#Banana writes

[drearybanana]

In order to make myself depressed I decided to write down all my longfic wips and categorize how many words they are and how finished they are.

When the Dust Settles- Danganronpa, multiple pairings - 80k words, 75% done.

drv3 kids are rescued before the filth murder and sent to Jabberwocky island to hide from Danganronpa. Not canon compliant because I forgot some of the details about how the third game ended when I started it, then decided I liked the misremembered ending better.

Baby, Don't Hurt Me - Sk8, Tadaai - 39k words, 20% done. maybe. my outline for this one is pretty loose.

Tadashi takes a bullet for Ainosuke, forcing them both to reconsider their relationship. Mostly a kind of Ainosuke rehabilitation fic about him loosing pretty much everything and having to rebuild his life from scratch. Honestly very attached to this one, but it's also sort of a 'Am I good enough to write this the way I want it' kind of thing...

The Snake, the Sun and the Blossoming Branch - sk8, matchasnakeblossom, 29k words, ?????% done.

Sequel to Recovery where Adam is dead and Tadashi is badly injured after their fall of the cliff. Tadashi doesn't know what to do with himself, but ends up with a job as the manager of Sia La Luce. This one is... complicated. I have a lot of ideas but no real plot, or maybe a lot of different ideas for plots that I'm not sure about. TBH I think I've probably written, like 60k words and shuffled them around, deleted and undeleted and I'm just stuck. A big problem is the Adam in Recovery is not really my actual impression of the character? Like, I started recovery very early in the show when Adam was still kind of Skateboard Hisoka so I just made him a pretty one-note villain, so it's hard to try and write all the Tadashi relationship stuff when the adam in that fic isn't really consistent with how I view adam... I still want to write it though. I like what i have and I like the character interactions.

Royal Pardon - hq!!, Sakuatsu, 37k words, 50% done

ABO royalty AU. Sakusa takes over Inarizaki, which was kind of a shithole. Atsumu and Osamu were planning a coup to dispose their father, and Atsumu convinces Sakusa to marry him in order to legitimize him to the people. Sakusa's a suspicious bastard and Atsumu's a tricky bastard. my first ABO fic and I was like 2k in before I realized I fucking forgot about Betas T.T. still, I have a solid outline for this one.

Star Crossed Rivals - p5, shuake, 18k words, 15% done

Up and coming actor Akechi accidentally falls in with Ren, who is working as a barista at LaBlanc. Ann is starring in a movie with Aketchi, and Shido is a retired actor who runs Akechi's talent agency that he joined to get close to Shido.

ok lol, so almost 200k words and five projects I should be working on. that's on top of an 'ideas' doc that's almost at 90k words and a handful of <5k word stories that I spun out into their own projects but haven't worked on much. that includes Plucked Strings, which I published the first chapter of and I have a lot of ideas for, or the full version of my vampire!Langa/hunter!Reki AU I wrote a short story about.

Honestly, now that I'm done wtih the Big Bang and Stolkholm is getting posted I need to decide what to work on. I always kind of want to pick dust settles since I'm so freaking close with it I just want to get it done and out there. I think I have the most momentum with Royal Pardon though...

[deathandthesoul]

"Hangman"

A series of interconnected snippets from the mortal life of the Volgirre now known as Aidan Evans, leading to his embrace, circa age 25-30.

Setting: Vampire the Masquerade, in my chronicle City of Lost Angels Rating: Mature Genre/themes: Personal horror, college academia, detective, serial killer Content warnings: Accusations of/Schrodinger's necrophilia, suicide ideation, alcoholism, brief description of a murder victim, brief vampire sex, death

----

October 1972. My wife thinks I'm at the Yankees game with friends. I hate the Yankees and I don't have friends. I'm down in the morgue doin', let's say, extracurricular activities.

It's after hours, after sundown. The staff's cleared out already, havin' dinner with their families. I'm not. I'd rather be here. It's just me, my camera, and sketchbook.

The room's locked when I get there but the lock's not too hard to beat. I try not to think about how many hail Marys I'm gonna have to do on Sunday and sneak inside as quietly as possible. The coast is clear. No one here 'cept the dead guy on the slab. Really? They just left him out there in the open. My goodboy ass is gonna be in so much trouble. This is exhilarating.

