#hes very much the kind of guy who doesnt really talk to people if theyre not present or text him first

[rodismancave]

. wanting 2 write stuff for bad ending rodimus but it scares me soooo bad

[oceanwithouthermoon]

okay some people genuinely really need to accept that the ONLY "queer coding" in saiki k is when they make gay jokes. there is NO other intentional queer coding, and i think people dont understand that claiming rep where it isnt there is much much more harmful than you think it is... just headcanon! its fun! you guys act like youre going to fucking die if you ship/hc something not canon, so you convince everyone that everything you say is canon ☠️ its literally insane

theres a HUGE difference between a headcanon or ship having what YOU see as canon backing, and a hc or ship that is actually implied or canon...

the only ship that you could argue is implied in saiki k is terusai, thats literally it, you could potentially make an argument that yumekai could be reciprocated towards the end, satoumiya, or MAYBE mikosai, but im pretty sure thats it...

nonbinary saiki is one of my personal favorite headcanons (one of the only ones i pretty much ALWAYS have in mind when talking or writing about him, it's practically a given) and i think it has pretty good canon backing, but its not ACTUALLY implied.

hes FAIRLY certain that his biological sex is male, and all evidence points to that, but he doesnt know and specifically says that he doesnt know what his true gender is... he clearly has absolutely zero discomfort with masculinity OR femininity, doesnt know or care about his gender, and is comfortable with either sex... he seems very happy to just be either...

seems like pretty solid evidence, but you also have to realize that there is literally zero chance that the author intended for saiki to be read as nonbinary, or trans in any way, this was literally just an excuse for plot and to have a reason to take advantage of his shapeshifting to do crossdressing/genderbend chapters ☠️ i love to see it as him being nonbinary and i think it has a lot of backing, but its not canon or even "implied" at all.

theres a lot of other examples of this kind of thing in this fandom, like theres a lot of people who claim that kubokai are queer coded (its usually just a joke when people say things like "hehe my ship is so canon" but im talking about like... people who see yumekai and go "um 🤨 this is LITERALLY homophobic because erm um kubokai are basically canon and queer coded and you shipping one of them with a WOMAN is HOMOPHOBIC" lmfao) and i am actually just not even sure where this comes from because they dont have anything that can even be twisted into romantic subtext, theyre just a popular ship because they have a good friendship. which is great! but theyre like the LAST thing i wouldve expected people to claim as implied or canon. they are absolutely not. the only thing i can even think of that might make people think that is saiki saying they look gay in that one chapter ☠️

[the-s1lly-corner]

(This was inspired by an OC post I saw)

Can I request headcanons for Jax being affected by a love virus, (as in being forced to act lovey-dovey because of a glitch the reader carries)? I hope this makes sense.

Jax w/ a love virus!

might be a little different than the post youre referring to because i dont know what post youre talking about </3 written as the reader and jax already being in a romantic relationship since i think otherwise i may be uncomfortable writing it </3 will touch more on that in the actual post but!! kind of written with like, a slight angst angle at the beginning, going off my own silly ideas since i dont know specifics for this!! my toxic trait is seeing someone call a recipe "hard" and "difficult to master" and my immediate reaction is to make the thing. i learned how to make macarons i can learn how to make panettone... not today though i need to get the nuts and fruits for it

he doesnt care if he was sick, when he recovers from it hes going to be so embarrassed. will become argumentative with anyone who tries to bring it up, even if theyre being neutral or supportive of him.. it might be easier for him to come to terms with it and live it down if you (his main target) are already in a relationship with him

i think he might be really upset if he got the virus from you; regardless of if you can control it or not.. it sucks, yeah, but this isnt like a flu or cold, but

yeah

bonus points if you yourself dont show many symptoms of the virus and even more bonus points if you decided not to tell anyone about it; i think if it were like this it would warrant break up material for jax

obviously i dont know the specifics, and i do want to keep this somewhat vague so it can hopefully be morphed to fit what you, the anon, specifically saw/read

but how is he like during the actual virus/infection?

clingy. very clingy

sure, jax was already clingy in his own way before getting sick, what with keeping an eye on you and trying to keep you all to himself when you guys were alone... but this is... something else

he constantly follows you around, and might even drape himself over your shoulder while you're trying to talk to someone else

gets visibly antsy and even irritated when separated from you for too long, perhaps even becoming a little verbally aggressive to the other circus members if they try to get him to calm down

wont even hesitate throwing himself into danger. not to save you. but to be around you. "if you die im going to die with you" mentality, pretty much

audibly whines when you have to go do something. embodiment of the "nooo you hang up :3" thing but way more intense and kind of obnoxious (obviously not a knock to anyone who does it, jax is just ramping it up to 100 and beyond)

if hes showing typical... sickness.. symptoms (fatigue, fever, ect) youre going to have one hell of a time keeping him in bed. youre probably going to have to monitor him until he recovers; because otherwise hes just going to follow you around the circus

this is already normal jax behavior but hes going to push people, hes just going to do it a little more often and more aggressively in order to get to you while hes sick

[mamawasatesttube]

I LOVE MATCHMAKING AN ALREADY TOGETHER COUPLE it’s soooo cute, especially when it’s kids… they just want their silly oblivious adult to be happy (they don’t know he already is). Kon getting to see Tim mentoring a bunch of kids. Reminiscing about their yj days. Tim shocking them by just how many heroes he’s familiar with who respect him. CUTE!!!

YEAH!!! bc like, tim is just by nature an intensely private guy. he hasnt mentioned that hes happily married bc why would he. it isnt relevant hes just here to train these guys in nonpowered combat and gadgetry and such and to mentor them on missions at their skill level, etc. his personal life is on a need to know basis by default. (incidentally, he's also a great listener because he's such a steel trap. he's got like 5 different angles on whatever teenage drama is going on in their lives. he will not be intervening unless as a last resort. why would he.) he's very personable and good with them (yeah he's awkward yeah he puts his foot in his mouth now and then yeah he goes how do you do fellow kids. but like. hes a people person and they love him) but he just doesnt really talk about himself much.

and YEAH kon loves to see it <3 i also really love to think about kon mentoring a lil baby telekinetic in how to use and exercise their powers. hes teaching them to crochet and then knit and slowly expanding the number of moving pieces they can control at once. some of tim's kids are at least a little jealous because supernova is soooo cool but also like theyre Fiercely defensive of tim. thats THEIR scrungly but hypercompetent weird guy. HES REALLY COOL TOO OKAY. ignore that he just said "get pwned" after defeating 4 of them at once at a spar. he didnt say that. they dont know what you mean.

