#and have a very fucked up idea of what constitutes strength

[e-the-village-cryptid]

i want bix to deal with her trauma in messy fucked up ways in season 2. put actual healing second to avenging her old self. burn like a sun that destroys the empire around her while simultaneously consuming herself. suppress fear and sadness while trying to convert them into more, more, more rage. get beyond angry if anyone tries to stop her from her single-minded goal of killing every imperial on ferrix, even out of concern or to try to get her to take a break. meet up with cinta. burn hot in contrast to cinta's burning cold. detach from everything but reclaiming ferrix. realize at some point that the drive for revenge can’t sustain her and she's hollow and she's imploding but she can’t stop and she won’t stop she'd rather burn herself to ashes if it means taking just one more imperial with her

[thydungeongal]

D&D 5e being poorly designed issue #499:

Flesh to Stone requires three failed constitution saves to actually petrify anything, and even then requires ten rounds of concentration to make it last longer than a minute. Constitution is the most common save to have a bonus in in this system, and since it is a sixth level spell, this bonus tends to be quite high. As a result, this spell pretty much never actually does what it is billed as doing.

If the target does make their saves, this effectively translates into 3-5 rounds of a single target being restrained, at the cost of a sixth level spell slot and concentration.

The web spell, meanwhile, creates an area of effect in which any creatures that fail their dexterity saves are restrained. Dexterity saves are pretty common, but they have to keep making them as long as they're in the webs, and it's a strength check (rather than a save, so usually a lower bonus!) to escape. The spell requires concentration, but the maximum duration is an hour.

That's right. Web is objectively and unambiguously better than Flesh to Stone, despite being four spell levels lower. This is because the people making 5e wanted to get rid of save-or-suck effects, but didn't want to get rid of the spell names, and so nerfed them all to the point of uselessness. There is no use case for Flesh to Stone that would not be better served by Web or some other, notably lower than sixth level spell. You could cast Web with that sixth level slot, and it'd be a waste of resources, but it would still be less of a waste than Flesh to Stone, because it lasts longer, is slightly harder to resist, and can affect more than just one creature.

This is your game design on nostalgia and self-reference.

Yeah there's a lot of weird and conflicting ideas going on with spells in D&D 5e because they really lacked a coherent set of design goals: the designers seemed to have lacked a clear consensus on whether they wanted the game to be a balanced (albeit tipped in the player characters' favor) tactical combat game like 4e or an old-school experience with lots of nasty save or die effects. Part of the issue is that at an early point in the design process they decided not to take 4e's lead on monsters effectively having their own unique spells and spell-like abilities, and instead decided that the same spell lists should be available to both monsters and player characters.

And as anyone who's played 3e will tell you, when spells are as readily available and effortless to use as in Hasbro D&D and both sides have save or death spells available, it leads to rocket tag. And rocket tag is really not conducive to a fun tactical combat game that is supposed to be slightly tipped in the player characters' favor.

(Rocket tag is also the name of the game at higher levels in TSR editions of D&D and I feel it does harmonize better with the sheer amount of "fuck you" design in those editions. I think the assumptions written into the rules that combat isn't supposed to be fair or fun affects that very much.)

Anyway, so it's not just pure nostalgia, it's a combination of nostalgia while at the same time trying to copy D&D 4e's homework but not understanding the assignment. The biggest issue with D&D 5e in the context of all the various editions of D&D is that it had the benefit of more than thirty years of design and still ended up without a clear set of design goals besides "let's make the game that's the most D&D!" Like, ultimately as a dungeon game it's fine, but given the context of what's come before it should've been great.

[pub-lius]

What do u think about jefferson and Madison relationship?? What were they, and how did the relationship influence both of them?

IM GETTING SO MANY JEFFERSON QUESTIONS KEEP EM COMING i think about him so often, i want to body slam him into a glass window of a 20 story building and watch him fall

I love that you said "what were they" im crying okay anyway

Jefferson and Madison first met when Madison served on the governor's council and Jefferson was. the governor. Madison was facing some political setbacks, so a position on the council was a really good opportunity. Their relationship would remain largely professional for a long period of time.

Jefferson was basically Madison's opposite, physically and personality-wise. Jefferson was always more impulsive and passionate, and he tended to be very informal when he shouldn't have been. Madison, however was more cautious and deliberate. Even in their dress, you could see the difference, as Madison was usually seen wearing simple, professional clothes that were finely tailored and very appropriate for the situation, and Jefferson answered the door in slippers (he's so quirky).

"Jefferson inspired Madison, and Madison moderated Jefferson. Eventually, the two complemented each other's strengths and compensated for each other's limitations." -Noah Feldman in The Three Lives of James Madison

Over time, mostly over the course of their correspondence while Jefferson was in France, they got a lot closer, and confided in each other about mostly everything. The first time I can think of that they discussed personal matters was when Madison was rejected by Kitty Floyd, who he attempted to court, and she moved states to get away from him. Jefferson had encouraged him to court her, but Jefferson was a lot more successful with women than Madison, and it ended horribly. Madison sent him a dejected letter and Jefferson responded being like "...there. there. so sad. poor baby. very sad. okay."

After that, sharing personal things became easier than. whatever the fuck that was Jefferson, oh my god, learn how to have empathy, that's embarrassing. As they got closer, you can see the immersion of one another's ideas into the other person's beliefs. Ron Chernow would tell you that Madison's betrayal of Hamilton wasn't influenced by Jefferson because he wasn't in the country but it ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FUCKING WAS. They were talking when Jefferson was out of the country??? So he didn't need to be in the country to tell Madison that Hamilton's system was corrupt???? and he cites the fact that Hamilton hosted Jefferson at his house when he first arrived, but we KNOW that Jefferson was a fake ass bitch, so that doesn't make sense either.

Anyway, my point is, that Madison went from a leading Federalist to a radical Democratic-Republican as he talked to Jefferson more, and the final break between Madison and Hamilton occurred after Jefferson had been Secretary of State for a few months, so shut the fuck up Ron, you're wrong. Jefferson was an ardent supporter of states' rights, and during the Constitutional Convention, James Madison attempted to smash every effort to prioritize states' rights in the new government. Ofc he wasn't always successful, which is why we have the Senate, but thats neither here nor there. Its clear over the course of their correspondence that their political perspectives merged, and by the time Jefferson was president, they were functioning with one mind. It was during Madison's presidency that you see him start to diverge from Jefferson's influence.

Okay, to address my favorite question, "what were they". To answer simply, they were best friends and colleagues, and worked together to fight their political enemies and to elevate each other to prominence. This wasn't exactly the healthiest relationship, as Madison was often more frustrated with Jefferson, and Jefferson definitely wanted to be around Madison more than Madison wanted to be around Jefferson, but they cared about each other. They were definitely closer than Jefferson and Adams were, as they never had any opposition to one another.

I've seen a few people speculating if they were gay. They weren't. Jefferson had a very distinctive and very direct way of approaching someone he saw as a romantic prospect (usually through sexual harassment) and we see none of this in their correspondence. During their lifetimes, the ongoing rumor was that Jefferson cucked Madison and shared a wife (Dolley) with him. This also wasn't true, the three of them were just close friends, but this is more likely than Jefferson and Madison being gay for each other.

Overall, their relationship really drove American politics at this time, specifically when it came to them teaming up against Hamilton in the early 1790s. Jefferson 100% took advantage of Madison in several cases, and crossed a lot of boundaries. Off the top of my head, I think about how Jefferson basically forced Madison to publish pamphlets refuting Hamilton's, and how he was constantly asking Madison to move in with him when this clearly made him uncomfortable. However, Madison did stand up for himself when he needed to, and he did keep Jefferson at a distance when he pushed his boundaries too much, and I think it was because of this that their relationship lasted so long.

Thank you so much for the ask, this was fun. Hope this helps!!

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - fifty-eight | the great outdoors

“Isn’t this better than staying inside?” Mingi asked, taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

He had stopped at a scenic overlook and Dei walked up behind him and hugged him. You huffed and puffed as you tried to keep up. 

“You-- you know,” you heaved. “You know what? Maybe I have asthma. This happens to people who have asthma, right?”

They both turned to find you, hands on your knees and trying to breathe.

“How are you so breathless?” Dei asked.

“Do I play a woodwind? No, I play bass guitar.”

“Good point. You can sit on that rock over there to rest.” 

She pointed at something that was either a very large boulder, or part of the mountain itself, and you didn’t care which it was because all you wanted to do was sit down. 

“Agh!” You sounded like an old man as you sat. “I should have realized that coming out here with two people who were used to dancing and jumping all day would have been a horrible idea.”

Mingi chuckled. “It’ll be good for you though, in the end.”

“In the end? My end is coming right now.”

Dei laughed.

“The white light! I see it! Mother? Father? Little sister Anne? Is that you?”

Dei laughed again.

“I mean it’ll be good overall to get more exercise. You’ll get outside--”

“Like a prisoner taking their constitutional.”

Mingi shook his head with a laugh. “--you’ll have more energy, that kind of thing.”

You nodded, slowly recovering your ability to breathe without struggling.

Dei walked over and handed you her water bottle.

“Thanks.”

“Do you want to rest for a bit more?”

“Yes please.”

Mingi started taking pictures of the scenery with his phone. 

You gestured towards him. “Fucking Ansel Adams over here.”

He laughed. “... I don’t know who that is.”

You laughed, harder than he did. He chuckled, self-satisfied.

“Mangi, is that you?” 

The three of you turned to where the voice came from to find someone taking off a face mask and hat.

“Jongho?” You asked.