I wipe down the doorknob on the outside 'cause I'm a fuckin' forensics student and I know better. Swallow my nerves and shut the door, lock it up nice n' tight. Wipe it down on the inside too. My palms are sweaty but I get my camera ready and start.

[Static]

I turn over in bed. 3am? What happened last night? I don't remember. The hangover's killin' me but I don't remember drinkin'. I have class in the morning and two papers due in three days. Guess I'll make some coffee…

I waddle out to the kitchen in the clothes I wore yesterday and slept in for some reason, quietly to not wake my wife. Guess I was just that tired… I go through the motions, put the grounds in, pour the water, push the button. That's when my phone rings, at 3 in the fuckin' morning.

I answer it, like a dumbass. It's my dean. What the hell is going on? He accuses me of doin' some real sketchy shit in the morgue I'm goin' to Hell for. I tell him I don't remember goin' there 'cause I don't. He has me on security camera footage, goin' inside, committin' sins. Says I didn't come out for two hours and left some things behind. I hang up on him, like a dumbass. Is this real? Am I dreaming? Am I dead?

I panic and dig through my stuff. There's no new empty bottles in my trash and my film's missing. So's my sketchbook. This is bad. I'm so fucked. I don't remember a goddamn thing. I pray to God my dean's wrong, get on my knees and cry like I always do. Please don't tell my parents. I can't afford to lose my future. I wanna wake up already. This is a nightmare.

--

My professor tells me to sit out in photography class cause my hands are shakin' too much. I've gone through so many cigarette packs already. My mind is numb and I haven't been sleepin'. I keep thinkin' about that phone call but nothing happens. I wait a goddamn week like I'm on the chopping block and nothing fuckin' happens. Is someone fuckin' with me?

A couple years later I graduate. I settle down eventually but I don't forget. I can't. And nobody says anything. Did I hallucinate?

--

May 1977. My wife and son aren't up yet so I'm readin' the morning paper. There's a murder on the front page and I'm almost jealous it wasn't me. Victim hung upside-down, Spider-Man style, completely exsanguinated, no external wounds. I wanna see the body up close. Professional curiosity… But I got a day off 'cause my boss forced it on me, just my luck. Says I'm too much of a workaholic. I think it's just 'cause he doesn't like me. I think he knows I'm bi. My whiskey glass is almost empty and I haven't touched my cereal. Haven't gone shopping in a while 'cause I'm always so busy…

I flip through my film rolls for the billionth time. Maybe one day I'll develop these. Crime scenes upon crime scenes and my coworkers gettin' up to all sortsa shit… My precinct has no clue these exist and I'm happy to keep 'em in the dark forever. I have so much dirt on everybody it's insane. This is my hobby.

--

October 1977. Somethin' weighs in the back of my mind but it's my day off again so I might as well have some fun. I go to a gay bar 'cause I can. Thought it couldn't hurt. Everything else does. I love-hate my job but I hate hidin' more. Work has me swamped tryina find this Hangman guy and every lead's a dead end. Swear he's playin' with us like a cat n' mouse. Took a lotta photos but so many days with those bastards in the office wears me down. Just need some stress relief…

I put on a wig and change my features with a little makeup before I leave so my ex-friends won't recognize me and get me kicked to the curb. Would be cool if I could just Play-Doh all this. My wife asks where I'm goin' and I lie to her. Gimme a break. Please…

Out at the bar I'm sittin' alone and this smokin' hot guy hits on me. Tells me he likes my art but I don't know what he means. I never show anyone that stuff. He buys me a drink, my third of the night. I think he's been watchin' me since I stepped in. He looks familiar but I chalk it up to bein' drunk. It's kinda creepy to be honest but I'm desperate.

We hit it off like the Yankees at that game I didn't go to. Apparently they won. His skin's cold and his heartbeat's faint but I'm too depressed and horny to care. He gives it to me rough like I ask and bites my throat. I die happy.

I am the final victim of the Hangman.

[wildbanana]

Mention of alcohol, drugs(weed).

