rei), oneshot, 3k. I like outsider perspective getting together fics, especially when the perspective character is like ‘I’m actually not invested in this except when it affects me directly’

Cover Me by flecksofpoppy

Reigen’s shadow seems longer as the days move forward, more solitary. The cuts on his face heal and the ache in his bones go away, but a new sting replaces it. It’s loneliness, the thing he had managed to avoid ever since a primary school-aged kid who could make cups float stumbled into his office so many years ago.

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. getting together fic that shows off a little of reigen’s gloomier side, it’s cute

loved you just a little too much by shcherbatskayas

You learn how to let go.

(It doesn't come naturally.)

gen(ish), oneshot, 2k. 2nd person character study of serizawa’s relationship with touichiro, I liked the ambivalence; effectively captures development over time with a relatively short wordcount.

offering genuine help with genuine results by suitablyskippy

“The curse was pretty clear on me not telling lies,” concedes Reigen. “It was pretty clear on me telling the truth. But,” as he lifts one finger, already sliding into the same educational tone he generally uses for imparting wisdom to Mob about life and love and the overall holistic benefits of making sure he’s always available for unexpected overtime work on weekends, “telling the truth isn’t necessarily the same as being honest, is it?”

“You’re the professional liar,” says Dimple. “You tell me.”

(Being cursed to only tell the truth and being cursed with Dimple as an employee are pretty much equally bad, as far as Reigen's stress levels are concerned.)

gen, oneshot, 2k. the tags include friends with no benefits whatsoever, which is very apt. Very funny to have reigen and dimple be petty and shady

a slightly more miraculous miracle by suitablyskippy

“Rumour has it that something impossible’s happened. Something that could never have happened. That shouldn’t have been able to happen.” In a single slick move Mezato produces a tiny voice recorder from an inside pocket, flips it open and active, and holds it up before Mob’s mouth to ask him, in a tone of devastating intensity: “Do you know anything about… a miracle, Mob-kun?”

Mob doesn’t hesitate. “We had maths homework to hand in,” he says. “But now we don’t have to. We don’t even have to go to the lesson.”

(The sun is shining, the birds are singing, Salt Middle School has been closed by an unexplained miracle, and the only thing wrong in Spice City is the fact that nothing is even slightly wrong at all.)

teru/mob, incomplete, 55k. for the most part I haven’t been repeating authors on this list, but listen. listen to me. I need you to listen. it is extremely unlikely for this fic to ever be completed. but hark, lest this sad probability turn you away and leave you dispassionately scrolling to the next fic, I need you (you specifically) to know that if I were in the same room as you, I would be wrestling the phone/mouse/trackpad/touchscreen/etc from your hands and furiously clicking the link. when I bookmarked this fic in 2017 I described it as having “some breathtakingly sensical prose and the funniest misunderstandings I’ve ever read”. trust me from seven years ago. open your heart.

skylight by inexhaustible

unconnected snapshots in what might, in some worlds, be something a little like recovery.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. character study that nails the tension of an escalating romantic atmosphere.

come on, come on, come over (take it off your shoulder) by mortarsmayfall

Reigen's free hand cradles Serizawa's head, curled under his ear just so to turn it for a better angle. He feels his pulse pound under Reigen's fingers, shivers just the slightest bit. If Reigen notices, he doesn't say anything about it.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. when I first read this I saved it as a private bookmark because I was so embarrassed by the sheer intimacy of haircuts with severely unresolved sexual tension. I’m guessing this was written after studio bones gave us reigen cutting serizawa’s hair. crumbs no more; for once we had a feast to enjoy. short & sweet getting together fic

Off-White by reigreitz

Some habits are tells.

seri/rei, oneshot, 1k. snapshots of pre-relationship and established relationship scenes, I’m quite fond of it. on my first reading I’m pretty sure I remember not paying attention to the habit piece at all (even with it being right in the summary) so at the last scene I was hit by the double whammy of ‘oh so that was what serizawa was reacting to’ and ‘AW… THAT’S SWEET…’; I think the fic does a great job of hiding/not acknowledging certain things the perspective character knows and is reacting to, which makes it fun to reread and pinpoint what exactly serizawa’s previously more opaque train of thought was. like, it’s the same stuff, but you get to read into more nuance.

the seven stages of falling in love by reigen arataka by matsunoble

You suppose one of the weirdest times to realize you've fallen deeply and irrevocably in love is when it's fuck o'clock in the morning and you're blearily checking your fridge for leftover curry.

