#bc their friendship was tested and survived

[lovelovex]

x

[clownscasino]

hold on i think i'm cooking:

clown is the Deadliest Player in Minecraft. that's how we start off. however, clown teams up with branzy, the worst pvper on lifesteal (sorry branzy) since branzy has skills that clown doesn't, namely engineering redstone. they get to know each other! branzy's creative and talented, he's nice to clown even when he doesn't have a scythe to his throat.

he's also weak. branzy's a 2 hearter, easy pickings, a jumpy performer who has no choice but to run if things go wrong... but, god damn it, now clown cares about him.

so clown continues to back him up even though branzy's painfully helpless outside his charms and tricks, because to clown, branzy is amazing. he's friendly, demented, passionate, funny... and flirty... branzy gladly pulls his weight with endless farms and ingenious entertainment. he's creative, and smart. the deadliest player winds up entangled with, best friends with, even married to, the number one most defenseless player on the server. clown consistently chooses to stand by him and defend him, even to his own detriment. he accepts branzy as his weak spot if it means that branzy will stay.

yet branzy is still kidnapped, murdered, and otherwise tormented whenever it suits the people stronger than him. sure, branzy's entertaining, but at the end of the day it's kill or be killed on lifesteal. if a stronger player wants something from branzy, well, anyone would hardly hesitate to brute force it out of him.

months later, branzy's mia. clown wants the mace... and the person who has it, is one of the weakest members of lifesteal.

see, squiddo's... not a fighter. they're an artist, eccentric and bright. squiddo only survived s5 through her wits and her friendships, through tricks and good luck. the reason they're pulling this whole peace trials charade in the first place is bc they kept being hunted down and slaughtered by the people who wanted the mace. the fact is, that squiddo is weak. they're funny and clever, but they're only alive because they have a team behind them and a role to play: entertaining the crowd of ravenous players surrounding them.

clown even spent a whole day befriending squiddo. it was actually a pretty good time, despite it being for one of the trials. how could it not be? squiddo is fun. they're creative, and smart.

for the last test, squiddo asks clown to kill her

and in the end, clown refused.

(...well, for like a day or two)

[karliahs]

bnha fic recs!! gen with a hurt/comfort theme

i've read such good fics lately and you should too! these are all gen, mostly midoriya-centric with lots of aizawa, lots of hurt/comfort and quite a lot of shinsou also.

also i limited myself to reccing one fic per author bc otherwise this would be so unmanageably long. i recommend checking out all their other works too!!

hold onto nothing (hold onto me) by starburstsunshine

"Young kid, powerful Quirk he can't control, so they think it currently only works in extremes. So his Quirk makes someone feel the same as they had felt during their best memories. Or, rather, at their worst." That's funny, Izuku thinks. He doesn't feel anything at all. Izuku gets hit by a wayward Quirk during a rescue, and is left to deal with the repercussions.

goddddd this author's aizawa...it was so so hard to choose one fic to rec bc they have so much incredible stuff, but i really really like the dissociation depiction here!

like stained glass by SpiritusRex

“It hurts,” Izuku whispers to no one, voice thin and choked. Letting the words out makes it all feel real, and the tears he’d been holding back finally break the dam and roll down his cheeks. Wrapping his own arms around himself as he trembles in the storm of his despair is as close as he’ll be able to get to comfort right now. “It hurts, it hurts.” He doesn’t want to have to do this alone. He’s so tired of having to push through pain alone. It’s something he’s been doing all his life, but can’t he, just once, have someone to hold him up when he stumbles? Just once. That’s all he’s asking for.

i feel like this fic was designed in a lab to make me specifically go insane. such incredibly powerful hurt/comfort & exploration of how it feels to never let yourself have comfort

Jumping on Grenades by DemyxDancer

Shinsou once told Class 1-A that he didn't intend to make friends. He didn't realize that: 1. Midoriya took that as a personal challenge; 2. Midoriya always achieves his goals no matter what; 3. Becoming friends with Midoriya inevitably involves bonding over surviving villain attacks. The school gym is being attacked by a villain whose Quirk makes you hallucinate your worst fears, and it's somehow come down to Shinsou to save the day. Welcome to the Hero Course!

this author has so many incredible shindeku fics, platonic and romantic (this one in platonic). i adore their shinsou and this thoughtful exploration of his integration into 1-a and the world of real villain attacks

parallaxis by yamadadzawa

Even through the haze of panic, the feeling of glass in his lungs and throat as he struggled to breathe when he saw his name in 20th place at the end of the quirk test, Izuku still knew one thing with brutal clarity. It’s not possible that he was in last place. And if Aizawa-sensei was willing to tamper with his score on the quirk test, then he’s probably willing to do the same with Izuku’s grades. And if Aizawa-sensei is willing to do it, the other teachers at Yuuei probably are too. Hence his now established practice of checking his graded work against Iida’s.

i love this author's aizawa so so much and it was hard to choose one fic to rec, but i adore this creative manifestation of how izuku's history with schools/teachers could manifest

some bridges should be burnt by orkestrations

Sir Nighteye doesn't think Izuku has what it takes to be a hero. He especially doesn't think Izuku should have been chosen to wield One For All. That's okay! Really! It is! It's hardly the first time Izuku has had people trying to stop him. He'll be fine. He can handle this. Tsuyu and Ochako think differently. They watch his stress levels rise and his self-confidence fall, and they don't like what they're seeing. Perhaps, it's time for an intervention.

such good tsuyu & ochako & izuku friendship. tsuyu especially really shines here and i am always so here for dismantling izuku thinking he just has to take whatever bad thing is thrown at him

Voices by SquirrelWriter

Hitoshi has a thing about voices. Part of it's because of his Quirk, probably. He's always listening for that reply. It's the opening, the chink in a person's armor that lets his own voice slip in and hijack their brain. But part of it is that most people are wary around him, so when someone does talk, particularly to him, it stands out.

really thoughtful shinsou character study and exploration of him joining 1-A & making friends, plus some lovely emotional hurt/comfort at the end

Things that Haunt Our Hallways by ghostwriterofthemachine

“It was a kid,” Yagi gasped out. He had his hand balled up into a fist and the fist pressed to his lips, as if to remind himself that he could not start screaming. “Or. Young person, maybe 20. Homeless, I think. Activated their Quirk on reflex and then ran. The kids—” Here, he pressed his fist harder to his mouth, sucked in a wheezing breath, as if the air itself was pushing down something with physical weight. “The kids—” “Scattered immediately,” Aizawa finished for him, and Yagi managed a nod.   Yagi’s eyes were so dilated that the blue was almost invisible. He shook violently. He looked like a scarecrow in a windstorm.    Someone activated a Fear-Inducer Quirk so powerful that it reduced All Might to this— of course Aizawa’s class had bolted.  Or: A Fear Gas fic, BNHA style.

such a juicy excellent premise with really satisfying exection

The Fine Jar by BrightShadow

Aizawa has had it up to here with his class claiming to be fine when they're not. Desparate times call for desparate measures. Enter the Fine Jar.

this one is so cute and funny with such memorable lines, and then it dove deep into addressing some of my fave topics in a really satisfying way!

