#I know Michael especially isn't entirely in character

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 34 SPOILERS‼️

masterlist | all lessons | season 2 | lesson 33 | lesson 35

i might be getting ahead of myself here, but are we lilith ?? like is that what's happening rn ??? he's not saying mc's name, and raphael doesn't day their name in the next scene...if so then that's actually really fucking sad 💀

it makes sense though, belphie not wanting mc to go into his head bc he's still clinging to the past and doesn't want to lose them forever like he lost his little sister forever, especially since human life is so finite compared to that of a demon or an angel or a reaper

also it's obvious by his choice of words that despite him looking older, belphie is very, very young in his mindscape, just like mammon was. i feel like this also shows how close mams and belphie are even if it's not shown much on screen in the game, or at least how much belphie takes after mammon's, if not all of his older brothers traits, for better or worse

well nvm...i still think my theory is valid though. belphie wants to go back to his old life and end up not losing lilith, but still have mc with him

i wonder how similar mammon and belphie's bond in the celestial realm is to their bond in the devildom. is belphie still as reluctant to ask for help and advice openly? is the banter still the same? are there less insults? how does the age gap here cause them to treat each other differently if at all? or the lack of angelic status?

oh i'm gonna cry

big brother mammon will always have my heart and i need more of him

we know belphie's love of stars and constellations and the night sky in general started when he was in the celestial realm, and seeing it manifest in mammon in his mindscape makes my heart happy, even if mammon isn't the reason he became interested in astronomy (was it michael? lucifer? idk i don't remember)

i also think it's very interesting how belphie's brain is actively working against him "wanting to hide from mc". he literally said "i don't want you to see the inside of my mind" and is hiding away from them. i think, in reality and in his mindscape, he's running from the fact that he has to face his feelings about the idea of mc leaving to go to the "human realm" and the possibility of losing them forever like he lost lilith

this was (obviously) not beel speaking, but his inner thoughts in the shape and voice of beel. circling back to belphie having the best and worst traits of his brothers, his insecurity and need for reassurance rivals levi's, and we don't get to see it as blatantly because he masks it way better than levi does

ok so we're here in the timeline...interesting. how much time passed between luci and dia's first meeting and the celestial war? how much time had passed between the celestial war and mc's initial arrival to the devildom? how much had belphie aged?

angels and demons age different than humans do, and belphie doesn't feel any older than like...10 or 11 at the most, but beel seems older than that. maybe its his mind warping things to make himself seem and feel younger, but maybe he really was that young. was lilith even born at this point? how old was belphie during the time of the war ?????

also i'm mad we didn't get to see michael bc i wanna know what he looks like but oh well 🧍🏾

oh baby :((((

i'm not the biggest belphie fan AT ALL, at least canon belphie, but i think it's necessary to acknowledge how his trauma severely affects the way he acts. he went from blaming himself, to blaming an entire race of people for his sister's death. he feels like he should've been the one to die, even if it meant leaving his twin without him

now, if he got a proper redemption arc after lesson 16, THEN we could talk. i think the devs fumbled his character in that regard, but my hcs about his redemption will have to suffice for now

he didn't want mc to see this dark part of himself because he hates that he still has this mindset, that he's trapped in a cycle of "what ifs" and wishing it were him instead of her, constantly ruminating and letting his anger and grief fester without ever dealing with it properly and letting himself heal. he not only thinks he doesn't deserve to heal, but that he doesn't deserve to live long enough to see himself heal, that he doesnt deserve to live at all

WHY ARE YOU BEING DIFFICULT????

i mean i knew this would happen since its only lesson 34 and there's still 6 more to go...but damn

i love and hate the fact that he's so smart. like, they could easily just ask barbatos to send them back to the human realm if it was that serious. he's clearly taken a liking to them. lucifer knows something's up, and he won't forge a pact with them until he gets to the bottom of whatever's going on

initially, i thought it was a spell to bring them back since he'd been the one facilitating the trips into the brothers' mindscapes this whole time, but this is wayyy more interesting

i feel like the barbatoses communicate across timelines, or that their lives intermingle with each others' somehow, so whatever they feel for one person in a specific timeline is felt for ever version of them in every timeline. we know barbatos, at the very least, knows that kayden is an important person in the grand scheme of things, whether it be because of the way diavolo feels about them or because they play a large part in the obey me version of a canon event

if it's more than base level importance, we can assume that there's a level of trust and love that barbatos feels for mc that stretches across time (callback to the login screen's dialogue)

maybe he gave us the piece of the grimoire for a reason outside of belphie's mindscape escapades. what if this is how we gain lucifer's trust? if a demon as powerful as barbatos can give mc a piece of his grimoire, then he should be able to make a pact with them, seeing as they're trustworthy enough to be in cahoots with THE time demon

anyways barbatos is nightbringer and you can't tell me otherwise. unless you think it's michael. then i might hear you out...i'm stuck between thinking either of them is the titular character simply because of the simultaneous lack and abundabce of emphasis on michael's importance

[lampiridaes]

HIIII

Your finally open again 🫶🫶🫶

Can i request a tsukasa, rui and nene x reader (separate) and the plot is something like the song “something stupid” more specifically the verse “ the time is right your perfume fills my head the stars are read and oh the nights so blue, and then i go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like i love you “

Thank you xxxx I’ve missed youuu

♬ now playing: "i love you..."

-> saying you love them so suddenly, so unexpectedly... are you trying to give them a heart attack?

★ — chars ; tsukasa , rui , nene

★ — notes ; HELLO H :333 finally writing this. VERY SORRY FOR THE WAIT!!!! lowkey got rlly excited to write this then BAAM. SCHOOL WORK EVERYWHERE.!!!! also listen to the song on loop as i was writing (michael buble's cover ft reese witherspoon bc i LOVE michael buble's voice) and it got me in the mood!!! I HOPE U LIKE READING THIS AS MUCH AS I LOVED WRITING IT!!!

★ — warnings ; open endings for all of them (nothing rlly insane lol) , otherwise none!

★ — taglist ; @asherenjoysart , @nogenderbee , @akitosheart , @nenes-numberonefan , @mintchocaur

affiliated with @virtualbookstore ★

★ track one: tenma tsukasa

the day before, tsukasa had invited you to go with this festival with him. there'd be lights, games, prizes... just about any other regular festival.

and yet, here you are with him. people around you are chattering, 'you won!' sound effects can be heard blaring around the entire area.

... surely, if you dropped the 'L' word, he wouldn't hear it.

"...i love you, tsukasa."

a soft yet sad smile can be seen on your expression. you really just said that for no reason, didn't you? how silly.

well, that was what you thought until tsukasa turned back at you, with this bright red blush on his face. yep, definitely heard you.

"...you do?"

this might be the most quiet you've heard from the boy. you were surprised he could even say something like that in such a meek voice.

it's all up to you now. do you want to admit it, change your friendship with him, or would you rather deny it and go back to square one?

★ track two: kamishiro rui

like every other day, you go hang out with rui as he's working on robots for a future show. as always, he appreciates your company. you're a good friend to him, and you also don't touch his works in progress without letting him know.

... also, you tend to ask him questions as he works. not too many to distract him, of course. he finds that rather cute, whether you believe it or not.

he also finds you keeping him company endearing, making sure he doesn't feel lonely... and it seems like you have similar feelings.

"i love you."

is what you thought you thought to yourself, but when rui looked back at you with a startled look on your face, you suddenly realize that you, in fact, said it out loud.

"i meant- i meant your inventions! your work... it's really impressive, rui."

great save there. he totally believed that. especially with how much you stammered.

"oh, that's disappointing. i was about to say the same back to you."

rui had that signature smirk of his, though this one... you could easily tell he lacks the regular cool, level-headedness it usually has.

whatever his intention was, it ended up making you blush in the process. this guy is really going to be the death of you, isn't he?

★ track three: kusanagi nene

you really can't shut your mouth, can you? the original plan was to simply help nene memorize her lines, making sure everything sounded smooth.

yet now you found yourself gazing at her adoringly. one thing led to another, and you just had to tell her that-

"i love you."

it was as if time stopped. you cover your mouth with your hand, gasping with surprise. nene wasn't any different—she was in total disbelief. and if that wide-eyed look on her face told you anything...

"...it's the next character's lines. i'm just... trying to help, yeah?"

the awkward smile on your face didn't make your words any more believable. not to mention, nene has already scanned over the script, she already knows what the actual line is!

"...i love you too."

