#always happy to answer asks!

[bunnieswithknives]

Oh I have to ask. In your Things That Crawl AU, what does Lyle think. I could see him having similar reactions to Hellen's. We know that even if it wasn't healthy, Lyle was the one who knew Sam the most, longer then anyone else, his constant stalking means he knew what Sam was like and they may have even actually worked together. I personally just can't see Lyle accepting this "New" Sam but I could be totally wrong, I'd love to here about Lyle in your au.

Oh yeah Lyle absolutely does not accept the new Sam

My first thought was that Lyle does what he always does when the going gets tough, and that's try to steal Sam's soul. I don't really like that idea though... cause either it works as both a cop-out and definitive answer to Sam's state of mind, or it doesn't and that's still an answer of some kind, which I don't want.

The alternative is really dependent on the extent of the powers I wanna give Visitor!Sam(? Idk if this is what I wanna call it but we're going with it for now) and how fucked up I want that to go.

POV: The benevolent god has an audio processing disorder and no idea what a human looks like

[turrondeluxe]

always happy about the fact that in 2012, mikey often asked donnie questions if he didn't understand something and donnie always answered no matter what

this can be seen in a bunch of episodes but my favorite example of it it's the one in half shell heroes where mikey is extremely excited to be in the museums and is the one actively asking donnie questions about the exhibits they saw and also actively listening to donnie's explanation (before raph got silly lmao). he was very excited to learn!!!

And while it's true that mikey would lose interest quite fast if the explanation got too lengthy with too many technical terms, it doesn't change the fact that he does retain the info donnie is always rambling on about different things!!! (even if mikey himself doesn't notice he's doing it lol) and also i find it very sweet that no matter if donnie himself got annoyed, donnie would always answer the questions. no matter what. he would always try to explain if he didn't understand something

This is prob because mikey is the one brother who is often seeking out donnie to pass time around him Meaning that donnie might have used mikey as his rubber ducky whenever mikey hangs out with him while he's working (explained him a lot of his experiments and theories while trying to solve them himself and in this way mikey also learnt in the process WHILE spending time with his brother! win win!)

it also helps donnie because accompanies him while not letting him get lonely in his lab 24/7, sometimes explaining things to someone makes it better to understand it yourself AND it's shown in the comics that donnie is quite used to his brothers just Living as background noise and literally cannot function without it lmao

They are literally the two smart kids in the family even if none of them notice it and it's all because mikey looks up to his brother and is like an sponge with donnie around. donnie is actively teaching mikey and mikey is learning! even if they have no idea they are doing it

[wuntrum]

got to see this janet fish painting (named barry) in person today. hooooly

[niinnyu]

omg your Gerry looks so huggable like i just want to pat him on the head shfbdhdbhsbdhsbd

Undecided if he's okay with a Stranger patting him

[yiddishknights]

you seem like the right person to ask about jewish knights and judaism in general in arthurian legend

Hello! Apologies for how long it has taken me to respond to this! Throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period, there were a number of Arthurian texts written by and for Jewish people in Jewish languages. The one I specialize in is an Old Yiddish text called Vidvilt, which is part of the Fair Unknown tradition and based off an earlier German text called Wigalois. This text was super popular in the Yiddish-speaking world for about three centuries or so and was reworked and reprinted a number of times. I already discussed some of those adaptations a while ago in response to this ask.

Predating Vidvilt, there was a Hebrew Arthurian text written in the 13th century which is now commonly known as Melekh Artus. This was based on Old French sources and tells the story of Arthur's birth and Lancelot's affair with Guinevere before breaking off unfinished. The most common edition of the text used today is the one by Curt Leviant, though I just read a fascinating article in the latest issue of the Journal of the International Arthurian Society calling into question some of his transcription choices and the conclusions he draws in his analysis of the text.

I also recently read that a fragment of an Arthurian text in Judeo-Catalan was recently discovered, but I'm afraid I don't know much about it as yet other than that it's apparently a late medieval adaptation of Jaufre.

