#just this part because im still so >:/ at that recent characterization of him as maliciously cruel and selfish

[martyrbat]

the snow queen – batman tales: once upon a crime

[ID: Victor Fries (aka Mister Freeze) trapped in ice. His head is light blue and is enclosed in a jagged glass helmet. Red goggles hide his eyes as The Snow Queen delicately kisses his temple. In the next two panels, Victor's skin is no longer discoloured and his goggles are off. He melancholically talks to Batman, his icy comatose broken by her kiss.

Batman asks him why did he come here and Victor replies, “This place holds special meaning. It's where she first skated. It's where we first met. My Snow Queen... my Nora. I realize now, my memories of her have kept me frozen in time.” Batman wraps his arm around Victor to help support him as he guides him to safety. He sympathizes, “Sometimes it's not just bad memories that stop us from living, but good ones, too” END ID]

[kyoghurts]

Hellooooooo, hope you are having an amazing day/night!!! I recently read one of your stories about rayne and his assistant, I absolutely loved it!!!! Had me flipping my hands and giggling a lot l, I really liked the way you characterized him. So I was wondering if you could write about him with a reader that's on outside a little bit like him (people finding them intimidating, socially awkward and smart) but it's actually a lot like Finn (they are a little shy, tends to cry easily and really loyal) I don't know if that makes sense... but anyways aajsjsjajs

im actually an amalgam of these two 🥲 so sorry for not writing this sooner but here you go <3

✶ HAPPY TEARS.

mashle. rayne ames x gn reader

content. fluff & 1.6k wc. this leans more towards platonic relationship but can be interpreted in any form. messy writing bc im back in the slumps.

people often find you smart, it's seen in the numbers etched to your papers and the consistent participation in class, there's a tone of modesty in the way you interact with others, and your quiet nature in medium to large social groups does nothing but earn you the intimidating, or rather, mysterious type of a title.

the admiration of others is bearable, you're lucky you're not too popular, you don't really know how else to go about it. unlike a certain someone whom you're well acquainted with, but not necessarily close to call a friend. he doesn't even pay attention to you when you're not the one initiating a conversation, which is actually convenient for the most part.

rayne ames doesn't bother you like the rest; he'll talk to you if the circumstances deem it necessary. things you can list off as 'school-related' situations, there are days where his generosity reaches far, extending to you for reasons you can't pinpoint. he offers you his notes when you ask, acknowledges your presence by maintaining eye contact until you nod at him and he does the same, walk beside him in silence as if it's a long-time habit —like friends who no longer feel the need to talk in order to maintain the bond, he's already nice enough to feel unbothered with you, that itself is a bond worthy of simple sentiments, if there’s any existing between your bones.

(who are you kidding, of course you’re sentimental. people often befriend you for their own benefit, it makes you want to crawl into yourself, the layers of the title you’re given have grown thicker; no one else can see you when you’re protected by what you have constructed.)

(but deep down, there’s a friend in your bed who accepts your tears as it is, and you’re happy because they don’t speak ill of you behind your back, they let you ramble until you cling to them in your sleep.)

(you’re happy because nobody is here, just you and your pillow, still alone. hurt becomes a friend you’re ready to share with yourself.)

(you’re happy this way, right?)

a particular memory flashes through your mind, one that causes you to flinch from your daze.

(wrong. happiness doesn’t come in a messy rain soaked in your poor pillows. hurt becomes a bully when you place it upon yourself.)

you were having the worst of anxieties when the day strikes you for the report that was supposed to be due by next week. perhaps its your fault in the first place to forget that he’s never been nice to you or to anyone, and he had the audacity to taunt you when you were ready to bite his head off then and there.

there are days where you simply cannot go by without curling into a corner—literally— and easing your worries in private, this day should not be one of them, but it is.

though to save some good news, you already finished your script anyway. and the topic is quite easy than the others, all you have to do is get up and sort your lines and not freak out when eyes are finally set on you. god, you could practically rip your flashcards with how you’ve been fumbling it with aggressive fingers almost tearing the edges right now.

“what are you doing?”

you let out a painful shreak, panting when the air in your lungs have been knocked out. you’re still crouching, but you turn your head and look up to see golden eyes watching you in such a way that you’re considering leaving altogether.

“rayne?” the calmness of your voice is such a comical contrast to your terrified expression that you want to laugh, if not for the current state that you’re in.

“the prof is coming soon. aren’t you getting ready?”

“i am getting ready” you say, almost sounding upset and salty. your gaze flick back to the pointed corner, not wanting to deal anymore of this. “i’m …nervous, okay. i need to think here.”

you close your eyes and sigh. you don’t need to know that rayne pities you at this moment, you don’t really care how he thinks of you, and you know him enough to discern him as the type to not care of someone like you either. you sigh once more and eventually feel composed. it’s enough to keep you intact—for now, at least.

you fall into complete silence, it stays like this for a while until you hear someone sigh behind you and—why is he still here?

“are you done?” he asks when you turn as you give him an incredulous look, as if saying his question is just plain stupid.

you don’t give him an answer. you stand up to your feet, fixing your robe and patting them down…but you can’t resist the strong pull of his gaze, so you meet his eyes once more, only to be taken aback by how…placid he actually is.

no sharpness in his glare. no spite in the refined lines of his face.

you had to ask, “how did you know i was here?”

“i saw you walked out.”

“i mean how did you find me—“

“does it matter?”

your brows knit together in slight tense, “of course it does.”

he walks away, remaining quiet. if that doesn’t piss you off now, you don’t know what will. your glare behind his head as you follow suit is something you wouldn’t imagine yourself to do, but something about rayne just doesn’t sit right with you at all. none of your peers know this sort of hiding spot that you have, and most definitely your personal magic could have detected the slightest track of presence within 100-meter radius range.

he walks up ahead, remaining quiet which irks you more than it should. you follow suit, already drained to keep persisting him. for a moment you think, if he hadn’t showed up, maybe you’d still be in the slump far longer you can’t endure. maybe, a teeny tiny part of you is grateful, but you’re not one to admit that out loud.

instead, you try to keep up with him, placing yourself beside him as placid as you can muster.

he speaks softly, catching you off guard, “you do that when you’re anxious.”

you’re not quite sure what to say, the way he states it is rather declarative than a question, you nod in agreement. no point denying it.

“you’re not who they expect you to be.”

“w-what?” you give him a glance, he’s still looking ahead.

“to hell with expectations. just do your best.”

that day, you can’t take your eyes off of him. the awe-struck might have been evident on your face, he briefly blinks at you before his walking pace slows down to match yours.

you feel warm, inexplicably so.

you held back a tear, but it still drops for the seed of happiness to suddenly grow.

“hey.” you greet him, slightly jogging to catch up with him.

he slows down, like always. he acknowledges you through with it, feeling relaxed as you both amble throughout campus.

you smile, maybe you’re friends after all.

“i assume you’re not busy?”

