#// and also written because I just... want more aro content lol

[vidavalor]

I just happened upon your blog (right terminology?) and I’m learning a lot. One thing that startled me was your referring to Crowley and Aziraphale’s love (sex) life as a matter of course, something seemingly everyone but me knew about. I was blown away and really wanted it to be true. After all, they’ve had to do without so much—openness, safety, the expectation of future togetherness. It would too unfair if they had to do without physical consummation too. What’s the deal with this? How do we know it’s so? What’s the history? Please enlighten me. Have you written posts about this? I’d love to read them. Thanks

Hello! Thanks for the ask. Nice to meet you. I call it a blog because I'm old and don't know the cool terms but we can call it whatever lol. I have no idea re: how many people who view the show and are able to see that Crowley & Aziraphale are more than friends (because, believe it or not, that concept still shocks some lol) who think that they're already lovers. I do think I'm sort of in the minority, maybe, even if there are a bunch of people who think that they're already a thing. When scrolling through the Ineffable Husbands tag on here, I tend to see a lot more posts that suggest that they aren't lovers and that 2.06 was their first kiss. (Let's hope that it's not lol.)

I guess I would say that if you are thinking about whether or not they might be, consider that Good Omens shows you most of its story out of chronological order in order to give layered meaning to the stuff you've already seen so, just with that knowledge alone, it would be actually pretty surprising if 2.06 was the first time they'd kissed. In S2 itself, earlier on, there's some heavy suggestion that it's not. If you want to read about when I think that happened, go here and I'll link you one more post at the bottom of this response here:

While I like to read all points of view-- I read a lot of aro ace GO stuff as well, even if I don't necessarily see that in my own interpretations of things-- I have thought they were sleeping together since the first time I watched S1 a few years back and S2 just kinda reinforced that for me. I think that, technically-speaking, there's a path to either they still haven't gotten together or that they're long-time lovers. I say that but honestly... it's more like if they somehow do something that suggests that they're only getting together during/after S3, I think it could kinda work but I honestly don't actually think that's the story they're writing. I'm pretty firmly set on the idea that they've been sleeping together for, uh, a very long time at this point. Someone told me the other day via messages that they would burn my house down if I did not finish a sex meta that I promised people so I best maybe get on that and also potentially call the police lol. (I am both flattered and scared?). So, uh, I'll get that up soon... I wrote a couple of longer metas lately about different eras of their relationship that are replies to recent asks on my blog-- I'd probably recommend the one about what they call each other and coded love confessions in 1941, if you're looking to read about them as a couple that's already a couple (even if they would have an anxiety attack at the word 'couple', as Crowley does in 2.06 lol). Will link it below. I'm very flattered that you and others have asked to read more of what I think and I have gotten asked a lot for more sex-related content so, uh, watch this space, I guess? :)

Make yourself a tea first or plan to come back to it as I'm wordy lol:

[graysongraysoff]

u kno

roughly a year back i embarked upon something of a ~sexuality crisis~ that lasted for ~kind of a while~ bc i kind of blundered into writing smut for a couple rps i was in and was like "writing smut fun actually??" which resulted in me like. not being able to write it anymore for a long time lmao and feeling all gross and hypocritical about it. bc i already have such a complex about being "fake ace" for a number of reasons and having fun writing smut only exacerbated this, bc while i am still 100% certain i have never been sexually attracted to a person or a person’s physical attributes, i was like finding out there are things people can do that i find, yes, sexy. but simultaneously i'm still not really interested in actually having sex? and all of this felt very confusing and contradictory, lol.

and it didn’t help to hear that common refrain of “oh so much of the smut on ao3 is written by ace folks ace folks write so much smut lol” bc like. idk the way people would always frame it was something like “it’s ace people’s distance from sex and sexuality that makes them good at writing it bc of their objective perspective” or whatever but that’s not how it felt to me?? like i would never describe it as feeling “distant” or “objective” or like i was some outsider looking in. i feel really deeply personally connected to everything i write, no matter how like technically distant it is from my lived experience. does that make sense?? like i don’t feel like some kind of fucking scientist observing and recording things; i put myself in everything i write because i don’t know how you would write about characters’ emotions and reactions to things without feeling all of that yourself to some extent. it’s not sympathy it’s empathy, and to a very high degree.

but recently i discovered youtube video essayist james somerton who does a lot of queer/gay content (unrelated his video on attack on titan is fantastic and should be required watching) and i was like letting his stuff autoplay while getting ready for work one morning about a week ago and thus got to listen to a podcast he did with a gay ace co-host about asexuality and stuff, and this co-host talked about how he enjoyed cybering and like writing about sex and having written sexual encounters but found the actual experience of sex like underwhelming and disappointing, specifically saying the real thing like never lives up to what he can write or imagine. and idk hearing someone talk about it like that was really like. helpful and validating for me?? hearing “asexuality is a spectrum uwu” is often too vague for me to really get anything out of it, but hearing someone specifically talk about their place on the spectrum as anything other than a sex-repulsed aro/ace and also having their experience be validated by the allosexual person they’re talking to about it, idk. it made me feel like less of a freak and a hypocrite to know that there’s at least one guy out there who’s like “yeah i like having written sexual encounters but the real thing doesn’t really interest me” and that he’s comfortable enough to talk about it in those terms and to still identify as ace and to have at least one other person sitting there with him clearly not thinking he’s any less ace for it.

idk i’ve been thinking about this a lot in the week since i listened to that podcast and i just wanted to get it out of my brain, lol. i just like. 1.) really appreciated stumbling upon that video so much and 2.) really wish there was more content like that out there for ace folks like me who like. struggle with not feeling ace enough bc so much ace pride is like. “i’m incorruptible.” lmao. like some more nuance would really be great, idk.

[zannolin]

2, 3, 6 (for three's a crowd), 15, 17, 18 for the fae au, 23, 28 for the ask game!

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

screaming @ how accurate these are and also the jump between the first two. i'm such a hurt comfort girlie.

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

oh look i made a bingo for this that basically sums it up. throw in a little religious trauma and aro confusion. for flavor.

6. What’s one fact about the universe of [insert fic] that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

ohhh three's a crowd ur my fav person ever for asking this. there's actually a lot of little details and content that got cut from it while i was writing simply because it was so damn long and stuff that i liked conceptually didn't end up fitting in by the time i got around to writing. a couple things would be that riley has a lucky hoodie (the one he's wearing most of the first movie); as more time goes on, unless he's at some kind of event, he actually goes back to wearing hoodies and his glasses more than suits and contacts because (in this fic universe anyway) he was dressing professionally to try to be taken more seriously and eventually gave up/realized his friends care about him whether he's in glasses or not; and also, regardless of if emily and patrick got remarried after BoS, emily did not change her last name (back?) to gates. FUCK canon. canon is so wrong for that. that is dr. emily APPLETON. i stand by this.

15. What’s your favorite AU that you’ve written?

oh it's so harddd to choose. i think the award still has to go to without anesthetic bc man. i love my silly little fey worldbuilding. i love it so much. but the polar express au remains beloved in my heart.

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

i want to take the characters from the man from snowy river (1983) and i want to put them into the scorpio races universe. as a treat. for me. world's most bonkers niche fic i am the ONLY person in the target audience the target audience is when i look in the mirror. and i don't care i love it. some honorable mentions would be megstine (meg/christine from phantom of the opera) paranormal investigator au where christine is haunted and goes to meg for help; a truman show au for shazam; there was literally another that was so wildly unhinged and i forgot what it was while typing the rest of them out...rip me. it was good tho. maybe some qibli/winter/moonwatcher fic idk.

18. If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it involve?

oh for the fey au that's easy. i'll never write it since those days are gone but i told moth the one thing that i thought about writing but never got a chance to was wil meeting cornerwitch q. there just wasn't a very logical place to fit it into the narrative so they never actually interacted which is kind of a bummer but also it wasn't necessary for the story, so.

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

[chanting] timeloop timeloop TIMELOOP

28. Does anyone read your fics before you post them? If so, who?

no beta we die like i do every time i clock on at work. the only people who read my fics before they're posted would be whichever friend happens to be interested in the fandom i'm writing for and thus gets snippets dropped in dms on occasion. usually that means it's blu lol.

thank you for the asks <3

ask game!

[woofwoofwolf]

If you're following me for just spider punk content, then yeah I've started to post a bigger variety of stuff again, so it isn't just him anymore (but you probably noticed that)

fanfic wise I do want to write for him, but if I don't have a lot of inspiration for a character it can be hard for me to. I also don't really vibe with a lot of the hobie x reader community tbh, which sounds really negative, but it has nothing to do with me disagreeing with any sort of take, it's just that most of the fics out there for him aren't the type of thing I like to read, which is totally fine, just a matter of preference- and secondly I'm more used to kind of,,, culty fandom spaces? In the past I've only written for smaller communities and that's just a different vibe, less pressure or smth idk lol

But yeah, if you want to request something small for him that's up my alley- Aro ace spec reader, autistic reader, alternative reader, (specifically jfashion,)- then you are def encouraged to do so, but if you were following me because I primarily reblogged Spiderverse content, then you should probably unfollow me (you have my blessing lol)

[fear-before-valor]

Romeo, Question Mark // Aromantic!Jim fic because I wanted aro content and if I can’t find some, I’ll [thanos voice] do it myself // Words: 1810 // Warnings: slight internalized aphobia; nothing that bad, just the amount that might come from an insecure teenager still learning about himself-- that said, take care of yourself, and remember that you are valid! <3 --

“Hey Tobes?” A voice sounds, in the dead of night.

