#so what kind of family- honestly idk. i love the found family element but i can't deny that i do like the whole psuedo adoption feel this

[cursezoroark]

reguri and their nonchalant way of picking up kids into their weird family. specifically nemona and Moon. walk with me.

[sugoi-and-spice]

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Playing Pretend

Summary: Tomura Shigaraki was her dad’s boss’s son. He was the creep that stole girls’ underwear and tried to grope her in his room. But it’s not like he could get her Dad fired just because she wouldn’t sleep with him, right? …right?

CW: Quirkless!AU, Explicit Smut, Dub-Con, Coercion, Blackmail, Cheating, Sexual Guilt, Humiliation, Unhealthy Relationships, Power Play, Hate to Love, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Slow Burn

A/N: Hnnnnnnnngh, something something, commentary commentary idk. I'm caught up with the manga. Life is meaningless lol. Hopefully this chapter can ease the pain a little (though probably not much since we're hopping right back into angst town lmao, I'm so sorry)

Read Full on AO3

[excerpt]

Luxury. That was the word of the night. Everything about this experience dripped with luxury. Luxury was in the limousine that All for One had been so generous to charter for their pick up. It was in the Don Perignon chilled and waiting for them inside that her parents were kind enough to let her have a glass of. And it was in the Palace Hotel Ballroom that the company had rented out for this party. From every tuxedo-wearing waiter carrying trays of canapes around the room, every member of the string quartet playing Schubert as they entered, even to every Swarovski crystal ornament on the ceiling high Christmas tree in the center of the room. It was all pure, unadulterated luxury.

And it honestly had her wondering for a moment.

“You sure we’re in the right place?” she whispered to her mom, earning a reassuring squeeze.

“No, I’m not,” her mom joked back, just as hushed, “But we’re going to pretend like we are regardless.”

She looked back at her mom curiously. If she was feeling uneasy about the sky high expenditure and decorum of this place, she could only imagine how out of her element her mom was. She herself had spent her entire life ping-ponging between lower and upper middle class. But her mom, even before she’d been in foster care, had only known the heights of a paycheck to paycheck smalltown flower shop. Tie in the not insignificant times she’d spent living exclusively in manga cafes, and she could only imagine what an out of body experience she was having at this moment.

Although, maybe she wasn’t as out of her element as she thought.

If her mom was feeling any nerves or apprehension, it all went away the moment they were approached some of her father’s new, upper echelon bosses and colleagues, beautiful women on their arms (some being the mens’ wives, some being definitely not the mens’ wives), and she was rubbing elbows and talking the talk like the best of them.

“So, was that your first time in a limo?” Yamamoto, one of her dad’s bosses asked the bunch.

“Is it that obvious? ” her mother smiled politely

“Oh on the contrary. I think you all look quite natural at an event like this,” he turned then to her father, “A very handsome family, son. You should be proud.”

Her father smiled, giving her shoulder a little squeeze, “More than you can imagine. My oldest here is a senior at Kamino, and one of the top in her class.”

“Is that so?” Yamamoto said, turning to her, “Entrance exams are just around the corner, aren’t they? You feeling ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she answered, trying not to think about it too long, lest she get nervous.

That was pretty much the course of all her conversations tonight, so far at least. If it wasn’t asking her about her college plans, it was middle-aged VP’s telling her what a looker she was and how she “must have guys lining up for her at school”. Blegh.

All throughout she just smiled and nodded politely while trying not to look around too much for Shigaraki, who surprisingly, for the first quarter of the party, was nowhere to be found. Same for All for One. 

Weird, she thought at first, considering that this was their freaking party. Until she overheard one of her dad’s coworkers mention to him, “You know how much that ol’ bastard likes to make an entrance.”

As if on cue, the double doors to the ballroom opened (she hadn’t even realized they’d been shut?!) And in strutted All for One, standing tall and pompous as ever. She had to fight the biggest eye roll of her life as a soft applause filled the room, and he waved them off as if he wouldn’t have been completely pissed had the room been silent.

But just as fast as annoyance crossed her face, she couldn’t fight the skip in her chest when Tomura Shigaraki followed into the ballroom behind him. 

He’d cleaned up, and he’d cleaned up freaking good. 

His typical ill-fitting sweats and hoodie had been switched out for an impeccably crisp, slim fit suit that did his long legs and defined figure all the favors in the world. His hair was not only brushed, but obviously had some care put into it, fringe still in his face, but strategically so. He kept his eyes, staring forward intensely, intimidatingly, in full view. 

And on top of it all, much to her shock and joy, was the red jacket she’d bought for him hanging off his shoulders almost capelike. He’d even kept the fur part on and she’d be remiss to say it didn’t make him look like royalty.

He didn’t just look amazing, he looked like a leader. 

Her mom leaned down to her, nudging her not so subtly out of her awe, “Didn’t I see you bring home a jacket like that the other day?”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” she said, swatting away at her, but still unable to take her eyes off Shigaraki through it all.

The two crossed to the center of the room, stopping directly under the giant Christmas tree, where a member of the hotel staff was there to meet All for One with a microphone.

“Thank you all so much for coming tonight…” he started an inevitably long and pompous speech that she was eager to tune out.

And it was easy to do so, the longer she stared at his ward, admiring the way he stood off to the side of All for One, head held high, but still unmistakably himself as he stuffed a hand into his pant pocket. 

She smiled at the sight. Seeing him like this, she couldn’t help but be brought back to a few months ago. To that fateful dinner her family had shared with the Shigarakis. The one that Tomura had worn a ratty old hoodie to and had spent the whole night either slouching in his chair, avoiding eye contact, or feeling her up under the table. There was none of that immaturity or recalcitrance here tonight. While he may not have learned the ways of the fake smile and schmoozing that practically permeated the air here, the hard bitterness in his expression was one that could actually be interpreted as polished stoicism. An authority that was hard to impress. And above all, the model heir to his guardian’s company.

Continue on AO3

[cityandking]

1, 12, 14, 18 for dai, minah and vesper!

thank you my dear!! // questions about creating your ocs

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? 

DAI — theme. I knew I wanted to play a religious character and I knew there was a very Present religious order in airedon that worshiped the sky gods, so he was initially born out of the concept of this really grounded, rooted, earth-adjacent character looking up at the sun and the sky and loving it and striving towards it. everything else kind of slotted into place from there. MINAH — backstory. it helped that we got a whole bunch of campaign lore (plus just, y'know, there's so much DA lore to work with). I always knew she was gonna be a bit unscrupulous and dissembling and kind of went from there. also, fun fact! she was originally gonna be a he VESPER — name. vesper was born out of the ashes (well, a long period of tweaking and re-consideration) of my first inquisition playthrough, so in a lot of ways I had everything set out in broad strokes, but it wasn't until I had a new name that I really began building a new (and better imo) character.

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

ok well besides the fact that I can't draw them the way I wish I could draw them...

DAI — his voice is a little stiff and he doesn't do joy well. every now and then I'll have a thought about something (usually a dairef thing) and I just can't pin him down enough to get into it. this happens less when we're playing, but every now and then he just stalls out. MINAH — the secrets she (and I) must keep. also artistic skill rip (I just want to design warden armor) VESPER — her color palette honestly isn't super conducive to edits. also I started writing her ages ago and sometimes it's hard to get back to her voice; I feel like I use to write her much more easily

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

DAI — first, he's upright in all things: morals, posture, obligation, kindness, vows. everything about him should feel like it's standing solid and straight-backed, like it could take a blow and stay standing. second, beneath all that honor and stalwart truth and hope is a deep well of wryness that he can draw from ad infinitum. it's where the bitchiness comes from MINAH — first, her gut instinct when talking about herself is always to lie or deflect, even when it's completely innocuous. there's usually at least one layer between what she says and what the truth is, even if the lie is only in the presentation or the performance. second, her loyalty goes deeper than she'll admit—she's fond of people and bonds easily, even though she tries to keep them at a comfortable arm's length VESPER — first, she is always ready to set herself on fire rather than see anyone else burn or freeze. she's got a martyr complex and a deep well of determination and the two don't play well together. second, she is so tired. she is so so tired. let her nap

18. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC? 

