#also my guilt pleasure ship

[regulus-leonis]

wishing that the doctor stone fandom had more than just sengen writers rn….

[cryoverlife]

Ashler but in a soulmate au would be hilarious.

I feel like they would officially meet (or however soulmates are represented as in the au) like at 8 or 9.

They would awkwardly stare at each other for a minute. During the minute they would come to the conclusion to completely ignore this happened at all cause neither of them want a soulmate.

like Tyler is really worried about his sister and mom and honestly just doesn’t want to have to open up to (deal with/care about) another person.

and Ashlyn just hates the idea of soulmates since forever.

Cue ignoring and avoiding each other for seven years.

and then the trip to Savannah happens and they’re like “darn it” and are now forced to deal with the whole soulmate thing.

Lol guys I made a Part Two

[achaoticeternal]

can’t you see...?

aemond targaryen x reader part one - nothing between us

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

word count: 2.7k summary: The eye of the Seven is observant as they watch the altercations that occur between the prince and you. How far will you allow your temptation to spur you? And how could you ever deny Aemond Targaryen of what the Seven have gifted him? a/n: there’ll probably be a part three... warnings: power dynamics/ imbalance, AFAB reader, religious themes and guilt, coercion/dub-con (but not smut), praise kink, Aegon’s commentary 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Aemond’s eye hardly left your lovely figure during dinner that night. Though he may be sitting quite a few seats away from you on the opposite side of the table, it made it easy for him to watch and observe you. While others surrounding you shared polite conversation, Aemond thought solely of what occurred in the godswood before you separately entered for the feast.

His mind mulled over how obedient you were… how eager to please…

The lewd thoughts were only interrupted when Aegon leaned in close to him, breath heavy with the stench of wine. It shouldn’t come to him as a surprise that Aegon already had his fill of the wine even as he whispered into his ear, “She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she?”

Aemond’s hands fisted against the napkin in his lap, knuckles turning white. Yet the unbothered look upon his face didn’t sway, except for a twitch of his brow. His self-control was quite impressive, especially with his brother’s vulgar thoughts being whispered into his ear like a deceptive little snake.

“The lady is not a plaything for you to steal pleasure from,” He quietly spat back.

“I wouldn’t have to steal her pleasure,” Aegon chuckled darkly, “I’m sure your little virgin would love being properly taken.”

Before Aemond could retaliate, their grandfather and Hand of the King, Otto Hightower, stood to address the guests of the feast. He spoke of another passing year of the successes the Small Council had brought to the realm, continuing the peaceful reign of the King. Lord Hightower also pleasantly surprised the group with a toast to the health of Lord Corlys Velaryon and his return to Driftmark as the Lord of the Tides and Master of Ships. Many people shared smiles and small toasts, but Aemond’s eye drifted back to the daughter of Viserys’ and Otto’s most trusted advisor and long-time friend of the Crown.

Yet, he was rather surprised when he noticed that you were already looking at him. It was a look the young prince was unable to discern. You looked at him, with a gaze of longing and curiosity before quickly averting your eyes elsewhere. Your face became warm, if not flustered when you realized that he caught you in the act. But you couldn’t help but to admire him…

Flashbacks of your time spent in the godswood washed over you. That brief time spent together just moments before you arrived at your parent’s side.

“Get on your knees and pray,” His voice had come out in a growl nearly similar to a dragon.

There was no resistance as you gracefully fell to your knees before him. The prince now towered over you but made no movement to obstruct you.

“Will you not pray with me, my prince?” You asked softly.

A smirk graced his face at your question, paired with a breathless chuckle, “I am praying in my… own way.”

With a nod of your head, you did not press him further. Clasping your hands together, you raised them to the height of your chin. You closed your eyes and began to recite your prayers in a hushed tone.

Aemond’s soft touch landed atop your folded hands, “Speak up, my Lady. The Gods can not hear your whispers of faith.”

You set to continue the prayer, yet he stopped you once more, “Open your eyes to the heavens, sweet lady.”

Opening your eyes, you glanced upwards only to be met with his looming presence. He had moved closer to you, his one eye fixating upon you and hand cupping your chin. How pretty you looked on your knees before him, innocence brimming in your eyes. You continued speaking your prayers to each of the faces of the Seven, eyes never leaving him. He looked like a God before you, a god you would willingly worship whenever he called upon you.

The prayer finished, causing you to fall silent. His thumb traced the outline of your bottom lip before light tugging it. When he released it, he pressed the pad of his thumb to your lips. Without any instruction, you pressed a soft kiss to the digit.

A warmth now settled in your lower stomach as the scene played over and over in your mind. Though the warmth caused a faint sense of pleasure, guilt settled into your heart and mind. The eyes of the Seven had seen how you had misbehaved when so loosely chaperoned with the prince. How would your oath to the Maiden waver when truly alone and unable to resist the temptation that came to you so naturally?

Your mind raced with these upsetting thoughts. Surely the prince, a faithful man, did not want to be tainted by the presence of a young lady with such thoughts. It was something that you would come to pray over consistently; every meal, every night, every holy day.

--

Over the course of the following days, Aemond had come to find you were always haunting his mind, day in and day out. Whether he be in the training yards with Ser Criston, or delving into the histories during his time of study, his thoughts drifted away to the idea of how soft your lips felt against his thumb. And how he wished to press the digit against your tongue and order you to suck just to see how far you’d go to please him.

He’d shake his head to rid himself of these scandalous fantasies, especially while seated between his own mother and Helaena. The mother-daughter had been chatting as Aemond remained seated across from them, his nephew and niece playing at his feet. Though he tried to appreciate this time spent with his family, his mind twisted to thoughts of seeing you heavy with his own heirs. The two of you having little silver-haired toddlers coming to pull at your legs for attention.

Yet at night during his nightly solitude, the impure fantasies flooded his mind. His typical dreamless nights had twisted into exaggerations of your bodies laying together in his bed, completely bare to each other. How sweet your voice sang out for him as he coaxed you through waves of incomparable pleasure. The way in which your face would blissfully contort as he thrust his cock into your desirable, tight warmth.

Aemond would find himself kicking his sheets off his body, the layers trapping too much heat against him. When that didn’t help, the young prince would strip himself bare, freeing his hard member from the constriction caused by his breeches. The images in his dreams would cause him to tightly fist himself until hot spurts of cum covered his hand and lean stomach, leaving him panting. These nights left him frustrated and on the brink of tears as he questioned whether or not he was cursed with the same lust the Seven bestowed upon Aegon.

In the morning after these dreams, Aemond would strictly avoid you by taking off on Vhagar or locking himself away in his private chambers when not bound to duty.

But at the end of the day, it not only caused a strain on your blossoming relationship - it left both of you even more frustrated, befitting you both in a state of yearning.

--

Days later, Aemond had just left his mother’s private chambers after spending lunch with her. Mostly she lectured him about his brothers’ behavior or what she thought was unsuitable in recent Small Council dealings. Surprisingly, Aemond had left all thoughts and dreams of your angelic face and body on his pillow, allowing him to take comfort in his day.

Currently, he was making his way down to the library in search of texts recommended to him by a maester. New teachings had been released from Oldtown and were now housed within the Red Keep’s expansive library.

Yet when he arrived, Aemond found himself met with your figure curled into one of the seats. You were currently facing away from him with an unfamiliar text propped in your lap. It was the way you had strewn out your body that caught and held his attention longer than what might be acceptable. Dressed in a gown befitting the heat of summer, you lounged out upon the chaise with your calves danging over the armrest where one would typically rest their head. Furthermore, your shoes had been discarded and your dress had bunched down to your knees. Where the scene might have been less enticing in the winter where you would wear stockings up your dress, your legs were bare to him. It only spurred the impure thoughts once more.

Aemond cleared his throat which signaled his presence. Almost immediately, you dropped your book when you realized that you were no longer alone. Quickly, you tucked your legs under the skirt of your dress before flipping over to see it was the prince. With a sharp intake of breath, you rose to your knees on the chaise, gripping the backing for support, “My prince…”

“My lady,” He bid you welcome and a beat of silence hung before he spoke once more, “I did not mean to disturb your lounging.”

“You did not disturb me,” You attempted to soothe the awkward tension between the pair of you. It fell silent again when both of you were unsure of what to say. Deciding to continue about your day, you stood from your seat and slipped your shoes on before moving to exit, “Good day, my prince.”

Aemond was quick to notice your discarded book that lay on the floor, “My lady, it seems you’ve forgotten something,” already, he took strides to retrieve it.