“Yeah, Jim?” There is a rustling of a sleeping bag, because Toby would never, ever sleep in the bed if Jim was sleeping on the floor. He’d much sooner sleep on the floor with him, and Jim is too nice to steal half of Toby’s bed, even if it would have been alright by Toby. And it would have been. But again… Jim’s too polite. Toby knows this. Toby knows Jim.

For example, Toby knows that right this moment, Jim’s long stretch of silence is not from his being sleepy. He can practically feel the nervousness rolling off of his best friend, but he isn’t sure what the next move either of them will make is— or what it perhaps should be— so he remains quiet as well, and simply waits for Jim to respond back. He waits a long, long moment, and he’s almost afraid that Jim is going to bail on whatever he wanted to bring up—

—But then—

“What does a crush feel like?”

There is a long beat.

…Oh. Huh.

Toby realizes immediately that Jim can likely feel his brief, shocked silence, so he rushes to make it clear that he doesn’t think the question is weird, even if it caught him a little out of left field. Quick, Toby, he thinks to himself, Make Jim laugh. It’ll relax him.

“Well, you’re the Trollhunter; don’t you know how it feels to crush something?”

It is a stupid, stupid joke, Toby thinks, but it works on Jim’s midnight brain, as a soft, fond laugh sounds from Jim’s side of the room, which Toby has yet to look toward, for fear of breaking whatever is going on. He wants Jim to feel comfortable enough to talk to him, so he refuses to look at the other boy yet, knowing that his gaze might make his best friend hide whatever is happening inside his head. Toby wishes Jim wouldn’t do that so often. He likes when he’s allowed in Jim’s head. The guy dwells up there a little too much, in Toby’s opinion. He overthinks things like crazy these days, with all the pressures on him. Which, as supportive as Toby is, for all of Jim’s endeavors— be it Romeo, or the successor to an ancient line of warriors dating back centuries— Toby can’t help but worry sometimes, about how much his best friend has taken on. He knows he isn’t supposed to like Strickler and all, but Toby can’t really deny that the man has a point with his nickname for Jim. He really does shoulder the world.

Jim’s voice slices into Toby’s worries, his amused tone calming some of them, “Not what I meant, Tobes. You know what I meant.”

“Hey, maybe I don’t. You don’t know that.”

Jim’s voice, like his laugh moments ago, is, again, fond. “Yes I do.”

Toby’s chest flips in a weird way. A way he can’t quite identify. “Okay, fine… I do know what you meant…” He admits, but he isn’t sure where to go after that.

The room is dead silent for a second, the kind of quiet where both parties can hear the other think, until Jim interrupts it and asks, “So… do you know? Y’know… what a crush feels like?”

Toby frowns, thinking about it more seriously. He isn’t sure he’ll do the best job describing it, but he tries. “Well… Uh, you know how I like Darcy?” He asks, and at Jim’s assent, he continues. “It’s like… when she smiles, my knees go all weak, and my chest feels really light. And… I want to be the reason she smiles. I want to hold her hand, and take her on dates, and slow dance with her at Spring Fling over and over again, like we did that… one night…” Toby hesitates to bring up their most recent Spring Fling, remembering belatedly what else had happened then.

He moves on quickly, “It’s like… I dunno. I want to make her happy, like she makes me happy. I won’t say I wanna live my whole life with her ‘cause we’re only 16, but… I guess…. sometimes, it feels like that. Even if I know it’s unlikely.” He shrugs, a little saddened at the thought, but not fully. He knows that high school relationships rarely survive graduation, and he’s made peace with that. And, moreso in his case, he knows that there’s an unfortunate possibility that he won’t even survive to graduation, but that one, he tries not to make peace with. It’s bad for the mind.

“…Huh.” Jim retorts, seemingly unable to say anything but that.

After Toby waits for Jim to speak again… and becomes aware after a while that Jim isn’t going to, he chances it, rolls the dice, says, “Can I ask why you’re asking?”

Jim evades the real question, and instead answers what Toby verbalized, rather than what Toby left unsaid. “You can ask.”

“…Will you answer?” Toby responds, resisting with all of his might, the urge to look at Jim. He stares at a glowing green plastic star on his ceiling instead.

Jim’s hesitation is palpable. Toby can feel it in the hairs on his arm, by the way the very air seems to tense with Jim’s shoulders, which Toby can hear against the noisy fabric of his sleeping bag.

“I-” Jim’s voice catches in his throat. “Maybe…?”

“Not that you have to,” Toby says, uncertain, “But you can… you can share… y’know. If you want to.”

His best friend’s response is immediate. “Promise you won’t judge?”

Jim has been wishing to talk about this, Toby realizes, and his words come as fast as Jim’s did, “Of course I won’t.”

The silence this time, is Jim psyching himself up. Toby can tell. He can hear it in the way that he takes a few deep breaths, the way that he shifts restlessly.

“I don’t think I actually have a crush on Claire.” Jim blurts.

…Oh. Again.

No offense to Jim, Toby restrains relieved laughter, but that’s it? He thinks to himself. He doesn’t say that, though, because he knows that that won’t help reassure his friend in the slightest.

“Oh,” he repeats, aloud this time. “Well, that’s fine. Crushes come and go—”

“No.” Jim says, sounding upset. Toby freezes, listening. “I don’t mean—“ Jim huffs softly, “I mean… Ugh, sorry Tobes.” Toby practically hears the other boy collecting his thoughts, “I just mean… I don’t think I ever had a- a real crush on her.”

Did Jim’s voice just break? Toby feels like he’s had the wind knocked from his lungs. Whether Jim’s voice had or not, Toby’s heart certainly had. Is Jim so afraid of Toby judging him for misreading his feelings?

Toby shakes his head, even if he isn’t sure whether or not Jim sees it, “That’s okay, too, buddy. I’m not gonna judge you for that. Crushes are weird. They aren’t always easy to figure out.”

“…Right.” Jim sounds like something else is on his mind, but Toby doesn’t think pushing him seems quite right.

He takes a more subtle approach. “Thanks for telling me, though, Jimbo. I’m glad you feel like you can tell me something like that. Because, of course you can. I’m here for you.”

It isn’t so subtle that Toby fools himself to think that Jim hasn’t noticed, but it isn’t an outright probe, either.

He can tell that Jim appreciates it, however, by the sound of his voice. “Thanks, Tobes. I guess… I’ve just been scared of what’s been going on in my head, y’know? Do you… ever get that way?”

Toby thinks about his words before answering, but he gives a vocalized ‘hm’ to make sure that Jim knows that he isn’t just ignoring the question. “I mean… I’m no savior of the world and all, but, yeah, I get that. There’s a lot happening right now, troll stuff aside. We’re teenagers; things are kinda expected to be weird and complicated these days, right?” He gives a soft smile in the darkness, letting it bleed into his words.

Jim’s nod is audible against nylon once again, as he says, “Right. Understatement of the year, huh?”

Toby grins. “For sure. But that’s okay. Because we can get through it together, y’know? There’s nothing you could do to make me leave you, Jim, you know that, right?”

Jim’s silence is from shock, he knows. Toby allows him a moment to process.

“…Even if I’m… not really… normal…?”

Toby can’t hold back his snicker this time, “Jim, is anything about our reality ‘normal’ right now?”

Jim’s smile colors his words, to Toby’s relief. “Right. Of course it isn’t.” He pauses for a second, as if making up his mind, and Toby waits for him to do that, “Can I tell you something?”

Toby answers as quickly as a heartbeat responds to itself, “Of course.”  

“I-” Jim hesitates one more time, but evidently decides to push through, as he says, so quietly that Toby nearly misses it; lucky he is holding his breath, so that he doesn’t miss Jim’s words in his own exhale, “I think I’m… aromantic, Toby.”

Toby takes a single beat to breathe in and out, to allow this to add to his bank of knowledge about Jim, to his understanding of his best friend, and then says, “That’s cool. Was it the play that gave it away?”

There is a brief, alarmed pause, before Jim laughs, hard, at that. It starts slow, but rapidly grows lighter and more frequent, until it is closer to a giggle or a wheeze. “How do you know me so well?” He gets out between laughs.

Toby’s grin could light up the whole room. “‘Cause I’m your best friend, dude. It’s like… my whole job description.”

When Jim finally gets a handle on his chuckles, he responds, “Right. How could I forget?”

“You’d never. You just have a lot happening right now.” Toby reminds him.

“…Yeah.”

“But not tonight.” Toby soothes Jim’s beginning-to-wind-up mind, catching it before it can get too far.

Jim gives one last, singular laugh, soft, and fond, “Yeah.” He says again. “Not tonight.”

By the tone of his voice, Toby can tell that Jim finally feels like everything is okay. And he’s glad. Because it is. Just for that night, everything is okay.

The two boys fall asleep in minutes, closer in both heart and in body. Neither of them can remember when it happened, or who initiated, but when they wake the next morning, they find themselves hand in hand, and it isn’t even embarrassing. Because they are, as they always have been, best friends in every way. They will always reassure each other, and they will always be there for each other, and they will, evidently, always do it hand in hand.

