#this isn't just an excuse to talk more about my fic but it is somewhat overlapping with themes i explore within it

[anistarrose]

This isn't something I would describe as a prominent or even intentional theme, but there's something fascinating to me about how TAZ Balance characters associated with composing and performing music are almost entirely correlated with either being forgotten, or having an incredibly warranted fear of being forgotten.

Johann is obviously the latter. I have an ongoing fic about his parallels with Barry — who plays piano, and who is the character we see spend the most time knowing he has been forgotten by people dear to him, and grappling with it. And I've seen the Johann and Lup dynamic get well-deserved attention in AUs where she lives, and they get to relate to each other as violinists — yet the parallels are at their strongest in canon, where Lup is the "most" dead of all the undead characters, the "most" forgotten, the most reduced to a near-invisible specter haunting the narrative, and the most like Johann's worst nightmare.

There's even a parallel with Davenport, who is a beautiful singer, and whose life story and dreams and achievements are all completely erased. So that's three different characters whose forgotten stories — which Johann obviously does not know — still serve to silently justify Johann's fear of the same fate, emphasizing just how likely it is that it could come to pass. How yes, it would be that horrifying.

And as a non-musician, but an artist of a kind myself... it all resonates. The fear of one's legacy being forgotten is a common fear in general, but it has a particular type of teeth to it for us creatives, who shudder in terror at the thought of a masterwork — that feels like a piece of one's soul — being forgotten, let alone cut short by untimely tragedy.

But that's why I treasure, so dearly, that all of these musically inclined characters — Barry, Lup, Davenport, Johann — are not forgotten permanently, but instead immortalized by the Story and Song, no matter the varying degrees of alive and dead that they wind up in the end. I treasure the parallels between these characters that say being forgotten is a grounded, reasonable thing to fear; that it is scary — but that no matter what, memory will still find a way.

[bizbat]

Those Jason crush hcs were so funny (obvi they were cute too) butJason getting so embarrassed he tried to crawl outside with 4 bullet holes and half his blood outside his body was such a mood. Me too dude. Can we have some more of him being delulu about his crush? It was so deliciously embarrassing and funny. What would happen if his wifey/husbando was just boldly was like- “Jason we're not dating, why would you think we were? We're not even having sex?”

EVEN MORE! When They're In Love Headcanons - Jason Todd

🕸️Spiderverse Masterlist🕸️

🐼JJK Masterlist🐼

~ Fem terms used for reader.

~ Mild smut alluded to but nothing explicit.

~ You can find parts One, Two, and Three here!

~ You can find more of my works here.

~ This is gonna be mostly fic bc I am running out of ideas lol. This took an inappropriate amount of time to write omg

~ Jay is kinda toxic so Tw: Unhealthy Relationships Dynamics, mentions of having children, slight violence, Jason is a freak and reader is tired.

By now, I've made it clear that this man is deep in the delusion.

But I haven't really gone into detail in what I mean by that.

I mean he'll say something teasing in jest, and if you reciprocate that energy even the tiniest bit, he will take that and run with it.

Though that's not even solid, bc if you take everything he says literally, he'd still think you're playing along.

Jason could make a joke with someone and not gaf about their response, but you could say the exact same thing as the person he joked with and he'd get heart eyes.

So far, I've kinda been writing with an oblivious reader in mind but a reader who knows all of Jason's delusions would pretty interesting lol.

You'd probably overhear him talking to Roy or Dick about your "date" last night.

Read: He broke into your apartment while you were at work and surprised you with chinese takeout when you got home.

I think if you confronted him about his delusions, he'd be willfully ignorant, and act like he doesn't know what you mean.

~ Drabble Starts Here. ~

Lian seems so happy, you can't bring yourself to be the bearer of bad news.

You're sat beside the little girl at her even littler table, the handle of a plastic teacup loosely gripped between your thumb and forefinger, your pinky high up in the air. The smile on your face is sincere as she mindlessly babbles, pouring sugar water into your cup.

You can't help but grimace when she encourages you and her stuffed animals to drink up, and you can't help but feel like the girl is being somewhat malicious when she seemingly starts interrogating you, only to push the cup of surgery water back to your lips whenever you to to answer her litany of, frankly, over-personal questions.

Some of the questions you don't mind, they're about as pure and unassuming as the pink princess tiara laying crookedly atop her head. It's when she asks if you and Jason are gonna get married and have babies with the most deadpan face you've ever seen on a child, that finally makes you choke on the (syrup) water.

"Excuse me?!" You ask, wiping away the mess on your face with a embroidered napkin and desperately trying not to hack up the rest of the beverage, undissolved grains of sugar still residing in the back of your throat. "Why would we do that?" You manage between coughs.

Lian glances towards Jason, who is sat at the table across from the two of you, his knees tucked up to his chest, as he hides his face behind his miniature teacup, though it's mostly ineffective, as the cup looks like a shot glass in his massive hand. Lian innocently looks back to you, as if you were the one who'd asked the more confusing question.

"Uncle Jay said you were dating. Isn't that what happens when people date?"

You crane your neck as you slowly turn your head towards Jason, who is avoiding your ice cold gaze like his life depended on it. "Oh, really?" You ask Lian through gritted teeth, though your gaze is solidly planted on Jason. "Did he now?"

"Mm-hmm," The small girl cheerfully nods her head, the dark braids framing either side of her face swinging from the force of her enthusiasm. "He told me you guys were gonna have a bunch of kids so I could have more people to play with!"

You can't help but stare incredulously at the child as she explains. By now, Jason's put down the cup, giving up at his attempt to hide behind it and simply covering his mouth with his hand, sitting silently like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs as he waits for you to start chewing him out. But it never comes.

"You are, right? I really want more friends." Lian's pleading is almost enough to make you change your mind and agree right there. Almost. As if sensing that she hasn't fully convinced you, Lian continues, going on and on about how she would be a really really good big sister or cousin if you had babies, or how much she's always wanted to go to a wedding, and how pretty you'd be as a bride, and-

She knows better than to continue when you gently raise your hand, as if you're silently saying "That's enough, Lian, please stop talking." You do feel a little remorseful as the girl's once happy demeanor changes to a shyer, more somber at the apparent rejection. You sigh and roll your eyes, finishing of the tiny cup of, what is now, pure sugar. "Maybe someday, Lian."

You put your hand up again, bracing her for the next part of your sentence when you see her start to get riled up again. "But absolutely no promises. Uncle Jay and I need to have a very important conversation later about it, though." That's enough to please Lian, as she goes right back to asking you other invasive questions that have nothing to do with your love life.

Jason, though happily surprised by your answer, stays silent over the next few hours. He honestly forgets you were ever even mad at him to begin with. It's not until you leave and the sky turns that familiar dark red, that you punch Jason in the arm as hard as possible, which, in all honesty, he can't really feel.

Though he does wince and hold his arm in the place where you hit him, to keep your ego intact if nothing else.

"What was that for?!" He dramatically gasps, pouting as he rubs the "sore" spot on his upper arm. Somewhere in the back of your mind you recognize it's kinda cute that he plays into your delusions. Just a little.

"Why would you tell Lian of all people we're dating?!" Your hand subtly clenches by your side, though you try to hide the slight pain punching him gave you, at the end of the day, Jason was raised by a detective. "Why would you even say that when you know it's not true?!"

"First of all," He starts, grabbing your hand. "I tell everyone we're dating." He starts soothing your sore knuckles as he tugs you towards your apartment building. He's so confident as he speaks it's genuinely bewildering. "And second, we are dating."

When he sees the utterly gobsmacked look on your face he continues. "We go on dates," (he just shows up at your home once a week. "We get gifts for each other," (he got you a stray kitten he rescued off the street and he steals your underwear). "We have sex-"

"Okay, number one: No we don't," You say, holding your hand out in front of you just like you did with Lian. "Number two: No we don't," You can almost see his eyes glaze over. He listens to every other thing you say, but when you're telling him your not together? That's when he tunes out.

"And number three: that only happened once!" It comes out a harsh whisper. Your face and ears feel hot with embarrassment, but Jason just shrugs. "Three times, actually, but who's counting?" Jason has a sweet, intentionally dopey looking smile.

You're left speechless by his demeanor. "Just kiddin' . . . I'm counting." He thinks the awkward, bewildered silence is hilarious. So he just keeps talking. "I mark it down in my calendar . . . Celebrate it once a month . . . Might get the dates tattooed."

"Jason." You interrupt.

"Hmm?"

"Go home." He looks over and realizes you're both in front of your apartment door, having talked the whole way. Again, he shrugs, pulling a spare key out of his pocket and moving to unlock your door. "Oh my fucking g-"

"What?" He stops, holding up the key midair. "What's wrong?" "Jason," You groan, rubbing your temples. "Why do you have a key to my apartment?" By now you shouldn't be so surprised, but you are. "Oh, this?" He hold up the key, equally confused that you would even ask. "I had one made when we started dating. How did you think I get in for our dates?"

He can almost smell the exhaustion wafting off you at this point. "Plus I live here."

"Jason you don't-"

"I'm just busy! I know, I know, I should be home more, but when I'm blah blah blah." No longer unused to his inane ramblings, you unlock the door and push past him. You don't even stop him when he follows you inside, still going on about his delusions. You just roll your eyes when he takes of his shoes and jacket and tosses them aside like they he really does live there.

"You shouldn't make dinner, you've had a long day, we can order-"

He's interrupted by yet another sigh. "Jason," you begin, plopping down on the couch. He shuts up and listens intently to every sound coming from your mouth. "I just . . ." You sit up straight. "You don't live here, you're a stalker, and we are not dating." Jason nods as you talk, slowly, as if he's taking in what you said.

"I . . . I understand. I really am sorry I've upset you, but," He kneels on the ground in front of you, gently placing his hand on your thigh. "I am not a stalker." He's incredulous, and you're tired. At this point, what more can you do beside oblige him and his delusions. You sigh again, a deep, deep sigh that instantly drains you of the rest of your energy and makes you deflate into the couch. "Okay, Jay," You say, undressing as you stand and begin walking back to your room. "You win, you're my boyfriend. Goodnight."