[fanaticsnail]

Random questions about Tobiou (bc why not?! I'm a curious gurl 👉👈):

1 - she's more a silver or gold kinda girl? 2 - what's her favorite color? 3 - she has a family? Pets? 4 - if she needed to eat any devil fruit, which one would she prefer? 5 - cold or hot? 6 - what was her favorite game when she was a child? 7 - what's her favorite hobby? 8 - what would be her alignment in DND? 9 - favorite food? Drink? 10 - favorite thing about themselves?

And that's it. When I create a new oc I like thinking in different questions about them. It's my way to get to know them better :D

Thank you for asking questions about her, Sunny! Tobiuo is so much fun to think about, and I would love the opportunity to show off some art my beautiful, talented baby sister made for her. I love how many interpretations there are of her so far! @since-im-already-here is a wonderful artist, and I love her.

I'll answer them below a page break just in case I go on too much! Again, I really really appreciate the opportunity of getting into her headspace, and I love the prompts!

1. Gold or Silver: she'll take what she's given

Tobiuo wears surgical steel in her webbed ears, dark onyx in colour. They were a gift from her captain, along with being the one she asked to pierce them for her. She hasn't been convinced to change them since he gave them to her.

2. Favourite Color: luminescent purple

Living in the lower depths exposed her to varying degrees of color The Above aren't regularly exposed to. She has vague memories of her past, but the purple is what she truly remembers.

3. Family and Pets: the Heart Pirates

She is not aware of any living relatives. Her lapse in memory from surviving the shipwreck carrying her to Sabaody Archipelago wiped all history from her mind. She does remember having petulant spats in her youth, but can't put a face to the memory. Her found family is her crew. She sees Jean-Bart as a grumpy uncle, Shachi and Penguin as younger brothers, Ikkaku as a close cousin, and Bepo as her baby brother.

Law is her Captain, and she respects him with every fiber of her being. At the smallest click of his tongue, and the phrase: "Show me something," or "Time to go to work," she'll immediately smile darkly and ready herself for combat for him.

When she thinks too hard on it, she may come to realise the purple color correlates with fins where feet should linger. A sibling, a cousin, a friend: she knows not, but they're lingering just below the surface.

4. A Devil Fruit: absolutely not

Her job is to protect her captain. Who would retrieve him if he's pulled into deep water? As a Fishman, she enjoys the ability to swim. There is no way she'd allow the ocean to take that from her.

5. Cold or Hot: Hot

Tobiuo is cold-blooded, enjoying warmth when it pricks at her skin. She doesn't really sweat, something Shachi and Bepo are greatly jealous of in warmer weather.

6. Favourite childhood game: grappling

She really enjoys expressing herself physically. Her friendship comes from a trial by fire: demonstrating her strength by wrestling with her polar-bear mink crewmate. Jean-Bart can keep up with her going fist to fist, but he has no real desire to engage with her like this. When she meets up with the Kid-Pirates, she thoroughly enjoys how physical they are with one another. Arm-wrestling is her love language, one that Kid and Killer greatly enjoy testing in her.

Notes: her strength comes from being a Fishman and originating at the ocean floor. The pressure difference adds to her already heightened strength in the air - which is the reason behind her and her people's mutism. Her lungs can't handle it, but her physical abilities enjoy the pressure change.

7. Hobbies: Dance

Coming with expressing herself physically is the need to make her body move. She makes a point of learning a local style of dance at the ports the Tang docks at. The most receptive crewmates to join with her is Shachi and Penguin. Shachi is often called to act as translator for her sign, a task he enjoys doing. Where the rest of the crew enjoy letting off steam with karaoke, Tobiuo enjoys dancing.

8. Alignment: complicated

While I would say she is more chaotic-good leaning, her loyalty towards captain is almost in line with Lawfulness (oh my gosh, what a horrible pun). She would cast aside her own desires to do "good" if Law asked her to. She is not fond of hurting people, but will at the bequest of her captain.

9. Favourite Food: texture-focussed

She has a barbed tongue and jagged teeth, her sense of taste not really in line with what her warm-blooded crewmates experience. She enjoys spice and texture. Sichuan pepper corns are one of her favorites, specifically for the herbal tingles it leaves on each of the divots and ridges of her tongue. She also prefers her meat as close to raw as she can get it.

10. Favourite Thing: her webbing

Ears, fingers, toes and shoulders. She enjoys their functionality for swimming in her natural environment, but also enjoys wearing clothes outside her boiler suit to accentuate them. Dressing in civilian attire, she will often dress to expose them more.

Thank you for letting me talk about her. I think about her often, not just for her romantic interest in Heat. I adore her!

[rabid-orannge]

gathering courage to actually post something au-related for once. still don't like how the end result looks, but eh.

DISCLAIMER: these are animatronics/AIs themselves, NOT the souls possessing them!

this au is called the flipside and it's very self-indulgent with lots of personal projecting and hcs. it's mainly puppet-centric because puppets are my favorite type of animatronics in the whole feddyverse and i lack self-control

i gave the ouppets actual names because yes. The og one with rosy cheeks is named Charles. He picked the name himself partially because he wanted to honor Charlotte, and partially because at some point they both had trouble differentiating between her ghost and his code, you know, the joys of a ghost kid and a sentient ai sharing a body. The lore for him is basically the same as the source material with a few minor tweaks: security system unit, tasked with keeping an eye on kids, failed his task successfully and broke down, got possessed by the girl he failed to keep safe, was fixed and repurposed for the prize corner, brought back the missing kids with the power of friendship ghost bs, played a part in killing nightguards, avoided being disassembled along with toys, somehow survived fazbears frights burning down, was essentially homeless, went offline as an ai shortly before getting captured by Lefty, then died in the ffps fire anyway.

The one with blue cheeks is named Vincent (he was named that by his manufacturers from the start because he was originally intended to be an "aged up" Vinnie. He never made it past a couple of test runs before the company behind Candy's changed their mind and decided that bringing back a character that is associated with a person that killed two people and lied to authorities would be very insensitive, even if it was essentially a reboot. Besides, the character wasn't even that popular to begin with, so retconning him wouldn't be a big deal, right? Essentially, Vincent is a reject without even a chance to see the stage. The entity in the conveyor belt footage known as "blue/reverse puppet"? That's Vincent, or at least it seems to be him. Vincent became sentient from an unknown bug during one of the test runs, spent his whole life hiding from factory workers, then welcomed his "death" with open hands when the factory burned down in 2007.

im sorry for rambling, i just needed to share it somewhere bc the self-indulgent brainrot is real and i can't hold it in anymore

[secondchoice-ragdoll]

I saw your answer to that other anon asking if K’s unrequited love was T and I appreciate your response but I wanted to throw another idea into the ring! First of all I think T&K love each other deeply in ways that are definitely more than just friends, and it’s never been unrequited. But I think K probably thinks T never felt the same way that she did since she was rejected that one time (despite all the evidence to the contrary that T very much still thinks about it in a way that’s more than just jokes). But it’s not like either of them has said I love you as in I’m in love with you (that we know of) so like… how would the other know how they really feel about each other if they’ve never clearly expressed it?