[therealvinelle]

Speaking of Renata's place being at Aro's side, that's something that struck me as interesting about your fic. There was a passage suggesting that Renata was frequently in Aro's study with him and Carlisle, not because she felt Carlisle was a threat, just because that's where she feels she belongs. And judging by the fact that Aro didn't send her away, it appears he agrees. Can you elaborate on that? Of course when he leaves the castle she's necessary for protecting him, but the way she stays around in other contexts seems more about their bond, their personal relationship. How did that develop? Was this inclination to be close to him instantaneous from the moment she joined their ranks or is it something that developed gradually? Does it stem from some subconscious anxiety and desire to guard him at all times, or does she genuinely just like being in his presence? And if that's the case, is that feeling mutual? Not the protectiveness, obviously, it's her role to protect him and prioritise his safety over hers if needs be, but the fondness. Does he care for her and enjoy her company the way she does or is he more sensitive to the boundaries between them? Also, it seems she's very content to just fade into the background and not be included in conversations when someone else is present; do they converse frequently (about non-work stuff) or are they more the companionable silence types?

(Ok wow that's a long ask. Sorry for bombarding you with these questions lol, I'm just really interested about your thoughts on these two.)

So sorry about the late answer! Since this was more of a question for my fic Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream, and the upcoming chapter is a Renata chapter, I figured I’d put this on hold until I’d written that. Well, turns out this tumblr account sucks up all my free time, so that chapter took forever and now your ask has been stewing for a month.

With that in mind, the chapter is now out, have this meta that’s 80% conjecture and gut feeling:

How did that develop?

Meyer states in the Guide that Renata would give her life for Aro. That’s past loyal body guard territory, that’s something more intense.

Considering my thoughts on how Renata and Makenna’s uncle Luca sounds like a creep, and the horrifying implications of that (how much of a choice does Renata’s family really have in this situation? If they asked Luca to leave, would he leave these humans he’s devoted himself to obsessing over? Does he even see these humans as people, or are they collector’s items, or exotic pets? Just... that whole story, and knowing how awful Twilight vampires are, I don’t buy into wholesome family man Luca, AT ALL), then Aro coming along to pluck Renata from Luca’s clutches takes on a very different meaning. He didn’t just adopt a random vampire from her coven to become a Volturi, he rescued her from this awful, abusive, situation.

In other words, I’ll never know how Meyer wrote that Renata is so fiercely, wholeheartedly protective of Aro without intending this, because it’s the only thing I can see.

Going forwards from that, Aro seems to be a very pleasant person to be around. I headcanon that he’s the one she’s closest to in Volterra, in part because I can’t see how anyone could top Aro in Renata’s eyes. She owes it all to him, and Chelsea would make that bond even stronger.

With that in mind, I do think she was probably terrified of the Volturi at the very beginning. Luca would have told her about them, about how they would come murder her family, Luca, and herself if she broke their laws. Having their leader come knocking, then, to take her away from everything she’s ever known would not look like salvation at all, it would be a “Guess my life could get worse. Who knew :/” moment of despair.

I can’t know what her early days in the Volturi were like, though in my fic I put it down as Luca gaslighting her about what her gift was, and Aro earning her trust by telling her the truth and giving her glorious purpose. Which is one way for things to go, I can also see Aro cutting a corner with Chelsea to get past Renata’s initial fear and distrust of this stranger, then once she views him as a positive figure she becomes thrilled to no longer have to live with Luca anymore.

Either way, I imagine she became superglue pretty early on. What Aro did for her was powerful stuff, he wouldn’t need to prove himself beyond that.

is that feeling mutual?

As for Aro, I imagine it’s rather less intense on his end, more a paternal fondness. It’s hard not to be won over by someone who’s as devoted as Renata is to him, it becomes personal. Plus, for someone in his position, being able to trust someone completely, to know that this person would give anything for your safety... yeah, powerful shit.

There’s also the matter that before Renata, I imagine Aro's life, for lack of a better term, sucked. There’s no one in the vampire world more people want dead than he, especially not in those early days. Jane and Alec have their hands full enforcing the law, they can’t be sitting in Volterra all day making sure he doesn’t die. Aro could certainly forget about leaving Volterra, he’d be too exposed. Renata changed all that. He has reason to be deeply grateful to her.

As for boundaries... perhaps this is the person who desperately wants an Aro & Renata buddy comedy show inside me talking, but a body guard like Renata, one who required physical contact at all times and who cares deeply... while I don’t think the Volturi are without boundaries, and Aro is still her master, I do think they’re not as clearly defined as they would be with, say, Caius and Felix. Renata’s role in the guard makes her something more intimate, much as I imagine it does Corin.

do they converse frequently (about non-work stuff) or are they more the companionable silence types?

Someone as trusted as Renata, a person wholly devoted to Aro, whose purpose is to stand by his side... Aro seems a very chatty person overall, I imagine there is a lot of thinking aloud and general chattering with Renata around, with her contributing to the conversation by poking him. (Which differs from the others in that most of the guard are out on missions and their job isn’t to hang around Aro, Renata’s is, and Caius doesn’t want to hear it (hears it anyway), Marcus craves the sweet release of death (Aro talks at him anyway). Really, it’s gonna be Renata who has both time for this, and doesn’t leave the room when Aro starts Abe Simpson-ing.)

Overall, I think Aro and Renata’s relationship is one of the closest among all the Volturi. He did something amazing for her, she did something amazing for him, now her purpose is to stand by his side.

And best of all, it’s not sexual. It could have been a gross draculina thing, it’s not, and I’m so grateful for that. One of the things Meyer did very right.

[volterran-wine]

hi love! not sure if your inbox is still open but would you be willing to write an imagine/headcanon where the guard/a member of the guard adopts an abandoned newborn (human baby not vampire lol)?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧

Hm, Anonymous you might have stumbled across the wrong blog for this request, for Volterran-Wine is quite the realist that sometimes look at canon in a bleak manner. If cute family friendly content is what you crave, I will point you in the direction of @raindancer2004 , @wallwriterstuff & @avyannadawn . They have written some wonderful works centred around various members of The Volturi and parenthood. They are fantastic writers and might deliver better on this topic than I can.

Now... on to my personal brand of realistic angst.

!Warnings! This took a turn for the dark. As much as I like to romanticise The Volturi I do write them as vampires and stay true to my worldbuilding, and vampires are not always the best moral compasses in the world. TW// Severely Harming Children, do not read if anything of that nature is triggering to you.

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰...

Now, why would The Volturi adopt a human child in the first place? Not even a child really; a newborn. As far as I know there would be no way to discern if this baby has a gift that could prove beneficial, or any other useful skills for that matter. So they would in truth be useless.

Yes, there is an argument that perhaps there are vampires in the coven that long for parenthood, but I'm not so sure about that. Most of the Volturi members are old, older than The Cullens. They have had much more time to accept their vampirism, and; they indulge in their nature unapologetically. I imagine that most of them have fully accepted that this is the way things are; it's not normal for vampires to have kids. I'm sure that if you look at the time periods some of these vampires are from; many of them might even have fathered or mothered children at some point before they turned. They aren't like Rosalie who is eternally trapped in an existence she didn't want and have to watch the one thing she always wanted dangled in front of her.

I guess there is another argument; which is hybrid children. But I refuse to believe that The Volturi who has been around for thousands of years had never heard of hybrids until Renesmee. That is just a ludicrous part of canon which makes me question Stephenies worldbuildg on so many levels. I fully believe Aro and his brothers have thoroughly educated the vampires under their command about the dangers surrounding hybrids.

But to answer your question; If The Volturi came across an abandoned child while out on a mission I see one of two things happening, and neither of them gives us the happy family scenario we might crave.

1. They get eaten. I am sure not every member in the guard has a moral compass (I'm talking about the entire guard here, not just our core members that we know and love; but also transitionary guards). And as I have discussed before, most vampires simply see humans as food; a baby is not different in their eyes. At the end of the day vampires have animalistic urges to feed off of humans regardless of their age. You don't see a lion spare a baby gazelle simply because it is a baby. Now, I do imagine that most of them have good control over their urges and won't just lunge at a baby. Which brings us to scenario 2.

2. They get brought to the steps of an orphanage. I think this scenario is the one that happens the most, as much as I don't think The Volturi discriminate when it comes to food; a newborn is... is quite something to just murder in cold blood for food. If they are able they will try to get the child to a safer place, or at the very least alert the proper authorities without giving away their identity.

I fully realise this is probably not the content you were looking for, but I will always stay true to my worldbuilding and view of the characters. I hope there are no hard feelings 🖤

[i-did]

hey! I hope those aftg asks aren’t getting tiring lol but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the recent fandom treatment of Kevin, which seems to be mainly seeing him as a victim mistreated both in canon by the other foxes & by nora himself? Like I remember in the earlier days of aftg (like maybe around 2016? 2017??) there definitely wasn’t this kind of focus or view of Kevin & I feel like he was treated with somewhat more nuance then? And this could be related to the growing hate for Nora since then but you don’t see people say the same things about the other foxes?? This is a very messy ask lol but I’m genuinely so confused about this trend esp because Kevin seems to be the only fox (as far ive seen anyways) that people are holding up as a victim w/o any nuance

I have a lot of fun answering these, I just sometimes take a minute to get to them lol

Okay so I definitely know what you're talking about with the Kevin thing. The first major factor is that AFTG has finished coming you years ago, and Nora has not actively engaged with the fandom since 2016. I came around into AFTG in 2017 as a reader, and looking at the fanart. Mostly by then you see the race headcanons locked into place and the beginning of the split between fanon and canon. Without more canon, fanon content starts to develop as whoever is more influential the fan creators (fic authors, fan artists) start to do things that trend. As a time passes in a fandom, it tends to split into niches, people who see things a certain way and want to see more of that follow each other and gain followers who agree with them. 