DAI — oh lordy. most recent? it's either how hungry he is to know more about his family or how hungry he is to feel solid and real. I made a post a while back about 'how bloody is your OC' and looking back at that I think part of dai's problem in the astral sea is that he hasn't had a chance to get bloody—fighting himself was a good way to get into the meat of things (literally), and the god baby was better because it was tangible change. I think. I'm still trying to get a read on his mental state; he eludes me sometimes MINAH — honestly the cold-blooded mage murder was a surprise to me too VESPER — vesp has been so solid for so long idk what recent thing I've discovered about her. I'm sure I'll have new thoughts and feelings once veilguard drops

[sokovianfortune]

Hey how would you feel if Wanda did get a movie? How do you think it would go? If Wanda ever got a movie I want it to be directed by Guillermo del Toro or David Lynch...god please I want someone like you as the writer

I just found your account and I literally just scrolled to all of your Wanda related tags...I love how you think about her.

aw, wow, thank you so much, anon!! this was such a sweet ask to receive <3

i will admit that my feelings on a wanda solo movie are slightly entangled with my, uh. not so kind opinions on her stans, but i will try to set that aside and answer this for you! i think my ideal wanda movie would be one that emphasizes a lot of her connections -- with vision, with her children, with agatha. it would be really cool, for example, if we got a proper adaptation of the witches road storyline, wherein all the magic in the world is broken and wanda and agatha have to go on a little magical road trip to figure out the mystery of what's causing it.

(for the record i am very much NOT of the opinion that agatha all along is "stealing" this plot from wanda and frankly i think anyone who believes as such has some insecurities they need to examine. if anything, it's setting up the location for future use!)

i think the obvious answer for an antagonist here is chthon and personally, i think it would be incredibly cathartic for wanda to be the one to take him down - with the help of her weird little extended family. i imagine vision and the kids (ideally billy, tommy, viv and vin) would all kind of help out on the hypothetical road trip in their own ways and come together at the end for a big ol' climactic battle. power of family/friendship wins the day, that sort of thing.

also, i'd really love some synergy with the comics in the end with wanda setting up her little magical emporium. that, to me, is the ideal way of granting her some of the peace that she wants while both allowing her to see that her magic can be used for good and leaving her open for further use in the mcu down the line.

tbh, i never considered guillermo del toro as a potential director but i think he'd do a fantastic job. he's incredible with combining fantasy and horror elements with very genuine themes and emotion, which i think would be incredibly important in terms of a wanda solo movie. another name i've heard bopped around is mike flanagan who i am also a huge fan of and who has tackled a lot of themes (grief, family, etc) that i feel would be important for the project. idk what the likelihood of either of them doing a marvel movie would ultimately be, but a girl can certainly dream!

honestly, getting a horror director in general would be great. i think it's a shame that there isn't more horror adjacent stuff in the mcu because, frankly, some of their best stuff has come out of their attempts (multiverse of madness, get behind me)

writer-wise, i mean, jac schaeffer has already proven herself to be incredible and given that she's on agatha and reportedly working on the wiccan show, i think she's kind of an obvious shoe-in. and i'd get crucified in the town square if i say who my other choice for a writer would be, so. i'll leave it at that.

ANYWAY those are all the thoughts i have off the top of my head! thank you again for this lovely ask, it really brightened up my evening <3

[idyllic-affections]

Hi there! So thank you for your feedback about Kokoro. Im glad you her since she is my sweet bby （＾∀＾） .Kokoro is one of my more recent OCs that i have, so im still making her, which is why i thought asking a feedback but after reading your feedback, yeah you’re right. She’s my OC, someone i love and makes me happy, i shall do whatever i want with her! Which is make her have a happy life ^_^ (and make her unintentionally torment Gorou, she lives with Yae Miko for god sake) I also decided to let Kokoro have a hydro vision, while there are many points that i like with Kokoro having a dendro vision. Something about her having a hydro one feels right idk why tho :p (but she would actually get along with Nahida really well, crap now im reconsidering, guess it’s back to the drawing board then (⁠ب⁠_⁠ب⁠) ) why must i be so indecisive about an fictional character’s element (⁠ノ⁠ಥ⁠,⁠_⁠｣⁠ಥ⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

Also PLEASE DO HONKAI STAR RAIL IF YOU EVER GET THE CHANCE TO DO SO, the found family in this one is STRONG. Like there’s the Astral Express which is just (≧∇≦). I wont spoil anything so you can enjoy it firsthand but the ideas and potential for platonic stuff is HIGH

Also im honestly excited and scared for Fontaine with how the trailer set the plot. Lynette’s death!?!? Lyney’s ARREST!? CHILDE’S ARRIVAL!?!?! What in archons name is going on!?!?? I honestly feel bad for Freminet since 1. His sister is “dead” 2. His brother is the suspect and possible murderer of said sister’s death. Really not a good time for him huh? Also can i talk about Navia for a second? I love her. She just gives off Chaotic good vibes which she probably has. I first thought she was gonna be like a phantom thief character but then the 4.0 trailer came out and there are security guys with her which now makes me think she is some sort of bodyguard for hire??? I just love her and i like to imagine her lovingly teasing my Fontaine OC for her famous pastries (i might talk about her here, so keep an eye out for that)

(Sorry for the many “also” btw ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ)

- 🐱 Anon

hi again dear!!!

yes!!!! do whatever makes you happy!!!! and indecisiveness is totally okay, too. you can switch backk and forth until you feel completely content! there's nothing wrong with changing up details and whatnot. you'll eventually settle on something that feels right <3 for me personally, i often go through many phases where i change important character details. it's usually while i'm writing their backstory or just their story in general that something seems to click in my brain, and all of a sudden, i have decided on the detail i wasn't sure about.

I GOT INTO HSR YESTERDAY ACTUALLY i am having so much fun with this game... it's so pretty??????? the characters are so dynamic????????? genshin feels so flat compared to hsr which is interesting to me, but hopefully hoyoverse takes steps to fix that lifeless feeling that genshin has sometimes in-game! or maybe i'm just burnt out? who knows! either way, i love hsr. it aligns with my interests so well.

CHILDE IS MR. WORLDWIDE HE IS EVERYWHERE AHSKSJSJGJFJ tbh i cannot WAIT for fontaine, i am so so so excited to see what this archon quest has in store.

i'm thinking about making a fontaine oc myself actually. lawful evil to lawful good kind of vibes, like.... they're evil-aligned at first but slowly change for the better once they realize how much they are hurting their beloved people. character development <3 but i would love to hear about yours, so i will definitely keep an eye out!

(and no need to apologize!!! i do that too sometimes <33)

[circlique]

Saw this on twitter and it looked fun! Rate the following tropes based on how much you like them!

✨enemies to lovers ?/10

✨second chance ?/10

✨fake dating ?/10

✨friends to lovers ?/10

✨age gap ?/10

✨found family ?/10

✨grumpy×sunshine ?/10

✨pregnancy ?/10

✨slowburn ?/10

✨love triangle ?/10

✨soulmates ?/10

✨enemies to lovers: 10/10 godddd this is probably my single most loved trope. Most of my ships have elements of this. The ones that don't are probably a friends/lovers or rivals/lovers dynamic or canon or all of the above.

✨second chance: 9/10 especially in conjunction with enemies to lovers. I want to see them groveling on their knees begging the other's forgiveness. I crave it.

✨fake dating: 5/10 eh...it's kind of so-so. I like it better when it's like a "last to find our they're dating" dynamic. Everyone else thought they were dating or even together straight up, and someone mentions it offhand and they're like "WHAT??"

✨friends to lovers: 9/10 second only to enemies to lovers. Propelled to a 100/10 if it's friends-to-enemies-to-lovers with a second chance dynamic.

✨age gap: 1/10 this is generally a no from me but I also can't trust tumblr to have the same definition of "age gap" as me. To me that means like 10+ years with adults, but I feel like tumblr will call out anything more than 2 as potentially problematic especially if any of the characters involved are minors (in the age range of 13-20 I feel a 2 year gap is generally fine and normal). Obviously I do not support adults dating minors (barring like an 18 and 16-17 year old). I'm more squicked by stuff that's generational, like someone in their early 20s dating someone in their 30s. Like, if they're pushing old enough to be someone's parent, I'm not about it.

✨found family: 6/10 some do it better than others

✨grumpy×sunshine: 10/10 you can like never go wrong with this one

✨pregnancy: -1/10 this is the one thing that will make me click out of a fic or block an artist instantly. Pregnancy scares me so bad I have nightmares about it. Seeing it as a kink is even worse. Some days I can't even handle seeing ship children OCs. Idk if this is common or just an ace thing.

