#but man am i invested XD

[imorphemi]

VOTE PEARL FOR TUMBLR SEXYMAN!!!

[carp-esh-ove-lem]

i think me making a dropout/d20/naddpod sideblog is inevitable at this point

[applesandbannas747]

i wanna hear your thoughts on the fence challengers: long shot preview pages if you want to share!

oh mAN I have so many and they are all over the place!!

The first one is a little thing, but I bet Seiji had a crush on Marcus Washington when he was a kid--Nick's horror, Harvard's teasing, and Seiji's indignant blush imply as much.

And a fun fact, Jo posted a mini preview of baby Seiji to Patreon on February 14th...maybe I'm reading into it too much, but that's nothing new XD

Next couple of things are about the scene with the trophy case. It was really interesting and fun to see side-by-side redraws of Robert! It really illustrates the way the style has evolved, and also I gOTTA say it feels like Jo is more invested in Robert based on the level of detail she put in--like it's not just a style comparison, it's also just obvious a lot of attention was put into these shots when a) she could have just reused old shots (which she's done before, so I know it was an option), or kept it more simplified like she did when drawing the original shots.

I also think it's sweet that the redraws have Robert looking much more like Jesse than the originals.

And I am sure I will get flack for this, but I have incredible second-hand embarrassment from Nick leaving his newspaper clipping + note in the trophy case jfhdasl like bestieee noooo anyone can see that shit now oh my god please stooop

Onto some Nichoji thoughts! I love that Seiji's been confirmed as a before-bed reader! Him having a Kindle makes sense for the sheer efficiency of it too lmfao. Of course it's also adorable to see him in reading glasses <3 And then my favorite detail is Nick's stupid nightlight...notice where it is?

Rather than illuminating Nick's side of the room, it's peeking around the curtain and lighting up Seiji's reading, which is beyond adorable and sweet. I wonder whether Seiji stole it or Nick put it there knowing Seiji likes to read before bed, and I love both scenarios.

Also, it's fucking adorable that as soon as Nick mentions their date appointment, Seiji takes off his glasses and lowers his Kindle because it's got his full attention and investment.

And a quick pitstop to the locker rooms!

I like the visual metaphor here with Aiden and Bobby both very casual about changing and both literally having their shirts open; meanwhile, Seiji's straightening the cuffs on his button-down, which is already neatly tucked in and complete with his tie. It just highlights how Seiji's a lot more closed off than the others, and I think this was a neat trick to remind us of that.

In regards to plot, I'm still...really disappointed in the pacing. I know most people feel like it's a slowburn/it's taken a long time to develop, but if you waited to read Fence at all until it was complete and then read it all in one sitting, I think you'd see how unbalanced it is. Williams says that their first match will be in three weeks back right after tryouts:

which means everything between issue 12 and CHALLENGERS has happened in 3 weeks. Seiji and Nick's relationship is so sweet and cute, but it went from resentful rivalry to puppy love overnight with very little 'screen time' dedicated to the actual transition from resentment to friends (which I could write a whole essay on but this is not the post for that lmfao). Furthermore, the fact that it's the first match of State Championships rather than first match of the season is crazy to me. I'll admit, I didn't fence in high school--it wasn't even an option because we didn't have a team. And despite hours of research, the structure of high school team fencing is not entirely clear to me. However, I do know that typical high school sports go through the season, facing every other team in their division or whatever. Based on performance in those matches, they can qualify for state, and then their win ratio determines their seeding order for the state championships that happen in like 1-2 days. Seeding order is who you go up against in a bracket, so it's what this diagram is, basically:

(side note, but it appears there are 24 schools competing at state). Again, fencing could be different, but it kinda seems to me like we skipped over the season and went right to State Championships, which just cuts out so much development and build-up. It's like we're speed-running the entire story to get to the end faster. We cut out showing the development in the romance, and now we're cutting out the development of the plot. There's still plenty that we can do at state, of course, but imagine how much more it would mean to see Nick fencing in front of Robert if we'd built that up more. I just don't understand how we spent 12 issues on try outs, 4 on a practice match, 8 on camp, and none on the fencing season. It feels so abrupt and unbalanced. Tryouts and camp were my favorites arcs because they felt pretty well-paced as self-contained pieces of the story. I just feel like we needed waaaaay more relationship development between those two arcs to be satisfying, and I feel like there should be waaaaay more build up during the fencing season between camp and State Championships.

and now, the moment you've all been waiting for: my devastation over Eugene's role (???) in the story. I honestly question why he's in the story at all--at this point, it would have made more sense to have him flat-out not make the team. Except that keeping him this long lowkey backs up the theory I've had on his role since Striking Distance/RIVALS: Eugene is here to make everyone else look better/cooler/more impressive. The very first thing that struck me when reading the first look was this:

The dialogue here suggests that only one reserve actually gets to be on the team in the end, and the reserve is Nick. And, worse, everyone expected it to be Nick. Sure, it's sweet that Seiji thinks Nick's the better fencer, but all I can think about is how hard Eugene's worked for ten years trying to make the team as opposed to Nick's three months of fencing. Now, I love an underdog story. But it's interesting because Pacat stated in an interview (I'd have to go find where for the specific quote) that he always feels bad for the person who's been working to be #1 their whole lives only to be knocked out of the running by an upstart underdog--which I've always assumed would influence the path taken in Fence...and it seems like we may well let Seiji and Jesse remain above Nick in skill (or at least it seems like we won't be dethroning Seiji, even if we go for Jesse), but Nick's overcoming smaller obstacles. And those smaller obstacles hurt worse to see crushed because Eugene almost made the team in a way that mattered, only to have that taken away. It would have been less cruel to him and his fans to let Nick take the reserve slot back in issue 12, but instead we brought Eugene along to serve as a means to make Nick out 'secret weapon' and elevate his story.

I will say though, this page is one of my favorite Eugene moments because I see the character I selfishly want Eugene to be in it. From the context of the panels above, this page is likely Williams telling them that only one will be fencing in State Championships, and this is their reaction. Eugene's immediate concern for Nick and the comforting hand on his shoulder followed by a bright smile and a thumbs up--he just cares so much about other people and it so used to smiling through his own pain/disappointment and comforts Nick through being positive (and as seen back in issue 12, up playing his competitiveness) and acting like it's no big deal.

Eugene deserved better, but if this is where he goes out, I think I can live with it. Better to see him go now than continue to be a means to uplift the rest of team by being less than. but, man, I was really hoping we were turning it around after his moment in REDEMPTION being the only KR boy not to lose his bout

anyway, thank you sm for listening to my rambles!!! <33

[matan4il]

911 ep 705 first watch reactions

Of course 911 would "punish" the "You are the boss of you!" guy with an alien hand that attacks him, and does what it wants. Pooor Buck and Eddie paying the price for that...

Okay, love the storyline with Hen and Karen possibly eventually adopting an older girl. Too many shows just find easy, unrealistic ways to give their same sex couples kids, and I am really glad that 911 shows the reality of it, and that it is a more complex struggle for many, that it's an act of continuously choosing to be parents. That's actually an amazing, difficult thing, and it should be faithfully depicted and respected, for all of its heartache, and the little moments of triumph.

Buck and Tommy on a date, and Eddie comes along with Marisol? Love how Buck's bisexual awakening and coming out continues to involve Eddie so much. Tell me they're end game, even if they're not gonna get together right now, without telling me they're...

I did not need to learn Marisol is moving in with Eddie like this, with any build up, or even any sort of insight into the relationship, and nope, that does not bode well for them. IDK how 911 managed to do it, but they have somehow managed to give Eddie a love interest the show is even less invested in than Ana.

And the funniest bit, is that Marisol and Eddie's big development is only there to further Buck's journey anyway.

"You can never have too much closet space" LMAO the way 911 both made me laugh, and feel sorry for poor, baby bi Buck. XD

Hmmm. Were parts of this scene cut out? We don't get to see Eddie on his own date with Marisol, but constantly looking over at Tommy and Buck? Boo. I'm glad we at least got the BTS photos, then. But seriously, why!? That was gonna be so delicious.

Oh, Tommy's breaking up with Buck. I mean, good for him, and he ain't wrong after Buck's "after this, we're gonna go out looking for chicks" reaction, but man do I feel sorry for Buck. Him and Tommy might not be my end game (Buddie forever will be), but I do think this relationship could be good for our baby bi. Tommy being in the same profession, knowing what it's like to have this gap between who you are and the image of guys in your line of work, plus he's got more experience than Buck, is sure of himself, can help our boy figure himself out, and also Buck obviously does like his vibe. He deserves to be with someone he actually likes, not just the first woman willing to be with him that the plot pushed in his way.

