#I mean you're gonna get some super in depth Answers!

[chocodile]

Hello, I just wanted to say I am amazed by the depth of lore and character you've created surrounding the giant rabbit Hyden and the other characters in that universe. Are you posting these images as part of a larger comic? Are they illustrations based on excerpts from a novel you're working on? It's hard for me to piece everything together from the captions. Basically I'm saying I'm super invested in this story and I would love to see the entire book or graphic novel or whatever that puts all these pieces together. Does that exist/will it exist?

Thank you!

-Ondy

I'm totally answering this way to late, BUT! Since Kwillow and I have gotten a number of questions asking similar stuff so I'm gonna use your ask as an opportunity to answer...

There is no single big novel or comic (at least not at the moment, we're working on finishing other projects first!), it's more of a just for fun series of vignettes, mini-comics, and other stuff! There is an underlying story but it's more gestured at and told in snapshots rather than told linearly from start to end.

I did put together a website to serve as an FAQ of sorts! Finished it just now. That should hopefully answer some of the common questions about what's going on, what terms mean, and how things connect together.

We next plan to organize things into a clearer "timeline", with the story's different "arcs" tagged accordingly and an organizational page listing important moments and linking important comics/vignettes. So, that's coming up... hopefully in the next month. (But who knows with how busy I am lately, ack...)

Thank you for the kind words though! We honestly never planned for this to turn into such a big project or get such wide recognition, so it's super flattering that people are interested enough to know more about our silly villainous furry nonsense.

[youtellmeman]

Montagues and Quaritches alike

Lo'ak x human!Reader

part 2

prt1->prt3(wip)

tawtute- human, skxwang- moron

Warnings- injury to reader but not described super in-depth.

You never got an answer when it came to that question of why help you, what you did know is that it came very much in handy. For instance when you ventured out into the forest once more and had been targeted by a small group viperwolf while foraging in the dark.

Should you had known better than to wander at night, yes, but to be fair your father had been running you into the ground with training lately. Something about making their first move soon. Either way it left little time for yourself and you just couldn’t stay away from the forest for too long. Plus  it just wouldn’t have felt right to go without warning Lo’ak.

Though it probably felt better than the gash that you’d received from one of those damn dogs.

“Shitt.” You’d hissed out, the pain was quick to set in after the adrenaline had worn off. Pulling up your pant leg revealed a cut that wrapped from your ankle to the inside of your calf. How were you gonna explain that to your father?

“What the hell is wrong with you? Dumb sky people, why would you come out here at night knowing how dangerous it is.” Lo’ak was crouched to where you’d let your leg stretch out in front of you. He reached out grabbing behind your leg to lift it up to get a better look. “It’s not too deep, you won't need to be closed up, but you ll need dressing to make sure you don’t get infected.” HE said after a few seconds of assessing the wound, placing your leg back down gently before standing.

And before you knew it, he was lifting you up bridal style and walking you through the woods. The heat that crept from your neck to your cheeks was involuntary and it had you thanking god for the darkness. Still after a few seconds you squirmed trying release yourself from his grasp.

“Put me down! I can walk. Where are you even taking me? Put me down, Lok”You pushed against his shoulder, but it did nothing and honestly the show of pure strength was doing nothing to aid the redness of your blush.

“That’s not how you say my name. It Lo’ak, lo–ak. Not lok.” He shot you a disgruntled look for a moment. “And no, you need dressings, and I cannot take you to your own people, but I can take you one of mine.” At that panic shit through your body.

“No, no, Put me down, I can’t- they can’t know I'm here, put me down!” 

“Calm down Tawtute, for eywas sake don't you think I know that. It’s just my sister be calm.” He said, patience growing thin for your constant movement against his chest and arms. You're not heavy by any means, but still no one wants to fight with someone they’re trying to help. “Now quite with the moving, you and your human clothes are going to give a rash.” 

“But-”You tried to refute his help once more but were swiftly silenced by the dirtiest of looks thrown down at you. Fine, you supposed, maybe this wouldn’t go totally horrible.

~~~

“What the fuck Lo’ak, that-that’s a person! What are you doing holding a person, oh my god, dads gonna kill you!” Or not.

“Shut up Kiri you skxwang before someone hears you!” He whisper yelled at his sister. You both found her in a different section of the forest. Gathering plants of some kind like you had been the first time around. 

“Someone should hear me what?! You brought one of those people here!” 

“Shut up Kiri, she’s not gonna do anything I promise, but she’s hurt and I need your help.”

“My help?!! You expect me to help one them, are you out of your-”

The siblings began to argue in hushed Na’vi, leaving you to lay awkwardly in Lo’ak arms. Eventually you found yourself analyzing Kiri, She didn’t look much like Lo’ak at all, except for of course the common denominator of them being blue and tall. She was a girl that could be it, but still. Before you could think about it too much Lo’aks voice cut through the air sharp, still in Na’vi to your disappointment.

“It’s eywas will, there was a sign.” At that Kiri stopped her fighting with him, her eyes moving from him to where you sat in his arms, squinting in question. Moving closer to you both, eyes boring into your own as she did so. Eventually coming to stand before you, pressing her large palm to your forehead.

“Uh-” You don’t get to question her not before she's pulling back eyes widening slightly before she sighs exasperated. 

“Fine. Stay here I shall go gather the supplies I need. Raise her leg.” Kiri instructs her brother before disappearing into the foliage. 

“Can you put me down now?”

“Tsk, are all tawtute as difficult as you?” He sucks his teeth at you, finally setting you down on a stone nearby, stepping away from second to grab a small piece of fallen wood. “Raise your leg.” You move on autopilot letting him place it under your leg before you are allowed to bring it down once more. 

“I am not difficult.” You snapping out of your stupor to rebuttal.

“ ‘put me down. lock’ ‘lock what are you doing!’ ‘i can walk, lok’” Lo’aks voice raises in pitch and his hands move up to clutch his chest while the other falls over his forehead dramatically. A surprised laugh leaves your mouth.

“I do not sound like that! And you said that’s not how you say your name?!” You laugh as you speak though you can't bring yourself to feel as offended as you try to sound.

“Uh yet it is Tawtute, listen to yourself.” He rolls his eyes with a smile. “And that's not how you say my name, but it is how you say it.” A cheeks smile spreads across his face and all you can do is laugh and sticking your tongue out at him.

You continue on with childish banter until Kiri returns and once she does an awkward blanket of silence falls across you.

“It’s um a pleasure to meet you,” you introduce yourself and Kiri simply nods eyes darting up between you and Lo’ak before she kneels next to the slash on your legs. Setting the basket she returned with beside her.

She pulls out a few bowls and rags. You dips a clean rag into a bowl of water wiping the gash clean of all dirt and debris before uncovering the two other bowls. Dipping two fingers into the separate ointment spreading them on and around the wound. After that she reached in to pull a few bandages out of the basket, wrapping around them the cut. 

“You must take these with you, and redress the wound every morning and night. If it starts to burn red tell Lo’ak to bring you back to me.” She tells you now that she’s finished dressing the wound. Placing the two bowls back into her woven basket and setting it next to your figure. Eyes darting between the both of you again she speaks once more. “How did you two meet.”

“He wanted to kill me.”

“Hey! That’s not fair you tried to kill me back!” Lo’ak’s neck snaps to face you and you chuckle at his defense. 

“He started it though.” You continue on a smirk playing on your lips as you shoot him an amused look for a moment. “Finished it of course.”

“The fact that the both of you stand here alive tells me neither of you finished anything.” Kiri tuts as us both, effectively wiping the smirk of your mouth and Lo’ak simply rolls his eyes.

“Don't listen to her, she couldn’t kill a dead fish.” He stands waving off Kiri and she glares at him.

“I wouldn’t have to kill it if it was a dead dumbass.”

“Shut up!” He whips his hair over his shoulder not bothering to turn around at her rebuttal. Simply flipping her off over his shoulder before bending down to pick you up once more. “Tell Mom and Dad I went out for a walk, I hate to put her back.”

“Put me back? I’m a person Lo’ak not a thing.” You correct him, not even bothering to shove him off as he lifts you up once more. Letting the basket of ointment hang on his elbow.

“Hey you said my name right!” He doesn't bother in acknowledging your statement, only the correct pronunciation. Bouncing you in his arms a bit clearly pleased with you. Yousimply roll your eyes with a smile and wave softly at Kiri.

“Bye Kiri.” You say and she says nothing in return, but she does offer a small grin and wave in return.

~~~

You don’t let Lo’ak take you all the way to the compound guiding him 3/4ths of the way before deciding this is close enough. He fights a bit with you but in the end admits defeat, setting you down making sure you're fine to walk about a hundred times before saying his goodbye. Though before he leaves he presses a dagger to your hand.

“What-”

“Use it only if you need to. And don’t ever come out at night again.” He says and the words are firm and heavy in the air.

“I can’t take this Lo’ak it’s yours.” You tried to push the dagger back to him but he refused, placing it in your free hand and curling your fingers around the handle. 

“Shut up and listen.” The words do their job in silencing you. “I wouldn’t feel good if you got hurt and since you're too stubborn to let me take you back you will take this. You understand?”

“I understand.” The words are quiet and his eyes soften once he registers your acceptance of the weapon.

