#anyway technically drawn for my AU but also like. not inherently au

[justarandomlambblog]

5 bishops, their god, and their favorite mortal

Bonus

this family has captivated me with their drama and potential for healing (they're all horrible people and murderers (but at least they can be murderers together))

this was supposed to be a silly doodle (thus why the line quality/consistency is way off) and it quickly got out of hand thanks I love them sm

[eurydicees]

Correct me if I’m wrong but Iwaizuimi’s weakness in fhq is Oikawa right??? Which. Yeah. That does things to a person

And another question: what are your thoughts on Kenma as a magician (or is he a wizard? The details are fuzzy I’m sorry 😅)

jkhkahdgkjs so real. things that DOES to a person.

i'm trying to find a source for that but i can't seem to find anything, which is strange because i could've SWORN i read that tidbit somewhere a while back when i was writing my take on the au last yr.

but what i DO know is that a number of iwaizumi's stats and traits--way more than really is necessary--are, like, relative to oikawa and their relationship. they are so deeply connected in their lives and futures in this au (and canon imo) that iwaizumi's player stats often have to do with him. like. god. okokokokok. tell me ur souls are intertwined and he shaped you into who you are without telling me--

anyways. iwaizumi's player profiles are HERE and HERE, where you will find information such as "attack: not that fond of oikawa" and speed: "quick to retort to oikawa" and "specialty: oikawa's former friend" . i did find one other profile but i can't find a translation for it; maybe that's where the weakness thing is from? not sure. i wish i could find that though bc it makes me need to take a fucking lap.

just. something like you're so loyal to someone that everything that you fight for and with is tied to him but you have to betray his trust and his friendship because no matter how much you love him, he's fallen to the dark side and you can't live with that, with the him that has become corrupted, but to save him is to destroy him and while you join the heroes on their quest to do it you also know that every way you fight and every time you fight, you're carrying him with you because he was your friend.

so yeah do you ever feel crazy about a piece of humorous media drawn for a 3ds game made based on a joke movie poster au of the volleyball manga.

AND KENMA !!!! so technical terms he's a white mage, but in my head he's "wizard on the good side." similar to how kuroo is a black mage and i've just decided he's one of the demons with oikawa. i think also some of it might be that there are different translations floating around between mage and wizard! tbh translation variations is half the reason this whole post is a little iffy. there's no officially translated version of the "canon" (as much as things can be canon when they're inherently not canon) as far as i know.

but i love this for kenma! i think it fits super well for him. i don't remember what movie FHQ is supposed be a spin on, but in my head it's all the generic high fantasy DND style fiction. so looking at it like that, i really see kenma is a kind of advising/strategic role, if that makes sense?

he's not on the front line fighting with his hands, he's at the back of the group casting counterspell, yk? he's the mastermind, the one who knows things the others don't know or don't notice, the one who uses it all to his advantage without letting everyone in on the plan in its completion. the war/battle/fight is a chess game and he's the one predicting the next moves. kinda gandalf-esque? idk i fell asleep during lord of the rings.

but i think it makes a lot of sense to have kenma as a highly intelligent archetype, but also one with, like, low hp. it parallels canon really well imo! brain of nekoma who doesn't like getting tired. also i like the idea of kenma with a magic staff. just in general i think that's neat. he deserves that.

[mushroommouth]

Reworked + Expanded S.J. Lore- Now with EXTRA BUMMERS!

(---submitted by @transistor-rhythm-909)

This is going to say an awful lot about my self worth that I’m doing this to my self insert, BUT

(There is a mention of suicide ideation in here, so uhhh do please tag for that cos I can’t seem to on the browser submission page)

The first major change that sets up the angsty stuff: I’ve decided upon is that he doesn’t do part time work at Dom’s workplace anymore- he still met Dom a few years back and before Mira came into the picture (I wanna say probably around the time Son of the Sun took place, which in my mind was when Cody was about 3 or 4). Where he met Dom I’m not sure, but their relationship progresses more or less the same way- as does S.J.’s relationship with Mira when she enters the picture.