“not really.”

rayne leaves it at that, or so you thought. it takes a minute to register what he said, your footsteps coming to a halt. “sorry…what did you say?”

“you can come with me, i need to buy something in the market.”

rayne ames doesn't bother you like the rest; he'll talk to you if the circumstances deem it necessary. things you can list off as 'school-related' situations-

“is this school-related?”

“no? just things i need to check on my list.”

“oh.” you stand there a little too dumbfounded.

a hint of hesitance fleetingly passes through rayne’s gaze. you don’t intend to make it awkward, but you are, and then you chuckle at yourself for doing so. “sorry, that startled me.”

“it’s not obligatory, so don’t worr-”

“i’ll come!” your lips tilt in an enthusiastic grin as you start walking again, “what’s on the list rayne?”

he faintly bumps your shoulder with such nonchalance you honestly find it unfair, your heart is beating unceremoniously against your chest, and your quivering smile gives away too much.

you’re starting to like the prospect of being bothered by rayne regardless if it’s necessary or not. to hell with expectations, you think, you’ll do your best being the happiest version of yourself.

you return the gesture much too late that it earns you a confused look. and then he bumps you again, and again when you follow another, and another. until you’re laughing at him for being silly and you swear you saw a smile ghost across his lips, as fast as a blink, it’s gone.

you would be happy to witness them everyday, if you can. (and that, you shall.)

notes. gonna start writing that drunk and jealous rayne fic i've put on hold last month :]]]]]

© kyoghurts. ★ reblogs & likes are well appreciated!

[maryallenc]

so im just recently getting into final fantasy 7 these days, although i've been familiar with it for a time now, if only because my brother had crisis core and dissidia on his psp when we were kids and i sometimes borrowed it from him to play. so im pretty attached to zack fair from the get-go.

and going into the main game, especially thanks to the remake releases, i then end up hyperfixating on the turks.

specifically, tseng.

it's...interesting to see his characterizations in crisis core and then to the main game. maybe a little jarring?

i mean. zack got tseng to let out a genuine chuckle and even lightly teased zack before returning to being professional. zack entrusted aerith's safety to tseng.

tseng wanted to save zack's life, even though shinra wants zack dead.

and then i go to ff7 main, and tseng is. well. there goes sector 7 and also handing aerith to hojo.

although tbf, in crisis core we are working under shinra alongside tseng, while we are fighting against shinra in ff7 main. it's to be expected that tseng would act differently. but still.

i understand the doylist explanation that it's just inconsistent writing. or simply the fact that crisis core was created way long after the og game.

but this is what we have right now, and i'd be happy to figure out an in-universe exploration here.

i just keep thinking that the time between zack's death and ff7 must be a couple of months or weeks? and before that, tseng had his turks try to find zack before the army does and save his life.

and i've heard about the turk-centric before crisis game, and i also wanna know what's happening there, and if it can give some insight too around that time. i've heard that the turks were disbanded until rufus shinra basically saved those remaining, so there's that.

anyway, i just really want to figure this part out, and what it says about tseng's character.

[writergracethepanda]

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥 Secret Shanghai Edition

the character everyone gets wrong

Marshall. He is canonically an excellent cook, s why are we convinced he'd set something on fire if left alone in the kitchen?

a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

no comment

screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

EVERY SINGLE DAMN TIME I have seen Alisa and Phoebe shipped (let aroace people live and bisexuals are still bisexual even in a seemingly hetero relationship) or those takes I've seen on TikTok of people shipping Rosalind and Benedikt and Celia and Marshall if I weren't on my computer I would put sooooo many barf emojis here

what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

luckily nothing yet I believe

worst discord server and why

mine with my friends its sooo annoying how we have incredibly amazing and intelligent and sometimes incoherent conversations like guys we're the worst (sarcasm)

which ship fans are the most annoying?

like I said, anyone who ships the above things needs to stay 10 feet away from me at all times and undergo intense media literacy training

what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

I think everyone's answer for this is Oliver. I'm so sorry we (especially me tbh) did you so dirty pre fhh I promise we've learnt our lesson!

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Oliver loves cats. incorrect. Cats are his entire life. there is a difference, and we need to recognize it.

worst part of canon

roma and Alisa's dad just disappeared before I could beat him up

worst part of fanon

we're too funny my stomach literally hurts from laughing too hard sometimes. Seriously though, the above ship takes that make my blood boil, as well as some complaints about how a lot of us talk about how we think certain characters are neurodivergent/disabled. While I think some of those are actually considered canon, I don't understand why people are so made that we (a relatively neurospicy bunch) are identifying the parts of characters we relate to and labeling them. We're doing you no harm and not interfering with your ability to enjoy the characters. Shouldn't it be a good thing that we're able to identify with the characters? Just mind your business. (also anyone who erases Rosalind's and Alisa's aroaceness that is indeed canon and I hope both sides of your pillow are too warm)

number of fandom-related words you've filtered

I don't think any

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I don't think anyone hates these guys, but why don't we ever talk about the couple from LVC? They were so sweet, and I'm kind of sad we didn't get any mention of them in FHH.

worst blorboficiation

I feel like a bad Tumblr user, but I don't know what this means. is this like uwu-ification?

that one thing you see in fics all the time

@typingwithmyhandstied 's GENIUS

that one thing you see in fanart all the time

Juliette always has the appropriate amount of knives thank you very much for that guys :)

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

I personally don't get into the Rosalind is a vampire thing, but I'm cheering you guys on from afar (im just not into vampires lol)

there should be more of this type of fic/art

idk I should probably work on my university au

it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

the fact that not only did she feel comfortable falling asleep around Orion (see one of @no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist 's recent posts) but Rosalind was also muttering in French in that scene. Her dominant language. She was both out of it enough/comfortable enough with him that she dropped the I was raised in American fake accent and just started speaking normally in this essay I will- basically we need to talk more about the use of multilingualism in the ss books

you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

past me would be horrified to know that I like Oliver now

part of canon you found tedious or boring

I think TVD can be a bit boring sometimes, but that makes sense, since it was Chloe's debut, and she's grown immensely since then

part of canon you think is overhyped

the seagreen trio is overrated (they are literally my favorite characters)

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

THE MULTILIGUALISM

ship you've unwillingly come around to

Olivercelia. Like I said, I was his strongest hater pre fhh. Now I see what she clearly sees in him.

topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

discourse on ss Tumblr is mostly joking. my personal favorite is when @marsneedstherapy and I pretend to yell at each other in different languages

common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

"no one appreciates x enough" I do. I love them.

[boncottontail]

Hello, i found acas a few days ago and absolutely fell in love with the universe you created, despite keeping up with qsmp since the brazilians arrived i had never read any fics until last month (tbh i was worried about the kind of content id find but thankfully ive had only good experiences so far) and yours is for sure one of my favorites, so id like to thank you for making it available for us and as a sidenote i appreciate you taking the time to rewrite the parts where F was in the first place. I was only aware Thor wasnt Etoiles since the start because i would find his name randomly while reading and assumed you didnt erase it while editing lol despite not knowing how the og text was i have to say i loved Etoiles characterization and you did a great job with the adaptation (btw i saw you plan to rewrite some more due to... recent events, i will gladly wait for it and reread from the start once you do it, im sure however you plan to adapt will turn out good) thank you again \o maybe one day i might draw some fanart for it, we will see :,)

Hi meso!