“Good, now go.” You simply and start the way back to the compound. You make it back within twenty minutes. Unnoticed by the guards or your father, sliding the basket into the vent above your bed along with the dagger Lo’ak had pressed to your palm.

~~~

Lo’ak would also stay unnoticed it seemed, not by guards or your father, but by you. Staying in the trees following as you made your way back. 

He’d tried to go home after watching you walk away, but he couldn’t. Not when he knew what threats lay within these woods. Only making his way home after you’d slipped past the walls and he could no longer reach you.

And maybe knowing you were safe and alive cause of him made the speech he received from his parents worth it.

—————

Sorry this is so late my loves school is kicking my ass

taglist (comment to be added)

@wakanda-forever-andotherfandoms @bambithewriter @tsireyasluvr

[talaricula]

Hi, I saw you post about the PvdA and I really appreciate how in depth you go, many of the issues you've brought up are things I agree with and are reasons why I don't want to vote for the PvdA, but I still haven't decided who to vote for, could I ask why not vooruit? I am aware of the more obvious reasons (basically everything that Conner Rousseau is the face of to simplify it, one of the reasons I don't want to vote for the party), but are there other reasons? And why you specifically are going to vote for groen? I have some more ecological oriented friends who I fully expected to be voting for groen and they don't really want to vote for groen, so I'm curious what convinced you to vote for them? Asking here more for the regional and federal elections.

I am basically just jumping between groen, vooruit and PvdA (definitely never saw PvdA as a possibility on the European level) atm, I think if Conner Rousseau hasn't become the head of the party, I probably would have voted for vooruit, but from the beginning he became the head of the party, I just felt less and less like voting for them and then the thing™ happened with him.

Sorry for the later answer, I wanted to take my time with this a bit!

Why not Vooruit: because they have, in the words of the standaard, rebranded as "vooruit en rechtsaf". Their communication and an essential part of their program seems to me to court Vlaams Belang and NVA voters and smacks a bit of "eigen volk eerst" socialism. There's Conner's catastrophically racist rant of course, which the whole party is a bit quick to forgive after an apology, as if the fact that the party head clearly holds such views does not mean smth for the party line. More importantly imo, there's the concrete racism in the party program : one of Vooruit's main points of action in their program is to make immigration harder. Now, again, I'm a human rights lawyer, I've seen my fair share of migration and asylum cases in Belgium, and Belgium already does everything it can to avoid respecting international refugee law. Presenting things as if Belgium takes in too many refugees, as if refugees have it too easy to get here, as if they have it too easy accessing benefits here, is simply factually false and clearly meant to recruit voters who are, at worst, openly racist, and at best, subconsciously only believe in socialism, state support, equality and welfare for westerners (aka white people). Family reunification is already super hard, does not need to be harder. Making benefits dependent on an inburgeringstraject is counterproductive - how do you want to integrate if you're obnibulated by the poverty line. Encouraging asylum in neighbouring third world countries is ignoring Belgium's colonial history and responsibility in the socio-economic fragility of those regions. Basically, Vooruit's entire migration policy is, imo, built on false narratives about migration, at best casually racist, and courting VB voters. By contrast, Groen's position on immigration is orders of magnitude more inclusive, they want to make it easier in general, and their proposals about it correspond much better to what I've seen in my line of work. That's the main reason why I am not voting Vooruit and am voting Groen.

Vooruit is also less pro-Belgium, while Groen wants to federalise some competences and wants a federale kieskring. Vooruit is more circumspect on queer rights, while Groen is going to bat for some of the most concrete and controversial among them (surrogacy, trans rights, and education in schools). There's other things I agree more about with Groen but I'm not gonna go super into detail on every element - in general, their stances on education, welfare, pensions, care for sick, disabled and elderly people, ethical questions of bodily autonomy (abortion and euthanasia) are bolder and lean closer to mine, while Vooruit keeps wanting to put asterisks next to many of them which reads as paternalistic to me and imo undermines their efficacy.

(Worth noting that on the questions of Belgium, queer rights and other "ethical issues", OpenVLD is actually much much more progressive than the Vooruit. Not gonna vote for them bc their economic policies are fundamentally antisocial and I don't believe in "fiscally conservative socially progressive" bc economic equality is essential to social equality but, yknow, worth noting when comparing parties.)

I don't love everything Groen stands for - I know their hardline stance against nuclear energy is v controversial, for example, and I strongly dislike their history of making ritual animal sacrifice a hot button issue that contributed to islamophobia and antisemitism (it smacked of "I can excuse racism but draw the line at animal cruelty"), but it is still by far the party I agree with the most about the most things, which is how you pick a party to vote for, I think.

I assume you've done the stemtest, but if you don't feel up to reading the complete programs of the parties you're considering, I'd recommend checking out De Tijd's kieswijzer too. You can compare some hot button issues without registering, and if you make a free account for a month (no automatic payment after) you can compare more issues in detail. It's been v helpful to me.

TL;DR again : not voting Vooruit for (program content wise) their asylum and immigration policy and (communication wise) the racism, which I am very actively opposed to, voting Groen for their positive stance on migration and asylum, Belgium, queer rights, abortion and euthanasia, social welfare, education, and ecology.

[cocozydiaries]

more mha dr asks!!!!!!!!!!

do u have any ideas for your hero costume etc.

anyone you're excited to meet??

any sort of idea on what you look like (physical description ig)

YESS MORE ASKS!! love these sm coz i gotta dig through the depths of my mind to answer them.

question when you guys ask me stuff do you like the overly long answers or should i keep it short? coz like the original answers were wayy longer this is literally me tryna keep it short😭 i actually have a problem

Hero costume:

tbh like most things i’m leaving this one for when i shift there but unlike most things it isn’t coz i want my subconscious to decide. Honestly i do not have the sense of style needed to come up with a good hero fit HOWEVER my drself does!!

i definitely want smth either pink or blue. me and uraraka are gonna be twinin🤭!!

i also know that i want smth kinda flowy. i loooove dresses and i mean i feel like smth flowy would just match my water based quirk yk?

i don’t have any inspo but honestly i’m probably not gonna look very hero like😭

anyways might be kinda odd but i looooove magical girl type of outfits sm! and before y’all go “but that’s so impractical for hero work!” not for me it’s isn’t 🙄

i genuinely did script i have a magical girl type of concept tho but still sorta practical to work in😭

Who i’m excited to meet:

i already know ik them in my dr but i cannot wait to meet my dr family! might be kinda cringe but i actually just might like my family??

i scripted in my cr sibling’s because idk🧍‍♀️. tbh i just can’t imagine being anywhere without them😭

i also can’t wait to meet my cat!! My family adopted a ton of pets because rich people but I specifically ended up with a stray cat i found at the pharmacy.

funnily enough that’s actually smth that happened to me here! except my mumsies said i can’t have the cat so instead the pharmacy took her in but i still get to visit her whenever i go there (she’s so lovely i love her sm!) anyways in my dr i ended up getting to adopt her instead. happy ending yippee.

AND I CANT WAIT TO SEE HER SHES LITERALLY MY BBY☹️ i also scripted (for my own mental health) that pets live wayyy longer now by like 10-20 whole more yrs coz i cannot imagine any of my kids dying before me

if you were wondering the total amount of pets we got a cat, dog, snake, and duck. and like random bird feeder thingies my parents added to the garden. the whole food chain ong

ig i’m also excited to meet up with some old childhood friends? Genuinely asking tho would it be weird to meet up with someone you used to be really close friends with but haven’t seen in a few years😭? Me and my drself are both baffed.

AND OCHAKO ML🫶🫶 i’m gonna meet her at UA probably BUT I HOPE I MEET HER BEFORE THAT TBH😭 but trust we’re gonna be besties

i scripted i’m super good at baking coz she mentioned she likes sweet stuff so i’m gonna spoil her with all sweet stuff i make😈 devious plan

Appearance stuff:

since this is a safe space… i feel i should share that i did in fact change my appearance. I don’t have a specific face claim (i wanna be surprised tbh) but mostly i just changed some of my facial features to their best version. looksmaxxingcore unironically i fear💔

i scripted that my face looks pretty and whatnot (in a very like unique way coz ugh she’s so different and quirky and unique🙄) but i still look and feel familiar to myself.

Also idk if you guys have heard that theory but like apparently after spending enough time with someone you start to look like them? Ik that theory generally means like clothes and aesthetic rather than actual facial features but i did script that even tho me and my siblings are adopted we somehow look similar to each other and our parents.

But the biggest change is probably my hair. in a reality where i can have any hair colour and you think i’m not going pink?

anyways i scripted that i have like pink streaks of hair in my otherwise black hair!! gonna match so well with my hero outfit!

smth like this!!

tbh it doesn’t matter coz i do dye my hair often so i’m probably gonna end up with a ton of different hair colours anyways

aside from that my hair is still its lovely curly self! i love my curls and never wanna get rid of them but i did script if i like straighten my hair that it STAYS straight even if i sweat and whatnot. i haaaaate when you get those curly little wisps peeking through coz of that😭

anyways that’s all for now! i love answering asks sm so this was real fun but i also love hearing about ur mha drs SO TAG ME IF YOU POST ABOUT THOSE

[wehaveagathering]

Do you have any offseason predictions? (for the flyers) / what Should happen this offseason

I assume this was a drunk ask last night but i fell asleep. So. You get my wakeful, no less complex and thought-through answer. This may be long; you have been warned.

First of all, the draft. This isn't the draft for big moves. I mean, while I'm definitely hoping for huge upsides for members of the 2024 draft - being lambasted as "not a deep draft" makes them my most beloved underdogs and I hope they all prove themselves - usually scouts who know hockey and watch a ton of young prospects are right about who can do what. And all of the scouts are saying: the 2025 draft has way more talent than 2024. So. If I'm Danny Briere, this is what I do.

In the 2024 1st round, the Flyers have pick 12 and pick 31/32 from the Panthers. Let's say, because the Flyers have famously good luck while drafting, Florida wins the Cup and we get pick 32. Not that it makes THAT much of a difference - we're going to get a prospect with similar skill levels whether we pick at 31 or 32. However, judging by everything I've read, a prospect we like is going to be available at 12. Whether that's Yakemchuk or Helenius or Eiserman (the three that usually get mock-drafted to the Flyers) we're gonna get a guy with good skill, and a pretty bright career ahead of him. And then at 32, some decent dude.

