#which i think is criminally underappreciated

[imperfectcourt]

Getting a kudos email and it's just the same 2 names going through all of my fics picture me kicking my legs and blushing into a pillow

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

Stephanie Brown ACTUALLY having the character arc that fanon pretends Jason Todd had (plus a defence of canon Jason)

What I'm really saying is that Stephanie Brown is underappreciated, Jason Todd is often misinterpreted, and, though it should go without saying, ignoring canon is poor media literacy. So let's actually analyse canon and get to the bottom of what the stories are trying to say and how they use their characters to tell this, as opposed to just which character should we stan.

I'm arguing that Stephanie Brown's story actually features a redemption arc that sees her transform from a violent, almost murderous teenager into the most unwaveringly hopeful of heroes and that Jason's story is about a villain who we're meant to empathise with to expose the cracks in the Batman's heroic facade; a Frankenstein's monster if you will. Here's a numbered list:

Part 1: Outgrowing Violence, Anger and Murder

A big part of Stephanie Brown's growth in canon is her learning not to kill or use excessive force. But it's not as simple as just killing is wrong, don't question it.

Let's begin with the narrative's relationship to violence, anger and murder. Why doesn't Batman kill? Because "[those] who [fight] with monsters might take care lest [they] thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you". If he kills, he's playing god, choosing who gets to live and die. No one deserves that kind of absolute power and absolute power also corrupts. Batman doesn't want to lose sight of himself or his cause. Deliberate murder is treated VERY negatively in the Batman mythos.

Enter Stephanie Brown.

Stephanie was a working class latchkey kid who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. She had an abusive, criminal father, who was in and out of jail, and a mother struggling with addiction, who Steph became a carer for at just 15. Steph also became pregnant with the child of her horrible ex. At 16, she gave birth to that child and had to give her up for adoption. Steph is also a survivor.

The world was never kind to Steph and left this teenager with a hell of a lot of bitterness and rage which her vigilante career became an outlet for. You can tell by the way she fights since Steph fights DIRTY; she'll tug hair and spit in your eyes and strike below the belt and catch a kick to twist your ankle and dislodge your already broken nose. On the one hand; the narrative tells us Steph is resourceful. She's 5'5", 130 lb and has zero powers, but can always find an opening even when going up against Gotham's grizzliest. It's telling that quick thinking, savviness and spontaneity become her thing when she becomes Batgirl; Steph is the wild card. On the other hand, she was a real diamond in the rough and a complete loose canon. In her first arc, it's Batman who stops her from making the biggest mistake of her life; killing her dad. To deliberately kill; to play god, is to lose yourself, remember. Her first arc is about not being defined by who your parents are and about not giving up on yourself. Batman basically tells her, there's hope for you yet Stephanie Brown, by getting her to spare her dad. And she does. And so began her superhero career.

Nonetheless, it's never that simple. Steph is still a bitter, angry teenager, no matter how many jokes she cracks. It becomes a personal crusade when she, now Robin, discovers that The Penguin is using children as runners. It takes Cassandra Cain to stop her from inflicting anything she may regret.

The narrative wants to show us how cruel the world can be and that it isn't black and white, either. The story ends with an angry Stephanie lamenting "why". It's a "why" she is asking herself too. Why does she do what she does? And it informs us that she, and maybe us the reader too, still have a lot to learn. Murder's not the answer but what is?

Stephanie later saves Bruce by almost murdering serial killer Victor Zsasz. Bruce reprimands her and she cries, quite honestly, "I don't get it, I really don't", following on from where we left off in Batgirl. "There are always other options than to kill" asserts Bruce, forget not being on the same page, they're reading different books. The thesis of the story is what Bruce should have told Steph when she was an angry 15 year old about to murder her dad; "[those] who [fight] with monsters might take care lest [they] thereby become a monster". The world's cruel, Steph, but that doesn't mean you have to be too. "Are you firing me?" "No, I'm teaching you".

Over 2 years down the line, an around 19 year old Stephanie, establishing herself as the new, hoping-inspiring Batgirl, is now teaching a brash Damian Wayne what she's learned.

"To murder or not to murder" is just a plot device to the themes of overcoming your own anger at the world's cruelty to contribute good, coming to terms with shades of grey, not giving up on yourself and staying hopeful in the face of adversity and horror. These are Stephanie's arcs and as a consequence, she goes from would-be-murderer to Gotham's cheeriest caped crusader.

Part 2: Double Standards and Second Chances

Another huge part of Stephanie's story is her overcoming double standards and doubters, to earn her own second chances. Her resurrection and rise to the role of Batgirl were choices made to hammer home this theme; it's never too late to turn things around.

There's some juicy metatext to analyse here too. DC editorial's treatment of Stephanie during War Games was horrific and panned by both fans and writers. To reperate for these harms, Steph was retconned back to life and then made Batgirl during Batman: Reborn. Here's a quote by Batgirl (2009) author Bryan Q. Miller on what his run aimed to bring out of Steph:

The whole point of Stephanie's resurrection and take over of the Batgirl title was to give her a redemption arc.

In text, Stephanie was unfairly treated too, notwithstanding that she was brash and had a massive violent streak in her Spoiler and Robin days. Tim Drake constantly condescends her and tells her to give up vigilante life, even though she was ALWAYS a match for Tim according to Convergence: Batgirl. Cassandra Cain constantly underestimates Steph. Bruce Wayne tells his allies to cut off ties with Steph and then later fires her as Robin for DISOBEYING HIM as if that's not the first thing Dick Grayson ever did as Robin. Barbara Gordon tells Steph she has a death wish. Dick deems Steph too reckless (moments before he resurrects a zombie Batman). And Damian is an entitled brat who gives her a hard time for no reason. Everyone doubts Stephanie and it generally says more about the doubter than it does Stephanie.

Stephanie was never great with authority or criticism so she still went out there and earned her second chance. And it felt rewarding when her doubters came around too.

Stephanie was brought back from the dead to be redeemed and man did she take that chance!

Part 3: What is Jason Todd's Story Meant to Tell Us and My Defence of Canon Jason

Jason Todd returns from the dead as a ghost of Batman's past; he is the living embodiment of Batman's greatest mistake who couldn't stay buried and is back to haunt him. He's a character we are meant to empathise with but he's a villain nonetheless. He's not irredeemable but for the most part his story is not really about redemption. Succinctly, it revolves around the idea that "we are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell” to quote Oscar Wilde.

