#and because putting what i think about the second one in the ship tag wouldn't be very nice even if it's not ship hate | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ns-media · 4 months

Text

Incredibly long analysis on Oda's thoughts on romance, way of portraying romance and LuNami in One Piece

Okay, so I want to make a LOOOOONG post about something interesting that's been on my mind for a while, about romance in One Piece. I was originally going to post it on Twitter but this post is way too long for that platform. I always preferred posting here, but not too many people are here nowadays. Anyway, onto the main topic here. I'll be talking about Oda's portrayal of and thoughts about romance, how he views it, why he puts a good chunk of it in "non-canon" material and so on. This post is to understand Oda's perspective on romance and why he goes about it the way he goes about it. I'm a LuNami fan, so this is also to make a point about how he decides to portray them.

Do not read this if you don’t want to see me express unfavorable opinions (and also factual information) about LuHan and other ships I just don't see working out, as they basically don’t fall in line with how romance works in Oda’s work. I'm not mean-spirited about it though. (Also I'll be bringing up SanPu for a bit too, in a favorable way) I am guaranteed to get at least one eyebrow raise or a "What the fuck are you talking about?" from any person reading this whole thing, but that's fine. I'll only tag LuNami because this is for LuNami fans.

Anyhow, in an interview with Aoyama back in 2022, Oda stated how he doesn’t want to include actual romance into his story and how he’s fine with one-sided stuff. His reason is because he fears he would lose certain fans for doing so. This is an interesting statement.

First, if you read this up here, it essentially confirms how Oda doesn’t see one-sided affection as romance so there’s no reason to think that Sanji or Boa’s affection are hints when they’re both for comedic effect.

The reason they're one-sided in the first place is not because he's teasing you with the idea that the other might return that affection one day, no he treats it as a joke, it's as straightforward as that. I don't understand how people try to act like it's not purely for humor. If he intended on making something like Boa and Luffy’s relationship as something to seriously consider being “romance” then Boa wouldn’t be so humorously delusional even after being rejected twice in back to back chapters, she’d be taken aback at the very least. But doesn’t. Why? It’s a joke.

I mean for heaven’s sake, whenever this gag is used with Nyon around, she’s the voice of reason, y’know, a woman who also experienced the same kind of delusional love once? Again it’s all a joke, the entire point of Boa’s gag is that it’s love that’s supposed unreciprocated.

Also, the second time he rejected her was him rejecting her before she even got to ask anything...

This lets us know that Luffy knows how persistent she in trying to get with him and also implying that Luffy is going to say no, no matter what, as he knows how desperate and persistent she is about it. Now that I think about it, Rayleigh left Luffy to train by himself for 6 months before the timeskip fully ended, Rayleigh's supervision made it to where Boa couldn't get to Luffy, but after he left, was fully capable of doing so. I mean just look at Boa down here:

Yeah she said she won't go and remain strong for Luffy's sake, but with her being the way she is, I wouldn't be surprised if Boa in those 6 months went to the island and was asking Luffy multiple times which was how he was able to reject her before even knowing. If what we saw in Chapter 598 was the first time he rejected her, he wouldn't be so quick to know that she was gonna ask it again when he rejected her the 2nd time on panel. We know that the Kuja girls KNEW that Rayleigh left half a year ago as well, meaning they must've gotten to the island itself if they found this out. Unless Rayleigh told them directly, which, to be fair, is likely, but if he didn't, this implies that Boa has been talking to Luffy on the island in those 6 months, and if so, would definitely have brought up marriage at least once, or a lot, honestly, thus explaining Luffy being able to shut down her marriage request before even knowing what she was going to say, because he already heard it THAT much in those 6 months. Now, I don't truly believe that Oda thought of it like that, but it does make logical sense so I figured "why not bring it up".

Also, in a 2014 interview with Fuji TV about the 3D2Y special, Oda mentioned that not only Buggy but BOA bring in the comedic elements into the arc and how they're comic relief characters, again making it obvious that Boa’s infatuation is a complete joke for the sake of comedy. Same with Sanji. Being a gentleman is part of his character but he tries to score every woman. Why? Jokes.

Even if you somehow use the argument of “Oh but this behavior of his is even stronger towards Nami specifically” I don’t see how any of that can be seen as a “shipping hint” and not a gag that’s exaggerated even further, cause he’s still hitting on every woman. Besides, the first time he actually got his heart broken by a woman was by Pudding, and never Nami, Robin and every other woman despite getting rejected a billion times by them. Why? Because the Nami/Robin affection is for comedy while the story between Sanji and Pudding is supposed to be taken seriously.

It's why Oda went out of his way for Sanji to write a dedicated story between the two, with Sanji getting genuinely sad when Pudding talked shit about him only for everything to turn around by the end where she actually likes him. THAT is a romance story with substance behind it, and Oda clearly wrote it like there is merit to it. There is obviously a story written here with a beginning to an end, Sanji acts no different towards Nami in Wano than in say, Punk Hazard. Beginning of Whole Cake vs end of Whole Cake Sanji is on entirely different terms with Pudding and she is on entirely different terms with him. There is development, a plot, a purpose that impacts the plot. Not just "Haha jokes".

Soooo yeah that’s the first thing I wanted to address regarding that statement.

Second, Oda saying “I don’t want to include romance because I don’t wanna lose fans” may seem like an odd thing for him to say at first given how Oda post-timeskip portrays actual romance in his story, and plenty of times, I might add. This was when Oden/Toki was relatively fresh too so there’s no way he forgot he did so. Because of that, Oda is referring to romance for specific characters rather than for the characters he’s already written romance stories about.

So this basically means that Oda’s fear of losing readers obviously doesn’t stem from the romance stories he has already written, it’s very clear from the interview that he’s hesitant to write romance out of fear of losing some of his readers. But of course as we know, he clearly has written blatant romance already, primarily with non-main characters like Rebecca’s parents, Rouge/Roger, etc. It makes plenty of sense for Oda to not be afraid or hesitant to write romance stories/romantic elements for those non-main characters.

Because well, those stories written are basically all backstories that are over in a few chapters (Senor Pink/Russian) or briefly talked about (like the aforementioned Rouge and Roger.) As such, there’s no long-term impact on the story.

Notice how in the only case of a STRAW HAT having a blatant romance story (Sanji/Pudding), it is a character who's most defining character trait is his lovey dovey/romantic behavior? Oda most likely felt more comfortable giving a romance story to Sanji specifically as that goes with his personality, and likely felt he would not be getting backlash for giving the LOVE cook a romantic story. (Because again keep in mind he clearly stated he's hesitant to include romance due to losing fans of the characters getting romantically involved)

But STILL, even with all of that, the impact of this love story from Sanji's perspective is just erased entirely as Pudding erased his memories, as if Oda is being particularly protective of the Straw Hats getting impacted by any obviously permanent romantic development. (Because as I said SanPu is on entirely different terms from the beginning to the end of WCI, so their romance plot had impact on the story.)

So, because of how romance in One Piece is basically all deceased/minor characters having short backstories or in the case of the one Straw Hat who got a blatant romance story, (I said blatant cause you could say Usopp/Kaya, but it’s not super obviously blatant the way SanPu is) erased from his brain, there’s no obvious long-term impact that romance seems to have in One Piece.

I very much think that this “obvious long-term impact” is what Oda wants to avoid so badly, particularly for the Straw Hats (the main characters of the story). This is because this long-term impact would make it apparent to his readers that romance has a fundamental and established role in the story of One Piece as something important, which goes against his target audience of boys, who, from his point of view, don’t like it.

This idea Oda has stems from how Jump used to be when he was a kid, as clearly stated in the interview with Aoyama. It’s his own experiences with how boys manga are “supposed” to be coupled with his insecurities about being embarrassed to write romance that makes him hesitant to do just that.

This is why I scoff at the idea of “No romance in the crew” being used as an actual argument. People use that argument as if Oda himself is completely against the idea of anybody in the crew getting together, despite the painfully crystal clear reason for “no romance in the crew” being to not alienate readers and lose said readers as he is under the impression that boys won’t like that because of how he thinks that everyone still has this idea that they should be segregated due to how it was when he was a kid himself. It's why he said "People are so supportive of couples!" all surprised in the interview with Aoyama, clearly being surprised about the positive reception it gets that he didn't think it would get. It has nothing to do with him hating the very concept of romance, it's him being under the wrong impression on what his young male readers would find acceptable or not.

There is a reason why almost every single time that he brings up or hints at any, ANY hesitance or opposition towards romance in the crew, he brings up his readers. ALMOST. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. He tries to please his target audience. “It’s a shounen manga” or “the readers” he keeps saying, despite not even being asked about his readers' opinion. "I don't think there will be any romance in that crew" is said clearly because "It's a shounen manga THEY won't be interested" not because "OMG WTF I HATE ROMANCE BETWEEN THEM GTFO!" the way people intentionally misconstrue this to be. He even says "Nami probably sees all the good aspects/qualities of those guys, BUT One Piece isn't a romance" So he LITERALLY says that his reason isn't "She does not like any of her crewmates in a romantic way!" but instead says "Well it's not a story about romance and I think only girls care so I won't show or depict it because I think my primary young male audience wouldn't give a shit". Nothing about himself. Legitimately nothing about his own opinions about supposedly being disgusted with nakama romance. Gotta love the made-up narrative being presented as a fact to the fandom at large.

Oda's "but" could have EASILY been followed up with something like this: "Nami probably sees all the good aspects/qualities of those guys, BUT she doesn't see them in a romantic way and I don't want it to be that way" or something, but instead essentially opted for "Nami probably sees all the good aspects/qualities of those guys, BUT think of my young male audience! They don't care about romance. They'd probably hate it if I decide to capitalize on Nami seeing their good qualities as romantic, right? After all, only girls want it! It must only be them for asking this!" What I am saying isn't even me grasping at straws, it's RIGHT THERE. "I don't think there will be romance in the crew cause boys will not like it". Bam, that's all it is. I know I am repeating myself but it seriously bears repeating because of how so many people see that one answer in particular as the ultimate evidence against Mugiwara romance. Oda seems like he's being evasive on purpose with that answer, talking about how concerned he is about the opinions of boys while not once talking about whether or not he would like to write it or not.

Also for the love of everything can we get someone who has the untranslated version of this answer? Given how Japanese language works I would not be surprised in the slightest if he's even more evasive than in VIZ's translation.

How people come to the conclusion that he’s disgusted by the very idea of a Mugiwara couple being a thing is beyond me when it’s as clear as day that he opens his mouth about “his readers” and “his audience” for a reason.

I mean hell, Strong World was originally going to be a movie about Nami’s past and the reason he changed it was because of how he kept his TARGET AUDIENCE in mind. He kept the young boys he appealed to in mind despite clearly wanting to write something else at first.

Him pleasing his audience doesn’t equal “I really don’t want this to be a thing”. If anything, he restricts his desires purely on the basis that he thinks whatever he wants to write is not what other people want, why the hell wouldn't you think this applies to the idea of "no romance in the crew" when he literally spoonfed us the reason being exactly that in the earlier photo of the Jump Fests '09 interview?

He clearly wants to avoid it because of this idea that his male audience will take issue with it and not because he doesn’t wanna do it himself. This why he said “Seriously!?” all surprised when Aoyama said he wouldn’t leave if he decided to implement romance into his story, and he was saying this to a man who writes romance and has already said “I love romantic comedies” 2 sentences ago. Oda is THAT unsure of himself and he's THAT much under the impression that males have no interest in romance. I rarely if ever see people bring this up.

There's a sense of insecurity Oda has on the topic of romance. When Aoyama said “I guess you have no interest in love comedies” Oda didn’t say yes or even imply that he's right about that being the case. He just said “I’m not confident I could draw those, it's a bit embarrassing” Again, he's insecure about it. Not AGAINST it. He basically spells it out for you. But many people still pretend as if he's saying all of this because he's supposedly disgusted by romance among the crew being a thing, only because that made up narrative supports what THEY want to be the case, instead of looking into the actual reason for as to why he's saying all these things.

