#and in true me fashion he's the most important character lmao

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

WIP Wednesday

I've been plugging away at the aroace!Mario wip recently; I'm hoping I can get it posted in June, both for my birthday and arospec awareness week, but its still a bit too early to know if I'll make it, haha. I have a lot of the fic written already thanks to that burst of inspiration I'd had last fall; I just need to fill in a few more scenes and then do a crapton of editing. This fic's style got a bit experimental, lmao. And I'm piss awful at writing any romance or romance-adjacent things so that'll be fun for future-me to wrestle with. And also it's clocking in at 9.3k and still climbing 😅

Anyway here's the beginning of the fic because I nailed it pretty much first try and I quite like it!

~~~

Mario couldn't tell you to this day why he’d gone to rescue Princess Peach the first time.

He'd hardly seen as much of a glimpse of her in the first few weeks after he and Luigi moved to the outskirts of Toad Town, busy as they were settling in. Sure, there were photographs of her in various houses they'd done plumbing jobs in, and the far off stained glass of the castle itself, but it hadn’t been until their self-proclaimed best friend Toad (one of dozens, all content to share the same moniker to an extent) had cheerfully cajoled them into attending an upcoming parade in town that he’d gotten to see her in person for the first time. 

She’d stood on a parade float, waving to the crowd with a smile, and Mario’s first thought had been that she was more beautiful than those photos could even try to do justice.

Every Toad they'd met spoke of her reverently yet fondly, and over the course of the next few weeks he’d seen her around town now and then. Her kindness was overflowing, filling the hearts of her people and spilling out to touch Mario and Luigi in turn, relative strangers to their town. So the morning they’d woken up and found out she’d been stolen in the night, Mario couldn't help but want to repay this town — his home — by getting her back.

So maybe he could tell you why, after all.

Regardless, he'd had no idea what he’d gotten himself into.

Honestly, a lot of the rescue mission had come down to luck and good timing and the element of surprise. He hardly remembered the back half of it, hopped up on adrenaline and stubborn determination and whatever Mushrooms and power-ups the Toads along the way had chosen to stuff him with. He still had no clue what the deal was with that giant axe Bowser had, or why it was so near the cables to a bridge, but he’d tripped on it anyway and knocked it over, sending both the bridge and the brute dropping into lava. He’d needed a few minutes to catch his breath afterwards; he’d honestly thought he’d never get to see Luigi again after failing that stunt.

With the kidnapper dealt with, all that had been left was to escort the kidnappee home. Finding her cell hadn’t been hard; it was right beyond the room he'd fought Bowser in. She’d looked surprised to see him, he remembered, like she hadn't expected to be rescued at all. That thought had made him sad.

The beginning of the long trek home had been quiet, at first. It was Mario’s first time truly being up close to her since a few days after that parade when she’d come up to him and Luigi while they were having lunch to introduce herself and personally welcome them to the town. (Something that’d had his brother hyperventilating afterwards about chatting with royalty. Mario’s panic had been much further buried by comparison.) But then something had broken the ice; Mario couldn't have told you what it was, only that by the time they stepped into town they had been chatting and laughing like friends. Beyond the royal airs, she was a woman who was surprisingly easy to talk to. Though by the looks of everyone in town afterwards, maybe she wasn't like that for everyone. 

And that was when Mario’s problems had started.

[moonymode]

re: a conversation with @casurlaub in the replies of this post about harry having never done anything wrong in his life (source: trust me). replying here because i wrote too much 😅:

i agree with you, it's wild because i have not only also seen people genuinely frame harry as draco's bully, but go further and insist that harry is just willfully cruel, like as a character flaw. which is obviously ironic cause that's draco's entire personality for the first 5 books, especially irt his treatment of harry, as you said! and the sectumsempra thing is crazy to bring up w/o acknowledging draco's purposeful use of crucio. which is in contrast to harry's misinformed use of sectumsempra, something we know harry wouldn't have used deliberately knowing the effects (we know this because harry feels terrible about it but the way this works in fandom is that when a character expresses guilt for anything that means they're actually the worst person alive by their own admission. because it's famously true that only the worst people admit to their mistakes and try to do better. which is really just an unassailable argument in many ways). this is where someone who isn't me might criticize harry's carelessness in trying out a spell he doesn't know on another person. which is kind of valid but not as evidence of moral failure. and i would argue that harry has no reason to assume a fellow 16 year old such as himself would ever invent something as twisted as sectumsempra, not the least his funny, downtrodden friend the half-blood prince who helps him with his potions homework! his little friend who harry has been relating to and empathizing with for most of the novel! the scene is partly so shocking because we as readers are also not expecting it. no one @ me about harry's stupidity in trusting another supposedly evil book, snape's old potions notes simply cannot be compared to a horcrux that possesses and kills people and i don't have time to draft up a defensive essay on harry's mental state in hbp and how that informs his parasocial relationship with teenage snape; the point is that harry would never deliberately maim someone.

and beyond the fact that harry's hostility towards draco can't be isolated from draco's years-long campaign to harass him and his friends (and which as you point out is almost always reactive, not something harry often initiates himself), there's an explicit reason for why their conflict escalates as much as it does in hbp; draco's ideologies aren't hypothetical anymore, people are being killed, draco's father was involved in the murder of harry's godfather and the attempted murder (and successful injuring) of harry's friends months prior. harry has real reason to suspect that draco is now continuing his father's legacy and, crucially, is the only one working to corroborate or prevent that. like it's wild that harry actually makes such a concerted effort to involve anyone he can in his suspicions in hbp, more so than he ever has before. and he is routinely dismissed and mocked for it (and also actively gaslit by dumbledore lmao). it's funny cause that's a huge running theme throughout the books; harry cannot rely on others, esp not adults, to save him or his loved ones. this is harry's belief (that he again tries to correct in hbp, which ends up proving him sadly right) but it's also a huge part of the narrative, it's an inescapable fact of harry's life. the fact that people read harry's behavior in hbp as unreasonable or malicious and not profoundly defensive after the events of ootp is really strange, but also frustratingly typical. it's no wonder that harry stalks draco; no one will listen to harry when he says he's a threat. the times that harry has defeated voldemort in the past have often relied on information he's gleaned in a clandestine fashion, of course the morality of such behavior is greyed out by the consequences of inaction (which are by this point unspeakable). and most important of all, the crux of this entire debate, is that harry fucking literally is right about his suspicions that draco is working for voldemort. like it's so relevant perhaps thee most relevant that draco literally does almost get all of harry's friends killed by letting the death eaters into the school, and harry has suspected this for the entire novel, has been shut down at every turn to prevent it, and it's only harry's intervention (LITERAL GOOD LUCK) that saves them. if it's possible to justify draco's behavior through the pressure and coercion voldemort puts on him in hbp, the logical imperative is to afford the same leniency to harry. literally of all people.

in conclusion: i'm not going to argue that harry isn't reckless or sometimes negligent as a general rule, but any argument that blames harry for reacting imperfectly to violence and danger, especially in comparison to consistently antagonistic characters (that embody ideologies which are themselves implicitly and later explicitly and demonstrably violent), is hypocritical and just, like fucking dumb. like it's just dumb as fuck. i've talked about how the fanbase tends to hold more empathy for racist villains and i think that's relevant to understanding why people sympathize with draco over harry. but i think it's also a matter of media illiteracy which is a phrase that's kind of losing its luster at this point but i really constantly see this persistent cognitive dissonance in fans that say and even think they're progressive, whatever that means to them, and then fully unironically think that the unequivocally fascist characters were more sympathetic for suffering the consequences of their own actions vs the imperfect reactions of the heroes to combat um literal death by those characters. like i don't even know if i can reasonably expect people who still engage uncritically with hp to be capable of understanding jkr's mid writing past a level so shallow not even a worm could drown in it. anyway thank you for listening <3

[cookiecomics]

Anonymous Coward asked: how did you come up with the idea behind ren's palace in atott

I noticed that P5R has alot of references to Dante's Purgiturio and in the third semester Paradiso :3 so I thought 'hey making Ren's palace based of Inferno would tie perfectly together' since the palace was in act 1 and act 2 and 3 would largely be dealing with the plot of the game proper from Ren's perspective with the sequel diving into third semester. 

Chapter 6 is super important thematically. Even atott's ending is foreshadowed in it lmfao. For each of the tiers, I really wanted to play on Ren's perspective on. Like Lust for example, wouldn't focus on the teenage perspective of puberty and lust in the traditional fashion. But the fact Ren was told numerous times that a woman being assaulted should not be saved. That society will turn a blind eye to it for their own comfort. Even Sojiro , who KNOWS that Ren tried to break up an assault told him it was a 'matter between two adults'. Like, Ren harbors such resentment for that sentiment that I wanted to portray it. 

 There are actually two solutions to the lust ring, and an alternative Gluttony ring as well but we’ll get into that whenever I get to Eternal Punishment the fic lmfao. And also, I wanted chapter 23 (when murking the principal) to not be a surprise, so foreshadowing Ren’s growing apathy and tendency/desire for violence in his palace was super important. But more importantly, I remember very distinctly someone I used to follow saying that they hated palace au’s because they rob characters of their agency. While I don’t think that to be true at all. (I mean it didn’t rob Futaba of her agency) I was still important to me that Ren remained an active participant in the story even without being apart of the Phantom Thieves. 

 The plot functionally got started at all because Arsene offered that deal to Akechi. Very jail-break-esque. Another part that’s been important to me throughout Ren’s journey is to show that trauma and being a victim isn’t only tragic if you are being the ‘perfect’ victim. People often ignore some of the symptoms that can arise if they’re unpalatable. Like apathy, anger, self-destruction. Ren’s not a perfect person by any means. He’s selfish, he’s angry, he’s apathetic and it’s by and large a result of his environment and circumstances. 

But despite all of it, his actions still have consequences. The narrative doesn’t protect him from that and that’s largely reflective of what it’s like to have externalizing disorders in the cluster B spectrum. You can indeed fuck up your whole life by your own hand even if the reason you became like this isn’t entirely your fault. Do you still deserve love and protection by at least some people in your life? Different characters have difference feelings about that. 

 Anyways, Ren’s palace had alot to carry on its back lmfao and to this day it’s one of my most popular chapters comment-wise (that, chapter 12, chapter 23 and chapter 45) 

 I’m glad people liked it! I slaved over the concept for two whole months lmao [Smile or comment on the answer here](https://retrospring.net/@CookieComics/a/113121212944691254)

[kannra21]

I don’t understand why anime men can be drawn looking handsome while also looking normal and wearing normal clothes, but sososo often, anime women are drawn looking like their tits are going to pop out of their bras and/or they wear provocative outfits.

