#also characters from a fandom not even tagged have pushed the original main characters out of the spotlight

[salt216000]

I saw a post today that made me quite upset. Normally I'd just ignore, but I read some of the tags and they upset me quite a bit too.

Username is cropped out because I don't want to make it seem like I'm putting 'em on blast, I just want to give my opinion on this.

Transfem headcanons of Gabriel are absolutely fine. Awesome, even. But not while putting down transmasc headcanons at the same time.

The post makes a really interesting and good point! Transfem Gabriel does work well with his narrative of growth and discovery of his own identity, especially as someone cast out of Heaven for not achieving the ridiculous standards they set. That is a really good notion that, yes, being entirely honest, I don't see as frequently from that angle.

But you do NOT have to say it is a 'failure of the fandom' and pin the blame on more people headcanoning him as transmasc. If you want transfem Gabriel content then you can make it: art, writing, musings, anything, but you don't have to put down other creators for projecting their own ideas and potentially their own experiences onto a character they like and relate to.

I'm going to preface this next part with: I am NOT disparaging against transfem Gabriel headcanons, or giving reasons as to why they shouldn't exist. All I am doing here is clarifying why people tend to headcanon him as transmasc. Francis Xie was hired by Hakita to draw concept art, and he is known for drawing a lot of artwork of Gabriel (some NSFW in nature, as a warning in case you decide to look for yourself), and in said artwork he depicts his headcanon of Gabriel being transmasc. Of course, this is not gospel, it is not officially canon and even if it was people are allowed to headcanon him as whatever they want, I only bring this up to help explain why the headcanon may be so popular.

More personally, I find it really gender affirming to have a character in the ballpark of masculine in frame and voice, but to see him wear more feminine clothing in official artwork without it being degrading. It's very nice to see a depiction of this to help push back against the reinforcement that masculine presenting people must conform to certain standards, and that's why I personally enjoy the headcanon too.

There are also a decent few characters that DO get more transfem rep: Mirage, the mindflayers, mannequins, V2, so I don't understand why it's a problem that it is the minority with Gabriel. I wasn't originally going to post this publically, but these tags pushed me to do so:

Username once again cropped out for the same reason as above. To be clear, these are NOT OP's tags.

I don't care what the original tone OP meant was, if it was joking or playful or whatever else, because the sentiment that that post gathered is absolutely wretched. I don't have much else to say about it without getting deeper into gender stuff that I don't want to extend this post with, but I'll reiterate my main point.

You can be upset that there aren't headcanons that represent a certain idea you prefer, but DO NOT put down others who have contrasting ideas in the same breath. If you want to make a post about Gabriel being transfem being a great narrative, go for it, no one will stop you, but do not fucking wrap in a 'transmasc headcanons are wrong and don't get it, and my headcanon is more correct', and at those tags in particular, do NOT treat transmasc headcanons like this, 'transmasc pandemic' is such an awful way to put it and makes me feel as though a line in the sand is being further drawn between transmascs and others who are not.

[snowdice]

Little Kestrel (Epilogue) [Birds of Different Feathers Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb, sexual coercion of minors implied, a minor offering sexual favors, fire, minor character death

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted (and possibly some future content), look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7Part 8Part 9Part 10Part 11Part 12Part 13Part 14Part 15Part 16Part 17Part 18Part 19Part 20Part 21Part 22Part 23Part 24Part 25Part 26Part 27Part 28Part 29Part 30Part 31Part 32Part 33Part 34Part 35Part 36Part 37Part 38Part 39Part 40Part 41Part 42Part 43Part 44Part 45Part 46Part 47Part 48Part 49Part 50Part 51Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55 Part 56 Part 57 Part 58 Part 59

“Do you think they’ll light your trees on fire this year?” an amused (but slightly concerned) voice asked from behind Jeffers. Jeffers ran a finger over the empty thumb of his slightly dirty gardening gloves while watching the two boys. They were currently leaning over an unlit lantern and various “supplies.” In truth, he’d stopped his own work to watch the two boys out of the very concern the king had just vocalized.

“Virgil helped me fertilize that tree a week ago,” Jeffers replied. “So, I would hope he exercises some caution.”

“Virgil likes fire though,” Thomas pointed out.

Jeffers sighed. “That he does.” He tilted his head towards Thomas. “You did confiscate the fire knife again after last week, yes?”

“I did,” Thomas confirmed, “but that means very little. Even burying that thing with a corpse did not dissuade him.”

As he spoke, a sudden spark of light flew from where the boys were working. A whining sound and then pop sounded as the spark exploded into 10 pieces, raining down colorful light. Luckily, the sparks burned up before hitting the ground (or the tree).

“Boys, if you set anything on fire, you will be grounded from the festival,” Thomas called in a booming voice. Both boys jumped. Jeffers imagined Logan hadn’t even known he was there. (Virgil certainly had, but he’d still jumped. “For the second year in a row in Logan’s case.”

“They’re not flammable!” was the claim from Logan.

“I don’t believe you,” Thomas called back.

The boys ignored this, turning back to their experiment.

“We should have kept them grounded,” Thomas muttered.

Despite Thomas’s original decision to ground Patton and Logan until their 50s (and Helen’s push to keep them grounded until Thomas, Helen, and Jeffers himself were all dead and couldn’t enforce it anymore), the boys had only been truly grounded for two months after Thomas had found out the truth of Virgil’s origins. (Though there were still jokes they were still technically grounded.) That did, however, mean that Patton and Logan had been grounded from most of the Lantern Festival the year before.

Logan, at least, seemed to be trying to make up for lost time this year (explosively). Jeffers did worry about where Patton was slightly, but honestly Patton without Logan or Virgil tended to be much less destructive in his hijinx. The worst he was probably doing was stealing sweets out from under Helen’s nose. Which was why both Jeffers and Thomas were currently here watching these two.

There were more sparks from the boy’s experiment. The grass caught fire at their feet. Virgil hastily stomped it out.

“I’ll watch them if you want to get food to bribe Virgil away,” Jeffers offered.

Thomas shook his head. “No need,” he said, and began walking towards them. “I thought you said that was ‘not flammable,’” he called as he walked towards them.

“Well, they’re technically not,” was Logan’s reply. “…The grass is though.”

Jeffers rolled his eyes for the benefit of no one as he turned away. He decided he was going to go get food to bribe Virgil away from destruction.

Since it was spring, he didn’t have as much food readily available, but he did already have a small crop of a new breed of radishes he could harvest to taste test. The vegetable garden was a good walk away, but he figured Thomas would be good enough supervision for the moment.

~~~

“Give,” Thomas demanded upon stopping a couple of feet in front of the children. Logan frowned but packed up and handed him the travel sized potion set without argument. (Thomas regretted giving that thing to him. Yes, it had made logical sense after the attempted poisoning. No, it had never been used for anything as practical as an antidote.) Thomas turned to Virgil. “You too,” he said. “Give.”

“I don’t have anything,” Virgil said with no hint of deception in his expression. Which, of course, meant he was lying to Thomas’s face.

“Nuh uh,” Thomas said. “Give it.”

They had a staring contest for a few moments before Virgil finally sighed. To Thomas’s surprise, he did not take out the fire knife. Instead, Virgil reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of what looked like rocks. He put them in Thomas’s outstretched hand.

Thomas had no idea what they were by sight, but considering the theme of their lantern decoration attempts (that is explosives and fire) he could hazard a guess.

“Am I holding explosives in my hand?” Thomas asked.

“They won’t explode unless they come into contact with vinegar,” Logan said.

“So, they are explosive,” Thomas said. “Just not currently active ones.”

“…I suppose,” Logan said.

Thomas opened Logan’s potion kit to get one of its sterile empty containers and put the explosive rocks into it. Then, he zipped the potion kit back up, with a mental note to himself to make sure to take the explosive rocks out of it before giving it back. He pointed at the lantern on the ground. “Paint it like normal people, please.”

Virgil leaned over towards Logan and spoke out of the side of his mouth. “King of Boring more like.”

“I can hear you,” Thomas pointed out, but Virgil, of course, had intended to be heard.

He grinned up innocently in response and Thomas just shook his head before lowering himself to the ground next to the scorched patch of grass.

In addition to their nontraditional decorating supplies, they did also have the usual supply of paints, ribbons, and colorful pieces of paper with them. They brought these out now and began work on making a few more lanterns to decorate. (As Logan and Virgil had only bothered to make one and it was now scorched on the inside.)

Patton and Helen arrived as they were finishing setting up their 6th (unburnt) lantern. The fact that Helen was not in the kitchen must mean all of the food for the festivities was officially finished and likely being handed out by other members of the staff. She’d been working almost nonstop for the past week to make sure everything was ready.

Both of them were carrying a basket full of enough food to provide snacks and dinner for their group for the rest of the night.

Most people did not go back inside during the Lantern Festival from midafternoon until all of the lanterns had been released into the night sky and disappeared, so, they had to have food for the entire night. Most of the food Helen had prepared was traditional for the festival (though there was a nonzero chance Helen had slipped some chicken alfredo into one of the baskets.)

Virgil had gotten to try a lot of the traditional dishes last year, but Thomas still couldn’t help but smile thinking about all of the sweet breads and meat stuffed pies the boy was going to shove into his face tonight.

One of Thomas’s personal favorites was a soft muffin-like pastry. When broken apart, a golden filling reminiscent of the lit lanterns was revealed. The dessert was usually eaten a bit before the lanterns were released and was shared between two people. Thomas had shared the treat with Virgil the year before and the boy had been entranced by the sparkling filling.

It had been a nice moment, one where Virgil’s leeriness towards him (that had never quite gone away after Thomas knew about his past) had faded for a moment, and the boy had just been a 14-year-old. It had warmed Thomas’ heart to see it.

God, but in those moments when his walls dropped, did he always remind Thomas of Aedan.

Now, Virgil was 15, and while Thomas could always see traces of his past in the ways he acted sometimes, things were better now. Thomas saw more of those moments where Virgil felt safe every day.

Like right now, when Logan pulled out a book detailing common Lantern Festival symbols and their meanings, Virgil only took a moment to glance at their surroundings with a cautious eye before bending over the book to take a closer look.

He had gotten much better at reading after Thomas got him a real tutor, but he still mouthed a few of the words to himself as he read the page.

He seemed to make a decision about one of his drawings because he sat back and grabbed some of the paints. Patton spoke happily to him, complimenting his color choices enthusiastically for “that one.”

Jeffers returned from wherever he’d gone off to a few minutes later. He’d brought himself a chair from his shed to sit on instead of sitting on the ground with the rest of them. Despite all the active work he did in the gardens all day, apparently sitting on the ground hurt his back.

He’d also brought a handful of something which he slipped to Virgil.

“Are these the new radishes?” Virgil asked, a hint of excitement to his tone.

Jeffers grunted an affirmation. “Thought you could be the first to try them.”

Virgil was more than happy to do so of course. (It was food, and it was gardening.) Thomas watched him chew happily; his eyes were brighter than the lanterns they would release in a few hours.

He was unsurprised when, amongst the traditional painted symbols representing safety, family, and home, a radish also appeared on Virgil’s lantern that night.

Perhaps it was a strange thing to put on a lantern symbolizing your wishes for the next year, but when the golden lantern floated into the sky hours later, Thomas thought it was perfect.