Chivalric romances of both Christian and Jewish origin were extremely popular among medieval and early modern Jews in general. There were a number of non-Arthurian knight stories that were very popular as well; for example, the most famous and influential work of early Yiddish literature was a chivalric epic called Bovo d'Antona, and a survey I read of the literature in Jewish households in early modern Italy shows that the most popular non-religious work among Jews at that time was Orlando Furioso.

It is worth noting that, even though some of these texts were written by and for Jews, that doesn't necessarily mean that the characters in them were Jewish. Jewish writers generally tended to modify their Christian source materials by gliding over or obscuring references to religion, rather than depicting Judaism directly (the reasons for this are complex and could constitute a whole paper, so I won't get into it here). That being said, medieval Jewish knights did exist in real life, too! There are a few medieval historians who do research into exactly when, where, and under what circumstances Jews were allowed to bear arms, but it definitely wasn't exclusively a literary thing.

[kawareo]

Hey so would Gortash ever do the “I’m the only person who could ever love you” thing with Durge after he got his mind wiped?

He would absolutely say that but also it is weirdly sincere, he truly does believe so

He (justifiably) believes that only he has ever fully accepted Durge with everything that comes along with it! He'd say that someone else might be able to love Durge but he is the only one who could do so without wanting to change anything about him.

"Only I love you for who you are and not for the man you could be."

"Only I have ever accepted you and whatever it was you chose to be."

"They might love the idea of you but in the end, I'm the one who loves the monster they're afraid of."

He truly does believe so, but because he is still Gortash he will phrase it in a manipulative way that separates Durge from any other support networks he might have, as he always did.

[syluses]

there was another wave of caleb drama on the bird app the other day about him not wanting to be ur gege at all which was lowkey super dumb bc its not true but now its making me think of an au where mc and caleb don't grow up together and meet as adults but caleb's still delusional and crazy enough to want to have that type of dynamic... like just irrationally mad that he isn't the one who raised u LMAO i always saw him as the type to just want to be your everything not Just a brother not Just a lover... it tickles my brain.. love and obsession so all-encompassing that he has to be everything in ur life

..Oh brother 😒 no pun intended. I agree with u tho nonnie 💯 Bro needs to be her everything, & if he isnt he feels worthless.

Prepare thyselfs

Alright, yall already know by know that im a big gege truther- however im perfectly fine with the people who wanna see caleb as the ‘childhood friend’- which the anglicized version essentially goes off on. Now i do believe those individuals dont see all of caleb’s unique little nuances- just because so much of them stem from the brotherly role he was ‘forced’ to fill for mc all throughout childhood- and i think they fail to recognize the paramount correlation it has to their ‘forbidden’ romance (which both he & mc ACKNOWLEDGE in the story; but ig they’re just whiting out the bits they dont wanna hear) but im not gonna flame ppl if they wanna see bro as the friends to lovers trope.

i dont agree with it, but its more or less okay with me bc i understand lots of ppl are icked out by the pseudo trope (reasonable) yet still want to appreciate xia yizhou in their own way— even if ignoring the original intention inevitably brings a certain distance to that for the lack of comprehension over his, well, ahem GEGEISM™️

The way some of them wanna DENY the asian/original canon tho is pretty insane ngl. Like homie u can still enjoy ur own (english localized) idea of caleb- but to try to erase the obvious gege/meimei implications of the chinese version is funny only because its just that stupid. Again im definitely not one of the ppl who’ll yell and shame others for not fucking with the gege vibes, but cmon… its pretty obvious that is in the canon.

And now im yapping at this point but as to whether or not caleb WANTS to be mc’s brother figure? ..Honestly i feel like that is complicated in itself, and i think the answer will vary from person to person. But for me i think its both a yes and a no. He definitely acts as her brother, thinks as her brother, regards himself as her brother. And the self awareness is absolutely there for him- as in he knows its wrong to romantically pine for mc because he truly does- in his own way- naturally see mc as his meimei as well, even if he tries to separate himself from it the more his yearning grows. I think calebs emotions revolving this are super complex. I can barely even put it into words.