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. I was quite taken by the mundane (and sometimes unappealing) descriptions of love, and I like when serizawa has the upper hand

Mr. Psychic by beefstatic

Looks like trouble in Spice City...

seri/rei, oneshot, 4k. Serizawa Acts Like An Intimidating Bodyguard During Tense/Shady Situations. fun emphasis on that potential aspect of his character, I like how it’s done.

Late by hamlingo

For the first few days after hiring Serizawa, Reigen couldn’t help but be alarmed when the door opened at eight o’clock sharp in the mornings. He got used to it eventually, and in a month’s time he was more surprised when the door didn’t creak open right on time.

This was one of those mornings.

seri/rei, oneshot, 2k. this is actually among the first seri/rei fics I bookmarked so I can say with relative certainty that on may 20th 2017 I decided that maybe seri/rei was not just a joke of me indulging my own spurious unreasonable whims. fun character study and has that enjoyable tension of pleasant pre-relationship uncertainty.

Quiet Talks by krypkaktus

At some point, Reigen cutting his hair twice a month had turned into a mutual habit.

seri/rei, oneshot, 600 words. another charming snapshot of pre-relationship uncertainty, pleasantly embarrassing unresolved romantic tension.

walk in by ruthwrites

It was then he realized that the reason Reigen and Serizawa were standing so close was because they were kissing.

Mob was not really sure what to do with that information.

(or: mob leaves something at the office, comes back, and walks into something he wasn't supposed to)

seri/rei, oneshot, 3k. an extremely popular fic for extremely valid reasons, this is a shining example of the outsider POV shipfic where the perspective character is like. I’m 14 and did not want to see you guys kissing. and the couple is like. we also did not want you to see us kissing, this is excruciatingly awkward.

tomorrow isn't always another day by suitablyskippy

It’s like Reigen’s been waiting for the question. He stops dead on the pavement, grips Mob by the shoulders, and stares down into his eyes with an expression as haunted as though every ghost the pair of them has ever exorcised has taken up residence behind it. “Mob,” he says. “Mob,” he says again. “Tell me, Mob. Look at me and tell me. Tell me truthfully. Do I look cursed to you?”

Mob looks at him, and tells him truthfully. “No.”

“Well, you didn’t look very long,” says Reigen. “Let’s just stand here for a moment, like so, and you can have another look, a nice long look, and really think about it...”

(There's nothing strange about being called back to exorcise the same haunted photocopier six days in a row. It must just be a very haunted photocopier.)

gen, oneshot, 18k. I didn’t mean to rec the same author three (3) times but this is also one of my top faves. extremely funny time prison where nobody is on the same page ever.

space voyage by Anonymous

Tome Kurata is slightly famous—or notorious, more like—for being... a weirdo, to put it simply. She's definitely a person of interest. Just not exactly in a newsworthy way, which is obviously the only way that matters.

mezato/tome, oneshot, 1k. charming pre-relationship contention, they’re the same type of self-absorbed and tunnel vision (affectionate)

I was thinking of not writing up recs for sister’s fics but since one author got three (3) fics on the list I’m gonna also put 3 of my fave fics of sister’s

Reigen's Comprehensive Fool-Proof Guide on How Not To Be Next Door Neighbors With Your Employee (because that'd just be creepy) by MalkyTop

Reigen hires Serizawa and they somehow end up as roommates.

seri/rei, complete, 17k. a fic sister wrote for ✨ME✨ that shows off reigen’s neuroticism and his decidedly not-normal attempts to come across as Extremely Normal, The Most Normal Man Alive. there are so many comedic setups and payoffs. there are so many shenanigans. reigen gets frog-boiled into romance. actually, I drop that term a lot but I’m not sure it’s a common enough to intuitively understand. it refers to the boiling frog metaphor

If At First You Don't Succeed, Find a Loophole by MalkyTop

Reigen keeps dying; Serizawa keeps trying to save him.

seri/rei, complete, 18k. sister was insane for this because she trapped all of her readers AND herself in time prison by releasing one chapter a day. it was really funny to witness because I was the only person not in time prison by virtue of editing privilege. while we were watching mondays: see you next week (an office time loop movie), sister was saying she was impressed at how effective/efficient the movie was at picking which scenes to repeat. this is to say, as someone who notices these details, sister was very intentional about when things changed and how things changed from the perspective of a character completely unaware of time prison. also, the emotional momentum is extremely good, I loved reading serizawa’s increasing desperation from reigen’s context-less perspective.