The reason for this change is ‘cos I’ve decided to have S.J.’s sole place of employment be Kathy’s Store, as you can probably figure out. Not inherently angsty on its own, but, well…

As we know, S.J. rolled into town with not much travel cash left and desperately needing a job. He didn’t escape a bad home life or tragic circumstances when he left England, he just felt… stagnant there. Didn’t really know what he wanted to do with his life (as whilst he does make music like IRL me, for him it’s decidedly a hobby, not his career choice). Unfortunately, travelling across America when you don’t drive is Pricey, so. He found himself drawn to Kathy’s store, entirely unsure why- and pretty much from the words “'scuse me lass, you hiring?”, Kathy seemed up for helping him out. Not in an overly sentimental way, mind, but she pretty much said “yeah sure, could use the help, you can use the room upstairs 'til you can find yer own place- by the by, here’s the apt. listings in the paper”.

For the first couple of months his life was pretty normal- he wasn’t allowed all the way in the back of the store and some of Kathy’s quirky behaviours stood out to him, but he rolled with it. Then, one day, he got unintentionally caught in the crossfire between Kathy and Em; I need to work out specific details, but the end result of this is that S.J. essentially became aware not only of the supernatural… existing, but also gained a similar sort of “medium awareness” that Kathy and Em possess. He doesn’t necessarily view himself as a character in a story, and the world he’s in one big narrative, at least not literally, but he’s at least on a similar level of omnipotence as Kathy and Em are now. That is all he has, though; the knowledge. He has no godly powers, no magical capability. He’s still dead normal, otherwise.

This is part of what prompts him to stay in Kathy’s employ, even though she straight up tells him he should walk away and not endanger himself further- after all by then, he has his own place, he’s got cash saved up, and he can find work elsewhere. But S.J. says simply “Now I know what you two do, I can’t just pretend life is the way it was. I’m a part of this now, whether I like it or not.”

Kathy looks extremely guilty for a sec, but he continues; “besides, now I know exactly why you look so sad and so tired all the time. After how kind you were to me- a total stranger- when I rolled up outta nowhere, it wouldn’t sit right with me to leave you in the lurch. You look out for the whole town; let me look out for you.”

So S.J.’s path in live is set; he’s a semi omnipotent being who can’t do much with the knowledge he has except be very, very snarky. He can’t ever go back to his original home even if he wanted to without that knowledge. Factor in that he was already depressed and anxiety riddled to begin with, and you can imagine that if S.J. tried living a normal life and just ignoring this new info… he’d crack under the pressure. And the guilt of leaving Kathy behind. And the stronger guilt of leaving Dom and Miranda alone in a town that he now knows does have it’s hostile secrets that could put them in danger.

And that eats up at him, sometimes. He never intended on going back to England when it was an option, even though he sometimes missed it, but now he can’t he finds he misses it more. He visits, sure, but never longer then a week, and usually only at Christmas. The rest of the time, it’s vid calls or nada, and that’s not the same. And he can’t tell his parents, his friends from home, what he knows- they’ll think he’s mad. He knows he’d think someone was mad if they told him what he knows, if he didn’t know it himself.

But, there is a sweet along with that bitter; Dom and Miranda love him very much, and he loves them. They fill his heart in ways that people back home never did, and though that doesn’t fill the void, it makes it easier when he misses home. He and Kathy grow closer as well- again, not romantically (it’s only IRL me that crushes on Kathy I’m afraid), but as professionals, as friends, as mentor and mentee. And he can- and does- help mitigate some of the crisis’ that befall the town, major and minor, with his limited skillset but vast knowledge. And as it turns out, all S.J. has ever really wanted to do is to help people; to love them and look after them; to do what he can to make other people safe and happy, however small and brief that happiness may sometimes be.

And that keeps him going. Even in his darkest days, when he seriously considers ending his life… he finds he can’t. He can’t leave those he loves, near and far, behind. He can’t hurt them like that. To do so would be a betrayal of his most core ideal: to do no harm, and to love like the world is ending.