Anyways my theory is that K is talking about the guy back in Boston who she used to hook up with who she said if things had been different, she would’ve married him. K wrote about him at length in both of their books, but she’s mentioned him a couple of times in stories too. He was the ex military construction worker who was a client that she said she would’ve fucked for free (she also said this on unhhhh) because he always overplayed and tipped and she would make him pay for STI tests she wasn’t actually taking and he would still pay even if she canceled and even with all of that he was respectful and the best sex of her life at the time. She also implied that she liked talking to him too and it wasn’t just about the sex for her. K said that he was the one who would make comments like I would never know you’re not a woman (complimentary) and if things were different he would’ve walked down the street with her (not complimentary). Both of those stories K has told many times and clearly they had a lasting impact on her with regards to her identity. So yeah, that’s why I think she was talking about this man because she said that she was in love with him and would’ve married him but he said he had plans to marry (another) woman. It’s heartbreaking honestly. I often thought she was talking about her 16 year old straight friend crush too, because he’s another that has come up often. But I don’t believe K really considers that love. I recommend reading about the sections on sex work in both of their books because when she talked about this guy, that’s what convinced me she was in love with him and he’s the one she as talking about.

I know it’s a common theory amongst fans that K is talking about T, and maybe on a subconscious level she is too, but I don’t think K would be so obvious like that in front of T. I think she’s thinking about someone specific and it’s the Boston guy. Though I do think T has thought it’s about her at times and I agreed that she wants to know so many details about K’s love and sex life because her mind is imagining what if it’s me. Just, if T does feel that way and after 10 years it seems like she she does, why not tell her you love her when you love her? What’s the worst that could happen at this point? They’ve survived worse and have only come back stronger. Why not give it an honest shot? I truly believe they would still stay in each others lives even if the relationship didn’t work out. But maybe that’s the risk they don’t want to take and the fear of losing each other is too strong. That’s the tragedy of them.

hi u r amazing. just wanted to get that out of the way😋😋

srsly thank you for contributing to the conversation!! i actually havent read their books bc they r not avaliable in this godforsaken country i live in (i need books in hard copy, sorry😭), so i didnt know i missed out on such stories, but good to know!

i a 100% agree w u on T&Ks relationship being not unrequitedly more than friendship, and id say that K is in this exact particular belief. despite T being soooooooo loud abt it... (u couldnt shut her up abt loving and knowing K even if u tried)

like i said, i had no idea that the (otherwise rarely?) mentioned Boston guy left such an impact on K, so this is a really fascinating addition. and yeah, knowing what i know now, i believe it is probably this guy, not the "bj w braces" one😭😭 (i would have been surprised if he had been the one K identified as her one actual romantic love, he seemed more like a "first crush that things happened w" thing?)

its really so sad, this Boston guy seems like such a nice man? i can see how the comments he made to K and how decently he treated her could have led to her counting him as the one person she was in love w :((( yes it is very heartbreaking that he went on to marry that other woman, poor K baby.

my point is quite similar, like if they could just somehow magically have a damn discussion abt the topic.... but nooooo! ugh😩

i do think T thinks K is talking abt her, or at least has that in her top 3 guesses. and i mean, she is not wrong? but still i wouldnt think Kd say it like this infront of her so many times.

THE TRAGEDY OF THEM. yes. exactly. srsly if anyone catches me being in love w my friend for a decade and they reciprocate the feelings and i dont do anything abt it u should call an ambulance bc smth if off-track. i literally dont know how it would be such a risk they appear to see it as, like, its not like they dont know each other? not like they dont want each other? not like they dont hang out (well. usually) a lot? soooooo? i really dont know, i get how it can be scary BUT GOD.

[aerisleis-fics]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤

<333!

I've got two of you! which means I guess I have to do 10 fics and 10 writers we'll see if I can make that happen. Favorite fics I've written is really hard bc I tend to go through phases where I really hate my writing and never really fully am sure what to grab onto. I'm also restricting myself to only my main ao3- Aerislei.

BUT without further ado, in no particular order 10 11 recs from my writing under the cut. MOST are FF7 SephZack bc Im sure that's what you're both hoping for lmao but I do have a few other fandoms and non sephzack selections!

Captured in Wutai FFVII

Written for the Sephiroth Bang and while there are things I would different given the chance I LOVED this fic and how it came out. It meant a lot to me to write (mostly) true to how I wanted it to be even though it was kind of gritty and dark.

In the depths of the Wutai War, Sephiroth is assigned a young Second Class SOLDIER, Angeal’s protege, Zack Fair. Sephiroth doesn’t pay the boy much mind until the pair of them are cut off from the rest of their unit behind enemy lines. Injured and aware that the clock is ticking, the pair must work together to survive. Things get worse long before they get better, seeing as Wutai forces find them first. From there, it’s holding on long enough to try and find a way out - or for help to find them - whichever comes first.

Secrets and Fears FFVII

(Or: What if the scar from Modeohiem was the start of Zack Fair's healing factor beginning to break down?)

Friendships Forged in Fire FFVII

Incomplete but a Very fun concept and I'm working on the next chapter! Hopefully soon!

Prompt: Sephiroth is gravely wounded while on a mission with Zack, hindering him from being able to properly protect himself from the enemies/monsters they are fighting. Their friendship has been mending and blossoming ever since Zack disclosed what happened at Modeoheim, but now it’s the ultimate test of their bond as Sephiroth must put all his faith in Zack to get them home safely.

Pause, Rewind, Restart FFVII

Cloud and Marlene are visiting the church when they find themselves pulled backward into the past. With no way back home, Cloud sets himself to doing the best he can to make sure that this future goes better than the one they came from because he can't just do nothing.

Recordings for Sleeping FFVII

At first it had been disheartening - was he that boring to talk to? But over time, Zack had come to understand that it wasn’t that it was boring. It was that Sephiroth had come to associate Zack talking with a sense of peace and the fact that things were okay, so he could relax - and, subsequently, could rest. It was incredibly touching, now that Zack understood it better.

Saving the Hero FFVII

A pair of scenes centering in on Sephiroth saving Zack, and Zack - in his own way - saving Sephiroth in return.

Taking Care FFVII

A handful of short snapshots in which I attempt to depict Zack Fair and Sephiroth growing closer, slowly, through the lens of taking care of one another post-lab sessions.

Moments in Time FFVII

Five snapshots of times Cloud and Zack shared spaces together, threading together as their relationship develops.

Unrealistic Expectations FFXV

After nearly failing the trial of the Tidemother, Noctis stands precariously balanced between his duty, his emotions, and his body’s need for rest. The Prince fails to heed Lunafreya’s warning about taking it easy, and his friends find the hard way that Noctis hasn’t been truthful with them.

Keep the Home Fires Burning RWBY

PolySTQ, Summer returns to find things are not exactly the way she left them. Still, arriving in Atlas to the threat of open war with Salem with her daughter at the center of it all wasn’t what Summer expected. Qrow and Taiyang must face the fact that Summer has been returned with no explanation of where she’s been or why, all while navigating the tangles of their own feelings with each other, and the war with Salem.

Bonus:

The Draconian's Grace FFXV

Noctis asks for - and receives - a unique chance to go back to the beginning of his journey and change things (hopefully for the better). He's not alone in his journey, and it's that alone that gives him the courage to move ever-onward.