in absentia* by MalkyTop

After what was supposed to be a routine exorcism, Reigen wakes up in the wrong body.

serirei, complete, 26k. slowburn bodyswap with mystery and intrigue. a solid casefic! I can be biased and right. there are metanarrative elements that I find fun and that, in my opinion, highlights how sister did in fact get a degree in philosophy. there’s also some fun subtle and messy characterization notes, like when serizawa asks reigen not to cook for him. it’s hard to talk about what I like about this fic without giving away a lot of specifics, so go read it.

#orlbs #mp100lb #mob psycho 100 #long post #…I SPENT SO LONG ON THIS AND FORMATTED IT ALL ON MY PHONE SO EVERYBODY CLAP AND CHEER #why did I do it on my phone? bc I am lying in bed and didnt want to move #why did I spend so much time? bc I got carried away #why am I posting at 4am? stupidity.#why isn’t this under a readmore? because fic recs deserve to be seen. I’m adding an element of hostility for spice.#fanfiction #ask #anonymous

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paimonial-rage · 2 months

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type - heizou [random writing event] | requested by @ebi-samaaa

Shikanoin Heizou really wasn’t your type. Sure he was handsome, and yes, his voice was rather nice to listen to. His flirtatious nature was definitely attractive. If only his face wasn’t so childish looking. And if only he weren’t just a little bit taller. Really, it really was a shame. If it were not for those things, he would have stolen your heart right off the shelves.

And really, it truly was such a shame, for the man was desperately in love with you. Completely head over heels one could say. No matter how many times you tried to shake him off, he chased after you relentlessly. He wanted you with such a passion that you often had to stop your heart from skipping a beat whenever your thoughts inevitably lead toward him.

As you walked down the long hallways of Tenshukaku, you wondered if you’d see him this evening. It was the night of the full moon, after all. Wouldn’t it be such a romantic backdrop to highlight the excitement of the event you were soon to partake? He surely wouldn’t leave you hanging, would he? You did send him an invitation, after all.

So as you stepped into the central room, you couldn’t mask the smile that curled the corners of your lips. It was empty, not that you were very surprised. If you planned it right, the Tenryou Commission and its soldiers were currently occupying the Hiiragi complex on high alert. All that work only for their honored guest of the evening to be a no show. How sad, but it really wasn’t your fault they didn’t know how to read a calling card.

With a soft chuckle, you gazed fondly at the pedestal at the center of the room. There, sitting upon plush velvet, was your target for the evening—a slightly faded black pearl inlaid in a silver ring. It didn’t take you long to pluck it up from its stand to slide over your finger. And, oh, how the luster shined in the moonlight. But as much as you wished to lose yourself in its beauty, duty came calling.

“My my, Detective,” you crooned sweetly, “We really must stop meeting like this.”

A laugh came from behind.

“I gotta hand it to you. When you said you’d be targeting the Evening Moon’s Jewel on a night like this, not even I thought you’d come for the New Moon.”

You spun and leaned against the pedestal with a careless huff.

“Oh come now, Detective,” you cried with a mocking pout. “It shouldn’t have taken you very long to notice the Hiiragi’s Full Moon pearl is nothing better than an elaborate fake. You should be thanking me for giving you a little excitement on such a boring evening.”

He smiled as he took a step forward, his stance purposely relaxed.

“Thank you for breaking the law? We’ve known each other for so long. I must say I’m hurt.”

You grinned cheekily.

“Oh, don’t say that. I was only joking. I was looking ever so forward to meeting you this evening. I really don’t get to see you as often as I would like, you know, so let’s make the most of it, hm?”

And with that anemo powered punch he threw at you soon after, you really hoped he wouldn’t be smart enough to check out the hospital the day after.

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #shikanoin heizou #heizou #shikanoin heizou x reader #heizou x reader #my writing #writing event #request #ebi-samaaa #all of these fics i really want to polish up but i'm like doing my best not to spend more than two hours per fic #this is an idea i've been wanting to do for a while #a lupin to heizou's holmes #if it isn't clear there are two evening moon jewels: the full moon and the new moon #the full moon (owned by the hiiragis) is a white pearl #the new moon (located in tenshukaku) is a black pearl #and if the ending doesn't make sense reader is fully expecting to have a broken bone by the end of the evening #they're willing to forgive him tho because he's their type and is fun haha #i really want to put these fics under readmores but they're like.... too short for that? so it's like this long but not too long post ugh #thank you for the request though!!

