#One day I'll write characters with functional relationships....

[spinji]

Hi just here to say you’re so real about Billdip, was gonna actually reply in the notes but I don’t wanna be harassed Yknow?

Anyway I love how everyone ignores the fact that like 90% of Billdip shippers don’t make Dipper an actual child and anyone that does will make it very clear (ex: AO3 tags usually something along the lines of ‘author regrets everything’, ‘why did I write this?’, ‘I’m going to hell’, etc.)

Also no one seems to want to confront the fact that rules kinda have to change when immortality is involved. Any ship involving an immortal character and a mortal I feel automatically makes a romantic relationship, disingenuous??

I’ll cut this off before I get too deep into how I feel about immortal/mortal characters have a nice day byyyyeee

'preciate you anon. I'll go into the crosshairs on your behalf ♡

Anyway-

Billdips and Billfords need to reconcile the fact that they are functionally the same damn ship. You can have a preference (I love them both) but acting like one is a high brow exploration of abuse and the other is comparable to real CSEM has even less self awareness than this kind of argument usually does.

My dash has plenty of mindlessly fluffy and smutty billford art that does nothing to protray their relationship as bad. There's also plenty of billdip content that leans into how horrific their relationship is and doesn't paint it as desirable. Because, you know, fan content covers a wide spectrum even on the same subject.

You don't have to like all of it, or even most of it, but playing up the dramatics that billdip is the most disgusting concept you've ever witnessed? Buddy, your ship is five feet to the left. You cannot have so little self awareness that you think fiction affects reality but then actively consume amd enjoy a physically and psychologically abusive relationship. I am telling you to look at your beliefs and challenge them. If what you see is different than what you've believed, you need to be open to exploring why.

[holmsister]

I think one of the things Dungeon Meshi is definitely about is how different people deal with being an outsider/marginalised/neurodivergent/what have you and basically what im getting at is that Kabru is TEXTBOOK "high functioning [insert diagnosis here]". Its that how they say it still? Don't care.

Basically. This man shows up and you listens to him talk and see how his party treats him and you think. Oh this is a cool guy who has his shit together. And then after like two pages you find out that he has constant flashbacks to Utaya that make him completely freeze, anxiety attacks, thought spirals, is incapable of analyzing his own feelings, is a stuttering mess when the stakes are high, has never done a chore in his life, keeps putting himself in triggering situations and re-traumatising himself, and the icing on the cake is when you read the extra material and it turns out he regularly forgets to eat and lives in a depression nest of dirty clothes and self-medicates insomnia with alcohol and also is 22. Which also kind of puts Misilril not wanting to let him go in another light - yeah for sure she's controlling and infantilising and also its not like she was really helping his issues but also she was not entirely wrong in her judgement. This man does NOT know how to take care of himself. He knows how to do the bare minimum so when he shows up at work the next day he can fool his coworkers into thinking hes got it together enough. For a bit.

He is DEEPLY unwell and he knows it but he is carried by the desperate wish to avoid another catastrophe. If he stops for a moment he KNOWS he'll collapse so he doesn't.

I also think this is why him acting nurse to Mithrun is such an important part of his arc. Its like. This person who has spent all of his adult life focused on a single objective disregarding everything else is faced with what happens when you do that for too long. And the result is a wet tissue of a creature who looks like he doesn't know where he is most of the time.

He is a man on the brink. I have no doubt he felt relieved when he decided he could trust Laios - not even in a Labru way, straight up because he knew he could not keep going like this.

But also like. Of all the characters in the manga, I think Senshi and Kabru are the most lonely ones. Except Senshi seems to be OK with solitude - for sure it's not entirely healthy to be alone for as long as he was but he definitely did well enough. He is very good at taking care of himself. Meanwhile Kabru *knows* a lot of people but can you really say he has friends? Rin, maybe, arguably, but even she does not seem to truly know him, you know? He keeps himself hidden from everyone. I think the only time we see him entirely honest is when he says to Laios that he wanted to be his friend, and hes so shocked when it comes out, you can tell he did not mean to say it. And differently from Senshi, he does NOT fare well alone. He likes people, he needs people. Again compare with Mithrun - he has like a squad of people taking care of him. If Kabru had a breakdown of that size can you say his party would go out of its way to help? Im not sure. Not because they're bad people, but because he's simply not that intimate with any of them.

Idk man it just struck me all of a sudden. Laios is weird and offputting and doesn't care about other humans the way Kabru does and YET he is infinitely more successful at building deep, meaningful relationships and taking care of himself as well. I think this is part of why Kabru is so fascinated with him as well. He can tell Laios has something he doesn't have. Wait this is turning into a whole another post I'll write this next time.

[hyuneskkami]

✮⋆˙ 𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒

⤷ leo valdez x daughter of poseidon!reader

masterlist | event m.list

♡ fandom | the heroes of olympus

♡ includes | songfic (sort of), daughter of poseidon!reader, leo and reader both have glasses in this fic (YES i’m fulfilling my own delusions, leave me alone), ALL CHARACTERS INCLUDING READER ARE 17-18 pls don’t come at me for getting them married 🙏, leo x reader wedding, pre-established relationship, fluff, comfort, beautiful no nonsense kissing and happiness, tbh this is retribution for my previous emercy angst, HAPPINESS, third person pov for like five seconds, not proofread

♡ in which | leo and reader get married <3

♡ a/n | ok shiit. this was supposed to be a newlyweds prompt, but I wanted to write a wedding scene before that, so I completely missed the prompt that was requested ☹️ I still hope this fluff makes up for it a bit, and i'll try to work on a part 2 for a newlyweds drabble (tho I can't promise i'll actually end up writing it, sorry 💀)

♡ wc | 1.3k

✮⋆˙ y/n’s pov

“i’m way too nervous, my hands are shaking and what if I drop the ring? he’ll think i’m stupid! and he’ll leave me right there!”

“n/n? respectfully? shut up,” annabeth sighed.

“this is leo we’re talking about, man, and if there’s one thing I know for sure about him, other than the fact that he loves marshmallows, it’s that he’s whipped as fuck for you,” will’s voice rang out, walking into my cabin.

“trust!” piper’s voice came out of my closet, where she was looking for something decent for me to wear.

“okay… but, now I don’t have anything to wear. that’s another problem,” I whined.

“you could walk out there, and get married in your camp clothes, and it’d have the same effect on him either way,” piper rolled her eyes. “his mouth would like, hang open, and he’d make heart eyes at you—”

“shut up,” I grumbled. “what am I going to wear, pipes?”

“don’t you worry, darling, I got you,” she said, and winked at me, and handed me a denim-leather jacket.

✮⋆˙ leo’s pov

“what if I trip and fall in front of her? will she leave me—who am I kidding, of course she’ll leave me!—”

“she loves you, stop crying about it,” jason said, rolling his eyes.

nico walked in with a red tie and black leather jacket in tow, and told me it was one of the other kids who lent it to him (clearly not).

“oh. thanks,” I smiled.

“yeah, sure. uh, listen, valdez,” nico started. I narrowed my eyes at him. “if you ever hurt her, or make her cry, or anything, I will know. and I will come for your blood. and your organs, because the market is amazing for livers these days—”

“same here,” percy said. “if I see my little sister sad because of you? you’re done for, fire boy.”

they walked over to me, throwing their arms around my shoulder. “got it?”

“obviously,” I rolled my eyes. “and if she’s ever sad because of me, I think i’d kill myself.”

✮⋆˙ 3rd person pov

percy walked with his hand in y/n’s. she walked down the aisle in a black crop top below her unbuttoned white shirt, and a denim-leather jacket strung on top. in that moment, leo could only comprehend how much she looked like herself.

she was fidgeting nervously with her belt while walking towards him.

she looked up, shocked, to see him almost matching with her: white shirt, red tie, black leather jacket, and even the playboy grin.

I like shiny things, but i’d marry you with paper rings…

uh huh, that’s right…

watching him smile at her melted away her anxiety.

he wouldn’t leave her, of course not. they were in this together, forever.

a lopsided grin creeped up her face, setting his heart on fire.

she would always love him, he realised. never would she even think of leaving him.

darling, you’re the one I want, and…

✮⋆˙ y/n’s pov

percy let go of my hand so I could walk further towards leo, leaving me a thumbs-up.

“hey handsome,” I whispered, stopping in front of leo.

“hey beautiful,” he whispered back, still smiling at me.

“even after so many years, you know how to get my brain to stop functioning, it’s unfair,” I groaned, as he chuckled. his hand slipped into mine, lacing our fingers together. his thumb stroked the back of my hand as we turned to chiron, who was officiating our wedding.

he asks all our friends—dressed in shades of either blue or orange—to take their seats. we watched the youngest demigods, who were less than ten years old, walk around the chairs, giving out flowers to everyone.

“dearly beloved,” chiron reads out of his pocket notebook. “we are gathered here today to witness my two little kids join together in holy matrimony.”

everyone laughed and then quieted down.

“you can do your speeches or vows,” he prompted.

I exhaled and started first. “mia cara, thank you. I can’t believe today’s, well, finally here. I remember the, um, first day we met. we were both caught planting something for a prank in coach hedge’s bag, and spent a day in detention together,” I laughed and went on. “well, that was pretty much the day I fell in love with you. i’m so happy I have a boyfriend—well, almost-husband—and a best friend, both in the same person. so, I guess what I want to say is… I love you, leo.”