“Noona, you’re here too.” He smiled

Mingi looked at Dei and pointed to Jongho, “I told you, he doesn’t know how to address his elders.”

Dei laughed. “You say that like you don’t like the nickname.” She turned to Jongho. “Are you out here by yourself?”

“Yeah, I came out to get some exercise.”

“Yeah,” you agreed angrily, “gotta get those lungs stressed.”

He laughed and looked at you pitiably. “Are you okay, noona?”

You nodded and then shook your head in the negative. “My lungs are stressed.”

“We were trying to get her out of her apartment and it turns out she has no endurance whatsoever.” Mingi said.

You stuck your tongue out at him.

“I can carry you down on my back, if you want.” Jongho offered.

Mingi cut you off before you could answer. “Don’t baby her. She needs to build up strength.”

You pouted. “But why?”

“For--” he squinted at you for a moment “--for general life!”

Dei and Jongho laughed. You sighed and pretended to die - suddenly and dramatically - laying out across the rock.

“Do you think this is the same kind of suffering Prometheus felt?”

“Oh my god,” Dei laughed.

“I didn’t know you could be this dramatic, noona.”

You sighed. “Aren’t we all artists, Jongho? Aren’t we just naturally dramatic?”

You heard him chuckle. 

“Some of us seem to be more dramatic than others,” Mingi said.

You looked up in his direction and saw him, arms folded across his chest and one eyebrow raised. 

“Don’t say that like you’re not dramatic, Min.” Dei said and laughed. 

He looked at her and chuckled, dropping the act.

“Do you think you’ve rested enough?” She asked you.

“Look at me, a pitiable object… please pity me.”

She chuckled.

You sighed heavily. Your windedness had faded a few minutes ago but you weren’t sure if you wanted to start walking just yet. “Ugh… maybe?”

She looked at you sternly. “The sooner we get back to the bottom, the sooner we can leave.”

“Ugh. You’re right. Please just tell me that we’re not climbing up anymore.” “We’re almost there.”

“Ugh!” You flopped back against the rock. “...Ow.”

They all laughed quietly at you.

You sat up and rubbed your spine. “Fine. Let’s go.”

On the way back down - the beautiful, amazing, glorious descent in which you were struggling at least a bit percent less, you and Jongho walked together, following a couple yards behind Mingi and Dei. Jongho had replaced his hat and mask and was trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

“So,” you said, “you always hike by yourself?”

He nodded. “Helps with endurance. Like Mingi said earlier.”

You nodded. “You probably need that, with the way you sing.”

“The way I sing?”

“At full fucking power.”

He laughed. “It definitely helps.”

“Well, someone who sings only ballads doesn't really need it for dance moves.”

“That’s true, that’s true.” He chuckled.

The two of you walked quietly for a few moments. Maybe it was nice to be outside in the fresh air, trees surrounding you with all their… green. Could air smell green? You were pretty sure the air smelled green, but maybe some of the trees were just fragrant and you didn’t know the word for it. Like if pine had its own smell, what you were currently smelling might be the equivalent of… you looked around and realized you knew nothing about trees or how to tell one species from another. Whatever. Nevermind.

“So how long have you been making mashups for?” Jongho asked.

“Um… I started… maybe the year after I moved to Seoul? So sometime when I was nineteen? So like four…ish years?”

“Oh, really?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s a long time.”

You nodded. 

He chuckled. “If I scroll back far enough in your channel, will I find the first video?”

“HA! No, it was deleted a long time ago.”

He laughed at your reaction. “Was it that bad?”

“Yes.” You said pointedly. “I had also changed programs a few times and gotten a better grasp on how to organize making a mashup, and the older videos had to go.”

He chuckled.

“Can’t have garbage showing up in people’s recommended when someone clicks on one and Youtube throws my whole backlog at them.”

He laughed. “Can’t have that.”

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Send an ask or leave a comment if you want to be added to the tag list! 🎵

@luvvvx • @iamthehotdemon • @hrts4hanniehae • @rachs-words • @stayatinykatsy •

[beansterpie]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @marley-manson! <3

I would tag people but it's late and my brain is tired so literally, PLEASE just adopt this tag meme if you see it and read the whole thing. You have my full permission to say I tagged you, even if we've never spoken lol. Go for it, be audacious.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

43,487!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Well the posted fic is a Berserk fic, but I have various other wips that I pick away at when I'm bored. Among them include Eyeshield 21, MDZS, RotE, Harry Potter (technically?). Those are the most recent ones anyway.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Chain of Dissent, she's my favorite fic <3 (she's my only fic)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yeah I try to! Though I'll admit uhhhh I haven't updated it in... fucking? two years? god, and so I've been bad about responding to the more recent comments because I feel guilty for not updating in so long :') Really gotta get back to it.

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

None, because I haven't finished a fic yet lol

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

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far! I've gotten a couple of comments that come across as unintentionally mildly rude, but definitely nothing that constitutes as hate.

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

Well not so far in CoD, but, ahem, I have written smut in one of my wips lol. Deeply self indulgent but I guess character driven? It's mildly nasty and desperate <3

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

I haven't actually written a crossover (yet. well, recently) but they are a bit of a passion of mine lmao. I love ridiculous crossovers, and I'm talking about "a magical portal opens up and throws characters from fandom A into the world (& characters) of fandom B" type shit. I don't need the ways in which the characters interact to make sense, I just want them to be thrown together and see where it goes from there. Fish out of water shenanigans! Characters questioning their own motivations and idea of life by seeing a world entirely different from theirs!! Just like, fun shit! I also absolutely don't need for the two fandoms to be similar lol. I have a somewhat detailed Berserk/Eyeshield 21 crossover living rent free in my head so clearly anything goes.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Lol no.

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

Nope!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I'll probably have to say GriffGuts, because it's a ship that's gripped me by the neck for the past 7 years or something, where my interest in it hasn't really waned.

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

Uhhhh, idk? I mean I am DETERMINED to finish CoD, so that's out. And the wips I write in my spare time are just like, things I do for fun where I don't put any pressure on myself over it. I'm not planning on posting them anywhere, and I'm not generally planning on 'finishing' them either. I mean if I do finish one, I might post it, but again, they're low key things that I'm not taking too seriously.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hm. I honestly don't consider myself a very strong writer, at least in terms of things like prose and sentence structure, grammar, that sort of thing. I think I'm pretty decent at figuring out the direction that I want the story to go, and all the individual steps that need to happen to get to that point in a way that feels organic (at least, imo.) And I like to think I'm pretty good at characterization-- having the characters behaving and reacting in ways that feel like could concievably happen in canon is generally what I'm going for.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Yeah prose, lol. I mean, I don't actually dislike my more.... utilitarian writing style, mainly because I generally prefer reading more direct writing (unless the lyrical writing is really really good), but I do think I could inject some more illustrative details and metaphors into my writing overall. @marley-manson is SO good at coming up with perfect metaphors to describe a situation or feeling, all while perfectly recreating the character's voice, and I really admire that about her writing!

I also want to get better with having characters like, doing things while they're talking. I find a lot of the conversations I write happen between characters just kind of standing around, which obviously is fine but I'd like to construct scenes with a bit more specificity in the future.

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

Wait so like, say in a fic that is otherwise written in English, having a line of dialogue written in Spanish when a character is speaking it? I... don't have strong feelings about it one way or the other I guess lol. I mean ideally the line(s) written in the other language are correct lol, and not just badly google translated or something.

Though you know, now that I think about it, I feel like it would work best between languages that use the same alphabet (which does end up narrowing the possible languages down quite a lot) because that way the reader can still sound out the dialogue even if the don't understand the language, which could emulate what the pov character is experiencing. Whereas if it was a fic written in English, and then had a line written in, say, Japanese, the reader wouldn't even be able to sound it out so it's kind of a brick wall. (Unless there's footnotes, but that tends to be a little more clunky in fic than in a published book with pages).

If the readers are supposed to understand the dialogue written in another language, like two characters suddenly start speaking in said other language and we're meant to keep up with the conversation, then I feel like it's just easier to translate their words in whatever language the fic is written in otherwise.

But yeah idk, I think with intent and good execution, anything can work, but it could also be done in a way that's more annoying than anything.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I think. It was neopets LMFAO. I remember writing a fic when I was like 10 about Hannah (the adventurer) and Jacques (from the maraqua plot comic) as a romantic couple because I was annoyed at the time that there were multiple fics about Hannah and Garin (or whatever his name was, also from the maraqua plot) getting together even though I thought Garin was BORING and they were just shipped together because they were both usuls (which are overrated imho), even though Jacque was obviously better.

... I may have had a crush on Jacques.

But the first fic that I think I posted anywhere was for Xiaolin Showdown lmfao, probably also when I was 10 or 11 or something. I wrote like four separate fics for that show.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Yeah it's CoD lol. It's the longest thing I've written so far, and I'm overall still very proud of it. I'd probably go back and change some things in the first chapter because it reads a little clunky and like, abrupt to me now, but I'm not doing that until I finish the fic. Allowing myself to go back and edit stuff before I've even finished the story seems like a road to ruin lol.

[bthump]

What do you think about Charlotte? And her ship with Griffith? Is it considered canon? Do you think he would ever open up to her? I was so sure they will have a child at some point at first.

I'm mostly indifferent to her, personally. I think she's a major example of Miura's tendency to write women whose personalities and motivations revolve around the man they have a crush on, and it's a little unfortunate. All we know about her outside of Griffith is that she's shy and sheltered. She occasionally finds some inner strength, but only in the context of her feelings for or relationship with Griffith. She's willing to live in an army camp for him, she pines for several years for him, she fights off her rapey father while screaming for him, she tells Midland's nobles that Griffith is her fiancee now with his encouragement, she throws a tantrum to make the Hawks let her help rescue him, etc etc.