Introduction to Farcus, Nicky and Scarlet.

Farcus: he/it Nicky: he/they Scarlet: they/them

During the early hours of 7 am, Nicky wakes up having to piss. Urgently. He walks to the bathroom still half asleep, which leads him to walk into the locked bathroom door.

“Farcus, man. How many times do I have to tell you, stop falling asleep in my bathroom. You always lock the door and I have to wait for you to wake up from your drunken sleep.” Nicky says mildly frustrated.. Farcus is still waking up. “Did you hear me?”

“Yeah…yeah I did. Sorry, still-“ *burps* “-still waking up.” He responds all slow and groggy.

Nicky sighs, grabbing different bottles from a nearby table. “Open up, some aspirin and water. I even have some liquid I.V…” Farcus gets the door open and Nicky comes in with the bottles. “Here…”

“Thanks Nicky,” he says, voice gravelly. “I don’t know what I’d do with out ya.”

“Probably out in a ditch man, you have got to lay up on the alcohol.”

Farcus sighs. “I know…I know…” he moves himself to the bed to lay down, taking some aspirin and water before doing so. “Can’t deny last night was fun though…” Farcus grins as his eyes start to droop shut.

“Once you’re feeling alright, you should come outside with me. Get you some fresh air, maybe go for a ride?” Nicky asks.

Softly. “Yeah…I’d love that…”

“Hell yeah, I’ve had some ideas actually.” Now excited since writing music is one of his favorite things to do. Once Nicky starts writing, you have to pull him away from the pages.

Farcus smiles sleepily at his friend. He thinks about how grateful he is for the friends he’s got.

“Maybe one day our music will take us someplace bigger and better… maybe we’ll find more people like us Nicky.” He moves to lay on his back to look up at the ceiling that’s still spinning.

“Yeah, me too. I appreciate the few out there who’s supporting us already.” He pulls a stress ball out of his pocket, gently squeezing it. “Would you like some toast? I’ll go make you some toast.”

“Toast would be LOVELY Nicky…thanks.” He sits up to add the liquid I.V. packet to his water. “The sooner I feel better, the sooner we can create…” he grins to himself.

The two take the morning to recoup and discuss what they plan to write next, but let’s take a step back and rewind back to lasts night wild adventure. What led up to Farcus ending up in the toilet this morning…

The day before, 8 pm. It’s a Friday night and the band meets at their local bar.

Farcus and Nicky had met up with the rest of the band. Which was one other person… but hey. You make do with what you got, right?

“Heyyyy, Scarlet!!” Farcus runs up to them. “Hug?” He asks before pouncing. Scarlet gives an approving nod. Farcus gives them a good squeeze before letting go. “How’s the crowd? Is Ben working tonight?”

“Eh, could be a better night. But now that you’re here we can really get this party started! And yeah, Ben’s here.” Scarlet grins. “Come on, I’m already three drinks in. He’s got something waiting for you guys to try. It’s really good!” Scarlet wobbles a little as they turn around but they catch themself before tripping. They’re a bit of a light weight so three is about enough for em.

“Looks like you’re already at your limit I see, ya should’ve waited for us!” Nicky teases putting his arm around them.

The group enter the bar and Farcus steps right in up to the counter.

“Oh Beeennnn, we’ve arrived!” He hollers out.

Ben overhears from the kitchen and comes out and greets the two that just arrived.

“Hey hey hey! How are we doing tonight? I’m sure Scarlet already told ya I whipped up something new to try.” He grins, excited to share.

“Yeah, they sure did. I can’t wait to see what you got back there man. I know it’s gonna be bomb!” Farcus licks his lips, ready to have the best night of his life.

“Well alright! Why wait any longer? I’ll go make them up right quick.” He walks back into the kitchen to make his concoctions. After a few minutes he comes back out with these beautiful drinks.

Nicky’s jaw drops. “AND it’s a frozen drink?? Oooh Ben you did NOT.”

“But I did!” His smile wide. “I’m so excited to start serving frozen drinks now! Especially with summer coming up. It’s gonna be h-o-t HOT!”

