#I’ve been hyperfixated on that shit for a year now

[nova-ish]

Why struggle with finding good pose references for anatomy practice when you have newsies??

(Used the proshot for these :D)

[yourbustedkneecaps]

thinking about making an rp/character sideblog to infodump lore from around a decade ago about a sona of mine. i was just reminded how much shit i’ve had building up about them that i really want to share that spans several of my favorite fandoms as this insane multiverse sort of thing.

if anyone’s interested i might just talk about it here but it’s been so long since i’ve looked at this stuff, it’s insane

[imperator-kahlo]

OK what even is happening with the Crows

I’ve just been trawling through the wiki and World of Thedas for a few hours trying to figure out what we (a) know, (b) can guess, (c) can speculate wildly about the inner workings of the Crows during the Dragon age.

(I am by no means an expert on the lore so please let me know where I have wildly missed the mark).

I'm definitely not trying to propose any kind of fanon consensus, where's the fun in that?! Just trying to figure out a timeline that makes sense to me. Possibly also toying around with a pre-canon Rookanis fic.

Loooong and probably insanely disorganised text post under the cut. I should have been in bed hours ago but I am hyperfixating on this and will not sleep until I hit post.

Spoilers, so many spoilers below: Veilguard, Tevinter Nights, The Silent Grove, Origins, Awakenings, the entire franchise basically.

So, a speculative timeline. Events in black are fairly or very well supported by the lore; events in blue are inconsistent/uncertain in the lore; events in purple are guesses that I can sort of back up; events in red are me throwing a dartboard at the wall.

Note: The wiki puts the events of "Eight Little Talons" in 9:44 Dragon, but I can't find any source for that. I would have guessed a little later, but let's roll with 9:44.

Also, I'm pretty unclear on the guildmaster/grandmaster distinction. I'm just going to say 'head of house' for whoever is in charge of a Crow house, or Talon if they're head of one of the eight Talon Houses.

Blessed Age

8:70 Blessed - Caterina born (she's described as well into her 70s during Eight Little Talons and as around 80 in the data-mined character descriptions for Veilguard, so give or take a couple years this seems right).

9:00 to 9:29 Dragon: House Arainai Shenanigans

9:00 Dragon - Antivan civil war, beginning of the "much maligned" Three Queens era (Codex, History of Kirkwall - Chapter 4). Unclear exactly what happens or over what period of time, but seems like the Crows would be in the thick of things.

9:05 - 9:10 - Caterina maybe reaches Talon status (not First, though). Around 8:98 Blessed would be the absolute earliest she could get there given Teia's holds the record (youngest Talon at 28). But I think Teia was at least three or four years younger than any previous Talon so I'd put it somewhere around here, if not a few years later.

9:12 Dragon - Zevran, aged 7, is purchased from a Rialto brothel by House Arainai. The House is led by First Talon Talav Arainai and described as rolling in coin after the "Three Brides" contract - they purchase 17 other slaves that year, including Taliesen (World of Thedas, vol 2, p. 96). I think based purely on vibes that House Arainai is fairly secure in First Talon position and has been there at least a couple years, probably longer.

9:15ish Dragon - Teia born (she's described as 28 in the data-mined descriptions, but she's already a Talon in 'Eight Little Talons', which says she was the youngest ever to reach the rank at age 28. I'm assuming she got there a year or two before the events of the story. See 9:17.

9:16 Dragon - whoops, sometime over the last four years it all went to shit for Talav Arainai! The House dropped to Second Talon, and he was executed in 9:16 after trying to take back the seat of First. Isadora Arainai takes over, and the House hangs on as Second Talon... for now. Rinna joins House Arainai and immediately works well with Zevran and Taliesen under the mentorship of Eoman Arainai (World of Thedas, vol 2, p. 96). This would be the earliest that Caterina could reach First Talon, but I'm not sure I'd put it this early. I think the latest she could possible reach First would be 9:25ish based on my guesses about House Velardo (see below).

9:17 Dragon - Lucanis born (described as 36 in the data-mined character descriptions. I know I threw out those descriptions for Teia, but I think we can be pretty certain Lucanis is mid thirties).

9:17 Dragon - Teia born. I was going back through Eight Little Talons and my initial read was wrong. Teia is 28 during the events of the story.

9:24 Dragon - House Arainai, having the sort of shitty luck they absolutely deserve, falls entirely out of the rank of Talons when Second Talon Isadora dies. They wallow amongst the cuchillos (minor houses) for a few years (World of Thedas, vol 2, p. 96).

9:22 - 9:27 - House Velardo attempts to usurp First Talon from House Dellamorte? The resulting war kills all of Caterina's children and grandchildren, save Lucanis and Illario. My reasoning here is this: Lucanis says he and Illario would have ended up with Caterina to train, but being orphaned sent them to her younger than anticipated. Zevran was purchased at age 7, so we know Crow training, at least for House Arainai slaves, begins very young. Perhaps the non-slave children of influential house leaders start later, but I would guess not much. So I'm assuming they end up with Caterina sometime between ages 5 and 10?

9:25 Dragon - King Maric is thought lost at sea, but is in reality being held by Third Talon Claudio Valisti in a Crow prison on behalf of a Tevinter Magister, Aurielion Titus.

Side note: I had the same reaction to finding out the Crows have a super-fun torture prison as I did to finding out Weisshaupt has dungeons. Just... why? That feels like mission creep? Does the assassin skill set at all overlap with the prison guard skill set?

9:26 - 9:28 - Eoman takes over as head of House Arainai. He eliminates House Ferragani, which was Eighth Talon, thus clearing the way for Arainai to claw its way back into power. Unfortunately, he needs the support of Third Talon Claudio Valisti to take over the position. Valisti wants Rinna Arainai dead (cult / royal bastard reasons) and Eoman tricks Zevran and Taliesen, her lovers, into doing it. This was a very stupid decision (WoT vol 2, p. 96).

9:30 to 9:43 Dragon: Zevran's Revenge

9:30 Dragon - Zevran, depressed and angry about Rinna's death, bids for the contract on the Warden's life. House Arainai is said to have accepted this contract because they believed Loghain to be the best person to defeat the blight (WoT vol 2, p. 96).

Side note: This sort of, if you squint, reconciles the contract on the Warden's life in 9:30 with the memento found in Veilguard that says the Crows had treaties with the Wardens to fight the "next blight". But also they tried to kill the Warden-Commander in Awakenings, too. I guess one could argue a new blight was unlikely so soon but like. Come on, guys. Is your word to the Wardens worth anything or not?

9:31 - 9:34 - If Zevran survived, he comes back from Ferelden with a spring in his step and murder in his heart (and possibly a Warden on his arm) and wreaks absolute havoc on House Arainai. Eoman is first to go, then like half a dozen more of their top people. The House loses Eighth Talon and falls once more into obscurity. The Crows call Zevran (or an unnamed assassin if Zevran is dead) the "Black Shadow" and speculate that he has allies among the cuchillos (WoT vol 2, p. 96).

9:34 - 9:43 - Where the fuck is Zevran?

9:37 Dragon - Corypheus is freed (Legacy DLC). The Venatori will start to be a thing in the next few years, so Lucanis is going to pick up his nickname between now and, say 9:50 Dragon. I'd put it between 9:45 and 9:49 because of vibes (and because he talks about not immediately specialising in mages. Crows get started very young, but I dunno. I see him starting on mages in his mid twenties because, again, vibes.)

9:38 - 9:40 - Events of The Silent Grove (comic - I haven't read it in a while but I'm throwing it in here for complete-ish-ness). Alistair, Varric and Isabela break into the Crow archive and Velabanchel prison (which side note is a totally heinous operation). Isabela kills Claudio Valisti (Third Talon passes to Ezio Valisti). This, for me, raises the question again: Where the fuck is Zevran (sob). Valisti was implicated in Rinna's death, so either Zevran never found out or he couldn't get to Valisti while he was cleaning house.

9:44 Dragon - Ongoing: We're Entering Our Freedom-Fighter Era

9:44 Dragon - The events of 'Eight Little Talons'. Briefly: Caterina calls all the Talons together to plan for the imminent invasion of the Antaam, but a whole bunch of murder happens. Turns out that Fourth Talon Emil Kortez made deal with the Antaam and was trying to wipe out the Crows' leadership. He was killed by the survivors and Viago suggests--correctly, I think--that Caterina will wipe out the whole house.

The following Talons are killed but it seems like their houses will probably retain their status, with somebody else taking over as Talon:

Dante Balazar, Second

Lera Valisti, Third

Giuli Arainai, Eighth (having only just managed to lift that fucking house back up to Talonship, shame lol)

In addition to Caterina, Viago, and Teia, Sixth Talon Nero Bolivar survives, but he um, isn't much help. I would guess that Caterina, in a pretty strong alliance with Viago and Teia and with all the other Talons being new, might fuck his shit up and try to get someone more solid in before the Antaam invade?

