#I'd love to answer them all!

[httyd-art-requests]

Happy 100th dragon post! 🎉

(I talk in tags!)

Requests are currently closed!

[infiniteentertainment]

So we saw Tammy Thompson sing the national anthem in the first episode of s4...

Which prompted Robin and Steve to give each other looks because they remembered Robin's coming out moment in the bathroom, where they made fun of Tammy's singing...

Vickie overheard them joking, and Robin took the opportunity to talk to her, saying that she "used to think that Tammy sounded good because I had this massive crush—um, we took a massively hard class together. We were in Mrs. Click's class together," reminding the audience of Robin's explanation that, in the class, she wanted Tammy to look at her, while Tammy only looked at Steve.

So episodes later, in the boat out on Lovers Lake, where Robin looked at Nancy looking at Steve? Yeah. This was a direct callback.

And it's interesting that even though Robin's crush was specifically mentioned when talking to Vickie, it's this scene with Nancy that we see what Robin referenced in action.

But the question is: why do any of this?

Even though Robin said Vickie is the girl of her dreams, we saw Vickie for approximately 3 min of s4, and it's within the last 20 min of the final episode that they had their first actual on-screen conversation. Meanwhile, Robin had been glued to Nancy's side all season. The writers are smart, they could've inserted Vickie into the main group at any point, to give her and Robin a chance to bond, and to develop their relationship. It's been done before with other characters. If anything, it seems like the last thing the writers would want is to give clear preferential treatment to Robin's dynamic with a character who's (supposedly) not meant to be a love interest for her (especially in the season where the actual love interest is first introduced, and the audience has been mentally prepped for Robin to have romantic interactions). I'm not saying Robin can't have platonic female friends, I'm just pointing out interesting writing choices, and the usage of show vs tell.

[omaano]

Are you still doing the trio prompts? If so, I humbly submit Rex/Obi/Cody for I1, or all of the "assigned baby by fandom" clones (Tup, Wooley and Comet) as K1

I'm still doing the trio prompts, and I'm finally about halfway done with them too! Thank you for the prompts, Anon, I could hardly pick (so in the end I didn't - but I'm posting them separately). I especially loved working on the "assigned baby by fandom" boys, thank you for picking such a lovely thing for them ❤️

Credit where credit is due: I've only ever seen Wooley as shiny-new in the show with no paint of his own, so I ended up using @yukipri's wonderful paint design for him (since I'm pretty sure that if Comet and Tup have their paint then Wooley should definitely has his worn in as well)

Polyamorous/platonic poses for sketching

and the other drawings I’ve made for them

[starflungwaddledee]

offering three cookies 🍪🍪🍪

(<< part 1)

[sciderman]

Sooooo, ... If you could be in a romantic relationship with Peter or Wade, who would you choose?.

(you can pick both of them, add more people in the mixture, you can even pick all marvel universe, but I would love you to describe how do you imagine the relationship would work with each of them)

i... hough, man. i don't know if i'd like to be in a romantic relationship with either of them. i... i don't know what kind of love i'd thrive in because – well, i've never been in a long-term relationship, and i've never been in any sort of relationship where my partner resembled either of them. people ask if i write at all based on my experiences and – no, i don't. i don't think anything i've experienced has a lot to do with what i write - though, i think it's backwards. sometimes later on in the line something i write starts to manifest in reality in some way. i hope i'm able to manifest something good.

i don't know if i want what wade and peter have, specifically - their love isn't perfect - it's unhealthy - but... i don't know, i think everyone wants to have someone in their life that is fascinated by you. and that you're fascinated with them. i think that's the thing i love about wade and peter's love - they are so, so fascinated by each other. almost to a grotesque degree.

they complete each other in that sort of a way. they want what each other has. they're obsessed with each other. obsessed with unravelling the mysteries of each other, because they can make each other better. wade's obsessed with understanding peter, because peter's a better version of him. peter's someone wade admires, because he's heroic, and brave, and he overcomes. and wade's someone peter admires, because he's bold, and unafraid, and he overcomes. i think that's the thing - they admire each other because they see themselves in each other, and see each other overcoming - and, i don't know, they inspire each other, or something gay like that. they're stronger together, because they're reflections of each other, and "if he can do it, i can do it."

