#it's what i'm thinking of 90% of the time i write/talk/etc about him and it's frustrating how hard it is to actually translate it to paper

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

so recently i decided to roll the 'what will my human!pericles look like This Time' roulette again, only this time in color for once! it's always itched at me how his design looks like a totally different person before and after the timeskip, having been through the wringer aside, so i thought i'd take a shot at combining my interpretation of the two. (the creators pretty obviously took cues from his voice actor for his present-day design, and it's been fun to draw on that too while still keeping the design my own.)

i mostly like how it's turned out, as far into it as i managed to get before i had to take a break and my executive function stalled out; i kept putting off posting it, meaning to come back and finish it later, but i finally decided to go ah fuck it i'd rather it be out there unfinished than disappear into my sketch folder forever. or get fucked up by my trying to continue it while Not in the Groove, especially given how difficult the painting tools i've got available are to wrangle with. Sometimes You Just Gotta Call It

there's a lot of things i'm eyeing to hammer out more next time--i can never seem to figure out what the hell to do with his hair, for one; for another they did a great job at getting across 'babyface that has become aged/haggard' with his designs, and that balance can be difficult to nail when the art app i use really brings out the Everyone is Soft and Babyface in my artstyle. it's a real bastard, but i liked drawing him with this brush a lot and i'm looking forward to working it out more if i can.

the upshot of this is Lo, Cunty Grandpa Be Upon Ye

bonus flats, including an early-to-mid-twenties edit, as well as a couple speed doodles from the same page:

[deelavis]

I'm sure that some has talked about this before, but I have always been confused about Mello's reasoning for kidnapping Takada. I finished a read through of the Death Note manga recently and I FINALLY feel like I understand why. I'm going to break this down into 2 sections: Why he did it, and Did he intend to die?

Why he did it:

While I think it's meant to be kept somewhat vague for narrative purposes, the thing that I never understood fully was the wording in the scene:

Why specifically "his" name? Of course this line always made my little Meronia heart flutter, but before my manga read through I never quite understood it. If Near's plan to catch Kira went wrong, all of the SPK would die, not just Near. So why the emphasis on him? Especially if we are looking at a completely surface level reading of DN where Mello purely hates Near? But then I found this moment a few chapters earlier:

To summarize what is happening before and after these pages (Chapter 90), Near tells Light that there are 4 members of the SPK and that he is in Japan. He says they might meet soon. This is all coded language to challenge Light to an in person meeting. At this point Near admits that he doesn't have a concrete plan in place for confronting Light. But he knows they must meet Kira face to face and prove his identity by having a name written in the Death Note. This is prior to the SPK starting their investigation into Mikami. The part that stuck out to me was " When we meet Kira, the first person he'll write down is me, so..." To me this means that prior to finding Mikami and adding fake pages to the death note, Near planned to sacrifice himself to catch Kira if they didn't have any other options. This DIRECTLY correlates to Mello's line (read right to left):

Mello kidnapped Takada because he knew that if he didn't there was a good chance Near would die. This is literally the only reason that the text give us. Which leads me to our next part.

Did he intend to die?

While I've seen a lot of different takes on this, many of which I find very interesting, I now believe that yes, Mello kidnapped Takada with the intention to be killed by the death note. Here is my reasoning.

Mello knows better than anyone else investigating Kira how the death note works. Like L wanted to before his death, Mello used his time in the mafia to experiment with the rules of both the death note AND the shinigami eyes.

In the manga, Mello has one of the mafia members Kal Snydar (a.k.a. Jack Neylon) make a deal for the shinigami's eyes. Rod and Mello use Snydar's eyes to kill others for an extended period of time. This would give Mello at least a basic understanding of how they work; what face coverings inhibit the eyes, etc... And then after his encounter with Soichiro Yagami he becomes aware that there is always a chance that anyone associated with Kira could have the eyes. He also knows that Kira knows his name but not his face after the explosion. Meaning that he would know that the ONLY thing stopping Kira from killing him would be his face. Given that Mello never uses the death note himself but had other's use it for him, I believe that he also would theorize that Kira would do the same (such as X-Kira/Mikami, Misa, and Takada). Because of all of this he would be especially careful around anyone he knows has connections to Kira, such as Takada the spokesperson of Kira.

Moving on to the kidnapping. Mello wears a motorcycle helmet that appears to be tinted, but is clear enough to fully discern his face through. We know from previous instances that a dark tinted visor will block the shinigami's eyes from seeing your name, which most motorcycle helmets already have. Here is a comparison of a helmet used to block the face vs what Mello wore:

Mello specially chose one with a clear enough visor to see through. You could argue that he did this to show Halle who he was, allowing him to take Takada. However if this was his intention there were many other ways to make his identity clear to Halle without revealing his face. There is also the line on this page that intrigues me. "She's connected to Kira... Unless I do this..." The sentence structure implies that there is a direct consequence Mello envisions. Unless you do this...then what? Given everything else I have outlined above to me the implication is "Unless I do this then Near will die." You could argue that he’s thinking something like “Unless I do this then Near will win!” However, Mello has always been outspoken in his desire to be the one to catch Kira. If that’s what he was thinking wouldn’t it just say that? Whatever his reason is is something he can’t bring himself to say even in the privacy of his own brain.

If you were to argue that Mello didn't realize that his helmet was clear enough to see his face, this is then made moot when he takes it off in front of Takada. There was no reason for him to do this, in fact, there were a multitude of reasons not to. Even if Takada didn't have death note pages on her, Mello knows that if she escapes, Kira could easily ask her to write his name in the death note because she knows his face. You may then think "but why does Mello take precautions to not get followed and killed by Takada's men? He takes away and ships off anything that could be bugged and tracked including her clothing." This just further proves that he is trying to be killed specifically by the death note. The kidnapping is planned to a T, but he doesn't take the simplest precaution of concealing his face from one of Kira's biggest supporters.

So what was Mello’s plan? We know that Mello is someone who plans for a lot of different contingencies. We see this when he plants bombs through out his safe house in the event that he’s backed into a corner. Because of this I believe he had a few different plans. But no matter what his goal with kidnapping Takada is to force contact with Kira. In fact, Near thinks that Mello’s goal is to use Takada as bait.

What his exact plan was up in the air for me. He may have intended to be killed by her, thinking that she had access to a death note when kidnapped which would explain why he didn’t check her over before giving her the blanket to cover herself. He states that his intention of taking her clothes is to removing any tracers so her bodyguards didn’t find them. They make a deal that he will give her the blanket before taking off her underwear, where she’s hiding her pages of the death note.

Even if Mello didn’t know that you can used pages torn out of the death note, there are a few time in the series when a person hides a full death note under their clothes (Near being my favorite example). So it’s not out of the question that she could have had one tucked into the back of her underwear.

His plan also could have been to release her in some way so that she could get back to Kira and use the death note. Mello knows Kira has his name, now with Takada having seen his face Kira would have her write Mello’s name for him. Or it could have been that he intended to use her to draw Kira out and get killed by the death note in the process.

Going back to our first example from the manga, Near says "The fact that we replaced the pages in the notebook and the notebook happened to be a fake… I find it hard to believe that Mello thought that far ahead." I do agree with Near here. I don't think that Mello had figured out that the notebook was fake. But I do think that Mello could see that Near's plan had holes in it, and any mistake would result in Near getting killed. His solution was to be the name that was written in the book instead. You can argue in a lot of different ways why it was important to Mello that Near lives. Such as, Mello knew that with Near dead he didn't have any hope of catching Kira by himself with all of this resources and allies depleted. Or my favorite reason, despite his protests Mello deeply cares for Near and was willing to die if it meant Near would survive.

Please let me know any of your thoughts!

[stormblessed95]

Who Thoughts and Theories

First, it's such a good song. I'm genuinely so in love with it, with Jimins vocals, with his dance, with his backup dancers. I'm so impressed with how hard he worked and all the choices he contributed to it. While this is the only song on the album that Jimin doesn't have writing credits on, he was still very much involved in every aspect of the songs creation and it was written with the feelings Jimin wished to portray. I talk briefly about what I believe the overall feelings that Jimin was trying to express in the album Muse, here:

And of course because you should refresh yourself on the song and get that extra stream in before you read....

I'll otherwise just be talking about what I think, my thoughts, my feelings and my theories about Who, the song and the MV in this post. These are of course just my opinions, coming from my perspectives. You are free to agree or disagree as much as you want.

First, I want to say that regardless of the pronouns used in the song, I don't think it has any bearing on Jimins sexuality. People (read: homophobes) cannot use this song as a way to try to say Jimin can't be queer. Not only is that nonsensical and ignoring the fact that Jimin would be closeted if he is queer. But it's also ignoring the way Jimin speaks about the song, which is solely in gender neutral terms. From the original lyrics being "you" instead of "she."

To the way he says "people" instead of "girls/women" about the scene where people walk past him as the options of who he could be looking for. Along with the fact that the billboard with a man's eyes drop right after he sings "who is my heart Waiting for?"

The way that Jimin dances with both men and women and the scene then when they come together, it's absolutely giving west side story. Which is my personal opinion. Which one of the themes of west side story is love striving to rise above the hatred.... And idk about you, but I think that can easily relate to queer love as well. But again, personal opinion only! So this BS that I know everyone rolled their eyes at with the "this proved he is straight" nonsense, is at its core.... Nonsense...

Speaking of his dance, this thread has absolutely nothing to do with what I'll talk about in this post but is so cool and FULL of Jimin appreciation and you should check it out if you want!

