#also talk on how my second favorite dynamic and tbh the one that draws me in most is ladynoir because I like the dramatic but resulting in

[lungthief]

Just discovered your Klema situationship art I'm enthralled

eee thank you :') it means so much to me that people are enjoying it, their dynamic is my absolute favorite to write/draw and i adore them as characters

tbh it was one of those things that began as a joke and then made a lot of sense to me once i started actually thinking about it—like ema and klavier both strike me as the kind of people who are pretty cavalier about physical intimacy but very guarded when it comes to emotional intimacy, so yknow. having a coworkers-with-benefits relationship would come easily as a sort of begrudging “they’re hot and it’s convenient and i don’t have to worry about all the messy emotional stuff because we agreed we don’t want that” thing (and in klavier’s case he doesn’t have to worry abt ulterior motives or whatever bc ema straight up Does Not Give A Shit that he’s famous and dislikes him quite a bit at the beginning) and also like. they both could use some stress relief lbr

anyway i think it’d be really interesting to see these two people—one of whom wears a very flirty, outgoing facade and another who is outwardly very prickly and jaded—slowly realize that they both have a bit of a kindred loneliness about them and actually develop a friendship out of something that was intended to be entirely perfunctory. especially after the events of AJ i mean holy shit talk about bonding over Sibling Issues

for ema specifically i think there’s initially a lot resentment toward klavier in terms of his success (prosecutor at 17/got a famous defense attorney slash friend of hers disbarred/international rockstar) and her own perceived lack thereof (failing to become a forensic scientist) which kind of weirdly drives her to start the whole thing in the first place after klavier repeatedly indicates that he’s attracted to her—like “well he may have done all these impressive things but he still wants me desperately despite how openly inimical i’ve been to him so he’s not above me” which like. first of all girl go to therapy but second of all her perspective then can shift a lot over time when she gets to know him little by little and finds out that he also has a lot of horrific insecurities and considers himself kind of a fuck-up and is crumbling quite a bit under the weight of everything

also it is just like. inherently very funny. like you know they absolutely do not advertise this arrangement literally at all so any time anyone else finds out that they were sleeping together at one point it completely alters that person’s perception of reality

anyway all this to say love them love messy fucked up characters with messy fucked up baggage and intimacy issues sorry for writing a literal dissertation about this. I Care Them

[kelbunny]

Roland and Cordelia for the character ask

:0 the siblings of all time

Roland

How I feel about this character

Completely 100% normal about my beloved princeling haha. He is, at least in my opinion, one of the best written characters in tristrat, and I really like the twist he puts on the rightful heir trope. He clicked with me back with the debut demo (the early one that covered chapters 6 and 7), and I've loved him since. Also he's cute.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Only one that I do, and even that depends how I'm feeling, is Hughette. But to be fair I am the least free thinker when it comes to ships and basically only ship something if the game forces it in my direction, and tristrat seems to suggest that Hughette has something for Roland at the very least. And even then idk if I prefer him paired or not lol.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Aside from his siblings including Frani probably Maxwell. The father-son mentor-student dynamic of all time. Even after Maxwell is "killed", Roland still tries to follow his mentor, and I am just very normal about it. Add on Maxwell's second character story and just them. The fambly.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Maybe not unpopular on the Tumblr side, but one that's unpopular on the Reddit side that I haven't really spoken about before is I don't think Roland would make a bad king. Maybe I just trust Maxwell too much about what he says in his second character story, but I think saying Roland would make a horrible king just feels off. Like yes he's impulsive, but he's also a much more just person than some people make him out to be, and he's deeply loyal to his own subjects.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Please let Roland talk to his dad (Maxwell). That would fix him and Roland deserves to know he's okay.

Cordelia

How I feel about this character

2nd favorite female character of all time, only beaten out by Avlora. I love her character arc so much. How she goes from meek little princess to someone willing to fight for her kingdom and avenge her family even if it puts herself at risk. And honestly, even though I like Avlora more, I think Cordelia is the better example of a stong female character, and an example of how a strong female character doesn't need to be kicking butt to be a strong female character.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

No one. I just can't see her with any character in game, nor can I see her being paired in general tbh.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Avlora!!! Every scene between them is just aughhh I wish I had more. Like the garden scene is great but also the scene where Cordelia is asking Avlora what it means to be free and how Aesfrost views freedom. I just them! It's them! and I seriously need to draw more interactions between them.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Only one I can think off is I don't care for Cordelia x Avlora. Like at absolute minimum there's an 11 year age gap (Cordelia at her absolute oldest would be 19, and Avlora at her absolute youngest 30), and although thats not an issue if it were between older characters, it being between someone in their late teens with someone in their 30s feels iffy to me, especially since my hc put Cordelia at ~17 and Avlora at ~35 means that Avlora is at least twice Cordelia's age.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Just more post 15 scenes with her in general. Give my girl more screen time she deserves it.

[song-writer-melo-wrath]

Silly Game Time: Who are some of your favorite mechanical characters, be they robots, androids, cyborgs, or something else? And what do like about them?

OOOOH...

Well, first, gotta mention my man Data.

A lot of people has said that he is autism-coded in the way that he is presented, and in how other people react to him. And I kind of agree tbh. He's also just a sweetheart, and his bonds with the crew (especially Laforge), his cat Spot, and sometimes with people who are briefly onboard are so lovely.

I also feel I should mention Connor,

Because his arc has probably inspired so many OCs at this point. Bryan Dechart did such an excellent job playing him, and his growing bond with Hank is very well-written. I think it's honestly touching how it's often emotional bonds that show humanity.

Another I feel would be a crime not to mention,

Because between the iconic lines and the dynamic he has with John Connor, and the way it shapes his various decisions, how could I not? And yes I'm specifically talking Terminator 2 here. Though I will say he makes an EXCELLENT force of nature and presence of absolute horror in the first movie.

Then, of course, the sapphic community's favourite,

Because "Want You Gone" hurts me on a personal level, and I don't just mean because it's how GLaDOS says farewell. I relate to that song so much (and did a cover of it :D) and, in general, relate with much of her story. Of course, she's a sassy motherfucker who you can't help but love. But for how much Portal 2 is considered the inferior game, it really does make her story into one of self-discovery and complicated morality. I guess it just gets overshadowed by Oh hi. How are you holding up.

Next,

I MEAN. COME ON. This guy used to be, and honestly still is, one of my biggest fictional crushes. His charisma is magnetic, of course. His STORY being wrapped up by the connections he used to have being rekindled, resulting in him choosing to be a star for those who need one most, rather than a star for the most people possible???? Ugh, poetic cinema.

Speaking of stars,

[vibrating] I have so many headcanons when it comes to this one But more to the point, Star Dream is an absolute force of nature. Its boss fight is incredible, an absolute marvel of multiple types of play styles coming together. The themes? Slap.

Star Dream's draw, for me, is that its sentience is so…debatable. I'm on the side of “had sentience the whole time”, and more to the point, “based on how much Haltmann copied homework, it's possible he brought something back from the dead” but I dunno, I don't like arguing my case when it comes to the second. The point is, for many of things that it does, it's uncertain whether that's just part of its program, or if it's a sentient decision. Was Susie sent away because of something accidental, or was it Star Dream's intention? The fact that Haltmann became so focused on its creation after her disappearance, in my eyes, kind of implies the latter…

… It's also interesting that even without Haltmann giving it a voice via him-being-possessed, it only chooses to speak to Meta Knight.