but YEAH overall its just cute :> good vibes. a romcom but like theyre already married. the comedy is the kids discovering that they are in fact already married. they confront tim one day like tim. we KNOW you have a crush on mr. kon-el!!! and tim's like. completely flabbergasted. you think i What??? and theyre like. WE CAN TELL, TIM. YOURE NOT SLICK. and tim just stares at them for a minute

and then he calls kon over (just says "hey, kon, can you c'mere for a second?" and supernova just shows up?!?! like hes just listening for tim's voice calling for him all the time????!?!?) and goes "okay. can you guys please repeat your conclusions to kon for me?"

and theyre like. tim are you asking us to tell him you have a crush on him for you. thats kind of pathetic tim we're seventeen

and kon's just like. wait. wait wait wait. turns to tim with a 1000 megawatt grin. SUNSHINE... YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON ME? AWWWW.

tim: yeah i mean i think it's slightly more serious than that, given that i, oh, i don't know, married you two years ago? kon: AWW.... hehe!!! the kids: YOU WHAT?!?!?!?!? tim: now! i know for a fact i've told you all to do your due diligence on research, background checking, and investigation before jumping to conclusions, so this makes for a great case study and a fantastic learning opportunity--

[brofightiscancelled]

found out about the journey to the west matsu aus and discussed the casting with oomf...... transcribing the essay i wrote in their discord DMs here cuz i wrote a lot so why not lol

oso as sun wukong: this makes the most sense as the red/main guy/foolish guy who suffers from hubris. actually in second pic it looks like he's currently being subjected to his headband punishment which is really funny combined with sanzang (his master who inflicts the headband punishment) being choro

i do think oso matches sun wukong's stupidity and hubris. and combined with choro sanzang i do think this is probably the funniest option

also he just looks very cute here. he's just a little scamp. wukong has a very boyish charm (at least in the beginning) so i get the transference. i also think the idea of being able to start torturing oso at any given moment is appealing

kara as the horse dragon prince is 100% real. this is so true. it's a stupid role for him he looks dumb af in this costume and the horse prince is just a stupid motherfucker who gets the short end of the stick throughout the entire story. perfect no notes

he Would be choro's steed. this is his role. he's da horse they ride on who turns into a beautiful woman one time to try to save sanzang and fails. it's perfect for him

it also fits cuz the dragon horse is prince of the sea and he's got like the water theming too

choro as sanzang: i feel like this is a lowkey blasphemous casting given that sanzang is such a pure and noble monk and choro is just constantly consumed by his desires. but it's not like anyone else wouldve been better (Actually matsuyo wouldve been better. Put matsuyo in this role) and again keeping in mind his dynamic with wukong i do think it's the funniest option so i'll allow it. this dude would not HESITATE to cause oso physical pain when he's annoying him and would constantly berate and harp on the importance of not killing people (who are trying to kill him) to the point of redundancy and to his active detriment. and sanzang i guess is the most proper of the cast trying to keep everyone in line (Because he is a monk) so it fits dynamic-wise

ichi as bull king: bull king is a famous jttw villain, but honestly not like.... major......i feel like in my memory he is largely characterized by being the husband of the Iron Fan lady and the father to red boy. so casting any matsuno as a Guy Who's Famous For Being A Husband And Father is kind of funny and wrong to me lol. it's very weird that this is his only consistent casting to me (between this set and the merch au) because i dont think the bull king has any ichi attributes (isn't he usually interpreted as very red-colored even? lol)

he has nothing to do with cats and the wikipedia page says he's a major villain but i s2g he's in like 4 stories max. i guess they just went to find "who's the biggest villain in jttw" and slapped him on there even though i feel like the point of jttw is that there arent any like, truly central villains because it's like 9981 disjointed trials. and i guess he looks cool. idk

if it were me i'd maybe have cast him as guanyin because 1. it's funny 2. she's the one who gives sun wukong the punishment headband, and also does a lot of other lowkey sadistic things throughout the series, and is much more of a pivotal figure throughout the story since theyre always going to her for help.....

although actually if we were going to extend this then totoko would be a perfect guanyin. so i just dont know who ichi would be in that case

jyushi as pigsy is sooooo true. pigsy is just a airheaded and stupid lustful guy who likes to eat and is always causing troubles so it fits him within the dynamic. no notes

and totty as wujing is very fitting because wujing is the youngest disciple and lowkey doesnt get to do anything for most of the story he's just always talked over. i think they interpreted wujing's water attributes as kappa attributes here which is cute. ill allow it

and then my gripes with the other casting from the merch set

ok the other one. i think oso is meant to be the buddha based on the ears and outfit but the lotus is a guanyin (goddess) thing so i think they have their visuals a little confused. but ill assume he's buddha...? i think this is a really funny and unfitting choice considering the buddha's basically only role is to give them the goal and then to punish wukong for his hubris and that doesnt suit bakamatsu at all. but it's funny so i get it

kara as sanzang..... i guess i can kind of see it in the same way i see priest kara working but they share no attributes. and again the wukong dynamic doesnt work, sanzang is always berating wukong and will easil yresort to physical punishment . would karamatsu ever hurt jyushi if it came down to it? maybe it's smoke inhalation but im leaning towards kara being too big of a pussy to do that. so

choro as shajing.............. shajing is kind of the quiet serious one so i kind of get it....? and if they want to do the kappa thing i gues the green fits. so like presonality wise this one does fit for the most part. shajing is also kind of a social outcast so i suppose this fits choro better

again i dont knw owhy ichi is the bull king. why was this the only consistent one

jyushi wukong... wukong is certainly sillay and whimsical but i feel like jyushi is lacking in hubris. jyushi Knows that he's stupid but wukong's whole character is constantly being punished for his pride. i think the colors are cute though

totty pigsy... pink so true. but pigsy is explicitly like. a menace kind of womanizer not a charming one. the whole reason he's a pig is because he made a pass at a girl that he shouldnt have and it was his punishment, i dont think totty's really like that lol

[scrollonso]

Hi I’d actually LOVE to hear more about the way you view Strollonso dynamic because a) the way you write about them makes ME feel insane and b) I am also attempting to write fic of these two and require all the references I can so I can feel at least marginally confident dipping my toes in rpf

Anyway keep being amazing and being awesome with your writings!! I hope we can all survive our parasocial relationship with this 20something rich white boy!!!

i have SO MUCH to say.

okay lets start off with their different instagram useage. lance hardly ever posts (averaging like 1 post a month) but nando on the other hand... (like 4 posts a week) so with this difference we get fernando mentioning and talking about and posting and praising lance and its so sweet because hes not doing it for lance to see hes doing it because he MEANS it.

then the fact that theyre so touchy for literally no reason and this isnt even new in 2017 (i believe) fernando was touching all up on lance after he got a podium and now that theyre teammates theres always some kind of contact going on (nando grabbing lances neck, arm, hands, hugging, etc.)