When we first meet the resurrected Jason, he's a cold-blooded murderer who's slinging guns and using The Joker's old moniker. These choices are made to emphasise that he went down the wrong path; he's breaking Batman's "don't play god" rule and his actions become eerily closer to those of the Clown Prince of Crime than Batman's. In fact Nightwing and Batman spend some quality time together in the next two issues because Nightwing is the foil to the Red Hood; he's what Bruce considers his greatest success. Remember that thing about "those who [fight] with monsters might take care lest [they] thereby become a monster"? Well Jason DID become a monster. And if he's the monster, then Bruce Wayne is Frankenstein.

We're not supposed to think "yes, kill the The Joker, Jason", we're supposed to think "good god, please Jason, it's not too late to turn your life around". Here's Dick and Jason being the exact opposite of each other, an issue apart.

So what was Jason's villainous return trying to say? For one, that people are the products of their circumstance, lest we forget Jason was once an eager and studious Robin who just wanted to be part of something greater when life, but specifically Bruce, sent him awry. This is also a story about Bruce which tells us says that our mistakes have consequences that don't stay buried, and that we will always be forced to reckon with our histories or it becomes everyone's problem. This next panel shows this best. All of Jason's killing and torture and fear-spreading and chaos does not come down to some "murder or not to murder" debate, it comes down to his relationship with Bruce. He is the monster that Frankenstein created who's back to haunt him and no one is safe.

Jason's initial Red Hood arcs were never supposed to pose the question "should Batman kill The Joker or not?". The answer is no and always has been. They are supposed to show us how Bruce's poor fatherhood of and partnership with Jason Todd led to all this horror. And Bruce can't turn back the clock, he has to reckon with the consequences of his actions in the present or more people will get hurt. It's significant that these first arcs don't end with Jason returning to the manor and seeking help surrounded by family.

We then see Jason and his issues with Bruce threaten the lives of others like when he beat Tim half to death twice, tried to blow up Mia Dearden and then tried to become a murderous, gun-touting Batman after Bruce's "death".

Once Dick Grayson becomes Batman, the narrative sheds a bit more light on how Bruce's Frankenstein created a monster in Jason; Bruce wanted Jason to be another Dick Grayson.

The red hair is a perfect metaphor. Jason is naturally red-haired and he is now balding because Bruce made him dye his hair black so he'd look like Dick as Robin. That sums it up for me. Bruce really created his own demon here and Dick, as the new Batman, is trying to make amends with the sins of the Batman's past. Jason's a great choice for a Dick Grayson villain because of their histories, considering Dick Grayson is the legacy Batman.

"I tried really hard to be what batman wanted me to be...which is you." Jason tells Dick.

That line is so painful and way more recognisable and relatable than anything fanon has produced.

"But this world...this dirty, twisted, cruel and ugly dungheap had...other plans for me."

Look no further, this is who Jason Todd is.

That's a powerful story if you ask me, and this is why I like Jason Todd as a character; a villain I pity deeply, who is portrayed as a product of their circumstances without diminishing their agency and who makes me see the cracks in the hero's facade because they are the monster our "hero" created. He's also a very nuanced foil to the ever-shining light that is Dick Grayson. The appeal to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein isn't that the monster murdered people. I also would never swap canon Jason out for, I dunno, Wayne Family Adventures Jason who's the amalgamation of 3 or 4 common fanon tropes. This is my two cents.

[absolutebl]

Which Japanese BLs should Thailand actually remake?

I should say up front I am NOT a purest. I actually like seeing different country's takes on IP. It says a lot about the culture in question and how they perceive themselves and queerness. I don't have "babies" so Thailand can fuck around with whoever they want to IMHO.

However, I do think Ossan's Love is a poor choice. And much as I love the original I think My Love Mix Up is a fine choice and Gem4 will do a great job.

But still, let's play a game.

The JBLs that GMMTV should adapt

You ready to be offended?

Seven Days - oh yes, I said it. ME! This BL is actually perfect (I WILL FIGHT YOU), but I think it would be fun to see what GMMTV could do with such an elegant piece of clean storytelling. It's right in their wheelhouse. I want an 8 ep run: One ep for each day plus one for them as a couple.

Minato's Laundromat - give us the age gap we deserve, Thailand.

Mr. Unlucky Can Only Kiss - I think Thailand could do a much better job with this one, frankly.

Eternal Yesterday - and give it a happy ending, damn it

Candy and Kiss - I'd love to see Thailand adapt this underappreciated little manga.

Takumi-kun - YES, I said it... bite me.

Wait For Me at Udagawachou - this is a long pull (and QL not BL) so I think only the 180 Degree people could handle it, but I'd love to see Thailand try.

Hand if off to Taiwan instead

My Personal Weatherman

My Beautiful Man

Tokyo in April

Silhouette of Your Voice

Same Difference - fucking please adapt Docchi Mo Docchi Taiwan, I will love you FOREVER. This is a GREAT IP that was criminally mishandled by Japan.

Hand if off to Korea Instead

Given

Kabe Koji

I Want to See Only You

Senpai, This Can’t be Love!

Jack o'Frost

Fujimi Orchestra

Ones I Think No One Else Can Handle

Our Dining Table

Takara & Amagi

Old Fashion Cupcake

Life: Love on the Line

His

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese

I'm gonna remind you all the Thailand has already adapted Love Stage!! and they did a better job than Japan, IMHO.

(source)

[88y53]

New trailer for MAWS Season 2! I have some things to say.

Mainly about the villains.

And I just...

How about we start with the positives.

They brought in Atomic Skull, which is great. He should've been here sooner if you ask me.

Parasite is returning, and he was a stand-out in my opinion. Loved how they reinvented him.

That's unmistakably a parademon, which means they'll be expanding the space side of the story and bringing in the New Gods. Cool.

I'm thinking this is Solaris, the Tyrant Sun. Always fun to bring in an evil sentient star.

Looks like they're bringing in Steel, which is awesome. Love having him around.

And for the big one:

Supergirl! Clark isn't alone anymore!

It'll be really fun watching how this develops.

Okay, now for the things I'm iffy about.

Is this guy supposed to be Bloodsport or Conduit? Either way, can we stop with the techno-mercenary-criminals?

I guess not because apparently this is going to be Blockbuster.

Livewire's back. I say through clenched teeth. Hopefully, they'll introduce her pathological need for attention and validation in this season.

Apparently, Brainiac is a collaborator with the Kryptonians, who seem to be like the Viltrumites from Invincible–superpowered world conquerors.

