#also a little bit because i feel bad about how transactional it feel

[keicordelle]

I never end up reblogging ask games because I always feel bad that when I send an ask it comes from main, and I don't want to look like that jerk that just reblogs it without asking anything...

[taraxacum-vulpes]

sighs.

[steddiealltheway]

Eddie’s having a strange day.

For once in his life, he’s not being treated like absolute shit by all the dumbass jocks of Hawkins High School.

In fact, they’re not even engaging with him at all. They’re looking at him, but they’re just not saying anything. Even when Eddie pretends to drop his stuff in front of Billy Hargrove, he doesn’t even laugh at him.

And while this should feel like the best day of Eddie’s life, he has an underlying feeling that this is all very very wrong.

Then, he knows the universe has decided to fuck with him or something when Tommy Hagan meets him at his “business transaction” table and instead of buying anything, he leans in and whispers, “Meet me at skull rock after school today.” And fucking plants a quick kiss to his cheek.

And hey. What the hell was that?

Yes, he’s seen the way Tommy looks at Steve Harrington to know there’s no way that there’s not a part of him that wants him in a way that is definitely not platonic.

But Eddie isn’t Steve Harrington (who makes every guy feel a little bit gay) he’s Eddie Munson. And this does not happen to him.

But, he reasons with himself that, hey, maybe he’s in a coma or something and this is his only chance to see what life would be like if he was… liked? That doesn’t seem to be the right word, but he doesn’t know how else to describe it.

Or maybe the universe decided he needs a break from his horrible second senior year.

Doubtful.

Nonetheless, he decides what the hell, why not go to skull rock and see what Tommy Hagan wants, despite everything in his being screaming THIS IS A BAD IDEA!!!

And a few feet into the forest, he hears the quick crunching of leaves and sticks as something approaches him and is nearly startled out of his skin by Steve Harrington of all people.

“You need to leave,” Steve pants out.

Eddie glances around and wonders if this is real.

“Eddie, I’m serious. You need to leave. Right now.”

Eddie crosses his arms. “Why?”

Steve sighs and runs his hands over his face. “Oh my god you remind me of Henderson. Okay. The basketball team is planning to ambush you because Billy thought it was a good idea or something. I don’t know. I overheard it in the locker room. And you have to leave.”

Eddie takes a moment to let it all sink in. And yeah, it adds up with the rest of the day, but also… “Why should I trust you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re Steve Harrington. You’re on the basketball team. What if you’re part of the trap?”

Steve shakes his head. “I’m not really friends with any of them.” His head whips around when a cracking noise sounds out a good distance away. “Let’s go,” Steve says, grabbing Eddie’s hand and tugging him away.

Eddie plants his feet and stays in place. “You’re going to have to prove to me in some way that you’re not in on this.”

Steve runs a hand through his hair and pinches his lips together. “I don’t know how!”

“Then tell me why you’re going against all of them to help me.”

Steve’s brows furrow for a moment before he puts his hands on his hip. “Because I’ve been on the receiving end of a Billy attack and that was before he lost the little control he had over his sort of sister that like kept him weirdly grounded or something. But ever since, he’s been itching for a fight, okay? And he doesn’t hold back. He could kill you.”

Half of it doesn’t make sense to Eddie, but something about Steve’s tone makes him believe that he’s telling the truth. But there’s still a small part of him that wants to doubt him.

“Kiss me.”

“What?” Steve asks, exasperated.

“If you’re in on it, you won’t be able to. Tommy barely even got my cheek-”

“He did what?”

“And,” Eddie continues, ignoring Steve, “if you’re not in on it, you’ll know that this means literally nothing to the both of us, and I’ll run back to my van immediately.”

Steve stares at him for a second as if he’s out of his mind - which he is, really - before stepping closer and asking, “You’ll really leave? Straight away? No poking around the woods because you’re curious?”

“Yeah,” he confirms with a nod. He smiles at Steve’s hesitation and says, “So, you are in on i-”

Only for Steve to quickly close the distance between them, weaving his hands into Eddie’s hair and pulling him close as he kisses him deeply, lingering for a few moments before pulling away, breath coming out heavier than before.

They both stare at each other for a moment, neither of them saying a word until another crunching sound appears closer than before and a voice calls out, “Eddie?”

Steve takes Eddie hand and runs, only for Eddie to pull him the other way toward his van, still slightly not trusting him although he’s pretty sure Steve’s tongue may have grazed the inside of his mouth. But that’s a thought for a later day.

As soon as the van is in sight, Eddie lets out a deep breath, happy to see it’s untouched before he runs and unlocks it, yelling for Steve to get in before starting it and taking off.

Once he’s on the road, he turns to Steve and asks, “You think we lost them?”

Steve nods and sighs, “I hope they don’t find my car though.”

“Where is it?” Eddie asks, quick to turn around when Steve directs him.

He’s not far from where Eddie was parked before, but with the risk of being discovered, Eddie is quick to stop his car and tell Steve, “Go!”

But Steve takes a moment and looks back at him, and Eddie’s suddenly scared that maybe he read this all wrong and Steve really is in on the trap. But then Steve asks, “And what if I asked you to convince me to go?”

It takes Eddie a second to register what the hell he’s talking about before he’s glancing back at the trees, searching for any movement before leaning over and breathing out, “I have got to be in a coma or something.”

There’s a brief sharp pain in his arm that has him yelping before he registers that Steve pinched him. “Maybe not,” Steve says, leaning closer to close the distance between them again, deepening the kiss in the short amount of time they have and quickly pulling away, leaving Eddie desperate for more.

“I’ll see you around. Thanks for listen to me,” Steve says before hopping out of the van and running to his car.

Eddie takes a moment to breathe before realizing he needs to get the hell out of there, and he quickly speeds off wondering if this is real life.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The next day, things go back to the way they used to be, but any time Tommy sees him, he turns an ugly shade of red which is accompanied by laughs of, “Eddie Munson stood you up.”

It’s nice at first, but two periods in, he’s already had enough of the dumb jabs people take at him until someone knocks a notebook out of his hands and it goes flying toward a nice blue pair of Adidas.

Eddie bends down at the same time as the other person does, and they both grab the book. When Eddie glances up, he makes eye contact with none other than Steve who gives him a small, private smile.

“Harrington,” Tommy says in an accusatory tone that has Steve frowning before standing back up, leaving the notebook in Eddie’s hand.

As he walks away, he turns back and gives him an apologetic smile that makes Eddie wonder if this is what Romeo and Juliet felt like.

The thought makes his nose wrinkle up before he stands up and goes about his day as if he doesn’t know what it’s like to be kissed by Steve Harrington. And a big part of him hopes that maybe he’ll get another weird day where Steve Harrington plays hero for him. And another part of him hopes that if he really is in a coma, he’ll wake up with Steve waiting for him on the other side.

