#Book had both HoH and Deaf characters

[fordanoia]

Heartcanon that I've had for well over a year at this point with hard of hearing / Deaf Fiddleford

It's been my new ride or die heartcanon for him since I thought of it back when (to a point that it's become my default for Fidds since)

A big thing of it that really solidified it to me was it for Fidds and Ford's friendship in college and later on too. The idea of Ford learning asl after knowing Fidds for a while and that sort of connection/communication as Ford woking through his discomfort with attention on his hands for the sake of communicating in an easier way with Fidds and that progressing to a point where they're just equally comfortable with one another. Ford using his hands for asl normalizing his hands/people looking at his hands for himself more and giving him a positive association with that and Fiddleford having a roommate/friend at college that he connects with who he progressively gets to be able to easily communicate with.

Fiddleford and Ford comfortably carrying on long conversations in asl like you do with friends where the time easily turns into hours.

I could word it a million ways but its just a really tangible instance in relationships where y'all mutually find these ways of understanding the other in the ways specific to them and really connecting.

[koalatydm]

Hot Brown Morning Potion Podcast Episode 5 - The Deluxe Elf Interview with Devon Giehl and Iain Hendry

Transcription Part 1 of 2 (includes Wonderstorm questions and Kuno's questions)

[Transcriber's Notes: This took me SO LONG to transcribe, like multiple hours and I'm only halfway done... But I will make it through at least this one episode because I want fellow Moonfam enthusiasts to have a text source, not to mention make it easier for deaf/HoH people to follow along. I guess I'll tag @kuno-chan since she said it was OK at the beginning of the podcast, sorry if I'm bothering you!]

KUNO: Hi guys, so I have a personal request for this particular podcast episode if you guys could tweet, post, both at least one piece of information that you learned from this particular episode, that you love, that inspired you, that you thought was cute, whatever. Like, I really—one thing that really tends to happen is that people listen to the podcast and they kinda just go about their day. We don’t actually see the information circulate through the community, which we really try to have creative questions—questions that are fun and explore the characters in different situations. And it would just be really, really cool—it would mean a lot to me to see this actually circulate through the community, actually circulate through the fandom, and see, you know, it would be awesome to see it be inspired—to inspire fan works, fan fiction, fan art, especially fan art. I just—we talked like a solid hour at least—really like a solid hour about Runaan, Rayla, Ethari, that family, um, and Moonshadow elves a lot. We talked a lot about that. And I think this is information that a lot of people really wanted, even if it’s in largely headcanon form. But Devon and Iain were so gracious and we talked so much about that family, and including Ruthari, and of course some Rayllum in there. So if you guys could live tweet, or even just one tweet, at least one tweet. Tag us, tag me, tag Hailey, tag @HotPotion, even if you send it directly to me on Tumblr, that’d be awesome and we’d retweet, reblog all your stuff. It would be good for the podcast and I just really want to see this information circulate through the fandom, so at least one tweet. Alright, um, let’s get to the episode though. Thanks! Hope to see you guys on social media about this.

—————

KUNO: Alright, hey everyone, this is the Hot Brown Morning Potion Podcasts with your hosts Tamika and Hailey, and we are here with Devon Giehl and Iain Hendry, two writers on The Dragon Prince at Wonderstorm, and Devon being actually the recently announced lead writer at Wonderstorm, so say hi everyone!

DEVON: Hi!

IAIN: Hi, this is Iain…

DEVON: Hi, I’m Devon… (laughs)

KUNO: And so we have a ton of stuff to get through today, um, a lot of questions, so—but we’re going to ask Iain and Devon a little bit about themselves first, since I think—I’m not sure if this is the first interview they’ve really had, personally, so uh, Hailey do you want to start—head that?

HAILEY: Um, yeah, sure. Uh, could you tell us about your roles at Wonderstorm?

IAIN: Uh, sure, uh—I’m also a writer at—official title “Senior Writer” at Wonderstorm. I was one of the writing team on the show, not quite as early as Devon, who was basically employee 1 after the founders but um, I joined sort of, end of 2016 when season 1 writing was really starting to get rolling, and was you know part of the process all the way through all the seasons. Uh, and since this—it’s such a small start up company, all the writers take a bunch of other, like, production roles on the show. Like, throughout all three seasons we’ve done, like, continuity notes work, we’ve given feedback on like every step of the production process. And then the other kind of side things we have, like you know, very top secret game that we’re making in here. And like, kind of straddle the line between the show writing and the game so that that’s all kind of on point and feels like it’s in the same universe with the same characters as The Dragon Prince, but ah, can’t say too much about that just yet.

DEVON: Iain does a lot of—a lot of secret work (laughs). Um, yeah as for me, I’m also a writer on The Dragon Prince and my—I was a Senior Writer until very recently, and now I’ve been made into a Lead Writer, which means I just get to flex a lot. Um, but I started in, I think the very, very end of 2015 when Wonderstorm was first getting off the ground as like a tiny, tiny startup. And we were basically four people in a room about, I don’t know, like 20 ft by 10 ft. It was really, really awful—

IAIN: Really smelly.

DEVON: Really smelly, really tiny, like only a skylight for a window, it was great. And I—so I was involved in like the earliest of brainstorming for the show. I helped sort of like put together a lot of the pitch deck when we you know took it around to studios and like, I named like most of the characters—is like my most self-indulgent claim on the show cause I got to do a lot of really silly stuff. Um, but yeah, and then I like help out on a million other fronts at Wonderstorm too because we’re a small company and—yeah, the funny thing about the—the small tasks we have, like you mentioned continuity checks. Um, we often had to make sure that Callum’s backpack and book and Rayla’s bindings were always correct, and that was kind of, the funniest and most intense, like, stage of production ever. Cause you would, you know, watch one shot and then the next shot would come up and Callum’s backpack would have disappeared. So we had to be like, “OK, let’s give Callum backpack back on.”

IAIN: Yeah, and it’s not just for accuracy, but like, the way fandoms operate, like, we just knew if Rayla’s binding reappeared sometime, it wouldn’t be viewed as an error. People would be like “WHAT DID THE KING GET UNKILLED WHAT HAPPENED OVER HERE”.

DEVON: No it was just the—

KUNO: Oh, yeah.

IAIN: Woo!

DEVON: —continuity’s way harder than anyone thinks it is (laughs). It’s a lot.

KUNO: Oh bless you guys for knowing that though cause we—we totally would. Like, think, there was a point I remember saying that they changed Viren’s eye color because they didn’t want too much continuity with Rayla’s eye color and I feel like we were really that close to having a ‘Viren is Rayla’s real father’ issue. We really were. Somebody had to have thought about that issue (laughs).

DEVON: I actually think there is—there’s still at least one shot in the show where Viren has the wrong eye color and if you can find it, congratulations (laughter in background). That’s where we missed—missed it. So it’s in there somewhere.

KUNO: Xadia CSI (IAIN laughs). So you two are married, um, can you tell us what it’s like being married writing partners?

IAIN: You wanna go?

DEVON: Um, yeah, I mean it’s—we actually knew each other professionally before we dated, so it wasn’t like we—it’s sort of like, it was easy for us to—to remain work partners because that was how we existed in the first place. Like I met Iain when I interviewed him for a job and I—he was great (IAIN laughs), he was fun, he was all right.

IAIN: Apparently I passed.

DEVON: But um, so yeah we had a professional relationship before we had a dating—‘dating’ relationship. Um, so it’s strange because a lot of people will say like, “Oh, that’s probably terrible. You probably, like, become absolutely sick of each other” but somehow we’ve managed to—to have like, two relationship patterns where when we’re at work and we’re working on writing stuff we have this very professional thing going on and then at home, we’re just married idiots and we have a lot of fun. So like, I don’t know, I’m never tired of you, personally.

IAIN: No, (DEVON laughs) yeah I mean when we’re writing it’s generally like, Devon’s the one on the keys uh, you know, putting the words in and so on, and it will kind of bounce back and forth between like, I’ll have the idea for the—how the scene should flow and I’ll kinda narrate bits and then we’ll go back and smooth things over. But I mean, I could imagine that with some people it would get tense, but I think Devon and I, we’re just absolutely the most comfortable with each other and neither of us takes it personally when it’s like, “that line that you pitched isn’t working” or “this joke could be funnier”, anything like that.

DEVON: It’s usually Iain who’s—cause I usually type cause I type really too fast.

IAIN: She’s really too proud of her typing (laughs).

DEVON: I type super fast, it’s my only real talent, but—like I’ll just sort of go off on some sort of like incredibly unnecessary, long description of something and Iain will sort of let me get about like four or five lines into this unnecessary nonsense and he’ll just sort start going like, “OK so like, do we really—do we need that? I mean, you know, could we sort of parse this down a little, a little less, a little less”. And then I, just like, “Ugh, fine” (laughs).

IAIN: But um, every word she writes is great.

DEVON: Mmm (skeptically)

IAIN: It’s perfect.

DEVON: Completely not true. Also in our scripts I think like—

KUNO: Aw.

DEVON: —in terms of the way that we work professionally, I think like a lot of my strengths are in—in really almost self indulgent levels of drama and he can kind of pull me back from being too indulgent on those fronts. And then I think that Iain is objectively absurdly funny and so when you kind of look at our episodes usually everything that’s pretty funny and lighthearted and like the sense of levity often comes from you and then if there’s anything that just feels really painfully sad it’s probably me?

IAIN: I’m the funny one.

DEVON: (laughs) It’s true.

KUNO: Aw, I feel such a connection to you Devon, because I’m actually, episode 3 was actually one of my favorite ones because I love all that like domestic stuff. I love just kind of like—oh, I don’t know what you call the trope, like a safe house trope where you go somewhere, you’re still kind of in the adventure but we’re in a space right now, a narrative space where people are safe, if that makes any sense. Like you—if you’ve ever seen How To Train Your Dragon, like (T/N I don’t know what was said here, sorry!), the base is the safe place, that kind of thing. So, I totally get that, I actually see—episode 3 was one of my favorites outside of pretty much every episode where Rayllum was a thing. (laughter from multiple people)

HAILEY: The whole season basically (laughs).

KUNO: Pretty much the whole season, um. I think there was one more question about two.

HAILEY: Yeah sooo.

KUNO: Before we get to the elves.

HAILEY: Yeah, definitely. Uh so it was mentioned that you’re now lead writer, Devon, and can you tell a little bit more about what that entails if you can, and how that’s been going?

DEVON: Yeah, I mean… I actually don’t know what I can say about it, um… I think it—it means that uh, for future Dragon Prince stuff I’ll sort of like take a bit more of an active role in leading the—the development and the storylines and things like that. It also means that from a company perspective um I’ve been kind of involved in some other side stuff that Wonderstorm is quietly looking into developing and um I help a lot with other IPs that we would love to make a real thing someday and that’s kind of all I can say about it I think or I’ll get in trouble.

HAILEY: All right, that’s great, that’s good to know, thank you.

KUNO: The Dragon Prince 2 (laughter from multiple people). I’m totally joking everyone that’s not a thing so don’t take that for—

HAILEY: Wow.

KUNO: I’m joking.

IAIN: Two dragons.

DEVON: The Dragon 2 Prince.

KUNO: Yeah. OK also if there’s anything that you guys say that you want redacted this is probably not going up for another week because I have to get our reaction episode out. So anything you guys think about that you’re like, “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that” just message us and we’ll redact that. Yeah, cause we know that—

HAILEY: Or just say it. Just tell us, like, what’s—

DEVON: Hopefully we have some self-control but—

KUNO: Okay, so we are going to get really indulgent here and I think this is going to be really in Devon’s wheelhouse. We have a lot of questions and a bunch of the scenarios so try to get through as much of it as possible. Um so the first question is can you tell us more about the Silvergrove? What is the government system like in Silvergrove? Who runs it? If you could tell us that is that the only—at least like the leadership role? Um, is that the only Moonshadow elf village? And also do they actually get any real daylight because I noticed when the illusion thing happened it just got shady and I’m like, “They might be taking this Moonshadow thing too far”. Like the elves—do they really like that much? So like tell us about the Silvergrove and where Rayla grew up.

IAIN: So I guess it’s probably worth just starting off with a kind of blanket like, ‘if it hasn’t been in the show, we can’t say it’s 100% fact. A lot of this is just gonna be what kind of we thought, rough shape of things happen in our heads—‘

KUNO: Yeah, absolutely.

IAIN: —going into the writing and so on. So you know, don’t come after me with any, uh, fandom lawyers, anyone. But um yeah, I guess like it’s sort of—it’s most useful for us to think about it in comparison to how the Sunfire elves, like clearly they have very structured society. They have a queen, obviously, and they have large cities and so on whereas we think Moonshadow elves live in, as you saw, much smaller communities. And I think the Silvergrove is not the only one of those, it might be one of the better known ones where clearly the best assassins come from. But uh, I think are other ones out there, um, and maybe even Moonshadow elf people do not know where all the other ones are. Obviously the Silvergrove is hidden and maybe they don’t even have access to all the other ones. So I think there’s a sort of community run vibe to things. I think you know when they decided to—to ghost Rayla, and before that Rayla’s parents, I think that was probably a ‘let’s all come to a consensus before we make a decision about something like this’. I think, Devon, if you want to talk about the kind of like sunlight vibes things, because that was a big part of your driving force behind how this episode looked and felt.

DEVON: Um… well… first, I will say that it was potentially from the top down a complicated visual decision to have episode 3 take place in a Moonshadow elf shady forest grove and also the kingdom of sunlight.

IAIN: Yup.

