#as always i hope the characterization is good!

[webco-dawnn]

Shiratorizawa Hcs !!

This posts includes hcs about Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tendou Satori, Semi Eita, and Shirabu Kenjiro. I apologize for the short post and short selection of people, I'm just not too sure how to characterize the rest of them..

Ushijima

When you two first get together, he isn't really sure what to do since he hasn't had any past relationship experience. So he tries to take it slow. He's a little too nervous to kiss you, so he just decides on hand holding for now. And you bet he's gonna be holding your hand for a while.

He's not too good with his words, not really knowing how to voice his emotions or what words to describe the way that he's feeling, so his love language is physical touch and gift giving. He'll often give you little trinkets that he finds that reminds him of you, or he'll just come up from behind you and wrap his arms around his waist, pressing a kkiss to your temple. (Once you two have gotten comfortable in your relationship, he finds it's easier kissing you now since he's not as nervous as before)

Ushijima's hand is LARGE compared to yours. Like, seriously, he's like a giant compared to you. When he puts his hand on your thigh, his hand covers most of your thigh, when you two are holding hands, your fingers are usually engulfed by his.

He's not the type to get jealous easily, but he does get a little jealous when you're talking to someone else without him. He'll try and hold off on showing his jealousy, but he can't take it any longer and eventually just walks up to you, holding your hand without saying a word.

Tendou

He'll be really scared to confess to you. He's scared he's too ugly or weird-looking and that you'll laugh in his face when he confesses. Due to the bullying in his past, it hasn't made it easy to make friends, so he's just glad he has you. He doesn't want to confess in fear of ruining the friendship between you two. But when you come to him and tell him how you feel, he's pleasantly surprised. He just kinda stays there for a moment before smiling and telling you how he feels as well.

When you two start dating, he starts to get a little more affectionate. He'll hold onto your hand or your arm, sneak in a little more compliments directed to you, (he already compliments you a lot) and, if you'll let him, he'll draw little stars and other shapes on your hand while you're doing something else.

When Tendou has a bad day, he always comes to you for comfort, since he knows you'll be the one to give him the reassurance he needs. He'll sit down right next to you, letting his head fall onto your shoulder as a sigh escapes his lips. You usually pull him closer, sometimes even into your lap, and just hold him. Tracing shapes into his back while asking him what went wrong about today.

Semi

When you come over to his house, he'll show you his guitar and even play a song for you. His voice is angelic as he sings carefully picked out words in the phrasing of a poem specifically for you. He'll strum the guitar with gentle, carefuly hands. He'll even show you how to play the guitar and the song he wrote for you.

Semi thinks of you late at night, and usually the thought doesn't go away until he sees you again. So, to help him get through his nagging thoughts, he makes multiple playlists specifically for you. All filled with love songs or songs he thinks you'd like. He'd listen to the playlist for the whole night, eventually falling asleep to it. He sends you the link to it the next morning in hopes you'll like it. You always like his playlists.

He'll call you many pet names. Babe, sweetheart, darling, babygirl/boy. Just whatever you can think of, he'll call you. When he first did it, it just kind of slipped out. He called out for you to ask you for some help on something, but instead of calling out your name, he just called out "babe." He was so embarrassed about it, but was relieved when he found out you liked it. He just likes to see you happy.

You two often have late night calls that last for hours. It starts with one of you saying, "I couldn't sleep," which was true at first, but now it's just an excuse to talk to each other. You'll ramble on about different topics, and so will he. His topics usually consist of upcoming practice matches in volleyball, upcoming gigs he had at restaurants or shops to play his music, or sometimes even you. He'll just go on a rant about how much he loves you, complimenting every part of you, calling you beautiful from head to toe.

Shirabu

Shirabu doesn't know how to talk about how he feels. He has no idea how to start a conversation with you about how much he loves you, he doesn't know when to compliment you even if he's currently thinking of a million different compliments when you two are talking, he just doesn't know when to say it. Which is why he'll often put the many thoughts, compliments, words of adoration and affection into letters and poems that he'll write you after school, sticking them in your locker the next morning. He makes sure to sign his name at the bottom, a heart added next to it. He knows it sounds super cheesy, but he can't help it.

He doesn't like PDA too much since he knows his team is full of a bunch of nosy teenagers. He doesn't like it when people pry into his business like that. So he often doesn't hold your hand in public or anything, not wanting his team to find out about you two. But as soon as you two are alone- most likely in his room after school- he can't keep his hands to himself.

Shirabu isn't too good with his feelings, so he does get defensive often, but quickly puts his walls down when he realizes how he's acting to you. He doesn't use pet names since those make him feel awkward. If you like them, he'll try to use them, but it's just not for him.

[someverygaymoth]

ello's! any thoughts i can steals from you :3

Have a general summary of how I characterize the bad sanses!

Nightmare: Immortal being that does horrible things with little reason but to survive. He's been around for thousands of years now and he feels like his empathy meter is a little broken, which is ironic for an empath. He's just a person though, a lonely one. He collects the boys in a hope to cure his loneliness, caring for them to keep them sated. Somewhere along the way he realizes that empathy he thought was gone, is always there for them. He cares. He loves. (And he hates puns)

Killer: hardcore unstable for a long time. He's actually greyace, but probably has a personality disorder with a side of ADHD, resulting in manic highs with a lot of hypersexuality and flirtiness and severe depressive episodes where he feels little to nothing, eats little to nothing, and hardly leaves his bed. (I've written a little oneshot about that before) Nightmare helps him get the right care and gives him a support system in which he can thrive, and the mania becomes less severe, and the worse depressive episodes become few and far between. (He loves a good pun but prefers to make dark jokes more than anything else)

Dust: High key schizophrenic and has serious C-PTSD. LV causes overactive magic which causes chronic pain and irritability. He's grumpy and quiet, with the classic traits like an affinity for puns and bad humor, but after a while with the boys and NM, and learning how to manage the symptoms of his psychological and physical problems, he becomes a lot more talkative and less brash.