I’m seriously gonna pull my hair out, I’ve gone through the entire nine chapters five times and icb i still missed a few mentions of F god damn it. (My computer is ass and I write and edit on my phone, so—) Thanks for the heads up, I’m gonna go through all the chaps again haha… *cries*

Thanks for appreciating Thor Etoiles! He’s just a silly guy with the most self deprecating humor :D

And yes, I plan to remove W from the fic completely, which means a major rewrite unfortunately (ElQ will take his place). I love ACAS and I won’t let a few rotten men ruin my story. If I’m going to have to go through 179k words to take him out, then so be it! I’d rather edit the entire story than platform a ped0 and an abuser :b

Thank you so much for reading and loving ACAS 🫶

[shummthechumm]

since seeing a few posts about TPB and how it treats firestar’s kittypet origins as a flaw he needs to overcome, wouldnt it be amazing if the “fire alone” prophecy was failed in some way? yes, short term, he DID save the clan, but in all the arcs following this? 

(looong post under cut)

yeah he’s a decent guy, but his clan immediately turns back to the status quo. sure, lionclan united to defeat tigerclan, but the relationship between wind and thunder deteriorates as soon as windclan rebellion starts. cats within his own clan, who witnessed the impact his very not-in-accordance-to-the-code actions had on defeating tigerstar. aka ONE OF THE BIGGEST TYRANTS IN RECENT CLAN MEMORY. but oh actually everyone dislikes kittypets still in tnp. dustpelt/mousefur especially love to bring up their distaste with the state of thunderclan (”too mixed”). even brambleclaw, his own apprentice, judges cats like daisy based on the fact that she isnt clanborn. it reads as thunderclan respecting firestar in spite of where he came from, instead of them appreciating a major part of his identity that they wouldnt let him forget just a few books ago? you know? getting over their biases and learning to respect others outside the clan? 

were these xenophobic ideas not utilized by tigerstar to climb maim and torture not just cats outside the code, but those who dedicated their lives to it? is that...not a sign for introspection?? 

and on a similar note: the books really want us to know that the only reason scourge was defeated was because he didnt believe in god, which is a really weird conclusion to end this arc on. we see fireheart constantly questioning the code and using his better judgement (most of the time anyway) to do what is the morally righteous thing to do. his unique outlook on clan culture saved a lot of lives. he wanted desperately to find belonging in thunderclan, but often sacrified his safety + position to save lives. but no actually the moral we’re supposed to take is “firestar became leader and proved that his soft kittypet roots couldn’t hold him down!!!” i dont know if him being born in thunderclan wouldve changed his very justice-driven personality, but maybe not being brainwashed from infancy played a factor in many of his choices in TPB.

so with these moments where firestar starts to show some of his conditioning crack through (ex: feeling horrified at the idea of cloudpaw not believing in starclan--and wanting to SHOCK him into being a believer; etc etc), is genuinely an engaging character flaw...that should be treated as a flaw. all of these standards of what a “true warrior” should be--constantly being crammed into his head from a pretty young age; against his own sense of personal identity and moral compass. does he WANT to be seen as a true warrior? does he want away with all of these redundant rules? does he want to redefine what that even means?

even in FQ he is pretty pissed to hear bluestar trying to justify an ENTIRE BRANCH OF THEIR CULTURE being axed off because no one was willing to spare territory. while that book has other issues, its still nice to see glimpses of that characterization i like slipping through. if it was an intentional internal conflict, you can take it even further. 

this is why i like to imagine that firestar’s prophecy came from whatever ancient beings sent down the po3 prophecy (i believe in oots they downright confirmed that the ancients likely sent starclan/the tribe of endless hunting the po3 prophecy decades before even mapleshade’s time). firestar may have served as the short term solution, maybe as a way to get set up the three in thunderclan. im 90% their prophecy outdates his, anyway. what was the intent of this prophecy, truly? 

was he meant to save the clan(s) from a few one and done baddies, or was something more long-term intended. if so...did he fail???

how does firestar cope with this? does he reflect? he knows about the po3 prophecy--what if he were to learn of the manipulation his kids went through by the forces he was taught to worship? ik canon firestar doesnt rlly react to the secret reveal post po3, but...in a better series...would he stand for it? how could he react, knowing that starclan targeted his very bloodline for a prophecy far older than the clans themselves? 

in a different world, would bluestar had even accepted him had it not been for the prophecy?? where would he be then? how would he fare with the knowledge that many cats he idolized when he was younger--cats he grieved for, were roped into perpetuating the unhealthy cycle of reliance both starclan and the living clans have for each other?

......is starclan even the source of the fire alone prophecy??? if not them, then who was??>?? how far did this go?? how far is starclan willing to go to get their desired outcome?

 give me existential  firestar, PLEASE 

[orpheusilver]

care to elaborate on the miles venom arc?

YES okay so. the thing abt the symbiote is that (like any good corruption arc) it feeds on and amplifies the worst traits of a character, which is pretty straightforward in peters case - his biggest issue is his anger, usually manifesting via retribution (eg. "i missed the part where thats my problem", hunting down uncle bens killer), so his origin story is always the great power/great responsibility thing so he learns to temper that rage. what the symbiote does, practically, is force him to unlearn that foundational character arc and regress to his worst self

since the symbiote really really loves aggression peter parker is literally its dream guy but miles is a little more complex. hes definitely susceptible to that same anger (eg. wanting to "make kingpin pay", the entire sm2 martin li arc) but not as often and nowhere near as hardcore, so the peter playbook wont work as well for him (and also it would be fucking boring. weve seen that shit like 8 times already (not saying symbiote peter is boring i just think modern iterations need to explore new aspects to avoid treading the same ground constantly (sm2 does this very fucking well (also yuri lowenthal is a great va for peter like right up there with josh keaton (i think this many parentheses means im off topic (the adhd demon got me))))))