9:44 - ongoing - WHERE THE FUCK IS ZEVRAN???? He can't have taken control of any of the eight Talon houses, because he's not at the summit in 'Eight Little Talons'-- and however much he damaged House Arainai, they've clawed back some power by 9:44. Is there a breakaway faction of cuchillo houses that Caterina won't even dignify with an acknowledgment? Is he not interested in any kind of Crow power and is just fucking shit up for them - we can assume House Valisti has had a lock on Third Talon since at least 9:28 (Claudio or Ezio Valisti pop up periodically in this position), and my guess is House de Riva have held Fifth a decent period of time, but as far as I can tell we know nothing about Second, Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Talon Houses in this period. So maybe Zev is toppling houses left, right and centre? Seems like that sort of instability might have changed Caterina's approach in 'Eight Little Talons', though...

9:51 - Lucanis imprisoned in the Ossuary.

9:51 - Antaam invasion of Antiva, starting with Treviso. The Antaam rebellion begins in 9:44 and is ongoing; the failure of Kortez in 9:44 delayed the invasion somewhat. I wouldn't have thought it would delay it this much, but I'm pretty sure that it happened while Lucanis was imprisoned, right? So since we free him in 9:52 after a year in the Ossuary, the invasion must have been delayed until 9:51? Maybe very late 9:50?

"Conclusions"

(I haven't read the comics in a bit and I know there's some Crow stuff that goes down in there beyond the Silent Grove... but as best I recall its just Teia and Viago running into Varric and Harding, and some stuff setting up Solas and the Antaam. Please let me know if I'm mistaken!)

I think it's safe to say the Crows are in chaos for pretty much the entire first half of the Dragon age: Arainai are causing chaos from 9:16 to 9:25, then they pass the torch to Velardo, whose war against House Dellamorte must have lasted a few years if it wiped out almost all of Caterina's family. Zevran is on a murder spree at least between 9:31 and 9:34, and possibly (much) longer depending on your headcanon.

After, at very best, a decade's peace, 9:44 sees the plot to wipe out the Crow leadership, which fails but does kill half the Talons and lead to the elimination of at least one, maybe two of the Talon Houses. Half a decade after that the Antaam invades.

I've been completely on board with the critiques of Veilguard's portrayal of the Crows, but I think writing it all out like this has helped me reconcile things a little bit? This is a deeply chaotic network of feuding families, and no single Talon is going to have the secure political power to make sweeping changes. Which isn't to say the child abuse that was definitely still occuring in Houses Dellamorte and de Riva during Rook and Lucanis' childhoods is just fine. But it makes more sense to me now that Houses Dellamorte, de Riva and Cantori could have wildly different ideas about slavery and torture prisons than, say Houses Arainai and Valisti--and have extremely limited power to shift the culture of competing Houses. Even the First Talon's position is deeply precarious.

Whew. Good night!

(Just realised as I was tagging that I haven't slotted The Wigmaker Job in anywhere. I thiiiiink Viago mentions in 'Eight Little Talons' that Lucanis is currently in Tevinter for a job, maybe a sly reference to Wigmaker? But I cannot possibly get sucked in any deeper, my dog is losing her entire mind at me STILL being at the computer.)

***

Waking up and editing to add: At some point in her time as a Talon (probably First but I guess maybe not?), Caterina wiped out another house so completely that Teia doesn't even recognise the name, Gaspari, when Viago mentions it in 'Eight Little Talons'. Given House Velardo was the one that made a play for First Talon, this is a whole 'nother big intra-Crows conflict that slots in somewhere on this timeline. Caterina is ruthless, y'all.

***

Editing again a few days later to report that I was flicking through WoT and spotted a WHOLE-ASS ENTRY on Claudio Valisti that I’d managed to miss. I was… not happy. I’m begging you BioWare, no more information. I cannot reconcile it.

Anyway. World of Thedas, vol 2, p 44, has Claudio Valisti taking over from his father as Eighth Talon in 9:34, quickly getting the house to Sixth Talon and appearing to be going places. This appears to contradict p. 96 of the same, which has a Third Talon Claudio Valisti helping House Arainai in 9:28, as described above.

I thought very carefully about tearing the page out, burning it, and forgetting I ever knew this particular piece of lore.

Instead I have decided fuck it, we have a father-son pair here. Senior helped out Arainai in 9:28. His house later fell to Eighth (in my incredibly unwieldy and underdeveloped headcanon this is partly because helping Arainai really pissed off Caterina). Claudio Senior dies in 9:34, Claudio Junior inherits. By the time Junior dies to Isabela in 9:38-40 he’s got the house properly back on track, so the loss of a leader doesn’t destabilise them too badly.

Ezio Valisti is Third Talon in 9:41, according to the Winter Palace announcer in Inquisition, and the house still holds the third seat in 9:44.

(Also edited Teia’s birth year from 9:15 to 9:17; I misread Eight Little Talons. She’s 28 during the events of the story.)

[crassstitchbeetch]

bee’s summer of stitching

ahoy! thank you for bearing with while i’ve been quiet here! i’ve been pretty busy. i’ve been using my stitching to unwind and calm down, and i’ve got through a bunch of work in the summer. here’s a rundown for your reading pleasure:

the only way to begin is by beginning | stitched by me on 18 ct | i LOVE gamechanger and i loved stitching this one!

ceasefire now! | stitched by me on 14 or 16 ct | good to spend time doing at the encampment. this pattern, as well as the other free palestine patterns, are freely available with an option to donate but honestly just donate to a gofundme

i've had ENOUGH aroace pattern | stitched by me on 18 ct | this took about a month to stitch and was really simple once the outline was done! this will look really cute on the wall near my aroace flag !

devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes | stitched by me on 18 ct | the pinks looked brighter than the pattern but i loved it! i’ve spend this summer working on my thesis so i’ve been drawn to simple designs and this was perfect. i also backstitched the font and border to make the project last longer (so i didn’t get hyperfixated on a new pattern)

the children yearn for the mines | stitched be me on 14(?) ct | i started this one earlier this year, but finished it this summer. got super close to the edge there but i’ve stolen @jennystudy’s technique of putting masking tape on the edges to prevent fraying, so it was all good!

take me back to the coconut tree | stitched by Pax on 18 ct | Pax is my flatmate and i got it into cross stitch over the summer. when i asked them for a review of the stitch, it said, “um… it was pretty fun. except for the bit where i didn’t have one colour because we went all the way to the craft store and i didn’t write it down so i didn’t get it. it was a good stitch.”

we all got a little barbie in us | stitched by me on 18 ct | like minecraft, i started this one a while ago (edit: a whole year! holy shit!) and came back to it later in the summer. this one is Lorge holy shit i did not expect it to be so big!

last, but not least:

under all conditions, i will persevere | stitched by me on 14 ct (grey) | i literally started this three days ago when the draft was already in my folder but i got through it q u i c k l y so i added it! this one is so cute, i’ve been wanting to stitch it since i designed it but never *quite* got round to it. this pattern is very special to me because of the damned stubbornness of dandelions and because they signal the end of winter, which is my least favourite season. i just love them

thus concludes the season of stitching i hope u enjoyed my silly little recap !!

[carni-val]

When you know, you know [Carmen Berzatto]

pairing: Carmen Berzatto x Reader

summary: Carmy has a problem saying I love you, but he's got no problem showing it.

warnings: Slight angst if you squint really hard, some fluff

author’s notes: Yeah, it's been a year since I've written something but my current hyperfixation on The Bear has really inspired me to write. Carmy's struggle with saying I love you is so real, but I sincerely feel he's an acts of service man. I hope you all enjoy it and thank you so much for reading!

She stood at the opening of the door, looking down on him. She worked a full shift and she was still as beautiful as when she woke up this morning. He, on the other hand, looked dishevelled; he was sure of it. His hair was all over the place from running his hands through the mass of curls with a thin sheen of sweat layered over his skin and he was still a little self-conscious about the smell of the restaurant that had clung to him upon his arrival, as Sugar mentioned earlier.

She didn’t seem to mind though as she knelt down on the floor beside him. Overdue invoices and notes scribbled down in his brother’s chicken scratch surrounded him on the office floor.

She was closer now, and yes, still beautiful.

“Hi,” she smiled sweetly.

“Hey,” he couldn’t help but huff out a sigh.

Prepping the menu and serving it to all the customers was more than enough work for the day, especially with the disastrous system Richie insisted on upholding. The bed he’d been dreaming about collapsing into, beside her, seemed to get more and more distant with more of the shit he uncovered in the office. Who knew an office so small could have so much shit hiding in it?

“Still sorting, huh?” her eyes held sympathy for him, noticing how tired he looked.