Turning on your heels, you watched as the prince went to fetch your book. Waves of horror rocked through your body, “Allow me to grab it. I so foolishly forgot it.”

Though you stepped lightly to catch up to him, Aemond already hovered down to snatch it off the ground, “No, allow me.”

As Aemond rose to his full height once more, you arrived before him. He stretches out the novel for you to take, his eye meeting yours. So far, you were in the clear… But then he glanced down to see what title had kept you so occupied as to not notice his intrusion. The answer surprises him… A Caution for Young Girls.  

Gingerly, you pulled it to your chest, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, “If you shall allow me to dismiss myself…”

“No. That isn’t necessary,” He stopped the words before they could leave your tongue, “I’d like for you to explain.”

Your eyes flickered back to meet his violet eye burning through you. A chill ran down your spine, the question barely audible, “Explain?”

“Yes, explain,” Aemond confirmed, his hands now tucked behind his back so you would not notice the force it took to restrain himself, “Explain why you see fit to read a book with such… lewd descriptions of what should only occur between a wed couple. You were reading it in quite a public space, before the eyes of the Seven.”

Your lip quivered as your heartbeat hammered against your chest. Feelings of guilt and ruin washed over you and the words tumbled passed your lips with little thought, “My prince, I am deeply sorry. I simply wished to understand the duties of a wife beyond what my mother has explained to me and I thought this book would help. I did not mean to come across so perverse… I… I…”

Emotions rocked through your body as the words caught in your throat. Aemond could see how the confrontation had frightened you and it left him with an interesting mix of emotions. He enjoyed having the upper hand, the way you so sweetly apologized and begged for his forgiveness. Even your confession left him pleasantly surprised with the warmth it caused to pulsate through his body.

“I see,” Aemond nodded, “Your reasoning is quite innocent… even if you’ve exposed yourself to such perverse descriptions.”

“I did not know any better; I swear it upon the Maiden,” You clasped your shaky hand over the pendant on your chest.

Such actions and whines caused Aemond’s rough exterior to soften, “I understand…”

“You do?”

Aemond chuckled lowly at your innocent tone, “Of course, I do, my sweet girl.”

Aimlessly, Aemond took the book from your grasp and tossed it onto one of the seats near the both of you. He then brought his hand up to gently grip your chin between his thumb and forefinger, “You worry that you’ve disgraced yourself? Made yourself unsuitable by consuming such materials?”

The tone in which he asked the question demanded an answer. Words lost to you, you opted to nod your head as best as you could within his hold. Your hands clung to his forearm as if your hold upon him kept you from collapsing.

“Hmm… don’t worry, sweet girl,” Aemond assured you, “Your soul isn’t tainted, and we shall go to the sept and pray together later. The Seven will forgive you.”

Aemond watched as relief flooded your eyes. Your lips parted as if to say or do anything, but you were too caught up in yourself to do anything. Instead, he continued to coax you through your panic, “All will be well, but you must share something with me.”

His thumb traveled higher, lightly toying with your bottom lip. As he did such, you asked him for further clarification, “What is it, Aemond?’

His unwavering frown turned into a subtle smirk as you allowed him to take what he wished, “I want you to suck and lick my thumb as Lady Coryanne did to the Lord’s cock in the brothel.”

Shock flooded your senses at the young prince’s request, but could you deny it? If you did not, he might run off and tell your Lord Father or expose your lack of innocence which would ruin you. But maybe your refusal to deny him also came from your deep-seated attraction for the Targaryen prince.

As his thumb protruded past your lips, the choice was made. Almost too eagerly, you began to lap at Aemond’s thumb as you read what the Lady had done with the tip of the Lord’s cock. Your lips then wrapped around the digit, gently sucking at it. Your cheeks then hallowed as you willed yourself to continue… That certainly couldn’t be in the book… Aemond thought.

“Good girl,” Aemond comforted you, “My sweet girl…”

A moment later and Aemond had pulled you around the bookcase, pinning you against a wall. Yet you did not dare to halt your movements, not without his direct order. You sucked off his thumb and then began pressing delicate kisses from the base of the joint to the tip of it before swirling your tongue around it once more.

Aemond growled as his cock strained against the leather of his pants. Without another cautionary thought, he pushed the neckline of your dress to expose one of your shoulders. He pressed open-mouthed kisses to your collarbone before he began to nibble and suck on the soft skin at the juncture between your neck and shoulder. He figured that the resulting mark could easily be covered or passed off as a bruise.

Finally, Aemond pulled off of you and removed his thumb from your lips. You whined wantonly at the loss of contact which resulted in another smirk from him. Both of your eyes met before glancing at the red-purplish spots he left after his own attack.

“Don’t worry, my Lady, you shall have more… in time,” Aemond sneered, “And make no mistake that you are mine… the Seven has seen it and decree it be…”

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all likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated. thanks for reading!

[nocturnesmoon]

I have thoughts spurring around in my head like feral cats chasing a bouncy ball, and I'm making it everyone's problem.

What if we take the world of star wars, and smash you and the 141 into it.

There are so many different combinations and turns this could take, but what I'm thinking about is the 141, ex-military turned smugglers, and you a Jedi in hiding after order 66.

The clone wars have finally come to its brutal end, and the empire has taken over the known galaxy. The Jedi have been portrayed as traitors and have been promptly executed, and the rest forced into hiding.

It looks bleak for anyone still holding onto the hope of the republic, anyone not willing to adapt to the new world gets destroyed right along with the old.

The 141 being forcefully retired, not that they minded at this point they knew it was a losing fight. With their options limited, and not keen to do the empire's bidding, or anyone's bidding ever again, they chose the obvious choice, to run.

It wasn't the ideal outcome, but with a timer on their lives, and conflicted opinions, Price took charge of the group. He knew that right now survival was the only thing that mattered, that his men would still live to see another day.

The year of acclimating to their new life was rough, they were used to sticking together but they also normally had more direction than this. Being wanted in any area governed by the empire limited a lot of work options for them.

It quite honestly didn't take long before Price resorted to less moral means, it was how their career as smugglers started.

With Gaz's excellent piloting skills, Soap's weaponry and science knowledge, Ghost's brute strength and intimating demeanor, and Price's own smooth tongue and connections, it was the most optimal choice.

And much to the their own surprise, they're pretty damn good at it.

They make good money smuggling a lot of different things across the galaxy, food, weapons, illegal goods. They take almost any job they can get in the start; they don't have time to be picky just yet, they need the credits more than good morals.

Their wanted status is likely to never get alleviated, but they combat it by never settling in one place too long. They prioritize the credits they have and get a ship big enough for both their job and to house the four of them. They're already used to being close, while this is a step further it's nothing any one of them has anything against.

They all agreed that they would stay together, they started this together and they'll end it together.

A few years in they have gotten quite the reputation for themselves, at least among other known smugglers and wanted criminals. They get bigger job opportunities, higher pay, more risk.

The bond they forge between each other is something none of them could explain, but they embrace its qualities, it's comfort and pleasure.

Some things are better to just leave unexplained and enjoy while they last. The only thing they have is each other, and they've grown quite content with that.

That was until something unexpected crash landed into their lives.

Docked at some lesser-known planet in system of farmers, they had originally planned to stop there for a few days to stock up on supplies and look for less likely work opportunities. Farmers sometimes had some strange inquiries they were quite content spending massive amounts of the little credits they have.

It was a peaceful little community, none the wiser to the person hiding amongst them. You, a Jedi who somehow survived the purge of order 66, posing as mechanic. Outside of your Jedi teachings, you had clear proficiency in anything creating and fixing.

It had been the perfect cover during the last year, who would suspect that the innocent mechanic trying to get by would harbor such a grave secret. That the kind person living in the rundown house, would be so full of survivors’ guilt that it was nothing short of a miracle they were still going.

It had roughly been 2 years since order 66, 2 years since you had survived and fled, 2 years on the run from the empire and the usual calm feeling of the force now gone.

Images still fresh on your brain despite the time, of your master, of your friends, those you'd considered your family dying from blasters that once aided them.

Every time you reached out through the force it was now hollow, the echo going into your brain and body, reminding you of the terrifying fact that you were truly alone.

You had no idea why you survived out of everyone, not even a fully trained Jedi, a mere Padawan with few accomplishments to their name. You shouldn't have survived that, someone better should be here in your place, yet no matter how much you think those thoughts, you can't change the reality.