✨slowburn: 10/10 I want to feel the yearning in every sentence.

✨love triangle: 2/10 only K0rrasami gets to have this one and only because they ditched Mako to date each other. It was still stupid though. I've never seen a love triangle done well.

✨soulmates: 6/10 honestly depends on the details? I like it in theory but I also kind of don't like the "you're DESTINED to be with someone and your entire life must revolve around finding them" thing as an aspec person because that line of thinking is so often weaponized and used to tell us we're broken. Would be nice if more characters in these AUs were skeptics and pointed out the injustice/capitalistic exploitation of soulmate finding events/services their society, or addressed the idea that some people just don't have soulmates and that's not a bad thing necessarily. Idk, I'm picky about it I guess. I like soulmark and "can't see color until you meet your soulmate" AUs but I'm not big on the "first words printed on your body" stuff.

[ace-girlboy]

do you have any favorite tropes or things you like seeing in stories and stuff?

Obviously I like me some found family. I mean who doesn’t? I like when characters are besties and DONT get together in the end. I like stuff like elemental magic or witchcraft or magic powers (again, who doesn’t). I really like when characters are a lot more reserved or stoic, because I’m kind of like that and don’t relate to the very exaggerated emotional expressions most cartoon characters have. Honestly just themes of identity I love, cuz…..I mean have you SEEN my username. I LOVE themes of friendship and like when friendship and found family gets all mixed together into this kind of platonic family where it’s like you can’t even imagine them living thier own separate lives because they’re all so entwined with each other. It would simply feel wrong and bad (looking at you atla comics). This doesn’t really apply to books so much as it does tv/video games but musical motifs are my jam. Like YES GIVE ME THAT MELODY I WILL COME TO ASSOCIATE WITH A CERTAIN CHARACTER/EVENT/SETTING/ETC. Favorite examples of this are just, [UNDERTALE], any Splatoon leitmotif, that one Fire Nation leitmotif (you know the one). I for some reason have such a soft spot for silent characters. Like in the games I play that have silent protagonists, that character will just become my favorite character. Like yeah Agent 8 barely says anything or has anything revealed about their personality (and they probably have the most lore compared to 3, 4, and Neo) BUT I LOVE EIGHT SO MUCH. Same for Frisk, Kris, etc.

I also really like the redemption arc trope but again, that’s pretty universal. Like some of my favorite characters are characters like Hunter from ToH, Zuko, Catra, Badeline. It’s like half their redemption and half their personality after their redemption. Like I just enjoy that type of personality in a character ig? Idk. This entire answer is kind of rambly and not thought out well so if I add to it later don’t be surprised lmao

Also for a trope I don’t like (you didn’t ask but I’m gonna rant anyways)- I’m sorry but I HATE unnecessary dog characters. I’m not a huge fan in general of the “useless but cute animal sidekicks” but I feel like dog characters are inserted in so many stories that they really don’t need to be in. (Why is Asmondius a dog aren’t dragons sentient? It made more sense when he was newly hatched but now that he’s slightly older shouldn’t he be developing more into what his parents are? With more “baby roaring” and trying to develop speech and such? I mean maybe dragons just don’t work like that, and the writers probably guessed a dog would be more pleasant to watch than a toddler, but it really does both me that they made him literally just A Dog).

[mirrorbxlls]

(god i've had this partially finished in drafts for a while but im actually gonna post it now)

the 1 by taylor swift (specifically the bridge and the last verse/chorus idk but all of it kinda works) is regulus talking to sirius, hear me out in this overly detailed explanation:

so like the "I'm doing good, I'm on some new shit/Been saying "yes" instead of "no"/I thought I saw you at the bus stop, I didn't though/I hit the ground running each night/I hit the Sunday matinée/You know the greatest films of all time were never made" bit is about regulus trying to move on with the slytherin skittles and his own new group of friends and sort of trying to imitate what sirius found with the marauders and the other gryffindors. the bit about the greatest films of all time never being made is how sirius and regulus definitely had their shared dreams and ideas that they were planning on doing together when they grew up.

the chorus "But we were something, don't you think so?/Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool/And if my wishes came true/It would've been you" basically talking about how they were everything to each other when they were younger, and if regulus had gotten his wish then it would have just been him and sirius forever. and "In my defense, I have none/For never leaving well enough alone/But it would've been fun/If you would've been the one" is talking about how regulus probably felt after sirius came back from hogwarts, and regulus felt like sirius had moved on and he had just become a bother, despite how much he might have wanted to keep playing with him and creating their own little fantasy world.

okay so next is the verse: "I have this dream you're doing cool shit/Having adventures on your own/You meet some woman on the internet and take her home". i imagine this is reg when he was a little lonely kid, imagining all of the amazing adventures sirius was having without him. honestly y'all, it breaks my heart thinking about how lonely it would have been in grimmauld place for most of the year for him like-

the next bit of the second verse and the second chorus are basically along similar lines of the first, like reg just saying how the love they had for each other was super meaningful and yet sirius lowkey tossed it away like it was nothing, even before he left for james (no hate to sirius btw, just trying to say what reg was probably feeling while sirius was out and actually enjoying his life)

anyhoo, the bridge and final chorus are where things get especially black brothers-coded (or even narcissa/andromeda coded but we are not going into allat right now). So the bridge (is it the bridge?) is "I, I, I persist and resist the temptation to ask you/If one thing had been different/Would everything be different today?", which is basically reg wondering about whether any differences to what he did would change what happened, especially when sirius ran away. if sirius didn't run away would they have gotten closer? if regulus had stood up for sirius would they both be kicked out? yk, that kind of questioning.

"We were something, don't you think so?/Rosé flowing with your chosen family/And it would've been sweet/If it could've been me/In my defense, I have none/For digging up the grave another time/But it would've been fun//If you would've been the one" is definitely the MOST sirius and regulus coded bit in the song. like? the whole rosé flowing with your chosen family? regulus definitely would have seen the partying around the school hosted by the gryffindors, so he most likely would have seen sirius in his element, surrounded by the people he chose to call family.

i think that towards the end of the song, it's definitely a more mellowed, wistful kind of longing for sirius. regulus knows that he's not sirius' first choice, and he's learnt to be okay with that. his self-blame is a bit more sarcastic now, because it was never his fault for trying to re-establish the relationship between them. and sure, while it would have been fun if sirius was still standing by him, being the older brother that regulus wanted him to be, reg sort of found his own chosen family.

shit i like completely lost where i was going with that but yeah 🙃 good job for making it through to the end

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 146 Rundown

Spy X Family: It’s the final episode of the dog arc! Man the dog arc has been a lot longer than I thought it would be given each main character got like one episode intro each and the dog’s had like three at this point. Thankfully Loid doesn’t kill the attack dog and is able to subdue him though he does lock him up and say he’ll come back for him but they never show him doing that. Anyway with the bomb gone and Dog Terrorist Bakugo fleeing the scene only to have his car fucking totaled by a single kick from Yor, the family’s able to reunite each thinking they saved the world today and each being kind of right. Anya expertly blackmails a government agency into getting to keep the dog and we get some nice character stuff for Sylvia, like she’s kind of a background character but this arc in particular has shown her a lot of depth. Once the dog finally gets there they give a heartbreaking montage of what he had to go through to this point to become a Data Dog and honestly yeah it’s a good One Piece style found family backstory told with no internal dialogue so that’s pretty dope. Turns out Anya’s plan of “get dog > befriend Damian> ??? > Profit” isn’t going to be so simple but still they have a dog and Anya’s as dumb as usual but she is really giving it her best to try and train him. They have a little adventure at the dog park and Anya gives him the non-copyright infringing name of Bond which is a bit on the nose for a spy family but I’m on record for loving the pun of their last name being Forger and having the dog that brought them closer together literally named Bond Forger is too good to pass up, it’s a dog that literally forges bonds, how can you not love that.