Horror: A caretaker and provider above all else. He does bad things strictly for the benefit of those he cares about. Serious food security problems, serious PTSD, a lot of physical health problems resulting from malnutrition, and his head injury. He's blunt but kind. He still cracks up over a good (or bad) joke. He doesn't get defensive over his food, but he will over others'. Least to say, there is absolutely NO playfully stealing food off other's plates at the table once he joins the team. Nightmare nurtures his physical health, makes the kitchen homely, and the pantry and fridge forever full to help his food security problems. He teaches Horror to cook and allows him to oversee the majority of the team's nutrition. It helps him see that he is still capable of caring for the people he loves, and that what happened in his AU was no fault of his.

Cross: Strong and commanding. Organized, orderly, and strictly disciplined. He was made to serve. He's also traumatized beyond words and freaks out whenever he's unable to be orderly enough, and all authority scares the shit out of him. He loathes puns. Nightmare makes authority about rewards and kindness rather than punishment, and provides him with the space and support to deconstruct his ideas about order, organization, and strictness. Cross learns to think for himself and question authority in a healthy way, he learns that he's more than a tool/soldier and he's allowed to have a personal life, love, joy, peace, reprive... he gets to be at peace now.

[mordredpendragon]

Cain! Hope I'm not too late for the Arthuriana Ask Game BUT: 📜 📖 🖼️ 😇 😈 Okay, bye!!!!!!

never too late! thank u for the ask!!!

📜- What was your favorite Medieval story you read this year?

PERLESVAUS HANDS DOWN. EVERYONE PLEASEEEE READ PERLESVAUS ITS SO GOOD. it's something i've been eyeing for ages now but i was finally able to read it thanks to nigel bryant's translation! (the one i vastly prefer imo + his translations are just great in general)

admittedly, it's a bit of a hefty read because it's loaded and filled to the brim with religious undertones and references (similar to vulgate except i think vulgate is easier to parse if you don't have a catholic background considering anonymous monk pretty much explains what so-and-so means to you lol) but it's so worth it. percival is the titular knight in this yes and it follows events that take place after he failed the grail question, so the land is in havoc and basically fucked thanks to his mistakes. there's actually 4 main POV's in it. other than percival, it follows arthur (who goes on his own series of quests) gawain, and then lancelot. i'm in awe of perlesvaus just of the amount of sheer depth and characterization they have for these 4 characters. plus it's got a lot of badass crazy moments. pretty much everything percival does is worthy enough of its own post

like percival fighting the dragon knight, dindrane getting kidnapped and percival literally venturing off to find her captive, beheading him, then PRESENTING it to her.

lancelot going through the beheading game (tbh everything he does in this drives me insane. its also just my favorite lancelot in general imo like more than vulgate lancelot) + gawain finding the sword that beheaded john the baptist. it's also got some crazy horror fuel that i would love to make art of one day just because of how much i want to see it visualized, like lancelot finding that one house full of corpses and the pit. i mean THE PIT.

LIKE ITS MY FAVORITE EVER. i could go on forever but fr just read it its so good. like not just if you love percival, but also if you love gawain arthur and lancelot they're amaaazing in this

📖 - What was your favorite Modern retelling you read this year? (Single book)

technically it's henry newbolt's mordred, a tragedy but it's a play and i already plan to make a post on it. (which was also my contribution to L's long af retellings list so if you like it you're welcome i was the one who showed it to her lmao)

so i'm going to say john steinbeck's acts of king arthur. ITS SO GOOD. can everyone pleae read steinbeck. peak lancelot peak morgan peak yvain.

this is one of the arthurian books that genuinely made me cry i fr felt like a husk at the ending. steinbeck's favorite character is lancelot and it really shows bc of the amount of depth and complexity he writes in his character, and it's got some of my favorite quotes of all time

SERIOUSLY its the best i love it so much. i've been recommending it to everyone ever since

🖼️ What was your favorite Arthurian art piece made by someone else this year? (Any medium)

all of @tboymordred's mordred art sorry i'm gay

especially this one

😇 Who is a character you discovered this year? (Positive, blorbo)

agravaine. i mean i always knew he existed obviously except i found newfound love for him this year. doubtly @queer-ragnelle's influence lol

also he's sick as FUCK in vulgate i think everyone should read agravaine vs druas the cruel genuinely one of my favorite story arcs in vulgate ever

😈 Who is a character you discovered this year? (Negative, beloathed)

geraint idk fuck that guy

aside from him there really isn't a lot of characters i hate. it depends on the depiction and portrayal really. you could make me like someone as heinous as uther if you cook hard enough lol

[ultimadmt]

Thank you so much for all the kind words— reading this really made my day to see that you enjoyed it so much!! (^u^ )

As for the way I drew “Taranza”— I was so glad to hear you loved it!! I loved how you wrote the Dream Flower as this result of his self-loathing desires, and I wanted to make sure I could visually show off how much I appreciated that aspect, so making it appear as the inside of this vision of “Sectonia” was something I wanted to do from the start!!