i'd love that – someone who makes me feel braver when i'm with them. someone who i feel so comfortable with, because they're just like me, and i can be me, and they get it, and i can be more me than i've ever been before.

you always filter yourself with other people. i... god, do i just want to be around people that make me feel comfortable. who i just – totally let loose with, and i don't have to worry about staying palatable with. i don't have to worry about being too much – i don't know, i've rarely been in a relationship where i've felt that degree of comfort. there's always been caveats. i've always had to pretend. and i – i don't know, i'm sick of pretending.

i think peter loves in a very similar way to how i do, maybe. and his failings in romance and relationships are very familiar, i think. that people see him as admirable, or heroic or cool, and it turns out that - actually, he's simple, and fallible, and not very good at keeping up. he's sappy, and kind of perpetually afraid. it's all familiar. i think i've ruined a lot of relationships by not being as confident as people wanted me to be. by not being emotionally ready - by being, actually, a bit of a loser. i think that's another thing i love about wade and peter, the way i write them - they're perpetually patient with each other. they'll wait. if they're not ready now, they will be.

gentle pressure - they always give each other gentle pressure to get past their fears. to be braver. it's okay to be afraid, but together, we'll get past it. together, we'll overcome.

i want some of that. i don't know. i have a lot of people in my life who tend to make me feel scared. make me feel more afraid. and very few people who make me feel stronger. but i did find those people eventually. it's possible. it's so, so wonderful to be around people who make you brave. i hope we all find that.

[crescentfool]

What are your ryomina headcanons? I've loved these two since I played P3 FES, and I'm so excited to get back into the fandom^^

hi!! thank you so much for the ask, welcome back to the p3 fandom, it's always a delight to see new and old ryomina fans alike! 🥺💛💙

as for headcanons, here's a "few" i that i tend to come back to a lot! my interpretations of them are influenced from both the source material and other's fanworks, so i've linked to them as i saw fit! hcs in no particular order under the cut because oops this got long (900 word bullet point list, mentions of reload content up to 1/1)

minato's hair is dyed blue (hair originally brown, you can see it in his roots!) and he has a beauty mark on under his left eye. i like mirror imagery and there's definitely a few arts i've rb'd that portray them this way :) (e.g. this one by feliichu and this one by marasschino)

as far as i'm concerned the bathhouse scene from the manga where ryoji's hair down = similar shape to minato? that is canon to me. this art from xierru is a fun depiction of hair down ryoji :D

ryoji is homeless. everyone say thank you foxmulder_whereartthou for this awesome fic it's why i have the headcanon! but like seriously. we have no idea where ryoji lives and i could believe this.

minato dying at the end of the game is sad to an outsider's POV BUT!!! ryomina gets to be together in death for the rest of their lives (this illustration from mafuwara is a gorgeous representation of them as nyx avatar + the seal)!

speaking of the seal, they are like telepathically communicating to me in the great seal together. (mymp3 had a comic wip with this. give it a looksie :D)

ryoji likes cuddling with minato because he's warm :) (something something orpheus has fire affinity, minato is warm by extension and ryoji is cold because he's death)

ryoji's camera roll is filled with pictures of minato! ryoji... loves life, to me. and i feel that photography and journaling are perfect ways of expressing gratitude and capturing the moments in life that are most important to you :3

my other favorite activity for these two is stargazing- i feel like it's something they could appreciate either in life or death (looking at the stars from the great seal...)! they do a bit of this in the fic eurydice's vow by crescentmoontea (P5R spoilers, takes place in third sem it's a very fun fic concept).

between ryoji and minato i feel like ryoji was the one who fell in love first- and it doesn't really click in place for minato that he loves ryoji until december hits (appriser reveal + ryoji transforming into thanatos). its about the realization that ryoji was with him for his whole life and that he gets him like no one else does.

ryoji is like a sad and wet puppy who is so scared minato won't like him back. he is so scared of being rejected by minato to me like. this boy straight up deflates after he does his "i know i said i wanted us to be friends, but... i actually want to be something more." / "what about you?" on 12/1 ???

