#you probably didn't ask for a long post

[infinitelycynical]

We need somebody to write a fic where Ide and Aizawa are like these hot greasers 😭😭 Matsuda should be the groupie 😭😭

stop absolutely 😭 if i had any motivation to write i would write this (maybe i will write this?) since i didn't know what type of greaser you were talking about (50s-60s american subculture or the outsiders kind), i did both!

(CHECK TAGS)

PERSONALITIES:

i've just done some research on greaser culture and this would actually suit aizawa perfectly according to my headcanons - did you tailor this post for me op?? in my mind, aizawa's half african-american - right? he probably grew up on the whole "you stick with your own, you are loyal to your own and you would do anything for your group" sort of mentality. this applies whether you are talking about the 50s-60s greaser variety OR the outsiders greaser variety - both of which are similar but not quite. i think it works either way.

to fit ide into this, he pretty much follows aizawa wherever he goes like a lost puppy and doesn't care much for people. when i think of ide's characterisation, i think solely of @zaney-hacknslash 's characterisation of him. if you read zaney's death note fics, even briefly (because they are very long, reading them is an all-day sort of event) you'll kind of see what i'm talking about. ide suits this greaser subculture very well, because he's loyal to his group (i.e. Aizawa) and doesn't care too much for the world outside of what is significant to him. he doesn't even care too much about his job.

AND YES YES GROUPIE MATSUDA >>>>

he just thinks they're real neat. aizawa and ide are cool, they're broke and they spend more time being a public nuisance at the cinema than doing anything else really but matsuda just thinks they're awesome.

to me, this could work platonically, romantically, sexually, or found family. this really is a great concept and i love it so so much.

POTENTIAL AUS:

groupie!Matsuda in the NPA, criminal greasers Aizawa&Ide: in this au, matsuda would keep getting any cases they may be involved in (perpetrator or not) and letting them slide. at first it's unintentional but as he interviews them more and more, he lets them get away with so much more than they deserve. aizawa and ide have no idea how 'luck' is on their side every fucking time but they're pretty grateful for it.

they also think that the smiley policeman who interviews them every time is actually pretty sweet - sweet enough to be protected by them, perhaps? matsuda's naivete is a significant part of his character in this au, as are the boys' lack of it. other criminals see him as a good target - but the boys aren't having any of it. matsuda is at first shocked, but then he just embraces it.

one day, aizawa and ide go to the station to pick up matsuda and take him to see a movie and soichiro is like "what are you thugs doing in these parts" then matsuda approaches and ide's just like "hey kid" and matsuda just grins and aizawa puts an arm around his shoulders. "we're seeing a movie!" matsuda grins, "thanks for letting me off early, chief!" and soichiro tries so many times to warn matsuda away from following and admiring the two but he ignores this every time.

in this same au, matsu is family-friends with the yagamis, he has been since he was a kid because their families got along. as matsu got older, they became more distant from his family but closer to him and he feels like they're on his side. but they keep warning him away from aizawa and ide, who are also on his side. why is that, he wonders?

high school au, outsiders au: aizawa and ide are kinda famous among the greasers, the same way bob was in the socs (the outsiders) and despite being a soc, matsu is really really attracted to them. obviously the age difference would be less in this au, and other characters would be sorted into greasers or socs. (e.g. light, matsuda, misa, takada and sayu are all socs. aizawa, ide, L, mikami, mello, matt & near are are all greasers.) things get complex realllll fast.

--

that's about it for now

[a-dragons-journal]

have you heard of KissingMidnight? back in the mythical community i used to hear bout her from time to time, a p-shifter who became a real mermaid. Now, I wonder... what do you think the true story was?

I hadn't heard of her by that name, but I'd seen the photos she posted as supposed "proof" of her shifted form. (Somebody posted a log of them here, for anyone who hasn't seen.)

The ironic thing is, blatantly faked "proof" like this (photos are grainy at best, especially the ones of "scales" where you can't really even see the supposed bumps she's talking about, and the tail is... obviously a fake? there's no life to that thing at all), as opposed to "that's a normal human thing that you are presenting as p-shifting" type proof, indicates to me that she was knowingly lying. If it was a photo of someone who genuinely believed what they were saying (which, at this degree of shifting, would have to be a hallucination, not just reading too much into normal human body things), we wouldn't be able to see the shift, because it wouldn't be physical.

There's a lot of reasons she might have lied about it, and I really can't speculate on it. She might have originally believed it and then not known how to back out when she realized it wasn't real and just doubled down instead. She might have been just a plain old troll, though it looks like she put an awful lot of effort into it for a troll. It doesn't look like she ever started up any groups, but it's possible she was partly looking to get power over people via claiming "secret knowledge" on an individual basis, since she did tell people to contact her directly according to that log. She might have just liked the attention. Who knows. I'd be curious to know her reasons, if anyone ever tracked her down, but I'm not going to spend too much time thinking about it.