... that wasn't nene's line. mostly because that wasn't even the other line to begin with, but when nene said that...? oddly suspicious, in the best way possible.

when you finally have the courage to gaze at her once more, you can even catch a glimpse of her subtle yet gentle smile.

"that's my line, after yours."

in a way, she wasn't wrong.

[lafresnaya]

so... who was going to tell me that my estimates of the tma characters' ages was WAYYY off??

and i know jonny probably meant it to be that way so that there'd be leeway for creative interpretation of the characters and all, but my brain wants them pinned down. so. here's a mini-list/research rant of my favs. presently the list consists of:

Jonathan Sims

Martin Blackwood

Sasha James

Timothy Stoker

Mike Crew !

Oliver Banks

Michael Shelley

Gerard Keay

Three disclaimers – (i) The TMA timeline is a trainwreck. Many assumptions have been made. At least half of them are probably wrong (especially where University is used as an age marker) and also my maths ability sucks because I haven’t done maths in two years, so where there are glaring issues, so feel free to correct me and I will edit accordingly :’) (ii) This is by no means definite. See above. Honestly, attempting to decipher them feels like trying to understand the Spiral. But I’m doing it anyway, because as both a fanfic writer and an academic, I want to at least try. (iii) SPOILER WARNING!! SO MANY SPOILERS! I think the only seaosn that isn't spoiled is maybeeee S5 ???

With that, let's go! [Ages are approximate & as-of 2016 / S1]

Jonathan Sims Age: 28 Birth year: 1987-1988 There seems to be a general consensus on this one. MAG81 appears to be one of the key clues here – ‘Jon says that he was about 8 during the events of the statement and that it happened a year or two after Leitner's library ended, which was in 1994. So he's born around 1987-88.’ [source: reddit]Of note is the fact that he lied about his age and pretended to be older, which is hilarious, and leads me to believe that he’s the youngest of the Archives crew – or at least, near there.

Martin Blackwood Age: 28-ish Birth year: 1988 Has worked for the Institute since at least 2009. He’s lied about having a Master’s in parapsychology, so is likely old enough to feasibly be able to have one. As all institute staff have to at least have a Master’s in something archive-related (iirc), all of them must hence be at least 22/23, assuming the Master’s courses are 1 year long. Jonny has, however, stated that Martin is either a bit older or a bit younger than Jon, and I’m tempted to believe it’s the former (see above).

Sasha James Age: 28-34, 30-ish? Birth year: 1981-1987 There’s like, nothing on Sasha. I’m assuming she’s at least older than Jon, because that might be why he began faking his age. The only possible marker would be that Sasha’s worked in Artefact Storage (for 3 months), Research (for longer, I assume) and long enough in Archives to be considered as Gertrude’s likely successor. So, definitely more qualified, and also older than Jon.

Timothy Stoker Age: 30-ish Birth year: 1986? Tim has a degree in Anthropology from Trinity College (I assume this to be Oxbridge, rather than Ireland or something, since he resides in London), and spent 5 years working at a publishing firm. This puts him at 26 (18+3+5) in 2013 when Danny was taken. As he says he began working for the Institute shortly after, I would assume that this is when he stopped working for the firm. I’ve added a bit of buffer because nobody’s birthdays are given, ever, and also there might have been a bit of time between leaving university and joining the firm and/or leaving the firm and finding the Institute. So – 30.

Okay that’s the core staff, onto my other favs.

Michael 'Mike' Crew Age: 37-ish Birth year: ~1979 My #1 avatar! I did a double-take after I worked out his entire timeline, but here’s the highlights: He was a uni student during late 1997-early 1998 when he went looking for Ex Altiora in Lion Books. I’m assuming he was a first year, because generally uni students stay in the sameish area for the whole course and I don’t see him missing out on an opportunity to Leitner-hunt just because the store was in a slightly out-of-the-way part of town. So! This puts his birthdate at around 1979-1980.

Oliver Banks Age: 28-ish Birth year: ~1987 Oliver Banks’ timeline during & post-Uni makes NO SENSE. Fortunately, we do know that he moved to London around 2005 to do his undergraduate degree at the London School of Economics. Which puts him at around 18 in 2005, and his birth year can be worked out from there. Quick rant about Oliver’s timeline: Oliver is working at Barclays by 2007, and he was recruited after graduating. Which means he both began and subsequently completed his undergraduate degree between 2005 and 2007. That’s literally impossible for a standard 3 year course. Plus, by around 2007, he’s been working for nearly a year at Barclays, so he started in 2006… so apparently he began his degree and completed it in under a year, since the academic year starts in September??

Michael Shelley / Michael the Distortion Age: 31 / 49 / early 50s (but canonically 92 at all points in the timeline) Birth year: ??? I didn’t do the research on this one, so here’s my source because I don’t think there’s any more I can add.This mess is truly Spiral-worthy, which could have been intended, but also may just be the TMA timeline wonkiness at work. There’s also been some speculation that he was hired at even younger than 18, but equally it’s possible that he was hired older, which puts his age squarely into the [I don’t have a fucking clue] range.

Gerard Keay Age: technically 32 Birth year: ~1984 Gerry was born in the 80s, and given that the above source states he was in his ‘late teens’ in 2002, this tracks. Making the assumption that he’s 18 in 2002, I’m going to place his birth year at around 1984. However, he died in 2014 (I’m assuming late-2014, given that he had time to encounter Leitner in London & travel a bit with Gertrude before his death) in the USA, putting him at around 30 at the age of his death. Since he’s dead, he doesn’t really age, but he is ‘aware’ enough to be in existential pain so I’m going to go with Descartes on this one and say he’s ‘alive’ enough to continue counting his years of existence. Poor guy. Doesn’t even get to actually die til August 2017 either.

Part 2 ft. the 4 Grandpas of the Apocalypse here

[vampirenigh]

Hi!! I really liked your silent treatment writing💕💕 and I was wondering if you could do a version for Kaiser?

Hi. Sure. No problem. Glad you liked it. He is one of my favorite characters. I didn't read the entire manga yet and he isn't in the anime so I don't really know that much about him but I hope the fic got out ok.

And if you have any more ideas or requests just send them. That would make me very happy. And thank you for the request. You're the first to make one.🥳

Characters: Kaiser Michael

Summary: You ignore him because of something.

Warnings: some bad words.

This is part 2 to Silent Treatment. Link here for the first part.

Masterlist

This argument started because he was flirting whit some girls in front of you to get you worked up because he thought that you were cute when you got jealous. But it backfired because now he got a mad girlfriend instead of a jealous one.

When you two got back home you went directly to the bedroom to get some things in a bag and then headed out to your friends place to teach Kaiser a lesson. While all this happened he was taking a shower so he didn't know that you left so imagine the face he made when he saw that some of your things were gone and you didn't respond to his calls. He started to freak out for a moment because he thought that you broke up with him and that he fucked up real bad. But you wouldn't break up with him just for that right? Right? He started to make some excuses to get his mind off of you but all he thought about was the fact that he made you leave.

He tried to get some sleep but he just couldn't. So in the morning he called Ness desperately till he responded. But on the second he responded Kaiser didn't give him time to say something because he started his ramble. "Did Y/n call you last night? Because she left and I don't know where. It was my fault and now I think she left me!" After Ness was sure that he ended his ramble he was quick to realize that his friend is in some trouble if you didn't respond to him because from what he knows you always respond to the phone. Even if you're busy. Especially to Kaiser. Even if you were mad. "She didn't call me last night. But are you sure that she didn't leave a note or something? If not try calling her friends. Maybe she is there. If not call me again. I will try to call her myself even if she doesn't know me that well." "She didn't leave a note! I searched all night! If you don't believe me come and look yourself! " "Okay.. Calm down Kaiser. This isn't you. I will come over now to help you call her friends."

And then Ness left Kaiser with his thoughts. He wasn't the tipe to worry so much. What is wrong with him? He was the Emperor! But you are his Empress. He can't live without you. But even if he finds you whan will he say? Sorry I was an asshole and I can't live without you? That is not like him... Maybe flowers and a dinner? I thing that is good.

After some time Ness appeared at Kaiser's door and was very surprised to see the disaster that was in his house. Pillows thrown on the floor, the sink full and everything in the places that it shouldn't be. Yes. Kaiser started to turn the entire place upside down just because he couldn't find you. And when Ness saw Kaiser he couldn't believe his eyes. He with eyes puffy and dark from crying and insomnia and whit some clothes that looked like he wore them a week straight. That was very strange because he took care of himself like no one. That really started to worry him. And also amaze him because you are the only person who can make him be like this just from some hours of separation.