As I said before, almost every single time he is hesitant to write romance he mentions his audience, but in the situations he doesn't bring up his audience, he instead mentions how he's embarrassed to do it. I mean when asked in a 2019 interview with Oda, he was embarrassed when asked if he incorporates arguments with his wife into how Nami argues, perhaps showcasing how he's embarrassed to talk about his wife (ya know, the person he loves) in other words, the person he's romantically attached to. This is definitely a stretch so I'm not saying that I seriously think that this is more proof on how he's embarrassed/insecure about romance, but I figured it was worth bringing up. But embarrassment aside, he also cares a lot about his manga keeping face to his boy audience.

This leads me to the next thing… Oda’s involvement with the movies. Notice how, every single time he’s involved with writing the plot there’s always some LuNami stuff he wants to throw in there?

Strong World obviously, as well as parts of Film: Gold. Now, at first things seem… odd. The LuNami hints between the two in those films are quite a bit more on the nose than anything Oda has written in the manga, like a oh-so clear parallel between Tesoro and Luffy. At first it puzzled me why Oda would relegate these stories and moments to movies. And then, if you read the Aoyama interview, things start to make sense why he approaches things this way.

Movies aren’t treated as a main part of the story by people, it’s not the manga. You have to go out of your way to see the movie. There's no need to watch the movie to understand One Piece's main manga story. Look at the contrast between Chapter 0 and Strong World itself. Chapter 0 is manga content and it seems so much more concerned with the action and hype the young boys are there for (obviously cause it takes place decades before the current canon but that was a deliberate choice, it could've easily been like how Glorious Island, being a prequel to Film Z, was contemporary to the story). While there still is a bunch of that hype/action in the movie itself, there are also romantic elements thrown in there. It's kind of like Oda's experimenting, testing the waters with those movies. It makes sense for him to approach it this way. People who so happen to hate the addition of (LuNami) romance are willing to let things slide and overlook it because said romance is in a movie they don't have to watch.

So basically a non-mandatory-to watch movie provides Oda with more leeway, or rather makes him more comfortable to add what he wants, allowing him to put just a little bit of obvious romantic themes revolving LuNami.

Although it’s just a BIT of leeway, as Oda still kept the young boys in mind as he, of course, changed the movie from what it was originally supposed to be from something darker to something more light-hearted.

Here's where we get to the main point of this long wall of text: After three seconds. See, this could have easily, EASILY been animated into the movie, it’s as simple as having a 1 minute scene of everyone hearing the final part of the message, it could have easily been the post-credits scene, heck 1 minute is probably a lot more than what was necessary to show after three seconds animated. So why did it not happen in the movie? Probably because Nami was blushing.

Blushing is the most cliché and obvious way to tell if someone is into someone else (unless it’s physical like kissing). Oda, likely due to him keeping his young male audience in mind, relegated it to something even MORE obscure than a movie you don't necessarily have to watch, instead of through said movie, it’s through… these pin things? I honestly don’t even know what the heck it’s supposed to be. I know that One Piece Color Walk 6 featured it...

...but I don’t know the origin of this or how it was distributed before the color walk. Was it given to people in theaters? Was this purchasable merch? Did it come with the DVD/Blu-Ray as an extra? There's so little information online on where in the world this came from, and that just goes to show how oddly obscure it is, as if Oda did this on purpose just so that as little people would find about it. As if he thinks “Okay my intentions will be too obvious if this gets put in the movie itself, let me try something else”. It makes sense given how he's clearly shy about the whole romance thing as I explained earlier. Of course in the movie proper Sanji still mentions the whole love message thing but without Nami explicitly blushing at Luffy hearing it, naysayers can easily just interpret it as one of Sanji's self-serving delusions as always, as Nami doesn't show explicit emotions (blushing) giving away that it's really a love message.

Yes, everything I am saying about this isn't some guaranteed factual info or whatever, but this makes WAY too much sense. He had no reason to make this featuring Nami blushing but he did anyway, like it’s a way for him to draw what he wanted without being overly concerned with his demographic at large getting to see this, you know. And it worked! For example, a lot of the LuNami naysayers point out how the message wasn't romantic and they all say it without the knowledge of After three seconds. Oda did a good job with keeping this art on the down low because let's be honest, who outside of the shipping community or people analyzing shipping to insane degrees (me right now) even know about after three seconds? Exactly.

And by the way, you can’t even say that Nami is blushing out of embarassment for everyone hearing it. In that artwork where she blushed, she knows damn well at that point that the only person on the ship who didn't hear the last part is Luffy, so she’s clearly blushing because of how LUFFY SPECIFICALLY heard it, she blushes once she’s realized that he heard it, it’s that straightforward. And Oda wrote Nami saying "It's embarrassing!" in reference to the message.

Oda is the same man who is embarrassed to write very on the nose romance. Not saying "Oh dude this totally means Oda is projecting how he feels writing after three seconds/the ending of Strong World onto Nami by making her say it's embarrassing meaning he sees this as romantic because HE is embarrassed about romance!" ....Well okay I totally AM saying that buuut I am not saying that it's actually true. I just wanted to bring it up lol.

Another perfect example of relegating obvious romantic things to obscure content is a certain sketch. And it’s in the heroine novel, obviously aimed at girls instead of boys, and oh would you look at that:

Oda does a complete 180 and features Nami with Luffy’s hat on with a HEART IN HER HAND… seriously, how more obvious can this sketch get? It can't! And it doesn't need to be subtle this time! Oda knows that on average more girls are going to care about romance so why be subtle here? In the past he said specifically that he thinks girl readers keep asking him questions related to romance, as I clearly said before, and this here novel is targeted at girls as opposed to boys. There’s no reason for Luffy’s hat to be on her, especially because, well, he has nothing to do with Nami's novel, it's not like he plays a role in it. Nami post-timeskip is pretty much never seen wearing his hat before this sketch, making it very peculiar for him to draw her like this here on something aimed towards girls, the demographic he keeps mentioning "loves romance and keeps asking me to include it in One Piece". Seriously, the ONE TIME to bring it back in like, a decade, and it’s done like this? It feels ridiculous to call people crazy for thinking it has to mean something given all the context I have provided.

I mean, notice how in the main manga storyline, Nami hasn’t had his since SKYPIEA??? Hell, even then, she has only had it on her head once in the main manga in Arlong Park, yet Oda made Nami wear the hat in color spreads, which are treated as not important at all by a lot of readers. Color spreads by casual or young readers are usually looked at like “Huh cool artwork I guess, not going to extensively think about it though”, again giving Oda a liiitttle bit more leeway than his main manga story. Why else do you think that Luffy and Nami are CONSISTENTLY portrayed as King and Queen in color spreads and not the main manga storyline? Because from Oda's perspective it gives naysayers or the boys who in his mind supposedly hate romance leeway to say "Oh it's just a color spread! Just fun little aesthetic stuff!", in other words, nothing to take seriously. If he wrote it into his main manga story he would have to explain why Luffy and Nami would dress up as King and Queen too, again making things a loooot more explicit depending on the way he goes about it, and he's already insecure about it, so.... I'm just saying.

Also come on, there has to be a reason why Oda has portrayed Nami with Luffy’s hat plenty of times after Skypiea yet none of those times were in the story proper, just like the movies he's involved in being heavily focused on Nami herself or LuNami. He himself wrote Tesoro and Stella's romance, he himself said that ROMANCE WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR FILM: GOLD yet is much more adamant about romance being included in his manga storyline and it was HIS idea to parallel the romance for Tesoro/Stella that he wrote with Luffy/Nami. Almost as if he is less concerned with a certain audience for the movies and side material than he his for his manga... Nah, that's ridiculous!

Isn’t it just weird how a lot of the side content Oda makes/is involved in is more on the nose with shipping hints? To me it seems like his thought process is “Okay! I can finally do something I want to! I want to make a movie about Luffy saving Nami with a few romantic undertones thrown in there… I could’ve easily made an arc like this in the manga but, can’t let my main audience be disappointed, can I?” Arlong Park and Skypiea are the only times in the manga in which Nami gets to be saved by Luffy. (Funnily enough they’re both are the only times in the main story where Luffy gives Nami his hat.) Both arcs were so long ago. It just seems to me like he wrote Strong World and the romance aspect of Film: Gold to scratch his “Nami gets saved by Luffy” itch. Even with the Zou hug being a thing, it is not something that Oda puts emphasis on at all, it’s pretty zoomed out in the manga, as if he is avoiding any overly direct intimacy that the readers he’s catering to would catch on to. It’s all too suspicious to me.

All this isn't to say that Oda doesn't do any LuNami stuff in the main manga storyline, it just that he's not mega obvious with it at all and doesn't plan to include said mega obvious hints as long as his concern with his boy audience remains there. So it doesn't invalidate any LuNami hints that people think happened in the manga like Nami blushing over the CPR Reiju gave (naysayers could easily say she was just shocked unlike Strong World where it's blatantly her blushing over Luffy hearing what Sanji called a "love message") or things that are more subtle like Nami's "I don't want to marry yet" in Thriller Bark, I'm just saying that cliché hints of romance is what he would like to avoid, something cliché enough that his shounen audience would figure out.

As a side note, Oda's "People seem so supportive of couples!" is also interesting as before his Aoyama interview he always knew/thought that girls are always the ones ask him for romance and as such of course he would know the female demographic would care more about it, so this surprise about people seeming supportive of couples may or may not be him realizing that it's not just girls who are interested, but perhaps boys too. Of course we all know that Oda drew Luffy and Nami together for Aoyama, the author he just talked about romance with. Now again not saying "Oh man this HAS to be a LuNami hint!" because they talked about much more than just romance, but still, something to consider!

Oda's "Ah, seriously!?" is still funny to me when Aoyama said he won't leave if One Piece were to include romance, despite Aoyama writing romance in Detective Conan, interesting reaction from Oda given how Aoyama literally said "I like love comedies" just earlier. As if to convince himself that Aoyama is writing the romance in his story to pander to his female audience instead of doing it because he likes doing it. Anyway I think I am digressing.

I think my theory may hold some water, but hey if you disagree, that’s totally fine. I’m not the best at articulating myself so the way I talked about some things here may just be seen as completely wrong, but hey, that’s okay! If you have something to add, you can do so. I know there will be people disagreeing with me, including even some LuNami fans, but again, I don't mind at all.

My verdict is this: Oda likes the idea of LuNami but due to his concern with his target audience, he won’t make any obvious advances that young boys would pick up on and as a result, tries to sneak in more obvious hints into supplementary/more obscure content like Movies, After three seconds, a sketch, etc. because people take those less seriously/not at face value like stuff that happens inside the manga's story, so only puts more subtle or non-cliché hints in his manga and the less subtle ones in secondary material. (I mean seriously dude, wearing Luffy's hat with a heart in your hand? A romance parallel in a movie? Blushing at the "love message" being heard? Come on, that so much more on the nose than anything in the entire manga)

I guess you can say there are layers to how far Oda is willing to go to show LuNami more explicitly lol. The more of a low profile he think he has from his boy readers, the more explicit it'll be. That is seriously a trend I have been noticing from him.

Honestly, with all this being said and done, I think the only way he will feel totally at ease with including explicit LuNami romance is if he is convinced that his boy audience doesn't mind romance at all and wouldn't leave in salt, bitterness and passive aggression.

I think One Piece will continue to be written like this without on the nose romance. The best we can hope for is a sudden LuNami ending once the story is over, because 1. By then he stops writing One Piece and doesn't need to be walking on eggshells to please his audience and 2. Romance not being written doesn't necessarily mean characters won't end up together as BF/GF, husband/wife. Portraying romance is simply showing us the way that lead to the BF/GF husband/wife relationship in the first place.

Keep in mind that the whole interpretation I have about Oda's portrayal romance and LuNami could be entirely wrong!