Jason just happily nods as he watches you walk to bed. "Yeah, yeah, I win." He's just happy you finally came to your senses. "Night!" He happily calls after you.

[wolfiesmoon]

Making exceptions

Baji x fem!reader

yikes i need copium AND LOTS OF IT (reminds me of a certain long-haired cult leader, or something)

Here's to a good tokyo rev fic debut🙇‍♀️🥂

Warnings: delinquent style™ hurt/comfort to fluff and lots of swearing (but that's on brand for tr anyways)

"Where the hell were you?! I was-" Baji practically broke down the rooftop door, pausing when he noticed your red, cried out face.

You quickly looked away even though you knew he already saw your tears. You've been avoiding him all day, knowing that he'll realise something is up with you straight away if you talked to him.

You thought you finally got him off your trail by sneaking onto the rooftop to cry it out but somehow he saw you leaving.

"Who do I need to kill?" The ominous tone of that question both completely surprised you yet felt completely on-brand for him.

"Don't... go beating up people... please..." you forced out, trying to overpower your hiccups.

"That's not what I was asking. Who the fuck do I need to kill?"

You flinched a little. "I know *hic* you wouldn't..." you knew the basic gist of Toman. That isn't what they do. You wiped your tear-stained cheeks, finally looking up at him. He looked livid, or atleast it looked like an angry face with your blurred vision.

He sighed. "Just tell me."

You can't possibly do that, because the person who made you cry is him. You see, you are hopelessly in love with Baji Keisuke. But the only thing he seems even remotely interested in is his gang. Which is fine, but it really does get to you sometimes.

You've tried everything to stop crushing on him but unfortunately for you, your stubborn heart refuses to let up.

"It's me..." you lied, making up some excuse of failing a test you studied really hard for.

"Did you really think I'd fall for that, idiot?"

You figured. He's too smart for his own good sometimes. It always takes you by surprise, considering his abysmal grades. Definitely not book smart. Or maybe his gang activities just keep him too busy to consider picking up a book.

You looked away again and heard the sound of him sitting down next to you.

"You seriously piss me off when you don't tell me what's wrong. You're lucky you're a girl, or I would beat your ass when you do that."

You laughed somewhat dryly, wiping away the tears on your cheeks. "Lucky me..."

A short silence followed, only interrupted by your ocassinal hiccups and sniffles.

"Are you gonna tell me or do I have to break my 'no-hitting-women' rule?" You could feel his eyes on you. You don't want an innocent person to recieve a beating and saying it's your own problem clearly didn't work, so your only option is....

"Listen... this isn't the best situation to say I'm about to say, but hear me out." You looked up, staring at the bright blue sky. Your vision was starting to clear up.

You didn't see it, but he raised an eyebrow in question.

"I like you. No, I'm in love with you." It simultaneously felt like there was a weight lifted off your shoulders and that ten more were placed on top. You're just desperate to ruin your friendship with him, aren't you?

"I knew that! Why the fuck are you crying over me...?" His words brought your still slightly red, glassy eyes to his, and a sentence jumbled in your throat, coming out as a strange groan.

"You k-knew?! This whole time?!" You tried again, clenching your shirt in your hand.

"You were making it pretty fucking obvious. Even Chifuyu noticed you acting weird." Baji still looked angry, this time at you, but you had a feeling he was very relieved deep down.

"Then... why didn't you say anything?" You held your hand against your forehead in embarrasment. Were you really being that obvious?

"I was waiting for you to confess, did you expect me to casually say 'it's real obvious you're crushing on me' one day?" He raised a brow, moving a part of his hair away from his eyes.

"Fair enough..." the fact he waited for you to confess on your own accord sparked a certain feeling in your chest. Speaking of confessions...

"So, uhh, what's your answer...?" you're not sure why you're even asking. He's made it clear multiple times he isn't interested in girls and relationships.

It is the entire reason you've been on the verge of tears all day.

"Why the hell not. I've been looking for new thrills lately anyways." Your eyes widened, taking a few seconds to properly process his words. You must have looked spaced out of your mind at that moment.

He said it non-chalantly, like he couldn't care less if it was you or another girl but somehow you knew that wasn't the case. You knew he was glad that it's you.

"Well, I'll be damned." You were honestly in too much shock to properly react to the fact he just agreed to be your boyfriend.

He smiled at you widely, showcasing his sharp teeth. "What's up with that reaction? You want me to beat your ass?"

"I'm happy! Trust me, I'm happy!" You yelled out as if you were scared but you knew he didn't mean it.

Does this mean you'll be the primary target if Baji gets into trouble with another gang and they decide to take revenge? How will your life change now? Will your parents approve of a boyfriend like him? Somehow, you never really thought about things like that until that moment.

...Hmmm, maybe the danger is worth it.

[wayfayrr]

aaaaaaahhh all i can think of is like- most isekai fics I've seen for some reason [i mean understandably] the reader is wearing their pajamas, but after visiting the modern world they can finally show the chain what they actually like wearing, [i can see this going in so many ways, depending on who is reacting, and especially depending on what aesthetic the reader likes to dress in. for the sake of the request ill keep it as dark academia, cause i love it so muchhhh [not so much in the summer, but i make it work lol] with time? [just imagining reader with a tie and just wearing business casual w a trenchcoat frrrrrrrr- might draw this kind of thing and send it to you lol]

Anon I hope you know this ask had me in an absolute chokehold. OUJDFNBJNF ✨I LIVE FOR DARK ACADEMIA AESTHETICS!!!✨ My trenchcoat is one of my favourite things I own. So I get your pain in summer as well 🥹

“Hey Time, have you seen Wild anywhere? He borrowed my laptop and I really need it back.”

“I haven’t sorry [nam]-... Is that what you wear normally? You look incredible.”

“Pretty much, yeah? Why, is there an issue with it?”

Time’s blushing. Is what I’m wearing really that impressive because I know he’s not blushing over what I’m wearing being revealing. A trenchcoat that goes down to my calves with the rest of my clothes? Does he just think I’m attractive or something? 

“No, no issue. You look good in it, it’s just very different to what you arrived in Hyrule wearing.”

“I know, like I said then those were my pyjamas. These are my casual clothes.”

Well, his blush has only gotten worse from that, so he is clearly struggling with how my clothes look on me. Dark academia doesn’t exist in Hyrule I know that, but really he’s struggling far more than anyone else has with my fashion sense. 

“Do you think you could help me choose some clothes like that? I’d like to match wit.. I think that style would suit me.”

“If you’d like, we can go shopping for you later. After I get my laptop back and finish off this report I have due.”

Laughing at how he's stumbling over himself to ask me these questions simply isn't an option, no matter how hard it is to hold myself back. He's asking so genuinely and so sweetly and who knows maybe getting some new clothes could help him adjust to this world more easily, I mean it certainly helped me when I was in Hyrule. How different could it be for time?

It didn't take too long to find wild after talking to time, and even less to finish off the work I had to do, now it’s just down to taking time shopping.

“So you want to look like you belong with a shot of espresso in an artisanal coffee shop while writing a research paper?”

“I only know what half of those words mean [name.], even less with how you’re using them.”

“Right, sorry. I’m still getting used to all of the differences in our cultures. Hopefully, you’ll get more used to the terms we use here sooner rather than later. Ready to go out though?”

“I am, it’ll be nice to get some new clothes. Not that I’m complaining about the excuse to wear yours.”

The nearest place that sells things like these isn’t exactly the closest to where I live, making it the perfect opportunity to adjust Time to my world’s transport. Well, more than he’s already seen anyway. Actually, now that I’m thinking about this, what size clothing even is he? Not that it’s an issue but not knowing a vague size is gonna mean he’s going to have to try on a lot of different fits. Then finding the right colours for him is a whole different challenge… And we’re already here… Time to find out the answers to those questions of mine.

“Where would you like to start?”

“A coat exactly like yours perhaps?”

“I don’t see why not. Any colour in mind or just the same style?”

A shrug was NOT what I wanted as an answer, but he does know what he wants which means that I’ve got somewhere to start. Trench Coats are somewhat pricey but with how some of the others are chipping in towards living costs now there’s no issue with spending out occasionally. He seems to be gravitating more towards things that are similar to mine, isn’t that charming? He sees something he likes on me then decides that’s what he wants for himself hopefully, he just stays away from the expensive ones. 

“You ready to try those on then, old man?”

“Just a moment more love, I can’t find quite the right colour yet.”

He just… How red is my face right now? It has to be crimson, doesn’t it? That’s the first time Time’s ever called me something like that naturally it’s when he’s looking at clothes like my own, is he trying to kill me with his charms?

[danmei-confessions]

Adding my two cents as a survivor of multiple forms of abuse (including CSA): I *really hate* how this fandom acts about abuse narratives-- demonizing one abuse survivor vs another, when in reality both of them have done fucked up things as a result of their trauma (it's what makes both LBG and SJ so compelling to me personally!!). I *especially* hate how people seem to basically "tier" abuse, with SA being the "worst trauma" over any other kind and acting as though SJ is more worthy of... pity? idk because of implied CSA (which... that in itself is fanon and up for interpretation... I personally think so, but in a somewhat different way than the usual interpretation but that isn't important) than LBG is... that might not be peoples' intent, but physical vs sexual abuse shouldn't be a "this is worse than that" sort of thing since different traumas affect different people differently, and it's really really uncomfortable to see people make that kind of assumption and talk about very real traumas that very real people face the way they do.

Anyway, I feel like a lot of the debates are due to piss-poor reading comprehension across the fandom. People point out that SJ abused LBH because *a lot of times people will actually act like he didn't.* Things like saying there was medicine in the tea, or that he didn't know/approve of the fake manual... even claims that "that was just the way things were and corporal punishment was normal." Which... is pretty gross tbh.

I like SJ's character as a person who was hurt who then turned around and took that out on others. He's one of my favorite characters because he shows that less inspiration-porn, poor-meow-meow side of a trauma survivor. It's realistic in a very gritty, bitter sort of way. That shit can fuck people up! I relate to him for so many reasons, but that doesn't mean I'm going to deny what he ended up doing by his own agency later. The cycle of abuse is a real danger, and SVSSS actually portrays that really well, which is why I like the book so much!