I think she has potential to be interesting in like, fanfiction, if someone wanted to really delve into the realities of being a sheltered princess thrust into responsibility, or like, explore how her spoiled upbringing or inner strength might manifest outside of her feelings for Griffith, but as is, she exists in the story so Griffith can achieve his dream. There's not much else to her.

I think her relationship with Griffith is canon in the sense that they are fiancees who are clearly fucking, but it's also canon that the feelings are only one-sided. Griffith is canonically using her to achieve his dream, and Charlotte is essentially falling for his con. I find it fairly tragic on Charlotte's side. And I personally have very little interest in their relationship.

I don't think Griffith was ever likely to open up to her even as a human - the closest he came was pontificating about his dream and getting carried away, or fucking her after Guts left, and I don't think he was emotionally open in either of those cases. I think he feels somewhat comfortable with her, because she's sweet and naive and trusts him, and I think he likes her as a person just fine, but I don't think their relationship was ever going to be genuine on his part.

And now as a demigod I think Griffith opening up to her is completely out the window lol, he's not sharing his feelings with anyone except maybe Guts at the climax. I do kind of like the idea that he told Charlotte an editorialized version of what happened re the Eclipse, Femto, reincarnating, being god's chosen special little guy, etc, but that's just a headcanon, and even if that was the case that doesn't constitute opening up, that's more just 'here's a truncated version of why I have a tongue again.'

Thanks for the ask and sorry if this is a disappointing answer, but yeah, I don't think there's anything to the relationship from Griffith's perspective in canon, and I don't personally find it engaging myself so there's not much positive I can really say about it.

[self-loving-vampire]

What do you do for exercise? Besides the unpublishable things, of course.

I'm pretty much stuck at home so I use a stationary bike and dumbbells mostly, plus some exercises that can be done without equipment (planks, squats, etc.)

I actually do a good amount of exercise for how bad my constitution score is, 6-7 days a week.

This unfortunately has the consequence of triggering Post-Exertional Malaise but it doesn't happen until hours later so it's worryingly easy to push too hard without realizing I'm doing that.

Especially since I have an inner exercise demon that is always going "GO BEYOND! SEEK STRENGTH! FUCK THE NATURAL ORDER!" at me and it is very persuasive.

Also I'm the kind of autistic narcissist who is extremely good at just sitting there and make numbers go up, so the idea of having a Big Number exercise-wise is super appealing. That can also make me overdo it a bit, on top of just the normal ego benefits of exercise. Strongly recommend it to other narcissists in particular but also just about everyone who can do it in general.

(This is also why there's certain types of games where I actually really enjoy mindlessly grinding in them, by the way. Love to make numbers bigger.)

[fiddlepot]

Mmmmmmm I'm in a very venus mood.

Planet of love

She grew up on a mineral rich island at a time where demons had to scatter so as to not go extinct, because hunts at the hands of angels and humans were prominent

Always had and still does have a pessimistic disposition about her. She's observant and aloof.

Okay fuck it, let me write my paragraphs. Bullet points are boring as shit.

I don't want to spoil too much because I like to keep my oc information confidential for writing, so I'll just do the same thing I did with solon—an overview that is in depth but not so much that you know everything about this character.

Venus is honestly one of my favorites for how confused (and confusing) she is. Also, since my lore is flexible, she works for most AUs so long as I find plausible and historically accurate reasons for crossovers etc without changing the content itself. Because to be honest, if you have to change a character in their entirety for another universe, it probably doesn't work out for them in the end at all.

She is a succubus. I really love land of the lustrous, so part of my lore branches off of the idea of pseudohumans as displayed in the manga and anime. Succubi are particularly known for having rarer compositions, and Venus is particularly made of poudretteite. There's no meaning behind it, but I do find it pretty.

The banner above was done by me. But the filters don't align with the coldness of the pink as displayed here—it's intended to be warmer, because I consider her pretty serene in her own right.

Succubi have rarer constitutions to lure in prey—they feed off of the minerals of living things, while normal demons feed off of minerals produced on mineral rich islands, caves, and even crystal forests.

I decided to make her pink because it's often associated with eroticism and femininity, both of which are elements of her character and how she carries herself. Moreover, I think the coldness of her colors when depicted in images play a role in juxtaposing her personality. Sometimes serene and simple at a glance, and other times melancholic and, well. Frigid. Rough around the edges. In this case, I wanted to go for the former because of the piece I was writing. (I since dropped it, but now that I think about it the pairing has enough chemistry to work. If not for the fact I don't have many ideas, I probably would've started working on it.)

The name Venus is also inspired by the Roman god Venus. Or I guess she's better known in Greek as Aphrodite. Pre-amnesia, she was given a human alias because languages spoken by divines are impossible for humans to understand. Too complex and often metaphorical. Not to mention other elements like symbols, and the fact demon dialect particularly can't be traced because they live in secrecy away from humans. There's little evidence to support their existence because they make it that way.

That's not to say there aren't demons that interact with humans though. Venus is one of them—as a prostitute and succubus, she has to in order to maintain her vitality and strength. Although many like her are humanized. Unable to tell anything about their culture, or even the clan they originate from. That's what makes them an easy target for hunters, a large faction of angels (that may as well be a race at this point because there are so many branches—and they've even adapted to optimize success biologically. That's kinda wild.) That use their gem parts for a variety of things. Medicine, personal strength by absorption, potions, among other things.

I intend to write a whole story on my lore—that's why my ao3 exists. In spite of all the crazy things I see in my fandoms, I intend to make a magnum opus on a site that is usually badly regarded outside of platforms like this for its content.

[aiyexayen]

Fic Writing Habits

thank you to the wipbigbang reblog of pennywaltzy's questions for this fun game:

Keyboard or notebook? keyboard, basically always. putting things down on paper and being unable to easily shift the words around is maddening.

Beta or no beta? no beta. rarely beta, i should say. beta under very specific circumstances if i'm trying something very new or if i feel the need to double-check the vibes with a friend before i post a fic. otherwise i edit proofread my own stuff, often in a chaotic mishmash of editing as i write.

Plotting methods? usually i word-vomit my ideas in a discord channel or an empty document until i have a rough idea of where i'm taking the story or something that constitutes an outline. but occasionally i forego this and don't plot at all, and even more occasionally i outline scene by scene but those are very special circumstances indeed.

Smushy or smutty? ¿Por qué no los dos?

Summaries/titles? all over the place. sometimes i write a legit summary, sometimes i try to go for a hook, sometimes i just use a pull quote or the line it starts with. titles are almost always song lyrics of some kind, mostly songs i feel match the vibe of the story or even guided my writing of it in some cases, but also frequently lyrics that are just fun to say. sometimes it's just random words, though, or a really fun title will occur to me while i'm writing, etc.

Funniest fic? funniest to me is probably Wish You Were Here (ye baiyi sulking about not being texted back) which i cracked myself up by writing and still cackle when i reread, but my more popular crack fic is definitely Glitter & Gold (jing beiyuan taking wen kexing clubbing) which i do also enjoy.

Most popular fic? Break, if you go by kudos, which is one of the first fics i wrote for the untamed (very jiang cheng centric, yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation feels). if you go by the raw enthusiasm, it's Qiuth by far (my pern-untamed crossover).

Most fun to write? i have 121 works so this is almost impossible to answer. but recently i had just SO much fun with this little gu xiang ficlet i wrote for lny mini ficlet fest, and i still highkey want to make it a longer fic someday when some other projects are off my plate.

Most underrated? oh, i don't know. i don't feel like i pay much attention to what doesn't get noticed. how about this one: A Sweet Tide. a little du pusa/liu qianqiao thing i wrote last summer that i actually find quite compelling and enjoy rereading myself.

Strengths? figuring out plot and ironing out issues with it. also, proofreading.

Weaknesses? actually fucking finishing my fics. i start so many, and i plot out/idea vomit even more.

Dirty little secrets? i'm having trouble actually thinking of anything and honestly the song just keeps blasting on repeat in my head now which isn't helping

tagging @sundaeserenade @theleakypen @iamwestiec @withbroombefore @bladedweaponsandswishycoats

[opinions-about-tiaras]

Seriously asking? Because I have a serious answer.

I loved Section 31. One of the best and most enduring parts of DS9.

DS9's big strength was "okay, the Federation is a utopian society, but that doesn't mean without flaw or problems. We know how to present EXTERNAL threats to the Federation, but INTERNAL threats are tricky. We do want to show internal threats, though, it can't just always be the enemy without. How do we square that circle?"

And the way they square it is simple: internal threats to the Federation have to come either from when its ideals place it into an impossible situation (the Maquis are an example of this) or from threats to its utopian ideals and structure.

One of the forms this took was Admiral Leyton's attempted military coup. That's a classic Badmiral storyline, I would argue probably the ur-example of a Badmiral storyline. (There's an argument for Pegasus, sure.) You have a dude who is within the Federation's official power structure and utopian society, but is attempting to betray, subvert, and undermine it.

And that worked great! Wonderful idea. Homefront and Paradise Lost are an excellent two-parter.

Section 31 is an outgrowth of that. It's taking the idea in a different form; instead of having the internal threat be an individual, you make it a shadowy gang of terrorists. The twist is that they're not just "we hate good Federation, we want Federation to be evil instead" guys, which would be very, very boring, but rather, "we are suffering nobly, doing the dark deeds so that the rest of you can be clean and pure" deluded, evil nitwits.