Inuyasha: So we interrupt the Princess Abi plot we just started last week to dive right into a special two part flashback about how Inuyasha and Kikyo met. I never really knew how to feel about this episode since some of the details feel off and even as a kid I could tell this was filler, so idk if I’d really consider the events of the special canon but it is pretty fun in a Star Wars Prequels kind of way because it’s just kinda watching shit happen and knowing it’s all gonna go horribly wrong by the end. We get some integration of other filler elements like Tsubaki’s tense relationship with Kikyo in that ‘that one coworker whose guts you hate’ kinda way and we get callbacks to Mistress Centipede being the original holder of the Sacred Jewel (though again I vaguely recall them saying it had actually been kept in Sango’s village until Kikyo came around so idk how exactly the details of that line up with canon but it’s more of a fanservice thing). Inuyasha hears about the jewel and he’s in the middle of his ‘doesn’t have a cool giant sword yet so he’s overcompensating for his half demon dick’ arc and because he meets Kikyo on the night he’s human he doesn’t do anything to provoke her and Inuyasha keeps coming after the jewel but a kind of begrudging respect forms between Inuyasha and Kikyo because Kikyo never kills Inuyasha and Inuyasha never resorts to underhanded tactics to try and get the jewel he basically jumps out every day and is like ‘fite me Kikyo’ and because this is pre-episode 1 Inuyasha she kicks his ass every single time. Still Inuyasha chides her about how smelly she is and she ribs him about being a half demon and they kinda roll into each other’s vulnerabilities because Kikyo feels like she’s in between worlds as well as the only teenage girl around that can obliterate an ogre by touching it and Inuyasha’s just kinda turned on by the ogre-obliterating I guess. They agree to exchange gifts and Kikyo actually prepares the Sit beads for him which explains why Kaede had them at the beginning of the series though we get a clue that her word would’ve been ‘Beloved’ which sounds a lot less spammable than Sit but is kind of more cold and cruel because she’s professing love for him and subjugating him at the same time which does kinda fit Kikyo’s character. Still Inuyasha presents her with the rouge that has a LOT more emphasis in Yashahime (even though I think it gets destroyed at the end of this special but don’t pay attention to that) and she gets the backstory about his mom and she’s moved enough to trust him to act without the beads now and doesn’t give them to him. And thus the two form a close relationship and nothing bad happens ever, the end. Also fun fact, was looking on the wiki to double check this was filler and not some side book written for a movie or something and turns out this is the ONLY episode in the entire original series that Kagome’s not in, kind of a neat touch also kinda funny how most anime have long stretches without their main character nowadays and Inuyasha’s just like ‘nope, Kagome in every episode except for the only one taking place entirely before she was born’.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Time for the end of Sensui, or at least I assume so given the episode’s literally titled ‘Sensui’s End’. So long story short Demon Yusuke kicks the absolute SHIT out of Sensui and supercharges the last Spirit Gun bullet to fucking blow him away. Yusuke gains control of himself again but is too late to do anything about it. Given this fight was probably the exact template for Ichigo vs Ulquiorra, Yusuke is pretty pissed about this outcome (not like ‘cut my arm off so we can fight fair’ pissed but still pretty pissed). Turns out Koenma resurrected Game Master as part of Sensui’s fucking Batman gambit to use his guilt to weaken the pacifier battery enough for him to overcome it and that means now he has no more get out of death free cards to give out which is probably fine because I get Yusuke not liking the end given he basically has a human death on his conscience now which is kind of what the whole arc was about but he had limited to no control over his actions at the time, basically the arc was leading to Yusuke getting a ‘I can kill for the greater good’ kill and instead they gave him a ‘got drunk and did some murder’ kill and it kinda sucks. Still like Koenma can probably do some shenanigans with his soul like they did Genkai, like Itsuki’s about to take his soul away so they literally can’t do that but they didn’t know he was gonna do that when they were discussing this. Sensui gives his big speech about how he never had demon friends like Yusuke does so he still had the Saturday morning cartoon morality even before he became a Spirit Detective and never had the main character talk no jutsu abilities to parse out why demons are doing shit (I hate to break it to him but it seems like 90% of demons are just kinda like ‘because it’s fun to kill’ like there are cool demons and all that but I don’t think the likelihood of the ones attacking him as a kid being like that was very high anyway), but point being he feels really shitty about murdering a Titanic-load of demons for shitty rich human assholes and wanted to die in demon world so he could like both get perspective and be some kind of martyr (it just so happens going to demon world also causes the apocalypse but DETAILS). But yeah Itsuki’s basically like ‘My gay ass is taking my self-loathing boyfriend’s corpse to another dimension because we’re not in the mood to put our weird convoluted motives on your morality spectrum’ also Sensui was gonna die in like ten days anyway, kinda random to throw in there, feels like just a random bit of tragedy to throw in for the fuck of it but at least they’re not like ‘oh he was weakened by the disease so Yusuke didn’t even fight him at full power’ no if anything it seems his death sentence hardened his resolve and made him fight harder so he could be put to rest. It’s just really funny how Itsuki’s simping so hard over Sensui he’s like ‘So my man almost caused ONE apocalypse, you guys taught him to murder terrorists so it’s your fault’ like I kind of get Sensui’s motivation by the end being so torn up by shades of gray and kind of half wanting to be proven wrong but Itsuki’s just sitting there so mad about these guys stopping a demon apocalypse and he’s gonna go take Sensui’s body and talk to it in the void forever I guess, also he somehow takes his soul too? Like I know the body and soul are linked recently after death but does Itsuki have the power to just grab the soul and keep it in the body to take to his pocket dimension and keep it away from Koenma? Either way once all that’s done Yusuke’s like ‘okay next arc let’s go kick my demon grandpa’s ass for ruining my fight’ and everyone’s just like ‘can we go have a nap first like we’ve been fighting ten episodes straight and the demon hole’s closing in a few hours we really need a break my guy’ and because Yusuke’s not the single-minded fight junkie that Goku or Ichigo are he agrees to go home with everyone and figure out the whole demon thing later.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Turns out Yuji’s job during the school festival is to be on ‘distract Todo Duty’ because fucking nobody wants to deal with that guy, which is fair, it’s like having Ichigo join your team solely as bait for Kenpachi (lot of Bleach references today) but yeah the two end up having a super manly fisticuffs fight where Yuji kinda gets his ass kicked before he answers Todo’s big ass tall girl question right and Todo has a whole ass slice of life flashback of ‘this is what you mean to me now’ constructing a friendship between him and Yuji in seconds and it’s fucking great. The rest of the Kyoto peeps show off the intros to their movesets and try to kill Yuji but Todo is not having that because if anyone’s gonna fist his new bro to death it’s gonna be him. Meanwhile the rest of Megumi’s group has figured out that literally none of the Kyoto peeps seem interested in the game they’re supposed to be playing and rush to help Yuji and start pairing off into their own little matchups for this arc which looks like it’ll be fun, like a lot of the characters seem cool but we really do need a Chunin Exams style arc where they beat the shit out of each other and cry about their backstories to really solidify this many characters because honestly we don’t have enough info on even the big players yet to really give them emotional cores. Todo stops fighting Yuji and says he wants him to become strong so they can REALLY fight and Yuji’s fresh off his ‘watched his domestic terrorist friend die because Yami Yuji’s a dick and he can’t punch peoples’ souls hard enough’ arc and really needs a win so we’re doin this folks.