DEVON: It created a couple production problems in terms of like the way we wanted the Silvergrove to look was very like evening themed and cool colors and you know shaded. And I had this really sort of self indulgent thing where I really wanted it to be as close to night time as possible and yet the story line in Lux Aurea was clearly taking place in the middle of the day. So we came to this sort of compromise that you know it is technically daytime through the whole day and there is enough tree cover that it’s already pretty shadowy but also I think there is some magic at play that’s sort of like generally um shrouds the whole thing in more of like a night time vibe. And my inspiration for that was I’m a big World of Warcraft player, or was I don’t super play a ton anymore but I really loved Ashenvale and some of the night elf regions and they had that similar thing that no matter what time of day it was it always felt like at least dusk or like this sort of like ever—ever shaded feeling. And I indulgently kind of wanted that to be where Rayla came from. So that’s what that’s about.

IAIN: Yeah and I think they’re magical beings. They don’t need vitamin D from the sunlight or anything like that. They’re totally fine if they just get moonlight every so often.

DEVON: But yeah, don’t write a script that has, you know, moon themed place and sun themed place at the same time. It was a… questionable choice (laughs). But I think it turned out—

KUNO: Yeah, ‘cause I was wondering—I was wondering—I was like “Okay” because a lot of the stuff you run through—you run the okay, if I were to write a fanfiction how do I use this. So it’s like, do they just never like—if they like—if Callum were to say live in the Silvergrove would he just have to get used to the fact that like it’s just never totally bright daylight or unless you leave the Silvergrove in the forest, uh, and like—that type of—is that what’s kind of like going on, they just like their shade?

DEVON: I think they like their shade. It’s like Scotland in the winter.

IAIN: Oh yeah, except we all get miserable by around about February when we haven’t seen sunlight in several months. But um yeah, I think it’s kind of like yeah, a combination of ‘oooh, magic’ and also just extremely, like, thick tree cover in the deepest parts of the forest. But I don’t think you have to travel too far. But uh, I think there’s a reason why everyone in that town was a Moonshadow elf and there were no Sunfire elves or random humans just like, chilling and living there. I think only the most goth of kids would be able to live in the Silvergrove without going a little bit mad.

DEVON: I mean you only have to go as far as the adoraburr field which clearly still gets a significant amount of daylight.

IAIN: Yeah.

KUNO: And you said there’s not really like a leader. They do as a community, but is there anyone that like makes decisions, like is there anybody that like if they were to go to somebody, like if they have like village leadership decisions. And obviously, um, blanket statement that all this we assume is kind a little bit of headcanon so it doesn’t have to be like for gospel, but you know for purposes of writing stuff.

DEVON: Um the way I thought about it—well, to back up a tiny bit, there was actually a version of the story where there might have—this was super, super early on, we were thinking about how the story might play out and we talked about there being potentially another Moonshadow elf leader type character that they would meet who, you know, was the one who ultimately called for the Ghosting decision. But that didn’t really fit the sort of, like, very personal nature of the story we wanted to play out with Rayla specifically. Um but thinking about that and the way that we were, you know, trying to shape it—I would imagine that like the assassins are sort of like a specific group that live in the Silvergrove which is otherwise—it’s not all assassins, like, not everybody there is an assassin. And I think that means that like you know Runaan was the leader of the assassins so he might consult with the leader of the blacksmiths who may be someone over Ethari but maybe it’s him now who might consult with the other general leaders—I don’t know. Like I think it’s more of a counsel of different groups than one single authority. It just seems like that would be a better fit for Moonshadow elves than the sort of like very, very strong-army, structured, high-and-mighty feeling that the Sunfire elves have, so, does that make sense?

KUNO: That totally makes sense, a little bit like an oligarchy, I think I had the idea that like they sound like they like a counsel. Like it sounds like a elven conciliatory.

DEVON: Yeah I think like someone might say, like obviously something horrible has happened and Rayla is exactly the person we thought she was. I’m calling for a—a ghost vote. And then you know—

IAIN: With a cooler name than that.

DEVON: No I think it’s canonically, I’m sorry—

IAIN: Ghost vote?

DEVON: The canon is “ghost vote” now.

IAIN: Okay.

DEVON: But yeah, they would all sort of like weight in kind of like a town hall scenario about of like why this is obviously the correct call and they would all sort of like have to come to some sort of agreement about what to do versus the Sunfire queen just being like “mph, time for the light, light decides!”

IAIN: Yeah.

KUNO: Okay um the next question being almost a little on that, does Ethari regret, um, what does he—does Ethari regret doing the banishing spell now that he knows the truth about Rayla?

DEVON: Oh absolutely 100%. But I don’t think he would have the power to—to reverse it. Like I think he could do a quick charm to help reverse it in the moment just to speak with her but ultimately it would take a lot for him to undo it and I’m not—we haven’t talked about what he’ll get up to in the meantime, but I don’t know he would be able to pursue it so directly—I’d have to talk about it, I think it would be an interesting side thought to think about how he might pursue redeeming her in the eyes of her people knowing what he knows, but—

IAIN: Yeah I think given that we said it would take everyone to do it collectively and make an agreed decision it would similarly everyone would have to understand the truth and go back on it and ‘oh I saw her one time and she said she didn’t do anything wrong probably isn’t enough to overturn that. But yeah I think he probably felt some regret even at the moment, but you know he’s in some of the worst grief of his entire life and he’s not going to make perfect rational decisions. And I’ve seen you know some people were slightly upset that he got so angry with Rayla in the moment of seeing her but I think like when you first see the person that you’ve tried to convince yourself sort of took the most important person in your life away from you, you’re gonna feel a big mess of feelings and it will bring up some grief that maybe you thought you were just—just starting to get over, so ah. Yeah I think hopefully he can turn that around in the years to come but they’ve all had a rough time. They’re at war. It sucks (DEVON laughs). Don’t go to war, kids.

KUNO: Hailey did you want to ask the next one or did you want me to?

HAILEY: Sure I can ask it. Could you—so I mean—you mentioned a stuff—a couple things about their government system and whatnot, but is there anything else you could tell us about Moonshadow culture, like what their day to day is like, and what it means to be a Moonshadow elf?

DEVON: Um I do think that a lot of the fandom I’ve been pleased to see has picked up on this sort of idea of a fairly rigid culture and you know there’s a lot of importance placed on things like honor, loyalty, and the ability to commit to things. And um I think that could come off as pretty strict but I actually think it comes from the place of valuing a close knit community. And I think, like, to the idea that we said like they probably have some kind of counsel instead of some single authority kind of ruler. It’s—I think their day to day would be very much going about their business in ways that support each other you know? Like does that make sense? It’s—you go to the blacksmith and he does work for you and it’s friendly and conversational but it’s productive—it’s all very for the good of the community.

IAIN: Yeah I think early on in season 1 even Rayla says that you know they’re not really meant to show their feelings. So I think everyone kind of commits to doing their task for the good of the village and doesn’t gripe about their day to day until something bad happens as the entire series to this point has been driven by. But um yeah I think they uh—they’re just committed to having a good, small, close knit village life and all supporting each other the best they can. And then occasionally the dragon queen tells you to go kill someone and that’s your job so you better go do that without complaining about it.

DEVON: I think we use the words “reclusive yet intimate” in the article we put up about the two moon creatures, the moonstrider and the shadowpaw. And I liked that a lot because I think they’re reclusive in the sense that they’re a little bit shut off from the wider world and they’re um isolationist in their preservation of their own culture but they are very close to each other and that is something that they hold at such an—like a preciousness level but it’s also a bit extreme, like if you betray that in any capacity like obviously they take that very seriously. And so it’s a double edged sword if you will, to have a community that supportive and that close but also your ability to perform all of yourself for the good of that community can be your undoing so—

KUNO: No I actually kinda get that um ‘cause I’m Pacific Islander so I think we’d call that what you’d call a collectivist society where it’s like the needs of the group supercede needs of the individual so I kinda like I—it’s not the extreme I think that they are because they’re very like reclusive but um I kinda live like that in a little bit of way. It’s what I grew up with. So I actually totally get that which might be why I like that so much (multiple people laugh). Um so the next question would be how does the banishing spell work that, um, that was used on Rayla politically and magically? I think we’ve talked a little bit about politically already but magically is—I’m assuming it’s a collective decision or does each person, like, opt in? Like could Ethari have opted out of doing it or did we—did they all have to agree?

DEVON: I think everybody have to agree?

KUNO: And how is it broken?

DEVON: I don’t think you can opt out?

IAIN: Um I think ‘how is it broken’ is something we definitely want to save for—for the future uh we really hope that Rayla manages to undo that. In terms of I think that it’s just culturally ingrained that you wouldn’t opt out. Um I think they would probably just argue forever until they manage to come to an agreement. So I—yeah I don’t think there’s you know half the elves in that village who are seeing Rayla and were like “Oh hey Rayla how’s it going?” I think uh they all came to the collective decision. That’s kind of the political angle. Um sorry, what was the other part? Magically how it works?

KUNO: Yeah? How would you do it?

IAIN: I—again, you know if it’s not in the show it’s not canon, but I sort of inspired by how the entrance spell works where they do a dance and there’s a ritual and I imagine it’s kind of similar. Like I think there’s a lot of that kind of like ritualistic style of magic and it’s kind of like what you see when they put the flowers out onto the water as well. There’s you know a collective dance probably involving a lot more people, a lot more cool intricate runes that happen only with a much more somber mood than the fun, happy times of Callum and Rayla dancing around in the forest. Um so yeah it’s probably—I would imagine it’s probably tied to some whatever the saddest phase of the moon is and that’s when they all get together and really somberly and really sadly uh commit to never seeing this person again. At least that’s the part of the plan. An interesting question that I think could be something that fanfiction writers such as yourself could get into is has any one of these ever been broken before or have they all been pretty sure that they would never need to go back on it? Is that going to be something that Rayla is going to figure out for the first time ever or is there a precedent for this happening. And we don’t have an answer right now but I think that would be a cool story to think about and write.

DEVON: Oh man I love the saddest phase of the moon idea. Imagine if they do it at the new moon because it’s like the moon’s face is hidden forever. Whoo.

IAIN: Whoo.

DEVON: Sad.

KUNO: Maybe we’re birthing things while we’re doing this interview. I actually think it would be like Callum does the Historia Viventum thing and it would be so—cause now I’m just imagining this whole village doing this sad dance which is the Banish Rayla dance essentially. And like that would be so sad for Rayla to witness that just for the drama of seeing her entire village decide to just not see her ever again. And that’s like wow, I’m so sad now.

DEVON: I love sadness.

IAIN: Yeah Callum just crushing a series of Moon Opals to show such a clip show of all of Rayla’s saddest history moments (laughs).

DEVON: Oh god.

IAIN: That’d be great.

DEVON: Thanks Callum.

KUNO: Thanks Callum. Um, she’d love him anyway. But um okay so some of my favorite stuff, what was it like for Rayla when her parents had to leave her to live with Runaan and Ethari and what was that transition like for them all? How old was like Rayla too?

DEVON: This was one that we’ve had a couple different ideas about so this is another one that’s like heavy not quite canon bubble. Like if we actually end up doing a story that involves some of these details it’s likely to change and be slightly different but the versions that I’ve liked have involved her being pretty young. And because honor is such a you know key part of Moonshadow culture I think like overall it was something that she felt you know sad about because she knew that she wasn’t going to be directly seeing her parents very often anymore. And—but it was uh such a huge honor that she felt you know pride in what her parents were being selected to go do. You know, act as Dragonguard and serve as these sort of like honorific, um, warriors that left the collective of the Silvergrove to go represent Moonshadow elves in the service of the Dragon Queen. And I think she had—she grew up being told what an honor that was and how much pride she should have in her parents because that is such a special thing. And then I think like it speaks a lot to how proud she was when she believed that they ran away and abandoned that duty because you know, how could they? If that was their reason for leaving her when she was a child and then they ran away from that job, like, how important could it have really been? And then you know, I’m sure that makes her feel very, very small. It made her feel so hurt that she told Callum at first that they were dead so she took it pretty hard.

KUNO: Yeah.

DEVON: But I think the other thing about it that we’ve sort of kicked around is that like, Runaan and Ethari were Rayla’s parents’ close friends and I think she was familiar with them enough that she didn’t feel like she was being you know left with two strangers. It’s sort of just like, you’re going to be under the care of people who are already very, very close to you and care about you quite a bit.

IAIN: Yeah I think with like Moonshadow elves in general the thing I think about a lot is like the good and evil that comes from suppressing your true emotions to show a different face to the world and I think we see a lot of that in Rayla. Like I think she probably committed pretty hard to Ghosting her parents because she had this like big mess of like sadness that she’d left but at least the soft landing of Runaan and Ethari to live with and so on. But believing like this sadness is worth it because they’re doing something so noble and then the betrayal of that—it just came out in kind of a messy like toxic way, right, where now she’s committed to becoming an assassin at a really young age in a way Ethari doesn’t agree with and so on. But I mean on the other side I think having a strong handle on your emotions is often one of Rayla’s strengths right? Like we saw in episode 5 of this season after she’s going through a whole lot of stuff, both her family situation and this new development with Callum, she’s just able to like operate as a cool badass extremely cool assassin without letting any of that affect her. But you know I think there’s balance in how you handle your feelings and how you externalize them in a good way that people can learn from, but sometimes you gotta—you gotta work (laughs).

KUNO: That makes sense. Oh well yeah I always had this personal headcanon which I kind of like incorporated into my fanfictions where she felt abandoned by her parents so in a way it’s kinda like slightly—kinda like that except it was all those feelings that have been repressed from years and years basically came out when she felt like—like the abandonment came to like the head when she felt like they had left because they had ran away—they kind of like ran away like from her.