[I do kind of like this call-back to the old Fleischer cartoons]

And then this:

This is officially Lex Luthor.

. . . (sigh). This show is so frustrating to me because it's so close to perfect, but it just never commits to getting it right.

Now, I understand Lex Luthor is a hard character to grasp because he's been completely misunderstood for the past 40 years (and we have John Byrne to thank for that).

I can see how they could spin this into a Breaking Bad scenario–a young genius who feels overlooked and underappreciated decides to become a master criminal to get the respect law-abiding society denied him.

But that's still missing a critical piece of his character.

Lex Luthor and Superman used to be friends.

(This was written by Jerry Siegel, by the way–AKA the co-creator of Superman)

There was a time when Lex had the potential to be a world-changing scientist, but a rookie mistake by Superboy completely changed the trajectory of his life.

It's only when they had a falling-out that Lex became a criminal because he lost faith that society would ever accept him.

This Lex feels more in the mold of the John Byrne Lex who was just a bad Donald Trump parody.

It also brings to mind Jesse Eisenberg's pseudo-libertarian Mark Zuckerberg Luthor, which was just the apex of how shallow the Post-Crisis Luthor is.

Basically Lex Luthor becomes a super-criminal because he has no friends. He's a GD incel.

Like, seriously, he's just a lonely nerd who denies his insecurities through a hyper-masculine persona, all to distract himself from how miserable he is.

That is Lex Luthor

That's what makes moments like this so poignant:

Lex Luthor could be happy and respected if he just let go of his toxic mindset, but he's so wrapped up in his misanthropy, self-pity and self-loathing, entitlement, and blaming of Superman to see it.

I also kind of headcanon that Lex is gay and just massively over-compensates for it, and his fixation on Superman is the same hated obsession incels have with women.

Maybe the show will surprise me, who knows?

I'll still watch it–it's the first solo Superman cartoon in the last 27, so you can't be picky about these things.

[nothwell]

Did you enjoy Jane Austen or Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell but wished for more murderhusbands?

Do you think any book could be improved with swords?

Do you prefer your characters queer until proven otherwise?

Some have called Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner a "cult classic," which is a fun way to say a book is criminally underappreciated. It's a perfect blend of fantasy, intrigue, romance, and edge-of-your-seat action. This forerunner of the mannerpunk (or fantasy-of-manners) subgenre is a marvelous balance of Austenesque social ritual with bloody consequences. A wealth of worldbuilding-through-implication is packed into this shockingly slender volume that leaves the reader ravenous for more.

While it contains far more grit and gore than your average romance, it is still at its core a romance, and a queer one at that - almost every twist of the ever-coiling plot is a direct result of romantic desire either thwarted or indulged. Our heroes, the low-born master swordsman Richard St. Vier and his mysterious academic lover Alec, form the core of this Gordian knot. Though I prefer a Happily-Ever-After over a Happy-For-Now, I concede that Swordspoint's conclusion puts the punk in mannerpunk and thus feels wholly appropriate for this one-of-a-kind story.

tl;dr - read Swordspoint and come scream with me, pls.

[lazyflower48]

Let's take a moment to talk about Dazai and Atsushi's relationship in 55 minutes, shall we?

I finally managed to get my hands on this light novel, so I have to talk about it.

Also, 55 minutes is barely talked about and is criminally underappreciated, and I am here to change that.

First off, I want to preface this by saying how much I absolutely love Atsushi and Dazai's interactions in this light novel. Their relationship particularly shines in 55 minutes. I love their mentor-mentee and 'sort of like a chaotic older brother-younger brother' relationship.

The amount of faith and trust Atsushi places in Dazai- he believes that as long as Dazai is there, everything will work out and how he actually cares about Dazai as a person, not just his mentor.

And then there's Dazai, the type of person who conceals his true self from others; the type of person who wears a hundred masks and may see people as pawns and manipulate them as he pleases (he is called a master manipulator, after all). But I like to believe that over the course of time, deep down, he has grown to care for Atsushi.

The 'Odasaku's grave' scene in Dead Apple or the ending scene of s3 ('To the stray dogs') or the scene towards the end of 55 minutes when talking about colonel (which i shall include in this post) are some of the very few instances in which we have seen Dazai coming close to actually somewhat opening up or revealing his true feelings. And each time, it was in his conversations with Atsushi.

Now, onto some of my favourite interactions between these two from the light novel.

Dazai praising Atsushi for the smallest things

Dazai actually attempting to calm down Atsushi and then praising him again?

Atsushi's faith in Dazai: "This smile meant everything was going to be all right."

This whole interaction.

And this.

And lastly,

The fact that Atsushi noticed the shift in his demeanour and also the fact that Dazai (the man who easily masks his emotions) allowed himself to appear slightly vulnerable in front of Atsushi- I can't.

It's wishful thinking, but I hope some day, Dazai takes Atsushi to Bar Lupin and tells him about his dear friend, Odasaku.

[animehouse-moe]

Media I Experienced In 2023 That I'm Thankful For

It feels crazy to process that another year's effectively gone by already. A lot of people will always say "this year was worse than the last" in the context of a lot of things, and I'm usually one to disagree with that sentiment. This year though, it's been tough for entertainment in general. But that's not what I'm here to talk about, I wanted to share some of my favorite experiences from this year, and look back on the wonderful and impactful media that I've been able to read or watch!

Witch And The Beast - Kousuke Satake

Yes, this is the third volume's cover, I know. I just really love the color choices and style for it.

Anyways, this was one of those series that I'd always see and never pick up. It took some severe pestering from a friend for me to finally pick it up, and it was totally worth it.

I would say it's definitely far from bad right from the start, but I'd also say that once you reach around volume 3, Satake really catches their stride and provides some beautiful work in the volumes leading up to their hiatus. If you want a world all about magic that prioritizes form over function, it's impossible to not recommend The Witch and The Beast and its wonderful appeal.

A Home Far Away - Teki Yatsuda

Yes, this is a one-shot manga, but the grip that it had on me after I read it was so intense. You know how you can tell when a one-shot wants to go past that single volume but can't? This is like the exact opposite. The pacing, themes, characters, all of it is so well structured for a single volume run that you end up with aimless frustration that it can't continue.

The themes of various types of trauma and the idea of searching for a savior in someone else are just so strong alongside the systemic failure in caring for and helping minors. It's just so so strong and painful in how it represents a slow slip into helplessness as they claw at each other to try and unearth their freedom.