Idk. SJ stans claim they "don't excuse his abuse" but that's absolutely not true bc I've had people come on my posts and fics doing just that. It's like they miss the point of the character-- not completely scum, but both scum and pitiful... Some people seem to go too far in the defense.

Also, if you're someone who doesn't deny that SJ abused LBH, then *this isn't about you.* It's about the people who do. People in this fandom need to realize that both SJ and LBG are abusers, and that that's the POINT OF THE WHOLE THING, and that neither of them should be excused for it!! But the source of it should still be recognized in both cases!! And I feel that a lot of people don't like to admit that SJ, despite his trauma, *was* the cause of a lot of LBH's trauma. And me saying this ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT ERASE HIS OWN TRAUMA OMG but like... those SJ fans are already well aware of SJ's trauma and LBH's crimes so it doesn't really need to be mentioned??

LBG and SJ were BOTH TRAUMA SURVIVORS. Neither "Worse" than the other because uhhh clearly they were both incredibly traumatized because of the way they ended up turning out. Stop ranking trauma, that's disgusting.

But BOTH OF THEM WERE ALSO ABUSERS.

That. Is. The. POINT. OF. THEIR. STORY!!!!

This is at ANYONE who denies either the victim or the abuser status of either of these characters: fucking stop it. You might not like to hear it, but no matter how traumatized SJ was, the way he treated LBH was still abusive and if you excuse him for it then you're participating in abuse apologism. The same goes for LBG (and any other character whose actions are abusive).

I know we get attached to our favorite characters for various reasons, but when it actually starts veering into abuse apologism IN ANY FORM, that makes me feel really sick and uncomfortable with the way people talk about things that *actually happen to people irl.*

SVSSS fandom, you need to fucking stop.

.

[1eoness]

BROOO u were literally probably the first author whose fic i read when i first searched up leon smuts last year 😭 ur works r so good n idk if u'll see this but it's nice to hear abt ur perspective, i feel like fics abt leon these days r so fucked up and scary, it reminds me of when i first read a fic of yours and it was nothing but normal and hot? i just mean it's like, what fanfiction should be, how smuts should be, just p in v and stuff without all that crazy shit, it sucks to see writers these days waste their talent on writing dead dove fics that are so horrendous that it really affected me mentally

helloo!! (im not dead mueheaheah)

WARNING : Mentions of dead dove content and the likes of its themes!

before i talk : [HIIIIII HEHAHEH thank you for your support!! i'm glad you liked my (very subpar) work! now that i look back on it those themes did enter a somewhat gray line at some point because i lacked a lot of experience in writing. i do not condone ever letting your professor have sex with you nor do i promote any kind of hate-motivated sex, or dubcon! it was merely a bold attempt of expressing hormones (if you know 😭) like a lot of people my age commonly do and so i had (and still have to) reedit the tropes in my work a bit, also because i turned 18 now and i wanna readjust my boundaries! i hope you dont mind. regardless, i love that you like those themes. very good! love you!! /p]

anyway, leaning more towards the topic at hand. i don't doubt that your opinion is much different than a large part of the community under this tag. which is a very, very good thing! i'm pretty sure it was ever since @/gilfhub's posts started to quickly rise in the top pages that lead a lot of users to be influenced and begin to tear down a very, very important boundary. i'm very sorry to hear that being exposed to that affected you mentally, that's the entire reason why i absolutely abhor blogs that post and enable that content. you're not alone on that either <3 and i agree! people should ALWAYS write boundaries in mind. i've lurked around the tag a lot and noticed a lot of "popular" writers who also have an alternative blog for dark content (this isn't just a specific account, there are a lot of these.) warnings don't make things better, they don't fend witnesses away, and it doesn't make you any less insensitive. "dead dove content" itself (which is really just incestual/horribly taboo sexual assault fantasies, no need to sanitize it) should always be suppressed and private (or, well, NOT WRITTEN AT ALL). the moment you put it up on any kind of digital page, you are attracting ANY kind of viewer and none of that shit is cute, i'm sorry. projecting your trauma onto a character is one thing but writing them as someone who skips the morality line is just straight up trying to exercise your power through the wrong means. just as much as you have the power to express yourself, you also have the power to make someone very uncomfortable. people don't think about these situations in the long run, that's why. they seem to really like using the "leon is just a character, i promise he won't care" argument which i also think is total bullshit cause this isn't even about leon, it just entirely reflects what your true values really are. they centralize around the need to express yourself at the expense of other people's comfort (because, for the nth time, it's a public space with an unpredictable demographic yet people seem to really like just doing the "bare minimum" on their part). whilst your perception of a traumatic experience may be valid, it doesn't give you any excuse. this is far from the idea of free individualistic expression, it is just as bad as some 4channer posting about wanting similar situations be inflicted onto them with even real, sentient people. because we all know why these themes allow themselves to be exposed to the audience and that's because it tries to appeal to a very specific group of people (which is very disgusting.) they want to be so condescending, too. like "oh grow up, i'm all under ur skin and for what." it's blatant ignorance, you're not very smart!

and finally as ironic as it is, porn is to blame for enabling a lot of similar themes. it's so obvious, too, a lot of fictions like the ones you mentioned that are dead dove always have to mention pornography titles in it. (honestly doesn't have to be dead dove either). sanitization can be done in MANY ways, and a lot of the times I notice it's through the way of romanticizing or aestheticizing it. I'm talking about those who put up mini pinterest-board headers of like three whatevercore images and then putting lyrics at the bottom of it. it's like an attempt at writing a very bad fucking movie not gonna lie. for example, they end up trying to decorate their post with elements that fall under anything curated aesthetic. and guess what? we've all been there but NOT for writing about uncle!character and their kid reader thats just flat out WEIRD. trust me you are NOT anais nin, you do not have to write lyrical prose and try to beautify something that will always be ugly and demented to its very core. you cannot call dead dove content "artistic vents", either. i also think i can understand that some people are victims who have failed to get help thus they try to cope through other means. but i will never applause someone for making the right choices. i think there's no excuse behind writing dead dove content other than to self mutilate your mental health in the long run for a temporary moment of "safe fun", and not even knowing that it is also in/directly harming the public eye.

it's rotten. it's disgusting. dead dove writers should not be welcomed in any fictional writing space. i've been triggered over and over again and it made me put off writing and reading for a very long time. i've experienced something similar before and i have gone crazy over it, and trust me, the things these people write so "generously" for their viewers are NOTHING but toxic waste.

tumblr is NOT your space, but everyone has a space in tumblr, so be conscious of yours.

i also encourage people to not stay silent on the matters if they want to speak up on it but are afraid of getting backlash. i've seen people delete their accounts over it (which, i guess is good on them since then they won't have to confront this kind of space anymore).

[annalyticall]

Saw your tags about MHA being a lesson in restraint when it comes to having different opinion than the fandom norm and please take this ask as an excuse to share your MHA thoughts <- I want to know them if you're willing to share

Oh ho ho I will gladly talk about how my MHA opinions differ from fandom thank you for the opportunity. That said I'm basing what 'fanon' is on what seems to be most popular in fan fics and popular posts I see on Twitter and Tumblr

Also I'm breaking this up into sections because I've noticed a lot of my fanon opinions tends to overlap

Fanon uses character interactions as proof of ships, cliques, or found families instead of considering each interaction as part of a narrative whole. Now, I know this isn't unique to MHA, every fandom does this to some extent, however with a cast as large as MHA's it's more prevalent when so many ships overlap. Each major or even minor interaction is "proof" of a ship being canon and is more or less valid than "proof" for other ships - meanwhile the narrative so rarely cares about romance (barring the Toga/Uraraka/Deku subplot) that arguing about any of that feels very pointless. Bakudeku shippers are the most guilty to me about this; for example, in a recent chapter when Deku thinks about how Iida held his hand and helped him feel calm (a moment that ties into the larger narrative theme of helping a lost child by taking their hand), I saw Bakudeku shippers try to pretend Deku was actually thinking about how much he wanted to hold Bakugo's hand since he never took it in their youth, despite that never being hinted at. I don't even dislike Bakugo or Bakudeku as a ship but it gets so grating when I see big moments for other characters get watered down because they don't fit a shipping lens, which goes doubly for MHA where the narrative supports the idea that everyone is important and everyone should help everyone no matter who they are to them.

While I'm beating the Bakudeku hornet's nest I might as well throw in my grievances with the Erasermic Family and its persistence in almost every. Single. Fic. Or at least the ones I read because Aizawa is one of my favorite characters, but so many Aizawa-related fics I've read seem intent on making Present Mic his husband and Shinsou his adopted son. Listen. Erasermic is fine. It's fine. I even like it from time to time. I just wish it wasn't a fanfic staple because I actually think their canon relationship of comfortable-yet-somewhat-strained old high school friends is much more interesting to explore, especially with the twist of Shirakumo's fate. It also cheapens Present Mic sometimes, because Present Mic is usually portrayed in these fics as... how should I say this... motherly? Wife-like. I don't like that. He's a silly goofy guy but he's also impulsive and angry and puts on a facade and that nuance almost never gets translated when he's transplanted into a domestic familial role with Aizawa. Shinsou being Aizawa's son also feels like it cheapens Shinsou's character arc in a way? I don't hate the son theory I guess but Aizawa clearly only trained him, not adopted him, and making Shinsou a "mini-me" of sorts tends to blur his actual character and motivations to be the same as Aizawa's when they're not. The only dynamic here that has any canon foothold is Aizawa being an adoptive father to Eri. I think Aizawa being a dad to most of the other kids is overblown sometimes but he will always be Eri's dad to me. Present Mic is like her goofy uncle.