AND SPEAKING of wet puppy ryoji. ryoji is like. every animal in the world to me. he's a bird. he's a cat. etc. and also ryoji knows every language in the world ever and uses it to express his love for minato. see this fic from superheroics to see what i mean.

both of them are lactose intolerant. "this isn't lactose, it's milk!" i definitely think ryoji would make himself sick eating ice cream and milk he doesn't know what lactose is. (i made a silly poll about this once and the tags were very entertaining.)

i see minato as transmasc or nonbinary depending on the day (schrodinger's headcanons babey they're simultaneously true and not true at the same time!!). either way he's not cis to me and ryoji is like. His Gender. anyway go read this fic by nail_gun for t4t ryomina :D !

ryomina are WEIRD GUYS TO ME!!! they are so strange and they understand each other better than anyone else because of the circumstances of their relationship!!! if you asked them to do the "i wonder what i taste like" meme i think they'd start biting each other (affectionate) tbh but that's just me.

after ryoji gives minato the music box in 12/31 on reload, minato listens to the music box every night in january. this boy has insomnia and also chronic illness to me (things that housing death does to you). but i think he finds comfort in the melody and memories he made with ryoji.

in general, i think it's fun to imagine minato taking ryoji to places and show him things he's interested in! i feel that ryoji takes a lot of interest in minato's life, this isn't really a hc because in reload, minato DOES give ryoji a tour of the school (11/9) and possibly port island (11/12). but ITS CUTE OK! (tangentially related fanwork: this series of doodles from vinnigami: 1, 2, and 3)

not a hc but minato's kindness is like the backbone of their relationship and i think we would not have the ryomina we know and love today if minato wasn't such a kind soul. oh minato.... we can learn so much from you... like ryoji did!

anyway! that's all the hcs that i could think of, thank you for the ask! i had a lot of fun answering this, these two mean a lot to me 💛💙

i hope you don't mind the links to the fanart and fanfic as well, the fanwork people have made for ryomina have really made an imprint on me! if you want to see more of them, i definitely recommend looking through my tag for them because oh. i got a lot of them reblogged alright 😂 (<- SOOO NORMAL)

[ifindus]

what dish from another country do you think norway loves? 🧑‍🍳

This is definitely not influenced by any of my own preferences 👀 But anything with seafood is a win with Norway, and I can see him going back and forth between seafood paella and fish n chips as his fave foreign foods ✨

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

This is not prepared at all, so it's likely going to be messier than usual, but I was in the shower earlier thinking about the Golden Girls (as one does) and I drew a couple of conclusions on the topic of how many children does Blanche actually have? that I wanted to share with you all.

So, first of all, let me sum up the controversy. The issue lies with one of Blanche's statements in S3E3 Bringing Up Baby, when she's trying to convince Dorothy to keep the Mercedes she bought with the money they'll supposedly get after Baby's death:

"I want that car, Dorothy. I will give you anything. [...] I'll give you one of my sons. I have given this a lot of thought. I have had four kids, I have never had a Mercedes."

Ok, everything tracks so far. Blanche has had four kids, some of which are sons. We meet her two daughters, Janet and Rebecca, a few times during the series, so the natural conclusion is that Blanche has four kids, two sons and two daughters.

Which is great, except... her next line in S3E3 is this:

"What do you say? Which one do you want? Biff, Doug, Skippy? No, don't take Skippy, he's got asthma."

She names a Biff, a Doug, and a Skippy, so... three sons. Which, in addition to the two daughters we see in the show, makes for a grand total of five kids. Huh.

Alright, we know that Blanche wasn't the best mother ever, but I find it hard to believe that she forgot how many children she has, so: what's going on here? The obvious explanation is, as always, that this is a continuity error (although it's a really egregious one!), but you folks know I prefer to find a Watsonian explanation wherever I can, so let's see if we can figure out anything interesting.

One thing that struck me when I first realized this discrepancy is her use of the words 'I have had four kids'. Not I have, I have had. Why does she use the past tense here? The sentence flows better with it, but it doesn't make a lot of sense in-universe -- unless you think that she's using 'to have a child' to mean 'to bear a child'. If that's the case, then what she's saying translates to 'I have physically given birth to four kids, I have never had a Mercedes.'