[listofwhyyouloveher]

How the gang would be with cuteness aggression, like what you were doing to cause it and all that

Summary: The Gang with cuteness agression Warning: none Author's Note: none PONYBOY CURTIS Most of the time Ponyboy finds cuteness agression annoying, he has to deal with people treating him like a kid all the time so he keeps it in mind not to do it to others. However, sometimes he can't resist and he just gets giddy because to him you're so cute. He'll keep it at bay and side hug you when you walk by but he's genuinely so infatuated with you. You don't have to be doing much to cause it, it's more based on his mood than anything. If he's feeling happy and a little more relaxed, you're more likely to get a reaction out of him. JOHNNY CADE Johnny doesn't like cuteness agression either, he thinks it belittles him and others and also he's really unused to it so he finds it rather awkward He'll only do it when he's really tired, when he's delerious from sleep. He usually tries to not do it because he doesn't want to belittle you but when he's tired he's willing to give in. You two just happen to be falling asleep in the lot when he snuggles up to you and falls asleep. That's about all he will do though, except maybe the occasional squeeze of the hand when you're together. SODAPOP CURTIS Sodapop lives for cuteness agression, he likes it a lot and finds it fun when either he or you initiates it. He probably likes it because secretly he's a little childish and gets shy and stuff when you compliment him. He does it whenever he needs a little boost in mood, because if he gives it to you, chances are you give it back. It's not transactional but more a tradition lol. Whenever he finds you alone or when it just you and his family he'll do get cuteness agression with you. He prefers to not do it in front of the rest of the gang except Steve and definetly not infront of strangers. STEVE RANDLE Steve isn't a super big fan of cuteness agression, he's just not the kind of guy to squeeze the cheeks of his girlfriend like a grandma. He prefers to show his affection through other things. However, he'll do it once and a while when he's piss drunk. He'll walk up to you and squeeze one of your cheeks till its red while giggling like a mad man.

Steve, who is not unlike Sodapop, will only do it around Soda or in private. He doesn't want to show the whole world your private life so he likes to keep it with people he trusts. TWO BIT MATHEWS Two Bit doesn't dislike cuteness agression, he just doesn't care for it a lot. He doesn't think about it a lot so he never does it and in the end he just finds other ways to mess with you. He, like Steve, only does it when he's drunk, although it doesn't take quite as much liquor to get him there as he's more aware of cuteness agression, unlike Steve. He likes to squish your face like a fish when he's in a good mood and drunk, usually when you two are alone and watching a movie at night. Although he's open to acting goofy in public when he's intoxicated. DARRY CURTIS Darry likes to pamper his girlfriend, so he actually gets a really bad case of cuteness agression when you're around. He doesn't act on it but he thinks that you're the best thing thats happened to him. When he can, he'll pick you up and hold you really tightly, and sometimes spin you around to get you to laugh. He likes doing it to see you smile or laugh but he also like picking you up and being close with you. He'll do it where ever he wants, the gang knows better than to poke fun at him because he's twice as strong as they are and he supplies them a house. They'll often laugh at you two and call you lovebirds, but that's as far as the teasing goes. DALLAS WINSTON I hate to be the bringer of bad news but Dallas Winston would not get cuteness agression. Theres nothing I can think of to write in this section. The best case scenario is that he does get extremely pissed at you and instead gets only a normal amount of pissed at you. And only if he's feeling extra nice for some strange and deranged reason, (bro is NOT getting off the naughty list)

[hana-no-seiiki]

how they act around reader! you know the usual, how horny they get and how the reader is potentially uncomfortable because not even they can handle the harems hormones.

MIDNIGHT DARLING HEAD-CANNONS (Unang Yugto / First Part)

YANDERE COLLEGE BASED OCS x READER

Hoo boy we have a lot of characters to go through and I haven’t even named all of them so *cracks knuckles* Let’s go with my favorite children for now.

warnings: dead dove do not eat territory here. yandere themes (lotsa violence). please don’t read this if you have a wild imagination like me oh god im aboutta faint at darling’s section. cannibalism. knife play. necrophillia. a transphobic society.

[previous ask for more context]

[next part] - yandere! faculty

Let’s start with our boy Justin Del Rosario [Yan Jock]

He’s incredibly sweet and caring. At least when you two were dating. The type to always check in on you. Always makes sure you’re hydrated and keeping up with your self-care routines.

As if popular! reader isn’t completely meticulous when it comes to their image.

Looks like a bad boy but is an actual sweetheart. Your relationship started off as a transaction of sorts. Being the softie he is though he developed feelings. Quick. The masochist.

Is a whole ass push-over when it comes to you.

Now post break-up Justin is a bit of a freak.

Like I said in my previous post of his experience as your boyfriend, he has gone through shit.

Suddenly his grades are perfect. People are actually tolerating if not appreciating his presence.

He’s becoming a threat to your place as the ruler of the campus.

But unlike you his fans aren’t declined atrocious yet.

How does Popular! Reader feel about him? Not much really. Their whole relationship was a transaction to them. I can’t emphasize how much of an apathetic bitch I wrote reader to be ya’ll I’m sorry. But in order for their harem to thrive they gotta turn a blind eye.

In terms of Horni Levels it’s uh - not so bad. Once he lost his virginity to you (yes you took his virginity) he found it to be the best stress relief and got addicted. But he’s also super respectful of your boundaries.

That was when you were originally dating though. He’d probably pound you to oblivion if you ever got back together. Pent up horni does that.

Actually, that event might not even need them getting back together. I won’t be surprised if current Justin just takes you even with his relationship with Darling.

For your favorite, Darling De Leon [yan good girl] . . .

⚠️THIS IS THE PART WHERE IT’S DEFINITELY DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT.

Hella shy around you. You almost didn’t know she existed if it weren’t for her consistent placement as second. At least before Isabel came and Justin’s grades shot up.

She has a pretty shit past.

Has always been a little scared of you.

Extremely possessive. She had always been overshadowed by her siblings, and her time abroad without you had really shattered her self confidence. Although she’s deathly afraid her past actions would be revealed, she’s more scared of losing you to someone else.

She thought that by agreeing to date Justin, you’d think of him as disgusting for moving on so fast.

Definitely enjoyed her time on your lap a little too much.

Which brings me to Horni Levels.

If you think Justin is bad. Darling is just the worst out of all the yanderes. She’s the kinkiest one too. She has been saving herself for you, waiting for the time you corrupt her. Hoping that by that time, every obstacle has been removed.