There is definitely a Kevin centric niche that thinks those things. I don’t think there was as much focus in general on Kevin back in 2017, but I also was pretty new. But there were no extreme Anti-Andrew fans, back then it was “you are either a fan of Nicky or a fan of Aaron.” People didnt have “dni choking apologists” on their blogs. 

I think choking discourse is a good example of the rise of Kevin. Andrew must fall for Kevin to rise. There are kandreil fans that genuinely like all three, and some ace/aro Kevin fans that like him just as he is, but a lot of Kevin centric content I see now on tumblr is about how Andrew is the real villain of AFTG for choking Kevin, despite Kevin violently choking Neil in book 1. 

Back in 2018 they weren't pitted against the other and I think the whole “you can only like one character or the other” thing is stupid imo. I like Nicky more than Aaron, but I still think they're both interesting characters. Ive seen a lot of “Kevin was only a victim” takes, and in fact got cyber bullied for a while by some people who thought I was too mean to Kevin in some of my HC by implying he also had some power in the nest and likely hurt others, and that he feels guilt over it. :/ but there is also a similar niche with “you can't blame Aaron for his homophobia, his mom was abusive, and she likely made him that way.”

It's the most similar discourse trend I've seen to the Kevin discourse. It’s a similar lack of nuance, and I think people inflict it their favorite character because they don't want to have a ‘problematic fav.’ Aaron is canonly homophobic, Neil says directly after him and Andrew ‘come out’ to the others, that he was waiting to see the same grief Aaron gave Nicky over his sexuality. It doesn't mean he can't be also a good character or a person someone likes, in fact well written characters have dimensions and flaws. 

Which that whole mess is similar to the whole Kevin thing. I think people fall in love with the idea of Nora’s characters, or maybe the fanon characters–but not the real characters. Which is also why they say the author hates them, because they got written to do bad things or not be in the story as much, they defend these characters as if they were real people who need defending, need to be saved from being erased. These characters become “their character.”

I think this also happens because people kin characters and identify with them a lot, so when I said “Kevin was in a position in power in the nest too, even in second place” and then receive threats for how I personally hurt someone who's a CSA survivor because of my Kevin HC I'm like (o – o). I think these people project so hard onto Kevin and design him in their mind, they feel as if character flaw HCs or depictions of Kevin struggling and being mean are personal insults, or at least very personally insulting. And I don't want to sound like an ass, but like my Kevin isn't the same as their Kevin, my Kevin is my Kevin. 

I see skinny art of Andrew and art of Neil as white or ginger, these don’t align with my personal HC’s about them, but like that's what I chose to go with. Nora uses language that makes me believe Neil has dark auburn hair, but if people want him to be ginger idc. In canon he was written with the intent to be white, I ignore that because I think him being mixed adds more depth to his character (as well as me being tired of only white mlm, and have updated my reading list). Andrew wasn’t imagined by Nora to be fat either, but I HC him as like a mini muscle bear instead of Toby Hemingway. 

I keep the canon intent in mind to remind myself how she actually saw them and how that can color canon and how other people are allowed to see Neil as white and Andrew as skinny. Like I understand why people get annoyed over other peoples hc’s, I feel similarly sometimes. But like at the end of the day, you just gotta move out of that fandom niche and into a new one or just ignore the post.

[mcrmadness]

I have always been more or less of an outsider and an outcast, but some days I really hate it how every aspect of me just seems to strenghten that even more. Somehow I ended up with the identities that make me different and to not fit in with the others in such "marginalized" groups.

I am:

Neurodivergent: so I ever really fit in my peers of which majority were neurotypicals. Back then (late 90s to mid 2000s) there just were no words for this, so I was just Weird and Different, and bullied for that.

Agender: I don't relate to the term "trans". My gender simply does not exist, so there's nothing about it to fix either. Which means I don't relate to trans memes, and I don't relate to gender memes (unless it's another agender making the meme), and I don't understand gender envy because I simply don't feel it.

Asexual and aromantic: so I don't really fit in lgbt+ places. The rainbow flag does not repsent me because it's still so strongly associated with gay people, as well as allosexual (and alloromantic) lgbt+ people, and I'm neither gay nor straight, nor allo. So I don't feel like using the rainbow flag, because it would give the wrong impression of me to people. I, also, do not feel connected with individual flags either, so I've never used the ace/aro/aroace flags.

Loveless aro: I don't connect with any post talking about love or about loving humans. I simply don't love humans. I don't know wha that feels like. I can care deeply about people and animals and things, but it's not the same. It does not mean the same as what "loviing" means to so many. However, I do think I love objects and concepts and ideas. Just not any specific living creature.

Sex-repulsed and romance-repulsed: so at least I fall under the stereotypes of an aroace... but at what cost.

Because of all this above, mainly the aspec aspects (lol you see what I did there), I don't fit in fandom spaces. People go nuts when they see their favorite celebrity, and I don't understand why. That's just a human being? Why are y'all going nuts over a human being? Or why are y'all so keen on seeing skin? Or men in dresses/skirts? What's so special about that? Reblogging posts about my favorite celebrities is almost impossible because of all that commentary added that I cannot relate to because I don't understand what is it so special about that that it causes people to act such ways.

Finding fanfiction is impossible because I don't read mature content. Finding audience for my fanfiction is difficult because I don't write mature content. I am wondering if other aspec people face this same problem, and this is actually why I started writing this post in the first place. My fandom is already very small and the number of fanfics has only two digits in it, so it's not like finding a needle in a haystack, cos the haystack is almost nonexistent but also there is no needle to find.

I try not to compare my AO3 stats to others', but it's really difficult. And it makes me sad sometimes. Mainly because I've gotten the impression that so many people in fandoms treat fanfiction as a way to just find explicit smut to read. Bit like how maybe back in the day, before fanfiction, people would read and write books (about original characters maybe). And as someone who does not write mature content, I feel like when people see that G or T rating there, they don't even give the text a change. I'm not sure if people are there to read stories/hopefully well written text or just to read smut. I mean, there is nothing wrong in either, I'm not saying that there would be. I'm only saying that it makes me, an aroace with sex-repulsion, feel myself so lonely when I write something that means so much to me and then people see it's G or T and don't even want to take a look at it because there's no smut. It could also be just my age, but I've figured I enjoy reading and care about well writen text actually more than the actual plot or events (as long as it's not smut, cos that just is not my thing anymore).

And it also makes me sad that there ARE so well written stories out there but I can't read them because they go into smut so quickly and there's nothing left for me to read because I prefer to skip those scenes from fanfics. So basically I understand that it's probably the same the other way around: G or T is just not their cup of tea. And that's valid. But do they ever even give those a chance? I often try to give a chance for everything, which is why I know well written text exist, and it's a bummer I can't read those because of my preferences.

I also should never ever read other fanfics' comments because, idk, seeing people commenting about those and often focusing on how the smut was written... yeah, just makes me feel like my work is waste of time. Or maybe not waste of time, it's never waste of time to me, but posting them might be waste of time, if reading them is not really anyone's cup of tea. Especially now when I have started to back away from even fluff. I used to love writing fluff, because no one was writing nice fluff without smut, so I had to write it myself. But lately I have been writing fluff so much that it has lost its magic. It's boring now. I have gone through every possible scenario and can't come up with new ones that would be exciting anymore. Everything is just repeating itself. I'm kiss-repulsed, so I have never enjoyed writing or mentioning the kisses, but they still were a big part of the fluff I wanted to read about, so I included those. But now they also feel pointless. I don't like how they feel like the peak of a scene every time. It's not. There are other important things too than to always end a scene with two people kissing, I don't like it being the climax of a scene anymore. I'm more into the emotional intimacy now, but I'm afraid people are even less into reading my fanfics if I stop writing even that physical fluff.

I wish I had OCs to write about. That way it could be a G as I just want and people could read and rate it without expectations. But I don't know what I should write about. Nothing interests me, you know? What I said there about me nowadays valuing the text over the events and content, this also applies to my own writing. I LOVE writing, but in order to do that, I must write about something interesting to me, but I can't come up with any kind of interesting plot or character I would be INTERESTED in writing about. I always play with ideas of a story but I feel like everything has veen invented already and it could accidentally turn into a knock-off I did not even realize would be copying something. The worst case scenario would be to invent something and have someone else tell you you're plagiarising something, you have never even heard of before, but people would not believe you because people are so keen on lying anyway. (Or then I'm just traumatized by that case when I was 10 and drew a comic book character and someone claimed I had copied it from a comic I had never even heard of, and she did not believe me when I said I don't even KNOW what that comic is. She was convinced I was just lying to her.)

I don't know. Maybe I should try actual brain storming. Writing down and doodling stuff in case it would open some loot boxes in my brain I did not even know about. Even an OC comic would be great, or something that was a combination of these two...

[elencelebrindal]

If I'm not mistaken you've now read/watched the three mxtx works and WoH. How would you rank them following personal preference? Which main couple did you like the most? Favorite plot twists in all four?

