#i hope it starts a conflict of some kind because one of them steals the blanket

[burning-sol]

THE WORST TROPE!!! when people don't understand the trope and do nothing interesting with it </3

[super-marvel-dc]

hey what do you think about the dynamic being one of Dick's best friends and ending up in a relationship with Jason, but Jason not wanting to tell his family yet because he's a little insecure/a little conflicted about telling his family and his partner respects that!!! so he ends up not telling Dick, because he's Jason's brother even though he's your best friend, and one day Dick walks into your apartment for some reason unannounced and catches Jason and you doing something silly and romantic together and everyone is just *shocked*

Hi! I'm so sorry for not answering this sooner, I've been busy and under stress! This probably isn't what you wanted, but it's my thoughts and a little fic together. Hope you're doing well 🖤 Also, apologies for any typos ✯

I absolutely love this idea! Best friends brother trope over here! Sneaking around? Yes, one hundred percent! I feel like Jason would want to meet up with his partner where there's no cameras, or if there were cameras around (like a coffee shop) he would have them go there around 30 minutes to an hour before he showed up on a day it's crowded so he would "have" to take a seat with them, and of course he has to start a conversation with them, right? I mean, he can't just sit there without saying something or ordering them something "out of kindness" because it's definitely not a date. . . May or may not have grabbed their hand to "inspect their watch/bracelet" and may or may not have held on to their hand a bit longer than just being friendly. Whenever his partner hangs out with Dick, Jason tends to keep his distance, but not too much because he doesn't want anyone getting the idea that he hates Dicks best friend. Jason was always careful going out and hanging out at his partner's place. He wasn't ashamed of them and his partner understands that, they knew that Jason just wasn't comfortable sharing their relationship yet, and that was ok with them. Hey, more time for just each other, right? Besides, the sneaking around was kinda fun! I feel like since they are so careful that the only way that Dick catches them is at night when he's patrolling the rooftop. Jason was staying with his partner after a nice dinner they had together—Jason cooked. He's amazing—with the radio playing in the background when a sweet, slow song started playing, and Jason grabbed his partner, pulling them close, and started dancing with them. Everything was perfect and sweet, so much so that neither one notices Dick frozen in place on the balcony with his mouth dropped open as he watches Jason—the so-called badass with no feelings, according to some—slow dancing with his! best friend. . . “His brother and his best friend?! When did that happen?!” Dick finally picked up his jaw off the floor and left the balcony to go back to the manor to tell everyone. Busted through the doors, and marched around the mansion like an angry soccer mom until he ran into Bruce and told him what he saw. Bruce, of course, just patted Dick on the shoulder and told him to go cool off in the shower whilst Alfred made him some tea to calm his nerves Bruce and Alfred already knew about Jason and his partner. Dick had a stern talking to with Jason and his partner, making sure they both knew he was hurt they didn't tell him, and that they better not hurt each other! or he was going to have to revoke their Netflix privileges.

Please, do not steal my work.

[petrichor-idyllic]

I would like to request headcanons for the maze runner boys for how would they react when they're jealous of you.

Luv you <3

Wooo, I love writing headcanons, they're a hell of a lot easier than full stories. I'm assuming you mean when they're jealous over you, so that's what I'm going with.

Gender neutral reader because the pronouns are unspecified.

Also I have seen your request for a part 2 to "warmth in cold places" and I will do that after I've finished your headcanon requests because it'll be simpler lol, hope that's okay.

ENVY IS A SIN

MASTERLIST | MULTI-CHARACTER MASTERLIST

SUMMERY: See above. Gender-neutral!Reader x All boys. Not established relationships, just long-term crushes from some jealous boys. You're close with the boys, and despite them not knowing how you feel- they just can't help but be jealous.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, some possessiveness, violence and suggestive themes. Alby is based more on the book to add some variety.

What happens when your favourite Glader boys get jealous over you?

Let's find out.

THOMAS

Thomas is definitely a... controversial character amongst the Glade.

Which means that the Gladers (especially Gally and the other's that don't hold his favour), would often flirt with you just to get a rise out of him.

It's not like you two are dating or anything, but he'd clearly have a thing for you.

And he's not exactly the most self-assured person around. Yanno- with the identity crisis, no memories of his life, people accusing him of everything under the sun- you get the picture.

The boy already has enough insecurities on his plate- nevermind watching the person he has feelings for get hit on.

He's not exactly one to start physical altercations, but it wouldn't be rare to feel his 500-yard death stare from across the Glade.

"Gally's talking to them again."

Newt would get to hear the worst of Thomas's internal conflicts.

He'd find it funny, but kind of annoying.

"They're just talkin', mate- it ain't a crime."

"He's doing it to get to me. I know he is."

"Seems to be workin'."

"Shut up."

Despite not wanting to get into a fight, Thomas would occasionally butt into conversations.

He can be sarcastic, something he's picked up off of Minho (but not nearly as good at), and he would be snappy and condescending when diving face first into trying to steal your attention.

Which would leave you concerned as you'd have to blankly watch Thomas bicker with someone in a way you can't quite understand.

Thomas isn't stupid.

He'd be fully aware he has no right to be so jealous or meddling, but until he actually gains the courage to say something about his feelings, you better get used to it.

NEWT

Newt is far more level-headed than Thomas.

He is respectful and busy, remaining calm in the majority of situations he has to face.

Though, like Thomas, he would absolutely be the type to stand with a tense jaw, staring while you interact with some poor, unknowing boy as Newt plots murder in his head.

Newt is confident in his skills, and doesn't have much time to focus on romantic endeavours. But there would be the creeping feeling of possessiveness as he'd watch you talk to the other boys.

He'd prefer to talk to the culprit in private, giving them a warning nod to keep their distance.

"I'm telling you to stay away from them."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

It wouldn't go much further than that.

The boys heed Newt's warnings- despite his reputation, he isn't exactly someone people want to upset.

Alby and Minho would find it very funny that the only time Newt chooses to actually use the power he has is when it comes to scaring people away from you.

"You're literally the Second in Command, and the only time you actually tell people what to do is when you get all shuckin' possessive over a crush? Ha! That's the best thing I've ever heard."

"Shut up, Minho."

When you'd bring it up to him that less and less people are talking to you, he would just shrug it off.

Of course, Minho would absolutely tell you what's actually going on because he can't keep his mouth shut, but you can only knowingly smile until Newt is willing to finally tell you himself.

MINHO

Minho is a reckless and unsubtle man.

He lives with his life on the line permanently, and is pretty blunt about most things.

He would absolutely tell you to your face that he doesn't like someone, or how they're acting around you.

"I just don't like what Zart said earlier- he's gettin' too shuckin' friendly."

He'd also go out of his way to be physically intimidating and make himself look better than whoever his competitor is.

That includes but is not exclusive to:

- Knocking shoulders with people who are talking to you.

- Loud (and obnoxious) insults aimed at anyone who dares get too close.

- The more than once he'd almost get into a physical fight.

- Casually throwing an arm over your shoulder to assert dominance.

He'd also be a sulky bitch.

Minho doesn't seem like the type to be good with his feelings, so apart from the initial rage, confrontation, and warnings- he would strop.

He'd have no grounds to, and Newt would remind him of that since you guys aren't dating.

But that wouldn't stop him.

"Dude, if you keep pouting like a shank, they're never gonna like you back."

"I'm not pouting."

He'd get over it, eventually.

Minho isn't an insecure person. He'd know there were something more between you both. The problem would lie in whether he'd be the only person you had that something with.

That is why he would sulk.

Because deep down, you'd be almost like a weak spot for him.

Though, it would kind of become a sort of unspoken rule not to flirt with you- after all, no one wants an angry Minho after them.

GALLY

Gally is like Minho, only ten times worse and borderline homicidal.

There would be many Gladers who would show up with broken noses and a nervous disposition after they'd be seen talking to you.

(And Gally with broken knuckles.)

He's terrible at controlling his feelings and expressing them in a healthy way.

He would be especially harsh if he saw someone making you uncomfortable.

"I'm going to shucking kill that bastard!"

Frypan would make comical commentary.

"Y'all still aren't together then, huh?"

"Shut up, Fry."

"Ah- figures."

He would also be incredibly insecure.

Sure, he's not the most liked guy around, but he thought you guys were close. That he might have a chance with you.

So, instead of having a healthy conversation with you about maybe establishing a relationship, he would react in a rash way.

Which would definitely not be a good way to show he cares about you.

But the boy has issues.

Alby would absolutely get mad at him and tell him to stop.

He'd then start insulting people instead.

FRYPAN

Frypan would probably...

Do nothing.

Nope.

He doesn't like conflict and despite being a jokester, he doesn't actually want to cause any problems.

And he's not about to go around bashing people when he doesn't even know if the feeling is mutual (*cough* something the other boys can learn from *cough*).

He'd probably keep his mouth shut and try to judge things from spending time with you.

He might talk to Gally about it.

"You could just ask them?"

"Would you ask them if you were me?"

"Fair point."

He'd definitely just silently simmer in his own emotions whilst staring off into space.

Though, when he'd be with you- you'd have absolutely no idea he was jealous or possessive at all.

He would never do anything to upset you.

He'd definitely lie awake at night thinking about it and how you might like someone else and what would he even do with himself?

But he'd never tell you.

Or show you.

Your happiness always comes first.

ALBY

Alby would throw them in the Slammer.

Wouldn't even hesitate.

Looked at you for too long?

Slammer.

Made a flirty comment?

Slammer.

Bad and slightly inappropriate joke?

Slammer.

He is a very busy man. He doesn't have the time to keep an eye on you all the time, so, putting anyone who crosses a line in the Slammer would definitely make that easier.

"Why's Ben in the Slammer again, Alby?"

"Why do you think, Newt?"

"Ah, (Y/N)? Again?"

It's not like Alby is insecure or even possessive.

He has much more important things that he needs to worry about.