So Ness started to help Kaiser call all your friends because Kaiser almost started to scream at every single friend of yours. When they found you Kaiser was overjoyed but it didn't last for long before he was meet with your cold tone. "What do you want Kaiser?" We improved. You were talking to him now. That give him hope. "I want to talk to you. Can you come home? Or wait there. I'm coming to get you. Be there in 10." Then he closed the call, took his car keys and ran to the car leaving Ness with all the mess in the apartment.

When he got to you you wanted to still ignore him but seeing his disheveled state decided to do the opposite. The car ride was silent. None of you knew what to say but Kaiser stopped in your parking lot in front of the house and cuped your hands. "I'm sorry... I should've never done that... I was an idiot for treating you that way... And I don't care if you still want to ignore me or break up with me but please stay a little bit longer... I can't live without you... I think you can see that yourself. " You stopped him mid-sentenced whit a kiss. "I forgive you. Tha fact that you apologized is something very rare from the Emperor. " That made Kaiser smile. "But being serious now. I forgive you. But if you do that again I won't forgive you. Understood? " "Yes Empress. " And then he kissed your hand whit his eyes locking yours.

You knew that your relationship was far from perfect but it was good enough for you. Seeing Kaiser getting so worked up over you made you happy and made you see that he really cares about you even if he teases you a lot.

Bonus:

When you got in the apartment you were meet whit Ness on the couch and the whole apartment extremely clean. And a Ness who started to beg you to never leave Kaiser like this! To leave a note. Because Kaiser put the whole place upside down and he needed to clean it all by himself. You said sorry to him and hugged him action that made Kaiser extremely jealous and kicked Ness out and got you into the bedroom to cuddle.

[thestrangestthing89]

Part 1

Part 2:

To me, the thing that gives away that something happened with Will and Mike when they were younger is in the way that Jonathan is also treated by Lonnie and the rest of the town. We see Jonathan getting bullied at school by Steve and his friends in S1. He gets called the f word. We know Jonathan isn't gay so these comments are likely just based off of those kids being assholes. They think Jonathan is weird so they call him something mean. But they probably don't even really believe what they are saying. They are just trying to be mean. Will has a lot of the same personality traits as Jonathan - he's quiet and sensitive. So him also getting bullied at school for this makes sense. However, I don't think it's enough evidence for people to actually believe that it's true when they are saying it. The whole town thought Will was gay and that that was the reason why he was killed. They don't talk about Jonathan like this - It's only Steve and his popular friends. Lonnie also doesn't call Jonathan the f word. In fact, when Will's fake body is found he's all about moving back into the house so they can be a "real family" again. In his mind, Will was the problem.

Lonnie has a lot of problems with toxic masculinity that are displayed with both Will and Jonathan. He makes them both go hunting to toughen them up. He also tries to get Will to go to baseball games to get him to like "normal" things. It's unclear if he also did this with Jonathan. It's likely he did up until Jonathan got old enough and started to refuse. But Lonnie doesn't have a problem with Jonathan even though he is also quiet and sensitive. In fact, Lonnie seems to try to get Jonathan on his side when Jonathan goes looking for Will at his house. Jonathan doesn't get called the f word by Lonnie. Only Will.

The time period matters here. People didn't ever discuss being gay especially in a small, conservative town. It would not have ever been mentioned. Kids at school saying slurs probably don't even really know what they are saying (especially the middle schoolers). They just know that it's insulting so they call the kids who they think are weird those insults. It doesn't mean they actually believe it, they are just trying to be mean. But Will is different. Everyone knows this kid is gay. They believe it. It's not simply that he was different or quiet or sensitive. But the thing to me that says the most is that Mike and Will's parents know it. Joyce knew it was important enough to mention it to Hopper when she reported Will as missing. Karen tries to talk to Mike about his feelings when Will is missing and it's a conversation that is very coded. She doesn't want him to hide anything from her. She wants him to trust her with his feelings. Ted makes a lot of passive aggressive comments about Mike being gay throughout the series - "you see what happens Michael", "our son with a girl". All of these conversations came from something and weren't just because Mike and Will were a little weird and nerdy. They were close. People are sure of this in a way they aren't when they are saying slurs off-handedly to Jonathan.

Mike is also very desperate to have people view him as normal. It's what accounts for a lot of his behavior in S3. He's scared. In order for him to know to be scared people would have had to have said something to him. He changes his behavior to be what people like and part of that includes avoiding Will. This isn't just about him being bullied for being a nerd. That's the story that's on the surface. There is more to it than that.

This in no way takes away from either character arch or the LGBTQ story. Both of them being bullied by their entire town since they were little kids is very realistic especially for the time period. And Mike trying to adapt and change his behavior to fit in because he was bullied for this makes sense. This wasn't simply about them being nerds. The show is never what it seems like on the surface.

Edit: I ended up adding another part to this because the more I think about it the more it makes sense.

[eldritchneuro]

Wolfwood's age in Stampede

I love this fandom, but I've had a small pet peeve with it regarding a certain issue.

We don't entirely know how old Wolfwood is. We are shown him being taken away by the Eye of Michael when he's around...12-ish?, forcibly aged up by them and then an unknown period of time passes between this and the events of Stampede.

Where the peeve comes in is how people tend to engage with this fact. I've noticed that people (often for shipping reasons) will often have him 'earn' his adulthood by having this period of time be long enough to push him over 18 if he hadn't been aged up.

And that's... fine. I get that people might not want to deal with the uncomfortable elements of his backstory.

But like. Trigun, amongst other things, is about abuse. We see this through both of our main boys, and the impact their experiences have on their mental wellbeing.

As someone who's dealt with some of that shit themselves, I saw this sequence and instantly knew what it was getting at.

Because one of the biggest impacts of abuse, specifically against children, is how it impacts your sense of age. You get forced into tasks that you're too young to properly handle, or you infantilised and denied agency. Often both at the same time. You can often feel like you 'lost' years of your life as well, not being allowed to develop whilst your peers do. Especially if you've been left with a disorder that has dissociative effects, such as PTSD or DID (*cough cough*).

None of this makes you less of an adult, once you reach age, though. Abuse survivors may often have less life experience than our peers, but we are not younger than them. Our brains are at the same level of maturity, just with some additional scars in place.

So given this, it does... sting a bit to see everyone rush to clarify that Wolfwood is actually an adult, see, because he made up that time after being aged up.

Because he was already an adult! He was an adult the moment that his body broke into the shape of one!

That's the horror of this sort of trauma, having to deal with an adult life that you were never allowed to prepare for.

And like, once again, you don't have to engage with this if you don't want to. Heavy subject matter and all that.

It's just that the experiences of abuse survivors are so rarely represented well. Stampede is so precious to me because it was the first time I was able to see someone - multiple characters, actually - having gone through similar shit to myself and still be allowed to be cool and kick ass whilst also simultaneously struggle with their trauma.

I don't really have much of a thesis here, just... don't feel obligated to sanitize these sorts of things. Abuse isn't sanitary and survivors deserve to see ourselves represented.

(A lot of this also applies to Stampede's Elendria. I think people are too quick to dismiss her as "ew loli" when the themes of the show are very clearly signposting that there is a reason behind this choice in character design. In general, anything involving what I've come to dub "age fuckery" should be ringing "This is thematically important" alarm bells.)