I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this…

uh huh, that’s right…

his eyes were glossing over, and a tear escaped down his cheek. I wiped it away, and smiled at him.

“oh my god, that was so sappy,” he rolled his eyes at me.

I hit him in his shoulder, and he laughed. “anyway, I think I never told you this, but I knew you before that day.”

I gasped a little bit and my eyes widened.

“it was the day you transferred to that wilderness school, probably around a month before we met. you were wearing the same jacket you’re wearing today, and your hair was in tiny braids, and oh my god, I remember thinking, ‘if I don’t talk to that girl soon, i’ll never forgive myself’ but I waited a whole month because I was too nervous.”

I laughed, “you were nervous for a month?”

“shut up bro,” he groaned. “you were just so beautiful and I thought you looked smart, which, I mean, you are. but then, I found out you were planning some prank for a bet, and I figured that was my chance.”

darling, you're the one I want…

“who knew that the first pranks we pulled would bring us to get married, huh?” I chuckled.

“I knew,” he said, “that was obviously why I did it. anyway, I wanna end this speech or whatever by saying what I thought of you the first day we met: I love you, y/n, and you’re stuck with me for life!”

“I better hope so, you’re not allowed to leave me ever, anyway,” I rolled my eyes.

chiron laughed at us, and called the ringbearers. “it’s time for you to exchange your rings.”

an eight-year old apollo camper and his twin brother walked up to us with matching boxes. each one gave a box to one of us.

we opened the boxes, got the rings out and held them.

leo pulled our interlocked hands up and let go, to slip his ring on my finger. I grinned at him, and placed mine on his finger as well. he smiled when he realised they were the first rings we had bought together after we snuck out of camp for the first time.

“with the power vested in me,” chiron started. “I now pronounce you man and wife. you may kiss the bri—”

before chiron could even finish, leo’s hands were on my waist, bringing me closer, our mouths colliding.

in paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams…

oh, you’re the one I want…

our glasses hit each others’ twice, but neither of us cared. his hands were squeezing my waist, as if it were the end of the world if he let go. my hands wrapped around his neck, and I pulled him in closer than humanly possible.

his kisses were rarely soft and sweet, so today wasn’t a surprise.

tongues colliding, my hands in his hair, and grinning against each others’ lips.

“till death do them part!” a voice rang out from the crowd, everyone else laughing.

“even death won’t do us part, mi vida,” he pulled back, smiling and whispered.

kozumesphone © 2024 | don’t repost my works onto other platforms, or edit and post them even on tumblr, without asking me first • don’t steal my works, steal my heart instead • reblogs and comments are more than appreciated !

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Granted, tumblr’s search function may broken but I can’t find a post on your blog centered on Alya’s writing. As a person constantly on the look out for critical examination of Alya’s role in the narrative and the compromises on her principles, relationships and competences made to artificially engineer the episode’s story, I’d be very interested to see your thoughts

I use Alya's writing as an example of a character done dirty all the time, but I don't think I've ever done a sugar post focused on her and I totally should. Before we get into it, I will openly admit that her bad writing bothers me more than Marinette's or Adrien's because she is best girl and we stan her. What can I say, I'm a writer whose best friend is an artist with a diagnosed anxiety disorder. I like characters who are writers and with artsy, anxiety-ridden best friends. They are my people and that gives us a great starting point for this post.

Marinette is the unambiguous main character of the show, so it makes sense to design both her hero partner and her best friend around balancing her out, giving them strengths to fill out the spots where she is weak. It's how you make a strong cast. When Alya is allowed the shine, she fills that balance role wonderfully and I love it! Some of my favorite moments are when Marinette goes on one of her rants and cool-headed Alya drags her back down to Earth:

Marinette: We're gonna stroll over there real cool as if we just happened to be passing by. Alya: Then what? Marinette: Then? I'll invite him out for a fruit smoothie at the end of the photo shoot! Then, we'll get married! Live happily ever after in a beautiful house and have two kids? No, three. And a dog! Maybe a cat? Nah, forget the cat. A hamster! I love hamsters! Alya: Let's just start with just happen to be passing by and see if we can get to that smoothie.

This banter from Stormy Weather is fantastic. It's exactly the type of thing I want to see from these two as it gives Alya a very different flavor of supporting role from Adrien. While Alya and Adrien are both card holding members of the Marinette hype squad, Alya is more of a voice of reason while Adrien is there to validate Marinette and follow her crazy schemes without question.

This brings us to the first issue with Alya's writing: when the plot demands it, they make her a gullible tabloid journalist even though it goes against everything her character should stand for. The reasons I'm comfortable saying this are many. The first one is that Alya is very clearly supposed to be seen as a serious journalist. That's why you get scenes like this one from Feast:

Alya: Now you know back in the day sculptures were painted, right? Most of the paint vanished over time, but tiny microscopic pigments still remain. Thanks to this special app, witness how it originally looked. But here's the big thing. All these works of art have something in common. It's the same symbol! Look, everywhere. It's like some kind of secret society emblem. As if a kind of Order of the Guardians has been watching over the superheroes since the beginning of time!

This scene would not exist if Alya was supposed to be the kind of person who only cared about getting blog hits because this type of content isn't where the money is. But money and clout aren't what Alya cares about. She's just a passionate reporter (or fan girl) who wants to know everything she can and who is having fun sharing her obsession with the world. This is an extremely important aspect of her character because it brings us to reason two that she clearly wasn't meant to be a clout chaser: if she was a tabloid journalist who only cared about hits, then she should have never been given a miraculous.

I could go on a rant her about how poorly Alya's blog is used after she becomes Rena Rouge, but I'll spare you the word count and just say that, as soon as she joined the team, she should have stopped sharing secrets on the blog. It makes sense that a blog would initially fill her need to share the fine details of her obsession, but once she's on the team, the blog should have been replaced by her teammates. She could still have the blog, but it shouldn't have things like the freaking guide to how the miraculous work that we see in the season four episode Gabriel Agreste:

Alya: The Miraculous are magical jewels that give powers to superheroes, like Ladybug's earrings and Cat Noir's ring. But supervillain Shadow Moth also has two Miraculousbrooches in his possession, and they will give him his powers. We can figure out from this that the Miraculous can either make a superhero or a supervillain. It's all riding on who wears it, which is why these jewels can't fall into just anybody's hands.

Alya, you are supposed to be Marinette's sole confidante at this point. Why are you giving the world this information? The writers are doing you dirty, my dear, and I'm so sorry. The best I can do is to promise to never treat you like this in my stuff.

Now, to be fair, there is some nuance to this. Alya is a human being. She's allowed to have flaws, so I can absolutely forgive her for getting caught up in the moment and posting scoops to her blog without thinking (see: Oblivio). That's honestly a great weakness for her character to have as it makes perfect sense for a fan girl to fan girl. At the same time, if you want to have a fan girl character who becomes part of the things she's a fan of, then you usually need to give that character something that will tone them down and make full fan girl mode something other than the standard setting.

Making your fan girl a serious reporter is a great way to do that! It allows you to have that initial bust of fan girl hype that quickly switches into serious get-the-details mode. Without that kind of complexity, Alya would just be another Wayhem and one Wayhem is already one too many.

While I will give Alya some grace on this topic and even call it a good thing for her character, the same cannot be said for her writing because the writers fail to embrace her hype as an in-the-moment weakness and it ruins her character. To put it another way, a lapse in judgement about posting a photo is excusable as a photo is quickly acquired and posted. A lapse in judgement about a full interview with a total rando who is claiming to be Ladybug's best friend is not excusable (see: Volpina). It's a completely different flavor of poor judgement as - at a minimum - it requires Alya to stand there talking to a person for several minutes and never once question what that person is saying. Those are not the behaviors of a good journalist.

Of course, this brings us to the most glaring example of Alya's character assassination: the Lila thing. Almost everything about this arc paints Alya as a terrible friend, which is a massive missed opportunity as Lila is the perfect antagonist for Alya! Who better to take down a liar than a truth seeker? It's such an easy way to give Alya her own mission to focus on, especially if you make Lila more subtle. You don't even need to have Alya believe Marinette without question. Just have her be an investigative journalist who is like, "You know what, this new girl clearly bothers Marinette and I know Marinette can get caught up in her own head, but it doesn't usually last this long. I think something is up, so I'm going to use my skills to see if Lila is telling the truth that way I know if I'm supporting the right person here." Don't have your character claim that she checks her sources and does research if you're going to turn around and have her believe whatever she hears without checking any of it!

Even outside of the Lila thing, I wish we saw more of Alya's research skills! They were such a good thing to give Marinette's best friend as Marinette is great at focusing on a clear task, but research is the kind of thing that would overwhelm her, so it makes perfect sense to make her best friend a researcher as that lets the team have someone to help track down whatever Gabriel is calling himself this week. The writers even understood this to some extent as we saw in Mr. Pigeon 72:

Alya: Marinette, how long have you been working on this? Ladybug: I dunno, six-seven days, maybe ten. Now that we're on spring break, I finally have time to put my whole heart into it! Alya: When was the last time you worked on one of your own designs? Ladybug: I do loads of designing! Look! (pointing to the contraption at her door) I designed a security system so that nobody can enter my room when I'm not in it. And if I put on this hat (puts on modified hat) I hear everything that's going on in here, even when I'm out of the room. Alya: I'm gonna have to break it to you because I'm the only one who can. THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE! Girl, trust your BFF. When I'm researching something obsessively and I can't think of anything else, that's when my mind can get really blocked. You know what you need most right now? A break! Ladybug: No way! No breaks until I find out how to keep Shadow Moth from reakumatizing people!