“Still sorting,” he confirmed, his eyes softening when they met hers. “I think it’s gonna be another long night for me tonight, I’m sorry.”

“Can I help?” she asked, already scanning the documents.

“No, I’m sure you’ve had a long day. Why don’t you go home and go to bed?” he reached out and stroked her cheek with his hand, cupping her jaw with the palm of it.

She leaned into his touch, “You’ve had a long day too, and I’ve got the day off tomorrow. Let me help.” She settled down on the floor next to him. “What can I do?”

Carmy’s gaze lingered on her. If he thought about it all too long, he’d break down, he was sure of it, so he simply asked her to organize the overdue invoices — ones for the restaurant, ones for the inventory and so on.

“Yes chef,” she replied with a cheeky grin.

Carmy felt the laugh escape him before shaking his head. He watched her for a moment.

He really—

He couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence. Maybe it was something to do with Donna, or the fact that he never really had a girlfriend before her, or because he still couldn’t figure out what the hell she was still doing with him.

His breath caught as he felt a twinge in his chest. He brought a hand up to soothe it and she looked over at him.

“Bear?” her warm hand reached up and pressed against his. “You okay?”

The concern in her eyes stole his breath but it soothed the ache in his chest. He felt a hint of embarrassment, desperately not wanting to have a panic attack in front of her. He didn’t want to scare her.

So he just nodded and let a smile stretch across his face, albeit tight-lipped.

She wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t push him. She just took his hand in hers and kissed his tattooed knuckles.

His smile cracked, revealing his teeth, and it was more genuine. She seemed convinced, releasing his hand and turning back to the work.

“You hungry? Can I make you something to eat?” he asked instead.

“I’m okay, I had a late lunch.”

“Are you sure? It’ll take me a minute.”

“I’m sure,” she smiled up at him. “I just wanna get this done so you can get to bed.”

Her hand reached up and held his cheek this time. She ran her thumb underneath the bag of his eye. After kissing the palm of her hand, they got to work.

After almost three hours of sorting, Carmy excused himself for a smoke break.

“Can I make you something?” he offered once again, standing in the doorway.

She shook her head, deciding that he’d done enough cooking for the day. Although she was starving at this point, she just wanted to get Carmy home and to bed so he could rest.

Although he lingered at the door for a moment, to probably try and convince her, he decided against it, leaving the office with his cigarettes in hand.

She knew he loved to cook for her, always watching her as she took the first bite of anything he cooked for her, but seeing the toll the restaurant had taken on him after only just a week was beginning to worry her. That’s why whenever her stomach grumbled, she let out a cough or ruffled some papers around to try and mask the sound. She knew Carmy would put her before himself and she couldn’t allow that.

She decided she’d eat once he went to bed, or maybe when he got into the shower.

Yeah. The shower seemed like a good idea.

A great one actually.

Spending three hours sorting through paperwork seemed like enough to call it a night — seven hours since she had lunch. Her stomach grumbled again and she could swear she smelt hints of beef, sautéed onions and peppers in the air.

She really needed to get home.

At the thought, the door to the office opened and behind her stood Carmy with two plates, a sandwich on each of them.

“Carmy-“

She began to protest but he stopped her. He knelt down, not having to dodge copious amounts of papers now that everything was sorted into neat, organized piles.

“I could hear your stomach from out there,” he nodded his head towards the kitchen.

A sheepish expression overtook her face as she looked down to the steaming contents within the sandwich.

“This looks and smells amazing, Bear.”

“Tastes even better,” he held out a plate to her.

Eagerly, she took the plate in one hand and picked up the sandwich with the other and took a bite. Flavours melded together to cause a more than satisfactory feeling to overcome her. Her ravenous stomach finally settled while begging for more at the same time.

She hummed as she chewed, nodding her head in complete ecstasy. Carmy laughed, ducking his head and shaking it slightly at her theatrics. She laughed along with him.

His bashful expression made her heart swell. He had never been more attractive to her. Seeing him do the thing he was so talented at was a sight she could never grow tired of. But the drive and determination that oozed out of him as he worked to whip this restaurant into shape opened up a whole new side to Carmy that she’d never seen before. 

She loved him.

Not that she would say it again, because the one time she did, she watched how catatonic Carmy became. After his sincerest apologies, she assured him it was okay.

She decided to let it hang in the air and let him say it when he felt okay to do so.

In the meantime, she’d revel in the ways he showed her.

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

🪱🧠 Wiggly Wednesday 🧠🪱

this week, i was tagged by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation, @steddieas-shegoes, and @matchingbatbites!

this is one that i’ve had in my head for a LOONNNG time now, way before the song got big, even before @melonalemonade’s Zteevposting, so it’s always been Djo and Caroline BUT:

steve, robin, and eddie who all move to chicago together after vecna.

eddie, who gets offered a contract after a show sometime after they’ve arrived and before the thing between him and steve becomes something, and leaves to LA to fulfil the contact.

i’m my head it’s angsty; eddie and steve’s something becoming a Something™ the night before eddie leaves… a fact he doesn’t tell steve.

the record label squeezes two mediocre albums out of him and his image and eddie comes back to chicago, starts working as a gig manager for the same club/bar he got his not so great break at.

he hasn’t spoken to steve or robin in all the time he was gone (not that he necessarily didn’t want to, but could a) never drum up the balls to try calling steve, and b) didn’t want to incur the wrath of robin by calling her).

so he works. he pulls in some gigs with real promise, but a lot of duds.

one night, he gets to the club halfway through the set time of tonight’s act, one that his assistant signed up, and decides to look in on them after going through his paperwork for the evening. (you can’t say he isn’t a responsible part-owner)

there’s just one person on stage, wait, nope. two. one at the mic with a guitar and one out of the spotlight at a keyboard.

“Okay—for this next one.. I gotta tell you, it’s weird being back in this town.” the man on mic says, his oddly fake-looking mustache scrunching with a smirk. His voice is oddly familiar…

“I lived here a good couple years ago now, and things going to shit is what started all this.” he gestures around to the stage and crowd. “So, here’s one for you, Chicago.”

he pushes a loose hair of his.. wig?? (wig and mustache?? really?) out of his face and starts to play.

the tune is good. really good. really really good. so good that he is blindly waving down his assistant for the artist’s info.

he doesn’t take his eyes off the man on stage.

eddie sees a foot in a strikingly familiar blue adidas shoe press onto a pedal in front of him (weird)

the man rolls his shoulder around his a familiar way when sings about being in chicago at 24 (isn’t that about how old he and steve were when—)

a pice of paper is shoved into his hand; the artist’s name is Djo. (“Like Joe.” his assistants note says beside the name.) damn, does everything have to remind him of steve tonight? his middle name was Joseph. (coincidence)

Djo sings about the end to a beginning. Eddie knows how that feels.. (hang on…)

He sings about someone named Caroline encouraging him, and Eddie thinks of how much he teased Robin about her middle name being the same (hold the fuck on??)

it takes Eddie all three of Djo’s “You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man.”s for him to be sure.

That’s Steve up there on that stage.

And he’ll be damned if he misses this chance.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 428: Night of the Kouhai

Previously on BnHA: Well at least Spinner is sort of kind of doing okay??

Today on BnHA: I see the check that I sent to Horikoshi finally cleared.

okay first things first, you all know how it is right. I’ve never made a secret of my Kacchan bias on this blog. I promise you I did actually write a recap to 426 and 427 as well, but both of those chapters went HEAVY on the themes and drama and philosophical shit, and my reactions were kind of all over the place, and the Todoroki one in particular was like a million words wrong and it needs a shit ton of editing which I don’t know when I’ll have the spoons for

on the other hand however, a chapter like this which features class 2A cuteness and an absolutely unreasonable amount of Kacchan character development fanservice to hyperfixate on, takes absolutely no spoons at all and in fact actively recharges some of my spoons, so yeah. here we are

anyway so when we last left off Kacchan and Shouto were in terrible danger from a threat more terrifying than any they’ve ever encountered before. so I already knew this chapter was going to be great

“IIDA IS BIG AND STRONG AND AUTHORITATIVE, LET’S HIDE BEHIND HIM, HE WILL PROTECT US” everyone, I’m delighted to announce that the BnHA manga ending arc, despite having its ups and downs until this point, has officially been saved thanks to this panel right here. pack it up folks. this was officially a sweeping success. this panel brought Tomura back to life and teleported Touya’s mind back into his childhood self from roughly ten years ago time travel fix-it style. Horikoshi you beautiful bastard

Shouto trying to explain that he can handle them one on one but just not ALL TOGETHER IN THIS TERRIFYING SWARM LIKE THIS... buddy you don’t have to explain yourself sob. or is he trying to negotiate with them??