[determunition]

Hi so I’ve curious, (Been nervous about starting my own AU) When you first started posting OFH (on twitter/ao3) how did you get the courage to post it? Were you ever afraid of getting called ‘cringe’ or ‘weird’ or anything else negative? If so how were you able to get over it? (Btw I do love this AU with all my heart!) Sorry if any of these questions are too sensitive!

hi!! thanks for the questions, i'm flattered to be considered a source of wisdom about this x3

OFH/retyrement, like most fandom things i do, started as kind of a silly shitpost thing; i love human AUs, and when my buddy squid_hug made that original text post about the retirement home it tickled me too much to ignore. objectively the scrybes being human old people bickering in a retirement home is a goofy, silly idea, and that's how it started as an AU, down to the written fic. i think that in itself made it a bit easier to post about

however! even with that, when i started posting the first pieces of art it was definitely a "do it scared" situation lmao; i don't remember where i heard this, but in some cases it takes even more courage to do something new when you're already known for something than it does to start something new with no presence at all, and that was definitely true with the retyrement AU. it was my first contribution to the fandom too! i was definitely worried it wouldn't go over well with anyone bc it was so damn niche lolol

my main piece of advice for getting over this fear (besides just doing it scared until you're not scared anymore) is to get yourself a hype squad lmao; though maybe the more accurate term would be a mutual AU ecosystem. i had squid to develop a lot of the AU with me at the start and we bounced a lot of silly ideas off of each other, and now i have a lot more folks around to crack jokes and hype each other up about our art and fics! also at the beginning i had a point where i was feeling a little self-conscious about continuing to post (the AU had a painfully small amount of engagement at the beginning lol), but as soon as i got one (1) ask saying "i wanna see more of this" i took that as my green light to get as silly with it as possible lmao

so ig my TL;DR advice is: don't take shit too seriously, remember it's all in good fun, and surround yourself with folks who enjoy funny lil AUs as much as you do! the second thing can be hard, as it involves uh, putting yourself out there in the first place, but embracing that discomfort is a necessary evil for having a good-ass time! if you can successfully kill the part of yourself that cringes then you'll never be cringe again

godspeed on your own AU endeavors, the digital world is always better for having another crazy creative alternate universe in it <3

[mckinlily]

Um, okay this is a loaded question, and if you want to play it safe, you can answer me in DMs, but...I personally feel that there's something wrong about how VLD placed Keith in the lead. In a way, I can see him becoming Black Paladin, but Shiro...it feels more natural to me, it feels right that Shiro is Black Paladin. I'm not into VLD beyond Shiro, Keith's parents, and the Lions personally, but I know someone who loves it and makes good points about Keith as a leader, but something just isn't aligning for me. Maybe it's because Shiro and Keith are two radically different archetypes, and they got swapped when they shouldn't have, I don't know.

I came here because I saw one of your post S2 rewrites, and I appreciated it. So, again, feel free to answer me in DMs (if you have problems DM-ing me, let me know and I'll fix it for you) if you don't mind discussing this with me.

As a final note, I'm not trying to hate any particular character. They're all fine on their own, and I don't want to treat one as worse than the other. I just want to figure out this problem I'm having with Shiro and Keith.

Thank you for reading this, and take care.

You came to the right blog! Because I adore Keith and believe he certainly has qualities that could make him a good leader—and absolutely hate him as the Black Paladin.

The thing I never understood about Voltron fandom debates about who should be the Black Paladin is that they always seem based in the idea that because Shiro is a leader and the Black Paladin, that means the Black Paladin is the ONLY leader on the team.

It is worth noting that that premise was disproven in episode one. It was Allura who made the final call on whether the paladins should run or stay and fight Sendak, and Shiro explicitly bowed to her authority. From then on, Shiro and Allura both lead Team Voltron until the show decided to destroy their characters, accepting influence and trading responsibilities depending on which one of them fit the situation at hand. Typically, Allura functions more in a commander and diplomat role and Shiro is more of a field officer, but they both pick up the lead where needed.

I know you didn't bring up Allura, but I think it is vital she is included in any conversation about leadership in Voltron. She is introduced as THE princess of an entire planet, she has more knowledge and experience of the intergalactic landscape than any of the other characters, she's been set up to be a leader since birth, and she IS the leader of Team Voltron for two whole seasons. Shiro makes it VERY clear he considers her to outrank him.

So the question you have to ask any time you consider replacing Shiro as Black Paladin: why NOT Allura? If the Black Paladin is the "best leader", why are you skipping over the one character already established and thriving in a leadership role? (And then you have to ask yourself if that character being a Black woman has anything do with that.)

Now I do think there are ways narratively you could answer that question. For instance, if you keep the Lions as sentient beings, that means they can make choices—including wrong ones. For instance, for a time when I believed anything might be salvaged after season 3, my head canon for Black choosing Keith was that Keith was the one missing Shiro as intensely and desperately as Black in that moment. Therefore, the choice was not about Keith being "better" but rather them being at the same place emotionally and that allowing the bond. The major problem with the Lion swap in canon is that we're given NO reason for Keith to be Black Paladin besides "plot device said so". Especially when we have Allura right there. It's just bad writing.

(By the way, you don't have to be pro-Black Paladin Allura. There's nuance to be had, and I personally am actually more One True Black Paladin!Shiro. But you can't just dismiss her--a capable and proven leader--from the conversation. Erasing her character is not the answer.)

ANYWAY. Back to Keith. Or rather, leadership on Team Voltron. Thing is, there are many different WAYS to be a leader. We already touched on the differences between Allura and Shiro. Keith does a good job of making split second decisions in battle or calling shots if Shiro is incapacitated or somehow separated. If you're in the middle of a fight, the plan has gone to shit, and the team just got separated, Keith is great at telling people what to do and mobilizing because something needs to get done NOW.

But that's not the only way to lead. Keith, for instance, is terrible at pep talks. He misses a lot of the nuances going on between him and his teammates off the battlefield. He doesn't plan ahead, like, ever. Sure he's great at making up stuff on the fly, but sometimes you need a plan.

But it's not just Keith. For instance, when Shiro, Lance, and Pidge go on the mission to rescue Slav, it's Pidge who calls all the shots. Is that not leadership? Pidge is often the one telling people what they need to do to solve technical problems. She's a center for information, typically the one collecting it, organizing and interrupting it, and then instruction others based on her conclusions. We see her take point on a mission, give orders to her teammates, coordinate efforts, problem solve in real time and relay a new plan in order to navigate unexpected challenges. Why not argue PIDGE should be the leader?