Remember who ultimately figures out how to keep Shadow Moth from reakumatizing people in this episode? Alya! Because her creative style is all about researching and looking at the evidence. You know, the classic skill set of a reporter?

I really do mean it when I say that the show has a fantastic setup for telling a good story. Alya's character should have been a perfect addition to Marinette's team. My favorite lineup is the line up from season two with Kagami and Luka in non-love-interest bonus roles that I won't get into here since it's a little too deviant from canon to make sense without explanation. Instead, I'll just give you the clear roles they perfectly set up and then squandered for the original miraculous five:

Ladybug: Battlefield commander

Rena Rouge: Big Picture Strategist (basically Marinette excels at reactive thinking/leading during a battle while Alya excels more at proactive thinking/long-term tactics)

Chat Noir: Peacekeeper/Heart/Hype Man

Carapace: Protector/Stop Button (much like Alya and Marinette, Nino and Adrien should have been two sides of the same coin with Adrien being focused on making everyone happy while Nino focuses on keeping everyone safe)

Queen Bee: Wild Card/Chaos Element (I love a good chaos element who is there to suggest the options that won't occur to people who have been raised to follow the rules.)

I'll also point out that this lineup would show that the characters weren't interchangeable and make the two main couples feel more unique and meant for each other. For example, Nino's tendency to encourage others to stay safe would pair terribly with Marinette's need to not get too caught up in her own thoughts. The second Nino second guesses one of her plans she'd fall apart, so she needs Adrien to be her Chat Noir. Similarly, Alya's impulsivity weakness would make her a terrible match for go, go, go Hype Noir! She needs a partner who makes her take two seconds to second guess herself. There was so much potential here you guys! So much potential! It could have been beautiful! Instead, we got canon...

There you go, my broad love letter to Alya. I could keep going, but you didn't request a specific topic, so I'm just going to end it there. Feel free to ask for more, but please do it in another ask as this is already super long and - out of kindness to my followers- I try to avoid essay after essay on the same post unless they really need to be connected.

[trainsinanime]

I'm still considering whether I'll do any non-vague posting about this, but let me just say: Writing long and erudite posts about what you think is wrong with a French children's TV show does not absolve you from the accusation that you're doing… let's call it entry-level analysis. A post can be long and well-written and still just regurgitate the most basic, boring points, and some of them plainly wrong.

Actually maybe don't read this, it may be too salty itself.

"Adrien is sometimes too pushy", "Marinette is sometimes a stalker", "Alya is a bad friend because she's unwilling to bully a random new girl just because Marinette said so", yeah, yeah, we've heard it. More than once. Way more than once. Yes, even with receipts and quotes. Trust me, it's been discussed. These are the kind of standard hot takes of someone who is doing their first attempt at critical analysis, and I actually think on some level we should encourage that. I do believe fandom should be beginner-friendly in all regards.

But man, it can be annoying to read sometimes. Especially when someone uses these hot takes to justify the existence of salt fics. Let me be 100% clear here: Salt fics are not a reaction to flaws in the source material. Salt fics are materially different from fix-it fics. This becomes more clear when you track these patterns over fandoms, and in particular look at my favourite example over in Fairy Tail (sic).

That fandom has a number of fandom-specific plots, like some "angel of death sends main character back to relive the origins with the knowledge they had later" (also very popular in Harry Potter back in the day), but also one that is just 100% salt specific: It's about Lisanna, a childhood friend of the male lead Natsu, coming back from the alternate universe she was trapped in, and displacing Lucy, the female lead, who eventually leaves, sad and depressed, while nobody cares about her. The sentiments are all the same: Feeling depressed, feeling annoyed that your friends are suddenly interested in the new girl, feeling like you don't belong anymore, leaving your friend group to punish them and so on.

There are some differences as well. This whole thing was back in the days of Fanfiction.net, when crossovers were in a whole other section of the site and thus not easily findable, so the whole "…I'm going to run away to somewhere where people want me" never had the frankly hilarious addition of "…and when I'm there I'm going to marry Batman!", which spawned a whole sub-fandom in ML (its fans tell me that it's not all salt; I haven't bothered to check).

But the most important difference: The inciting incident never happened in canon. People just thought it might. In canon, Lisanna did return from her alternate dimension… and then immediately became a forgotten background character. Lucy and Natsu remained just as in love as they always had been, which is to say, very much except they don't seem to notice it. Their relationship was never strained even for a moment.

And still people wrote these stories that are functionally salt fics, with the same storylines, same emotions, same beats. Because salt fics are not about fixing what is wrong with the show. If they were, they'd spend all their time discussing the terribly fucked-up metro map. Salt fics are about exploring feelings of loneliness, isolation, "why are you hanging out with here when I told you she sucks" and just pure spite, in a way that you don't really see outside of pop songs. That is the end goal. The characters and plots are just a way to get there, and they will get twisted as necessary.

This is critical for understanding and discussing the phenomenon of salt fics. Alya is not actually getting demonised because she acted a bit stupid in one episode where everybody but Marinette acted a bit stupid. It's incredibly weird to hear this argument, and then all the supporting quotes for it, in the same post, right underneath, are all:

Alya: Okay, but do you have any proof? Marinette (angrily): Arrghlwargl! No!

Like, come on. Alya is getting demonised because people really want to. Because it works for the kind of story. These stories assume that it's Alya's job to always support Marinette unconditionally, and that any deviation from that, no matter how minor, is a highest order betrayal. And then they go full Count of Monte Cristo on her.

(Well, not really, that could almost be fun. Nobody ever has Marinette imprisoned for fourteen years, get out with the help of a hypnotist monk, use a buried pirate treasure to buy an island, then manipulate a telegraph line to… It's all just torn notebooks and such. Boring.)

The idea that people hate Alya for mostly valid reasons is just plain wrong and shows that you've missed a huge part of what's happening in the fandom. You could use all the Alya hate as an entry point into analysing what her role is in the show, how people in the fandom perceive her role, how people in the salt dom perceive her role, how her role and her personality shift depending on the needs of an episode at the expense of a consistent character and so on. There is some great analysis in that direction out there already, but more wouldn't hurt. "Alya is a bad friend sometimes because of Chameleon" remains an uninteresting take no matter how well you word it, though.

And that's just Alya. Adrien hate, for example, is its entirely own field. In short: Yes, some characters in this fandom are over-hated. Try digging deeper next time.

[slamdunk-headcanons]

Hanamichi, rukawa, takenori, kogure, Mitsui and Miyagi with a tired o / s, ended up sleeping on their chest?

Please, I love your blog girl, you have talent ༎ ຶ ‿ ༎ ຶ

I write only 3 characters per asks, but this one is so lovely that I want to write for all AND I got TOO CARRIED AWAY AND WROTE TOO MUCH aaaaaa So I'm going to make this one a series. I'll write 3 posts, two characters at a time.

Sakuragi and Rukawa go first yey! Thank you so much for your love and support!

Rukawa Kaede

[So, to write for Rukawa, I always consider him at college, older and more mature because I cannot see him having a relationship during high school. He's too immature and self-centered with all the basketball stuff going on. So maybe 3 ou 4 more years of life happening around him and he'll learn to look to other things (such as a girl)]

So imagine you two went to the same university and start dating in the beggining of the second year. Rukawa enjoys going out with you in calm dates such as the movies or for a ride;

In that day specifically he called you because he thought you and him really needed a break from university because the exams were driving you crazy.

You are going to the movies, a soft comedy. But you're extremely tired because it's friday and you spent the whole week studying and had two super hard tests. So you have like only two brain cells functioning.

So Rukawa notices you start taking little naps during the movie. He's not bothered. He was almost suggesting you to take a real nap 'til the end of the movie, but he notices you were really giving all you had to stay awake.

So he remains silent, feeling happy that, even feeling so tired, you were doing your best to be with him;

You two came to the movies by foot. As you were really tired, Rukawa calls a taxi to take you home. During the ride, you are beaten by your tiredness and falls in a heavy sleep in Rukawa's shoulder.

He opens a small smile and moves to make you lay down on his chest.

He holds you during the entire ride and, when you arrive, he lift you in his arms and carry you to your little apartment. He helps you to get in bed, and then goes to his apartment that it's three floors down.

Sakuragi Hanamichi

You two were studying because you had to save him from being forbidden to play because of his grades;

You tried to hide from Sakuragi when he asked your help, but you were extremely tired. The tests were coming and you had some personal problems with your family, so you were emotional, physical and mentally exausted;

But you just couldn't say 'no' to your favorite basketball idiot;

You two were at your house. You were struggling to foccus on a math problem, but your sight started to blur. You suggested a break for Sakuragi, that immediatly agreed, and walked to the kitchen to make more coffee.

You suggested to watch something on TV during the break to rest the mind (for you, it was to have some bright and colourful stimulus to keep you awake)

Sakuragi is all blushy when he sits on your couch. "Which channel do you prefer, Y/n-chan?" "Show me something you like watch, Sakuragi-kun." He's even more blushy now.

He puts in a action movie channe. In a few seconds you start your eyes feeling really heavy. Your hand it's not holding the coffee cup properly.