But, watching people try and flirt with you would make him uncomfortable, and Alby has no time to process this discomfort.

So it obviously means that they're doing something wrong, right?

So, Slammer.

It is the simplist answer.

You'd have to ask him to stop because he'd keep locking your friends up.

He would begrudgingly agree.

Though, people definitely would not dare hit on you once they started to understand that Alby liked you.

That'd be an easy way to a fast grave.

In reality, Alby wouldn't have any reason to be jealous- he is the Leader for a reason.

He probably could've just told people to back off with no context, and they would've, instead of the immediate jailing.

It would be a very odd phase for the Glade.

Yoo, back with more headcanons. I try not to take these too seriously because I feel like they're just a bit of fun instead of the usual one-shots.

I have some more headcanons coming up next.

I hope you enjoyed :))

[itslenagain]

My thoughts on episodes 1-3 of Netflix ATLA (SPOILERS):

1. Commander Zhao has middle-aged white guy manager energy. I feel like this man is about to lead me in a team-building exercise

2. Aang having his origin story changed irks me! He ran away impulsively in the original show and got stuck in the ice. In this version, he fully monologs to Appa about his fears, but then just leaves for a joyride and gets stuck. It takes away from the significance of Aang leaving in the first place. When Kyoshi berates him for running away, it doesn't feel right because in this version, he didn't really run - he just got stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time

3. The Zuko that stood on an iceberg during a full Moon and challenged Katara to battle would be absolutely enraged at the Zuko that ran from the conflict in Omashu

4. Also, the fact that Zuko has not mentioned honor yet? What the fuck?

5. Seriously, Commander Zhao has a LinkedIn. He's got great networking skills

6. I miss aggro Katara. This version is way more subdued (though we do get a sibling fight in episode 3) and somehow listening to Aang's weird circular philosophy helps her learn how to waterbend and I don't get it

7. Seeing Aang be joyful is a nice change from the movie that shall not be mentioned

8. If Gram-Gram putting the waterbending scroll in Katara's bag replaces the storyline where Katara says fuck cultural looting and steals one I will scream

9. It's interesting to see Azula so early in the story, but I'm bummed we missed out on the whole blackmail thing with her & Ty Lee

10. Do you think Commander Zhao pays his employees a fair wage? Do you think they have health insurance? 401k matching? Vacation time? Sick days? What kind of benefits does his company offer?

11. This version of Sokka is definitely not silly enough

12. I feel robbed that Aang got to transform into a magical girl but we didn't get a magical girl transformation sequence

13. Also, we were robbed of Sokka crossdressing as a Kyoshi warrior and they are so rude for that

14. The graphic murder of the Airbenders felt. Weird? Wrong? I don't think we needed to see that. The impact it had when Aang arrived at the temple to find all of them gone in the original show felt heavier than in this version. We saw what happened, we know they're all dead. As a kid watching ATLA the first time, I remember feeling hopeful for Aang that maybe he wasn't really the last one. We don't get to feel that with this version

15. They did not understand Uncle Iroh at all. His character is so weird. Maybe it gets better???

16. The pacing is weird but maybe that gets better too???

17. I have never related more than when Ozai just burned that Earth nation dude who was about to start monologing, please shut up in my presence

18. Apparently everywhere has names?? Who decided on these names?

19. As a lesbian I also get horny on main immediately for girls who could definitely kick my ass, Sokka was so real for that

20. Overall I think they lean into the idea that the audience for this show is primarily older than the audience for the original (they're not totally wrong!) but I worry about it losing some of the messaging along the way. Part of the beauty of the original ATLA show was tackling these big, complex issues in a way that both kids and adults could relate to and understand. Anyone who knows me knows I also love Bluey for this, along with a few other shows that do it well. Media like ATLA that tackles the ideas of colonization, genocide, war, and so many other important issues is crucial! I hope that these topics are handled just as well as they were in the original series.

Am I going to watch the whole thing? Probably, yeah. Will I enjoy it? I hope so! It's not terrible, but it's also hard to do a show that has so much nostalgia attached to it in a way that will please all viewers.

If you haven't watched it, I think it's worth a shot. Just don't expect it to be an exact retelling of the original story.

[baeddel]

thismorning i've been reading some articles, posts, student guidelines, etc. about "plagarism vs. allusion" or "plagiarism vs. intertextuality", partially out of some anxiety about my own writing that contains allusions. doing so i found this article (click), which talks about plagiarism in relation to philosophy. he says that plagiarism in philosophy was common 'as late as Hume' and describes it like this: "philosophers would rehearse the arguments of those before them, often in direct, but unsourced, quotes."

i know that people do see it that way (there was controversy a while ago about Kripke stealing arguments from somebody else), but it still surprises me. in that post, a couple of parts down, about fighting, i rehearsed arguments made by Clausewitz in On War. Clausewitz talks about the difference between existential conflicts concerning the fate of nations and conflicts which are merely about capturing one or two provinces, etc. he also distinguished between a tendency towards 'total war', a full exertion of force, which is limited by the concrete factors of reality concerning the political situation, financial commitments, the geography, and so forth. then he says that the interaction between the tendency towards total war and the limitations imposed by reality produce the specific character of the actual war. i'm using these ideas in the post, and i try to flag it by using the same language; when i talk about fights which are and are not 'existential', and how specific fights are produced by the restrictions placed on them. i'm obviously thinking about one-on-one combat using the arguments i read in Clausewitz.

but i don't mention Clausewitz in the post. am i plagiarizing Clausewitz, so doing? i'm not going quite as far as the quote describes by copying whole sections, but things like the Kripke controvery were over something much closer. probably nobody would accuse me of plagiarism for it; but if, for example, i wrote a book where i went into the argument in more detail, and a reviewer noticed the dialectic from Clausewitz, even using some of the same terms, they might say: 'this hack writer is trying to pass off Clausewitz' arguments as their own!' and accuse me of plagiarism. at that point, they would probably have a good argument, pointing to those sections which i mentioned and showing the similarity in the same way, perhaps also illustrating it with quotes from On War's opening chapter. at this point, many people might be convinced that i was trying to pass off Clausewitz's arguments as my own. similarly, if i was a student and i handed it to a professor, and they had just the night before been reading about Clausewitz, they might recognize a few key terms and become suspicious that i'm cheating; after their suspicion has been roused they could find plenty of confirmation in a similar way.

in most of the articles, posts and student guidelines i read (including the linked one), the difference between plagiarism and intertextuality or allusion is handled by some version of this: authors include allusions because they want you to recognize the allusion, while authors who plagiarize don't want you to notice. however, in the case of philosophy or non-fiction, doesn't this kind of break down? i don't necessarily hope you notice that i'm borrowing the ideas from Clausewitz. instead, i'm writing the post to work out my own thoughts about it. and because i've read Clausewitz, my thoughts are influenced by the arguments that Clausewitz made. this is where the idea of plagiarizing arguments is problematic to me—isn't the entire point of reading a philosophical book that i hope i will actually start thinking that way? why learn the arguments if not to make them?

[chronicoverthinker]

A character analysis of Yoshiki cause he’s very dear to me 😔

I genuinely hope that as the story progresses we’ll get to learn more about Yoshiki’s father and the dynamics in the Tsujinaka household. Even tho we still don’t know the details we can see how much his father’s abusive tendencies ended up affecting Yoshiki , and mokmoklen is truly able to bring it out in a subtle but magnificent way in the things Yoshiki says , both about himself or others , and also in his relationship with “Hikaru”.

So, I’m not a psychology major myself but from personal experience I believe that Yoshiki presents symptoms of the so called fawn response. Fawning is also known as the “please-appease” syndrome, being mainly associated with people pleasing and codependency (see where I’m already going with this?). Usually these people seek safety by pleasing others as a way of avoiding conflict.

A possible reason as to why people might develop this syndrome is because they grew up in an abusive environment when they were little , maybe seeing one of their caretakers have outbursts of anger (we know that Yoshiki’s parents used to argue to such a degree that neighborhoods could hear them + if I remember correctly it is stated in the light novel that his father always used to slam his hands on the table and such).

As a consequence of this , he learnt that being good and pleasing his father would be the only way to guarantee his own survival. We see this happen in one of the flashbacks where his father grabs him (rather forcefully may I add) by the arm and Yoshiki just let it happen , knowing it’s best not to say anything. Even tho we can see how uncomfortable he looks with his father around.

People suffering from fawn response also have a hard time saying no , feeling guilty about expressing their own needs and feelings. Since growing up in an environment where you have to constantly walk around eggshells with others and where communication has never really been a thing , the things left unsaid make these people start believing that THEY might be the problem.

We see this happen in ch. 7. Now , I know that people will probably have various interpretations of THAT specific sequence of scenes , but personally I interpreted it as a metaphor for attempted r*pe or violation of some sort , with “Hikaru” trying to claim Yoshiki in the only way he knows , because he aches for him so damn much but he realizes that stealing Hikaru’s identity doesn’t make Yoshiki his in any way. He’s different from Hikaru and he can’t and shouldn’t expect to occupy the same spot as Hikaru previously did.

And even tho what “Hikaru” did is horrible , Yoshiki is still the one feeling bad about RIGHTFULLY trying to set some kind of boundary with “Hikaru”. He feels like HE is the one that should be apologizing for being harsh with him.

This brings me onto the next point which is being self-sacrificing , with Yoshiki quite literally feeling guilty for all the deaths happening most probably because of “Hikaru” and even deciding to share the burden of his possible next killings with him. Plus I would also add in what he said in ch.21 , where he literally states that he would give “Hikaru” his whole EVERYTHING if it meant that he could live somewhere as he pleased. He’s always thinking about others’ needs before his owns , deciding to share burdens that don’t have anything to do with him and he shouldn’t be carrying.