Do men (or male artists anyway) not care if a woman is beautiful if she isn’t being revealing? Do her facial features, the way she carries herself, her hair, etc. not matter so long as she’s not trying to act like a seductress?

From my own experience with men I can only say one thing- they are liars. Or at least they like lying to themselves.

They will oftentimes say that they don't like women who reveal feminine features, but they do. Men like women and they like objectifying them. Bc if men are straight, logically, they're attracted to women. Bc woman's body is pretty and not just in a sexual sense. Sometimes it's just pretty for looking at; like art, nude modeling and act. Worshipped even. Woman's body is prettier than man's body in so many ways. But I think this beauty shouldn't be so heavily sexualized like it's often the case in the east. Japan has so much explicit content that they even have categorized shops at every corner, in public spaces. I don't know how Japanese women feel about this but statistics show that their birth rate is slowly declining. Besides poor economic situation, women don't feel respected or loved enough. And the feminism has risen in this part of the world as well.

Anyways, back to the point- I respect Gege for keeping his characters neat and the story heavily plot oriented without much fanservice (men are the fanservice lol). Gege also says that his parents are reading the manga so I suppose he doesn't rly want to feel like a disgrace lmao. I'm not sure if this was his marketing strategy to interest women into shōnen genre but it definitely worked, now jjk has become one of the most popular series of all time. And it's ok to have Mei Mei as one token representative of a "sexy woman" stereotype although I wouldn't rly call her sexy either. She's just a beautiful woman.

What definitely helps the whole situation is Gege's taste in fashion. No male mangaka that I know ever paid attention to this one very important factor. Fashion is a type of expression, and it can tell a lot about the character themselves without incorporating their personality in words. With that said, jjk women have so much personality to them, it's fascinating.

Mei Mei and Mai could be considered sexy, Utahime is a traditional authoritative beauty, Nobara is very stylish and confident, Maki is a strong tomboy girl, Miwa and Momo are girly and cute, Ozawa is a shy girl, Shoko is your typical CEO woman, Yuki is a biker girl. And some of them have short or tied up hair which is nice bc it can be just as feminine as long hair. He even introduced women's insecurities like Ozawa being overweight and that Yuuji didn't mind bc he found her writing and table manners pretty. Momo's outlook on woman's prejudice in jujutsu world is also something important to adress. Yuuta is shown kissing Rika bc what they're having is true love and true love doesn't know shallow boundaries. Gege understands woman's struggle.

In an interview, Gege revealed that he has similar mindset to Megumi and that he doesn't want to sexualize women as much. The way he treats woman body is purely artistic. At least watching these panels didn't make me feel uncomfortable at all.

Regarding Mei Mei's and Ui Ui's relationship, yea it's a taboo. But I think that author didn't want to promote incest, rather, he wanted to show that Mei Mei is a woman with flaws. And flaws are something that makes a person interesting, together with their virtues. She also likes money. To the point that Gojo made fun of her by flipping a coin to summon her bc apparently, Mei Mei lacks self-respect.

In contrast to her, Utahime respects herself too much. That's why she's often hysterical and Gojo tells her that hysterics won't win men (Gojo is a real mansplainer huh).

Gojo is rude and so is Sukuna. But Miwa and Yorozu don't even notice a man's flaw if they're interested in him (Gege knows a woman's mind too well, which is funny). That's why he's asking ladies to vote for Nanami instead of Gojo in popularity poll (women should set aside shallow interests and concentrate on person's kind soul).

Unlike them, Shoko is aloof and rational bc she's too aware of fleetingness of life, especially in her line of work as a doctor. Sure, she can be friendly and smile a lot, but she doesn't want to form any strong relationships with anyone. This is the only way she can keep her sanity in check. After all, jujutsu is just a marathon where the finish line is a pile of friends' corpses. Something the younger generations are a bit immature to understand.

Nobara is a very stubborn girl, she sometimes comes off as too bossy or rude (Yuuji calls her a bitch lol). But it turns out this was only her defense mechanism with people she's unfamiliar with bc she didn't want to be underestimated for being a country girl of limited thoughts and experience. Bc Nobara is indeed a great girl with many talents.

Maki is a strong, independent woman but this doesn't mean that she refuses help and support from people around her. She likes guys who are stronger than her (and Yuuta comes into picture, besides, he also suggested that he wants to crush Zenin clan together which explains her liking to him). Panda noticed that and wanted to play a wingman. Although his boobs question (Maki's insecurity) was a bit inappropriate (but it got the point across), Yuuta's answer was very polite which made him more likeable in her eyes.

Yuki and Todo are similar bc they're nosy, they enjoy exploring different people's interests and judge them whether they're considered "a person of culture" (which adds to the series' comedic aspect). I love Haibara's answer bc he says "I like women who eat a lot" bc he knows that women who eat are happy and that a hungry woman is an angry woman.

Gege understands women so much that fans are contemplating whether Gege is actually a woman himself or not. It's nice to have a mangaka who's this mindful.

[fareehaandspaniards]

7, 13, 23, 27, 50 for the bloodborne asks :^)

7. Blood Beast or Milkweed?

Milkweed! Become brussels sprouts a tree and look at the sky!

13. What's the most fashionable coat in the game?

This one, I suppose. 10/10, would wear

23. Iosefka. Thoughts?

In my headcanons, Iosefka is a young doctor who was initially one of the volunteers among the Healing Church doctors and, of course, a nun. Later, her heartfelt kindness prompted her to take over the grounds of the once educational institution to open her own clinic there. I don't think she is somehow related to the Impostor! I think False-Iosefka just had a good idea where she would be most comfortable with her experiments. I also think that Impostor was sorry to kill true one, but her ambitions were too high! Also, Iosefka knew Edgar, and he even had feelings for her.

Good intentions, good lady! :(

27. Why do you like Bloodborne?

LOTS of reasons!!! Creepy, involving scientific rise and fall, full of mysticism PLOT, GREAT characters, the opportunity to finalize the lore yourself…. Also the outfits! I don't know how, in what time and how many people created this story, but they created a masterpiece! Also the overall vibe of the game - I really like the borrowing of Czech architecture. In fact it's even hard for me to articulate everything! I just LOVE everything in this game. Difficulty, gameplay, details, Lovecraftian vibe, etc etc etc etc. I feel cozy when I play bb :>

50. Tell me about your hunters!

As you can see, eeeh... MY hunter here is only Guillermo actually xddd Dalyla was created to play with character creator and go comfort Edgar lmao (We had a long discussion about Edgar with my husband)

Elouise is my husband's hunter, a brave lady!

Young Damian, true Damian and Gremia... I think you are not surprised xD

And... Guillermo, my beloved! A spaniard, foreigner, poet, Gehrman's pupil,

a man with a difficult heart disease who fell for Micolash.

I have a post with his story here x ! BUT! I wrote this long ago and it's mostly about Guillermo simping for Micolash. Since those time I added some details:

After game's ending Guillermo along with the Doll created children. But it's not about sex. She, as a chtonic being, just taught him to Create a new life (and those children happened to become my 2 Elden ring main characters. Impossible and weird, but I like it so much)

Guillermo is from the same land as Ludwig was! He heard about him as of great knight, and knew that he went to Yharnam to serve there. A southern land, but no so far from Yharnam. Not Loran for sure (as you see, I don't have a name for it)

Guillermo is silly and a little bit naive in the sweetest way. And he always needs to rephrase his words for others to understand him. And he cries very often

He sympathized with Gehrman and had long conversations with him while resting from the hunt. Although Gehrman was reluctant to talk about himself, Guillermo was able to hear from him a few stories of his old life, relating to young Laurence, Maria, and the others.

After defeating Mergo's Wet Nurse he couldn't stop hearing baby's talking and laughing. After ascending it finally stopped. Because Mergo was calm from then.

Guillermo is a poet and a doctor in some sense. He has a sensitive and kind soul so travel through Yharnam made his heart ache a lot.

Damian wasn't impressed with Guillermo (!!important xddd) . They never met, because Damian tried to help but not to cross paths with another Good Hunter who continues the neverending cycle

Guillermo spent a lot of time next to Rom, trying to comprehend wtf is she. He felt a strange regret in killing her, but he didn't understand why

Chalices are his favourite place!

+my first art of him(still love this sketch)

[vintage-bentley]

your polls got me thinking…. i think the most irritating part about ineffable hetties is that it’s always crowley they make the woman. which makes aziraphale some straight guy when he’s been the one written as the more flamboyant gay one. like gun to my head if one of them had to be bi I Guess crowley makes more sense just bc he’s less obviously homosexual. but they really like picking on the one that gets called gay slurs and acts more effeminate to be straight or bi. like that just is really telling lol

You’re so right. It’s very clear that much of ineffable hetties comes from either a discomfort with same sex attraction, a genuine hatred for it, or the belief that opposite sex attraction is inherently superior in one way or another. Look at all of the fics and art where Crowley shows up as a woman, and Aziraphale “seducing women? Me? I think you have the wrong shop” Fell is suddenly more attracted to “her” than he’s ever been, as if femaleness was the missing ingredient to getting him to feel true lust (this is also done with just having Crowley wearing ‘women’s’ clothes, which let’s be honest the fandom sees as code for woman lol). There’s clearly an attitude that OSA is somehow better and more interesting, and it’s really frustrating.

As far as Crowley and overt homosexuality goes, though…I’d argue that he’s just as stereotypically gay as Aziraphale, just in a different way. A big part of his character is how fashionable he is, how he’s always pristinely put together and wearing the latest trends. Obviously that’s not an indicator of homosexuality lmao but if we’re purely going by stereotypes, it’s definitely a stereotype that gay men are like that. There was also the little detail of him calling Aziraphale “Lady Bracknell”, which reminds me a lot of how older gay men talk about each other. I doubt that’s the first time he’s done something like that. Then of course in the book, he likes Golden Girls.

And then there’s how he approached the Maggie and Nina issue. When he was in the window trying to get them to kiss, there was no icky or creepy feeling to it like there would be with a straight or bi guy. If he were attracted to women, I think that scene would feel a lot different. And it made it even more important to me to view him as homosexual.