Fanon loves making backstories too tragic. Two of the most popular fic tropes I see either makes Midoriya's mom abusive or gives Shinsou a muzzle and abusive foster family, which... okay, one thing I really love about MHA canon is that everyone has a good reason for what they do and everyone suffers a little hardship due to the way society is all in varied and relatable ways. Characters like Midoriya and Shinsou DO suffer in canon but not any more than being bullied in middle school for their quirk or lack of quirk, which I think works well enough for two boys who still aspire to be good and still have some faith in the system that hurt them like most people in this universe do. Characters like Toga, Twice, and Shigaraki already have plenty of tragedy to justify their villainy, as well as Hawks who also has a tragic backstory and serves as a hero counter for them, so it doesn't appeal to me to so often give that pain tenfold to characters who don't fit those roles beyond a what-if exercise.

Fanon takes things characters say at face value and accepts the most shallow interpretation of a character. This is especially true for liars like Dabi and Hawks, who often say one thing and mean another. It's not as much of a problem at current since both Hawks and Dabi are probably at their most authentic in canon right now, but it's still an issue in fics I read where Hawks is presented genuinely as a flirty and cocky hero and Dabi is presented genuinely as someone who doesn't care about anyone but himself. It's really frustrating when something I love about Hawks is his nuanced interactions with almost every other character, which are always glossed over in his discourse. I'll give two of the most glaring examples:

I've almost never seen a take about this scene that justifies why Hawks does this - I usually only see comments about how he's getting into Todoroki's space, isn't aware of personal boundaries, or is being too nosy in the family drama. To me, the answer to why he does this is clearly deeper: he's dropping his laid-back facade and asking a serious question all while putting himself in Todoroki's shoes and planting himself firmly on Todoroki's side. He wants an answer to the scar because the answer is important to him; if Endeavor was the one who inflicted it, it would have tarnished the view he had of his old hero because Hawks knows what it's like to have an abusive father. This is only further cemented when later on Hawks says Todoroki is better than he is because Todoroki is finding it within himself to help the parents who hurt him, unlike Hawks, who feels he abandoned his own.

There's also this and other panels during the fight with Twice ("I'll be sure to tell that to the league") where Hawks seems to be rubbing salt in the wound and overall being a dick about betraying Twice's trust, and I've seen the interpretation here that Hawks is simply being a dick because he is one. And, I mean, this isn't to say that Hawks can't be a dick sometimes, but in the moment it feels like a culmination of two things: 1. Half of this interaction is framed through Twice's POV, so of course we're seeing the worst of Hawks here, and 2. Hawks is intentionally distancing himself from the Hawks he knows would have gladly been Twice's friend, because he knows there's a chance he might have to kill him. Whenever we're in Hawks' head during this fight, it's always focusing on how much he doesn't want to fight Twice and how much hope he has for things to turn out for the better. When he finally makes up his mind that he can't turn it in his favor, he turns cold and harsh again, probably as a coping mechanism similar to Lady Nagant's. Also frustrating when people use this as an example of in-universe police brutality when in actuality Hawks is a groomed child soldier acting very hesitantly to fulfill government orders. Those two issues are not the same.

Oversimplification isn't contained to Dabi and Hawks, though. Kaminari flirts sometimes so all he is is a flirt, Midoriya cries sometimes so he's submissive and weak, Iida is bossy sometimes so he's a goody-two-shoes stick-in-the-mud. One-note fanon characterizations plague almost every character and that does almost none of the actual characters justice. Any character with more relevance than, say, Ojiro has more than one side to them in canon that doesn't get captured all that much in fanon.

Fanon overanalyzes things that are Shonen convention. It's funny, on one hand, I think fanon interprets characters too shallowly, and on the other, I think it reaches far too deep to draw conclusions where the actual answer is "because the author wanted it." Aizawa and All Might bear the brunt of this mischaracterization because they're the main adults in this series, so all of their missteps feel overanalyzed to prove an abuse of authority when actually it's just irrational decisions made to keep the story moving forward. "All Might was irresponsible for telling a quirkless kid he didn't have a chance at becoming a hero and leaving him alone on a roof" I guarantee you the implications of that was probably not even a thought when that scene was written, and if it was, All Might certainly wouldn't have assumed them or else he would have dealt with that differently. "Aizawa is a bad teacher for not expelling Bakugo after he almost killed Deku in their first test" if he expelled Bakugo or had properly dealt with their toxic relationship earlier we would not have a story. "Aizawa is a bad teacher for not expelling Mineta for being a creepy weirdo" if he expelled Mineta then Horikoshi wouldn't have his favorite comic relief pervert archetype. Sometimes we just have to say "Horikoshi wanted this to happen so that's why it happened that way" and move on.

Fanon has selective memory and short attention span. Maybe this is just because there seemed to be a falling off of fandom participation around the time of Season 5, but a lot of fanon I've seen seems stuck in pre-season 5 era characterizations, sometimes even pre-Season 3. Bakugo and Endeavor both have some of the best character developement in the series, and Aizawa also has a lot of subtle growth, but people tend to focus on how bad Bakugo and Endeavor were in Season 1-3 and how good Aizawa is in Season 4, even though Aizawa was also kind of an asshole Season 1-3. It tends to lead to some cartoonishly evil takes on Bakugo and Endeavor and overly-saccharine takes on "Dad"zawa. I say this also as someone who loves Aizawa and is fairly neutral on Bakugo and Endeavor, but I just don't think fanon takes in the whole picture of their character arc sometimes.

Those are my big umbrella opinions, I have more minute ones (especially regarding Iida, Aizawa, and Hawks) but I've already ranted long enough. I know a lot of this comes down to a young fanbase but to be honest the people I tend to disagree the most with are my age so I can't chalk it all up to that lol. Anyways thanks for the chance to rant!

[lunaqae]

I normally only post about Fic recs, but I really wanted to post about the Black family – preferably Walburga and Orion Black, and I thought tumblr was a good place to do it!

I feel like a lot of the Marauders fandom is very misogynistic, this can be seen towards the treatment of the girls but also Walburga Black.

Walburga Black wasn't a good person. She was a racist and a proud one. She is headcannoned to have been quite abusive to both Sirius and Regulus. In this, im not trying to excuse her nor her decisions. I just want to talk about her and Orion.

We don't know a lot about Orion, but one thing for sure is that he isn't a good person. Though, people depict him as a man who didn't like hurting his children or was even forced to by Walburga. If you have this opinion im really not trying to excuse it I just want to talk about my opinion!

I think Walburga being so awful sprouts from the Black Family as a whole, I personally think she was quite prideful to be in such an esteemed family, though it most likely wasn't as it seemed to other purebloods. Her father and her youngest brother were married at 13 (and this may well be a maths error on Rowlings part), and I think it shows just how messed up the Black family was. In the end, Walburga had once been a girl.

We don't know about the treatment of Pollux and Irma to their children, but it's likely they weren't very good to them, this can obviously make a child become somewhat similar to them as they grow up, especially if it's the only thing they've ever known.

I do believe that Orion and Walburga were happy in marriage, especially with their similar opinions. But I also think that Orion was terrible, maybe even more so than Walburga, and the people who constantly excuse him — saying Walburga forced him, or he didn't like hurting his sons are just being misogynistic. Orion was raised to be the heir to a family who deemed themselves superior to others. He was undoubtedly raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. I think he was particularly hard Sirius due to him being the heir, whilst he could barely care about Regulus until he had done something wrong.

I think Walburga adored both her sons, but rather, she didn't know how to show it. I don't think she physically abused her sons, I think she manipulated them or verbally abused them. Kreacher says that Walburga loved Sirius and was devastated when he left, and you can still love someone whilst being cruel to them.

I think Walburga was similar to Regulus, quiet but with very opinonised thoughts. And I feel like as she grew, she began expressing them more, like how Walburga' portrait screeched about muggleborn and half blood fifth.

In the end, I think Orion and Walburga were equal monsters, and they loved their sons, but because of how they were raised, they didn't show it. This doesn't excuse their behaviour at all, but I think it's very important for a characterization of both of them.

(Please remember this is just my opinion, im not trying to start an argument. I just want to talk about this topic! I ❤️❤️)

[kimmimaru]

Ok, so I love horror. I'm obsessed with it. I honestly don't know why I don't actually write much of it though, I think its because I don't think I'm very good at it lol. One of my fave authors is Stephen King, the man is a genius but he churns out books so fast I can't keep up and only have so much shelf space, sadly lol. Has anyone else read Doctor Sleep? That shit was brilliant, my fave is IT but Doctor Sleep is defo a close second. Very long, nonsensical ramble under the cut about Hojo, Vincent and Lucrecia:

But anyways, I'm doing a couple of little horror fics for Halloween, they're doing alright I suppose. Not particularly ground breaking or anything but they're ok. The fics are, of course, FF7 fics and both revolve somewhat around Hojo. I don't know, I find him one of the scariest characters. He's terrifying, especially in the OG. Not exactly sure what it is about him specifically that scares me more than other characters, because like, Sephiroth is the main 'bad guy' in the story but Hojo's just creepy. Like if I met someone like him irl he would be giving off all the red flags. You know there's just some people who just give you the creeps, even if they're a total stranger? Like every cell in your body is just telling you RED ALERT? That's Hojo for me lol. Maybe its because Sephiroth's motivations are somewhat understandable, he loses his mind because he finds out he's not human and his entire life probably wasn't good. I can understand that, I too sometimes look at all the horrific shit humanity has done and wonder if its even worth keeping us around you know? But Hojo, at least as far as I'm aware, isn't really given any other motivations other than 'because I can' or 'I want to see what happens' and to me that's creepy. Not to mention that in the OG he does kind of try to make Aerith...do stuff...with Red 13...which uh...no. No absolutely not. Lol. Also...why the fuck is he considered so attractive in the OG? He doesn't just manage to lure Lucrecia away from Vincent 'my ass looks great in leather' (just trust me and pause AC at the moment Vincent crouches before jumping into the air to attack Bahamut SIN and try and tell me it doesn't lol) Valentine but also somehow manages to attract a whole gaggle of bikini-clad women on the beach in Costa Del Sol. HOW?? Ok, so I can sort of see how Lucrecia could have agreed to carry Hojo's baby, its probably because she's a scientist too and was also interested in the results or whatever...but still, lady...please wtf were you thinking? At least the beach-goers have the excuse of not knowing Hojo, Lucrecia does not have that lol. How can she spend god knows how long around Hojo and not think; this man is a creep? Honestly I would kind of be interested in seeing something about how all that happened, was he acting different around her? Was she just blinded by the curiosity of the experiment? Was it simply due to the fact that he was the only other man in the mansion when she freaked out about Vincent and her history with his father?