Can you tell I have The Kirby Autism, is it noticeable, is it obvious—

Also I'm gonna put two of my OCs here, because self-indulgence is alive and well.

This is Palharine and Mayday! They're my favourites out of a group of robot/android characters I created about three years ago, and have finally taken the time to draw recently:

From left to right, you got Eodel Remidoros, Palharine, Mayday, and Ziah Hyperion. All very different interpretations of robotic.

Palharine and Mayday stand out to me due to their emotional states. They're kind of opposites, in that regard. Mayday is a very sensitive gal, who has been through a lot of pain, and is trying to become stronger so she can confidently say she has no doubt in who she is. Palharine, as far as they're aware, has no emotions. Which is interesting, since the other three all seem to, to some degree. Among the four, Palharine is also unique in that they're programmed to dream. Both of these things shape them a lot.

But these two have a very sweet bond, where they're both passionate about biology, especially botany. Mayday, in a training exercise, also nearly wipes the floor with Palharine. It's more touching than it sounds.

Also, Palharine's genderfluid and Maydays a trans woman, so those things just inherently spark joy for me, haha!

This has been, real robotic character hours.

[clambuoyance]

ngl I know nothing ab your DC blorbos except they're gay and cool or something Idk I just think they're neat... I'd ask what comics I could read ab them being super blorbo-y but Idk...

OKAY so there’s a lot of characters in dc but the ones I draw/talk about the most are these group of friends!! They feature in Young Justice 1998, Teen Titans 2003, and Young Justice 2019, as well as having their own comics and other appearances :)

each comic run has different vibes but my personal favorite is yj1998 bc I like its wacky and zany vibes. It was not my first comic though, and it’s a little older so it might be hard to understand or read if it’s your first time reading comics like this, and again it is old soooo some stuff does Not age well such as certain jokes or depictions and it is of course not all perfect but overall I love it and think it has a lot of heart

I think i have a lot of fun with it bc it feels so…animated? And it has funny slapstick humor. Honestly I probably like it bc it makes me laugh the same way ninjago makes me laugh…a group of 4+ friends that have cute dynamics with each other and just Being Silly Together. I really don’t know how to explain it but between all three runs, I can see yj1998 in my head the most as a wacky animated show with exaggerated bouncy animation idk so that’s part of the fun for me. I think the moment I realized this was going to be a long term emotional investment was When I read the issue where they randomly end up on a planet and have to play baseball bc I am a SUCKERRR for baseball shenanigans

But yeah the group starts out with Bart, Tim, and Kon in JLA: A world without Grownups, and they just have a good trio dynamic 🙏 the banter between all three is so good 🤩and I liked seeing their friendship develop throughout yj1998 too! Especially for Tim, with his hesitancy at the beginning.They weren’t without conflict ofc but that adds to why I like them bc eventually they became besties for life. They are also quickly joined by others but the main one that stays w the group through all three runs is Cassie Sandsmark , aka Wonder Girl ii.

But yeah I guess some things I like are the way they actually Hang out? like they will do camping trips or go to the mall and games together etc etc, but there will be parts that feel more serious while never losing that humorous tint to it. For some examples, I love how Tim tries to be a leader in the beginning, but then one arc shows just how much Cassie is more fitting for it, and how they bond over Leader things like how hard it is to tell Bart what to do and then will share a really nice hug 🥺, and I love Cassie and Cissie’s relationship a LOT because they sometimes misunderstand each other but clearly care for each other (they aren’t canon but in my heart they are.) I also like Tim and kon’s build towards understanding and friendship for a similar reason, and cissie and Anita also have a nice development with each other, but yeah all the dynamics are just fun to think about tbh 🤷🏻‍♀️ I am pointing at them eagerly and going “wow! Friendship!!”

And as for the guy I never shut up about…well that’s a whole thing I could ramble about but i became obsessed with him the moment he quoted Peter Pan while lamenting about how he was afraid his friends would leave him behind after several issues of him acting like Hot Shit and erm I’m predictable so it got to me 🙄 also he makes dumb jokes every second like he expects someone to laugh at them like he’s so dumb sometimes….anyways I do not want to ramble too much so I will get on with it

I was only familiar with his black tshirt look before, so when I first saw this goofy looking dumbass with a leather jacket and glasses and an earring I WAS LIKE “THATS SUPERBOY? THATS REAL?” and quickly became interested in the notion of a Superman associated hero wearing something like this bc I don’t think my brain ever considered the possibility before….also it is something I cannot explain some panels just activate my cuteness aggression 😔 I just think he’s really cute 🫶🫶🫶

[fiercynn]

heyyy! i was wondering if you liked the os2 episodes of bbts!!! i noticed you shared some stuff regarding the first two episodes. did you enjoy eps 3 and 4 as well?

i never get asks, this is so exciting??? (probably because i don't actually spend enough time on tumblr...i was kind of starting to be on here a bit and then got depressed by a lot of the negative reactions to @end-otw-racism during their first action. but tbh getting an ask actually makes me want to engage more so THANK YOU ANON)

okay, my os2 feelings! i talked about this a bit on my twitter so i'm going to recreate some of that here, haha. but the short version is: yes, i enjoyed the whole thing! i think episode one was my favorite because i lovedddd the patpran dynamic we got there - watching pran be confident but also settled in love felt amazing to me, and i loved the little domestic notes. i think my second-favorite episode was actually the last one - not so much because i think it was a well-constructed episode (it was a little all over the place, tbh), but i ADORED the phutian ending after having felt like their relationship was getting kind of shafted for most of the special. also we got to see inkpa again!

it's hard to talk about my own feelings though about it without reflecting on the disappointment a lot of people i know have felt about the special. and i certainly understand and agree with a LOT of the critiques, they are completely valid. but i guess i'll explain a bit more about why i liked the special anyway.

firstly, i think i came into it with the feeling that because bbs is such a perfect narrative, anything we got in os2 would be a bonus, and that i could take or leave the parts i liked and didn't like to apply to my own personal love of bbs - especially since it did take place in the timeskip instead of the ending. and i especially felt this way because of knowing that there was a crossover with atots.

i think that one of the issues with crossovers in general is they force shows to draw kind of contrived parallels between characters and pairings. and similarly i think crossovers require characters to be matched up in scenes together just so you see their contrasts. so that's why we had to have two separate nights of lost in the woods, so that we could get pran & phupha as well as tian & pat. could they have done better with making parallels that made more sense for both couples? sure. but i wasn't totally surprised that the crossover parts felt clunky/over-worked. i also think crossovers prioritize humorous moments over character-building ones. they're just really not a good vehicle for storytelling imo - they're more just about seeing your faves up on screen together.

as far as patpran's conflict in these episodes - again, totally valid & understandable that people are upset & feel like it was unresolved! for me, though, it felt like a pretty natural part of their progression as a couple. my friend @/siri_dechawat on twitter has a great thread about it that i totally agree with. and also i think it's worth thinking about how long patpran's history is, how many old hurts they still have that probably aren't fully resolved. i was once in a relationship that reminds me of that, a relationship that had six years of fraught history before it got happy, and my recollection is that by the time you get to the place where you're secure in that kind of relationship, you don't always revisit those old hurts because you have the feeling that now you're happy, so why look back so much? but they can still flare up and it can be hard to talk about them, so you try to work through them yourself and that isn't always easy.