meanwhile Kacchan skips the negotiations entirely because he’s already assessed the situation and knows that the best way to handle this is to appeal to Iida Tenya’s boundless love of regulation and social order

y’all it’s killing me that this boy can handle being LITERALLY MURDERED by the greatest evil the world has ever known. but a group of admiring fifteen year old kouhais? no sir. that’s where he taps out

“but I thought Bakugou liked attention” yes well, you see, Shinsou, it’s kinda a “monkey’s paw curls” sort of thing

Kaminari with the BLACK SPEECH BUBBLE lmfao. FRIENDSHIP WITH KACCHAN HAS BEEN CANCELLED. NOW MIDORIYA IS MY BEST FRIEND

“well you see up until recently the ladies all thought Kacchan was a feral troll so they avoided him at all costs” wow Deku this man literally died for you and you just throw him under the bus with zero hesitation just like that

“SOURCE: ME, HIS CHILDHOOD FRIEND” just adding in his credentials in that little footnote there lest anyone question his authority on the subject

wait so is Shinsou surprised that girls used to not like Kacchan? or is he surprised that Kacchan and Deku were childhood friends? I can see how the latter might be surprising (oh Shinsou, sometimes I forget that you effectively just got here. we have so much to catch you up on. you will not BELIEVE how badly the two of these kids just want to hold hands all the time), but ngl, I’m rooting for the former just for the implications. “you’re seriously telling me a certified ten like him never had any girls interested in him?”

Horikoshi, hear me out, I know there are only two chapters left after this, and they’ve both already been written. but if you wanted to rewrite one of them at the last minute in order to add about a dozen more pages solely dedicated to Shinsou interrogating the rest of class 2A about Kacchan’s love life, out of what he insists is just innocent curiosity with no ulterior motives. well, I would not complain about that

anyway so yes Shinsou he is still single, for now. though I don’t really think it’s the girls you need to be worried about

meanwhile Mineta is all, “I just wanted to let all of you know MY opinion, which is that Bakugou isn’t morally upstanding enough for my delicate sensibilities.” yes you heard that right. Mineta of all people is weighing in on which personalities are deserving of being popular. that’s some audacity right there

A WILD DEKU FANBOY APPEARS???!

“IT GAVE ME COURAGE” omg yesssssss. jotting this down for essay material at some future point in time!! because THIS. this right here is the true “what it means to be a hero” in my opinion. a hero is someone who brings reassurance, yes. someone who makes people feel safe. but I think a hero should also be someone who makes people feel brave. someone who inspires other people to be heroic in turn. so yes, this, all of this, inject it into my veins. wtg Deku

having an official fanboy apparently broke Deku’s brain. hang in there bud. I know you’ve still got villain angst to work through, but try to enjoy this. you’re allowed to have nice things

IS MINETA STRANGLING KACCHAN BY HIS FUCKING TIE OMFG. THAT’S WHY HE NEVER USED TO WEAR THEM. also you’ve worn my patience down all the way now Mineta. get the fuck out of my blog

also Kacchan successfully beat the shit out of him with his ONE GOOD ARM so take that Mineta

also shoutout to this KiriBaku moment right here which feels like the first time we’ve had the two of them together in ages. good stuff

I’m LOVING this panel of Ochako staring at Deku all indecipherably, but ngl it’s also giving me just the slightest bit of anxiety, because does this mean we’re finally gonna get answers on what ultimately happened to Toga. it better not be sad. please don’t ruin my happy chapter with depressing things Horikoshi

“tell them no” OH MY GOD AIZAWA’S TURNING DOWN ALL THE INTERVIEW REQUESTS FOR HIS KIDS SO THEY CAN JUST BE KIDS AGAIN FOR A LITTLE WHILE nooooo what is this. “yeah but I’m prioritizing the kids who aren’t up for dishing to the media about all of their horrific trauma.” omfg. it’s been too long since my last Dadzawa feels. I wasn’t ready after all this time

you guys Izuku finally got a new hero costume that’s not in tatters after all this time. all it took was his old costume getting literally torn to shreds. and now he’s back to looking twelve years old again lol

JEANIST AND FATGUM REUNION?!?! RETURN OF KACCHAN’S THIRD DAD, AND A SECOND WACKY UNCLE TO BACK UP GOOD OLD MIC? GOD BLESS

FAT HIRED TAMAKI AS A SIDEKICK D’AWWWW

now they’re putting the kids to work. glorified janitorial duty. Deku you better not be using up any more of your embers on this sob

this motherfucker did not just liken my baby boy Kacchan to “distressed denim” omg. we have less than three chapters left and we’re spending our hard-earned time on this and I TRULY WOULD NOT CHANGE A SINGLE THING

“Kacchan on light duty” PROTECT HIM!!! don’t think I don’t see you over there too in the background, Aizawa. he’s surrounded by dads. they’re not letting him out of their sight again until he’s thirty

meanwhile he’s out here quietly sorting through trash with his one good hand without complaint and without even the barest hint of a gremlin face. with his half-and-half costume so we can’t see how fucked up his arm is. AND NO MORE MASK. we burned the mask. my thank you letters are in the mail, Horikoshi. and you too TomurAFO, this was your actual greatest contribution to society

ANOTHER DAD?!?!?!

dfjsdlfksldkfjl

“don’t worry, I’m gradually recovering” fsdfkslfkj r.i.p. my ability to take this man seriously ever again. do you think his voice is like the normal sexy Edgeshot ASMR voice except all high-pitched like a squirrel in a Disney princess movie. it is, isn’t it

he can make hands now. buddy you’re amazing. mvp of the entire fucking manga. my son literally owes you his life. please let me see you sitting Jeanist’s shoulder like a parrot before this wonderful glorious chapter ends

Kacchan’s little cheek scar is somehow both badass and adorable at the same time. I can’t stress how fucking much this chapter is just surrounding me with “protect him at all costs” feelings.

MORE SOFT KACCHAN FEELS ON THE NEXT PAGE BECAUSE HORIKOSHI WROTE THIS CHAPTER SPECIFICALLY FOR ME, THANK YOU SO MUCH

“are you... [ever] gonna go back to normal?” because if not he’s gonna cry himself to sleep every night for the rest of his life!! no big!! YOU WOULDN’T DO THAT TO HIM WOULD YOU EDGESHOT?

NO HE WOULD NOT. THANK YOU EDGESHOT. ONCE AGAIN YOU ARE A REAL ONE

...or wait. so does he mean he is indeed going to go back to normal eventually? or is it that he’s embracing this new form as an exciting new evolution, hence the “even further”? it kind of feels like the latter, ngl. especially with this weird sad little smile Kacchan gives in response... fuck me. what the hell am I gonna do when this series ends in two weeks. nobody can rip my soul to pieces as utterly and effortlessly as Horikoshi does, man

THEY MADE THE KIDS LUNCH AWWWW. though in fairness there’s something seriously messed up with Japan if any of these kids ever has to pay for another meal again for the REST OF THEIR LIVES. like come on

noooooo goddammit I’m tired of seeing Izuku quietly despairing over things that AREN’T HIS FAULT

I am glad to see this side of the civilian population, though. sure have come a long way since the low point that was the U.A. clown mob. I like this a whole lot better ngl

what’s up with this mysterious bus all of a sudden

OH MY GOD THEY’RE BACK LMAO. QUICKLY BAKUDADS. form a perimeter

they’re apologizing again dsfkjlskdfjlsfd THEY DIDN’T EVEN CONSIDER EVERYONE’S CIRCUMSTANCES!!! holy shit these first years are all collectively my new favorite character

Cementoss couldn’t take the pressure omfg. is this your first year as a homeroom teacher?? YOU CAN MAKE ANYTHING OUT OF CEMENT BUT CAN YOU MAKE YOURSELF A FREAKING SPINE, CEMENTOSS. I love him

Cementoss is telling them to go work in the corner so they don’t bother everyone else lmao. stuck them as far away from Kacchan as possible. good looking out, Cementoss. how many dads are we up to now?? five? six if we count Iida????