The type to have you fuck her atop the corpses of her rivals kind of kinky. The type to fantasize about you using a knife and inserting in every way possible inside her type of kinky. The type of kinky to fuck your dead body or eat any and every part of you to fully make you two as one.

She’ll own you, dead or alive, one way or another.

How popular! reader feels about her is again, indifference. Maybe a little horni for her soft aesthetic and cute demeanor. Definitely plans to gobble her up once Justin is done playing pretend.

A character that hasn’t been mentioned yet is Isabel Labrador [yan! nerd]

Isabel used to go by the name Isaiah. She used to be pretty alright with being assigned male at birth until popular! reader suddenly announced one day that she’s more horni towards women.

She got disowned for transitioning, and like Darling, disappeared from your life for quite a bit that you forgot about her.

Similar to many of the harem members, she’s very pliant to your whims. She does many of the assignments and projects that aren’t worth your time or would lead to you lacking sleep.

Not like the professors assign you much.

A bit of a whiny brat. Used to be hella spoiled when she was younger so she’s a lot more outspoken when it comes to your sexual escapades. This leads to you beating her up the most out of everyone in the harem.

Popular! Reader is the only one who knows she’s a trans and is surprisingly very respectful about that part about her.

The two of you are mostly amicable.

Horni Levels: Pretty normal for a young adult. Loves to tease you by showing more skin sometimes. Though she always covers up when anyone else is in the picture.

Her hella religious upbringing made her pretty conservative about sex and all that but it’s often balls to the wall when they see you. Literally. Never knew she was into pegging til you took her one day.

How popular! reader feels about her? Mostly a means to an end. She’s the least careful when it comes to her simpery. It gets tiring having to discipline her every time but the angry sex makes up for it.

This one will be short since I plan on him and the rest to be minor characters. Nobody knows how Ricardo Peralta [yan! president] became the President with how much he hates your ass.

People who voted for him were probably like. ‘If a person who doesn’t even want [Y/N] became president. We won’t have a threat.’

Jokes on them he has more notes on you than the entire student body combined.

Boy is the Candace to your Phineas/Ferb. His entire mission is to bust your ass. (and for you to bust a nut in his-)

…

You don’t even know he exists.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST LET’S TALK ABOUT YOU.

It was almost as if you were made to be the apple of everyone’s eye. Not one person in campus could remember a time where they didn’t know you.

No, it was more like they didn’t want to. Why imagine a terrible era such as that?

A lot of the students from the college are spoiled brats that absolutely adored how cut throat you were. How you weren’t afraid to put them in their place unlike those push-overs they usually meet. Some were just drawn to your charisma and confidence.

Or well, just general fuckability.

People think you’re also rich but you just get a lot of stuff from the students with money.

Your birthday is a bloodbath and a half. You started celebrating it alone so that people wouldn’t see your reactions to the gifts. Both because you wanted to keep them guessing and ‘cause the person whose gift is liked will probably get murdered.

You have to routinely check for cameras or tracking devices.

It takes you every bit of your self control not to just twerk in front of the camera if not give it the finger by fucking someone who you know is innocent right in front of it. They don’t even get to see you properly in the angle.

You strategically use pussy as both a punishment and incentive.

It’s super effective!

It’s super effective.

You often use pussy to discipline or incentivize your harem. It’s super effective. At least, considering you haven’t been kidnapped and/or killed yet.

You’re a bit of a sadist.

Yeah you’re a bit of a sadist.

Popular! Reader uses pussy a lot to keep everyone in check. You’re used to giving your body away to get what you want that you’ve become numb to it.

No one is normal in this College. Not even you.

You don’t even know he exists.

[stromuprisahat]

Both show and book Darkling is good, but I think I like the book version a bit more because he's more complicated. What you said is true about the book version. He doesn't want to love Alina, but he ends up catching feelings for her anyway. In book 3, I think his feelings for her become borderline obesession and a twisted version of love. Baghra told him in TDITW that she would destroy a hundred villages if it meant keeping him safe. That's her version of "I love you." I honestly think Sasha is confused by these feelings and just doesn't know how to respond to them

note: Ask was sent before season two came out. (probably the post refered to)

His mother's influence certainly played a part. Another would be his age, all that he's been through and lack of other lasting emotional attachments. His love never had a chance to manifest in some pure, innocent way.

Baghra raised him to have ties to no one but her. While preparing him to survive in any way she could think of, she ironically denied him one of the basic human propensities- he wasn't allowed to naturally socialize. All interaction with "outsiders" were about caution, sizing up and possible gain or loss. He was taught to expect a transaction. Not even his mother's love was unconditional, and I have a feeling he might consider the concept a foolishness.

When you look at the outline of his past, he learnt he'll lose everyone he might grow attached to, and not necessarily to old age. How many times did he have to watch his loved ones murdered, killed by accident or illness, grow distant or outright betray him? No wonder he clings to his mother even once he's aware she's bad for him. No wonder he sort of wants Alina only to himself. Why would she try to abandon him, if he were the only thing she has? He, himself knows the alternative would be being alone and Alina doesn't really want that any more than he does.

Her immortality ensures the likelihood of loosing her to death is as little as it can be, so he's free to deal with other, less violent "risks".

I'm gonna admit I'd be much more sympathetic to Alina's situation, were he not right about harmfulness of her relationship with Malyen and her clinging to her past in general. I'd also say his aversion to Nikolai isn't only about jealousy. That can of worms is deeper than simple "He proposed to my girl!".

[chaifootsteps]

building on what other anon said about shippers saying Blitzo thinks all relationships are transactional and he can't fathom Stolas loving him

they're dead on, it's completely attempting to shift the blame. just like Viv trying to recast Blitz as the one who's hung up on sex, it's trying to make Blitz responsible for it being transactional

except that's not the case; Blitz improv-ed sleeping with Stolas to get out of there unscathed it wasn't his plan from the start. after the first time all he wanted was the book, he tried to avoid Stolas. the circus doesn't remotely prove what they claim it does

Stolas is the one who made the terms transactional and Blitz just responded in kind (the 'it's your night' text for one). only later did Viv give Blitz this 'I need to earn my way to earth' hangup that he never had before

but worse than this, worse than trying to let Stolas off the hook by implying Blitz would only respond to a transactional arrangement, is what they're saying about Blitz

because this statement boils down to 'it's OK to treat a traumatized person in an abusive transactional way if it's what they're used to and all they understand. they won't respond to love! (and if someone switches gears on them suddenly it's further evidence of how traumatized and broken they are if they don't immediately respond or trust them)'

which is BS? Striker complimented Blitz one time and his face lit up like the 4th of July. because it meant something to have someone not look down on him, to have someone recognize the effort going into his business.