~~~

Thanks for reading and to everyone who voted and interacted as I live wrote this story over the past few years! Don't forget to check out the Little Kestrel Stats Page to see how your votes affected the end of the story. (There were 27 possible endings!)

If you'd like to impact my writing in the future, watch the Study Break Stories Tag. I hope to be returning to Folds in Paper before the end of the year.

For more in the Birds of Different Feathers Series, see my Birds of Different Feathers Master Post.

For more from me, see my Masterpost.

Thanks!

[cadybear420]

Performance for fluffember🤍

The Voice of an Angel

Fandom: High School Story (Original Trilogy)

Pairings: Aiden Zhou x Evie Ayana (female HSS MC), maybe with a small side of Ajay Bhandari x Cher Lee (female HSS:CA MC)

Characters: Aiden Zhou, Evie Ayana (female HSS MC)

Rating: G

Warnings: None

Additional Tags: Fluff, Singing, Performance, Dancing

Word Count: 2,128

Summary: On Evie’s 18th birthday, Aiden and the jazz band whip up a little surprise for her. Takes place approximately between HSS:CA 2 and HSS:CA 3 (though my memory of the HSS:CA timeline is a little more fuzzy).

A/N: First of all: to the anon who sent the prompt, major apologies for sleeping on it for so long. Coming up with writing ideas is a bitch, but it is something I want to do more often. And there was also that one time when Tumblr turned off editing for answers to asks, which carried over to the draft post for this for a while. Second of all, I’m fucking obsessed with this song from Doctor Who (“My Angel Put the Devil in Me”, from the Series 3 soundtrack) and I think Evie and Aiden would be as well. Third of all, yes this is a belated birthday fic for Evie, but I’m glad to get it out before the end of Evie’s birthday month at least. Also haha both Evie’s birthday this year and in the setting of the fic were on a Friday. Fourth of all, arghrghrargh my first time writing a fic where one character sings to another AND does a choreographed dance to it too. It’s a lot more difficult than I imagined lol. 

(Also, the outfit I imagine for the other jazz band kids)

Prompt: Performance

Source for prompts here. Even though it's long past November, I'll still accept prompt suggestions from this list year-round.

Tags: @inlocusmads @aces-and-angels @aria-ashryver @lover-also-fighter-also @jerzwriter @choicesmc @3rdstreetfrank @dutifullynuttywitch @lovealexhunt @lilyoffandoms @peonierose (as this is the complete version of this WIP and this challenge bit), and @choicesficwriterscreations

Friday, March 8, 2019. The day of Evie’s 18th birthday. She’d been planning to host a birthday party at one of her favorite restaurants in the city, starting in the early evening after school. Almost everyone she knew from school was invited. 

It was late in the afternoon now. Evie took one last look at herself in her new outfit– a navy blue suit with a purple floral necktie– and grinned, before dashing to the living room. There, her dad was checking his phone. 

“Alright, I’m ready to go!” she said. 

He turned to her. “Actually… we can’t leave just yet…”

She pouted. “What??? But Daaaad, the party starts at 5 PM and it’s already 4:45!”

“The people doing the decorations are… taking a bit longer than expected.”

“Oh…”

“It’s a bit awkward to go to a party when they’re still putting decorations up, isn’t it?”

“That’s true,” her face softened. “Do the other guests know?”

“...yep! I’ve just told them, in fact.”

“Okay… but how long do we have to wait?”

“Shouldn’t be more than… ten to twenty minutes?”

Evie pouted again. 

“It’s not that long…”

“Okay, fiiiiine, I’ll be patient…”

“And I’ll be doctor!”

Evie winced. “Dad, NO…”

…

About twenty minutes passed, and then finally, her dad said it was okay to start driving to the restaurant. After a fifteen minute drive, they arrived, and Evie wasted no time going in. 

The room was alive with upbeat music, purple decorative lights and flowers, and many of Evie’s friends. It seemed like just about everyone she’d invited had shown up– her main friend group, her teammates, her friends from the other cliques and Hearst, Cher and her friends from theatre, the seniors from last year who hadn’t gone away for college… 

And all of them greeted her with a big “Happy birthday, Evie!!!”, in unison. 

Evie inhaled, beaming at her friends. Many of them ran over to hug her, a few others cheered for her. 

Then she saw Emma and Cher push their way through the crowd and grab her by her arms. 

“Evie! There’s a special surprise for you, right now!” said Cher. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!” said Emma. “Just come with us…” 

The crowd parted, making way for Emma and Cher to pull Evie to the opposite side of the room. As they did, the party music slowly faded out and the lights began to dim. 

“What the–” Evie started. 

“Shhhh. You’ll see soon enough!” Emma replied. 

When they made it to the opposite end of the room, a warm spotlight turned on over her, and there she saw it. The jazz band, all set up with their instruments and dressed in matching snazzy black-and-red suits and… devil horns? Yes, devil horns. 

And at the front of it all… was none other than her beautiful boyfriend Aiden, all dressed up and holding a microphone. 

Evie just about stopped in her tracks as she took in his outfit– a snug, ivory-colored flapper dress that had silver beads sewn into intricate patterns, and hung just barely above his knees. Along with that, he also wore a couple of matching long pearl necklaces, a fluffy white halo accessory over his head, and winged eyeliner.

“Wow…” Evie felt her breath catch. “Aiden, you look–”

Just then, Aiden signaled to the band… and they started to play. 

Evie grinned broadly, her eyes immediately lighting up at the familiar upbeat jazzy tune, and watched intently as her boyfriend danced towards her, in steps that were careful and rhythmic, yet lively. 

Then the tempo slowed, and he held the microphone to his mouth and began to sing. 

“I'm a country girl, I ain't seen a lot… But you came along, and my heart went pop! You took a little streetcar to my heart… And an apple of love fell off my apple cart~”

Evie’s cheeks flustered at his melodious voice. This wasn’t the first time she’d heard him sing– he’s sung to her plenty of times, and they’d practically been doing Evie-Aiden duets since the day they met. But this… this was different. Aiden had never done a solo singing performance for her before, let alone one that involved a bit of dance as well. 

“You looked at me, my heart began to pound… You weren't the sort of guy I thought would stick around… Hey, but it don't have to be eternally… My bad, bad Angel put the Devil in me~”

And his singing voice was all the more different this time around too. Even later into their relationship, as Aiden had become more confident about his singing, there was always still a hint of nervousness in his voice when they sang their duets. But this time, he sang loud and clear. Like he was owning the stage. 

Aiden performed a small twirl before stopping, his eyes meeting hers as he began slowly walking up to her, making her heart jump a little.

“You lured me in with your cold grey eyes… Your simple smile, your bewitching lies…”

As he sang that verse, he reached out and grabbed onto her bright purple tie, making Evie’s face heat up as he began tugging on it gently and pulling her closer to him. 

“One and one and one is three… My bad, bad Angel… the Devil in me~!”

The tempo picked up again. Aiden let go of her tie and took her hand in his as he broke out into energetic dance movements while still singing the lyrics to the song, the skirt of his dress swishing about as he swayed gracefully to the instrumental music. 

Evie squeezed his hand and matched his movements, her pulse racing now.  All the while, the crowd watched with excitement. When they came face-to-face again, she was giving him an almost drunken smile.

Soon enough, Aiden broke from her hold and turned around, sashaying slightly as he started stepping away from her… before looking over his shoulder, catching her gaze once again. 

“My bad, bad Angel~ you put the Devil in me~”

Aiden shook his butt side-to-side to the beat, giving Evie a knowing look that made her cheeks brighten. The music slowed, and he turned around to face her again. 

“So, now my dear, I ain't the girl you knew… 'Cause the Angel's got Heaven, but I get you…”

He sauntered back up to her.

“And the tree of life grows tall, you see… My bad, bad Angel… you put the Devil in me~!”

The beat slowed to a more gentle, relaxed tune as Aiden placed his arm over Evie’s shoulder. 

“Oh… You put the Devil in me~”

Aiden gestured towards Evie’s arm, and she placed her arms around him, taking hold of his waist as they began to rock together. 

“You put the Devil in me…”

Gently and smoothly, Aiden broke out of her hold and took her hand again. Lifting her hand, he twirled himself under her arm, then placed himself backwards against her body– all without missing a beat. 

As Aiden continued to sing, Evie wrapped both of her arms around his middle, embracing him from behind. Aiden pressed back against her and placed his free arm over hers, almost as if to hold her arms in place, as they began to sway side-to-side together again. Evie practically melted into him, his body warm against hers. 