He wants the full right, if u will, that the gege title grants him over her— the closeness, the responsibility, the bond— but it ultimately gets in the way when he stares at her in admiration for a little too long or leans a little too much into the fantasy of pretend girlfriend and boyfriend. Growing up, whenever he humored her and they played house, he never had to feign the part of ‘husband’ bc he already carried all that love with him. In a way, a lil piece of him kind of blames mc for ‘asserting’ the gege role on him, but he’s still just as guilty bc he happily gave in to it all throughout their growing up. He liked it, even, in those moments he could almost forget his own pathetic desires.

I truly do believe that caleb feels regretful over the brotherly role he operated under for just about all his life… But i also truly believe that he would have it no other way— the smallest idea of anybody else assuming that spot in her life makes him furious. Because again, he wants to take care of her, he wants to protect her, to bandage her scraped knees and hush away her tears, to cook breakfast lunch and dinner for her and have almost as much of a say in her life as gran does. (…past tense.) He wants the proximity, the domestic life with her, the casual closeness and again, the slight dominion the ‘brother’ role gives him over her.

Lets not forget that in all of this, for all his cheerful, reassuring smiles and easy quipping comments, that there’s a little worm in the back of caleb’s head that wants ultimate control over his meimei. and yes, even just in calling her his ‘meimei’— or her running face first into his strong arms bc she knows, as family, he’ll always have her back— some of that control is given. Its so hard to articulate this pls kill me. But i hope u know what i mean.

At the end of the day, for all his reservations about it- and the actual blame he lowkey tries to put on mc for it- Caleb does and always wanted to be her gege.

Because if he was never her gege, he’d be nothing. His responsibility over his meimei— his sister, his friend, his closest confidant and hopefully, one day, his wife— is frankly all that gives him purpose.

And yeah maybe he is a little crazy because of it... But he knows she loves him too, deep down. He knows her better than anybody else, after all. The same can be said about his love for her: nobody in this world could ever hold even a fraction of all that Caleb both internally & physically shoulders for her.

It’s as much of an ugly curse as it is a beautiful gift.

Duality my friends, duality

[blimbo-buddy]

what would see inside phillipe be like?

Ohoho you're in for a treat. First off, some concepts:

Phillippe -> Pippy

To contrast with him appearing as a bug often seen as cute; I wanted to instead make him appear as a bug that isn't seen in the same good light

Stuck between a scorpion, fly, and roach (not pictured here)

Scorpion has deeper meaning but also I imagined a Fly if I wanted to keep closer to Phillippe's original appearance

Scorpion would have a little cork on the end of the stinger

I might do a poll to see which idea you guys like better

Now onto the actual story beats with him:

His whole thing with using the bug disguise to trick the party into being consumed by Spore Mother is still there

But instead, he actually feels horrible amounts of shame for it; this is the only purpose of his existence, to deceive and feed Spore Mother more victims

This is his inner turmoil while leading evil Sam/Bram and the party to Spore Mother and it's where it finally reaches a boiling point

I'd imagine in game dialogue would point out that Pippy is seeming very antsy which only gets worse when they're closer to their destination

At the last second, Pippy reveals the truth that he's a spore mimic and instantly drops what's going on

He cries that he doesn't want to hurt people

He doesn't want to feed Spore Mother anymore

He doesn't want to be a mushroom mimic

He wants to be Pippy

In the fight against Spore Mother, Pippy fights with evil Sam/Bram and the others. Unfortunately, Pippy sacrifices himself for the survival of the others.

Though thankfully, in a shocking moment, evil Sam/Bram feels a wave of remorse wash over him - though doesn't show it outwardly to the others in that moment- and takes his remains. He'll remember him, not as a mushroom, not as a monster, not even as something who was trying to lead them to their deaths; but as Pippy.