Other obvious trait very common in people suffering from this condition is having codependent relationships , which perfectly describes what he has with “Hikaru”. Hikaru is no longer here , so I’d rather have a fake around than having to live without him. This is what he says more or less in ch.1 , and it’s actually so heartbreaking to hear because Hikaru was quite literally Yoshiki’s light and source of comfort. He was the one always protecting Yoshiki and taking care of him. So when “Hikaru” goes “I bet you were crying not wanting for me to leave you” it is actually true , Yoshiki is no good without Hikaru! (or at least that’s what he thinks , but I swear you are baby 😭)

And even tho in ch.21 we see his journey of processing his grief for Hikaru’s death finally ending, he’s now becoming even more attached to “Hikaru” and getting all worried when he started thinking that maybe going back to the mountain might be the best option. You can clearly see his distress as he says “Didn’t you finally find the place you belong? You can’t do that. Let’s find another solution together”

Another thing is obviously the fact that he hates being scolded , especially when he’s so well behaved all the time like mokmoklen said.

I would also like to add the fact that he thinks so lowly of himself when he’s actually such a caring and kindhearted person. He says that he’s not sweet , and that he’s as hard on others like he is on himself. But as soon as Asako feels insecure about her hair he goes “I can definitely ask my mom since she’s a hairdresser” , we can see his kindness in the way he cares for his sister etc …

Anyways this was just me rambling about him because mokmoklen is able to write such beautiful characters and Yoshiki is literally my son

[yanderes-galore]

Could you PLEASE do something with a Yandere!Nickel with a human fem reader I would love you forever

And/or a human reader with a yandere soundwave and his also equally yandere cassettes would be nice

I am not far enough into MTMTE to properly meet Nickel (I'm trying I'm just slow) so I used the Wiki to help me if that's fine! So I apologize if something ends up wrong, I was also a bit vague with this. I swapped darling's gender since I could not fit it in to the plot, sorry :(

Yandere! Nickel with Human! Darling

Pairing: Platonic/Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Internal conflict, Kidnapping briefly mentioned, Manipulation, She hates you at first, Obsession, Dubious relationship, Dehumanization, Violence, Trauma, Mentions of death, Threats.

Nickel is a maintenance and medic bot that is a Mini-con.

She has a past with organics, witnessing them murder mechanical beings and her being the only survival brought in by the D.J.D

Safe to say she doesn't like organics and holds a hatred towards them.

This makes an obsession towards a human problematic for her.

She hates organics and expects them all to be vile pests.

That's why she sided with Tarn.

His group is anti-organic.

She's usually really kind and helpful, wanting to take care of those close to her due to her specialty.

She'd probably only like an organic if she saw them being helpful to mechanical beings.

Maybe you're the "human pet" of someone on the Lost Light or something.

That's what many Cybertronians, particularly Decepticons, call you.

You're a pet or a fleshling or whatever....

It's a bit demeaning but you grow used to it.

You most likely help people out on the Lost Light and in some way you end up encountering the D.J.D.

Which means you meet Nickel.

I'd imagine she dislikes you when you first meet.

She doesn't necessarily want to go out of her way to kill you but she just... has a thing against organics for a good reason.

If you gave her some kind of hope that an organic could be good then she relents.

Most of her obsession would take a long time.

She has to get used to this human before she can show any care towards you.

Plus it's all very problematic since D.J.D is one for organic genocide.

Even if Nickel did like you enough to abduct you somehow she'd have to hide you away.

She'd treat you like you're her own guilty pleasure.

Nickel would keep an eye on you if you caught her attention but it would be awhile before she made a move.

She's hesitant to befriending an organic.

It would be like betraying the D.J.D if she took you in so fast.

Part of her feels hypocritical.

Compared to most of the ruthless D.J.D, Nickel is the best to be around.

When you do manage to make her come around she can be caring like she is with the rest of D.J.D.

I feel even when she trusts you, an organic, she still treats you as a pet like other Cons.

She'll baby you and treat you like you can't take care of yourself.

It gives her a sense of power due to her traumatic past.

She's not really mean about it and acts like a caretaker most of the time.

If she did abduct you then she hides you from the rest.

You're a secret pet she cares for while she cares for the D.J.D.

Honestly if the others found out, there's a good chance you're dead.

That is unless Nickel can somehow have Tarn allow her to keep you as a pet, all other organics can go for all she cares.

Not this one... not you.

As OOC as this sounds Tarn may allow your existence because of how stubborn Nickel is with you.

They have a close connection so they can probably make a deal.

Nickel probably wouldn't always be nice towards you, sometimes there's a hint of superiority or an undertone of a threat with her.

You're the only organic that is an exception to her hate.

While she starts cold towards you, showing apathy and disinterest about an organic, it slowly becomes affection.

After watching you, stealing you from the Lost Light, and spending time around you...

She can accept you for what you are.

She knows you aren't capable of harming her or the D.J.D alone.

You won't cause danger if left alive and your life is in her hands anyways.

With lots of time Nickel can accept her adoration for you.

As a Mini-Con she's closer to human size which allows affection to be easier.

She's probably taller than you so she can baby you more.

She is a very mom-like Decepticon so despite her feelings she'd probably like to tease and care for you.

She drags you places, diagnoses you the best she can, she still knows you're fragile and tries not to be rough.

If she did manage to convince Tarn to let you live, escape is difficult.

She'd simply tell him you ran.

Which means you'll either be captured or killed on sight.

It's best you stay a behaved organic if you'd like to keep your life.

Overall, Nickel would take a long time to obsess over a human due to her past.

Yet when she does, she'll treat you as her little human to take care of.

You'll stay right where she wants you, unless you'd like to deal with the D.J.D without her help?

[spidermanifested]

ive thought a little more about devils nest dungeon meshi au (demons nest?) and here is the idea i was bouncing around in my head. id love for some kind of lore compliance check because i havent really gone back over the manga since i finished it, or sought out any kind of supplemental material, and i like the challenge of fitting these kinds of things into the boundaries of the source (once again DUNGEON MESHI SPOILERS. for people who havent read the manga at all)

so you have this demon (in a dungeon) (granting desires and eating them) (getting stronger) (hoping someday he can get out of the dungeon). and hes been in there a while and boy does he love watching humans get their greatest wishes granted, but the part where they gradually go mad with power or get disenchanted with the results and also he has to eat their desires anyway eventually kind of blows. he wishes he could only have the good part where he gets to make people happy forever is that too much to ask. maybe when he gets out of the dungeon he can do something about that. love to get out of the dungeon

anyway fast forward a while and this guy comes in. some teenage prince from a tallman country thats wracked with internal conflict and what HE wants is to become immortal, because that way when he takes the throne his reign will be eternal and the different clans will stop fighting over the right of succession. thats so specific. the demon loves it. he can just give him a peaceful united empire here, in the dungeon, which he can rule eternally-- no he wants the one at home. well. the problem with that is that the demon is here, in the dungeon, and not out there.

HELP WANTED NOTICE: i dont remember what the exact plan was vis a vis the winged lion getting up to the surface in the manga and i know it Had to be simpler than "just walk out of there" because why would it have had to steal laios' body about it. WOULD a sufficiently dedicated dungeon lord be able to get back up to the surface with their respective demon in tow.

ADDITIONAL HELP WANTED NOTICE: if a demon WAS freed from the dungeon without being powerful enough to get out under its own strength, how much magic would it be able to perform out there? would it be able to make somebody immortal without the big magic-insulation box. i feel like this changes a lot if greed Can grant ling immortality vs if now that hes out of the dungeon he cant really do shit.

either way now that hes out he does not technically need to eat this kids desires specifically anymore. if the immortality thing is a bust, maybe hes shaken by the experience of not being able to fulfill somebodys wish for the first time. but HIS wish has been fulfilled instead? complicated! maybe ling drags him back to his kingdom to help him gain the throne, or maybe he gets mad and leaves and greed never finds out what happens to him, but whatever goes down it changes his worldview and hes starting to develop a sense of personhood separate from the rest of the Demon Conglomerate, and also desires that are unique to Him

but he still wants to help people realize their own desires and maybe thats even strengthened by the fact that now he personally knows how much it owns (funny) to want something so bad and finally get it. so im thinking eventually he goes back to his old dungeon, now way smaller, and he sets up shop, and just waits for people to come by so he can help them in a less exploitative way. like he graduates from Addiction Metaphor to Healthy Coping Mechanism Metaphor. and the chimeras all find their way there eventually and he wins their trust one at a time until they are forced to admit this weird overly genuine dungeon guy kind of rules. his personality is laios basically he has the exact same type of autistic swag

but. if the elves heard about a demon who was just fucking going up to people floor 1 like hi im a demon welcome to my dungeon. they would shit bricks. so the raid also has to happen at some point. and i Am putting ling in there albeit as backstory so im open to suggestions as to how the rest of the cast of fma can fit into this (father and the homunculi as other more typical demons obviously) (no clue about anybody else) (come and play toys with me)

[letters-to-rosie]

My one oneshot of all time is impossible. 

There are three. Well there are more but I forced myself to stick to three. I'm terrible with choices

'Affection in all the wrong places' by LeBenj 

“You need to stop showing up here,” Ekko says as he unlatches his bedroom window with a loud click.

Without looking at him, Jinx’s lips perk with a hint of a smile. “You need to stop letting me in.”

It's soft and hopeful, with an undertone of hurt, and I love it. 

‘What's broken can still mend’ by MidnightLightHowlite

He hates her as much as she loves him, for nothing good ever happened to people who loved her back. But he cares, and that's different because people who hate you but also care will not forget, because they will forget a kindness but not a curse. People remember curses, remember misfortune if only to avoid it, and she's enough of a sin to be unforgivable.

… 

“You’ve been surviving for so long.” He brings her knuckles to his nose and takes in the gunpowder. When his eyes meet hers they’re frozen. “But have you truly been alive?

So many gems in this fic. It hurts just right. Learning to live and complicated baggage and hope (I might have a thing for that) 

And last one 

‘Why’ by PenguiniShipsIt

‘That's all everyone wanted to do these days. Blow up. Beat everyone up. Hurt someone. End someone.