Zom 100: So the first two thirds of this episode are like Aggretsuko on steroids, like I don’t want to say this isn’t real because I know this is based on real shit Black Companies do but Akira Tendo’s company makes all the ‘I hate Capitalism’ shows look like Muppet Babies (don’t ask me what that means idk) so I have to believe there’s at least some level of exaggeration in the intensity and/or scope if not the substance of the employee abuse in play here despite it being generally representative of Japanese Corporations just being fucking awful. But yeah if you’ve seen Aggretsuko you know the basic beats of how this goes, Akira has a shitty boss, shitty clients and a bunch of shitty coworkers with shitty practices that drain the life out of any employee protection policies with shitty Japanese work culture. He even has a bland moe big titty crush that only seems to like him because we’ve gotta get pairings going but she’s also banging the boss which that’s uhh… not great on several levels. But yeah, cutting to the chase assuming you’ve seen any ‘I hate Capitalism’ show (there’s been A LOT of them in recent years for some reason, no clue why…) Akira wakes up and finds there’s a zombie apocalypse and it’s kinda funny how he probably Shaun of the Dead’d his way through a lot of this shit before figuring it out. I also enjoy that it’s not necessarily like the nerd fantasy of ‘oh society has broken down so now I can be a king’, no Akira actually takes a pretty healthy approach to things despite his seeming lack of concern about the flesh-eating monsters everywhere and makes his day about emotional closure, he doesn’t revel in the collapse of society or the destruction left in the wake of the apocalypse it’s basically an eternal vacation that just happens to have zombies in it for him and I don’t fully know how long that outlook will last him but it is kinda neat seeing him Carpe the Diem and be so fucking happy about it. He quits his job, kills his boss (as you do), and confesses to his zombie crush with her titty hanging out (again, as you do) like I’ll admit I am a bit thrown by his complete denial of the world going to shit but I am excited for him and how he talks to the zombies like they’re still alive mostly for his own benefit for closure rather than any kind of philosophical reason, like it’s a completely angst-free zombie show and that’s like very strange, even High School of the Dead, as silly as the supersonic titties on that show were, had a good deal of angst despite its protagonists being invincible harem pieces, they still seemed worried about how shit was going down, Akira basically takes the Walking Dead approach of ‘yeah nothing really changed, still could die any moment, fuck it’, it’s like the meme of the nihilist saying ‘Nothing Matters’ while crying and the anti-nihilist saying ‘Nothing Matters’ with a big grin, that’s basically how I can describe Akira’s arc here, extreme anti-nihilism almost to a fault. But yeah, lots of fun, crazy colorful visuals to show how the new zombie world is Akira’s wonderland and I’m interested to see where this goes.  

Ranking of Kings: Now that everything’s good topside, Bojji takes on the mission of returning the chimeras that attacked Hilling to the underworld now that they’re not bad doggos anymore. I mean I’m pretty sure they have no idea Ouken’s been apprehended and there’s like four other Underworld fugitives they don’t have a pin on running around the castle but taking the doggos home is important too I guess. It gets kind of complicated since Domas is down there and the last time Bojji saw him he was literally trying to kill him so yeah that’s a bit rough. Meanwhile Domas and Kirito are down at the portal trying to seal it off but they don’t get to it in time I guess and the Underworld guards are there and Domas has to fight off a whole squad of them which he does, complete with ‘big guy that seems strong but goes down like the rest of them’ because that’s always a good way to spice up fighting mooks. However Desha comes through saying he wanted to fight Bosse now that he’s the size of a kid and Domas is just like ‘nah bro’ and it’s really fucking funny because Domas is trying to galaxy brain this fight by analyzing both their weapons and striking distances and Desha just kinda inches closer to him and kicks him in the nuts, like it ain’t that deep bro I guess. Meanwhile Gnasty Gnorc drops down to the Underworld (forgetting the doggos which is the whole reason why they’re here) with Bojji and Kage in hand and Bojji has a full blown Puss in Boots panic attack when he sees Domas again but Domas is just so happy that Bojji is alive he tries to do Sudoku to repent and Kirito’s just like ‘how about we just protect him instead’ and they fight for a bit before Desha takes out Gnasty Gnorc and says he’s just here to kill Miranjo because she’s the bitch that started all this and like he’s not wrong, I mean he plans on taking over the kingdom and 1v1ing their child king and shit but yeah Miranjo does seem to be the problem here though I have no doubt we’ll end up Talk No Jutsuing her though I have no idea how that’ll work given Bojji literally can’t talk but also doesn’t want to kill anyone so we’ll see how that shakes out.

Vinland Saga: Well turns out the thief girl from last episode survived and she’s now told Thorkell’s troops where Askeladd and co. are just as Thorkell’s getting antsy from the winter putting a cork in his murder spree, so now the timetable on them getting their butts in gear has been moved way up and the whole ‘slaughtering a whole village of innocent people to keep them quiet’ deal kinda fell through. Meanwhile, said deal is making the Priest feel kinda shitty about God and Canute’s like ‘fuck you, God is awesome, he’s the biggest Father and fathers are cool to their kids and shit’ right in front of Thorfinn who’s still dealing with his own daddy issues. Also turns out Canute is basically Sanji because he’s like ‘dad I wanna cook’ and his dad’s just like ‘COOK!? YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT’ and Thorfinn gets his first meal in like probably a decade that doesn’t taste like overly salted slim jims from his king malewife. Meanwhile Askeladd’s crew is fighting with Thorkell’s scouts and they have to get the fuck out of dodge except the plan is to go FURTHER into England while also being chased by the English so Ragnar’s pissed about that and goes all Karen and asks to speak with Manager Askeladd. Turns out this was all part of Askeladd’s plan and they were really just leading him out to the front lines to stage his death so Askeladd can worm his way in and work on influencing Canute without Ragnar babying him. Ragnar tells Askeladd that in reality Canute was sent to war to die so that there would be no obstruction to his older, cooler brother taking the throne and the faction that supported Canute would fall apart and rally behind his brother. I’m no scholar for monarchys but does Canute really have any claim to the throne here like why is there a faction backing him at all if Herald is older and by birthright should be next in line and according to the weird Viking standards is better suited for the job when Canute’s main achievements are being REALLY Christian and pissing himself at the first sign of trouble? Feels like a reverse Ranking of Kings situation where the guy everyone wants for the job was next in line anyway so why was there any trouble. Anyway Ragnar dies and it’s really sad and Askeladd has to change plans and bring Canute into hiding because apparently King Dad wants to murder him for being a fucking pussy and if anyone wants to get anything out of saving the prince they have to make sure that doesn’t happen.   

[littlevampie222]

50 Dig A Little Deeper Questions

1. Do you prefer writing with black or blue pen? Black, but it doesn't really matter to me.

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or the city? Suburbs, but more so on the country side.

3. If you could learn a new skill, what would it be? Better at crafting (well, just have more patience so I could do better lol)

4. Do you drink your tea or coffee with sugar? ABSOLUTELY NOT! 🤮

5. What was your favorite book as a child? Green Eggs and Ham, anything R.L. Stine, or the Junie. B. Jones series!

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? Both. But bubble baths most of all!

7. If you could be a mythical creature, Which would you choose? I really don't know 🤔 Most of the cool ones come with a serious downside to them. But if I had to choose, a vampire.

8. Do you prefer reading paper or electronic books? Paper, when I can.

9. What is your favorite item of clothing? Converse shoes! (If that counts as clothing lol). If not, graphic or band/wrestling tees.

10. Do you like your name? Would you ever change it? Nope. Never really have. But, I'd never change it now. I wanted to as a kid, though.

11. Who is a mentor to you? Eh, no one in particular.

12. Would you ever want to be famous? If so, what for? Never. I like my privacy and peace of mind.

13. Are you a restless sleeper? Very much so.

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic? I think so.

15. Which element best represents you? Earth 🌎

16. Who do you want to be closer to? My family.

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? Many people 😭

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. Sitting on a blanket spread out on our lawn with my mom and our new puppies, while my Dad had music playing in his car and tinkered around in it.

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? Nuggets dipped in mashed potatoes, then in ketchup. Pb&J mixed together in a bowl. Or raw noodles.

20. What can you see outside your bedroom window? The street. Trees.

21. What are you most thankful for? My life, my family, my home.

22. Do you like spicy food? Nope.

23. Have you ever met someone famous? Plenty!

24. Do you keep a diary or journal? Sometimes.

25. Do you prefer to use pen or pencil? Pencil.

26. What is your star sign? Capricorn.

27. Do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy? In between.

28. What would you want your legacy to be? Just that I was a good person.

29. Do you like reading? What was the last thing you read? A comic, probably.

30. How do you show someone you love them? With gifts, doing kind things for them, or telling them.

31. Do you like ice in your drinks? Rarely, unless I'm at a restaurant.

32. What are you afraid of? A lot lol Mostly heights.

33. What is your favorite scent? These days it's coconut stuff.

34. Do you address older people by their first or last name? First.

35. If money was not a factor, How would you live your life? Not much different than now, honestly. See the above response about being famous.

36. Do you prefer swimming in pools or in the ocean? Pools.

37. What would you do if you found $50 on the ground? Idk 🤷🏻‍♀️

38. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Did you make a wish? Idk.

39. What is one thing you would want to teach your children? Manners! To stand up for themselves. Strength.

40. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? I have some, and plan for quite a few more.

41. What can you hear right now? UFC.

42. Where do you feel the safest? At home.

43. What is one thing you want to overcome.conquer? Eh, a lot of things honestly.

44. If you could travel back to any era, Which would you choose? The 20s or 50s.

45. What is your most used emoji? 🖤

46. What is your favorite season? Why? Autumn/Spring. It's pretty, lots to do, I love the atmosphere of it all. And the temperature isn't bad either!