Oh, baby Buck. :( You didn't even tell Maddie about Tommy. You really aren't ready it. But also (and as a Buddie shipper, more importantly), Tommy broke things off with Buck, but what is eating him up, is that he lied to Eddie. XD Yeah, this gonna end with wedding bells, sooner or later. On screen, off screen after the show ends with canon Buddie, or only in my head if 911 never dares make Buddie canon, I don't care. That kind of emotional devotion is not something that my hopelessly romantic heart can ignore.

OMG, this is how Buck comes out to Maddie? XD Via random pronoun mention, and as a by product of trying to figure out how to tell Eddie the truth? This is hilarious. lol It really makes it clear that, after all, the issue for Buck really isn't people knowing he is also dating guys (or checking their asses), even when it's the other closest person in the world for him, it's Eddie. Specifically. Buck's ready, even if he doesn't have the exact clear words yet, he's just not ready to tell Eddie. Can't imagine why. XDDD

What was that awkward post-sex scene with Eddie and Marisol? And the issues with her moving in are popping up a second after she has. But yeah, we have no idea who this woman is as a person, she's been a cardboard cut out so far, and then one of the first things we do learn about her, is that she would call her stuff better than Eddie's? Once again, this is not the stuff great romance is made of. Or... even just the stuff any kind of romance is made of.

Wait, Marisol was a nun, and Eddie didn't even know!? This whole ep is telegraphing in the news of how weird and awkward and underdeveloped this r/s is, not just for us as viewers who know nothing about Marisol, but apparently for Eddie as well.

And of course his Catholic guilt is gonna kick in now. I'd care, except 911 has given me absolutely no reason to. Seriously, I care more about Buck and Tommy after just 2 eps, than Eddie and Marisol, even though this is technically her 2nd season on the show.

Of course Buck went to find Eddie, and spotted him at the gym. Forever 201 vibes, with Eddie being the focus of Buck's attention. ^u^

I couldn't care less about Eddie's Catholic guilt crisis, and how it's actually a projection of what his real issues are with Marisol, but it's nice to see that as always, Buck's the one who can tell when something's off, and offer Eddie exactly what he needs (even when that's to talk to someone else, but Buck figures out immediately who the right person to address is), and then they just very naturally switch, because Eddie can also tell when something's off with Buck, and he wants to tell him something. Soulmates. THAT is the stuff that great romance IS made of.

:/ The imagery of Catholic nuns has not been around for over 2,000 years, please stop being ignorant about your own religion, and the very different way it looked in its early days.

Bobby is forgiven, he does give good advice, and his "her ex, the Lord" bit, which prompted that reaction from Eddie, is hilarious. XD

So... when Eddie is having issues with Marisol, he already knows he has to figure out how he feels about her, but instead of doing so, he goes to his safe place... Buck's loft.

Man, Eddie being into Tommy's choice of avoidning relationships with women, and hanging out with boys, after in the past, Eddie had dealt with his Shannon issues by running away from her, and re-enlisting in the army, where he gets to hang out with boys, when we all (Buck included) know why Tommy's "hanging out with boys"... I do like that if they want to (and hopefully they do), this further lays the groundwork for Eddie's own queer realization.

Buck and Eddie helping each other with their respective romantic problems, without realizing they are each other's respective romantic solution is gonna make me chew on my own fists. Again. But I'm not even a little bit surprised that Eddie was totally fine and accepting of Buck being bi, or that the first thing he thought of is how this reflects on them. Because their friendship IS way deeper and closer than normal for platonic friends, and Eddie's little reassurance is also an admission of that.

Man, for a second I was worried they also cut out Eddie in the loft, once more putting his thumb on Buck's pulse point possessively, in a perfect parallel to 303. I would have sued for emotional damages. But yeah, it says so much that the peak of emotional meaningfulness for Buck when coming out is in relation to Eddie, and that the scene itself peaks with Eddie, instead of finishing rushing out to take care of his own romantic business, hurries back to Buck first, to hug him, place his hand on Buck and give him orders. "Sure, you're gonna be dating this guy, but I'm still your real husband."

Well, at least Eddie amitted to himself and Marisol that he doesn't actually know her. But... I have never seen two people being both being so happy about not moving in together, and I'm supposed to think this r/s has a chance? Okay. Suuuure.

The scene with Buck going to Tommy to set things straight ready for something was lovely, it was nice seeing him excited, and get to choose, and hear he's wanted. But since the note Tommy and Buck's storyline in this ep should have ended on, is Buck showing Tommy he's ready enough to let others know he's dating a guy by inviting Tommy to come with Buck to Madney's wedding, then why is the very next scene playing the romantic switch again, making us think Buck's car just arrived at the wedding with him and Tommy, only for Buck and Eddie to walk in together? I see what you did there, 911.

Thank you for reading! If you're looking for more, you can find my s7 reactions tag here, and more of my Buddie meta and content in my pinned post. xoxox

[moodymisty]

hey girl hey, I am what some might call an “exotic dancer” (stripper) and I just wanted to let you know there are nights where the only thing getting me through are your WH40K fics, and I just wanted to say thank you so much for your contributions. bc I’ll just be talking to men acting like I’m invested in the conversation but in reality im thinking about getting absolutely dicked down within an inch of my life by a Space Marine or Primarch. When im walking in my 6 inches and my feet hurt from hours on my feet i just think to myself “ok but what if Cato Sicarius or Guilliman saw you” and instantly I’m walking like I own the place. Men will ask me what my type is and I cannot help but laugh on the inside bc the first image in my head is a 9+ ft tall emotionally stunted man in head to toe armor and titties bigger than my face whose dick would rearrange my guts. does it make any logical sense? no. (Like why would any of them ever be in a strip club setting/anything that’s the 40k equivalent??? Cato already nearly combusts from rage seeing a fully clothed woman bc all he thinks is emotion = 😡) but. damn neither does being a big ass introverted nerd whose job is dancing naked for money (and I do enjoy my job most nights).

shoutout to all the writers ofc, you were just the first one I found MONTHS ago when I finally found out other people on this hellsitewere Totally Normal about WH40K men just like me and I’ve never been the same since. so thanks queen. keep it up.

-😈🐈‍⬛ (in case I ever send somethin in the future again mwah)

I'm dying thank you so much for sending this in, I saw this while letting my deep conditioner soak and I was cackling in the shower XD

And I mean hey, maybe they wouldn't be in a strip club, but there's no reason why you maybe wouldn't get hella fancy in their legion colours and surprise them ;3

Just getting gussied up in your sluttiest, demure, or whatever style attire in a nice shade of ultramarine blue and walking into the Second Company barracks 💀

[patchworkgargoyle]

Okay, Sav, my first instinct was of course to demand more motw just because I am already so fucking invested BUT then I thought I'd rather ask about "Shark Bite Meet-Cute" just because WTF are you coming up with here???? I need to know!

Hi Sandy!! xD That one was inspired by a rant that I thought I would go on if I ever got bit by a shark (highly unlikely) and survived, and then I figured Eddie would say something similar, then thought that it'd be very funny if paramedic!Steve was there trying to help Eddie while he ranted about how it wasn't the shark's fault for biting him.

Not sure if I'll ever finish this one, because I did that thing where I skipped ahead and wrote the scene I wanted to write and that's always the best way to get me to never finish a fic, so. Whoops.

Anyway, here's that rant xD

"It's not the shark's fault!" Eddie shouted as loud as he could manage at the crowd. "Sharks are still great! It's their ocean, we're the invaders!"

"Eddie, please calm down, oh my god," Chrissy said, following the stretcher and wringing her hands.

The unfairly hot paramedic nodded down at him. "You should try to keep your heart rate down, and please lie still."

He doubted his heart could be any kind of normal around this man, but Eddie lowered his voice anyway as they lifted him into the ambulance. "It's true, though, man. They can't help that they don't have hands."

The other paramedic couldn't hold back a snort and the hot one raised an unimpressed brow at her. "He's probably feeling loopy from the shock and adrenaline," he explained to Chrissy.

"No, nonono, you don't get it," Eddie blundered on, only slightly slurred, "they don't have hands, y'know, so they use their mouths to figure out what they're seeing. Like babies, or archeologists. Did you know archeologists lick rocks to tell if they're rocks or bone? It's because bone sticks, it's more porous. So, sharks. Can't help it if they've got some fuckin' sharp teeth. Probably thought I was a weird seal, took a bite and didn't like how my gamey, non-blubbery stick leg tasted."

Chrissy, who'd sat on the bench in the back, hid her face to try and stifle her laughter while he rambled. Hot Paramedic had the prettiest, most baffled smile on his face while he hooked Eddie up to some wires and monitors and the other one actually looked thoughtful while she checked the bandages on his leg.

"I didn't know that about archeologists," she said.

Hot Paramedic sighed. "Don't encourage him, Robin."

"Hey, if it keeps him conscious."

[katyspersonal]

Character Dynamic for Midra and Nanaya.