And there's when they freed the Balmera and Hunk took the lead. That mission was more challenging, but I'd argue in that arc, Hunk's leadership mattered less in terms of orders and more in terms of determining what type of team they'd be. Hunk was ADAMANT they free the Balmerans and set a tone for the team where they didn't leave suffering people behind. Hunk set up a moral imperative for the team that they'd be lesser without.

And Lance! There's actually lots to say about Lance and his strengths and types of leadership. But it's easy to point out that Lance is the one initiating fun and team bonding outside of battle. And when you're operating a giant robot held together by emotion connection, that's pretty dang important!

Point is, they're ALL leaders. They all have the capability to take point when needed. We SEE them all take charge at different points of the show.

So what's the Black Paladin then? If Shiro's The Leader then what does that mean? And this is the cool part! Because you know what Shiro is really really good? Know who else to put in charge. He's the one who first acknowledges Allura as an authority because he sees she has knowledge and experience he and the others do not. He selects which paladins to go together on which missions based on their strengths and the situations. He steps back and lets Pidge or Lance or Hunk call the shots if they're in an area of their expertise. Shiro's job isn't to tell people what to do. It's to decide who to put in charge of what and place them in best position for success.

There's another aspect of Shiro's leadership that is supporting his teammates, offering comfort, teaching, and giving the kids something solid they can believe in so they don't have to care the full weight of the war. But like letting others take charge where they shine, Shiro's leadership is all about enabling those he leads. One of my favorite Shiro lines is "It's too dangerous—I'm coming with you." Shiro's goal is never control. He is support. He leads the paladins because he sees the best in them and helps them reach it.

Narratively, also, Shiro is just set up to be the Black Paladin. The parallels between himself and the Black Lion are too obvious. From both being controlled and abused by Zarkon to Shiro's missing arm and Black's mission bayard. It's a kid's show. The symbolism isn't all that subtle. And if that weren't enough, we literally get an entire episode A plot in Space Mall about it where Shiro literally fist fights Zarkon for the Black Lion and in the end, he wins because he makes it clear it's the Black Lion's choice and trust.

Remember when I said the problem with Keith in the Black Lion in canon is that we're never given an explanation beyond "because I said so"? We're shown repeatedly why the Black Lion chooses Shiro. Even before we meet most the Lions, the other paladins themselves choose Shiro as their leader when Lance asks him if they should go through the wormhole. We repeatedly see Shiro seek to understand the Black Lion better, and Black responding. We see the similarities between their situations and backstories. We see them bond.

And I think this is really important because when Shiro is in the Black Lion, it's not about him being "in charge." It's about his relationship with the Black Lion. Yeah, of course, the other paladins are leaders! And they should be! But none of them have Shiro's relationship with the Black Lion. In this narrative, the Black Lion isn't a prize to be won but a relationship to nurture, and Shiro has put in the work for that relationship.

Which is really important because it means the Lions aren't a hierarchy. The Black Paladin is one role, an important role in Voltron, but no more important than any of the others. "The Leader" is not the most important person in the room. Instead, Shiro is a facilitator who enables all the others to perform their roles better.

Also can I just remind everyone just how well the Red Lion fits Keith? The paladin who keeps throwing himself out airlocks get the Lion most likely to go AWOL and fly off to save him. Keith defends his friends and team by attacking first and asking questions later, and Red started destroying a planetary body to get to Keith. The kid with abandonment issues gets the Lion who doesn't hesitate a second to go after him. And even the way they're shown to bond—that it's so physical and based in action rather than words—it's so Keith. I freaking love Keith as the Red Paladin. He gets to be as chaotic and free as he was always meant to be and gets a Lion who meets him every step of the way.

But if you say, no, Keith should be the Black Paladin. Well. What about Red wasn't working? Why was that role not one Keith fit in? Because from my reading of canon, Keith was thriving in Red. He got a secure attachment to his favorite person in the world, he gets the freedom to fly while also being part of something bigger, and he's making friends. It's still in its beginning stages, but he's figuring out how to bond with Lance, Hunk, and Pidge and you get the sense these are a kind of friendships he's never experienced before. But you know what could kill that really fast? Making him The Leader, a position that inherently sets him apart from the rest.

This is actually a problem twice over for Keith because unlike Shiro, who is shown to be given his role voluntarily by everyone around him and repeatedly shows he's earned that trust and respect, Keith is basically thrown into the Plot Device Machine and gets a t-shirt that says YOU'RE THE LEADER NOW. And we never get a reason beyond that.

This is actually my biggest problem season 3 and the Lion Swap. Because as soon as they made that choice, the Lions became a hierarchy. But what other explanation do we have? Keith won Favorite Character status got "prompted" to Black Paladin. But as soon as Black Paladin is a promotion, that makes the other paladin roles inferior. Red becomes the "second in command". So Lance get prompted but can never be equal to Keith. Allura gets the "Training Wheels" Lion/Blue, and they didn't have to write that as a massive demotion, but they sure did anyway. Hunk and Pidge are no longer leaders because they aren't in the "Leader" Lions.

It makes me so mad. One of the things I loved first about Voltron was the message of equality and servant leadership. The idea that a leader (represented by Shiro) is someone who elevates and enables everyone else. A recognition for the more "feminine" types of leadership—nurturing, compassion, emotional support. Which support roles are seen as vital and just as if not more important than being the "boss."