Jimin switched aspect ratios of film during his MV of Who. An ARMY linked together all the times he changed ratios, which you can watch here:

As well as going through multiple different types of media: television, comic strips, movie, billboards, etc. Jimin is showing us multiple different storylines within his MV. This same person from above goes into great detail about how all this can show the various details of storylines and storytelling. It's a good read, worth checking out

It's super interesting the way the words play across the screen during certain parts of the MV and how it changes the screen ratios as well. I would love an actual interpretation from Jimin or the MV director over what they actually mean or if it was just in the 90s theme with zero correlation or meanings, but I doubt we will ever get that. So all we can do is guess and make our own interpretations. Which will be affected by our own personal biases. That's the beauty of art though!

The ones I'll point out that I'll say something about are:

Play, both in the corners at times and on the little TV's around the MV

Auto calibration, with the burning wrecked car, where the words flash quickly across the screen at the bottom, right before hand too, the screen ratio had changed again too. And it changes again as he does his partner choreo with the girl

Rewind, which appears during the bridge. Right after the billboard falls and the screen ratio had changed again

And then pause at the very end before the whole screen cuts.... And then we get the end screen with the words play again, basically looping the video, and the Smeraldo Flower

So let's talk about it!

It's interesting that the video basically loops, it's really giving storytelling. Jimin being an actor basically. "Play" being inside the story for the most part. And it's interesting that those parts happen right before a lot of the partnering choreo too. Auto calibration means bringing something back into an acceptable range. Which if we relate this at all to queerness, it's absolutely giving "don't stray too far out of that closet." And it does happen right after Jimin dances with men, before dancing with the woman again. And play is back in the little TV's. It's giving, trying to be perfect and fit into expectations and be in the perfect storybook. And at the end, Jimin is left behind by all the dancers and the billboard drops at "who is my heart Waiting for" and it's clearer and clearer that it really is most likely JKs eyes. If not, it's absolutely a man's eyes and that is screaming queer energy. And even if it is just a promo of some kind, since we don't know the connection between the eyes, JK, "keep going" and AYS yet, it's WILD to put Jikook promo in this type of love song. And yet, these are the two that publicly claimed the song serendipity as theirs. So it tracks.

And when we get to rewind, it's at the same time as he is talking about "people" walking by him as potentials for his perfect match, as well as how he is not able to "match" any of the women he attempts to meet with through dance in his short walk. It is also right after that billboard with ?Jungkook? drops too. Interesting. Trying to get back into the original story perhaps? Perhaps it's not working so well?

Pause. Off. Smeraldo Flower which represents the Truth Untold.... Speaking yourself. Loving yourself. Being true to who you are..... Which is maybe not what was the perfect story that was being depicted through the MV. Who knows! But that is the end. Just to loop around and start again with Play. Where he literally tells us with Muse to "please misunderstand." Again, just interesting. And if you are following my thoughts here, you already know why that is "interesting."

It's giving closeted queer energy and it's giving I like people, not genders and it's giving love.

Which brings me to the very LAST thing I want to talk about. Sorry, I know this is already SO LONG. Jimin is singing amongst natural disasters. So did V and JK actually too. They are singing about declaring love in the middle of some kind of disaster. And I can't stop thinking about that honestly.

It's giving peak grand gesture kinda romance. It's giving intimacy found between two people in love no matter where they are or how loud the world might be around them. It's giving raw and honest declarations of intent and love type vibes. And i just love that they are into and going for that exaggerated confession scene and storybook kinda romance. It's absolutely tracks for who they are as people and the romance they've all talked about wanting too. And who else do we know who always seems to like doing grand gesture type romantic BS for someone else?

Anyway! This is the feeling that people write epic romances about. Your favorite ships? It's the same type of feeling that's inspired here. Let me try to explain this in some kinda way....

It's a trope. "Love conquers all" where it doesn't matter what life throws at you. All the trials, the tribulations, the natural disasters, the normal disasters, any and all shortcomings or failures you might face in life.... The moment of being with the one you love? Of being vulnerable and baring your soul with another person who means the world to you? Making sure they understand how much they mean to you and how much you love them? That's always going to be the most important thing and moment. That is the significance of the intimacy and the romance displayed.

It's the peak, idealistic version of the best relationship you could find yourself in. Nothing and no one matters more than the moments you create with your loved one, even in the middle of a raging horrific apocalyptic disaster ridden world.

And how sometimes, just building up to that confession can make things feel like a horrific apocalyptic disaster ridden world, until you confess. And you let those feelings out. And it's okay. All those disasters quiet down, maybe you even start to enjoy the rain. It was your emotions all along. And then you discover that hey, maybe the reason I'm feeling so calm now is actually BECAUSE of this person I love. Being with them calms my mind, brings me safety, happiness and joy.

Sometimes, in the middle of all the madness and chaos of the world... You are only minutes away from finding that moment with that person that's going to give you something infinite. Something that no natural disaster can destroy or take away from you. Something, and/or someone, so precious.

And there is something so beautiful in depicting this in their love songs. It's inspirational. As well as humorous in regards to Seven. Lol

I'll just finish this off with a link to this twitter user as this moment just came out, and it's about rebirth, but I do low-key agree with them here 😂

And anyway, that was my essay! Lol if you read all of this. Bless you and thank you! You are appreciated! A reminder that this is all just personal opinions. You are free to agree or disagree as you choose!

[kiragecko]

cherrystainedknuckles

I guess the only problem with being asked to take a “marie kondo approach” is that in order to find any fanfic that appears to be based in actual canon timeline and plot points and characterization (which does exist, and I’m not sure why fanon fans seem insistent that it doesn’t), I literally have to search for hours. I’m not joking, I consistently make fic rec lists, and I have to search for hours and hours for actual canonical basis. same thing with character tags on tumblr.

I’m not saying fanon fans have to stop enjoying fanon or making up their own content. I’m just saying that when the tags used for both fanon tim drake and canon tim drake are the same tag it just becomes incredibly annoying sometimes, and I understand why people who like to engage with canon (me, often) become frustrated

-

I have definitely had periods where I got incredibly frustrated with fanon! Around 2019, I was wondering if I needed to leave the Batfandom, because it had been so long since I read a new fic where the characters felt 'right'.

-

But, if you're willing to, I'd like you to consider what you mean when you divide 'fanon' from 'canon'. Because I struggle to find a hard line between the two, for several reasons:

1. Fandom is transformative. Every fanfic is going to have some interpretation of the source material. The line between what is too much interpretation and what is acceptable is different for every person. For me, I find it can even vary based on writing style or other odd things - lighthearted fic can have more noncanonical stuff in it than heavier fic, and still seem true to canon.

2. 'Canon' is subjective. I do not consider the movies or video games to be 'canon', and it annoys me when things from those creep into the fic I'm reading. (I'm okay with SOME Battinson.) Some aspects of the cartoons are okay. I consider precrisis Jason Todd to be an alternate reality version, but Donna's precrisis origins are more canonical than the dumb retcons. Wayne Family Adventures isn't my main version of the characters, but I'm not bothered if some elements show up in my stories. I'm ignoring most of the nu52, but I like Duke and I'm still watching this new Lian to see what happens. I doubt your divisions are identical to mine.

(Also, some things that I think of as 'fanon' have shown up in nu52 canon! I do not accept them as any more canon because of this.)

3. Most 'fanon' is based on canon. Canon Tim has weird sleep habits. 90s Dick is really lighthearted and joking around some characters in ways similar to fanon. Dick can canonically not be trusted to take care of himself if his mental health gets low enough. Jason likes classical literature. Etc.

These are exaggerated and/or twisted in a lot of fic, but where is the line where they stop being canon? I wouldn't bat an eye at a lot of this stuff, if it didn't show up SO OFTEN.

4. Most 'fanon fans' do know some canon. What line are you going to set where it will be 'enough'. And are they allowed to mention parts of the canon they haven't read yet? Is anyone allowed to talk about Dick's early Robin days, or only the tiny amount of people who have read the golden age stuff? A lot of the 'mistakes' I see are obviously made by people who have read ABOUT canon, but don't know quite how it fits together.

5. 'Canon' is FULL of contradictions. Yes, there are canon events. Yes, there is characterization that is consistent across 3/4s of comics. But. I'm still working on my sidekick timeline. I've devoted days to figuring out ages and passage of time. I've spent over a decade trying to figure out Jason Todd's motivations, and why Tim treats him the way he does. I've read all the 90s and early 2000s CANONICAL character assassination of Jason.

I spent years thinking that Donna's death was almost as foundational as Jason's, only to later discover that I had just happened to read the specific comics that focused on the fallout, and she only stayed dead for a short time. That happens to fans ALL THE TIME! We read a character summarizing an event we haven't directly read, and just accept it as what happened. But characters have biases, and not all writers care about accuracy.

-

I've read some Tim Drakes that I consider to be almost entirely 'fanon'. And quite a few that were so scarily 'canon' that I got chills. (Not all of which were similar to each other.) But the vast, vast majority have fallen somewhere in the middle.

I definitely do not want the responsibility of deciding which ones count as 'canon'! And I think I would strongly dislike anyone who tried to decide for me.

Being frustrated is logical, and I empathize. But the original post was about the impossible expectations some fans feel. The expectation to read thousands of comics, synthesize all the contradictions, and come to conclusions that match the 'true fans'. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to be complaining about.