“hey so anyway what actually is up with these fucking kouhai though” I don’t know but my greatest regret is that this only became a thing three chapters before the series finale. where has this nonsense been all my life

“I don’t really understand” me neither fella but here in BnHA land we just roll with it

now we’re cutting back to Ochako who’s making yet another mysterious face that makes me think she knows perfectly well how much we all want to know whether Toga is alive or not, and she’s deliberately dragging it out just to fuck with us

okay I honestly can’t tell if Ochako is being fake cheerful or genuinely cheerful. but it’s definitely fake cheerful right??

aaaaand there’s a close up of Deku with FULL LIGHT back in his eyes like the clouds just parted for the first time in an age. accompanied by a THROB sound effect. ohhhh buddy. did my boy just have a hormone. is it finally that time

THEY’RE LETTING THE KIDS GO BACK HOME OMG. if they want. awwww. r.i.p. fanfic dorms. poor Shinsou missing out ONCE AGAIN

THEY DIDN’T CATCH THE CONCLUSION OF THE TOGACHAKO FIGHT ON FILM??! oh hell no. that settles it, she’s definitely still alive

tell me this cheeky motherfucker (Horikoshi, not Ochako lol) isn’t going to try and actually END THE SERIES with Toga’s fate still all ~mysterious~ and ~up in the air~ like I’m starting to get the sneaking suspicion that he’s doing

HORIKOSHI I SAID I DIDN’T WANT A DEPRESSING CHAPTER WHY ARE YOU HITTING ME WITH THESE FEELS AFTER I LET MY GUARD DOWN

YOU REALLY GAVE MY GIRL A SYMBOLIC FRODO STYLE ANGSTY STAB WOUND SO SHE CAN NEVER FORGET THE PAIN OF THAT DAY ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW WITH THIS

DEKU AHHHHHH

oh my god lol. I’m so curious what’s going to happen next week. my money for the record is on them bonding in a STRICTLY PLATONIC WAY over their respective dead(!??!?!) villains rather than a Romance Thing happening. but I wouldn’t be bothered if they do go there though just so long as we don’t get any timeskip epilogues where they’ve all got fucking kids and such now. don’t you do that to me Horikoshi Kouhei. I swear to god two chapters left omfg. this is really happening. the inexorable march of time etc. etc. ahhhhhhhhh

[melodrangea]

I'M BEGGING YOU PLS I NEED KID WITH A READER THAT'S LIKE THE TITULAR CHARACTER FROM KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE-- THEY COME OFF AS LIKE A KUUDERE, COOL AND COLLECTED-- BUT SECRETLY THEY'RE A DORK AND SOCIALLY ANXIOUS AND JUST HAVE A LOT OF POWER AND KNOW HOW TO USE IT!! Maybe they wear a cloak and mostly blacks and reds😈😈😈 And maybe instead of using a weapon, they have some unexplainable power source similar to witches that just makes them even /more/ mysterious and cool. Until they start talking to you about how the last of both the carolina parakeets and passenger pigeons died in the exact same cage 4 years apart💀 Maybe the reason they're so quiet is /because/ they're so awkward and weird🥺 They probably silently stare at him all wide eyed and freak him out until he realises that means they just think he's pretty and like looking at him🙏🙏🙏 Anyways sorry for rambling🥺🥺🥺

i have a bunch of asks i’ve still yet to answer (sorry my loves) but this sounded too intriguing and funny not to write right away

what i’m hearing is witch!reader that’s calm on the outside and quirky on the inside

and something about birds :)

so imma just roll with that real quick

———————————————————————————

Kid x Witch!Kuudere! Reader

-now this totally makes sense

-because let’s be honest Kid is basically the exact same way

-cool and collected on the outside, but a total symmetry dork on the inside with a love for architecture

-you first notice Kid during sparring practice at the dwma

-assuming this is post-kishin and witches are more accepted, now you’re in the elite class with Mkf and the others

-you were assigned to face him, Patty and Liz

-you were nervous facing not only three on one, but one of the dwma’s top students

-Kid on the other hand noticed you for your witchy traits

-how the cloak you huddled yourself in flowed like a shroud of feathers, how soft your hair looked and the glittering jewelry you adorned yourself with

-you looked a little out of place but so did he and Kid respected your lack of care, how aloof you seemed to be to the whole scenario

-the spar ended in a close match with Kid winning but that impressed him even more at how close you got

-Kid was used to wiping the floor with every student that crossed his path, he admired how well you held up

-he liked a challenge

-you two danced around each other for a long time, pretending to be calm and calculated until one day the two of you were hanging out, walking down the street towards a cafe you’d heard of

-when Kid spotted a very symmetrical looking pigeon…

-and the facade was all over for the two of you

-Kid immediately went into fanboy mode, praising the bird for its unique coloring and symmetrical feathers

-and you about passenger pigeons and the odd coincidences revolving around the end of the species

it was an interesting time at the cafe, managing to both surprise the other about their hidden hyper fixations

but it honestly just gave the two of you more to talk about

there was the obvious initial embarrassment about your cover being blown but Kid found your wide array of knowledge very attractive

especially since your witchy persona is bird based

and Kid’s hyper-fixation made sense as a grim reaper he had to keep order, and what’s more orderly than symmetry?

and now that the metaphorical veil had been lifted it gave you both the confidence to admit your feelings, knowing that you both finally understood each other

were you the hottest and oddest couple ever? probably.

but did either of you give a single shit? absolutely not

and now Kid can spoil you with shiny objects while you use your magic to make things symmetrical :)

———————————————————————————

man if i had a dollar for every time i said hyperfixation

but if wishes were wings my grammar skills would fly so high they’d burn in the sun

and that’s a wrap my lovelies <3

i hope i did your request justice anon!!

-melodrangea <3

[angelbarelywrites]

♡ scenarios | dating negan

♡ fandoms; The Walking Dead

♡ characters; Negan Smith

♡ reader; gender neutral

♡ cw; explicit sexual content

♡ notes; in case anyone forgot i’m technically not a dedicated slasher blog

i put this in sections so i didn’t have to make more than one post lol . also these take place while he’s still the ruler of the saviors. i’ve been obsessed since his first episode oh my god that’s eight years of hyperfixation so that’s usually where my brain goes plot- wise

i’m thinking Billy Butcher is up next? lmk who else we wanna see, Garcia Flynn from Timeless is probably too niche? but i love him so so much

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

I. Kisses/PDA

> negan is an affectionate person

> with his wives it’s just for show- they’re hot, and he wants all his followers jealous of his lifestyle

> but with you, it’s different

> his wives don’t like him, per-se. he’s convenient to be married to and easy on the eyes, but they’re cold to him

> and he knows why, he doesn’t really give a shit. especially now that he has you.

> you may not be his spouse- you’re sure as fuck not letting him call you that without a ring- but he’s even more physical with you

> standing by him? hand on your back. sitting? you’re on his lap. look cold? he gives you his jacket and keeps you tucked under his arm

> “i just like takin’ care of you darlin’”

> and he loves kissing you in front of others- from little pecks to long, lingering kisses that makes other people look away

> he seems possessive, and he doesn’t mind people pointing it out

> it’s not that he doesn’t trust you- it’s never that

> he trusts most of his men too…maybe not simon. because simon loves staring at your ass

> but he’s proud. he’s proud you’re his, and he’s yours, and that he gets to show you off

> and like hell he ever lets anyone forget it

> alone he acts like keeping his hands off you is impossible

> he smacks your ass any time you lean over, pulls you into big bear hugs from behind and randomly pick you up

> he doesn’t ever want you to doubt his feelings for you, and physically is the easiest way for him to show it

> he’s very sexual, big shocker

> but his favorite kisses are sleepy kisses

> you wait late into the night when he’s due home from terrorizing his territories

> some part of you is afraid one day he won’t come home- so you always wait

> you’ll be exhausted, rubbing your eyes and yawning and usually wrapped up in a blanket

> but no matter how long he takes directing his men and double checking inventory and dealing with the dead

> “hey there, baby doll”

> you always run straight into his arms and bury your face in his chest. he’ll laugh and pick you up, kissing you gently before he carries you to bed

> most times he falls asleep on top of the covers with you, eager for the morning when he can make it up to you for being gone so long

II. Sharing a bed

> negan isn’t used to sharing a bed anymore

> the wives have their own rooms just down the hall, and so do you

> no reason for him not to give you at least a little space

> and having a room is the height of luxury in the sanctuary anyways. it’s a perk of dating the boss

> but you don’t know how to tell him you do want to share a bed, even though you’re barely apart when you’re awake

> so you just…don’t. you assume it’s a boundary he wants to keep and don’t mention it

> until the night terrors start up again

> you’ve seen a lot of people die a lot of different ways. most of them people you cared a lot about

> the memories always seem to come back in your dreams no matter how far back you push them

> when you’re woken up by one in the middle of a harsh storm, it’s just a bit too much

> you just can’t stop crying, and it’s loud and you need held. you need him.

> you creep as quietly as you can down the hall, and you hesitate at the door until the thunder crashes again

> when you stumble in he sits up fast with a knife in his fist

> then he gives a slightly annoyed sigh in recognition, relaxing

> “the hell are you doing?”

> “i just- um-“

> you can tell he notices the wobble in your voice and opens his arms up without another smart remark

> “hey, hey, i’ve gotcha..”

