#I'm not trying to yuck anyones yum it's just something I'm thinking about

[ichorative]

It's kinda funny when people bring real-world lore into fantasy worlds like Arcane. For example, people headcanoning Viktor being from the Czech Republic

Thinking about it on a deeper level this implies some Slavic country is literally just a subsection of this fantasy worlds perceived hell, Zaun, and that is objectively hilarious if not a little insane

[dopaminetreasurehoard]

Love Crowley's husband energy in this scene and I have to talk about this little moment.

I know people like the idea of a jealous or possessive partner, and label this moment as such. And I love the humor of that idea here.

But to be fair, I actually think Crowley isn't being jealous in this moment. For all that he can get worked up, he is cool as a cucumber in the face of very stressful situations. (Ex. Furfur threatening Crowley after the magic act before he knew that Aziraphale would trick Furfur into using the wrong "evidence", just dismissing the guy out of hand like he's nothing.)

According to Brené Brown, jealousy happens when we're afraid of something important being taken from us, when we're afraid that our connection with someone will be lost in favor of someone else.

It seems out of character for Crowley to feel threatened by a random mortal approaching Aziraphale. His reaction to the man sitting there in the pub would instead seem to be annoyance. He's trying to have "us time" with his angel and here comes this dude, delaying the conversation they're there to have.

His "hello" is just so "where did you come from and how do we get you to leave?"

He even used that line "You astonish me" in that posh voice he gets when he's disinterested or trying to put someone off. Which I love, btw.

I can just picture him in the regency period, posing as upper class a la Byron, using that tone to depress the pretensions of toadeaters.

Anyone who prefers to interpret it as adorably, harmlessly jealous, I'm not trying to yuck your yum. Just making my own observations because I was trying to figure out why it didn't feel like jealousy to me.

As for possessiveness, which is based on a lack of trust in your partner and a need for control over them disguised as love, that doesn't feel like Crowley either.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I think at the end of the day, the thing I just really don't get about the whole Izzy discourse is - fanon Izzy is so boring, guys, and for what? Just so we pretend this masc white guy's the main character instead of the gnc and brown leads?

Like, I'm not about to yuck anyone's yum! And if you like Izzy as he is in canon, creepy and wet and fucked up, more power to you. He's fucking fascinating and I wish I was able to enjoy him more than I am. Bizarre little man with absolutely zero self-awareness. I really like how in s1e6 he chose to just be there in Stede's room, stroking the curtains and shit. There's something deeply wrong with him.

So when you decide to take this guy who's defining character traits include "being wrong about everything," "having a massive complex about Ed," and "being gay and homophobic" and you try to insist that he's actually right about everything and soooo persecuted by anything other than his own actions, it's not just racist more often that not but also you've got a whole new guy who's very boring. A lot of the time you're just mapping Ed's canon traits onto him so he can be interesting. My biggest thing stopping me from enjoying so many otherwise absolutely fine fics that have Izzy in them is his main trait becomes just being really mean to everyone all the time and that's never being challenged by the narrative, and I just don't think stories about a guy who walks around calling everyone fucking twats all the time while they all go "that's our Izzy lol" are very fun to read.

I wish we lived in an alternate universe where fanon Izzy never became a thing and whenever Izzy shows up in meta or fics you know you're about to get a really fucked up dude. My favorite thing about Izzy probably is that they ended his funeral with Ed getting to go "he was a fucking nightmare." What else is there to say really

[sephirthoughts]

Unpopular opinion ask game: 💛

(from this ask game)

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Oh there are ever so many. i usually keep my mouth shut because i don't want to yuck anyone's yums or draw aggro from crusaders, but this is an unpopular opinion game sooooo

WARNING: UNFILTERED OPINIONS UNDER THE CUT

The one that i think burns my ass the worst is Cloud/Tifa, mostly because the game and fandom tries so hard to shove it down our throats. In the FF7 games, there is this blatant assumption all through the narrative that "of course the player is into this girl" which instantly makes me rebel against anything in any game, especially when it's heteronormative bullshit.

cyberpunk was the worst, when they tried to force me to like that leatherfaced blow-up-doll panam, who was so egregiously written by misogynist cismales, that i nearly quit the game. the grossly overt assumption the game made that i the (obviously cishet male) player would automatically be into her led to me abandoning her dirt nomad questline and never going back. i checked later, they just stand around in the desert waiting forever if you don't go back.

the problem with tifa is very similar. hetshippers always like to try and carve out a moral highground for their "canon" ship, by acting like it's misogynist not to like the female love interest in a game. i have news for you, babes, i don't have to eat garbage just because it's labeled organic.

a female character designed and written in a lazy, misogynist way is the same. consuming that fictional relationship uncritically is not something i am required to do, nor will i. the women in final fantasy games, for the most part, are badly written, terribly designed artifacts of a time when women were just objects and that was ok to say out loud. they're hardly even trying to hide it, now, but at least they are a little.

my theory on tifa's design is that the otaku devs had never seen a girl irl and when they tried to make one, what they came up with was a pair of massive tits and the personality of a wad of dryer lint. then they gave her some tossed together martial arts to justify why she's following cloud around taking up a party slot, instead of staying at home minding the children and elderly like a good girl.

also the business with her and aerith seeming to get catty and jealous over cloud several times (which they mercifully cut from remake) is such revoltingly juvenile and misogynist writing, it's almost funny. almost.

honestly the whole romance they are pushing between cloud and tifa is revoltingly juvenile and misogynist, since she's a personality-free prize for the male hero, not to mention homophobic, since it primarily seems to function as a beard, so sephiroth and cloud don't seem too gay (MISSION FAILED).