If that's what some fans are experiencing, of course they're not going to want to engage with canon! There's no way for them to succeed, so why should they even try?

When you join THAT conversation to discuss your frustration about fanon, it strengthens that perception. When you call them 'fanon fans' it emphasizes their belief that you don't think they belong. And rather than trying to change, it's more likely that they'll double down. Canon is full of gatekeepers, so they'll avoid it.

[necrotic-nephilim]

Is you think each of the batclan is a dom or a sub in bed (also add if they're a top or bottom if you want)

oooh good question. typically my answer depends entirely on the fic i'm writing and just. what makes the most sense for the scenario, so i don't see any of them as hard and fast subs or doms bc that's the joy of fanfic. *but* if i'm ignoring ships and just headcanoning based solely on the characters themselves, these are my thoughts-

Bruce Wayne: dom/top. it's the boring answer, but it's the true one. that man demands complete control of every situation and i think that extends to his wants and needs during sex. sex can be a lot like fighting in the way you take control.

Dick Grayson: switch, but i think he prefers bottoming whether he's the dom or the sub. he'll top if his partner prefers that, bc his nature is to be a giver. but he prefers bottoming and really enjoys getting to ride his partner.

Jason Todd: sub/bottom. listen. in fic 90% of the time, i *will* write him as the dom bc i *love* him as a mean dom. but Judd Winick did not tell us that Jason Todd cries during sex just for us all to make him an emotionless dom. he insists he's a dom and will dom, but deep down, he's a sub. i think he both wants soft praising sex and fucked up CNC shit, just for different reasons.

Tim Drake: dom/bottom. power bottom Tim. that's the whole headcanon. much like Bruce, i think Tim needs control in sex. i'm obsessed with him being fucked but still having *complete* control of the other person. controlling when they get to come, how they fuck him, etc. it just. suits him.

Damian Wayne: i can really see Damian go either way. but given i'm a fan of Damian having a mommy kink, i think my answer is sub and vers. he talks big game but he folds like a house of cards the minute you get your hands on him.

Stephanie Brown: sub/bottom. i think Steph just wants to be taken care of during sex, yk. she would enjoy bratting and sparring a bit as foreplay, but in the end she does want to be forced to submit and just give in to the person she's with.

Cass Cain: dom/vers. soft dom Cass supremacy. that's the whole take. i think it's fun for people to expect her to be a sub bc of her inexperience, but when Cass wants something, she'll take it. and she likes having control of her own body, it makes her more comfortable.

Helena Bertinelli: dom/top. idc who she's with but she's wearing a strap. she will fuck anyone. i think she'd be willing to bottom for the right partner, but she'd have *no* interest in being submissive in bed for anyone she's dated.

Jean-Paul Valley: he's tricky for me, bc if we count the Azrael personality, then dom/top. but if we're talking Jean-Paul, sub/bottom. he likes being told what to do and how to do it. also just. worshipping his partner bc brrr religious kink.

Alfred Pennyworth: dom/top. i think Alfred should be included in the batcest scene more. i wanna see him dom ppl. something about the control a dom has not needing to be physical but instead mental fits Alfred very nicely in my opinion.

Barbara Gordon: dom/bottom. similar to Tim, i think Babs prefers being in control from the bottom the most. giving clear instructions and telling her partner how to please her. for her it's less about the control and more about having someone submit under her that's fun.

Kate Kane: sub/vers. i feel like this is my most controversial take. but i think Kate is a sub. Kate gives energy of someone who talks *big* game about being butch but ends up a pillow princess in bed. i cannot explain it. it's just a vibes thing.

Bette Kane: switch/vers. either she's a very bratty sub or she's a very mean dom, there's no in-between. i think she genuinely enjoys both and likes to mix it up for fun. like Bette just gives me vibes she'd get bored of sex being the same every time.

Duke Thomas: switch/top. i think Duke prefers to top, but he's fine with going with the flow of what his partner wants. he gives me vibes that he slightly enjoys domming more, but still enjoys getting to sub for the right person, it just requires a lot more trust.

Harper Row: she's harder to pin down for me, but i would say switch/vers. Harper gives me "I'll try anything at least once" energy, even if she thinks she won't like it, she's willing to experiment a lot. bc of that she has a lot of weird experiences and enjoys whatever her partner does.

Luke Fox: he depends entirely on who he's with, i think. but i do think he leans toward being a dom/top just because of the energy he has in relationships. he easily takes control in the bedroom unless it's challenged by his partner, he'll default to assuming he's the one in charge.

Onyx Adams: dom/top. listen that's the only answer that makes sense for her. she takes what she wants when she wants it and i respect her for that. i think she just enjoys having someone underneath her, at her whim.

Julia Pennyworth: sub/bottom. definition of a woman who's convinced she's a dom until someone actually fights her for it and she folds like a pancake. she's not even a brat, she 100% is a service sub but does not realize it.

Claire Clover: also sub/bottom, similar to the above. except she is a brat and will make you earn topping her. she seems like the type to like violent sex that's a fight as much as it is fucking. like she's subbing but she is going to be kicking the whole time. very CNC vibes.

Minhkhoa Khan: dom/top. pretty sure this one is just canon. no notes this man is just like that. he fucks for meditation. does he look like a bottom.

Carrie Kelley: sub/vers. i could see Carrie being a switch, depending on who she's with. but mostly she just likes to give and serve her partner, giving them control. she wouldn't mind spicing it up in the bedroom every now and then tho.

Helena Wayne: this can depend heavily on the version of Helena Wayne, but i'm going to go broad and say dom/vers. most versions of Helena very much have dom energy, *especially* New-52 and JSA (2022). she 100% enjoys a "fight for dominance" type sparring match to decide who gets to dom, except she literally always wins bc she will play dirty.

[the-kr8tor]

This #$@% has turned into a 2,294 word fic and I'm not even at the plot point yet 😭 Someone save me please-

Today's ttn fic was so cute! I loved it and read it instantly because thankfully I had the time. I really have to lock in because I have finals tomorrow and the day after so excuse my absence please pookie. How are you by the way? I'm a little stressed but overall happy.

Indulge me ok? Bc @pleaktale has given me a lot of inspiration recently. Pirate Hobie in a port town gathering supplies with the crew. They have some downtime or Hobie just wanders off a stumbles across villager r. Just playing or walking around in the sand and it's love at first sight for my guy (favorite trope ngl).

r owns a shop whether it's a bakery, bookstore, apothecary, etc and Hobie finds out after he does some digging around. Purposefully seeking her out and damn if she isn't the cutest and sweetest thing.

He comes back to the ship with like six cases of bread or books on charting and sailing. Things he doesn't need.

Makes the crew come back to the same port each time they need to resupply. Eventually the crew finds out after seeing him (aka following him) talking with r. They make fun of him and tag along on his visits just to irritate him. Even better if they flirt with r and Hobie gets jealous. Like pouting in a corner while Ned talks about how pretty you are. (Which is nice but you'd much rather hear it from Hobie's lips-)

Gwen has had enough after months of Hobie hoarding whatever he buys from you on the ship (she be sinking a little too deep into the water) as well as those little sighs he lets out while looking out into the direction of your town. She threatens Hobie with a "if you don't tell her I will".

r is obviously smitten too but doesn't know what to do. Maybe Hobie's just being friendly? He flirts with nearly everyone he comes across. He's just naturally charming. It's a "she fell first but he fell harder" kind of deal because spoiler alert, r noticed Hobie long before he noticed her.

Conclusion, you're both idiots in love and honestly should just go makeout already because damn if this isn't the slowest burn (I'm looking at you Katy. ttn ruined me in the best way possible. It's so good 💗)

Ahhhh i get what u mean!!! The set up is so much harder to write than the main plot point bc you've had the vision for it now u just need to write the build up!! Just think that after writing the first part you can finally get to the part you really like and you can use that as your motivation to finish the first half ❤️

Ahhhh! Thank you so much! I loved writing it sm it gave me nostalgia even though I've never experienced the 80s or 90s lmaooo

I'm doing okay, angel! I hope you're taking breaks in between studying ❤️ good luck on your finals ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Are you in my walls, lovely? Bc the part where Hobie stumbles across r was the original idea for bdas!! But it didn't fit with the rest of the plot so I scrapped it in the end (we're twin hearts fr fr)

THAT'S SO CUTE!!!! HOBIE'S PINING IS SO AUGHHHH 😍😍😍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Hobie with heart eyes while in R's store: I fancy yo--- I mean I fancy your merchandise, give me one of everything

R: 🤨🤨🤨

Gwen threatening to tell R 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Hehehehe I have infected everyone with slow burn disease 😂😂😂

[fitgirlfemdom]

hi! I’m just curious about something you mentioned about not being explicitly into everything you post - do you think it’s attracted unwanted attention? would you rather discuss non-kink topics on here as well? I think it would be cool if you incorporated some of the other stuff you’re passionate about (anime, music, etc) 🖤

The real me is not as sexual as this account displays. I've been celibate for half a year and I masturbate maybe once or twice a week for like 20 min. I still write and draw NSFW content, but that's for my main art account that isn't linked here (this isn't for privacy or anything--i just have art moots that probably don't wanna see fat bears eating cake on their timeline 24/7).