SO. whats miles' major issue he needs to overcome in his origin story? full disclosure i have not read the comics (but i heard they had some issues with his initial characterization anyway? which is fair enough tbh writing the successor to such an iconic guy is Fucking Hard) so TO ME PERSONALLY!! spider-verse miles is the definitive iteration of the guy and like. we all remember the whats up danger scene, his origin arc is overcoming self-doubt and learning to believe in himself ("its a leap of faith", "youre on your way, just keep going") which, alongside social anxiety (eg. the itsv "everyone knows" scene, sm2 "are you mad at me? it sounds like youre mad at me" dialog), seems to be part of some general anxiety issues. this is pretty well supported by the recent "the spider within" short film (which funnily enough is very fucking reminiscent of some sequences in kravens last hunt, not relevant but kinda cool) which also shows how miles responds by self-isolating, similarly to ps5 miles when peter ignores him

the symbiote can exploit his self-doubt pretty easily, the inherent power boost will do most of the heavy lifting to make him feel like hes not good enough without it - what if he runs out of web at the worst moment? what if hes not strong or fast enough to save someone? what if hes caught mid-costume change because hes so used to the suit changing itself? the more valid the (inital) concerns the better imo

the social anxiety is a tricky one but i think if miles traps himself in a doom loop of self-isolation he might spiral into genuine paranoia, which combined w/ the patented symbiote rage could lead him to lash out at people around him. "everyone secretly hates me so im gonna avoid being around people" -> "i feel alienated from everyone i know so im gonna avoid them even harder" -> "am i 'okay'? why would you care? what are you playing at? fuck off and leave me alone" -> "nobody wants to interact w/ me so everyone who does must have ulterior motives and is therefore a threat to me/my family/my city" -> "im completely isolated but bad things are still happening so people must be conspiring against me w/o my knowledge" -> "literally everyone on earth is out to get me and i need to fight them about it"

from there i think the ideal conclusion is pretty self-evident - miles takes a metaphorical leap of faith (calling back to the lesson learned in his origin arc) by actively choosing to trust someone, reach out and ask for help w/ removing the symbiote and dealing with the contemporary big bad (potentially his local peter variant bc hes got experience w/ symbiote removal and it would tie into the "leap of faith" motif but idk)

so tldr: a miles symbiote arc would be different to peters arcs in some (very interesting) key ways - rather than unbridled aggression he could be characterized by intense anxiety, manifesting as paranoid self-isolation and a sense of dependence on the symbiote suit, and would end the arc by reaching out for help in a symbolic leap of faith

[argisthebulwark]

*slides you monopoly money* im here bc im testing to see if i could get you to write nazir/brynjolf 👀

listen. i'm gonna be honest here and own up to the fact that i don't know nazir that well so please don't kick my ass if my characterization is off.

brynjolf/nazir because i'll do anything to help my boy win these polls - and i could use a few monopoly dollars. nsfwish, not explicit, i just wrote a lot. anyway, vote for brynjolf

"When I heard I was up against a redhead I was worried it'd be that clown."

Brynjolf didn't have a response. He stared at the man sharing the stage with him - dark eyes watching his every move, sword strapped to his belt, one hand hovering over the hilt. He anticipated using it.

"I can't believe we're actually up here." Brynjolf scoffed, staring out at the crowd that continued to gather around them. This silly Sexiest Man content had spiraled out of control, countless sets of eyes gazing up at them.

There was no ignoring the flattery of it all - learning that he'd made it through somewhat of a gauntlet to be in contention for the sexiest man, his final contest against the man to his right. His Guild Master had informed him that Nazir was one of the few remaining members of the Dark Brotherhood after its recent troubles.

"After all that mess, I figured our dysfunctional little family could use a laugh." Nazir's shoulder bumped Brynjolf's and a whisper seemed to rush through the crowd. They all clutched the little ballots to their chests, scratching down votes as they filed through the marketplace.

"Alright, time is almost up!" The Guild Master's voice rose above the chatting crowd and Brynjolf suppressed a groan. He'd begged them not to make a scene yet there they stood, arms outstretched and gathering attention. "Anything these fine gentlemen can do to tip the scales in their favor?"

"Show some skin!" Someone shouted from the rear of the crowd, earning more than a few hoots. Brynjolf felt his cheeks blushing and considered disappearing into the nearby alleyway. He was interrupted by Nazir's hearty chuckle as he began unlacing the front of his leather jerkin.

"Are you really doing this?" Brynjolf hissed, shocked when the assassin's gaze met his, full of humor.

"Why not?" Nazir laughed, tossing his vest off to the side. A whistle came from the crowd when he began removing the loose shirt underneath. "Our Guilds have had a rough time. We might as well give them some fun, right?"

Never one to be outdone, Brynjolf unlatched the front of his armor. It was quite a bit of work and by the time he was done Nazir's chest was bare, nothing left but the loose pants and the sword hanging from their belt. He made quite the spectacle - a body muscled from years of hard work, looking impressive under the setting sun. Brynjolf wasn't sure how his scarred chest would hold up, relived to hear a few whoops in his honor when he dropped the leather armor to the stage.

"Alright boys, lovely display." The Guild Master purred, egging on the crowd. Brynjolf wanted to shove them but resisted the urge, some little part of him still wanting to win the title. "Anything else they can do for you undecided voters? Only a few moments until our polls close!"

The crowd once again devolved into chattering and Brynjolf fought the urge to cover his chest. He saw a few pairs of eyes on him, ego fighting with the deeply ingrained instinct to hide himself from prying eyes. Ultimately his ego won, flashing a young Dunmer a smile that left them a mess of giggles.

"See?" Nazir spoke softly, eyes sliding to Brynjolf. "Just enjoy it while it lasts. After this all ends we'll be back to work."

As his words sunk in Brynjolf spotted a few of his thieves gathered in the back corner - drinks in hand, laughing harder than he'd seen since before Mercer's betrayal was revealed.

"Kiss!" Someone shrieked and the crowd erupted into laughs and cheers. Brynjolf stared over at Nazir, catching the color rising in his cheeks but his grin didn't falter. He really was willing to play along with this silly contest. The Guild Master turned to them with a flourish, a devious smile on their face.

"Well, lads?" They gestured to the crowd and Brynjolf knew he'd make them pay for this. "Willing to earn a few votes?"

Brynjolf felt his palms get clammy when he felt Nazir's hand on his shoulder. He glanced over, heart pounding and some excuse bubbling up in his mouth but he couldn't deny that part of him wanted to do this. He didn't know if it was the handsome man looking at him or the cheers of a crowd but something drove him forward, lips falling on Nazir's.

He'd never felt someone take charge when kissing him but it stirred something deep in his chest. Nazir's hand clasped his face and Brynjolf felt their noses knock together, Nazir's bare chest pressed to his. He heard the crowd whooping but it sounded far off, his mind focused solely on the rough skin of Nazir's chest under his hand and the fingers playing in his hair.

When Nazir's thumb ghosted over that sensitive spot on Brynjolf's neck he shivered, still shocked. He was enjoying this. There were dozens of people watching him kiss a complete stranger and all he could worry about was getting more of Nazir's touch. He felt the hilt of Nazir's sword bump into the dagger strapped to his thigh and pulled away, sucking in a deep breath while he stared into Nazir's eyes.

"Definitely not like the clown." Nazir murmured, hand still curved around the back of Brynjolf's neck. His face heated when he hear a wolf whistle from the crowd and Vex's voice cheering above the rest but was stuck, mind going faster than he could compute. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Brynjolf realized his voice was breathless. No one made him feel like this - he was the one that left others breathless and blushing. It was new and strange but when he felt Nazir's thumb brush down his throat again he realized he wanted to keep going. "It's all for show, right?"