That's a banger of an idea! It's a seed you can build a ton of good stories out of. "These terrorists are about to fuck shit up in the name of their perversion of Federation ideals, time for a cool-ass spy and intrigue story where our protagonists stop them!" I will die on the hill of "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" is a superb story about the struggle of Julian Bashir to uphold the Federations highest ideals in the face of a one-two punch of a Badmiral (yes, Admiral Ross is a Badmiral) and Section 31.

You can tell all sorts of cool stories around an idea like this. They should be a recurring villain, a good one. "The shadow enemy within" is a classic idea for a reason.

Much of the objection to their presence seems, to me, to come from a standpoint of "well, the Federation having a dirty tricks department they use to do deniable genocide and war crimes sullies the utopian ideals of the setting, and I want the Federation to be a utopia."

I, too, hate it when writers decide "the Federation needs to suck." I have a whole rant about how Picard decided "you know what, what if the Federation built a slave race, then went xenophobic, then got Space Fox News." This would be a great objection... if Section 31 were part of the Federation.

It isn't, tho.

In the specific context of DS9, which is what this question was about (we'll come to back to Discovery later) you both can't and shouldn't view Section 31 as being Starfleet's deniable dirty tricks department. They're not part of Starfleet. They're not part of the Federation. They're criminals. Terrorists.

Don't think "Section 31 is the CIA." Think "Section 31 are the Oath Keepers. They're Constitutional Sheriffs. They're Sovereign Citizens."

Again: they are absolutely not part of the official Federation power structure. They're a terrorist organization that lies about being part of the official Federation power structure.

Their first appearance establishes that definitively! Let's go to the tape. From Inqusition, DS9 6x18, the first appearance of Section 31:

Julian: Starfleet sanctions what you're doing? Sloan: We don't submit reports, or ask approval for specific operations, if that's what you mean; we are an autonomous department. Julian: Authorized by whom? Sloan: Section 31 was part of the original Starfleet charter. Julian: But that was... two hundred years ago. Are you telling me you've been working on your own ever since? Without specific orders? Accountable to nobody but yourselves? Sloan: You make it sound so ominous.

This is DS9 smashing us over the head with the fact that Section 31 isn't a part of the Federation; Sloan is essentially admitting they're criminals doing crimes with no orders or accountability. Even he doesn't even seem to believe the lie, not really, or he'd tell a better one.

So that's Section 31 in DS9.

Now, as for the latter series...

Enterprise double downs on the original premise; it establishes that when Sloan said "we're part of the original Starfleet charter" what he MEANT was "the original-original Starfleet charter, the UEG one, not even the Federation Starfleet charter." It establishes Sloan as even MORE of a lying, criminal piece of shit.

Annnnndddd... then we get to DIS.

DIS's first two seasons are vile for a lot of reasons and every writer involved should be ashamed of themselves. I will not defend Section 31s portrayal there as an official arm of the Federation and of Starfleet. Indeed, the entire Federation itself seems to have been absolutely rotten to the core during this time period. The exemplar of that is when they meet Empress Georgiou, who they know is cannibalistic Space Hitler, and their reaction to meeting her is "this woman has some great ideas and we should all absolutely listen to her." And of course the fact that a Mirror Universe Captain was able to replace a Regular Universe Captain, didn't really alter his behavior, and nobody noticed or even really thought "this guy is not behaving as a Starfleet Captain should."

So yeah. Section 31 sucks in DIS and should be roundly pilloried.

You could argue, I suppose, "but its presence in DIS means it should never, ever be used again." And I guess I object to that? The whole of Starfleet Command and the Council are rotten in DIS, but that doesn't we don't use Starfleet Command or the Federation Council ever again.

Section 31 can and should be used. But in the role it was in DS9. Using them the way they were in DIS is... not good.

The upcoming Section 31 movie sounds like it is going to be absolutely fucking dire. It's like... okay, we all love Garak, right? I know I do. We would probably watch a movie about Garak, right? But would we want to watch a movie about Garak that is nothing but "this is Garak in the Obsidian Order, torturing and murdering and oppressing people as he loyally upholds the fascism of the Cardassian Union?" Not even "his eventual downfall and exile" which might be interesting, but just "Garak being a piece of shit for two hours?"

I don't think I want that.

Similarly, even if, for some reason, you love Empress Georgiou (say what you will about the character, Michelle Yeoh is... very magnetic) I don't think "two hours of her running the evil part of Starfleet during its most evil era, when everyone was really fucking evil" is something that really needs to get made. I love a good villain protagonist, but... no. Just no.

section 31 is crazy bc every trek showrunner since ds9 has been like "you know what part of ds9 we should bring back? the stupidest and most pointless and obnoxious to watch and boring and contrived and stupid and I don't give a fuck parts." and they did for enterprise and discovery and lowerdeck and now they're making? a section 31 thing like a separate thing just about it? okay. real talk who actually liked the section 31 storylines in ds9 I'm seriously asking.

[nofoundboy]

idk if you do these, if u dont can u please do bo’s!//

Slashers (Sinclair brothers + Chop top and bubba)reacting to their s/os first self defense kill (gn reader) headcanons

It happened to fast and the victim was just charging at them in full speed, with a quick response reader grabbed an item that was close enough and swung at the victim

I do about many characters, don't worry

Slashers and their s/o first self-defense kill

(canon typical violence, murder, you already know it)

- Whenever visitors came to Ambrose, Bo left it to you to make them trust you and luring them into exploring the town so that he and Vincent could kill them individually and more easily

- On none of these occasions had there been any inconvenience. Your presence was pleasant and reassuring in comparison to Lester's oddities and Bo's hostility.

- That day, however, everything seemed to go downhill when the group of visitors that arrived was especially hostile.

- It was a group of young athletes who thought they had the right to treat you as insignificant beings and who, but for the brutality of the twins, might have escaped.

- Among them was a young man, a boy who boasted of being a cyclist and who at no time stopped making hurtful jokes.

- When the bloodbath began, Bo ordered you to stay in the house, in one of the rooms, or in the kitchen, and although you did, it wasn't long before the guy came looking for a hiding place.

- He started shouting all kinds of insults, threatening you with a broken beer bottle.

- When he got dangerously close to you, you pulled an ice pick out of your sleeve and jabbed it repeatedly into his neck until he stopped moving.

- "Y/N! Y/N!" the screams tinged with repressed anguish of Bo, echoed throughout Ambrose before he entered the house, where he saw you, wiping the blood from your face and with some scratches on your arms, a product of the struggle and that you had had to cover your face from the attacks.

- "Fuck" was the first thing he said before examining you from head to toe and checking that nothing serious had happened to you.

- The next thing was to see the result, a guy who had ended up drowning in his blood thanks to your multiple impacts.

- If you seemed particularly disturbed by what you had to do, he would not mention anything right away, he would even tell you that it was better if you stayed locked in one of the rooms immediately after the welcome.

- If, on the other hand, you looked calm about what you had done, he would be quite proud, bragging at the slightest mention of the incident, for, after all, you belonged perfectly well in the family.

- Also expect him to be somewhat...horny. What you did took strength and you did it so accurately that the guy died very quickly, those are the kind of skills that make Bo get hard about the danger you now represent.

- Of course, if he can help it, he prefers you safe.

- Whenever new victims came to Ambrose, Vincent preferred you to stay in the house, no matter how much Bo insisted that you were trustworthy and it was a good idea to have you like an image, Vincent would not hesitate to argue with his twin to keep you out of harm's way.

- No matter what your constitution or abilities, Vincent would never forgive himself for risking you for something he was perfectly capable of doing.

- So on that occasion, the victim who had escaped had accessed you by mere coincidence, for she was looking for a hiding place from your brutal boyfriend at all costs.

- No one in that group of visitors stood out especially for their physical strength, except that girl, who was as small as she was elusive, managing to escape first from Bo and then from Vincent.

- To her misfortune, you were much more observant than she was and already knew the place like the back of your hand, so when she came to you, running like a hare and bathed in blood, you pretended to be a captive victim.

- You told her that all sorts of atrocities had been done to you but that because of that, you now knew where to escape.

- Your act was so convincing that you convinced her to go to Vincent's basement where, you claimed, there was a subway exit that would take you to the outskirts of the place.

- In reality, you set foot on the stairs to the entrance, and taking one of Vincent's spare knives, you stabbed her multiple times in the stomach.

- Vincent came running up the stairs, his panic evident in the way he moved, frantic and nervous. It was only when he saw you that he calmed down. You didn't have a scratch on you.

- He looked at what you had done and his chest swelled with pride. It was the perfect way to show all the Sinclairs that you did belong there.

- Of course, afterward, Vincent was even more insistent that you had to hide better from the victims.

- Unlike Bo, he doesn't get excited that you might kill someone because he's much more concerned that you might get hurt

- If you insist on being present and helping, after much convincing, he will teach you how to do a better job of finishing someone off and will even customize one of his spare knives for you.

- Lester was not usually at Ambrose when new victims arrived, as he simply lured them to the place and then disappeared.

- You would accompany him in the van and your presence usually gave a better feeling for future victims, as you balanced out your boyfriend's eccentricities.

- However, that day he seemed much busier than usual, so you and Lester decided to stay on the perimeter to help the twins in case there was trouble.

- At one point, Vincent came up to you to ask Lester to help move the bodies because the survivors were not supposed to see them. Bo was busy distracting them, so he needed to get rid of them as soon as possible.

- Reluctantly, Lester had to leave you in Bo's workshop, as it seemed the most appropriate place at the time.

- None of the brothers had counted on the fact that a victim had been hiding there all this time.