Part of why the Micoverse fan-verse I’ve constructed for me stories is given the name “Because I Know How Strong Love Is” comes from the fact that S.J. honestly and earnestly believes in the strength that can be drawn from love- not just romantic or sexual, but familial, platonic, love and passion for concepts and interests, the entire spectrum of love as a concept. He knows, deeply and truly, how in many cases that can save anyone. And in spite of the knowledge he knows, that belief has not changed. No matter what he faces, he won’t stop believing. Em herself can actively try everything in her playbook to break him, and sometimes he may- but she cannot take that belief from him. And he rubs that in her face as much as he can, cos to play off those drawings from the other day, she can say 'I’ll destroy everything you love <3’, and he’ll respond with “That won’t stop me loving, lass. Do your worst.” knowing that she will, and not caring; no matter how disadvantageous his position again her or anything else, he’ll go down fighting and swearing- if he goes down.

(which he sometimes does, but there is one small perk that awakening gave him, even if he is not fully aware of it; death doesn’t stick, to him or to anyone. Not completely, no matter how hard Em or The Shape tries. He remembers each death as though it were a dream and is suspicious that it probably did happen, but he can’t count on that; it doesn’t stop him laying down his life willingly if he feels he must).

TL;DR my self insert is technically aware that he’s a character and is also aware of the true nature of Micoverse’s world and the many universes beyond, but that doesn’t stop him living a life of love and peace and as much fun as he can muster, and in the face of evil or cruelty he stands by his convicting that love wins every time- and will actively make it win if given the chance. (he, uh, doesn’t reveal this info to anyone beyond Kathy though. at least in idea situations; given the in-flux nature of aus, side stories, canon and non canon stuff there will be times where they do become aware somehow- like Casual Danger dialogue- but generally he keeps it on the down low unless he has no choice to reveal what he knows)

This was all btw inspired by that “I’ll destroy everything you love <3” drawing, because something about S.J.’s response of “I know, but I’ll be sassy about it” really made me think 'oh, he KNOWS. he’s got access to the knowledge she and Kathy does. that’s a show of his hand’ and I just kinda wanted to run with it. It won’t always be relevant to every single story- and of course I’d never consider S.J. a canon micoverse character (unless you thought of something neat you could do with him anyway)- but it is a part of his character now innit. Our Boy Knows What’s Up.

[notmoreflippingelves]

This or That: Fanfiction Edition

I was tagged by @likeacoma AGES AGO. I have a short attention span so this took me literal weeks. 

Tagging anyone who wants to do this.

Slow burn or love at first sight?:  Depends on the pairing. I think I’d meet in the middle and say “mutual attraction at first sight but because everything is so *repressed,* it still ends up being an impossibly slow burn.”

Fake dating or secretly dating?: Both are so good. But I am absolutely weak for fake dating, especially in cases where it’s an “undercover as lovers” scenario.

“Oh no, there’s only one bed” or long distance correspondence. Listen, bed-sharing is like THE trope for me. It doesn’t even matter if it’s totally platonic or if it’s UST shipping fodder. I’m weak for it.

Hurt/comfort or amnesia: Hurt/comfort may very well be my favorite fic genre. Shut up, it’s not projection/coping mechanism. Also, in my experience, amnesia is seldom handled accurately or well, even in canon.

Enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers:  Enemies to friends to lovers. I like there to be tension in my UST, but then I also love my ship to bond in ways that are not directly related to them as a potential couple, which is easier to do when there’s a middle-ground friendship or even close acquaintances phase.

Mutual pining or domestic bliss:  Depends on the pairing. For pairings with angsty canons, I prefer domestic bliss cause it’s nice to imagine some version of reality where my ship is happy and safe and fluffy together. But mutual pining is always good too. And if the pairing isn’t angsty in canon, my brain loves finding ways of making them suffer. 

Smut or fluff: Depends on the pairing, but most often smut, because most of my pairings are either rare pairs and/or tiny fandoms without much content so finding good smut for them can be extremely difficult.

Fantasy au or modern au:  I’m not super into AUs that break the established rules of the canon reality too much, with a few exceptions. But considering that most of my fandoms are set in the present or the recent past, “modern AUs” seem kind of pointless for the most part. Historical AUs would I guess be the equivalent for them, but they are still essentially very different things.