Yep, I did. I still have to read Faraway Wanderers though. Can't wait to.

This came out to be quite a long post, so I'll put it under the read more thingy.

Now, how would I rank them?

I'll have Tian Guan Ci Fu at the top, no doubts. It's my absolute favorite among all these four, and will probably remain my favorite even after I finally get to read the huge thing that's 2ha. It's the perfect balance of a story with no characters left unexplained (except for the minor ones and RIP Hua Cheng's backstory, why did mxtx rob us so much), of characters being unique all in different ways, and of a romance that, while being absolutely the main focus of the novel, is not overwhelming. For me, an aro/ace person, the romance written in TGCF is so good that it made even me stupidly happy. I don't get such big smiles on my face while reading my own romantic content.

This is the ONLY novel I've ever read that doesn't have a single character I hate in it. Only one, maybe two at most, that I dislike. That's it. Everyone's good. Everyone.

Then I'll definitely have Word of Honor. Just like TGCF, it's a really good balance between an interesting story (I was literally squirming in my seat while impatiently waiting for things to be revealed, enjoying every second of it) and a subtle romance that was still obvious enough to make me wonder what the hell happened with censorship in this drama. Not that I'm complaining though.

Almost all the characters are incredibly good. They have depth to them, all the main ones have either a satisfying backstory or a beautifully crafted development.

And this is it for the ranking. I wrote way more than I should have, but oh well.

After that, it's a tie between Mo Dao Zu Shi and Scum Villain. I don't want to favor one over the other, because I genuinely like them the same. Scum Villain is really underrated, and while I understand it somewhat, it's really unfair.

MDZS (and The Untamed) has a story that draws you to it, especially if you (like me) have an obsession with all things dark and spooky and terrifying like the demonic cultivation in this, like the whole mystery they have to solve with body parts leading them to the solution. The drama, as good as it was, really didn't do justice to the spook factor of using dismembered parts of a corpse to move around.

SVSSS is straight up weird, literally an isekai but make it Chinese. I think the best part of it is Shen Yuan panicking and cussing everyone out every time something happens around him, though... I really loved the story and the way it played out. I especially liked how the novel kept mentioning Proud Immortal Demon Way and compared the events of that book to the events that were happening in that book's world.

But why do I prefer Word of Honor to them? Well, it's simple. There's some aspects of the romance that don't resonate well with me.

WangXian is a beautiful couple, and they deserve all the happiness in the world (they have a canonic son!!!!!!!!), but Wei WuXian's initial obliviousness made me really uncomfortable at times. Not because he didn't know Lan WangJi was in love with him (the fool! thank goodness for Guanyin Temple), but because he kept teasing Lan WangJi about it while the latter was drunk. I mean, I get it. If you don't know, you don't realize what you're doing. But as a person that easily suffers from people making fun of me behind my back... it kinds struck a nerve. I still love them to pieces, though, they're so good together.

BingQiu, well... this is a rollercoaster of a couple. Again, I absolutely love them together, but some parts come off almost as scenes where consent is thrown to the wind. As a reader you know Shen QingQiu is willing and in love (gods, they married each other, I'd be a fool to say the opposite), but there should be a limit to how many times a willing person should say "No" in such a novel. This is mostly me being my aro/ace self, though. I don't really understand what goes on in the world of intimacy between people because I (literally) don't give a fuck, so I'm probably reading too much where there's too little. Don't take this as me not liking BingQiu, I'm in love with them and I desperately need more content.

Favorite plot twists, eh? Okay, big SPOILER ALERT from here onwards. And I mean it. BIG. SPOILER. ALERT.

Now, which main couple did I like the most?

Hualian. I don't even need to think about it. Bonus point because they're both out of their minds and the extras show it.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. I never have smiles so big and goofy in front of anything else, not even my own stuff. Hualian genuinely makes me happy.

Stop reading if you haven't finished all four of these, please.

...

Okay, here I go.

WoH:

Wen KeXing faking his death and telling basically everyone but Zhou ZiShu.

The villain being Zhao Jing; I was actually fooled and thought the main bastard of the series was Gao Chong.

Episode 35, and I'm not saying anything else. Although, as soon as that son of a bitch put his hands on Cao Weining's face like that, I genuinely knew what was going to happen.

The hairpin being the key for the armory. That was so stunning I had to pause the episode for a second and take a walk around the house.

MDZS:

Jin GuangYao being the villain. And being an amazing villain, on top of that.

Nie Huaisang. Fuck's sake, that man fooled the entire fandom just like that. I don't think many people realized he was the one behind everything.

The golden core transplant reveal. I'm sure that more experienced readers and viewers (aka people that had read/watched a ton more cultivation world stuff) had hints of it, but when I watched The Untamed I never read/watched anything remotely close to this genre. It hit me like a brick and I sat in front of the screen in shock.

SVSSS:

Shang QingHua being Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky. It's such a silly thing, but it made me pause for a good five minutes. I wasn't expecting it in the slightest.

The whole thing with the Old Palace Master. The man belongs to the dumpster he never got thrown into.

Tianlang-Jun not actually being the villain. Poor demon, he just wanted to continue with the questionable hobby of reading porn and daydreaming about Shen QingQiu's relationships.

I think I had another one, but it's late and I'm probably forgetting it.

TGCF:

Oh boy, where do I belong? Ah yes, the entirety of book 4. Took me out on the spot.

Jun Wu being Bai WuXiang completely blew me away. That was probably the biggest plot twist in the history of plot twists.

Also, Ling Wen knowing, and her being the creator of the Brocade Immortal.

Fu Yao and Nan Feng being Feng Xin and Mu Qing. For some reason, even if it's kinda obvious when you take a good look at them, it never clicked before being revealed.

On the same note, Ming Yi being He Xuan, and the Earth Master being actually dead. What a ride that arc has been for me.

One of the most important details, however... I got it myself. The ring Hua Cheng gives to Xie Lian. I see so many people saying that they didn't expect the ring to be his ashes, but I did something I generally can't stop myself from doing. I guessed something tremendously important by accident, something I do with many many books so I can ruin the experience for myself. I was literally sitting down, taking a break from reading (I devoured TGCF in 3 days, I needed that break lol), and all of a sudden this goddamn revelation descend upon me like the holy spirit, completely out of the blue. I just sat up, looked at the screen, and went "the ring is is fucking ashes, isn't it?", and completely ruined the surprise for myself.

And this is it.

If there's more I forgot (probably) I don't know. For now, this is my answer. Way too long, as always.

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

This is totally cool, lol! That's why I tagged you, I like different perspectives 🥰 and I adore lesbian Jenny

I've been thinking a lot about Jenny's character and sexuality lately since I'm in the middle of rewatching the show. I totally agree that she's attracted to women and most times she pursues guys it's mainly to increase social status and not because of genuine interest. Nate always felt different to me, though. Like, the two times she really pursues him is in season 2, when she's being homeschooled and trying to make it as a designer, and the end of season 3, which is after the whole Damien drama and she's just looking for someone who cares about her and respects her (I know you said once that it doesn't even feel romantic here, which I also agree with, poor girl just needs a connection). I do really see how it can be interrupted as comphet, though. Like she feels like she's supposed to be attracted to Nate because who wouldn't be?

I think the reason why I lean the other way is probably just projection. Jenny's been my favourite GG character since I first watched the show when I was 12, partly because I relate a lot to her, and since I'm bisexual... Add that plus the fact that I totally have had a crush on Nate and of course I'm gonna ship them. I've been relating to Jenny even more this time around cause I dropped out of school this year, so her season 2 arc really hit close to me. So this made my jenate feelings come back tenfold and also made me that much madder at Rufus, lol. I just wanted to go through the screen and shake his shoulders like "There are other paths than the one you want your daughter to have, not everyone has to go through life like society expects you to let your daughter carve out her own unconventional path you fucking idiot!" Luckily my parents have been way more supportive.

Mainly I just see Jenny as bi with a strong lean towards women, but I like to think about lesbian Jenny, too. It wouldn't exactly be the first time I had contradicting headcanons.

I don't know I just think it's really cool that different people can have such different interpretations of the same character. I think that's what's so interesting about fiction, to see how we view things differently depending on how we view and relate to things based on our own experiences. Tumblr can be so focused on hating people who disagree with you, but I like following people with different opinions, it helps me understand people better.

Yeah, I'm glad you tagged me!! back in November, some anons were mean to me about shipping Jenate (me??? who literally does not even - anyway) and ever since then I've been trying extra to ensure that Jenate shippers feel welcome on my blog - you may already know this, because I've brought it up before, but I'm saying it here to let you know that every time you tag me in your Jenate edits I get so happy that you're sharing something you're so passionate about with me!! I'm also a big believer of like........ making the content you want to see (a big part of why I even learnt to gif is because nobody was giffing Dan & Nate, and I was like...... that's the content I need, so if it's not already existing, I'm gonna make it happen!) so regardless of my feelings it's always so cool to see the way you conceptualise JN + their feelings re: each other, and your choice of scenes + lyrics (??? I'm not actually familiar with where you got the words for your edits, they're likely songs I haven't heard, haha) is just so interesting & good!