- When he saw you arrive, he started screaming and tried to defend himself with one of Bo's tools.

- Fortunately, Lester always made you carry a pocket-knife with you. A small but useful object that he had even taught you how to use.

- You didn't hesitate any longer and remembering Lester's lessons, you slashed the victim's throat, leaving a mess of blood on your clothes and on the floor.

- "Y/N? Are ya' here?" you heard Lester's voice before he approached and contemplated the scene. More than any other feeling, it was the relief of seeing you well that filled him.

- You smiled as you showed him the knife he had given you, which also made him smile. He always knew that it wasn't wrong for you to carry it.

- He also feels proud that you can defend yourself without his help.

- He feels more in love with you, because you proved to be "the complete package" of charms.

- Only that from now on, he prefers you to accompany him wherever his brothers indicate.

- You were the air of normalcy that the Sawyers needed, so you always had to meet victims head-on, act as a gracious and helpful host, and then leave them in Bubba's hands.

- The Sawyer's brutality and persistence kept the victims from getting to you, most of the time until that day in question, when one of the victims managed to escape Nubbins' persistence and ended up running straight at you, knife in hand.

- He cornered you in the kitchen as the sounds of family chaos approached in pursuit of you.

- Drayton hoped they would let you act on your own because in his opinion, you had to toughen up in that environment if you wanted to stay in the family.

- Bubba flatly refused to let it happen, but at that moment and with no time on his side, you had no choice but to act.

- You dodged his attacks not without some difficulty but after several months of dealing with rudeness on the part of Bubba's brothers, you had a vague idea of what to do.

- Hence you ended up taking the knife from him and slitting his throat to silence his screams.

- Bubba came in sputtering and screaming with worry, but seeing you without a scratch on him, his soul seemed to return to his body.

- From then on, you never received any kind of criticism from Drayton about the whole killing thing again.

- Even Nubbins and ChopTop seemed to have acquired a little respect for you.

- While Bubba was terribly mortified that it was going to happen again and this time with no good results.

- He ignored Drayton and instead of teaching you how to use a knife, he insisted that you go to your room every time he came out with saw in hand.

- In case you really wanted to learn, you would have to ask one of the twins because Bubba would never forgive himself for putting you at risk.

- After the incident, the poor guy spent a week in a state of paranoia and spoiling you more than ever.

- Of all the above, Chop Top is the one who is least concerned if you run into a victim.

- Not because he doesn't care about you, but because he knows that you are capable of taking care of yourself without him or his brothers to help you.

- The relationship with Robbie is very chaotic, so among that chaos, physical games and fights were common. Not to the point of actually hurting you, but because it was one of his eccentric ways of showing you his trust and affection.

- So on this busy, victim-filled day, one of the boys ran off as fast as he could, taking advantage of Bubba and Nubins taking care of his friends.

- Chop Top watched as the victim stumbled towards the room where Bubba made his bone creations and where you were at the time.

- He didn't watch the scene, but from the amount of noise coming from the room, he knew it was a fierce battle.

- It was then that he allowed himself to be concerned for your well-being and approached the room cautiously.

- Once in the door frame, he could observe the way you repeatedly hit the guy's head with a skull that you had found there.

- Thanks to this, Drayton shut his mouth about you belonging to the family.

- And Chop Top was proud because after all, he had taught you how to fight like that.

-He was also horny at the thought that you could kick his ass at any time

[yostresswritinggirl]

Hi there. Can I request a poly relationship with Albedo, Xiao and Scaramouche ? A mix of fluff n a pinch of smut is this possible ?

First of all, what the fuck gave you this wacky idea? I thought at first, wow, this is so random, how did they think this. But then upon making the banner- IT'S ALL MY HUSBANDS IN ONE FICNWOFHLSNDLKSBSOANA

I'll do my best but oh gawd, I'm just so baffled right now HAHAHHA- brain juice GONE

Three Shorties Convention

Poly Relationship with Scaramouche, Albedo and Xiao... (event masterlist)

HOW?!

Three individuals from three different nations somehow collated to love a single human, that of which is you. With how wide your range is for such individuals, we can greatly assume that you are an adventurer travelling the world.

You first met Scaramouche who was undercover, on the way to Mondstadt/Liyue through boat. As he was in the down low, he made sure to act friendly to avoid suspicion. When he heard you were on the same path, he thought of using you as an alibi.

The next person you came across was Xiao when you were passing by the Inn. You heard of the Adepti residing in the area and wanted to ask for blessings as your journey would be much more confusing and dangerous. You lit up incense and a small prayer before leaving.

The last person you met was Albedo. Mond was your last destination before you laid low again until your next long expedition, and you were looking for Alice who you met long ago during your expeditions. You last heard about Mond from her and wanted to talk to her about your adventures but ended up empty.

What made them stay/intrigued? For Scaramouche, he saw you messing with the meteors and your theories, your disarrayed thoughts and ideas somehow made sense when he looks past the lines. And you ended up being the reason he found the large piece of meteor in that... island thingy.

For Xiao, it was the incense I mentioned earlier. It was something you got as a souvenir from a commission in Inazuma, and the scent it gave off brought him to Teyvat Nirvana, the voices silent and his body soothed. His curiousity got the best of him as he tracked your path.

And finally, you first piqued Albedo's interest when you mentioned your affiliation with Alice, and when he listened to your stories (you forced him to listen since Alice was not there) it remindee him greatly of his master.

All of them were attached so badly that on your way to the wilderness one day, the three of them ended up confronting you in some kind of JJBA way with you in the middle. Their Visions and weapons were raised in worry until you identified how you knew them all.

And when they found out of each other's interests towards you, they grew more wary but turned to you: who was busy picking up a mint flower to truly understand what's going on.

"I like all of you!" Somehow all three of them were smart enough to realize that you hold at least a drop of endearment for each of them.

It was supposed to be a silent competition, that then ended up to an ambiguous relationship through coexistence. The problem here is: all four of you barely understood the grounds of a proper relationship, and delved deeper into this polyamory without a second thought.

Equal Thirds

Oh geezus, this is the most confusing setup you've been through. Having to juggle between three continents, three men, three different occasions. They were so petty to the point that your schedule must be split EQUALLY or else the other two would ambush the place you would be in.

Albedo is the busiest and lax when it comes to your "relationship schedule." As a person of Alchemy, he takes days buried deep into his research and he is more than thankful for the existence of a schedule, as he struggles with the maintenance of human relations a concrete time and day for when he is needed balances this. Albedo requests your presence during the period after his major experiments where he wishes to unwind and empty his brain of the equations and machinations. His type of love deals with comfort and distraction.

Xiao has the most free time in your relationship in terms of work, but he is also the one tied down strictly to his code of conduct. His time with you comes from your visits to Liyue and he will always be by your side whether you're in the outskirts or within the mortal realm. His type of love, ironically, is filled with longing touches and whispers of adoration for your strength and light that silences the voices in his head.

Scaramouche is the neediest boy in this bunch, the most mortal of them and the farthest from your reach. Your relationship is a secret to everyone especially the Fatui, but he makes sure that every agent in Liyue and Mond does not lay a hand on you or else he's breaking that same limb. Your time with him comes when HE comes over no matter where you are or what you do. His 'love' is filled with materialism and feisty aura, revelling in strenght and power dynamics.

When you're in charge of the schedule is the rare times that all three of you are together, because you plan your expeditions well in par with their seemingly conflicting schedules. Soon enough you four would be a whole team of travellers going around Teyvat to indulge whatever curiousities you lay upon.

"Circus Festival in Fontaine? Sign me and my three boys the fuck up. No complains, I know you're free."

Camping and travelling with them is sooo convenient too because they're all incredibly strong in constitution and battle. You only need to hang back and watch as they bring you a fireworks of elements, which are thankfully not very harmful against each other.

You're NEVER hurt or even TOUCHED when they're with you, they always have keen eyes for danger and always stick close to you to make sure you are safe. But on a RARE occasion that you DO get hurt, they have a formation: Albedo is tasked in retrieving you, Scaramouche is the backup in clearing a safe area for possible first aid, and Xiao lets all hell break loose once you three are gone.

They help out as much as they can whenever you all go out to camp but ultimately it ends up being some kind of adventuring class for the three of them since you're the master in this field.

Cute stuff: You never keep watch because they always want to cuddle, so one would be up and the other two would be cuddling you on both sides, and the rounds would switch between them while you have your beauty nap.

Albedo is pretty chill with the other two, but Scaramouche and Xiao seem to have a tension between them due to his Harbinger status. Xiao is wary and protective of Albedo because of the knowledge of his background coming from Morax. And all three of you deal with Scara's chattiness.

Your Pet Names for them! Scaramouche: Darling; Xiao: Sweetie; Albedo: Beloved. If you go beyond that, they start to see favoritism so you picked them carefully.

Their Pet Names for you! Scaramouche: My Dear; Xiao: Beloved; Albedo: Sunshine.

Soon enough, their soft rivalries turned into friendly coexistence and they would start to at least see each other in a better light besides acquaintances. While nothing physical or lovey-dovey would happen between them as they only ever see you in that way, they develop respect and slight trust. Competition long gone as it dissolves into compassion in protecting you and giving you the loving you deserve.

@albaedhoe @struggljng @heisenwurst @moaa @dandelion-dreams @witchsungie @lehra @kookieyachi @struggljng @zelos-simp @legionqueensav @snackgod @rxsalinee @cala-ran @wind-wheel @lilydewi22

Softcore under the cut! No looking, my children

In this relationship, individual and multiple participating intercourse is normal, and they happen when all parties involved are ever comfortable. With the fact that you'll change continents in mind soon after, the boys have their little rituals with you.

