#like you'll have the main ship falling in love and the most the friends do is cheer them on or have romances of their own

[toorumlk]

Hey! Do you think there’s any chance they might not make Romione canon in the upcoming HBO series because of the popularity of other pairings and JKR’s somewhat recent statements concerning the ship?

fair warning this is gonna be a long post!

you know anon, i’m not gonna deny that the possibility of romione not being canon in the hbo series doesn’t keep me up at night HOWEVER COMMA-

I believe romione will be safe because i’m placing a lot, if not all, of my faith in the upcoming hbo series being repeatedly described as a "faithful" adaptation of the 7 novels. which we can deduce to mean romione friends to lovers slow burn endgame and all that good stuff (maybe i'll talk about the potential of book romione and the serial tv medium some other time)

and sure, it can all be marketing/pandering/etc. but i find it so hard to feel cynical about hbo because i love LOVE their shows and i'm of the belief that they know how to tell a good ass story (and romione happens to be a good ass romance subplot). i also have such positive feelings about the showrunner Frances Gardiner (consulting prod on succession and also has killing eve under her belt) who JKR chose herself and one of the exec producers of the show who's set to direct of a bunch of episodes Mark Mylod (succession, the menu, tlou, got)!!!! and if you know me at all you'll know that succession is one of the main pillars of my personality and i fucking love that show so bad I would follow anyone who was part of the making of that show off a cliff if they asked me to. and Mark Mylod is a fantastic fucking episodic director who's directed and produced some of the best episodes of television ever, so i know he knows how to tell a good story. and though i'm a lot less familiar with Gardiners' work, she is a female creative who has some of my personal favourite episodes listed in her imdb (chiantishire, living+, tailgate party) who's pitch of the show made joanne give her the job so.... and y'all know im a canon bootlicker and love the books so all i'll say is.. real recognizes real.

so knowing the creative team behind hp series had a direct hand in making my favourite show of all time gets me so excited and giddy!!!!

but here's where my personal theories and speculations start: I really think with this hbo series, JKR is on a mission is create something wholly and newly hers. she was barely involved creatively in the production of the movies until DH pt. 1 and 2 and the movies have almost become an entity of its own that's drifted so far away from her. of course i realize me even just talking sympathetically about JKR is deeply touchy and might piss some people off but as a fellow creative, i feel for her man!! when i think of the best books in the series in my opinion that are filled with the best bits of world building and political commentary, what i find is that GoF was handed to a director who didn't even read the book, OotP was the shortest movie in the franchise despite being the longest book and how it entirely missed the Quibbler plot and all of harry's rage, or HBP that was filled to the brim with *chefs kiss* tom/voldemort lore which was done a complete disservice in the grey and brown sludgy mess that is the HBP movie.

and knowing that JKR now has a strained relationship or had a falling out with most of the top dogs involved in the films like Kloves and Yates (hallelujah what who said that) and Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe means this show has the chance to be a behemoth that’s entirely joanne’s, like the books are. it’ll be free of Kloves' Hermione and harmony (harry x hermione) favouritism or Watson's take on Hermione's character that makes my ass itch or Yate’s complete inability to direct his actors and make non-action scenes have heart, soul and heft. but i also can’t not address the elephant in the room: this section of the discussion is filled with every shade of grey possible because what led to the falling outs was that they all vehemently disagreed with JKR's anti-trans views and good on them they absolutely should! but like.............. i hated kloves' writing and his butchering of ron's character, i think yates is a static and boring director and im not a fan of emma's acting so like... a win is a win? NO IT'S NOT. but IT IS. BUT IT'S SO NOT. but do you see what i'm getting at???

the point i'm trying to make is that joanne is not the same person she was when she was first writing the books or when the movies were being made. I think she's a lot more ruthless and cutthroat now and while i disagree with her methods and condemn her transphobia.... i think this newfound hardness to her will lend itself to making the hbo series the best HP adaptation it can be, I'M SORRY it's absolutely fucked and i acknowledge and abhor her gender critical politics as a queer woman but im also an artist who just wants good, high quality stories to be told 😔😩

and as for the other popular ships and JKR's somewhat recent comments about romione:

I think its safe to say that joanne dgaf about this fandom and what's popular in it anymore LMFAOOOO 😭😭😭 i genuinely respect that she's always stood ten toes down about how draco's not some antihero, bad boy love interest and at best is a cautionary tale on prejudiced bullies, so I don't think that's changing anytime soon. especially considering that the dramione cottage industry that its fans have made is more or less a reactionary "fuck you" to joanne and canon which they do by writing fanfic about crimes against women and making merch and binding physical copies of said fanfics (really showing it to the big baddie transphobic DV survivor by *checks notes* auctioning hermione off as a sex slave) so I doubt she'd ever consider other ship's popularity seriously. as for the possibility of harry and hermione becoming endgame um..... if the show plans to faithfully adapt the books then we'd get harry and hermione’s quintessential sibling dynamic plus we’re already free from Kloves (also i have faith in francesca and mark knowing that harmony are just plain BORING) so i think the chances, again, are low. and if joanne really wants to stick it to her old colleagues, she can go down the route of pushing romione that much harder (and she really wouldn’t have to do much, it’s all in the books already) 😭

as for the comments on romione that she’s made in recent years, i think a lot of it’s been blown out of proportion or have gone through a terrible game of telephone. what she said (paraphrasing here) about ‘wishing she’d handled ron/hermione differently because a lot of what went into them was a wish fulfillment fantasy’ has turned into ‘jk rowling regrets making romione endgame???!!’ which is just *takes a drag from a cigarette* just another tuesday around here. i also would link to two meta posts by @saintsenara on the topic of endgame romione which i wholeheartedly agree with it

all i have to say is that going into making this show i hope joanne remembers that she based ron’s character off of a person in her life she liked when she was younger and who is still a good friend of hers now 😭😔

you guys probably know i’m in animation school which is basically film school in a different font. so i’m quite literally training to one day work in the story department on projects and work alongside writers, directors and producers, so this stuff means a lot to me! she and the creative team behind this upcoming show have the chance to make something really special and i’m finding it hard not to root for them!!!!!

[puffskeeter]

Hey I’m such a big fan of your art and I very much enjoy watching your YouTube channel 🤍🤍

And I want to ask you why you don’t ship the ppgxrrb and I want to hear your opinion about it which I can very much respect.

Plus another question that what type of fashion you think your au of the Powerpuff, Rowdyruff, and your Original Characters fall into between I really love how you draw them?

OMG TYSM!! I think i've seen your comments on my videos and TYSM for those too!! :D

I'll make a seperate post for my fashions/aesthetics for RRBORN characters! this one is pretty long even though i wanted it to be short lolz

Why i dont actively ship PPGxRRB:

I'm scrapping my drafted essay post about this for now because its really uncalled for and unnecessary. IDK sorry to anyone who looked forwards 2 it, but i just dont think i illustrate my point very well and more than half of it is lowkey a biased vent post and pure rambling. Either way this is the TLDR for the post you'll never see LOL.

But actually, I do ship PPGxRRB, i've just drifted away from it over the years. I think one of the biggest 'problems' i have with PPG x RRB is mainly with the portrayal of it. My main issue is with how a lot of people mischaracterize the RRB/PPG and completely deconstruct them as characters so that they can be love interests for the eachother and nothing more. One of my points in my scrapped post was that; I have no idea how an entire fandom managed to gender-bend the Bechdel test, but it is rare that i find PPGxRRB media where the RRB have actual lives, interests, hobbies, and friends that have nothing to do with the PPG. Half the time they can barely have a thought if it isn't about the PPG. As i said, Gender-bent Bechdel test.

Another point was that: ppgxrrb has gained a horrible reputation for itself over the years. Back in its "Glory" days, Toxic fans of the ships had bulldozed anything that differs from their favorite empty dynamics. Those usually being The Reds, Blues, and Greens. Nowadays i still see almost nothing in the realms of variety between creators interpretations of the ships. Almost every time i see a PPGxRRB post, it can fit into a set dynamic that the ship is already infamous for.

I want to be able to see the creators love and passion for their ships. I want to know how and why these characters ended up together. If a story is to be told, i want to hear it. I know that the majority of PPGxRRB creators are, by default, amateurs (they dont get paid and its not on a professional scale), but after seeing the exact same badly written love story hundreds , maybe even thousands of times with little-to-no variety, I've gotten bored and tired of people devaluing my favorite characters to be nothing more than overplayed dynamics and shipping fuel.

A lot of people like shipping because of the dynamics, but ship dynamics don't hook me in, and ive noticed that most PPGxRRB stuff is purely ship dynamics and nothing more. Theres nothing wrong with loving ship dynamics or being drawn to ships for their specific dynamics! I just dont care about dynamics, i care about chemistry and story. But most amateurs cant effectively show the chemistry or write the story, a lot of them can barely characterize the 2 characters in their ships.

FYI this isnt about anyone specific or even many recent fans of PPGxRRB. I've been in/around the online PPG fandom since before 2016, and a lot of my thoughts/feelings on the matter have a lot to do with stuff that happened over the years i've loved this series, and more specifically, The RowdyRuff Boys.

To be clear: When i say that they are mischaracterized, i'm not talking about HC's. I'm just tired of seeing the PPG and RRB dulled down into one-note personalities with stereotypical characterization and almost always no tangible character development. A love story is still a story, and a lot of shippers seem to half ass the "story" for favor of the "love".

I dont hate or even dislike PPG x RRB. I'm just really tired of rarely seeing people do the RRB justice, and i want these characters to be treated with the full respect that i think they deserve.

WOW this post is way to long already... still a lot shorter than my OG post. Sorry for being insane about the RRB. it will happen again.

[suebswrites]

20 Questions for Writers Game

Thank you for tagging me, @yanny-77 and @caeli0306!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 14! Plus a bunch on fanfiction.net from back in the day...*checks* 23. 23 works on FF.net that I will not share with you unless you are my friend, lol.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 114,162 words

3. What fandoms do you write for? The Empyrean (Fourth Wing) is the only fandom I currently write for, including one crossover with Bridgerton. All of my back-in-the-day fanfiction was for Harry Potter, but I don't write for anything other than the Empyrean anymore.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Just Ask - 1,087 Xaden POV: At Samara - 350 Throne Scene: Xaden POV Microfiction - 170 Dear Brennan - 117 Bridgegiath - 110

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes! At least, I try to. Though when I get an influx of a lot of comments at a time, I get overwhelmed and a little anxious about wanting to respond to them all, and then I get avoidant, heh. So it may not be right away, but I try to respond to as many comments as I can, and often will go back weeks later and then respond to them once I'm less anxious. As any writer will tell you, comments absolutely make my day and I read them over and over again, even going back and reading them days or weeks (or months) later.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably Happy Birthday, Violet, which is a drabble I wrote for the "birthday" prompt from the RQ War Games events in June. It's not necessarily angsty so much as sad. (I was hurting again about Liam at the time, lol.) It's tiny and short, you'll be fine.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I have no idea how to answer this. Almost all of them are happy! I think. Uh. Okay @yanny-77 tells me that the answer is Ridoc Talks To The Dragon, and I believe her.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Nope! Well, never on AO3 or Reddit. I got, like...three negative comments on my biggest HP fic on FF.net years ago, but they were only three comments among over 400, so whatever, lol.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes! I have written M/F and M/F/M. I only want to write sex if there are feelings involved, though, so I don't write any pwp. I don't know that I could, to be honest. The only fic I've written that had smut, outside of Just Ask, is canon-compliant TO Just Ask, and leans on the context built in the main longfic, heh. So...therrrrrre you have it!

10. Do you write crossovers? Yes! But only one. Bridgegiath is a Bridgerton-Empyrean crossover fic where all the characters from Fourth Wing are in a Bridgerton-world, more or less following the plot from Bridgerton Season 1. The most common comment type I've gotten on it is "the crossover I didn't know I needed AND I NEED IT SO MUCH", lol. It's hilarious and delightful and I plan to get back to it once the summer is over and I have more time to write again!