OH my full Jenny & Nate feelings are a lot more complicated than just comphet on Jenny's part. I feel like..... neither of them was romantically/sexually into each other? and that is kind of the appeal to me? I've always interpreted Nate's interest in Jenny during the s2 arc as sort of like - everything in his life is so unstable and undetermined, and here is Jenny who is so clear on who she is and what she wants, and he admires and respects that, and he wants to be there for her and support her, so when she kisses him he just sort of lets her take their dynamic wherever she wants to? that is very much the vibe I got. You already know how I feel about lesbian Jenny, I mean, you quoted my meta right back at me :'))

but I DO agree with you that Nate is different from the other guys to Jenny. JN have this really specific kind of honesty to them - well, when Jenny wasn't spiralling and trying to get power and acting out, and when the writers actually cared? I still think that NJ had the potential to be a SOLID dynamic but the writers made it sorta unhealthy on the show :(( - but I've spoken abt moments like in seventeen candles and the empire strikes jack before, where they're both able to be emotionally vulnerable around each other in ways we don't see them be with anyone else. I've even compared that to what I like about Derena, whom everyone knows I ship in every possible way, haha. But there's something about characters who trust each other and allow themselves to be honest with each other in ways that they wouldn't otherwise EVER be - especially with characters like Jenny & Nate who have spent so long trying to seem fine and okay even when they're really not.

I honestly really like the idea of queerplatonic Jenate - they're life partners, they're each other's rock, they're each other's person - but it's not romantic OR sexual - and for Nate & Jenny, whose adolescence has involved navigating other people sexualising them so much + not having the best track record with romantic relationships - for them, I feel being qpps gets REALLY interesting, because you get all the perks of a relationship without the romantic/sexual obligations? (obligations isn't the best word, but i don't know what else to use here? LOL) and that's something i love to explore.

I feel like book Jenny was bi! The way she gushed about Nate, whom she canonically had a crush on, and the way she gushed about Serena were EXACTLY the same. Also YES I love multiple headcanons always, it's a lot of fun seeing people explore that!!! I know people who have aroace readings of Jenny, or aro lesbian / ace lesbian readings of her, and I find that really cool, too!

I also definitely get you about relating to Jenny a lot, and feeling that kind of connection. It's similar to how I feel about Dan, and .... explains a lot of my contradicting dair views, actually. A few years ago I had a seriously intense crush on a girl who was... a lot like Blair, in many ways. I spent a ridiculous amount of time writing poetry about her, etc etc, but I never actually acted on it. If she'd fabricated schemes that involved us kissing, though..... I don't know. I don't think I would've denied it if I'd felt like I actually had a chance. I think we just had a case of bad timing, & I like to think in another universe, maybe we were actually together for a bit. I'm glad that your parents are supportive of you and better than Rufus! <3

I think that's what's so interesting about fiction, to see how we view things differently depending on how we view and relate to things based on our own experiences <- THIS exactly! this is a big part of why that "proship" is in my bio. like this is exactly what it means to me and how I conceptualise & understand it!!! Like you, I also like engaging with people who have different understandings and opinions of the characters -> it definitely helps you make new friends you would otherwise not meet by staying in your bubble, & from a fandom point of view, it also helps you develop a more nuanced understanding of a character. Some of the best written Jenny Humphrey I've read was in Jenate fics - and I've had people who don't even ship Blenny tell me they liked the way I wrote Jenny in my post canon blennyfic, so... idk. it's loving Jenny hours - each and every single iteration of Jenny!!!

[coconut-cluster]

If you have any more rambles I’d love to hear them!

best sentence ever thank you, i will warn you I’m not even gonna try and make these connect bc it’s 1:30 in the morning lol

love the trend of portraying Logan in red converse, feels like a Doctor Who ref and I think he’d love that

sometimes I’m thinkin about ace Roman and I’m like hmm ace Logan would be cool too. so would ace Patton. and Virgil has the ace colors already so of course ace Virgil. and I’ve never written ace Janus. hmm guess they’re all ace haha what can you do :)

(except Remus is aro and not ace bc I like that hc, that hes aro and Roman is ace)

honestly I like the idea that Patton isn’t ~innocent~ he’s just a lil bit of a clueless dad and definitely an optimist

and on that note I really want to write more of Patton being the unexpectedly wise one of the group. he’s morality, and emotions, and I feel like he would have a lot of wisdom to share if you broke down the permasmile facade

also I kept myself awake the other night on accident thinking about the last couple episodes from a literal standpoint. specifically the fact that Patton isn’t nor has he ever been intentionally like leading Thomas astray or being manipulative or whatever, it’s just Thomas confronting the fact that the moral lessons he was raised on aren’t nearly as simple as he was led to believe

^^ these last few episodes have literally just been Thomas realizing he has to be able to adapt his morals and beliefs to be more complex as the issues he’s faced with get more complex. That’s why Patton has to apologize so often - Thomas’ dilemmas are getting less triangle-block-in-triangle-hole and more jigsaw-puzzle-with-no-edge-pieces. Patton apologizing is just Thomas telling himself hey! The thing you thought was right isn’t always right! And that is scary and confusing and upsetting but you’re gonna grow from this!!

which is all basic knowledge I suppose but breaking it down was entertaining lol. anyway

#Give Virgil a beanie 2020

#Give Virgil a flannel 2020

I hold is firm in my heart that Remus draws to drain ideas at night so he can sleep. Like lots of ink on old paper bc he’s extra and he just tacks them to his walls and it makes his room aesthetically horrifying

Janus! Likes! Cleaning!

And cooking

these are just me reinforcing HC’s I used in Game of Vice lmao anywho

I think Virgil is the most likely to have auditory sensory issues. because I said so

specifically if someone’s talking to him and they’re on one side of him, like left or right I mean, he’ll have to reposition to face them otherwise it’s Too Much Noise In One Ear

🎶and that’s on 👏projecting👏🎶

Roman totally makes sims games of his ideal life (with all the cheats on so he doesn’t have to worry about needs) and just watches it play out with a lil smile like “hehe. that me”

Remus also does that but his ideal life has significantly more crime (and crime-related mods) involved

I was thinking about Logicality the other night in that it’s the ship I’m honestly most comfortable with because they’re the ones I can see being just best friends instead of dating. like I can see any of the ships being best friends but Logan and Patton have a very old-friend/childhood-best-friend vibe to them and it makes me very happy and it’s just nice to write

I really wanna write a fic called Peach Tea that’s just about one or two of the sides chillin with some peach tea. thrilling I’m aware

I really love aro sides content and I think i would like to write more of it where there’s like. zero focus on relationships at all besides like family or friends. no yearning for romantic attraction. no idealizing an amatonormative future. no qpr’s because for some aros even that is discomfiting. just like one of the sides throwing themselves into their love of travel or learning or hobbies yknow

^^ I realize that might sound a little silly when I put it like that but it’s a personal thing and I’d like to explore it more

I think Roman would totally have a lot of trouble distinguishing real memories from dream memories, both his own and Thomas’

akdkfkhl Patton’s like “hey we need to recall what we did last week” and Roman’s like “we saw a bank almost get robbed and watched the almost-robbers get away on some weird motorcycles” and everyone goes completely silent in confusion and mild panic until Logan says “we absolutely did not”

on that note Roman totally just stops mid-conversation sometimes when something reminds him of a dream so he pauses to fully remember the context of the dream

also sometimes he just stares at buildings or objects with a slightly haunted look on his face and the others instantly know his dreams were wildin the night before

(he totally keeps a dream journal)

[minkufu]

Curious to know what your favorite romance tropes are? And some that your not a fan of (for example, I dont like one-sided pining/crush trope)

Hmmm might be a little hard for me to give a brief answer because I don't actually know very many trope names when it comes to romance stuff, or honestly what all qualifies as a trope. I tend to not search by tropes, I only search for content involving characters I like, and if the results are not great then I just don't bother with them.

But I'll talk about my preferences sure c:

I can name some things I don't like first that parts easy. One-sided stuff I don't care for either, I wouldn't even call it romance if its not reciprocated. That and pining can be cute if there's actual payoff, but if its just angst then no.

Getting the obvious ones out of the way I don't touch any romance stuff involving themes of Incest, adult/minor, rape, stalking, shit like that all out the window. That A/B/O stuff? Nah, HATE that. And while not romance exclusive I also don't touch genderbend content of any kind because it makes me super uncomfortable.

I don't mind age-gaps as long as both characters are adults and the gap is reasonable. My preferences barely go above maybe 5 years difference anyway.

Uh....tropes that involve cheating, Possessive behavior, or jealously, like that "gets mad when their s/o talks to literally anyone" kind. That is the most annoying shit.

I've never been a romantic person. I'm very aro and get second-hand embarrassment easily when it comes to overly mushy stuff. Like, outright will close out a fic and never look back if it makes me cringe too hard. (this isn't a jab at peoples writing this is me having a very irrational response to something harmless and I really can’t help it.) The impact of a dramatic phrase like "I love you" after a long build up in fics is lost on me. Especially since I cant imagine most of the characters I like actually saying that. I prefer action over words, more casual or subtle affection.

And I guess if it's written stuff it's not really a trope thing but I don't do first or second person pov writing. Again not a romance person myself, haaaaaate being put in the position of one of the characters, super uncomfortable.

When it comes to things I like....

Enemies to lovers is the top of my list as far as tropes go, tho typically it isn't like Protaganist/Antagonist its Bastard #1/Bastard #2.