The same thing goes for the panel(s) where Taranza is staring at the mirror— early in the comic I made sure to show him seeing Joronia in that reflection before he finally comes to terms with moving on- and seeing himself again, giving him this extremely tired and almost saddened but also relieved expression. This was one of my favourite aspects of your work, seeing his flaws but also finally seeing himself for what he is again— it was deeply powerful to me. So it was also my top priority to include in this comic (>u<)— I’m so glad you appreciated both of those aspects :)

I had been planning to draw a comic for a while, though a few moments had been in contention for what I wanted to adapt, but after reading Chapter 18 I had been totally floored— with the descriptiveness, I could visualize everything that happened within that chapter in my mind and couldn’t resist deciding then and there what I was going to draw.

Another contender for me that I had to decide against drawing after deciding to adapt Chapter 18 was how you portrayed the relationship of Dark Meta Knight and Taranza— it had alot of nuance that I find other adaptations didn’t include. I really loved how things between them ‘resolved’ in their last interaction. They aren’t friends, but Taranza learned alot in that moment regardless.

Regarding the other characters— yes!! Your representation of the Wave 3 (+ marx and lor) gang has become as close to my heart as the characters themselves— I really hope we’ll see them all again someday in another work.

Speaking of the next work— I agree, moving to another Kirby fic directly after this would definitely be too soon. I deeply respect and appreciate that aspect of your writing, that you know when to end things perfectly!! (But selfishly as a fan it always leaves me SO desperate for more, LOL)

I can’t wait to see said other works for your other fandoms- and I will even more eagerly await the next Kirby story, for however long it takes for you to loop back around to that point, hahah. I would just love to see your interpretation continue because it may please you to hear it genuinely is what drove me back into Kirby as deeply as I have been lately (and helped inspire alot of my art)—! I have been a Kirby fan since I was very young, though after the launch of Star Allies (pre-dlc, since I think the DLC fixed alot of my problems with that game!) I had been left a little disappointed at the time, and fell out of the community pretty hard. I had always watched from the sidelines, but I had many other fixations that took priority, and I didn’t keep up with the lore. I recently had a friend who showed interest in becoming a Kirby fan, so I introduced them to some games I played and had. Playing them together reminded me why I had been so fixated years before, and after that, I fell upon Magoranza naturally, since it included my two favourite characters. I had looked up fanfiction, curious, and that was how I found your fic, which reinvigorated my hyperfixation to max capacity— I just couldn’t get over how well characterized and nuanced every character was with the way you wrote!! So I wanted to deeply thank you for AWA and your kind words for my art- it inspires me too! I can’t wait to read the finale.

Good luck with it, and whatever work you have next—!!!

"LIVE"

A short comic based on "A Wonderful Attraction' by @rainykthebroken

i hope you enjoyed it!!! it gets a little rough around the edges towards the end-- but i hope that can be forgiven LOL. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read the original fanfic by the wonderful Rainyk (@rainykthebroken)!!! it's a fantastic work that i couldn't hope to capture with this little comic of mine :) to rainyk: i hope this comic was able to instill in you even a fraction of the joy that i got reading not just AWA, but your other Kirby works as well!! im sorry if i couldn't fully capture it as you envisioned, drawing is hard and i had to take a few creative liberties for a comic (>n< '') !! i wanted to put this short footnote for you because as someone who is not just an artist but a writer, i find that written works are often gone less noticed / less praised, and i wanted to make sure to share mine with you!! while reading AWA, i was deeply captured by your extremely beautiful and descriptive writing style- i could almost picture the scenes you were painting down to details, and your use of metaphors throughout the story had me genuinely close to tears a couple of times LOL. your characterizations of the entire kirby cast show such a deep understanding of the characters, especially within the main 4 (+lor...) that genuinely helped shape how i view them myself. they are by and large my favourite characterizations of them period-- theyre filled with such nuance and interesting development, and most importantly you gave time for all of them to develop with the other characters, instead of just focusing on the ship!! when i first read that your native language wasn't english, i was so shocked!! you honestly could have fooled me LOL. your writing showed such a deep understanding of the language art i found myself mulling over some of my favorite lines for way too long (><''). to end this long note off, i just wanted to say that since AWA is coming to an end- for my own selfish purposes, i honestly hope you'll continue with more Kirby works, or more works in this 'timeline' even, since i fell in love with these characters so deeply i'm almost broken to have to let them go -- BWAHAH. but i also believe you have a great talent that i know you can take very far from reading what i have- so i will be excited for whatever it is you decide to write next, even if that isn't kirby!! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ i hope that you enjoyed my little work in tribute of yours!! (and that it isn't too incomprehensible because it got super scribbly LMFAO.)

[wickmitz]

How do you think about Frepper? I'm neutral about this ship, but the fans Frepper attitude towards confuses me, Ivy and Freckle have only been dating for a week and know each other superficially, but everyone already thinks that by the end of the comic they will get married, I think differently, I think that in the end they will break up with each other because they are too different personalities, I literally can't imagine that both of them will be happy with each other in marriage, Ivy is assertive and active, on the other hand Freckle is passive and just agrees with Ivy, this is not a guarantee of a healthy relationship where a partner completely dominates the other, plus to all that, I will not forget how their relationship started, Ivy just decided that they were dating, and without asking Freckle's permission, she just KISSED him, again without his permission, Frepper fans think that it's cute, but when I saw it, I thought "what the hell did I just see?", in general, it's strange for me that Frepper fans are okay with such things, of course later Freckle shows attraction to Ivy, showing that he likes her in some way too, but I still won't forget how their relationship started and how Freckle used to try to escape from Ivy when she squeezed his hand tightly and forced him to her …