and yk i cant NOT mention the "happy you are not in alpine?" video because HELLO. the way lance walks over and grabs him straight away with a "yes, man" then when nando realizes its lance his whole face lights up. UGH. then when they hugged they were so close, lances lips practically against fernandos skin as he spoke like god get a rooommmmm... AND NANDOS HAND ON LANCES FACE? like he full on cupped lances cheek and the eye contact and smiles?? u dont do all this with a teammate u dont want to fuck.

then when nando won "overtake of the month" and told the woman interviewing him that he didnt vote for himself but for "this guy" (lance) like in what world are you VOTING for your TEAMMATE who in most cases is your biggest competition??

and back to their hugs, any time they hug its never a half assed side hug its always both arms tightly around eachother smiling talking chests pressed together like U DONT HUG JUST ANYONE THAT CLOSELY??

then when lance got p5 and nando got p3 (dont remember what race) and while celebrating with the team nando put a hand on his face again and one on his waist?? and people say they have a "father son dynamic" 😣

i posted abt this a while ago but them walking together is like my favourite thing ever because theyre so close and aware of eachother its like theyre two teenagers with a crush 😭 then ofc that video of nando waiting for lance because he was walking slow like ugh theyre so sweet

then we know lance obvi doesnt enjoy media much and usually has a poker face or is showing the person talking to him that he isnt enjoying the conversation but as soon as he sees fernando or he gets involved he has the biggest toothy grin on his face like i know your cheeks hurt after geeking over this man so much

and we're all aware that nando is practically known for being evil and mean and having big rivalries with his teammates (besides carlo they're my babies) but thats never been a problem with lance theyve genuinely always been just love and had this sweet bond and dynamic since before nando and lance even thought of joining aston and its beautiful

also i adore how they basically refuse to fight eachother or risk their relationship its so sweet and its a very unique thing to see because this is a sport and thats the whole point. from lance saying he wasnt going to fight because it was fernando and nando giving lance his brake information because he knew it would help it really shows just how mature they are and how in the end they value their relationship and their teams performance as a whole so they put that above fighting eachother.

[tertiaryapocalypse]

egbert posting (gonna use both names and he/she, sorry)

i think a great deal of the time people really simplify johns character to a sorta happy go lucky guy and that honestly really really bothers me like. june does put on a very cheery act but its not typically depicted accurately in fanon?

june canonically, at least in the first few acts, has a very sardonic dynamic with her friends. shes MEAN!!! let her be mean. john ribs pretty much all of the people he talks to, and i rarely ever see that shown in fanon? you have to remember that while he is a generally pretty carefree person as you would expect from the heir of breath hes also a teenager and kind of a dick (really much better than the sweet christian-type i see him portrayed as)

additionally june's carefreeness ... doesnt come from a place of joy. part of the breath aspect is this detachment, and june's the HEIR of breath, so she really really exemplifies every portion of twh aspect. june is so far away from her surroundings and friends, maybe not in the literal sense but when it comes to emotionally? it's pretty evident that a lot of things that happen to him are not properly processed, just stored for later, and its really likely those things never will be processed, at least without intervention. intervention which is near impossible to attain when you're holding yourself and everyone around you at arms length. she doesnt have any irl friends, despite being pretty much the only human kid who is presently able to make any. after the retcon, he entirely loses everyone he knows, only to receive shallow replacements instead. the jade he grew up with those last three years are gone, and the only people he knows who went through the retcon are roxy, a girl he barely knows, davesprite, who vanishes nearly instantly, and nannasprite, who despite being her grandmother is practically just a riddle telling game construct.

it just... frustrates me that everyone tends to see john as relatively problemless, because she has a Lot of issues, like any other HS character. theyre just harder to see, an act of intention on his part.

[kmmachilles]

heres the list of my favourite shadowhunter couples from all the series (not including twp for obvious reasons) bc i cant sleep

TID: Gideon n Sophie. I KNOW KNOW EVERYONE LOOVES HERONGRAYSTAIRS I DO TOO THEYRE MY HEART ND SOUL but gideon n sophie man. cmon. theres sweet hurt sophie that thinks men like gideon r assholes bc of her former employers son and will, and gideon REINFORCES that by constantly talking in spanish while hes actually absolutely down BAD for sophie. she thinks shes not good enough for him, her being a mundane 'servant' and 'ugly' from her scarred face and him being the eldest son carrying the great shadowhunter lightwood name. and then hes just there ordering scones to his room just to see sophie, and ending up stashing them under the bed bc he doesn't even LIKE them. and pretty, smart sophie, although FURIOUS at first, goes 'so yea u dont like scones. what about SPONGE CAKES???????? THEYRE MY SPECIALTY' and then he falls so in love with her and proceeds to tell everyone hes marrying her before even proposing to her. i love them.

TLH: Alastair n Thomas. i love love love them not only their pair but them as separate characters too. esp bc the two didnt have the kind of shit the other ships had to deal with like james n cordelia were 'OH HE LOVES GRACE BUT I LOVE HIM / OH I LOVE GRACE BUT IM MARRIED TO CORDELIA / I SHOULD RUN AWAY W MATTHEW / fuck im in love with cordelia.' and lucie n jesse were like 'IM IN LOVE W A GHOST WHO'S THE SON OF A WOMAN WHO HATES MY FAMILY / shes only in love w me bc im a ghost and she likes writing stories so im one of her stories SHE DOESNT REALLY LOVE ME BUT I LOVE HER BUT IM A GHOST SO I CANT *REALLY* LOVE HER PROPERLY LIKE SHE DESERVES' and ari and anna were like 'OH I LOVE HER BUT I WANT KIDS SO I'LL MARRY CHARLES WHO, BTW, IS GAY :3 / OH I LOVE HER but im a stony heartbreaker women, lock your daughters and then yourselves im coming after you / oh my god i cant marry charles I LOVE YOU ANNA TAKE ME BAACK / ha! im stony heartbreaker.' and we all know the problem w matthew n cordelia, and alastair and charles AND grace and christopher (my heart stopped beating i swear to you). like i know Alastair and thomas definitely HAD to overcome some shit but Thomas KNEW he liked guys and alastair and alastair was pr sure about it too so when they got together, they GOT together ykwim??? no hanky panky. plus theres also the 'thomas-is-basically-michelangelos-david' so yea. no brainer. theyre my fav.