It got tiring to a point that he'd rather wreck himself than hear everyone around him already wrecked.

And he got what he wanted at the sight of her on his couch. Again.

"Hey." He shook her by the shoulder. "What the hell, Jinx? Is this what we're doing, now? You're just gonna stay here when it—"

She's burning.’

Caring despite all the rightful hesitations, a bit of ridiculousness, and from Ekkos's perspective, an incredulous situation makes for such a good read.

okay I have been super tired, so this took me like 3 days to write lol but we're so back baby here we go!

going one by one:

Affection in all the wrong places is very cute! I like the concept of things having eventually calmed down years later and Ekko and Jinx being able to relate to each other without the mediation of the conflict we see in the show. in some ways it also reminded me of one of my fics, with the whole "years later" thing, and I just think it's fun to see how different authors interpret similar ideas 😊

for What's broken can still mend, I think I actually read this one before I had my account?? I read a lot of CaitVi back then lol but I was just starting to get interested in timebomb. yet the summary sounds familiar...

but anyway, on to the thoughts! this is such a small thing but I love the idea that Vi comes to the Firelight base and plays with kids. I love it so much I might steal it for the end of revolution lol (with credit, naturally). and Ekko deciding not to kill her? wild lol, just wild. a little curious about why then, but hey, it felt very poetic and we can never be mad at that haha also was surprised at how it ended, but I was happy to see that Vi and Jinx made up, because who knows how canon will go 🥲

and for Why!

I feel like I've figured out your pattern lol you like fics where after the events of canon things chill out and Jinx goes to Ekko. and then implied/actual sex haha

the top author's note on this one is so fucking funny lol

I do enjoy Ekko being a bit of a dork here. the first fic I wrote with him in it has him telling bad science jokes lol. but he's also so sassy here which is how he became my favorite Arcane character in the first place, so we love to see that too.

He loved the way she swallowed. around here is when he started to get really terrible and I was so down for it lol. AND it's reciprocal! I like that playfulness coming out with them. you can feel how much they're into each other, and that along with how they're not saying everything (which I feel like is also a commonality between these 3 fics). since this is the longest of the 3 by a good bit, it really comes through, and I like in particular how Jinx is really torn up about the idea of loving him while Ekko is eventually able to convince himself to stop holding back, even though he's still afraid she'll hurt him.

She had seen what happened to people she loved and loved her back.

Not Ekko. Not chubby-cheeked, pouty-faced, sad-eyed, Ekko who hovered around her when she was sick and injured, who tended a nice little garden of friends and firelights, who zipped through the fissures like one of those masked heroes in barbershop stories.

yeahhhhhh this is good shit lol

“Are you aware of any reason she might threaten your safety?”

Yes. I edged her six times and came in her twice.

pffffffft

the end to this one is also really interesting. I would say it's my favorite of the 3. I like how the tension between Ekko and Caitlyn and Vi plays out, though I'm wary of the Firelights being legitimated by Piltover (though Ekko is, too, which is why I love him lol). it's interesting to see them inhabit this space created by all the tension in the world around them. and then, of course, Jinx comes back. more bittersweet than the first 2, but in a way I enjoyed a lot

thank you for sharing! 🥰

[trashlie]

it's good to see you around again, I missed reading your long ILY posts, hope you're doing better too :) if you ever share your thoughts on the latest couple of episodes (including fp) here, I'd be super excited to read them! I'm really curious how you think the timeline is gonna go from here - especially relating to Shin-Ae and Nolan since it feels like they are the last pieces that need to fall into place so everything is ready for the post-timeskip story to go down. like you, I was so sure Nol and Shin-Ae were going to have some kind of reconciliation before he goes to jail but WELP rip 3 day extension. Poor guy though, Yui showing up in his hospital room must have been extremely triggering, it made sense that he did everything to get outta there ASAP. It's worrying me that this series of negative interactions (Kousuke, Alyssa, Yui) could've undone everything positive Shin-Ae Dieter Soushi Nana did, and now therapy during jail time could either have a positive or negative effect, so Nol is a Schroedinger's cat for now.... At least some things got cleared up and Shin-Ae is now starting to understand the root of the problem (= Yui) (and it actually really makes sense that she had to figure it out herself instead of Nol telling her - the boy obviously isn't ready to talk) so we made some progress.... But istg with this upcoming separation arc 2.0 it feels so much like we're gonna be back at ground zero after the first time skip. Fingers crossed they reconcile in whatever way before the big time skip though. we need a somewhat positive conclusion to this arc before season 1 ends, because if not then what was all this build up for, and why now? What about the realizations? the "convince me"? What about "if you won't let me have you"? If their reconciliation is only going to happen after multiple years of "conflict" between them that would be so cruel....

AND SHIN-AE STILL HASN'T GOTTEN HER BANDANA BACK and now he's stealing her lines too SDGDADSF;SDF

Waaaahhhhh thank you, friend!!! As you can probably tell, I'm still trying to get myself back here fully and figure out how to balance everything, which has always been a struggle ;~; I really may resort to telling my friends to ignore me and yell at me until I get certain posts written up so I'll stop procrastinating because there are SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT EPISODES I WANT TO RECAP AND TALK ABOUT!!!! BUT THE ORGANIZING MYSELF!!!! IS THE PART THAT'S SO DIFFICULT!!!!!!!!

One of the great things about the ILY discord server is that we have this very constant, active conversation going on at all times so it's SO easy to be very present and active, but I also find that it means it's more difficult for me to regulate myself, or I'll have that feeling that I JUST talked about something and so when I try to write about it over here, it feels like a hollow echo and I know that's just because I was just having the conversation so that's just something I need to work on dealing with lol

But I want to answer this before we move so far away from when you asked this!!!!! As expected, there are FP spoilers ahead for eps 246 through 249!!!!!

I!!!! DO NOT KNOW!!!!!!! LMAO Like. GOD. I feel like quimchee has thrown us curveball after curveball and when we sit down and think about how long this period of December 21 and the post December 21 arc has been, how much the story has weaved around?! There are so many things that have occurred that I NEVER expected and, like you, it's just everything I thought has clearly gone out the window. Part of it, I think, is the result of quimchee having to change the arrangement of her story, and god I would love to pick her brain about the things that changed, since Nol's injury was supposed to happen at the formal itself, we never would have had this extended period of hospital time, and it seems like everything about Nol and Shinae coming to realization with their feelings would have played out in a wholly different way than what we ended up getting, so on some level I think this is partly that quimchee, too, is sort of throwing herself cureveballs in that there are things she knows needs to happen and she isn't sure where or how to fit the other elements in? But that's just my guess.

On the one hand, I do feel very "WHAT WAS THE EXTENSION FOR IF NOT FOR RECONCILIATION?!" but beyond Stalkyoo, we have gotten a LOT of good stuff out of this period of time. We see Kousuke facing his cognitive dissonance for, perhaps, the first time, and the revelation that Yui has been drugging him (and likely for a long time, given the way Hansuke describe the dosage Kousuke had and that it merely knocked him out), and more than that, making those connections between Nol and Yui and tea, and wanting to face him. I'm STILL proud of him for wanting to go back and see Nol again, even after he couldn't face him, even after Hansuke found him on the floor of a public bathroom hugging a toilet from the remorse and guilt and perhaps shame of the realization of the ways he has hurt people - has hurt Nol! - who didn't deserve it. We have seen that Rand and Yujing are, in fact, working on something behind the scenes, that Rand is facing Yui as a real adversary now, not just someone who has been resigned to endure her for so many years now, but to actually fight against her. The entirety of Nol's birthday celebration could not have happened the way it did had he not been in the hospital, since he would have had to turn himself in, and while maybe the original plan was that they celebrated his birthday with Minhyuk's coming home party, I'm.... not sure if that would have been the case?

But at at any rate, I do acknowledge that despite the fact that it feels like Nol might be back at square one, that he and Shinae are back where they started in 151, such significant events HAVE taken place that I think will still affect the narrative future of ILY. I still feel strongly that part of Nol's trajectory is coming to terms with the fact that he does, indeed, belong here. That he isn't someone who wasn't meant to be, that he doesn't belong here. He belongs, and he deserves love. He is someone, not nothing. I still think one of his greater arcs will involve coming to embrace this, and while the negative events - Kousuke, Alyssa, Yui - feel like they could be setting him back, he is now equipped with knowledge and feelings he wasn't before. It can't hurt him the same. In fact, I think part of why his confrontation with Alyssa went the way it did was because he had had this experience with Shinae, Dieter, and Soushi, it illuminated everything that was so wrong with his relationship with Alyssa, how neither of them really know each other. It's that sense of foiling that allows him to put his foot down and say enough is enough. Even before it was revealed that Alyssa had come with Yui, it was clear that Nol was over the visit. Don't get me wrong - I understand why he couldn't see that Alyssa clearly was not well, that she was uncomfortable, that she had come to him with no one else to go to, much as he'd gone to Kousuke in the past when he lost his mom, and I also understand why he did the same thing Kousuke did and turned her away. But the point I'm getting at is, it feels like there was a shift. That birthday celebration illuminated something for Nol.

So it's kind of like, while it feels like this might have undone the progress Nol made, it can't undone the revelations he's had, and in that same way, it cannot cast shadow on his enlightenment. He is not the same Nol he was a week ago. Too much has changed, he's become aware of too much, and as such, he is going to respond differently to what comes his way, and while he may continue to try what he had originally intended, I think the difference is that he's now been made aware of things that impact the choices he makes.