[tadpolesonalgae]

im sooooo curious and excited to see how this will affect mor and feyre's relationship, bc their friendship in canon is smth i adore and seeing it be tested? and seeing them fight/argue is going to be so interesting 🤭🤭🤭 like one of my fav moments in the series is literally when they had a fight during the war bc feyre ran off alone to catch a suriel.. smth abt seeing two ppl who clearly care and love each other having their bond get tested is very interesting to me

also, from what we saw of the cbmthy reader so far in the past chapters, i don't think she'd have a dramatic falling out with ppl in the ic?? she's pretty much very passive but still stubborn in her own way, so i imagine that even if mor comes to her senses eventually and apologizes or tries to make amends with reader, she'd just respond like "oh it's okay, i already forgot about it!" even if she's probably eternally haunted by what mor said and i can see her being cordial and polite to mor bc she doesn't want to put feyre in an awkward situation but never opening her heart to her again or at least not for a veryyy long time 😭

‘smth abt seeing two ppl who clearly care and love each other having their bond get tested is very interesting to me’

I know what you mean? (I think) And sometimes I wonder if it’s problematic thinking on my part but honestly I think it’s a case that on a foundational level there’s something soothing to an unreachable part of one’s mind that glories over seeing two people struggle and have their bond be tested but survive? To see them have difficulties but return to one another so they aren’t left alone.

(In my opinion, obviously)

‘also, from what we saw of the cbmthy reader so far in the past chapters, i don't think she'd have a dramatic falling out with ppl in the ic??’

I honestly agree, but I don’t think that would prevent her from having a negative bond with someone? While it might not be outright aggressive, I think because of the kind of person reader is (someone who readily accepts bad things that happen to her without fight, whether they’re real or whether they’re things she’s told herself) it might make her pretty good at handling that kind of coldness? The worst thing Mor can do (and arguably has done) is confirm reader’s doubts—and reader’s already been putting herself through that hurt.

(At least, up until she tried to kill herself)

‘so i imagine that even if mor comes to her senses eventually and apologizes or tries to make amends with reader, she'd just respond like "oh it's okay, i already forgot about it!"’

Especially since that’s what happened with Az 🤦 I suppose we’ll just have to see how their relationship evolves 😳👀

‘but never opening her heart to her again or at least not for a veryyy long time 😭’

It will be kind of interesting to see whether reader allows that interaction with Mor to define all her future ones too? It was one of the few moments in cbmthy where reader’s the one actively doing something about her situation and it ended pretty badly, so it’ll be fun to see if reader will be able to move past that and do it again, even if it might hurt her :)

[ghostwise]

i didn’t say zev because i thought someone else would LOL.. sending you zevran! and isabela :) !

Zevran

First impression: Genuinely such a good guy. A test of the Warden's willingness to trust; he comes in as an antagonist, after all, and so much hinges on what the player's reaction to this is. I think the way his backstory is revealed is perfectly executed; glimpses, here and there, between the jokes and the innuendo.

Impression now: WHAT CAN I SAY I FIND HIM COMPELLING… truly a character that tackles some universal questions about the human condition. What can you do, when you feel you've failed yourself so completely and so thoroughly that not even running to another country to die can fix it? How do you define yourself when your identity was purposefully manipulated and subjected to horrific abuse your whole life? How do you stay whole? Do you even need to stay whole? Do you need to be whole to love? To do good in the world? To be worthy of it?

Favorite moment: Antivan poetry convo is a classic, it's just so sincere. He knows he's being a bit of a fool, but it's a good exchange, if it makes the Warden smile.

Idea for a story: MMMM listen. Gestures to the entire Everything. But I will say there is a very far-off story where he accompanies Hamal in finding his mother's clan. Don't know if I ever will write it, but!

Unpopular opinion: I've said it before but I find it distasteful when people act like he was all over the Warden right away from their first meeting. Buddy, he just survived a suicide attempt.

Favorite relationship: Besides Zevran/Warden, I'd say Zevran/Isabela, Zevran/Alistair, and his friendship with Leliana is so good.

Favorite headcanon: I think it's contextually supported but I really DO think he's primarily a creative soul, I think I've written him doing poetry (canon), tattoos (canon), drawing (canonically tattoos, so he must know how to draw), and jewelry + metalwork (supported by the metal rounds, which the item description states he made himself; plus the gifts of silver and gold he receives). Sign that boy up for some art therapy is what I've done.

Isabela

First impression: She has one of the coolest intros of any DA character, honestly. But that's very much what the setup is supposed to be right? There's complexity behind that, there's a person who's suffered a ton, and doesn't have her shit figured out, and she's beautifully vibrant and relatable bc of it. She's not agonizing about it, either. Over time she comes to be patient with the questions within herself. She extends that to others. She's just lovely.

Impression now: She deserves the entire world… and a ship to sail it. <3

Favorite moment: Her convo in Act 3 when she and Hawke reunite, only because knowing they were apart for a while is so harrowing to my heart.

Idea for a story: A story where she and Merrill enjoy a festival day at the alienage :)

Unpopular opinion: Not sure if this is unpopular? But I really feel like her backstory in the comics is so out of character. I don't know suddenly I can't read…

Favorite relationship: This one is genuinely tough. But I have to say, Isabela/Fenris and Isabela/Merrill.

Favorite headcanon: I like to think she helped Kirkwall's mages escape by ship, and some of them stuck around as members of her crew.

[frogs-in3-hills]

tags via @miceeonvenus:

#”they’re not clinging to each other to survive so much” #is this how it feels to get punched in the face?? #theyre duo name… literally came from their means of survival #now that theyre not in constant danger they dont have to cling #its a test of friendship #most ppl think of going thru hardships together as a test of true friendship but cclingy formed in hardships #peace is their test of friendship #they dont NEED each other to get thru peace so will they still be friends? #and its yes. #they don’t have to cling bc theyre not in the hardships but they’re both still there and still friends and its all ok

I really think it shows the maturity and healthiness that cclingy are like together but separate. Like tubbo does his own thing but this time hes not isolate (like snowchester). Tommy does his own thing but hes not isolated (like turning tubbos prime church area house into a fortress). They see each other, theyre friends, but theyre not clinging to each other to survive so much so its a thing that can be torn apart. They're just okay. They see each otehr sometimes.

[superbcandyangel]

Tea cakes and sympathy

!! love this one! another BNHA fic, it's about my personal headcanon of Yaoyorozu's friendship with Satou and the crush she develops on Hatsume when she starts getting her costume tailored for her new measurements (bc Horikoshi can catch these hands for making her quirk literally rely on the lipids in her body and then making her skinny. it's a hazard to her heroism so Lunch Rush and I fixed it for him)

snippet:

Momo fiddled with the shoulder straps, testing their durability. She needn't have bothered. Of course anything Hatsume made could withstand a nuclear blast. It would have to, to have made it out of the development studio in the first place. Still, she pinched and pulled and smoothed over where the seams met her body; soft flesh and firm muscle, no longer sinewy or brittle.

The pattern pieces and details on the chemical composition of the fabric lay in a neat stack on her desk (shoved into her hands along with the latest "prototype" costume; again, Momo felt like she could reasonably survive being run over by a steamroller and the vehicle might be more injured) beside her textbooks and a mug of tea that had long since gone cold. It wasn't a particularly expensive brand. Sometimes you made tea to keep you company more than anything else.

It gave her an excuse to go to the kitchen, anyway. There were a few FatGum snack cakes that she'd just been dying to try since she bought them. Sensei's orders, and all that.

[flora-bigs]

DAMN this is truly forbidden...