"Oh sure." Nazir sounded like he was joking but Brynjolf felt the tug on his neck, another kiss pressed to his lips. It sent electricity tingling through his body and he grabbed the sides of Nazir's belt, intent on giving this crowd more than enough reasons to vote for him.

They hollered and whistled again when Brynjolf tugged Nazir's hips against his, thrilled with the sound he heard in the other man's throat. Fingers tightened in his red hair and teeth scraped along Brynjolf's lower lip, dragging a filthy sound out of him. His free hand curled around Brynjolf's lower back, hips pressing into his and Brynjolf was sure he'd faint. No one had ever kissed him like this before. It was absolutely intoxicating.

The crowd dispersed shortly after. Brynjolf's armor hung around his chest, unbuckled but back in his place. He found himself wandering under the Temple of Mara, lips still tingling from that kiss and ears ringing with the crowd's cheers. He wondered if he'd done enough to win.

"Good show up there." Nazir's deep voice rumbled from the nearby shadows and Brynjolf halted, heart hammering in his chest. He wasn't accustomed to people sneaking up on him. To be fair, he'd been quite distracted replaying every second of that kiss over in his head.

"You too." Brynjolf raised a brow, staring at where he saw the light glint off Nazir's sword. "You returning to your Sanctuary?"

"In the morning." He sighed the words, something unspoken fizzling between them. "We won't see one another again, will we?"

"I usually make it a point to avoid contact with the Brotherhood." Brynjolf couldn't hide the old distaste. "So, no."

"Good."

Nazir dragged Brynjolf into the shadows, crowding him against the cold stone wall. His heart leapt when he felt Nazir's warm hands angling his chin upward, thumb scraping over the stubble he'd forgotten to shave.

"Might as well have some fun before then." Nazir murmured, voice so low Brynjolf felt like he'd implode. He hooked his fingers into the belt that carried that deadly sword, tugging Nazir's hips into his again.

He'd never appreciated an assassin's ability to melt in the shadows more than that night.

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

Have you read any fanfics with good Gonata characterization? What's your favorites? Can be focused on him or just a fic that features him that you liked how they wrote him. I recently(ish, like a week ago) wrote Gonta's chapter of my V3 remnant au and now I want good Gonta content, I've been on a Gonta kick.

Ohhh Let me check my bookmarks for you!!

I don't read a lot of dr fic, mostly because there isn't a lot of gonta centric fic that I would want to read out there. Im not the biggest fan of the most popular gonta ships, and even when it is a ship I like sometimes I just want something gonta-centric yknow? and something that isn't fluffy but actually fully gets into his character. Gonta angst is my fucking white whale. Its so so hard to find.

That being said here are a few I really enjoyed!!

we're bound to break and my hands are tied - ToxicPineapple "Saihara and Gokuhara get together to watch Danganronpa as they always do. While the show runs, Saihara reflects."

This is the pregame Gonta fic that made me change my opinion on pregame Gonta as a concept. I really really like the characterization of him here.

Restlessness - ToxicPineapple "Gonta stays up late to keep a watch on things, trapped by his feelings of uselessness after the third trial. Kaito finds him and tries to help him through it."

This is a fic I commissioned from Tox.. Its really fucking good. Kaigonta hurt comfort centering around a part of Gonta's character that I rarely see anyone talk about. Its amazing!!

Every Day I Will Remind You. - MxSoda "Kaito Momota has done it. He's finally gone to space. The vast and vibrant cosmos are now here at his fingertips. But even when he's a million miles in orbit, there's a certain someone back down on earth that he can never forget. And he has an important message for that someone. One that he'll declare to the world."

This was a gift fic for me qwq Fluffy Kaigonta that is just the sweetest. I adore this fic

The stars in his eyes. - ToxicPineapple "Gonta tells Shuichi about the stars."

Saigoku for the soul. Gonta being a gentleman. This one is very calming and wonderful. Yes this is the third Tox fic on this list. She's good at writing gonta okay??

Gentleman Gonta and his Butterflies - Weirddancer14 "A short and casual fic about Gonta Gokuhara and his excitement for butterflies."

Dancer is a freaking PHENOMENAL writer and I really like how he writes Gonta and Gundham. This was another gift for me and I still think about it all the time

And these are just a couple!! If anyone has some good gonta-centric fic suggestions (especially angsty ones or ones that take him seriously as a major character in the plot) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send them my way!! There's a reason a good amount of the fics on this list were gifts T^T

[chaoxfix]

I think what really draws me to archie more is that, im not quite sure how to put this, the stories and how theyre treated aren't clean cut. The characters make tons of mistakes, missteps and back track because they messed up so a lot of the situations have a sort of weight to it that i think idw doesnt quite nail (no disrespect to idw of course. Its just that ppl get really weird when its criticized)

Also how the characters were drawn in archie, lotsa times with ugly expressions could really sell a moment in a fight or emotional moment.

yeah!!! thats part of what i mean by earnest stories, they have actual consequences and thats not something you often see in sonic media of any sort. it was until extremely recently that any past games mattered to new ones. meanwhile archie's stories come back around and around again, with characters and histories that matter.

and i definitely agree about the mistakes. the mistakes are some of the most compelling moments. not every mistake was treated as a mistake (and sometimes its REALLY funny if youre like 'wait.... but wouldnt that cause X???' but the writers instead are like 'MOVING RIGHT ALONG' and you just kind of have to say lol and continue going too). but the mistakes that DO hold weight are soooo fucking interesting. characters' choices matter, they are allowed to fuck up and that fuck-up is allowed to follow them for a While. and i just think thats neat. its realistic, things dont just get wrapped up in a nice bow all the time, sometimes things haunt the characters for years to come.

i also do like a lot of the art. my favorite archie artist legit might be jon gray. SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT 132 BUT I REMAIN A JON GRAY STAN...!

i will say that i am not an idw hater, and idw DOES also have some storylines that have weight to them... though admittedly i like them in somewhat different ways to archie. for example, the mr tinker storyline seems to be trying to paint sonic as fucking up, too, for trusting eggman/mr tinker and releasing him, and i do like that storyline quite a bit. but at the same time im not quite as sold on it the way i was with a similar archie story, of eggman losing his grasp on reality after sonic soundly defeats him, and sonic showing him mercy but still being conflicted about it. i just preferred that archie characterization, because it seemed like sonic had trouble articulating *why* he felt so wrong about it, compared to idw sonic who seems like he knows exactly how to articulate all of his moral leanings. i prefer archie sonic because "im just living by my own feelings" truly seems to match him, he just does whatever he feels is right in the moment and he doesnt always know why, and sometimes it IS the wrong move. and i love that.