[ghostherlig]

i am very slow with writing atm with being sick and also my wrists are starting to hurt more now that it's getting colder- but here's some silly goofy random headcanons while im recovering!! (for johnny, kenshi, raiden, and kung lao) under the cut bc this really ran away from me- (collected over the course of this entire day as things popped into my brain, i apologize for the mass of words you're about to read :'))

johnny can play piano!! he has a grand piano that he really loves and he plays anything from classical to ost's to his own little tunes whenever he thinks them up- he has a recorder attached to it so he can remember them or maybe post his own song one day

(based off the previous hc) if/when kenshi is over/moves in he'll play at night and let kenshi listen in- but randomly johnny will transition what he's playing into the jaws or michael meyers theme and that's kenshi's cue to start running- because now the house is in hide and seek mode, and as soon as johnny stops playing, he'll be searching

kenshi used to play the violin growing up, but he dropped it once he was old enough and competent enough to commit himself to the yakuza- he can still remember some of the songs he used to love to play. he hums them from time to time and has been caught doing the motions of playing the violin before

kenshi loves animals but has an extra soft spot for cats and bunnies especially- he's a cat magnet in places where strays are common, they always flock to him (he for sure keeps catnip in his pocket when he can)

johnny loves his action and hero films but kenshi enjoys romcoms and horror- romcoms for the stories and drama, and horror films because the sound design usually slaps- he also can tell you what fruit or vegetable was absolutely destroyed based on the sounds alone

lao and raiden are way too good at Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes- raiden is on the manual while lao is on the bomb and they can crack the normal mode in like 45 minutes (they're a little slower when they swap places but they can still do it impressively fast (fastest speedrun time is sub 30mins)

johnny knows how to play mahjong after taking a role and having to play on-screen for five minutes- he wanted it to look authentic and thought "there's no better way than to actually play"- raiden and lao found out and now they're all trying to teach kenshi with specially made tiles with braille in the corners

kenshi is ridiculously good at poker- he brought a deck of cards with braille stamped on them and him and johnny played strip poker for a night- needless to say kenshi was smirking to himself as he switched his button up for johnny's

johnny can do pitch and diction perfect impressions of people he's heard talk for long periods of time- you can bet that a lot of his free time at wu shi was spent scaring his fellow champions by talking to them in liu kang's voice from behind a wall-

(based off the last hc) johnny only does it around people he knows well or as a party trick with different characters from pop culture- most often his power is used for evil though

raiden isn't a morning person and actually is super groggy in the mornings- the first thing he does on early days is take a cold shower to wake himself up

(based off the last hc) lao is a morning person and is usually the one to wake up raiden by ripping his blankets off of him- he's lucky he has survived this long, but he tells everyone that if looks could kill, raiden would have killed him long before he made it to wu shi

we all know kung lao eats for a family of five, but that man also naps like a divorced dad after an all you can eat buffet- he is OUT after he's done absolutely fucking up like five full plates of food

raiden really likes boba!! kenshi took him to get some after an errand run and he fell in love with the taro flavor- he also really enjoys winter melon and the regular thai tea

johnny always gets his boba with coffee- he doesnt really like tea flavors and no matter how many sips of kenshi's tea he has, he will always prefer his coffee

kenshi bought johnny a really nice espresso machine that he uses every morning- johnny didnt buy himself one before that bc he never thought he would enjoy making coffee at home and it was easier to just stop by the local cafe since they always had his order ready early- but he finds it really calming and really nice to slow his mornings down and make a latte before leaving for work

johnny, to return the gesture, bought kenshi a really nice kitchen knife since he knows the man really likes to cook- it sees a lot of use as it's a santoku that he basically uses like a chef's knife (it's his sharpest and most well treated kitchen tool, right next to his 8 inch cast iron)

kung lao owns maybe three articles of clothing with sleeves- all of them are coats for when it rains- oh and one hoodie that he stole from raiden that somehow survived when he went into his wardrobe and cut and hemmed all of the sleeves

when kenshi visits, johnny makes him coffee in the morning too but since kenshi doesnt always like the bitter coffee flavor he'll add some fun home made syrups- he has plain vanilla, but also has seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice, snickerdoodle, sugar cookie, white mocha, peppermint, etc.

kenshi LOVES mint chocolate flavored things- he especially loves the kitkat flavor and the pocky flavor, as well as ice cream- johnny CANNOT stand it, he's never liked mint outside of gum and even then he prefers cinnamon or clove gum (the first time kenshi kissed him he was confused bc he tasted like spices)

johnny keeps a jar of butterscotch candies on his desk for when he needs to brainstorm ideas- he finds he thinks better when his mouth is occupied (oral fixation haver)

(based off the previous hc) kenshi bought him some violet (the flower) flavored candy after he found out johnny always kept a stash- he also will refill the giant glass jar with butterscotch candies when he knows johnny is busy and will forget

(also based off the candy hc) lao and raiden also buy him hard candies- they get him ginger and lemon ones that johnny falls in love with immediately- he has two jars on his desk now, one for butterscotch and one for ginger

raiden really likes sketching and coloring- lao bought him one of those adult coloring books with mandalas and really intricate shapes and raiden finished all of it in like two weeks- he used to sketch in his free time and has an entire sketchbook dedicated to drawings of lao and his features (a lot of his arms, hands, eyes, and smile) it's hidden under his mattress

kung lao shaves his own undercut when it gets too long- normally cant let it grow out for longer than two or three weeks. sometimes, raiden will offer to do it for him so they can spend a bit of time together and just talk and be close <3

johnny definitely really enjoys washing kenshi's hair- johnny has a bit of a curl to some of his hair but he never uses the products he's supposed to or the methods he's supposed to when it dries- so it's pretty straight, but kenshi's is pin straight and doesnt tangle the way his does sometimes, so he really loves running his hands through it and has even convinced kenshi a few times to sit so johnny could put coconut oil in it for him

johnny loves coconut flavored things and purposefully buys ice cream bars that have coconut cream based ice cream- kenshi was unaware of this and was offered one and said yes thinking that it was vanilla- kenshi does not like coconut, so it was a very sudden and unpleasant surprise

kenshi cuts fruits as his way of showing love very often- he washes and cuts fruits for himself when he's stressed but preps it for others out of love and will often take apple slices, peeled oranges, cut melon (of any kind), or strawberries and grapes up to johnny's in-home office while he's working

johnny buys kenshi small gifts year round and goes crazy for the holidays and his birthday- he asked kenshi how he would feel if johnny bought him (technically them) a house back in japan- kenshi drew his line in the sand and capped johnny's gift prices at $2k per holiday/birthday (which he had broken before)

raiden keeps taxidermy bugs!! he always loved butterflies as a kid and his first framed butterfly was a gift from lao

please excuse any typos, it's later in the day now and my eyes are a little strained- i hope this was comprehensible, lol

[littlestardescendants]

This is completely random but what are your thoughts on Lucifer×Minhyeok as a ship?

in one of Luci's homescreen dialogues he's apologetic towards MC after what Gabriel did, how'd Luci think about Gabriel attacking an innocent human who isn't even related to Solomon?

I think a scenario where Jjok and Ppyong meet and become friends then Ppyong talks about MC and Minhyeok. Lucifer overhears that Gabriel attacked 2 humans instead of 1, he'd wanna know more

I think Minhyeok would be too scared of Lucifer

(if you aren't into character×character ships just ignore this ask)

Nah don't worry about it fam I'm open to answer any questions and I'm proud of you for working the guts to ask 💖

And to be honest I'm sort of neutral on these characterxcharacter ships I see their merit but LuciferxMinhyeok is a touch surprising. I'll try to give my honest thoughts on how I think it'd go and work :>

Explanation under:

So if I recall and I could be wrong but back in the Halloween event, Minhyeok had encountered the three Seraphim; Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael as well as the Kings. While going through there was a sort of fascination with him that they had going on and I think Lucifer being part angel would be fascinated as well and curiously seek him out especially if Jjok and Ppyong later on meet or he senses MC longing for Minhyeok (Lucifer strikes me as kind of perceptive to these things so for the start of it, it'd be fascination on his end while with Minhyeok it's a bit different.)

I can see the ship sort of working as Lucifer is fascinated but also sort of Aloof. He sort of is like an alley cat curious but independent, and I imagine the more he hears about Minhyeok, the more intrigued he is, and before long, the two meet, and it becomes quite a thing. So Minhyeok I feel at this time would be utterly gobsmacked; He's competing with immortal beings for MC and now here comes Lucifer the King of Pride and I imagine he's incredibly wary or freaked out and lowkey resentful but unlike the demons who take Minhyeok's fake kindness at face value, Lucifer picks up on it and I see the two talking it out because Lucifer doesn't see Minhyeok as competition.

I feel like Lucifer is above those things and so they'd probably be friends once Minhyeok realizes Lucifer is pretty neutral on MC (I get the vibes that even if related to Solomon Lucifer is pretty neutral about MC and not as obsessed as the Devils). And I think with time their relationship actually works to one of more understanding and regard.

I feel to myself that Minhyeok sort of helps Lucifer focus on the present and reconnect to the other species he sort of has been distant from and Lucifer helps Minhyeok let go and realize it's okay to have a life outside of MC and to not base his entire life around one thing, speaking from experience. It's a sweet dynamic, and if you're talking romantic, it sort of falls down the line because the two give me vibes they'd naturally fall into it. Of course neither are going to directly pursue, Lucifer would be respectful of Minhyeok's longing for MC to return to him but I imagine as MC gets railed by other demons Lucifer is the one person in Minhyeok's life telling him what he needs to hear. Minhyeok seems to always be the caretaker to others' feelings and lives, so Lucifer would probably be the one telling Minhyeok to take care of himself or to see things for what they are.