Also, definitely read their serialized manga The Yakuza's Bias! Totally different vibe that is just full of absurdity and humor.

Pandora - Hagiwara Rei

Pandora was a very healing manga to read. Beautiful watercolor artwork is donned by each page in the various short stories appearing in this work. Though each is a different person in a different situation, the themes of survivor's guilt, loss, and the hope to be found at the bottom of despair are very strong to feel. If people are looking for a heavy but positive and emotional read, this is certainly a great choice.

Okinawa - Susumu Higa

I don't think it's a secret to say that anti-imperialist Japan manga is seen as "few and far between" in English. We have a lot of impactful and important works that haven't been translated or are currently out of print, so Okinawa came along at a really great time to help drive the point home alongside other experiences like Godzilla Minus One (which is on this list, of course).

Anyways, stepping away from the general act of the war, or the (typical) experiences of it post-war, Okinawa is an incredible read for displaying the interaction and relationships between the Okinawan people and the two separate armies that occupied their space. It does a wonderful job of not painting anyone as inherently evil, but showing the sinister nature of war and the aftereffects that it leaves on a people. Very very worthwhile read that I can't recommend enough.

Until I Love Myself - Poppy Pesuyama

It's only two volumes, it's a manga essay, and it deals with LGBTQ+ content among other things. This is something that was essentially destined to be criminally underread and underappreciated.

What Pesuyama does in exposing their difficult experiences and personal trauma is beyond valuable to people that find themselves in similar positions. The idea of sexism distilled into every aspect of society through the patriarchy, and how that's reflected on someone that doesn't feel comfortable in their own body is almost impossibly poignant. The frustration, the distance, the fear, it takes an incredibly personal experience and without losing even an ounce of that value is able to translate it into something that almost any reader can grasp. An incredibly powerful piece from an equally brave author, it's also an invaluable resource and experience for many out there.

Skip and Loafer - Misaki Takamatsu

I'm a big P.A. Works fan. I've got a lot of their art books, I watch a lot of their series, I just think they do a lot of good work. I also had my reservations about them doing the Skip and Loafer anime, but it was wonderful.

Simply put, it's a modern classic in the slice of life/high school era genre. The characters feel perfectly childish and immature, the direction of the story and its themes are perfectly on the nose. It just has the perfect balance of everything you could hope for. There's not really much to add past that, really. If you like slice of life or high school stuff, you'll love Skip and Loafer. Incredibly refreshing experience.

Heavenly Delusion

I'm a massive fan of the manga, and I was coping insanely hard when I saw that first trailer. I was praying I was in for greatness and wasn't going to get scammed, and Production I.G brought out arguably their best work in the last decade for it.

Mori Hirotaka and the rest of the staff did an absolutely phenomenal work in transforming Heavenly Delusion into an anime. Massive restructures and thematic changes that feel like sheer art within the context of the series. Ishiguro couldn't have done it better himself, and he made that point known on Twitter. Right up there next to Frieren (and even above it depending on the significance of various criteria) for the greatest anime of 2023, and puts itself in contention for one of the best in the 2020s. Absolutely a must watch.

Undead Girl Murder Farce

Mysteries and series that really encourage you to analyze and break them apart are some of my favorites to experience. Include historical context, a penchant for intense showmanship rooted in Japanese culture, and animation and direction that will knock your socks off, and you've got the Dark Horse of the summer season.

Undead Girl Murder Farce had me absolutely hooked from the very first episode, bringing almost SHAFT-like direction and execution that brings out the absolute most in something so fluid. Lapin Track struck gold with this work. Even though they were struggling a little towards the end, they provided and endlessly satisfying and creative experience that had me on the edge of my seat breaking apart every single little frame for meaning and value. An absolute treat for a mystery fan.

Blue Giant

Like many, I discovered Nut (the studio) through Tanya The Evil. Crazy visual effects and ridiculously competent visuals for such a new studio, I was immediately enthralled with their quality.

Not that Blue Giant as a story isn't incredibly good, but that in this context, Nut brought out every last drop of greatness that could have existed in this movie. I'm really struggling to come up with more to say, but it's just so visually stunning that the experience as a whole just feels like a performance on an incredible level. Simply great, I guess I'm forced to say.

The Boy and The Heron

It's Ghibli, it's Miyazaki, need I say more really?

I don't, but I will. I went and saw it twice in theaters so that I could experience both dub and sub for it. Something that people should be 100% experiencing in theaters, and absolutely should be watching multiple times. Miyazaki doesn't tell just one or two stories with this movie, it's so many experiences in his life rolled into one. A love letter to the man behind one of anime's most beloved studios, but also one that leaves lingering feelings of sorrow for some of what Miyazaki instills in it. So yeah, watch it to your heart's content.

Godzilla Minus One

Last, but certainly not least, Godzilla Minus One. I loved it, I knew I'd love it from the moment I laid eyes on the trailer. The idea of Godzilla being presented in North American theaters, to North American viewers, as a direct and destructive of the atomic bomb and its effects on the Japanese population just set something off in me.

North America's view of Godzilla as some sort of anti-hero over the years has weakened the original sentiment that barely existed here in the first place. Minus One sets the record straight in devastating fashion, and adds to the theme in spades. I'd love to explain but I want as many people as possible to experience this without any spoilers, so I'll leave it at being one of the best Godzilla movies bar none.

And that's the list for this year. I think overall it was a "weaker" year, but I'd be more comfortable with calling it a radicalized year. The bad stuff got worse, but the good stuff got better. The best experience of the year were incredibly good because of that, but it overall felt like slimmer pickings than the prior year.

Not that this list couldn't have added any number of entries like Scott Pilgrim, Frieren, Kamonohashi Ron, Bleach TYBW, Gwitch, and so on and so forth. More so that I wanted to keep this list a little more contained. The idea of importance or appreciation begins to lose its value when everything is important or overly appreciated.

Anyways, that's all the past, this post is in the present, and I've got my eyes set on the future with things like the Hokkyoku Department Store movie, Dandadan from Science Saru, Delicious In Dungeon, and plenty, plenty more in 2024!

So with all that said: happy holidays and I hope people have been enjoying having time off and getting to spend some with their families and friends!

[stormyrainyday]

🍎🫐🍑 if it's not too much at once <3

omg hi !!

🍎 Is there anything you straight-up won’t write?