[ribbononline]

I love how much culture is built from your design motifs for Pokémon fusions. I feel like every Diancie fusion live in the same country. It would be a fun challenge to world build with your designs~

Ahh, thank you! Im glad you think so :] When designing fusions I tend to use the body as- well, the body (and sometimes personality), and then the head for the 'aesthetics'. For Diancie heads, that's really leaning into it's royalty theming- be it by leaning into the classic regal pretty princess elements, the cute wedding ones, or even a more armored knight look using it's golden parts. That way, even when they're not necessarily designed to resemble one another they all still look properly like they came from the same 'family'.

Same way I tend to really lean Ho-oh into a very 'elegant' theme, colorful, but something commanding respect too- even stuff like a Carbink body should still look like it has something legendary in there, even if its just a silly baby!

I dont necessarily have lore for most of my fusions, but I always do make an attempt to make them look at least somewhat grounded and connected to both the established Pokémon world and eachother, so I'm super happy to hear they're working in that way.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

could you write something with the hero and villain fake dating? (you totallt dont have to if you dont want to or something I just wanted to ask cus I loveee the trope!)

"Kiss me," the villain said.

"No fucking way." A horrible blush started to spread over the hero's neck. The worst thing about this was that this had been their idea in the first place.

They were ashamed to admit it but when they had arrested the villain a few months ago, they had suggested to the judge a different kind of punishment. At the time, there wasn't much evidence of the villain's criminal activities, so the hero had thought it to be more practical if the villain had to work together with other heroes. As a kind of community service.

After all, the villain was smart when it came to these schemes.

However, for whatever reason, they had been paired together. The hero didn't quite know what to do with themselves now. Ever since the mission had started, their brain wasn't functioning at all. It was quite self-explanatory. The villain was incredibly attractive and they were joking around, seizing every opportunity to flirt with the hero.

The hero suspected it to be some scheme to throw them off their game. But they couldn't be sure.

"These guys over there have been eyeing us the entire evening. If you ask me, they're not buying our little act." The villain let their fingertips ghost over the hero's knuckles and the hero's heart started to throb. The hero didn't turn around to look at the suspicious people the villain had been talking about. Their mind was somewhere else entirely.

On this after show party, they were supposed to observe highly influential people for suspicious activity. An election was coming up and although the hero loathed politics, it was obviously the right thing to do. They weren't supposed to be the ones being observed.

Usually, the hero wasn't very fond of undercover work. They were a horrible liar and improvisation wasn't their strong suit either. For the last few days, the villain had saved them more than once from embarrassing slip-ups. It was quite pathetic.

"And you have been flirted with already," the villain said. Somehow, their voice sounded bitter.

"They were just being nice," the hero said. They shifted on their chair. If someone was indeed observing them, maybe kissing the villain was the right thing to do. God, the hero didn't have much experience and they feared they would make a fool out of themsleves once again.

The villain probably had a new lover every week or so.

"They wanted to buy you a drink."

"Ehh," the hero said. "It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"It's compromising the mission."

"Is that person who wanted to buy me a drink one of those guys who have been 'eyeing' us the entire evening?" the hero asked. They leaned over and took the villain's hand. Whenever they looked into the villain's eyes, their stupid heart skipped a beat but they tried to come closer, to appear more in love.

It was quite strange for them to display physical intimacy in public. They had never really considered themselves to be fit for relationships - work got in the way every single time but the villain brought enough casualness into the (fake) relationship to somewhat ease the hero's nerves.

The villain didn't answer their question, though.

"All I am trying to say is: when someone wants to buy you a drink, we don't look like a couple," the villain said. Their eyes dropped to the hero's lips and the hero leaned over, holding onto the villain's hand.

"Well, you could have come with me to the bar," the hero said. They shrugged and took a sip of their drink with a shaky hand the villain observed a little too long.