Cloud Strife is a character with whom i deeply connected and fully inhabited, and he is not a heterosexual neurotypical male in any way whatsoever. and yet i'm supposed to like seeing him shoved into the blandest wish-fulfillment, 'winning the titted-up tomboy hometown girl as a prize for being awesome' fantasy that some chuuni would've written in the back of their school notebook when they were 11. please.

examined fully, there's literally no reason for the pair to be romantically interested in one another, outside the pervasive and poisonous heterosumption of boy+girl=love. and i know what people are going to say about them being friends, but she doesn't like him. she never does. she likes the idea of the person she thinks he should be, and persistently tries to force him to become, throughout the series. she thinks the way he is needs to be fixed, because he's wrong somehow. we can still see it happening in advent children.

that's fine though, because he doesn't like her, either. he kind of remembers her from the past. that's all. he does not have the capacity to form that kind of attachment, when they first reconnect, and by the time he could form a meaningful connection with someone (circa advent children), he's already been fully railroaded into the domesticated role everyone has decided he's supposed to be in, and she is reduced to a nagging wife, by the writers. he is very clearly unhappy, and it's not because of sephiroth.

last but not least, is the lack of any kind of romantic tension between them. there is more chemistry between cloud and biggs, than cloud and tifa. hell there's more chemistry between cloud and those alley cats. it's very clearly a manufactured relationship for the sake of gratifying the decreasingly cishetmale player base of yesteryear.

in conclusion, cloud x tifa is the cold oatmeal of ships and i just want to spit it out yack

[banamine-bananime]

one thing that always perplexes me is how often i see takes on tucker where the work positions him as a great dad*, fluent in sangheili language and culture, and most of all, a great diplomat.

i'm not here to yuck anyone's yum and i, too, am absolutely transfixed and enraptured by this man's oscillation between "my one purpose in life is to constantly test the human limits of Annoyingness" and "sudden, shocking extreme competence with no warning" like a little Newton's cradle. like, i just spent 7000 words indulging myself in thinking about a version of tucker that listens a lot more to the "do whatever you gotta to protect the people you love and do what you think is right regardless of what people think" cartoon angel on his shoulder and less to the "that sounds hard i just wanna mouth off, jerk off, fuck off, and negg church" devil. i cannot throw stones and clearly i think that's a fun and valid interpretation of how his character could evolve. but evolve is the keyword there and it baffles me when this gets treated as the fact of how he immediately snapped into being as soon as he had junior, you know?

like. obviously tucker ended up doing some massively impressive shit as an ambassador in sandtrap. but that's because he wasn't being an ambassador, he was being The Final Girl in il/ct's slasher flick. getting trapped in a beseiged temple is, traghilariously, the best thing that could have happened for him in terms of being good at that job. if tucker were a pathfinder character he would have 18s in "dealing with your life suddenly being taken over by ancient alien religion bullshit", "surviving crazy shit through sheer spite and the adrenaline rush of pissing off whatever asshole has made it their life's mission to kill you this time", and "being the only person who knows what fucked up shit is going on while the rest of the bgc ignore you". he would have a 2 in "saying things that make people want to kill you LESS". de-escalation is not in this man's skillset. he cannot even handle being normal about human women. appreciating the intricacies of sangheili culture and politics, human culture and politics, and sangheili-human relations?

Tucker: People learn English all the time, it aren't that hard.

Church: Maybe you should try learning his language.

Tucker: Fuck that, we got here first, and that makes this a colony. Those're the rules, dude. Earth colony, Earth language.

Church: Tucker there's thousands of languages spoken on Earth.

Tucker: Hyeah, but only one that kicks ass. And that's the one we're teaching. English 101, remedial kick-ass.

i know this is pre-junior and doubtlessly, he is more interested in this stuff after junior (because junior's life does depend on sangheili politics and human-alien relations) and MUST be less dense about it after HAVING to do it as a job. like by osmosis at the very least something must have permeated his brain. but the gap between this^ and "knowledgeable enough to be an asset in this career, one people need at least one relevant degree for" is, uh, bigger than a few months between leaving blood gulch and being sent out to the field

sometimes i think about what a fucking trip it would be to be on the UNSC diplomatic team with tucker LMAO can you imagine how unpopular he must have been. a bunch of polisci and IR nerds like fists clenched shaking like leaves trying to restrain the urge to give this guy a swirlie because he cannot stop sounding like a fucking family guy episode while you're trying to, like, convince the warrior queen of some isolated Sangheili heretical sect to ally with the Swords of Sangheilios and the species they've been dead set on annihlating for decades. and also you know he's only an ambassador as like the weirdest most fucked up variation of a nepo baby. nepo forced interspecies religious incubator. the token chestburster virgin mary hire. the simultaneous Hatred for this guy making your job hell, the impotent rage of knowing that it is, actually, important that he be there for Symbolic reasons, and feeling sympathetic to him. you know part of why he's Like This is literally just because he's 20 and should be at the club but has had the year from hell and didn't ask for this. it's easy to forget that because he doesn't complain about any of the actually bad things that happened and just rolls with whatever crazy shit comes his way. complaining is reserved for being an annoying little bitch about petty shit.

ANYWAYS i'm not saying stop having fun with very competent versions of tucker. we're all just here to have fun. i just like what a weird combo of competent and disaster he is, as i interpret him, and i, personally, am incapable of interpreting him as being actually very good at his job as ambassador

*the only two options are not "bad dad" and "great dad". having an alien parasite non-consensually implanted in you by a manipulative fraudster to force his own involvement in a prophecy - oh and also their species is trying to exterminate yours - and going, "well, this baby didn't choose this, they're just a baby, and you know what? my baby. i love this baby unreservedly and unconditionally, fuck you." shows a capacity for love and forgiveness that's frankly fucking insane, both in the good-impressive way and the what-is-going-on-in-your-brain-and-how-did-this-kind-of-decision-making-not-get-you-killed-yet way. and tucker very clearly loves junior a lot and does his best - which, i want to reiterate, is absolutely wild considering the circumstances - but he wasn't ready for a kid, is bad at accepting responsibility especially for others, and the way that Things Never Stop Happening in his life mean he is really not very present. and it's not JUST because of things happening outside of his control - there were periods after season 8 and after season 13 he probably could have permanently reunited with junior and didn't.