The most prominent of all would be Scaramouche's signature hickey on your neck. He sucks it hard enough to make it stay for WEEKS, so that when the other boys move to kiss you on your neck, they see the apparent mark and groan to themselves in defeat. It was your sensitive and ticklish spot, and he makes sure he owns it.

For Albedo, he almost always (probably in a kink way) do it with you on a surface that's NOT the bed. Table, chair, sofa, his lap, it seems that the bed is a sacred place for rest. And he usually ends up doing it when he is about to finish his work, hence the convenience of such furnitures. You were conditioned to the point that if you even just innocently lean on a furniture, your mind and body immediately snaps back to those moments, making you back off with a flushed face.

Xiao is the most innocent and yeet friskiest of them all. He loves to litter you with kisses all over your body, no bites and no scratches, just innocent flutters of his lips that makes you tingle. But such moments of lovemaking... seem to always happen on the Inn's balcony. Most of the time it's when the door leading there is closed for the night, but you were sure there were occasions that someone at least knew or saw what was happening, but you two were too drowned in pleasure to notice.

Whenever all four of you were to participate, safe words are always emphasized. Because you're suffocating right after between their bodies with all holes filled to the brim with them. Usually the formation goes as: Albedo behind you, Xiao in front and Scaramouche in your mouth. They may switch up when you still have the stamina but that's their default order, and yes, you orgasm multiple times and are overstimulated a lot. To the point that you're getting used to it.

It's a golden rule to always shower before and after your session, and they would be very caring and gentle during aftercare. With this arrangement, you always have a large bed rented or in your arsenal for a huge cuddle session at night.

[barbwillbrb]

Gonna work on some art, but first— gonna info dump about my babies , Rackal and Clairice:

- Grew up in Baldur’s Gate in the Lower City, near the docks. Both Rackal and Clairice no longer live in the city fulltime, but were there for their yearly visit when they for captured on the Nautiloid. Embarrassingly, it wasn’t anything noble that brought them there; it was their usual visit/shared vacation, where they usually see their mom, take on some low stakes bounty that can be accomplished in a couple days, hit up the Elfsong and then go to the tattoo/piercing parlor.

- Half-drow. Mom is a 6’5 human Barbarian from up North, dad is a 5’10 Drow cleric. Dad died 8 years ago (longterm chronic health issues with his lungs), but Mom is still alive and well. All height/muscle comes from Mom.

- They’re twins, 52 years old. Clairice insists Rackal is the older one.

- They are each other’s best friend, but drive each other absolutely nuts. Rackal can be far too stern/serious for Clairice’s liking, hence why they don’t adventure together too often anymore. For example:

“An adventure is supposeed to be FUN and you’re killing the vibe.”

“Well, SORRY that my idea of ‘fun’ isn’t FUCKING DYING.”

“It’s a brush with danger.”

“WE ALMOST DIED.”

“But we didn’t-“

“No, ‘WE’ didn’t because WITHERS BROUGHT YOU BACK YOU—“

“And it was the best sleep of my life now can we PLEASE move on.”

- Both characters handle the realization of what’s happening to them with various levels of “not well.” Rackal’s breakdown/freakout occurs during Act 1 at the tiefling party. Clairice, meanwhile, has a pretty obnoxious, optimistic outlook throughout Act 1, coming off annoyingly carefree, only to quickly lose it when the magnitude of what they are up against becomes unfathomable when they hit the Shadowlands.

Rackal Orro:

- Former Flaming Fist, joined in his mid-20s and remained until about 5 years ago, choosing to become a mercenary/vigilante instead because he found himself clashing more and more with leadership.

- Fighter turned Oath of Devotion Paladin, although he’s been finding it extremely hard to maintain it these days (what good is an oath if it’s not serving those who you took it up for in the first place?). That Oath gets shattered during the story. Uses greatswords/hammers heavy armor, leans towards heavily offensive combat tactics.

- Main attributes: strength, constitution, charisma

- Sexuality: He gives zero shits about gender, and physical appearance matters very little to him (although, if pressed, he might admit a slight preference for taller partners and/or larger body types, namely because as a big guy he is afraid of hurting a smaller, thinner partner. That said though, it doesn’t really matter— they can always ride on top). Emotional connection is what matters most; he’s drawn to strong personalities and people who hold fast to their convictions, or who put in the work to grow as better people. Perseverance and a willingness to stand up for the weak are all traits he’s attracted to. He’s far more likely to find himself developing romantic/sexual feelings for someone after knowing them for sometime, rather than having them from the start.

- Love life is… not really something he’s trying to think about. His first love was Meirin, a tiefling barbarian who has his childhood best friend turned lover. They were his first for many things, and going from a deep friendship to a gentle love was as easy as an afternoon nap during the summertime— just another thing they did together. While they developed feelings for each other during their late teens, things turned romantic/sexual in their early 20s, shortly after they joined the Flaming Fists together. The two were partners in arms and in life until around 10 years ago when a mission went fatally wrong, killing Meirin and permanently scarring Rackal both physically and mentally (the burn marks across his face, chest, and arms are from this). Over the past four years at the encouragement of loved ones (and a therapist) he has attempted to date, but with very little success; he doesn’t really know how to navigate a more traditional courtship as he went straight from a deep friendship to romantic love, so he finds himself either coming off too strong or too reserved/distant. Casual flings are also not his cup of tea and just make him feel like shit. At the start of the story, he is single and very much not looking for anything (too busy trying not to die/have sister die/have world die/why isn’t anyone else freaking out about this shit?!). Fortunately/unfortunately, it sneaks up on him and he finds himself falling hard for Rolan (Rackal is very oblivious though, and doesn’t realize what’s happening until he is doing something for the tiefling and it dawns on him that he wasn’t asked, he was just thinking of the wizard because he saw something and thought “huh, Rolan would like this” and the feeling is so natural and so familiar and…oh no, oh gods no).

- General persona: Serious, headstrong/arrogant, blunt. Extremely protective of family/friends/loved ones, and can very much be manipulated by this. Can come off as very intense. Very firm, unyielding sense of justice.

Hobbies: Collects things he finds interesting (this has no rhyme or reason, and is not connected to monetary value) as well as items for family/loved ones (usually picks up crystals/mushrooms for his mom, as they remind her of his dad. Also does end up collecting books/scrolls for Rolan as well, especially anything on the history of the Weave/wizardry). He’s very keen on keeping up his combat skills and overall enjoys exercising. Also can drum and carry a tune/sing if songs are kept more story/campfire based (Clairice needed someone to practice with growing up, and dragged him into being her music partner).

Clairice Orro:

- Clairice is the sibling who was always getting into (and out of) trouble growing up. She attempted to turn the right foot and joined the Fists with her brother and their friend, but it turns out she is far better at breaking the rules than keeping them. Clairice ends up affiliated with the Guild after a few successful years on her own, and served them well until before the events of BG3.

- Dual class Bard/Rogue. Prefers to avoid fighting at any possible occurrence, be it through stealth, deception, persuasion, or simply ignoring it. However, crossbows are her weapon of choice.

- Main attributes: Charisma, intelligence, dexterity

- Sexuality: Pansexual. Attracted to pretty people who promise a good time.

- Love life: Clairice is here for a good time, not a long time, and that definitely shows in her relationships. She prefers keeping things casual, and should she be faced with the question of “what are we?” chances are she will flee. Her longest sort-of relationship lastest for a couple of years with a particular leader of the Guild, and it might be the abrupt dissolution of that non-relationship being the reason she is no longer with the Guild, and sought out her brother for a reunion. During the events of BG3, Clairice… gets around. A lot. She cannot be tamed (well, for a good while anyways).

- General persona: Carefree/doesn’t take many things seriously, a natural silver tongue, enjoys causing a scene/being the center of attention. Can be considered loud/abrasive, but also bright/jubilant. Loves to talk her way into and out of situations, and just talk in general.

- Hobbies: Multi-talented musician, but best at string instruments and signing with a preference for the lute. Also likes to paint, and collects feathers.

Been working on a sketchy reference sheet to introduce my main Tav that I keep doodling with Rolan, along with his twin sister who was also hijacked on the Nautiloid.

Meet Rackal and Clairice Orro, a pair of twin pansexual disasters here to 1) get the fuck back to Balder’s Gate to make sure their mom is okay and 2) save the world. Shenanigans in their adventure may or may not include:

- Letting a sketchy “doctor” give you a lobotomy because your dead girlfriend keeps telling you to eat fucking tadpoles in your sleep

- Three words: tequila and tadpoles.

- Screwing an incubus while your friends/brother kill a devil in the other room

- Many improper uses of featherfall. Or desperate. Or creative— depends who you ask.

- Lots of Bluetooth tadpole nonsense

- Fighting god?

- Correction: killing gods.

Rackal and Clairice are two of my OCs who’ve been with me the longest, and I’ve been using BG3 to explore their personalities a bit through an AU idea I’m still tinkering with. Hoping to maybe doodle some comics about it eventually.

Also light censor in case tumblr gets mad.

[spinster-sisters]

rocky i have a weird request but i think it might amuse you: can we please have ateez’s members reactions to their s/o revealing they have a bad dragon dildo and wanting the members to use it on them (as if it’s their dick) (roleplay included or not 👀)

First off: you are very correct. This did amuse me, I applaud your understanding of my brain. In fact, I openly giggled the first time I saw this.