Nah. I'm giving pick 32 to a team that really needs it. Someone like Ottawa, or the Sabres, or the Kraken, someone that is picking early and are hoping for a better upside next year. Maybe they have their eye on someone going later - maybe we throw in a 2nd or 3rd round pick to sweeten the deal. And in return, they give us their 1st rounder for the 2025 draft.

You know, I considered that the Flyers might try to trade up in the 2024 draft, but because of the "lack of depth" I think that you're not gonna get a guy at 12 that's super different from the guy at like, 8, and no one is giving up a pick above that, whether or not the draft is "deep" or not. The Sabres are saying 10th is maybe up for grabs, and the Devils are willing to trade their pick in order to contend next season. I could see us trading a player for 10th, but definitely not picks, and the Devs want a goalie, so. No-go there, as the Flyers have thrown their weight behind Ersson and Fedotov. So I don't think we'll trade any picks for a higher selection in 2024. But I think that it would be smart to get a third pick in 2025. That's the kind of stuff you can really leverage.

Hypothetical scenario. Say the Flyers do a little better next year and get pick 14 in 2025. Say Colorado makes the conference finals and has to give their #30 pick to us. Say we make a deal with the Kraken this year for our 2024 #32, and they have pick #15 in 2025. Why not, in that case, leverage picks 15 and 30 and move up to 10, or even higher? Why not go for gold, maybe give picks 14 and 15 for pick #5? Then you have a highly touted prospect pick at 5, and still 30 in a deep draft. I mean, Vancouver traded all the way up to get two top-five picks in a row to take the Sedins.

(OR you just keep three first rounders in a deep draft, which no one is mad about.)

We could play it real smart just with the draft this offseason. And then there's Michkov.

I think a lot of what the Flyers do this offseason depends on if Michkov comes over. Russia wanted that answer by the end of June, and I'm sure the Flyers do too, so they can draft and trade accordingly. We don't have much cap space if we want to sign him. Local cryptid Ryan Ellis still has until 2027 getting 6.5 mil a year. Rasmus Ristolainen also has a contract until 2027 getting 5 mil a year. Colorado gave us the precious, precious gift of Ryan Johansen who came with 4 million dollars worth of baggage. TDA and Kevin Hayes are costing us approximately $5 mil this upcoming season. We currently have $500,000 worth of cap space and an ELC for Michkov would be $700K annual at minimum, and you know they are NOT gonna give the Mad Fucking Russian minimum NHL wage (the max is $950K.)

If I'm being totally honest, I kind of don't want Michkov over this season. I can't see us trading someone to make cap space for him, and I don't see Barkey or Bonk being ready to play in the NHL this year next to him. (Very excited to see them at the NHL level soon, though.) The Flyers just aren't ready. If we wait another year, Cam Atkinson's contract is up and he retires gracefully, giving us more cap space. We have a year to figure out what to do with Johansen, whose contract is up in 2025 anyway. That frees up 9 mil alone. If we're already getting rid of Staal (god I hope we do) that's 2.5 mil gone. I think it's not a bad idea to let Michkov play more in Russia, keep a good relationship, let the team be kind of middling for another year so we get a decently high pick, or can make a reasonable trade for one - because right now, even the Flyers are saying it: we need high end talent. Someone to match Michkov. I mean, I think Frost would be a good center for him. I think Frost's playmaking would work well with him. A Michkov-Frost-Foerster line would be fun as hell, but that line doesn't live up to what Michkov can do forever. If Michkov comes over, I also don't want him playing on our fuck ass powerplay. You know what I mean? You ever go back and watch the 2012 ECQF and hear the announcers talk about how the Flyers' special teams were their strength? We haven't had that for years. We don't need it right now. But if Michkov is here, we should have something close.

As far as trades go. I wouldn't make too many moves. I don't think the Flyers will make too many moves if Michkov doesn't come over. People are already freaking out over a TK extension - whatever. He has until 2025, I'm not pressed, and both the Flyers and TK want him to stay, so something will get worked out. I can see why people want to trade him, but what the hell do you want in return?? What do you think you're going to get? It's not worth it. Sign him next year for 6-7 years @ 8 mil, fans are happy, players are happy, TK is happy. Fuck off.

I don't think Staal is staying. They're talking about extending EJ – that would be cute, but we already have a number of pretty good defensemen, and we don't need just another "pretty good" defenseman. (Sorry, Big Horny.) I would love to see a similar team next season develop more offensive chemistry and to have a solid goalie tandem rotation, and I think that would be the best outcome of this offseason.

Obviously, there are a few players with contracts that are up this year. Bobby Brink's ELC is up, and for me it's crucial that he stays. This is my number 1 signing that needs to happen this offseason. I think he's an exciting player, and I think that Torts needs to get his head out of his ass and work with him. (This is my number 1 bone to pick with Torts, but whatever.) Zamula also has his contract up, and I know they want to re-sign him. I also hope that they're thinking about Kolosov coming back to the Phantoms this fall, and what they would have to do for him to make him comfortable in Lehigh Valley. When Kolosov came over this spring, no player on the Phantoms spoke Russian, let alone Belarusian, and when he left at the end of the season, citing that he was homesick – I can't imagine that that had nothing to do with it. Ersson talks about how important Felix Sandstrom was for his acclimation to American life as a fellow Swede, and I think that if Kolosov is to return to North America, you want someone there to help him out and help him acclimate. Depends on how everything shakes up next year – that could be Gurianov or Zamula, but both of their contracts ended in 2024. So Kolosov's comfort level in America is a factor I hope they're considering.

Like, this is the thing with Michkov. I want him to come over, but if he does, they need to shake up a lot of shit that I don't think they're ready to shake up. I think him playing for 3 years in Russia factored into their long-term plan, what with the very tight restrictions on cap space we have right now and the makeup of the NHL and AHL teams here. Fedotov will be crucial for Michkov if he stays, and if he doesn't, then Kolosov, Zamula, Gurianov, or any other Russian/Russian speaker on the team needs to have a level of comfort in PA to ensure that Michkov does not struggle with the same culture shock that I assume Kolosov did. He was 22; Michkov will be 21 - if he comes over now, 19. There needs to be a system in place for these players. Creating that system needs to have started yesterday.

Uh, I think that's it. Thanks for the ask!! <3

[teddywesworl]

if you're still doing the wip thing... The last mile? your mass effect au makes me feral

I just tried to answer this and tumblr fucking ATE my response but yeah i'm working on it, it's set half at the beginning and half at the end of the Reaper War with the Hawkins assigned to Project Crucible (part 1) and the London assault (part 2). tonally it's very me3 so im gonna be kinda nervous about posting it, especially as it may require a MCD tag lmaoooooo (not them though. never them)

i have no idea when it's going to be completed, though, so here's a sizeable chunk of the opening, complete with epistolary-ish framing device to match DTA:

EDDIE 1

Fig. 1: Perspectives on Tayseri Ward, an award-winning photograph of the Citadel by acclaimed asari photographer Lidilya Ranis, ca. 2182. Note the near-atmospheric effect of the gas and dust of the Serpent Nebula creating depth of field between the camera’s lens and the Presidium Ring.

*

The Citadel is different than he remembers, but it’s also the same.

He and Steve see it differently. Steve thanks air traffic control in person on their way through security and comments on the Sur’Kesh native trees freshly planted in the commercial district. Eddie marks the C-Sec man tailing them while they eat tacos from a super gimmicky Thessia-Earth fusion restaurant and spots a pickpocket watching them from an alley. It’s a human girl, maybe thirteen. No visible tattoos or marks, but that doesn’t mean much when the kid is wearing a beanie and a scarf and a bulky jacket that’ll hide plenty of take. Eddie angles himself so the cop can’t see his face, makes eye contact with the girl, and shakes his head.

They’re in the Mid-Ward, a part of Zakera that Eddie should know intimately. It feels strange not to recognize the large majority of the storefronts, replaced as so many were in the aftermath of the geth attack in ‘83, but the longer he looks, the clearer it becomes that the bones are the same. Eddie rebuilds the map in his head from the position of keeper ports, maintenance panels, walkways—and vents.

He falls behind Steve just staring at a vent tucked between an Armax vendor and a pop-up shop selling the elcor equivalent of beer. Steve walks another dozen feet, maybe, before he notices Eddie’s not beside him and doubles back.

“You okay?” Steve says, fingertips brushing Eddie’s elbow.

Eddie shakes himself off and nods. “Yeah, sorry,” he says. “Um. I used to sleep in there, I think. I’m pretty sure that’s the one.”

Steve frowns, his eyes moving from storefront to storefront, gliding over the vent like it isn’t there until he remembers. “Oh,” he says. His hand slides down Eddie’s forearm, and he laces their fingers together.

Eddie feels oddly disconnected from his own body. He doesn’t think he would fit in that vent, now, but that’s sort of the point, isn’t it? That’s what a duct rat is. You stop being a duct rat when you can’t fit anymore. Or when the wrong fan powers up and chews you to pieces.

Eddie unfocuses his eyes and doesn’t quite look at the C-Sec man still pretending not to follow them. It’s a turian, hanging around some fifty paces behind them, and he’s obvious in a way that’s kind of aggravating, because turians make up something like half a percent of the Mid-Ward’s population, and the real residents don’t dress business casual. There’s a tension welling up, raw from the vents and the cops and the collision between memory and immediate reality. He bounces on the balls of his feet, indecisive. Then he squeezes Steve’s hand, locks eyes with the turian, and crooks his finger at the guy, beckoning.

There’s a strange hanging moment where the cop looks like he’s gonna try to disappear into the crowd, but then he accepts that he’s been made and approaches. Steve looks surprised to see him; his posture gets a little guarded, so Eddie squeezes his hand again.

“That’s close enough,” Eddie says at a distance of ten or so paces. He’s not in the mood for this, doesn’t feel like playing a game, so he just says: “Why?”

Steve stays quiet, apparently satisfied to let Eddie handle this.

The turian’s mandibles twitch. “I’m,” he says. “I don’t…”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Why’d they send you?” he says.

“They didn’t say,” says the cop. Eddie’s not sure he believes him, but at least he’s not playing completely dumb.

“Get out of here,” Eddie says. “Tell them you were made. Also tell them the Alliance doesn’t appreciate C-Sec harassing its N7s on shore leave.”

The mandibles twitch again. Turian hearts aren’t quite like human hearts, but the rhythm of this one changes enough to confirm Eddie’s suspicions that the guy at least didn’t know who Steve was. “Right,” he says. Leaving is an awkward thing, but he manages it, walking off in a straight line.

Eddie sighs when he’s gone.

“How long’s he been there?” Steve asks.

“Since security,” Eddie replies. “Fuckin’ amateur hour, sending a turian. Especially since there’s a ton of human cops now.”

Steve hums thoughtfully. “You ready?” he says.

“Yeah,” Eddie says, and it’s the truth. He wasn’t sure it would be, when Hop offered to call in a favor, when the message hit his inbox, or even when he stepped out of the Hawkins airlock and onto an Alliance dock this morning. He just kept saying yes and moving forward because he knew he’d regret it if he didn’t.