DEVON: Oh yeah, absolutely.

KUNO: In a way—their duty to—

DEVON: I think that validates the suppressed feeling, you know.

KUNO: Yeah, since their duty to the Dragonguard was in it’s own way more important and that’s something that was like okay because it was an honor but since they ran away it’s like obviously it was more important in a terrible way, if that makes any sense?

IAIN: Yeah I mean I think it’s like she did her best and she’s trying to be a grown up but it’s hard at a young age to accept that you know there are meant to be higher callings than a bond between parents and children, right? Like that’s hard for her to grasp and she probably didn’t express that openly ever really. But I think it really did help that she had two genuine loving father figures ready to accept her with open arms even if one of them did train her to become the best assassin of her generation, which again I wouldn’t advise to—to most parents out there.

DEVON: I do think like even that was considered, you know, honorable. It was you know, you’re going to—not only are you going to get to live with Runaan and Ethari, like Runaan is the leader of the assassins, or at least maybe at that point in time he wasn’t the leader but he was very up and coming. I don’t know, it could be either or, but that I think was probably something that she fully embraced and fully wanted, like you know, ‘this is my purpose in life, this is my calling, my parents have gone off to do their calling and it’s a great honor for them, and this is my path and what I’m going to do with myself’. And that didn’t end up being true but it was probably a comfort to her at the time.

IAIN: Yeah.

KUNO: That makes a lot of sense. Moving on, okay, this, we’re getting real indulgent now—do you know what Ethari and Runaan’s wedding was like and what are Moonshadow elf weddings are like in general?

DEVON: Um, I have a, so a lot of the dancing stuff is because I have an enormous soft spot for tropes involving cute dances, like, just a huge, huge soft spot. And the thing that comes to mind is, if you’ve seen the movie Prince of Egypt, which is such a weird reference—

KUNO: Yeah, I love that.

DEVON: —the scene where he and the girl, I forget her name, they do the thing—

KUNO: Tzipporah.

DEVON: —with the ribbon and they do the cute little dance with the ribbon. For some reason that’s what I think of when I imagine what a moment in their wedding would look like would be a dance with a ribbon that they sort of use to—you know, Moonshadow elves love ribbons, I guess, but this is a good ribbon! It’s a love ribbon. But anyway, that’s just my idea. I love that specific—that song that, “Through Heaven’s Eyes”, it’s during that sequence but that—

KUNO: Yeah.

DEVON: —would be my go-to inspiration for like, it’s like that and then you know, everybody dances with them because Moonshadow elves like to dance.

IAIN: Yeah, I kind of like the idea of the—there’s a lot of these symbols that are sometimes extremely sinister. I mean I think Ethari even kinda calls this out when he shoots the—the Shadowhawk arrow to inform the queen that her son is in fact alive. But like, Moonshadow elves believe that death and life are not good and evil, they’re mirrors of each other and an important part of the cycle. And you know, the moon has cycles and that’s an important part. So I think thinking about all the rituals and stuff that they have, which initially you’re introduced to as ‘let’s go murder someone party’, like if that was—there was a kind of inverse to that that was a big part of their wedding ceremony I think that would make a lot of sense to Moonshadow elves because this is two people binding their lives together forever. Binding for a shared purpose in a good way and not the grim ‘let’s go kill Prince Ezran’ kind of way.

KUNO: Yeah. Cause naturally this is involving like several ships so I’m like, I had to ask that. And on the piggyback of that, as detailed as possible, can you describe courtship customs for Moonshadow elves?

DEVON: Oh man.

KUNO: I mean like dating—dating customs, like a headcanon even if it’s just headcanons.

IAIN: Devon is deep in thought (laughs).

DEVON: I’ve never—like for some reason the—the headcanons that I’ve thought about are more specific to like, Runaan and Ethari than I’ve really sort of like branched out into thinking about how Moonshadow elves do this in general. So I imagine there’s intended—there’s some formality to it, I would imagine, in that like, because they’re so, you know, purposeful and thoughtful with how they express their feelings if at all, I think it would be, you know, exchange of gifts like small favors and making your purpose known in a way that starts small but has purpose. So I think like, there’s versions where Ethari would put extra detail into the work he was doing for Runaan which you know, could be perceived as a sign of affection or Runaan was coming to Ethari asking him to work on his weapons or metalcraft stuff a little bit more than was necessary and—stuff like that, where it’s a bit stiff and difficult but I think like once—once there is clear reciprocation I think there can be more of an open discussion about it, does that make sense? But I think Runaan probably struggled with this a whole lot, like, ‘cause he’s—did I, it might have been you who I responded to on Twitter but someone asked me something along these lines and I think Runaan had a really hard time even with this first sort of like simple offerings of affection because that’s just him. Like he sort of takes that aspect to an extreme. Like he has a hard time being like “here is the way I wish to express myself in a soft way and not with a—a sharp object. So I think Ethari had an easier time because he’s just more naturally soft (laughs).

IAIN: Yeah I sometimes think that Runaan is the most Moonshadow elf of all Moonshadow elves, but like, you know, it’s—

KUNO: I was gonna say that.

IAIN: Yeah, um, you know when they have such a hard time showing their feelings and they sometimes feel like they’re not supposed to and so on, and so Runaan is trying to pick up on the tiniest possible hints through professional exchanges and so on. And I think when it’s actually time to confess that there’s a feeling there you would, I think especially Runaan would have to be 100% sure and then do it entirely in private, the most private situation possible where there could be no possible spies who could see this if it was going to go wrong because that would just be the end of his entire life, obviously.

DEVON: Yeah he would bind himself to his own death (laughs).

IAIN: Yeah, that’s it. Gonna assassinate myself because I confessed love and it didn’t get reciprocated. That’s that.

DEVON: It’s over.

IAIN: So yeah, lot of—lots of awkward advances where they’re trying—trying to have the escape hatch of “Oh I didn’t really try to suggest that I liked you, this was just me asking you for a professional favor by let’s never speak again”.

DEVON: And then he comes back the next day (DEVON and IAIN laugh).

KUNO: Oh my goodness. Uh I felt—I—I kinda like headcanoning now that Ethari tells Rayla all this “how I met, you know, your surrogate dad” kind of stuff. Like, and that’s how she—she’s like, this is how you do love apparently.

DEVON: I do think that like, yeah, he had a much easier time and probably picked up on stuff. And to me there’s a side of Ethari that you don’t really get to see in the episode because he’s very sad. I think he’s a—he does have a playful side and I like to imagine that while Runaan was doing his, like, really just not-the-best attempts to display affection early on, like Ethari would pick up on them but not necessarily give the full signal back. And he played a little bit oblivious but he absolutely was—he’s just more emotionally in tune. So I think, “Oh hey, you’re back again, wow. I thought I did fantastic work on your blades last time. I cannot believe they’re already dull!” Like and he just sort of like, he knows—he knows there’s something there.

IAIN: I think like this kind of gets echoed in Rayla, like where Callum in an effort to pick her up and be honest about how he feels that she’s just an incredible person. Like to her that’s like, ‘person being entirely open with their feelings in a positive way? That’s a love connection!’ And then it goes wrong for one entire episode and then it turns out that Callum was also not fully aware of how he was feeling and so on. But I think like, yeah, I think that’s why she was like immediately “Wow, this is clearly meant to be romantic and this is—this is going exactly the way I want!” and then it didn’t. But then it did! So we’re all happy.

DEVON: Aww.

KUNO: I am! I’m certainly happy. Um—uh let’s see—the next one is—okay. What was Rayla like as a child growing up in a household she did—household? Um, she mentioned going to school and we’d love to know how baby Rayla fared as a student and just a child growing up in the Silvergrove and what that experience is like for a Moonshadow elf child?

DEVON: You want—you want me to do this one?

IAIN: Go for it.

DEVON: Yeah, um, I think Rayla was feisty (laughs) in a word. I think she—for some reason there’s a scene in the beginning of Korra where she’s already mastered like, three elements and she like comes out punching. I kind of think about that when I think about baby Rayla. She knows she’s—there’s that end credit scene where she’s got the two sticks and she’s posing with them and Runaan’s sort of lifting one of them up and I’m thinking like, okay so sheg’s like, from a tiny, tiny age thinking like, “I’m gonna be the coolest assassin the Moonshadow elves have ever seen!” and she’s like rambunctious about that almost, because you know, as a child you don’t really understand what the ramifications of that are but it’s considered like a highly, highly valued, honored position and so she’s obviously like, “Yeah I’m gonna do that and I’m going to be the best at it and there will never be any complications whatsoever!” In terms of Moonshadow elf childhood, I think with the way that I would think about it is—we talked about the sort of community aspect. I imagine Moonshadow elves have pretty, like, what’s the word, like, a lot of general education, sort of, like, “this is what weaponsmithing is like and this is gardening and raising crops and things to provide for the community” and so I think they would have a lot of ‘school’ that covers a lot of just like, life basics because you are expect to find a place that contributes to the collective whole. Does that like—?

IAIN: Yeah, I think like it’s also lucky for Rayla that a big part of Moonshadow elf culture is what we would call PE. Like I think she excelled at striving to be an assassin warrior and so on. Especially like, she’s trying to live up to her parents who at first were honored Dragonguard and you know, Runaan as well. I think in terms of like, more academic stuff like if there was Moonshadow elf history lessons and “let’s go out and understand the, you know, ecology of the Moonshadow forest” and stuff I think she was probably a bit kinda like, rambunctious and not super paying attention and running off and not really giving it her all and so on. Um, you kind of get that impression from early on where she knows what Primal sources are and she’ll explain that to Callum but like, when she’s talking about ‘how do you do that Moonshadow form thing’ she’s like “I don’t know, it just feels right”. Like I think that’s—she did everything very intuitively and focused on the things she cared about and understood and kinda did what she—did what she could on the other subjects, I guess, but didn’t care as much.

DEVON: Yeah I feel like if you imagine the kid that is going to grow up to be an artist is doing doodles on their math homework and just sort of like doing the math homework but—but you know, clearly the effort is being placed elsewhere. I think it’s that but she was excelling at PE and assassin training and therefore fell very, very easily into her supposed path.

KUNO: The—this isn’t on the thing, but did—did she ever—did she ever really have any friends? ‘Cause she doesn’t really mention—ever mention friends. I—maybe that has to do with the whole assassin thing where if she wasn’t learning being at school she would probably doing assassin stuff with Runaan or assassin training stuff—I guess not really assassinating. But um did she have really friends growing up?

IAIN: I think if she had friends they were not super close. And I think she valued her alone time. There’s a sweet moment early in—well end of season 1 where she like tries to cheer up Ezran by saying that fitting in is overated and I think she felt that a little bit. Um and you know I think there’s some amount of when you’re being trained in the art of an assassin like you’re probably somewhat taught to—to keep people at arm’s length a little bit, right? And I think she—she took that to heart. So I think that’s a big part of why when she was first traveling with Callum and Ezran there wasn’t that much trust between then and it was kinda like, it was Ezran honestly that bridged the gap being most empathetic number 1 child. And yeah, I think having a close friend is relatively new to her.

KUNO: Makes sense. Like just few, not the many. Um okay then next question before we get to Hailey’s batch of them are um, what are Runaan’s feelings toward Rayla as of right now and everything that’s happened since season 1? I understand he’s in a coin, he’s in a finacial crisis, he’s probably not thinking about it too hard—

DEVON: Oh my god (laughs).

KUNO: But you know, like he’s gotta be—you know he’s not doing anything right now, I’m assuming, so like what would be his feelings about her at the moment?

DEVON: I mean he’s got a lot of time to think, wherever he is. I think like—I got into this a little bit on Twitter in a self-indulgent rant at one point where I think he went through a lot very quietly during the first few episodes of the show where he very, very much wanted Rayla to succeed, even if he wasn’t necessarily like being the dad on the sideline of the soccer game, like, cheering for her. But he thought this was her moment, this was her time to prove that she really was more dedicated to you know, her cause and her people than her parents were because they had, you know, been the subject of such shame. And then ah, everything goes the way it does, I think he has a brief crisis of, “Is this my fault? Did I fail to train her well enough? Like, was Ethari right?” Because he always thought she had, you know, a softer heart. And I think like those are the types of things that he’s still stewing on, um like did—”did he overstep? Was it something—was he so eager to give her the opportunity to prove herself that he, you know, ultimately put her in a position where she could not succeed?” I think like, the other thing that I mentioned on Twitter was I think he took her off the mission both because he very, very much wanted to give himself and the others a chance to complete the mission even if it meant their deaths. But it also meant that Rayla had the chance to survive even if it was potentially going to be misinterpreted and she’d get slapped with the Ghosting, I think he believed that her alive was better than everybody being dead. So I think like, he’s got a lot—a lot to work through and I think like—I think he feels guilty. I think there’s the smallest part of him that he has the—again, a lot of time to potentially stew on and reflect on is he does feel like he put her in a position that was, you know, not fully taking into account the type of person she was and more projecting onto her the type of person he wanted her to be and gift he wanted to give her of redeeming herself in the eyes of her people for her parents. And I think he’s gonna have to work through that. Poor dude.

KUNO: That’s so sadly heartfelt. That’s so sadly heartfelt. Here I am thinking that he’d be, like, maybe a little angry with her, ‘cause obvious reason, but now it’s like, oh he feels guilty. Like, “Oh, okay, let’s just slap the angst on, okay”.

DEVON: I mean, I think like—

KUNO: Yeah, mm-hm.