To talk about the "Boys don't like romance" thing, I'm a man, and look, I wrote all of this stupid shit. To me it's funny that he still is under the wrong impression that all, or at least most, boys don't like romance. I am not a shipper of everything in fiction myself, LuNami is one of the few ships I even care about. If your audience grows attached enough to a series they would get attached to the characters too, this attachment can lead to a desire of wanting to see these characters be more, that is how I started to love LuNami. I think a decent amount of male One Piece fans feel the same way, for guys like me liking a ship usually takes a slow burn, whereas, usually from what I observe, women ship things much quicker than guys. I also feel less willing at expressing my love for a ship, a big part of it being that guys just "support" a ship instead of going balls to the wall insane for a ship with a million essays about how great the ship is, on top of that they almost always support the ships I think are lame where it's stupid one-sided love for 95% of the story (For example, Western men support LuHan so much more than LuNami on average it's not even funny) For a long time I was sitting in the back, keeping my interest in LuNami to myself. And what better way to "come out the shipping closet" I guess you can say, than to make... whatever the hell I wrote here? I don't know man at this point I'm so drained I'm starting to doubt that anything I even said here made any sense, I just flung all the things stored in brain at this post so it may be all over the place but whatever!

Hope you loved reading this regardless! See ya!

#lunami #luffy x nami #ルナミ #nami x luffy

170 notes · View notes

heavens-aesthetic-kitchen · 5 months

Text

Why the TF2 Defense Trio deserve more recognition

The people have spoken, I have decided to create an essay disguised as a post on this godforsaken website because it's a free country goddammit! (I would have done it either way lmaooo, I have a lot of shit to say about these maniacs) To start this formal essay glorified very serious shitpost, why should you as a tf2 fan care about these 3 men? They're so "boring" and there's not much going on with them. If ya took a second, let's pause with what was being said. YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND to think such thoughts, we must shake you out of cuckoo land by giving you an in-depth look into these three so that you understand where I'm coming from. Let's start in order:

Demoman:

After being in the fandom since 2019, there's always one character I always thought wasn't given much anything in the fandom at all. Even taking ships out of the equation, there's barely any fics I've that focus on Tavish Finneagan Degroot specifically that I've seen that isn't a compilation fic (I read a lot of x readers, don't judge me). Believe me, I checked ao3. I went through Demoman's tags and I tried very hard to filter a lot of the crossover and relationship tags, yet there's less of Demoman himself, than there's him just existing as a side character of a story. Which is honestly sad, I honestly think Demo is one of the more kinder mercs compared to a lot of the team. This man made friends with the BLU soldier, despite knowing that they were supposed to be killing each other. Sure, it's unclear whether or not Demo did actually go through with it and it's just a ruse, because the voicelines in WAR! don't have a set timeline. But I do think that Demo would have tried to keep his friendship with BLU soldier. He's very chill. I've never actually seen him get violent against his friends and family, despite being a drunkard. I honestly think he's one of the sweetest people in TF2, he takes good care of his mom and haunted sword lmaoooo. Jokes aside, he seems like a genuinely good man and I barely see anything that suggests he's sadistic. He's a chaotic and loud, but not bad. Not bad at all. The fact he can still do his job well, even after drinking so much that his body created a whole distillery, is even more impressive. He is damn good at what he does and works very hard. He's had multiple jobs, even as wee little lad. Despite what people think of him, the fact he's getting paid 5 million dollars a year, is proof he knows what he's doing. He loves his job and couldn't bear the thought of not working. I feel like his backstory isn't talked about enough in the fandom either. When you think about it, it's kinda fucked up that he was put in an orphanage by his biological parents until he was in the right age to be blowing people up. Not only that, his eye socket was haunted by the Bombinomicon so that every halloween a giant eye would manifest, attacking him and his friends. Even Medic couldn't help him and instead resorting to scooping the part of Demo's brain where he remembered so he would stop asking. He most likely has a lot of stories for you, I see him as the type that has a lot to say. His past is the most fleshed out and complete out of all the mercs, which I really appreciate, you can do a lot more with him. Also another thing, during Unhappy Returns, he took the time to reassure Soldier that he wouldn't think he's a civilian. He didn't brush Soldier's worries aside and instead comforted him. I wish I had a lot more to say about Demo because I am baffled that he isn't being gushed about as a potential partner. He has the excitement and like zero baggage. A thing I also wanna point out is that he seems to be insecure of the fact he's a black scottish man with only one eye during Meet The Demoman. I may be reading into things a bit too much, but it makes me wanna be like "NOOOO don't talk about yourself like that, bro. You're so cute UGHHH" Also also he's handsome. Sure looks can be subjective, but I still think Demo has a face I would kiss hehe. He looks great with his beard and his cheeky ass smile. GOD I could gush about him all day, but I have to move on rip.

Heavy:

Honestly, I'm having a hard time just finding the words to describe this amazing man without giving him the respect he deserves. But I'll sure try. Heavy has had a difficult life and I've always admired how strong he was. Not just of his muscles, but he endured one of the toughest situations and still kept moving forward with his life even though it was traumatizing. You see why I'm even having a hard time talking about him? I can't really get down into the weeds, without getting serious for a min. I feel like the fandom doesn't give him much credit for being able to deal with so much. He's the rock for his family after his father disappeared (atp I think he's dead, which is the cherry on top this depressing sundae) and I wouldn't doubt that he would be the same for his team. He's a man of few words, but that makes him all the more intriguing. Just because this man has a lot of brawn does not mean he's dumb at all. Despite how he acts in the battlefield, Heavy is observant and clever. Although, it's implied that Spy being Scout's dad is an open secret between the mercs and Miss Pauling, the fact he figured it out without saying it directly must mean he has a lot more going on. He's also educated, getting a phD in Russian Literature. It's not a STEM program, but he actually got a doctorate and went to college, that's a lot more than half of what the mercs did lmaooo. Also he has a bit of a softie side, not just for his mom and sisters, but also other creatures as well. I respect him so much for avoiding violence against those dogs during the Showdown comic. Not only shows what an absolute sweetheart he is, but also how much he's able to think quickly on his feet. Heavy is very direct and blunt, I don't see him as the type to lie about his feelings. I appreciate that he doesn't feel the need to sugarcoat anything, he'll get the job done and he ain't playing. There's no fluff, he knows what he wants and that's to rev up Sasha and ram through sons of bitches without any worries.

I feel like I wanna point out, his story seems the most unexplored in the fandom, even though it has a lot of potential for ANGST factor. I already broke down how sad it is, but I just feel like it isn't said enough. Can I just say how cuddly he looks?! GAH, I feel like he would give the warmest hugs! The way he smiled in Unhappy Returns when he finds out his family doesn't need to live in fear anymore, just melts my heart! He's so protective over his family and friends! I wish I had a lot more to say about this guy because I just can't stop finding more things about him that go unappreciated. I had to literally edit this part so many times before moving on, he just has those little details you don't notice until you take a second and have that OH MY GOD moment

Engineer:

I was getting so hyped, when it was finally our resident southern nerd's time to shine. GOD I have so much to say about this man. It's been over 5 fucking years and I have never stopped simping for this man since 2019, I think I'm gonna go insane from how much I've been repressing, I go feral when he's around. Anyways enough stalling. I don't ever think a fictional character has ever made me swoon quite like Engineer, I really mean that. I have ask and pleaded to whatever god was listening to give me a man like Engie. To me, he is everything I ever wanted and more.

First, I wanna talk about what makes him attractive to me. His accent. His southern charm, UGH he's killing me with that smooth voice and chivalry! I swear this man could make me faint just from existing. The way he smiles is so warm, his insults are so corny I love them. That five o clock shadow GAHH! I'm getting butterflies all over again. I swear I love all three of the defense bois, but Dell Conagher has my heart wrapped around his gunslinger metal finger. All those personal reasons aside, I've always thought Dell Conagher was a very interesting character in the world of TF2. He might not have much screen time or goofy shenanigans like the other mercs, but that doesn't mean you can ignore him oh no no no. This man is important within the whole story of Mann Co and TF industries, his grandfather being the catalyst of the game's events and the comics going forward. The Conaghers are the SOLE REASON why Team Fortress 2's story exists. I find it strange that the fandom hasn't done much with this fact because you can do a lot with this idea. Engineer knows a lot of shit and would be the biggest threat to Helen, if not for the fact that his family has been helping her for years.

Like his backstory, he's not seen much in the battlefield, but he has a lot more going on behind the scenes. Imagine the possibilities. He is damn intelligent and he knows it. While Dell is very sweet and has a southern charm, this is a facade to hide his God complex and sadistic tendencies. If you think this man is just your boring gentle engineer, you've got a big storm coming. It's heavily implied that he sawed off his own arm so that he could use the gunslinger. This man works on projects with Medic and doesn't question the moral implications of putting a human brain in a pumpkin. Hell, he threatened his own employer, even if he was an old man (Granted, Blutarch dug up his grandpa's grave, so he probably should have gotten something a lot worse than just Dell telling him to fuck off). Engineer is more than the texan egghead sweetie pie, he is a mercenary for a reason and I would argue that he might be as insane, if not more than, the rest of the team. No sane man would willingly work with a bunch of war criminals if he wasn't also crazy. That's the thing I really like about him. I love playing as him in the game because it represents his character very well. He technically serves a supportive role to the team with his buildings, but he is a killer with a lot of tools in his disposal, With the right amount of training, he can absolutely dominate in the battlefield.

I feel like he's one of the people that underestimate and assume that he's an easy target, but he's a lot more than that. He has a lot of layers that makes me want to learn more about him and what he has to offer.

In Conclusion:

These guys are cool. Lmaooo okay I won't just end it there. I genuinely believe that they're not getting the recognition that they deserve, they've got a lot more going for them if you pay attention. Sure they might not always be the loudest or most prominant character in the story, but what they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality TEN FOLD. They don't have to be your favourite, but you should at least give them a chance. You never know, they may surprise you.

Okay so thats enough of that, I couldn't find a divider above this message, so you're getting this grainy ass gif. Honestly, I put way too much effort on this shitpost lmaooo, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out in a more concise manner. If you want to add more stuff about these three that I didn't mention, feel free to do so. Anyways thanks for reading

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 demoman #tf2 engineer #tf2 heavy #tf2 engie #tf2 demo #tf2 mikhail #tf2 defense #i spent way too long on this post than I should have bruh #enjoy the ramblings of a thirsty idiot #defense nation rise up

175 notes · View notes

welcometothejianghu · 9 months

Text

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 少年歌行/The Blood of Youth

The Blood of Youth is a 2022 live-action adaptation of the tale of a deposed, disabled, and incredibly cunty prince who's on his way back to settle the score with his asshole father, and the rag-tag band of weirdos he accumulates along the way, including Spear Girl, Bad Monk, and Fire Puppy (pictured above).

I hope you like shounen anime, because this is the most shounen anime something is allowed to be without actually being based on something running weekly in Shounen Jump. What if Nirvana in Fire were also Naruto? It would be the Blood of Youth.

This show is an underrated gem of action-packed fun that not nearly enough people in English-speaking fandom have seen. In an attempt to correct that -- and ahead of an announced second season and prequel in progress -- I'm here with five reasons you should try it out.

1. Zero thoughts head empty

You do not have to pay an enormous amount of attention to this show to understand what's going on. The show itself does not always know what's going on. It got distracted by a shiny object over there, and now we're all gearing up to go punch the shiny object. We'll get back to the main plot when we're done with the punching.

It has a million billion plot threads going on at any given moment. Bad guys roll in from sects you've never heard of before, using superpowers with stupid names, only to get kicked into next week. There's approximately eleventy thousand characters -- so many, in fact, that I ran into problems several times while making this rec post, because there aren't readily available photos of everyone I want to talk about. Just look at the DramaWiki cast list. See how it goes on for like fifty screens? That's a little what the show feels like.

Except I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, because the show knows it's doing this, and it acts accordingly. It telegraphs pretty well who's important and who isn't (and then it goes out of its way to color-code the latter, which is handy). What you're left with is absolutely a manga-style plot, complete with training arcs and semi-relevant sidequests, all working up to the final boss match.