But I agree that to most people, at first glance Aziraphale’s going to come across as very gay, while Crowley might not be as clear. And it’s very obvious that the fandom hates Aziraphale for this, with how often they erase any of his flamboyance and replace it with stereotypical straight guy machoness, and pair him with Sexy Lady Crowley. Homosexuality and the obvious display of it makes them deeply uncomfortable for whatever reason, so they just do the easy thing and replace it with heterosexuality instead of actually taking the time to rethink their perspective.

[hell-heron]

Warning for complete lack of Doylist reasoning in this post, but another Mina thing is I don't think she's THAAAT opposed to the New Woman. She's definitely ambivalent. We see her making comparisons to the New Woman thrice:

We had a capital "severe tea" at Robin Hood's Bay in a sweet little old-fashioned inn, with a bow-window right over the seaweed-covered rocks of the strand. I believe we should have shocked the "New Woman" with our appetites. Men are more tolerant, bless them!  --- This is definitely disdainful, if not exactly... Concerning one of the matters that I view as the cornerstones of feminism, lol. I wonder what it refers to exactly - from a modern point of view I can't help but think about the New Woman's focus on athleticism. I think about how one of the typical dychotomies of women-on-women pointless snickering, is 'how empowering to have the right to Focus On Myself be Athletic and Sophisticated and not have my body RUINED!! By popping out children and doing country housewife things'. Which would be somewhat bad faith interpretation on Mina's part, but definitely a kind of sensitivity that makes sense for a character with attachment to simple pleasures, with some desire to escape her London routine with rural simplicity and with very focused small scale ambitions that don't happen to include being hugely in the public eye and thus not too attuned to the issues of beauty standards that already exist enforced by men and traditional women. On the other hand I don't exclude it might be "we would have shocked even the New Woman nevermind regular ladies lmao we're not remotely dainty 😂" with some awareness that these very finicky codes of etiquette tend to be more strongly reinforced by other women than by men who often don't have an awareness of such details. Which well, its true

Some of the "New Women" writers will some day start an idea that men and women should be allowed to see each other asleep before proposing or accepting. This comes right after daydreaming of how beautiful Arthur would find Lucy if he saw her now as she's sleeping, so I can't see it as negative at all tbh. It seems something she finds exciting to wonder about and a fun development.

But I suppose the New Woman won't condescend in future to accept; she will do the proposing herself. And a nice job she will make of it, too! There's some consolation in that. --- This seems quite curious though struggling to wrap her head around the novelty to me. Not fully disdainful

But most important of all these are all in the same diary entry and never mentioned again. So the idea I get is Mina read some article on the subject on August 9 and then couldn't stop thinking about it the whole following day. She's as Tumblr would say rotating these ideas inside her brain, trying to process how they relate to her life. This seems similar to how she says stuff like I suppose it is one of the lessons that we poor women have to learn.... - the combination of her characterisation with her being written by a man means she's really prone to intellectualizing her opinions on womanhood, she does not express strong feelings of anger but she also does not view them as natural, not at all, and I wonder if thats part of why she pings so many people as Not Cishet

[bylertruther]

I will just never trust people who are ignoring Will's characterization lol. ''He is straight passing'' bitch where? Will was the only party member who was singled out as being subjected to homophobic bullying, and I am sorry but Mike hasn't faced homophobia, homophobic bullying/abuse... which is why it is important to recognize because their narratives are different. It's such a pet peeve of mine because it is undermining the narrative of the characters and their differences. This, and that 'buff!Byers' headcanons... I dislike so much because Will is not supposed to be buff you guys just made it up in your heads and passing it is as canon. The reason why the constume department covered Noah's arms was because they do not envision Will to be 'buff' with strong arms. And while headcanons are nice and all, it is kinda getting weird here when they're presented as canon to characters' designs/characterization/personalities. Mike's supposed to be the 'straight passing guy' here that is why he's never seen as the 'Gay Guy' and never faced actual homophobic bullying or abuse, he is portrayed as the 'masculine' character and is given those traits that define him....... but for some reason Mike is the one who is headcanoned as the 'gnc' and 'most queercoded' character here in this fandom lmao

#real. you can't even talk about it without people jumping down your throat with "oh, so you think i'm a terrible person because of my headcanons? you hate me personally? you think i should kill myself because of my headcanons even though your post wasn't about me or anyone's headcanons at all?" like, no, i just think you should stop making a fool of yourself putting words in other people's mouths and acting like a defensive victim when ain't nobody saying shit about you personally. ✋🙄

will was called homophobic slurs and assumed to be gay because he didn't behave or apparently dress like other boys did. he isn't like other people and that's okay. there's no shame in that. it isn't a bad thing, and yet so many people jump to "defend" him and make him into the kind of son lonnie would've loved to have, but that he ultimately just fucking isn't and never will be. the words that i put in quotation marks in my other post are THE DUFFERS' words. the person who said that they chose to lean away from noah's musculature was the COSTUME DESIGNER. i'd like to think that they know more about who will is than people online who would rather throw away entire seasons worth of scenes that clearly dispute their claims.

and i'm not talking about headcanons when i say this. i'm talking about people who genuinely believe their fanon interpretations, which are really just a role reversal if we're being completely honest with one another, to be true to canon.

not even robin faces on-screen homophobic vitriol from other characters, because she purposely "camouflages" herself better and that's how she survives. will does precisely what she says you can't do as a gay person in hawkins: draws too much attention, and thus makes himself a freak.

the irony of will is that even though he's good at hiding, this is something that he can't hide—something that others knew and vilified him for likely before he even knew himself. he never got to pass. his only choices were to survive and learn to find love and acceptance where he could.

this is already so long, but the differences between mike and will are the crux of their characters.

will has always been visibly different with no way of hiding it, even if he still desperately tries to, but he had a family that loved him and encouraged him to be himself no matter what. mike was fashioned to be the stereotypical eighties movie lead, was raised in a family where he was expected and hounded to be as normal as can be, and who is described as wanting to impress others and be as normal as possible.

will gets bullied for being a fairy and later a freak with issues after having come back to life. mike gets bullied for being a nerd, a "hellion", and a satanist. they have different issues, because they're different people.

will needs to learn that he can't hide from the world and call it a life, that he has to be brave and create a life that he can actually participate in and where he can allow himself to be loved for who he truly is. he tore down castle byers because he outgrew it. he needs to learn to live in this world and not the one he escapes to in his head. he needs to learn to allow himself to love and be loved, to be selfish, to be brave.

mike needs to learn that it's okay to be different. that conforming will not bring you peace, because that acceptance is no true acceptance—it's conditional, and you will never find any happiness or fulfillment in creating a farce of your own life. that he can have everything—money, material items, a girlfriend—and it won't be enough, because it isn't what he wants or comes natural to him. that he can't hold himself to society's rules for what a man should be, because society's rules fucking suck and they'll kill you either literally or spiritually. he's always celebrating everyone else's differences, defending them, and making others feel better for them, but he can't do the same with himself. he's the heart, but he needs to learn to listen to his own heart, too.

like. men in real life get called gay if they don't behave in a way that society deems to be masculine enough. men in real life get called gay if they're too nice or they dress a certain way. this is fucking real. traits, behaviors, interests, and material items are not inherently gendered, but we live in a society that suggests they are, and not sticking to what is "allowed" for your gender does come with consequences. that's just the way that the world works. i don't know why anyone pretends like that isn't so. things are better in certain places in the world, but we're not living in a utopia. be real.

but even then. that doesn't even totally matter, because we're just talking about the text here. will is the one that's faced all of that shit explicitly. the only time we've ever heard anyone say gay, or anything gay related, has been with him. mike defended him, yes, but those words were not about him.

mike defended will at cost of his own already pitiful social standing, because he's a good person and a wonderful friend. he couldn't stand to hear someone saying such vile things about someone that didn't deserve it and who was presumed to be literally fucking dead. mike was furious, hurt, and unable to stay quiet, because he couldn't tolerate the fact that will had gotten a shitty lot both in life and in his perceived death. that not even tragedy could make people be decent towards him. mike has always been willing to fight all sorts of monsters for all of his friends, whether they be fictional, from another dimension, or humans just like him. that's just who he is.

but that doesn't mean that mike received similar treatment as will did. troy doesn't ONLY look at mike when he says all of the many homophobic shit that he says, nor is mike's the only reaction that we see. and mike having long hair isn't a crazy thing, because a lot of men in that era had long hair. the artists that he and eddie presumably listen to are known for it, even. no one makes fun of his clothes or calls him a fairy.

like. i could continue on this tangent, but the fact that mike gets bullied for being a satanical nerd does influence how he interacts with his own sexuality. we saw it in how he spoke about women in season three. we saw it in the rain fight. we saw it in how he acted with el. we saw it in the rink-o-mania fight. we saw it in how he reacts to the truth and his inability to speak his own. will struggles to live in this world as he is, and mike struggles to be someone that he isn't. his ability to "camouflage" and "fly under the radar" like robin does affects his character just as much as will's hyper-visibility does.

have all the headcanons you want, but textual analysis should actually be... oh, i don't know... based on the text of the show? and secondary sources, such as things that the duffers themselves have said about it? i don't understand what the issue is. i don't understand what's not clicking even years later.

[tallbluelady]

between you me and those two lalafall t posing that azure dragoon in submission in the corner there what is your favorite part about screenshoting writing or otherwise producing content for your character?

Buckle up cuz I've been rotating this concept in general for a while!

Okay, back in college (I still feel weird saying that) I lent a friend my notebook cuz he missed a lecture one time. He noted that I doodled all over them, and asked why I did so. My answer was something along the lines that I was going to burst if I didn't.

And it's still true for me to this day. I have to write or draw or do gpose/screenshots cuz otherwise I'm going to explode. An idea comes to me and stares me and compels me to execute it. Hell, when I get a good shitpost idea, it feels like my third eye snaps wide open and I cannot get any rest until I make some sort of token effort to try and make it real in some fashion.

As for a favorite part? I don't know! The Defunctland tweet about film making being the worst thing other than not making films is pretty accurate on occasion. I mean, I do enjoy the fruits of my labor. I was scrolling through my own blog smiling at the stuff I've made before I started writing this answer. But depending on the creation, creating the thing is more important to me than having the created thing.

Like this essay of an answer! Not only do I feel obligated to answer you, but I have to admit that writing this is going to be more satisfying to me than coming back to it later and reading it. And that's been true for most of my life. I remember goofing off with spriting at a young age and just enjoying editing the visual of Pokemon trainers without worrying about posting them for a while. It's just been this last year and like, high school that I would get consistent feedback on my creative endeavors. College and working at my last job didn't leave me with enough energy to do creative stuff and present it in a viewable fashion. So that leaves me wrapping my head around the idea that I am having positive human interactions because of my blorbos and blorbo related content.