[macbethz]

fuck it manchester black design tierlist

this man has never been drawn consistently in his LIFE so here are my opinions on them rated from best to worst

1. any Doug Mahnke

YOU CANT. OUTDO. THE DOER. Literally the og. this man has been drawing manchester black for 25 sluttly slutty years and shows no sign of stopping. my one complaint is that he has never drawn him with purple hair since his debut. #Sad!

2. Mike Perkins

Literally only drew him for a fraction of a single issue but I really loved it because it was a nice balance between his original design and the more scrawny design they've been going with recently. really keeping him looking pathetic while still bringing in the original facial structure of the mahnke look. he looks like hes high as balls. 10/10

3. DC animated

this is the design that brought him to the wider world and it really is so so good!!! I love how they incorporated the piercings and more punk elements despite those not being a huge part of his design before. Probably objectively the best design just in terms of like. shape language etc but i am a little comic biased what can i saw

4. Duncan Rouleau

I have to give this design credit for coining the percings and tripp pants look but unfortunately at this point in his career it seems Duncan had not yet mastered the human face and its very clear in every panel

5. Mikel Janin (and associated superman and the authority designs)

this design at first enamored me with morrisons writing and its skrunkly ratlike swag (which is especially visible in longer range shots and exaggerated expressions see image 2). but unfortunately he did turn Manchester into purple constantine for the remainder of the run and that i can not abide. the level of patheticness is so good but unfortunately Janin made the mistake of thinking he needed to be a twink to be that pathetic. incorrect! he now does not read as the same character!

6: Teen Titans

im not even calling out a specific artist here because they are all guilty to me. This design is so bad. I hate it so much. It bleeds 2014. it is SO early new 52 trying to hard to reinvent the wheel. why is his hair red. why is he supposedly 19. the redesigned tattoo is an interesting idea but it simply does not look good. i really hate that every time you google manchester black this specific image pops up like 20 times and its somehow even uglier than him in the normal art style of that comic. And you know DC wants to forget it too because they've basically pretended this comic never existed when discussing his past. also the comic run this was in characterized him so god-awfully that it made me physically ill

[thecoolertails]

Now that I know you like Fred Jones a whole lot, I want to know your opinions on the rest of Mystery Inc. :D Also, what do you think of Scrappy, Flim Flam and Vincent Van Ghoul?

oh i am so glad you asked! i love all the main 5 members of mystery inc! fred's my favorite of course, but the rest aren't that far behind (infodump incoming)

velma was my favorite as a kid (i was dorky kid with glasses myself) and she's still such an icon. i probably like her the best in where are you, what's new, and zombie island/witch's ghost-- sweet, smart, and enthusiastic, rather than being more sarcastic or reserved. OH and i love how they made her semi-nonverbal in a pup named scooby-doo! she's an autistic legend just like fred

daphne's adorable, i especially love her characterization in be cool scooby-doo, she's so chaotic but is also the heart and soul of the group. i still really like her original and #girlboss characterizations as well though! i love how they ended up giving her so many different talents and interests to make up for how undefined her personality was originally, so she has so many cool hobbies like surfing and martial arts.

shaggy's great too! i think how good he is hinges heavily on the given writers grasp on comedy, but i also think he's at his best when he has some depth beyond just being comedy relief (early 00's live action and be cool are probably my favorite versions of him, followed by the gold key scooby-doo mystery comics and where are you).

and of course i love the good boy scoobert doobert himself! i prefer a more doglike scooby, rather than more recent iterations that have him act a lot more like a human, but sometimes it can be done well. i found be cool's scooby to be really funny and likable despite being more humanlike, probably because they don't have him talk a whole lot, but when he does it's usually in dry one-liners and it just kind of works.

as far as scrappy goes, im kind of in the minority in that im kind of neutral on him? i think he has a lot of potential as a part-time member of the gang (the whole concept of "scooby's baby nephew who fears no man or god and really REALLY wants to punch a ghost (and also looks up to scooby and thinks HE'S really brave)" is absolutely hilarious. that being said, i haven't seen anything with scrappy in it as an adult (not counting the 2002 movie), and as a kid i didn't prefer the shows with him in it, ESPECIALLY the ones that didn't have velma and fred (but mostly because of velma). i think i just saw that velma wasn't in those ones and saw it as a personal slight lmao, i was like really offended asdjfkdjf. i think it was a mistake for them to go all in on scrappy (and the extended doo family) like they did, where they kind of sacrificed the original gang and formula for something new, which didn't really stick for most people. scrappy saved the scooby franchise, but also almost ended up destroying it once it started to kind of revolve around him (luckily it was saved by a pup named scooby doo). but, because i refused to watch the movies and shows from the "dark era" as a kid, its kind of a literal dark era for me in that i really don't know that much about it and have seen very little. it's high up on my list of scooby media to watch though, and i might detour from mystery incorporated to look into some of that soon.

but ANYWAY lol, long story short i think scrappy has potential and doesn't deserve all the hate he gets, but as he is he's not really my favorite, and even if he was done well, i wouldn't want him to be a permanent member of the gang, because i think the chemistry between the original 5 is so good. i wouldn't be sad personally if he never returned, but it'd be nice to see him come back as long as he was done well.

i've never seen the 13 ghosts of scooby-doo, so i'm not really familiar with flim flam or vincent van ghoul! well, i saw a little bit of van ghoul in mystery incorperated, but idk how similar he is to his original counterpart. it feels like it doesn't count lol

anyway scooby-doo autism moment over, thanks for giving me an excuse to infodump about my current hyperfixation haha

[secretmellowblog]

hi! hello!! i have been listening to the les mis soundtrack for almost 5 years now, but im just starting to delve into the fandom: im attempting to read the brick (i tried but it's very long), and within the past 2 days i have watched 2/3 of the movies i could find (including ofc the 2012 one which was. interesting.) do you have any advice or things i should know or places i should start with the fandom? even people to follow? im asking you bc multiple in depth posts of yours have shown up in the les mis tag, but please feel free to direct me to someone else or ignore me if that's easier. thank you sm, even just for reading this

Hi, thanks for your ask! I'm always happy to help :D The first thing is that there's currently a "Dracula Daily" style readalong of Les Mis happening, called "Les Mis Letters." It emails out one of the 365 chapters of Les Mis every day for a year, starting January 1st of this year, and is a lot like a big book club (or "brickclub.") It's still not too late to catch up if you binge read a bit! We're currently at the "Who Am I"/Valjean rescuing the person mistaken for him part of the book. :3 It might be a nice way to read the Brick for the first time, since people are going through the book chapter by chapter and discussing it. You can find the Les Mis Letters subscription here:

And the discord server here:

(Although the tag/server are a bit less active now that we're a few months in!)