But largely I don't really know what I expect just yet. I think it's very pointed that the lawyer reminded Shinae that she has his phone number; I don't think that would be called out if it wasn't going to be important in some way, but in terms of how are we going from here to there? Unsure lol. I think there HAS to be a resolution of some kind, whether it's a reconciliation or not, because Shinae is on this momentum swing that isn't going to stop until she crashes into something or she comes into a force of nature that stops her. Nothing, no one, has been able to reach her or get through to her, and I know it's just because of how much she's hurting, but she's lashing out at people and hurting THEM like a street cat swiping at people trying to help her. She's so terrified of losing Nol, especially now that he came back, especially now that she gave him the option to leave and he didn't and it rekindled that hope she gave him an opening to leave when it would have been easier and he didn't which just made it worse, because so much more was at stake. She can't stop fighting she can't stop trying because she cannot bear what it means to lose him for real this time, not when she finally had him back, not when that realization has come to her even if she won't admit it. She needs him, so what's going to make her give up?

Something has to transpire, whether it's a reconciliation or Nol pushing her away and really shattering her heart or something awful like that, to bring her to a halt, because I can't imagine how we would move into our mini time skip to spring/graduation with Shinae like this, right? So I think there must be some kind of resolution. My foolish, hopeless self wants so badly to hope for reconciliation but esp after 249 I am SO torn. I have two thoughts.

a. they reconcile. She can reach him, and convince him, and even though he is so afraid, he is also someone who folds in front of her, he struggles to resist her. He told her to convince him and boy she can convince him and even though he tells himself he isn't sure if these feelings are real because what if it's just because she's NICE to him I think hearing her confess her feelings would tell him how he feels and give him the answer.

b. But the alternative feels like a parallel to Nessa and Rand, because Nessa, too, was hurt over and over by someone who kept getting her hopes up and getting hurt by him. Shinae gave Nol the opportunity to leave and he didn't, he stayed and doing so sparked her hope, made her feel things, they shared these tender, intimate moments together and forced that realization to come to mind, but for him to push her away again, for her safety, to make choices on her behalf even though she's told him she hates that and she doesn't want him to. Imagine her pulling a Nessa and calling him scum lfkjajkfkjfjkfaj ;A;!!!!! Imagine her so angry and hurt and resentful and saying awful things she doesn't mean and GOD I feel like it can go only one of these ways because what ELSE is going to stop her in her tracks?!

And I really want a reconciliation because parting like this sets them up for SO. MUCH. STRIFE. Because we know one way or another Shinae is going to end up taking Yui's offer and if Nol leaves on these terms, he would end up thinking she's following in Alyssa's footsteps doing so, not understanding WHY she's doing, not understanding that this is Shinae's only way of protecting herself, learning to speak Yui's language and play her game.

and idk I know I'm a hopeful optimist reading a webtoon that proves to me over and over that I cannot be a hopeful optimist but LMAO GOD I WANT SHINAE TO CONVINCE THAT DUMBO

I've said it before that convincing him doesn't mean they have to get into a relationship. Just. Reconcile. She's so afraid of LOSING HIM, thinking that once he slips away he's out of her grasp, her sight, for good, that she will lose the best thing that happened to her and I WANT THAT RECONCILATION. I want her to convince him, for both their sakes. So that he knows he has someone he can go back to. So that she knows he's not just throwing her away. So that she doesn't have to fear losing something so precious and important.

Am I foolish and hopeful for hoping for that outcome? Maybe, but it won't stop me LMAO because as delicious and angsty as Shinae and Nol following in Ressa's footsteps with Nol hurting her again and leaving her so hurt and angry is, I want to see them on that same page. I want to see Shinae convince him - convince him why he is so important to her, and that his feelings are real. That's the thing, right, like.... you can tell yourself that your feelings aren't real, but if the person you like confesses to you, your heart will inevitably betray you and respond to the confession. Nol fears for Shinae's safety but important puzzle pieces are falling into place. She has figured what he fears the most - and if she thinks hard enough she'll realize how she can use that to her "advantage", in that Rand has told her Yui will never let her go, that it doesn't matter if Nol leaves or not. It goes back to my oft repeated sentiment of them needing to be on the same page, to be a team, because his absence will not protect her. And between what Rand told her, plus her anecdotes about Kousuke's birthday and how Yui treated her even before the formal, and what Yujing told Nol about Kousuke being drugged by Yui, maybe, just MAYBE that conclusion that wasn't only him all along will finally hit him. I know he can't change over night, that he has so many deeply ingrained fears that won't be easily assuaged, but I have to hope that a confession from Shinae can convince him that the alternative is worse. Convince him to fight along side her ;A;

I go back and forth on this thought but I think this is strongly what I feel right now. That reconciliation could still be around the corner, even if it's just an admission and a promise to not push her away. Shinae is tired of people acting on her behalf, tired of not getting a say, and especially in something that involves her heart, her feelings?

Go fight girl and maybe bite him if that's what it takes ;A;

STEALING HER BANDANA. HER LINES. HERT HEART. THIS MAN DESERVES TO BE LOCKED AWAY

ALFJLFJLFKJLAFKJLKFJALKFJ

[mari-lair]

Hello sorry to bother you. I would like to ask if we can get more information about Hanako and Kou's relationship in your Phantom Thieves Au? It's one of my favorites to read in your writings. It's okay if you don't want to reply, I hope you have a nice day!

Thank you, Anon! It is no bother, don't worry, I was just saving your ask for when I inevitably got in a hanakou mood. (they are my fav tbhk ship outside my awful trio, so I get hanakou brainrot at random.)

Thief Hanako is kind of an asshole, he can be cold and careless to most people, mostly focusing on himself and having difficulty getting attached. Is more common for him to approach someone because he wants to use them than because he is curious or intrigued. The reason he first looks at Kou is because of his status as a Minamoto, he wants to make him spill some secrets about their treasures and how their security works: He acts friendly, mischievous, and nice to get Kou's trust.

He learns quickly Kou is easy to manipulate and far too trusting, but he is no pushover, his reflexes extremely good, and his persistence to follow Hanako on rooftops and narrow alleys even after being led to traps and dead ends is intriguing. His ‘value’ decresses after Hanako learn Kou doesn't have any valuable information, so he starts visiting the cop less. Usually, he would have discarded Kou, but he find him funny, so he visits him when he is bored and mess with him.

He only gets a tiny crush when Kou fights with Teru for him, believing there is good in Hanako and that he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Kou bleeds for this belief, reducing Hanako’s sentence from 47 years to 2 years.

Kou visits him and checks on him while he is locked up. Hanako takes two weeks to decide to escape, stealing from Kou and running off, mocking him for being such a foolish guard.

Hanako knows how to flirt but not how to be vulnerable, and his moral compass is a bit… odd.. after more than a decade of stealing and living in apathy. So he constantly flirts and gets touchy but makes fun of Kou on the off chance Kou believes in his word, now even when Kou gets flustered he just assumes Hanako's flirting is an act, a mockery to mess up with him.

Hanako steals a lot from Kou, depending on his mood the thief either has a crisis about what was stolen that ends with him getting emo about life (Such as Kous cop cap. A grocery list that is far too…personal… compared to all the things he steals. A homemade sandwich. ) or a sense of giggly shame, something Hanako will treasure and never talk about it  (Such as a picture of Kou at his training graduation that he keeps hidden with his money.) and in the off chance he steal something that is dear to Kou, he will, sneakily give it back.

Kou genuinely does not know how Hanako feels about him because the thief switches his attitude too much. One moment he is flirting and helping Kou, offering hints about any criminal Kou wants to catch, and “gifting” him stolen jewelry, the next he acts condescending and calls Kou a failure, the worst cop in the city, because a part of Hanako does hate him and how much he can hurt him: He hates getting conflicts of ‘not being a good person, not being good for Kou’ when he is used to not care about his lifestyle, he hates trusting Kou and being disappointed more than anything.

Hanako feeds into Kou’s “I am incompetent and no one needs me” insecurity a lot, especially after Kou starts caring about his opinion and craving his respect. But they are able to have peaceful conversations surprisingly frequently, there is a strange connection between them that makes it so Kou isn't taken aback when Hanako saves him from danger or shows worry about his well-being.

Hanako breaks into Kou’s bedroom sometimes. Usually Kou is asleep, so he just stares at him a little bit and steals something before going out, but when Kou is wide awake they chat. They once stayed until 4 am playing card games and avoiding the insecurities that come deep in the night.

Hanako and Kou are not dating, they remain oblivious to each other’s crush. The topic of love or dates is rarely touched at all.

There is a strange tension between them when Hanako attempts to run from his feelings with an elaborate heist and ends up with people injured. Hanako doesn’t care about scaring strangers but it does make Kou sad and frustrated, which he cares about.

On the few times Kou does catches him and drags him to prison is either tense or playful. When Kou is the one to catches him is not that bad, Hanako is oddly proud, even flustered. But with time Hanako is no longer able to trick Kou, so he is forced to stay in his cell for a while after being caught. Could be months. He is ironically Kou's biggest teacher and what made him better at his job.

Kou visits his cell regularly, sometimes they play cards. They never kissed. They never talk about their feelings. And they want the others to admire them, so they rarely talk about their fears. Is a strange bond.

Extra info:

Hanako is 22 years old and Kou is 24 in this AU but he still calls Kou 'Kid'. 

Hanako wears heels but he is still on the shorter side, shorter than Kou at least.

Akane is the only one who knows Hanako has a crush, when he mentions it to Teru, the police chief starts hating Hanako more.

Hanako is rich, very respected, feared, and hated in the criminal business. He actually tried to buy an honest gift for Kou once, but Kou did not believe him, having fallen for the "oh no, this one isn’t stolen! I brought it just for you, you'll break my heart if you refuse it~" talk with items that are in fact stolen far too many times. 

Kou is one of the very very few people that knows Hanako birth name is Amane. He does not tell this to his brother.

[imagoddamnonionmason]

3,9,14,19 for Jodie and Woods!

Hellloooooo darl! Lovely to see you here, a pleasure as always <3 I hope you're having a good day and I just gotta say, I had an initial look at these questions before I start fleshing out the answers and damn! they're really good questions!