The small farmer planet had been a good hiding spot for quite a while, you even dared to make a few friends during your stay. Despite it being less of a good idea you still kept your blade, the kyber crystal within being the only thing giving you comfort in your grief. Though you hadn't expected to ever need it again, especially not this soon.

Never had you expected that the empire would set their sights here, nor had you expected your methods of hiding had actually been that horrible. It didn't take them longer than a few days ‘til the people you thought friends practically turned you in.

You couldn't find it in your heart to blame them, the empire had very convincing methods, yet it still meant you were forced into a run for your life.

When the 141 had set their sights on this planet they hadn't expected the empire to already be here when they arrived. Price had insisted that the planet was still free, and he was right, a week ago.

They remained inconspicuous, did their shopping, and didn't snoop around too long. There was no need to get the empire hot on their tails once again.

When Ghost and Gaz went into the market, they intended on staying out of trouble, and technically they weren't the ones roped into it.

When they first spotted you, running from a few storm troopers, lightsaber blade raised, they nearly didn't believe their own eyes. All the Jedi were supposed to be dead, yet here you were, a sight to behold.

Nothing about their next actions were ruled by logic, if you ask them later about what they were thinking they couldn't tell you, because the only thing that was a priority now was to help you.

Perhaps it was some sort of obligation, maybe a sliver of hope for something better, or maybe it was just something about you that tugged at them, making them want to protect and help you.

Backed into a cornered alley, almost having lost your pursuers you felt the new threat loom behind you. A technique that was familiar in ways you couldn't explain, and too fast for you to register and counter. You were knocked out cold, and the next time you woke you were on a spaceship in space.

To say that Price was furious with the two was an understatement, they had more or less kidnapped someone unprompted. While Soap found the situation hilarious, he also had a feeling there was way more to this, and a possible danger they could've avoided.

When you wake it's Price that greets you, making sure to establish himself to not be a threat to you, so you didn't do anything drastic. You were on edge, understandably so, but he managed to explain the situation while also avoiding the main topic at hand.

You knew it would come up, he was toying with your lightsaber in his hands while you talked, and no matter how much you stared it down you didn't dare lunge for it yet. The dreaded question, and the answer that people had such varying reactions to.

"You're Jedi?"

You had expected something else when you confirmed to him what you were, what you've been since you could remember. A part of you had expected them to be bounty hunters, ready to turn you over to the empire at a moment’s notice. The reward on your head would be great, you imagine, yet that's not what he does.

He reminisces instead, telling you of a Jedi he once knew, of how he and his men had fought alongside a few of them on special occasions. Never had you imagine that this is where you would end up, in the metaphorical arms of people who could care maybe just a little.

He gave you an offer, they could drop you off at whatever location you requested, or they could work a sort of partnership.

You don't know what to make of it at first. They seem genuine, but people have ratted you out for less. You don't have a lot of options, going somewhere else and trying to find another inconspicuous farming planet wasn't the most viable choice, but neither was bunking with them. Who knew what kind of people they were.

Your chances were not the best, and unfortunately you had a sneaking suspicion they knew that. Whether their intentions were noble or just pity, you decided to take the risk and stay. If it all came crashing down, you'd still have your training, it had gotten you this far, it could get you further.

The first few days you stayed with them was tense, they were all in agreement on keeping you, there was nothing hostile about it, but it was still tense. It was partially your own doing, you walked on eggshells around them, never letting any of them behind you, etc. etc.

They understood to an extent, the way they met you wasn't exactly on the best of terms, it was natural for you to be cautious. So, they let you have your space, they don't pressure you into anything but do try to coax you into a more comfortable environment with them.

The crack starts to form when you see them all gathered in the main area of the ship, laughing, talking, playing a game you're unfamiliar with. Soap is the first to notice you staring, with a big grin on his face he invites you to join them. Hesitant but interested you approach.

Price explains the rules to you, and you get to watch for a round or two before you join in on your own. They go easy on you but you're a quick learner, and it doesn't take long before you become quite vicious in your play.

It becomes a common thing, almost nightly that they all gather to spend time together. The bond between each other grows fast, and it's not long before you start feeling like this is exactly where you're meant to be.

Settling in with them becomes easier and easier, as if they had always waited for another person to welcome in with them. To fill a missing part, they didn't know they needed.

While keeping the secret of what you are is the topmost priority, you end up helping them out on jobs. Due to your training you're very adaptable, able to fill any position where something was missing.

You were an excellent mechanic when the ship was down, and with Gaz's magic touch it halved the time it usually took to repair.

Soap had a really fun time explaining a bunch of different things about weaponry and the science behind it. There had been a lot of different questions you had in the clone wars that was left unanswered, you could finally have someone enthusiastic that could explain them to you.

A lot of long rides were spent like that, of you asking him questions and then more questions because the math he talked about in the first question was confusing.

Even though you were just a Padawan back then, you still had made your fair share of connections during the clone wars. People that you and your old master had come across, and old friends outside of the Jedi order.

Price found it very useful, and though most of the connections you had were friendship and not business, it could still be used as such. A few of them he even helped rekindle, you've been grateful for that ever since.

Though the Jedi order is no more you still try to keep up with your training. You have no guidance any longer, nothing new to look at, but you can maintain what you know.

The others are happy to help you with it as well, they know it's important to you and a part of them have always found it fascinating how you train.

Occasionally you'd have them all surround you in a circle, setting their blasters to stun and randomly shooting at you. It helped sharpening your senses, helped you rely on the force to guide your hand, and to deflect more accurately.

You'd do a lot of training with Ghost that wasn't necessarily Jedi training. While you did a lot of mental training on your own, the physical part was something Ghost had a lot of enjoyment in helping you with.

Sparring, running, lifting, anything he could think of that would help you, he did, and it quickly became thing for you two to train together.

It wasn't anything you had expected with them, not in a million years would you have imagined ending up here. It was a thing you couldn't predict, but neither was order 66.

Nobody you knew had been able to foresee the collapse of the Jedi order. Some things were just left up to chance, and currently here with the 141, you liked your odds.

I just finished reading the book project hail mary, and not too long ago i reread the Ahsoka book. So safe to say i've been in a bit of a space mood, still am.

And what better way to utilize that, than combine my hyperfixation on the 141 and my special interest star wars hehe.

[damianbugs]

You need to tell us what you think of your favorite Bruce ships. Pls

i should preface by saying i usually prefer bruce (in my own works and others, including comics) to not be in a relationship at all because i can't think of a time he's like ever emotionally stable enough for that. like ever. THAT BEING SAID isn't that all the more reason to throw him into a ship? doomed tragic romance you will always be famous to me

and because i am insane, here are some comic recs to go with my fav bruce ships!!

>batcat

a classic favourite, batcat!!! i will admit i am not the biggest fan of their rebirth stories, and the whole wedding fiasco and most of what tom king wrote about them (and in general) was. not enjoyable. but pre crisis/golden age batcat? MY PARENTS. just. silver and bronze age batcat too. what a refreshing and entertaining couple. the thing that really makes them compelling is at the end of the day they have the same goal; protect the people of gotham. the ways they go about it can be different, and selina especially faces some serious mischaracterisation in order to make bruce look like the "hero" in the relationship, but at their core and simplest expression of love, they share the same dream, and they both know that. it's this selflessness that connects them deeply.

> "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne" (Batman the Brave and the Bold #197) is, in my opinion, essential batcat reading. a very bittersweet story!

> for a more modern read, "Only Takes a Night" (Catwoman #32) is a delightful read about how hopelessly in love they are. bruce is such a devoted loser.

> ghostbat

every character needs that one irreparably damaging young adult tragic romance that changed their life forever and that is what ghostbat is. khoa is the perfect foil to bruce, in that ultimately, they are two ends of the same spectrum. fiercely stubborn and confident in their own moral code but in the opposite way. this ship is particularly fascinating because even now, the respect and love they have for each other years later is so deeply consuming that it is prevalent in how they interact now. i don't think bruce would have been the person he is without his relationship with khoa pre-batman, in both a good and bad ways. i also really love the hc that khoa is bruce's first heartbreak (refer to: the Snow and Gun incident).

> "Batman The Knight" is like ghostbat religious text. this is all you need. let it destroy you.

> batlantern

no long paragraph about this one because its my silly guilty pleasure. sometimes u need a ship in which they just don't get along except for the times they do. hal brings out such an irritating (said fondly) side to bruce and its even funnier because it works mutually. i think another really wonderful thing about this pairing is that they are really not so different from each other (nothing says romance than being consumed by your guilt and stubbornness), but they both think otherwise, so they knock heads while also begrudgingly respecting about one another in a colleague-friend-crush way. they want to make out so bad it makes them look stupid.