It is an extremely self-aware show. On multiple occasions, something would happen, I would crack a joke about it, and then a beat later the show itself would make the exact same joke. I wouldn't call it an outright comedy, but it's still very funny, and on purpose. It has no illusions about being some kind of profound, meaningful epic. Mostly it's just here for a good time.

Yet this lightheartedness is what makes the powerful emotional parts really powerful by contrast. The show is not stupid; it's just goofing around most of the time. When it knuckles down, it can be devastating. And you know what? It does wind up being profound and meaningful about some stuff. How about that.

So yeah, if you're up for something that bops merrily right along and only occasionally rips your heart out, here you go!

2. Putting the poly in polycule

Bisexuals, rejoice! It's representin' time!

Here you go, I made a relationship chart of about 40% of the show's potential and canonical ships. I could have included so many more, but I only had so much space on the image, so I had to leave out some amazing ones, like the sword hedgehog who's real into this one cougar who could easily wipe the floor with him, or the rich nerd who thinks he has a chance with the aforementioned hot butch, or the fancy MILF who cheated on the emperor with a dreamy jianghu man and is trying not to cheat on him again with a different, slightly less dreamy jianghu man. See? There's just so much.

I would also say these are not exclusive ships. They are extremely inclusive ships. I am a fan of most (though admittedly not all) of the pairings listed here, and in fact of many of the three-and-more-somes indicated by these lines. They're such a cuddle puddle of shared intense feelings that it's hard to imagine anyone getting more than mildly jealous. Moreover, the potential for romance does not get in the way of hetero friendships; a boy and a girl who are each dating other people can go do adventures together, and (mostly) nobody gets weird about it, which is nice. If anything, what makes the overall dynamic so polycule-like is how equally friends and love interests get treated, meaning that it's not difficult to see a lot of crossover potential between those two categories.

If you're like me, you're hesitant about canonical romance, especially when it's straight, mostly because so many straight love stories wind up being tiresome, gross, and/or skull-poundingly boring. You will then be pleasantly surprised by how the canon pairings with members of the main cast are not like this at all!

Xiao Se and Sikong Qianluo are the main textual romance, and golly gee, they're just cute as heck. As the chart above indicates, I like interpreting them as two Kinsey 6's who have found their single exceptions, Mulder-and-Scully-style. Maybe one of the best things about their relationship is that it gets sidelined all the time for the plot. They're not so busy being in love that they forget to get shit done. Then they get a bit of downtime and get to go on a date, and you're like, aww, those sweet gay disaster babies are gonna do a little bit of heterosexuality. Just precious.

Tang Lian and Fairy Rui are right up there with the cuteness. She's a sex-positive dancing beauty who wants to ride that pretty boy like she stole him, and he's a shy sword boy so tightly bottled up that he'll explode if he sees a bare ankle. Avoiding spoilers, I will simply say that this is a pairing of two relatively soft people, until a bad thing happens to one of them and the other hardens up about it. If that's your jam, they're here for you.

Lei Wujie and Ye Ruoye are probably the most magical and the most practical of the bunch. They have a beautiful, super-dreamy, really horny sword-dance meet-cute, complete with its own pop song ... and then that's it, they're basically just together. She likes him, he likes her, good for them. In-laws aside, it's a refreshingly low-drama situation. Besides, I always love it when the hypercompetent woman gets the sweet, devoted himbo who'd do anything for her. Ruoye's had a hard life, and she deserves someone who can dick her down good at night and make her a nourishing breakfast the next morning.

And then there is, of course, The Ship:

Xiao Se and Wuxin are canonical, textual soulmates. The show treats their dynamic as more important than any other. It's so important, in fact, that the show has to sideline Wuxin for huge parts of the drama, lest everything get too damn gay. They each get a boyfriend catch on the other. They both do fairly reckless things when the other is in trouble. They are the secret hidden happy ending to the series. They share the kind of ride-or-die relationship built on mutually being the hugest bitches in any given room. Whether or not you think this is romance, it is extremely romantic, and the series agrees as much as it can, all things considered.

And if none of those flavors of love float your boat? Well, have you considered ... eunuchs?

3. She likes e4e

So I'm on record as being real into eunuch characters, right? Well, if you're with me on that, you are in for a treat here, because these are some absolutely buck-wild eunuchs.

There's five main ones, and I can't even begin to scratch the surface of what's going there. Like, really, I don't even think I understood all of what was happening with them. They're kind of the bad guys, but then they're kind of the good guys, but then some of them are the bad guys, but then they're just working for the bad guys, but then they screw over the bad guys, and ... it's just a lot, okay? It's a lot, and it's all happening with this bunch of catty bitches.

Also, you would not believe the difficult time I had finding any images for this section. I guess for some reason, fandom isn't way into a bunch of canonically dickless color-coordinated middle-aged men in weird hats? Whatever, man, they are missing out. If, however, you have the good sense to be into the intense and complicated (semi-romantic??) relationships among colleagues who also professionally just happen to be missing their external genitalia, buddy, strap in (and maybe strap on, depending).

Don't let me oversell how much these guys are in the show. They're not. They're vaguely important at points throughout, and they become incredibly important near the end, but they're hardly main characters. They're mostly back at the palace, doing their various schemes and looking absolutely fantastic.

So if they're such a minor part of the story, why do they get their own selling point? Well, I think their presence is a good example of two specific things about the show:

Specific thing the first: It's so queer -- not gay, but queer. Thinking back to my last selling point, you will notice how many of those straight pairings may look normie on the outside, but once you get down to it are not playing by cishet rules. (For instance, I've seen a lot of people read Tang Lian's resistance to sexual advances as asexuality, which, sure!) Likewise, there are lots of incredibly important, intimate relationships that don't conform to standard romantic pair dynamics. Add to that a lot of bodies with unusual characteristics and conditions, and you've got the makings of plenty of delightful non-normative love stories.

Specific thing the second: There are so many things going on with so many side characters that there's a kink here for everyone. Don't care for eunuchs? How about slinky villains with mind-control powers? Devoted servants who would do anything for their masters? Former bad guys who owe life-debts to the good guys who saved them? Bonded pairs traipsing around the jianghu together? Sons nursing legitimate grudges against the men who killed their fathers? Alcoholic widowers with incredibly slutty necklines? Mysterious cross-dressers with unconvincing moustaches? Vengeful brides? Martial siblings? Murderous royals? Guilt-ridden half-siblings? Boring star-crossed lovers? All these and more! It's a smorgasbord of rarepair fuel!

Also, I just love these toxic drama queens. It's like if RuPaul's Drag Race had the authority to have you executed.

4. The most intriguing outfits I've ever seen in anything (and yes, I'm including Winter Begonia)

Time for a fashion show!

The asymmetrical fits, the detailed embroidery on everything, the brilliant colors -- everybody just looks so good. And yet everything still looks ... eh, I don't know if "practical" is the word I want, but at least wearable. Nobody's dragging ten-foot trains of fabric behind them or wrapped in eighty floofy layers of gauze (except Rui, but she's special). Their outfits are strange and elaborate, but they don't defy physics.

What's truly stunning is how often they get new outfits. Xiao Se alone changes clothes about once every other episode, and more if he's getting a flashback. He is the fashion plate of the whole series, and every look he serves is pitch-perfect.

They're not outright color-coded, but the main characters do have certain colors associated with them -- which is extra-fun when you watch those colors bleeding into their friends' clothes as their relationships get stronger. I also think -- and I'm willing to be proven wrong on this point, but I think I'm right -- that they recycle some characters' outfits into parts of other characters' outfits. On more than one occasion, I'd swear that Lei Wujie shows up wearing the left half of something Xiao Se was wearing a few episodes back (tailored to fit him, of course, because that dumb ponytail boy is tall).

Where I think the costume design gets massive points, though, is that the costumes are themselves adaptations.

Before the live-action series, there was a 2018 3D animated donghua. I have never watched the latter, but apparently the drama is intensely faithful to the animated visuals, to the point where some fights are shot-for-shot remakes.

Of course, you can do a lot more with unreal clothing and bodies in animation -- and you can show a lot more skin, at least according to Chinese content laws. The live-action costumers chose to preserve about as many of the appearance beats from the donghua as they could manage, while still accepting the limitations of real-life bodies and materials. You can see some side-by-side comparisons here. The live-action outfits manage to be instantly recognizable without being slavishly devoted recreating to their inspirations.

So if you're sick and tired of dreary, ill-lit shows with bland palettes, this vibrant, colorful drama may be just the thing for you. It's a rainbow from start to finish.

5. Actually a good central plot?

Despite all the wacky delightful shounen nonsense that this show has -- and it has a lot -- the core of the whole narrative, which is Xiao Se's story, is surprisingly great and cohesive.

The short version is this: Xiao Se used to be Xiao Chuhe, sixth prince and somewhat heir apparent. Then he and his jerk-ass dad had a falling-out that resulted in the prince's having his martial arts abilities all but taken from him. He's been living the life of a very well-dressed innkeeper for several years, trying to avoid all of that palace garbage. But now his jerk-ass dad is dying, which means that a lot of horrible decisions are finally having unfortunate consequences for everyone, and Xiao Se's got to get back in there to make sure everything does not go to shit and land someone terrible on the throne -- even if it has to mean taking it himself.

His central conflict is between what he used to be and what he's become. Does he miss being Xiao Chuhe, high-ranked martial artist and future emperor? Or is he happier being Xiao Se, long-suffering nobody who can barely run a business, much less hold his own in a fight? What would he be willing to do to get back what he's lost? What are his obligations to himself versus his obligations to everyone else? How much is he responsible for his father's bullshit? And why has he wound up having to babysit this stupid Fire Puppy?

It's okay, they're best friends now. Lei Wujie decided.

No spoilers, but I liked Xiao Se's ending a lot. I feel it's very true to the character and shows a real understanding of who he is and what he values. And really, at the end of the day, sometimes all you need for a happy ending is your girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend's boyfriend who's also your boyfriend, your other boyfriend, his girlfriend, and your long-distance for-real soulmate.

Feel like giving the youths a try?

You can find them on YouTube or on Viki. But be absolutely sure that no matter where you watch it, you make sure to go watch the epilogue as well. (And if you get real into the story, well, here's a link to information about all the other adaptations.)

You are also welcome for how I did not spend this post going off for five hundred years on how much I love Wuxin and his funky relationship to Buddhism. I figured that's way too niche of a selling point for most people, and might indeed have even been counterproductive. But know that I could have.

Also, I'm very happy about the announcement of a second season, because that's going to mean Liu Xueyi has to shave his head again, and he looks unbearably good with a shaved head.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the whole motorcycle photoshoot?

In case you hadn't noticed, the whole cast is stupidly hot. Hachi machi.

#the blood of youth #少年歌行 #bloody youths #i made this #rec post #the party is a polycule #LeiDHD

247 notes · View notes

lizaluvsthis · 9 months

Text

ALRIGHT- DROPPING OFF A WHAT IF IN HERE!

What If (BR AU) : SMG4 lost all of his vision during the arc?

Since I can't stop thinking about this ass (curse this what if-) I'd consider making a fic about this <3<3

Title: Lost of sight, souls intertwined

Tags: Fluff/Angst/Comfort

Summary: Four with his permanent loss of vision, it's been too difficult for him to manage. But with a help of his crew and someone in particular helped him reach up and discover something new.

PART 1/2

Second Part

After the man in white and blue desperately helped his ex rival's loss of an eye, he gave up from all of his strength to heal his injury.

By the time Mario placed his hand on his shoulder, he stood by his side. "Mario believes in you!"

SMG4 grunts from the power he'd been releasing for three's eye, he felt himself getting drained off. In a matter of seconds, SMG4's abilities grew weaker giving up every power he had left.

*huff... huff...* everything started to go hazy, everything from his vision went blurry. Everything and all of it. Just to SAVE. His partner.

He did it all.

For love. For him. And to keep him alive.