Alternative universe or future fic: Depends on the pairing, especially given that “AU” can pretty much cover anything from “everyone “drives” to work on a dragon-drawn covered wagon now” to “Everything is the Same except Character X never existed.” Like those are both alternate universes. I guess future fic is my preference for characters who have a bittersweet ending in canon with some hope of a resolution afterwards (ex: Malcom/Nicola, Hathocent) but that obviously doesn’t apply to everyone. 

Kid fic or road trip fic: Depends on the pairing. Some pairings I absolutely cannot see wanting and/or having kids. But for the ones that I can see this for, I absolutely adore kid!fic. I recognize that this probably makes me a bad feminist. (Though to be fair, the kid doesn’t have to be the pairing’s biological offspring for good kid!fic. It can be a younger sibling or niece/nephew or a neighbor. Or if it’s “their” kid, it could be an adopted kid as well/instead.)

Road trip fic is another one that is highly dependent on the pairing/context. I like it when there is high potential for drama and/or comedy, so certain pairings work better than others. 

Canon compliant/missing scenes or fix-it: Depends on pairing. I tend to go for more canon compliant “missing or expanded scenes that don’t directly contradict canon” moreso, but sometimes canon just gets me so down that I want to read something that obliterates or completely disregards it. 

Reincarnation or character death:  Depends on the pairing. As much as I claim to hate character death, I’m also an angsty little b*tch who lives for the drama and heartbreak. But I am also fond of the “in any/another version of reality, we will find each other” romantic drama. 

Time travel or isolated together:  I feel a little weird picking this one given all that is going on in the world right now. But still, I’m not massively into time travel, unless it’s the kind of thing that is supported by the canon material. (Like I don’t read a ton of Doctor Who fic, but obviously time-travel is a major part of the canon.) However, I’d still prefer isolated together, as it provides a lot of potential for one-on-one conversation and bonding.

High school romance or middle aged romance: Most of my ships have a least a little bit of an age gap (which makes unlikely that they would’ve been in high school at the same time). And I do tend to ship a fair amount of older pairings anyway.

Arranged marriage or accidental marriage: Both are so good. I live for both of these tropes when they are done well. But overall, I think I have to go with a perfectly-arranged marriage. The intimacy mixed with the uncertainty and the reticance and the gradually-changing nature of the relationship. It’s just... it’s excellent. 

Sci-fi au or magic au:  Again,  neither is really my favorite. But overall, I have to pick magic. With a few exceptions (Star Wars, Doctor Who, Jules Verne), I’m not particularly interested in or knowledgeable about most sci fi (and I am so exhausted with Star Wars at this point that it barely counts either). 

Also, the advantage of a magic au is that it doesn’t have to be as immersive as some others. Maybe it’s just a few things that are “magic.” Maybe it’s a magical realism scenario where the magic touches are treated as totally mundane. I feel like it interrupts the established canon less often and doesn’t necessarily require the same “hard technical knowledge” that sci fi aus do. 

Neighbours or roomates: oh my god, they were roommates.  Serious answer, I prefer when the ship is able to have their own separate spaces and lives--at least early on the relationship. That way, it’s easier for them to have alone time if they need it and the relationship is able to develop at a more gradual (and to my mind)  comfortable pace. Neighbors is also a good middle-ground scenario because there is a huge range to how close you can be with a neighbor. Some might be your close friends, some might be acquaintances. Some might even be a rival (the inherent foe yay potential of homeowner’s associations is so seldom explored.)  

Body swap or gender-bend:  Neither is really my cup of tea to be honest, but body swaps if done well can be good comedy opportunity. I do have some scraps of a Malcola body swap fic that has been a very tentative WIP for literal years.

Angst or crack: Depends on the pairing. As a good portion of my ships would be considered “crack” by modern fandom standards, I’m almost tempted to say crack, because it would mean that the pairing is actually getting fic written about it in the first place--which is rare enough for most of my pairings. But then, I am also a messy b*tch who lives for angst and the angstier the better. 

Apocalyptic or mundane: Even were we not in the circumstances that we are now in, I would still say mundane. I scare pretty easily and so things like zombies/natural disasters/panic-induced mob mentality give me anxiety just reading/watching/thinking about. Just give me normalcy (or at least normalcy relative to the respective fictional universe).