“You can say that again. Now lemme get a taste of this! I can’t stop staring at how pretty the colors are too!” The drink is a nice light shade of blues and pinks.

Farcus and Nicky open up their straws and take a sip. Their eyes widen.

“Oh that’s dangerous, you can’t taste the alcohol.” Nicky looks to Farcus.

“Did you put extra in there for me?” Farcus asks Ben.

“I sure did. And I still hid the taste, yes?” He grins.

“For sure, you’re the best man. Really, one day you gotta get outta here and show the world what you can do with these drinks my man.” Farcus encourages him.

“Shucks man, you’re gonna make me blush.” He jests. “But yeah, one day. I’m trying to save up to get out of here eventually…that’s gonna be a long while until then.”

“I feel you there…” Farcus looks to his friends then back to Ben. “One day we’ll get outta here too with our music.”

“Have you guys written anything new?”

“Mm not yet. Still gotta write a new single.” Farcus reaches for his septum to put it back in place. “But I’ve been writing down ideas in my notebook for themes I’m going for when I sit down and write the song.”

“Well I can’t wait to hear what you’re thinking up in there. Now, y’all relax and enjoy those drinks. First one’s on the house!” He turns around and goes back to the kitchen. The group yell out their thanks before finding a table to sit at.

“So…” Scarlet speaks up. “What’s the move tonight? What kind of trouble do we wanna get into?”

“Hm…I wanna make it kind of exciting for the coppers. I’m sure they need something to do around this little town.” Nicky thinks. “What can we do that we haven’t already done thought?”

“Ugh.” Farcus chimes in. “That’s the prob, we’ve already done just about anything we could think of. What’s more exciting than setting that old run down building on fire?”

“That was like, the most exciting thing I’ve seen happen in this town.” Nicky replies.

“Now I want s’mores…” Scarlet’s stomach growls.

“That’s an idea I suppose, we could have some drinks and then set us up a nice little bonfire back at our place.” Farcus suggests.

“Sounds like a good time to me. I’ll stay sober enough so somebody can be in control of the fire alright?”

“More drinks for us then!” Farcus jokes then takes a sip or two from his drink. “Man, Ben really outdid himself huh? Shit is delicious.”

The crew sit, chat and drink for a while before they decide to leave the bar and set up their bonfire in their backyard.

Nicky laid out blankets and bean bags for them to sit on. Farcus sits between the two, Scarlet leaning their head on Farcus’s shoulder.

“Hey, could you make me a S’more Nicky?” Scar asks softly then yawns.

“Sure thing.” He gets a skewer and digs for a marshmallow. “Burnt to a crisp?”

“You know me so well.” They smile.

Nicky sticks the mellow into the fire and sets it ablaze. “One crisp mellow coming right up!” He sticks the skewer in the ground as the mellow darkens. He sets up the crackers and chocolate, blowing out the flame in the now gooey mellow, he squeezes them together sandwiching the mellow to remove it from its skewer. “Here you go Scar.”

They sit up and grab their s’more. “ mmm mm thank you Nicky!” They take a bite. “Perfection!” They munch on their s’more and then begin to drift away to a light slumber on Farcus’s shoulder.

“Looks like they’re out for the night…” Nicky says.

Farcus is sunken into the bean bag that was brought out. “I don’t blame them, it’s cozy out here.”

“Speaking of sleepy… look what I got for us.” Nicky pulls out a special little bag of edibles. “I got these for you…” his face growing red from the alcohol setting in.

Farcus looks him in the eyes, oblivious to his own rosy cheeks. Those drinks are now starting to creep up on him. “Man, whatever he put in those drinks…it’s starting to creep up on me man…”

Nicky laughs. “Would you still like one?”

“Does a fish glubba glub?” Farcus smiles with his teeth real wide.

Nicky laughs. “Man, that’s how you know it’s hitting ya.” He reaches into the bag and holds out his hand.

Farcus leans forward, carefully to not disturb Scarlet, opening his mouth awaiting the gummy. “Aaahhhhh!”