DEVON: Sure he’d have some anger, like, “Awgh, I gave her everything. I gave her the exact opportunity she needed”. But I think like the guilt and the reflection leads to the “Maybe I—maybe it was me who stepped too far here”.

IAIN: Yeah, I mean another part of it is like, we don’t know what it’s like being trapped in the hell coin dimension, right?

DEVON: Oh I do. I—I mean—

IAIN: Oh you do?

DEVON: It sucks.

IAIN: Oh it sucks?

DEVON: When it happens to me on the reg (IAIN laughs).

IAIN: But you know, does it feel like an eternity is passing? Does it feel like no time has passed? Is he in eternal pain? Because if it’s like real bad—

KUNO: Oh my god.

IAIN: —in there I can imagine that like yeah there’s definitely some of those kind of anger feelings that you don’t want to feel in but you do sometimes, right? Like it’s like, if he has a snap moment of “I wouldn’t be in here if she hadn’t gone off and disobeyed our orders and, like, lied to me and so on”. So if he ever comes out uh don’t know what side of the emotional coin he’s gonna land on.

DEVON: Ohhh, please leave.

KUNO: Oh my god.

DEVON: Get out, oof, ouch.

IAIN: Finger guns.

DEVON: I do think like that sort of complex—

KUNO: It sounds—

DEVON: —emotion is just, I don’t want to give any time to that pun, we’re moving on. Like that sort of complexity of emotion and relationships is something that I really like in the show overall. Like you said earlier, you saw some people that were a little bit upset that Ethari was so willing to lash out at Rayla at first and I think like to me that was always part of the big, big thematic of the show, which is this sort of endless cycle of people being willing to hurt each other and not forgive each other and not, you know, accept that you can choose peace. It’s, you know, it’s—Runaan having that impulse to anger is a very natural thing and it doesn’t—I don’t think it necessarily makes him a bad person for feeling that. And I don’t necessarily think that Ethari having his moments of grief lead him to actions that are ultimately like, regretful, like I don’t think he would want that to define him in the long run. Like those are very human things but those are the things as we acknowledge them and as are—so long as we are capable of recognizing how flawed we are and how violent and…

KUNO: Messy.

DEVON: Messy! Thank you, that’s like, I was going to say like churning, messy is good. Like messy emotions can be and how they can like, dictate the way we treat each other, um, but forgiveness and patience and acceptance are ultimately just so much more powerful than those negative perpetuating lashing outs. That was an inelegant way of ending that screed, but yes.

KUNO: I actually really love that um ‘cause I from the beginning I’ve loved their father-daughter relationship so I love how complicated it is, ‘cause the truth is you know every parent-child relationship is a little complicated, except theirs is a little more complicated with assassination going on in the works, the family trade. So I love that it is this complicated ‘cause I know I remember in the beginning where people were like you know—you know she does have a dad. And it’s like I know she has a biological dad but until I am told otherwise that’s her father. I don’t care and I love their relationship so I love that that really reflects that. Another—the next question out of me before we get to, um, Hailey’s, which are all about different elves, is um, course I have to ask, my policy is one Rayllum question per interview. Um what are Runaan’s feelings—whah, no, whoop, how would Ruthari and Runaan react to Rayla’s relationship with Callum considering he’s not only a human but a human prince? ‘Cause as far as we know Runaan really hates, um, humans and I’d love to see that story later, both individually and as a couple. Because as far as I know, Ethari probably doesn’t know that their in a relationship unless he sensed it?

DEVON: Oh man, I—I think you should take this one, but I do want to say that I saw one comment on Tumblr at one point where someone said that they wished that Ethari had said something to Callum along the lines of like, “Take care of her”. And I want to travel back in time and pretend that was in the script ‘cause I think that would have been really, really nice. And I do think like, he picked up on the fact that Callum was important to her even if it—he didn’t necessarily read it as romantic right off the bat. I think he mostly was like, “Oh this guy is kind of like a cute—he’s a human but he’s, you know, a friend to someone I care about and that in and of itself is valuable and there’s something there”. So I think—pretend that was in the script. I wish I had thought about something like that but—

KUNO: I will (DEVON laughs).

IAIN: Yeah.

KUNO: That’s canon as far—as far as I’m concerned that’s canon.

IAIN: I think uh it would be best for everyone involved if they found out together, uh, because I think Runaan’s impulse would not be good immediately. I think like, when you spend so much time as an assassin and you drill into your head that the people that you’re meant to kill are not people, they’re the enemy right? Like I think that’s—sometimes that’s a thing he turns on to do the job and so on, but I do think that’s gonna bleed into his personality and it’s—you know, especially given his extremely recent history he’s not got the best feelings about humans. So I think it would inspire an immediate negative reaction in him that would not be pleasant for Callum and Rayla, but I think Ethari just has a much softer heart and that is where Rayla kind of got that side from. So I mean I’m not going to say that he would immediately—you know, they’ve been at war for hundreds and hundreds of years with humans and they’ve been told all through their history that humans committed the original sin of dark magic, et cetera et cetera, but like, I think it would take not that much time of seeing Rayla and Callum together for Ethari to see that there’s something there and then I think Ethari would have the ability to ah, to talk Runaan down pretty quick. But I also think that like, Runaan might not even show any of this, there might just be a kind of seething resentment that he’s not really talking about inside. Um unless it was like on the battlefield or something and he was like, “That’s a prince that I’m meant to kill” or something like that. But overall I think Ethari would sense that Runaan was not like—was not taking this well and they would be able to talk it through. At least that’s my gut.

DEVON: No, that sounds right (DEVON and IAIN laugh).

KUNO: I feel like poor Callum is just always on the edge of “Am I going to die tonight?” while he’s there, “Is this gonna be it?” Just gonna be like, “Oops sorry I had an accident—hey I had an accident in the middle of the night, you know, just a knife to the throat, that’s all”.

IAIN: I mean, he’s doing pretty well, like he said as they were about to meet Ethari and Rayla was like, “Remember Runaan?” He was like “Oh yeah, that guy who tried to kill me as soon as he met me? Cool guy”. Callum’s doing pretty well on the acceptance front these days.

DEVON: I do—

KUNO: Yeah.

DEVON: I do want to say that I think Ethari and Callum would get along really well because I think they both have sort of like a soft hearted friendliness to them that they would have a fun rapport. And that’s the sort of like “Trees to meet you” line is definitely supposed to be like—they’d you know, crack some goofy back and forths and I think that would soften Runaan too because he couldn’t ever hate someone that Ethari liked.

IAIN: Yeah, I think it’s a weird—

KUNO: Aww.

IAIN: —reversal where like Callum’s the one doing the dad jokes and Ethari’s like humoring them and Runaan’s like, “I don’t understand. Trees do not meet.”

DEVON: “Please stop saying ‘trees to meet you’.”

KUNO: Aw it never gets old. I love that. Um alright, Hailey, take it away. Your turn.

[cabin-13]

u said self indulgent nico hcs?? 👀👀

ajkdsjkkj when I say self-indulgent, it’s Self-Indulgent and i pretty much ignore richard’s canon / haven't reread the books from either series in a long time nor have i read toa but if ur really interested... (long post ahead, sorry!)

nb nico is top tier 

goes by he/they pronouns 

touristcore aesthetic that’s slowly encroaching into e-person territory

he’s The Blueprint

likes thorn from the hex girls (even the reboot ver.) but digs dusk’s look more

how is this related u may ask?

yeah, i answer

idc abt canon so he and drew are bitchy friends and drew rags on his appearance constantly while brushing his hair but throws in self-care tips btwn loving insults

nico: you know im not a boy right

drew: doesnt change the fact you look like a wet rat, sweetie <3

i will forever stand by reynico being (platonic) soulmates and im gonna b extra self-indulgent and say they were friends in previous lives too and that’s why they vibed w each other so well <3 

speaking of previous lives, well.... heh..

(no but really, this hc is kinda embarassing but , if u want elaboration uhhhhhhhhhh)

i know nico only has like. a 5th grade education but i like to think he would be a good student ... if anything i think hades would at least homeschool him with the ghosts of (famous) teachers ??? he seems to be naturally curious and he’s kind of a smart ass (not in a mean way) in canon idk

polyglot nico! polyglot nico! polyglot nico!!!! he becomes the go-to translator at camp ( like he isn't already sjkjskjdk) 

yes he would know asl. why? bc i said so and rick needs to include include some hoh/deaf characters within the greek/roman pantheon <3 (if there is, not counting hearthstone from mcga)

leo finds out abt nico knowing spanish bc he once snorted at a joke he said and now leo won’t stop telling him shit like “¿cuál es la fruta que más se ríe? .... la naranja, ja, ja, ja --”

ironically has the best hair at chb (rick once said the di angelos had silky hair in the titan’s curse i think + reyna said something abt his hair too in boo ?? i'll have to check...) once he cleans up and the aphrodite kids are seething

nico’s hair starting to gray at a young age is also an interesting concept ! i think tumblr user fuocogo drew something ft that and it stuck with me

really self indulgent but he’s roman at heart (maybe even Literally. i read somewhere that an italian fan said the di angelos fit the desc. of modern day romans better than venicians ?? if i find it, i’ll link it >>>)

 i like to think his family are legacies of victoria seeing as he’s always one of the key pieces / an important informant for winning both wars ... plus his grandpa was a diplomat and uhhh idk where I was going w this ngl

speaking of family, I need to know if the di angelo bloodline no longer exists assuming maria was an only child and there was no mention of any other di angelos aside from her parents ..? i like the idea of nico finding out that he has more family tho !!

also I would love it if rick cleared up where and when he met maria pls and thank u <3

I MISS BABY NICO’S PERSONALITY SM ... which is why i propose that whenever one of his friend’s see his eyes sparkling and arms waving while he babbles abt whatever topic, they think it’s really cute !!!! like !! keep talking !! 

 he gets embarrassed when he sees his friends smiling at him but it kinda makes him a bit teary eyed bc it’s been so long since he was able to talk abt his interests without being shut down / forcing himself to keep quiet because he felt like he was being too childish/annoying

what im saying is that he should be able to act like a kid bc he is one !!!! he's 14 !!!!!

he either has the cutest laugh or the weirdest laugh and it strictly depends on who ur asking

i feel like he sneezes like a kitten...............he sneezes and everyone whips their head around to look at him and he’s never wanted to dig a hole and put himself in it more than now

i like the imagery of tinkling bells being associated with him so im gonna sayyy he would have a necklace with a little bell (something like this kinda ??) and yes, leo would’ve made it for him as a joke kinda but not really

valdangelo (either as a friendship or nah) is underrated

like ur telling me this kid has a metal dragon and builds the coolest things ever and nico doesn't even think it’s a little bit cool ?? nah. rr did them dirty.

the kids at camp love him and i won't take no for an answer

he brings out ye ol’ mythomagic figurines to explain/show them the monsters and gods of the greek pantheon

it’s a win-win situation bc he gets to babble abt his hyperfixation and the kids get to learn abt what they're gonna get into in a way that’s better than the camp orientation film (since nico’s literally the only one who’s seen it ((but i think the stolls wanted to check it out too ??)) )

they give him a “camp’s best counselor <3333” mug and he cries abt it to reyna and hazel

yes he’s wearing an unusual amount of friendship bracelets no he's not gonna take them off shut up

unfortunately im team short!nico bc i want 2 see him get engulfed by the hugs his sisters (yes this includes reyna) and friends give him !!! 

he wears demonia platform sneakers / doc martens (and converse but that’s p much a given) thank you <3

piper/nico friendship ... I Need It

they borrow each other’s clothes constantly

leo and them clown on jason  and jason is Suffering but he loves them all so it’s ok 

piper could probably carry nico 

nico stress bakes 

yeah

he and clovis become good friends and hang out in the dream world and u know what, im gonna say they’re cuddle buddies too. clovis seems like he would give nice hugs !

im a sucker for nico having friends from different pantheons too !!! also becoming sort-of friends with gods/immortals of different pantheons !!

the underworld demigod discord gc is cursed; one moment they're all talking abt how they're pretty much fated to stay in the underworld while they're both living and after they die but the next moment someone says they want a hug and a chorus of “yeah...”’s follows.

nico was a momma’s boy most definitely 

speaking of which, i like to think that while him and bianca looked like their dad and mom respectively, it would’ve switched when they got older ?? idk

autistic nico ..... rick make it canon and not btwn the lines......

idk how to explain this one bc it’s just Plain Weird but . i feel like . nico would like?? hang out under his bed ??? maybe i’ll draw a pic or something and edit this later sjjdjkddk

this is just me projecting but he hates looking at mirrors / seeing himself in photos bc the person he sees doesn't match the person he sees in his head ?? if that makes sense ??? like he doesn't look like the nico he used to be bc of how much his appearance changed ? idk

uhhh he sometimes hallucinates, esp when he was in tartarus and in the month after coming out of the jar

maybe i’ll elaborate on this later ..

i need more annabeth and nico friendship pls...... both of them like/liked percy and now he can't stop getting clowned 

HOWEVER.... if I see one more “not his/my type” joke im going to delete my tumblr

speaking of which, i have a conspiracy theory abt Things, but i don't wanna get my ass sniped into next tuesday

introvert leo forcing himself to be the group comedian even though he’d much rather be with machines and extrovert nico who pushes ppl away so he doesn't get hurt but desiring the company of another type vibes. im not gonna elaborate.

his latest hyperfixation is pokemon and his favorite pokemon are gengar and skitty, but jirachi and mimikyuu are close seconds

has a crush on N Harmonia  and a bunch of the male gym leaders no im not gonna elaborate

this isn't a hc but. rick u really gotta stop writing abt ppl automatically distrusting nico because of his appearance / godly parent (although some were kinda warranted based of their personal history even though nico still pulled through in the end)  im getting tired of reading abt ppl wanting to like. hurt him or Actually hurting him for stuff he didn't have control of sjkjsjkdsjkdk (like wtf happened with frank when hazel got poisoned?? I thought frank actually liked nico ahjkjsjkf) 

uhhhhh that’s p much it ??????  sorry for the long ass post .. maybe i’ll write abt him more if ppl really want me to...