MOTHER FUCKER. i might literally just have to post it as a tumbly post. under the readmore i guess

flower: been having small daydreams abt heathers slash fic queen robyn: heather? flower: heathers flower: the hit 1989 movie starring winona ryder and christian slater queen robyn: never heard of it flower: mean girls if mean girls was good + included murder queen robyn: oh fuck

flower: i wanna watch it as a family before we do the monsterhearts thing flower: it's a REALLY dark comedy queen robyn: pffffft ok but "watch it as a family" is legit queen robyn: the CUTEST thing you ever said flower: not as cute as my unwritten heathers slash fic flower: where heather chandler doesn't die but instead has a gay crisis involving veronica queen robyn: kill her with love flower: and heather macnamara and heather duke hook up on the side queen robyn: and maybe some casual feeding queen robyn: theres multiple heathers? queen robyn: well, i guess its in the name

flower: yeah they're all named heather flower: heather chandler, heather duke, heather macnamara and veronica sawyer flower: veronica gets to hang out with them mostly because she's really good at forging handwriting queen robyn: and theyre popular girls so im sure theyre all brats flower: of course they are flower: Veronica's not but she hangs out with them and like flower: is complacent in brattiness

flower: ive never seen jawbreaker but it has the same plot as heathers im p sure (accidental murder) but there's a line in it where the popular girls are gonna find someone, tie her to the flagpole and 'stuff her pretty face with pancakes' flower: so what if the heathers @ veronica queen robyn: SWEATS

flower: at some point veronica wrongs the heathers somehow bc she's not cool enough flower: and they threaten to undo her on monday queen robyn: omg…theyre ALL feeders flower: so over the weekend she makes a big deal of it and has sex w/ a school shooter and heather c dies because of it but what if she just waited until Monday and got tied up and fed to bursting and then one of the heathers (im not picky) had a weird gay crisis looking at her all stripped down and stuffed up queen robyn: she should have sex with the gay heather instead while shes tied and stuffed ideally flower: a) all heathers are gay b) tru

flower: MORE fuel for the fire: flower: in the musical (ambiguous in the movie) veronica is rly good friends w/ a girl named martha and martha is FAT queen robyn: omg….. flower: and unpopular because of it flower: and flower: in the heathers' big song there's a line flower: "keep on testing me, and end up like her"

flower: veronica and martha's friendship surviving is the happy ending and thats rly good queen robyn: awwww i like that flower: but like queen robyn: we can go gayer flower: i love the heathers flower: and at least one of the heathers is really into veronica and has no idea how to act about it

queen robyn: veronica let tied up in the gym at night, probably blindfolded, and gayest heather swings in without saying anything, just so she can kiss and stuff veronica more flower: omg flower: im gonna go with yes flower: MAN queen robyn: :33 you liked that huh? flower: i like my high school gays fucked up lowkey flower: brats -> bad rude arrogant teens queen robyn: define fucked up in this instance flower: like leaving your weird animosity-crush tied up in the gym overnight flower: cruel ? idk queen robyn: nice queen robyn: pretty cruel

flower: i love weird fucked up complicated lesbians flower: jealousy-power-crush flower: when you said swing i pictured literally like spiderman queen robyn: omfg queen robyn: i mean, if you want fucked up teens flower: heather duke the cheerleader just like trapiseing in to where veronica is tied up queen robyn: probably snapping pics too honestly flower: she's taunting and bragging about how everyone in the school is gonna see her like this flower: but she keeps them queen robyn: ok, so i havent seen the movie but what if all the heathers have real similar voices, so veronica cant tell which heather is tormenting her the most queen robyn: and this heather does more than tie her up like flower: biting flower: WEIRD head game shit queen robyn: maybe she positions veronica so shes like, almost face down and forced to eat a cake or fucking biting that shits fun af too flower: face down in a cake, bite ass queen robyn: fucking squeeze her boobs, call her a fat pig flower: veronica: squirm flower: heather: SQUIRM queen robyn: spanking even queen robyn: or hair pulling flower: tbh i bet the school has like flower: a paddle flower: for special cases queen robyn: …im gonna call you out on that part later queen robyn: but lets say theres a paddle flower: WHAT queen robyn: but heathers already bit the ass flower: it was the 80s they still did that queen robyn: oh, true

flower: bite ass, leave bruise queen robyn: bruises for sure queen robyn: maybe bruises from grabbing those thighs real hard too~ flower: those thighs w/ a little softness on them but nothing compared to what heather has in mind for her

flower: one heather dumps her another adopts her queen robyn: omg until they get to the queen who likes them huge flower: gay high school mental torture queen robyn: fucking love mental torture ngl flower: veronica messed up the power dynamic among the heathers and now theyre trying to rebalance and taking it out on veronica's figure queen robyn: omg yesssss! flower: but veronica is getting laid like EVERY NIGHT so shes not struggling a ton flower: like some for sure flower: its fucked up but flower: maybe she likes the attention queen robyn: omg yes. maybe people find out how much shes sleeping around (but never with WHO) so she gets this reputation for being a slut but really shes with these three heathers flower: i mean theyre all doing all these horribly humiliating things to her people are bound to find SOMETHING out queen robyn: i think finding her in the gym, tied up, covered in cake with her panties down her still tied legs would say enough flower: dont forget her grossly bloated belly queen robyn: the school probably TRIED to do something but veronica is like "no i have uh…a boyfriend. were kinky." and deflects any kind of charges queen robyn: oh that too! even though its the following morning flower: who knows what time a heather came to visit her queen robyn: 4 am queen robyn: just when veronica fell asleep and thought she was safe-ish flower: yeah like flower: ok im tied up in my underwear in the gym flower: this is pretty bad flower: i'll be found in the morning tho flower: hopefully not by a student queen robyn: better try to sleep to at least get some rest queen robyn: but nope flower: before dawn, someone creeps in flower: and all veronica can guess is 'heather?' before she gets her mouth stuffed fulla cake queen robyn: omg yes flower: the heather in question is bound to be talking nonstop just stream of consciousness flower: going between 'you fat pig' and 'you deserve this' to 'why am i doing this' and 'what is it about you' and 'this is your fault probably' queen robyn: ….omfg i fucking love it??? flower: weird insecure heather trying to justify the fact that shes just gay + mean queen robyn: with like, rough making out. very forceful, very toothy flower: biting in weird and painful spots flower: like flower: right where the butt meets the thigh queen robyn: omg yes queen robyn: or around the boobs queen robyn: not even on the boob like flower: sideboob bite queen robyn: veronicas given in, she wants some nippleplay at LEAST queen robyn: and heathers biting the underside of the boob

flower: veronica's diary mostly looks like "?????!!!!!!!??!!?!??!?!?!?!?!!??!!!?!" for a couple pages flower: so does heathers queen robyn: maybe thats why veronica keeps hanging out with the heathers like queen robyn: she doesnt know which one it is, so shes hanging out with all of them and get back with the mystery heather flower: and all the heathers lowkey can't get enough of her flower: heather duke has terrible gay urges but she cant make it REALLY bad for veronica because the other two heathers will come to veronica's defense queen robyn: her defense or to the defense to their claims on her? like they all want the right to say that veronica is THEIR bitch flower: what if veronica (she's savvy) starts picking up on some of this weird dynamic flower: and starts kinda stirring shit up passively flower: like queen robyn: like playing favorites whenever she helps them cheat flower: what if she wears like flower: a collar to school one day flower: and heather chandler just can't make eye contact w/ her queen robyn: I DIDNT WANT TO GO THERE BUT YOURE MAKING ME GO THERE HUH??? flower: hee hee flower: ok heather c is a hard domme you wanna hear her song flower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQOoTX1Nxx8 its a rly good song + its sung at veronica + i think the dance includes lots of hip thrusting