Kind of basic but I'm not really one to write smut like it's fine I enjoy consuming it from time to time. Honestly, it's not even a matter of being uncomfortable I just don't like to write it. If I think about it, I wonder if it'd be fun to use sexual intimacy to discover more about how I think two characters would interact but I'd be so far out of my depth that I'd have to leave it for a long while down the road.

🍑 If you could make a connection between your favorite character and another work you care about (whether a crossover/fusion or a wonderfully “pretentious” literary reference) what would it be? How would it work?

I've had an Alhaitham/Kaveh and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch crossover rotting in my brain for ages and just haven't had the time to replay the game to flesh it out. But I imagine it as broken-hearted Alhaitham and pure-hearted Kaveh. A silly, sweet AU. Then they become companions and explore the world together it'd be cute as fuck.

If you've never heard of Ni No Kuni you should look into it it's so fun and gorgeous if a little childish and it's animated by Studio Ghibli it's so cool. I love the real time turn-based combat it was my first time playing a game like that.

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

Oh man, can I make a list.

Shenhe and Baizhu as characters are so underappreciated. Shenhe is part of a major story quest (the first Interlude quest) but so rarely makes appearances after that. On top of that, she's a pretty niche unit that's only rerun once so I feel like people don't give her enough attention which is a damn shame because her backstory is so cool to pick apart. She's also canonically the most powerful human in the game? The only rival to her in strength is Childe and even then between you and me I think she could beat him. Childe is my favorite but Shenhe is stupid powerful in her lore. So yes. I wish more people talked about her characterization and lore but unfortunately half of her tag is rope bondage smut.

Baizhu keeps getting fucked over by Hoyo and gets a lot of hatred from the fandom for being gay-sounding (which, I don't love his English voice acting but homophobia from the Genshin Impact fanbase is fucking rich). It's actually kind of shocking how much hate he gets when he is literally just existing. I think there isn't enough work dissecting the utter tragedy of his situation and the way he values selflessness to the extreme-- even the game seems to treat his contract and his pursuit of immortality as something to be celebrated, when in reality he is dooming himself to an eternity of suffering should he succeed. Most of the works about him are shipping him with Pantalone or are just your standard run-of-the-mill sickfics (nothing wrong with that, I just think that he is open to much more dissecting and prodding and that there should be more works cutting him open to show his heart).

Also I haven't written about it yet but I am absolutely batshit insane about Childe x Lyney rarepairing, when I have more time I will compile my incoherent google doc about them into a fic or at the very least an extensive Tumblr post. Before I get shot I would like to gently remind you guys that Childe in canon is in his early 20s and Lyney is not a kid he's just short please read the character stories thanks <3

Not Genshin related but I also feel very strongly about certain Stardew Valley NPCs and feel like we don't talk enough about how nuanced their characters are despite having relatively straightforward cutscenes and dialogue but that's a post for another time

[raptorfae53]

Duchess Swan Redesign/"Monster form".

Hello again, I've something a bit different today...

Ever after high is a criminally underappreciated and terrifyingly interesting story,so I've decided to let loose my concept of how I'd reboot the show to fit within the universe of my Monster High reboot ive been fleshing out through g1-style character bios on here and on my AO3 page (AndromedaRaptorFae for those interested), starting with this art of my version of Duchess Swan, the daughter of odette the Swan princess and an absolute bad-but-sad disaster of a girl.

To make a long story short,because of plot reasons, the ever after high kids end up in the "real world" of monster high and attend it for senior year after transforming into myriad monsters themselves. Duchess becomes a cockatrice, a dragonlike mediaeval monster that's part bird and part reptile (traditionally half and half Cockerel and snake but Duchess befitting her role is a Swan cockatrice) and a counterpart to the Basilisk (of which Duchess's own counterpart, the child of Odile the black Swan has as their "monster form").

Needless to say,a lot of the kids don't take these new changes to everything too well, and Duchess is one of them. She's already struggling with her own self-loathing and low self-worth,believing her grandmother who raised her as well as her transformed mother resent her for being a reminder of everything that happened in their story for starters. And that's not getting into any of the nonsense that's occurred during her time at ever after high.

All in all,as spiteful,envious and generally villainous as she is,Duchess is more or less just miserable and lonely, and gaining a tail and wings is honestly the last thing she thinks she needs,although she eventually learns how to manage, and how to ballet dance on bird feet.

Also,as a quick aside on Duchess being Trans, whilst she's not the only trans character within the cast of this rebooted eah, the idea of Duchess being a trans girl was primarily inspired by this amazing post by @royalrebelpropaganda . (Being a trans girl myself whose struggled with her self worth I can actually empathise a lot with the poor girl tbh,maybe its why shes one of my favourite eah characters?...)

Anyways,hope you like the art and hope to see you soon with some more eah art,as I've got a lot more concepts and ideas...

[safetycar-restart]

Okay now that I have notifications again (thx tumblr) I’m back. And with sb!Mick.

You’ve been really busy at work, and Mick has been doing his own things, making sure everything is as it should be, but neither of you have really had time to spend the time that you want together. So, you basically end up scheduling an all-day meeting one day and arrange to work from home. Mick knows about this and thinks it’s an actual meeting but you surprise him with a lovely breakfast in bed and cuddles when he wakes up.

Mick is so genuinely surprised and touched by this that it’s almost overwhelming and he tears up, but he lets you pamper him all day and neither of you wear many clothes for the duration of your ‘meeting’. You end the day watching your show together, and Mick falls asleep on your thigh.

I am so happy to see you in my askbox again!! And I think that the sugar baby au is criminally underappreciated, especially soft thoughts in that au, so this is just amazing.

Firstly, I think Mick is a pretty high needs sugar baby? In the sense that he really needs constant reassurance that you actually enjoy being with him and buying him things and letting him stay at home while you work.

If you leave him for too long, he'll get caught up in his own head and think he's not good enough and just be so sad.

Most sugar babies are happy to have a few days to themselves, but not Mick. Mick wants to be with you every single day, because he's your sugar baby! He needs the attention and affection far more than he needs the gifts and money. He'll get all sad and pouty if you don't have enough time for him, and no amount of expensive gifts can make him smile again, only being with you can do that.

This time, you had already warned Mick that you would be having a very busy two weeks where you'd be working very long hours and overtime on the weekends and you probably wouldn't have time for him. You felt so bad, but it couldnt be avoided.

Mick, because he's just the best, tries so hard not to show how sad and lonely he is, because he understands that you didnt choose this and he can see how stressed you are. He would never want to make you even more stressed by showing you how lonely he's feeling.