Do all of them. >:)

ALL of them? OKAY THIS is going to be a fat one so I am keeping it under cut! This is for the character dynamic ask meme ( x ) *knacks my cruckles*

🌹 Who's the flirty one and who gets shy and flustered?

I think at the beginning of relationship, he was the flirtier one, and he sure knew just what sweet lines to say seeing everything for its true worth, including flaws! She used to get flustered a lot while romance was still new. Further into relationship though, this side of Nanaya truly blossomed and she became more confident and bold about it! Midra, on the other hand, became more exhausted and nervous. Constant harassment, often very dangerous, by Inquisitors. But even in the safety of his own manse he became the type to skip sleeps and be too focused on research, that made him very stressed and no longer initiating flirting. It was then up to Nanaya to flirt him into relaxing for once, and she was good at it!

🥣 Who is more skilled in the kitchen?

It feels to me like they are both equally good at cooking, and both love doing it! The catch is that they prefer different foods XD However, this is not the case of each cooking for themselves or one who cooks deciding everything; they compromise and accommodate! For example, Nanaya who likes spicy food that Midra doesn't will cook a less-spicy portion for him! Midra not wanting to burn his insides certainly has aged sfdjhfdhss

🚘 Who is/would be the better driver and who is the passenger?

Midra would be the most responsible driver, letting Nanaya to just chill and stare in the window! Nanaya, on the other hand.....

sdjhdfhs Sorry, Yukari driving was the first thing I thought of XD Nanaya is the reasonable one in relationship, but for some reason I feel like her "dark side" would come up in things like driving or competitive sports! Granted, she does neither of these in canon setting xddd

🔥 Who has the temper and who keeps a cool head?

Again, aside of funny hypothetical scenarios like the one above, they are both quite reasonable people. Midra IS the one more likely to let bad things truly get under his skin and start to think of drastic decisions where Nanaya would ground him, but he still needs prolonger exposure to the negative factor to start 'losing it'. Not just talking the Obvious Thing, it is just his personality in general! Him crossing his psychological limit begins with twitching a bit and rambling to himself, basically ignoring the other person present and spiralling into reflecting on the past through very negative lense and talking about what he will do. So yeah, the good thing about how he experiences losing temper is that there is enough time to figure out what he is going to do and take precautions or plan how to help him. He is like volcano that started to smoke and will only erupt in a while, not like sudden explosion! With Nanaya, though... Good luck making her lose temper. Even her anger will be cold.

🍊 Who likes sweet foods and who goes for salty snacks?

Neither of them likes sweets much! Having like a pair of cookies once a week is Midra's final form. Nanaya would appreciate salty snacks though! Do not let her anywhere modern AUs, it will be a LOT of chips and doritos everywhere x)

📙 Who would be the tutor and who would need the tutoring?

Midra is literally called sage and 90% of his Manse is just books, so I am pretty sure he would primarily be a tutor for anyone, not just Nanaya :p At the same time, I would not say he is that perfect wise man archetype; if the subject is not very interesting to him, he will struggle to give it proper focus and respect! Might even sulk a little and claim it 'pointless', even despite needing to be educated on any topics! Nanaya doesn't have this problem though, and had he "insulted" a certain field she would definitely find a right approach to get him invested. Don't let anyone know Midra can be biased with fields of learning too though, this is not an impression he wants to make and he is not proud of that trait!

☀️ Who is more outdoorsy and who prefers to stay inside?

Midra used to enjoy being outside and observe nature, from clouds and sunsets to tiniest insects on the flowers, until he didn't. Nanaya on the other hand was the one loving to stay inside more, and also the type to shield the room with curtains to make it dark even at the sunny day! x) Again, they switched habits when Midra became reclusive if not depressed, so Nanaya both felt like at least one of them should go outside and needed to go outside sometimes to escape the tension and think. Sometimes it did come off as passive aggression if Midra refused to go take a breathe with her, where she'd say that sure, she'll be the only one to still remember what the outside looks like..

🔒 Who's more guarded with their secrets and who is better at sharing them?

In my interpretation of the story, Midra certainly managed to do significant acting behind Nanaya's back until it was too late, so there is that... The story aside, he is not naturally a liar type at all, but he is guarded and needs some help opening up. Nanaya knew how to make him feel safe talking about what is bothering him or troublesome past. She is not that ideal therapist wife of course, but she could tell he'd benefit from venting at all, and she'd still try to help (practically more than with wise words. wise words are his thing. :p)

At the same time, her own secrets do not weight her down much but they are "uncovered" at her getting too into discussion and blurting out too much information. And her """dark secrets""" were innocent, like kinks she'd be shy about or really embarrassing memory, so Midra would get her to elaborate by teasing her XD Basically, both need a push to open up, and both know how to help each other with it.

🍋 Who is more likely to be in a sour mood on a bad day? (Bonus: how does the other one handle that?)

Midra IS the type to get really sour! He will not be outright toxic, except maybe very far late into his character arc, but he will be gloomy and say something bitter about things and people that didn't deserve this. Not about Nanaya though, bitter remarks towards her would just be auto-aggression about how she needed to do something better than to waste time on miserable old man. Again, depending on the severity of his reason to be upset she would either flirt him into cuddles or sex to help him to relax, or just hold him and make him feel safe enough to cry and thus, again, waste stress and feel better. (letting him fall sleep in her arms afterwards of course)

🦠 Who is messy and who says "damn you live like this?"

Midra is VERY messy! He doesn't clean his dishes, leaves his books everywhere, doesn't make the bed and usually his clothing either has a spot he never noticed or worn on the wrong side! He has many servants that would clean his own mess and not just wipe the dust or clean the floor etc, but very selfishly prefers Nanaya to handle the "personal" chores and not those servants. It is because she has a natural 'feeling' for how he'd like objects arranged... And if she is feeling tired or sick, he proves he is not that helpless; their rooms don't devolve into trash pile and he keeps them tidy. It is just both being unfocused and selfish.

✅️ Who cares more about being right and winning the argument?

They both care about figuring out the truth and not "winning"! If anything, whenever one beats another in the argument, another feels delighted with how smart their spouse is! I'd say they like losing these! But only with each other; losing an argument to someone else would make them feel frustrated and mentally punch themselves to get more insightful.

🍀 Who is luckier and who was born under a bad star? Do either of them believe in luck?

Midra typically believed himself to be unlucky for life since young age! Yeah he always felt like none of his efforts would avail him anything despite always struggling, that only either luck or turning to supernatural powers could eventually get him anywhere. Long history of having his efforts crashed by bad people or factors he had no control over......

^^^ me @ Midra right now lmao fdshfhdsfsd

You can see that culminating in him turning to seek Three Fingers to solve the problems with him and his allies being shunned from the start.. However, at some point in life, that mindset was seriously alleviated by meeting Nanaya to begin with! As far as he could tell, there was no luck or fate or magic at play in why she fell in love with him too, so!

Nanaya, on the other hand, was hopeful and the 'it too shall pass' person, but for the first time in her life she felt like she HAS been cursed... by having married him. It was after he did the Lord of Frenzied Flame attempt, that also cost them their baby. I would say it is a very justified point of breaking and being angry and heartbroken, yeah.

🗨 Who is chattier and who defaults to silence?

Midra is generally introverted, only getting more talkative about topics especially fascinating to him or with Nanaya in general! He likes to offer advice, but it is also exhausting. Nanaya does most of the talking with people! Well, she used to, before they stopped communicating with the outside world much due to Inquisitors getting worse. In a more happy, healthy, more social life, she'd be the social butterfly that can finally stay silent with Midra, whereas he'd generally keep mysterious and quiet but spill his heart out to her!

🦋 Who looks for magic in the everyday and ordinary and who needs it pointed out to them?

In the setting where magic IS real and everywhere, it is hard to say XD More vaguely speaking, both are stargazers and romantics, and same logic applies; first it was Midra who helped Nanaya to find joy and wonder in every leaf, later down the line she became the one to make him swim out of the depths of despair and appreciate the joys of nature and world for once. I am thinking about how their relationship developed in their entirety, and it makes me emotional how he once was helping her and then she started to help him in the similar ways ;-; Too bad in the end it availed to nothing because Miyazaki hates hope and good endings fdsjsfdhfgsd But:

🎇 Who is more impulsive and who is more careful? Does the careful one help keep the impulsive one grounded?

The answer from 🔥 ask applies here too; Midra doesn't 'explode', aside of the obvious succumbing to Frenzied Flame, but he can and will get a bad idea into his head when pushed past the limit of his patience and telegraph it for long enough so others take caution or plan how to stop him! Nanaya doesn't do impulsive decisions and is the more reasonable one, except for the obvious drastic reaction when he didn't listen about turning back on the Frenzied Flame research.

🎶 Who is more musical? (Bonus: can they play instruments or sing?)