He keeps holding onto Steve’s hand as they move through and past the crowds toward Oji Way Warehouses, a row of storage units guarded by sectional doors and the occasional krogan hired gun. One such krogan, a scarred old brute with a cracked green frontal plate, approaches to grunt at them about what they’re doing down here, to move along if they don’t have business.

“We do,” says Steve. “We’re looking for somebody.”

“That so, soldier boy?” says the krogan. Eddie ducks his chin to hide a smile, because yeah, even in civvies, Steve sticks out like a sore thumb.

“Munson,” says Steve. “That’s the name.”

The krogan turns his head to get a better look at them out of a single eye. “What d’you want with Wayne?”

[freesidexjunkie]

NSFW alphabet tag post

Tagged by the amazing and wonderful @commander-krios!! I am. A little too ace for some of these, so some answers are gonna be partial or skipped. I'm also doing both Sarissa (Dragon Age/solavellan) and Maevris (BG3/durgetash) because some of these I feel like i have answers for one and not the other. Sometimes both.

Leaving this open for anyone who wants to but i also specifically feel like. @spaceratprodigy. you got some ideas abt faith and max don't you? 👀👀

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Sarissa: very clingy, touchy snuggling. Like, every square inch of skin on skin contact available clingy. Like, stay locked in an embrace in the same position you were in at the end for hours kind of snuggling. Probably very much "okay now stroke my hair and tell me you love me" vibes. Not a "okay now we're done see you later" kind of person. She's gonna stay there for ages afterwards hugging and saying dorky cute things.

Maevris: probably depends? If it's just a casual thing she's probably ready to leave right after. If it's with gort less casual, probably some more emotionally intimate stuff like snuggling and maybe helping each other clean up etc.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Idk what their favorite parts of their own bodies would be, but

Sarissa's favorite part of Solas is probably gonna be forearms/hands. I feel like he'd have those really hot arms that look good in rolled up sleeves. You know the ones i mean.

Maevris: listen. He's not called Enver Gortit for nothing. Those bitches are pillowy. Heavenly. Grade A++ tits.

C = Cum

Gonna be honest. This is not a part of sex that I think about very much. Both for asexual reasons and for sensory reasons. But i will say that in all the stuff i write between Mae and Gort, pull out game is the last thing on their mind. If you catch my drift.

D = Dirty Secret

Idk man i think Mae's deepest darkest secret is that she actually does enjoy being loved and cared for and treated tenderly. Which is disgusting. To her.

E = Experience

In terms of Sarissa: i kind of alluded to this in the latest chapter, and i have more in depth stuff about it in my character notes. She was like 20 when the Inquisition started and very... not exactly introverted, but it's hard to go have a normal life in your clan when you don't have any family and you're basically the heir to the person taking care of everyone? She's got Aang in the air temple syndrome kinda. She didn't really get opportunities to explore relationships before the Inquisition, let alone anything physical. So, when she leaves home and starts hooking up for the first time with the well mannered hobo apostate elf and he ends up... doing what he does. Well. It certainly adds an extra layer of betrayal and sting to the situation (: She did try to date around a bit (or at least rebound) after the whole Trespasser thing but. Well. Trauma and trust issues (((: i promise i love her i just have to Put Her Through It

F = Favourite Position

Mae is 100% a pillow princess. Okay. So her favorite positions are going to be anything that lets her sit back and let someone else drive. Idk if that counts towards positions necessarily but there you go. Sarissa's favorites are again gonna be anything super touchy and close and clingy. She would probably very much prefer to be facing her partner and very entangled.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Sarissa is 100% a little goofy. Mostly in terms of like. Bad jokes and innuendos and anything a little silly. Mae is probably a little more serious, just by virtue of being a lot more no nonsense (especially when Gortash is doing something she considers nonsense (like flirting with her while she pretends to be unbothered)).

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Iirc, elves in Dragon Age don't have a lot of body hair to begin with (comparatively). But Sarissa is Dalish, so. Like yeah she's very on top of her hygiene (you have to be when you're outside 95% of your life) but. She would be very much natural in terms of hair. Whatever amount is natural for elves i guess.

For Mae, idk enough about tiefling biology to know about their body hair, but all the tiefs I've seen in the game are pretty hairless? And while yeah she might not bat an eye at being covered in blood and guts, she does have meticulous personal hygiene routines. And very extra ones. She's a cult leader and part god and her boyfriend probably has multiple mansions with the finest bath oils and soaps and etc etc. She's pampered as fuck in that aspect.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Oh yeah, the romantic aspect is my bread and butter baybee. They're both very emotionally and romantically driven in the moment, though Mae is more loathe to admit it. For Sarissa, it's more of a giggly, butterflies, "you are my person and i just want to be with you all the time" kind of intimacy, whereas for Maevris it's more like. This crushing need to be touched, to be held, to have sweet words of affirmation and affection whispered to her. To be cared for and wanted. Like an anchor, like clinging onto a lifeboat in the middle of an insanely awful and fucked up storm.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

This is another thing i just don't really think about for asexual reasons lol. But going off vibes alone first thought without really considering much detail? Sarissa not really, Maevris sometimes maybe?

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Maevris my beloved you are never going to escape the praise kink allegations if i have anything to say about it. Also the bratty allegations. More on that later maybe?

L = Location (Favourite places to do the deed)

For Sarissa, my first thought was "probably in nature, that would make sense right" but on further thought. I think a picturesque outdoors spot would be a lovely idea to her, but the most enticing aspect of any location would probably be the privacy. Which is hard to get outdoors. Growing up Dalish you learn not to take privacy for granted, so having her own private quarters in Haven and in Skyhold to do ~whatever~ she wanted was a very welcome novelty. Not to say she was above indulging in other locations, though.

For Maevris, probably those big fancy satiny luxurious beds Enver has. Like, we saw the temple of Bhaal. That bedroom isn't shabby. But the unnecessarily lavish and showy and decadent beds Enver has (for impressing company and not himself, we know damn well that man will sleep curled up in his workshop if it's just him) are...something else. A bit like stepping into a different world.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

I saved this one for last bc it was stumping me the most and im still at a loss for like. Specific turn ons? I guess? But in general for Sarissa it would be the kinds of things that give her butterflies and catch her off guard in sweet ways. Like hearing Solas refer to her as his anything (partner, love, vhenan, etc etc) to someone else would make her insides do a little happy dance; hearing him say it directly to her in a ~private moment~ would short circuit her brain (in a good way). Innocent little things like a hand on her back as he passes, bringing her something she didn't realize she needed. He's probably got a lot of court rizz that would set her insides on fire when he used it. For Mae, i think she likes the challenge; or specifically, being the challenge. Very "what are you gonna do about it" "oh yeah? prove it" kind of girl. Homegirl wants to be cornered like a hare and she wants to sass the fox the whole time. This is all a bit of a front to hide the fact that she just wants someone else to be in control and tell her she's a good girl.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Sarissa's would be multiple people at once. Threesomes and such wouldn't be her vibe. My soft girl also wouldn't be super comfortable with anything rough or harsh. For Mae, i know this puts me in the minority for durges, but anything to do with like. Sexualizing her specifically for the murder and violence aspect? That's her day job, she is taking over the family business but not bc she's super passionate about her work. Not that the violence and blood itself is the turn off part of that, but feeling like she's almost being used as someone else's fantasy? She's above that. She's a child of a god and she's the Chosen of a god. She's nobody's bucket list lay.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

I'm positive there's a tweet somewhere from Patrick Weekes saying that Solas definitely eats out so. There's that for Sarissa. But I haven't given it a ton of thought ig. I will say that as far as Mae's concerned? Gale isn't the only ambitious Chosen in Baldur's Gate with a practiced tongue. (as i may have written in this fic)

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

All i can think to say for pace is that Mae is definitely very needy. Like, desperate bucking kind of needy. Idk if that counts as pace?

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

I don't think either of them would be opposed to it vs like, something long and drawn out and w/e? It would probably be depend on the situation but i doubt either of them would be super against it?

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

I am certain Solas learned a lot of neat tricks in his "explorations of the Fade" and Sarissa is definitely down to learn. For Maevris, i feel like it almost goes without saying that any durgetash pairing is gonna have a very high tolerance for risk.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Uhhh. No idea. Their stamina is however long i can write without running out of new words for penis, i guess.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

This is another one i just haven't really put much thought into for ace reasons. But for Mae at least, i feel like if you date an artificer, there's gonna be some kind of invention or tool brought in eventually...?

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Ahahaha did i mention that Mae is kind of bratty? Did you check out the fic I linked earlier? Not so much that she likes to tease, but that she has. A certain enjoyment in pretending to be annoyed at Enver's teasing. And in being vocal about not going along with it while she's very enthusiastically going along with it

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Let me plug another fic for Mae to say that she has no problem being loud and no problem being heard by others. With the right inducement, that is.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Sarissa is definitely aspec. She has a lot of parts of my personal experience and make up and that's one of them.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

Both AFAB

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Okay so when i think of yearning, i think of the soul crushing, deep seated emotional need for someone that feels like your throat is closing up and you need them like you need to breathe. Which is definitely Mae when she lets herself be a little more vulnerable. For Sarissa, depending heavily on the point in her story, it's less all encompassing inescapable yearning and more touchy, constant hand holding/arm linking/hugging yearning and definitely "okay but if i do get you alone i wouldn't say no to anything that meant being closer to you."

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Sarissa is gonna be snrk mimimi not long after most times. She is also not going to let go. We're going to bed now, comrade kinda deal.