I'm not against Frepper, but I don't understand his fans who don't see these issues and who treat other points of view on their relationship (like mine) as … um, as nonconformity? Fans from reddit are just obsessed with Frepper, I don't know about other networks but that's how it is on reddit, I think there are people who have my opinion but are afraid to say it because of fans, of course, I met Frepper fans there who normally accept such an opinion, but still there is a feeling that such a opinion cannot be told

Simply put, Ivy and Freckle are a couple that will eventually break up with each other unless there's an event between them in the comic that changes my opinion of this couple, but that's how I feel about Freckle for now. I didn't plan to express my opinion, but it happened that way, I hope you don't mind it

first and foremost, i don’t mind seeing someone express their opinion in my inbox! you and anyone else are free to do so, even if i may disagree. this blog’s entire existence was made for me to share my opinions ( and love! ) for lackadaisy, as well as engaging with other fans, because what else is the point of a fandom blog? and as far as i’m aware, this is unpopular opinion central! most of my thoughts aren’t exactly the ones with the most voice behind them i’ve found, so i welcome all manner of different views. every fan is entitled to their own perspectives and opinions, and should be allowed to share them as they please! but with that disclaimer out of the way, i’m more than willing to discuss frepper in its entirety.

for me, there’s little confusion i carry where it concerns this ship’s popularity amongst the fandom. freckle and ivy, if we are to strip them down to their bare essentials, are a rather stereotypically ‘cute’ relationship : people enjoy opposites ( see zibwick or vikdecai for example ) and there’s an endearing quality found in puppy love dynamics. seeing ivy wear the pants and drag a shy freckle around by his ankle makes for quality content in a way! think the ‘excuse me, but he asked for no pickles!’ meme … ivy and freckle very much fit that sort of mold, and it helps that most fans are too scared to ship them with other characters in the cast too, due to what they perceive to be a lack of options. thus, frepper is an extremely ‘safe’ ship! you cannot get in trouble for enjoying something that is not only canon, but is relatively adorable ; and so i don’t believe a lot of the fans are actually thinking too deeply about the likely endgame of it all. most don’t! it’s fun to ship, and that’s all they really need i think. it’s also very easy to dismiss ivy’s forwardness as a quirk of being a young girl who’s of her temperament, recklessly boycrazy although still carrying sweet intent. this behavior is easier to hand wave when neither ivy or freckle are experienced at the dating scene as well … freckle due to his extremely religious upbringing and hermit nature, and ivy because of viktor’s constant meddling, which would hold her back more than you’d think. with that said, i don’t think any of this is excessively complicated. some shippers are rather simple minded and do not care for details and characterization all too deeply. enjoying dynamics is, at its core, supposed to be fun -- which makes simple ships like frepper prime targets for a very vocal and tight knit fanbase. there are other things i could speculate about why these two may hit so pleasantly for others, like how there’s an underlying queer theme to it ( what with ivy being the pursuer and freckle the shy, blushing flower ) or that it’s tropey enough to hit the right spots for others … though it all boils back to mere speculation. perhaps they still have time to escape this gangster lifestyle and live happily ever after? and that appeals to the lackadaisy fans who still want some sort of happy ending? it’s all a combination of frepper being easy, i think, and containing two young cats who still haven’t done anything particularly ‘unforgivable’ yet action wise. this is a ship you can root for without an ounce of worry in your heart, and so on and so forth.

but although i understand why others are so vocal about them, i don’t exactly agree with fanon’s views either! while i heavily enjoy frepper, i enjoy them as they are, and that includes their looming flaws and inevitable tragedy. they are bound to break each other’s hearts a lot on their current path ; even if they were entirely perfect for one another, this lifestyle isn’t kind to anyone, meaning if they don’t separate, they could always be forced apart via bullets and such anyway. they are young and woefully inexperienced in a manner of things, the last thing they need is the stress of a rumrunner life driving their every action, you know? i know people see them getting out together, and that is likely on the table! i do see that in many ways, but i’m also of the opinion that ivy and freckle will diverge onto different paths at some point and temporarily call it quits. from where the comic currently stands and given my view on ivy’s arc, i see her growing disillusioned with where she is and the honor and fun she saw within it as a royal spectator will fade ; she will become wary, fearful, and her resilience will die … meanwhile freckle will embrace it, similar to his cousin, fully understanding what it is and what he’s getting into ( like rocky, again ) but being unable to leave his refuge. i know lots of people think freckle will leave the lackadaisy first, but given his old concepts and former title as one of mitzi’s ‘trouble boys’, i think he will become lost in the sauce for a myriad of reasons. frankly i enjoy that twist on their relationship! since i believe ivy’s character development will revolve around maturing, changing as time stretches forward, because her character is ever growing, what with her entire schtick being the fact she’s everything a 1920s girl was during those times. she embodies that unladylike youth and manipulative sweetness, so i’d imagine a lot of her path is falling from such naive thrill seeking and stumbling upon a harsh reality. she will mature, and the very thing that should make their relationship stronger will be what divides them indefinitely. everything they have is founded on this bloody, varnished soaked ground after all … they are young adults who are experiencing what closeness feels like outside of family or platonic friends for the first time, so naturally they will overindulge in their own amateur games ; find respite in the boogie and kiss like couples do on the silver screen, laugh about it, talk about everything and nothing at all … relish in each other’s warmth and stupidly loyal protection. i’m sure frepper will grow closer before any falling out, because as it stands, it’s one of the few things they have in such a scary situation that feels comforting and kind. they will impact each other in the fundamental ways first relationships do and, to move towards your biggest gripe, do things they’ll regret or allow things to happen to them that they’re not entirely okay with.