I usually only like villain characters so most of the relationship dynamics I like tend to have some rough edges. Ships that I have been into have been ones like Sasori/Deidara, Dabi/Shigaraki, and Belphegor/Fran. So I guess the vibe is kinda...mutual bickering? Rude and unpleasant characters that always have a (mostly harmless) back and forth with each other when they interact is very entertaining to me. The keyword is MUTUAL tho, both characters have to be actively annoying each other and on even grounds. That's why a ship like Bel/Fran is appealing to me yet I cant vibe with one like Bakugo/Deku. I don't like one-sided hostility, it just loses the fun.

I’m not big on angst for the sake of angst but I do love hurt/comfort stuff. It’s very cathartic for a character you like to suffer terribly but still be able to make it to a point of healing. Most of my favs are unhinged and broken beyond repair so I want to put emphasis on ‘healing’ not ‘fixing’. I don’t like romance being used as a cheap way to ‘fix’ mentally ill characters.

Overall I don't really have a set in stone preference in tropes as long as it doesn't involve the ones I dislike. Most content I consume and make is pre-established relationship stuff anyway. I just go into content with a mindset of "Does it include my favs?" and "By my standards is it good?" if both are checked then that's all I need.

Spoiler tho: I don’t really dive into fanfics very often anyway because my pool of interests is too small and the things I like usually attract either the absolute worst shit or nothing at all. I've had to live off my own content for quite awhile now lol

I don’t know if this actually answered your question or not. If you want to know my thoughts about SPECIFIC tropes I could answer those easier. I get a little too wordy when questions are a bit vague. I don’t mind them I just feel bad when every response I give is a word dump ; ;

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Hello! :) I hope you’re doing well ☀️ do u have any ace or aroace fics you’ve read that you would recommend? I’m trying to find good a-spec stories, especially in Star Trek or LOTR (It’s hard bc so many fandom spaces are so sexualized.) Thank you for all of your content!

Ooh yeah that kind of stuff is tricky because a lot of it does revolve around sexualized content. And the aspec content we do get is sometimes so focused on "here's the meaning of the word ___" that it can seem out of character :( but thankfully there are some content creators who make some really great fanfic! Here's a list of a few good ones I was able to find!

Also, shameless self-plug, but I recently wrote a couple Star Trek fics as well in which Spock is aroace (although I didn't use any specific terms and left it vague enough to be open to interpretation). I'll stick the links in here as well, feel free to check 'em out!

Star Trek

Constellations

This one is very well written and authentic to the characters' voices! There isn't anything explicitly aspec in here yet, but the tags indicate that Spock is going to be written as asexual as the fic continues.

Distractions

This one's for DS9. Ace!Odo gives me so much life and although it's short it really made me smile :)

35 Minutes to Midnight

Ohhhhh man this was so sweet! I actually just found this one while looking for some other fics to recommend. It's TOS or AOS Spock and Kirk (I read it as TOS only because I'm more attached to them) and it's beautifully written. The tags specify Spock is ace and it's also written in a way that he might well be aro too--the dynamic between the two of them feels very organic and could be interpreted however you like! Not too long, but not too short, either. Definitely give this a read!

Rec Deck Adventures

This one is so fluffy and nice! And Uhura-centric (which I am pumped about). Also, according to the tags, we have quite a few aros as well! The aro rep is implied but pretty darn clear, and the characters are written very authentically. Another relatively-short-but-just-long-enough one. Very good!

The Measure of a Man

And this one's mine (don't kill me for including it on this list lol 😂). It focuses on Aro!Spock versus ace content, but it's vague enough that you can interpret things however you want (I wrote him as aroace, but who knows? You can even read into Bones and Jim--maybe one of them is ace!). I wanted to spice things up in terms of what rep is out there. Feel free to give your thoughts if you read it :)

The Words The Silence Carries

Actually, ya know what, I literally finished writing this 10 minutes ago but here have this one too 😂 more aroace Spock but with a (not-quite-explicit-but-basically-is) QPR. Have fun lol!

LOTR

Make Me a Home in the Wind

Awwww yiss man this one is so good it's Legolas and Gimli, it's SO authentic to the characters and to canon (which is my favorite type of fic) and it feels so genuine and real. Very good aspec rep and very good Tolkien vibes. Love it

No Finer Friend

This was sweet :) it's got a real nice representation of a QPR (Frodo and Sam babyyy) and the challenges that can go along with that when a romantic relationship is present, but it's also super cute and doesn't lose that uplifting lightheartedness! Another relatively short one.

Hope Left

I honestly cannot say I expected to find this one, especially seeing as Boromir is already forgotten about enough (he gets so little credit! Arghh) but Aro!Boromir??? I've never seen it before and can I say this was a treat to read. Rather short and it has a lovely tie-in to canon!

I also have a whole bunch for fandoms like Marvel, Sherlock, etc. as well as Snape, so if you want any more recs just send me an ask! I also, as mentioned above, write fic, so if you have a specific fic you want just let me know and I will give it a shot :)

[breezy-cheezy]

*eyes emoji* can i know the title of the fic you mentioned in the tags of your dimitri and claude art? i NEED 3H content. (also that drawing got me SO invested in dimitri and claude friendship. theyre both sweet boys, let them be pals!)

!!!!!! *vibrates* I’m so glad you asked!! It’s this one! https://archiveofourown.org/works/20225992/chapters/47933404 In case the link doesn’t work, it’s called Emerald Moon - Coalition of Deer and Lion by Shadowshrike! I got SO excited running across it because! It’s literally Golden Deer route, post time skip, where Dimitri DOESN’T die off screen (but nearly does) and gets rescued by the deer kids/Claude, a concept I’ve really wanted since I found out how canon handles it! Also the Blue Lions have joined the cause as well. Also it’s super well written! AND updates often! AND so far it’s written in a platonic light all around! (It left off on sort of a cliff hanger recently I am yelling) The author has hinted there might be ship teasing at the end, but it won’t be the focus, which I can live with...I really wanna see how it goes. I especially love this version of Claude, because he’s a good person but is essentially using Dimitri for his schemes to fix Fodlan. BUT he is helping him heal in the process. Also Claude kinda unwillingly learns the power of friendship from Dima and the rest of the lions as he goes :”D It’s hecking good, it’s my favorite FE3H fic thus far! I think it’s what really got me invested in their friendship...there are quite alot of ship fics out there tho, but me being aro/ace I don’t have much interest! Also most are kind of ooc hhhh

Their other fics are quite good too!  Like this gen oneshot, adding more closure and meaning to Claude’s role in the BL route (which I REALLY appreciate) annnnd THIS ONE, while not Claude & Dimitri friendship, is also something I was hoping one would write, with all the Blue Lions pitching in on Dimitri’s healing process post timeskip instead of just Byleth...it’s really beautiful, another favorite. 

Oh here’s another good gen Claude & Dimitri oneshot! Kind of a character study thing, but I love the banter and how it kind of explains why Dima favors Chamomile tea ;v; 

Hhhhhm...I haven’t found much more except for this one as well; I guess I’m a fan of fics exploring more of what war does to these kids, and how Byleth tries to help/slowly realizes they’ve become a parent. Lol. Beautifully written as well! 

I hope these help! And yes!! They’re good boys, I really feel they’d get along so well! 

If anyone has any more gen fic recs for FE3H, I’d really appreciate it. Add to this, message me, whatever. :’D 

[aro-aizawa]

Tell us about your AUs!! I’m curious!!

!!!!! an interested person???? hi anon i love you know that i would die for you without hesitation. bless you for letting me gush over my aus. this might be a lil messy (and long holy shit) considering im answering from my phone but from memory here are my aus (which i aint gonna lie are mostly either angst, hurt/comfort or canon divergent, or a mix of the three) in no particular order:

edit: now that im on computer it’s all under the cut but here’s a quick table of contents:

the one where hisashi is a pro hero

the one where hisashi is a villain

underground gladiator arena kidnap fic

the one where aizawa is inko’s brother

MUTE TODOROKI

izuku is related to all for one

gamer au

the one where uraraka is the protag instead

hp au

disney aus galore

the Spite™️ fic

the one where hisashi is a pro hero

heads up in literally none of my aus is midoriya hisashi a good parent. i mean in canon we know exactly three details about him being his name, his quirk and that he works abroad. that’s it. so, i don’t really like “good parent hisashi”. this au is basically ‘hey what if izuku got a fire quirk from his dad’ combined with my own personal views on fire, and then also deciding ‘wait what if hisashi and endevor did the same shit’. so it’s basically an au where izuku is in the same situation as todoroki.

it’s….kind of complicated now that it’s written down. in my head its p straight forwards?? anyways, basically my view on fire is that it absolutely shouldn’t be demonized as much as it is. because without fire, life couldn’t exist. it’s warmth and life and beauty. i just…think that view of it is perfect for izuku, and i always wanted to try my hand at fire quirk izuku.

also one of my few aus that’s actually gonna have a ship focus?? in that it’s tododeku but honestly knowing me i might end up accidentally dropping that aspect of it like i tend to do a LOT bc of my inability to write crushes (im an aro who’s never had a crush so me writing romance is…awkward at best lol)

the one where hisashi is a villain

i have……admittedly a lot of versions of this au. it’s by far one of my favourites to think about, for several reasons actually, mostly bc of angst but also because the hurt/comfort potential there is incredible.

my most current version of this au though plays with the idea that in the mha society those with ‘villainous’ quirks get discrimated against and pushed so the only chance they do have to survive is to turn to villainy. in this au i play with hisashi and inko’s quirks a little to make them more villainous and easier to discriminate against, for example hisashi can cremate anything he touches into ashes at will, and inko can minorly manipulate the limbs of other people although she’s mainly limited to pulling them towards her or pushing them back.