Nanaya is drums and wind instrument type, she loves them and knows how to play them well! I do not remember whether key instruments are in Elden Ring setting, please remind me if there are because my memory is scattered! My point is, Midra gives me the vibe of someone who would try to study piano as tool of "intellectuals" to focus and relax but who didn't find much enjoyment in them after all. However, he'd be a natural at string instruments and enjoy them a lot!

Nanaya is very sweet and good at singing lullabies, but hopeless at singing just songs, especially on public! Her hearing evaporates when it is not a personal, intimate context XD She also hums melodies to herself often while doing anything. Midra is certainly not a singer himself, but enjoys listening to songs and writing down the lyrics and notes to stock at the library. He collects them!! While burning his library, Inquisitors had damaged quite a collection of folk songs.

🪀 Who's more playful and who is more serious? (Bonus: does the playful one ever get the serious one to join them?)

One is playful when another is sulking or embarrassed and vice-versa! They naturally react at their partner to cheer them up and/or get them to open up about something! Midra does this rarer of course, like I said before it mostly comes up if Nanaya accidentally exposed something awkward and it is far too late for her to take it back x) Nanaya though, has more energy and so to say "talent" at lightening up the mood, but that trait truly developed in this relationship. She always had this spark in her, just no people worthy of it before she met Midra.

😈 Who is naughtier? Either in the bedroom or by breaking the law, etc.

Nanaya is absolutely more naughty sexually, both with behaviour and with having more energy! She could catch him by surprise during him doing other stuff and he enjoys it. She takes initiative in sexual activities! However, from time to time, she happens to want to try something she is shy about.. and in these cases, Midra not only gets 'naughty' but has to get so to convince her to "elaborate" xD Besides, seeing her shy about these things is such a rare but adorable sight that he has a field day when it happens!

The for sure broke the law by researching Frenzied Flame for a while, although Nanaya was the one to understand when it was no longer a right risk to take. Midra would be the one having the idea to "break the law", they'd go through it together despite her doubts, but Nanaya would be the one to know where to stop or cancel the plan.

💕 Who is more romantic? (Bonus: how do they express it?)

Poetry and compliments and sweet dreamy plans and romantic gestures are Midra's element by default! He was no longer giving much of that attention down the line as dread, anxiety and depression were siphoning away his health even without any FF. Nanaya was less consistent about it and more on receiving side, but further in married life started to organise candlelit dinners or making sex more 'special'. Again: matter of finding a person worthy of showing this side to! She is also the type to have rare spurs of inspiration to write poems for him, but she doesn't like her writing and will probably eat the paper sheet if Midra points out she has something for him XDDD The main difference I guess is that Midra is consistently romantic as long as his mental health allows, whereas Nanaya makes 'surprises' when mood takes her!

🎀 Who has more talents/hobbies? Does the other ever feel insecure about this?

In a better and healthier setting, Nanaya would be the type to learn a new skill from time to time for sure! She likes trying out new things and keep the skill rather than ditching the interest in a week too. Could be learning how to paint, could be learning how to build a cabinet x) For now her specialities are sewing and embrodery (created her outfit by herself) + learning new recipes. But, again, given enough time and stability, she'd end up learning enough skills to barely need servants anymore XDDD

Midra is the bookish, educated man, with skills mostly connected to that! He WAS the flowers and garden man though, absolutely! Had they had a farm (and, again, been in a better setting), he would be hard to drag away from it. He would be THE cottagecore man x) Would observe insects and birds too + take pictures in modern AU. He admires how Nanaya's interests and aspirations are more varied but can't follow on 80% of them. She, at the same time, is absolutely not a kind of wife that feels the need to get her husband involved in every new interest, she understands and is content with him just listening!

🌸 Who is more likely to make the decisions in a high pressure situation? Does the other one like to follow their leadership?

Both! It pretty much depends who is faster at taking initiative for a decision under pressure! Midra's decisions under high pressure are more drastic, but if he is faster at commanding them, Nanaya will nervously swallow and listen instead of instantly arguing. She will soon get a grip and try to calm him down of course. But if she is faster at telling what to do, he will follow her lead. She is calmer and seems to plan ahead well even in highly stressful situations! Just needs to snatch the lead position first before Midra humbled her with his rare moment of assertiveness.

______________________

Okay that was fun!! I did not even realise how much of a clear mental image I had of them before answering this ask meme, so thank you for bringing out that part of my headcanons XD Honestly, their relationship feels very healthy... like if the one thing that ruined it WAS messing with Frenzied Flame. Nothing else would've ruined it otherwise, no conflicts and no Midra's descent into depression. They balance each other so well. No wonder this ship is so likeable, I felt like it was writing ITSELF this whole post!!

[saintobio]

Omg ok ok hello! I had this huge rant in my head about sy and sn so pls feel free to ignore it, but I love your writing so much and it gives me some STRONG FEELINGS. First of all it surprised me that I like the way you write y/n cuz she doesn't become a "bitch" after the whole deal with Gojo and have some elaborate revenge plan, but she is also not a goody two shoes (even if she stayed with Gojo earlier but she had a lot of external pressure to stay in the marriage). Not that those tropes are necessarily bad but it's just more realistic this way. She's just a person who has been deeply hurt and is trying to do right by others. Even if she has made big mistakes, she still wants to make up for them cuz she's not completely in the right either. Also getting bashed by everyone for trying to make amends/ not following their advice regarding you own life; while very triggering for me (lol) is also just such a natural reaction. Not right, just natural. When things get out of people's hands and they want to blame someone for it, they often go for the one who is actually trying and won't retaliate if for nothing than to just keep the peace. Also wanting people to understand your side of the situation yet feeling undeserving of it at the same time because of your mistakes is UGHHH I feel like you do that so well! It's amazing but genuinely heartbreaking to see how far Satoru has come as a person too. Also when he thinks about how he wants to be a better person for Akemi IT MADE ME WANT TO PUT MY HEAD THROUGH A WALL... cuz WHY COULDN'T HE BE LIKE THAT FOR US!!! At the same time we have moved on without him, so if we are allowed that luxury then why isn't he? It's just so ANGSTY AND SO SO GOOD! Because we love Satoru we always will but he had a chance and he fricked it over terribly! So it would be idiotic to go back to him but at the same time the heart yearns for him. This is a side tangent but whenever any character says "this is not like you", "you have changed, this isn't how you'd act" makes me so MAD lol (maybe bc I am triggered?) But these guys WATCHED MY GIRL GO THROUGH SOME HORRIFIC SHIT AND STILL EXPECT HER TO NOT BE PERMANANTLY AND IRREVERSIBLY CHANGED???!! ;-;; IDK what they want from her oof >.< I do think Akemi is a shitty friend but I can't bring myself to hate her completely. Seeing them together is so ANGER INDUCING AAAAA (and her wanting a family with him is fine BUT THIS EARLY?!JUST AFTER ADMITTING YOU FEEL "SORRY" FOR BETRAYING US?! IT MAKES ME WANNA HURL HER TRHOUGH CONCRETE) but at the same time Satoru and Akemi both deserve someone who can love them. It feels hypocritical to be angry when we ourselves told him to move on and find someone who can love him the way he deserves. It's just very very shitty it had to be them. Sera is also such an interesting character. She has a lot of traits that I admire a lot. Her resourcefulness and complete and utter pride/confidence and being unashamed to ask for things/ stand up for herself (even when she is wrong) is something I wish I had sometimes. Still wanna stick her head through a toilet tho and yet when a person who slept with a married man can see the bloody violation of girls' code that is sleeping with your bff's EX HUSBAND oh BOY you should KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG. I have no strong feelings for Toji (cuz I don't like him much anyways but that's just personal bias XD )but I do think his anger and frustration is well founded especially since he runs over whenever the reader needs him. He's so supportive and invested and honestly he deserves someone who can give that back to him. It's kinda sad but then again I don't like him much to begin with lol.

OH AND THE ENDING OF THE LAST CHAPTER IS SOOOOO PAINFUL. To always be the second choice even for YOUR SON OHHH MAN I'D RATHER YOU PUT A KNIFE THROUGH MY HEART ;-;

All in all I hate how much I love this series and love to hate these characters and take out my repressed anger on them cuz I can't do that irl. This series is my Roman Empire lol. It's so painful, yet so beautiful and it makes you FEEL so many things and yet hold out hope for things to become better. I love this, love you and your writing- ok mwah bye bye (and thank you if you read this rant put together by my post nap, barely coherent brain) I have so much more that I want to say. I can write essays about this series and how it uses so many technically "cliche" tropes but it is anything but cliche . Truly some of the best angst I have read like ever!

oh wow !! i don’t even know what to say, this feels like such a comprehensive review of the sy series sdksks but i think many readers could definitely relate with some of ur points here :D this is such a nice perspective to read, thank you so much for sharing and tysm for reading sn/sy aaaaa i’m happy u enjoy the angst as much as i do <3

[selemina]

Exploreur, Combattant, Gardien, Père. Explorer, Fighter, Guardian, Father.