I think maybe that's why I don't write anything much about Lucrecia, I just can't get into her head. I don't understand her at all. To me, not a lot of her choices make any sense. Her actions feel weird and illogical and I'm not sure if its just me being autistic about it, or if I'm missing something in the story or what. But going from 'I love Vincent Valentine' to 'oh no I feel guilty because of Vincent's father's death therefore I must dump him and go with Mr Creeps over here'. Because that's not going to make him feel a billion times worse than just...I don't know, explaining why you're worried and talking shit out? And then sticking the monster that actively killed his father INSIDE him. Its fucking weird. (and then you have Vincent's own weird ass guilt, its non-sensical to blame himself for HER decisions. The whole story is just a giant shit show lol). Does this make any sense? I don't know. I had some Thoughts and needed to write them down. Ugh.

[ppumeonae-bigvibe]

under his watchful gaze

↖ navigation: ateez masterlist || main masterlist 

pairing: mingi x gn! reader

↬ tags: implied that mingi and reader are childhood friends (about why they are roommates now the author herself isn't too sure just roll with it), you can assume reader and mingi are going to the same school, mingi is 3 years older than reader in this one

summary: you have a guardian angel that watches you while you sleep. that's mingi

word count: 807 words

a/n: can't put any labels on what mingi is to the reader because the agenda of this fic changed course MULTIPLE times, the bonus scene will explain a bit of the backstory (it was only added because the story wouldn't have made sense without the backstory)

a loud knock on mingi's door grabbed his attention and he swivels around in his chair to face you. he removes his headphones, game paused in the background. you stood shyly by his doorframe, greeting him all while clad in cozy sleepwear, "hey mingi, i'm not disturbing you right?"

he shakes his head, "no, what's up?" you waved your hands in front of you, "oh, uhm. i just wanted to tell you that if you're going to play games, could you tone it down a bit? i'm gonna head to bed now, i've got an early class tomorrow." you shoot him a half grimace half smile at the mention of your class.

unfortunately for him, his friends were counting on him to tank a match. he clears his throat and gave you a curt nod.

"yeah, i'll try. have a good rest." he bids you goodbye and his door closes with a whoosh, mechanism clicking shut. mingi tears his gaze away from the door and returns his focus back to the game.

"mingi what's taking you so long?!" he rolls his eyes at the way his gaming mates hollered at him.

"my bad. someone was talking to me. let's go for another round?" mingi cracks his knuckles, before poising them over his keyboard.

"that's the spirit! one more win!"

-----

"ah damn we almost got that team!" mingi groans, rubbing his eyes. "yeah no shot. we nearly got obliterated! if mingi didn't advise us to defend our base i think we would have lost more." his teammates chatter idly, agreeing to take a quick bio-break. mingi stretched his legs out, and wonders if you were asleep now.

picking up his phone, he notices that you sent him a message on social media just a second ago. a second chime signals a new message and he clicks on the notification.

just a bunch of animal reels from this evening...and wait, why were you online?

mingi shoots you a quick text, somewhat apologetic.

mingi: was i too loud?

a small grin appears on his face when he spots that familiar green dot beside your profile icon. you were still awake. awake and purposely avoiding his texts.

mingi: ahem.

mingi: excuse me, but i thought you said you were going to sleep 2 hours ago??

you: well uhm...i couldn't sleep ;-;

mingi: come to my room?

-----

a while later he hears his door open and he turns to look at your tired form, "you seriously need to sleep, like now." he knows you can't quip back at him for he had no classes the next day. he removes his headphones on one side to hear you better.

"well! i just can't, what about it?" you leaned against the ajar door, crossing your arms in front of you. mingi couldn't help but burst out laughing at how you were pouting, clearly annoyed for not being able to sleep.

"why didn't you just come and sleep in my bed, just like last time?" he pats the empty bed behind him and you flushed, sputtering, "i...i mean! it's not...it's not like we're kids again or whatever." you locked your hands behind you, averting your gaze.

"mingi? hey! we're gonna start another round." his friend's voice called out through his left ear and he unmutes himself to speak, "give me 5 minutes." in one swift motion, he gets out of his chair and drags you into his room, pushing you down onto his bed all while ignoring your protests.

you huffed, mumbling under your breath, "it's so embarrassing that you still have to coddle me to bed at this age." you surprisingly let mingi tuck you in, pulling the covers to your shoulders. he takes your phone from you, earning him yet another eye roll from you.

"can't stand you being grumpy the next day, so you better rest now. if your bed doesn't work, then my bed it is." he dims the bedside lamp, the only source of light being his monitor in the room. he squats down beside you and you flipped to your side to gaze at him. he locks eyes with you, a wry smile growing on his face.

"are you afraid i'm gonna let the whole world know that you can't sleep without me around? silly twerp. get some proper rest, not some half-assed 3 hour sleep on a school day." you reached out from under the covers to flick his forehead, accepting your fate. mingi knew you couldn't say no either.

"fine. goodnight mingi."

-----

mingi keeps one side of his headphones on, occasionally hearing you toss and turn in his bed. he mutes himself for the rest of the rounds, choosing to text his teammates in-game instead. mingi switches to the quieter keyboard and mouse to avoid waking you up. in the end he couldn't focus for long--not when you were in the same space as him-- and quits the game.

"i'll go off first. see you all same time tomorrow?" chimes of "sure thing" and "see you" came from his fellow gamers and he logged off. mingi ambles over to you, lying down beside you. he stares at you intently, every rise and fall of your chest under his covers made him happy knowing you were getting rest.

"look who's sound asleep now huh." he murmured under his breath, warm hand gingerly carding through your hair and you stirred from his touch. he hides his pleased chuckle behind his other hand when he realizes that you were nuzzling into his touch, seemingly unresponsive after that sudden movement.

"goodnight to you too."

-----

bonus:

10 year old mingi was shaken awake from his sleep and blearily he reaches out to switch on his bedside lamp.

"w-what..." mingi glances in your direction as you perched at the end of his bed, your half-lidded eyes meeting his barely opened ones. you fiddled with the ends of his blanket, "i can't sleep. mommy and daddy are talking loudly again."

he sighs, opening his blanket for you to crawl in. you slipped into the space beside him, and he drapes the blanket over you. "don't kick me or i'll push you off the bed." mingi threatens jokingly. he flicks off the light and the two of you lay down in silence, the hum of the ceiling fan the only things both of you could hear.

"i'm sorry." you whispered. even though mingi's eyes were closed shut, he can feel your intense stare through his lids. "what are you sorry for? auntie and uncle were nice enough to take care of me until my parents come back from their trip. so it is also my duty to take care of you when they can't." mingi doesn't know if you understood what that loaded statement meant, but you seemed satisfied at the fact that he was beside you and that was all that mattered to the 7 year old you.

he gently pats you, and you fell asleep under his care.

@ppumeonae-bigvibe 's work ; likes and reblogs are appreciated <3

[alchemist-of-thebes]

Weekend Story Snippet #8

It feels a bit misleading to keep calling it a "weekly" story snippet when I've been missing so many weeks this past month. I've still been posting my chapters (mostly) on time, but have just felt too burnt out to do much more.

This week I've posted Chapter 16 of my in-progress KH/FFXV fic "Return to Eos", following my character Velcia. With this chapter now uploaded, we are two-thirds of the way through the story. I have to admit, it is getting harder for me to find small snippets to share. There are lots of small little things that might be fun, but I was mostly wanting to do this to share my favorite parts - and this late in the story most of my favorite parts that aren't heavily spoiler-ridden are just a little bit longer than what I was hoping for. So I guess this is when I should start making use of that "after the break" thing I've been informed of. So, after the break, here is a somewhat longer snippet in which Velcia is traveling through Lestallum to reconvene with her party but ends up meeting someone else entirely.

--- As she came past one of the side-alleys a large figure suddenly rushed out and crashed into her, the pair of them tumbling to the stone-paved street in a frenzied confusion. Velcia sat up quickly, rubbing her head as she looked towards the strange man who'd run into her.

He sat up slowly with an embarrassed expression, picking up his dark-black hat and placing it back over his brown, scraggly hair.

"Ah, terribly sorry for the trouble, madam," he said hastily as he scrambled back to his feet. He leaned over, offering his hand to help her back up.

Velcia looked up at him, noting his odd attire. He wore a long gray trench coat over what appeared to be suit pants, with a pair of scarves around his neck. It was a complicated and flamboyant looking affair, but his earnestly apologetic expression won her trust and she reached up, taking his hand and regaining her footing with a refreshing ease.

The man gasped as she stood, motioning towards the charm around her neck. "I am so terribly sorry, such carelessness on my behalf is inexcusable in any circumstances, but to have so inconvenienced an Acolyte of the Oracle-!"

Velcia, who'd been brushing the dust off her clothes, lifted her head to him with some confusion. "A what?"

"Excuse my presumptions," the man said with a respectful and deeply humble bow. "I couldn't help but notice the Tenebraen rune adorning your chain. As it is a symbol associated with the Oracle, I naturally assumed an affiliation."

Velcia glanced down to the charm around her neck. "The Oracle… Oh, do you mean Lady Lunafreya?"

"The one and only," the man told her. "Pardon my fascination, but am I correct to presume some connection between you?"

Velcia smiled at the curious man. "Well, of a sort. I have yet to meet her in person, but she has been helping me work towards a mutual goal. I'm afraid our relationship isn't any more than that."

The man's eyes lit up with interest. "Ah, I see. Well, the more people Eos has working towards the end of the darkness that plagues us, the better."

Velcia nodded. "Indeed. If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

He chuckled softly. "I assure you, I am a man of no consequence. A traveler, passing through on a journey to see the world before it ends. Though, perhaps with help such as yours the world may yet live a while longer."