As for Rowan being the central character of this content? She's more or less the character I've always made creative content for. Whether it be in a Night Elf form or original Elf form or Elezen form, she's just been the vessel for any creative endeavors that need a person-shaped avatar to fill. Now I can confidently say that Rowan is probably distinct from her predecessors by virtue of being worked on so much more lately, but she's just drawn from the same primordial muse ooze that I've always been drawing from.

I think I hit all the points I've wanted to here. Well, the peer-reviewed, undiagnosed ADHD is probably a big contributing factor as to why I feel like I'll burst as a way to combat boredom (and for how this reads lmao).

But, uh, yeah. Thanks for the ask, anon. I hope it wasn't far more than you bargained for XD

[coredrill]

reading my like. fifth gridman universe summary and whoever wrote this is describing everything in the most out of pocket fashion like 😩 spoilers under the cut ofc

src

starting off strong RIGHT outta the gate with

LMAO????? I WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE TRAILER BEING STRAIGHTBAITING I JUST HAD THE WRONG FUCKIN CHARACTER!!! like i realize there’s some uh. artistic liberties goin on here with the phrasing HOWEVER until i see the film for myself i am choosing to live in the universe where all four of gridman’s MCs are canon bi 😌 move the fuck over gridman, this is ssss.bisexuality now

CRYING AT THIS. POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW………..WAS THIS WHY HE EATS LIVE CRABS FROM THE RIVERBED. FUCKED UP IF TRUE. I LOVE HIM

valid, this happens to me too whenever i go for a run

💀💀.

obsessed w the implication that “two humans get inside a very large human-appearing being” does not need an explanation but “kaiju that was already Special gets a new form” does

i see you amemiya . also don’t wanna count my chickens before they hatch but this seems like such a nice arc for rikka? like i’ll have to actually see the film to be certain but it’s nice that she’s able to acknowledge what akane means to her, still want to be with akane, make the decision that her grief over akane isn’t more important than akane’s real happiness, honor what she had with akane on her own terms, AND THEN move on and accept yuuta’s confession. again i might be calling the shots too early but it seems like a nuanced and mature way to do “bisexual character ends up with character of opposite gender” without making it a “gay phase” or “oh they were REALLY just straight all along” (or at least better than honoka kzn or mitsuru frnxx 🥴) like it’s nice that she tells yuuta it’s good he waited so long to confess so that she could actually develop interest in him AND grapple w akane. i like that.

ALSO. I JUST WANTED TO SAY. I WAS RIGHT LMAO I CALLED IT THE THIRD THING WASN’T RECEIPTS BUT

TWO MONTHS AGO……………….I UNDERSTAND GAUMA WITH MY SOUL

and last but not least, a rite of passage

also unrelated but goddamn today has been “i knew i loved gauma but i didn’t know i loved him THAT MUCH” day 😭😭😭 i’ve cried over his neon genesis suit three separate times and i literally am looking forward to seeing this movie so much?? like!!!! i picked him as my fav before i even saw the show cause i fucking LOVEEEE his design so goddamn much and then he was a goofball mecha pilot and it was all well and good AND FUCKING THEN. he goes and finds some wayward people and loves them so goddamn hard in his own bizarre way and it challenges them all to grow and change and be better and it SCARS them too but they embrace it because they love him right back and then at the end he straight up says that it’s okay that he never found his princess, that he still loves her but now he has the dyna crew and they’re good enough on that same level and HAHXHCNFNCNMCJCJDJSJXJDN. unsurprisingly i am devouring an admission of platonic love equivalent to romantic love, who’d have guessed!!!! and i’ve just been so so happy that i get to see more of him in the future, even in his rex form, and i’ve felt so GOOD all day because i have that to look forward to 😭😭😭 sorry for being too sincere abt this but I AM FEELING THINGS ABOUT MEDIA and holy fucking shit i am so happy that gauma exists 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[melrosing]

re cersei and bad writing: what do you think of grrm giving jaime (the man) a sorta redemptive journey and giving him a beauty and the beast romance while cersei (the girl) is written as evil from birth and not given opportunities to do good and she doesn't even get a brienne in her story? and is the brienne cersei jaime love triangle sexist since it might have jaime throwing one woman under the bus to run off and have a happy ending? would it be sexist to give jaime a happy ending while cersei dies horribly?

I mean I’ve seen this kind of argument before, but I can’t really say I feel it’s a fair one?? I do agree that there aren’t enough redemption stories for women compared to all the redemptive stories there are for men. But I don’t agree that Jaime having one somehow precludes Cersei from having one? They are two separate characters who have made separate choices that have led them down different paths, and both retain full agency in that. So I just think it’s a false dichotomy.

Like for one thing, as per the ‘original outline’ (promise this is one of the only times you’ll hear me mention that thing), Jaime actually originally had Cersei’s arc - and honestly, she just wears in better. Jaime in Cersei’s position would’ve just been… Euron with none of Euron’s magic and none of his spice lmao. Just a staple evil king who overthrows everyone to get to the top, and is eventually toppled. Swap him out for Cersei, and that story is suddenly a hundred times more interesting. I would rather read a female version of this story any fucking day, because Cersei’s reasons for wanting power, ways of claiming it, and the things she does with it, were always going to be far more interesting than whatever King Jaime would’ve been. This kind of story actually takes on a new meaning in Cersei’s hands, whereas in Jaime’s it’s extremely same-old.

I also don’t agree with the idea that all female villains should have a redemption arc. Like it’d be good to see some, absolutely. But we don’t have enough female villains as it is, certainly not in ASOIAF, and they can’t all be all things at once. Like, not having that redemptive storyline doesn’t even make a villain less complex: Cersei is still one of the most complex characters in the series, even whilst she’s never done a good thing in her life lol. The narrative still affords her sympathy, and makes you feel it for her too - even if she’s never felt it for anyone else (well, besides Joff). The story gives you every reason to despise her, and then just refuses to let you off that easily. I just don’t agree with the argument that Cersei’s story would be better if it were just… something else entirely. We do not have an equivalent for her story elsewhere in ASOIAF. She’s not duplicating something done better elsewhere. Cersei’s unapologetic villainy is an important story in and of itself.

Meanwhile, I also think Jaime’s story is more interesting as it is. Again, if I wanted a snarky male villain fighting for power, I could honest to god get that anywhere. I could certainly find it elsewhere in ASOIAF. And it’s true, if I wanted a redemptive story, I could also find that in the form of Theon or Sandor - but meaning no offence to either of their stories… I just think Jaime’s is done better on this particular theme. In Theon and Sandor’s case, it’s a relatively straightforward case of ‘I’ve done bad things but then X happened and now I’ve changed my ways.’ Jaime wants to do that, but the narrative actually chooses to explore what that might look like for someone still painfully tied up with terrible institutions - and who really can’t just abandon them without consequence. Jaime is still the heir to House Lannister, after a fashion. He’s still Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. He’s still father to Tommen and Myrcella. He can turn his back on all that, and in ADWD he has, but you rarely get to see redemptive stories where it’s like, so here’s what that’s going to cost you. 

So it’s like, okay, the twins could swap narratives. But to literally what end. Jaime becomes a stock character. Cersei becomes… I mean I don’t know what a redemptive Cersei looks like, because it’s just so far removed from her existing story. She’d just be a totally different character, and what for?

As for the Cersei/Jaime/Brienne ‘triangle’, I’ve just never really thought of it as one. Jaime isn’t some prize that either of them win - what he means in Cersei’s story is entirely different to what he means in Brienne’s - for Brienne it’s a romance, for Cersei it’s… the psychological mess that comes with being Tywin’s children. They are separate stories with separate endings, and if Brienne weren’t even in the story, I think there’s every chance Jaime/Cersei would be coming to an end anyway. How exactly that ends I’m reserving my judgement on - there are too many undetermined variables for me to be throwing out verdicts already.

Also, I’ve never believed Jaime gets a ‘happy’ ending as such. I don’t believe he’ll die anything like the show, but I don’t think the point of his death will be intended as a point of contrast to Cersei’s.

[crybabyddl]

I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO REITERATE SOMETHING

Yes, let’s circle back to the beautiful performance of Edge of Great. More specifically the BODY LANGUAGE, particularly Julie and Luke’s, which I will be analyzing with gifs.

Exhibit A

Jealous Luke looks over at Julie and Reggie vibing

Julie is aware that she’s avoiding Luke, which she is doing so bc she realized her feelings for him thanks to Flynn earlier in the episode.

Since Julie has put the task of ignoring Luke upon herself even though she has no obligation to, she ends up failing her own mission. She sees Luke’s reaction to the lack of her attention.

She literally FREEZES. She’s emotionally worried to confront what she’s feeling and it’s beginning to manifest physically.

Exhibit B

It gets better y’all. After Luke finally has even a crumb of Julie’s attention, he beckons her over with his signature head tilt. This is important bc he did this with his longtime bandmate during the soundcheck of what would’ve been their biggest performance. If he feels comfortable enough using that body language with a girl he’s only known for, what, a week and a half(?) then you know this puppy boy’s got it BAD.

Julie is well aware that Luke is getting jealous. But in classic Julie fashion, she will try to tune it out instead of addressing it. Our wicked beauty doesn’t like confrontation and would rather just deny and avoid than potentially make things awkward, especially when she knows Luke would ask her about it at a later time.

The look on Julie’s face. Her eyes widen and the classic tight-lipped awkward smile is present. She’s literally saying “ok enough of that let’s get back to work doo doo doo” with her face. The way her body SWINGS back into performance mode as she faces the audience again. It may have been a split second, but when you’re deliberately trying to avoid looking into the dreamy (dead) eyes of someone you shouldn’t be crushing on, any amount of time feels too long. Plus, she knows Flynn is watching and doesn’t want her to lecture her (but she does anyway bc Flynn is observant and knows her bestie too well to let any action slip past her).