to me, the fact that patpran kept up a lot of their usual dynamic - teasing, competing, cuddling, even while they're in the middle of a fight - felt very organic. they can't always say exactly what they're feeling, but they still express affection. and for me, the fact that they were having this fight at all about pran's independence & pat's self-sacrifice wasn't at all going backwards from the original show. the second half of bbs doesn't actually have them resolving a lot of those things out loud.

at the end of the day, while this is the last time we'll see patpran onscreen (sob), it's not their ending. it's not even the ending that we see of them. we know where they end up by ep 12 and it's pretty perfect imo. and the fact that they are not always perfect at communicating along the way is okay with me. we know they end up on the same page (ha) even if these episodes had some conflict around that. we know where their love is.

okay i said all this and i stand by it, but also if you have read any of my fic you know that i LOVE writing canon-divergence AUs, so i did a series of them for os2 as well based on prompts i got on twitter! i ended up with twelve separate "what if" scenarios for how various scenes in the special could have gone differently - just episodes one through three, because i wasn't as much in a writing mood after the last one - and i collected them together in an ao3 post called in another lifetime. i think my favorite ones within there are mountain, a h/c ficlet patpran do actually make it up pha pun dao, and secrets, an extension of the last patpran scene in episode three. so if you were unsatisfied by various scenes in the special, maybe you will like these as fix-its? :D? anyway thank you again anon for the ask!!!! maybe i will try to be on tumblr more again...

[avese23]

Listening to TheCartoonHotspot’s video on the love square and getting all excited for the marichat segment and feeling standard fandom validation that TCH is marichat nation as well… and then extremely called out when she titles it as “the platonic one”

Like oh my favorite of these four ships of the same two people is when they have chemistry but neither recognizes romance

Oh

Huh

[ashesandhackles]

Shigure for the ask game please

Yes, my favourite boy!

• favorite thing about them

So many things! I admire his ruthless will in defying the magical nature of the bond to go against Akito, but I think my favourite thing about them (and the least talked about aspect of his character but I think it's one of the most important) is emotional wisdom.

Shigure stands in direct opposition to the stagnation of the bonds, consistently challenging people's identities that are rooted in fixed nature of the curse ("It almost sounds like you are obligated to hate him. Your eyes show fear in getting to know him" - people often read this scene as him triggering Kyo for lols, but that's not true. It is as he said, he got impatient with Kyo lashing out and plucked out the root cause and asked Kyo to look at it. He is trying to force Kyo to look at the fact that hating Yuki is rooted in something else, except Kyo was not ready. Which he acknowledges - "I pushed him too far").

He believes, "Time marches on, so do people and feelings. You will be left behind". The reason he "wins" at the end of the manga is because he already knows the lesson Tohru and Akito take a long time to learn - "people and feelings can't be bound." It is this knowledge that puts him one step ahead of everyone.

• least favorite thing about them

Tbh, this is a writing issue more than a character issue. I really dislike the manga pervert trope that Takaya uses with him (some of it is played off as him baiting Yuki and Kyo, which is fine). It is at odds with everything else she says about the character, and very tone deaf in a manga that deals with heavy subjects such as generational abuse. I believe @worldoshaking goes into this in their meta here.

• favorite line

I love the laundry speech to Tohru and how he tells Kyo he just needs practice being around people, but i think my favourite line will remain what I latched onto as a teenager: "I love her so much that I would spoil her, so much that I would crush her to pulp"

What a haunting line about the warped nature of his feelings, twisted by the dehumanisation of the Sohma clan and what he faces as an inability to be Akito equal.

• BROTP

Shigure - Hatori? I enjoy Shigure - Ayame quite a bit too, but the emotional honesty of Shigure- Hatori's interactions are a huge draw and they provide a refreshing contrast to one another. Also, look at this soft face Shigure is making:

• OTP

Shigure x Mayu. It's het Shigure x Hatori but without the baggage of growing up together lols.

• nOTP

As much as I enjoy watching/reading their trainwreck relationship - Akito. Sorry to all Akigure shippers who follow me. 🥺

The only thing I enjoy about the way Shigure's story ended is that he is the assistant to head of the house, and he has a lot of pent up resentment for Sohma clan ("the zodiacs are monsters and that is an ugly thing. Do you think we are happy? Just living in this world is painful for us" - ch109, & "we should all be pitied" - ch117/8?). So I do enjoy the idea of him and Akito tearing down dehumanising systems. But as a couple, I am like 🙅

• random headcanon

He enjoys detective novels. XD

• unpopular opinion

Shigure wants to break the curse because Akito cheated on him is a reductive reading. "cheating" implies equality in the relationship, but Shigure and Akito are not equal. Akito both has divine authority over him, as well as administrative power as the head of the family - which greatly nullifies the power Shigure has in the dynamic by the virtue of being older and a man.

In fact, his rage at Akito is less about the cheating but more about the fact that they don't consider it cheating - the idea that he is nothing, his feelings don't matter ("i am worthy of no special mention, I am the worst kind of man" - the first line is him internalising Akito's dismissal and rejection of him, the second line is his judgement of himself for sleeping with Ren). When he brings it up, Akito exerts their identity as God and dehumanise him ("i am not just anyone, i am special! i can do whatever I want, it is my right!").

This is precisely the reason Shigure wants to break the curse. He wants to capture the "beautiful feelings" of the bond, but the dehumanising power dynamic that comes with it? That needs to go.

• song i associate with them

State of Love and Trust - Pearl Jam.

• favorite picture of them

The one in my header is one! But maybe this from chapter 43 (i think)? He is being contemplative here, but there is also an edge of malice that I really enjoy.

[alderjayne]

Isaac?

First impression: he's a pretty different character from the source hyperfixation character but fun nonetheless. Unique way to execute a ship that I am currently enjoying. The names are neat.

Impression now: hyperfixation ENDED with canon(? mainstream??) noncanon characters now THIS annoying weird little guy has been The on and off hyperfixation for. at least the past two years? He is the most character. also too close 2 emotional home sometimes which is not a good thing. I have absolutely NO attraction emotions to him on ANY level, but I want to see him experience Many Problems That May Be His Own Fault and also have friends :^) fun to see him kind of trying to be less of a horrible teenager and recognize he wants friends and the vague shape of what he wants in general + take initiative towards some of his problems, but he's objectively still being a prick even if he's getting 🤏 little bit better, which is also funny. loser (affection) I'm glad they're hanging out with less murder now.

Favorite moment: that time he showed up at Edward's house and ended inside of it via stepmom. edit for honorable mention/close second in the most recent chapter where he was chatting with Ed in the car, ft. completely misusing the term “win win” and asking Chris’s dad if he’s seen a ghost. there were lots of thins for pt.1 I liked, but they aren’t as recent/fresh in my brain so I can’t name one from them that stands out especially more than the other ones I liked. The bit where they broke into the school was also good, though.