this was really fun to write and think abt, thank you so much for tagging meeee 💖💖 some picrews of my two wonderful and perfect girls that i be putting thru situations for those who stuck thru to the end

[hornystiel]

hiii again gen z mutual from the other day here, i wanted to let you know that yes i did read everything and enjoyed too!

regarding the issue of using "old" too loosely and using it to make weird ageist comments, i understand your concern and i agree. although i haven't seen that much towards other people in the spn fandom but more towards actors like to wish a happy birthday to them i saw people saying "grandpa" and that was very odd (wasn't on tumblr though). also about your point about how busy adults have time for fandom, the way you wrote that was quite moving and very real.

regarding destiel you had a super insightful answer, which i was not expecting but was super appreciated i'm gonna try to reply slightly more in depth, sorry i don't remember the order but several points were made:

- 40 is absolutely canon dean age and in no way old and dying at any age below like 80 is quite young so yeah absolutely dean is not old

- regarding them getting old and being put in a heteronormative box, i agree on that so much and i hate those stereotypes with a passion too. i will say i get the appeal of the more white picket fence life, the suburban lifestyle or baby jack in art, it's downright delusional but it's the kind of dream that leads to seeing them happy which is heart-warming. thankfully there are wonderful exceptions that are realistic enough to want to indulge in them especially for AUs. i'm not immune to high quality fluff is all

- i LOVED the super realistic headcanons you had for dean and cas and i need you to know how incredibly interesting and CORRECT they are (the cas being too frustrated to garden too real)

long story short: no offense taken i appreciated your in-depth reply and if you read all this you're the hero ;)

(re this convo)

i am genuinely so happy my thoughts didn't look smth like 'old woman yelling at cloud' :') your answer is very sweet, thank you

the 'old' thing i mostly see on twt because here i follow those who'd never say smth like this in an ageist way but well even here some posts like this can still reach my blog through the vine but usually it's people already rightfully grumbling at the op so <3

about destiel - thank you again, usually people don't really like my way of thinking about them or are simply not interested in that (no offense to each their own) and i'm just doing my thing with a close circle of weirdos but sometimes it do be lonely. so you saying you find my thoughts interesting means a lot 💜 and of course, there are works (fics, art etc) that nail even the happy-fluffy-white-fence concepts and i enjoy them despite me not being a fluff loving person really. and sure, aus are literally for this - discovering different paths for the characters and if it's done in a compelling way - cheers

i can talk for a long ass time about all my hcs (hashtag just girl things) it's just i usually don't receive a lot of feedback on them so i keep them to one on one chats mostly, but you're always welcome to ask me stuff or just chat, i love chatting (even tho i guess i can be seen as an angry intimidating person sometimes because...well. i am angry at a lot of things sighhh)

anyway thank you again, i really enjoyed both answering your asks and reading your reply 🌷

[neverchecking]

Okay, this is on the subject of the anon(s?) talking about the problematic use of the term "genderbent", which i'm admittedly confused about

(i wanna preface this by saying i'm not trying to come off as rude or accusatory at all, i'm just trying to have a discussion because i'm not completely understanding their point of view here!)

I did some research trying to find what specifically was transphobic about the term, (so that could be cut out, bc it's hard to come up with a replacement term without knowing what was inherently wrong with the first one) and i didn't find a whole lot, but i did find a post which went pretty in depth on why genderbending is problematic

basically they talked about how the term is transphobic because it implies that that gender and sex are the same thing, and also that there are really only two. which is a completely valid point, i can understand that, but why would "body swap" or "sex swap" then not be okay to use?

They also talked about it being erasure of queer representation to assume a character is or was cis in the first place, which again i can understand but unless the character is canonically queer or queer coded then, i don't really get it

like no one is taking your headcanons away from you or trying to erase queer representation, people's headcanons will always conflict with others, it's just unavoidable. i don't think someone having a different character hc than you (as long as it's not them actively ignoring a canonically queer character's orientation) is inherently transphobic.

something they brought up that kind of struck a chord with me is when they invalidated the "excuse of using it for character exploration" and said "Why do you need a character to be cis for you to find their personality and life interesting to explore?" which is just the strawman fallacy. the same thing can be said that "Why do you need a character to be queer for you to find their personality and life interesting to explore?" members of the lgbt community of all people should know that someone's sex/gender/orientation does not define a person. there's so much more to a human than their orientation

but again, most of this is on the subject of why genderbending itself is bad, and not the term alone, so if you're not using it in a transphobic manner i don't see the issue with it?

Again i'm not trying to start a fight or come off as queerphobic, because i'm absolutely not! this just seems like a hasty generalization to me

Super off topic, but I find it so funny how half my blog rn is 'mmm Mystic milk mommy reader' and the other half is having this super serious conversations and discussion. This is what we call duality 😌

Anyway, back to the serious stuff. I was gonna answer this earlier but for some reason the words weren't, like, sinking in? Like I read them, and understood them, but I just couldn't piece them together? If it makes sense.

As long as we're all respectful, I see no reason why we can't have a discussion.

If you don't mind, can you tag me/send me a link to that post?

I think the problem with using body/sex swap is still implying that there are only two sexes/genders, because it excludes those that are genderfluid/ non-binary/ etc.. It's kind of like implying that gender is coin, in a way? You can only be one or another, despite it being a wide spectrum.

I ran into a similar issue to the one you bring up when I was deep in the ROTTMNT fandom. If you know, there is a heavy portion of the fandom that que that Leonardo as a MLM/Gay presenting individual, and when faced with any other headcanon, they got quite...mean, I suppose is the best word for it. I was called a plethora of names when I didn't blatantly spell out my own headcanon for him and was told I was erasing Queer representation. So I think that's where some of the problems arise, is with the erasure to start with.

Of course a character doesn't need to be Cis, or Trans, or even really human for them have a personality that people connect with. but people can find comfort in having that ability to relate with another being sharing their issues. They can find solace in knowing that what their feeling doesn't pertain to them alone and that they aren't weird, or broken, or mistaken. Not that any of you are, but I know our minds can be cruel things to us.

I think the problem with it is that, again with the coin, I'm going from one gender to the other without leaving room for any in between. Like, when answering asks, I, even unintentionally, automatically went with a Fem! Presenting AFAB to a Masc! Presenting AMAB with the ordeal when there are several identifications in between.

I'm still trying to figure it all for myself, so I apologize if anything I said was wrong!

[nebulousfishgills]

OC Asks with your Loki/TVA OC (I haven't heard much about her yet and want to change that :D )

🐁🎲📚

🥞🌌🕐

Ah yes, Olivia, my first major OC, let's absolutely talk about her! Thanks for the ask! I'm tired, I burned my hand at work, and I only have a little bit of popcorn in my system, but screw it!

🐁 - Capybaras are friend-shaped. What shape does your OC have?

(Wow I can't believe there's no capybara emoji... tragic)

Hmm... you know, in an ironic twist, I would go as far to say she's Blue Rose Shaped. I think being rose-shaped means that you're very loving and beautiful when handled correctly, but you can also be prickly and even harmful if handled incorrectly.

I say blue rose specifically for the thematicness, but also for the general exoticness. She's a being from Asgard, she's an alien. She's not a natural being of Earth, just as (I'm pretty sure at least) blue roses don't grow naturally here.

🎲 - If your OC played a pen-and-paper RPG, what class would they pick?

I think it's funny you ask this since I literally have every facet of Emily's hypothetical Dungeons and Dragons character tabbed in my player handbook. But Olivia...

You know what, she would 100% be into TTRPG games, especially since, in a way, she herself is a fantasy character. I think as far as classes go, she'd either pick Mage if she wants to be more true to herself (since she is a magic user), but I thinl she'd also have a lot of fun playing as a Rogue. I think she likes playing as a Tiefling (my favorite race to play), but is also fond of being an elf.

She always plays a Chaotic alignment, no matter what.

📚 - Your OC has to improvise a 10 minute lecture on a topic of their choosing. What do they choose?

Olivia is well-versed in a lot of topics. She, like Loki, prefers mental sharpness over aggressive prowess in battle (she's still a skilled fighter, don't get me wrong). But I'll give two answers on this, a more serious one and a more goofy one.

One of Olivia's favorite things to study happened to be the nature of the Infinity Stones, even before they became an active part of her life. Canonically she's one of the first people to understand what exactly their dealing with during the Battle of New York in 2012. She knew the Tesseract was the Space Stone and she knew Loki's scepter housed the Mind Stone and was influencing him to some degree. And, in my version of Avengers: Endgame, she actually is the one who does most of the presenting about what the Infinity Stones are to the rest of the Avengers. So, serious answer, Infinity Stones.

Now a more goofy answer. If the Avengers decided to genuinely have a Presentation Night (my friends and I are super close to getting ours put together and my topic is... I'm gonna get yelled at for sure), I think she would give an entire in depth Exposé presentation on how the most random human events were just she, Thor, Loki, and the other Asgardians goofing around and messing with the people of Earth. So, for example, she'd explain that Loki was DB Cooper and provide an entire breakdown on the reasons, timeline, etc (Tony loses his fucking mind over that one). It seems kind of like a tame presentation, but she knows revealing this would elicit so many hilarious reactions from the others (it did) and did it primarily for that reason.

🥞 - Does your OC take proper care of themselves, like getting enough sleep and eating properly?

This is an interesting one since the answer varies depending on which "self care" aspect we're talking about.

Eating right and working out, she's great at. Asgard is a planet of warriors and even if she's not a beefcake like Thor or some of the other women, she's still very physically fit. She has to be if she's gonna keep up on the field of battle. And her diet also reflects this, she knows her food groups and knows what she needs to eat. That being said, she will raid the cabinets at the Avengers compound for sweets, either because she's craving it or just to annoy Tony.