“You put the Devil in me…”

Then, the song picked up again. 

“You put the Devil in… me~!”

He swiftly yet carefully broke from her hold again, and danced in a circle around her as he sang the last few verses of the song. She turned to follow him, their eyes locked onto each other yet again, as he gave her an almost sultry gaze. 

“My bad, bad Angel, you put the Devil in me!”

At the final note, the lights slowly faded back on. Aiden stood in front of the now cheering crowd and took a huge bow, grinning proudly. 

Once he straightened back up, Evie finally let out a high pitched “EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”, bouncing up and down before leaping onto Aiden, sweeping him up into her arms, and spinning him around. Aiden gasped, dropping his microphone with a loud *thunk*– but then quickly held her face in his hand and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, prompting the crowd to cheer louder. 

After a moment, Aiden broke the kiss. “Happy eighteenth birthday, Darling~”

Evie squeezed him tighter. “Aiden, that was…” She took a deep breath, a starstruck look in her eyes. “Your singing is amazing… I mean, I’ve heard you sing before, obviously, but…”

A slight but visible rosy tint grew on his cheeks. 

“But I’ve never done a singing performance for you, I know. I figured it was about time I did.”

“And you were fucking amazing. I’ve never heard you sing like that before… like, you were already good, but I didn’t know you were this good…”

“I mean… practice makes perfect, after all…”

“That’s true…”

He planted a small kiss onto her lips, making her whole body warm up. 

“And what made you choose that song from Doctor Who for your first performance? I mean, obviously I love the song–”

“That’s just it. I know how much you love the song, and the episodes it came from.” He chuckled softly. “And, I mean… I don’t blame you. It is a fantastic song.”

Evie’s smile grew wider. “God, Aiden… I fucking love you.”

“I love you too, Evie.” 

They pulled each other in for one more kiss, holding each other tightly, before she set him down. 

“And I love your outfit too… you look absolutely gorgeous, as always~”

Even as Aiden beamed at her so brightly, his cheeks turned as red as the other band members’ devil costumes, prompting Evie to giggle.

“Well… I have been having a lot of fun trying on new outfits…” he said, softly. 

At that moment, Ajay and Cher popped up beside them. 

“Hey… if Aiden likes singing, dancing, and dressing up in fancy outfits now… you think we could convince him to join the upcoming spring musical?” Ajay said. “His talent would just be unmatched…”

Evie and Aiden turned towards them. 

“The next play’s gonna be a musical?” Evie said. “I’ve been wanting to act in a play, but, uh… I don’t think I’m ready for one that involves singing…”

Aiden raised an eyebrow at her. “But we’ve literally been doing duets ever since–”

“That’s different. I can sing alright when it’s more casual, but in a professional musical performance? I’m not that good.”

“You should still consider it!” Cher chirped. “If not an acting role, you can always still be an assistant director or a techie…”

“That sounds much more my speed.”

Cher turned to Aiden. “You should definitely consider trying out for a singing role, though!”

Aiden put his hand on his chin thoughtfully. “It could be fun… I know Evie doesn’t want to sing in a musical, but imagine if we got lead roles together…”

“Oh, perhaps I could be convinced now…” Evie said, before smirking playfully. “But, let’s be real. Put Aiden in the musical, and he’ll probably just upstage all the other singers with how good he is. He’ll make everyone else look like chumps.”

“Hey!” Cher exclaimed, her face scrunching up into a pout. “Are you saying I sing like a chump?”

“What– no, I–” Evie’s face fell. 

Cher dropped her pout and grinned again. “Kidding! You probably have a point… I do sing every now and then, but it could use a little more work. Especially since I’m planning to go for an acting role in the musical, of course.”

“Well, if we can’t get Aiden in a singing role for the musical, perhaps he can be a musical director and help coach the actors who are a little more inexperienced?” Ajay suggested. 

“Actually… that’s a great idea!” Aiden said, his face lighting up. “I’d love to do that!”

Ajay beamed. “Oh, perfect! We’ll talk to Mr. Olson on Monday.”

“I’ll need some time to think about it… but I’ll let you know if I do decide to accept.”

“Sounds good to me!” Ajay reached his hand out, and he and Aiden shook hands. “Anyways, great job on your performance, Aiden! And happy birthday, Evie!”

“Yeah! Happy birthday, Evie!!!” cheered Cher. 

“Aww, thank you both so much!” 

Evie gave each of them a warm hug before they walked off. Aiden placed his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek, and she turned back to him.

“Thank you so much, Aiden. For being the best boyfriend ever, and for giving me this awesome birthday.” 

“It’s my pleasure~” Aiden hugged her tighter. “But… there’s still more, of course. Ready to enjoy the rest of your birthday party?”

“Oh yes!”

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

Why is PreGame Shuichi always seen as a yanderé when he's just an antisocial DanganRonpa fan?

Excellent question!

This has roots back into the japanese fandom so its hard to fully research actually, however we know kagehara comes from the japanese fandom through a compound kage, and hara, aka shadow saihara, kagehara 影原. This is likely chosen due to persona's use of shadow selves if i had to take a guess, which might also be why kagehara tends to have a much harsher yellow eye color like the one seen below on Shadow Yosuke, before this became so main stream there was also inchara 陰キャ原 for in character + saihara but this has never seen any popularity in the english fandom to my knowledge. There's also these names for the rest of the characters but only bonkichi really saw any traction in the english fandom

So now they we know the basis of the name, where does the yandere come in?

The first fanfiction i can find on ao3 that seems to lean into this view of pregame Shuichi of him being a dangerous creepy guy is This Must Be What Fun Is from 2017, while it lacks some of the more common later tropes and even has shuichi marked as aromantic, the obsessive and bloody traits commonly associated with it is definitely all there.

The first fic in the tag "pregame-shuichi" is audition from february 2017, however they used the tag ORIGINAL saihara which got tag wrangled in, and the first REAL use of the tag is from Can't Help Falling from December 2017

After that the first use of Kagehara in a fanfic description is At Least It's Something from July 2018 which is a selfcest fic with some WILD plot points actually i might need to look at that one later just out of morbid curiosity

From this, we can know the trope has its roots from the very start of the games release. Where the character of pregame shuichi in the audition tapes easily slid into an otaku characterization due to his obsession with danganronpa.

Thus, its easy to see where his creepy pervert personality come from, otaku stereotypes. You'll see this stigma in a lot of anime where characters try to hide being an otaku and such. This is why Kagehara often is soon as very reclusive, spending all his time and money on one thing, danganronpa, and not caring for anything outside this thing. To the point of antisocial behavior or becoming a threat to others. Immature, obsessive, and sexual deviancy. Classic stereotypical otaku characterization.

One of the stereotypes is usually being a creep towards an object of affection, and thus as the most popular ship, kokichi easily slotted into that stereotypical role of the object of affection. He's small, easily made a bit more feminized, and thus able to be the soft kawaii to be harassed.

Which as this becomes popular, likely for the same reasons any "zomg the main character is EVIIIIL actually" kinda thing gets popular, led to more people playing in the space and pushing it further and further until we get to where we are today!

Though, just between you and me, i have my own personal theory. I can't back it up with anything but it makes sense to me.

The audience comments in v3 are unhinged at times, with comments like "I wanna see the color of Shuichi’s blood" and "I want to break Shuichi’s fingers <3" the audience although only here for a short time has a very strong characterization and interesting dialogue. However, how do you portray this in a story? You really can't without someone to act as the proxy.

With the most fanboyish audition video, and the popularity to back it up, Shuichi ended up being this proxy. Kagehara isn't actually a reflection or evil version of shuichi or anything, it's the proxy to hold the audience in a way thats easy to write, and without the risks of say, writing an oc.

All of the fucked up things we hear about the audience and outside world, all the bad things, the talk of how boring everything but danganronpa is, these elements need a surrogate to embody it or else it can be hard to write with them. That's what kagehara is, the audience and what tsumugi tells about the outside word in a convenient familiar character shaped proxy Kokichi just got nabbed along for the ride as the most popular ship

[lifeonthemurdersim]

Ingrate Fandom/Universe: Human Nature (original murder sim/VN project), Sadistic By Nature Universe Characters/Pairing: OC x OC, Rahim Adnan x Wasei Tsuki AO3 Link(full tags, warnings etc here) Word count: 1,923 words Synopsis: They say some people go looking for trouble. Wasei is definitely "some people". He already knows where to find it, but first he'll have to make it through dinner. Author's Note: This is a piece that shows one of the endings from Human Nature, but with my OC Wasei as the main character. Brief mention of @cptsadist's Hauer as this takes place in the shared universe I've been writing for our characters. More about Gorekinktober on my pinned post here! Kinktober prompt(s) used: Voice Kink, Discipline/Punishment Goretober prompt used: Dinner

"Red or white?" Rahim asks Wasei, as he pours himself a glass of the red. Was is very surprised Rahim doesn't seem to remember him, but then he guesses he had a lot of victims pass through here, and he and Hope hadn't really been here long the first time before they'd managed to escape.

The truth was... Was had become so accustomed to a life of being kept and tortured... he just couldn't just go back to living as normal. He'd tried, but going back to earning often astounding money just for showing his body online, running for hours at the gym, selling pills at raves, none of it was doing it for him anymore. If at least two other people he'd met could get captured more than once and live to tell the tale, why couldn't he? He hadn't necessarily expected to be greeted with dinner, but he wasn't exactly going to say no. He just might not eat much. He'd already gone a little overboard on the dressing on his salad at lunch.

Wasei looks between the two but wrinkles his nose when he sees the red has just been sitting out in a basket. "Eww, the red's not even cold? Gimme white. With ice if you got it."

Rahim frowns. "Red wine is not supposed to be chilled." he lectures as he pulls the white from the cooler. "And no wine should be watered down with ice."