TMI: Alec and Magnus. okay so this is for both obvious reasons (fan favourite) and some other personal ones. Living where i do, i had no idea you could like the same gender as yourself or ltr anything about the LGBTQ+ community at all. These two were the first gay ship i had EVER read and they are what lead me to be as confident in my sexuality as i am right now. they introduced me to the concept of thinking beyond what i was told or shown by the people that surround me and look into the world the right way, without projecting judgement. i love them for that. theyre my comfort characters and the one of the biggest reasons i am who i am right now. also magnus is pr much why i adore glitter and i manage to put it on my face every other day ahaha

TDA: Diana n Gwynn. a very, very close second is Mark n Cristina n Keiran. but about Diana and Gwynn, they literally have my entire soul im not even kidding you. Gwyn is the first person Diana opens up to about her transition and its honestly so heartwarming that Gwyn, the leader of the Wild Hunt, known to be vicious and feared by faerie, is literally just there for her to lean on. He supports her and is so, so calm and soft with her it genuinely melts me. like, this man is basically the reaper of souls and he rides a magnificent steed into the night but hes so gentle with Diana. obviously my obsession w them is reinforced by the fact that the FIRST time Gwynn sees Diana he goes 'O' and is all like 'HELLO my fair lady beautiful one gorgeous strong lovely lady' and gives her an acorn like 'call me ;)' and diana my love just, THROWS the acorn to julian and emma and goes 'do w that whatever u will' and acts like she doesnt care and when they call on gwyn he comes to help nd immediately goes '...THAT WASNT FOR YOU but ig i'll help bc ur the magnificent lady's brats :/'

so yes thats it. now pls, whatever fucking ghost is haunting me with these thoughts, PLEASE LET ME SLEEP

[silly-little-soul]

SDV Highschool AU

A/N - in celebration of my graduation today!!

Very rushed and not formatted properly cause I’m at prom rn and writing this on my phone I’ll fix it later but like i wanted to post sth for the occassion

-

Summary: sdv highschool au, the ones under the +++ are x reader

Characters: Harvey, Shane, Elliot, Haley (cause theyre my favs to write for)