Nicky places the cube onto Farcus’s pierced tongue. “Now these are REAL strong.” He then places one in his own mouth. “Now to wait for these bad boys to kick in. I’ll grab myself another beer from the fridge. Don’t let the fire eat ya!” Nicky walks inside.

“Yeah yeah!” He says before Nicky is out of ear shot. He turns his head to face Scarlet as they start to slowly wake back up.

“How long was I out?” Scarlet yawns.

“Not very long actually…we just took a gummy. Want one too?” He offers.

“I think I’ll actually head home, gotta go check on my ferret.”

“Oh yeah, gotta take care of your little fur -erp- baby!”

“Did that alcohol just now kick in?”

“Sure did, pretty much when you shut your eyes.” A grin is plastered on its face.

“Heh, of course.”

Nicky comes back out. “Ah, you’re awake again Scar!”

“Was wondering where you wandered off to.” They smile. “I was actually about to walk home.”

“We’ll walk ya! You can walk, right Farcus?”

“Yeah, I’m goooood.” He says as Scarlet gets up offering their hand to help him up.

“Careful now, you’re loooking a bit wobbly.” Scar holds onto Farcus.

“I’m good I’m good!” He shoots up, shooting straight up like he was called to attention.

“Man, what did Ben put in that drink…” Nicky laughs.

“Well I’m surprised he didn’t just collapse just then!”

“I believe him now about being good! But we’ll see how he feels once the gummy kicks in. So we better be quick, good thing you’re right down the road.”

The three walk to Scarlet’s home making sure they make it back safely during the night hours. Nicky and Farcus then make their way back to their place.

“Hey-hic- Hey Nicky…I’m gonna go soak my ass in the tub mmmmmmkay?”

“Haha, yeah sure man. See you in a bit.”

Farcus stumbles his way to the bathroom, fumbling to take his clothes off. His boxers still attached to his ankle, he starts up the tub. He turns to the radio on the counter and turns it on. Tool is playing on a CD.

“Ooooh yes, this is gonna be sooo- hic- nice. And I think the gummy is taking over me.” He kicks his boxers away and takes a seat in the warm water filling up. “Shoot, I just might fall asleep here…” he starts to sing along a little to his music.

After he washes himself he can’t help but relax and begin to drift to sleep. Nicky had been sitting and waiting for such a while now that he ended up falling asleep on the couch.

End part 1.

[bananafire11]

Sleepless Nights🌙

And the pajamas, ofc

I really like these 3

[browngurl99]

In 2024 Olympics, a pole vaulter did a record breaking jump and ran straight to his girlfriend to hug her after that

don't think about ash and eiji don't think about ash and eiji don't think about ash and eiji-

[skrunksthatwunk]

thinking about how eiji's a pole vaulter and how ash talks about eiji "flying" and how eiji's associated with bird imagery and how eiji's free (unlike ash) and how eiji comes in on a plane and leaves on a plane and how ash cannot fly, ash cannot be free, how nyc is ash's prison, and how ash is the leopard who dies climbing the mountain, unable to live at such elevation, how he was trying to reach the sky and be free but was always stuck to the earth, how he chose to die instead of climbing back down, how he chose to die where he could see the sky and hope and freedom almost like a bird with eiji's letter right in front of him rather than letting everything go wrong and ruin it once again, how eiji's a failed pole vaulter anyway, how a bad fall ruined his career and grounded him (physically and emotionally), how it took flying to america and meeting ash and needing to save him and skip for him to try flying again, how he landed hard and harsh and still the thought of that escape compelled ash to protect eiji at all costs because if he could fly that means something to him, even if he doesn't think he can fly, how eiji is the manifestation of his hope and how when he breaks and asks eiji to stay with him a while he folds himself over his legs and weighs him down and traps him and grounds him, how ash fights like hell to keep eiji alive not because he thinks he can be like him (hopeful, flying, innocent), but because he makes him forget the gravity of his situation, and so he can see eiji fly again. how he wants to see him escape. how eiji is a bird and ash is a wildcat and how ash never once saw eiji as prey. how eiji never saw ash as a predator. how it is eiji's naivete that first endears ash to him, how it is his freedom and flight and removal from darkness and his ability to leave that darkness that really roots eiji in ash's blood as something essential to him keeping on living in this hell of nyc. how it is that distance from the violence and that hope for the future that ash chooses to surround himself in as he dies. how ash dies in a dream because he feels more than anything that he can't fly like eiji, that he can never leave. how his violence is a part of him and will be forever, how it weighs him down. how he wants to enjoy the view from the mountainside rather than looking up from the ground below. as if they can both fly. as if he is with him up there and not grounded. eye-to-eye with what he can't have, seeing eiji's homeland: the sky. how he dies trying to reach the top because he couldn't take retreating and trying again. how ash, tired and tired and tired and convinced it will go on forever if he crawls back down the mountain, chooses to close his life deluged in eiji, in eiji's insistence that they can fly together, in eiji's hope for him and for them, in eiji's beautiful dream. how ash dies without trying to realize that dream. how ash, in dying, destroys it.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