"You never heard of a spritzer? Get a little lime in there... I think it'd loosen a tightass like you up a little." He takes the glass, shuffling back from the table slightly to cross one leg over the other and sipping. "Certainly loosens mine if you know what I mean." He gives the other man a wink and takes a sip of the wine. Not bad, honestly.

"I'm... not sure that's appropriate dinner conversation..." the other returns, frowning. Before he can say much else however, or more likely be interrupted by Wasei, the chef comes over with the meals. "Ah, thank you, Camille." he responds. "I appreciate you catering for my last minute addition. You're free to leave a little early if you wish."

"Ooh, no, join us!" Wasei says as he looks up at the chef, a rather voluptuous brunette woman with glasses. "Oh, definitely join us, you're cute." Camille laughs slightly, but also notably blushes as red as her lipstick.

"Monsieur Adnan is... right, I should... really be getting off." she replies in a very sexy soft french accent, sounding fairly flattered, which Was just takes as further confirmation to continue to flirt.

"You know it's way more fun to have someone else get you off, Camille." Wasei says with a wink, swirling his glass in his hand before taking another sip. He still wishes there was ice.

"Enough." Rahim warns in a slightly menacing tone. "Please... do not speak to the staff in this way."

The chef seems to look to intervene. "Oh, no no, it is fine, Monsieur Adnan." she assures, giving Wasei a little smile, flustered rather than offended.

"Goodnight, Camille." Rahim replies pointedly, stone-faced. At that her own face drops a little and she nods, bowing her head at both of them slightly and stepping away. There's a tense atmosphere as Rahim pours half of the cream sauce in the jug between them over his steak and pushes the rest to Wasei, who peers at it but leaves it where it is.

"Huh..." he comments, looking at Rahim with his eyebrows raised. "Made things... kinda... awkward there, didn't ya..." He looks down at the food. Marbled steak, some kind of little round potatoes and spinach with some yellowish sauce. Luckily the portions don't look too huge, he guesses that's the good thing about this fancy schmancy shit. He picks up his fork hesitantly. He can't stand silence. He'd have to be alone with his thoughts, for a start. "Her voice was hot, huh? You ever bent her over the counter? Little ménage à deux?" Rahim glances up at him while cutting small bites of his steak and eating them, saying nothing but looking displeased. "Don't worry, your voice is just as hot, sexy. You got a little of an accent going on there too, what is it?"

Rahim swallowed his mouthful, still looking at Was seriously. "I grew up in Saudi Arabia." he says vaguely, waving his hand. "Aren't you going to eat?" he asks the other.

Was leans his head on his hand, propping it up at an angle with his elbow on the table. "I don't know..." he says reluctantly, poking at the meat with his fork. "It looks a little fatty."

Rahim stares at him, blinking slightly. "You... can't be serious." He watches as Was wraps a little of the spinach around his fork, holding it up and taking a trepidatious bite. It has a weird earthiness to it. He makes a face and puts the fork back down.

"Look..." he explained with a sigh. "I'm just saying, if I'm gonna break my calorie budget, I want it to be some real dirty shit, y'know, like..." He thinks for a second. Rahim looks back at him, seemingly speechless. "Ooooooh, y'know YLLW has this new burger that-"

"We are having dinner." Rahim interrupts incredulously. "That is Kobe beef steak."

"OK, OK DILF, let me stop you there." Was said, waving a hand, not liking the apparent ego this guy had about his expensive shit. "My parents are from Hyōgo." He crossed his arms. "You know what we call Kobe beef there? Beef." OK, he'd technically never been there. But he wasn't going to let that get in the way of his point.

"That... doesn't sound accurate." Rahim replies disbelievingly. "Either way, you agreed to join me for dinner." He cuts his steak again, but there's an anger to the way he saws at it, accidentally scraping the plate with an ungodly sound.

"Aaaaand you agreed to call me a bad boy and bend me over the table and spank me." Was responds, interested in the fact he seemed to finally be getting to him. "Oh no, wait... I think I imagined that." He gives a smug little bite of his lip.

Rahim practically throws his cutlery down. "I'm... I'm not sure I've ever met anyone this insolent." he says incredulously.

"Yeahhhh, most people haven't." Wasei admits casually, stretching his arms out behind his head. "Take it or leave it."

"You know I... don't really think you're going to show me the kind of obedience I was looking for..." Rahim murmurs disappointedly. "If you can't handle a simple meal with me, what use are you?"

"I'm pretty fucking good at sucking dick." Was suggests with a shrug. "Maybe that would loosen you up about your fatass steak and your roast potatoes and your dirt-tasting spinach."

"That spinach is cooked with saffron-" Rahim begins.

"I don't care if it's cooked with diamonds and Epiphany Quintana's panties, it tastes like shit." Was interjects.

"Do not interrupt me!" Rahim warns in a more threatening growl. "Eat." Wasei however, was loving having Rahim's full attention. He was too angry to be sullen with him, it seemed. Coming from someone who seemed so composed and cold it was honestly turning him on just a little.

"Hmmmmmmmmm...." he replies dramatically, as if he's actually considering it. "Nuh uh.". He gives a grin and a little shrug, and in one swift movement, Rahim was throwing his napkin down, striding over to him, and grabbing the back of his neck. Wasei gasps sharply, his heart starting to pound. "Oh... OK... now you're speaking my language." he breathes. Rahim looks down at him, and without another word, pushes him down hard so his face was planted in the meal. He lowers himself down too so his breath is practically on the back of Wasei's neck, which dials his arousal up considerably.

"Eat. It." he insists.

"OK!" Was yells out. Not because the fear was too much for him but because this whole situation was too compelling to say no. "But only because I'm... so fucking hard right now." he's only hyperbolising a little, he's certainly getting there. Rahim grips his neck tighter, grounding him more roughly against the plate as a warning. The steak is right in front of him. So he reaches out, and finally takes a bite, taking it into his mouth and chewing slowly. It's... good, admittedly. Maybe if he could bring himself to just be honest about it, he could actually get some positive attention instead of negative. But... he loves where his continual pushing back has taken him to, pinned to the plate by his neck. He wasn't kidding about how horny it made him. He wants more punishment.

"Well?" Rahim asks pointedly as soon as he swallows.

"Meh..." Wasei he replies, looking up at Rahim as best as he can with a grin. "Y'know I don't think that's Kobe beef." He starts to break into a giggle as he speaks. "Think you got ripped of with regular old Wagyu."

For a split second, Rahim looks genuinely shocked at his rudeness, raising back up to standing height with his hand still around the back of the other's neck, eyes wide. But then everything spins as he lifts Wasei's head up and then slams it back down with a frustrated growl into the plate. "Your ungratefulness..." he hisses, then lifts and slams again. "Is INTOLERABLE."

"Oh yeah, fuck yeah, do that again rich boy." Was moans out, and it seems he's finally getting his way, as Rahim does exactly that, with another slam that shatters the porcelain into shards, some sticking in his face and drawing blood, the sting of which has always had an endless appeal to him. He doesn't recall anyone hurting him this good, since...

Well, since Stefan.

Actually...

Even this isn't the same as being hurt with careful, precise cuts that the doctor would stitch up when they were done. Telling him he was doing so good, that he was an interesting specimen, thanking him for co-operating. That was so much more interesting a form of affection to him than boring shit like kisses and holding hands. Was would always be a masochist, he would always crave the extreme side of that. But someone who would take care of him as they hurt him? That was a rare find in this world. He's not sure anyone will ever measure up to that. Tears spike the corners of his eyes. He has to focus on how horny he is or he'll actually get sad, and no-one fucking wants that.

"This is supposed to be your punishment." Rahim points out. "I invite you to dinner, I show you nothing but hospitality, and this?" He punctuates his words with more slams of Was's face into the table, the cuts increasing, the blood smearing and Was growing so hard the friction in his jeans with each shift of his body is starting to get him off. "THIS. YOU. LIKE?!!" He can't seem to stop though, even when he's stopped talking he continues to slam Was into the remains of his plate and the hard wooden table like a rag doll. Over and over and over again.

"Keep... it... up..." Was moans out through the pain, his insides burning and his head absolutely spinning as his vision grows blurry and darkens around the edges. "I think I'm... gonna cum..."

But this isn't la petite mort.

This is just la mort.

End note: Yep, Wasei is now canonically dead in the Sadistic by Nature universe. The good news is, these fics are not in order so we may see him again!

[brsb4hls]

I might be the only one upset at this, but what happened to Neil saying that Aziraphale and Crowley rescue each other? If I'm remembering correctly, in an ask he said that Aziraphale has saved Crowley plenty of times and it just wasn't in s1? It's such a tv show good omens thing and I don't take what is said outside of the media as canon, but S2 has only enforced that Crowley saves Aziraphale and not the other way around. That Crowley saves the day, that Crowley is main character material, and that Crowley is supposed to be who we're rooting for and sympathize with more. Having Azirpahale say out loud that saving him makes Crowley happy (like so many other things, explicitly said instead of shown) pushes it more and more. I don't like it. And I don't like that even after that scene where Aziraphale says he does have a plan, he does one thing and is like that was my plan that's all I've got. It's a characterization thing and a pet peeve for me mixed into one. Idk if anyone else feels the same way, but this whole saving business has gotten away from me.

You're definitely not the only one struggeling with that characterization.

They way they are presented reinforces a very cliched (and imbalanced) character dynamic.

Aziraphale is the soft (albeit slightly bitchy) reluctant one and Crowley the bad boy with a heart of gold who saves the day.

Which is a) boring af and b) pretty straight.

Which is why it works so well in fandom.

It's a character dynamic that a lot of people are familiar with, because typical romances work that way, we have a lot of them and are used to them, so they resonate.

It does take away from the uniqueness of their characters though.

The fun thing about Crowley and Aziraphale is that they are not fullfilling typical roles.

(Book) Crowley tries to be cool, but is failing spectacularily, while Aziraphale is supposed to be the rightous one, but his moral compass is all over the place.

That dynamic creates comedy and some great philosophical points to think about.