But we only got two seasons of that before they pulled the rug out and said, "Nope. We're returning back to patriarchy." Suddenly the Lions were in a strict chain of command, one character was the boss and the rest were his subordinates. There was a top position and a bottom position, and the characters were all fighting over each other. Perhaps most damningly, the Lion lost all personality and agency and become trophies to symbolize a character's power. And I'm not saying they're an accidental representation of how women are treated in Western media but I MEAN. It's right there.

My response when anyone says "[X] character should be the Black Paladin!" is—Why? Is their connection with the Black Lion deeper than Shiro's? Do they have more in common with Black than Shiro does? What could they achieve or obtain as the Black Paladin that they couldn't where they currently are?

And, though I don't think most of us realize it, the answer to that last one is power. Because we're soaked in patriarchy and a certain portrayal of "leadership (derogatory)" that many fans automatically assumed the Black Paladin HAD to be in control of and have power over the other paladins. So of course you want your favorite character to be the Black Paladin! You don't want your self-insert to be inferior!

But that's all the patriarchy talking. The other paladins are NOT inferior. There is NOT a hierarchy of types of people. Keith doesn't have to have Shiro's role because he's already equal as Keith.

Keiths look different from Shiros, but they're all equal and valuable as they are. Same goes for Lances, Hunks, Pidges, and Alluras. The whole point is they're stronger together. Their differences make them BETTER.

So yeah. Of course, Keith has some good leadership qualities. There's plenty of situations where it only makes sense for him to take the lead. But why on earth does he need to be the Black Paladin to do that? He's already Keith!

[zu-is-here]

Could you do a drawing of cross and dream sans wedding?

[annaofaza]

Reading TriMax again and this scene remains my favorite. (Here’s where to read the full manga)

Wolfwood’s in bad shape, he can taste blood in his mouth and his nostrils, and no one’s going to back him up because he’s an idiot and didn’t fucking tell anyone. As he’s being thrown around left and right, his old mentor’s being an asshole and taunting him about how “weakened” he now is and about how Vash is usually with Wolfwood and isn’t this time (Chapel’s doing the full-on Bond villain monologue at him)...

And Wolfwood basically says FUCK YOU.

Even if Vash doesn’t come to save him specifically, Vash will save someone else.

How? Wolfwood doesn’t know. Hell, he doesn’t even know if the world can be saved. But Wolfwood believes in Vash to, at the very least, put a dent in Knives’ plan, and make a positive difference in the fight because if anyone can do it, it’ll be Vash, and you should start running now.

He bares his teeth at the world he’s going to leave and the world he knows he’s not going to see, at the man who’s shaped him to kill alone without hesitation or mercy, at the hope he’s supposed to have lost, and says:

“He has never forsaken anything.”

Literal. Fucking. Chills.

[mattodore]

can you describe matthias and theo night routines? and their sleep schedule

<3 ly

Theo doesn’t get a lot of sleep since he’s either out partying into the long stretches of the night or up studying until the words begin to blur on the page. I’d say he normally falls asleep around 3AM-4AM and doesn’t wake back up until 7AM. Four-ish hours is pretty average for how much sleep he gets a night… maybe less at times if he’s more stressed than usual. I should add that he does sleep more when he’s staying over at Matthias’s or vice versa, but generally he tries his best not to let Matthias distract him from studying before bed… which only ever works out about a quarter of the time. Matthias can be... very persuasive.

In the case of Matthias, well… he’s a chronic insomniac whose insomnia is exacerbated by hallucinations and nightmares. Unsurprisingly, his sleep schedule is terribly inconsistent, but if he does sleep then I think he normally manages it sometime around noon and will stay asleep for about an hour or two. It’s actually very rare that he falls asleep during the night—especially after Theo begins to sleep over, as Matthias prefers to read and watch over him at that time instead. Theo has fits in his sleep (from nightmares that he never remembers…) and Matthias gently calms him so he doesn’t wake up.

The only time they fall asleep at around the same time is when they’ve been at it for a while and both need a break. Matthias doesn’t stay asleep for long, though… maybe an hour at most. He does sleep easier around Theo, but that’s mostly just when Theo is awake. I think Matthias finds a lot of comfort in knowing Theo is there watching over him. He went through a lot at the reformation school and there were many times within those years where sleep would be abruptly interrupted and then he’d be back on the killing floor, so to speak, so having someone there to watch over him… I think it really helps. Then, on the other hand, Theo sleeps pretty deeply after they’ve been having sex. There’s never a time he feels more cared for and adored than when Matthias is making love to him, so it's... a relaxing experience. It puts Theo's mind at ease and I think it’s probably when Theo feels the safest. So he'll sleep for a long while after, feeling cradled in Matthias's presence, his anxiety finally snuffed out.

As for their actual night routines… hm. They’re very different, especially before and after the start of Echthroi. 

Theo’s night routine stays pretty much the same throughout the story. He’s not one for self-care, like, at all. Because of that, he doesn’t necessarily have a routine… Theo’s honestly only really meticulous in his studies and everything else suffers for it. However, Theo physically cannot fall asleep unless he’s checked the locks on the windows and doors and closed all of the blinds and curtains. That’s the one routine of his he’s always sure to follow through on, even when he’s intoxicated or sleep deprived.