[vidavalor]

have u ever seen the "his name has Ra in it. Ra is the Egyptian god of sun. Sun has three letters. A triangle has three peaks. Illuminati is a triangle. That means that he's illuminati" videos?

cuz ur like that but cooler and more educative

The last line of your message means you can have chocolate pie. 💕*sets you up with a plate* I was getting a little nervous there for a second lol. I think that any book or show that causes its audience to engage so much is a great one and if someone is enjoying making connections like the ones you described, then it's their life to enjoy. I'm not going to yuck on anyone's yum but I have seen some theories that I honestly had difficulty following so I get whatcha sayin' and I appreciate the compliment.

If I said this next sentence with any other context but with regards to Good Omens, you'd all try to have me committed lol but here it is: I'm following language-related directions from The Voice of God. Literally. I have it in the works to do a post on that alone because the show is actually teaching the audience Crowley & Aziraphale's vocabulary and it's provided some keys at times as to where in the show you can find lessons in it. In S2, there's also a meta scene about it, which is the "Professor Rossignol" scene. Some brief thoughts on that and, since you were nice enough to drop me a note, also on Ra and The Illuminati while we're at it, just for kicks.

It's no good to make it evident to your audience that your main characters are speaking a secret language that they've made up if the audience can't be taught to speak it because then the meaning of what's being said is lost, right? And it is very obvious that Crowley & Aziraphale have their own vocabulary. There are a lot of examples of it but one scene, in particular, that stands out to me is 1967 because it is literally impossible to make heads or tails of what they're fully discussing unless you try to figure out what Aziraphale means by "dangerous." He tells Crowley that he's heard about Crowley's plan to rob a church for holy water and then says to him this, word-for-word:

"I can't have you risking your life. Not even for something dangerous."

What does that mean, right? If you didn't already get a sense that their words don't add up on the surface sometimes, you get smacked in the face with it in that scene. Aziraphale's phrasing puts "dangerous"-- a word with a scary, negative connotation-- in the position of a positive, cherished thing that Crowley would see worth risking his life for and the end result is that "dangerous" must mean something to them besides the surface definition of the word. [What it does is something someone else has asked me for so post on that to come.] Right there, though? You have hidden vocabulary. One of the most important scenes in the show and it makes no sense without an awareness of it. This is all long before Crowley's standing there saying "no nightingales" in 2.06.

There are other scenes where something doesn't add up without an awareness of hidden language being spoken. Why does Crowley melt into a puddle of burning goo at Aziraphale saying "We will win, you know" about Heaven winning Armageddon in 1.01? Because, as other scenes and The Voice of God's narration teach, when they're speaking of Heaven or Hell with pluralized pronouns, they're really talking about the two of them together beneath the surface. That's why Crowley's face melts into a lovesick gaze and hint of a smile when Aziraphale says "we will win"-- because Aziraphale is saying that he and Crowley will win.

In S2, Aziraphale says he learned French "the hard way" with "Professor Rossignol" in 1760. Aziraphale already speaks French. He and Crowley, as Crowley points out in the scene, speak every language of the world. It's a nod towards how you can speak a language but a secret language like theirs is one that can be built out of words that sound familiar but are put together in a way that you need to understand in order to comprehend what is being said.

In the course of the scene, Aziraphale speaks French to Crowley and what he says is a riff on "la plume de ma tante"-- a French phrase that refers to the kinds of sentences that you are taught when you learn a new language that you would never actually say in real life. This scene is actually nodding to the "la plume de ma tante"s of Ineffable Husbands Speak and where you can find them in the series.

The reason why those sentences exist the way they do when you are learning a new language is to teach as much vocabulary as possible alongside teaching people how to conjugate verbs, etc.. This is why you are never taught practical sentences like "Excuse me, where is the restroom?" or "Yes, I would like to buy that bread, please." but are, instead, taught sentences like "Is it true that you can buy white onions at the library on Tuesdays?" lol. It's because when you are a child and you learn the native language or languages spoken by the people around you, you absorb thousands of words just by living in that world but when you are a teenager or an adult learning a new language, you start almost from scratch. You need to learn as much vocabulary as possible as soon as possible, in order to become fluent. Aziraphale says he learned some "la plume de ma tante"-like sentences (in a language he already speaks but in which he wanted to play better) from a professor whose name eagle-eyed fans already translated as meaning "nightingale" in French, right?

Nightingales (the birds) and also nightingales (the skeleton keys). The Rossignol family created The Great Cipher that encrypted communications for the French government for centuries-- they literally built a secret language. If you want to learn Ineffable Husbands Speak, the show is saying, you need to follow the nightingales. So, who taught us about "nightingale" being a word related to Crowley & Aziraphale? God. Whose sentences, at times, smack of "la plume de ma tante"-like vocabulary lessons? God. What better character to teach us what we need to know than the literal Voice of God, right? God is our Professor Rossignol.

God's 1.01 line of "The Russian cultural attache's black bread is particularly sought after by the more discerning duck" is the most la plume de ma tante sentence in Good Omens lol and the four sentences-- of which that is one-- that God says to re-introduce us to Crowley & Aziraphale in the St. James' Park scene, when picked apart using language elements things suggested by God's opening monologue at the start of the series, contain almost every element of the vocabulary, with other scenes reinforcing and adding to it throughout.

Further suggesting this is the way to go is that if you apply the same instructions to the top part of Demon's Guide to Angelic Beings Who Walk the Earth (the bit above Aziraphale's entry), you'll find the guidelines repeated-- and notes to us that include everything you would need to unlock the hidden language in the entries for Aziraphale and Baraqiel (Crowley) beneath them. I'm not just randomly deciding this is what stuff means, is mah point lol. I'm taking lessons from Frances McDormand.

As for Ra and The Illuminati, well... to date, I've seen Ra come up as one of the many, many words in Demon's Guide to Angelic Beings, which are hidden-in-plain-sight coded love letters. Aziraphale uses it in relation to Crowley. Ra is the ancient Egyptian god of the sun and was depicted as a figure that was half-bird, half-man. That alone would probably be amusing to Crowley & Aziraphale. Aziraphale referring to Crowley as the god of the sun is just romantic. The sun is a star and Crowley made them; the Earth and all life and their life on it would die without the vital warmth of the sun. There is no food and no peace and no life without it. Calling his very old serpent partner the god of the sun sure sounds like Aziraphale saying that he can't live without him.