His posture swifted slowly as he starts to lose his balance, from his mind where it gave him dizziness. His head and his arm had been damaged, and to both of his eyes...?

Almost falling down to the ground, Mario had quickly caught his best friend just as he was about to hit the floor.

Four wanted to open his eyes but even tho he wanted to... his visual view has lost its sight and its impairment.

He felt so weak, but he wouldn't give up. Because the battle with Niles is not over yet.

"I- I can't see anything..." he tried touching his own face, blinking twice, trying to feel his hands or even look at them. But it felt like the light source of the whole world, shut to his eyes.

Everything is black.

He felt numb.

"Guess I see what SMG1 is talking about." Four's fingertips touched to his skin, pointing to both of his eyes.

Mario's sad face formed at the blue's message.

Three opened his eyes, shocked that his injury has been fully recovered and with his vision clear again. He turned to look at his partner who sat beside him.

SMG4 seemed fine, tilting his head to the left seeing the angle from the view. Both of his eyes had been permanently damaged and could not be recovered due to its impact.

His optic nerve had been cut out from transferring what he could see, it has been completely destroyed.

He stared at both of SMG4's eyes in horror. How could this be happening to him now...?

"SMG4... I-" three wanted to speak, but Melony's words came out alerting the star trio.

"I got this! Go to the ship!" Melony with deity form on use, she swung the sword to her side. Mario and Three looked at each other.

It wasn't over yet.

They both nodded, Three started to carry SMG4 in bridal style with all the might and capability.

Three could carry Four without any struggle on whatsoever. (Thanks to his usual workout routine and liftings)

SMG4 couldn't process from what was happening, it happened so fast and counting with the loss of his view.

He'd been silent and confused with what was going on, he wanted to question who the person he'd been carried with.

"Come on Mario let's go!" Three spoke up, to now Four knowing that it was his partner who've been carrying him with strong arms. He winced after hearing three's voice.

"Ahh! Mama Mia! It's not working!" Mario aggressively pushed the buttons all in one try, they heard a clicking noise and it was... "TERRANCE?!" SMG3 saw his baby undangan knuckles, appearing from the side of the ship.

When Terrance quickly fixes the ship and had it working again, the trio including terrance went inside. Three slowly puts Four to the chair, assuring his company by placing his left hand brushing to his leg for comfort.

"Hey- hey- everything's gonna be okay dude. Just- just sit tight in there... you're gonna be fine." SMG4 stayed silent, he had no idea whatever sh-t just happened. Or he had completely lost his mind hearing what Three had said to him.

He had lost both of his sight of seeing, Niles still right after with the avatar with Three and him, and what three does is carry him to a safer place?

How crazy can that be? How- in the hell- could someone like Three possibly would also do everything to save Four right after saving his enemy?

They've both hated each other, they've been enemies for who knows what sh-tass years could there have, he knew how unbalanced or unstable their friendship with eachother have been. So why would he?

He'd been an asshole since before, so why would three? Speaking of it, he turned out to be a complete mess by ruining his own productions and the name itself.

He treated his name like trash, he hated Three's sudden succession, he'd been the one JEALOUS about him. So why would three? Why would he? Why couldn't three just left him there to die? Why can't he just ignore that Four saved him? Why?

Was it the reason for Three's development? Is he trying to give him the signals that- he MAY as well take it serious that three has been wanting to move on right after that 2020th wotfi? Right after EVERYTHING that happened, even without him having any simple hint of realisation that he just wanted to do some good quality contents than RUINING ANYTHING from SMG4?

"Take a hint." They say. And that hint wasn't even close enough. He was just too blind, too oblivious for the fame, fans, views, and his daily life with his phone sticking to social medias.

He had a hard time to recognice or even describe what a person has been feeling, he had no idea what consequences would face as soon as He assumed three of doing something bad.

Sure he was an extrovert. Without any knowledge of "getting to understand how someone feels"

It took too long for SMG4 to respond from whats been happening in reality at the moment, he had been stuck from his mindscape and couldn't say a word.

"Ahh! We've been downed!" Mario screamed to where it seems like the trios float in mid air. "Can someone ATLEAST tell me what the heck is going on here?" Four began to yell, brought up by three and Mario's suprise.

"The ship blew up! How are you not feeling any pain from that at all?!" The man in purple yelled back, but not the usually loud tone to SMG4.

"..." Four stayed silent again- how long did he zoned out? His whole body went numb during the explosion, and how is he still here?

"OI! I'm talking to you!" SMG3 tried snapping his fingers to knock out his senses, which it worked.

With Melony showing up again, Three and Mario cheered. Waving to the trios, she prepared herself to defeat zero once and for all. The anti memes showed up half away.

SMG3 thought of an idea, to where Mario had noticed after spotting anti memes on its way. "Don't do it SMG3! Remember how you and SMG4 had gone too coo coo crazy while using that?" He spoke in gibberish language.

"What? Don't tell me you want to use anti memes again!" SMG4 without seeing anything but pitch black, he can still have his sense of hearing.

"I..." there must be some other way-

Floating in the endless abyss, Three held Four's hand as Mario grabbed Four's shoulder. "Theres another way but..." (but?)

SMG3 gripped Four's hand tighter, much to his suprise.

Three used his other hand to pull out Terrance from his pocket. "Terrance...I'm sorry little buddy. We need you to save the world... please don't hate me... goodbye."

Terrance couldn't quite understand anything, but gave him a puzzled face right after Three hugs him. "I love you"

SMG4 heard Three's words loud and clear, it hurts to listen. He knows how Terrance meant to Three and how much Three meant to him.

Three lets go of Terrance, trying to hold back his tears locking his hand with SMG4.

"Three..." SMG4 whispered from his breath, rubbing Three's knuckles with his thumb. "We- we don't have a choice." Sniffed by Three, closing his eyes.

By harnessing Terrance's meme energy, it transferred to the avatar's body making Mario's head big. It was the only option to survive.

The time has now come to an end of Zero's defeat and Melony's victory. The world is saved by the hero. The crew were now in a hospital recovering for their bruises and injured parts.

In a room all alone, there was SMG4 putting himself to rest as SMG1 sighed looking at both of his eyes. "I told you, using your meme power alone would do damage to your body..."

"Can you even see me?" SMG1 asked him, unknowingly that the question made it a bit too harsh. "Ya think I could see any dim of the light or anything at all?" Four glared at the ceiling, not being able to look at the blue box or even visualize what surrounds him.

SMG1 coughed at his statement trying not to make everything awkward. "Sorry- I guess I'm getting a bit too old enough, still four. May I check your arm?" SMG4 hummed in response.

"What does my eye look like?"

...

Silence fills the air with SMG1 examining his eyes looking both sides and checking underneath his sleeve, taking off both of his gloves. The results were shocking to him.

"Both of your eyes has lost all of its vision. With what you can imagine both of it right now, would be plain white and emptiness. Your eyes are far too damage enough to be repaired, we don't have that kind of power to recover your eyes. I'm sorry."

SMG1 frowned at Four, seeing him helpless at this state he'd get even weaker from day by day without someone looking after him.

SMG4 blinked, it's all black. He can't see the light, he can't see anything, from where ever he looks. Nothing at all.

"What... else?" SMG1 touched his arm. "From your hand then to half of your arm, it- has a crack. You're gonna need meme energy for that, you'll have to wait for a couple of weeks for recovery. DON'T try to lift anything heavy or even trying to use them, it'll end up fracturing even more..." SMG1 used a cast and put bandages on his wrist then to his arm.

"But- what about my contents? What about Twitter? What about my fans? What would I even do without them-" "it's your choice to that out yourself."

SMG4 covered his stomach, hugging himself from the bed. "You won't be all alone just for taking yourself off from social media, you have your own crew here running their daily basis. How about you try figuring that out to yourself? Go live on."

SMG4 sat back up. "I won't be able to see what the whole world would look like now..." "I'm afraid so..." SMG1 sat next to him.

"But you're gonna be fine." "How are you so sure about that?" SMG1 smirked. "You don't think Mario and the others are here with you for no reason right?"

"You also have us, and even SMG3 can help" wait- SMG3?

A sound of a person screams at the hallway. "I JUST WANT TO TALK TO HIM-" with another high pitch voice of trying to refuse him by going any further.

SMG4 turned to the direction where the unaudible sound was coming from, from One getting down from the bed and opening the door.

Three ends up getting pulled back by SMG2 whose been holding his leg, he tried shaking him off by wigglingit. "Wait three!" "I JUST NEED TO KNOW IF HE'S ALRIGHT-" "SMG3! Wo-o-a-oa-AHH!!" Two held his leg tightly.

"SMG4 needs some time to rest! You can't interrupt him-" SMG2 tried his best to put out the reason to calm Three's impatient waiting.

"I just need to see him, I want to see if he's-" "SMG3?" SMG1 called out his name, shutting the door, making the two turn their heads. "Is- is he okay? Not like I care about him or anything-" SMG1 and SMG2 looked at Three unamused.

"He's alright, SMG4 is resting. Just a... just a fractured arm and lost of both visions, his arm will heal about a few more weeks. For his eye however, it's too late to save that now..."

SMG3 calmed himself down, letting Two go from his leg.

"Me and Two will check on Melony if she's doing fine, we'll both leave you two right at it" SMG3 nodded. "Oh and Three?"

"You should probably start looking after SMG4 for now, Four is already blind. The worst that could happen is him tripping over a flight of stairs. DON'T fail this as a Meme Guardian..." SMG3 took off his hat.

"I wont." SMG1 and 2 proceeds walking to the hallway, and Three watching SMG4 through the window. He knocks on the door. "Come in" Three opens the door and saw SMG4 sitting on the bed looking at nowhere.

"Uh- hey- SMG4 it's me-" closing the door behind him, he sat to a chair facing infront to the man in blue.

"How are your eyes?" SMG3 glanced at those white and empty faded ones, guilt and pity shook his guts. "It's all black, man." Four gripped his arm covered in a cast that One had put.

"Why are you even talking to me?" "What- what do you mean? I came here to make sure if you're doing okay! And now you're angry?" Three could feel his heart getting torn bit by bit.

"Do you really hate me THAT much? SMG4 I saved your ass back there, you saved me and my eye! And now you'd just expect this to yourself that I'll be the one to just- IGNORE you like that? What kind of sick joke is this?!" SMG4 couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he couldn't read what emotions Three has been giving.

"Look Four, I worry about you- SO many f-cking times- and I wish I could just ignore them" His tone lowered and started to go soft, suprising him.

"But I can't because we were both linked and we were meant to be the Guardians to the memes. You've never paid much attention to me, you've never paid much attention from the actions you use with other people, I know what and how manytimes you did to keep ruining my life."

"Then why?" SMG4's voice deepened. "What do you mean why? Call this horsesh-t talk but- you're still my partner. No matter how many times or how many things you've done by mistake, you're still here." SMG4 opened a gap from his mouth, wanting to say something.

Anything.

But- no.

SMG3 stared down to his shoes. Worried, upset, and sadness overwhelmed his mind. Staring down for too long, Four slowly moves his arms towards three and by accident.

He ends up slapping his face. "Ow-" "Oh shoot- sorry about that-" "Just what are you doing?" Huffed by three, in annoyance. "Well Mr. 'Dark-Blue'" -"it's actually purpl-" "I was trying to touch your face."

"Wha- m-mh- my- my WHAT now?!" Four faced at SMG3's side, with both of his hands still remains hanging. Gesture his way of showing something. "You better not do anything funny..." SMG3 carefully placed both of his hands to both of Four's wrist and did his best to not startle the man.

(What am I doing... this is ridiculous... either way... I just... need to buy sometime for his... company...) even now with three hesitating to let his partner's hands reach his face, he wanted to do this. Even tho how much he hated this.

With the man being blind, it would be hard for him to imagine what experience SMG4 can be feeling or having this right now. This hurt him so bad, wanting to hide it.

His eyes softened looking at his face. Then gently, little by little his newly paired gloves have now touched his cheeks.