> he doesn’t ask questions- you don’t cry for nothing. and he gets nightmares too

> falling asleep in his arms feels natural…so natural it becomes a habit

> and he sleeps better with you too, curled around you and holding you so tight you think he might be worried you’ll disappear

> it’s less than a week before you stop using your bed altogether

III. Let’s get kinky

> he’s happy in pretty much any dominant role, whatever you call him is good enough for him- daddy, sir, master, etc

> and he likes when you call him whatever it is in front of his men

> the only chance of getting your dick/strap in him is if he power bottoms. but 95 percent of the time? you’re receiving and it’s big

> he likes being risky. he’ll take you out to visit settlements just to have an excuse to stop and fuck you in the car

> or even in a house there, just a room over from his men and gagging you with his fingers so you don’t get caught

> not that he’ll care if they catch you anyways

> he has a nice big office- half of the reason he uses it is so he can have you on his lap as a cockwarmer while he reads or looks over inventory numbers

> the other half is so you can suck his dick under the desk while he talks to simon or dwight

> (simon is a raging pervert so he definitely knows, too)

> he loves fucking your face, watching you get all teary eyed and drooling all over yourself from taking his massive cock

> “oh look at the fuckin’ mess you’re making!”

> he’s generous though- he loves reciprocating oral

> and he loves overstimulating you too- whether that’s by edging you for hours or just making you cum again and again and again

> he loves taking you from behind, pushing your face into the mattress and gripping your hips so hard they bruise

> but he also loves when you ride him slow, gasping quietly as he watches you fall apart completely for him

[bittersweetorpheus]

I’ve been getting into otome game lately, and finally had some free time, so… why not integrate the mechanics with Bungou Stray Dogs? I think there’s some huge potential for fanfics! Might turn into a series depending on the response I get ^^

An isekai: a Japanese term translating to ‘other word’. Always following the same plot— the protagonist who is transported to a fantasy world, game world, or parallel universe after dying in this boring normal one (usually via truck).

Yours had been your own fault, but death wasn’t as distressing as realizing bitterly that anime worlds were, in fact, real, and you were stuck in some random anime/manga you’d hyperfixated (curse your autistic tendencies) on for years but never actually watched or read. Bungou Stray Dogs, was its name. A world where ability users, those granted a single power based on classical literature and named after real life authors, prowled the streets.

You ate, slept, worked, rinse and repeat.

Or you did. Until you accidentally changed the whole damn genre of the manga! And the title, as well. Ahem, let us present… I Got Isekaied and Accidentally Caught the Eye of Fucked Up Criminals Because of Plot Convenience?!

Ah, the classic trope of the title spoiling the entire premise. But, we’ll need a little more context then that, won’t we?

—————

[REWIND TIME TO INTERLUDE?]

*YES* | NO

—————

You, fresh out from another shift of ‘standing around the warehouse and doing nothing at all’, had been mindlessly making your way home when— distracted by some shitty gacha game on your phone— stumbled right into an active crime scene. Active as in: the murder was currently being committed.

Dead police officers, a jester in a fully white outfit, portals opening up behind you…

Shit. You’d totally interrupted Nikolai’s introduction scene, hadn’t you? Your first thought was to curse yourself for your own stupidity at being so distracted by shitty, addicting mobile games that you failed to notice a crime scene going on in broad daylight.

Nikolai, still in that creepy clown getup, slowly turned his head towards you. His eyes narrowed, as though assessing you, before a smile slid onto his face.* “Looks like we have a little mouse who’s wandered into a tiger’s den! Hehe, you’re so cute, I might play around with you for a bit!”

You cringed. Who was in charge of writing dialogue for out-of-script scenes? Nikolai’s words were along the lines of what one would expect from an awkward bedroom partner who’d only ever stuck to the more vanilla side of things. Then again, it fit his happy-go-lucky-serial-killer persona, you supposed. Characters couldn’t be fleshed out in their very first scene, that was just rushed writing.

Pretending you had dialogue options to help ease her stress, you went with the safest one. “Wow. What a horrible crime scene. Please don’t stab me.” Ok, new issue: you absolutely sucked at acting when under pressure! It didn’t sound genuine at all!

Nikolai let out a small, low ‘pfft’ at your words, his shoulders shaking with the effort of containing his laughter. “Hey, hey, hey! It’s no fun when you’re so scared and shaky like that! You’re too cute!” Did Nikolai just… break character? This wasn’t supposed to happen, was it? That smile of his widened into a full blown grin. Shit. Were they self aware?

“Say, mousey, I’m curious about something,” he practically purred out, leaning down to get in your face, “How is it that you haven’t panicked and run away yet? I just slaughtered four whole policemen, after all.” His eyes narrowed, and he scrutinized you closely, searching for something that you couldn’t see.

> Punch him! Kick him!

> Run off now that he mentioned it—

> Confuse him by going from blunt to philosophical…

Those were the three options your frazzled mind presented you with. Mentally, you clicked on the third. Perhaps impulse-decision making was better left up to other people.

“Glue trap.” You said, fucking yourself over further. “You know, ‘cause you compared me to a mouse. But, like, aren’t we all mice? Stuck in glue traps, that is. Ugh, whatever. Look, it’s a perfectly natural reaction: fight, flee, or freeze.“

—————

*➳ NIKOLAI AFFECTION +5 -> TOTAL NIKOLAI AFFECTION: 5/120 ♡*

—————

“Glue trap?” Nikolai repeated, his expression briefly baffled. Clearly he hadn’t expected *that* from you.

He seemed to ponder something, then he abruptly stepped even closer, still towering over you. Nikolai put his gloved hand on your forehead, almost a bit like he was checking for a fever. With the difference being that he was way too close now. You could practically feel his breath brush against your skin, and it sent shivers down your spine.

This guy was way too damn close. The hell was he doing?

Nikolai finally pulled away, a thoughtful expression on his face. He began to circle you slowly, and his fingers drummed against his chin, as though deep in thought. “…Mousey,” he finally said, his voice quieter than before, more contemplative. Uh, what? “Have we… met before? Your voice… sounds familiar.”

You, the rizz god (maybe now wasn’t the time to use stupid internet terms), couldn’t help but ignore all the red flags that had popped up from that very same statement you’d heard far too many times before in otome games, so you could… make it into an inappropriate-for-the-situation pick up line. Well, ya missed 100% of the shots you didn’t take, though you weren’t quite sure you wanted this one in the first place. “No. But we *could* meet again, as a cute couple. Not a serial killer and unwilling witness. Only if you don’t murder me. Dating a corpse would be boring. I think.”

—————

*➳ NIKOLAI AFFECTION +10 -> TOTAL NIKOLAI AFFECTION: 15/120 ♡*

—————

Nikolai froze, wide-eyed and a strange expression on his face. Then he began to laugh. For once, his laugh wasn’t crazed or unhinged. It was a normal laugh, one full of genuine amusement.

He continued to chortle for a few more seconds, before he finally stopped and tried to compose himself again. Nikolai shook his head, but there was still a wide smile on his face. “Damn, do you have a death wish? Or do you make a habit of flirting with serial killers?” He paused, stepping even closer as if he just realized something. “Hold on, can you say something for me?”

“If it’s something along the lines of ‘I love you’, then it’s too early for the plot. And out of character, I have commitment issues. Just to be clear.” You made sure to word that a very particular way, praying Nikolai wouldn’t inadvertently confirm your suspicions that you’d ended up in one of those ‘self aware/third wall breaking’ alternate universes.

—————

*➳ NIKOLAI AFFECTION -5 -> TOTAL NIKOLAI AFFECTION: 10/120 ♡*

—————

*Nikolai chuckled, the amusement never leaving his face. He crossed his arms over his chest, still towering over you. Nikolai’s smile was just a tad bit unsettling.* “No no, mousey, not that. I was thinking something a bit less cliche.”

He paused, and that thoughtful look returned to his face. Nikolai tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at you, almost like he was trying to figure out a complex puzzle. “Say something. Anything. And don’t try to act. Just speak,” he insisted.

How the hell were you supposed to gauge whether he was self aware or not from that answer? Today just wasn’t your day. You not only messed with the plot line, but the character dynamics as well, by introducing herself into it. Damn! Why couldn’t this position have been given to some die-hard fangirl, instead of some office worker who’d only fixated on the franchise for a year or so.

“…I wish this was a shoujo instead of a seinen?” You blurted out. Even a shounen would’ve been better, with a power scaling system and hardworking main character. But, nope! Bungou Stray Dogs just had to fall into the seinen category because of heavy themes you in no way wanted to deal with.

A game over screen flashed before your eyes, at the very same time Nikolai’s portals did. Let’s hope you quick-saved, as this would be a rather humiliating end for you.

[lab-gr0wn-lambs]

Hello! Do you have any tips on stylizing/drawing real people?? recently ive been trying to draw from my favorite shows but they either look too realistic or just not like the person at all. I love all your twd art and its really inspiring!

