#((I did my best ahahaha. I think these may make some sense based off what I feel for their dynamic))

[queenharumiura]

Send me a URL and I'll post 10 house rules their muse and mine would have if they lived together (signorinavongola)

SEND ME A URL AND I’LL POST 10 HOUSE RULES THEIR MUSE AND MINE WOULD HAVE IF THEY LIVED TOGETHER ||Accepting|| @signorinavongola

I’m writing this with the premise that this would take place before Tsuna moved to Italy and Haru taking on the responsibility of raising the displaced kids. What age would that make em? Ehhh--- so anyways!

I get this gut feeling that when they moved in together, safety was the biggest priority and concern given that Tsu-chan is the boss, so, many safety measures are put in place. I’m not sure what they may all be, but I’m sure an escape plan is part of it, or knowing all the safety features (ie security alarms, sensors, traps, etc). Haru had to learn all of that by heart to ensure her safety as well. I feel this mostly came from the fact that Tsu-chan would worry a lot for Haru’s safety and couldn’t rest easy if not reassured by all the safety protocols in place. Tsuna could be a target for enemies, so living with her could be a danger, hence Haru had to learn as one of the rules.

Going off of the previous, due to safety concerns, giving out the address to where they live is basically prohibited. Of course, it’s not kept secret from those like the guardians. Mostly just regular civilian types like Haru’s school friends. It’s so others can be kept safe from being targeted by mere association. It’s something that they learned to be wary about due to the future arc and how anyone who knew the Vongola were being attacked by the Millefiore. Makes getting things in the mail a lil tricky, due to privacy. I think they probably utilize something like a PO box for important things.

[Tradition] Every week or two weeks (schedules permitting) they have just a day where the two will have a girls night and just relax. They may live together, but that doesn’t mean they are in the know of any latest gossips about eachother’s lives. It’s also just an excuse to make sure that Tsuna is getting some time to relax and enjoy life. They can watch movies, maybe go shopping, etc. Not exactly a rule but more like Haru will take Tsu-chan by the hand and start rattling off ideas to have fun with.

[Tradition] As they both have interests in things like fashion or making clothing, I could see that the two would on occasion spend time to draw up different patterns for clothing for fun and when Haru has the spare time, she’d try her hand at making them. Gather enough for these outfits for a makeshift fashion walk. Just fashionable girly bonding activity things.

There is a grocery list held up by magnets on the fridge and they switch off on whose turn it is to do the shopping—it’s to keep things fair and so that Haru isn’t the only one doing the housework. If she was doing everything, it would feel like Haru was some live-in maid and Tsu-chan wouldn’t let that happen to her friend, so she likely offered to take on some responsibilities.

No work at the dining table. Food is an important part of life and it should be enjoyed to the fullest. If Haru had taken the time to cook a meal, she’d at least want Tsu-chan to be enjoying the eating experience, and not eat while distracted by work. If Tsu-chan is looking over work while eating, Haru would hold the documents hostage until Tsu-chan finishes eating. Focus on the food. Take a break from work for at least 20 minutes! It’s better for your health!

Mostly because it’s a ‘it would stress Haru out playing host at such a late hour’ there is a rule that no guys (ie the guardians) allowed at their place after 8pm. Phones exist for a reason. Message or call. You don’t need to come to their place for any reason after 8pm, is what Haru would assert. By that time (of 8pm), Haru likes to be lounging in her casual homewear, and she refuses to be seen like that by guests. One, it can be embarrassing, and sometimes her casual homewear consists of shorts and a tanktop so she really refuses to be seen by the guys like that.

(Unwritten rule) Haru just adores Natsu and will on occasion ask/beg Tsu-chan to bring him out so she can play with him and spoil him for a little bit. Such a hard working bean needs to be spoiled!

(Unwritten rule) Haru enjoys trying out new food recipes or recipes for sweets, and when she finds something she’s curious about, she’s going to give it a try. She loves cooking for people and seeing them enjoy what she made, so when she’s trying out a new recipe, Tsu-chan is always her first taste tester. Always.

I feel like—due to them living together, Tsu-chan would get to see more of how Haru operates on the daily and get a better feel for how Haru’s emotions are and how she deals with things. Living with someone can make you more sensitive to minute changes, so I think after living together, Tsu-chan would become more sensitive to when Haru is being bothered by something. She normally doesn’t like to talk about what bothers her because she feels like she’d be a burden. As such, she has a habit of avoiding talking about things by playing dumb or dismissing it altogether. Not a good habit, obviously, and it doesn’t feel good when you see your friend like that, so I think Tsu-chan made it an agreement of sorts that Haru be more honest about things, at least when they’re alone together in their home.

[maifandom]

Fifteen Years Later...

15 years ago today, ATLA's finale aired. In commemoration, I dredged up my initial reaction to the finale, which I posted in the shipping thread of ye olde AvatarSpirit.net's forum. Consequently it's very shipping-focused and includes a billion portmanteaus. But it's the closest thing I have to a liveblog for ATLA, and I love nostalgia.

A little context, first. I found Avatar through Zutara fanart at the end of 2007 and caught up on all the existing episodes in probably January 2008? Disappointed that Kataang was so obvious, I turned to Sokka ships and decided I liked Tokka best. I lurked in the fandom for a few months, joined the forum shortly before everyone found out that the Boiling Rock was going to get a DVD release on May 6, two months before it actually aired on TV. I spent a lot of downtime debating the merits of Tokka and making predictions about the show based on random commercials and then the finale trailer. On the shipping side of things, my reaction was kinda negative. I was increasingly disappointed leading up to the finale. Don't worry, it gets better.

Brackets indicate present day edits or comments.

[Begin finale reaction]

OH MAN, WHERE TO START? [...] I guess I'll start from the beginning.

Zumo! ♥

Harutara, ahahahaha.

Nylappa! ♥♥♥ (Ahahaha.)

Irko reunion! ;_; Oh man, I cried. xD

Maiko reunion. xD Seriously, Zuko's eyes. Zudorko. ♥

Okay, I guess it's time for Sutokka stuff, right?

Sukka... were practically glued together. Seriously. And I'm sorry, much as I try to be unbiased, I just really didn't like it. D: There were moments. Mere moments, like back before I had a particular bias. I don't truly dislike it, but when it's so constant and final it's hard to ignore.

It made Tokka moments hard to come by. Or in fact, many other character interactions. Sokka was seriously obsessed. @_@

Did anyone else notice the only time we got Tokka moments was when they were separated from Suki? Dx Aside from the Tokka hand-leading seconds previous. I dunno. I suppose I should be thankful that they made a point of including Tokka. But much as I ADORE this scene:

[Image - probably Sokka covering Toph from debris]

*Insert fangirl scream that gets cut off*

...well it didn't really lead to anything else. ;_;

See, I wanted angst! And drama! And depth! And at least someone acknowledging it. ANYONE.

Frankly, I hated the apparent Toph x everyone-ness. [Zuko, The Duke, and...?] I'm fine with those ships. In fact, I ship more than one of them. But when they're all there? That just says Toph is fickle or childish, to me. D:

I would have liked it better if Tokka was never a romantic ship. Or if we were shown Toph was boy-crazy from the beginning -- with Taang, or some random one-shot character. Why did they save it all for the finale?