in this version, izuku is quirkless and still goes through ua determined to change the way that society works and right the wrongs in how it’s set up while also proving that quirkless people aren’t useless. a lot of dadzawa in this one because it is my w e a k n e s s. there’s a few other elements thrown in there, but overall that’s the basic jist of it.

underground gladiator arena kidnap fic

one of my darker aus where a group of villains kidnap kids who took the ua exam to create an “everything goes” fight club that customers can watch and occasionally participate in.

my general idea for this was “the sports festival is pretty brutal when you think about it. it’s almost like everything but killing goes” and then i thought that in a superpowered society there is no way there isn’t any kind of underground fight club where people can go full out w their quirks.

hence this au was born! the kids who’re kidnapped w izuku have been constantly changing over the ladt year or so that i’ve had this idea but rn i decided on having shinsou, kaminari, mina, tokoyami and yaoyorozu w him. the rest would be filled w ocs bc the villains weren’t dumb enough to kidnap all of the heroics students, just a handful.

bearing in mind the kids are all taken a couple days after the entrance exam so they’re not familiar with each other and izuku is the only one familiar w a pro hero and that’s a secret. not to mention he’s only used his quirk once at this point, and he has no access to recovery girl’s quirk so he has to figure smth out IMMEDIATELY or he’s completely fucked.

the one where aizawa is inko’s brother

look if you inspect my aus carefully you’ll see a theme and that theme is i fucking love aizawa. anyways, in this one izuku has a pretty powerful nullification quirk and is trained by aizawa. aizawa and inko have like an eight or ten year age difference, so they weren’t all that close until inko reached out when izuku was eight.

i’ll admit this is one of my lesser developed aus but it’s canon divergent with a focus on izuku hoping to be an underground hero. and due to his quirk and that aspect of his personality, it kind of changes a lot of things??? potentially a short(ish) au if i ever got round to writing it out. maybs about 20k-30k words idk.

(this is mostly born bc i feel like people forget that there’s only a fifteen year age difference between aizawa and izuku for a number of reasons. also bc inko/aizawa….is kind of weird in my mind. definitely not a fan :///)

MUTE TODOROKI

look i fucking love mute aus okay, but when i was trying to apply it to the mha universe i started thinking “holy shit todoroki could definitely be mute” or smth and ever since this au is close to my heart.

basically when poor rei burned lil shouto, she mentally scarred him into mutism. ever since the kettle incident, shouto can’t speak a word. endeavor is told by the doctor that although nothing physically is wrong, shouto is mute. endeavor is a DICK and p much decides he’ll just wait it out for shouto to finally talk bc he’s just being childish (basically he’s ablist and doesn’t let todoroki learn sign. which is bullshit but doesn’t majorly effect him bc he’s homeschooled until high school anyway).

it’s sort of canon divergent but also maybe a complete au??? in that there’s no league of villains. when all might fought afo the first time he succeeded in putting a stop to the villain and killing him. izuku still gets ofa, but he’s not the protag of the story, this time it’s todoroki.

anyways, ua sees that todoroki is mute (which isn’t registered and completely unknown to the general public) and doesn’t know sign language (resorting to notes and/or charades if he needs to communicate something), and decides to investigate that shit.

endeavor eventually gets what he deserves bc the trash bag can go rot in hell, and that’s p much all i got aside from the class realising FAST they need to adopt and love todoroki so there’s a lot of wholesome bonding there.

izuku is related to all for one

admittedly this one is one of my most underdeveloped aus but i still love it all the same. basically my take on it bc the whole ‘afo is hisashi’ thing kinda weirds me out considering afo is at least 200 years old. in this au he’s izuku’s grandfather and inko is his daugther who escaped him and lives in hiding.

i haven’t decided whether i want this au to be my take on izuku having afo or if it’s another quirkless izuku au. i haven’t gotten very far into it, all i know is that afo has no emotions and he’s a heartless bastard (me hating the dad for one trope w a passion) so there’s sort of MAJOR angst potential if i decide to go down that route.

gamer au

izuku’s quirk is that his life is a game. that’s….that’s it. if you’re familiar with sword art online, it has a lot of influence from that w/o the characters or plot or pervertedness or incest because what the fuck sao was so bad with all those. still pissed bc outside that it had potential and i think abt that a lot.

anyways, so y’know how in a lot of rpgs there’s the hud w stats and an inventory system and abilities?? well apply that to izuku and he’s p much that. the world “autosaves” whenever he sleeps, but he can’t manually load a save. if he dies he starts over from his last autosave.

bc of his access to abilities and stuff, he has the potential to be powerful bc hey he can basically do magic, but at the same time he just healed his body completely by drinking this drink he made w herbs and shit last night. also he can carry a ludicrous amount of shit that couldn’t possible fit in his backpack but apparently he’s got seventeen cheese wheels in there and room for half the classroom furniture too.

izuku sees the world w a hud which would be annoying but it’s normal for izuku. in fact, he sort of hates watching tv because the hud doesn’t appear on the screen and it’s so weird and bizarre he doesn’t really like it.

i haven’t planned anything but details of the quirk bc it can get waaaay too overpowered too quickly and hhhh i sort of burnt out of different ways this would effect canon, so i didn’t think abt it. but i did figure out that izuku would have so many gaming analogies for his friends and be into like a thousand different games.

the one where uraraka is the protag instead

born when i was complaining about how shitty horikoshi is at writing his female characters i brainstormed this au in a discord server where i overhauled canon w a more badass uraraka. (and she doesn’t even get ofa!!! she’s just badass on her own!!!)

basically bc she’s a lot more confident and determined in this au she influences a lot of her classmates. the other girls are a lot more active in their actions and are more than just the background characters. uraraka’s full strength is explored and i think i planned for her to win the sports festival bc she deserved it.

also inspired by the idea i had of pro hero uraraka kicking a lamp post down on her own strength and using it to put a comet home run on a villain like she did in the battle trial. bc holy shit that’s a fantastic mental image.

basically my “mha girls fucking rule and fuck horikoshi’s shitty writing” au

hp au

ah yes, finally we get to my take on the most generic of aus. basically i just wanted todoroki in hufflepuff to piss off endeavor and basically loving it bc he befriends izuku in it. i definitely haven’t developed this au outside of worldbuilding in how i’d combine the two universes whilst fixing both jkr and horikoshi’s bad writing.

i actually wrote a snippet that’s somewhere on my blog that i can’t link to now but you could probs for search it. but this was basically born from me getting angry at people putting the kids in the wrong houses. im a firm believer that izuku fits in nearly every house but hufflepuff and slytherin suits him the most while todoroki is ABSOLUTELY a hufflepuff. i wanted some platonic tododeku bonding so i put izuku in hufflepuff. uraraka is slytherin, iida is gryffindor, and it’d be too messy to list all the kids so i won’t.

but!! what im most happy w in this au is how i incoporate mha stuff into it. like how hagakure isn’t actually invisible she just got permanently hexed by her brother to always be unnoticed so you can never know what she looks like or where she is. tokoyami has a bird head due to a failed attempt at becoming an animagi. its permanent and although he could get it fixed, theres actually a number of wizards w the same thing do there’s a lot of animal like wizards. shinhou comes from a pureblood family thats been known for their dark magic, even though the last four generations haven’t been dark wizards the wizardinv world is convinced he’ll be a dark wizard too but shinsou wants to prove them wrong. amajiki being a metamorphmagus who shifts his limbs into animals when he’s nervous. etc etc. i have too much worldbuilding and no plot lmao.

disney aus galore

one day i thought up abt three different disney aus for the mha universe but my first idea was a little mermaid au for momojirou w momo being the princess and jirou being the mermaid.

except besides the basic premise i p much scrapped the whole movie in that jirou learns sign language to talk to momo and the two play music together. jirou plays piano or w/e whilst momo sings. it’s v gay. theres a ball and they dance and then kiss. i never wrote it out bc i didn’t wanna add conflict in it but never got round to actually writing it lmao.

but i thought up a tododeku tangled au, kiribaku cinderella au, tsuocha princess and the frog au, and a couple others that i didn’t plan out fully. still close to my heart if i ever manage to get round to writing them out. each would probs either be a long shot at 7k-15k words or a short multichapter fic at 25k-30k words.

the Spite™️ fic

the fic where i get pissed at every shitty thing about horikoshi’s writing. izuku gets mad at all might for his views on quirkless people and gets into ua on his first try. izuku rightfully does not take bakugou’s shit and calls him out at every opportunity. bakugou’s actions have repercussions. all might gets punished for almost letting bakugou kill izuku in an exercise.

izuku gets pissed over a lot of shit basically. also at one point he either punts mineta into the sun or loudly and publicly makes the argument that mineta should be expelled from ua including evidence and testimonies from the girls. and he encourages nearly all of them to get better costumes.

i haven’t actually written much abt it but if there’s smth i got pissed @ horikoshi for smth in canon it’d be address in this fic bc oh boy am i never spiteful so it’s kind of theraputic to write even tho i haven’t done it in a while.

uh….i have a lot more but man i think i’ve been writing this for like an hour or two idk im gonna finish this before the app crashes or smth. thank you for letting me ramble this got long oops sorry.