Exhibit C

Keep in mind; NONE OF THE GUYS KNOW WHY JULIE IS AVOIDING LUKE. Flynn, Alex, and Reggie have noticed the Juke chemistry, but it’s still too soon for them to get past the “we like each other but we’re too clueless to notice that we reciprocate” phase, so even though their respective besties know, they are still denying. Besides, Reg, Alex, and Flynn know better than to keep pestering if they want to keep their kneecaps. In reality they’re both smart enough to tell by this point, but for the sake of the plot and to make everything more adorably frustrating, Flynn has the collective brain cell under lock and key, leaving Juke to be like *dog tilting its head and making that “a-roo?” noise*

Anyway, Reggie notices Luke being snubbed after realizing that his extra dose of Julie time was slightly out of the ordinary. Luke is clearly concerned (look at his eyebrows and how his eyes travel from Reggie, to Julie, then to the audience to trying and get his mind off it and bring his focus back to the main goal; the performance.) If he can’t have the moment of connection with Julie that he so desperately craves, he’s gonna fill that void as best he can by connecting with the audience. >:’)

But Reggie’s trying to help Luke brush it off by conveying his reaction as ‘look at julie coming into her own! i told you she was a star! and you thought you were the lead singer? think again buddy this girl’s got you beat!’

But since Reggie isnt a master at hiding his feelings yet, especially around Luke, —who was able to get under his skin earlier (“girls, am i right?”)—Luke was easily able to see through that and interpreted what Reggie was saying as “look at julie go, she all in the zone. you’re literally making heart eyes at her get a grip you’re slacking lmao” (hence luke’s right eyebrow quirking at reggie like ‘dude seriously gimme a break u know i need attention like tinkerbell’) even though Reggie’s true message was a bit less harsh and more lovingly teasing, but it’s Luke, he sees things through his eyes and at his intensity, regardless of who it’s coming from. (This is one of the reasons why Luke comes off as selfish at times.)

Exhibit D

Poor Lukey boi can’t seem to catch a break today! Not only does Julie ignore him, then has a cute lil (platonic but it’s luke so it still makes him jealous >:P) moment, but now she has the AUDACITY to interact with Alex? The guy who was out learning Ghost 101 with this Willie guy instead of rehearsing with the band? What gives?! What’s he got that your moody ghost bf doesn’t? >:’(

He literally just watches, and even glances back in a way that, to me, screams ‘did i see that right? did i just see what i just saw with my own dreamy (but dead) eyes? say sike rn.’ \_(*_*)_/

Meanwhile, Alex pays no mind. I like to think that Alex is fully aware that Luke is an angry boy rn, but has learned to ignore it, especially this bc literally NOTHING happened. Either that or Alex has no clue and just truly thinks nothing of it and is having too much fun to think about Luke’s moody and childish behavior. Either way, Alex is just straight chilling and we love to see it *^_^*

Notice how Reggie is right there vibing with Julie and Alex. Luke feels a bit betrayed like ‘not you too! i know you were the first to turn on me but i figured since you’re such a golden retriever you’d be loyal and come back to my side!😠🥲’

Also; Luke approaches the rest of the group, wanting to be included in at least SOME of the vibing, but when Julie starts dancing and smiling with her buddy Alex, he backs up like

“you know what? nope. nevermind. not doin’ it.”

and the group’s like “i mean hey it’s your loss, but luke we want you to-”

“no, bc you chose to piss me off right in front of my face so no luke time for any of you! no cuddles, no hugs, no nothing! you made your bed, now lie in it and perish.”

Exhibit E & F: This is where it gets a bit interesting and theorized hehe...

Now we all know that this moment is just fucking ICONIC

WEOWH NEOW NEOW!!! WEOW NEHR NEHR NER-NER-NER NEHR NEHR NEOWHR!!! (wer nehr-nehr-ner-ner-nehr-nehr!!) WUEHNER-NEUHNER-NEHR-NEEOW-NEOWH! DLOOLOODDUH-DOODLAH-HOOBLUEH-NEOWHR-NEUEHR-NEEEEEEUOWRH!!!!

But hear me out– HEAR ME OUT!

What if... now don’t shoot the messenger who just so happens to also be the theorist... but what if...

WHAT IF!!! Luke didn’t!! plan this?!!!

Listen i know you’re probably thinking:

“Well uh Nicole, isn’t that kinda the whole point? It literally wasn’t planned until Charlie realized Madi was gonna be standing on the piano so he suggested the idea for the guitar solo to Kenny.”

And you’re right! But here’s the kicker:

What if Luke THE CHARACTER, just decided to do this as an “Alright that’s it! You wanna be like that? Well what if I just hit you with my super awesome radical totally cool wowza guitar skills & make a moment between us? Huh? What do you think about that? Hmm? HMMM???!!!”

He licks his lips & that to me read** like he was nervous (**read rhyming with bed just to clarify) so that means it could’ve been a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment thing.

In the second gif, you can see that Julie’s head is tilted, as if she’s a bit confused, but she’s also delightfully surprised.

Julie is quick to smile and scrunch her nose at Luke, something she does often. It tells Luke his impulsive action garnered a positive response from his favorite girl. Julie also starts to shake her head, but doesn’t go through the motion in full, which means she’s still a bit nervous to let her guard down. This is probably because she doesn’t know what he’s thinking or what he will do next. The lopsided smile mixed with the suave, gliding steps towards her probably brought her back to her daydream lol.

Luke’s happy bc Julie’s no longer ignoring him. He smiles like a GOOBER bc this chump is simping HARD for our Julie. So cute! :’)

Exhibit G

And hear me when I offer this:

What if Luke poofed the guys out???

I know, I know. It’s a bold claim to make. But the boys are special, considering they are a threat to Caleb (3 gay-variant himbos vs. a gay magician that could’ve been on broadway but decided to make some sort of deal with a devil so he just entertains capitalists who most likely sold their souls to get into the hgc which i will probably elaborate on in a future theory so dont do that bc im gonna lmao idc we all have big brains) So it’s not too crazy to think that they could share some ghost powers.

We know Caleb transported the guys during You Got Nothing to Lose. And the guys have left a place at the exact same time on more than one occasion.

And you may be thinking “well what if the guys poofed out to give juke a moment alone together?” And to that I say...

Look at Reggie. He isn’t looking back at Alex like “dude let’s give them some space.”

The timing of him turning around, at least to me, makes me think Reggie was surprised by Luke approaching the piano. (But also he lowkey was waiting for Luke to prove him wrong by doing something to get Julie’s attention so Reggie isn’t mad. Neither is Alex but he doesn’t like being told how or WHEN to ghost) Luke doesn’t even give his bandmates a warning eyebrow quirk, a hand signal, nothing. Reggie turns to Alex like ‘dude what is he DOING?’ And before he can even really convey that, they go *POOF*

This man had a plan and he was gonna do it, so he did. Whether it’s the power of love, they stopped performing, or Reggie and Alex actually poofed out, the odds worked in Luke’s favor so he and Julie could have a super special moment, a moment special enough to make an actual living person (Nick) wonder if a “hologram” has a better chance at connecting with Julie than he does.

Again, regardless of who made them poof or how they poofed, they mf poofed so Luke’s a happy hamster. (Idk it just sounded fitting instead of happy camper lol wait what if someone had 3 pet hamsters and named them alex reggie and luke🥺 someone buy some hamsters and let me be their godmother or their aunt and i’ll love them from afar.) Anyway, Luke’s thriving, flourishing, his crops are going to grow in time for the harvest.

You can see Julie lean back as she turns to see Luke. It’s... almost as if... She. Wasn’t. Expecting. Him. To. Be. There..??

Honey badger Luke bc he DGAF <|:) Bitch, it’s Luke mf Patterson and he’s gonna,, GET! IN! YOUR! FAAAACE!!!

You CANNOT tell me he’s not doing the absolute MOST to try and seduce Miss Juliana Mariposa Rose Molina.

Yes I’m making a headcanon that Julie has TWO middle names and that one of them is the spanish word for butterfly and that the other is her mother’s name. Also yes, I believe (i believe that we’re just one dream away from who we’re– oh, that’s not what we’re doing? okay, sorry!) that Juliana is Julie’s full name.

In this house we love and respect Juliana Mariposa (Dahlia)** Rose Molina

**I’m just putting Dahlia there for fun bc I can. :) Whether I’d consider it a possible middle name of hers depends. Anyway I just thought it was a cute thing to add bc it goes along with the other middle names I gave her *^_^* Also, I feel like I made a post giving a bunch of the characters middle names lemme see if I can find it later)

Ok i’m done this took me basically all day from like 10am until 4:08. I obviously took breaks in between, but not long ones...😶

[atopearth]

Collar X Malice: Unlimited Part 7 - Adonis Route

Honestly, I find the way Ichika joined Zero's side to be pretty iffy even back then in the original game, so I kinda hoped something like Kazuki dying would have changed here but I guess not.. I feel sorry for Kazuki that they reconciled but she still ended up joining Adonis alongside Akito, it must be a pretty big shock having to deal with that. (EDIT: guess he is gone..) Ichika being at the top and training people in marksmanship and stuff is very interesting lol. She looks all right with short hair but yeah, I agree with Zero, I liked the long hair more. Anyway, Zero wants her to find out if there's a traitor amongst them before the next X-Day (since the one 2 years ago failed) in 30 days. Anyway, it seems like you go through each of the Adonis' executors' stories so that's interesting. I'm just going to go from the ones I least like to the ones I like the most haha, and then leave Mikuni for last I guess. Well, Hana's story first then~

Kobayashi Hana

I guess Hana is as bright as ever. I quite enjoy seeing her try and dress Ichika up and make her cuter lol. On the other hand, seeing her mercilessly cut through that panda cake was pretty hilarious. One thing I enjoyed insight into was hearing that Hana has been avoiding going to Isshiki's concerts to avoid causing any trouble to them with the police just in case they come to crash it because of her or something. Honestly, I was pretty impressed. Like, she's always been pretty selfish, and she's always prioritised her love for Isshiki above everything, but to see that she could stop herself to protect him was nice in its own way. Even though she's a pretty ruthless killer, and even though she's obsessed with Isshiki, I guess she does think things through a bit so that Isshiki won't ever have to suffer because of her. Hmm Ichika seemed to reminisce about Kazuki, does that mean he died? Anyway, these investigations are short? Are they really just segments of story for Ichika to become friends with each person? Lol. I mean, Ichika literally did nothing but talk about random stuff with Hana lol. I actually find it rather endearing that Hana and Ichika can fight so openly about their feelings and understand that they actually do want the best for each other, it's kinda nice how they became good friends under such circumstances.