Omg thank you so much, it’s actually so funny you should ask this because this is exactly what I’ve been struggling with/researching for like 6 months. In fact I had an independent research project at uni that I told my prof was gonna be all about learning how to make background art for my final film project. But I got SO into learning how to stylize real people that I forgot to do the project at all and just submitted all of my walking dead fanart and stylization research and somehow got a B+ 

So strap in, you are about to get blasted with a hyperfixation that was so strong it almost lost me my bachelors degree but instead (somehow!!) got me one of the highest grades this prof gave out this semester

I’m still learning and trying to get better, this hyperfixation isn’t over it just has to be on pause because I WILL fail my final year of university if I let it take me lmao

First of all, here are my project slides (PLEASE ignore my cringe-ass writing, most of that shit was done in a panic at 5am)

this was a good leaping off point and now I know their features like the back of my hand, but they're missing a lot of character imo

"I thought highlighting his eyelashes and freckles would bring out-" blahblabla, truth is I just think he is very Eyes and his freckles are cute but I can't just be saying ''it's about the VIBES sir''

I highly recommend looking at an artist called @geitonas. They were actually my biggest inspiration in this project because personally I think they’ve mastered stylizing real people and their art is how I want my walking dead fanart to be. They know exactly which features to push and which to downplay, so if you’re familiar with the subjects you can recognize them immediately. 

But the biggest thing to note is that their features aren’t replicated exactly, they just have the right energy.

I guess my biggest advice is pick a focus feature. For Carol I think her most defining feature is her nose. It's an odd thing to say but she has very distinctive nostrils. So no matter how stylized I draw her I try to keep this feature in mind, even if everything else goes out the window

Keeping an eye on someone's unique mannerisms and facial expressions can go a long way too. Rick's squint, Michonne's stare, Daryl's scrunch...

This turned into a ramble. My thoughts were more coherent but too many of them wanted to come out all at once. Hope this was helpful anyway!

[chaifootsteps]

Hey Chai,

This is a long one, so I’m gonna start out by first thanking you for this blog you’ve created as a safe place to share your thoughts and those of others, including when they disagree with you! You are both admirably unabashed and pleasantly down to earth in how you carry yourself on here! Now to get into the meat of it, I felt like sending in my thoughts on the idea of “wasted potential” as applied specifically to Lucifer from Haz_bin Ho_tel, and to ask you for your thoughts on that concept and Lucifer as a specific example (if you wanted to share them, of course)! I want to clarify that I’ve never personally liked referring to characters, story beats, or theme explorations in a piece of fictional media as “wasted potential” because some part of me feels that I don’t get to make that judgement call when I wasn’t the one writing. This isn’t me claiming that I am better or more mature than people who discuss wasted potential within media analysis - I am well aware that I am entitled to dislike the direction a character or story is heading as much as any human - this is just me saying that I personally never try and act like I could speak on knowing what was better for someone else’s creative vision, so I just tend to keep my thoughts to myself. Until I witnessed what Vi_v did to Lucifer. Memes are funniest when quoted ironically, but it was after episode six that I sincerely said out loud to myself “look how they massacred my boy!”

In the days of the pilot and promotional character art, Lucifer was my favorite character. Viewers barely knew anything about him, but the little we did know was OVERFLOWING WITH POTENTIAL. He was my favorite character design in the entire show, and a near hyperfixation in my mind. The limited information and visuals we were given were those of a well dressed, unwaveringly confident, and - seemingly - unapologetically aware player in a story about the slaughter of sinners and the near-lost cause of Charlie’s efforts towards their redemption. He was the King of Hell, husband to the first woman in existence, instigator of human sin, and REBEL AGAINST GOD. Even juicier, assuming we never got to see him as his own character, there was at least the mystique of the domino affect he had on the characters of the show including Charlie, Alastor, and even Vaggie as Charlie’s girlfriend and a fallen angel, herself. The second-hand accounts we heard of him through Charlie - specifically “I think dad was right about me-“ and “- you don’t take shit from other demons!” - depicted a character who had little sympathy for Charlie’s goal or the sinners while still showing his care for her in his own, twisted way. All of this oozed with POTENTIAL for the enormity of this character and his weight on the story as the embodiment of pride and as the King of Hell.

And we, the audience of the final product, got NONE OF THAT. The final character - the canon depiction thrown at our faces following over four years of anticipation - was a self-pitying, judgmental, immature, wishy-washy, absentee father who remained WILLFULLY unaware of the life and ambitions of the singular child he claimed he wanted a better relationship with and took ZERO accountability in running the very people and kingdom he had been stuck with for 10,000 years! He didn’t even know his daughter, the princess of Hell and his most treasured family, had a girlfriend of multiple years. In a lot of ways, he was a well-dressed man-child constantly shouting some version of “I DON’T WANNA!”. 

And GOD did that hurt to see. How it hurt to see his wasted potential. 

There were so many things he could have been starting in late 2019, so many things that seemed perfect for both a character and story beat as would have explored the greater themes of the show itself. Unfortunately, he wasn’t any of them on that particular day in late January of 2024. The CLOSEST he ever gets to embodying that potential was when he was protecting his daughter while beating the holy light out of Adam in the finale, but even his statement of “You’re in my house, bitch!” doesn’t depict the imposing and unmeasurably egotistical being of pride he seemed to be in 2019, it just sounds like something any person would say in a cocky manner punching down on someone who broke into their house. For me, it took the wind out of my sails to see how far my once adored character had fallen from the character he COULD have been. How he had been denied all the potential that he once had. Potential that, through writing choices by the creative team, was decidedly "wasted".

So those are my feelings as applies to both the concept of “wasted potential” in writing and to the character of Lucifer in Haz_bin Ho_tel. I apologize again for how long this whole rant has been, but if you have any of your own thoughts or want to comment on my whole spiel around how we describe wasted potential as viewers and Lucifer as a possible example, I would be excited to hear them!

Thank you again for this space you have created and keep fighting the good fight, even if that’s just for the freedom to our own opinions on popular media!

No apologies, Anon, and thank you for the kind words! Everyone should feel like they have a safe, fun place to bitch about how much they dislike popular media...whether HH runs for one more season or 10, I'll do my best to keep this little pocket available!

Thank you for your heartfelt Lucifer thoughts. I know back in the day, when I still loved and had high hopes for this show and actually hoped Viv could get Weird Al to voice Lucifer, this was the thing that made me really fall in love with him. If I'd known back then that he'd turn into a crude, idiotic frat boy, I wouldn't have bothered.

I think the longer these shows run, the more it gets to be that people are mourning their favorite characters and the potential they could have had. It's pretty painful to love a character so deeply, to be so excited to see what they become, and to be rewarded with the worst possible version of them you could imagine. Happened with Stolas for me, with Lucifer for you...it's a story you hear time and time again.

It sucks.

[darrys-laundry]

i’ve seen some people expressing their gratitude to ms. towel and what the outsiders means to them, and i’d like to join:

i, like many of us, read the outsiders in eighth grade. it was one of the first essays of mine that i specifically remember a teacher asking to keep as an example.

(this teacher would go on to ask to keep many of my essays, and she’s perhaps the biggest reason i am where i am today, even despite the fact that she continues humbly deny this.)

anyways, i’m 23 now, about to be 24, but i was 13-14 then; and i still have the grading paper from our greaser vs soc debate.

(i was a greaser btw, and we beat those damn socs, lol.)

anyways, when i got to high school, i tried to take a script writing workshop. i was the only minor, and i started to have horrible, horrible panic attacks. ultimately, i ended up dropping out, but i had emailed the script bible to that english teacher, and she’d encouraged me to keep going. to keep writing.

flash forward, i’ve now graduated with a degree in tv writing and producing because my eighth grade believed in me. (never underestimate the power of teachers.)

now— this is the part where i admit: i was throwing-in-the-towel’s chicago tour anon 🫶

the outsiders was supposed to debut in chicago my freshman year of college, and even hearing the words ‘the outsiders’ as i was about to embark on my college career reignited something in me. it reminded me who put me here. and even the prospect of getting to see the book reimagined as a musical, reinforced my love of theatre.

(obviously, the pandemic got in the way, and while i like to joke that it’s my villain origin story, i don’t think we’d have what we have today if it hadn’t.)

when i finally did get back into the outsiders following this year’s tony awards, i really did try to resist the hyperfixation.