Warnings: drug mention

~~~~~~~~~~~

HARVEY

- Big nerd

- He’s planning to study medicine so of course he puts accordingly much effort

- Awkward as fuck icl

- Everyone lowkey loves him cause he’s always really helpful

- Aka almost the entire class just copies his homework

- Lives off coffee in every life and scenario

- (One of the) best in class and beloved by the teachers but not annoying about it

- If y’all wanna act like there wasn’t any homework in front of the teacher cause no one did it (except him ofc bcs NERD) he’ll totally play along

- Which is probably why the whole reason it worked

- Some ppl def have a crush on him

- But he’s just so awkward and oblivious… I love him

- Also not rlly into the kind of dating that’s most common among teens? Does that make sense??

+++

- So for you, let’s say you’ve been his friend since forever, best friends perhaps

- He’s had a crush on you so long but has like no idea how to go about it

- And you think he’s not interested cause he has friendzoned you so hard multiple times before

- It was a panic reaction don’t blame him

- I can picture you coming together at sone school dance and it’s like really cliche

- I’ll make these longer later I’m sorry

-

SHANE

- stoner

- Like sorry but

- Maybe it’s my Connor Murphy obsession or maybe I’m right

- I’m basing this v much on mentally ill Shane ik that backstory only semi much works with a highschool setting but we dont rlly know abt pre mental illness shane so

- Generally not bad at school he just has intense down phases where he completely falls behind (relatable)

- Works at some fast food chain and hates it but yk money is money

- No one ever shows up for parent teacher talks bcs he doesnt want the school to know about his family and his family about school yk

- Quiet most of the time

- Mean when talked to

+++

- But also like he doesn’t rlly mean it with some people you just gotta po ker if he does for you and talk to him

- Good news: you’re very much an exception

- Phew

- I’m thinking forced project or something

- No actually I’m thinking one of you is the others dealer

- Probs starting as a kinda fwb thing that becomes serious

- There’s sm potential here icl

- I’m gonna rewrite all of this next week and get more into it

-

ELLIOT

- The weirdest kid in the grade but beloved by all

- Writes a lot, probably started a club that’s related to that somehow

- Wins a lot of those lil writing competitions schools do

- A romantic, hands out flowers or something to people on Valentine’s

- Like super mysterious and no one can tell if he does it on purpose or if it just kinda is like that

- Def has some ppl crushing on him

- Has been ppls secret admirer before

- Except it’s not rlly secret bcs who else would do allat

+++

- So when he falls for you it’s like that too

- You get mysterious letters and flowers from an admirer

- Except it’s not mysterious bcs Elliot everyone knows no one else does that!!!

- You pretend not to realize a while tho cause it’s sweet

- And then after a but you just give him a secret admirer letter back

- Even if it’s not quite as poetic as his

- He appreciates it sm cause it’s so rare people match his energy

- You’re couple goals but also lowkey make ppl sick with all your sap

-

HALEY

- Pretty popular

- She’s very confident and can be a bit brash so you might get the idea she’s a typical mean girl but she’s actually pretty sweet

- Especially with the girls

- You might get a comment about your messy makeup but best believe she’s fixing it up for you

- Girl in trouble? She’s right there without hesitation

- Has told so many of the guys off before for harassing girls or not taking a hint

- She’s a guardian angle ngl

- A whole bunch of people having a crush on her and it’s getting kinda rough

- If the person is respectful she’s really nice in rejecting them (or at least tries), she was mean about it like once and felt so bad after

- She knows she comes off as pretty harsh and it’s not always intentional yk

+++

- You probably meet through extra activities i forgot the name

- She gets a crush p quickly but like y’all wait till you rlly know you work as a duo before you dare ask her out

- Like you wanna have sth behind your question and what you say yk

- Okay i gotta stop writing but !!!!!! will fix this up and write more next week

- Also send requests or fandom talk please and thank you

[wawawawawawawawawawawawawa]

honestly, looking at izaya's life from a third person pov, it's just... sad? like.

here's this guy who touts himself as something akin to a god and a master manipulator and someone to be feared, and he IS very good at what he does, except... when you take a look at the rest of his life, you see a mid-20s man who has no friends, nobody who really likes him- his clients fear him, his secretary isn't fond of him, and the one friend he DOES have is honestly kind of a garbage friend. and when people draw attention to this, izaya goes on this spiel about how this friendship is so intricrate it can't possibly be understood by an outsider, but what's REALLY happening is that shinra routinely doesn't care for izaya on a personal level via ignoring and ostracizing him, and izaya kind of just. takes it up the ass

he sees everyone around him as an object and the sad thing is everyone, in turn, sees HIM as an object- less an actual living being and more an abstract concept, or at least something that only exists for others to gain something from. it's this vicious cycle of izaya keeping everyone at arm's length and denying his own humanity, which in turn leads to people also denying his humanity, unknowingly feeding into this fucked up cycle of self depracation that most likely started when he was a child- his parents didnt see him as a person, just a mouth to feed and later, a way to have the life they wanted while still appearing respectable- they had kids, just like society said they should, but theyre not obligated to care for them.

and the one person who DOES notice there is something unhealthy going on can't be assed to do anything about it- in volume 9, shinra explicitly says that he doubts izaya expects to live long enough to die of old age- celty actually agrees with him! celty not being assed about it i'd expect, she already hates izaya and doesn't actually know all that much about him, but shinra at least should realize that there's something off about the whole situation. wether thats out of apathy or he just genuinley doesnt believe izaya is being unhealthy, i don't know.

but as it stands, here's a man who insists he can't be manipulated and that he's in control, who's... routinely mistreated by his only friend whom he still talks to and expects some sort of closeness from, and who ultimatley not only loses control, but loses it so spectacularly that he ends up disabled, possibly permanently. i KNOW the spinoff novels said he couldve walked if he went to physical therapy, but "ability to walk" does NOT equal "not disabled anymore."

like... it's just. a sad life! it's a horribly sad existence of a perpetual misery cycle that izaya not only doesn't pull himself out from but actively perpetuates via constantly giving in to his worst impulses and keeping everyone away from him via said impulses, ensuring nobody will notice anything wrong, and that people who DO notice and DO realize its unhealthy, won't give enough of a shit about him to help

[moonshynecybin]

Omgg that other anon has put ideas in my head. Imagine Bezz in Love with Vale but never daring to make a move because he puts him in a pedestal.

And then rosquez reconciliation happens and he catches them... the angst

seee i dont think hes IN LOVE capital letters with vale i think he has a sexually confusing crush that he is in denial about.... like bezz to me is the kind of guy that is really good at avoiding thinking about like. WHY he thinks/feels things. he knows he has strong feelings about stuff and if theyre generally good or bad but when he tries and put specific ass names to them he gets lost a bit in the repression weeds. among the emotional jungle. and THEN he shies away from confronting the more complex ones bc hes a BIG people pleaser who is also invested in recieving macho-man praise from people around him and the public writ large... exhibit A. collarbonegate. idk i think being gay would scare the shit out of him! bc well. some people would look at him differently. and that would be hard to swallow. so he does a lot of mental gymnastics to ignore the specificity of his emotions and why he might be having them in relation to certain people. like its okay in sports to love your homies sos os so much but it is NOT okay to want to actually get married to them because that might involve social sanctions, risk your sponsorships, mess with your career, be RUTHLESSLY talked about on social media etc... its a really big deal !!! hes invested in not being gay but also very invested in loving people within these safe little frameworks bc thats what hes allowed to do

so for instance he knows he loves cele and hes okay with admitting to crying when he got his first moto2 win and talking about how much he cares about him in articles, because thats what sports is to him/ BUT if you asked him to his face if he's IN LOVE with cele i think my guy would fully bluescreen. please reboot your motorcycle racer. cold ass flop sweat playing with his 100 million bracelets like uh why would you say that. nervous smile. like he doesnt even know why he's so nervous but he IS. has to REALLYYY do some digging into his psyche to get to the bottom of all of that i think. it takes some time. which SUCKS bc cele keeps getting his hopes up and then getting shot down in roundabout uncomfy repression dude ways so he thinks bezz is uncomfy around him :/ which he ISNT hes just uncomfy around himself 1!1