And it could have easily be transferred to the show.

I also agree that the one-sidedness of the tv relationship makes it feel a bit off.

Yes, Aziraphale makes heart eyes (thank you Michael Sheen for saving the script I guess), but is pretty passive otherwise.

He doesn't even ask why Crowley's plants are suddenly living in the Bentley, even though he carries them around.

It might be the lack of Terry Pratchett, it might be Gaiman, it might be Finnemore (I'm not familiar enough with his work).

It's a shame though, their original dynamic is amazing.

I do recommend 'Crowley gets summoned and Aziraphale saves him fanfic, there's some really good stuff.

(If I remember correctly there's also a bamf!Aziraphale tag, for balance).

[harmoniesandhijinks]

"Hey, look at this weird kid I found!"

-- one of the twins, probably Heya! Welcome to whatever this is, lol If you know me, then you're either someone who checked puyo tumblr a lot during 2018-2023, or one of my followers/friends on my main [in which case, hii!! hello!!! The voices won.] In any case, welcome one, welcome all! I'm Phione, aka the person running this blog, aka a clinically insane professional dummy, aka one of the few HarmoKnight fans that exist, aka--ok you get the jist. I have roleplayed on Tumblr before, but that was a LONG while ago, so i might be a little rusty on this! [im more used to discord tupperbox roleplays,,,] So apologies if I make any mistakes! If you're interested in interacting, check out the read more below!

In any cases, here's the rules! 1. No NSFW interactions or ANYTHING of the sort. While I may be 18 now, the Twins and Tempo are minors. Plus, that sort of stuff creeps me out and makes me VERY uncomfortable! So please refrain from doing that! 2. No fetish interactions. I'm not someone who you can push your weird fantasies upon. Plus, I had to cut ties with someone earlier in the year who would do just that, so stuff like that will make me uncomfortable. 2.5. However, I WILL allow magic anons, as those tend to be fairly harmless. Just not too many at once! [or back to back] 3. Please don't send any kind of slurs! I'm sure both Puyo fandom and HarmoKnight fandom are smart enough to not do that, but I'm putting that out there! 4. I have the right to say no to what's going on. If I ask you to stop, I mean it! And if I say no to an ask or rp, PLEASE don't push me to do it! 5. More rules will be added when I think of em. So be sure to check back here regularly! 6. Any violation of these rules will result in a block if taken too far. [However, violating rules 1 and 2 will result in an instant block.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some Misc. stuff: Please don't be nervous to send an ask or RP invite into my dms! As long as you use common sense, you'll be fine :D I tend to be a little silly sometimes, so do expect some laughs and giggles here and there! I also tend to get nervous really easy however, so if you want to do something with me, please come to me and ask about it! I'm TOTALLY fine with mutliverse RPs! I mean, that was kinda obvious since this is literally an RP/Ask blog with two different games, lol. So long as the source material isn't anything bad [COUGH COUGH coaall COUGH COGUH] we should be fine! I am aware that there is another puyo ask/rp blog that technically also as the twins, and to that I don't mind! Unless it makes the op of that blog very upset in which case I'm really sorry. I don't mind doubles, but if it makes the OP of the other blog upset then I'll stop. Totally fine with AU roleplays though! As long as the origin of the AU isn't from a problematic source, then it's a-okay!

Socials!!! @phioneplatinum - Main, check it out if you wanna see what I do on a regular basis! @melodiafunfacts - A HarmoKnight fun facts blog I run! Check it out if you wanna see what obscure facts I can dig up from an even obscurer game! phioneplatinum - Discord tag if you wanna be friendos! [Or see my full power with Tupper Rps, lol] I'm not quite caught up on the more recent internet stuff [ex: pronouns, fictionkins, stuff like that], so PLEASE forgive me if I make a mistake!! Speaking of pronouns, I go with She/Her pronouns! I see Elle with She/Her pronouns, but if you want to go with They/Them, be my guest! I see Jay with He/Him pronouns, but if you want to go with They/Them like Elle, go ahead! Tempo goes with He/Him pronouns, for those unaware about HarmoKnight! [and also thought he was a girl] Annnd I think that's it! I hope to see you around! Stay safe! :D [I'll probably make a caard with character bios and rp info, so be on the lookout for that!! :D]

[note, i tend to shorten harmoknight as rhhk [Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight] as to not confuse it with HK/Hollow Knight, so if you see those four letters, assume i'm talking about HarmoKnight!! :D]

[keldjinfae]

these are a few (12) of my favorite things

Twelve characters from twelve fandoms, twelve tags. Nobody tagged me, but I have been agonizing over this damn thing for about five hours now, so I feel I owe it to myself to give it a go anyway. Some of these characters really did come out as a draw because I love them equally and I could not decide.

Teen Wolf - Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski

It took me an hour of trying to pick one of them before I decided "fuck it, they're a unit." They're two sides of the same coin, they're my OTP in a way no other pairing has been, I love them both equally for similar and different reasons. I identify with both of them so much that making a choice is like disregarding a part of my own thought process.

2. John Wick - John Wick

Curse this 'verse, seriously. Every character is so nuanced and interesting, even the despicable people (and really, they're all despicable people), and it was ridiculously difficult to choose between people like Sofia, Gianna, Caine, Winston, Charon, Nobody, the list goes on. But. John Wick is what binds them all in this particular story. And then there's the fact that Keanu Reeves made John Wick interesting--this is a character who had the potential to be buried in Main Character Energy, but instead, there are all of these subtle moments where you see John's underlying rage, his gallows humor, his fallibility, etc. He views the stories (legends) about him as running jokes; they happened, and they weren't even exaggerated, but he is annoyed that people keep talking about them.

3. Inception - Arthur

Again, it was so hard to choose between Arthur and Eames. Actually, I also had to watch Mal be sad and neglected in a window. Again. But I ultimately went with Arthur because he's my deadly cinnamon roll. I'm making myself want to binge-read Inception fic again, send help.

4. Supernatural - Dean and Sam Winchester

Like, even the overlying message of the show was literally "these two do not know how to exist without each other." Their codependency made me feral from the get-go back in 2005. The amount of meta I have written about these two, on top of all of the fic, just. Chuckdamn.

5. Dawson's Creek - Pacey Whitter

He's the mouthy, oft-overlooked son of a sheriff. He was my precursor to Stiles. Actually, he was my precursor to Derek as well, given how he fell for an older woman and the relationship wrecked him (not the same as what happened to Derek, but it still screwed him up for a while).

6. Song of the Lioness - George Cooper

Okay, he's the King in the Court of the Rogue--of course he's going to be my favorite. That's not to say that this choice wasn't also nigh impossible, considering the wealth of fantastic characters in this fandom, but George outclassed everyone in charisma. George and Alanna were also the first "age gap" teenage romance I ever read, so. That was formative as fuck.

7. Dragon Age: Origins - Zevran Arainai

Look, I'm basically here because otherwise I'd have to pick a favorite in the entire series, and that's just not happening--having to choose between Zevran and Morrigan was already difficult enough. If there's a personal avatar for me in this whole franchise (other than the player character), it's Zev. He's the one who hides in the open, who tells nothing but the whole truth, but tells it so abrasively that nobody listens to/believes him.

8. Dragon Age II - Fenris

If Awakening were also in this list (I figured that would be pushing it), then that would be a toss-up between Nathaniel Howe and Anders. As it stands, this one was a toss-up between Fenris and Anders. The only reason I went with Fenris is simply because I prefer his rivalmance over Anders's romance. I still have to clench my teeth to get through Anders's second act resolution without romancing him because it is good, but Fenris's rivalmance is delicious. That being said, both boys have that deep-set, impotent rage against the whole world, and I love how both of them deal with it. But. Fenris is voiced by Gideon Emery, and his romance cutscenes are all kinds of fantastic in their physicality.

9. Kingdom Hearts - Riku and Sora

Yeah, again, just like with Derek and Stiles, or Dean and Sam, these two boys don't like it when they're not together. The entire series is about the two of them trying to save or find each other. They also have one of the most awesome limit breaks in the entire series--I spam that one even when there aren't any enemies around.

10. Captain America - Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers

Same as above, but over the course of an entire century and more. They are each other's entire world, and *feral noises* Like, do you realize how many times I went to see TWS and CW in theaters? Do you? All I have to do is hear "End of the Line" and I go into a fugue state for hours just thinking about them.

11. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Spike

I'm cheating again here, thanks to the spin-off, and even then choosing between nearly every single member of the cast was a brutal death match. Cordelia and Oz and Giles came so close, and honestly, Giles should get honorable mention status. What I loved about Spike most was how he was unapologetically and unabashedly himself. He wasn't a mastermind, but he also knew just where to push to drive the Scoobies apart. He didn't mind being overlooked, unless it was Angel, and then he was all but compelled to get up in his face like "Genghis Khan" just started playing in the background.

12. Angel - Angel

Thank fuck there's a spin-off to choose from. I love Angel at his best (when he's with Buffy or Cordy), I love him when he's at his worst (also with Buffy), and I love him the most when he's petty as fuck, and nobody brings that out in him more than Spike. Out of the entire series, my favorite episode is "The Girl in Question" because it's one of the most perfect examples of their centuries-long relationship. They go seamlessly from fighting each other to fighting everyone else, and it just humanized Angel in a way that few others did. Like, yes, he has a soul, and yes, there's a prophecy that he will become human again. But in the meantime? Spike makes him fall back on his human nature just by being in his proximity.

As for the 12 tags... uh... @nerdherderette @greyhavenisback @ephemeronidwrites @ice-mage @jacyevans @twistedamusement @wildamongwolves @renmackree @allybugg888 @caseyvalhalla

And then anyone else actually reading this, if you want to play then consider yourself tagged.

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

And fuck Chris Evans//

Period!! his career is over.