47. How would you spend your ideal day? I'd be wanting to do so much, idk lol

48. Describe yourself using one word. Loyal (to those that are loyal to me).

49. What do you regret the most? Nothing.

50. Invent your own word. What does it mean? Idk lol

[septembersghost]

God I love you I couldn't stand Barney either and more than that I actually can't believe they got away with that character and how disgusting he is but of course they did! I went down the rabbit hole after reading that ask you got and found stuff from people who've actually worked with them in person saying the same so I'm conflicted because nobody deserves to live like that but also I had no idea about the Amy thing, I loved my girl:( the people who shared this were that guy from Modern Family and his husband smh they suck too

we're not even talking that long ago! himym has been off the air for less than a decade! there are classic sitcoms at any point from the 50s through the 90s that are less sexist/ageist than the stuff they had barney doing in himym in the 2000s-2010s!...WHY did the writers and we, as a society, think that was funny? and there were elements of that character that could've been likeable, but it all got buried under the awful playbook humor. (the fact that they MARKETED that. 🤦🏻‍♀️)

that ask actually prompted me to google something too, and i ended up in a thread where people were saying he's not the nicest. (i'd honestly forgotten just how bad the amy thing really was, and that it wasn't a cake, it was a meat platter, which is unspeakably appalling.) idk he's been famous since childhood and i do think that often messes up people's psyches and empathy meters, but he also may just be frightfully egotistical. i'd also forgotten about the incident where he mocked my girl rachel bloom. 😡 i also found out he just apologized for that THIS YEAR? dude. i didn't remember that it was jesse tyler ferguson's husband who had shared the picture either. ugh. there's no time or place anyone should ever have considered that funny, it was grotesque.

amy didn't deserve anything about the way the media treated her, and it is directly related to what i was saying here the other day, and it ties right into the discussions we've had about marilyn too - over and over again, vulnerable people, particularly women, are subjected to constant cruelty and invasiveness and abuse by the media (and now social media) and society at large, and it ends up detrimentally harming them, sometimes with catastrophic results, and every single time, years later, everyone apologizes and reflects on how horrible it was and realizes they shouldn't have done that. and then it happens again. i don't know how we go about improving this behavior or acting with more kindness, but there needs to be more recognition and care regarding the harm stuff like this does to real people. :(

[choptop-sawyer]

Ok, honestly and without romanticising, how do you think would it go if one lf the Sawyer boys fell in love with a victim? Like, would they kidnap them but convince the rest of the family not to kill them? How would the others react, would we get more of " ____'s got a girl/boyfriend"? It's just a question that has been bugging me for quite a while, as most of them don't really encounter any people outside the family, with the exception of victims.

Sincerely, the anon who thirsted over your icon

Hello icon thirst anon!!! Ohhhh... this ask has so much potential. I love digging into more realistic interpretations of the Sawyers. Of course, there's always going to be an element of unreality with scenarios where you end up with one of them. But close as possible to the source material, I mean.

But what source material? TCM 1 and 2 are obviously the superior movies (for me) and the best of the Sawyers are in them. No extended family or some shit, I can stomach a twin of Nubbins, especially since he's so fun. But they both have extremely different vibes, and different characterizations of the Sawyers. (Except Nubbins. RIP man).

It also, obviously, depends on the Sawyer.

Um... anyway. Sorry for going on too long. Under the cut.

TW: Canon Typical mentions of violence, kidnapping, unhealthy relationships

With Bubba, if we're going TCM 1 wise, I hope you're good at running. The only likely way he's going to meet you is as a victim, and if he meets you on your own at first? He's going to do his job, no matter how attractive you might be to him. Leatherface won't even acknowledge you as more than meat if you're in his sights. Run. And run fast. There's almost no chance Bubba would fall for you with the saw in his hands.

Now, if you were brought back as a VICTIM by another brother, then you have a chance. Bubba has time to see you as a "guest" for a while rather than simply meat. But your time window is limited. Once the others get tired of you, you're meat again. Most likely, Bubba would be attracted to your appearance right away. But that wouldn't be enough to save you, you could easily be another mask. The key is, the thing that would give you the highest chance of survival and a relationship, is to not scream. To not flinch away from his touch when he pets your head. Maybe even say some nice words to him.

Then, there's something that would be gone if you were butchered. That's how you get Bubba invested.

If we're going with the most non romanticized version, you'd still die. Bubba's desires never mattered much anyway to the rest, because he really never expresses it out of subservience. But... if there is something worked out, you'd be his pet of sorts. Drayton would be completely disinterested unless it affects him or the finances. Nubbins might poke at you for a while, then leave you alone once you become a normal thing. What business of it is theirs?

Bubba is the one who tries the most to love you. It might not even be love, at the beginning. More a fascination. But I do believe that he'd care the most. Being with him, I think, would feel the... most gentle? Idk. He wouldn't try to hurt you on purpose if you're in that situation.

Nubbins is hard to nail down, character wise. All of the Sawyers are pretty mysterious, but he's really up there in mysteriousness to the viewer. Franklin thought him an omen, the others thought him a freak, and the audience sees what the audience sees, but no one really knows for sure.

I imagine it would be like a mirage, meeting him. He definitely meets at least a few strangers, with his hitchhiking. You'd either be kind (or foolish enough) to pick him up, or if you were a local, you'd meet him in the endless expanses, terrible and shimmering in the heat. Maybe he'd be quiet at first, stammering out answers with a small smile, like he's trying to remember his lines, but if you excite him in some way, you're in for it.

It would probably just strike him out of the blue that he likes you, and he wouldn't waste any time. He's not really scheming and mischievous, despite his impression. He rolls with whatever he feels. Extremely realistically, you'd get hurt in some way. Possibly really badly. But if you were to be his S/O, it's gonna be a kidnapping. (You might be able to overpower him though. Twig.)

He wouldn't keep you in the house. He might not even think to introduce you to Drayton, because Drayton would be very displeased. But luckily, there's quite a few secret places he's found in his explorations. He might take you there.

It would be very odd. Once the initial terror wears down, you'd realize that Nubbins is a raw and open wound. Repulsive, but honest. He doesn't quite belong anywhere. You think he hoped you'd belong to him, and him to you. The only way out is to be locked in a death grip. I don't think it'd last very long.

The second movie' wacky atmosphere fits Chop Top very well, but we still don't know much about the details of his life. We know the backstory, that he listens to the radio every night, and that he has a love for music and smashing skulls. You could meet him anywhere, as long as you aren't looking for him. He seems to be the kind of guy who was everywhere wherever he was, at least once. If he invites you back to his place after some flirtations traded, don't accept. That would probably mean death for you, not at the hands of a regal and somber grim reaper, but the kind of death that not many wish to think about. He'll come back to the same place to see you again, if he likes you enough. And maybe, he'll even ask you out for real. Chop Top likes the idea of being in a relationship, because all the songs on the radio were written about it. He wants to live them. And you... you're perfect.

If he really cares for you, he'd keep you a secret from his family. There's two lives he leads, the one formed by radio and wild living, and the other formed by the tight, insular environment of his childhood. Chop Top might whisper about you to corpse Nubbins, giggling as he recounts how good-looking you are, and ain't he lucky? But that's it, unless you're foolish. If you get to curious well... he'll invite you to dinner. It's sink or swim then. Good luck.

Drayton is the least likely to find someone he cares enough about not to kill. He's thinking of self-preservation above all, and an S/O complicates too many things. But you'd have to be a local, he doesn't trust strangers. He's loathe to introduce you to his family though. As important as they are in how much they define his very life, they would throw off too many red flags.

He might try to deny his attraction to you at first, as a consequence. But if you won him over, he'd hide the Sawyer's "special diet" as well as he could. Drayton is used to painting over everything, throwing a rug over the mess. When you go to the house? Bone furniture has to be stashed away, hide the meat hooks, hide the horrors, hide away the brothers.

The twins would probably find out somehow, and mercilessly tease him. He feels shameful, somehow, when they do, and that makes him angry. He feels, deep down, that he's betraying the way of life. Don't expect much.