Otherwise, what else he does as part of his “routine” is up in the air. Sometimes he showers before bed, other times he showers after waking up. Sometimes he combs through his hair all nicely and other times he just impatiently rips his fingers through his hair and shrugs. Sometimes he forgets to brush his teeth, other times he forgets that he’s already brushed his teeth and ends up doing it again. He’s a bit of a mess. If he’s actually aware/awake enough to put himself to bed, then he’ll messily wipe any makeup off his face post-clubbing and/or he’ll shower post-hook up (if it’s the pre-Matthias part of Echthroi). If he’s tired from studying he’ll put all of his materials away and then flop down on his bed. If he has to see his parents in the morning then he’ll wind up in the bathroom for too long, brushing his teeth until his gums bleed. If we’re talking about Theo in the post-meeting Matthias part of the story then he might take a cold shower to try and get Matthias out of his head for a little bit, or he’ll find himself laying in bed staring warily at his phone. Hm… and in general Theo will hum lullabies to himself so he can fall asleep easier… it’s a childhood habit.

By nature of Matthias’s insomnia, Matthias doesn’t exactly find himself preparing for bed during the night like most people. He does, however, still run through his personal care routine at around 8pm. He showers, brushes, flosses, cleanses and hydrates, primps and preens, and then he’ll usually find himself entertaining guests or a partner for the night.

For Matthias pre-meeting Theo, he’s often not alone after dark as he has a string of men with whom he takes to his bed or a list of faceless people to call on whenever he wants to be surrounded by bodies and chatter. There are still quiet nights where he’s by himself or just with Imani, but they’re relatively few and far between. For Matthias post-meeting Theo… woof. He did sleep around here and there still, but I think he gave it up pretty early on… his mind was always swimming with thoughts of Theo and he couldn’t focus on nor did he find himself interested in the men he’d have under him. So after meeting Theo his usual night circuit changes and he often finds himself staying home and reading with some wine and the occasional glance at his phone, waiting for a response. Matthias does a lot of waiting when it comes to Theo.

If they're together at night (when they’re dating), then Matthias will usually make dinner for Theo. He likes feeding him (by hand, even, though Theo often protests). Normally Theo will have a few textbooks with him that he can study from while he waits for dinner and he always winds up going "give me a minute" when the food is finally done. They'll enjoy each other's company just fine at home or they'll go out for a drive or a walk. Theo often winds up getting roped into following along with Matthias's night routine and will poke fun at how fussy Matthias can be as Matthias does skincare beside him in the bathroom. Theo tries to get away with studying again later in the night, but Matthias likes to distract him as he’s personally offended whenever Theo whips out his textbooks past, like, 11PM. In general, they'll wind up having sex at some point, or multiple points, and then they'll shower together. After they towel off and Matthias dries Theo's hair, Matthias will most likely end up reading to Theo until Theo falls asleep. If Theo wakes up during the night, Matthias simply kisses him back to sleep.

[yuriyuruandyuraart]

WAIT.

DID I NOT SEND YOU THE DRAWING I MADE-?

i know you sent this like days ago but nope! i didn't see any pretty gals waiting in my askbox sadly 😔</3

[sabraeal]

hello! I absolutely love your writing style -- have a lovely way of implying what the character is thinking or feeling without being very obvious about it, so as a result your characterizations (regardless of the characters's ages) are mature (I'm not sure if I did a good job of articulating myself, sorry haha). What are your inspirations and influences? Thanks and hope you have a lovely week!

Ahhh, thank you so much! I am a firm believer in Limited 3rd Person POVs, and an even bigger one in low narrative interference. The job of a POV character is to relay events and their thoughts about it from their point of view, which I think at times people confuse with the like...true perception of the story. So I try to make sure that they only perceive what they are able to-- which sometimes means that they misinterpret other characters' motives, or disregard things that are important for the story later. I really want the reader to work a little, to make their own opinions about what's going on, since that's what really makes a story you want to go back to-- something where each time you read, you find a little something more to deepen your understanding of why things happen, or how other characters are perceiving events.

I would say my inspiration and influences change from fic to fic! Every story is a little different, and I draw from different things I've read or watched or heard depending on what I want the fic to be. I'd say that my perennial favorite authors are probably George RR Martin (Jaime/Brienne was a formative ship for me, both in ASoIaF, and in fic), Daniel Abraham, Genevieve Valentine, Catherynne M Valente, and Frances Hardinge; but who I draw from purely depends on what I'm writing 🤣 There are fics where I strive to be more lyrical (not a natural muscle for me to flex), and some that are more comedic; some where I'm digging deep into a more archaic fantasy style and some where I'm going for something comfortably modern. I've also absolutely been influenced by other fic writers, but that list would be MASSIVELY long.

[andorerso]

Sissi, please satiate my very academic curiosity about your two OCs Dani and Elijah because I've seen you tag them on some very omg-thats-my-jam dynamics.

Like I need details. Whats their story? Do they hate each other and then oh-shit-regrettably-its-u hate-fuck in some Boston bar? Like I already have headcanons for them, we neeed moore 🥺

me seeing this ask in the morning

they're honestly one of my favorite OC ships, like top three AT LEAST. and honestly? hooking up in some Boston bar is not unimaginable! like you're not very far off at all and I love it 🥰 please tell me more headcanons *chin in hands*

you might regret asking me though because I have a looooooot to say! so much to say. too much, you might think 😭 but they have a long story, and I couldn't give them justice if I condensed it, so I think I'm gonna put this under a read-more

okay, so important context first: the setting is urban fantasy with magic and different sorts of monsters but the twist that it's all out in the open and the world has known about the existence of these paranormal things for a long while now.

Dani's in her mid-20s (around 25-27 at the start) and she has this the devil may care attitude with some serious abandonment issues (because her family situation is complicated and not the greatest). She's very rarely had real connections with anyone, whether platonic or romantic, so it makes her very lonely and basically the only person she's close to is her brother. She will pretend she likes it that way but I mean... she clearly does not. She's also a licensed monster hunter, but while most of her family on her mother's side, including her brother, were/are witches, she's got no magic of her own. So it makes her kind of an outsider even in her own family.