Idea for a story: unavoidable/forced because situation conversation with parents. Alternatively, y'know how kai did that drawing with his silhouette and the wings at one point? And how a bunch of people (and I still don't really get it, tbh I never got behind the idea) had theories or fics with Drew having wings (since DS had them)? Not to say it's gonna happen in canon or foreshadowed anything, but I think it could be kind of entertaining if "Isaac got stressed out and randomly started having wings at the time of current canon for no obvious reason" was a fic Thing too. Same idea, similar problems, different guy. Also see: extremely awkward bonding with Edward's jocks. Also also see: something with time travel maybe somehow?? Idk how. Making a reference to the orange gradient drawing kai did could work w that topic. it has the Vibes for it. also also also: Isaac actually talking to or coexisting with Nevin for more than 5 seconds, or maybe meeting Nevin before Chris drama

Unpopular opinion: I think by the time he would be genuinely romantically dating someone, gonna say Edward because that's who I see this most with, he would have more character development and act... better to them (and vise versa) than he did at the beginning of the story. Even just now (though admittedly these examples are from the most recent chapter, so they may not be the best examples for an opinion I already had before it), with the character development he needed to have in order to just be friends with Edward, he's already going "hm maybe that would be Too Much. I'm not gonna go through with actually being hypocritical enough say that," and they're joking and playing when they push each other around. ESPECIALLY if it's still canon he's demi, if he genuinely was being that snappish and had the same attitude towards him as he did in the start, which was "if you breathe near me I will bite you and/or run away; I do not want to see you" I don't see why either of them would want or choose to be in a relationship. This feels? Obvious, but a lot of ship stuff I've seen still has the og dynamic. I'm not talking about the deliberate hateship stuff, that can be fun, I mean actual "they are established Together and In Love, but still act like this to each other and are honestly annoyed the other person exists”. It could just be that the stuff was written back when that was the only dynamic they had in canon, but even then it seems like they'd have to have gotten chiller with each other and not be making constant passive aggressive comments to have gotten from canon to Hypothetical Romance. The main exception to this would be Nevin. I think he could hateship his way into anyone’s life. He's built different.

Favorite relationship: Edward, seconded by Drew. I’d also like to see him interacting with other characters more. I’m esp interested in seeing him with Barry and Dez’s girls in the future.

Favorite headcanon: def have some somewhere but I can’t think of anything uhh. hm. It seems like a potential reasoning his parents could have for being so chill with him just leaving in the middle of the night is that he’s close-ish to being a legal adult, at which point, especially if he moves out, there’s nothing stopping him from going out. current difference being that while he’s living with them they can call the police if he doesn’t come back. (probably doesn’t hurt that the area surrounding their apartment seems pretty safe when you ignore the magic stuff and janitors with bombs, and isn’t Forest With Bears for miles until you get to some random town with only weed and rich people in it. for the longest time I was SO confused with how casual characters were about sneaking out until I processed that people living in town... would not have the natural deterrents I've had growing up.)

[kangtaebins]

hellooooooo I have a question—whenever I watch Can’t You See Me? I always feel like one of the main underlying plot points is that Taebin are lowkey fighting/had a fight or argument and there’s a lot of tension between them (just in the music video of course not real life). Do you have any thoughts about the Can’t You See Me? music video and the dynamics we see in it?

*rubs hands together excitedly*

Oh yeah dude for sure, that’s definitely the centerpiece of the entire mv in my opinion

Now, I love that everyone interprets the storyline a little differently bc it’s cool to see how people think about the same thing. That being said-

When it comes to CYSM- the centerpiece of the whole thing to me is this like,, distance within the friend group. It starts with the concept trailer, in which Soobin is sitting far away from the others and they’re not speaking with him or looking at him. He looks upset and frustrated until he eventually decides to get up and go over and confront them.

But before he’s able to do that, theres this invisible wall that prevents him from doing so, hes yelling but no one can hear him. Across from him, we see the cat in the shadows (which makes me think that the cat is the one that stopped him from being able to talk to the others).

I think the cat is manipulating Soobin into thinking that he’s the outcast. And Soobin, as we’ve seen- is pretty big on dreams and his dreams predicting future events, or him not being able to differentiate dream from reality.

Now, part of me thinks the cat is controlling his dreams as well. Its really good at manipulating him into being insecure about his place in their friend group. It’s causing him to act out and imagine scenarios that never even happened. It seems like the cat is pretty much the puppet master in all of this, but its being placed on Soobin since he’s the one instigating the issues at the moment.

Soobin feels lonely, and is separating himself despite the fact that they promised to stay together forever. (Forgot to mention how in the one video where he’s drawing on the board, his and Taehyun’s names are separate from the others, and theres a shape around Taebins names with “Together forever” inside of it.

It felt to him like Taehyun was the only one that heard him at the time. But yet he still distanced himself. Thus, being considered a liar for not keeping his promise to be together (hence the crossed fingers in the choreo)

Taehyun saw him doing so, and seemingly got frustrated with him. The two that were once close became separated. Him doing this causes even more tension within the group, making him also a liar for not keeping the promise (which is why he and soobin are the only ones with their fingers crossed)

The tension just kept growing throughout the entire mv and it got to the point of violence. It seems like Beomgyu noticed and took Soobin’s side. Idk if it was willingly or if he was influenced into doing so but it obviously caused a riff between him and Taehyun.

But yeah generally speaking I definitely see the aggression between Taebin in the video.

I feel like, the cat brings out the worst in each of them. Kind of like subtle/not so subtle possession at times. Its hard to tell when the mvs are dreams and when they’re actual events tbh bc theres no clear line, but I think that’s exactly what they’re going for. It leaves much more room for interpretation. I watch videos on the theories of their storyline now and then and got some of my own opinions bc of what others have pointed out.

In general I think TXT has my second favorite kpop storyline (first being aespa).

[kingdomtual]

Okay I just finished watching Imitation and I’m gonna give a review, idk why but I have a lot of feelings LOL gonna write this without giving away big plot points so no spoilers for you if you wanna know if you want to watch it or not (probably everyone already has but whatever I’m usually late to the show)

Things I liked about it:

- Imitation was a really interesting drama because it didn’t focus on all the fun stuff of the idol world like a lot of idol dramas do. It’s main focus ends up being more on the struggles idols have to deal with, mainly pertaining to the dating issue but instead of putting it fully on the labels for keeping their artists from dating it also focused on how sasaengs think, talk, and react about their idols dating which I thought was a nice touch because that SURE IS REAL LIFE. (unfortunately they kinda drop that plot point as it goes on, but whatever) 

- It also had plot points pertaining to mistreatment of idols by the industry and their labels, which was another thing that I liked about it. It’s a tough world, and it should be more mainstream that we know about and find ways to help idols as they’re dealing with all of this. Idk it’s just something that should be talked about more, so I’m glad they did. 

- The cast was beyond fantastic. I think that’s honestly what made the show for me. Obviously the casting director knew the draw would be having actual idols in their show, but even those who were just actors were absolutely fantastic and did a great job in each of their roles. Dojin and Hyuk were obviously my favorites, but I think they’re everyone’s favorites LOL their acting chemistry was spot on and it really felt like they had been bffs for years.

- LA RI MA. Queen, icon. Absolutely in love with her tbh. What I really loved about her is that she started off being a rival for Ryeok to Ma Ha, and I thought to myself, ‘Great. She’s gonna end up being a flat character.’ but I think she ended up having the most character growth in the entire story, besides maybe Ryeok. The way she is so confident, knows her worth, and takes care of those around her makes her such an enjoyable character to watch. Every scene she’s in she totally steals, I love her LOL 

- The last two episodes definitely make the entire show worth watching. They’re really full of heart, you get so excited, and watching them perform is really cool. I won’t give away any of the ending, but it is worth it!