[yvesdot]

sorry if this has already been answered, but do you have any recommended writeblr blogs to check out? thank u!

You guys have to stop worrying; if I don’t want to answer an ask I won’t answer it! You’re not bothering me ^__^ And I don’t believe I’ve been asked recently-- I suppose I’ll list a group of people I think have good writing, are very kind people, or have seen the feature film Flushed Away (2006) with me. And, of course, all of the above.

Pre-post assurance: I have spoken to all of these people. They are very nice people. There is nobody intimidating, rude, cold, or weird on this list. If you like them or their work, please reach out and let them know! You officially have nothing to fear. It may look like I am just friends with people for mystery reasons, but there is no mystery-- I said hello and they said hello back and we had a conversation. Or I sent some asks. Or they sent me asks. I entreat you to follow suit!

@harehearts -- Waya... their little paws... I entreat you to try holding one. Or even two! But wash your hands after; they keep getting into the poisonous mushrooms. Very sweet and genuine and frighteningly prolific. I cannot believe I said more about their paws than their fantastic art and writing.

@goose-books -- It’s hardest to write about the closest people because... what do I say... Max you know I carry a lock of your hair in a cameo necklace at all times. How do I advertise you. Well, he’s fantastic at writing; he’s got some refreshingly good gay characters. None of this ‘one cis blonde gay guy’ nonsense here; you will find Jews and nonbinary people and dogs and Warrior Cats copyright violations. Keeping on an animal theme, Max is great for watching animated stop-motion-style CGI rat romance films. 

@fluoresensitive -- needs no introduction... if you want free writing, quality writing, beautiful and sensitive writing, you can find it most easily here. Yah Yah is not only an immensely talented author (PREORDER THEIR BOOK ON SUNDAYS) but also, and this is an exceptionally rare quality on Tumblr, a normal person. Not just normal, but with taste in literature and film! Beautifully worded thoughts on writing and the writing world! No writeblr drama, no thinly veiled weirdness... Just a mature adult author. We should all be so lucky. 

@concerningwolves -- Art is an extremely driven and passionate writer who ALSO posts helpful writing tips, particularly with regards to writing deaf and HoH characters! He’s both active here and good at continuously moving ahead with his writing. It’s always nice to follow somebody who is really committed to going places.

@atelierwriting -- Tris is such a little beam of joy! Her graphics and excerpts are always so clean and enticing. She’s also very well-spoken and -informed on a lot of different writing-related matters. Her layouts... her organization... her daily writing progress posts... fantastic. Keep chugging along.

@avi-burton-writing -- One of the first people I spoke to here! A lot of people know Avi as an oldie (?? he is a baby) writeblr now; he’s been around quite a while and he’s got a lot of wonderful projects. He really writes characters you can adore and follow across the bounds of space and time. Which is convenient, because they could probably do that with his fantastic magic worldbuilding.

@asablehart -- you know that one friend who seems to know everything? Fer is that friend. I am confident I could go “hey Fer I’ve got a question about the use of Latin roots in word choice for pitches” and Fer would immediately come up with sound publishing advice. Another example of someone I admire for being so organized and perseverant; they inspire me to get things done! 

@guulabjamuns -- we need Ari. No really I had been looking for someone like Ari for a very long time... you’ve got the unique takes on popular tropes, the ownvoices representation, the women, the beautiful and elegant prose, and a fantastic personality to boot! Ari is one of those people you can strike up a conversation with on just about anything. Rare to stumble across such a gem of a person. 

I suppose I got kind of mushy here, as opposed to a well-structured pitch. Well, people are more than their writing, and it’s possible you weren’t looking for just good writing. Maybe you also wanted someone to watch Flushed Away (2006) with you. In that case, this list is the ultimate guide.

[the-final-sif]

I’m not really a TodoBakuDeku fan (I don’t actually dislike that ship, it’s just not my cup of tea), though I do like the way you write them together.

Anyway, I was wondering how you feel about the ship Shinsou/Bakugou. (It’s personally my favorite ship, I feel like they’d be good for each other, tbh. Most people ship Hitoshi w/Denki or Tenya, and I’m just over here in my corner shipping him with Katsuki. They’d probably be the most blunt, honest, and savage couple out there, and I’m living for it!.. Do they have a ship name? I’ve tried looking, but I can’t find one. Maybe, Bakusou or Shingou? ShinBaku? BakuShin? Or maybe I haven’t looked around enough? Oh, well… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Omg, Bakubowl, though–! How do you feel about that ship? I honestly don’t really mind any ships people have with him, as long as he gets the love and appreciation he deserves. (Plus, I don’t really ship him with anyone else besides Hitoshi–they’re my OTP and favorite rarepair. However, I do sometimes throw Todoroki into my ship, if I’m being honest. I don’t know what the ship name would be, TodoBakuShin, maybe? I suck at coming up with ship names… How would you feel about those three in a relationship, too? Sorry for all the shipping questions.)

I kind of feel like everyone is trying to adopt Katsuki one way or another, like maybe the nitroglycerin gives off an ‘adopt me’ aura? He’s just so adoptable–is that even the right term for this?! He really brings out the parental instincts in everyone, or like the ‘you-are-an-adorably-angry-person-that-I-adore-let-me-befriend-you’ vibe. It’s like there’s a neon sign plastered on him that says 'take care of me’, or 'I’m precious’, or something like that.

Do you have any funny headcanons about Bakugou? I headcanon that when he has movie nights, he uses his quirk to make popcorn. I do also headcanon that he’s very knowledgeable about explosives, like how to make them, et cetera–wait!! What if he knows random facts and tidbits since he reads like fun facts books, that would be hilarious. Him just popping out of nowhere quoting scarily accurate facts if a topic he knows just comes up. Or would that be Todoroki? Maybe both?

Since I headcanon him as deaf, I feel like when he doesn’t want to listen to someone’s crappy explanation he takes out his hearing aids or lowers them down, in front of the person (like if he had been told to behave before this by like a trusted adult and some random person came up to him talking crap, it would be his way of behaving but also telling the person off, acting passive aggressively. Or maybe he would immediately shut the person down with harsh but polite words? Idk, what do you think?). 

Sorry for the rambling!!!

First of all, never apologize for rambling at me, I love it!

Second, I haven’t encountered too much Shinsou/Bakugou stuff, but I do like the concept. I particularly like it with Deaf/HOH!Katsuki, who, even with his hearing aids in is immune to Shinsou’s quirk (b/c Shinsou’s quirk doesn’t work when transmitted electronically). So, Shinsou never has to worry about accidentally mind-controlling Katsuki, and Katsuki is never scared of being mind-controlled by Shinsou. I haven’t seen a ship name for them yet though.

Tbh I’m down for pretty much any Katsuki ship too, Bakubowl is fun for sure. I’ve always had a fondness for fics where several people have a crush on Katsuki or at least think he’s pretty, but Katsuki has literally no clue. None at all. I think a key part of his character and how he interacts with others is that while Katsuki is quite good at reading people/figuring out their motivations, he doesn’t consider ‘wants to spend time with me’ to be a possible/valid motivation. This leads to him assuming people trying to hang around him have to have negative motivations & him getting frustrated/angry because he doesn’t get it. So Katsuki can end up completely clueless to several people having a crush on him, while still noticing what’s going on. It makes for a very funny/fun to play with set up.

Katsuki really just does have a vibe around him that screams “adopt or befriend me” despite his best efforts to not interact with other human beings ever. Like, I’m so glad this is an ongoing theme that Katsuki is constantly befriended against his will. People really just look at this angry explosion child and they’re like “yep, I want this one.” while he’s trying to escape.

Hmm, funny Katsuki headcanons. I really like that Katsuki is one of the few characters who can reasonably have anything going on his past/present and the class would never know because he never talks about shit unless he sees a pressing need. So you can use the miscommunication tropes but instead of it being frustratingly stupid/unrealistic that the character doesn’t say anything, it’s perfectly in character for him to have not mentioned things. This leads to a number of funny/baffling situations, such as:

Katsuki having near 100% knowledge of who has a crush on whom in the class (himself excluded in either direction), only brings it up when someone is directly whining to him about their “unrequited love”.

Katsuki knowing who the traitor is, and actively feeding that person false information, assuming the teachers already know who the traitor is. The teachers are not aware of who the traitor is, and unaware Katsuki figured it out, until Katsuki mentions it way too casually one day.

Katsuki went through a number of very dangerous situations when he was younger. Thought nothing of it, and has never talked about any of them until it randomly becomes relevant. Mentions it casually and then can’t understand why everyone is making such a big deal out of it.

Katsuki in general having a lot of random, specific knowledge is a lot of fun to play with, because you really can just give him almost any skill set/fact set and have it be perfectly in character for him to know.

I do really love the idea of deaf/hoh!Katsuki just taking out/muting his aids whenever he doesn’t feel like listening to someone. Ideally, he would do this to at least one villain who he knows he doesn’t need his hearing to fight. It’s a very Katsuki thing to do. Tbh though Katsuki would probably just walk away or interrupt them instead (see him bitchin @ tomura during his kidnapping).

[hellogoodbye741]

All the book reviews I should have been doing in real time, but imma piece of garbage(tm)

Please ignore this second (or possibly more if i don’t have enough space) long ass post

Reading Lolita in Tehran:

I really enjoyed this book. I’m not a huge fan of a lot of nonfiction writing because of how monotonous they can be, but this wasn’t like that. She really told a story about her (the author) and a bunch of young woman in Tehran reading Lolita and other banned books, and it really resonated with me.

:)

Hidden Figures:

I had been told several times that this book was not going to be what I expected and that I should read the children’s version of it instead because that was more like the movie. Should have listened. I enjoyed the book, but it focused way more on the scientific side of things instead of the more story-line aspect of history. Not saying that it wasn’t great and a fascinating read into such pivotal people in America’s timeline, it just wasn’t my thing.

:/

Virals:

I had been putting off reading this series by Kathy Reichs because it wasn’t the Tempe Brennan character, and therefore I did not care. BOY WAS THAT A WRONG OPINION. This book (and the subsequent ones I have since read) are amazing! They were written with teens in mind, but you can enjoy them at any level. They are chocked full of sci-fi fun that keeps you begging for more and more. I say this about very few novels, but I would totally read again.

:)

Noir:

I absolutely adore Christopher Moore books. I have read several of his, and have never found any at fault. This one, however, wasn’t up to par. It was okay, but not like his other works. I couldn’t get into as much, and it wasn’t as funny. The story is written very much like a noir-style movie, so I could find no fault in that, but the twist at the middle/end was very unexpected and left me confused. I think I would have to give it a read and more pay attention to more finite details to make sense of it.

:/

Number One Chinese Restaurant:

I was expecting to really enjoy this book, but honestly, it kinda sucked. I didn’t really like any of the characters, and never felt any sympathy for any of them even when they were going through struggles. The writing was a little choppy, and the constant POV change was jarring. It was a little bit of a struggle to get through, not gonna lie.

:/

The House That Lou Built:

I know this book is meant for younger audiences, but I absolutely adored it. Like I have nothing else to say, it was adorable and I will protect it with my life.

:)

Crazy Rich Asians:

I enjoyed this book. I’m not a huge fan of multiple POVs, but the way they did it in this book wasn’t bad at all. I really want to see the movie and see how it compares.

:)

Da Vinci Code:

Tis a classic I have read several times over. Dan Brown got it going on.

:)

Post Mordem:

I love the Kathy Reichs books and have read several of them (unfortunately not in order).  This is the first book in the series, and I really liked seeing how it all got started. Kathy Reichs tries to make sure to make the science aspect of the book both for the idiots and the people who know their shit, which is great. Gotta represent my North Carolina ladiesss

:)

77 Shadow Street:

This book was all kinds of fucked up. Every time I thought I got the plot and what was going on, they fucked me over again. I said “what the fuck” at least once every chapter.

:(

Raisin in the Sun:

Don’t know how it took me so long to read this play. Absolutely adored the characters and the storyline, and the resolution at the end was bittersweet. Would love to see it performed and get the true experience and emotion.

:)

House on Mango Street:

I have read this book a handful of times too, and I enjoy it every single time. The book is short and sweet, and the poetry graceful and moving. Will probably read again and again in the future.

:)

Whipping Boy:

I first read this in the 4th grade and it has resonated with me ever since. It takes like an hour to read, but it is filled with so much in the meantime. All about dat bourgeoise bullshitttttt and how it can be rectified.

:)

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson:

Haven’t read this since elementary school, and had forgotten how sweet this story is. The trials the young girl goes through and how she triumphs, in the end, leaves me with the biggest smile on my face.

:)

Red Scarf Girl:

Also been a while since last reading this book. It’s a beautiful and tragic story about the rise of communism and the struggles that everyone in their country faced. I think it was based on a true story but honestly can’t remember. Would definitely read again.

:)

Journey of Little Charles:

This was an endearing ‘growing up’ historical novel. I enjoyed it.

:)

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letters to the World:

This was absolutely GREAT. Such a beautiful way to explore and introduce the LGBTQIA+ community to younger audiences.

:)

Children of Blood and Bone:

I really enjoyed this book, and want to read the rest of the series too. It was a very immersive story that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole story.