ivy is very forceful with freckle initially, albeit in her typical saturated way ; and i can see why that would be hard to parse! especially when freckle spends a majority of their first scenes together squirming away and hiding, trying to duck her affections and bolt for it. there is a lot of boundary crossing between them! but not in a necessarily malicious way … like most things with frepper, this circles back to their mutual inexperience and how, in a lot of ways, this is their first ‘serious’ romantic relationship ever. and it’s rather common for such firsts to involve gray areas, since neither party is entirely sure of what their own boundaries are just yet! while freckle did appear frightened by ivy at first, it’s important to note that tracy’s mentioned him having a flight response whenever girls flirt with him … he is prone to run away instinctively, which if you consider his extremely religious upbringing, isn’t exactly a surprise. nina would no doubt look down upon freckle engaging with girls his age due to what most girls his age are currently doing in the roaring 20s they’re living in. sneaking out and engaging in illegal activities, dancing in a way that would disgust most of the more traditional and older generation, casually engaging in any manner of sexual activity before marriage, etc etc. and this isn’t even listing freckle’s cagey nature due to an incident we know was bad enough to send rocky packing for years, and fundamentally changed freckle himself at such a young and impressionable age. he is … very troubled! and rather scared of himself and the world around him … at this stage in life, freckle is perpetually unable to make any progress towards anything he may want, and so i have little problem myself with ivy mostly taking the lead. when left to his own devices and allowed to choose outside of influence, freckle did in fact sneak out of his mother’s house to go to the lackadaisy, surely well aware that ivy’s intention had been romantically inclined. so, to me, he has always liked her ; perhaps found her cute, in a shallow way, saw her eccentric behavior as endearing and frightening in equal measure, and while he’s still wading into this whirlwind pool unsteady and shaken, he -- wouldn’t mind it if ivy pushed a little more, or moved him around to her ( and what she perceives to be, their ) liking. perhaps this dynamic is familiar enough to him that it becomes comforting, since rocky was very much the same way in their adolescence. tugging freckle around and pulling his tail for whatever rocky wanted them to do, with little care for whatever his baby cousin desired at the time, ignoring his protests and chasing him ; nobody’s at fault here either, kids are extremely self absorbed and this is a flaw they’ll usually mature past, and while ivy and freckle are adults during the comic, i don’t think ivy’s outgrown this linear view on things just yet. she is extremely entitled! she is used to being the apple of everyone’s eye at the speakeasy due to her jazz baby status as atlas may’s goddaughter, and this gangster connection excites and awes the ladies she attends classes with at her university too. ivy pepper is used to getting her way and this has only fueled her determined attitude, her ‘pull it up by the bootstraps’ mindset, and in many ways, this is something of a flaw for her. it’s not bad to be confident and headstrong, although when you add that into a dangerous mix of rumrunning and gunslinging, it may become a problem rather quickly. but i digress! point is, ivy and freckle are hardly at fault for the awkward way they handled the start of their relationship, when it’s so new and fresh to them both.

neither of them have boundaries at this moment, as they either have no clue what those are or simply haven’t realized they should set them. so, in turn, there are things that the other may do that could cause their partner discomfort … and it’s mostly done out of obliviousness and good intentions and your classic dose of intense affection. doesn’t mean it isn’t messed up to a degree, but i think it’s rather realistic, and is a hard truth that comes with many first relationships of that sort. sometimes you don’t know how to say ‘no,’ or you agree and regret agreeing later, or perhaps you simply don’t understand there’s certain things you aren’t ready for or genuinely just don’t like. again, it’s a very muddied area, and the two of them are vaguely navigating what is mostly foreign to them. they’re bound to mess up! so i ivy some slack here, and applaud tracy on the realistic writing more than anything usually. young love also happens to be a great device to use for inexperienced characters finding themselves, through the good and bad of their relationship, and frepper is all about that. maybe freckle will inevitably bring up how he feels like he would’ve preferred it had ivy asked him out properly, or gave him time to court her in a traditional fashion … and she will be surprised ( and a little wounded ) by this, since she had never considered it before … too used to her way of things to realize there’s another path they could take. i think this aspect of the relationship is important, and i can understand wishing that more frepper shippers would view it as such, or comment on it's morally gray nature without just calling it ‘cute’ and leaving it at that.

tldr : they will most certainly break up at some point, maybe even multiple times! tracy has said before that they both have some serious maturing to do if their relationship is to be long lasting, and i doubt that maturing will happen to them both at once … since they have different things to work on emotionally. but they will probably strongarm some major personal development within each other, as well as love one another with a fierceless abandon that most kids do. i could see them getting married, i could see them not, but i agree that if they were to be wed happily, they’d have significant hurdles to overcome. but personally, frepper is something i adore mostly due to the impact they’re bound to cause each other, and even if they are to separate and find someone new and more fitting, they’ll always remember one another -- perhaps fondly, and sadly, and with some anger. a time they’d like to forget, but a person they’d like to remember … which is my cup of tea overall! they much more interest me as they presently are anyway, where i can fiddle around with their budding romance and friendship bonding. and as lackadaisy grows in popularity, i do hope there’s more frepper fans who see their complexity and flaws and explore them with all of it in mind.

anyway! i hope this was coherent, and that it was obvious that i agreed with you for the most part. i haven’t really talked about frepper before with anyone so many of these thoughts sort of burst out of me! and i feel like i have more to elaborate upon, but for the sake of simplicity i kept this short. oh well! surely this is enjoyable and informative regardless.