"I will keep that in mind." The villain followed the little veins on the hero's wrist of the hand that was holding onto them. The hero was so nervous they weren't sure if they had to cry or laugh.

"Okay, be honest. Is someone watching?" the hero asked. They managed to scoot over towards the villain.

The villain's eyes were still on the hero, observed every little move. To say the villain could be relentless was an understatement.

"They have the audacity to check you out." The villain's voice was low, even though their mouth formed a sweet smile. The hero hadn’t even realised how tight their grip was around the villain's hands. "Probably some disgusting perv. I can’t blame them, though. You look incredible."

The villain leaned in, touched the hero's forearm gently and immediately, the hero’s heart sped up.

"You have to be very careful or I will actually fall in-"

And then, the hero kissed them.

For whatever reason, they kissed them. They put their flat hand on the villain's neck and pulled them close until their lips met. Later, the hero would blame their own nervousness but truthfully, they didn't know exactly why they did it.

The hero considered themselves inexperienced - rightfully so - and heard their own heartbeat in their ears as the villain smiled against their lips. The hero felt clumsy and stupid; they didn't know exactly what they were doing. So, it was even more embarrassing when the villain put a hand on their thigh, squeezed softly and responded with slow kisses, forcing the hero to adapt.

Although the hero was painfully aware of their own nervousness, they were also calming down slowly. The villain was guiding them through it perfectly and they hated themselves for being in need of it.

Eventually, the hero pulled away and found it to be quite hard to look into the villain's eyes.

"Impressive," the villain murmured. Their smirk wasn't leaving their face.

"Sorry, I- uh-"

"Don't apologise."

"Oh, yes, uh..." The villain leaned over once more until they could whisper into the hero's ear.

"You did so well, don't you know that?"

"Are - are they still watching us?"

"No, my love." The villain gave the hero a peck on their temple. "How do you feel?"

"Nervous," they admitted.

"You're not really a fan of being undercover, are you?" The villain took their hand and the hero squeezed it, trying somehow to stop their hands from shaking.

"It's my least favourite thing about this job," the hero said. They took in a deep breath and tried to gather their thoughts.

The villain could be so sweet - the reassurance and the gentleness were so foreign to the hero that it scared them. Most of the time, their job was focused on performance and results. There wasn't much space for emotions. They weren't used to someone praising them.

"Don't worry, you are amazing at this," the villain purred. "If it's too much for you, we can always leave."

"But the mission..."

"Well, if you want my honest opinion: I couldn't care less about it. I am just enjoying my time with you."

The hero had to chuckle.

"You are terrible."

"It's your call. I can take the blame if your boss gives you an earful."

"Really?"

"Really."

Once they were back in their hotel room, the hero dared to sleep in the bed with the villain next to them and awoke unsurprisingly in their arms in the morning.

[babyboywilson]

if you're still taking hilson requests, one i frequently think about is everyone else observing house and wilson. watching as their weird friendship turns into something undeniably more ('you two LIVE together??' 'what do you mean you and house had dinner last night?') but both of them are like. ? nuh uh wdym

chase watched as house and wilson walked into the hospital together, arms brushing against each other as house uttered something and wilson titled his head back and laughed. nothing house usually said was funny enough to make any of the team laugh like that, but wilson was beaming as if house was the world’s funniest comedian. shaking his head, chase moved to follow them. “did you two meet in the parking lot or something?” chase asked as he handed over a file to house. the older man took the file and gave chase a withering look. “we carpooled like we do every day. obviously,” house replied. chase froze and watched as house and wilson got in the elevator together and the doors closed in chase’s face. carpooled? how long had house and wilson been carpooling together when they lived on opposite sides of town?