same with his makeup with Fizz. he hugs Blitz and Blitz is just a gooey pile of happy tears

and he was outright dating Verosika. what was transactional there, fandom? is Blitz capable of dating someone or isn't he?

if Stolas had treated him right from the start he would have opened up little by little, but Stolas right off the bat communicated to Blitz that trusting him is a bad idea and that Blitz is his object and should act like it.

this kind of framing is so grim because besides the fact that instagram Stolas literally proves them wrong - Blitz was opening up to him bit by bit - it's such a grim response to someone with trauma. it's claiming it's fine to do something that reinforces exactly what they're afraid of - in Blitz's case, that they're an object only good for sex who will be discarded once their 'partner' gets bored - instead of treating them with patience and kindess and letting them open up on their own time because they know they're safe with you

sure Blitz would always doubt a little when someone drops the L word on him - but he'd doubt it a lot less and feel a lot safer to respond calmly if he trusted the person doing it.

it's just so backwards in every way - it puts the onus on Blitz for Stolas' lousy treatment of him and ignores all the times he does respond positively to being treated well

so much of this logic just also feels like cope that Blitz maybe just doesn't want Stolas and that's why he doesn't respond well, even outside of Stolas never giving him reason to

The Instagrams really are one of the most painful things about all of this...this painful, bittersweet sliver of what we could have had if Viv didn't get off to power imbalances. They showed that it really could have been as simple as Stolas treating Blitzo with respect and earning his trust.

Fiction might not have a hard, immediate effect on reality, but I genuinely believe this show's relationships and trauma is going to get someone hurt in real life.

[aihoshiino]

Episode 3 Rewatch: "Manga Based TV Drama"

YEAH WE'RE BACK ON THESE AGAIN!!! As much fun as the liveblog format was, I found it was actually getting in the way of me *doing* the liveblog (it could take multiple hours for me to watch and queue up One Single Episode) so I've decided to return to a format a bit more like my chapter reviews just in the desperate hopes of getting these actually done before season 2 airs. In the immortal words of Brian H oobh i got plany off time. But let's get to it real quick anyway!!!

I have a really soft spot in my heart for episode 3 in particular because it was the first episode I actually anticipated watching after I got into the show - episodes 1 & 2 were already out when I fully contracted brainworms so episode 3 was the first one I had to actually wait for. A lot of the cuts from it are like carved into my brain because I watched that episode preview so many times while waiting for it to air lol…

I've said this before but the anime's take on her really is what turned me into an active Kana Enjoyer. Megumi Han's delightful performance and her character acting an animation all combine to make it really hard not to be endeared to her. Her excitement at being reunited with Aqua is really cute, too - I remember Han saying that she was specifically told not to play Kana as a girl meeting an old crush but as someone excitedly reuniting with an old friend and I think that's particularly sweet. The AQKN dynamic at its heart is kind of just two lonely kids who don't have a lot of other connections that aren't couched in transactional utility creating a space together where they can just exist without any ulterior motives.

gotanda's words being visualized as literally skewering kana is so fucking funny too. bro killed her. you really can't blame her for biting back during dinner later lol

Kana's putting on a pretty positive face about it, but knowing how deeply alone and abanoned she feels by her parents, it's hard to not feel really sad about this scene. She's chipper about it but this is the first hint towards Kana's current honestly kind of dire circumstances we'll see get expanded on all the way to the end of the anime.

Aqua's refusal to let Kana see his old acting is also really interesting to me. Intentionally or not, it feels like it's sewing the seeds for some stuff in Tokyo Blade; Aqua respects Kana's acting and Kana herself as a professional to the degree that he doesn't want to 'lose' to her in that sense. Or rather, he'd be embarrassed to have someone he respects seeing him stumble like that - a little like Ruby's freakout in episode 1 over the idea of Ai, specifically, seeing her be bad at dancing.

Aqua trying to play it cool and then immediately nerding out when Kana mentions Sweet Today is so so so so soooooooo cute. I love it when that side of his personality pokes out…

KABURAGI NAMEDROP JUMPSCARE!!!!! i made the same face, aqua... I won't go into my Kaburagi Villain Propaganda here, but it really is so deeply suspicious that Kaburashi was on her oldest, most private phone…

KANA'S LITTLE 'I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE' MOMENT………. AQUMELT REAL AFTER ALL…. (NOT CLICKBAIT)

ruby's lain brand milk vexes and haunts me

Aqua's quietly pained, guilty expression when Ruby misreads his intentions for becoming an actor is so good, as is his cold internal dismissal of Ai's wish… it's funny to see him insisting he's not doing this for Ai's sake when really, everything Aqua does comes back to his mom.

Man, though. What even is there to say about the Sweet Today bits lmao. Holy shit. Particular shout out to Melt's seiyuu, Seiji Maeda, for making his in-character acting so authentically awkward and clunky without it coming off as overwrought or like he himself was giving a bad performance. That's suuuuuch a delicate thread to weave but he does it exceptionally well.

This scene also has one of my all time favourite punch ups from the manga - in the original, Ruby just kind of gets the manga from nowhere and makes the comparisons that way but the anime makes Aqua the one to go get his copy and start silently flipping through it to compare until Ruby snatches it… it really is the perfect teeing up for him to run off and tattle to Kana even though he was pretending he didn't give a shit lol. Dork ass boy.

This talk at the karaoke bar is really good, too. The directing is pretty simply but I feel like the anime producton really shows off just how strong its expression and character acting work is here which does a lot to help along what's otherwise a very static conversation. The contrast in Aqua and Kana's energy is also very fun - Aqua's really still while Kana's very animated.

The manga hasn't really touched on this in a while but the content of the conversation here also starts a thread that I really liked in the early parts of Oshi no Ko about how hard it is to create good art in an environment like the entertainment industry. Tokyo Blade centers this more and is almost explicitly a follow up to Sweet Today's exploration of this idea but the seeds are sewn here, of the necessary compromises that need to be made just to get something out the door and how that can ultimately destroy the final product no matter how many well-meaning and passionate people are doing their absolute best to make something worth engaging with.

i'm also pretty sure this talk is the first time we see aqua smile after episode 1… cute.

The directing also really shines in that little moment at the end where Kana grabs Aqua's hand. In prior cuts, the two are visually separated in that they're both sat apart and there are multiple lines running between them in the background to section them off from each other.

But then just as Kana breeches Aqua's defenses and disarms him, she physically reaches past all these little barriers to finally get into his space. It's subtle but well done.

His wide-eyed slightly stunned face is also really sweet. We see this look on Aqua a lot when it comes to Kana and it always makes me smile a bit. She's excellent at getting under his skin whether she means to or not.

"now my body has caught up with my mental age" says aqua, confirming his mental age is that of a teenager, and mfs are still out here acting like he's a 30 year old man.