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ennard-is-near · 9 days

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Circus Baby totally recognized Michael.

I don’t know if this is a hot take, but she lies throughout the entire game, why are we taking her word for this one thing? I think that she knows (or at least suspects) that Michael knows who she is. Michael and Elizabeth are siblings and they have a pre-existing relationship, even if we don’t know anything about it. I think Circus Baby is super clever, and for whatever reason she knows that Michael is more likely to trust her if he doesn’t have that pre-existing relationship to go off of. So Baby pretends, like she loves to do, that she doesn’t recognize him.

I don’t know why she picked Michael to scoop, or if it was more of a “next guy who comes through that door, we kill” sort of situation. I don’t think the other animatronics would know who he is (why would they?), but especially based on how Circus Baby plays of Michael’s emotions (acting like a little kid, doing Elizabeth’s voice in the secret night, etc.) she knows exactly who Michael is.

Also she’s not stupid, she’d recognize her own brother. I don’t know why Michael says “They thought I was you…” because nobody ever says that (he is projecting maybe…) but either this can be ignored, or she’s smart enough to recognize two people are similar enough looking to be father and son. And if that’s the case, why wouldn’t she be smart enough to recognize her brother?

Plus, what are the chances that they’ve been down there a really long time, lots of maintenance guys come down there, and the one guy they choose to do the whole ‘manipulation and scooping’ thing to just happens to be Michael Afton.

Honestly, the whole thing with Circus Baby saying “I don’t recognize you…” over and over is a little sus. Like if new employees come down there all the time you’d definitely be used to it by now? Do you make a whole show of not recognizing every single new employee you meet? Why? To me it reads like Baby’s testing the waters with him a little, seeing how he’ll react to being spoken to directly, and seeing if he reacts to not being recognized by her.

✨ Also I just think it’s more fun ✨

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #michael afton #fnaf sister location #circus baby #elizabeth afton #Sorry this post is sooooo long #originally this was one paragraph #but I think it’s long enough to warrant a readmore and a title #I genuinely don’t know if this is a hot take because I think people tend to accept that Baby doesn’t recognize Michael #but why? like she never says one true thing the entire game why would he just go with her on this ?

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caracalliope · 5 months

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Let's start 2024 with a sting

Someone asked me for the complete Justin O. Schmidt sting index! Like a fool, I responded to their message and didn't save their username. So! Dear stranger, I hope you see this!

Screenshots are from The Sting of the Wild, a good book that everyone should read if they like bugs and/or descriptive science.

PAIN SCALE FOR STINGING INSECTS Note: CA = Central America; NA = North America; SA = South America.

#hope the readmore will work because this is #a #long post #justin o. schmidt

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isekaiscreencaps · 8 months

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#i love this type #isekai #anime screencaps #isekai screencaps #anime #anime screencap #i put a readmore because i thought it might get repetitive #and because i was worried the post would be too long #the most heretical last boss queen #the most heretical last boss queen: from villainess to savior #higeki no genkyou to naru saikyou gedou last boss joou wa tami no tame ni tsukushimasu #higeki no genkyou to naru saikyou gedou last boss joou wa tami no tame ni tsukushimasu anime #the most heretical last boss queen anime #stale royal ivy #arthur beresford #im not a ln reader so i hope i got these tags right LMAO #lastame

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p2ii · 7 months

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yall im not even kidding we couldve had it all

#no ifs no buts no 'attempted cpr' excuse. no 'it dosnt count it was forced on him + kaworu dosnt know what hes doing' denial #we couldve had an animated. consentual. fucking ADORABLE canon kawoshin kiss in episode 24. i am dying #reposting this specifically because my draftworu post is long enough for a readmore and i need ppl to see this #psii.txt #this is draft 2 btw

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explorersaremadeofhope · 11 months

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pleeeeease i wanna hear about snorri sturlusons edda being an unreliable source for pre christian skandi life

agsdfjsgh oh no it's almost 4am

okay CONDENSED VERSION

the prose edda was written in the thirteenth century. (it's commonly dated to around 1220.) snorri himself lived from 1179 to 1241, which makes him solidly high medieval by a european standard and medieval (ie not viking age) by a scandinavian standard.