I'm sure I don't have to point out the implications of this, do I? If the number of kids Blanche has given birth to is four, but her total number of kids is five, then that means that one of her kids is not hers in the strictly physical sense, i.e. one of Blanche's kids is adopted. This would solve the discrepancy without breaking the canon elsewhere (as far as I can tell, at least).

For a while, this idea remained in the back of my head to examine at a later date, because it still has a number of issues to work through. For one, why would Blanche (and supposedly George) adopt a child? They had kids of their own apparently without any issues -- why adopt another child, instead of, well... making another child, if they wanted one more? I guess it's possible that fertility issues might have arisen at some point, but that seems unlikely for a number of reasons; that kind of problem is generally genetic in nature, and it tends to be diagnosed upon first try, not after four successful pregnancies. So, then... why?

I was stuck on this point for a long while, until I suddenly remembered this conversation between Blanche and Virginia, her younger sister, during S5E11 Ebb Tide:

"I remember when you were 16 and didn't come home for Father's Day." "I was away at school!" "Oh, yes. The Good Samaritan Academy for the Knocked-Up. Two, four, six, eight, all us girls are three months late."

It seems Virginia got into a spot of trouble when she was 16, and was away 'at school' for a while to take care of it. While this might imply that she was sent away to have an abortion, there's also space to hypothesize that she was sent away to carry her pregnancy to term and actually have a baby to then give out to adoption. If this is the case... I wonder if this baby is the one that Blanche and George adopted?

While an adoption seems a bit out of character for young!Blanche (to me, at least: she wasn't interested in her kids, why would she agree to adopt another one?), I think there's some space to consider it. For one, George might have convinced her! We don't know enough about the man to draw clear conclusions, but he did send money to the one child he had out of matrimony (see S5E18 An Illegitimate Concern), so maybe he feels more responsible towards kids near him than Blanche did -- and, well, if he'd asked, Blanche would have agreed immediately, of course. I feel like Big Daddy might have also played a part in this scenario: he could have wanted to keep the child in the family (a Hollingsworth is still a Hollingsworth!), and asked the youngest married couple among his children to take on the responsibility, to shield Virginia from the shame.

Note that this theory has a few issues anyway. For one, while Virginia is Blanche's junior, according to Wikipedia she's only one year her junior, which would put Blanche at 17 when all this happened -- and we know she met and married George much later, when she was already a university student (see S6E9 Mrs George Devereaux). However, I can't find any confirmation for this difference in age in the show itself, so I feel like the hypothesis still deserves some consideration.

As for which of Blanche's children is adopted, well... we can for sure rule out the boys, since she mentions them all by name in S3E3. This leaves her two daughters, Janet and Rebecca. All throughout the series Blanche has a rocky and painful relationship with Janet, even more than she has with the rest of her children:

I would love to have a chance to raise David. I might make up for the mess I made with Janet. [S1E6 On Golden Girls]

Well, honey, I really do want to see you. I think we have a lot to talk about, Janet. I've been thinking a lot about you, lately. [S2E16 And Then There Was One]

"I just talked to my daughter, Janet, and she and my granddaughter, Sarah, are coming to visit in a couple of days. Oh, I've never been so happy!" "Janet? Isn't she the daughter who hates you?" "[...] She doesn't really hate me, Sophia. We just don't see eye to eye." [S7E23 Home Again, Rose: Part 1]

As for Rebecca, while we know they stopped talking for a few years due to a disagreement, she seems remarkably closer to her:

We were always so much alike, and so close, just like Siamese twins. [...] I have missed her. She's always been my favourite. [S3E14 Blanche's Little Girl]

Although Rebecca herself seems to have a different perception on their relationship:

You're not happy, Mama. You're doing it again, you're telling me how to live! [...] Nothing's ever enough for you. I had to be the prettiest, I had to be the most popular, I had to be the brightest... [S3E14 Blanche's Little Girl]

I think there's two possible theories here, neither of which paints Blanche in a good light (but hey, we love these characters because of their qualities as well as their faults, don't we?). If Janet is the child she adopted, I think it's possible she might have been especially neglectful towards her (especially in her first few years); she might have taken her frustration with being convinced to adopt her out on her, as a lack of affection when compared to her other kids. This would explain why the relationship between them is so fraught (certain wounds last a lifetime, I'm afraid).