Hello anon,

Time will tell if he can recover, and it does still make me somewhat sad

Considering how his fans are treated by his PR team as a disposable source of blame when he makes a misstep and are a useful tool to help cover them up, after the stepping away of some of the biggest fan accounts who have since left the fandom not to return I would say it's going to be an uphill battle should he choose to accept it, even his brother Scott may find it more difficult due to his siblings struggles

He is at the point where he is potentially already aging out of contention for some roles, and with no longer having a strong fan base there to support him after this "PR shitshow" and the drop in follower numbers and support online, he will definitely struggle without having organised his own publicity blogs there to push him into the limelight on his behalf as many of the original fans simply won't be willing to return

I'm not sure whoever is running all of that has a true grasp of what has happened inside the fandom over the last year and a half, the infiltration, the trolls, the rumours, the hackings (I'm not the only one)

When I was running that group on LSA at its peak it had 80 members from all over the world and for the most part was fun

We had a main thread, an astro thread for both him and the FS, a fishstick thread so she wouldn't infiltrate the main one, one for Scott who got tarot readings too, a movie with spoilers discussion thread, hell there was a book recommendations one at some point

And it all turned to shit the second he stepped out with fishstick, fans that had spent months defending him saying he would never do that and its against his character were angry and felt betrayed, and most of us turned on him once fishstick and friends past proclivities were exposed

Other people started coming out of the woodwork to "expose secrets" in these fan areas further fueling the fire on both Team Real and Team PR

Who knows if any of this information is true or not, I had intended on exposing people he apparently shouldn't trust but I've gotten a bit off the rails due to my own rather scary circumstances and have been reacting out of very genuine fear

It's not like I can reliably send the man an email, Tumblr is all I have and maybe Josh is reading the tags, I don't know for sure

Whatever deal he signed with People Magazine that required this "PR girlfriend" that was somehow linked to Netflix? and their need to try and promote Warrior Nun has resulted in decimating his fansbase and his reputation

It's a shame really, he had so much potential left to explore as an actor, as mad as I am at what's happened lately both personally, on here, and elsewhere, I do genuinely mean that

We saw hints of his capability for different emotional depths in Defending Jacob, The Gray Man, and despite the odd choices they made for the trailer he did do well in Ghosted also

The whole thing just honestly makes me sad.....

💜🪽🌟

[acacia-may]

Hullo. Can I ask for 13, 31, and... 43, please! Thank you! And also, here's a hug (that is also a nice distraction): 🫂

Thank you for the ask and the hug, friend! 🥰 (I definitely needed a hug today so it's greatly appreciated. And sending one right back at you too🫂)

13. talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

Well you probably know this one because you were part of it, but the first time I ever posted one of my fics to AO3 was definitely a pleasant surprise. I honestly didn't expect anyone to read my story, and I posted it right before I went to sleep (so I could just leave it and not worry about it anymore), but then, when I woke up in the morning, I was shocked to discover I had kudos, hits, and comments from some lovely writers in the BC fandom (including you who had left the very first comment!). I was so flattered that people had actually read my work, liked what I had written, and had taken the time to tell me that they enjoyed it, and I was so encouraged to keep writing and posting my fanfictions. I don't think I'd be posting my fics anymore if it hadn't been for the support and encouragement of wonderful people like you. And I will always be indebted to you, especially, the very first person who commented so thank you so, so much for that! 🫂

31. Tell us about one of your characters who’s an absolute joy to write

I answered this question here and talked about one of my OCs (since it was worded as "my characters"), but this time I'll answer slightly differently and talk about canon characters I love writing (even though they are not mine 😅) [No pressure tagging @kalolasfantasyworld who originally asked this question in case this was the answer you were actually hoping for when you asked but I took the question too literally]

I'm sure it's probably not a secret but my favorite Black Clover character to write is Langris. He just has so much depth to him and is so indignant and snarky but such a tsun about his feelings. I love bringing out his more dry sense of humor, his blunt honest, and the depths of how much he cares for his (select few) family & friends. Writing him bantering with someone who can match wits with him (like Vanessa) is always a blast as well!

Another BC character I love writing is Charmy. I think she's just a treasure trove of snarky one-liners (which I hope are funny to the reader) and I absolutely adore putting her into my fics just to look up from her glorious & beloved food to tell it like it is. ^^

When it comes to choosing the POV character though that's a little bit different. I try to push myself as a writer by choosing POV characters out of my comfort zone and really trying to give each of them a distinct voice. I like to think that sometimes that works out, even if it can be a struggle for me to write in the POV of characters that have a totally different thought process than I do. For instance, it can be really fun to write a character that talks before they think (i.e. Asta) because they'll really just say whatever pops into their heads, but it's difficult writing in their perspective because there's no introspection (and I am personally deeply introspective so I have to pull myself back from that in the narration when writing the POV of one of these characters). I love writing those "talk now, think later characters" as supporting, side, or background people, but I find it hard to get into their heads and worry my attempts to write them come off too broody sometimes. 🙈 So there's definitely a difference between characters I enjoy writing into a story and characters I enjoy writing as the main, POV character of a story, if that makes sense?

43. How did writing change you?

I think writing really helped my confidence and encouraged me to put myself out there a little bit more. It also helped me learn to communicate better and verbalize concepts and ideas (and headcanons) that I didn't really have the words to explain in just regular discussion or an analysis post.

Given how much I can ramble on and on, it's a little ironic but I genuinely think of myself as a "when words fail" fic writer since most of my fanfics exist to explore and/or explain concepts that come up in discussions I've had with friends & family (both irl & online) about these characters I love and/or their relationships with one another that I couldn't just explain without showing them how I see it. I started writing Black Clover fanfiction after getting frustrated at my inability to explain to a friend irl how I saw Finral and Vanessa becoming friends and imagined them building this incredibly strong platonic bond with each other despite Finral being seemingly incapable of being "just friends" with an attractive, eligible woman in his age range. And it sort of just spiraled from there. Almost every fanfiction I've ever written connects back to a meaningful discussion I've had and/or a desire to express how I personally interpret a certain character or relationship. It's so nice to have an expressive outlet for that, and it's been humbling to see other people connect to and respond to my ideas and takes on the characters too!

[dreamfilleddonuts]

I probably should have an actual introduction post even if I have been on this hellsite since 2010.

Hello! While I do have some (neglected) sideblogs, I really treat this as a "throw whatever I am hyperfixated on atm at my followers like the gods intended" blog. Currently that is:

lolita fashion, specifically sweet lolita but I do also love old school lolita. I consider bittersweet a substyle and will die on this hill.

autumn/Halloween. Yes this is one of my neglected sideblogs (@crispyleaves ), but I spill it over here more than I do there these days.

Death Note. Friends on Livejournal tried to get me to watch it when it first came out. I cannot do anything someone tells me that I HAVE to. So my heels were dug in until August/September of '22 and I now have permanent brainrot. Ships include lawlight, meronia, remisa, and I also ot3 nearlymellodramattic. There are no neurotypicals in this series and everyone is autistic as hell. How could I not love this? Favorite character is Near, followed by Mello. Otps are Meronia and Lawlight, ot3 is Nearlymellodramattic.

Ouran High School Host Club. Again with found family. Also genderfluid main character that I relate waaaay too much with (Haruhi absolutely was my nonbinary awakening). Favorite character is Haruhi, Tamaharu is my otp.

although I am no longer very into the SNK fandom, I was very hyperfixated on it for years and SO MUCH of my blog in those days were about it. I do still run the @onlyerearu blog as well as its associated discord that I inheirited from the original admin, and these days any content I reblog about it goes there. We... are not going into details about who my favorite character was before canon marched on. Eremin will always live in my heart though.

Revolutionary Girl Utena. There is a reason utenanthy has their own unique tag on my journal instead of their ship name (the original otp), because they were one of the first ships I cared THAT much about.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. When are we getting the new movie, again? It keeps getting pushed back and my kyosaya heart can't take it any more.

Other than that, I am an elder millennial who works in a retail drug store and takes care of my mom and cat, and I am in school to be an elementary school teacher. I roleplay online in panfandom games on another website. My name is Morgan (not the same Morgan as another member of the meronia fandom, we call each other nametwin for a reason), but friends I have had for a long time also call me Lo, a nickname I got in my livejournal RP days (ironically from another Morgan refusing to share the name or any possible nicknames from it. I finally said fuck it and changed the first letter of my last resort nickname). I also answer to Morgie and Mo.

[organchordsandlightning]

20 questions for fic writers!

tagged by @bluejayblueskies!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?  175, all told! Looks like twelve anonymous.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 

3,404,353!

3. What fandoms do you write for? 

Currently I have ongoing longfics in: Phoenix Wright M*A*S*H* Malevolent House, MD

But I've also recently written for Pentiment + Pathologic. Big previous fandoms include TMA and Disco Elysium. I also really want to start writing Sherlock Holmes again, tbh.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Moving Forward, Circuit by Circuit (DBH) (💀)

Some Air (Nimona)

The Catacomb Killer (Disco Elysium)

Tenth of a Second (Disco Elysium)

To Spare Little Revenges (Our Flag Means Death)

(it's so so so funny that none of them are Malev + TMA)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do! Around once a week I'll go through and try to get them. Sometimes I can't think of what to say, sometimes it's a quick 'thank you!'.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? 

I can think of two: Catacomb Killer explicitly ends with war breaking out after the case is solved. I debated on this for a long time, but in the end, one of the main decisions the protags make in the end is to give a sensitive piece of intel to what would be the rebels, knowing that it might encourage them to act quickly. And, you know! Consequences.

road trip of the damned (an ode to good cows) doesn't end angstily necessarily, but the entire fic basically ends with 'and Jon gets home and goes to his grandmother's funeral and grieves'. The fic didn't revolve around grief until about halfway thrugh outlining it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? 

Lighthouse might take the cake - many characters are back from the dead and living in an extended family situation. The Prodigal (or, a Planet Called Petunia) is one of my biggest 'from rock bottom to right on top' stories (because god bless, even Arthur Lester only gets the gift of having more horrors once he scrapes himself off the pavement).