iceland converted to christianity in the year 1000 AD through a resolution carried in the alþingi (this is according to njáls saga as we do not actually have contemporary written material from that era. pinch of salt as to the precise date, and of course the nature of conversion is such that it doesn't happen overnight, even in a small population like late viking age iceland, but nevertheless -- iceland was very decidedly no longer pagan by the 1200's)

(this leads into a Big Old Debate about the nature of oral memory and how much and how reliably material can be preserved in that manner, especially detail, and for how many generations. this is contentious and im not gonna get into it but it's a factor)

snorri sturluson was a christian

this matters because although he was interested in the culture -- especially the poetics (we'll come to that) of the past, he was not a part of that culture and he was viewing it from the outside. his interest was antiquarian.

snorri sturluson's edda is an educational work in poetry. it is a poetic. a book of skáldskapr, ie of the poetical arts. the poetry of viking age iceland, the poetical culture that medieval iceland inherited, was one based on a huge and complex metaphorical system which directly referenced pre-christian mythology. to take a classic example, instead of simply saying 'gold', you might say 'sif's hair', but to understand this you'd need to know the story where sif loses her hair due to a loki fuckup and is gifted new hair made from gold.

in short, the loss of the knowledge of these stories would completely hamstring all successive generations of poets -- not only would they no longer be able to participate in the poetic tradition, they wouldn't even be able to comprehend and appreciate the work of their predecessors.

the narrative part of snorri's edda is the one most people are familiar with. it is even often printed separately. but his work is actually comprised of four sections: a prologue dedicated to explaining that the pagan gods were actually men (see euhemerism), the narrative portion (gylfaginning), a section which explains a large number of poetical metaphors (skáldskaparmál), and a section which gives examples of various poetical metres a skáld should know (háttatal).

oh god i said condensed, this is already so long

FINALLY: snorri was a scholar. and medieval scholars took a different approach to their material than modern historians. they were unafraid to edit, embellish, pick and choose, compile and systematise as they saw fit. (we have some notion of what types of sources snorri used and some of his material survives in other sources, but much does not, leaving his account the only one, which means we can't check his work, as it were.)

we must assume that the prose edda synthesises material that was varied and contradictory -- folk tradition always is (think of how many versions ballads and folk songs survive in). we must assume that there are versions which were lost. we must also assume that his christianity has affected the material to *some* degree, though how much is again a Big Debate (for example we may point to the part where he says that loki was outwardly beautiful but wicked -- afaik there is no physical description of loki anywhere else, and it's tempting to see a parallel here to christian notions of temptation).

TLDR snorri has created a *version* of norse myth. and while we should be incredibly grateful that someone actually sat down and created a literal guidebook like this we must also remember by whom it was made, why, and when. (✨source criticism!✨ [philology jazz hands])

(this isn't even getting into how the narratives of mythology correlate -- and don't -- with the evidence of worship uncovered by archaeology but POST TOO LONG)

#LONG POST #im so sorry #asks #now with a readmore because good lordt #if i made any snafus im sorry its 4am brain no worky #good lord the textpost editor is crap im sorry if this formats terribly

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airlock · 2 months

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there's something I can never help but to notice in the way people on the internet talk about trans girls' dicks, and it's a matter of size

it's odd inasmuch as, y'know. when it comes to cis guy dick sizes, you have this interminably complex debate raging all the time

dudes are out there measuring, comparing, going "that's a nice argument but...", all in all inflicting on each other and themselves this hell malestrom (y'know what, sure, I'm throwing that typo in) of ways in which dick size is the world's most important thing. something that's theorically about having sex, but also doesn't interrogate what women think and would make fun of you for being a fag, so really it's just a front for men competing against men to be the biggest baddest alpha man.

not that you'd get a clear unissonous answer from asking women, either. by now I think most men who have ever listened to a woman, have heard all the aphorisms. it's about how it's about how you use it and not about size; inconsiderate lovers who assume their dick size will carry them can be especially painful in bed; so on and so forth. at the same time, though, women both gleefully partake in the same exercises of social approval/dismissal associated with dick size as men do, sometimes with an added layer of not really caring about dick size but using it as a metaphorical shorthand. and dick size also keeps showing up in the way women talk while they idolize male celebrities, in the erotica they write, etc and etc.