Velcia tilted her head curiously. "That is the hope."

"Well, don't let someone like me keep you," he said, bowing earnestly and removing his hat, flourishing it out to the side. "You've got a lot of work ahead of you."

"Y-yes, I do," Velcia said, her mind spinning. Her skin felt clammy, and though everything about the man in front of her seemed friendly enough, the longer they talked the more she found him deeply unsettling.

"Another time, then," the man said, spinning around on his heel and beginning to walk away.

Velcia shook her head and turned around, back towards the market.

A low voice spoke, as if right beside her ear. "Time's running out."

Velcia's hair stood on end and she whipped quickly around to see who had said this, but there was nobody in sight.

--- Of course, I would hope that anyone familiar with FFXV should be able to guess who this odd yet somewhat menacing figure is. Though not the primary antagonist of this story, Ardyn's influence is pivotal to the plot and his actions have surprisingly far-reaching consequences for someone who downplays himself so heavily. If you would like to read more of this chapter, or this story, here are links to where you can do so! Archive of Our Own - Chapter 16 Fanfiction.net - Chapter 16 Thanks for stopping by!

[didsomeonesayventus]

What have you been up to? Ramble away about your current interests my friend 👉😎👉

uhhhhhhh well. in the years since consistent activity I have:

Started, Subscribed, and MSQ/Major sidequest Cleared FFXIV and it occupies my brain like a parasitic worm (but I love it) as goes most people who get into it it seems. For those wondering started with WHM and have run it through just about everything so I'm fairly confident I am at least Somewhat Competent in pretty much everything except Savage and Alexander raids (shudders in Eyes of the Creator if you know you know)

Not only that but have main 5 categories of battle class leveled- WHM for healer, PLD for tank, MNK for melee, DNC phys ranged, RDM caster

I should stop talking about FFXIV help

I think I've changed jobs??? still call center-based work boo been there two years and I Hate It Homie (but hey 16/hr without a degree is hard to beat)

my cringe ass ff.net is poised for deletion as I've got ebook back ups of everything I just can't commit yet (and might not have to since I hear. Gasping Dying rumors about ff.net being on last legs)

I've developed a hobby of making FEH wlw ships- Azura/Deirdre, Mathilda/Lilith, Nagi/Natasha, Felicia/Selena (sacred stones) to throw some out -and stubbornly want to write fic but can't seem to figure out how to finish it oops

also generally feel awkward posting on AO3 because I don't really agree with their "you can write fic of actual people" stance but also Where Else Post Fic but also jokes on me I can't finish fic anymore

speaking of I did contribute to a zine or two with the Invincible Zine group over on twitter a handful of Duo Unit scripts and a 5k one shot on the Horrors of Adrift Corrin

("Katie isn't that the "uwu" corrin alt that looks after baby azura what is possibly horrifying about that" you ask and to which I respond "eldritch horror of being a dream-based sentient clone made real babeyyyyyyyyyyyy" and I didn't even use all my concepts and ideas)

Genshin Impact made a character I finally was willing to eat the lore for Miss Shenhe I love you so much what a wlw icon I think I did reblog something of her earlier but yea love

Played through Persona 5 Royal was a good game but I have never seen a game Say So Much and Nothing At All at the same time while also contradicting itself (and somehow in 100+ hours of gameplay even on 2nd easiest difficulty and w/ a friend and a guide hello). Core cast is poggers tho love these high schoolers and I don't think anyone would be surprised to hear I love futaba the most

Have kinda accepted that I've fallen out of love with KH and frankly don't feel a lot of hype for 4. 3 was a solid gameplay entry with some neat use of worlds for the filler plot but the more time goes on the more disappointed I get with how it handled resolving anything from all the build up, shafting it in favor of setting up a game that doesn't even exist yet.

Because of this I REALLLLY loved Endwalker and was very happy to play it on release (oops back on XIV braincell)

I do miss RikuVen tho and think about how Re:Mind validated the hell out of me by confirming Riku hung out with the Wayfinders and to the lil guys out there making content big fucking salute I'm sorry I'm a bitter woman who couldn't handle expectations.

Have a wild ass idea about XIV/Fates crossover to give an excuse for Ysayle/Corrin to exist they are just about perfect together but can't quite figure out how to make a plot to justify it that I'm satisfied with

I made a quotes bot on twitter that may not last much longer but eh

Gotten really into The Oh Hellos not out of any christian love but moreso the lyrics are just (chef kiss)

TAZ Ethersea season one was. Okay? It started really strong but fell off like the shoreline which was. sad. I can hope season 2 learns better from the mistakes there but also can't be too mad improv-based storytelling is hard to 100% nail

is that everything? I think that's like everything. still me just now several years older and just a smidge wiser and man I'm gonna be 26 in like. a week.

oops.

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Marauders' Era Fics - One Fic Writer's Opinions on why they are so stupidly divisive

AKA opinions no one asked for but I'm putting out into the world anyway ;) ...also caveat these are my observations, some are clearly generalizations, I'm aware that I can't have read all the fics, etc, my opinions are likely biased by something or other but I'll try my best to make them unbiased in this post.

So - I started reading HP fanfic less than a year ago. In this time, one of the most divisive things I've found are Marauder era fics.

Why? Because it's really fucking hard, IMO, to write a good Marauder era long fic (the 70s) without falling into traps that divide folks. (One shots/short fics are exceptions)

Here are the main problems with the Marauder era:

It's boring. Until the late 70s when Voldemort's activity is rising and the betrayals happen, it's dull. It's boarding school kids being brats to each other and a werewolf running around Hogwarts.

Because it's boring, fic writers (myself included) have to come up with either a) plot points and/or b) solid characterization and character changes to get from 1971 to 1981 with a compelling story. What makes a compelling story?

I'm glad you asked. Ideally, from what I've read/seen, it's plot AND characterization. The plot develops, the characters change. One of the key drivers of my fics has been writing a story, not just a bunch of interrelated situations. So, what's the issue with Marauder fics? They rely, IMO, either on convoluted plots that don't change the characters OR they have to reinvent the characters in a way that makes them too OOC.

The issue I see with most Marauder fics is that it's EITHER a bunch of situations and the characters don't really change OR the characters change so that they're unrecognizable to their canon counterparts. The Marauders are tiny versions at age 11 of who they'll become when they die. Sure, they build friendships/relationships, but besides coming of age (which is totally fine as a story, and I think that explains why ATYD is so popular because of Remus's changes from beginning to end, or Debt of Time, because of Hermione/Mia's changes), but otherwise, that's what Marauder era fics must rely on, IMO, in order to be successful. It's the character changes that make the story compelling, not the plot or story itself.

Next point. The characterizations, in my opinion, are why the Marauder era fics are divisive. Lacking plot we need character building but it takes a tremendous amount of effort to work backwards from the broken men in canon to the children we only get glimpses of - let's talk examples now:

Severus Snape, at 11, is not an evil child who poo-poos on James Potter because Snape is inherently evil. Snape is a poor, likely abused child who sees a snobby, rich, pampered boy and reacts in jealousy. Snape isn't blameless. He's not perfect by any means and there are plenty of situations in which there are no excuses for his behaviors. Setting him up as an evil antagonist as a child (eg bashing) assassinates his character. Yeah, he's a dick in many ways but he grows up more in the 70s AND MATURES more than the other characters, who grow up LATER.

Sirius Black, at age 11, is already at odds with his family. He's a defiant little shit who makes friends and sticks up for ONLY who he thinks is worthy of his time. It's all too easy to pick on Snape (again, he's not blameless either, but why not take the high road, Sirius?). He grows up somewhat as a result of what happened to the Potters, but it's a stunted growth because of Azkaban. He does become the best godfather to Harry as he can be (Who eats rats for their godson? Respect, bro.) That being said, I'd rather read about Sirius as an adult because as a teen he's a prick. I love him a lot in later years but reading about him as a Marauder is nauseating sometimes because his behavior is glorified or justified because Snape is "evil."

Remus Lupin, at age 11, is somewhat dull. Yeah, he's a kid werewolf so he has among the most potential (besides Snape) to grow up and get good character development. The problem is he's set up immediately with the other boys who are so confident, and Remus so insecure, that he bends over backwards to defend them. He doesn't really grow up till later because he's NOT challenged to grow. Other than the werewolf business (and I fucking LOVE Remus Lupin, btw) he doesn't have much potential till he's older. This creates a problem for Marauder fics, because if he's dull, we've got to spice up his character in lieu of a good plot. This is my main beef with ATYD - Remus is a gay, dyslexic, orphan werewolf. YIKES. That's the starting point for Remus to get to his canon character and I'm just not buying it. He's cowardly and it takes someone like Tonks to change him because he's not truly challenged as a teenager.

So, what DOES make a good Marauder fic? Either telling the story from a more complex/challenged character and seeing them change (Snape, Peter) OR creating plot lines that make it AU. Lacking that, it's all about (mis)characterization and that's what makes these fics so divisive. Or, just doing one shots, short fics, or centering on 1979-1981.

I like the Marauders well enough and I think there's plenty of fertile ground for good one shots and short fics of their Hogwarts years. Sirius and Remus are WAY better characters as adults than as teens. I also like Snape well enough. He's not perfect and a lot of his behavior is appalling (most adults in the HP series are incompetent or cruel) but he was necessary for Voldemort to be defeated. I'll make a separate post one day on Snape, but this post was mostly about Marauder fics and why they're divisive.

Alright, that's all. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.

(One day I'll make a post on why I hate wolfstar so much, too, but in short I legit can't see Sirius Black being into shabby, shy Remus when he has confident, cool James Potter right there, even less so when we consider the prank involving Snape and the mutual betrayals. yeah, it's great fodder for relationships (cool angst) but not seeing it as a sustainable ship at all)

[one-sad-human]

•Worth It• Duff Mckagan

Pairing: Velvet Revolver era! Duff Mckagan x Younger! Reader

Requested? Nope!

Theme: Little bit of everything/???

Warnings: Language, panic attacks, anxiety references, drug references

Word Count: 3k

A/N: Fic 2 of 2! This is the longest fic yet! Took a different approach to writing this one, hopefully it payed off. Let me know if you guys liked it or if I wasted my time with this one lol.