Soda Manabu

Honestly, I kinda wish we could just pick one character and continue until the investigation completes because it's sooo annoying having to press on each one like 7 times just to get a couple of lines of story each time Zzz. Anyway, gotta admit Ichika is pretty judgmental towards Soda, and actively tries to "fix" him and thinks what he does is "wrong", which is pretty annoying tbh. Just because she doesn't understand games, she thinks it's useless to Adonis, and then judges him for his eating habits? Lol. Anyway, at least she tried playing his game though lol, and even got lessons from him haha. I see, I can understand why Ichika would go to Zero for "revenge" but not sure about the "sadness" thing if that's what she's going for tbh. Losing Yanagi, Enomoto, Shiraishi, Okazaki and Kazuki is a big hit and I can understand it shattering her world, but going to Adonis is basically breeding everything that killed everyone important to her. Anyway, Sasazuka's pained voice telling Ichika not to go to Adonis really hurt. I'm sure he's really hurting over the fact he didn't notice the weapons that ended up killing everyone, alongside survivor's guilt of being the only one who survived out of the group, and then now not even being able to stop Ichika from going over to the other side.. It's painful to see. Anyway, lmao, Soda is probably a tamer little brother than Kazuki. His words are harsh but you can tell he only talks like that to protect himself, so any time he swears, I don't bother taking him seriously, he's a hurt little kid. It's cute how Ichika mixed his hated eggplants into the gratin and he didn't even notice, but he ate the whole thing happily🤣 He's so adorable lmao, especially when his face went red and he told her he'd eat her stuff again (even though she shouldn't hear it), and then he ran off🤣

It seems like Soda regrets his actions much more than I initially thought. He was able to get revenge, but now he's even more scared of death because of what he had done, and now he's just in this never-ending cycle of fear, needing to have Zero's power to protect himself, doing his bidding so that he won't die, but at the same time being so scared of his life that the only time he probably feels "safe" is when he plays his games. I love how happy he was when Ichika gave him a SS tier rare item and he put it on, locked it and kept it in a special box🤣 That's so cuteee. Definitely enjoyed Soda's mini part more than I thought hahaha, he's such a cute little kid, which makes it kinda sad lol. Soda blowing up and getting mad at Ichika for playing solo and saying she didn't need connections when she made him realise he wanted to start building connections because of her was really...heartwarming. Soda gave up on people and a lot of things thinking that he could never have them because that's how it was considering how people are, but he changed his mind after Ichika so insistently barged into his life, and now to say that it's practically useless would be extremely hurtful to him. I was really impressed with Soda, and I'm happy that he even told Ichika that she can rely on him more, he's such a sweet boy🥲

Uno Suzune

Lmaooo poor Shion, the woes of a big brother. I found it hilarious how Suzune would give him the green peas she doesn't like even though Shion hates them too, definitely something siblings would do🥲 I superrrr agree with Suzune about handwriting diaries instead of writing a blog! I mean, I have both obviously, but I definitely have different feelings when I read my blog and when I read my writing in my diary. Through my blog, I can easily read my exact thoughts and get to the gist of what I'm talking about, but with my diary, I can see stuff like when I started getting tired of writing, when I felt like changing my pen, and a lot of other feelings that can't be seen or portrayed properly in a typed blog, and yes, the memories of me writing all this usually comes back better when I've written it, mainly because I either say it in the entry or because I can actually remember sitting there and putting time into writing about my life/day.

Guess Suzune's pretty yandere for her brother if any kind of possible romantic interest from Ichika gets her other self to come out and threaten her about it lol. Anyway, it's cute how she’s starting to kinda think of Ichika as a big sister. Suzune willingly taking Ichika to Shion and calling Ichika Chi-chan is probably the biggest improvement you can get considering she could stab you as the worst case hahha. Well, Suzune was definitely cuter than I thought and seeing her so vulnerable, shy but wanting to protect Shion and getting out of her shell for him was sweet. Are there endings for each executor? Well, anyway, Suzune saying she would be sad if anything happened to Ichika was really sweet.

Sugawara Rika

Lmao, I forgot Sugawara is obsessed with Zero, this is going to be fun I guess. It's kinda funny that getting a 50,000 yen strawberry entices her lol, I'm surprised Zero approved it as an expense, like dang, can I have one too, I'm curious lol. Lmao when Sugawara wanted to keep the strawberries as a memento instead of eating it😂 She should have been convinced when Ichika said it'll become a part of her hahahah. LOL when Sugawara started lecturing Ichika about dressing better in front of Zero, and then tried to get her makeup to make her look better, but then Ichika runs away😂

Okay, I loved the girls dress up night with Hana, Ichika and Sugawara. It was so funny how they started arguing about what Ichika should wear and then became fast enough friends to recommend each other stuff and then wear it for fun. I loveee that they had a CG for their new outfits because they're all so pretty, I love them! I think Hana's is my favourite because it's so simple but cute in a different way from her usual. I guess it's kinda cute how in Hana's investigation, Hana focuses on Ichika's clothing fashion, but Sugawara takes it further or I guess mainly focuses on skincare, makeup and haircare haha. I guess it's nice that Sugawara is definitely much more open about standing up for herself and other women when it comes to men who try to objectify them or think of them as "lesser". She's become stronger. I think it's kinda sad to see that amongst all the other happy mini endings with the other executors, Rika's one with Ichika is actually pretty sad because it was through them bonding that Rika noticed Ichika's true intentions of revenge, and that's why they can never truly see eye-to-eye and be friends.

Ogata Tomoki

I guess I didn't expect Ogata to be the type to go to batting cages, but I even more didn't expect him to reserve sweets to make sure he can get them hahaha! It's nice that he enjoys wagashi though, I definitely should have tried it when I went to Japan, but I completely forgot😭 Aww, Ogata had such a sweet daughter! Whenever his wife wasn't looking, she would eat his hated tomatoes for him! Such a kind kid😭 I've never heard of monaka before, so I googled it and they look nice!! Kinda like an ice cream sandwich but not with ice cream and has red bean paste and other stuff inside I guess? I would totally eat it. Lmaoo at Ichika's impression of the typical salaryman😂😂 It's true though, I can't imagine Ogata going home to watch comedy shows with a beer in his hand🤣 Aww it was so cute how Ogata did an impersonation of a character in a drama because he got so used to doing it for his daughter. But lmao at Ichika though, telling him what he can improve on since Adonis might have end of the year parties he could use it for, imagine a bunch of terrorists partying for something so normal like the end of the year hahah😂😂

It's actually really sad how Ogata feels like he can't be a father anymore because he knows that he prioritises his current ideals and dreams more than his daughter. And I guess considering how long they've been separated and how much he has changed, it would probably feel awkward to try and be a normal father, but I guess at least through Ichika's encouragement, he's willing to try and reply to his daughter's letter of wanting to meet him. I think the reason why I've always liked Ogata is because he doesn't regret his actions. Like, he knows that he's killed people and that's why he doesn't want to see his family and get them involved with what he's doing right now, because he knows the gravity of his actions. But at the same time, his hatred for Fujii, the police and the whole mistaken arrest that led to such injustice for him and changed his whole perspective on life is something he can't let go of, and that's why it led him to Adonis and to fulfill his "new" ideals. He knows it's a path that will not necessarily have a "good ending" but he's willing to sacrifice everything for it, and I think that's what makes me attracted to his character. Anyway, LMAO at how insistent Ichika was on seeing young Ogata with a buzzcut playing baseball, absolutely hilarious when she was ready to tie him up with a rope and search his room😂😂 It's pretty sad to see that Ogata wanted to be like Isshiki and save people with his justice without faltering in this cruel world but he just wasn't able to do it because hatred was what fuelled him to move forward and not forgiveness or hope. But I'm glad he encouraged Ichika to listen to Isshiki's song and hear Kazuki's guitar, because seeing Ichika show her emotions again, even if just a little bit was nice...

Uno Shion

Aww, it's cute how much Shion cares about Suzune, but also so cute how he's embarrassed to say he likes chocolate🤣 It's nice that he's more cooperative than Suzune I guess hahaha. I never expected Shion to like to paint though, that's interesting. Anyway, it's pretty sad to think that the "outside world" was much more unforgiving to the Uno siblings, and that it was only after they joined this terrorist organisation did they get to feel safe and secure that they have shelter and food without people going crazy on them. In that sense, it's understandable how much more comfortable Adonis would be for them. Aww Shion and Suzune getting excited over a chocolate cake is so adorable. Them saving up to buy a home for themselves is so heartwarming, it makes me really want to cheer for them. I'm dying from how cute they are trying to feed Ichika the chocolate cake too because they really like her and think she's really kind like their mother was before. Shion buying a cheese tart for both Ichika and Suzune was sweet, she's like a part of his thought process when buying stuff for his sister hahaha. Lol when he just shoved it into her mouth instead of giving it to her like a normal person🤣 Lmaoo when Shion drew a portrait of Ichika stuffing herself with cheese tart🤣 To think that Shion was so serious about drawing that he's actually thinking about a future with it after the X-Day stuff..it’s so endearing.

Sera Akito

It must be difficult for both Akito and Ichika to talk to each other. Just seeing each other's faces would make them remember the past and compare it to the present, making their whole encounter just...painful to watch. It's so like Akito to hide that he dislikes shiitake mushrooms so that it wouldn't inconvenience Ichika and make her remove it from the cooking menu. Lmaooo at Akito being so scared of bugs, enough that Ichika has to call cockroaches dark fairies to make him feel more at ease🤣 I'm sure Akito must be hurting too, but his consideration for Ichika above himself really makes my heart feel so warm. Awww, my heart swooned when Akito said his ideal type was Ichika! If only there was an Akito route~ Anyway, I didn't expect Akito and Soda to really interact but lmaoo at Soda having spent millions of yen on in-game stuff, Soda is right though, gacha rates are cruel😭😭 Aww, it was so cute how honest Soda was about wanting to have defeated the boss with Akito instead of dumping him and killing it himself, since what Soda values is playing together with other people. So, Kazuki was stabbed by a guy who was influenced by Adonis into taking revenge against his bullies or something, and I guess Kazuki was killed when he tried to step in? Honestly, I feel terrible for Akito. He was already feeling doubts and guilt over getting revenge for his sister, but after experiencing Kazuki's death, he must hate his choice for joining Adonis even more than before. It honestly broke my heart to see Akito break down like that not knowing how he could atone for his sins in causing Kazuki's death. His heartwrenching screams really cut me and made me tear up from all the pain Akito must have been bottling up all this time. Akito will always be my favourite side character, I think his pain, his feelings and his emotions were portrayed so well.