As for the masons and Gabriel... I took it as a joke about conspiracy, actually, not something suggesting one. The bartender at the pub assumes that Gabriel and Beez are masons-- meaning Freemasons-- because he thinks that there is a local chapter that meets nearby. The bartender has made assumptions about Gabriel and Beez that add up to "not from around here" and assumes they're there for a mason meeting. Gabriel is well-dressed and clueless in a rich sort of way to the bartender-- he doesn't know what a jukebox is and he's in an expensive-looking suit. He also has an American accent so the bartender figures he's probably not a local. Gabriel doesn't dissuade the bartender from thinking that he and Beez are Freemasons because Gabriel has no idea what that is-- because the bartender said "masons" and, honestly, that actually is pretty close to what Gabriel is by his own definition.

A mason works to make things out of stone and the original meaning of the word was specifically related to those making stone walls. Gabriel was in Eden at the start-- the ultimate in stone walls built-- and he also just took Beez to see a statue of himself carved out of stone. Walls are really all Gabriel's ever overseen being built or ever reinforced or ever known before Beez. He's not the most poetic of beings but he can see an analogy there where he is the imprisoned imprisoner of those in Heaven and he just doesn't dispute it because not like he's about to tell the bartender that he's actually The Supreme Archangel of Heaven and Commander of the Heavenly Host 😄 so, letting the guy assume that he works in stone seems like a good solution, as it's actually barely a lie.

The irony is that, etymologically-speaking, the bartender is actually more correct: Gabriel, in the pub that night with Beez, isn't a mason. He's a free mason. Because he's with Beez and the two of them together are carving a path out of their prison walls. Gabriel has actually joined "The Illuminati"-- because he's been illuminated... he's been enlightened. Dude's going to be Grand Master Wizard of The Illuminati or whatever it's called in S3 and bring a whole lot more with him, Beez, Crowley & Aziraphale along the way. He consumes beverages now. There's nothing holding him back. 😂

Anyway, thanks for indulging my ramblings and have a great night. 💕

[ceasarslegion]

My advice regarding tattoos or any kind of body mods:

-don't shirk the expense. It's a labour intensive job, so what you're paying for is the effort and time and attention to detail. It's going to be on your body forever, so you want to make sure you have the best you can get.

-if your pain tolerance is very low, reconsider any tattoos that are super big or in bony places. I'm not trying to yuck your yum, but I am saying that if you can't handle the pain of it for multiple hours over multiple settings then you should reconsider redesigning it to something you can handle. You can build up your pain tolerance over time, but never push yourself past your limit for it or you run the risk of associating a permanent mark on your body with physical trauma.

-don't get tattoos from your kinda sketchy friend who bought a tattoo gun and says they want to practice on you for free. They aren't a licensed artist and they don't know proper sanitation and health and safety procedures. That is an infection waiting to happen, not to mention it's probably gonna look like shit

-tip the artist. Budget a few hundred for them, they do an extremely hard job where one fuck up is permanently embedded into people. A good tip will be greatly appreciated and they'll be more than happy to welcome you back for any future work and put even more effort into you if you show yourself to be a good client who treats them well. A good rapport makes for better art.

-its gonna be uncomfortable. It just is, that can't be avoided. Think of it on the same level of pain as a cat scratch but spread out for a really long time, so it won't like, kill you or make you regret being born, but it will hurt. If you get it all done at once, it'll be easier but you'll be pushing your body more than if you take breaks and come back. Talk to your artist about how you want it done and let them know what your plans are. That way if you like, wanna take a break to get coffee and lunch across the street and come back they both know you didn't like, dine and dash and they'll know what to tell you to do to take care not to damage it during your breaks. If you're getting a multi session tattoo, expect it to be spread out over a long time, so it's not gonna look great the first few times. But letting it heal and recover a few times will be essential for the final product. Make sure you're willing to go through that before you decide on like, a giant dragon with spread wings across your entire back.

-just... don't get face tattoos man. You're not Post Malone who has famous public figure status, you're some guy who has to be able to get and hold down a job. Every other part of your body can be covered in professional settings and piercings can be taken out, but unless you wear a face covering of some kind, your face is always on display. This isn't a moral or a judgemental statement, it's just the reality of the world we live in. Face tattoos make your life a lot harder than it has to be and you just dont have to go through that. Before anyone pisses on the poor about this one, I am obviously not talking about cultural face tattoos like the ones the moari people have

-do not get tattoos on an impulse, especially not tattoos of media properties. I'm not telling you NOT to altogether, I actually plan on getting tattoos of the truman show and back to the future at some point because those films really shaped me as a person in ways others haven't. That's what you have to think about though: do you just really like it right now, or has this media shaped you in some way regardless of your current enjoyment of it? Because the last thing you want to do to yourself is permanently draw something into your body that in a few months you just don't care about or even dislike anymore.

-do not get tattoos to make you feel better when you're sad. See above, but with an added dollop of regret. Get them in a completely sober and level-headed state of mind so you can be objective about them and if they will bring you joy for the rest of your life, not in the moment as a response to something negative.

-LISTEN TO YOUR ARTIST WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHAT YOUR RECOVERY WILL LOOK LIKE!!! If you throw out everything else on this list but one thing make this the one thing you keep. If they say you can't put it in water, don't put it in water, they'll tell you how to bathe. If they tell you it can't be exposed to sunlight, do not expose it to sunlight. If they tell you you have to apply a certain skin disinfectant or something to it every day, I don't care if it stings, you have to apply it. If they tell you not to scratch it, suck it up if it gets itchy. You have a massive open wound on your skin that is a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses and dirt and filth and is incredibly sensitive to everything. You can do everything from ruin your tattoo to contracting flesh-eating bacteria from shirking your recovery process, the latter of which is not that uncommon, but almost always happens to people who don't listen. Do not fucking do that.