[skitskatdacat63]

"To dream the impossible dream, that is my quest." - Prince Fernando of Asturias

+ Seb not getting what he ordered

+ the usual

Hello yes, look! It's baby Renault Fernando, isn't he so cute??? Who wouldn't want to force him into an arranged marriage, like cmon man be real. Here is the progress as usual, as well as his suit without the design, cause I'm pretty proud of it just blank even!

Okay so this is pure Fernando, innocent Fernando, before he had his apirations ripped way from him. Well not fully ripped away tbf, because that's the crux of his character: is it more humiliating to never succeed or to only succeed because someone handed it to you with concessions? I guess that's up for him to decide though ;;;

The thing I love about this drawing and young Fernando in general is how much easier it is to see his and Seb's similarities. Look how similar they look! Seb is just a bit more evil.

I think that's a big part as to why his feelings about Seb are so complicated. He both loves and hates how similar they are. From an egotistical point, he can appreciate and respect the familiar traits in Seb, the hunger, the exuberance, the pride, the ego. But also we hate seeing our own traits in other people, it's almost like turning a mirror on your worst traits and suddenly being able to see yourself from a new perspective. The biggest point here though is that Fernando turns that resentment onto Seb, as a way to clamp down on self hatred.

He becomes more bitter and resentful as he grows older, and loses a lot of his whimsy and joy. So it hurts him to see Seb, who in addition to getting everything he's ever wanted, also retain his whimsy. He, wrongly, just sees it as something that had to happen in order for him to grow up fully. It's more of a survival tactic, it started becoming unbefitting for him to have that level of unfounded confidence. That's the main reason he sees Seb as childish, immature and undeserving. He hasn't fully grown out of his capacity for whimsy and joy, and thus is below Fernando.

Well that was depressing oops! As the chibi art represents, this is probably a painting Seb got sent in the early days of planning their marriage. This is the Fernando who is still prideful, the Fernando who is still confident, the Fernando Seb vaguely remembers meeting his youth. Seeing this definitely pushes him even further towards the marriage(though tbf it's not like he even has a choice either.) Though when the time to actually start courting comes around, Fernando looks very uh different. This is both a joke about how different Fernando was in his first renault stint vs his second. But also I think he does show up very moody and disheveled, as a sort of last chance way to try and turn everyone on Seb's side, including Seb, off from the marriage. However, it's pretty much a done deal by that point.

Seb is uh, definitely confused, but I think he would be drawn to Fernando regardless. Actually, this might make Fernando even more appealing. Seb gets to push him all the time, try to break down his walls and get a glimpse at the real Fernando, if even just for a moment. Seb wishes he had more that just a blurry, vague recollection of Fernando at his peak confidence. Fernando definitely grows into something resembling his past self, after recovering from all the hurt, but there's just something about youthful exuberance that can't really be fully replicated.

Okay so about the quote. I went with Don Quixote this time instead of the typical Napoleon, because I thought it'd be funny. Fernando picks up the book at some point during his youth, and it inspires him a lot. He doesn't really see the satire in it, and comes to really admire Don Quixote's mentality, he's like "wow he never gives up! That's so admirable!" It definitely helps him through dark times to aspire to never give up no matter what. Though later Seb definitely rags on him for not knowing it was satire, and Fernando is like "wh-what do you mean satire?" But he's mentally strong enough atp for it to not cause his whole worldview collapse. About the quote specifically, there's definitely some part of him, even when young, that knows his aspirations are borderline impossible. I wonder if that part of him feels weirdly safe and comforted about the marriage. Yes, it's not ideal, but it's safe and secure. He gets what he wants, and there's no chance of anyone taking it away from him, no matter what.

I think his title would be Prince of Asturias? It was either that or duke, and I think prince fits him bettee(Machiavelli reference?) That title is currently the title for the heir to the Spanish throne. In this time period, it's also commonly used for the heir, but for Fernando it's a bit unsure. Like in real life, he's not directly the offspring, but he's still the most obvious choice for heir. But there's still enough room for Seb and his house to try to vie for the throne themselves, so it makes it all complicated.

[milkbreadtoast]

my s class hunters does a really good job at gradually raising the stakes without feeling like a pointless power creep and keeping me extremely invested and i keep saying this but I really do think it's bc it's a story grounded in love at every turn... the bond between the han brothers especially is extremely compelling and beautiful and makes me feel like a knife is being stabbed into my heart and twisted all around... i love them so so much 😞💔❤️‍🩹❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[unexpectedbrickattack]

heehee

heeheehee

Adding some more hcs here bc its under a readmore and therefore confined to the Secret Thoughts box. Obviously suggestive but mostly relationship stuff bc i cannot help myself 😔

So i feel like i am an outlier that really enjoys noise/noisette like i think they are sooo cute…they are just silly guys ! So no this is not ANYONE cheating i must make this soooo clear i am so touchy about this subject; this is my heehee haha safe space LMAO i want to keep that kind of drama faaaar away from me.

A quick tldr for noise (that i will start calling theo bc i think its a cute name LOL i dunno where it came from but i love it im taking it) is that: hes a nepo baby that was able to start a business and brand w that money, and then stayed in a bubble for the rest of his life bc his image and branding is too important to lose. He hung out w the same rich people to network properly and maintain status. He didnt have the time and courage to go into the circles he WANTED to go into.