Bridgegiath - a Riorgail, Bodoc, Immrick, Jesiam fic, featuring (among all the others), Lady Durranbury as Lady Danbury. It's a blast.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I will steal @yanny-77's answer and say that I am not cool enough for that. Lmao

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Hell yes. Co-writing has become my love language. I've co-written with @yanny-77 and @sarahydeart and all four times were fucking awesome.

Dear Brennan The Book Cat Garrick's Snorkel Ridoc Talks To The Dragon

14. What is your all-time favorite ship? My favourite ship is Liam/Violet/Xaden, for many reasons, which I will list now lol.

I adore each of the dynamics in this triad: the obvious friends-to-lovers, protect-you-with-my-life, slow burn fall of Violet and Liam; the explosive chemistry between Violet and Xaden; and the love that would grow between Xaden and Liam, born of being fostered together after the trauma of losing their parents, being separated for two years when Xaden went to Basgiath, and then meeting again once Liam gets there--and then they both fall for the same person.

I think Liam balances out a lot of Xaden's dark-and-broody energy, and could bring out a more relaxed version of him. And I think Xaden could bring out a harder edge to Liam that would be incredibly sexy. Liam and Violet's dynamic I obviously adore, and I think the way they take care of each other is fucking delightful and healthy and sweet. I think there's such an easy likelihood that both Xaden and Liam would fall for Violet.

I genuinely don't consider either Liam or Xaden to be bisexual, but I think they could fall for each other in this specific scenario, because of the unique dynamic of trust they have with each other.

All of this to say...Liam/Violet/Xaden is my One True Polypairing, heh, and one day I might write it. But that is a very distant, very pipe-dreamy one day.

Shoutout to Harry/Hermione, though. I'll die on that hill to this day.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Oof. I absolutely intend to continue Bridgegiath once I'm less busy, this summer has been absolutely bananas, and I'm REALLY hoping I'll be able to take it to a satisfying conclusion eventually.

16. What are your writing strengths? I have been told, and I think I agree and hope that it's true, that I'm able to wring quite a wide range of emotions out of my readers. I have it on good authority that I can bring you from thrilling tension to desperately turned on to heart-stopping angst without missing a beat, and have a decent eye for knowing when to insert a funny little exchange to ease tension before diving back in.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I hope I won't lose my fanbase if I honestly say "finishing", heh. Though looking back at my history, I actually did finish both longfics that I wrote for Harry Potter, and I'm on track to finish Just Ask in a timely manner. I'm not too worried about Bridgegiath, because I know I'm much more likely to be invested in it again once I'm done Just Ask. It's just my original stuff that I struggle with I guess...

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I would rely entirely on Google translate if I ever did this, and thus would probably butcher any attempt.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Harry Potter, waaaaay back in 2007, two days after Deathly Hallows came out. I couldn't accept that Harry and Hermione didn't get together. (And I still can't.)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Just Ask. It's probably the best thing I've ever written. I started writing it to deal with my intense book hangover after Iron Flame, I'm still writing it, and it will be finished before the release of Onyx Storm. I am fiercely proud of it.

---

Tagging: @taumoebaa and @ubiquitouslyme and @copperfirebird

[fanstuffrantings]

Tangent time for Juvia and Gr()via in fairy tail. It will be negative about the ship so if you like that ship I'd scroll on!

I know I've spoken on it before, but being reminded of just how much or Juvia's existence centered around Gray is so annoying. It's clearly her powerset was the main reason Mashima wanted to keep her around. Visually she's distinct from other female characters with her styling meaning that we don't see her fall into the traps of her fashion becoming less and less unique as time goes on.

She has a lonely backstory which results in this desperation to be loved and seen leading to her latching onto Gray when he's the first person who seems to do that. In a story where the author cared about writing complexity this would likely lead to an arc where the character unpacks their obsession and grows. But unfortunately this is a shounen manga where most of the women are often reduced to who they love meaning that Juvia is not allowed to move beyond the gimmick of her being a crazy obsessive girl who ultimately does get with Gray despite his clear dislike of that obsession because Mashima decided it would happen.

This, in turn, means that the consistent theme of Gray having his boundaries bulldozed by various side characters never gets to be taken seriously and Gray himself suffers as a character for it.

It would've been amazing to see Juvia grow out of her obsession and befriend Gray. I would've adored Gray getting the chance to make friends with Juvia like he did with Lucy without this hanging threat of it getting weird and him getting uncomfortable.

Beyond just female characters being based around romance in shounen, it's a common theme that almost no important character is allowed to end up single, or without some sort of implied romance for them. Look at any big name shoune series and it's ending and you'll see the trend that everyone has to end up in a heterosexual marriage or romance at the very least because heaven forbid anyone be content in being single or, even worse, queer. I think honestly I get more agitated about this the older I get because out of everyone in Fairy tail, Gray is the one Character who always seemed thrust into romantic situations more than being in them because he was a willing participant.

Now I know happy single gray and Juvia getting a proper friendship arc with members of the guild is wishful thinking, but at the very least I wish we could've seen Juvia move outside of her overbearing obsession. If nothing else a focus on her friendship with Lucy and maybe even erza would've been amazing.

[cain-e-brookman]

🐎OC Smash or Pass Tag 🎯

thanks for the tag @topazadine! despite being a great dude, i did have to pass on Uileac. he's not missing out on me, though, because he's got a great husband!

alright, he lost the popularity poll the last time so you'll all have to hear about him now. he's here, he's queer, he is the drama

Hesperos vi Galanis

picrew source

Age: (Mage ages are weird. probably around 60-ish chronologically, but basically just barely considered an adult by Mage Standards. and i mean barely. human equivalent would be 17-20.)

Sexuality: bisexual

Height: 6'1" (~185 cm)

Race: Sky Mage

Overview: Hesperos was born in the mountainous north of his homeland of Pelyra. as part of the Galanis clan, his magic is claimed by Khrou, Goddess of Lightning, though all Sky Mages can call upon the Sky God or any of his children (mostly.) He was exiled from his clan at a young age for a reason he refuses to speak about, cast off of a Pelyran boat on the open sea. But chance, a trade lord of Vizia came across his boat on a return ship from Crescaeya, saving young Hesperos from certain death, and eventually taking him in as his ward. Hesperos has grown alongside a culture much different than his own, the carefree worship of Water Mages clashing with the strict discipline he lives under in his attachment to his patron. This has caused him to pull back into himself where his faith is concerned for most of his young life, rarely discussing his own heritage. As he grew into adulthood, though, he picked up the mantel of his name, donned his clan's colors, and claimed that even if his people shunned him, he was still a servant of his Goddess, and wouldn't be made to feel ashamed of his faith.

Above all, Hesperos is a collection of warring paradoxes. He loves flashiness and bright colors, but hates being the center of attention. He loves theater and preforming, but has terrible stage fright. His feelings towards his homeland and his people is rife with mixed feelings and heartache, but he's proud of his name.

Why you should smash: Despite being charming and flirty, he is a loyal friend and lover who never strays. When he falls, he falls hard and would do anything for the person he's with. He's not quick to anger, speaks softly, but isn't shrinking or shy. Would show you off to every person and make you feel like you're the only one in the world to him. And he's also as generous in other places wink wink. He's also a very powerful Mage, as his Goddess demands complete devotion. All in his clan are trained until they can house the complete power of their patron, and take on some of her physical characteristics, namely bright blue eyes and white hair

Why you should pass: Main red flag? He's a lush. Secondary red flag? About every 3rd thing he says is a lie, and every 4th is a joke. He hides from himself and everyone else, is never not preforming, even when he's the only one in the room. And he will never, ever, truly trust you.

So what do you say?

tagginggggggg @eternalwritingstudent @spideronthesun @illarian-rambling!!

[capricorndevil15]

Our Wonderland Themesongs Masterpost or Whatever

Out of excitement for the Our Wonderland finale (which is coming out next month!), I've written an incredibly long post sharing one song I associate with each of the main 4 characters (and also Cecil is there), as well as songs for my favorite ships. Come imagine AMVs with me, under the cut!~

To start off, a song that I associate broadly with the plot of OW is Leopard by Jack Stauber. For most of the other songs, I'll pick out certain lyrics to highlight/site my sources lol, but with this one I'd prefer not to because all of the lyrics are The Lyrics. Every time we change, it's a game, okay? Cool.

Characters

🥩Iggy: Devil Town- Bright Eyes (x)

All my friends were vampires Didn't know they were vampires Turns out I was a vampire myself

🚬Genzou: Getchoo- Weezer (x)

I can't believe What you've done to me What I did to them You've done to me

🍷Orlam: I made an entire Orlam playlist, but don't worry. I always have more. Today I'm assigning him,

Shake The Disease- Depeche Mode (x)

You know how hard it is for me to shake the disease That takes hold of my tongue in situations like these Understand me

��️Gidget: Touch Up- Mother Mother (x)

I forget that I can remember when I was young climbing up fences Scraping my knees, dirt on my cheeks Not one makeover queen bone in me

🔪Cecil: Genie In A Bottle- Billy Cobb (x)

I have no tangible explanation for this one. You'll either get it or you won't and that's okay. 👍🏻

No songs for Bucks or Hunar yet because I need to know more about them first. I've heard the finale is pretty Bucks-centric, so I can't wait 2 play!

My fave ships

💙💚 Iggy/Genzou: Run-Around- Blues Traveler (x)

But I want more than a touch, I want you to reach me And show me all the things no one else can see So what you feel becomes mine as well And soon if we're lucky we'd be unable to tell What's yours and mine, the fishing's fine And it doesn't have to rhyme, so don't you feed me a line!

💙🧡 Iggy/Orlam: Funky- Royal Treatment Plant (x)

I should be over this No time for playing games with little wicked boys

💙💔💜 Iggy/Gidget: COWARD 2 COWARD- Ada Rook (x)

I will become whatever you think of me I will be nothingness or disgusting dreams Idol or target, anything in between Falling forever, witnessed by nobody

🧡🖤 Orlam/Cecil: Somethin' Stupid- Lola Marsh (x)

I know I stand in line until you think you have the time To spend an evening with me And if we go some place to dance, I know that there's a chance You won't be leaving with me Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place And have a drink or two And then I go and spoil it all By saying somethin' stupid like, "I love you"

🧡💜 Orlam/Gidget: Pure Morning- Placebo (x)

A friend in need's a friend indeed A friend who'll tease is better Our thoughts compressed, which makes us blessed And makes for stormy weather

💜🖤 Gidget/Cecil: Guy.exe- Superfruit (x)

In lieu of cherry-picking specific lyrics I just want 2 say that the AMV in my mind is exquisite. In pursuit of the Guy (with help from Cecil), Gidget becomes the Guy. Do u understand.

💜🖤🧡 Gidget/Cecil/Orlam: Sideways- Carly Rae Jepsen (x)

Everything's goin' my way And I like to get my way Even when things go sideways Rainin' on my parade I get all my confidence from you

Lovecats- The Cure (x)

We should have each other to tea, We should have each other with cream Then curl up in the fire and sleep for a while It's the grooviest thing, it's the perfect dream

(They get two songs because...I said so. ❤️)

💔⚰️ Orlam/Genzou: Suedehead- Morrissey (x)

You had to sneak into my room Just to read my diary It was just to see, just to see All the things you knew I'd written about you

And that's the end! If u want to share your favorite ships or songs you associate with anybody, I'd love to hear them too!

[azaleassence]

𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 ✓

❁ ― ship: shoto t. x reader

❁ ― warnings: death

❁ ― mha masterlist. main masterlist

❁ ― inspired by this tiktok video

There's a Roman god of love, desire and attraction, it's name is Cupid.

For some, they tend to believe that Cupid is the reason why someone falls in love.

Cupid shoots two people with their arrows, making them fall in love, it's like playing a game of matchmaker.

But sometimes, Cupid runs out of arrows so they shoot one person instead of two;

That person just so happens to be you.

Ever since you were introduced to him, you fell in love almost instantly, like Cupid was following you around; waiting for you to find your match.

It surely was just a small crush you developed as a kid, it would most certainly be gone by the time you're older, right?