Things I didn’t like:

There are a few things that made me feel ‘meh’ about the show. It kinda felt like there were a lot of plot points that dragged on a bit too much for me. This is totally a personal opinion so like obviously you might feel different! Cool.

- So, the idea that the story starts out with a love triangle didn’t appeal to me at all LOL I hate that trope, but even after that ends it starts going through the whole ‘we’re idols that have to date in secret’ and all that angst that comes with that and I have to admit there were a few mid series episodes that had me so bored because it felt like I’d already seen this to some degree before. I ended up mostly enjoying whatever subplots were going on instead of the main plot. It’s not that I didn’t like their romance, but sometimes it was just SO uncomfortable because they were uncomfortable LOL idk, romance plots are not usually my jam, but there are enough other elements to make the show enjoyable for me.

- Struggles would come up and then immediately not be an issue by the next episode. I know this is only a 12 episode drama (which I think is a shame, I think if it had been 16-20 episodes then it actually would have fared so much better but alas) but I feel like...I mean if a massive contract issue comes up and can be resolved with a quick call or an article being written, then it wasn’t an issue...and yet the fact that two idols are having angst over dating can be drawn out over the course of 4 episodes just didn’t make sense to me LOL like you’d think the dating issue would have been resolved faster than a contract issue? idk maybe it’s just me. 

- Eunjo’s plot, which is essentially a subplot until the end of the show, is far more interesting than most of what goes on LOL I almost would have liked to have that mystery be woven more thoroughly through the show instead of it being sprinkled in occasionally and then BOOM at the end it all comes together. I just think it might have had more impact.

- GROUP DYNAMICS. Bruh! This is what I really wanted okay? LOL I mean obviously the focus is mostly on Ryeok and Ma Ha but god I would have loved having more scenes with group dynamics and seeing how they actually all get along instead of making the other members all side characters until the very end when we see that they actually all care about each other. I didn’t even know Jaewoo was the leader of SHAX until the end of the show, man LOL like it would have been nice to see more from him, and all of the others, especially since Jaewoo was essentially a snitch to the their label owner for so long and ending up having so much guilt over it, but we never saw that until the last episode. 

I also think I would have preferred to have seen more of the past SHAX with Eunjo, because Ryeok was apparently his bff and yet we don’t really get to see any of that, you know? We just hear about it. This show does a lot of telling instead of showing and I do think that’s because of the episode limit, but it’s just a shame. I think the ending would have been more impactful if we’d gotten to see them altogether more at the beginning.

- If you’ve decided to watch Imitation solely for Seonghwa and San, I’d advise against it LOL they have like two lines per episode they’re in (which isn’t all of them, Sparkling is barely in the show aside from Yoojin(Yunho)) and basically they don’t get to say or do much of anything until the end LOL I get that Sparkling is a secondary character group, basically, but it would have been nice to have seen more dynamics from them, too. I think Seonghwa and San could have honestly been like Dojin and Hyuk, the comedy duo of SHAX, but they just didn’t have the time or whatever, I suppose. Like I don’t even know Seonghwa’s character’s name LOL the only reason I know San’s character’s name is Minsu is because they said it once at the second to the last episode. LOL so, just a warning. But you atinys will be fed by seeing much Yunho and Jongho, I promise.

 I also would have loved to have seen more group dynamics from Sparkling, as I said, because until the 11th episode, I think, I don’t even see them really being like, “guys! I love you all, let’s stick together until the end!” which really confused me bc my dude Hyun Oh was literally causing property damage and giving them a problematic image but apparently they were good with that LOL idk idk

- The whole sasaeng issue gets dropped right before the ending and I thought that was rather strange since up until that point sasaengs had been one of the main roadblocks for the romance plot and they had been rather vile and annoying LOL unfortunately the show often had to skip over or completely drop or quickly resolve a lot of the large ongoing issues in order to come to a conclusive end and I thought that was a bit sad but I do understand why. Can only do so much with 12 episodes.

Overall opinion:

I really enjoyed it. I know I have some critically things to say, but as a writer I just kept seeing plot holes and had to talk about them briefly LOL (or not briefly because idk how to be brief) I think that the tone of the story was good, and that what they were trying to convey through this story was also good. I think it does give an idealistic image of idols freeing themselves from the oppressive evil labels and living the way they want, because unfortunately that’s not always a viable option, however it did remind me of Hyuna and Dawn’s story in a way and that warmed my heart! Love conquers all, my dude, we love to see it.

I would honestly love to watch more idol dramas like Imitation that star idols and therefore we get some sick performances and awesome music and it tells an interesting and somewhat realistic story! I think it’s something anyone can enjoy, even if for me it did get a little long in the middle with all the romance stuff LOL the ending was totally worth it for me, I think it’ll be worth it for you!

[prisonhannibal]

I apologize for this random question but do you have any specific tags you like when people reblog your art? Like, if I reblogged a drawing of Deadpool you did, do you liked it tagged with “Deadpool drawing” or “Deadpool fanart” or anything like that?

And when I say “like”, I mean as in makes you glad that a tag was added/or makes you happy that someone tagged it in a certain way? ( I’m just specifying this part because I know you are not someone who would be demanding about how your work be tagged unless it was crossing an uncomfortable line and I hope it doesn’t come across like that was what I was implying with the question). That being said, feel free to reverse the question and mention tagging you don’t like.

(Also, going to make a disclaimer here because this is tumblr, I’m not saying it’s bad to only want specific tags on works. I know there are situations where that is needed or an artist just happens to want their work tagged in a specific manner.)

I hope this makes sense to you. I’m a manic rambler whose second language is English. Anyway, Sending you well wishes! And thank you!

hi! thanks for the question! I am a chronic manic rambler whose second language is english as well so we’re the same there and it makes sense for me!

I don’t have any thoughts on how people tag my drawings for their tagging system and organization purposes. Some people have specific tags for my drawings though which blows my mind. Like the idea that people can think about or even look forward to my drawings more than just what’s on their screen in front of them that second. like they recognize my drawings and enjoy my work as artist mutantapologist, not just this specific drawing. I can’t get my head around it it’s insanely flattering wtf you guys think about me? 🥰

I generally like it when people talk in the tags. some people leave the nicest tags so I screenshot them and keep them to look at later because they made me so happy haha 💚 one of the really nice things, related to what I said before, is when people will make comments that imply they’ve seen my drawings before, like saying they’re happy to see this character in my art style, using my name, or saying “good work as always”. I also love when people point out specific things they liked. ESPECIALLY if it’s about the Vibe and not just technical skill, like my favorite stuff to get is about the atmosphere, body language or getting characters dynamic and personalities right like trust me I will be thinking about that for three days

tbh I think I have the same attitude as most artists which is just I really appreciate it when people reblog my art (nothing more discouraging than a horrible like to reblog ratio) and talk in the tags, no matter what they actually say

also if you regularly put nice tags on my drawings I likely know your url and get excited to click on your reblog when I go through and read tags hahahah I love u guys thank you so much for all the validation and motivation to create 🥰🥰🥰

[ectogeo-rebubbles]

for the character ask - girlbosses Kai Winn, Keiko, and Ziyal

YAY, I love talking about all these DS9 ladies!