90% of the stuff I write/have posted about, I'm into, and I enjoyed writing, especially my longer posts! If I wasn't interested in something, I wouldn't write about it for free. The issue was messages in my DMs, especially near the beginning of this account. It's why I tried enforcing the rule that if you send me face pics, I'd block you, because a lot of the people that messaged me I did not find sexually attractive. Without a face, it's much easier to RP. Also because of the dick pics. Don't get me wrong, some of you guys had very respectable cocks but I can't deny that it made me feel gross to be sent them without my consent.

The worst part was actually enjoying talking to some of you, and then realizing you clearly just used me as a dumping ground for your fetish pics, without any consideration as to who I was. It was like my DMs were just "Send Photos of Your Gut to 19 Year Old Girl Here" without any personality, any interest in who I was. Just a nameless girl who you could imagine your fantasies with. I'd ask about your day or what you were interested in, and I'd get a pic of your gut in an office chair with "whoaaaaa just drank two liters of soda :/ so bloated rn." How do I respond to that? "Good"? 😭

I think the worst DM I got was a guy saying I was "in denial about being a housewife," which I mean, I've dabbled in misogyny kink content before. Bimbofication is literally on my profile. I've never brought up my feminist views or politics, although I would consider myself a feminist, since all people should have equal rights and freedom of expression. I also believe housewives can be feminists. There is nothing on my account about my political views, nor about my career or education, because it's not important to writing porn about feeding dudes cake.

When I brushed him off with a "Haha," he just kept going, paragraphs and paragraphs about how he wanted me to be his trophy wife and clean his shit out of a bucket??? You don't even know me??? And I never responded, but it really just made me realize--just saying I'm into femdom, no matter what it is, is seen as a political transgression to these people. I'm literally into gentle femdom and want a chubby hubby/wife that I can make happy and secure financially. None of my posts are "Women are superior, men should be locked in cages." Most of my posts are "I want a gym guy who enjoys my cooking and jerks off a lot."

I DO use female supremacy tags sometimes because I use dozens of tags, and that's on me. I just type "fem" and click the ones that come up. I've also written works that are VERY misogynistic, like calling myself a fleshlight or literally writing fics about me getting gangbanged. I feel like this guy just saw "femdom" in my username and lost his mind. By tagging my stuff like this, I honestly was asking for trouble to come, so yeah, I think I just got unwanted attention I wasn't ready for.

In regards to talking about others topics, I just figured no one gave a shit, and people probably don't, but I am very passionate about metal music and music history. I have a useless amount of knowledge about various 90s/2000s metal bands and music from that time. If I get asked questions about it, I'll answer, and I DO need to follow more people on this website, but my current answer is: I don't know, maybe. I'll see how I feel.

[evilwickedme]

So if Superman is Moses and Captain America is David, do you think that Spider-Man is Job?

He's always miserable, with suffering piled upon suffering and loss piled upon loss. But he always has faith in the goodness of humanity and the righteousness of his duty. He maintains his faith throughout all of his trials, and that's what makes him a hero.

(I was thinking about how Judaism and Xianity see G-d differently, and more specifically how they see faith and obedience to G-d differently. In Judaism faith isn't about obedience, and G-d is often an allegory for the world just as the world is often an allegory for G-d — at least that's how I interpreted the fact that 90% of our prayers are thanking G-d for creating a specific aspect of material reality. So if the story of Job is, from a Jewish perspective, isn't about unwavering obedience to a single entity but instead about having unwavering faith in the goodness of the world, then it fits Peter Parker almost to a T, right?)

Wow ok I am SO pissed off that I wrote the answer to this for a full hour and now it's just fucking gone because Tumblr decided not to publish it when I hit post. What the very fuck. So I'm going to try to shorten what I wrote a little and hopefully it'll still make sense. But this is a great ask, for real.

Anyway. I feel like something that's been lost in my most popular posts is that my central thesis when it comes to the Jewish nature of superheroes is not that there's a 1:1 between every hero and a historical, mythological, or Tanakhi figure. The central thesis is, instead, that the very concept of heroism as presented in comics is tied to the Jews who created the genre; it's just very easy to demonstrate these kinds of concepts with direct allegories that have such clear parallels. I actually have a third secret parallel that'll probably never see the light of day, between Magneto and Aher (and like, does anybody even know who Aher is? he's not exactly a well known figure).

One of the reasons I haven't posted this comparison is that it is largely thematic, and therefore requires considerably more explanation, especially for goyim or those who aren't familiar with Aher's story (אלישע בן אבויה fyi if that means anything to y'all). But that's sort of my point - it's much easier to point that Superman is literally Moses and Cap and David serve very similar purposes as characters than to talk about the fact that superheroism is based in Jewish values and traditions: the very idea that heroes are meant to make the world better through action as opposed to sacrifice, the value assigned to every single life (he who saves one life etc), characters becoming better people over time rather than going through dedicated redemption arcs, etc (I can't remember what I wrote here and it's driving me nuts thank you very much for asking).

I gave a lot of context here to the difference between Golden Age and Silver Age writing here but honestly again that took forever and I don't feel like typing it all up, so I'll just point out the basic facts which are that the people creating the comic book industry in the late 30s and early 40s were desperate Jews trying to save their people across the ocean, and also were only about ten or twenty years removed from having lived in the Old Country themselves. Their life and culture was intensely Jewish, they'd grown up in specific Jewish tales. By the time we get to Spider-Man, the situation is entirely different. It's been 25 years of comics (Superman debuted in '38, Spider-Man in '63), and the Jewish foundations of comic books and heroism are already baked in to the genre. Yes, the industry is still overwhelmingly Jewish, but now the separation from a purely Jewish upbringing and Jewish separatism in the Old Country is forty years old. The attempt now is to specifically make stories that haven't already been told - for Spider-Man, the main concept was that there had never been a teen hero before who stood on his own - one that wasn't part of team like the fantastic four, or, more typically, a sidekick.

All these differences actually mean that the coding of these characters is very different. Superman being Moses was intentional; Cap was created as anti-Nazi propaganda. Spider-Man was and is Jewish because he is such a pure example of what Jewish heroism is. He's flawed, he's angry, but he can't help himself from trying to save... Well, everyone. It is, however, important to note that he debuted a long while before Magneto was confirmed Jewish (I don't actually know if he was the first, bc I'm having trouble finding that kind of info easily on the internet, but he's certainly one of the most notable Marvel Jews ever, and he was confirmed as a Holocaust survivor relatively early); it was a whole before Marvel realized you could make somewhat prominent characters Jewish, let alone heroes, and by then Spider-Man was one of their best selling characters, and they're still afraid to this day to alienate readers by confirming him as such.

But moving onto Job - I think I have a very different read of the Book of Job from you, but that's not surprising to me; the Book of Job is incredibly opaque, and I doubt that any two people will interpret it exactly the same. Also, I was raised Orthodox, and I often have very different perspectives on various Jewish things than the typical American Jew. Here's how I view it, though.

Firstly, Job absolutely does not maintain his faith throughout the entire story. Yes, initially he's presented as the most pure person ever, one who has never even been tempted to do a chet (חטא, closest translation is sin; another word would be aveira, which would best be translated as a transgression). And, indeed, it is not his deeds that lead to him losing everything; it is instead Satan who argues to test his faith by taking everything he holds dear away from his - his money, his cattle, his children, his health, his wife.

It's noteworthy, for any goyiche reader, that Satan in Judaism is not the Christian Devil who rules hell. He's an adversary, for sure, but he's more like an opposing counsel; his role is to argue for every human's guilt, especially when someone has committed a terrible aveirah. Forgive me for saying this, but he's essentially a devil's advocate. He can be viewed as the manifestation of yetzer hara on a wider scale (yetzer hara and yetzer hatov are the two natural impulses we all have in ourselves, the first to be selfish or to commit bad deeds and the other to commit good deeds and help others; this is a neutral fact rather than a condemnation of any person, and also I'm massively oversimplifying things here). Also, he's a tattle-tale.

Anyway, back to Job. Yes, at first he does maintain his faith, through the loss of his property, his children, even his health; his wife, before she dies, begs him to curse God, and yet he doesn't. But when she does die, he spends a chapter lamenting the day he was born, regretting that he wasn't stillborn. At first this doesn't look like a direct accusation at God, but it absolutely is, as God is in charge of life and death, but also evidence by the following:

So Job does lose his faith, because as far as he can tell, he has never done anything wrong in his life ever, and yet he has been cursed to grieve everything he has ever had, and he won't even die.

Most of the book is dedicated to dialogue between himself and three of his friends, who come to the common conclusion that he must have done something wrong to deserve this treatment. But Job remains adamant: I did not deserve this.

The general lesson that many people take from this book is that God works in mysterious ways, blah blah. But like... We know, in fact, exactly why this story happened. We saw it! We saw Satan advocate to try Job! So what's the point of the book?

The point is the Job keeps asking "why". The point is that Job hears that God won't forgive his friends, despite the fact they blame him for his misfortune, and he still chooses to pray for them. The point is that he refuses to take what has happened to him quietly. Not accepting that what happened to him was just, but not accepting others' injustice either.

Ugh. I phrased all of this way better in the first draft. I really truly hate this.

Anyway my point is that Job, despite being far richer than the average Jew by the standards of his time, actually is meant to represent a very common situation: what do you when bad things happen. Do you blame yourself, or do you blame God? Do you let other people beat you when you're down, or do you stand up for yourself?