:)

Chaos/Code/Exposure:

I’m just going to do these three as one since they’re all part of the same series. I really enjoy the Virals series, and each time you think there’s nowhere else to go, Reichs and her son introduce something you would have never expected.

:)

Sing, unburied, sing:

Thought I was gonna like this one more than I did. It just kinda lagged for me and was hard to get into.

:/

Lucky Broken Girl:

I thought this was a beautiful and heartbreaking book (and true story) about a girl who is confined to her bed practically paralyzed. It was nice to watch her get through her struggles and come out on top in the end.

:)

Finding Langston:

This was a very cute story about a poc country boy going to the city and discovering himself through a love of books, and though it is meant for younger audiences, I enjoyed it immensely.

:)

The Dollar Kids:

Another cute story meant for kids about finding one's self and working through trauma in a way that children can understand.

:)

Winnie’s Great War:

It’s the absolutely true story of the English army adopting a bear in the 40s told through the POV of the bear. I do not need to say more.

:)

Ballet Shoes:

I’m a sucker for three young girls following their dreams and one of them being ballet. Yaas queen.

:)

Song for a Whale:

An absolutely stunning tale of following your dreams and fighting through all adversities to get there. Also, the main character is deaf, and being HOH myself, loved having the representation (even if the story if for younger children).

:)

It’s Not a Perfect World, but I’ll take It:

Told from the perspective and real-life story of a girl living with autism, and some things that can help others learn how to accept that they are just like anyone else, and some things on how to make life a bit easier. Loved seeing life through that perspective, even if it was only for a little while.

:)

Rapunzel’s Revenge:

Loved this comic’s twist on the classic tale of Rapunzel. Rapunzel takes her life into her own hands and kicks ass

:)

Ghost Doll and Jasper:

This was a perfect mix between cute and creepy. A combination most would find weird, but I loved it!

:)

Color Purple:

I’ve been hearing about this book for as long as I could remember, but never at any point had anyone ever talked about the plot?? It wasn’t what I expected at all, but it really made me feel something,

:)

We Will Not Be Silent:

NEVER AGAIN MEANS NOW, NEVER AGAIN MEANS NOW

:)

The Woman Who Smashed Codes:

A fascinating read, but on par with Hidden Figures where there was a lot that I just didn’t understand.

:/

The Lowlands:

It took me almost 3/4 of the way into the book to actually get into the plot and understand what was going on. Maybe another read-through might help, but eh.

:/

1776:

I love history, but the sheer length of this book and the unending quality about it was #strugglebus

:/

Born a Crime:

Nobody should be born illegal, nobody should be illegal period. Trevor Noah, I’m sorry a rude ass country did that to you.

:)

Stalking Jack the Ripper:

Yooooooo, read this shit!

:)

Winnie the Pooh:

You already know who it is

:)

Eragon:

It has been so long since I have read this series. I had forgotten how long the books were, but #worthit

:)

Titus Andronicus:

Did not understand it while I was reading it. Saw it performed the next day and was like “ohhhhhhh, i get it now”

:/

How to Train Your Dragon:

Nothing like the movie, at all. Still cute tho.

:)

Howl’s Moving Castle:

Was just like the movie, except even more. There was a whole other plot point that just added to the concept of Howl that made it even better.

:)

Other Words from Home:

Beautiful story of a young girl moving halfway across the world and dealing with the hardships that come with it.

:)

Hunting Prince Dracula:

Do you like UST between two dork scientist badasses??? READ DAT SHIT

:)

Sweep:

This was both incredibly sweet, and absolutely sad, while also throwing in some kill the capitalist bourgeoise and I loved it.

:)

Errant Prince:

Four words-

Gay.

Trans.

Wizard.

Knight.

:)

Diary of Anne Frank:

You get so enamored with the girl she was, that you forget that she never got to the be the girl she could have been.

:’(

The Help:

EAT

MY

SHIT

:)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf:

Not a big fan of the random and multiple rape scenes, and the plot was hard to follow.

:/

Hunger Makes me a Modern Girl:

It was a good, short read.

:)

In Another time:

I got straight and happy couple baited and I was denied but in a beautiful way so #allowed.

:)

A Place For Us:

Another one where the plot was a little hard to follow, but I actually enjoyed it nonetheless.

:)

Sun is Also a Star:

Thought I was gonna be denied my happy ending, turned it around on the last page. Hell yuss.

:)

Prodigal Summer:

Thought I was gonna enjoy it more since I too am from rural Appalachia. Nah

:/

Zombie:

Alright, okay, a little fucked up, okay, okay, WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED, the end.

:/

Fox8:

I cried at work reading this????

:)

Fire and Fury:

Not my thing, nice to see what’s up tho

:/

Song of Achilles:

GAAAAAAY

and

TRAGGGGIICCC

:)

Genesis Begins Again:

No matter what anyone says, you’re beautiful

:)

[anxiousr0b0t]

Fire Extinguisher Characters:

Phoenix ‘Nick’ Sterling: The 24 y/o protagonist who is the sole survivor of the Sterling family murder-arson. Because of his interest in drama in high school, he’s very good at hiding his poor mental health or at least he thinks he is. He loves collecting music records. When he’s not doing Sterling Shit, he’s working at his publishing job as a book editor.

Caitlyn & Matthias Sterling: Nick’s adopted twin siblings. They’re both jocks- Caitlyn plays lacross and Matthias does tennis. They’re ruthless towards Nick, and it didn’t help that their large birthday parties every year overshadowed Nick’s birthday, who would only receieve a check of money from his parents.

Rebecca & Thomas Sterling: Nick’s adopted parents. Rebecca is a socialite housewife, and Tom’s the stoic company owner.

Elliott Hawkes: The 25 y/o firefighter who saved Nick’s life. He has a passion for houseplants and gardening when he’s not working.

Kate Hawkes: Elliott’s adopted Deaf middle school age daughter. She primarily uses American Sign Language to communicate, but she knows English just as well. Her public school has a decent deaf/hoh population, and her father knows a lot of ASL. Nick learned some too in high school out of curiosity, because he lost some of his hearing in the car accident.

Isaac Sterling: Nick’s foster son. When Nick learned of the corruption occuring in the orphanage he gave funding to (he went on a kind of Help Everyone rampage after feeling bad about the custodian’s injury), he got every kid in their care adopted or into good foster homes. Except Isaac. Nick looked at the kid’s files and knew that he had to help him. Cue a clueless new foster father panic-texting Elliott for help, and Nick taking Isaac for impromptu grocery shopping to get him some food that isn’t Junk.

Robin Wright: Nick’s therapist.

Carl Williams: The school psychologist that tried to help Nick out in high school before his adopted siblings found out about the appointments and shamed him into stopping (They told the whole school, and his parents Talked Shit about him seeing a counselor since he doesn’t have any “Real Problems”)

[shadowtearling]

NOVEMBER 2018 — This was a reeeeeaaallllyy good month, quantity- and quality- wise. I found myself genuinely enjoying the books I was reading, which is a relief after a shit year thus far tbh. It’s like I remembered to have feelings! Wow! I’m human. Also a crybaby. So many tissues...

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I was so nervous going into this because it’s so beloved, and nothing sucks more than being disappointed by a widely loved book like this (plus I already told myself I was never going to touch this series LOL @ past me, you fool). The first quarter was difficult to get into because there’s just so much information withheld from the reader, and, at one point, I started to become frustrated, feeling like an idiot for not knowing what the hell was going on. As the book went on, I found myself just wholly engrossed in Lyra’s character that not knowing became a secondary priority. It didn’t matter anymore that I knew absolutely nothing as long as I was on this journey to finding out with someone as witty, clever, and kind-hearted as Lyra. I was rooting for her the whole way through and was genuinely panicking when she was in danger. The second half is definitely much better than the first just because it feels less like fumbling around in the dark. Her parents are freaks. Bear dad for the win. Also, that ending... how she just gonna do That? girl.. Gonna try to read the rest of the series whenever that happens lol

My Plain Jane by The Lady Janies (Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows)

This was so. much. fun. I was reading this at a Barnes and Noble, while sat near this group of old men (who don’t know each other) talking about who knows what, and laughing out loud every few pages. (One of them finally got fed up after a few minutes and asked me what I was reading—I was literally holding the cover up, but I digress—and I struggled to explain that this is a Jane Eyre retelling full of nagging ghosts. How can such a Serious Novel™ possibly have a laugh-out-loud retelling? It works (but only because they throw every single fact out the window). If you really love Jane Eyre and Charlotte Brontë, this may not be the book for you. They mischaracterize both women, and while I didn’t mind, others might. This is also a pretty straightforward retelling of the novel in that the very basic structure is there, but I found that I kept turning the page because I wanted to know how exactly they would deviate from the original storyline. I really wasn’t disappointed. I especially love the Rochester shade. :)

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sigiura

It’s not like it’s a secret that I don’t like this book. I really just talked this to death. The first half was going okay, but Sana, the main character, was really bland and had no real passion or interest that gave her character dimension. Oh, and there’s a million cheating plotlines that were resolved terribly. Find you a better book. Read my lengthy review (in which spoilers are involved).

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

I didn’t mean to love this as much as I do. I was scared about it at first, wondering if I’ll love it more or less than Uprooted and terrified that either outcome would be true. Thankfully, I love this differently to its predecessor. I think Uprooted is just so special to me in a way where I felt like it was the only companion I was afforded when I had no one else. I read that book during a really terrible time in my life lol. But this one reminded me why I love reading, after a whole year of feeling terrible that I couldn’t find it in me to give a shit about any of the books I was picking up. It’s the perfect atmospheric book, and I definitely picked it up at the right time, with the cold just beginning to settle into my bones. I fell in love with Miryem and Irina, and it makes sense because they’re mirrors of each other. What I love most, probably besides the ending, is how none of the characters are willing participants of their fairy tale, but they’re clever enough to know how to work the system so they at least survive it. And survive they did. I also loved how every perspective felt distinctly different from the last that I never found myself wondering from who I was reading. One more thing, Mirnatius is very dear to my heart. (His character, though, is questionable because he’s the only dark skinned person in the story, and he’s also literally the devil. I don’t know how to process that because I know he’s also seen later on as a victim, but like.... still... lol)

REREAD! We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

I love this book a lot. I was feeling all sorts of feelings, and I wanted to let some of that emotion out. I still think this handles grief and loneliness so well. I think because I’m in a different place than I was when I first read this, especially regarding to those two things, my reaction and takeaway is extremely different. First read, I was mostly dealing with the suffocating weight of loneliness. Now, I picked this up specifically because I’m grieving, differently from Marin, but nonetheless grieving. Who knows, maybe when I read this again in the future, I’ll once again be in a different place and I get something completely different from the first two times. This book is great for any occasion, though. If you want a good cry, for whatever reason, this is It.

The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale 

I enjoyed this book, but I doubt this is something I’ll remember a year from now. I liked the writing, simple but compelling. I thought that Alys’s apathy was done really well. I was caught off guard and cried a little (I’m sensitive, Aubrey), but I love that. This is a really slow book, with a whole lot of nothing happening. I like books like that, especially because this made up for its slowness with the atmosphere. My problem is that the ending was rushed, and it became extremely obvious that Alys was not a character who does things; rather, things happen To Her. The other issue is the love interest/story: I don’t mind insta-love as long as we see relationship growth within the novel. Because of time jumps, we almost never see the two have moments together that weren’t for the sake of the plot. It was hard to believe, then, that devotion they had for each other when they barely interacted on the page. It’s Average.

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

I tried talking about this twice, and twice I cried. I’m really just the snot machine this month, huh? Okay but seriously, I am genuinely so thankful to Kelly for writing Filipino characters in her books. I am a whole ass adult crying about representation in a middle grade novel because that’s how much I needed it. Much like The Land of Forgotten Girls, there’s not really a plot. This is more character-driven, filled with stories of everyday magic and the power of friendship. My favorite part is Virgil’s relationship with his grandmother that reflected my relationship with my grandmother, even though the two ladies are vastly different from one another. ALSO, if you’d like a book with a really wonderful deaf/HoH rep, this is your friend. Valencia was a delightful character to read from.

Ajax Penumbra, 1969 by Robin Sloan

Forgettable but fun! I like learning about Mr. Penumbra’s origin story, and I would be glad to read more of him were there more. This was too short, imo, because Sloan introduced some interesting new things to this world that had great potential (particularly the bookstore and its previous storerunners) and weren’t given enough time to fully develop. As with the book, I really won’t remember this by the time the new year rolls around. It was fun while it lasted.

[fatedreamt-blog]

Every. Odd. Number. choose a muse i love you

detailed oc questions. / open. 

1. What’s their full name? Why was that chosen? Does it mean anything?

cole’s full name - corazon lumaban - was chosen after the nickname cole! and cole came from broccoli bc it’s a… i don’t wanna say gag bc that doesn’t rlly fit but neither does theme? in their story. a lot of the names i choose for ocs are usually just names that fit right to me / the character. i don’t… put a lot of thought into them which maybe i should but? fhskjh either way, names are chosen based off a theme / aesthetic i want to convey ( cain / abel’s slight biblical themes and the story influencing cain’s, houston’s name being based off of houston, texas, and texas being, for me anyways, the first state you think of when you think of southern, etc ), or are just made up on the spot / randomly given based on the feel it gives. rhys’s last name, matthews, was an on the spot name, and so was katherine’s first name. 