Fotunatly, Sakuragi is too conscient of your presence and how close you are. So he notices when you lose conscience. He starts moving his arms to grab you, (so he's turned to you) but freezes when your head hits his chest and you just... stay there.

The cup turns, spilling coffee on the couch and in his uniform but Sakuragi doesn't moves.

It's a supperb moment.

You. Are. Spleeping. On. His. Chest.

His inner self is divided between a loud intern scream and a blue screen.

In your sleep, you cuddle closer to him and mubles "Sakuragi-kun, you... smells... coffee."

Oh. My God. You MUMBLED his name.

"Sakuragi Hanamichi, you tensai...", he thinks. "You are now finally... a MAN."

[twig-tea]

GL odds and ends 20 October 2024

Still feeling out how regularly it makes sense to do this; first one was 2 weeks ago on 6 October. If you're interested in GL older than that, check out my GL rec list through Feb 2024 and my update in July 2024. New series marked with an asterisk*.

Currently airing (with thoughts up to Oct 6):

Reverse 4 U 7/8 (Thai, Tuesdays 1:00 PM EDT, Netflix / YouTube) I'm disappointed by how this final arc has gone. We haven't really seen any growth for Wa, and the whole plot with Wa and Vivi's father didn't really make sense. I really don't understand why he had to stay away, or why the rules are so different for him than for Wa. The relationship between Wa and Four also feels flat because we've barely seen them together. I was rooting for this one but alas.

Unlock Your Love ep 6/8 (Thai, Wednesdays, GagaOOLala / YouTube [cut version]) The sequence where Rain and Love keep trying to have sex but getting interrupted/hurt was very funny; this show still drags but the core of it is pretty good. I mostly just wish it were tighter.

Chaser Game W s2 ep 5/8 (Japanese, Thursdays 12:30 PM EDT, GagaOOLala) @lurkingshan is already doing a great summary of this week to week in her JQL weekly round-up!

Affair the series ep 8/8 END (Thai, Fridays 11:15 AM EDT, iQIYI/ YouTube) Other than the jealousy in the last 10 minutes of the show, I really did like this ending for the series. I really liked Wan's decision to take time for herself after being disappointed by Pleng's decision again. The plot and melodramatic-ness of this show is not my favourite, but I enjoyed it week to week in spite of that. The acting was so solid, the women so gorgeous, the chemistry so fire, and the writing was great for the genre its in (the story was internally consistent and coherent, and the characters were complex and their motivations were clear. There was even a good plot reason for the 'they might be siblings' twist). If you don't mind melodrama, give this one a try!

*Pluto ep 1/12 NEW (Thai, Saturdays 9:30 AM EDT, YouTube) Starting off with a fantastic kiss and Namtan on a motorcycle is truly an incredible opening gambit. That being said, I don't buy the core premise of the plot and it is making it difficult for me to actually enjoy the show. I'll probably be mostly quiet about this one because the things I don't like about it aren't actually about its execution but rather my taste.

*Apple My Love ep 2/7 NEW (Thai, Saturdays 11:45 AM EDT, GagaOOLala and YouTube) I already shouted on main about ep1 here; so far I'm obsessed with this show. Kris is too gay to function, and the misunderstanding is perfectly executed. Very excited for this one, it's so far fantastic.

The Loyal Pin ep 12/16 (Thai, Sundays 12:15 PM EDT, YouTube) Anin's speech in this episode was fire. I feel for these girls, Anin and Pin are just so desperate to be together and their choices are limited. This show continues to be gorgeous and so well done, and I keep bracing for pain.

Red Whisper ep 4/8 (Korea, [schedule is kinda unpredictable; vaguely every 5 days??], YouTube) Cheating and taking advantage while your crush is heartbroken and drunk is not my fave but is par for the course with these SukFilm short series; my fave so far has been their first GL so if you haven't seen that yet I'd honestly recommend that instead.

Recent One-offs & Side Couples

We finally got the sapphic backstory in The Hidden Moon but it was (as expected) sad and mostly inferred.

We also got more of the Aim as a Lesbian plotline in the new Love Sick 2024 remake (this was not a plotline in the 2014 version and it's one of the changes I really like and that I think works really well)

Sastra film app YouTube channel has several short Cambodian GL series that come out weekly Honestly they are not to my taste but I don't like gatekeeping GL especially from smaller markets. I check in on these time to time and if there are any that I think are great I'll give them a shout-out

Ditto above with JPC media YouTube channel for Thai GL shorts if there are any that stand out to me I'll say so

Starting soon:

The Nipple Talk, [ensemble] Taiwanese, 1 November GagaOOLala

My Ex's Wedding [in theatres in Thailand 14 November]

Mom Ped Sawan, Thai, 17 November [international distribution uncertain; it should be on VIPA app with subs, but that is region-locked]

Petrichor, Thai, 23 November, TBD

[cosmicjoke]

Hi, Cosmic! I was considering this scene from a Levi story on AO3 which I had read a while ago, where it described his life in the Underground before he met Furlan (maybe it was one of yours, I'm not certain). It talked of how he would often go days without speaking at all, and ultimately delved into his loneliness and how he hadn't realized how alone he'd been until he wasn't. I had also read recently an analysis stating that Levi's attachment style would be fearful-avoidant due to how he grew up, which, I mean, makes perfect sense.

Thus the combination made me wonder: How do you think Levi felt when he and Furlan moved in together? Did it trigger his abandonment issues in any way, letting Furlan in emotionally when his last relationship (that we know of) was with Kenny? Given the concept of attachment styles, Levi was probably both distant and reliant with him, so how do you think Furlan reacted to this?

Hmm, that could have been one of my stories, haha, I've definitely written a few stories (all of which remain incomplete, lol) about Levi's life Underground. I feel like it's a period in Levi's life that's just ripe for exploration, but very few people seem particularly interested in writing about it, for whatever reason.

I know I do explore that idea in "This Life, After", of Levi being sort of functionally mute because he gets so little social interaction, and I think that's a pretty fair assumption to make about him growing up, especially after Kenny left him. As far as we know, Levi didn't have a single friend until he met Furlan, and we know, from the extra stories included in the "No Regrets" manga that Levi met Furlan when he was essentially full grown. I've talked before also, pretty extensively, about how it seems very likely that Levi had no social interaction with other children growing up, even when living with his mother. I don't know if you've read my analysis posts on this, but I'll link you to them here:

Anyway, I'm not a psychologist, so I can't really speak to what specific attachment style Levi may or may not have. In truth, nobody, even an accredited and practicing psychologist could definitively diagnose Levi with any, specific mental disorder or condition, because of course he's a fictional character, lol. But I don't think you need to be a psychologist to make accurate or educated guesses about what sort of mental health issues Levi might be suffering from. For example, I think it's fairly obvious that Levi is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, because it would seem to me nearly impossible for him not to have been deeply traumatized by the experiences, not only in his childhood, but as an adult too, and I say that because of Levi's obvious emotional sensitivity. He feels things very keenly and I think more deeply than any other character in the series. That well of emotional depth, along with his immense empathic nature I think renders Levi more susceptible to emotional pain, and more easily given to grief over the loss of his comrades/friends/family than even an average person. I just think Levi feels things more deeply than is common. I think that's also what gives Levi his exceptional emotional intelligence, his ability to accurately read people and understand who they are at their cores.

To get to your specific question, it's an interesting one.

Levi is definitely someone who I think is fearful of getting close to others out of a fear of losing them, knowing the pain it causes him when he, seemingly inevitably, does. No doubt that finds its roots in Levi's earliest childhood experiences. People often talk about Kenny's abandonment of Levi (with good reason), but I rarely see it talked about how Levi's mother, in a sense, also abandoned him. Not intentionally, the way Kenny did, but the fact remains, Levi's mother died and left him alone, which very nearly led to Levi's own death. I think that absolutely must have had an impact on Levi and caused an expectation in him from very early on of abandonment. Levi couldn't have been more than five years old when his mother died, and those are obviously very important developmental years for a child. You add to that Kenny's abandonment, and it seems pretty likely to me that, yes, Levi has a fear of abandonment by the people he loves.

What's interesting about Levi, though, is that even with this fear, and even in his efforts to keep his distance from people in order to spare himself the emotional and mental distress of losing them, I think Levi's higher level of empathy and compassion renders him incapable of escaping that emotional pain, even when he doesn't know a person well, even when he's intentionally kept away from them. I've spoken numerous times of how Levi shows the same level of care and concern, and makes just as much of an effort to save the lives of people he doesn't know or doesn't know well as the ones he does know well and is close to. He even extends that same level of care and concern toward people who have been actively hostile toward him, such as the merchants in Trost who badger and bully him over the failures of the Survey Corps, to the point of even personally insulting him, or in "No Regrets", we see Levi go out of his way to save the lives of soldiers who have both endangered his own and actively mistreated and been cruel to him. We see Levi do this with Dieter, during the Female Titan arc. Despite Dieter's cruelty toward Levi, calling him a heartless monster, Levi gives him Petra's badge and tells him it was Ivan's. He gives up his own comfort to someone who's been nothing but hostile toward him, and who would have rightly been in for a scolding and even punishment for endangering the lives of the unit. But instead of being unkind in return, Levi shows Dieter nothing but compassion.