> "Batman: Universe" is a great and short silly story that shows their dynamic really well. amused me greatly. not ship focused though hal is there for like. a single issue unfortunately. but fun!!

> i usually never recommend any new 52 books to get INTO a character, but if you're interested in this pairing and its most 'popular' fanon interation, then "Jutice League (2011)" is the best place to start. you can get to their better stuff afterwards! (there's also an animated movie about it!)

> brutalia

AND BEST TILL LAST. THE BRUCE SHIP OF ALL TIME. ruined my life. CHANGED my life. i wish i could explain how insanely important this relationship is in words. i love my pairings tragic and there is quite literally no other ship quiet as dramatic or poetic than brutalia. talia is often seen as bruce's "one true love" with great reason, and him hers, and despite that they will probably never actually get back together. in a wider lense, the al ghuls and bruce have an insanely complicated dynamic, and this inherent conflict about missions bigger than themselves makes brutalia's forbidden love drama all the more compelling. talia brings out the best in bruce, and bruce respects and loves talia in a way i don't think he does anyone else in his life.

to complain for a moment, it's no wonder that because their relationship (since it's very first introduction) was so irrevocably pure and consensual (they were both so ridiculously obsessed with each other), that Certain Writers had to pull out the most out of character and disgusting stories to make it clear the tone of batman was changing. talia is always a victim to racism, misogyny and just unbelievable ooc writing — most evidently in her stories with bruce, unfortunately.

AND YET. recent comics have realised how truly ridiculous it is to write her as anything but kind and strong, and bruce being anything but hopelessly infatuated. i think my favourite thing about brutalia is that bruce and talia is a relationship that has been separated for actual Decades and so both their characters have been developed to have their own tragic stories and growth. then when we get small moments that bring them back together and letting that past show through the cracks in their carefully constructed walls, it's all the more romantic.

beautiful heartbreaking ship. the kind of relationship historians would cry over. would have the romantic period publishing fifteen books over.

> "Batman: Son of the Demon" is ESSENTIAL brutalia reading. also, if you are insane and delusional enough, it can be the true origin of damian.

> the comic moment that inspired all romance the moment of forever the blueprint even is in the famous "Batman (1940) #244"

> for a more modern take, very recently in fact, is her appearances in Ram V's run of detective comics, starting from #1062. its not brutalia focused, but a great take on how natural and yearning their relationship is now.

[witchinatree]

making a list of my favorite quote/ones that stuck with me from each season 1 episode because i feel like it

(i'm starting this after episode 4 but it will be a WHILE before i post it)

episode 1: "bones are a lie peddled by Big Milk" - alice

i love this one because it's a great introduction to alice i think. also it radiates spiral so i hope we get avatar alice not dead alice (isnt there a podcast called alice isnt dead?)

episode 2: "If I wanted to clear the canvas, I would have used turpentine." - statement

this one was just fucking powerful and caught me so off guard like 😶

episode 3: "What would I do without her?" - statement

the norris statement <3 it feels like martin asking what he would do without jon which makes mag200 a lot sadder and i love them

episode 4: "Perhaps you shall prove a stronger will than I, and will yet find it within yourself to destroy this hungry thing of wood and cat-gut." - statement

augustus sighting #1 and we immediately get jonah magnus expressing that it may be possible for gwen bouchard unknown family member to overcome the eye's hunger spooky violin

episode 5: "Voyeur needs to be seen to be believed." - statement

i feel like this one is pretty reflective of how the seasons gonna go? like if you explain the events of tma (mag200 specifically) no one's gonna believe you, it must be seen to be believed!! and also seen!! like the eye!!!

episode 6: "Not sca- This isn’t some poxy blood test, some little pinprick, this is hundreds, thousands of razor sharp points pushing into your flesh." - needles

i love needles so much and i thought this was really funny because it was like "you dont find me scary!! what the fuck!!!" just kind of toddler michael energy

episode 7: "It’s not like we’re wrestling with tape recorders and manila folders." - celia

STOP IT. celia you can't say that you just cannot!!!!!! you Know™ too much maam i cant with you

episode 8: "Pleasure to meet you both. I’m Gerry!"

RAGHHHHH OH MY GOD GERRY!!!! i love him so much and idk how to handle him being alive in the tmagp universe!! gertrude too but idk we got so much of her in tma and not nearly enough of gerry

episode 9: "And honestly, it’s kind of compelling by this point." - sam

they got him 😔😔 the horrors got sam 😔😔 also i found this to be an interesting contrast to jon's heavy resistance in season 1 like he was being compelled but he wasn't going to let anyone know that vs sam "its kinda compelling to trauma dump on this paperwork :]" how is he somehow even more victim material

episode 10: "Gosh you’re sexy, here’s a twenty for your trouble.” - alice

does this count as a quote if shes also quoting what she thinks sam should say? idk anyway i love her i would say that to her if given the chance and it was very silly. i will not be addressing bonzo i am scared.

episode 11: "...Thank you, Alice" - gwen

dyhard dyhard dyhard dyhard dyhard. okay also, the way she CRUMBLED at the idea of anyone doing anything nice for her please someone give her a hug and let it be ME. this series is tossing me back and forth between sam & alice (what is their ship name) and dyhard but this put me back to dyhard

episode 12: "You know it's rude to have absolutely no game?" - alice

she's so fucking funny i need her to be okay so badly!!!! i don't think even tim made me laugh as much as she makes me chuckle and this one really got me. it's hard to write such a comedic character in a podcast since you only have the voice but they really nailed it i adore her

episode 13: "Is it my fault?" - gwen

each of these episodes just reveal a little bit more about how loving and soft gwen is and idk i love her so unbelievably much so seeing that she felt guilt about the bonzo stuff just made her so much more real :(

episode 14: "Christ, they’re in the walls…" - statement

theyre in the walls!!! theyre in the goddamn walls!!!!! anyway that got me because i realized the hole before the statement said it. made more sad than scared tbh

episode 15: "Babies are cool!" - alice this entire interaction between her and sam & celia was so awkward, she is so obvious and i love her anyway

episode 16: "It’s not like I was holding doors open for Mr Bonzo or anything." - gwen my wife is so so so stupid but i adore her AND this gives room for character development. i wish she did not do that though. i love when characters are flawed and have depth but i struggled to get past THIS flaw of hers

episode 17: "Thanks, I guess. Not exactly the same, though, is it?" - celia shes talking TO JON IN THE COMPUTER. SHE KNOWS. i lost my damn mind i love her i love her. get the gay people out of the puter please queen

episode 18: "Why would I need to talk to you? Your work is satisfactory. Unless you have a work-related issue I could assist you with?" - lena solidified my opinion that lena is the best boss to ever have, i adore her and i would want to work for her if she wasn't the boss of Creepy Establishment #1

episode 19: "You’re going to throw it in the fishtank, aren’t you?" - alice colin's behavior is like really worrying BUT i'm glad he's back. i was not convinced he was still alive

episode 20: "I suppose it’s too late for remorse, isn’t it? And why should I be sorry? This is what I deserve!" - ink5oul/statement they reminded me of jon a lot, like especially his season 3/4 transformation when he doesn't quite know everything but he knows he isn't who he was in season 1 anymore, i hope we see more of their life and they can be helped :(

episode 21: [Tape Recorder Bites Ink5oul] - audio description i know it's not technically a quote but this is just so fucking funny. why does it have teeth. what does this mean for the lore. holy shit.

episode 22: "Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood" - celia. knawing at the walls of my enclosure i am so not okay. i'm not okay. wtf. wtf. wtf. they're real. wtf.

episode 23: "I had a favorite mug. It said “love you, bitch” and had a picture of a drunk dog on it." - alice. okay i just love this entire interaction because gwen got to open up a little bit and my dyhard heart is so full

episode 24: "I am told that children like me, and I’ve always held the opinion that the world would be a better place if everyone just thought more." - basira. once again this whole interaction was so fun but like idk i loved hearing basira somewhat happy and in a safe place :] my wife <3

episode 25: " I am trying to help, to save us from this goddamned fucking nightmare machine!" - colin. MAN I REALLY WAS ROOTING FOR YOU!!! I WAS SO CONFIDENT YOU WEREN'T GONNA DIE!!!! it's over

episode 26: "I was worrying for a moment that you were Magnussing." - alice. MAGNUSSING BEING CANON MADE ME SAY IT EVEN MORE I'VE SAID IT LIKE TWICE ALREADY

episode 27: "You didn’t tell me the room was labelled, “Archivist.”" - celia. oooooh somebody's got TRAUMAAAAA LMAO

episode 28: "So you’re telling me you know nothing about an OIAR external contract being found with the bodies of two tattooed thugs who met rather grisly ends?" - TREVOR HERBERT???? anyway. ink5oul mention!!!!! i hope they stop killing people it's really rude

episode 29: "Alice, er… we’ve got to talk. It’s important." - teddy. i knew it was over for him but i didn't think it was gonna be THIS bad??? bye babe i guess??? 😭

episode 30: how do i even pick. the whole fucking episode. i can't. i am in a state of shock. i need to lay down for 30 years.