[shaanks]

2-24 even for Shanks 💕

Oh my goodness, thank you bby!! Y'all are gonna hear about Shanks today lmfao. Most of this is gonna be under a readmore bc I've never been able to be succinct but here we goooooo!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I love how careful he is about when and how he flexes all that power he has. It was meant to be very on the nose when we were introduced to him via Luffy in the very beginning of the series, but like. His little episode on Whitebeard's ship seemed like he had conqueror's haki out of control, but it was a very purposeful flex, if for nothing else than to show that he took approaching another Yonko seriously. Or the way he chose to handle Greenbull at the end of Wano. Sure it was hard to the new folks on his crew to handle exposure so suddenly, but he sent that like 50 miles out from the ship and hit that jerk in the heart with it. And never even raised his voice about it. Idk I think his restraint and how it manifests is a really interesting part of his characterization.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

it's probably on my mind bc of Bernard Hill's recent passing, but I think Shanks would do so well and have a grand old time being elusive and mysterious in Lord of the Rings lmfao. He's got that Aragorn quality of could be in his 20s could be in his 40s who knows, he and Gandalf would probably get a kick out of each other, he'd fucking love the hobbits I am telling you this. (he also, I am very afraid, has that Aragorn quality of 'doomed by the narrative just not quite yet,' but we'll see.)

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

this is hard, I think he's a much more complex and interesting person than I am for the most part, but like. I think it's safe to say he'd mostly rather diffuse a situation than have it become serious when the latter is avoidable, and I am that way too. If the situation is already serious and requires a throw down response that's a different matter, but if we can avoid a serious fight in favor of a little tussle and some drinks, that'd be the way he'd go, and I agree.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

take this one with a grain of salt bc I mostly try not to yuck anyone's yum or argue about differing headcanons, but I really do not fucking like the like. scumbag/villain!Shanks thing that seems to have a semi-popular following. some of that is personal bias, as I think he is a warm, good person who is doing his best, but it also kind of feels like a betrayal of the narrative for him. which I realize is funny coming from the "everything is made up including the source material" guy but here we are. there was a period a few months ago where people were basically just writing him as OP Toji and it made me want to pull all my hair out.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

absolutely, I adore him, I think he's right about a lot of things, our ethics tend to line up where it matters, I think he's funny and would be fun to be around, he listens well and is a warm and compassionate person. I really like him and we'd get along really well I think. (mostly probably through the lens of my OC bc I'm not like. terribly convinced of my actual in person IRL likeability but in theory, absolutely yes.)

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I've written about it a little before, but I think the reason he let Buggy go without telling him what Roger talked to him about after the execution wasn't because he didn't want Buggy with him anymore or didn't believe he had what it took to complete that mission, but so that Buggy would have a chance to forge his own way and have his own life. Doing what Roger asked necessitated Shanks--who was widely regarded as having the potential to be the next big legend--to drop out of the running almost entirely. He picked up his crew, he made a name for himself, he became the youngest person (at the time) to gain the title of Yonko, but he also spent a decent amount of time having to like. Lay low on beaches and dick around in the East Blue and play balance keeper and chess master until the man Roger was waiting for appeared. There are more spoilery additions to this that I'll leave out for now but yeah. I think he knew Buggy had all that same potential, and wanted to give him an opportunity to strike out on his own adventure without living in that shadow or carrying their mentor's ghost around.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

oh take this one with a grain of salt too idk that I know any of the terms correctly lmfao but he's very like. when I picture boho in my mind that seems very him. a lot of linens a lot of light flowy breathable clothes. It's pirate!Boho obviously but like. The man is out there wearing birkenstocks as we speak js.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

same standard issue disclaimer as the fandom stuff I don't like, this isn't to yuck anyone's yum, follow your bliss what people ship isn't my business, these are just the ones I personally do not like. shankslu is at the forefront, but I don't really do shanksbenn either?? a LOT of captains and first mates in this series read that way to me but those two don't for me.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

I actually really enjoy his dynamic with Marco. There are some interesting pieces of shared history there but overall the like. Friendly ribbing, amiable hanging out and willingness to cooperate between two of my faves is always very nice to see. c:

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

oh please I think he'd think Sabo was a ton of fun. I know there's an age difference there that makes peership a little different than between the other mid-40s dudes he usually hangs out with, but think about it. Two very powerful people who are carrying the weight of part of this new era on their shoulders, who have a habit of just sort of fucking off out of the narrative and doing things as they please within their own personal parameters, who will just get up and obliterate a guy when that's what the situation calls for? Funny, weird, intelligent guys that love Luffy, believe in him, and want whats best for him? Even if they weren't besties, I think there's a lot of fun overlap for general friendship there.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

something I like: when people recognize that all that soft puppy silly goofy guy exterior, while sincerely part of him, is something that he makes the decision to externalize every day, and is sat atop a deep well of like. sadness and responsibility. there are a lot of people doing a very good job making him a romantic dopey nightmare man without sacrificing that silliness or his intelligence and sense of personal responsibility.

something I don't like: when people start a fic with the disclaimer "Shanks is in here but I hate him lol so he's a lil ooc 🤭🤪" and then he's like. not only ooc but just someone's ex boyfriend or doflamingo or just off-screen doing heinous shit for no reason. Writing a character you hate: can be fun and compelling! I fucking hate Doflamingo, for example, but as a narrative device, as a villain? bar none one of the best and most interesting. Writing a character you hate with the intention of doing a shit job because you hate them? dumb, annoying, and a waste of everyone's time. why include someone you don't want to write about lmfao just pick a different character and be done.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

i'm drawing a blank, I'm going to be real with you. Like, I can think of a ton of mentor characters, but they don't really remind me of him. I can think of a bunch of like. guardian of the new era characters, that still don't super remind me of him. I think again i've got LOTR on the brain rn but the like. Fellowship of the Ring Aragorn is the closest I'm coming up with and even that's mostly in terms of like. the gentle mentorship of the hobbits, the offbeat sense of humor, and that dedication to a responsibility that he might have been scared to face. IDK. Shanks is a pretty unique guy to me. I'm sure I'm gonna sit bolt upright at 3 AM with a list of 20 people that fit the bill but rn it simply isn't clicking lmfao.

And there we have it!!! My (mostly) comprehensive analysis of Shanks, for you my dear friend. Thank you so much for asking!!!