Her sleep schedule is... complicated. Olivia is the Goddess of Dreams, so when she sleeps she has to do her deific duty (please ignore the logicstic of time since I'm not entirely sure how that works either... something something Asgard's time works different than ours). This means basically going from person to person across the Nine Realms and more or less moderating dreams.

She doesn't create them since our brains do that themselves, but she can alter them and shape them from the Spirit Plane the Valkyries use to guide souls to Valhalla (she's become very well acquainted with them over the years). She does this while she sleeps, sure, but it's still taxing since her brain is still working in a semi-conscious state. It's not like she just never gets proper rest, I'd say it's more like she's asleep for eight hours but only maybe gets six hours worth of actual rest across those eight hours. Usually this means she sleeps in to compensate. She can go to bed at 10 PM, in theory she needs eight hours of rest, so instead of a 6 AM wake up, it's maybe a 8 or 9 AM wake up. It's later than most of the other Avengers.

Her dream walking is complicated, but basically her sleep schedule is very weird because sleeping is arguably like a softer version of clocking in for work.

As for taking care of her mental health... listen, she's either the most positive, happy person with the best quality of life or she's... how do I put this... only slightly better off than Marcus from Twilight (actually context considered that's actually a very valid parallel at certain points). It really depends on where in her timeline/what timeline she's in.

If we're pre 2011, she's doing great. Her mental health takes a dip during and especially after the events of the first Thor movie (because, you know, she thinks Loki fucking DIED). It's a steady low through 2012 and the Battle of New York, but it slowly gets back up to a high point after the events of Dark World (Loki survives in my version and gets to go be an Avenger on Earth, fun!) It goes to I'll say a steady medium during the events of Ragnarok... and then it fucking plummets after Infinity War and that five year gap. But after that gets resolved she's able to fully heal and settle down.

Olivia's operating on different settings in A Song of Stars and Magic since she's Morally Bankrupt. In general though it's not really great. Her mental instability is a large plot point (I based her personality partly on Season 3 Azula from A:tLA and made plenty of references as such) and like most people who got ultimate power like she and Loki did, she's constantly Paranoid about rebellious mindsets and dissent. She enjoys the power trip and one could argue that her having this level of control after the tumultuousness of what came prior is a huge mood booster, but in general she's taking care of herself, just not in any of the right ways.

Olivia in the TVA/Loki Series AU I'd place somewhere in the general middle. There's a lot going on, many existential crisises, and the general disembodiment that comes from being taken from your timeline because of Nexus Events... and trying to overthrow an all powerful time organization. But she's also having fun. Mobius is her friend as much as he is Loki's, she gets to hang out with (i.e. catch mutual feelings for) Sylvie, and she gets to travel through time and just be chaotic... I guess we'll see how that goes for her when season 2 comes out, but as of right now she's... well, neither she or Loki are doing too great...

🌌 - If your OC has a nightmare, what is it most likely about?

Well, again, interesting question since she's a dream deity and has the power to create and manipulate other people's nightmares (again, a great indirect way to show her character's potential duality). She can't manipulate her own, though.

You know, I just remembered how after Multiverse of Madness came out and they said our dreams are our windows to the Multiverse, I said Olivia's accidentally a being who has some degree of Multiversal power (I gave her this deification waaaay before that came out, it became an accidental consequence... I like to headcanon she would have been in the Illuminati with Reed Richards and Co because of this power... and in that reality she's married to Lady Loki).

I digress, though, Olivia and Dreams are a very complex topic.

As far as her nightmares, ones featuring Loki's deaths are extremely common. Either reliving them in vivid, sometimes even exaggerated detail, or her brain coming up with new, horrific ways he could die (I pity her other Variants in the Multiverse who had to actually experience those).

Being abandoned is another one, although not nearly as frequent. The Asgardian Royal Family took her in after her parents died because her mother was close with Frigga, but she sometimes fears they will abandon her, especially after Frigga dies since she and Odin are not anywhere near on the best of terms. Or even the Avengers sending her away for any number of reasons.

But actually, during the events of Age of Ultron, Wanda gives Olivia a vision that's like a nightmare. 2012 haunts her because she and Loki were on opposite sides but there were many times she contemplated or got close to turning cloak and just joining him in conquest (A Song of Stars and Magic is a somewhat unique case, but still a good thing to keep in mind).

Years later she wonders how things could have ended differently had she caved to her darker impulses. Wanda shows her a reality where Olivia slaughtered the other Avengers for Loki because she wasn't going to let them stand in her way of becoming his queen. It's a very dark vision, but I think it shows how her morality is something she contemplates a lot and how close she got with the team since then. She'd think about other endings back in the early days without much weight since she didn't know everyone as well, but after spending more time with them, one of her worst fears is hurting them.

It's interesting.

🕐 - Was there ever a time your OC would have given everything to turn back the clock 5 minutes? What happened?

Plenty of times. So many horrible things happened that could have been avoided if something simple had changed even one or two minutes prior, let alone five. Not letting Loki fall into the wormhole during the events of Thor 1, being quicker to maybe save Coulson from his "death" (Agents of SHIELD aside), just being a little faster to save Frigga before she died (or even just Olivia skipping finding her sword in her room in the first place so she could go help sooner), not letting Hela get to Asgard, not letting Loki face down Thanos.

And that's just in the main timeline! There are plenty of decisions Olivia makes in Time Variance Detected she wishes she could have rewound (ironically enough). Not causing her Nexus Event, being more upfront about her feelings for Sylvie, the entire situation with He Who Remains, among others.

For the fun of it, I know for a fact in A Song of Stars and Magic, Olivia wishes she could have rewound time to not be so arrogantly assured Maya's revolution would fail and get cocky... or even just being better defended against the backup Asgard provided. A long time ago I wrote an unpublished alternate ending where all that made a difference was Olivia just magically locking the fucking door to the throne room before quickly locking Maya up and mind controlling the other Avengers. That's literally what made all the difference, and that took less than five minutes for sure.

Basically any way you slice it, Olivia's made many many mistakes that could be changed with a five minute rewind, but unfortunately that's just not how life works.

Even if at some point you do work for the TVA.

[system-processing-12]

“Also, wtf is your rifle gonna do against a tank? Against fucking drones?” If you’re asking a serious question, I can certainly answer it. You don’t use the rifle on the tank. You use the rifle on the crew before they get to the tank, preferably at their homes. You use the rifle on the maintenance personnel before they service it. You use the rifle on the truck driver delivering fuel to the military base. You use the rifle on the rear echelon support units carrying the tank main gun ammo. Same for the rear echelon people carrying the food and water for the crew. Same can be said of drones. Same can be said of fighter jets. The taliban was able to fend off everyone that went against them, including the soviets and americans with nothing more than goat fuckers living in caves with ak’s. No air support. No armor. Just dirt farmers with ak’s and rpgs. Your average AR15 owner is much better equipped and trained than some goat fucker in a cave. This is also on our own home soil. You’re asking for a war where the body count will be huge. You should probably think a little bit more in depth about things you clearly have zero fucking clue about.

Hoo boy my first angry message. If you were really tough you wouldn't be anonymous bud. Also calling people from the Middle East goat fuckers is kinda fucking racist my dude. Even if they're terrorists. The US military's budget is over 700 billion? You think a couple fuckers with guns can protect against that? Also, are you going to go to the bunkers that have the people flying drones in them and shoot them? Wtf? You're super condescending also lol.

Also, gun control doesn't mean taking away anyone's guns. It means giving people the training you think they all have, making sure it takes longer to buy them, and that they are more regulated. There are more guns than people in the U.S. No one's gonna take them. Do you wanna know what the leading cause of death for CHILDREN in the US is? Hint: not gender affirming care.

[mybrainproblems]

Hey! I have a quick convention question. There’s going to be a con near me soon(driving distance, won’t need a hotel) and I can’t afford much more than general admission. Do you think it would be worth it to just go for the panels and maybe sns? I’d hate to miss the opportunity to see the cast in person but if I cant have the “full” experience of getting autos and photo ops is it better to just stay home? Thanks!

hello! i hope you don't mind me answering publicly with a very long answer to your very quick question, but i wanted to give my honest review of going to a spn con as someone who loves spn and spnwin, but did very few ops. as a disclaimer: i am not criticizing folks who get a lot of auto/photo ops (a lot of my friends get them and enjoy them! i love seeing ppl's photo ops and hearing auto op stories!) but it's just not something i'm super interested in for myself.

short answer: my favorite part of the con was getting to meet ppl who i don't get to see much/hadn't met before and the general feeling of being part of a community. (if that sounds like you, definitely go!) doing a photo op with a group of friends and the spnwin actors made for a cute memento and we had fun with it, but i don't think you need (m)any extras to feel like you had a "full" experience unless you really want to spend a few minutes with the actors. but again; i'm not someone who cares much about directly interacting with the actors.

even more in-depth response plus some recommendations for if you go:

the panels were really fun and i highly recommend the ones with kim & bri, ruthie and dj. my understanding is that they're almost always all on friday for 3 day cons. the "ladies of spn" panel is also a good one and was on saturday. karaoke on friday night is free and super fun as an audience member - i highly recommend it! i recommend SNS as well, but also i got to be there for the rare occasion that jensen sang lol. unfortunately i was a bit out of it bc of anxiety meds so i don't think i got the "full" experience on that one, though i still enjoyed myself!

i will say that if you aren't interested in either walker or spnwin and don't have (m)any ops, you're gonna have a lot of down time so definitely take that into consideration. the only panels i was interested in on sunday were mark s and j2 (the gotham screening was a nice bonus bc otherwise it would've been a really sparse sunday for me). bc the first half of the j2 panel was almost entirely finale Qs, it had really weird downer vibes (the crowd/Qs really impact the panel vibes). once they started getting more general questions about spn and their other work it picked up a lot. jared and jensen both talking about their kids was really sweet and was probably my favorite part of their panel.