But I don't think that's necessarily what's happening. (Reminder to self: don't listen to every conclusion the fandom comes to. >.>) In which case, we still have Tokka disappearing as if it never happened, and Toph doesn't care one iota.

Apparently I came in at just the right time to stew in all the Tokkaness, come to all these conclusions, and then have pretty much everything I ever thought about Tokka or Sutokka be completely undermined. :P

I get the sense that M & B were looking over my shoulder at the things I listed that I didn't want to happen with Tokka, and thought it was a recommendation. :P

However, much as I must seem to be ranting, I'm far more apathetic than angry. Some of that fan depression I had after I watched EIP -- I got this sense I lost my favorite characters, because what I thought was there no longer was. D: [Particularly the way Sokka is characterized, since he's my favorite.]

So, oddly enough, the Sutokka plotline was probably the one I was least interested in, except in with glimmers of hope that those characters I loved might come back. (And they did. Some.)

But, oh man, you should have heard my breathing when Toph got in her metal armor. :P Sutokka got some of the best action EVER.

Wait a second. Pretty much EVERY moment in the finale that had action in it was better than everything else in the whole series. Where can I begin?

[I rambled about staying on topic.]

Except... Crazula? Seriously, I can't say enough how astdirl,dtbmortsnehjAMAZING Crazula was. AZULA, where did you GO? ;_;

And the Kazuko [platonic Zutara] was better. :D

Okay, I'm still not done.

Kataang?

Yeah, it's okay. (Best in EIP.) [Eh???]

Remember the Kataang commercial?

"I won't let him fight alone?" :P

I find it highly ironic that Katara was on ANOTHER CONTINENT THE WHOLE TIME.

Heh. Oh, well. I'll just pretend there's a little extra Kataang in there more along the lines of EIP. ^_^ And then I might be able to say I officially like Kataang, or something.

[End finale reaction]

Years later, I'm rather bemused by some of my thoughts. My disappointment in Tokka makes sense, since they would be so awesome. :P During ATLA, I assumed that shipping details were done very purposefully and would lead somewhere, even if it was just a character arc. After watching LOK, I came to understand better how the writers used shipping more for fun, especially with secondary characters. Part of the magic of shipping or just being in a fandom in general is the fans' imagination. I've been (more or less) happy to continue Tokka using my imagination. I can even imagine contradictory scenarios - angsty, happily ever after, silly, serious - so it really doesn't matter what happened in canon after ATLA.

I don't think Toph was boy crazy, but I do think Sokka will forever care about her well-being. Nowadays Sokka, Suki, and Toph's side plot might be my favorite plotline in the last two episodes, but it's really hard to choose. The Agni Kai is beautiful, the Old Masters are powerful, and Aang's battle against Ozai is intense and important.

My original thoughts on Kataang are really weird to me now. I think I finally warmed up to them a couple years later. I'm not sure what I thought was so good about them in EIP - maybe the fact they actually talked a bit about their relationship? But watching Aang kiss her prematurely is so cringy to me now, and like many I would have liked some sort of interaction before they kissed in the final moments. But I can enjoy it now!

I might dredge up more old posts from the days of great debates, or try to find my first impressions of a few more episodes. (I know I've always loved the Boiling Rock.) Let me know if that's of interest!

In other news, Kataang week is next week, and I am plotting to participate for once.

Now... back to drawing!

[manjuhitorie]

Hitorie Interview - Skream! Magazine - Feb. 2021 Issue

First and foremost, I'd like to address REAMP as a whole. I couldn't help but pick up on signs inner turmoil and sorrow over wowaka's unfortunate passing, among a brand new resolve. What's your opinion on this such take?

Shinoda: We voluntarily chose to vent those feelings without any beating around the bush. This band has taken a huge twist in terms of the one who sings, writes, and produces the music, after all. There’s no point in hiding that, we felt. To be completely honest, even after all this time we still haven’t exactly regained our balance at all. Sad is sad. In order to express our choice to push onwards, the cards we had in our hands are.... -Actually the word “cards” was a poor choice. We merely had no other option but to express our feelings outright. ygarshy: We weren’t in the place to put together a theme or concept for the album or anything like that either. We felt baffled and confused by the very fact that we were making songs at all, but nevertheless I felt we had to do it, we just have to. We were wishy-washy so, we decided to hold the times we 4 made songs together close to our hearts, and use that as our foothold: to just try and write as we always do. Shinoda: Squeezing a song out was our one and only objective. Yumao: Yeah. The universe wowaka alone had created and his structures and all that.. To be honest, this new album is cut off from it... We chose to not agonize over trying to recreate it, and to rather let whatever we could just flow out of us.

I have a question about the timeline. After wowaka’s passing, when did you make the concrete decision to keep Hitorie alive?

Shinoda: To be real, we still haven’t even made that decision. Yumao: We haven’t concretely said “Let’s keep this up.” or anything. Our mixed emotions are still churning, or how to say it... When we wrote the music we become immersed and even excited about it but, once our songs were laid out on the table we came back to our senses, like “Uhm? Is this okay?” ygarshy: Even now I’ll have sudden thoughts like “Hm? What am I doing here?”, even when we toured as a trio for the Hitori-Escape Tour 2019, I never thought ‘Let’s keep going on like this’ as well, owing to the circumstances. Just, if we didn’t do it we would’ve lost out minds is all. Shinoda: He speaks the truth alright. ygarshy: If we had to make a thoughtful commitment, I think it would’ve taken us hundreds upon hundreds of years until we finally made a move.

Was there not any type of critical moment during the tour wherein you realized “We can do this?”

Shinoda: Truthfully, during the tour I was so deep into it that I barely even the foggiest memory as to what was going through my brain back then. What I can say for sure is that 2 years ago on June 1st at the Memorial Concert (At Shinkiba Studio Coast), before that day I hadn’t stood on the stage in months. For the past 10 years of my life I haven’t gone that long without the stage. So when I got up for the Memorial Concert, despite it being a tragic event, I felt that when I’m up on stage with this band my mental state is the most stable it ever is. We even all went out for Chinese food after that.

The three of you did?

Shinoda: Yep. We drank our heads off and talked about how “We could totally manage a tour too, eh?” Yumao: Since our HOWLS tour (Hitorie Tour 2019 “Coyote Howling”) was cancelled, we felt we owed something, that we had to do something. We may be sad but, even more important than that was the urgency of the situation.

So there was no resolve or concrete decision to tour and make an album then.

Shinoda: Yep, looking back, I think that’s right.

Were you writing songs while touring?

Shinoda: We started writing around March of 2020? Yumao: Due to COVID-19 we had a lot of free time on our hands, so we took the oppurtunity. Though it wasn’t as if we said “Alright, let’s get going!”, we just all knew it was imminent, and that we had to do it at some point. That point was then.

Which was the first song you wrote?

Among the ones which made the cut, “Marshall A” was the first one consummated at the studio. Though “Utsutsu” was the first one made in my head. Around the end of the tour in 2019 the idea for the phrases took form. I felt that if I was to ever write for Hitorie again, this would be it.

”Utsutsu” stresses sorrow way thicker and heavier than any of the other songs in the album, so it makes sense that it came first.

Shinoda: It gets my feelings across, doesn’t it... The lyric and sung melody of “Utsutsu da ne” were around since the beginning.

Did you each make a song voluntarily?