Sanjo Keisuke

Aww, Sanjo's favourite food being ramen is very him, kinda hahaha. I can't imagine a 7kg bowl of ramen and having to finish that in 30 minutes😱 On the other hand, Sanjo being into arcades is kinda unexpected, lmaooo at Ichika thinking he would play the crane games😂 I didn't think about the fact that Ichika is a former cop just like him now, I wonder how he feels about that or whether he even cares😅 Lmao at Sanjo seriously answering Ichika what his type of woman is and then even describing the body shape with sound effects😂 I can't believe Ichika just tickled Sanjo and made him laugh like crazy, I would have liked to see that😆😆 I think it would have been so nice if Ogata was Sanjo's boss, I feel like their values and ideals of justice back in the day would have matched well since Sanjo probably desired something "pure" back in the day and hoped to be a part of an organisation that helped people, and Ogata was always helping people already, so they would have worked well together. It's just sad that they both got betrayed by their ideals of what the police should have been to them and others.

 The idea that you can't feel any fear because you don't value your life is a pretty interesting and saddening thought. Maybe because I get that feeling sometimes. I agree with Sanjo, Zero definitely doesn't truly care about those ideals of saving the weak that he keeps spouting, he's not like Mikuni, and that's also imo the reason why Zero believes that he and Mikuni will never truly understand each other. Ichika and Sanjo eating ramen together is so cute lol.

Mikuni Rei

Lmao at Zero calling Mikuni an old man for liking fish, disliking carbonated drinks and other junk food because they're not nutritional hahaha. Otherwise, nothing much to say tbh, Mikuni has always been a rather bland character to me? I like him, but at the same time I don't because even though it's interesting to see that he actually has "noble" goals compared to Zero, the fact is that Mikuni as he himself said has been told that he's a "saviour" of sorts, and I think that really exemplifies the type of person Mikuni is. Someone who believes that he can and wants to "save" people in his own way as if he is someone above them all, but at the same time, he is very apparently flawed exactly because he is like that. He's not someone who truly understands the people "below" him and he also doesn't seem to perceive that as something that can be helped, and that's why even though his goals are "noble", he's not really noble at all. But it doesn't really change the fact that Mikuni is kind in his own way though. Mikuni eating shrimp crackers is so cute😂

Saeki Yuzuru

To be honest, I've always liked the chill policeman Saeki, and I personally think Zero likes that version of himself too. I feel like he always enjoyed just talking about stuff with Ichika during their drinking charades, and had fun visiting her. But at the same time, I feel like because of the existence of Adonis and Mikuni, Zero never really allowed his negative emotions to be "accepted" in order for him to move on, so instead it just continued piling up inside to the point of indifference towards the world and others imo. Anyway, it's sad, seeing Zero and Mikuni happily play chess together. They really look like two brothers just having fun in their own way. Hearing them say that they've been doing this since they were kids makes it all the more saddening when they realised that despite how "close" they were to each other, they never really understood each other. In a sense, I feel like in the end, both Mikuni and Zero use Adonis as a way to get the things they want and feel like it's one of the only ways they can do it? I mean, I do feel like Mikuni treasures his relationship with Zero more than Adonis or anything else, because when it comes down to it, I feel like he tries really hard to understand Zero by trying to see things from his perspective and hanging out with Ichika, the one that Zero thinks understands him best and the one Zero likes the most. On the other hand, Zero seems to use Adonis as a way for revenge of his mother and as a way to vent those emotions and scars he got, but at the same time Adonis also granted him Mikuni (a brother), and it gave him opportunities and power.

Zero definitely loves Ichika in an obsessed way, probably the only way he thinks he can love someone, since he doesn't want to become "weak" like his mother was. So if he felt anything like love, he would prefer it to be a love that would destroy him, because in a sense I think I can understand that sentiment of wanting the person you love to solely focus on yourself and no one else, whether that is hatred or whatever emotion doesn't matter, because being the entire focus of someone else's is a sort of "love" to enjoy, so I don't blame Zero for his twisted "love" lol. Especially since you can tell how much he has always enjoyed his after work beers and just chatting with Ichika. I quite enjoyed their little date walking around reminiscing the past and discovering new things they missed out on, now I really want to eat crepes🥲 The ending where Ichika kills Saeki is pretty sad though. Seeing Saeki the most relieved and happy he has ever been is probably what made me kinda happy for him though. He still sucks, but like Ichika said, I can't hate him, because it was true that he did reduce the sadness of many (whilst creating sadness for many others too though) and at the core, he was like in a sense a guy who consumed so much sadness from everywhere around him, always in pain, always sad despite his appearance, and thinking that makes it difficult for me to truly hate him.

Overall, I like the Adonis route! Initially, I was a bit sceptical whether it was really necessary and whether it would be interesting at all but I really loved bonding with all the executors. Seeing more of the human and emotional sides, seeing them warm up to Ichika and become friends with her really made me enjoy the "what could never be" part of it all. I think I especially loved Akito's because of how emotional it was tying into Kazuki and everything. But I also really enjoyed seeing the different sides of all of them. It really makes me wish Ichika got an individual route with like Akito and Sanjo and Ogata because I loveee them🥲🥲

Overall Review

I definitely enjoyed CxM: Unlimited much more than I thought I would! In the beginning, Sasazuka and Okazaki's routes kinda made me wonder whether I really wanted to continue this, but I'm so glad I got through them because I enjoyed Enomoto's, Yanagi's and Shiraishi's routes a lot! If I ranked them, I probably liked Shiraishi's the most, then Yanagi, Enomoto, Okazaki and then Sasazuka. It's definitely what I wanted in a fandisk, which is more fluffy romance and just bonding with all the guys even more, and I absolutely loveeee the potential romances with Yoshinari and Minegishi, they were so unexpectedly nice. Definitely no plot but that's okay since it's a fandisc and I think it fulfilled really well what its goal was when it comes to more romance in the story haha. 8/10! I'm definitely going to miss the characters, I'm so attached to Enomoto and them lol.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Okay but I feel like Older Bakugo Sister could work and keep Bakugo bullying Midoriya while having the sister be important to the story

1. Have Bakugo not respect his sister (maybe powerful quirk but liked fasion more or even dropped out of hero school)

2. Use the semi-popular idea of Mitsuki being anti-quirkless

3. Have the sister not agree with the anti-quirkless shit and protect Midoroiya whenever around and Bakugo doing shit

That was kinda the third option and like. I do think this would vibe and then yeah when Bakugo gets older and goes to UA and stuff he'd start realizing shit was fucked and reach out and the sister would know exactly what's going through his head and how to help him work though it.

Though tbh Idk if she'd be into the fashion stuff with the family I think she'd be more of a "I would have cut off contact if not for trying desperately to keep my little brother out of that situation'(..... Oh I think this sister would def vibe with the Todoroki siblings lmao).

Speaking of let's. Let's talk about Mitsuki for a hot minute because uh. Yikes.

I know. I know when I asked about her one of y'all tried to assure me that she's just very similar to Bakugo in the personality department and their relationship is comedically tsundere with each other but they love each other.

But....... Honestly if feels as about as 'comedic' as the stuff about the sports festival. The yelling and the smacking him upside the head I would give a :/ to but digress as the comedy. But her calling him weak for getting kindapped and being on board with the dorm room situation because she's tired of dealing with her kid's attitude...

I talked on this initially but like.

When you have a character, or in this case two, where they are loud and violent and show affection in the same kinda way of insults and roughhousing, it needs to be better balanced. Both parties need to be aware and on board with this and able to communicate when things go too far. Because if it isn't, it turns bad real fast.

This is why I'm fine with Bakugo's various friendships and even potential romances with the class(especially once he learns to be a bit better overall but even initially). Because they are equals who can choose to stick by him or to leave and can talk to him when he goes too far. Even if it's a character like Izuku who has known Bakugo at his worst, or a character like Shoto who has been a victim of abuse before, they still have that more balanced initial relationship as they enter it of their own volition as equals. Yes, it could still turn abusive if Bakugo didn't learn when to take a step back and be a better person even if he isn't a 'nice' person, but even then there is still more of an equal initial setup.

But having it as a parent and child dynamic..... Even if the kid is the most mature and understanding kid, they still have no choice but to deal with someone who has power over them saying and doing shit like that. And yeah they're a kid so they won't quite understand. Even in this case where he is a lot like his mom, and should get 'that's how I am, that's how I show affection, it is the same for her', there is no real assurance that it's true. Because he can't really talk to her if she goes too far.

And that's if we do take the more generous assumptions that her actions are supposed to be interpretated as the same kind of 'grumpy asshole' way.

Because like. Then you look at the few things she says and everything about how Bakugo is as a person..... Like. Her blaming his 'attitude' on other people's praise of him rather than her parenting. Or even parenting in the first place by teaching him to accept praise without being an arrogant fuck about it. Because regardless of what other people do or say about you, your parents' opinion is going to hit you the hardest, good or bad.

And that absolutely has an effect on the whole.... even in canon there's the vibes of 'gifted kid burnout' and the 'superiority-inferiority complex' and the overall need to be the best and prove it and anything that might imply he's not enough is an insult. I might run with that more in what I'm planning but it's definitely something within Canon which is /why/ I'm running with it I'm not making shit up. Wel0.l I am because I've barely seen Canon but this is /what I have seen from Canon/ which says something doesn't it?

And yeah let's talk on what you said about a common headcanon being that she's anti-Quirkless because. I low-key mentioned it but even with their peers and adults at school saying shit, when Izuku and Bakugo had their falling out as kids, why didn't their parents do something? Because again, especially at that age, your parents' opinion matters more than the teachers. So did Mistuki not notice that her son was no longer bringing his best friend over for playtime? Or did she ask and agree with what he was doing?

I mean.

Look. I am nice and I'm not a hypocrite since I already said I was going to have fucking /Endeavor/ atone and fix his shit. So I'm going to. Ya know. Not make her worse/irredeemable when I already did that when he is absolutely worse because he intentionally did shit.

So my interpretation when I write her is just that she is not aware of how much it effects Bakugo's mentality. How much of the confident persona he puts on is fake, how much he things she hates him and how.... overall fucked everything about his mentality was.

She's just being herself and thinks everything's fine because she unintentionally taught him that speaking up about how she makes him feel will just get him belittled. So he never told her how much she hurt him, how much the people around him make him so scared and on edge that if he breaks for a minute they're going to treat him worse because that's what people do.