And the thing is those themes are universal, but they're not really related to Peter Parker in particular. In the shallowest sense, the kind I used to compare Cap and David or Superman and Moses, they do not have similar stories or backgrounds. Job has everything, and he loses it all, and he mourns all of it, including the property and money; Peter Parker is working class, has never had enough money, but we see again and again that he views it as a tool rather than a goal in and of itself. Spider-Man's origin is about learning to battle your yetzer hara, your darkest impulses, and we see Peter again and again trying to do his best even though he's often being pulled by his instincts to use his power for selfish purposes. Job does not ever have to learn any such lesson; he never did anything wrong.

The one thing in common between the two stories is that they both believe that every life has value - well, if Peter is being written by a competent authors at least - with Job praying to save the men who are literally called the "resha'im", the evil ones, and with Peter being the little man's hero. But that can be said about most heroes, especially the notable ones. Hell, there's an entire double page spread dedicated to the concept in Batwoman: Elegy. This is more of another indication of Jewish values making their way into the foundations of superhero comics than it is a similarity between Job and Peter.

Also, I feel like I need to be clear. Our prayers thanking God for creating something? Traditionally are simply thanking God for creating something. I'm not saying you can't interpret it as a metaphor for the world if that's what works for you, if that's how you see God, but God was very literal to most Jews for thousands of years, and I could talk for ages and ages about the schools of thought regarding God and the world and Maimonides and shit.

Speaking of which, we need to discuss the fact that Job is literally just some guy. Like he's not a prophet, he's not a leader or a judge, he's just some rich dude who lost everything, mourned it, and then got it all back. I've talked about this before, but one of the foundational ideas of my thesis is that the similarity between prophets having powers (such as Samson but also really any judge being considered a higher authority despite not even communing directly with God) and superheroes invokes Maimonides' claim that the first degree of prophecy is the need to act for the better good, being unable to ignore the ills of the world and doing your best to fix them - that people who incapable of ignoring that urge (and Peter, despite his occasional selfishness, often prioritizes Spider-Man in his life specifically because of that urge) are possessed by the spirit of God. Literal prophecy, communing with God, cannot exist without this base level. So, in effect, Peter is significantly holier than Job.

Anyway. Again, I've definitely missed some points because of Tumblr's fuck up and I intentionally skipped most of the history lesson that gave a lot of context which I didn't feel like typing up again, but this is most of it. Sorry if this wasn't what you hoped for, but this was a really interesting thing to talk about anyway, and I'm very grateful you gave me the opportunity to think it over.

[amethystfairy1]

What’s your writing process? Like do you do outlines or just jump right into plot etc… I’m a young writer (14) and really admire your work and want to get better myself. Ty!

✨WRITING PROCESS✨

...

this.

this is my writing process.

OK TO BE REAL THO

Firstly, I don't do outlines.

I KNOW THAT'S BAD BUT I JUST DON'T

What I usually do is word vomit whatever idea I have for a fic into a notes file.

For example! Here's a little random nonsense I just copied verbatim from my notes file that might look familiar!

Tango and Z in sky, blue cracks, Z decides to drop a container with info and his phone number into the rift. He wants to talk to the hybrids, maybe he’s some sort of researcher, he went AWOL from the biotech Institute, something like that. But he is human. Then, tango finds it, or it is brought to him, because he is a direct aid to doc in the labs. Tango ends up deciding to call Z, and they end up becoming really good friends, but only over the phone. Have some fun stuff, where both Z and tango are getting a crush, but how can you crush on someone you’ve never even seen? Tango is freaking out, because he’s not the type of hybrid that can pass as human. he knows he’ll never be able to meet Z face to face. But Z is a little more determined that he gives him credit for. Also have X be a side character in the labs, voidwalker, something like that! Maybe Z is an AWOL scientist, and scar, picked him up to work in his hot guy lab, with cub.

This is the blurb that spawned the Zedango arc in TTSBC.

In case you can't tell I use the dictation function in notes because like 90% of the time I have ideas while I'm driving so I'll just tell my phone to write down whatever I'm thinking and then talk it out

So yeah! I do this, which I dunno is kinda like an outline? I do it for more or less all of my fics.

As far as other stuff, I think the best advice I can give about being a "better writer", which has to do with your question about 'jumping into plot' is to know about your characters and your world , even if you don't plan to share that information in the piece you are writing, or even like, ever.

It's the way you make your characters feel like people. I was actually talking about this with @honeylashofficial not to long ago! You should know why your characters make the choices they do, even if that information never comes up. You should know what they like and dislike and why, if they have traumas then how would those traumas affects them in small daily ways?

Jimmy in TTSBC grew used to being threatened for his wings, so now he has a love-hate relationship with them.

Tango spent a long time without a truly safe place to sleep as a child, so now he has insomnia because he has an internalized fear of falling asleep/being vulnerable.

Zed was treated very poorly at his previous workplace, and he had a terrible experience where his professional lifes work was torn to shreds in front of him, so his self-esteem is very low, and he tends to be very self-deprecating even in a joking fashion.

Cub has sensory issues that severely impact his mood because of his warden hybrid traits, so he typically keeps himself very low energy as a baseline to avoid seeming like he has mood swings.

Even little stuff like what characters notice about their surroundings! Again in TTSBC, Jimmy pays close attention to the weather and the sky, Scott notices people features and expressions, Cub has more detailed thoughts about sounds than he does about sights, stuff like that!

Also I'm gonna give ya the piece of advice no one wants to hear when they're just starting. Just write. Write a TON.

Write even if you only have half an idea. Write even if you think it's gonna be bad. Write if you have even the slightest smallest bit of a motivation to do so, just WRITE WRITE WRITE.

And I will say while I could just be one of the lucky ones, I have been posting on various fanfic websites since I was 13. And in all that time I can count on one hand the amount of hate/negative comments I have received. Over a DECADE of writing and posting and I’ve written and posted A LOT and I have only ever been met with kindness, excitement, and encouragement.

Also, the delete button exists for a reason. You curate your experience on these websites. Especially on A03, with the ability to reply to comments, you can make very clear very quickly what sort of comments you want, which ones you don't, and the vast vast vast majority will be people who are excited about your work and want to encourage you!

If you need a mood booster or some encouragement, you can find my old old stuff on FF.net under the same penname, Amethystfairy1. Just promise you won't come back over here and send asks laughing at me for how bad those stories are, ok? 😆

My point is, you learn best by doing. As you write you will get a feel for your characters, for how they interact and react, for what your specific writing style is going to be and what you enjoy writing the most. And write what you enjoy! Of course you should stretch your writing style, but also make sure you never feel like you're slogging through your writing, especially if it's for fun or creative!

OH ONE MORE THING! 👏

I HIGHLY RECCOMEND DOING A WRITING CHALLENGE!

Stuff like Whumptober, Febuwhump, Novemcomfort, AU-gust, or different fandom weeks that come up, you can find them all over tumblr! Try to participate in one of those and get in as many days as you can! It'll make you write a lot in a short period of time, and you won't have time to overthink it, which I believe is really helpful for finding your writing style and getting comfortable with writing and posting content! It'll also give you a connection to a community of other writers who are participating, especially if you plan to post your updates to tumblr like I do!

Whatever you do on your writing journey, I hope it brings you much joy, fun, and creativity! You'll create something beautiful, I just know it! 💖

[kazumiwrites-fanfiction]

I'm Just a Recluse

REQUEST: Hi I saw that your requests were open so I decided to give this a go by the way I absolutely suck at doing requests but I seen almost nothing on this 'prompt' Yandere!idia shroud x reader who has a massive crush on him but thinks he doesn't feel the same way. This idea has been rotting in my mind for the longest time. (ps: I really hope that this was clear enough 😭😭😭 again I'm sorry I really suck at writing requests)

SUMMARY: Does he have feelings for you? WORD COUNT: 1.7k

WARNINGS: Maybe manipulative reader, yandere-ish Idia, Idia being possessive and jealous mostly, Azul just wants blackmail, most likely OOC, Idia getting flustered, written in less than 30 minutes so I can't guarantee the quality but this is how I write- A/N: Anon I love that you requested because I was unable to sleep, but at the same time it's nearing 3 AM as I write this authors note help 😭 (dw you're amazing and your request was perfect, I really suck at writing stuff that was requested so it's like we're two sides of a coin (if that doesn't make sense i'm sorry)) Anyways I'm like 90% sure I botched this because I don't think I know Idia that well (I am going off what I know of him so far, so there may be inconsistencies with canon and whatnot) and it ended up being less yandere?? Idk mostly because I was like "yes I'm writing a yandere but I got an idea that's not 100% yandere" (as one does) and then it went down a whole 'nother rabbit hole- so I'm so sorry if this is not what you were looking for (also the fact that I'm writing this late at night does not help either) Reading your request over I'm mostly sure that what you were looking for was something similar to "soft reader x yandere!Idia" and not whatever the thing I wrote is- but I wrote it so I might as well publish it- Also the fact that I added Azul and Floyd because I love them and my late night brain said "might as well" is uh- yeah- A/N: Also I'm really sorry Idia I suck at titles </3

© kazumiwrites - All rights reserved; please do not steal, edit, copy, repost (etc) my work without my express permission.

You always liked Idia. You weren’t really sure why, since you never really saw him much… He seemed to be always in his room, playing games. Mostly, you saw him while passing by the room that the board game club occupied. Other than the occasional passing by as you walked through the halls, that was the only thing.

Well, there was really nothing to go by, to explain your crush. You tried to dismiss it as just liking his aesthetics, or something like that - you didn’t know him well, after all. Or, rather, at all. And there was no way that he even knew about you.

Well, it was a good thought. Still, you joined the board game club, if only to up your chances of Idia noticing you.