Yumao: Yessiree. It was like “I’m’ere writing, so you'd better pick it up too." Shinoda: We had the slogan "Let's make 10 songs in one month". Yumao: Even if it was one chorus of a song, that would be okay. Shinoda: In the end, the ratio of songs I, ygarshy and Yumao completed was 8:1:1 (Though in the album itself it became 6:2:2). It might seem unbalanced, but this is perfectly balanced for us. ygarshy: Shinoda just makes a heap ton of songs. Shinoda: From there we picked and chose.

Did you have any standards for which would make the cut? Such as befitting of the current Hitorie or not?

Shinoda: That too was all over the place. Personally when I write, I place importance in how it will pan out with Hitorie as a whole but, I also contemplated what would fit our band's current climate. "Should the guitar not be too distorted?" "Should it not sound too 'rock band-ish'?", my mind was going crazy, I thought it would be best if it was entirely chilled out and mellow. There  was a moment when a switch flipped.

It is true that songs such as 'tat' do take that direction, but after listening to the complete album I have to say, the rock band-ish style is in full bloom. There's a lot of distortion too.

Shinoda: Yep, it's distorted. Yumao: And it's rock (giggling). ygarshy: Listening to Shinoda say that just now made me upset.

Why is that?

ygarshy: Because I had purposefully intended for it to be distorted. Everyone: Ahahaha!

So you like distortion (laughing). To push this point further, would it be true to say that those are core aspects of Hitorie's style? Shinoda: Ahh, there’s definitely truth in that.

Yumao: The one most mindful of that had to have been ygarshy. Whatever we release next can’t be too distant from classic Hitorie, he was the one who secured how best to keep the string in tact.

Where was the poster song ’curved edge’ made in the creative process timeline? Shinoda: We upheld the slogan of 10 songs a month for about 2 months, and ‘curved edge’ was the final one. I wanted to make a classic Hitorie style riff-based song, but I didn’t want high-tempos. ‘curved edge’ was where I finally found the perfect balance between my wishes and Hitorie’s standards.

Hitorie never made songs with unwavering low tempos that take off into an uplifting dance breakdown at the chorus up until now after all.  

Shinoda: Yeah. We all made the silent agreement to absolutely not try and make songs like wowaka’s.

I can definitely detect wowaka’s influence on your music, which is natural after being in a band together for so long. So, you kept it at.

ygarshy: We’ve each grown a keen sense for this. Suppose we were to show wowaka a song we wrote that mimics his style... He would make a really disgusted face. We just know, we just have a sense for it.

Shinoda: That’s the thing he despises the most after all.

ygarshy: That’s right. It would be but as a parody. And we wouldn’t want to do that.

ygarshy, you wrote the songs ‘Image’ and ‘dirty, correct. The melody of them feel nostalgic and longing, yet simultaneously evoke a rush and shivers.

ygarshy: In my current state letting the music flow out of me is all I’m capable of. Last spring, or summer was it, where we were showing each other our songs I.... Felt sad. So sad. Like “Why am I writing songs for Hitorie? Why is this what it’s come to?”

Yumao: Yep yep.

ygarshy: That’s why “dirty” and “Image” both are not very elaborate pieces. There’s much room to mix up chords or arrange it to be complex but, I just really had no heart to do that. Whatever popped out of my head wasn’t tinkered in the slightest, my wish was to keep in its organic simple form.

So when you handled the arrangement of music as a band, did you change as little as possible?

ygarshy: For the two songs I brought in, they were nice and stayed as close to demo version as they possibly could. “dirty” especially has a garage-style melody and tone which clicks immediately, so the lyrics and singing were molded to follow suit. Shinoda: Him (ygarshy) and I are the same age and all, so I pretty much can grasp whatever he goes for. Like he was probably going for those late 1990’s declining vibes. ygarshy: Exactly. I had thought to myself that I wanted dirty lyrics, and he actually delivered just that. I’d like to hear the story behind the two songs Yumao wrote as well, “YUBIKIRI” and “faceless enemy”. Both melodies are pop.

Yumao: That just kind of happens with me. Shinoda: He makes my contemplating and agonizing look stupid, because those songs are just as clear as fresh water. Yumao: All I did was squeeze out whatever I could (laughing). To be honest, I think my songs will be the most unacceptable to Hitorie’s listeners. I may be a member of Hitorie, and understand Hitorie like the back of my hand but, from the start I knew I’m incapable of writing songs to Hitorie’s standards. I took a realistic approach. ygarshy: Though I really enjoy the music Yumao wrote before Hitorie. So when he brought it those genuine honest pieces, I was so happy. I think I like the songs more than he himself does.

The fact that you chose to keep Yumao’s songs in the album despite them not being perfectly Hitorie fashioned, sounds like proof that you’ve found your answer for this album.

Yumao: Pedaling to the mettle is what I have to do, it’s all I can do. No matter if it’s acceptable or not, I’m doing what I can. That’s one message behind my songs.

Your song “YUBIKIRI” as the final track of the album has a lot of impact as well. It’s a bright and cheery song yet somehow it brings a tear to the eye.

Shinoda: Doesn’t it?

Yumao: It’s very cheery and it’s the brightest of the mix, isn’t it. When I wrote I was riding the groove in over my head, so I asked Shinoda to make the lyrics sound immature, like something a teenager would click with. I felt knotted up inside, and I needed something to break the chains for me. Completely divert from what Hitorie should or shouldn’t do, I alone needed to express and vent myself. And that’s how this song happened.

Shinoda: Yumao made that direct request of me, so I steered my word choices far away from any purple-prose. The keyboard was played by NariHane of Passpied, and when those 3 were off recording the music without me, I finished the lyrics. That’s how quickly they were zipped out.

After completing a whole album, how do you feel, do you think you will be able to continue on like this?

Shinoda: I don’t know yet. We’ll have to hear the people’s opinions. ygarshy: And what are we going to do after hearing them? After performing all these concerts? is one apprehension I have but,.. everything feels so up in the air.

Yumao: I know we haven’t said anything conclusive but! I want people to know we have a mountain of hypotheses on how we could move forward, on how we could keep Hitorie going, on how we could keep wowaka alive but, for now this album was just a do-or-die for us!

Shinoda: We made it, that’s all we needed.

Yumao: Yep. It was an absolute for us. I want to get that point across. This album is our declaration: that “We’ve taken one step forward”!

[dingoat]

Relationship Asks for Ahuska and Five: 2, 4, 7, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29.

OH BOY OH BOY *cracks knuckles* time for another round of BEST GIRL VS WORST BOY.

Obviously this one needs a ‘read more’ (or ‘stick it behind a cut’ as my old school livejournal brain still thinks of it) because it’s gonna be a looonnnng one ahahaha. Some of these I’ve answered already but I’m just gonna copy-paste the responses here to keep it all together, especially since I’m gonna go through question by question for the sake of fun comparisons/contrasts rather than character by character!

2.  ♥  When they have a crush on someone, how do they let them know?

Ahuska finds ways to be around them as much as possible and offers rapt attention to everything they say and do, showing interest in every part of their life, even the things she’d never given a second thought for beforehand. She’ll initiate physical contact, often in that ‘accidental’ sort of way- a hand touch that lingers, sliding down a bench a little ‘too far’ and winding up pressed together at the hips, feet bumping under a table, but sometimes more overt things like snuggling down and resting her head in a lap while staying up late watching holos might happen...