As for blog recommendations: I already made a Masterpost of some active Les Mis blogs I recommend checking out! Here's that post, there are bunch of great blogs on it:

Two additional blogs I didn't mention in that post--because they've only started becoming more active recently -- are @dolphin1812 who writes great chapter-by-chapter meta for Les Mis Letters, and @pureanonofficial who's been making great gifsets of different Les Mis adaptations inspired by Les Mis Letters! :3

If you want a general overview/map of what the fandom looks like and things you should probably know...I recommend @pilferingapples post here. The big things are that the book is nicknamed "the Brick" (for obvious reasons XD.) So if you see people talking about "the brick" or "Brickclub" or something being "brick-inspired"/"based on the Brick" that's a way saying it's discussion of the book rather than the musical. The Les Mis fando on tumblr/a03 is geeeeeenerally loosely split into the "Old Men fandom" and the "Les Amis Fandom." The Old Men fandom focuses on Valjean and Javert, with lots Valjean/Javert shipping-- the "Les Amis Fandom" focuses on Les Amis, Cosette, Marius, and Eponine, with lots of shipping between everyone but especially between Enjolras/Grantaire. There are also other smaller minifandoms of people really into obscure historical stuff, usually either the history of rebellion or the history of the French prison system /police force, but the "Old Men vs Les Amis" is the biggest divide imo. And in my experience most of the fanfic (and there is a lot of fanfic!) is based on the musical characterization/collective internet fanon rather than the Brick. But there are Some brick-focused fanfics out there! (and they're always my favorites alksdjflksdjf.) There's also a subset of the Les Amis fandom people call the "collective modern AU fanon universe." Basically back in 2012 when the movie came out, lots of people got super into shipping Enjolras and Grantaire, partially because the actor who played Grantaire posted a video of himself singing a love song he'd altered to be about Grantaire/Enjolras. People gradually invented a collective fanon AU of what things would be like if Les Amis lived in the modern day. These modern AUs became so popular that they kind of became the norm, and people assumed your Les Amis fics would be modern AUs even if you didn't tag them that way. There are lots of people who got into Les Mis through the collecive fanon universe more than any adaptation. So what I'm saying is the "Les Amis Modern AU' world is basically an entire Goncharov'ed fanon universe of its own. It has its own tropes, characterizations, headcanons for different characters' appearances/genders, etc etc etc. There have been multiple microbudget webseries and comics based on the collective modern AU universe. It's been around for so long that I think it's normal but I imagine it can be kinda confusing to someone who's new to the fandom XD. And that's pretty much all I can think of! : D But yeah the Les Mis fandom is very fun

[quinnonimp]

do you have any favorite books/movies/shows? (this is me asking you to ramble about your favorite piece of media, I'm in the mood for special interest talk.)

ooo im not much of a consumer of media but one of my favorites is homestuck !!!! ill talk abt it, but mind u im kind of horrible at talking abt my interests </3

im not that old of a homestuck fan (only got into it around 2020 i think) but FUUUUUCK its such a huge part of my life and probably my longest hyperfixation, might even be a special interest with how much i still think abt it at random intervals or small associations

im honestly a little of scared of falling back into my hyperfixation of it though ? theres a few small reasons but i think its mostly just me being scared of commitment to anything as always (which is probablt also why i barely consume media) . recently i was REEEALLY close to but new ccquackity/ccwilbur activity dragged me away to safety lmfao (if u could even call a dsmp/tntduo hyperfixation safety)

smth i rly love abt homestuck is the way its so incredibly focused on characterization rather than story

like YES it does have a great story but its clearly messy n weird n hussie just kind of throws anything up in the air and just the dumbest shit ever can happens, and while that is aswell smth i absolutely fucking love - the characters r a way bigger deal n more interesting than anything the story will conjure up, and thats definitely my favorite way of writing media

cause like, yknow, good characters can absolutely save a bad story, but a good story cant rly save bad characters

plus theres so many characters and theyre all so well written that its easy to find a fan for each of them

my favorite character is 100% gamzee, im so fucking normal abt him, like oh my god i love that dude so much and the little idealized version of him i have inside my head lmao . mostly the earlier stuff is what i like of him though

fun fact ! hes part the reason im not scared of clowns anymore . i used to be terrified of clowns so when i first read homestuck i thought he was the most annoying freak in the world and DESPISED him, until i started looking more into purplebloods and gradually liked gamzee more until suddenly clowns r now my entire personality

i have so many reasons to love gamzee, but a lot of it has to do with just the plain fact i relate to him and when i see him i go "damn hes just like me fr" . like just . idk . his mannerisms n the way he dresses n looks r pretty similar to mine nowadays - except the whole "murderous instincts" thing, i think . and because of the way i havent read the comic in a while this self projection has really marinated itself

hes also sooooo brasileiro nordestino bc i said so 🤏

other favorite characters of mine are roxy, jade, kurloz, aradia, meenah, and calliope . plus, hes not a favorite but: when i got into homestuck i used to be a way louder energetic person, so my friends would say i was literally karkat, which infuriated the hell out of me x)

classpects is one of my biggest interests in homestuck, i fucking love them so much, im such a personality wizard i will latch onto anything personality related so hard . theyre great for initiating 60 page analysis on favorite characters (or ocs) and are so amazing for characterizing ocs its crazy, and aswell as to just classpect friends or random funny shit . i love them !!

in fact once i made an entire analysis to my friends as to why mosquitos r thiefs of blood, and there were so so so many more reasons than just the funny idea of classpecting a mosquito something called "THIEF of BLOOD"

though what i think a lot of ppl forget though is that while yes theyre heavily based on personality, theyre based on narrative aswell, which is why a real person can never have 1 set classpect all throughout their life since we well dont know the narrative we live in, we dont know our paths or our conclusions or how we'll end up and thats an important thing to know when classpecting since the way to godhood in sburb is a personal journey to self improvement, yknow ?

(though ofc if u wanna classpect solely based on personality go right ahead . the world is yours)

in this era of my life id consider myself a maid of space (which is a cool as fuck classpect and gets me the coolest powers EVER !!!!!!), but 1-2 years ago i considered myself a rogue of blood, then a rogue of rage, then a rogue of space (i was very rogue-ey), plus a few others here n there, and if i were to classpect myself from 3-4 years ago i would be a witch of rage/blood

i just think seeing the way change happens and the way we can see that change through a silly lens such as classpects is cool . with the way my obsessions work im obviously gonna look at the world with anything that associates with my interests in the back of my head, so im gonna start classpecting something like a glass jar if i take a look at it, and thats fun as hell !!

ive changed a lot throughout the years just as everyone does and im gonna continue changing, so who knows what classpect i end up with in another year or two ! its fun to think abt

ill leave my thoughts with that but thanks for asking :.))))

[donut-entendre]

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

16: hm, tough! I'll come back to this. mmkay I still have no clues. I have a lot of things I don't like - ableistic takes, for sure? White doc makes me squint suspiciously since he's implied at least a little to be black (a headcanon of mine recently acquired from talking about how white doc is a red flag is that he's mixed, which is really fun. he doesn't belong anywhere. how fitting for him.) twink donut for sure. that man is corn fed. CORN. FED. and canonically he is very good at, ahem, tossing, which.... Listen, he's got beef, okay? uhh. skinny church too also. epsilon is skinny sure but BGC church is fat. alright? it's just real. also the repeated implication in canon that robots can somehow grow fat is really fucking funny????? thats for 22 but like its here because im talking about church fat. lopez is also fat. he literally named himself 'the heavy' based on a weight competition. lopez is literally heavy tf2 to me. not actually but you understand. I am so full of opinions I need to stop here

21: overhyped? I guess the PFL era. it's just not that good and ignores a lot of canon for the sake of ACTION COOL and @leonardalphachurch would be way better at explaining it's problems than me lol.