[toxicroyjamie]

What is with the onslaught of omega Roy fics recently? Good for them I guess (I'm really sure they're great, but I can't read them cos it gives me the ick) but seriously they think Jamie is the alpha in this situation? What?

It confuses me too 😭 it's definitely not for me personally, but I don't want to yuck anyone's yum so like godspeed to everyone who is writing their truth. All love, just my preference 💘

I'm not enough into a/b/o that I could see myself writing a whole fic about it, but if I did, I've always thought the "secret forcibly repressed omega" storyline would actually make way more sense for Jamie than Roy tbh. Jamie crafted this whole performative facade of aggression and domineering because he was abused for being "soft" and forced to "dominate" when it wasn't what he wanted/what came naturally to him yk. Like James was trying to make him into something he wasn't and forcing him to keep his authentic self close to his chest

[twosides--samecoin]

would you ever write OT3 MacCready-Deacon-SoSu 😍

Hey gamer, thanks for the ask-

I'm flattered by the request, but I don't have plans to write DeaCready or OT3. This is for a couple of reasons-

In my fic, I try to ensure that everything I write is something I came up with. I don't read Fallout fic right now because knowing another person wrote an idea I might be thinking about squanders my want to write the same idea.

Out of respect for other authors, I want to avoid ripping other people off or plagiarizing. I won't write OT3/DeaCready or popular community headcanons like Deacon Is The Lone Wanderer - in my view, these ideas don't belong to me and are off the table. There are others who have tread those waters, and successfully so. I am not stepping on their toes by writing a facsimile.

In case there's any question about what I'm doing in LTR, I feel it's OOC for my version of MacCready. I write an RJ who experiences deep guilt any time he's not focused on Lucy and Duncan; my stories are about watching someone who's only ever had one partner go through the mental health evolution of starting out not ok with the idea of being with someone else, to then being receptive. Another person might think adding a second person to that mix is compelling; I think an OT3 love triangle would dilute that evolution in my fic. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum for characters navigating will-they-won't-they-who-will-they-choose warring/dual attraction that results in OT3, it's just not in the realm of character interactions I find interesting to explore. I 100% see why people ship DeaCready, but I already write antagonistic enemies-friends-lovers with my RJ pairing.

The magic of fanfiction is that we all have something unique to bring to the table. If you're passionate about reading that subject matter, you should seek out people who are passionate about writing it. Or, go write the fic you wish to see in the world! I got my start because no one was writing the RJ characterization I wanted to read. Maybe you have an interesting spin on DeaCready/OT3 you'd like to see that doesn't exist yet!

[biscuit-qu33n]

not to be a hater but after these last two episodes I feel finally able to definitively say that I don't think hazbin hotel is very good, which is a bummer because I was so excited for it

the pacing feels weird, some of the character and relationship development feels phoned in or inconsistent. one example is Charlie and Lucifer's resolution which feels really forced and unrealistic. Charlie's daddy issues are more illustrated by characters saying she has daddy issues than anything we actually saw on screen between them. some of the scenes that are musical don't need to be and would probably be better as just dialogue (the heaven court song was so wildly strange and musically incoherent).

It's not like we haven't seen good character driven writing from Medrano. Helluva Boss has been a wildly different experience and manages to develop characters and relationships much better - not always perfectly, but better. Blitzo and Stolas also have fraught relationships with their fathers, but those relationships feel better illustrated within just a couple scenes than Hazbin managed to do with that entire episode.

Also, none of the characters have felt anywhere near as endearing in Hazbin as the characters in Helluva.

My partner said something about that really got me wondering. She said some of it felt written by AI. And I kind of see what she means. Some of the dialogue feels like, sure it makes sense for the scene, but does it make sense for the character? Often times, no.

Given what I've seen in Helluva Boss, I think this discrepancy in quality probably comes from the side of the collaboration. I am curious about the production schedule and how rushed it was. Or maybe if it's an attempt to try and fit all the originally planned plot in one season given how many shows aren't getting a second season.

I feel like somewhere down the line we're going to hear about a lot of disappointment on the side of the original team with the experience of working with A24 and others. but who knows. maybe it's just a matter of preference in terms of storytelling. I don't want to yuck any yums and it's not like I hate watching Hazbin Hotel. It's just probably something I'd watch in the background and not pay much attention to.

I'm mostly wondering if anyone else is feeling weird about this show.

[buginateacup]

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 

:green beetle: ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here (emoji is not working for me smh)

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

I was gonna say Drifter/Eris and that they both smell really weird in very different ways...

But let's be honest I gotta go Megarox. Megamind is a flower eater, he enjoys nectar, and Roxanne can and will encourage this, usually by bringing him flowers or when they go on walks in parks together (night walks, naturally. Those are the best kind), she plucks flowers and feeds them to him, usually by shoving them in his face because she is a terrible gremlin and it's why we love her.

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

My wife came out to a bunch of our friends and they are all so loving and supportive! She smiles so much now!

We are getting a patio installed out the back! It only took 7 years but finally we can eat out there without having to balance on gravel

There is a very cute cat loafing beside me

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

This is not me trying to yuck anyone's yum but I really, really cannot stand casting Megamind and Roxanne in parental roles for Keiko or her calling them her parents. It squicks me out to the point of repulsion. I am all for feral aunt and uncle to a wild niece, but fun characters who are NOT reduced to parenting (reluctant or otherwise) in sequels are so few and far between that I just don't want to see it. They can be supportive and caring without having to force everyone into Nuclear Family Unit.

And sure, a lot of this stems from growing up with the expectation in both media and irl that of COURSE becoming a parent is the only outcome for you. But that doesn't make it any less of an ick! We SHOULD be getting more non nuclear family options, we SHOULD be getting more it takes a village. But if your only approach to setting characters up as a family is to make them "Here is the mummy and here is the daddy and here is the baby" just no. Please. There are a thousand more possibilities there, open your mind.

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

Go for a walk, take some music with you, or do dishes or sweep (also with music).

Additionally, if you're wanting to write something but are holding off to find out if future canon will change things, stop waiting. Just go. Do you think we'd have anywhere near the creativity and wildness of fanfic if we had to stop and wait for canon's blessing every time. it's FANFIC! Who fucking cares if canon contradicts you down the track, it's not gonna be any less fanfic for waiting!