queen robyn: she sounds like the type to use her daddys (or even worse, her bf's) money on a dominatrix outfit just for veronica, who of course, cant see queen robyn: what if the candy store is also partly literal and they stuff veronica with so much candy flower: ice cream and chocolate syrup and cake and gummies until she can barely stand, even though shes tied to the flagpole queen robyn: theres a sign that says "FAT PIG" around her neck flower: previously-flat stomach swollen and tight and bulging against the ropes flower: maybe they just write it on her chest w/ lipstick flower: and they leave her there to get found basically but one heather sneaks back and gives her a rough kiss and then runs away w/o a word flower: and then shes just left tied to the flagpole on a saturday morning, cold, nauseous, bloated and kinda turned on queen robyn: stuff her all weekend long

flower: if you make heather c have gay thoughts she'll tie you up somewhere public and force-feed you carbs until you're about to puke/burst flower: but then she gets more gay thoughts flower: so who is the real loser here queen robyn: you are for wanting it even more

flower: hair pulling, force feeding, bondage, humiliation, flower: veronica that's a free gf

flower: honestly by punishing veronica like that heather's just exposing her weakness queen robyn: willing victims of fucked up sexy shenanigans? flower: which can only prompt veronica to dress gayer flower: and Veronica's not admitting she's into it (she is) shes trying to pull a power play by continuously turning heather on in front of her clique flower: not so bulletproof queen robyn: what if it blows up in veronicas face though and her gay dressing turns on ALL the heathers? flower: of course it does flower: in different ways flower: u KNOW that heather wants heather to step on her flower: so if Veronica's showing up in ripped jeans and belly shirts and collars all the heathers are gonna start getting ideas flower: heather c is too rattled to be the full icy bitch she usually is, heather d is jealous/attracted and heather m is trying not to accidentally call veronica 'mommy' flower: and that's how you power bottom queen robyn: …omfg flower: every time a heather loses control and does something fucked up to her she becomes more powerful flower: it's way worse if she can get a heather alone in public flower: cause then there's no heathers to back them up/reinforce the cruelty flower: Veronica's rep is already ruined she's ready to go full gay flower: and ruin the heathers with her

queen robyn: flower im too weak… queen robyn: this is too good flower: Ripped Clothes queen robyn: too weak D: flower: futch sawyer really gaying it up around the heathers and making them all quietly lose it

flower: veronica in a letterman jacket and a rly tight blouse underneath flower: pushing the heathers insecure, gay little buttons even tho when one of them snaps it's another ambush and force-feeding for her to look forward to queen robyn: its like a reward for unleashing their gay flower: the more she teases them, slowly, the softer and curvier she gets flower: and idk if you've ever seen a curvy girl who dresses boyishly but it's extremely hot flower: even though it's heather holding the stack of pancakes and shoveling them into Veronica's mouth and making her eat three days worth of calories in under an hour, flower: it's veronica who's really in control

[badedramay]

on its face i definitely agree with the annoyance and don't disagree that samiya's choice was stupid, but in the greater context of the show i feel like i understood why it was being explored and how. in a lot of prior dramas where women have been shown to enter into these kind of marriages despite clear red flags, the men in the relationship aren't viewed as much more than an obstacle or sort of pathetic existence incapable of changing (or, at worst, abusers entirely). but samiya and saif were meant to parallel each other more deliberately as characters initially unable to break out of that internalized obligation to their mothers. they didn't love each other but they respected, listened to, and stood by each other within their marriage and that eventually gave them the confidence to take a stand for themselves like they should have all along. their mothers' contributions to them developing that subservient mindset in the first place were dissected and addressed and both had to feel accountable for how they'd emotionally blackmailed their children due to their own insecurities whether with respect to society (samiya's mother) or their own marital relationship (saif's mother)

so i do think the bare bones of this type of plot are certainly tried and tested at length in our industry, but the way kuch ankahi approached it was markedly different and hardly as sensationalized or doom-scapey. i feel like the status quo with so many arranged marriage situations in dramas is for the two people to either hate each other or be awkward with each other before immediately transitioning into head over heels love following a pivotal moment. but i really liked that nothing was done up the same way here. they weren't lovers, they weren't enemies, but they weren't quite friends either, not until the very end when saif said all he could try to be for the time being was a friend but that it might give way to more bc of how much he'd come to respect samiya as a person (and you could tell the same went for her as well). it was a kind of realism that i think a lot of dramas trying to pursue the same plot tend to miss. they didn't love each other by the end, but maybe they could come to love each other. samiya separated from him, but it wasn't an overdramatic separation where her whole izzat was at stake, and she was empowered in that newfound independence and internal comfort she had to now choose how to move forward, whether that was with her own life or with a fresh friendship with saif that might give way to somewhere more in the future. and both of their mothers had to sit in that and respect that these were the choices their children had made, and that they could hope for the marriage to survive, but there would be no guarantee, and they couldn't pressure their kids any longer by way of it and had to let them chart their own paths. the initial cowardice on samiya's and saif's behalf was certainly ridiculous to watch unfold but when you take the story as a whole i don't think it was quite as regressive or redundant as people complained it to be and i do feel like the way it was handled wasn't something i'd seen before personally. instead of glorifying pushovers: the melodrama version fifty it was more like pushovers united: breaking free of our moms and being who we want to be gjdkflhgd

see when you explain it like THAT this all makes for a very interesting story. one that i lowkey hope would've gotten its own main story treatment than being a parallel plot in a drama that was overshadowed by its lead cast. this side of arrange marriages where the husband and wife don't necessarily fall in love but still work their way to a friendship is raarreee. all marriages in PakDrama are either doomed or become another love story for the books (which eventually have its brush with doom but then it's alright again). Marriage of compromises where the compromise doesn't immediately give way to shayarana ishq CAN make for a interesting series. and one that would resonate more with the audience because of how close to reality that is.

[crownrots]

early morning brain wormies (post show bc S2 whenever!) 🎉

HATTIE MILFORD & XANDER YATSKO

song: way back home — bob crosby and the bob cats

she took the brahmin in the barely frenemies divorce

traveling all the way back home (fake ass vault 11) bc frenemy xander (the famous vaultie serial killer) cannot be trusted

homie has WORDS. destroys this man with only a few of em’ after his menty b #girlboss #hedeservedit

super navigator,google maps wishes they were her

no survival skills #wingingit

ghoul child (pre teen????) companion

song: we three — the ink spots

xander is in his pwease pity me era🙏🏾

sees no point in going on after he realizes his little crusade for revenge was built on LIES (identity crisis incoming)

decides to do the “right thing” and proceeds to try and go after hattie to make amends and help her find this fabled colony of ex vault dwellers … but gets sidetracked #sidequestKING

ABEL DAWSON & KONSTANTIN ZISKO

song: let’s ride into the sunset together — tony joyce, jerry burnham, jon burnham

one sided (for now) friends to lovers

konstantin realizes he’s head over heels for this dude he’s been traveling with for like a year and has a crisis about it

tragic events = realizing feelings

scared that he’ll ruin the entire friendship if he says anything so he suffers in silence and continues being an asshole

meanwhile dawson is OBLIVIOUS

ESTHER DAVIS

song: atom bomb baby — the five stars

might team up with dawson and konstantin bc she can blow things up for them #thesearemydads

realizes her cats are not cats … but doesn’t care

steals jonathan the radroach from ghoulmother pearl for funsies

likes to go out into the desert to test explosives she’s created

just a breakdown of clowns bc brain rot is in.