I won't natter too long though- again, thank you for being here, Liberty! :')

----

3. Do they wear the other's clothes? (sweatshirt, bandana, necklace etc.)

Ok! So, yes and no - there's a limit; Frank is absolutely fine if she steals his jumpers or even his t-shirts. They're a lot bigger on her and he's amused by how much it looks like it drowns her, but he also kinda likes that it's a comfort.

None of Jodie's clothes would fit him, so... even if he wanted payback he'd look like a teen having gone through a growth spurt. Jodie isn't exactly precious about her clothes, but she'd prefer if they weren't torn lmao.

Depending on the AU, Jodie does end up with his bandana. But... there's a reason for that, one I don't want to ruin because it will be upcoming in much later chapters of Call of Booty <.<

In the canon universe, though? Frank would not let her wear his bandana - I feel like it's something he's carried with him through most missions, if not all of them, that we've seen him participate in and I reckon it's a little like a good luck charm? I'm not so certain that Frank is superstitious or believes in that kind of thing (I don't get that vibe) but the bandana he wears around his head seems to be only for missions yk? If Jodie was ever to try and wear that, Frank might have a problem. Luckily, she respects that and wouldn't push it.

9. What are their thoughts on having children?

Ah, I love this question. I now get to reveal that later on in their relationship, Jodie does get caught pregnant and they end up parents to a lovely little girl.

However, their opinions on the matter were very, very different to begin with.

Frank, I feel, was enamoured with the idea of being a parent, a father, a lot quicker than Jodie had time to process being pregnant. Though the two had never had the conversation about children, he wasn't against it - he sees how Alex and Sarah are with David and he enjoys being an Uncle, so what really are the differences between that and being a father? Of course, he had his own worries and anxieties; would he be good enough etc. but yeah, he was happy with the idea of being a dad.

Jodie was different. I knew, for a fact, that she would not be able to cope with the idea of motherhood due to everything she had gone through in her life. It would have been the kind of thing she thought she'd only ever dream of. Or, the rhetoric of 'in another life', you know?

There's a lot of internal conflict within her regarding this and I do have every intention of writing this at some point in the future, but the general gist of her thoughts on children are this: I do not deserve the chance to be a mother. Something so innocent could never come from me. I will only ever fail them. And these are only the beginnings of her thoughts on this.

I won't lie, the pregnancy and a short time after birth was the toughest time for both of them because Jodie couldn't even bring herself to look at the baby. But, when she holds her for the first time, that's where it flips; she still have the anxieties, but there's a fervent, intense sense of protection that comes over Jodie and though she still struggles with motherhood, she vowed there and then to try and be better.

14. How do their personalities compliment each other? How do they clash?

Ahaha, again, depends on the AU.

I feel like in the canon universe, they don't clash as much as they do in the Call of Booty fic. Of course, this is because they're different versions of the base personalities, right?

But, in general, here are a couple things that they compliment each other with and clash over:

Jodie is less likely to 'lose her cool' compared to Frank. So when he starts to get annoyed by someone easily, she is a good counter to that; she'll usually either pat his arm or his tap her fingers to his wrist in a little gesture that he's rising and he'll calm down a little after that.

They tend to clash when either of them feels the other is underestimating their capabilities, especially Jodie. I feel like Frank, after the campaign and especially when they are together, is quite covertly protective of Jodie in the workplace. He sees the lasting effects of Perseus and the brainwashing and he just... he doesn't want her to experience anything like that again. But, rather than seeing it as he's trying to protect her, Jodie feels like he thinks she's not capable, or broken - something along those lines. So they clash over that kind of thing.

Within the pirate au? Damn... yes, they're probably gonna argue a lot, but that's because they've lived very different lives and have differing morals to begin with. She's a little more feisty in this au, too, because she hasn't had the life experience of losing everything, being controlled or brainwashed... but that also makes her kinda naive and it makes Frank want to pull his hair out.

19. How do they feel about PDA?

If I'm honest, they're indifferent to PDA. They neither hate it nor love it - I think it would come down to it being situational. Of course, I feel that, given certain situations, Frank might ramp it up a little and in response Jodie would be a little surprised but be alright with it.

But yeah, it'd be subtle little displays of affection when in public.

-----

So I enjoyed writing this so much I did the cardinal sin for an English person and forgot to drink my tea, now it's cold, but that really just means I was enjoying myself XD

THANK YOU LIBERTY! I'm always thankful for your asks and I hope I didn't write too much and bore you! <3

Goose

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

Honestly boggles my mind a bit how much people like my huge giant Talent Swap, but I did finally assign every character a talent and while I might still do some small changes, so here's the new Trigger Happy Havoc Cast

Himiko: Ultimate Clairvoyant

Himiko while still a magician-type, now specializes in telling fortunes, an act she's very good at. She insists it's all magic, and often has strange somewhat prophetic dreams, though she's kinda bad at figuring out what they're actually prophesying

Angie: Ultimate Gambler

With Atua in her ear, Angie has yet to lose a bet. With a penchant for riskier gambling and more unique kinds of bets that often have no monetary component to them. She's just having a lot of fun.

Shuichi: Ultimate Affluent Prodigy

Born into a family who to decide the heir one of the many children must solve an incredibly complicated scenario. Shuichi half lucking into it by overhearing other competitors and half his deduction skills, solves this scenario despite being too young to actually compete, not fully realizing what it meant to solve it. So now he's very stressed always and feels like he only won out of pure luck and by stealing his sibling's work and doesn't deserve this.

Seiko: Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

I still have no good reason for this one besides gay gay homosexual I'm going to be honest. Biker girl who's kinda anxious and stops fleeing from the cops to get a cat out of a tree, I love her.

Sonosuke: Ultimate Baseball Star

Once again I don't have a good reason for this one besides the fact SOMEONE had to be the baseball star, and I felt his personality and skill with weapons could translate well to a bat.

Chiaki: Ultimate Fanfic Creator

While still a huge gamer Chiaki got noticed for writing novel long fix it fics and strange crossovers that worked perfectly. She is well known for her hurt/comfort, fluff, and sprawling worldbuilding to fill in all the gaps of whatever game got her attention. Sometimes she dabbles in horror or angst, just to experiment, but they aren't her favorite genres to write.

Fuyuhiko: Ultimate Martial Artist

While still a Yakuza member, he got scouted for his immense gift at martial arts that was discovered when he was learning self defense, because Yakuza. Fuyuhiko has always had a rather strict moral code as well, which fits well with a Martial Artist. Likely specializes in using enemies momentum against them.

Ryoma: Ultimate Soldier

Ryoma got dragged into war at a young age, as there was a gang war in his town that he got pulled into after one killed his cat, thinking it was the cat of the other gang. From there, life kept pulling him along into deeper and deeper conflicts, before eventually, he got pulled into a very literal war while on a trip. From there he vanished and went off the grid, and when he was found again, he had become the stoic Ultimate Soldier

Mahiru: Ultimate Lucky Student

I see her as having a generalized bad luck aura, but when she super focuses on something its like her luck goes into bullet time and suddenly gets super precise and rather good

Kotoko: Ultimate Idol

Drama and Idol is pretty similar I feel, Kotoko is planning to use Hope's Peak to escape her idol career that she feels trapped in. Only to find herself trapped within a death game but honestly she's kinda okay with staying here that's certainly one way to destroy her career.

Gundham: The Ultimate Writing Prodigy

With a specialization of writing animal themed fantasy adventure books, Gundham has basically taken over the YA fiction scene. He got his start from roleplaying on some animal forum, where he was encouraged to write a book because he had some very good prose. Thus launching a huge literary career.

Akane: Ultimate Swimmer

A mixture of poverty and a terrible environment pushed Akane to extremes to survive. When she noticed a river known for dangerous currents by her house had fish in it, she taught herself to swim and navigate those currents to catch the fish for her family, gathering a lot of attention.

Celeste: Ultimate Fashionista

Making her own gothic outfits, Celeste burst into the fashion scene and very quickly got a lot of attention, soon being able to launch her own brand and lead the gothic lolita scene. Very demanding and terrible to work with though.

Toko: Ultimate Programmer

When no person would be her friend let alone date her, she turned to the one thing she could make be her friend, a computer program. In her determination to program the perfect boyfriend, she devoted hours and hours to it, accidentally advancing AI research by decades as she tried to figure out why even the programs she made, refused to date her.

Sakura: Ultimate Moral Compass

Sakura always had a very strong well, moral compass, so she quickly found her place helping others with school work, and staying on top of things. Very kind and considerate, and will help you whenever there's a problem

Kirigiri: Ultimate Analyst

Let's be real she kinda already was this in a way. Her eye for detail and cause and effect was legendary and overshadowed her detective career, and now she uses that eye for detail to destroy her father's career and go deep undercover. Kept from getting bored by sheer spite for her father and a deep curiosity about the world around her.

Junko: Ultimate Detective

Junko loves despair, we been knew, and I can't think of anything more despairful then fucked up crime scenes. This girl specializes in the most fucked up cases, you find a toddlers head in a freezer? You call Junko in. She revels in the gore and despair and horror, really enjoying getting to stretch her mental muscles to figure out just how a crime scene came to be. While also taking notes on what gets people caught for her own crimes she's planning.

-BONUS-

Syo: Ultimate Cook

This is a surprise tool that will help us more next game.