(Sorry if this was rambly)

[arabnico]

"ask me about nico and love"... this ask button is making me feel kind of emotional for some reason. bcs. yeah. nico and love.

so, dear tumblr user arabnico:

1. on nico: what's a thought you had about him/his storyline recently?

2. on love: what do you think is your love language?

i hope you have a wonderful night 💌

dearest sam evergardenwall,

i am so glad this ask button is making you emotional because both of those things and their intersection plague me with thoughts constantly i cannot escape them at all. it’s literally unreal. rn i have to hold myself back from going on a whole tangent they make me crazy. anyway.

honestly i’ve been thinking about a lot of things wrt nico (as always). particularly something about nico and names and titles… how he both doesn’t choose them but chooses to let them shape him even (or especially) when it’s not for the better… i will definitely come back to this thought and flesh it out properly at some point. But i’ve also (unfortunately) been thinking about the upcoming 2023 book a lot and how it could possibly continue off of what we’ve reached of nico’s character arc because it clearly isn’t going to be some kind of recounting of all of nico’s ‘adventures’ and filling the gaps of his storyline, like every time he went off on his own, how he found and met hazel, literally those three years he was mending for himself?? there’s so much existing elements to delve deep into and they’re still not going to be explained ever when i think this is what makes nico the character that he is today… i’m especially wary of how the shift from nico being a side character to a main one will be because i think nico truly thrives as someone on the sidelines, some kind of outsider while being just involved enough i think his perspective is so important as it is i don’t know how it’s gonna go in the book to be frank. there’s also this issue of the main storyline that doesn’t sound too bad in some way but it can be handled and ended so terribly it’s. idk. it was not rr or mo’s intentions at all but the cyclical nature of nico’s suffering, the way he takes the choice to stay stuck in this monomyth he’s in… there’s also this issue of rr enjoying piling up trauma on nico for some weird reason that worries me as well. and like. he’s already destroyed nico’s entire character and storyline once it is not completely off the radar that he does it again. idk. my ideal nico book will always be him recounting his stories… like he’s a traveler he knows everyone and has been everywhere his little side quests were what enabled the general storyline to move on and were essential to the solving and progression of everything and you’re not gonna tell us anything about it… heartbreaking. just a loss. and i obviously have another pretty big problem with that book but i won’t bring it up because 🦭.

my love language hm… i’m gonna be honest i’ve actually never thought about that at all. i’m not the hugest fan of the concept of dividing love into those categories because i think it kind of all overlaps and is all intertwined in some way… idk. i’m actually not sure whether it means how one expresses the love they have for others or how one prefers to have love expressed to them. frankly i think there’s love in everything you do and say and are to some degree and seeing love in everything is kind of very? liberating? idk… anyway i think the way i intuitively mostly express it for others is doing things for them, i’ve had people point out how much of an innately ‘everybody eats’ person i am so maybe that. also i think it kind of comes with being the eldest in your family lol. and how i’d like to be shown love… hm. i’m not a fan of physical touch or receiving gifts so those are the only ones i’m like No. but i think that any way that someone tries to express their love for you is beautiful.. like it’s a lot about the intention more than the act itself? to be honest i don’t have significant interpersonal relationships in my life so maybe that plays into my indecisiveness so idk. this isn’t coherent at all i am so sorry T-T

i have no idea if i answered any of that properly ahdjdh it’s probably so long for nothing. you are so sweet. i hope you’re having an amazing night as well <3

thy mutual,

arabnico

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

The way you draw is so bingus honestly I’m not sure how to describe it

It’s like you made the characters out of silly putty and then like squished them ever so slightly

It’s kind of like Ed Edd and Eddie, and Courage the Cowardly Dog? Those shows where each frame was detailed and kind of, like, fuckin’ stretchy. No bones, only EMOTION.

And like, it’s twisted somehow. Idk if that’s what you’re going for - it could just be that I personally find that sort of style mildly unsettling. But the emotional intensity of the stories you tell combined with the vibe-oriented pseudo-anatomy makes it feel dimly like a bad dream. One of the ones where the emotion is sadness and not fear, the ones where you can’t go home.

It’s very distinctive. I like it a lot.

SILLY PUTTY!!!!

I honestly love that description.

"it's not that I don't know how bodies work. All my characters are canonly made of playdough"

PERFECT! GHFHFHHFF

As a kid I didn't like Edd, Ed and Eddy cus the art style hurt my sensitive eyes, with all the wiggly lines and I found it super hard to relate to any of the cast of the culdesac. I'm sure there are kids like that, but in my friend group, I couldn't relate to anyone on a base level and didn't find many of the jokes that funny that I couldnt get from other shows at the time.

As a kid I was a little picky thing and I tended to hate cartoons that strictly focused on "real kids" or "real people" boring if it didn't have a fantastical element to it. Like... I hated Hey Arnold, As told by Ginger, Proud Family and Doug as a kid.... But loved Danny Phantom, American Dragon, Jackie Chan Adventures, Avatar the Last Airbender, Pokemon Indigo League and Life as a Teenage Robot if that makes sense? Lol

(I know the Eds is WAY more cartoony and zany then the other shows I listed. But my child brain lumped them together as "real people doing boring things" shows for some reason)

Somehow the Eds was always on TV and I ended up watching it when nothing else was on, but I really didn't like the show as a kid. lol

I appreciate the style and show a lot more now. I do remember really loving the movie finale as a kid however. Probably because it was the most plot driven episode in the series with actual stakes and conflict. And I think it was the first time in the series history where characters cried and it wasn't played for comedy. (To my memory)

As I said, I appreciate these shows a lot more now, but the style of the Eds still hurts my eyes.

Courage the Cowardly Dog however was completely my jam. As a child, I would watch anything with dogs in it. Even if it was bad. Scooby-Doo, Krypton, Martha Speaks, Blues Clues, Clifford... If there was a dog, I was down. (I guarantee I would have watched paw patrol if it was in the 90s/early 2000s)

And I remember having fun times watching Courage with my Mom on week day afternoons.

I was always fascinated with things that were scary or a little bit creepy. I remember also loving the heck out of Hunchback of Notre Dame when I was eight and would burn out my VHS so bad.

So Courage comes up with it's creepy themes and halarious running jokes (honestly, rewatching that show as an adult, you can tell they phone in jokes a lot of the time. The running jokes are super abundant to the point I wonder if the actors recorded one take and they kept reusing it just cus it made them laugh. Cries in lack of bonus features on the collectors dvd.)

Courage was the perfect amount of slapstick and horror. Kinda like a modern day Scooby-Doo of it's time (which I also loved) just without the bland predictable mystery element. (I can't believe it took us till 2022 to get that Scooby-Doo and Courage crossover, even if it was a little lame lol)

The show also taught me a lot about the value of courage as an anxiety-ridden kid.

Courage not being the absence of fear, but the boldness to press on despite your fears.

And Courage's over the top screaming and most of the 'Monsters' of the week having their own motivation for doing what they did, made me a little less scared I like to think. Most of the monsters in Courage were never strictly "evil". Every one of them tended to have misguided morals or ethics and Courage had to stop them because their actions would result in them kidnapping Mariel or hurting his family. (Some of them were just pure evil...but that was super rare. Like even the "return the slab" guy just wants his land/tablet back that was taken from him. )

Idk. Even now I think that's pretty cool. And even if Courage is a super formulic show, I still adore it to this day.

Anyways.... I rambled too long about cartoons I had growing up. Hfhfgdgd

But yes. All my characters are made of puddy. Thank you.

[bvnga-aprikot]

types of books i think wmmap characters would read

this is my personal interpretation so if i got anything wrong feel free to address them. without further ado!

Athanasia

I think we all agree that Athy's a big fan of Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, I'm pretty sure it's been referenced in the novel but i'm sure I probably missed it. But in general I think she'd love fantasy stories, specifically those with an escapist and whimsical feel to it, added with an air of mystery or even some politics mixed in. Athy also likes stories sprinkled in with a bit of romance as well.

Fun fact, I actually found out through some of my mutuals that apparently, Athy wrote some raunchy adult novels at some point? I don't know the legitimacy of this information but i've seen it being thrown around here on Tumblr, so do with that information as you will.

Continuing on, I think a book series I could see her probably liking is La Passe-miroir by Christille Dabos. It's a French book series following a a girl named Ophelia who can read and communicate with the souls of objects, and has the power to travel through mirrors. I'll leave it at that for now but so far I think it's very interesting. The thing I could see Athy not liking about it though is probably the love interest, idk I think she'll make fun of him every time he shows up.