Of course Lucifer's still gonna be his feral self like he was in the Selfie story but Minhyeok strikes me as more cautious and nurturing than MC so the ship has room to be very sweet for both of them because they both get something special from it and could be pretty cute if it works like this. And while sex is a big thing I see the two taking it slow because unlike MC where their minds are on sex 24/7 the two guys just genuinely love their conversations and talk and work to it more tenderly than MC ever would with either of them.

Now I could be wrong but these are my thoughts since tbh this is the first I've heard of it so like I'm just taking a ball and rolling with it haha.

Hope it answers! 💖

[inhonoredglory]

Hey, I reaaally love all your meta analysis, especially the one on Aziraphale's morality. You truely have a wonderful writing style! And you expressed the feelings I had about the S2 finale I couldn't put into words and had me in tears again. I never really believed in the coffee theory (although a part of me hoped for it since it would be way less painful). But there is one thing I can't wrap my head around. The coffee theory is partly supported by the final scene of Aziraphale in the elevator and his creepy smile. Even when he looks forward to his new position and is convinced he does the right thing, I can't believe he wouldn't smile like that (and Michael Sheen is to talented for it being am accident). He still lost his soulmate Crowley, he still had to give up the life he loved so dearly and we know how much he struggled with that in the first place talking to Metatron. So why this smile, which aside from that, really did not look like him? I fear, that his memories were wiped out in this elevator. But since you have so a great understanding of Aziraphale's character, I would like to know your theories about that? Thanks a lot!!

(In response to my meta on why Aziraphale had to go to Heaven)

Thank you so much for your kind words, @sabotage-on-mercury (truly means the world to me). Honestly, the creepy smile was one part of the ending I couldn't quite put my finger on either, until someone pointed out on a Twitter response to my meta:

The reason why its scary is bc azi is becoming properly angry at the system and is 101% determined to set things right (Source)

In season 1, Aziraphale was determined not to kill anyone to stop the Apocalypse. He wouldn't even tell Crowley where the Antichrist was, because Crowley's only solution was to kill him.

And because Crowley consistently didn't have any ideas ("not one single better idea??"), Aziraphale took it on himself to pursue the only option left––to ask God to intervene and stop both Heaven and Hell from destroying Earth. Therefore, Aziraphale had to keep the integrity of his angel status by distancing himself from Crowley, while the world was still in danger.

Despite this dedication avoid bloodshed, when God didn't have an answer, Aziraphale went against one of his core beliefs to help save the world. He was willing to murder a child.

For Aziraphale, that takes guts. And (seeing how he reacted at the end of the Job minisode), I wonder that if he had killed Adam Young, Aziraphale would have checked himself into Hell.

Going to Heaven for Aziraphale is ultimately a conscious choice, one that he is clearly afraid of. We see him constantly steeling himself again the Metatron in the end, covering his fear and hurt from losing Crowley with a placid smile and a flippant attitude. He's wearing so many masks, to Crowley, to himself, to the Metatron...

All season we've seen him playing roles (detective, magician, doctor, landlord). But the final role is warrior. Going up that elevator, we first see Aziraphale's eyes searching, worried, panicking, but unable to show it because he's not in a safe space. He swallows, blinks, he's breathing hard (you can see his entire shoulders rise and fall).

But as he goes up, his expression steels. He's quite literally putting on a mask (to himself): a vengeful, hardened expression of pure anger and rage (to drown out the fear and uncertainty he so clearly still has).

Michael Sheen conveying contained anger in both Good Omens and Masters of Sex (gif by @julielilac)

Cuz this isn't just him scrambling to kill a kid, this is him walking calmly and knowingly into sacrificing everything he loves most (Crowley, the bookshop, his entire life on earth) to create a world that will always be safe for him and Crowley and humanity for the rest of time. Where he would have to go up against the most powerful angels, the Metatron, and God Themself to change things. He can't be the kind, sweet angel he was on Earth. That won't cut it in Heaven if he wants to make a difference in any real way.

He wanted to do it with Crowley, with the love and support and strength of his demon. But without him, Aziraphale has to channel something else to keep his resolve afloat.

Something he had when he was a warrior, fighting on the front lines of a battle between Heaven and Hell, when he very likely led a platoon into divine fields of bloodshed before the earth was born. When he was an avenging angel.

I haven’t done this since the Great War.

It was a time and an identity he had chosen to leave behind, because it wasn't the kind of angel he was anymore ("I'm not fighting in any war!"). In this context, you can read Aziraphale's passionate unwillingness to take a life (his pacifism) directly into his past experience as a warrior. It is often the veterans of terrible wars who are the most earnest advocates for peace. (And especially in Britain and Europe, where the violence of the world wars is still such a powerful and painful national memory.)

As he goes up the elevator, he's breathing so hard we can hear it mirrored in the soundtrack, and he is so hyperfocused on steeling himself that he doesn't even care that the Metatron is watching him. He doesn't rest until he's psyched himself into that warrior mindset necessary to carry out this mission entirely by himself, to be both the moral advocate and the uncompromising leader of angels who had intimidated him his entire life. To demand respect and to talk to the very face of God and tell Them they are Wrong.

(Please read this Neil-approved meta for further thoughts on God and Aziraphale.)

That creepy smile is clearly not there because Aziraphale is happy to fall into a toxic parent's false love. There's no comfort or wistful nostalgia in that face. There's no "it'll be so much nicer" in that smile. It's not a happy smile. It's an I'm-gonna-fuck-shit-up smile.

Because it's a warrior's smile before they go into battle, before they put on that armor and, for a while, become something they're not in the name of some greater good. He's fucking furious and it's downright frightening.

Because I have no doubt that the angel Aziraphale we get in Season 3 is the angel Aziraphale who can say this:

He's not there yet in the TV show. But this bravery, this anger, this flaming rage is how it starts.

Or as he's described in the book when Aziraphale mysteriously does away with the local mafia:

Just because you’re an angel doesn’t mean you have to be a fool.

[deadbydangit]

Hi! Hello :D

First i want to say that I really love your writing ❤️

If you still take request can you do Leon, Wesker, chris and Jill reacting to a reader/survivor that is written like Yor Forger (Spy x Family; she's an assassin). Where they witnessed her strength and somehow knocked out a killer (like nemesis or pyramid head) with her kick with ease, or using her golden needles as a weapon against killers?

I've uh, never actually seen Spy x Family (I know, I know). So I'm going to tweak this a bit. I only do three characters per request, so I'm going to leave Jill out.

With a reader who is really strong.

Leon, Mastermind, Chris

Leon S Kenney

Leon knows for sure that he isn't the strongest around.

But he does know a strong person when he sees one.

Years of combat experience have taught him to spot people like that.

So when he saw you punch Michael in the face, he wasn't too surprised.

But he also was surprised.

I mean, it was Michael Myers.

You didn't knock them out, but still.

It's Micheal Myers!

And you punched him.

But he's also very impressed.

Not just with your strength.

But with your bravery and skill.

Brute strength is nice.

But you have to have a means to control it.

Otherwise it's all wasted.

Despite still having a high skill level, he's still going to help you train.

You can never stop learning how to be better.

How to be stronger and improve your skills.

His training sessions are intense, but not overly brutal.

He knows when to stop and when you've hit your limit.

He would never want to push you too far.

He just cares about you and wants to see the best out of you.

Mastermind

You were actually in a trial with him when he first noticed your skills.

You actually punched him.

Pretty hard too.

Instead of being angry, he was impressed.

Okay, he was a little angry.

But mostly impressed.

So much so that instead of hooking you, he wanted to learn more about you.

He'll approach you outside of a trial, making sure you know he's not trying to be hostile.

He simply wants to know more about you.

"Where did you learn that technique?"

"Who was it that taught you?"

He's not trying to be intrusive.

He is genuinely curious.

It's not everyday someone is strong enough to punch the great Albert Wesker (Chris Redfield being the only exception).

"Perhaps, we could train together sometime. It would be beneficial for both of us to hone our skills on different opponents."

AKA. He wants to make sure you're never able to punch him again.

But, he won't do it exclusively for his benefit.

Someone like you deserves to learn more combat skills.

You have a real talent for it, and he wants to watch you thrive.

Chris Redfield

It's going to take a lot to impress Chris.