If Rebecca is the child she adopted, on the other hand, she might have wanted to overcompensate for her abandonment and sort of one-up Virginia ('see, how well I can take care of your daughter? aren't I the better mom?'). She might have showered her with affection (and with expectations, judging from what Rebecca says!) to the detriment of her other kids, which would explain the issues in her relationship with Janet as well.

I don't know. It's obviously very clear that, for all her faults, Blanche adores her children and is deeply pained by her mistakes as a mother; she often expresses regret for her actions and wishes she'd been a better mother:

I realized, too late, that I'd put myself ahead of my children. I've never made up all the time I didn't spend with them. [...] deep down, I wish you were really mine. So I could try again with what I now know. [S2E16 And Then There Was One]

For all that might have happened in the past, it's evident that Blanche loves all her children equally and considers all of them her own, so she's clearly gotten over any issues she might have had -- but that doesn't excuse her past actions, of course.

There's a whole lot that could be said about Blanche's approach to motherhood, how it connects to the way her parents treated her as a child and to her own internal issues, but as for the question of how many children she has, I feel like this is a satisfying possible answer. It's not airtight by any means, and I'm sure there's other ways to explain the discrepancy (they might have adopted a child from George's side of the family, for one, which would change a lot of dynamics); this is just the one that occurred to me. As always, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts, so do let me know your ideas about all this!

[tompoose]

if you had to smite from the earth either nixon or garfield who would you eliminate. history will continue unchanged except if you smite nixon all the nixon memes disappear and if you smite garfield the orange cat goes with him

I would sacrifice anything that is dear to me to scrub this animal from all the veins of culture that it has slithered into. I was frustrated with the Garfield comic strip from the twentieth of August, 2024.

Jim Davis has given up trying to claw from the mud. He has drawn a cat looking at the reader and telling a wet joke. By making Garfield a mere static image to surround text, Davis has taken the work of his heart and lowered it to the level of the borders that surround a pop up window. My feelings on this topic eclipse and obliterate any other nuances to your question. If ever presented a shot at this king, I would take it.

[strawberrycamel]

ninjago seabound hurts. so much. what the fuck

[happistar]

what's ur favorite bmc fanfic ever

OOOH okay this is a good question.

Ngl I don't think I could give you a solid "here is the one (1) best fic ever" so here's a whole bunch that I've rated 5 stars in my fic document!

Stammer - Excellent 100k fic, if you're looking for something long. Basically it explores Jeremy and Michael's relationship from when they were kids til a bit after the events of the musical. Really good character piece <3

Jeremy drops out of college during December of his freshman year - REALLY REALLY GOOD fic-- one of my favorites from Beth Harker. Basically Jeremy undergoes a lot of panic attacks and self hatred (some brought on by what remains of the Squip) as he and Michael go to college together. About 10k words.

in the back of my brain, the voices all sound the same - Pretty short ~1k fic that explores the idea of the Squip changing shape into things like Jeremy himself. Forever thinking about the implications.

Play it in Reverse - Really cool podfic that brings in the musical aspect of bmc and acknowledges it! With the Squip's help, Jeremy tries to fix the events of the musical by changing the lyrics. About an hour to fully listen to.

flesh & bone - AU where Jeremy is an android and the Squip Squad find him and repair him. LOVE the dynamic of everyone in this fic, but it's unfortunately unfinished. About 40k words and still worth a read despite this.

Loaded, Recoded, Unsorted - Ngl I think this was the first ever bmc fic I read?? Anyways, it still lasts in my brain despite being unfinished with about 15k words in total. Basically, Michael slowly becomes a squip with all the fun psychological horror that comes with that. Honestly if you like this I'd recommend checking out more of Nez's work. Excellent squip horror writer.