22: there's just so much I could say here. I've kinda graduated from canon 'wait thats so funny actually' to deciding bloopers and PSA's and whatnot have funny shit that should be real. did you know that this blog was actually made in 2018 and I just didn't start posting until 2020. did you know I actually had a different blog before that I ultimately deleted that I posted about rvb from. Anyway I think the implication that Donut is somehow closeted when he acts like THAT is so fucking funny and nobody ever acknowledges it and it's a fucking crime not to. the most substantial evidence for this is in non-canon material but look me in the eyes and tell me canon donut is actually out and proud ever. not even the Pink! thing counts because it was cowardice on the part of the writers. say he's gay motherfucker. I dare you

[chaosandthe-deadblog]

at some point im gonna doodle Band AU Shadow and Maria in the sweaters like goddamn i really love how you characterized them the trans chapter still makes me tear up, I like how you rolled with the idea of sexual dimorphism between female and male hedgehog Mobians too tbh, did any of that originate from Amy's old design by chance? How she had once had her quills spiked up but later it was changed to them being slicked down? (Personally I like the echidna-hedgie hybrid theory for her but your take on it is really neat!)

I also just love how you've characterized them all. I'm gonna be ranting a bunch and it's gonna be confusing a lil but like pls stay with me i just have the Big 'Tism so my brain go hugvyfcrytjkn

I enjoy having the whole thing be very plotless tbh, there's not enough of that in fics imo and it's the exact stuff I need a lot and I love that. I don't ever really feel anxious that, say, Maria is gonna suddenly die or some shit like that, or that some cataclysmic event is gonna suddenly happen. I like that, I've needed a lotta that honestly. I just love how you've written it so much,,

I am still curious about Shadow's past, though. Was he still genetically engineered? Is he still part-alien??? Does Chaos Energy even properly exist??? Is Gerald just A Guy who is a scientist and actually succeeded at what he'd wanted to do???? Seeing as it seems his "backstory" never properly happened, and they're in modern times, I presume Gerald would be still alive or something. Is Eggman there too???? /Is there potential that younger-Eggman exists and he's like a weird internet troll to the band or something????/ Perhaps jealous that his cousin gets to meet the "cool guys" and there's a very small and non-dramatic plot of Tails being like "ugh this guy again" and Maria's like "oh yeah thats my cousin!" and everyone's like "WHAT????"

There's just so much to explore with such a domestic take on these characters honestly, and I really love that. It explores parts of their characters that often don't get touched often due to how much they're always fighting or dealing with drama. It allows dynamics to be explored that are never really toyed with in canon. Adapting various pieces of the characters to a more laid-back setting is genuinely REALLY fun and you've done it so well I just,,, wawUUUGH,,,

I'm so interested to see what goes on with Knuckles too, since his whole story is seemingly so fantastical yet so easy to adapt to a more mature and "realistic" setting. Does he simply come from a culture that's often overlooked in this world? Is his inner compass about protecting his family name? Is he actually the last echidna in this world or are echidnas moreso simply a group that are marginalized in some way? I almost feel like him being someone who's struggled through, like, immigrant struggles would almost be a really interesting take on him as a character. He's quiet about who he is, where he's from, often keeping to himself, it's why he doesn't sing on his own and why he often is seemingly just... There. But Amy knows, she's one of the only ones who does know.

And maybe if Shadow still shares that "being made in a lab" past as his canon self, perhaps he and Knuckles could end up being friends if Shadow were to learn about his past. They could relate to one another's feelings of not belonging where they are, yet having strong drives to defend WHO they are.

(I've been reading a lot of immigrant poetry recently for class and because, despite not sharing those experiences, I still always feel like I relate to the general themes of them. I dunno why, but I always imagine Knuckles being the type to write stuff like that himself, since his whole story draws a lot from very real and serious sorts of topics that can be related to some of those real-life issues. I really like that about him, how it always seems that his story is taken VERY seriously and not downplayed. That's why I liked him in Frontiers, and why I know many liked him in Sonic 2. Just mentioning this all because that's my inspiration for even coming up with this idea)

Again I absolutely do not wanna seem like im hijacking your story! I just wanted to rant about characters because hmmmmng,,, you write them so well and give me many idea and I love that,,

damn you put so much more thought into this au than i did LMAO

ummm okay i'll take these one by one

first: the trans chapter, that is ABSOLUTELY what i wanted to do and i'm so glad someone picked up on it. I think male hedgehog mobians have their quills spiked up while female hedgehogs tend to have them drip down. That's why Sonic pre-transition tied up his quills! However, I do think Amy fucks with her presentation a bit in that sense, she still spikes up her quills (though i think, similarly to how there are short haircuts that are deemed femenine by humans, the same thing could apply to hedgehog mobians and their quills)

about it being plotless... aha. haha. im gonna be honest. i love drama. there WILL be some dramatic event, and there’s gonna be drama, but it's not gonna be sudden. i'll be sure to have enough build up so it hurts a little less. a little. but its gonna take a while. so dont worry about it :)

OKAY shadow's past. okay. yeah so. okay. everything is like a lot more normal and domestic than in canon, so the whole magic and powers aspect is... altered. similarly to how it is in pirate au, the characters still have some trait thats similar to their powers/abilities in regular canon (sonic raced in highschool and regularly goes on runs, for example). I think Chaos Energy and the chaos emeralds and all that stuff is the equivalent they'd have of mythology. some people believe it, some people don't. "chaos and the emeralds" is a name that came to sonic based on one of those myths.

so... about shadow. gerald is dead. old age. i'm gonna try to explore shadow's past on later chapters so i'll keep it to: shadow was adopted by and raised by gerald until the doctor died, leaving shadow in charge of finishing raising maria. (and also, i didnt take eggman in consideration for this au because... implications. but it would be funny if he was just maria's annoying cousin that both of them can't stand)

and about knuckles! yeah, it's pretty much the former! it'd be interesting if he was an immigrant or someone from an overlooked culture. and no he is definitely not the last of his kind but i do think where the gang leaves it's not THAT common to see echidnas. i don’t think i'll touch much on that because... well i'm very much white and very much live in my birth country so i am deeply unqualafied to write about immigrant struggles, but that's definitely the direction i'd love to go to for knuckles. also you didnt ask this but he's like a big brother figure to amy, they were childhood friends

i actually hadn't thought about most of the things you asked, and this helped me do some worldbuilding, so thanks a lot for the questions!!!