** unfortunately, both sp8 and rob had to back out due to conflicts/illness which was a bummer and i think i'd have enjoyed the con a bit more if they'd been there. but also jake abel filling in with a solo panel was fun and why i decided last minute to do jake and chill that evening.

all in all, i think the best part of cons is seeing friends who you may not usually (or ever!) get to see normally. and as fractious as the spn fandom is, we all love the same show and it's cool to see how many other ppl love the show. i really don't think auto/photo ops are necessary for a "full" con experience. m&gs might be worth the money if you wanted to get some actual time with the actors but those can be $$$ and stressful to get due to the auction process. photos are a cute memento but they are very rushed due to timing with panels/autos/m&gs. i didn't do an auto op but my understanding is that while it varies person-to-person, usually you only have a minute or two with with j2m; things are more relaxed with the rest of the cast. if i were an artist/had spn fanart i was proud of making, i'd probably do an auto op tho! (i mean, i do have spn fanart i'm proud of. but bc of the media i used, it would feel more like getting it defaced vs acknowledged lol)

side note: i do some event organizing with tight schedules as a part of my job and seriously, hats off to the scheduling folks and organizers at these events; the actors really do love engaging with fans which means almost everyone runs over and somehow the staff manage to keep the wheels not only on, but turning.

for reference, these are the "extras" that i did:

friday night karaoke (free with fri/full weekend admission - highly rec & did i mention it's free?)

SNS (definitely rec!)

jake and chill (fun, but not a "must-do")

group photo op with spnwin cast and friends

group photo op with baby and friends (v affordable and relaxed!)

i mean this in the kindest way; if you really feel like you're going to be missing out not getting any direct interaction with the actors, then i'd say skip it and save up for next time if you can. the worst feeling is paying the top of what you can afford for something that isn't quite what you wanted.

one crit thing i will say tho and i feel kinda bad about it: i thought i was prepared for how personal fans were going to get with the actors during panel q&a and... i was not. afaik CE no longer screens Qs and i don't want them to, but i wish some fans would keep in mind that their catharsis might be someone else's trigger. it's not like it happened a lot or destroyed my experience (i'm planning to go to another con in 2024), but i've never needed to take that much xanax over the course of 72hrs before.

[demonoftheunderground]

How common are biographical works in the underground in general?, we know a cetain Ice King got very 🗡️(or is it 💉)? Over some negativety, but I would presume it happens?

(continued) On samsids answer: how about a biopics of dead controversial figure like Cannon, beyond being unpopular, ( or irrelevant like Ozark( I Presume)? Or Belmonts dad ofc)

Are they considered gauche?

Do people just not in general make media about current/ living figures often? I imagine a revolution with the downfall of an unpopular king would be a subject that the East at least would engage with a lot.

Did I understand that right about troy? Like even if someone writes a book about how much he sucks? Or us it would enemy in specific just be alright as that means he is dangerous or similar? Or if he is just a dick(though accurate, but idk if he strikes me as a guy with self awareness on that lvl)Or in a Ohhhh ME! Kinda way

---

My answer got long, so I'm gonna put it under a cut.

So, we know the underground is a pretty lawless place where the threat of revenge and retaliation from powerful people is the primary form of order and enforcement. It'd take a lot of guts for an independent author to embarrass a powerful underground figure. The only sphere where people can really get away with it is the South, with its attitude of "attack one of us and you attack all of us." (Hence their top tier journalism.) If the South wrote a book about some random North Sphere asshole, all the asshole's enemies would be celebrating the book while everyone else dismissed it as yet more South Sphere slander.

Unpopular isn't always the opposite of powerful. Cannon was super unpopular among the East Sphere militias and aces, but attitudes in the sphere's official military and across the sphere were more split. (Book 3 of Merritt's Story, and later in DOTU, is where we'll go in depth on this...) A lot of armbands *loved* his brutality - not a majority of armbands, but enough to be dangerous. They loved that he dealt with a disobedient explosives unit by blowing up everyone in the unit but one. And he was a King - he was powerful and had powerful allies. It'd actually still be risky to slander him. Aaaaand even if you don't care about Cannon, if you're an enemy of his enemy, you still have an incentive to wreak havoc on his behalf. (For example, it would be SUPER risky to be the new King, or the person who killed Cannon, and to reveal a vulnerability that can be exploited by Cannon's old allies... but that's another matter.)

The West Sphere can get away with a little more in movies and TV, because their industry does have a lot of power. But they still don't want to step on too many landmines. Also, biopics aren't quite as popular and lucrative as Killer Cucumber and the like.

As for Troy, we probably shouldn't assume he read the entire book instead of just admiring his own portrait on the cover. XD

For real, though, Troy isn't as sensitive to general badmouthing as one might think. For him, it really depends on *who* is doing the badmouthing, to what audience, and what's being said. If he doesn't respect the writer and doesn't care whether the writer respects him, it's not worth his time. He's used to the East's abusive language and actually has a pretty thick skin in some regards. It's only a few specific people who can really get under it...

Oh, and about Belmont's dad - He became irrelevant enough that it's pretty safe to write an unflattering biography on him these days. But I'm sure there's already one out there by a certain multitalented author... ;)

[perpetualxfire]

[ scarlet ]  what is one thing you wish you could do?

[ ruby ]  give one random fun fact about yourself.

[Colorful Interview for the Mun]

(You got a couple of picks from my favorite spectrum of light here~! I'm gonna go ahead and chuck this under a read more since I'm apparently feeling SUPER chatty today.)

[ Scarlet ]  

What is one thing you wish you could do?

(I assume you mean from an RP perspective, yeah? Usually when this question is asked to an RP blog it's to gauge interest in plots. Even then that's kind of a tough question to answer! I'm trying to figure it out myself. In the past, I've liked to RP when my character is just going through it, because that helped me through my shit. I actually only recently put together... Well. I kind of knew, but not the depth of it- part of the reason I have such this tight bond with this particular fictional character is because she and I have a very similar kind of trauma from perfectionism and a desire to prove oneself and receive a kind of validation that's missing in our lives, and watching those avenues to do so get shut down. It's why I hate when people reduce her character to being 'competitive' - like.. you're right, but that's also incredibly reductive-)

(I digress, though; that's not the question. My point was that I used to use her as an avenue for my own feelings of frustration and desire for validation, but that didn't really... Stick for long. I used her as a less positive coping mechanism for a long time, writing pain for the sake of pain, because I felt a deep self loathing and wanted to write the pain to externalize it; I was all for injury plots, and admittedly still LOVE hurt/comfort plots (but it has to have both elements anymore - at the time I wasn't so worried about the comfort part). These tools don't really do much for me anymore, though, so as an RPer...)

(I wish I could get closure. I wish that I could single-handedly rebuild the community - it seemed hell bent on self-imploding for a loooong time. I wish I could write more combat! Writing combat is what got me into writing Carolina in the first place, but it's... I would argue it's ten times harder to find somebody you as a mun have chemistry with to write combat than it is for most other situations. It can't just be characters; even wildly imbalanced fights can become interesting if the muns have that chemistry and communication for it. That's part of what bugs me about the Carolina vs Meta deathbattle, actually - it had a lot of potential to be interesting and, like I feel with most deathbattle episodes, ended up being severely reductive to both characters for the sake of making a point, rather than getting into the nitty gritty of the situation. Why are they fighting? What's at stake? There's always something at stake, even in a friendly spar - be it a sense of validation from a teacher, a desire to get through a tough conversation, tackling an emotional block... While that might not be as true in real life sparring, I've found in writing there's always something in a compelling scene-)

(I kind of want to convince Sam to reboot our little venture into his covenant plotline he had; since one of the critical members of that RP isn't really around to continue it, I wouldn't mind restarting, inviting more people, organizing in a discord group...)

(I've always loved being a part of a group (see my forum rp background) and while tumblr doesn't make that easy per say, I'd love to give a three or even four way thread another shot. For the plot! The DRAMA! The action!)

[ Ruby ]  

Give one random fun fact about yourself.

(fdasfsadfs Just one? Ha. Let's see... I'm a little over a year away from earning a hard fought degree in Mathematics. Not sure what I want to do with it yet, but at least it should open a few doors, and I desperately want some open doors in my life, aha. I feel like Math isn't a commonly heard favorite subject or sought out degree in peoples who unite over a shared love of creation like the RP community, but I'm here, feeling my little bit of impostor syndrome amongst all the lovely people I've met who are majoring in literature or history or the arts... I can be creative too I promise!!!)

[smolbeandrabbles]

Director’s Cut 1: Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody

“I find it difficult to find any redeeming qualities in this character. He is a person with spot on DSM antisocial personality disorder, with sociopathic traits and without the charming facade. But the mental health professional in me also sees him as neurodiverse, on the spectrum. At any rate, I can’t find any allure or menacing sexuality in him. How did you find redeeming qualities within Pope? And how the heck did you come up with a female OC who can interpret his cues and find warmth and attraction from him? I enjoy your fics about him, others I’ve read have basically torture porn.”

Wow, okay, Andrew. You’ve picked a really interesting one here. So, lets start with some background... Which I will try to condense as much as possible.

Also, for ease of talking, I’m going to give our Reader back her OC name and therefore when I refer to ‘Elaiyna’ that’s your reader character! 😁 Background I was never meant to write for Andrew Cody from the movie. My first watch of the movie left me cold and, to be honest I still find it very difficult to watch even now. (The movie is great for sure, but it’s not one I rewatch often.) Without a long explanation as to ‘why’, I watched the movie so that I could watch the US TV show version of Animal Kingdom. Which I highly recommend!

Where as Movie!Andrew I couldn’t get into at all, Show!Andrew I fell in love with. It took me one episode to come up with my OC and a decent story line.  Although I never actually wrote it out I had many plot points saved on a document for how Andrew/Elaiyna’s relationship would play out. So really, you have Shawn Hatosy to thank-! 

Who, super side note, deserves an Emmy for this. And also can someone please get him and Ben in an interview to talk about Andrew - I will beg! 