cameron scrubbed her hands over her face, scrubbing the exhaustion from her eyes knowing it was going to be a long night. house was in his office, bouncing his ball against the wall as he pondered their latest case. from the corner of her eye, cameron caught a shadow moving outside the office. a few seconds later, wilson appeared in house’s office and walked towards the older man. house tossed wilson the ball and wilson caught it easily. “we can cancel dinner if you want to stay here? i can get some takeout for us to share instead,” wilson said. cameron watched as house shook his head. “you got the reservation weeks ago, and i’m starving,” house said. wilson snagged house’s cane from the wall and handed it to him. “let’s go then,” wilson said with a soft smile. cameron watched as wilson grabbed house’s jacket and held it out for the older man. a second later, house poked his head into the office. “going out,” house announced, and then the two men were heading out of the office; wilson holding the door open for house. cameron turned her gaze towards chase with a raised eyebrow. “did you see that?” she asked. chase shook his head. “see what?” cameron cast her eyes back towards house’s office. “dinner reservation. wilson holding the door for house. looked like a date to me.”

foreman could’ve sworn he was hearing things. he had to have been. there was no way… right? house was in wilson’s office, tapping his cane on the oncologists desk but not in a harsh way. it was gentle, as if he didn’t even realize he was doing it. “are you sure? i thought i put it in the laundry hamper yesterday morning,” wilson said. “well it wasn’t in the dryer last night and i was cold,” house grumbled. wilson chuckled, shoving the base of the cane off of the desk as he stood up. “i’ll bring one of my other sweatshirts over tonight and you can use that one, alright?” wilson offered. house sighed dramatically and moved towards the door. “it had better be as comfortable as the mcgill one,” he threatened, a hint of fondness in his tone. “it is,” wilson replied. house moved into the hallway, almost bumping into foreman as he did. house whacked him in the shin with his cane. foreman startled. “stop standing there with your mouth hanging open, it’s very unappealing,” house said. foreman darted his gaze towards wilson’s office, then to house, then back to wilson’s office. “are you and wilson… are you living together or something?” foreman asked skeptically. house rolled his eyes. “how else do you think we carpool to work together?” house asked as he walked away.

foreman, chase, and cameron sat in the office with their heads hung low. “they have to be dating, right?” cameron asked. “date nights. sharing clothes. living together. it’s more like they’re married,” chase pointed out. “either it’s new and they’re screwing with us. or it’s old and we’ve all just missed it,” foreman muttered. their conversation broke off quickly when the office door swung open and wilson walked in. “have any of you seen house?” wilson asked, squinting his eyes and glancing through the main office into house’s office, but the older man wasn’t there. “he’s doing an ultrasound on a patient,” foreman supplied. wilson nodded and moved to leave the office. “hey wilson,” chase suddenly said. the oncologist stopped and looked back at the team. “are you and house dating?” chase asked. wilson looked between the ducklings with his eyebrows knitting together before he burst out laughing. “no! why would you even think that?” wilson said, shaking his head and still laughing as he left the office.

cameron cornered house later that day. “are you and wilson dating?” she asked bluntly, not having believed wilson’s answer earlier. it would be just like house to tell wilson to lie about their relationship if asked just to turn it into some kind of guessing game. house stepped around cameron with a scoff. “you’d hate that, wouldn’t you? it would ruin your hopes of us getting together.” cameron jogged to catch up with house. “not true. and that wasn’t an answer, you know,” she pointed out. house opened his office door and stepped inside. “no,” house replied, and closed the door in her face.

“they’re both idiots,” foreman said the next day as house walked in wearing wilson’s gray sweatshirt. “they’re pining and don’t even realize they’re essentially dating,” cameron added. “we’re going to be dealing with this crap forever. someone just tell them to kiss already and get it over with,” chase sighed as he dropped his head down onto the table.

[lynzishell]

What would be the opening intro song if your story/current legacy gen was ever made into a TV show? 🤍

omg this is such a fun Ask, thank you!!!! ✨💖✨

when i first read this, i thought it was going to be so hard to find a song, but i started scrolling through my playlists and this one stood out immediately:

Chocolate (Revised) by Snow Patrol

and then, of course, i had to go overboard and do this in case you want to listen and follow along...

enjoy? maybe? 😅

[jennilah]

You got some Hoffstrahm headcanons you'd like to share with us?