[yellowlaboratory]

obx + parallel plot lines

hello and welcome to my Annie Brain Rots On Main post. I hope this is a series of only one (1) post but the next few months before obx s3 are gonna be long so who knows how many think pieces you’ll have to endure. 

anyway, last night, somewhere in between simultaneous breakdowns with @falseungodlyhours and @alphinias, I started thinking more about s3’s arc and what conclusions we can draw from s1 and s2. stick with me as I word vomit through my theory (also be warned that i mention some bts spoilers for s3 in here)

s1 is John B centric. I know that he is still the main character even in s2, but s2 does not revolve around him in the same way s1 does. the main storyline in s1 is the Pogues rallying around John B to help him through a conflict that involves his family (I’m wording this weirdly to keep it general because it’s going to be a recurring theme lmao). the conflict revolves around his dad being lost at sea, and most of the main characters are tied up in this conflict whether they are trying to help John B (the Pogues, Sarah) or trying to hinder his search (Ward). and, on top of that, last night i got to thinking how much of John B’s story paralleled his father’s. 

first off, it only takes an episode for the show to establish that John B is on the search for his dad, but none of the Pogues really believe he’ll find him. Kiara is the only one who even pretends to play into it, but it’s clearly something she’s only doing out of guilt and she believes that Big John is most likely dead. So - John B is on the search for something, and the people closest to him don’t believe he’ll find it. Big John is on the search for the gold, and John B doesn’t believe he’ll find it. you see what I’m saying? by some miracle and against all odds, both Rutledge men find something, but not exactly what they were looking for. Big John finds the Royal Merchant, but not the gold. John B finds the gold, but not his father. then, immediately after their big discoveries, both of them are nearly killed by Ward Cameron. The ensuing events are actually almost exactly the same: following the confrontation with Ward, they both very nearly die, get lost at sea, are declared dead, but actually survive and escape to a Caribbean island. AND THEN, despite being alive, neither of them let their loved ones know right away. Big John takes far longer to get in contact, but even John B waits to contact the pogues for a month a day ? how does time work in the obx a while.  there are probably more parallels I’m missing but the point is John B’s storyline paralleled his dad. 

then, we end up in s2, and the driving force in s2 is Pope. with their backs against the wall and shit on the line, the Pogues rally around Pope to help him through a conflict that involves his family (see what I said about recurring theme. i promise i’m only kind of crazy.) Pope’s conflict has to do with Denmark Tanny, and protecting his legacy. once again, most of the main characters in s2 are entangled in this conflict, with the Pogues helping Pope, and Limbrey, Renfield, and Rafe trying to stop him. and, once again, there are parallels between Pope and Denmark’s storylines. 

first and foremost, the central antagonist in both Denmark and Pope’s storyline is a Limbrey. Captain Limbrey is the slave holder who won’t free Denmark’s wife and daughter, and Carla Limbrey is trying to steal the treasure that belongs to Pope’s family. The Limbreys are both categorized by their greed, their wrath, and their willingness to do anything to get what they want. In the immortal words of Kiara Carrera, “it was a Limbrey stealing shit again.” In both cases, Denmark and Pope are out for something much more important than money – Pope’s mee-maw sums it up pretty well when she says “family is all we got” and that is exactly what drives both Denmark and Pope’s actions, whether they are trying to reunite their family or avenge their legacy. more so than this, both Pope and Denmark see the gold cross as a symbol of freedom. I mean, Denmark literally builds it into the walls of Freedman’s Church, and as Pope gets ready to take the cross back on the Coastal Venture, he says “the time where people do shit to us and we just sit back and take it is over.” once again, I’m probably missing so many parallels, but you get the gist.

so, in summary, whether it is intentional or not (and isn’t that always the question with the boat show lmao), a pattern has begun to develop. even though there is a shit ton of stuff going down each season, there are two major factors that define and drive the story: 

a family-centered conflict that one of the Pogues faces while the other Pogues rally around them

the parallels that exist between said Pogue and members of their family

if this pattern actually exists and i’m not just talking out of my ass, that means there are three possible driving forces for s3 – either JJ, Kiara, or Sarah. (side note: I don’t think we’ve had enough time for Cleo to be the center point of the season-wide conflict yet, but with more seasons, I think we’ll get there)

Sarah’s familial conflict feels different than the rest of the Pogues, and I don’t think it could be the center point of a single season as it currently stands. conflict with Ward is a theme for the entire show, and rededicating a season arc to it when it’s already a series-wide arc doesn’t seem plausible to me. on top of that, I don’t really think we’ll be seeing the same kinds of parallels between Sarah and Ward that we’ve seen between John B/Big John and Denmark/Pope. I think a Sarah-centric season would be REALLY interesting if we ever find out what happened to her mother, and if we see the parallels between Sarah’s conflict with Ward and her mother’s conflict with Ward (i’m assuming there’s conflict there because …. well, of course there was. it’s ward.) Unfortunately, due to what I know from bts and casting calls, I don’t think we’re meeting Sarah’s mother yet, and I don’t think an exploration of that conflict is going to happen in s3. 

similarly, I don’t think it’s JJ’s season quite yet. another little bts spoiler, but we’ll likely only see Luke in the very last episode, and as much as I hate him with every fiber of my being, he’s a major part of JJ’s characterization. I truly believe that we can’t get a well-rounded JJ-centric season without tying up the loose ends with Luke, and the send-off scene in s2 was never going to be enough. The single episode we’ll likely see him in during s3 is also not going to be enough to wrap everything up, and it’s sure as hell not going to be enough to drive the whole season (unless Luke actually comes back earlier, or JJ’s mom makes a reappearance but, once again, based on the stuff I’ve seen, I don’t think that will be the case in s3). 

So, that leaves Kiara. Between her parents cracking down on her even harder, the threat of Blue Ridge hanging over her, and the fact that she ended the season by undermining her parents to sneak out and go missing for an undetermined amount of time, I think Kiara is perfectly set up to be the center point of the conflict for s3 - and the bts i have seen and some of the casting calls all seem to line up with the theory of a Kiara-centric Season 3

coming right back from Poguelandia, I don’t think Kiara’s parents will threaten to send her to Blue Ridge right away (or at least i hope they won’t akdjfhas I know I have some misguided faith in them), but I’m kind of thinking there might be a time jump, and I wouldn’t put it past the Carreras to threaten Blue Ridge a few weeks/months after getting Kiara back. While there’s a non-zero chance the Pates might introduce a third (literal) pot of gold that somehow relates to the Carrera family fortune, I’m actively hoping, wishing, and praying against it. So, the option most likely to maintain my sanity for the next few months is the central conflict of the season revolving around Kiara and her parents. This is what the Pogues could rally around – keeping Kiara from Blue Ridge. That leaves the question, who could Kiara parallel in her s3 arc? 

Enter Anna Carrera. 

Anna would be in the unique place of being both the antagonist and the foil to Kiara’s story, but it seems like the most logical choice. There’s already a built-in parallel there – a Kook girl running around with Pogues? we’ve heard this one before. Taking this even further, we know that Anna fell in love with a Pogue, chose him over her family, and risked her entire future for him. She might not act like it now, but a few years back, Anna was in the same exact position as her daughter. Since we know s3 is going to explore Jiara (thank you Josh Pate for confirming that so early on and quelling the insanity of my mind for at least a little bit), isn’t that the perfect way to create a parallel? 

then, with Luke coming back into the picture late in s3, we have the opportunity for a JJ-centric s4. 

anyway. let me lose my mind over this for the next few months. 

[ariendiel]

What are ALL the s2 characters' reaction when they see MC and Noah getting together post-villa? Will they happy for them, and starts being snarky against them?

That's such an interesting one, and will probably depend on how MC went on about it? Did she hook up with others while pursuing Noah for instance? In that case I doubt they'd be impressed or happy for them at all. Was she at least not stringing anyone else along while flirting with Noah I think some would be happy for them, and I'm basing this on the assumption that MC didn't do a "burn the Villa" route (you can play the game being very detached from your partner, so it kind of does work although I don't think the one you steal the money from would be happy regardless):

I think the one most likely to be happy for them is Rahim. He's Noah's best mate in the Villa, and is likely to just be generally happy for his friend. He also can't really say much considering the whole Shannon/Jo drama, so I don't think he'll judge too much. I also think Jo would be happy for them, as she'd agree with Rahim.

I think the rest of the gym crew is also going to be relatively happy for them, so Gary and maybe Lucas. Lucas is also one of the islanders who's pro playing the game, so I think he'll come to accept it even though he thinks they should've been much more upfront about it. I can see Jakub, Shannon, Elisa and Marisol also being happy for them for a similar reason, as they never pretended that Love Island is anything but a game to win, and they also played the game.

I think Bobby would struggle to be happy about it, since he's always got a crush on MC. If you don't end up with him, you're the one who got away after all, so he'd maybe be a bit snarky and salty at first. I think Rocco would be low-key salty about it as well, as he was punished so brutally for doing something that definitely isn't worse. Still, they'd both come around eventually. Priya also had a thing for Noah, but her attempt at stealing him fell painfully flat, so she'd probably be a bit snarky out of jealousy – at least at first.

Hannah and Henrik are two that I think could go either way to be honest. Hannah could for instance find it *so romantic* that two star crossed lovers finally got together, or find the whole thing super distasteful. Henrik as well would probably feel conflicted, and it would take some time for him to come around (depending on friendship level). Chelsea is someone I imagine would also be a bit pouty about it, especially if MC didn't tell her, but she'd get over it for her "bra".

Two people that would be snarky no matter what probably? Hope and Lottie. Hope very much justifiably so, Lottie because she lives for the drama and calling out other girls for being "snakes". Lottie also becomes a huge team Nope fan towards the end so... yeah.

[razieltwelve]

Hard Mode

Are you worried that your main character has it too easy? Are people telling you that your main character is overpowered for no reason and needs to earn their strength? And do people say that your character needs to face some real challenges and experience some real character growth?

Then I have an answer for you.

It’s time for Hard Mode.

Think of it like a video game. Set the fates themselves against your main character. If anything can go wrong, have it go wrong.

Start from the beginning.

If your character was supposed to have a loving family, do the right thing. You want them to face challenges and grow, right? Show no mercy. Kill their family. Suffering = Greatness. Here are some of the best ways to do it:

Random trucks.

Bandits in previously safe areas.

Various kinds of incurable disease.

Betrayal (extra points if they are betrayed by relatives, trusted friends, or even the gods themselves).