Kai Winn, my beloathed

1: sexuality headcanon: I refuse to think about Kai Winn’s sexuality, fuck you (affectionate) 2: otp: ???? 3: brotp: Winn & Solbor, but not as bros but as coworkers who hate each other lol (tbh I don’t actually care about Winn having a friendship with anyone, I just wanted to take this opportunity to rant about how I wish Solbor was in more seasons, bc he RULES!! such a tragically underappreciated side character solely bc the arc he is in sucks so bad that no one wants to remember anything about it lol)... also I just really like the complicated Kira & Winn dynamic, but I definitely wouldn’t classify them as bros either lol 4: notp: Winn/Dukat lol 5: first headcanon that pops into my head: she has never in her life actually sensed anyone’s pagh, she just loves how uncomfortable it makes people to have their ear aggressively grabbed... like, she just counts to 10 in her head while pretending to do her bajoran vibe check... also I think it would be really funny if the Prophets HAVE spoken to her but she didn’t REALIZE it was them bc she didn’t like what they had to say 6: favorite line from this character: every time she condescendingly calls someone “my child” is *100 chef’s kisses* BUT ALSO: “Step down? I don't understand. Why would I do that?” (honestly that’s my fave Kai Winn scene and I am upset by the entire rest of the episode it’s in haha) 7: one way in which I relate to this character: sometimes I do good things but only for petty self-serving reasons XD 8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: Winn/Dukat 9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?: problematic fave, very evil, love to hate her <3

-

Professor Keiko Ishikawa O’Brien, my beloved

1: sexuality headcanon: she’s bi, baby! 2: otp: Keiko/Miles (obvs) but with a lil Kira/Keiko on the side :3 3: brotp: Keiko & Garak are gardening bffs, and they drink tea and gossip while their husbands LARP <3 4: notp: idk, but let’s go with Keiko/Quark, to make sure all my notp’s given in this post are things that canon forced us to think about XD (pretty sure Quark gets a crush on Keiko in Fascination) 5: first headcanon that pops into my head: Keiko is polyamorous (which Miles is fine with) and she encourages Miles to be too, but he just doesn’t have the ability or desire to maintain multiple relationships like she does 6: favorite line from this character: “You know, that was a very ugly thing you just said.” 7: one way in which I relate to this character: angery science lady 8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: hmm, the way she was often portrayed as a nagging wife is always uncomfortable 9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?: cinnamon roll!!

-

Tora Ziyal, my beloved

1: sexuality headcanon: bi 2: otp: Jake/Ziyal (artist/writer solidarity, Sisko and Dukat would be in-laws, all around adorableness, NEED I GO ON????) 3: brotp: Ziyal & Garak, Ziyal & Kira 4: notp: Ziyal/Garak is BIG YIKES 5: first headcanon that pops into my head: not a day goes by when I don’t think about Ziyal drawing Garak while he sits in a holding cell, from the fic The Incarceration of Elim Garak by @zaan-zaan... I also love that headcanon about Ziyal and Jake causing mischief and mayhem on the Dominion-occupied DS9 6: favorite line from this character: “For all we know, the Vorta could be gluttonous, alcoholic sex maniacs.” 7: one way in which I relate to this character: artiste 8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: the time she kissed Garak on the lips makes me queasy 9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?: precious cinnamon roll! SHE DESERVED TO BE WRITTEN BETTER!! SHE DESERVED TO LIVE!!! SHE DESERVED TO JUST GO ABSOLUTELY FERAL!!! SHE DESERVED TO BE RAISED BY HOSTILE CO-PARENTS GARAK AND KIRA!!!!!

[lunavadash-creates]

Finally there is someone who understands my love for Saint oniisan! I am not especially religious, but I can totally say I became a huge fan of Jesus after seeing it! He is hilarious and has a funny voice! I love the way he says “Budda” after Budda suggests making food out of rocks. And the scene in the sauna is definitely my favorite. Idea of Jesus being the son of the yakuza's boss – I am buying it! I love such creative productions!

Your idea for Mira and Connor story seems more and more interesting. To be honest, it’s even better than plotline for Amara and Altair and Olivia and Haytham (although you make me question all my prejudices towards him and in the end I can say that I “like him” rather than “tolerate him”, your drabble with drunken Olivia was asdfghjkllove). Maybe next time you post some 5 words sentences or whatever it was, I’ll request something for them. I am definitely not a history lover, but I admire having such a deliberate background. You really have potential for being a professional writer. I mean, don’t get me wrong, but those are only fanfictions. People writing such things focus on the story itself, on characters, dynamics between them. I feel that you also work a lot on research for background to be the most accurate as it could be. Like, wow! And you actually really prepare for writing anything. The drabble with the reader wanting a tattoo and reaction of ac character taking into consideration how tattoos were perceived in the appropriate timeline? I had no idea that people were tattooed in ancient times! Or maybe it’s just my historical ignorance and sleeping tendencies in history classes. .

But summing up.. I suddenly feel sorry for Connor. Feeling betrayed, especially by those who are considered as closed ones or allies must be really awful. Let me hug him.

What’s your natural hair color and what is your color rn? Do you like it dyed? Would you change anything else about it?

I wouldn’t say that grey eyelash is unique. Not many people know about it, it’s almost invisible. It’s not like you are looking at someone’s eyelashes and their color. Besides, I usually wear make up, so..

I was asking about piercing, because well. I would love to have piercings. Like.. I really do. Maybe not too extreme (although nipple piercing looks good to me) – just ears and maybe nose. That’s all. The problem is I am afraid of needles. And yes, I have a tattoo. And yes, I am going to get the second one. And yes, tattoos are made with needles. But still, this doesn’t change the fact I am afraid of needles. And I just need a little encouragement. I talked with a friend who made helix piercing last year, but it disturbed her sleep. Earring hooked on her pillow and in the end her ear became swollen and hurt, so she took it out. So I need more opinions. Positive ones I guess.

But right now you make me think about the riskiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.. Getting a tattoo wasn’t even close to a risky thing. What about you? Any confessions?

🔪

tbh I'm not religious at all. But that anime was brilliant :D I also love how Jesus didn't bring gifts for all Japanese gods and then saw them on rice grains and was so sorry. It was adorable.

I'm glad you like my OC but tbh i don't remember writing about drunk Olivia 😂 but those 3 are my favourite babies. They are all different but just... they seem right for me. Ad I know a lot of people doesn't like Haytham and it's valid. I find him interesting so i decided to make a story about him, to show his loving and caring side. Because after all games, books, tv series and everything is made to be enjoyed, not to make some wars about who's right and wrong. I just enjoy things I like and that's it! Thank you for your words about being a professional writer. Tbh when i make stories I always check the background, history and all of those little details because I like being accurate. I like when things I write have a meaning, maybe some hidden sense. It makes me happy to find something that connects the dots, you know? And not knowing historical details like tattoos isn't ignorance. You don't need to study or learn about things you're not interested in. About that tattoo hc - I know it's nice to read about characters that are all "I love ink on your body" but I really want to be historically accurate. Because as much as we want our fave characters to be perfect, they aren't and I guess it's nice to explore their flaws.

I was reading Ac 1 book today and I finished that 2nd part and I noticed Altair was crying while killing Al Mualim. Tbh it made me think today about the vulnerability of people. Weird, right? Especially that Altair said that he knew Al Mualim's love was fake and fragile, that he was using Altair. And yet Altair treated him as a father and cried for him. I'm in such a deep Altair's hole, I really love that man.