Hongjoong:

When he first finds out he's like "damn" he admits he likes the idea but he will probably leave it at that until you bring up that you want him to use it on you. And this is right up his alley. He likes seeing you fucked out, more than anything in the world. He wants to take it slow, he really does but he's a little too excited. Especially if you have used it enough before that your comfortable with it. Honestly, he will probably just watch you ride it. He wants to see you sinking down on it, and see your face explode with pleasure. He's jerking off at the same time obvi, but he's almost reverent in the way his eyes are watching your body move like a hawk.

Seonghwa:

Ummm. He's... apprehensive...... when he first comes across it while cleaning he's like.... what am I seeing with my own two eyes. Once you explain way too casually that your friend got it for you as a gag gift he's like coolcoolcool. But when you say you have always wanted him to try it on you he once again just like "?" He will do it, no doubt, he is just like, this seems a bit much. He will really lay the foreplay on thick just to make sure prepared, he's not taking any risks with you. But when he starts easing it into you he stunned and amazed. Watching you stretch around it is quite possibly one of the most arousing things he has ever seen, and the accompanying noises coming from you are going straight to his dick. He is no longer apprehensive.

Yunho:

His immediate reaction is low key high key offended. He's like "is my dick not big enough for you?" It's kind of a joke but kind of not. But also low key high key he's proud, like damn you can really fit that inside you? Ever the competitive boy he says "ill believe it when I see it" and so, less than a few hours later he's watching your stomach bulge with the size of the dildo, and he's floored. But here's the thing, Yunho is still hung and he can definitely work his own dick better than a dildo. So that what he does. After you prove your point he pulls it out of you just dying to see you stretch around him in that same way. While the stretch may not be as intense as with the dildo he certainly knows how to use it and he is determined to show you that you never need to use that thing again.

Yeosang:

He's just a little, scared. Not for you, you know your own body better than anyone so who is he to say what you can and can't fit. But for his own constitution. He doesn't know if he could handle it. When you mention it he is basically like "lord i don't think I have the strength" but you still have him watch you though. You're riding it, a little too well. You look a little too good. He keeps looking away blushing and you keep pulling his head back. He feels like he can't move even though there's is nothing keeping him in place. He wants to touch you, to help you move up and down, to play with your body, to help get you off, but he just can't seem to make himself move. The whole evening is wonderfully torturous to him.

San:

Oh no. You put him on some shit homie. He is not going to shut up about it. He demands to see it. He will not rest until he uses it on you. Just like. Woof. When he finally gets the chance he is so fucking ready. And there is so much fucking praise. "You're taking it so well baby," he is practically beaming. While he's using it on you he is also rutting against you, the bed, anything, he just can't help it. He feels like a horny dog. He's imagining it's him stretching you out and he's is just losing it.

Mingi:

Lil giddy boy. He bought it for you actually, and he really wanted to use it on you. And your like "sure this might as well happen." I wish I could say he'd be gentle because he is the gentle giant but something about this would just really tickle him in the right way. He's pushing it in just a little too quick with the biggest smile on his face. It hurts a little more and it takes a fraction of a bit longer to adjust but eventually your all good. He's pumping it in and out with determination. His whole reason for wanting to get it was solely to see how fast he could make you cum with it. He just wants to make you feel good Jesus.

Wooyoung:

Is a not as siked as you would think? Is interest is definitely peaked but he's not happy with you keeping this kind of dirty little secret from him. He's like, well if you didn't want to tell me in the first place why would you want me to use it on you know? Basically, he's pouty. He makes you wait. But the best way to get anything out of him is to put on your best pair of puppy dog eyes and beg. Works like a charm. He coos calling you cute before giving in and keeps that same energy the entire time. Telling you how pretty you look taking the big dildo. He is v proud of you.

Jongho:

he's like 🥺 please he's so cute. He asks so nicely too. It's like "can I please use that on you?" And how could you say no to him? He is probably the only one to actually climb on top of you while using it. He wants it to feel as real as humanly possible. He is so sweet I physically cannot right now. This is strange seeing as how I'm talking about a dragon dildo. But the pretty shape and color just look so good against your skin and he is reeling. Practically purring.

[baya-ni]

SHADOW’s Queer Coding

I first started exploring this idea of Sk8′s implicit queer rep (as in stuff other than explicit same sex intimacy) in this post.

I know we like to joke that Hiromi is the Token Straight of the protag gang, but I argue that he’s as much an example of queer rep as any of our main characters, albeit in a less conventional and fanservicey way.

So that’s what this post is gonna be, an analysis of Hiromi/SHADOW as a queer figure, how his character fits the Jekyll/Hyde archetype as a metaphor for queerness and The Closet, the similarities between SHADOW as a skatesona and early drag, and how his character represents a larger problem of exclusion within queer fandom spaces.

The 1886 Gothic novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is the origin of the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde”. What I’m calling the Jekyll/Hyde archetype, refers to the same thing; it refers to duality, to a character who is “outwardly good but sometimes shockingly evil” (as described from the novella’s wiki page).

And the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic has also long been associated with Queerness. The antagonism between Jekyll and Hyde as two sides of the same person resonates with many people as similar to the experience being in the closet, and many many scholars have written about this queer reading of Jekyll and Hyde. Do a quick google search if you don’t believe me.

Hiromi experiences his own Jekyll/Hyde duality through his SHADOW persona, which seems to entirely contradict with Hiromi’s day to day personality.

Whilst Hiromi is sweet, romantic, and generally very cutesy, SHADOW is mean-spirited, sadistic, described as “the anti-hero of the S community.”  And though these two personalities seem entirely at odds, SHADOW doesn’t exist in a vacuum, he’s very much a part of Hiromi. In the show, this manifests as SHADOW’s sabotage moves being all flower themed, as Hiromi works in a flower shop, and how he’ll “step out” of character when playing babysitter to the kids.

Below is passage from an essay titled, “The Homoerotic Architectures of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” which reminds me a lot of Hiromi’s character, such that I think his character arc can be read as an allegory for coming out and self acceptance.

The closet, here, is a space not only for secrecy and repression, but also for becoming; it is the space in which queer identities build themselves up from “disused pieces” and attempt to discover the strength needed for presentation to the world. The closet is both a space of profound fear and profound courage—of potentiality and actualization. (Prologue)

Unlike the kid/teen characters, the show’s adult characters all lead double lives. When they aren’t skating, they have day jobs. Kaoru is a calligrapher, Kojiro is a restaurant owner, Ainosuke is a politician/businessman (but tbh his job is just being some rich dude), and Hiromi works in a flower shop.

But of the adult protagonists (so not Ainosuke), Hiromi compartmentalizes the most.

Kojiro leaves his face totally exposed such that he can be recognized both on and off the skate scene. Kaoru at least covers his face, but his trademark pink hair and constant use of Carla doesn’t make it very hard to connect the dots between him and CHERRY. He’s also always with Kojiro in the evenings, so if you don’t recognize him as CHERRY when he’s on his own, you certainly will when you see him interacting with Kojiro/JOE.

Next to these two, Hiromi seems the more adamant at separating his Work from Play.

Even when he’s been clearly found it, he still tries to deny that he and SHADOW are the same person. Miya even uses this to coerce Hiromi into helping him and the boys:

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the separation between Hiromi and SHADOW can be interpreted as a metaphor for being in The Closet. As SHADOW, he leads a secret life, one characterized by an tight-knit underground community with a vibrant night scene, where he behaves in ways typically frowned upon by larger society. He worries about being found out and judged by the people close to him.

But in Ep 4, the walls of his Closet begins to come down, or in this case is literally imposed upon by other members of his community, by its younger members, who don’t feel the same need to hide their passion for skateboarding or lead the same kind of double life.

We then see the line between Hiromi and SHADOW begin to blur.

He becomes less of an antagonist, and instead the audience sees him become a mentor and “mother hen” figure for the younger skaters. Later on in Ep 4, we see him casually interacting with the other protags in full SHADOW mode, not as an “anti-hero” but as a friend.  In Ep 6, he acts as a babysitter for the kids, and we see him totally comfortable appearing both in an out of his SHADOW persona throughout their vacation.

And I think that this gradual convergence of Hiromi and SHADOW will culminate in this tournament arc.

There’s something more personal that’s driving SHADOW to do well in this tournament. It’s not just for bragging rights or his pride as a skater, but the results of this tournament is going to have some kind of greater impact on Hiromi’s personal life. Personally, my theory is that Hiromi is using this tournament to prove to himself that he’s worthy enough to ask his manager out on a date.

Hiromi is no longer compartmentalizing, his two lives are overlapping and influencing each other. Recall the essay quote I cited earlier:

The closet... is the space in which queer identities build themselves up from “disused pieces” and attempt to discover the strength needed for presentation to the world... of potentiality and actualization.

This is exactly the case for Hiromi. Through skating, he is piecing together the disparate parts of him such that he can present himself to the world as a more unified and confident being.

And the show presents the very skating community that Hiromi has been working so hard to keep separated from his personal life- Reki, Langa, Miya, Kaoru, and Kojiro- as the catalyst for that becoming.

That, my dear readers, is queer coding if I ever saw it.

But there’s probably gonna be people claiming something along the lines of “But SHADOW can’t be queer rep because he’s Straight!” And I assume that’s because he shows romantic interest in his female manager.

First of all, Bisexuality. Also Ace/aro-spec people. And second of all, SHADOW is Hiromi’s drag persona.

And before anyone can say anything about how Hiromi can’t do drag because he’s straight (assumption) and cis (also an assumption) uhhhh no, fuck you.

Drag didn’t start with RuPaul’s Drag Race, that’s just how it got mainstream. And it’s also how it got so gentrified and transphobic. You heard me. But anyway.