HENRIETTA ‘HATTIE’ MILFORD & XANDER YATSKO

strangers to enemies to frenemies on thin ice back to enemies and maybe to friends pipeline 🫶

misadventures of a vault dweller (fake ass vault 11) and a misinformed vault dweller hunter

person that never talks vs person that won’t shut the hell up … ever

ABEL DAWSON & KONSTANTIN ZISKO

dumbass to dumbass communication

buddy criminal comedy vibes

one dude has no idea who he is and just lies constantly while the other just goes along with whatever he says … very “yeah, what he said.” energy

guy that’s friends with everyone vs guy who’s prejudice against anything that isn’t explicitly human

‘not so bad once you get to know him.’

ESTHER DAVIS

damn bitch you live like this?

serial arsonist

super smart. borderline insane. tinkerer

left vault 4 because she couldn’t light stuff on fire … claims it was traumatizing being denied the greatest invention of mankind.

cat mom … but they’re definitely not cats.

banned from at least four settlements and has burned at least one down

MARGARINE ‘MARGE’ STERLING & GHOULMOTHER PEARL

yes. margarine. supposed to be named after her grandmother, margery … but, well.

back alley surgeon (totally know what i’m doing vibes.)

no caps? no problem.

cap swear jar ????

ghoul fucker (not elaborating) 🤠

great great ghoul mother pearl (debatable whether or not it’s her actual great great grandmother)

fierce old ghoul who gambles for caps and always wins

pet radroach named jonathan

wasteland creature taxidermist

[mcdingaling]

I'm FINALLY doing my Sakuatsu fic rec MASTERLIST

I love finding these so i've wanted to do this for such a long time.

Without further ado, here we go: (there will be NO smut -mostly- so its ALL FLUFF AND CRACK AND AMAZINGNESS)

SOCIAL MEDIA CONCEPTS

I adore the premise of social media in fics, so these are my ABSOLUTE favorite ones

The MSBY Black Jackals Take a Lie Detector Test by sifuhotman

i THINK this is my favorite sakuatsu fic ever. like. ever

i've read this so. many. times. And im in LOVE with the concept bc i LOVE the try guys and the build up is SO GOOD and there is so much TENSION and hinata and bokuto are little shi*s. THE CONCEPT OF A LIE DETECTOR IS JUST GREAT OK?? IT JUST IS

MSBY4's Lockdown Survival Guide by minthalo

THIS MOTHERFRIKING FIC OMGKSDHGKLA. idk what it was laced with but you cant. put. it. down

It's SO GOOD, it's based on tiktok and the #sakuatsu stuff is AMAZING dfjskhf only they would realize they love each other bc of HASHTAGS

AND ITS ALSO SUPER FUNNY

MSBY's Miya Atsumu and Sakusa Kiyoomi Take a Friendship Test by msbypr

AjSDBAJFASÑK THIS motherfriking FIC. omg. ITS SO GOOOD

ITS BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS, and the amount of LOVE they have for each other??? and the TENSION??? ITS AMAZING

Miya Atsumu & Sakusa Kiyoomi Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions by sifuhotman

"SOCIAL MEDIA INTERVIEW AND PRIVATE CONFessoon YASSSSSS"

that's literally what I wrote as a bookmark. It's amazing

Famous V-League Players Make Fools of Themselves on Twitter dot com by crone_zone

my bookmark after i read it was "This is the closest thing to reblogging a fic I could think of 🤍 HILARIOUS" and i STAND. BY . THAT. YOU SHOULD READ THIS FIC. its a crack fic and its SO WELL DONE I LITERALLY LOLed OK??? I LAUGH OUT LOUDED

Channel JACKAL by Aka_aKa_akA

It's literally a video series made fanfic about the jackals being dumb and awesome and lovely and sakuatsu bc yea everyone loves sakuatsu so just enjoy the ride

its a kinda? slow burn. long but WORTH IT

a posteriori by SugarHighs

hsksafhkla competitive atsumu ftw

Subtle Inarizaki Crushes by sifuhotman

ok so, this one is a second part? or first part? of 2 fics. One is Subtle Inarizaki Dating which is SUNAOSA and sakuatsu in the background, but this is SAKUATSU with sunaosa in the background. It's really good, you should definitely read both

in the light by Ann1215

HEAR ME OUT OK???? Sakusa as a SUGAR DADDY???? and atsumu being all cute and hot and collegy???? OGAKGAHLDSKJFH i love this and its a FAKE DATING au so yea its perfect dont judge just read

re: chat by aalphard

Do emails count as social media???? who knows

anyways, this fic is SO FUNNY and i LOVE atsumu so yeah, its reading into his conversations with his brother gushing about sakusa

10/10

Dress to Impress by matchumu

Sakusa just malfunctioning because of a picture of atsumu is GOLD

i keep a window for you, it's always open by volchitsae

I'll just say this is social media bc SAKUSA is a YOUTUBER <3<3 love it. Never understood the title tho hehe

People Will Say We're in Love by tirralirra

yea remember THAT author i said i wouldn't put another fic of? well...

so THIS ONE is so cute bc people ship sakuatsu on twitter and they try to deny it. as IF they werent like in love

SIMPLY VERY GOOD ONES

Again, until it's perfect by fairycake

It's SUCH A GOOD FIC bc the concept of them perfecting a quick is SO COOL and the love story progression is SO AMAZING and yeah, AND THE PINING???? 10/10. I wish I'd read this one sooner

Too Unwise to Woo Peaceably by tirralirra

THIS.FRIKING.FIC omggggg THE CONCEPT??? amazing. THE PLOT??? hilarious. THE CHARACTERS??? wonderful

ITS LIKE OMG AJKJKLAJKL EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED AND MORE. LIKE SHAKESPEARE???? AND HAIKYUU???? SAY LESS

as you can see, i like this author sO.MUCH

ATSU101: how to fall in love with your fake boyfriend by solyn

OK SO THIS ONE DOES HAVE SMUT (((kinda tho they make out)))) but hear me out ok? i branched out for a good reason. ITS LIKE ZERO ANGST. minous a THOUSAND angst. all fluff. IDIOTS TO LOVERS which they are, your honor. and at this point it's a classic in the fandom just read it ok? just enjoy loving atsumu even MORE than you ever thought you could bc, as i said, he is the man of everyone's dreams. thank you and goodnight

If you're ever sad just read this fic. plz.