[necrotic-nephilim]

For the ask game: A Damian who never got the sex talk or a consent talk from Bruce (both bc he assumed that Dick, son-wife extraordinaire, would take care of that and bc he thought that Damian would be ace or celibate or something) and so in his teens after only learning about sex from the internet he just becomes like, wildly inappropriate about his crushes, including unfortunately his older siblings, especially Dick, Tim and Cass

This includes not just the bat-typical stalking online and irl, but also making comments on their bodies, flirting excessively, and one notable time, masturbating in the living room of Dick’s apartment

Everyone is torn on how to address it, if they should be saying anything at all, I mean, he’s just going through puberty, it’s just a phase right?

for the ask game!

i LOVE it when Damian has like. zero concept of how relationships work and no one thinks to talk to him about it, leading to wildly inappropriate behavior. it's my fave flavor for any Damian ship.

obviously, his first crush is Dick. and because Damian has had such little interaction with healthy romantic relationships, he doesn't even *realize* that's what he's feeling. in concept, he understands sex. but he has a very clinical definition of it, viewing it as coupling to produce an heir. (100% influenced by Ra's) so sex as a pleasurable thing, as something driven by romantic interest, that's foreign to him. he refuses to show weakness and he needs to be hyper-independent, so he falls down a google rabbit hole. i love the idea of Damian accidentally stumbling into like, forums and subreddits based on what he googles that are for people with incestual fantasies and it ends up giving him the WILDLY wrong idea about what's normal. he makes his own account and becomes mildly chronically online about it. at first, it's just a safe outlet for him to vent about his feelings. bc deep down Damian *does* know this is a little wrong and weird, he knows Dick doesn't exactly reciprocate and he understands there's a difference between familial and romantic love. but the more Damian is reading other stories online, the bolder he gets. and he starts getting more open about his attraction.

not only does he get more open about it, but his attraction spreads to Cass and Tim. for Cass, it makes sense. they grew up similarly, if anyone understands the guilt of being raised to be an assassin and now trying to atone for it, it's her. Damian respects her raw ability and naturally it turns into a crush. for Tim, it's harder to explain. he hates Tim with his whole being, doesn't see Tim as his brother. it starts as sexual attraction first, with Tim. for Dick and Cass it was romantic first, but not Tim. watching Tim train shirtless, Damian almost hits himself in the face with the workout equipment he's using. since he's never considered Tim a brother, he's never considered Tim seriously when he's thinking about incestual feelings. it startles him to be attracted to Tim too. honestly? fun concept that Damian gets so in his head with an incest kink that he finally accepts Tim as a brother to him because he's attracted to Tim, therefore this must mean that some part of Damian views him as a brother because Damian has just. entangled those feelings internally.

it's when Damian is attracted to them as well, that they all start to notice. Cass notices first, and she asks Tim about it, since she can tell Damian's feelings are toward Tim and Dick as well. they have a conversation about it and ultimately decide they can't change Damian's feelings, and they don't want to embarrass him about it because he's young and going through puberty. Tim had his own childhood crush on Dick, it happens, he really gets it. they loop Dick in, who is absolutely thrown by the concept. for a while Dick doesn't believe them. he's convinced they're reading into things. until Damian starts getting more bold. going from openly staring that could be interpreted a lot fo ways to excess compliments and flirting. Dick's used to comments about his body, they slide off easily. but when Damian very loudly makes a comment about Tim or Cass' body, Dick balks. he tries to. carefully tell Damian that there are boundaries to certain relationships and he needs to be more respectful. Damian doesn't take it seriously because Dick won't address it head-on and is dancing around the topic. Damian either doesn't think Dick is serious, or he thinks Dick doesn't understand the depth of his emotion outside of sexual desire. so he starts trying to be more romantic. flirting, gifts and gestures. it's very sweet and almost childlike, how hard Damian is trying. Cass thinks it's cute and doesn't mind it. Dick is trying carefully to let Damian down gently. and Tim is just baffled, not really sure what to do with the *very* nice new bo staff Damian got him that's reinforced and admittedly, very well balanced.

Damian gets bolder. his touch lingers, his comments get more sexual. and of course, the breaking point: he jerks off in Dick's living room. he does it when Dick is busy in another room, taking a shower. Dick comes in just as Damian reaches completion, gripping one of the throw pillows on Dick's couch. Dick leaves the room, pretends he didn't see anything and gives Damian the chance to clean himself up. but when he comes in the room, they both know that Dick knows. Dick decides he has to be more firm with his boundaries. he sits down and tells Damian it's okay to have a crush, but this is not okay. Dick repeatedly calls it "puberty" and a "phase", and Damian gets more caught up on Dick denying the realness of his feelings than the rejection. he doubles down, because he perceives the issue as Dick just not understanding how real Damian's feelings are. this isn't some silly teenage phase to Damian, he knows his feelings. obviously, the issue must be that Dick, Tim, and Cass don't understand that. so he does his best to act more like an adult. he's far more reasonable on patrol, he doesn't pick fights, he's independent. all the issues Dick has been having with training Damian suddenly vanish and well. Dick knows why, but he has to admit, it is far easier to work with Damian like this. at this point, Tim just finds the whole thing funny. Cass doesn't enjoy the sexualized comments about her body, she's always been hyperaware of how others will oversexualize her, but she still sees Damian as a young kid and doesn't lash out at him over it. she's dealt with far worse, and she doesn't want to make him feel bad about a crush.

if i were writing this, i think it'd be fun if Damian's feels do eventually fade. he stops going online so much and he gets other things to focus on trying to be a good vigilante and soon his efforts aren't about his feelings, he's just genuinely focused on himself. he grows back and Dick, Tim, and Cass breathe a sigh of relief about it really just being some phase. that is, of course, until someone new joins the Batfam and the cycle starts again. maybe it's Duke, maybe it's someone else like Terry. but at the end of the day, Damian's incest kink wins out and maybe this time, he actually succeeds. he gets his new person of affection to reciprocate with all of the attention he gives them and Dick just has to watch from the background, facepalming. bc at the end of the day, Damian will always get what he wants, sooner or later.

[generaltulip]

Someone calling dragonborn x human bestiality in a game like BG3 is just… fuckin’ wild and bizarre to me. There’s elves, aliens, devils, tieflings, and illithids all that you’re able to romance/have sex with but lets draw the line at Dragonborns?? They’re not animals, that’s a whole ass person with a job, emotions, and personality. Fuck they even talk like a British dude but you draw the line because they’re a dragon man?

Halsin fucks as a whole ass bear, you can fuck a squid man, and a lady devil but Dragonborns? That’s somehow too weird??? Just say you’re boring and judgemental and be on your way because I’m gonna keep shipping my DB with Gortie with no goddamn guilt or shame in sight.

Also a quick note and a friendly tip: you can dislike Durgetash without trying to villainize people who like the dragonborn x human ship. You can dislike durgetash without trying to villainize people in general. I don’t personally ship it, but I 100% can see the appeal and I’m sure as hell am never gonna shit on it because I’m not an asshole bent on ruining other peoples fun. Not to mention the people who do ship it have been some of the nicest and the most welcoming that I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with.

Some of ya’ll just need to learn to dislike something without putting others down. You’re not in a vacuum, be nice to each other and get along, because trust me, it’s a whole lot more fun when you do.

[hello-universe-lovers]

hiii for the stp ask game 3, 5, 14 & 15?

((Hoooh boi I am going to be here for a while.

Answers under the cut.

3. Favorite Vessel?

Shit I had to think about that now

For wholesome, I go with Thorn. How we got to her hits me personally, as someone who had a couple of years where I wasn't the best person (I didn't backstab anyone tho, obviously), and reconciliation was tough, but it was something I needed to want and do.

For the sweet sweet angst, the Wraith, MOC and Wild take the cake. You have to royally screw em over to get them and I feel for what they have become, as a result of Larry's (LQ) actions. It hurts my soul to see the voices hurt but we had it coming.