No. No it wasn't.

When you both finished middle school, you asked his sister on what highschool he'll go to.

When you learned that he was going to one of the most prestigious highschool in Japan, you almost lost your hope in attending, but for him; you were willing to do anything.

Day after day after day, you trained and trained continuously, always coming home tired.

But it all paid off when you received the welcoming letter by UA, you were happy that you got in, but you were so joyous when you learned that you both will be in the same class.

The first half of your first year was chaotic, a student got kidnapped, you encountered almost over 50 villains, and you faced at least 2 almost-death experiences.

During that half of the school year, you tried so deparately hard to become closer to Shoto, but after time, you didn't make much progress.

But your new classmates did.

They became incredibly close to Shoto in a span of 5 months while busted your ass to become close to him for the 10 whole years.

But you continued to persevere, you didn't want to give up so easily.

But time has a funny way of being moody.

You laid on the ground, bloody and wounded. If you were to see yourself-- you wouldn't be able to recognize your own self.

You were crushed in debris, how did you get there?

At the fight with Tomura Shigaraki, everybody gave their all to become support and help to the pro heroes, you did your best as well, but it wasn't enough.

You couldn't scream for help, you couldn't use your quirk, all you could do was lay there, hoping and waiting for someone to find you.

And eventually someone did.

Shoto.

When he found you, you were already struggling to keep your eyes open, the sight in front of him almost terrified him; why?

With the help of your other classmates, you were brought out of the debris and to the open. Shoto was carrying you so delicately, afraid that if there would be any pressure applied to your body; you'd break.

All your other classmates had run off, looking for the nearest medic while Shoto was left with you.

"Hey, keep your eyes open-- don't close them."

You nodded, feeling happy that his face might be the last one you'll see, but at least it was his'.

"You should go, Shoto." Your voice was raspy and it almost hurts whenever you speak, but you didn't mind as long as you talked to him, right?

Shoto looked at you as if you were crazy, he was certain that he won't leave you there alone.

"No, I'll stay here until the medics arrive." He assures you.

Your heart warms as you smiled up at him.

"I'm so proud of you, you know that?"

He stared at you, confused to what was your point.

"Before, you used to push everyone away when they got too close to you; now, you have so many friends." You continued. "So it wouldn't matter if I go now, wouldn't it?"

His eyes almost widened in disbelief, are you actually--

"I don't have enough time, Shoto. No matter how many times the medics try to heal me; it won't be enough." You told him, Shoto felt this stinging pain in his eyes, was he... crying?

Your eyes softened as you saw his eyes watering.

"Don't cry, I don't want to go with you crying as my last memory." You smiled, trying to keep yourself from crying as well. "I'm glad you got to find friends to comfort and be with you during your happiest times, and I'm grateful to be your friend as well."

He wiped his teary eyes with his shoulder to keep holding to you.

"But for me, you weren't just a friend." You statement caught him off-- no, this couldn't be happening now. "You're someone I look up to, someone I admire, and someone I wish I confessed to sooner."

His arms trembled, it was happening, and it was happening now.

"I love you Shoto and I'm thankful that you came into my life, because with you: I experienced the most happiest moments in life--"

"No, no, stop it. Don't say those words, the medics are coming and they'll save you, I know they will!" He shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks.

You reached up your hand to his cheeks and wiped his tears, smiling as you felt yourself getting teary-eyed as well.

"I love you, Shoto." You say with your last breath as your hand falls to the side of your body, Shoto sucked in a quick breath, his arms were trembling as he brought your body closer to him, giving you the sweetest hug, wishing that he would've done that a long time ago.

When your classmates came back with the medics, they halted their footsteps, seeing Shoto hugging your lifeless body, they knew that they were too late.

"I love you too..." Shoto mumbled so that only the two of you could hear it.

All left to wonder was, why did it took so long for Cupid to find you again and finally shoot their other arrow to your match when your arrow had already broke.

[batsplat]

a silly one: top 5 or 10 naruto ships or dynamics whatever you prefer

ooh excellent ask. it's actually quite tough to make a selection! I do enjoy a lot of canon dynamics that I wouldn't like... necessarily seek out in fandom, but then the stuff I interact with in fandom, what I read fic for and so on, is SO broad and so eclectic that it becomes a struggle to narrow it down. I think I've skewed more towards canon dynamics/relationships I enjoy... there's no fandom I read as broadly for as naruto, including a lot of gen fic - and a lot of it is very team-based stuff, which I'm mostly going to leave out. also, proper niche things that exist only in my head like 'the rin/konan manifesto'. anyway. here goes

10. gaara x naruto: gaara was a top three character of mine when I was a kid (along with temari and itachi). he's very appealing to the edgelord seven year old and I did have his sand gourd as a bag, plus his arc was one of my favourite bits of the manga. his powers are cool as shit, that bit in the forest where he brutally murders the other team and temari goes 'bye bye' is excellent - and then of course there's his main character beat: how naruto can relate to him due to the monster trapped inside. naruto is very big on establishing parallels between its main characters and the various villains, which is all very shounen-y and kinda cliche but, well, it's fun. gaara is still the best execution of that trope, partly because he comes early enough that the central theme of 'isn't it lucky that naruto had friends!!!!' hasn't been done to death. the visual of naruto gradually being surrounded by loved ones while gaara stays alone does work... gaara was just a good character, genuinely creepy and functioning as this primal, unthinking evil, that is gradually revealed to be tragic and alone. the execution of the arc isn't perfect and naruto's power of love bit is already pushing it here, but the whole thing is more or less dramatically satisfying. now, as is so often the case, the whole thing does fall apart after this... gaara just becomes a complete non-entity where we have to assume he does all his character development off-screen, but when he comes back he's basically completely reformed and non-bloodthirsty. now, the problem with having a character whose only character trait is being bloodthirsty, you kinda need to be careful when you're taking away their one thing. don't accidentally make them boring! (it also doesn't canonically really fly to me - gaara isn't insane when we meet him because he has an attitude problem, he's insane because he literally cannot fall asleep and has a deranged monster whispering into his thoughts 24/7. like the attitude shift is a good start, but surely it'll take a bit more work than that.) the inclusion of this relationship on this list really is just about that initial arc and the promise therein, how well they bounced off each other to start with... (you'll find this is a bit of a running theme on this list actually.) I don't really ship them, don't really ship gaara with anyone except maybe rock lee and as far as I'm concerned it's naruto/sasuke 4 lyfe, but y'know. they're good foils. wish gaara had been struggling a little more with the 'not murdering people' thing when they next met. they could've been friends but in an interesting way idk

9. shikamaru/temari: to some extent I do feel like I've aged out of enjoying this relationship in its canon form. I loved it as a kid, in large part because temari was the one token strong woman and it actually felt like this relationship was being conducted on like... even footing. growing up, I have gone off shikamaru in the sense that... well, idk, I think he can be written well and there's plenty of good elements to the character, it's just that he is also a specific flavour of wish fulfilment that threatens to appeal to some of the most annoying types of guy imaginable. it doesn't help that temari slips into irrelevance from shippuden onwards and eventually really is just shikamaru's wife, which. awful! still, they did have strong banter. there's a world in which shikamaru is actually forced to grow up and mature a little more, rather than being treated by the narrative as the super smart moral authority badass cool guy who is right all the time. what I really want from this dynamic is the politics of it all... when we're introduced to these characters, we have these two strategists who are already embroiled in sensitive political situations. while shikamaru mostly still gets to be a kid and is only loosely aware of his father's work, temari is playing a central role in attempting a coup of another village. shikamaru's father is jounin commander and clan leader of one of konoha's more influential clans, roles he is expected to inherit - but he balks at the responsibility and kind of wants everyone to leave him alone. temari's father is the kazekage, her brother is the jinchuriki who she's terrified will murder her every time he loses his temper... she's outwardly far more accepting of her duties, but you can't imagine that's an easy situation, right. there's a lot about their lives that feel very prescribed, from the supportive role they play to the jinchuriki to the lineage-based teams they were assigned to. idk, I feel like the basic potential of a romance between the pair of them is that it gives them the opportunity to... go against all that, to actually make their own choice for once because they've fallen in love with a smart arsehole. I'm also kinda interested in the logistics of inter-village romance, because you have to assume that's not been a common thing but it's barely commented on once it starts cropping up within naruto's generation. especially when it's two figures of shikamaru and temari's stature! I just want a bunch of fun political dramas between these two that aren't painfully heteronormative and lets temari level a forest or two, is that too much to ask for

8. sasori/deidara: look, I could have included any number of akatsuki combinations here. I think they're all fantastic, I enjoy them in canon, I have read a lot of fic for them. I think I read more itachi/deidara fic than sasori/deidara, but that's also just kinda dependent on where the fandom has gone with these characters. this is the gold standard akatsuki teammate pairing: memorable, charming, bonkers. like, they're artists, but they have this fundamental philosophical divide because one is in love with things being temporary and the other with things being eternal... which is expressed by having one blow everything up and the other making himself into a puppet to live forever... that's cinema right there. this dynamic immediately bangs in canon because they just have such easy antagonistic chemistry. they really are both the type of guy who would drive you absolutely insane with their stupid fucking art debates. they're just such vivid characters with such distinctive voices and worldviews... you kinda want to play around with them, right, like they're just fun!! I love them!! obviously also great for au's, like they are annoying grad students they just are... idk I luv them, both platonically and as a ship. how do they work out romantically.... well, probably they don't, unless in a heavily au scenario. they're also kinda on the opposite ends of the... idk what to call it, libido spectrum shall we say, where deidara has got this whole tongue situation and sasori is frozen in this arrested, sterile youth. you kinda need to get weird and freaky with these characters, right, and try to figure out how they would navigate their respective situations. but see, isn't that something that just gets the imagination going! one's a small waif puppet lurking inside a big hulking puppet, the other's got tongues in his hands, doesn't that just stimulate the creative mind. if sasori fell in love with deidara, he would want to make him into a puppet... limitless potential

7. sasuke x itachi: now, listen, this one's a bit of a mess. both of their characterisations become increasingly messy as the series goes on, which given how much of their characters are about each other becomes a kind of downward spiral into incoherency. I'm still not entirely sure what the series' moral stance on itachi's actions is supposed to be - which, look, I'm not saying you need to have a moral stance on everything, but you should try to have SOME kind of coherent framing of the whole ordeal that goes beyond 'wow, that sure sucked for everyone involved'. all this means you can kinda go one of two ways with this dynamic: either you ignore the shippuden twist, or you don't ignore it and let itachi have his 'reasonable motivations' for the uchiha massacre. I do tend to accept this twist... it does give a good explanation for why itachi left sasuke alive beyond 'he wanted to steal his eyes'. my stance on the whole thing is that itachi's heart might generally be in the right place, but he made a truly awful choice and the narrative will never be able to convince me otherwise. if you go from there, you do have a very compelling set-up for that sibling relationship. sasuke is the only person in the world who itachi loves unconditionally; he's protective of his baby brother in a way he simply will never be of anyone else. whereas sasuke has always been defined by itachi, first existing entirely in his shadow and then dedicating his entire life to killing him... itachi is devoted to sasuke and sasuke cannot escape itachi. that's good stuff! classic older sibling/younger sibling dynamic... it's just a dynamic that's so foundational to both of them that even in fics that aren't about that relationship specifically, it's basically unavoidably THERE. the canon is a mess, but the emotional truths that underlie it work

6. minato/kushina: from a storytelling standpoint, I hate naruto being minato's son. naruto's parentage reveal kills his underdog credentials dead in the water and it's very... well he was always gonna be an ultra special boy, wasn't he. like it does kinda destroy the character. unfortunately, I can't ignore his parentage because I do simply love them. yes, this is another relationship that suffers from that thing where all the writing of women is kinda awful. I don't mind their meet cute being kushina's damsel in distress moment when she's being kidnapped - but given how little screen time they have, kushina's badass status ends up being very much an informed trait. let's just take it as read that every woman in this series is done dirty. in any case, the appeal of minato is that he is fundamentally a wife guy. he is kushina's number one fan and wants to live his life being kushina's number one fan. he's also not from a super powerful clan, which I really like; he ends up embodying the democratic ideal that naruto was supposed to. he's also really big on the whole 'gentle smile, kills so so many people' thing, which is always fun imo. kushina gets introduced as this feral naruto-esque girl - and with that sort of thing there's always a massive danger of the girl being like... feminised beyond recognition and concurrently being reduced to housewife status. now there is a little bit of that with kushina, but in my head there really doesn't have to be. in a way, they're really too bland and boring for me to love them as much as I do... they're sweet, though, and I adore team minato. plus, I'm always a sucker for a tragic heterosexual arc