*ba-dump ba-dump*

Three's cheeks started turning red, as Four's eyebrows went up as he felt Three's soft and smooth skin. It was his first time ever getting his hands touched from his face.

"Your, your face is smooth, and so soft, it's like I want to squish it-" SMG4 smiled at the end of the phrase mocking SMG3. "I only let you touch it just this once! It's not like I like it or anything..." Four's thumb brushed through the purple's mustache.

"You're such a tsundere SMG3! Until now" SMG4 giggled, not even noticing how close his and Three's face were. "N-no I'm not!" He huffed in irritation.

"Baka." Four's smile became bigger at the time Three said the line. "You are~" "OI! NOW YOU'RE JUST TEASING ME AGAIN!" SMG3 pushed both of his hands away with Four now laughing.

Hearing SMG4 laugh gave something what Three shouldn't have felt before. Something from that laugh, his smile, everything about it. Was special.

By the time Four stopped laughing, he shed a single tear. "I just like hearing that from you, all that I want to say is... thank you. And I'm sorry too" with Four fixing his position, and fingers fidgeting.

Ready to get hitten by bricks with cold responses, but never getting any. Three grabbed his right hand.

"You're welcome" He puts up a smile, but then the water from his eyes formed.

"And..."

"I'm sorry too..."

LEAVING YALL A CLIFF HANGER TAKE THAT!

#lizaluv #smg34 #smg4 #smg3 #smg4 smg3 #shygirl4991 #smg3 coffee n bombs #mario #3's coffee n' bombs #3’s coffee n’ bombs #smg3 coffee and bombs au #coffee n bombs au #brewing romance #coffe shop au #revelation arc #smg4 revelations

80 notes · View notes

mcytrecursive · 9 months

Text

How DO I sign up for this?

We have had to squeeze the sign-up form until it screams to make this work, so buckle in. Here is an example of how to sign up on Ao3 for the recursive exchange, step by step.

I have an idea for a side story for Etho and Iskall in This Is About A Stuffed Bird, by bee_4. So, to start with— that's a hermitcraft fic.

So I select Hermitcraft on the Fandoms part of the sign-up. Note that as we add more fandoms to the list, potentially this will become a drop-down menu instead of checklists. You still select the fandom you want in the same way.

Next is Gift Style. We're using the "characters" tab for that one.

I'm good with my gift being an art, a fic, or a web weave, so I can select all three of these! If I only wanted a fic, or an art, I would only select one.

Next is the Relationship tab, which we're using for characters (told you that we were having to squeeze the signup form until it screamed).

This is a drop-down menu, and I select the characters I want— in this case, Iskall and Ethoslab. Note that possibly I will only match on one character, as we couldn't do relationship matching this time, so I try to keep that in mind when it comes to my requests!

Next is Additional Tags, which is where I select the fic that I'm actually asking for a gift about! In the future, as more fics are added, this will be a dropdown menu, but right now it's tickboxes.

Next is categories. This is our shipping on-off switch.

I've decided that I am good with shipping or not with this one, so I've selected BOTH Gen and M/M. But now that I'm on the page I'm like "I wouldn't mind it if they were lesbians either" so I have selected F/F as well.

Next is rating, which is the NSFW on-off switch. I'm good with smut or no smut, so I've selected both options.

If I wanted no smut whatsoever I could do just Gen (which could also lead to a Mature or Teen work, but excludes E-rated work), and if I definitely wanted there to be dicks out I could select only Explicit.

Then we get to the major archive warnings. This is where you opt-in to archive warnings— it doesn't mean I will necessarily get them, but I'm okay with them! The matching says you might get any one of the things you select here.

Given the source material, I'm opting into Violence and Death as options, and I'm also selecting no warnings apply to show that I'm also good with no major archive warnings!

Now on to the actual request!

There's a space where I could link a letter if I wanted to go into detail with my request, but I think I can fit it in the text box today! I had to put my DNW on the Ao3, and because I said I was open to smut I included a NSFW DNW.

Okay, on to request two.

As you can see, for request two I'm doing a DSMP fic this time, and I specifically want art or web weaves! I selected emerald duo, and the fic I want. And I just want this one to be no shipping, so I only selected Gen for the type of relationship.

I opted out of explicit for this one, and I did say graphic violence was okay OR no archive warnings apply.

On to request three!

This is much like request two, except I only want fic for this one! But it's Dream SMP, Fic requested, the characters I want (techbur twins), the fic I want (catbag), I want it to be Gen and no shipping, no NSFW, I'm okay with graphic depictions of violence, and my prompt!

Now on to my offers.

I'm gonna start with Stuffed Bird again.

So it's a Hermitcraft fic, I am only able to make fic for it, but you know what, I'll write literally anybody in this world. Hit me. I selected any relationship (which in this case means any CHARACTER). And I selected any TYPE of relationship too— yes I'll write any type of shipping or non-shipping. I can't write smut though, so I only selected General for the rating, and I will absolutely do violence but I am not good with MCD or noncon, so I didn't select those.

For my second request, I opened up catbag.

That's a Dream SMP fic, but this time I only wanted to do specific characters. I set it up so that I'd write any combination of SBI, Beeduo, and Quackity. No shipping for me with this one, and no smut, but yes I'll do graphic violence.

And then on to odaigahara's fic!

That's a Dream SMP fic, and I think I could make a web weave for that one, so I selected both fic and web weave. I only want to write Emerald Duo for it, so I just selected them. No shipping, only Gen for this one, and no smut, only gen as well. I don't feel like doing graphic depictions of violence for thisone, so I just selected no archive warnings apply!

For my final one, I really want to make sure that I'm matchable on femslash, so I did a bit of a basket offer.

I selected both Hermitcraft and 3rd life, and selected that I would be making fic. I selected all the ladies (+iskall, for stresskall), and when it came time to select an additional tag, which is what fic I'm saying I'll match on, I selected any. With that and the F/F tag selected, it means that I'll be matchable to any Hermit-Traffic femslash request, no matter which story or art it's attached to. Cause I figure I can read the source material and make something in the creation time period!

So that is 3 requests and 4 offers done, and I have a full sign-up! I'm ready to go! That is how you sign up! Over the course of the sign-up period I might keep an eye on other people's sign-ups (available at the Ao3 automagic app) and tweak my sign-ups so that I'm matchable with someone (or several someones), but for right now, I'm good to go!

#faq #Sign-up

65 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 7 months

Note

Have you seen the posts going around saying shit like "If a mutual likes Hazbin Hotel I will block them"?? It's genuinely upsetting me tbh, not just the idea that people don't like the show, but that they despise it so much they can't even stand the thought of someone they know liking the show. It reminds me of the Steven Universe hate train only worse. They also say shit like "the show is just someone saying swear words and expecting you to laugh", and if for a second we put aside the fact that that is blatantly not true, what's wrong with that? I'm allowed to like something that's a bit trash, right? I've already seen two different people I follow reblog posts to that effect (and worse, someone saying all a character boils down to is "i love being sexually abused <3" and i don't know how they ever came to that conclusion) and it's driving me mad. And somehow I just know that they don't actually give a shit about any "controversies" surrounding vivziepop, that's just a convenient excuse for most of them. I don't even care if Vivzie is a bad person, that's none of my business. just live and let live, you know?

Sorry for ranting, you're literally the only blog i follow who posts Hazbin fan content

Rant away, friend! Luckily for me I haven't come across any of those posts yet. Plenty of discourse surrounding whether fans are allowed to make romantic and/or sexual content for Alastor, the expected shipping wars, and - as you say - vague references to Vivzie controversies (which I'm too new a fan to even be aware of yet)... but nothing that's a complete rejection of the show itself. That's probably because I've only engaged with blogs posting a lot of Hazbin content though.

I'm a big fan of old school Internet rules which includes an emphasis on cultivating your own online space. You know, the thing tumblr is explicitly designed for. So in theory I applaud anyone blocking users/tags for a show they're not a fan of. Performatively posting about it more as a way to guilt others for liking Hazbin at all... not so much. If you want to block something just block it. If you're mutuals with someone you both presumably like each others' content. Not all of it necessarily, but enough to have followed in the first place, and often being mutuals for long enough leads to friendship because you're both getting interacting with one another a lot. All of which isn't to say that people don't unfollow mutuals, or that you can't drop a mutual because they've started posting something you dislike. Obviously both situations do happen, but it feels like an extreme enough response that these posters probably aren't actually doing this very often. Most people will wait the mutual out until their interest gets hooked on something new, or block the Hazbin tag and keep the friend, or just block without making a big announcement about it. So posts like that feel more like a way to show off how much you dislike the show and guilt others for their enjoyment which yeah, can be upsetting to see. Especially when, as you say, it costs nothing to just let people like things.

Which might sound hypocritical on my part given my RWBY interests, but I think there's a big difference between critically examining a show while supporting others who genuinely love it, and simplistically blasting it. I COMPLETELY get why Hazbin wouldn't be to everyone's tastes and, like with the SU example, anything that gets popular enough is going to develop its haters (especially cartoons trying to tackle non-childish subjects. That's always going to be a fandom landmine). But if you're going to make claims about a show, at least watch it to ensure you can back up your stance? And if your takeaway is still, "This is the worst fucking thing I've ever watched"... cool. Go forth and write about that on your own, personal blog. But no one should be surprised when they're also blocked for bragging about how many Hazbin fans they've blocked.

#Hazbin Hotel

24 notes · View notes

airenyah · 10 days

Text

#“they are unlike you and Star” oh. ooooh. #gotta be honest with y'all #till this scene I was afraid they were going to feel somewhat forced #as it tends to happen when two characters that were rejected are put together for the sake of not ending up alone #but from what we were able to catch from them this episode‚ the attraction they feel for each other is not a sudden‚ new development #but rather a feeling that has been there for some time and they just... didn't want to look into? #because they thought they wouldn't match well together #or the other would never see them like that #but now that they're allowing themselves to really consider the possibility... they can admit it makes sense? #and the other seems to agree?? #this person they thought they didn't have a chance with... might like them back? #that's an interesting twist #and them slowly realizing how much they like each other‚ and would like the other to like them back‚ is kind of endearing too #I appreciate how their feelings about each other have nothing to do with Star‚ even though they are in love with her as well #this conversation by the pool was good at cementing all this #now we just gotta see what they're gonna do about it #(keeping in mind that their previous preferred response to these supposed feelings was doing Nothing Whatsoever. so this might take a while)

hey @braceletofteeth, i saw your tags on my gifs and kinda wanted to add onto them, if you don't mind <3

honestly, before the series started airing i kind of just assumed that dunk and lookjun would be paired up for this?? but then the series started airing and ivy was canonically gay for star and the friendship dynamic between ivy and white reminded me a lot of my own friendships with guys which are all very much and decidedly so platonic. so when i saw ivy and white together at first i had this moment of not wanting them to get together bc i was just so excited for some nice, platonic f/m friendship representation with no romantic feelings involved whatsoever, just like my own f/m friendships!!

but then ep6 happened and i just. i can't help but ship it anyway bc first of all, dunk somehow manages to have chemistry with every single one of his co-stars, so white could get with pretty much any of his friends and i would gladly thank the writers dfjkkjdfkjdf

and second of all, the more i think about it ivy and white actually make so much sense???? bc they've been constantly here for each other from the start. they bicker, and pretend to be annoyed by each other and that they can't stand each other but then when things get serious, they are immediately here for each other no questions asked and support each other. like when star turned down white in public, ivy went after white rather than star, comforted white when she could have easily checked on her bff and crush instead. or when ivy was going through some heartbreak bc of star, white was also here for her, listened to her, walked her home to make sure she was ok and offered her a shoulder to cry on when she wasn't. these two have been a team from the start and it only makes sense for them to end the series as an even more established team

and as we get further into the second half of the show i can't wait to watch the characters themselves to figure that out as well

#your tags made me even more excited about whiteivy than i was while i was giffing that scene!!!!!#ahhhhhhhhh #only a couple of hours to go until the next episode #summer night #summer night the series #smn meta #(i guess?? does this count as meta?? eh. whatever)#whiteivy #adrm #i adore this show sooo so much ngl #i was already kinda vibing with it just from the pilot trailer #but i never expected to adore it as much as i do

8 notes · View notes

prettygoododds · 1 year

Text

20 Questions for fic writers

Thanks @wellbelesbian for tagging me. Such fun questions! Tags below the cut.