Five does not crush, he’s not twelve years old. When he has an interest in someone he may spend a period of time testing for compatability, pushing and pressing for reactions, and if he finds himself still interested (but for whatever reason nothing has naturally escalated in the meanwhile), he will quite simply and overtly request private company.

4. ♥ Do they spend a lot of time in the courting stage or attempt to get to first base as fast as possible?

Ahuska likes the thought of a long courtship, being wooed and pursued, teasing and flirting and yearning... but though she doesn’t actively try to rush her way to ‘first base’, precedent definitely suggests that once the option is there, no matter the time frame, she doesn’t really hesitate.

Five considers ‘first base’ (if you must phrase it in such a juvenile fashion) to be a starting point.

7.  ♥ How do they feel about polygamy?

Ahuska’s intial gut reaction, when asked, is that it’s vastly preferable to having an affair! She thinks it’s a perfectly acceptable style of relationship, but it’s not something she’s ever related to herself- the thought that she might ever find herself loving and desiring more than one someone so deeply as to want them in her life to the same degree seems so beyond the realms of possibility that it’s just never crossed her mind. (Yet.)

However; she is incredibly committed and loyal in her relationships, and if she did find herself in such a place, she wouldn’t be able to handle sneaking behind backs or lies or secrecy; the guilt and misery and betrayal of trust would be the end of her. She would have to either leave one forever unrecognised/unsatisfied, or give polygamy some long and serious thought and very open discussion.

Five doesn’t really care what other people do, but it’s irrelevant to him because it suggests any kind of committed relationship at all. He simply sees who he wants, when he wants, and if anyone gets jealous of anyone else then that sounds like a them problem.

16. ♥ Do they have at least one bonding activity they devote to doing with their partner exclusively?

Aside from the obvious, I’m not sure Ahuska makes a point of keeping any particular activity exclusive? Sweet, potentially romantic activities like stargazing and long moonlit walks might naturally happen far more with the love of her life, but I don’t think she’d ever turn down the chance to do so with a close friend either (there’d just be less... hand-holding and cheek snuggles).

One might have thought that Five had a whole host of bonding activities exclusive to a single particular person... but what with that being more of a Watcher-Cipher thing, rather than a partners thing, that ‘exclusivity’ no longer exactly completely applies, whoops. (Granted, the new Cipher is not likely to ever experience the push-off-a-building trust exercise.) That said, it’s very likely that Thirteen is actually the only person who gets to experience Five in the context of completely casual, physical, and dare I say... affectionate company.

17. ♥ What sort of characteristics or quirks draw them to someone?

Ahuska needs to see the capacity for kindness, even if it’s wrapped in a crude, brash or sharp-edged package- or maybe especially so, because she is a little bit hopeless for a show of snark, cheek, and sharp wit (provided it’s not at her expense) and someone not afraid to draw blood to protect what they care about. She loves unexpected talents like dance or musical ability being sprung on her out of the blue, and she’s weak for demonstrations of confident competence.

Five is drawn to someone who can give and take as well as he can. Intelligence, attractiveness, skill. Wit and snark quite specifically at his expense so he has the opportunity to fight back; he wants to be challenged, but not beaten. His heart thunders for someone more physically capable than himself who he can, nonetheless, bring to their knees.

18. ♥ Do they have a ‘type’?

I thought Ahuska had a type, but I seem to have discovered that her heart is not quite so specific and compatability can come in more than one shape and size. She has a lot of love to give and can find it in very unexpected places.

Five definitely goes for people who demonstrate one very specific physical characteristic.

19. ♥ What was their first impression about their partner/person they are courting?

When Ahuska first saw Crow, she was struck with the fact that he didn’t carry himself with the alpha-dog machismo she’d come to expect from fellow Mandalorians of his particular demographic. And when he turned his grin her way, he very very firmly snared her attention.

When Ahuska first met Blakk, she simply thought he was a delightful, feisty, dear little fox, and was absolutely besotted with him, if not in the way that she eventually became (after the wildest possible ride of misunderstandings and twisted events and broken trust and reforged faith).

Five, I think, would have made a very swift and completely superficial assessment, found it very pleasing (provided there was no fashion disaster occurring at the time), and opened himself up to learning more. It wouldn’t have taken long to be drawn into that personality, either.

21. ♥ What was the most romantic time they had with their partner?

Ahuska’s most romantic time with Crow would almost definitely be their space-walk through the ice fields of Saleucami, followed by some slightly less life-threatening zero gravity playtime within the safety of their ship’s cargo hold. They’ve had a lot of terribly sweet moments but I’m not sure that any compare to that honeymoon trip.

With Blakk, Ahuska has experienced a number of wonderfully romantic moments... in their shared dreams. It can be hard to compete with a world where auroras and starlight of your own creation dance to the beat of your hearts as you discover just how real you are to one another, but in many ways that last morning they spent together in person before parting, before anything between them was properly admitted or understood, waking to the warmth of the sun and sharing a long breakfast together full of soft yearning and denial of the inevitable separation to come ranks very high on the heart aching romance scale.

Five understands ‘textbook romance’ perfectly well and has probably walked through all the steps with great success a number of times when seducing marks back in his Cipher days. But when it comes to his own actual desires….. it really is hard to apply the word ‘romantic’. Granted, he does enjoy the finer things in life and takes great pride in being a very good cook, and a certain someone knows exactly how to push his buttons to get most exactly what he wants out of him when he feels like it. So there probably have been some almost ‘nice’ evenings of home cooked meals and fine wine and bath oils, at least to begin with….?

22. ♥ Tell us about a sacrifice they made for their significant other.

Ahuska gave up Clan life, the chance to rise through the ranks and be the Mandalorian she never thought she could, and a lot of her innocence, to be with and stay with Crow.

For Blakk, Ahuska broke off her current romance, turned her back on her safety net, and basically gave up everything she had... just for the hope that they might find away to actually be together.

Five gave up a significant measure of control on two distinct occassions, both of which were considerably big deals for him.

23. ♥ Do they apologize to their partner even if it wasn’t their fault?

Ahuska will readily and even pre-emptively take on the blame for almost anything. If something is genuinely her fault, she will apologise profusely and genuinely, probably through tears, and feel bad about it long after forgiveness has been given. She will offer apologies even when not directly at fault if she thinks it will help to calm down or diffuse a situation.

Five, though, doesn’t do the ‘accepting blame’ thing and certainly won’t shoulder somebody else’s. The one occassion where he has accepted responsibility, he’s never actually said the word sorry aloud, and he’s not even come clean about the real circumstances. But his guilt over the matter is expressed still to this day, through actions and gifts that are never actually directly linked to the event in question.

27. ♥ Have they had dreams about their partner/the person they are courting?

Ahuska most certainly has; dreams are a significant part of every reality she experiences, and often a way that binds them together, so naturally the significant people in her life feature prominently. She’s leery of anything that has a sense of being prophetic, but does believe she’s witnessed possible futures in her dreams and the ones that suggest a long and full life with Crow are her favourites.

Through her Force-bond with Blakk, she’s been able to actually share dreams with him, which have been very profound experiences... but at the moment her dreams are only dreams, and any real senses she gets of him vanish the moment she tries to focus enough to actually reach him. It hurts.