(I do think we actually saw a drop in the level of creativity and engagement with fandom ideas when the show was announced, which is a bummer. Kill the cop in your brain. Write shit that will be immediately contradicted, have someone come to your completely disproven fic years down the line and go "I thought this was going to not work because we know X but holy shit this is a whole new way of looking at things!")

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately

I uh....no thoughts, head empty. How do I stop my cat attacking me for wearing jeans in the house? I got my other rants out up above so... *le shrug*

:green beetle: ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here (emoji is not working for me smh)

Oh you sneaky little shit, you got me writing!

(context: Look we aint supposed to let the prisoners get gifts. There's a whole chapter in the handbook about what happened last time we let the kid get so much as a bobby pin.

But you tell me how I'm meant to turn down such a sweet little old lady when she comes in with two pristine old shoe boxes, all carefully packed with tissue and hands one to the kid and the other to the repoter and with a quavery little voice about how she and her husband, god rest his soul, used to go dancing every saturday night for almost forty years and how they entered the ameature ballroom competitions together. Told us they were the last pairs they brought together, before the cancer took him and oh she'd never get these on over her bunions now but it would do her old heart good to see some use coming to these shoes which hadn't seen the light of day in nigh on twenty years.)

There's only so much a man can take right before retirement.

I might have been able to hold her off if she hadn't handed one of the boxes to Miss Primetime, who looked really touched and immediately buckled herself into a pair of sparkly red shoes to the encouragement of all the old biddies.

So now the kid's the proud owner of a pair of actual ballroom dance shoes, all polished black to go with the bright orange jumpsuit.

[loki-girlblog]

Masterlist & Archive

About

Hey I'm Nina (she/her). I blog about Loki Laufeyson - learn more.

♡ I write fanfics and musings about Loki, this may occasionally include Norse God Loki. All content will be labelled accordingly and linked below. ♡ I don't typically follow roleplay blogs as I find the constant back and forth conversations on my feed overwhelming. Please don't get upset, direct me to a non-roleplaying blog of yours that I can follow instead. I do not roleplay myself nor do I have any interest to. ♡ Please don't send me blocklists. And I don't engage in discourse. Poor behaviour will be "grey rocked". ♡ I do not have an issue with anyone else's head canon's and ships. As long as it's not hurting anyone, I don't "yuck their yum". Disclaimer All works are intended for those who are 18+, please do not contact me directly if you are under 21. If you are following my blog, you must be a minimum of 18 years old.

The following content may contain mature or distressing themes. I do not believe in censorship (unless the content is illegal, exploitative or immoral). I believe that adults deserve the right to discuss challenging topics. Please pay attention to the trigger warnings - I am not responsible for any distress caused. I am not a qualified mental health professional. If I have cause to believe that you are a danger to yourself or others, your username may be passed onto Tumblr Staff. It is their responsibility to contact emergency services in your area. Fics Sadly, I removed all of my fics after this situation. I didn't think I would be back. I may be able to recover some from AO3 so hold tight. ♡ I write primarily about MCU Loki from Thor 1 to Ragnarok. ♡ I may take some inspiration from Norse God Loki. ♡ I will take creative liberties. Don't think too hard about it. ♡ I do not write about the series, it just wasn't for me. ♡ Concrit is not welcome, focus on you and I'll do my thing. ♡ All pics are reader POV. I don’t use OC names or Y/N. ♡ I believe most of my works are inclusive, but if you would like me to address something, please send me a private DM.

Please do not repost, copy, translate or plagiarise my work. Musings

I have many thoughts on Loki, coming soon. ♡ I try to fact check everything I write at the time. ♡ These are my opinions, no one else's. ♡ Remember that you don't have to listen to me. Other

I make all kinds of things including moodboards, gifs, graphics. So useful tags will be added here.

♡♡♡ Nina Note: I know, I know. It seems pretty stupid to add a masterlist when I have no content yet, but if I don't do it now when I'm motivated then it will never get done.

[vampiretickles]

I don't really like to discuss discourse, my blog is primarily me reblogging stuff I like. I only reblog sfw stuff, I look at nsfw, but I don't reblog. I don't even check my followers, and I don't really talk to people on here or engage a lot with the community, primarily to keep my peace. This debate has been going on for a crazy amount of time, and i dont understand how people try to keep it as 2 seperate sides. Simply respect peoples boundaries, and block those who don't respect yours.

One thing I will say is i think kids (mostly under 16) need to learn how to lurk. I'm 19, I've been in the tickle community since i was 11 years old, starting with nsfw content since this was on youtube in 2016 and that's simply what came up. Kids are gonna be curious, kids are gonna want to see these things. There also isn't a sudden switch between child and adult where they can't handle nsfw one minute and can the next. But, for the sake of everyone, kids under 16 should probably remain lurking and need to learn how to. I made my first tumblr when i was 15, which started as tickling related until i deleted that stuff and it became my main. I made this one about a year and a half later. If you're young, and you wanna see any sort of tickling, don't bother making a tumblr, or at least following nsfw tumblrs. Write down the usernames, bookmark the posts you like, copy the fics you like onto a word doc, just remain in the dark. No one can hurt you or get mad at you if no one knows you're there. Simple as that.

Also... learn basic safety. I feel like this shouldn't be an issue. If anything, i think kids have gotten worse at this over the years. Block everyone that makes you uncomfortable, don't speak about nsfw topics with anyone online that you don't know irl and don't touch grades with (as in, if they aren't the same school year as you, or the one directly above or below you, then they're not within the appropriate age range to have horny convos with), if something makes you uncomfy, stop looking, think about why you didn't like it, and try to avoid it. Don't yuck anyone's yum, don't get into fights. Don't share too many personal details (first name is fine, country is probably fine if its big and ur name is common, state or area isn't fine, anything else isn't fine. simply saying "my name is sam and i live in america" isn't gonna get you in any trouble, saying "my name is sam i live in ohio and i have these mental illnesses and this many siblings" is probably dangerous.) And just, use common sense.