How many works do you have on AO3

68! Wow, I did not realize this.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

134,335

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Carry On Series aka Simon Snow fandom aka Snobaz

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

When the Ink Dries

Can I Change My Mind (this one blows my mind, how it continues to stay at the top)

Namaste Away

Every Lover Has A Little Dagger In Their Hand

We're So Starving

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or Why not?

I try to, but I'm very bad at it. It's something I need to work on.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

We Were Pity Sex, Nothing More and Nothing Less It doesn't even pretend to be kind.

Also, I'm Right Where You Left Me It's short, but cuts right to the bone.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of mine do have a happy ending (when I go sad, I go hard). If I had to choose a few, I suppose:

Where Did the Party Go?

Believe

Namaste Away

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. Had a few recommendations on how to tag a few works, or to make it more user friendly but everyone has always been very kind with those suggestions. The Carry On fandom is a really good fandom.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I'm slowly dipping my toes in that water. I've posted a few works that have smut, but I'm still very tentative about it. I don't know what kind really. Regular?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I do not

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not, but I'm not opposed to it.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Snobaz, hands down. It's the one I come back to every time. My comfort ship.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have 2 WIP currently and both of those will be finished. My other WIP not on AO3 are just sitting in my google docs, where no one can see them shivering in the corner, neglected.

16 What are your writing strengths?

Oof. I'd like to think I'm good at dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions and setting a scene. I'm working on it though, and that's the important bit I suppose *shrugs shoulders in Simon*

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Not something I've attempted. I won't say I never will, but I will probably not unless I absolutely have to

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Somewhere, in the depths of fanfic.net are my abandoned Twilight fics. And that is where they will stay until the death of the planet.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I have a few and when I'm questioning why I think I should be doing this at all, I read them to remember I started because I wanted to write the stories I wanted to read.

When The Ink Dries - I started this fic waaaaay before I ever posted it and it was the reason I decided to participate in my first Carry On Big Bang. It's my fic first born.

I'm Not A Pitch - This fic popped my AO3 cherry. I posted it before I could second guess myself. It's full of errors, but I wouldn't change anything about it.

Vibe Check - I wrote this in a few hours when I was feeling silly and it is still one of my favorites

Who Wants Ramen? - My friend and I giggled endlessly when I plotted this one out.

You Can Call Me Babe for the Weekend - I spend a lot of time listening to music and plotting out the story that a 3-4 minutes song can tell. 'Tis the Damn Season was an immediate movie in my head and as soon as I could plot it out and put it on paper (so to speak) I did.

And last but not least Sugar, We're Going Down Swingin - This is pure self indulgence. I got into hockey, I wanted the boys to be hockey players...bam, here's a fic with almost no hockey in it, but sometimes they talk about it.

I'm don't know who's already been tagged, so sorry if I double up:

@facewithoutheart @imagineacoolusername @artsyunderstudy @shemakesmeforget @ivelovedhimthroughworse @ionlydrinkhotwater @rimeswithpurple @aristocratic-otter @cutestkilla @blackberrysummerblog @nausikaaa @supercutedinosaurs @nightimedreamersworld @valeffelees @iamamythologicalcreature @shrekgogurt @ileadacharmedlife @martsonmars @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

#tag game #big thank you to all who support my fics #seriously #it means the world to me #prettygoododdsfic #prettygoododds #snowbaz #simon snow series #carry on fanfiction #carry on fandom #snobaz #simon snow #baz pitch #carry on series #simon and baz #simon baz

38 notes · View notes

claudiajcregg · 3 months

Text

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @mihrsuri. Thanks, Lil! I feel like I've answered these in the not-so-distant past, and might have accidentally ignored one or more tags. Oops. I need to check the Mentions tab and check it out!

(I also started writing this… earlier this week, and forgot about the tab. Sorry this is so so long.)

01. how many works do you have on ao3? 24 fics, though one of them has eight ficlets… So some would count it as 31. (It's still 24.)

02. what's your total ao3 word count? 167,815 words

03. what fandoms do you write for? TWW.

04. top five fics by kudos?

maybe everything's just turning out how it should be

(big gulf here)

say it's here where our pieces fall in place

just your smile lit a sixty-watt bulb in my house that was darkened for days

nobody knows how to get back home

we could be the way forward and I know I'll pay for it

05. do you respond to comments? Yes! I try to get to all of them, and feel bad when I hoard them (because they're lovely) or they slip through the cracks. (I tend to wait some time before replying to the comments on my most recent fic, so if anything comes in later, it might be immediate or two months late.)

06. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I feel like I always struggle with this answer because they're mostly hopeful endings! Which is just my perception and now how it is. Tempted to go check what I've answered in the past.

Most recently, I think what if the way you hold me is actually what's holy has that 'right person, wrong time', on borrowed time vibes. But maybe not! My go-to answer always feels like my post-Portland Trip fic, don't want you to go but I'll be okay, because it feels so final and bittersweet then.

07. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh, which one should I pick? I think the Cali/Jan 22nd fic from earlier this year (oh, and I will be with you to feel the California sun) is just pure happiness, tbh. Memoir fic (still you never took your hand from mine) also feels like a saccharine, sweet ending! (Could've also picked the literal wedding reception-set fic, lol.)

08. do you get hate on fic? No! Luckily. If I have, I don't remember. I've gotten a weird comment or two, but those weren't about the fics. So no!

09. do you write smut? Nooooo, of course not. (This is the last time I'll beg you to read on main and that's under a cut lol.) Up till now I could say it was mild scenes in yet-to-be-posted fics, which remains true, but I posted a literal smutty fic last Friday, lol. I'm proud of it and myself, for getting out of my comfort zone, and while it's flopping I'm glad those who've read it liked it!

10. craziest cross over? This is the question that undoubtedly makes me go “lol I've definitely done this before.” Because I always joke that I've already seen the craziest canon crossovers on screen. That said, I haven't personally written one, and don't have ideas.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? No? Sometimes I wonder if some ideas have been borrowed but wouldn't say stolen.

12. have you ever had a fic translated? No! Maybe one day I'll do it myself. (I don't think there's demand for it/Spanish-written fics in this fandom.) (Once again, I'm sure that this answer matches the previous ones.)

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? Sounds fun! No. But anyone interested? hmu.

14. all-time favorite ship? In what sense? I cannot choose, but at the same time… We all know.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I don't like putting this energy out in the universe. It's one thing to post (that's probably a long list) but actual WIPs that are worth it? I want to believe I'll get to them eventually. (But. Unfortunately, the answer is many of them.)

16. what are your writing strengths? Internal world? As in, I am “good” at describing the internal world of a character. idk.

17. what are your writing weaknesses? I write in my second language. I feel like everything's a weakness. (World building, descriptions, dialogue.)

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language? As long as it doesn't take the reader out (and makes sense in the story), 👍 I might have peppered in some Spanish in some of my writing but it feels wrong somehow.

19. first fandom you wrote in? Bones.

20. favorite fic you've written? I cannot pick a favorite child. I can affectionately call them flops because they mostly are, stats-wise, but there's something about them that I love. And I feel like some of my favorite stuff is what's not yet posted! Because it stops feeling “mine” once it's out there.

don't want you to go but I'll be okay · Portland fic · my automatic answer because I felt it was special the second I finished it. So many things came together (that quote, particularly).

we could be the way forward and I know I'll pay for it · St Augustine, a precanon campaign fic ·(Any of the first four (posted in 2021) is super special to me. This one was another one I knew would be special. And it has big “there wouldn't be this if there hadn't been you” energy.

your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep · (3+1 fic set in the last third of S7, ft the press corps) · Taylor sang KOMH on N2 because she loved this. I just know it. (I just really love secret relationships/working around that S7 period so much.)

nobody knows how to get back home · itsotg missing scen) · I just like it a lot, and it's also a good candidate for angsty ending. When did it get so many kudos?!

maybe everything's just turning out how it should be · big block of cheese 2008 · felt disingenuous not to include the fic I always knew I wanted to post, even if it's another early one. It's my most popular by a huge margin, and I'm glad.

I so wanted to add fics like the Cali one but this always depends on my mood! So this is the answer that might always change haha.

Shoutout to some unposted ones that I love but won't get published. Or others perpetually in limbo, like the two big multichapters (IM and S5 pregnancy). I feel like some of my best stuff is in What Once Was Ours (the IM AU fic I wrote in 2021), or the S5 Pregnancy AU (which I hope to finish this summer! And I want to start posting once I feel like I'll make that deadline)… And I'm currently really fond of one I've started to call “demons that you know raise hell worse than a stranger.” Coming to you soon, if I get my crap together!

#mihrsuri #ask games #20 questions for fic writers #are there ''easter eggs'' in here. maybe.

10 notes · View notes

magnoliacharmed · 1 year

Text

Acting Up

18+, Stone Cold Steve Austin x Shawn Michaels | Bret Hart x Shawn Michaels one shot

[Also available on Archive of Our Own!]

Tags: Alcohol use, Referenced drug use, angry sex, facial, jealousy, light enemies to friends, a little bit of hartbreak

Word count: 3144

Summary:

Steve Austin is getting tired of Shawn Michaels' attitude backstage. --- “It was Bret that broke the Heartbreak Kid's heart. If I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even know you had one.”

Shawn was really fucking annoying. In every way possible that a human being could work Steve’s nerves, Shawn did it. When people pointed out how good of friends they could be, Steve took notice. They did have a ton in common, from being from the same state to drinking habits to taste in women. They really should’ve been the best of friends.

But Shawn decided to Shawn it up backstage. He started throwing his status around making all kinds of crazy demands. His temper was at its peak and everyone suffered because of it. When he wasn’t ranting and raving he was half way to passing out due to his excessive use of pills. He could barely get his words out when he had to speak, his normally animated voice slurred and monotone. It was embarrassing. So no, Steve had very little interest in being friends with Shawn. That ship had sailed. Maybe one day down the line if Shawn got it together they could just drink a beer and watch some college football…

Shawn didn’t really give a fuck if Steve Austin liked him. That wasn’t his problem. All he had to do was go out there in the ring and cut a few good promos with him. If they got along after the fact, that was great. If they didn’t, fuck him. Shawn had enough friends. Friends who really liked him, too. Friends who hung on to his every word and were always willing to party all night with him. Even when his other friends left to go to WCW— well he didn’t want to think about that.

Sure, he still saw Kevin and Scott and Sean around. Whenever WCW had shows nearby they all met up at the closest bar to catch up on life. It just wasn’t the same as it used to be. With the way WCW was on fire, they were so up in the clouds that little ol’ Shawn was not as much of a priority as he used to be. He actually considered jumping ship to WCW too and was strongly encouraged to by them. Then Vince McMahon got in his ear like usual singing sweet words and promising him the world, so he stayed put at WWF. With each passing day Shawn wondered if that was the right choice.

He wasn’t the only one backstage thinking about leaving. Bret Hart had some shocking offers thrown his way by Eric Bischoff, offers that could have had him and his family set for life. McMahon started to counter with his own exorbitant counteroffers, which made Bret feel very wanted. They weren’t as good of a deal as Bischoff’s and it made Bret sit down to think about what he was still getting out of staying with the WWF.

If you would’ve asked him earlier in the year…? With no hesitation or second thoughts, Bret would have said Shawn was the reason he’d stay. Despite the surface level similarities Shawn and Steve had with each other, Shawn and Bret had a lot more in common. Things they would’ve never realized they shared until late nights spent together. The pair of lovers didn’t know how well they got along until they were stuck in hotel rooms with one another. Night after night of forced proximity led them to taking steps further into the physical territory, something that scared Bret shitless. None of it seemed new to Shawn. He guided Bret through some clumsy first sessions that eventually led to the best and most intimate sex he’d ever had in his entire life.