Matchmade by tirralirra

OMG THIS ONE IS SO ADORABLE like best friends sakuatsu is like the best thing EVER to me and this is the CUTEST friends (idiots) to lovers

Love Me, Love My Dog by tirralirra

this is the last one from this author i promise

IAHSDGKL SAKUSA BEING A DOG DAD???? and atsumu falling for him?? the progression is so cute?? and healthy?? and natural?? im in lov

ink blossoms by entrechat

WHO doesn't love a good flower / tattoo shop AU amirite?????? and its very VERY good

The Dos and Don’ts of Loving Sakusa Kiyoomi by liliapocalypse

THIS is AMAZING and the TENSIONNN and the PININGGGG MAJKDFAKLNF. Everyone just wants to make sakusa smile :) and atsumu pisses him off, so yea he's not winning that competition

Sakusa Kiyoomi's Matchmaking Questionnaire by soylatte17

Its SO CUUUUTE <3 i lov this. sakusa is a matchmaker and atsumu is his client, basically. CaN yOu gUeSs whAt could PoSsIbLy hApPeN????

i’ll do anything you say (if you say it with your hands) by liliapocalypse

the slight touching cuteness is too much i cant even

touch me (i want you to) by melstar

PRACTICE TOUCHING??? say LESS

its really really really really really really -and yeah i typed really all those times instead of ctrl-v ing it bc im an idiot - cute

COLLEGE AU

Mostly college Aus, just the ones that focus on that bc there are many college AUs that are important bc of other stuff

don't think too much (i only fell when i gave up) by w0ndrlnd

I didnt knOw i needed a SMART ATSUMU fic until this one. LIkE its ACADEMIC RIVALSSS BUT DONE SO WELL??? HOWWWW

the perfect college AU where atsumu is the man of everyone's dreams. I read this twice... in a row

the posterior probability by izayas

JHSJDH i lOVE this one and its another SMART atsumu and i LIVE. FOR THAT

on the basis of instant noodles by auvelli

Let's say it's enemies to lovers. and its COLLEGE and its pining and crushing and using a microwave so what else can you even ask for at this poing

A Second Truth by tumbleweedfarm

This IS a college AU but like KYIOOMI BEING A SINGLE DAD?? AND ATSUMU FALLING AND BEING THERE FOR HIM??????

?????????? IM CRYING????

three roses and a smile by strawberrycitrus

I meann.... its a college AU but they're both professors. and enemies to lovers. its SUCH A COOL PLOT, like really, trust me, it IS

SHORT ONES:

love and all the wrong answers by tirralirra

This one is SO CUTE and sakusa is SO.DUMB i love it so much

ROAD RAGE by mcbeefy

THIS ONE'S JUST HILARIOUS SAFJKHAKF plz read it it's a great crack fic

Current Predicament by fandomverse

You know when you read sth and you thing hOW did someone come up with this?? well, this concept is AMAZING and the EXECUTION TOO, *chef's kiss*

How to Acquire a Romantic Partner Using Reverse Psychology: a How-To-Guide by Sakusa by awkwardedgeworth

This one is very short, but like.... it's about them COMPRESSION SLEVES... yeah... just read it

pick me by ely_su

A good read, very cute ending

if you want even MORE, here you have ALL my Ao3 bookmarks with comments on them bc yeah

[kaibacorpintern]

yugioh basically makes two arguments about what “strength” is:

it’s the ability to win a duel 

it’s your bond with your friends

the first definition is demanded by the logic of a narrative with two major tournament-style arcs (duelist kingdom and BC) and functions on both literal and metaphorical levels: the characters are often in situations where their survival hinges on their ability to win a duel (for example, kaiba and atem vs. lumis and umbra), and the characters are ALSO often in situations where winning the duel is a sign of a philosophical or moral victory (for example, when atem beats kaiba in battle city, it’s because atem duels based on faith in his friends and kaiba duels based on anger/hatred.) the ability to win a duel is often used, in the context of the narrative, as the test or proof that a character has achieved self-actualization or some deeper understanding of themselves - like atem at the end of battle city, finally winning access to his memories; jounouchi’s determination to win his battle city duels on his own without atem’s help, and yuugi in the ceremonial duel (more on this below.)

HOWEVER: the second definition is what the narrative repeatedly and explicitly returns to as “strength” - over and over again, yugioh doubles down on the idea that your relationships with others makes you strong (for example, when atem uses red-eyes black dragon to fend off kaiba’s attack in battle city - the card that symbolizes his friendship with jounouchi) and puts the idea that “standing on your own makes you strong” into the mouths of antagonsists - like kaiba, and like malik when he’s brainwashed jounouchi and tells him that if he kills yuugi, he’ll finally become a man. another example: kaiba loses against pegasus because he’s been completely isolated, and does not have anyone’s love to shield him from the millennium eye; atem and yuugi win against pegasus because their friends’ love DOES shield them from the eye, and because they (almost blindly!) put their faith and trust in each other. yugioh is a series about how lonely, isolated characters seek out relationships and blossom/actualize/grow through these relationships - especially yuugi himself!

but with the ceremonial duel, yugioh ends up contradicting itself by creating a situation where yuugi must prove himself “strong” in a duel, and the result of this test/proof of this “strength” is to cut atem off - despite atem’s explicit fear of death and loneliness. after several hundred chapters of arguing that our bonds with each other are what truly make us strong, yugioh ends by severing the bond between atem and yuugi, and holds yuugi up as the strongest - NOT because of his bonds/friendships/relationships, but because he wins a duel. by winning his duel against atem, he proves his self-actualization, but must sever himself from the other source of his strength to do it. 

and the thing is, “strength is the ability to win a duel” is an incredibly weak idea compared to “strength is your relationships with other people.” it’s not something you can actually take with you when you close the manga and put it back on the shelf. we do not spend all of our time dueling; none of us will ever be in a situation where we have to duel for our lives. while there’s something to be said (A LOT TO BE SAID!) about the cultural and social value of games, especially sports like football, soccer, etc. (shout-out to Clifford Geertz and symbolic play) it’s probably better NOT to use the ability to win a game as proof of self-actualization, or to tie concepts of worth, esteem, and respect, both for the self and for others, to gaming victories. this is one of the core tensions of kaiba’s character: he can’t keep living like this!

but we DO live in a world with others, and we ARE constantly testing and navigating our relationships and intimacies with other people, questioning how to trust and who to trust, at what moments we will be vulnerable and why, the trade-offs between the joy of intimacy and the risk of pain, etc. one of these definitions of strength is meaningful to us as human beings who live with and love other human beings. the other is shallow.

yes i KNOW that the ending was rushed and KT didn’t have time to tell the story he wanted to tell. which brings me to Dark Side of Dimensions (you knew this was coming.) DSOD reverses and corrects the haphazard, self-negating message of the ending by:

reaffirming that yuugi is a strong duelist, to the point that he CAN beat kaiba on his own, without atem’s help, but this “strength” at winning card games DOES NOT help them beat aigami - even though yuugi is given a moral high ground in rejecting aigami’s vision of the world. “strength = ability to win a duel” is not enough to actually do anything against aigami. it dispenses with its own final conclusion.

making kaiba realize that in order to save the world from aigami, he must double down on the power of bonds between people - both YUUGI’s bond with Atem, and his OWN bond with Atem, trusting that what Atem told him about strength (it’s putting your faith in people) is true. his embrace of the power of bonds - and not even his own bonds, but the bonds between other people, entirely separate from him - is, ultimately, what saves the day.