He still does all his day to day things, still cleans the apartment and takes the dogs for jogs and goes out with friends. He needs to keep up appearances so that you don't get too worried about him, but of course you can see right through him.

You can tell just how lonely and sad he is, and it breaks your heart, but luckily you had expected this. That's why halfway through the second week, you took a day of work. You booked the day in your shared calendar with Mick as a meeting the whole day so that he would have no idea.

When Mick saw that you had one very long meeting, he got even sadder! Usually you'll text him between meetings, just a quick message to let him know you're thinking of him and love him and he looks forward to those messages so so much. He thought that if you were in such a long meeting, you probably wouldn't get any time to message him and that just breaks his little heart.

So on the Wednesday, he wakes up in a very bad mood because you aren't in bed so he thinks he's somehow slept through your alarm and you're already at work. Which means he thinks he didn't even get a kiss goodbye!

The poor thing is nearly in tears when you suddenly appear in the bedroom, carrying a tray of breakfast with a flower. At first he's confused, asking why you aren't at the meeting.

When you explain to him that there is no meeting, but that you felt you hadnt been giving him enough attention since you've been so busy so you took a personal day to spend with him, then he really starts crying. How could he have gotten this lucky?? He has no idea.

You hand feed him breakfast in bed between kisses, and of course you can't resist and simply have to give him a handjob too. Being so busy meant that mick hadnt been getting the sexual attention he was used to either and the poor thing was so worked up! He's so so sensitive and in just a few strokes, he was spilling all over your hand and shaking again, mumbling thanks over and over again until you bring your hand up for him to lick clean.

The whole day is spent like that, cuddling and talking and fucking, just making sure that your sweet sugar baby is getting all the attention he needs.

Mick, meanwhile, is in heaven. This is exactly what he needed without even knowing. He just lets you pamper and play with him the whole day, allowing his body to just be a plaything for you, which is exactly how he likes it.

You take the dogs on their walks together, stopping at a little cafe for coffee and sharing a treat before walking home again. Mick is all smiles, so so happy that he got to spend the entire day with you like this.

Maybe after that, you start letting Mick come with you more? If you're working from home, then he's allowed to come sit with you while you work, and if you're just in your office not doing meetings then he's allowed to sit on the couch. He just needs to be with you and then he's happy.

[claitea]

can you tell us more about alto 👉👈

here's the basic rundown on them!

some more things about them though:

i use the day i finish designing an oc as their birthday, so alto's is september 13. they're 23 at the time of bw2

full team is fearow, unfezant, swanna, rufflet and vullaby. they're like 4th-5th gym level kind of strength in battle

somewhat inspired by the time that as a kid i went to this beach, known for having a one-winged pelican around. i never got to see it but i always remembered it. alto's initial partner pokemon was going to be a pelipper, but i did want to give the underappreciated fearow (which i actually really like! a lot more than pelipper haha) a little spotlight. i still kept the one-winged pelipper concept - it's now the logo of the skyline sanctuary visible on alto's second outfit. it lives with the rest of alto's family at the sanctuary as one of the helper pokemon

taught themself how to sing and dance as a kid so they could play with the birds in the sanctuary, but ending up really liking it and they do it as a hobby. you could NOT convince alto to sing or dance in front of other people though. gun to their head they will not

sucks at throwing poke balls but thats what the capture styler's for

afraid of thunderstorms, not in the afraid of loud noises way but because their family are all extremely wary of them. they're dangerous times for bird pokemon so they have to be on guard during them, so even when they're not at the sanctuary, storms put them on edge

alto doesn't battle often, but people who have battled them think they're annoying to fight lmao. when facing wild pokemon as a ranger, their main tactics are dodging and disrupting to get openings to use their styler, and they incorporate those same tactics in their battles

also despite part of why i made alto being that they were going to be paired with n i dont think i explained their whole story here???

between the remains of team plasma that either joined neo team plasma or are making up for their actions in the driftveil safehouse, there's a small number that still fully believe pokemon should be separated from humans for their sake. they operate independently, still convincing some to release pokemon or outright stealing them just like the original plasma. this is one of the reasons some rangers were dispatched to unova to help recover these pokemon

alto gets assigned to capture and calm an ursaring who took its release very badly and is now rampaging through the forest. while searching for it, he runs across n who was busy playing with pansage so deep in the forest he didn't get the evacuation memo. n asks what someone else is doing so far into the woods, alto explains their mission, n volunteers to help, alto thinks thats insane you cant do that and leaves. "i don't need help. i got this"

they don't got this

they end up taking a direct slash, and it would have been worse had n not worried about someone going that far into the forest alone with a dangerous pokemon and went in the same direction. n jumps in, calms the ursaring himself, and drags alto out to get medical help

alto usually takes a while to warm up to new people but on account of n literally saving their life he gets to skip most of the aloof alto phase. they end up great friends, alto admiring n a lot

alto, however, has a very strong sense of justice and never forgives criminals. in particular they hate team plasma because of what they've had to witness firsthand. n is ex-plasma, the ex-King no less. n soon learns about alto's views and knows that he should tell alto the truth soon. its harder then when he told hilda though, he's already such good friends with alto and this aill likely ruin it

he finally ends up telling them about a year after their first meeting. just as he thought, alto's distraught and leaves

over the next month though alto feels like shit over the whole thing. yes they're not sure if they can trust n after he kept that information from them for a year. but n was different to how any of the still malevolent team plasma members were like...?

they happen to get assigned to work with the driftveil safehouse to help them handle some pokemon

surprise asshole n's sisters live there and they've been told all about you

both of them are reluctant to work with alto not just because of what happened with n but because it shows they don't trust anyone at the safehouse. for the sake of professionalism alto promises to put all bias aside and carry out whatever tasks needed of them

working with the safehouse makes them realize that people can change. every ex-plasma member here is genuinely trying their best to atone. alto finally admits to themself that they really screwed up with n and asks anthea and concordia if they can tell n they want to apologize. they slowly patch things up with him from there

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Ok y'all, we gotta talk about precision in language for a second, because I'm noticing a trend in book spaces (mostly but not exclusively reviewer spaces) that is irksome AF. Reviewers have this weird tendency to say variations on "I expect my suspension of disbelief to be maintained" before saying something that honestly has less to do with suspension of disbelief than actual poor writing or pacing.

I have two issues with variations on expecting your suspension of disbelief to be maintained.