5. Favorite Voice?

Strictly canon speaking, as much as I wanna say "all of em", bc I do, I have to go with Hero. I like him so much I turned him into a woman/hj. I am a sucker for characters whose main trait is undying loyalty, and Hero is that but more. His presence in all the routes made me attached to him, and how those routes shaped him made me laugh, cry and wanna hug him. I think to me, because he is in every route, he has the most development to attach to.

In my headcanon, that would belong to the Opportunist. I know he's an asshole and I love him in spite of that, I also like to think about the potential of him learning to curb his backstabbing nature and start to form genuine connection with people, but is fighting against his own instincts, and the impression he has already left on the voices and vessels. Guilt eats him alive, every day and the angst potential there lol. I am sucker for redemption story.

14. Favorite ship(s)

ANYTHING WITH THE VOICES!! MY GOD, I WANT THEM TO BE A POLYCULE SO BAD--

Seriously, I fell in love with so many voice ships that I just made em a polycule and that opened up to a TON of ideas about internal dynamic (That I may or may not be willing to share).

Top 3 voice ships that I talked a lot about: ColdHero, CheatedBroken, Stubtunist (yes really)

(But fr no dynamic is safe from me. I ship all of em simultaneously).

Princesses....uhhh...I don't touch em alone, ngl. At least in terms of shipping. Some are cute but I don't actively think about em. But I do have some Princess and voice ships.

- Thorn and Opportunist: I know I know him and the Witch fit more, but this follows my idea for Oppy i said above. So him getting together with the woman he backstabbed, got stabbed in returned and then chose to free gives me free serotonin. They are so domestic, it sickens me (affectionate)

- Stubborn and Adversary/Eye of the Needle: very basic but I love it. I am all for violence as an expression of love (not irl, obviously). And there is sooo much you can do with em. Go all violence or make em knit sweaters for each other!! Idc I wanna see it!

- Paranoid and Spectre: are you seeing a theme of me shipping different princesses and voices? Yes, and I am not sorry. This is part of an AU I am making and that made me think of different dynamics. The Nightmare is cool, but I don't want Para to constantly be chanting, so the Spectre is a good compromise between spooky and "I can see it working out".

- Smitten and Tower: this a guilty pleasure. I am a sucker for big woman who thinks she is hot shit meets a man who hypes her TF up. I lean towards platonic with this one (Tower seeing Smitten as a devoted follower, while Smitten is completely lovestruck) but one can make the argument that it can be romantic. Hell, the fandom did it with Broken and Tower. Speaking of...

15. Least favorite ship(s)

- Tower and Broken: This is less explicit hate and more biased discomfort. The Tower reminds me of...someone I met who acted the way she was kinda and now I just hate those types of people from the get-go. Add that with Broken, a voice that advocates submitting to her, and you are not seeing me putting this ship in a good light. No hate to anyone who can and do make em more wholesome tho, that I can take.

- Razor and Cheated: same reason as the one on top, my past relationship with people made me dislike this ship (and the Razor in general honestly). Also I get REALLY attached to characters who take Ls a lot, so I just want Cheated to have nice things. And really? Who wouldn't?

That's pretty much it. You have to screw up BAD for me to not see the potential in a ship. And these 2 up top, i don't mind if others ship em, or if I see fanart, my own experiences just make em icky for me.

[autumnsartblog]

In your meta on Dracula and Jonathan you mentioned that you don't consider Drac a psychopath and I wonder if you can elaborate on that? That's not how I interpret him either, but I feel that many other novel fans do, and one may even argue that it's the only way to address the fact that he's based on the Lombroso's theories of the "atavistic criminal/born criminal" without supporting eugenics or just being fucking offensive in general (I think the fandom treats this part of the book too lightly.) I don't know about psychopathy enough to make a coherent point here, but you mention you're interested in it, so I think your opinion on it may be more valuable than mine.

( note to anyone reading this : I am not a professional, but the dark triad has been one of my interests over the years — please be polite and keep in mind that I am a minor )

Psychopaths tend to be quite incapable of guilt/remorse, and creating attachments that they want to keep (as well as a lack of empathy, etc). Dracula is capable of both, but rather, struggles with it.

In simple, the typical attachment style psychopaths have is an avoidant one. They value being independent, and will constantly distance themselves from another if they are more dependent, etc.

Dracula’s with Jonathan is more of an anxious attachment. (AGAIN, in simple) Such a style is characterised with a strong fear of abandonment, and may crave to create/have dependant relationships so that they feel secure, etc.

Dracula tries to create this codependency with Jonathan. Obviously, Jonathan would become dependant on him with the way he’s going about things, but why would he want to have someone dependent on him? Someone he likes? For what reason would he feel the need to do that?

What I conclude from that is so they don’t leave him. Dracula himself fears abandonment; as much as he never mentions it, his actions show it. Another reason could be sadistic pleasure, but he doesn’t *fully* intentionally try to torture Jonathan during his stay, he just does whatever he can to make sure that Jonathan doesn’t leave. If he was a psychopath, wouldn’t he have an avoidant attachment style? Wouldn’t he fear the emotional intimacy?

He doesn’t, for he craves it. Just as he craves someone to need him as much as he needs them ( Jonathan brings him happiness. Dracula obviously doesn’t feel much happiness in such a way, and he hates the way he lives. Jonathan gives him an escape of that, and therefore, he felt as if he needs Jonathan, in short )

One of the times I can say (it’s more of speculation) he felt remorse in the book is this small incident on May 28th/29th (I forgot the date 💔), where he burns Jonathan’s letter and locks him in the library, while going to his room to steal paper and important items. Jonathan says at the end of the entry that it was strange that he had no dreams, but “despair has it’s own calms”.

We all know that when something strange happens, it’s likely Dracula behind it. And, don’t you think it is odd that during a large portion of Jonathan’s stay, that he doesn’t often mention having bad or restless sleep? In fact, with the way he acts, he seems quite vigilant and energetic. I doubt he’d stay like that for almost 2 months unless he was actually getting decent sleep. I also suspect Dracula is behind this, and it also to me makes a bit more sense on why Jonathan chose to hang the crucifix atop of his bed of all places, instead of keeping it on. Cause Dracula has been sneaking into his room at night ( plus, whenever Jonathan makes up on the couch, Dracula is there )

Then there is also Dracula’s reaction to Jonathan attacking him on October 3rd, and what he did afterwards. He acts so high and mighty, despite dodging each and every one of Jonathan’s attacks and ducking under his arm to get out, while he chose to run away to the docks to get a ship as soon as possible. He was scared. What I will give to the claim of psychopathy, psychopaths do feel fear, but they struggle detecting and dealing danger. Dracula’s response to danger tends to be a bit reckless at first when he is in more of a panic [which he also seems to do right when he gets off the Demeter and during the ride ( he just…randomly kills a bunch of guys, not even drinking their blood — I’ll have to re-read that section of the book, don’t take this statement here as much )].

And, right at the end of the book, I suspect he practically allowed Jonathan to kill him. Like I said in the document, I find it very suspicious that the people working for Dracula gave no physical harm to Jonathan, and allowed him to pass through to Dracula. If that doesn’t show any semblance of guilt, then I’m not sure what does‼️ ( note : Guilt is a complex emotion, something none of the dark triad like to feel, so they tend to repress it )

With the empathy part of psychopathy, I can’t exactly argue against that as he very much struggles with it, and doesn’t know what the hell to do if someone is upset. Jonathan was crying in front of him on June 29th, and he literally blew him a kiss ( as if that was going to make him feel ANY better — btw I do know that he was teasing him ). I doubt he knows when he is feeling it, or if he even does.

But, again, some of his actions with Jonathan do show that he can at least understand when someone is upset, and that you need to do something to help that. He just doesn’t know what to do to help because he doesn’t fully comprehend feeling such an emotion. A psychopath wouldn’t really be able to even go that far in any empathy/sympathy.

ALSO about that piece of evidence you mention, the Lombroso theory; I know what it is about, not in detail, but Dracula was literally raised as a noble in the medieval times of about the late 1400’s, of course he will naturally more follow criminalistic behaviours, because it is something he can get away with if he is smart about it and it would have been encouraged of him to be violent to get victory. Historical context matters 🗣️🗣️ he likely doesn’t even see what he did to Jonathan as torture or abuse, he probably thinks he was being really nice 💀

— adding on here, another sign of psychopathy is that general recklessness and act on impulse. All vampires are characterised like this as they chase their desires, and Dracula is the only full vampire in the book that ever tries, and even can, resist his own desires when he is in the right mindset for it. Though, it is easy to make him break.