This man punched a giant boulder and actually moved it.

So impressing him with strength is pretty damn hard.

But, if you do actually manage to catch his attention, that means you must be something else entirely.

Are you even human?

He doesn't mean that in a rude way, he really doesn't have much of a filter.

He's just in awe of your strength.

So much so, that he thinks he might be in love with you the first time he sees you punch somebody.

Especially if it's Wesker.

You have lots of raw talent.

And he isn't about to let all of that go to waste.

You'll be training with him whether you like it or not.

And his training sessions are intense.

They can last hours.

You'll have to remind him that not everyone is like him.

He'll ease up after that.

It's just his way of showing he cares about you.

Hey, give the guy a break, he's kind of a blockhead.

But he's a blockhead who loves you.

[inspector-montoya-fox]

let me hop onto this kinda underrated but definitely outdated post for a minute and ask: did Dr Michael PhD know about Clockwerk? it's not like i want the owl to be the ultimate catalyst in Sly's life - he was the end-all be-all for two games, it was time to move on for sure - but at the same time murdering an entire lineage of raccoons isn't um something you stumble upon everyday ?

i know how enticing it can be to want to connect all the dots when writing sequels and i'm so happy SP didn't pull a Roman Bridger told Billy Loomis to become Ghostface with Clockwerk and Dr Michael. actually, when you think about it, Sly 3 resists the urge to bring up Clockwerk in any way, which is very respectable. the way the game connects to the other two is through the aftermath of ClockLa (which is hardly mentioned) and returning villains as new gang members. if we removed those from the equation, Sly 3 could be a standalone entry. it's a very refreshing game after, again, two games that centre around Clockwerk and his subsequent resurrection but it's also a bit jarring to think that he is barely (or not at all?) mentioned during a game that involves two characters who worked for him as well as one who used his own tail feathers. at times it feels like the game is deliberately going out of its way to tiptoe around the subject.

personally, Honour Among Thieves left a lot to be desired, especially as the final episode not only of the game but of the series. more specifically, i love Dr Michael's conversation with Bentley so much but i feel like it was too little too late. i get that it acted as a climax for the 'Bentley wants to step out of Sly's shadow' storyline but the conversation gave birth to so many huge implications that it felt like we were just then getting to the juicy bits. why does Dr Michael have such vitriol for ConnEr Cooper? what happened between the gang members? was ConnEr truly a piece of shit or is it all Dr Michael's perspective? did every Cooper have a Bentley and Murray figure in their life?

whereas the player got to know Neyla through her various appearances throughout Sly 2, Dr Michael's character development is put on pause due to the fact that Sly 3's episodes aren't interconnected via the common thread of "a gang of villains". as a result, many questions arise in the final episode and never get answered. one of them being: what's his connection to Clockwerk? as highlighted in the paragraph above, there are other questions that are easily prioritised over this one because they are pointed at during the conversation with Bentley. that being said, it feels a bit bizarre for Dr Michael to not even bring up Clockwerk once. when he first sees Sly he thinks it's ConnEr, which raises the question 'does he even know about Clockwerk murdering ConnEr in the first place?' that's definitely one possibility. the gang dispersed and when ConnEr settled down as a family man, that's when Clockwerk came into the picture. ok! probable scenario...

... but idk i'm not really buying it. i don't want to be the tin foil hat girlie and i'm truly not, like in terms of narrative logic it makes total sense. but from a consistency standpoint, how can you create a character that is actually portrayed as more of an omnipresent, all-powerful entity, the literal embodiment of evil, to then just have him go *poof* ? Clockwerk is the stain on the Cooper legacy, the Cooper killer and Dr Michael, who prides himself on hating ConnEr so much, has no idea who he is? the evil scientist who is infatuated with the Coopers and creates animal hybrids doesn't know about the owl robot that survives on Cooper hate? mama what are the odds. again, i'm against trying to unnecessarily connect all the dots, but even a mention would suffice. cutscene appearance even. like what if Dr Michael acted as this Judas figure who approached Clockwerk post gang breakup and spilled on how to track down ConnEr or some sort of secret? it would also help flesh out Clockwerk's character posthumously, which i find so clever. this is something discussed on the new episode of Safehouse Chats btw (shameless plug-in sis), where we debate whether or not Clockwerk benefits from being shrouded in total mystery. as for my initial question? i think Dr Michael bottomed for Clockwerk. block me

[sunshine-embry]

Just because I need to yap about my opinions :3

I have the urge to rant about my Be More Chill Two River vs Broadway version, so I am! I might make another post of just things I like in the songs or entire musical itself if I ever feel motivated enough to 🤗

Before I yap a lot, I just need to say I'm a bit biased towards the Broadway version because I have a record of it 😁

Anyway!

More Than Survive: I personally prefer the Broadway version, BUT I HAVE REASONS I PROMISE. Idk why but the two river version feels a bit too fast for me, but that could just be because I'm used to hearing the Broadway version that I think is slowed down a bit. 🤔

Besides from that, the conversation that Brooke and Chloe have I think is better in the two river version because it introduces Madeline, which Jeremy uses as a story in Be More Chill Part 1 (does that sentence make sense?) Meanwhile the conversation in the broadway version is just there 😑

The "Christines" in the Two River version feels especially too fast, like they were trying to cut down the run time, while the Broadway version just lets it go at a slower pace which I really like.

I also prefer the instrumentals in the Broadway version (idk if there's actually any change to them, it's just at a more digestible pace like I said before) but I see people saying that the Broadway instrumentals of the songs are worse? Idk, I just like it better.

I Love Play Rehearsal: I don't have anything much to say about I Love Play Rehearsal, but I still do have a few things. I really don't prefer any version, they're both equal to me.

Also the fact that in the Broadway version, Christine goes on a small rant about how there isn't any good roles for women in theater anymore which is kinda ironic considering that one of the main criticisms of Be More Chill is that the girl characters are all one-note characters :/

In the Broadway version, I really love when Stephanie Hsu emphasizes the "I LOVE play rehearsal" at the end, it makes me laugh every time without fail.

Also, the Broadway version is faster than the two river version and I don't like that. I guess I just like slow songs :/

The Squip Song Something about the Broadway version of this song makes me so happy and idk why.

Anyway, I really like in the Broadway version when Jeremy whispers drugs even though he gets stoned with Michael. It's funny.

I am kinda sad that the Broadway version cut out the one part with Rich after "it helps you rule", 'cause it was really funny to me. This whole song is really funny to me.

I don't have that much to talk about for the Squip Song 'cause I usually listen to the broadway version because it makes me very very happy for no reason (literally, if you see me listening to it, I will actually smile sm)

Two Player Game: I know I'm going to come on strongly rn, but two player game is my least favorite Broadway version of a BMC song. Fight me.

First of all, the instrumentation kinda falls flat. The original gives such a warm feel to it if you know what I mean, but the Broadway one just kinda feels soulless.

I don't know how to explain it, but just know that I prefer the two river version wayyy over the Broadway version.

The Squip Enters: This is not a song, it's nearly a minute of screaming 🤗

Be More Chill Part 1: My main thing I don't like in the Broadway version of this is the Squip's talking voice. Emphasis on talking voice.

I adore how Jason Tam sings the new part added to the song, I love it sm. But I don't like the smoker voice. It gives me the creeps.

Besides that, like I said before, I love the new addition to the song in the Broadway version, it makes me happy for reasons I can't even begin to explain.

In both versions, I really like the part where Jeremy is telling Chloe and Brooke about how he used to date Madeline even though he didn't. Speaking of Madeline, I have a Madeline ask blog called @tres-magnifique (yes, I did only add this here to self-sponser)

Do You Wanna Ride?: I'm pretty sure it's nearly identical in both versions, having similar instrumentals and the same actresses in both. There's nothing much to talk about.

Be More Chill Part 2: Controversial opinion, but Be More Chill pt 1 should just be called Be More Chill and this song should be called Be More Chill Reprise. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk. I have nothing else to say about this song.

I can't do MTS reprise or Sync Up because they are two very different songs.

A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into: Controversial opinion, I don't like this song. I tried to force myself to like it, but something about it I don't like. Like I said for the past two - correct me if I'm wrong - but I'm pretty sure the two versions are basically the same, there's no version I prefer.

Upgrade: Finally something I can yap about! First of all, I prefer the Broadway version. It's just something about it I really like!

I really like how Brooke tries to speak French knowing that Jeremy used to date Madeline. I just think that it's a nice touch.