I am looking at the QSMP from the hallway, not exactly getting invested, but Etoiles' fight in the arena got me hyped! :D Not gonna lie there was some severe french pride looking at him having his epic fight. It was so cinematic! I have the worst timing with this piece : the man lost his daughter and he got a new look! XD Fuck it we ball! :D

[chrysanthemumgames]

I’ve been apart of the Choice/Hosted games community for years and I just want to say that your story is in my top 3!

I was literally just saying to myself that I would like an IF that really had characters that had a full life outside your character that interacts with you naturally and isn’t so heavy on the constant stats check, and I got my prays answered and MORE.

First time I played, easily I knew I was going after Hades. I played 3 other times and went after Pyri Charon and Hermes (I will be playing it again for the more Olympus type choices). But TRUST it was hard cause your girl kept wanting to go back to Hades XD.

You’re a wonderful writer and I am invested and patiently waiting for the sequel! May I ask for a few suggestions?

- Character tracking: I love that it’s not stats heavy but I think it would be great for the MC to have journal of some sort in the stats page to keep track of characters and how the MC feels about them as certain events take place. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and it was hard to remember the ones I needed to remember.

- MC Traits: I love how you kept the traits simple *chef’s kiss* but during my play throughs, I definitely tried to be extremely different and subtly different. It didn’t feel like there was a distinct diversity of negative or positive consequences for your flaws. Sometimes it felt like there were and other times I wasn’t sure if I triggered one or not. (I was playing with tone indicators off so maybe that’s why I didn’t really see a difference.) Ya girl just wants a super clumsily MC that everyone wants go catch or be annoyed with cause she’s so clumsily ahaha! Which leads me to my last suggestion~

- Character development: PACING *triple chef’s kiss* its the main reason I kept running back for more ahahaha! (Hades just fully accept me as your wife already T^T) My suggestion for this is that it did feel like the Underworld Pals were too nice. I loved that they are but I would definitely like to see them have flaws that make it reasonable for your MC to dislike them. I legitimately was having a hard time being mean to them because none of them felt like they deserved it.

Thank you so much for giving us such a wonderful experience with this story. There is so much to love and I’m excited to see it expand. Also there are probably others but for the most part you are the only author that actually took the time to add the knowledge of protective hairstyles in your book. You are truly heaven sent. Thank you, now Imma go back and be mean to the my man Hades TT-TT cause I gotta see all versions of this amazing book!

Hiya, and thanks for the ask.

I'll take the suggestions under advisement, but fair warning: I'm probably not going to be doing anything to make the characters less 'nice.' They all do have flaws, and perhaps some of those will be getting a little more airtime in the sequel, so to speak, but I have no interest in changing their core personalities. I consider the fact that they are generally kind and understanding to be a feature of the work rather than a bug, so to speak.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, and I understand that, but I wanted to write a story about fundamentally kind people, and that's what I did.

Adding more opportunities for traits and flaws to be relevant is definitely on my list for the next game, and the character codex/journal/tracker is a suggestion I've gotten before and would like to implement in an update. I appreciate the suggestions!

[amethystina]

hello :] !! i read ‘who holds the devil’ last month, it came to me when i was having a hard time in my life; when i was in a desperate need to forget everything around and ahead of me…your story did JUST THAT i was so utterly mesmerized and invested in your incredible storytelling and the absolute justice you did to complicated characters such as our yohan and gaon. i’ve read your snippets of yohan’s povs too and i really hope you write them more in the future, it’s so interesting to see his brain work and just how different his understanding of their relationship is…

i haven’t been able to stop thinking about your fic and i’ve already re read it countless times (like i kid you not i wake up every day and check if you’ve updated i’m that down bad) i just wanted to thank you for creating such a masterpiece, you’re a blessing and i hope you’re doing well 🫶🏻 i’m eagerly waiting to see what gaon and yohan has in store for them !!🫶🏻

I'm so sorry to hear that you were having a hard time, but I'm glad that my fic was able to offer you some comfort, at least. Sometimes, it really does help to have something else to focus on when things are rough. I hope things are better now, at least 💜

One of the main reasons why I even started writing this fic was because I realised that I wanted their story to continue but also that I had such a specific idea of how I wanted it to play out — and how I wanted the characters to behave — that the only way for me to get that was to write it myself. And I just love the characters so much that I couldn't help wanting to explore them and their story further, with as much detail and accuracy as possible. We were left with so many possibilities after the end of the drama! And so much trauma to unpack and heal from! I had to see how that would play out ;)

I'm glad you like Yo Han's POV 💜 Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much of his POV I'll write for that particular story since showing his thoughts kind of ruins the suspense of it all. Like, a part of the mystery is that Ga On doesn't know what Yo Han is thinking and, by extension, neither does the reader. Yo Han isn't supposed to be an easy man to read. Also, while Yo Han's POV is a lot of fun for me to write, it also makes me nervous. Because he's a lot of people's favourite character and my interpretation of what his thoughts and actions are like might not align with their ideas. Which is totally fine! We can all have different opinions. But some people can get pretty heated if he's not written in a way they approve of, or if he's portrayed in a way they don't think is flattering enough. So it's just less drama for me if I don't write Yo Han's POV too often xD

But I agree that it's very interesting! He does view their relationship quite differently and, just like Ga On, he has a lot of struggles and things he's feeling insecure about (especially right now considering everything that's happened). His doubts are just not as apparent since we don't see his thoughts. But trust me when I say that he has a lot of thoughts.

I almost feel like I should apologise. I swear I'm not trying to make you all so addicted to this fic, it just seems to happen x'D But I am of course delighted to hear that you're enjoying it! And I'm very grateful that you took the time to tell me. It means a lot 💜

I'm not doing the best, unfortunately, but I'm hanging in there. And I'm hoping to be able to write some on chapter 42 this coming weekend, in between all the household chores I have to get done. We'll see how it goes!

Please take care and thank you so much for the lovely compliments! 💜

[redpiperfox]

YO ITS A SKZ ALBUM YALL

and i always do a listen-thru but very rarely post my commentary on it but @shoulderscars was hysterical as we listened to it, so yall get a listen-thru of Stray Kids' Ate ~

MOUNTAINS

If there's something the kids have gotten good at, it's hitting their stride with an album opener that doubles as a concert-hyper. It's heavy steps, very much the storm circling the top of the peak, absolutely the pantheon Han raps about lookind down their noses as the thunder builds behind them. Heavy atmospherically. Bop.

Chk Chk Boom

[CHOKES, GAGS, LOSES BREATH--]

From every single teaser to when we got the whole chorus early, I knew I was obsessed. I am obsessed. What's in this song, cocaine???? Why is it so good?!??? The m/v plays into the fun, cocky character of Stray Kids. The cameos are adorable. The video has so much replayability. The song can literally be looped for hours on end (WHAT. IS IN. THE TRACK. 3RACHA. WHATDIDYOUPUTINIT--)

It reminds me of 16 Shots (I need an edit of this song over Chaeyeon's aotm cover. I need it yesterday), it's Itzy's Loco married to Kill Shot, it's nothing like kpop and everything you'd expect from skz.

JJAM

I was giggling as I read the lyrics the whole time, WHAT UNSERIOUS LYRIC WRITING LMAAAOOOOO XD This song is if Changbin's Doodle and Item had a baby together, it's so quintessentially Stray Kids playing in their music lab with their favorite elements XD Like their Tortoise and the Hare experiments revisited!

I Like It

I had warned my sister "it's about a jerk." We read the lyrics as we listened and @shoulderscars literally said "No, it's just about a man." and she's so right for that XD It reminds me of the other side of Sorry, I Love You-- funny how invested Changbin was in writing those opposing perspectives, but that's neither here nor there XD It's got the elements of a mainstream chill song, with the addition of tinny and hip hop production elements to make it skz, and as a track, it's a bop.

Runners

Chan described this as running on a cliff's edge with the kids, and that's exactly how it feels. Mountain's lightning and thunder breaks into emotional rain every now and then, and the wind carries right behind them in a way that reminds me of a slightly more emotional Pacemaker (another Go Live/In Life track, eyyo XD) or the road up Mount Olympus that takes you to the storm of Mountains. Also, um, I know ChanLix written, but the second verse straight up written by gamer-boy Felix XDXDXDXD

twilight

I LOVE. UGH. OOF. GAH. THE PIANO? THE TRACK? THE MELODIES? I won't even go too deep into the lyrics, because they're very poetic, very Han-pop, but my love is solely and completely based on the production of this song-- I love how my love for Han and Bae's 5,4,3,2,1 set me up to love him trying this jazz-inspired element, because that jazz tone is something in chill-listening I wish we'd hear more of! Vocalization and phrasing in this also make my insides SO happy, it's that purpling skz, a noir film and the bottom of a bottle left behind to follow cobblestones by the water next to the city, the shadow of a brimmed hat under streetlamps, the mellowed lights of a city falling asleep~

Stray Kids

Cute. I love putting this next to Twice's Celebration, in terms of a track that both looks back and forward, and for a moment not really knowing how the future will play out, but in full joy of contract renewals and all that. I can imagine this being important to concert setlists, an ode to unity.