(Love your art)

maybe (◕‿◕✿)

(thank you!!)

ok first of all, I gave these men so many backstory headcanons that I dont think Ive ever actually shared

Hoffman:

I imagine him coming from a broken home, with a father that disappeared when he was young and a mother that struggled with drug abuse.

I imagine Hoffman growing up resenting her and people like her, which is why he thinks lowly of addicts

Let’s say Hoffman was in his early 40’s when Angelina died. He would have been a teenager when she was born.

I headcanon that Angelina was born to an unknown father, and was put into foster care after their mother passed away to an overdose.

I imagine a young Mark dedicating himself to learning law so he could fight to be Angelina’s legal guardian. And in the meantime, he’s already learned so much about law already, and he needs a job near the foster care and school district, so that leads him to the local police force.

He succeeds in obtaining guardianship, and so, he raised his little sister. His only family. He never really got to live outside of this shitty town and explore any personal desires. He was only ever doing what was best for Angie, and now that she’s gone, he doesn't even know what it's like to want something for himself. (Might as well start killin')

Strahm:

I imagine he’s so uptight because that’s all he was ever really raised to be.

I imagine he was an only child with two very strict parents who he could never seem to please. They pushed him ever since he was young. All he knows is working his hardest.

I also don't think he's just an angry, screaming asshole. If I can be real, I think during the interrogation, he was interrogating. Ever since first watching Saw IV, I always interpreted the start of that scene as Perez opening as "Good Cop," Jill shaking her head going "that's not gonna work on me," and Strahm stepping up to say "okay. 'Bad Cop' time, then."

And then he puts on his over-the-top, tough-guy, "I'm going to break you" FBI interrogation act.

Later when he's screaming and throwing things, it's because the situation has become 2000% more dire as people are dying out from under them as they speak, INCLUDING Perez, who he clearly cares deeply for. Things have become personal.

And, he's also irrational and just kind of charges into dangerous situations. (He was also very much led exactly where John wanted him, it was all orchestrated as part of his test from the beginning. Not just the cube and coffin.)

I believe he can be aggressive and have a short fuse, exactly as Perez says, but also as she says.. hes not some kind of coked up lunatic.

I think outside of his extremely stressful, high-stakes line of work hes probably... normal.

I imagine he's the type to bring work home and constantly mull it over. I imagine he had a wife that he slowly drove mad because he never paid attention to her, and his heart, admittedly, wasn't fully in it either. They split amicably, but he kept the ring because he's married to the job- no need to let anyone believe he's available and make the same mistake twice.

And he probably fidgets with it too. Yes, I'm in the "autistic Strahm" club.

So,

WHAT do you get when you cross an uptight FBI agent that never sat down long enough to relax for once in his life, and a depressed detective that doesn't know what to live for?

well. saw IV and V

but in my head... in alternate realities where small things were changed here and there...

Obviously this comes up in like, every single one of my fics.. but the way I imagine them working starts with them taking down a LOT of walls.

Strahm has his scowly outer shell that houses his soft heart that cares for people underneath

and Hoffman has a friendly, arguably flirty outer persona that hides how broken and lost hes become on the inside

in almost every universe I have them fall in love in, it starts with Strahm reluctantly showing some vulnerability in some situation or another, and ends with Hoffman looking at him and going "shit... I like him, and I want him, and I've never really wanted before..."

and either that goes in like a fun toxic yaoi route

or Hoffman's heart grows 3 sizes and he realizes in horror that he never had to do everything he's done. He never had to kill Seth. He never had to join a cult. He could have learned to be happy again, to be normal and fall in love with an endearingly grumpy FBI agent and live out the rest of his life with new desires, new goals, new ambitions...

but he went down the dark path. and he can't undo what he's done.

and in whatever universe i concoct, they work together to basically give each other something theyve always been missing. Strahm never knew what it was like to truly settle down with someone, Hoffman never tried to love before at all, and theyve both got so much baggage and personal issues and traumas...

but hey, maybe they can help one another. they cant get any more fucked up after everything theyve been through. They want this to work too, so they put in the effort. Its high time either of them experienced true happiness, and somehow, they found it in each other.