     You had met Duff in a coffee shop in LA. It was crowded and you were lucky enough to snag a chair before the lunch rush. Duff wasn't, and asked you if he could sit at your table.

     You grew up with Guns n Roses, bought his solo album the day it came out when you were just 15, and now listened to Velvet Revolver faithfully. To see your idol, your celebrity crush stand right in front of you holding a cup of coffee and a scone sent you for a loop.

     "Of course," you had said, starry eyed. You were only hoping he was as kind as the interviews made him out to be. Maybe have a conversation with you and be polite for a while before leaving and never seeing each you again. That would be good enough.

     It didn't end with a coffee, it had just begun. He asked for your number, and you stared at him for a moment thinking you had imagined it. That was until he tilted his head a little and looked at you with a nervous expression. He backtracked and you immediately stopped him.

     "No! I mean— yes! Yes, you can absolutely have my number." You scrambled for a pen and paper and ended up scratching your number on a receipt from the record store. You shook so hard you could barely get the numbers down.

     Out of all the record store receipts you've stuffed into your bag, the one you gave Duff Mckagan had to be the one for when you bought Velvet Revolver's 'Contraband.' He didn't say anything, just smiled and promised to call.

     You honestly didn't think he would've. You played it off as just him trying to be nice. It didn't stop you from answering every call you got for the next three days, however, even if you recognized the number as the tax collector you'd normally never answer.

     But then he called.

     "I tried calling sooner, but I kept calling the wrong number. You don't have the most eligible handwriting," he had told you. You laughed but really, you were in shock.

     You set up a date at the fancy restaurant downtown that always intimidated you. You didn't say anything though, even though you knew you wouldn't want any of the overpriced food and you'd end up eating something you couldn't pronounce and was two portions too small. Maybe even hit up a fast food joint afterwards.

     When the day finally came, you couldn't even figure out what to wear. You couldn't tell if you looked underdressed or like you were trying too hard. Did the clothes even fit the right way? What would Duff think? Would he even care?

     All questions were answered when you left your house. Duff was leaning against his slick car parked in your driveway, a button up that was barely buttoned and dress pants with boots. He stared at you and you wanted a hole in the ground to shallow you up until he smiles.

     "You look gorgeous," he said. You blushed and grinned, thanking him before saying that he looked great too. He drove you to the restaurant and on the way, you talked about music.

     You shared some of your favorites, he adored how well rounded you were. You liked pretty much everything from punk rock to the mellowest of mellow. Duff mentioned some of his favorites, some you made sure to remember the names of so you can check them out.

     When the ride was over and you finally got to the restaurant, your previous fears came back. Duff reassured you looked better than 90% of the people there and you knew it wasn't true but it made you feel better anyway.

     Your eyes widened to the size of saucers when you saw the prices of the food. You knew it'd be pricey but you thought there'd be more options that stayed within two digit numbers.

     Duff saw your panicked expression and said not to worry, he'd pay. It didn't settle your nerves enough and when the waiter came, you ordered the cheapest and simplest thing you could find.

     "Chicken noodle soup?" He teased. You shyly looked down and shrugged. "This isn't your scene, is it?"

     "Not exactly, no."

     "Want me to be completely honest with you?" You nodded. "It's not mine either."

     That's all it took for you and Duff to scramble sheepishly out of the restaurant. You both shared a laugh in the car and went to Burger King. It was much more your speed and, as you'd find out that night, Duff's too. You suppose all the money he's had since such a young age didn't completely change his ways. He was like a kid trapped in a 40 year old man's body.

     You'd thought at first the age gap would feel strange, after all, you were 15 years younger than him. But after that night, it was barely noticeable. Funny looks from strangers every once in a while was nothing.

     By the second date, Duff was already aware fancy spots weren't your forte. He told you it was a surprise and to wear something cozy, as LA nights got chilly.

     He packed a picnic basket and drove you out to the most beautiful flower field you had ever seen at sunset. It was secluded and high up, giving a perfect view of the city skyline. After gawking and taking in the sights for a few moments, you regained your ability to speak.

     "It's gorgeous. Pretty far from the city, did you take me here to kill me?" You joked. He laughed and rolled his eyes. His lighthearted laugh sent sparks straight to your heart, and you decided that it was your favorite sound.

     You unfolded the blanket Duff brought and you both sat down. You ate the sandwiches and sliced fruit Duff packed and talked. You talked about everything, from your family to fears and insecurities.

You told him how you suffer from nightmares. Flashbacks from your broken childhood coming back to bite you in your sleep. Duff shared how he's suffered from panic attacks since he was a teenager. You felt you knew each other for years.

Neither of you felt weird for sharing and neither made the other insecure. You were completely open and honest with each other. It was strange, you've never connected to quickly and effortlessly with someone before. Sure, you've had men in your life, but never had you clicked with someone so fast, never had you fit with someone so perfectly.

Hours passed and it felt like minutes. Only did you realize how late and how exhausted you were when you saw most of the city buildings light have gone off for the night. The city that didn't sleep was dark.

"I should get you home," Duff said to you.

"Will you stay the night?" You felt a little silly for asking. Were things going too fast? Would he even want to stay over?

He agreed, and that's how your first night together went. You both stayed up even later and had more lighthearted conversations, unlike the ones that partook at the field. Like how one of Duff's first jobs was at a bakery and could bake a mean cake and how you can't cook to save your life.

You ended up waking up without remembering falling asleep. You're head was placed comfortably on Duff's lap while his head was lolled back against the couch cushion. He looked so serene and peaceful you couldn't help but smile at the sight.

You made toast and somewhat successfully cooked some eggs and bacon. It might have been the first breakfast in years that didn't end with the smoke alarm going off.

Duff eventually wandered into the kitchen and you both ate. By the time he left, another date was already set up. He was like a drug an you were already hooked.

Months later and the addiction still wasn't kicked. You didn't want to, and Duff didn't seem to want you to quit either. You both soaked each other up like the sun on a warm day.

You had almost weekly dates and you stayed over each other's houses almost every other day. Duff did have his kids some days, though, so some days dates were cut short or Grace and Mae slept over his house and you wouldn't see each other.

You were always understanding, his kids came first and you'd never blame or get upset about it. It's something Duff admires about you, your never ending understanding and empathy for him.

One of those days where Duff stayed over at your house started normal. He cooked dinner and you washed the dishes, and then you put on an old Ramones concert you had on DVD.

You were laying on his chest, his fingers running through your hair when all of a sudden, he tensed up. He quickly stood and excused himself to the bathroom. You frowned but before you could think much of it, you heard a loud bang and something clatter to the ground.

You jumped up and rushed to the bathroom. You swung open the door because you were perfectly aware the lock hasn't worked since you moved in.

Duff was sitting on the floor, a pill bottle laying on its side not far from him. You quickly spot the name of the medication and identified it as your anti-anxiety pills. You shoved them aside and sat next to Duff.

He was sweating bullets and his skin felt cold and clammy, his breaths were labored and heartbeat was loud and pounding erratically. You coax him gently to take deep breaths, holding onto his hand tightly and talking quietly.

"I'm sorry, they come on randomly sometimes," he apologized after he'd called down, but you quickly shushed him. You reminded him of just how many nightmares he'd comforted you for and he stops feeling so bad about it.

     It was always a true partnership with Duff. Never had you felt you gave or took too much, it was always equal. Always a two way street, with everything.

That wasn't the last panic attack you had to help him come down from. Later down the line you've gotten better at calming him down and learning his triggers, even though sometimes they really do come on suddenly without reason.

A year into the relationship was when you met Grace and Mae. They were young and didn't completely understand why their parents weren't together anymore, so it took them a while to warm up to you. Luckily, they eventually came around.

Duff and Susan met up regularly to discuss their kids and co-parent properly. And while you had all the reason to be jealous of your boyfriend with his ex wife, you never did. You had complete confidence in him, he was honest and loyal and you doubted he'd ever hurt you purposely.

That's why it destroyed you when he left you. Tears were shed from both parties as he gave his reasons for breaking up with you. His insecurities he tried his best to bury had come to light and nothing could change his mind.

You thought you were completely honest with each other, but you suppose his doubt in his relationship with you was the one thing he kept secret. He had somehow convinced himself you'd be better without him, between the constant touring and the baggage that came with him and his kids, he finally buckled under the weight and stress.

You had tried to convince him that he was worth it, but if Duff is one thing it's stubborn. The best relationship you'd ever have and the best year of your life went down the drain within the matter of one conversation.

You were down in the dumps for days. You barely left your bed and didn't ever leave your house. You were in a depression and couldn't get out. A few of your friends eventually found out what had happened and broke into your house and shoved you into the shower before taking you to your favorite Chinese restaurant.

You felt like a disaster. Your hair was ratted despite the shower and you refused to put real clothes on, instead wearing sweatpants and a shirt Duff had left behind. You were a mess.

The hole in the wall restaurant was never busy but always had the best food. You were almost happy your friends dragged you out of your home until you saw Duff sitting at a table, eating egg rolls and lo mein.

You've came here together all the time. The high sodium in the food always made him sick to his stomach and you'd always end up giving him nausea remedies and tea. He never changed his order though.

You locked eyes with him for a while. Dark bags were under his eyes and he looked more pale than usual. He looked as terrible as you felt. You weren't sure if you were spitefully glad he felt awful or if the despair on his face just made your heart break further.

When you couldn't take his intense jade stare anymore, you looked up at the menu. The next time you looked back he was gone, you weren't sure if he was really there at all or if you were finally losing your mind for good.

     Another week crawled by. You got better enough to continue working. You had to pick up extra time for calling out for a few days after the breakup. You wouldn't say things were going well, but you weren't crying in bed every day all day anymore.

     You had constant dreams about him. Some were nice, ones where he didn't leave and you were together, holding each other tightly. Most were nightmares, flashbacks of when he left. You didn't have him to comfort you anymore when you woke up soaked in sweat and tears, and that might've been the worst.