8. Do you get hate on fics? 

Every once in a while! Usually not anything intentionally malicious, though. Mostly people not reading the room.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? 

Typically not exclusively smut! A sex scene every once in a blue moon, though, if the characters vibe. I think subconsciously I include a similar amount of sex that is in the source material.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? 

Not regularly, but a few! I've cross-overed Mistholme with TMA once, and Monstrous Agonies with TMA + Malevolent.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

aw man let's hope not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

I have! Incredibly kind, it always makes me want to learn the translated language.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 

I have not!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? 

I think Spirk is the one that will always stick with me, but Johnlock and Jonmartin have had such an impact on me.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? 

I've got two Holmes longfics all outlined out that really excite me, but... oh, man. For some reason sitting down to write them hasn't happened. I also have a Malevolent longfic based on the original stories of the King in Yellow book - which I do want to finish, but it will be horrifically long.

16. What are your writing strengths? 

I think I'm decent with 'oh, so this is what the story's about' moments - like, oh, this story is about discovering meaning or falling in love or learning forgiveness or w/e. I like big, flashy finales. I've also been told my pacing is very good, and generally speaking, I think I'm halfway decent with humor.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? 

Sometimes I think in my drive to push the plot along, I strip away a lot of the fluffier character-buildy moments - and emotional throughlines for characters can be a bear. I've also noticed a recent thing where I'm, like. Omitting a very important part of the scene and just writing a reaction to it. Which is wild and fun to edit with.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 

Sometimes! Usually when there's no direct translation (or the 'direct translation' is way too stiff).

19. First fandom you wrote for? 

BBC Sherlock, 100% positive.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh, I don't know if I could pick a favorite! Catacomb Killer was so fun to play with the dialogue, and doing the research for formaldehyde and i'm afraid to come home in the dark was cool. I think I might actually pick Interim? (I Hardly Know Him) just because my usual longfics are angsty-ish, but writing Wooden Overcoats fanfic was like writing a sitcom. Was fun!

tagging @magnetarmadda, @romanticslimecreature, and @shadow0haven if y'all want to do it!

[sorcerous-caress]

Sending this all in one ask even though it's technically four different things, hope that's alright-

1. Ik it's small and just in the tags but the Sol response for the soulmates post is so 💞

2. I really liked the writing in your Yurgir post, just thought it was really neat and I liked your wordings (I could not come up with a better way to word this, though- my bad). Let him protect Tav!! Even though he's also completely wrecking them <3

3. I agree really hard on the backgrounds giving dialog options. It really feels like it should be a thing- I think maybe all background affects dialog wise, is whether or not your character gets the Baldurian tag..? But that might just be a race thing (in which you'd either get Baldurian or Underdark. Or... Nothing for githyanki? Unless they have the Planar tag? Idk)

I may not be able to have the option in game, but in my mind's eye my noble Tav introduced themselves proudly with their full name, and Astarion immediately poked fun at them for how much of a mess their family is known to be. Them most likely recognizing Wyll as the Ravengard son and assuming he'd know of them as well but he straight up doesn't. Beautiful stuff

-Tressym anon

Thank you for taking the time to write this! Love hearing your thoughts <3

1 - You read it!! I didn't think anyone would notice, I'm so happy. I really want to add them to the several characters mini-lists I make but I always hesitate because since the post will leave my blog tags, I don't want it to feel like I'm forcing my OC into the fandom main media?

So I just leave it in the tags for my readers to hopefully find, since only you guys know about Sol and will see the OG post while most people will see reblogs of reblogs without my tags.

It's like, while Halsin embraces fate and has faith in it, Sol and Minthara do not. They realise how incredibly lucky they are to have met you. Sol condems fate for being so pitiful, how easily they'd have never met you and just spent their life hiding their true self and following their family.

While Minthara fears fate, she knows she would've killed you under any other circumstances. She dreads the idea of never waking up from her brainwashing, be it from Lolth or the Absolute.

2 - I'm glad to hear you liked it! I can't stress how I will never get tired of hearing this or how these comments never get redundant to me. Honestly, I'm having a really bad day rn but still pushed out a fic bc I felt like it's been a while, it makes me feel appreciated when people tell me they liked anything about my works. So thank you again from the deepest of my heart.

3- omfg, the Astarion idea is gold. He would totally have gossip on most noble families since he spent so much time in the upper city. You'd be announce yourself and titles so proudly and he'd be like "didn't your cousin runaway with that barmaid and leave his wife and three kids behind?"

Or playful banter with Wyll since he came from nobility originally, the two of your characters could've seen each other as kids or something before the whole Mizora thing and he'd be like "wait...I remember you! You're that kid who stole my piece of cake during my birthday party"

Also imagine insulting Gortash during his coronation with a noble background, basically calling hime fake nobility and how he doesn't know the first thing about rulling or etiquette.

Maybe when you come back to the city, you already have an account made in the bank and don't need to start another? Maybe you get pickpocketed quite often because you "look rich" and if you sleep at any camp besides the elfsong tavern, you remain restless and don't heal to full.

Being an obnoxious noble sounds way too fun. A spoiled rich person who has to trudge around in the mud in the underdark and complain about their silk clothes getting absolutely ruined while the party snicker behind you.

Imagine teaching Lae'zel and Shadowheart how to slow dance <3 or taking Karlach to a very fancy restaurant reservation during her date in act 3!

[theliteraryluggage]

Sooooo I already have a taglist for my original WIP Impartial (and of course you can always be added to that just lmk!) but I thought I could also make a

Taglist for my fanfic writing!

If you're on that list I'll just tag you on the occasional snippet or meta I might post, art that goes with my fic and when I post something new!

If that sounds like something you might be interested in, give me a shout and I can put you on the list! This can be fandom specific or for all my fics, though full disclosure I am only actively working on FMA fics right now.

Just as a way to stay on top of things if you like my writing, or give me a bit of encouragement if you're into that, since posts can get lost quickly on tumblr.

I'm gonna talk a little bit about what kind of stories I write and the WIPs I'm currently working on under the cut so you can get a better idea of what you'd sign up for.

First thing you should know: Among my readers and mutuals I have a certain reputation for writing very painful angst :D

I cannot claim that reputation is undeserved; I do love writing angst a lot, and I rarely write any fics without it, but I don't write it with the express purpose of hurting my readers. I rarely write whump for whump's sake (except during the recent febuwhump, admittedly).

What interests me the most in my fics is exploring character's personalitites and relationships when they are put in taxing situations. I like to explore inner turmoil, questions of morality, complex conflicts that have no easy resolution and trying to live with trauma. I like peeling away the layers of my blorbos to find out what really makes them tick, and to extend, deepen or just fully map out the themes that their development (or lack of) in canon follows.

I am often told by my readers that I am good at evoking emotion viscerally, portraying complex situations with nuance and pinning down the facets of my characters’ personalities—all things that I also like in my own writing, and so I do hope I am somewhat competent at them.

Here’s a brief look at my three main WIPs right now to give you an idea of the type of stories I write.

when all is lost (and hope a ghost)

A post-canon platonic soulmate AU of FMA, often referred to as WAIL

A soulmate AU in which you can feel your soulmate’s emotions, even when you’re apart. A bond and an opportunity, but also a weakness that can be exploited. Explores what people are capable of when pushed to their limits, contemplates loss and the fear of it and the way that grief changes us. First draft is complete at 27K and currently in editing, first two chapters can already be found here.

everything is twisted (but we don’t feel a thing)

Canon nudged to the left with horror vibes, also referred to as Eldritch Elrics or EE

A fic following the Elrics through their canon adventures as told from various points of view—except neither of them is quite the same since they have returned from the gate. Some subtle quality about them is off, and it’s unnerving being unable to tell what it is. My first forray into the vicinity of horror, a slow write as I take great care in building an unsettling atmosphere. Currently working on the first draft at 7K.

I will go down punching (but I will go down)

First instalment in a four part canon divergent series named Vox Populi, also referred to as VP

A deep dive of Ed’s and Al’s characters, following the question to the end, what would happen if Ed actually was court-martialed for committing human transmutation? A canon divergence attempting to give some agency to the people of Amestris and confronting the Elrics with harsh realities they’d rather not face (part I). Exploring the pitfalls of both rigid and flexible morality (part II), how to persevere when faced with impossible choices (part III) and the concept of sin as a physical reality in the world (part IV). Currently working on the first draft at 23K.

Sound interesting? Sound off and I will add you to my tag list! And in the meantime you are of course welcome to browse through my past fics on AO3!

[jaerie]

2022 Evaluation of my Fics

I was tagged by @chai-hat-tea

1. Number of stories posted to AO3 this year: 24

2. Word count posted for the year: 95,054

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

4. Pairings: Harry/Louis and then some that I wrote anon that I won’t out myself on haha

5. Story with the most:

Kudos: Mr. Tuesday

Bookmarks: Mr. Tuesday

Comments: Mr. Tuesday hahahaha wow yall loved that one

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): 

I guess probably Mr. Tuesday.  I had a lot of hope for The Marm but I struggled a LOT writing this year and it ended up not being what I wanted and hoped it would be.  

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why):

I think I’d probably have to say The Marm just for the reason above.  I had so many good ideas for it… but I just wasn’t able to make it happen.  So much potential.  It’s not a BAD fic overall, I just know what it could have been.  

8. Share or describe a favourite review you received:

I don’t have a specific one to pull out unfortunately… but I receive comments saying how they trust me with new topics or kinks and it makes me feel like the mom of unchartered territory.  Like hold my hand and let’s dive through it kids!  Those are always the best because I try to approach topics with realistic thought processes and human experience even though most situations are fictional.  It’s hard to describe what I put into fics, but it’s nice to see that I really am putting across what I’m trying to.  