The Mechanics of Compromise - Ngl pretty much everyone I've come across has read this fic and it shouldn't be a surprise that its on this list. Absolutely adore how they handle everyone's dynamics and manage to create a really fun plot as everyone recovers from the events of the musical. Another really good 100k+ fic.

Only One Is Mine - Holy shit this fic is almost coming up on 100k words. Anyways this fic is so so so good. Basically it deals with the rising squipocalypse after the musical as Jeremy accidentally fuses with his squip and has to learn what it means to be half human, half supercomputer. LOVE this concept so much and love how its handled. Honestly one of my all time favorite fics in general-- really cool stuff!! Shoutout to Jordan fr <3

Honorable mentions:

Ophiocordyceps nippon - TRAGICALLY short fic that meant i actually rated it only 4 stars but I thought I'd share because I am still thinking about it. Basically what if the Squip was a fungus.

Same As It's Always Been - I've only read 2 chapters, since it was coming out at the time I was reading it, but its finished now!! I really enjoyed what it was when it was coming out, so I'm sure it's still a good read. Basically Rich is forced to repeat Halloween Night-- time loop style.

[re-dracula]

hello friends we love seeing your posts about each entry in the Re: Dracula tag even if you're not specifically addressing audio aspects so keep it up :)

[coddda]

What would happen if Mikami would've found the death note instead??? And how would that affect L and light I NEED YOUR OPINIONS ON THISS😭

(tl;dr: "It's hard to say", but if you really want my absolute word vomit of a thought dump here you go:)

Ohhhh man those are Really hard questions to answer honestly, hmmm.

Death Note on its own has a Lot of constantly moving pieces, and trying to change up the scenarios demands a lot more than meets the eye. Like, A Lot.

For example with Mikami: While he is very similar to Light he also operates distinctly differently from him. Would he have made the Shinigami Eye Deal? The fact that he does in canon makes me believe it's pretty likely. Okay then how would that affect the story? How would that affect L's methods of investigation, since he would then likely figure out that Kira only needed a face to kill a person? How does this affect the plot when Misa comes into play? What are the consequences of him not having access to the information that Light had from his father's computer? How would he handle the FBI agents? Would he have encountered Naomi Misora??? Actually would the thing with the FBI agents even happen if Mikami doesn't have access to police information in the first place since L doesn't need to investigate the police????

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. While determining Mikami's movements throughout the first third-ish of the series would be difficult enough, it becomes nearly impossible by the time we get to where the Yotsuba Arc would be. I don't think Mikami would pull the same strings Light did to have the Death Note land in Yotsuba's hands, since it would be far too against his stricter code of judgement, and I don't know who he would give the Death Note to if he gave up his memories, assuming he'd be willing to, etc, so overall everything becomes. Kind of hard to determine!

Like. THERE'S A LOT TO COVER and honestly I'm not that good at answering for Mikami specifically because a) We only see Mikami for the last half of the series b) My knowledge on the manga is a bit rusty and I know that would be better for characterizing him than the anime. Also c) I'm. Really bad at making assumptions about characters LOL

I do think that the beginning of the Kira case would pan out roughly the same at the very least. Mikami picks up the Death Note and learns he can judge the people that he deems "evil" and begins killing people under his judgement code (which includes past criminals who no longer commit crimes, depending more on the idea of 'retribution' than deterring crime itself, basically it's different than Light's ideals but it's similar enough for the beginning events to occur) and he would likely still kill Lind L Tailor. I think he would make the Shinigami Eyes Trade, though when exactly I'm not sure, since it kind of depends on whenever Ryuk actually decides to tell him about it lol. Going forwards from there, though, like with the FBI agents? I'm not completely sure, and any one change to the main plot could end up changing Way more down the line.

As for how this change would affect Light and L, hmmm. I think, perhaps, Light would still hack into his father's computer, but this time with the intent to actually help in solving the case (especially since he helped solve a case in the past) while L would obviously still try to catch Kira as per usual.