Oof, oof and oof. Kana's little speech here already makes me so soft and knowing how it's going to be utterly spat upon in just a moment by Kaburagi's callousness towards her just makes it hurt even more. We continually see reference to this supposed good relationship between Kana and Kaburagi during this episode and so knowing that he's ultimately just another shitty adult taking advantage of her clear desperation… masaya kaburagi when i see you it's on sight

This is also a really fantastic character moment for Aqua, I think. He himself says he's done everything he needed to do on set, so there's no need for him to start shit like he does. It's purely out of respect and fondness for Kana as a person and anger on her behalf as a fellow actor. For as much as Aqua likes to convince himself he's a coldhearted bastard, he really just cannot help himself when it comes to leaping in and helping people. He's a lot like Ai in that once somebody has his heart, he's theirs for good.

i also just have to fucking Scream at this cut of him. it hit me like a fucking TRUCK when this episode dropped. because it doesn't quite look like the equivalent panel of the manga, does it?

But doesn't it feel super familiar, even so? Doesn't it remind you of something? I wonder wh-

OSHI NO KO ANIME STAFF, WHEN I GET YOU!!!!!! (ENRAGED) (POSITIVE)

[ditto-the-alien]

in less than 60 days, It will have been a year since blaseball was suddenly canceled.

TRUST ME, THE OTHER TAGS WILL MAKE SENSE IN A LITTLE WHILE.

Blaseball, in its 2.867 Years of existence, was many things. but the easiest way to describe it is "Good". It had a very incredible fanbase that still kind of mourns the game to this day. the devs had a panel at GDC in 2022. It was nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Game Writing in 2021 and also the "Best Video Game" at The Hugo Awards in 2021. It won the Nuovo Award at the independent games festival in 2021. people could observe the games happening, gamble fake money, and also affect how the story and the characters would develop at certain points. It was a great game, that sadly was canceled because the cost that was needed to run the game was too high for the team at the game band to support, at least according to wikipedia. It being dead is also a major part in proving that there is no justice in the universe because of it not being here, yet SILENT HILL ASCENSION SOMEHOW HASN'T KICKED THE BUCKET YET.

Now for all Silent Hill fans who have blocked that game out of their memory, and for everyone who has no idea what Silent Hill Ascension IS, here is a refresher:

"Released" on October 31st, 2023 (which was already a bad day for me, but I am NOT getting into that), Silent Hill Ascension is an interactive thing (listen its not a tv show, and it isnt a video game. the developers say that its "the best of both", but lets be honest its more of the WORST of both) that is canon to the silent hill franchise.

people can observe the games happening, gamble fake money, and also affect how the story and the characters would develop at certain points. Yes, I know this sounds EXACTLY the same as what I described blaseball as, but thats because I purposefully oversimplified both games a bit. Silent Hill Ascencion has bland writing (so bland people even thought it was AI), all the mechanical depth of a bad mobile game, and all the horrible microtransactions (loot boxes, a season pass, and something else I will get into later) as well. Blaseball, as previously mentioned, was nominated for several story writing awards, had enough mechanical depth that some fans created a SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIVE TO ANALYZE IT, and at the time it died, NEVER had any micro transactions or a fee to enter.

Remember how both games use fake money? In Blaseball, those who were in the 1% of money havers had all their coins distributed to the other players. In Silent Hill Ascension, you can literally just buy so many "Influence Points" that you can manipulate the entire fucking story, and you can hoard them for as long as you fucking want. Also, Something else I want to mention: Literally nobody talks about Silent Hill Ascension because its so bad. hell, and those that do talk about it DON'T have anything good to say. very few people play it, and there are a shit ton of bots that the devs added so it feels like more people are actually watching. Silent Hill Ascension has reached lower lows than blaseball ever did, and is less than half a year old. So why the hell is it still alive, when a game that did its entire stick better is fucking dead. THE ONLY REASON I CAN THINK OF FOR IT BEING ALIVE IS BECAUSE ITS SUPPORTED BY FUCKING KONAMI.

There is no justice in the world.

[the-himawari]

A3! Settsu Banri - Translation [SSR] MANKAI Feature (3/3)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

Izumi: (David offers a deal to another prisoner to procure the items that Ren requested.)

David [Banri]: “Here’s the deal. If you have a route to the outside, then I’m sure you also have what’s written on this memo.”

Prisoner A: “Ha. You’ve certainly got some attitude askin’ someone for something.”

David [Banri]: “I’m sayin’ it’s a deal. I’m not asking you do to something unilaterally, alright?”

Prisoner A: “Since you’ve said that, you’ve got something to give to me, right?”

David [Banri]: “I’ll pay you the same amount as the last transaction.”

Prisoner A: “The same as last time? That ain’t enough. What about double?”

David [Banri]: “What the hell? Are you screwin’ with me?”

Prisoner A: “So you can’t cough it up? Then I’ve got nothing to say to ya.”

Izumi: (David usually deals smartly, but he was in a hurry this time since he was involved in Ren's prison break plan.) (Because of that, David got taken advantage of and he grew frustrated. Suddenly, a photo fell out of his pocket.) (It was a photo of David’s father.)

Prisoner A: “Huh? What’s this picture?”

David [Banri]: “! Don’t touch that!”

Prisoner A: “Oh, what’s this? It seems pretty important to ya, huh?” “Or does naiive little David get all wound up when his stuff gets touched a lil by someone else?”

David [Banri]: “You bastard…!”

*punches*

Prisoner A: “Woah!? What, you wanna go!? Take this!”

*punches*

David [Banri]: “Geh!”

*fight continues*

Izumi: (With his competitive nature to begin with, David reached his limit and a huge fist fight ensued.)

-pause-

Izumi: (After a guard broke them up, David calmed down and got his hands on what he wanted…)

David [Banri]: “*Sigh*… geez, that took a lotta extra effort.” “…?” “…My picture’s gone. Don’t tell me during that scuffle just now—.”

Ren [Azami]: “Hey, is this what you’re lookin’ for?”

David [Banri]: “Ren!”

Ren [Azami]: “I picked it up after the throwdown earlier. Here."

David [Banri]: “T-thanks… my bad.”

Ren [Azami]: “…Is that your family with you in the picture?”

David [Banri]: “…That’s my dad. I mentioned him briefly when I took on your request, but he’s in the hospital right now and it doesn’t look like he has much time left.” “I caused a lotta trouble for my dad. …I wanna see him and talk with him one more time.”

Ren [Azami]: “…I know how you feel. I feel the same way, y’know?”

David [Banri]: “Really now?”

Izumi: (Ren sympathized with David’s story that was a bit like his own.)

-pause-

Izumi: (However, a few days later… the news of Ren’s death reached David’s ears.)