All this to say, I think even when Levi isn't emotionally or personally close to people, he still feels the weight of their loss as if he were, and he still empathizes with and understands their emotions and thought process as if he were. There's a part in "No Regrets" in which Furlan laments that they had better hurry up and complete their mission to get the documents from Erwin before Levi and Isabel start genuinely considering "dedicating their hearts" to the Survey Corps. I've talked about how this clearly indicates that Furlan is aware of Levi's tendency to get attached to people, even when he's actively trying not to. Levi, for example, doesn't want to teach his combat techniques to any of the other SC soldiers because he knows if he does and then they end up getting killed, he'll hold himself responsible for it. Again, this is indicative of Levi's tendency to become emotionally attached and involved with people, even those he doesn't know well, to the point he would feel responsible for their lives, and responsible for protecting those lives, even when, again, he doesn't know them well, and even when he hasn't been treated particularly well by them. We have to remember, upon entering the SC, none of the other soldiers showed any particular friendliness toward Levi, outside of Hange. He was even faced with pretty blatant classism from some of them, and plain resentment. But he still knew himself well enough to know that he was already beginning to feel responsible for their lives. Even with being treated as an outsider by them, he still isn't able to keep himself detached from them. We see this play out too, in the story's climax, when Levi makes his choice to go after Erwin alone. He makes the choice with full consideration of what he thinks will be best, not just for Furlan and Isabel, but for Flagon and the rest of their squad. He's equally concerned for their well being, and determines that all of them will have a better chance of survival if Furlan and Isabel stays with them. Again, Flagon has been nothing but hostile toward Levi through the entire story, but he still cares about Flagon's life.

So basically, to get to your specific question, lol, I think Levi likely became very attached to Furlan fairly quickly. There's even a similarity to Levi's relationship with Furlan and what I laid out above, in terms of how Levi even cares about people who have been unkind to him. We know from one of the extra stories that Furlan first met Levi by attempting to entrap him and force him through physical assault to join his gang. So Furlan's first interaction with Levi was one of deception and an attempt to use him against his will. We learn later from a conversation Levi is having with another scout that Levi saved his life from his own gang, when they eventually turned on him. This is consistent with how we see Levi make just as much effort to help and show just as much concern for the lives of people who have previously been unkind to him in some way or even attempted to hurt him in some way. Levi saves Furlan's life, despite Furlan trying to deceive Levi and force him into a situation against his will.

So I imagine, once Levi became actual friends with Furlan, and moved in with him, at that point, I imagine the bond between them was incredibly deep and unbreakable. I think over time Furlan would have begun to recognize that Levi's aloof demeanor and lack of expression wasn't at all indicative of the actual depth of attachment and care he felt toward Furlan himself. I always say that I think Levi's relationship with both Furlan and Isabel was more than simple friendship. I think Levi viewed the both of them as his family, and objectively speaking, I think he was probably closer to the two of them than anyone else in his life. Part of that, I think, would come from the fact they were his first, actual friends, and also because they were the only people Levi ever knew and was close to who were from the same world he was. I think Levi likely was fearful at first when he first moved in with Furlan that he might lose him in some way, that Furlan might leave him, or be killed, etc... But I also think it's a testament to Levi's resilience and open heart that, despite having already been abandoned by the two most important people in his life up to that point, he still allowed this new person into his life and allowed himself to grow deeply close to him. I think, also, that's a product of, again, Levi's inability to close his heart off to people, due to his immense empathy. Even though Levi is afraid of losing people and wants to shield himself against the pain of that, he continually fails at remaining detached, because he just naturally cares too much about other people to ever, truly separate himself from them or freeze them out. He's never been able to not care. I think Furlan probably understood that pretty quickly about Levi, and as I already said, he probably understood that Levi's aloof demeanor and seeming distance didn't actually mean he didn't care. I think Furlan understood that Levi would protect him no matter what and would always stay by his side. Isayama even said Levi is extremely loyal. He isn't ever going to abandon anyone himself. So basically, I think Furlan understood Levi, after a time, and would have recognized that Levi's appearance of apathy in truth was just his way of dealing with the fact he actually feels and cares more deeply than anyone. He only keeps his emotions held inside so he can remain reliable to himself and others, because if he allowed himself to fully feel what he was actually feeling in any, given moment, it would be overwhelming. People that know Levi truly know this about him. And so Furlan definitely would have realized that.

Anyway, I hope that answers your question, lol. That got WAY too long. I can never seem to keep my answers short.

[ask-professorlayton]

Welcome to Ask Professor Layton!

I hope your day or night is going well. Here, you can interact with esteemed archaeologist Professor Hershel Layton. He's always open to some company--especially such pleasant company as yours! Feel free to come in and enjoy a cup of tea.

Below is some helpful information to get you started here. If nothing else, do be mindful to read the rules section. A gentleman must always be careful to be considerate of others and stay out of trouble!

What is this? This is a character ask blog featuring Professor Hershel Layton (and company) from the Professor Layton puzzle game series for the Nint*ndo DS. In case you're new to the concept or simply need a refresher, "ask blogs" have been a popular genre of blog on Tumblr for quite a while, but were more popular some years ago. However, there are still plenty of them around today! The way they work is by combining art and roleplay in order to create a functional story as well as a relationship between the "asker" (the person interacting with the character via the ask box) and the "muse" (the character the blog is about). It's almost like a choose your own adventure comic or a visual novel, except you can speak and interact directly with the main character. Your actions may have a lasting effect on the story, something known as the butterfly 🦋 effect. Some ask blogs feature an overarching story while others do not. Each ask blog tends to have its own unique quirks and methods. There is no one correct way to run such a thing, which is part of the appeal.

How do I engage with this? You can interact with the Professor by sending in an ask via the ask box. Despite the name, your query does not have to be in the form of a question. Simply write what you wish to say (or do; actions are allowed and even encouraged) to him in your message. You will receive a response that may or may not include some art depending on the content of the ask. I will try to include art as often as possible. However, you can specifically request a response without included art if you simply want to engage in casual conversation with him. These asks will be under the tag #ProfessorChats. You will receive a much faster response to these.

This art is a bit… Odd. I'm afraid that I am a very unprofessional artist, ahaha! I've never been to any form of art school. Part of my motivation for starting this blog is that I've spent years attempting to improve my artistic skills, only to never be satisfied with where I was at any point. I suppose we're all our own worst critics. Recently, I've come to the conclusion that perhaps by combining something I'm deeply interested in and enjoy (such as Professor Layton and storytelling) with my artistic journey, it may kickstart significant improvement, sort of incentivising it to myself. But even if I don't improve all that much, or even at all, I know this is something I'll have had fun with and learned from. Hopefully others will too! At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Is there an overarching story? Yes! I have many ideas that I'm eager to implement here. Buuut I'm not going to talk about it. You'll just have to find out by interacting with him and the world in which he resides. Go wild, get creative!

What are the rules? I'm so glad you asked! You can do just about anything you want with this dear middle aged man, with respect to these few basic rules

No content that violates the Tumblr guidelines.

No real-world political themes or references, especially US politics. His poor heart can't take it. Do not send asks inciting real-world violence, hatred, or political aggravation. In-universe political discussion is fine, given that it's fictional and relevant to him.

No racial, ethnic, religious, etc insensitivity or hatred. That is not very gentlemanly. Shoo! Away with you.

No explicitly sexual material. I don't mind suggestive jokes or themes, but explicit material is strictly prohibited. Suggestive themes will be tagged accordingly with #suggestive. Minors and individuals who are sensitive to these themes should block this tag. Absolutely no themes, references, or any form of content involving the romanticisation or sexualisation of minors is allowed here. Moreover, if you engage with these types of themes or actively consume such content, I urge you to seek professional help immediately. Please contact mental health professionals or a hospital in your area, or telephone your country's emergency services number if you're having explicit thoughts about minors. Do not contact me under any circumstances. Any asks violating this rule will be reported along with the account that sent them if applicable.

On that note, do not send in asks involving shipping Luke and Layton (or Luke/other minor characters with any adult character). You will be blocked and your asks will be deleted.

No content involving themes of incest, fetishes, or kink material is allowed here. Do not send asks involving the shipping of Layton with his brother or any other characters with their relatives/family.

Violent, injurious, and bloody asks are permitted to an extent. Heavy gore, severe body horror, explicit horror, and related themes are not allowed. No parasites. Egregiously offensive asks will be deleted. Violence and blood will be tagged accordingly with #tw blood and #tw violence.

Discussion of mental health topics is allowed, but if I suspect an asker is in danger or requires help, the ask will not be answered. You will be encouraged to seek help. Discussion of mental health themes and themes involving self injury will be tagged accordingly with #mental health themes, #tw suicide mention and #tw self injury mention. If an asker expresses intentions of harming themself or others, the message will be reported accordingly and will not be answered. If you are experiencing thoughts of severe depression, urges to harm yourself or others, or have intentions of doing so, please contact emergency services for your area. My heart is with you and so is the Professor's--we sincerely hope that you feel better soon.

All spoilers for the series are untagged so be wary if you're missing something. I don't do anything involving Layton's Mystery Journey/Katrielle or Layton Brothers Mystery Room so please don't send in asks involving the lore of those. I simply don't particularly care for them and I don't consider them canon to this blog.

Do not attempt to involve this blog in discourse.

Do not solicit this blog for money, art, etc.

Do not reupload art from this blog to any other websites, medias, etc.

Do not use the art featured on this blog in any form of ai training or other projects. Usage of the art on this blog for any purpose is strictly not permitted or consented to.

Asks determined to be in poor taste (such as attempts at forcing self injury, forcing sexual themes, certain forms of removal of personal autonomy, etc) will be ignored and deleted at the Admin's discretion.