[foibles-fables]

Hey Foibs! Saw your reblog on Asley Willians >.> I wanted to ask more about it. But I am a bit afraid that I just started playing Mass Effect and don't want any spoilers. But isn't she..... a bit too much huh... racist? Does it get better over time? I mean, she is such a badass :~ but the racist part is totally a turn-down for me.

I'm going to start with a general statement and then work my way to your specific questions: Ashley Williams's character arc over the trilogy is an absolutely fantastic one--IMO, it's the most powerful. It's subtle on the surface, but if you know what you're looking for, it hits hard. For that reason she's my Femshep's unbroken canon LI, even if it's only in my head.

As for your specific questions re: racism/spacism--I do encourage some re-examining there. Since I'm not sure how far you are in the game and don't want to spoil anything, I'm going to keep my comments on this specific post on the vaguer side. However, I'll definitely refer you to @cannot-rest's awesome Spacism Debunker masterpost for when you get a little farther in the game/trilogy, as well as this video analysis of her character.

Is Ashley's attitude at the beginning of ME1 a positive one, or presented in a good light? No. From the jump it's the antithesis of what the series eventually has to say about unity. But then, isn't the council's hemming and hawing attitude towards humanity also that same antithesis? So are comments made by Wrex, Garrus, Mordin--and especially when the latter two ARE members of actual dominant sociopolitical powers in the galaxy. Of which humans are not, and have been labeled as "aggressive" as a side effect of the First Contact War debacle.

And besides--doesn't a character need a flaw from which to grow?

To that I'll add: Ashley's flaw isn't "she's racist." That's Pressley. It's a lack of self-esteem brought on by her family baggage--which, when taken into consideration, puts her mistrusting attitudes into perspective. It doesn't make them right, but it makes them make sense. Especially considering that her main comments re: not trusting the others on the Normandy are very much security/military concerns. Which, again, tie into her family history and how it's impacted her until present day.

(it's already known that the "aliens from the animals" line is bugged dialogue. And that the "throwing your dog at a bear" metaphor has been misinterpreted by fans. See the link above for delineations of that.)

I also encourage comparing her attitudes to the ACTUAL anti-alien/human supremacy folks: Pressley, the Terra Firma party (to whom she reacts with disgust), and another organization that will become important in ME2 (to whom she reacts with even more disgust).

All in all, Ashley is a phenomenal and flawed character with a fantastic throughline on her arc, and is also widely (if not understandably) misinterpreted, and it makes me really sad that so many folks write her off from the opening moments of the first game.

[baskeigh-ball]

Random question- are you open to people dubbing your comics? I just read your latest update for Raph’s burnout, and I thought it would be fun to do!

!!! OMG

I love comic dubs, it's such an honor to see people actually want to voice over my own stuff so YES PLEASE

[jovialoddity]

I feel so cringe but I have like the biggest fattest crushes on your versions of Mr puzzles hes so pathetic and wet in your aus I love him so much like especially the human version which I know you haven't posted in a hot minute but I love his design so much I NEED THAT OLD MAN I NEED TO KISS HIS CHEEKS AND TELL HES CUTE

AAAAA WHAT THANK YOU SO MUCH ANON!! honestly you don’t need to worry about sounding cringe lol, I find it super flattering when people find a character I drew attractive! I’m especially happy to hear that about human Mr Puzzles because that design is one of my favorites to draw currently and knowing other people like it too is just really nice :’) 💖

And don’t you worry, I PROMISE I’m working on some actual Human Puzzles art on the side… don’t wanna let the 5 people following for human Puzzles content starve for much longer. Here’s a sneak peek just for you