David [Banri]: “Ren died…!?” “I… see…” “…”

Renato [Sakyo]: “…So that’s what happened, huh?” “That’s too bad… but you'll get another chance one day.”

*Renato pats David*

David [Banri]: “Right…”

*Renato walks away*

David [Banri]: “…? What the? There’s somethin’ in my chest pocket…” “Gum…? Did Renato just do that?” “Ha… that ain’t like him.”

-pause-

Izumi: (It was the night before David planned to break out of prison with Shaw and the others. He payed Renato a visit.)

David [Banri]: “You’ve helped me a lot. I dropped by to say bye. Here’s my thanks.”

Renato [Sakyo]: “Hm. Your thanks is a piece of gum?”

David [Banri]: “I thought it’d be shitty workin’ under someone. But it was surprisingly not that bad.”

Renato [Sakyo]: “Glad to hear that.”

David [Banri]: “Are you sure you don’t wanna leave this place?”

Renato [Sakyo]: “I’ve still got things to do here. You’ve got your own stuff, don’tcha?”

David [Banri]: “…Yeah, I do.”

Renato [Sakyo]: “This is my partin’ gift. Take it.”

Izumi: (Renato slapped David on the chest and returned the gum he received.)

David [Banri]: “Haha. Well, keep your chin up.”

Renato [Sakyo]: “You too.”

-pause-

Izumi: (After that, David successfully escaped from prison and parted ways with Shaw and the others.)

David [Banri]: “First, I’ll give my dad a call…” “…Crap. Even if I call from a payphone, I don’t have any coins on me.” “*Sigh*. All I’ve got in my pocket is some gum—.” “! No way, why're there coins…” “…Is this from Renato? That guy, tryna be cool.”

*inserts coins and dials*

David’s dad: “…Hello?”

David [Banri]: “Dad…”

David’s dad: “…David? Is that you?”

David [Banri]: (His voice is weak, but he’s alive. …Thank God. I made it in time.) “Yeah, it’s me. I’m gonna head over to see you now.”

-pause-

Banri: …Ah, hey. I know this is sudden, but I’m gonna come over for a visit this weekend. Huh? Why the phone call? …Just ‘cause. See ya.

*hangs up*

Izumi: Are you going home over the weekend?

Banri: Yeah. I’ll send a LIME in the group chat later, but I won’t need any food this weekend.

Izumi: Sure, got it.

Banri: Aight… Oh, I’ve already gotten messages on my socials.

Izumi: You also got some fan letters. I’ll leave them here, okay? (…Banri-kun’s concentrated on reading his messages and fan letters. I won’t interrupt him.)

-pause-

Izumi: ! You’re here, Sakyo-san?

Sakyo: I was gonna enter the lounge. But I felt like I would’ve interrupted if I did.

Izumi: You don’t have to just stand here and watch…!

Sakyo: …He’s sincere, isn’t he?

Izumi: Yeah. I’m sure Banri-kun knows better than anyone that the fact he can stand on stage is because he has fans who believe in him and support him. Banri-kun didn’t say it, but this role was chosen by his fans… I think he considered his fans more than usual when he performed his play the other day.

Sakyo: Yeah, I think so too.

Izumi: (I feel more and more excited to see… what kind of performances Banri-kun will show us in the future.)

---

previous |

[lightofraye]

Hi there!

Per your request, I'm keeping your name private. I also reached out to you to let you know and talked a little bit.

First off, you didn't come across as scattered, so no worries there.

Second, to address your message... oof. I had a bit of emotional whiplash. Like.. I'm glad someone is finding my blog helpful! But I wish it wasn't true, or accurate, or addressing abuse that so many of us have endured.

So! Now to your message.

Exactly! Even those who didn't come from abuse experience will recognize the bad signs. Whether it's having better emotional intelligence, knowledge of psychology, whatever. Others have noted it too.

I'm still struggling to watch the full AD House tour, in part because of all the nasty things Danneel has said, and in part because you can just see how unhappy Jensen is.

Yes. The stories Jensen tells in conventions do point to extreme detachment and unhappiness. There's a lack of warmth, genuine feeling. Not nearly enough affection in those stories. Too many "She told me what to do" and "She's a shark" (again, in business acument, that's a BAD THING) and "She's scary spice". He even mentioned once he gets out of her way because he isn't stupid or suicidal. That's just… not a good thing to mention about your spouse. Ever.

And yes, the Hollywood obligations don't help. He's trying to sell the family man image, but those who aren't his fanatical fans see right through them. It doesn't help at all.

Yes. Jensen had said in a few cons that his father would beat him with a belt, to the point where Jensen knew thinner belts actually hurt more. He was always made to choose the belt. And his father would push the cruel narrative that it was out of love.

I believe it was Jensen and/or his groomsman that mentioned his father also pushed him to go through with the wedding with Danneel because he made an investment in her. As if relationships are transactional! (They're NOT.)

I agree. Just watching him go through this, seeing the immense unhappiness in him all the time, and the way he does whatever he can to avoid being home…. It all points to Danneel making him miserable and holding the children hostage.

I hope he gets out of it soon. Seeks therapy and finds himself again.

Thank you for your kind words and support. Sometimes I feel like it's pointless… largely because of some of the abuse I get from anons and the harsh, cruel things I see on social media elsewhere.

Thank you.

For you, I mean this genuinely: I hope you have a life full of light and love, away from your abusers.

[moni-logues]

The ~engagement 'issue'~

I feel like I'm seeing more and more posts about readers' lack of engagement with writers on here and I now want to say something. I don't say things short so buckle in lmao

TL;DR: idgaf if you, readers, comment on my shit or not. I care that you enjoy it and, if you did, job complete, mission accomplished, well done. I want to be part of a community, not a service provider/'content creator'. I write because I want to and getting to hear people's thoughts and feedback is just a huge fucking bonus to that. Also, readers I love you.

I love my readers. All of them, loud and silent alike. Readers who comment with long reviews, pulling out quotes or bits they liked, reacting with predictions or responding to the characters. Readers who just comment that they really liked it! that it was good! Readers who like. Readers who read and leave no mark at all. Readers who follow me and readers who come across something I wrote another way, who didn't follow me before and don't after. I am deeply grateful that anyone takes the time to read the things I write, whether you've read everything I've ever posted or just one drabble.

I know that all writers are similarly grateful to have this space and to have people here who read their work. I do, to a certain extent, understand the frustration with regards to like:comment ratios.

However.