My brain: What if we mix multiple people’s Hyrule Warriors AUs together?

Me: Say no more

Three HW AUs!

Hyrule Dragon Warriors by @skyward-floored

Love at Twilight & Link Between Links by @smilesrobotlover

Imprisoning War & Golden Mercy by me

Close ups and thoughts under the cut!

I think Power is good with kids and doesn’t know it, and he wants to look out especially for Mask because he’s so young and in this mess. Mask loves playing with Power’s earrings, so he never takes them off ❤️

Tune’s big brother senses are tingling. For all of them, really, even if he doesn’t know Mask and Power’s stories quite like he knows Warriors.

Considering Midna in Smiles’ AU has to contend with people trying to hurt her kid because he’s half Hylian, I’m pretty sure she’d relate to Impa’s plight and try to be supportive of her ❤️

Poor Impa and her baby boy, it’s all so complicated 😭

Power trying to figure out how the frick Impa got together with a lizard and made a normal looking child, and trying to figure out how a weird imp got together with a Hylian is giving me life 🤣🤣🤣

Power is good with kids and I think he could have fun with Kori 🥹 Also free therapy for Power lol

Seeing how Warriors is deeply hurt by parents who seemingly didn’t want him might touch a nerve with Power, who is terrified to even acknowledge he has a child given his circumstances. Also he carries guilt for leaving his world to investigate the strange dark portals while his wife was in labor. And, well, he already has issues.

Ganondorf with the full Triforce and thousands of years to marinate in losing his family would 100% use it to secure his kid and keep him “safe” by his definition… mainly by brainwashing him until he can destroy Hyrule and actually talk to him.

[bananasofthorns]

“He betrayed your trust and you aren’t more upset?" Helsknight scoffs. "Pathetic.” Wels rolls his eyes. “It’s a death game, Helsknight, that’s kind of the whole point. I should’ve seen this coming, honestly.” “You’re naive.” “Iskall’s my friend. It’s not naive to trust him.” “He broke that trust!” “Well, yes, and I plan to get him back for that someday, but also: it’s a death game. We all agreed to it. I’m not mad at him for killing me, I just wish he’d been a bit more upfront about it.” If he’d been more obvious about trying to kill Wels, then maybe Wels wouldn’t be dead, also. But Iskall’s whole goal was to kill him, so he can understand the deception. “You’re infuriating.” Wels shrugs. He generally tries not to be, but in this instance, he finds that he doesn’t mind. “Maybe so. Look, can we finish this later? I need to go get my stuff back from Iskall, and your presence would probably freak him out.”

you know when you get to that point of dealing with intrusive/self deprecating/etc thoughts that you're just like. "yeah okay. consider: you're stupid and wrong. also: go away, i'm busy"? that should be wels and hels

read on Ao3

[myaatwins]

fuck tragic bittersweet endings!!!!!!!!!!!! if you show me a character that has always longed for happiness and freedom and love but who has never thought they were deserving of/that they could have it only to kill them off at the end of the story i'm sorry but that's no longer your character. you've lost the custody battle. i will treat them much better than you ever could <3

[resqectable]

There are many days when all the awful things that happen make you sick at heart, when the path before you is so steep you can’t bear to look. Not even love can rescue a person from that.

Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen

[drearybanana]

OK I’m dying because I thought of a fic idea that is very funny but I don’t think it has legs. Basically, it’s a Mr. and Mrs. Smith AU with Sakusa Kiyoomi and Miya Atsumu. Like, their married and seem to be the nice suburban neighborhood gays (even to each other) but their both secretly assassins. Then they find out about each other and try to kill each other and then have hate sex and kill a bunch of other people from Sakusa’s assassin group when they come after him. I just like the idea of them having this totally fake superficial relationship that’s on fine terms where Sakusa’s like “he’s kinda loud and dumb but respects my boundaries and isn’t home too much” and Atsumu’s like “He’s a pretty face but not much else and that’s all i really need to stay under the radar” then they get the reveal and find out their both huge assholes and eventually fall in love. And kill people.

But then I try to actually think about, you know, scenes and plot progression and it starts begin just a beat for beat remake of the movie which isn’t super interesting to me. Also, it’s kind of hard to picture Sakusa living with someone he doesn’t know really well or for Atsumu to lie like that for a marriage length of time. He’s not really the type to bite his tongue.

Maybe a fake dating au instead? Like, they’re both assassins who need a cover to get to a target and don’t realize they are each using the other. IDK I’ll probably keep poking at it or be actually smart and just work on one of a million other wips I already have going...

[sodapopseagull]

Married/well established relationship bloodweave thought-

Astarion teasing Gale about his ever-increasing number of grays (he adores them), claiming Gale is attempting to steal his superior aesthetics (hair color). Gale playing along and stating that yes, he is trying to emulate Astarion's looks and is not, in fact, simply showing signs of age. This pleases Astarion because Gale rarely lets him be right without some kind of pushback, even when playing...

But then Gale proposes that he lose the beard (smooth-faced Gale, horrifying), just so he's more elvish looking. Astarion says that's a terrible idea, and Gale agrees. Much better to shave everything, save for the scalp and eyebrows, of course (smooth-faced and smooth-bodied Gale, somehow even worse). He asks if Astarion would help him, and Astarion is 100% not willing to do any such thing.

Very reasonable, Gale admits. It would be far more effective to use magic to alter his appearance (possibly the worst idea he's ever had, apart from blowing up). With the right resources, he could make it permanent! Then they could be two peas in a pod... perhaps a bit unsettling for a couple, but they could make it work. Plus, he could use the opportunity to rid himself of a few scars, never mind all of the lines that have made a home on his face-

Naturally, this culminates in Astarion all but smothering Gale to get that stream of terrible ideas to stop and Gale looking incredibly smug about it. Astarion adores Gale's warm, fuzzy human self and it is not worth risking, even in jest. It's good that Gale knows this (finally, it took long enough to convince him that Astarion loved all of him- from his creaky knees to his crow's feet), even if it means Gale can weaponize it against Astarion.

Oh well, it's a small price to pay for this- for comfort and playfulness and warmth, and for a wizard who truly knows how loved he is.

[monsterhugger]

i'll always prefer manga canon banana fish bc i think setting it in the 80s means there are a lot of things present that add to the story that are absent when it's set in the 2010s (homoerotic 80s action movie outfits, griffin being implied to have been drafted vs joining the military by choice, general lack of cell phones or computers usable by the general public, etc) but i think there's something to be explored in the idea that ash is going through all this during the AIDS crisis AND the satanic panic. like obviously there would be fallout in the 2010s but we get like two pages in the manga about the government's reaction to dino's operation being exposed and like. oh my god it would be fucking insane. it would be so much more fucking insane than we ever see

like i think yoshida made a very conscious decision to avoid mentioning any real politicians so the president is kind of this like. nebulous fictionalized US President character but like. imagine if it was fucking Reagan denouncing a pederasty ring with ties to the republican party. like. what even.

ash makes like one mention of "if i had [an STD] it would have spread through half of congress" and that hits like a ton of bricks. there were already cases of right-wing politicians found to be HIV+ from presumably consensual gay sex, imagine the added wrinkle of credible connections between the US government and a gay child trafficking ring. like. oh my god being gay in the banana fish universe would suck even more absolute shit

[tippenfunkaport]

Today Variety (see above) had an article naming Heidi Schreck as the new writer for the live action She-Ra series at Amazon that was announced back in Sept 2021 and, after seeing dozens of terrible takes and people who are fans of the Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2017) freaking out, let's talk about this, shall we?