First: We need to talk about what suspension of disbelief is and whose responsibility it is. To paraphrase Geoffrey Tennant (from the criminally underappreciated Slings and Arrows) paraphrasing Samuel Taylor Coleridge, drama and storytelling functionally IS the willing suspension of disbelief for the moment. The word "willing" tends to get dropped from the understanding of suspension of disbelief these days, which opens authors (and other creators, but I fucking hate broadband terms like "creator" so for the purposes of this post, we're talking authors) to holding the entireity of the responsibility for suspension of disbelief.

This is incalculably stupid and not how anything works.

Authors have the responsibility of creating worlds, characters, and narratives. That's pretty much it. They build the sandbox, and we as readers play in it. But here's the thing: If we agree to play in the sandbox, then we also agree that "willing" is part of the deal. That means that we as readers have to meet authors AT LEAST halfway, and honestly I think it's more like 3/4 of the way where suspension of disbelief is concerned. Authors aren't in your heads, and they aren't going to tailor a book directly to what you believe, so you have to be willing to suspend the disbelief. You as a reader have to do at least half of that work.

Now having said that, I'm not about to say that there aren't immersion-breaking things in books sometimes or that there is no such thing as a bad book; none of that is true. But there is something so cynical and frightened of looking dumb in assuming that if an author isn't doing 100% of the work to suspend YOUR disbelief, then the author is in the wrong that it actually takes my breath away. Take responsibility for your part in the act of reading.

Second: Don't bitch about a lack of suspension of disbelief when what you actually mean is that you have a very legitimate complaint about the pacing or the writing or an incongruous use of language or a deus ex machina that you didn't like. Get specific with the problem you have with a book, and be precise about the issue and how it impacts the narrative. Quality and reading experience don't necissarily line up. I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed reading objectively poor-quality books, and I have found objectively high-quality texts an absolutely hideous experience to read (see every time I tried to read To the Lighthouse).

Very often when people say "I expected my suspension of disbelief to be maintained," they're eliding the reading experience with their assessment of the textual quality. Stop doing that. Be precise.

[whatever-you-can-give-me]

12, 18

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

razlo is the low-hanging fruit because he is deeply underappreciated mostly for having. not much page time and practically no screentime (yet!) and all of the psychic damage of vol10 and i love him. he is trying so hard and he deserves so much appreciation.

also BRAD i have seen more brad appreciation since stampede but stampede brad fits into mmmmm how shall i say. more conventional stock fic tropes in several different genres. let's go with that. which i love to see, but trimax brad with his stupid hair and his autistic stare and his "protagonist of a different story" energy is still criminally underappreciated and i will die on that hill.

also elendira. tristamp especially because (some) people decided she was far more useful as a discourse emblem than interesting as a character, but i haven't seen much trimax el appreciation either, for all the complaining... let's get on that, guys.

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

...canon. the events that transpire in canon. the characters contained within. the beats of the plot. the thematic elements. trigun is a very rich story and while it's very ripe for fandom i think a lot of fandom has scavenged all the least interesting parts to make a very bland meal. TBH.

choose violence ask game

[nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius]

I'm going to go with Star Wars (entire franchise) for the blorbo ask game

EXCELLENT

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most) Changes every few days or so, but at the moment it's Crosshair because he's a little shit and I want to rotate him in a microwave

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) Tech, aka the only wholesome person on this goddamn list

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) Quizzy <3 This bitch is the definition of a tumblr sexyman, why is he so underrated??? I am Confusion

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week) Literally all the Inquisitors. New drinking game, take a shot every time we get a crumb of a speck of a shadow of an Inquisitor appearance and I go through the roof with excitement

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) I guess Anakin? What counts as problematic? This is the war criminal monsterfucker site after all, I don't think any of mine are especially controversial

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) I feel like a better question to ask would be which character I WOULDN'T torment for fun. Come on, it's just my love language at this point

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) First one that came to mind is Syril because I'm thinking about Andor again and I want to kill him in the face

[blankinsidecards]

Steddie fic rec list

Absolutely nobody asked for this but here we go! These are my top 5 favorites, meaning they live in my brain 24/7 and I want them tattooed on my eyelids. Edit: this has been updated!

oh, happy dagger on sunshine bones by inallthingsgoodorbad

Rating: M • Edit: Complete!

Eddie Munson is stuck in the Upside Down. Barely alive. Steve Harrington is trying to sleep and failing at it, miserably. What a strange thing it is, to save the world alongside friends and come away from it with nightmares and loneliness.

A fix-it fic to a heart wrenching degree. Deals with the trauma and ptsd of each character in really careful detail, and plots out a bright future for them in the same breath. Lots of gorgeous, if messy, original poetry that fit with Eddie’s emotions throughout the fic in really beautiful ways. This fic is criminally underappreciated, but it’s an absolute masterpiece. Highlights include: the nickname of ‘Angel’, bedsharing, a fluffy lumax subplot that made me sob with joy, a wonderful appreciation for our dear Uncle Wayne Munson, and food as a love language. Slooowww burn with so much pining.

the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you by @greatunironic

Rating: E • Complete

Sixteen years after the world didn't end for the last time, Max Mayfield showed up on Steve’s doorstep and said, “You gonna walk me down the aisle in May or what?”

Or, it’s 2002 and Steve Harrington attends a wedding, a funeral, and a birth.

As the writer says in the notes of the first chapter, it’s a love letter to “Steve Harrington, father figures, + metalheads everywhere” which I think says more about the feel of it than I can convey here. The way that everyone is written, specifically Joyce and Hopper’s relationships with Steve, as so firmly family is something I didn’t know I needed so bad. I don’t reread fics very often, but I’ve read this one all the way through three times, and have listened to the podfic twice as well. (I’ve never been able to get into podfics but @itty-bitty-blondie did such a beautiful job with it) It will have you ugly crying through every chapter, I guarantee. And as fucking sad as it will make you, it also the softest, most comforting thing I’ve ever read in my life.

You’re Divine by OonionChiver

Rating: E • Edit: Complete!

‘Blood?’ Eddie says again.

Eyes black but for the slice of iridescent white in the centre. His teeth are sharp, his hands are weapons and Steve thinks maybe he’s made a mistake doing this without telling Eddie first. Eddie’s focus lowers, it moves to his left hand which is…

Oh fuck.

It’s dripping blood onto the floor.

‘Shit,’ Steve says, takes a single step back, swallows. ‘Eddie, I’m so sorry, fuck.’