Anyway, I really like that Brooke and The Squip don't share a part at the beginning, because the two river version where they do makes me really uncomfortable. Plus, I really like Brooke's part in the Broadway version.

I don't understand why they changed "damn" to "now" in the Broadway version. I'm not complaining, but it's just weird to me.

I don't really mind the fact that in the Broadway version, they take out Jake's part about getting sporty and playing cricket. I know that some people compare it to the part in Voices In My Head, in which Jake asks Christine out using something that he likes, but Jeremy does it using something she likes, but Idrc.

What I am kinda mad that they took out in the Broadway version though, is that they took out the part where Jake talks about his parents being in a money laundering scheme. Idk, it just makes me kinda sad.

I'm so glad that in the Broadway version they made Loser Geek Whatever it's own song. IT'S SO GOOD JUST FOR A SMAL PART?!?! LIKE WHAT?!?! I might be a little biased considering it's my favorite BMC song, but still though I'm so happy 😁

I also like how they added the whole "I'm tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am" part, because it really shows that everyone (minus Michael) isn't happy with something and it just adds another layer to their characters. The overlapping also just makes me happy. I think that's it for upgrade.

I'm too lazy to rant anymore, tell me if u want me to do this with the second act. Also thank you for listening to me yap for a solid 10 minutes.

[sineala]

Hi!! I used to be big into superhusbands till about the whole international iron man by bendis (i abandoned there..Tony was too different)... I was wondering, do you recommend current marvel comics? Are they still ridiculously interrupted by crossing over and events?

I am actually really, really enjoying current Marvel comics! I also think now is a pretty good time to hop on board.

If you want specific recs, I have lots of them.

Current comics:

We just got a brand-new Avengers run -- issue #2 just came out this week -- and although Steve isn't on the team (Sam is), Tony is there, and Carol is the team chair. Many of us, myself included, have been really looking forward to this run, because it's being written by Jed MacKay, who is a relatively new writer to Marvel who in my opinion writes comics with very well-characterized characters and a lot of love for the source material. (He is also currently writing what has now become my favorite Doctor Strange run.)

MacKay especially writes a very good Tony; he did an Iron Man annual and an Avengers annual back in 2021 (part of the "Infinite Destinies" series of annuals. The Iron Man one had some very good Tony characterization, and the Avengers annual instantly became everyone's favorite because about half of it is Steve and Tony hanging out at home together, and the other half is Steve and Tony punching robots.

So there's not really a whole lot to say about the new Avengers run yet, but I am excited for it.

(Jason Aaron recently ended a five-year Avengers run. I would recommend skipping it, except for the issue where Steve, Tony, and Thor all go skinny-dipping together in a hot tub. It is the highlight of the run.)

We are seven issues into a new Iron Man run, being written by Gerry Duggan (whom you may remember from 1872), and I swear this is the best Iron Man ongoing comic that has come out since I have been in this fandom. Every issue is actually good, and he's absolutely nailing the Tony characterization, and he's clearly done all the reading. And also Tony is getting whumped hard. I really love it. Every time we get a new issue I am excited to read it because I know it's gonna be good.

(You have missed a couple of Iron Man runs. The Dan Slott run was not all that great, but it had some very sweet canon Tony/Jan and also very pretty art by Valerio Schiti. Then we got Christopher Cantwell's Iron Man run, which was the worst Iron Man run I have ever read in my entire life and featured Tony being a privileged and out-of-touch billionaire asshole who then got addicted to morphine, acquired the Power Cosmic, murdered most of his friends (and, I mean, brought them back, at least), and then decided that he should maybe go to rehab so that he could learn humility which apparently he did not have? My least favorite moment was the bit where Patsy Walker tells him he has no idea what it's like to be suicidal and Tony -- a person who has had at least two on-panel suicide attempts -- agrees that, no, he has no idea what that's like. Anyway. You should skip that.)

I have been kind of meh about the current Cap run (other than the fact that it appears to have given us canon Steve/Emma femdom) because a whole lot of it is basically "CATWS but what if 616" and also they killed off one of my minor-character faves and I am very bitter. There is one more issue left in this run, so you might as well just wait a couple more months and start with the next run, which will be written by J. Michael Straczynski. I know a lot of people have strong feelings about JMS' comics work but I have been a Babylon 5 fan since it started airing and I am excited that JMS, the guy who gave us the "no, you move" speech, is going to be writing Steve. (JMS also wrote Bullet Points, if you liked the Steve in that one.)

(Cap runs you have missed include Ta-Nehisi Coates -- it was fine but for the most part Steve was wildly OOC -- as well as a very short run by Mark Waid whose first arc you should check out because it was absolutely amazing and had great Samnee art. I think you've also missed Nick Spencer's run, which. Uh. I don't even know where to begin with discussing that.)

Recent events:

Comics are still going to be comics, so, yeah, there are always events. Some of them are pretty good, though. If you haven't been here for a few years, you've probably missed AXE Judgment Day, Heroes Reborn, Empyre, and War of the Realms. Possibly also Secret Empire, Civil War II, and Standoff.

Of all of these, I would have to say that AXE Judgment Day (written by Kieron Gillen) was my favorite; it featured the Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals all coming together to save the world from a Celestial that was trying to judge all of humanity and then destroy the planet. You know, the usual. I thought it was pretty well done and had a lot for Steve and Tony to do. They got to be on the same side, for once. Steve got a whole bunch of speeches and everyone got a massive amount of angst; there was actually an entire issue devoted to the Celestial's judgment of Tony. So yeah, it didn't have a whole lot of Steve & Tony together but they both definitely had starring roles for the event.

Heroes Reborn (yes, it would kill Marvel to think up a new name) was an event where Phil Coulson sold his soul to the devil to make the Squadron Supreme have always been the best superhero team on Earth. Coulson has been wedged into the comics from the MCU but Jason Aaron clearly committed hard to making him the most evil person possible.

Empyre -- by Slott and Ewing, art by Schiti -- was probably my second-favorite recent event. It once again featured heroes fighting villains, as is right and proper. Steve and Tony weren't the stars of the event or anything but they did, you know, get to help out a bit. It was a bunch of Kree-Skrull stuff and everyone fought some tree people whose names I am blanking on and it also ended in Billy and Teddy's Big Gay Jewish Space Wedding, so obviously you have to appreciate that.

I remember very little about War of the Realms. It was one of those Asgard things.

You probably missed Secret Empire? And possibly the lead-ins to it, Avengers Standoff and Civil War II. This was infamously the event where Steve was replaced by an evil Hydra version of himself who decided to make America into his own personal fascist state. (Standoff was the event where he was secretly replaced although we did not know this at the time; he spent all of Civil War II -- a Carol vs. Tony event, this time with Tony ending up in a coma at the end -- gaslighting all the heroes pretty hard.) Public reaction to Secret Empire was, as you can imagine, very very bad (they decided to promote this as "this is the real Steve and he has been evil forever" rather than, like, "hey we're doing a villain AU for the next six months") and they ended up concluding the whole thing much faster than they had originally planned to, presumably because the sales tanked hard. They basically did a very, very bad job with this one.

Secret Empire has mostly provided a lot of source material for fandom to pick apart and improve upon -- especially the people who like villain AUs -- and its major highlight is a lead-in one-shot, Civil War II: The Oath, which is a villain remix of The Confession in which Hydra Steve addresses Tony's comatose body and, among other things, tells him that the real Steve loved him, and that he always loved him, even when they fought. So, you know. We all enjoyed that page.

Other fun things you might have missed:

There have been a bunch of fun relatively-recent miniseries!

The thing you will probably be most interested is Captain America/Iron Man, which is a five-issue miniseries by Derek Landy of Steve and Tony teaming up to take down a villain (who is, of course, one of Tony's exes). It has some lovely character moments. The collected edition of this is called "The Armor and the Shield."

Jed MacKay -- yes, the guy writing Avengers -- also previously wrote a run of Black Cat that had a lot of Tony cameos, and then decided to write an Iron Cat miniseries in which Felicia & Tony team up to defeat both of their ex-girlfriends who have decided to try to murder them because apparently, yes, they both have terrible luck with relationships. (In Tony's case, this is Sunset Bain.)

We're also currently getting an Ayodele & Akande miniseries, I Am Iron Man, which is set at various points in Tony's history and I have to admit that I have literally no idea what's going on here but at least it's clear that they really like Tony, and it's sweet.