(and well, we all know how well that worked for user darrys-laundry)

i’ve been in fandom my whole life, and the idea of starting over in a new fandom scares the shit out of me, every single time, but my therapist literally tasked me to interact with content, and to at least give it a try.

so, i followed ms. towel. and that felt like a manageable amount of engagement for the time being.

and then i got brave enough to send some anon messages, and i made some art on my own blog, and eventually i became the chicago tour anon 🫶

i asked ms towel just about every question ever when i was trying to plan my own trip to see the show. (see: deeply anxious person.) and she answered every single one. i’ve always really appreciated that.

and i always thanked her for her kindness and generosity with the fandom; for reinforcing boundaries between us and the actors at the stage door, and for fostering a community here.

i’ve been trying to be really intentional with my gratitude lately. we need to let people know that what they’re doing means something to us, and i told ms towel as much.

anyways, i’m rambling as always, this book, this show means the world to me. and this fandom means something to me now too, for as much as i’d resisted, because of ms towel’s generosity, and the space that she’d created.

so, thank you ms. towel.

i’m going to keep creating for this thing that i love, and engaging with fandom now that i’m brave enough 🥲.

i’ll try to bring you tour content when it becomes available. 🫶

[pastriibunz]

THANK YOU FOR 1 YEAR OF KAI!!!!

honestly, it’s insane to me how i’ve been allowed to create content in the hatchetfield space for this long.

i can’t believe it’s been 1 whole year of kai in hatchetfield. it’s crazy.

now, over the year, kai’s been through some craaazy stuff in hatchetfield: time loops, two apotheosises (apotheosi?), cloning and android plots, an endless amount of lord related shit, and that’s not even counting aus made by yourselfs! stuff like SOTBAW and ICTD by @raspberrysmoon, and Murder Kai and all of @hidden-1n-the-sand’s other aus!

i don’t know where the rest of the year or the next will take us. maybe i’ll lose my hatchetfield hyperfixation, and there’ll be a new kai in _____. but i’m happy to go into it with a community surrounding my girl.

i’ve seen so much amazing art, fan work, and, just…everything for kai. not to mention the kaipocalypse and live reading. it makes my heart swell.

watching my writing and how it’s grown from tkwdlm to space drifter, and, just…wow.

thank you all for sticking with me.

thank you all for everything.

i love you all.

[heymacy]

it's weekly tag game wednesday thursday! i was tagged (and/or mentioned) by so many sweethearts, namely @jrooc, @creepkinginc, @doshiart, @mybrainismelted, @deedala,

@gardenerian, @blue-disco-lights, @spookygingerr, @thepupperino, @stocious,

@vintagelacerosette, & @palepinkgoat 💛 I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH (and if i missed anyone bc of the glitch i am so, so sorry!!!)

how did you get into the fandom? a friend of mine on twitter DM’d me a gallavich compilation video in mid-2020 and said “i think you might really like this show” — i’d tried watching it before in 2018 but only made it to 1x06 which is a CRIME. can you imagine if i’d kept going? insanity. anyway. the worms got me, i made a new tumblr in october 2020, and the rest is history ✨

how long have you been here? 3.75 years and counting

what’s the first fandom channel you found? (Youtube, Reddit, Tumblr, Insta, Twitter, FB, other?) YouTube, then tumblr

what’s your favourite now? tumblr now and forever

which mutual have you known the longest in the fandom? @7x10mickey — hi lizzie! ily lizzie!

which tumblerino’s did you have your first fandom crush(es) on and wanted to get to know? funny you should ask! my very first fandom crush was the beautiful, talented, spectacular @gardenerian. i was mesmerized by their gifs and their playlists and wanted to be their friend so i messaged them requesting a gif set based on a song from the show. cut to 3.5 years later and i’m packing a suitcase to visit them for the second time in a month. life is funny like that!

first Gallavich fan fic you read (or that blew you away that you remember) The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Ian Gallagher by @goodkwuestion. read it in like 3 days flat. one of the best pieces of literature, fanfiction or other, that i’ve ever read

first fan art that blew your mind? i don’t remember exactly which one but it was definitely one by @steorie — one of the first artists i followed in the fandom!

fanfic trope that you were sure wasn’t for you but now you low key (or high key) love? echoing @deedala (who also knows how deep it goes) and saying SPORTS AU!!!!!! boy oh boy. i am IN THE TRENCHES

what surprised you most about this fandom? how kind and considerate everyone is. i’ve never been a part of a community that is so welcoming and warm and it makes me all fuzzy (positive)

moment in the show (or YT vids if you’re one of those) that you fell in hyperfixation with Gallavich? the club kiss (though i was fixated after 1x07 i will not lie to y’all)

ian or mickey? i’m saying both and you can’t stop me!!!!

which Gallagher or Milkovich are you? fiona. hot mess, waffle knit henley tees, dreams of owning a laundromat, comes from a chaotic family, eldest daughter syndrome, always ugly crying for one reason or another

tags below the cut!

@too-schoolforcool, @mmmichyyy, @transmickey, @sam-loves-seb, @darlingian,

@deathclassic, @energievie, @michellemisfit, @sleepyfacetoughguy, @sleepyheadgallavich,

@crossmydna, @tanktopgallavich, @sickness-health-all-that-shit, @the-rat-wins, @transmurderbug,

@lee-ow, @callivich, @kiinard, @sluttymickey, @thisdivorce,

@xninetiestrendx, @y0itsbri, @captainjowl, @arrowflier, @astaraels,

@ardent-fox, @wehangout, @gallapiech, @roryonic, @mickittotheman,

@jademickian, @solitarycreaturesthey, @spacerockwriting, & @rayrayor

[musicalmoritz]

Hello💕

My name is Roxy. This blog is mainly for my rambles and shippy posts (not mutually exclusive). I am a writer on ao3 under the same name as this account. I’m just here to put my thoughts out into the world like an open diary, and to reblog cute shit💞💞💞

Fandom Interests:

• Current Hyperfixation- TBHK, Rent, Wicked, Peanuts

• Other Animes (in no particular order)- Hunter X Hunter, Chainsaw Man, Fruits Basket, Madoka Magica, Kakegurui, Jujutsu Kaisen, Bungou Stray Dogs, My Hero Academia, Cowboy Bebop, Ouran High School Host Club, I’m In Love With The Villainess, Sk8 the Infinity, Adachi and Shimamura, Banana Fish, Demon Slayer, Mob Psycho 100, Spy X Family, Vampires In The Garden, High Rise Invasion, Kyo Kara Maoh, Kase-San and Morning Glories, Haikyuu!!, Death Note, Attack On Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Full Metal Alchemist

• DC Comics, mainly the female characters and anything related to the Teen Titans/Batman. I’ve been in this fandom for years due to adaptations but I’m relatively new to the comics themselves. Currently reading Batwoman's New 52 run and anything Cass Cain related I can get my hands on

• I do like Marvel but like mainly Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Black Widow. I'm refraining from posting about it for the time being due to the boycott

• I'm a big filmbro, my top 3 movies of all time are Dead Poets Society, Pride & Prejudice (2005), and American Psycho

• Classic lit is my favorite thing to read (aside from fan fiction). Currently reading The Idiot by Dostoevsky

• I love listening to musicals, my top 3 being Les Miserables, Falsettos, and Spring Awakening

• Some shows I like are Breaking Bad, Glee, Stranger Things (not posting due to the boycott), Gravity Falls, First Kill, Bly Manor, I Am Not Okay With This, The Middle, Adventure Time, Modern Family, Merlin, Doctor Who, and probably others I can't think of rn

• I'm really into classic fairytales🦋

• As far as music goes I am a critical Swiftie. I also enjoy Fall Out Boy, Marina, early Panic! At The Disco, Megan Thee Stallion, Nirvana, David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, and various other artists

• Some other fandoms I've been involved in include It by Stephen King (all media types), Twilight, Percy Jackson (boycott), The Hunger Games, Marauders, Camp Camp, Archie Comics & Sabrina, Dan & Phil, Hellaverse, Homestuck (save me), aaaaaand I think that's everything??

• My favorite piece of media of all time is Les Miserables, especially the book and the musical. I love it with all of my heart and it truly changed the way I live my life as well as my outlook on the world and religion💕

• My favorite character of all time is Dazai from BSD, I adore his character development and all the subtle details that add to his characterization💕

• I enjoy analyzing and yapping about my interests so expect a lot of that

Other Interests:

• I am a psychology major with an AS degree in psychology

• I practice wing-chun, though I am still somewhat of a beginner (white belt, my si-fu makes his students earn them)

• Writing is my passion and I have been working on my own novel for many years now. It is meant to be a three part series but I don’t want to publish the first book until it’s perfect

• Proud Cat Mom

• Being an older sister is like 50% of my personality

• I am a lesbian and a Christian and both of those identities are very important to me

• Believe it or not I am employed, though I won’t say where for obvious reasons💪🏻

• Raging Feminist

• Antique collector

• Complainer, not a hater

• Optimist

• Lover of all things pink

Again, this blog is really just a side quest, I’m much more active on TikTok so you might want to follow me there (femslash.enthusiast / #1 aoinene lover). I’m just here to yap about my interests and spread good vibes💕