Disclaimer that I do not have any insider knowledge of this project specifically, this is just my educated perspective from my experience with IP and TV.

First and foremost, I will believe this project is actually happening when it is showing on my TV and not a moment sooner. Let's just say that.

Now assuming it IS happening, here's what you should understand...

IP is usually use it or lose it. If Dreamworks wants to keep the rights to make She-Ra content, they very likely must have something in active development or risk listing it. If Netflix isn't willing to make more of the animated series right now, then the Amazon deal is all they have or give She-Ra up entirely. 

If you're an SPOP (2017) fan, you're in favor of Dreamworks retaining the license over losing it because, so long as they have it, the door is always open for more of our SPOP in one way or another. This reboot doesn't negate the possibility of a continuation of the animated version or vice versa. (Fans of frequently rebooted properties like TMNT and MLP would be happy to tell you about how there's been content for multiple gens at the same time.) It's not like the new version erases the old. If anything, a reboot often makes it more likely you get content of a past gen because of renewed interest in the property as a whole.

"But what if it's sexist trash!" The biggest fear people had about this reboot was that it would be some male gaze disaster made to please the worst kind of people who hate all kinds of diversity. Obviously, we'll see what we get, but the fact that they specifically got a feminist playwright as the writer is a big thing should alleviate some of that fear.

"But will it be gay????" I've seen lots of freaking out that Adora's going to kill Catra and marry a man on her grave and other equally unlikely fears. And the fact is: We don't know if it will be gay! With this writer, the gay door certainly isn't closed, but that doesn't mean it's open either. But honestly the real question you should be asking is: will it be explicitly gay? Because the rainbow homo-eroticism is baked right into She-Ra OG so even if we don't get an explicit same-sex kiss on screen... it's likely still gonna be pretty gay.

Even a bad or infuriating reboot will revitalize the fandom and bring new fans to SPOP (2017) AND increase the chances of continuation. Say the new show is terrible. Say they annoy everyone by giving Catra and Adora a supercorp queerbaiting thing and then never make it canon or make Catra and Hordak in love and everyone is mad. (Which I feel obligated to point out is *extremely* unlikely as this is literally still Dreamworks' show. They are the same people that gave you the gay. They are keenly aware of what their audience wants so, even if they are reluctant to make it canon, at the least they are probably going to tease it.) But even in the worst case scenario of the straightest possible version of She-Ra, what are people going to do if the new show pisses them off? Turn back to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, create more fanworks, interact with what's already there, keep the fandom alive for everyone. You want that!

"Well SPOP (2017) was perfect and they should never be allowed to make another version of She-Ra again unless it's just like the thing we just got!" Wow, where have I heard something like that before? Oh yeah, that's exactly what the nightmare chuds said about Netflix's She-Ra and if they had gotten their way, we wouldn't have had this show we love. So maybe take a nice deep breath, chill tf out and look at that fact that there is no reason yet to see this announcement as anything other than a good thing for both this new reboot and the animated version's future.

[thoughtkick]

There are many days when all the awful things that happen make you sick at heart, when the path before you is so steep you can’t bear to look. Not even love can rescue a person from that.

Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen

[skyloftian-nutcase]

bread?

Time paused upon entering camp, sensing the animosity as everyone glared at each other. Nothing seemed overtly wrong in a dangerous way, and he’d seen postures and expressions like this before - the raised shoulders, the glares, the upturned noses.

Sighing, he asked, “What was it about this time?”

Warriors huffed. “What kind of bread is the best. I’m still saying it’s banana bread.”

“IT. IS. NOT.” Wild snapped. “I hate bananas.”

“It’s pumpkin bread,” Sky interjected.

“Y’all are being ridiculous.” Twilight rolled his eyes. “You’re talkin’ about sweets! The best bread is just bread!”

Time stared dully at the group, knowing this would not be dropped for the next day, at least.