I understand that your OC may be related to Layton or another canon character, but (with all due respect to your awesome characters) please do not attempt to interact as a relative, daughter, son, etc without at least discussing it with the Admin in personal messages first. Regarding the canon of this blog, the Professor does not have any biological children.

Fictionkin and individuals with alters who have the Professor Layton series as their source material are welcome (and encouraged!) to interact, but please do not attempt to correct my interpretation based on your own experience/memories. Please also do not involve the Professor, the Admin, or this blog in discourse involving these things. This blog is friendly to everyone who is friendly to it regardless of their opinions, beliefs, etc.

Any questions, clarifications, or requests regarding these rules should be directed to personal messages.

What can be done here? Anything that isn't mentioned in the outline above. Want to interact but not sure where to start? Try thinking of something silly or goofy that makes you happy and find a way to combine that with an interaction. Put him in an ugly sweater. Toss him into an aquarium. Turn him into a worm on a string. Ask him for help with your homework. Give him an unusual object. Expose him to psychological horror by putting him in a modern day Waffle House in the US. The rules, Tumblr guidelines, and your imagination are your only limitations. You can also try asking him about people he knows or has encountered during his adventures. Of course, what is the Professor Layton series without its colourful cast? Feel free to poke the others with a stick, so to speak!

Do you have an OC/self-insert/etc you want to be interacting with him? I'll try to doodle it in the reply if I include art, just be certain to include that in your ask!

Why hasn't my ask been answered? It can take a lot of time to answer asks depending on the art I may or may not do for it. Please be patient. I have very severe personal health problems and may be going through a particularly rough time which can make it take that much longer. Other reasons your ask may not have been answered is that I felt personally uncomfortable with the content of it or I just don't feel like answering that one at the time. It could also be that Tumblr simply ate the ask and as a result I didn't receive it in the first place.

can i give him a lil smooch Well, I recommend asking him first, of course. These sorts of feelings take time to build /hj

What are the posts with the tag butterfly🦋effect? That's a surprise tool that can help us later! /ref

What do I do if I need to get in contact with the Admin? The quickest way is to private message me on my main blog @harestrax Can we do a one-on-one roleplay? Maybe? I've never done that on Tumblr since I'm still kind of new here but I'd be open to the idea! Individuals over the age of 18 are welcome to personal message me and we can discuss what you have in mind. However, please do not contact me for sexually explicit interactions. I'm not personally comfortable with it.

Why is some art colourful and some isn't? i am sooooooo eepy i am so tired and eepy

Anything else? Thank you very much for your interest in this silly little project! Remember not to take any of it too seriously. Any opinions, actions, or thoughts expressed by the characters do not reflect the Admin's opinions. Everything on this blog is fictional and is for entertainment purposes only. Keep in mind that the villainous characters could potentially be more aggressive or rude and to not take what they say personally to heart. The Admin does not have any ill will against you and neither does the Professor. ❤️

This blog is not associated with Level 5 and is for personal entertainment only. No AI is used in my art or writing--ever!

Have a wonderful day/night! 🐇

[roxannepolice]

Re: my therapy thoschei quote rants. One, maybe just maybe it'll last longer than until 16th because current suggestion is to apply for a month prolongation. So less "I'll never make this as perfect as I want" stress and more "what if one person (the principal) will cut me off at the home stretch with 240 a4 pages already in place" stress 👍👍

And two, yeah I'm obviously very classics and tensimm biased, and of course there's just plain personal preference, but I think there's also a level at which it is only later on that things got... convoluted. Overconvoluted. And for me this is where legitimate criticism steps in. Like, there are much fewer ways in which you can fuck up a simple thing than a complicated one. And when you want your characters and relationships complex, you're likelier to end up contradicting yourself. If it was thought through hypocrisy and this was conveyed by the text - great. But that's not always the case.

The simplicity in ClassicWho was kind of natural for the medium that tv was at the time (you simply CAN'T be intricate and rely on micro acting when the episode will be watched one, two times tops), and I think it carried over to tenyana and tensimm in a more self-aware and thoughtful way. Even if tensimm, or Ten, or Saxon aren't someone's cup of tea, that's what it is: it's not someone's cup of tea - but I've never seen either criticisms or defences that relied on explaining how the tea is actually coffee, you just have to taste it harder.

What I'm trying to say is, I really, really enjoy simplicity and straightforwardness in art. That's not to say I want authors to guide me by the hand, but rather that there's a difference between discussing something complicated in simple and precise terms and discussing something simple in complicated and vague terms. To stick to tags used, I don't need Simm!Master to have a tragic backstory to embitter him towards the Doctor in s10 (this is purely about interpretation, it's great as headcanon and fic material), because welp, his function in that story is to be an asshole and the story is very frank about it. The fact that it needs memory shenanigans and characters being just plain stupid to remotely work is how I'd define bad writing, but that's a topic for another rant.

Basically, there's a difference between participating in discussions of soteriology in catholicism and cardinalsplaining what the Pope actually meant about good atheists going to heaven.

But I guess this is also an invitation to suggest classic and tensimm quotes that don't sit right with someone, because one thing is sure I will be needing brain warm ups in days/weeks to come...

[lost-inanotherlife]

Lost S2 Rewatch - spontaneous, random thoughts (might change my mind)

Kinda dig Ana Lucia. I remember that, back when the show first aired, I didn't like her but I guess I've changed my mind. I like the fact that she seems to be unapologetic, she's leader-material and she knows it and acts as such but she's not smug about it. She does bad things, she knows it and doesn't hide behind excuses. Honestly? So far she's cool.

The introduction of the Tailies was a ballsy move, we haven't seen our fearless leader Jack for 6 episodes now (I've reached S2E7) and the show is still compelling and exciting. We meet five new characters and their introductions are different from those of the main characters in s1: it's fast, no flashbacks, direct. The comparison works because I find myself wanting to know more even though I wasn't even given enough screen-time to care about them. Ballsy, well-executed professional writing move.

I like how the first 3 episodes are taking place on the same night/day as the last 3 episodes of S1 (or 2 episodes, according to how you're watching "Exodus"). We see the events from different perspectives and this method of storytelling sometimes is very effective, sometimes I personally find it a bit boring. This doesn't happen here at all.

Hurley is such a more interesting character when you rewatch the show! I think that he's the only character (so far) where knowing things in advance makes him better and I'm like "hell, yes, why didn't I see that before?". Like, when I first watched the show I thought that Hurley was the "comic relief" of the series. He kinda is, but he's also not and so much more? Upon rewatching the show you can clearly see why he was the right leader and the best protector of the island. Gotta love The Dude.

I've said it once, I'll say it again (and forever): JUSTICE FOR SHANNON. I'll protect her against anyone. Her centric episode "Abandoned" is okay but I find it very distasteful that her death is framed as manpain fodder for Sayid. Also, she has sex at the beginning of the episode and at the end she dies? Ugh. Again, distasteful, it felt a little like she had completed her function so off we go. My girl deserved so much more :(.

Speaking of Shannon, her relationship with Sayid is meh. I actually liked it 20 years ago but thank god I've definitely changed because it's a badly written ship. I mean, I can see that the two characters have potential, but there's no "meat" behind it. The story is not "built", it's just there. One day Sayid finds her attractive and that's it. The two of them have spent like 1 afternoon together and all of a sudden the guy creates a romantic location on the beach so they can have sex. Shallow. And also, let's never forget that these people are on a fucking island full of things AND people that want to kill them, but okay, let's go beachsex-camping somewhere!

I'm an anti-Charlie. It really costs me a lot to say this because he was my favorite twenty years ago and now I can't stand him. I've reckoned that if I have to spend more time trying to make excuses for him while I actively don't like his actions... well, it's wasted time. Let's call is as it is: Charlie's a dick. That scene after Locke was holding Aaron and Charlie was jelaous or, I'd rather say, unhingedly possessive? Brrr, chills bruh and the wrong kind. Dude, you're cringe.

[sugar-grigri]

Hi there! Hope you are having a nice day! I really love your csm analyses and meta! It's specially great because I don't understand literary symbolism at all, I'm learning a lot. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on my boy Yoshida. What do you think is his role? Is he only an obstacle for the romantic relationship between Denji and Asa? In a world where every detail has a deeper meaning, why an octopus? Hope you have a great day!

The octopus trap 

I think that if I asked every Chainsaw Man reader about Yoshida, most of the time I'd be told either "I have no idea what he's going to do" or, more precisely, "I keep expecting him to do something, but he doesn't end up doing anything".

You mustn't let your hair stand on end when you read remarks like that. Yoshida is my favorite character of Part 2, yet if I were to describe him succinctly it would be in exactly those terms.

When I say not to be annoyed by these remarks, it's because they're not the result of a lack of writing, a lack of development or even a depreciation of the character, these descriptions only underline the originality of Yoshida's writing.

Yes, it's surely worth clarifying what I mean by all this... 

Let's take a look at things chronologically. Yoshida's first appearance comes just after Asa, who has just discovered she's possessed by the war demon, is unable to set foot inside her school, a victim of anxiety, school phobia and, above all, Bucky's death. 

Yoshida suddenly appears during this scene. He is also quickly associated with Asa, as the demon-hunting club puts him in Yuko's and the protagonist's group. We all said to ourselves: great, something's going to happen between these two! She's dying of shame, so Fujimoto is bound to use this to create more interaction between them.