I know that reviews take effort. I am a chronically unenthusiastic person and it takes a lot for me to summon the energy to respond how I feel I should, in a way that I think would make the writer happy, in a way that I feel is befitting how I actually feel about the fic I read. There are other reasons I have been reading less recently but one of the reasons is that I feel pressure to review every single thing I read. So I just don't read!!! Isn't that stupid???? Sure, I'm putting imaginary presure on myself by thinking I need to respond in a particular way and that is very much my problem (and I'm trying hard to address it and read/review more anyway), but I feel like readers are taking a bit of a bashing right now and I don't ever want readers to stop reading or to have the reading experience spoilt by feeling a pressure to respond.

I write because I enjoy it. When I first started writing, I had no followers. It took me months to get 100 followers. It took almost a year to get to 1k and then I started over with a brand new blog. I wrote all 60k of A Fine Line by myself, with absolutely no one else reading it because I wanted to. I love getting comments from readers; I love hearing people's thoughts about the shit I write; I love this little community here... But that's what it is: community. This is not transactional! or at least, I don't want it to be! I am not writing fics as a service for which I am paid in reblogs. I am being a fan of BTS with other fans of BTS and we are making up little stories and imagining scenarios and having all kinds of fun with each other, whether you write or gif or edit or just consume. We're in this together!

I saw once, I don't remember where or when, a thing that said, if you are feeling miserable, do something nice for someone else and it will lift your mood. This is, in my experience, absolutely correct. Writers, if you are feeling miserable about your engagment, engage with others the way you want people to with you, write a review for someone else's fic that would make your day if you received it. We writers are all readers, too, and we are not exempt from these ~criticisms~ just because we write.

I am not trying to ~call anyone out~ or, in turn, criticise writers. I'm not. I understand. I do. But every time I see one of these posts, it upsets me, because if I were an active, engaged reader, it would make me feel bad. If I were a silent reader, it would make me feel bad. I don't ever want to make anyone feel bad for enjoying something. Readers don't owe us anything! If this issue is ruining the writing experience for you, it is on you to examine that; it is not the fault of your readers. If it means that you no longer enjoy writing, stop writing. Our time on earth is short and precious! Let's spend it, as much as we can, doing things we enjoy! Not doing things that make us miserable!

Fin.

[aritany]

hey alex, i've only been following you for a little bit but your writing makes me want to Chew Things (in the best way!!) and i wanted to ask. how do you make writer friends especially if you're a bit younger? i have a. irrational fear of eventually publishing and having to reconcile my friends w/ family because my writing is queercoded and i really don't want to have that conversation with family yet 💀 i do want to eventually have my story Out but thinking about it makes me feel bad

anon, i wish i could give you a hug. i’ve been there. it’s really hard. not all family stories have happy endings, but some do. mine didn’t, so i can’t weigh in on that besides to say that it has been infinitely more freeing to exist as i am. take that with a grain (or a pinch or a tablespoon or two) of salt.

i personally was a writeblr lurker for literal years before i started posting and making friends at 20, so i can’t speak to making friends online as a younger person, so i’m calling on @unlicensedmortician and @ghostcasket (and perhaps @lothloriien and @inseptember if you have any insights?) to weigh in as friends of mine who started finding community young.

i’ll reblog their responses whenever they respond!

in the meantime: my general advice for making writer friends here is to be the cheerleader you’d like to have. it might feel a little transactional at first, but the trick is to not go into it expecting reciprocity. think someone’s project is interesting? tell them. like the way they write? hop in their inbox. there are thousands of incredible projects on here; it’s the easiest thing in the world to get excited, and it’s free to tell people you like what they do.

i also have a discord server for young writers! feel free to shoot me a DM here if you’d like an invite! (it’s open and this applies to anyone, no restrictions. i love the little community in there, they brighten my day every day)

lastly, just know you’re not alone. there are so many more of us out here than you can imagine. balancing your queerness with your family can be an exhausting and painful journey, but you’re not the first to walk it, and you won’t be the last. we carry each other through it.

(p.s. that struggle is pretty much what iwyw is about!)

[aer-arts]

alright, here goes, this is Aer rambling about Eden from Despair Time for however long this ends up being (preemptive apology if this is long and incomprehensible) some preliminary context, Danganronpa Despair Time is a Danganronpa fan series over on YouTube, it’s really good so far (I find myself liking it more than the canon games) and I’m going to be mentioning spoilers

Anyway, Eden is easily one of my favorite characters in the cast, and part of that is because she’s such a refreshing take on the nice/optimistic character trope. The thing that sets Eden apart however is her views on being nice/optimistic. Most of the time, when a character falls into this category, them being nice is simply innate to their character. Blank acts nice because they are just a nice person. Additionally, I just don’t see a lot of explicitly optimistic characters, and I feel like when they are around it’s seen as weakness and/or being naive in series or by the fans. Eden however is unique in the simple fact that she states ‘Kindness is a choice and that I’m not being weak when I choose to be optimistic.’ (Paraphrasing of course)

and that little detail is so much more interesting to me, and arguably feels more human. It’s easy to be rude or mean to someone, especially if people have been the same to you. Being kind and respectful is a choice you consciously have to make. Throughout the series everyone has just been awful to Eden, pretty much every attempt she’s made to be friendly to others has gone wrong for reasons outside of her control. So it’s telling and impactful to me that she still makes the choice to be kind. She’s not doing it to gain anything, “relationships are not transactional”, instead she’s doing it because that’s how she wants to live. This creates the idea of ‘you aren’t a good person because you were born that way, you’re a good person because you choose to be that way’ which is a message I don’t see often and I feel could be a really interesting theme going forward. Also, it’s worth pointing out that Eden isn’t above blackmail, in context I do feel like it’s justified and Teruko needed that motivation because isolation is terrible for you, but still, kindness is a choice and being kind doesn’t make you immune to using underhanded tactics. Her optimism falls into a similar boat as well. Despair time doesn’t seem to be about hope like mainline, it’s more about trust and distrust. But Eden still someone embodies the idea of hope. From personal experience, it’s really easy to fall into a pessimistic mindset and it just sucks. Looking for the good in things not only helps improve my own mental health, but it makes it easier to just enjoy things. Even bad things can have silver linings or aspects that are well done. Being able to find these elements makes life worth living in my book. As mentioned, Eden has had an especially awful time this series and likely blames herself for the death of at least 2 people. (I’ve seen comments saying that she got over Arei’s death too fast and that makes her sus, my counter argument is that no, she didn’t, she’s just putting off her grief because she needs to focus if she doesn’t want to die, I’ll bet that after this trial she’ll allow herself to feel said grief. The trial system is not designed to let people process their emotions) Additionally, while her secret is arguably one of the most harmless ones, it’s effects on Eden are a bit hard to tell just cause we don’t know much about her life prior to the killing game, it still causes her worry about how she relates to others and opening that window of ‘depending on how people react I may be outcasted by everyone I trusted’. My point in this is that Eden is aware that the world sucks and that things don’t always go well, but she still chooses to be hopeful despite that. Her optimism is a strength, and it’s how she’s choosing to fight the high stress environment of the killing game