9. A time when writing was really, really hard:

This year was really hard for me to write in general. The past couple years have been very very difficult.  The trauma over the last few years specifically from everything that has happened in my professional life made it really hard to do much more than come home and disassociate on Tiktok or some mindless phone game.  I also traveled to 4 countries for 12 Harry shows and 5 Louis shows which ate up a lot of time.  It was the first year of my 19 years in the industry that I used my entire allotment of employee rate hotel rooms if that says anything.  I also have realized that my tolerance level for things has become so very low and I have taken a lot of things to heart that I would have brushed off in past years.  The main one being that everyone comments on every single story about wanting sequels and about how they can’t wait to see what happens! Not realizing that I am internalizing that as the original fic not being good enough.  I understand the thoughts behind the comments and I do appreciate that people want more, but in the mental state I’m in, it has been very hard to not see it as a sign of inadequacy.  

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

At this point, I feel like I’ve written so many surprising things that nothing surprises me anymore!  I often try to push myself to write something bizarre or dark.  I guess it always surprises me when something turns out to be soft when I didn’t set out for it to be.

11. A favourite excerpt of your writing:

I really liked this setup:

The pages of the date book fluttered as Harry used his thumb to open to the current page. Everyone used the online schedule system now, but Harry always preferred paper. He copied any appointments down every morning to keep it up to date. He slid his finger across his handwriting in pink ink until he came to today.

 Tuesday. Harry loved Mr. Tuesday. 

 It was true that most of his clients were regulars, but there was just something about Mr. Tuesday that would make him stand out amongst the others even if he hadn’t booked almost every single Tuesday with him for the past year. It was the first day of Harry’s work week and Mr. Tuesday always eased him into it in such a pleasant way. It also meant Harry didn’t have to worry about primping himself all weekend since Mr. Tuesday liked him more natural. It was one less day he had to shave his sensitive parts. 

 Harry still prepared like he would for any client. He spent some time in the shower washing every inch of himself and then cleaned and sanitized the bathroom behind himself. He threw on a robe and some little shorts so he wasn’t completely naked as he moved around the room. His checklist was so routine now as he checked that the bedside table was fully stocked even though it would be impossible to go through that many condoms in one session. 

 There was a light knock on the door and Harry glanced up at his clock. 5:30. Right on time. 

 Harry took the few steps around the bed to answer the door while he was still wearing his robe. It wasn’t one of his sexy silk ones, it was pink and fluffy and usually only used to snuggle into when he wasn’t on the clock. Mr. Tuesday only liked Harry’s lingerie on special occasions. 

 Always aware of safety, Harry checked the peephole before opening the door. Mr. Tuesday handed him the token that confirmed he’d checked in at the front just as all of his clients had to. There didn’t need to be any negotiations. They were both on the same page. 

 12. How did you grow as a writer this year:

That’s a difficult question.  My initial response is that I didn’t grow, but that’s never entirely true.  Loss of skill has been a huge concern for me with such long stretches of not writing anything. So I would say that trying to adapt to writing in new mindsets with new processes that work in said mindset was growth. I don’t know how successful it has been, but I’ve completed a few things so it isn’t entirely a failure.  

13. How do you hope to grow next year:

I hope to be able to focus on one thing and get it done. My goal is to fully form ideas before just diving in as I always have in the past.  We’ll see how that goes.  

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

If I spoke with you about writing, you’re a positive influence. I have a couple group chats made of individuals who are usually up for indulging my ideas even if they never become much more than ideas.  

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

I think a lot more themes or ideas from my real life pop up in my fics than anyone realizes.  I won’t expose most of those things, but gender has been a reoccuring theme for the year.  

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

I don’t really feel like I’m in a place to offer much wisdom… but I will say that if you want to write it, write it.  There is an audience for EVERYTHING. It may not be a large audience, but there will be an audience.  Rare pairs, dark fics, controversial fics, etc etc.  Someone will always read it if you are willing to write it.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: 

I may have made a mistake with signing up for this round of Big Bang... but I have a lot invested in the fic and I am feeling pretty good about it so far.  I am really hoping I am able to do my idea and careful plotting justice.  It isn’t exactly like the things I usually write, but I’m hoping that will be a refreshing jumpstart for other projects. One step at a time, though.  

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

If you’re a writer, consider this your tag! Tag me when you answer!

[thegreyscalerainbow]

Slash Ships Get to Know Me

Thank you for tagging me @animeangelriku​

Rules: Name at least five (but no upper limit) slash (M/M) ships you love. Each from a different fandom.

1. Puzzleshipping (YuGiOh!)- To anyone outside the fandom, it may not make sense, and when I was originally in the Yugioh fandom circa 2006 it didn't make sense to me either. It confused the hell out of me because I was a baby ace ignorant of anything other than what media spoonfed me. But I did value their relationship deeply and knew they did love each other to come capacity. It wasn't until I finally got to watch the subtitled version as an adult that it clicked. It's so very special to me because even though I had preferred the platonic version of it as a kid, it's still incredibly nostalgic for me and it came back into my life at a time when I needed it 

1. Ozbert (Pandora Hearts) - Controversial, I know, (It used to be the most popular ship in the fandom) and I have not engaged with this ship in some years since it got in the line of sight for a lot of antis. I actually left a Pandora Hearts discord server over the harassment I saw. But again, I am asexual and aromatic, and this relationship was the first slash ship I got heavily into when I was a teenager. It's got tons of nuance and angst, and as someone who has read a lot of period fiction and is very aware of what was socially acceptable at the time, I view this completely differently from a modern-day setting. My enjoyment of this ship has morphed and is actually not romantic now, but it's on this list for leaving an impact on me. For those who balk at the idea that Oz is 15 and Gilbert is 24 for the main story arc, keep in mind that due to plot reasons, this is a very specific scenario, with supernatural elements and actual time travel involved. In the beginning, Gil is 14 and Oz is 15. So this is someone who had a childhood crush, clung to that love for ten years, but now his crush is back and hasn't aged a day. For me, it's exploring the complexity of that, and it's tragic. Gilbert is such a wonderful character, and any way you look at his feelings, you just know that even if it's not romantic, he and Oz are family.

3. VaNoe (The Case Study of Vanitas) - Same author as Pandora Hearts, and I just know she is going to hurt me again. And I will thank her. We have a reversal of the usual dynamic seen with vampire series. This time, it's the sweet naiive cinnamon roll Vampire, and edgy dark Human with a mysterious past and a broken moral compass. They are foils for each other and have so much chemistry it just works so well! At first, Noe does not like Vanitas at all and wants nothing to do with him, this draws Vanitas to him because he enjoys bothering people who catch his fancy and hate him. Then while his affections are on another, Noe learns more about him and he becomes very attached to Vanitas. Realizing now he has actually made emotional connections, it's clear that Vanitas is now afraid and is pushing them away. There's a push and pull here, and I'm both apprehensive and excited to see where their journey takes them. Even though we know it's going to end badly, based on the first chapter. I'm here for how much Noe has learned about his strange partner, to the point of figuring out a way to speak Vanitas' love language. Also, they both have no flipping clue what Love is, and the entire scene that unfolds during is gold. Vanitas is the kind of character who has never been treated gently by anyone, so I enjoy seeing depictions of him getting that from Noe, because it catches him completely off guard.

4. SidLink (Legend of Zelda) - This one is casual, because I actually have not played Breath of the Wild (I fully intend to though!!) but fandom content of this ship sucked me in. I found one fanfiction that was so incredibly sweet, and fell down a rabbit hole with that writer’s works and have fond memories of reading it. I will definitely have the ship goggles on once I play, I adore Sidon as a character, and I don’t know, giant peppy shark man and tiny human...what is there not to love? 

5. SoRiku (Kingdom Hearts) - Another more recent ship, as I was not in the Kingdom Hearts fandom in its heyday. I did not have access to the games, but saw plenty of fandom content of it and honestly, it was always a place of nostalgia even before I watched the Let’s Plays that were online. I’m so glad I did, and many others who adore this ship have laid out all the reasons why better than I could. I just haven’t explored it for myself outside of canon as much as I would like to, but I love it for the same reasons I love the other ships on this list. I guess that says a lot about me because all of these ships but ONE are riddled with Angst. What can I say...I like my Hurt/Comfort fics. I also enjoy seeing them in AUs where they get to live in better timelines. It’s a sort of Catharsis. Now, since the games are still going, where their relationship ends up in canon remains to be seen. I hope it ends well! 

And because I like to go ne step further:

6. Natsume x Tanuma (Natsume Yuujin Chou) - It’s so stinking sweet and I’m so soft for it! This series is actually my favorite, and I have revisited so many times for the atmosphere and combination of supernatural horror and slice of life. Natsume lives between worlds, he did not make connections with people because he faced ridicule and was unwanted (he scared people) and he hated Yokai because they interfered with his daily life to the point he did not fit in with humans. He could not share what he saw and suffered. As the series goes on he is able to make connections with both human and Yokai and one of the first people he opened up to about seeing them was Tanuma. Tanuma has some level of spiritual power that allows him to see phantom shadows, so his awareness of Yokai is such that he immediately accepts Natsume and wants to help him. He’s pushing through that wall Natsume has spent most of his life building. Even though he can’t see them and may put himself in danger, he wants to be there for his friend. They share secret knowing glances and smiles, and gradually Natsume is more and more accepting of his help, and opening up to him. Such as being able to admit he can’t see the fireworks at the festival because a giant yokai is in the way, and Tanuma smiles and offers to find a new viewing spot. This series is in a Shojo magazine and the manga-ka chose to make her protagonist male so that she wouldn’t be forced to write a romance. As a result, the girls he interacts with are friendly, but definitely don’t have a lot of romantic potential. Natsume is still way closer to Tanuma than anyone else, even with Taki hanging around. I feel like he and Taki have a friendship, but it ends there as she had never suffered the hardship the boys have. She’s just more likely to team up with Tanuma as a Protection Squad to intervene in the dangers Natsume faces.