Five dreams as anyone does, and there’s no doubt Thirteen would feature in them regularly. Nothing magical, nothing profound or prophetic, just good old fashioned disjointed images that the brain strings together in a loose approximation of a plot. What’s most disconcerting is if he makes any sort of appearance in his recurring nightmares.

28. ♥ Do they understand their partners/person they are courting’s feelings without them having to say anything?

Ahuska becomes very attuned to the people she cares most about; she’s naturally a very sensitive person who wants to understand her partners’ feelings, and her desire to understand and do the best for the people she loves is only ever enhanced by her connection to the Force. She’s connected to Crow through all their years and shared experiences together, and being tuned into the beat of his heart definitely helps her know his feelings despite what he might show on the outside. With Blakk she has the benefit of being literally bonded through the Force but... well. Hopefully they wind up back in a position where understanding one anothers’ feelings is a legitimate thing they can do. ;_;

Five is quite astute, if not completely fool-proof, and when he puts the effort in can do quite a servicable job of knowing where someone’s feelings are at- manipulation is one of the tools of his trade, after all. Just how much he actually cares to do so is a different story, but, well... stranger things have certainly happened. He might try to claim that Thirteen is an open book to him, but that might just be what Thirteen wants him to think.

29. ♥ How do they express their love to their partner?

Ahuska gives freely and openly, her time, her energy, her patience, her body and soul. She will share anything and everything, she will take risks for her partner and forsake all the rest of the galaxy for them. She will find little tokens to gift them; she will feature them amongst her sketches regularly, she will listen to them and back them up and walk beside them on the most foolardy of pursuits. She will find what matters to them, she will discover what they react and respond to best, and she will make it so. Ahuska doesn’t know how to love in any way other than giving it her all.

Five would never use so soft and loaded a term as ‘love’. That is for a completely different caliber of people, people he cares little for. Allowing someone into his apartment, into his personal space, is a reasonable demonstration fo trust. Giving someone his time outside of and completely unrelated to work is a monumental demonstration of fondness. A willingness to touch and be touched outside of immediate bedroom activities is a grand display of affection. Offering financial assistance/security is an unspoken indication that someone matters to him. Lump it all together and he’d still sooner shoot himself in the foot than admit aloud that he cares.

[ca-3]

Just a random question but do you have any SakuMahi hc to maybe share?

oh man, where do I even start…? I have so many random hcs and aus and all that. SakuMahi is my Special Interest™ 😂 But I’ll just go with the canonverse based ones!

HEADS UP I MIGHT BE PUTTING SOME MANGA SPOILERS HERE! 

So I think it’s a common belief with many SakuMahi fans that Sakuya developed feelings for Mahiru almost right away. You know, the whole “Just from that simple outstretched hand and his voice, I thought… ‘Oh, I want to be this guy’s friend.” But to me? I don’t think Sakuya truly realized his feelings for Mahiru until after the rooftop scene.

The reason why I think that is all based on how Sakuya’s life has been up until now. We all know, Sakuya growing up in a abusive home and losing the last person he loved(his older sister) at a young age. Sakuya probably hasn’t known much love, care and especially trust for a very long time. (He has Tsubaki now yes. But like I said once before, Tsubaki may care about his subclass like his own family, it’s one of the things I like about Tsubaki. But he isn’t exactly the best role model for Sakuya either unfortunately….)

 It also doesn’t seem like Sakuya had many other friends growing up as far as we know. ;; (I imagined Sakuya was much more shyer and submissive as a human.)  So I think Sakuya didn’t actually truly understand his feelings until this point ^^^^^ Just seeing how much Mahiru would still call him a friend and even risk his life here, after all the horrible things he did and even said just to get Mahiru to hate him and so it would be easier to let him go. Like it’s no wonder he cried twice. It was probably the first time Sakuya has shown his vulnerable side to someone in a long time, at least that’s what I believe AAAAAAAAA

That whole wrist band scene? You know. The part they didn’t have to make super gay but they totally did lol 

My headcanon for that is that Sakuya picked out the black and white one with stripes on purpose. Cause its similar to his striped shirts he wears almost all the time. So I bet he did that so Mahiru would think of him whenever he see it.❤ I know its cheesy but I like this one ahahaha

Many think Sakuya’s “class clown” personality was all fake or just solely made up because he was afraid Mahiru wouldn’t like his real personality… But honestly? I think Mahiru just naturally brings out that happy/goofy side in Sakuya!!! 💚💚💚 Cause there are quite a few times where Sakuya is shown to be that happy or goofy. Even if it’s only around Mahiru. Sakuya showed Mahiru his real smile already too. ;w; and Sakuya has shown that kind of smile and happiness just thinking about the mere memories of Mahiru. JUST THE WAY SAKUYA SMILES WITH MAHIRU. IT KILLS ME. Plus, the other many many official arts where Sakuya is only smiling cause he’s next to Mahiru? I don’t know I think Strike is trying to tell us something lol 

also as for the acting silly thing it’s mostly in the bonuses, drama cds, and even OVAs but Sakuya is always grouchy or calm around most others but only as soon as Mahiru is around he’s talking and acting like this: WHICH IS MY FAVORITE THING. I JUST LOVE HOW HAPPY MAHIRU MAKES SAKUYA FEEL. KJKFJLASJAJKLSJFA 

just ignores everyone else and Tsubaki yelling at him to run up to Mahiru. 😂 Also he basically asked Mahiru to run away with him here lolol

This scene also give me a slight hc that Sakuya likes to dance… or at least wishes to dance with Mahiru someday… but I guess in this case it was sing with Mahiru cause he thinks they should run off and start a band lmao 

This is more of a personal story thought rather than a total ship headcanon but it has to do with Sakuya and Mahiru. It’s about Sakuya’s conflicted loyalty between Tsubaki and Mahiru. I get why Sakuya is conflicted between the two but… it’s kind of ridiculous because of all obvious hints that Sakuyu favors Mahiru’s side. Sakuya has always been silently rooting for Mahiru to win. SAKUYA HAS STRAIGHT UP “BETRAYED” HIS OWN SIDE MULTIPLE TIMES FOR MAHIRU’S SAKE. 

JUST. SAKUYA COME ON. I THINK WE KNOW WHAT SIDE OF THIS “WAR” YOU’RE ACTUALLY FAVORING HERE. I love Sakuya a lot, but so much of his character is indeed super frustrating for this reason.

Sakuya’s obvious choice should be Mahiru. In fact, Sakuya shouldn’t even have to feel like he has to choose? Because Mahiru’s goal isn’t to even kill Tsubaki, but rather stop him and talk to him to help fix the broken Servamp family. Tsubaki even said, that no matter who betrays him on Team Melancholy he wouldn’t betray them. 

Honestly, I think if Tsubaki truly cared about his subclass… if he just saw how much Sakuya stood by Mahiru and how they both just want this to all stop… maybe it would help change Tsubaki’s mind? That’s a hope. But I think Sakuya has a hard time choosing because even he doesn’t know what Tsubaki is up to. “Tsubaki-san is searching, but he still doesn’t know what the key is. It might be revenge. It might be something even more terrifying.“, “The War is a way to find the key.” “…What is he looking for?” 

All Sakuya knows is that Tsubaki is “searching” for something and this war is just his round about way of finding it. I think… Sakuya is afraid of what the answer will be… or Sakuya might be worried that if he does join the side with Mahiru, it’ll put him in even more danger than he’s already in. He doesn’t know how Tsubaki would truly feel or react, or even worse the rest of Team Melancholy not taking too kindly to his decision either. 