In this way, in my opinion at least, the cast, or at least Teruko, needs Eden. Not necessarily in a reliance way but in a counter balance way. I love the cast, but for the most part they all suck and kinda hate each other. Due to all of their flaws the cast feels so human but it also feels like a The Good Place scenario where the cast is specifically tailored to bring out the worse in one another. You cannot power of friendship your way out of this, I mean, you might but this cast can’t, there’s literally been 3 attempted (only 1 succeeded) murders and 1 accidental on. Which, side note, is actually really interesting and unique cause official stuff does play into the friendship route. In this mess where no one trusts each other, Eden provides a counter, she chooses to trust others because not trusting others is a worse idea. If the theme is trust vs distrust, and our protege falls heavily into the distrust category, Eden is needed to show the other side of the conflict. It’s for these reasons that I really don’t want her to be a twist villain

idk what’s gonna happen with Eden in future chapters, but I do think it would be a waste of her character. On one hand, that would undermine the idea of relationships not being transactions, and instead reinforce Teruko’s trust issues and kinda say ‘people are only kind to you because they want something/have something to gain’. On the other, it’s just an overdone trope. I mean, I get why it’s an interesting twist, but also we have David so if Eden is also a terrible person it won’t be as impactful. It’s just overall more unique and different if the nice character is genuinely just a nice character until the end because you don’t see that. Either the nice character dies early or they’re secretly evil, because being nice is a weakness. (I know this isn’t the case, trust me, but you know what I mean)

If Eden sticks around for a while and isn’t evil, I can see her going down 2 different routes. Either what Teruko said will happen and Eden will eventually break under all the pressure and grief. Which defiantly could be interesting and I’d be curious to see how it affects others. The other route is the one I prefer. And it’s that Eden survives until the end (or near end) and proves her mindset right. Let her overcome this awful situation through being kind and trusting others. Have her show that people can change and become better and how helping others is how you survive and thrive. The killing game feeds on distrust and hatred, so let her counter that.

I very much look forward to seeing where this series goes, and I could be completely wrong about all of this. I could probably write a whole paper about this topic and how all the characters feed into it, but I won’t. You’re all very much allowed to disagree with me, this is just my thoughts and interpretations. I just wanted to ramble some

[baejax-the-great]

Hi! There are two 🕯on this list, so either one you'd prefer to answer, please.

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

Ahhh. Listen. It is so hard. I got way more asks today than I expected from this list, and if I were a stranger looking at my blog, I'd think like, wow, they're really popular, they already have so many fandom friends and admirers, they are cool and know how to talk to people, and like all of that is false. I'm just some guy.

When I first joined fandom, I got so intimidated so easily by the relationships other people seemed to already have, and I still do sometimes! It's a little bit different now, because I've made some friends, but I still get those feelings of like, idk why this person would even want to talk to me, they probably already have all the friends they need, I'll probably be really weird and embarrass myself, etc etc.

Unfortunately on the internet, like in real life, the only way to connect with people is to put yourself out there. By writing fic, I think it's an easy access point for others to engage, because they know exactly what the author is thinking about today (patrochilles in my case or whatever), but it's still intimidating as hell. And sometimes two people, through no faults of their own, simply do not click.

On the other hand, it can be super fun! Answering these asks today was fun! Thank you! And if you poke an author, often fic will fall out! If you give them insane AU ideas, sometimes they write it! Great things can happen when you approach people. Or nothing. Sometimes nothing happens.

The key to staying healthy in fandom, I think, is not to think of your fandom friends in transactional ways, aka "I reblogged their fic so they HAVE to reblog mine or they're a bad person" or other thoughts along this line. Would it be nice? Sure. But once you start keeping score, your friendship is already taking damage. There are a million reasons why people do or don't do things, and if they are a friend, don't you want to give them the benefit of the doubt?

This also applies also for comparing yourself to your fandom friends. Once you start comparing stats or whatever, you've already muddied that friendship. It's not a competition. Envy happens and it's normal, but it's very easy for those feelings to warp into something like "I can't believe people like THAT fic when blah blah blah." Not only are those feelings damaging to your friendship, they also will never make you feel better about yourself. It's better to let envy pass through you to the best of your ability and figure out how to be happy for other people (or just not care).

That's my two cents.

[there-must-be-a-lock]

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them. (jason!)

🥺 — Aw man, yes. Any moment where a character expects rejection and gets softness instead tbh. When they admit something they’ve been scared to admit and the other person *doesn’t* look at them like they’re a monster. When they find the courage to be a little bit more themselves because they start to trust the people around them to stick around.

Also, any moment where a formerly-depressed or hopeless character realizes that they’re happy to be alive. That’s the good shit.

🧠 — idek where to start, I’m just gonna throw a bunch out there.

Not sure I can count this as a headcanon when it’s more like the thesis of most of my Jason-centric fics? But pre-death he never got much experience with sex that wasn’t transactional and performative, if not outright coerced, and he has a really complicated relationship with the entire concept of consent and agency and feeling the need to please.

He uses tattoos and piercings as a way of reclaiming and reconnecting with his body when he comes back.

His favorite band is MCR, and when he was a kid it was in a very sulky edgy teenage way, but then he gets older and the concepts of Revenge and Black Parade hit almost too close to home. See also: “how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying.”

It takes him a while to figure out how to be comfortable in his home and how to make it his own, once he settles down and stops moving from safehouse to safehouse all the time; he’s got a lot of hang-ups about spending money on himself and about putting down roots, but once he gets there he loves nesting.

His love languages are acts of service and words of affirmation. @noxnthea and I had a whole talk about this when we were writing the Marshmallows, especially his birthday fic! He’s so used to taking care of himself that he’d be beyond touched by anybody taking the time to do things for him — it’s one of my favorite dynamics with him and Slade, because Slade is the kind of person who could gently bully him into allowing himself to be taken care of. And then as far as words, he’s really bad at saying stuff out loud (obviously) but with the right person/people, those rare occasions when he could make himself say it out loud would be treasured and encouraged… and he also puts a whole lot of stock in written words, because lit nerd. I think he’d be the kind of person who would absolutely swoon over a good old-fashioned love letter. Nox and I came up with this idea of him sorta borrowing romantic quotes and lyrics to start with, copying them on post-it’s and leaving them around the apartment or whatever, and then as he started to get more comfortable (and when he could trust that his vulnerability wouldn’t be shot down) he started writing his own words instead. Like all those books were practice.

(Writer asks!)