The housewarden of Ignihyde had not registered you much at first. You were the person possibly isekai’d into this world (like a character from an anime), but other than that, you seemed like another regular person.

Or so he thought.

Once you had joined his club, things changed drastically.

You had been doing everything you could to try to spend some time with Idia, playing the same games as him and trying to talk to him.

The poor boy got flustered and he couldn’t do much. Here was a real person who seemed nice, talking to an otaku like him. It was unheard of.

Still, a game was enough to make him relax a bit, enough to have a semi-decent conversation.

He gradually found himself getting more and more interested in you. At first, he had asked Ortho for anything on you, but then he started to try more to connect with you. However, they were subtle.

Sometimes, a note placed in your desk, other times a flower in your room. Small, simple things, never signed, and without a trace of anyone.

Of course, he had Ortho do it - he didn’t want to get caught, that would make him want to die - but he still wished he could see your reactions.

Maybe you were happy, intrigued. But then again, perhaps you would be disgusted when you realized who had been the one sending those gifts. Perhaps you hated otakus. Weren’t they the people least likely to get into a relationship?

Still, he shook off those thoughts. He had to make sure you at least didn’t get grossed out and quit his club. That would make him so distressed that he wouldn’t come out of his room for at least ten years. He liked seeing your face, and didn’t want that light of happiness gone.

He should’ve known this was coming, though.

Unbeknownst to Idia, however, you had struck a deal with Azul. "Help me get Idia to fall in love with me by whatever means necessary," were your exact words. And Azul knew he could most likely blackmail both you and Idia later, however this turned out. So, being the benevolent person he was, he accepted. (And also? It would be interesting to see how this turned out in general, even without being able to get blackmail). As a show of trust, he didn't even force you to sign a contract with him. How truly benevolent he was.

So here you were, sitting a bit too close to Azul, leaning in slightly to him to discuss a game when you heard the door open. Your eyes flickered up slightly, meeting Idia's carefully composed gaze. "Hi, Idia-san."

Oh, how he longed to snatch you away from Azul… But no, he couldn't do that. Obviously Azul was better for you anyway… He was smart, and he could talk to people. And he had money. Obviously you'd like that more than a recluse.

But still… How he wanted you to drop the formal titles and call him just by name… Just like in all the romance anime he watched. "Oh, drop the -san and call me by name!" That's what he could've said, what he wanted to say - but he couldn't. What if you were grossed out?

He moved to the other side of the room, getting out one of the games and starting to set it up. His eyes flickered up as he met your gaze (and unwillingly, Azul's). He didn't miss how your hands were intertwined. Why were normal couples like this…

You tilted your head slightly to the side as you asked about playing the game with him. Idia was startled at first, but reluctantly agreed. He was irritated that Azul was here - didn't he hate luck-based games? Or was he so in love that he would do anything just to stay by your side? Oh, how it made him sick.

After a few rounds, he was done. He was tired of it all. The last straw was when he saw Azul wrap an arm around your shoulders.

Your eyes widened as Idia got up quickly, hitting the table in the process, the pieces scattering to the floor. He didn't seem to notice as he stepped toward you, pulling you from Azul's grasp.

Azul had been holding on lightly, barely even touching you, so there was no resistance. He just watched you and Idia quietly, thoughtfully, all the gears spinning in his head.

"You're not hanging out with a guy like him," Idia muttered quietly. "You're staying with me." He moved his grip to hold your wrist, tugging you out of the club room.

You followed without resisting. What else would you even do? Try to fight him? Of course not. Not when you were so close to getting what you wanted.

He cornered you in a deserted hallway, staring at you. You waited for a moment before tentatively speaking. "Idia…?"

Idia stayed quiet, the tips of his hair just gradually growing into a vibrant shade of pink. Finally, he got out, "…I shouldn't have done that…"

"Shouldn't have done what?" Your eyes were wide, so cute… But he shook the thought off.

"Shouldn't have dragged you away. Obviously you want a guy like him for a boyfriend and not me."

You paused. Your plan… Had it worked? Was he jealous? "Hey- I don't like Azul. Not in a romantic way anyway. The person I like is the person I'm talking to right now."

Idia froze. He had to be dreaming. This had to be some elaborate VR set that showed him what he wanted most in the world. Perhaps… It was so cheesy too. Like some scene from a romance anime. He met your gaze.

But still…

"Me? You have to be joking. I mean, who would like me? I'm just a recluse who stays in his room all day playing games-"

"But you're more than that," you cut him off, before smiling a little apologetically. "You're sweet, and kind, and I love the way your eyes light up when you're talking about your favorite anime or game."

Shit. No one had said that to him before. "W-well. I-" He cut himself off. He couldn't say it. He couldn't say something so embarrassing. Yeah, he had dragged you away from Azul in the heat of the moment, but that was because he wasn't thinking. He let the jealousy, the possessiveness, guide his actions.

And now he was paying for it.

"I-"

"C'mon, Idia-san, get it out." Your voice was so gentle, so soothing.

"I like you and I really wanted to get to know you better but I wasn't sure if you liked me so I sent all sorts of weird creepy stuff like notes and I bet you're disappointed because it was just me and not, y'know, some cool ikemen."

His words were so fast it was almost a blur. Before you could even process his words, he took a deep breath and continued.

"And I really want you to stop calling me -san and just by my name but I don't want to ask that of you because I'm just some random creep who is obsessed with you and wants to keep you to himself and-"

"Stop stop stop." You laughed a little. "Hey, I'm not disappointed that you were the one sending me the gifts - they were sweet. I was worried that Rook-san might have been the ones sending them, but I'm glad to get the confirmation that you were the one."

Why would you think it had been Rook? Perhaps you had a crush-

"And, you only needed to ask if you wanted me to drop the -san, Idia." You smiled sweetly at him.

Well, at least you hadn't caught the 'obsessed' and 'creep' part? That was embarrassing of him to say.

Idia looked more and more flustered before he just stepped closer to you, awkwardly wrapping his arms around you in an embrace. His face nuzzled in to the crook of your neck, heart beating too fast and his palms sweaty. Was this okay? Would you like it - perhaps he should've cleaned up a bit more-

Your arms wrapped around him, and he immediately relaxed. What he wouldn't do to have you hold him like that for the whole night - whole week, even.

Unfortunately, at that moment, Floyd had to come skipping through the halls. "Koebi-chan and Hotaruika-senpai? What're you doing here - Is Azul done with his boring club?"

Idia let out a soft huff, glaring at Floyd even as he held on to you. "One, the board game club is /not/ a boring club, and two, I'm hugging [Y/N]."

How bold of him to say.

"Ooh, can I hug Koebi-chan too? I bet I can squeeze them so tight~"

Idia somehow held you tighter, turning you away from Floyd. "No. Now go run off and find Azul or something." How he had managed to hold a full conversation with Floyd, he wasn't sure. At least he seemed bored enough to run off… He sighed softly. He'd have to spend more time with you in his dorm. He was still holding you tightly as he walked to his dorm.

~bonus~ Azul was just around the corner and listening in to your conversation, phone recording everything that had happened. He sighed as Floyd had come in - of course he had to ruin it. Still, he had gotten some good stuff. "Hmm? Azul, you're here… Spying on Koebi-chan and Hotaruika-senpai?" Floyd's head tilted slightly to the side. "Don't say something as crass as spying. I was merely gaining intelligence." "So, spying." "Gaining intelligence, Floyd." Azul let out a soft sigh. "That you got in the way of." "I did nothing." "Yes you did."

As always, reblogs and comments are always appreciated! ♡ Send your thoughts grr

Feel free to send requests! Check out this post for info ^^

[racefortheironthrone]

Do you think the term 'fridging' has become overused, and if Brienne does sacrifice herself for Jaime, would that not count?

I think that one of the useful things about the term fridging is that the website "Women in Refrigerators" is still up so we can know exactly what Gail Simone wrote when she coined the term back in the 90s. To quote her:

"Hi. This is a list I made when it occurred to me that it's not that healthy to be a female character in comics. I'm curious to find out if this list seems somewhat disproportionate, and if so, what it means, really. These are superheroines who have been either depowered, raped, or cut up and stuck in the refrigerator. I know I missed a bunch. Some have been revived, even improved -- although the question remains as to why they were thrown in the wood chipper in the first place. I know I missed a bunch -- I just don't know my comics deaths the way I should. I'm not editorializing -- I'm just curious to find out what you guys think it means, if anything. The preceding letter was written and sent by me when I realized one day that most of my favorite female comics characters had met untimely and often icky ends. The history of the idea and this site are listed here, and the responses from various comics professionals are listed here. An important point: This isn't about assessing blame about an individual story or the treatment of an individual character and it's certainly not about personal attacks on the creators who kindly shared their thoughts on this phenomenon. It's about the trend, its meaning and relevance, if any. Plus, it's just fun to talk about refrigerators with dead people in them. I don't know why.

In Simone's original meaning, "fridging" specifically applied to superhero comics, it involved a spectrum of violence from depowering to sexual assault to physical assault to mutiliation to murder, and it was disproportionately gendered. Notably, the qualification that "fridging" is done in order to motivate the (disproportionately male) protagonist rather than as part of a heroic character arc for the woman being fridged, came around a little later, mostly from those creators who were responding to Simone's initial provocation. However, you can see that this particular qualification was an idea floating in the aether at the time Simone was writing her first foray.