 Tsubaki told his subclass to go free now. Why did Sakuya run away and follow Tsubaki? Could be because he’s too afraid to face Mahiru again after all that’s happened… or maybe he’s afraid of what Tsubaki is planning to do by himself.

Am I saying Sakuya might be doing that to indirectly protect Mahiru? I don’t know, it’s just a small maybe. But Sakuya also might just think he doesn’t deserve to be around Mahiru at all. ;w; So that’s why he continues to run. 

If Sakuya does ever join the Servamp Team, I’d like to imagine that he starts out just kinda always lingering around Mahiru the whole time. Mostly because he’s anti-social anyways 😂 and Mahiru is the only one he truly knows there. But also cause he feels like the others won’t accept him as easily. He did attack quite a few of them bother whether it was orders or not.  But I know for a fact Mahiru would encourage Sakuya to open up to others and make friends who aren’t just him. FFF Now Sakuya and Misono can be friends like Mahiru orignally wanted. “Now you can finally apologize to Misono!” “You aren’t going to make this easy, are you?” FFFFFFFFFFFF

For real, that’s part of the reason I love SakuMahi so much. Because of how good of an influence Mahiru would be on Sakuya. Doesn’t matter if it’s in a romantic or platonic sense for me. Mahiru wouldn’t let Sakuya be only attached to him. Mahiru would want Sakuya to learn to let others in. He would want Sakuya to know that him and Tsubaki are not all he has. That he can make his own decisions and that he is free now. He doesn’t have to worry about being hurt like that again…

Imagining them actually slowly getting into a relationship is really cute~ but I feel like Sakuya would be a nervous wreck all the time at first. Just “Oh god… this is actually happening now… what do I do?” Remembers the iconic “Sakkun” moment. If Sakuya can’t even handle Mahiru calling him a simple cute nickname how could Sakuya ever initiate a first kiss or anything like that? It would definitely take Sakuya some time to get used to being loved in such a way and being comfortable enough to even kiss Mahiru back. 😂 Mahiru being “well if you won’t do it I will!” probably 85% of the time.

hdhkasljdaf I could write so many more here but this post is long enough already. Maybe I’ll add more later. Or if anyone is ever curious again I’ll share more. lol 

Thanks for asking, I love asks about them~ 💚❤💚❤💚

[firelxrdsdaughter]

A Foolish Undertaking Chp 3

You can read it on A03 !

Iroh’s perspective is actually really interesting to write from. I find him very compelling. Ahahaha!

anyway, without further ado...

He does not know what he thinks his niece deserves. Certainly in many ways her life has been made far easier by their father than Zuko’s has, and yet…He still feels a chill at the thought of her calm, steely, demeanour when they had faced down the crew and he had forced them all to abandon ship.

III

Iroh

The wind on deck is brisk, the waters chilly even this close to the Fire Nation at the earliest turn from winter to spring. Iroh shrugs his fur lined cloak a little higher on his shoulders, and breathes fire through his teeth as he crosses the deck toward the central structure of the ship.

His niece’s relative calm in the brig has left him contemplative, wondering not for the first time whether they leave her alone for too long and too often down there.

There’s little other choice, he knows. This ship will not run itself, and there are only the two of them to do it with. Azula with time to think is an Azula he does not like to contend with, however.

She’s dangerous enough already.

Still, having both of his brother’s heirs with him has put Iroh at an advantage, and he is sorely unused to having the upper hand these days. His waiting has paid off well, though he will readily admit that he has thought this particular part through very little. Kidnapping his niece had not been a part of the plan.

Making contact with those members of the White Lotus who hide in plain sight in the Earth Kingdom is the next best course of action. He and Zuko cannot tote Azula around indefinitely. Eventually she will find the right opportunity and escape, and that will put them right back where they started, and Iroh will lose his advantage…No…It will be best to deal with her sooner than later, and dealing with her means finding a place to stash her that no one knows about until this all blows over…

Or until he can find a true purpose for her in the long game.

Iroh enters the main structure of the ship, looking up at the flight of stairs leading toward the observation deck and his nephew at the helm. Sighing, he mounts them with an air of resignation, making the long journey upward.

Zuko turns when he enters the observation deck, but Iroh continues forward without a greeting. He doesn’t need to offer one.

“You saw Azula?” His nephew’s voice is not hopeful, more curious. But only vaguely.

The old man doesn’t nod, but instead moves to set down the platter of empty bowls which he’d brought to the girl below deck. Zuko already knows the answer to his own question. Finally Iroh responds:

“Yes.”

There’s another long silence, and Iroh does not bother to elaborate. Zuko will get to his question eventually. All one really needs to do is wait for the boy to lose his patience. And he does.

“And?”

“She is still nursing a wounded ego,” he answers him simply. Iroh turns toward his nephew, gaze catching on the expanse of the horizon before them through the windows before settling once again on the banished prince.

He probably isn’t even that anymore, close as they had both been to prison. Zuko is an unmoored boy on the cusp of his manhood, feeling utterly alone. Iroh’s heart aches.

“Yeah well,” Zuko turns back to the view himself, hand steady on the wheel, “she needed to be taken down a peg or two anyway. It’ll probably do her some good.”

Iroh sighs again, weary.

He does not know what he thinks his niece deserves. Certainly in many ways her life has been made far easier by their father than Zuko’s has, and yet…He still feels a chill at the thought of her calm, steely, demeanour when they had faced down the crew and he had forced them all to abandon ship. She was ready to die, and she is only a child. It reminds him of Lu Ten, but even his beloved son would have felt some trepidation at the prospect, he thinks, had he been in a similar situation.

Azula had met it with cool resolve. Hardly the reaction of a child.

Even Zuko had begged for his life at thirteen.

“What,” the boy asks sullenly. He can sense Iroh’s disappointment as keenly as if it had been his own.

“It is nothing…I merely wonder exactly how much of Azula’s cruel streak is of her own making, and how much of it is your father speaking through her like a puppet.”

“She has never been his puppet,” Zuko denies.

Iroh steps forward, coming to rest at his nephew’s side, heavy eyebrows raised. He purses his lips.

“If you believe that then you are truly as blind as she is, prince Zuko.”

The look that Zuko turns on him is offended. Iroh offers him a mild smile in return, patting his shoulder solidly. A soft snarl escapes the boy but no more as he returns his scowl to the sea stretched out before them.

One can hardly discern the water from the horizon today. Iroh squints out at the vague haze of it.

“If I could see half of the things that Azula can see, I wouldn’t be so…” Zuko’s frown only deepens, and Iroh feels the scratch of pity against the cavity of his chest once again. Neither of Ozai’s children want his pity, however. “I would never have walked us into this mess.”

Iroh hums in contemplation at this, disagreement quick to bubble up behind his teeth.

“I think you could already see that her intentions were not so noble,” he answers his nephew easily, “you just wanted to believe the best of the situation. That is not something that I can honestly blame you for, Zuko.”

“I nearly got the both of us killed.”

“But you did not. Not this time. It was a mistake, and mistakes are learning opportunities…So long as they are not bad enough mistakes that we die because of them.” He cannot help laughing at himself. Zuko’s shoulders stiffen. Iroh softens again.