Eddie can’t seem to look away, can’t bring his ethereal gaze back up where it belongs. Steve thinks he should run, he should flee. A tiny part of him knows Eddie will chase him. Eddie will catch him, outrun him easily.

It's more than a little fucked up how that thrills him.

So far, this is definitely my favorite Vampire!Eddie fic I’ve read so far. I’m going to come right out and say it: I’ve read my fair share of toe-curling smut in my time, and this is the only fic that while I was reading it, I felt like I got a ‘New Kink Discovered’ alert. If you like your ships to be co-dependent in the most fucked up ways possible, this is for you. I cannot stress enough how absolutely drunk on this fic I was at the end of the first chapter. Good lord, PLEASE check the tags yourself before reading, it is A Lot. Apart from how hot it is, the author has put a huge amount of detail into the technicalities of Eddie’s vampirism and, I’m not sure if this is accurate due to my own lack of knowledge, but it seems like a lot of it is directly drawn from D&D mechanics and Kas lore. I may be wrong here, but it’s impressive either way. Another big highlight is that they take a sledgehammer to the Mr. & Mrs. Harrington’s shit in a beautifully cathartic way. Don’t be put off by the fact that there’s so few chapters, each chapter is really long and covers several days. It took my two an half hours to read the latest chapter (and I only had to put my phone down to scream into my pillow like, six or seven times)

the lathe by @palmviolet

Rating: M • Complete

"This time, do it right. This time Eddie won’t bleed out in his arms, in anyone’s arms. This time, Steve will do it right."

— or, Steve relives the day they try to kill Vecna over and over, and Eddie just can't seem to stop dying. Steve finds this totally unacceptable.

It’s a time loop fic. It’s a Steve-centric time loop fic. It has more themes and symbolism than Chekhov could shoot a gun at. It peels Eddie’s character apart like an onion. It’s the ultimate put-your-blorbo-in-a-glass-jar-and-study-him-like-a-bug for EITHER of them. It had me waiting like a war widow for each update. I was more anxious over the ending of this fic than I was of the actual s4 vol2. Again, check the tags and individual chapter warnings for yourself because, as the author warns, it really does get so much worse before it gets better- but it gets better. I think this may be one of my favorite fanfics of all time, of any fandom, and that’s really saying something.

a bottle of rouge (just me and you) by @anniebibananie and @galmance

Rating: E • Edit: Complete! • AU

Eddie was sure 1988 was going to be his fucking year. Harringley had finally made it big enough for their first national tour, and, sure, they might all get sick of each other on the bus and kill their livers over the course of several months, but this was his fucking dream. None of that other shit could wreck it.

But Eddie Munson’s life has always been a dumpster fire of massive proportions, so really he should have expected it: Steve Harrington ruining his fucking life.

[Over the course of Harringley’s first national tour, band rules are made, broken, and might just cause feelings that leave them on the precipice of destroying everything they’ve built.]

Eddie-centric band fic where the Fruity Four is a band and everyone is too fucking hot for their own good. Classic friends-with-benefits setup with delightfully fast realizations of Actual Feelings. I’m talking a -‘no fucking bandmates’ rule at the beginning of chapter one, and a blowjob by the end of chapter one- kind of pace. I haven’t seen a lot of bi/pan Eddie fics yet, and this one does a good job describing how he feels attraction. (I’m NOT saying it’s ‘good bi/pan rep’. The man is a SLUT and it’s FUN) I also love how they’ve written Nancy as this hardcore drummer while somehow keeping her completely in character. Highlights include Jonathan Byers being Steve’s ex-boyfriend, Argyle being the band’s beloved bus driver, and several absolutely electric concert scenes. There’s also not a SHRED of ‘period-typical homophobia’ if that’s something you, like me, have a hard time reading.

Edit: the sequel come right inside (welcome to my new life) just began and it’s from Steve’s pov five years later. Where Side A was the epitome of Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll; Side B is already addressing the recovery the characters have needed from that destructive lifestyle, and I’m so down for it. Edit: also now complete and with a very sweet happy ending!

[mikussabbath]

Cloudgeal is criminally underrated and I’m constantly in flux between being sad and grumpy about it.

I have a LOT of thoughts on this, and so I’ve decided to dump some of them here.

AGSZC is so so lovely and great, but a whole lot of fics with the pairing entirely neglect/avoid the dynamic between Angeal and Cloud.

On one hand I kind of understand it. Cloud/Sephiroth, Cloud/Genesis, and Cloud/Zack are all really fun and unique dynamics that already have a large following. Cloud and Sephiroth can have that sort of quiet companionship or the lingering tension that comes from their shared past (depends on when in the timeline things are set, obviously). Cloud and Genesis can have this fiery back and forth relationship, where Genesis is wholly obsessed and Cloud puts up with and at times shuts down Genesis’ antics and they’re both in love with the other for it. Cloud and Zack are the epitome of friends to lovers and the tenderness that comes along with that.

I GET why these dynamics are popular and why they’re given so much attention within ASGZC. But it really… makes Angeal feel unimportant or lesser, to me at least. He doesn’t have a Big personality the way SGZ do, but he’s still a really wonderful character.

Angeal can offer Cloud tenderness and care that he’s never really been given. In turn, Cloud can offer him someone to take care of, who well and truly needs that care and (mostly) won’t protest it. A lot of people tend to portray Angeal as a bit of a mama bear—which I adore and agree with! But this also means that, whether he does so purposefully or not, Angeal tends to put the others’ needs above his own. Cloud is there to make sure that Angeal gets some of that care too, because for as strong and capable as he is, even he needs it. So Cloud will make sure Angeal gets the care he deserves, even if he says he doesn’t need it, even if Cloud has to trick him into it by setting things up in a way that taking care of Cloud indulges and satisfies Angeal’s needs.

Cloudgeal, to me, is very warm. It’s mutual protectiveness in a way that isn’t always physical. And while it’s not as loud and crazy as some of these other dynamics, that doesn’t make it less interesting or valuable.

I try so hard, when writing ASGZC, to give Cloud and Angeal proper time together. It is very important to me, just as these two and their relationship is very special to me. There is so much potential to portray warmth and intimacy and care so beautifully through them, and I think that both Cloudgeal as a whole and within ASGZC are criminally underrated and underappreciated. I really hope to see people give more love to these two.

(Also everyone is sleeping on the size difference. This ALONE is a crime and more reason to give attention to their dynamic but don’t even get me started on that.)