TLDR; Dracula is not a psychopath for a bunch of his actions in the book show he can comprehend and feel things a psychopath wouldn’t be able to do.

As I said in the document, he’d likely more be a machiavellianistic narcissist. Though, even then, many people don’t understand narcissism, or even machiavellianism for that matter. People should reallyyy do better research.

[charleslee-valentine]

Hey, this is a very random question, but one that has been itching at my brain for a little while.

I first want to start this off by saying that you are genuinely my favourite author for TCM fanfics just in general. Everything you right for that film series is just so spot on and perfect, and I really mean that. I’ve read my fair share of TCM fanfics, and yours come out on top by far.

I do have one little question about how you write Nubbins and Franklin. They’re probably my favourite ship in the whole fandom, and my question was if you headcanon either (or both) of them as asexual.

I’ve just noticed that for other ships you’ll include some form of sexual content (like with Lefty and Drayton, for example), but never with them, and I was just really curious about it.

Obviously I’m not here saying “write smut about characters!!!🤬🤬🤬” because that’s actually insane, but I just wanted to know your thoughts on that. I’m ace myself, so this is coming from a place of pure curiosity.

Anyway, sorry if this is such a weird ask, but it’s just something that I picked up on while binge reading your fics. You’re a seriously talented writer, and I just wanted to know a little more about the thought behind it :-]

I totally understand what you’re sayin’, so no worries there!! I’m on the ace spectrum too!

I love talking about these little dudes so I’ll be happy to share (plus omg thank you for your compliments!! this is so sweet!) I’ll talk about how I see it for them separately and then together!

I like to keep in mind that Franklin probably has Spina Bifida, which can cause sexual dysfunction. That can be through low sex drive, pain, or conditions like erectile dysfunction. While that doesn’t automatically rule sex out, it can make it an extremely draining task for very little payoff. I personally don’t think Franklin would even want to try sex knowing it’s just gonna be frustrating for him. It’s not so much that he doesn’t experience sexual attraction as much as not seeing the point of it for his personal needs. Given the amount of frustration he already deals with, it’s not a priority.

Nubbins I think is more on the asexual spectrum. While at first his hesitance with sex comes from ignorance and not being taught about it, I do think he’d experience at least some sexual desire and want to know more. Once he has someone to navigate that with instead of just “this is a feeling I have and it’s strange and uncomfortable,” he tries to get his grasp on sexuality and struggles somewhat. With Franklin he *wants* to enjoy sexual feelings but it just doesn’t happen. It’s awkward and grabby and as expected with the Sawyers, unsanitary, so I think it just would be something he’s not into in the end combined with his sensory issues. This sort of puts him on the edge of flip-flopping between sexual attraction and sexual repulsion.

Together, they try a few times and both hate it. If there’s any kind of Franknub sex going on, I picture it as a mutual masturbation, you do your thing and I’ll do mine and we don’t really touch each other type of deal. But even that’s rare for them. I also don’t think they’d talk about it much. Nubbins might ask some extremely strange and uncomfortable questions now and again to try to understand it better, especially given how different his body is from Franklins since he’s disabled, but I don’t think they establish anything super clearly. The attitudes they were raised with around sex (Drayton refusing to talk about it at all and Franklin having religion in his family) aren’t even the entire problem, though it does contribute. There’s an aspect of guilt both in doing it at all and then in doing it somehow “wrong” because it’s not really pleasurable for them.

Instead, I think signs of intimacy and trust for them would be largely non sexual, things like making direct eye contact and holding it for several minutes, or spilling blood together (maybe their own, maybe somebody else’s, but either way violence is fascinating and romantic to both of them.) For Franklin, intimacy might be things like Nubbins assisting him the way a caregiver might, because as a disabled person myself, I feel that that is the ultimate sign of trust. For Nubbins, he’d see intimacy as non sexual physical contact like sitting on Franklin or touching his hair or fidgeting with his clothes. Little details are bigger for them than grand gestures and sex is unimportant to their relationship. If things get tense and it happens, it happens, but it’s not necessarily meaningful or particularly loving for them.

(This is all purely my headcanons, not canon analysis! I just thought I’d specify since I make both kinds of posts!)

So yeah in short 1) thank you for being so kind 💕 and 2) I do see Nubbins as asexual, yes, and it impacts the relationship a bit! I don’t like writing about Franknub being sexual much because I don’t see it as something they often bother with and to incorporate all the intricacies of how they experience sex and desire into another narrative wouldn’t do it justice I feel. But I could possibly write something about one of the rare times k bc the future!

[brainrotheartrot]

hi hi yes hello,, first off i just wanna say i LOVE your art.

second, this is kinda weird but i just joined the arcane fandom not too long ago, & it was literally only because i saw vijinx art. like all of my mutuals are into arcane & i never bothered to get into it UNTIL i saw fanart of vijinx a few months ago. something abt it just intrigued me. i honestly never cared for caitvi.

however i wouldn’t consider myself a pro shipper, in fact i’d deny that. this is the first time i’ve enjoyed anything like this & i have no idea why. however i do like hardcore dynamics, for example, ellie/abby from tlou. but of course something like vi/jinx is more “extreme”. well in my opinion.

i’m coming to you because i’ve been stalking a lot of vijinx shippers and i really admire their content, especially yours. it’s such a guilty pleasure of mine. but i’m too scared to interact with anyone, even on an alt. so i just decided to stay anonymous.

i was just wondering if you ever felt guilty the first time you started shipping them? i’d honestly envy you if you haven’t. and how & why did you start shipping them? feel free to rant abt them for as long as you’d like.

i’ve been hearing stuff abt how they weren’t always sisters, like in the early league days. i wish it just stayed that way because it bothers me to not be able to talk abt my favorite ships publicly without being ridiculed for it. but a fucked up part of me is glad that they became sisters. holds more weight, you know. i understand the appeal entirely.

i’ve also even been secretly drawing them but i definitely do not have the balls to post them anywhere😭

ANYWAY, i’m yapping, but just let me know anything about your experience with them, how you view them n stuff. and if you have any advice to give me or any other information pls feel free. thank u so much

ps. i’m totally reading ur fic in a bit

Aww, hey there anon! Thanks for reaching out, always nice to meet another ViJinx fan :) I'm glad you enjoy my art, and I hope you'll like my fic as well! (Also, if you'd like to send me your art privately, I totally promise not to show anybody. <3)

I got a little rambly in my answer there, so I'll put it under the cut.

Honestly, I only call myself a 'proshipper' because this is what modern fandom lingo dictates. I don't really gel with a lot of elements of 'proshipdom', if you will -- there seems to be some broad agreement that if you like Some messed up aspects in your fiction, you must like All of them. And I really don't! I ship ViJinx because I love their specific dynamic, not just because I'm hot for every taboo topic by default. I probably would've shipped them just as much if the show had just made them close childhood friends, for example. But I also have no issue with fictional incest ships, I think they can be fun and juicy.

Like you, I've always been really drawn to problematic and intense lesbian relationships. I like CaitVi plenty, and I think they're going to get a lot messier in S2, which I'm excited for. But ViJinx is just an insanely compelling dynamic. I love the toxic codependent yuri shit. I love the tenderness and the violence, their shared past that now feels completely inaccessible to them both, Jinx's obsessiveness, Vi refusing to give up the image of Powder she's clung on to for years... man, this shit just rocks, okay. I'm not gonna pretend that it doesn't.

I've never felt any guilt about shipping ViJinx, tbh. I'm a fandom oldbie, by which I mean I was around before the morality police took over, and everyone understood we were just here to mash Barbies and have a good time. I've shipped several incest pairings before this, and I've always had a blast doing it. And so help me god, I don't intend to stop now, even if my Twitter blocklist is twenty miles long. I just immediately cut out anyone who tries to start shit, and chill with my fellow weirdos. It's a pretty small circle, but it's a nice time!

If you do decide to make an alt at some point, I recommend doing so on Twitter, as I've been able to find more active ViJinx shippers there. I could rec you some nice people to follow. :) Thanks for reaching out!

[wetcatspellcaster]

Did you see Neil Newbon’s take that Ascended Astarion is the real him free to act on cruelty and violence and the spawn is the one with the mask? Yeesh.

Ooooooh, THAT'S the disk horse that's happening right now!! I knew something was happening (I felt a tremor in the waters) but I had no clue what it was lmao, I don't follow cast stuff.