which is also lowkey why the hero worship thing with vale is sooo interesting to me (esp with his weird ass marc complex lmao) bc its so sumbliminal and essential to bezz's identity AND easy to miss. easy to explain away. until you have 8 sex dreams about the man and it gets harder to ignore. and fr just makes a lot of sense to me inside the framework of the repressed gay sports guy miasma. also the idea of vale being bezz's gay awakening is just funny to me. he's like the keira knightly for tumblr bisexuals of the motorcycle racing community

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

@intertexts okay before i answer the second trigger question i NEED to talk about the trickster/clarence/mal backstory. fuck . okay. you know the drill. nhw essay under the cut:

ok first off this is the required listening for reading this post bc ive imagined all of this in the form of an animatic (trickster pov). there was like a 4-hour span of time at work one day last week where i just had this song on repeat and zoned out thinking abt this while i did absent cleaning tasks. so thats how u KNOW im insane

ok so i still havent thought of a name for the city. but ive been thinking about this city as a parallel equivalent to the spirit world. ironically, its a city that doesnt have a huge parahuman population, so its relatively quiet. the cape presence is pretty small. the lead hero in the city is Whisperer (aka clarence albert), a striker/mover/stranger. he can fly, turn invisible (NOT intangible!!!!!!!!), and if he can get a hand on someone he can calm their emotions just by touching them. it's effectively like a tranquilizer, except theyre not asleep theyre just not feeling whatever strong emotions led them to causing trouble in the first place. (thinking abt this like a touch-based version of the calm emotions spell in dnd, its concentration so the effect is limited to when hes actually touching someone. when he lets go, theres a small window of time before they reorient themselves and are back to whatever they were feeling before) (this is to parallel the idea that the whisperer can pull chaos spirits out of possessed people like william did to atlas).

anyway. distracted. Whisperer's partner was originally a rogue named Ghoul, a huge hulking Brute cape who didnt really cause many serious problems but was a huge disturbance to the local people just beacuse of his monstrous appearance. Clarence confronted him and Ghoul dropped his changer form to reveal mallard conway, a man who had only recently triggered and was essentially.. lost. directionless. he didnt know what to do with his powers, since they were so... different. hes a master/changer/brute, with the ability to create strong illusions and influence people in his regular form, but can change forms to be a hulking monster with brute strength. essentially both brains and brawn in one guy. clarence asks him something along the lines of "well if you have nowhere else to go, why not come wiht me?" and basically. takes him under his wing? i guess? its not like he trains him, but just by being around clarence, mal learns what its like to be.. good. not selfish and heartless. clarence isnt much involved with capes from other cities since their own is pretty quiet, so his main focus is to just kind of keep the peace. keep the balance.

this goes on for... a long time. clarence and mal (whisperer and purgatory << mal's new hero name) are basically inseparable. call it love, call it brotherhood, call it a one-sided hero worship crush on mal's end. who knows. theyre secretive, not in the public eye much unless they need to be. UNTIL. some new villain triggers and is an IMMEDIATE s-class. now i have a couple different ideas for how and why exactly the trickster triggers and where he comes from but honestly im okay with leaving it a mystery for now. one day he shows up like a natural disaster. it becomes a situation VERY similar to nilbog- the prt forces get called in, they try to take him down with non-capes first since hes a high leveled master and they dont want him to immediately gain super powerful puppets to control. this,, does not work and basically just feeds him fodder to make his numbers grow VERY quickly. Whisperer and Purgatory (mostly whisperer) can't sit back and watch this Trickster guy just keep absorbing innocents into his masses and use them to do his dirty work anymore, so Whisperer wants to confront him. I think Purgatory tries to hold him back at first (mainly due to the fear of losing him, but he words it as "we're not supposed to, if either of us get caught it would be so much worse for everyone involved"). Whisperer does not listen to him and goes anyway; hes convinced that with his power, all he needs to do is touch Trickster and everything will be so much easier to handle once hes out of commission. the fight DOES NOT GO THIS WAY. clar and mal actually are able to fight their way up to the trickster, clarence gets a hand on him.. but his power doesnt work. theres this moment where the trickster freezes like maybe something did happen, but then clarence realizes like... he cant feel anything. i think usually he can tell what sort of emotion he's repressing when he uses his power; sort of innately understands what sort of effect hes having on a person, but with the trickster it jsut feels like. nothing. theres nothing there. and then he starts laughing and breaks the silence and turns around to grab clarence and hurt him in some way. mal is preoccupied; hes fighting off puppets as theyre sort of swarming the area, allowing clarence a moment to use his power... and then he sees whats happening.

i dont think trickster is particularly strong on his own. but. i mean. his name is trickster. i think he probably keeps some sort of secret weapon on him. knives in his coat to make the "ive got a trick up my sleeve" joke. he slashes clarences throat, doesnt even bother trying to control him. what would he want with a power like that anyway? clarence is basically his antithesis- calming instead of chaos. that sort of power is almost like an insult to him. so he kills him. clarence is laying there bleeding out, trickster is laughing over him, mal drops everything and runs over to clarences side, trying desperately to talk to him or stop the bleeding or ANYTHING. he dies in mals arms. mal fucking. fully snaps. instant brute form, he wants to tear the trickster limb from limb, kill anything that moves around him etc etc etc. in his rage, hes not really fighting very well, hes leaving himself vulnerable, theres a lot of openings etc etc. trickster fucks up his face pretty bad (this is how he gets those big scars like he has in canon).

however, MALS powers are more fun so he doesnt outright kill him. its harder to take control of him both because of his current rage state and also the fact that hes also a master and part of mals power kind of cancels out some of the tricksters control. so instead of puppeteering him right away, trickster forces him out of the city. he of course tries to keep going back in, but at that point the PRT has made the decision to put the city under quarantine and just let him take it. they keep mal from going back in. (clarence's body is still in there. he doesnt even get a burial.) . you know how mannequins main thing is that he was originally a hero that was driven crazy by the simurgh attack that killed his wife and daughter? yeah thats what happened to mal. he was just totally unreachable after this. clarence basically saved his life, was his best and only friend, was his mentor, was the person who taught him how to be good... and now hes gone. what else does mal have left. he goes back to being called Ghoul. he joins the s9. his rage and grief eventually settle into a manipulative calm, and he starts using his master powers more than his brute powers, to get what he wants from people.

aaaand then . years later. he sees the new wards team on tv, and theres a hero with a cape that looks achingly familiar. surely it cant be him, clarence is dead, has been dead for years... but there he is. theres his costume. this new hero is even ghost-themed. as smart and manipulative and greasy as mal is i think theres a fundamental piece of him thats just. really irreparably unhinged. seeing something that reminds him of clarence again drives all common sense out of his mind and he defaults to "thats him" even though he would logically know that its not. and thats why hes so obsessed with wibby. he knows this new cape calls himself Wraith, but like. capes change their names all the time! mal even did it himself once! maybe if he calls him Whisperer enough times, he'll remember who he is.

theres some more to this plotwise that mostly just deals with. the plot. but i feel like this is a good setup for mals whole thing :]

[debtdeath]

for the ship hcs ask game: flashfire (or just scout & pyro platonically) hcs? opinions? hotel?

(prompt: "Send me a ship + a word, and I’ll tell you the first headcanon that comes to mind!")

you absolutely sent me more material to work with than the prompt asked, which rocks. happy to talk about scout and pyro platonically and/or romantically tbh! for the sake of this being the first time i talk about them (i think) i'll keep it PG but feel free to follow up if you wanna hear NSFW stuff 👍

general opinion:

i think they're neat together! a lot of people are reluctant to ship them together romantically which is like, fair enough etc but it feels like that'd be overlooking their potential for both chaos for the sake of chaos (fun!) and true tenderness between two people who generally might feel pretty misunderstood and isolated from the rest of the team for various reasons (also fun!).

because theyre both on offensive roles i can see them interacting regularly On The Job as well which is always great to write imo.

headcanons:

i generally think scout and pyro are close friends even before becoming romantically involved or whatever...