don't get me wrong; this isn't the preamble to my mass shooter manifesto. you don't generally get clear unissonous answers from women about anything, because that is around 4 billion people's worth of opinions and tastes. all of this is just to paint a picture of the strange place that cis guys' dick sizes are regarded in this world we live in. it's at once a genetic trait that can't be controlled and should not be treated as an indicator of personality, and also a symbol of social status so overwhelming that the symbolism has a life beyond the physical realities.

a cis guy's dick can be small, and that's okay and/or pathetic; a cis guy's dick can be huge, and that's insignificant and/or awesome.

but when people talk about trans girl dick. they always talk about huge dick. isn't that strange?

well, perhaps it's not if you're familiar with how trans women are treated on the internet in general. the first and foremost thing being that we're sexualized to hell and back by our enemies and appreciators alike, so of course we'll promptly be described in the crassest terms available. and just as obviously, it is that huge dicks are seen as symbols of masculinity, so there's an insidious dimension to always supposing trans women must have them. it's a pretty unsubtle member of the panoply of ways we're constantly denied femininity even by people who are supposed to be on our side, let alone the ones who aren't.

I don't know that these things explain the phenomenon by themselves, although I'm sure they remain as the leading reasons. maybe it's also just that society's baseline for how long a girl's dick should be is in the negatives, so really any length of trans girl dick compares favourably there. in that regard, "girl with a huge dick" is an especially incongruous image, and evoking it tends to make your punchlines punchier.

but perhaps most of all, at least in terms of relatively original insights here, it might also be a matter of many people still being mere fledgelings in the art of sexually appreciating trans women, and thusly these people have not honed the nuances of it.

talking up a trans girl's feminine traits might come across like you're really just thinking of cis girls or, worse, traditional femininity -- so you swing for the fences, and romanticize the huge dicks and the hairy legs and the widow's peaks. but what if you could appreciate a trans girl's qualities, not in comparison to any cis people of either binary gender, but in her own terms?

would you, then, love her dick in all shapes and sizes it might come with?

#my stupid text posts #in effect I think most trans women don't have much to say about this themselves #because their thoughts about their own dicks will kind of begin and end at whether having one like this causes dysphoria #but I dunno; maybe I just notice this trend because I'm not exactly well-endowed #and frankly I like that for myself #anyway sorry not sorry for belting out this ridiculously long 2 AM post about trans girl dick and not even readmoring it

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startistdoodles · 1 year

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How did you decide on Prisma Knight’s design? Any early concept sketches

I did the whole process with my pal @junebird24 who was AMAZING, she helped me so much with the coloring process and was just in general a good second artist to help bounce ideas off of so I owe her a ton of thanks 💖

Anyways, Here's (most of) the developmental process for Prisma, complete with scrapped ideas and commentary of our ideas at the time. I had her overall design down from the start, but it was the coloring that gave me the most trouble.

(Emblem Design)

Finally complete 💜🎊

#ask #long post #prisma knight #skibot99 #cw bugs #edit i removed the readmore since it conflicts with the expand post feature #this is so so long im sorry DSJDGJSH #but for artists out there maybe this will pique ur interest #im someone who loves seeing behind the scenes stuff and how characters get made #so thought it would be fun to share #ive actually had most of these screenshots already because i wanted to share them soon #so the timing of this ask is amazing

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ganymedesclock · 1 year

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Very good points with the last post, but I was thinking more about when a protagonist who is Hated by society for any reason gains power and influence and absolutely nothing changes about how people treat them to the point where you can feel the hand of the author. And then the protagonist gets Glorious Revenge on the people who hurt them or were disrespectful to them in any measure with their new cool powers without any reflection on how that would affect the character emotionally and morally, much less the world’s perspective on them.

This is more of a problem in fanworks where all the author wants is emotional satisfaction and vindication, but creating a section of people in your story who will forever be unworthy of redemption or change in a way that doesn’t involve groveling at the protagonist’s feet and can be freely hurt and killed without any consequence due to the way people in their group treated your character in the past can circle back around to being discriminatory. Like there was a story(granted it was fanfic) I read that had Special Magic People(Fae)who were outcasts of society because they were really powerful, then had that society discriminate against them, then painted everyone with powers as forever righteous good people and every person without as Ugly Evil Unpeople who could be slaughtered without any implications. There’s a scene where one of the Fae considers getting a ‘human servant’ like all his friends have via enchantment and subsequent kidnapping but doesn’t because it wouldn’t be worth the hassle and humans are annoying. This is not meant to say anything about the character’s morals, rather stating that the character prefers solitude Babe that is slavery. Your magical Fae society is ok with slavery.