5. hashirama/madara: these two were in love with each other. obviously they were. there's three separate ships on this list that basically function as 'tragic backstories'; this series has a lot of strong tragic backstories. perhaps that's partly because those stories are already for the most part 'finished' by the time they are narrated to the audience, which means we're generally spared any of what this series considers character development. I'm pretty sure I've already posted on this blog before about my dislike for the entire uchiha curse situation and there's definitely quite a lot of annoying things about madara's character too, but luckily most of them don't impact the backstory too much. I love how sweet and innocent they are when they meet, how they're just immediately enamoured with each other, how fate and circumstance conspires to turn them against each other, how they eventually flip the script and irrevocably change the world with their idealism... I just love the kind of rivalry that produces a pair of giant gay ass statues guarding a waterfall. now, as stated above, I don't like the idea that madara ends up fucking it because there's something cursed about his blood. this kind of determinism manages to be both boring and kinda troubling if you think about the implications for more than two seconds. it also sets up naruto and sasuke breaking the cycle, without any indication of why those two specifically manage to break it - sasuke is fundamentally not in a place where he would be closer to breaking it than mr teenage political revolutionary madara. sasuke was accidentally radicalised, my man madara was already there from day one! this story works the best imo if you've got two fundamentally well-intentioned idealistic blokes who have also been traumatised by war and have never entirely been able to let go of the war in their minds... just gradually letting the peace they built slip away. fewer bloodline curses, more generational trauma. I understand bloodline curses can be metaphors for generational trauma, but it's really not here. it just doesn't work. I don't really read a lot for this ship because it's one of those where I have a very specific idea of how I think this dynamic works and the fic out there I've read doesn't quite meet me where I am. but I do love the backstory, do love the dynamic, do love the vibes. plus, cool power match-up

4. sand siblings: my kids!! they show up to konoha, they bully a bunch of the homegrown brats, then they start murdering children in the forest. love a good sibling dynamic and this one has such a fun and unique flavour... beleaguered eldest child temari, snarky and mean and confident but also way out of her league, annoying middle child kankuro who plays at being cocky while also having to reckon with his fundamental lack of power, and lonely youngest child gaara, who initially barely seems to see the other two as siblings at all. obviously, the real meat of this dynamic is that temari and kankuro are absolutely terrified of gaara, who despite his age functions as the de facto leader of their team. it feels quite rare in-universe to have teams that consist of siblings, with a bit of separation between the hierarchical military command structure and actual blood family that actually feels like quite a good idea. suna clearly don't believe in that shit and instead have decided to force these three into what just feels like a horrendous situation for everyone... it's essentially an extension of their childhood household - where temari and kankuro were taught to treat gaara with mistrust and contempt before eventually learning to fear him, while gaara is given little reason to expect any kind of familial affection from his older brother and sister. good and gritty abusive family dynamic... obviously none of these three kids are really to blame with how fucked up that relationship has become, but also all three have understandable reasons to be wary. their early canon dynamic is so interesting, where they're like... kinda comfortable around each other, are mostly quite distanced and professional when interacting amongst themselves and let more of their personalities show to outsiders than each other... kankuro and temari forming a little bit of a united front in containing gaara, but mostly they're just united in their fear of their baby brother... it's compelling! I am compelled! now, I've already given the sparknotes of my issues with gaara and temari's later development and the same broadly holds true of kankuro, plus their relationship in general. they just basically all seem quite fine with each other after naruto's done his talk no jutsu thing. the whole 'gaara becoming kazekage' thing was always a bit weird to me... even in the military dictatorship universe, gaara does not have the prerequisites for that to be a good idea in the slightest. if anything, it does kinda feel like temari should have gotten that job - and I'm not too fussed with her getting it, I actually like her mirroring shikamaru in taking more of a supportive role that allows her to have a little more freedom, but maybe kankuro...? idk, I know it's supposed to be meaningful and emotional because, oh, look at how they've accepted the jinchuriki, but this is the bit of the magic ninja manga that just completely breaks my suspension of disbelief. just ends up falling kinda flat to me. it also ended up unnecessarily preempting naruto's whole thing? weird weird choice, still don't like it, basically I like nothing about the sand siblings writing from shippuden onwards. do love them, though! long live dysfunctional siblings

3. naruto/sasuke: the thing about this pairing is that, look, they are basically canon. naruto is extremely down bad for sasuke and in turn he seems to be the only person sasuke still somewhat gives a shit about. that man certainly doesn't give a shit about sakura... I have read and enjoyed ot3 fic for team 7, I don't inherently think sakura/sasuke is an awful ship or anything, but the way canon does it is just. well. no. anyhow, it's kind of hard to give a concise summary on my take for this pairing in a way I've been doing for the other items of this list, because doing so would basically amount to 'summarise the plot of naruto'. it's the central dynamic of the entire series... their conflict, the different paths they end up taking, whether they can find their way back to each other or not. I've already complained about the actual execution of this arc before, but man are they conceptually compelling. it's sasuke throwing himself in front of haku's needles to save naruto, it's naruto throwing himself in front of a massive snake to save sasuke, it's them taunting and challenging each other throughout those early arcs... the rooftop fight as a furious, terrified sasuke tries to understand how he could have allowed naruto to catch him... the valley of the end, when naruto reaches out and points out all the similarities between them - and sasuke rebuffs him, telling naruto he understands nothing of loss... again, the whack morality of this series does limit the effectiveness of the storytelling because, not to get all edgelord 'sasuke was right' here, but low key... sasuke was right much of the time. he also never actually sunk low enough... the series' stance is that his dedication to his quest of vengeance was basically fine, but the issue was that he didn't go about it with the power of friendship. which, sure, but... idk man. the series kinda lost me when it tried to portray the uchiha massacre as some sort of noble deed. it really lost me with all the curse of hatred stuff. the series never sold me on why these two specifically manage to break the cycle, which is kinda impressive given how much naruto goes on about sasuke over the course of the series. but mooning over an uchiha boy is not enough! this list features multiple instances of a character mooning over an uchiha boy. where I'm at with this pairing is that I passively enjoy it when I'm actually engaging with the source material, don't necessarily seek out fic for them even though obviously it's just... there in a lot of stuff, but do very much conceptually enjoy them. I think it's cool that naruto's gay love changed the ninja world. that's very valid of him

2. kakashi/obito: the impact that finding out kakashi's backstory had on eight year old me needs to be studied. it was one of my absolute absolute favourite bits of the manga to read, just like half a volume that tells this little tragedy of team minato where you have so much of the story still missing but it's sad and horrible because it's kakashi!!! the immediate intrigue of having this naruto-esque uchiha who wasn't in the usual mould of prodigy, but instead only tapped into his potential at the moment of his tragic death. the way he changed kakashi's entire outlook on life!! he saved kakashi multiple times over in his moment of 'death'... idk it just tells you so much about kakashi so quickly and it does all feel like a logical explanation for why the character is Like That, so congrats there. and then, the reveal - well, I was always going to be up for that. tobi is just an inherently funny character, just continuously makes you go 'what is your deal' and 'why are you like this'. he's so whack that he really lends himself to just like... being kinda obsessed with kakashi, stalking him around and all that. really solidifies how basically the only bits of shippuden worth engaging with are the super akatsuki-focused ones. and then the reveal!! the tragedy of it all!! look, I'm always going to raise an eyebrow on a ship that relies on the death of a woman for the emotional whump, and I change my mind a lot about how to tackle the rin problem (I do love her, but mainly just the version of her that exists in my head - canon does not give us A Lot) (and in general I am very up for team minato content). all that being said.... I'm gonna be real, I love that backstory too. I don't think it's executed all that well, obito's emotional arc is a bit of a mess, but the twelve year old boy in my heart finds the scene where obito comes across rin being killed by kakashi and murders everyone there minus kakashi so extremely sick. and the fight between kakashi and obito is clearly the best thing that happens in that entire endless bloody ninja war. doubles down on the pathos with the sad music and all that shit, and it actually kinda works for me. I think kakashi should get to redeem his childhood rival turned deranged enemy and live happily ever after with him, as a treat

1. sakura/ino: in many ways not really the type of dynamic I usually go for, given the animosity between them is... y'know, not that serious and also a bit of a non-issue post time skip. like with many things in this world, I have this version of the story that exists in my head where their rivalry remains like... a major part of the story throughout. anyway they mean the world to me... this imbalance between them, ino with the clan heritage and the popular cool girl vibes protecting the shy little common brat with the big forehead... I like that they had a stupid argument over a boy and made it into this insane competition about who will be the best ninja. I like their chunin exam fight!! in-universe it's kinda mid-on-mid girl-on-girl, but in the version of this series that exists in my head and allows the women to actually be equally powerful to the blokes... idk isn't there something insanely romantic about them matching each other perfectly, about their mental tussle, how sakura overcomes the combat advantage ino holds due to her upper class status through sakura's sheer force of will/derangement... basically I think they should get to challenge each other and maybe also attempt to kill each other? my ideal sakura arc is one that really leans into her normie status and gives her some girl power wish fulfilment in spite of it. you can have her fully rebel against the status quo and have her sympathise with sasuke, you can have her go the tobirama-esque hardliner route, the prejudiced genius who will do anything to defend her village and reform it in line with her standards, or you can have her go the more academic route where she does a bunch of weird medical experiments idk. (the three genders: madara, tobirama, or orochimaru.) or, well, that's how EYE saw her development going - I just think there's space for something a lot more substantive than 'what if tsunade, but without all the genetic advantages and political power'. idk! with ino, my god... she's already linked to the interrogation department... they made her the obligatory girl medic when she should be working with the torture people... to me conceptually ino should always end up working in opposition to sakura whatever route you want to send her down. and you need to include as much mind fuckery as possible, because it's fundamentally fun and valid to have a ship where your two characters can do deranged things to each other in their brains. anyway, look, obviously all of this is straying pretty far away from the canon dynamic. sakura has that female main character thing of not being particularly well characterised and easy to project onto, which means you can kinda do whatever with her - and obviously I have now kinda been doing whatever with her for many years. I do think they're neat. I stand by them being neat

[ryansjane]

i LOVE your post about your favorite thai actresses, can you do one with your favorite actors?