i like the idea of scout being a bit scared of pyro at first because they're a big question mark, but because scout is this person who finds any challenge worth his time he takes it upon himself to be The First Who Befriends That Weirdo (affectionate).

he'll learn how to decipher pyro's mumbling and learn sign language (which also helps on the battlefield where it's often loud!).

scout is of course extremely curious about what's under the mask but he doesn't pry. none of his business. but if pyro ends up revealing themselves you know he'll be like 👀👀👀

pyro's just glad someone's willing to stick around with them! they don't mind being a loner but like, company is always nice.

they probably also feel pretty >:) about scout—this big talker jock and generally annoying dickhead—being actually nice to them. the power they hold over him... i reckon they feel pretty good about it.

scout strikes me as a romantic regardless of who he's paired up with, and pyro seems like a cuddler so i think their relationship as Lovers would be soooo sweet... inseparable and always goofing around and laughing and pulling (sometimes VERY dangerous) pranks on their teammates.

they're two fucked up little guys who somehow find each other in a weird fucked up world <3

now to specifically get to The Prompt from the ask LMFAO... hotel HUH...

i can imagine a scenario where they have to spend the night in some kind of motel for a duo contract or something and it's (gasp) a room with twin beds bc why would it be a double bed? fanfiction is contrived man (winks knowlingly at the person reading this)...

anyway scout checks in on his own bc he doesnt want pyro's Appearance to alarm the reception lady (little does he know that the lady would think absolutely NOTHING of it, she's seen worse, she's been workin this reception desk for 30 years you know), grabs the key and then gets both him and pyro in.

i think as soon as they get in they jump on the beds like trampolines because The Urge To Have Fun is too strong lmao.

i feel like they first sleep separately but then scout maybe notices pyro having bad dreams or tossing and turning so he just ends up snuggling up with pyro to comfort them :) or it could be the other way around if you want really, i think neither of them is truly free from insomnia, night terrors, and PTSD lol.

i feel like i could go on and just write a ficlet from just this idea but i'll stop here LOL thank you so much for indulging me!

[the-s1lly-corner]

Uhh i request you

<-forgot everything about creepypasta after stopping reading fanfics

Uhhhhhhh

Um

...slenderman uhhhhm meeting reader who is the same.. species? Found family????? Reader being chipper and welcoming?? Artistic and calming?? Basically um. I dunno. They also live in the woods and collect poor souls, helping them cope and detach from this world??????

I am.. stoopid.

Slenderman x slender-person!artistic!reader ! (found family)

dusts out my slenderman hcs as well as my au ideas on him aheehee ahoo speed running this since i just put my first round of macarons into the oven and im too impatient to wait until theyre done baking for me to write this NEVER BACK DOWN NEVER WHAT

okay but im getting this idea out of the way before i forget. imagine the reader, instead of doing paintings and stuff for the "artist" thing they make little structures and statues and stuff and have them around in your area. of course theyre all made with forest material; mud, sticks, pinecones, ect ect i dont know, i just love the nature aesthetic with this idea and rrrraaaaaAAAAH

for some reason or another, you make your home in the same woods THE slenderman lives in; or perhaps it was the otherway around? regardless, it doesnt take long for you to become aware of one another....

okay but how funny would it be if you guys bonded over your annoyances over people collecting your stuff. people taking his pages, and people taking your art projects (at least the ones that are portable). like!

though i cannot think of any lore reasons for slendermans pages in my au.... i will one day i promise, i feel like thats too much of an iconic thing to just cut out

it DOES take a long while for slenderman to get used to you, much less foster a friendship with you... but a family bond? i mean yeah sure, hes very reclusive... but thats not just with humans. he doesnt like interacting with other creatures, either

pats your shoulder

my moot

my dear moot, allow me to go on a tangent about my take on slenderman

basic summary is that he and all other demon/most nonhuman creepypasta characters were made by zalgo in my funky au; basically to bring disorder and that kind of shit. but like in a "this is just a part of this universe's nature" way. thus making slenderman himself in my take the be a simple fact of life... thinks.. and he resents his own existence, i think. i mean how cruel is it that he was made to cause issues, in fact he cant live without it (eats people) but he was granted the ability to be able to grasp the complexity of morals and emotion. like thats fucked

i love it

anyways, theres that and him just naturally being reclusive! hell even his supposed "brothers" (splendor and trender, i refuse to touch the third one) hes still.. distant

basically what i mean to say is that you guys probably arent going to be.. outwardly close... if that makes sense. like hes not going to be very affectionate; so dont expect many familial... things... and its not often that he would seek conversation out... though

as i write that, if i recall correctly i did give him the vague craving of connection, and while i usually save that for traditional x reader stuff, i think this would still apply to found family stuff! so actually, i think he WOULD eventually start seeking your company out, just for the fact of having someone else to talk to who doesnt resent his existence the same way he resents his own

sits

given my silly hc i do think he would have some understanding with your relationship with humans/lost souls. would he do it himself? i think it really depends on the situation... like if hes not actively hunting he usually just drives people out of the woods, no sense in wasting.... things... you know?

sits

im all jumbled all over the place my apolocheese im just excited to write for slenderman again

will get annoyed if you snatch away his "meal" since AGAIN, he was cursed to feed on people . like he understands why you did it, and he has mixed feelings around eating human (like not in a "im distressed and i hate it" way more so "its not totally desirable but i cant survive without doing this" way)

sits

i think

im gonna toy around with my slenderman hcs... this ended up being more of a hc dump than a x reader, my apologies

its also that as im typing this i realize how similar my takes on eyeless jack and slenderman are... which is funny because they live in the same woods in my au but they fucking HATE each other

territorial stuff you know

[hauntedwizardmoment]

Ok. Now we’re really getting in the weeds. Also sorry this is so vague and formless but. I do think we need to ponder Jace’s old party meeting the clones. OC x w sorta-ish OC crossover (not to navel gaze). I need to know how Perry would feel abt what a freak bluejay is

YEAHHHH CHEERING HOLD ON i need to. open up excel. let's go down the line

invidia x j2: god i think j2 freaks invidia out so bad. this is a version of jace that lives and dies at the behest of porter cliffbreaker, and like, she's a romantic! she's happy jace found someone! but she takes one look at what j2 and porter have and is like oh that's not love. that's something else and it's frightening

invidia x j3: now j3 invidia would absolutely get along with. this is closer to the jace she knows, i.e. huge slut who's always in some drama. but also like, they used to joke about how jace was so conceited he'd fuck himself and hey, look, this one actually IS! and she says this to j3 thinking j3 would also find it funny but uh. he doesn't. at all.

invidia x j4: this is SO MESSYYYYY j4 makes invidia question if she even knows jace at all. like she asks jace about j4 and doesnt get a straight answer, more of a "oh just ignore that one, it's a failed experiment" and then she like, actually talks to j4 and realizes that j4 is like. much more true to the bitter, angry version of jace trapped in elmville that she missed out on when she was out with the rest of the party.

aurora x j2: WEIRD FUNDIES UNITE!!! j2 and aurora don't agree on much but they do agree that your relationship with your god is very very important, as is proselytizing about it and getting as many people into your faith as possible. and that your happiness comes second to this, always. aurora doesnt even clock that j2's brain is cooked she's like "oh wait... a version of jace that's tolerable? that's kind of... like me?? i didnt know he had it in him!"

aurora x j3: oh she hates his ass so much. how did jace make himself more of an annoying whore. and why does he dress like that.

aurora x j4: she hates j4 MARGINALLY less than she hates j3. like her issues with j3 are straight up her issues with jace and she doesn't like jace at all. her issues with j4 are new and different and she cant really process that? like j4 is so... insistent on making her issues with everything known. and aurora is like "you know, your life would be a lot easier if you just did what was expected of you. suck it up." and does not analyze that statement in regards to her own life.

peregrine x j2: god. peregrine wants this version of jace SO BADLY. sweet and pliant and always willing to tell him he's so strong and brave. loyal to a fault, practically no desires outside of what his beloved wants. unfortunately j2 is so porter-pilled that even though he has all of jace's memories of peregrine he's not interested at all. which of course means:

peregrine x j3: not to make j3 another shitty guy's consolation prize in lieu of j2 (who is himself a consolation prize in lieu of jace) but like. if peregrine can't have the idealized version of jace he'll take the easy one. the warm, jace-shaped body. and he's not interrogating j3's interiority at all bc nobody except him has internal struggles, of course.

peregrine x j4: she scares him so badly. like this to him is the real dark mirror of jace. all of them are dark mirrors in their own way but this one is the one who is resentful. angry. willing to lash out. call him on his bullshit, tell him he fucked up to his face. in a way though it's kind of a relief bc it just confirms all the horrible things he thinks about himself.

ysvelde x j2: awww theyre besties!! they both live for the approval of others and are willing to change themselves to get it, they get on like a house on fire!! ysvelde thinks he's ADORABLE too. ysvelde also sees some. terrible terrible parallels between how her mom treats her and how jace treats j2. and resolves to not interrogate that because she values her friendship w jace <3

ysvelde x j3: ALSO besties but in a very different way!! theyre not having deep emotional conversations, theyre going OUT!! ysvelde's missed having someone who appreciates sneaking away from the rest of the party to find the only decent bar this far away from civilization. and j3 knows all the best spots too!! (she's ignoring how little jace seems to care about j3's safety and doesnt even ask if he has a weapon on him before he goes out).

ysvelde x j4: unfortunately the one clone ysvelde doesnt really Get? like j4 is so sure of who she is. she's so determined to define herself in opposition to jace. and ysvelde like... can't really relate to that. like the idea of not performing constantly, not seeking the approval of someone else, is unfathomable to her.

dagbert x the clones: god poor dagbert. he cannot tell them apart even a little bit. he thinks its VERY cool that jace managed to do this, he's always admired jace's spellcraft on a technical level, but the clones seem to have just as much insane psychosexual drama as jace does and he's not about to entangle himself in it. not when he has a FUCKING JOB. god. do none of these people care about their JOB. his personal life is so divorced from anything any of these people are doing that it's comical. he tries to engage with j3 once because j3's very hot but gets shut down bc j3's busy with peregrine. he approaches j2 but sees him engaged with aurora ENTHUSIASICALLY talking about devotion to god and is like ohhhh gods no i know crazy when i see it. stay away. j4 is his favorite because she's a straight-shooter. and she's the only clone that looks interested when he mentions taking over his father's construction business and they can talk about tools and lumber and brickwork for hours.

[dogtoling]

how would you go about designing a sona-adjacent character for splatoon? I know I’m going with octoling bc I play as them exclusively and this is more a character made from my ingame avatar, but everything else has me indecisive.. sorry I know this is a vague question but I’m interested in hearing your thoughts

this is a cool question! I struggled with this for a really long time and have had MANY sona designs (which either got trashed or became separate characters over time). Really i think how you approach a sona is different for every person. sorry if this is incoherent as i'm typing at 6am from bed

So basically first thing is what are you planning on using the character for? For example in my case when I used to try making splatoon sonas I made them *too much* like me to the point where i didn't like them and they didn't really fit in the world or were interesting at all. But that's just talking personality-wise. I could make an extremely bland octopus guy who doesnt play Turf War or ever go anywhere but it's also like, what is even the point of having a Splatoon sona at that point. What you want to use your sona for kind of affects how they would ideally be in my opinion.

So the way I ended up designing my sona (Koira) was to have us share traits but not have them specifically BE me, which is an approach that I find works really well in creating a connection to a character while still letting them be a character of their own. I would refer to it as more like making a self-insert character to control in a setting rather than physically being there and feeling confined to being yourself if that makes sense? it probably doesnt. But the self-insert player character is kinda what you already do in Splatoon anyway.

I find it a good approach to go with a mix of aspects that are accurate to you but combined with things that are kind of out there. Then you can have a character that's still interesting and appealing to you and might seem similar enough at face value to be relatable, while not being like, super boring. I don't remember my exact design process with Koira, I wanted the design to be silly and stand out and be relatable to how I play the game and approach the series, while at the same time not being confined to what I would realistically do or be like. Like I do not own a labcoat in real life, or mismatched boots, or round shades.

But I DO own a pair of broken shades i found from a trash can, and in the context of being an avid squid researcher online I felt it would be very fitting to make my in-universe guy an actual squid scientist, and i WISH i had shoes like that because theyre pretty cool. And he has split ends because I DO have split ends (there are so many), but i don't have blonde hair. I picked yellow because it's my favorite color. I would NOT touch turf wars with a ten foot pole if i actually existed in the splatoon world and was the same person there that i am in real life, but like, in the context of Splatoon i might as well have my Splatoon guy represent some aspect of my gameplay experience, hence they own like every weapon but don't really play. Et cetera.

So really again people have different preferences with how to approach making a sona, or sona-adjacent characters like you said, personally the Player Character approach tends to work pretty well for me. I try to reflect my real physical in-the-flesh self less, because that's kind of boring (i literally already exist), and go for the more exaggerated version where some aspects represent me but it's not Literally Me. Like, I'm trying to make What If I Was An Octoling, and not What If An Octoling Looked Like Me The Human. The process of how to get there is a little patchy and again, probably different for everybody, and bear in mind that you might make a sona and not like it and start from scratch. That might happen 5 times. That might happen 10 times. You still learn something more about the process every time.

Here's some questions I can present to help with sona designing...

1. What are some traits that I think reflect myself? How can I include those in the character design?

2. In tandem with the previous question; what species should I pick? (You already picked Octoling, so this one is a bit obsolete - but it's worth thinking about for people who struggle to pick.)

3. If I existed in the Splatoon world, what would I probably, somewhat realistically be doing with my life? What kind of job or hobbies would I have? Can that be reflected in the design?

4. Do I care about any of the above stuff or do I just want to come up with something original? Could I use some of my answers to work with and fill in the blanks with other things that are just cool?

5. How would the ways I play Splatoon be reflected if translated to an in-universe character? (For example, based on how I play, my game-realistic Splatsona would just be a full-time Salmon Runner...)

6. Do I want to use in-game gearsets, or reference the kind of style I prefer in real life, or maybe come up with something unique?

7. Can my main weapon or playstyle be directly equated to my character's personality or appearance? Do I want their personality to be game-accurate, real life accurate or somewhere in between?

8. Finding inspiration through your player character's Badges, Banner and Title that you currently have; what do those say about the player? Or what about the locker?

9. What are some things I love about the setting of Splatoon that I could reflect in a sona or self insert? (For example I made mine an in-universe Inkling researcher to reflect my own obsessiveness about Inkling biology. And squid suckers. I have a dried squid in a minigrip bag on my shelf)

10. The obligatory step in any character design: Can i do something to make it fun or appealing to myself? Adding some flavor.

Aside from all that and I definitely forgot SOMETHING, my general character design tip is do not expect the first draft to be the final perfect result. I watched a video once that said to draw every character design Three Times before 'finalizing' it and it works EXTREMELY well when youre whipping up a character basically from scratch and have an idea in your head, but on paper, you just need some kind of first draft to see if that idea works. The second and third iterations usually help trim out whatever didnt work in the earlier designs and when you keep making more, the parts that DO work are solidified and refined over time.

Rule number 2: if you make a sona design and don't like it, ask yourself why. Then change it! It's not the time to start some kind of self reflecting journey, maybe you just want a more interesting haircut than what you have in real life and you can totally do that if you're bold (my hair is brown, I didn't want the splatoon to have brown hair when like half the point of the game is Neon Color). Maybe you want bright pink eyes. Maybe you want a ridiculous job that you could never do in real life but that would make your character way more interesting. Maybe you want to give them a pet slug because you would LOVE ONE in real life but dont have one, and that would complete the character.

i forgot my point but hopefully this helped and was useful even a little bit? yay