I will try to respond to this in good faith, but I'm not very good at fandom discourse and so I'm afraid it may not be the answer you want.

I can see why that reading might make people angry, but I dont have strong feelings about it. Obviously, it's not my take on Ascension, but from the beginning I've been very upfront that my take is serving the genre I'm writing in and the ship dynamics I find hot. My Tav is lawful good to an unhealthy extreme, and that was how she was conceived in her Early Access bullying phase. And meanwhile, I wanted to be in a Gothic horror where he's obsessed (morality chains will do that to you) and they beat the shit out of each other. I have to make the Ascendent a monster, for that to work, and for people not to feel guilty every time they enjoy watching him getting stepped on lmao.

But I do feel like there is a morality policing around Astarion's ending that I don't want to partake in. This might seem dumb for me to say, given that my Tav is a veritavle walking moral policeman, but that is bc I fucking love Villain/Heroine ships, so I am literally right there, at the Devil's Sacrament with everyone else.

While I like the good ending and prefer it for many reasons, I would agree with a reading of Newbon's words that it could be read as a mask. This might be bc I mask with the best of them, am doing it right now even as I write and edit this ask 20 times. There's masking as an outright lie, and then there's masking as 'gotta get through day to day life as a functional adult without everyone suddenly deciding they hate me'... I personally think its nice that spawn!Astarion cares about other people, and cares about being a functional member of society at all! It shows he's no longer a lonely outcast.

I could also go deeper (the autism really shining through in this reply) and say it's a mask, in the sense that this has been deemed the 'polite' and morally correct ending, that is acceptable to others and enables the player to feel good about themselves. Which is often a way we derive pleasure from media, and not wrong in and of itself! Making Astarion good makes players feel good - that's not wrong, but if we're comparing endings, we have to acknowledge it. An Ascended Ending doesn't really cater to that impulse... unless the player really likes to be dommed (more power to them).

Unfortunately anon, I can't sit here with my most popular fic being an Ascended!Astarion fic, and pretend that there isn't a bunch of fascination or interest surrounding the Ascended version of his character. People clearly want to explore the implications of his evil ending and indulge in the excess of it, but feel bad doing so. People don't ascend him in-game, but they go to my fic and other people's fic because they want to have some space to enjoy the implications - in the sexiness, in the timeline where Astarion has revenge, in a timeline where he is obsessed with Tav etc. I mean, just look at me, I can't sit through the Ascended scene, but I'm here writing a fic about it!!

The fact that it seems to happen more in fic than in playthroughs tells me, if I was to get super deep in a tumblr ask, that people feel guilt about it. Some kind of mask is being employed, by someone, somewhere, in that mix. So I'm not about to add to any of that kind of policing. It would be pretty disingenuous of me to get my most feedback from an Ascendent fic I am writing, and then judge people for liking Ascendency narratives...

So while I don't have much interest in pretending the evil ending isn't the evil ending, that doesn't sound to me (second hand, through you, with my brain seeing 7 or 8 different implications) to be what Newbon is saying. He's just saying that the Ascendent is the less palatable Astarion to other people and that spawn!Astarion still has some kind of mask or a politeness filter on. Which... yeah. Kinda. In my world, I like that Astarion decides its worthwhile to restrain himself, because he has things to care about potentially ruining. But that's still in many ways employing restraint. People don't just stop masking, they learn to care about what others think in a healthy way. They have friendships, relationships, other ties to the world, that make them want to be something other than a cruel or violent or evil version of themselves. I think that's nice, and far less lonely but um... yeah. I can see Newbon's point, even if I don't want to like, live or die by it.

[onwriting-hrarby]

The last 10 days - AOT fanfiction writers

Or: LET'S CELEBRATE THE ENDING OF ATTACK ON TITAN WITH OUR FAVOURITE PASSAGES OF WHAT WE'VE WRITTEN!

If you're anything like me and you fell hard for this rabbit hole called Attack On Titan, you might have written thousands of words by now. The series are ending, but wouldn't it be great to celebrate it by sharing our favourite passages from our works? Any ship and any character! Some of our works might be so old that they are hard to look-up on AO3, too.

Anyone can join, but I'll be tagging some of my AOT colleagues in case they want to participate :)

Day 10 of the countdown - Mikasa's semi confession to Eren in "I did not live until today"

And she finds the lyrics pouring out of her with ease, not caring about any looks from her peers, not caring about the deep gaze Eren is planting on her. Just singing about a love that maybe cannot be, about a love that she has always been feeling but never knew. Levi watches how she closes her eyes, she opens her ribcage, and she puts her arms wide, embracing the vulnerability when she sings, full voice, I love him but everyday I’m learning all my life I’ve only been pretending. Her voice embodies all the tragic and all the pouring overflowing sensations and the sunset and the dawn and the whole night, and a starless sky and also a sky full of stars, because Mikasa has made it, Mikasa has opened up and realized, she is in this world to love and be hurt, and there is no shame in crying, and there is no shame in feeling small. Because, sometimes, she will feel tiny. And, other times, her voice will make her as big as a giant ready to take the world. She hits the highest note: A world full of happiness that I have never known. Her chest is heaving, her arms come to her sides, as Mikasa’s eyes open again. There she is, black hair in a ponytail, long pink skirt and white wool jumper, her eyes not looking at anything in particular but, Levi knows, thinking about a very particular boy that is standing next to her —completely mesmerized by her, cheeks flushed—, and she sings, as if confessing: I love him. I love him. And then, happier, smiling: I love him. But only on my own.

title: I did not live until today (25 chapters; 180 k; finished) pairing: eren/mikasa (with additional: annie/armin, historia/ymir) tags: Musical, Drama school, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Soulmates, Romance, Trauma, Friendship, Friends With Benefits, Eventual Smut synopsis: Eren and Mikasa have always had a strange, platonic, best friends relationship. After two years of separation, Mikasa comes back to Trost Performance Arts College and joins Eren on their childhood dream —to be dancers and perform in musicals. Armin Arlelt, their once best-friend, has grown stranged from them both, but has Annie Leonhard by his side now. Jean Kirstein, Mikasa's ex-boyfriend and Eren's best friend, swears he is over her already.

As this group of singers, dancers and musicians come together in the yearly production of their drama college, they can't imagine how their bonds are going to change. A coming-of-age story about meeting new people, figuring out the future, understanding the multiple forms of love, guilt and pleasure and trying to juggle life with unbreakable (or not) friendships.

tagging my colleagues in case they are interested in following the chain! (if you don't want to be tagged in the future, please write to me!): @sinigangsta-ao3, @karizard-ao3, @breezysaysblog, @likesunsetorange, @dead-dolphins, @rottenlover, @onigiri-dorkk @nuri148, @chaosisbeauty23, @stalactice, @on-kamis-green-earth, @r-brauns, @irememberthedark and anyone else!

[semina-art]

You know.. I always had this guilt for not being interested in other ships that weren't Tomarry, idk, but I always felt like I should like another ship, that I couldn't focus exclusively on one, but knowing that you also like exclusively Tomarry gives me more confidence in my feelings. So thank you very much ❤️❤️

Hah, hat's absolutely fine, anon! You don't owe anything to anyone and it's your own business what to read and what to love) life's too short to be shy of your pleasures. A few months ago I was a bit unsure about posting yes-another-one-Tom-Riddle-art , but now I'm just ok with it)) I hope you'll never feel any guilt about your feelings <3

[angstymdzsthoughts]

I think lqr/wrh can cause amazing angst as their relationship can mirror lwj/wwx as the whole dynamic of reserved rule follower/open rule breaker can be both lqr/wrh and lwj/wwx, which explains his distaste for wwx as he doesn't want his nephew to love a monster like he did. (Rather than his mother's actions) And it can also parallel lxc/jgy as i can't imagine lqr not cutting off wrh once his more evil actions came to light similar to Guanyin Temple albeit i think lqr responded with anger rather than sadness/guilt as lxc. (Plus it would explain both the less severe attack on cr and why lqr didn't fight in sunshit campaign) plus who doesn't love a tragic romance.

These two are one of my guilty pleasure ships lol. (I recommend reading some of @robininthelabyrinth's fics with them, I adore how they write their dynamic of WRH being delighted, amused, and entertained by just about everything LQR does while LQR is just a confused, grouchy old man who wants to be left alone thank you)

I think I like the ship so much because you know it ends tragically from the get go. Even if you focus on happier times for them you always know WRH will go mad with power and LQR will always chose his clan over his love.