Chk Chk Book (Festival Ver.)

XD Yeye faster, faster, FASTER-- I love how this and rock vers and just giving the people what they /expect/ from the genre they're dipping they're paintbrushes into. LaLaLaLa wasn't a rock song, it was about the heart of a rock artist, and Chk Chk Boom samples from the heart of latina in every bit of it, but the song is uniquely this genre of music that exists in a space between cross-sectionalities. But yeah sure, they'll give you an all-out of what you expect anyway XD

The whole album reaks of their usual cocky overconfident characters they've been getting more and more comfortable in with each comeback. It makes me curious for where they'll take themselves next, knowing they'd never leave the soundscape production that brings them joy. I always think that I can't think of the musical space left for them to expand, and then they somehow manage it, and make something addictive and fun and interesting~

[hifuminto]

Have you see new Hypnosis Mic A.R.B? Part 1

Man i didn't play this game but i suddenly invest with these game after seeing their recent event called "Detective Six Part 1".

Sorry for my Bad English and writing, I am not native speaker and I don't really understand how to write bcos my dyslexia but I really want to make this long post bcos I really exicted! Here we go!

So this event is now about Badass Temple and Fling Posse Cosplaying as some detective to solve mystery. If i am not mistaken this is not first time this game do this. I remember previously they make similar event with Sherlock Holmes's theme with Samatoki, Gentaro and Rei as characters.

I don't really understand Japanese, bcos i can only read Katakana for now. But i like detective stuff, so i will have fun to write my guest here. In the moment i saw the character artwork I recognize some of them. If i am mistaken, please inform me.

Let us starting first with Kuko's base on his card title. 【波羅夷家の一族】 is pretty similar to a Japanese novel name 【犬神家の一族】 or in English title The Inugami's curse.

Kousuke Kindaichi is detective created by Seishi Tokomizo. He is describe as a shabby looking young man with a short height. But have a strong observation skills and logic thinking. His character is feature on 76 novels and appearing in a numerous FIlm, Television and Stage Adaptation.

The Inugami's curse was novel written by Seishi Yokomizo, a mystery novelist as part of Kousuke Kindaichi's series. So of course I think he's cosplaying as Kousuke Kindaichi. Minus the robe but he wears the iconic hat base on the statue. I also doing google a bit and later find out the hat is also part of the costume for 2006 film adaptation. This is a neat reference!

Next is Jyushi. Jyushi card is 【アルゴξ急行の殺人】 that literaly translated in google translate as "Murder in Argo Cart". This is clearly referring to Agatha Christie's novel "Murder in Oriented Express" and who is the star of the novel? Of course its Hercule Poirot!

Hercule Poirot is one of Agatha Christie most famous character. Not much know about his history beside he came from a large family with little wealth in small town on Europe. But he's a former police officer turn into private detective who solve many mystery in his later career. Poirot operates as a fairly conventional, clue-based and logical detective. But sometimes he willingly to hide some important detail of his plan if necessaries. Another fun fact is, Poirot sometimes refer to himself in third person.

Actually before i notice his card name, I already knew he cosplaying either as Hercule Poirot bcos his outfit is pretty familiar to this detective. But i have second thought and think maybe he's cosplaying as John Watson, considering what Hitoya wearings.

But after seeing the card name. I am pretty sure he's cosplaying as Hercule Poirot! But still I am still supersize finding out about this!

And then last, the third member! Hitoya! His card is written 【医師が相棒】 which is literally translate as "Your partner is a doctor". Now who is the famous detective with doctor as their partner? That right. its one and only Sherlock Holmes!

Sherlock Holmes is a detective that no need introduction. Currently he's IS the most famous fictional detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that still relevant in this age thanks to numerous modern adaptation.

Hitoya maybe the fourth person who cosplaying as the famous detective from Arthur Conan Doyle story. But I think his outfit is the closest one that similar to the legendary detective compare the other three. I mean look at the old Sherlock Holmes picture that i found as reference.

(But I do admit, maybe not his belt thou hahhaa.)

Anyway here some picture of other Detective trio wearing Sherlock Holmes's inspired outfit!

But then i think He IS the perfect choice to portrayed as the famous detective <3 he just need to put the hat on his head XD

Anyway i finish with BAT for now. I will do Fling Posse soon after this.

[saintsenara]

Your ships opinions are at the same time so funny and so interesting I'm like rolling on the floor howling in laughter and nodding my head in appreciation at the same time xD

I'm wondering now, since you posted ur opinions of snegulus based on Scylla and Charybdis (great fic btw! It's been a while since I got that invested in a fanfiction!), what are your opinions on: James/Severus, James/Lily and Tobias/Eileen?

Also, for the sake of crack, what do you think of Severus/Peter, Marvolo/Albefort and Umbridge/Fudge/Scrimgeour?

thank you very much, anon, both for the very kind shoutout to scylla and charybdis and for the selection of ships.

james potter/severus snape

snames isn’t really a pairing i vibe with, because - in my view - they don’t have any particularly interesting points of narrative convergence or divergence. snack - snape and sirius - is a hot ship because they’re narrative mirrors: they have identical experiences of and attitudes towards grief, duty, atonement and so on, caused by the fact that they are both indirectly responsible for killing the person they love the most; they both have complicated relationships with their families; they are both outsiders among their peer groups; their differences are polar opposites - sirius is rich, snape is poor, sirius is an outsider within gryffindor, snape is an outsider within slytherin, sirius is attractive, snape is ugly; and so on.

but snames doesn’t have that spark. their differences don’t exist on a scale, like snape’s do with sirius, they just exist as separate categories of experience. james is beloved by his family, snape is not. james is an inherent insider, whose whole family have been in gryffindor, snape is an inherent outsider. james is rich, but his wealth doesn’t come with strings attached, whereas sirius’ is obviously only something he’s permitted to access if he conforms to his parents’ restrictive social views and snape has none at all. james is a physical everyman - neither as ugly as snape nor as good-looking as sirius - and, therefore, someone who has no idea how it feels to stand out because of your looks (or name, or choices).

that said, james’ obvious sexual jealousy of snape could definitely be because he wants to bang him. i think we can all see him trying to get to lily by befriending her bestie, only to end up in love. good for him.

lily evans/james potter

i don’t really care about jily, beyond saying that james deserves our respect for bagging a baddie.

i don’t subscribe to the common anti-jily position that if they’d lived they wouldn’t have stayed together - nor that they weren’t sincerely compatible - i’m just not particularly interested in them because i think that there are far more engaging first-war characters, and that fics in which both of them live always kind of flop. harry is just much less interesting if he’s just from a happy home.

what i do like about jily is thinking about the other marauders’ reactions to it. the fact that sirius and lupin never mention lily is - of course - a narrative necessity, since the harry potter series needs to keep the fact of her centrality to the mystery hidden until the very last minute, but i am committed to ignoring that and being sincerely convinced that neither of them liked her. in sirius’ case, because she took the man he obviously loves from him. in lupin’s, idk, who cares about him.

eileen prince/tobias snape

my view on this is informed by the fact that i simply do not accept the fanon that eileen is from an elite pureblood family - she can’t be! her marriage to a muggle man is announced in the daily prophet! what purebloods are doing that?

the only person who ever suggests she might be is harry, who does so on the basis of no evidence, in order to force a comparison between snape and voldemort as a way of soothing his furious grief over dumbledore’s death. but one of the central jokes in voldemort’s background is that he is - by far - the most aristocratic character in the entire series, in both the magical and muggle worlds, but he is denied access to the social cachet this brings in the muggle world because he’s raised in an orphanage and never acknowledged by tom riddle sr. and in the wizarding world because he has a muggle name which means he’s denied access to the lineage-based hierarchy of wizarding society, even though he’s descended from slytherin. it doesn’t make sense, then, for snape to be in the same position - the uniqueness of voldemort’s parentage is the point.

i think of eileen, then, as a half-blood. i also think of her, regardless of her blood-status, as being from a working-class background herself, rather than raised in ancestral majesty. [after all, we have andromeda for that.]

i also think of her and tobias as childhood friends - from the same class background and the same area - with magic the only difference between them. i love this as a trope, because the canonical series does far too little interrogation of the fact that - for all dumbledore and the order’s grandstanding over the inherent goodness of the muggle world - all but one of the mixed muggle-magical relationships we see in canon fail*, all muggleborn children extract themselves totally from the world of their birth, and the two worlds are as completely segregated by the good guys as they are by the death eaters. eileen discovering that magic - which looked so unlikely to cause an issue when she fell in love with toby aged ten - causes the man she adores to despise her, the son she loves to resent her, and the poverty in which she lives to continue unabated is something i think is really valuable to explore.

plus, the idea that eileen - in her son’s eyes - threw away her prestigious magical education to return to a cotton-town slum and marry a poor man provides the perfect explanation for why severus snape makes the choices he makes in his adult life.