Using power or magical-beinghood as a metaphor for queerness or disability is perfectly fine, but the problem comes when you try to make this all realistic instead of basing it on societal perception, because the thing about homophobia and racism and ableism is the fact that they are systems of power that place white, straight, rich, able bodied cis people at the top and everyone else at the bottom. Superpowers in context of sociology is more like: what if someone had a gun that they couldn’t unload, that was pointed at your head at all times. They wouldn’t shoot you with it, you think. But the gun is always there, and while the holder may not see it, you do. Which is a much better metaphor for living under systems that oppress you, with the caveat that superpowers are often inherent and social hierarchies are entirely made up.

Its just interesting how power is portrayed in the media as something that is either A. Born to or bestowed upon the protagonist and good or B. Something to be seeked out by the antagonist and bad. The idea that wanting what you weren’t given but other ‘more deserving’ people were is bad, but the idea that being more powerful than other people makes you inherently more moral rather than giving you more moral responsibility.

Ah, so you are positing the existence of type C, which is, "I want violent retribution on everyone who ever wronged me, but not to be held responsible for what I do with this power"

I think this can tie in with a lot of things. In aforementioned Danny Phantom, consider the bully character Dash. He literally introduces himself to the series by declaring- at max volume in a crowded cafeteria- that he has no future so high school is the best he's going to get.

Which is. needless to say. not something anyone with confidence says about themselves. But Dash does not exist to create problems for Danny, really; his primary function is being a justified target for Danny to punish over and over again.

People who are bullies understand that the concept of a bully is bad. They may have encountered- or fear- bullies themselves. But their solution is to idolize power and taking power. The Problem Is when I get pushed around, the problem isn't people shouldn't have the power to own/dominate others.

As you've pointed out this can run afoul in particular in social justice movements, since bullies exist everywhere and they will continue to co-opt whatever language gives them power and a platform. Some people just really, really want to hurt punish and control others. And broadly, they tend very quick to frame themselves as heroes punishing villains for being evil.

I recall back when I was in the Steven Universe fandom, someone told me their highly detailed system of how they wanted the Diamonds to die- they wanted Steven to murder Blue in front of Yellow, kill her next while she was grieving, and leave White alone and pleading before closing in for the finale.

Whether or not you like the Diamonds, or even whether or not you think the Diamonds should have died, it is obvious the objective is not removing or mitigating any threat here. The objective is sadism. The objective is wanting to punish people for ever having scared or upset you, and when a working fourth wall is at play it illuminates how insecure this mindset is. No matter how bad you think the Diamonds are, they are fictional characters, and not a perpetuation of bigotry or harmful stereotypes; they thus cannot hurt real people. The most they can do is be scary or upsetting, and even that is based on your willingness to go consume the media that has them in it. You could effortlessly turn off the tv and go watch a show where the hero makes the villain graphically explode every time, of which there are many.

But, we don't actually want things to get better! We want a justification to punish all the sinners that make trouble in our world. It's seductive it's reassuring it's a nice piping hot plate of comfort food that says "You're right forever! You actually ARE more special than anyone you don't want to interact with, your bullies or detractors actually ARE inherently lesser people than you. You will never have to face any sort of reality where people hurt your feelings but have some reason to exist or feel the way they do whether or not their actions are justified."

And incidentally, at its worst, this mentality can also utterly fail to address the very abuses it's trying to avenge. As you say, anon, it hinges on that the character remains a Dreadful Outcast forever.

Consider the plight of "Muggles" in Harry Potter. It sure feels like an amazing thing for an emotionally, materially, and physically abused boy to watch some magical giant show up, effortlessly boss his abusers around, and sweep him away from all that to a magical destiny world where he becomes stronger.

Only... at the end of every book they keep bringing him back. There are magical justifications for leaving him with his abusers. His cousin, who is also unambiguously hit and yelled at in the first book alone, does not even get the reprieves of special school even though we watch him become increasingly miserable with and enraged by his parents and their situation to the point that he makes at one point an unambiguous decision to stand by Harry with his parents watching.

This will come to nothing. Because Harry Potter takes the vicarious thrill children want to feel- that they know some secret that makes them special, reassuring when you don't think you're that cool and haven't had the life experience to invest in your identity yet- and basically turns it into, you don't deserve to be bullied because you're actually part of an old-money privileged over-class. With slaves! Why would you want to exist in a world where you reconcile with the foster sibling that pushed you around because he too was terrified of his parents and the dysfunctional house you lived in? He needs to know his place and be inferior to you, so that you can always be safe.