[thedarling]

¡Fic Writer Interview!

Thank you for the tag, @urmom-jokes-ceo!! ❤️ I got shit to do but I'll take a break for this 😂

How many works do you have on ao3? 7 that are published, 1 of them being a long-fic WIP, and a couple anonymous works that were published *for science*.

Your top five stories by kudos/likes? 1. "Five Years Time" | Tales of Arise 2. "How We Meet" | Final Fantasy 7/Advent Children 3. "Black Dog" | Final Fantasy 7/FF7 Before Crisis 4. "Yearling" | Final Fantasy 7/Advent Children 5. "Missed Connections" | Final Fantasy 7/Advent Children

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Hell yeah, I do. If someone took the time to write it, I absolutely take the time to reply to it. It's just good manners, no different from someone saying 'hi'/waving at you and you saying 'hi'/waving right back. Plus, it's just nice, especially if they congratulate you or say something sweet.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings. I write the soft stuff I want to read so I'm always aiming for closure and peace in my writing.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? I'd say all of them. "Five Years Time" might have been my most 'And They Lived Happily Ever After' just because those characters deserved a beautiful ending after all the hardship.

Do you write crossovers? I don't mind them but I don't really write them either. I prefer dropping the dumbest references, like the material from one fandom will exist as a show or form of entertainment in another. My most favorite reference was dropping a 'Sailor Moon' inspired show in "Yearling" and all of my characters did silly character quizzes to find out which Senshi they were.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? I've been very lucky and have not (presently).

Do you write smut? if so, what kind? I do. I like soft stuff that's not so 'the male sticks his penis into the waiting vagina' Discovery Planet shit. Personally, I like to read more about the feeling and overall motion of what's going on more so than focusing on what body parts are being employed. To me, it's 100% about the feeling, but I have written EXTREMELY anonymous work for more explicit and honestly silly parody stuff that makes fun of the 'slip and slide' material I've read (that made me gag, choke, cover my mouth, or straight-up close the book). It's definitely a dance conveying the right feelings without it becoming gross (to each their own of course). I never want to yuck anyone else's yum.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Unaware. I wouldn't be surprised if my fic has 'inspired' people to write similar material but I can't say that I've seen my work 'stolen' (yet).

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know of.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Lol, yes. Many times and it's super fun.

What's your all-time favorite ship? Oh man, I hate to be that person but my all-time favorite ships are my OCs. Sorry!

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? I strive to finish all of my WIPs. I'm hoping to finish my latest long fic by early next year.

What are your writing strengths? Aside from consistently finishing long fics, I really like to convey and explore the thought processes, feelings, and well-being of my characters. I think expressing inner feelings are so important in storytelling because they're not easily adapted in other mediums (TV, art, etc), quite like they are in writing/songwriting.

What are your writing weaknesses? Fandoms are easy because the world is so built out already that I don't have to describe much of that world again. THAT SAID, I try very hard to insert what things look like as a reminder, because when I write my own stuff, I constantly forget that people don't have a visual window into my worldbuilding unless I actually write it.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Love it. Anything that makes me learn something new, like a turn of phrase or something I can look up later and crawl into a wormhole for, I love it.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? Nothing really jumps out at me at the moment (probably because I'm so invested in my current WIP), but I've only ever felt compelled to write for a fandom when it was needed. Like if I really attached myself to a character whose story wasn't truly fleshed out would I then champ at the bit to create my own. That sort of thing.

What's your favorite fic you've written? My favorite fic will always be the one I'm working on. Writing is weaving to me and crafting the story of "Black Dog" has been insightful and something of a snapshot of my current and former self. Working on present pieces always reminds me of where I've been and how far I've come. It's what always motivates me to finish, too, and to see it through.

tagging: @monkeyfish2021 @bouncymouse and any fic writer moots I might have missed that want to participate!!

[seriousbrat]

Re: your last post about people replacing Snape with Regulus... oof it's my pet peeve. Regulus has potential to be super interesting and complex in his own right, but when he's made out to be a sarcastic potions genius with Dark tendencies who was groomed into the Death Eaters and who loves James and turns spy to protect him, it's always a little disappointing. Now he's just Snape-lite, but with all of Snape's less palatable, more interesting facets stripped away.

That's what i always figured it came down to: the messiness of Snape's story. It's uncomfortable and not aesthetic in any way. It challenges established fanon. It makes Snape difficult to flatten and fit into the standard fanon tropes. Much easier for people to take the parts they find interesting (more parts than i think people care to admit) and apply them to characters with less going on. It can sometimes feel like a lost opportunity; it would be cool to either explore Severus himself on a deeper level, or embrace the other characters fully and flesh them out with original ideas. Idk. I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum here or anything, but just my own personal observations & lamentations.

I couldn't agree more with all of this. Exactly, I always really liked Regulus and I am super interested in him honestly, but fanon about him is so... random and also kind of boring and it makes me not want to interact with any of it lol. Like yeah I guess he was definitely groomed into joining the Death Eaters (by Bellatrix most likely, I hate when it's Snape), I mean he was 16 when he joined, but literally Snape was groomed too and imo probably in a more extreme way. Reg already had those beliefs growing up. I've always had I guess a sympathetic view of Regulus just because he was so young when he died. But it's imo unfair to his story to pretend he did it for James when u know who he actually did it for? KREACHER (my beloved) and that's so much more interesting, to me at least.

So true like he's absolutely given Snape's traits and story while Snape is stripped down into something barely recognisable. 100% it's because he and his story aren't aesthetically pleasing or simplistic enough to flatten into cute little tropes. Like it's not pleasant, it's tragic and messy and miserable. And you're so right to point out that this story IS actually compelling to people because they obviously do use it in a way. also lmao at reg being a potions genius that's so blatant

Idk it is a shame because as you've said, either snape or regulus would be really interesting characters to explore in their own right. People are totally allowed to make up whatever they want- imo they should be a little more discerning in labelling their fanon as AU/canon divergent/absolutely made up rather than insisting it's based in canon, that's all. Bc otherwise it creates a lot of confusion and also ill will towards people who actually enjoy the real characters