Do I think the term has become overused? It's certainly spread to more genres outside of superheroes, but I don't think that's an over-extension, since we're usually talking about the same phenomenon happening in "heroic" subgenres of fantasy, sci-fi, romance, etc.

Does this apply to Brienne sacrificing herself to save Jaime?

No.

Brienne's self-sacrifice is the logical and emotional climax of her own character arc, one rooted in chivalric romance in which Brienne seeks to play the role of the tragic knight. She is introduced as an existential true knight, someone who finds life in Westerosi society a constant trial and humiliation but who longs to escape into a world of song and story through glorious deeds:

"Because it will not last," Catelyn answered, sadly. "Because they are the knights of summer, and winter is coming." "Lady Catelyn, you are wrong." Brienne regarded her with eyes as blue as her armor. "Winter will never come for the likes of us. Should we die in battle, they will surely sing of us, and it's always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, and the sun is always shining."

As in real-world chivalric romance, the structures of Westerosi chivalric romance are built around tragedy: the Dragonknight doesn't get to settle down with Naerys, but gives up his life to save King Aegon IV, and it's the doomed chaste romannce and the stubborn attachment to duty that makes it all so damn chivalrous.

Thus, from Brienne's introduction to now, we see Brienne looking for someone worthy to sacrifice her life to save:

she starts with Renly, except that she can't save him from the magic (although that does mean that she doesn't learn how unworthy he was) and becomes blamed for his death instead.

then she shifts to Catelyn, except that she can't save her because Catelyn sends her away so she's not there during the Red Wedding.

Jaime and Brienne's ASOS trek across the Riverlands, from the revelations of his backstory to him jumping into the bear pit to his quest-giving at the end, is entirely about setting him up as the third of three lord/lady-coded characters that Brienne could sacrifice herself for. And lo and behold, we have a situation where Jaime and Brienne are about to come face-to-face with Lady Stoneheart, a scenario we've already seen be grounded in questions of sacrifice and honor.

So unless GRRM somehow fucks up and makes the conclusion of Brienne's arc more about Jaime than Brienne, it's not a case of fridging.

[prince-liest]

Hi (I almost never use tumblr so lmk if I’m doing smth wrong!!) I’ve read a few of your Hazbin Hotel fics on AO3 and I just have to ask, how do you manage to post things so quickly?! I’m trying to start my own Hazbin hotel fic and I’m so fixated on getting their characterization correct that it’s taking me like 3X longer than normal to write lol!! If you have any advice or tips that would be amazing but of course, no pressure. I was just so curious. You’re very talented!!

Definitely not doing anything wrong! :D I wish I had a better answer for you, but the honest truth is that it's a combination of me having a lot of writing experience AND that I just had a fuckton of free time the past four weeks. It's kinda funny that you sent this ask now, because I just started a rotation for school that is going to consume very literally like 90% of my waking life on the days I have shifts for about three weeks, so you're about to watch me write BARELY ANYTHING AT ALL, hahaha.

That said, I relate to you very aggressively on the matter of worrying about characterization. That was the number one thing stopping me from writing fanfic for years and a lot of how I got over it was practicing characterization in OC RPs where I had to work with various characters but didn't have to be so afraid of missing something and getting them wrong because they were my characters so I already knew everything about them.

I think for Hazbin Hotel in particular, a lot of how identifiable and zany the characters are comes from their dialogue and their physicality, so personally I've frequently been rewatching little bits of the show to take point on how the characters genuinely talk and act! For Alastor, for example, I actually frequently have to un-fancy his dialogue while I'm writing by referencing canon conversations he's had because it's so easy to code switch into making him as prim as his general vibe conveys when in reality he actually does not talk like that. For Charlie and Lucifer, a lot of their vibe comes from the lack of smoothness in their speech - they stutter, hem, haw, backpedal, etc. For Angel, I think the way he poses himself and when he chooses to make sex jokes and touch people (or respect their space!) says a lot as well.

Practice makes this a LOT easier, but for my very first fic, I ended up taking a lot of notes on what I felt like captured the vibes of a character! I don't really do this anymore, but it was very helpful initially for giving me an understanding of what goes into my perception of any particular characterization.

[qqueenofhades]

i'm going feral about queer icon hob gadling thank you very much. I JUST CAN'T WITH HIM. i cry because in the comic in the 1989 panel there's a person at the inn talking about how "of course AIDS isn't a punishment from god." hob has to sit there and hear that and just. JUST. hob being visible! hob being vulnerable in his love! hob surviving all his friends. hob buying the fucking pub with the power of his queer money!!! committing the crime of graffiti to SPRAYPAINT A SIGN FOR HIS LOVE TO FIND

It is... probably because I am a queer historian and that is why I imprinted on Hob in the first place, but uh, yes, I have many feelings about this too, and the subtle way in which queer places and spaces work both in the show and in the Dreamling story specifically. Obviously there are many queer characters in Sandman (and we love it for that), but the White Horse, and then the New Inn, is one of the few physical locations I can think of that is a literal embodiment of queer devotion. Hob buys the old pub and builds the new one so Morpheus, if he does ever come back, can find him! He appropriated the spot where they met the first time, where their relationship was built over centuries, and he both saves the old one and builds a NEW one (new step in their relationship etc etc). And physically paints giant signs because his immortal boyfriend is very stupid! He makes it visible and explicit, he builds his devotion into every fiber of that pub, he does it especially so Dream can still come back and find him if he chooses, he waits patiently, and like... the New Inn is absolutely brimming with queer adoration, and ack.

Also, there was that tantalizing tidbit about the real, historical White Horse pub that the Sandman version was based on, being best known for being run by two women in the 18th century who called themselves "Mr. and Mrs. How." Granted, I found that in the IMDB trivia section and if I was writing an actual paper on it, I'd have to do a heck of a lot more research. However, happily, I am NOT writing a paper, and I say it's real because it feels right. In that case, the White Horse itself is embodied as a queer establishment, a place previously run by married lesbians in Hella Gay 18th-century London, and adds another layer to that being the place where Hob and Dream meet every century to conduct their careful, tentative, tender, unspoken romance.

But then! Tragedy! The pub has been bought and will be shut down, and with it, the physical and literal heart of Hob’s relationship with his "stranger!" As I wrote in my meta about the 1989 scene, everything is so careful, so subtextual, so unspoken, whether it is Hob saying he has been stood up and the bartender deliberately not assuming it was by a woman and offering oblique reassurance that Hob is safe here, as a queer man in violently homophobic 1989. So of course Hob can't stand to think of it going away, and has to save it both for himself and as a queer-friendly establishment! So he takes his queer money, as you say, and does something about it! Maybe bad people get to do whatever in this country with that money too, but so does Hob, and he can claw back a little of the place that has always most belonged to him (and him with Dream).

Hence the New Inn, where Hob absolutely hung Pride flags in the '90s long before it was cool or popularly accepted to do so, was able to use his status both as owner of the establishment and Queer Who Can Kick Your Ass to deal with anyone who had a problem with it, and otherwise keep it ready for the day when his love might get to show up again. It's beautiful! It's visible! It's symbolic! And then when Dream does walk in and make their relationship "visible," i.e. apologising and calling Hob his friend, they get to sit down together in that space that Hob has created and kept as an altar of queer devotion both private and public, they smile at each other adoringly, and then what scene/setting do we cut straight to??

THE GIANT BEATING HEART OF THE THRESHOLD OF DESIRE. FROM ONE BEATING HEART OF DESIRE MADE VISIBLE DIRECTLY TO THE OTHER.

They were insane for this, truly. Insane.

[gunnrblze]

Thinking about writing teen Kick fanfic and I got very vivid ideas for the vibe but I am like so shit at outlining the plot and detailing it to late 90s-2000s tech cuz I was in the desert sand during that time

And since I love your aesthetics with the ghost boys, what do you think about;

Teen Kick:

owns a camcorder, takes it nearly everywhere he goes outside and enjoys making vlogs on tapes, mostly consisting of abandoned place explorations and attempts of paranormal activity caught on camera. (Marble hornets and analog horror inspired)

Obsessed with cryptids and critters, might not actually believe they're real but thinks they're such neat concepts and they're fun to talk about.

↑explains why he found himself exploring the woods and forestry around his mid-late teens

fascinated by weird sightings and loves recording shit to show off and ramble about to his friends, just passionate about his interests

Owns a flip phone or whatever good old fashioned cellphone during that time, would try to invite his friends over to go cryptid hunting, alien watching, or explorations w/ him

I'm stumped cuz I have a few stuff thatll be purely HCs like:

Nickname for him in his teenhood if Kick was his military callsign

Headcanon about which part of America he's from to pinpoint location and setting of the drabble

Tf happened in 90-2000s

Could you help me please🙏🙏 need headcanons<33 a lot of them

Ahh I love this idea! This all sounds so accurate for a fic like this. Teen Kick that takes a camcorder everywhere sounds so on brand, I can definitely see him having that ‘let’s go to this haunted/abandoned house…what do you mean why? Cause it’s fun’ energy lol. Alien/ghost hunting and cryptid sightings seem right up his funky alley.

As for his name/location, that can be difficult since you can literally make up anything you want lmao. But I like to hc him as being from somewhere around northeast USA that starts to teeter into the south, think Pennsylvania/New Jersey/West Virginia/etc. That would also explain his cryptid/alien/ghost loving behavior since there’s a lot of sightings and happenings in those areas. He gives me slight city kid vibes, but lived enough near the outskirts of whatever town to have been doing a bunch of rural exploring.