[*we hear of four muggle-magical relationships in canon - jkr has added several more in her post-series writing, undoubtedly because she realised how this looks: tom riddle sr. and merope gaunt, tobias and eileen, dean’s parents, and seamus’ parents. we all know what happened to tom and merope, tobias and eileen are canonically a violent, unhappy marriage, dean’s dad leaves his mum when he’s a baby, and seamus’ parents may or may not still be together.]

peter pettigrew/severus snape

so, can we all agree that making snape and wormtail live together for a summer is a god-tier petty move from lord voldemort? imagining him rocking up at spinner’s end with wormtail in tow and saying ‘he’s doing my head in, so he’s your problem now’ sends me every time.

i think they fuck once or twice - what else is there to do in cokeworth? - but neither of them enjoy it.

aberforth dumbledore/marvolo gaunt

i’m sorry, but i can’t stand the disrespect being shown by this question towards one of my favourite canon couples… aberforth/goat.

cornelius fudge/rufus scrimgeour/dolores umbridge

hot!

after all, scrimgeour is gassing her up to harry when he visits him in half-blood prince, and you only do that if the sex is good.

my theory, though? fudge isn’t on board with it - his vibe in canon is that he appreciates umbridge’s bureaucratic loyalty to him but he’d love to stop getting raunchy letters from her, and when rufus suggested that they add a third to their bedroom activities it never occurred to him that she’d be in contention. he wishes he’d known. he’d have vetoed.

[makoodles]

Seeing as Ola'netu is getting so much love, I'm going to jump on that train too XD Because oh my gosh, I am absolutely in love with him lol He's been to seven - SEVEN - mating seasons, and he's turned down every single woman in the clan who has expressed interest in him. Yet - YET - he shows up to each and every mating season, dressed to attract attention, with bright beaded jewelry and a finely woven battle band hugging his (slutty) slender waist!!!!! Either that boy has it bad for the reader, showing up to each mating season (for seven years!) in the hopes that she'll be there, that she'll be available and willing to give him a chance, or... or... well, I don't have another explanation XD He refuses every woman of the clan who asks him for a dance, yet, the moment he catches the reader looking at him, he smiles like a fool, walking up to where the reader sits (nestled in the Olo'eyktan's arms, mind you) and asks her to dance... *screeches into the massive void* How could we not fall head over heels in love with him? XD We never even stood a chance. And then you slap us all in the face with the filthiest Jake smut that has ever been smutted lol The conflict got real XD I mean, on one hand, you have Jake and Neytiri utterly destroying the reader together, showing her pleasure like anything she has ever experienced in her life. But on the other, you have the potential of not only going with Jake ad Neytiri destroying the reader, but for Ola'netu to be *gently coughs as I straighten my tie and fold my hands on the desk between us* guided by Jake (and Neytiri? I know foursomes can be quite tricky to write lol) on how to "safely" fuck his human mate. Ola'netu's courting would definitely bring out Jake's thorns, that's for sure. Because that's his BFF the punk is courting. Does he even know how to use that "small" thing between his legs? The jealousy would definitely be high for both Jake and Ola'netu lol And with that, I will end my rant and enjoy the Ola'netu train ride. We're headed toward a very small tunnel ahead and I'm absolutely invested to see how he'll...manage... that challenge XD Huehuehue... *Dr. Evil laugh*

EVERYONE SHOWING UP AND SHOWING OUT FOR OLA'NETU LSKDNFKLXNGKLADF

that foursome idea is spicyyyyyy omg it is literally insane. like goddamn i love it but foursomes are definitely a painnn to write, i feel like my skills end at threesomes 😭

i do love the idea of jake and neytiri wrecking reader together 🤔 or, alternatively, neytiri and reader wrecking jake together because that man is such a smartass, i just know he'd push his luck beyond recovery

[selfox]

I had far too much time during these 24 hours of getting home Xd but I feel so dang proud surprisingly. Even if later I'll regret it cus I barely slept. A bit yes, but not as much as I should have

The Random Tales of Drakgo by @gothicthundra

The villains retreat the ark

I was so invested in this ark I wasn't making any notes while reading hdhdhd so it's not first time reaction and more.... Of a second one ^^· So I had more time to think what I was writing and was monologuing

This is a behemoth of text

(1)

They are so husband and wife. Yhe opening scene reminded me about Mr and Mrs McAllister from Home Alone, when they already were on the plane and Mrs McAllister realized that they forgot something someone

Hoarder Drakken is an eternal mood to me.... But it also made me feel called out

“hard to mess it up” Shego, careful with words

«How could you mess this up?» ma'am.

To be honest, I would get a couples stuff and bunked with my friend, if it was a better deal. We all grown up… can't say it for sure for those two.

Ma'am 🤣 I wasn't and am still not surprised

“I'm done being mad at you” are you sure about that?

«You know how it is traveling with someone. Did he happen to tell you that it's our honeymoon?» just forge that marriage contract already.

Ngl I would want to chill in that cabin thing.

Jet lagged bby, breathe in and out. Feelings are hard

He was sleeping so soundly you didn't have a heart waking him up eh, Shego? ;3 mosquitoes are worse than evil tho

He is a man of many talents, Shego

Them getting ready for resting is making me sleepy XD so cozy

The fact that she keeps feeling insulted over how Drakken is reluctant to join her in the bed makes me laugh so hard

Maam, you are a tsundere... Well, definitely some kind of dere.

"A nice relaxing morning will kill this," sighed Shego as she curled up in her bed. - yeah *sure*

(2)

Drakken needs some undisturbed rest honestly, poor guy is so wind up.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

«Yes, can we alter orders, because I don't want to start this day having an argument about mushrooms," sighed Shego.» I love that she knows he hates mushrooms... And that they argued about them previously xD

🤣🤣🤣 I am so sorry, Shego, that must have been a holiday experience

“why are you naked?” 🤣🤣🤣

There is your answer. Hi, Cleo

And F OTL

The big awkward

You know, I really like those 4 in there. Even if it's just to make a huge argument.

Huh, and I guess it's a side effect of Drakken and Eddie growing up together? Cus I read them as siblings rather than cousins.

Oh boy low blows are all around.

Funny thing about rereading this one more time to make notes that I now see deeper details, that I didn't notice in my rush of the first time. Like Eddie trying to distract girls. He isn't idiot, the guy is smart, his boisterous personality does cover it a lot… which in hindsight, if he times it right can be a great distraction … it already does in some manner

Even for jabs, Eddie can read you so well Drew.

Hmm, hmm… I'm really curious what story lies behind that one

Jesus, someone get a hose

They all are hypocrites and I already forgot who started what

Have I heard before that Ed called Shego by her name? But that, does show that, he wants her to calm down.

What can I say? Villains.

Xd I still find it so funny that every villain decided to go on vacation. Feels like someone gave them this idea especially considering how the ark ended, unless it's some huge cosmic coincidence.… buuuutttt Murphy's law been following Drakken and Shego for a while.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Hellooooo~~~ Carmella. Hi, Hench

Aww, friend here! Hi Duff

Ooohhh, yeah I was reading too fast so I didn't see it Xx

Shego, your green is showing

Good candy call, but who knows.

Heh, why this family stuff makes me want to hug those two?

“Cleo? Ha, nah, she's more a casual fling. I mean, she'd go I'm sure, but you know Cleopatra. She's not exactly the ride or die type, seriously," chuckled Ed.” uhu *sips*

Miscommunication all around.

Hello, Pandora and Hermes~

Seriously (grumbles curses at Edward Bartholomew P Lipsky) how those 2 met? Another case of cosmos making foils to Drakken and Shego? Just put of all exes, just so curious.

Ouch OTL I wish there were some apologizes voiced OTL but alas

Eddie, I am still surprised that it was just 10.

PANDORA NO! Ruby… you are going to regret it!

Ok for me it's kinda cute sight of Ed putting arm around Cleo and Carmella - cus it “shows” how small they are xD But I get Drakken's and Shego's feelings too.

Pandora no OTL I have yet to read the whole thing on Tumblr, but with how it all goes in here... Man, thats brutal OTL Pandora... OTL Hermes you are a champ for putting 2 and 2 together. OTL OTL think its also the fact that she is very inebriated takes it to the atmosphere of the thing too.... Yeahhhhh villains were more hardcore back in the day OTL

I am so glad he went for her OTL ;-;

I want to pull them in a hug. OTL the issues *sigh* Drew, maybe time to be honest? You are just in love with her.