“You will do better next time,” Iroh consoles him. Zuko’s shoulders fall again. Silence settles between the two of them, long and thick, as Zuko watches the ship’s course in the water.

“I’ll try uncle.”

The old man nods, wandering over to the low table that sits not far from Zuko’s position at the helm. He sits on the cushion beside it, grunting with the effort which cracks in his knees and makes the base of his spine ache in kneeling down to rest.

“We still haven’t spoken much of that day,” Iroh ventures after another lengthy silence. Zuko’s back remains to him, but it’s obvious enough what he’s feeling by the way that his spine stiffens at the words. “I thought perhaps that you would know by now that you are free to say whatever it is you might feel in my presence, and not be afraid that I will be angry with you over it.”

It’s Zuko’s turn to sigh.

“I know,” he says flatly.

Iroh waits. Zuko’s voice is brittle the next time he speaks.

“What did I ever do to him?”

“Zuko you did not do anything wrong. Your father…is a complicated man. He takes after our own father more than I have ever done, and he too was complicated. He might perceive that you have done something to offend him, but really it is up to him what is and is not offensive. Anyone can see that you are trying your best. Eventually, you are going to have to come to terms with the fact that only you can give yourself approval. Only you can make yourself feel worthy. It is not something that your father can make you feel.”

“…I have failed at absolutely everything I have ever tried to do, uncle.” Zuko’s voice has gone hoarse, and Iroh bows his head, mournful for him. “I don’t know where I’m supposed to go from here. I don’t know what to do, and I don’t know who I am anymore…And to top it all off, now I’m an accessory to abducting my sister.”

Iroh cannot help the wheezing chuckle that escapes his lungs at that.

“Yes…I am sorry for that. I confess that I did not really think my actions through before I was performing them, in this instance.”

Another pause.

“Aren’t you the one who’s always telling me to think before I act?” Some of the warmth has come back to Zuko’s voice, and Iroh can only smile at this fact.

“Yes, I suppose that I am. Sometimes I must remember to follow my own advice.”

“At least it isn’t just me,” Zuko answers. “…Has Azula actually been talking to you?”

“Yes…and no. For the most part she simply says the same things over and over; makes the same threats, and the same promises. She did surprise me today, though.”

“How so?”

“She thanked me.” Iroh thinks back to the words. She’d said them in a way that he believes to be genuine, and that is the biggest shock of all. Perhaps being alone down there, and in a compromising position for so long, has made her have second thoughts. Perhaps she is finally softening from weariness.

Iroh still isn’t certain.

“For what?”

“For acknowledging her gifts, I think.”

“What gifts?” He sounds defensive. Iroh puts up his hands placatingly.

“Now, now. There is no need for jealousy. I was only making an observation. She is the one who turned it into praise.”

“She would.”

“Zuko…” Iroh feels a brief, momentary, pang of despair, and then moves passed it. “You know, you and your sister may not be as different as you believe that you are.”

“That’s hilarious,” Zuko answers venomously, and Iroh knows that he’s said the wrong thing. The younger man paces away from the wheel, agitated now. Iroh bites back what feels like his thousandth sigh for the day.

“I know that you like to think that you and Azula are different, Zuko, but in the end, are you not both only seeking your father’s approval? She would be just as lost as you without it. She knows this. She knows that there is very little separating her from the life which you have led and that scares her. That is why she treats you the way that she does. It is fear, Zuko.”

“Azula’s not afraid of anything!”

This time the sigh escapes.

“Outwardly, it would certainly seem that way.”

“Urrghh! You’re crazy,” he accuses loudly.

Iroh closes his teeth. He will not get through to his nephew on this point. Not now. Not so soon after his sister’s slights, and his father’s newest rejection. As ever, it will be an achingly slow process. One which may not come to a close any time soon, if Iroh is to rid them of Azula for their own sakes.

“Peace, Prince Zuko,” he finally says, steadily, “we will not talk of this any more. Obviously it has upset you.”

Zuko lets out another low growl in frustration, gesturing sharply. Fire streams from his fingertips in his rage, but no more, and Zuko goes back to navigating their stolen ship, muttering to himself all the while.

Iroh closes his eyes, resting his hands atop the ample swell of his belly. This requires more time than he can give it, he knows. He feels his heart fill up with regret.

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: bouquet garni

Next up, @skadventuretime, @guacamoletrash and @jamesfalt (Souly on Discord) stopped by to chat about their Resbang, bouquet garni! Here’s some of what went down:

Q: Madi, how did you come up with everyone's characters, like Harvar being a gaming streamer and Tsu and Liz being farmers etc. etc. because I thought those were all really unique and interesting!

madi: Ahaha let's see, I started planning this back last... May? and talking with the beta crew, as one does. And naturally marsh [ @marshofsleep ] , enabler that she is, just put it out there.

madi: And I was just playing a bunch of overwatch at the time and thought he'd be a good gamer nerd, and also I had decided to make this Extra self-indulgent, so I was like “my city now”. I basically poured all of my friend feels into [Harvar] and Anya in particular. The past couple years have been rougher for me, but I've had some really spectacular friends, and I decided Maka and Soul needed them, too.

Q: The part with the sword and stuff, I just…

madi: OH THAT ahahahaha. Okay yeah that was end of Resbang crunch time and me being extra 'fuck it.'

madi: That was what the team thought about that.

Q: Artist-chans, what programs do you use and how does your arting process go? And how is guac so good at playlisting??

Souly: I use paint tool SAI :0 I might still have some of my progress pics, lemme look.

guac: Lol. I don't think I'm super good at it but I do enjoy music a lot and like to make playlists so maybe that's it!

Souly: Yeah here we go. Mid lining.

I did it a lil differently than I normally do. I normally line everything and then do flats but I was actually super behind bc of life stuff so I just started doing flats per character after their lines were done. This is a sample of what the layers look like:

madi: Man how do u keep track of ur layers? Or is it like, a sixth sense?

Souly: I go off of the little layer previews and hope the layer has what I'm looking for.

madi: LOL that sounds like me.

Souly: I also like... tend to set up layers for characters a specific way so I can normally find those?

guac: BRUH THAT'S SO MANY LAYERS.

Q: Did you have a favorite character to write? 8)

madi: I just love writing Star being balls to the walls ridiculous. The saxophone thing came about because I saw this video and was like oh my god it's Black Star in the flesh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMyqasy2Lco . But I also really liked writing Maka being sort of the one with issues, too.

Q: Which character in your fic did you most identify with? And was it purposeful or accidental?

madi: Iiiiiiii'd have to say I identified with [Maka] the most this fic, for once. Usually it's soul, but I ended up pouring a lot of myself into her, and it was both purposeful and accidental how it all worked out.

Q: I’m surprised, because there were a lot of things I noticed about Soul that I know are you-things!

madi: Yeah!!! I definitely can't help that with him, they both got a lot of me.

Q: I know you said this fic was super personal and self-indulgent so was it generally pretty easy to write because of that, or did you have trouble?

madi: Hmmmm yeah I definitely had some trouble. About 20k in, I sort of lost the emotional thread of it, and whined a lot to Bones [ @adulterclavis ] about what I could do to fix it, and it turned out that I just needed to talk to someone about it to find where I wanted to go again, and then it got easier. I still struggled for sure not having a traditional Big Antagonist plotline thing, it was more personal and then Maka's mom… Bones let me cry in her inbox about writing.