I had a whole essay written but this is supposed to be a little tldr lmao basically. Hes bi and curious and gus is always extremely overwhelmingly happy and eager to mess around w anyone (also bi) if it means peppino will be there and peppino is like FINE but ur going to get attached to the rat and thats not going to be my fault. This would be after theo starts behaving, as in, starts respecting peppinos boundaries. And he gets to hang out w him peacefully enough times to work up the courage to poke the bear (lol) and ask questions. Bc hes nosy and curious 🥺 they look like they have so much fun at the bar and w whoever they pickup like. Way more fun than he has w his stuffy rich friends. He wants to be there, he wants to have fun 🥺

Anyway he gets to be peppino and gustavos third and it leaves him like this ->💥💥💥💥💥 and gus thinks its so cute lol like this poor possum is worn the hell out 😭 needs to conk out and sleep forever. ‘ONE. That was fun. That was FUN. I want hazel to do that to me’ peppino, wide eyed but like clearly flabbergasted and smiling incredulously: ‘YEAH? REALLY ? I MEAN. DIDNT UH. DIDNT KNOW SHE HAD THAT IN HER. OR WHATEVER.’

‘TWO. Would u do this again? Like that was fun. That was FUN. I wanna do that again. I think im too busy this week and next week but like. Is that an option? I can push stuff around so it can fit in ur schedule??’ And peppino LAUGHS like full body laughing hard enough that gus comes back w a water looking so confused. Hes like oh my god. You dont have to cancel shit for a dick appointment !!! You dont!! Oh my god!!! Hes like crying laughing at the thought of theo having to cancel an appointment so he can squeeze in his threesome 😭😭😭 and theo cant help but look A LITTLE red bc okay it sounds silly BUT no one said no and he will run w that lol

Also convinces hazel to get a strap at some point. Which i think is so funny bc i have a scene in my head of noise being so smarmy w peppino and gus like ooohhh so u needed dick to be normal again and not be rude? Was that all it took? And now theo is thinking back to what he said as hes laying down in bed after getting thoroughly pegged by his gf and hes like oughhgh……i get it……

[triangle-strategy-notes]

Geela's reference/concept art!

Translation notes under the cut.

I'm really not sure about the "Is she the Minister of Animals!?" caption. The sequence of characters there appear to be "さま大臣動物!?" The first two characters (さま) are the sama- honorific, indicating it's referencing someone of higher status. The last two characters (動物) mean "animal." The middle ones, however, are kinda weird. "大" can be read as "large," or possibly "university," and "臣" means "retainer or attendant." So, taken at face value, this would read something like, "Sir/Ma'am, [are you/am I/is this] the retainer of large animals?!"

However, for what I'm guessing were grammatical reasons, no automatic translator would translate it that way no matter how much I fiddled with things; and would always default back to just spitting the Japanese words back out. However, if two of the characters are switched around (臣大 becoming 大臣), every automatic translator was suddenly able to interpret it, and I could successfully find the characters as words in a dictionary--but it was translated as "Minister of animals" instead of "retainer of large animals." So it would have read more like, "[Are you/am I/is she] the Minister of Animals?!"

Given the sama- prefix and the way the sentence is formed (as well as the fact that "Minister" is the big title we see used in Hyzante), I decided to go with the "minister" translation, but I'm making the assumption that there was a little bit of a typo there. There's a pretty good chance that this is just a grammatically-shorthanded version of "Ma'am, are you the retainer of large animals?!" Or, as always, it's possible there's a completely different potential meaning that I missed.

[decafdoodlez]

In the situation Fox dies, what happens to Marina?

Hi Anon!

Oh gosh, I haven’t given that too much thought, I like thinking of them in the more present sense and not a distant future kind of sense. But I see Fox living a long time in the event of him not being killed or in a tragic accident, and in turn Marina lives besides him until his death. She’d probably be in her 60s or early 70s by the time he dies of old age.

If Fox lives a long time and dies of old age, I think he’d probably make sure she’d continue to be taken care of monetarily, considering I write them to be legally married to one another after being together for a while. But Marina would be heartbroken and mourn him till she dies. It’s unfair in a sense to love someone so much older than you. They eventually die and you’ve got many years to go on without them. 🥲

If Fox dies in a more present sense, like killed off by a competitor, then she would probably be taken as collateral by those who killed him, and would probably be more readily disposed of than if she was with Fox. :( I don’t see her living long if that scenario happens.

If Fox dies in a more present sense like suddenly without any outside factors, I could see her trying to reintegrate into society, but not back into her old life. She would assume a new name and just fade away. She doesn’t want her family to find her, she doesn’t want her friends to find her, she just wants to disappear. I could ultimately see her being more depressed by this option, and she may not live a long fulfilling life as a result.

So best case scenario is for Marina to stay with Fox until he dies of old age. She’d endure a lot from him in the beginning, but he becomes sweet on her in time, and she becomes his companion in life rather than just a pet. :)

It may be sappy, but I just want Ren to be loved, even if he may not deserve it, especially from someone like Marina.

[dennisboobs]

do you guys ever sit and remember that dennis takes a mental health day is an episode that exists

[thelampisaflashlight]

On one hand, I want Dew to experience personal growth and development.

On the other, I have likened him to a sticky hand one might smack across a wall.

Perhaps there is just an inherent need in me to see this ghoul emotionally flayed and thrown upon the flames, but out of love.

And also because I find it amusing.