When Asa comes across her bullies, who have attacked her locker and shoes, only Yuko comes to comfort her, and Yoshida simply fades into the background. It's strange, because it was as if he had brutally hidden himself from the progress of the scenario and the reaction he might have had to this kind of situation. Keep this in mind. 

Then Yoshida reappears in chapter 103, as if Fujimoto were accidentally placing an ink blot in the background, Yoshida simply blending into the background until he hits his target. For the reader, this creates a certain "ah yes, where the hell has he been?" situation, and the element of surprise is intensified by the fact that this is Denji's first appearance as a human in Part 2. This time, Yoshida doesn't disappear into the background, as if evaporated, he appears when no one was expecting him.

Put that in the back of your mind too. 

Then, when he tries to put Denji's goal of a girlfriend into action, he introduces him to Asa Mitaka, whom we suspect, subconsciously or consciously, to be Chainsaw Man's love interest. So we're all thinking (myself included at this point), he's surely going to be the magnet between the two! Which turns out to be completely untrue, as Yoshida brutally declares that Asa has no business getting close to Denji.

This point not only shows that Yoshida's narrative function is hard to pin down, it also proves something else: he's not omniscient. He's not, as I've read, this absolutely perfect string-puller, since it's clear that he doesn't grasp until later that Asa may not simply be a young girl obsessed with finding a boyfriend, but a possessed one who might disturb the target he's watching: Chainsaw Man. 

The aquarium was Yoshida's observation ground. Yoshida has no desire to be active, as evidenced by the telephone scene where, after Asa has been humiliated by his failure to call anyone, he shows Denji his phone, arguing that he can't get a signal anyway. Now I'll get to that line : "Do you think CSM would eat it for us ? The Death devil"

Whether it was making you believe that Yoshida is a genius string-puller, this line made you believe that the boy had something to do with the demon of death. Fujimoto wouldn't ruin so many mysteries surrounding one of the most anticipated demons so unskillfully. That's why it's necessary to interpret it differently. A line belongs to a whole, and this scene between Yoshida and Denji is not a scene that escapes its whole, on the contrary, it has consequences.

It serves to show two things: firstly, Yoshida is aware of Chainsaw Man's ability to erase other demons, which was surely reported by Kishibe who learned of it in chapter 84, proving firstly that the public hunters are now aware of this ability. Something that had never been said before. Then we come to the most interesting part. Yoshida makes it clear in this scene that they've been locked up for three days, and the cases illustrate how each of the students is dealing with their own mortality, with Haruka crying, Nobana flips out, another prefers to be physically active to keep himself busy, while Yoshida prepares to die. As for Denji, he's been through worse, and is cooler than the others.

Then Yoshida pointed out, "Do you think Chainsaw Man would eat the demon of death?" This triggers Denji's act of kindness, as he realizes that he can also "suppress", "devour" fears in his human form, by taking action. Denji has noticed that Asa is looking to be active; she's the one who offered her a date, so she's the one who has priority to receive comfort, so Denji comes to devour the fear that paralyzed the protagonist. All the more ironic given that the demon they were all really facing was the demon of famine. 

I know everything I'm saying sounds disjointed at the moment, but hang on, I need to be a bit descriptive before I connect all this.

The same phenomenon of script feinting will occur, not to make it look like Yoshida will be a love rival, a friend of Asa, the magnet between Denji and Asa, or the demon of death.

No, this time, in chapter 133, Fujimoto makes it look like Yoshida will be a great antagonist by proposing Denji's horrible dilemma of either being human and living with his family or being Chainsaw Man without it. But it all falls apart when he realizes that Denji chooses both, leaving Yoshida completely out of his depth. This time Fujimoto erases all the mystique around this character, he's not the player who moves the pieces against Fami, he's just a mediator. 

The same phenomenon occurs when he locks Denji into this normal life that doesn't suit him, placing him in Fumiko's hands, leading to one of the least "normal" chapters, chapter 137. 

I think that with all this, you're beginning to grasp a certain idea: Yoshida's purpose is a narrative feint, he's a character with indecipherable eyes for us to place all our doubts and mysteries in. The questions just pile up, and we project them through Yoshida, who answers none of them. 

So who is Yoshida ? 

The only thing I can say is that he's a mystery. And when I say this, it's not to clear my name, as nothing can be said about him, because he is written as such and should be appreciated as such. I often read that his eyes, fully black like Kishibe's, are not only perhaps a sign of kinship but also a sign of deep despair. I think it's precisely in this way that we can miss the originality of these characters. 

Kishibe is not placed in the deepest despair, what makes him so strong, what makes him still here, being practically the only veteran of the public hunters (did you notice how young the public hunters still were?), is that he has accepted and internalized the madness of the system, bows to it instead of fighting against it, but is not dominated by it as someone unreasonable would be.

Whether it's Yoshida's black eyes or Kishibe's, the latter are simply the eyes of acceptance of the system. That is to say, their pupils are no longer illuminated by that little personal glimmer, seemingly devoid of emotion, since they are simply a reflection of the darkness of the system, of what's going on through them.

Yoshida's eyes are the eyes of a mysterious system that constantly stares at the characters without responding to them. 

And now you're probably wondering, Anon:

What about the octopus ?

This is surely the most interesting answer to Yoshida's question.

When you're looking for meanings for octopuses, your first instinct is to think of mythology, isn't it? Leviathan, Kranken, Akkorokamui, the octopus is the subject of a multitude of legends, whose interpretations are intertwined, creative, healing or destructive, beneficent or maleficent, or even the subject of great divergence from the public, cute? Or monstrous? 

This follows on from the previous statement: the octopus is a being onto which all concepts can be projected, even if they are contradictory. Yoshida's narrative function is the same: we project whatever we can onto him without him acting on it.

What's the one piece of information you could give me with any certainty? The fact that he's a demon hunter, right? In other words, the only thing you could say about the octopus is the environment it lives in? No ? 

Do you know how octopuses are caught ?

Have you heard of the Japanese octopus trap? Specifically, the takotsubo? In fact, they're not really traps at all, but a form of passive fishing in which simple pierced stones or clay pots are placed on the seabed. The octopuses then enter these pots to protect themselves, using them as shelters to protect their fragile bodies. Above all, when the pots are brought to the surface, the octopuses don't even try to escape, pressing themselves against the walls. 

Yoshida acts like these octopuses, not fighting the system, but rather embracing its walls, thinking he's safe when in fact he's trapped.

Hidden within this obscure system, the octopus has no idea that it's not safe, but has headed for its own destruction.

Now the connections make themselves. The only answer those big black eyes can give is a reflection of the system.

Asa is rejected by her classmates, by this micro-society that is school? The system appears.

Fans cheer Chainsaw Man on, as society is increasingly forged around him. The system takes an interest and invites him for coffee.

As Asa is rejected after her second date with Denji, the system will only add to her loneliness.

Chainsaw Man is a being whose function is to eliminate fears? The system will remind him of this.

Is Chainsaw Man an idiot? Will the system still try to control him, even if it means inhibiting him?

What if we were to use the metaphor of the octopus trap to provide the opposite answer ? Yoshida sticks to the walls of the system.

What does the system do? It weaves itself around Chainsaw Man.

Is this such a good idea ?

[wordsandrobots]

What would be your top 10-20 Favorite IBO characters?

I . . . genuinely don't know if I can answer this.

There are a few I have little to say about. The Brewers leadership. Radice. Henri Fleurs. Jasley. Perfectly functional characters who do what they need to do but whose role encloses itself.

There are some I find tricky to write -- Takaki, Zack -- because for whatever reason it's harder for me to capture the distinctiveness of their mannerisms.

But top? Favourite? I fear I'll just start listing everyone in order of appearance. Obviously I've done a lot of fanfic focused on Shino and Yamagi. Their relationship is the spur that got me writing Iron-Blooded Orphans fanfic. And I've loved working with characters like Eugene and Ride, finding places to take them after the show, to create paths for their lives and more grown-up voices.

Yet in large part that's necessity. I write post-canon, I use the crayons left over in the box. Mikazuki and Orga form an incredible motor that drives the anime plot towards disaster. Kudelia and Atra are a fundamental reconfiguring of tropes that in other shows make me want to take a red pen to the script. Mika's polycule is consequently an even split between an adorable, wholesome rejection of traditional love-triangles, and exquisite, inevitable tragedy. Also Hush is there, He can be counted in the polycule, as a treat. Gods, Hush. The guy who joined the wrong PMC for his epic hero arc, who goes from watching his best friend commit suicide over being a burden and a failure, to unhesitatingly acting as mobility aid to the kid he started out resenting for dodging that same fate. He's a relatively minor player, overall, but there is so much there to unpack. *So much*.

And therein lies the problem. The cast is huge and they're not all given much to do, but they almost universally come with a depth of interest and nuance. Sweet Chad, at once awkward and downcast, worried about his social standing, and also the one to give blunt voice to the kill-or-be-killed trap of fighting people forced on to the battlefield. Gaelio, my favourite stress-toy, my darling blue-haired numpty, the knight in shining ignorance who muddled his way to morality, far too late in the day. Ein Dalton, protagonist of the wrong story and nascent fruit-loop, his apotheosis rudely interrupted by a broken mirror-image of himself. Argi Mirage, over in the manga, a basically decent person behind the semi-permanent glower, embedded in a slightly less poverty-stricken level of society, still dealing with the same old capitalistic crap.