Of course as soon as Bret began to start falling for Shawn, Shawn began to act up. Bret couldn’t understand where the sudden switch-up came from. It’s not like he’d changed on him in any way. He wasn't as touchy as Shawn could be and would occasionally distance himself from him. That was just so any rumors wouldn't get started, not because he didn't care for him. Bret didn’t know how to react when Shawn got unhinged with him. He started claiming that Bret was just using him, that he was only around to use him as a toy. No matter what he said or did to convince Shawn otherwise he just couldn’t break through. So he stopped trying at all. As much as he liked Shawn’s personality and the way he arched his back up for him, all of that just wasn’t worth the drama. After their final explosive last argument the two of them iced each other out and only interacted when forced to.

At this point in his career Shawn didn’t care about being well liked. He didn’t have to be well liked by everyone. He had his crew. McMahon was still surprisingly on his side no matter what problems he caused amongst everyone. His supply of drugs and alcohol was flowing. He’d be fine without boring Bret Hart. There were plenty of men around who wanted Shawn. They would fuck him six ways to Sunday all day and all night. Bret may have been an amazing lay but he wasn’t that good. Shawn could find someone else in a heartbeat.

“Michaels, what the fuck? You’re still back here?” Steve appeared at the doorway of Shawn’s dressing room. He’d been walking around the arena looking for Shawn for what felt like forever. No one thought to tell him he’d still be in his dressing room because he was usually a lot better about getting to gorilla on time.

Shawn took the last few swigs from his bottle of whiskey. His eyes bounded over to Steve, first to look at the pissed off look plastered on his face and then to look down at his oiled chest.

“You dress like shit, Austin.” Burp.

“Man, this ain’t a damn fashion show. It’s wrestling. Get your ass together and let’s go, we’re on soon.”

“I’m together, I don’t need anyone telling me to get it together. Especially not you.” Steve was hot when he was mad. Well, Shawn thought everyone was hot when they were mad. It turned him on to know he could make someone that emotional over him.

Steve was surprised at how alert Shawn still was after having that whole bottle to himself. It only served to make him more angry. It’s not like he was about to pass out or was stumbling over himself. He was barely fucked up! The alcohol only heightened his bad attitude. He just wanted to be defiant. And for what? Just to say he got him upset?

“What is your problem? You’ve been even more of a bastard these last few weeks and you’re starting to make my job a lot harder. What, you’re mad the ring rats ain't chasing after you like they used to?”

Shawn shook his head. The groupies had lost their appeal a long time ago. If anything, he liked playing the groupie now. He liked being the one in awe at someone so much bigger and stronger than him. His cock twitched at the thought of Bret tossing him on many a hotel bed. Unfortunately, Bret truly was the best there was. It pained Shawn to admit how hard he got when he thought of him. He was just so good at knowing when Shawn wanted to be fucked versus when he wanted to be loved . Shawn’s eyes got even glassier thinking about the way Bret got in his ear during some particularly intense nights—

“Michaels!”

Shawn felt reprimanded. Almost like he had to straighten his posture and stand at attention at the way Steve said his name. So bossy.

“Lemme tell you something, Steve. The rats like me just fine. They always will, as long as I keep giving this to them.” Shawn grabbed at his crotch and laughed out loud. Drunk idiot.

“Yeah, right. So it’s not the ladies, huh? Must be someone backstage, then.”

Shawn’s face flushed. The bad thing about being out of his mind so often was that his emotions were harder to conceal. He was sure his erection was already extremely noticeable. Now he was blushing so badly his whole face was red.

“Oh it definitely is.” Steve laughed at him. “I knew it. The boys back there had been sayin’ some things but I didn’t pay them any mind. Now I know it’s true. Aw man, Shawn.”

Shawn’s chair hit the floor with a loud clatter when he got up to get in Steve's face. His breath was huffing out of his nose and his eyebrows scrunched up. He didn’t feel like being the punchline to anyone’s joke tonight.

“So the fuck what if it's true?”

“So the fuck nothing, I don’t give a shit.”

Shawn was deflated at Steve's acceptance. He was itching for a real fight. The pent up anger deep within him had been coming to a head in the last few days. There was no way he would win with Steve one-on-one and he knew it. It was probably for the best that he didn't start something he couldn’t finish.

“Okay. Yeah, it was one of the guys.” Shawn cleared his throat and took a few steps back from Steve.

“One of the guys…”

Steve had to really think on that one. It would be easy enough to believe that Shawn had hooked up with Hunter since they spent so much time together. That was too obvious, plus they were still good friends. Could’ve been Undertaker. Steve wouldn’t have been surprised by that. He opened his mouth to give his final answer when he recalled the way Bret Hart spoke of Shawn one evening while they stood at the catering table.

“If he wasn’t so pretty no one would’ve put up with his shit for this long.”

Realization struck Steve like lightning. Bret had said that comment with no semblance of jealousy in his voice. There was no hate either. What Bret did sound like though was a scorned lover. There was a lot of bitterness present within him. Steve didn’t even think twice about it at the time. It all made sense after a few minutes of thinking.

“It was Bret that broke the Heartbreak Kid's heart. If I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even know you had one.”

The anger started bubbling in Shawn again. He wasn’t even sure if it was at Steve or Bret this time. It came back with a vengeance.

“Actually, it probably didn’t go that way. Knowing you, you probably did something to piss him off and he got tired of you. You broke your own heart.”

Steve’s raspy voice saying such perceptive words was enough to send Shawn over the edge. He was back in Steve’s face again and ready to get in that fight, ass whooping be damned.

“Can’t even imagine the two of you together. I guess it does make some sense. Two crybabies in love with each other. I’m sure you were the one cryin’ more though. Even looks like you’re about to right now.”

“What is all this? You picking on me for a reason?”

“Yeah, because of your little love affair with Hart you’ve been even more of an asshole recently. You’re fucking everything up for me. If you don’t calm down soon I’ll make you calm down.”

“You can’t make me do shit.”

Shawn could not believe how fast Steve could move. He was thrown over the arm of the dressing room’s couch, face pushed into the cushion in a flash. One of Steve's hands pressed into his lower back while the other reached forward to push Shawn’s pants down, then his own. Shawn’s body squirmed with anticipation and the primal urge to run away.

“Bret said you were pretty. I’d never really thought about it before, but he was right. You are pretty. From all that hair on your head to the tattoo on your ass.”

Shawn was unable to handle anything Steve just said, from Bret calling him pretty to Steve agreeing with him. Shawn didn’t even think that Steve swung the other way and now here he was bending him over. In his self-absorbed mind he chalked it up to being so sexy that even straight guys wanted him.

“What the hell is going on?!”

“Seems like you can’t function if you aren’t getting fucked right. If I gotta be the one to do it since Bret doesn’t want you any more, so be it. You’ll be on your best behavior by the time I’m done with you.”

Shawn pushed himself against Steve and wasn’t disappointed by what he felt. Steve's dick rested heavily between Shawn’s ass, a pretty picture Steve would be sure to remember. He’d had a few fumblings in his past with men but never anything with someone as attractive as Shawn. Along with his pretty face, Steve had to admit that Shawn’s personality got him going in that kind of hatefuck way. Even when he was being a terror, something about the way he strutted around like he was the Prince of the WWF made Steve want to put him in his place. Nothing would be better than beating Shawn in the ring and making him submit in bed.

Shawn had a lot to say to Steve, he was going to give him a real piece of his mind as soon as we able to push him off—

The words died away immediately at the sensation of Steve pushing into him. It hurt at the start, the only thing lubing him up being the spit from Steve’s mouth that he’d rubbed on to himself. He was fucking huge. While he’d gotten used to Bret’s length over the months, Steve was a lot more girth. Shawn’s eyes crossed as Steve pushed himself deeper. The arch in his back threatened to fall.

“You better keep yourself up the whole time.” Steve ordered him. He had no plans of being gentle with him. He wanted to see how much Shawn could take. It turned out that it was a lot more than he expected.

Shawn writhed below with every hard thrust of Steve inside of him. Heat bloomed across his skin and creeped up past his neck. It was a gorgeous sight to see him all fidgety and needy. Punched out moans were followed out long, dragging ones when Steve slowed down and went arched himself deeper. Shawn liked to whimper, he noticed. It was cute.

Shawn's long hair flung itself back when he raised his head to readjust his position. It was hard to keep himself steady on his elbows with the way Steve kept pounding him into the cushion. Eventually he gave up and let himself fall into it. The fight was drained out of his body, he was ready to get what he deserved. Steve’s fingertips dug deep into the tanned flesh on Shawn’s hips, his pace already stuttering. He was just so tight and… eager for him. Like he was everything he had been waiting for.

Shawn managed to get his arm under himself to stroke his aching cock. As soon as he touched it he was ready to come, he was so sensitive. With the movements of Shawn reaching down to touch himself he managed to push himself even farther back on Steve. The breaths he exhaled were shaky as he matched the pattern of Steve’s thrusts to his own strokes. It only took seconds for Shawn to spurt out long ropes of his come onto the couch below him. His legs almost gave out when he finally released. It didn’t help that Steve had fucked him right through it. Shawn mumbled incoherently to himself while Steve kept going. On top of the alcohol making him stupid, Steve’s dick was also contributing to his blank state of mind.

Watching Shawn come was a sight to behold. His whole body contracted when it happened. His babbling after it was so weirdly attractive that Steve knew he was close too. All of a sudden Shawn was pushed off of Steve and onto his knees on the floor.

Steve was a sweaty mess. Anyone looking at him after the fact might have though he just got done with an iron man match. It dripped down from his head and into his eyes. He quickly wiped it away with his free hand while stroking himself with his other. There was no way he was going to miss the sight of this.

Shawn blinked at him with big, wet eyes. God, he really was a crybaby. The smile on his face could only be described as delirious. Steve groaned when he came, hot spurts covering Shawn's lips and cheeks and nose. The most impatient man in the world would have waited an eternity if that’s how long it took for Steve to finish stroking every last drop from himself. He got a lot of enjoyment at being able to stare up at Steve's body.

“Alright,” It was taking a minute for Steve to catch his breath. “You gonna stop being a dick now?”

Shawn nodded in a daze. He so badly wanted to walk out of the room with Steve’s come still painted all over his face and find Bret just to show him that someone still wanted him. Doing that would guarantee that he’d never get to feel Steve inside of him again, so he restrained himself.

“Good.” Steve walked across the room to find a box of tissues to clean himself up with, then threw it in Shawn’s direction. He was impressed he still had the wherewithal to catch it even after getting his world rocked. “Stick around after the show, we’re gonna get a beer.”

“Okay.” Shawn could barely stand, let alone walk. He was happy he didn’t have to actually wrestle tonight. Steve waited for him at the doorway while he made his way over slowly. He was completely blissed out and easygoing and it made Steve laugh on the inside. Who knew it’d be that easy?

The two men talked casually with each other as they walked out of Shawn’s dressing room and down past Bret. He was standing in the hall building up courage to work things out with Shawn when he saw them exit the room. Instead of the usual look of contempt Steve had for Shawn, he instead looked relatively happy. Shawn himself was the most relaxed he’d seen him in a while, not since one of the last times they’d had sex…

Oh, shit.

Bret felt his heart drop into his stomach as soon as Shawn smiled his way. The skin by his former lover’s glittering blue eyes crinkled when he laughed at whatever story Steve was telling him. The Heartbreak Kid had struck again and with Stone Cold Steve Austin of all people. No, this wasn't over yet. Not if Bret had anything to do with it.

#bret hart x shawn michaels #bretshawn #stone cold steve austin x shawn michaels #shawn michaels #stone cold steve austin #bret hart #hartbreak #wrestling #wrestling fanfic #wrestling smut #magnoliafanfic

50 notes · View notes