I sure can! I also have a full video ranking every thai actor I know, though my mind has evolved a bit since then for sure :)

MY FAVORITE THAI ACTORS

off jumpol: I mean I'll try to stay brief bc everyone knows how much I adore off, but for me he's truly the one actor who has it all: he can act great, he's beautiful, has literally the best personality out of any actor, has a great fashion sense, can sing well, is hilarious af, an amazing leader & mc, a great friend & phi to literally everyone around him... like HOW can you not love him? I've been his fan for 3 years now and literally fall in love with him more every day <3

mond tanutchai: speaking of love, here's another actor I'm literally in love with <3 so mond is objectively one of the most beautiful men on this earth, and on top of that he's an amazing actor, is very charismatic, and has the cutest personality! I just hate how underrated he is bc he deserves to be a leading man in every series, and I hope he can get to that very soon bc he only deserves the best of the best :)

tay tawan: so "everybody loves tay" is a popular saying in the fandom for a reason. I usually think actors who are loved by everyone are overrated, but for tay it's 100000% warranted. even though he's not the greatest actor (he's a good actor don't get me wrong!), he has the best personality (infp's unite) and is just... happiness in a human being :) he's also an amazing presenter and extremely genuine & passionate about everything he ever talks about. he transpires honesty & I would trust him with my life <3

drake laedeke: so on top of being very incredibly handsome, I feel like drake really has one of the best personalities out there in the fact that he's not afraid of being silly or "too much." a pattern you'll find in every actor I love is their genuine-ness, and drake definitely has that! he's extremely hyper & fun and while he still has some work to put in acting-wise, he's getting better every year and I'm very excited to see where he goes <3

first kanaphan: so I always brag that I've liked first since his first role, but it's true! I've always felt like he had so much potential, especially when I saw him alongside off in wolf, or drake in blacklist. but ngl since his first role in wake up chanee that was great, I felt like he was delegated to mediocre & okay series where, even though he did shine, he didn't get to show his full potential either. then not me happened, and like everyone in that show, he fucking SLAYED and bodied yok in a way literally no one else could have, and now he's also killing it in the eclipse so I'm literally standing here like a proud mom like "FINALLY! my son gets some good material!" so yeah, I love first & his talent, as well as his silly & loving personality. he's just... pure good vibes <3

earth pirapat: so even though I'm not a super fan of where earth's career is going, very much caged into his ship, I've loved him for a very long time. he's literally the only actor I've seen every role of (even his singaporean show), and he's had my attention since his first role in water boyy, but stole my heart as un in theory of love who's part of what was my main favorite ship, untwo, for years. that love truly culminated in 1000 stars, where he finally got a main role that made him shine like he deserves to! so yeah, I will always support earth, bc he's an amazing actor, genuinely one of the most beautiful men on earth & truly such a sweetie <3 all good vibes towards him!

joss wayar: to complete the hottie trinity (with mond & earth), we of course have joss! so the dude is literally the most beautiful man on this earth & it's kinda rude... but I also really appreciate the fact that he's chosen a variety of roles including a bi poly icon like neo in 3 will be free. I also think he definitely has the potential to become THE male lead of thai series if he works a bit more on his acting, especially in emotional scenes, and while I don't really love the "hustle culture" part of his personality, I still love his response to someone asking him if he was gay back in 2019 that showed how open-minded he is. I'm very excited to see where his career goes :)

gun atthaphan: so what is there to say about gun that hasn't already been said? an obvious INSANE talent for acting, an incredible fashion sense & the cutest personality... it's no coincidence why gun is so beloved. I have nothing but great things to say about him, and while his personality is very private so I wish I knew more about him, I will always support him in every endeavor & wish him the best <3

fluke gawin: a recent addition to my faves’ list, gawin has always been on my radar since his first role as mork in dark blue kiss. while he hasn't had that many roles, he's stolen the show in pretty much all of them! mork was already my favorite part of dbk, I rooted for his character in girl next room over the male lead and he was adorable in enchanté... but of course it's his role in not me that truly sealed the deal for me, managing a super complex character with many emotional scenes & truly showing me that besides a beautiful man who can sing insanely well, there truly is an amazing actor. I'm extremely excited to see where fluke goes next, even though y'all know I'm not a fan of him starring in be my favorite, bc I truly know he has many great things ahead of him. very, very excited for what's to come <3

non chanon: so it's funny bc non has been on my radar for a while, through his roles in bad genius the movie & project s: shoot! I love you, but I always found his roles incredibly bland & boring. then, this past year happened: he gave a twist to the boring male lead trope in 46 days, played one of the most interesting complex roles ever in one of my all-time favorite thai dramas the revenge, and once again a layered messed up rapper in wannabe... and now he's gonna be in the first historical thai bl too! so to say my opinion of him has changed would be an understatement bc he's not only a really, really, REALLY solid actor & absolutely gorgeous, but he also seems like a lovely person who loves pushing himself into new interesting roles. I'm very excited to see his future roles, especially as he seems to want to work with gmmtv more, and I'm really glad to have changed my mind about him <3

other actors I love: white nawat, jaylerr krisanapoom, arm weerayut, mek jirakit, khaotung thanawat, gunsmile chanagun, billkin putthipong & toni rakkaen <3

xxx

[erindrawsstuff]

Hello!

I wanted to ask if you had any comic recommendations! I’ve noticed that our tastes are very similar, haha

here’s one from me!

go check out My Superhero! by Jessie Paige Dawson

Oh I've been WAITING for this one--

A lot of the comics I read are less self-indulgent/wish-fulfillment/slice of life/romance and more "make me ponder about the thing I am reading on an obsessive level" and "I want this story to rewrite my life and make me question everything". However if I'm needing a mental break I will enjoy a good comfort comic!

WARNING BEFOREHAND: Some of the listed comics may include themes like slight body horror, suicide/self-harm, abuse, depression, etc. There are pre-existing warnings on most of these comics but like all media please proceed with caution and take care of yourselves!

On WEBTOON:

Space Boy by Stephen McCranie (currently on hiatus)

Do you love space? Do you enjoy colorful comics with intriguing casts of characters with a dash of existentialism and the complexities of life and what it means to be human? Then you'll definitely want to read this one. Also, it baffles me that Stephen has essentially improvised the majority of this story--it's incredibly cohesive and very well-written.

Nevermore by Kate Flynn and Kit Trace (updates regularly on Fridays)

This is the definition of disaster lesbians--toxic yuri, even, but that's why I love it! Very fun concept of limbo as a gothic academic setting where everyone is out to get everyone for a second chance at life. The main love interests have a recently-divorced vibe that is so messy and I eat it up every time they interact with each other. The supporting cast is also very fleshed-out and dynamic and play very well off of each other to make for interesting scenarios.

Suitor Armor by Purpah (updates on Fridays)

A comic that questions what it means to be human/have a soul and the complexities of life and the moral ambiguity! I feel like there's a pattern here... anyway, I really enjoy the world-building in this one and while I'm not usually a fan of plot-twists for shock value, Purpah does them VERY WELL and I was indeed very shocked and surprised several times.

Castle Swimmer by Wendy Lian Martin (currently on hiatus)

I do love my gay fish boys. Castle Swimmer is one of those comics I could picture as an animated series and if that happens I want to be on that animation team so bad (Wendy I'm on my hands and knees). The world building is immaculate and feels so vast that every time a new setting is discovered it feels like the world map is being filled out as you go. Main characters defy predestined-fates after falling in love with each other and I'm a sucker for that trope. Gender-fuckery and many representations of sexuality is also a normal occurrence so that's very refreshing. AND Wendy incorporates a lot of facts/biology/conservation awareness for marine life into the story and after episodes and I love that very much.

On Hiveworks:

Novae by KaiJu (Jen and Kate) (updates on Mondays and Thursdays)

Historical fiction with romance, more gender-fuckery, magic systems and astronomy (more space!! I love space!!). I eat up all the cultural references and have learned more from this comic than most of my history classes. Beautiful, beautiful art style and overall very well-written. Cant' wait to get my heart broken over the next few chapters (something just happened but you'll have to read it for yourself).

Tiger, Tiger by Petra Norlund (currently on hiatus)

My friend recommended this to me with the general pitch of "noblewoman cross-dresses as her twin brother to escape the responsibilities of high society and study sea sponges aboard the stolen ship of said-brother" and let me tell you I wish I read it sooner. I need to re-read it at some point but from what I can recall there's also a lot of queer pining and will-they-won't-they but also we can't worry about that right now because world-ending things are happening and one of the world-ending things is very hot and cool.

Barbarous by Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota (currently on hiatus)

I recently discovered this comic but I devoured it within hours; not only is the magic portrayed in such an interesting way (literally weaving magic/needing physical conduits to cast spells) despite being in a modern setting. Percy/Chiaki hits home being down on her luck and how her desperation to be perfect and powerful has made her do questionable things and I love that for her. All the characters are messy in their own way and it really breathes life into what could be considered a slice-of-life.

Namesake by Megan Lavey-Heaton and Isabelle Melançon (I'm actually unsure if there's a consistent update schedule?)

Man how do I even begin to explain Namesake?? I can't, that's why you should read it for yourself. Get ready to take notes because it is so dense with magical systems, character and setting history that I felt like I was studying but it's fun studying. This is also one I've followed for yeeearrrs and it's just gotten better with time.

Countdown to Countdown by Velinxi/Xiao Tong Kong (updates on Wednesdays)

This is actually a re-release of Xiao's previous comic by the same name; it had a similar format to Ava's Demon with painterly single panels (you can still read the original here), and now it's a paginated-format with a very fleshed-out story and world (and the art style slightly simplified but still gorgeous). I love the changes Xiao was able to make because it really helps the story and characters shine compared to the earlier version. I'm pretty sure that she had likened it to Tangled such as: generational trauma, escaping a tower, MC discovering the world while love interest grows to love their passion and joy despite struggling in said-world and they are both boys and they are kissing (I added that last bit it has been the slowest slow burn of my life).

Daughter of the Lilies by Meg Syv (currently on hiatus)

High fantasy/Dungeons and Dragons setting with incomprehensible beings and a girl without a face that just wants to be accepted by the family she has found within her adventuring party. I adore the character interactions and I don't want to say too much about the world because of very cool spoilers, but I really love this one.

STANDALONE COMICS:

Ava's Demon by Michelle Fus (updates fairly regularly now? but can have some hiatuses)

One of those OG webcomics I've been read since forever ago, but I still love it and am excited to see where the story goes. Sci-fi fantasy setting where most of the inhabited planets have been overruled by this one asshole who might be a god? Either way it follows Ava and a rag-tag group of friends/enemies/frenemies as they try to battle Titan's rule with demon pacts and untapped, unknown powers. I haven't re-read it in a very long time but I do remember enjoying the story and characters and the art style is absolutely gorgeous.

Lackadaisy by Tracy J. Butler

Oh my god please read this comic if you haven't already (or watch some of it as it's now an animated pilot on YouTube and has been recently funded for a full season!) I'm a complete sucker for 1920s/1930s prohibition stories and the underground businesses of rumrunners, not to mention the added bonus that they're all cats! The art style is gorgeous both in the earlier chapters and the later chapters, and the writing is so incredibly well-constructed and intricate that my baby brain could hardly keep up when I first started readying back in uhhhh 2010/2012?). It has a wackiness and charisma that Tracy has only honed since first starting and I can't recommend it enough.

The Meek and Mare Internum by Der-shing Helmer (The Meek is on indefinite hiatus, and Mare Internum is completed)

I honestly don't know if The Meek will ever be finished? Which is a bummer because I was hooked from the start. Granted I haven't revisited it in a long time so I can't recall a lot of details, but I remember it being wonderfully rich in world building and all of the characters were complex and shared interesting dynamics with each other. Fantasy setting with dangerous god-like beings playing sandbox with the politics and fates of the human world. There is also most definitely a green-haired girl in the story and she's really cool. Again, my memory is a tad fuzzy on this one so current opinion could be different from previous opinion.

Mare Internum is fully completed and is a sci-fi story that explored the dangers of an alien-inhabited Mars with a reluctant main lead. Proceed with caution as the very first page depicts an attempted hanging by the main character (there are warnings but it is the first page so it can take you a bit off-guard). I actually just realized as I was writing this that I never finished the story and that's very silly and goofy of me, but that just means we can experience it together haha.

Off-White by Jessi Derenthal, Anna Podedworna and Katarzyna Redesiuk (unfortunately discontinued, but who know what will happen in the future?)

I have to recommend the comic that indulged my wolf-girl era, it's only fair. But it's also because it's a beautifully painted comic and the team is so talented. I haven't caught up with them recently but I hope they're all doing well wherever they are. The setting is heavily inspired by Norse mythos, and the main characters flip between humans and wolves struggling to survive the spiritual collapse of the world as humans wipe out each respective spirit for total power. I remember being absolutely entranced by this comic and would get so excited every time it updated so my friend and I could read it. It's currently available on the Internet Archives and Wayback Machine, as the site was too expensive for the creators to sustain.

WOW I guess I was holding onto that for a while. Thank you so much for the ask! I can't promise I'll have the same energy for future asks but I really hyper-focused on this one since comics are one of my Special Interests. I also just started reading My Superhero!, so thank you for the recommendation!