Q: What brought about your characterization of Mama Albarn (who i still hate btw >: ((( )?

madi: You are not the only one...

guac: I'm always ready to fight her.

madi: Okay so, basically Mama Albarn came about just from how I used to (and still sometimes do) talk to myself. It's that internalized idea you always have to be perfect, and if you aren't given everything you've been given and have, then you're weak and a fuckup and how dare you not be the best? DEFINITELY a toxic mindset, and Bad. And this fic was sort of exorcising that, a little. This was an external abusive deal, but you can absolutely develop abusive thought patterns towards yourself, and you can also free yourself from them, like Maka was ultimately able to.

Q: Was there a scene in particular you really enjoyed?

madi: I heckin’ loved the butt lamp scene. It honestly kept me going, knowing I'd be able to write that monstrosity. And also drunk Kid, who marsh aptly named Five Drink Amy. AND THEN GUAC skl;dfkld. So there was this, right, and then guac

madi: Which linked to THIS PIC:

madi: And we all could not stop laughing.

Q: What was the hardest part to write?

madi: I got stuck at the end of chapter 3, and I ultimately added another section on to it to make it work, but I think deciding how I wanted to transition from her debauched night out into a Soul POV chapter given what I wanted each person to sort of be faced with was probably the hardest thing for me. This whole deal was largely driven by me groping in the dark at what felt right.

Q: PS I loved the debauched night out. And Patty's drinks.

madi: I loved patty in this!! Bones wanted to marry her, so I know it Worked Out. She was another fun one to write, as were her drinks ahaha.

Q: What was your favorite thing about this Resbang in particular?

madi: Oh jeez, hm. I think my favorite thing was doing a better job fleshing out the side characters in Harv and Anya and Kid and Star. That was something I regret not doing better in my older work, so I'm happy I got to try my hand at giving people other than Soul/Maka some personality.

guac: They became such a cute little chosen family.

Q: Why a food-themed story specifically? What about that appealed to you? (For everyone!)

madi: (Apeeled).

Souly: I fucking love SoMa. [And] the cooking aspect really drew me in... idk why but I've always had a thing for those kinds of things with anime I'm into?

guac: My current relationship started with them teaching me how to cook real food cause I used to eat like a garbage can, so I was like ‘welp this is gonna be hella cute, count me in.’

madi: Omg, I didn't know that, that's ADORABLE.

guac: Shhhhh. I don't talk about my feelings very much. But yeah. I was like ‘a SoMa AU about my life!!!’

Souly: Honestly yeah same, I feel like I also like... connected with Maka about being poor and just buying shit to eat.

madi: Let's see, I had a prompt sitting in my inbox FOREVER that was like 'I’m obsessed with a food blogger who writes about cheap ways to be gourmet in your 20s and I flirt with them over comments but they never post pictures of their face and ALSO there’s a really cute grocery bagger at the store down the street who teases me and always asks to join me for dinner and I definitely want to say yes AU' that I was initially gonna go with, and originally it was a little closer to this deal. My first blush ideas for this sort of had the drama in not knowing who was whom, and the big reveal being the climax, or something like Maka thinking Soul was taken because she thought he was involved with the comment girl and then that whole drama. But then I thought that that sorta thing had been done before, and I wanted this to be less about the drama of the reveal and more about the process of them growing closer, I guess. And I also looooooove cooking and baking, so that definitely bled through.

Q: I thought it was a neat shake up how you didn’t make the reveal the crux of the whole thing.

madi: Ahahaha yeah, I definitely thought about it, but ultimately wanted this to be less 'gasp, it's YOU!' because the reader knows, and if I wanted to make the reader invested, I'd have to keep them apart and do the kinda drama I wasn't feeling for this fic. The insta bit came about because I spend some time looking at food pics before I go to sleep, and that provided a lot of insp for that section. Half of my degree is in nutrition, so I like to see the recipes people come up with, and also roll my eyes at some of the bougie stuff, because insta is definitely a Platform for that, depending on where you end up haha. Also like, I definitely took some things I've experienced flat out and added them in, like Harv shoving Maka electrolyte packets. Last year when I was deep in the sad pit, my diet was terrible, and I knew it, but I wasn't doing much about it. And then one day I was talking to Bones and my leg muscle kept spasming, and she was like dude when was the last time you've gotten minerals and I was like .....oh. So she sent me a link for those packets to hold me over on days I wasn’t getting them from my diet ahaha. Bones is also where some of Kid came from, and bits of Anya.

Q: Where did you get your recipes? I want a cookbook based on this fic p...please.

modi: Okay okay let me find some of the recipes that inspired things:

https://showmetheyummy.com/crockpot-mexican-chicken-recipe/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BfWNxv9HuHg/?hl=en&taken-by=thefeedfeed.

[Bones] was also the steak recipe insp!

madi: The kitchn, thefeedfeed, showmetheyummy, minimalistbaker were all feeds that I was inspired by, and then I just improv’d from there, because I have cooked all or most of the things I described in there. AND IT'S WHERE MAKA'S CUPCAKE GAZING CAME FROM. LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS MOUNTAIN OF ICING https://www.instagram.com/p/BaRGvjGDBpr/?hl=en&taken-by=thescranline

Q: Did you feel like your writing has changed at all during writing this?

madi: Yeah, for sure! I thought that this year I got better at characterizing people, adding some personality to them that was a little more nuanced than I'd done before. I think I absorbed some of Bones's longer sentence style, which I personally tend to like even though I am still getting a handle on it, and I think I got better at describing things in general. Next step is being better with plot and tightening up the language a little more >:) Most of the changes, I think, were sentence style and how I handled dialogue, which is usually harder for me.

Q: Artists: did you learn any new techniques that you plan to practice or improve on any you've been trying to learn?

Souly: Oh yeah, I learned doing flats as I go with lines actually speeds up the process slightly... I practiced a different lighting technique that I never did end up going with but I kinda figured out what I need to do to make it work. It sadly just didn't work with how I set up this pic.

madi: Oooo nice, linework is Intimidating but you made it look easy.

guac: I am just glad to force myself to make stuff. Glad to be here. Thought my drawing of bodies got better (thanks Black Star).

madi: Y'all don't understand the sound I made when I saw guac drew the apron.

Souly: That Blackstar pic is my fave.

Q: WHAT'S NEXT, everybody? ;D

madi: >;) well, I have a secret project that I thought of last year that I am not yet sure will be a Resbang or a chaptered dealio, so I want to pick at that. Then I have a chaptered Star vs the Forces of Evil fic I need to update, and I owe Pip [ @paperypiper ] like two or three Noragami fluff pieces, and SILLY’S BDAY SMUT. Which will proabbly be like a whole year late but whatever I’m sorry, I will try to make it extra spicy.

Souly: I'm signing up for a few zines! I'm currently waiting for them to open apps but I'm looking at an Enstars zine, FMA tarot project, and some YOI zines. I was also recently in the Soul Eater reversal zine that just closed preorders the other day so I'm waiting to be able to post my piece :0

guac: I'm arting for the BNHA big bang and mostly consumed by school. Who knows what will happen next! There's a little pop punk lyrics + anime project I'm working on so maybe I'll show it to the world someday soon. We will see.

madi: OH YEAH I’m writing for that bang too! AND GUAC GOT ME AS AN ARTIST. It's the ultimate resonance.