Piercing. Knifey. It is your body and your life so if you want to have piercing? GO GET IT. Like really. If you won't do it you may grow to regret it. And if you decide that piercing doesn't spark a joy? Just take it off and let your skin heal. But really, nose piercing looks good. I love those little, silver balls on the side of the nose. Idk if you also like those but still. GO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. GET THE PIERCING. BE HAPPY. Yes, you need to be careful about it in the beginning. There is a small risk of not healing properly but for that, you have all the meds to use. Keep that place clean and you should be 100% fine. So honestly Knifey, my amazing, smart, hard-working and talented friend, those are your worst of encouragement. GO GET THE PIERCING YOU WANT. And don't look back.

My confessions? Tbh I don't think I have any. I don't really do risky stuff, I don't have any tattoos and I don't plan on having any (I don't really like having stuff on my skin. Like I used to draw on my skin o get used to the thought of having a tattoo but it bored me after some time so I'm sure I don't want to have a tattoo but I love them on other people). I also stopped dying my hair for now to see my natural colour. Hmm what else... I think that's all. Not much is happening in my life rn. I just vibe and play genshin (its an amazing game and its FREE if you want to play :D)

[tomiyeee]

2, 5, 7, 13, 17, and 20 (you gave me so many lol)

under cut cuz it’s long(er than usual)

2) What do you like most about the series?

hm. if im honest, im not entirely sure! i think at least part of what got me hooked and why the series has remained so entertaining for me is just the sheer ridiculousness of it. the faces and animations, the whole concept of an ancient alien race whose society revolves around racing cars...it’s great! i don’t mean this in a bad way or that i dont take any fan content seriously, i just find it amusing looking at my content of it and thinking “man. this from a kids’ show about cars.” makes it much easier to enjoy what i make and not take it all too seriously. im just here to have fun!

5) Favorite & least favorite car(s)?

mm i answered already but i realize those were only acceleracers cars sooo…

fav: markie’s stingray..i always say this but it’s vanilla flavored..it’s so pretty

least fav: gosh all these cars are so ugly it’s hard to pick just one...i’ll just go by teams lol

wave rippers - alec’s truck is so bulky and ugly and boring *graffiti’s on it in vr chat*

street breed - side draft is such a stupid name

road beasts - moto-crossed. what the fuck?

dune ratz - kadeem i love you but...sir ur car…

scorchers - red baron. the fucking. driver has to bend over just to see out the vehicle, how is this a car

7) Favorite scene or line?

vert house scene in BP. i’ve probably watched/listened to BP at least twice as many times as any of the other movies. nolo isn’t in this scene but i like vert too and he looked cute and had nice voice acting so it’s in second place. what can i say, i cant stand action and eating lunch in the cafeteria and talking to ur dad at home is about as far from action as you can get :)

13) What ships do you like (if any)?

i have them all listed on my blog but i wanna talk about some of em that have been on my mind a lot anyway:

vertnolo - tbh i can’t see either of them being very romantic, esp with each other. they aren’t so much boyfriends as they are just friends who like to kiss lol. this ship is almost purely self-indulgence which im a little embarrassed about sometimes but hghhh. i love vert and i love nolo and instead of loving both of them individually, why not love two boys with one ship? :)

banjee/kadeem - they had very cute exchanges in world race and i would’ve loved to see more of them!

banjee/ez/skeet - damn banjee how come i let you have two boyfriends AND a girlfriend? they seem to be canonically very good friends, and i love the idea of the three of them getting into trouble together...or rather banj/ez getting into trouble and skeet being reluctantly dragged along. he seems the least willing to break rules but they are all ride or die for each other

tork/tone - this may not have worked out in canon and there’s not much to work off of there anyway in terms of dynamic so i don’t draw it much, but rival team leaders are always an interesting ship in my experience lol. plus they both desperately needed some character development so hey they have that in common!

dad wheeler/tezla/gelorum - the dilf/gilf/milf dynamic. they are all exes.

lani/vert and karma/nolo - platonically, they both feel like they have a sibling-like dynamic and their aesthetics fit together very nicely. vert and lani have some stuff in common and get along fairly well and karma seems to look after nolo quite a bit. i don’t have a lot of solid ideas for either of them, but seeing/thinking about them interacting makes me really happy :D

17) If you could design a realm of your own what sort of theme would it have?

well i’ve already answered for my flower/forest/fairy-themed aesthetic and fish and stars are already taken...what other aesthetics do i have..?

this is very vague but i really like seeing vibrant pink color palettes. im better at designing stuff thru drawing than text but i dont feel like drawing rn so ig just something that looks like either this warm pink sort of palette or this purple-ish one. like a sort of..sunset realm? not sure about the track or obstacles, i just want it to be pink and pretty. ooh or a crystalline realm!! maybe even combine the two!

20) What would you like to see/have seen in a continuation?

i want the drivers to beat the shit out of tezla. i really loved the parts of ult race where the two teams worked together and made amends, but it’s sad that we didn’t get to see much of that dynamic until the very end, especially since it’s kinda drowned out by all the action (i get it’s the finale, but also...i hate action). i would love to have seen more of those new relationships and how they would work out in different situations. like more of what we got to see of the characters’ interactions throughout the series, only this time its without them all being ~2 secs away from strangling each other.

the characters working together and building completely new dynamics between each other as the series progresses..maybe certain characters become unexpected but very good friends whose personalities complement each other in unexpected ways! maybe there are new conflicts that arise between the characters that stem from their personalities/backgrounds/etc. themselves rather than some arbitrary team rivalry! ooohh there’s just so much potential here!!

[kuroopaisen]

HEY it’s me the anon from a few days ago that told you they’d panhandle for the in between crumbs 👨🏻‍🦽 i read pt 1 again while i ate lunch after work and omgncnsms i forgot how much i loved them lowering their walls (and the hesitation that comes w sharing something personal,, tbh not me i just be sayin shit sometimes yk MFNSNSN) but i rlly wanted to ask how long the writing process took you (in general and for this fic), what order you wrote all the scenes in (1/2)

and your favorite scenes from the fic 🥺 or rlly anything you want i love hearing ppl talk abt their writing 🥺🥺 i might send more asks as i inevitably reread the series tho LMAO i woke up today and told my best friend (who’s been lobbying for me to watch more than half of season one,,,, My Bad) that i was rereading this fic for The Serotonin 🤝🤝 also to avoid confusion i’ll call myself pan anon for now!! (2/2)

PAN ANON that’s so cute!! real talk, thank you for showing so much interesting in this fic? it’s my lil baby, and honestly hearing that you’re literally re-reading it is so wild to me,,, i have trouble conceptualising it? but thank you so so much you’re so sweet :( i’m so glad i could provide you with that precious Serotonin, that’s all i want to do,,,

you’ve given me the space to ramble so ramble i did,,, and therefore it’s under a cut fklfds i’m so sorry but also thank you so much (if you do want to ask more questions, don’t be afraid to! although this is,,, v long so i completely understand flkjsklfj)

how long the writing process took

in general: depends on a lot of factors, to be honest! how inspired i am, how long it’s going to be, how developed the idea is,,, generally, I tend to work on fics when I’m inspired to do them, or i won’t touch them for a long period of time. so, it’s hard to give an exact timeframe.