[willel]

Since I've been getting a few asks about it btw, I wanted to make my position clear. I don't discuss relationships in the show a lot and you probably only see me speak negatively about some aspects so some clarification might help.

I'm not against the general idea of romance in shows.

When done right, I think a romantic subplot in a show or movie or game can be really good. It can tie together all the themes while not distracting from the main plot. Sometimes even when it's distracting from the main plot, it makes sense and is worthwhile and adds to the main plot.

If you've known my blog for a long time, you'll know I'm not exactly an avid tv show watcher. I still want to provide an example of what I mean though so I'll reference one of the manga I've been reading since I was a teenager.

It's called Skip Beat! I honestly don't know if it's considered popular or niche but I'll give you a general synopsis. The main character, Kyouko Mogami was a girl from the countryside who was basically a glorified maid for her childhood friend, Sho Fuwa. Due to her harsh family circumstances, she grew up in Sho's home and from what we know about their lives, she was being trained (groomed???) to be his future wife. She was fine with it because she loved him.

But Sho wanted to be a star, so against his parents wishes, he took Kyouko with him to the big city to make it big. Which he did and it gave him a bigger head than he already had. He tossed her aside in favor of his new life in a pretty cruel way.

Kyouko vowed vengeance upon him. She would become an even bigger star than him and run him out of town. She vowed to never fall in love again and closed herself off. I know I'm writing this as if it's a sob story, but when I say it's a vengeance plot I mean that literally.

From there, the plot revolves around how far she'll go just for her vengeance. But, as the plot moves along, you can start to see how her icy heart is melting for someone else and how much anguish that brings her. The main plot is about her becoming a star, but the part where she learns to love again (someone else mind you) is a crucial part in all that.

I would suggest you read it butttttt it's the slowest burn in the history of all histories so you might suffer just as much as I have.

I really appreciate how this story might have a big romantic sub plot but it ties in nicely with her goals of self improvement and wanting to be a star, moving on from all her pain and being happy.

When it comes to Stranger Things...... I just do NOT feel that way at all.

Skip Beat! has a love triangle. Honestly at this point, it's more like an octagon and yet it doesn't bother me. There is a lot of "Will they won't they" but it still doesn't bother me.

It may be that Skip Beat! just has a more interesting subplot so the little baby half baked romantic drama in Stranger Things is just boring for me?

Maybe it's that I feel like the romantic drama and tension in Skip Beat! is actually leading somewhere and leads to character development while the romantic drama in Stranger Things feels played up for audience reaction and fandom discourse?

Like sure, Skip Beat! has some fandom discourse but everyone is pretty much on the same page or can, for the most part, respectfully discuss their preferences. With Stranger Things, if you so much as comment on a ship in the wrong way you'll have a gaggle of people harassing you over fictional characters.

To summarize,

I think romantic stuff in tv shows and movies and all that can be really fun, interesting, heartbreaking, all the entertaining things one could want.

I, personally, feel none of that when romantic stuff is happening in Stranger Things. Maybe in the first and second season but beyond that...? For example, while I wouldn't exactly call myself a shipper, I am and was rooting for Jopper from the getgo. (I say that because I think a shipper would be much more invested in the pair. Like fanart, fanfiction, following dedicated blogs etc. I don't really do that)

If the show writers decided to reintroduce Lonnie into the plot and then acted like he had a legitimate chance to get back with Joyce because she starts wavering between Hopper and Lonnie.... do you really expect me to freakin' care? Am I really supposed to care about this love triangle introduced? You actually expect me to get invested in such lazy writing? I just cannot.

My interest in Jopper would probably be eradicated to be honest because they just wasted time with a love triangle instead of developing them as a couple. All that wasted time could've been spent developing the main plot which in turn would've given them more opportunities to write them a s couple working together, protecting each other, etc. You know, substance.

See what I mean? I just... cannot care about Stranger Things ships. It's great if you can though, there are so many reasons to watch a show. Maybe for you, love triangles are the bees knees and the best thing since sliced bread so you'd be eating up another triangle like nobody's business. But that's not me.

I would much rather they focus moving the plot forward, which would naturally create moments between the characters we all care about.

Fandom behavior factors into a bit of this as well of course. Kinda hard to care about or get invested in a relationship if all you see all day is people arguing about canon (which at the end of the day doesn't matter) while also doxxing and harassing each other. Not to mention taking the worst possible interpretation of characters possible just because you think they're in the way of your ship. Dunno how anyone can care about or enjoy a shipping fandom like that.

SO yeah. That's it. Romance is stuff is fine and all, but I just don't jive with how Stranger Things rolled out it's romance stuff so I prefer to think about other things.

[rappaccini]

tbh in my opinion the Biggest Issues with toh aren't actually that disney cancelled it before it could finish its story. even if the show had gotten a fuller run it still would've fumbled because the issues are endemic to the plot and were since the start.

specifically the show took too long to understand that it's not actually a fluffy slice-of-life story. it's plot-driven. in this regard it took the wrong lessons from its spiritual predecessor gravity falls. toh needed to introduce the plot and the main players much earlier and make consequences last if the sudden plot turn was going to have weight. not to mention make sure its character dynamics are prioritized by story importance and not fanservice yes this is about lumity aka wlw kataang happening instead of amillow/lunter, the ships that have far more relevance to plot and character development.

easiest ways to do that: introduce belos and hunter much earlier, give stakes to eda being a fugitive and luz being The First Human To Be Here In Hundreds of Years, and make amity and hunter one character to streamline the plot.

in this essay i will

so. season 1 au.

eda being a wanted fugitive has stakes:

they have to be sneaky when moving in public, possibly even disguised. getting chased by coven members. the owl house moves around constantly to keep them from detection. play it lightly/for laughs this season.

luz wants to go to witch school, but no one can know eda is her guardian. cue the golden comedic potential of them shoving king and hooty in a trenchcoat to pass them off as her parent.

luz wants to make friends, but she has to be evasive so no one can learn who she's living with. no taking friends to her house after school. no discussing her guardians.

they have to hide that luz is a human and pass her off as a powerless witch (... don't you think The First Human To Be Here In Hundreds Of Years would be a bigger deal??? especially to belos??? and even if belos wouldn't target her, eda has no way of knowing that.)

give her some like... fake pointy ears or something. a disguise she has to maintain that can be a source of comedy.

(+the dramatic irony of human-world luz being her authentic self and getting rejected for it, coming to the isles to not have to do that anymore, and doing nothing but lie about who she is)

in general, luz has to realize that running away to the isles to be automatically accepted wasn't feasible; the isles are just as flawed as the human world, there is no easy world where she instantly belongs, and even if being yourself might not make everyone like you, it's still worth it because the people you do bond with are the ones who'll love you most, and you'll have a much better relationship with yourself.

introduce belos MUCH earlier.

starting off with light fluffy episodic fun is good. it helps the viewer get to know the world and characters. but we have to get the ball rolling much faster. it's insane that the show's main antagonist has no physical presence onscreen before the end of season 1.

we need to meet belos himself before episode ten, even if it's just in a brief cameo. and in the latter half of the season, keep giving us glimpses of him, leading up to luz's first meeting with him in the finale.

introduce the coven leaders as early as covention-- an easy excuse for them to be there: meeting their future followers.

and only have as many covens as you can use in the plot. ten was too much. bring it down to five or six (off the top of my head: emperor, plant, illusionist, abomination, potions, bard. construction can be divided into plant and abomination, potions can absorb healing (or be the 'powerless witch' magic option), beastkeeping can be an occupation instead of a magic track, oracle never did anything so we can cut it).

introduce the golden guard halfway through season 1 as a semi-regular antagonist. those Everyone Knows About The Golden Guard bits of detail from season 2? move that shit up! give them a presence in the worldbuilding in the first half of s1 through references in dialogue and background details and introduce them formally in the second half, maybe even in the same ep as belos.

do not unmask the golden guard yet because--

[pause for an aside. read this if you haven't already: amity and hunter are essentially two versions of the same character.

have you read it? okay. now ask yourself: how do we keep from repeating ourselves? how do we keep amity from falling into stagnation? how do we avoid rushing through hunter's development? how do we enhance lumity's narrative importance and remove the risk of it being overshadowed whenever willow and hunter wander onscreen, while also diving deeper into luz and hunter's connection and following it through to its fullest narrative-relevant conclusion?

here's the answer: combine hunter and amity into one character.

aside over.]

-- amity and hunter are one person.

from the original canon: since the golden guard is a legacy title, everyone already knows about them, but not who's under the mask. that works. that stays.

this golden guard is fresh out of the grimwalker soup. they have no history with any of the hexside kids, and were sent to the school specifically to spy on luz, using 'amity blight' as a disguise. dual reason: keep tabs on luz and give hunter the Loyalty Test to see if this one doesn't need to get pulped like the others.

listen. making a wood golem to spy on a kid by befriending them, and naming said golem amity is too good.

we just move the willow-bully-past plot to boscha (and probably the blight family drama if it really matters that much to keep; tbh you could cut the blight twins from the story and not miss much but if they really need to be here, they could just be boscha's siblings), and/or have amity-hunter (amter?) immediately suck up to the popular kids and participate in kicking willow around like a football, because that's the environment they're used to.

yes, amter is here for a Purpose, but they've also never been around kids or in a school before, and they're being distracted by how much they love it. as in canon, we establish that it isn't just luz that's going to motivate their turn; it's just as much the potential of having friends, going to school, enjoying extracurriculars, having a life, being a person.

spend that first half of season 1 with amter being one of the bullies, then shaping up. this smooths over the issue of luz Suddenly Forgiving the Longtime Bully Of Her Best Friend: now there's no years-long shitty history of amter targeting willow; they're a new student who was shitty for a minute, then shaped up. far easier for willow to forgive.

being a fellow 'powerless witch' is going to be a source of bonding for them and luz. they have to learn magic in the same ways. luz can learn what emperor-approved methods there are for powerless witches, and amter can get a glimpse of the wild magic luz is playing with.

also to achieve the best of both worlds, this character is trans.

either a trans boy -- (we'll make belos's brother his sister in this au)-- with amity being the performance, and hunter who he actually is-- i like the irony of a mask being a better reflection of his true self than his actual face.

OR a trans girl, with hunter liking being amity far better than being hunter. i don't mind which one is used. both could be promising.

as such, 'amity' gets the crush on luz first, but luz doesn't reciprocate until she encounters the golden guard. because luz (has a type, and that type is bad-but-sad rogues, so you know her ass would be into it, and more importantly, she) likes amter for who they really are.

and since 'amity blight' is a performance designed to appeal to luz, hunter can't be their real self around her. the only time that can happen is when they're behind a mask, quipping away as they face off, in the rare times when they're out of the palace/hexside and away from anyone who can report back to belos.

anyway we meet the golden guard in season 1, but the interactions are brief. amter does the dirty work sometimes, but is primarily still being amity (especially since lilith is still belos's number two at this point).

and near the end of s1, the audience gets to learn that amity and the golden guard/hunter are the same person. luz doesn't.

since the s1 finale still has luz live on tv interrupting a public execution, she can't exactly hide who she is or who she's with anymore.

season 2 builds on that:

all luz's friends and classmates know she's a human, she's with the owl lady, and they have to spend time processing that she lied to them and coming to understand why she felt she had to do that, and that she had no bad intentions about it.

they also have to sneak around to stay friends with her.

luz can't go back to witch school now that she's been outed as a fugitive. she has to do independent study with eda and her friends, which means the audience can get more context on wild magic and eda's circle of peers.

the hexside rebellion subplot of the truncated s3 can have a few threads here: now that the entire student body has realized that new kid luz was a human and a wild witch the whole time, they start to question what other lies they've been told.

more expansion on belos as antagonist.

take him more seriously as a threat: more moving around, more disguises in public places, now played less for laughs. even if he's holding back to lure her into a false sense of security while having amter get close to spy on her, eda doesn't know that. she's a longtime fugitive; she should probably act cleverly enough for us to buy why she kept evading capture. if eda thinks he has even more reason to go after luz, she should be putting more measures into place to protect her.