[wildsaltair]

Maximus COULD have been boring. sometimes writing a character who is so good and upright and unshakably noble and honorable results in them being bland, uninteresting. but not Maximus

[crescentfool]

i think something that is important to me to remember is that there are small ways i can do things to spark joy for myself and others without waiting for someone else to do it... (conjures up little sparklies from my hands) life is so whimsical!!!

[daydreamerdrew]

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #243

[mercurymusing]

This gets to the heart of a deeply frustrating conversation (debate?) I had about this earlier today.

The setting, context, people involved, and format constrained the conversation (work chat) but also made some responses harder to take.

I'm not personally convinced Bushnell's death will even change anything! It's deeply tragic, but mostly in the way it'll slip out of the news cycle in a couple of weeks! And I'm fundamentally atheist in a way that makes suicide incomprehensible to me. If I'm ever that tired of my life I'll liquidate everything and see how far I can get backpacking before it runs out. Freezing to death in an exotic ditch after seeing a bit of the world is still better than nothingness, if I was determined to do that kind of thing to my loved ones. That is to say, at the nasty hollow heart of me, down where the wet reeds of my best intentions torturously wear new angles into the rusted cast iron of my model of the world, I believe this was the pointless death of an unimaginative man who couldn't dream up a better option.

Up at the level where I try to be a person and try to respect others as people with their own iron frames, it was still a surprisingly sharp betrayal to see someone say "well that was a stupid thing to do".

Like. For various reasons, suicide is something this group talks around frequently. Queer kids, mental health, veteran welfare, and even active service member suicide rates are a background hum of many of the conversations we've had. This is a group that's not by default very flippant about the subject. More than that, this is a group that fundamentally believes in self determination, on a few axes.

So the sheer disrespect was shocking, for a moment. Not just confusion, or condemnation of the statement being made, or fluttering over copycats, or sighing over the waste of life. Bare contempt for the idea that this kind of extreme gesture could be meaningful, and worse, a kind of contempt that someone could believe in this kind of gesture far enough to pull it off.

I'm an optimist in many ways, but of the resigned flavor. There's a vein of cynicism that runs deep, that says the world is coldly mechanical and that there's no guarantee. Systems are what they do, and what they do is proliferate in ways that are indifferent and frequently hostile to inefficiencies such as kindness and equality. History is a ship steered through a storm by bickering gatherings of whoever lucks into the power to shove onto the bridge. A flash of lightning like this might spook one of the temporary helmsman into loosening their grasp, but it won't turn us from the reefs.

But fuck! Who critiques the handwriting on a suicide note? Who spits on someone that takes a bullet for a friend? Who asks a stranger if they're sure they want to do something so permanent to their body?

I think the best case scenario is that Bushnell's identity as an active duty white soldier in his uniform is so shocking that it pushes a handful of dithering idiots in congress into remembering the idea of decorum and they're the decisive vote in something meaningful. I don't think he's changed the minds of anyone that was already paying attention.

And I think it's entirely fair to assume he knew that, and committed anyway! This wasn't a confused child, or a spur of the moment decision. This was a highly educated adult man with firm beliefs that traveled across the country and made himself as visible and clearly understood as possible before deliberately lighting himself on fire.

I can disagree with his method and whether or not the impact will be worth the price. I can mourn the situation he found himself trapped in, and rage fruitlessly at the ongoing horrors of the genocide that drove him to action. I can even pity him!

But I can do all of that while respecting his conviction. We're told endlessly to valorize idiot kids sent off to die and kill in foreign deserts filled with people with so many fewer choices, but we can't accept that one of them might die for a different belief? We can accept all the ones that come back broken and traumatized to kill themselves quietly out of sight, but we can't let one of them try to say something? We can condemn and fear the ones that slide into conspiracy and turn innocent lives into empty sermons of hate, but we can't watch as one goes out without any other victim?

In the absence of a clear and obvious angle to attack Bushnell’s protest, most likely due to his status as a serviceman that would make outright insulting him or suppressing the news itself scandalous, discussions on Western shores have now taken on the familiar framing of mental illness. In Time Magazine’s write-up of Bushnell’s death, the article finishes with a link to the suicide hotline, and asks readers to contact mental health providers if they are experiencing a “crisis.” Mark Joseph Stern, a writer at Slate, seemingly unasked, also wrote on Twitter/X:

“I strongly oppose valorizing any form of suicide as a noble, principled, or legitimate form of political protest. People suffering mental illness deserve empathy and respect, but it is wildly irresponsible to praise them for using a political justification to take their own life.”

Conviction does not exist to the American. To be willing to die in a selfless act for what they believe in only exists for those outside America's sphere of influence. Many will recall reporting on those who self-immolated in protest in Iran and in Russia for instance where this sort of approach, unwilling to engage with the root of its cause, would not even be entertained, let alone written and published with sincerity. The Arab Spring began with a self-immolation. The self-immolation of Buddhist monks in protest of South Vietnam’s persecution became defining images of the war and its corruption. Within America’s walls however, there is a belief, unspoken and ingrained from birth, that democracy allows for everyone’s voices to be heard and that its representatives are inherently inclined to respond to the people and their widespread wishes.

Desperation at inaction or complicity in terror and atrocity need not apply. Everyone incensed by their government to such an extent must simply have something wrong with them. To be able to go about one’s day knowing that children are screaming from the hunger that is eating their insides and that pregnant women are eating bread made from animal feed, and that the United States is supporting Israel’s creation of this famine, is apparently the real sign of well-adjustment.

Seamus Malekafzali, “The Words Burned Through His Throat: The Sacrifice of Aaron Bushnell,” February 26, 2024.