Now your main character has no family because a truck driven by their evil twin who faked their own death ran over their parents and bandits hired by that same twin razed their village to the ground. Oh, and the one relative who did survive, maybe a kindly uncle, contracted an incurable disease, but despite praying to the gods for aid, he just got sicker before being fed poison disguised as medicine by the evil twin who was posing as a doctor and dying in the main character’s arms. Extra points if the death was really gruesome. I’m talking blood spewing from their eyeballs and their body turning inside out gruesome. Maybe you can’t think of any poisons that would do that. That’s okay. Just make one up. Call it Eye-Bleeding Inside-Out Venom or something or something really cool like Invincible Body-Slaughtering Death Soup.

Finally, your main character can experience character growth.

Why, you ask? It’s simple. Suffering = Greatness. Since they have massively suffered, then it’s completely okay to make them ridiculously overpowered and super awesome and cool at everything. They’ve paid the price, and now it’s time to reap the rewards.

Wait… they still haven’t suffered enough?

Nope. This is hard mode, people. Hard. Mode.

Despite their whole family (except for the evil twin being dead), the main character has to suffer more and experience an even worse childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Here are some great ideas to really maximise their woe:

Have them become an outcast because all this suffering is an indication that they must be cursed. Better still, people don’t just hate them and avoid them. No. That’s easy mode. Hard Mode means they getting randomly attacked wherever they go with everyone pointing and laughing. If they’re at school, they have to be mercilessly bullied while the teachers cackle and egg on the other students before joining in. Every day, the main character has to crawl into bed half dead while swearing broody vengeance against those who wronged them and clutching a photograph of their family before a truck, poison, and an evil twin wiped them out. Extra points if you use a phrase like ‘in the end, there were no more tears to shed, only blood to spill’.

Have everybody betray and swindle them. Now that the main character’s family is dead, no one can protect them! The law no longer applies! The executor of their family’s estate hoards all the money. The authorities steal all their stuff. A special law gets written and passed by parliament telling the main character that they suck and must suffer. Billboards are taken out to declare to the world that the main character is lame.

The main character has to live like a wild animal, resorting to crime and villainy to survive in a tragic blow to their hopes to remain a decent person. Forced to kill, steal, and scheme to survive, they nevertheless shelter an innate spark of goodness that they can only hope will not be swamped by bitterness, for if it does, there is no telling what sort of darkness they shall unleash upon the world. This conflict has to be stated repeatedly, aloud, and with suitable posing atop a suitable location (e.g. at night atop a windswept roof on the anniversary of their family’s demise after they are once again forced to kill to survive, ideally someone who looks like their dead family members or something because, you know, extra suffering).

Now, part of Hard Mode involves how other important characters interact with the main character. Here are a few staples you should include:

The love interest. Like a ray of sunlight piercing the clouds, like fresh rain on a parched land, and like a blessing from on high, the love interest is there to make the main character more likeable. How? By constantly praising the main character and explaining their good points while establishing that their bad points don’t really matter. Murdering an entire innocent family for bread? That’s okay. They needed bread, and leaving witnesses wasn’t an option. Extra points if the love interest is somehow related to their evil twin (who they still don’t know is alive). Super extra bonus points if the love interest is actually also in love with the evil twin but somehow cannot find it in their heart to chose, for they have seen the light and darkness in both twins and realise that only their love can save them both! And, yeah, the love interest has to be stunning. I’m talking about the sort of physical attractiveness that would launch a million ships (take that, Helen of Troy!). They also have to be kind, intelligent, and righteous, so their opinion carries extra weight.

The best friend. The main character has to meet someone they can finally trust, a best friend who will be the only person to offer them a hand up in their darkest hour, the one person who ever showed them kindness in a world of cruelty and despair. But since this is Hard Mode, what happens is either the best friend will die (see previous list for ideas how or maybe even have the main character kill them for the pathos) or be secretly working for the evil twin and then betray the main character. Suffering = Greatness.

The pet. Somehow, the main character found a pet they love. Now, it has to die in as horrible a way as possible because the only way to show how much the world sucks is to randomly have people murder innocent animals. Extra points if the main character has to watch, powerless as it happens, before the animal gains just enough strength to die in their arms, possibly while protecting them too. Extra extra points if the main character has to kill the pet themselves, possibly because it got rabies and tried to kill them while visibly trying to fight the disease due to its endless love for the main character before finally succumbing and attacking them.

The mentor. Finally, the main character has a mentor, someone to teach them and care for them and show them the way! How about no. You really thought they’d get that? The main character gets a mentor for just long enough to think the world is a decent place before their character is brutally murdered, preferably for no reason at a nonsensical moment just to show how the world is grim and dark and bad things can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. This is Hard Mode. Good stuff doesn’t happen to the main character.

The gods. In Hard Mode, there are no benevolent gods. Instead, they’re all spiteful, cruel, and mean, and the gods who do show kindness are just faking it. They all gather to laugh at the main character and mock their suffering despite the fact that they have a world to rule over and billions of people to watch. But the main character is special, so they have to be extra cruel to them and make extra sure to mock them.

With this motley cast of characters assembled, your main character is finally worthy of becoming stupidly overpowered and basically invincible. Once they’ve attained this awesome power, there are a few things they need to do:

Brutally kill the people who’ve wronged them. It has to be super brutal too, and they have to moralise the entire time as well. They also need to speak and act in a certain way. Think brooding shadows, think epic poses, think deep, soulful glances. Everyone who has ever wronged them has to die, and they have to know why. And it’s completely okay because now that our character has suffered sufficiently, everything they do is cool. After all, personal pain justifies everything. And what sort of weirdo would ever learn compassion or mercy after a life of suffering? Hah! If someone bumps into your main character, they need to pay. Only death will teach them the importance of politeness. Sure, it won’t be in this life, but they’ll definitely be more polite in their next life!

The main character has to be right about everything. You see, once you’ve endured a bad enough life thanks to Hard Mode, you become the arbitrator of everything. It turns out that all your bad decision making was actually playing 12D chess and all your moral conflicts weren’t conflicts at all because everything you did was actually the right thing to do. You’ve paid the price, now it’s time to reap the rewards. Literally.

Get revenge in a super climactic battle that breaks the universe. Now that your main character knows about their evil twin thanks to their love interest being brutally murdered in front of them and dying in their arms (thank you, Hard Mode), they now possess the power to defeat their evil twin. It doesn’t matter what the power scaling was like prior to this final battle, you know what to do. Go big. Go bigger. Go biggest. Does your main character have magic powers that can blow up a small house? Pathetic! To defeat their evil twin, they must be able to rewrite reality, blow up the universe, and then remake it! Anything less is letting the evil twin win! Go big or go home!

Add a twist ending or ten. At the end of the battle, the evil win has to say something that makes the main character realise that, actually, they were the villain all along. I’m talking about a twist because every story needs a twist, even if you just slip it in at the end. It turns out that there was no evil twin. In fact, the evil twin was an astral projection created by the main character to separate themselves from their evil impulses that they refused to face. They then abandoned their astral projection, causing them to go insane and lash out at their family. If only the main character had accepted their evil impulses and tried to control them properly! But wait, there’s more because like any good televised commercial trying to sell you useless crap, a good Hard Mode story has to layer on more tragedy. Actually, the main character was a super secret science experiment that his parents created… only they were never his parents! They were vessels for the gods who created him in a bid to create a super weapon to fight some outside entity of unimaginable power! It turns out that it was all for the Greater Good™ and that everything they did was justified!

Put a hook for the sequel that adds another twist. Now that the main character knows the truth, will they save the universe? Of course not. Screw the universe. In fact, now it’s time to join forces with the outside entity to bring down the gods and institute a new moral order! But secretly, the outside entity is the creator of the gods who was an abusive parent who mercilessly tortured them to steal their power before being cast out. Only in the sequel will the main character finally learn that they’ve been played and only after committing countless atrocities that the reader has to sympathise with them about rather than the victims because it’s not like those dead people can feel pain whereas the main character definitely can!

The key here is to remember that in Hard Mode, everybody is evil, everything sucks, and evil always wins. Only through this supreme level of suffering can the main character achieve the power they require to be as awesome and cool as possible. Also, you need to repeat this process at least three times before ending the series, preferably with a monologue from the main character moralising on how hard times make hard people and how hard decision are the only way to survive in a broken world built atop the screaming, tortured souls of the innocent.

If you can do all of this, congratulations! You have finished your first Hard Mode style novel.

P. S. In case it isn’t obvious, this is satire. It is the product of two things. I again haven’t slept in two days (thank you, insomnia, I never knew I needed you!) and I am reading a story that is absolutely magnificent from a technical standpoint, but has decided that the only way the main character can develop is through suffering. It has gotten to the point where I am actually wondering when their dog will bite them before revealing it has rabies and never wanted to betray them, so they have to shoot it, but then the gun misfires and a stray piece of shrapnel hits their brother in the eye, and then their dying brother falls and pushes their elderly father off a roof whereupon they fall and strike their beloved uncle, killing them both. Seriously, the past several chapters of that story, which I will not name out of respect for the author (and I do respect their talent – they are seriously incredible from a technical standpoint, just pristine prose and perfect composition), have been a litany of disasters for the main character, many of which make no logical sense at all. As in you have characters actively going against their own self interest to screw the main character for no reason at all other than to add more conflict to the story because someone criticised the author for making it too easy for the main character. If I could whack whoever said that over the head with a rolled up newspaper, I would.

P. P. S. In all seriousness, don’t freak out if your story has some of these elements. That’s fine. Only worry if you are actually ticking all of the boxes here, as in ALL of them.

P. P. P. S. If I had write the story I described above, I’d call it something like ‘Shadows of Despair: A Hero’s Journey’ or something like that. I’d have a broody-looking guy with a hood with his back turned looking over his shoulder and staring mournfully at the reader because he knows exactly what kind of story he’s in.

P. P. P. P. S. Okay, I’ll come clean. As a teenager, I actually tried the Hard Mode approach seriously before reading through what I’d written and wondering what I was doing with my life.