furthermore, luz's history with belos is great. as humans from bonesborough who came to the isles chasing magic and gained status among the witches, they have a lot in common.

we need more time spent digesting that. if he'd found her instead of eda, would he have initiated her into the emperor's coven? does he still want to? does he see her as a younger version of himself? a student? an heir or successor? when he interacts with her, is he a cold and frightening emperor, or warm, 'vulnerable' kindred spirit who wants to offer her all the power she can't reach with palismanless magic.

or given that she literally time-loops her way into giving him the power he needs to take over, does she hold a sort of spiritual importance to him? it'd be hard to believe that a puritan encountering the exact image of the girl he received divine assistance from wouldn't be A Certain Way about her.

and if luz isn't interested in living up to the mythology he's constructed in his head about her... he's not going to be happy about it.

additionally, we need to establish them more as foils (luz loves magic, belos hates it. luz bonds with and liberates the witches, belos dominates and subjugates them. belos abuses and confines amter, luz is going to set them free.)

luz's homesickness gets more focus.

generally, luz has to deal with the consequences of running away from home. she's genuinely homesick, and the situation with belos has her nervous about staying; this isn't fun anymore. she spends the first half of season 2 wanting to come home.

when luz does make it back, and sees that a basilisk has all but replaced her and her mother seems to get along with them better, she... gets upset? and when her mother realizes her child has been off in witchland instead of adult camp, has quadrupled down on the behavior she sent her to camp to get rid of, and is now in actual danger because of it.... she also gets upset?

it's wasted potential that such a big moment between luz and her mother (realizing that your mother seems to have replaced you with an imposter that lacks everything you like about yourself, and she seems to like that imposter better + realizing that your child disobeyed you, ran away from home and is doing all the things you don't want her to do and those things have put her in life-or-death peril) flatlines so hard in the show.

so here, instead, there's a messy fight. luz, being a teenager, decides that she's going to stay in the isles and makes her way back... only to learn that her significant other is a spy for the enemy. and spends the second half of the season All In on the boiling isles and proving herself as a true witch.

finally, when luz and the crew land in the human world at the end of the season, there's tension to her reunion with her mother and the basilisk that gets a cathartic release when they hug and apologize

on the amter end:

lilith's out of commission, and the day of u is approaching, so belos pulls amter out of school and gets them to work as the guard full time. plus, luz isn't there anymore, so there's no point. let amter miss hexside life.

i like the moment luz starts to crush on amity, so let's keep that. amter's first act of rebellion is, as amity, saving luz's ass. naturally, there should probably be a punishment for it, and a juicy ~but it's only part of my con~ excuse that definitely isn't true anymore.

i like drama, so let them get together at the same time as they do in canon. give them the nice fluffy first date and mutual admission of feelings, and a little honeymoon phase where they're a cute little couple...

.... and then, halfway through the season, comes the unmasking.

right as luz learns that her mom has 'replaced' her, she discovers that one of her closest friends/her romantic interest is lying to her and working with the evil emperor and has been this whole time.

they break up and we spend time dealing with the fallout. luz is upset and stays upset, and amter Has Serious Doubts about belos-- yes, because of luz, but also because of the support system, friend group and world she exposed them to while they were close.

near the end of s2, luz and amter learn all the golden guard grimwalker details. give them like. actual time to reflect on it together rather than having amter run off into the woods, luz inexplicably decide not to comfort someone she cares about at a time of extreme emotional distress and move on without saying anything, and amter randomly show up two weeks later with their shit handled.

with them being exes, luz not pursuing amter makes more sense. and with amter having history with willow and gus, having gone to school with them and dated their friend, so does them hitting it off.

since s1 spent time establishing the golden guard/amter as an antagonist, s2 can explore how conflicted they feel. there's now time built in for that disillusionment with belos, building a connection with the hexside kids, and face turn that were so rushed in canon.

end on the same note as s2: amter joins the hexside kids in the escape from the isles.

season 3

playing fast and loose here, imagining we get an actual third season with 15-20ish episodes instead of a handful of specials.

first half:

the standard 5-ish episodes of the kids settling into human life, luz going to high school. time to breathe and prepare them to finish their arcs.

(let's see high school luz bring some of her personality development back to a normal school setting. contrast her now with who she was at the start)

then a 5ish-ep miniarc of the hexsiders tracking down the way back and warming up to vee. specifically luz, the girl vee replaced, accepting their presence in her home and amter, the direct relative of the person who caused vee's refugee situation, getting to bond with them, experience a further level of deprogramming, and have an even more personal reason to want to later depose belos and fix the isles.

give gus all the human world exploration joy. let's bring vee's human friends into the story more. let the bonesborough kids meet witches, encounter magic, and respond with excitement and understanding, to fix the puritanism that drove the worlds apart originally.

amter and luz spend the first half of the season being Awkward around each other. the unmasking betrayal sting has faded, they're no longer upset with each other, but now they don't know how to act as they're sinking into their respective major worries. at this time amter's mostly bonding with willow and gus, and luz with her mother and vee.

luz's main concern is, as in canon, all her guilt about the collector catastrophe and whether she should never have gone to the isles in the first place.

amter's main concern is, as in canon, all that trauma about belos and determination to face and destroy him slowly consuming them. they still have to deal with all hunter's possession trauma.

since amity's role at this point in canon is to Be Luz's Gf, we're gonna go all in on the hunter stuff from here on out. and since amter is trans, work in some dysphoria theming here. maybe amter decides to Keep Being Amity because they've grown to love that name. maybe they ask the gang to start calling them hunter. maybe they decide to be someone entirely new. idk, seems like the right time to let that plot culminate.

(in fact, pair amter's coming out to themselves/the group with luz's to her mother. make this the moment where they stop being cool to each other and make the effort to be friendly again.)

around episode ten: the halloween special where the group heads back to the isles, aka the bulk of the first special but given room to breathe. make it a two-parter.

before we get into the meat: we need bonesborough to find out about magic at this point. philip and caleb were two small parts of a larger society, espousing that society's views. caleb was capable of change. why can't the town be too?

specifically belos needs to see that his bigotry isn't welcome here anymore. it's entirely possible for the town, and humanity as a whole, to embrace witches and magic.

they can only do that if they find out about witches and magic. so spend the first half of the season with vee's human friends and luz's high school peers interact with the hexsiders and slowly catch on that Something's Up, and have belos's attack during the halloween festivities reveal it to everyone. and have the town protect the kids and assist in beating belos back.

this is the point where amter and luz are comfortable around each other again.

and also probably where we should do something with the caleb-and-evelyne-are-symbolically-amter-and-luz's-past-lives thing? complete with flapjack having been evelyne's palisman? wild that canon drops that nuclear bombshell and proceeds to refuse to elaborate and pair them off with different people.

anyway. the takeaway needs to be that luz and amter will succeed where evelyne and caleb failed because they've learned what they need to solve the problem that undid c&e.

here's what we know about evelyne and caleb: wild witch evelyne gave caleb a reason to leave the puritanical world of bonesborough and embrace a better, freer life, but philip refused to let them go, caught up with them years later, killed them, and used their magic to remake the boiling isles in his image.

i'll reverse-engineer from that the crack in c&e's story that turned it into a tragedy: the first time around, caleb and evelyne didn't confront philip about being a puritanical witch-hater. they thought it would be enough to just distance themselves and move on about their lives with the hopes that he'd get over it and leave them alone. you know, kinda like the situation amter and luz are in right now, being stuck in bonesborough hiding out from belos, full of guilt and shame about associating with him.

and here's the issue: the hate that philip and his empire represents will only ever regenerate, grow and thrive if it is ignored or avoided (see: belos getting goopy in s3, and slowly scheming his way back into power). it will follow you until it's destroyed all your hiding places, killed all your protectors, and there's nothing to stop it from killing you and your loved ones too. you have to fight it head on, completely dismantle it and replace it with something better, to ensure that people won't fall back into the old system's arms when times get hard and uncertain.

point being: evelyne led caleb away from philip and helped him dismantle his toxic worldview... but in doing so they left the social contagion to fester and grow. luz led amter away from belos and helped them deprogram, but now she needs to lead amter back to belos to face, disown and defeat him, and replace his system of shame, domination and strict control with hers-- one of wild magic, love and acceptance. that's what makes the difference. that's the lesson they need to learn.

semi-nonsequiter but it has to go somewhere: vee needs a moment with luz and amter where they have to talk about the implications of going back and facing belos. vee not going is fine, but we need to flesh their motivation out as 'this isn't my fight to finish, it's yours.' it's not the responsibility of the refugee to dethrone their tyrant-- it's the responsibility of the people who enabled said tyrant: luz, amter, and the covens.

(as is it feels like vee only ever existed to provide an excuse for camila and luz to vanish for a while. they deserve better.)

second half:

part 2 plays out basically the same. let's expand on the collector-king connection, eda and lilith on the lam, belos getting progressively slimier and the hexside commune power struggle between boscha and mattholomule.

again, it's important for amter and luz to receive support from someone other than a love interest. amter and luz's respective bonds with willow-and-gus, and camila reassures them that someone understands them and doesn't blame them for their mistakes, which helps them let go of their respective guilts and inadequacies. this half of the season needs to be about their greater support group-- their friends and family.

speaking of family, idk where darius is, but let's add some kind of moment between him and amter. take the blight family divorce drama and scoot it over to darius, giving him a moment to shine, totally break from the coven, and show the audience the kind of family amter could have when this is over.

[aside: alador and darius. both abomination witches who have paternal roles to amity/hunter, carry out an evil system led by an abusive parent to amity/hunter, whose arcs both involve choosing to leave said parent and take the kid with them. ffs they're the same character too]

if boscha's getting amity's scraps, then let's do some rivals-to-crushes tension with her and willow when they're in the hexside commune. build to a moment where they fully bury the hatchet. plus add her to the moment where willow backslides back into anxiety and self-doubt. having her conquer it by both having her friends AND the person responsible for sabotaging that confidence present (who has told her she was wrong for doing that and is sorry) is far more significant.

plus, some kind of moment between boscha and amter where they acknowledge the brief friendship they once had. for all boscha's shittiness, she was also the first friend amter ever made. she might not have been a good influence, but for someone who's been alone all their life, what matters is that she was there. all the progress amter made first started with boscha seeing a friendless new kid at school and taking them under her wing. give her some credit.

finale:

let's keep the collector delusion but skip the 'let's respond to the badfaith audience who think luz is bad' and focus instead on channeling those insecurities through her status as belos's foil. since it's been built up in s2, we can get a glimpse of that world where luz WAS his apprentice.

and amter needs to have their own delusion too. look, the show decided to make the original sin evelyne AND caleb. it can't just show us luz, then show us hunter, and say 'oh, only luz needs to take part in this fight.' it has to be both of them.

both of them want to be understood and embraced by the people they care about. so does the collector, and belos uses that instinct against people to manipulate them.

and per the culmination of their arcs: they're 1) affirmed enough in who they are that they don't accept the illusion of acceptance in exchange for compromising themselves and 2) they understand how important it is to face belos and what he represents, so they resist the urge to hide from their guilt and fear to break through the illusion and face him head-on.

keep the collector being empathized with, forgiven, and the show refusing to give belos a pass.

that's the moment of change that evelyne and caleb weren't capable of. they couldn't recognize that philip was a problem that had to be addressed and removed. they dismissed it, forgave it, and ran away. luz and amter won't, and now we've switched from tragedy to comedy.

being that this is the climax, and it's time for arcs to pay off, amter and luz both must sacrifice something significant in order to tie off their arcs.

the strongest sacrifice amter can make is their life. it's the thing they've been seeking all this time-- a life, a future full of happy memories with people who care about them, where they are free to make their own choices-- that they finally have, and it's time to put it to the test: what's the point of having that life, if these people aren't in it?

given redemption arc standards, amter needs to face belos, denounce him, and literally or symbolically die fighting him and protecting luz and/or someone she cares about. it's how we set in stone that amter has changed for the better, their loyalties are with luz, won't fall for belos's manipulation and will face him without backing down.

i'm gonna dust off the old theory about luz sacrificing her palisman wood and using it to resurrect hunter and put it here.

if luz's true motivation was finding someone who understood her and she's convinced being a witch is the only way to get it, the strongest sacrifice she can make is giving up her pathway to be a 'true' witch to save the person who understands her best, because she knows now that she doesn't need to be a witch to be a good, valuable person who is accepted by the people she cares about, and that it isn't worth becoming a witch if these people aren't here to see it. it's the best way to show she's finished her arc successfully and completely forgives amter.

additionally, this brings us back around to the belos connection and definitively shows her as his opposite. when the chips are down, belos chooses power and isolation over humanity and community. luz chooses humanity and community over power and isolation.