And Elijah isn't human. In fact, he comes from a different dimension altogether so he's a something but no one knows what yet because his kind hasn't really been seen ever before and people just don't have a name for it. He's a couple hundred years old which is old in the human sense, but not so much for their kind. Kinda early 30s in appearance. Elijah technically isn't even his real name but it's his human name and what he goes by for the entire story. His dimension is sort of splintering apart at the seams and his kind are dying by the millions so many of them started seeking refuge in other worlds, including our world. Of course they all have different attitudes towards humans, some think they should be peaceful and co-exist, some think they should just take over and subjugate humans, and some think that co-existence IS optimal but they don't think very high of humans regardless and don't really want to interact much. Basically like "you're just a small ant and I'm better than you in every way but I don't hate you so I guess you can stay." Elijah falls more into that category at the start, although he's actually curious about humans, but he's following his mentor's lead who's kinda like a father figure and the person who leads the group he came over with.

So anyway, Dani gets tangled up in this whole situation as she's one of the first person to actually see and interact with one of the others. You could kinda say they're enemies because Elijah's super loyal to his own people, and Dani's very skeptical and distrustful of them. But most of all, she really doesn't trust Elijah's mentor and that obviously creates some tension between them. So they start off on the wrong foot and they really can't stand each other first. It's a lot of unfair assumptions and prejudices basically, and they're both guilty of it. But they also clash simply because of their personalities.

Elijah's calm, collected, reserved, a bit cold some would say, he doesn't show much emotion and is entirely too serious for his own sake. Dani's more laidback and fun and likes to hide her pain with stupid jokes. She's also very much ruled by her emotions so she's hot-tempered and prone to make hasty decisions that often result in bad consequences and Elijah just. does not vibe with that. At all. There's definitely attraction from the start tbh but it's a "fuck, why them, I cannot stand them" kind of attraction. The "I think you're hot and I'm annoyed about it" kind of attraction.

They do become friendlier as time goes on and they find common ground and realize that they may not be so different after all. During this stage, only a few months after meeting, they actually end up sleeping together at a low point in both of their lives. It's one of those "you're here, I'm here, let's just make each other feel alive" kind of things. But because this is absolutely a slowburn, the next morning Dani's like "you know that was just a one night sort of thing, right?" because she does fool around with people often so it's nothing new to her but Elijah does not, isn't used to this, so he's like "uhm... yeah of course." But internally he's kinda spiraling about it. They don't talk about it, but ofc they're thinking about it.

So as time goes on, they end up becoming really close as friends and literally everyone's shocked about this development but they just... see each other, you know? They get each other in an instinctive way that no one else does. Elijah's absolutely in love with Dani at this point but doesn't really understand what he's feeling so he never does anything about it, just pines from afar, and Dani's sort of still in the denial phase (plus you know, the whole "he's my best friend and I don't really have a lot of people I'm close to so I can't lose him"). Dumb shit, obviously.

There's a jealousy sideplot at some point because I like them but it's not a love triangle because I hate those. It's basically just more of Elijah pining to be honest. Lots of angst because that's just how I roll. Over time, there's like 2 or 3 incidents when they actually kiss (I could even see another one night stand at some point, it depends) but they always pull back or change their minds or something happens outside of their control and it just never ever goes anywhere. At this point, Elijah loves her and realized it, but he's actually kinda content to be just her friend. He's okay with loving her from afar because he doesn't really think it possible to be with her for real, and it's very sad.

Dani, on the other hand, is the opposite. She has also accepted the fact that she loves him and she does not want to be just friends. At some point, they have one of those heated arguments that end with Dani, finally too frustrated with this thing between them, blurting out that she loves him, and Elijah for his own reasons (he has a lot of shit going on) pretty much ignores it and pulls away from her. It's like "this is best for both of us, I'm trying to protect you" blablabla, it's stupid and although they technically remain friends, their relationship is very obviously strained because Dani doesn't forgive him for it. Like the girl can absolutely hold a grudge, but also this is probably the time he hurts her the most, so understandable. I mean you gotta know that this is the first time she said those words to anyone that isn't her brother, and she feels rejected, feels like doesn't love or want her, feels kinda worthless because he's an immortal being from a different dimension, ofc he doesn't want her, why would he, and she feels incredibly angry that she still loves him despite all that. It’s a cycle of self-hatred and resentment, and then all that, along with some other things, pushes Dani into spiraling and she has a brief evil arc, and that's another thing preventing them from being together. (She's pretty mean to him during this era but he's also one of the things that brings her back to herself so you know... fun stuff!)

Anyway, they do get together eventually. I'm undecided on this part because idk what works better yet. One possibility is that one of them, probably Elijah, shows up at her door before a big battle that's gonna happen and confesses and they spend the night together knowing it might be their last night alive. The other possibility is that one of them, probably Dani gets hurt during the battle and Elijah confesses while she's bleeding out in his arms. Either way, they don't expect to survive so they finally come clean, and then... they survive. So now they gotta actually confront this for once.

They decide to give a relationship a try, but it doesn't end well the first time. Sure, they're happy and disgustingly in love for a while but neither knows how to be in a relationship because neither have experience. So as soon as something comes along to shake their foundations a bit, the whole thing crumbles. The following crash and burn might even be the angstiest part of the story, idk. I'm gonna be honest, the end does get a little fuzzy, I haven't fleshed out everything yet. I know I want there to be a temporary character death at some point because I know it's cheap but I live for that stuff. So Elijah dies, probably while they're still broken up, and Dani definitely goes a little feral and sets out on an impossible path to bring him back. The good stuff. He comes back, they reunite, etc. I don't wanna say everything's perfect after that because they still gotta work on their issues, but they have a happy ending and that's what matters.