When I decided to start writing and posting for Andrew here (considering I had the plot points and we were taking the Mendos as far as we could) - I essentially wrote a mix of Show!Andrew and Movie!Andrew. Honestly tipped in favour of the show. But very recently I’ve tried to write much more for Movie!Andrew as I’m 99.9% sure that’s who everyone reading my work is reading for anyway!

How did you find redeeming qualities within Pope? 

The only real answer is Show!Andrew. I love him so much, and they explore a lot with his character - as they of course have time to, that a 1hr30 movie doesn’t - so it’s very easy to find redeeming qualities in a character that’s at a very different stage to his movie counterpart (and yet is still the same character and recognisable as the same character... Show!Andrew is the build up to the man we get in the movie, if you will.). Show!Andrew has that same... creepy/awkward vibe, but also has a lot of sweet, decent human being moments that give you his more redeeming qualities (without spoiling anything major his relationship with Lena, Baz’s daughter, is a good example). 

But also I view Andrew in the movie very differently to the way that I believe most people do. Movie Andrew doesn’t scare me. Sure, he does scary things, but to me he just comes across as very awkward. Like, he knows what a situation calls for and kinda adapts to that - or he says things because he’s like “That’s what people say in this situation right?” at least that’s how I interpret him. No matter how incorrect that is.  Like there’s no social queues in his character, he doesn’t really fit into those kinds of situations (or function well!) but he observes everything. So he knows that “If X happens, say/do Y. Because that’s what people do.” regardless of his own “feelings” etc. I don’t think he has emotional intelligence and there’s a definite disconnect between think and feel and... I guess instinct? That ‘primal brain’ thing. 

I mean I know it’s interpretation but that scene where he carries Nicky to bed and then like strokes her hair back and then tells Jay “She’s beautiful.” Doesn’t give me any other vibe other than Andrew having observed this and his brain going ‘Oh, yeah, Andrew - then compliment her to her boyfriend. That’s a thing people do.’ Just the way my brain works I guess.

The obvious follow up question would be “Okay, so you love him in the show. But you write for him in the movie. So... you gotta have something redeeming there right? Now you’re leaving Show!Andrew on a shelf? Correct - I kinda feel like Andrew has at least some ‘relationships’ to which he actually feels something. Which is why I’m reluctant to place the “Psychopath” tag on him. Look at his relationship with Baz for instance (honestly, that supermarket scene is my very favourite.) - I just get this “friends” vibe. Like real friends, maybe even best friends. Andrew cares enough about him to want vengeance (I’m not down for thinking this is just him wanting to be a criminal I genuinely think this is a reaction to losing his best friend - and arguably his stability.) And I mean, he cares about his family. Even if not in the traditional ‘sense’ of caring. 

I also want to give a quick shout out to @mandy23b​​ - as Andrew is her favourite, and conversations with her on how she views him really help me shape Andrew in my head. For example she has a lot of headcanons about how he grew up (eg: potential physical abuse) that I am happy to adopt. So, my own personal headcanons / adopted head canons about him also help to make him redeemable. 

And how the heck did you come up with a female OC who can interpret his cues and find warmth and attraction from him? 

Oh my gosh, Elaiyna. Okay, well aside from again her starting with Show!Andrew and me basically lifting their entire relationship and giving it to Movie!Andrew there’s a lot about her that I guess ‘prepares’ her for him.

First - they meet because the Cody’s case her car (...Ready For It?), assume she has a lot of money and try to rob her. She knows who he is before they form a relationship - the barrier of “oh by the way I’m a career criminal” is broken instantly.  Second - Although she’s an only child her parents have fostered a lot of children over the years (More details in ‘Flaws’) and so she’s used to a lot of siblings and the bonds between siblings. Added to this it’s not hard to imagine that some of these foster children might have had neurodivergancies of their own and therefore she’s also used to people that act like Andrew does. Third - David ( ‘Flaws’ and ‘Last Habit’) her eldest foster sibling is a Police officer, and they have a close relationship. Figure she could learn a lot from him. Both on crime/criminals and then maybe neurodivergant criminals too. He’s bound to have at least some stories that might help her. Fourth - Not to make some kind of robot comparison for our Boi here but, she works in IT. She’s the CIO for her firm. Draw your own conclusions on relationships with something/one with basically zero emotional output.

I find your comments on other fics you’ve read very interesting. Because to me Andrew just isn’t sexual. (I might be in the minority, because other fic writers I’ve talked to tend to put him in ‘physical only’ / highly sexually charged relationships) He’s never read that way to me. ‘4 In the Morning’ is the first time I’ve thought to write something that is sexy for him. Although I have alluded to sexual elements of their relationship in other fics.  Their relationship to me has always been on a quiet understanding level. He observes and learns about her and is fairly quiet about it. Elaiyna is more extroverted, but also observes and learns about him very quickly. So instead of PDA and verbal “I love you’s” they have this non-verbal communication that isn’t always physical either. Although touch sometimes plays into it.  Because that just the kind of relationship that I see him in - sex is rare, and when it happens it’s not because of this big “I love you” romantic build up - it’s spontaneous. That part of his primal brain is kicked in and it’s like “Okay. We’re doing this now.” For his character I understand the “draw” to write something like that (even though, like I say, I don’t see him being interested.) but I’m just very much a romantic... 😅 So I want to write something Romantic even for a Mendo who you wouldn’t necessarily fit into a romantic role. Their story still has “romantic” tenancies. Like it’s a loving relationship it’s just a different kind of love. I don’t feel like he would necessarily know that he loves her, or even comprehend what ‘love’ is. But he knows he feels something for her that’s very different to how he feels about other people. Which is why when Elaiyna does say ‘I love you’ it’s not reciprocated with words - and rarely with actions. She knows he loves her, even if he doesn’t know it. Their relationship is very ‘quiet’ but she knows that’s just how he is - and he will show “affection” as he deems fit and appropriate to show it. Even if - again - it’s not a “typical” way of showing it. And when he wants affection himself it’s more, “I am hugging you now on MY terms. But in 5 seconds I will walk away as if nothing happened.” He is more often enough the one to initiate anything PDA and Elaiyna will wait for him to come to her. If her read on him is *just* right then she’ll initiate, but then there’s the consequences of getting it wrong and Andrew pushing her away... I definitely base a lot of the beginning of their relationship on them just finding each other fascinating. He’s completely different to any other man she’s ever met, and he’s never met someone so interested in him that doesn’t try to change him and/or however he treats her is met more with understanding than conflict. 

I say I love all my OCs, of course I do. But Elaiyna is one I really had to think about building because of Andrew’s own personality. It had to make sense for her to be with someone like him - their relationship had to make sense and keep him (mostly) in character. So she needed to be able to interpret his cues, as you so nicely put it 😊 But I think I gave her the right tools to do this, and, with Show!Andrew she got the right base to jump from. 

I know this is super long, but I hope it helps in your understanding of how I’ve built Andrew’s relationship with his S/O! 🙏 And more importantly answers the questions you have! 

---

Thank you SO much for asking! If anyone else wants a Fanfic directors cut for any of my fics please ask! I would love to answer any questions! 🥰😘

[measlyfurball13]

Speaking of “I love cutesy fun things but please allow these characters to have depth” how about Ghost being more than just Baby? Don’t get me wrong I love them being loved on by their sibs, being a dork, and taking a break, but the uwuification of them and Hollow really aren’t fitting nor do their stories justice.

Just like Hollow they are 1) an adult with a full range of personality and emotions and 2) traumatized. We don’t know what they went through in the Wastes but at the very least they’ve dealt with the trauma of amnesia. The trauma of being attacked with intent to kill/killed multiple times. Faced an angry sun god and won because of their stubbornness and spite.

They literally went and found a kingdom of undead zombies and went “anyone gonna kill and loot these bodies?” And didn’t wait for an answer. Yes they are sweet and noble, delivering flowers and helping people. But they are also ruthless and without mercy when they want to be.

Honestly, compared to some other fandoms, the uwuification of both their characters isn't too bad. At the very least, posts in this fandom are very well sorted into "clearly joking" fanon and "clearly serious" fanon, which I appreciate.

But you're right- I've never understood people who see Ghost as a toddler. Nonverbal? Yep. A Genuine Bastard On Purpose Sometimes? Oh absolutely. I always imagine Ghost dealing with their trauma by being purposely spiteful and lashing out, which is a foil for how Hollow handles it, which is by internalizing it.

Actually, most of my takes for Ghost are surrounding them being a character foil for Hollow. Here goes:

I actually think that babying Ghost would be the quickest way to get on their bad side.

Unfortunately, they often misconstrue people's attempts to care for them as "babying" due to their fiercely independent nature.

(All three of the siblings have this to some degree- Hornet is also picky about being cooed over for much the same reason, contrasted with Hollow, who simply doesn't think they're worth the effort.)

Ghost is self-sabotaging in the sense that if someone doesn't allow them to do something, even and especially if it's "for their own safety", it makes them only more determined to do the thing.

Ghost is Not Nice. They are kind, sure, but They are Not Nice. There's a very big difference there, mostly informed by the fact that Ghost's first instinct upon meeting someone new is to swing their nail in that direction and see how the other person reacts.

Hollow trusts too easily. Ghost doesn't trust at all. The most reliable person in their goddamn life is Cornifer, for christ's sake. Everyone else attacks them, betrays them, or dies.

Did anyone say "klepto"? I'm gonna say "klepto".

All three siblings are particularly clingy with their weapons, but Ghost is the only one who'll see murder as an appropriate retaliation to someone touching their nail.

They never inform others as to what they're doing, either through actual communication or any sort of body language. They don't feel the need to justify themselves to anyone, so why bother? They'll do whatever it is they feel like doing and everyone else will just have to figure it out, in their eyes.

(This bothers the HELL out of Hollow, who's whole schtick is being practiced, precise, and reliant on predictable social rituals and people saying what they mean. Fundamental autistic-to-autistic miscommunication.)

Ghost is fundamentally a super empathetic person (evident in the good ending, where you spend the bulk of your time putting the memories of people to rest,) but the one thing they'll never be able to reconcile is Hollow's love for the Pale King.

Scathing hot take that's probably obvious this far down, but I really do think that Hollow and Ghost wouldn't get along as well as is often assumed in fanon. They love each other very much, but there's also a lot of mutual guilt and other baggage between them that I'd love to see explored more.