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory? 

monroe had a good childhood! they had hearing but supportive parents who made sure they learned asl at a young age. they attended a deaf/hoh school when they were younger, but switched to a regular public school when they got older bc they wanted to meet more people. of course, they have bad memories in relation to being hoh, but the good far outweighs the bad. 

stribog had… a complicated childhood. his parents were there, but because he grew up in a large family and a large household, he eventually grew to get used to being excluded or forgotten. he likes to think it’s not his parents’ fault, and has fond memories of having cole over, or playing with his siblings. he had a good relationship with his siblings - with its obvious bumps of course - and is okay with the childhood he had. 

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults?

leaf has 2 step siblings named tomone and masao. her relationship with them is… very strained, and the comparison made to them by her parents fueled her inferiority complex. she’s very bitter towards them and doesn’t really like to talk to her family, because while tomone and masao are friendly enough, something about them always digs up memories and makes her feel bad. it doesn’t help that when she still had contact with her parents, they still compared her to her step siblings even when she turned 18. she cut contact with them when she turned 19.

mk’s older brother and guardian is bryan admon! he was sorta… thrust into this older brother slash guardian figure because their dad started to become very busy and absent, and their mom died giving birth to mk. they have a close relationship, and while mk is omniscient, bryan still takes care of them as best as he can. he doesn’t understand a lot about them or their obligations because he’s just a regular ol human, but he tries his best to help out and support them. he’s a good.

7. Did they have lots of friends as a child? Did they keep any of their childhood friends into adulthood? 

……i’m looking at my ocs list and i don’t think any of them really were popular as kids…? i’m sure they had the occasional friend ( ash, noah, monroe, etc ), but some of them were isolated and didn’t make friends easy. i’d say miriam kept some of her childhood friends well into adulthood!

9. Do animals like them? Do they get on well with animals? 

synne, the druid they are, LOVES animals. they connect with them better than they do with most people, and in modern au, work at a pet store. animals usually like them. micah and monroe love birds specifically and are probably friends + part of the same birdwatching club. birds like micah, and a specific family of birds that made residence in 1 of their flower pots like monroe. 

11. Do they have any special diet requirements? Are they a vegetarian? Vegan? Have any allergies?

katherine and rory are both vegetarians! the former also doesn’t like eggs, just because she dislikes the texture, and needs more protein in her diet. neither of them have allergies. rory makes Amazing veggie burgers and really goes out of his way to replicate certain food, but vegetarian. he tries to shy away from animal-based products, but isn’t super strictly vegan. katherine just… throws together whatever she can for dinner. she adjusts easily. 

13. What is their least favourite food?

noah… does not like anything with a chunky texture, and especially hates cottage and blue cheese.

15. Are they good at cooking? Do they enjoy it? What do others think of their cooking?

ash is pretty good at cooking! so is micah, rory and andy. other people are in a general consensus that they make good food. toby… we know of his cooking and eating habits and no one approves of them

17. Do they like to take photos? What do they like to take photos of? Selfies? What do they do with their photos?

andy loves taking photos!! she likes remembering and commemorating events and will insist on taking pictures whenever she can. she likes to organize them into albums on her phone, or make them into scrapbooks. she seldom takes selfies of herself. as she is a model, she figures she has enough photos of herself out there.

micah, on the other hand, has no photos of him available. he tries not to get into pictures a lot, which andy is understanding of. it’s probably connected to the fact that there’s no information about him anywhere. 

19. What’s their least favourite genres?

jo doesn’t like music that’s loud for the sake of being loud.

21. Do they have a temper? Are they patient? What are they like when they do lose their temper?

rory… has somewhat of a temper? he gets really protective which manifests in aggression, but it’s not angry. you can tell he’s angry when he’s oddly silent and quiet, a simmering kind of rage that bites at you. he’s really patient though. the same applies to toby - no one’s really ever seen him angry before, but when he is, he goes silent. it’s terrifying. 

jo doesn’t have a temper, but she does have a bit of an explosive anger. when she’s really mad at someone - which doesn’t happen often, because she’s usually a chill and easygoing person - she just bursts and yells. it’s a lot. 

leaf cries when she’s angry. she doesn’t get angry too easily, but there are things that poke at her, and she’s just sobbing when she gets mad. 

23. Do they have a good memory? Short term or long term? Are they good with names? Or faces?

houston and mk both have excellent memories - it comes with being omniscient. they remember faces and names easily, even far into their life. leaf’s forgetful, and usually has to write things down to remember them. 

25. What do they find funny? Do they have a good sense of humour? Are they funny themselves?

miriam loves videos like that one video of the girl asking alexa to play baby shark. it more makes her smile than anything else, but it brightens her day a lot. she also finds karma and irony funny, and has a pretty good sense of humor about things.  she’s pretty funny! she has a very specific brand of humor.

27. What makes them sad? Do they cry regularly? Do they cry openly or hide it? What are they like they are sad?

as mentioned above, leaf cries a lot. it’s the first reaction that comes to her. not a lot of things make her sad enough to cry, though, but sometimes she’ll just randomly remember something or something will dampen her mood a lot and she’ll cry. she’s grown to cry silently, and will often hide out in bathrooms of public places sometimes. she has a game with herself that it’s her “goal” to cry in every public bathroom. it helps her cope. she’s a lot more cheery when she’s sad as an attempt to hide how miserable she is. 

29. What do they do when they find out someone else’s fear? Do they tease them? Or get very over protective? 

micah gets protective and tries to steer them away from their fear if it pops up. rhys’ll probably use it against the person if it’s not a loved one, and will likely use it as a part of his fear tactic.  

31. Do they drink? What are they like drunk? What are they like hungover? How do they act when other people are drunk or hungover? Kind or teasing?

stribog drinks to cope, but it’s not that often. just when he’s really stressed. he gets very quiet when he’s drunk, very emotional and honest, and doesn’t really get hangovers. he comforts other people when they’re drunk and tries his best to be kind towards them. rhys has no alcohol tolerance and tries not to drink in the first place.

jo refuses to drink at all. it’s not her thing, and she doesn’t want to be involved in it. 

33. What underwear do they wear? Boxers or briefs? Lacey? Comfy granny panties?

andy wears all sorts of underwear! nothing else to say about that - they’re usually very cute and pretty though, and typically patterned.

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure? 

cain’s guilty pleasure… bad sitcoms. he finds them fascinatingly enjoyable in a weird, sadistic way. they’re so bad they’re funny to him. he also likes things that remind him of his childhood - stuffed animals, for example, are one of them. his unguilty pleasure is long, detailed novels.

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction?

ash is a fast reader! she likes reading, and definitely likes poetry. mary shelly’s one of her favorite authors - or at least, good to read - and she likes the last man and the mortal immortal. she enjoys books that deal with moral dilemmas and reality, but is also a sucker for romance novels. she tends to lean towards fiction, but will read nonfiction sometimes. being a librarian, she has a wide array of book to choose from.

39. Do they like letters? Or prefer emails/messaging? 

monroe likes the aesthetic of letters! while emails and messaging are quicker and easier, they like receiving and writing letters. there’s something so weirdly nostalgic and heart fluttering about getting a hand written letter in the mail to them.

miriam prefers emailing and messaging, but will always send hand written thank you notes whenever she or her kids get a gift. 

41. What’s their sexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do they like/need in a relationship?

cole is pan! they don’t really have any specific type, but they do tend to fall in love with sweet, kind, quiet people. people who are unassuming, but try to do good. they like and need trust in a relationship, as well as understanding. sometimes they’re not doing so hot and they need their partner to know that they need distance. i’ve got a Whole meta about leaf and love/relationships in my metas tag, so i don’t think i need to touch upon that hgkjsh

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people?

miriam is christian, and has definitely used religion as an anchor. her faith’s helped her during hardships in her life, and thinks it’s a good stability to have in life, but understands why other people may not believe in god and respects that. 

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves? 

mk describes themself as an oddity, an ethereal abomination. they know they’re not ordinary, and fully embraces that, even using it to freak people out sometimes. a lot of kids - and adults, occasionally - do think they’re weird and a freak, which isn’t something they really… like. they don’t like being called a freak. mk thinks that they’re a pretty okay kid. 

rhys sees himself as… well, a machine. he does think highly of himself, but it’s more that he thinks highly of his origin than of himself. it’s not oh, rhys is better, it’s oh, robots are better. he really has no opinions on himself otherwise. people see him as a charming person, usually, because that’s what he presents himself as. but y’know. We All Know The Truth

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event?

micah likes dressing up! he likes making it a thing and going all out. he seldom gets to wear suits and the like, so wearing them and going to a party or something is fun to him. he likes to chit chat, and what he does puts him as someone important and charitable to a lot of people. not only does he donate a lot of his earnings, he also has a mansion / penthouse where he lets people stay if they’re refugees, homeless, coming from bad situations, etc. he gets invited to fancy charity events often, and likes going to them occasionally. 

monroe finds them stuffy and boring, and stribog gets nervous at them. rhys is practically used to them, though.

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them?

cain doesn’t like holding connections to his past, but he does have a very ratty, very old teddy bear from his mom. it sits in a drawer in his desk that’s locked, and he’s very protective over it. he doesn’t want anything bad happening to it. 

synne has their circlet, which is something they enjoy for aesthetic reasons, but it’s also a reminder on why they’re going out on adventures and the such. it helps them not lose sight of their goal. of course, their adventures and the reason for doing them have changed and advanced, but still. they take it everywhere with them, as it is part of their outfit, and is relatively sentimental. 

[concerningwolves]

Sources for Writing Deaf Language

@stormnymph asked

Hello! I just saw your post about writing deaf people. It’s incredibly helpful! I wanted to know if you had any advice and/or other sources and blogs that would help me research. I’m working on a fantasy book primarily focused on a civilization that uses sign language and next to no spoken communication. Several of the mcs are Deaf or Hard of hearing. I’m currently, very very slowly, working on getting an associates in ASL interpreting so I am moderately educated on the language and culture. While I have hearing difficulties it’s not severe and doesn’t affect daily life much. I’d love to find sources from and talk to people who are Hard of Hearing and Deaf as to how best to write a world like this.

I love sign language and the culture around it and I want to write a book that highlights the strength of that language rather then paints as a disadvantage

Firstly, your book sounds amazing! It’s a fascinating concept and brilliant example of the kind of representation we need as a community. It means so much to know that someone is out there writing this kind of thing. I’ve done two posts on writing deaf characters- one on the character tropes and the other on writing the language itself. I’m not sure if you’ve seen both or which one, so I’ll proceed as if you’re asking from scratch.

I will point out before I go any further that I became rather alienated from the deaf and HoH community in my early teen years (I’m coming back now), and my experience is with Britsh sign/pidgin sign/SSE from early childhood. So I would reccomend trawling through the Deaf and HoH tags on tumblr to find blogs from people in the community to get a broad idea of the general attitudes across different countries before taking my advice here to heart. I would also make sure that you get sensitivity readers when you go into the beta process who are deaf/HoH themselves in order to double-check that everything in your book is done as well as it can be.

Include different languages and dialects

You’ve mentioned the culture of ASL, but it would be important in your book to acknowledge that there is a multitude of signed languages, not just one. There are also different dialects within a signed language culture, where the language differs from region to region. This happens in particular with newer signs like swear words, new slang and dialect-specific words. Inviduals might have their own signs for regional nuances such as cockney words (weasel as slang for coat could be different from the signed word weasel in the context of the animal, for example), or slang that belongs to one small community. The best example of this I’ve found is “devil’s strip” in reference to the bit between the curb and the road used in Akron, Ohio, might develop its own signed name that would be different from the official sign for devil and strip.

Use sources from deaf and HoH people

There’s loads, but I’ve tried to put together some of the more concise, informative ones.

Signed accents and sign language across counties and countries (A duolingo thread with a very interesting international discussion)

A day in the life of a deaf teen (an article. The name says it all)

How deaf people think (A video about the mental processes of deaf people in comparison to hearing people aka, do deaf people think in voices)

Why I don’t sound deaf All the videos in this triology are really useful, but this one highlights some of the misconceptions around the way that deaf people talk (in spoken English, that is). The sign is Sign Supported English. I will add that this person hasn’t always been deaf. As a HoH person, I had some hilarity (and upset) growing up because I struggled with the phonetics. The “big girl” swings at the park were, to me, barbieque swings for most of my childhood, causing huge confusion and ann outburst when I realized people had been allowing me to make this mistake for years. Extensive speech therapy has helped, but it isn’t a perfect science.

Youtube is generally a great place. There are a greater number of rescources for ASL, purely because America is that much bigger, I think, but it’s worth a look. I may also be worth checking out the NDCS website

I hope that this has helped! Best of luck and thank you for the ask (even though it was technically a tag, which is completely fine) ʕ ᵔᴥᵔ ʔ

[franeridart]

Opinion on serobaku and serokiri?

SeroBaku kills me in the sweetest way and SeroKiri brings me back to life when I feel dead inside and SeroBakuKiri is like heaven on earth tbh I love those ships they make me feel warm !!!

Anon said:Yes but i loved minas hair like that??? So either ur hair is also p good or ur art is just that great n I’m %99 sure that it’s both, also r u ever planning to post a picture of urself?? ? I’m sorry if this question makes u uncomfortable, have a nice day!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh thank you!!!!! And pictures aren’t really my thing so that’s probably not gonna happen, but I assure you you’re not missing anything by not seeing me, anon hahaha

Anon said:Fraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! ilu

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ヽ(o♡o)/ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Anon said:Imagine Bakugo drawing pictures of his squad without them noticing. Like Kiri looking out a window or mina and Denki trying their best to study or sero scrolling on his phone. I wonder how they would react to finding his sketch book

I’m sobbing this is so nice ;A; Sero and Kaminari’s reaction would probably be along the lines of “how is this guy good at everything” haha I like the headcanon of Mina drawing too so her reaction would be a bit different, probably, but still very very awed 

meanwhile Kiri is on the ground dying

(Kiri is me)

Anon said:Lately I’ve just like…. Noticed but all your art is such high quality and honestly it looks so so good. You have such a lovely style and it’s so original and distinctive and I’m love it and you so much. Plus!!! sometimes I’ll just look through your art tag and even though I think it all looks great I can tell you’ve improved a lot, and, idk, you inspire me to work on my own art constantly and thank you!! I hope you have a lovely day!!