Since it’s implied that he’s a tech specialist for the Ghosts, I hc that growing up during the rise of technology was very influential in his career choices, and he probably spent a lot of time with stuff like this. I definitely see him with the camcorder here, and maybe a flip phone right around the turn of the century/early 00’s when they became popular. Probably spent a lot of time on some old clunky ass computer setup lol, gets flashbacks from the dial up internet sound like a true 90s kid. I think as tech kept advancing, he was always right on that shit, or at least he kept up with it.

Just some tidbits, but similar to Ghost/Simon Riley in the comics/‘09 Modern Warfare, I like to think maybe seeing 9/11 take place inspired his reasons to join whatever branch of the military he joined, seeing that as a teen would’ve def been very surreal, especially if he lived around that area. He also gives me big nerd vibes, was into all the sci-fi stuff around that time&prob played a lot of video games, had like a GameCube console or something lol.

Hope some of this helps! I love this fic idea and I hope you write it! <3

[markantonys]

what's wrong with book!Min (gave up on books right now because i can't anymore, i'm on 4th I think? she is just not there)

book 5 is exactly when she started sucking haha so you stopped at the right time! i do get into some spoilers here, though i tried not to say anything too specific that you wouldn't have already known from the first few books (such as the fact that rand has multiple girlfriends and min is one, which her viewing revealed in book 2). also, maybe you won't even want to read this if you'd rather let your opinion of show!min continue on untainted, because i will say that 90+% of the things i'm about to complain about are very unlikely to be a thing in the show.

basically she just gets hit with an abysmal case of Men Writing Women: out of the blue she decides to throw her whole life away to chase rand down and make him love her, she changes her whole personality and style to try to cater to what she thinks rand would find attractive (i'm all for wanting to look hot for your man, but min herself doesn't seem to enjoy her new clothes or find them comfortable, and that's a problem), she stops having any relationships or connections outside of rand, she barely has scenes with anyone but him and in ensemble scenes she's just there to cling sexily onto him while having 0 dialogue because she has nothing to contribute to the plot-relevant discussion going on, she has no storyline besides barnacling herself to his side and being on tap for sex 24/7, she has no narrative role or in-world obligations besides Being Rand's Girlfriend, etc.

and on top of all that, you have fandom calling her ~Best Girl~ and saying that she is the only one of the 3 women who deserves to be with rand because she Puts Her Man First like a Good Girlfriend should, and fuck the other two for having the audacity to have responsibilities outside of being his girlfriend. fuck them for actually being complex, well-rounded characters with independent storylines and character arcs, right? we only like female characters who exist to serve men's storylines!

and on top of all THAT, she DOESN'T EVEN serve rand's storyline! she literally doesn't do anything! she always makes me think of the "let me ask you a very fair question. what DO you do successfully?" vine. you could cut her out of the entire series and very little would change. min fans claim that she was integral to keeping rand anchored during dark times because min and rand claim that is the case, but the actual scenes between them in the text do not back up that claim. i can think of ONE scene where min actually makes an effort to have a serious conversation with rand about what's worrying him; every other time she just stops his doom-and-gloom talk by punching him or waving knives at him or distracting him with sex. and the way people put her up on a pedestal for taking care of rand at his worst (which she doesn't actually do anyway) is a romanticization of the shitty idea that it's a woman's job to be the sole emotional dumping ground for her male partner. i guess it could simply be that Dating Your Therapist is a romance trope i personally dislike, but ugh, i HATE that vibe of their relationship and especially of the way the fandom talks about their relationship.

and on top of all THAT, their relationship is totally logic-breaking at times because rand will go "i'm so isolated and alone! i'm going to go snuggle up in bed with my live-in girlfriend and think about how isolated i am." he will go "i am so dangerous, i have to push away everyone i love! come on min, i'm taking you into the most dangerous magical event of the age during which many channelers will show up to attack us, even though you're a defenseless civilian and there's no reason you need to be there." it feels like RJ wanted to give rand an isolation arc but also wanted him to have a sexy mistress on his arm at all times, and could not understand that those two things are mutually exclusive (unless said mistress is just no-strings-attached sex, but that was not intended to be the case here, although the cognitive dissonance often makes it feel like rand DOES see min as just no-strings-attached sex rather than a real person whose safety he needs to worry about).

her behavior about the whole romantic situation also drives me nuts because she is SO possessive and jealous, which i personally absolutely hate in romantic relationships, though some people do find it attractive, including min herself - there's a scene where she tries to make rand jealous because she thinks it makes the sex hotter and i was like girl wtf? get some dignity. actually "girl wtf? get some dignity" is my attitude towards all her behavior about the relationship because listen, i fully support girls being silly over their crushes, but christ alive the way min comports herself brings me so much secondhand embarrassment. she'll be like "i'm sooooo mature and worldly, i will never lose my head over a man like OTHER women do, because i am Not Like Other Girls, i'm superior to them" (the Not Like Other Girls vibes is another huge annoyance about her character & fandom reception of her character) and then she'll proceed to go plop down into rand's lap and dandle herself on his knee in the middle of a political meeting to show off to everyone present that he belongs to her. girl, you are a grown-ass woman! get some dignity! she also has a shitty attitude towards the polycule situation, i won't say more since the details of that are beyond book 4 and this post is also getting super long, but suffice it to say that, surprise surprise, possessive and jealous people do not work well in polyamorous relationships.

but most of the above is the fault of the author (or the fandom), not the character. i can't exactly separate the two while reading because "RJ is writing min badly" very quickly blurred into "i feel super annoyed every time she is onscreen" very quickly blurred into "i can't stand this character," but it does mean that the show has a good chance to fix most or all of these problems with her because they aren't necessarily intrinsic to her characterization, they're just symptoms of RJ's weird ideas about het romance and gender norms. the show making her a world-weary 30-something-year-old who takes no shit and who is GNC in a queer-presenting genuinely-doesn't-care-what-straight-men-think-of-her-looks way rather than a not-like-other-girls-tomboy-who-still-caters-to-the-male-gaze way is already a HUGE step in the right direction!

[johaerys-writes]

I love disasters!AU so so so sooooo much. It added ten more years to my life expectancy. I wish to see your writings forever, if possible.

Anyway, I have a question! How old are Patroclus and Achilles in 2024, roughly? I assumed they'd be in their late 30s or early 40s by now, and wanted to make sure.

And do you have any hcs about them in their 20s, 30s and 40s that you don't mind sharing? Like, are they still together? I goddamn hope they are. What do they do for a living? What are their relationships with their parents and friends? Any hc would be sooo welcome! Have a nice day!

First of all, I love you for sending this ask dear anon 🫶 Any opportunity to talk about my favourite boys adds ten years to my lifespan LOL don't mind if I do

So the age question is kind of tricky because you're a walking disaster and yet- isn't set during a specific time period. Like the Phthia years have a 90s vibe, and the Athens years have a late 90s-early/00s vibe, but I never really had a specific year in mind. It's just vibes mostly lol. But like, assuming we start in the 90s, then I think in 2024 they'd be late 30s, early 40s. And of COURSE they're together, haha. I honestly don't see these two separating at all in that AU, not even as a joke. They're each other’s ride or die and I'm not saying it's exactly healthy (oops 🤣🫣), but I highlyyyy doubt either Achilles or Pat would even consider the possibility of taking a break.

As far as jobs and studies go, Achilles finishes his Architecture major in Athens, then probably does an internship in an architectural firm while Patroclus works part time as an usher in a small theatre and also as a theatre production assistant whenever the opportunity arises, helping making props and procuring materials and generally just running errands for the crew and the director lol. Then they move abroad for Achilles to do a masters degree (in their mid/late 20s?), I was thinking probably Italy, and Patroclus of course follows him. After a bunch of coaxing and convincing, Patroclus accepts Peleus' offer to pay for his studies as well, so the two of them spend a couple really lovely years just studying and travelling Italy and seeing all the sights and eating ALL the food and gelatto etc, and generally having the best of times. And then eventually they come back to Athens where Achilles opens up his own architectural firm (with daddy's help ofc), and Patroclus does his PhD in dramaturgy and starts teaching shortly after (hot professor Pat PLS 😩🤲)

As for the relationship with their parents and friends: they both have a really good relationship with Peleus, better than they did when they were younger. Turns out now that they're older Peleus is great for taking them to expensive restaurants and teaching them about wine and stuff, or taking them on boatrides (with his divorce mini yacht LMAO). Thetis is also in Athens and Achilles does see her often, most times on his own, sometimes with Patroclus. Pat and Thetis are not besties by any means but they get along for the most part. But I still don't think Pat ever truly warms up to her tbh, and Achilles doesn’t push it.

They still often go to Phthia for the holidays so they see Ajax & co, Menelaus and Agamemnon both stayed in Phthia as well so they see them too. Odysseus returns from time to time but they lose contact with him after several years. Dio and Briseis do actually get back together after college for a couple of years, but it just doesn't work out unfortunately, much to Diomedes' disappointment 😅

So yes Achilles and Pat are definitely together by the time they're 40, definitely living together, definitely have amassed an army of dogs at this point haha. Like shortly after the main fic ends they get another dog, and by the time Laika sadly passes away, they already have at least a couple more. And it just snow balls from there. Eventually they move into a bigger place with a yard somewhere in the northern suburbs of Athens, and they just have their cosy little life with their dogs and their vast collection of books, and it's just really really nice for them :')