Now I already know one of the big questions people are gonna ask is: Would Light and L still work together in person? Now that gets super complicated. Would L apply to Light's university to get closer to and keep an eye on him? No, he has a Kira to catch. Would L invite Light to taskforce headquarters after, say, he proves his ability by helping with the investigation? That's really hard to say as well. L allows Light to join the taskforce because a) He believes Light is Kira, and wants to keep a close eye on him, and b) If Light isn't Kira, then his abilities would be valuable to the investigation. This begs the question of if he would still invite Light without the former condition, which is arguably the more pressing reason for why he would invite him.

Yes they worked together during the Yostuba Arc to catch a different Kira than Light, but it was still under the very pressing assumption that Light was Kira, could be Kira again, and, if he was Kira, has a strong connection to the second Kira. The urgency of the case paired with Light Being Kira pushes them together, because Light Needs to find out more about L for his own survival and to kill him just as much as L needs to find out more about Light for his own survival and to catch him. Taking that factor away takes away the direct reasoning for them to make contact (since having Light as support for the case would be pretty secondary to him possibly being the Literal Culprit), and weakens the need for them to meet. Also L is very protective of his identity and only revealed it to the taskforce because they would not trust or follow him otherwise because the police did Not enjoy working with an unknown character whose methods they've deemed untrustworthy (using Lind L Tailor as basically a sacrifice, slipping up and getting twelve FBI agents killed) and support from the police, a pretty big and valuable asset to L, especially considering that he is not From Japan, was rapidly dwindling.

I just realized that the question also now stands about how Light would think of L as a person. Would he deeply disapprove of him for using Lind L Tailor like Soichiro does (*cough* You don't kill someone as a substitute *cough*)? I also mentioned earlier that Mikami might have likely made the eye trade, which would probably make L far more cautious about ever showing his face, which is another point deducted off of reasons to meet Light in person. I didn't even touch on the fact that L's need to assemble a small taskforce from the police was all part of Light's plan in the first place. Would Mikami have made this same plan and achieved it? It all gets very iffy and shaky when you not only remove their one, very important and very urgent motive for meeting one another, but introduce entirely new factors into the equation.

At the very least it's not like L Doesn't have Any reason to get closer to Light. Their reasoning and thought processes are very similar, and Light's deductions during the case would probably be valuable, but L also has various reasons Not to get closer (he doesn't need to keep an eye on him, he doesn't need him to draw in the Second Kira because he Isn't Kira, and then there's all the millions of new possibilities that come with Mikami being Kira, like the potential extra threat of the Shinigami Eyes earlier on) on top of his usual cautionary measures.

So. There are a lot of assumptions and "what if's" and "if x what about y's" and "well then if y what about z's" going on. It gets crazy. If I tried to go in-depth about what Mikami alone would do I'd be here for hours and even then my answer would boil down largely to "I'm not sure." (Also I don't trust my knowledge on him enough to make a definitive answer because, again, rusty knowledge)

As for how that would affect Light and L, with the assumption that things play out Mostly the same to canon (which is a very bold assumption already)? L pursues Mikami Teru, and also probably later on Misa Amane. Light pursues the Kira case as well with the information he can gain from his father's computer, and likely makes some breakthroughs similar to or exactly like L's. Perhaps he would tell Soichiro that he wants to help with the case, but Soichiro probably doesn't want to put Light's life in danger (remember, Soichiro wanted Light to stay focused in school so he could become a police officer, but Light being a prime suspect kind of got in the way of that). Also potentially because of Mikami, L has determined that Kira can kill with just a face. If he comes to this conclusion, then Light most likely will have also. Because of this he may be more understanding of the urgent need for privacy around his identity. Light may also be more trusting of L than the police, because he and L think the same way/have very similar reasoning, but may also disapprove of L himself for his less moral methods like his father. Likewise, L has no reason to spontaneously reveal himself to Light, because that would be completely unnecessary and dangerous. L and Light could collaborate with the case, but it would be at a distance I think. It could end up being like Naomi, where they work together but then separate after that. Overall, the drive for them to actually meet is massively weakened by Light not being Kira, but I still can't say anything definitively because there's just so much to take into consideration. Overall, them working together is certainly not impossible, but it wouldn't be to the same degree as it would be during, say, the Yostuba Arc.