     Another week went by, and you were starting to get back into the swing of things. You still thought about him, even silly little things reminded you of him. Like when you would catch a sniff of freshly baked sweets like he'd bake you or certain songs playing on the radio. It also didn't help that you ran into people wearing Guns n Roses shirts on the daily.

     You also refused to get rid of anything he'd left behind. Tee shirts, guitar picks he left from when he'd play for you, or CDs from bands he introduced you to. Reminders of what you lost were scattered around your home but you couldn't bring yourself to do anything about it.

     Suddenly, it's been a month. You weren't over him, but you had a feeling you'd never be completely. He was something special, you can't forget things as special as your relationship with Duff.

     His items still weren't thrown out or returned, instead all packed in a box sitting in your closet. But you'd be lying if you said you would never reach into the box to grab a shirt to sleep in or a CD to listen to when you needed a reminder of the good times. You were making progress though.

     You decided to leave your house one evening. You were feeling especially terrible and wanted to take a walk to clear your head. You went to the coffee shop you had first met Duff in. Maybe it was a mistake to go and get a flood of memories but you couldn't stop yourself.

     You sat in a seat near the window and people watched, taking occasional sips of your drink. It was quiet except from the talk of the workers and the hum of the overhead speakers.

     There was a sudden squeak of a chair of hardwood floors and it broke you out of your daze. You snapped your gaze up to meet the very familiar green eyes you've been trying to forget.

     "Can we talk?" He asked, and you couldn't say 'no.' Duff sat across from you and started off by apologizing.

     He said he wanted to talk to you sooner, but was too afraid you wouldn't want anything to do with him. You rolled your eyes at that, if only he knew just how much you missed him.

     He then started from the beginning and explained why he made the decision to leave you. As it turns out, it was mostly because of stress. His bandmate Scott was having problems with drugs and the flashbacks from his GnR days frightened him. He was worried he would end up relapsing and he didn't want to drag you down with him.

     Combine that with all the troubles that came with dating a single father, and he couldn't take it anymore. He felt too guilty.

     It all seemed like ridiculous reasons to you. Even if he had made the mistake of falling off the wagon, you still would've stuck with him. And you didn't mind his kids at all, after nearly a year of knowing them and you were very close to them.

     "I love you, Duff. I wouldn't have left you over that, I'd help you through anything. And I love Grace and Mae, too," you told him.

     "I know, but I didn't want you to have to deal with all that baggage." You frowned at that. You reached your hand across the table and grasped his, squeezing it tenderly.

     "You're worth it."

     After that day, you and Duff started seeing each other again. It wasn't the same as before, but maybe even better.

     You were more transparent with each other. If one had a worry or problem, you'd go to the other. You talked everything through with him and he did the same. Even if it seemed insignificant, talking everything through never failed to make it better.

    You were happier and healthier than ever before. Sure, there were a roadblock or two, but they only made the relationship even stronger, and you wouldn't have changed a thing about it.

[nuclearforest]

tell me about your oc, any oc

I swear to you I did not forget about this and had a wedding in the family this weekend, so my reply was delayed. Ty for the ask! I will now proceed to infodump everything you would need to know and more about Claire, my precious little power fantasy baby. This whole OC talk is surprisingly fun for somebody still getting used to it.

-Born early 1700s in early colonial America to owners of an apple orchard

-Everybody there (except for Claire, who is about 8 at this time) proceeds to die a violent death in a wildfire that consumes the orchard. Magical in nature with an indeterminate source but ultimately (as the lady herself describes it) "settled in Claire's bones"

-My current HC is that the type of curse that turns you into a werewolf (or werewolf adjacent creature, as Claire calls herself because of specific distinctions between the more comment European and Quebecois breeds) varies based on the curse that does it. Most European cases like Hans (born early-mid 1800s in my verse) are cursed in a way that has the moon and/or wind drives their level of power. Claire, on the other hand, is a significantly rarer breed of werewolf common to areas with wildfires and curses, mostly the US and Australia. Their power isn't connected to any celestial bodies or other physical phenomena; instead being centered around their emotions and willingness to self destruct. So it tends to focus on using the negative as fuel for power. (Also, her breed doesn't tend to smell like a werewolf unless they've recently shifted, and even then, it's much more burnt wood than wolf.)

-Claire is fun in that sense, because she's extremely violent from a young age. Mellows out around age 100 and starts to carve herself a political niche as a yet undefeated monster hunter. So she's got the running theory that people tend to be violent their first hundred years of life (in her views, Hans fits that bill-- if not marking him a late bloomer!)

-Her current position (and just about any interesting story that follows her) would be centered around her rise as the US premier monster expert. She's stuck in a mostly bureaucratic job, but does get to hunt when something is deemed far too dangerous for a regular set of agents. Current approach is to keep the peace in the valley because in her experience, disruptions of the natural supernatural predatory ecosystem leaves gaps for new, more awful creatures to come crawling up. So a few losses here and there alongside some unexplained events keep things interesting. There is a somewhat tense relationship with allies, most of whom had their own approaches to the same issue.

-Claire was, at a time, allied with Arthur Hellsing! He was in charge of Britain's branch, and they were cordial, but when he died contact was lost and blocked by Walter, funny enough. But to Claire, the line went radio silent.

-In her verse she meets Hans just a few years before the events of Hellsing Ultimate. She had finally gotten wind of some shady dealings as early as the 60s when another branch of government traded weapons and intel to Millennium for everybody's favorite catboy recipe and some knowledge on vampiric soldiers. Montana agreed to it for the resources they couldn't get across the ocean AND because he wanted to see if the US would use it against the USSR. They didn't, but Mill got all the supplies they needed to stockpile a ton of shit and claim power in the spheres of every other awful Nazi that fled to South America following the close of WWII.

-When the events of the Dawn were going down, Claire had been dispatched to the Pacific front. Since the Hellsings had Alucard, the Atlantic was considered to be covered from the US POV.

-Anyway IMO the more interesting parts of her life come before Hans because that's all political intrigue. But I suck at writing that so instead her appearance fic is when she, again, caught wind of those shady dealings and infiltrates Mill. After a very flimsy excuse to keep her around, she warms up to Hans, goes on a rampage when he's gone, and pretty much forcibly relocates him home. Definitely leaning heavily on the power fantasy right there.

-Claire is also much more possessive of Hans than he is of her. He also tends to look at her through rose colored lenses because he doesn't often get exposed to the violent acts she's capable of committing. If he does witness it, it's only mildly unsettling at worst because she's a type of critter he isn't used to.

-But in the end they're a well rounded balance, both with sins of the past that they have to live with. They also immediately settle into an old, comfortable romance. No rush to do anything and all the time in the world for the other.

[incel-wheatley]

I fucking LOVE wheatrat I lose my mind about it on the daily

OUGH thank god,, me too me too

to me theres just Something about it,, and excuse the ramble but. a robot who Knows theres something wrong with him but doesnt want to admit to it? Falling for a guy who (wheatley thinks) also has a bunch of things wrong with him but lives with it? and wheatley learning he doesnt need to be fixed by anyone else and has to learn to live with himself, how he was made, and how he can be a better person on his own? and ouGH .

PLUS LIKE . both of them learning to live with the things theyve done in the past with each other as like. maybe a stand in for the people theyve hurt, without exposing those ppl to more pain? theres like. wheatley big time fucked it up with chell, lets b real. and doug, while not PErsonally responsible in the GLaDOS project, was passive towards it and allowed it to happen. and at the same time like. wheatley was made by the scientists to be an Idiot and Bad and to Never Do Anything Right and it clearly fucking burned him badly, and Doug. well. is the one (1) scientist that DIDNt get brutally murdered by GLaDOS (bless her heart) and clearly is fucked from that, preexisting conditions aside., and . OUgh..... just. the Storey Potential here... learning and moving on and forgiving each others actions even while they never can be forgiven by the people theyve actually hurt, and while they can never forgive the people that actually hurt THEM..

anyways. if youve made it this far. congratz! ill add a Snippet of my WheatRat AU fic under the Cut as a Thanks (which probably makes no sense without context, but this post is already long enough oops)

Conscience AU - Snippet - Usual

Doug is quiet, a lot.

Not as much as the girl was, of course, she never spoke at all. Wheatley still isn’t sure if she couldn’t, or if she just saw herself as too high and mighty to respond to him - or maybe, just maybe, if he had already annoyed her enough in the first thirty seconds of their companionship for him to earn her bitter silence - and as things happened, he doesn't think he'll ever find out.

Doug though, well, he just is quiet a lot. He can talk, perfectly well even, and Wheatley really enjoys it when it happens. Even if it is just a hissed "Shush" while a hand is shoved on his mouth (which makes no sense, now that he thinks about it, they both know that’s not where his voice box is) and he’s pressed against a wall in the dark somewhere. Okay, he has to admit, the first time that happened, he had been maybe a little offended by it. It might have left him a little bit miffed.

But after the noises that had startled Doug so much had subsided, he had removed his hand from Wheatley’s face, and pulled him away from the wall, and actually followed up with "sorry, you were saying?" and all was forgiven. (Well, mostly. There still was that lingering something inside Wheatley’s... chest?... that had felt somewhat betrayed at how quickly Doug was able to move on after that, while Wheatley himself had quite some trouble even remembering what he had been brabbeling about before.)

Enough of the past though - Wheatley resists the urge to shake his head - he was thinking about the present. The current situation. Which involves him, and Doug, as usual these days. It is kind of nice to have something "usual", that isn't endless corridors and unresponsive test subjects. So yes, things are pretty usual. Which involves, as stated prior, Doug being quiet.

Another thing that's usual by now is Wheatley, sitting on the ground, trying really hard not to move too much, while Doug sits on the cube, hunched over, and fiddles with… something. Mechanics, electronics, of some sort, inside of him. It happens almost every day, something goes wrong, something glitches - Wheatley could swear the Twitch somehow carried over into this new body and is just trying to find the most creative way to mess him up on the daily. But as long as things are as they are right now, with Doug working away at him in silence, hands gentle but fast, that isn't too bad. No, as long as things are like this, they are quite good, even. As usual.