Oh my god this ask slayed me ???????? thank you so much ;A; jesus this was so damn nice I dunno how to react at all !!!!!!!!!!!! I hope your own art is coming along great, anon!!!! I’m glad my doodles can make you want to have fun with it too!!!!!

Anon said: i absolutely adore your art style ! it’s so unique and fascinating and pretty i die

Welp thanks to this ask I die too so it’s two of us anon o m f g (thank uuuuu)

Anon said:Ahhhh the dorm life comics honestly made me smile so much I love them the way you portray all the characters is always so nice and asfhdjd your art is my favorite AND listening to you ramble in the tags honestly makes my day better I love it 10/10 bless

This is it, they day Fran honest to god dies, cause of death: yall being way too sweet for me to take holy s m o k e s ( ;A;)

Anon said:Do you think the UA teachers hang out like the kids do in the dorms?

YESSSSSSSS Aizawa and Mic are high school friends so I’m pretty sure it’s canon they waste time together, Blood King and Dog Hound are canon pals too so they also most probs chill together too! Blood King is also the same age as Aizawa and Mic so they probs used to go to school together too!!! And with Dog Hound being 32, Midnight being 31 and Cementoss and Thirteen being 28 they’re more or less all the same age, so I like to think they spend free time together~ some scenes with the teachers make me think they’re good pals with the older ones too, it’s a really fun group of people to be honest!

Anon said:I wonder what Kiri would do if Bakugou had the flu…Or what they would do if they stepped on Legos XD It’s a funny thought. I love your art so much, you’re my favorite Bakushima artist!!

Anon said: Omg your art gives me life. I was just wondering what happens when the bakusquad get a sick? Thank you

Thank you to both of you!!!! And I could give you both my take on this, but would I be able to make it better than BnHA SMASH did? Probably not, that thing’s so hilarious t b h hahaha

Anon said:OMG IS JIROU PLAYING UKULELE?! I PLAY UKULELE!!! OMG

Yes she is!!!!! I like to think Jirou’s got at least basic knowledge for how to play any instrument ever, so when she’s laying around in the common room once she got used to her friends listening to her play she’d bring with herself the smaller and easier ones to carry! An ukulele has a super nice sound and is small enough to bring around the dorms haha

Anon said:fran!! hi!! Ur comics actually make my life 50% better everytime i see them so thanks for cheering me up everytime you post!! They’re amazing and so is everything u do!! (Love ur art style btw)…. So besides all the compliments, i have a question!! What’s your opinion on AU’s where bakugou is deaf? Would u ever draw something related to it?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I think I already answered this question? At some point? But I can’t find it, so in general my take is that I highly doubt Bakugou’s body isn’t built to withstand and not take damage from his own quirk (since his hands are made to hold up with it, I feel like the rest of his body is tailored around his quirk too), but I’m always up for disabled characters and the idea of Bakugou signing is beautiful to me, so I don’t mind the AU one bit! Dunno if I’ll ever draw for it tho, drawing jsl when I don’t know it is hard. I know that from experience.

That said, I do find the fics in which Bakugou becomes deaf because of his quirk a bit hard to believe most of the times? Because in all of them his ears are the only things taking damage for the continuous use of his quirk and I just sit here like, his eyes should be taking damage too. Normal eyes aren’t made to withstand explosions and stun grenades every day all day, so if his ears aren’t biologically made to hold against his quirk his eyes shouldn’t be either. 

Like, I read those fics and I find them real hard to believe because the authors aren’t pushing it hard enough, for me it’s either no damage at all or hoh AND visually impaired Bakugou, boy can’t be only half built to withstand his quirk that’d just be silly haha but that’s probably just me, the AU is Good 👍

Anon said:The Mirio eyes on that last pannel. Everyone needs Mirio eyes. (also don’t even try to convince anyone Kiri doesn’t steal Baku’s sweaters too)

He started doing so once he found himself with no hoodies left - he isn’t the type to just steal people’s clothes, I think, but if Bakugou started doing so first he’d probably find it acceptable to consider all their hoodies fair game hahaha

Anon said:Oh my god I absolutely adore your art so much. Every time you post something I get so excited! Your art is honestly so cute and it never ever fails to cheer me up. If I ever need inspiration or motivation to draw something especially cute, I come to your blog and look through your posts. Your fluffy art makes my heart clench and makes me grin like crazy. I just… I have so many feels about your art. It just makes me so very happy!

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood thank you!!!!!!!!!! Holy smokes!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so so happy my stuff can make you inspired to draw ;A; aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!! this made me so happy holy he ck ;u;

Anon said:Hey… thanks for all the stuff you do. It’s really great and I just wanted you to know that. Thanks………….❤️

No anon thank you for this ask, oh my g o d ;U; *sob*

Anon said:I don’t know if you readed the fic “communicate with your body” of xx_kuuhaku_xx, but If you haven’t done so, read it please. I think you’d love it

It’s the merman!Kiri one, right? I read it!!! A bit too much smut in it for my tastes, but I did like it a lot!!! ヽ(o♡o)/

Anon said:AHHHHH!!!!!! IM CRYING!!!!! I LOVE YOUR ART SO FUCKING MUCH ITS JUST SO FUCKING GOOD AND THEYRE ALL JUST SO FUCKING CUTE AND FUCK I LOVE ALL OF YOUR KIRISHIMAXBAKUGOU HEADCANONS AND EVERYTHING IS JUST SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU AND YOUR ART AND THIS BLOG SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU A LOT TOO ANON OH MY G O D THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:i just started watching servamp cause i remembered you talked about it before and i like it a lot?? kuro is #relatable and all the voice actors are so good wth 

Anon said:OKAY HI FRAN IM THE SAME SERVAMP ANON AND WTF IM CRYIBG SAKUYA AND HYDE MY SONS im so emotional over the last episode it didnt explain anything im gonna have to start the manga now and the movie and specials dont have subtitles yet help me im dying

ANON IF YOU’RE PICKING UP THE MANGA YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO THE START - the anime messed it all up, there’s a lot of missing things since the beginning!!! The anime is beautiful but the manga is 100% better, I hope you’ll enjoy it!!!!! *O* (…once you get caught up with it you’re free to come yell at me, the current arc is killing my soul)

Anon said:Fran!!! Your last comic!!! About Bakugou with a crush!!!! ITS SERIOUSLY SUPER GREAT no really, I usually see Kirishima as the one portrayed with a giant, blush-when-he-texts-me crush, but Bakugou!!! He’s a teenager too are you telling me the whole heart fluttering thing wouldn’t happen to him?? Ofc it would!!!! (He’d be kinda pissed at first, like “what is this weird feeling”, but I don’t think Bakugou would be exactly averse to it, after he realized his feelings??) Anyway TY FOR CRUSHING BLASTY

YOU ARE!!!! WELCOME!!!!!!! I love smitten Kirishima, but the lack of giddily in love Bakugou in this fandom hurts me a bit - love is a happy feeling!!! Mostly so if you can tell it’s probably required!!! And Kirishima’s super obvious about his feelings so Bakugou being able to tell is highly probable!!!!! And Bakugou can be his grumpy self all he wants, but if he’s in love he’s gonna be happy about it when Kirishima’s sweet to him!!!! That’s how I see it, at least hahaha

Honestly tho that’s my favorite sort of love, the one that makes you unable to hold back a smile and makes your stomach flutter and your heart clench in the good way, I want both Bakugou and Kirishima to feel like that about their relationship~

Anon said:On the comic captioned he’s got a crush I literally squealed it was so cute!!

;O; I’m glad you liked it omfg!!!

Anon said:I wanted you to know that your Kiribaku comics give me life and they always brighten my days! I also have a question if you don’t mind… will we see more of the domestic with kids au? Your Kiribaku dads are so adorable it’s kind of ridiculous. Thank you for all the art you share with us!!!

Thank you for liking it, anon!!!! And maybe! If I feel inspired and find ideas for it, why not! I don’t personally deal with kids often so ideas for that AU don’t come easy haha but maybe!

Anon said:You get so many notes on your artwork… do you like actually read any people’s tags on them? Because I know I have had some e m b a r r a s s i n g tags of me yelling with excitement 😂 I hope you don’t ever read those and just face palm at my stupidity. Haha anyway that’s my way of saying I love your stuff and just yell about it a lot.

………………..I do read all tags tho :O so I definitely read yours too, but whatever they were if it was yelling with excitement they made my day, 100% for sure, you’re the type of person I post my art for, anon!!!

Anon said:tfw even tho he looks kinda ridiculous, bakugou still manages to look good with that hair and outfit

Well, I still find it uncomfortable to look at l m a o but yeah he’d look good in nearly anything, he’s just that pretty ( ⌯◞◟⌯)♡

Anon said:Asdffhjllvdrhbhsd jakugou jatsuki I died oml thank you I’m still laughing and Jakugou looks Fabulous™ in your style and I’m so lame ASDFHJKLL HE LOOKS GOOD AND I’M CRYING LAUGHING BLESS

Anon said:i’M crYING JAKGOU JaTSUKI what beautyyyyyy omfg

GLAD I COULD MAKE YOU TWO LAUGH OMFG HAHAHA

Anon said:your art really catches how good Bakugou looks in those jeans (I bet Kiri really appreciates it too)

*sob* thank you !!!!! (and Kiri appreciates Bakugou however he looks 👀👀👀 he’s smitten)

Anon said:Just a stupid anon here to say I love your art and I hope you have a very lovely week! ^^ (no need to reply~)

Of course I need to reply :O you’re being so sweet, anon, thank you!!!!!!!! I hope you’ll have a perfect week too!!!!!!

Anon said:Hello!As a young poly person who found your blog before I had found love and realized I’m poly, I wanted to thank you. Your bokuroteru helped my feel okay with myself as I realized, and although I’m sad to see it end, I’m glad it’s a happy one! I have the “You polyamorous disaster” panel as my computer background!! Thank you! (also your style makes me happy, all bubbly in the heart and all) Yuuji is one of my fav characters and I love this ship as well!! Just.. THANK YOU SO MUCH

ANON you’re the reason why I draw polyamory oh m y g o d I’m!!!!! so happy the comic could help you along!!!! I wish you the best of luck in your romantic life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *O*

Anon said:FRAN. BAKUGOU and CATS. Omg all of the kitties just love him and he’s like GTFO leave me alone you furry fuckers but they love him and he’s gentle with them and he’s scared to touch them sometimes bc of his explosive sweat makes fire hazards and omg they just attack him and he thinks he’s gonna die bc he loves them too!! Fran, sweetie can you picture this?? Can you picture Kirishima’s reaction?? Like full on red blushy explosion bc omg he’s in love with a dandelion precious ball of rage Fran omg

Oh my god yeah of course I can Bakugou being an animal person is my fave headcanon ever!!!! This is so sweet too!!!!!! Oh my g o ds, thank you so much for this ask aaahhhhhhhh ;A;A;A;A;

Anon said:FRAN. My litERAL WEAKNESS LIKE KRYPTONITE LEVEL WEAKNESS IS BAKU LAUGHING. AND THE SNORTTTT. FFFFFF holy shit did not realize caps lock was on haha. BUT I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. so much!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bakugou laughing is something real special isn’t it, I so hope we’ll see that happen in canon soon!!! (⸝⸝⍢⸝⸝) ෆ

Anon said:Your OCs are so cute!! ❤️❤️❤️

*SCREAMS* THANK!!!!! YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:do you ship bak*deku too?

Not romantically nor sexually, no! I only wish them as really really really good friends~

Anon said:Ahh I’m crying because I was the Bakugou laughing anon and I was thinking about his laugh all freaking day too

It’s been four days and I’m still thinking about it so honestly, seriously thank you again, anon!!!

Anon said:Hey, did you see Tanaka in the few latest chapters of HQ? Such a precious lad, look at him go 😍 I swear no one deserves him (expect maybe you)

“except maybe you” are you out to KILL ME ANON OH MY G O D ;A; thank you - but YES he’s being amazing isn’t he!!! He makes me so happy, such a good boy, such a good character, I’m glad he’s a thing that exists in my life ╰(✿´⌣`✿)╯♡

Anon said:hi fran just wanted to tell ya that I used to love your art before BUT THEN i started drawing myself and now I realize the pain and struggling of shading and anatomy and expressions and let me say i appreciate you 100% EVEN MORE now, and if I used to love your art now I freaking ADORE it!! (also fun fact I actually started drawing bc of you, im uh,,, super executive dysfunctional so I could never get around to doing it before but YOUR ART SERIOUSLY INSPIRED ME THANK U DRAWING IS TOUGH BUT FUN)

Thank you???? So much???? Oh my g o d I’m so happy I could somehow help you find the focus to try drawing out! It is a pain, but the more you do it the easier some basic things get and the more fun you’ll have with it, it’s such a tough but rewarding hobby to have! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as possible, anon!!!!

Anon said:FRAN IS IT WEIRD THAT WHENEVER I THINK ABOUT U I THINK OF U AS A MIXTURE OF BAKU AND KUROO AND KAMI

OMFG WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE EVEN T H O HAHAHA