Sorry this was basically a ramble of me going in circles when I basically could've just said "Uhh, yeah I don't know. It depends. Lol" and my attempts at explanation probably weren't very helpful but. Yeah those are my thoughts at least. It's so complicated, not only because of all the new factors you'd have to keep track of, but it also depends a lot on making assumptions about and filling in the gaps in characters (which is certainly not my strong suit LOL). I feel like it ends up coming down to an individual's read on the characters as well, and there are certainly bigger experts on these characters than me, but I hope my answer was able to give some kind of insight at least? If you think about it too hard the rabbit hole of possibilities gets Deep. Thank you for the ask anon, this was certainly very interesting to think about :)

[garden-of-infinity]

Do we know for a fact if Sander, Alejandro, and Durkos are real or if it's like a Charlotte and Victor situation where it's likely they're just clones created by the Entity? The fics I've read so far all depict them as real people, but part of me wonders if in canon it's really them because Tarhos seems to have been taken by himself.

[claitea]

luigi time!

[necrotic-nephilim]

What do you think of alfred/bruce?

!!! good question, i love them so dearly.

shipping Bruce can get difficult when you want to put him in the position of submission. it's not impossible and there are characters you can make him submit (Clark and Diana are the obvious choices) but they're not characters who would any significant power over him, so for the fun of like, fucked up power play, unless you're doing something like an Injustice or Justice Lords AU, it's hard. so if you want to ship Bruce with someone who holds an implicit power over hi him and has the rare ability to tell him what to do, the answer is Alfred. which is just so fun.

because i personally really enjoy putting Bruce in a submissive role. it's a subversion of what you expect out of him, and subverts a lot of his key character traits. he's someone who *requires* control as a part of his personal regiment, part of his mission. he doesn't like to give it up, and he won't give it up to just anyone. when he does give it up, it's always conditional. the few times he gives someone like Dick control, he always takes it right back. Alfred is one of, if not the only person who has full control over Bruce. he can tell Bruce what to do, and Bruce will listen. it's still not perfect and Bruce will go against him, but largely, he can and will exert that control when he feels it's necessary. so that's so fun to play with romantically. especially with the aspect of him not only raising Bruce, but knowing Bruce practically his whole life. Alfred has just always Been There. he's a constant pillar.

and i had an interesting conversation with a mutual about how Alfred's life pretty much revolves around Bruce. Alfred will toss aside his own blood family (Julia) to prioritize Bruce. how Alfred behaves around the rest of the Batfam is defined by their relationship to Bruce and his love for them is often just an extension of his love for Bruce. it's complete devotion from Alfred, and if you make it romantic, it immediately borders on obsession. there's no. "healthy" version of this ship and that's the fun of it. especially if it's a Year One type era, where it's just the two of them. but it's also fun to introduce the rest of the Batfam and see their reactions to it. how long they take to notice, what they feel about it, etc.

these two are so intertwined in a very similar Batman/Robin way, in that most superhero spoofs have a butler for a reason- you just can't separate Bruce from Alfred unless you're willing to kill one of them off. we treat Alfred like this kindly old man who's just there to make tea and witty remarks, but in reality this man is a war vet who served in MI-5. he's rough around the edges in a way that if he and Bruce had met under any other circumstances, they likely wouldn't get along. Alfred has killed people in combat, he has no reason to believe in a no-kill rule and would see the flaws in it. but it's *Bruce*, a man he's been devoted to since the Waynes died. someone Alfred watched grow up.

if i were to personally write them together, i'd have them get together after Bruce leaves and trains for years. because who Bruce is when he leaves Gotham and who he is when he returns are two very different people. and Alfred still lives him wholly, but this isn't a traumatized boy anymore, this is a man who's systematically turned himself into a weapon. and so when Alfred agrees to help, it comes with a natural relationship that's complicated and has built-in fucked up power dynamics. Alfred is the one person who can get away with telling Bruce what to do, killing for Bruce, and taking care of him when he's emotionally vulnerable. there's a deep level of trust in all of that so i really love it and wish we had more of it. you can take it to the extreme dead dove end of things, or play with it in a more domestic sense and both. both are good.