Because you never won't be traumatized and your trauma will never be a thing untouchable even by people who might care for you or be a friend to you, and if you decide the only way you will be safe is if you can rip a pound of flesh out of anyone who ever prods your wounds, then you won't feel safe unless you have someone on the figurative guillotine.

It's a status of victimhood that will never be lifted by any amount of power, because if you break the spell and admit that you have the capacity to hurt others and not the power to constantly be justified and eternally know evil when you see it, then that means you just might be the bad guy.

And you've made a world where nobody can even dip their toe in being the bad guy without deserving hell. So you can't be a sinner! That'd mean everything you feel is completely unjustified!

So, hail to the king, hail to the ultimate victim, whose suffering will never end because it is the throne he sits on to hold him above others.

And maybe I've played too much Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as a child, or maybe I just like monsters too much; but I've just always had the sneaking suspicion my life wouldn't improve if I could just stab everyone who ever hurt my feelings with a pitchfork.

I think using power to torment defenseless people is a bad thing no matter what that person did, and it is an unnecessary intrusion to actual harm reduction.

#writing ruminations #long post #readmore #haha hey guys do you remember that we punch nazis as a strategy of harm reduction to publicly deplatform them?#and not just because it feels good to pretend we're superman fighting lex luthor?

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mistletien · 2 years

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twilight au where bella keeps having to relive the third day after the birthday party incident over and over and is trying to do everything possible to both fix the outcome and break out of the loop before edward inevitably dumps her and she's done everything possible and gets her heart broken every day until she just decides fuck it this sucks and nothing's changing and she finally accepts that edward's always going to leave her so she spends the day with the other cullen's instead to see if they might be able to help break the loop.

alice being her best friend is the first person bella goes to. but alice is unable to have visions of bella's future during this loop, leaving both of them frustrated and honestly a little bit scared for bella.

the loop starts to become bella waking up and immediately going to alice to explain the situation each day and slowly as the days go by bella starts to realize she's having more fun with alice than she ever did with edward. that it's easier to explain this with her and have her predicament be accepted as truth instead of having to prove it in drastic ways that edward demanded.

and one day as she and alice are in bella's bedroom poring over scattered papers with theories that are spread out across the bed that she looks at alice who's concentrating so hard on how to break her out of repeating days that bella realizes she's started to fall in love with her after all this time spent together.

bella spends days lamenting how these feelings might have happened. she even drastically avoids alice one day and spends it as the original day, with edward leaving her in the woods alone. and while she's standing there, hearing all those hurtful words fall from his lips the sting from them is gone and she's just... thinking about alice as edward dumps her.

the next day bella tells alice about how she thinks she and edward are over, about how her feelings for him have shifted over time and she can only see him as a friend at best now. she still loves him, he was her first love, of course, but the feelings aren't there anymore and it wouldn't be fair for either of them to try and continue especially with how sincere edward seemed in his words and actions whenever he dumps her.

as the day wears on bella recounts all the time she and alice have spent trying to break her out of this loop, how she thinks this will be her normal now, and as the sun is setting she and alice are in alice's room talking when bella admits her feelings had shifted because she fell in love with alice.

alice and her had been sitting on the floor talking when she dropped the bomb on her friend, alice scoots forward and gently places a kiss against bella's lips.

"tell me you'll still feel the same tomorrow" alice says against her mouth as she cups bella's face in her hands, tilts her head the other way and kisses her again.

"I'll tell you every day if you let me"

"deal"

bella wakes up the next day, fully expecting the loop to have continued as it has been for so long now, but as she's getting her 'proof' of the loop together she gets a phone call and alice's excited voice on the other line

"it's a new day and I remember everything"

how cliché that a kiss fixed everything

#ark whines #Twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight reimagined #new moon #Bella Swan #Alice Cullen #bellice #Edward Cullen #in this au alice and jasper aren't together because shrug emoji #[shoves him into a corner] get in there #also now she has to explain this to edward so good luck #also this is long so it needs to be a readmore to not clog up dashes or the tags :c #I know I get annoyed with posts that are super long so I wouldn't subject others to that with my stuff #anyway this is long and dumb but I'm a sap for clichés

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