In what I can only assume was an attempt at some kind of MCU synergy, we just finished getting a second Secret Invasion miniseries (written by Ryan North of Squirrel Girl fame) which was an extremely clever series in which basically nothing was as it seemed, and also Tony was one of the major characters. I really, really liked this one.

If you like weird AUs, we also recently got a (Tom Taylor, I think?) miniseries called Dark Ages, in an alternate future where electricity has stopped working. It did have Steve and Tony.

It is not specifically Steve & Tony related but we just got a Wasp miniseries by Al Ewing, which is Jan's first solo book ever. Yes, ever.

And it has nothing to do with Steve and Tony at all, but I feel like people who don't ordinarily read Guardians of the Galaxy might really enjoy Ewing's run on that, because it is incredibly queer. Phyla-Vell and Moondragon are main characters, Billy and Teddy come guest-star for a lot of it, Avril Kincaid (the new Quasar, who is also gay) is there for a bit, and also the overarching relationship plot is "Peter, Gamora, and Rich decide they all love each other and are all going to be in a relationship." This is extremely heavily implied. There are multiple love confessions and the run ends with them embracing. So yeah, Pete/Rich is canon now. It's great.

That's all I can think of for right now.

[bl00dsuckingbradybunch]

hey! if hc requests are open, could i request sam emerson dating hcs? thanks!!

Dating Sam Emerson Would Include...

a/n: i, in the most annoying big sister fashion, just want to pinch his cheek. sorry if this is really short…

-> you totally steal his clothes. he's got a whole closet full and, seeing as most of it is baggy as hell on him, they most likely fit you, too.

-> he totally complains about it. all the time.

"aw, come on."

"how would you feel if i started stealing your clothes, hm?"

"i'm being serious now, i need that back."

-> (secretly loves it.)

-> lots of comic book talk. if you're into comic books, have fun spending hours pouring over the forty-seven different story arcs for every DC character and being in awe of his batman number fourteen. if you aren't... well, good luck. it isn't that hard to follow (in theory) and I'm sure he'd be willing to explain it to you.

-> probably considers everything you guys do together a bit of a date. not in an annoying way but in a cute way. like, you guys had to walk nanook together? why don't you make a date of it. hanging out on the boardwalk? that's totally a date. doing your homework together? not quite so fun, but a date! you get the drift.

-> that being said, the chances that any date you're on gets interrupted by at least one frog brother are high. especially when they're, on off-chance, not working. they're pretty much sam's only friends on the boardwalk (beside you), and they can more or less say the same about him in return, so there isn’t much they don’t do together. I don’t make the rules.

"hey sam!”

“…”

“… and edgar… and… alan?”

-> nanook hair everywhere. it’s on your clothes. it’s on your book-bag. it’s on your bed. your boyfriend’s got a big dopey dog that sheds a lot.

-> chaste forehead kisses that make his nose scrunch up >>>

-> michael makes fun of you two all the time. lucy tells him to stop, but he’s not going to. he’s still your stand-in big brother, though. like, nobody’s messing with you on his watch.

-> lucy adores you. you’re always invited to family dinners at the (rebuilt) emerson household.

-> you’re not entirely sure grandpa knows you exist. he’s pretty cool, though.

-> after canon or during, you’re going to have to learn what vampires are. it’s not like the frog brothers are exactly good at hiding their opinions on the matter, and grandpa emerson’s got medieval spikes all around his house, so you were bound to find out eventually.

-> you, thus, have your own copy of vampire’s everywhere.

-> sam (or his friends) have probably hid a stake or two, and a spray gun full of holy water, in your room. good luck explaining that one to your folks.

“sam, you have to take these back.”

-> he probably has a picture (or several) of you on top of all the posters and shit he has.

-> going to concerts on the boardwalk together >>>

-> he’s a very good boyfriend overall, and you two are an adorable couple.

[farthestfrom]

Bridgerton is finally getting their queer on with Hella Fucking Gay main characters. Not a background someone for half a scene and like three lines, but Bridgertons. Plural.

Benedict finally beats the 'Is he...you know...*wiggles hand*' allegations by fucking a guy...as part of a three-way...for approximately 72 hours. If not longer. After struggling emotionally with his newfound acknowledgement of his attraction to his casual gf's side piece and the subsequent three-way invite, Benedict immediately goes for gold and makes himself Bisexual MVP of the Marathon Three-Way.

The camera cuts to other characters having Fraught Conversations, then cuts back to Benedict's Sexual Bi-naissance, then cuts to a different Fraught Conversation on an entirely different day probably, then back to Benedict sucking face so hard he's tunnelling inside the other guy's mouth, then cuts to blackmail secrets Drama, back to Benedict as filler in a Hot Bi Sandwich, cut to blah blah everyone is wearing different clothes again like 4 days have passed at this point, back to Benedict still in his twilight world of pleasure. The sun has risen and fallen at least twice at this point. He has the best goddamn time. I am so happy for him and also for myself, witnessing this for the first of what will surely be many, many times.

This is after a previous episode's sex scene featuring topless nudity from a plus-size woman which is incredibly sweet and genuine and isn't played for laughs, which I'm not certain I've seen before. But I digress.

At the end of the final episode, gorgeous but quiet Francesca meets her new husband's cousin Michaela Stirling, who is so smoking hot that Francesca forgets her own name. For an embarrassingly long time. Bridgerton book readers will be Real Fucking Excited because in Francesca's book (When He Was Wicked), her happily ever after guy is smoking hot playboy Michael Stirling YES GENTLE READER THEY SWITCHED GENDERS LETS GO LESBIANS!

This makes me especially interested to see next season. Eloise mentioned an upcoming masquerade ball, which in Benedict's book (An Offer From A Gentleman, generally agreed to be not as good as the other books you can fight me on this but you will lose) is where he meets his soulmate. What's a male version of the name Sophie? I don't know if the show writers would do it twice, but I'm just wondering. For gay reasons.

I can see why they waited until June.

[dragonscalie]

Unironically, Willard is probably one of my favorite franchises. It's not only because it resonated with me so hard as soon as I found it, seeing myself in Willard in a very spefifically autistic way. It's just a perfectly obscure yet pop culture that it's in a perfect middle ground where some people know about it but no one is really annoying about it y'know? I'm usually the only one to talk about it in my everyday life, usually people just know it as the rat movie but they don't usually get it.

Usually when I get into a movie and I learn it has a book based off of it I immediately have to get my hands on it and by far Ratman's Notebooks had to be one of the best (with Carnosaur being the worst.) It highlights everything about Willard as a character I love and his descent into becoming worse and worse until his death. I especially love how every single movie seems to be adapting it in its own way which is something that I find myself loving about this franchise. 1971 is probably the best adaptation, especially in the garden scenes which were sorely missed in 2003. 2003 adapts the dog scene and the tire scene the best and adds a nice gothic atmosphere which isn't Willard in my opinion but it's still a nice breath of fresh air. Ben 1972 is most interesting as its a sequel to the story but it still has its own adaptation of the store scene and has a fantastic interpretation of the rat hunt.

Even the songs about this franchise are great, Willard! by Will Wood is something that has definitely got a ton of neurodivergent teens into this over 50 year old rat madness. It's more than just that though, it focuses on Willard and Socrates' friendship which is something that was greatly improved in the 2003 movie which makes the song incredibly heartbreaking.

Ben's Song was made for the second movie by kid Michael Jackson which makes me incredibly sad that they just didn't get him to play the kid in the film. This song is a focus on Ben and Drew's friendship and has the implied acknowledgement of Ben's abandonment by Willard. It and Ben 1972 as a movie is just such a nice end to Ben's character, I kinda love the open ended ending looking back on it. Did Drew live through his heart surgery? Did Ben grow old and die happy in the arms of his best friend? No one knows! I like to think Ben lived long and happy with Drew, as do probably most people.

Speaking of actors, even if I prefer Bruce Davison as Willard I do really think Chrispen Glover did a good job. Even Lee Montgomery did pretty good as Drew, he was charming in a way. I do think Chrispen is too obvious as the Ratman as the entire point was no one expects it to be Willard but that's okay, that goes with his freak charm I guess. I really wish we could see another adaptation of Willard, particularly one that finally involves the rat mask because we haven't seen it adapted on screen at all and I think its a very iconic part of the book its on the cover for a reason.

A new Willard adaptation would do great as a tv show, adapting all the rat shenanigans from the book every episode in-between his office life. I don't know anyone who would be good at playing Willard himself but I vote for Matthew Lillard to take a crack at Mr Martin as he's too old play the ratman himself.