And eventually he will snap. And tell her everything. And she'll be horrified at what she did and how she never realized. And she'll take a few days to stew on that before talking to him and apologizing and promising to do better. And she will! And eventually they will have a kind of 'comedically tsundere' vibes but they make sure to check in and communicate.

But for now it's a hot mess and they really need to work through it and I do think Bakugo getting away from her and with some healthier people would be a great thing. Which is one reason I'm having the dorms be there from the beginning in my AU.

I know I went on a fucking rant but like. Hot damn do I have some THOUGHTS™.

Also I know Bakugo has a dad but uh. Man is very much not the one who wears the pants in this relationship and he is more of the 'I was over on the bench' guy here. I don't think he realized how bad things were either because things worked between him and Mitsuki, and Bakugo /seemed/ fine so while he might have realized 'maybe y'all should step back and talk for real to actually resolve issues', he ultimately didn't push hard enough for that to happen. Again probably because he thought things were fine but he would def blame himself in the long run.

[carcinogenical]

UR DESIGNS SLAP I’m currently narrating CnP to my friend group which is why I’ve been drawing it but your designs are so consistently expressive of the character I can’t help but see them while I’m tryna do my own lmao I’m wondering what inspired ur luzhin

WOOOO that sounds so fun wish you and your friends the best >:3 and thank you so much aw man it makes me happy to hear you feel that way🥺💖 your designs are super dynamic and expressive, and definitely unique no need to worry about that, love your takes on the characters they really fit!

Whew now this is a fun question . 😏 LUZHIN man we love to hate! He was so fun to designnn one of the ones that gave me more trouble

I guess like my usual process I thought about what traits I think is most important about him for people to see when they look at him (apart from violent urges )..... and I think it is he is very conservative and narrow minded and rigid feeling, so I decided to use square straight shapes to help convey that in my silhouette

I thiiink usually I am pretty literal to the book description but here I gave him things that weren’t mentioned like little glasses and moustache. I think just when I was in the stage of tweaking his features around it just stuck with me because it gave him I thought a more distinguished and intellectual type look which is how he wants to be perceived LOL . Also it exaggerates his small little features hahaha... to match small brain

But for clothes/color scheme I tried to stay true to the iconic assault to the eyes outfit that Dostoevsky described but also took inspiration from paintings I found from the time period

Like these fashionable gents :)

[scraregenrecs]

Rec Roundup - May 2021

Hello friends! It’s June! (i know, i know, wtf, right?) Which means that we have a nice long list of fics from May that we know you all will love. There’s a little bit of everything. Everyone can find something they enjoy on this smorgasbord of rare ships and gen!

So, look through the list and buckle in for some AMAZING fic!

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Aeration by @middyblue, Alexis & David, rated T, 4495 words

Summary: Isn’t her whole life proof that she can handle it? However shitty life gets, she puts one heel in front of the other and keeps walking, keeps going to the next adventure, the next thrill, because it’s when you stop that it catches up to you; it’s when you stop and there’s no one there that you start disappearing.

The night before she leaves Schitt's Creek, Alexis gets a text from Sebastien.

Rec [written by doingthemost]: This is a stunning fic that takes an unflinching look at the people that Alexis and David used to be, and the people they've become. I haven't read an Alexis character study that touched me quite so deeply. Check the tags!

and i’ve known you for a long time by @hullomoon, Stevie/Twyla, rated Gen, 574 words

Summary: While moving in together, Twyla discovers something from their childhood

Rec [written by samwhambam]: I love this little fic for multiple reasons! Stevie! Twyla! MOVING IN TOGETHER! REDISCOVERING SHARED MEMORIES. I love it all. Give it to me. It’s a sweet little slice of life and hullomoon killed it. Again. Per usual.

Every Night Has Its Dawn by @lilythesilly, Stevie/Ruth, rated G, 633 words

Summary: Everytime Ruth takes her to a new place, whether it’s a karaoke bar or a concert in the park or a cheesy tourist trap, or to try her favorite foods (sushi is so far a yes, the bistec Ruth made in her kitchen this afternoon is so far a yes, kimchi is so far a no) she watches Stevie with a bright smile, like she’s anticipating whatever her reaction is, good or bad.

Stevie never wants to stop chasing that smile. She’ll follow Ruth to a million different places in a million different cities if it means she gets to see that smile over and over again.

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Ruth + Stevie + Karaoke

Rec [written by doingthemost]: This is so pitch perfect, I could see it easily unfolding on my screen. I love the way you instantly get to understand the dynamics of their relationship through Stevie's amusing POV. This is a must-read for anyone curious about the ship!

The Future Is This Moment by floosilver8, Jake/David, rated E, 1774 words

Summary: Mostly canon compliant, David's POV for just before the cold open of S03E01 Opening Night

Rec [written by yourbuttervoicedbeau]: I’m such a sucker for David/Jake and this is super hot! I also love the tense shift at the end there.

High and Warm by lonelygrocerystore, Stevie/Twyla, rated T, 567 words

Summary: A (very stoned) Stevie and Twyla share a moment at Mutt's barn party and Stevie has feelings.

Rec [written by samwhambam]: Give me ALL the Stevie and Twyla making out while stoned at Mutt’s barm party. It is SUCH an underrated moment in the show. They both looked fantastic and it’s time we all really appreciated it. This fic is a combination of stoned making out and queer feelings and I really enjoyed it. So much. Highly recommend it.

In her brown eyes (the ones she gave to me) by @sarahlevys, Stevie/Ruth, rated G, 600 words

Summary: "I'm dating someone. Her name is Stevie."

Her mother tsks under her breath. "Stevie, ha? Sounds like a boy's name."

A laugh escapes Ruth despite her nerves. "Well – yes. I guess so."

Ruth tells her mother about her new relationship.

Rec [written by samwhambam]: This fic gave me mom feels. 😂 I read this and was really rooting for Ruth and I was so happy that her mom was receptive to meeting Stevie. It really breathes life into a character that we got limited screen time from. It’s a nice little treat!

Let’s all be with us by [orphaned account], Stevie/Albany/Jake, rated M, 1556 words

Summary: Jake and Stevie are at Café Tropical for their weekly milkshake the night of Jocelyn's baby sprinkle. After Albany overhears Klair saying breaking news: we still fucking hate her in regards to her at The Wobbly Elm, she flees back to where they'd indulged in lunch earlier that day, meeting the two of them in the process.

Rec [written by yourbuttervoicedbeau]: The thing I love most about fanfic is when I read something that makes me consider a character in a new way — or, honestly, makes me consider them full stop, which is something I’ve never really done with Albany. But this fic fleshes her out and gives her a damn good day.

my dress on the floor by @5ambreakdown, Stevie/Twyla, rated T, 4332 words

Summary: David smiles and squeezes his hand. “You’re cute.”

Before Patrick can respond any sort of way to that, he hears the door open behind them and turns to see Stevie enter, her eyes widening and mouth opening slightly. He hears her whisper, “Oh shit,” as she takes in Twyla behind the counter.

Huh.

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are stevie and twyla together? will patrick ever understand fashion? did i just vomit a bunch of words onto the page and didn't double check to make sure it was coherent? all these and more just might be answered!

Rec [written by samwhambam]: This is such a fun fic!! It’s told from Patrick’s POV as he slowly starts to notice some uhhhhh things between Stevie and Twyla. I love the Stevie and Twyla of it and I love David and Patrick being the classic best friends and getting super into it. I was smiling the entire time. It’s such a good fic and I kept getting distracted while writing this review because I keep reading the fic instead lmao.

rise and spin / over and over again by @anniemurphys, Alexis/Twyla, rated T, 2384 words

Summary: The apartment is dark when Alexis gets home, curtains drawn, air heavy. She wants to give in to the darkness, to curl up in it – but she also wants to pull her wife out.

Seven moments of grief, and one moment of hope.

Rec [written by doingthemost]: Please mind the tags! That said, if this is something you're comfortable reading, you'll find a devastating, breathtaking, captivating story in so few words. This is a fic that reminds me of how powerful fandom can be, and how we can often find solace and empathy in telling stories through these characters we love.

save it from the funny tricks of time by @hullomoon, David & Moira, rated G, 1114 words

Summary: While David helps her pack up her wigs, Moira reflects on their relationship.

Rec [written by yourbuttervoicedbeau]: David and Moira’s relationship is one that always fascinates me, and the parallel between the opening of the first episode of the show and this fic is so brilliantly done.

Sweaters In the Dead of Summer by @kindofspecificstore, Heather/Rachel, rated T, 2195 words

Summary: Rachel desperately wants to bury herself in the covers and never come out again. The lights were off last night- Heather didn’t have to see the patchwork that makes up her back and shoulders, the speckling of white and pink dots in varying stages of healing scars. She doesn’t like it. She’s not proud of it. But Rachel doesn’t really know how to fix it either. It’s not embarrassing, per se, just awkward to explain.

You know that feeling when you want to pop a zit?

Like that, but all the time. Except it’s all you think about. And you can’t control it.

Rec [written by doingthemost]: Yay, more Heather/Rachel! Please mind the tags with this one, but with that out of the way, this is a touching look at their relationship (every relationship in this fic, in addition to the Heather/Rachel, is treated so well!) and the importance of being seen and cared for.

To the end of reckoning by @dinnfameron, Patrick & Ronnie, rated T, 1308 words

Summary: He should get David a coffee. He could deliver it to the motel, see how he’s doing. His arm is raised halfway to flag Twyla down when he catches himself. David doesn’t want to see him right now. He may never want to see Patrick ever again. The thought makes him sick.

“Brewer.” Patrick turns at the sound of his name. There aren’t many people in this town who call him that, and sure enough, there’s Ronnie Lee at a table near the front. He’d missed her, somehow.

“You look like shit,” she says.

Rec [written by yourbuttervoicedbeau]: I love Patrick, I love Ronnie, I love anything and everything that explores the contentious relationship between the two of them. I love post-barbecue angst. Basically I love every single thing about this.

you make everything good by @rosedavid, Alexis/Twyla, rated G, 835 words

Summary: “Stop being grumpy, it’s lame."

Twyla has to go and visit her gaggle of cousins for two weeks, and Alexis is pouty about her girlfriend leaving for so long.

Rec [written by doingthemost]: This is an adorable little slice-of-life type of fic with some fun banter and some true-to-the-show Twyla moments! It's cute and funny and exactly what I love about the ship.

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Happy reading, friends!