We've got Yukinojo (disadvantaged by his cybernetic legs, never quite a responsible father-figure), Merribit (the adult in the room, with all the wrong experience), Makanai (arch-political operator, discovering his conscience only to view it as a curse), Savarin (trapped by class aspirations, predicting the way everything will end), that one Gjallarhorn officer captaining the Sleipnir (did he ever get to make up for missing his daughter's birthday?), and oh so many more.

There are stories to tell with these people and the one we get gestures are a dozen others, which is something I find irresistible. I can -- and have -- spent so long exploring and expanding upon them because I *want* to write about them all, be they best-case products of appalling systems (Rustal Elion), fools shaped by their circumstances in ways that haven't quite curbed their potential (Julieta) or simply doofy gremlin children who I'd really like to see get a happy ending even while I know that's vanishingly unlikely in the long run (598).

At this point, I really don't think I even know where to start putting them in order, much less cutting them down to a mere twenty.

[greenerteacups]

I’m not sure if you’ve specifically answered this before, but how long did it take you to outline, research, and prepare the foundational meat of Lionheart since it’s such a sprawling saga with threads for so many characters? Did you have it all mapped out before you started writing? What about shorter pieces like The Climb and the latest, delightful The Death Eater Diaries?

The series outline for Lionheart I wrote on one bleary, rabbit-hole of a day in the summer of 2022 when I was definitely supposed to be doing something else, and after that, each book took me between 3 days and 2 weeks to outline completely. The later books have taken longer because of their length and the number of threads — the series has a way of getting wider as well as longer, and for the last two books, I sometimes got a bit grumbly about how many characters pop up in every novel. As for research, most of that will happen before or during the outlining process; I'll have a copy of the book on-hand to check plot details, but for the most part I try to work without flipping back to the text, to avoid copying beats or stylistic choices unless I have a thematic reason to. I also use HP Lexicon and fanwikis while I'm editing for content, though when I'm drafting I make a real effort not to switch out of the tab for any reason, because it breaks flow. I'm sure I have missed some details despite my references, but c'est la vie; JKR had to do continuity edits in subsequent edition releases for several books, so at least I'm not alone.

For The Climb, I wrote the first chapter in the raw, then went through and blocked out the second two in an outline at the bottom of the document. Very very broad strokes there — TC is different from Lionheart because it's a slice-of-life tone piece, so there's not as much plot to be done. It's a novella conceived for the sole purpose of exploring one particular relationship, so the plot came secondary to the things I wanted to highlight about how that dynamic worked. It's a character-forward piece, to borrow culinary terminology, and outlining for character is a lot easier than outlining for plot. (For me.)

The Death Eater Diaries emerged almost fully-formed from a Tumblr post I made joking about the sort of ludicrously awful decade Narcissa experiences. The hardest part of outlining was nailing down canonical dates. Stuff like how old Andromeda was when she got pregnant, when Bellatrix got married, when the members of the previous generation died, all that's unspecified — but it's also all functionally constrained to a narrow window of time, if you take in where the characters are at certain other parts of the story, so you can't just say anything. It was very fun to write, though. Doing so also stressed how hilariously short the timeline on the Black family collapse actually is. Between 1971 and 1981, they go from a two-branch family with an heir, a spare, and three healthy daughters -> completely extinct in the male line, two of its descendants disinherited, two imprisoned, one missing, presumed dead, and Draco Malfoy's mom.

[lorainelegacy]

The Mentor

Before proceeding:

1 -What you are about to read is a literal translation of my fanfic in Spanish (my language) and although my level of English is good I have never read books in English so my writing sounds good in Spanish. So please keep this in mind.

2 - Loraine is 23 years old. I want to make this clear. I would never ship a grown man with an underage girl. In this fanfic there is a variation on the age of each year so that Hogwarts not only functions as a school, but also as a university. It's something that I found interesting and that I think makes a lot of sense since in the Muggle world there are universities within the same school. Apart from that, I hope to be as faithful as possible to the logic and history of Hogwarts Legacy. Always keeping in mind that this is a fanfic and I will create situations, characters and stories of my own. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the game back in the day. Next, I will leave a small guide with the age of the students of each year in this fanfic:

1st Year: 16-17

2nd Year: 17-18

3rd Year: 18-19

4th Year: 19-20

5th Year: 20-21 (O.W.L.s)

6thYear: 21-22

7thYear: 22-23 (N.E.W.T.s)

3 - There will be explicit sex scenes between Eleazar and Loraine, of course, but I'll take it easy. Since I don't want this fanfic to be just a fanfic where there's sex, I want the tension to grow between them as the teacher/apprentice bond grows and their relationship becomes closer. Besides, I think it makes the most sense. I want to keep the sexual tension until the moment it explodes, if you know what I mean. If you're not comfortable with this, no one is asking you to read it. Go on your way.

You can also find it on Wattpad and Ao3.

Summary: Loraine Hawks is a young woman who lives with her aunt and uncle in a small village in the south of Scotland. Her life has always been a torment, until one day, a strange, silver-haired man of elegant bearing appears at her door. With a voice that exudes wisdom and an air of mystery, he reveals that the Ministry of Magic has set its sights on her, wanting her to join the seventh year immediately. Loraine, incredulous at such a claim, feels that every word is a whisper of a fairy tale too good to be true. However, the warmth he radiates, his infectious smile and the spark of genuine magic in his eyes, instil Loraine with an unexpected sense of confidence. And so, with the decision made in a heartbeat, Loraine turns her back on what she once called home, but which more closely resembled a prison without bars. Together with her new mentor, she embarks on a magical journey, full of promise and dreams, towards a destiny that promises to be as surprising as the most unexpected twist of a well-conjured spell.

Pairing: Eleazar Fig x f! Adult MC

List of chapters to date

-> Chapter I — An unexpected visitor

-> Chapter II — The Sleeping Goblin

-> Chapter III — Bad omen

-> Chapter IV — Fire

-> Chapter V — Gringotts

-> Chapter VI — The Vault Twelve test

-> Chapter VII— The Sorting Ceremony

-> Chapter VIII— Attack at Hogsmeade

[chriscdcase95]

"Screaming Until Dawn" chapters one and two are up.

Title says it all, but for the long version, the first two chapters of my Scream/Until Dawn crossover are finally up.

Link to chapter one and chapter two

Summary: "Spin-off and midquel to Unlife is Strange; and part of The Fog of Worlds Saga

In 2011, Kirby Reed pulled through a with death. and dreamt she was a girl named "Sam". In 2015, Samantha Giddings pulled through a brush with death, and dreamt she was a girl named "Kirby".

In 2016, both Kirby and Samantha have put those "dreams" behind them, and with the radical changes in their lives, tried to focus on their college career. But when an unfamiliar voice calls Sam "Kirby", and Kirby "Sam" both girls set out on a mission to get to the bottom of these dreams.

A mission that causes the lives of Kirby, Sam and their places in their world to blur, as something from beyond calls to them."

Ships include: Sam x Jessica x Emily - as per Unlife is Strange, they have a "Friends With Benefits/Open relationship, functioning the main pairing here. Some LIS characters will be featured, mostly as supporting or background characters, so this story also features Pricefield and Chasemarsh, even if it's not prominent.

Kirby isn't really paired with anyone here - the only character I serious ship Kirby with is with Sam Carpenter (which is probably gonna stump me when I write Kirby's interactions with Sam Giddings). I imagine Kirby's "love life" as mostly consisting of "no strings attached" flings, or dates that fizzle out before of the night.

Content Warning: Canon typical violence and horror elements; This story also nudity, eventual smut down the line. Not sure if it'll go into PWP territory. This story will also feature supernatural elements, but I'll try not to go overboard with it.

For more of what to expect, here's the initial preview, but to give a quick rundown...

----

I plan on making this a shorter story - about five or seven chapters max - but it's something I've been cooking up for over a year. While I plan on wrapping up Mission To Silas before the year is over, I thought I'd get to work on this "side story" as well.

The original idea started out as "What if Kirby Reed/Sam Giddings experienced eachothers lives through dreams, and what if those dreams pulled them together ?" The idea then grew from there.

As said this is a spin of Unlife is Strange - being a midquel set between the present day (2020) storyline, and Rachel's flashback arc in LA/Seattle (2014/2015). Set in 2016, we focus on Sam attempting to take a sabbatical from the FBC following the LA/Seattle case. (To see that case, and Sam and Emily's involvement, read Unlife's chapters: "9 Crimes" and "Rachel & Steph").

Meanwhile, we follow Kirby years after Scream 4 when she is preparing to enroll to the FBI as the sole survivor of her friend group. While Kirby attempts to isolate herself following her survival, Sam has become more lively and outgoing. Despite the different lives, they are pulled down the same road as a result of someone or something from each other's lives calling to them.

I had to split the initial first chapter into two, because it had a whole lot going on at once; especially for something that would have been nearly two hours long. But I found the first half should be enough to establish things so far.

Because of this split, the first chapter is an introduction of Sam, Kirby and their connection, while chapter two the actual inciting incident; when something from another side calls to them, and Sam and Kirby's lives begin to blend together.

In the meantime, I'm gonna be juggling this story with Unlife is Strange and Mission to Silas, so chapter three may take a while. On a good run, it normally takes me a few weeks to a month to get a chapter ready in any of my stories, and I REALLY want to finish Mission by the end of the year.