Tropes include but not limited to: slowburn, mutual pining, it was always you, battle couple, hot-headed & level-headed, unhealthy codependency/mutual obsession, soulmate coded, opposite sides of the same coin, not even death can defeat us, anguished declarations of love, sad people growing an intense connection from shared trauma, grumpy character who only smiles for love interest

Songs that remind me of them: 

Remember to Remember Me by Isak Danielson - this one is pretty angsty, but it really fits a certain period in their story and every single time I hear it, it makes me think of them

An Evening I Will Not Forget by Dermot Kennedy

Evermore by Taylor Swift ft. Bon Iver

The Alcott by Taylor Swift ft. The National

Love Like Ghost by Lord Huron

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

(Dani also has a playlist that she made for him even when they were just friends and it's super secret and she's kinda embarrassed about it but she does end up sharing it with him later when they get together. Fun fact, I did actually make that playlist on Spotify.)

Other trivia tidbit that I like but couldn't fit into elsewhere: Dani's full name is Danielle and she HATES when people call her that. Her parents used to do it when they were angry, and her brother still does it to mess with her or when he's disappointed with her. So no thank you. Except if it's Elijah. Other people say it in anger or admonition but Elijah says it out of sheer devotion, and she's very into it.

I could also like... make moodboards if anyone's interested? Or even if no one's interested...

[musical-chick-13]

Akimeno for the ship game

Really gonna try to say something about them that isn't just AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Ship It

What made you ship it? This is kind of a hard question to answer, because I'm not fully sure. I always liked Himeno, and I did feel very sad about how obviously she wanted Aki to quit. And her devotion toward him tugged at something primal within me. But I was also in kind of a weird place when I first became aware of the manga and went, "Oh, I should check this out," so I think back then it was really more of...an appreciation for her character and the thematic elements of the ship rather than something I Went Feral Over For Personal Reasons? Honestly, I think it was the episode 8 ED (aka MAPPA's Grief AMV) that made me go from "I appreciate this on a narrative level" to "Oh, this is The Ship Ever, actually." (Fun fact, I did an overly-detailed narrative and musical analysis on said ED after it aired just. For fun. To get the Thoughts™ out of my brain.) Genuinely there are not enough words to describe how thoroughly this sequence fucked me up.

What are your favorite things about the ship? YOU EXPECT ME TO TALK ABOUT THIS AT REASONABLE LENGTH??? UGH OKAY, FINE, I'LL TRY, I GUESS. I love how comfortable they are around each other and how they can be in each other's personal space and it's not a huge deal. I love how DEEPLY they care, even if it's to the point of not always being completely healthy. I love how, even though they both have so much respective issues and there are...uh...as-yet-unexplained-in-the-anime Story Reasons for Aki acting in...certain ways...they STILL managed to build this incredibly close and touching relationship. Genuinely everything in the world they live in was kind of conspiring against them in terms of letting them get to a place of mutual emotional attachment, but they got to that place anyway. And it's SO clear that they care SO MUCH: Aki gets to GRIEVE when she dies because she MATTERS; Himeno tries SO HARD to act cavalier about everything, but she CANNOT be cavalier about him, it's impossible, she doesn't even TRY to be; Aki gets mad/petty/vindictive on multiple occasions over the fact that people have hurt her, and Himeno gets borderline-unhinged about the idea of him being in danger. But ultimately, above all, the thing that I really love about them is that, even if there are a lot of things that might not get fully communicated, they still understand each other. And that's, I think, the most important thing to me regarding a ship.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I mean...really the unpopular opinion is just that I ship this in the first place, lmao. (Wow, me shipping something that's NOT the fan-preferred ship, what a surprise.) Um...I guess the fact that I believe the romantic feelings were mutual? There are a lot of things I could point to for this (especially some of the anime-specific animation choices), but I'll stick to the biggest reason (because this is already long enough) which is that, overall, this piece of media is a very tragic story. One laced with hope, yes, but still a tragedy in many ways. And, as someone who used to be a stage actor, having to inhabit various fictional characters day after day, I tend to look at fiction from the angle of, "What interpretation choice makes the theme/genre stronger?" So, what's the bigger tragedy: Two people, for all their faults, are in love-could have had time together and been on the same page and carved out some small pocket of happiness, however brief-but one of them is physically prevented by story elements from ever realizing or acting on it? That the feelings WERE there and it COULD have worked but it never got there due to circumstances COMPLETELY outside anyone's control? Or "girl likes best friend who doesn't like her back." Some people may think that straight-up unrequited love is more tragic, but I think it's infinitely more sad when the love is mutual but forced to go unrealized.

Ship ask game

[miabrown007]

mal in the grishaverse is to alina what jacob in twilight has been to bella. in this essay i'll...

[clowningachievement]

Joker Rankings:

Step inside my twisted mind as I rank my personal favorite Jokers. This will largely be from media I have consumed, or ones I have a strong memory of. I don't intend to make this as a like "if you disagree with me you are wrong" thing, just a thing of the ones I have personally found the most interesting or engaging.

I will not be including comics, or the individual DC animated films because there are. So dang many of them.