+luz's method of palismanless magic is fine on its own. i feel like her getting a palisman after all takes away from the validity of palismanless magic. like all the work she put into developing a magic system all her own is less impactful, because it was just a placeholder all along until she could trade up for something flashier and a cute animal sidekick.

.......... (side effect being that amter gets the full powers of a palisman... but also has an empathetic connection to luz)

anyway all this to say i think this connection can be applied to titan-magic luz. it's wild magic at its wildest and most inventive, a totally new form of magic combined with the most ancient one in a way never seen before.

so luz's Ultimate Sacrifice? i mean i love it, but to be more efficient and align with the changes in this rewrite, let's give that to amter. they need to perform one, and there it is. so, they 'die' protecting the collector-- another lonely misguided kid being manipulated by belos who is rescued by luz-- and meet the titan in purgatory. as the reincarnation of the guy who helped cause this mess, i think the titan needs some words with them.

and luz using her palistrom wood to save them is what brings them back from the dead, and she can talk to and see the titan in purgatory too on account of that palisman connection she's accidentally forged. it works.

fuck yeah let's have eda and king help out, but amter has to help fight belos too for reasons already said many times at this point.

and belos ultimately dying undignified after being stomped to death by his former subjects and boiled by the natural state of the islands. as said elsewhere, smart sidestep of the kid protag can’t kill rule, and it lets the island itself have the final say.

let's keep the archive rescue. just pluck amter out of that scene and swap them out with, say, boscha and mattholomule.

keep the denouement. families reuniting. the isles abolishing the coven system and establishing a new college of wild magic. taking many years to rebuild and it still being a wip. vee has a life in bonesborough as a noceda. gus being a human culture scholar and willow playing grudgby. especially amter and darador becoming a little family, and amter getting a quiet life. and ending on luz returning to the isles (hell yeah let's keep that luz/amter kiss).

[scribbles over hunter and draws boscha under willow's arm instead. perfect!]

the most i'd do is add some mention of luz not entirely leaving the human world, or of freer travel between the two. maybe luz finishes high school in the human realm, and so do the hexsiders since their school is a pile of rubble. maybe some of the witches who moved to the human world to have somewhere to live during rebuilding want to stay. maybe more humans are entering the isles, the same way luz once did.

the isles and bonesborough get to exist together, aware of each other and everyone gets to expand their horizons, not just luz and camila. the owl house is a house for everyone.

[prismatoxic]

hi, i'm, tox! i'm a 28 y/o gay trans man (he/him) who loves M/M ships, cartoons, video games, original characters, and animals!

i have an about page, but it's a lot more condensed than this post is. i also have a byf, which isn't a requirement or anything, but you should know what you're getting into if you think you might like to follow me!

i will say that if you are a minor or fandom conservative/anti-shipper/etc that i want nothing to do with you. thanks for understanding! i reblog and personally talk about pro-fiction/pro-kink stuff all the time so i promise, you don't wanna be here anyway.

i don't tag for nsfw in any meaningful way and don't really intend to start. i do try to tag extensively otherwise so most things can probably be avoided, but if you're not comfortable seeing the watered down nsfw tumblr allows, this probably isn't the blog for you.

anyway, here are my main fandoms and interests, which you can expect to crop up here fairly often:

Current Hyperfixations

Wolf's Bane (one of my OC verses) -> fave ship is nateken (ken belongs to my partner) -> fave character is nate

Letters From the Wasteland (OC verse my partner shares) -> fave ships are harry/jeffrey and arthur/jeffrey -> fave character is jeffrey

Other Major Fandoms

Metal Gear Solid -> fave ship is otasune -> fave character is otacon

Persona 4 -> fave ship is souyo -> fave character is yosuke

Persona 5 -> fave ships are shuake and ryushima -> fave characters are akira and mishima

Star Trek -> fave ships are spirk (tos) and boimford (lwd) -> fave characters are kirk, spock, mccoy, rutherford, and boimler

Gravity Falls -> fave ship is billdip -> fave characters are dipper and bill

South Park -> fave ships are kyman and creek -> fave characters are kyle and craig

i'm an artist and author and like to post fic and art of my fave ships and characters, OCs included. i'm kind of shy/awkward/anxious but i do like talking to people regardless. if you reach out and i never respond, chances are extremely high that i just forgot. (memory issues my beloathed)

@/captainfkingmagic is my partner, and you might see him on my blog from time to time. we're both fixated on our OCs right now, but he's very cool in general and you should check him out!

i am frequently on discord and don't mind adding people, but i prefer to only add people i am mutuals with on here. i don't accept random friends rqs so you'll have to ask me to add you.

Links

Art Tag

Writing Tag

Wolf's Bane Ask Blog

Fediverse (Aethy)

AO3

Commission Info

[tvrningout-a]

SO THIS IS LOVE PT. 1 | mutuals discover desired romantic dynamics!

below the cut will be the first part of a series where i talk about potential ship dynamics for my muses! this is intended to make shipping easier on my mutuals as well as give me a reason to ramble about my dorks :' ) if you have any questions or find a dynamic you're interested in, pls feel free to message me, or click the above link to like my shipping call!

HISAKAWA CHIYOKO

bc chiyo is so!! adamant about keeping her distance and so good at doing so without others noticing, she can be hard to befriend, much less date. but getting past those big ol' walls is extremely rewarding if your type of gf is one that shows her love in the form of memes and puns and bad drawings of you :' ) in most cases, i would say friendship is the main route one would take to win chiyo's heart; as someone afraid to be vulnerable, she needs to feel safe with someone to even contemplate pursuing a romantic relationship. friends-to-lovers is the main trope you'll wanna go for with her.

that being said, i do love the idea of someone seeing right through her likable facade bc no one ever does that, and it puts her on edge -- possibly to the point of making her become defensive. chiyo is incredibly private with certain parts of herself, so ofc she'll resent anyone's attempts at understanding her without her permission. she wants to be in control of who is close to her bc that lessens her chances of getting hurt. so i would love to see someone get under chiyo's skin, maybe bc they're only curious at first before it develops into something more. either way, get ready for a long haul with this gal!

SATO KAIYA

my sweet angel kaiya, my cinnamon apple, my gosh i could ship her with anyone and get the warm and fuzzies :' )) she's someone who has a lot of love to give, and she gives it freely; i think i can say she develops crushes rather easily and tends to admire those with strong values/convictions, but really!! it just comes down to the situation. i think kaiya is someone well-suited for cultivating self-love in others despite being horrible at showing herself that same care.

i can see kaiya working really well in a " grumpy gills falling for the ray of sunshine dynamic " bc she is so very soft and bright, but she'd also work well in any sort of pining situation. as a demon, she feels it isn't exactly fair for her to pursue romance bc 1. she'll outlive any human she might fall for, and 2. she doesn't feel she deserves that sort of happiness after what she's done.

YUBARI

oh, yubari :' ) the fun ( or sad asdf ) thing with yubari is that every so often, he gets himself killed while protecting his domain and people, so he is reborn time and again. he never has a recollection of his previous lives, so that makes him a great candidate for reincarnated lovers who keep finding each other, or any form of immortal lovers coming together. you could also easily throw him into a protector/bodyguard type ship bc if your muse asks for his help, he'll have a very hard time saying no.

otherwise, something to keep in mind about yubari is that he feels very deeply and is a people pleaser no matter how he tries to hide it. he likes to be useful, and he likes to take care of others -- it makes him feel good. if that's what your muse needs, let's go B) if your muse needs that but is stubborn and won't accept it at first, let's go B))))) and if your muse can return the favor and make yubari understand that someone should take care of him, too, i will actually weep

[outeremissary]

9 People You Want to Know Better

Tagged by @arendaes, thanks :)

Three Ships

I feel like I always list the same stuff on this section, haha. Same time, I can't really seem to think of anything better right now when I'm trying. Maybe it's just my energy tonight. Uh, I can just list what I consider my main pairs in the last three games with romances I've played...? I guess?

Balthazar + Tristian. Or also with Vio. Doodling them a lot lately... I miss them.

Carmen + Arushalae. There's a Galfrey situation that intersects with this as well but I think living with someone goes a long way towards winning a love triangle. Whatever the hell winning means here. Tbh everyone loses

Asperia/Kasander + unfortunately, that archduke I really do want dead for real. Once wasn't enough.

Last Song

Catch Me If You Can - Jhariah (Spotify). Someone I drew something for on Art Fight had this listed as a character theme, so I've been looping it a lot... it's really good. I really should listen to more of Jhariah's music.

Last Movie

Hm. I.... don't know? I haven't been watching a lot of movies. I wanted to see I Saw the TV Glow, but before I knew it had left theaters. I'd like to watch movies again, I think.

Currently Reading

When I remember that I should be reading, Wuthering Heights. I've actually never read it before. I got bored halfway through Jane Eyre when I was 13 and lost all interest in gothic romances after that. ^^;;

Currently Watching

Akuma-kun! The 2023 one on Netflix. It's the show my friend and I are watching together right now. He insisted I had to watch it because it had an evil angel... we saw the angel today!! I'm happy. Homoerotic, fourteen year old fujoshi Emi would have totally lost it for this.

Currently Eating

Nothing. Getting hungry again though.

Currently Craving

I dunno... something fried? In the abstract, a little more self assurance.

Favorite Color

Blue. Deep blue. I've always been fond of the Copenhagen blue that I've used for Caina's scarf and one of Balthazar's coats, and the indigo I do a lot of my lines with.

Favorite Flavor

Chocolate.

Current Obsession

Anxiously checking the Art Fight website tbh. It's not good for me. I just keep getting worried that I've somehow made art that someone really hates of their character, or that I'm putting a lot into projects that no one will ever see. Haha.

Last Thing I Googled

.... well, now that we're at this point in this, it's Copenhagen blue. Because I wanted to check if it was a real name ^^;;

Favorite Season

Fall. It's got the best temperatures and most consistent weather. I like when the leaves change as well. The dry leaves on the ground are really comforting.... they make good sounds and are nice to lay in.

Skill I'd Like to Learn

Painting. Watercolors, ideally. Or digital art.

Best Advice

Jeez, I don't know a lot of life advice. I guess the best art advice I know is "draw whatever makes you want to keep drawing." Recently an artist I really respect also said something like "when you're starting out, just go ahead and copy whatever you like. Don't trace because you'll learn slower, but if there's something you like, try your best to imitate it." I think that can be good advice too. I guess my personal advice is also "Just do it however you know you can get it done." I used to get really hung up on doing things the "right" way in order to finish them, and because it took so long and I felt so pressured on the later steps I never finished anything. I hardly ever got to what I considered the halfway mark then. It didn't make me feel good about what I was doing. So I started doing things messier and more haphazard, whatever would get to the end I wanted to reach fastest. And I think I grew a lot more like that. I definitely drew a lot more art I was proud of and happy to show other people. I guess that also loops around to advice I've heard somewhere else though ^^;; Just to do the parts of the process that you want to finish. Your sketch can be your final lines if you hate doing line art, who cares. You can learn a way to do it like that.

We've hit the limit of how many times I can tag people on posts in a day without feeling very anxious unfortunately, so if anyone wants to be my guest etc. but I don't have it in me right now ^^;;

[hua-fei-hua]

perhaps doing an experimental work featuring a pairing i’m not known for focusing on that is also typically relegated to side pairing status was not my best idea ever but at this point i have accepted my fate as the writer of cult classics and flops