Jennette

Now, I think it's safe to assume that Jennette would love stories involving some sort of found family or stories that follows a group of friends doing what friends do. Like Athanasia I could see her being in love with fantasy, maybe as a way to endorse herself while being cooped up in the Alpheus' mansion.

Okay don't get me wrong, I love making fun of christians as much as others, but i can see Jenny liking the Chronicles of Narnia. I can see her looking up to characters like Susan and Lucy at a young age because she'd see them as role models for being queen. Also it has a lot of family elements.

Personal Opinion, I think Jennette has a big disinterest for most YA stories. Not that she'd hate them, I just think she's less interested with it and doesn't pay attention to them at all. If she weren't so... naive or easily sensitive to most things, I'd think she'd enjoy Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Her favorite will hands down be Wylan as I can see her relating to him on a personal level.

Ezekiel

This one is a bit hard, as I see him as a person who's open to reading all kinds of books. You know, for knowledge and experience. I can see him enjoy reading autobiographies or memoirs about peoples lives since i think he'd be interested in how people reflect on their lives and the events that they experienced.

If we're talking about fictional, then that's a tough one. I think he'd typically read a lot of classical or older literature, such as books written by Jane Austen or Agatha Christie, but if i were to add more to this, maybe gothic literature as well. Idk but something about it just exudes something Kiel would be interested in to me. (if you think otherwise, leave your response below, i'd like to see what you think)

Lucas

Lucas doesn't read. He just listens to Athy reading her favorite books and decide if they're interesting or not.

I'M KIDDING, I'M KIDDING! To be precise I think he'd enjoy gothic literature, specifically the horror kinds. He's just one pretentious bitch and I love that. Honestly if he and Kiel didn't have a rivalry, they could bond over their interests in gothic literature...

[mskatesharma]

Hey sorry to bother you but I wanted to ask if you could rec some good sources on learning more about Indian Culture/history/customs. Movies books anything really. I have looked online but well, I always take things on the internet with several grains of salt. And considering I know very little on it, I can't say how reliable the information is. I would like to incorporate elements of Kate being Indian when writing about Kate (and Kate and Anthony) going forward and I want to do it in as respectful and accurate a way as I can. For example, I had a thought of Anthony seeing Kate and her fam celebrate Holi and falling in love with how happy and carefree she is and brushing some paint off her cheek before she dunks some pigment onto him or something 1/2

But considering I've never celebrated Holi or seen it celebrated before I don't think I'd do a good job to write it... I know I get annoyed when people get the basic customs and traditions of my culture wrong. Anyway sorry for rambling TLDR: I would like to learn more about Indian culture and idk where to begin so I would be grateful for any direction you can point me at 2/2

so this has taken me a while to answer because i needed to find time to sit down, think about it and answer it properly. it might seem like a somewhat simple question, but to me, at least, it’s complicated? (i’m probably going to be going over stuff you probably already know, but i’m trying to answer in a complete way.)

i need to start off by saying that my family is from north india (gujarat specifically), and because of that, i have a certain level of privilege, including how north indians and north indian culture is portrayed in the media (obviously including bollywood). i mention this because simone ashley is south indian, specifically tamil, and there is so much prejudice against south indians in general, and this obviously extends to how they are depicted and how their culture is shown in various forms of media; colourism (which simone has spoken out about) is just the start of it. (also, as someone who is north indian, i’m not the best placed person to talk about the prejudice and discrimination faced by south indians.)  

a big part of why desi fans are so excited about simone’s casting as kate is because she a dark-skinned woc, and typically, dark-skinned women aren’t cast as romantic leads, and they’re not cast in shows anyway, especially when compared to light-skinned woc. so the fact that she’s going to be a lead in one of the biggest shows on netflix is a big.fucking.deal. in addition, they changed her character’s surname from ‘sheffield’ to ‘sharma’, which on the surface seems like a great idea, but if you look a little deeper, there are so many problems to be found.

(this got long so continues below)

sharma is not a generic indian surname; it’s specifically a north indian hindu name, which throws up questions. is kate going to be a hindu on the show? does this mean her family is from north india?  are they going to talk about caste on the show because sharma is a brahmin surname? how are they going to explain kate being in england, and being out in society with the upper crust of the british aristocracy? (because of the time that bridgerton is set, and with them specifically setting up kate as indian, i honestly don’t know how they’re going to explain kate’s presence) i honestly think that the show didn’t think too deeply about it and they chose the name sharma because it starts with ‘sh’ and ~sounds indian. however, it’s thrown up so many questions that they can’t ignore, especially because they tried to explain race in the first season. 

i talk about all this because you ask about holi, and incorporating elements of kate being indian when writing. and i’m not trying to be mean, but i would maybe hold off altogether? i need to point out that holi is a hindu festival, and is not specifically tied to being indian. i know i mentioned that sharma is a hindu surname, but we don’t even know if kate is going to be hindu, she may be a christian, or another religion or an atheist. also, because simone is tamil, they may decide to have kate be south indian despite the north indian origins of sharma, if they chose to address it at all. and depending on where in india you are from, and your religion, you will celebrate different festivals. even indians of the same religion celebrate different festivals, and some celebrate occasions at different times (e.g. gujaratis celebrate hindu new year the day after diwali. this isn’t the case for most other hindus. if we take holi, i know that it tends to be celebrated more in north india, and the image you describe isn’t necessarily universal). 

there has been a lot in the tags regarding clothing, and seeing kate and her family wearing indian clothing, and while i get it, it makes me nervous. personally, i cannot wait to see kate in the same style of dresses that everyone else wore in season one. why? because seeing an indian woman in that period of dress is something i have been longing for. i don’t want to see an indian woman wearing a lengha or a sari or sabyasachi in that time period, i want to see her in a bonnet and empire waistline, because that is something we haven’t seen much of. 

also, talking about seeing kate and her family wearing indian clothing has the potential to ‘other’ her, and tbh, can come across sometimes as fetishy, especially when you consider the time the story takes place in, and all the implications of colonialism. (there’s also the fact that unless the show has hired indian costume designers, it would be kinda gross for them to use any kind of indian clothing, and that includes adding elements to the era-typical dress that i’m hoping for.) 

i’m going to be honest, i’ve seen pieces of fanart with kate wearing a sari and other indian clothing, while anthony has been in typical regency dress, and it makes me uncomfortable. it gives off coloniser vibes, and that’s a dynamic i have absolutely no interest in. there’s also the fact that i’ve seen art where simone as kate has been shown as light-skinned, to the point where she appears to be the same colour as anthony, and i mean, hello?!

full disclosure, i’ve made some posts regarding headcanons and music that i should have thought twice about. i’ve reblogged stuff that i should have thought more about before i did so. why? because they had overtones of north indian privilege, and/or orientalism. being indian (wherever in india that is) is part of someone’s identity, it’s not a gimmick to sprinkle onto things, and it’s not something to festishise, and i think, at least from what i’ve seen, that is the concern a lot of desi fans have, even if that’s not the intention of the original posters.   

i realise i’ve gone on a seemingly massive tangent, but what i’m trying to say is, i don’t think there is a need to specifically reference kate being indian, especially when when writing canon-era fic, even more so when you consider we don’t know how the show is going to address it. now, i’m not saying i have faith in the show when it comes to kate and her ~indian surname, just that until we know how the show addresses it, i don’t see why it needs to be referred to? i understand why one might want to, but i just think there are waaay too many potential pitfalls, and the risk of coming across as orientalist/patronising/fetishy too high. some fans have fears when it comes to kate sharma and how she is presented, and for good reason.

sorry for not answering how you expected, and not giving you the resources you asked for (which, tbh, i’m not sure i would know where to start). i get what you were trying to ask, and i thank you for asking in the first place, but the question felt a little unfair tbh. but, i would encourage to read up on orientalism, also about the privilege that north indian hindus have, and honestly, the british colonisation of india.

ETA: i put this in the reblog but im going to add it here as well

also, something i forgot to add, even though i talk about north indians/north india and south indians/south india, it is obviously more complicated than that. there are many different states in india, and even then, different regions within those states will have different customs to each other. and then you have to factor in religion. likewise, there’s no one language that everyone in india speaks. basically, it’s not one universal culture that can be ‘boiled down to the essentials’.