Drag is, and has always been, first and foremost about exaggerated, and oftentimes satirical, gender presentation and performance. It’s about playing with gender norms through artistic dress and theater, not so much to do with sexuality or gender identity.

Literally, what’s the difference here?

SHADOW is a persona of exaggerated masculinity with a punk aesthetic. Regardless of his sexuality or gender identity, Hiromi’s gender performance as SHADOW is drag- that makes him queer representation, change my fucking mind.

Queerness is more than same-sex romance, and by extension, good queer representation is not limited to canonized gay ships. The very word Queer, in it’s ambiguity, is meant to encompass the richly unique experiences of everyone within the LGBTQ+ community.

In my opinion, Queer =/= Gay. I mean, they’re colloquially the same yes and even I use them interchangeably. But for the purpose of this post, they’re not the same, and that’s to argue that Hiromi/SHADOW’s lack of acknowledgement as queer rep illustrates a larger issue of exclusion within fandom.

I mean, this is something we all kinda been knew, but in the case of Sk8 specifically, there are a two main reasons why I think Hiromi is rarely acknowledged as queer rep.

1. He’s not shippable with another male character

Fandom favors mlm ships when it comes to what’s considered good queer rep. And the ultimate mark of good queer rep is explicit acts of romance or intimacy between two male characters. Unlike with any of the other characters in the show, we can’t point to Hiromi and automatically clock him as gay, especially because he expresses romantic interest in a woman.

So by default, he’s less popular, because “Ew Straight People” amirite /s.

2. He’s not attractive

This is really interesting, because like JOE, Hiromi is a beefcake.

But fans don’t thirst over him the same way they do over JOE. Granted, the show really plays up JOE’s muscles in a very strip-teasey way that literally encourages viewers to find him attractive. By contrast, Hiromi is pretty much covered head to toe and he paints his face in theatrical makeup- the point is to look scary, not attractive.

In essence, even though Hiromi engages in “queer behavior” through his SHADOW persona, his queerness isn’t palatable.

But I also think there’s some pretty insidious undercurrents of fetishization going on here, of both Asian people AND gay men. Which is... a whole other thing I really don’t have the capacity to unpack completely.

But basically, Hiromi doesn’t fit into any of the popular BL archetypes so he’s less likely to recognized as Queer. Relatedly, he’s also less often subjected to a fetishistic gaze as other characters. I mean...

So again, fans just don’t find him as appealing. Attractive characters are always more popular than ugly ones.

And I’m sure there are a lot of people who just don’t care for Hiromi’s personality, that’s fine, he does act like an asshole sometimes. But this post is meant to illustrate that queer rep takes multiple forms, and unfortunately I think a lot of media just tends to fall back on stereotypical portrayals of queer people for the sake of broader appeal. And by consequence, the fandom’s idea of what constitutes queer rep narrows to same-sex romance, usually between two cis gay men.

With the release of Ep 9, I know a lot of people queer people are going to find representation in the Kojiro’s whole “unrequited love” thing. But personally, I feel more represented by Hiromi, his journey of self-acceptance and subversive relationship with gender- that’s what resonates with me as a trans person.

And I think it’s important to see that kind of less palatable type of queer representation more acknowledged in fandom, and in Sk8′s fandom especially, because I know the demographics of this fandom lean heavily queer.

But that’s all for now, lemme know what you guys think :)

[ladyoftheblackpaint]

Dad-for-One Theory Breakdown

So now that the big man is out and on the loose, I was reading about this theory, and honestly it’s pretty interesting.

All For One being Izuku’s father.

Other people could probably write better analyses of the theory itself than me, but from what I understand these are some main arguments to support this being a possibility:

Firstly, let’s talk about AFO’s appearance.

He’s shown with white hair in the anime when he was younger, as does his younger brother. His eyes are constantly shadowed even before his face got jacked up by All Might.

So genetically speaking, here are the traits that constitute Izuku and his parental figures:

One of Izuku’s parents would need to have freckles

One of Izuku’s parents would need to have green hair (check)

One of Izuku’s parents would need to have curly hair

One of Izuku’s parents would need to have green eyes (check)

One of Izuku’s parents would need to have his eye shape (check)

One of Izuku’s parents would need to have his skin tone (check)

The thing with genetics, though, is that they’re weird things and parents are not always the sole givers of traits.

As we can see, from the parts of All For One’s face that is visible, he doesn’t have curly hair OR freckles, which is sort of a big kick in the gut for this theory.

Irregardless, I do have to say that theory, though, does have a point with the fact that his eyes are hidden. Most of Izuku’s traits seem to come from his mother, and the fact that two of his most telling traits (his curly hair and his freckles) just so happen to be in the same spots that are covered up by scar tissue in the design of present-day AFO is pretty interesting.

Coincidental New Abilities Given To Izuku & Izuku’s strange pain threshold.

So this is one that I have been asking questions about. OFA is a stock piling quirk, but from the looks of it, only strength is actually passed down from one individual to the next, like an energy reserve. However, if that is the case, why is it that all of a sudden the vestiges decided to change the rules of the game and bestow onto Izuku all of their abilities.

Why not All Might? He was the closest to killing AFO in the past, so if they had done so with him he might have actually done it.

It’s possible that the reason they chose Izuku was because of the impending catastrophes that were obviously coming to fruition with the League of Villains and Tomura.

I’m left to wonder if there was another reason, though:

One of the themes of My Hero Academia is how quirks harm the user over time. All Might gets wounded and then forces himself to keep using his quirk,  Bakugou hurts his arms if he uses his quirk too much, Aizawa gets dry eye, Ururaka throws up, and the most obvious of them is Izuku-- who breaks his bones with the intensity of his quirk.

This didn’t happen with All Might and apparently not with any of the past users, either, since All Might seemed surprised at the extent since it was easier for him, even though he suspected what the consequences might be. Add onto this that the ability is now supposed to be stronger than All Might’s was, and you get the picture.

The point is: Izuku gets wounded a lot and yet seems to have the pain resistance of a freaking monster I mean:

COME ON.

Taking that into consideration, AFO has been described as being concerned about how his quirk affects his body. Since he has so many quirks that could potentially harm him and overwhelm him. I mean, look at the experiments with the Nomu-- people are obviously not supposed to have more than one quirk.

So someone with the capability of wielding multiple quirks with possibly painful drawbacks would, probably, be able to pass on some of the needed traits to keep that up genetically to Izuku, amiright.

And it’s possible the vestiges could tell that Izuku could handle it because of this genetic connection.

He didn’t have a quirk, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t get other traits from AFO if he was his father, such as his endurance and pain threshold.

Which leads me to my next point:

Extra Toe Bone

I actually just thought of this when I was writing the last point, so if it makes no sense welp...

Izuku was born quirkless, something that is considered relatively rare, expecially as the generations go on. Quirks are genetic phenomenon, and so if two people who have quirks have a child, it is VERY slim that their child will be born quirkless, unless they had a grandparent or someone else down the line who was quirkless.

Now, AFO was part of the first generation of quirked people. Meaning, his parents would have likely been quirkless, something that would have made it much easier for his offspring to be quirkless, as well.

Fire-breathing Absent Father

This is one of the more easy and obvious ones.

Horikoshi has said that Izuku’s father would show up later in the story, meaning that he has had a plot planned out for Izuku’s parents. Whatever that might be.

So that obviously shuts down the idea that his father is simply an unimportant character. To be introduced so that into the story as if he’s a vital piece for the future story seems...strange. Pretty suspicious.

Anyways, there’s also the information that’s been given about Izuku’s father having the quirk of fire breathing, and, obviously, a man who has numerous quirks would have the possibility of being a fire breather.

There’s not much else to say about this point.

Parallelism

OH, this one’s my favorite.

Okay, looking at Tomura Shigaraki’s character for a moment, we see the connection he has with Nana, one of the previous holders of One for All.

This is a plot technique that is basically just a twist in the narrative. How could someone SO GOOD and someone that All Might looked up to have a grandchild so inherently evil? His family was relatively normal, even if his father was abusive (god, that’s a terrible thing to say but I digress). His father’s abuse came from the trauma he experiences when he was abandoned by Nana, but all in all his family was full of ordinary people. He had grandparents, a mother, a sister, and his abusive dad (oh god).

Even with the heroic heritage and the normal family life, Tomura becomes one of the worst villains in the series.

By parallelism, I mean, imagine the DRAMA if Izuku-- pure, wanting-to-be-a-hero, saving everyone’s ass, sunshine child Izuku-- was the most powerful villain’s child...that’d be fucking awesome. I would shit bricks. It’d be amazing!

Possibly predictable...

But amazing!

Plus, if you look at both Izuku and Tomura’s parents, if the Dad For One theory is true, they would each have one caring parent and one “bad” parent.

It would fit so well. With the narrative of the “heroes” of society not being inherently good (Nana abandoning her child-- even if she believed it was for his best interest) and villains simply being misunderstood until the point that they snap (look at literally ANY villain in the series. There’s some type of narrative about being abandoned by society).

One of the best heroes ever producing one of the greatest villains, and vice versa.

It’d be beautiful.

THAT’S some badass parallelism.

PLUS, it would fit with the narrative of ending the cycle of violence. For a story so based on the intricacies of society and what is truly “evil” and “good”, to have an ending where the two characters stray from their genetically defined path and decide their own destinies would be SO satisfying I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

ANYWAYS, I’m not so sure how much I believe this theory might come true, but I know that it’s not a silly theory at all. Looking at the narrative, the possible hints, the parallelism (GOD the PARALLELISM) it would make sense in the long run and, in my opinion, be super interesting.