for example, iwaizumi’s birthday fic (ataraxia) was banged out in about a day? concept, writing, everything – mainly because i was on a timeframe, but also because it’s a relatively simple fic. simple premise, gentle but simple emotions, simple outcome. and, because i was inspired (see: under pressure), it was easy to get it all out. albeit ataraxia wasn’t beta’d, which is a bit of a problem for it as a representative of my writing ssjfdklj

something like brat, a more thought-out piece, it might take a week depending on inspiration? brat particularly inspired me (and i wish i’d turned it into a multi-parter now, tbh), so it was easy to get into.

for something like this or little changes, it takes a bit longer? little changes took about three weeks from conception to end product! which leads to…

for this fic: this fic was a bit weird in that i had the idea in my head for a few months? sort of,,, little scenes, and the desire to write something about kuroo and nekoma’s manager, incorporating the theme of ‘an in-between kind of love.’ the actual writing process, however, probably took two weeks?

the first week was pretty lax, and then the second was a whirlwind. It’s honestly sort of a haze because I would write for hours straight? i don’t know what happened, and a lot of the first draft was not good by any means, but yeah. that was one wild week.

poor ren (@/w-yuren – if you haven’t checked her out, please do! she’s the auntie of the fic tbh) proofread all of it over the course of a week because i wanted to get it out by a certain date (i didn’t end up meeting this deadline but Oh Well).

what order you wrote all the scenes in

i didn’t have a particular order!! i would just go for the scenes that i felt most inspired to write. for this fic, it was the scenes that took place more around the middle that i tended to gravitate towards? i found it surprisingly difficult to write the beginning (probably because by the time i got there, i had their dynamic established in my head – meaning that them being strangers was difficult to parse), and i put off the ending because i didn’t quite know how i wanted it to end (the original plan had them going to university – the slowest of all burns).

favourite scenes

so one of my favourite scenes was the one where the reader is having a breakdown in the gym; i didn’t end up doing it as well as i would’ve liked, but it gave me a space to explore some emotions i haven’t really had the chance to in my fics yet. it’s a mini-example, for me, of how cathartic writing can be – before this i’d only written a short daichi fic featuring a reader who had anxiety.

being able to tease out those emotions, but having them received willingly by kuroo, was soothing? and i also enjoyed that it gave me some space to give kuroo his own development, too; we don’t know where his mother is canonically, so divorce is certainly possible. and, speaking as a child of divorced parents, that sort of thing really affects you – often more than you realise. getting to explore that concept without making it the main point of the fic was enjoyable, in some way? it feels like the wrong word, but i can’t think of a better one.

i also enjoyed the scene where kuroo’s feeling down, and both kenma and the reader notice. bc this is a fic and not a full-blown novel, the relationships both kuroo and the reader have with other characters inevitably fall to the wayside, so i enjoyed every opportunity i had to explore the dynamics with other members of the nekoma team. and because kuroo and kenma are so important to each other, it was a joy working out how that’d factor into moments like this (especially since we don’t tend to see kuroo be down, you know?).

I also enjoyed the “ethically sourced” scene just because they’re being such Dumb Teens and i thought the dialogue was naturalish?

i also like the scene at the end of part 2, because i like exploring how we conceptualise love versus how we experience it. kuroo’s very much trapped between the two in that scene, and i think it’s very much something a teenage boy would contend with. especially because the way he conceptualises romantic love makes it something scary, something that could threaten the relationship they currently have.

and finally, i really like the final scene for two main reasons. one, because they don’t need to say “i love you”; they both know. and they know, because they exchange the “i wouldn’t be who i am today without you,” which speaks to their friendship and how they’ve affected one another. it’s also the culmination of both of them realising that it’s okay for them to feel multiple kinds of love for one another, and one doesn’t transcend or smother the other.

two, because it’s a moment of genuine, comfortable vulnerability; something that they’ve always offered each other in one way or another, but it’s usually been one of them comforting and supporting the other. but in this scene, the vulnerability is shouldered by both of them (the reader betrays her vulnerability by giving him a thoughtful present, and kuroo betrays his vulnerability by tearing up and making his confession).  

honestly i had some lofty ideas that i don’t think i totally made good on, but i like these scenes because they gave me the opportunity to explore emotions that i find very interesting, or that relate to my own experiences with love; it’s always been a very strange grey area for me, and since i like to write for catharsis, the in-between was an opportunity to reflect on that! 

i love the friends-to-lovers trope because it focuses on that interplay between different ideas of love, but in a mundane context, what does that mean? how do you draw the line between the two? should you draw that line? 

so i’ve rambled a lot (looking at this wall of text,,, i’m so sorry) but thank for you for letting me indulge myself aslkjd my vocabulary is very limited and i hope i don’t seem like a Tool. 

[ugh-fml]

I can’t believe that I actually need to make a second discourse post. (The first was about the trans Zim discourse a year ago it’s over now I think) Anyways recently (before AND after the movie) I’ve seen people in this fandom act very ignorant to say the least. Artists and other content creators in our little bubble should not have the issue of harassment and bigoty they are receiving. And before you think this is bullshit, it’s not.

This very small group of people on Instagram AND on tumblr that are specifically ONLY targeting zadr fans. not in my entire 3 years of being in this fandom have I seen a post about ZAGR and DATR discourse. And YEAH I know it’s very biased to say that since I am one myself, and before you go there with the pedophile label, I AM A MINOR.

This is not about the “pedophillia” that is going on- and tbh I’ve seen none so far! (I’m not looking for it and if you have seen it in the dark corners of the web I am so sorry.) I’m not going to ignore the possibility that there could be some sickos out there, because there are, in the fandom? No idea. Apparently years ago there were(are?) people sexulizing gaz and shipping her with her BROTHER dib. Gross. 🤮

NOW the zadr shippers that I am talking about in this post are NOT pedophiles or anything like that. They are simply fans of a show,shipping an alien with a human.

And if there is a drawing you come across of Zim and dib kissing, and it’s dib as a child I can promise you that they’re most likely not thinking ‘OOOH CHILD AND ADLUT SEXY’ THEYRE NOT!! NOT EVERYONE YOU MEET IN THIS FANDOM IS A PEDOPHILE!!! It’s most likely a very innocent minor drawing it and thinking oh this is cute!! NOT ACTIVELY THINK OH THIS ONE IS ADULT THIS ONE IS A CHILD. How do I know this? I have done this before when I was 11 and very new into the fandom. I’ve also heard stories of other people when they were young doing this as well.

The thing is it’s not about the age difference or anything. That doesn’t apply to the fics and art. What I’m trying to say is that it is ASSUMES that dib is 18+ and it usally is STATED on the art or blog!! Trust me most of them are uncomfortable by the age gap and a lot of times age dib up ALOT.

To shippers it’s about the dynamics of their characters, and how nice it would be to see them interact NICELY to each other, and fall in love.

what I just described is literally a reason why people ship enemies to lovers

One of my favorite artists @/starchild37 has an Instagram and used to post their art there. For a while it was nice and everyone was nice and interacted in a good way. Unfounded that didn’t last. It is very unclear what messages were sent and what went on exactly but here was their final post:

No one deserves to be treated like this. We are better than this. Please stop spreading hate and hurting people. If you really feel uncomfortable with these artists I can recommend you doing the following:

1. Block the artist and blacklist the zadr tag :)

Please feel free to add. I tried to make this as unbiased as possible. Let’s have a friendly discussion.