Hermes is a champ

*sigh* those two… Once again I say you need couples therapy on top of individual therapy

(3)

Hdhdhd like a child with hand in a cookie jar, but it's just dismantled kitchen appliances. Insomniac Drakken strikes back

I'll never get over how much she knows him, his little habits and reactions.

.... Hehe, Chekhov's gun.

The whole scavenger hunt heh I love every single one of those doofuses. I love seeing them all bond villainous style. And when Drakken sneakily made Shego go through it and her *knowing* what he been up to. And drakken being Indiana Jones

I guessed cooking in Lipsky family means something of a bond between significant others?

Shego, once again you are A CAT. Sidenote. I still don't understand salad with marshmallows, how's that a salad??

CHILDREN XD

Wait is that a salad that Dylan B Hollis made? The diabetes one? ........ That doesn't narrow it down xD

Ah, right, Pandora.

(3)

Yeah... Chick fight alright.

Heh, like I've said. Brothers

“Ran off”? Huh 🤔

OTL

I have no words still, but ough OTL

YAAAY Eddie and Drakken are talking about feelings!

Yeah yeah, Eddie knows his cousin well.

«Ever think you'd be a little less uptight if you guys were...?» cannot believe I say it, I agree with you Ed. But there will be more feelings involved.

Ah :((

*takes a mental note*

(4)

The moment near fire pit it gives difficult combination of emotions. From melancholy, exhaustion to weirdly enough comfort and coziness. Her giving him the bottle without a question and then sharing her turmoil with him. His asking if he can do anything. Heh, even Drakken's quip about staying there or following her. I guess cus it was said in such sense of normality.

Complexity of this all. Even that complicated anger and sadness from Drakken.

OTL Shego, girl OTL

My thoughts about what animal Shego would represent is still a cat. OTL yeah... Shego tends to run away OTL not the best method of dealing with problems. Drakken would care though. And yes, birthday.

«You're not really going to ditch your best friend on his birthday...»

«Why do I trust you?»

I'm getting heart palpitations bdhdhdh

«Shego, how about some revenge for breakfast? It doesn't say you can't shoot at non-participating people. Eddie says Pandora spends a lot of time by the pool.»

I had such a stupid wide grin. That what it means best friend.

Aaah my favorite moment of this chapter! The paintball fight!

It feels me with giddiness seeing Drakken all pro during it, and that mental image of kiddies Drew and Eddie spending time at paintball.

Awwww Shego is so eager to shoot people

........... Is he angry cus they took his favorite color? Bsjxhd that question I had ever since I read it lol

Discussing strategy while having domestic dispute, such a drakgo vibe.

There!!!! There is shooting Drakken!

«Shego, now may be the time to inform you that my aunt and uncle ran a paintball arena... This was what Eddie and I did on weekends.”

“Motor Ed I can see..." Shego raised a brow as Eddie almost got hit and ducked behind a barrel. "Or not."

"Shego," said Drakken. There was a devious smirk forming on his face. "I made it a point not to lose to my little cousin. I'm not about to start now."

"Noted," said Shego. She felt the smirk tug onto her lips.»

Thats... Doing something for me... *cough* same Shego *cough*

«We've been played into a trap," said Drakken. Shego glanced to see him grinning. "Nice."

"I don't see..." Shego readied her gun, but Drakken tackled her just as shots were fired.

"What was that!" yelled Carmella as she was covered in purple along with Cleopatra, while Anubis and DNAmy had been saturated in pink.

"We won, that's what that was," smirked Drakken above Shego as he gloated at the four who grumbled and skulked off.

"Hah, classic accidental team fire, didn't think it would work.»

Standing ovation to Drakken!

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) hehe

They are so husband and wife without realizing it. And yes, Shego, you are a gold digger 🤣

Ouch

(5)

*sigh*

I am so very curious what the hell happened between Drakken and Ed in the past so it so sour rn. Idk... Like yeah I understand what happened within the fic is also a major factor, but there feels something more. Especially when other chapters kinda indicated that they were close. And Eddie before idolized his cousin.

Well... Eddie you kinda were a dick

Well Shego… cus you *leans closer conspiraciously* maybe wanted him to pin you?

Kinda jealous of her ability to lounge like that.

F microwave

TALKING FINALLY

I've been making such a peculiar face at this back and forth.

Keeping your hamnds busy for sure, it's like heh a fidget toy for him. He probably needs many of those

Heheh oh the tense moment is coming

Morning, Sleeping Prince.

Why I love them shit talking others?

Ah hi there, Dr. Botox.

Ah, it's showtime

(6)

I've seen the illustration and it's amazing. Love Ed's and Dementor's shirts

Under table banter.

Eddie you have no idea. Tho... Maybe you have.

Drakken surely would have loved to hit both of them.

“blond mullet king” I am squinting at Demetor.

Ngl thats pleasant to hear correction from Shego dhdhdh :')

It maybe a wishful thinking on my part, but did Shego instinctively went for Drakken's comfort? Nevertheless it is heartwarming and him comforting her

«You're one to talk, you were double-crossing all of us just because you had some point to prove to yourself that you could work alone," said Cleopatra.» she got you there Shego. That's exactly what happened.

*sigh* Ed.

Hmm.... Yes a set up for sure, but was it from the very beginning of the vacation with that mass deal or something else🤔 it could have been a call from someone… Carmella? Maybe someone else hmm 🤔 thing is Botox from seeing Shego's shoes must have understood that descendants of Leviathan fam should be around cus how else Shego got those shoes?

I love this intense fight so much. From Ed and Demeter back to back, to Duff on the table and even guys were are out but they were still battling. And Drakken with his fast thinking.

Scary how Botox ... I assume Dollmaker helped them, modified henchwomen to get boost from Shego, it definitely shows that *she* is the target.

Villain solidarity!

OTL the moment when Shego got his was genuinely unexpected and scary.

I assume the scream was from Drakken hitting Botox's arm with toothpick gun. Which was badass as fuck especially considering... Well he went for blood for Shego.

(7)

I think... This specific character is one of my personal favorites. Especially the absurdity Xd but I guess after one maddening night of fighting for their lives and almost getting caught … they all need chill time.

Dr D you had the biggest instinct to protect.

Hench for the win!

Heh, Dr D. I think this mishap helped them all honesty.

And Hench is a very smart cookie. Props to him indicating to wait up in case of eavesdropping and ordering candles himself and getting them too.

Also yeah Duff was in between rock and a hard place for sure.

There was a scene in Transformers movie (the 2007 one) and villains being cramped in the kitchenette reminded of it. It was and still is hilarious. Both of those scenes djdhjd

DUFF DUFF OMFG you are a mad lad and suicidal at that

And still that question who tipped them....

Sleeeeepoverrrrrr

I just love their stories so much.

Cleo, I might have done the same thing xD fuck that guy.

Dementor's sorry is honestly adorable, but ending is sad 😔

«Right... I once rebuilt the entire school staff's vehicles on the roof «

of the school building because I was bored," said Ed smugly. Drakken glared.

"Excuse me, I did that," said Drakken with a scoff. "It was four cars and I only asked you to help because you kept talking and it kept you quiet."

"Yeah, but I did it... And I was talking because I was bored, seriously, chill," said Ed with an eye-roll. "Why do you always have to have the attention?"

"Seriously?" asked Drakken.

"Seriously... It's like you need constant validation," said Ed. Cleopatra snorted and nearly choked on her drink.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his brow furrowed."I think she snorted because it's funny how you're telling Drakken he acts like he needs validation, when you're the one taking credit for his story," said Hermes.»

Sorry but this whole moment sent me in such giggling feat, I couldn't breathe for a bit

Epic save with booze~

Strip poker scene is .... Delightful in my books xD

After this whole ark I kinda like this mentor relationship between Camille and Dementor. It's just so sweet... Thank you, Shego, I think I got that one from her.

This is a party :3

OTL you'll see soon Shego

Another moment where I had to wipe my eyes XD Dick jokes and puns

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Shego

I'm so glad she finally started to notice that she likes him... More than a friend.

Hello green Shego

She had hit the nail on the head with such accuracy Shego, go Adrena...... Omg no Xd well now yes, but still omg.

And now crucial moments between those two

*Sigh* Shego, just listen to what he has to say, please?

Drakken the badass, knight in the shining blue armor that is his labcoat.... Unfortunately not on him rn dhhdhd

I love those two, I really do.

The story time. Dollmaker. I don't knkw who is the creepiest still. But this guy ... Yeah in Shego words “Creep”. OTL poor Shego

;-; wiping away tears. Hug you two. Or kiss. You both want that. But probably, ngl it isn't right time. Some you... Even both, hadn't realized something important. And there is a hug. Slept together on one another's shoulder ; 0;

*Sigh*... I sometimes wish that she realized sooner how much Drakken was holding himself with not to act (to the point of it being unhealthy in the future) *sigh*

And now back home, you two