Mark Hamill's Joker (Various media)

Idk if it's cheating necessarily to list Mark Hamill's various Jokers as one guy, but I feel like even across different adaptations the general vibe of his joker is pretty consistent. Flamboyant, annoying, and often more interested in being an annoying pain in the ass than an actually effective adversary. It's pretty obvious that he is kind of the biggest inspo for my own take on the funny clown man, DCAU and the Arkham series just provide so much good material to work with for this funky little guy. Plus I feel like pretty much every major Joker adaptation since this one has, in some way, tried to emulate it. This ranking is also pretty obviously biased by both Nostalgia and also just. Prevalence. The Arkham series, especially Knight, really did a lot to push Hamill's Joker over the top for me on top of my prior enjoyment of the DCAU. 2. Kevin Michael Richardson's Joker (The Batman 2004)

So first, a series of admissions that will make this one's inclusion on this list and in this place a bit weird: I barely watched the 2004 Batman series and what I did see of it I never particularly liked. Rino Romano's Batman was not interesting to me (and I never cared for his voice), and the series in general was just. Not the sort of thing I wanted from Batman, I guess? BUT! I just really like this Joker's unusual design and Kevin's VA work for him, it's incredibly unique and definitely a take I would like to see explored more in a better property. The sort of wild-man like aesthetic is one a bit less conventional than the standard mafioso with a purple suit and a knife bit we usually get. I really hope if we get another POC take on Joker it takes some inspo from this, especially giving him a big mess of dreads. Very good stuff.

I will note that listing the animated Jokers above the Live Action ones probably isn't a coincidence, I feel like there are qualities to the character that just can't be effectively captured in Human Meat.

3. It's Heath Ledger because of course it is

The Christopher Nolan Batman movies are pseudo-fascist trash. Heath Ledger had a good take on the Joker and brought a lot of life and light to what was otherwise an incredibly miserable franchise and film. Not a lot to say that hasn't been said, if MH set the tone for Jokers aimed at a younger audience this one definitely set the tone for ""Mature"" Joker interpretations. The Twoface stuff in this, while probably being the best major film rep Harv has got so far, absolutely should have been left out for us to get more screen time with this guy. Very fun, a good edgy take that is sadly ruined by a lot of weird freaks out in the wild. We live in a society. 4. Jack Nicholson Joker

Definitely the best live-action take on the classic Joker while still managing to be threatening and substantial. He is just a wacky mobster with a grudge, which isn't bad but isn't particularly remarkable either. The movie obviously went a bit too hard with him, making him the one to kill Bruce's parents et all, but I think on the whole it's a pretty fun take. Jackie can't laugh for shit though.

5. Ceasar Romero

The Baseline Joker intepretation against which all others ought to be judged.

Maybe a bit of an overstatement but he is, to my knowledge, the first actor to ever portray the Joker in basically anything and he sets an adorably high bar. Obviously the series is aimed at kids and is highly episodic so it's not like he's going to get a lot of development but he is fun, he's cute, I wanna give him a little pat on the head.

Plus he is improved 100% if you take the obviously painted over moustache as diegetic. Just kind of a silly guy who loves doing silly crimes.

6. Jouaqin Pheonix

I thought the movie was fun. I don't generally like the Joker having a concrete origin story, nor him seeming overly sympathetic, but for what it was I thought it was a pretty fun and funky film. It just didn't really feel very Jokerish, to me? I mean he is a criminal with a clown aesthetic and a very annoying laugh but. Idk. Good movie, anyway.

7. Harley Quinn Joker

I liked this show a lot! At least the first season and a halfish, anyway? Kinda felt like it got bogged down towards the end. Anyway! Their take on Joker as a complete annoying sleezeball is fun, and Joker definitely would buy a Tesla if only to annoy people with it. It's a good Joker Parody, a funny little subversion of most modern moody Joker takes in the adult-oriented comics sphere. I am really only putting him so low because like I said he is more of a parody of the Joker than an earnest interpretation of the character, I feel like? Shrugs. Just my onions.

8. That Lego Joker?

He was just kind of an extended gay joke, I felt like? Idk I have always felt Overly Sensitive for this take but this movie never really sat right with me. Like yes, we all know they have a weird underlying psychosexual thing going on. I dunno, I thought the design was cute for a lego movie but. Idk. Very one note, by which I mean even more one note than Joker usually is.

9. Brave and The Bold Joker

I was too old for BnB when it came out, and I still am. The aesthetic is weird, the design is weird, and I am sort of mixed on the voice. Just kind of a worse take on the like Cesar Romero style Joker. Maybe I just like my Joker's nasally and weirder. That's. That's kinda all I have to say on this one. 10. Jared Leto

An incredibly poorly thought out attempt at modernizing Joker's admittedly very aged gimmick. Just. Really fucked it on this one. Not a single good thing to be said about him, other than he is only kind of bearable if you assume every negative aspect of him is a put on he's doing intentionally to be as bad to look at and perceive as possible.

The problem with that being that the films he is in obviously want to take him seriously and make the viewers perceive him as a threat, instead of a weird dude being annoying on purpose. 11. Whatever was going on in that The Batman deleted scene

This has the same problem, to me, as Faceless Joker from the comics (the only comics mention I will be making in this thread, lol). The Joker doesn't need to be a horrific disfigured mutant guy. It's not a cool new take to give the Joker a big scary mouth and make him look like some sort of ghoul, and even if you want to do that there are many way more interesting ways to do it than. This. It feels weird to rank him so low just based off a single deleted scene cameo but I hope if this version of Joker ever makes it to film he is changed dramatically. Like I'd rather see more Jared Leto Joker than this. It's not scary it's just. Boring. He doesn't need to look like a ghoul to get across that he is scary and crazy. Tbh I think a component of him being so effective usually is that he is goofy, he looks goofy!!! Like even Heath Ledger's Joker has a certain Sillyness to him. Idk maybe if we see more of him my opinion will change I am just not optimistic about this grungly man.

I do like the Laugh though.